Sunday, June 28, 2009
by Doug Binder and Ken Goe, The Oregonian
Saturday June 27, 2009, 9:55 PM
EUGENE -- Ever since he broke the long-standing national high school record in the two mile, German Fernandez has carried the tag as the brightest prospect in U.S. distance running.
The Oklahoma State freshman from Riverbank, Calif., ran at Hayward Field for the first time Friday, placing fifth in the men's 5,000 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships and breaking a U.S. junior (under 20) record in the process.
Fernandez, who turns 19 in November, ran 13 minutes, 25.46 seconds to take a record that belonged to Galen Rupp until Stanford's Chris Derrick took it with a time of 13:29.98 this spring. Fernandez also ran 3:55.02 for a collegiate indoor record in the mile.
Rupp, 23, is the 10,000 meters national champion and knows a thing or two about being labeled the next big thing.
"All the attention he's getting is warranted," Rupp said this spring. "He's running unbelievable this year. It's been phenomenal what he's done."
But the high expectations aren't always easy to live up to. Rupp, who broke high school records at 3,000 and 5,000 meters, had his share of ups and downs in his college career.
The two have not raced head-to-head -- or even met -- yet Rupp said he feels as if he understands what Fernandez is going through.
"I wish him the best and hope he doesn't get caught up in the hype," Rupp said. "When I look at people that I ran against (at 19), there were people who were supposed to be the next big thing and some of them fell off. I hope it doesn't happen to German. He's one of the best guys at his age. I'm looking forward to running against him."
Fernandez was happy with his performance and said he enjoyed his first Hayward experience.
"It's really special," Fernandez said. "Hayward Field is a great place to run. The crowd gets into it, the runners get into it. I've never run in this atmosphere before, so it was great to be here."
A good fit: Alberto Salazar, who coaches the Portland contingent of the Oregon Track Club, which includes Rupp, Kara Goucher, Adam Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley, said new addition Dathan Ritzenhein would be a good fit.
"Always, Dathan is the one guy I was thinking I might take on if it came to that point," said Salazar, who has been reluctant to make his group too large. "But he was with a coach. So I thought if for some reason it doesn't work out, he is the one guy I would consider taking on."
Ritzenhein, who represented the United States in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics, split recently with coach Brad Hudson.
"We've been talking for about a month and a half," said Salazar, who told Ritzenhein they should postpone making the move until after the U.S. championships to avoid disrupting both the consistency of Ritzenhein's training and the chemistry of Salazar's group.
"We came to an agreement a couple of weeks ago that it was going to work," Salazar said. "We talked for a while and I said, 'Let's not rush into it.' I wanted to make sure of exactly what he thought he had to do and what I thought he had to do, to see if we were on the same page."
As it turns out, they were. Salazar said Ritzenhein would give up the marathon, at least for a while, and concentrate on the 10,000.
Ritzenhein placed second to Rupp on Thursday night in the USATF 10,000 final.
Salazar said he thinks Rupp and Ritzenhein will make ideal training partners. The partnership will start immediately.
"I think they're both similar," Salazar said. "I absolutely believe it's in Dathan's best interest to do the same type of training as Galen."
COMMENTS
Sorry for pasting these articles in to my blog. HAHA. I am a keen follower of runners who are non kenyans. Galen Rupp is the new running sensation in USA and so is the 19 year old German Fernandez. Coach Alberto Salazar has recently seen a winning streak in all his athletes and I am really excited to see how they fare in the future. :):)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
RunnersTribe: Ryan thanks for your time. To kick things off, how's the preparation for World Juniors going? RG: No, thank you. It's great that there is a new website dedicated to running. I love it. World Junior preparations are going well. I'm the fittest I've ever been so physically everything is on track for Poland. RT: RT: At only 18 years of age, you've bettered Craig Mottram's 3000m junior record, two years younger than when he set it. Is there any key ingredient that you can put your success down to? RG: Obviously a lot of people will say that it all comes down to natural talent, but I work bloody hard for my results. From a young age I have always wanted to be successful at something, whether it be cricket, hockey or running, so I just applied myself and I was successful. I have a great coach in Ian Hatfield (Skip) who has been coaching me since I was six and has made sure I never worked too hard. There are a whole heap of reasons why I have been successful, but it all means nothing unless I can turn it all into something productive as a senior athlete. RT: You're down to run the 1500m and the 5000m in Poland. Are you setting your sights on choosing one race closer to the event, or confident of running well in both? RG: I will target the 1500m. It is a 6 day program so I thought if I was going to be over there, why not have another race? The 5000m is a straight out final, and it's after the 1500m final, so it won't affect my chances in the 1500m. Even though I will be training mainly for the 1500m, I have worked hard on my endurance due to World Cross Country, so I should have enough strength to last 5000m. RT: Edinburgh. A lot has been said about the Australian results, some full of praise, some critical. For the benefit of our readers can you take us through the race? RG: A few people bagged me and said I under-performed, but I was happy. I came 31st and I am still in the junior race next year. My goals next year are to make the top 10. I think it's achievable. World Cross Country was a tough race but it was tough for everyone. The course was terribly muddy and the heavier people like Mottram and Birmingham seemed to suffer. Birmingham didn't run as well as expected, but then he came out and ran 13.21 for 5000m a few weeks later. Mottram didn't run as well as he may have hoped but he is still the King, and will be for awhile. The big guys just seemed to really sink into the mud in those conditions, with the lighter runners excelling. It's in Jordan next year though, so it shouldn't be too muddy over there! RT: Being in a team with the likes of Craig Mottram and Benita Johnson must have been a great experience. Did you manage to learn much from them? RG: Mottram and Benita only arrived in the village 2 days before the event so not that much was said. It was interesting to see that with only about 1 and a ? hours until her race, Benita was reading a British women's magazine, taking note of different cooking recipes. So I guess that you have to be relaxed and not think about the race too much. RT: The old mileage question pops up in every interview these days, so I may as well ask it. How many km's a week would you run over summer, and winter? RG: Winter would be about 110km and Summer about 100km. I do that for 4 weeks and then on the 5th week, I drop my mileage down by about 50% as part of a recovery week. RT: And session wise, what sort of things does the Coach incorporate. For a young athlete, you seem to have developed not only a terrific aerobic capacity, but also speed! RG: Skip incorporates the basics. Regular long runs, threshold runs, short and long interval work, recovery runs, speed work, gym sessions and core sessions. It's a very basic looking weekly program. I can't give too much away or Courtney Carter will start beating me! RT: Rewind a few years back, you were involved in quite a bit of mountain running, and competed for Australia at the World Championships - how different was the training for this event compared to track/cross country running? RG: Haha. I actually didn't train for Mountain Running. The main reason why I did it was to go and travel to Turkey with my Dad. It was the greatest trip I have ever been on. The long run I do with the local Bulli boys is called 'Devil's Peak'. It's 20km long and is nuts. The hilliest thing you will ever do. The Victorians always say that runs like the Dandenong's or the You Yang's are great runs, but they are nothing compared to the Peak. RT: A lot has been said of young runners who come out and run fast at an early age, and then fade away as a senior. Are you worried about not developing at the same rate you are now later on in your career? RG: I just see it as that I have given myself a solid platform to work off. People always say to me that they hear rumours that I do ridiculous mileage and other nonsense, and that I am going to burn out. I am not flogging myself by any means. I think the fact that I have been able to remain un-injured is the fact that I have been doing less than my rivals. All credit to my coach Skip. He is a wizard. RT: What are the plans for the next few years? Have you been thinking about the idea of going away to college? Or are you happy to remain in Australia? RG: I'm staying put in Australia. I have a great coach, family, friends and girlfriend here in Australia, so I think going away would actually be a backward step. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess. There are a fair few Aussies who can still whip me in a race so there is still plenty of competition here in Australia. Over the next few years I hope to get fitter. That's what I need to improve on the most. Speed is irrelevant unless you are fit, otherwise you will be too tired to use it. So that's the main goal, just keep building that base to set me up for the future. RT: Sounds like you've got it sorted Ryan. All the best for the upcoming World Junior Champs, we'll be sure to follow your successes! This interview has been brought to you by Courtney Carter, from The Runner's TribeRyan Gregson: Australian Junior 3000m record holder
This interview is not to be published or used in the public domain in any way, without prior written permission from The Runner's Tribe
Friday, March 27, 2009
Moses Mosop leads team mates during training at the Alhussein sports complex in Amman Jordan on Thursday. Photo/MOHAMMED AMIN Morale is skyrocketing in the Kenyan camp here after the athletes’ allowances were settled promptly upon arrival.With all the hurdles removed, head coach Julius Kirwa said the challenge is now for the team to sweep the board come Saturday. “We want this team to emulate the 1994 squad. Make me cry tears of joy. This is what the 30 million Kenyans are yearning for back home,” Kirwa told his charges. Moses Mosop, the 2007 silver medallist in the senior men’s 12km race, said he wants to win the medal that skipped him in Mombasa where he was spiked and ran the entire race with one shoe. Team physiotherapist, Peter Nduhio, cautioned Kenyan runners to be careful in the races to avoid being spiked. “Being the defending champions, they will be placed right at the centre when the race start. It will be tough unless they sprint away,” he said. Already, perennial rivals Ethiopia are getting uncomfortable with the joint-teams training exercise. One of their technical team members is employed to constantly keep an eye on Kenya’s training. Both Ethiopia and Kenya are booked in at the Region Hotel. The two teams arrived together at their hotel and the Ethiopians talked in low tones pointing at their Kenyan athletes to watch out for. End Bekele’s reign “They are interested in Linet Masai. They know she is strong but what they do not realise is that the others in the team are equally strong,” said Kirwa. Moses Mosop, the silver medallist in Mombasa in 2007, is also another athlete who has been given close attention. But, Kenyan athletes continue doing their training with no worry. Kirwa, who was in Brussels in 2004 when the Bekele reign started, said he was disappointed of him not being part of their contingent. Well prepared However, he maintained that until after the technical meeting, Ethiopia were still capable of changing their squad. “I have not seen him though, but that does not mean that he will not be running. Let us wait until the technical meeting today and see what list they present,” he said. The coach pointed out that Mosop, Linus Chumba, Mathew Kisorio, Mangata Ndiwa, Leonard Komon and Mark Kiptoo were capable of ending Bekele’s reign. “But we also have Zersenay Tedese of Eritrea, Uganda and Qatar athletes to compete against. His absence will not water down the competition but he would have helped raise the tempo,” he said. World 5,000m silver medallist Mathew Kisorio, however, pointed out that though his senior colleagues have an advantage, he was in Amman to win the title his father Some Muge failed to get in 1983 (he won a bronze), a gold medal. "I am well prepared. I want something to look at that will make it understandable and compensate for my missing class,” he said. http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athletics/-/1100/553228/-/item/1/-/15e3tgv/-/index.html
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Paula Radcliffe, whose Olympic hopes were ruined by a hip injury last summer, has suffered a new blow after she was forced to pull out of next month's Flora London Marathon with a broken toe.
By Simon Hart
Last Updated: 8:50PM GMT 05 Mar 2009
More pain: a broken toe has forced Paula Radcliffe out of the London Marathon Photo: PA
The injury could also threaten her participation at this summer's World Championships in Berlin, where she had been hoping to regain the title she won in Helsinki in 2005.
The world record-holder, whose career has been blighted by health problems due to the intensity of her high-mileage training regime, was aiming to win her fourth London title on April 26 but sustained an injury to her right second toe while running at her high-altitude base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday.
According to medical opinion, the original cause of the injury was a bunion on the same foot which altered its mechanics and put pressure on her toe.
Radcliffe, who triumphed in the capital in 2002, 2003 and 2005, said: "I am desperately disappointed that I have to pull out of this year's race, especially as I was looking forward to running in front of the amazing crowds of spectators in London that always offer such great support.
"I am considering surgery to get myself totally healthy as soon as physically possible and ultimately prevent the bunion causing any future problems."
A spokeswoman for the athlete said she would "reassess her future plans once free from injury" though, at the age of 35, time is clearly running out on her career.
The news of her withdrawal comes almost a year to the day since Radcliffe was forced to make an almost identical statement when a toe tendon problem forced her to pull out of the 2008 race.
It was that injury that was blamed on causing further mechanical problems to her hip, which wrecked her preparations for Beijing and resulted in a 23rd-place finish. Four years earlier, her Olympic campaign in Athens ended in a tearful exit from the race three and half miles from the finish.
However, following her Beijing disappointment she returned in memorable style with a runaway victory at the New York marathon in November and she had hoped to continue that good form in London.
There was even talk of an attempt on her world record of 2hr 15 min 25 sec which she set on the capital's streets six years ago. Now her absence will inevitably weaken the women's field, where Britain's hopes will now be carried by Mara Yamauchi and Jo Pavey.
Race director David Bedford said: "This is a major blow for Paula. I know how much she wanted to run here this year but luck just does not seem to be on her side.
"Paula's priority must now be to get fully fit hopefully for the World Championships and we wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.
"Even without Paula, however, the elite women's field is still one of the strongest we've ever had in London and I am sure the race will be a superb spectacle."
Saturday, January 31, 2009
MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's first reservoir, built in 1867-68. The development of the Reservoir brought the forest devastation around the area to a halt. The forest around the reservoir was protected as a water catchment reserve.
Notice the switch from present to past tense. While the former fact would be arguably hard to deny or render false by any means, the latter seems to have succumbed to the evils of depreciation and a highly skewed sense of myopic pragmatism. In order to fight for something, one has to consider the most important ‘What’ and subsequently ‘Why’. What then, is a reservoir, and why is it here? Seeing as how technical definitions would not help, (A reservoir is, most broadly, a place or hollow vessel where fluid is kept in reserve, for later use) perhaps the ‘Why’ will enlighten. The first paragraph succinctly illustrates its fundamental purpose as a reserve. While often thrown about and perhaps even confused at times with its sugar laden condiment cousin that stands taller with a preceding ‘p’, the term still retains much meaning and significance. It is a bastion of hope in this jungle of a country on steroids. Primary, secondary, tertiary, heck, even plastic plants would do. Greenery is the point isn’t it? A tree is a tree is a tree. My argument is two-fold. One persuades against the subsequent demolition of the venue, and the second against the ambience.
When we have landslides and waterlogged areas after the rain, well, that just won’t do. People get angry. Shoes get muddy. Running becomes a lot harder. Sure, landslides are dangerous, and everyone would clearly accept lending a hand to the environment (which is completely out of whack because of our initial interference in the first place) to correct faulty terrain. We can’t have landslides after every storm, so the landscape needs tweaking. And that’s precisely what happened last year to a significant portion of the running route near the Ranger’s station. But what more? It seems recently another portion of the route was resurfaced, for no crime greater than being a little muddy. I am referring to the portion just before the Boardwalk. Where, then, do we draw the line? But more importantly, let’s go back to the ‘Whats’ and ‘Whys’. What is the purpose of these ‘improvements’? Landslide prevention would most probably be socially and economically accepted, falling under the category of safety. But when it comes to making the route ‘more efficient’ for runners, I dearly hope I am not the only one who notices the vulgar paradox. We are damaging nature for the sake of running in an increasingly artificial environment that was instituted in the first place with the aim of preserving nature. Perhaps the problem lay not in the helpless soil, continually trampled upon to the point of sterility, but in the fickle and confused ‘runner’ who has made a miscalculated choice in his running venue.
It is also becoming clear that the monkeys in Macritchie are becoming increasingly well behaved. However, I am sad to report that their rise in hierarchy is only made possibly by a displacement that shifts the mean down. While it has been established that Macritchie is a reserve, when we regard the venue as an attraction, redefinitions are in order, as we source for new ones that incorporate the human ‘consumers’. My underlying assumption here is that everyone ‘owns’ Macritchie equally, and hence no one can be denied use or command more authority over others. That I accept, and it is in this humble stance that I conduct my argument.
Formerly regarded as a training ground for enthusiastic runners, equally attracted and intimidated by the challenging slopes and difficult terrain, the social scene has now ‘evolved’ into something vastly more complex, with a significantly more diverse clientele. Recently, the venue of the canoeing nationals shifted to Macritchie, and canoeists from schools all over the country now frequent the site. Furthermore, with the advent of sites such as the ‘tree-top walk’, casual nature enthusiasts are now drawn to the locality as well, commonly identified by their big back packs, water supply that draws envy from Macritchie itself, and a multi-purpose umbrella that remains open ‘just in case’. They march in file of typically twos or threes, perhaps a vestige of their army days. Their pace usually ranges from the bus inching towards its depot in a cunning bid to arrive ‘on time’, to the disillusioned tortoise that never quite beat the hare.
So is it a case of Runners vs Canoeists vs Social visitors? Or can we all co-exist with a simple ‘keep left’ rule? And who has priority? My premise earlier renders the latter an invalid query, for the socialist nature of the reserve means it is equally accepting to all visitors. As are our roads, all drivers are equal, but we have still invented mechanisms such as ‘right of way’ and ‘keep left unless overtaking’, solace providing pillars without which it seems our most pragmatic society would just break down. Perhaps such institutions need to be introduced to Macritchie users as well, thereby setting their cost benefit calculations right.
As a runner whom frequents the locality every week, I find that constantly getting blocked by ‘walkers’ and ambitious canoeists who carry multiple vessels at once, complete with flailing oars, disrupts my workout and necessitates the seemingly unnecessary verbal ‘keep lefts’ at inordinate intervals (to which individuals respond in a most unhelpful manner, e.g. by keeping still in the centre, if at all.) I’m equally certain their day would be rendered less ideal with a sweaty, noisy, runner shouting out at them to keep to the side, and on occasion bumping into them when their ear-brain-body network fails them. I attribute their actions to either ignorance (which education, what I am proposing, will ideally solve) or apathy (perhaps with malicious intent, i.e. people whom bear an unexplainable, inexplicable grudge against all runners, or just people moving at a pace faster than them, and will do everything in their power to destroy their workouts). I prefer to remain optimistic, blindly awarding the benefit of the doubt, herding all to the former category. In this scenario, then, perhaps we should follow the all powerful law of the road, encouraging ‘slow moving vehicles’ to keep to the left (when the question of which left arises, perhaps a more comprehensive scheme of education should be made available) and priority should be given to ‘faster moving vehicles’. Stopping short of drawing double yellow lines along the whole route and yellow boxes (no, smokers, dream on, I refer to the much neglected ‘give way’ boxes that function as little more than carpets on our well tarred roads), perhaps a ‘system’ should be established and propagated, be it on the information boards or on a huge balloon that towers above the car park (I am a dreamer). With the renovations coming up I fear the influx of visitors will exacerbate the existing problem, and hence as a pre-emptive manoeuvre with current education, we will build up a cohort of role models whom will propagate the positive behaviour that will yield a most efficient utilisation of Macritchie. Let’s borrow a leaf from the Monkeys, barring their water bottle stealing tendencies. If they can do it, so can we.
By Devathas
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Posted January 26th, 2009 at 12:10 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field
Still recovering from a pesky knee injury sustained while altitude training in Flagstaff, Ariz.., last fall, two-time U.S. 3000m indoor champion Matt Tegenkamp will skip the indoor season this year. Instead, he will slowly build up to his outdoor debut in the spring, hoping to be at full strength for the U.S. Outdoor Championships in June.
"I got a little banged up," said Tegenkamp in a telephone interview from the house he recently sold in Madison, Wisc., in anticipation of moving to Portland, Ore., next week. "We went up to altitude at the end of October and all of November; things were going great. Then I got to the middle of December, I got the same thing I got before the Trials: it was my knee."
Various electronic imaging tests showed that Tegenkamp's knee joint is structurally sound. However, the Beijing Olympic finalist in the 5000m had developed a hard-to-define inflammation problem.
"It could be something like bad tendonitis, or the plica band that wraps around the kneecap," said Tegenkamp. "It can get really, really irritated. It can cause the knee to track a little differently."
Tegenkamp, 27, has been receiving a variety of treatments, including a procedure where the anti-inflammatory medication Dexamethasone is passed through the skin on his knee from a special pad. "There is a ion transfer and that drives the medication down through the skin," he explained. He also said he had been taking anti-inflammatory medications and even took a "rich platelets" treatment. "They take a pretty significant amount of your blood, then spin it down just to the platelets," he said. "They inject the platelets back to wherever you're having the pain, and it makes a chemical reaction through the body and causes a huge rush of blood to that area. The point of it is that the body will heal itself."
Tegenkamp had to do a complete training shutdown in order to break the inflammation cycle. Today, he was to try his first run to see where he stands.
"I need to just get out and test it," he said. "It's going to be indoors in a prudent environment."
OLYMPIC YEAR DID NOT QUITE SATISFY
Sometimes compared to American record holder Bob Kennedy, Tegenkamp and his coach Jerry Schumacher have set high standards. In 2007, he finished fourth at the IAAF World Championships, just 3/100ths of a second out of the medals. In 2008, he finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000m, and advanced easily to the Olympic final. But the final didn't go the way he had planned, and he finished 13th in a fast race where Kenenisa Bekele set a new Olympic record of 12:57.82.
"There was some complacency on my side of the way we trained," he said. "We trained for a kicker's race. Athletes need to be patient and need to react to what happens. I was trying to predict when the major move was going to be made even before the race. I was up on everyone's heels and using up lots of extra energy. I feel if I had been more patient in that race, I would have run a much better race.
"That's where it dawned on me after," he continued. You have to have no expectations and totally react. It's all about competition You just have to fight and hang in there."
Tegenkamp said he needs to improve his overall strength and endurance, slowly working up to steady 100 mile weeks. Because he was injury-prone in college, he always kept his mileage lower than most top 5-K runners and worked, instead, on developing his speed. Now he feels he needs to lay down a thicker base to be his best.
"Basically we'll look at February to the start of May as the base period again," he said. He added: "You can still run really really well off strength (but) you may not feel good doing it."
PORTLAND CALLING
Tegenkamp, and his wife Michelle, will attend the closing on the sale of their Madison home on Friday, then fly to Portland on the following Tuesday. His entire Madison training group will be reconstituted there under coach Schumacher. Training partners Tim Nelson, Stuart Eagon, Simon Bairu, and Jonathon Riley have already moved. Chris Solinsky, Tegenkamp's key training mate, is in the process of moving now.
Leaving Madison isn't easy for Tegenkamp, a place where he and Michelle both went to school and where his running career truly blossomed. But like any professional, he needs to uproot sometimes in order to advance his career.
"We just kind of had a big gathering on Saturday with neighbors and close friends of ours," he said. "It's going to be different.
We were definitely settled in Madison. We loved the house we were in and everything. But the athletic side of things for me is short-lived. We want to do everything we can maximize my potential."
Tegenkamp is already one of his country's fastest middle distance runners. He's the #5 American of all-time at 3000m (7:34.98) and #4 at 5000m (13:04.90). His 1500m personal best of 3:34.25 isn't too shabby, either. Still, he thinks he has the potential to do much better. He just needs to find the balance between training hard and training right.
"As an athlete I always wanted to push the envelope and ride the red line," he said. "It was kind of a wake-up call this year. I was fortunate enough to make the Olympic team, but I didn't perform well enough at the Olympic Games. That's what we're trying to change this year, to get back to the basics."
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
