Blogs : Mike Brown

The Next Phase!

I've thought of many titles for this blog such as: The Fat Lady Has Sung, It's A Wrap, Out of Time, Close-But No Cigar. I stuck with the next phase because that is the current state of affairs in my life. I ran yesterday in a last chance meet at NC A&T. I ran 51.76 in the 400h. Last week I ran 53.40. Better, but that doesn't get me to the trials. If you've been reading my other entries then you know what's been going on this season. 3 injuries and significant time away from the track. My latest injury had me off the track until 3 weeks ago and to the point where I almost shut it down.  I wasn't even getting through my warmup laps without having to stop with pain in my achilles. I had actually made the decision to shut it down at practice one day, but I just stopped and prayed. I decided to continue figuring that God couldn't use me if I wasn't out there. I kept going and I've able to get through every workout since. There was some discomfort, but the pain was gone. God is a healer!

Back to the race. I got out well and hit my steps for the first 3 hurdles, but then I was off to 4 and 5. I wasn't smooth into 6, but I punched it from 200 out and closed like crazy. My race plan does involve kicking from the 200, but my first 5 hurdles need work. I've only hurdled the last 2 weeks  and i need more reps.  Another week and i'd be there. I'm in shape to run at least 50 now, but i'm out of time to get my steps together. I got close, but close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. The last chance to qualify for the trials was yesterday so now it's time to shut it down and let everything fully heal.

I was asked if I was sad after the race and I truthfully wasn't --nor am I now. It's taken my a while to get to this place, but over the last 2 years my faith has gotten stronger and stronger. I know that God is in control and it just wasn't his plan for me. Who am I to argue? I had this thought that God would show is power through me by taking my season filled with injuries and still getting me to the trials and possibly further. By doing so others would be inspired by my testimony and that would give me a chance to share about what God did for me! I'm willing to bet that way more people would say they thought it couldn't be done then those that thought it could. There is nothing that God can't do! Through all of this I just kept on saying that "I can't do it, but God can"! It just wasn't in his plan for me and that would have been too much of a fairy tale ending. Even though we don't have the climatic ending--I can still share what God did for me.  The only thing that kept me going was my faith. Keep your faith and God will see you through--no matter what the situation is. Now that the season is over I'll rely on my faith to start the next phase of my life. If it's His will then i'll be coaching this fall at a college/university. I haven't made a full decision on whether or not to continue running next season or not. I've sacrificed a lot for track and now that i'm 29 and married i'm ready to start the next phase. Maybe a little one this time next year. Track used to be first, but now it's God-then family. Things will have to be lined up perfectly for me to run next season. For now i'll say that i'm semi-retired. The next phase has begun.

No Excuses!!

I ran my first meet of the outdoor season on Sunday May 4th. I wish that I could remove that one from the record books because i'm going to remove it from my mind. I've never run so bad in my life. I probably shouldn't have even been on the track considering i didn't practice the entire week leading in the race because i got sick and i had an issue with my achilles that has continued to keep me out of practice. I'm a bit stubborn so I decided to throw out all the possible excuses and just go for it. No one cares if you're sick, no one cares if you're hurt. No excuses. Excuses build monuments of nothingness and those who excell in them seldom achieve in anything else!! (Some of you know that quite well) I lined up not really knowing what to expect. I was starting to run well in practice before another set back, but I didn't care and wanted to get a race in. I ran 49.45 and not in the 400 hurdles like I should be. No need to go into the details of the race--the time says it all. No excuses--the bottom line is that i'm not ready to run!

After the race I'll admit I was a little bummed. Who wouldn't be after a performance like that? Like i said i'm just going to remove that from my memory. I started to feel rushed and confused. With the trials only weeks away it would be a good idea to actually get on the track and practice. I talked to my coach and he said that my because of my base training i'm not in the worry zone just yet. He said that we still have time and that the turnover will come quickly once we get on the track. We have a plan and hopefully we'll actually be able to implement it.

I did some serious praying asking God to just show me what he wanted me to do. I use to be scared of retiring from track, but I'm excited about starting my life after track, but I didn't know if I was supposed to start it now or keep going. If God is done using me as a track athlete cool--it just means that he's ready to use me in other ways and i'm all for that. I'm not the best at understanding and acknowleding signs. Sometimes i think i get a sign and it wasn't and vice versa. With that i just asked for an answer. We don't always get our answer on our time--it's always on God's time. I went back and forth with the decision to shut it down or keep going. At one point i had decided to shut it down, but I hadn't gotten my answer yet. When you don't get the answer when you're looking for it it's best to just be still. Right now that's what i'm doing. I'm being still by staying on the course that i was set on. I'm still training ( on the bike) and preparing for God to use me. If I stop then he can't use me at all. I might even get that answer in 3 weeks that i'm supposed to stop running. If so i just know that it's on God's time not mine! Until then i'm preparing for my breakthrough.

If it's not 1 thing --it's another!

I haven't updated in a few weeks, but this is what's been going on. After 3 weeks of wearing a boot and bike and pool workouts I was finally able to get back on the track. We started off with 4x4, 8x200, 4x300, 10x100, 8x200. That was all in the first week. The times weren't blazing, but I was able to maintain a solid level of fitness and i was faster than coach expected. With all that said--I could barely walk after the 1st week.

The shin problem flared up and every step hurt. I don't think the doctor missed anything, but i'ver never had a shin splint hurt like this. In fact it hurts more than when I did have a stress fracture. The doc said it's not a fracture so that means suck it up and get through it. In order to get through it though--coach and I had to change the workouts. Instead of doing higher volume/ low intensity workouts we switched to low volume/high intensity workouts. Personally I prefer to do these workouts anyway. I like to feel fast.  We also are on an every other day schedule. run-bike-run-bike. If all is well then we can go back to back days, but that 3rd day is over the top.

Last week was 2x300, 5x200, and a hard 500. The 500 was a time trial to see where I was at. my pr is 62 and, in my mind, i figured i could run 63. I got out well and then backed off @250. I relaxed until there was @175 left and finished strong. Final time 65.3. 64 was there easy and i feel like i would have hit 63 if I didn't back off so much. Hindsight is always 20-20. I don't know what I came through the 400 in (I didn't look at my watch and the guy timing me didn't split the 400). Like I said in my mind, I should have hit 63. I knew i wasn't ready to pr since i wasn't on the track, but i knew that I could run. I'm disappointed in the time--i tell coach and he can't believe it. He's excited and said that he was thinking i'd run 67 or 68. WHAT! We had to look back over the last couple of months and I realized that i've only been on the track 4 weeks out of the last 11 and only 2 weeks in a row. I'm happy to be where I am considering the circumstances, but the bottom line is this. You can be the fastest man in the world, but it doesn't mean anything if you can't get on the track.

I entitled this entry as "If it's not 1 thing --it's another" because right now i'm off the track. Last week i started getting sick and it didn't matter how much vitamin c took I got hit hard. I was in bad shape over the weekend and tried to do workout on Tuesday. We were doing 200's and coach pulled me after 4 because I was coughing up a lung after each run. I got some drugs from the doctor and should be cleared up in a day or 2. For now i'm on the bike--AGAIN!! I'd rather run, but it's a good thing for now. My shin could use the rest and I have some problem with my achiles on my other leg. I wonder if i'm compensating for my shin when i'm running.

With everything going on I'm opening up in a 400 at the Duke Twlight this weekend and I can't wait. My mom will be able to see me run for the first time in years and it's rare when I lose in front of my family!! Who knows what to truly expect--my expecatations are different from others. No one cares what's going on behind the scenes once you step on the track. You get out there--be ready to run. I've got God on my side so i'm not worried at all! A little frustrated sure, but also confident and faithful!

 Remember--GREAT & UNCOMMON FAVOR IN 2008!

NO FRACTURE!!!

So I have to share with everyone what God has done for me! If you've been reading my blogs then you know that I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and he said that he thought I had a stress fracture and put me in a boot. We had to get it confirmed with an mri so I had the test on Monday 3/31 and got the results read on Friday 4/4. I DO NOT HAVE A STRESS FRACTURE--I REPEAT--I DO NOT HAVE A STRESS FRACTURE.  It is only by God's grace that I don't. Thank you to all of you that sent up a prayer for me. 2 weeks ago, myself and the doctor were sure it was a stress fracture. I could barely take the slightest bit of pressure and now there is still some tenderness, but I'm almost completly healed. I'm not supposed to take one more week off from running to let it fully heal so I can't get rid of the boot just yet. That was God! There's a gospel song that says "Late in the midnight hour--God's gonna turn it around". That's exactly what he did--turn it around. I said in a previous blog that God was going to use me to show his power and that's exactly what's happening.

 The doctor was talking about shutting me down which would have not only ended my season, but also my career. I knew that wasn't the plan for me and had figured that i would take 4-6 weeks to heal and then just hit the ground running. It would have been difficult to get in shape and qualify in a short time of actual running, but I had faith that it could be done with God and that's all I needed. It turns out that it was just a shin splint. I say just a shin splint, but i've never had an injury be so painful and nagging. I've had a stress fracture before and this hurt more. Let this be a lesson to those of you out there that think you can push through anything. It is important to man up sometimes, but sometimes bravado can turn into stupidity. I've been dealing with this since November and I kept trying to push through. If i would have taken the time to get it checked out then I would probably be running in meets right now instead of riding a bike. I'd be talking about race results instead of test results. In the end--another lesson learned.

My Mom was at a conference last week and the theme was "GREAT UNCOMMON FAVOR IN 2008".  That's my theme for the rest of the year and has already been manifested in my life. I hope that it will in yours too. My blogs are my testimony--be a witness!

With God Nothing is Impossible!

Workouts were going well this week. I did 4x400 on Monday and then 8x200 on Tuesday. It rained Wednesday so I was in the gym doing a bike workout (I'd rather run any day) Thursday was a day of nothing. It was supposed to be a 600-500 workout, but I was trying to get an appointment with the doctor. What's the problem? My shin. If any of you have been tracking with my blog I've mentioned a couple of times some pain in my shin. It's been bad for awhile, but i've been able to manage the pain and get through workouts. I had this idea to just wear a boot for basically 22 hours a day and only take it off when it was time to workout. My Godmother is a podiatrist so I tried to get one from her. She's protective and wouldn't give me one. Between my wife and her they forced me to go to the doctor. So we go on Friday and get an x-ray. The x-ray isn't fully conclusive so I have to get an MRI, but the doc saw a potential stress fracture. He said "I can't imagine anything else but a strass fracture causing that much pain". This was after he pressed on the area and I thought I was going to pass out. He didn't press that hard. For now I'm in a boot --which is the most awkward contraption ever! We'll get the MRI next week and see what the final analysis is. If it's a stress fracture then i'm looking at about 6 weeks of no running. If it's just a bad shin splint then maybe 2 weeks. Either way i'm prepared.

I was reading my Bible and went over the story of Moses. There was a point when God told Moses to throw down his rod and it turned into a snake. Well I'm God's rod. I'll explain: In that story God used a rod to show his power. God can use people, objects, situations, anything to show his power. If i can't run for 6 weeks then that would allow me to start running again @ May 3. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time in the season to get in meet shape, get a qualiying time for the trials, and make the team. Some would probably say that this would be impossible. WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! I fully believe that God is going to use me to show his power just like with the Moses' rod. I've already looked at the schedule and I can still get in 4-6 meets before the qualifying window closes. It only takes 1 race. As long as i keep my fitness up in the pool and the bike i'll be just fine and i'll literally hit the ground running. I'm God's rod--I want you all to be a witness!

Back on the Grind!

After 3 weeks of nothing but rehab, bike workouts, and pool workouts I was finally back on the track this week. I didn't do anything too fast, but it was good just to be out there. It sucks when you get hurt because now i have to go back to doing all the strength workouts. I'm a speed guy so I hate the strength workouts--but they have to be done. Monday was 2x800--Wednesday 2x600 and then Friday 10x200. None of the times were overly fast. It was more just getting the feel for running again and see what my leg can handle. I have all my strength back in my hamstring, but not all of my flexibility with a bunch of scar tissue built up. It's getting better every day and i'll be back going fulll speed before you know it.

I'm very optimistic about being back to form soon, but I have to admit that i'm a little gunshy right now. Doing these workouts i felt that i could go faster, but i didn't know what my leg could handle. One of the Tech guys had a hamstring issue and pushed his a little and reinjured his hamstring. I'm not trying to do that so i'll play it safe for now---i'll know when it's time to roll. A few adjustments with my meet schedule and i'm all good. I'll just open up in april instead of march. This injury has made me narrow my focus and now i'm back to grinding. Watch out for me!

--Last, but not least! Congrats to fellow Phenetix International team member James Davis. James was the first leg for the US on the Gold Medal Team for the 4x400. What a great start for Phenetix International. Check us out www.phenetixinternational.com

Only God Knows His Plan!

This weekend was very interesting. I had my first and last indoor meet on Saturday at the Clemson Invitational. It was always the plan to just run this one meet and wait for outdoor and that plan was solidified on Saturday.

My first race was the 400 and i have to admit that I was a little nervous. I only ran one meet last outdoor season and before that I hadn't run since the 2006 outdoor season. On top of that--I hadn't run an indoor race since 2005.

In the 400 i was in lane 2 and i got out decent--my goal was to win the break and I did. I could have gone out a little faster and created more separation, but when everyone was closing in on the break I was able to surge ahead --take the break and the turn. Most indoor races are won at the break and the turn. You don't pass on the turn of the 2nd lap so you have to wait until the back stretch and many times it's just too late by then.  On the back stretch someone came up on me and i just kept form and finished strong. He fell back-I didn't and I won the heat in 48.79. Obviously not a blazing time, but not too bad for the track and where we are in training. I was just happy to compete and get the nerves out the way.

Now the 200. When i said it was solidified that I wasn't going to run another indoor race this year that was because i pulled my hamstring in the race. I got out really well and had cut into the stagger. Before we even hit 100m my right hamstring popped. To add insult to injury--actually lets say injury to injury--I also strained my left groin. I guess that was because of the way I abruptly stopped. I pulled up in a race back in college from a hamstring injury and I was on crutches for about a week. No crutches this time, but I also didn't feel it pop last time. We'll see how long I'm out. You can't rush a hamstring, but i don't want to lose much. The part that actually made me mad was that i was rolling. Not to say that i was going to break the facility record or anything, but the winner was in the lane outside of me and he ran 21.94. Like I said -I had cut into the stagger already and I was feeling very fast. Who knows what the time would have been.

It obviously sucks to be injured, but I'm just trying to stay positive. It's February and if i'm going to get injured I'd rather it be now than May or June. I've got plenty of time to get healthy. I just know that God has this plan for me. I don't know what it is, but he knows. I like to think that it's just not time for me to put the track world on notice yet so God is holding me back. I would have prefered to false start or something, but God knows what he's doing. This is a blessing because my shin has seriously been acting up and now that i can't run for a little it gets more time to heal. When I do get back to running everything will be healed and I'll be as good as new.

Closer!

I didn't have a great idea for a title this time, but "Closer" sums up everything for me right now. I'm two weeks out from my first meet (and last ) for indoor. I'm obviously going out there to run as fast as I can, but i'm looking at it like a time trial. I'm not concerned about indoor which is why I'm going to run at Clemson. The facility record is like 47.23 so it's not like anyone is running out of control times there. I just want to run and we're almost there.

We finally got out of our strength phase of training. In no way does that make practice easy, but  now practice is geared more towards my strengths which is speed. We're more into a speed endurance phase right now and this is where i tend to really get into the flow of things. Each day I get closer and closer to feeling fast. I'm sure a lot of you know the feeling. You know that you're training hard, but you just don't feel fast and ready to pop any crazy times. As the season progresses the training changes and you start to feel like you have some wheels again. We're getting closer to that day. Who knows exactly when that's going to come. It's not always when you run your fastest times.It could come at any time and when it does you have to capitalize on it or it's a waste.

In the strength phase it was 4x400, 6x200, and hill workouts. We just started and we're still doing 6x200, but now we're also doing 4x300, 6-5-2-2. We'll see what else coach comes up with. I wish he would forget about 600's but unfortuantly I need them. Even though it's only 2 runs 2x600 is my kryptonite. If you don't hear from me for awhile--i probably died from that workout. Doesn't sound too bad --it's only 2 runs right--WRONG!!!

On another note--my alma mater Villanova finally get the host the outdoor BIG EAST CHAMPIIONSHIPS this year. They use to be at Villanova all the time, but the last time was when I was a sophomore. Back in....Don't worry about that! There's nothing like having a big meet at your home track. You always protect your home! I hope that the kids there now understand what's really going on there and take pride in hosting the meet. I'm not sure if I can make it up for the meet yet, but if I can then the coach said I could give the pre-meet speach. If they're not ready after i talk then they just don't have a pulse.

Strength and Patience!!

It's hard to be patient once competions start and you're not running in them. I'm not hurt or anything--it's just not time for me to be racing yet. Once meets start there is always a part of me that wants to be at every meet. I start to feel bottled up and shaken. It's too easy to say that i'm waiting to explode, but that's how i feel. Even though I'm feeling that way I just remind myself to be patient. For some reason I always relate a song to whatever is going on and for this instance it has to be 50 cent "I've been patiently waiting for a track to explode on". All in due time!

With being patient I have to remember where I am in my training. I'm still in my strength phase. My base and strength phases have been lengthend this year in order to obviously build more strength, but also to not break down later in the season. It's ok to be a little worn down now, but when may and june hit you need to feel fresh and ready to go. Even though i'm in my strength phase we're still hitting some good times in practice. 4x400 and 6x200 have been the staple workouts for awhile now. Looking over my log i see that i'm hitting target times that i was hitting in previous seasons when i had been on the track for a month longer than i have this year. Basically we're a month ahead previous months. That's a good sign for me because strength workouts have always been my weekpoint. Not that i'm week or anything-I do have good strength--if i'm close in that last 150--i'm going to win because of my strength and heart. I'm a speed hurdler though. Some are strength hurdlers --others are speed hurdlers. Speed is my strength and I shine when we can run fast, but the stronger i get the longer i can hold my speed for. Once speed work gets worked into the regiment everything will fall in place and there should be some hot times run.

Coming Along Nicely!!

It seems that backing off for a few days was the smart move. I talked to my coach and he agreed with it. He said that the body won't lie to you and will tell you when you need a break. Mine was screaming at me!

This week things were back on track as far as training. Monday was 4x400, tuesday off, wednesday 6x200, thursday hills, friday 4x400, saturday bike or jog. Nothing special--just more of the same. It's how I felt that makes me say things are back on track. My body actually responded to me when i wanted it to do something. We've all been in races where you hit that last 100 and you think you're pumping hard, but you're not going anywhere. That's how I felt for the last week. That's a horrible feeling especially when you're in practice and not going full speed. Sometimes it happens in races, which sucks, but you can at least understand it.

My racing schedule has changed slightly for indoor. I was planning on running  Jan. 19th at clemson, but when i went to get the info it says clearly that no unattached athletes will be entered. There are other meets that weekend, but it requires a bit more travel. I talked to coach and he actually prefers that i wait until february since i was feeling a little rundown. We're going to continue with training and in the next few weeks do a time trial. I actually prefer that because right now i know that i'm in decent shape, but we haven't done any speed so i'm guessing on what my performance would be in a meet. The trial will let me know for sure where i'm at. My next post i'll list the Slate For '08!

Burn Out or Back Off?

In one of my beginning blogs i was stressing the importance of sticking to the pace that you're given in practice to prevent being so far ahead of schedule and thus preventing burn out. Practice time wise I've been about a month ahead of schedule for a month & half--2 months and the burn out has come. Thankfully, I've realized it and took a few days to refresh. What makes me think I was starting the burn out--the last 2 weeks of practice.

Times in practice have been off the last 2 weeks and when it first starts happening you almost want to hit the panic button, but you just have to remind yourself that every workout isn't going to be perfect. The colder weather did attribute a bit to the times being off, but that's not an excuse. The week of 12/17-12/22 I had 2 6x200m workouts, a 4x400m workout and hill work. I was on the bike 1 of those days because of the rain and  1 day because i forgot my sneaks with my orthodics one day and rain in my backups. For the next 2 days my shin was on fire and i could barely walk let alone run. The 200m workouts sucked they were supposed to be done in 27.0 and I hit that time exactly one time out of the 12 200's i did for the week. We'll skip to the past week.

This past week I had 4x400 on Christmas eve. I was in NC and the weather wasn't that bad at all. Supposed to be in 60--i hit the first 3 and then hit 62. Wednesday was the kicker--back in the ATL and i had 200's in 26.5. I started with 26.11 feeling good and proceed to go as slow as 28.5. The problem is that i was giving full effort. I was feeling burnt out. Anyone remember the movie "KIDS"-- the bum that was on the skateboard--"I have no legs"--yeah that's me.

Back in college I had a similar situation and I ended up needing to take 2 weeks off. I didn't think i needed that much, but it turned out to be the right move. My wonderful wife is a massage therapist, also a personal trainer, and athletic trainer so she had to fix me. I got a massage on Thursday--took friday off and biked on saturday with a light active warmup. I'm atually feeling decent.

I was looking back over my training log and realized that since march i've only had 2 weeks off from training. No wonder i was feeling burnt out. I normally wouldn't do that, but since i didn't compete last year and wasn't doing normal workouts i just took 2 weeks off from training during the summer and went right into base training. That was 27 weeks ago and it's caught up to me. It's always hard for me to back off from traing because i feel like i'm going to lose something. From all of that is where the question comes--burn out or back off? Sometimes you do just have to push through things--there are plenty of workouts where you just have to man up and get through it, there is a such thing as training smart. Right now I'm at the point where that continued push could lead to burning out which get nothing accomplished and could lead to 2 weeks off.  If I back off and take a few days then i can refresh and come back strong without really missing a beat. I've done both in the past and I've had better results by backing off. It comes down to choosing to back off now or being forced to back off later because of burn out or injury. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

These are the times!

I just posted an entry the other day so there's not much new--I just wanted to jot down some thoughts. I'm in Atlanta and this weekend was the first time that it has actually been cold. Now i'm from New Jersey and went to school in PA--so NJ/PA cold is much different from Atl cold. In college we were able to go on a indoor track when it was just freezing outside (we stayed indoor after the new year), but when that December cold hit--you better gear up.

We've been blessed down here in Atlanta with good weather--last week we had mostly 70 degree days and i think we touched 80. What a difference a week makes. Today I think our high was 49 degrees and a little windy. Up north we didn't like it, but we made it work. Down here that's just unexceptable. Last week Coach warned us that we might have to back off the times a bit because of the weather. I never like to back off of target times, but sometimes the elements force you to. These are the times where your determination and heart are tested. When you're cold and could think of a million other places to be and things to do that would be better then running track. These are the times where your mind starts playing tricks on you and you start thinking about how easy it would be to just stop. These are the times when you throw out the stopwatch and just concentrate on getting the work done. No matter what you dig down and just keep moving. Pick 'em up and put 'em down as Coach Ruck use to say. These are the times where your fortitude builds up and you hit that mental breakthrough. My boy T-Ross talked about having mental toughness. When it gets hard--These are the times that count!!

It's been a long time...

Sorry Folks for not updating my blog in about 4 weeks. Thanksgiving was a disaster. Our final destination was Bangor, Maine--but we had to connect in Boston. We get to Boston and our flight is delayed about 2 hours because of problems on flights before us. We finally get on the flight which is supposed to be 45 min and we're in the air for more than 2 hours. Maine has severe fog making the visibility 1/4 mile and the pilots needs at least 1 mile to land. Oh yeah and freezing rain. After hovering they finally turn around and take us back to Boston. All flights to Maine are canceled for the rest of the day and booked up for the next (those didn't end up going out either). Our Thanksgiving dinner ended up being from an airport Fuddruckers--who messed up my order. We flew back to Atlanta that night. 14 hrs of travel and back to where we started.

There really hasn't been anything special going on as far as training is concerned. The workout regiment is pretty basic and boring, but soooo very effective. We have 3 days on the track and 2 days on the hills. The track workouts are either 2 days of 4x400 and 1day of 6x200 or 2 days of 6x200 and 1day of 4x400. When we first started it was 5x400 and 8x200, but now the reps have decreased since the pace has picked up. The hills are now scaled down  from what we call double hills to short hills. The short hill is this ridiculous incline that is no short of a 45 degree angle and the distance is probably @80 meters. We go up --jog through this trail and back up.  After weeks of double hills I was acutally begging for short hills--I obviously didn't remember what it was like to run them.

Though the workouts are a bit boring we're hitting them hard. The pace drops from week to week. We drop a second on the 400's and .5 on the 200's.  On the 400's the pace is set @60.  When I first came down to Atlanta I was doing this workout in January and could never hit all the target times. Though it was on a relay--that year I split 44.9. I'm now hitting these 400 times in 59 or lower. We also didn't start our official fall traning regiment this year until November--usually we start in at least October so I'm about a month ahead of schedule. That makes me excited for things to come this year.

here is a link to an interview on you tube.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul49K9JZoys

What am I not Thankful for?

Ok so I have a flight at 6 in the morning and of course that means i have to be there at 4am so i'm trying to stay up. Late night thoughts have led to this blog. Kind of a strange title, but hopefully it peeked your curiosity to read my blog. Honestly I'm pretty much thankful for everything--the good and the bad. Around this time of the year most people start thinking about what they are thankful for. Mostly it's things that they have. A lot of people tend to forget the things that they don't have. For example, i'm thankful that I don't have cancer or other major health issues that have been known to pop up in my family. I'm thankful that I don't have a mother in law that hates me. I'm thankful that I don't have any addiction problems that are in my family. I'm thankful that I don't have to beg for money on the side of the road. These are just a few of the things i'm thankful I don't have and sure they can be flipped to read as I'm thankful that I have good health, etc, etc, but I find sometimes that we end up overlooking the things like health, food, shelter, etc and take them for granted. Sometimes we don't realize how fortunate we are and complain about the things we don't have. People never seem to be thankful for what they don't have.

To tie this back into the title of this blog--even the negative things we should be thankful for. For instance--i've had an issue with my shin for the last week or 2. That doesn't seem like something to be thankful for, but I am--because it made me get my butt in gear and get the proper sneakers and orthodics that I need to train. My sneaks were at least 9 months old and the orthodics just as old. I knew I needed to reup, but I was procrastinating--until I need to do ice massages every night because my shin was on fire and in a spot where i had a previous stress fracture. If I kept pushing it off I'm sure things would have ended up in a boot. It's my own fault for going this long without new sneaks--especially when I get a really really nice hookup.

Turning this back towards training the last 2 weeks have gone well. The training regiment really hasn't changed much. The staple workouts 5x400 and 8x200 and double hills. Last week the target times were 64 and 29.5. I seriously try to nail the pace, but we're always under --that's a good thing, but sometimes we're well under. On the 400 workout #1,2,5  were in 61. The other 2 were 63. I was scared we'd fall of the face of the earth on the later runs, but we were good. The 200's avg @ 28.9---only a few even hit 29. This week we actually changed it up (slightly). Monday was 4x400 @63 with 4-6-4 min rest. Coming down to 4min after having 6 really hits you. Workout handled though. Today we had 8 200's again--this time in 29.0 and half were to be done in spikes. This took some planning though. We put our spikes at the finish line so we could switch out as soon as we finished # 4. What a difference spikes make. We were already hitting 28's and then with the spikes and same effort we hit 27.79. Way under and a potential workout killer, but we just backed off a bit and hit the targets the rest of the way.  Ok maybe a power nap will be ok. Goodnight/morning --whatever you want to call it and Happy Thanksgiving!!

It Feels Good To Be Back!!

Let me give everyone on update on what's been going on. The last 2 weeks have been great training wise.  Last week I went for 2 light runs. One for 4.5 miles and the other was 2.5-3. Last wednesday my traning partner and I decided that we were going to run another mile. We felt that a realistic goal was to hit 5:20. We don't know jack about pacing a mile, but from the times that we ran the last time we ran we came up with a plan that had us going 75, 85, 85, 75. It didn't quite go that way, but we were close. We hit 76.57, 82.2, 89.60, 73.19 for 5:22.27. This is another pr for me. I'm happy with the pr, but I think that i can get into the teens. I led the first lap and just swore that I had nailed the pace. I'm pretty good with pacing, but as you can see I was just off. B-Derb led the 2nd and I could tell from the start that we were ahead of pace. I backed off the pace a bit, which made him ease up too. If we would have continued at the pace he started the 2nd lap with we probably would have been close to another 76 lap. That might have killed us. As you can see the 3rd lap got to us a bit. We knew going in that it was going to be the 3rd lap that hurt us the most only because we didn't know how to pace it and because this is uncharted territory we didn't know we would react with taking a fast 3rd lap.  We wanted to get someone to just pace a nice easy 85 on that 3rd lap for us, but anybody that was willing wasn't avaible. I'm not 100% sure, but i feel like if we would have hit that 85 on lap 3 that we still could have finished in 73 which would have made 5:18. Maybe not, but i like to believe that.

This past week was the first week for us to be with Coach Hinsdale officially. Everything else has been mileage or light intervals, but now we are officially in full swing. I can not tell you how happy I am to be done high mileage. That probably sounds funny coming from a 1/4 miler because what do I know about high mileage. The longest I have ever run was for 8miles--that was about 6 years ago. I was a counselor at a cross country camp and figured i might as well run while i'm here. I ran the the girls group and i finished that run in like the middle of the pack and ran 58min. When we got back the distance guys from Villanova said that i might as well run for 2 more minutes to say i ran for an hour. It was the funniest thing seeing me trudge around the soccer field for 2min.  That was an accomplishment that I paid for. I could barely walk for the next 2 days. Back to present time and the longest run that we will have to run now will be 3 miles on saturdays just to shake the legs out. I welcome that.

The weeks practice went as so:

Mon-5x400 @65 w/ 5min rest

Tuesday--Hill workout

Wednesday--8x200 @ 30 w/ 2min rest

Thursday--Hill workout

Friday-- 5x400 @65 w/ 5min rest

Monday was terrible. I take that back--My overall averagae was 65.67.  I averaged 65, which is the goal, but it wasn't good. I like to think that I pace pretty well and I usually do, but on the first run I'm I start out at like 60-61 pace and back off. Well I really backed off and hit 68.06. Let's just say that I wasn't happy. Coach wasn't worried about it though. I finished the rest in 64.64, 65.83, 65.34. 64.47. I don't put any stock in the first day, but it wasn't exactly how i had planned on starting off. The average was there, but I didn't handle the workout well at all. My body just hurt and it took me longer to recover than it should have. I don't know what it is about the first day, but it always gets me like that. Right after I finish I always start to think "Do I really want to put my body through another year of this". Of Course I do!!!

Tuesday and Thursday were hill workouts at Piedmont Park. We won't get into why you have to be careful at Piedmont Park, but anyone that knows about knows what I'm talking about. At the park we a couple of different hill workouts, but this week was the double hill workout. I know, it sounds like tons of fun. The first hill is a steady incline that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 175m-200m. It takes us about 28 seconds to do full blast so I don't think it's a full 200, but you get idea. We go up fast and then relax down the hill. You can go as slow down the hill as you want as long as you don't walk. The 2nd hill of the double is about 80m. It's the first hill that gets you. It's kind of 2 hills in one because as soon as you get about half way it gets steeper. The whole run takes about 14-16min depending on how slow you jog down the hill. It's recommended to take the down slope easy because Coach isn't happy if he doesn't have full effort up hill.

8x200's were cake. We hit them all in 30 or under. No need for too much detail there. Once Friday came it was back to 5x400's. Before this week I had only done 4x400's. That 5th 100 is a whole 'nother animal. It got me on Monday, but I was ready this time. This time we hit 64.0, 65.1, 62.26, 64.9, 61.65. Much better than Monday. Better times and better feeling. In practice we switch back and forth who leads the run. I usually start because i usually pace well, but that means i need to do 1,3,5. Moday I was hurting so bad that I had to pass the lead. I thought that was going to happen yesterday, but i was all over it. The key is just to pace through the 300. I count strides and i know that if i'm at 24 strides for the 100 then i'm right on 30s pace. We hit 45-46 for the 100's and then just cruised in. On 3, 5 we were a little ahead of pace, but it all worked out in the end. Today i'm going to jump on the bike for about 20min and stretch. I'll be ready for monday again. It feels so good to be back!!

So Tired Of Racism!!!!!

Unless you've been underground hiding for the past 2 months then you've heard at least something about all the acts of racism and bigotry that have been occuring in the country. I know this is a track site, but this blog is the only diary i have so i'll use it to say what's on mind.  I'm just tired of it. So tired! I'm not going to list all of the things that have happend or site all of dicussions that have carried on, but it's just sickening. I'm 28 years old and I've been very blessed in my years. I've faced a little racism here and there, a little scrutiny, been passed over for this or that, profiled, categorized, denied entry. It hasn't happened every day, but unfortunatly I can't say that I've never faced any type of racisim in my lifetime. All of my incidents were minor, but like I said unfortunatly I can say that I've faced something. I think that most people can say that. All races included!. What I'm saying is that I'm just tired of it all. It seriously sickens me and hurts my spirit. I can't say that i've been through anything like my parents or grandparents had to go through, but I don't think that my kids will be able to say that they've never experienced  racism. That's what really bothers me--how long will it be before there won't even be one person that can say they've never experienced racism. Is the answer never? If it is that's unexceptable.

For any of you that might have clicked on the link that had my wedding pictures. You clearly see that I'm married to a white woman. I don't have a bit of hate in me at all. Even for those that have shown discrimination, hatred, or bigotry to me, my family, and friends --of all races. When I see the things that are happening it just saddens me. If you remember the Chris Rock special years back he had a joke where the punch line was "They still make you?" I won't say what the joke was in reference to, but that's how i feel about people that are racists. "They still make you?"  We are 2 months out from 2008. They use to make movies about being this far in the future that would show all types of technology evolution. Some things I guess just don't evolve. I'm fortunate enough to be able to trace a side of my family tree all the way to slavery days. I can see the progression that has been made with each generation with our family and the world. When it hasn't been brought to your attention you think for a moment that racism doesn't exist anymore. Then reality hits and we go from Genarlow, to  Jeana, to West Virginia, to Daytona, to Columbia, to Dog, etc. It's disgusting!!! Not just racism against blacks, but all races. No words were ever spoken more true than "Can't we all just get along". How long ago was that--and we're all still not getting along. I mean seriously!! If you're a racist--GET A LIFE!!!

Thanks for allowing me to vent a little.

Track League

Thanks to Johnny B an idea that I once had just came back to me. This idea was a collaboration with some teammates. There are some flaws in this idea, but yet still an idea. In Johnny's blog he was basically talking about how real sprinters are faster than NFL players. This is a true statement. There may be a few exceptions in the NFL, but that's very few. Even the guys that ran track in college and did well would get blown out by the majority of sprinters. For instance I could be wrong on the time, but people like Mike Bennett, who I was a fan of when he played for the Vikings, was a big 10 champ in the 100 in 2000 and ran 10.22. Great time. Johnny said that he could beat the fastest runner in the NFL. I believe that. Bennett ran 10.22, but he couldn't do that now! I saw an interview with Dante Stallworth early in his career. He was asked about Gaitlin and Leonard Scott. Stallworth himself said that he couldn't hang with those guys. So Johnny I've got your back.

I personally love football. Played in high school and wanted to play in college, but stuck with track.The joke in track and field is that if track athletes were in the NFL (just for the sake of the comparison) that we would be rich if we kept the same ranking in the NFL that we do in track. For instance the NFL is a sport in the United States (yes they went to England, but it's still an American sport). The highest level of US track & field is the us nationals. Usually no more than 32 athletes are accepted into an event at the nationals. Sometimes less. If you're one of those 32 then you go to nationals and say you come in dead last and don't get out of the first round. So you're the 32nd best 200m runner in the country. Well there are 32 teams in the NFL and if you're the 32nd best quarterback in the NFL then you're starting for an NFL team and getting paid. If you're the 64th best quarterback then you're still making a lot of money. It's funny to me. This can be applied to any of the major sports even basketball. The #'s don't work exactly the same, but hey if you're decent in basketball you can make a living overseas. Trust me --no sour grapes here--it's just funny. Can a brother get paid? It just means that i have to work that much harder--i'm all for it.

Back to my crazy idea. There should be a track league. All the shoe copanies --Nike, Reebok, Addidas, Puma, Saucony, Brooks, Mizuno,  fila, ryka, asics, new balance, avia--throw in run athletics, diadora maybe. Whoever--you get the idea. Each company is a team (yes, I know some have a team now) and they draft just like the nfl or any of the other leagues. We compete in dual meets like we did in highschool. Just not 3 a week. Crazy idea, but that would be so hot. The nfl has 22 positions to field and track would have to cover 20 events. I don't ever see this happening, but it would be nice.

I'll post some workout information later.

Once Again It's On!!!

Phenetix International  Track Club is about to be the next wave of great track clubs. Phenetix International is a spinoff from the Phenetix Urban Athletic Urban Wear Company. The clothing line (that has a lot of hot gear by the way) was started by a couple of former Georgia Tech Students. They started out small like most companies do just making everyday gear and have branched out to athletic wear. They provide the Georgia Tech men's track team with their uniforms and a few other schools. The uniforms are seriously the hottest that i've ever seen. The new uniforms for the upcoming season are out of control--just wait till the season starts.

Back to the track club. It's small right now, but there are some notable names on the squad. Brandon Couts --the former Baylor All-American, Brandy Depland--3rd us triple jump, James Davis--former World Indoor 400m champ. The website is still in progress, but here's a sneak peek. www.phenetixinternational.com . Nike started small too, but look at them now. It's just a blessing to be on the club. I've been on a few different clubs that had both their positives and negatives. It's all positive about Phenetix. A club that actually cares about the athelete on and off the track. Just let the meets begin--because like I said--Once again it's on!!

Training for the week was more of the same.  2 days of 4 mile runs and 1 day of 4x300 @48 with 4 min rest. The 300's probably could have been a tad slower, but the last time I ran them I only had to run 50 or 51 and I was getting tired of jogging.  They went well. 48, 48, 48, 44. The times are easy to hit and it's so hard not to just light it up. It's all about training smart though. I have a great rythm with my running right now and I think it will really be beneficial later in the season.  Usually during base work we don't do any interval training. With the little that we're doing I'm able to pace the workouts. We don't start official practice with coach until Nov 5th. It always takes a while to get a good rythm and pace together so the eary workouts have times that are all over the place. For example 200's @30 without proper pacing could be like 28, 32, 29, 31, 30, 30. You never want to be sporadic like that. I don't know how many people actually do this, but a tip that I learned in college was to count my steps. It was huge for me being a 400h to know my steps. I use to just run and didn't have a clue how many steps I took. I don't count in races anymore, but as for knowing my pace in practice it's perfect. I count either my right or left foot steps. I usually count my steps for the 1st 200m. Right now i'm hitting something like 25 steps(left foot only) for the 1st 100. When i keep that count for the 1st 200m I'm always at 30s for the 200. Now I have a count for the pace. When the runs get faster I know that i'll have to hit less steps. It's so much easier to train when you know how to pace because you're not guessing. Try it and tell me if it works for you.

October update

The wedding was great it! The honeymoon was great and married life is great! Sure it's only been 2 weeks, but i'm not worried. This family is led by God so I know we'll be just fine. if you'd like to see some picks here you go. http://public.fotki.com/RenegadePugs/georgia/jasmin--michaels-wedding/

As far as training that's still going well. The week of the wedding was crazy and I only got one workout in. At one point I said that I was going to run the day of the wedding. The ceremony didn't start til 6:30 so I figured i'd be able to go for a run. I don't know what i was thinking. All running had to wait until the honeymoon. We went to Costa Rica, which is absolutly ridiculous, and tracks wearn't exactly in abundance where we were. It was a big week for alternate training. I started off doing a 10x100m simulation on the bike (15s hard--1min light=15x100m @15s). Whenever we're hurt coach makes us to simulations on the bike. It doesn't work your heart rate as much, but your legs are dead afterwards. Since the beach was right there i decided to go for a run on the beach. I knew it would be harder, but i really didn't know what i was getting into. The run was only @18 min, but it was probably one of the hardest runs i've ever done. The beach is called "playa conchal". Conchal means shells. There's shells all over the beach and there are parts where you don't even see sand--just shells. It was soft sand so my foot was already sinking and it was hard to get a good push after each step (and i wore sneakers). Nearly impossible when i hit the deep shell section. My foot was basically covered with each step and I had to really lift to get out. When i'm really really pushing my threshold I get to a point where I feel like I'm going to throw up and I start having dry heaves while I'm running. Sorry if that grosses you out. I don't puke, but i come close. Well I got that feeling from the 18min run. Later in the week i jumped on the bike again and did a 4x400m simulation (70s hard--4min light=4x400 @70s). I added a 4th workout in the pool. I did 15x30s with 30s rest. I've always hated pool workouts because in college you only went in the pool if you were hurt, but it's a great workout healthy or hurt.

The first week back from the honeymoon was sad. I didn't have my all inclusive meals and butler service. I went from eating omletes and fresh waffles to cold cereal. The workouts for the week were nothing special. 2 days of 4 mile runs that actually went well (for me). Its just about getting it done. Saturday i hit the track for 4x400. On the summer schedule we really don't take them any faster than 69, so i decided to just take it down to 68. In 3 weeks it'll be 5 @65 so why not step it down a little. Nothing fast, but again it's early. They went well. 69,66,67,66. I had to make up for that 69. The key is to get ahead of the clock. On all of them I was hitting the 200 in 30-31. After that I just had to cruise it in and not press at all. I normally don't like to be that far ahead, but it felt good and i feel like being able to hit that 30s range easy bodes well for future training. We'll be doing 8x200 @30 soon and those 200 workouts are all about finding a rythm. I've got mine early.

I'm just briefly going to touch in Marion Jones. Even in Costa Rica there was ESPN so i got the breaking news. I watched some commentary on the subject where reporters were asking if America will ever forgive her. We have to forgive her! Everyone makes mistakes. I was always suspicious because I heard the rumors about her testing postive when she was in highschool. I don't know if it's true or not, but I was told that there was reference to it in her book. I'm going to have to read that. I'm not trying to start anything by mentioning that, i'm just saying that it didn't surprise me. You never want it to be true, but when it does you're just kind of numb to it. There hasn't been one person that has tested positive that has been a surprise to me. I've got a lyric for almost any situation. For this one I'm going to quote Dr. Dre "It's not that I'm too big to listen to the rumors, it's just that i'm too big to pay attention to them". I never pay attention to them, but it kind of sucks when the rumors turn out to be true!!

same ol' same ol'

Pirate 21--I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog. In  the future I'll try to get more detailed about my training. Right now there isn't much to it. I'm still in base training right now until october. That's when i'll actually start fall training. For now it's just 3 days of running. 2 distance days a week and a light interval workout on the 3rd day. The mileage increases .5 miles every 2-3 weeks. I started at 1mile runs and now i'm up to 3.5 miles. I'm not a cross-country runner so don't think that these runs are blazing. My threshold is really at 2 miles where i can seriously push the pace. Now my pr in the mile is only 5:35 so my push the pace isn't anything ridiculous. Past 2 miles i can get the work done, but don't expect any world records. I'm reserving that for the hurdles. It's all about getting the mileage in. What i've been working on in these longer runs is just picking up the pace on each mile. Last week I was really feeling good and ran the last mile of my 3.5 in 6:50. I paid for it too. I think i ran that fast because it started down pouring and i had to finish. I hate running in the rain, but there was no way that I was going to punk out. It's a good thing that it was hot outside. In the last 3-4 years every time that i've run in the rain i've gotten bronchitis. It's normally cold outside though.

This week is more of the same 2 days of 3.5 miles and 6x200's with 2 min rest @33. Today was the 200's and it went well. 33 is so slow right now, but the emphasis isn't speed. It's just about finding my rhythm as we're getting closer and closer to full training. The 200's went like this--1-33, 2-33.8, 3-33.0, 4-32.7, 5-31.9,, 6-30.4.  By coaches orders --nothing blazing. Once spring comes around those will all have to be in 26.0. The run felt good. the secret is really just getting ahead of the clock. For the most part I can run the 1st 100-125 at a solid pace (14-15s) and then just cruise the rest in. Some of you might be looking at those times thinking that they're slow. You're right--they are slow times if you're looking at race pace in june, but the key is to remember that we're in september. As much as i want to bust out 26 on those runs--it's not smart. Sure i can run that fast, but I'll suffer for it. It's a build up and if I try to run that pace for the entire workout I might get though it, but my legs won't be ready for it yet and i'll be sore for the next 3 days and if continue at that pace i'll be burnt out before we get to November. Then i'll have to take time off to recover and rebuild all over again. It's important to train hard, but it's more important to train smart. That's one of the best lessons I learned in college. I've been kicked out of practice before for going too fast. That was a new one for me, but I learned its importance. The week leading into conference championships we were supposed to just be tuning up and shaking the legs out with a light workout. 3 200's @ 26,25, 24 with 3 min rest. Well I'm feeling good and i'm pumped for the meet so I take the first one out in 24. I hit the 2nd one in 23 and that's when i got kicked out for being "stupid". Pushing the pace right before champs wasn't smart especially when you need to be fresh for the rounds. It's the same idea for base/fall training. Pay attention to the guys that are extreme practice athletes and see how they perform during the season. I'm not talking about the guys that just always working hard. There is absolutely nothing wrong with hard work!! I'm talking about the guys that are training hard, but not smart. The ones that seem to be setting prs in practive. There's at least one on every team. If you notice it be proactice and pull him/her aside. Help them also work smart so that they're actually able to put their hard work to use during the season.--I'll try to update next week, but I'm getting married next week so i'll be a bit busy. A year of planning and it's finally here!