Well folks, I am coming out of my drug induced coma and am finally able to give everyone an update on the surgery. I had my foot cut on Friday morning in Chicago by Dr. John Grady, whom I cannot praise enough. I was so lucky to find a podiatrist in the midwest that was dedicated to his craft and willing to give every patient such personal attention. It also helps that his son, Martin, is an all state runner here in Illinois.
Dr. Grady found the source of my toe pain that has plagued me the last 3 years. From what I understand (I was a little out of it when talking to him after the surgery) he removed a cyst that had developed in the toe joint as well as a star shaped piece of calcified scar tissue that was floating around in the joint causing havoc on my cartilage. Fortunately there was no damage to the cartilage nor was there any damage to the surrounding tissue. So knock on wood, I may actually walk without pain someday! Actually, Dr. Grady is pretty confident that I will be back on my feet and pain free relatively quickly. The recovery process is fairly causious: two weeks with my foot propped up 50 min of every hour, two weeks of 40 min every hour, and two weeks of 30 min every hour. Hopefully I will be walking pain free in no time, which I havent been able to do since outdoor nationals 2002! That probably sounds like a bunch of jibberish, but the pain pill I just took is starting to take effect.
It is hard to put a timeline on the running prospects, and to be honest, I have trained myself not to when it comes to to my running career. But I will say that this is the most hope I have had in a very long time. So cross your fingers for me.
There is not a lot to report from the high school front. By IHSA rules I am not allowed to meet with the kids until after Christmas break. They have been keeping me posted on their running though, and it sounds like all are trudging through this horrid weather weve had the last 2 weeks. I am really pleased that I have a group of kids who are hooked and actually keep me posted on their progress. That is the attitude it takes to be successful.
I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday and thanks to everyone for all their supportive cards, calls and emails. Go Raiders!
tb
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Time to Move!
I really love being home in the Midwest, but this weather is going to break me before the winter even starts! Boy did I took the warmth of the south for granted. Oh well, at least I have good company to keep me busy until things warm up here. Actually, I will be bored off my butt till the middle of January, as my Jan 19th surgery is quickly approaching. Let me say that I am really not looking forward to this one. At least we have found the problem and are taking care of it once and for all. Time off from running has never been a problem for me, as I find plenty to do to keep me busy. The hardest part of post surgery is asking people for help. And if you are a self sufficient person like myself, it is very difficult to rely on others for anything. But, like I said, hopefully this will all be over before winter ends and I will be back on my feet getting ready to race again.
There is not a lot to report from the coaching side of things. I sat down last week and racked my brain trying to come up with a good plan for the winter. I have a lot of talent on my hands and I do not want to goof it up. I actually buckled down and read Jack Daniels' and Joe Vigils' books, and after reading what seemed like chinese 4 times over, I have concluded that I am not changing things a bit. It was funny to read about all the things that I have instinctivly done for so long and understanding exactly what it does on a biological level. So hopefully we all stay healthy and motivated this winter because EP should be bringing home a lot of hardware this track season.
Thats all from this end. I will write again after the sugury and let everyone know how it went. Thanks again for reading. Go Raiders!
tb
There is not a lot to report from the coaching side of things. I sat down last week and racked my brain trying to come up with a good plan for the winter. I have a lot of talent on my hands and I do not want to goof it up. I actually buckled down and read Jack Daniels' and Joe Vigils' books, and after reading what seemed like chinese 4 times over, I have concluded that I am not changing things a bit. It was funny to read about all the things that I have instinctivly done for so long and understanding exactly what it does on a biological level. So hopefully we all stay healthy and motivated this winter because EP should be bringing home a lot of hardware this track season.
Thats all from this end. I will write again after the sugury and let everyone know how it went. Thanks again for reading. Go Raiders!
tb
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Not Ready
First off I hope everybody had a safe and happy holiday. I am not sure if I am totally ready for another winter to be honest. I had a warm welcome this morning as the snow fell for the first time in Central IL. Driving out to do a few chores, I ended up sideways in a ditch at 50 mps between a phone pole, a big osage-orange tree and a 50 foot ditch! Not to worry, I only ended up with a few scratches and $60 later I was back on the road. What I love even more than the snow is trying to coach 15 high school kids in it with no places to run. Oh well, that is life.
A few of the boys and 7 of the girls ran in a 2 mile race Friday morning cleaning up nicely. Only 1 kid did not bring home any hardware. We have already begun unofficial practice as of last week. We have a team full of talent on the girls side and now that IL has gone to a 3 class system, the boys have a legitimate shot at qualifying in the 4x800. I am really looking forward to pushing them all hard over the next 3 months without any races to get in the way.
I am not sure if I posted this last time, but I will be having foot surgery on December 19th. The Dr found that a cyst developed where the prior surgerys existed. Lucky me. That is the reason I have had this grinding pain in my toe for so long. Cross your fingers that this will be the last of it. I am not sure on the recovery time, but I am guessing 6-8 weeks. Just in time for Spring!
Drive safe out there and I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for reading and remember, GO RAIDERS!
tb
A few of the boys and 7 of the girls ran in a 2 mile race Friday morning cleaning up nicely. Only 1 kid did not bring home any hardware. We have already begun unofficial practice as of last week. We have a team full of talent on the girls side and now that IL has gone to a 3 class system, the boys have a legitimate shot at qualifying in the 4x800. I am really looking forward to pushing them all hard over the next 3 months without any races to get in the way.
I am not sure if I posted this last time, but I will be having foot surgery on December 19th. The Dr found that a cyst developed where the prior surgerys existed. Lucky me. That is the reason I have had this grinding pain in my toe for so long. Cross your fingers that this will be the last of it. I am not sure on the recovery time, but I am guessing 6-8 weeks. Just in time for Spring!
Drive safe out there and I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for reading and remember, GO RAIDERS!
tb
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sectionals and Beyond!
The season has finally come to a close. Last Saturday we competed in the State qualifying sectional meet. The top 5 teams and top individuals advance. Being that we had 7 of the top 10 teams in the state in our sectional, I didnt have any delusions of moving on. I did believe that we were capable of being top 10, which would have been a wonderful cap on a good fall. I also believed that freshman star Kevin Eades would bounce back from an illness and was capable of qualifying as an individual.
To save the drama, I will tell you that he did just that! He ran a personal best of 15:42 and finished 14th overall and 5th individual! Being that there were only 5 or 6 freshman total to qualify for the state meet, I thought that was pretty incredible. He ran a perfect race, going through the mile in 35th and moving up slowly over the next mile and a half. Then he pulled out that big finish to catch 7 people over the last 600 meters. And that finish qualified him as the first freshman in EP history to qualify for the state meet as an individual!
In the end we finished a respectable 11th place, putting us (in my opinion) in the top 25 statewise. Junior Hugh Gill and Alec Gonzales both ran gutsy races and ended up with personal bests of 16:11 16:35. David Blackford also competed well to drop his pb to 17:01. I think we could have ran a little better from that point on, but cannot say that I was disappointed with anybody. It is very difficult to race twice a week for 8 weeks in a row, especially when you are young and not well trained. What I was most excited about is that the team all stayed around the next week to train and be with Kevin and are all excited to getting to training this winter and next summer so that we are all at the big dance next year. (talks cheap, so we will see ; ) We have also decided to rent a van and I am going to take a group up to the Footlocker Regional in Wisconsin Thanksgiving weekend.
Kevin went on to finish 104th this weekend, runing 16:30. A dissappointing finish, but not an idicator of how well he ran all season and how well he composed himself as a 15 year old freshman. Mark my words, he will be one of the best in the state next year. He text me later on after the race appologizing for letting me down and my reply was "I hope your joking. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Your will to train and live the lifestyle will pay off. Do not underestimate what you have accomplished this season. There are few freshman that have done what you have. It has been a pleasure to coach you and we will get you to the top of the podium, probably sooner than I think. Now try to enjoy a few days off. "
On a personal note, I got results back from an mri last week with good news and bad. I have a cyst that has developed which is probably what is causing all the pain in my toe. That can be fixed with a simple injection (if im lucky), and if not, can be removed. Bad news is that the other sesmoid bone is also fractured and half of it is neucrotic (dead). Hopefully that will not need to be extracted, but I will find out more this week when I go see the doc. It is unbelievable that it has taken so long to figure out why I have been having so much foot pain over the last 6 years. Hopefully this will be the end of it, but I will definately keep you all posted.
Thanks for reading and Go Raiders!
tb
To save the drama, I will tell you that he did just that! He ran a personal best of 15:42 and finished 14th overall and 5th individual! Being that there were only 5 or 6 freshman total to qualify for the state meet, I thought that was pretty incredible. He ran a perfect race, going through the mile in 35th and moving up slowly over the next mile and a half. Then he pulled out that big finish to catch 7 people over the last 600 meters. And that finish qualified him as the first freshman in EP history to qualify for the state meet as an individual!
In the end we finished a respectable 11th place, putting us (in my opinion) in the top 25 statewise. Junior Hugh Gill and Alec Gonzales both ran gutsy races and ended up with personal bests of 16:11 16:35. David Blackford also competed well to drop his pb to 17:01. I think we could have ran a little better from that point on, but cannot say that I was disappointed with anybody. It is very difficult to race twice a week for 8 weeks in a row, especially when you are young and not well trained. What I was most excited about is that the team all stayed around the next week to train and be with Kevin and are all excited to getting to training this winter and next summer so that we are all at the big dance next year. (talks cheap, so we will see ; ) We have also decided to rent a van and I am going to take a group up to the Footlocker Regional in Wisconsin Thanksgiving weekend.
Kevin went on to finish 104th this weekend, runing 16:30. A dissappointing finish, but not an idicator of how well he ran all season and how well he composed himself as a 15 year old freshman. Mark my words, he will be one of the best in the state next year. He text me later on after the race appologizing for letting me down and my reply was "I hope your joking. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Your will to train and live the lifestyle will pay off. Do not underestimate what you have accomplished this season. There are few freshman that have done what you have. It has been a pleasure to coach you and we will get you to the top of the podium, probably sooner than I think. Now try to enjoy a few days off. "
On a personal note, I got results back from an mri last week with good news and bad. I have a cyst that has developed which is probably what is causing all the pain in my toe. That can be fixed with a simple injection (if im lucky), and if not, can be removed. Bad news is that the other sesmoid bone is also fractured and half of it is neucrotic (dead). Hopefully that will not need to be extracted, but I will find out more this week when I go see the doc. It is unbelievable that it has taken so long to figure out why I have been having so much foot pain over the last 6 years. Hopefully this will be the end of it, but I will definately keep you all posted.
Thanks for reading and Go Raiders!
tb
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Conference/Regional Meets
Championship season is here, and so far, we have handled it like pro's. Last Friday evening we competed in the Mid Illini Conference Meet, finishing second to Metamora, the sixth ranked team in the state.
For the second year in a row, we had the individual champion in the fresh/soph race. Freshman Gage VanOrder had a blistering kick (arrh, he's just a freshman) over the last 200 meters to win in a personal best 17:25. Rookies Cody Lacross, Evan Jenkins, Tyler Ford and Mike Ginz all ran personal bests as well to help finish 4th as a team.
Every kid in the Varsity race raced their hearts out to all finish with personal bests. Junior Hugh Gill finally raced like he was capable, tieing his pb of 16:16, fading to 11th place and just missing all-conference by 3 spots. Sophmores Alec Gonzales and Alex Cortes both crushed 17 min for the first time running 16:42 and 16:57. Drew Thomas and David Blackford both ran 30 second pr's, coming so close to breaking that 17 min mental barrier running 17:01 and 17:03 respectively. The very hardworking and consistent Brant Watson bettered his time from conference last year of 18:24, running 17:35!
But the race of the day belonged to freshman Kevin Eades. Shadowing the conference favorite through a pb at 2 miles, Kevin let inexperience get the better of him and gave a up a little too much ground. Sprinting up the home stretch to finish second he almost ran down the leader over the last 200 meters and ran 15:42. To put things into perspective, I ran 15:35 on the same course my freshman year! The best part about it all was that he was so angry that he finished second that he wouldnt talk to anybody for a half hour. That is the kind of attitude you dont see in many freshman, and the kind of attitude that is going to take him a long way in his athletic career.
I was enourmously proud of every kid last Friday. Most had to be scraped off the tarp with a spatula afterwards, and that is all I can ask as a coach.
Yesterday we competed in the Regional meet.
There is not really much to report about that one. It was a slow, cool windy day. We tied for third, but finished fourth counting back to 6th man. We looked a little tired and flat. Not sure if it is the come down after a hard effort last week or just knowing we needed to run an average race to advance, but we got the job done. First and second place are ranked 3rh and 5th respectively in the state. This qualifies us for the Sectional meet next weekend on our home course. To be brutally honest, our gold medal race would be top 10. On the positive side we get 7 of our top 8 back for next year, so this will be an excellent experience for all. Actually, 8 of the top 12 teams in the state are in our sectional and only 5 qualify for state, so it should be a eye opener for those who are serious about wanting to qualify for state next year, but have never put a real summer of training in.
I will keep everyone posted on how it goes this weekend. I was up in Chicago last week meeting with one of the top podiatrists in the country and he seemed to be pretty optimistic about getting my foot right. I had an MRI Friday, so I should have the report tomorrow and see what the Dr thinks. Thanks for reading and cross your fingers for us (and me!).
Go Raiders
For the second year in a row, we had the individual champion in the fresh/soph race. Freshman Gage VanOrder had a blistering kick (arrh, he's just a freshman) over the last 200 meters to win in a personal best 17:25. Rookies Cody Lacross, Evan Jenkins, Tyler Ford and Mike Ginz all ran personal bests as well to help finish 4th as a team.
Every kid in the Varsity race raced their hearts out to all finish with personal bests. Junior Hugh Gill finally raced like he was capable, tieing his pb of 16:16, fading to 11th place and just missing all-conference by 3 spots. Sophmores Alec Gonzales and Alex Cortes both crushed 17 min for the first time running 16:42 and 16:57. Drew Thomas and David Blackford both ran 30 second pr's, coming so close to breaking that 17 min mental barrier running 17:01 and 17:03 respectively. The very hardworking and consistent Brant Watson bettered his time from conference last year of 18:24, running 17:35!
But the race of the day belonged to freshman Kevin Eades. Shadowing the conference favorite through a pb at 2 miles, Kevin let inexperience get the better of him and gave a up a little too much ground. Sprinting up the home stretch to finish second he almost ran down the leader over the last 200 meters and ran 15:42. To put things into perspective, I ran 15:35 on the same course my freshman year! The best part about it all was that he was so angry that he finished second that he wouldnt talk to anybody for a half hour. That is the kind of attitude you dont see in many freshman, and the kind of attitude that is going to take him a long way in his athletic career.
I was enourmously proud of every kid last Friday. Most had to be scraped off the tarp with a spatula afterwards, and that is all I can ask as a coach.
Yesterday we competed in the Regional meet.
There is not really much to report about that one. It was a slow, cool windy day. We tied for third, but finished fourth counting back to 6th man. We looked a little tired and flat. Not sure if it is the come down after a hard effort last week or just knowing we needed to run an average race to advance, but we got the job done. First and second place are ranked 3rh and 5th respectively in the state. This qualifies us for the Sectional meet next weekend on our home course. To be brutally honest, our gold medal race would be top 10. On the positive side we get 7 of our top 8 back for next year, so this will be an excellent experience for all. Actually, 8 of the top 12 teams in the state are in our sectional and only 5 qualify for state, so it should be a eye opener for those who are serious about wanting to qualify for state next year, but have never put a real summer of training in.
I will keep everyone posted on how it goes this weekend. I was up in Chicago last week meeting with one of the top podiatrists in the country and he seemed to be pretty optimistic about getting my foot right. I had an MRI Friday, so I should have the report tomorrow and see what the Dr thinks. Thanks for reading and cross your fingers for us (and me!).
Go Raiders
Friday, October 10, 2008
Getting Ready for Championship Time
We are in our final preparations for the championship part of the season here in EP. Tuesday evening we finished up the conference duel meets with a big win over up-and-coming Morton. That put us at 6-1 for the season, the first time since i was here in 1995. The only team beating us was number seven in the state, Metamora.
Every kid ran big prs last Saturday at the Delevan Classic, bringing home a 2nd place trophy. It was a flighted race and we medaled 6 out of the 7 races! Most suprising were my two 80 lb freshmen who both broke 20 minutes for the first time ever for 3 miles. Actually, neither had ever been under 24 minutes!
Tomorrow is our last invite for the season, the Metamora Invitational. Because we are so young, I am running all the underclassmen in the fresh/soph race so we can bring home some more hardware. I am holding out the top 5 runners for a blowout workout tonight of mile, 2x800, 4x400 at the conference course, as we havent really had a chance to do any real hard workouts in between racing twice a week.
My running is gradually coming around, and I will really start to put more emphasis on it after the season is done in a few weeks. Our goals for the next few weeks are as follows:
2nd Conference (Metamora is just too strong)
Hugh Gill and Kevin Eades All Conference
Repeat as Conference Fresh/Soph Champs
Top 5 Regionals
Top 10 Sectionals
That is a pretty tall order with the group I have, but you got to set big goals if you are ever going to run big. Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted.
Go Raiders!
Every kid ran big prs last Saturday at the Delevan Classic, bringing home a 2nd place trophy. It was a flighted race and we medaled 6 out of the 7 races! Most suprising were my two 80 lb freshmen who both broke 20 minutes for the first time ever for 3 miles. Actually, neither had ever been under 24 minutes!
Tomorrow is our last invite for the season, the Metamora Invitational. Because we are so young, I am running all the underclassmen in the fresh/soph race so we can bring home some more hardware. I am holding out the top 5 runners for a blowout workout tonight of mile, 2x800, 4x400 at the conference course, as we havent really had a chance to do any real hard workouts in between racing twice a week.
My running is gradually coming around, and I will really start to put more emphasis on it after the season is done in a few weeks. Our goals for the next few weeks are as follows:
2nd Conference (Metamora is just too strong)
Hugh Gill and Kevin Eades All Conference
Repeat as Conference Fresh/Soph Champs
Top 5 Regionals
Top 10 Sectionals
That is a pretty tall order with the group I have, but you got to set big goals if you are ever going to run big. Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted.
Go Raiders!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
2008 XC Season Has Begun!
We finally kicked off the fall season two weeks ago at the Galesburg Invite. Being as young and inexperienced as we are, I didnt expect to bring home any team trophies. I was though anxious to see how well the freshmen and sophmores would race after putting in a pretty solid summer. A couple suprises were: senior David Blackford running 18:17 for his first cross country race ever, sophmore Cody Margetis running a pb of 18:39, and most impressive was freshman Kevin Eades who placed 12th in the varsity race and running 17:10 for his first 3 mile race ever!!! I knew he was going to be good, but didnt realize just how much talent he actually has. After the race he was grinnig from ear to ear, not a bit winded and told me he had at least 30 more seconds in him!
Last weekend we came back to race at the huge Woodruff Invite at famous Detwiller Park here in Peoria where the state meet has been held for the last 30 plus years. Normally the course is track fast and is a great statewide benchmark for coaches to really see what the kids are capable of. But after 10 inches of rain for the week prior, it turned into a mudpit of survival. I have noticed that it is extremely difficult for the young kids to strength races in the mud. In all honesty I really cant say that anybody on the team ran particularly well. Some of it had to do with the rain and mud, a hard week of workouts, 4 injuries and 6 with colds. The talented junior Drew Thomas did finally step up decide to race to run a personal best. The highlight of the meet was watching my 6 underclassmen run in the open race which had 790 participants! Three minutes prior to the start of the race the heavens opened up and the starting line began roaring like the Spartans!!! Althought they got beat down pretty bad, they did say that it was the most memorable race they had ever ran. Unfortunately my camera was ruined and I lost all my pictures of the mess and mayhem.
Tuesday we raced a conference duel meet against our arch rival Metamora (who is ranked nubmer 10 in the state). Although we got beat pretty bad, the big suprise was freshman Kevin Eades outkicking the returning conference farvorite down the homestretch to run 16:20 on a hot, tough and muddy course. What was even more impressive that he did it with one shoe on after losing it on a corner at the two mile!!! Mark my word, this kid may be as talented as any I have ever seen. Not just the physical, but the emotional and mental perspective is going to take him a long way. There were many others who ran big personal bests and are finally starting to figure out that we do have a bit of talent on this team, but that we have a lot of work to do in the off season if we are going to accomplish what we are capable of.
Yesterday was our weekend off from racing, as we held our second annual EPCC Run-A-Thon. The kids get donations, either per mile or for total distance, and they run a mile loop marked in the woods for 90 minutes. This helps pay for the food, equipment, t-shirts, shoes ect... that we need. We raised almost $1,000, then had a great picnic afterwards. Every kid ran at least 10 miles, and Hugh Gill and Kevin Eades ran 13 before I had to pull them. It was a lot of fun to hear them talk about how tired they were but that they could have kept going. For most of them, their longest continuest run ever was 6-7 miles. It is a lot of fun as a coach to see them beat but being so excited that they were able to accomplish things they never thought were capable.
The most exciting part of this season thus far is the parental support that we are finally starting to get. Several parents were out yesterday to help work on the course and then got to talking about bringing a grill to the weekend races and having food for everyone afterwards! That is exactly what I have been working so hard to get established here at EP. A family oriented culture where all the parents are out watching their kids improve week by week. That not only keeps the athletes more interested, but also attracts others who want to be a part of something special.
As far as my running is concerned, it is just biking in the morning and running my 6-10 in the afternoon. Nothing really exciting tp report on that. We are now in the heart of the season and will be racing every Tuesday and Saturday for the next four weeks. Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted on all the success.
Go Raiders
tb
Last weekend we came back to race at the huge Woodruff Invite at famous Detwiller Park here in Peoria where the state meet has been held for the last 30 plus years. Normally the course is track fast and is a great statewide benchmark for coaches to really see what the kids are capable of. But after 10 inches of rain for the week prior, it turned into a mudpit of survival. I have noticed that it is extremely difficult for the young kids to strength races in the mud. In all honesty I really cant say that anybody on the team ran particularly well. Some of it had to do with the rain and mud, a hard week of workouts, 4 injuries and 6 with colds. The talented junior Drew Thomas did finally step up decide to race to run a personal best. The highlight of the meet was watching my 6 underclassmen run in the open race which had 790 participants! Three minutes prior to the start of the race the heavens opened up and the starting line began roaring like the Spartans!!! Althought they got beat down pretty bad, they did say that it was the most memorable race they had ever ran. Unfortunately my camera was ruined and I lost all my pictures of the mess and mayhem.
Tuesday we raced a conference duel meet against our arch rival Metamora (who is ranked nubmer 10 in the state). Although we got beat pretty bad, the big suprise was freshman Kevin Eades outkicking the returning conference farvorite down the homestretch to run 16:20 on a hot, tough and muddy course. What was even more impressive that he did it with one shoe on after losing it on a corner at the two mile!!! Mark my word, this kid may be as talented as any I have ever seen. Not just the physical, but the emotional and mental perspective is going to take him a long way. There were many others who ran big personal bests and are finally starting to figure out that we do have a bit of talent on this team, but that we have a lot of work to do in the off season if we are going to accomplish what we are capable of.
Yesterday was our weekend off from racing, as we held our second annual EPCC Run-A-Thon. The kids get donations, either per mile or for total distance, and they run a mile loop marked in the woods for 90 minutes. This helps pay for the food, equipment, t-shirts, shoes ect... that we need. We raised almost $1,000, then had a great picnic afterwards. Every kid ran at least 10 miles, and Hugh Gill and Kevin Eades ran 13 before I had to pull them. It was a lot of fun to hear them talk about how tired they were but that they could have kept going. For most of them, their longest continuest run ever was 6-7 miles. It is a lot of fun as a coach to see them beat but being so excited that they were able to accomplish things they never thought were capable.
The most exciting part of this season thus far is the parental support that we are finally starting to get. Several parents were out yesterday to help work on the course and then got to talking about bringing a grill to the weekend races and having food for everyone afterwards! That is exactly what I have been working so hard to get established here at EP. A family oriented culture where all the parents are out watching their kids improve week by week. That not only keeps the athletes more interested, but also attracts others who want to be a part of something special.
As far as my running is concerned, it is just biking in the morning and running my 6-10 in the afternoon. Nothing really exciting tp report on that. We are now in the heart of the season and will be racing every Tuesday and Saturday for the next four weeks. Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted on all the success.
Go Raiders
tb
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Its Finally Time to Race
Good morning everyone. As I sit here typing we are only 48 hours from our first race of the year! We have been dealing with a lot of the ussual injury and heat related problems the last few weeks, but hopefully their frail little legs will start to come around just in time for racing season. I think we are a long way from being fully "prepared", but I am hoping that when we start racing running will take on a new priority for a while.
I actually have a great group of young runners who have a lot of ability. In particular, freshman Kevin Eades has been running amazing. He has been ahead of last years state qualifier Hugh Gill on every run. Although I know we are not going to break any records this season, I think we will do some pretty good things. What is difficult for me is knowing how good we are going to be the next two years and trying to stay focused on the season at hand. As good as we are going to be doesnt help the fact that we are going to get beat up a little bit this season. I guess that is all part of the game though.
What I have noticed about myself over the last few weeks is just how obsessively ultra-competitive I am, and I find myself getting really frustrated with the kids who are not that way, which is the majority of them. I believe a lot of this frustration stems from the fact that I set extremely high goals for myself (something I believe is just innate) and I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve those goals. So I guess the real problem lies in the fact that we are just to young of a team to have any sort of long-term goals at the moment. If they only knew how far their talent could take them, they would be a lot more motivated to get up every morning and do all the things necessary to get to the top.
My running has been going great. Well, I wouldnt call it great, but relatively speaking it has been going pretty well. I have been riding for about an hour in the morning and then doing the workouts with the team on most days. My plantar is not hurting, but I can feel it is tight when I get up in the mornings. I am planning on making a trip out east to see Dr. Brian Fullem, The Man, and get fitted for a new pair of orthodics if I ever get the chance to get away for a few days. Knock on wood, I will be finishing up a great summer this time next year.
Thats all I got for now. I hope all that are reading are doing well and I will keep you posted on how the meet goes this weekend. Happy running and Go Raiders!
tb
I actually have a great group of young runners who have a lot of ability. In particular, freshman Kevin Eades has been running amazing. He has been ahead of last years state qualifier Hugh Gill on every run. Although I know we are not going to break any records this season, I think we will do some pretty good things. What is difficult for me is knowing how good we are going to be the next two years and trying to stay focused on the season at hand. As good as we are going to be doesnt help the fact that we are going to get beat up a little bit this season. I guess that is all part of the game though.
What I have noticed about myself over the last few weeks is just how obsessively ultra-competitive I am, and I find myself getting really frustrated with the kids who are not that way, which is the majority of them. I believe a lot of this frustration stems from the fact that I set extremely high goals for myself (something I believe is just innate) and I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve those goals. So I guess the real problem lies in the fact that we are just to young of a team to have any sort of long-term goals at the moment. If they only knew how far their talent could take them, they would be a lot more motivated to get up every morning and do all the things necessary to get to the top.
My running has been going great. Well, I wouldnt call it great, but relatively speaking it has been going pretty well. I have been riding for about an hour in the morning and then doing the workouts with the team on most days. My plantar is not hurting, but I can feel it is tight when I get up in the mornings. I am planning on making a trip out east to see Dr. Brian Fullem, The Man, and get fitted for a new pair of orthodics if I ever get the chance to get away for a few days. Knock on wood, I will be finishing up a great summer this time next year.
Thats all I got for now. I hope all that are reading are doing well and I will keep you posted on how the meet goes this weekend. Happy running and Go Raiders!
tb
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Back To School
We are finally back to class for the 2008-09 school year, and I couldn't be happier. It has been a pretty good summer for a few of the kids, but all-in-all it has been pretty frustrating for me. We had six very motivated and talented freshaman join over the summer, as well as two new juniors. Unfortunately the senior group who I relied on for leadership and rides home are all gone so it was very difficult to get everybody to practice on a regular basis. In some ways it is like starting all over again.
Yesterday was our first practice and I decided to throw a little hill workout at the kids and see who has been running over the summer. It was pretty apparent from the get got that the upper classmen spent their summer playing XBox and that the underclassmen have been doing what I asked of them as there were 3 freshmen in the top 5 throughout the workout! Altought we do not have any superstars, one more year of CONSISTENT training and I could have a pretty dang good team next fall. In particular, freshman Kevin Eades has shown that he has the talent as well as the mindset to be a real special athlete. Mark my word, you will be hearing a lot more about him from me in the future.
There is not much to report on my running. Just plotting away. Actually my motivation has had a real rejuvination while spending so much time watching the games. I have been getting the same question over and over during the last week, "Is it hard to watch?". My answer is always the same, HECK NO! I have to admit that I really wasnt that dissappointed that I wasnt going to Beijing at first, as I didnt have that high of expectations for the Chinese. But after watching the opening ceremonies all I could say was "WOW".
There is nothing more exciting to me that watching the successes and failures of athletes competing at the biggest stage in the world and seeing how they handle the pressures. All the highs and lows, the emotions of the people who have dedicated their lives to one goal is like nothing else you will ever see. It was a little frustrating watching the distance events, particularly the steeplechase, but I just keep one thing in mind, London is only 4 years away!
That being said, I hope everyone is enjoying the big show. I am really suprised and a little jealous that NBC is having such wonderful coverage. I wish they had their stuff together 4 years ago, but is great for track and every other sport for that matter. Take care and I will keep you posted over the season. We have our first meet of the year two weeks from Saturday, so cross you fingers (were going to need it ; )
tb
Yesterday was our first practice and I decided to throw a little hill workout at the kids and see who has been running over the summer. It was pretty apparent from the get got that the upper classmen spent their summer playing XBox and that the underclassmen have been doing what I asked of them as there were 3 freshmen in the top 5 throughout the workout! Altought we do not have any superstars, one more year of CONSISTENT training and I could have a pretty dang good team next fall. In particular, freshman Kevin Eades has shown that he has the talent as well as the mindset to be a real special athlete. Mark my word, you will be hearing a lot more about him from me in the future.
There is not much to report on my running. Just plotting away. Actually my motivation has had a real rejuvination while spending so much time watching the games. I have been getting the same question over and over during the last week, "Is it hard to watch?". My answer is always the same, HECK NO! I have to admit that I really wasnt that dissappointed that I wasnt going to Beijing at first, as I didnt have that high of expectations for the Chinese. But after watching the opening ceremonies all I could say was "WOW".
There is nothing more exciting to me that watching the successes and failures of athletes competing at the biggest stage in the world and seeing how they handle the pressures. All the highs and lows, the emotions of the people who have dedicated their lives to one goal is like nothing else you will ever see. It was a little frustrating watching the distance events, particularly the steeplechase, but I just keep one thing in mind, London is only 4 years away!
That being said, I hope everyone is enjoying the big show. I am really suprised and a little jealous that NBC is having such wonderful coverage. I wish they had their stuff together 4 years ago, but is great for track and every other sport for that matter. Take care and I will keep you posted over the season. We have our first meet of the year two weeks from Saturday, so cross you fingers (were going to need it ; )
tb
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Out With the Old
Well, we are in full swing with our summer training here in Central IL. It was a bit of a rough start as I have lost my 4 leaders from last year. I didnt know how much I depended on them, not just for leadership on the course, but for rides for those who are not able to make it to practice on their own. It was a is frustrating having kids who want to come to practice everyday but have other commitments (work, band, ect) or cannot get rides. We are starting to wrinkle those logistical problems out over the last week.
I have inherited 4 new freshmen, and with a little work, I truly believe we will have a top 10 team in the state of Illinois in 2009! Although it is a bit of work teaching everything over again, I believe it will be very nice to have a new core group to mold from day 1. We started this week with our first hill session, so there were some sore butts and a bunch of whining going the last few days. Today was our first trip away from the home course, where we do most of our practicing. We got a school van and drove out to the Rock Island Trail, an old railroad that was converted into a running trail of crushed cynder. The workout was a 2 mile warm up and then 6 miles of on/off mile repeats (3 hard and 3 easy continues in case you are wondering). Although the long straight ways of the trail can be a bit monotonous, the kids handled it pretty well, and I think really enjoyed going somewhere new to run.
We will also be getting a new volunteer coach starting next week which is ecspecially exciting for me as it can be real burden trying to chase 20 kids around, coach, worry about injury, logistics, ect. Most importantly, it will be nice to teach someone who wants to learn and continue what I started here down the road when it is time for me to step aside.
My running has been going pretty well, just plotting around doing my theraputic 5-10 miles. No foot problems as of yet, so cross your fingers, I may actually be running track this time next year! I have also decided to start volunteering at a local kids charity, The Neighborhood House, which mentors and gives shelter for inner city youth. Probably going to spread myself a little thin, but what the hey, I got the time.
Thats it for now. Happy running and Go Raiders!
tb
I have inherited 4 new freshmen, and with a little work, I truly believe we will have a top 10 team in the state of Illinois in 2009! Although it is a bit of work teaching everything over again, I believe it will be very nice to have a new core group to mold from day 1. We started this week with our first hill session, so there were some sore butts and a bunch of whining going the last few days. Today was our first trip away from the home course, where we do most of our practicing. We got a school van and drove out to the Rock Island Trail, an old railroad that was converted into a running trail of crushed cynder. The workout was a 2 mile warm up and then 6 miles of on/off mile repeats (3 hard and 3 easy continues in case you are wondering). Although the long straight ways of the trail can be a bit monotonous, the kids handled it pretty well, and I think really enjoyed going somewhere new to run.
We will also be getting a new volunteer coach starting next week which is ecspecially exciting for me as it can be real burden trying to chase 20 kids around, coach, worry about injury, logistics, ect. Most importantly, it will be nice to teach someone who wants to learn and continue what I started here down the road when it is time for me to step aside.
My running has been going pretty well, just plotting around doing my theraputic 5-10 miles. No foot problems as of yet, so cross your fingers, I may actually be running track this time next year! I have also decided to start volunteering at a local kids charity, The Neighborhood House, which mentors and gives shelter for inner city youth. Probably going to spread myself a little thin, but what the hey, I got the time.
Thats it for now. Happy running and Go Raiders!
tb
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
No Breaks
Well, we are back at it again. After giving the kids a month "off", practice has officially started for the 2008 cross country season. It was a wonderful suprise to show up at practice on Monday and find some new faces in the crowd. I have inhereted a talented new crop of freshman, whom I am convinced can really make a difference on this team right away. Although we did lose a great crop of seniors, the hard work and dedication of the underclassmen over the last 18 months will really pay dividens this fall.
There is not really a whole lot to report on the coaching end of things. Most of the kids ran our local road race, the Steamboat Classic and fared well. There are two different distances within the race, the 4 miler and the 15k, and 5 of the group actually opted for the 15k! I think I may finally be turning these kids into runners ; ) We will also be doing a 7 mile trail race this weekend at a local park, a race we did last year and had 4 medal winners.
I personally have been trudging through the training and have not had any setbacks as of yet. The toe feels pretty good as does the rest of the body. I have gotten back on a serious core routine and am back to lifting regularly. I also had the priveledge of being nominated the assistant race director of the Steamboat Classic, which took up a big chunk of time over the last few weeks. I have been going back on forth whether I am going to go out to the Olympic Trials next week. There is a big part of me that loves to watch the competition, but it is also a bit painful to watch knowing that I could be in there shaking things up. Call me bitter. Anyhow, that is it for now. Hopefully next time you hear from me I will be another 2 weeks along in my training and I will have 20 motivated kids out for practice everyday at 8 am!
tb
There is not really a whole lot to report on the coaching end of things. Most of the kids ran our local road race, the Steamboat Classic and fared well. There are two different distances within the race, the 4 miler and the 15k, and 5 of the group actually opted for the 15k! I think I may finally be turning these kids into runners ; ) We will also be doing a 7 mile trail race this weekend at a local park, a race we did last year and had 4 medal winners.
I personally have been trudging through the training and have not had any setbacks as of yet. The toe feels pretty good as does the rest of the body. I have gotten back on a serious core routine and am back to lifting regularly. I also had the priveledge of being nominated the assistant race director of the Steamboat Classic, which took up a big chunk of time over the last few weeks. I have been going back on forth whether I am going to go out to the Olympic Trials next week. There is a big part of me that loves to watch the competition, but it is also a bit painful to watch knowing that I could be in there shaking things up. Call me bitter. Anyhow, that is it for now. Hopefully next time you hear from me I will be another 2 weeks along in my training and I will have 20 motivated kids out for practice everyday at 8 am!
tb
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Season Finale
We finally reached the end of a exciting and record breaking 2008 track season. Despite the unusaully cold and windy spring, there were so many things to brag about.
Last I left everyone, the girls were getting prepared for their conference meet. Although were were a bit shorthanded, they ran tough as nails. Junior Emily Gustafson ran the tough 2 mile-mile double, finishing second in both and running a season pb in the process. Then being the team player that she is, she lead off our 4x4 which also finished second. Sophmore Cassie Lohmeir ran the 800/1600 double, placeing 2nd in the 8 and winning the 1600 with season prs in both! She also came back to anchor our 2nd place 4x400. Both girls earned All-Conference honors in the process. Freshman Ashley Schmitt fought through a bad case of asthma placing 5th in the 3200, then came back in the fresh/soph mile and got nipped at the line by .05 for the win. Not to shabby for a little fresh who had never run a competitive 2 mile in her life!
The girls then went on to the state qualifying sectional meet where both Emily and Cassie qualified for the state finals! Emily placed fifth in the 3200 to qualify on time, running a season best of 11:25. Cassie qualified on time as well, running 5:17 to finish for a hard fought third in the mile. I cannot tell you how proud I was of both of them to run though the frustration of not being in the hunt for a win, and to dig in when they both were having an off day to still qualify for the meet. It showed a lot of character.
The state meet was not as exciting as I would have hoped, as both girls ran right off season and personal bests to finish respectable. As it is at any big race though, if you are not one of the stud top dogs coming in, you are really just racing at the mercy of everyone else. It is pin your ears back and pray to God! What we took away from it though is that we do have the talent to compete at a state level, we just need the training to back it up. I really thought the girls would want a long break after a tough, grinding season, but they were asking for summer workouts before we even got back on the van to head home. That just goes to show the kind of competitive, hard working kids that I have been blessed to coach and mentor. I told them, as I have told thousands of young runners, they have the talent and the desire, they just need some CONSISTENT hard work to back it up.
Where to start with the boys? I have to admit, as badly as I wanted to think that the they were capable of running 8 min for the 2 mile relay, we really hadnt done much throughout the season to justify that. But one thing I have learned about high school runners is that they somehow find several gears which I have no idea existed at the most random of times. Thank God all 4 decided to find those gears at the conference meet! With 4 other teams capable of running sub 8:10 in our conference, it seemed a long shot that we would win. I really believed on a good day we were capable of running 8:08-8:12. But after a 1:59 lead-off leg by senior Nick Leiby, a 2:03 leg by senior Brock Kingsland, a 2:01 3rd leg from soph Hugh Gill and a 1:56 leg by senior Shane Lieby we came away with a conference title and a huge season best of 8:02!!! I do not believe I have ever seen a happier group of runners than I did after that relay. Not only was it good enough for the win, but it was the 7th fastest relay in the state of IL! Shane Lieby then came back in the 800 to get nipped for second by the state cross country champ, still running a school record 1:56.5! That was the real highlight of the meet, as the rest of the relay team ran like complete poo. My fault as a coach to let them get too excited at the beginning of the meet.
The fresh/soph kids had an excellent meet as well. Cody Margetis ran a pb in the mile, clocking a 5:12. Sophmore Drew Thomas ran a pr in the 3200, breaking 11 min for the first time. Alex Cortes ran just off his pbs in both the mile and 2 mile, scoring in both. The fresh/soph 4x400 also won, conisisting of two distance kids and two sophmore jumpers. I was really glad that the young kids got an opportunity to see that winning relay though, as it was proof to them that if they just commit 2 hours out of their day, 6 days a week, they can accomplish anything. To some so far in just a short amount of time just reinforces to everybody that there is plenty of talent in this young group.
On paper we were the favorites leading into the state qualifying sectional meet in the 4x800. But I knew it would not be that easy. Getting 4 17 year-olds to perform their best all on the same day is a real challenge. The boys went from the Rocky 1 attitude of "nothing to lose" to the Rocky 4 attitude of "well, all we can do is screw up". That is where perspective comes into play. What I have found after coaching at this level is that high school kids running is so much more mental than physical, and their margin for error, as well as for improvement, is scary big. Just putting the moment into context and helping them realize that this is just a small step in their lives, I think helped calm a lot of their anxiety. Helping them realize that we do not have to all run 5 second prs to make it to the big dance, but just running what we did at the conference meet is all that was needed out of them.
Anyhow, long story short, we ran 8:05 and placed second to our arch rivals, qualifying the first distacne runners from East Peoria for the state meet since 1995 (that being me)!!! Man alive were those boys excited. It wasnt our best time, but it got the job done. Actually, had we not gotten so pumped up and went out in 55 for the first 400, we probably would have run 8 flat. Just like the conference meet, Shane came back shortly after to win the 800 and the rest of the guys ran like poo. But we got the job done.
The state meet was quite anticlimatic, as I held Shane off the relay to run the open 800, in hopes of running 1:55. I really thought we were ready for it, but everybody looked really tired and nervous. Actually, every guy bombed, so I guess I am to blame. Not sure if all the big races had finally caught up with us, or if it was the pressure of the meet, but I guess you cannot replace experience. We had a wonderful time at the meet though, despite the stares and comments that the guys got for dying their hair white!!! We looked like a bunch of little Eminems : ) Although it wasnt our best effort, it is a memory that will last a lifetime for the boys.
Looking back on the last 18 months, I do not think we could have accomplished much more. Regional cross country champs, missing the state xc meet by 10 points, qualifying the first indivilual to the state xc meet since 1995, school record in the 4x400, 400, 800, first distance individual and relay to qualify for the state track meet since 1995, conference champs and a whole lot of personal bests. I do not claim to be an expert coach by any means, in fact I am learning most of it on the fly. Coaching high schoolers is a whole different beast than coaching a handfull of elite athletes. But what I have found at the high school is that there is a lot of talent out there, and if you just give them a little attention and give them some hope and direction, you can make a world of difference. As much work as it has been, I am extremely grateful that ITA has given me the opportunity to get out and touch so many young lives.
Enough of the sappy stuff. Its back to the grind. We have lost a lot of senior talent, but we also have gained a lot of experience and confidence. Unofficial practice starts in a week, so I am going to go fishing and enjoy my break! Happy Running
p.s. I will try to post a few videos of the races taken over the last few weeks later today or tomorrow. They arent exactly Spielberg, but I will get the hang of it.
Last I left everyone, the girls were getting prepared for their conference meet. Although were were a bit shorthanded, they ran tough as nails. Junior Emily Gustafson ran the tough 2 mile-mile double, finishing second in both and running a season pb in the process. Then being the team player that she is, she lead off our 4x4 which also finished second. Sophmore Cassie Lohmeir ran the 800/1600 double, placeing 2nd in the 8 and winning the 1600 with season prs in both! She also came back to anchor our 2nd place 4x400. Both girls earned All-Conference honors in the process. Freshman Ashley Schmitt fought through a bad case of asthma placing 5th in the 3200, then came back in the fresh/soph mile and got nipped at the line by .05 for the win. Not to shabby for a little fresh who had never run a competitive 2 mile in her life!
The girls then went on to the state qualifying sectional meet where both Emily and Cassie qualified for the state finals! Emily placed fifth in the 3200 to qualify on time, running a season best of 11:25. Cassie qualified on time as well, running 5:17 to finish for a hard fought third in the mile. I cannot tell you how proud I was of both of them to run though the frustration of not being in the hunt for a win, and to dig in when they both were having an off day to still qualify for the meet. It showed a lot of character.
The state meet was not as exciting as I would have hoped, as both girls ran right off season and personal bests to finish respectable. As it is at any big race though, if you are not one of the stud top dogs coming in, you are really just racing at the mercy of everyone else. It is pin your ears back and pray to God! What we took away from it though is that we do have the talent to compete at a state level, we just need the training to back it up. I really thought the girls would want a long break after a tough, grinding season, but they were asking for summer workouts before we even got back on the van to head home. That just goes to show the kind of competitive, hard working kids that I have been blessed to coach and mentor. I told them, as I have told thousands of young runners, they have the talent and the desire, they just need some CONSISTENT hard work to back it up.
Where to start with the boys? I have to admit, as badly as I wanted to think that the they were capable of running 8 min for the 2 mile relay, we really hadnt done much throughout the season to justify that. But one thing I have learned about high school runners is that they somehow find several gears which I have no idea existed at the most random of times. Thank God all 4 decided to find those gears at the conference meet! With 4 other teams capable of running sub 8:10 in our conference, it seemed a long shot that we would win. I really believed on a good day we were capable of running 8:08-8:12. But after a 1:59 lead-off leg by senior Nick Leiby, a 2:03 leg by senior Brock Kingsland, a 2:01 3rd leg from soph Hugh Gill and a 1:56 leg by senior Shane Lieby we came away with a conference title and a huge season best of 8:02!!! I do not believe I have ever seen a happier group of runners than I did after that relay. Not only was it good enough for the win, but it was the 7th fastest relay in the state of IL! Shane Lieby then came back in the 800 to get nipped for second by the state cross country champ, still running a school record 1:56.5! That was the real highlight of the meet, as the rest of the relay team ran like complete poo. My fault as a coach to let them get too excited at the beginning of the meet.
The fresh/soph kids had an excellent meet as well. Cody Margetis ran a pb in the mile, clocking a 5:12. Sophmore Drew Thomas ran a pr in the 3200, breaking 11 min for the first time. Alex Cortes ran just off his pbs in both the mile and 2 mile, scoring in both. The fresh/soph 4x400 also won, conisisting of two distance kids and two sophmore jumpers. I was really glad that the young kids got an opportunity to see that winning relay though, as it was proof to them that if they just commit 2 hours out of their day, 6 days a week, they can accomplish anything. To some so far in just a short amount of time just reinforces to everybody that there is plenty of talent in this young group.
On paper we were the favorites leading into the state qualifying sectional meet in the 4x800. But I knew it would not be that easy. Getting 4 17 year-olds to perform their best all on the same day is a real challenge. The boys went from the Rocky 1 attitude of "nothing to lose" to the Rocky 4 attitude of "well, all we can do is screw up". That is where perspective comes into play. What I have found after coaching at this level is that high school kids running is so much more mental than physical, and their margin for error, as well as for improvement, is scary big. Just putting the moment into context and helping them realize that this is just a small step in their lives, I think helped calm a lot of their anxiety. Helping them realize that we do not have to all run 5 second prs to make it to the big dance, but just running what we did at the conference meet is all that was needed out of them.
Anyhow, long story short, we ran 8:05 and placed second to our arch rivals, qualifying the first distacne runners from East Peoria for the state meet since 1995 (that being me)!!! Man alive were those boys excited. It wasnt our best time, but it got the job done. Actually, had we not gotten so pumped up and went out in 55 for the first 400, we probably would have run 8 flat. Just like the conference meet, Shane came back shortly after to win the 800 and the rest of the guys ran like poo. But we got the job done.
The state meet was quite anticlimatic, as I held Shane off the relay to run the open 800, in hopes of running 1:55. I really thought we were ready for it, but everybody looked really tired and nervous. Actually, every guy bombed, so I guess I am to blame. Not sure if all the big races had finally caught up with us, or if it was the pressure of the meet, but I guess you cannot replace experience. We had a wonderful time at the meet though, despite the stares and comments that the guys got for dying their hair white!!! We looked like a bunch of little Eminems : ) Although it wasnt our best effort, it is a memory that will last a lifetime for the boys.
Looking back on the last 18 months, I do not think we could have accomplished much more. Regional cross country champs, missing the state xc meet by 10 points, qualifying the first indivilual to the state xc meet since 1995, school record in the 4x400, 400, 800, first distance individual and relay to qualify for the state track meet since 1995, conference champs and a whole lot of personal bests. I do not claim to be an expert coach by any means, in fact I am learning most of it on the fly. Coaching high schoolers is a whole different beast than coaching a handfull of elite athletes. But what I have found at the high school is that there is a lot of talent out there, and if you just give them a little attention and give them some hope and direction, you can make a world of difference. As much work as it has been, I am extremely grateful that ITA has given me the opportunity to get out and touch so many young lives.
Enough of the sappy stuff. Its back to the grind. We have lost a lot of senior talent, but we also have gained a lot of experience and confidence. Unofficial practice starts in a week, so I am going to go fishing and enjoy my break! Happy Running
p.s. I will try to post a few videos of the races taken over the last few weeks later today or tomorrow. They arent exactly Spielberg, but I will get the hang of it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Last Weeks Pictures
Above: Top L-Nick Leiby (800 meter pr 2:03); Top R-Brant Watson and Cody Margetis (1600 meter prs 5:32 and 5:22); Middle L-David Blackford (800 meter pr 2:09 split); Middle R-Hugh Gill (800 meter pr 2:07 split); Bottom L-Shane Leiby (800 meter 2:05 split, came back 30 min later tieing the 400 meter school record 50.2!); Bottom R-Hugh Gill (1600 pr 4:45); Bottom-Brock Kingsland (800 pr split 2:05, came back yesterday to win the mile and run a huge pb of 4:48!)Here are a few pictures the kids took for me from last week at a conference triangular meet with our two biggest rivals. I was hoping to get some video with the new camera last night, but once again it rained : ( Every picture is of a kid running a personal best that night!
The girls conference meet is Thursday, and Friday will be the true test to see if the boys 4X800 team is capable of qualifying for the state meet. I will keep you posted. Happy Running!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Big Week
Last I updated everyone, we had returned from our first outdoor meet of the season in Moline, IL with a very bright start to the spring. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated since. After a few dual meets with hurricane force winds, we had to cancel 4 meets in a row due to snow, cold, wind and rain. We have also had a lot of injuries since we started workout out agressively on the track, ecspecially those who did not train all winter. And although we did not run particularly fast times at those meets, we competed very well. Even better was that I have successfully recruited 4 "sprinters" to become distance runners and to run cross country this fall!
Last Friday night was our first real chance to get good competition, but once again the weather slowed us down a bit. Despite 30 mph winds and torential rains, good things are sure to come. The 4x800 team that I was sure could run 8:12 finally proved to themselves that the work we put in over the winter is starting to pay off, as we cracked 8:30 without my two studs. Shane Lieby won the open 800 with a solo performance and pr of 1:59. His first time under two minutes! He then came back on Tuesday and tied the shcool record on his first attempt at an open 400m with a 50.2! I am so jealous of runers with that kind of foot speed. Senior Nick Leiby, Shane's twin brother, ran 4:43 to place 2nd in the mile. Although that is not near what I think he is capable of, this proves that with a healthy hip and a warm calm evening, he will run 4:30 before he graduates. Nick also came back Tuesday evening to run a pr of 2:03 in the 800 after going out in a suicidal 56 (not his fault, bad coaching)! Senior Brock Kingsland finally broke through in the 800, running a 4 second pr of 2:05. David Blackford, or Mr Glass as I like to call him, is starting to round into shape, running 2:09 (just in time for him to get hurt again). Freshmen Cody Margetis, Alex Cortes and Brant Watson ran personal bests in the mile, running 5:22, 4:51 and 5:36 respectively.
We have not had the same amount of success on the girls side, but there have been some good performances. Unfortunately we are very short of numbers on the girls squad, which has placed the few I have in a tough position of running more events than needed at times for the sake of scoring points. I could not be more proud of 3 in particular: Emily Gustafson, Cassie Lohmier and Ashley Schmitt. They have ran 3-4 events every Tuesday for the last 3 weeks and have not complained or moaned a bit. And although they are not running as fast as they want, they have competed hard and that will pay off over the next two weeks when we back off for next weeks conference meet.
As all may have noticed from others blogs, the athletes at In-The-Arena have so kindly been supplied with digital video cameras. These will allow our viewers and supporters an ability to see first hand what goes on behind the scenes from day to day. I have to admit I am about as tech-savy as a monkey, so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to use the camera, post in on here and then make some sort of sense of what it is that you are watching. I did have some of my injured kids take video of our meet on Tuesday night, but most of the video is of chopped up races. Tomorrow night is our big home invite of the girls and a huge invite just down the road for the boys. I will really try to take some good footage and post it over the weekend at both of those meets (hopefully they kids give you a good show) and give you a look at what is happening here in Central Illinois.
Thanks for listening and Go Raiders!!!
Last Friday night was our first real chance to get good competition, but once again the weather slowed us down a bit. Despite 30 mph winds and torential rains, good things are sure to come. The 4x800 team that I was sure could run 8:12 finally proved to themselves that the work we put in over the winter is starting to pay off, as we cracked 8:30 without my two studs. Shane Lieby won the open 800 with a solo performance and pr of 1:59. His first time under two minutes! He then came back on Tuesday and tied the shcool record on his first attempt at an open 400m with a 50.2! I am so jealous of runers with that kind of foot speed. Senior Nick Leiby, Shane's twin brother, ran 4:43 to place 2nd in the mile. Although that is not near what I think he is capable of, this proves that with a healthy hip and a warm calm evening, he will run 4:30 before he graduates. Nick also came back Tuesday evening to run a pr of 2:03 in the 800 after going out in a suicidal 56 (not his fault, bad coaching)! Senior Brock Kingsland finally broke through in the 800, running a 4 second pr of 2:05. David Blackford, or Mr Glass as I like to call him, is starting to round into shape, running 2:09 (just in time for him to get hurt again). Freshmen Cody Margetis, Alex Cortes and Brant Watson ran personal bests in the mile, running 5:22, 4:51 and 5:36 respectively.
We have not had the same amount of success on the girls side, but there have been some good performances. Unfortunately we are very short of numbers on the girls squad, which has placed the few I have in a tough position of running more events than needed at times for the sake of scoring points. I could not be more proud of 3 in particular: Emily Gustafson, Cassie Lohmier and Ashley Schmitt. They have ran 3-4 events every Tuesday for the last 3 weeks and have not complained or moaned a bit. And although they are not running as fast as they want, they have competed hard and that will pay off over the next two weeks when we back off for next weeks conference meet.
As all may have noticed from others blogs, the athletes at In-The-Arena have so kindly been supplied with digital video cameras. These will allow our viewers and supporters an ability to see first hand what goes on behind the scenes from day to day. I have to admit I am about as tech-savy as a monkey, so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to use the camera, post in on here and then make some sort of sense of what it is that you are watching. I did have some of my injured kids take video of our meet on Tuesday night, but most of the video is of chopped up races. Tomorrow night is our big home invite of the girls and a huge invite just down the road for the boys. I will really try to take some good footage and post it over the weekend at both of those meets (hopefully they kids give you a good show) and give you a look at what is happening here in Central Illinois.
Thanks for listening and Go Raiders!!!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Outdoor Season Has Begun
After a long grueling winter, I am relieved to inform everyone that our outdoor season finally kicked off Saturday at the Moline Invite. I say relieved because it is difficult to keep 15 year olds motivated to do workouts when the next race is still 3 months away. The weather was not suited for world record conditions, but nonetheless, we had a lot of successes, a few mediocre performances and fortunately, no bombs.
Starting off on the girls side, junior star Emily Gustafson cruised to a win the two mile by over 30 seconds, and then came back with a bit of a dissappointing third place finish in the mile. She was quite upset with herself for letting the leaders go, but reassured her that she has heavy legs for the first time in her life (from training all winter, her first time) and that she will feel snappy when the time is right. Freshman Ashely Schmitt placed second in her first two mile ever, running just over 12 min. Again, she was a little dissappointed with herself, but as a coach, I was thrilled to see her compete so well and hang in there with a 20 degree windchill, which is really hard on her asthma. Sophmore Cassie Lohmeir ran her first race of the year, placing 2nd in the 800 with a time of 2:26. Like the other two, she was a bit mad at herself for not going after it earlier, but 2:26 is pretty amazing for a 16 year old who plays basketball all winter and has only been running for 4 weeks. Needless to say, we have a lot of talent on the girls side. Best of all, we had a real desire to work hard, compete and see the long term picture.
There were some great races on the boys side as well. My pic for athlete of the day was definately freshman Alex Cortes, who ran his first two mile ever (hanging in well in A heat) and then came back to place second in his heat of the mile running 4:50!!! I cannot express how happy I was for a kid who has not missed a practice since he started with me last summer. Expect to hear a lot more about him. Sophomore Hugh Gill also ran a 15 second pr in the mile, running 4:45. And last, but not least, my senior twins Shane and Nick Leiby kicked off the season with quick splits in the 4X800 and coming back and placing 3rd and 4th respectively in the open 800. We were all a little dissapointed with the times, as I really thought they would run around 2 min. It made me sit down and try to rethink what I have been doing and what I have planned for the next month. As a coach, you must not put the blame of bad performances on anybody but yourself, and after looking back on all the work we have done over the last 5 months, I have decided to stick with the plan. What really threw me for a loop was, after having heavy legs in both 800s, and thinking the 4x400 splits would be sluggish, Shane lead off the relay with a 50 flat!!! Into a cold headwind with two races under his belt and the first time running really hard all season.
So to sum it up, all-in-all, it was a pretty good start to the season. I do have a lot of injuries, especially with the younger kids. Some of that is my fault, as it took me a while realized that some of them just cannot handle anything but easy 25 min runs. I really believe that now that the races have begun, our level of intensity and urgency will elevate. Like I said before, coaching track is a heck of a lot of problems. Dealing with so many problems and personalities can make a coach feel a bit insane at times, but it is all worth it when you see a kid work his rear off all winter and come out and run 4:50 for his first high school mile ever!!!
Take care all and GO RAIDERS!
tim
Starting off on the girls side, junior star Emily Gustafson cruised to a win the two mile by over 30 seconds, and then came back with a bit of a dissappointing third place finish in the mile. She was quite upset with herself for letting the leaders go, but reassured her that she has heavy legs for the first time in her life (from training all winter, her first time) and that she will feel snappy when the time is right. Freshman Ashely Schmitt placed second in her first two mile ever, running just over 12 min. Again, she was a little dissappointed with herself, but as a coach, I was thrilled to see her compete so well and hang in there with a 20 degree windchill, which is really hard on her asthma. Sophmore Cassie Lohmeir ran her first race of the year, placing 2nd in the 800 with a time of 2:26. Like the other two, she was a bit mad at herself for not going after it earlier, but 2:26 is pretty amazing for a 16 year old who plays basketball all winter and has only been running for 4 weeks. Needless to say, we have a lot of talent on the girls side. Best of all, we had a real desire to work hard, compete and see the long term picture.
There were some great races on the boys side as well. My pic for athlete of the day was definately freshman Alex Cortes, who ran his first two mile ever (hanging in well in A heat) and then came back to place second in his heat of the mile running 4:50!!! I cannot express how happy I was for a kid who has not missed a practice since he started with me last summer. Expect to hear a lot more about him. Sophomore Hugh Gill also ran a 15 second pr in the mile, running 4:45. And last, but not least, my senior twins Shane and Nick Leiby kicked off the season with quick splits in the 4X800 and coming back and placing 3rd and 4th respectively in the open 800. We were all a little dissapointed with the times, as I really thought they would run around 2 min. It made me sit down and try to rethink what I have been doing and what I have planned for the next month. As a coach, you must not put the blame of bad performances on anybody but yourself, and after looking back on all the work we have done over the last 5 months, I have decided to stick with the plan. What really threw me for a loop was, after having heavy legs in both 800s, and thinking the 4x400 splits would be sluggish, Shane lead off the relay with a 50 flat!!! Into a cold headwind with two races under his belt and the first time running really hard all season.
So to sum it up, all-in-all, it was a pretty good start to the season. I do have a lot of injuries, especially with the younger kids. Some of that is my fault, as it took me a while realized that some of them just cannot handle anything but easy 25 min runs. I really believe that now that the races have begun, our level of intensity and urgency will elevate. Like I said before, coaching track is a heck of a lot of problems. Dealing with so many problems and personalities can make a coach feel a bit insane at times, but it is all worth it when you see a kid work his rear off all winter and come out and run 4:50 for his first high school mile ever!!!
Take care all and GO RAIDERS!
tim
Monday, March 3, 2008
A Great Start
March 3, 2008
We finally had our first indoor race of the 2008 season, and I couldnt have been any happier. It has been a long while since the Raiders have raced (ecspecially in high school time), so I was very curious to see how the training over the last 4 month would affect us. I am usually pretty spot on to what I think an athlete is capable of, but I always error on the side of cation when trying to determine an early race pace. Being that we have not been on the track for a very long time, I wanted everyone to be out relatively comfortable and try to even split the first and second halves of the race. Although I am not a big fan of getting done with a race and having a lot of energy, I always feel it is better to start the first race of the season saying "I could have ran a lot faster". The annoying thing for me was that I had a previously planned trip to Florida, so I had to miss the race, and what is really disturbing is that a big part of me wanted to bail on a free trip to the Florida Keys to stay at home and watch a high school indoor meet! I think I may actually seek help concerning this.
Anyhow, the kids ran out of their minds. Senior Shane Leiby placed second with a 10 second pr of 4:32 (and he negative split the second half). His twin brother, who has not worked out for he last 6 weeks because of a knee problem ran 4 seconds off a pr with a 4:51. Senior Brock Kingsland missed his goal of breaking 5 minutes for the first time by two seconds, running 5:02 and freshman Alex Cortez ran a pr of 5:01 (in my opinoin one of the real highlights of the meet). Also pr'ing were freshman Cody Margetis and David Haldeman (who just started running with us a week prior) with times of 5:34.
On, the girls side, star Emily Gustafson ran a disappointing 5:31, and despite stopping a lap early, Ashley Schmitt broke the 6 minute barrier for the first time at 5:47. Freshman Brittany Grant broke the 3 minute mark for her first half mile ever running 2:55 as welll. Not to bad for a freshman who has been on the treadmill everyday since December and has never ran a track race further than 200 meters!
All in all, I would say it was a successful start to the season, and very encouraging for whats to come outdoors. We will be racing our last indoor meet of the season in two weeks at the University of Illinois, and hopefully we will have a couple of state indoor meet qualifiers. Until then it is back to the grind for 6 more weeks, which will put us at the beginning of the outdoor season.
Best to all
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tough Week
February 11, 2008
Well, it is that time of year in the midwest where training is pretty tough. With no races in sight, the weather miserable and the grind of running high mileage combined with considerable quality makes it a chore at times. But we have continued to soldier on. I continue to tell the kids that this will be the toughest week we have all year and I believe they are starting to get sick of hearing it!
We have had a really successful training week over the last two weeks, and the host of knee pain problems (5 in total) finally seem to be clearing up. Saturday we met with the Limestone Rockets, a rival conference team (the coach is a good friend of mine), and did a 4-6 mile tempo run together. We thought that it would bring an extra element of competitiveness to the workout as well as give some of the kids who usually run alone, to fast or too slow somebody to share the pain with. This has been my second attempt in as many weeks at doing the long tempo, which I feel is more important than any other single workout a distance runner can do. There is a bit of an art to the tempo run, ecspecially with inexperienced runners who do not know their bodies very well. Most high schoolers know two gears; dog-meat slow and fast as ####. What I am trying to do with the long tempo is find those gears in the middle and sustain it over a longer period of time. Although it is frustrating to watch, I trust that by the end of this summer (in prep for xc) we will have it down.
My running is going as slow as planned. Nothing really exciting to report, just 4-5 miles a day with all the weight room stuff as well. The only exciting bit of news on this end is that I will be going to Florida in two weeks for a little warming up, but being the track junkie that I am, Im thinking about bailing on that so I dont miss our first indoor meet of the season!
Well, it is that time of year in the midwest where training is pretty tough. With no races in sight, the weather miserable and the grind of running high mileage combined with considerable quality makes it a chore at times. But we have continued to soldier on. I continue to tell the kids that this will be the toughest week we have all year and I believe they are starting to get sick of hearing it!
We have had a really successful training week over the last two weeks, and the host of knee pain problems (5 in total) finally seem to be clearing up. Saturday we met with the Limestone Rockets, a rival conference team (the coach is a good friend of mine), and did a 4-6 mile tempo run together. We thought that it would bring an extra element of competitiveness to the workout as well as give some of the kids who usually run alone, to fast or too slow somebody to share the pain with. This has been my second attempt in as many weeks at doing the long tempo, which I feel is more important than any other single workout a distance runner can do. There is a bit of an art to the tempo run, ecspecially with inexperienced runners who do not know their bodies very well. Most high schoolers know two gears; dog-meat slow and fast as ####. What I am trying to do with the long tempo is find those gears in the middle and sustain it over a longer period of time. Although it is frustrating to watch, I trust that by the end of this summer (in prep for xc) we will have it down.
My running is going as slow as planned. Nothing really exciting to report, just 4-5 miles a day with all the weight room stuff as well. The only exciting bit of news on this end is that I will be going to Florida in two weeks for a little warming up, but being the track junkie that I am, Im thinking about bailing on that so I dont miss our first indoor meet of the season!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ice Cubes!
Runners must be stupid and/or crazy. That is all I have to say after standing out in the bitter cold the last two weeks watching prep athletes suffer through workouts in sub zero temps. When you am doing it yourself self, one tends to rationalize things. But when you are a spectator, you think to yourself "What on earth are these fools thinking?".
Like it has been everywhere else on the eastern half of the country the last week, it has been utterly miserable here in Central Illinois. But I must be doing something right, because the kids keep showing up for practice. I believe that for the senior group, they are starting to understand the this is their last go at making a state meet. It is great to see a group of kids who have a united goal and are willing to suffer through some pretty rough workouts, and set a standard for the younger ones.
One of the most difficult things that I have found when working with young athletes is making them understand the importance of preparation. In that, I mean seeing the big picture and understanding that what we do today has a direct effect on what happens 6 months from now. Most young athletes (I being one of them until late in my college career) believe that they can perform to the best of their ability by jogging for a few weeks before the season and then coming out to the competitions and just racing hard. Yes, they will run ok if they race tough, but where is it getting them in terms of their goals? So I have been extremely proud of all the kids that have been out training in the "pre-season" with us, ecspecially the younger athletes who have not yet developed any real long-term goals druing their short athletic careers. Attatched are some pictures (that I hope I have done right) from last saturday during a long run of 70 minutes with three 10 minute pickups in the middle. The temp was hovering right at zero and the wind chill was at minus 15! I actually had a few parents call and tell me that their kid was not coming to practice, which was understandable.
Not a whole lot of reporting to do on my running, as it has just been easy theraputic runs of 30-60 minutes. My foot appears to be ok since the shock wave procedure that was done last month. Right now, my only frame of mind has been to run easy as possible and focus on proper biomechanics.
Aside from the running and coaching thing life has been pretting boring. This is the worst time of year for an outdoorsman, as hunting season has come to a close and fishing looks a long way off, unless you are a complete nutter and are out standing on 10 inches of ice trying to catch a few dinkers the size of your hand that are too frozen to even remotely fight. I am heading to Boston MA this weekend to watch and help out at the Boston Indoor Games. It will be a good chance to catch up with Mrs. Rowe and other friends who will be there, as well as watch a local Peoria girl run the h.s. mile, who is coached by a close friend of mine.
Sot that is it for this one. Stay warm and chat at you all in a few weeks as we prepare for our first indoor meet of the season! Take care.
tim
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