It's Been a While

Sorry for not updating this blog in a while, I lost internet access in my apartment for a few weeks right before nationals, and just recently got it back in time for finals week.  Let's start things off with Nationals.  The meet was a great experience.  Both teams ran solid races in the snow, and finished the season off with a 6th place on the women's side, and 8th place for the men.  I didn't get the opportunity to race, but I think the coaches made the right call as I wasn't close to the fitness I had before my Achilles trouble.  However, I still got to go and get a feel for what it's like to be at a National Championship, and I know that will pay off over the next few years.

So that brings me to my season in review.  Overall, I had pretty mixed feelings about how this season went.  On paper, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I didn't race well.  In fact, I'd go as far to say that the Kevin from last year would have destroyed me in every one of my races.  But there's a little more to it than that.  One year ago I may have been running better times, but I was doing the same stuff I was used to for most of my high school years.  This season I got to test out doing some higher mileage.  It's something that didn't work out for me at first, but something that I knew I needed to continue to build on in order to keep improving.  And in order to keep building volume, I knew I needed to start taking all the precautionary steps to staying healthy.  I would have to say that the things like post-run naps, deep massages, stretching consistently, strengthening, and staying hydrated are some of the things that I think had the biggest impact on my running, and will continue to have an impact on my track season.  In a sense, I think that getting injured so early on in the year really helped me understand some of the stuff I need to be doing to stay healthy, and I don't think I would have learned any of these lessons had I decided to run another year in high school.  So I guess you could say that the season had it's ups and downs but I know that I've learned from all the mistakes I made earlier in the season, and I can't wait to get after some fast times on the track.

On another note, this is my last day in Anchorage before I head home for the holidays.  Pretty unreal to think that 4 months ago tomorrow I settled down in Anchorage and now it really does feel like a second home.  I have to say I really had no idea how I would like living in a totally new city initially, but I really enjoyed it.  I gotta give a shout out to my roommates for putting up with the constant smell of burnt food in the apartment and to all the people on the track team who helped me get adjusted to the university life in Alaska this semester, you know who you are.  Now it's time to head home to Toronto for some snow-less running and a pretty relaxing month hanging out with friends and family.

Time for me to get ready, I've got a flight at midnight and I haven't started packing yet.  Oops!
Later ANC, see you in a month!

"We Needed a Miracle and We Got One"

I think it would be an understatement to say that this past week has been a hectic one for the UAA cross country family.  It seems like an eternity ago that we were all in Spokane, psyched up for the West Regional Championships that awaited us, yet it was only eight days ago.  It's hard to believe, but packed into those eight short days were the unpleasant emotions of anxiety, stress, fear, uncertainty, and restlessness coupled with the sensations of relief, joy, tranquility, comfort, and euphoria making for an emotional roller-coaster ride for all of us at UAA.

It all started on the race course Saturday morning.  Seven Seawolf men, and seven Seawolf women toed the line against the best runners in the west region for an opportunity to compete at the national championships in two weeks time.  The seawolf women ran strong races showing that they had something to prove.  Right from the beginning each one of them ran their race, as they dominated the field and finished the job off right with a big win!  The men had similar ambitions, and never gave up on a tight battle with Chico State.  It was honestly one of the most exhilarating races I've ever seen, where each of our top 5 runners ran the whole race within striking distance of at least one of Chico's top 5 runners.  With a few gutsy surges in the final mile, the Seawolves managed to pull off a 37-39 victory over Chico.  Two huge races were great measuring sticks for both our men and women teams, showing that we are fully prepared to take on the nation in Spokane on the 19th!

The rest of the weekend came and went as we all celebrated our victories in Washington, but by Monday morning, all of that changed.  After practice we found out that Marko Cheseto, one of the runners on our team had gone missing.  From that moment on, the minutes felt like hours, and the hours felt like days waiting to hear news on his whereabouts.  For two days, search groups all over Anchorage spent hours on end searching the snow-covered landscape, yet no signs of Marko appeared.  It was only until 3:15 AM on Wednesday morning that Marko was found and rushed to a hospital.  I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that waking up Wednesday morning was like Christmas.  We were all overcome with a huge sense of relief as we heard messages that Marko had been found and is recovering in the Hospital.

By now, everything seems to be settling down as we approach our final week of training before the NCAA championships.  The race will be held on the same course that we ran on at Regionals, so there will be no surprises on race day.  Both teams are ready to rock and roll, and there really isn't much else to say.  Off to the big dance we go!

Three Weeks to Nationals

GNAC's and the marathon men

Ready for another blog?  I sure am!  The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships (what a mouthful) was the latest race for the seawolf squads held in Yakima, Washington last Saturday, and things went very well.  Both of the Seawolf teams came out on top, extending our undefeated streak to 5 races.  Throw in a couple individual titles, as well as two freshman of the year awards, and you've got a pretty solid weekend for the Seawolves in Yakima.  This weekend was also a little redemption for me personally, after my sub-par effort in Bellingham, Washington two weeks prior.  I have been dealing with a little bit of an Achilles problem and it's thrown a few curve balls in my training plan, so I've been stuck doing a lot of cross training for the majority of 3 weeks.  I've never done any serious cross training before, so I was pretty skeptical as to how the benefits of being in the pool or the gym could compare to the benefits of running, but after Saturday's run I have a little more faith in all this supplemental stuff.  I put together a few decent workouts in the pool in the span of a few weeks, but didn't even manage to get in an outdoor run with the team between my last two races.  I had a couple of days on the treadmill and one on the track, then it was off to Yakima.  I really had no clue how my fitness would compare to everyone else,  so it was really exciting to get in a positive race in Yakima without any issues.  Now it will be all about gradually progressing back into a normal routine with the cooperation of my Achilles, and moving towards Regionals.  Now, onto some road racing fun from the homeland!  Some serious Canadian marathoners toed the line in downtown Toronto ten days ago to get after some Olympic Qualifying standards at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  Mother nature wasn't very friendly however, and threw in some wicked winds on the streets of T-Dot to try and slow them all down.  But this time, Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis were too much for mother nature to handle, and came through with some big PB's and 2 Olympic qualifying times.  I actually got up at 5:00am in Alaska to watch the whole race.  The only problem was that CBC's international race feed wasn't working, leaving me to rely on twitter updates from the race to keep up with the action.  Usually I would have gone back to bed in a situation like this, but the Canadians definitely made it an exciting race to watch read about.  Also in Toronto was Fauja Singh, the oldest marathoner in the world.  He's 100 years old!  Pretty impressive stuff!  Equally as impressive is the length of his beard.  I can only dream of growing facial hair at a fraction of the rate that he does.

"The Legend"

Getting Chilly

This is a first for me, below zero by the beginning of October.  For about a week now, I've woken up to frost on car windows, frozen puddles in the parking lot, and a lack of morning sun.  When I got here in the beginning of August, the sun was still up after 10:30, but for 6 weeks or so, we've been consistently losing about an hour of sun each week.  The walk to my evening lab is getting darker, and the walk back home is pitch black.  I think the sun is setting somewhere around 7:00 now, and it's usually not up until 8:15 or so.  Last week the Seawolves travelled south to Washington for our last invitational of the year.  It was definitely nice to get a break from the cold weather, and a great chance to run fast!  It was a 10k for the men and 6k for the women, the longest one of the year, but that wasn't enough to stop the Seawolves.  The men and women were 1st in the team score, as well as pulling off the individual men and women titles.  In 2 weeks, it will be GNAC time where we will begin our post-season racing on the path to the National Championships.  Until then, we'll be putting in some heavy work up north.  Still no snow up here but it certainly isn't far off, and I've got my winter gloves all ready for some serious snowball fights as soon as the white stuff falls.  So I guess the cold weather in Alaska has it's ups and downs, but there is one thing I'm really not liking up here.  Our apartment has a T.V. with about a hundred channels (twice as many as I had at home), leading me to believe that I would have access to roughly twice the hockey coverage.  Not in the USA however.  It's all football, football, football.  Don't get me wrong here, I enjoy watching a football game or two on Sunday, but if it's not accompanied by a leafs game on Saturday night, something's up.  Let's get real here, winter is not nearly as fun if you can't cheer for the good ol' blue and white!  As a loyal fan, of course I've been keeping track of the scores online and I do believe they are rocking a perfect record at the moment, but the lack of live hockey is making it tough to follow the soon to be 2012 Stanley Cup champs.  Yeah, that's right, I said it!  This is the year!  Or maybe next year, or the next.  Either way, this drought is bound to end one of these years.  Do you beLEAF?

The Simple Life

Wake up, eat, class, practice, eat, nap, eat, class, eat, homework, eat, sleep.  Throw in a bit of travelling on the weekends, and you get the life of a university runner.  In the span of no more than 6 weeks, I have completely altered my views on what it means to be doing serious training, and I'm certain my views will continue to change throughout my university years as I learn to adapt to the added workload.   It's a huge jump from the high school running scene in almost every aspect.  To start with the obvious, the running itself is much more demanding.  No longer can I expect to be running at the front of the pack on 40-45 miles a week.  This was probably the biggest jump for me personally, since I had been consistently in between 40 and 45 miles most weeks in my last 2 years of high school.  Just like every other college freshman in the nation, I understand that a jump in mileage will be the key to prepare myself for faster races down the road, but I also understand that when you are working harder, you need to recover harder.  While it may sound cliche, I know that recovery has played a huge role in helping me adapt to a more intense program.  I always thought that I was pretty good at recovering from workouts in high school, sleeping a lot, taking an occasional ice bath, stretching, and maybe a bit of core tossed in there too.  But once again, I was only running a fraction of the mileage that I am now.  It's a whole different story in the world of college sports.  Daily ice baths, saunas, deep tissue massages, structured dynamic stretching and core programs,  pool running, and naps after each practice are only a short list of the recovery tools that are required in order to keep my legs feeling fresh throughout the season.  But all of this running and recovering doesn't mean a thing unless equally strong efforts are made to stay on top of classes.  In a world where professors don't nag you to take a make-up test or prompt you to hand in your assignments, it's not hard to fall into a never-ending struggle to keep good grades.  It's much more work than high school and it comes with much higher expectations, but the key to getting good marks in school is not at all different from that of running.  Success follows hard work.  Study, Run, Recover, Repeat.  That's the key to success.  That's the simple life.

Lots to blog about

Sorry for the lack of blog updates lately fellow readers, but I've been pretty busy trying to finish up assignments, study for tests, doing lots of running, travelling, and adjusting to the university life in general.  Did I say travelling?  Why, yes I did!  Where did I go?  Well, a couple weeks ago the Seawolf cross country team headed down south to the Islands of Hawai'i for 9 days to get rid of all the racing cobwebs, and get this season underway!  I've never been to Hawai'i before, so I should probably start off by telling you all how awesome it was...Or maybe I'll just show you.  After all isn't a picture worth a thousand words or something like that?

The first race site (Jurrasic Park Film Location)

The Team

Not a bad beach eh?

Couple of Flamingos

The view from the hotel

Men's team

The backstretch of the race course A.K.A the 13th fairway

You can click on any of the above photos for an enlarged view.

 Yeah, so those were a few of the photos of the trip, but they definitely don't serve justice to this island paradise.  Hawai'i is definitely another one of those places that belongs on a bucket list, and I could literally spend hours writing about how the whole experience, but we have some running to talk about! (And I need to get some homework done tonight)  Anyways, the Seawolves definitely brought their A-Game to Hawaii.  Race #1 went a little like this:  We had a real early morning after a long flight and a race 2 days before, so it's safe to say that we were all a little beat up going into it, but ran good races overall and managed a couple W's for the men and women.  Time wasn't really relevant here, especially with the 90 degree weather, the goal was to get in a solid tune-up race that would prepare us for the race the following weekend, and as a measuring stick for the rest of the season.  So basically goal accomplished, +1 for the Seawolves.  By the way, this race course was in the park that filmed movies like Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, and You, Me, and Dupree.  I'll try to get some official team and individual results up on the results page when I get a chance, so stay tuned.  After Race #1, a few of the guys happened to notice yellow fruits hanging on some of the trees during our cool down, and jumped at the opportunity to have an exotic fruit feast mid-run.  So we picked some guavas off the tree, and continued on our cool down with handfuls of tasty fruit.  WIN!  Then, we got to stay in Hawai'i for another 7 days to train and wait for our next race.  Pretty rough life, eh?  If you can't already imagine, we had tons of fun running along the waterfront trails, climbing mountains overlooking Honolulu, and ripping out some fartlek sessions under the palm trees.  In between all that, we also got to work on our Alaskan tans, got to swim in the big pool with all the sharks, ate lots of pineapples and got rocked by the massive waves at the north shore of the island.  Then came Race #2.  Just like the first race, the men's and women's teams both jumped to the front and finished the job off right.  2 more wins gave us all the confidence we need that we're on the right track, and ready to rumble come October.  Note the golf course pictures above, that was our race course, no complaints from me!  We also brought home some wicked Tiki Man trophies and flowery necklaces, which was pretty sweet as well.  That night we flew back home to the Big One, and we're here for a couple more weeks before Western Washington in early October.  We're in the middle of our big uninterrupted training block right now, doing some serious work.  This past week has probably been the best week of training for me, as I'm coming to adjust to the higher mileage, and on a couple of occasions I've felt like I had that extra gear I was missing in the first few weeks.  I'll try to update this blog at least once more before the next meet, but for now I have some anatomy studying to be done!  Talk to ya later!

P.S.  Below is the Hawaii Five-O theme song, and from 0:15 to 0:18 into the video where the guy is standing on the balcony is the hotel we stayed at.  Our hotel is famous!  Once again, note picture above for our hotel view.

I'm so fresh, man!

"What a freshman!"
Definitely the most common phrase heard on college campuses all across the nation this week.  It's safe to say that the freshmen have arrived.  The confused faces, the "oops, wrong class", and the "hey, how do I get to _____ (insert name of the building on the other side of campus)" are all sure signs that school is back in session.  I've had a few of my own freshman moments this past week, most notably causing the dishwasher to overflow with soap bubbles, spewing them all over the floor due to adding excessive amounts of dishwashing liquid.

I haven't bothered to use the dishwasher since.  I've been teaching myself to cook, as well.  I guess my freshman culinary skills are lacking as well, because after every meal I make, my room mates rush to the kitchen window to let out all the burnt food fumes, and then proceed to evacuate the kitchen for a few hours.  Then, on my first day of school, I made another fatal freshman error.  I failed to correctly read over my schedule, and I walked into the wrong class!  I left as soon as I noticed everyone was staring at me kinda funny.  After that, I made sure to read my schedule twice.  But perhaps my most embarrassing freshman moment this week was on my way home from school yesterday.  The walk back to my place is about 15 minutes, and it's pretty lame.  So I figured I would go ahead and take the quickest route home, and try to play the angles and stuff like that.  But mother nature wanted me to walk the long way back home.  It was a really rainy day, so I was thinking I had just one-up'ed mother nature by packing an umbrella in my backpack.  But she had another trick up her sleeve.  As I was walking back I noticed that there were fewer intersections on one side of the street than the other, so I quickly jumped onto that sidewalk instead of the bike path running through the woods along the side of the road.  What I didn't notice was that the warp in the road that forms over time in the bus lanes, where the tires produce added pressure in certain spots had completely filled with rain water.  Also, this sidewalk was right on the edge of the road, which is probably why I was the only one walking on that side on a rainy day.  Anyways, you probably see where this one is headed.  I got drenched.  A wall of water soaked me from head to toe as a bus flew by, and my umbrella couldn't do anything about it.  I bet the bus load of people got a good chuckle about that.  To make things worse, I had my brand new, insanely expensive textbook in my bag at the time.  The miracle that it wasn't wet when I got home was definitely the best part of that day.  I'll take the longer way home next time.  But, I've had some pretty cool freshman experiences as well.  I had my first day of training last Monday, and we ran up a mountain.  Can't do that in T-Dot!  My ears were popping constantly, and we even ran through multiple layers of clouds on our ascent to the top.  You could almost call it altitude training by the time we got to the top, as we were about 3000 feet above sea level.  Not too shabby for a 50 minute run!  Then, a few days later while running in the forest, we encountered a massive moose in the middle of the trail.  It was big.  We decided it would be best to run the other way.  Pretty cool experience still.  As far as running goes, we're putting in some pretty solid work up here in the big AK, and feeling a little flat is going to be a part of the game for the next little while as I adapt to a heavier work load.  But that's cool, because the real racing is still months away.  

Alaska Part 2

Where was I again?  Oh yeah, Homer.  The tiny fishing village with lots of bears!  Well, I've made it through another week in Alaska without any serious wildlife confrontations.  The only bear I saw all week was a dead black bear in the back of a pick-up truck, but that's fine.  I got to see lots of wildlife this past week.  Bald eagles were all over the place, lots of moose, strange long-legged birds, and variations of fish being hauled in by the fishermen.  Speaking of fish, I ended up doing a little fishing myself.  I mean how can you go to the "Halibut fishing capital of the world" and NOT fish?  Let's get real here!  So I went out with my dad and brother to reel in some monster halibut.  For those of you unfamiliar with halibut, it's expensive.  Really expensive.  You won't find many places that will sell you a pound of uncooked halibut for less than 20 bucks.  So I was thinking I was going to pick up a rod and begin to reel in fish after fish all day long.  But there's a very good reason that halibut is so expensive.  It really isn't that easy!  The easy part was getting my line to fall 200 feet down at the ocean floor.  Within 20 seconds I was getting fish biting.  But that's just the beginning.  Then I had to haul that sucker 200 feet up to the boat, while it's thrashing about.  And believe me, these fish aren't small.  I was bringing in 15 pound halibut, and I could have sworn I had a great white on my line.  But apparently those are just the babies.  Big halibut can get over 300 pounds. Check out the pictures to compare for yourself.

Big Fish

Small Fish

I'd hate to have to reel one of them in!  I couldn't feel my arms by the time I was done fishing (notice the struggle to pick up the fish in the picture).  But I sure felt them the next morning!  But in the end, I came off the boat with enough halibut for...well...a long time.  My freezer at university is filled with frozen fillets, now I just have to figure out how to cook them!  But that's what Google is for, right?  And on the topic of university, it's sweet!  Even though there are more moose than people on campus so far, I'm already liking the place.  Lots of running trails!  I went on a run with a few of the guys on the XC team this morning, and I had no idea where we were going.  I was lost 10 minutes into the run.  For all I know, we could have been running in circles, because there were trails everywhere!  Way too many to comprehend.  Once I figure them out, I'll be able to fully appreciate the multitude of running trails, but for now I'm just plain confused.  Maybe I should bring a map tomorrow.

Alaska

Last week I departed from the Motherland, and landed in Alaska well before my University training camp in order to tour a little bit of the state with my family.  As I mentioned in the previous post, we were to spend one week in Wasilla and one in Homer before heading back to Anchorage, where I will be going to school.  So, where do I begin?  Oh yeah, the airport!  Fun stuff always happens at the airport.  That day, the airport excitement began when our first flight was delayed by half an hour, and with a connecting flight waiting in Philadelphia, it was shaping up for an exciting sprint for the awaiting gates at the opposite end of the airport.  It was only a couple minutes before the gates were closing that I saw a couple of figures in the distance absolutely hauling it down the hallway.  I then realized that it must have been my family who had been waiting for their bags.  I really wish I had a watch ready, because I'm almost certain my dad dropped a sub-60 second 400 with sandals and a suitcase to get to the gates with seconds to spare.  In the end we all made it, and our excitement was over just in time for our 7 hour flight.  Then, the next thing I knew I was in Wasilla.  Where Sarah Palin lives.  It's a pretty small town, and I figured it wasn't too big of a long shot to see her at the grocery store or driving around town.  Until I found out she was in Iowa.  Not cool Sarah Palin, not cool at all.  But other than that, Wasilla was really cool.  There were mountains absolutely everywhere.  And animals too.  One of the big concerns I had when I visited Alaska was the bear population, and being in a relatively wooded area, I was sure a bear was going to jump out at me while I was running.  I decided I would stick to the gravel path alongside the only road close by, and run up and down that road all week.  The first day, I decide I would keep my run very relaxed and low-key to flush my legs out after the long flight.  6:30/mile pace was where I hoped to start off, but with fear of bears occupying my mind, I proceeded to start off with my first two miles each in 5:40, before somewhat settling down towards the end of the run.  I didn't actually see any bears at all in Wasilla, but I did see some moose-s? meese? as well as bald eagles and unbelievable amounts of salmon spawning in the streams.  All these animals were awesome, but there was one animal that wasn't awesome.  Basically every house had a guard dog that barked and barked and barked and barked and barked and chased me down the road until I reached the next house with a dog.  I think these dogs sort of adopted the road as an extension of their property, which didn't make it very fun for me.  But now they have nobody to chase! I left Wasilla 2 days ago, driving to Homer.  I heard good things about this place all week,  and it has lived up to expectations so far.  From what I've seen so far, it seems like a small fishing town with lots of old fishermen sporting bad-ass beards.  It's really scenic too, as the entire town is built on a hill overlooking the inlet, with no shortage of mountains and glaciers.  However, I hear that there are plenty of bears all over the place, so I've elected to do all my runs this week on a spit that goes 7km out into the ocean, where I don't need to worry about bears or a lack of scenic views.  And that's basically all I've been up to the past few days.  Just chilling in Alaska.  Get it? Chilling...Alaska?  AHAHAHA...ahaha...ah...never mind.  It's a good thing I picked up running, because I wouldn't have made it far as a comedian.  But for real, 18 C in Alaska beats 30+ C in T.O. any day.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is if you're searching for a spot to take a vacation, definitely consider Alaska.  It's awesome!  There really are no other words for it, just awesome.  Go see for yourself if you don't believe me! And if you do believe me.

On a separate note, I figured I should probably be taking a few pictures here and there to share a fraction of the awesome-ness of Alaska with my fellow readers, so I'll be posting some pics for you all to see.  It's a good thing that I'm in Alaska actually, because this is one of the only places I've been to where you only need to know how to click the button on top of the camera to produce postcard worthy pictures.  And you can keep clicking that button everywhere you go, because the scenery is endless.  I can't even imagine how amazing these pictures would be if they were taken by someone who knew a thing or two about photography.

Click Here to see a few of the pics I took

To be continued...

Get Moving!

It's Time.  Time to Play.  Time to Play Ketchup Catch up.  That's right.  In the next few days, I will once again begin my yearly XC adventure with a couple of light runs to work the rust off before I submerge myself into some real university training.  A few days ago, I started to get that little itch to start running again, a sure sign that I have done a good job recovering, and that I'm good to go.  A lot of the Americans will be quite a bit further ahead in their cross country prep schedule, as most of them shut down in the first half of June before starting to train for XC season.  This puts me quite a few weeks behind their fitness level, but I am confident that I've given myself more than enough time to be fit as a fiddle when the real racing starts.  After all, there is no point in blowing everyone out of the water in September, if you can't perform when the chips are down in November.  So for now, I'll be playing a little catch up until I've piled 3 or 4 good weeks of running together.  This season will be long compared to my high school cross country seasons as my first race will arrive about 20 days earlier, and I plan on continuing racing through the end of November, compared to mid-November in previous years.  This season ahead will also open new doors for me.  Getting an opportunity to race against some of the best college runners in North America is sure to be an eye-opener, but also something that is required in order to continue excelling in athletics.  Being pushed by the big boys this year is something that will pay off for me down the road, and something that's necessary if I ever want to be able to push them back.  I've set very high goals for myself this season, and with smart, hard work I know I will be able to run faster than ever before, and shock more than a few people this year.  Also, after my university season, I will try to set myself up for an opportunity to challenge at the Canadian XC Championships.  This will be my last year to try to make the Junior National XC team, and I can't wait to give it my best shot!  Finally, the title of this blog serves a dual purpose, as I am packing my bags to head up north 7 days from now.  I know I already gave you a long speech about how excited I am in my last post, so I'll keep that to a minimum.  I'm going to be spending one week in Wasilla, Alaska A.K.A. hometown of Sarah Palin! Then, I'll be off to Homer, Alaska for a week, before I make my way back to Anchorage for the 17th of August.  I really don't know when I'll get the chance to update my blog, but you can be sure that when I do I'll have something exciting to talk about.  This is going to be my last post before I leave, so when you read my next post I'll be thousands of kilometers away, living in my igloo, riding my pet polar bear to school.  Until next time fellow readers!  Adios!  Farewell!  Au Revoir!  Bye!

The Countdown Is On!

Less than 2 weeks from now, I will be in Alaska, and my journey up north couldn't have come at a better time!  I have a feeling mother nature has been mad at Toronto for a while, because she has been trying to set the city ablaze.  Today was 38 degrees!  No, not Fahrenheit... CELSIUS!  That's over 100 Fahrenheit, and with humidity included, it felt like 49 degrees.  Not a typo there folks, 49 degrees!  120 Fahrenheit!  I am so happy I didn't have a run planned today, or at all this week.  The past few days have all been north of 30 degrees without the humidity included, making it a perfect week to stay inside and turn on the air conditi...oh wait.  Broken A/C, that's right.  And to make matters worse, our car A/C broke a few days ago.  Yes, so I'm left to spend as much time as possible in the basement where it is marginally cooler, where I can be jealous of all the people living in Anchorage today.  It's about 20 degrees up there, and I hope it stays that way for at least a few more weeks.  But apart from the weather, I'm getting pumped for Alaska, and maybe a little nervous, but mostly pumped.  I'm sure it's going to be a wild couple of days, weeks, possibly even months in Anchorage getting all the new stuff sorted out, but I can't wait.  New country.  New state.  New city cities (good band).  New school.  New teachers.  New classes.  New friends.  New team.  New coaches.  New home.  Everything will be a little different living on my own, and while I may end up burning a couple of meals and forgetting to do laundry a couple of times, I'll get the hang of things.  Eventually.  

By the way, since I've been spending so much time inside, I figured I might as well be productive, so I taught myself how to use Photoshop to design a new blog layout.  Anything to stay out of the sun.  If we get any more of these heatwave days, I may just have to start up a whole new blog to complain about the weather!

Let's make this post a little bit running-related by saying that there is one heckuva track meet going on in Monaco later today, with guys like Bolt, Solinsky, Farah, Rupp, Bekele, Lagat, Tegenkamp, Wheating, Centrowitz, Armstrong, Rudisha, Symmonds, Uceny, and a whole bunch of studs competing at the Louis II Stadium.  Going to be awesome!  Just for the record, I'm calling Solinsky.

I think the following is a pretty appropriate and relevant song from the New Cities.  

I Think I'm Coming Down With Something

It seems as if I have come down with some sort of disease.  From what I know, it's called michaeljordan-itis, also known by some as lancearmstrong-nia.  The symptoms of this disease have caused me to call off my "recovery time", and get back on the track one last time to go for a final PB.  And a PB is exactly what I did*.  Yes, that asterisk is there for a reason, as this PB was hand-timed because it wasn't even an actual race.  In fact, it was more of an 800m time trial with a little help, being paced for the first 500.  I ended up negative splitting a 1:57.9h (59, 58) which is only marginally more respectable than my previous best of 1:59.64.  But as the old saying goes, a PB is a PB (Maybe it's not an old saying, but you get the point).  My training partner also had a watch on me for 1:58 flat, so it's definitely a PB.  After my last race on Wednesday, I felt as if I was fit enough to run an 800m PB on my own, even if it wasn't going to be an official electronic time.  Also, I didn't really have enough time to wait for an 800m race, because I still want some solid time to recover before I gear up for cross country.  So, I went to the track on Friday, and finished the season for good.  No more track season comebacks for me, I'll wait for next year.  It actually feels a little strange not getting up every morning to go for a run, so I've been relying on the Tour de France to keep myself occupied for at least a few hours of the day.  Apart from that, I've basically been doing a whole lot of relaxing, and i'm cool with that.  GO SCHLECK!

Time to Recover

My track season is done.  I wrapped things up last night with a 1500m at the Toronto International Track and Field Games, and I came away with another mediocre performance, running 4:00.11 for 7th place on a windy night.  It's too bad that I wasn't able to break through and go under 3:58 last night, but I raced well, and closed in 46 seconds so there are a few positives to take away from the race.  Apart from the actual race, the entire day was awesome!  Nike put on a full-day clinic for all the high school runners where we got to chat with some of the Pros before the race, as well as getting decked out in new race gear, and a runnerspace interview! (see below)  Not to mention watching the actual meet, which was great to see in Toronto.  Walter Dix, Perdita Felicien, Dylan Armstrong, and Jared Connaughton highlighted the meet, and numerous fast times and big throws made it really exciting for the fans.  Hopefully the National Track League will continue to grow next year, and help raise the sport of Track and Field in Canada.  So now that my racing is officially over, I will completely shut down for the next few days, and get fully recovered before my build up to the upcoming cross country season.  Also, I only have another 3 weeks until I head up north to Alaska, and begin my University running career!

Click the link below to see my runnerspace interview.
Kevin Rooke - Be A Pro Clinic - Toronto International Track and Field Games 2011

Baby Steps

I had another solid race last night, with another PB.  But if you were to tell me I would end up with a PB before the race, I would have expected something a little faster.  I was trying to finally break through this 3:58 barrier, and through 1200m I was on 3:55 pace.  In my last 1500m, I came through 1200m at 3:11 and closed in 47.  Yesterday we had some great pacers that brought the entire field through in sub-2:06 with me near the back at 2:05.  I reached the 1200 mark watching the clock turn from 3:07 to 3:08, and knew I was in good shape.  But I lost my legs over the last 300m and closed in 50 to run 3:58.25.  It's 0.02 seconds faster than I ran last time, so I suppose I can't be too disappointed because after all, a PB is a PB.  One of the upsides of yesterday was the fact that I actually managed to split 3:08 in a race.  Now the only thing missing is that extra gear to close in 46-47, which would produce a 3:54-5.  Another upside was that my training buddy Phil (a Junior stud on the Ontario High School circuit) also managed to dip under the 4 minute mark last night, so we're definitely on the right track.  He's been dropping big times all over the place, and it was just a matter of time before he broke 4.  Actually, the funny thing about last night was that he wasn't even supposed to run the 1500.  He was entered in the 800 earlier in the night, but he arrived so late that the race was already over by the time he got to the track.  He always manages to find a way to be late for everything, but I guess this time it was worth it as he came home with another big PB.  I'll be running a 3000m in London on the 6th, where I will be looking to get under that 8:42 mark I set last year.  Also, despite getting a PB, I'm still a little annoyed that I couldn't hang on last night so I may just end up going for 3:55 one last time after my 3000m.  It's getting a little late in the season, but when you're fit, you have to race.  It's as simple as that.  After all, almost all of the great world records were set when guys threw themselves into fast races sometimes only a few days apart, until one day it all came together.  Look at David Rudisha's stretch of great runs last year.  He ran 12 800's during his season, and 4 of them were run in a span of 14 days (2 of which happened to be world records).  Now it's my turn to go after a few more big times.  I'll be back with an update of London next week and a definite plan for the end of the season.

P.S. Gotta give a Happy 144th Birthday shout out to Canada!

Change of Plans

This past weekend went well at 1500m night.  As expected, there were a few big breakthroughs for a handful of guys and girls this year.  Among the notables, Rob Denault managed to run 3:45 mostly on his own, and a bunch of the other high schoolers got down into the low 3:50 range.  I came in with a 3:58.72 PB, and left with a PB of 3:58.27.  We had a pacer who led us through 800 in 2:07, which was a little slow considering we were 28 at the 200 and 61 at the 400, but nonetheless it was good to get someone else to run up front and let me tuck in behind.  I was hoping that I would end up in the 3:56 range, as I am certain that my fitness is way ahead of last year, but at the same time a PB is a PB, and I can't complain about that.  But, my coach and I have decided to change things up a bit.  Originally, the plan was to try and hit the 5000 A standard, and try to snag a ticket to Pan Am Juniors at nationals, however being 31 seconds off the standard with only 2 more weeks left in the qualifying period makes it a little improbable, but not impossible.  Additionally, the 1500m specific work that we've been doing over the past few weeks is another reason to scrap the old plan and go hunting for some PBs. We're aiming at a 1500m on the 30th, a 3000m on the 6th of July, and another 1500m to close out the season on the 13th.  None of this is set in stone quite yet, and it may turn out that I can't even get into a few of these races, but that's the plan.  I also have a series of ball-buster workouts on the horizon, so that should give me a real good idea of how the next few weeks will turn out.  I should probably get back to studying. I have 3 more exams left, and I can't wait to scribble correct answers all over them!

I've been taking some tips from Mr. Bean, I should be fine!

P.S. The video of my 3:58 in London can be found by clicking here

Ready to Rumble

Well, I'm heading out to London tomorrow for 1500m Night and it looks like it will be a great day to race.  There are 127 entries in the men's 1500m so far, and on the lightning fast Western track, you can bet on more than a few blazing times.  I expect that I'll be placed in the 2nd heat tomorrow, with about 12 other guys with PBs of between 3:57 and 3:59.  It's going to be great weather, so there will be no excuses tomorrow.  I had a perfect week of workouts as well, so I'm excited.  Wednesday was the big one where we started the workout off with a 3:08.2 1200m time trial, which is 3:55 pace.  If you recall, in Human Jousting, I was getting excited over a 3:17 1200m, which turned into a 4:03 at Metros.  Clearly I'm in better 1500m shape now, but we'll have to wait see how things go tomorrow night.  In other news I had my last full day of high school today!   It's hard to believe that four years have gone by so quickly, but you know what they say, "time flies when you're having fun".  I have to give a shout out to all my friends at Don Mills C.I. for keeping it real, and for 4 years of awesome memories that I'll never forget!

Mediocrity at it's finest!

Another mediocre performance in the books, and I'm just trying to break the mold.  I was 4:02.97, and even though it was meant as a tune-up for next week, I thought I had a good shot at going sub-4.  The upsides of Saturday were that I ran in lane 2 most of the race, and finished 6 seconds faster than I did at the same meet last year, the week before I broke through with my 3:58.  I'll be running the same meet this year, and I'm ready for a new PB.  I mean, 3:58 is so last year!  And so is 8:42, but let's just take things one step at a time.
I had a great idea last week, allow me to elaborate.  With the summer heat upon us, 30+ degree days are soon to become the norm.  Last year, mother nature got the best of me, and running went way downhill by the beginning of July.  I closed my season out prematurely last year, after running 4:10 and a 2:07 800m relay split.  But this year, I'm prepared.  No matter how hot the weather gets, and no matter how bad I feel on my runs, I will have the upper hand this year.  Mother nature gave me a taste of what she had in store for this summer a few days back, and I shrugged it off like when a ladybug lands on your shirt and you frantically scream and swat at it to get it off.  I found a secret river deep in the North York Jungle (Sunnybrook Park), that will now be my primary method of defense against the heat.  How, you ask?  Well, this week I went on a run with a buddy from school in 32 degree heat, leaving us pretty gassed by the halfway mark (or at least I was).  We continued to sweat our brains out for a few more miles until we hit the jackpot.  An operating water fountain (very rare in Toronto), and a river!  We drank a gallon at the water fountain, and went for a swim in the river.  It was actually cold enough to give me goosebumps, thus defeating the heat (Like the Mavs)!  I plan on spending many of my summer days cooling down in this river post-run, so bring it on mother nature!

Searching for a PB

Sorry for taking so long to get blogging about Ofsaa, but I have been loaded with schoolwork that I've missed out on while in Sudbury.  It was another great year for Ofsaa, with a great 3 days of racing, but this year Ofsaa wasn't as nice to me.  The past 3 years, Ofsaa gave me a few sweet PB's, but my luck ran out this year.  I ran 8:51 for 15th place, but I was completely out of the race by the time we passed 1km.  The first lap went out in 63, I came through near the back in 66, and the pace continued at that pace for a few more laps.  I went through 1km at 2:48, well back of the contenders.  I was hoping for a top 8 finish, and looking at the results, my grade 11 time would have put me in 9th, so there really was no excuse for not being up there, I just simply didn't have it that day.  And my 3000 race result wasn't the only thing I overestimated that day.  As soon as the meet ended, I jumped on the school bus to head back to civilization, and we stopped in at McDonald's halfway back.  I was pretty hungry, and I was just thinking about how nice a couple burgers would taste.  One of my buddies next to me said he was going to go for 6 burgers, and I thought this was my time to beat someone at something on this trip.  I sucked at Ofsaa, and this was my one chance at success.  But I was wrong.  I ordered 4 burgers, a drink, and 3 fries, but after getting through half my meal, I was already auctioning off my final burger and the rest of my fries.  It really wasn't my day.  And don't expect to see me at another McDonald's for a long time.  Anyways, it's good to be back at home, to give myself a chance at a few fast 1500's this upcoming week.  I'll be running on the weekend, as well as the 18th (1500m Night), and I need a PB!  And I also need to get back to school and hand in my English project!  Goodbye for now!

A whole different ballgame

Well, I ran my first 5000m this past week, and despite not getting my Pan Am standard, it was a learning experience, and a good one at that.  For 3000m, I was feeling great splitting 3:00, 5:59, 9:00 sitting off two other runner's shoulders.  Then it hit me.  Before I even finished my eighth lap, I locked up and watched as the group I was running with quickly opened up a gap that only closed upon them crossing the finish line.  My last 2 kilometers were run in 3:17 and 3:14, giving me a finishing time of 15:31.57.  Apparently the 4th kilometer is the curse of the 5000 for those who have never run one before, and the curse definitely got the best of me that day.  But I'm one of those guys that believes even when you run as bad of a race as I did, there is always some upside to the experience.  And even though I had to think long and hard trying to find a positive aspect of my run, I eventually realized that this race just made the OFSAA 3k look like a sprint.  Also, I think I officially mastered the snot rocket after the race (see, there's always an upside.)  But seriously, less than 8 laps should be over in a flash, and the entire time I'll be thinking about how lucky I am that I don't have to keep going for another 5.  Today was another ball-buster of a workout, made even tougher by the lack of sleep due to my Prom and after party yesterday/this morning but I'm feeling confident that I will be ready to roll come next Saturday.  I'll fill you in on all the happenings of the O-Show in Sudbury as it goes down - but until then, I need to have myself a solid nap before I fall asleep at my computer.

London Calling

Yesterday I finished up my Metro regional meet, qualifying to the Ontario High School Championships in both the 1500m and 3000m distances, however I have decided to drop the 1500 and focus solely on the 3000m for OFSAA.  Doing the 1500 and 3k would mean that I would most likely end up with 3 races in 3 days, (1500 prelim, 1500 final, 3k final) whereas now I only have one race to prepare for.  Even though I am dropping the 1500m at OFSAA, I will still be running a few more before the season is out, looking for a new PB.  Wednesday's race went quite well, as I ran 4:03.36 for 2nd on a windy day.  I did have a few guys to push the pace for me, taking us through right on 4:00 pace through 700m.  A gap opened up between the first two and myself, but I managed to catch one of them at the line with a 46 closing 300m.  The winner was right around 4:00.  In the 3k, I ran 8:55 feeling strong throughout the race.  I split 2:55, 2:59, 3:00, giving me a feel for the pace I will be trying to hang on to in Tuesday's 5000m.  It is the second stop on the 401 series of distance races, and I hear it is quite the stacked field.  For one, Canada's top marathoner Reid Coolsaet will be racing this as a tune-up for his 10,000m at the Prefontaine Classic, which would make one assume that there will be other equally-stud-like men for him to race against.  These men should be in the vicinity of 13:40-14:00, and if they decide to send all the 5000m runners off in one heat, my primary goal will be to not get lapped.  This should equate to a sub-15 minute time, which would be the Pan Am 5000m "A" standard.  Of course this is much easier said than done, but for now that will be the plan.  I'll let you all know how things unfold in London!

Human Jousting!

Another week of t[raining] in Toronto, I'm getting ready for metros tomorrow.  I never seem to know what to do the day before a race when I go home after school instead of going for a run, so I figure I should try to be somewhat productive and do a little blogging.  Workouts have been going well, we did a 1500 simulator workout the other day and I managed to put together a 3:17 1200m followed by a 2:11 800 and 64 second 400.  3:17+47 makes 4:04, so there is no reason for not breaking 4:05 this week.  In other news, I've discovered a sport that is so much cooler than running around in circles, and as soon as this sport finds it's way to the Olympics, I plan on trying my luck at human jousting.
Check it out!

Somewhere in between Good and Bad

Now that blogger is up and running again, I can resume my ramblings of the high school distance running circuit. So where do I begin?  Ah yes, my high school regionals were held over the past couple days, and I really don't know how well (...or not well) they went, so I'll let you judge for yourself.  I ran the 1500m on the first day, which was supposed to be a very hard effort although I wasn't expecting much in the way of competition.  As it turns out, the wind had different plans for my race.  My goal of running under 4:05 was now thrown out the window, and it turned the race into a battle against mother nature.  I was on 4:07 pace through 1km, but let the pace slip big time in the last 500m to end up at 4:13.  It's difficult to tell what I would have run in good conditions, but for now a win is all that matters.  The second day had an 800m and 3000m for me, once again with wild winds and almost no help up front.  I led the 800m through in 60 followed by a 64, once again not really making a big statement in that race, but it was good enough to win by a solid margin.  Due to the lack of cooperation from the wind yesterday, my coach and I decided to make the 3000m a tough run, in search of a fast first 1500m to get the feel of sub-8:40 pace, then easing off for the last bit of the race.  And fast it was!  One of the runners decided he was in 7:45 shape, and led us through in 31 seconds for the first 200m...but by the first km, his sprinting turned to a trot, and he finished over 10 minutes.  Anyways, I was looking to hit 4:19 for the first 1500, and after taking control of the pace, I did just that.  I went 4:19, 4:37 to end up in 8:56.  This was probably the best run of the meet for me as it felt nice and smooth, despite the big positive split.  Next up is the Metro Championships on May 18-19th, where I will run the 1500m and 3000m.  And after that, I will be getting ready for my 5000m debut in London!

R.I.P. Danny Kassap

Some sad news from the Canadian running community today, as one of our elite distance runners of this decade suddenly passed away on the morning of May 2nd 2011 at the age of 28 years old.  Danny was one of our nations brightest stars, and he will be greatly missed.  Danny moved to Canada from the Congo in 2001, and you could say that he was primarily responsible for the resurgence of Canadian elite distance running, inspiring some of today's young stars to follow his steps in hope to one day compete for Canada at the Olympic Games.  He won the Toronto Marathon in 2004, and continued to help place Canada on the distance running map over the next few years.  I never knew Danny personally, but I do recall hearing about his dominance in the Canadian running circuit and reading through some of his race records as I began to start seriously running a few years ago.  He was an inspiration to myself and everyone else who knew him, and we will all miss him.

A Danny Kassap Memorial Fund has been set up by some of his friends at the University of Toronto Track Club, where sponsors can make secure online donations to help with funeral and burial expenses, which are urgently required.

The link is below

http://www.dannykassapmemorial.com/

8:45.34

My first outdoor race of the 2011 season is officially in the books, and I am looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for me.  I ran the Nike Invitational 3k in 8:45 today, and I have to say that I am pleased with the time, without being ecstatic.  I'm sure it was a great race to watch, as there was a pack of 8 or so, running right around 8:32-8:36.  Through 2k, it was more like a pack of 15 with myself included, but I wasn't able to respond when they decided to ramp things up.  I believe my last km was 2:56 or so, while they ran around 2:44-2:48 leaving me in their dust.  However, there were some upsides to my run today, as I ran 15 seconds quicker than I did in the same race 1 year ago and came within 4 seconds of a new Personal Best.  Also, being able to comfortably stick with the leaders through 2k gave me a little more confidence in my strength, and has already got me thinking about how I'm going to close that gap in the last kilometer, in order to truly compete with some of the fastest high school runners in Canada.  It's only about 4 more weeks until OFSAA which will be one of my big focus races this year, so the plan is basically to run one race each week until the beginning of June. This will give me a few more opportunities to race well and work on changing gears in the later parts of the race, as well as running a few more quick times.  I will be running next on May 11th-12th, and hopefully I come home with something worth blogging about.

The Runner's Playlist

Alright, so this post is just going to be a compilation of some of my favourite songs that get me pumped up for a big workout or race.  I don't run with an iPod, as I find that time seems to pass so much slower, and hauling my iPod on runs can easily become a chore fiddling around with wires and settings.  This being said, I know quite a few people who swear by iPods - at least on their easy runs, so for some of you who enjoy some music on the run, or maybe even before a big workout, you should definitely check out this playlist.

Number Ten:  Bruce Sprinsteen's Thunder Road
I really enjoy the piano in this song, and for some reason, I always end up picturing myself flying down an old dirt road in the country whenever this song comes on my iPod.



Number Nine:  Run This Town By Jay-Z and Rihanna
This is a great one for the tough workouts that just seem way too difficult to finish.  It pumps me up for tempo runs all the time, which more often than not gets me going out way too fast in the first few kilometers.



Number Eight:  POWER By Kanye West
This song gives me a similar feeling as the one above, and really gets the adrenaline going!
I can't say any more about this song, it's just one of those songs you need to listen to.



Number Seven:  Red Hot Chili Peppers with Can't Stop
This one is sort of a mish-mash of genres, with a fast beat that would make anybody run like an animal, and I "Can't Stop" listening to it! (I should really have kept that joke to myself)



Number Six:  Baba O'Riley by The Who
Straight from Without Limits, this song just gives me chills and visions of Prefontaine and his Super Stache every time.  A great song for anyone who needs a little extra motivation to get outside on a snowy day. (Also, Without Limits is a great Movie)



Number Five:  Gonna Fly Now By Bill Conti (From The Rocky Soundtrack)
It's another famous theme song that makes you want to chug a glass of raw eggs before you head out to the streets for your early morning run.



Number Four:  Beverly Hills By Weezer
Initially, it may not seem like the best song to run to, but I really like to listen to this song during the Canadian winters that never end, when I can't wait for the snow to melt, leaving it up to my imagination to pretend that I'm actually running through the warm breeze and palm trees of sunny Southern California.



Number Three:  Here I go Again By Whitesnake
It's the lyrics in this song that really get me going and considering I do almost all of my runs on my own, I can almost sing to myself every morning "Here I go again on my own".



Number Two:  Eminem's Lose Yourself
I don't even need to say anything about this one.  Just turn it on full blast, close your eyes, and you'll know what I mean when I say it gets you fired up for just about anything.



...And my favourite running song is another one from Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen - Born to Run.
Baby, we were born to run!



Happy Easter Everyone!

It doesn't get any better than this!

 So, with the Boston Marathon set to run tomorrow, everyone is getting excited, hoping to see a new Boston record.  It seems rather likely that either the men or women will break a record, with another stellar field including the guy who set the record last year.  However, a major factor in what happens on race day is due to the weather, which almost always finds a way to spoil an exciting race with winds, rain, or even snow.  But not this year!  Below, are 2 photos of the Boston weather forecast and the course map.  If you didn't notice, the clear skies will be accompanied by a tailwind of 18mph.  Can you say lucky?  This is going to give 20,000 runners peace of mind tonight thinking about how fast they're going to run tomorrow.  To any non-runners reading this post, something like this is an equivalent level of lucky to the clips in the video below...

The racing season has finally arrived!

It seems as if a few weeks ago, the running world was in relative silence after the conclusion of the World Cross Country Championships, the NCAA Indoor Championships, and the New York Half Marathon, and it felt like I would be waiting forever for the first wave of big outdoor races.  Next thing I know, and we're less than 24 hours away from some serious track racing in California, along with the Boston and London Marathons this weekend, and less than 2 weeks until an outdoor debut for me.
In California, some of the world's top talent will be coming from far and wide to compete at the Mt. Sac relays.  With guys like Chris Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp, German Fernandez, and Miles Batty, it's almost a given that there will be something big to talk about the next morning. But let's be honest, it wouldn't be much of an event unless us Canadians got in on the action.  Among the bunches of Canadian athletes heading down south for a fast race, are a couple of my training partners who will both be racing the 10,000m tomorrow.  It should be an exciting race, but I'm afraid I will have to wait for the flotrack video the following morning, as the race is scheduled for 10:40pm PST which is almost 2:00am in Toronto.
Then we have 2 of the most anticipated marathons of the year both in one weekend!  London is always one of the best shots a marathoner will get at a world record, and with 6 guys in this year's field under 2:06, you can expect a quick race.  While the North American contenders may be lacking in London, the Boston marathon is quite the opposite.
Most notably, Ryan Hall will be making his coach-less marathon debut in Boston, and the running world is waiting in anticipation to see what he has up his sleeve.  He didn't fare too well in his first half marathon in New York, finishing well back of the main pack, but he insists that the marathon is a whole different ball game, and that he is ready to rumble this year.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
And finally, I am slowly approaching my outdoor season opener, which is scheduled for the 24th of April.  I have only run one race this year, which was a sub-par 3k run indoors.  I did spend most of this winter visiting schools for next year, but now that I have got that out of my way, it's time to rip up the outdoor track!

A few more cool videos

Ok, this is going to be a dual-purpose blog post.  So, with a little less than 4 months until I depart to the big AK, I am getting pretty pumped!  I couldn't resist posting a few more videos that reveal more of what this great land has to offer.  If anyone reading this is considering ever visiting Alaska, these are definitely going to get you excited as well.

Additionally, I have to give a shout out to my friends over at UAA.  The Seawolves have been tearing it up on the track so far, with some huge PB's and records set in a bunch of races in the lower 48.  Keep it up Seawolves, and I can't wait to run with you guys next year!

Spring is here! And you know what that means...

This past week has shown what living in Toronto is all about! After a flash snowstorm ten days ago, we've been consistently at a balmy 10 degrees for most of this week.  Spring has finally arrived in T-Dot, and I couldn't be happier!

After a winter of slipping on icy roads and heaps of snow (precipitation falling from the sky in the form of ice crystals - for all my american readers), I am practically salivating at the opportunity to run in a t-shirt without suffering from frostbite.  

Additionally, my days on the indoor track are done! It was a great way to get in a solid workout on a snowy day, but I've had enough of the sharp turns and stuffy air.  And the lack of places to spit after a workout really was a deal-breaker.  On the outdoor track, the rain washes it all away, and you don't have anyone yelling at you about it!

And I know all the ladies are going to like this one.  As the warmer weather approaches, the days of shirt-on workouts are numbered.  Soon enough, shirts will only serve to wipe sweat off my face, as I prance around the outdoor track wearing nothing more than a pair of way-too-short-to-be-shorts shorts.

But on a more serious note, the outdoor track season will also be my last of high school, as I will be going off to University this fall.  I am in great shape now, and I really think that if things go my way, I will be poised to challenge for the podium in a few big races this year.

I am thankful for laughter - except when milk comes out my nose

Now that my blog is somewhat operational, I figured it was about time for a little fun.  This is a voice-over done by BBC of a few video clips of some awkward animal moments.  I can't get enough of these 2 videos, and there are loads more just like them.  This is the kind of stuff that I end up watching when I don't feel like doing homework have completed all of my homework, and can't think of anything productive to do with my spare time.
Anyways, Enjoy!

P.S. Before you start the videos, make sure you don't have any food in your mouth...it will most likely end up on the computer screen!

Destination Alaska

One of the key perks in living in Alaska for the next few years, is that I will be surrounded with eye-opening experiences that I will likely never forget.  This is a great video I found showing the vast land of Alaska, and all it's beauty.  Anchorage is a city unlike any other that I have ever visited, and while the Alaskan wild spreads far further than the city itself, living so close to this kind of environment definitely gives Anchorage a similar level of awesomeness in my mind.  Now of course, I won't be climbing mountains and riding polar bears to school every day, but that's not too far off.  I really can't wait to discover what living in Alaska is really all about, and watching this video just makes me want to pack my bags and book a flight for tomorrow morning!

9 things you never knew about me

1.  My absolute favourite workout is 1km repeats.  They are fast enough that you need to work on turning over a little quicker, but long enough that it feels like more of a progressive effort, and before you know it you're almost done the kilometer.
2.  My least favourite workout involves sets of 600's.  It doesn't seem to matter how many or how fast, there is just something about 600's that my body doesn't like.  Over the past couple of years, it has always been the 600m workouts that completely destroy my legs, even if I'm in fantastic shape.  If nothing else, I guess it tells me that I still have a lot of work to do, and serves as a reminder that I may not be as fit as I think.
3.  My favourite place to run is in Sunnybrook Park.  It is a huge grass park with tons of soft trails as well as connecting trails that can take you virtually anywhere in Toronto.
4.  I am not too big on the cross training that everyone seems to be in love with these days.  I prefer to let my running provide me with the real fitness, and occasionally I will use cross training to strengthen the core muscles.
5.  I can't stop eating cereal.  It is the backbone of my diet, and I will typically have a bowl in the morning, a bowl before bed, and sometimes even another bowl throughout the day.  By the way, my favourite is Cheerios.
6.  I can't stand wearing pants/tights on a run.  Usually, when the temperature is 0 degrees C/32 F or above, I will run in shorts.  The feeling of constriction of stride that I get from pants makes it much more difficult to get a nice stride going.
7.  I have a few weird rituals.  In the winter, I always wear the same toque each day, even though I usually need to do some serious searching for it if my room gets too messy.  Also, when doing strides before a race, I always hold my spikes in my hand (don't ask me why, I really don't know where this one came from) as opposed to leaving them in my bag or putting them on my feet.
8.  My favourite running shoes are the Asics Cumulus series.  They don't have excessive bulk, but they are sturdy enough to use as an everyday trainer.  Additionally, they can easily be used in longer track workouts and hard tempo runs.
9.  I was planning on using the title "10 things you didn't know about me", but I got a little lazy.

Officially a Seawolf!

Since Grade 9, I've been motivated not only by improving my track times and running faster than my competition, but also by the NCAA coaches that are continually looking for Canadian talent to recruit for their teams.  It's amazing to think that college coaches everywhere are willing to pay thousands of dollars each semester for you to attend their school and play the sport you love.  In my mind it was just further incentive to work hard for my chance to run with some of the best up and coming runners in the world.  4 years later, and I've officially signed with the University of Alaska Seawolves.  With the great training group, some of the best facilities in the world, too many trails to count, and their top notch competition schedule, I'm ready to roll with the big boys!

Let the blogging begin...

Not too sure how this whole blogging thing works quite yet, but I'll figure it out sooner or later.  In the meantime, I'll be updating my blog whenever I can to fill you all in on the happenings in my life and anything else that I find interesting.  The blog isn't completely operational yet, but it's a work in progress, so bear with me, and everything should be up and running (metaphorically) shortly!