27:56.92 – Olympic/World B standard
I have to be happy with a 25 second PB (one second a lap) and to break 28 minutes, but at the same time I really feel like there is a 27:46 in me. That 10 second difference is the Olympic and World “A” standard, which is, 27:47, (the “B” standard is 28:06). The problem is, I won’t be running another 10000m on the track with a field like tonight anytime soon (maybe in 365 days). The best part of the performance is that it sets me up really well for the 5000m this year. In the next month I’ll get the spikes out and get some faster workouts in and really go for the 5000m. This is a great start for me and I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer. Simon Bairu was the top Canadian in 27:50 (ranks him #2 all-time Canadian, I’m 4th now) and Eric Gillis set a new PB with 28:42. Get on the big bird tomorrow and fly back to Toronto.
So what does B standard get me? With Simon also getting B standard (we both also achieved Canadian B+ standard) I’m not sure… some questions I will need to figure out.
1) Will Canada send me with a B+ standard? Most of the time you need an A.
2) Is a country allowed to send two athletes with B standard when no one has A?
3) Is 27:56 good enough for Pan Ams?
Stanford 10 000m
I’m not on the startlist but, I am in the race. The field looks good and should be a great race for me to try and run a bit faster than two weeks ago. Now I just have to hope for good weather and to feel good on the right day. I’m taking the mileage down a little bit so that should help me feel snappy for the race. I pretty much trained through Mt. Sac so I’m expecting more from myself on sunday night. I race at 9:30 Pacific time (12:30 East Coast time) and the results will be here http://www.sml1.com/recordtiming/stanford/pj_cardinal07/
and video coverage http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/coverage.php?c=35&id=2314
Trip back from LA was smooth. Had a nice long run in Hamilton (Dundas Conservation Area) on sunday and then back to Guelph for the week. I had three main workouts this week but the first one on monday was a very light workout. Still pretty sore in the quads until later in the week. Eric Gillis (28:52 three weeks ago) and I got in two good workouts, one tempo and one race pace on the track. Now for a long-run and very easy day this weekend.
I have eight days until my next 10 000m on the track at Stanford. I figure I have 10 seconds right here…
also, a good workout at/below race-pace (which was hard to do in Flagstaff) and a faster field and not having to lap 40 some-odd runners should contribute to a faster time. Lets just hope the weather is nice again.
Here are some pics of Sedona from my recent trip (click to see larger image)
Live and Die in L.A.
So my six week adventure through Victoria, B.C., Flagstaff, AZ and Los Angeles, CA are coming to a close as I sit here in LAX waiting for my flight. All in all I had some great training, made some good friends and finished off with a successful season opener.
So there ended up being 66 guys on the line last night! It was crazy at the start and I found myself in 20th place going through the first 400m in 69 sec. I quickly got into the top 6 and that pack stayed together for most of the race as we lapped many runners. I ran a 62 last lap to run 28:21.86 for 2nd place. There were many good Canadian results last night, including Malindi Elmore, Megan Metcalfe and Beth Wightman running 15:12, 15;15 and 16:17 respectively for 5000m, Eric Kiauka ran 8:45 in the 3000m s/c and Kevin Sullivan 13:19 for 5000m (knocking my 5000m time back to 5th on the all-time Canadian list). The group also gave me great support for the entire 25 laps, thanks guys!
But the action didn’t stop at the track. Since the race was at 10:30 pm it was about 11:40 by the time we (Eric Kiauka and Luis, our new Mexican friend) left the track looking for food. We had to head past our hotel and towards East L.A. to find something open at midnight other than In-and-Out Burger. We saw Tommy’s Burgers but a lot of thugish looking individuals on the picnic tables made us decide to keep on looking. We settled for T.G.I.Friday’s, a nice family establishment. Pretty normal place except there was a cop standing at the end of our booth for the first 20 minutes we were there. Five minutes after the cop left a brawl breaks out and everyone is watching. Then the chairs start swinging and others back off… the pint glasses and bottles start flying too. Glass is heard breaking everywhere for a bit and then the two parties settle to go outside, they all left carrying Corona bottles, a few with bloody faces. Once outside most of the restaurant patrons are at the windows watching. Many of the guys involved in the brawl head to their cars… must be over. Nope, they went there to get something and the staff is telling everyone to get away from the windows. We head back to our booth, we don’t need to find out what they were getting. We couldn’t believe how long it took the cops to come, considering how many cops were on the streets when we were driving. Needless to say we got an authentic LA experience.
You can watch the last 3km here http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/mtsac2007.php just scroll down to mens 10 000m on left hand side.
1 Songok, Shadrack Tex. A&M-Corpus 28:16.47
2 Coolsaet, Reid Reebok 28:21.86
3 Olmedo, Pablo Unattached 28:22.37
4 Bizuneh, Fasil New Balance 28:25.69
5 Sundell, Steve Unattached 28:28.01
6 Romero, Juan Mexico 28:38.41
7 Bodor, Oliver Western State 28:44.71
8 Gildea, Patrick Nyac 28:45.68
9 Johnson, Jeremy New Mexico 28:47.76
10 Solis, Jesus Adams State 29:06.98
11 Kyle, Jordan Indiana 29:14.01
12 Jellema, Paul Southern Indiana 29:17.81
13 McDougal, Jordan Liberty 29:36.53
14 Haji, Ahmed Providence 29:38.12
15 Kosgei, Julius Harding 29:41.30
16 Eberly, Josh Hansons-Brooks Odp 29:43.11
17 Medigovich, Brian Adams State 29:43.19
18 Kiplagat, Soimo Louisville 29:44.38
19 Hamilton, Joel Colorado Mines 29:45.25
20 Siemers, Art Boulder Running 29:47.96
21 Venancio, Marco Concordia (Cal.) 29:51.77
22 Currell, Mark Southern Utah 29:52.44
23 Pines, Justin Princeton 29:54.96
24 Fruin, Mark Indiana 29:55.28
25 Clark, Aaron Western State 29:59.32
26 Holm, Ryan Grand Valley St. 30:00.99
27 McLeod, Tim Indiana 30:02.62
28 Scribner, Robert Mississippi St. 30:04.16
29 Gale, James Grand Valley St. 30:09.95
30 Styles, Koby Texas-Arlington 30:16.69
31 Turgeon, Tony South Dakota 30:17.24
32 Rosa, Paul Princeton 30:24.21
33 Kern, Artur Harding 30:25.27
34 Yeates, Richard Providence 30:25.76
35 Rosendahl, Marty Hansons-Brooks Odp 30:28.52
36 VanVeen, Jeremy Northern State 30:43.06
37 Garcia, Joseph New Mexico 30:43.71
38 Broccoli-Hickey, Jodi Texas-Arlington 30:52.18
39 Butcher, Jimmy Middlebury 30:53.90
40 Lares, Sergio Unattached 30:55.26
41 Riak, John St. Martin’s 30:56.34
42 Seacat, Wes Louisville 31:01.46
43 Foolkes, Alan McNeese State 31:06.99
44 Portwood, Chad Western Washington 31:08.52
45 Hill, Stephen Christian Brothers 31:28.17
46 Mohamed, Mohamed Southern Illinois 31:38.44
47 Racine, Matt Idaho 31:41.23
48 Fisher, Michael Louisville 31:44.13
49 Carmi, Yuval New Mexico 32:00.15
— Wagner, Allen Unattached DNF
— Blaylock, Larry Acis Aggies DNF
— Hains, Alex Butler DNF
— Vail, Peter Boulder Distance DNF
— Sitler, Ben Princeton DNF
— Farris, Marc Stephen F. Austin DNF
— Dexter, Dale Unattached DNF
— Yorek, Derek Adams State DNF
Can you really put 72 guys in one race?
Right now the Mt. SAC schedule has 72 entrants and 1 heat for the men’s 10 000m scheduled for 10:30pm PST. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow if thats really going to be the case but, I believe there will be two heats of 36. The results can be found at http://www.mtsacrelays.com/archives/2007/results/index.htm and http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/mtsac2007.php will be covering the race with video.
Travel from Flagstaff-Phoenix-Los Angeles went smooth and I met up with Eric Kiauka at LAX and we battled the traffic 40 miles east to Walnut, California. We couldn’t believe the amount of warehouses and big box stores that occupy most of the space outside of LA. Kind of a neat place to visit but I can’t wait to get out of here. We found a park to run in this morning, a lot more hills than I would of liked the day before a race but it was nice to get out of the streets and onto trails. Afternoon run at Mt. SAC was good, a nice trail and a chance to see the track. The funny thing is that the hills around the track had all these cows roaming around on them… we need more of that at Guelph. Lets just hope for a calm night tomorrow.
Tanks, Vistas and Mesas
Another good mileage week in Flagstaff. The legs were tired the last couple of days but I have a day off tomorrow so they should come around for next week. I feel like I’ve seen quite a few trails here even though there are still tons more, especially if you don’t mind climbing and have a car for out-of-town loops. A few more runs and then I fly to LA and get ready for my outdoor season opener, a 10 000m at Mt. SAC. I’m looking forward to seeing how I will feel after four and a half weeks at altitude.
SEDONA ROCKS
Training in Flagstaff has been going well. This past weekend Pieter Desmet and I rented a car to get to some different trails and explore a little. The first run we went to was Walnut Canyon (6800 feet) just outside of Flagstaff. This canyon is pretty amazing (400 feet deep, 20 miles long and 1/4 mile wide) and if it wasn’t located 100 miles from the Grand Canyon I’m sure it would be a bigger deal. The run was fairly flat except for a 1 mile section that goes down and up the canyon. A lot of the trail runs along the edge of the Canyon and the views are amazing. A solid hour and 55 minutes and Pieter got in a solid 55 minute wait. Walnut Canyon:
The next day we went down to Sedona (4400 feet) for Pieter’s track workout and my turn to wait around. I just did a little recovery run but managed to get in some good sights around Red Rock Loop by the high school. After the run we did a little more sightseeing with the car and Pieter got his first ColdStone Ice cream. Sedona Red Rocks:
Yesterday I got on the track again after two weeks (tempo and fartlek have been my good friends up here) for a 1200m session but, because of the wind I took the executive decision to switch to 1000’s for one less straight into the wind. A typical lap would be 33 sec/ 35-36 seconds due to the wind. Either way the effort was good and I’m looking forward to Mt. Sac.
Its Pieter’s first time in North America and he’s learning a lot. Cal bought a TV for his stay here and simply returned it at the end of his 3 weeks. Pieter could not believe WalMarts return policy and how sufficient “I don’t like it” is for a reason to get a full refund. Realizing he was short on towels Pieter asked if he could return a towel at the end of the stay… I said “I guess its possible, you just give them a reason why you’re returning it”… he acts out the return, “I do not want this towel anymore. It is wet.” Welcome to America.
HEARTBREAKER, Dream Maker, Love Taker
Last week I’m running along the Urban Trail in Flagstaff with Cal Staples and Adam Cambell and we pass ze Germans… I’m 50% sure I have just seen the Heartbreaker… Ze Germans are staying in a hotel 1/2 a kilo from here so I see them on the trails quite often. A couple days later we see the same group doing hill repeats. I go over for a recon mission disguising as friendly chit chat… positive ID on the Heartbreaker, no doubt its him. Who is the Heartbreaker you axe? Here’s the story, bare with me…
Last July I travelled with Mike Woods, Dale Summerville, Andrea Grove and our Kiwi manager “Booney” to Cuxhaven, Germany from Belgium for a 1500m. The atmosphere minutes before the race was like a tidal wave, way over my head as “Final Countdown” was blaring from the speakers. If you’re not familiar with “Final Countdown” and/or the reason why I would find this particular song funny click here. While I was doing strides before being called to the start line I saw a guy wearing a do-rag similar to Kip’s Do-rag in Napoleon Dynomite. This particular do-rag had “heartbreaker” writting accross the front in rhinestones, amazing. On the start line I turned to Dale and said, (with a head-nod towards the individual in question), “heartbreaker”. I really wanted Mike or Dale to see this phenonenon but, Mike was a few lanes away and Dale was focused on the race. He wasn’t picking up what I was putting down and he just kept saying “ya” to me, as he should have a minute before the race. The gun goes off and I find myself at the back (as is quite often the case for me at the begining of 1500’s). I can’t get beat by the Heartbreaker. Don’t you mess around with me. One lap goes by, I’m still in the back of the pack, you can tell from the picture below as I’m not visible. Look carefully, you can see the do-rag in the middle of the pack. It clearly has a word written accross the front… and it is indeed “HEARTBREAKER”.
Up ahead I can see the back of the do-rag waving in the wind. On the third lap I start passing a bunch of people, Heartbreaker included, and I move into “no-mans land”, lead group is way ahead. They’ve moved from Europe’s “Final Countdown” to Van Halen’s “Jump“. There was a gap in front of me and the lead group was kicking for home, no chance on catching them… but I still managed to have some motivation, in the form of fear. Cross the finish line. Turn around to see Heartbreaker rip the do-rag from his head. He’s not happy with his performance, and neither am I. But, uhhh… you know when you’re fighting with your sibling as a little kid and you’re laughing hard so you can’t really fight back?.. well thats my excuse for running 3:45 when these songs are playing (kidding of course). Big run for Woodsy!
| 1 | Isaac Sang | KEN |
24.8.78 |
3:37.18 |
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SB | ||
| 2 | Carsten Schlangen | GER |
31.12.80 |
3:38.04 |
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PB | ||
| 3 | Liam Reale | IRL |
16.3.83 |
3:39.29 |
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| 4 | Mike Woods | CAN |
12.10.86 |
3:39.37 |
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PB | ||
| 5 | Jonas Stifel | GER |
5.9.80 |
3:39.42 |
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| 6 | Stefan Eberhardt | GER |
12.1.85 |
3:40.18 |
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| 7 | Rizak Dirshe | SWE |
5.1.72 |
3:41.11 |
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| 8 | Toni Mohr | GER |
7.5.83 |
3:41.15 |
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SB | ||
| 9 | Peter Biwott | KEN |
22.8.76 |
3:41.63 |
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| 10 | Torben Grothaus | GER |
.84 |
3:42.57 |
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PB | ||
| 11 | Reid Coolsaet | CAN |
29.7.79 |
3:45.73 |
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| 12 | Franek Haschke | GER |
28.3.80 |
3:48.12 |
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| 13 | Dale Summerville | NZL |
21.6.81 |
3:52.90 |
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| 14 | Simon Bairu | CAN |
8.8.83 |
3:54.96 |
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| 15 | Ricardo Filipe Giehl | GER |
5.6.85 |
3:55.54 |
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Pat Benetar performing Heartbreaker
FLAGSTAFF, AZ
I’ve been in Flagstaff for 16 days now and I’ll be here until April 11th when I head out to L.A. to run a 10 000m at Mt. Sac. Flagstaff is a great place to train, it sits about at about 7000 feet above sea level, there are plenty of trails, a good track and the weather has been cooperating. For the first 10 days Cal Staples and I were here with a slew of Canadian Triathletes. We ran with them a bit and they showed us the ropes of Flagstaff. For my last 2 weeks I’ll be staying with Pieter Desmet (Belgian Steepler) as Cal is off to Stanford at the end of March for his 10 000m.
My first track workout here was an eye opener. I hadn’t felt much altitude effects while running and doing fartlek but when I got done my first mile of a 5 X 1 mile workout on the track I was sucking wind hard! I averaged 8 seconds slower for my next four mile repeats. A couple days later Cal and I went to talk to the legendary Jack Daniels, and he told us what the altitude conversion on pacing should be for a VO2max session… about 16 seconds a mile, not 8 as we had thought. We made that workout a lot harder by going out as fast as we did but, we still averaged about the right training zone. All in all, I feel like I’m in good shape aerobilcally and still getting in plenty of milage up here.
Last weekend when my coach, Dave Scott-Thomas, was here we drove 1.5 hours to the Grand Canyon. The GC is very impressive! Dave was wondering what it would take to walk down, accross and up and get to the other side. He said he could do it with one Sweet N Salty granola bar…. after more discussion on just how tall the cliffs way down below were he said “OK, two Sweet N Salty’s”. The picture of the desert on the top of this blog was taken by Cal on our drive back from the Canyon to Flag.
Some weird things about being up this high: Chip bags are ready to explode, water boils at a lower temperature, stuff in the oven takes an extra 10-15 minutes to cook, the tops of yogurt have a convex shape and from about 8am to 11am the temperature usually rises 15 degrees Celcius.
bonjourno
So I’ve decided to start a blog… I was primarily infuenced by the blogs of Jim Finlayson, Jasper Blake and Simon Whitfield. Also, I just bought a computer with wireless, so now when I’m on the road I’ll have internet access. This will be a way people can keep track of my training and results and I’ll add some sort of entertainment so as not to completely bore the reader… like this video, so bad… but you can’t look away..
Reid Coolsaet Blog
FLOAT ON 