Beach to Beacon 10k & Training

Beach to Beacon has to be hands down the coolest race that I was at that I did not participate in. For starters we drive up the Friday before and meet with a host family when we arrive. At this race instead of putting elite runners in a hotel they have them stay with a local family for the weekend. That was really neat. The family we got paired up with was an Italian family that comes from Long Island, small world. Anyway the family pretty much acted like our slaves for the weekend. We didn't ask them to but they were always asking what can they do to help Leo with her race.

Race morning comes the alarm sounds at 5 AM, the race gun goes off at 8 AM. Leo likes to be up at least 3 hours prior to her race so she can eat a nice meal and relax a little bit. The elite athletes were asked to be at the Elite tent near the starting line around 7AM for final instructions and all that good stuff.

We dropped Leo of at that tent at 6:55 AM and then headed to the finish line area. Since Leo was an elite runner we had VIP passes that gave us parking near the finish, our own bleachers to watch the finish and our own breakfast buffet of bagels, rolls, doughnuts and refreshments.

While waiting at the finish area for Leo to come running down the final stretch was killing me, I was also very anxious. I knew that she was in very good shape and could run a fast time. Here is a video of all the finishers from the Male winner down to about 34:30. Leo ran 33:25 (5:23 per mile pace)



Once the race was over there was a sense of relief. Leo finished 5th overall winning $1,000 and beating Catherine Ndereba. There was an awards ceremony then a big party for all the elite runners and the volunteers. The Beach to Beacon 10k was such a cool experience I would recommend it to anyone.

Beach to Beacon Results
Beach to Beacon Photos
Beach2beacon.org

Training the Last 2 Weeks

Camp Week

Monday August 2nd - 10 miles on a grass loop.
Tuesday - AM 40 minutes PM 8 miles with a fartlek of 2:30 on 60 off 60 on 2 min off 5x.
Wednesday - AM 3 PM 7
Thursday - 8 miles on the hilly roads PM 7 miles with cut down hill repeats.
Friday - AM 6 miles PM 4 miles
Saturday - AM watch B2B PM 9 miles
Sunday - 17 miles over the B2B course 2x with add ons.

Week Total - 85 YTD Miles -2291

Back Home

Monday August 9th - AM 5 PM 9 miles, nice shakeout runs.
Tuesday - 10 mile cut down - 1st 3 @7min Middle 4 @6:17 Last 3 @5:45, solid work.
Wednesday - easy 12 miles run
Thursday - AM 5 PM 9 miles with the Saucony Group Run @ SRC
Friday - WO w/ Leo 10 miles with 8 x 2 minute (90 sec) fartlek, another solid work load.
Saturday - AM & PM 5 mile recovery plods.
Sunday - 2 hour run at Connetquot closing the few fast, about 17 miles.

Week Total - 87 YTD Miles - 2378

My legs are getting used to the heavy miles and I am really enjoying it, WEIRDO! I am looking to hope in some races here and there. I will keep you guys posted.

N.P.R. - Day 3 & 4 - SQ

Each day of the week was set up the same. The only thing that was changed was the different talks that were given.

On Wednesday the first talk of the day was a Nutrition talk from the camp nurse. It sounds as fun as it was. It was very informative but it was just like every other health class nutrition talks, boring. They had a handout that went along with the talk so hopefully some of the kids will have a read over the information and use it in their daily routine.

From the nutrition talk the kids moved to a mass yoga session in the gym. I didn't attend because I was getting ready for the trip to the beach. At the beach I went for a run that went out to a National Bird Sanctuary. It was a crushed cement trail much like the trail at VCP in the bronx. We hung out at the beach for a while. After the run the ocean water was very refreshing to jump in and cool off.

Ok I am not going to lie, these blogs are getting pretty boring. Sorry about that, we learned all the really cool stuff the first two days at camp and then status quo for the rest of the week. I am currently up in Maine and much rather be talking about the Beach to Beacon 10k that Leo raced in today. I will post all that in my next blog.

I loved that camp and look forward to heading back next summer and getting in some more solid training just as I did this past week.

NPR - Day 2 - F.T.D.

Pat Tyson getting the morning groups ready to run. Look at that studs in the background.

Day two started with a firm knock on my door at 6:30 AM. I awoke went to the bathroom splashed some water on my face to wake me a little more. I returned back to the room, got dressed for a morning shake out run. I grabbed a bite out of a clif bar and took some swigs from my water bottle before heading down to the track to meet with the campers.Once at the track we regrouped into our training groups. The groups then head off for a 20, 30, or 40 minute run. We ran for 40 minutes which was a little over 5 miles, the pace was brisk but not too fast as we have a workout in the afternoon.

After the run the kids are free to stretch, stride and do some drills. Then they are to shower and get ready for breakfast at 8:15 AM. The food for breakfast is the basics, cereal, milk, yogurt, and some fruit. They also have some stations for pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, and some egg sandwiches.

Breakfast ends at 9:15 and the kids move to the lecture hall for a seminar. This morning the lecture is from Pat Tyson, Steve McChesney and Bill Dellinger. They are talking to the camp about the 5 Principles of Oregon. Those guys were kind enough to let us in on the secret training that has been working at the University of Oregon since the early 1950's.

Moderation

Injury and burnout are the two biggest problems that any runner experiences. The most common cause is over training. It is better to under train than over train as a runner. "Less is more!"

Progression

This is when you make gradual changes in your training. This is where runners learn to increase mileage early in their training and gradually work toward interval training as the program progresses along.

Adaptability

Is learning to change in situations that are not ideal, but definitely common amongst training programs. Any circumstances that may affect your training like weather or your personal health for example.

Variation

Always change your training. At times you made need to concentrate on speed, endurance, hills and location of your training. By varying your workouts you can stay mentally fresher and strengthen your body.

Callusing

Doing things in your training that will make you mentally and physically tougher. You must be prepared to race in whatever condition you may encounter.

Pat Tyson continued the seminar by walking everyone outside to the nearest field. Here he showed the campers a quick yoga routine and core routine. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done. I felt like I was going to vomit, it was so freaking intense.

Here I am trying out one of the posses during the yoga session.

After the yoga and core, Steve McCee got on the mic and gave a quick speech about all this leads to what he likes to call FTD - Fight the Demons. Basically the demons represent the negative that you may encounter in your life for your training and schoolwork. These come in all forms, from friends wanting to go to the mall instead of running or your mental demons of 'do the core or don't do the core', just to name a few examples.

Then we were dismissed to lunch. If you thought the last two meals sounded good then this lunch wont disappoint either. I cant even remember everything that was on the menu but it started with a loaded salad bar, then moved to appetizers, entrees and desserts as the line progressed. So much food to try and not enough stomach space to try it all!

Lunch had some relaxation time and then some team wiffle ball. The wiffle lasted over the course of 2 days and since I am typing to you a day after day 2 I will let you in on the spoiler. My team finished 2nd in the tournament losing a sudden death bat off in the championship game. It came down to who could hit it the ball the furthest on one pitch. Sad to say that we lost that.

The Boys waiting for the afternoon workout to start.

Wiffle ball merged into the afternoon workout. The workout that the Men of Oregon laid out for the campers was a staple that they used in the 70's. It was a 2:30/1:00 fartlek session. It went 2 minutes 30 seconds hard, then 1 minute of jogging, then 1 minute harder and finished with 2 minutes jogging. We were to repeat the workout over the 5k course, most groups got in 4-6 sets of the workout. They also threw in a 10 minute warm up and however long of a cool down.

After the workout was finished we had an hour of downtime before dinner would start. Most went back to the room to shower and relax. From dinner, which was delicious again, we went to a seminar where there was more talk of FTD and that lead into a chat on Steve Prefontaine and his legacy. The evening wound down with a viewing of Fire on the Track, a documentary on the life of Pre. It was great because many of the speakers in the video are the men that are running this camp.

My head hit the pillow at 10:30 PM to get my body rested and ready for the next day.

Newport Running Camp - Day 1

I am heading up with the Boys and Girls of St. John the Baptist Cross Country for Running Camp 2010. I will give you readers insight on the day to day workings of the camp. I will share my experience with you.

Monday started early, 6:00 AM, had to make the bus at SJB. I arrived at SJB at 7:30 and the bus rolled out of the parking lot at 8:00. We had a long 4 and a half hour drive up to Newport Running Camp, in Newport RI.

The camp is put on by the Men of Oregon, Pat Tyson (Pre's Roommate in College), Matt Cetnrowitz (Previous American 5000 meter Record Holder) and many others that I will name drop throughout the week of camp.

The bus ride was surprisingly smooth sailing through New York, into Connecticut and into Rhode Island. According to the driver, David Wood, we made it in record time for a Monday morning departure. We stopped briefly at the last rest stop in Connecticut grabbed a snack and potty breaks.

We arrived at the camp at 12:30, just as camp registration was starting. By One O'clock I have been introduced to Matt Sr, Matt Jr, Pat Tyson and Steve McChesney (Teammate of Pre). While meeting these fine men they are trying to get a bed for me to sleep on. I am hanging out by the registration area and I meet some more running legends, Bill Dellinger (Bronze Medal 64, and Pre's Coach) and Nick Rogers (2000 Olympian 5000 meters). All the guys are very friendly out going people.

Finally at 3:30 I have a room and a bed? well not exactly someone stole the bed in my room so they can use it in a friends room. I quickly found the bed and got my room set up. We were meeting for a run at 4.

All the kids and counselors gather, Pat Tyson welcomes everyone to camp and we get grouped up and head out for a run. I get grouped with Group 1, kids that have run sub 17 minutes for a 5k XC. There is only about 10 of them so it is a nice small group. The kids want to run for 45 minutes, so that's what I do. After running with them for 45 minutes I added on to make it a full 10 mile run.

We are running around the grounds of a boarding school that has acres and acres of fields. So much land that they are able to make an all grass 5k XC course no problem. The loop turns around the fields, up and down hillside and through some wooded trail. Over all it is a very challenging fun loop.

After the run the kids are free to stretch and do strides if they feel up to it. They are also encouraged to mingle with the other campers and get to know one another. I so happen to be sitting next to Lauren Centrowitz, a post collegiate professional runner. I introduce myself, we get to talking about racing and other things. Extremely nice and friendly atmosphere, just like the others.

The evening wound down with a catered BBQ out by the basketball courts. They had biscuits, cornbread, salad, potato salad, Cole slaw, baked beans, corn, ribs, chicken, steak and ice cream. The meal was so good, I would have to argue that the baked beans were the best beans that I have ever eaten.

That led into a meeting with Intros of the staff, counselors and coaches that were with them this week. They even made myself and Coach Wood introduce ourselves. Then Nick Rogers spoke about his running experiences and other things. That prompted them to a video of the 1964 Olympic 5000 meter final were Bill Dellinger finished in 3rd. After the video there was a quick Q&A for Pat Tyson and he described how the next day would work.

Pat then broke all the campers into 12 teams, I was made Captain of team 11. There is 9 Campers and 2 counselors on the team. We tried to break the ice by coming up with a team name. That was very unsuccessful, one kid googled a bunch of names on his cell phone and came back with Buccaneers, Steelers, and Mighty Ducks. One kids spoke up and said Speedy Soles, I came up with We Are Here for the Food. In the end we voted on the name Speedy Soles.

The teams were dismissed to hangout till lights out at 10:15 PM. Woody arranged a SJB meeting at 9:45, it was meant to be "10 minutes". Anyone that knows Woody knows that's not the case. The meeting went more like 20 minutes, we were dismissed from that and I escaped back to my room to fall asleep and type this blog. Tomorrow looks to be a fun day.

**I have photos to add to this blog but have not uploaded them yet. Once I do that I will add them.**