08.21.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:21 am by Joan
I’m not kidding … it really is this picturesque:
Last night, CAC started its 2008 fall training season with a traditional Team Wednesday “bench-to-bench” workout at the Mason Farm reserve. Few people in Chapel Hill know of this tiny patch of paradise on the edge of town. Most days I run out there, the only company I have is bunnies, birds, and bugs. Most days, Mason Farm is peaceful and eerily quiet … but not yesterday. CAC ran 6 [8 for Victor and Kevin!] sets of out-and-back on a 1200m section of trail with what I call 1/2 time recovery. If it takes you 4 minutes to run an interval, then 1/2 time recovery is 2 minutes; full time recovery is 4:00. Pretty simple. Serious improvement for distance runners comes when you can whittle that recovery time down, down, down. I used to start my 1,000m repeats with 90 seconds recovery and then get them down to 30 seconds between each 3:00 interval (yikes, that’s 1/6th time recovery, if I am doing my math right). Anyway, if you want to open your fall training season with a bench-mark (heh heh), head over to Mason Farm and try disturbing the peace!
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08.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:55 pm by Joan
Here’s a great article on our USA 10k bronze medalist, Shalane Flanagan:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/trackandfield/columns/story?id=3537975
Note, she mentions our warm-up loop … Gimghoul.
I don’t know a runner in Chapel Hill who hasn’t logged a gazillion miles on this 1200m loop.
Congratulations, Shalane!
USA USA USA
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08.14.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:27 pm by Joan
In response to Marc’s earlier query (and Brent’s subsequent comment), here is my comment on this article (from the New York Times, Aug. 11 ‘08) about legalizing drugs in sport:
August 14th, 2008
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Hello, old friend
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07.02.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:02 pm by Joan
While digging in the garden, I happened upon the perfect visualization/metaphor for when you know your racing season has come to an end. I was using a sharp, pointed shovel to really turn the earth and on one fierce downward thrust, I unintentionally chopped off the tail of a blue skink (lizard). The tail-less lizard skittered off, while - to my utter surprise and disgust (?) - the lizard’s tail squirmed a flopped around of its own volition for quite some time. Now, what does this have to do with the season’s end? As I was watching this grisly scene, I thought of Asher at his high school nationals race and of Brent tacking on his marathon at the end of track season. Both runners were like the tail still going after the season had been cut off. Asher managed to eek out an 800m and a 400m PR at the local all-comers meets, well after his regular high school season had finished up, but hanging onto intensity for a mile against the best freshmen in the nation was a too-tall order. And Brent, bravely jacking his mileage up for 5 weeks after his 10,000m PR at Penn Relays way back in April, must have known it was a long-shot to race a fast marathon. He went for it though, as did Asher, and THAT is what each of these athletes should take away from this season. Yeah, they flopped around in the end - like the skink’s tail - but they were still going, still striving, still fighting for their dreams.
Now, here’s my question … will that tail ever grow back?
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06.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:02 am by Joan
We’re having an organizational meeting in early July where we will chart our plans for the 2008 fall season (hopefully, returning to Club XC nationals in December); we’ll also meet some prospective new members. Here are two answers to my “Why do you run?” question on the CAC application … posted with permission:
from, Kevin Crosby:
As I mentioned previously, I am competitive. I love to compete. If it wasn’t for racing, I probably would not run near as much as I do. Almost as much as the competition, I have found some of my best friends through running, and I love the bonding that occurs on the easy days, the long days, and the days where you are running so hard you can’t speak a word to each other. Lastly, I love being outside. Running is a great excuse to be out for 2 hrs each day.
from Rebekah Potts:
The reason for my running depends on the day that this question is asked. Some days, I run because I need 45 min of time alone, or an hour to let the days events and problems slowly percolate through my head, thinking over them as I feel inclined. Some days, I run because I simply want to go where and when and however fast I want to, under the power of my own legs. Other days, I run because I want to feel the dirt of my favorite trail; I want to watch the trees blow by; I want to catch sight of deer running away from the sound of my running shoes; I want to fill my lungs with air that has not been re-circulated by enormous compressors and artificially chilled to 68 F. Often times, when I need motivation to go for a run on a rainy and cold day (or a hot, humid one), I run because I know that running will give me a sense of accomplishment, will satisfy my competitive drive, and will leave me feeling thankful and happy that I was able to complete the distance I set out to cover. I love the simple sensation of running, the people I get to run with, the strength and physical fitness that running provides.
To condense my reasons into one, overly-simplified sentence: I run both for what I gain from it, and for the joy of the actual run. And even more simply: I love to run.
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06.14.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:38 am by Joan
Yesterday I decided to swim some laps in our club pool while my six year-old was happily swim teaming two lanes over. Halfway through laboring to reach my “36 lengths” goal, a broad-shouldered fella (something New Jersey-like made him a “fella” not a fellow or a gentleman or a guy) asked to share my lane. He looked like someone who could have made it all the way down the lane in three butterfly strokes, but in actuality he lumbered (can a swimmer lumber?). He swam lumberingly? Anyway, he was all over the lane and I had to hug the rope to dodge his sideways scissor-kick. Thinking quickly (ahhh, a flutter kick will help!), I asked him if he’d like a kick board as I was going to the lifeguard shack to get one for myself. “Sure, that’d be great,” he smiled. Well, now we were friends. Lap lane friends are a bit like airplane buddies. Of course I found out he was a runner. “Just finished a marathon last month,” he said. Is there anyone left who doesn’t run marathons? “What was your time?” 3:50. [I didn't share any of my stats. One marathon. 10 years ago. 2:54 Took a 5-minute nap at mile 25]. I just said, “What’s a big guy like you running marathons for?”
“I have to. It’s in my blood.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ever heard of George Sheehan?”
“Sure. Why?”
“Well, he’s my grand father.”
“Get out! Seriously? Wow, you’re running royalty.”
“Yep. So you can see why I have to run.”
“Have you read his book, Running and Being?”
“No. Can’t say that I have”
And here is where I get the to whole point of this post. How can you be George Sheehan’s grandson and never read his book? How can you “run marathons” and not know of Running and Being? How can I be this old? How can I be this out-of-date? Perhaps Sheehan’s chapter on “suffering” doesn’t resonate with the modern running soul. Maybe if Sheehan had a chapter on the Garmin watch or on a fuel belt or on how to eat right for triathlons his grandson would read his book.
I did a few out-and-backs on my kickboard but I didn’t have the heart to make it to 36 lengths.
Oh, woe is ancient me!
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05.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:30 pm by Joan
On a dark and stormy night …. (actually, it wasn’t stormy anymore or all that dark - I just wanted to start my post with that sentence) … John Hinton and Asher Hertzberg faced off in a battle of ages. The Old Man versus The Young Buck. 800m. Two laps around the oval. Asher’s PR is 2:06; John’s is 1:47 … but at age 46, he’s hoping to break 2:00. Four men toe the line in the final heat of the Godiva all-comers track meet (and it certainly was ALL comers …. as 25 multi-shaped Godivans ran 3 and 4 abreast around the track in the first heat, hoping to break the 3:30 mark). In the 4-man “fast” heat, one dude was wearing stone-washed blue jeans and black penny loafers … slap, slap, slap on Coach Craddock’s track. Asher was shirtless, accentuating his not-yet-a-man bird chest. Hinton was, as ever, impeccably attired in his slick black sweats, peeled down to a final singlet. if John had chosen to run shirtless, the title of this this bout could have been: The Incredible Hulk vs. Birdman.
Crack when the gun (no smoke, so I tried to time my stopwatch to a mili-second BEFORE the sound). John takes the reluctant lead, Asher rides his right shoulder, 28-29 at the 200 … John is relaxed, Asher is wide-eyed … around the 300 turn Asher no longer looks like a boy but a 6′1″ tall predator, ready to attack, casting a shadow over 5′9″ John. Hinton senses the heat, and applies some of his own. He surges into the bell lap. 59-60 at the 400, with no slowing into the turn. The normally staid Godivans are now cheering. You can feel the whirlpool of energy spinning counter-clockwise around the track as Young and Old are locked in battle. At 500m, the boy returns; weakened by his burst of animal pride, powerless to respond as the Master begins to pull away. There is no whoop whoop whoop-assing going on here. Just another day at the office for Mr. Hinton. At the exact moment when Asher slowed, John pressed. At the exact moment when Asher looked up to gauge what it would take to get back in the race, John surged - knowing a surge would break his opponent’s spirit. At the exact moment when Asher made one final, youthful push to close the gap … off the final turn, driving his weary wings arms, the Old Man marshaled his ancient strength (with a grimace only his coach could detect) to finish the job he set out to do. 1:59
Asher flew across in 2:04. PR !!
And, of course, they cooled down together, opponents no more, but father and son. As they jogged away, chatting, side by side, I had to blink back the tears … and I thought, “Time plays tricks on dark and stormy nights.”
John and Asher were the same age in this magical setting; for 2 minutes around that sacred oval, the boy was a man and the man was a boy.
vs 
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05.20.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:56 am by Joan
Hey ya’ll,
I just put up a CAC records page in the right-hand column and now I’d like to add a favorite running quotes section.
So far, I have the following:
Kim Certain’s favorite:
“Don’t fear moving slowly forward … fear standing still.” - Kathleen Harris
John Hinton’s favorite:
“World records are only borrowed.”
- Sebastian Coe 
(this was accompanied by John’s running goals … “to borrow world records”)
Joan Nesbit Mabe’s favorite:
“My hope is for the heart to strive forever.” - Joan Benoit Samuelson
Please add yours to the list!
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05.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:03 pm by Joan
One nice thing about being “elite athletes with full time jobs” (our identity, Marc?) is that no one will feel pressured to cheat. Your future livelihood does not depend on how fast you run. Although it’s natural to wonder just how good you could be with EPO blood or HGH muscles, thank goodness everyone in CAC has a bright, successful, CLEAN future awaiting them after sport. All those maggots that are going to be revealed when they finally turn over the Balco and Trevor Graham rocks will forever be losers. Their resumes will be stamped “cheater” forever and even if they do manage to find jobs or careers, they will never be fully trusted. In the same way we clean athletes wonder, “How fast could I have been if I’d tried drugs?” do you think dirty athletes wonder how good their lives could have been if they hadn’t?
For those going to prison (or worse, dying of cancer or heart failure in 10 years), performance-enhancing drugs are no laughing matter … but this movie looks hilarious:
http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/
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05.12.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:44 am by Joan
Marc wrote earlier about not understanding the marathon …. well, here’s a curiosity for you: Andrew Wheating, University of Oregon middle distance man. He just ran a blistering 3:38 1500m, blowing the field away at the Oregon Twilight meet, as if he’d been racing at this level for years. My 10-year theory is completely shot when I look at Wheating’s running trajectory. He didn’t even run track in high school. Cross-country, skiing, basketball, but no track. He’s 6′5″ tall (another Jim Ryun, maybe, but in high school Ryun ran 10 mile morning runs in addition to his after school training sessions) and fresh off the turnip truck when it comes to experience on the track. I always thought it was experience that mattered most, but maybe innocence is a necessary part of the equation for racing success. Marc went into Boston rather wide-eyed and open to “come what may” (the mono helped lower his expectations AND reduce the pressure) and Wheating is taking each race as it comes … with no preconceived notions - for success OR failure … just plain excited by the newness of it all.
Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from Wheating about fresh starts: http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2008/05/ducks_wheating_learns_as_he_go.html
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