Its Memorial Day!

I want to start this post by first thanking all the brave men and women who gave there lives so that we can be free. Happy Memorial day everyone!


Its currently 80 degrees and sunny right now and ironically enough its a great time to be a Bruins hockey fan!! That's right the Bruins are heading to the Stanley cup!! It hasn't been easy but with a goal in the third period the bruins went on to beat the Tampa bay Lightening 1-0 in game 7! and to add to that the Redsox are in first place!!! 30-23. Not bad for starting the season 2-10. Its still a long season but things are looking good.

Like i said its currently in the low 80s and its been like that for a week now. It went from 60's right to 80's and its great! We've also had a few good Thunderstorms roll through which is always fun. Running has been going well. My work outs are going great even though Ive been feeling over all tired and sluggish but I'm still hitting the times so that it is good. Today I did 4x400m hills plus 8x200 w/200m jog rest in 27/27/26/26/26/26/25/25. Legs felt tired but was still able to get faster throughout the workout with out feeling like I was flat out. For the rest of the weeks it will be easy runs with a little something on Thurs. just to get the legs moving, then I'm racing an 800 at the Boston Twilight meet on Saturday. And its time to go fast! My plan is to run hard through 600 and then what ever I have left for the last 200.

An as you know we have been helping out with Middle school track but what you might not know is that I am an Assistant Jumps coach! That's right every Tuesday and Thursday I help out Alex (Triple jumper) with Triple Jump and Long Jump. Alex does most of the coaching and I help with the stretching and the form drills. Its great though because when I am done running I want to get into coaching and be able to coach all the events or at least have a general idea so that If a kid comes up to me and says he wants to triple jump I will be able to help him get started.  Helping with the jumps has payed off as I am learning a lot especially with triple jump. Its been a lot of fun and last week at the 6 grade only meet our triple jumpers went 1-2-3 by a substantial margin.

That's it for me today. I hope everyone is out side enjoy this wonderful day! Go Redsox, Go Bruins, Go ITANH!!!

-Gags

There's a Storm Brewing

I am a huge fan of thunderstorms, and it looks like we may have a few on the way. Bring it mother nature :) 

Yesterday afternoon was a blast! A few of us drove down to Springfield VT to coach the Hanover 6th grade track team. They all performed superbly and it was a real joy to see some of our coaching advice put to the test. It is exciting to see the kids surprise themselves in an event and gain confidence. I believe that is one of the greatest joys in coaching, getting an athlete to do something that they had no idea they were capable of. 

I would also like to give a shout out to our long jump coach Alex and his athletes who had a 1,2,3 finish in the triple jump. Congratulations to them and all of the Hanover athletes that participated yesterday!

On the running front, training is going great. For the short amount of time I have been given to try and get a USA qualifier, training is swiftly progressing. I improved this past weekend with my 2nd steeple of the season. Saturday night I was able to shave a few seconds off my previous steeple opener and run 8:53 at the Indianapolis high performance meet. 

Returning from injury and trying to get in the best possible shape, as quickly as possible is a challenging task. To get race ready in a matter of a few weeks is a tricky game to play as a distance runner. Unfortunately, distance running it is not like cramming for an exam. It would be nice if I could just drink an abundance of red bull and coffee to fuel myself and run all day and night to get back in race shape.............Wouldn’t that be nice :) There is a fine line you have to flirt with. It can be difficult to find the right amount of training to do and not over work yourself, resulting in being constantly tired (save that for the fall). As well as not under do it and be to cautious, therefore not get any better and not ready come race time. I believe coach and I have it figured out. The next few weeks I hope will produce great results!! 

Currently it is 80 degrees and sunny, therefore it is time to go fishing before it storms. 

Have a great end of the week and thanks for reading!!!!

David 

National Running Day is June 1st!

Written Saturday 5/21:

As I sit here watching PBR (Professional Bull Riding) on Versus, waiting for the races to come on streaming over the interweb… I am wondering – Do the readers of this blog know where to watch track and field? If you don’t you need to go to Flotrack.org immediately. The site is awesome. They cover every major track and field event throughout the year and either stream or post the races on their website for free. It’s awesome for the sport, and awesome for friends and family who still want to watch our races and aren’t able to travel to all the meets. Here is the link to the coverage from yesterday at Occidental (which streamed live last night, aka just after I typed this part of my blog):

Occidental Coverage @ Flotrack.org

I have a mild addiction to the site and check it at least once a day to see what new content is on. I am a track and field fan too!!

Besides watching the races last night and paying attention to the track and field happenings around the country at the professional level, the highlight of the week for me was when not one, but TWO of the Hanover Middle School athletes asked me for interviews for unrelated school reports!! One was from a girl who I “made” run the mile in their last meet. I signed her up because I knew she could win, and guess what – she came through! Not bad for your first mile race ever… I can’t take total credit for this though. It took encouragement from every ITA member and all of her teammates to get her to toe the starting line! It was great fun though – we had the whole team up and cheering for her the entire time. She took the lead right from the gun and had quite a bit left with 200m to go when I started yelling at her to run as fast as she could to the finish!! Good ole’ middle school track is endless with these types of stories. For the second school report, I am being interviewed for a paper. I have no idea what it entails.

As far as my training is going, it is well! Ben and I rocked a long run this morning on some hilly Vermont dirt roads, then I took a stroll down to the brook about a half mile from our house and stood in it for 15 minutes. Sometimes outdoor “ice baths” are just more fun. I am keeping with the long hard tempos and intervals for the most part, but got to do some quarters on Friday. I keep getting more and more excited as my race approaches on June 11^th in Carmel, IN – The US 8km Championships. Can’t wait.

Also – another cool thing that is coming up – National Running Day is June 1^st!! From the website (http://www.runningday.org/):

National Running Day, held annually on the first Wednesday in June, is a day when runners everywhere declare their passion for running. Wherever we are and whomever we’re with, we run—fast or slow, alone or with others, all over town or just around the block. It is a coast-to-coast celebration of a sport and activity that’s simple, inexpensive, and fun. It’s the perfect way for longtime runners to reaffirm their love of running and for beginners to kick off a lifetime and life-changing commitment.

Follow the ITA Twitter account (@itanhteam) for our “I Run…” statements leading up to the big day. Or follow me (@lexwllllams) as I tweet at celebrities and hope for a response.

Thanks for readin’!

-Lex

A Week of Finales

This past week saw the conclusion of two programs the team has been working on throughout the spring.  Tuesday was the culmination of the Junior Achievement program which is a fantastic program that introduces elementary kids to the world of finance and today was the finale of Everybody Wins, a program we have been apart of since the fall.  For three weeks we ITAers drove forty minutes over to Unity, NH to participate in the Junior Achievement program at the Unity Elementary School.  I took on the first graders and taught about the importance of jobs, the differences between wants and needs, and how a family must work together in order to provide for each other.  It was my first attempt at teaching a specified curriculum, and boy was it a blast.  It was great to be able to work with a group of youngsters and watch as they are able to grasp and appertain what you are attempting to convey.  While teaching elementary kids might not be my calling, it sure was a fun and memorable experience.

And today saw the ending of Everybody Wins, a program that pairs mentors up with elementary students to read to them once a week during the student’s lunch hour.  This experience has been great and it was quite sad reading to my ‘mentoree’ for the last time today (he begged me to return next year to continue where we left off).  Starting off with picture books this fall, my mentoree quickly grew confident in his reading and began roaring through books, devouring the words on the page and became mystified by the tellings of Roald Dahl.  Seeing the love of storytelling and the joy of reading develop in my mentoree was a sight to be seen, and I look forward to be able to continue my weekly readings with him next school year.

But with the two programs ending, we still have plenty of volunteer work to do.  We are still working with the local high school and middle school track teams and once those wind up in the beginning of June we will move on to summer track leagues.  We are hoping to be able to start up new running groups for middle schoolers in the surrounding areas and hope to have them up and running for next fall.  After working with the various track teams in the area, I am excited to be able to spread the love of running to the surrounding towns.

Other than that news, life has been full of recovery and miles.  This weekend we see many of our ITAers competing with Brian heading off to race a 800m in the Occidental Meet in California and Dave and Toni heading down to Lowell, MA to compete in the Boston Twilight meet.  Dave will be racing the steeplechase and Toni the 1500m.  Lex and I will be left back in Hanover and will be helping out at the Hanover Invitational- a large high school invitational track meet held at Hanover High School.  So it will ‘truely’ be a busy weekend for all of us!

Until next time, 

Ben

[Junior] High School Glory Days

On Saturday I awoke bright and early to drive 15 miles south to the town of Meridan, NH. The purpose: to serve as 1/5th of a track coach for the Hanover junior high track team at their meet. The meet included local teams from Lebanon, Plainsfield, Woodstock and Windsor. Upon my arrival at Kimball Union Academy I was greeted by a group of rowdy youngsters camped out alongside the homestretch of the concrete track. After much corralling we led them through their two-lap warm-up, drills and strides. The meet proceeded surprisingly smoothly despite the lack of luxury offered by a fully automatic timing system, officials, and a strict time schedule. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended a low-key track meet – and I really enjoyed watching these kids compete, and even post some impressive times. We had a successful morning with no one missing their race and numerous event wins.

The biggest challenge was persuading some of the kids to compete – and enjoy it. Luckily in these cases, there were five of us ITAers against one little whippersnapper, and we eventually won out.

Girls competing in the 200m on 5/14

Watching the spectacle that is a coed junior high track meet brought back memories of my first track meet.

I had always wanted to run track but didn’t get the opportunity to compete until 7th grade – the first year that interscholastic athletics are offered at my school. The first week of track practice consisted of an introduction to the various events. Day one we played with hurdles. I did gymnastics for a number of years and hopping over hurdles was right up my alley. I was particularly pleased with myself when, after watching me jump over a few hurdles, my coach asked me to demonstrate my technique for the rest of the team. “This is exactly what you don’t want to do,” he said. This is when I decided that hurdling was not going to be my event. I knew right away that throwing was not for me. I refused to try the high jump because I was uncoordinated and didn’t want to make a fool of myself, again. I tried the long jump and triple jump but knew they’d never be my events. The last event group that was presented to us was distance. Everyone on the team was required to run four laps around the track. I remember being the only girl to run the entire distance without stopping. From then on I was doomed to be a distance runner.

My first race was a mile. The race was mixed boys and girls. My warm-up consisted of running from the long jump pit where I was also competing to the starting line for the race. I finished in 6 minutes and 1 second, just behind two boys and ahead of several others. We only had a few meets during the season. The following year the high school coach suggested that I compete on the varsity team, putting an end to my junior high glory days.

Me (#9) in an early HS race

Adidas!!

Its official we are Sponsored by Adidas! Its been like Christmas for the last couple days as our gear has been coming in. I dont have pics of our gear yet but we got some nice shoes a bunch of clothes along with a running watch and running sun glasses. Once we get ITA screen printed on to the uniforms and jackets people will start to recognize us as more then just a bunch of runners. Im really excited and fired up now and Im looking forward to running fast down in LA next weekend on may 21st! Its a meet that headlines the 800m and 1500m and is set up for everyone to run fast.

My training has been going very well and I've put this injury business pretty much behind me. Ive been working very hard the last couple months and Ive been bringing my 800 time down each time I race it! So  I may have missed a good amount of time this winter but that's no longer an excuse its time to run fast. If all goes to plan I will get my 800 Qualifier on the 21st and then all focus goes to the USA champs at the end of June!

Before I head out last weekend was a pretty eventful weekend especially on Sunday May 8th. It was mothers day which I hope all the mothers reading this had a spectacular day and it was also my 24th!!! Birthday...... Man time sure flies when your having fun. When I was thinking about how old I was going to be I thought hmm 22...23... ya must be 23 and then I come to the realization that Oh crap i'm 24 now haha. Good news is next year I will be able to rent a car!! And if you want to know something else that's pretty cools is its also my brother Jarads 25 birthday. That's right we were born on the same exact day but a year apart. And oddly enough my cousin shannon also share the same bday but she turned 26!.  And last but not least the UConn Mens Track Team won the Big East Outdoor Championship!!! Great job guys! So proud to be a Husky!!!

-Little Gags

Happy Mothers Day:

First, I would like to wish all the mothers a Happy Mothers Day!!!! 

On this joyous occasion, I would like to share some great things my mother taught me. 

1. My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION..."Just wait until your father gets home."

2. My Mother taught me about RECEIVING...."You are going to get it when we get home!"

3. My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE..."What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you! Don't talk back to me!"

4. My Mother taught me LOGIC..."If you fall out off that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

5.My Mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE..."If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."

6. My Mother taught me to THINK AHEAD..."If you don't pass your spelling test, you'll never get a good job."

7. My Mother taught me HUMOR..."When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

8. My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT..."If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

9. My Mother taught me about GENETICS..."You're just like your father."

10. My Mother taught me about my ROOTS..."Do you think you were born in a barn?"

11.My Mother taught me about WISDOM OF AGE..."When you get to be my age, you will understand."

And last but not least..

12. My Mother taught me about JUSTICE..."One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you ....Then you'll see what it's like!" 

Ok, so I found that on google. I figured the moms would enjoy it! Happy Mothers Day! 

Our involvement with the community continues to grow. We have started a new program called Junior Achievement. Working with a nearby middle school the 5 of us are teaching different classes regarding global economics. Junior Achievement has contributed to the business and economic education of students throughout the world. We are having a great time pairing with JA teaching students the fundamentals of economics. I personally am teaching kindergardeners and having a blast. It is a small class of about 11 kids all who are eager to learn and participate. 

As for training and racing I am finally getting back on my assigned heading, but it did not come without a bit of turbulence right after take off.  After a short time training we decided to run the Eastern Michigan Twilight 5k as I mentioned in my last blog. I had been doing as much cross training as possible and thought running a “training” race(or something like that) would be a good idea.

It was a failure..............lets just say I ran with to high of a manifold pressure for my given rpm and decided to crack a cylinder. Which for any type of engine is not a good thing. After the race I was rather ashamed of myself and in shock at my pitiful performance. I knew I was in better shape and just had not been running enough to feel even remotely good at the faster pace. 

Two workouts later I was headed to Stanford to redeem myself. I knew things had to be turning around when we arrived at the hotel and there was a general aviation airport right outside the door. Sitting outside watching an abundance of aircraft was the perfect pre race therapy in my book. 

It was a nice race to be in considering the lack of training. I was in the second heat and settled mid pack, running a nice relatively even paced 8:57 steeple. Normally, I would be in shambles if I had ran that time, but considering the way training has been going I was content. It gave me some well needed confidence that after a few weeks of hard training and hurdle work, I will be getting back to where I should be. 

Well, thats about all for today. Im off to bed. Good night!!! 


David 

Monumental Achievements

Hello there ITA follower,

I have had two monumental achievements since my last visit to the blogosphere: Ran in my first race since surgery, and coached my first track meet!

We have been helping out with the Middle School track team in Hanover and this past weekend they had a meet at Fall Mountain High School in Langdon, NH – about an hour South of Hanover. The head coach was out of town, and all of my fellow teammates were racing at Stanford so it was up to me and the jumps coach to coach the team! I had an incredible time. It was awesome to see kids that are so new to the sport of track and field compete. There are emotions there that you just don’t see at the collegiate and professional level. Everyone is nervous, they didn’t know what events they were running until they got there, and it makes you realize why it is such a cool sport to begin with… People competing, socializing, and having fun!! I also have to admit it’s pretty cool to be called “coach.”

My favorite part of the meet was trying to put together a 4x800m relay… There was only one kid who really wanted to run an 800, and the other three spots I had to fill out with people who were terrified to run two laps around the track. But – afterwards one of the kids came up to me and said “coach, I’m really happy you put me in the 800 because I think I’m really good at it.” It was totally awesome realizing that I helped someone discover something new and changed their perspective from fearing a distance race to wanting to run it again. That right there made my day.

As far as my running is going – things are great. I am running 90+ miles a week, training hard, and like I said earlier I ran my first race since surgery – a 5k at Princeton. Even though Broe told me to run in flats, just get out there towards the back and have fun, I was actually a little bit nervous! I haven’t had that feeling in a while and it was odd because it was supposed to be such a relaxed effort. It’s just totally different when you put yourself out there on the line in front of people. When the gun went off I settled into the middle of the pack and just held on running 68s as long as I could. I felt surprisingly well and thoughts of winning the race even crept into my head until the last 1200m! I ended up running 14:13 and was extremely happy considering my training to that point. It had been 10 months since my last time racing and I almost forgot how much fun it is! Now it is back to the grind until mid-June and I cannot wait to get on the roads!

-Lex

Well... That Happened...

Today was the first day to qualify for the Olympic games.  You see, becoming an Olympian takes two things- first, you must possess the Olympic qualifying standard (27:45 for the 10,000m) and secondly, you must finish in the top three at the Olympic Trials (to be held next year at the end of June in Eugene, OR).  I went into today’s race hoping to check off the first criteria in my quest for the Olympics and to run a sub 27:45 10km in my debut track race.  The race was the Payton Jordan Invitational held by Stanford University and it is renown for its fast times and tonight it did not disappoint.  There were fourteen people who stopped the clock in under 27:45, including three Americans.  Unfortunately though, I was not one of them.  For me, the race was an utter failure.  I don’t know what happened, but tonight my body failed me.  I did not feel like myself and from the beginning and I could not relax, I could not find my rhythm and I suffered, oh did I suffer.  It is hard to put into words the feeling of failure, and as I sit here dazed from the exhaustion of the race mere hours ago, I cannot seem to release myself from despondency.  But I must move on.  I cannot dwell on the misfortunes, but I must strive forward to rebuild.  I must learn from the mistakes from tonight, figure out why today of all days my body decided not to participate, and then I must move on.  I must remember the fitness which I still possess, and I must move forward.  I know I can run faster.  I know that I can run well under the illustrious Olympic standard of 27:45, but that today, today just was not my day.  So I must go to sleep and wake up tomorrow to a new world, and continue doing what I am doing and wait for my next chance.

Until next time, 

Ben