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Zoe Riikonen: RT Journals

posted by rtchris on February 22, 2010, 3:13am

by Zoe Riikonen

With only three weeks to go until the big race, (Australian Junior Championships 11`-14^th of March) it is set to be a big one! I am very excited for these championships as they are also selection trials for the World Junior Championships in Canada. I am looking forward to the opportunity to racing my fellow competitors at this major meet, since I didn’t compete at the National Championships in December last year.

Recently I decided to run two gift races for something different and a bit of fun. The Australia day gift race was over 120m on grass track at the Gold Coast. I thought it would be a good speed workout. I progressed to the final on a handicap of 6m and placed 3^rd. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience so I decided to enter another one two weeks later, which was part of the Brisbane Classic at the QE2. The 400m handicap was men and women combined with everyone starting in lane 1 and no block starts. It was pretty tough with approx 10 competitors in each heat and only two to go through to the final and the next fastest. I unfortunately did not make it through to the final, although neither did any of the women.

At the Queensland State Championships on the following weekend (13^th & 14^th Feb) I competed in the 400 and 200. There was some great competition in both events and I enjoyed being back competing with my Queensland colleagues. I placed 3^rd in the 400m (which was a close finish) and placed 4^th in the 200m. At the moment I am feeling mentally good, and I know the next few weeks I will have to put in 110% into training to see the results.

Note: In the lead up to the Australian Junior Championships, I will be competing in the Glynis Nunn Shield (ed: Zoe placed 2nd in the 400m in 57.60s and also ran 12.78s for the 100m and 25.80s in the 200m) and possible the Garry Brown Shield as well. I will be looking to compete at most meets in the lead up to Sydney to be in the best competition form. The weeks are going past fast, so the plan is to stay injury free, look after my body and keep healthy.

I am looking forward to the next challenge!

Zoe Riikonen

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 22, 2010, 3:19am

Gregson: A Column By Len Johnson

posted by rtross on February 19, 2010, 6:01pm

By Len Johnson.

Thursday was a blue sky kind of day at Falls Creek _ a gorgeous sunny morning, with not a cloud to be seen.

To Ryan Gregson, it would hardly have mattered had it been clouded in and raining. Pretty well every day is a blue sky day for the talented youngster at the moment.

On 6 February, Gregson ran a personal best 1:47.06 for 800 metres in Newcastle. Six days later he smashed Beijing Olympic representative Mitch Kealey over the last lap of a 1500 in Hobart, winning by over two seconds in a near personal best 3:37.24.

Now he is training in Falls Creek with others including Collis Birmingham, Kealey, Andy Baddeley, Jeff Riseley and Benita Willis. He may not turn 20 until April, but Gregson already looks at home in such company.

Gregson is obviously very good. The inevitable next question is how good he can be. Precocious Africans aside, few young men in the world are running, or have run, better.

The funny thing is, Australians tend to take this in a rather matter of fact manner. American track and field fans rave over German Fernandez, the sporadically brilliant Allan Webb still has many fans, so too the permanently flaky Gabe Jennings. Americans also seem to be a lot keener on creating a Gregson v Fernandez thing. LetsRun almost invariably refers to the putative rivalry in reporting Gregson’s performances.

Maybe we should be jumping up and down then, but I suspect we won’t. Perhaps this will help Gregson keep his feet on the ground, perhaps not. Maybe when you are running that fast short of your 20^th birthday, it doesn’t matter whether your feet stay on the ground or not.

One thing to say, as my first coach used to tell me, is that if Ryan Gregson doesn’t do any better than his current performances, he already has done quite a bit. He has broken the Australian U20 record formerly held by Mike Hillardt, a world championships finalist, Olympic Games rep and gold medallist at the first World Indoor Games, the forerunner to the world indoor championships. He has represented at a world championships.

But he wants more. In his post-race remarks in Hobart, Gregson said he wanted to be the best in the world and managed to work the names of both John Landy and Herb Elliott into the conversation. Both these men were, at some stage, the best in the world. Both did it at a young age, too. Elliott was world record holder at the mile and 1500 metres before his 21^st birthday and Olympic 1500 metres champion at the age of 22. He had effectively retired before he turned 23.

Landy was 22 when he made the Helsinki Olympic team and ran 4:02.1 for the mile and still only 24 when he became world record holder for the mile (and 1500 en route) and the second man to break four minutes. Landy was a relatively late starter, so had his career as a ‘young’ athlete in terms of experience.

In addition, Ralph Doubell was all of 23 when he won the 1968 Mexico City 800 metres. If Ryan Gregson is a young man in a hurry, he is in good company in that regard, too.

In assessing what Gregson might achieve it is important to acknowledge one fact. As fans, we think of progress in straight lines, extrapolating from where Gregson is now to where he should be in four years time as if it were pre-ordained.

Real progress, alas, follows a much more erratic path and for any number of reasons. For juniors, there is the transition from dominating against their peers to getting beaten by older and stronger opponents. As Gregson has already been running open events for a couple of years, he appears to have dodged this one.

Motivation levels have to stay as high. How many years can you take, as Brendan Foster once put it, of ‘getting up tired, going to bed even tireder,’ before the enthusiasm wanes? You have to continually set new goals as old ones are attained and pursue those new ones with the same vigour.

History provides examples either way for prodigious young talents. Some _ Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele come to mind _ achieve young and keep right on achieving; others hit the heights as juniors and go right over the top and down the other side just as quickly.

Turning to Australian examples, Herb Elliott did it all by the time he was 22; Ron Clarke was a top junior and re-defined distance running as a senior athlete, but he had a time virtually out of the sport in between; Carolyn Schuwalow was an outstanding junior and continued to achieve as a senior (national records, Olympic finalist), but more sporadically; Georgie Clarke has followed a similar trajectory.

Which way will Ryan Gregson go? Hopefully towards a long career as an outstanding athlete _ but it’s just as important to enjoy and acknowledge what he is doing right now.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 20, 2010, 5:42pm

Eloise Wellings: The Brilliance is Back

posted by rtross on February 16, 2010, 2:07pm

By Cindy King.

I have been following the career of Eloise Wellings (nee Poppett) since the late 1990s. I remember in 1999 when, as a 16-year-old, she ran 15:18.60 for 5,000m in a mixed interclub race in Sydney. I remember being fascinated by her speed, her prodigious ability, and her obvious love of running. I was probably a bit blasé when I heard that she got her first stress fracture – after all, don’t most young, thin females end up with ‘stressies’? At the time, I did not know that she was diagnosed with osteoporosis – yes, at 16. As the years went on, and the injuries and comebacks continued, I started to develop a new respect for her – and curiosity.

Pictures: Thanks to jonathanwellings.com

How could she keep getting injured, and keep coming back? Didn’t she think that all of the injuries were a sign that she was not made for running, and perhaps should do something else?

One of her best friends and sometimes training partner, former Australian Ekiden representative Belinda Wilshire, was able to shed some light on this. Belinda says Eloise’s (or “Elzy” as she calls her) greatest strength is her determination. “It is heart breaking seeing her get injured, especially as most of her injuries have come at really bad times….She does get down, especially in the first few weeks of having the injury but it is in these times that she really relies on God and his strength to get her through the challenging times.” On a lighter note, she says that “I have never met anyone that needs to go to the toilet whilst running more than Elzy does. Once on a 50min run she had to stop over 5 times! I always tell her she would never make a good marathon runner, or end up pulling a Paula Radcliffe on the side of the road! Must be those compression socks that do it!”

Eloise’s running career has been characterised by flashes of brilliance and injury. It took her 7 years to improve upon her 5,000m personal best that she ran at the age of 16. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games she finished fourth in a time of 15:00.69, and later lowered her 5,000m personal best to 14:54.11. The injuries returned for the next few years, but a 32:19.08 in December 2009 to win the Zatopek 10,000m showed her ability once again. I caught up with her to see what the journey as been like – and my respect continues to grow for this prodigiously talented teenager who has turned into a well-rounded professional who relies not only on her love of running but her faith in God to get her through her challenging times.

Those of us who have been following your running since you were a standout as a 16-year old in 2000 know that you have suffered a number of injuries. Can you summarise the injuries you have had over the years?

I have mainly been susceptible to bone injuries. I have had quite a few stress fractures over the years. I haven't had a serious injury that wasn't bone related so my muscles and tendons are quite strong, I have just had to work hard to increase my bone density.

How have you managed to keep your obvious love of running alive after all the disappointments?

There have been times in my running career that I have thought, “I could be doing something that is a lot less stressful, a lot less painful and a lot more consistent.” I think a good example of this was in 2008 when I was over in Portland, Oregon training. I was recovering from a stress fracture in my foot and hoping to qualify for the Beijing Olympics but then suffered another stress fracture in my shin. At this point I had had enough and needed a break, so my husband and I took off to Hawaii for two weeks. When we got back to Portland, we decided we weren’t ready to get back into training yet, so we flew to Germany, hired a campervan and took a road trip around Europe for 7 weeks. I had never had a proper holiday where I just went away and did nothing because even when I have had injuries I had still always cross trained a lot and tried to stay focussed. The holiday was probably the best thing I have ever done in terms of totally allowing myself to rest, rejuvenate and realize that I do still want to run but there would need to be changes to how I went about training.

How much do you credit your faith with enabling you to persevere through your injuries?

My faith in Jesus is what has helped me have perspective and hope when I've been through disappointment through injuries. Many times, especially my first injury when I was 16, I believe the only way God could get my attention and receive salvation was to take running away for a period of time so that I could grow close to Him and learn to trust and rely on Him rather than find my identity or confidence in running. I realize now that it's a dangerous place to be when you're living for something as inconsistent as a sport.

Until I found God my confidence and identity were all wrapped up in running and when I got injured it was like I didn't even know who I was, like I had lost my identity. It might sound strange to some people but if I was in control and could take back my injuries, I wouldn't. The things that I've learned about myself, about God's faithfulness and about perseverance have refined me in a way to accomplish what I believe God has planned for the future.... and God definitely hasn't finished refining me!

Tell us about your business - Live It Personal Fitness Builders. Does it take up a lot of your time?

Live it Fitness is a private personal training studio in the Sutherland Shire that I own with my older brother Ben. We started it about 7 years ago and it's going really well. We have 6 trainers and the business is growing to a point where we would like to franchise. My younger brother Lindsay has recently taken my position as manager to give me more time for training. Lindsay had the same type of management role in a studio in London so he is well qualified and it was an easy handover. Initially it did take a lot of time, money and long hours to establish the business but in those early years that can make or break a small business we were blessed with supportive friends, family and other good business people that we could gain valuable advice from. Right now as director, my role in the business is to help with the marketing plan. I enjoy this because it gives me something else to focus on other than just running all the time, and it's exciting when there are more and more people coming to lose weight and get fit and healthy with us because our marketing has been effective.

In your post-Zatopek interview, you mentioned that you have been doing a lot of strength training. What specifically have you been doing, and how has it changed your body?

I'm doing a little less mileage and a bit more strength work in the gym which mainly involves core strength exercises. My younger brother sets my strength programs and it is keeping me healthy. I also have my osteopath, Kay MacPherson, watch videos of my training and racing so that she can pick up on any weaknesses before they become a problem. I've found that to be really helpful.

Who are you coached by now? Who are your training partners and sponsors?

Nic Bideau sets my running programs and my younger brother Lindsay sets my gym programs. Julius Achon, a Ugandan Olympian, has been training with me for the past 2 months or so and hopefully he will be able to do a lot more with me this year in Australia and then in Europe. Long runs I go with some guys from my running club and triathlete Chris McCormack is there every now and then too. My sponsors are Nike, Southern Sports and Health massage, Kay MacPherson Osteopathy, Shire Podiatry, Cloud Nine Hair and Beauty Gymea, Sportswell Tours and Phiten.

A number of runners, especially females, struggle with their weight and eating disorders. Was this ever the case for you, and how are things now? What advice do you have for runners out there who are obsessed with their diet and/or weight?

I'm aware that there are a lot of female distance runners who struggle with their weight and eating disorders. This is something that I've struggled with in the past and even though I know I'd never go down that road again, to be honest I think it's something that might always be a weakness just because of my personality type, my discipline and drive to get the most out of myself. This has come against me in the past because what I thought were just habits of a strict, disciplined athlete were actually leading to destructive behaviour. Now I make sure that my thought patterns are aligned with what I want to achieve because my thought patterns and how I perceive myself will always result in either making wise or unwise decisions about my training and nutrition. I know that if my thought patterns are negative and fearful, this can lead to making unwise decisions about my nutrition and my training.

A lot of girls (including me when I was younger) fall into the trap of thinking that lighter will be faster, and it will be, for a very short period of time, before your body breaks down. I don't know one girl who has ever flirted with lack of calories and gotten away without getting injured. Not one. It's important for girls to know that sure it's good to be lean, but lean doesn’t mean skeletal, it means strong and robust. At the end of the day if you watch all of the big championship races, it's the ones who have the strength and power to kick at the end of a race who will win! But the only way you're going to be able to kick is if you have strength and power and the only way to achieve that is to give your body what it needs to achieve the muscle you need to have that change in pace.

I would encourage any athlete who is struggling with this (and there is no shame in it by the way; it is very common) to see a psychologist and a dietician. Making yourself accountable to people is super important to turning the corner in any bad habit you have developed as result of negative thought patterns or disillusions about what it takes to improve in running.

Pictures: Thanks to jonathanwellings.com

What is a typical training week for you?

Monday- 2 easy runs plus gym

Tuesday- AM easy cross training (usually bike or elliptical)

PM-Track session

Wednesday- AM 60-70mins recovery run

PM. gym

Thursday- 2 easy runs or one longer run

Friday- threshold run with a few hill strides at the end

PM- gym

Saturday- rest

Sunday- long run -90mins -1hour 45

Anything else you think that runnerstribe readers might be interested in?

A team of people are setting up a foundation on behalf of Ugandan athlete Julius Achon who is training with me over the next few months. Julius grew up in war torn Northern Uganda and was kidnapped at the age of 12 by the LRA rebels. He escaped and overcame all odds to become a two-time Olympian and five time world championship representative. We are now setting up a foundation called "Love Mercy Uganda" to help support his efforts to rebuild his village in Northern Uganda after 20 years of war. Our work will include fundraising for a clinic and a school in the village and sponsoring orphans and children in the village to be clothed, fed and educated. Keep a look out for a new website coming soon with more information, events, and ways to support the fund.

Read more | Comments (3) | Updated on February 18, 2010, 9:02pm

Aaron Pulford: RT Journals

posted by rtross on February 14, 2010, 2:31pm

So Far this Track Season has gone well.

My First race of the season was at the New Zealand Secondary Track and Field Champs Held on December 12th /13^th. I ended up winning the senior boys 3000m in 8mins 19.54 and narrowly missed the New Zealand schools record of 8.18.53. After that I carried on with hard training and raced in the New Zealand 10000m champs held on the 5^th January. I ended up finishing 2^nd overall and running 30min 02. I was really happy with the time as it was my first ever 10000m. For the next few days after the 10000m I struggled to jog as my calf had taken a bit of a hammering so I did a bit of mountain biking and swimming to try and get them right. Two weeks after the 10000m I lined up in the NZ senior men 3000m champs. Nick Willis was also racing. I ended up finishing 3^rd which was a good effort.

Right now training is going well. I have a 3000m race lined up this Saturday then after that I will have a few low key 1500m/800m races over the next few weeks. Then in March I will race in the international track meet, will race the 5000m and am hoping to qualify for world juniors. The standard is 14mins 15.

Aaron

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 15, 2010, 3:48am

Hunt In Japan: A Column By Len Johnson

posted by rtross on February 11, 2010, 6:01pm

By Len Johnson.

With the fastest debut marathon by an Australian male athlete, Jeff Hunt once again proved that Japan is an excellent place to go marathoning.

Hunt iced a cake he and his coach, Ken Green, have been some time preparing when he ran third in 2:11:00 in last Sunday’s Beppu-Oita marathon.

More than that, he gave watchers a thrill _ and sent the Japanese television commentators scurrying for their fact sheets _ when he came from far back in the pack to loom as a possible winner just before 40km. Marathon great Shigeru Soh, who nowadays coaches some of Japan’s best, said that Japanese runners could learn a lot from Hunt’s performance.

Jeff Hunt has been preparing for his marathon debut for two years _ though he himself really only focused in on the goal in the last six months or more. He has run with versatility over a number of events and distances _ an 8.41 3000 metres steeplechase, first, second and second in the last three national cross-country titles.

Most importantly, Hunt has not missed a long run in two years. And all this really came together over the last few months _ a 62:44 half-marathon on the Gold Coast and selection in the world half-marathon championships, second in the cross-country, a personal best 28:19 in the Zatopek (breaking the Randwick Botany Harriers record formerly held by 1956 Olympic bronze medallist Al Lawrence), a good training stint at Falls Creek, and selection in the world cross-country team after a strong fifth place in the trial.

As has been noted often about break-through performers, Jeff Hunt has worked hard to become an overnight sensation.

There was another great performance by an Australian in Japan on Sunday. That was Nikki Chapple’s win in the Marugame half-marathon in 68:37, a time placing her behind only Kerryn McCann, Benita Willis, Susie Power and Lisa Ondieki on the Australian all-time list.

Chapple, too, is reaping the fruits of consistency, though it has taken her a little longer to find it. A very good junior, the first phase of her career was marked by injuries. Since linking up with Box Hill club coach Chris O’Connor, and now Nic Bideau, she is going from strength to strength, highlighted by a third place in the Great North Run (70:03), a win in the Great Australian Run, a personal best in placing fifth in the Zatopek and second behind Willis at the cross-country trial.

Common as it is with Kenyans and Ethiopians, success in pairs comes rarely to other nations’ distance runners. With their same-day triumphs in Japan, Hunt and Chapple join the likes of Garry Henry and Rod de Castella running 2.10.09 and 2.10.44 for fourth and eighth, respectively, in the 1980 Fukuoka marathon, ‘Deek’ and Lisa Ondieki winning the 1986 Commonewalth Games marathons and 1987 Great North, Steve Moneghetti and Jackie Perkins placing fourth and fifth in the world cross-country championships in 1989 and _ well, not a hell of a lot of others that come readily to mind.

As for success in Japan, well Australians benefit from a double whammy there. It’s a relatively short trip for us, with virtually no time change. For Africans, Europeans and North Americans, it’s the opposite.

Australian successes in Japan include Derek Clayton’s first world best (2.09.36 at Fukuoka 1967), Dave Chettle’s 2.10.20 at Fukuoka in 1975, Deek’s world record win there in 1981 and personal bests by a host of others including Bill Scott, Chris Wardlaw and Garry Henry. Steve Moneghetti won the Tokyo half-marathon twice and the Tokyo marathon in 1994.

Kerryn McCann set the current Australian half-marathon record in Tokyo in 2000, Lisa Ondieki set a long-standing national marathon mark (broken by Benita Willis in 2006) in winning at Osaka in 1988.

Darren Wilson won the 1997 Tokyo half in what remains an Australian record 60.02. Pat Carroll and Lee Troop ran sub-2.10 at Beppu (a win for Carroll) and Lake Biwa.

In Australia last weekend, Ryan Gregson ran a personal best for 800 metres in Newcastle, while Lachlan Renshaw ran impressively in Brisbane, as did Trychelle Kingdom. Mitch Kealey is well on the way back to join Jeff Riseley and Jeremy Roff in the 1500; Bridey Delaney and Kaila McKnight stand out in the women’s 1500 so far. We’ve had two competitive and deep Zatopek 10,000 metres races, led home by Collis Birmingham and Eloise Wellings.

There are still a couple of holes _ the depth in women’s steeple has dissipated, whether temporarily or permanently remains to be seen _ but overall, middle and long-distance running is looking in a lot healthier state than at the corresponding time in the lead-up to the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 11, 2010, 6:38pm

2010 USA XC Preview

posted by rtbryan on February 9, 2010, 1:35am

By Bryan Green

Spokane 2010 logo

As I wrote in last year's USA Cross Country Preview, I've always kind of liked cross country more than track and field. Once track season gets underway, athletes get more and more locked into their specialties. You don't get to see top steeplers, milers and 10k runners going head-to-head all that often.

On top of that, the course itself is a major factor. The track is designed for speed, but cross country is designed or strength. To be a great cross country runner you have to be more than just a kicker or a pace-runner or a beast on the hills. You need to be a tactician, tweaking your strategy to suit the course and the competition. Cross country victories don't just go to the best, they go to the best prepared.

On the world level this is pretty much understood. Most fans acknowledge that the World Cross Country meet is the toughest distance race in the world to win. You have to beat the best of the best to be a world champion in cross country, not just the subset of the best who happen to focus on your event, like in track. Given that, the USA Cross Country Championships must be the toughest distance race in the US to win, right?

Um, no. Unfortunately, the majority of our country's best distance runners treat cross country like the proverbial "red-headed stepchild". They begrudgingly make time for it in their schedules every once in a while, but they don't really pay it the attention it deserves.

It's not hard to understand why, really. In high school and college, there is an entire season of races culminating in both a team and individual championship (or two). The pros have no such season, at least not domestically. Cross country consists of signing up to run one race (USAs), and then if you're good enough, skipping the world championships for something more lucrative. The only people who focus on cross country are those who aren't yet making money on the track or the roads.

As a result, fans have to settle for making the best of what they get. There are always a few top names each year--this year is no exception, with Ritz and Flanagan in attendance--but the question "Will Ritz/Shalane win by 30 seconds or just 15?" doesn't exactly get the average fan emotionally tied to the outcome.

And with no team competition--let's be honest, the real team competition for USA XC is the club championships, not USAs--the only other point of interest is who will finish in the top six. It's like a battle of AAA baseball players vying for a September call-up to the majors. It'll be great experience for them, but as a fan you're still a bit disappointed that they are taking at bats away from the stars.

It's a shame we've let it come to this. Especially in a year when there is no global track championship being held. If anything, this is the year that the IAAF and USATF needed to be providing whatever incentives they could to get America's best and brightest stars out on the turf and, eventually, over to Bydgoszcz for the World Cross Country Championships. That would have had to happen long ago, however, so unfortunately we won't be seeing most of America's best this weekend.

(Seriously, though, what can we do to get the top Americans running USA XC and eventually World XC? Is it hopeless? We must be able to fix this, right? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled preview column.)

What we will see this weekend are a bunch of very good runners who probably don't get their due. After all, the gap between AAA and the majors isn't that wide. Could one of them break out and become a star in "the majors"? Absolutely, and maybe that breakout will start this Saturday. In the meantime, let's get a little background on who's actually running in these races.

Men's Open 12k Championship

The men's race looks to be the Ritzenhein Romp this year. Ritz is arguably the best distance runner in the country right now and cross country is arguably his best event. If he's fit--and let's be honest, even if he's not--he's got to be the favorite to demolish the field. As he's already stated he hopes to go to World Cross and contend for a medal, we can expect he'll be ready to go in Spokane.

The rest of the field is a little harder to peg. There are some very strong runners, including 2009 WXC top finisher Ryan Vail (33rd), 3-time WXC qualifiers Max King (40th, 2009) and Matt Gabrielson (79th, 2005), Olympic steeplechaser Billy Nelson (8:21), D-2 champ Scott Bauhs (13:28/27:48), 2:13 marathoner Nick Arciniaga, and recent Houston half marathon winner Antonio Vega (61:54). It's probably worth bringing up steeplers Ben Bruce (8:26/13:36) and Mike Spence (8:31), as well as Olympic triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker, too.

The real question is when Ritz will go and who, if anyone, will go with him. I can see Bauhs making that move, and wouldn't be surprised if Vail or Gabrielson used it as an opportunity to gain separation from the other runners. On the other hand, it could be a big risk if these guys aren't ready to run this entire race by themselves. King will likely run tough, as he's shown repeatedly he knows how to get himself into the top six. I think Nelson and Arciniaga are a little out of their elements, and I think Bruce, if healthy, is probably the next tier-two runner ready to break out.

My predictions: Ritz wins by 36 seconds, cruising the last 2k. Bauhs holds off Gabrielson for 2nd, with a hard-charging Antonio Vega taking 4th ahead of Ryan Vail. Max King and Bruce battle it out for 6th with Bruce nipping him at the end. Max King will be the alternate.

Complete men's field here.

Women's Open 8k Championship

There are some similarities to the men's field in how it stacks up, but also some important differences. Shalane Flanagan is the Ritz of the field, the clear favorite to win. Not only does she project to be America's greatest distance athlete ever, she's just debuted at the half marathon in a stellar 1:09:41 time that puts her 6th all-time in the US. Unlike Ritz, however, she showed a chink in her armor last year and it remains to be seen whether Shalane v2008--the Shalane that smoked everyone at USA XC in San Diego--is back and ready to roll.

After Shalane, the women's field is comprised of a number of veterans. 2009 champ Emily Brown returns (15:19 5k), as well as Olympic marathoners Magdalena Lewy-Boulet (2:30:19) and Blake Russell (2:29:10). Katie McGregor is a five-time WXC qualifier and boasts strong track PRs (15:22/31:21). Molly Huddle, the US Jr 5k record holder, recently ran 15:20 indoors, so she's certainly fit as well. On the fringe are other solid runners like Sara Hall (4:08/15:20), Amy Hastings (71:19 half in Houston) and 2009 WXC qualifiers Delilah DiCrescenzo (33rd) and Kathy Newberry (40th).

With a lot of strength runners in this field, I think there's a good chance the race will go out hard and stay that way. That doesn't mean it will be close, as any betting man would have to wager on the field getting strung out early (as all women's races do). Still, it's hard to bet against athletes like McGregor and Brown given their recent successes and Huddle's solo performance makes her a strong favorite as well.

My predictions: Flanagan wins running away. Is it possible someone will give her a go of it? Sure, perhaps Huddle will be feeling frisky, but Shalane is simply too good if she's on her game. I think Huddle will finish a strong 2nd, with McGregor beating Brown for 3rd. I think we'll see Magda run a strong race for 5th, but the real battle will be between Kathy Newberry and Amy Hastings for 6th, with Newberry taking it.

Complete women's field here.

Men's Junior 8k Championships

We were treated to a once-in-a-decade field at last year's USA's, where German Fernandez, Chris Derrick, and Luke Puskedra all went toe-to-toe, making it the race of the day. This year is back to normal, with a number of college freshmen and a few top high school athletes taking part.

The biggest name is probably Trevor Dunbar of Portland (2nd at Foot Locker, 2008). He's most famous for his 9:01 two-mile on ice and snow in Kodiak, Alaska, but he was the 4th frosh at NCAAs and his program at UP should have him primed and ready to go in this race. Top high school harriers Shane Moskowitz (9th FL 2009) and Ammar Moussa (4th NXN 2009, 4:14i mile at BIG) stand out slightly, but this is simply not a field that's going to make you say, "I was there to see them throw down".

To be honest, I have no idea what to expect from this race. The NCAA freshman class was less than inspiring during cross country, and the nation's top high school athletes (Verzbicas, Lutz, Gedyon, Rosa, McElroy, Meddles) are all skipping the event. I'm going to say Dunbar wins it, and that both Moskowitz and Moussa qualify. The other spots will be taken by college freshmen whom I've still never heard of.

Complete junior men's field here.

Women's Junior 6k Championships

Could this be even less intriguing than the men's race? Um, yeah... With no Jordan Hasay, Allie McLaughlin, Kathy Kroeger, Ashley Brasovan, Megan Goethals or Chelsey Sveinsson, the women's junior race will have none of the top athletes we've come to know over the past two years. On the plus side, there's also no Neely Spence favored to win the race easily. I enjoyed watching Spence last year, but I like the unpredictability of not having a clear favorite.

The top collegiate athlete might be Shelby Greany of Providence, who had an up-and-down cross season that saw her 2nd in the Northeast Regional but only 89th at NCAAs. Emily Jones of Georgetown was a FL Regional champ and 13th place finisher in 2008 but was only 99th at NCAAs in 2009. There are two top high schoolers competing in the event in Foot Locker 3rd placer Emily Sisson and FL West Region champion Molly Grabill (8th in this race last year), but outside of them, the field isn't all that well known.

This race is a total crapshoot. I'm going to go with my old motto of "go big or go home" with my predictions and I'm going to pick the high schooler to win it. Emily Sisson and Emily Jones make it a big day for Emilys as they go 1-2. Molly Grabill runs a solid 3rd and Shelby Greany takes 4th. Fifth and sixth places go to ... (closing eyes and throwing darts) ... 16-year old Rolonda Jumbo (9th last year as a 15-year old!) and Lacey Nation (love these names!).

Complete junior women's field here.

There is no indication that the meet will be streamed live on USATF's official meet home page, but hopefully Runnerspace and Flotrack will be there to capture some of the action!

Read more | Comments (5) | Updated on February 10, 2010, 10:16pm

In the Zone: A Column By Len Johnson

posted by rtross on February 5, 2010, 6:32pm

In Melbourne these past few weeks, it’s been hard to get away from the Australian Open tennis. That means it’s even harder to get away from Roger Federer : that’s for fans _ it’s even harder if you’re Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Andy Murray.

Federer won his fourth Australian Open, a record 16^th Grand Slam title overall, with such imperious ease that we (not to mention Jo, Andy and everyone else in the great man’s wake) wonder when his reign will ever end.

Afterwards, in a long post-match interview on Channel 7, Federer spoke of regaining a feeling of confidence which had been rattled in recent years by an illness (glandular fever at the start of 2008), an injury (back problems the following year) and the emergence of new opponents such as Rafael Nadal and Murray.

Both the latter have an edge over Federer head-to-head, but he is still king when it matters. The Australian Open win, for example, brought the Federer-Murray scoreline to 5-6 but, significantly, the only two meetings in a grand slam final have seen Federer win in straight sets.

Federer said he’d returned to his highest level and credited the likes of Murray and Nadal for helping him lift his game.

“I feel, like, obviously I’m being pushed a great deal by the new generation coming up. They’ve made me a better player, because I think this has been one of my finest performances in a long time, or maybe forever.

A sports psychologist (or sports commentator) might say Federer is back in his comfort zone. To which we might add, if Federer is in his comfort zone, no-one else is in theirs!

Federer’s comfort zone encompasses all surfaces. He won his first French Open title on clay in 2009, dominates on grass at Wimbledon and is a master of the hardcourts at Flushing Meadow and Melbourne Park.

More commonly in tennis, until 20 years ago anyway, the comfort zone applied to one or other of the surfaces, principally clay or grass. Clay with its slower pace, favours ground strokes, patience and endurance. Grass was more a serve and volley affair. Many players, even at the very top, excelled in one but were comparative dunces at the other.

Ivan Lendl once famously commented after an early-round Wimbledon defeat: “Grass is for the cows” (he subsequently reached a final). Gustavo Kuerten won three times at the French, but eventually threatened to boycott Wimbledon if the seedings weren’t taken off the computer. He didn’t play there in 2001

Other clay court specialists such as Guillermo Vilas, Thomas Muster and Andres Gomez, although they turned up at Roland Garros religiously, often missed Wimbledon.

All this tennis thinking prompted me to think of examples of ‘the zone’ in athletics. Closer to the Federer model would be those champions who turn up at an Olympics or world championships ready to win, but are more fallible in between.

Lasse Viren, winner of the Olympic distance double in both 1972 and 1976, would be a prime example there; so would Amercian Al Oerter, who won the discus four times in a row from 1956 to 1968, but was often beaten in between; or, in the latter part of his career, Carl Lewis. Lewis dominated across all events from 1984 to 1990, but won his world championships 100 metres in 1991 and his 1992 and 1996 Olympic long jump titles after earlier defeats.

Distance running _ with its multiple disciplines of track, road and cross-country _ throws up many examples of champions in one format who do not perform at anywhere near the same level on others. Grete Waitz won five world cross-country titles, a world championships marathon, but was a lesser force on the track (exacerbated, admittedly, by not having the opportunity to run beyond 3000 metres)

Waitz’s compatriot, Ingrid Kristiansen, was a superb marathoner and won a world championships at 10,000. She also won a world cross-country title in 1988, but was probably more of the Ivan Lendl mindset when it came to running on grass. Actually, that’s not quite fair: she was good, just not dominant.

Another world cross-country champion, France’s Annette Sergent, won the world event twice without ever being a major force on the track. The same could be said of John Ngugi, until he won the Olympic 5000 metres title in 1988.

In Australian terms, Steve Moneghetti and Rob de Castella were great all-round distance runners, but Lisa Ondieki had no significant record in cross-country, though she excelled on road and track.

And Benita Willis, our only world cross-country champion. Benita holds all the Australian track records _ 3000, 5000 and 10,000 _ but does not have an international track result which compares to a world cross-country title. As she showed by bouncing back from a disastrous Zatopek 10,000 to win the world cross-country selection trial and by her 11^th in the 2008 world race after a patchy build-up, when Benita runs over the country, she is undeniably in her comfort zone.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 5, 2010, 6:41pm

RT Journals: Jordan Williamsz

posted by rtross on February 3, 2010, 5:54pm

The season so far has been great, every time I get on the track I have been improving. Not just with times but with how I am racing, tactics and change of pace.

After World Youths I had a few weeks off, after that I began base work with lots of slow, more fitness based. We decided to reduce my track work at the beginning of the season due to the length of the season. So I went through October to November with very little fast track work. Come December I would be fit and would only need some speed to get me into some race shape. I opened the season with a 1.50.81 at the Milers Meet at Olympic Park, in the process I managed to gain so much experience from a very tactical race. I headed to Tassie for my last nationals as a student where I was successful in winning the 800 and 1500. I had a great battle with Kane Grimster, and I dipped the old meet record. Under a week later I was lining up in Melbourne for the 1500 at Zatopek for my first ever race at such a level. I surprised myself with such a great race and an even better time.

With racing all done for the first part of the season I was off to Falls Creek for some altitude training. It was really an amazing experience. First class training, with an amazing group of boys. I spent a week up there and my training week was as follows:

Monday - Easy 30 minute jog with James Connor

Tuesday - 20 min w/u 5x1km off 1 minute 3.15, 3.11, 3.10, 3.05, 2.57- 20 min w/d with Kane Grimster

Wednesday - 35 minute jog with James Connor

Thursday - 7x400m with 200m float with Kane Grimster

Friday - rest

Saturday- Threshold with Kaila McKnight and Damian Gauci

Sunday- 65 min jog (had to get on the bus and cut the run short) with Kane Grimster

My first session back was on the Tuesday, I trained with Nic Bideau’s group at the grass track. I worked with Jeff Riseley and a little bit with Collis Birmingham. We did:

1600m in 4.40

4x800m in 2.11, 2.10, 2.10, 2.08

5x200m in 28s-30s

It was great training with my heroes and keeping up with them was even better!

After this session i got a little sick and had a week off with 2 short jogs. Richard (Huggins) just wanted me to get myself right before getting back into training. So i went on a holiday with my friends, relaxed and got myself back to full health.

The past 2 weeks have seen me do a few thresholds, which is a vital part of my training. We believe that aerobic fitness is a vital part of being an 800m runner; threshold is the perfect way to work on it. I completed a hill session at police paddocks; this is where we do the bulk of our long reps with Richard. A normal session would be something like 1km, 2km, 1km, 2km or 8x800, when tuning up for a race 3x 1km, 5x200m is a normal session. Last Tuesday I trained with Nics group again and came to find so many quality athletes such as, Collis, Jeff, Dave Campell, Paul Hoffman, Kaila McKnight, Benita Willis, Nikki Chapple and Sonia O’Sullivan. The session was:

1600m in 4.35

4x500m in 1.22-25

2x300m in 43, 41

Great session... Had a massive battle with Hoff in the 300m, it was very tough!

Two days after my session with Nic and the gang I raced a 3km at Nunawading, where I toed the line again with Hoff. I managed to run a big pb in 8.32, this showed that my fitness was there. Now all I had to do was do some good hard speed work and I would be in top race shape.

For the rest of the season I will be really focusing on getting out a couple of good 800s and maybe a 1500m. I am I heading up to Newcastle to compete in the 800m at the Hunter classic. A week later I will race at the Briggs meet in Tassie, we are yet to decide the race I will do there. As for the rest of the season I will be racing junior nationals, and possibly Melbourne a-series if I can get a race. We have decided to keep the racing to a minimum.

The first half of the season has been great, just hoping I can now continue my early season form. Making world juniors is a goal, but it’s not the be all end all. I aim to just keep improving and to stay injury free.

Thanks for reading

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 3, 2010, 9:02pm

RT Journals: Brenton Rowe

posted by rtross on February 1, 2010, 5:53pm

I am currently up at Charlottes Pass, NSW for a training camp. Charlottes Pass is the highest village in Australia at nearly 1800m above sea level. In the past I have used Falls Creek as a place to stage the annual summer training camp, however this year it was decided it would be in my interest to come to Charlottes Pass, due to the proximity of an athletics track in Jindabyne, 40km down the mountain which Falls Creek does not have. I am planning to stay here for three and a half weeks before competing in my first 1500m race for the season in Hobart at the Briggs Memorial Meet.

Training so far is going according to plan, however the weather has been rather unpredictable with a day of snow within the first few days, which apparently hasn’t happened at this time of year since weather records were established for the area in 1973! The scenery is similar to Falls Creek, and the trails can be challenging, including running to the highest point in Australia, Mt Kosciusko.

My last couple of races have both been 3000m races, running pb’s in both, 8:03 and 8:01 respectively, making impressive improvements on my previous personal best of 8:12. By running these times and in the manner they were run, gives me a lot of confidence for future improvements in the shorter distances once I get off the mountain.

Brenton.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on February 2, 2010, 1:14am

Defence Force Top Gun Produces Some Top Runs

posted by rtross on January 26, 2010, 4:52pm

Lisa Flint Interview: By Cindy King

Lisa Flint burst onto the Australian running scene last October, running 2:34.08 to win the Melbourne Marathon and secure a Commonwealth Games "A" Qualifier. This was a more than 13 minute personal best for the 24-year old who credits watching Kerryn McCann win the Commonwealth Games Marathon in 2006 with her inspiration to start running. She has since gone on to represent Australia at the Ekiden Relay in November and came 5th in The Great Australian Run held in the same month. Originally from Queensland, she now lives in Newcastle, NSW and is coached by World Championships and Commonwealth Games Marathon Representative Scott Westcott. Cindy King caught up with her as she drove back from training at Falls Creek over the Christmas holidays.

You ran a Commonwealth Games A qualifier to win the 2009 Melbourne Marathon. Was this your goal? Tell us about the race.Running a qualifier was definitely not my goal. I went into the race only because I wanted to run a marathon before 2009 was finished and just hoped to better my time from my last marathon (2:47:40 Sydney 2008). I felt very under-prepared going into the race. My longest training run in the lead up was only a shade over 2 hours. I hadn't told anyone I was entering (my coach didn't know and mum and dad were left out of the loop....)Race day I felt really good from the start. The first 10km passed quickly and I stuck with the pre-race favourite (Satoko Uetani). I was really unsure of my fitness and afraid I'd blow up later, so was too scared to run any harder. I stuck with Satoko the whole way until the last 5km. I still felt great, but didn't want to risk anything. It wasn't until the end stages that I realised I still had plenty left, so I pushed a little harder. It was the strangest feeling to feel so good at the finish of a marathon.

I know that you have run Ekiden, The Great North Run, and Zatopek since then. How were those races?Ekiden was a surprise; I only got the call about a week from departure. It was the best experience though. My first international event! It was a lot shorter than what I'd been training for, I learnt so much, and had a good run. There was a lot less pressure than I expected because it was a relay.The Great Australian Run I was really happy with. I was still a bit tired from coming back from Japan earlier that week. A bit tight and tired at the start, but came into my rhythm later on and just continued to feel stronger as the race went on. I ran faster than last years time, so I was happy.Zatopek was a disaster. From the fourth lap I just didn't feel right. Very heavy and tired. It was my first 10km on the track and I think everything had caught up with me...someone put it "Finally! She's cracked." My goal changed to just finishing the race and not pulling out. I was upset at first with the time and the whole night in general. Now I'm looking at it as a learning experience. As an athlete you're not invincible, you do need rest. Recovery is important, and you can't do EVERYTHING! What made you start running?I was at Uni, studying Pharmacy. In 2006 I wasn't doing any exercise at all. My dad and brother were pretty active. They were training for triathlons and the Gold Coast Half Marathon. I was sick of not doing anything, and was really unfit, so I started to join Dad's social training group on Saturday mornings around Brisbane. I trained for the Mooloolaba Triathlon in 2007, and things just went from there. I loved the training, as well as the social life around tri's and running. I joined a tri club at the University of Queensland and I've just kept going from there. How hard is it to combine your running with your job as a pharmacist for the defence force?It can be hard at times. In 2009 I moved around a bit for various training courses. I spent 5 months in East Sale, Victoria at the start of the year and another 2 months in Wagga Wagga, NSW…. My family all live in Brisbane, and I'm in Newcastle now. Moving around makes training interesting; I have to improvise sometimes, but I take it as an opportunity to explore new towns, so it's kind of fun. Running around different small towns means I see aspects I wouldn't normally see if I was just passing through.As well as this, being in Defence can be a bit more physically challenging than a normal Pharmacist's job. Some phases we have been out marching with packs and digging sand bag pits as part of the training. I struggle with this as I’m on the lighter side weight wise but I think it must help make me a better/stronger runner. Overall, Defence is really supportive of my running. They have helped out in recent times to ensure I'm not moving so much and can get a bit more of a regular training program in. I couldn't ask for anything more! Who coaches you, and who are your training partners?Scott Westcott is coaching me. I do my speed sessions with a few junior boys who are pretty fast track runners. (800 -5000m). They keep me pretty honest.Our long runs are generally with whoever wants to join in! A number of runners, especially females, struggle with their weight and eating issues. Was this ever the case for you, and how are things now? What advice do you have for runners who worry about their diet and/or weight? My training load is increasing a lot, and I’m struggling a bit with keeping weight on. I can feel I need to be a bit heavier for strength, so I’m starting to work with a Sports Nutritionist to get the balance right. It’s been a bit hard adjusting to this, though. Especially when I’m out with some non-running friends, I’ll get a bit self conscious if they’ve ordered a salad and I’m craving a big pasta meal after training.I’ve found you do need to be conscious of what you are eating. Definitely in female distance runners, we all seem to underestimate the amount of training we’re doing and the amount of food we need to eat to replace the energy we’ve used. It’s not worth being obsessed with losing weight. As a distance runner, I’m starting to realise the importance of being strong and having adequate energy in the body in reserve to run better races. What is a typical training week for you?SUN am RUN 1½ - 2½ hoursMON am GYM – Core Strength/Upper Body Weights 45mins Pm RUN 45minsTUES am RUN 40mins easy Pm RUN Grass Oval – (3mins hard/1min easy or similar)WED am RUN 1- 1½ hours Pm SWIM (2km) or 1 hour Recovery CycleTHURS am RUN 40 mins easy Pm RUN Track Session – (1km repeats or 400m repeats)FRI am RUN 50mins Tempo pm SWIM (1-2km)SAT am RUN 1hour or 3min/1min on/off session Pm GYM Core Strength/Weights 45mins What are your goals for 2010 and beyond with regards to running? Make the Australian team to run the Marathon at 2010 Commonwealth GamesRun a Half Marathon in 2010Compete in races overseas (Big City Marathons for 2011 and beyond!)Qualify for 2012 the OlympicsStay healthy, fit and happy with running You are relatively new to the Australian running scene. What's it like at the elite level? What is the funniest or strangest thing that happened at Falls? (that you can disclose....)The elite level is no different to being at a recreational level. All the other girls are in the sport for the love of running, and everyone is friendly! It’s fun. The only difference is the amount of travel for races that I’m doing now. Weekends are often taken up flying to a different city just for a race. It’s also a bit surprising that race directors will pay for entry and accommodation for you to run in their race…. I’m still trying to pay for things sometimes.Things from Falls –EVERY male runner runs without a shirt on…. The girls are still trying to figure out why.Bananas are $8 a kilo for really BAD fruitIt is not a New Years Eve HotspotBUT it is a fun way to spend your summer holiday (may be biased because I’m a runner though.)

Read more | Comments (1) | Updated on January 26, 2010, 5:12pm

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