Race Recap: Dr. Keeler Invite @ North Central College in Naperville IL

Derick, Pancho, Rosemary, and I traveled to Naperville, IL to participate in a last chance meet at North Central College. It was a two day meet, the 5k was on the first day and the steeple was on the second. We arrived on Wednesday night after a delay in our flight. Cancellation of flights in Dallas Love Field led to a bunch of crazy mad people in the San Antonio airport, there were people running everywhere, I saw a guy throw his phone against the wall due to some delay or cancellation of his flight, it was just insane. Anyway, Thursday morning we did our 2 mile shakeout and then ate some great breakfast at this place called Blueberry Hill Pancake House. The food was really good.

After eating we toured the great city of Naperville. From a Wikipedia search, I learned that Naperville is the 5th largest city in Illinois with ~150,000 residents. Sitting about thirty miles west of Chicago, Naperville is a clear victim of the urban sprawl. Big companies and alot of people have moved into the city over the past twenty years making it a very successful place. Just by looking around and going into different stores, I fell in love with the area. Everything is clean, green, and it just gives you a good feel. It has a town square/shopping center where lies a bunch of restaurants, businesses, the library, city hall, and even a riverwalk. We went to the running store there and I got some sweet shorts.

Well after lunch at Potbelly's, where both Pancho and I managed to spill our drinks, we went back to the hotel and got ready to go to the meet. Once we arrived we found out that unfortunately we did not make it into the fast heat, we were seeded first and second in the second heat. That was a bummer, but did not put too much of a damper on things. We walked around the campus and checked out the athletic facilities at North Central and they were superb. Oddly enough, North Central is a Track and Cross Country school. Those are the two main sports there. I guess that is why they have won multiple National Championships. They just got a new indoor track that has dorms surround the exterior. I thought that was really cool.

Well now it was time to get ready for the race. The weather was not as cool as we had hoped, but it was definitely not as hot as Texas. After a good warmup, Pancho and I toed the line for the 5k. We had been getting for this race for most of the season.

The first mile played out really well. We got out in the middle of the pack and came through the mile in 4:46. That was fine, could have been a little faster, but its not bad. Every lap we would pass someone. It was working out fine. We were just moving along. Same thing for the second mile. Just passing people every lap. We came through two miles in 9:41. Slower than we had hoped. After that it just got bad for me, I don't know what happened, but I just fell off bad the next few laps. It wasn't pretty. Pancho finished 15:21 and I finished 15:31. I wasn't happy at all about this race, but tomorrow would be better. I still had the steeplechase.  Rosemary ended up having a great end to her season. She ran a 10 second PR with a 17:48 in the women's race.

Well the next day, Coach brought Pancho and Rosemary to the airport and I did my shakeout. After, we got a good breakfast and checked out the town some more. Just kept it relaxed, saw a movie, went to Best Buy, took pictures next to every statue we could find. It was cool. We saw "There Be Dragons". I would definitely recommend it.

So the day passed and we headed to the track in the evening since my race was really late at night. I found out that I did not get into the faster heat again and I was the first seed in the third heat. Just some bad luck I guess. I would have liked to be in the second heat. It was a lot colder today than it was yesterday. When the sun went down it was probably around low 50's and I was wearing like 5 layers since I'm not used to that.

After a good warmup with Coach, I toed the line again. This time I was super cold since I only had my jersey and shorts on. This race was better than yesterday, but not the best. Although I won my the heat and tied my PR, I felt that I did not race with everything I got. I sat behind the first place guy for the whole race and then outkicked him. I really don't like racing that way, at least in a situation like this where I am trying to run a fast time. If I could do it over again I would have made a move after the mile and tried to run a much faster time. But I can't change it now, so I'm not to upset. I ran the same time, but this time with tired legs and much less effort. It stinks to end the season with a half effort race, but it's whatever. That's not going to happen next time. I think I was just drained mentally from a long season. Coach and I ate at Five Guys afterward and then headed back to school the next morning. Now I am back home and taking a week off before Cross Country training starts.

I was very happy with my season overall though. ‎To quote Coach, this was my season PR's, what I was on the all time list for Trinity, and how much of a PR it was compared to last year: "1,500m- 4:04.98 (8th all-time, 5 sec. PR); 5,000m- 15:03.95 (2nd all-time, 48 sec. PR); 10,000m- 32:54.14 (4th all-time); 3,000m Steeplechase- 9:46.64 (4th all-time, 20 sec. PR)". It was a good year. Probably one of the best I have ever had. To my compadre Pancho, SHAKE AND BAKE! We'll get those records next year homie. And thanks for putting together my results D-Rock.
Favorite Part of the Weekend: Next time you see Rosemary, ask her what she thinks of the song "Just Can't Get Enough" By: Black Eyed Peas. It came on the radio I think every third song and she had it stuck in her head the whole weekend because Pancho and Derick kept singing it. haha. It was hilarious.

TUXC In Action: Team Potluck Round 2

The Food (well at least most of it)

Yesterday was the Trinity University Cross Country Team Potluck and the kickoff for the 2011 season! There was a great showing at the seniors house and we had a lot of great food. Everyone paired up with someone and together they made a dish. We had salsa, five layer bean dip, salad, sandwiches, bread, pasta, pizza, casserole, oreo balls, cookies, cake, puppy chow, this really good dish that Maddie made, and even Gatorade! (sorry if I forgot any of them) There was too much food for all twenty of us to handle.

Cook of the Night

Some of us showed up early to use the stove and oven to cook our food at the seniors house. Brushy made this really good pizza, Adam made his casserole, and I made my pasta dish there. Needless to say it was pretty hectic in there for the time being.

Enjoy!

Although we had a lot of food leftover, everyone was past stuffed. After we ate, we played this game that was kind of like Charades. It was a lot of fun. Then everyone sat back and watched Pineapple Express to finish off the night. Overall I had a great time and I know everyone else did also. This was a great way to start off the season.

My Dish

Like Minded Community

Downtown San Antonio

During my 10 hour study session yesterday, I took a short break to check out a program the Student Programming Board was putting on in the front of the library, FREE MASSAGES! So obviously I got one. My massause was named Alma, this older lady who was very outgoing. I told her that I am an Urban Studies and Business major and we talked from there. When I told her what an Urban Studies major entailed, she mentioned something that kind of struck me as very interesting. She said "What I would like is if there were communities that had like minded people: for example communities with only painters, or communities with only writers. A place where people can specialize in a certain thing, something they love doing and that is what everyone in the community would do.

When I got to thinking about this, I realized that our cities/communities are set up like this to a great extent. One example is how cities are racially and economically segregated. People live in communities with people who are similar in race and economic status. Obviously, this is not 100 percent true, but it is still very prominent in our cities. This is not the only way communities are separated. If you look on a broader level, places like Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, and San Francisco are also places where people are on what I like to call "the same page. Everyone is into the same things. San Antonio for example, is represented by three things: Alamo, the Spurs, and Breakfast Tacos, and its residents are proud of that. People from New Orleans love seafood, Mardi Gras, and the Saints. Also, why do you think they say "Keep Austin Weird". Its because of the people who live there. They are very similar. Thats just the way it is. On a more specific level, universities are set up that way also. Most everyone is living together on a campus to get an education. We are living around people who have the same goals and ambitions as ourselves.

So although what Alma, my massuese, said is not true completely, it is true to a serious extent. It's something we really never think about, but it surrounds our lives. We thrive in places where people are like us, places where we all can enjoy the same things and similar interests.
Shoutout to Jackie and Brooke!

Weekend Recap: Apr 29-May 1

6th Street on Saturday Night

Well I had a very eventful weekend. Friday night was our end of the year track party. It was a good time. Pancho, Mark, GG, and I were the relay champions! I know everyone had a great time. Unfortunately, some of our Athletes were going to TX State the next day for a meet, so they had to leave early. On Saturday, I went to Austin with the softball team. It was alot of fun also to say the least. Nick and I were outnumbered being the only guys there for the most part. Texas and Killian were nice enough to let us stay at their place. It was real nice to see them because I haven't seen them since they graduated last year. I went on my run this morning and toured alot of Austin in the 6 miles that I covered. I ran from the apartment, through UT, through Downtown to 6th St, back to the Capital Building, over to UT's track (which was locked), and then back to the apartment. It was a good run. After, I just relaxed in the pool and chilled out.

So some random things. We went to IHOP this morning, I walk in and see Molly. It's such a small world sometimes. Then before we leave, I see Jordan there. It was kind of weird. haha. Two people in one restaurant. Also, I saw one of my classmates from high school on 6th St last night, that was pretty out of nowhere.

I just wanted to write about this weekend because it was very eventful and fun. Now time for finals and North Central in Naperville, IL in 2 weeks to run fast!

James and I helped Emily make a music video for here PR writing class for Admission: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNbodfgExAg

Nick and I on the mustache See-Saw in Austin

Race Recap: Day 2 of SCAC (Conference)

After an eventful Day 1, we came out to day 2 with some very high expectations. Although we did not come up with the win on either side, we had some very impressive performances. Elana snagged two wins in the high jump and triple jump. George won the high jump, finishing the Trinity domination of that event. The men had 4 guys in the finals for the Triple Jump, that was very exciting to watch. Zach Brush, who never fails to amaze me, won the 800, 1500, and anchored the winning 4x4 who lead from the beginning and ran a season best! Nice job to GR, Fletch, George, and Brush! Anyway, Zach ran some gutsy races and even managed to break his meet record in the 800 in some pretty hot weather. Justin was third in the shotput with a foot PR, Fletch ran a 2 sec PR in the hurdles to get second, and Spencer was second in the 100! Also, the girls 5k was great! Caitlin, Rosemary, and Maddie finished 2nd, 4th, and 5th, respectively. Gaining 17 more points for the girls! In the end of a long weekend, the guys ended up third with 145 points and the girls were 4th with 112.5. I had a great time this weekend! It's pretty weird to think that after training for 6 months, most of us are done, another season finished. It goes by really fast.

The second to last event of the day, the 5k. The sophomore trio of Pancho, Mark, and myself battled the heat to rack up 7 points. Even though we wanted to gain a few more points than that, I can't complain. Everyone in the event ran extremely well. Every runner who was in the top 8 doubled either in the 1500, 10k, or steeple, so it was a fair race. In the end, Pancho was 4th and I was 7th. I'm not upset with the results because I felt like I raced fine, I just didn't fell 100 percent I guess. I'm not sure. I'm just hungrier for the next time. Anyway, Pancho and I have 3 more weeks of training until we go to Chicago to race and try and qualify for Nationals along with Rosemary and Caitlin. I'll be doing the 5k and Steeple.

After compiling just distance results, 800 through 10k. On the Mens side we finished third behind Centre and Colorado College and on the girls side we finished second behind Rhodes.

Men's Distance Results
1. Centre: 45 points
2. Colorado College: 44 points
3. Trinity: 36 points
4. Depauw: 27 points
5. Hendrix: 5 points
6. Southwestern: 4 points
7. Sewanee: 1 points

Women's Distance Results
1. Rhodes: 88 points
2. Trinity: 56 points
3. Depauw: 27 points
4. Centre: 16 points
5. Southwestern: 6 points
6. Millsaps: 2 points

Award Ceremony: 3000 Meter Steeplechase

Race Recap: Day 1 of SCAC (Conference)

We had the coolest camp ever! Under the huge tree at the 250 mark on the track!

So day 1 of 2 is complete at our conference meet here in Memphis, TN at Rhodes College. Today was mostly prelims, but we had a few throwing events and some distance races completed. On the distance side we had a pretty good day. The women's 10k was quite the race to watch, Caitlin finished 2nd, Maddie finished 4th, Rosemary finished 5th, and Joy snuck in there for that 8th spot by outkicking a girl from Sewanee. It was a close fight for third between Maddie and Rosemary and this girl from Rhodes named Maddie. They'll get her next time! On the men's side, Pancho finished 6th in a hard fought race.

The pole vault went well for both the men and women. Congrats to Emily for a huge PR and her second conference win! The women were 1st and 7th and the men were 3rd, 7th, and 8th. In the long jump, Salome and Adrian both scored and George was one spot out of placing. I gotta give a shoutout to the throwers too! I'm not sure about any specifics, but I know there were some good throws. In the Javelin specifically from what I remember, GR got 2nd with a 10 meter PR and Gill with a 5 meter PR also! I know Joe got a PR, but im not sure what it was. Sorry Joe! It was really fun to watch! Congrats to Kelsey also for her 3rd place finish in Javelin and PR! We got 3 men into the 400 finals, Spencer got in the 100 and 200 finals, Riley got in on the 110's and 400 hurdles, Fletcher got in on the 400 hurdles, and Salome got in on the 100 finals!

The steeplechase was exciting as well! On the girls side, Jessie was 2nd. She almost ran the whole race by herself. Jackie moved her way up to 3rd place! It was awesome to watch. Vanessa was 7th also! Closing out 16 points in that one event and 34 points total on the distance side including the 10k! On the guys side, James, Adam, and I competed. I got 3rd. I was really happy with the race. I went in with the intention to win, but realistically I was hoping for top 5. 3rd got me my first All-Conference mark. After a congested 2 laps I moved up to 4th place, then after another lap I moved up to 1st. It may have been a bad idea, but at the time it felt right. Mentally, I didn't feel like I could hold it. That is something I need to work on. I was happy with the performance though. I was only six seconds from first place and 1 second from second place. I ran a 20 second PR, which was a 9:46.

The girls team had 56 points after day one and the guys had 32 points. Tomorrow will be more field events, all finals, the 800, 1500, and the 5k! GO TUTF!

TUTF In The Community

Over the past few weeks Trinity University Track and Field has done a lot of service in the community. I figured I would share it on here.

1. Go! Kids Challenge Celebration

About 10 of us went over to the Alamodome last Sunday to help out at an event called Kids Rock. It was an expo promoting health for kids. There were alot of games, activities, sponsors, etc. I think Borden was there, Subway (we met Jared!), and some sports drink company. There were other booths set up that were having games and stuff that had some sort of aerobic benefit or team play involved in it. We were there to sit at a table and sign autographs for kids. I guess they thought we were famous or something. haha. We also were interviewed on stage. It was a lot of fun. There was a guy who has an olympic gold medal in the Bobsled. I guess San Antonio has an American Olympic Gold Medalist in there city limits somewhere. Also, Thanks to Bri for getting us set up with this event!

2. Paralympics

This Saturday, Pancho, Joy, Jessie, and I went with coach over to the new Heroes Stadium to help out with the Paralympics. This was an event for Paraplegic Athletes. It was a track meet and we helped out with the timing system. I really enjoyed working at this also. There was everything from Paralympic Gold Medalists to kids who could barely finish a 60 meter dash. I've never really experienced or seen anything like that before.

Working like a Dog

In track news, we have our conference meet this weekend. Were leaving for Memphis on Thursday. I have big goals personally, and we have big goals as a team. Its going to be a long but fun weekend.

Race Recap: Tiger Relays

Well this Friday was yet another hot day. I think it reached 95 degrees by the time my race came around. Friday was my first steeplechase of the year and although it was not the most ideal conditions, I think it went alright. Its been almost a year since I took on one of these.

For those of you who do not know what a steeplechase is, a Steeplechase in track is a 3000 meter race (a little short of two miles) with barriers and water jumps like the one in the picture. I run a little over 7.5 laps and each lap consists of four 3 foot high barriers and a 3 foot high water jump where I land onto a inclined surface. The goal is to hurdle the barriers and jump off of the water jump.

Anyway, I ran 10 seconds slow of my PR, but 28 seconds faster from what I did last year. I haven't trained as much for the steeple this year because I have been having pains here and there, but I was happy with my performance. I also received my second collegiate win although there were only three people in the race. haha. Shoutout to my other teammates who took on this monster of a race in the heat. Good job Adam, Vanessa, Jackie, and Jessie! Two weeks from now will be conference. I'm racing the Steeple on the first day and the 5k on the second day. It's gonna be good.

Non Running Related News
Some people on the team saw a pretty good movie yesterday. Insidious, its this new scary movie out. Its worth watching. It's like a mix between Paranormal Activity and Inception. I thought the way they scared us and the story line was very original.

Also, some teammates and I met Jared from Subway today. We were doing a service project at the Alamodome. It was like an event for kids promoting fitness. I enjoyed it. Anyway, Jared was there.

Race Recap: Trinity Alumni Classic

Friday was a hot day. Mid-90's and no clouds. This is the hottest any of us have run in since summertime. Many good schools were at this meet. UTSA, UIW, TX State, A&M Corpus Christi, A&M Kingsville, and a few others. So it made for some great competition. Today I was tripling: 1500, 800, and 4x400. I usually don't run races that short, so we call it racing under distance. Although the total distance did not add up too a lot, it still made for a very long day.

I started out with the 1500. As Pancho and I were lacing up our spikes in the hot sun, my body was just sweating profusely. This is when I knew it was going to be a hard race. I ended up missing my PR by 2 seconds with a 4:06, but I was still very content with my performance. I believe I made the necessary surges at the necessary times. Next was the 800. My least favorite race ever! First lap, come across in 60 sec. Thats fine, thats where we wanted to be. Second lap, 68 seconds! It was bad. Just real bad. Now I remembered why I am not a fan of that race. Last race of the day, 4x400. Pancho, Mark, Caleb, and I, the distance 4x4. Coach clocked me at about 54.1. I can't complain. I'm happy with that. What was really fun to watch was the actual 4x4 vs the Alumni 4x4. Alumni won by less than a second. It was intense though, Zach almost caught them at the end!

Later that night was the senior banquet. I'm really going to miss everyone. It's sad to see them go. I had a nice dinner with TORI and her family, D-Rock, Lauren, and Adam and his mom. It was nice. The finger foods were great. This Friday we have the Tiger Relays. Hopefully my first steeplechase of the year. Can't wait!

Race Recap: Victor Lopez Bayou Classic @ Rice University

Rice Univesity. One of the top schools in Texas. Very similar to Trinity, except they are Division 1 in Athletics and have a few more international students than we do. I always like this meet because of the strong amount of competition we face every year. I think Trinity and Southwestern were the only Division 3 teams there. Most of the schools were Division 1, including UT Women, SFA, U of H, Texas State, SHSU, and UTSA. Anyway, being a two day meet, most of the high school stuff and college distance events were on the first day. This week I raced the 10k, along with 8 of my teammates. 25 laps on the track. The longest race we have during track season. Since the 10k is such a long race, Rice decided to combine the Men and Women races to save on time. So we had about 40 people on the track, it was pretty crowded. It was also pretty humid, which is expected for Houston.

During the warmup, my legs felt amazing. We timed our warmup perfectly. 3 miles, leg swings, dynamics, put on my flats, run some strides and I was ready to go, but when we got back to the track, the womens 5k was delayed by 20 minutes. I was mad about that, but I just relaxed and realized it wasn't a big deal.

The first 5k played out well. There was a group of about 7 of us up front, 2 UTSA, 2 DBU, 1 Tx State, and Pancho and I. I took the lead for a few laps in there also after the halfway point. We came through 5k in 16:01, I was pretty tired by this point, but my body started to feel better after that. After 4 miles, the group started to spread out some. I ran 32:54 and got fifth place. I'm content with the race overall, not happy though. For our first one, I felt like Pancho and I made solid moves and kept ourselves in the race. I made my list of things to do to prepare for the end of the season and I'm excited for what the team is going to do by the time conference comes around 4 weeks from now.

Race Recap: Texas A&M Kingsville Meet

Texas A&M Kingsville

Kingsville, TX

Population: 25,000

Industry: Agriculture

Location: 30 minutes SW of Corpus Christi

85 Degrees and super windy

University: Texas A&M Kingsville

Mascot: Javelinas (Its some sort of pig)

With the exception of a few people, none of us really performed well. I don't know if the weather got to us or if we were all just kind of still on Spring Break. It was a smaller meet, I think only 6 teams were there. I raced the 1500 today and I ran just embarrassing. First two laps were a 70 followed by a 65 and that was fine, but I just don't even know what happened after that. I fell off so bad. My only solice is that everyone ran slow today, even the winners. Anyway, this is the kind of meet I just learn from and fix it next time. My legs feel good, the calf is slowly getting better, and I ready to run fast. Maybe having a race like this is just the boost of motivation I need to finish the season in full force. As a team, we are ready to have a breakthrough meet. We have so much potential, but as a team we haven't fully shown it yet. It will come though, I'm not worried at all.

After the meet, we went to the beach and ate Olive Garden. Besides the wind and Zach hurting his foot, we had a bunch of fun. Now its time to start school again. 5 more weeks till conference.

Javelina Track



Also, I just watched this really interesting video about two twins from New Zealand who moved to Kenya 4 years ago as 17 year olds to train with the best. Heres the link:

http://vimeo.com/21192497

Spring Break 2011

While most people go to the beach and drink an obscene amount of alcohol, Zach, Nond, Alex, and I went to my home and had an obscene amount of Beignets. We had a very diverse group go up: an African, an Asian, a Cuban/Cajun, and a white boy. We had a great time though. Although we were really busy, it was very nice to be home. We went to Fort Worth and checked out the Omni Theatre, the Stockyards, and the famous restaurant Joe T Garcias. I haven't been to an IMAX movie in a while, so that was cool. We saw this movie about the ocean, it was pretty sweet. The next day I took Alex, my sister, and my sister's best friend to the Cowboys Staduim. They really enjoyed that. In general, I really enjoyed my Spring Break. We ate some great food. Thanks to my awesome mother! We also made this sweet video! It was a parody of the youtube video Que Hora Es? Also, got to see alot of my friends. That is always enjoyable. Now I am back at campus for Track. Get to see my team! Were at A&M Kingsville this Saturday.

Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckCw_-7e3M

Our Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTofVuJudVs

Race Recap: Tarleton State Relays

Walking to Subway

It was a long day Thursday. We left Trinity at 6am to head up to Stephenville, TX, which claims to be the cowboy capital of the world. Population: 15,000, UFO sightings, every other vehicle a truck, and a University is all that makes up Stephenville. It was warm during the day, but as the sun went down, it got very cold. I didn't race today, but I went along for the ride and helped Coach Derick take splits. Overall I'm not quite sure how we did as a team, but Pancho got a 3 sec PR in the 1500, the girls did really well in the 1500 and 5k, and Brushy ran a great race! Not everyone traveled today, I think we had about 40 people total. I got to see and hang out with a long time friend of mine that goes to Tarleton, which was really nice. We left Tarleton a few hours later than expected and the bus arrived back at Trinity at 2am. We were gone for 20 hours! Anyway, now I'm back home and just relaxing.

I took this picture from my iPhone just north of Austin on our way back to Irving

Best Places To Run: Roads Close To Trinity

Here are my 3 favorite non-grassy places to run that are close to Trinity.

1. Riverwalk

The famous San Antonio Riverwalk has recently extended the path to the north with the new entrance very close to Trinity. It's very beautiful to run on in the evening, especially during Christmas time. If you go during the day, it gets pretty busy. So we usually run on there earlier in the morning. Running down the Riverwalk to its end can get you 3-4 miles easily.

2. Contour Rd

Parallel to 281, Contour is a windy, relatively flat road that is about 2 miles in length. During rush hours it can get a little crowded, but generally its pretty well hidden so there are many runners/walkers/and bikers that exercise here.

3. La Jara

Like Contour, La Jara is another flat road that is a few miles in length. Not much congestion and many neighborhood people exercise here.

These are all roads that the team uses alot, so if you see a bunch of good looking, toned, skinny, sweaty, dudes, its probably us.

Race Recap: UIW Invitational

It was a long day. Very windy and not many people brought jackets. This meet was alot bigger than last year also; I think one of the races had 21 heats! Alot of races, including mine, were delayed by several hours. I think Emily said the pole vault started 7 hours after the predicted time. Anyway, about an hour before the start of the 5k they decided to combine the 2 heats. So we had 42 runners on the track at the start. I really wasn't nervous about this one, which is weird because I am always nervous. Besides a little bit of mental prep, I listened to a some music to just get focused and thats about it. We just sat around at the meet the whole day. I did a shakeout at 10am, watched the throwers, then went over to UIW to watch the rest of the meet. Chass was there, which was awesome!! The 5k started at 9pm. I did my normal warmup routine, got my spikes on, did some strides, listened to the directions (which never change), and started. The plan was to go out hard, but not out of control. After 800 meters Pancho and I were top 10. We came through the mile at 4:45 or something and 2 miles in 9:36. I just felt so relaxed. After 2 miles I was waiting for my body to tell me no more, but I made it through the 4k and we were still going strong. It was cool. Coach was yelling our splits and everyone was cheering which was great! I ran a 15:03 and got second place to this guy from Northwood University. Pancho and I were really excited! Cribb ran great also! Mentally I'm not ready to race another 5k right now. My legs are saying the same thing. We have the Tarleton Invite on Thursday.

http://trinitytigers.com/sports/track/2010-11/releases/3-05-2011_track_uiw

My Progression As A Runner

High School

Freshman (2006)

Off Season Cross Country

Coach: Perry, Borrow

Avg MPW: 20

PR’s: 5k: 21:21

Didn’t make the baseball team, started running because my dad is a runner. 3 practices a week for off season and weights. I think I ran 8 miles under 1:02 one time….

Sophomore XC (2006)

Coach: Koch, Borrow

Avg MPW: Idk

PR’s: 5k: mid 18’s

I was one of the top on JV. First actual season.

Sophomore Track (2007)

Coach: Molyet

Avg MPW: 20-25

PR’s: 1600: 5:00 3200: 10:56

First real track season. I remember we had 24x200’s for one of our workouts, that was intense. I didn’t keep to many notes in my logs, so I’m not quite sure what was going on this time of year. I just wanted to hit 5 flat so bad!

Junior XC (2007)

Junior XC: Marcus 1

Coach: Lee, Mattair

Avg MPW: 40

PR’s: 5k: 17:20

Other: Regional Qualifier

The start of my campaign with Coach Lee. Learned a lot more about training, finally put in some actual miles. Ran Varsity for the whole season. Made it to Regionals individually and as a team. Started to write more in my logs, I noticed if stuff would hurt, what I ate during the day, sleep, or how the temperature was outside and how it affected my run. Kept track of workouts too. Did stuff like 400 repeats, fartleks, 3x2 mile, 1k’s, mile repeats, etc. I got second at District, that was exciting. I still didn’t know how to spell the word sore….or soar?

Junior Track (2007)

Junior Track: Sheaner Relays

Coach: Lee, Molyet

Avg MPW: 30

PR’s: 3200: 10:21 1600: 4:45

Other: Regional Qualifier

I noticed I ran my workouts a little smarter. I would negative split a lot of them.  I made it to Regionals in the 3200. I still went out and ran my first lap of races like a mad man. Definitely a solid season though. Still don’t know how to spell sore.

Senior XC (2008)

Senior XC: Marcus 1

Coach: Lee, Mattair

Avg MPW: 45

PR’s: 5k: 16:49

Other: Regional Qualifier, MVP

Senior Year. I guess I was stepping up since I was the oldest now.  Really felt the team atmosphere kicking in this year, more than other years. More consistent on my mileage. Ran on most of my Sundays. Ran with the “Trinity University XC Team”. That’s what I wrote in my log. Made it to Regionals this year also.

Senior Track (2009)

Senior Track: District

Coach: Lee, Molyet

Avg MPW: 40

PR’s: 3200: 9:50 1600: 4:30

Other: Regional Qualifier

First season I ever remember mentally preparing for a race. I know I did it before, but I just don’t remember the first time I started with that. I really peaked this season and I felt like I finished my high school career on a good note. Started doing more consistent doubles. Had a lot of solid workouts, usually hit my times. Made it to Regionals and won my first race. I really started learning how to move up in races and race a little smarter.

College

Freshman XC (2009)

Freshman XC: Little State

Coach: Breuer, Clausen

Avg MPW: 60

PR’s: 8k on the track: 26:50

Learned so much this season! Didn’t really wake up as early as I should of during the summer. I started to think about how my running affected my body on a day to day basis. Like how a workout can make me feel like crap the next day. The idea of recovery started to form. First season I ran consistent Long Runs. I also started to keep more track of how many miles I ran each week.

Freshman Track (2010)

Freshman Track: Tiger Relays

Coach: Clausen, Svoboda

Avg MPW: 55

PR’s: 1500: 4:09 3k Steeple: 10:06 5k: 15:51

December went great, than I came down with my first actual injury. I’m not sure why I got hurt, but I was out for a month with Runner’s Knee in January. I still had a successful season. Ran my first Steeplechase!

Sophomore XC (2010)

Sophomore XC: UIW Invite

Coach: Breuer, Lawrence

Avg MPW: 70

PR’s: 8k: 26:35

Other: All-Region

The start of my running career with Derick! Put in a good summer, I just had a lot of trouble racing. I had three bad races. Finally got it together at Regionals. Really liked this years team. We were tight.

Sophomore Track (2011)

Sophomore Track: Trinity Open

Coach: Lawrence, Svoboda

Avg MPW: 65

PR’s: TBD

This season has started out great. No injuries, racing strong, in great shape. Now its racing season…. And I’m tired. The idea of consistency has started to come to play. I cut back my Long Runs to 12 and started doing doubles on Sundays.

I race the Dallas Turkey Trot every year. Here are my results:

8 Mile Turkey Trot

2006: 59:21 (432^nd place)

2007: 53:28 (167^th place)

2008: 49:38 (97^th place)

2009: 45:15 (23^rd place)

2010: 44:26 (16^th place)

Best Places To Run: Grassy Surfaces Within 2 Miles of Trinity

Over the course of the past two years of running for Trinity, I have found many soft surfaces to run on to get away from the hard concrete. So here ire my top 10 places to run within two miles of Trinity if you are looking to get on some soft surfaces.

1. Trinity University's Upper Campus Loop

At the top of Trinity's campus behind the library is Upper Campus Loop (UCL). It is a hilly, grassy, trail like loop that is about 3/4ths of a mile long. UCL has a lot of turns and one big hill you have to deal with, but it is close, convenient, and very fun to run on if you are looking to change up your normal routine. The trees, grass, birds, and squirrels make it very nice to run on during a sunny afternoon in San Antonio.

2. Olmos Park & Alamo Heights Trail System

Although it is very hidden, there is a 3-4 mile long trail system that stretches from Contour Rd to the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool. If you run from campus to Contour you will see an entrance to your right about a half mile after you arrive on Contour. There are multiple entrances to the trails other than Contour, including behind the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool, Dick Freidrich Rd, and Devine Rd. There are multiple types of trails here: Open flat trails, soft gravel hilly trails, and "twisty turny" crowded ones.

3. Brackenridge Park

Brackenridge Park does not have any grass, but the trails are alot softer than concrete. The easiest way to get there is right off of Mulberry Rd about a mile from Trinity. Besides all the homeless people (...jk.... kind of), it is very nice and there are usually a lot of families around since it is right next to the zoo. There really are no homeless people there during the day. lol.

4. Olmos Basin Park

Less than 2 miles away, right off of Devine Rd is Olmos Basin Park. It has a paved over half mile trail. I usually run on the inside of that to get on the grass, but there is usually alot of action there due to all the young teams playing soccer. You can also get to the #2 trails from here also.

5. University of the Incarnate Word Trails

On the north side of UIW's campus is a half mile dirt trail. Minimal hills, very wide, and hard dirt. I enjoy running on it to change up the scenery. There is also a field on the inside, so you can run on grass if you would like to also.

6. Trinity University IM Field and Rubber Trail

Around the soccer and softball field on the south side of campus are the IM field and Rubber trail. I like to do a few laps barefoot on the turf around the IM field or finish up a run on the .75 mile rubber trail. Its actually really nice around there once they finish construction.

7. Brackenridge Park Golf Course

A mile down Mulberry is the golf course. They really don't like us running on there, but I do anyway. No one is out there in the morning anyway, so it doesn't matter. I could get in anywhere from a mile to five miles on grass just by running on the grass next to the sidewalk or on the actual green.

8. Trinity University's Track

Just stay off of here from 4:30-6:00. :) Its a cool track though, gotta admit. A little hard compared to normal tracks, but just step on the grass and do some laps, same thing.

9. Allison Park

My teammates have no clue what I'm talking about, but if you run down Mulberry and cross St. Mary's there is a little park to the right called Allison Park. You can make a 600 meter loop around there and the footing is not bad at all. Its a new place that I just found to run on.

10. St. Anthony's Field

Right across Shook, St. Anthony has a football field that I will run on occasionally to get some distance in. It's probably less than a quarter mile, but its still nice.

There are my top 10 grassy surfaces to run on within 2 miles of Trinity. I know alot of you Trinity runners want a change of scenery, so here you go!

Can't Fall Asleep?

So last semester I was having a really hard time falling asleep at night. It was very frustrating to know that I would lay down at 11pm, but wouldn't actually fall asleep till 1am. I tried different things at night and talked to my mom and some other people and made a list of 5 things to do before you go to bed. This has worked for me and for some of my teammates. As athletes, sleep is probably one of the most important aspects of our training, most of the time we don't realize it.

Top 5 Tips To Fall Asleep Easily

1. Consistency

Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This can be extremely hard because all of our schedules vary from day to day. As a college student, this can be particularly difficult. We have to stay up late studying for a test, or we sleep in till 1pm on weekends, etc. Doing that can really pose a problem for your sleep schedule. Every night I go to bed at 12:30pm-1:00pm and wake up at 8:30-8:45. I get my eight hours and I never have trouble falling asleep at night because my body knows its time to go to bed.

2. No Naps

All of us love naps. A 15 minute power snooze here or a 3 hour nap there. Alot of my friends live on this. I mean a short 15 minute nap probably wouldn't hurt anybody, but still. As I said in number 1, this messes up your schedule so much. Taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon will leave you wide awake by the time midnight comes around.

3. Read Before You Fall Asleep

My mom told me this. I always like to read something before I go to sleep. It helps me relax and gets my mind off the daily worries. If you really are having trouble, read something boring like Finance, that will put you to bed real quick. I usually read something to my liking, but thats just me. Also, I've noticed keeping a journal and writing in it right before I go to bed leaves me thinking and therefore not being able to fall asleep. So I stopped doing that.

4. No Food within 2-3 Hours of Bedtime

I always love a midnight snack, last semester especially. I would eat a chocolate chip waffle right before I go to bed. What a horrible idea... and I wonder why I couldn't fall asleep last semester! My body was overloaded with sugar. But from my experience, if I eat anything before I go to bed, I won't fall asleep. So I eat a few hours before I go to bed, then try to drink a glass of water before I fall asleep. Its helped tremendously. Also, I'm pretty sure alcohol keeps you awake at night. I'm not sure how true that is, but thats just a theory.

5. No Exercise within 2-3 Hours of Bedtime

Obviously. But it gets your heart rate up and keeps you awake.

These are all just rules I have used over the past year and they have seemed to work for me and some of my teammates. I know all you college kids are on ridiculous sleep schedules, but if youre having trouble falling asleep at night try these 5 simple rules.

Breaking Down

Its that time of the season again.... racing season. The time where every week is going to be a new opportunity to hit a faster mark or time. We are loaded with meets this year, every week until the week before conference we are competing. This is very exciting don't get me wrong, but it also puts alot on your body. Easy runs feel horrible, I need much more sleep than normal, and it is near impossible to get all my homework completed. I call this breaking down. I think of it as a means of improving, almost like a temporary plateau in your training. Once you make it out, you will be a changed runner. Stronger, faster, and more fit. A runner has to go through this breaking down stage to get better. I feel like that right now. Back to back races in consecutive weeks, my legs do not feel good, I am always tired (even if I get my 8 hours), and focusing on my studies is a big challange. It can be very demotivating at this time also. I just don't really feel like running. This is the not the time to slack off though. I still have to do my core and pushup routine, even though I really don't feel like doing it. I still have to double a few times a week so I can hit my mileage goal each week. I know soon enough ill be on that other end, the brighter side almost, ready to race fast. Just like the song that just came on Pandora as I sit here in the library procrastinating, "Go On" by Jack Johnson. I need to go on and push through this hard time in my training. In the end it will be worth it.

Here's the video that GR made for the team from this weekends meet. Good stuff.

Mental Preparation

Mental preparation is key. Coach Derick gave me this book, its called Mind Gym. Mind Gym focuses on how to prepare mentally for competition. I have really taken a liking to this book. More so this season that previous ones, I have been mentally preparing for all my races. I feel like this has helped tremendously. I never really put this as a priority in years past, but I believe this is one of the key reasons I have had success this season so far. I am still dabbling with how this process works, but the main thing I have done is invisionment. I lay down, turn on some very relaxed instrumental music, and just invision how I plan everything to play out. My high school coach used to tell me to close my eyes and physically time the race with my watch, its pretty cool to try and see how close you can get to your goal time just through imagining the race in your head. This is just something I have dabbled with and it has proven successful, I hope to be able to learn more about this process and other ways to mentally prepare for competition.

Race Recap: Trinity Open

The sun was baking on Saturday afternoon down here in San Antonio. 1500 started at 4:45pm. I was really nervous about this one. Pressure is always added when there is an opportunity to win. The plan for the 1500 was to take it out conservative for the first lap, then make moves up to the front. The race played out perfectly. First lap ended up being really slow, so I made a strong move into second after 400, then after 600 I made the move up to first. It was weird being up in front, I just told myself to stay relaxed. This was my first collegiate win. What was even more exciting is that Pancho got second! 1,2 punch! Coach Derick said to make a statement and I'm pretty sure thats what we did. I ran a 5 second PR of 4:04 (comparison of a 4:21 mile). This is a great way to start the outdoor season.