US Indoor Combined Events Championships
Indiana University in Bloomington
Bloomington, IN
March 6-7, 2010

2008 Olympian Diana Pickler (Manhattan, KS) won her third consecutive US Indoor Pentathlon Championship over the weekend and became the only woman to ever win three titles in this event.  Pickler scored 4,544 points, a new personal best by 102 points, and won 2 out of the 5 events contested (60m Hurdles and Long Jump).  Sharon Day (San Luis Obispo, CA), a 2008 Olympian in the High Jump, finished in third place with a new personal best score of 4,467 points, 2 points away from second place. 

In the Men's Indoor Heptathlon, Jake Arnold (Tucson, AZ) also won his third consecutive championship by winning the 3 events contested on the second day of competition.  Arnold was in 3rd place after day 1 and rallied to win the 60m Hurdles, Pole Vault, and 1000m run to secure his third title with a 2 day point title of 5,861 points.  Arnold is the second athlete to win 3 Heptathlon titles, joining former ASICS multi-eventer, Paul Terek.

Lolo Jones talks about her 26 hour trip to Doha, Qatar for the IAAF World Indoor Championships, and shares her footwear secret for those long flights.

US Indoor Track & Field Championships
Albuquerque Convention Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico
February 27 and 28, 2010

February 27, 2010

By virtue of her second place finish in the Women's 3000m this evening, Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, CA) earned a roster spot for the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held March 12-14 in Doha, Qatar.  Hall lunged at the finish in an attempt to overtake the leader but was out leaned at the finish line.  Hall's time of 9.14.92 was .02sec behind the eventual winner.  Her last lap (200m) was clocked at 30.4sec, the fastest of any runner in the field.  This is Hall's second trip to the World Indoor Championships (2006 Moscow, Russia).

In other action on the track, Greg Nixon (Los Angeles, CA) dominated his heat and easily advanced to tomorrow's final in the Men's 400m.  Nixon ran 46.34sec, a second faster than the second place finisher.  Kendall Stevens (Lima, OH), running in the first of three heats, advanced to tomorrow's semifinals in the Men's 60m dash based on his time of 6.70sec.  Ryan Brown (Seattle, WA) finished 3rd in his heat in the Men's 800m but did not advance to tomorrow's final.  In the Men's 3000m, John Pierce (Mammoth Lakes, CA) ran 8:27.28 and finished in 10th place. 

In field event action, Erin Gilreath (Muncie, IN) finished 3rd in the Women's 20 lb. weight throw with a toss of 71' 11".  In the Women's High Jump, Sharon Day (San Luis Obispo, CA), cleared 6' to finish in 4th place.  In the Men's High Jump, Norris Frederick (Chula Vista, CA) finished in 8th place with a clearance of 7' 1 1/2". 

February 28, 2010

Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA), seeking her 4th consecutive indoor championship, ran the fastest time in the semifinals, but a stumble over the fourth hurdle in the finals cost her the victory. Fortunately for Jones, she crossed the finish line in second place running 7.89sec earning a spot on the World Indoor Team.

Greg Nixon (Los Angeles, CA) was out leaned at the finish line and was relegated to third place with a time of 45.77sec, .01sec behind the second place finisher.  He will go to Doha as part of the 4x400m relay team.  In 2008, Nixon earned a Gold Medal as part of the winning quartet for the United States. 

In other track action, Kendall Stevens (Lima, OH) ran 6.70sec in the 2nd heat of the Men's 60m and did not advance to the final. 

In the field events, April Steiner-Bennett (Fayetteville, CA) cleared 14' 7 1/4" to finish in 4th place and Russ Winger (Chula Vista, CA) put the shot 63' 11 3/4" for 6th place. Norris Frederick (Chula Vista, CA) placed 3rd in the Men's Long Jump with a jump of 25' 10 3/4.

IAAF Russian Winter Indoor Meet
Moscow, Russia
February 7, 2010

Greg Nixon (Los Angeles, CA) concluded his European indoor campaign by winning the 400m at the IAAF Russian Winter Indoor Meet in Moscow, Russia Sunday, February 7, 2010.  Nixon ran 46.72sec in his last race before the US Indoor Championships (to be held at the end of the month in Albuquerque, New Mexico (February 27-28)).  Nixon has had an impressive indoor season with wins in all 4 races he has competed in.  Nixon won the 200m and 400m at the Lumberjack Invitational in Flagstaff, AZ, the 200m at the Gugl Indoor Meet in Linz, Austria, and the IAAF Russian Winter Indoor Meet in Moscow. 

LoLo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA) running in her 9th race over 7 days, finished in 2nd place in the 60m hurdles running 8.02sec.  Jones' 5 European indoor races concluded with 2 first place and 3 second place finishes.  Her next race will be at the US Indoor Championships to be held at the end of the month in Albuquerque, New Mexico (February 27-28).

Sparkassen Cup
Stuttgart, Germany
February 6, 2010

Laverne Jones-Ferrette (US Virgin Islands/Houston, TX) became the first woman to run under 7 seconds over 60m in 11 years when she ran 6.97sec at the Sparkassen Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.   Her time is the sixth fastest all-time and is just .05sec over the current world record.  Jones-Ferrette is now the clear favorite to win the world title at next month's World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar.

LoLo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA), was relegated to second place in the 60m Hurdles in a time of 7.97sec. 

Reebok Boston Indoor Games
Boston, MA
February 6, 2010

April Steiner-Bennett (Fayetteville, AR) finished in 3rd place with a pole vault clearance of 4.45m (14' 7  1/4").  Better result for the 2008 Olympian as she no-heighted previously at the Millrose Games.

Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, CA) finished 5th in the 3000m with a time of 8:55.17sec.  Hall will compete February 13, 2010 at the US Cross Country Championships in Spokane, WA. 

BW-Bank Meeting
Karlsruhe, Germany
January 31, 2010

Reigning World Indoor Champion, Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA), came back from a 2nd place finish at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow, Scotland the day before to win the 60m Hurdles in a world leading time of 7.90sec.  After the race, Jones said: "It wasn't that bad for me today.  In my heat I took the first three hurdles superb but did not do well on the final ones. Strangely in the final it was just the other way round. My aim during this indoor season is to attack the US record and win gold at the World Indoor Championships."

It was another Jones, however, who stole the show at the first major international invitational in Europe for 2010.  Laverne Jones-Ferrette (Houston, TX), new to the ASICS Team for 2010, ran away from the field in the heats of the 60m crossing the line in 7.09sec, another world best and the fastest time recorded in the world since 2008.  Jones-Ferrette, a native of the US Virgin Islands, lowered her own National Record and is aiming to win a medal at the upcoming World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar (March 12-14).  "I am getting faster and faster," Jones-Ferrette said. "Let’s see what happens in Düsseldorf on Wednesday. At the World Indoors my first goal will be to reach the final, and then I want to be in contention for a medal."

In other weekend action, Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, CA) finished second in a thrilling finish in the Women's Mile at the Millrose Games in New York City.  Hall's time of  4:31.50 was .02 behind the winner.

Annual Holiday Fun Run, with Deena Kastor - December 20, 2009

Future Track Running Center in Agoura Hills, CA is honored to have 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalist Deena Kastor join them for this year's Holiday Fun Run on Sunday, December 20th. Deena grew up in Agoura Hills, attended Agoura High School where she was a top high school athlete, coached by Future Track owner Bill Duley.

They welcome Deena back with open arms, and are very thankful that she is willing to take time out of her schedule to take part in this event.

Everything kicks off at 8:30am with a 3-5 mile easy run or walk. If you are interested in running, please RSVP to steve@futuretrackrunning.com.

For more information, visit www.futuretrackrunning.com/events/

Last week was a good week.  In terms of training it was the most defining week of my buildup for The ING NYC Marathon.  Coming off a very difficult Sunday marathon simulation I was expecting to feel a little sluggish with only one day rest before my 1000 meter repeat session on Tuesday.  It was one of those good surprises when I got part way into my workout and realized there was a freshness to my legs that hadn’t been there since I began my heavy marathon training.  I knew the rest of the week was going to be special, and it had to be, since I had my hardest runs I would be doing leading up to NYC on Friday and Sunday.
 
As we were finishing our repeats on Tuesday it began to snow, and snow, and snow.  We ended up getting so much snow that the ski resort reported a 30” dump and that they had enough to open a month earlier than expected.  On Tuesday night I went over to my training partners house, Josh Cox, for a pre-birthday healthy homemade pizza dinner.  Driving home I felt lucky to be in my four-wheel drive equipped Titan because there was no way I was getting home any other way. 
 
I turned 27 years old on Wednesday.  Birthdays have definitely changed over the years and especially since I began marathoning.  I used to have stay up all-night parties with my buddies in grade school.  Now I am eating Splenda pumpkin pie, which is really good, and enjoying low-key moments with teammates and friends.  This year Sara wanted to throw a big party for me but when I am in the middle of heavy training it is hard to find extra energy for even fun things like parties. 
 
Friday was my biggest workout of the week, an 18-mile tempo run.  I had already done an 18-mile tempo two weeks prior and it had gone well but with how good my body was feeling I knew I could run much faster this time around.  Luckily the snow had subsided and it was almost a no-shirt day (a runners way of relating temperature).  I ended up running two minutes faster than I had previously run.  When I finished that run I knew, with all certainty that I was ready.  It was not that I didn’t know before but there are those moments when you no longer have to talk yourself into the fact that you are ready you just know because the evidence is undeniable.
 
I was expecting to feel pretty trashed on Saturday but I was surprised, once again, when I felt unusually bouncy on my training runs.  Another good sign.  Running good workouts is important but how you come off them is almost equally important.  In training, no single run should ever be looked at in isolation.  It’s about the whole block of training.  This is why some people can hop in someone else’s workout, run it and apparently be in the same shape but then finish minutes behind on race day.  It isn’t totally about what has been done on just one day, it is about what has been done over the weeks and months leading up to the event.  Coming off the workout well is just as important as doing the workout.  Here is how I come off workouts well.
 
The first thing I do after a workout is eat.  Recovery begins with nutrition.  I have Cytomax protein and a banana right away, and then I go home and stretch and eat lunch soon thereafter.  After lunch I go straight into a 90-minute massage.  I know massage might not be accessible to everyone, which is why when I don’t have access to a massage I use various balls, rollers, Normatec MVP, etc to workout any knots or tight spots I may have acquired from the workout.  After the massage I go straight into my Icool for an ice bath.  After relaxing for a couple of hours, it is time to go to the gym for some light leg weights (quad extensions, pulley exercises, etc…the key here is to strengthen the muscles that tend to be weak on you specifically), a kick in the pool for hydro-therapy and a brief (10 minutes tops, followed by lots of water) stretch in the hot tub.  These are the keys I have found helpful in coming off workouts well but you are going to have to experiment to find what works well for you.
 
Sunday marked two weeks till race day.  It was my last long run.  I ran 2 ½ hours and covered well over 20 miles feeling very controlled the whole way.  It is at about two weeks before the race that I make sure to really monitor my effort level.  I still do some hard running but there are no tests until the marathon.  I did my usual recovery routine in the afternoon and finished the day with a night service at church.
 
Today I woke up and had that unusual pop in my legs once again.  I was thinking about how I only had a couple weeks left to enjoy the fitness that I have gained over the last four months, and then it will be time to stop running and let my body recover.  People are always surprised when I tell them I let myself get out of shape over a two-week complete no-run recovery period after all my marathons.  I have come to see it as a very necessary part of marathon training.  I have tried only taking a modified break and found that I came back in very good shape but then as I began my training my body goes stale, begins to breakdown in the form of injuries, and I see very little improvement.  Recovery is a necessary part of the cycle of a marathon runner.  Plus, if you never let yourself get out of shape its harder to appreciate being in shape.