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Lead Stories: Saturday, March 20, 2010

Sara Hall: The Fine Line
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 21)

Posted February 13th, 2009 at 12:31 PM by Sara Hall

Section: 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/

Nagging pain: It’s something that we distance runners deal with on a semi-regular basis.

The sport itself is one of pain management, where the battle not only lies in how long our bodies can physically exert themselves, but how long our minds can tune out the red light flashing, “Slow down, this hurts!”.

When it comes to injuries, it seems inevitable that things will pop up once in awhile with the amount of pounding our bodies take while logging 80-90 mile weeks. But since we are so used to the general pain in running, it seems natural to ignore even these nagging aches and pains. And to a certain extent we can, and get away with it, but it’s a fine line between what you can run through and what you can’t.
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Sara & Ryan Hall:
Our Fall Adventures - Part 3
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 20)

Posted December 29th, 2008 at 9:35 AM by Sara Hall

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

The first few miles of the course (of the Run for Clean Water) followed the rutty red dirt “road” through the forest and out onto the main road. I though that surely by the time we hit the road, most of the under-trained and eager young runners would have come back to me. But I once again underestimated the talent of these young Zambians, and though I passed some in the first few miles, I turned onto the road and saw some young men charging down the road in the distance about 400 meters away. The black “tarmac” as they called it was scorching in the heat as we ran straight up a relentless hill. I settled in running next to a guy wearing a sweatshirt and sandals three sizes too big for him. They flapped loudly with each step, and I told myself, Sara, you are a professional athlete, you will not get beat by a guy wearing sandals. We kept a good pace together as we continued to climb, the sun beating stronger with each mile, and I wondered how some of the runners around me were able to run barefoot on the scorching pavement!
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Jon Rankin:
Facing the Next Step [Part 1]
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 22)

Posted December 24th, 2008 at 10:13 AM by Jon Rankin

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin

Welcome to the official blog of rising U.S. track & field star Jon Rankin, the inaugural member of TheFinalSprint’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Check back every other Wednesday for his latest entry at http://jonrankin.thefinalsprint.com

The year 2005 marked the moment in my life when I would enter what’s known to all soon-to-be graduating college seniors as “the real world.” No, I’m not talking about the MTV show The Real World. Even though that would have been a lot more fun post-graduation, it’s as far as you can get from anything like the real world I’m talking about (sorry real world fans). I’m talking about the world where financial aid is no longer student loans (that’s what I had), college scholarships (that’s what I didn’t have) or grants (didn’t have any of these either), but a job that you have to find. Where your living situation is no longer a dorm room, but most likely a small, dirty, really old apartment in a location furthest from where your job is located. Going into my 5th and final year of college I was faced with the inevitability of the bubble that college creates for all 18-22 year olds bursting and having to create a similar situation all on my own once that diploma touched my hands. To say the least, I was staring in the face of the real world and I was uncertain about my future with less than twelve months of school left.
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Jon Rankin:
We Can All Be Heroes
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 21)

Posted December 11th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jon Rankin

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin

Welcome to the official blog of rising U.S. track & field star Jon Rankin, the inaugural member of TheFinalSprint’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Check back every other Wednesday for his latest entry at http://jonrankin.thefinalsprint.com

Last night, December 5th, 2008, I attended the Nike high school cross country event called the Nike XC Cool Down in Hollywood, California. I had the best time hanging out with all who attended, from the Nike LA Reps, the local high school cross country runners, their coaches and their parents. Along with my training partner, Alysia Johnson I had the joy of being a “celebrity” guest for the event. The event had a little bit of everything: good food and music, running videos, even a dance contest. Unfortunately, I couldn’t compete in the dance competition, but if I did I think I could have given the high school kids a run for the win and bragging rights!

The night provided a rapidly aging runner like me—I know I’m not old but it feels that way sometimes–an opportunity to reminisce with the young audience about my high school experience and what it meant to me looking back now. I have to admit that as I described my high school running experience I felt nostalgic. I hadn’t realized in quite sometime how much I missed the pasta parties. One of my fondest memories from high school cross country was the nicknames that we had for each other, many we still shamelessly use to this day. My nickname was “Rankdog.” I know, I know, “Rankdog?” I’m not even going to try and explain it. All I can say for the name was that I, I mean we thought it was cool at the time…..
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Sara & Ryan Hall:
Our Fall Adventures - Part 2
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 19)

Posted December 5th, 2008 at 2:16 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, SPOTLIGHT, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall, 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 much as we enjoyed the run with the Zambian people, running wasn’t our intention for going to Zambia. We were there with some of the leaders and supporters of Team World Vision to see some of World Vision’s projects throughout different communities in Zambia. World Vision is a humanitarian organization that works with children, families, and their communities worldwide to tackle the causes of poverty and injustice. Team World Vision is a program that enables runners to raise awareness and funds for these communities. This year, Ryan and I joined Team World Vision to join other athletes in helping provide clean water for communities in Zambia.

The need for clean water impacts much of Africa for many reasons. Not only does unclean water cause and exacerbate disease, but it also keeps children from attending school. Often times, children, particularly girls, are required to walk long distances for clean water, keeping them out of school or causing them to arrive late and tired to the point of not being able to concentrate. It’s amazing that something so basic to human survival that we in the US take for granted could be denied to so many people in other areas. Ryan and I couldn’t wait to see with our own eyes the projects we had been thinking about and talking about throughout the last year, and meet the people who would benefit from the wells we were helping provide.
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Sara & Ryan Hall:
Our Fall Adventures - Part 1
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 18)

Posted November 14th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Sara Hall

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

I don’t even know where to start! Since I last wrote, we have experienced so much that it’s overwhelming to try to sum it up succinctly in a blog. So this will have to be Part 1 of the Hall’s Fall Adventures!

Last I wrote we were about to head off to the Chicago Marathon to cheer on Team World Vision. It was incredible to actually be with the team in person, meet them at the pre-race pasta dinner, and rally the masses in orange ready to run Sunday morning! Team World Vision had around 800 runners in the marathon, making them close to if not the largest charity in the race! It’s been exciting to see the word getting out and the momentum that the team is generating. During the marathon, I ran around the course cheering on my teammate Kate O’Neill and the hundreds of orange TWV runners that were so easy to spot! Afterwards, we had a barbeque in a park adjacent to the finish, and we got to hear the stories of the 26.2 miles and what had motivated them to join Team World Vision. Some of the runners even ran with buttons displaying a picture of their sponsored child, of whom they were running in honor.

NOTE: Check out the following video of Sara and Ryan addressing Team World Vision runners before the 2008 Chicago Marathon. Then make sure to click “Read the rest of this entry” to continue viewing Part 1 of Sara’s blog entry about their Fall Adventures!

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Jon Rankin: Being Human
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 20)

Posted November 7th, 2008 at 10:06 AM by Jon Rankin

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin

Welcome to the official blog of rising U.S. track & field star Jon Rankin; the inaugural member of The Final Sprint’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Be sure to check back every other Wednesday for Jon’s latest entry at http://jonrankin.thefinalsprint.com/

The summer is now far behind us and as the fall quickly fades away I find joy in the coming and going of the seasons. I know I haven’t communicated much with the great Final Sprint audience but all of you haven’t been too far from my mind or heart. In fact, I’ve spent a great part of my summer reflecting upon the journey we went through together this past Olympic year and I realize we’ve had “conversations” of great depth: conversations about my fears and dreams, my triumphs and my failures. And as I now reflect upon those conversations I sit here feeling a profound sense of gratefulness for your ears and your kind words. As we move towards a new season of training and racing I look forward to picking up where we left off, only this time our journey will be bound for a destination in Europe–Berlin, Germany for the 2009 World Championships.
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Sara Hall: Back to Training, Chicago and Off to Zambia
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 17)

Posted October 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 AM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, 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/

Well, the break is over and I’m back into training for the 08-09 season! It went by fast with our multiple trips, but though it would seem like all the traveling would be draining physically, it’s actually been really invigorating! After a disappointing season, it can sometimes be hard to motivate yourself to keep giving it your all day in day out with the risk that the results won’t follow. But now, a few weeks later and a few states traveled, I am re-inspired and motivated to start a new season!

After New York, Ryan and I traveled to Chicago to meet some of our Team World Vision members, encourage them in their training, and recruit others to join us in our efforts to eliminate the root causes of poverty by choosing a race and raising money for World Vision’s projects in Africa. We had really looked forward to this time, as we’d been praying for and encouraging the team from afar, but were looking forward to meeting them in person. We met up with some of the TWV members for an early morning run on the Lake Michigan bike path (I cheated my break and jogged a few miles! I justified it by taking a rain check for a day off later this month). It was neat to hear their stories about what was motivating them, and see their excitement and nerves as the 2-week countdown began!
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Dathan Ritzenehin:
Back To Boulder
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 14)

Posted September 25th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein! Check back every other Tuesday for Ritz’s latest entry at http://dathanritzenhein.thefinalsprint.com/ as he prepares to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

It is nice to be back in Eugene. The other day I was counting the number of days that I had been home from late July and mid September and it was only like eight days. It is a little bittersweet though because we won’t be here for long. We are going to be here until October 1st then we are back on the road again. We will be going to Boulder for a couple weeks of altitude training and some catching up with our best friends.

We moved from Boulder originally because with all the injuries we wanted to find softer surfaces and get to sea level because it was hard for me to recover there and to do the long tempo workouts that I have found to be essential for the marathon. But the one thing about altitude that I really miss is that it is really easy to get into shape. After taking a break and just running very easy it will be very good for me to get back into shape because I think this is the most out of shape I have been in the last four years. The body needs that sometimes but I hate being out of shape.
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Dathan Ritzenehin: Post-Olympic Marathon Blog
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 13)

Posted September 9th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

Well it has been a month now since the last blog posting. Sorry to the regular readers who may have been looking for the last post. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me. The fan support has been something which kept me going leading up the Olympics and during the race.

Now that it has been over for a while I can reflect back on the race. I never would have imagined that the race would have been won in 2:06 and that second place would run 2:07. I am amazed at how well those front two guys ran. As for myself I am happy with how I raced but not completely satisfied with the results. It is easy to look back and say what if and imagine what I could have done, but now that the dust has settled I know that I did my best on that day.

It was a difficult feeling after the race because everyone was telling me how great I ran but I felt like I was capable of so much more. I also felt that there were things that happened in the race that I could have controlled and I could have done much better.
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