Another Shot at The Elusive Standard

After Albany, I said that I definitely wanted an opportunity to qualify again, but that I didn't think it would happen. A late-night text message from Coach Larios last night confirmed that it will indeed happen. A few of us will get a final shot at qualifying for the NAIA National Championship meet on April 25 in Nashville at the Country Music 1/2 Marathon.

I'm amped. This is an opportunity that I didn't think would exist, and an opportunity to race on a fast course, with a lot of competition, and really just overall a good situation.

Spring break was enjoyable. It was a week of super hard training, super hard relaxing (Coach Dawson's favorite quote, "Start on time, quit on time," kind of parallels the ol', "Work hard, rest harder" mantra), and really not much of anything in-between, excepting two races at the end of the week. The races went surprisingly well, considering that, while walking to the line, my legs were on fire from the lactic acid that had accumulated throughout the course of the week. It was interesting starting both races on the "other" side of the track, after four years of high school racing and starting at the finish line due to all distances being whole laps around the track. It felt a little different, but I, being a pretty adapting dude, got over it quickly.

Last week we took the 90 minute trip to Johnson City, TN for the Milligan Relays. A Thursday afternoon affair, with the small atmosphere and single-day format, it was like old times. We were truly kicking it high school style--I doubled the 1500m and 3000m and had to line up for the 3k only about 45-50 minutes after finishing my 1500m. We were treating it as a workout, though, and looking at it in that light, the meet went well. I won the (very) slow heat of the 1500m, by about 10 seconds (in a blazing fast time of 4:39), and then ran a 10:13 for the 3000. In both races, I was pretty aggressive, just seeing how things went, and really started tying up about 600m from the finish. It was a great learning experience, though, and Coach was really pleased with my aggressiveness. And, afterall, all of that was learned in a workout!

This weekend Ben and Wilbourn are both going to the Duke Invitational and a couple of us might end up heading over to North Carolina A and T for the 5000 at their invitational. Otherwise, next race: AAC Championships at Western Carolina.

Spring Break

Spring break began yesterday after classes, and, well, the campus has been pretty empty since then. The only ones around are the baseball team, who have several games over break, and a handful of us on the track team. The cafeteria is closed, so Coach Dawson and his wife have graciously allowed the remaining teammates to eat breakfast and dinner at their home for the weekend. That is one bright spot to the weekend thus far...otherwise, it's been cold and rainy, and I am very ready to make the trip to Florida. Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon will bring several teammates back onto campus as we're pulling out of town around 5 AM Monday morning. We'll be making a trip down to Daytona Beach, Florida, and crashing at Daniel Dunn's house for a couple of days and then on Wednesday we will transfer to Orlando where we will set up a base camp of sorts in a rental home only a couple of miles from the Wide World of Sports complex (which is pictured above).

The Walt Disney World Invitational itself is a Wednesday through Saturday affair, with the 5,000m race starting at 7:15 PM on Thursday, and the unseeded 1,500m race going off at 10:35 Friday morning. I was able to get some nice little training sessions in this week, so hopefully these races will be indicative of my fitness level, and I can move on and continue to aim for the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship meet in April.

Last Sunday I was able to visit Trinity Church in Asheville, and I think I may have found a church home for when I am at Montreat. The preaching is superb, the worship excellent, and the doctrine is sound. For the remainder of this semester I may only be able to go once or twice a month--the rest of the time I will either worship at Montreat Presbyterian Church here on campus or Grace Community Church in Old Fort, where Coach Larios and his family worship, as I have done up until now--unless I am able to continue to procure a ride to Trinity. Next year, however, I plan on bringing my car to school with me, which will allow me to worship there on a weekly basis and perhaps even become more involved.

Humbled

Saturday's race in Albany was a very humbling experience. It taught me that no matter how good of shape you are in, no matter how mentally prepared you are for a race, you must prepare for the worst. I thought I was prepared for the worst, but I quickly realized the errors of that line of thought around 2.5 miles into the race when I felt the symptoms of a need to take a pit-stop and hit the toilet. This is something that I've never faced mid-race. Obviously I continued to run, but I became more and more aware of the amount of energy it was taking to keep the poop in. I also continued to slip further and further from the pack, which dwindled from seven to three (Ben Hall, Jed Edwards, Andrew Hege). Finally, just before the 11th mile marker, I understood that I could make it no further, and I hit up a nice thick tree and, shall we say, popped a squat. I crossed the finish line in 1:24:2x for sixth place overall and fourth Montreat runner across the line. Wilbourn took the win and Hege fell off the pack and I passed him around 9.5 miles in. Wilbourn was the only one to hit a qualifying standard in the 100% humidity and 50 degree temps--a bit warmer then we are used to here in Montreat this time of year!

I would love a second shot at the Half. I feel that I am certainly fit right now, and an opportunity to race when everything--or even most things--go right (instead of everything going wrong), because I certainly don't think that 84 minutes and change is a reflection of my fitness level. I'm not certain that another opportunity to race the distance will come, however, so I must assume that one will not come and move on, changing my focus to my next race.

That next race comes next Thursday, March 19, in Orlando, Florida. We're taking a road trip to Orlando for the Disney World Wide World of Sports Track and Field Invitational, and I'm racing the 5,000 on Thursday and the 1,500 on Friday. The focus, obviously, is on the 5,000, and I'm antsy to have a good showing in that event. Whatever happens in the 1,500 is just icing on the cake. I've been told that the Disney meet is a very well put together event and a load of fun. We'll be spending a few days in Daytona Beach at the beginning of the week, relaxing and doing a service project or two, so I am looking forward to a restful time in the sun of Florida.

Look After You

It's been a while since my last update. The problem is, life got busy. School, work, and running got in the way. It's OK though, because I have a chance to update now!

I'm taking today off from training for the first time since before the semester started; January 11th was my last off day. It's a good "pausing point," I feel, for training, since we're less than a week from Albany, it's a good day for resting and recovering. To make it an even better day to recover, it's snowing super hard outside and the trails are bound to be pretty slushy and slick.

The last couple of weeks have yielded some really solid workouts that indicate I'm definitely ready to run fast in Albany. The latest was 2x3200m + 1600m on our cross country course. It was hilly, it was muddy, and it was generally not conducive to running fast. I went 11:37, 11:43, and 5:38--all told, that's 5:48 pace on a very slow surface for five miles. If I can knock that out for 13 miles on Saturday, I'll be boarding a plane for St. Louis and Nationals in May.

Yesterday was the Black Mountain Marathon/Mount Mitchell Challenge. The famous trail races start in Black Mountain, go through Montreat, and go up the trails towards Mount Mitchell (the highest point east of the Mississippi River). The Marathon (or "fun run," as they call it) doesn't summit Mt. Mitchell, but the Challenge goes all the way to the top and back--about a 38 mile endeavor. Ben, Daniel, Jared and I arose at 6:15 and hiked up to the first aid station, six miles into the race (although probably only 3/4 mile of hiking for us) and helped count bib numbers. Then we drove into town, and brought back some propane so that the people staying at the aid station all day would have some heat, as it was ridiculously cold and windy and rainy. This time, however, we ran up the 3/4 mile trail and then kept running up the course, completing our long run on the course that the racers were taking. It was pretty cool to be running past guys and cheering them on. It turns out they had to cut off the Challengers from completing the race because the conditions on top of Mt. Mitchell were ridiculous--two feet of visibility and hail, etc.--but about 20-25 guys made it through before they cut them off.

After our long run, lunch, and a nap, the four of us went down to the aid station which was actually on Montreat's campus (about 5k from the finish) and helped out there. The guys coming off the mountain at that point were all Challengers who had been able to summit, and they had crazy stories. "I saw three or four people get pulled off the mountain for hypothermia, but I know those weren't the only ones. It was crazy up there. Hail was hitting us, we couldn't see anything. The only thing that saved me was I had some dry clothes inside a ziplock bag in my pocket, and I was able to put those on once I summited so that I could be a little warmer," one runner told us. Absolutely insane. Yesterday confirmed my previously held suspicion that trail guys have some sort of disconnect in their brain. To quote Coach Larios, "trail runners are the pole vaulters of distance running." I agree wholeheartedly!

With less than a week to go 'til Albany, we'll be recovering much of this week, with a light workout or two just to keep our bodies feeling normal. I'll try to keep the blog and Twitter updated as much as possible throughout the trip. In the meantime, I leave you with a short video of my teammate Luke Copeland's cover of The Fray's Look After You in a recent Open Mic here at Montreat. It was dark in the room, so there isn't much to the video, but the audio is pretty sweet.

Final Indoor Meet, First Outdoor Endeavor

Yesterday was the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon, the first race on Montreat College's outdoor track and field schedule. I tagged along simply as a pacer, while Andrew Hege, Jed Edwards, and Ben Hall all attempted to hit the qualifying standard for nationals. Nobody qualified, but it was a great learning experience I think for everyone involved, including those of us who paced.

Personally, I learned a lot about pushing oneself to the limits in a long race like that. I know that I am as fit as everyone else on the team, and so there is no reason, on March 7, for me to fall off pace from the rest of them. I must push myself to stay in there, because I can certainly do it. It won't be easy, but I am fit enough.

I wrote a blog entry on Friday night before the race. The hotel we stayed in (which was a very nice hotel--right on the beach!) oddly did not have free WiFi, and I was unable to find any before going to bed, so below is that post.

We arrived in Myrtle Beach about 4 o’clock this afternoon, after having left Montreat at 9 this morning. The weather today was beautiful—a bit windy, but hopefully that will not be a factor tomorrow morning. Race time is 6:30 AM. We went for a 25 minute shakeout jog after arriving at the hotel and then headed over to the official race hotel so that the guys could pick up their bib numbers. We have three guys—Jed Edwards, Ben Hall and Andrew Hege—and two girls—Talisa Bishop and Kayla Suitor—lining up tomorrow morning. The rest of us (Luke Copeland, Jarod Neilson, Elizabeth Elliot, Artie Adkins, myself) are along for the ride and to help with pacing. I’m not sure what the girls’ plans are, but on the guys side, the three of us will be jumping into the race around mile 6 and going to about mile 13 with our boys, hopefully pulling them along to a quality 1:16:00 or so. All three of them will get a second chance in Albany, GA on March 7 (the same day I’m going for it), so they’re just trying to get a guaranteed B tomorrow, so that in Albany they can go for the A Standard and if they fall off, they fall off, because at least they already have a B.

I really appreciate Coach Larios allowing me to tag along on this trip so that I can start to get a feel for the whole half marathon scene. It’s a really good experience because it allows me to know a little bit what is going down in a few weeks. As someone who thrives on certainty, an opportunity like this is irreplaceable.

Last night I had an opportunity to travel with the team to Appalachian State University and compete in a small weekday indoor meet there. I raced the 3,000m, and it wasn’t exactly what I would call a success. They split the 3k into two heats, and I was seeded about fourth in my heat, so I started thinking maybe I would go for the win. That thought process was cemented when Coach Larios said, “Musto, what do you think about just going out and winning this race, huh?” So I went after it. I went straight into the front pack from the gun, and sat in second or third for the entire first mile. Somewhere between 1600m and 2000m, the air quality (or lack thereof) of App’s facility began to get to me, and I faced an incredibly difficulty in breathing. It’s no excuse, because I should have gutted through it better than I did, but I absolutely did the opposite of gutting through. Both Coach Larios and Coach Dawson have told me that they were very impressed with the fact that I went after the win the way I did, but I certainly was far from impressed with my ability to finish. In the end, Luke Copeland ran 10:00, Jarod Neilson ran 10:09, and I ran 10:23 for the night. Luke really battled like a man in his race. He was the last one before the cutoff in the fast heat of the 3k, and after only 300m he was already beginning to lose contact with the field. However, he continued gutting through alone and ended up running the fastest of the three of us, which is certainly commendable.

Coach is giving us a wakeup call at 4:30AM, and we’re leaving the hotel at 5:15, so I must sign off for now. Twitter updates will occur tomorrow after the race is over.

Jed finished first for the Cavaliers yesterday in 1:18:15, Andrew was second in 1:18:26, and Ben was third in 1:20:03. Jed and Andrew both feel very confident that they can hit the standard on March 7.

Snow, Track Workouts, Races, and a Special Edition Song

At 4:30 on Saturday morning, my alarm (obnoxiously) buzzed, and it was time for me to roll out of bed, brush my teeth, and roll on down to the gym to leave for the ETSU Niswonger Indoor meet. It was bitterly cold, and I was exceedingly happy that the race would be indoors. I was expecting pretty good things out of the race--I was loose, feeling good, and had thrown down some good workouts of late. The fact was, however, that my legs--while not heavy enough to notice upon getting out of bed--where heavy enough to begin to notice around 2,000m into the 5,000m race. Somewhere between 2k and 3k I began to fall apart, and it was all downhill from there, as far as the race went. I ended up running 17:58 and finishing third out of the three Montreat runners in the race. Hege went 17:25ish, and Jared was around 17:35. Both of them doubled back valiantly in the afternoon and ran legs of the DMR--Andrew the 1200, Jared the 1600. These poor guys were thrown to the wolves in that regard, as they're simply not the speed demons of lore discussed in John Parker's Once a Runner. Hege dropped a very respectable 4:35 (or so) 1600 in high school, but the guy hasn't done work as a miler since then, and has spent the last couple months in marathon training. Jared has never done mile-esque work and is also in that same marathon training. Needless to say, they didn't dominate, but as I said before: they put forth an excellent effort.

On Sunday, Ben Hall, Daniel Dunn and myself went on an afternoon jaunt up Greybeard Mountain (one of the mountains that forms the "bowl" that Montreat lies in), and then ran around the "rim" of the bowl and ran down from Lookout Point (the opposing peak) and back to the college. After that run my right Achilles began to tighten up, which was severely disappointing, and it continued to bother me throughout the night as several members of the team watched the Super Bowl in Montreat College President Struble's living room, as Pres. Struble had invited us to watch it with his family. (And what a game it was! It's a shame that the Cards couldn't pull it off, but you can't argue that it was a great game!)

Monday's planned long-run was split into two runs after Coach Larios saw how heavy our legs were in Saturday's races, so Luke Copeland and I hit the roads of Montreat at 6AM for 50 minutes, and then I doubled back with the rest of the team in the afternoon for another 65. My Achilles bothered me the entire time, but it was at least tolerable. I had an epiphany in English Lit this morning, also. I was recalling Achilles tightness from the past, and how it never bothered me for more than a few days, and I remembered my magic potion: Icy Hot. Thus, I got my hands on some of that stuff and applied it liberally to my leg. It's a good thing I thought of that solution, too, because this afternoon's workout was 10-25 x 400m. It was a classic Coach Larios workout--stick in the pack, or drop out and cheer. We were to do as many between 10 and 25 as Coach decided as he watched us, and we were to go at whatever rest he deemed a good rest based on the most recent one (maximum being 90s). In short, this style of workout is incredibly tough mentally, but it also makes one a much stronger runner. We ended up going 18 x 400 and averaging about 73s and pushed the 90s rest on most of the recoveries. It was both one of the best workouts I have ever run, and one of the most difficult. 18 x 400 in 73s with 90s recovery on a track shouldn't be overly difficult, however, it was snowing (hard!) and windy the whole workout, and that combination is one I have never faced before, and that made it more difficult than it would have been otherwise.

There is a decent bit of snow on the ground (by North Carolina standards) and we are anxiously hoping that classes for tomorrow will be canceled. The team is going to a viewing of the 2008 movie Spirit of the Marathon tomorrow afternoon, so we are doing our training run in the morning. Assuming class is canceled, the plan is to roll out and get that done at around 9-10 AM, and relax the rest of the day. We'll see what goes down. Below is a video, courtesy of (most of) the marathon group. Andrew Hege, Luke Copeland, Will Musto, and Travis Yoder star in this most excellent rendition of Alan Jackson's Winter Wonderland. If you look carefully, you can see some snow accumulating on the road. Enjoy!

Indoor Opener

Saturday marks my career indoor debut, and also my season opener, at East Tennessee State University's Niswonger Invitational (likely closer, too, due to half marathon training/scheduling, and also due to the fact that I am redshirting the season). I will be racing the 3,000m, and I'm both excited and feeling good about the race. We're training through it, of course, but I still think it will be fun, especially if my legs don't feel heavy on the line. If they do...well, it won't be so much fun, but if they feel spry, then I think I will have a lot of fun on Saturday.

Last Friday was the 1600m time trial, and for those of you who didn't catch it on the Twitter Updates (the "Mini-Posts" on the top of the main page), I went 4:59 and came in second on the team. Andrew Hege was first in 4:53, and then there was a pack of several guys right behind me from Ben Hall at 4:59 to Jared Neilson at 5:08ish. The effort felt super controlled and relaxed for me, and I was genuinely pleased with the day. Coach Larios emphasized repeatedly that he wanted to see us all go "whites of our eyes" during the race, but the fact is that none of us were really quite sure where our fitness level stood and therefore the race was run cautiously. There was a tight pack of five or six of us, with Luke Copeland leading the race, until 1000m when Hege opted to push the pace. At that point, I hesitated, waiting to see if anyone was going to chase him, and when I saw that nobody was, I went after/with him myself. Ben made up about 10-12 meters on me in the final 200m, that boy can move at the end of the race, that is for certain. Travis Yoder said, however, that he saw some nice footspeed out of me in the last 25 or so meters of the race, which was encouraging, because that's when I realized that Ben was about to pass me and I cranked it up a little bit.

On Monday, the marathon group (consists of Andrew Hege, Jared Neilson, Jed Edwards, Ben Hall and myself) went for a 90 minute long run at 6:40 pace. Normally, while a harder effort, that wouldn't be a difficult effort, but one must remember that we have spent the last six-plus weeks running nearly exclusively on the roads, and certainly not on the up-and-down terrain of Montreat, NC. To make it worse, the grass trails that we ran on were extraordinarily soft due to a light rain that hovered over the area all of Monday. It was mutually decided that the 6:40 pace was closer to 6:10 or 6:15 effort, which is far faster than we have been doing long runs (I've been going probably 6:45-7:00 on the roads, myself). It was a difficult run, but obviously it's one that needs to be done and repeated in order to hit that new A standard of 74 minutes.

This afternoon the entire team traveled ten minutes down the road to Owen High School in Black Mountain and did our track workouts for the week. The men--except for a couple guys on a "30/50" plan (30 min in the morning, 50 in the evening, every day) to allow them to regain fitness lost over break due to injury or illness--went 3x1600 + 1x1200 at 5:20 pace. Well, 5:20 was the goal. I think as a whole we ended up averaging about 5:25 pace, however, it was inredibly windy and Coach said he was very pleased with the effort. I myself ran 5:20, 5:33, 5:25 and 4:05. I felt really great through about 1300m of the first rep, and then suddenly I felt as if somebody punched me in the gut, and knocked the wind out of me. It was a very weird feeling that didn't go away the rest of the workout. After the 5:33, I mentioned it to Ben, who said to me, "If you can't stand the heat, pull out." I obviously would have none of that, and gutted it up. Ben later told me that he was just trying to get me fired up a little bit. It worked!

I must say, it was a whole lot of fun today running a workout where I was rubbing elbows with the rest of the team the whole time. This was exactly what I had in mind in high school when I pictured college workouts. It is also an opportunity that I did not really have during the fall when I was instead attempting to make up for lost fitness all season. Yes, I ran in a lot of workouts, but many of them were alone or with just Luke Copeland, or trying really hard to hold onto the back of the pack...none of them were as much fun as this workout.

I will be updating Twitter and maybe posting some pictures during the meet on Saturday. It appears we'll be there all day, as Hege is running the 5,000, which starts at 8 AM, and the team is also competing in a DMR, which will run sometime in the late afternoon. It should be a good day, though. I've only been at one indoor meet in my life--NAIA Nationals last March--but it was a lot of fun to watch. I'd imagine getting to compete will be all the more fun. Also, the Knoxville Track Club hosts a High School meet in conjunction with the Niswonger meet, and several friends of mine who happen to be in high school still are racing in that meet, so I will get to see some good friends, also.