I just landed in Anchorage yesterday, and I've got to say that I'm pretty disappointed with this weather. For a month, I've been spoiled with no snow and daily temperatures above freezing making it perfect for some solid running in Toronto. But sadly, my good luck didn't follow me up north. I arrived in the Airport to hear the pilot say "Welcome to Anchorage, where we have clear skies and a temperature of -6 Fahrenheit". It's almost a 40 degree drop in the temperature I had when I left Toronto, and understandably I wasn't really excited at all when I walked out of the airport. The only other time I've spent outside so far has been to go to and from the treadmill in a building across the street, and honestly I really didn't even want to walk that far. Hopefully things warm up in the next few days for school on Tuesday. I have to say that I'm pumped for this semester. Maybe it was the long break or the idea of getting back to training with the team, but either way I'm ready for school to begin.
This time around, I'll be coming into track season with a good idea of where I'm at in terms of fitness, and what I need to do to translate my fitness into fast times on the track. Over the break I had a chance to run some of the major workouts I did in high school, as well as running some longer tempos faster than I ever have before. The good news is that I've never been this fit in January. One of the ways I've always been able to track progress is by looking back at myself one year ago at the same time in my season and comparing my fitness to this year. In cross country season, I was definitely behind on my grade 12 fitness albeit due to an injury, but things have really gone well this past month and now I can certainly say that I'm ahead of January 2011. Also, apart from a little turnover, I feel that I'm just as aerobically fit as I was in the beginning of April last year. It's obviously a good sign that I've been able to develop a significant base, but now I've got about six weeks where I'll need to focus on gearing up and getting into racing shape. I'm still not sure what I'll be running as my main event, but I don't think there is any question it will be either the 1500 or 5000. I guess time will tell. Apart from training, there really isn't too much going on in Anchorage to talk about. I'll try to put up another blog as soon as track (and hopefully the weather) starts to heat up.
1.16.2012
12.17.2011
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!
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!
11.13.2011
"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!
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!
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