Moving Along

Good Evening,

The Kids at the Boys and Girls Club have really started looking forward to seeing us through out the week.  It is exciting to be making such a difference in their lives. You can see the excitement and joy in their eyes as we walk through the doors. It is sometimes a challenge to decide what daily activity to undertake when the kids are all trying to get you to participate in a different daily activity.  Like Lex's last blog I was also in Art class a few times. Below is one of the creations that came out of the art room.

A week or two ago I was able to make a trip to the local airport in Ventura during some free time. They had a impressive variety of aircraft throughout the field. Including two P-51's that are my personal favorites! Its was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning.

Training and the achilles still seem to be moving in the right direction however at and agonizingly slow pace. About 2 weeks ago I had to take 2 days off...............again. The achilles problem flared back up slightly and we where being pre cautious. Therefore, I received a wonderful present and headed back to the pool for a little over a weeks time, which surprisingly I did not mind. The pool has started to grow on me and become a little more enjoyable.

Taking two days off and hitting the pool has seemed to be just what the doctor ordered health wise. Since the short break I have had zero pain in my achilles. I have also been able to help Tony run two tempo runs throughout the last week or so. Its a step in the right direction and hopefully I will be able to talk about more workouts and a full training regime for my next blog.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!

David

BGCA and Fish Tacos

Hello!

I always go back through the last person’s blog to make sure I don’t repeat what the person before me has said. I did not plan to comment on the dodgeball game at the Boys and Girls Club last Friday – However, Ben made it sound like it was a close game… It was not. The kids are superior to us in every way when it comes to that game. I’m sure we will get a chance at redemption this Friday.

The time I’ve spent at the Boys and Girls clubs in Ventura has been a great experience for me. From Monday to Thursday we are at one club on Johnson street in Ventura, and Friday we visit two separate clubs in nearby Oak View and another at West Vince Street. At the Johnson street club I have done everything from helping kids learn about Native American tribes in California, to playing pool/foosball/monopoly, to creating several pieces of artwork in the art room, attended a juggling class with the kids, and have played games in the gym. At the other clubs we have been in charge of leading stretching, and games such as Sharks and Guppies, Kickball, Capture the Flag, Relay Races, and (of course) Dodge ball. It has been fun to say the least!

I made this house in art class.

From the training side of things, I have been doing great. I ran an hour today and am alternating 45 mins and 60 mins each day for the remainder of the week. I’ve also been swimming every day, I swam 3x1000m yesterday and set a new PR in the 50m today at 31.14 seconds. David and I have been competing in the pool and it is making it way easier to stay motivated to get some extra work done. I’m very proud of my new glory in the pool, and am considering shaving my entire body and jumping off the blocks at an attempt to break 30.

On Monday to celebrate Presidents day, David, Toni, and I drove to Venice Beach (aka Muscle Beach) for our run. I could people watch there all day and not get bored. The only way I can describe it is to say it’s like a circus combined with a weight room, skate park, New York street vendors, and a beach. David and I saw Craig Robinson (from the Office, Hot Tub Time Machine, Pineapple Express, etc.) sitting on a bench by the Basketball courts where White Man Can’t Jump was filmed. That was pretty neat. We also watched the movie I Love You, Man the night before we went there and so we had to stop at James Beach for “the best fish tacos in the world. Literally. Ranked.”

A little pricey, but definitely worth it.
 protip: Tuesday night is the "I Love You Man" special aka Taco Tuesday.
Fish Tacos $15 instead of $19, and they come with soup or salad. And yes, we went on Monday.

'Til Next Time, 

-Lex

The Long Wait is Over

Today (oh what a glorious day) marked the return of NASCAR.  After a phenomenal long run through the canyons of Malibu, I bunkered down in front of the television, eyes glued and body tense with anticipation as the Daytona 500 stormed to life.  Hurling themselves around the track at dizzying speeds exceeding two-hundred miles per hour and separated by mere inches, the boys of NASCAR battled one another under the Floridian sun.  This year’s race marked the tenth anniversary of the passing of the great Dale Earnhardt, who, while running third behind his son, Junior, and teammate Michael Waltrip (who would continue on to win the race for the first time of his career), crashed on the final turn, dying instantly.  Sparking nostalgia and cheers from the crowd, Dale’s son, Junior, captured the pole position earlier in the week and led the field at the beginning of the race.  Multiple wrecks and crashes later left only twenty-three of the original forty-three cars in contention for the win.  So, who crossed the finish line first?  Well, the race ended in storybook fashion with Trevor Bayne, a virtual unknown, breaking the tape ahead of a hard charging Carl Edwards.  Bayne, turning twenty only yesterday, became the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 in history, and the second driver to win the race on their first try.  The race was the second Sprint Cup race of Bayne’s career, giving his team the Wood Brother’s their first team win in over ten years.  Wow.  And you people say NASCAR isn’t exciting.

Unfortunately NASCAR isn’t on every day, so the rest of my time has to be filled with various other activities.  Lately the days have been booked by our trips to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ventura.  These visits have been great experiences.  Being able to hang out with kids of all ages every afternoon and play games, do crafts, and just spend time with them has been very rewarding.  Last friday the five of us ITAers took on an entire club in dodgeball.  It must have been close to forty kids launching dodgeballs in our direction.  We put up a gallant fight, but the sheer number of kids overwhelmed us, and sadly we were defeated.

As for the running, things are going well.  This week marked the first time in ages when we all ran together, and it appears that injuries are healing up quick, and everyone is starting to get their legs under them.  Spirits are up, NASCAR is back, and the work with the Boys and Girls Club is a blast.  Life is good, what else is there?

Until next time, not one to misconstrue

Ben

Back to the Grind

After last weeks less than stellar US cross performance it’s back to the grind for me. With my injuries behind me and a few weeks of uninterrupted training under my belt, my legs are finally feeling fresh. Six weeks remain til the start of the outdoor season and the end of our California training trip. I have a lot of work to do. Today we headed a few miles north on Highway 101 to the windy Carpinteria Bluffs to do 6x mile repeats. Tim mapped out a nice dirt path complete with rolling hills and an ocean view for our intervals. With Brian and Lex on pacing duty, I clocked 5:48, 5:42, 5:32, 5:29, 5:37, and 5:25, with a brief 2-2:30 jog rest. It was tough but I felt good, especially when it was all over.

Since arriving in California I have accomplished very little in the way of studying for my RD exam. Surprisingly, ocean-adjacent living, sunny weather and sharing a house with 6 other people is not conducive to studying for an exam that I have yet to even schedule. I should probably suck it up and take the exam already, but it’s more amusing to procrastinate. In my quest to find an optimal study spot, I have stumbled upon some of the best coffee that I have ever tasted at the French Press in downtown Santa Barbara. The coffee enthusiast in me is always on the lookout for a great cup of Joe and I have found it here. They offer a delicious selection of Verve coffee (roasted just up the road in Santa Cruz) and the ideal atmosphere for me to continue my procrastinating.

I’ll take any opportunity I can get my hands on to evade actual studying; thus, I have decided to introduce a sports nutrition aspect to my blogs. And since we are on the topic of coffee, I figure now is as good a place as any to start. Coffee, and more specifically, caffeine, can actually be beneficial for endurance athletes.

The common misconception that caffeine acts as a diuretic has long been debunked; moderate caffeine intake does not have a negative affect on hydration status, and caffeinated beverages can be counted towards overall fluid intake. Not only is caffeine not “bad” but, as you may have heard, it can also act as an ergogenic aid (read: performance enhancer) when consumed before competition or racing. In fact it is one of the few performance enhancers that is not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Caffeine’s ergogenic properties are related to its ability to stimulate the central nervous system - specifically by increasing blood levels of the “fight-or-flight” hormones norepinephrine and dopamine. This enhances endurance performance primarily by altering the perceived level of exertion (i.e. the effort seems easier) by about 6%, according to some studies.

Sounds great, doesn't it? But wait, there's more! Caffeine also has beneficial effects after exercise, but I'll delve into that some other time. If my little rant has got you thinking about getting your caffeine fix prior to your next workout, just keep in mind that caffeine is a drug; exercise responsibility and be sure to use a high quality brew.

Boys and Girls Club

Hello everyone,
I do not have much to write about on the training side of things as Ive been injured since my last blog post! But good news is I have run for three consecutive days going 4, 5 and 6 miles. Its the best I've felt for 3 consecutive days since I hurt my heel three weeks ago. I still have pain and discomfort in my left leg when I walk around so we are going to shy away from working out for a couple more days. Unfortunately my indoor season did not amount to much but as coach reminded me today, our first out door meet is only 6 weeks away!

As you know from reading david's blog that we stared our work with the boys and girls club this past week! Things started off great! On Thursday the team and I went to the boys and girls club in Ventura and worked with kids from first grade to 8th grade. I got the pleasure of working in the teen center where my duties consisted of cooking hot dogs and listening to three 7th grade girls complain about how 7th grade is the hardest grade and whether Justin beaver (or however you spell his last name)  is hot or not. after the designated snack time Sam (Staff member) took the kids outside to play some dodge ball. After dodge ball everyone wanted to race me in a 50m sprint. I tried getting across to them that I was more of a 400m and up guy and that the 50 wasn't my forte but they still insisted on racing me. With my injury I had to decline but promised that this week I would race them so im interested to see how many will remember to bring there running shoes!

Now Friday is the big day! We work from 1-6 with kids from Oak view and another club in Ventura. From 1-3 we were in Oak View and it was basically a field day! The kids get an early release from school and come to the club gearing up for fun as there is no homework on Fridays!! We played sharks and minnows as well as capture the flag and even had a kickball game going. Needless to say we might of been having more fun than the kids were! After oak view we headed down to Ventura were me and Ben took on the entire club in Connect four! Connect Four is the hardest game to lose with out blatantly messing up. It ended being a tie and we moved on to the XBox Kinect.It was the first time I had played on the Kinect. It is Xbox's version of the wii except it is completely controller less... your body is the controller. Unfortunately the sports game was not working so we played Dance revolution and it is definitely a lot harder than it looks! 

I am very excited for tomorrow as I will be running for 40mins then going to see Dianna Palmer (Best Physical Therapist in the US!) to help kick this injury and then will be heading back into Ventura to work with the Boys and Girls Club. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend! it was definitely a lot quieter without football!

Gags

Cleared to Taxi

Tomorrow, we will start our first day with the Boys and Girls Club of Ventura County. Some of us will be spending time at up to 2 different club sites. Should make for a fun filled day in the ITA household. I am very excited for the implementation of ITA into the Boys and Girls Club!

I have been making tremendous progress with the achilles injury. Running has resumed and am finally out of the pool! The pool was a major struggle and am ecstatic to be out of that wretched place. A few training runs have been upwards of an hour and hills are looking more and more tempting. I hope to be completing some light workouts late next week and continue to  increase my daily distance runs lengths.

A goal that I have been especially focused on lately is my flexibility. Many probably do not know this but I was one of the most inflexible runners in the history of the world(no exaggeration). Standing and trying to touch my toes I was lucky to get half way down my shins. Lying on my back I could not bring my leg up for a hamstring stretch past 45 degrees without bending my knee. Coach likes to refer to my hamstrings as steel cables. So, I was very inflexible and quickly found out that that needed to change. To date with a little work I can now touch my toes and can get past 90 degrees for the hamstring stretch. It may take me about 5 minutes of stretching and some humorous faces in the process, but nonetheless its a major improvement. I have been also working on the L7 (Hurdlers) stretch. This is the most challenging of them all and will certainly take some extra work. 

Today we went looking far a good training hill, and as you can see below we found plenty. As well as got a little sidetracked at the same time. 

I just got a phone call from my brother while typing, asking if he could come out and visit tomorrow. Yet another great thing to look forward to!!

Welp, I am going to bed. Hope everyone has a wonderful night!!!

David 

The U.S. Cross Country Championships

Well, I have to be honest and say that I don’t really know what to write in this blog entry tonight.  I have tried writing various things, each time starting with a word, turning it into a sentence, extending it to a paragraph and evolving it into a cohesive thought, but each time I fail to capture the mood, the feeling, the emotion that I am trying to convey and it all seems mute, void, distant, fake.  I’ll admit up front that I have trouble transmitting, revealing, disclosing that which goes on within my head.  It always seems like a jumble to me anyhow.  But for tonight, as I sit here, tapping away at the keyboard on my computer, reflecting upon the weekend, on my most recent race, my first race of 2011, my longest race to date, my first Cross Country Championships, I will offer you the only way that I can think for you to get a faint glimpse into my being, my head, my thoughts, and that is through an unedited babble.  A ramble, an uncontrolled stream of thought vomiting forth my personal contemplation of my experience.  San Diego.  12km, six laps around a two kilometer loop: a pathetic excuse for a cross country course, snaking its way through the small confines of Mission Bay Park, side stepping playgrounds, monkey bars, rolling over concrete walkways, void of hills or terrain yet eerily canted to one side, tree branches hanging low around every turn- brushing against you as you beg for traction on the soften grass.  The race: quick off the line, move to the front, position, settle Ben, its a long race.  Look around, everyone is there.  Wait, the guy leading it... he is barefoot?  Really?  Focus Ben.  First two laps down.  Easy.  Two more laps down, field is getting smaller.  Pace beginning to pick up, surges.  First strong surge of pace, I am waiting for it, yet somehow it catches me off guard.  I can’t be out of the race already can I?  No, pick up the pace, reel them back in.  Good.  Back with the pack.  Pace slows, bunches together, picks up, strings out.  Don’t let the elastic snap.  Snap.  Tired.  Move stupid legs, go after them.  Finish.  Tired.  Fifth.  Disappointment.  Relieved.  Top six qualify to represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain.  Punta Umbria.  First national team.  First World Championship team.  Excited.  Happy.  Thankful.  Reporters, awards, interviews, congratulations, I just need to think- cool down, solitude, peace.  Starting to feel better.  Sitting on hotel bed, still in running clothes, face caked with dried sweat, thirsty, tired.  Sleep.  Wake up, run.  Shake out the legs, mull over the race, what went wrong, where did I lose?  How to improve?  What did I learn?  Move on.  Time to start training for the next race.  I can do better, I will do better.  Smile.

Until next time, the raw trueth

Ben

The Reckoning

On Friday we make the trek down the California coastline to San Diego for the US Cross Country Championships. I have been diligently preparing and anxiously awaiting this years race since crossing the finish at last years championship in Spokane, WA. Last year, like the year before, I was the first person to not be selected for either of the team USA competitions. The first six finishers at this race are chosen to represent the US at the World Cross Country Championships, while the finishers in 7th through 11th place have the opportunity to compete at the NACAC (North America, Central America and Caribbean) Championships.

I wish I could say with absolute confidence that this year was going to be different; that this was my year. However, my training has been derailed on multiple occasions in the past few weeks and my body has not been cooperative, to say the least. Shin pain, followed by inflammation of my posterior tibialis (a muscle that runs just medial to the Achilles tendon) interrupted six weeks of my training.

Having been pain-free for little over a week I hopped into a 3000m at the University of Washington in Seattle last Saturday – my first race since November. I went into the race with no expectations about how I was going to perform. My main concern was whether my not-so-long-gone injuries were going to resurface once I started running hard on the tight turns of an indoor track. Fortunately, I finished the race without any pain (of the “bad” kind). While running 9:34.90 for 3000m would normally be a disappointing result, it is encouraging after missing so much training. It is also the fastest indoor season opener that I have run.

The increased volume I did in the fall should help with some of this recent time off, but Saturday's 8k is still going to be a race of grit. Of course, thats the best part of racing XC.