Spring Insanity

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Jon Waldron

As I do almost every weekday in the Spring, I will leave my office today in the middle of the afternoon. And as I make my early exit from the corporate world, I will pass co-workers in their cubicles, perhaps exchanging wishes for a good weekend. I know they’re thinking that I’ve got a pretty sweet deal — the flexibility to ditch my obligations well before the evening rush hour for the opportunity to go spend a few care-free hours coaching high school athletes in the noble sport of Track and Field.

And half hour later, there I am standing in front of fifty young runners, jumpers, and throwers. And as I gaze out over fifty angelic faces, fifty lovely kids of whom I’ve grown very fond, and as I pause to make sure I have their attention before presenting them with The Plan for the day — in that moment, a single thought flashes through my mind: Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | 1 Comment

From the Archives: Carried Away

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Jon Waldron

(For me, the first few weeks of April always bring the same excitements and worries: celebrating (or taking refuge from) Boston Marathon hoopla, preparing young runners, jumpers, and throwers for their first meet EVER (and getting them to dress warmly enough that they will live to participate in future meets), and migrating from indoor track workouts to outdoors. CSU’s first official outdoor workout of the year was last Thursday, and the experience sent me digging through the archives to find this short paean to early Spring in New England. Originally published March 29, 2007.)

Continue reading →

Posted in Weather and Seasons | Leave a comment

(Mis-) Understanding the 800m

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Jon Waldron

800m_start_v2
Image: onejourneytothenext.blogspot.com

I never know quite what to make of Fittish, a mostly running-related blog associated with the edgy sports website Deadspin. On the one hand, it’s exciting to see anyone writing humorous, irreverent, and oh-so-hip articles about our dear old dying sport. As an example, earlier this winter, a post about Shannon Rowbury began, “Dammit people, put down the fatty and pay attention to women’s middle distance track. U.S. women are killing it on a global scale.” On the other hand, Fittish tries so hard to keep the tone cool and/or ironic that the articles tend to devolve into gossipy riffs on fame, fashion, and lifestyle. After noting that she had just run the fifth-fastest indoor mile in history, the aforementioned post continued heaping praise on Rowbury for wearing lip gloss that matched the color of her racing spikes. Continue reading →

Posted in High School Runners | Tagged | 2 Comments

It’s Not (Always) About the Workouts

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Jon Waldron

oregon_runners
Photo: OregonLive.com

News item: Alberto Salazar praises Oregon Coach Andy Powell.

As reported by Ken Goe in The Oregonian, Salazar called the performance of Powell’s runners at last month’s NCAA Indoor championships “unprecedented” and said he wants to see what they’re doing for workouts. Oregon’s Erik Jenkins won the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, Edward Cheserek won the mile and was second in the 3,000, while anchoring Oregon’s winning distance medley team. Oregon had three runners score in the mile, swept the top three places in the 3000, and went 1-3-7 in the 5,000. “I’ve never seen anything like that indoors,” Salazar said. “They were on fire. You want to talk batting averages? Andy Powell is batting a thousand.” Continue reading →

Posted in Training | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Effect of Endurance Training on Spousal Social Life

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Jon Waldron

“Spouses influence each other’s exercise habits, for better and worse, more than is often recognized, according to an interesting new study of the workout habits of middle-aged couples. The study found that changes in one spouse’s routine tend to be echoed in the other’s, highlighting the extent to which our exercise behavior is shaped not just by our personal intentions but by the people around us as well.” – How to Get Your Spouse to Exercise, Gretchen Reynolds in the NY Times

In a handful of recent studies, researchers at San Diego’s Institute for Behavioral Athletics have found that if a person is married to a runner or triathlete, they are much more likely to express dissatisfaction with the quality of their social life. According to Institute Director Dr. Florence “Flo” Lopari, these studies highlight the extent to which our social behavior is shaped not just by our personal intentions but by the people around us as well. Continue reading →

Posted in Attempts at Humor | 5 Comments

Cross Country, We Need to Talk

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Jon Waldron

Cross Country, we need to talk.

We’ve known each other for a very long time, been through a lot together… You were my first and favorite sport in high school. You were the reason that when I was just a skinny freshman, there were seniors who knew my name and looked out for me. You were the reason I ran over the summer and looked forward to the start of school in the fall. You gave me a reason to work hard and endure more than I thought possible. For four years, my closest friends were the ones who shared long runs through Amherst, Pelham, and Hadley, 800m repeats on the grass over by the stadium at UMass, and bus rides to small towns all over the Pioneer Valley. Remember how against most schools, we would sweep the top places, all but laughing as we crossed the finish line far ahead of the local talent. Against one or two, we competed against runners just as tough as we were, and those epic meets still linger in my memory forty years later. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Chillin’ with the Jets

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Jon Waldron

Jets

In the rhythm of the training week, Thursday nights have always been reserved for something a little harder than a regular run. In late spring and summer, it might be a tempo run at Fresh Pond; in the Fall, it might be hills, and in the winter, Thursday nights will usually find us careening around an indoor track for our main workout of the week. But in early spring, when our winter program of workouts at BU has ended and the weather is iffy, you never know exactly what to expect from Thursdays. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Supplemental Reading

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Jon Waldron

l-carnitine-chemica-structure

There are times — last night was one of them — when I want the Internet to apologize for taking so much of my time and giving so little in return. Of course, I have only myself to blame for bingeing, but I still hold the Internet responsible for making it too darn easy to dive and keep diving into some random topic, attaining a superficial familiarity in said topic that pretends to be real understanding. Continue reading →

Posted in PEDs and Drug Cheating | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Race Report: An Ras Mor 5K

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Jon Waldron

nerunner                 An Ras Mor

Over the weekend I took another small step along the path back to normal racing, lining up early Sunday morning with 700 other shivering ectomorphs to participate in the “An Ras Mor” 5K in Cambridge. What would bring out so many runners so early on such a bitterly cold day in March? Why, the first race in the 2015 New England Pub Series, of course!

(Speaking of the Pub Series, it was at this race in 2009 that the young Tyler Andrews (just shy of his 19th birthday and with only the consciousness of greatness within him) expressed amazement that adult runners had such an affinity for beer before 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Such debauchery!)

But I digress. Continue reading →

Posted in Race Reports | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Of Records and Drifting Snow

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Jon Waldron

boston-buried-in-snow-2015

Photo: Modern Survival Blog (http://modernsurvivalblog.com)

Last Sunday night, it snowed in the Boston area. Out in the ‘burbs where I live, the snow that evening seemed thin and without substance, little more than a dusting, and certainly not the two inches needed to establish a new record for the snowiest winter in Boston history. Thankfully (I suppose), ten miles to the East at Logan Airport the storm had been strengthened by the vast and heedless power of the sea and had deposited a hearty 2.9 inches of the white stuff on the tarmac where official measurements are taken. And so there it was: a new record. The mood of the city upon receiving the news was perhaps summed up best by the South End’s Joe Ferreira, who had this quote for the Boston Globe: “We’re still miserable, but at least we’re miserable champions.” Continue reading →

Posted in Records & Statistics, Weather and Seasons | Tagged , | Leave a comment