The tragic folly of the Richmond athletic department

I started out the day reeling from the pain of sleeping off the painkillers prescribed after my wisdom tooth extraction yesterday. I was staying at Nadir's in Falls Church to watch his cat while he was out of town. I did an easy 13 miles on the New Virginia Manor loop, one of my favorites, and headed off to work, feeling pretty good. Shortly after noon, that changed, when I heard that the Richmond athletic department was planning to cut men's indoor and outdoor track. Soccer, too. I waited a few hours to hear that it was confirmed, and lost my afternoon in a combination of anger, grief and frustration.

It would be less painful if they cut a pound of my flesh. 

Times-Dispatch story
Collegian story

I loved my experience at the University of Richmond, I thought the faculty and the overall quality of life at the school were great on their own merits. The journalism department helped me figure out my calling in a  fundamental way. But what made my Richmond experience -- what motivates me to tell anyone about the school who will listen -- was my involvement with the track team. I'm written before about how important it was to me to make the team, but I'll put it even more bluntly: were it not for the Richmond track team, I would likely not care enough about the school to come back every few months, to speak of it as highly as I do, or to go to the lengths I do to communicate the regard I hold the school.  I wouldn't try to recruit every promising young person I meet, regardless of their interest in running.

On a macro level, without its track team, Richmond will have likely never enjoyed the presence of some wonderful contributors to the student body who are excelling outside of athletics- Garret Graham, Seann Mulcahy, Tim Caramore, Jon Lauder, Dan Petty, Dave Blanchard, many others. Men who made their mark on the track but made the school a better place. They would have chosen another school to continue their education.

This is to say nothing of runners like Andrew Benford and Matt Llano, both recent All Americans, who are pursuing professional running careers. Sos Bitok and Hillary Tuwei, who ran in the Olympics (No emphasis is necessary). Jon Molz and Pete Jennings, who are active and involved track coaches...



So many of these guys had the best grades among not just athletes, but the entire school. Track and field attracts introspective, cerebral students who not only act rationally, but their very discipline lends itself to thought and reflection. They are personable and engaging. Track men represent the university well in every sphere in which they are involved, and they are a credit to the entire student body. It's a short-sighted decision, and I don't think the board of trustees thought through its impact on general student recruitment.
I can't not touch on the notoriety of other schools' lacrosse teams in the region, but I will leave it with that allusion.

Now, the University of Richmond will no longer have this attractive option to offer to high school students. They'll go elsewhere, and who can blame them? An athletic department that doesn't offer basic athletics, and track and field is as basic as you can get, is laughable. It's shameful. How can I cheer for the 3-8 football team? Are those roster spots going to make the difference and stop the football team from being so terrible? Will we become a lacrosse powerhouse now?

At risk of sound like a conspiracy theorist, it also smacks of a disregard for women.. Cutting two men's sports for the sake of another might be what the state teachers college does, but Richmond is incredibly secure, financially. Why not create another women's sport? Rowing? Softball? Volleyball? Water polo? We already have a successful crew club.I also see a bit of class division. Running and soccer are about the cheapest sports to fund and play. Lacrosse isn't exactly hockey or crew, but there are more barriers to entry for youth participation.

We've been through this before, in 2000. The programs survived and improved drastically with the hiring of Steve and Lori Taylor, coaches who mean everything to me athletically and personally -- they're like an aunt and uncle -- and I know I'm not the only Spider to feel this way. I want to look at this crisis as an opportunity, if the alumni can express themselves in a constructive way that illustrates the collective character of the men who have run those laps with the name Richmond on their chests.

It may accomplish nothing, for all of track's qualities, it remains undervalued for all but two weeks every four years by the general public. Then again, people said the cross country team (which was thankfully left untouched this time) would never win anything without scholarships. We know how that turned out.

Back to self-absorption:

Sept. 11 - After days of 18, 15 and 20 miles, I took it easy on Tuesday before my meeting and ran with Dolla Billzzz from Clarendon. I was dragging for a while, but woke up about halfway through. I bid Billzzz adieu after six miles then did a few more on some flat neighborhood streets.

Sept 12 - BCC's track was in use, so practice was at American, so I jogged over with Dix, Diddy and a slew of others to use that track, which now featured a pothole and cone in lane one, 75 meters in. I got a 2:36 warmup 800, then joined Dix and Fridge for the half marathon workout- 2:34 and 2:32. Most of everyone else joined in for 2:30, 2:28, 2;24, 2:24, 2:22 and 2:18. I felt great throughout, despite some uneven pacing resulting from the wind on the stretches. We headed back to the house and Stefan and I got a few more miles in on our cooldown for 13 total.

Sept 13- I ran to work, coming down the CCT from Kenwood and then along the mall. I was a little tired after sleeping poorly, and was not really into running 13 miles that early. My five-mile afternoon run around AU Park was a drag. My nips hurt, thanks to running my whole workout in the GRC t-shirts from 2010. I think they're made of sandpaper.

Sept 14- I pretty much never feel like waking up early to run on Fridays, certainly not after running 18 the day before, so I slept in and delayed my workout to the evening. I ran a long warmup to the 11 mile mark for the Marine Corps Marathon and planned to do 5-6 miles starting at 5:50 and getting 10 seconds faster each mile. I was using the Nike+ thing I bought during my short stint at the Chevy Chase Running Company, with hopes of getting a somewhat accurate evaluation of my pace. It was a bit off, though, I came throuhg a mile in 5:45, the second in 5:40, third in 5:35 and fourth in 5:30. After that, I was wiped out, and my gastrointestinal ills were too much to ignore. I struggled back to my office, took a shower, went upstairs to get my stuff, but ended up just sitting at my desk for at least a half hour before dragging myself home.

Sept 15- After an early morning trip down to Hains Point to watch the GRC debut new uniforms and hit some great times at the Run, Geek, Run 8k and a trip to Elyse's pool to sit in the sun, I drove down to Lake Accotink to check the route I had planned for the Running Report's Nov/Dec edition, and to get away from the city. I dropped off some gatorade at the 4/16 mile mark and headed back to route 50 to start my run. I was cruising a little too fast, come through 6 miles in 38 minutes. The temperature dropped when I got to the lake and I looked around for a good photo for the article, but noticed my favorite view was obstructed by the lush vegetation. Lots of talkative people were taking walks that afternoon and plenty of friendly, passive dogs. Two laps were over in a hurry and I was headed back to the car. As usual, I felt pretty wrecked on the way back, which happens at the same place, whether I'm running 16 or 20 miles. I made it back in 2:11 for 20 miles, and was rather pleased with that. On the way back, I got to listen to the CSPAN broadcast of Arnold Palmer's Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.

Sunday morning I watched the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon and took a nap before some football. The Steelers played the late game, so I waited until that was done for my 13 mile run. I did a Nellie Custis that went quite well. Almost all of it was at dusk or darker, but it felt great. The weather was perfect and I was relaxed. I saw Texas Paul driving in Georgetown and chased him for a block. Using the wedding weekend mileage accrual system, I switched Saturday and Sunday's runs, so even though I had run 107 miles the week before, I counted it as 100 and gave Sunday credit for my long run.

Since I finished running at 9 pm Sunday, I took Monday morning off and set out that evening for American's track to do some 400s. While running along Nebraska with Witty, who was out for his own run, I heard some mocking from a young fellow in a car. Unfortunately for him, he was about to hit a long red light, giving me plenty of time to catch up, ask him to repeat what he said, then decry his lack of courage to be able to say to my face what he yelled so easily a minute before. I had been feeling a little flat before that, but the adrenaline pumped me up for my quarters. I changed into my flats and hit some 400s- four in 68. After that, though, the adrenaline wore off and I was tired again. I jogged home and called it a day at five miles.

Tuesday morning I woke up and sleepwalked through 8.25 miles on the CT-MA route, apparently waving to Drea without noticing who she was. I fell asleep on the metro on my ride home and woke up not looking forward to the 10 miles I had waiting for me. Witty joined me for six miles or so. I was not eager to climb Albemarle. I was delighted, however, to learn I will be able to return to Albemarle County in October for the Charlottesville Fall Classic Half. I had a really good feeling about the timing and location of this race, and I'm excited to take my shot at the half marathon there this fall.

Wednesday morning saw little interest in a morning run, but I made up for it with a solid workout. a 2:30 800 to warm up, then a 6:15 2k, 3:02, 3:01, 2:58 and 2:54 1ks.

Thursday (Sept. 20) morning I did an eight mile loop down Nebraska and back up Western to 47th and Van Ness. Then I had my wisdom teeth pulled. Yeesh.

Another sweaty summer

I neglected the hell out of writing for the last three months, here I go:

After a spring where I ran whatever pace I wanted with little resistance, once June weather began in earnest, I eventually had to relent to the elements. Try as I might, I can't change how my body dissipates heat, which is to say not well at all. I find the limit to mind over matter. I think about the late Sammy Wanjiru, who was able to hold a pace others thought to be a stunt in the 2008 Olympic Marathon's hot and humid weather, yet he came out on top in a huge Olympic record time. Why can't I do that? We had divergent experiences at the 2010 Chicago Marathon, the only time I raced him (I gave him a few seconds of a head start by starting several rows back), but I always wonder if I can push myself harder. I can't, but it was not for lack of trying.

Aside from a few days in March and the regrettable warm weather in Cleveland, I was lucky to not have to deal with too many hot days this spring. That's coming to an end, though to be fair it's actually Summer now.I took two days off after I couldn't manage one Sunday, but found much nicer temperatures Wednesday night (June 13) I set out for what would be my last New Virginia Manor loop. To say I was aggressive would be fair, I was out close to 6:00 pace for the first two miles to get to the loop, then let loose and ran fast enough for the two loops to average 5:50 for 10 miles. It felt like that was my natural state. I knew it might be the last good run I have in the summer and in northern Virginia for a long time. I absolutely relished all 12.5 miles of it. I took the next day off, then ran a strained three miles Friday (June 15) evening down to the W&OD and back up through the metrobus road. My mom was in town for a wedding, so I took her to Lake Accotink for some running Saturday (June 16), and I tried the place out for the first time without running the six miles from Vienna. I liked it, though it was pretty warm and I insisted on running with some mountain bikers as long as I could. I went clockwise then counterclockwise plus a little extra for 8.5 miles. The next morning (June 17), after a day of shuttling stuff to my new house, I went out to Arlington to run the Little Falls loop that I didn't do nearly enough. It was unremarkable, though it was a worthwhile option to have.

Monday (June 18) evening, I continued my farewell tour with a Steelers loop at 6:30 pace. It was cool and pleasant. I took Tuesday off, then Wednesday (June 20) fought the evening heat to run a Westmoreland one last time. By five miles, I was in trouble, and I bailed out on Haycock and finished up with 6.5. With the temperature pushing 95, I didn't need to make myself hate running.

The next night (June 21) I finished my move with a van full of furniture and ends (no odds). Another hot, but dry, day- 98 at one point. When I took the van back to the West Falls Church, I decided to get my last run in and make it functional- I'd run the nine miles between my homes. I started out well- clutching a squeeze bottle of gatorade I would earn the right to drink. I slightly altered a Williamsburg and made it four miles at 6:30 pace, then cruised along Glebe feeling like a million bucks. The steep downhill to the Chain Bridge pushed my average to 6:21 for the first 5.5 miles, and I gulped the Gatorade when I crossed the Potomac and bid farewell to Virginia. I ran along Canal, with little traffic to hassle me, and turned up Arizona, about to tackle the 2.3-mile climb to Tenleytown. As I shot up the hill, though, everything crashed. I couldn't see, my heart started racing but feeling weak, my lungs began to hurt, and I had no recourse but to sit the hell down. I'm not sure how long I was there, but when I summoned the strength to resume, I jogged gingerly. After a few minutes climbed Arizona, it became apparent I would have been unwise to continue. So, I walked, still light headed. I kept walking until I reached Rockwood- a flat mile from the house. I jogged slowly but surely and finished the job, collapsing into the first-floor bathtub to rinse myself cool. I downed two quarts of gatorade and went about trying -- and failing -- to carry my stuff upstairs. I gave up soon and went to bed, waking up four hours later, falsely panicked that I had overslept.  The next day at work, my head felt like it was cement, and my arms could barely function. I think I am pretty much ran myself to exhaustion the night before. I think it was the most miserable I have been while running, and I probably pushed myself harder than I ever had before, though it was a bad idea to do so. I took the Friday off, smartly.

June 23- I slept in and ran a little too late to beat the rising temperatures. I headed off on what I'm calling my bad ending loop- around to Connecticut, down to Dupont and back up Massachusetts and Wisconsin. I made it halfway up Massachusetts before I overheated and decided to play it safe, in case I had done myself grievous harm Thursday night, and walked the rest of the way after running 5.75 miles.

June 24- Sunday morning I slept in a little bit too much again and resigned myself to an easy 5 miles on my Fordham loop that I adapted from my AU workout warmup.

July 4 I headed up to BCC to run around the track while some of the guys worked out. Ran around with Wiggy a lot and had a total of eight miles. In the afternoon, Witty and I went out and did a Hannay's Gate and I had to stop several times in the fifth mile to let me heart rate slow down.

July 5-6 Thursday and Friday I ran the same Partial Stefan loop, up Wisconsin to Somerset, then to the CCT and down to Albemarle, and back home. Thursday I was on my own and Friday I finally had a run with both Sam and Ryan.

July 7- I was up early Saturday to avoid the 106-degree heat, starting at 6:30, and even then I felt like I had slept in too much. Luckily I had only 9 miles to meet my 60 mile goal for the week, so I simply did a Rockland, stayed on Western to Chevy Chase Circle, came back on Nebraska then headed down Wisconsin to the Hearst field, did a few laps then came back.

July 8- Sunday afternoon, I wanted until the rains were supposed to come in the late afternoon. I set out around 5, with the temperatures still in the 90s, and journeyed down Porter to the Western Ridge Trail and eventually Beach Drive. When I hit Beach, the wind picked up as a thunderstorm brewed, and my first crossing of Rock Creek was greeted with a dramatic thunderclap. The temperature was more bearable and I braced for rain that didn't come. I turned up Bingham and then a long climb up Nebraska home.

July 9- Monday was dramatically better, and it showed in my pace. I ran up Nebraska to Connecticut, to the CCT. I started taking splits at the two-mile mark and marveled as I went 6:10, 6:00, 5:30 for the three miles before I eased up for a mile then was back up those dang Albemarle hills and off for home on Butterworth, a slightly better alternative to Albemarle. I ended up hitting 10.1 miles at 6:30 pace, my fastest in a while.

July 10- Tuesday morning's run to work was a pain. It was humid, I was tired and my knees hurt. Military Road has no sidewalk to speak of, and that made crossing Rock Creek Park a lot less pleasant than I had anticipated. By the time I got to Fort Totten Park, I was feeling beaten up, so I ran to the Brookland Metro and took that the rest of the way. I still got 6.5 miles at 6:55 pace. In the evening, I set off for a run in Somerset and hit a rainstorm less than a mile in, which was fantastic. It felt refreshing to have the water all over the place, blinding me at times, cooling me off constantly, providing entertainment. I ran some turns that had calf-deep torrents running down the hill. After my shoes were completely soaked, the knowledge that it couldn't get any worse released me to enjoy it more. I ended up getting 6.25 miles at a little under 7:00 pace for 13.75 total.

The next morning I headed out on my own to run a 10 mile loop in Somerset. It was incredibly humid and I was soaked within 20 minutes. It was a decent neighborhood for running, with little traffic, and I can easily see a road race working in there, assuming cooperation from the residents. I ended up averaging 7:30s, which

Friday morning I was in Pittsburgh and running eight miles around Chatham Village before taking a nap and heading down to my hotel for a conference. The weather was cool and dry and it looked like I'd have a good stint of training while I was home.

NOPE The next morning, I was up at 5:30 to warm up for my organization's fitness 5k. It was humid as all get out. I got down to the Convention Center and we were off. I burst out into the lead and passed by my department director, who was directing participants, and pointed out that that's why they hired me- to win the fitness 5k. I cruised over the Allegheny to the North Shore and ran alone out to the casino- 8:30 out. I turned and crossed paths with a variety of delegates and staff members and waved to them. I chose one of the bridges, bounded up the steps and back over the river and back to the convention center. I saw the organizer. Oh hello! Surprised to see me here? Yes, she was, because apparently the run finished on the lower level. I ran even splits for 17:00 on what I believe to have been 5k+, because there was no indication of when to turn around. I went out on the jail trail to finish up 12 miles.

I slept in the next morning and ran in the afternoon. It was pretty damned hot. I took Second Avenue out to Hazlewood Avenue and climbed one of the more miserable hills in recently memory. I must have been out of practice running in Pittsburgh. By the time I got to Schenley Park, I opted out of my golf course loop and headed back down the Panther Hollow Trail and back on the Jail Trail. I was pretty beaten up and ready to be done after 12 miles.

I took Monday off. Tuesday evening I headed out from the William Penn to Penn Avenue, then Butler until One Wild Place, then wound up the hill to Negley, then Penn until Children's Hospital, then Liberty. I had a life-sustaining drink of water near the Church Brew Works and continued my cruise down Liberty, totaling 12.

Wednesday morning I did five miles around Chatham Village in the morning, then eight around Fox Chapel in the evening. Climbing Guyasuta from Squaw Run was no joke. Thursday morning I did an easy five around Squaw Valley Park, and eight in the evening in Mt. Lebanon. Both were really tough, weatherwise.

Friday morning I struggled through wretched humidity in Frick Park and was lucky to get about seven miles in. I supplemented that with five around Chatham Village that evening. I took Saturday off to get more rest, because I clearly needed it. Sunday, I headed back to Frick and actually got a solid 10 miles in.

I finally got some new shoes, I realized only after looking up my old order confirmation e-mails that I had been wearing the same two pairs, aside from workouts and some long runs, since early January, almost 2,100 miles.

I'm not quite sure what I did for a while, and I won't delay in finishing this up just to figure that out. There was a lot of doubling and I steadily increased my mileage: 80, 85, 90, 96, and 100 the week ending when I went out to Steve's cabin. I do remember a lot of struggle against the heat and humidity and dissatisfaction with running in northwest DC. It's not to say that it's bad. It's the best part of the city in which to live to be a long distance runner, but in comparison, it's terrible compared to what I had in McLean. The traffic relegates me to the sidewalks, which are crowded with people. Though I have mapped and explored extensively, I have yet to find anything that compares to even my middling loops before. The climbs uphill at the end of every run might be making me stronger, but I don't need them every day. I'm a few miles from Rock Creek Park, but in the summer, it's so muggy and bereft of wind, it's miserable. When it cools down, it will get dark too early to be able to safely run there. And every time we have a heavy rain, trees come down and block trails. Despite all of this, however, I've been able to run decent mileage.

Possibly adding to my frustration is the savagery with which the summer beat me. I don't want to belabor the point, but I'm going to. I should just stop trying to run fast during the summer. Nothing good comes from it. I'll be fine when the weather cools, but for two months, I'm useless faster than 7:00 pace. So, as long as I live here, I won't even plan on racing in the summer.

Friday night, Sam, Beth, Drea and I drove out to Pembroke to Steve and Lori's cabin for an abbreviated training camp. We drove out to Pandapas Park Saturday morning and ran about 10.5 miles on the Poverty Creek Trail, out and back. The climatic change from DC was remarkable, we were running at 10:30 am and feeling great. That afternoon we ran to the War Spur overlook, gingerly, thanks to all of the rocks on the trail. The view was magnificent, as (almost) always. We tried to eat three dishes at Kal Bee among the four of us, but my resistance to pork was our weak spot, and we yielded.

That night, we got to bed significantly earlier than the night before, but woke much earlier after a sudden rain shower hammered the tin roof like thousands of gunshots. Earplugs fixed that. Later that morning, we headed up to the Mountain Lake hotel to meet the Richmond team for its preseason camp long run. At noon, it was still 59 degrees, with a wet chill. It was absolutely ideal. I caught up with a bunch of the guys and met the freshmen as we headed up the gravel road past the lake. We took a detour to see the overlook but the group split up later on. Sam and I continued on the road, climbing like crazy, then turned. On the way back, Sam wanted to let the thing be pressed and I went with him for a while, until my knee started to get sore. he was going less than I was anyway, and I decided to explore the dirt (mud) trails for a while. I ended up getting 2:12, which I equated to 20 miles.

The next evening, Witty and I went out for a run through Rock Creek Park via Calvert. It began pouring and we just relished it.

Thursday evening I went to Falls Church to see my barber and get a decent run. I ended up doing a Slate Run and reveling in the empty suburban streets and I had all to myself.

Saturday I went out to Bull Run Park for a potential long run. The humidity and my fatigue from a long week of not sleeping well doomed me, and I ended up only getting in a little more than 90 minutes for 13 and another 100 mile week.

Sunday morning, I slept in and ran down to Rock Creek Park and around the Western Ridge trail until I got to the field off of Military where I planned to do a fartlek. Only, I didn't want to anymore. I ran some lame laps around the field and headed home for a total of eight. That afternoon, I did the Connecticut loop until I hit the Massachusetts Bridge, and instead took the trail down to Rock Creek Park and ran to the Melvin Hazen Trail for 12.

Monday morning I did the Van Ness Street loop Scott and I did a few weeks ago for eight, then in the afternoon ran to the Donaldsons Run Trail with Billzzz for another eight. It was a little too warm and the park had no water fountain.

Tuesday I did a partial Stefan in the morning in wretched humidity, which drained me down to my lowest weight in years. It was about 90 degrees after work when I did a Potomac loop, extended around the Capitol, and I was really feeling parched by five miles. 13 total.

Wednesday  (Aug. 29) I did a Hannay's Gate five miles easy in the morning, then went to BCC for a workout. I was feeling great after a 2:32 800 warmup. I stuck in the middle of the pack first the first mile and went through in 4:59, then 4:55 for the second, feeling like it was natural. Then, on the 400 jog after the second, I started feeling like I couldn't get a deep breath in. I didn't make it 100 meters in. I came back and started the 5:04 mile with the B group, but was a second slow at the 400 and wasn't feeling up to the rest, so I got off the track and cooled down.

Thursday (Aug 30) I did another Hanny's Gate in the morning, then a Nellie Custis in the evening for 18 total.
Friday morning I woke up without any interest in running, so I didn't. It was my first day off all month, but after 413 miles, I figured why not.

Saturday morning I woke up to hear Molz, Guy and Andy talking about how humid it was. It couldn't be anything worse than what I've felt this summer, I thought. YES, IT COULD. It was awful. It wasn't just uncomfortable, it was hard to breathe. Lauder and Dana picked Hunter and me up a little while later and took us to Pole Green Park. I hadn't been there since 2005, while working for the Herald-Progress. I took off on my warmup around the course and started to feel a stabbing sensation under my shoulder. I joined Watson for a bit and wore my 10-year-old spikes, at which Rhue continues to amaze that they are still in one piece.

I lined up on the far end of a field of 70-some and judged my chances for success. Earlier in the week, I wanted to run as close to 5:00 pace as possible. With the humidity as bad as it was, that was unfeasible. I decided I might as well see how long I could hang on and just have the race kick me into action. I wouldn't be in the same shape as last year, given that I'm a month behind in my training, so I didn't want to set even moderate goals without extremely favorable conditions, lest I lose the results in a cloud of frustration.

Instead, I was lost in a cloud of runners as we ran across the field at Pole Green Park. The last time I was here, it was covered in booths during the Hanover Tomato Festival. I was shocked I was able to run across the grass as fast as I was- during my warmup I could barely jog. It must be the adrenaline of my first race since May. I just kind of sat back in the lead group for a while and followed Kyle and Adam. I realized after most of a lap that I had been running pretty fast for a while, but had no idea how long of how far we were on the course. We came back into the open field and soon enough I found out how fast we were going- 4:51 for the mile. Lauder reportedly said "he's going to pay for that." I kept pushing, but I was starting to feel the combination of thick air and the fastest mile I had run in months. I hung on for a while, but started to fall out of the pack and then was on my own. After what I guess to have been eight minutes, my breathing was a wreck, and I was just pushing for the heck of it, to finish the race. I went through the second mile in 10:10 and just couldn't wait for it to be over. People kept passing me and I had no motivation to stop them. I hoped some animal would come out of the woods and tear me to pieces so I didn't have to finish the race. Not soon enough, I got to the last stretch, and Lauder yelled to "use your weight on the downhill." I tried to kick, but two chaps caught me at the end as we crossed the line and ran right into the finishers waiting to have their numbers recorded. I ended up running 16:05, surprising, given how dead I was at the end. Looking back, I could have pushed more, if I was ready for that kind of pain. I paid lip service to cooling down, but not very much. I was going to enjoy the rest of my day off.

Until I woke up from my nap when Benford showed up to run with Molz. he had my shoes with him, and I figured I might as well go for another run to clear out my legs, after wearing spikes. The first 10 minutes were a rough sequence of belches and back cracks as I dealt with my only-recently-digested lunch, then  an ankle turn. I shook it all off, though. We ran through Byrd Park's Northbank trail, new to me, and over the Lee pedestrian Bridge for a loop of Belle Isle before heading back over the Nickel Bridge and back to Molz's. I hit 10 miles in  61:50, for 6:11 pace, most of that made up in the second half. I found out later that the temperature was in the 90s, but I felt a lot better than I had in the morning. And I ended up getting my 100 miles in for the week, to boot.

The next morning I went off on my own over the Nickel Bridge again to Forest Hill Avenue, then pretty much went backwards on the marathon course. I passed Kyle and Conor heading the other way, but wanted to stick with my route rather than go with them. I was cruising along uncomfortably fast for the humid morning when I got to Stratford Hills and chased a guy down five miles in before heading up Rockfalls. The trip down was bereft of the normal breeze I enjoy so. I followed the detour from Riverside Drive up to Hugenot, then down the hill and over the new bridge to Panorama and through campus. I stopped at the track for water, 10 miles in, and headed up Towana and along Tree Chopt to Grove. I stopped at the mercifully-placed cooler and had a few drinks and gave myself an absolutely necessary splash of ice water in the face. The rest was just miserable. I was hitting the limit for the heat my body could handle and get rid of. When I got to the Boulevard, I stopped and walked back to Molz's. I got 14.25 and later that day decided against doubling.

I checked out the Google streetview of the Hugenot Bridge and saw this dude running

Labor Day morning, I ran from the line with Dickson, Murph, Fox, Tex, Outlaw and Seamus. It was again muggy, and my plans for 13 miles were quickly quashed by my general misery. I ended up getting 11. That evening, I headed down CT to Rock Creek, via Calvert, and headed up the trail toward Ridge Road. As I passed the zoo, though, I saw someone I thought I knew and for the rest of the run was unsure if I was going crazy or not.

Tuesday night I ran a Partial Stefan, but was having a rough time and barely finished seven miles. Wednesday I ran up Nebraska to Oregon and took Western back. That was difficult too, the humidity was killing me. The track workout was over quickly. I led the B group through 3/4 mile and felt the stabbing sensation in my lung, so I dropped out.

Thursday, I struggled through something in the morning, but then joined Witty for an hour out and back on the CCT via Somerset. I felt much better after that. I took Friday off.

Saturday I did an easy 63 minutes from the line with Jake and Sam, without a doubt the most enjoyable run from the line for me, ever. In the evening I did a CT-CCT with Bitz after a storm and relished the cool air. I had been waiting months for that. The run in the mountains was a tease, because I'd have to come back to DC weather. Now, it's getting reasonable to expect this weather.

Sunday morning I woke early to run up to BCC and warm up around the normal loop so I could see the guys finishing the Parks Half. I missed them, though, but got back to the track and was right on schedule for my 2x20 workout. I started slow, 83, but quickly got ahead of pace and averaged 5:26s, feeling really relaxed. I had to take a break during my recovery jog to attend to my intestines, but was right on time to start the second set. Through the mile alone in 5:19, Dickson and Fridge joined me for their three miles at 5:20. Dickson led superbly and I was through 3.75 in 19:53, with no major distress. Given the problem I had digestively, I was even happier with what was on paper my best 2x20 workout ever. Ahead of pace and relaxed. The cool weather does wonders, even though it was still incredibly humid. I didn't have a long cooldown in me.

Monday I met up with Scott for a morning run, then went off into RCP on my own in the evenings, down the Soapstone Valley Trail, along the Western Ridge to the line and the Valley Trail, then the trail between Beach and Ross drives, and up the Melvin Hazen Trail for a total of 20 for the day.

No lobster tonight

Jason and I drove to Richmond Friday afternoon, got our bibs (and saw the JARRINs, Benford and Nicol), dinner at Pasta and Such and made it to Emily's. We checked the forecast- it was supposed to be about 30 at 7 am, and when I unpacked I realized I had forgotten my long running pants. FACK.

I slept pretty well and got up at 5:15, and we drove down to the start. It might have been cold, but I didn't really notice. We warmed up, changed out shoes and headed to the starting line. I saw Ryan Lee, Pat Love and Paul Myer wearing the sharp new Richmond uniforms. Some dude in Vibrams tried to sneak up to the elite start, but he was appropriately shooed back. I mean, this guy's standing here, wearing little rubber toe shoes, expecting to be taken seriously...

The masses started fast, but things settled down within a minute and I moved into a nice pack with a tall VCU runner and a shorter Galen Rupp. We cruised up a slight hill heading west on Broad Street, watching the Afro-centric pack ahead of us and thankful we weren't trying to keep their pace up. We came through the mile in 4:57, though with the delayed start it was actually

4:55, and I felt pretty good. It was nice running with a pack. An African dropped off the lead pack and I pushed the pace to catch him. We got him right around two miles, crossing in 9:57. He tried to struggle and take the lead a minute or so later when we turned on Mulberry and Grace streets, but eventually he fell back again. Shortly after this turn, the tall and short guys pulled away from me slightly, along with a guy in black. I held on as much as I could, but I was losing ground.

My third mile split was 5:14, and I was not pleased with it. As the course started rolling, I put on a long surge to try to catch someone so I'd have a race on my hands at the finish. Every now and then, little Rupp would come back a little, but I couldn't close the gap. I was pleased to see my pace move back the way I wanted it with a 5:11, but I was hoping to be under 5:05. We made our turns onto Cary Street and I really made my move a little early. By the time I reached the .4 mile downhill stretch to the finish, I was kind of floating.

Spectators were cheering for Georgetown when I ran by,and it killed me not to be able to correct them, let them know I was a Spider. That compounded my frustration with the end of the race. I heard Emma Berry and Erin Lunny cheering halfway down the hill, but I wasn't kicking the way I expected and hoped to. You can see in the video both little Rupp and the guy behind me charging into the line, but I just kind of float. It's aggravating to watch. I just kind of stopped when I crossed the line, turned and watched people come in. Jason PRed by 20 seconds and Nicol was chasing him down, running 26:35.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I finished. From the four mile mark to the finish, I only ran 4:55, with a downhill like that I was expecting to be in the 4:40s. I feel I could have broken 25, and I blame it on my third mile- that's when the other guys, who did run in the 24s, got away from me. I'm not great at sprinting by myself, that's why I was pushing so hard to catch up with someone else for that last stretch. That all said, it was a 56-57 second PR, from my 2003 YMCA Turkey Trot. I can't believe it took almost eight years to break that PR, but I did it. I never slowed past 5:14, even when I was hurting, and I don't want to try to run faster than that next weekend. As fast as I ran relative to my previous PR, I wasn't exhausted at the end, and I definitely wasn't smelling lobster, my body's signal that I've pushed myself to exhaustion. I hope that means I have room to improve based on my overall training. If I smelled lobster under 25 minutes, I wouldn't be worried, but if I did at 25:18-19, then I would be a bit concerned about my chances to run fast for 13 miles. I left the race feeling pretty good, and the cold never bothered me.

We drove back to Emily's and cooled down from there, running out to Monument Avenue to watch the marathoners pass. Dave Miller looked pretty good at this point, but he was on his own. Of all people, I saw former Spider Sam Beese, then bumped into Julie Rechel, who was waiting for her roommate to run by. I jumped on the course after I ran out of grass median and joined the runners until they got to Cary, then I turned back and headed to Emily's. The weather was gorgeous, and even though I don't want to run a marathon, I think it would have been a good year to run Richmond. I couldn't stop smiling, regardless of my own race, to be in town for such a great day. I've thought this since 2009, but when it comes time to run a competitive marathon, Richmond is it for me. I love racing down here. I'm almost positive I will do the Monument Ave 10k next year, rather than the Cherry Blossom race. It will mean back-to-back weekends down there, following the Spider Relays, and I can't argue with that. I'll definitely do this 8k again.

The Spiders were at the regional meet, and it obviously didn't go as well as last year, but things are looking up.We had three freshmen in our top seven, and Ryan Lee redshirted. He had run 24:16 at the 8k, so he should be ready to go next year.

I headed over to campus to replace my hate that I left at Wiggy's in May and he apparently fed to his turtle. Then back to DC that evening.

The next morning, I was up just in time to grab my stuff and bike and get to the metro so I could watch the Veterans day 10k. I biked from

the first mile mark to the 5k, then back to the finish to watch the GRC go at it.

Around 3:30, I headed out for a longish run and did a shortened Brook. I was averaging under 6:00 pace through six miles, and I started to feel some intense abdominal pain. I slowed down a bit and jumped into the woods at mile seven to alleviate that pain, then got back to work, keeping things under 6:00 pace through 10 miles. Traffic got a little tight for a while on Old Dominion, as it always does, and I slowed a bit. I also missed the turn I wanted to make onto Mayflower and instead took Dolley Madison to where it crossed Mayflower. As I ran through the neighborhood between Westmoreland and Great Falls, I thought my timing must be off, and I must have slowed significantly, or really gotten lost. I hit the point a mile from home in 1:25 and thought I had slowed down completely. I jogged in, mapped my route, along with my intended route that was not much different, and I realized that I had mapped a 15-mile loop, not 14. Oops.

Monday evening I did a pretty sedate eight miles around Westmoreland. Tuesday I planned to do a peppy 13 miles in Annandale. Things were going pretty well, faster than 6:10 pace through six, then I hesitated and turned back when I wound up on a street that turned out to be correct, and added an extra mile to the loop. I knew I was way off and didn't a second longish run, so I stopped when I got to Grove and walked the rest of the way home after running 13.5.

Wednesday didn't go as well as I would have liked. Karl isn't running Philly anymore, so now I will have to latch onto strangers if I want to run in a pack for the half. I was looking forward to helping him pace the first half of his trials attempt -- having his goal in mind would have given me extra motivation to stay with the guys running 5:17-5:18, and it would have been fun. I still should be able to find people with whom to run who are staying loose in the first half of the marathon. I went to BCC to do my now-solitary race-pace run. I planning initially to do three miles, then when I came through the first in 5:16, decided to do 3xmile. I got in the back of the B pack when they started a mile, but didn't really feel like fighting to the front of the group and stopped after a lap. I didn't feel like running, said that to Jerry, and he said in that case I probably shouldn't be running, so I cooled down and headed home. On and off I started feeling some discomfort along the outside of my right foot. It's the first time I've felt anything like that, and though I immediately assumed the worst and decided it was a stress fracture (like I diagnosed with my right hip the days before I went to Oregon), it's probably just the hypersensitivity that comes with tapering and focus for a big race. Luckily the scheduling technicality makes this the penultimate race, decreasing a little pressure.

Philadelphia's Saturday night low is 43, a little warm, but after Chicago, I can't complain. No rain is in the forecast as of Thursday afternoon. Then again, I did fine with rain at the Freedom's Run race. As much of a breakthrough effort as that was for me, and the fun I had doing, I am looking forward to running a pretty fast course with other people this weekend. I, for one, am happy the half and full marathons use the same course for 13 miles, though I'm sure the marathon runners won't be pleased to see the half guys splitting off and heading home.

Seven years as a Spider alumnus

Monday afternoon I ran a Presidents' Loop, pretty exhausted from waking up at 5, and achy from the bus ride back from Pittsburgh. I averaged 6:45s.

Tuesday morning I did a Fairview Loop in the morning, having some trouble with dehydration around mile seven despite temperatures in the low 60s, and three miles in Kent Gardens Park in the afternoon.

Wednesday, I slept in and skipped my morning run to contritue to my recovery week by getting more rest and focused on the workout- 2x mile and 6x800. I once again felt faint during the warmup, extremely so when crossing East West Highway, but things got better. We ran 5:06 and 5:02- two seconds fast for each, but the 800s were not as easy. Someone, I am not sure who, paced the first (2:24) ridiculously poorly, and we came through the 400 in 70, then finishing in 2:27. The second was better- 2:25. I took the next two and ran 2:22s evenly, which pleased me, and I felt fantastic. The leaders took us out too hard for the 2:20s- our 200s at 33, and I stopped at the 400 with a 69. I took a break and ran the last one, way behind the group- they went out in 66 and I cautiously in 69, finishing in 2:21. Big City ran with me when I did another 400- 66. I was happy with how the workout went, aside from the pacing fiasco. With the humidity dropping lately, I've been able to keep myself together later in workouts and feel a lot better.

Thursday I wanted to explore the downstream portion of the Pimmit Run Trail, so I ran up Kirby to the Marie Butler Leven Preserve and sought to pick up the trail there. I found it, but lost the trail when I came to a neighborhood. I realize where I went wrong, and should be able to find it next time. In the meantime, I did a few laps of the grassy loop at the preserve, then headed into Dominion Hills and caught the upstream portion of the trail. Aside from one downed tree in the second segment, the trail was clear after Hurricane Irene.

Friday morning I did an easy 4.25 mile Idylwood loop.

Saturday brought the most meaningful race of the year--the Spider alumni cross country race. I still feel fortunate, nine years later, to be able to participate in the race. In 2002, I was reeling from two weeks of getting my ass kicked one way from the cruel Virginian summer and the other from my first Division I practices, after a year off following a Division III season that is better forgotten.

When I transferred to Richmond the previous semester, I wasn't eligible, nor was it reasonable for me to expect to join the track team without having run cross country the semester before. As I gradually met the Spiders, thanks to gracious introductions from Ruth, Emily and Angry, I joined them for afternoon runs when I could, but joining runners for their supplemental work served only to give me an abstract idea what the program had come to expect, I had no idea how hard they ran on a daily basis in real workouts. Though I had run cross country at Hampden-Sydney, from day one I was minutes ahead of the rest of the team for regular distance runs, let alone races, so for all intents and purposes, I hadn't run on a strong team since high school track 28 months earlier, and I was out of the sport, as far as real competition was concerned, for almost two years.

When I arrived on campus in August for cross country, a little bit of me died every day, as I finished farther back in every workout as the alumni race -- then just a 5k time trial because we had yet to build an alumni base -- approached. I figured I had a few days until I finished dead last and was subsequently booted from the team. Lauder said later he thought I'd be cut. Somehow I pulled out a fifth place finish and a four-second PR, striving to catch Rhue toward the end of the second mile before I dropped back. In doing so, I managed to finish ahead of five guys who were already on the team. I still remember the day the results went up on the website, my "open" affiliation evidence of my provisional status with the team, but proof that I could hang with them and serving as the best validation of my running career to that point. Four days later, Steve told me he wanted me running for the team at the UVA meet the next week, and I started on the road that would lead me to a lot more of these Spider Alumni 5k races. The relief that I felt that afternoon at the Athletic Director's picnic has been unmatchable, even with my best races since. It changed my whole identity as a runner and oriented me where I am today.

The race moved from Bandy Field (my favorite) to athletic fields owned by St. Catherine's and the Collegiate schools. These days, a new softball stadium at the St. Catherine's fields means we're pretty much never going back there for the alumni race, and I'm not terribly disappointed. The sprinklers seemed to always turn off five minutes before the start, which exacerbates the amount of fluid built up in my shoes. I hadn't run the course at Collegiate before. Our competitive ranks were thin on the Alumni side- Ciccarelli still hobbled from the Little Rock Marathon years before, Lauder now quite relaxed about his running, Watson holding together his hamstring with scotch tape, Molz and Benford in West Virginia for the Charleston Distance Run, Llano convalescing from a car accident a week before, Quinn teaching the leaders of the future in Colorado and Jonny somewhere on I-95 between Richmond and Maine. Seann is still getting after it, but an ankle sprain two weeks before left him severely hobbled. The whistle squeaked and I stuck back in the pack, just trying to get an idea where the course went, because it was all new to me. Most of it was on very short playing field grass that was not saturated with water, which alone made it faster than St. Catherine's. It also seemed to have fewer turns, though there were patches where the ground was uneven, a stark difference to the smooth trails and road on which I run, and it reminded me how soft I have gotten. Skipper and York and Connor and Adam had pulled away within the first mile, and I was dropping back. As we got to the mile mark, a fellow who shall remain unnamed called out 4:25! 4:26! 4:27! I freaked out until I looked at my watch- I came through the mile in 4:49, the bloke had just missed the start.

I spent the next mile struggling and lagging behind a William and Mary guy.As I neared the end of the second mile, Steve was waiting near a tree. "Get green" he whispered. The WM guy was about 30 yards ahead, and I figured, why not? I came through mile 2 in 5:08 high, then set to work reeling in my target. I had him less than halfway into the third mile, and I charged up the one significant hill on the loop to try to shake him, but I felt him on my tail. As I closed in on the last stretches to the finish, Barkhuff was waiting on the second-to-last field, screaming for me. I managed to hold off the WM dude, plus a pair of Richmond freshmen to finish my third mile in 5:10 and the race in 15:46. I cooled down with the other alumni and did a little extra to get me to 90 for the week. I did some mild uphill running that evening.

I woke up well before 7 Sunday morning for my long run. Seann, Lauder and Z were planning to start at 9 to do about 40 minutes, so I wanted to get at least 90 in before that. I ran to and through campus to Panorama Drive, over the Hugenot Road Bridge and onto Riverside Drive, left toward Hickory and Cherokee for some rolling hills. There isn't much of a shoulder on Cherokee, but traffic was light. I wore a shirt for this part of the run so I could grab a Gatorade at the 7-11 on Hathaway, then headed to Stratford Hills. I cut a few miles from the Riverside Drive portion to ensure I would be back in time to meet the other guys, but climbing and descending Rockfalls was great, as always, especially the portion down Menokin. I jumped back onto the bridge to head over the James River and onto Westham Station, once a favored stretch of quiet shady road, which has since been transformed to a staging zone to build a new bridge over the river. The trees are largely gone now. I barely remember climbing the hill to Westham Parkway. Then I headed back to campus for 14 miles in 90 minutes.

Seann decided on Roslyn, one of my favorite loops, though we only got to Higginbotham before we turned around. I ended with 20 miles in 2:10, and though the last two miles were pretty lagging compared to what I was running earlier, it was great to be with my old teammates.

Monday morning I ran out intending to do a reverse Scott's Run, but I made a last-minute turn onto the Pimmit Run Trail, ran out to the Potomac School and back for an easy 85 minutes.

Tuesday morning was a sedate out-and-back 10 miles to Vienna at 6:42 pace, then 4.25 miles at 6:30 pace on an Idylwood loop in the afternoon.

There's nothing quite like depth in the 5k

Top A-10 times through April 25

5,000-Meter Run

Name Yr. Team Time

1 Benford, Andrew SR UR 13:55.88

2 Llano, Matt SR UR 14:00.01

3 Spisak, Jim SO DUQ 14:08.64

4 Quinn, Tim SR UR 14:08.96

5 Kauffmann, Tommy SR XU 14:13.02

6 McDonnell, Kevin JR SJU 14:19.64

7 Stolar, Mike JR DUQ 14:24.53

8 Hausherr, David SO LAS 14:29.83

9 Lee, Ryan FR UR 14:33.61

10 Anderson, Erik SR DUQ 14:34.1

At least I outkicked the GW guy

I knew Nightingale was going to take the race out fast, so I thought I was sitting far enough back.

Clearly, it was not far enough back.

When I heard my first lap split was 69, I nearly had an aneurysm. What in God's name was I doing? I thought I was in the second group, the one running at a more moderate pace. After two more 71s, it became clear that was not the case, and George Mason had the deepest 5k field in the last decade or two. These guys aren't going to slow down, I realized, so I needed to back off. It was then I probably ruined the race I had found myself in.

Upon hearing how fast I was going, I had two productive choices- keep it up and burn myself out and see where it takes me, or immediately slow down and get back on my planned 4:55 pace. I did neither. From there it just got ugly. Through the mile in 4:47, the 2k in 7:20, but I was going the wrong way. Conor and Adam passed me then. Adam said something I couldn't make out and I mumbled in response. Then they were gone. I ran the second half on my own, struggling and getting slower. The only thing that buoyed my race was kicking down a George Washington kid. Their former coach, Jim Something, was a dick to me in 1999, so I have been taking it out on GW dudes ever since. Otherwise, I ran a gutless race for 15:48. I also beat two VMI guys, but they barely count.

That said, it was my 14th college-level track race, and by far the fastest 5k in which I have ever been embroiled. It was nice, though, to have Murph, L. Diddy, Stubbs, Lori, Jenn, Nicol, Erin, Skipper Little Benford and an assortment of other Spiders cheering for me. I just wish I had run smarter. Either way, faster or slower. There was no smart middle ground.
The 4:47 was my fastest mile in two years. I know I'm reasonably fast. The only training tweaks I can think of is not wearing a watch for my distance runs and finding some way to keep the slower portions of my "p-word" runs under control.
Next Sunday's B.A.A. 5k will be the first race I run this year that I had run last year, so I will get a good assessment of how much I have progressed.

In spikes again

It was hard to tell, watching me race the 5k at the Fred Hardy Invitational, whether I was 28 or 18.

On the surface, I was successful. I ran 15:42, which is the fastest I have run for 5k since 2008, though there is no telling what I would have run in 2009 in Scituate (without a train coming through the race and stopping me). As Jerry points out, three months ago I couldn't eat anything but melted sorbet, so running again like this is pretty good. When I look at the race in the context of the work I have put in, the way I have felt in workouts and the experience I have, it was disappointing.

First mistake- indecisive travel planning. My departure from Washington was up in the air until shortly before I left, but that wasn't much of a problem. When I arrived in Richmond, however, I was faced with getting to campus from downtown. I figured I could take a cab, but saw none when I arrived. I came across a Grove Avenue bus, and the driver told me a bus that went to campus was shortly behind hers. I waited on a bench for 75 minutes for that bus, which ended up being hers again. Granted, it was only $1, but it was a long time to wait outside in the relative cold, with smokers hanging out around me. Evidently I somehow missed two buses during that time that would have taken me to campus.

Once I arrived, I walked around a bit, signed in, and started my warmup way too early. Perhaps 20 minutes too early. I did a four laps of Bandy -- God I miss that field -- came back, and realized I had a half hour to freak out. I talked to Sherry and Lori for a while, then went out for my hard warmup. I took my spikes down to the field, put them on for the first time since the 2003 A-10 meet, and did a few strides and drills. Rhue joked that my spikes wouldn't likely survive the race, but I knew they wouldn't let me down. There was some confusion on the line with a kid wearing the wrong hip number, and luckily that gave me a chance to investigate the awful poking in my right shoe. It turned out to be a torn, sticking right into one of my toes. I was able to get the shoe back on before we took to the line.

I was out in 74, feeling pretty good, but far back. Another 74 high, though I was comfortably tucked in. I got a little more aggressive, moved up and ran 72, then a 73, and split 4:55 for the first mile. I was happy with that. I had great support -- Lauder and others along the home stretch, Sherry on the first curve, Steve on the back stretch, all very specific and helpful. I tried to stay aggressive after I heard the mile split, and went 73 and 74 for the next two laps. Then it got a little breezy, so I tucked behind a tall Shippensburg runner. He, unfortunately, slowed down, 75, 76, both high, and I came through two miles in 9:55, a 5:00 second mile. I started to feel taxed, and I stuck behind him rather than try to break free in the last mile- 77, 78, 79. After I saw the 79, I knew I had to do something over the last 600 or the race would be a total disaster. I tried to get moving but it wasn't happening. I came through the third mile at 15:10 and fought to finish in 35, but I didn't catch the Shippensburg guy and a Kutztown fellow I passed a while before kicked in like a maniac and nipped me. I was 15:42.82 and not pleased.

(photos courtesy of Steve Taylor)

Before the race, I told Sherry a good race would be 15:15, a modest race would be 15:30 and a bad race would be 15:45. I guess I came in a few seconds short of a bad race. Molz won in 14:57, with just a little challenge from a Ship dude. I was happy to have beaten the two Lynchburg guys in the race, because that year as a Hampden-Sydney Tiger resonates in me with a competitive urge to beat other ODAC athletes. I only wish I had been able to trounce a Longwood runner...

Surprisingly, though, my legs felt great. Lori and Steve both remarked that a race kicks out the junk and makes you want more. Well, I want more. After watching Little Benford run 8:56 for his first steeple experience since last summer (no practice or anything), I got a good four-mile cooldown around campus, then watched the unfortunate Richmond-Kansas basketball game on the stadium's video screen.

I woke up and did my long run, combining Rosslyn, Collegiate, University and Westham loops. I forgot just how much I enjoyed the Rosslyn loop, Fatty Z was right, we ran it so frequently in college that it is hard to truly appreciate it. Saturday morning, I did not see a single car while I was on the loop, but came across some delightful walkers. I averaged 6:06 at the 6,10 and 12 mile marks, then took it very easy for .75 miles on Westham. Once I hit Patterson again, I started going after it pretty hard down Ridge Top and subsequent roads until I hit campus again. I took it easy up Boatwright and finished kind of hard, averaging 6:15 for 16.25, not too bad a little more than 12 hours after my race. I watched Amy set a school record in the 3k and Ryan Lee and Chris York run great races behind Llano's sub-8 3k attempt. Quinn also ran pretty well, after a fast first lap.

Regardless of my disappointment with my race, it was wonderful to be back in Richmond and on campus. In addition to all the success Steve and Lori have with the teams every year, they do a great job bringing alumni back and keeping them involved. I can't wait until the web broadcast is archived and I can listen to Fatty Z and Stubbs' audio commentary. They really made the meet a family-like atmosphere, with Luke helping at the check-in desk, Howard managing the timing, Mike Cox and Steve Spence bringing their teams to compete. A number of connections worked together to get Quinnipiac to the meet so Jenn Ennis could race one of her high school teammates, with their high school coach Sherry watching. It really is the most comfortable place I can think of being.

After a trip back to DC and not much sleep, I got up Sunday and ran in Rock Creek Park, about 11 miles with Jake, Murph, Karl, Brian, Max and Manitoba. I wasn't feeling great, but got the miles in the books, then took a two hour nap before getting seven more miles at 6:39 pace on Park Plus in the evening.

100% chance of slush, 200% chance of wind

Last week's snow has overstayed its welcome, though to be honest it had done so the second the Office of Personnel Management declined to issue a delayed start on Friday.

I headed out to George Mason on Saturday morning to watch the Spider track team in action.

I went out to start my run around the neighborhoods near GMU with York and Kyle, then I kept going and did 10x1 on the slush-covered streets once they headed back to the fieldhouse. My long pants were soaked and heavy by the end, and I never really felt comfortable running fast.

I got to see Steve, Lori and a bunch of the younger Spiders. I learned the difference between Kyle Reagan and Adam Owens, saw a bunch of guys PR or come close to it, and watched Amy VanAlstine run what would have been a school record in the 3k if she wasn't redshirting this season. She and Nicol Traynor looked about as smooth as I've seen anyone race indoors.

I thought York looked flat in the mile, but I didn't even have a watch on it when I came into the fieldhouse in the middle of the race, so I had no idea he was about to PR by 10 seconds.

Steve put together a great set of photos from workouts recently, including from two of my favorite places to work out in Richmond- Belle Isle and Bandy Field. I was spoiled to have a park like Bandy nearby.

Workout on Belle Isle

I tried a new long run loop Sunday afternoon -- Brook -- with great success. It was in the low 40s, warm enough to wear shorts, which felt great, even with the slush. The close-fitting long-sleeved shirt was a little too warm, but I lived with it. Three miles in 18 flat, 10 miles in 6:11 pace, rolling hills throughout. I slowed a bit in the next five miles because of increased traffic on Old Dominion and the brewing storm in my intestines, which convinced me to walk in from 15.2 miles, averaging 6:22. Not too bad! The loop took me farther out on Great Falls, enough that I got to the point where people were building garishly big houses with no mature trees around them. As sickening as that was, I liked feeling like I was getting away, even though I wasn't far from Route 7 to the southwest. I love crossing over the beltway for some reason.

Monday I was about to head home to run when Outlaw requested I join him for an easy 10 in Alexandria. That ended up being a huge boost for my motivation, because I really wasn't feeling up to running by myself. We ran about 6:55 pace.

Tuesday the boss told us to stay home, in preparation for impending freezing rain, so I used my extra 80 minutes that I wasn't spending commuting to double. I ran Park Plus at 7:00 pace in the morning, worked, then an Idylwood Filler for 4.8 miles at 6:50 pace in the afternoon.

Wednesday promised temperatures in the high 40s and sunshine, and we got it, until the work day ended and I headed over to Lafeyette Park for the alternate workout, despite YF's attempt to change the workout venue right before everyone was due to meet. Dickson, Anonymous Cotterell and Outlaw and I ran "miles" on Pennsylvania Avenue between the park and the White House, measured with a GPS watch, the accuracy and precision of which I did not entirely trust. It was getting colder by the second and the winds were picking up, and it was certainly not easy. I ran the first two in 5:19 and 5:24, before Dickson said he was finding them to be a bit long and more like 10 seconds fast. Great, because I was working my ass off trying to run what I thought was 5:20 pace or faster. I lasted a quarter mile of the third one before my legs and lungs shut down. I know I should have taken it easier when the wind started savagely whipping the second we started, and from the very start I should have just run for time rather than distance. Part of the beauty of being away from a track was that I wasn't a captive to the constant feedback from the watch, and I forgot that. 2x10 minutes would have been perfect, just run at about 90% and it would be great, but no, I pushed foolheartedly into the wind, bound to be disappointed by whatever time I ran for these "miles." Did I think it was just going to beat myself into shape?

I left feeling a bit dejected.

Thing were complicated further by a group of Egyptian protesters. If only Mubarak had come to power a week later, they, and the obligatory police cars, would not have been in our way.

That all said, it was a good place to work out, as would be the ellipse on the other side of the White House.

It was a little darker... and windier...

I slept in the next morning and didn't run to work. Instead I took a break in the afternoon and ran the ever-extending Catholic loop. This time it was 10.86 miles and I ran 6:14 pace.

64 legs dashed across the LaVerne Gibson cross country course

(I'm not sure if I will ever get the font right...)

There's no better way to feel slow and out of shape quite than trying to sprint around rolling fields on a windy day chasing a massive pack of the nation's fastest runners a few hours after eating a foot-long sub.

That's how I spent Monday in Terre Haute, chasing down eight Spiders.

I spent most of Sunday traveling, and didn't run. I took the metro to Greenbelt, a bus to the airport, a flight to Charlotte and another to Indianapolis. When Watson arrived, we drove to Terre Haute and met up with Hunter, Molz, Dan, Fatty Z and another Richmond alumnus I can't name because he'd be fired. But he looks like the guy to the right.

We bowled and headed back to bed.

In the morning, we caught up with Andrew Benford's family and found our way to the course. It's a great plot of land, probably the best compromise for a national cross country race I can think of. I would surely prefer a hillier course on par with Frick Park or more eastern-biased like Furman, but the Laverne Gibson course is pretty cool.

After seeing Tim Quinn and Matt Llano's parents, we bumped into Garrett and his girlfriend

Juliette, who drove up from Brevard, N.C. the night before. Watson wryly noted that Garrett still had the look of a focused driver when we came across him in the bleachers.

Rad Guzenhauser and Dave Adley passed by on their way to find T.J. Hobart, but none of the three were running, so as far as I know, Penn State's Chris Cipro, from Seneca Valley, was the only WPIAL athlete racing for the men.

Watson and Z and I found a good routine for watching the opening of the women's race. It was hard to find Amy Van Alstine because she ran the right kind of race-- ensconced in a pack. The wind was prohibitive, and she put herself in a situation where she could rely on her fitness to race, rather than having to worry as much about the elements. It was deceptively warm- in the upper 60s, but with nothing of substance for miles, the wind was going "buck wild," to paraphrase Sarah V. Taylor (Westhampton College '03).

George Washington's Megan Hogan was running a gutsy race in the front, taking the lead at one point and staying in contention. Now that it's been about 10 years since they replaced that dick of a coach I spoke to during my college visit in 1999, it's about time I let that grudge go and could cheer openly for Hogan. Her quick

ascendancy to the sport's upper echelon is pretty remarkable. She finished eighth, tucked behind two Stony Brook girls. It was again hard to see Amy, but I caught a glimpse through the crowd a

long the fence. She wound up 67th in 21:06.

I broke from the older alumni in a successful attempt to see Amy before the finish, then caught up with Mello, Ellis, Adam and Patrick for the beginning of the men's race. I had never seen such a tightly-bunched pack before. They were gone in five seconds! I did see Levi and Skipper toward the back, though, and thought perhaps their time was up this season.

It's hard to describe exactly what I saw because it all happened to fast, disjointedly and on limited amounts of oxygen. I dashed from point to point on the course trying to see and yell as much as I could. I went long stretches without seeing Benford, and of course I jumped to conclusions that he had dropped out rather than considering the possibility I missed him. Then, all of a sudden, he was ahead of Llano. Then, right with him. Later, about 20 seconds behind. Trying to keep track of five runners was maddening.

The least in command of a race I had ever seen Benford and Llano was when I first time I met them, as a freshmen at the A-10 meet, when they were 8th and 10th, respectively. To see them lost in this crowd was disorienting, though it was also my first time watching a national championship race in person.

Throughout the race, Tim Quinn seemed the most in command. Jonny Wilson started out slow and moved his way up confidently. Chris York was also pretty far back, but looked within himself. Levi was hurting, but not too far back, Skipper was walking dead, way off the back, at the mercy of the wind pummeling his tall frame.

It's useless to try to untangle my memories into a readable narrative. So here are the numbers and what I thought:

44 Matt Llano 30:36

75 Andrew Benford 30:55

116 Tim Quinn 31:20

204 Jon Wilson 32:13

219 Chris York 32:35

225 Levi Grandt 32:53

246 Jason Skipper 36:46

Llano ran close to his regionals time, so did Quinn. Wilson and York actually ran faster, despite fighting the wind for most of the race on their own. Skipper just faced compounding odds on his own against the wind plus whatever illness he had that took him out of the race early. I'd say Quinn probably ran the best race relative to how he consistently performs. His improvement over the last three years has been the most remarkable of the guys on the team. Wilson also ran pretty well, and moved up throughout the race.

Nobody was going to run fast, with that wind in their faces three times and nine days after another cross country 10k. They beat their 28th place ranking by finishing 24th, and beat Notre Dame, Texas, Minnesota, Louisville, Georgetown, Penn State and California (of California).

As the athletes, alumni, and recruit visiting from Chicago stood locked in arms with Steve, I could see the gamut of emotions. From regret that some couldn't run faster, to nascent melancholy that the races were over for them, to the admiration that I know I was expressing. A few have said, this was a once-in-a-lifetime race for us. Some take offense to that, interpreting it as a slight to the future of the program that the Spiders couldn't make it back. I think they can, and they will- their appearance certainly raised the program's visibility to recruits that will want to get better, not just be part of an all-star team. But the moments that this team created, breaking through after years of improvement, will never happen the same way. The first conference championship, the first at-large bid for the national meet, the first time the runners could improve on the team's pre-race ranking and demonstrate that they deserved to be there. From there the program continues to build, and I hope it builds the right way. Steve is a fantastic coach who not only knows how to train your body, but manage your mental approach to the sport, and life. That's only part of the equation, the runners that populate the program will need to continue to be right.

I hope that the caliber of our recruits in the future is defined not by their high school times, but by their attitudes about running and the strength of their determination. I have seen too many great high school runners come to the program and flame out, sooner or later, for a variety of reasons (see T. Santifort, R. Chapman, P.J.) because they don't want to put in the work. Watson and I put in the work, we might not have been supremely talented, but I don't think we could have done much more. I don't want to speak for Jeff, but I don't think I want top-notch runners coming to Richmond,I want the middle-tier runners who get better and appreciate the value of hard work and succeed. John Cicarelli, who famously showed up in Steve's office the first week of school, wanting to run, and two years later was our first individual conference champion.

Teams made of guys like that and Dan Petty, who didn't have the same physical ability to compete at the highest levels, but shoehorned himself into the decathlon for the sake of the team.

If anyone is Googling "University of Richmond cross country" and gets this, that's the kind of athlete this alumnus wants to see join us.

As for the results, no Miami of Ohio, I am pleased to say, they couldn't make it to the meet. That might be the most satisfying for me, though beating Penn State was pretty sweet. When my high school teammate Charlie VanGombos went there as a freshman in 2000, he relayed that the upperclassmen were trying to make nationals, and a few of them were major-league assholes. Even though they were long-graduated (though the biggest of such was there as a coach of another school) it was nice to beat them, though doing so came at the expense of a number of my friends' program.

Some notes:

• Mustaches are getting out of control. They don't look cool, they look awful. Especially on the Penn State team. Florida State finished second in both races, and that was pretty darned cool, but they also had mustaches, so that tempers their accomplishment. Especially the ladies'.
• I miss our old uniforms. As nice as I am sure the Nike uniforms are, it is so hard to pick out our runners. See the top photo for a comparison with our old B.O.A. uniforms. They were distinctive. So were the red shorts-white top combo they wore for the 2008 A-10 meet.
• Jeff Watson's analysis of the way crowds move across the field as the runners pass:
• Imagine if every time the ball changed possession in a football game fans for each team had to run across the field and switch bleachers -- that is what it's like at a big XC meet. Human Stampede.
• The Duke coach is pretty cool. His gracious praise for our team's performance was appreciated.
• We were five points from beating Villanova. Llano was four spots from a cross country All-American award to go with his outdoor track 10k distinction.
• I passed the Alabama tent and yelled in "Texas Paul sends his love," but I didn't stick around for the follow-up questions.
• The trip was totally worth it.

Photo of the pack by James Galen and Letsrun.com, others by me or as credited to PrettySporty.com