HARRA Cross Country Relay, 4 x 2 Miles

1st Place Overall Open Male in 41:43

The On the Run Racing Team consisting of John Hedengren, Alan Hedengren, Rudy Rocha, and myself captured the Overall Open Male Team title at the HARRA Cross Country Relay last weekend in dominating fashion for local bragging rights.

John Hedengren set the example from the gun- stunning the field with his powerful 10:15 opening leg to give his brother, Alan, a formidable lead over local team favorite, the Al Lawrence Running Club, and their leadoff, Vaughn Gibbs.

Alan set off alone over the amazingly difficult and technical course, but the second runner from ALRC ran strongly to offset Alan's strong 10:50 split, as our team moved into 2nd place, a good 10-seconds behind ALRC.

However, we had loaded the back end of the relay with one of our most experienced harriers, Rudy Rocha, running 3rd leg. Rudy caught and then put 10-15 seconds on the ALRC's third relay member with his gritty 10:28 split to give me a much needed cushion over ALRC's anchor, Drew Prisner, the former Houston Marathon Champion.

I was not aware of Drew's fitness level as he had just moved back into Houston from Austin (and now a fresh lawyer), but I figured since he was anchoring the always strong ALRC, he had to be fit. I felt quite crappy during my warm-up due to a stressful day at work (got to the race with 30-minutes to spare), but once I got going, I couldn't slow down. Passing the mile in 4:54, I pressed on to a 10:05 two-mile split, the fastest of the relays, to solidify our victory by exactly one minute and approach the fastest time we had ever seen on the course- a 41:41 by the old Houston Harriers.

But we were not done yet. Our "B" team consisting of Tom Sherwood, Chad James, Christopher Bittinger, and Matt McCurdy placed 6th overall in 47:03, while our Open Female team (and defending champions) consisting of Kristen Foxley, Liz Schwandt, Perla Rodriguez, and Laura Bennett captured third overall with their 55:49 performance, as Bennett passed and held off the BCRR Whizzers by 2-seconds for the bronze!

FILA Relays

4 x 2.5 Miles: 3rd Place Overall in 48:45.90The Odd Foursome: Alan Hedengren, Rudy Rocha, Gabriel Rodriguez, and James Menze

This past weekend we headed up to Austin, Texas, to participate in the FILA Relays, after being invited to form a team by FILA Director of Running, Paul Perrone. So, we scrounged up our best team possible, and headed out to the Capital of Texas. "We" consisted of my wife Perla, my daughter Madelyn, and my teammates Rudy Rocha and James Menze... all crammed together in my wife's 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS.

Now, before I go any further, let me clarify that my entire family is basically made up of teachers. My mom is a teacher, my sister is a teacher, my older brother was a teacher, my wife is a teacher, Rudy is a teacher, and James is a teacher. I was even a substitute teacher for a brief period of time, but soon found it did not suit my personality. Now, imagine spending three hours with a 3rd-Grade Bi-Lingual Teacher (Perla), a Behaviour Specialist Teacher (Rudy), and a World AP History Teacher (James). I should have brought my favorite pillow. There is only so much teacher lingo I can take: "does your AP establish communities within the ARD program or does the TASK really emphasize group behavioral learning.." or something like that for three hours of teaching discussion. Oh, how I wish Madelyn could talk more...

Anyway, we arrived in Austin to meet our 4th team member, Alan Hedengren. At first, we had scheduled Menze to lead off based on his experience, but Menze's apparent lack of fitness (he did sport the largest beer belly of the group) urged us to place Alan lead-off, as Rudy was still suffering from a form of lead-off depression since A&M. And Alan did not disappoint. His combination of speed and endurance, as well as intelligence played a huge role in the performance of our team. Following the lead group through the first 1.25 mile loop in 6:02.20, Alan came back with a solid 6:14.50 for his second loop (12:16.70) in 4th place to completely energize the team. Hedengren had delivered a stellar performance and now it was up to our wildest card in the deck: James Menze, Coach of Clear Lake High School and 40-mile/week fartlek runner extraordinaire, to run 2nd and attempt to hold our position.

James Menze for those of you unfamiliar with the Aggie alum, has quite a resume. A 14:40-5000m runner, Menze is to Austin what Rudy is to Houston- the man is known to everyone! We couldn't go one second without someone yelling, "hey, Menze!" James has won the Austin Capital 10K, among other races, but his complete and utter dedication to his coaching has left him a bit out of running shape, but has made him one of the best coaches in the state. Anyhow, Menze attacked his leg with such ferocity and effort, that it is plain to see why he is such a motivation for his athletes. Menze ran as hard as he could given his fitness level, plain and simple. Covering the first 1.25 mile loop at 5:13 pace (6:15.15), James then set off on the ever-important 2nd loop and produced and excellent effort, finishing in 6:20.80 for a total split of 12:35.95- and proceeded to puke his guts out after handing off to our workhorse, Rudy Rocha, for the third leg.

Now, what can I say about Rudy. The man is a machine. He went out quite conservatively, and by now was in no-man's land, but he worked his way up the field, splitting 6:00.75 for his first 1.25 mile loop, and then ran a very strong second lap to move us into third place with a closing loop run in 6:07.50 for a total split of 12:08.25, the 7th fastest total time of the day. And he did this after being cramped next to a baby-seat for three hours and entertaining a 2-year old for most of the trip. His job now done, and done well, a very pumped Rudy handed off to me for the anchor, giving me a good 5-10 second lead ahead of the "Kenyan" team. Could I do mine?

What to do? I now had a 20-40 meter lead over a very motivated Kenyan, and only god knows how fast he is.. so, should I hammer the first loop and try to disappear on him, or should I run conservatively, expect that he'll catch me, and then make a race of it? I almost opted for #1- go hard the first loop, but I didn't totally commit, but managed to hold him off for the first 1.25 miles with my 5:44.75 (4:47 pace) split. (I would later learn that the Kenyan, Bernard Manirakiza, would split a gut-wrenching 5:19.85 split! for 1.25 miles in his chase- an amazing 4:26 pace per mile). Anyhow, I think I was too tense, too anxious of being caught that I wasted too much energy and when the Kenyan caught me, I could not react. Once he gapped me, he kept that gap as I tied up a little the final kilometer and closed in 6:00.25 for a total of 11:45-the 3rd fastest combined time of the day. But it was not enough, as the Kenyan stormed past me and held me off for 2nd place overall with a 6:05.25 final circuit for a total time of 11:25.10- the day's best total time. I was quite disappointed with my performance and thought I should have been stronger on the 2nd loop, but perhaps I had fatigued myself too much running across the fields for 40-minutes cheering on my teammates before it was my turn. Anyhow, we finished 3rd Overall and were quite pleased with our performance, as it we had made the trip worthwhile and made the medal stand.

Madelyn congratulating the Kenyan on beating Dad...

Other highlights of the trip included our morning long run around Town Lake. James led Rudy and I on the legendary course as we ran in a torrential downpour and lightning storm, got to see the Texas Longhorn Cross Country Team, including Leonel Manzano, and James just surprising us with his running ability.

The ride back home was more teacher-talk, but we escaped healthy and motivated to resume training hard and continue on with our personal goals, whatever they may be. The FILA Relays were definitely worth the trip and we hope to return next year and perhaps claim the crown.

Madelyn opening her stride as she grows...

Texas A&M Cross County Opener

4 x 3000 meter, 2-Person Relay

Members of the On the Run Racing Team, consisting of myself (far left), Rudy Rocha, John Hedengren, & Alan Hedengren (far right), headed to College Station on Friday night, September 2nd to participate in the Texas A&M Cross Country Opener, which consisted of four 3000 meter loops around their intramural fields (mostly grass) in the darkness of the night under the brightness of the intramural lights. Two-runner teams would alternate legs until the 12,000 meters were fully completed.

On the Run "A" paired up Rudy Rocha and myself, while On the Run "B" was the BYU-brother tandem of John and Alan Hedengren. We would be racing against teams from Texas A&M, Rice University, and the University of Houston, as well as a couple of other "unattached" teams. Priding ourselves as the "old guys" against the "fast-twitch" young collegians, we toed the line.

John and Rudy would lead off into the night, as John built a 10-meter lead over the field past 1K and ended up handing off to Alan in fourth place, covering the 3K circuit in a strong 9:19 behind Houston's Sesar Figueroa's dominating 9:01, Rice's Marcel Hewamudalige (9:16), and Texas A&M's Todd Van Velson (9:17). Rudy, recovering from dental surgery, could only manage a 9:51 opening circuit to hand off to me in 13th place- but this was a "workout" in that the 2nd 3000m loop would separate those who truly were in shape and those who only pretended to be in shape.

I headed off after the pack and and attempted to catch as many harriers ahead of me as possible, eventually moving up to 9th place with a 9:10 split, which would be the second fastest second-leg spit behind Rice's Charles Hampton's 9:09 performance. Alan would close in an impressive 9:51 to match Rudy's performance, and immediately we both tried to recover as best we could in the nine odd minutes we had for rest until we had to run the circuit again.

John ran strongly once again, moving his team up into contention once again, as he split a solid 9:31 for a 6K overall time of 18:50. Rudy, showing his strength in a depleted state and the type of character that has established himself as one of the great road runners in the nation, gutted out a 9:56 circuit for a total 6K time of 19:47. On the Run "B" was now leading On the Run "A" with only 3000 meters remaining, as Alan headed off into the darkening night. I would give chase.

The final loop was exciting. My first 1K was probably run in close to 3:15 or slower, as I tried to work the lactic acid out of my legs. I have been doing a mix of 10K-Marathon training and have only been in my base phase, so I have yet to introduce lactic acid into my system so I have to admit it was a bit of a shock. However, once I got rolling, there was no slowing down. I was suprised to get passed about 1.25K into the race by a Texas A&M runner, J.P. Machemehl (who would be the Aggies' top runner with splits of 9:11/9:18). I fell behind by some 20-30m by 2K, but started gaining motivation as I realized this was the "J.P." that beat Rudy at the Sugar Land Turkey Trot last year with a 25-min performance, so I wanted to redeem Rudy by beating Machemehl (he had quite a few fans out there... some added motivation). Moving past on the slower zig-zag section in the backend of the circuit you got the feeling of racing on a European cross country course, as the intramural fields were freshly cut and the footing was strong, yet it was quite dark and with my legally-blind vision, it just made the run all the more challenging.

Anyhow, I was gaining on a large pack of about four runners, but I was running out of room. Closing in about 2:50 for the final kilometer, I was held off at the finish line by a young Aggie, but I finished hard, splitting another 9:10 for the 3K loop (can you tell I'm a marathoner?) for a total 6K time of 18:20 and a total team time of 38:07, strong enough for 9th place overall. It was also the fastest split by a 4th-leg runner. Alan would finish close behind in 10:01 for a total 6K time of 19:52 and a team time of 38:42 for 11th place.

Rice "B" would win the overall title in a time of 37:19, as Hewamudalige would show his class with a tremendous 8:59 second leg (fastest of the day). The Canadian import would also show his pedigree by winning the overall fastest combined time of 18:15, five seconds faster than my second place performance of 18:20. Mewamudalige's teammate, recent Texas-transfer and former high school standout, Charles Hampton, placed 3rd in an impressive 18:21 (9:09/9:12).

This was a great workout for the Racing Team, and it exposed us to the aggressive running necessary to compete at the NCAA Division I level, as we all learned a little bit more about ourselves as athletes. We were also proud that we "old guys" (Rudy is 36, John 28, myself 27, and Alan 26) had made the trip to College Station to mix it up with the young guns on their turf. It was a blast and we formed a motley crew of ex-high schoolers with potential as I learned that John was a complete stud in high school in Washington with a 3200-meter high school personal best of 9:00 that he ran at the state meet to place 4th (it would be the 4th fastest time in the nation that year)! John, a Chemical Engineer, would go on to an All-American career at BYU, as well as a 3-time Academic All-American. Rudy was next with a personal best of 9:26 for 3200m. My best in high school was 9:37.30, and Alan was no slouch himself, running 9:42 as well.

The rest of the night was spent playing with our children, as the Hedengren's have two redheads apiece, and my wife and I have Madelyn. A bunch of running kids, and perhaps the future generation of harriers...

Great Interview with Keith Dowling

Here is a great interview with one of America's top distance runners over the past decade or so: Keith Dowling.

Furthermore, his training log leading up to his personal best at Boston in 2002 can be found here: Keith Dowling- 15 Weeks to Boston .



How about Alberto Salazar's Training Log?
For those of you who have not seen this yet, it is a great piece of American history: Alberto Salazar's training log from Oregon. Great stuff. Enjoy.