Last Day in the Cities, on to Build an Empire

Building Steam With A Grain of Salt- DJ Shadow

Today marks my last day in the Twin Cities.  Bright and early tomorrow I will board a nice jet plane back to Portland for roughly a week and a half to spend some time with my family.  I will then begin my journey as an assistant coach at Eastern Washington University.

The last ten months have been a whirlwind.  At this time last year I was thinking about moving to the Twin Cities to branch out and try something new with my life.  It has been a great ten months in which I have learned a lot about myself and made many new friends.  I always joked that the "real world" wasn't as big and bad as everyone made it sound, but you learn things once you are on your own.  The friends you have always had were there because you surrounded yourself by people like you.  When I moved here, I came with one or two friends in town.  After that it was up to me to meet people through running and work.  Finding friends in running was easy.  The big reason is that everyone is just as "odd" as you are, and there is a lot to learn about someone over the course of a 10+ mile run.  To have met the guys here that I did running was a real blessing.  The are all classy and fun guys and I am glad I got the chance to meet them all.  

Finding friends at work however, was a different task.  The first job I had was filled with a lot of people who were twice my age.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with them being that age, but the problem was they tried to treat me as though I was just a kid.  Yes, I am only 25 and am younger than the people I worked with, but to treat me as though I know nothing is the problem.  I will leave the stores name out of it out of respect, but I will say that I won't recommend it to people if they ask specifically.  In May, just before leaving for Bloomsday, I was let go from the store.  This turned out to be another blessing.  Although it took me nearly a month to get a new job, I was able to be hired on at Marathon Sports.  This was a complete 180 of a store from the previous job.  At Marathon Sports, we had a range of age and abilities.  There were also guys that I could run with during the week either before or after the job, which is always a plus.  The general mood of the store was awesome.  I won't forget the people here even though it was only for two short months.  

Now for the sad part. As I write this I am only about 17 hours away from catching a flight back home.  Tomorrow at this time I will probably be at my parents house hanging out with my family for the next week and a half.  This will be much needed.  As much as this journey was something I have enjoyed, I have not enjoyed not being able to see my family as much as I would like to.  My family is everything and always will be.  After that I will move back to Spokane to begin getting ready for the upcoming cross country season.  Although we will have a young team this year, I expect big things.  My goal is to help take the team to top 10 finishes in the West Region in the up coming years.  

As for this journey, it is not over. Some could say it was a detour or a speed bump in my life, but I would prefer to say that I took the scenic route to find something else.  Minnesota has been a wonderful experience and I won't be able to stay away.  Odds are I will come out for any of the races I can and visit all the great friends I have made here.  To all of you who have made it that incredible journey, I thank you.  And to my Pacific Northwest friends, I will see you soon.

Go EAGS!

And back to the Great Northwest...

Comeback Kid- Silversun Pickups

Well, I said I was going to keep people updated, but I can't even keep myself updated on everything going on.  Since I last wrote a blog in January (yep, its now July) a lot has gone on.  At that time I was going to have a track season and try to make the Olympic Trials in the 5k or 10k. A few things happened that caused me to miss the mark on this one.  First off, I did a lot of training on my own.  I know, if you want to be good you have to be able to handle training on your own.  The problem is, I was working with a headcase (myself).  I really haven't felt amazing for the last two years.  In fact, there have been minimal signs of brilliance that I was able to show in college.  So in that sense, having someone to help out with workouts would have been nice.  I also banged my knee up mid-winter which took me out for a couple of days.  It really worried me since the symptoms originally started out about the same as when I injured my knee at Eastern.  These two things made for a rough go of a track season although I was showing a little bit of speed that I know I still have.  After the knee injury I decided to focus back on the roads and go to Bloomsday and the US Half Marathon Championships in Duluth.

Here is where things get a bit tricky.  Before moving here I had a friend contact some of the local running stores who might be able to give me a job.  My friend did not know all the stores and couldn't tell me which would be best to try and get a job at.  Instead, I went with what I was offered.  This is how I ended up at a job that quite possibly was one of the worst experiences of my life.  Right from day one, things were not exactly as I hoped they would be.  I was the youngest employee who worked more than one day a week.  The rest of the employees were in their 40's or even older.  This age gap created a bit of a rift.  I am not a perfect person by any means.  I often let my emotions get the best of me and I say things that I probably shouldn't say, even if they are honest and true.  Well, right before Bloomsday these came up to get me in trouble and I was "let go" from the store.  In retrospect, I wished it had happened earlier because I ended up at a great job with a great staff at Marathon Sports.  Oh well, you live and you learn.

Back to racing.  I went to Bloomsday with high expectations.  I was running workouts as well as I had in the past two years.  I felt fresh, and strong.  Plus, I was going back to a place I called home for 6 years.  Upon arrival, Spokane did not disappoint.  I felt like a rock star returning home.  I was happy to see all of my friends and they were happy to see me.  Because I was so happy to see everyone, and because I was returning home, I felt the need to run a stellar race.  I went out way above my head and at mile 2.5 my body nearly shut down on me.  My expectations and my mental state (remember I had just lost my job) got the best of me.  I ended up feeling like I was shuffling at the end of the race.  I ended up running slower than the year before, which was a major disappointment.  I vowed to go to the half marathon and run a much smarter race.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to the US Half Championships.  I had no real expectations and was hoping just to have a solid race.  Training was a little dismal after Bloomsday, mainly in my disappointment with myself.  The one bright spot was that I would get to see my parents, my grandpa Limpf and one of my cousins.  The race itself started out fine, but my body, in a general state of fatigue and stress, again decided to shut down.  Not quite as bad as it did at Bloomsday, but still left me finishing worse than I would like to have.  I still had a great time with my family.  The truth is, no matter how I run a race, my family is always the most important thing to me and I always have a great time with them.

Now for the major change.  Three days prior to leaving for the race I received a phone call from my former coach at Eastern, Chris Zeller.  At first he was just checking to see how I was doing and we were catching up.  Then he dropped a question that not only surprised me, but I feel will change my life.  He offered me the opportunity to come back to Eastern and be his assistant coach.  I have always had respect for Zeller.  I had my best years of running with him and we have a strong friendship.  I told him I would have to take a few days to think about it, but in my head I already knew that my answer would be yes.  To be given a chance to go back to an University that offered me opportunities that I could never dream of and to coach alongside a man that I see as not only a coach, but a mentor and a friend, was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.  

That being said, I have accepted this opportunity and I look forward to returning back to Eastern Washington University as an assistant coach this fall.  I will also be returning to the best running store in America (maybe I am biased) Runners Soul.  I can't wait to be back in Spokane and with all the wonderful people there.  Minnesota has been a great chapter in my life and I am truly going to miss hanging out with my friends here, but this is something special.  The official move date is July 25th, so if you don't mind, I gotta get packing!

Welcome Back Track!

Middle Distance Runner- Sea Wolf

No, I have not decided to be a middle distance runner. However, the song is catchy and I did run a middle distance length race for my first race on the track since I graduated from Eastern.  For those keeping score; the last race was the NCAA West Preliminary round at Austin, Texas.  That was May 27, 2010. 604 days passed between the time I ran a struggle-fest in Austin and when I decided to return to the track here at the University of Minnesota.  

Now there is a reason for this gap in time.  My last track season was to say the least a disaster.  I don't put blame on anyone but myself.  (Well, I blame the ice patch that I slipped on that led to me twisting my knee while landing on it that caused a bone bruise, but that is another story.)  It was tough when you know what kind of shape you are in and that you are ready to run great on the track. Instead, you sit out the better part of winter training stuck on an elliptical or bike. (Jordan Curnutt, I love you for staying by my side during those times and being my cross training workout buddy). After this demoralizing season I decided that I wanted to road race. I wanted nothing to do with track. It always seemed to be the figurative death of me. 

For some reason I decided that going straight to the marathon was a genius idea (ok I never said I was the worlds most intelligent person). It turns out, my love for the marathon is quite the same as the track. So what does one do? He goes back to the track.  Which is exactly what I did this past weekend.  A couple of weeks ago I was looking to start my track campaign off with an indoor track meet. I always enjoyed running the mile  during the indoor season so I decided to open with one at UM. When I called the coach I didn't know what shape I was in. It is tough when you have only done three solo workouts.  You don't want to overestimate yourself and then get killed during the race, but at the same time you don't want to be racing against kids who should probably find a different event, something like say bench warming.   Well after talking with the coach we decided to put my seed time down for 4:15 and see where that got me. The next day checking out the heat sheets I found out I was in heat 2.  At first I was annoyed. I knew I was faster. Or did I think I was faster? After talking it over with a good friend of mine I decided to stay in heat 2 as it would be a good rust shaker after so much time off the track.

I felt confident going into the race. Something that has not been a typical feeling prior to races lately.  This was something I was actually excited to do. I decided that I would try and get out mid pack and see how the first lap or two played out.  This plan, like many, did not seem to work.  Right off the gun I was cut off and forced to run off the back of the pack.  I figured this would be fine as long as we went through in a respectable time. We went through the first lap (200 meter track) in :31. This was fine, but this is when things started to become a problem for me.  Guys in front of me couldn't decide if they were running a race or trying to high five each other in excitement.  It felt choppy, stop and go.  I couldn't take it.  I have always preferred a steady pace and not a choppy one.  This was too much.  As we passed through the second lap (400 m) I hit :63.  This was still respectable, but I needed to get out of the mess that was in front of me.  I tried to pass, but got nudged out of the way.  Ok, I thought, I will make another move here in a second.  Well, as I tried again, I got nudged...again.  I was getting irritated at this point. I couldn't find a comfortable pace because guys in front of me kept slowing down, but I couldn't get around because each time I tried I would get either cut off or pushed.  Finally, I reached my boiling point.  I gave the kid who had cut me off three successive times a nice back rub, ok it was a good push, but you get the picture.  As I tried to go around again with roughly 500 meters to go he once again got in my way.  I decided that the friendly thing to do was tell him something along the lines of "struck off" although I used a different word then struck.  It rhymes with it and is four letters. Yes, I said that in the race. After this he seemed to get the drift that I was pissed and I finally got around him. This was a little late in the game though as there was little over 300 meters to go now.  I tried to make a move on the leaders but I was just too far back.  I finished in a time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds.  It was not a time I was exactly excited about, but I had positives from the race. 

I have, as previously stated, only ran three workouts. None were track workouts.  I finished my race put my hands on my knees for about two deep breaths and then walked off the track.  I was not tired, and not quite fatigued.  I knew if I didn't have to spend over half the race waiting for a black hole to devour the kid in front of me, I might have ran stronger.  But, this is racing, and to be honest, I forgot how to race on the track.  It was a learning experience and I am ready for my next race.  The next one will be better.  I will be more aggressive off the start and put my hold on the race.  In roughly 3 weeks time I will take another stab at the mile.  Hopefully I will have a more enjoyable race to tell you about.