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Posts tagged ‘track and field’

Jun 1

The 5th Annual Western States International Invitational #trackandfield

My next track meet is Western States Invitational at UC Davis on June 29 and 30. This is going to be my first time competing at this meet. I heard a good thing about it and UC Davis is my Alma mater, so I am looking forward to going there. Because it gets pretty warm during summer in that region, they are scheduling events in the mornings and evenings only. So my 800m is scheduled at 6:30 pm on Friday, June 29, and Mile is at 9:00 am on Saturday. From the meet results last year, the level of competition is similar to the one this past weekend.

Not like other track meets, the proceeds from this track meet go to a children’s charity, Sierra Forever Families. At this time, I don’t know of any other team mates competing in this meet, so I could be alone there, which sucks.

In terms of training, it’ll be a little tricky, because I am running Jubilee Marathon Stockholm on July 14. I need to get a few long runs in, as well as track training. A good thing I am not racing the marathon. This one is going to be a sightseeing marathon with my camera. My running mate, Randy, is running, too. His time is around 3:40, so I might run with him. One potential problem is the heat. The race starts at 1:38 pm, so we could be running in the high heat. Well, more on the marathon later.

My goal at the track meet is to better my PR on both events. I don’t know how much training I can do in a month but I am looking forward to testing my potential and not injuring at the same time!

May 29

USATF PA medals
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Two PRs and Two Medals

The first track meet of the year! As I wrote in the earlier post about this USATF Pacific Association Championships, I was to assess my fitness level in today’s events, 1,500m and 800m, and use it as benchmark to train for the rest of the summer. As it turned out, I ran both events in PR and could not be happier at this early stage in the track season. Excellent start! The meet itself was a little slow, due to its size (500 competitors) and the organizer’s willingness to accommodate elite athletes’ requests, who were trying to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Trials. There was one World Record for women’s masters 10,000m. A 70-year old Marie-Louise Michelsohn ran 46:38.5 and bettered the previous record by over 30 seconds. Also, there was an Olympian Stephanie Brown Trafton who competed in Discus and threw 208′ 2″, which looked ridiculously far from where I was sitting. So, it was a fantastic meet to be part of, from my own competition perspective, but also was a great opportunity to witness some of the world-class athletes’ performance.

USATF PA Championships checkinThe first event was 1,500m at 11:30 am. I arrived at the track with some of the team members at around 10:00 am. We all picked up our bibs and sat down with the team. The track meet was already in progress with steeple chasers tackling the distance, hurdles and the water pit. It was a great running weather for them, but for us sitting and waiting, it was a bit too cool without the sun keeping us warm. I went to check in for 1,500m and headed to warm up at 10:30 with a teammate, Thomas Setser, who was also running 1,500m and 800m, but in the Open division. After the usual warm-up and drills, I went to bathroom and I was ready.

I did not know any of the competitors. After a few pleasantries, all 18 runners lined up for one big heat. I tried to remind myself of sticking with the pace, 77-78 seconds a quarter for as long as I can, and see what happens. On your mark. Bang! A couple of runners jumped out fast and I started to follow, quickly realizing it was too fast for my pace. I slowed down and settled into a comfortable breathing. First quarter 73 seconds. I slowed down even more. I was in the third place then, but shortly someone else passed me. With my breathing rapidly becoming heavier, I tried to focus on my running. 78 seconds the second quarter. Good. Just keep it up. Less than 2 laps to go. Look ahead and keep the pace. In the distance, not sure where I was, I hear the bell. The leader started the bell lap. As I passed the 1,200m, gasping for oxygen, I did not bother getting my split on my Garmin but looked ahead to close the gap with the third place runner. I saw my team mates calling my name and taking photos, but this was not the time or place to try looking good! I swung my arms to lift my legs, being filled with lactic acid with every stride, and strode into the home stretch. No way to catch the guy and I finished fourth, but in 4:44.50. That’s a PR by smashing four seconds! Woo-Hoo!!

HurdlesCooled down with Thomas who did not run too well. We talked about switching our focus and relaxing for 800m. The subsequent events, namely hurdles, delayed the schedules quite a bit. They decided to switch directions to get favorable wind for the elite hurdlers. While I waited, I walked around with my camera, trying to find interesting subjects and actions. I found it a good way to relax and keep my legs loose. My team mates were running 400m and 100m. Also, long jump. It is difficult to take a good photo when the subject is moving very fast. Sometimes I get lucky, but a lot of times I end up with photos with the subject out of focus. I would love to learn how to take great action shots.

Since I had already warmed up earlier for 1,500m, I did not waste my energy warming up too much for 800m. I did a few laps and some dynamic stretch and striders. They divided Masters runners in two heats. I was in the first heat. When we were called, I saw the guy who took the third place in 1,500m, Greg Hales, but did not see the first or second place finishers. Instead, I saw a tall, fast-looking guy with more of a sprinter’s build. I bet he was a good half miler. The officials went over the rules and put us in dedicated lanes. I was in Lane Five. Three steps behind the green line. On your mark. Bang! Confident from the earlier race, I upped my pacing a little bit but no particular time in mind. After cutting in, I was leading the pack until the third corner. Two guys, the tall fast-looking one, Steve Yatson and Greg, passed me. Fine. I followed them behind 6 feet or so. On the homestretch, there was a wind. So, I drafted behind the two guys. Perfect. I did not look at my Garmin or the official watch but heard the announcer saying the leader ran 63 seconds the first lap. Bell rang. The race starts now. I closed the gap a little bit and was at the foot of Greg who was just behind Steve. In the backstretch, I felt strong and decided to be patient until the homestretch. I hung with the leaders around the third corner and just as soon as I finished the last corner, I let it rip. 90m to go. 800m final kickI passed both of them. I am now big time sprinting. I felt the wind pushing my upper body back against my formidable effort, and I resisted it by exerting even harder. 60m to go. I heard the crowd going wild. I saw Steve in the corner of eye, to my left. I don’t remember if I was breathing or what I was looking at. My lungs were hurting. My legs, heavy. O2 debt. 30m. Steve passed me. I hung on. 20m. I am losing balance. 10m. Barely sprinting, but acceleration just carried me through the finish line. Both hands on my shaky knees, now I’m definitely breathing, gasping for air. 2:15.32. Second place. Another PR! I shook hands with Steve, Greg, and others, all still breathing heavily but relieved that the race was over.

College of San Mateo

Overall, it was a great day for me. No complaints whatsoever, other than the big delay in the schedule. Even the sun came out. Now that I have benchmark for these two events, I can set target for the next two meets and train for them. Rick, VP of the team congratulated me for the perfect strategy in 800m. Strategy… Yeah, I can call it that. After the race, I stuck around a while and photographed other events my team mates were competing in. Around 5pm, though, I picked up my age-group medals and I was ready to go home and enjoy the rest of the evening, off the track.

May 17

City College

Good Kicking But Still Cannot Pace Myself

It is always difficult for me to run a mid-distance track event for the first time in any given year, because my pacing is completely out of whack from having run much longer distance earlier in the year. My muscle memory for 5K and longer is not too bad. But when it comes to 800m or Mile, my legs just don’t remember how fast I should be going. Today’s 800m time trial was a perfect example. Having raced 800m a couple of times last year, I had a good idea what my time might be. My target today was 2:20: I wanted to run even pace with 70 seconds each quarter. Yeah, right.

It was cold and really windy at City College of San Francisco. The wind was swirling and changing directions. A typical San Francisco spring weather. I warmed up, did some drills and strides. I walked a bit and put on my new spikes. A couple of more strides. My team mate Aaron volunteered to time me.

70 seconds. 15 seconds faster than my 5K pace, which I am usually good at hitting in my intervals. It was just a time trial, nothing to prove. No one was watching. Lane 5. 3, 2, 1, Go! It might have been that I had the gusty wind on my back that helped me accelerate. At around 100m, I cut in to Lane 1 (Aaron suggested that I practice that) and was feeling pretty fast. At 200m, I swung my left arm in front of me to get a reading on my Garmin. 30 seconds. D’oh! I slowed down, and the wind helped me slow down the next 200m. The first quarter, 65 seconds. Too late to correct it now, so I tried to keep 70 in the second quarter. My breathing getting heavier. I ran the next 200m in 35 seconds (1:40 per my Garmin). Right on the money! I used my arms and focused on the form. But with the wind blowing against me, lactate building up and going into oxygen debt, I slowed down the final 200m and finished it 38 seconds.

2:18 isn’t bad at all for this time of the year, and I am glad I did the trial today and made the mistake. Hopefully, I will pace it better in the meet. There are two factors that could throw my pace out the window: Competitors and 1,500m. I am doubling 1,500m and 800m at the next meet. My 1,500m pace is slower at around 77 seconds and I will be practicing the pace in the next week and a half. I just hope my legs can memorize these two paces. And competitors, though this is really me, not pacing myself and following faster or slower leaders.

I don’t know if any of the readers have similar problems or experiences. If so, how can this be remedied?

Apr 10

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The Four-Minute Mile Book Review #bookreview

The Four-Minute MileAbout 58 years ago, on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister of England broke the four-minute barrier for a Mile race for the first time in history. I read The Perfect Mile that detailed how the stage for this athletics breakthrough was set up among Bannister, John Landy of Australia and Wes Santee of the United States. In his memoir, The Fout-Minute Mile, Roger Bannister himself tells how such great milestone was achieved. This is not his training log or a ‘how to run a strong Mile race’ text book. In fact, he does not say much about his training in the book, other than he never spent more than half an hour a day in training. This is a book where, I believe, he attempted to answer why he ran.

Bannister wrote this book in 1955, one year after he ran 3:59.4. He was a medical student at Oxford during most of his running career, and he is also a very good writer. A little on the dry side but eloquent, scholastic, and philosophical at times.

Needless to say, the best and the most electrifying part of this book is when he tells the story of May 6 and the race. But a few sentences in Conclusion stick with me, and I quote him here, because it is very good:

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. It also does us good because it helps us to do other things better. It gives a man or woman the chance to bring out power that might otherwise remain locked away inside. The urge to struggle lies latent in everyone.

Now, I am not a medical student or a doctor, but I’d like to think this is true and want to think that running makes one a better person.

Before you go, here is a period footage of Bannister running 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford . Enjoy!

Mar 12

2012 Bay Area Senior Games 1,500m

2012 Bay Area Senior Games

I went to watch my track team mates compete at Bay Area Senior Games on March 11 at Stanford University. From my past Masters’ track meet, I knew I could not discount those senior athletes, because they are fit and competitive. They are inspirational and motivational for my up-coming track season, after Boston, too. While most of my team mates are sprinters and while this is a regional Senior Games (a qualifier to next year’s National Senior Games), there were good results in 400m, 800m and 1,500m that I would compete. I could not help but compare how I would fare against them, though I am a least a few years away from their age.

2012 Bay Area Senior Games 1,500mIn 400m, 63-year old man won in 59.95. Wow, that’s not too far from my Master’s PR! 400m is not something I train for and is sort of like a by-product of 1,500m or Mile for me. Sprinting is a big part of 400m, and I don’t sprint =). But having run 400m in high school, I like to compete in it and see where I am compared to my high school days… In 800m, a 54-old man won in 2:17.06 and a 70-year old man took second in 2:27.27. That’s impressive! 800m is not my specialty, either (well, none of my track events are!), but the endurance component with the speed strategy makes it exciting. I hope I can run 800m as fast as the 70-year old man! In 1,500m, a 51-year old won in 4:50.47 and a 58-year old took third in 5:05.76. Now, 1,500m or Mile is what I am going to train for and want to be better this coming track season. I am competing in three meets this summer and want to PR and beat 4:45 in at least one of the meets! There were some good results in 5,000m, too. A couple of 58-year olds took first and second in 18:26.39 and 18:27.17. They are faster than me! I don’t like to run 5,000m, because it’s grueling to run 12.5 times around the track, at least for now.

2012 Bay Area Senior Games 800mGreat job to all who competed in the Senior Games and good luck to those who qualified for the National Senior Games next year. Take some well-deserved rest! I am sure I will see some of them at the track meets this summer. I’d better train hard so I won’t get beaten! By the way, some had really nice-looking racing flats!

Feb 20

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Bowerman And The Men Of Oregon Book Review

Bowerman and the Men of OregonAn Oregon legend, one cannot just label Bill Bowerman a legendary track and field coach at University of Oregon and on the 1972 Munich Olympic team. This nearly 500-page biography of Bowerman documents the stories of his life, and Kenny Moore, who was coached by Bowerman, is the perfect writer to tell the stories. Bowerman was an educator, a war hero, an innovator, a philanthropist, a husband and a father who loved the creative process of his being and “was motivated more by the journey than the destination.”

I originally picked up this book after having learned that Steve Prefontaine was coached by him. I watched movies about Pre (both movies discussed in this book as Bowerman was involved in key decision making processes) and read stories about Pre, and there was always this coach who had such an authority and big influence on Pre’s adult life. After a few years of knowing each other, they built a beautiful coach-student relationship firmly built on mutual trust. I wanted to read about the coach. It turned out that he developed and created dozens of national champions.

As the book cover reveals, Bowerman was also a co-founder of Nike. He was the one who started to make running shoes for his runners at Oregon and he made them at home using his wife’s waffle irons. He was responsible for founding the company which was behind the national running craze of 1970s. While I don’t necessarily agree with the good Nike shoes did to the general public, but he gave back his wealth to the University of Oregon and people of Oregon. And the philanthropic tradition still continues today.

There are many aspects of his life that are exemplary to anyone’s life, and I recommend anyone to read this book whether s/he is a runner or sports fan. His dedication to each aspect of his life was created by his strong conviction and executed with warmth and precision throughout his life. I am glad I read this book.

Sep 7

IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011

International Association of Athletics FederationsI did not watch the track and field world championships on TV, mostly because these guys are so good and potentially discouraging to watch. And I usually do not watch track and field events on TV whether it is World Championships, the Olympics or such. But since I started to compete on track and would like to continue, I thought I’d give it a watch on You Tube and see what I think. Boy, was I wrong about it being discouraging. The 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m races were very exciting and entertaining to watch. Not that I learned anything from these super elite runners, but these races were as exciting and entertaining to watch as 100m and also inspiring.

800m – Aug 31, 2011

David Rudisha of Kenya holds the World Record of 1:41.01 (Aug 29, 2010) and he must have been the favorite of this race. Not to compare or anything, but my PR is 2:15.82, so you know how fast these guys are. What I liked about Rudisha is that he is a total front runner and he leads the race from the very beginning till the very end. And nobody can catch him. His first 200m was 23.81 and the first 400m was 51.33. He ran the second 400m in 49.68. Unbelievable.

800m results

Position Competitor Country Time
1 David Rudisha KEN 1:43.91
2 Abubaker Kaki SUD 1:44.41
3 Yurly Borzakovskiy RUS 1:44.49

1,500m – Sept 3, 2011

I did not think 1,500m was this fun and exciting to watch. Of course, when I ran 1,500m, I’m huffing and puffing and it is not very pretty sight to watch! The pace they run is so fast that you cannot keep your eyes off of the race. Hitcham El Guerrouj of Morocco holds the world record of 3:26.00 (July 14, 1998), and my PR is 4:48.3… Anyway, they look so relaxed and it does not look like they are running just over 60 seconds per lap. Kiprop held back for the first 800m or so but took off running the last 700m in 1:33.58 and last 400m in 51.45. Matthew Centrowitz ran a great race and won a bronze medal for USA. He is 21 years old.

1,500m results

Position Competitor Country Time
1 Asbel Kiprop KEN 3:35.69
2 Silas Kiplagat KEN 3:35.92
3 Matthew Centrowitz USA 3:36.08

5,000m – Sept 4, 2011

Crazy race. These guys run 64 to 70 seconds per lap for 12.5 laps and the last 400m sprint is just amazing. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia holds the current world record of 12:37.35 (May 31, 2004), and my PR is 18:32… Hard to think we are the same human beings. Ethiopians led the race most of the way and both Farah and Lagat followed the leaders till 4,200m or so. The crazy and amazing thing is how fast they ran in the last 400m. When the bell rang, almost everybody sprinted and it was a tight race. Farah pretty much had the race for the last 400m but Lagat was in the fourth position until less than 100m. He is such a kicker. I noted the lap, so refer to the table below. No medal for the Keyans, though Lagat was born and competed in Kenya until he naturalized to USA.

5,000m results

Position Competitor Country Time
1 Mohamed Farah GBR 13:23.36
2 Bernard Lagat USA 13:23.64
3 Imane Mergo ETH 13:23.78

5,000m splits

Distance Time Split
400m 1:03.95 1:03.95
800m 2:16.61 1:12.66
1,200m 3:25.3 1:08.69
1,600m 4:31.68 1:06.38
2,000m 5:35.61 1:03.93
2,400m 6:41.36 1:05.75
2,800m 7:43.38 1:02.02
3,200m 8:45.19 1:01.81
3,600m 9:49.67 1:04.48
4,000m 10:55.50 1:05.83
4,400m 12:00.17 1:04.67
4,800m 12:57.30 0:57.13
5,000m 13:23.36 0:26.06

Jul 27

Mile Time Trial

pace prediction toolAs a response to my earlier post about my Mile pace, I just ran a time-trial on Sunday, so I know what my pace should be on the race day (tomorrow!). I ran 5:10, which is approximately 78 seconds per 400m. This is good to know, because I ran 71 seconds in the first lap and slowed down considerably after that. I was not going to run 71 sec but it just happened that way… So tomorrow, I would at least pace myself not to run 71 sec or even 75 sec in the first lap.

I was debating whether I want to run the race in spikes, and I am deciding that I will just wear my racing flats. This is because my spikes are for sprinting and I am afraid that I would hurt my feet if I ran 1,500m in the spiriting spikes tomorrow. This might change tomorrow, though, after I try them on the track. If it feels OK, I might still run in the spikes.

Since they canceled Discus Throw, I might want to run 800m tomorrow. It is scheduled at 10:00am. I have to go to the track and see if that can be accommodated. My 1,500m is at 3:00pm. Looking forward to it!

Update – I ended up running in spikes and did well in 1,500m. 4:48. Not bad! Also, instead of 800m, I ran 400m. I did 58.5, which came as a great pleasant surprise.

Jul 3

Pride Meet Promotion at Walgreens

Pride Meet promotion at WalgreensThis morning, under the intense heat (well, for San Francisco), Craig, Rick and I dressed one of Walgreens’ windows to promote upcoming Pride Meet. We met at 8:30 am and it was already hot then, at around 75F, or so it felt.

Craig had all the materials but there were still quite a few things to get done before we can actually decorate the window. We were prepared to go to the practice after this, but it already looked doubtful we would have time to go to the practice. And it was already getting too hot to run, anyway!

Pride Meet Walgreens PromotionCraig had asked if he could use some of the photos I took during the Gay Games in Köln last year. I was happy to have my pictures used in the decoration, so he had eight of them printed and we used in the window. I am now a proud published photographer and the photos look great! The Pride Meet poster that Rick designed is prominently displayed in the window as well. It took us about three hours to get everything done. While we were dressing the window, several people commented positively on our work. But some thought we were Walgreens employees and said that we’ve always done a good job decorating the window. Ah.. we didn’t but thanks! James brought some of the field implements (javelin, hammer and disc) and bought us coffee. Thanks, James!

Overall, I think the window looks great. Good job, Craig! Hopefully, this will get us a nice uplift in registration, because I am rather worried about the current registration status. We need more people to come and have fun!

After we were finished, we went to La Taza Cafe for brunch, because we were hungry!

By the way, Pride Meet is an annual track and field event presented by San Francisco Track and Field Club. It started in 2007 and it is the 4th year this year (no Pride Meet in 2010 due to Gay Games). It is a USATF sanctioned event, so all events are timed by professional officials. There are 19 events scheduled in one day on Aug 13 at Cox Stadium in San Francisco State University. I’ve been helping the team with various tasks to prepare for the meet. Of course, I will be participating in the meet by running 5,000m and 1,500m, and throwing Disc and Shot. I signed up for 400m but will see if I want to do that much in one day!

Apr 24

Throw clinic

Today, San Francisco Track and Field Club hosted a Throw Clinic and I went to learn how to do Shotput and Discus. I know, this is not running. But I’ve been wanting to try. It looks more fun than just running around the track in intervals. It was raining as I left the house around 8:15. It was not warm either. So, not a perfect day to do a throw-and-fetch on the field. Anyway, I called up Bob and I met up with him and got a ride to Cox Stadium at San Francisco State University.

Most of the team members have been doing this and competed in meets. So, it was great to be in a clinic with them and gauge against them to know what level I might be. We did shotput, discus and javelin. No hammer throw, as nobody really wanted to do it.

The team invited Mark Marshall from Chabot College. He is an assistant coach for Chabot College Track and Field team. A good guy and gave very clear instructions what to do and what not to do; however, it was almost information overload for me and there were lots to think about and digest before I actually got to throw. I am sure there are lots more that I need to learn to be a decent thrower, but the basic techniques alone were sort of overwhelming to me.

Shotput: Since we did not have enough Olympic men’s shots for everyone, I used a 5 kg (11LB ) shot. The Olympic men’s shot is 16LB. It was recommended that I practice with the 16 pounder, but hey, I am a novice and can use a lighter one to get the form right. Again, there are lots to think: Use all 5 fingers, keep the shot behind my hip, throw with legs, keep the momentum, jump explosively just as I throw, don’t throw with the arm, and throw high, among other things that I already forgot. So here is the result.

As opposed to how Olympians do it.

Discus: Good news was that we could use the same techniques that we learned for shotput and discus is lighter (2 kg or 4 LB 7 OZ) than shot. Bad news was discus is larger (diameter of 8.66 inches) than my hand and I would want to do turns to get momentum before you throw, without mis-firing it or dropping it. I learned discus in a high school PE class and I was good at it. But I am sure I used a smaller disc back then. Mark showed us how to throw without turning, then with a half-turn, and with a full one-and-half turn. Sense of balance and body coordination plays an important role here. I kept throwing with my arm and I wasn’t able to keep my throwing arm behind my hip. Those are areas I have to work on. I don’t know how I did or looked, but they did say I was good (for a marathoner). No video of me throwing discus today. But here is how it’s done by the Olympians.

Javelin: This is a specialty of Nordic countries, so I wanted to at least try. I don’t have their height or viking-like shoulders, arms or legs. And I cannot even throw spiral with a football. So very low expectation. Also, by this time, my right shoulder and oblique were tired. As I threw a few, my jav was going all over the place, and I did not have a single throw the way a self-respecting javelin would want to fly. I decided that my shoulder is not made to throw a jav and decided to head over to shotput pit and throw some more. It’s mainly Fins and Norwegians who are good at javelin, anyways. I don’t even bother to look in Youtube how it’s done.

Overall, I had a great fun experience and am glad that I went to the clinic. I think I am going to try either shotput or discus, and hope to compete in Outgames in July this year. I won’t be running a marathon this summer, so my long-run time can be used to train one of these. Exciting! Oh, I need to buy throw shoes, too. Double exciting!

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