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/