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Lead Stories: Saturday, September 6, 2008

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

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/

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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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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Ryan Hall: Post-London Recap “It’s Just the Beginning”
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Ryan Hall

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

As has become my custom before all my best races, my travel to London was crazy. Before breaking an hour at the Houston Half-Marathon it was a monster snowstorm that left us in a ditch and literally snowed in, before London last year it was nearly missing my flight as I realized that the train from San Diego would not drop me off at LAX like I had thought (although my tardiness did result in me getting the last available seat on the plane…in first class), before the Olympic Trials it was the fires and smoke that made for a juggle in travel arrangements and then an earthquake to shake things up just hours before our flight. So when travel got crazy heading to the London marathon you would think I would be excited to know that a good race was on schedule. However, I had a hard time seeing it that way.
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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

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/

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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Mayor, City Council Welcome 44th Mardi Gras Marathon

Posted October 23rd, 2007 at 9:41 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The city of New Orleans is welcoming back, for its 44th year, a great New Orleans tradition: The New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon which hits the streets Sunday, February 24, 2008.

“We have watched as the Mardi Gras Marathon has grown over the years,” said Mayor C. Ray Nagin. “As it has grown, the city has welcomed more and more visitors. That is important to us always, and especially in this time of recovery and rebuilding.”

When Councilmember Arnie Fielkow heard the race was being wooed by a nearby city, he reacted quickly and called the city council together. “There was no way we were going to lose this race after so many years,” said Councilman Fielkow. “The council agreed to work with the marathon and provide what was needed to keep the race here.”

The race will offer an exciting new course featuring the historic French Quarter, world-famous Bourbon Street, St. Charles Avenue, the beautiful Garden District and two of the finest urban parks in the country, Audubon Park and City Park. The marathon will start and finish on Sugar Bowl Drive at the Louisiana Superdome, where parking will be available inside. Start time for the marathon and half-marathon is 7:00am, with the 5K race beginning at 7:05am.
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Tips for preventing your travel plans from interfering with your training goals

Posted June 8th, 2007 at 9:00 AM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise

hotel gym fitness center traveling training working out For those of us who travel for work, it can be a challenge to fit in our workouts. Over the last few months, this has become an issue for me as I travel at least once a month for 2/3 days, and I am training for a Half-Ironman in August.

However, after some trial and error, travel no longer gets in the way of my training. Here are some of my tips:

1) Make sure your hotel has a gym: Nowadays, most hotels do have gyms and you can generally check out what they have online before you go. While you don’t always have a choice, if you do, then find one that is open late and has a sufficient amount of equipment for the number of occupants in the hotel…

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Tips for Runners: Overcoming the perils of travel

Posted April 26th, 2007 at 2:35 PM by Paul Petersen

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise

traveling athlete airport passport In just the past month, I have had to travel on business to three different destinations on three separate occasions. This plethora of traveling has often made it difficult to run, but since I maintain an active racing schedule, I really can’t afford to have these trips impede on the 80-90 miles of weekly running required by my training program.

After my most recent trip, I returned home fatigued and endured a series of terrible runs on the ensuing days. I’ve been spending these trips sitting around a conference table, not hiking around or digging ditches, so it was not immediately clear to me why travel is so taxing on the body.

However, after serious reflection, I identified several reasons why traveling can be perilous to a running regimen:

Change of schedule. We are creatures of routine and habit, and this is something that is not just psychological, but also physiological. This is why I am unable to sleep in on weekends anymore and why I get tired at the same time every night. Upset that routine and our body clocks get upset too. The result is fatigue.

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