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She Rolled Me Up And Smoked Me!

I got a good laugh out of watching this interview with Lisa Uhl after her 5k at the Oxy Meet:  Lisa Uhl.     The video got me thinking about how unpredictable the Olympic Trial’s Women’s 5k will be.  Since Shalane and Kara are running the marathon, there isn’t a clear favorite or a solid lock  to make the team.  I also don’t think that there is anyone in the field who will take the race out fast, being that there is no Shalane, and it will be, for the most part, a young field.  That last lap has the potential to become a crap-shoot.  Two years ago, I imagined Molly Huddle having the potential to take control of the race early, but she has battled injuries in the recent past and hasn’t yet been able to regain the 14:44 fitness she once had.    I do believe her to still be a contender, though.  Jackie Areson (15:14)  and Julia Lucas (15:08) have put up the most consistent distance performances lately, but there are a slew of collegiate runners within seconds of them, so I wouldn’t say those two are a lock for top 3, although Lucas’ 4:07 1500 at Oxy proves she has strong closing speed.  It will be interesting to see how the NCAA Championship’s Women’s 5k pans out in June.    I predict a lot of A standards being met at that meet, although athletes tend to double, even triple, at NCAA Championships, so perhaps not.  Oh, and don’t count out Lauren Fleshman, although she has had little to report on her blog lately.   Lauren has proved, year after year, that she can get fit very quickly, and I imagine girls will always view her as a threat, no matter what shape she’s in.

As always,

She Was Once a Runner

New News

I am happy to report that She Was Once a Runner is now available on Apple, for all you savvy folks with Ipads.  I’m estimating another week before it will be available on Amazon.  Thanks!

Thank you!

Thanks to whomever wrote the the positive review on “She Was Once a Runner.”  I appreciate it!

Inspiring!

Wow…. this article really hit home this week.  Not only can I relate somewhat to Castille’s dysfunctional family upbringing and lack of a support network, but his quote about how in college, you lose that ‘fun element’  resonated with me most.  As was documented in She Was Once a Runner,  the corporate mentality of D1 college athletics has the potential to suck the love out of even the most enthusiastic of runners, although I was happy to read that Castille has since re-discovered ‘that old feeling.’    I suppose our storylines differ in that I believe what I currently do for a living is my ‘true calling’, while Castille feels running to be his.  Regardless, his story inspires me to not rule out the possibility of competing later in life, no matter how slow (or fast!) I may be.

Enter Naomi

 

Believe it or not, I was inspired to write  She Was Once a Runner after reading a book that had absolutely nothing to do with running.  The book was called “Enter Naomi” and it is a memoir of west coast punk rock from the years 1976- to 1986, with special attention paid to Los Angeles, SST Records and the late music photographer Naomi Petersen.  What does running have to do with punk rock, you ask?  A lot, in fact!   Guys like Emile Zatopek, Steve Prefontaine, and Bill Bowerman were, in my opinion, total punks, what with Zatopek’s controversial training methods, Pre’s aggressive racing style and outspoken interviews, and Bowerman’s D.I.Y. approach to designing racing flats.    But “Enter Naomi” isn’t so much about punk as it is about Naomi Petersen, an underground music photographer who photographed bands ranging from Black Flag to Nirvana.  Naomi was ensconced in the early 80s L.A. punk scene shortly after her father kicked her out of the house for being “a tramp.”    She got a job doing secretarial work at SST records, which was a pioneer L.A. punk label run by members of Black Flag.  Eventually, that position led to her photographing bands who received accolades throughout the 80s and early 90s.  Yet, as soon as punk met alternative rock radio, she seemed to drop out of the music scene entirely, and eventually lost interest in photography altogether.  She died from liver failure in 2003 at the age of 38.  Many of her old friends didn’t even find out about her death until two years after the fact.  Joe Carducci was one of those friends, and he chose to write “Enter Naomi” in an attempt to discover what had happened to her.   Although there is a great deal of equally interesting anecdotes about Carducci’s own experiences working for SST records, he still manages to piece together the puzzle that was Naomi Peterson, throughout.   What struck me most about the book was how a woman with such talent as Naomi Peterson managed to fade into alcohol drenched obscurity.   Her friends are left wondering the same thing.

You can order “Enter Naomi” from Amazon: Enter Naomi

 

This news is a huge bummer

Chis Solinsky out for Olympic Trials

A quote from the article that really resonated w/ me was:

“I would take an afternoon off and I felt guilty, I felt lazy,” Solinsky said. “This is what made me good in high school and college. What is my competition doing? Whatever they’re doing, I want to do more.”

I had the same mentality in high school and college.  I never took days off, and in the rare case that I did, I would feel as though as I was lazy, and that my life was spiraling out of control because of it.  My dad would then reinforce these feelings of mine by asking anxiety inducing questions:

Did you run yet?  Are you going to run today?  Why didn’t you run today? Are you injured?  Are you sick? 


If only my dad had taken a few lessons from Wayne Solinsky:

Fatherly wisdom from Wayne Solinsky

 

 

She Was Once a Runner

 

 

Here are some (very) informal observations I made about the Payton Jordan Invite

First off, it’s good to see Anna Pierce back.  She put on a really strong last lap (62??) of the 1500 and stayed engaged throughout the race.  Speaking of 1500 meter runners, did anyone notice that Christin Wurth-Thomas ran a 2:04 in the 800?  It’s nice to see her back, as well.  She seems super tough and really intense, which can be a double-edged sword, at times.   Does anyone know if she’s been injured?  I’m surprised to see her open up her season this late.

In longer distances, I was really impressed with Julia Lucas’ 15:08 for 5k.  She has really come a long way, and being that she went without a contract for several years, I admire her tenacity, as much as her time.   It’s got to be difficult to believe in yourself when you’re in your mid-late twenties and don’t have any income coming in.  She must have a great support network.

I’d like to end this post with adding my two cents on Jordan Hasay.  Personally,  I think she’s progressed well for someone who was a mega star in high school.  Like a lot of college athletes, she is probably over-trained and over-raced at this point in the year.  In hindsight, she should’ve taken a professional cue from Shalane Flanagan, who went pro during her junior year of college.  But maybe the offers weren’t coming in.  Or perhaps Jordan and her family value the importance of a college degree over a pro contract.  All we can do is speculate, but I’m sure that whatever Jordan chooses to do with her life, she’ll do well.

 

She Was Once a Runner

Payton Jordan Invite

In other news, I am really looking forward to watching the Payton Jordan Invite tonight.

If I were a high school runner, I’d replay this video (see below) every night before a race:

Chris Solinsky AR in 10k

It’s Official

You can sample and/or purchase “She Was Once a Runner” on virtually any e-book reading device here:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156110

 

I should add that Smashword is an independent e-book distributor. “She Was Once a Runner” will be distributed to ibook and Amazon Kindle to sample and/or purchase within the next two weeks.  Thank you to those that have already shown their support!

 

Making Progress

The manuscript is in the process of being sent off to an E-Book formatter for some final touches.  Hopefully, “She Was Once a Runner” will be available for download on Smashwords.com by May.  In the meantime, I leave you with this…..

Late last year, I came across a blog post on Flotrack (yes, I follow the sport) that some of you may have read and/or be familiar with.  You can read the blog here:  http://www.flotrack.org/article/9106-Wisconsin-Cross-Country-A-Study-In-Pressure

The entry was written by Ryan Craven, a former cross-country runner for Wisconsin, who briefly shared his experiences with team pressure on race day.  While the overall tone of his blog wasn’t necessarily negative, his honesty led to a number of slightly hostile comments from former teammates, some of whom happen to be well-known.

As I watched the debacle unfold on the internet, I thought to myself, No, thank you.  I’ d much prefer to write honestly, while maintaining my anonymity, than risk using my name, and then dealing with potential backlash.  On the other hand, I have gotten a number of emails from former teammates of mine who “figured me out,” and their reactions to my writing were surprisingly positive.

We all seem to carry a few warrior wounds from those days, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we deserved them.

Stay Tuned.

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