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Lead Stories: Saturday, September 6, 2008

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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Nick Symmonds: Goin’ Home!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 10)

Posted April 7th, 2008 at 6:28 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, 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

At the age of 18 I was applying to colleges and, though I wanted to stay in the Pacific Northwest, I also knew that I had to get out of Boise, ID. Boise had been my home for 15 years and while it was a great place to grow up, I needed a change of scenery and wanted to see what life was like in other cities. However, returning to Boise has always been extremely important to me. This Friday I will be going home for the weekend and this got me thinking about why I return home every few months.
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Nick Symmonds: The Last Bales of Hay
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9)

Posted March 24th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Make 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

If you have ever raced competitively and trained to peak for a specific race then you have heard the phrase “the hay is in the barn.” This, of course, refers to the months and years of training you have logged in preparation for that race. The race I am preparing for is the Olympic Trials and I have been accumulating hay for this one for about 10 years now. It’s amazing to think that in three months I will finally have my chance to realize this dream. However, a lot can happen in three months.

After taking five days off in Spain and just being your standard American tourist (i.e. not running a step and eating WAY too much) I returned to Eugene five pounds heavier and as mentally fresh as I’ve ever been. This is exactly where I want to be. I find that a few extra pounds help me stay healthy during the months of intense training and after an intense indoor season I needed that five day break from living the life of a professional athlete.
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Nick Symmonds: World Indoor Championships 2008
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8)

Posted March 11th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. Make 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

I am currently sitting in a cafe in Oviedo, a small city in the north of Spain and I’m thinking I have the best job in the world. I get paid to travel to many foreign places doing what I love to do. Well, usually I love this job, but sometimes it challenges me with the most difficult experiences. I ran into a new challenge this past weekend in Valencia, Spain at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

After passing through the prelims and semi-finals with relative ease, I found myself preparing to race in my first World finals. I was about to compete against five of the fastest people on this planet. The prospect had me excited to say the least and I had no idea what to expect. Though this was my first final on the World level, I have been in many championship races. They are, especially in the 800m, impossible to predict.

I assumed that it would go out at a modest pace and eventually slow down leaving things perfectly set-up for me to unleash a 200m kick that would surely result in a top three finish … No such luck.
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TFS News Briefs: 3/10/08

Posted March 10th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

USA Reigns Supreme in World Championships Medal Count
Team USA, even with many of its top athletes not in attendance, still took away a total of 13 medals, more than any other nation at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships held in Valencia, Spain from March 7-9, 2008. These included 5 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze. Russia was a close second with 12 medals, including 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze.
Read more at: [IAAF]

IHT Dismisses Worlds As “For Connoisseurs Only”
An article in the International Herald Tribune dismissed the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships as being “for connoisseurs only.” With The US contingent being “B Team USA” and still winning the meet, the writer probably has a point. Imagine if Wariner, Gay, Felix, Richards, Webb and Tegenkamp had been there.
Read more at: [IHT]

Mottram Focused On Edinburgh
After a disappointing 5th-place finish at the world indoors, Aussie Craig Mottram is now focused on redeeming himself at the World Cross-Country Championships to be held later this month in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mottram’s coach, Nic Bideau, said that “the focus is the cross-country. I mean he hadn’t done the preparation for a race like that, which was a sprint home.”
Read more at: [Melbourne Herald Sun]
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TFS News Briefs: 3/08/08

Posted March 8th, 2008 at 11:25 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Robles Fails To Advance Past 1st Round
Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, who owns 8 out of the 10 fastest times in the world this year, failed to advance past the first round of the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain. Robles had thought Liu Xiang had false-started.
Read more at: [IAAF]

Marion Jones Reports To Prison
Federal Inmate Number 84868-054, aka Marion Jones, has begun serving her six-month sentence at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, TX. Jones is serving time for perjury relating to her use of steroids and for a check-fraud scam.
Read more at: [Bleacher Report, CA]

Defar Wins 3000m At Worlds
Ethiopia’s incomparable Meseret Defar handily won the women’s 3000m event at the World Indoor Championships with a time of 8:38.79, well off her world indoor record of 8:27.93. Fellow Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu placed 2nd in 8:41.50, just ahead of Moroccan Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, who won the bronze medal with a time of 8:41.66.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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TFS News Briefs: 3/07/08

Posted March 7th, 2008 at 5:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

IAAF World Championships Event Reports/Previews
You can read up on all of the happenings in the World Indoor Championships by going to the IAAF’s Valencia ‘08 website. So far, gold medals have gone to Christian Cantwell (USA) in the men’s shot put, Angela Williams (US) in the women’s 60m dash, Tia Hellebaut (BEL) in the women’s pentathlon and Olusoji A. Fasuba (NIG) in the men’s 60m dash. Read more at: [IAAF WIC 08]

Coverage of World Championships on WCSN, VERSUS
You can catch the action from Valencia both online and on TV. Links to this coverage are available on Track & Field News’ home page (in section titled Latest Results).
Read more at: [Track & Field News]

Dwain Chambers Wins Silver Medal, Vows To “Do It Clean”
After his silver-medal-winning finish at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, Dwain Chambers has vowed to “put out a new script that you can do it clean.” He is getting the word out in an anti-drug campaign in which he will “start going into schools, use myself as an example to talk to kids to not go down the road I took.”
Read more at: [Times Online, UK]
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TFS News Briefs: 3/05/08

Posted March 5th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

101-Year-Old Set To Become World’s Oldest Marathoner
Buster Martin is set to become the world’s oldest marathoner next month when he toes the line for the Flora London Marathon at age 101. He is also a singer in a rock band.
Read more at: [ABC News]

US 15K Championships Set For Saturday
Deena Kastor tries for a 6th win Saturday at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL. Katie McGregor, whom Kastor calls a “fierce competitor,” is expected to challenge her for the title. Brian Sell and Abdi Abdirahman are the favorites in the men’s race.
Read more at: [Florida Times-Union]

Event-By-Event Preview of World Indoor Championships
European Athletics, Europe’s counterpart to the USATF, has published an event-by-event preview of the IAAF World Indoor Championships which will be held in Valencia, Spain this weekend. Three women’s competitions are expected to be highlights of the meet, including Maria Mutola’s 800m (yes, the race belongs to her until she retires), the 1500m in which Maryam Yusuf Jamal will be challenged by Yulia Fomenko, and of course the high jump in which outdoor world champion Blanka Vlašić is the favorite.
Read more at: [European-Athletics]
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TFS News Briefs: 3/01/08

Posted March 1st, 2008 at 1:15 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

X-C: Kenya Nat’l Champs Showcase Current, Future Elite Runners
Saturday’s Kenya National Championships in Nairobi showcased many of the world’s current and future elite runners. Gideon Ngatunyi 4th at the 2007 world championships, won the men’s senior 12km race with a time if 38:27.6 and Levi Matebo won the junior 8km race with a time of 25:36.6. On the women’s side, Grace Momanyi took the senior 8km race in 29:02.8 and Christine Kambua Muyanga won the junior 6km race in 21:56.4, just holding off Chebet Cheptai who ran 21:56.6.
Read more at: [IAAF]

Tergat: We Can Unite the Nation
Former marathon world-record holder Paul Tergat from Kenya indicated that Kenyan athletes could help unite Kenya by winning the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain. Tergat told the press that, “as part of national healing, we can use the world championships to unite the nation by retaining the overall team title.”
Read more at: [Reuters]

LA Marathon Men’s Field Boasts Start List of 8 Sub 2:11 Marathoners
Tomorrow’s LA Marathon boasts a start list of Seven Kenyans and 1 Russian who have sub 2:11 marathon PRs: John Kagwe (Kenya) 2:08:12, Robert Kiprotich Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2:08:13, Laban Kipkemboi (Kenya) 2:08:29, Boaz Kimaiyo (Kenya) 2:08:48, Mark Saina (Kenya) 2:09:00, Benson Cherono (Kenya) 2:10:01, Thomas Omwenga (Kenya) 2:10:44 and Sergei Lukin (Russia) 2:10:57.
Read more at: [LA Marathon]
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Nick Symmonds:
Roll with the Punches
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)

Posted February 25th, 2008 at 9:21 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. For more information about Nick please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

There is so much to write about this week! The last fourteen days have been very exciting for me. Preparation for USA Indoors went very well. The weather in Eugene was ideal and I felt very prepared as I sharpened up for this meet. However, I was thrown for a bit of a loop trying to get to Massachusetts. Our flight was canceled out of Eugene not once, but twice, and in order to get to Boston on time three of my teammates and I ended up flying the red-eye out of Los Angeles. It was not the ideal travel schedule, but this sport is about rolling with the punches. My legs felt much better after a few hours of rest and a shake out. I felt great going through the prelims and though the final was a bit frustrating for me, it was a great race and a great time. I hope anyone who caught the race enjoyed watching it! Its tough to run half a mile and lose by 1/100th of a second, but that is why they measure the finish so accurately. Next time I’m just going to have to dig down that much deeper.
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