SCV Female Athlete of the Year: Aly Drake
Belief in Running: Jack Daniels
Alan Brown writes about the AV xc series in Read More. It's good to see Mike McEvoy continues to run strong.
I ran 4 miles on the McGill Trail, and on the return I meet an ascending hiker in a Hart High basketfall shirt. We exchange pleasantries. Later, I meet an ascending mountain biker, who says, "Hey, Don McLean." It's Gavin Klinger, famed Hart runner in the 90s, good guy, and most fortunate to be the husband of Nancy James.
Time for a change at UCLA. Link. Watch for more.
Need a Marathon Jumpstart?
The South Fork is now clear of construction gates and fences. Finally. It's good to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to have the river trails.
We hope you find yourself on some dirt trails this summer. Scott Jurek, one of the best American trail runners, has some tips. Video.
Is Bicycling Bad for the Bones? Consider.
How 'bout those elbows in the women's 800 at the Champs in Eugene? See A Brief Chat with Phoebe Wright. Can you see it in the race video?
Beware the Red Bull. I share the concern that runners go with the post-run sweets or "energy bar" instead of real food.
Welcome back, Manny? Link.
Nationals Recap Rap video.
Why stress fractures? Story Joe Vigil is a great coach, and I like to run barefoot on grass, but I still believe in clunky training shoes.
Tips for TV track. Link.
Stop and Hear the Music
Cary Osborne/Signal present its nominees for various prep-related awards. Story. So who do you like?
Michael Johnson has a plan to save track and field. Here. Humm. What I'd like to know is who those people are who think we've been deprived since Michael retired in 2000. ...Meanwhile, Rupp has hired Michael as his agent.
Erik Boal/Daily News presents its All Area track and field teams and athletes. Link.
Taxing our way to better health. Link. Check the Comments too. Thanks, Pete, for the tip. Funniest thing of the day so far, but then I just got to work
Cooking, eating, and running with New York Times' Mark Bittman and Mammoth Lakes' Deena Kastor. Link
T&F to be rebranded as adult gym. Link. ...Meanwhile, in SCV, has T&F and xc ever been better?
Q&A with Jordan Hasay.
Good read: Dick Patrick.
Always fun: The Week That Was
The Saugus xc team is having a fund-raising at Yogurt With A Twist. See Read More. I can't provide a proper flyer, but I suspect a copy of the Read More data will suffice.
Q&A with German Fernandez
10 minutes with Lauren Fleshman. Video
On my conversation last night with Joe Vigil. Wished I'd taken notes. As best I can remember:
Joe set up the program in Mammoth for Ryan, Deena, et al. He hired the coach, Jen Rhines's husband. Joe is still much involved, and he tests the athletes four times a year at the USATF facility in San Diego.
Joe is a farming community guy and likes altitude and Alamosa. Mammoth has the altitude, but he doesn't care for all the rich phonies in Mammoth (he didn't say it quite that way). He now lives in Tucson, which is too hot, because his mother in law can't handle the altitude.
Deena came to Alamosa after college at Arkansas, a dedicated 5000 meter specialist on 40 miles a week. Joe told her she needed more miles and got her running a weekly long run with the slow (sub three) guys in town. Then she got to like the miles and improvement across all distances. This year she is racing Chicago while Ryan is doing New York.
He agrees Jenny Berringer has not-to-die-for form. It used to be a lot better. To get really good in the steeple, especially for women with less muscle and head-to-toe strength, Jenny hit the weights and other strength work and got super fit, and all that changed her form. Joe is really impressed with her steeple coupled with the sub 4 in the 1500.
Joe has only positive words about everyone. Not one negative word. He likes Jordan's coach, Jordan's family, Running Warehouse dude Joe Rubio.
Joe finished Born to Run on the plane, and he likes it very much. He has Deena, Ryan, etc. running barefoot daily on the grass. No, they're Americans and don't have the history of running barefoot or in Indian/Mexican sandals on mountain trails, but he is not thrilled with our dependence on Nike, Asics, Adidas, et al.
Canyon has its xc site here. ...So, did I fail to account for the Cowboy talent in my early, early predictions? Maybe. It was an off-the-cuff list, and, for sure, there is plenty of Cowboy talent, boys and girls, and the coaching and program is top notch. ...Though partial to blue, I'm hoping for a tough contest through the season, and that it comes down to the Foothill Finals and into CIF. You'll recall Canyon girls beat Saugus at the finals at Griffith Park in Shannon's soph year, and then Saugus took charge from there. And then was it the following year that Saugus boys and Canyon tied for the league champs? I sincerely hope that GV, Hart, Canyon, Vikes, and, yes, WR test the Saugus boys to the max, and cheers and kudos to the victor.
Daily News on Felix and Crawford. Story. Crawford looked awesome. I feared Felix was going to lose in the last 50, but she has another gear. It would be great to see her move up to, or at least include the 400.
Ever upward with Jordan Hasay
The top two fan favorites were Jordan and Nick Symmonds, who, along with so many others, did a victory lap and interacted with the fans, signing autographs and allowing for photos. So gracious and great for the sport.
Rx: Rustbust!
Does sugar make kids hyper? That and other health myths here
Seated behind me on my flight from Eugene to Salt Lake City was "the greatest distance coach in the world," Joe Vigil. Very friendly and smart (three Masters and a PhD) fellow. More on this tomorrow.
The Saugus glory of 2008-2009: Story.
I'll go with the high octane, please. Link.
Portland?
I'll be at Hayward Field today.
Later. What a day at UO. It was windy, usually at the sprinter's back, and got to 82 degrees.
We checked out MacAuthor Court, the elderly home of UO basketball, where many mighty Bruin and Trojan teams were upset in a den of noise.
The first elite races of the day were the women's 100 meter hurdles and AV's Michelle Perry was an impressive qualifier for the finals. But she was a late scratch for the finals.
Jeremy Wariner was dead last iin the men's 200 semi. Why bother?
Jenny Berrigan was very impressive (though not her form) in the steeple. as was Batman in the 400 meter hurdles.
Symmonds took the lead with 300 to go, which seemed early for him, and made a gap, but KD came back with 150 to go and, I thought, would go by as they were passing us with 50 to go. What a great finish.
Both are class guys.
Alysia Johnson ran a sound 725 yards, and was perfectly positioned to kick it home, but faded badly.
Dawn Harper won the 100 meter hurdles and seems to be the class hurdler. She is animated, happy, and fun to watch.
In the men's 1500, Lonzono led almost from the start, which seemed crazy in such windy conditions. Lomong got him at the end, but they both looked good. Alan Webb was a late scratch. What's with that?
Shawn Crawford looked all world in the 200, and Felix pulled it out over Lee in the last 50 yards.
Hasay took the lead in the jr. 1500 and ran away from the older field. Outstanding effort. Such a graceful runner. The crowd loves her.
Another impressive future Duck was Mac Fleet, in the jr. 15000, who came from no-where with 200 to go and won going away. The crowd loved that too.
Afterwards, as I was leaving a port-a-potty, I held the door for the next guy, a tall guy withe Oregon colors. Yeah, it was Andrew Wheating.
Later, it was to Hendrick's Park, which is fantastic, and down Skyline Drive and past where Pre was killed.
Back to Saugus tomorrow.
Jack Daniels and Fam. Video
SCR Track Meet results in Read More. Some hot times. We have Phil Howard to thank for the meet and results. And he imparts a truth, i.e., it's good to test yourself on the oval to see where you really are.
The Week That Was
Bill Rodgers and the perfect running shoes. Link
Col. Ed McMahon, RIP
