Focus

As the 2005 HP Houston Marathon approaches, a runner enters the phase of training properly termed "the taper." It is an anxious, yet ominous task. The runner is asked to cut back mileage, retain intensity, and increase focus. Rest is empahsized, as so is diet. However, how does one taper the mind? My mind has been going crazy envisioning scenario after scenario of marathon bliss and disaster. How will the first 15 miles feel? How will I feel at 20 miles? How hard will my marathon goal pace feel? All these questions are curious, yet they will be answered in due time (Jan. 16th, to be exact).

Health is top priority. Remain healthy, don't do anything stupid in training, and get your rest... AND TRY TO STAY SANE! I had one of my first dreams about the marathon last night:

Racing the course, having no remorse for the pace other than nailing my splits. I'm racing another runner, not sure who, it's a loop course, every loop I work harder and harder, but will I have enough left... take some water, keep at it. It will all be over soon. Victor Aguirre walks up, tells me I'm running 5:17 pace and so-and-so is running 5:14. I awake.

I never know what these dreams mean or don't mean. What they insinuate or how they permeate into my subconscious... All I know is that I will stay the course and continue on training as only I know how, giving my best effort day in and day out. The Holidays have brought comfort in training partners and a little more rest and perhaps less stress. My Mother is in town and witnessing her interact with my Daughter is priceless. She gets smarter every day (my Mother is a National-Certified teacher, one of the best in the business) and I hope they cherish their time together, "Abu" and "Mameline."

I will share a little here: my best Christmas present (I asked for nothing) was not my cargo pants, my pajama pants (too much info?), nor my "Black" cologne or my Cuban cigar cologne, nor my Puma shoes (though those were sweet), or my Express jeans, nor even the magical snow that arrived upon our lawn and heads on Christmas Eve... it was a simple Dr. Seuss book that my wife purchased for me entitled, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!". For those of you not familiar with this simple nursery rhyme of a book, check it out if you can and recognize the genius that Dr. Seuss was in not only teaching children through his riddles, but the amazing lessons an adult can learn from such childish stories exemplified in cartoon wonderings. How something so serious can be explained so simply just blows my mind. Thank you Dr. Seuss, but more importantly, thank you, my wife, for the thoughtful gift and introducing me to such a great story.

Traffic

Well, I was not able to attend the Dallas White Rock Marathon for my pacing duties and workout due to the unpleasant surprise of TRAFFIC of 45-North. We must have traveled 21 miles in 2.5 hours. Amazingly, the Marathon Expo which hosted the packet pick-up and registration closed at 6pm and there was no way we were going to make it into Dallas before 8pm. Granted, we hopped off 45, headed down 610 to the Galleria and did some Christmas shopping to dissipate our frustration and to get out of the car.

Training is going well, if not a little scary. Tapering is the one training phase where you can win or lose your marathon goal. Too much training, too little training, not the right type of training, injuries, sickness, health, all factor into running your best on race day. Anyhow, we will keep the pedal to the metal for another week or so and then back off completely in terms of mileage, but we will definitely be keeping up the intensity.

Best of luck to everyone...

White Rock Marathon

I know I have not written in quite a while, but I have been quite busy at work, home, and on the roads. This weekend, if all goes to plan, I will be heading out to Dallas to partake in the Dallas White Rock Marathon as a training effort. The plan is to run the first 13.1 miles at Marathon race pace and then drop out. Why am I not running the Half-Marathon instead? Simple, I don't want to be forced to race. I just want to run my pace and get out, much like I did at the Houstonian Lite 30K, where I was instructed to run 20 miles at 5:50 pace and did so without difficulty, even though if I would have crossed the finish line I would have placed 2nd overall.

Anyhow, that will be $130 in two weeks for a training run! Sheesh, this marathoning gets expensive. Also, Dallas is special to my wife and I. I proposed to Perla at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Restaurant (that big, glowing ball in the sky that's always highlighting Dallas) a couple of years ago and she said yes and I believe she didn't expect the proposal, but it was nicely timed with the sunset in the background, hundreds of feet above the earth, rotating through the skyline... Excellent food, mind you, and just an excellent experience. Little Madelyn wasn't even a thought back then. Amazing... Now, Madelyn is getting her teeth and growing and constantly getting us sick. But she is quite a child. She will (is) a handful: extremely intelligent and independent.

Well, training has been progressing well. Three days after my 20 miler in 1:56, I ran my most difficult session: an AM Long Prefontaine (1600-4 mi-1600) in 4:51, 22:21, 5:07 and then repeated the workout in the PM in 4:56-22:27-5:19. That 5:19 felt like an all-out effort. I am paying for it now with achy knees, but otherwise I feel great. My last two mileage weeks have been well above 110 miles/week and still rolling. The mileage will suffer this week due to recovery from the Prefontaines (supposed to feel like you ran a marathon), but I will have an excellent quality run on Sunday.

It has been fun watching Perla progress and try and gain back her fitness. She is constantly battling with fatigue from work and mothering and probably dealing with her tremendous gift of running. I think before the 30K she ran twice that week and still managed an okay effort. Coaching offers such a mix of emotions, as I go through the meteoric rise of someone like a Chris Bittinger who PR's in every run and every workout for the past 6 months, and then to somehow deal with the emotional devastation of a Jake Phillips and multiple stress fractures in his feet.

I take injuries very poorly. I do not know how to handle injuries, on a personal and coaching level. There is so much excitement, anxiety, frustration, lack of patience and understanding that goes on with injuries. They just happen to be a major part of our sport and they are so difficult to deal with and blindside us when things are going well.

Otherwise, I was going to comment on BALCO, on Dear Abby, on a ton of things, but thought otherwise. Perhaps I will get to them one time or another, but I hope all is well in the land of your lives and check back for an update to the weekend...

How about Region All-Star Teams?

Alright, so enough about the Region teams, how about which NCAA Division I Region has the best harriers over hill and dale? Below is the Top 5 performers per region and their scoring:

Men's Individual Region Breakdown
1st. Mountain Region, 46 points
2. Matt Gonzales (NM), 30:40.9
4. Brent Vaughn (CO), 30:48.7
5. Bret Schoolmeester (CO), 30:56.3
14. Shadrack Ki Biwott (NM), 31.16.9
21. Jon Severy (CO), 31:26.9

2nd. Great Lakes Region, 64 points
1. Simon Bairu (WI), 30:37.7
11. Matt Tegenkamp (WI), 31:09.7
16. Chris Solinsky (WI), 31:22.3
17. Nate Brannen (MI), 31:23.4
19. Olly Laws (Butler), 31:24.5

3rd. West Region, 89 points
8. Nef Araia (SU), 31:04.5
9. Robert Cheseret (AZ), 31:05.8
22. Aaron Aguayo (ASU), 31:27.3
24. Forest Braden (BSU), 31:31.7
26. Ryan Hall (SU), 31:34.9

4th. South Central Region, 118 points
3. Josphat Boit (AR), 30:41.8
20. Jason Sandfort (AR), 31:26.0
25. Marc Rodriguez (AR), 31:33.9
30. Andrew Middleton (TX), 31:41.2
40. Marcel Hewamudalige (Rice), 31:52.9

5th. NorthEast Region, 152 points
18. Lucas Meyer (Yale), 31:23.9
27. Bruce Hyde (Cornell), 31:39.1
29. Jeff Gaudette (Brown), 31:40.2
33. Stephen Chemlany (Iona), 31:44.9
45. Richard Kiplagat (Iona), 31:57.4

6th. MidWest Region, 158 points
7. Benson Chesang (KS), 30:59.4
12. Mathew Chesang (KState), 31:11.7
28. Ryan Malmin (MN), 31:39.2
37. Andrew Carlson (MN), 31:48.7
74. Micah VAn Denend (IA), 32:20.1

7th. Mid Atlantic Region, 187 points
10. Rod Koborsi (GU), 31:06.4
15. Robert Curtis (VU), 31:22.1
48. Dusty Lieb (Penn), 31:59.2
55. Pat Macadie (AU), 32:03.4
59. Chris Lukezic (GU), 32:07.8

8th. SouthEast Region, 215 points
13. Josh McDougal (LU), 31:14.5
35. Bobby Mack (NCSU), 31:46.0
38. Christo Landry (W&M), 31:49.1
58. Itay Magidi (Clemson), 32:07.1
71. Jacob Korir (EKY), 32:17.1

9th. South Region, 224 points
6. Simon Ngata (GA), 30:56.5
23. Tonny Okello (SAL), 31:30.1
50. Andrew Lemoncello (FSU), 32:00.0
72. Tom Lancashire (FSU), 32:17.7
73. Chris Walsh (Auburn), 32:19.8


Women's Individual Region Breakdown
1st. NorthEast Region, 35 points
1. Kim Smith (PU), 20:08.5
3. Caroline Bierbaum (CU), 20:30.7
6. Lindsay Donaldson (Yale), 20:40.0
10. Fiona Crombie (PU), 20:45.9
15. Maria Cicero (BC), 20:48.3

2nd. Mountain Region, 61 points
2. Renee Metevier (CO), 20:26.4
4. Laura Turner (BYU), 20:37.5
13. Liza Pasciuto (CO), 20:48.1
14. Christine Bolf (CO), 20:48.1
28. Sara Slattery (CO), 21:06.4

3rd. Mid Atlantic Region, 69 points
5. Maureen McCandless (Pitt), 20:38.2
8. Marina Muncan (VU), 20:42.8
17. Keira Carlstrom (AU), 20:49.8
19. Nicole Lee (GU), 20:53.1
20. Cack Ferrell (Princeton), 20:56.3

4th. SouthEast Region, 118 points
7. Carol Henry (NC), 20:41.9
16. Sally Meyerhoff (Duke), 20:49.2
27. Shannon Rowbury (Duke), 21:04.4
29. Clara Horowitz (Duke), 21:06.8
39. Selina Sekulic (WF), 21:13.4

5th. Great Lakes Region, 119 points
12. Danette Doetzel (MSU), 20:47.8
18. Jessica Gall (IU), 20:52.7
23. Stephanie Madia (ND), 20:57.1
32. Sunn Olding (ND), 21:09.2
34. Kerry Meagher (ND), 21:10.0

6th. West Region, 166 points
22. Amy Hasting (ASU), 20:56.9
26. Alicia Craig (SU), 21:02.8
31. Laura Harmon (OR), 21:07.7
41. Desiree Davila (ASU), 21:14.4
46. Teresa McWalters (SU), 21:17.2

7th. South Region, 190 points
9. Angela Homan (Auburn), 20:43.8
21. Shannon Womack (UTC), 20:56.6
36. Kathleen Turchin (UTC), 21:11.5
43. Christa Benton (USF), 21:16.4
81. Felicia Guliford (UT), 21:45.5

8th. MidWest Region, 237 points
11. Faithy Kamangila (Oral), 20:47.5
48. Mary Davies (OKState), 21:19.1
49. Jaime Turilli (IL), 21:19.3
64. Casey Owens (SWMO), 21:34.5
65. Serena Ramsey (MO), 21:35.1

9th. South Central Region, 297 points
25. Karin Van Royen (SMU), 20:58.1
53. Marissa Daniels (Rice), 21:24.4
67. Brittany Brockman (BU), 21:37.3
75. Ashley Monteau (SFA), 21:42.9
77. Mary Kinyanjui (TCU), 21:43.9

Which NCAA Div. I Region was the Strongest?

There is always a fierce debate among which NCAA Division Region is the strongest and which is the weakest. As a former South Region runner, I remember the South getting blasted year after year as a "weak" region. Ditto for the South Central when I coached at Pan-Am. So, I decided to run a statistical analysis, based on the 2004 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, as to which Region, is, in fact, the strongest and weakest in terms of teams and individuals.

Below is my breakdown. I have taken the Top 2 teams from each Region based on their National finish (tiebreaker is 3rd best team from Region). The number in parenthesis after the region is the number of teams from that region that competed. A couple of observations: Think altitude has no effect on distance running? The Mountain proved best in both the Men's & Women's races, with the great Great Lakes Region a close 2nd in both. The Southern schools still proved weakest in both races, with the SE Region taking the horses @ss in the Men's and the South girls claiming the honor of worst region. I look forward to 2005 and which regions will justify their selections...

Men's Regional Team Breakdown
1. Mountain Region (6) = 6 points
Colorado- 1st
BYU- 5th
(New Mexico- 9th)

2. Great Lakes Region (8) = 6 points
Wisconsin- 2nd
Butler- 4th
(Notre Dame- 11th)

3. West Region (3) = 14 points
Stanford- 6th
BYU- 8th

4. South Central (2) = 15 points
Arkansas- 3rd
Texas- 12th

5. NorthEast Region (2) = 28 points
Iona- 7th
Providence- 21st

6. MidWest Region (3) = 31 points
Iowa- 13th
Minnesota- 18th

7. Mid Atlantic Region (2) = 35 points
Georgetown- 15th
American- 20th

8. South Region (3) = 42 points
Florida State- 17th
Georgia- 25th

9. SouthEast Region (2) = 47 points
NC State- 16th
William & Mary- 31st

Women's Regional Team Breakdown
1. Mountain Region (3) = 9 points
Colorado- 1st
BYU- 8th

2. Great Lakes Region (6) = 10 points
Notre Dame- 4th
Michigan- 6th

3. SouthEast Region (4) = 12 points
Duke- 2nd
North Carolina- 10th

4. West Region (6) = 14 points
Stanford- 5th
Arizona State- 9th

5. NorthEast Region (2) = 16 points
Providence- 3rd
Columbia- 13th

6. Mid Atlantic Region (3) = 22 points
Villanova- 7th
West Virginia- 15th

7. MidWest Region (2) = 31 points
Missouri- 11th
Illinois- 20th

8. South Central Region (3) = 38 points
Arkansas- 16th
SMU- 22nd

9. South Region (2) = 45 points
Tennessee- 21st
Georgia- 24th