Spring break at Zap fitness

( Zap Fitness Center)

Last week was our spring break and this year me and a few of my teammates decided we wanted to go somewhere running related. At first thought Eugene and Flagstaff came to mind, but money wise that was out of the question. So, after almost deciding to just stay in Indiana I came up with the idea of us going to Zap Fitness in Blowing Rock,NC. Zap fitness is a non-profit organization that helps fund elite post collegiate runners in their quest to make the Olympic team or to just be national/world class runners. They have regional and elite standards for athletes who apply. The elite athletes receive room and board, $500 monthly stipend ( plus I'm pretty sure there are bonuses depending on how you perform), travel expenses, physiological testing, training and racing gear, and after 6 months you receive health insurance. Zap also does a lot of different running camps in the summer and has numerous amounts of collegiate teams who stay at their facility. The coach at Zap Fitness is Pete Rea who was a pretty good runner at the university of Connecticut ( i believe 29:29 in the 10k).



Anyways, heading to Zap Fitness I really didn't know what to expect I mean most kids are heading to Daytona beach and we were on our way to Blowing Rock, NC. I heard good things about the trails there but I really wasn't expecting the most amazing place I've ever run! After a 7hr drive we dropped our stuff off at Zap and headed out for a run at Moses Cone state park. Moses Cone is a park that has about 25-30 miles of carriage trails ( wide trails with really thin crushed gravel or limestone) through the mountains of Blowing Rock. This park has everything you could ever want, a flat 1500 meter loop for intervals, winding trails up mountains for hill work, and beautiful scenery to get lost in while knocking out a long run. Once we got back from the run we got settled into our rooms and got ready for dinner. The zap fitness center is comprised of two buildings the building on the left ( in the picture) is where guest stay and the one on the right is where the athlete's stay. The guest residence I believe has 12 rooms in all (some doubles and some singles) we rented two double rooms which was pretty much like a dorm room, so we felt right at home...haha. The guest residence also has a living room on the first floor the consist of a fire place, few couches, and a TV/DVD player. Since we were the only ones staying there we had the whole place to our self ( well Jeff Gaudette did stay the first night....that guy is hilarious).

( map of moses cone 25 miles of trails...however there is another lake not shown that has a trail up a mountain and probably adds another 10 miles or so of trail)

The athlete building consisted of two kitchens ( one down stairs in the cafeteria and one up stairs were some of the athletes live), a weight room, physiological testing lab, rooms for the athletes, and a office/ living area where we spent most of our time playing guitar hero..haha. They also have three other houses, one for Pete and Zika Rea, one for the two girls on the team, and another house for two other athletes...all of which are located within a mile of zap. All of the athletes seemed pretty cool we ran with most of the guys one day on a dirt road that ran along a river and passed a water fall. Jonathan Pierce formerly of Standford had a ping pong duel with one of my teammates Scott Keeney...this was probably one of the best ping pong matches in history...haha. Keeney won the first match and Pierce took the second we were going to have a grudge match but Pierce had to fly to NY for the 8k championships ( Pierce also found out that he made the world xc team while we where there...so that was pretty exciting). Brendan O'Keefe ( 1500 meter runner) was a really cool guy he had us cracking up about a bunch of stuff ( Pete decided when Brendan had a kid he had to name it Okidokie O'Keefe..haha) . Lastly, overall the trip cost 195 dollars for a 4 night stay, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners. I felt this was a great deal especially since the meals we had were 5star and buffet style! One of the athletes Michael Bunker happened to be a chef and he made us the most amazing dishes ever I've never eaten so much food...haha.

Training wise I ended up getting in 80 miles in last week I only did one workout which was a 35 min tempo mostly up hill. I also got in a 16 mile long run which is my longest run in the last month or so. That run went by so fast on Moses cone I felt like running more but knew that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. This week I started my first week of 10k workouts and I'm excited to continue the training that Derick has planned for us. Also, Derick decided that I should be put on a 1hr limit on my runs (excluding long runs) and add more morning runs to make up mileage. This is an attempt to keep me healthy but at the same time run higher mileage and I'm all for that!

This spring break was by far the best spring break I've ever had. I've done the whole Daytona beach thing and don't get me wrong I had a great time, but this was fun yet inspiring at the same time. Being in such a great atmosphere really got me pumped on training for my last season as a sycamore and my future plans in running. Everyone at Zap Fitness made us feel right at home and I would definitely recommend them to other athletes.

(Sycamores and Zap)

Meyo invite

This past weekend our team went to the Notre Dame Meyo invite. This is meet is always one of the better meets in the nation. Notre Dame's indoor track is simply amazing, it's 320 meters which makes it amazing for long sprinters as well as distance runners. I was a little worried going in to this meet since i've been banged up the past 2 weeks. I've been dealing with some tendonitis for the last month and these past 2 weeks my training has been sup par. My miles went from 75, to 60, and then 44. However I managed to get some decent cross training in and it kind of gave me an opportunity to take a weekend off (I didn't run at our last meet). Anyways, I ended up running the 5k at meyo and my goal (as usual) was to finally run under 15mins. Since it had been about a week since I ran a workout I really wasn't sure how I was going to feel, so I really didn't get to hung up on breaking 15 ( usually I think about splits the whole week..haha).

The race went out around 70 second pace because some of the big east kids needed to qualify for conference, so this set up perfect for me I decided I would just hang on as long as possible. I stayed on the pack till about 2miles when they made a move and I didn't react soon enough. With about a lap to go I knew as long as I didn't start walking I would be under 15..haha...my final time ended up being 14:55. This is the first race in two years (and the first track race) that I haven't been dissapointed in afterwards. Although I know I can run much faster this is one goal that i've had for a few years and im really glad to put a check mark next to it. So, this means since my senior year of high school my 5k pr has went from 16:56 to 14:55 not to shabby..haha. This coming week I will be running the 3k and hopefully I will come up with another PR.

Well the 5k was great and all, but the real high light of this weekend was brought to you by none other then Jordan Fife..haha. Fife was in the meyo mile going for the elusive sub 4 mile that he missed by .14 last weekend. This was by far the best mile field he had ever been in the list included, Grant Robinson, Sam bair, Jeff See, Jack bolas, Dorian ulrey, and few more great milers. At the start of the race Fife got squeezed to the very back of the pack while the favorites tuck in a few meters behind the rabbit (Scott " I'll lead you to glory" Overall). Now usually this isn't a big deal because Fife has one of the best kicks I have ever seen but he usually isn't kicking against these high caliber guys. So, needless to say all us sycamores started to get worried as he stayed in the back for 1lap,2laps,3laps..etc. The pack came through 800 around 2:00 while Fife came striding through at about 2:02high. Coming into the bell lap he had moved up slightly to the back of the main pack....coming into the last turn the kid had maybe passed one person on the lead pack. By this time we are going crazy and although these guys are good we know that it is a matter of time till those knees start lifting like crazy...and sure enough coming off the turn Fife is well.....straight rollin! Coming down the straight away he's pasting people left and right while the announcer is yelling "and here comes fife!"(it reminds you of billy mills when the announcer went crazy for him). Fife past everone except Jack Bolas from wisconsin who was just to far ahead....when fife crossed the line we heard 3:59 but we wanted to wait for the offical time. When his time came up 3:59.75 all of us Sycamore distance guys sprinted down there and gave him a hug...haha. As of right now this is probably going down as one as my greatest running related memories. Its always cool to see someone go sub 4, but when its one of your best friends and you were around when he couldn't break 4mins in the 1500 its pretty special.

On a side note I should have an interview with Fife after he runs the USA indoor championships. We were almost done with it but once we thought there was a chance he would go sub 4 and run at USA indoors we figured we might as well wait..haha.

Start of Indoor season

Last weekend kicked off my least favorite running season....indoor! Don't get me wrong I much rather be racing indoors then outdoor in these frigid temperatures, however running 3k's and 5k's on a 200 meter makes me feel like a hamster running around that stupid wheel. Also, with my lack of speed the 3k feels more like the 60 meter dash...I wonder if they will let me use blocks this year haha. Anyways, last week we had a duel meet at Illinois State University. I ran the 3k and overall I think I did ok I got third overall and second on the team to Scott Koressel. The race went out pretty slow (3:00 for the 1'st k) then it started to pick up due to Jordan Anderson from Illinois State. He ended up dropping Koressel and I by the second K...kind of disappointing but it’s still early.

Training is still going pretty well, I’m now at my 5th or 6th week at 70-75 miles which is the longest I’ve been able to stay this high for awhile. I have a bit of posterior tibia tendonitis right now, but it’s not bothering me to much. I want to go up in mileage, but I think I’m going to wait till I shake this tendonitis. This weekend we are heading to EIU for the EIU mega meet and for the first time in my college career I’m not running the 3k or the 5k!....instead I’m running the ( drum roll).....mile! I haven't ran a 1600/mile since my senior year of high school, so my p.r in the mile is about 4:50..haha (of course I’ve went faster during a 3k/5k). I’m not even sure how to run this race more than likely it’s going to feel like I’m sprinting for 8 laps..haha.

Tuesday, after our team meeting coach Mcnichols had a separate meeting with the seniors on the team. He told us that this is our team and we have to take responsibility for what happens this year. However, what stood out the most to me during this meeting was coaching stating " it’s better to lead by pulling then pushing". So, even though I hate indoor season it is up to me to help lead this team through this season. I can no longer expect Jordan Fife or Justin Kunz to do it for me....their time has past.