Aztec Invitational

Leading the 2009 Aztec Invitational

I have been looking forward to posting my race report of the Aztec Invitational all week. School was quite busy last week, with three tests on top of the usual load, and I couldn’t justify spending time updating this blog when there was other work to be done.

Last weekend’s Aztec Invitational was the first time I led a cross country race alone since the Woodbridge Invitational in 2002, my freshman year of high school. I ended up winning and it still stands as the last cross country race I have won.

The race started out exactly as Coach Heins wanted it to, fairly conservative with NAU packing it up in the 10-20 spots. University of San Francisco had seven or eight runners leading the charge through one mile, with Junior Eric Lynch, freshman Tim Freriks and myself following close behind. The course is rather hilly, and shortly after the mile marker, an extremely steep hill kicks up towards the heavens. Lynch swore “that hill is definitely over 45°.” As I predicted the day before as we jogged the course, several runners found it necessary to make a move up the hill. Maybe us Lumberjacks are a little conservative when it comes to hills because we are used to reaching a point of no return level of oxygen debt when making moves up hills in Flagstaff at 7,000 feet… Nevertheless, the USF runners quickly paid for their efforts.

At the top of the hill, we meandered our way through a dog park, of all things, and a few more inclines before reaching the 2 mile mark. Around this point, NAU took over in a dominating fashion with Tim, sophomore Diego Estrada, and juniors Ahmed Osman and Jordan Chipangama taking over the lead pack. After a fast downhill half mile, the course kicked up again with a short, steep uphill with Jordan moving to the lead. I followed his move and closed the gap. Jordan seemed content to let someone else lead, and just like that, there I was in the lead.

Pretty quickly I realized that this was the first time in a long time that I had led a cross country race. Might as well roll with it, right? So I continued on, passing a large group of spectators (where I specifically heard my Mom with a very excited voice), back through the dog park and down that very steep hill. Shortly after reaching the bottom, Jordan came by with some words of encouragement, but I was unable to keep up. Ahmed and Diego came by me within the next mile, and I ended up finishing the 8km course in 25:41 in fourth.

I was really amazed that I was actually slower than a year ago on this course — 9 seconds slower. There was no doubt better competition last year. Add that to a very conservative first two miles and I guess that leaves me with a slower time than last year.

Nonetheless, I still finished really excited about the race, especially since we scored an almost-perfect-16. Leading the race, even for just a short kilometer or so, re-lit a little flame inside of me. Why not stick my nose in it and go for it?

Shout outs need to go out to the middle distance guys (“MD Crew”) for really stepping it up. Sophomore Darius Terry finished 6th overall and 5th on the team. Just a few seconds behind him were sophomore Joe Withers and junior (and roommate) Kam Holbrook. They suffer through the beatdowns in long runs and workouts all fall from the longer distance guys. I know they were happy to be putting the hurt on the other guys for a change.

In a week NAU will be competing at the Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Ok. Last year we finished 2nd to a very strong Oklahoma State team. This year they are even stronger, with rankings of 1st and 2nd from Letsrun.com and the national poll. This will be our team’s first test of the season, even though team leader David McNeill may opt to miss the meet for a couple more weeks of solid training.

Results | Recap on NAUAthletics.com | Photos

George Kyte Classic

The George Kyte Classic on Saturday kicked off NAU’s 2009 Cross Country season. The team has been looking very good in all of our workouts and the race was no different. Despite the heavy rain the last 1.5 miles, many people set big course PRs, including myself with a 30 second improvement over last year to finish 8th overall. Sophomore Diego Estrada won in 24:57, a 71 second improvement. Sophomore Andrew Belus also had an outstanding performance, breaking his SEA LEVEL PR with a 25:39, a 66 second improvement.

The team won easily, despite running many runners unattached with 24 points, 32 points ahead of the University of Arizona. When I saw 24 points, it brought back memories of the 2005 California State Meet when Royal scored 24 points. Still gives me goosebumps when I think about that dominating performance.

I am really happy to be 30 seconds ahead of where I was a year ago. All of my workouts show that I am more fit than a year ago and it is nice to back that up with a race result. The crazy thing is I am in the exact same boat as a year ago… not sure where my place on the team will be. Like several other teammates, I am hoping to solidify myself as a top 7 runner. The only way I know how to do that is continue to have good workouts, take care of my health and race well when it matters. The next opportunity is in a week and a half at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Ca. I had a great performance there last year, setting a new PR of 25:32. The goal this year is to be close to 25 minutes.

Results | Article on NAUAthletics.com (with a photo of yours truly) | Photos (coming soon)

Doing Work at 7,000 Feet

Summer is always over too soon. I leave behind a summer of great opportunity (internship at ITT Aerospace Controls), my first Olympic distance triathlon, training with friends and great memories from my brother’s wedding.

I have made my way back up to Flagstaff, Arizona for another year of school and running. Tina and I made the ~7 hour drive on Tuesday. Let the acclimating begin.

Upon arriving Tuesday, I got an easy 5 mile run in with Kam, Darius, Joe and even a few minutes with Tina. I averaged slower than 7:30 pace so natuarally I felt great. That evening, my new roommate Myles Kloer cooked a delicious dinner for his Mom, sisters and his roommates. He’ll be a great fit.

Wednesday I got an 11 mile run in on Soldier’s Loop then headed over to my physical at NAU’s Skydome. Later in the evening I got to meet most of my teammates for the year at our compliance meeting.

Thursday I helped move freshmen into Reilly Hall from 8-noon. I was exhausted all day (part of the acclimation process I think), but my legs perked up in the afternoon for a 12 mile run with some strides.

Yesterday we had our first workout as a team at Buffalo Park: 4×2  mile repeats. We were supposed to be going 80%, but I admit I definitely was running harder than that. I was happy to see that I was 15 seconds faster on the same workout a year ago. I am feeling fit and I think I still have lots of room for improvement in the near future. A few short months will confirm or deny this.

In the evening Tina and I drove down to Munds Park to meet some UCLA cross country runners for dinner. They are staying in a cabin there for a few weeks of altitude training. Tina and I were amazed to see so many large, beautiful homes down there as we have passed through Munds Park many times on our way to and from Phoenix. From the highway, all you can see is a mobile home park, a couple gas stations and a church. Nevertheless, we had great food and enjoyed a game of the Royal favorite Go Home. Of course, my team won. (Thanks for the clutch rolling Tina. Sorry Kelcie… you really have Alex to blame.)

Today was a recovery run. 11.5 miles to the base of Fisher Point with Andrew Belus, Ben Ashkettle and Simon Gilna. We stopped briefly on the run just to look at the beautiful setting. If I ever get a mountain bike out there I will take pictures.

Tomorrow we will be doing a long run, hopefully ~18 miles for me to put me at 100 miles for the third consecutive week. My miles of trials is only just beginning.

One 100-Mile Week Down…

…20 miles to go on my next.

Last week I finished my first 100-mile week of the season. I got two double days in and finished it off with the longest run of my life, 20 miles. Tomorrow I have another 20 miler scheduled to cap off my first 100-mile week in singles. I can say that doing that mileage in singles has been much more difficult than when I have done it in the past in 9-12 runs.

I am feeling strong and I am really happy with my fitness right now. As I have said in the past, it is going to take some big improvements for me to make my cross country team again this year. I am hoping I get adjusted to altitude quickly after I get to Flagstaff on Tuesday and I am looking forward to getting to work with the rest of my teammates.

On a sad note, the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, J. W. Hardy, is leaving NAU for a better oppurtunity at Boise State University. Hardy was a great coach and an even better person and NAU will miss him. I wish him the best of luck at Boise State. Fortunately, Cross Country and distance in general is coached by Eric Heins so there shouldn’t be any differences in training for us next year. The question becomes, who take Hardy’s position as Head Coach? Heins has my vote!

Summer training, Internship & Cross Country

Wow, is it August already? Nearly done with another summer break. I don’t have too many of these left actually, which is kind of depressing.

Since the triathlon, I have been increasing my mileage to prepare for what I believe will be my 16th cross country season (I took the 2000 season off to keep me feeling fresh. Great decision). Since the break I have logged 70, 80 and 90 mile weeks and should finish this week a bit over 80 with a day off. I have started to throw in a few workouts and I have been happy with all of them. The plan is to get in a couple of 100 mile weeks before I head back to Flagstaff on the 18th.

I am really excited about this season and I have high hopes. In 2008 I had a great season and would love to continue to build on it. The team is looking great with returners David McNeill (competing in the World Championships in Berlin for his native Australia this month), Ben Ashkettle, Diego Estrada and myself. Ahmed Osman had a great track season breaking 29 minutes in the 10k and finishing the year as an All-American. We have lots of new faces coming in that should mix it up with the rest of us.

Just like last year, it looks like I will be fighting for my spot on the team.

The only thing standing in my way lately is work. I got a 6-week internship at ITT Aerospace Controls. It is a great opportunity especially since my resume is lacking in experience. I am learning a lot and I am being included in a lot of different aspects. With that said, it does make running a little more difficult. Many of my weekdays lately consist of waking up at ~6, commuting to work 35-45 minutes each way, working 8-9 hours, getting my run in, dinner and then off to bed by 10. I just barely fit everything in, but barely is enough. I hope.

I can see how trying to do anything well in addition to working full time (e.g. running, triathlons, studying, parenting) would be extremely difficult. It is crazy to think that for many years, the world’s best athletes had to be amateurs and could not be paid for competing in their sport.