Boston Marathon Photos

Crossing the finish line!



This is from the final stretch on Boylston St.

The Blog is Back:114th Running of the Boston Marathon

After a lengthy gap, the blog is back! Here are the results of the Boston Marathon from today. I finished 412th out of 25,000+ runners in a personal best of 2:47:07. This is over a 9 minute improvement from my previous best. The original goal was to break 2:45. I was on pace to do that for the majority of the race. I went through the first 5k in 19:37 then picked it up a little bit and passed the 10k mark in 38:51. I came through the halfway point (13.1 miles) right on target at 1:21:45. At this point I was feeling fantastic and knew I would be in the 2:45 range. After the half I was clipping away the miles through Newtown, Ma. This is where the infamous hills come into play. They stretch from miles 17-21. They are long and brutal. I would compare them to the hill on Higgins but picture doing that 3 times over right after each other. I actually felt great going up all the hills and even felt decent on the downhill of Heartbreak Hill. This downhill is usually where people fall apart if they were able to make it up the hills ok. Things level off and then there is another steep downhill and this is where I began to fade a little bit. Since you lose time on the uphills, this is where you need to make it up. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough to pull off the sub 2:45 and I did fade a little from the 35k-40k. However, I am extremely pleased with the performance. I set a huge PR and the winner actually set a course record in an astonishing 2:05.52. This is about a minute and a half faster than the previous record. It was a great experience and all the miles and hard work that I put in definitely paid off.

Results from the NYC Half Marathon

So this was my first of two events that I have been training for and telling all of you about throughout the indoor season. Well finally, I got to race! I ran 1:14.43 (5:41 pace for non-mathematicians) for the 13.1 mile race. I finished 70th out of 11,493 finishers and 10th in my age group. To put in perspective how good the "good" people are, the men's winner ran 59:52 and the women's winner ran 1:09:25. Both times are blazing fast. It definitely was a good day and I thank all of you for keeping me motivated throughout the winter months and that is why I sported the Cheshire singlet. Next up is the Boston Marathon on April 19th! If you're bored and want to watch an exciting race, you can watch it here. You can see half of me at the end of the race when I am finishing.

A couple pictures from the race

Runnin

This is in the heart of Time Square just before the 10 mile mark.

Representin'


I tried to be artsy before the race.

End of Season Meeting

There will be a mandatory indoor track meeting immediately following school on Monday, March 1st. I will collect remaining uniforms and we will vote for next years captains. Please make appropriate arrangements.

A Shout Out to An Old Teammate

Check this video out. It is of a teammate of mine and fellow running Red Fox Adam Vess. Many of you know Adam since he ran for Xavier High School and has been a counselor at Green Mountain Running Camp. Vess discusses some of the transitions to college running and the ups and downs he has faced. This is a featured video on flotrack and it will be sure to bring some attention to the Marist program. Enjoy!

State Open Results/Feedback

Sorry for the delay, I caught one of the illnesses that have been going around and was sick yesterday.

4x800m Relay 9th 10:05.89 Tied Season Best

Jenna-2:34.4 Another solid performance from you, good job!
Amanda- 2:38.2 Finally dipped under that 2:40 mark, fantastic!
Sarah-2:30.5 Great split, you closed a pretty big gap.
Julie-2:22.4 Nicely Done!

55m Dash
Ashia 7.53. Not a bad way to finish out the season, you were impressive meet after meet. Well done!

1000m
Julie 2:56.59 3rd PR New England Qualifier. What a race! Only .33 separated 1st through 3rd. Unbelievable effort and I can't wait to see what you do at New Englands. Great job!

4x400m 11th 4:14.00 Season Best

Kylee 1:03.56 Not bad for being sick. Well done!
Taylor- 1:04.7 Fantastic race for you, you looked great!
Sarah- 1:03.7 Another great race for you.
Casey- 1:01.0 Great split!

You all ran very well, I was impressed!

HJ
Kylee-3rd 5-02.0 Great way to end your indoor career, fantastic job!

Shot
Rachel- 1st 43-09.0 Fantastic!

Great job to all of you. We tied for 7th with 23 points. Congratulations to all of those that have ended their indoor careers. Its been a great season. However, we still have a couple individuals continuing with the New England Championships in 2 weeks and the Nike Indoor National Meet in 3 weeks. Videos of the races can be found here.

Videos from Saturday

You can find videos from all the races on Saturday here. Enjoy!

State LL Class Meet Times/Feedback

4x800 Meter Relay 8th 10:05.62 Season best State Open Qualifier

Jenna 2:31.6 Absolutely stellar performance. You should be extremely proud of this, I am.
Amanda 2:40.3 You're still stuck on this time. It's ok though. I struggled with the same thing for a long time and sometimes still do. Believe me when I say it's all in your head. You have the ability to breakthrough and you will.
Sarah 2:30.5 Same as Amanda, you've been stuck on this time and again, believe me when I say it's in your head. You have the ability and you will prevail. I think whatever illness/bug you have/had set you back a little too but that's ok. You still ran a great split. I'm very proud of you for gutsying it out. Well done.
Julie 2:22.7 Another great race for you, nicely done.

55 Meter Dash State Open Qualifier
Ashia Prelims 7.52 Finals 7.46 Great performances in a deep field, nicely done! I am looking forward to Saturday.

300m
Ally-47.26 Solid time. I was hoping for you to break 47 but you've been dealing with illnesses and I think that took a lot out of you. Great end to a great season, nicely done!

Carla- 48.20 Same as Ally. Great season, you really impressed me.

600m
Sarah 1:45.89 I know you were disappointed in this but you ran a nice 800 split and you were sick. These things happen. Forget about it and concentrate on next week.
Taylor 1:50.39 Great race for you, nicely done!

1000m 2nd State Open Qualifier
Julie 2:57.61 I think you would agree this was the race of your life. You looked great and would have set the State Record if it wasn't for the Glastonbury girl. I'm extremely proud of you and you definitely deserved this race, congratulations! We will discuss race tactics this week. The girl from Glastonbury was nervous and she has a right to be.

1600m
Kathleen- 5:31.39 You are much faster than this so I don't really know what happened, one of those things I guess.

3200m
Amanda-12:32.97 Solid race but I know this isn't what you wanted. You're an extremely tough and smart racer, I think you just doubt yourself sometimes. We'll work on this. Nice job though!

Kathleen-11:48.41 Pr by 9 seconds, not too shabby. Ran negative splits. Good race for you!

4x200m 1:53.40
Jill 30.39 Good job!
Kylee 27.58 You looked great in this!
Casey 29.2 Nicely done!
Ashia 26.? Amazing race for you.

4x400m 3rd 4:15.73 State Open Qualifier Season Best
Kylee 1:02.9 Fantastic race!
Taylor 1:06.4 Very nice job, next week you can concentrate on this race alone.
Sarah 1:03.7 I was truly impressed with you for running this after the 600m. You ran tough and with heart, excellent job.
Casey 1:02.0 Fantastic race, you looked extremely impressive.

SMR
We were unfortunately dq'ed in this race. I was on the other side of the track still dealing with the Pole Vault situation. Coach Bennett took splits but I misplaced the card he wrote them on, I know we ran 4:46 which is faster than our previous mark so nice job to all you ladies. I would like to point out Meghan who I know ran 2:38 which was very impressive.

HJ 2nd State Open Qualifier
Kylee 5-02.00 Absolutely amazing. I got to watch some of your jumps and you looked great. Very impressive, nicely done!

PV I would like to apologize to the both of you for the situation that occurred. It should have never happened and I should have made sure we had the forms so I take full responsibility for what happened. You were able to put everything aside and still compete which I was very proud of, nice job!
Jen 7-06.00
Sarah 8-06.00

LJ
Alisha 13-10.5 Unfortunately today was not your day, sometimes these things happen. Good season though!

Shot
Rachel 1st 43-10.5 Another unbelievable performance, fantastic job!
Breslyn 28-01.5 A little off from SCC's but a solid performance, nice job!

This was an exciting meet for sure. We had our ups and downs but it was a solid day and I'm proud of all of you.

Practice Schedule

First off, Happy Valentines Day to all of you! I already posted who the State Qualifiers are. As of right now, we will practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We will not have formal practice tomorrow. There is snow in the forecast for Tuesday but we will just have to wait and see about that. If things need to get changed around, I will be sure to let everyone know. Tomorrow you should do easy running, 2-5 miles followed by 6x75 meter accelerators or strides. We will do a workout either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the weather and then go easy Thursday and Friday. The meet on Saturday is at 12pm. Right now, plan for practice at 10:30AM and we will meet in the commons. If that changes I will let you all know. Any questions/concerns/situations feel free to call me or e-mail me. Stay tuned for times and feedback from yesterday.

Nike Indoor National Meet

The following individuals have met the qualifying standards for the Nike Indoor National Meet
Rachel
Ashia
Sarah
Julie
Kathleen (Limited to top 30 freshman times).

You can find all the information here. From my understanding, all athletes would have to pay entry fees and associated costs out of pocket. The cost is $35 per event. The meet is at the historic Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, so you would probably not need to get a hotel and the trip could be made in a day. Regular registration is open until February 28th. You need to register online and the link is provided on the website. I just wanted to make these individuals aware and we'll be discussing this more this week.

State Open Qualifiers

The State Open Qualifiers have just been published. You can take a look at all the Open qualifiers here. The following is a list of the Cheshire Lady Rams who will be competing next weekend (I included seed place). Congratulations to all of you!

Rachel Shot 1st
Kylee High Jump 2nd
4x800 (Jenna, Amanda, Sarah, Julie, Caitlyn, Kathleen) Relay 10th
Ashia 55m 10th
Julie 1000m 2nd
4x400 (Kylee, Taylor, Sarah, Casey, Meghan) 11th

Hartford Courant Article

Rachel was chosen as the spotlight athlete this week. Here is the link to the article. Nicely done Rachel!

The Rest of the Week

Today- Try to get 2-4 miles in. Right now the snow isn't bad but it will pick up by this afternoon. If you have access to a treadmill or a gym, great. If you can't get outside try to do some stretching or yoga or something. Just have to flush out your legs from yesterday's workout.

Thursday-EASY run and strides. We will practice handoffs and those jumping can practice jumping instead of running.

Friday- The consensus was that we would have practice at 9:30 and meet on the track. I will clear a section off so we can practice handoffs. We will be doing virtually nothing. Please dress appropriately since we will still do our visualization exercise but it will have to be outside. I believe Jill said she is going to wear her snow suit so that is something to look forward to. I do not want to hear complaints about it being cold/snowy/uncomfortable. You have enough time to prepare yourself for the conditions and I want to have a good practice before our meet.

Saturday- State LL Class Meet. The meet will start at 10:00AM and our bus leaves at 7:30AM. Plan on arriving at school no later than 7:20. The meet should go by fairly quickly since there is another class meet that begins at 4:00pm and I am sure they would want to clear the place out before all the other teams arrive.

Sunday- Everyone off

We have the potential to do very well at this meet. Everyone has put in the work, we just need to focus and prepare mentally. We will determine a practice schedule for next week for those who qualify for the State Open. The State Open takes place the following Saturday. For parents interested in attending either meets, they will take place at the New Haven Field House. I hope everyone is enjoying their snow day. Take this time to relax and get yourself ready for Saturday.

SCC Times/Feedback

4x800m Relay 3rd 10:08.47

Jenna-2:35.72 Came through big for us when we needed you. This is a great time and you impressed me.

Amanda- 2:41.30 You seem to be stuck on 2:41. Focus yourself, you will run sub 2:40. You have the ability, you just need to believe that you can do it.

Sarah- 2:30.17 Like Amanda, you're stuck on this time. I know you have the ability to go much faster. Believe in yourself and the work that you have put in.

Julie- 2:20.48 Huge split and a great PR. This was a great start to a great day for you. Lets start thinking sub 2:20.

55m
Ashia 7.54 Prelim 7.38 Final. Second place and a stunning performance. Well done!

Ally 8.35 You've been sick and it shows. Forget about it and get healthy for next week. You will only be running the 300m so focus all of your attention on that. You will do much better next week.

Carla- 8.47 Exactly the same as Ally. Can't run well when you're sick. Shake it off and focus on next week.

300m
Ally- 48.33 Focus on next week.

600m
Sarah- 1:41.62 This was a good race for you and you ran tough. Believe in what you have been doing and don't doubt yourself. You have the ability to run sub 1:40. Focus this week on that and stay positive.

Taylor- 1:49.44 Fantastic race for you and you dipped under the state qualifying mark. You have been working extremely hard the last couple weeks and I think you would agree that it shows. Nicely done.

Meghan- 1:54.48 Season best for you and a solid performance. Good job!

1000m
Julie- 1st Meet record 3:00.64. OUTSTANDING! This was a great performance and I am extremely impressed. Start thinking sub 3, you have the ability.

Tesni- 3:27.62 I felt this race went out a little slow but you finished hard and looked tough. Just missed the state qualifying mark but it was a great attempt. Nicely done.

Jenna- 3:27.67 Same as Tesni.

Hayley 3:43.36 I believe this is a season best for you. You've had various knee troubles and worked through it and finished your last race of the season nicely. Good job.

1600m
Kathleen 5:28.44 Great time for not having run this event. I think you looked solid and came through to pick up some points. Good job.

Julie 5:29.10 Unbelievable after running two extremely fast PRs. This was a great day for you!

3200m
Kathleen 11:57.72 Pr for you and a nice race. I still feel like you can go much faster. Focus and believe in what you have been doing. Good job.

Amanda-12:21.69 Only a couple seconds off your Pr. Good race for you. Refocus yourself and get ready for next week, I have a feeling it will be another breakthrough for you.

4x200m 1:52.82 These splits can be a little off since I had to stand so far away but they are in the ballpark
Jill 29.11 Great race from you. Your head was into this meet and I liked that
Casey 28.61 Great race, you always run tough and with heart, nicely done
Kylee 27.87 Solid performance, like Casey, you always give everything you have. Nice job.
Ashia 27.20 Fantastic split.

4x400m 3rd 4:16.11 This was definitely a highlight of the meet for us. Great race all around
Kylee 1:04.05 Solid performance
Taylor 1:06.80 Nice job but I feel like you have more in you.
Sarah 1:03.82 Great split after running two hard races, nicely done.
Casey 1:02.? Fantastic job, very impressive.

SMR 4:47.73 Qualified for States
Jill-28.78 Great time for you, nicely done.
Alisha-30.61 Solid split, you can go faster though.
Taylor- 1:06.98 Nice job
Meghan- 2:41.1 Came through big for the team when we needed you. Great time for you.

High Jump
Kylee 1st 5-02.00 Great job. You are extremely talented.

Pole Vault
Jen 8-06. Nicely done.
Sarah- 7-06. Not your day, it happens. Forget about it and come back strong for next week.

Long Jump
Alisha 14-04.75. Like Sarah, today wasn't your day. Forget it and concentrate on next week.

Shot
Rachel 44-11.25 1st and SCC Meet Record. Unbelievable performance. You beat your own record by 2ft. Nicely done.

Breslyn 30-01.5. I believe this is a best for you. Nicely done.

Again, great job to all of you. I am extremely proud of the work you have done and I think it shows. Time to gear up for the State Meets.

Well Done!

I just wanted to congratulate everyone for an outstanding performance last night. We finished 2nd in the SCC with a final score of Career 81 and Cheshire 73. The SCC is arguably the best conference in Ct and you all should be extremely proud of yourselves. I will put up times and feedback when I get a chance later this weekend but here are some highlights and some individuals that I would like to point out.

Rachel wins the Shot with a throw of 44-11.25 and beats her own meet record by 2ft.
(I do not look at rankings much, especially at the high school level, but I was curious where this stacks up against everyone else. Rachel is currently 4th in the entire country in the Shot, congratulations!)

Julie splits a 2:20 and change in the 4x800 which finished 3rd overall. Comes back in the 1000m and runs a stunning 3:00.64 (I was also curious as to how fast this is compared to the rest of the country. Julie is currently ranked 39th in the entire country in this event. Fantastic performance). After two huge PRs, Julie ran an impressive 5:29.10 in the 1600m to pick up a few extra points for the team. I am extremely proud of your performances from last night.

I would also like to point out Jenna who came through big time in the 4x800 and split an impressive 2:35. You exceeded my expectations and I was very pleased with this. You came through for the team when they needed you, well done.

Kathleen ran an impressive 5:28.44 in the 1600m and picked up some much needed points. This was a great performance.

Taylor ran a tremendous race in the 600m and qualified for States. I was extremely pleased with this run, you looked great.

Meghan came through for the team big time in the SMR. She split an impressive 2:41 and helped the team when we needed her. We also qualified for States in this event, nicely done.

Our 4x400m Relay Team of Casey Kylee Taylor and Sarah ran a season best time and shaved off 6 seconds. You also came from behind to pass Career. You all ran your hearts out in this race and I was extremely pleased with this performance.

Kylee won the high jump with a jump of 5-02.00

Again, great job to everyone and I will post the remaining times/feedback when I get a chance later this weekend. As I said last night, run easy today 2-5 miles and take tomorrow off. If you are still a little sick, make sure you relax and get healthy. We still have more meets ahead of us with the State LL Meet next Saturday and for those who qualify, the State Open the following weekend. There is still work to be done so relax for a little bit and refocus come Monday. We will be doing one hard workout early in the week and then a little tune up mid week.

"I want to run..."

I hope everyone enjoyed the visualization exercise, though I am shocked that none of you knew the song. I recommend downloading it and playing it before your races. I am a firm believer in visualization and have been using it myself for many years. You can play the song here, but will have to download it whatever way you usually get music. I want everyone to think positively about your races. You all have been working extremely hard and are ready. It is now up to you. Rely on your training and stay focused and you will do great.

Entries for the SCC Championships

Here are the final entries for the SCC Championships on Friday. I entered 6 people in every relay so we are covered if anything comes up. The entries did not change from what was discussed at practice the other day so everyone should already be aware of what events/relays they are in.

RELAY EVENT TIMES:
==============================

======================

4 x 200: 1:52.5
4 x 400: 4:23.10
4 x 800: 10:06.29
Sp.Med.: 4:44.00
====================================================
INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES:
====================================================

A, Rachel

Event #1: Shot (Seed Mark: 42-07.25, 1/16/10 Yale)

A, Taylor

Event #1: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: 600 Meters (Seed Mark: 1:50.30, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

B, Hayley

Event #1: 1000 Meters (Seed Mark: 3:47.20, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

B, Carla

Event #1: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 8.20, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #2: 300 Meters (Seed Mark: 47.00, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

B, Alison

Event #1: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 8.20, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #2: 300 Meters (Seed Mark: 47.00, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

C, Amanda

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 3200 Meters (Seed Mark: 12:19.5, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

C, Caitlyn

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)

F, Meghan

Event #1: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: 600 Meters (Seed Mark: 1:55.60, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

F, Sarah

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: 600 Meters (Seed Mark: 1:41.2, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

G, Courtney

Event #1: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 8.30, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #3: Long Jump (Seed Mark: 13-04.50, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

G, Breslyn

Event #1: Shot (Seed Mark: 29-00.00, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

H, Jenna

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 1000 Meters (Seed Mark: 3:26.50, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

H, Julie

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 1000 Meters (Seed Mark: 3:09.50, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #3: 1600 Meters (Seed Mark: 5:40.70, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

J, Jennifer

Event #1: Pole Vault (Seed Mark: 8-06.00, 1/09/10 Hartford Public)

J, Jillian

Event #1: 4x200 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 8.30, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

K, Kathleen

Event #1: 4x800 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 1600 Meters (Seed Mark: 5:40.00, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #3: 3200 Meters (Seed Mark: 12:02.0, 12/22/09 Developmental 1)

M, Kylee

Event #1: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 4x200 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: High Jump (Seed Mark: 5-02.00, 1/9/10 Hartford Public)

N, Casey

Event #1: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 4x200 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: 300 Meters (Seed Mark: 44.04, 2/6/09 SCC Championships)

P, Tesni

Event #1: 1000 Meters (Seed Mark: 3:29.30, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

S, Sarah

Event #1: Pole Vault (Seed Mark: 8-06.00, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

W, Emily

Event #1: 55M Hurdles (Seed Mark: 10.97, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)
Event #2: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 8.50, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

W, Alisha

Event #1: 4x400 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: Sprint Medley (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #3: Long Jump (Seed Mark: 15-06.00, 1/12/09 Housatonic Championships)

W, Ashia

Event #1: 4x200 (Seed Mark: N/A)
Event #2: 55M Dash (Seed Mark: 7.30, 1/12/10 Housatonic Championships)

History Made at The Millrose Games

As I told everyone at practice the other day, I was in New York yesterday to watch the historical Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. Here is a video of the Wanamaker Mile. Unbelievable race, check it out. I will try to find other videos of some of the highlights. The high school girl's mile was very impressive. The winning time was 4:52. The men's shot put was also extremely impressive. The winner threw 72 feet and change and has the farthest throw in the world this year. I'm definitely glad I went since there is a lot of speculation that this year's Millrose Games might be the last time the event is run.

Great Article

Here is a fantastic article written about Bernard Lagat from Runners World. It is a little long but worth reading.

"You Might Die Trying"

Running gives you plenty of time to think about things. Whether it's personal issues, what you are going to do this weekend, what inventions you can make to become a millionaire, or maybe even world events. Well I would like to share some of the things that I thought about on my 17 miler this afternoon and it relates to the title of this post.

Most of you are probably not aware, but I am a HUGE Dave Matthews fan. This is a title of one of his lesser known songs, but it's one of my favorite. I was listening to this song on my run today and that's how I got thinking about everything. The lyrics go like this...

To change the world,
Start with one step.
However small,
The first step is hardest of all.

Once you get your gait,
You will walk in tall.
You said you never did,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
Cause you---

If you close your eyes,
Cause the house is on fire.
And think you couldn't move,
Until the fire dies.
The things you never did,
Oh, cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
You'd be as good as dead,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.

If you give, you, you begin to live.
If you give, you begin to live.
You begin, you get the world.
If you give, you begin to give
You get the world, you get the world.
If you give, you begin to live.

You might die trying.
Oh, you might die trying.
Yeah, you might die trying.

The things you never did,
Cause you might die trying;
You'd be as good as dead.
You never did.

And here is a video of a pretty good version of the song. Basically, what I get from the song is that when you give, whether money, time, talents, etc and that's when you really receive and can "change the world." I was thinking about this because of the recent devastation that has taken place in Haiti. There has been nonstop coverage since the earthquake took place, and the images coming from there are just unreal. The thing that has amazed me the most is the outpouring of support from around the world. I did catch the Haiti Benefit that took place on Friday evening and it was very moving and raised a lot of money to help a country that already had very little. Right now, many of you are trying to decide on what colleges to go to or what to major in. Maybe some are beginning to think about the career they may want or the possibility of traveling abroad. Here is my advice...pick something that you enjoy and something that has an impact on others and take advantage of travel abroad programs or volunteer trips. It will make your life far more fulfilling. As I told a few of you on a bus ride home from a meet, I interned with Smith Barney in New York City my senior year of college. At the end, they offered me a full time job there and I turned it down. I hated what I was doing and to be honest, I felt like it didn't really matter and wasn't important in the scheme of things. I wanted to do something where I could actually have an impact on people and that is why I chose teaching. You may not make a ton of money, but it can be rewarding and people actually benefit from what you are doing. I will offer one more story that deals with what I'm talking about. My roommate from Marist is currently in the Teach for America Program. For those of you who don't know, basically you teach in a poor or underprivileged area. He is at a school in Newark, New Jersey. He sent this e-mail to me and the rest of our house from Marist.

"All right -

So you might have heard me talking about this before, but every Friday at the end of the day, I go around with a "treasure chest" to give out prizes to kids who got 5 stars in the past week for great behavior. Well, this one kid whose name is Shaquan has been in the school for 2.5 years and has only gotten treasure chest like 3 times. Thats unheard of. Anyway, this is a clip of what happened when Shaquan got treasure chest for the first time all year... listen for the Rocky soundtrack and announcement over the loud speaker. Its hilarious. "

Here is the video and it really is hilarious. Make sure you watch the whole thing because the funny part is at the end. My roommate is the guy holding the treasure chest. If you guys think I am any good at running, he is unreal. He is probably reading this so I will give him a little shout out. He recently ran an impressive 15:10 5k on the track and ran under 70 minutes at the Philadelphia Half Marathon this past November. That's blazing. I have to say I am very proud of what he is doing. He deferred going to Law School to do Teach For America. You can tell that the kids love him and he is a natural.

So back to my whole point of this...take advantage of the opportunities in your life to help other people and choose a major or a career where you can actually have an impact on others. It was definitely a philosophical run! Thanks for reading.

The Week Ahead

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up for this week. It's going to be a little crazy since exams are taking place. As I mentioned in practice, we will have formal practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday will be on your own days. This should give you more than enough time to be ready for all of your exams. Remember, those are your top priority. We will be practicing at noon tomorrow and Wednesday (Friday is regular schedule) so try to have a snack sometime before practice and make sure you're staying hydrated.

I may have to make a game day decision in terms of the workout for tomorrow. There is the potential for heavy rain and gusting winds (not ideal running conditions). With that said, be prepared to go hard and be prepared for any type of weather conditions. I don't want to see anyone in short sleeve shirts and shorts when its pouring rain, now is not the time to take risks and risk the chance of getting sick.

Tuesday will be an on your own day so anywhere from 2-5 miles followed by 4x75m strides.

Wednesday will be another hard day but what we do will depend on what happens for tomorrow.

My apologies for being so vague, but running and workouts are never written in stone and you need to be flexible when things come up. Just be prepared for harder sessions Monday Wednesday and Friday. This is going to be our last really intense week of the season in terms of intensity and volume. We will be cutting back on volume come next week and just work on sharpness for the remainder of the season.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and that studying is going well. Goodluck to everyone on their exams tomorrow!

Splits from SCC Novice Meet

Here are the splits from the SCC Novice Championships

4x800
Veronica 3:18.42 Good job
Abby 3:06.34 Feel like this could be faster but you came back nicely in the 3200
Hannah 2:53.06 Excellent
Sharon 2:46.78 Very Nice Split
12:04.30

55m
Akorfa 9.3 You've worked hard all season. Look at it as an experiment. You tried a few different events and now have a feel for things. Good job
Saparja 8.41 Solid run
Hannah 8.73 Not bad for never running or practicing this before
Emily 9.06 Would have liked to see sub 9 but thats ok. Good job.
Kayla 8.8 Nice job.

1000m
Hannah 3:40.30. Second place, very impressive.

600m
Veronica 2:20.9 Nicely done
Shreya 2:01.4 You've pushed yourself and ran a nice race
Sharon 1:56.07 You had a great meet overall, great split
Wendy 1:56.6 Great time, good job.

SMR
Saparja 31.09 Very nice split
Caroline 33.8 Good job
Emily 1:14.7 Not bad for filling in at the last second.
Shreya 2:52.7 I was impressed, good job
5:11.75

300m
Akorfa- 1:05.92 Same comment as your previous race
Jenna 56.85 Solid effort
Wendy 49.69 Great meet for you, nicely done

3200m
Abby 13:39.15- You made me worried because you went out a little quick. You settled in though and ran a stellar race. Very impressive for having to race alone, nice job.

4x200m
Veronica 36.25
Saparja 33.85
Caroline 33.33
Emily 32.76
2:16.19
Good job

I only have the times for the other relay team and don't have the order of people, my apologies.

31.69
35.93
31.04
32.31

Shot
Krista 18-03.00 Good job.

Great job everyone. We definitely had some impressive performances. You girls worked hard all season and you should be very proud. As I said, you all are welcome to continue practicing with the team until the end of the season. I advise this if you are planning on competing in outdoor track. Also, make sure you get your uniforms into me by Wednesday, no excuses. When I have the exact details about the end of season banquet, I will be sure to let all of you know. Great job again to all of you.

Videos from Yale

Here is a video of our girl's 4x800 from Yale who ran to a very impressive 3rd place.

Video of Rachel winning in the shot.

Rest of the Week

Thursday- SCC Novice Meet
Sprinters not running meet- 6x100 meters Ins and Outs on the track.
Distance not running meet- Easy distance 3-5 miles followed by 4x100 meter strides
Coach Bennett will be running practice.

Friday- Everyone is going to workout. Workouts are still not finalized. Almost positive everyone will be on the track. This is going to be a hard day for everyone.

Saturday- Sprinters- Easy running 2-5 miles followed by 4x75 meter accelerators
Distance- Long run 5-8 miles

Sunday- Everyone off

Practice during exams (Monday-Thursday) will take place at 12:00pm. Try to have some kind of nutritional snack before practice. Workout schedule will depend on the weather and I will post it sometime this weekend. I want to try to take advantage of the track as much as we can while there is no snow. We have a really nice chunk of time to train before SCC's so we are going to continue to go hard the rest of this week and next. I will share with you a quote that I found from someone you would not expect, Oprah Winfrey, but I like it so I will end with this.

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."
-Oprah Winfrey

For My Sprinters...

Since a lot of my video posts have been of distance people, here is something for you. It is a video of Usain Bolt smashing the world record in the 100 meters this past summer at the World Championships in Berlin. No words can describe how good this man is.

Running Celebrities

So since I got some heat at practice about not updating our blog in a while, I felt obligated to put something really good up. I have two short videos that I would like to share. The first video is of last year's Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York City. For those of you who don't know, the Millrose Games is the longest running indoor track meet in the world (almost positive). I was lucky enough to go watch my Junior year of college. It attracts Professional athletes as well as college and high school athletes. The Millrose Games are coming up in a few weeks so that is one of the reasons why I chose this video. The second reason is because of the man who wins. His name is Bernard Lagat and is arguably one of the best middistance runners in the world. My freshman year of college, I went to Manhattan College before transferring to Marist. It was a couple weeks before the Millrose Games and we had one of the few tracks in New York City. I showed up for an early practice with some of the other guys and there he was standing at the far end of the track. We kind of looked at him in awe and then we finally asked him if he wanted to run with us and he agreed. There were only 4 of us and we went on a 6 mile run of Van Cortland Park and it's something I will never forget. He was one of the most humble and nicest persons I've met. The video is of his record breaking 7th win at the Millrose Games and it was quite a race. If you ever have the chance to check out the Millrose Games, I highly recommend it. The second video is of Shalane Flanagan. She won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in the 10,000 meters. She most recently set a course record at the Houston Half Marathon and this is a clip of the finish. I put this up here for two reasons. The first, she is definitely one of the best American Distance runners out there. The second, I had the chance to run with her at Green Mountain Running Camp. Many are familiar with Green Mountain since you have been going there. Well my last year of camp she was my group leader. And yes, I made sure I was running next to her the whole time but I was just a high schooler trying to impress. At the time, she was running at the University of North Carolina and little did I know that she would go on to achieve what she has done so far. I share this with you because running has allowed me to experience so many different opportunities. While many of you probably don't know who these people are, or maybe track is not your number 1 sport, to me this would be like playing baseball with Derek Jeter or throwing the football around with Eli Manning (I know, they didn't do so hot this year). My point is, take advantage of every opportunity that is presented to you and immerse yourself in what you are doing. You never know who you might meet or what may come of it.

Yale Splits/Feedback

Shot
Rachel- 42-07.25

Won the Shot Put competition by a huge margin. Fantastic performance. I got to see you in "intense mode" which I liked to see.

3000m
Kathleen- 11:10.16. Fantastic race. If converted to the 3200m, sub 12:00. You're moving in the right direction. Well done.

4x800m Relay 3rd 10:06.29

Caitlyn 2:31.9 Huge breakthrough. I'm extremely pumped and proud of you for this split. You now know you have the ability, lets focus on sub 2:30.

Amanda 2:41.9 Solid split. You looked a little flat, that's ok though. You have the ability to run mid 2:30's. We will work on your speed over the next couple weeks.

Sarah 2:29.5. Fantastic split. You will get down to low 2:20's

Julie 2:22.4 Amazing split. A nice PR and great anchor leg. Let's start thinking sub 2:20

Stellar performance ladies. You guys got me fired up in this race. You all ran extremely smart and moved your way up throughout the race. Nicely done!

4x200m 1:56.18

Jill 31.5

Kylee 26.9

Casey 28.2

Ashia 28.99

We all know this was not a great race. There was not much time to even get on the track never mind get settled before the gun. Take it as a learning experience. This is a great relay team and you guys will bounce back from this effort.

Race Videos from Hartford Public

Here is a link to all the race videos from Hartford Public. Flotrack is a great website if you're a running fanatic. It looks as though all races are there.

Splits from SCC Housatonic Championships

All around great meet. We won 10 events which is just amazing. Everyone had their head in the meet and I'm very proud of everyone's performances. As you can see, the hard work does pay off. Nicely done ladies!

4x800m
Caitlyn- I think this is the right leg for you. You got us in a nice position and ran with your heart in this race. Stay focused and POSITIVE
Amanda-Missed
Sarah-Missed
Julie-Missed
10:23.07
Nice relay. I think this time will come down much more.
*I missed the splits because I had to go run the Long Jump

55 HH
Emily 10.9- I was at LJ. You have the determination to excel and now have some things to work on thanks to Coach G. Practice and get focused for the SCC meet

55 D
Ashia W 7.40 7.30 Great race. You tucked your arms in more, I think that made a huge difference. Nicely done

Ally B 8.2- You have impressed me all season, keep working hard

Carla B 8.2- Same as above

Jill J- 8.3- You are better than this. Stay focused

Courtney G 8.3- Same as Jill

Emily W 8.5- Same as Courtney and Jill

1000m
Kathleen- 38 40 41 40 38 3:16.7- Not used to the speed. Solid performance. This will help in your 3200.

Julie 38 40 40 37 34 3:09.5- Fantastic race. You looked very strong. Lets start thinking sub 3:07

Tesni- 40 1:21 2:05 2:49 3:29.3- You surprised me in this race. Nice job

Jenna- 42 1:21 2:05 2:50 3:26.5- Same as Tesni.Just missed the State qualifying mark. We will achieve this. Stay focused.

Hannah 40 1:26 2:14 3:01 3:43.4. Good job, solid race

Hayley- 41 1:23 2:05 2:57 3:47.22. You are better than this. I want to see your knee recover and you to bounce back.

600m
Sharon 36.77 40.39 40.24 1:57.50. Very nice race, good job

Wendy 37.2 40.31 41.6 1:59.1 Solid race but you can go faster

Meghan 36.97 39.75 38.92 1:55.5. I felt as though you held back a bit in the beginning. Very good run though.

Sarah 31.9 34.5 34.58 1:41.06- FANTASTIC! Awesome race, nicely done.

Taylor 34.94 37.6 37.7 1:50.21. Great race. I feel as though you are finally coming along. You just missed the state qualifying mark. Stay focused and we'll get this at SCC's

1600m
Julie 40 43 43 42 43 43 42 41 5:40.5-Great job after two solid performances

Jen 41 1:27 2:17 3:09 4:02 4:57 5:29 5:53 6:45

Jenna 42 1:27 2:16 3:04 3:54 4:42 missed 6:07. You have a lot more potential than this.

Hayley 44 1:32 2:23 3:16 4:11 5:06 6:00 6:54. Stay positive and I want to see a real good 1000m from you.

300m
Carla 47.03 Very impressive, nicely done
Ashia- 44.8 Sorry I put you in this but you did great!
Ally- 47.0 Great job

3200m
Kathleen 42 45 46 46 45 45 46 46 45 46 46 46 46 46 46 42 12:07.5. Great race. You would have run much faster with more company. Nicely done.

Amanda-44 45 45 45 46 46 47 46 47 47 47 47 missed 45 42 12:19.15 Fantastic job. You keep impressing me with every race. Stay focused and it will keep dropping.

Tesni 44 46 46 48 48 49 49 48 52 51 54 52 51 53 53 49 13:17.8- You have the ability, we just need to build that strength back. Your injury set you back a little but now its time to think ahead. Nice job.

4x400
Taylor 1:06.?
Kylee 1:04.8
Sarah 1:04.9
Casey 1:04.2
4:23.10
Good relay, we had a sizeable lead. We need to shave off a few seconds though.Good job

4x200m
Jill 28.8
Kylee 27.2
Casey 28.2
Ashia 28.0
1:52.5
Nicely done girls.

LJ
Alisha 15-06 Great job!
Courtney 13-04.5 Well done

HJ
Kylee 5-00 You are extremely talented in this event. Good job

PV
Sarah 8-06 Nicely done!
Jen 8-00 Good job after I tired you in the mile

Shot
Rachel 40-07.25 Well done!
Breslyn 29-00.00 Fantastic job.

Training for this Week

Another crazy week ahead. Here is training. I think I covered everyone. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Monday- Premeet day for everyone running Housatonic Championships. Everyone running Novice Meet- Relay 200m workout. Each person will team up with someone with comparable ability. You will run a 200m tag your teammate and your recovery is the time it takes for your partner to run. Each person will do 8.

Tuesday- SCC Housatonic Championships. Those running Novice Meet will have an “On your own day.” Easy running anywhere from 2-5 miles. 4x75m strides.

Wednesday- All jumpers/Hurdlers will work with Coach Gunneson. Sprinters- 10xIns and Outs. Hard on straights (full hallways) easy on turns. Distance- Mix of easy tempo and some hills on Cornwall followed by extended strides.

Thursday- Premeet for those running on Friday 4x200m Relay and 4x800m Relay. Easy running for everyone else. 2-5 miles followed by 4x50m strides

Friday – Yale Track Classic. Sprints not running Yale-Friday Tradition workout. Distance not running Yale- Long run 5-8 miles.

Saturday- Yale Track Classic- Everyone who did not run Friday at Yale, easy run 2-5 miles. Sprinters who ran Friday- 2-5 miles followed by 4x100m accelerators. Distance who ran Friday- Long run 5-8 miles.

Sunday- Everyone Off

Looking Ahead

Here is the situation as we move into the Championship portion of our season. I entered athletes in the SCC Housatonic Meet on Friday. I only had one day because entries were due Saturday, I wanted to see how everyone did Thursday, and I was going to be gone all day Saturday at the meet.Basically, I looked at last years results and determined if you had a chance of scoring in the Housatonic Meet, than you were going to run in the meet. The thing is, if you run in the SCC Housatonic Meet, you cannot run in the SCC Novice Meet next week. With that said, many of you will wrap up your season's this Tuesday. Unfortunately, there have been some scheduling conflicts that have been out of our (Coaches) control. For those entered for Tuesday, I thought it would be nice to be in a championship type setting. Those running in the Novice Meet next week, you will practice through until then. If you run in the Novice Meet, that will also be your last meet of the season. Indoor track is tough in terms of meets. It's not like Outdoor track where you have a dual meet during the week and an invitational on the weekend. Everyone has been working hard and I invite everyone to continue to practice even if you are not racing, especially if you are competing in Outdoor track. Those racing Tuesday will have a premeet day tomorrow. Those not racing Tuesday will be doing a workout. We will talk more at practice tomorrow.

Hartford Public Splits/Feedback

Excellent job ladies. For not having raced in a while, I think everyone did quite well. The meet was run well and I'm proud of all of you. Its time to keep working hard and get ready for the Championship portion of our season.

Triple Jump- 14 Alisha W 30-07.25. Very impressed for not having practiced this. Nice job.

Pole Vault- 8 Jennifer J 8-06.00 State Qualifier. Nicely done.

Pole Vault- 12 Sarah S 8-00.00 State Qualifier. Very nice effort.

Shot Put- 1 Rachel A 42-11.75* Meet Record State Qualifier. Outstanding performance.

Long Jump- 16 Alisha W 15-00.00 State Qualifier. Nice job. Definitely need to take advantage of practice time though. You are very talented.

High Jump- 3 Kylee M J5-02.00 State Qualifier Season Best. Nicely done. Same as Alisha. You are so talented, just need to take a little more advantage of practice time for this event.

*I was glad I was finally able to see a lot of the field events. We are very talented and I was extremely impressed by all of you.

4x800m Relay- 5 Cheshire High School 10:30.15 State Qualifier

1) Amanda C 2:42 39 40 41 41 2) Sarah F 2:30 1:13 (400m) 39 38

3) Caitlyn C 2:44 40 41 42 41 4) Julie H 2:30 36 39 38 36

Nice job girls. For not having raced since before Christmas, I didn’t think this was a bad time. Everyone’s splits were more or less where I expected. Good job.

55m Dash- Ashia W Prelims 7.56 Finals 7 Ashia W 7.62 State Qualifier. Nice job. As we talked about at the meet though, your arms were everywhere and that definitely took away from your time. At practice constantly think about your form so when you get to the race its natural. Nice job.

41 Jillian Jackson 8.30. A little off from what I timed. Not a great race. You will bounce back. Stay focused.

600m- 9 Sarah F 1:44.89 5 State Qualifier 32.37 35.4 36.9. Another excellent race. You ran the same time as last time but you seemed stronger if that makes sense. We’re going to start implementing a little more turnover in your workouts and so get ready to start moving. Nicely done.

1 Mile- 11 Julie H 5:37.66 State Qualifier 41.5 40.61 41.32 41.3 42.19 43.95 44.4 42.12. I know this isn’t what you wanted but you ran a little faster than I expected. I think it was a great effort. You haven’t run the mile in a long time and you were coming off a good effort in the 4x800. Good job.

2 Mile- 6 Kathleen K 12:09.60 State Qualifier 44.5 (Long split) 43.36 43.51 45.64 44.91 45.2 45.9 45.49 45.89 47.5 46.01 46.5 47.8 47.98 45.29 43.73. Tough race. The Naugatuck girl took it out hard. You ran very smart and didn’t go with the chase pack. Sometimes there is nothing you can do in races like this but you ran hard and put in a great effort. Nicely done. I’m looking forward to your 1000m on Tuesday.

13 Amanda C 12:25.71 State Qualifier 45.88 (Long split) 43.94 44.49 45.36 46.48 47.22 48.53 48.08 47.14 47.85 47.89 47.40 48.18 I missed the remaining splits because I got too excited. Unbelievable race. You were worried going in for no reason. Great PR, nicely done.

4x400m Relay- Cheshire High School 4:22.67 State Qualifier

1) Taylor Altieri 10 1:07.58 2) Caitlyn Criscuolo 10 1:07.43

3) Kylee McIntosh 10 1:05.17 4) Casey Nowakowski 10 1:02.15

First time running this event this season. I think it was solid. Only a few seconds off where I thought you would be. Taylor, I think sitting around all day takes a lot out of you but that’s the nature of indoor track. Solid split, only going to improve. Caitlyn, I told you to run a 66 or 67 and you did. You have to start thinking positively though. This will improve, trust me. Kylee, nice job your time is only going to go down. Casey, very nice split.

Intensity

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I felt there was a lack of intensity at the meet the other day. Due to the craziness today, I didn't really get to touch on the subject much but we will on Monday. Until then, I thought I would offer this video. It is a couple highlights and the finish of the 2009 Women's Boston Marathon. I want to point out how intense these 3 women are. I was hoping to find a clip of Kara Goucher, the American, throwing off her gloves and trying to surge for the last time before she was passed, but I couldn't find one. Regardless, this was one of the most exciting races I have seen. These women did not give up and pushed themselves to their ultimate limits. I cannot even imagine going as fast as they are at the end of the marathon. This video has also motivated me, as I will be running the same race in a couple months. I want all of you to give everything you can in a race and bring some fire to our meets. I want to see people pumped and ready to go, not giggling on the starting line or looking to scratch from events. You are on this team for a reason and you should be excited and looking forward to each race.