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Lead Stories: Friday, May 16, 2008

Jon Rankin: If I Had It All
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #12)

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 6:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: 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/

Before I took a nap this afternoon I thought about how tired I was from what turned out to be a very challenging interval session I had earlier this morning. Basically, as I sat on the edge of my bed I wondered why it was so hard. I mean, I was running pretty hard and quite fast, but I didn’t think that the workout warranted the type of reaction that my body exhibited. One of the first thoughts that I had as Coach Cruz described the workout to me was ‘this could be a great workout if I could hit the times.’ In retrospect that would be asking a lot more of my body than it was willing to give me on this day.

To say the least the workout wasn’t a great workout. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. So, what if the workout had been the ‘great workout’ that I was hoping to have? Would that have changed anything? . . . . . . Maybe. Maybe not. No matter the case, I did learn that, to have the type of expectations I had about my ability to execute a great workout upon hearing what the session would be, I had some clues as to my mental state:

1. It didn’t matter to me that I was tired coming into today’s training session.
2. It didn’t matter what I had done in the days prior to this day.
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Dathan Ritzenehin:
Homeward Bound: New Beginnings and Role Reversals
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #5)

Posted May 6th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, 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!

Sunday night, a night of great races [at the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational], made me want to be out there racing. Even though I was at home, already in my pajamas, I wanted to be there racing. Watching Brent Vaughn grit his teeth down the homestretch, and Shalane [Flanagan]’s American Record was also exciting. I would check the computer intermittently to catch an update of the races. Stanford is such a great place to go if you want great weather and fast times. No other place or meet has the predictability and guarantee that Stanford can offer.

It is always one of the hardest things to do; watching races when you are sitting at home, but I just have to keep my head down and work hard know that I will be ready for August 24th.
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Sara Hall: In Definition
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted May 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Olympics, 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/

Recently I came across some comments on a video of Ryan where people seemed confused as to what he means by “glorifying God”. I don’t normally look at people’s comments because I don’t really like criticism, but for whatever reason I started to read some this day.

Some people were vehemently anti-religion, some people held a strong in-your-face religious stance, and everything in between, debating what Ryan was talking about. It made me realize the ambiguity of this term, “glorifying God”, and so this blog is an attempt to extrapolate on what we mean when we say
we strive to glorify God when we run.
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Josh Cox: Miracles 50
and A Boy Named Sue
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted May 1st, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Josh Cox

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Josh Cox

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox. Every other Wednesday visit http://joshcox.thefinalsprint.com for Cox’s latest blog entry and for more information, also please visit: www.joshcox.com

“I believe in miracles.
I believe in a better world for me and you.
Oh, I believe in miracles.
I believe in a better world for me and you.”
-The Ramones,
I Believe in Miracles

“Son, this world is rough
And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
And I know I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye
I knew you’d have to get tough or die
And it’s that name that helped to make you strong.”
- A Boy Named Sue
(A song written by Shel Silverstein made famous by Johnny Cash. A song about a dad who names his son Sue and leaves - the son vows to exact his revenge for his awful name. He finds his dad, fights him, his dad gets up, smiles, and explains why he named him Sue. )

“The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.”
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian literary giant & Casino fiend

Somewhere around 41 miles, in the high hills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains the race came undone. I could no longer run; a humbling experience for a self-assured 22-year-old college senior who, several hours earlier, had thought running a 50-mile race was a good idea. For the first time in my life I wished I were jogging – oh the horror – anything but the “J-word.” But alas, I was doing the S-word. Shuffling. Shuffling is what we runner’s do, we bypass the jog and enter straight into the shuffle. It’s part of the unwritten code – run slow, shuffle, but never, ever jog.
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Jon Rankin:
Somewhere Only We Know
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #11)

Posted May 1st, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Jon Rankin

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

It’s the end of April and the weather here in San Diego is getting hotter and hotter. I’m grateful for the warm weather, but boy, anything over 90 degrees makes things a little tough for training. However, as hot as it has been I do believe that it must be a blessing in disguise because I’ve been told that the weather in Beijing, China is particularly warm . . . Well, all of the athletes living here at the ARCO Olympic Training Center here in Chula Vista, California are adjusting and making the most of everyday no matter the weather conditions.

I’ve actually been on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to weather conditions. For nearly eight days a small group of track and field athletes from the Chula Vista ARCO Olympic Training Center travelled to Eugene, Oregon for a sneak peek at the Olympic Trials venue at Hayward field on the University of Oregon campus.
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Dathan Ritzenehin: The Not-So-Casual Life Of A Professional Runner
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #4)

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

This week I went looking to trade in our truck for a more eco-friendly, family-friendly vehicle. While I thought I found something I liked, it wasn’t quite what my wife had in mind. Apparently a coupe isn’t as practical as a sedan when kids are involved. While we were there I was asked my occupation by the salesman. I always hesitate when answering this question because responding with “professional runner” isn’t a typical, run-of-the-mill occupation. Even here in Eugene, track town, USA, I still get odd looks and unusual responses to that answer. Such as, “You run for fun? What kind of job is that?” or “Wow! You must have a lot of time on your hands if all you do is run!” Well, I thought I would answer that response first by saying, I’m actually very busy, and secondly I will give a common play-by-play of my daily life.
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Nick Symmonds: Teammates
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #11)

Posted April 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com/ for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

Most mornings I wake up excited at the physical challenges I have planned for me that day. Whether it is an intense set of 200s, a grueling day of mile repeats, or just an easy jog followed by some lifting, I usually roll of out of bed anxious to start my workout. Today however, I woke up and was literally dreading my morning session. On the schedule I had a 5 mile tempo run averaging 5:05 pace. As an 800 meter runner this is a difficult workout, but I’m usually able to key off my teammates and literally let them drag me down the marked bike path that runs along the Willamette River. Today however, I did not have the pleasure of working out with any of them and was left tackle this 5 mile monster by myself.

I am part of a very unique training group here in Eugene, Oregon; there is no other running team in the United States as talented or as deep as the Oregon Track Club Elite. It is a group that has been carefully selected by the great coaching minds of Frank Gagliano and Vin Lananna as well as the higher ups at Nike. We have guys who have run 45 seconds for 400 meters, guys who can run well under 13:30 for 5000m and guy who can race the lights out of any distance in between. It is an honor to be part of this group and sometimes I forget just how important my teammates are to me and how much more difficult and less enjoyable my life would be without them.
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Sara Hall: Success in London for Ryan, Now On To Mt. Sac (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Sara Hall

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

It’s over. I am definitely running a little lighter these days now that London is behind us, successfully completed! There is so much buildup going into marathons, especially for Ryan since he usually doesn’t race too much leading up to it. Just one shot, make or break, all that training and dreaming coming down to one day.

This year, Ryan seemed a lot less nervous than last year and at the Trials, which helped me stay relaxed too. I take Ryan’s races very personally, because we are a team- whether playing Poker with our teammates (much to the frustration of Ian [Dobson] frustration) or cheering each other on in workouts, we are “Team Hall” and try to do it together and support each other to the point where his races seem like my races, his victories my victories, and his failures mine as well. The Bible puts it well when it says, “a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. Since we’ve been married, I definitely feel like we are “one”, so it was great to be able to be there the whole trip to London and experience it all together!
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Josh Cox:
Forgotten Number Four
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted April 17th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Josh Cox

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Josh Cox

“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
–Jesse Owens, 4 time Track and Field Gold Medalist at the 1936 Olympic Games

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
–C. S. Lewis

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
–Charlotte the spider in EB White’s “Charlotte’s Web”

I get loads of email from strangers. When you write blogs, have Myspaces, Facebooks and a contact button on your website, it comes with the territory. My latest “Miracles” installment solicited a Santa sized bag of digital mail. For every public comment I receive, another five appear in the inbox. If a common theme arises I address it in the comments of the blog – years of blogging tells me this is the best course of action. This way the popular, pertinent issues get addressed. If I’m busy this doesn’t always happen. So before diving into this entry I’ll let the mail senders know I’ll be answering their questions and keeping the comment section of the last blog alive and kicking.
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Jon Rankin:
The Space Between
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted April 10th, 2008 at 1:00 PM by Jon Rankin

Section: Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin

I often think about the moment when I will stand on the line before a packed stadium of people and I wonder what that moment will feel like. I imagine the silence of the crowd as the starter asks us to stand ready, to get set and then fires a gun following a single moment that will seemingly last an eternity. I imagine that moment everyday in the midst of the space between now and then. But that moment is still far away and so I have to remind myself often that I must not get too far ahead of the present.

I’m fearful that if I look way beyond the moment right in front of me that I will become lost. So I’m trying to find a good balance between that moment and right now. To be honest some days are easier than others because I’m so anxious and nervous about the outcome, but I’m finding a way to balance it all in my own way.
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