Sayville Summer Series Round Up

Sayville Summerfest 4 Mile Run

Top 5 Men

1. Zach Spector - 20:32

2. Dan McGrath - 20:39

3. Billy Holl - 20:40

4. Shaun McGrath - 21:03

5. Tim Murphy - 21:22

Top 5 Women

1. Racel Paul - 23:46

2. Lyndsey Cunningham - 24:08

3. Christina Derosa - 24:23

4. Petra Fasungova - 24:38

5. Callie Hogan - 25:13

Sayville Summer Series Highlight Reel

Race to Cure Cystic Fibrosis - Race Report

Race Video

Results More Video Pictures

Top 5 Men
1. Mike Brannigan 20:52
2. Dan Mcgrath 21:09
3. Billy Holl 21:23
4. Shaun McGrath 21:26
5. Chris Koegel 21:35

Top 5 Women
1. Petra Fasungova 24:24 CR
2. Alyssa Knott 25:09
3. Heidi Nathan 25:13
4. Jessica Petermann 25:13
5. Laura Rodriguez 25:32

GLIRC Talk June 21st 2011

Diamond Dash for a Cure 2011

LIMA 5K

Race

The Call Room

Lining up to head out to the starting line. Checking our numbers, bibs and timing chips.

Starting Line

Moments before the gun goes off, all the athletes stand motionless.

100 Meters

Into the race everyone is battling for ideal positioning.

Hurdle Jumps

On my second lap through the second set of hurdle jumps. These were not fun.

Beach Cool Down

After the race the Women's team cool downed to the beach for a refreshing swim.

Overall Leonora had a great experience and learned a lot from it. She was 86th overall, 1st New Zealand Woman to finish. She looks forward to getting another chance to represent New Zealand and perform at a higher level. Thank you for all the support.

Here is a quick recap for all the runners out there that need some more explanation.

The first lap got out quick, probably a little too quick for Leo on this course on this day. The weather was in the mid 80's with no wind and no breeze. When your coming from a New York winter that feels like 100 degrees.

Anyway she took the next to laps to try and find her rhythm over the hilly course. Unfortunately for Leo there was only one more lap to go. She finished up in 28:45 for 8k, which on this course is not a bad time. While Leo is not happy with the time and place, she was pleased that she got to represent her country and learn from this experience.

The race ends the running portion of the trip. We still have 2 more days of sight seeing which I am looking forward to. Thanks for all the support to those that gave words of encouragement, bought some t shirts and anything else. We will see everyone back on Long Island.

Food

Salad Bar

Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, beet root, carrots, and corn.

Antipasto Bar

Cold cuts, cheeses, and dressings.

Grill

Meats (Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pork and Beef) Pastas, Pasta sauces, potatoes and other stuff.

Sides Bar

Cole slaws, pre made salads and sandwiches, pickles, fruit, bread and much more.

Dessert

Cakes (cheese and danish) Jello, puddings (chocolate, caramel and rice) and ice cream (varied flavors).

Stuff

Thursday Day 4 was stuff day. Leo got her race numbers, credentials and invite to the after dinner party. I even got stuff too. My credentials are below. Other than that it was training as usual for the athletes with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner mixed in there. O yeah card playing as well. Just living the dream!

Invite

Leo Bib and Credentials

My Credentials

Hotel Pics

The name of our hotel, Barcelo Punta Umbria.

Click link for more pics and info.

View from our balcony.

The Key Card controls the whole room. Without it no lights, heat/ac, and power.

The pool and spa at the hotel, little too cold for a dip.

This hotel is so flash we have a bidet.

Day 2 and More

To begin where I left off, the rest of day 2 was pretty simple. Leo and I went for a walk along the beach and then through the town. Leo then went for a second run with the rest of the New Zealand. When they returned we played some cards, which was a good time and laugh. We then headed off to dinner.

I don't know if I have mentioned how nice the food is, but it is delicious. Open buffet with all foods imaginable. Since I am not running it is hard not to dig in for seconds and thirds. I am definitely putting on some pounds being here. (I have started going for 5 mile walks out to the course and back to burn some calories)

After dinner we headed to bed.

The next morning we got up around 8AM and went for breakfast. After breakfast we chilled out a bit until we went for the training session up at the race course. Some team members had workouts, some were doing some stuff in their spikes and others just for a run. The course is really nice, well maintained and going to be tough.

The course is a 2km loop on well manicured grass surface. Along the loop there are rolling hills, man made hills and 2 sets of 3 logs jumps 8 meters apart. All made to break up rhythm and keep the runners on their toes. The course lacks flat sections to work on the rhythm and so forth. I would estimate that there is about 500 meters of broken up flat throughout the loop. This course should make for some good tactical racing.

Here is a photo of Leo doing some strides in her spikes.

After the course run everyone headed back to the hotel for showers, lunch and some down time to relax after the tough morning. The team is small so all our rooms are in the same stretch of hallway. So we alternate hanging out in each others room playing cards and just BSing. Its a good time.

The rest of day two was pretty boring, we just chilled out waiting for dinner. Some team members went for second runs, others stayed behind and played cards. Leo and I played cards. Then we headed off to dinner, where nothing exciting happened.

These blogs are pretty boring, we are not getting out and doing much. For the athletes this trip is like a business trip. All work no play. After the race some people will be down to do some sight seeing. With the race on Sunday, that only leaves us Monday, Tuesday and we fly out Wednesday to see some stuff.

I will have some blogs showing you guys the hotel, the food and some other cool stuff.

Travel and Day 1

Smooth sailing from New York to Madrid, however from there is where it gets interesting. We landed at 10 AM local time and had to board our connecting flight at 11 AM. That doesn't seem too bad until you realize you have to clear customs, take a 5 minute train ride to the next terminal, find what gate your are going to and then clear security again. Needless to say we made it to the gate with a few minutes to spare, so no big deal. Then we had to sit on the plan on the run way for an hour to take off. No delays in New York, but Madrid 1 hour.

All that just meant that we arrived an hour later then we were scheduled for. We had a VIP Shuttle waiting for us in Seville to drive us the 90 minutes to Punta Umbria. Once in Punta Umbria we got our room and hurried off to take a nap.

After the nap we went for a walk around town before heading to dinner, we were out for about 2 hours, and then back to our room to chill and get to sleep by 10 PM. The first day was pretty slow going, there were no other team members here, so nothing really to type about.

Day 2 started with Leo getting up at 8AM to go for a short jog. When she got back around 9 AM I got dressed and we met some of the other team members for breakfast. After breakfast Leo got her racing uniform and warm ups. That brings me up to typing this blog.

The rest of the day we are going to head to a supermarket to pick up some things, then go for a nap, Leo will have her second run and in between all of that we will have lunch and dinner. Today is when the rest of the New Zealand team arrives and many of the other Nations.

I will try and update this everyday with the daily happenings of the trip.

SRC At Club Nats

Ocean to Sound

Ocean to Sound

Men and Women Open Champions

Men Four Peat Champions!

Women Back 2 Back!

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.**

Run to Cure CF 2010

July - A New Beginning

Last 2 Weeks of Training

June 28th - AM 3 PM 8

June 29th - 9 miles

June 30th - AM 3 PM Workout, 8x400 meter hills @ 5:40 pace jog down recovery 10 total

July 1st - AM 3 PM 5

July 2nd - Easy 7

July 3rd - AM 5 PM 5

July 4th - 16 miles in the trails of Connetqout Park

Week 74 miles YTD 1890 miles

Near the Start of Bellport Clipper Classic

July 5th - AM 3 PM 8

July 6th - 10 miles in crazy heat

July 7th - AM 3 PM 7x60 seconds with 60 seconds rest, 9 total.

July 8th - AM 4 PM 6

July 9th - 7 miles

July 10th - 8 miles

July 11th - AM 5 miles PM Bellport Clipper Classic 5k 9 total

Week Total 72 miles YTD - 1962 miles

Clipper Classic Race Report

At the start of the race a ton of High School and College runners jetted out in an all out sprint. I decided before the race that I would hold back and go through the mile in around 5:10. That is exactly what I did, I hit the 1st mile at 5:12. At that point I had over taken all but two of the HS and College runners that went out too hard.

After the 1st mile I put a surge in to break up the group that I was running with, it worked. I could see the other two guys start coming back to me as well. I spent all of t he 2nd mile gaining ground on the first 2 places. I went through 2 miles in 10:34, a 5:22 mile. I continued to push in the last mile, at this point the 1st place guy pulled away from 2nd place and left him in no mans land. I continued to reel 2nd place in.

As we approached the 3rd mile marker I pulled up on the 2nd place guy and momentarily passed him. We battled for 100 meters and with 100 meters left he found another gear that I didn't have. At that point I threw up the white flag and cruised in for 3rd place at 16:24.

This race I was way more satisfied with then the last one. I kept my shit together the whole time. I will be back in action at the SRC 5k Time Trial next Wednesday and after that who knows.

Weekend Ahead

In the weekend ahead Leonora Joy-Petrina will be running at the Long Island Women's 5k Road Champs in Farmingdale on Saturday. Also participating from SRC will be Katie Rees and a few other women.

On the following day Brendan and a few other SRC guys will be heading over to the Thunder Run 5k at Hidden Pond Park. I look for Brendan to take down my course record of 16:20 through the hills of Hauppauge.

June Update(s)

Sorry for being so slack with the updates, I have been caught up in the World Cup. However now that the USofA has been eliminated I am good to resume my blogging.

My training has been going, not well but not terrible either. Today I tested to see where my fitness is at the Run Around the Lake 4 Miler in Lake Ronkonkoma, NY. Talk about a tough course, for a South Shore Long Islander. I wanted to go out and run conservative at first and then try and work the back half of the course.

So I did the complete opposite of that. I went out in 5:15 and progressively got slower each mile after that. The hills hit me hard in that last mile. What I am taking from this is that it was a good rust busting workout.

I have a few more weeks till my next race and I hope to get in some solid mileage and workouts in to help with the leg turnover. Keep checking for updates on the blog.

On June 19th the 2nd race in the Sayville Summer Series took place, the Diamond Dash Race for a Cure 5k. Here are a few links to race video, results and much more, well not really much more.

Sayville Running Company

Race Video on SRC YouTube

Sayville Summer Series 2010

I know there is not much here to go on, I promise I will update with my actually training during the week, when I have a free moment. Till then Hit The Crete...