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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

Ryan Hall: Olympic Memories
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 15)

Posted August 20th, 2008 at 12:52 PM 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/

I have always dreamed about what the whole Olympic experience would be like. I have seen portrayals of the Olympics in many movies, the most memorable of which was “Cool Runnings,” but to experience it for myself has been both exciting and boring. I know that “boring” wouldn’t seem to be the adjective of choice when describing the Olympic experience, but the truth must be told that the Olympics is not all excitement, all the time for us athletes. I have been telling people that I want to go back to the Olympics sometime when I am not competing so I can get the full experience.

My journey started nearly two weeks ago when I left my hometown in Big Bear after an exciting send off party held in my honor where nearly two thousand people turned out to support me. Upon arriving in San Jose for team processing I was surprised to learn that I was the only athlete going through team processing that day. I had pretty much the whole staff waiting on me, which made a four hour process go by in a little under an hour. I was the last of the nearly six hundred US Olympians to pick up all my gear, which meant that I had to settle for some oversized items, such as some size 44″ cargo pants (I hope that I don’t fit into those anytime soon). Even though processing was pretty much empty it was still exciting to finally get the official USA gear. It was surreal to try on the opening ceremonies gear.
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Ryan Hall:
A Bad Case of the Mondays
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 14)

Posted July 31st, 2008 at 12:26 PM by Ryan Hall

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

I could write a whole book on the lessons I have learned from marathon training. I feel like every time I build up for a marathon I get a whole life’s worth of wisdom from just three grueling months of training. These past couple of weeks has been filled with ups and downs. One day I will be doing a 13-mile tempo run feeling strong and filled with energy. The very next day I will be doing close to two hours of running (split between two runs) and feel like I couldn’t take on a recreational jogger. Deena has routinely been dropping me on my easy runs, but its OK, I can take it, she is a bronze medalist after all.
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Ryan Hall: Olympic Trials and Running Shoes [Part I & II]
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 13)

Posted July 18th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Ryan Hall

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

PART I

This past Tuesday I returned to Mammoth Lakes to put in my last hard month of altitude training after spending a week in Eugene to watch Sara compete in the Olympic Track and Field Trials. Watching the trials was one of the most emotional week-long experiences of my life. Watching some of my teammates and friends qualify for the Olympics kept me up late at night as a result of my excitement for them. However, my heart broke with my wife and some of my other teammates who failed to qualify. I could feel their pain as my own. I know all too well what it feels like to dream big, invest everything, and come up short. It is a risk we all take as athletes and when it all comes crashing down there is really very little one can say in the face of shattered dreams.

When I was a senior in high school I had a huge dream to run a sub-four minute mile. I can remember very clearly my last crack at it.
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Kate O’Neill: Re-living Childhood at Red Robin
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 12)

Posted July 7th, 2008 at 10:41 AM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials have been addicting. As much as I would have preferred to have a spot on the starting line rather than the living room couch, I still found myself enjoying the viewing experience. I was cheering along with the amazing Hayward field crowds; feeling inspired at the breakthrough performances of Christian Smith in the 800 meters, Amy Yoder Begley in the 10,000 meters, and Billy Nelson in the steeplechase; feeling awe at the survival story of 1500 meter Olympian Lopez Lomong; and smiling at the pure joy that registered on Abdi Abdiriham’s face as he celebrated after his victory in the 10,000 meters.

I had been afraid that watching the Trials would be emotionally difficult. For some moments, it was. I kept re-living the last Olympic Trials and wishing the intermittent four years had brought more success. For the most part, I tried to re-direct those thoughts toward the next four years. The thought of all that I want to accomplish makes me excited, but does not completely vanquish the feelings of nostalgia for the past.
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Kate O’Neill:
Personal Fulfillment
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 11)

Posted June 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 PM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Motivation, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

With the Olympics fast approaching, I have been spending more time than usual thinking about goals. Ever since the Chicago Marathon, I had been chasing the goal of making the US Olympic Marathon team. When that did not work out, I was miserable, but quickly made new goals. I had to remind myself that being part of the US Olympic team was not the only reward of accomplishing my goals. The feeling of personal fulfillment was my prime motivation and that was something that I could still chase after.

For some people, personal fulfillment comes from very different accomplishments. After my long run this morning, I lounged on the couch for a while and watched the MTV show “Made” with one of my roommates. I had never seen the show before today. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the series profiles teenagers who want to be “made” into something more glamorous such as singers, athletes, or dancers. To guide them in the process, they are given a coach who is an expert in their chosen field. On this particular episode, a girl named Dyanna wanted to win her high school’s beauty pageant.
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Ryan Hall: The Countdown
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 12)

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 7:55 PM by Ryan Hall

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall, Road Racing

As I laid awake last night trying to fall asleep, I did what I have a tendency to do once training is clicking well and I feel my legs beginning to feel “alive” again after the initial callusing is complete from the first month of marathon training; I began the countdown. Only a little more than two months until I run in the Olympic marathon.

Countdowns are nothing new for me. When I was a little kid my siblings and I used to fight over who gets to open the next day’s door on a Christmas countdown board. I am not going to lie, it was the chocolate behind the door that we were really fighting over, but it did make Christmas all the more special once it finally arrived.
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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

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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The Other Lagat

Posted May 29th, 2008 at 3:30 PM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Motivation, Success Stories, Track & Field, Olympics, Interviews, College, Road Racing

Harron Lagat It may seem odd that a city in west Texas is similar to an east African country, but that is why Haron Lagat, from Eldoret, Kenya, lives and trains in Lubbock. Lagat, 24, said the stable weather and friendly community remind him of home, but with more opportunities.

“I think I’ll live here for a while,” Lagat said. “If there’s a place where you can make your life better, why not go there?”

The former Texas Tech athlete-turned-volunteer assistant coach runs for the AmeriKenyan Running Club, based in Santa Fe, N.M. His manager, Scott Robinson, convinced Lagat to forgo his last year of NCAA eligibility to run professionally in 2006, despite never winning a national title. Lagat mentioned that most people had never heard of him while he ran in college.
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Kate O’Neill:
Taking the First Steps
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted May 27th, 2008 at 2:30 PM by Kate O'Neill

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Kate O'Neill

Hi, this is my blog in TFS’s Elite Athlete Blog Series. Bookmark kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Monday for my latest entry as I strive for the 2008 Summer Olympics!

For the first few weeks after the Olympic Marathon Trials, I was not able to run at all, but I thought about running constantly. Worries about what I had done wrong filled my head and doubts made me question all of my decisions leading up to the race. As my knee improved and I progressed toward running again, those thoughts quickly changed from the past to the future. I kept wondering what those first few steps of running would feel like. The first run loomed over thoughts and I wanted to do everything I could do to make sure that it went well.

I have been running for 13 years. In an ideal world, all those years of experience would make the act of running instinctual. I would not have needed to waste energy with all these thoughts. Instead, I felt sick with worry that my feet would no longer remember how to support me, my arms would start flailing, and my knees would buckle forward into each other.
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