Ryan Hall: Ready For London and Some Mean “Pan-takes”
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #5)
Posted March 17th, 2008 at 7:28 PM by Ryan Hall
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall
Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryan’s latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/
With four weeks to go until the Flora London Marathon, I can hardly believe it’s almost here. My anticipation is growing stronger and stronger with every passing day and with every big training effort complete. This past weekend was especially challenging. On Friday I completed my longest tempo run in my buildup for London (15 miles) and then completed a solid 23 mile run two days later. It was a big weekend of running that left me feeling fit and as prepared as ever for the distance. I don’t exactly know what the results will yield, but I do know that it will be a fun and exciting race.
As a professional runner with simple lifestyle, I look forward to the small pleasures of life, such as getting a package in the mail. This week I was especially excited to open up one such package and see the videos from the 2002 and 2007 Flora London Marathon. I would have to say that the 2002 FLM would have to be one of the greatest distance races of all time and certainly the greatest marathon race of all time, in my book anyway. Watching Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat, and Khalid Khannouchi run away from a whole pack of guys who went through the first half in 62:45 was quite impressive. Then to see them battle over the remaining miles… well, that was inspiring. When else do you get to see three guys with such credentials push each other to their limits? Watching the race helps me see what is really possible. I love to watch people do amazing things because it inspires me to believe that I, too, can run at new levels that maybe I didn’t even think were possible. One of the biggest things I took away from both races was the character of Haile as he dealt with defeat. To see him smile as he came across the line after being dropped significantly by Kalid and Tergat in the 2002 race and then smile again shortly after dropping out of last year’s race shows that he does a great job dealing with disappointment. I wish I could get to the point in my career when I could deal with a disappointing race with a smile. What a challenge to all of us: to greet discouragement with a smile. Who knows if Haile would have set the world record in his marathon if he hadn’t had such an attitude?
Now on to the lighter side. Speaking of the simple pleasures that I enjoy, one of them is breakfast. And by saying breakfast, I mean pancakes. I have always loved pancakes. My mom tells me that when I was little she would walk into my room in the morning and find me standing in my crib patiently waiting for her and the first thing I would say when I saw her was “pan-takes.”
If anyone wants to sabotage me before a race they would have to do nothing less than send me a warm stack of hot buttermilk pancakes right before my race. There would be no way I could possibly resist. Honestly, I have had pancakes before just about every easy run for the last three months. What I love about them is that they are so tasty and the possibility of add-ins is endless. I am infamous for throwing in gummy worms during team parties and for “savory” pancakes with meat and vegetables that I made with my Bible study group at Stanford. When I am doing marathon training I keep my pancakes more on the healthy side but still throw in a new add-in every morning.
The theme recently has been what I call cyto-cakes, which basically consists of 2/3 cups of the healthy Bisquick and a scoop of any one of a variety of muscle milk flavors. This morning was Rocky Road flavor. I highly recommend this recipe, quite tasty I must say!
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Photograph: Courtesy of NYRR
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Tags: American distance running, best marathon of all time, elite athlete, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite runner, flora london marathon, haiel gebrselassie, Khalid khanouchi, London Marathon, london2008, london2008news, marathon runner, paul tergat, professional running blog, runners breakfast, Ryan Hall, tfs elite athlete blog series, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field, training
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The Final Sprint
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
March 17th, 2008 at 10:59 pmHi Ryan,
I’m 42 and just started running a couple of years ago. Before that I played a lot of basketball. Now I like to do trail marathons. I’ve been a Christian since college and first read about you and your faith in Jack Daniel’s book. I’ve enjoyed watching you excel and was thinking yesterday on my run that you have an incredible opportunity to give a lot of glory to God on a global scale through your running in the Olympics. I encourage you to come up with some one-liners to use in the many interviews you’ll be having like, “I run to give glory to God,” or “I’m here to inspire people’s faith in the Lord.” I was reminded of Evander Holyfield fighting Mike Tyson and how EH made it about God vs Allah. I saw him take some big hits from Mike but they didn’t phase him at all. He even had Phil 4:13 on his robe. Anyway, many blessings to you, your family and your career…and to God be the glory!
March 17th, 2008 at 11:14 pmDerek Mitchell
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
March 17th, 2008 at 11:44 pmRyan,
Where did you purchase the two London marathon videos from? I would love to own those too!!
Thanks and best wishes for London and Bejing!!
Jack Unruh
March 18th, 2008 at 6:02 pmRyan, I am concerned about your speed. All I ever hear is about your long runs, at which you are very good. But to be a top marathoner I think you need 10,000 speed close to 27:00. (Geb ran a 3:31 1500 meter time.) After London, I believe you should sharpen up by running the 10k in our Final Trials. Frank Shorter said the ideal preparation for a marathon included a hard 10k a week before the marathon. In any case, I wish you good luck.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:50 pmRyan,
Thank you for posting your thoughts. It is refreshing to hear what is up before, during, and after your races. I concur with Cordner’s comments regarding speed. You obviously have the leg speed, as a 3:42 in high school would attest.
I ran with Rich Salazar (Al’s older brother) at the Naval Academy, and you have the same tenacity and willingness to go for it all that they did. I have enjoyed following yours and Sara’s careers … particularly your love for Jesus. May both of you stay passionate for Him and for running.
I look forward to watching an awesome London marathon. Go get ‘em!
March 18th, 2008 at 9:07 pmBob
Hey Ryan,
I was reading your latest post and what you wrote about pancakes. I really enjoy pancakes as well but I always feel like they make me sluggish and slow when I go out for a run. what do you usually put on them? Do you uses syrup and all those fixings or just eat them plain? Thanks a lot! Best of luck to you in London and Bejing!!
Josh
March 18th, 2008 at 10:05 pm[…] Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Ryan Hall as he begins his quest for Olympic gold! Check back every other Friday for Ryans latest entry at http://ryanhall.thefinalsprint.com/ With four weeks to go until the Flora London Marathon, I can hardly believe its almost here. My anticipation is growing stronger and stronger with every passing day and with every big training effort complete. This past weekend was especially challenging. On Friday I completed my longest tempo r source: Ryan Hall: Ready For London and Some Mean Pan-takes (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #5), TheFinalSprint.com | Premier Running Destination for Marathons, Track and Field, Race News, Podcasts, Training Advice and More! […]
March 20th, 2008 at 1:02 amHi Ryan, enjoyed your article and as a fellow London entrant I’m looking forward to seeing how you do at the sharp end of the race when I make it back home. This will be just a long training run for me as I’m going for Edinburgh as my target race at the end of May.
Amyway - I had a question for you.. do you do any weights in training? I’ve been reading a lot recently that suggests it helps even marathon runners. What’s your view? If you use them, what type of repetition are you doing?
Good luck in London..
Andrew
March 20th, 2008 at 2:35 pmRyan, Good Luck in London.
As far as pancakes, two words
March 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pm“Grizzly Manor” I am sure you have been there.
good luck the rest of the year. Being a pancake nut myself I would highly recommend Kodiak Cakes made by Baker mills in Salt Lake City. Just add a banana and some whey and you won’t believe how great they are!
March 20th, 2008 at 4:37 pmRyan,
March 20th, 2008 at 10:08 pmI just have to send this e-mail as I have been so blessed to see and be part of some incredible marathons. I was in London in 2002 on vacation and saw Kahlid shock the field by winning when we all thought Haile would win. I hope you can do the same this year. In 2006 I turned 60 and had the opportunity to retire and chase the dream of being a serious runner. I found a great group to train with and won the senior division at Boston in 2006.
My wife and I also had a chance to go to New York in November to watch one of my training partners run the New York Marathon. We obviously watched you on Saturday (at mile 17) and I can only say you are the the most inspiring runner I have ever seen. I truly hope you can win in London and Bejing. I am running Boston again this year and will think of how focused and smooth you were in New York. At 62 I still run fearlessly and joyfully. I hope you will do the same this year. Ron
Ryan,
I work with your Aunt Kathie at the surgery center. She has kept all of us updated with your progress and successes. She is so proud of you and I get to learn of your travels through her.
She recently sent me a note with your blog site so now I’m keeping up with you and your upcoming Olympic events.
Ryan, I pray for you and your wife, for your success, for your health, and for your protection. Keep running for the Lord. You’re on the right track!
Warmest wishes,
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 pmDennis
So happy I came upon your site–best of luck to you.
I am the person who sold you your car (the Subaru Impreza)…I recently moved and found 2 spare keys and an extra clicker (for keyless entry) for the car. If you would like me to mail them to you please contact me via e-mail, or contact my mom and she can give me your address! You can write me at handyl at hotmail dot com!
Good luck!
March 25th, 2008 at 1:28 pmHey Ryan,
What is muscle milk? I have never heard of that and now you have me curious. As for the pancakes, everyday over the Easter holiday I was served pancakes by various friends and family for breakfast…no complaints!
Praying for you in Beijing! God has awesome plans for you and I look forward to seeing you follow the path He has for you. Your (and many of your fellow Mammoth Lake training partners) abundant faith in God has been a real inspiration for my own faith and how God can do great things with my own love of running.
Run on!
March 25th, 2008 at 7:11 pmDana
Ryan,
Why are you running London? Why not Boston? As an American distance runner I would think that all the glory would be at the Boston Marathon not the London. I would like to see you run Boston and New York, the two premier distance running events in America. Think about it, you could become a household name if you win. But London, not too many Americans care about overseas races.
Todd Hagadone Jr.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:48 pmRyan, WOW! I saw the video of you on godtube. Awesome! Keep on making your training & races your worship time and you will do fine. It will take the pressure off you as you will stay right in the center of God’s will!
Your brother,
March 28th, 2008 at 10:28 pmtom harmon
p.s. can’t wait for London! parying for ya.
Ryan, Thanks for the great example of Christ you are. I have been talking you up to the kids that I teach(7th and 8th grade Bible class) and we are all excited to follow your progress. As a runner myself, I have used the images of your amazing trials performance as a mental boost on many workouts. God bless you and your family as you continue to serve Him with your gifts.
March 30th, 2008 at 2:44 pmIn Christ,
Rob
Hey Ryan,
I have what may be an unusual request but my son Travis is an avid fan of yours and a 3rd year cross country runner in his sophomore year and looking forward to the upcoming season this August. He’s watched your video on Godtube over and over & comments on how awesome you are to praise God through your running. We followed your progress and congradulate you on your accomplishments at the Olympic Trials.
I help coach his cc team and we run together alot. He competed in his 1st 1/2 marathon last Nov. at 15 yrs. old and is setting his sights on his 1st marathon this fall at 16 yrs. old. He is a strong christian and & trys to put God 1st in all he sets out to accomplish. He has just received the highest rank in Boy Scouts of Eagle Scout and I thought it would be a really cool surprise to have a letter of commendation / picture from Ryan Hall to present to him at his Eagle Scout Court of Honor on May 10th. If you are to meet this request please email me & I’ll respond with an address to mail it to. Thanks so much for witness to running community and thank you in advance for any encouragement you could send to Eagle Scout Travis Jones.
Another Brother in Christ,
April 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pmRonnie Jones
[…] His latest entry, with London four weeks away, indicates he is ready to rock-and-roll. […]
April 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm