FLOAT ON

My two introductory blogs went up on Flocast last week.   The site looks good and Mark from Flocasts continues to push the visibility of track and field in North America.  

Seems as though my non-inclusion at worlds is still stirring a little discussion on TnFNorth. I guess its frustrating because I was just so close.  Apparently there are 16 athletes who have some sort of IAAF standard.  I know in the distance events, at least, Aimee Teteris, Andrew Ellerton, Ryan McKenzie, Paul Morrison, Megan Metcalfe, Steve Osadiuk and Matt McInnes all have a B standard. 

One reason why the COC doesn’t want to send all the athletes who have achieved minimum standards is that they want to have high percentages of people making finals.  So if they would of sent me to Worlds and I didn’t make the final then their “total athletes to athletes in a final ratio” is weaker.   I just don’t see the value in a percentage compared to the value in total numbers. I would think at the end of the day the more athletes you have in the final the better.  And, where better to get experience in the rounds to make the major finals as the Worlds and Olympic rounds themselves?  Where am I ever going to get into a race at this stage of my career where I get the chance to run a race that will have similar tactics to Worlds or Olympic heats? 

Here’s an interesting fact:  I’ve only run in three races in my whole life where I’ve had heats and final. 

1) 1998 OFSAA 2000m s/c – qualified for final – 3rd in final
2) 2002 National Track and Field 1500 – qualified for final – 4th in final
3) 2005 World Track and Field 5000m – 14th in heat, did not qualify for final

So to say I lack experience in heats is an understatement, especially at 5000m.  And that is where distance events differ a lot from other events.  Making a final usually takes getting through tactical races that you don’t get in normal open competitions.  Much different from the jumping, throwing and sprinting events where there isn’t as much influence form the rest of the field. 

But that’s all done now.  My energy and focus will be going into running faster and gunning for the Olympic team next year… and maybe a little campaigning to get AC/COC to lengthen the qualifying period.  It would absolutely suck if an athlete would be ready to perform at the Olympics but is not even on the team because Canada needs some extra time for administrative purposes. 

I had a random drug test last night at my house.  Not sure if the CCES got the memo, but I’m not going to worlds.  The last time I had a drug test at home was right before Commonwealths and this one fell right before worlds.  The annoying part was that I was on an hour long run and had to take a (edit) pee 45 minutes into it.  When I got back home and saw the CCES guy I didn’t have to go at all.  Two litres of water later I was good to go!

CBC radio correspondent Mihira Lakshman was just over doing a little interview with me about Worlds.  He’s doing a piece on the World Championships that will air in the coming weeks and wanted my perspective on coming so close to AC’s standards. It should be pretty interesting as he interviewed a bunch of athletes at Nationals and Martin Goulet.  Mihira knows track well and I expect the piece will be well done, minus my blabbering.

I’ve started a blog on Flotrack as well.  The blog should come out tomorrow and I will have an introductory blog and a 2007 recap for new readers to get caught up with me.  After that this blog and Flotrack will have the same content.  I’m not sure what the layout on flotrack is yet but hopefully I’ll be able to upload pics there too.

If I was going to worlds I’d be able to adorn my blog with more photos like this.

      Southern Ontario is stinkin’ hot right now (40C/104F with the humidex), and I don’t really mind.  As long as its cool at night I can deal with this heat, especially after it being so cool in Europe this summer.  The heat really sucks when you’re trying to hit splits on the track and/or racing and I’m not doing either this week.  I’ve been staying on the trails and doing my afternoon runs a little later than usual.

      I kind of shot myself in the foot for racing after Heusden.  I guess I was a little overconfident in my ability to make worlds (ie. run a 30 sec 200m after 12 laps of 64’s).  The plan was to come back to Guelph to train for two weeks before leaving for Asia.  If I didn’t make worlds I figured I’d want some down time, but now I feel like another race.  The big problem is that there are simply very few races in North America (even in Europe for that matter) that would suit my needs.  And the one race that I’d like to do, Falmouth Mile, was full well over a month ago and I’m trying to get in less than two weeks before the race.

     Thanks to everyone for the kind words and support.  Even though I will not be racing too much in the coming months I’ll still try and keep updating the blog twice a week with training, gossip, rumours, rants and hi-jinx.  And good luck to Jason Dunkerley at the Parapanamerican games coming up later this month.

      Well I’m not going to Worlds in Osaka.  It doesn’t come as much of a surprise as I didn’t make the specific standards set out by Athletics Canada.  To go to worlds I would of needed to run under 13:28(B) and 13:25(B+) or, one race under 13:19.71(A).  I ended up with a 13:21.53 and a 13:29.94. 

      So why did I think they would consider me?  In the 10 000m I actually met the time standard set out by AC to qualify for Osaka with a B+ performance when I ran 27:56.92.  So I actually had two B+ standards, they just happened to be in different events.  But the events aren’t too different and, AC does acknowledge that fact.  If you qualify early in the qualification phase for the 10 000m you need to prove fitness in the latter part of the qualification phase, and that can be done in the 5000m.  Dave did send in an appeal for me and they considered my case when picking the team yesterday, but in the end the selection panel couldn’t justify sending me.

      Looking back I’m still fine with some of the decisions I made such as training for worlds and not cutting my mileage too early.  Because I’ve already been to worlds I had goals I wanted to accomplish there.  I would not of been satisfied with just making the team.  If I did cut mileage earlier would I have run faster in Heusden or Nationals?  who knows, maybe I would have run slower?  But, either way it would have been too long of a taper to hold until the end of August to be competitive at Worlds.  The other big decision was to not compete at Nationals in the 10 000m.  I really wanted to qualify in the 5000m and, another 10 000m at that point would not of helped me, and possibly hurt me, in the 5000m.  The other big decision was to not compete at the Pan-Am games in the 10 000m and risk not making any national team this summer in order to attempt a fast 5000m in Europe.  It didn’t quite work, but I’m still happy I PB’d in the 5000m.

      Its too bad Canadian athletes aren’t given the full time to qualify for Worlds as the official cut-off date is midnight on August 13th (Monaco time).  I’m confident that I could run another 5000m under 13:28 in the next two weeks if I were in a decent race.  That would satisfy AC’s time standards, be in line with the IAAF window for qualifying and also prove that I’m in good shape at the right time (opposed to running fast in April or something).  But no such luxury for Canadian Athletes.

     The world rankings came out again this week and I’m now the highest I’ve ever been ranked at 40th.  14 of the athletes ahead of me are Kenyan and I’m actually the 12th non-African on the list (I count Qatari athletes who were born and live in Kenya as African).  In the 5000m time lists I’m ranked 72nd so far this year but if you only count three per country I’m ranked 30th (a country can only send 3 athletes to Worlds/Olympics).

     Whats next for me?  I’m in my best shape now and I don’t plan on ending my season immediately.  I’m hoping to be able to run a mile on the track or a road race in the next couple of weeks and then I’ll see how I’m feeling from there. 

    I’ve watched the 5000m on flocast way too many times and the last lap of that race still haunts me.  In my head I replay myself going through 4600m with 12:16 on the clock and feeling like I can run a 13:18… 

  This morning I went for a run… I haven’t enjoyed a 30 minute run as much as I did that run.  I don’t know why that was but I think with all the world selection crap going on I remembered that I friggin’ love doing this no matter how frustrating some of this shit can be.

       I’ve run two PB’s in the past week (3:40.38 and 13:21.53) and somehow I still feel a little disappointed.  My 5000m last night was good and I’m happy with the time except that I missed the IAAF A standard for Worlds and Olympics by .03. My 13:21.53 finally breaks my high school and university alumni records held by Jason Bunston and Paul Williams respectively. 

       Since I was in the B section I knew from the bat that if I was going to run under 13:20 that I would need to be towards the front and probably do some leading in the latter stages.  With over 30 guys in the race it was tough to get out and I found myself running the first 800m in lanes 2 and 3  to get up with the rabbits.  My first 400m was 65 and we came through the km in 2:41, too slow.  My next km was 2:39 and that put me right back on track.  Ryan Hall rabbited until almost 3000m and Ian Dobson and I were left to trade off laps after 3000m in 8:00, right on track.  We kept switching every 400m and got through 4km in 10:40 and we were still on 13:20 pace with 400m to go.  At that point I was in second and feeling really confident that I could run a 63 and book my ticket to Osaka.  With 300m to go I really started hurting but I kept close enough to the pace with 200m to go.  At that point I tried to pick up the pace and my legs buckled and I knew I was in serious trouble.  Ian ran away from me and Jonathan Riley flew past me in the last 100m as I suffered.  I came through the line completely done.  The effort was there and I went for it so I cannot really ask for more.  But .03??!!! still frustrating.

You can watch the whole race here http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/coverage.php?c=74&id=4535

        Looking back on a few things I wonder what would of happened if there was one more person sharing the lead in the last 2000m.  Or further back and perhaps hitting a B (13:28) standard at Nationals (13:34) or Arhus (13:29) and then I would of had two B standards.  If NYC wasn’t that hot… I was ready for a good one then too.  I think I have the ability to get the qualifications but it just didn’t quite click.  Technically I did qualify for worlds and Canada could send me but, the Canadian standards are tougher and baring a miracle I’ll be watching this one on CBC.  I’m still going to train the next couple of days as though I made the team just in case, but mentally I’m not counting on going one bit.

       I’m really looking forward to my next race.  Preparations have gone very well and I only have 2 more days until showtime.  The meet website is http://www.sport.be/kbcnacht/2007/eng/ and I’ve been checking it non-stop the last couple of days waiting for heats to come out.  I got word that the Heusden Start Lists won’t be out until Friday at noon.  I figure my 13:23PB or 13:29SB will put me towards the front of the B section.   I hope whatever section I’m in there will be a group going out in a shade under 8:00 for 3000m. 

      Someone asked to know a little more about my training.  Here’s a workout that I did on Monday.  The workout consisted of 300, 500, 500, 1000, 500, 400, 300, 200.  We had 45 seconds rest everywhere except for on either side of the KM where we took 3.5 minutes.  The intention of this workout is to maintain our fitness and 5000m rhythm for the weekend.  We practiced getting out fast and then settling into race pace and then picking it up a little of the back end.  My splits were 43, 1:18, 1:19, 2:39, 1:18, 62, 45, 28.  It was pretty fun to do the workout for Flocasts.  Last week I dropped a season low of 120km for the week.  I think that was a key reason for me running a PB in the 1500m as my legs felt fresh.  I will continue with that sort of volume this week and do one more sharpening session of 200’s before the race.

      Leuven is a cool town and its pretty crazy the number of North American athletes here.  Every time I go for a run I meet up with someone else on the trails.  Here are a few pics of town.

Paul and Luke in the Oud Market which is right behind the Church and from this pic you can see how intricate the detail is.

Exciting track meet for Brasschaat tonight.  13:07 5000m for a couple guys, 3:39 1500m and Alan Webb’s 3:46.91 American record in the mile.

I ran a PB in the 1500m of 3:40.38 and finished 5th in the race. The winner was 3:39.6 or so. Very pleased with the outcome and I felt pretty good doing it. On the line I was second from the inside rail and 30-40 meters in the race when guys were moving inside I moved inside to… except there was no track there.  I took a step off the track and put up my hand just in time to stop my body from hitting a covered soccer bench.  I then bounced and spun back onto the track in last place doing a kind of sideways run.  So once again I found myself in DFL (dead last) in another 1500m on the first lap.  This time I was smart enough not to make up the deficit on the first lap and slowly made my way up into 4th or 5th place.  With 400 to go I was in striking distance of the leaders and was feeling good.  I tried to move on them but I couldn’t make up much and then the last 100m I was holding on.  I saw 3:40 when I crossed the line so I pretty much knew right away I had a PB.  29, 58, 127, 157, 227, 256, 325, 340 (29.39, 29.40, 29.12, 29.58, 29.65, 29.35, 29.06, 14.69) pretty even splits.  Flotrack was there to cover the race so hopefully we can see the run into the soccer bench.

http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/coverage.php?c=69&id=4442  hilarious.  You can see me hit the bench but the bench blocks the view of my sideways running and then I come out from behind the bench and I’m a couple steps behind last place.

The 5000m was awesome with Geneti and Cragg going 13:07 but was overshadowed by Alan Webb’s Mile.  He ran a bunch of 55’s and 56’s to run 3:46.91.  Second place was 3:56.  Gillis ran 13:40.9 for a PB in the 5000m. 

these pics didn’t uplaod that well and the clock should read 3:46.91 (not .93)

record pic

3rd lap

Cragg and Ritz in 5000m

Full results for Atletiek Vlaanderen in Brasschaat

http://www.acbreak.be/Docs/Uitslag%20AV-meeting%20Brasschaat.pdf

There’s some big races lined up for tomorrow in Brasschaat.  Alan Webb is attempting to run the American record in the mile, 3:47.xx.  Also, the 5000m has gained a lot of entrants this week and now has about 27 starters.  Paul Morrison and Eric Gillis have both jumped off the 1500m ship to the stacked 5000m.  I was tempted to also make the switch but, my training and racing has been geared towards a 5000m on July 28th and I’m going to stick with the plan.  The 1500m this weekend for me is kind of my speed workout to once again set up a 5000m.  Start Lists for Brasschaat.

Eric and I went to rent bikes yesterday but we just missed the closing time and today it was pouring rain in the morning so we decided not to go.  Having a bike makes it a lot easier to get around and for 8 euro a month its cheaper than taking the bus into town (1.50 euro each way).  My workout yesterday was good considering I just got off the plane.  The volume was a bit more than I’d usually do two days before a 1500m, but like I said, all my training is geared for the 5000m on the 28th. 

Here’s a quick running update since Nationals.  On Saturday I ran twice very easy for recovery and Sunday ran a 90 minute long-run (shorter than my typical long-run) to end the week with 135km.  On Monday I had a good workout with quite a bit of volume, about 7km of fartlek on the trails followed by 3 X 1000m on the track.  That will be the last time until Heusden where I do that type of volume in a workout.  Tuesday and Wednesday I did one easy run a day since I’m travelling and I am tired.  I’ve learned over my 8 or so trips to Europe that its better to take it easy on travel days and when you first get over.  Its easy to try and stay on your normal running schedule but, it can tire you down really fast.

Gillis and I flew over on Martinair, yes Martinair.  The flight to Amsterdam was almost $600 cheaper than other carriers so we decided it would be worth it.  Its a low cost carrier and we were greeted at the airport by 100’s of people… oh that was just a massive line, never mind.  Once we got to our seats there were these foot rests that moved up and down… when the right was up, the left was down, kinda weird, but whatever.  Once the plane took off the beverage and snack service was a candy and three pop machines at the back of the plane.  Then I decided to read with a light.  That’s where the foot pedals come in,  just like the oldschool sewing machines you pump the pedals to make your own electricity for your light.  Except my pedals were for Gillis’ lights and vice versa.  “I want to read Gillis, keep pedalling!!”.  We landed in Amsterdam and we saw this plane take off way in the distance, I thought it was strange that there would be another big airport that close, relatively.  Oh, that’s our airport the captain informs us.  We drove the plane for 15 minutes to get to the gate, I guess its cheaper to land way outside of Amsterdam.  If it was legal to walk on the tarmac I’m sure we would of.

Almost 3 hours on the train and we finally got to Leuven where we’re staying in dorm rooms.  There are tons of runners here this year.  At the Leuven University track on any given afternoon there are tons of runners.  Flotrack has been keeping track of some of the going-ons in Belgium so far this summer and they will be at the two meets I’m racing on the upcoming Saturdays.  Leuven is great for running and since this is the 3rd summer I’ve been here it really feels like a home away from home. 

Right when I flew into Amsterdam I noticed right away how much greener everything is compared to Southern Ontario right now.  Here’s pic I took yesterday when I got here. view from Leuven dorm room

I’m back in Guelph now and its about 24 hours since I finished the race.  I’m very happy with winning the race, but once again I wasn’t too far off of getting a B standard so a little frustrating. 

Being mid-July in southern Ontario I really couldn’t have expected for better weather conditions considering it easily could have been very hot and humid.  It was 20 degrees, less than 10km winds and less than 50% humidity. With those kind of conditions it would be a waste if we didn’t at least attempt to run a good time (sun 13:28 to be exact).  Before the race Paul Morrison, Eric Gillis and I mapped out a plan to get to 3000m in 8:02 to 8:06.  I would lead the first 200m if no one else in the field took it…so I led the first 200m in 32 seconds flat. And then we would each take a pull of 600m and then each take a pull of 400m. The order was Gillis, Morrison and then myself.  We did a great job, if I don’t say so myself, of getting that race going and I passed 3000m in 8:04 with Morrison taking another 400m from 3200m to 3600m before taking back over the lead.  Coincidentally the same 3000m split at Aarhus but this time I got to 4000m 5 seconds faster (10:46).  By this point I was running solo and needed a 2:40 last km to roll under 13:28.  My first lap in that last KM was fine and then I started to fall apart.  I cam through the bell lap in 12:27 so I told myself I need a 60 second last lap, just like my last race.  Whenever I tried to run faster it just got harder and I puttered a 67 second last 400m.  From memory this was the first time I ever had my last lap as my slowest in a 5000m race.  Kip Kangogo, who hung out in 4th during the pace sharing, ended up finishing second but, since he’s Kenyan Paul and Eric got the silver and bronze. 

Winning my fourth national 5000m title in a row is a great feeling, especially knowing that I’m the first Canadian to do so (Paul Williams might have had 4 if he wasn’t DQ’d in 1985 according to Mark Bomba).  The other part of my agenda at nats (winning being one part) was to run under 13:28.  Once again I failed to get a B standard and since I only have one more 5000m lined up before the July 29th deadline I will need to run the Canadian A standard of 13:19.71 in Heusden.  The good news is that Heusden (barring disasters and crappy weather) will likely be my best shot as its a great place to run fast with a great field. 

  1 Coolsaet, Reid            79 Speed River           13:34.55$  10        
  2 Morrison, Paul            80 QC – Sherbrooke       13:43.55$   8        
  3 Gillis, Eric              80 Speed River           14:06.50$   6        
  4 Kerr, Geoff               84 AB – U of Calg.       14:12.08    5        
  5 Ziak, Jeremiah            76 BC – Kajaks Trac      14:16.20    4        
  6 Mosley, Richard           82 Unattached  B C       14:18.27    3        
  7 Caldwell, Trevor          79 ON – U of T           14:20.26    2        
  8 Smith, Andrew             79 Brooks Canad          14:25.85    1        
  9 Marial, Deng              83 ON – Windsor Leg      14:28.42             
10 Nakluski, Derek           82 ON – Tor. Olymp.      14:28.73             
11 Staples, Cal              76 Speed River           14:42.31             
12 Booth, Mike               80 MB – Winn. Opt.       15:32.04             
— Dolmage, Jay              77 Independent                DNF             
— Kitz, Robert              85 Unattached N               DNF             
— xKangogo, Kip             79 Flaman Track Club    X13:40.97$

Here’s a pic I took today of the 1500m final on the first lap.  I was too busy watching the race and cheering to take any other pictures.

1500

Article from the Mercury with a vintage 2000 photo!  When the reporter asked me if I felt bad for Paul being second again I told him I would have felt worse if I lost.  He got a chuckle but left that out.

Coolsaet takes fourth-straight 5,000m title

Speed River runner defends crown by one second at Canadian Track and Field Championships in Windsor

GREG LAYSON

REID COOLSAET

WINDSOR (Jul 14, 2007)

If the awards for winning races at track meets were rings rather than medals, Guelph’s Reid Coolsaet would have a hand full of them from the Canadian Track and Field Championships.

Coolsaet captured his fourth consecutive 5,000-metre gold medal at the national championships last night at University of Windsor Stadium, breaking the previous best of three straight golds, which was shared by three runners.

“This means so much,” Coolsaet said. “To win four in a row is an honour, especially to beat out the guys previously.”

Coolsaet, a member of the Speed River Track and Field Club, ran the five kilometres in a time of 13 minutes, 34.55 seconds, edging out Paul Morrison of Sherbrooke, Que., who finished second for the fourth consecutive year. Morrison posted a time of 13:43.55.

Fellow Speed River runner Eric Gillis placed third in a time of 14:06.50. Gillis was aiming for a silver medal and a personal best. Neither happened.

“I got dry throat 2K in and I just found it tough to close,” said Gillis, who entered the race ranked third.

Coolsaet’s time was also a new University of Windsor Stadium record, shattering the previous best by 32 seconds.

Morrison, on the other hand — and in his own words — “blew up” by pushing the pace with Coolsaet.

With two laps to go Coolsaet pulled away on the front stretch while Morrison could be seen grimacing.

“Honestly, I just didn’t have it. I went for it, but I didn’t have it,” Morrison said. “I’m not as disappointed as I was last year, but I’m really sick of finishing second.”

Last year, Coolsaet won the race by three one-hundredths of a second. Morrison admitted he thought he was the winner at first. It was a race Morrison called heartbreaking.

The trio admitted to working together last night. All three medalists led at least one lap.

All three also had their sights set on the Canadian Olympic B qualifying standard, and they were on pace early.

“We had a second agenda, and that was to post a fast time,” said Coolsaet, who missed the standard by seven seconds.

Coolsaet and Morrison pushed each other through the first 3,000 metres, trying to gain ground on the qualifying standard, and then “raced after that,” according to Coolsaet.

Both will be in Europe later this month still trying to meet the Olympic standard.

“Honestly, we had a plan and whoever had something left in the tank with 3,200 (metres) to go would win it,” Morrison said.

And that was Coolsaet once again.

In other events with local content, Puslinch’s Megan Brown won her 1,500m semifinal in a time of four minutes, 19.67 seconds.