Weekend Thoughts

First and foremost, I’m a shit of a son who forgot to call my mom and sister on their b-day yesterday. Sadly, this is the second time I’ve done this. No excuses… not good enough on my part.

The remainder of the weekend was great. The A&M campus is really awesome on game day. While I’ve not been to the other joints who claim to be the best, I would bet Aggieland would rank pretty high; at least yesterday they did. I actually expected a larger crowd at the game but it was pretty oppressive in Kyle Field even with the “cold front” that came in the previous evening. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like without it though. 

Perhaps the best part of the visit there was checking out the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium inside McFerrin Athletic Center. We ate lunch inside on the bleachers with all of about 10 people in there with us. Being somewhat of a track nerd, this was pretty badass. 



Out in the lobby area is where they’ve racked their National Championship trophy’s as well as Jessica Beard’s Bowerman trophy from last year, which is totally rad. 


And then there was this… a creepy-ass old Penn Relay plaque. I’ve watched the Penn Relays more than a few times but I’ve never seen this. Now, tainted.
 
Overall, a good trip. Of course, it’s all ruined b/c of my failure at being even remotely close to a decent human being! Dammitall! 

Track & Field & other things

I was up at 0330 this morning. 0400, the track and field feed began. And that was pretty much my day. Track online, soccer semis on TV. Tomorrow, I’m fairly certain I’ll wake up at 0400 again to do the same. Am I the only one doing this?

Seriously, every hurdler from nearly every former Eastern Bloc state??? I’ve generally kept out of the sexist commentary. But, I am a dude, after all. And zip it, I’ve seen enough Ryan Lochte on my dash to last me 20 lifetimes! I don’t want to hear it! But really, Alina Talay- stop it, already, just stop it!

Okay, now from creepy old guy to just old guy. I had to google what all the Regina George schtick was. I’ve been reading all of it, wondering wtf she has been saying or doing in the media. While I felt bad for a minute, perhaps I’m proud I had no idea of the reference. Shit! I’m not that old, dammitall! 

Runner’s dilemma

I have nine miles to run tomorrow. 

I am indeed in San Antonio so by 10am it will be closing in on the 90°s and supposed to be 102° later. So I have to get out sometime in the morning hours.

I cannot leave until after my dump. Back in the day, in Old Town Alexandria, I had my doody joints where I could run in, drop napalm and go (looking at you Hampton Inn, Residence Inn, Starbucks, et.al.). Here, no such luck. It’s Texas, I’m likely to get shot! This leaves me no option than to schedule my runs around my doodies. 

To complicate matters, Track & Field starts tomorrow. Of course, it starts at 4am but NBC isn’t airing anything until 9am and sparingly throughout. Women’s soccer is also on tomorrow, all day, but US is on at 830. DVR I suppose.

This has been a post about poop, running, and the Olympics. I dare you to find that somewhere else! Thanks for reading.

Hugs and crap,
j 

BS on the Olympic Games Sponsor Black Out (by oisellerunning)

Read more here. Basically, Olympic athletes are prohibited from promoting their sponsors, who (or what gear rather) in many instances, assisted their advancement to the London games, in varying levels of course. First, let’s eliminate the NBA millionaires from this post, for obvious reasons, as well as them being a very small percentage of the total number of athletes.

This CNN Money article outlines some of the hardships the other athletes are going through. Using just the London games as an example, I’ve seen everywhere from $8 billion to $600 billion in revenue projections over the entire period. Other than the obvious benefits of the experience and perhaps the few who will medal, only considering financial compensation, the athletes will receive very little of those revenues they are responsible for earning.

While the #BSBlackout movement above doesn’t cover financial incentives, or lack thereof, the argument is, and should be made that sponsored athletes should at least be able to promote their companies, no matter the size or relative importance of the company.

Read more here from Juice Running Loose as well. 

Source: youtube.com

USATF Olympic Trials, Eugene, Oregon

Save for the sprint events, the distance races, obviously, are my favorite. Last night’s 5K finals were pretty amazing. The dudes finish was ridiculous as Bernard Lagat, who’s 37 by the way, threw in his kick towards the final straight-away, moving ahead of Galen Rupp. Probably with about 10 meters left, Rupp passed Lagat to lean for the finish. Consequently, Rupp set the meet record, held by none other than Steve Prefontaine from 1972. Rupp- 13:22:67, Lagat- 13:22:82, Lamong- 13:24:47 will go to London.

The ladies finish was no less dramatic. Julia Lucas fell apart on the final lap or two and was beaten out of the 3rd spot by a 1/100th of a millimeter…perhaps an exaggeration, but it was close. Huddle led by a pretty sick margin for the final lap at least but Huddle closed the gap and finished first. Conley, who passed Lucas for 3rd just barely made the “A” qualifying standard to make the team. The irony, as the commentators pointed out, is that Lucas, who held a huge lead for the middle of the race, pushed that pace and had she not Conley probably would not have made that cut, which would’ve put Lucas on the team. Culley- 15:13:77, Molly Huddle- 15:14:40, Conley- 15:19:79 will go to London.

Only the women’s shot put and steeplechase are finals. The 1500 prelims should be pretty awesome. Saturday & Sunday, however, are really going to kick ass. 

USATF's Dead Heat Procedure Explained | Flotrack

Coin toss or Run-off.
I love the comments… a kid explained to his dad the coin toss procedures read like that of the “holy hand grenade” from Monty Python. Perfect! As goofy as it seems to determine an Olympic slot by coin toss, if both athletes agree to the procedure, it’s hard to argue against.  

USA Track & Field Coaching Cert

My third and final (for now) running/coaching certification, USATF Level 1 = done. Finally finished the test today. Not that it was difficult, rather, I had purposely put it off until summer. 


Now if school would post the final grades that would be pretty neat.

Tattoo postponed until the 17th, unfortunately.

Seattle, you + me = tomorrow.  

Thoughts on career path

In less than five months I will be halfway through my graduate studies. It has become abundantly clear that I really have to figure out where I’m going. Unorthodox, naturally, but my INTP traits chose a program where I’d have a few options, of which I did not have to choose [and plan] ahead of time. The kinesiology program is geared towards a career in education. A career strictly as an educator, unless at the post-secondary level. Of course, in most cases this would require continuation on to a doctoral level program; certainly desirable but not sure if it would be a financially sound decision. I’ll make that call later. For now I’ve got to think short term, or at least where I want to focus my career. 

There’s always one constant: running. Broad strokes, that could cover quite a bit. But as I’m not a professional, have neither aspirations nor the ability to become a professional, this narrows the scope in the general direction of coaching. This is kind of how my brain works…it’s more a process of elimination rather than picking out of the lot. I figure out what is impossible, then what’s left is the improbable, possible, and likely. To me, these all are pretty much equal. 

In the meantime, I’ve decided to rack up as much resume fodder as possible. Over the past month I’ve attained a couple of coaching certifications and by the end of this month I will have my third. First, I attended the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s technical certification as well as their program management certification course (here). Taken together, I’m recognized as a certified track & field coach. This past weekend I attended the USATF’s level I certification course (here). Pretty much the same curriculum just different governing organizations. Later this month I will take the Road Runners Club of America coaching certification (here). As time passes I’ll look at the higher level, more specialized, certs as well.

What this does, of course, is puts myself in the category of having a lot of pieces of paper with my name on them but no actual (T&F/XC) coaching experience. It’s the obligatory catch-22. I’m lucky to be in this position regardless and I realize this on a daily basis even if it required a bit of elbow grease along the way.

Professional certifications, et cetera

Over this past weekend and yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of attending two certification courses offered through the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The first, their Technical Certification, covered two days and yesterday I completed the Program Management Course. Upon completion of the two exams, assuming I pass them, I will be a certified track coach.

As of this moment that doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot other than I paid a nice fee to attend some courses to earn yet another piece of paper with my name on it. I decided that it was a potentially valuable risk to take. I’m a quarter through my MS program and have began to think about where I want to take this thing. I don’t necessarily if track & field coaching is where I’ll ultimately end up but it’s most certainly in the right direction of where I’d like to be. I’ve decided to at least start thinking about where I’d like to go or what genre I’d like to be involved in. Running. 

Unfortunately I’m at a distinct disadvantage. I’m not an elite professional athlete nor am I a collegiate athlete. I do not have that background to open those doors. I will have to take another approach, which is personal and professional education and certifications. As with all of the certifications I carried in my previous life, some truly enhance knowledge and others aren’t worth much more than the paper they’re printed on. I reckon it’s probably much of the same in any career field. Either way I love any opportunity to learn something new even if it comes at my own expense.

That said, these courses were worth the time and money. I’m unable, legally, to get into details as to specific content but I can say they’ve developed a ‘soup-to-nuts’ curriculum on all aspects of track and field coaching. More info here. 

I had been keeping an eye on a few different courses and luckily for whatever reason three of them are all in San Antonio within a month’s time. I’ll also be attending the USATF Level I coaching education course as well as the RRCA coaching certification. Quite a bit of resume fodder, and not cheap when all said and done, but I’m really hoping to soak up as much as I can and if I’m lucky they’ll be of some use next year. I’m probably jumping the gun on taking all three at once, this early, but it was more a matter of taking advantage of location. I’m here, they’re here, why not! Should be a fun for a donk like me regardless!

NCAA Track & Field Championships

Final day on CBS. 

Not looking too good for a 3-peat for Texas A&M men, 2nd but down by 20 right now to Florida State. There’s still plenty room to make up some points as they haven’t called it yet. The women are also in 2nd but much closer. 

They did recognize Coach Pat Henry though. Currently in 3rd, all-time, all sports, ever in NCAA titles with 31! Unreal! 

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