Athletes Diaries

Olympic trials update and last track meet

2008-07-16T02:19:58+00:00

Hello you Guys,
I am back here to give you an update on how the Nigerian Trials went. I came 2nd but i did not jump the Olympic qualifying standard.

Even though I was feeling really good and was ready to jump high but the Conditions was not suitable at all for me to perform at a high level.

I had to wait about three to four hours to jump after warming up. and been that i am coming at a higher height, there was lots of jumpers that went ahead of me, so i just felt out of rhythm and i was exhausted just from sitting out there in the sun for that long.

But hey those are all excuses. I guess it wasnt meant to be, Im going to try to jump one more time this Friday at the USATF Club Nationals here in Kansas, USA. Its like 30 minutes drive away from where Im staying.

So why not try one more time to at least set myself up for Next year. I just want a Personal Best and if i jump the standard. That would be super awesome too. But I ll check back here with you guys real soon to tell you how i did. This would be my last chance this year to qualify.

Talk to you guys real soon.

Bayo.

Chasing the dream - Bayo in Abuja

2008-06-30T00:53:09+00:00

Hello, I know Its been a while i have written here. So i just thought i should give an update.

The last couple of months has been really rough for me; Knee injury, no coach, no place to train, so i had to pick up an internship job i got offered at one of the companies in Missouri as a software developer, i was finally able to catch up on some bills.

Thank God, But i almost gave up my high jump goals this year but all of a sudden,a lot of new doors started opening up and i came across a track facilitiy I can work out at and my sports psychologist has really helped me to stay motivated.

A lot of people has lost faith in me and really told me to quit but i refuse to take that advice eventhough i wasnt jumping well and everything looks bad, but i still had "HOPE", and there are a very few friends of mine that really motivated me to keep going. The Nigerian high jumper being one of them (Amata Doreen), she is always telling me to keep praying and keep working hard that things would come back to normal soon.

My sports psychologist really had me really think about my God Given talent and how it is still in me that i should seek out for help with the things i need.But to make things short i started seeking help and my prayers wer answered and i was blessed all of a sudden, My Company gave me some money and gave me time off to train for two weeks before the Nigerian Trials, and i came across Coach Bob Cervenka who was also a blessing, so i decided to move to Chicago 2 weeks ago and my friend Chidi let me stay with him while i was there . Coach Bob helped me technically and helped me modify my approach,

I recently just changed my approach two weeks ago and i feel very very very good with it and my knee injury feels so much better and i have never been as confident as i am right now. its amazing how a few changes can help you jump so much higher, it must have been in God's plan for me to keep going. So i am here right now. I paid my way to fly into Nigeria and im ready to jump.

My Main Goal is to make the Nigerian Olympic Team by jumping at least 2.27m, this would break the National record.then i can go or the jackpot all in this one week. and i feel very good that i can attain all of it By God's Grace, So please keep me in your prayers. So i am currently in Nigeria now, just waiting anxiously till i jump.

I would definitely let you guys know how i end up.

I really really Thank all of the people who believed and invested their money and time in me, The people who had faith in me and believed in me when i didnt even believe in myself anymore. There is so much to write about my season and obstacles.

But i am just happy that i am in a better position now to obtain my Goal. I would not be thinking about jumping this high two weeks ago, so God is Good.

So I guess i would be a prime example of a person not giving up when everything seems to be going wrong.

But Talk to you guys soon. I hope i can come back here to write my next post with Good and Exciting News.Please check out my website(www.bayoadio.com) and leave me a note on my Guestbook for good luck, motivation and encouragement..

Thank you,

Bayo Adio
www.bayoadio.com

A Much Needed Break

2008-06-15T17:02:44+00:00

G'day again! Once again it's been close to a month since my last update. There's been much to write about. Since my last update I've been back (briefly) to Boulder and left again for California and then back to Boulder, got sick and then went off to Illinois (where I'm updating from) and now finally heading back to Boulder.

Upon getting back to Boulder on Memorial Day, I was greeting by not just Lorraine, but my good friends and mentors Nobby Hashizume and Rod Dixon. They were staying @ Lorraine's place during the week of the Bolder Boulder 10k road race (a very big deal in our city) and also in town for some Lydiard Foundation meetings.

They already knew of my meltdown in Beantown and were eager to sort my head out. I had good talks with both of those guys. I enjoyed my one on one with Rod even more though, as we're much more alike (personality that is) than one would've thought. We had great conversations over dinner (and beers) where I got to pick his brain and just generally shoot the breeze.

All in all I felt better about myself, training, talent and future outlook when their stay was up. Rod was nice enough to autograph me a limited edition painting of his memorable NYC Marathon Victory. Nobby was nice enough to introduce me t some of the local Japanese runners that were in town during their build up for the Games.

Nobby and Rod took time out to also look @ my running log for the past few months to see what I had done. Both seemed impressed with the workouts that I had been doing, and clearly showed that I've got the talent to accomplish my goals -not just this year but in the future as well - so that was reassuring to hear. So for the next 10 days or so till my next race I just hung out and ran easy. Lorraine, Harlan and I really focused on running easy (I was pretty tired from traveling), and made sure to get after it in workouts.

I had 3 workouts between the May 24th race and the next race slated on June 7th. I had asked Lorraine if we could do some workouts over barriers so I could get a bit more comfortable at them. We ran workouts such as 2 x 2k over hurdles which was both tiring and satisfying. We did 'em in away to work on negative splitting. So I'd run let's say 6:10 for both 2k's but it'd be 1st k @ 3:10 and the last k (k = 1,000 meters) @ 3:00.

The other workout we did was just 1 x 2k over steeples as well, where this time we'd run the 1st k in 3:10 but work on running the second 1,000 meters closer to goal pace (at sea level) which was 2:55. So I ran that in 6:05 (3:10/2:55).

I started getting confidence from these workouts, and Lorraine/Harlan said I looked good. The last workout I did before flying out to California was done on the Tuesday before the Satrday (June 7th) race. It consisted of a 6 mile uptempo run (mid 5:40's pace) then straight into the track, change into spikes and run a mile over steeples.

Harlan & Lorraine did a great job @ setting up the track with the hurdles/barriers while I was out running. I came on the track and suited up. Got to the start and Lorraine told me to run 72's (9:00 pace) for the 1st 1200 and then pick it up on the last lap. I ran straight 1:12, 2:24, 3:34 and closed with a 65 for a 4:39. It felt very easy and I was looking forward to California.

I was thankfully looked after by Steve Sumner's group of runners once I got to Chino Hills on Wednesday afternoon. Steve's got a running group he's generously starting out there. He's got some talented runners coming in. One such runner could be Steve Magness who was a miling stud in High School (4:01) a few years back. He and I hit it off well and trained everyday together while I was there.

Saturday's race went well, in that it was a season best. I ran 9:04., but there was so much left in the tank, that I wished I had engaged a bit more. After watching the video of it Lorraine agreed that there was not only more there, but I could've/should've engaged more.

I finished 3rd @ the USATF West Coast Champs, but 1st and 2nd place were a good 17+ seconds up on me. Here's the link from the meet that one of my mates sent me: http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&pg=1&event_id=30&video... you can't really see me too much during it, because I'm so far back, but figured I'd add it since I had access to it. The folks @ www.runnerspace.com & www.flotrack.com have really made it easy to follow track online the past 12 - 24 months.

So I got a bit of confidence from that race and felt that things are/were moving in the right direction. Figured I'd come back to Boulder and rest up for one last steeple in the U.S before heading over to Europe. I unfortunately got sick earlier last week.

I got back to Boulder on Sunday night. Felt good on Monday, then woke up (after a horrible night's sleep) sick on Tuesday. I spent all Tuesday (and part of Wednesday) on my back. I was either sleeping on the couch or napping in bed. Just a terrible cold where I'd have impressively long sneezing bouts.

I tried not to panic and just focus on getting healthy, as I already had my ticket booked for the next race (June 14th). Luckily I started coming around on Wed and Thursday. I got in some easy running, but definitely didn't feel too strong. I flew out to Chicago on Friday. Got to my hotel after getting picked up by awesome Meet Director: Patrick Tomasiewicz. I was very impressed by his professionalism and ability to multitask, especially when you take into account that he's younger than I'm (about 23 or 24). So Thanks again Pat!

Once in the hotel I quickly changed and headed out for an easy 3 mile shake out. I didn't feel that great during the run, but once again told myself I'd be okay by Saturday evening (race was @ 8:04 PM). I slept well and woke up feeling much better. My nose/breathing was starting to come around, despite the impressive midwest humidity. I ran another easy 3 miles that morning before retiring to my room to cheer on Spain in the Euro Cup (we won the match!)

Finally I got to the track with my buddy and fellow competitor from Boulder, Andy Smith. The meet: www.midwestdistancegala.com was very impressive and well run. It's an elite High School meet, with a Pro Men's Steeplechase in the middle of it. It was great to meet and interact with the high school kids. Unfortunately my race didn't go as well as Andy's (he won in 8:34).

I finished a well beaten 7th in 9:15. No where near what I had hoped to accomplish (8:45 - 50 was the goal). I'm definitely fit for that or even better and I'll surely run that or faster the net time out. I knew I was in trouble about 600 meters into the race. I felt flat and tired. I battled back from last place a few times only to get dropped again. Luckily I've got a good kick and was able to just muscle my way through the last 800 meters.

All in all it was a good experience. Sometime we learn more about ourselves from bad races than we do from good ones. This also concludes the 1st part/phase of my racing season. I can't say it's started or it has gone as well as I had hoped. I was hoping by now I'd be running in the 8:40's, instead of 9:04. Regardless, "It's not where you start, but where you end up." as my coach Lorraine likes to tell me.

Now I'm sitting in a Chicago airport with a lot of things going through my mind. DOUBT is definitely not one of them. I know that my Olympic Odyssey isn't over yet. In fact it won't be over (one way or another) till July 23rd (The IAAF/IOC deadline). I'm also very realistic and know that unless I get my act together I could be sitting at home come August watching the games. I can live with that if I've given my best and GOTTEN the best out of myself in the races.

At this point in time though, that's not the case. There's a lot left to do and Lorraine's got the plans set in motion already to do what we need to do in order to make the next 20 or 30 second jump that my fitness/workouts show I can manage.

The next 2.5 - 3wks or so will be spent in Boulder. This will be the longest time I'll have been back "home" since the end of March. I look forward to this time. I'll probably take a few easy days of running to make sure that my health is 100% (which it clearly wasn't last night) and then probably start the next round of workouts. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm definitely excited, as I fully trust Lorraine.

In the meantime I'll also start thinking about which Euro meetings I want to (and will be accepted to) take part in. The "KBC Night of Athletics" in Heusden is def # 1 on my list, but thats not till July 20th, which would probably (if all goes to plan) be my last race before Beijing. What I need to do now is find one or preferably two steeples before that, starting as early as July 5th.

We'll see what comes of all this. Either way I thank YOU (the readers) for following along my journey. One way or another we'll all find out in the next month+ how or where it'll end. I look forward to that moment....I have already learned a lot on this 1st part of my racing/traveling season.

I want to thank everyone who's made my travels/training/racing easier through extending themselves with transportation/accommodations/meals/expenses assistance.

Peace & Love

-Rob

http://sirrunsalot.mindsay.com

Lessons from the Road...

2008-05-25T15:27:12+00:00

I've basically been on the road training/racing since the very end of March, so almost two months now. In that time I have been back in Boulder several times, but for not much longer than 10 - 14 days at a time. I've been to California (Both Northern and Southern parts) twice, have been to Boston twice now as well as NY (where I'm currently typing from).

My trips to California were good/bad. Good in the sense that Lorraine and I started getting a grasp on when I should head "down" (meaning to sea level) for a competition.

We're thinking three days before (meaning racing on the 3rd day) is when I've felt the best. That's not too earth shaking, as it goes along with the common belief.

We also did some speed work on those two trips down to California, and discovered that my natural wheels come back rather quickly. I did some speed sessions with my good buddy and host: Steve "Mr. 3:56" Sherer.

Now on to the more somber news. I headed into these trips and continue to with high hopes and optimism. After all training this past fall and winter had gone well and even more so the workouts had been indicating good things to come.

I opened up with a low key 1500 meter race somewhere in San Francisco around April 12th. This was apparently a sign of things to come. I had burned the bottom of my feet the day before running a cool down (post-workout run) barefoot on the hot track.

I had done this many times before, but apparently this was ONCE too many times.
So I took off from the line and realized no one was going to come with me.

I was simply testing my feet and fitness. I had to pull the pin and DNF (Did Not Finish) after about 1000 meters, because I feared the carnage I would unleash on my feet as they hurt to run on.

I was also leading by a decent amount at the time. I wasn't happy with this decision, but thought it was the smart thing to do.
My next outing about a week or so later was in Walnut, CA.

I left Steve's place and headed down to Delwyn Moller's (my coach's younger sister) place. Her and her husband Brian and two beautiful kids treated me very well and were kind host.

The meet had changed the sched up a bit and I found out I'd be racing the very next day after I had arrived. I wasn't too bothered by this, since I had just been on a simple 1 hour flight down from San Jose towards the Sierra Madre/Burbank area.

I had put the frustrations of the 1500 behind and m feet had started to come around, still blistered underneath, but not too bad. I left for the race the next day allowing myself plenty of time to make the 18 mile trip.

Given that Id' be dealing with California traffic, which can make even the most laid back of people absolutely mad with rage! What I failed to realize, which Delwyn would inform me on later, was that there had been some sort of Bomb threat or scare called in not long before I headed out of the house, and thus caused a massive grid lock on the roads.

Long story short I covered 18 miles (yes with a car) in close to 2 hours! I've covered further distances than that on foot on training runs before.
I made it to the meet just in time to hear "last call for men's steeplechase."

I tried not getting anxious but knew I'd have 15 - 20 mins to check in, warm up and head to the line. "No worries", I thought. Anyways my legs felt fine and I knew I'd have a good go at things.

I started the race and I felt fine, but shortly after a mile (I was 3rd or so at that point) I started to really fade and almost went into sleep mode (like a computer). I finished the race, because I didn't want another DNF next to my name. I came away from it feeling very down and upset.

Speaking to Lorraine shortly after the race helped a bit, but we were both frustrated. I took it out on a long run the next day, heading up the Sierra Madre mountains behind Delwyn and Brian's property.

After that it was a loooooong day of traveling towards Boston. I got in very tired but with 8 hours (4 of sleeping) to spare before Samia's Olympic Marathon Trial's race.

From the airport I headed to some hotel where I met up w/ my college teammate/roomates: Andy and Chris. They'd come into town to see me and watch the race. Life savors they were, as they booked the hotel and everything beforehand, so I could just come in and sleep.

Samia had a strong race and was right in the thick of things, till about 8 - 10 miles to go, when she started to fade and finished 18th. Not bad by any means, but she was clearly hoping for a top 3. It was great to catch up w/ her and finally meet her family.

It was a great weekend, but I was ready to head back to Boulder after being away for almost an entire month. I also wanted to head back and figure out what was going on with me.

We (Lorraine/Harlan/I) deduced that there were some mental barriers/pressure that I had to deal with in order to sort things out, as well as that I was a bit low on my iron.

The mental stuff didn't surprise me too much, as I have had a habit in the past or at times of putting too much pressure in a situation and expecting too much, hence overwhelming myself almost before the event even takes place.

The low iron was a bit of a surprise, as I've never had that issue before.
So we new we had a FEW (perhaps and understatement) things to fix before my next outing, as I was already booked to leave town for California again in a week or so. I started taking Iron pills which didn't taste too great.

I next headed back to Steve's place in Los Gatos, CA. He had been struggling with an injury almost since the first time I got there, so we weren't really able to train together. It wasn't much of a bother though, as I was simply there for a few days this time and wasn't putting in much in the way of workouts. The whole time I was there I was focused on having a good race.

I also never once got nervous in the days or even hours before the race, this somewhat puzzled Steve. I simply told him, "I can't help not getting nervous, sometimes I'm VERY VERY nervous before a race and other times I'm super calm....it never seems to indicate what type of race I'll have, as I've done well off both instances."

Well I headed off to the ultra competitive Payton Jordan Invite, where I of course ran into tons and tons of coaches/agents and training mates from around the country/world. It was good to see friends, but also a little distracting (my own fault). I started focusing on being judge by my pears instead on what I had to do to perform well.

I was in a good steeplechase field and hoping to run my "own" splits for the 1st half and then GO. This was the plan that Lorraine and I put down. Unfortunately my head got the better of me and I DNF again (3rd time ever!). I had no real reason to not finish, other than I didn't like the position I was in.

It turned out the field went out way faster than I had anticipated and although I was running a pace that would've (had I hung on to finish) landed me a top 3 finish, I panicked and pulled out.

Frustrated and upset I called up Lorraine, who already knew the results as the meet was being streamed live on the net. I wasn't sure what was worst the shame of NOT finishing or the shame of potentially finishing last (which didn't transpire of course).

I headed back to Boulder the next day. Unsure if it was my fitness or just my head, Lorraine had me do a 3 mile tempo on a very hilly road that we've used earlier in the year. I wasn't really feeling up to this workout, but wasn't about to go against Lorraine's wishes.

She's very awesome and supportive in that sense. I went out and ran my fastest 3 mile tempo ever (for the hilly course).
Between that 3 mile workout and today I completed 4 different workouts, each of them being better than the previous best for the specific workout (track and roads). This showed and SHOWS that I'm fit, it of course didn't really do TOO much for the confidence, as it showed that the problem was/is most likely upstairs (pointing at my head).

Lorraine then hooked me up with her friend: Sunn Turner, who's got a bio-feedback machine. The goal was to hook me up to this and have simple conversations and measure how my body/heart rate react to certain cues and situations. I had two sessions with Sunny, which were rather helpful.

We learned that I've framed things (when competition is involved) as "All or Nothing". Meaning I either HAVE to win or run "X" time or it's not really worth my time. So almost as if it's either ACCOMPLISH the goal or 2nd,3rd,4th place = same as last place or not finishing.

This of course is not the healthiest of ways to frame things. I've still got a ways to go. Unfortunately time is also clicking closer and closer to crunch time. My only saving grace (if I can call it that), is that my fitness is there and my coach believes that I'm CLOSE to a breakthrough.

I'm hoping this is the case, as I'm long over due for a massive PB (Personal Best). I've spoken to a lot of my running friends who've struggle as I'm struggling now, and asked their sincere advice on how they've come out of it.

These friends include Fasil Bizuneh, who just had a great 10k breakthrough in running 27:50, after being stuck in the 28:20's and 30's for several years, Ryan Hall, who's been on fire every since moving up to the 1/2 and full marathon. He had come close to calling it quits not long ago in college.

He spoke to me about that at length when we ran into each other in California and then Boston. Surely a good role model, even if we're the same age. The last is my other buddy Alan Webb, who's had a up/down career since breaking out. He told me how he's dealt with the pressures and of course how sometime you just gotta shut everything/everyone out.

My girlfriend: Samia has also been a great help.
At the end of the day it's ALL up to me though. All the talent and workout fitness in the world isn't going to get me to the Olympics, if I'm not operating or rather RACING at full force. I've got maybe 2 - 3 races sched in June here in the U.S before I head overseas.

My most sincere of goals is to close the gap on the 8:32 that I've been chasing since before I started my racing campaign this year.
I had another race in Boston yesterday which went better, but the time itself was rather lousy. I finished 3rd, but I lead for a while at the pace my coach and I had planned, the only missing part was the middle of the race where I hit a bad patch.

It's strange that I can (barely) gain confidence from running a time that I would've been upset with, had I run it back when I was a sophomore in college, but that's just where I'm right now. I truly wish that I could be typing here with great news of my Olympic Journey.
It's far from over yet, but definitely not getting any easier.

My only saving grace/hope, is that you're always one race away, the fitness is there, the work has be done and I just have to stay positive and start to work on how I frame things (mentally).

This reminds me of when I started running back in 8th grade for our H.S varsity team. I showed great promise by running under 5 mins for the mile (solid time for an 8th grader), but then no matter how much I tried I didn't break 5 mins again for the next few years.

I got close but never broke it again, till one day early into my Junior year (so we're talking 3 or 4 years now) I went out and ran 12 seconds faster than I had ever run before, and then then chopped off another 12 seconds in the following 2 races! I had gone from 5 mins to 4:36 in a span of 2 - 3 races! 24 seconds in ONE mile is a ton.
I look back at these and other instances in my life like that for hope.

I also look REALISTICALLY towards the future. The goal is: BEIJING, but whether that occurs or not, I can't and won't give up. I know the talent is there. The beauty of running, is that you get out of it what you put in, the curse is that there's not exact time line or schedule on this pay back.

As I mentioned earlier both Fasil and Ryan had breakthrough in the past couple of years, but had put in many frustrating performances up before that. I seem to be on that journey, after all this is only my 2nd full season of racing again since 2004, as I took a few years off to train.

I'm hoping we can time things right and come out on top.
I will continue to be patient and not treat every race as DO or DIE, "All or Nothing". I'm still trying to come to terms with showing up at meets and because I'm an Olympian having a lot expected of me (as was the case yesterday in Boston).

I look forward to my next few races, which I will decide on further once I return to Boulder (later tonight) and speak to Lorraine on Monday.
Regardless of how this Olympic Odyssey unfolds, I will head to Europe sometime in July and chase down new and faster PB's.

I thank all the readers that have continue to show support and visited this blog of mine, especially in the past month and a half when I haven't been updating.

It's been great to travel to meets and catch up with friends around the country and get a lot of encouragement from people who've stumbled across my blog.
I guess sometimes I'm not sure who or IF anyone reads it, since it doesn't show the number of visitors, unless they're mindsay members (I asked Mr. Ostrow to fix this, but it can't be done or something).

It was good hearing feedback from Murray Taylor, my Kiwi manager in Europe last year, as well as my hearing back from my Dad: John after I hadn't updated for a while, and of course my college teammate Joe Pienta who's pushing for me to reach my goals this year and beyond, as he himself strives to get back to good fitness.

Alright this has been a rather long entry. I apologize for that, but I figured I owed it to the readers/supporters to explain my state of being in the past two months or so.

I will remain patient and very much HUMBLE seeing how things haven't (yet?) transpired as I had hoped/planned.

This is all part of the journey and I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends as the Olympic Games loom closer and closer. One thing is for sure, whether I make it or not, I will surely not be giving up....as I know the talent is there and the hard work is more than evident.

The desire burns deep and I only hope I can showcase this in the upcoming weeks/months so that I can fulfill my goals and also show my supporters and friends/family that their love and support isn't being wasted.
I've gotta roll out for a short run before packing up and heading for a full day of traveling.

Peace & Love

-Rob

1st week in Cali

2008-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

G'day runners and readers out there. Hope all's going well and Spring
is greeting everyone warmly. I'm basically closing out my 1st full week
(tonight) in California.

Training has been going well since I got out
here. Nothing major (read below for details). The trails have been
great, including my trip to a nearby Redwood Forest. Steve's been a
great host, even though our training philosophies and mileage differ.
Its been nice being at the track with him while both working hard to
accomplish essentially the same goals (different events).

On
both Friday and Saturday I accompanied him and his mate Tommy Schmitz
to the Stanford Invitational. Steve ran a great 800m in finishing 2nd
(1:48) and came back the next day (Saturday) to run the 1500m as well.
We're planning on running a 1500m together this coming weekend. The
plan is for him to pace me through 800 - 1000 meters at "x" pace. Will
decide on that later. I'd love to run a quick 1500m but as Lorraine has
mentioned, this is just a throwaway race. It's more to set me up for a
good steeple and make the steeple pace feel that much slower. So we'll
see how it all goes. Below is last week's training so read and enjoy...

Week (#43) March 30th - April 5th

Sunday: Distance: 21.50 miles @ 11:45 AM (33 degrees), Pace: 6:26Run Duration: 2h15
Very hilly run of Poorman's Loop + Sunshine & Mt. Sanitas.

Monday: Distance: 11.00 miles @ South Boulder Creek Path. Then 6 x 150m @ 19-20 seconds in spikes.

Tuesday: AM: Workout @ North Boulder. 1 x 3 miles & on Road . With Lorraine. Ran
it earlier in the day than normal, due to afternoon flight to
California. 1st time running this 3 mile road loop since January 22nd.
1st 2k = straight uphill. Splits: 5:24, 5:11 & 4:41 (last 1/2 mi =
2:12). Felt good and went @ aprox 75% effort as Lorraine had asked for. Distance: 10.00 miles total for day.

Wednesday: Workout @ Los Gatos High School ( CALIFORNIA) @ 1:00pM . 12 x 200 meters (200m recovery jog). Felt
surprisingly easy. Started easy @ 30 sec and worked my way down. My
buddy Steve Sherer (aka Mr. 3:56) was track side with me doing his own
workout. Avg Pace: 28-29sec.
P.M Easy 4.5 miler (+ Core) along local creek path with Steve's mate: Tommy Schmitz. Distance: 12.00 miles

Thursday: Distance: 10.00 @ Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park @ 12:30 P.M with
Tommy & Steve. Very nice and lush trails. The scenery (will try
and post a picture soon) was great. The trees = MASSIVE!

Friday (Harlan's Birthday) 11 A.M Distance: 8.00
miles out & back on Creek Path near Los Gatos High, then cruisy 3 x
200m @ track in 26 seconds with full recovery (200m jog/walk).

Saturday:
11 A.M Workout @ West Valley Community College: 1 x 2000 meter Steeple. Ran
5:49 with splits of: 69,2:19,3:32,4:43,5:49. Felt pretty good just fell
a sleep around 3 or 4 laps. Had to hurdle water pit due to it being
boarded off. Had Steve there giving splits and checking out form. All
in all a decent effort. Will look to be smoother/faster next time out. 4:05 P.M - Crusiy
8 miler @ 5:37 pace along marked miles on Los Gatos Creek Path. Didn't
plan on running that fast, but it felt very easy so I just rolled with
it. Distance: 14.25 miles

Week's Total Mileage: 86.75 (avg: 12.40 miles per day)

All in all I'd say it was a good week. Started in Boulder with a nice
long and hilly run, and ended down at sea level with a solid 1st crack
@ steeple barriers since '07 and a good post workout tempo run as well.
Los Gatos is a nice area with some good hilly trails nearby. Another
added bonus is that the local track/high school is barely over 1000
meters away from Steve's pad. The speed seems to be coming around
quickly as well. Looking forward to the rest of my West coast
trip/training & RACING!

Peace & Love

-Rob

Rob's blogs

Week that was & Greetings from Cali

2008-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

G'day out there in cyber space. I just woke up and felt the need to
finally do a quick update. It's currently just after 9AM here in Los
Gatos, California.

For my body it means it's really just after 10AM
(Boulder time). I got into town late evening on the 1st, so I have only
really been here one full day thus far. It's a very very nice area,
ridiculously wealthy. I won't go into too much details about that
(that's what google is for), but let's just say that the only 3 car
dealerships I saw in town only sold cars that were in the six figures.


I'll recap last week (not in the typical fashion though as I'm pressed
for time). Last week's training was overall a good one. Lorraine wanted
to experiment with my peak or rather finding when I'd peak in a mini 4
day cycle. So last week's mileage was VERY low for what I'm used to.
Last week = Week # 42, March 23rd - 29th

I woke up on Sunday and felt very sore from the previous day's workout
(really the 6 x 150m fast sprints). So my Sunday long run was rather
short @ 11.50 miles or so. Monday was an easy hilly run of 11.50 miles
or so as well. Tuesday (while still sore) we headed to the track and
did a light workout of 3 x k. The pace wasn't supposed to be fast and
thus I avg about 2:51. Lorraine asked me to take Wed off and I did. I
felt way to full of energy on that day though, but I knew that we were
experimenting with a day off in the middle of the week to see the
results. I like that Lorraine can think that far ahead and experiment
now for things that we'd like to have completely nailed down later on
in the summer/year.
    Thursday itself consisted of an easy 7
miler and 6 x 100m strides on the grass. I was far too sore (STILL!!!!)
to do anything too quick w/ them and just ran them at about 15 sec or
so. Friday I was allowed to run more of my typical daily avg and ran an
easy 12 miler @ South Boulder Creek Trail. After that I ran 3 x 200m on
the track where I was told to FLOAT the 1st 100m and then pick up the
last 100m. I ran 27,26 & 26 seconds.
Finally on Saturday we
had planned a quick workout. Just 1 x 2 mile in a time trial type
situation. The goal was 9 mins. I felt pretty confident that I'd be
able to run around 9 mins and if all went well -without killing myself
for the effort- be able to run anywhere between 8:50 - 9:00. Well that
was not to be the case. We (we as in BOULDER) had unreal winds.
Lorraine and Harlan would later go on to tell me that they thought I'd
call it quits somewhere before (or maybe after) the 1st mile, when I
was already behind the pace and visibly struggling against the wind.
The thought never crossed my mind, instead I kept thinking, "Well I'll
have to run the next mile in xyz to get this time." Later with 1/2 mile
to go when I saw I'd need to run a 1:56 or at least sub 2 mins I
thought, "Well why not I haven't gone this fast yet but let's give it a
go..."
    Needless to say I came home in a 9:30 and it was the
toughest 2 miler I had ever run. We found out later that we had 46 mph
wind gust, and I felt every single mile per hour of it. I was very
upset by the time (not effort) and thus Lorraine decided that we better
try another one, since the time didn't reflect my true fitness. I
didn't really think I could do another because (A) I was tired from
battling the wind (both physically and more importantly MENTALLY) &
(B) I just flat out felt frustrated by the effort and wanted to call it
quits for the day.
    Lorraine drove me up up and a ways out of
town (between Lyons, Boulder & Longmont) to do the next repetition,
where I'd follow her car and stop when she stopped along a looong
stretch of dirt road. I got pretty stiff in the car while driving with
her and could barely keep up with her at first when we got out and were
warming up. I kept trying to push the negative thoughts out of my head.
She sent me off and told me to just stride out the 1st mile or so and
see how I felt. To be honest if it hadn't bee for Lorraine I would've
def called it quits. Eitherway it went much better than the first. I
ran a 9:15 for that 2 mile and the effort didn't feel anywhere near as
tough as the 9:30 fist effort. I also ran it rather evenly through 1
mile. The splits were 2:20, 2:20, 2:23 (I stopped because I thought
Lorraine said I was done, and didn't realize I had 1/2 mile to go) and
2:12 last 800m.    So there you have it that's basically the training
from last week. I hit 65 miles and felt rather sore for the 1st part of
the week. Now I'm in California and looking forward to getting in some
training down here as well as lacing up the spikes and starting my 2008
Olympic Journey.
    I'll try and do another update soon. My good
friend: Steve Sherer (who I'm training and staying with) can't remember
the password for his wireless internet, so I have to use his lap top.
Meaning that for the time being I've brought a lap top that's
essentially a giant paperweight in my bag pack. The guys are still
sleeping now but when they wake up (hopefully soon) we'll go for a nice
run in the Redwood Forest in Santa Cruz. I'll definitely take my
picture as it's truly a beautiful place. I was there once in 2001 when
my then college team and I came this way for the Stanford Invitational.

    Well I must get going. Thanks for stopping by and having a (hopefully) quick read of things.

Peace & Love

-Rob

Pushing mental barriers

2008-03-25T21:31:06+00:00

So another week has come and gone. I'm eagerly awaiting my trip out to California next week (April 1st). I'll be staying with a good friend of mine: Steve "Mr. 3:56" Sherer out in Santa Cruz.

I'm excited for several reasons: 1) Good/warmer weather (2) Experience some sea-level running & (3) The beach! I'm a beach boy at heart, having been born in Barcelona, Spain. Although I love Boulder and the Rocky mountains, there's just something about the beach that really gets me.
    Anyways back to the business at hand. So April will surely see me accumulating some airline miles, as I fly to Santa Cruz, then Burbank, Boston and finally back here to Boulder (for maybe 10 days?). This past week was much better than the last. It was the 1st week of the new proposed lower mileage approach. I definitely felt a bit more energized during runs, but unfortunately wasn't 100% disciplined with my sleeping habits.
    This week a change of pace. I was very much used to seeing what workouts I was going to be doing many days (or weeks even) in advance. This week however, Lorraine gave me my workouts either the day of or the night before. On top of that we did 3 (although not all the same intensity: like Tues vs Wed, or Wed vs Sat.'s) workouts this week. I have so much faith/trust and respect in Lorraine, that I gladly leave it in her hands and just show up (always on time minus Saturday) ready to do whatever it's she's laid out.
    I learned more about the possibilities of the human body and even more so about the mind/body connection this week. I went into Tuesday's workout thinking, "Oh boy I'm pretty tired, I hope I can break 9:50 for 2 miles.", but with Lorraine around it's tough to ever stay too down or sluggish feeling. I quickly turned my mind towards the task at hand and just focused on how good I felt (even if it was a lie at first) and let my body get into that sort of groove. The workouts (both Tues & Saturday, when I felt particularly sluggish) demonstrated how big of a role the mind can play in our athletic performance.
    Had I not had Lorraine around on Saturday I either would've called it a day and just gone back to bed (yes folks I'm human), or slugged through back to back 2 mile efforts @ less than what I clearly showed I was capable of doing. The moral (if there's one) is to stay focused on the task at hand, and think positively. It doesn't do any good to think negatively or focus on things like, "I'm sluggish, I'm tired...I rather be sleeping or watching tv", when you've got a task to be completed. If that's the case then we might as well face it with enthusiasm and ready to give 100% effort. I hope that I can take these (somewhat new) lessons into the 1st few races with me.
As usual below is the past week's mileage/workout breakdown...

Week (#41) March 16th - 22nd

Sunday: Distance: 16.00 miles @ 12:30PM (42 degrees), Pace: 6:22 Run Duration: 1h42
Very hilly run of Poorman's Loop + Sunshine & Mt. Sanitas. Calves were definitely sore but not too bad.

Monday: Distance: 10.50 miles @ Rally Sports Gym. Calves weren't quite @ 100%.

Tuesday: PM: Workout @ North Boulder. 1 x 2 miles & on Road . With Lorraine. Started out like a cannon and was feeling good, but luckily Lorraine drove next to me around 1k or so and told me to slow down. I was just either in the ZONE (zoned out perhaps?) or out of control. Who knows? Lorraine had me do a pretty long (6 miles or so) warm up. 2 miles in: 9:16 (pretty even splits 4:37 & 4:39); Distance: 11.50 miles total for day.

Wednesday: Workout @ Fairview High School @ 6:45pM (47 degrees but chilly) . 4 x 800 meters (400m recovery jog). Lorraine had me run the first 600m (1.50 laps of the track) rather slow (72 or 73 sec for 400m pace) and then picking it up (not all out) the last 200m. I did this for the 1st 3, and then on the last one she had me just run the first 400m slow (71ish) and run the last 400m faster (63 ish). Overall it was a good effort. I didn't quite feel tired from the previous day's workout, but my calves did feel the effort a bit. I did the workout in my cross country spikes, which are a little more forgiving than my steeplechase spikes. Avg Pace: 2:19.75 (2:22,2:22,2:21 & 2:14) Distance: 10.00 miles

Thursday: Distance: 14.25 @ Rally Sports Gym + Core (I still hate treadmills) @ 6:30 P.M

Friday (Harlan's Birthday) A.M 8:00 Distance: 5.50 miles out & back on Creek Path (38 degrees). P.M 4:30 Distance: 11.00 miles @ South Boulder Creek Trail (first time there in a loooong while) with good training mate: Austin Baille, who was moving to Flagstaff, AZ the following day. Ran 60 mins or so with him and added the rest solo on the C.U cross country course.

Saturday:
P.M: 4:30 (I overslept by 45 mins!) 42 degrees and a bit windy/cold! Workout @ North Boulder Park: 2 x 2 miles (5 mins-ish jog back to starting line on loop course) & 6 x 150 meters sprints (Full recovery). With Lorraine. Thank god she was there with me, as I felt truly sluggish when I woke from my nap, and even worst while warming up for the workout (I actually stopped to walk about 1 min into warm up). 1st 2 mile: 9:28 (4:48,4:40), 2nd 2 mile: 9:12 (4:40, 4:32). The 150m sprints have actually left me rather sore (I'm writing this two days later). The two milers were def an eye opener, as I didn't expect to run that fast. I closed especially well over the last 1/2 mile of the last one. Lorraine noted a good change of pace. Good for the confidence, but the RACES are what will matter most, not one or two workouts. Distance: 12.50 miles

Week's Total Mileage: 91.25 (avg: 13.04 miles per day)

Well thanks for stopping by again folks. I should be able to get one more entry in before I head out to California (unless I get busy with packing or lazy and slacking).

Living & Learning

2008-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

G'day & hello again! This week was an ever better one than the last (training wise), but still not 100% spot on. I guess when striving to achieve one of the ultimate goals in sports (or anything in life for that matter) one can rarely rest easy on their accomplishments.

     It's because of that simple fact (and a few more) that I consider the week I had a good one, but not GOOD enough.
    The "stats" (as in mileage/workouts ect...) are once again laid out just below. I kicked off the past week with a very good and FUN (an important aspect often overlooked) long run. I had planned on only about a 15 or 16 mile long run, but got "lost" in the mountains when I was surrounded by nothing but stunning views and unrelenting uphill after uphill climb. It was quite peaceful...if you don't mind running through Mountain Lion & Bear country!
    Tuesday's workout was far better than I would've guessed before hand. I felt rather sluggish during the warm up. Lorraine switch things up a bit and had me do a 2 mile to kick things off, followed by 2 x mile. She had Danny Abshire (link and more on him below) come out to watch/scout/critique me. It was very exciting as he had a lot of positive feedback for me and saw some room for improvement.
    Rest of the week was pretty much status quo. I was looking forward to Saturday's workout, but it didn't go as well as planned due to my right calf. We're hoping to sort a few things out with my biomechanics in order to seas the strain on my calves when I really get up on my toes and get into spikes on the track.
    All in all I'm feeling very optimistic. It's only the middle or March, and I know that I'll be a lot stronger and faster in 5 months or so (August 17th to be exact) when the heats of the Steeplechase go off in Beijing. The job right now is to do everything right so I can 1st QUALIFY and 2nd get there in the right mental & physical state to do something special!!!!
    The final piece to the week came when Lorraine analyzed my running log and went back weeks/months to see how my mileage was coming along. She was essentially looking for any patterns to see where we could be more efficient. We sat and spoke and decided that starting this week (the one I'm currently in, not the one I just updated about) I'll cut my mileage down to about 90 miles per week (or 145k). I've been averaging about 105 miles per week now since October. That's more than enough. She also mentions that by cutting back my long runs to say 16 miles max, on top of also cutting the other 15 or so miles per week extra (from about 105 to 90-ish) I'll have more pop in my step and be more recovered. This is both exciting and great news. The way I see it...I've had some pretty good/solid workouts as of late minus the last two track attempts (with Saturday's still not being the worst EVER) with all this extra mileage, so once I lose that baggage, I should really fly!!
    Alright as usual below is the week broken down. Enjoy....

Week (#40) March 9th - 15th

Sunday: Distance: 22.00 miles @ 11:40PM (48 degrees), Pace: 6:21 Run Duration: 2h20
Fantastic Run. Headed straight up to Chautauqua Park. Lost track of time up in the myriad of trails up near 7,000ft with stunning views. Felt really nice. Could've gone for 3+ hours but cut it short cuz I'm not insane.

Monday: Distance: 11.50 miles @ Hog backs + Red Rocks + Mt. Sanitas (hilly trail run). Basically same run as two weeks ago, just a bit longer. Felt good and calves weren't too troublesome.

Tuesday: PM: Workout @ North Boulder. 1 x 2 miles & 2 x 1 mile Road Repeats. With Lorraine & Danny Abshire present to test out some shoes & get some feedback on my form and biomechanics. 2 miles in: 9:24 (pretty even splits); Avg pace for Miles = 4:27 (4:30 & 4:24). Distance: 13.50 miles total for day.

Wednesday: Distance: 13.00 miles @ 8:30AM (44 degrees & windy) out & back on creek path + north boulder. Pace: 6:18.

Thursday: Distance: 4 miles @ 8:30 AM, out & back on Creek Path (41 degrees). 5 P.M 10.00 miles + core @ Rally Sports Gym.

Friday: A.M 8:15 Distance: 5 miles out & back on Creek Path (38 degrees). P.M Distance: 11.50@ 4:45 miles up & down creek path with Ed Torres (for 35 mins). Felt good, just sluggish running into the wind @ times.

Saturday: A.M 9 miles @ 10:30 (43 degrees but chilly). Easy out & back on Creek Path + North Boulder park Legs feeling pretty good.
P.M: (47 degrees!) Workout @ Fariview High School: 3 x 1000 meters (600m jog recovery) & 2 x 800 meters. With Lorraine, Harlan, Jasmine & her best mate: Chloe. Avg: 2:51.67 for k's but pulled the pin (yest AGAIN!) about 600m into the 1st of two 800's. I felt my right calf start to go somewhere during the 2nd 1000 meter repeat I did, and then again 50 meters (1/2 way through the curve on the track) into my 3rd 1000 meter repeat. By the time I got to the 800's I knew it was just a matter of holding on and grinding through it. I stopped short, because I realized that it would do more harm than good to push through it and risk pulling a muscle. Lorraine & I are working on getting my calves right when I'm in spikes. We'll see what the next week or so brings. Otherwise fitness is good. I felt very much in control during the k's, just got to sort out my calves/shoes/biomechanic situation soon though.

Week's Total Mileage: 110 (avg: 15.72 miles per day)

Thanks for reading...

Peace & Love

Running into my 26th year of life

2008-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

G'day to everyone out in Cyber Space! I'll make this entry a bit shorter, cuz I always complain to my good training mates out there when they ask me to read their stuff, if it's over 150 words.

This past week (I'm updating a bit late) was an Avg/OKAY week @ best. The mileage was solid, but as I mentioned to Harlan (Lorraine's husband & my fav person to wax philosophy with) I can basically roll out of bed on any given week and run a 100 mile week (all things being equal of course).
    Lorraine, Harlan & I had good discussions about my recovery and overall physical state. The "problem" (not a bad one to have), is that we've learned that I can go and go and go in training, and just pound and recover. Well the issue is that at times I'm not at 100% before getting to the next workout (in this case from previous Saturday to this past Tuesday), thus I managed to make it through Tues' workout with good results (fastest avg yet...), but was already in the RED ZONE by Saturday, and thus needing to pull the pin.
    Overall things are going well. Had a lovely birthday with Harlan, Lorraine, their 7 year old Jasmine, and her best friend (and my very good friend as well) Chloe. We went up towards North Boulder (about 3 miles away) to our fav. "Celebratory" local: Dagabi. I've spent my last 2 birthdays (three including this one) there with them. It was very nice of them to take me out to dinner. It was also great to hear from my Mom & Dad, and the rest of my very very tight knit family in Spain. They're all pulling for me extra hard this year, and are always eager to read/hear about my training progress.
    It'd be great if we could have a format here where you could post comments w/out having to register. I know of a ton of friends/family I have out there that read this but don't want to register just to say, "hi" or whatever it's they'd say.
    Well I'll close w/ the typical breakdown of the week. Still don't know if it's over kill to show that part below, but I figure it can be looked @ and questions (if any) can be asked as to the method behind the madness. I know the true running dorks (I know you're out there..hahah) like seeing this. I've got no secrets to hide, just straight training w/ a good goal in mind.

Week (#39) March 2nd - 8th

Sunday: Distance: 17.50 miles @ 12:30PM (32 degrees), Pace: 6:17 Run Duration: 1h50
Drastic change in temp (with overnight snow!). Ran out towards Wonderland Lake. Didn't feel too great, so turned around and finished run on flatter ground. Calves were pretty sore/tight.

Monday: Distance: 10.50 miles @ 5:15PM Pace: 6:20. Ran indoors & x-trained @ Rally Sports Gym. Calves weren't 100%.

Tuesday: PM: Workout @ North Boulder. 3 x 1 mile Road Repeats. Terrain = Uphill, Flat, Downhill & Flat. Lorraine followed in car. Avg pace = 4:29.67 Fastest: 4:27 (last one) Slowest: 4:31 (1st one) Distance: 12.50 miles total for day.

Wednesday: Distance: 14.25 miles @ 5:15PM @ Rally Sports Gym. Pace: 6:19. Decided to stay indoors and treadmill it + x-train due to very sore calves.

Thursday: Distance: 4 miles @ 8:25 AM, out & back on Creek Path ( 25 degrees). 5 P.M 10.50 miles + Rally Sports Gym.

Friday (MY 26th B-day): A.M 8:15 Distance: 5 miles out & back on Creek Path. P.M 53 degrees @ 4:15 Distance: 10.50 miles up & down creek path to remain flat & give right calf a bit of a break.

Saturday: A.M 8.50 miles @ 10:40. Easy out & back on Creek Path. Right calf still not 100%, but hoped it'd come around right for the afternoon session. Distance: 8.00 miles
P.M: (47 degrees!) Workout @ Fairview High School: 5 x 800 meters (600m jog recovery) . With Lorraine. Lorraine & I pulled the pin rather early as we could see that I wasn't ready to do the workout. My calves were tight/sore and holding me back. I ran 2 x 800 @ a much slower pace than desire (ran 2:19 & 2:16) and was working far too hard for it. Wasn't too happy 'bout it, but being smart enough to stop a workout short is sometimes better than having the "GUTS" to continue through pain & possibly cause injury.

Week's Total Mileage: 102 (avg: 14.57 miles per day)

Cheers for stopping by....

Peace & Love