FLOAT ON

Lord, won’t you let me win a Mercedes Benz? 

I just wanted to say that the dude, Shadrack Songok, who beat me at Mt. Sac 10 000m with a strong last two laps just won NCAA champs over the same distance.  That makes me feel good.  Also, the Speed River training group is running very well at the moment.  Taylor Milne ran 3:42 last night to win the Harry Jerome 1500m and Eric Gillis ran 7:58 last sunday to finish second at the Kajaks meet.

Next up for me will be the Cambridge Mile on June 16th. This is a very fun event on a clay/gravel track that adds anywhere from 5-10 seconds on your mile time.  Seemed like it added 15 seconds for me last year!  The winner, if under 4 minutes, will drive away with a Mercedes.  After that I’m flying to Europe on the 21st and racing a 5000m in Arhus, Denmark on June 29th.  The meet director says the meeting record of 13:27 should go down this year… it better.

Got these pics from EliteRunning.com.

 Early on in the pack 

looks like I’m enjoying the heat…

finish.

Reebok Grand Prix 

If you would have asked me a week before what I would have thought of running 13:50 in NYC I would have considered it a complete disaster.  After the race is said and done I wouldn’t go as far as to say “complete”.  Of Course the time is way slower than I was looking for but that was the case for all the competitors, some more than others.  You could tell which athletes are not acclimated to the heat and most of those are based in North America.  I think it was still about 26 C (close to 80 fahrenheit) and very humid when the race went off.  The 13:50 was actually somewhat competitive as I placed 8th and my PB ranked me 16th going into the race.  I would say I’m happy with my performance but the race itself was a disaster, luckily not as much for me as some of the other competitors (like 13:00 Geneti, who I beat,  had to be carried off in a stretcher).

After talking to Hilary and DST about qualifying for World Championships it seems as though I either need two B’s or ONE “A” (13:19.70).  I didn’t read the line at the top of the qualification document that says

   that said period is from June 1st to July 29th.  That rule gives me a better chance and more hope to qualify.  So now half the battle will be getting to the right races and having decent weather.  I’m hoping to race my next 5000m in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 27th.  If not, then either Malmo, Sweden or Arhus, Denmark in late June/early July.

Going to NYC was once again a treat even though for the most part I was just sitting around waiting for the race.   The meet hotel was the Grand Hyatt beside Grand Central Terminal and it was a great place to stay.  I took the subway up to Central Park for a couple of my runs.  The meet itself was also awesome as every event was stacked with top athletes from around the world.  World record holders, Olympic and World medallists were all over the place.  My coach, DST, was also able to make it to the meet to watch Hilary run the 1500 and my 5000.  It was good to have him there as he doesnt get to see Hilary and I race as much anymore now that my schedule is all over the place and Hilary is living in Switzerland.

  1 Tariku Bekele                ETH                   13:04.05C
  2 Micah Kogo                   KEN                   13:13.53
  3 Edwin Soi                    KEN                   13:16.68
  4 Jonas Cheruiyot              KEN                   13:28.68
  5 Boniface Songok              KEN                   13:34.74
  6 Boaz Cheboiywo               KEN                   13:36.41
  7 Adrian Blincoe               NZL                   13:48.88
  8 Reid Coolsaet                CAN                   13:50.89
  9 Markos Geneti                ETH                   13:53.79
10 Anthony Famiglietti          USA                   13:54.92
11 Josphat Boit                 KEN                   13:56.47
12 Jorge Torres                 USA                   14:05.97
13 Seth Summerside              USA                   14:11.42
14 Martin Fagan                 IRL                   14:19.31
15 Ryan Kirkpatrick             USA                   14:44.85
— Laban Rotich                 KEN                        DNF
— Said Ahmed                   USA                        DNF
— Alistair Cragg               IRL                        DNF
— Steve Hallinan               USA                        DNF
— Bolota Asmerom               USA                        DNF

post race pic of my back… hopefully more to come…

Here is a little footage I found on Youtube from my first trip to NYC 9 years ago.  Two of my tricks were shot at the Brooklyn Bridge and, the clip of my swollen elbow is from Wall Street (sporting the OFSAA 1998 shirt).   

Incidently, I took this trip a week or two before my first national team where I competed in the Cayman Islands.  The trip to NYC was already planned and making the Junior team was not.  I was running the 2000m s/c, so in NYC I would try and jump over random objects and police barriers on my runs to practice hurdling. 

Scroll to 2:15 to go on the counter…. 

Another solid week of training with workouts monday and wednesday and a 1500m race on saturday, 140km for the week.  The 1500 should really help me with the 5000m next weekend in NYC.  The start lists should be up pretty soon at www.reebokgrandprix.com

For saturday’s 1500m I  returned to the site of my very first race which took place in 1988, give or take a year.  A couple of family friends who were a little bit older than me were doing the CANUSA games trials for the 1500m.  Since I was over at their house that day I went along with them to Mohawk Sports Complex on the East Mountain in Hamilton.  Once I got to the race they told me I should race too,  even though I was much younger than the other athletes.  I have no idea how I did but I remember getting my ass kicked by 12-13 year olds when I was about 9.  But I do remember where the race started so I know it was a 1500m.  I’ve been up by that track about 30 times during highschool but only because there is a halfpipe right beside the track. 

Yesterday’s 1500 went well for me considering where my focus has been so far this season.  I ran 3:45.63 and split 30’s pretty much the whole way through for each 200m.  Jose Carvalho did a good job of taking the leader,  Matt Lincoln, through 800 in 1:59-2:00 and I was right behind him.  Taylor Milne, fellow training partner who kills me in shorter repeats, went by me in the last 200m to finish with a 3:44.45.  Lincoln won the race in 3:42.51 having a great last lap.  Good PB’s for Boorsma and Angus.

Matt Lincoln Phoenix 3:42.5
Taylor Milne Speed River/New Balance 3:44.4
Reid Coolsaet Speed River/Reebok 3:45.6
Kyle Boorsma Speed River 3:49.4
Justin Duncan Mississauga 3:50.5
Saheed Kahn TOC 3:51
Cleve Thorson Saugeen 3:51
Angus McCaulay Speed River 3:52
Andrew Smith Brooks Marathon Project 3:54
Chris Reginfo TOC 3:58
Trevor Caldwell UTTC 4:01
John Corbitt Speed River 4:01
Matt Suda London Western 4:02
Martin Labute Windsor Legion 4:03
Lee McCaron Speed River 4:06
Paul Felix Speed River 4:12

For the second weekend in a row I went back to Hamtilton for my long run and to visit my family.  The trails in the Dundas Conservation Area are amazing and I like to get in a very hilly run every now and then.  I cut back to 150km this week and got in some speed work that I’ll need for my upcoming races.  It was a little shock to the system as Wednesday I couldn’t break 28 seconds for 200m (and felt like I was standing still as my training partners cruised 25 and 26’s) but on Friday I was rolling through 27 seconds on my way to 300m repeats.  I was surprised how hard it was Wednesday for my legs to turnover and relieved how much better it felt two days later.  This week 1/3 of my hard running was on the track, and I suspect, for the most part, that I will be doing much more on the track from here on in.  Next week I’ll start to bring down the mileage a bit so I can feel fresh for the 5000m on June 2nd.  And, I think a 1500m on Saturday should help get some more snap in my legs too.

NYC is looking like it will be one of only a couple races that I will compete in that will give me a crack at a standard.  There aren’t a lot of races out there in June and early July in which I will get an opportunity to run 13:teens to 20’s with bodies, so I have to make sure I take advantage of the ones that do. 

Minor set back this week when I pulled a muscle doing a stride before my workout on Wednesday.  I pulled up like a hurt sprinter and tried to work and stretch it out but it didn’t really feel right.  I still got on with the workout of KM repeats but I didn’t feel smooth the whole time.  Thursday morning I went to run and didn’t make it a minute before I had to stop and was forced to take the day off.  Lots of icing and therapy and I was able to finish off the week running at a lower intensity.  I still got 160km in for 6 days with a great workout Monday on the trails and a good effort Wednesday on the track. 

My next race will be a 1500m in Hamilton at an all-comers meet on May 26th.  I’m using it as a tune-up for the Reebok Grand Prix in NYC on June 2nd where I’ll run a 5000m.  NYC should be a really fast race and a good opportunity for me to get after a standard with some bodies around. http://www.reebokgrandprix.com/

From the Guelph Mercury.  May 7, 2007 

Runners dig deep for smelly fundraiser

ROB O’FLANAGAN

A bit of weight training, lots of endurance running and a little manure shovelling, and Olympic-calibre middle-distance runner Reid Coolsaet, 27, should be ready to race.

Coolsaet and about 10 other local track and field athletes waded through a huge pile of fertile dung over the weekend — moistening it with a garden hose, turning it with shovels and bagging it for sale to gardeners. In the smelly process, they raised a few thousand dollars for the Speed River Track and Field Club, while exercising different muscle groups and awakening different sensory cells in their nasal passages.

Kyle Boorsma, 19, left, and Reid Coolsaet, 27,
both members of the Speed River Track and
Field Club shovel and bag manure at the U of G
Saturday to help raise money for their club.

“I usually lift weights twice a week, but this week I’m only doing it once because I’ve been shovelling a lot of manure,” Coolsaet said, the aroma of farm-fresh poo wafting in the air. The Guelph resident is one of the top middle-distance runners in the country, finishing first recently in the 5,000-metre event at the Tyson Invitational in the U.S., and winning the same event at last year’s Canadian Track and Field Championships.

The heap of fecal matter, which was dumped in a parking lot next to University of Guelph’s Gryphon Dome, was towering when the weekend began, said runner Laura Moulton. But sales were brisk and the pile dwindled. The scent was much less pungent for this year’s sale than previous ones, she said, because the cow pies were mixed with aromatic mushroom soils and plants.

“It usually just reeks, but not this year,” said Moulton, who had prepared herself for smelly weekend. She was pleasantly surprised. The natural fertilizer is donated to the University of Guelph-affiliated club by a local farm.

“I guess we could sell something like tulips, something that smells nice,” Moulton added. “Maybe next year we could sell people the manure and then the flowers to go in it.”

She added the unique fundraising product makes sense for an agricultural community like Guelph, and participants actually have shovel loads of fun doing it.

“The first weekend in May is our annual manure sale, which is a great fundraiser for our club,” said Kyle Boorsma, 19, a cross-country runner. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. Sure, it smells pretty bad, but because the weather is nice, everybody shows up, we shovel for awhile and have some laughs.”

Boorsma said the annual fundraiser puts between $5,000 and $7,000 into club coffers, and helps cover equipment costs and travel expenses to and from competitions across the country. The manure was sold in 40-pound bags for $5 each, and were pre-ordered by local residents. One buyer ordered 30 bags. Club members spent the weekend bagging and delivering the manure.

Last night it was 1988 at my house and we were lucky enough to be blessed with the New Kids on the Block, Madonna and Peggy Bundy…

Had a good long-run today at the end of a good week of training considering I was recovering from the 10 000m last sunday.  Apparently I got the Ontario 10 000m record and there was a little write up in the Mercury about a week after the fact, better than none. Mercury Article

I got the questions answered…  AC will send athletes with a B standard to Worlds and Pan Ams.  Each country can only send one athlete with a B standard so, it would have been a lot easier if Simon would have run one second faster (or myself 7 seconds faster).

Spits:
3000m – 8:21
5000m – 13:56

Video of the race http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/coverage.php?c=35&id=2422 

 Some pics from the race