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Lead Stories: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ryan Hall: The Team
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 11)

Posted June 7th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, 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/

Eleven weeks to go. I go back and forth between thinking I have too much time before the games, and then feeling like there is not enough time. Eleven weeks sometimes feels like a long time to train at the intensity that I am now daily putting forth, but then when I think to myself that in two months I will be heading out to Beijing, I wish I could sneak in a few more weeks at altitude before then. I have found that it is usually a good sign to feel like I wish I had one or two more weeks of training. It is a sign that I am still fresh, still hungry, and still moving forward. Contrast this with my first marathon run at the 2007 London Marathon when I had been hanging on for a month after training for what seemed like an eternity.

Today I will be repeating the same workout I ran two weeks ago before I left for Bolder Boulder—a ten mile tempo run. Last time out it didn’t go so well. Waking up to snow was my second sign that I was going to have a tough day, with the first sign being my cranky ankle that had been bothering me after doing an hour and a half run on a rocky—yet beautiful—single track trail in Big Bear. So between my cranky ankle, snow falling, and being out there all by myself without my shuffle (which I forgot at home) I set myself up for a long day. Let’s not get too much into the specifics; we can just leave it at that I went out slow and came back even slower. Not to mention picking up my bottles off the ground didn’t seem to speed things up any. I left for Boulder concerned.
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Ryan Hall: I Can Be Beaten, But Not Defeated
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 10)

Posted May 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall

While on a run a couple of days ago I found myself laughing at Kai (our miniature Siberian Husky) as she tore off through the woods in hot pursuit of yet another squirrel, only to be left at the bottom of the tree peering up as the hot- tempered squirrel rattled off some expletives in its native tongue. I thought to myself, ‘why does she keep wasting her energy flying after squirrels when she has chased thousands of squirrels during her short life, yet has never, ever, even been close to catching one?’ But as I contemplated her spirit I realized that our spirits aren’t really any different. I have been trying to run with the best runners in the world ever since I was able to enter the same race in which they were competing, and while I have never won a race that would give the honor of being crowned “the best in the world,” I still find myself tearing off after the world beaters as if I have never been unsuccessful in beating them. When I watch Kai’s eyes as she spots a Squirrel I can see her come to attention as I though I put a fat sausage in front of her nose and then I see her wheels turning. I know exactly what she is thinking because I have thought the same thing a million times, “I am going after it.” Then the trigger is pulled and we are off to the races. I think this is what Coach Vigil means when he says that all that matters on the starting line is having big eyes. I love that saying. All that matters on race day is being ready to go after it, to go to war.
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Ryan Hall:
More Precious Than Gold
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted May 10th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall

With three months to go before the Olympics begin I am now putting the finishing touches on a vision that birthed 10 years ago during a long, slow, painful, fifteen-mile run around the lake. Now, after all I have been through I have just 105 days to pour myself into my training and prepare for the biggest opportunity of my life. All the training, all the discipline, all the depression, all the sacrifice, all the joy, it was all part of the journey that has prepared me for August 24th.

I love the Olympics. I always have. Growing up I had Olympic rings scribbled all over my text books. I find the symbolism of the rings to be quite dramatic with the five rings representing the unity of man from each of the five continents. There is something powerful about the unity of man.
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Sara Hall: My Future In the Marathon!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #5)

Posted March 21st, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/

As I sat down to write my blog, I realized I rarely write about my training (I guess it kind of seems egotistical to me), but for those who are interested, here you go!

Since Indoor Nationals, my training has definitely ramped up (As Steve Slattery would say, taking it up a notch!)! Living in Big Bear Lake, I have gotten to experience what it’s like to “live high, train low” in the full sense of the term. One of the reasons why Ryan and I bought a home in Big Bear is the benefit of living at 7,000 ft elevation, yet being able to drive down to a nice track at sea level in an hour (or less, depending on how fast you tear down the mountain!) It has been a good compromise for Ryan and I, as he imagines himself going into oxygen shock when at sea level (I always joke I’m going to buy him a pressurized space suit he can wear around), whereas I crave the rhythm of the track with my lungs full of air. So this month I have experimented with training in Big Bear, driving down twice a week to do intense track work and on the weekends doing a mini “marathon simulation” as our team calls it (a medium effort run, followed by a long tempo run) up at altitude.
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Hall Ready For San Diego Turf Battle at USA XC Champs

Posted February 11th, 2008 at 4:39 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Cross Country

The first time Ryan Hall raced the 12-K event at the USA Cross Country Championships it was in frosty conditions in New York City’s Van Cortlandt Park in February, 2006. Spectators shivered, but Hall was on fire, romping to victory over his closest rival, Jorge Torres, by 27 seconds.

It is was in that race that Hall, last November’s U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon champion, saw the future.

“That kind of opened up my eyes a little bit to the longer distances,” said Hall on a conference call today from his home in Big Bear Lake, Calif., where he is preparing to leave for the U.S. Cross Country Championships in San Diego next Saturday.
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