Who Am I

Looking back, the path I took to distance running has been a long and unique one. If you told me I would be running at the University of Maryland in 6 years I wouldn’t believe you. I started running my freshman year of high school, when a friend of mine convinced me it would be a fun way to hang out after school. Originally, I never even thought I would be successful at all. So I decided I would be a sprinter, and spent the next year running the shortest events on the track. It wasn’t until two years later when I finally decided to give cross country a try, because I wanted to stay in shape over the summer for the next track season. Well it didn’t take long after that for me to realize this is where I should have been all along—running long trail runs and racing 5 and 10ks.

Senior year of high school was great, I had a lot of success in cross country and on the track, and though I did get some attention from some local college programs, my heart was set on the University of Maryland, even though I knew I wouldn’t get recruited to run there. By a twist of fate, I happened to get in contact with the distance coach at Maryland the summer before my freshman year, and though he told me my high school times were good, I wasn’t quite at the Division 1 level yet. But, he did offer me a job as a student manager for the Cross Country and Track teams, which I accepted without any hesitation. I would be spending my time doing whatever jobs the team needed, taking splits in workouts, setting up hurdles on the track, entertaining high school recruits, you name it I did it. In return, I was able to train with the team on a limited basis.

It was rough at first, but I kept training, part with the Maryland team and part on my own, and raced wherever I could, in local road races or as an unattached runner in a few college meets. Eventually, as I kept on increasing my running mileage and the intensity of my workouts, I was able to work out more with the varsity guys at Maryland and by spring of my sophomore year I had set personal bests in every event from the 1500m run to the 10k. The distance coach at Maryland, Coach Dunham, decided at the end of the year to give me a chance on varsity cross country next year, which brings me to the present day.

I’ve spent this summer running the most intense distance training program I’ve ever done. I’ve worked up to running over 70 miles most weeks, when before I had never come close to running that in a week ever. So far so good, I ran a personal best in the 10k in July and am feeling very aerobically strong (also in part to the lifting, ab workouts, and tons of pushups I’ve been doing). In a week, I head down to College Park, Maryland and begin training with the team officially as the season begins.

I’ll be taking you with me as I go through my first season of collegiate cross country. Looks like I’ll be the underdog at first, the guys I’ll be training have phenomenal high school running resumes compared to me (there are state champs, all-Americans, and other elite caliber runners all over the place!), but I’m confident I can make my way up the totem pole by the end of the season. My goal is to be one of the top 7 runners on the team; we have a team of 14 guys.

So, here we go! I’ve run thousands of miles to get where I am, but I have lots more to go before I’m done.

Putting it All Together

As this summer draws to a close, I think I’m finally ready for cross country to begin. There were three major goals I had for the summer: run more mileage, get more hills in, and work on the non-running aspects of cross country; and I think I’ve done a pretty decent job of each of these.

I know I have definitely increased my summer mileage compared to past years, no doubt there. Tomorrow I’ll hit my 800th mile since getting out of school mid-way through last May. I’ve been running a minimum of 50 miles a week, and gone all the way up to a little over 75 a week, far more than I had ever done in the past. Last school year (which at the time was the most I was ever running) I would get up to 50ish miles a week every so often, never much over that, and those weeks would usually be followed by a short week. This was tough at first, I felt tired all day every day. I was getting less rest in between runs because I was often times running twice a day (it’s a lot easier to run two 7 milers than one 14 miler) which made me feel tired all day. Higher mileage also means that runs take much longer to complete. Being out on the roads for over an hour every day has been rough on my body, but the improvements I’ve gotten physically and mentally have been awesome. Running five and six mile races are going to seem like a breeze now. They’re so much shorter than most of the runs I’ve been doing.

The next component of my summer work has been elevation training. I have yet to see any race course that is completely flat, and hills are the perfect place to pass another runner and try to put some distance on them. Luckily, all of the usual routes I’ve been running this summer have had at least a few decent hills on them. Getting as many hills as possible also has a good mental benefit as well- the more you run them the less you think of them as obstacles and more of just the next part of the run. I’m hoping this will give me the mental edge whenever any future run gets tough, whether I’m pushing up a hill starting a closing sprint in a close race, or whatever running situation may come up. Just like the increase in mileage, the hills were a challenge in the beginning of summer (most of my running routes at school are remarkably flat so I wasn’t as used to them) but after running them on a daily basis they’ve become my friends.

The final piece of my summer training (and I think the most difficult) has consisted of everything that makes me stronger and fitter that aren’t accomplished through running. This is mostly lifting and ab work, and having a healthier diet. After some trial and error, I worked out a workout schedule where I do two sessions of abs and pushups a day (12 minutes of various ab workouts and 120 pushups total) and lift three times a week (mostly bench, squats and arm curls). I’ve never been particularly strong in the upper body area, ever. I suppose this came from not doing as much non-running workouts in high school, which then continued into college, where the nearest weight facility was a long walk away from where I lived. Being a part of Maryland’s cross country team this year has been the best motivation I could have to spend more time lifting and such. Its going to make me stronger on the whole, not to mention save me the embarrassment of trying to go to mandatory weight room sessions at school with no preparation at all. I’ve noticed a little definition in my arms and abs, which is nice. I’ve also been trying to eat healthier. College food is awful. Doesn’t taste too good, and nutritionally isn’t much better. Luckily this year I have my own apartment complete with a kitchen so I can shop and make my own food. Starting with this summer, I’ve been getting lots of fresh, healthy foods and eating them. They taste much better too.

Yesterday, I put all these different parts of my summer training to work, when I went and took a Max V02 test. The test was part of a study for the kinesiology department at the University of Maryland, so I was fortunate to be able to do this usually expensive test for free. The test consisted of a pretty rigorous workout, I was running on a treadmill at 10 m.p.h., and the elevation was increased by 3 percent every 2 minutes. It felt pretty easy in the beginning, but 13 minutes later at the end of the test I was feeling pretty drained. Even still, the test went really well. 13 minutes seems very short compared to the hour+ runs I’ve been doing almost daily, and the elevation increase was a breeze thanks to all my hills. My new and improved diet and workout routine in the weight room also helped me a lot in the test (not to mention in the body fat percentage test they also gave me). In the end I ended up getting a 79.2 for my V02 max score and a body fat percentage of around 6%. I’m really happy with both these scores and definitely have all the work I’ve put into the summer to thank for them.

My First Official Day as a Collegiate Runner

Moved into my apartment in College Park today, and so begins my college running career. Today consisted of a very long compliance meeting where me and the other runners were given talks on balancing athletics and schoolwork, amateurism and NCAA eligibility, and how the Maryland sports medicine program works. A lot of the information is common sense, but if this is what I have to do to be able to run here then it’s worth it. After the meeting, I got to run with one of the guys from the team. I think it was the first time I’ve run with anyone else since I came home last May. Running with other people is so much better than going solo, it gives you something to do, and helps distract from being tired on runs. That’s one of the nice things about having a team to run with, there are so many advantages to having other people to work with and count on, that’s one of the things I’ve missed the most in the last two years.

So tomorrow I leave for cross country camp. It’s a five day thing where the rest of the team and I can really focus on training and not eat any bad food (since we’re going to be pretty isolated there aren’t any distractions and our coaches get to choose everything we eat). After this week, the regular season begins and I’ll hopefully be racing in my first meet at Mt. St. Mary’s. Here goes!

A Summer of Hard Work Paid Off

I’ve just returned from preseason camp with the rest of the team, and I’m now I’m excited more than ever for the season to start! We spent five days at camp Hashawa, a little northeast of Westminster in the middle of nowhere, Carroll County Maryland.

The camp was pretty remote, and had miles and miles of trails to run on. The area was so hilly that it was literally impossible to run anything over a half mile without hitting some decent elevation changes. I actually liked all the hills, it made running a lot tougher, even on the easier runs, but it’s going to help so much in the hillier races we have this year. Also, the College Park is almost totally devoid of hills so it’s nice to get them in as much as possible. Most of the other guys on the team didn’t quite appreciate the hills as much as I did, but I know it’s going to make our team a lot stronger in the long run.

Most days would start with 6:15AM practice. The first workout of the day would either be a longer tempo type run, or a recovery run. After running, we would get a strength workout in, usually some combination of abs, back exercises, and pushups. I’m doing even more pushups daily than I did in the summer, but still feel pretty good. After strength and stretching, if we had done a tough workout, there would be ice baths set up for the team. I had never taken one before this week, and they sure are cold. They aren’t so bad once your body goes numb though. One thing I’ve noticed so far about the varsity team here at Maryland is that recovery from working out is just as important as the workouts themselves. Looking back, that’s one thing I never really thought about too much. Now I’m taking ice baths and sleeping a lot more, and trying to stay off my feet as much as I can. I also have some recovery supplements that I’m going to start taking. They’re supposed to help my body recover from workouts faster and increase my lactic threshold, so we’ll see how it works out.

Breakfast would be served in the camp cafeteria at 8AM. The camp food definitely was not intended for serious athletes to eat, it was a lot of pizza and burger type foods. Not the best, but luckily I brought some fruit and other healthy foods so I could still eat them. In between runs and meals we usually were free to do whatever we wanted around the camp. Most of the runners, myself included, took the time to sleep. This free time was also a good chance for the team to get to know the new guys on the team. I already know most of the team, since I’ve spent the last 2 years managing for the team, but we have five freshman guys and five new girls as well, and they all seem really nice. They all have stellar high school records too, so we should have a very talented team this year.

We got lunch at 12PM, another sub-par meal health-wise but I was so hungry at camp that I was devouring anything in front of me without complaining. Then after more downtime our second workout would begin at 3PM. This run would be easier than the first of the day, and we would usually just have to finish our mileage for the day with an easy recovery run. After running we would have more strength exercises again. One day, the team had a pushup contest, and I surprised myself by getting 4th place in it. And to think they used to call me ‘spaghetti arms’ in high school because I was so skinny. I’m definitely not ripped or anything, but I have been noticing a lot more definition in my muscles, especially in my upper body after this summer. All the abs and lifting from the summer are starting to pay off, and I’m sure they’ll give me the competitive edge in my races. I’m not as nervous about starting lifting with a trainer here at Maryland anymore, after seeing I can hang with the rest of the guys in strength work.

I think compared to the rest of the guys’ team; I got one of the most successful summers training wise. So far, I’ve been running with the top guys on the team in all the runs, and am comfortably running around 80 miles a week, my highest yet. I’m also finishing in front of almost the whole team in the tempo workouts, which is making me feel really good about the upcoming season. We have a time trial tomorrow (weather permitting) so I guess I’ll get my first real look at where I’ll be on the team then.

After the second workout, most days we would get more down time until dinner at 5. Then we would have team activities or meetings until 10, when everyone would go to sleep. Spending so much time constantly with the rest of the team in camp was a really good way for the team to bond. I noticed that everyone seemed a lot closer and friendlier by the end of the week. The meetings we had were also very helpful. Our coaches sometimes would even bring in speakers, like some Sports psychologists from Catholic University (who we will be doing a 6 week workshop that’s supposed to help us become better runners mentally), and the same kinesiology professor from Maryland I met last week for the Max VO2 test who talked to us about the various scientific components of a successful distance runner (Biomechanics, Oxygen consumption/efficiency, and lactic threshold). It’s so nice to have all these resources here at Maryland for running, it seems like it will be hard not to have a good season as long as I stay healthy (knock on wood!).

I also met the new manager for the cross country team, a local girl from Carroll County. She’s also trying to run for the team in the future, so with any luck, she’ll train hard like I did and be competing in the next year or two! We have our first race next week at Mt. St. Mary’s. The competition isn’t supposed to be as intense as any of the other later meets of the season, but I’m still ready to go out and start racing again. Two years without a team has been way too long, I’m ready to get back in the game.

Time Trials

We’ve been back from camp for a few days now, and I’m starting to get a good idea of where I rank among the other runners on the team. The best indicator so far I think has been the 2 mile time trial that the team ran Sunday night, where I ran much better than I expected.

The time trial was on the track at school, which in the fall is covered with bleachers. We share our track complex with the soccer team, so when they’re in season in the fall there are big bleachers that sit on top of the first two lanes of the track on the far side of the track, forcing you to run into the third lane for 100 meters each lap. There are also some stairs that cut into the first lane on one of the curves, so you have to dodge that every lap too. Coach says that this handicap takes one to one and a half seconds off every lap while running. We ran at night, there was hurricane weather in the morning so the time trial ended up starting at 8pm. I have mixed feelings on running races or similar things that late in the day, I like the cool weather and running under the lights on the track, but on the other hand, waiting and thinking about the run all day is no fun.

Most of the guys on the team wore their high school jerseys for the time trial, which was pretty neat. Made it feel like a high school race almost. The one I got from school is a little small, even for me, but I decided to still wear it. Seeing everyone else in their old uniforms made me remember how I wasn’t really that successful in high school, but how I worked my way up to where I am today (up with the old high school stars finally) and I think it pushed me a little big in the time trial.

When the 2 mile started, we all packed up really thick and started out really slow, somewhere around 75 seconds for the first lap. I had decided to wear flats instead of spikes, but I still had to watch out for other guys who got pretty close to spiking me a few times. I also got dangerously close to hitting the ladder on the curve a few times in the beginning. Eventually, someone else took the lead and we picked it up a little. I hung onto the top group as it separated from the rest of the pack and we were really speeding up by the end of the race. When the last lap finally began, I was in 4th place, but even after I kicked, I ended up finishing right there, in 4th place. In high school I was a pretty good at kicking late in a race, and catching my opponents in the last 200 to 300 meters. I can’t do that anymore here, when the people I’m kicking against all are much faster in terms of pure speed. Instead, I need to be starting my kick very early (in this case it should have been with about 1200 meters to go,that way I’ll either have a really big cushion for fast later kickers, or I can out run anyone who tries to kick early with me since they’ll be tired from going so early. That’s definitely one of my big goals for the season, to become a smarter and more aggressive racer. I think I sort of forgot about racing in the past 2 years, so It may take some time.

Even though I didn’t race very smart, I still managed to run a 9:35 (with a bad kick and those bleachers which added a lot of time). I was the 4th runner to finish, and was only a few seconds from those guys. The time was a 20 second personal best for me, so I’m still really happy with my time. About 10 minutes after the time trial ended, we had to run a 3 mile tempo on the track, which can be tough when you’re tired. Luckily, I was still feeling pretty good (further evidence that I didn’t kick well), so I lead for most of the tempo and ended up beating the rest of the team. I felt really strong, and just got into a good rhythm the whole time.

So it looks like I might end up being one of the top 5 guys on the team, maybe even better if I learn to race well again. This time trial has defininetly been a good confidence booster, and I think it’ll give me a clear goal and sometime to work towards in workouts. We have our first race in a week, so We’ll see how that goes.

Moving Through the Pack

I’ve had a really good week for running, it was the first week with classes, which was a downer, but I did really well in my first race in the Maryland uniform which was nice, and am really happy with my running in practices. Hopefully this is a good indicator of the rest of the season.

We had a workout the other day where we ran repeats around a lake near campus. I finished first on each of them, with the rest of the guys finishing right behind me each time. I’m trying to be more aggressive in races, so I figure getting practice running up in the front in a workout can’t hurt. I’ve also been running my easy runs at a good solid pace, just like in the summer. Turns out most of the other guys on the team like to take these runs really really easy so I usually end up going on my own. I feel relaxed at my pace, and I figure if I feel comfortable and relaxed at a quicker pace, why not. I’m running well and this might be a reason for that.

We started team lifting with some trainers. The trainers come from the football program at school, but they seem like they can adapt to working with distance runners which will be nice. We also got all our team clothes and gear. I didn’t expect to get so many things, but I’m not complaining. This week I also got my feet scanned and I’ll get orthotics for my shoes eventually if it looks like they’re necessary. We got our body fat percentage measured this week, in something called a bod pod, where you sit in a chamber and it fills up with gas. I don’t know how it works, but it’s supposed to be really accurate. I got 8.7% which was much higher than I expected (a lot of the guys are between 5 and 7 percent) so I’m going to try and lower that by the end of the season. Our team met with a nutritionist who gave us a lot of suggestions on how to eat better, so that should help. I don’t have to eat in the diner at school (finally!) since I have my own kitchen in my apartment, so I get pretty much complete freedom to buy whatever food I want now.

First Race of the Season

We had a workout the other day where we ran repeats around a lake near campus. I finished first on each of them, with the rest of the guys finishing right behind me each time. I’m trying to be more aggressive in races, so I figure getting practice running up in the front in a workout can’t hurt. I’ve also been running my easy runs at a good solid pace, just like in the summer. Turns out most of the other guys on the team like to take these runs really really easy so I usually end up going on my own. I feel relaxed at my pace, and I figure if I feel comfortable and relaxed at a quicker pace, why not. I’m running well and this might be a reason for that.

We started team lifting with some trainers. The trainers come from the football program at school, but they seem like they can adapt to working with distance runners which will be nice. We also got all our team clothes and gear. I didn’t expect to get so many things, but I’m not complaining. This week I also got my feet scanned and I’ll get orthotics for my shoes eventually if it looks like they’re necessary. We got our body fat percentage measured this week, in sometime called a bod pod, where you sit in a chamber and it fills up with gas. I don’t know how it works, but it’s supposed to be really accurate. I got 8.7% which was much higher than I expected (a lot of the guys are between 5 and 7 percent) so I’m going to try and lower that by the end of the season. Our team met with a nutritionist who gave us a lot of suggestions on how to eat better, so that should help. I don’t have to eat in the diner at school (finally!) since I have my own kitchen in my apartment, so I get pretty much complete freedom to buy whatever food I want now.

On Friday, the team went to Mt. St. Mary’s for the first meet of the year. Both Maryland teams ran great, men’s and women’s teams both got second place (American University won both races). We didn’t race some of the top runners on either team because of injuries or other issues, so I think the rest of the runners on each team did a great job without them. I was in the race, but I was supposed to run the first 2 miles of the 5k relaxed (at a tempo pace) and then hammer the last mile. Our coach wanted this meet to be like a workout for the top guys on the team, and let the rest of our guys race, who are mostly new college runners. The first two miles were nice and relaxed, just as I planned. When the last mile started, my group quickly started moving up the pack and passed a bunch of runners. I ended up getting 8th overall in the race, and finished a second away from Maryland’s top guy. I don’t think the course was a full 5k, but I ran a second off of my personal best in the 5k (which was in a fast track race last year), so I’m, excited to see I’m in much better shape now.

I’m really happy with how this race/workout went. My next race is in 2 weeks, so I have plenty of time to get lots of work in and hopefully finish first on the team in my first 8k of the year.

Water Up to My Shins

One of the big differences about this year compared to last year (when I was training on my own) or high school for that matter is the amount of free time I have. Combine classes, homework, naps, running, weights and other running related stuff, and then all the cross country meetings; and there isn’t much time to do much. Conservatively, I’d say I have about 20% of the free time I had last year. But, I usually spent most of that free time last year playing video games or wasting time on the internet, so I guess I’m not missing anything important. It is nice just to sit around and do nothing though.

Workouts in the past week have been going well; I’m still working out and staying with the top guys on the team, even in the tougher workouts. A few days ago, we did a 4 mile cut down tempo in the morning, just in time for the torrential downpour to start in the second mile. Puddles were literally up to my shins, but that’s my favorite kind of weather to run in (warm heavy rain). I really like workouts in inclement weather, they’re great mental training. Working through handicaps like weather in practice definitely helps for the tough parts of races.

Practices have been making me feel more tired than before, I suppose that means I’m working harder than I ever have before. I stopped taking the supplements I got the other week (I decided I’d rather try to get all the things the supplement has in it through a healthier diet instead), but luckily I’ve been able to take a lot more ice baths now which are helping my legs recover a lot. I’ve also been trying to get more sleep and have been staying off my feet as much as possible in between runs which make recovery a lot easier.

I’m racing again in one week, 8k at the Navy Invite next Saturday. This will be the first time the top guys and I go all out, so I’m really excited to see how we do as a team. There should be some legit teams out there but I think if everything workouts we can do some serious damage. Our men’s team isn’t ranked very high in the Mid-Atlantic region (we lost a lot of good seniors last year), so it’s time for a new younger team to make a name for itself. Also, I made the travel team, so I’ll get to travel to Lehigh later for the Paul Short Invite. If you had told me that I’d be on the travel squad at the start of last summer I definitely wouldn’t have believed you, but it looks like all the training I’ve been doing is working!

Don't Stop and Tie Your Shoe

For the most part, this season has been going really great for me so far. I’ve been killing workouts and been hanging with the top guys on the team for all the runs. I was hoping this would mean I’d race really well at my first 8k last weekend, but unfortunately other factors I didn’t consider decided to make the race a lot more difficult than I anticipated.

We were at the Naval Academy, racing a relatively small but talented field of schools. Louisville, Eastern Kentucky, Navy, American, LaSalle, and a few other strong programs were among my opponents. The race started, and I saw one of my teammates was running in the front of the pack. I hadn’t planned on running in the front, but when I saw him up there I decided I should try to him with him. I stayed in the front and everything was fine until around the first mile mark. At that point, my left spike got untied. Funny thing is, these same spikes got untied on my back in high school, in the state cross country championship, which was my slowest race of my high school career. This time though I decided not to stop and retie my shoe like I did before, but to just race through it instead. Luckily my shoe never came off during the race, but my foot did slip in and out of the shoe for the rest of the race. This soon led to a big blister forming on my ankle. It hurt a lot, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it in the race so I just kept on going though it was pretty distracting.

I ended up finishing 60th overall and 8th on the team in 25:42. I’m not really happy with my time, I think if I didn’t have any foot/shoe issues I could have done a lot better. One the other hand, if this is my bad race this year, then my bad race was still pretty fast considering (the course was very hilly and tough as well).

In these past few days since the race, I’ve been letting my blister heal, it’s getting smaller every day, and it should be all better in a few days. Also, my calves and quads were extremely tight and sore after the race, and I was kind of hobbling around for a few days after the race. I still managed to make it through the workouts though, a 15 miler the day after racing (last few miles in the 5:40’s), and a 4 mile tempo around 5:10 pace. Today I feel a lot better and don’t hurt anywhere when I’m walking around (legs or blister area). I’ve been keeping my blister bandaged up when I run so that’s probably making a big difference.

I got a new pair of spikes yesterday for my race next week (there is no way I’m ever going to use the ones from Navy again) so now I’m getting excited for this race. There are a ton of schools that are going to be there, a lot of them are really good and even ranked nationally. My plan is to go out quick and relaxed (but not lead like I did at Navy) and then start hammering/kicking about a mile to a mile and a half out from the finish. If everything goes well, I should have a much better race than I did last weekend.

No Thinking

I’m on a bus right now, on my way to Lehigh, PA for the Paul Short Invitational tomorrow. That’s one of the nice things about running in college- it’s a lot easier to travel to far off races, we get to ride on nice bus and stay in a hotel overnight, which makes focusing on racing a lot easier (and makes the trip a lot more enjoyable!). Today we’re just going to travel, go to the course and jog on it, and go to sleep early. I went to this meet last year, but didn’t race on it (I was still just a manager at the time), so it will be nice to get to preview the course beforehand.

There are a lot of teams in this race, and it’s looking to be one of the best collegiate meets on the East Coast this year (there are 8 teams competing tomorrow that are ranked nationally). So since it’s going to be so crowded, it looks like the best race strategy will be to go out pretty quick so I don’t get trapped behind a few hundred runners mid-way into the race. This means that I’m going to have to go out almost the same as I did two weeks ago at Navy, which I’m sort of nervous about. I looked at the results from last year, and more than the top 100 runners all went under 5:00 for the first mile. But, this course is a lot flatter than Navy, so I should be able to get out fast and then have less difficulty maintaining it than before.

I really want everything to go well, My blister finally has healed up pretty good in the past few days and I got a new pair of spikes that are going to stay tightly tied to my feet the whole race this time. The only thing I’m worried about at all is the fact that I have a cold, but I don’t think it will be anything. I breathe out of my mouth, not my nose when I’m racing anyways.

So right now I’m just trying to think about tomorrow as little as possible, I’ve found that going into races with fewer expectations usually works out better.