WANTED

WANTED: Ron Warhurst, well known track coach, has been sighted in South Korea along with his young trainee, Sierra Willis, who is being influenced by his recent path of destruction and forgetfulness. After nearly missing his flight at the Detroit airport due to a forgotten passport, Warhurst managed to arrive in Korea two days ago. He and Willis have been sighted wandering around Daegu together, getting lost on buses, and using false accreditation to enter the athlete’s village.

After only an hour of being in Daegu, he and two young accomplices, Mrs. Willis, and new recruit IAAF volunteer, Mr. Lee, were seen in the back of a police car, being escorted to Daegu police headquarters to file a report for a missing property after Warhurst left his wallet in the back of a Daegu taxi cab. The Daegu police were very relieved to see some action after a quiet night of watching Korean soap operas. The three were later seen being dropped off by police at a local burger joint and then picked up again by police 15 minutes later and taken back to their hotel.

In addition, local Koreans have also made claims that a man matching Warhurst’s description mistakenly walked into a man’s unlocked hotel room, thinking it was his own. The embarrassed man, whose identity has not yet been released, was apparently getting out of the shower and was stunned to find a startled American standing in his room. After a rushed apology, the intruder quickly fled the scene.

Contacts near to Warhurst reveal that he is still in good spirits despite his adventures of late, and can often be found with Willis at the stadium in the VIP lounge or in J’s hotel lobby enjoying the breakfast buffet and drinking 6–8 cups of coffee per hour.

Little Big Adjustments

It’s the end of the season and the work is done. Nick finished his last official workout this morning, and now all that’s left are three short races: a heat, a semi, and a final. There’s no last minute cramming for this test. It’s only fine-tuning from this point on. Though, sometimes that fine-tuning, as small as it is, feels a lot more like a total key change.

The first of these key changes fine-tunings was nothing short of a complete reversal of our sleeping patterns. Hong Kong is exactly a 12-hour time difference from Michigan, and while that makes it easy to know the time in Michigan when calling my mom, it’s pretty hard on the body. Though, after five days here, I think we’re finally getting the hang of it.

The second big adjustment has been, of course, the weather. The average temperature here has only been about 90 F but the humidity has been around 80%. I thought Michigan summers where we average about 65% humidity were bad, but I am discovering that the difference between 65 and 80 on the humidity scale is quite substantial. I’m also discovering that according to the Sierra scale, running in 65% humidity measures “uncomfortable” whereas 80% measures “delirious.” That’s only one mark below 81% , which, of course, is “instant death.”

For the last few days we’ve had a crew of New Zealanders to hang out with, but the majority of them left yesterday for Daegu. A few nights ago, drug testers came to the hotel with instructions to test the whole group. Everyone had to be gathered together in a small hotel room (since rules require that an athlete cannot be out of the tester’s sight) and played cards and chatted to pass the time until each athlete had produced a sample. Luckily, Nick was one of the first to go, so we were still able to get to bed at a decent hour. That makes three times this month that Nick has been selected for out-of-competition drug testing. I secretly always feel a little flattered when they come knocking, thinking that it’s because he’s running well enough to arouse suspicion, even though I know the selection process doesn’t really work that way. I suppose it’s a lot easier for me to feel flattered at their coming, though, since I’m not the one dropping my pants in front of a complete stranger and peeing into a cup.

Last night Nick surprised me by taking me out for an early birthday dinner downtown. My real birthday is September 3rd, but that’s the date of the 1500m final, so I’m hoping he’ll be a little bit busy that night. The restaurant we ate at was on the 19th floor of a tall building that had glass windows and balconies all around it. We sat at a table right by the edge where you could look out and see an amazing view of the city. The downtown of Hong Kong has a large channel running through it that separates the island from the mainland of China. As we ate, we watched the boats and barges move through the channel and the city slowly light up as it got dark. Everything about Hong Kong feels so foreign—the noises, the thick air, the smell—yet, as we sat and took the view in, I realized that most of the glowing labels on top of the skyscrapers match labels on every piece of electronic hardware we own. Oddly enough, sitting on the 19th floor looking out over a digital wonderland felt vaguely familiar to sitting on our couch looking around our living room.

We’ll leave for Daegu in two days time where we’ll meet up with Nick’s coach, Ron. We’re enjoying these last few days together in Hong Kong before Nick is quarantined away in the athlete’s village—well, not really. They do let him out some times, but security is tight. Then, once we get into Daegu, it’s go time. Or better yet, as Ron would say, “let’s play track!”

Two Weeks and Counting (Nick)

Of the fifteen fastest 1500m runners this year, only eight are going to be lining up on August 30th at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea. With a maximum of three athletes per country allowed to enter, Kenya will be leaving home many of the world’s best performers from the year.  Other absentees include Abubaker Kaki (Sudan), and Bernard Lagat (USA) who will be focusing on other distances (800m and 5000m respectively), also Ilhan Ozbelin (formerly William Tainui Biwott) who must wait a year after changing his national allegiance to Turkey.

With my 3m31.79s run at Monaco in July, I will be going into Daegu as the third fastest entrant. I went into the Beijing Olympics as the twelfth with 3m33.51s.

My main competitors to watch out for are:

Silas Kiplagat (Kenya): World-leading time in 2011 of 3m30.47s, and a personal best of 3m29.27s. Has won his last three competitions comfortably – The Kenyan trials, and the Monaco and Stockholm diamond league 1500m’s in which I was 4th and 3rd respectively

Asbel Kiprop (Kenya): 2008 Olympic Champion, with a season’s best time of 3m31.76s. Kiprop has been 2nd in 5 races this year, with his sole victory being in the Oslo Mile back in early June. Considered by many as the most talented 1500m runner in the world, but is vulnerable to mental lapses in races, where he slips back in the field on the third lap, only to come home strongly again, but too late for the win.

Amine Laalou (Moroco): Winner of the Paris Diamond League this year in 3m.32.2s, whereas I was 4th. With a best of 3m.29.6s, and 1m43.1s in the 800m, Laalou has the range to handle any type of race – fast, or sit and kick. He hasn’t raced since July 8th, so his form is a little unknown going into Daegu, but the Kenyans expect him to be a major threat in the final lap. He perhaps, is the co-favorite along with Silas Kiplagat.

There are also two very good Ethiopians, Derresse Mekonnen and Mekonnen Gebremedhin, but they haven’t been at their best in their recent respective races. Also you can’t count out Leonal Manzano (USA), Manuel Olmedo (Spain), and Jeff Riseley (Australia) who all have great finishing kicks.

The above mentioned athletes (bar Laalou and Olmedo) were in my last race – The Stockholm Diamond League on July 29th.

I am excited to be heading off to Hong Kong in two days to put the finishing touches to my training. These three weeks back home in Ann Arbor have gone really well. Going to church, hanging out with old friends, enjoying the Michigan summer, and throwing the frisbee for Tempo have been welcome breaks from the competition mentality I had to maintain for a month while racing in Europe. With three good 16-mile long runs under my belt, and some key speed-work sessions under Ronnie’s watchful eye, I am feeling fit and fast. Getting to the start line healthy and in good headspace is now the final challenge, and then it will come down to racing. This season has already provided so many wonderful experiences, and I would not have been able to be where I am without the continued support of Sierra, Ron, and my training partners. Hopefully many of you reading this will be able to tune in to watch the races live on Aug 30th, Sep 1st, and Sep 3rd (the final). They are being shown on Sky in NZ, and on NBC/Universal Sports in the U.S.

Spoleto

After nineteen days abroad and three races down, we’ve finally settled down a little bit. The past week we’ve been in a small town in central Italy called Spoleto. Nick races next in Monaco on Friday so we needed to find a place where he could train in between races. To be honest, we didn’t have high expectations for Spoleto as a perfect training base, but thought we’d certainly find warm weather and a few dirt roads to run on.  We decided to come here mainly because my sister, her husband, and son were going to be here. There’s a music festival each summer in Spoleto and my sister, Mariah, who is a PhD student in collaborative piano, is studying here for 6 weeks.

In our experience, Nick and I have found that during the long European racing season, one of the best ways to prevent travel fatigue and a running season gone “stale” is to forget about running and racing outside of practice time. We’re exploring the city, spending time with family, and enjoying the local cuisine. But, even though we’re doing our best to take our minds off of running, the unforeseen blessing to it all has been that the training environment has been amazing.  The trails we’ve discovered have been far greater than expected—complete with a nearby mountain stream that is the perfect temperature for ice tubbing! The weather has been perfect for helping us start our warm weather acclimatization for Daegu. The running community we’ve connected with has been incredibly helpful and so welcoming to us. Nick has had people to run with, people to help him through workouts, massage therapists, etc.… We’ve been able to receive all the good benefits of training without the negative effects of isolation and boredom.

A few days after we arrived, Nick and I took a drive around the city to see if we could find the track he had spotted on Google Maps. We eventually came to one, which, oddly enough, seemed to also be doubling as a day care facility. Weaving around the children we found a young girl who seemed to know a little bit of English and could translate for us to the man sitting behind the desk.  He said we were welcome to use the track and explained the hours to us. We tried to ask him about where the local runners trained, but we weren’t able to figure out much. As we left, Nick spotted a picture of some local runners and pointed to it, saying “can you have them call me?” We left a paper with our phone and email, not entirely sure if anything we said had been understood.

A few hours later our cell phone rang. “Nicholas?” a man’s voice asked. I handed the phone to Nick and after a few minutes chatting, Nick went downstairs to meet him at the nearby news stand.  The man who had called was Piergiorgio, the local running coach, and fourth generation owner of the city’s biggest newsstand. After one run with Piergiorgio, Nick came home and told me, “I think he’s the most popular man in Spoleto! He knows everyone!” Piergiorgio speaks good English and has run the New York Marathon many times. He’s run a 2:22 Marathon in his career and trains a handful of runners here in Spoleto. Since meeting him, Nick has run with a group of people almost every day. They’ve shown him the local running spots and even helped him through a tough workout last Friday. Because of their help, Nick was able to run one of his best workouts ever, finishing it off with a 1000m in 2:22! Being connected to locals makes us feel like we are really experiencing true Italy and are not just tourists locked in a hotel. We don’t understand Italian and only a few people speak English so there are definitely some communication barriers but that hasn’t prevented us from feeling very welcomed here. Tomorrow Nick is running with a group in the morning, being taken by Piergeorgio to a massage in the afternoon, and at night we’ve been invited to a dinner party with a bunch of local runners in a nearby town.  Now, that’s true Italian hospitality!

Paris Ebenezer (Nick)

In a season that includes ten races spanning fourteen weeks, it’s quite remarkable the breadth of emotions experienced as performances exceed, or fail to meet my expectations. The fifteen hundred meter race never has less than twelve competitors line up on the start line so unlike most sports where there are just two opponents battling for the ‘W’, victories can be few and far between when racing the best in the world. In my Olympic silver-medal winning season of ’08, the only victory I got was on the road, at the Fifth Avenue Mile. Often we hear coaches on ESPN saying they’re making progress, but at the end of the day all that matters is the win/loss column in determining their success. We can’t live with that attitude as runners. Evaluating a performance must always be relative to one’s overall season plan. Being a fitness-based sport as opposed to a skill sport, peaking is of utmost importance. One must train in order to be at their very best when the championship race comes around, and in order to do so, it is near impossible to expect your best for every race. In light of that, as we cross the finish line after races, it is important to reflect on how we have performed relative our own individual expectations, be they times, or strategy, and how that fits into the overall plan our coaches have put in place.

My training has gone pretty much to plan this year. The times I have been able to knock out in practice, along with the mileage goals, and recovery/energy levels throughout the many weeks, have been as good as I could have hoped for. Until last night in Paris however, I never really achieved the result I have been looking for in races. Part of this was because I had set a too narrow goal range, and also because I was comparing myself to my competitors too much. The result was that I was leaving track meets feeling frustrated and with little joy to show for the experience. In truth, my results were actually very decent. A 3m51.9s mile (finishing 10th), and a 3m36.4s 1500m (2nd) are good solid runs to open a season, but I was putting pressure on myself to try and live up to performances I would think would be expected from an Olympic medalist. My father-in-law had observed this through my body language on the start line. As Sierra and I departed for Europe last week, her Dad told me that he wants to see that smile on my face when we are introduced on television. He summed it up perfectly – He
hasn’t seen that from me yet this year. I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing. I was far too serious, and worrying too much about how others would be evaluating my performances.

As the camera panned past me in the Stade de France last night, I hope a few of you caught the double thumbs up and the smile I sent back to Michigan to show my Father-in-law I was back to my old self – Enjoying being part of the show and ready for whatever happens.

So how to respond when the result you were looking for finally comes your way? Celebrate, enjoy the moment and be thankful for the opportunity because these moments are few and far between. They are the moments that keep us hungry in training, and make all the hard work worthwhile. There is still a need for perspective however. Each race carries differing weightings of importance, of which the world championships is the utmost. Paris for me was like the first qualifying round. Crossing the line I couldn’t resist a fist pump to signify the task was complete, and everything was on track. At the end of the season I hope to look back and see that I kept to the plan and this was a very important marker towards reaching the primary goal. The Stade de France is an Ebenezer for me. Thank you God!

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

Behind the Scenes (Nick)

Having raced in Europe nine out of the last eleven seasons, I was excited yesterday to finally be arriving in Ireland for the first time.  The Cork City Sports International Athletics event is one steeped in tradition with many famous New Zealanders having competed, and is a meet I had always hoped I could fit into my schedule.  After arriving from our trans-Atlantic journey shortly before noon, the volunteer driver informed us of a reception we athletes were invited to attend.  The reception was to be held at the Collins Military Barracks, home to the biggest military parade square in Europe.  The inaugural Cork City Sports event held in 1952 was a competition between local Irish athletes, the Irish Military, and a team of athletes from the United States Air Force based in the UK.  Ever since, the local Irish military has maintained a strong relationship with the event, volunteering their soldiers and resources for assisting the set-up and running of the meet.

The Army General, the Cork City Mayor, and the President of the Cork City Sports Organizing committee each addressed the attendees (consisting of military personal, sponsors, volunteers, local council members, and guest athletes) with great sincerity and appreciation for the fine effort of putting together the sixtieth successive edition of the Athletics International. Having been a part of a rushed effort to put on a track meet myself (after the Feb, 2011 Christchurch earthquake), I couldn’t help but have my “athlete blinders” removed.  The speeches emphasized how much time and effort had taken place behind the scenes to make this event possible despite the dire economic situation that Ireland is facing at the moment (The unemployment rate in Ireland is 14.7%, compared to 9.1% in the U.S).

So many times as an athlete I have turned up to a professional (or amateur for that matter) track meet thinking how am I going to run? What am I going to get out of this experience? I wonder what kind of food they’ll be serving? What’s the weather going to be like? This reception was a great reminder of the community effort that goes into putting on a track meet.  Not only are there the volunteer officials we see out on the field (and track) of competition, but all those helping raise finances, selling tickets, organizing transportation, making sure there is enough toilet paper in the locker rooms, etc…

We, as guest international athletes, provide entertainment for the fans, inspiration for the next generation, and competition for the local athletes.  The meet director is happy to provide prize money and pay for our flights, lodging and food to compensate for those said services.  Economically speaking, what we bring to the table is, more often than not, less than what we take away.  The sad reality is that our sport is not in it’s glory years, and many annual track meets like this Cork event are trying as best as possible to hang on to a great tradition.  I hope that as I step out onto the track tomorrow afternoon that I, along with my fellow athletes, can compete in a way that entertains and inspires beyond what is expected of us. This is the best way—and the only way I know—to thank the Cork community for allowing us to be a part of the great tradition that is the Cork City Sports International Athletics meeting.

Planning not to Plan

It’s that time of the year again! Nick and I spent most of today packing up for our annual European racing trip.  It’s not always so annual though.  This time last year Nick was recovering from knee surgery, and the year before that it was hip surgery.

Surgeries are hard. I still remember the long, anxious hours I spent in the waiting room. I hope and pray we never have to go through another one again. But the hardest part about any injury or surgery is the disappointment in realizing that things have changed.  Plans have changed; goals have changed. Instead of racing in Paris, we’ll be waiting in line at the doctor’s office. Instead of setting a Personal Best, Nick will be learning how to walk again. Parting with control is the hardest part. It hurts to know that all the work of the last six months has all been in vain. Accepting a new reality is no easy task. We’ve had to do it—twice now, and it’s taken that much for us to learn something very important: we never actually had control in the first place.  Complete control over anything is a myth. For us, it was difficult to relinquish our plans because they were based on a false reality—an illusion, really, that we had control over our lives. When that illusion was broken, we felt—well, broken.

Remembering those times reminds me that traveling like this for Nick’s job is a privilege. It’s not a guarantee.  We don’t know what it looks like to preemptively give up control, but we’re set on figuring it out. How do we make our plans but still know that they are not really ours? How do we hope for the best in Nick’s races but still guard against a selfish feeling of entitlement? We’ve got plans and we’ve got high hopes. But we’re also trying to be realistic—be flexible. That said, our “plan” is to start off this trip racing in Cork, Ireland on Saturday. After that, on to Birmingham, UK, to spend some time with Nick’s sister, Mieke, her husband, James and their little boy, Noah.  Nick’s fit and we’re excited about this trip; we’re excited about the unknown; and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen.

Watch Nick’s race on NBC Saturday!

Nick will be racing this Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, at the Prefontaine Classic. A few people have asked me what time the race will be on TV. NBC will be broadcasting live from the race. For those of you in the Eastern Time Zone, the coverage will start at 2:30pm and go until 4. For those of you in the Pacific Standard Time Zone the coverage will be from 11:30am to 1pm. Nick’s race is scheduled for 12:46 PST, so those of you in Michigan can expect to see his race on NBC around 3:45.

We leave for Eugene tomorrow and we’re really excited to see how he does coming down from altitude. We’re expecting a great race!

The High Life

Week one of four at 7000 ft altitude is complete! We’ve been having a great time here in Flagstaff, Arizona. It’s always fun coming to a new place and seeing a city for the first time. The condo we’re renting is on the third hole of a golf course. Naturally, part of our daily entertainment is sitting out on our balcony watching golfers tee off and work their way toward the green. Of course, while watching, Nick and his training partners often feel the need to deliver good-natured but humorous commentary on the game being played—which I’m sure the golfers very much appreciate. Usually I hide indoors out of embarrassment during these conversations. Surprisingly, no clubs or golf balls (accidental or intentional) have been hurled toward our balcony.

Looking out from our balcony

It was pretty fun when we first walked through our condo. The owners have put a lot of effort into decorating it in a not-so-subtle western theme. There are rifles, bows and arrows, saddles, animal skins, antlers and feathers galore. Personally, my favorite touch is the outdoor bar on the balcony. Nick’s is the horse saddle that doubles as a bar stool. We’ve decided with a place like this, it’s our duty to throw some good parties. We’ve counted 31 available seats for guests, so we think we could throw a good-sized shindig. May is a cheap month to rent in Flagstaff because it’s too early for vacationers to arrive searching for refuge from the intense Arizona summer heat. We feel like we definitely lucked out with our place.

Of course, one of the biggest adjustments we’re facing here is the altitude. For the first few days the altitude was really noticeable so we made sure to take it easy. All the experts we’d talked to about altitude training in the past recommended to not push one’s body too hard for the first ten days. Trusting this advice, Nick has been really careful to listen to his body and hold back this first week and it seems like he is adjusting well. He’s feeling better and better every run.

We have been amazed at the amount of trails around Flagstaff. It seems as though someone could live here for years and never run on the same trail twice! There are so many different parks and trail systems all over the city. We’ve only experienced a handful of them so far, but plan to explore many more before we leave in three weeks!

Our Last Day in NZ

As our time in New Zealand comes to an end—oh, wait a minute—did I mention we’ve been in New Zealand for the last six weeks? For those of you who know Nick and I well, and for those of you who stay up to date with Nick through news articles, you probably already knew that. But for those of you who depend solely on my blog for updates on our travel, you’ve probably been out of the loop. It seems my “running commentary” has slowed to a walk the last few months. Well, let’s be honest, it’s barely crawling. Though, I think that says good things about our time here in New Zealand. We’ve been busy to be sure—but not the stressful sort of busy—the exciting, fun, energizing sort.

Nick raced in Hamilton, Wellington, and Melbourne during this trip. Some races were good and some not so good, but that’s just the way this sport goes sometimes. When it’s early in Nick’s season, the truth is that sometimes his races can be rather hit-or-miss. I think most runners would agree that early season training is often the same way. Sometimes everything clicks and you feel great, and sometimes you feel stuck in fourth gear.

The indoor/Down Under racing season ended a few weeks ago, and the outdoor season won’t be in full swing until June. Since Nick hasn’t had to race, he’s been enjoying getting back into hard training the last few weeks, running the hills and beautiful trails all over the Hutt Valley with his training partners. I too have been enjoying running here. Ann Arbor has great trails, but it’s hard to beat running up the Korokoro stream trail winding through native New Zealand forest or doing strides across the perfectly manicured grass at the Hutt Recreation Ground.

We leave tomorrow morning to return to Michigan, where I’m told the snow has all melted. I’m trying to gear up for the long 24 hours of travel we’re about to experience, though I think it’s impossible to ever be fully prepared for it. We’re looking forward to seeing our puppy, Tempo, who has been staying with my parents in Kalamazoo. Nick is worried he won’t recognize us anymore after leaving him for this long, but I’m confident Tempo will remember us—especially Nick.

As we say goodbye to NZ, it seems only fitting to end this blog with a few pictures of the things I love and will miss about New Zealand.

The best part about being here is, of course, spending time with family. There are many important people missing from this picture, though!

I love that Penelope’s art is everywhere in their home.

I love that the only way to dry clothes is on a clothesline.

I love fish and chips, even though it is terribly unhealthy.

I love cafes here and getting delicious gourmet breakfasts like this one: french toast layered with bananas and bacon.

I love Richard and Penelope’s front yard and the many dinners and bbqs that happen here.

I love the logo.

I love the scenery and the beautiful rivers and lakes here.

I love drinking tea all the time.