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!