tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9639678269867105632024-02-20T18:51:17.080-08:00Aspirations of a BA SteeplechaserJamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-22848960798644524942017-05-18T10:40:00.001-07:002017-05-18T10:40:33.418-07:00Mirena Confusion: Running and Birth Control<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Heyyo, I have not written a blog in
a long, long time since I have been far too busy with classes, my internship,
running, and a little bit of working. I
suddenly have a lot more time now that classes finished up this past
Friday. With this sudden free time, I
want to talk a bit about IUDs. I thought the Mirena was my BFF, but it turns out, it was probably more like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls, feeding me Kalteen bars while telling me they will help me lose weight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been frustrated with my
fitness so far this year. While I have
been running pretty well, I am far from feeling like the finally tuned machine
of last year. Of course, some of this is
easily explained by a move, new coach, and grad school, but as of a couple
months ago, I felt like there was still a big piece missing from the
equation. I have been about 10 pounds
over race weight (and 5-8 pounds off my usual training weight) this entire
school year. Usually my body gets done
there naturally, but I have had a hard time the last three years. It made sense to me coming off surgery, but
this spring I started to get really irritated.
No matter what I did, my body was stuck at a weight that felt much too
heavy for racing fast. I checked in with
our team nutritionist, badass steeplechase Olympian Rasa Troup. We added more protein to my diet, had me
start eating more frequently, and made sure I was getting the right balance of
fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. While
my energy felt evenly distributed, I still wasn’t shifting to my usual racing
body.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Which is when we talked about birth
control. In the past, I have taken low
hormone birth control pills, but around the time I had hip surgery 3ish years
ago, I had a Mirena IUD put in. The
doctor told me weight gain was not one of the side effects, and it would
probably work well for my sensitivity to hormones because the Mirena hormones
are localized. However, Rasa said that
despite what doctors report, she has seen large increases in weight in some
people. While a 1 or 2% weight change
may not be statistically valid in medical trials, it can represent a large
impact on women who are trying to compete at an elite level. I did a little more research into the Mirena,
and found that some of the great side effects, like no period, happen because
the device is tricking your body into thinking its pregnant. Unlike pills, the hormones are constant. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My IUD keeping me at my current
weight makes so much sense. Even last
year, when I had no stress and enough time to pay attention to all the details,
I couldn’t get more than 5 pounds off my usual race weight. When I took two recovery weeks at the end of
the season, my weight bounced back to my current weight after only a couple
days. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I want to feel comfortable running
fast, so I got my IUD taken out six weeks ago.
I didn’t feel much difference until this past weekend when I got my
period. Now that my body realizes it’s
not pregnant, I’m hoping it feels okay getting ready to race. It’s still too early to tell, but I will
update with any further conclusions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A few more thoughts on birth
control: If you are using birth control, and it’s working well for you,
awesome. I think the world is a lot
better place now that women can have more control over when they get
pregnant. I also think when women are
using their bodies for something that require a low percentage of body fat,
they should be given full information about their birth control options. We do not have a lot of information about the
exact consequences of birth control on, say, high level athletes (cause why
would anyone want to study that?), but, at the very least, I should not have
been told with such certainty my body weight would not be affected. <o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-77124183270616103772017-01-05T09:45:00.001-08:002017-01-05T09:50:16.206-08:00Goal Setting for Anytime of the Year<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=963967826986710563" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> I
have never really bought into New Year’s Resolutions, mostly because it
conjures up images of unrealistic goals which quickly crash and die. Some people make goals to run for an hour
every day when the last time they ran was six months ago. No wonder gym parking, which were crammed the
first few days of the new year, are back to normal traffic by mid-January.<br />
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Many companies take advantage of our insecurities, especially
at this time of year, and I get sick of hearing how I can lose x amount of
weight without changing my lifestyle, simply by buying a magical product.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<img alt="Image result for sensa 30 pounds image" 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" 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I really like setting goals, and I like the idea of everyone
being prompted to reflect on what they want to accomplish in the next year, all
at the same time. </div>
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</div>
If you are going to make a NYR, let’s talk about how to set
some good ones. Good goals don’t
necessarily mean you will succeed at accomplishing them. As a runner, I set all kinds of goals; some
of them are successful and some are a complete failure. But good goals are realistic changes in our
daily life, which improve our well being.
I don’t think adding Sensa to all of my meals would improve my
well-being, but I haven’t tried it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My three pieces of advice are:<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li> Write Outcome Goals and Process Goals.</li>
<li> Tell at least one person about your goal. Even better - have them work towards similar goal.</li>
<li> Put goals in a visible place and check in to see
progress.</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Outcome and Process Goal-Setting</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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As a
society, we talk a lot more about outcome goals, meaning the exact
accomplishment we would live to achieve after hard work. We learn these goals should be SMART
(specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound). This past year I made a goal of wanting to PR
in the 1500m and the steeplechase during the 2016 track season. I was able to PR in the 1500m by 5 seconds,
but fell 10 seconds short of setting a new best in the steeplechase.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What
folks often think less about the steps they have to take to achieve outcome
goals. Process goals are about the
things you are going to do to set yourself up to achieve your outcome
goal. I came up with a lot of process
goals for the 2016 track season including stretching for 20 minutes 5x per week
and getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night. These goals were much more flexible for me. They
served as guides for how I wanted to live while pursing my dreams. Getting enough sleep each night wasn’t in and
of itself a difficult goal for me, but it was part of what I needed to do to
race well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Tell Someone</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I
believe I have a fair amount of self-discipline, but it’s funny how easily I can
allow myself to binge-eat Oreos when I haven’t told anyone about my goal of
eating a balanced diet and minimizing processed foods. Last year, when I told my family and close friends
I was cutting out desserts and alcohol going into the Olympic Trials, it was
almost impossible to break my goal because they would have called me out. Even more helpful was my fiancé was kind
enough to join me in my goal, so I didn’t have to watch him enjoying all my
favorite things while I tried to stay strong.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<img alt="Image result for goal setting image holistic" src="http://artofjoyconsultants.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ServicePersonalFemalePushup.jpg" /></div>
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<b>Visibility</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Lofty
goals can include a lot of moving pieces; I’ve found that when I write down my
goals, and put them in a visible place, I’m more likely check in with my
process and outcome goals to see how I’m doing.
In the future I want to try setting aside time, maybe twice a month, to
reflect on my progress, and if I need to add, tweak, release any goals. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
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Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-72140886591771563912016-09-04T12:45:00.000-07:002016-09-04T12:45:06.387-07:00American Medals; Sport-wide Doping<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t watch much of the Olympics. A big part of my inattention was I was
sulking as a result of my poor Olympic Trials performance. At the same time, I am having a really hard
time watching track and field when doping is widespread and our governing
bodies seem more interested in big stars and world records than holding
cheaters accountable. For example, the
International Olympic Committee was given information about <a href="http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2016/07/25/exposed-the-story-behind-the-story-of-russia-doping-and-the-ioc-250701/" target="_blank">state sponsoreddoping in Russia</a> in 2013. The IOC decided to ignore that information,
let a super corrupt Olympic Games occur in Sochi in 2014, and only dealt with
that information in the past few months when it was forced by wider media
attention. Even when a training group is
<a href="http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/06/20/olympics-2016-jama-aden-arrested-doping-genzebe-dibaba-ethiopia" target="_blank">caught red-handed</a> with banned substances, it’s athletes and coaches don’t seem
to held accountable.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Even
with my disillusionment, it was great seeing Americans kick so much butt in the
distance events during these Olympics.
We had seven athletes medal in events ranging from the 800 to the marathon.
And it wasn’t just these
superstars. Many American made the
finals and placed well. This is usually
unthinkable with Kenyans and Ethiopians historically winning most, if not all,
the distance event medals. So why where
Americans able to place so well this year?
Is it because our training getting better? Or do we just have an incredible group of
athletes? Or are we better at cheating?<br />
<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Runners World argues that Americans did so well because of
our <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/olympics/why-us-distance-runners-won-so-many-medals-at-the-2016-olympics" target="_blank">environment</a> . According to Erin Strout, we won medals
because as a group, USA track and field has: 1) figured out how to use altitude
training; 2) changed the timing of our USA championships; and 3) better
planning for logistical challenges. This
analysis is much too simplistic. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, we have some logistics figured out, but I think a lot
of credit goes to specific coaches (Schumacher and Wetmore, for example), an
incredibly talented group of American athletes, and, in some cases, better
doping methods. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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On the other hand, I think almost all of our USA podium
runners are clean, so I can truly celebrate their accomplishments. Their success is even more incredible when
they are certainly competing against some dirty runners. Further, I think some of our clean runners
will move up in placing when cheaters are discovered in the future (Molly
Huddle and Jenny Simpson come to mind as athletes who will likely benefit from
future doping discoveries). I am
grateful the three women in the steeplechase all seem to be extremely talented,
clean athletes. Nothing would be harder
than watching an event when there is good evidence to think the athlete that
beat you out is cheating. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, I think we did have quite a few distance
athletes representing the United States who are cheating. No, they may not have been caught, but Lance
Armstrong’s cheating went undetected for years, even with frequent testing. And
cheating has become even more difficult to detect as technology evolves. Kenyan’s track manager asked for only for 12
hours notice for his athletes before testing, when he thought he had the
opportunity to bribe a testing official at the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/kenya-olympics-track-and-field-manager-arrested-after-sting/2016/08/09/b7c5afa2-5e3a-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html" target="_blank">Olympic games</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I am grateful to the many athletes who put their careers at
risk to call out cheating, especially the Stepanovas, who had to flee Russia
after exposing the state-wide doping. The
path to a doping-free sport is unclear to me, but athletes and coaches and a
vital first step to put pressure on our governing bodies to enforce clean sport
to the extent possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-47225212833769341592016-08-20T05:13:00.003-07:002016-08-20T05:13:42.786-07:00Running Eastern Europe<div class="MsoNormal">
Training always requires flexibility, because as much as you
plan, there are always unexpected obstacles, whether from internal or external
structures. Training while traveling
demands even more patience. The external
conditions are more unpredictable and the support structure you create to take
care of internal conditions (injuries, eating healthy foods, sleeping well)
aren’t there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nowhere I have traveled required more openness than when I
visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for two months.
Runners had three options for training: 1) Run on city roads before
daybreak at 5:30 am (After dawn, all sidewalks and roads were literally
unrunnable because of the people/chaos); 2) walk the one city park with a
one-mile dirt loop, and run circles; 3) Take public transportation to mountains
just outside of city, and run (after full light, of course, when the hyenas
won’t eat you). This was my first time
outside North America, and it was an incredible lesson in privilege for a
recent NCAA Division I graduate. Forget
the piles of Nike clothes and fancy hotels.
I learned from my training pals how incredibly fortunate I am to have
consistent calories, to consume protein, to have shoes that fit and a sports
bra, to have a home – a shower!, and to have education. The list could go on for a long time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I traveled through Eastern Europe for these past three
weeks, I tried to continue training hard to prepare for road races in
September. It ended up being really hard to get quality training in, and I was too often cranky. My
plantar fasciitis flared up from walking on cobblestones, tour groups of fifty
people clogged up an entire path, and I never knew where I could find an open track. I had one workout that went far
better than expected, which was followed by one so terrible, my coaches and I
decided to wait until I get home to try anything up-tempo again. I wish I could always clearly hold onto the
knowledge of how fortunate I am to be able to train as much as I do, but I can’t.
If I did, I would love every single second I got to spend running in
comfortable shoes and had a protein bar waiting at the end of my run. At the very least, when I remember to reflect, I can appreciate the flexibility I learned, even if I'm not always happy about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7PvOp7p6n7LWyl5Kz-owkwbTi04KzxLlvew_nzNQ3bwrunevB8ZHto3RBDNSspRkBPTMHEiERZSVlXathmIchWDCmLxf8NNu-_-WLxzUaKyR_7xH7bxewMQQdMa1hj7k0pYbL_jtdH8H/s1600/8b61d1bd-83c5-45d0-861a-bda983f15b8b.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7PvOp7p6n7LWyl5Kz-owkwbTi04KzxLlvew_nzNQ3bwrunevB8ZHto3RBDNSspRkBPTMHEiERZSVlXathmIchWDCmLxf8NNu-_-WLxzUaKyR_7xH7bxewMQQdMa1hj7k0pYbL_jtdH8H/s320/8b61d1bd-83c5-45d0-861a-bda983f15b8b.jpe" width="320" /></a></div>
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Run in Riga, Latvia</div>
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<br /></div>
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Another selfie in Berlin, Germany</div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-42469659654827937752016-08-03T02:38:00.001-07:002016-08-03T02:38:25.027-07:00London and Karlstad Racing, Baltic Vacationing<div class="MsoNormal">
European Racing Plan:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
3k at Gothenburg Swedish Grand Prix 7/16 <b>Result:</b> 9:11.04<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steeplechase at London Diamond League 7/23 <b>Result:</b> 9:47<o:p></o:p></div>
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1500m at Karlstad Swedish Grand Prix 7/27 <b>Result:</b> 4:15, Rabbit 1 mile of Steeplechase<o:p></o:p></div>
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3k at Joensuu Games in Finland 7/30 Skipped due to heel injury<o:p></o:p></div>
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Travel Eastern Europe 8/1-8/21<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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My racing was mediocre until my 1500m and rabbiting in
Karlstad. Racing the steeplechase in
London was an amazing opportunity. I got
to race in the 2012 Olympic Stadium, in front of 70,000 fans, with lots of
tough women in the race, including the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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London Stadium<br />
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Shalaya Kipp, Genevieve Lalonde, Jessica Kamilos, Me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Karlstad went a lot better.
We ran most of the race a tad bit slower than our all-out race pace, so
I kicked as hard as I could at 300m to get 3<sup>rd</sup>. 20 minutes later I rabbited the
steeplechase. I was worried because I am
so bad at pacing my own workouts, but I was able to be right on 9:40 pace
through one mile. Rabbiting is a lot
different than racing, because you know you are only going half the distance,
but I was amazed at how good I felt. I
felt like I could have pushed through to a 9:40 steeplechase right then and
there, which makes me frustrated my last two steeplechase races have been so
poor. After feeling so good rabbiting, I
know the poor races are due to my mentality.
I am overwhelmed by how much my mental state can affect how I physically
feel in a race. Amazing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Karlstad 1500m</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now I am traveling through Eastern Europe with my Dad. We have seen Tallinn, Estonia, Riga, Latvia,
and now we are in Vilnius, Lithuania. I
love the contrast between the medieval, soviet, and modern European architecture. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<br />
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Tallinn Old Town<br />
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Tallinn Soviet Church</div>
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Riga Church<br />
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Riga Old Town</div>
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KGB Interrogation Room, Riga</div>
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Vilnius Church</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-52606901430530160702016-07-17T06:46:00.001-07:002016-07-19T06:14:11.675-07:00Euro Racing 2016: Gothenburg<div class="MsoNormal">
European Racing Plan:<o:p></o:p></div>
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3k at Gothenburg Swedish Grand Prix 7/16 <b>Result:</b> 9:11.04, 6<sup>th</sup> place<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steeplechase at London Diamond League 7/23<o:p></o:p></div>
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1500m at Karlstad Swedish Grand Prix 7/27<o:p></o:p></div>
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3k at Joensuu Games in Finland 7/30<o:p></o:p></div>
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Travel Eastern Europe 8/1-8/21<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In the couple days before the
Gothenburg race, I got to spend some quality time with running buddies Amber
Shultz (Club Northwest Steeplechaser), Sasha Gollish (Haute Volee Canadian
Mid-distance), and Victoria Mitchell (Australian Steeplchaser). With quite a bit of down time in the couple
of days leading up to the race, and not having close family or friends around,
I appreciated having awesome women to hang out with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> Amber, Me, Victoria, Sasha - post 3k.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
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Track
officials never seem to disqualify athletes for breaking rules. Runners blatantly shove, drift over to
prevent people from passing, slow races down to let their teammate catch up, and
cut others off. Maybe a yellow flag will
be raised, but almost never is anyone disqualified. So, I was very much surprised that when
officials started to get annoyed with some of the women’s conduct in the
staging area, they had tools to get racers in line. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We were all supposed to be lined up
and ready to go out to the track, but one of the women was still changing into
her uniform, holding the rest of us up from being able to continue warming up
before racing. One of the officials
walked over (once the runner had her buns on), and pulled out a yellow card as
a warning, soccer style. I was thankful
an official was willing to defend the rules, first, because it was hilarious to
see a card being thrown outside of a soccer stadium, but also because if you
have an 8:40 3k pr, you have run in an international race before, and you know
how things work. I know I’m my dad’s
daughter when I’m that excited about officials enforcing law and order.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The race itself was fine. I went through 1600m in 4:50, but then slowed
down to 5:00 pace, finishing in 9:11.
The time was a one second PR, but it hurt, and I didn’t have anyone to race
against after I lost contact with the top five after the first two laps. Right
after the race, I was questioning if I should pull out of my remaining three
races, because I felt so bad. But, with
a little distance, I’ve remembered how terrible I usually feel when I race a
couple days after traveling a long distance.
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0j-H4jrDuSoV5wrCruTrr-qeu168jSj50y6MAcS6wXAgai-W7KUR10fTeYpfwbEQ9NH_n31FRkYeQU6559WHW0-tYeljhFu-g3mBPx4rQ9eibmqAZuVooZJpjNTR1TR_h6PmSmTioKpll/s1600/886c813f-6e69-425b-8ea5-714ce58a8746.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0j-H4jrDuSoV5wrCruTrr-qeu168jSj50y6MAcS6wXAgai-W7KUR10fTeYpfwbEQ9NH_n31FRkYeQU6559WHW0-tYeljhFu-g3mBPx4rQ9eibmqAZuVooZJpjNTR1TR_h6PmSmTioKpll/s320/886c813f-6e69-425b-8ea5-714ce58a8746.jpe" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Race start.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBTala09fgibKZ3kwVzj5GQiUgQP2Nd8Y5jYoQzpCB6DVzMRtWxxns0BJSbMpfztYSfdz2LMKd2Dss1MH6q0CdzVnuMbWiVAkHXb2b9P8jBTNZcvr9ZBwBcmE4QpYpVl6WHwZX6uHI4qW/s1600/5d80c68d-5137-4102-bad1-f0291263b1a9.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBTala09fgibKZ3kwVzj5GQiUgQP2Nd8Y5jYoQzpCB6DVzMRtWxxns0BJSbMpfztYSfdz2LMKd2Dss1MH6q0CdzVnuMbWiVAkHXb2b9P8jBTNZcvr9ZBwBcmE4QpYpVl6WHwZX6uHI4qW/s320/5d80c68d-5137-4102-bad1-f0291263b1a9.jpe" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Pain face. Maybe if I close my eyes, the hurting will stop?<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Now I’m staying with Amber and her
husband, Jedd, in an Airbnb for a few days before heading to London. We are using the time to rest, read, and
cook. Michael is chiding me for not
taking full advantage of being in Gothenburg, but I have a lot of racing to do
in the next couple weeks, and I know I’ll be on the go once Dad gets here to
travel with me in Eastern Europe.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-54635906885858392412016-07-16T07:20:00.000-07:002016-07-16T07:20:06.005-07:00Trials Prelim Bummer<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I’ve been trying to figure out the
reason(s) for my terrible race at the Olympic Trials prelim, and I haven’t come
up with any totally convincing answers.
I know I am in shape to PR (sub-9:29), but after three laps in the race,
my body started to shut down, and I ended up running somewhere around
10:00. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There
is no clear answer this time. I believe I
did everything in my power this year to give myself the best possible
opportunity to make an Olympic Team. Going
into the Trials, and even on race day, I thought I was in a really good place –
in my body, my mind, and my heart. I had
times of being incredibly nervous, but I had skills in place to calm myself
down. Yes, some things were off. My chronic heel pain had cropped up again in
the past couple weeks. I was a couple
pounds heavier than my pre-surgery race weight.
But nothing life-shattering. I
went through a list of other possibilities.
Am I just the type of person who buckles during the most high-pressure
events? I don’t always thrive, but I’ve
also had some great performances at high-stakes, high-pressure races. I don’t think I’ve ever completely fallen
apart without a good reason.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how
do you get past a hugely disappointing race without having any big issues to
concentrate on or fix? I’m not entirely
sure. But each day is getting better as
I remind myself my failure was not a reflection of the worth of my person and
as I find new goals to focus on. I’m in
Europe and have three or four more races to use for going after new PR’s and
prize money. I am not an Olympian, but I
can still try my best to be a badass.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieL-p7ZoYe4DjQk7CyjpW5smDoBwIaZC0oXAIbUBpO8iNaBSD6KcXWgpftEnI_Zmtl3LN2wHEHl3Ay_MrIR-Q8-nIivN7Z8BWAahd7pyK6nPtnznXe-uTOyPIWCeKEmT7HM2yo5t5RU5KY/s1600/13557854_10206744462392666_848673842571629674_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieL-p7ZoYe4DjQk7CyjpW5smDoBwIaZC0oXAIbUBpO8iNaBSD6KcXWgpftEnI_Zmtl3LN2wHEHl3Ay_MrIR-Q8-nIivN7Z8BWAahd7pyK6nPtnznXe-uTOyPIWCeKEmT7HM2yo5t5RU5KY/s320/13557854_10206744462392666_848673842571629674_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm not very pumped about it, but at least I get to drink alcohol and eat sugar again after a 10 month hiatus. </div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-61020804687462893912016-06-24T15:36:00.001-07:002016-06-24T15:36:08.614-07:00Olympic Trials Mentality <div class="MsoNormal">
This year’s Olympic Trials is the race I’ve been training
for my entire professional running career.
During all the downs of my running career over the past few years, I’ve
made myself feel better by remembering the ultimate goal is to be ready for the
Olympic Trials, 2016. And now it is
almost here. I can’t come out of this
race telling myself, “it’s okay, you’ve got a bigger picture to think of.” This is the big picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a hard time comprehending all that is on the
line. And, quite frankly, I don’t want
to dwell on it. I will say that there
are large differences between the have and have nots in track, and the
difference between getting 3<sup>rd</sup> place instead of 4<sup>th</sup> place
would have an incredible effect on my career. How can I stay calm and collected when I know
what is at stake?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve thought about how other people approach high-pressure
races. The few accounts I’ve read of
very successful athletes seem to paint their mentality all in a similar light –
their careers were so fruitful because they were so determined on winning. They trained, eat, slept winning. Failure was not an option. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While this makes sense to me, and I know there are benefits
of that drive to win, I can’t, and don’t want, to have that kind of
thinking. In my first couple years as an
undergraduate, I made myself sick with stress about my athletic
performance. It seemed like so much was
on the line. Certain things were –
getting to travel to meets, scholarship money, media attention, admiration, not
getting yelled at by the soccer coach.
But some things I thought were on the line, were in fact not – my worth
as a person, my identity, my relationships.
I was improving and performing well, but it wasn’t until I was able to
separate my running success from my personal value, that I was really able to
break out. And this separation came
about when I no longer felt I had to perform at the very best of my ability
every time I stepped on the line. I grew
to realize it was enough to try to perform as well as I could on that day (and
that doesn’t even mean going 100% all the time, as I talked about in my last
post). I learned this lesson again after recovering from the depression and
athletic burnout that hit me my last two years of college. After I was freed from my own demons of pressure
to perform, I not only excelled again, but I had so much fun doing it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, over the past year or so, I’ve been using meditating and
yoga to practice relaxing and coming into the present moment. I’ve also used positive imagery to see myself
doing well in races. I’ve used positive
self-talk ease my nerves, “You are in-shape and ready to run fast. You are tough enough, talented enough, and
have put in the work to run well.” But
I’ve also had to tell myself, “it’s okay if you don’t win. It’s okay if you don’t hit your goals.” Letting myself off the hook on an
intellectual level lets me be more calm, which in turn lets me run with more
freedom, both in my muscles and my mind.
I don’t think this has hindered my performance; I am an incredibly
competitive person, and my will to win and to challenge myself and others is
there as long as I’m not struggling against depression, burnout, or too much
self-imposed pressure. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another incredibly special, but also difficult aspect of the
race, is how many people are coming to support me. My brother is biking to
Eugene from Denver. My best friend is
bringing her 6-month-old baby. My neighbors and family friends are coming for
the entire week, even though they have rarely watched track before. My boyfriend and parents are taking a week
off of work. They are making big
sacrifices to come support me. But I
know they are there to support me as a person, and while they will be ecstatic
to celebrate with me after a great race, they will also be glad to be there to
hug me if the race doesn’t go as well as I hope it will. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am already feeling anxious about the Trials; like I said,
there is so much on the line, and I have so many wonderful people coming to
Eugene to support me. Even though it
sounds counter-intuitive, I am trying to play the race down for the sake of my
sanity and my performance. I am
reminding myself I am so much more than my performance – I am the total badass
who came back from surgery, trained with my boyfriend and long-distance
coaches, and got into the best shape of my life. All the people coming to cheer me on will
love me whether I finish last or first.
My decision to run has never been about the financial rewards or
recognition, or I would have quit long ago.
And, although this is a big one, there are many more races in my bigger
picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-69457897628561235752016-05-16T14:21:00.002-07:002016-05-16T14:35:24.579-07:00When To Go To The Well<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Come mid-May (Division 1 conference
championship weekend), I am always reminded why I am so glad to be done with
college racing. I miss the nice hotels,
the prepared itinerary, and especially the per diem, but, without exception, I
was so burned out by this time of year I could hardly get over a barrier. I opine that three seasons of NCAA distance
running is too much to expect out of collegians. Runners are likely to get injured or burned
out at some point during the year, but there is usually a lot of pressure to
push through these setbacks. Another
qualifying meet/conference championship/national meet is always just around the
corner. For this reason, it seems very
rare for a collegiate runner to compete well throughout all three seasons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Of course the body gets really run
down, but so does the mind. I believe
mental training is an overlooked aspect of competitive running. In an earlier blog, I wrote about three
levels of training I put into my mental fitness:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Knowing where to direct your mind over the
course of the race<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Carefully choosing when to race and how often to
give your all-out effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Getting your mind in shape before racing through
mindfulness and workouts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wrote about #1 in my last blog post, so today I want to
tackle #2. College kids rarely get to
choose when they race and they can get in big trouble if they give anything
less than 100%. I am fortunate I get to
make my own choices now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An
important part of growing as a runner is to know how often and when you are
able to go your absolute all-out. I was
taught by my high school coach, Ben Zhao, the difference between a hard effort
and red-lining (that edge of pushing your body as hard as it can go without
breaking down). I was able to peak at
state cross country and track meets in high school because I started the season
slowly. I treated the first few races as
a workout, then progressed to red-lining at the end of a race, and finally ran
as hard as I could at the state meet. In
college, I wasn’t able to regulate the build-up as well. I was able to perform well in cross country,
indoor track, and the first race of outdoor before my body and mind started to
shut down. I kept up that pattern until
my mind completely rebelled during my third year, and I had to struggle to
compete while treating a disabling depression.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this
Olympic year, peaking at the right time, both physically and mentally, is
key. I know that while my mind is gritty
and fierce, I have to be very frugal about the amount of times I red-line,
whether working out or racing. The
amount of redlining a body/mind can handle is different for everyone. There are some runners who seem to be able to
crank out an amazing amount of successful races in a year and are able to sustain
that success over the long-term. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
My plan
was to do a couple workout races this fall, hit that red-line briefly during
indoor races, and now, in the couple months leading up to Olympic Trials, get
more familiar with that red-line state of being while not going overboard. As with every other part of competitive
running, it is a tricky balance, but one I’m glad I’ve had many years to
practice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AD90vCQiHsCyJmiOeYeOiy0oLfvj4yasBWAhQ4S9fNUOxNtzaBThCtOjk0CMU-afn-RvvfG6HDoQcfcVQxrkIAPPAMbrmJefh5m0BrLKlZZGXQ8WWbVDhWSs8xLniL3ljOQ1WBLDmO0X/s1600/beatthebridge.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AD90vCQiHsCyJmiOeYeOiy0oLfvj4yasBWAhQ4S9fNUOxNtzaBThCtOjk0CMU-afn-RvvfG6HDoQcfcVQxrkIAPPAMbrmJefh5m0BrLKlZZGXQ8WWbVDhWSs8xLniL3ljOQ1WBLDmO0X/s320/beatthebridge.png" width="234" /></a></div>
Sometimes you have a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyGqqA03Tg6LsY00HU09F_SYqSQmXpzqfjIVL2HTLExh5WnqiJze9P9tOOP9s-dbNSuKO8NxCFIy4WAKSXwb97XmGyLDUK9YvA4CVLm5tZv6-EkIqmC-oneJZv-iEeUabDO5ZNQ71Trbux/s1600/CfXmce4UsAAYmbp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyGqqA03Tg6LsY00HU09F_SYqSQmXpzqfjIVL2HTLExh5WnqiJze9P9tOOP9s-dbNSuKO8NxCFIy4WAKSXwb97XmGyLDUK9YvA4CVLm5tZv6-EkIqmC-oneJZv-iEeUabDO5ZNQ71Trbux/s320/CfXmce4UsAAYmbp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Sometimes you are in a lot of pain.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipK0HAnw13NhQsJQqqwnXAOUzd18lsJZ2KCNFvUYvWkPqCestgbjw6cNjTzx91YnWOvcF9ViHlGjTwzXKN88KTXSC2-a-CqNCRzcMSK5WqnLrKb1BTOLUNuylI4vuB3zfoBQLZbBGaTKa/s1600/IMG_0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipK0HAnw13NhQsJQqqwnXAOUzd18lsJZ2KCNFvUYvWkPqCestgbjw6cNjTzx91YnWOvcF9ViHlGjTwzXKN88KTXSC2-a-CqNCRzcMSK5WqnLrKb1BTOLUNuylI4vuB3zfoBQLZbBGaTKa/s320/IMG_0148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Hopefully it's a good mix of both,<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUejsw7u8VzkeJQR8l6Sva_cYo1oGdMv_bwNdCC2vxMKhVE1ISKbe7uhXxwXz-C_pkZqpPaByHQp6v4plQVeW5pyHF1LT4bChcmytFM17AtdidcVIVS4PrsmqEMmOQPatVSvAAAfW8UQ7/s1600/Cig8GTUUYAAdp5w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUejsw7u8VzkeJQR8l6Sva_cYo1oGdMv_bwNdCC2vxMKhVE1ISKbe7uhXxwXz-C_pkZqpPaByHQp6v4plQVeW5pyHF1LT4bChcmytFM17AtdidcVIVS4PrsmqEMmOQPatVSvAAAfW8UQ7/s320/Cig8GTUUYAAdp5w.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
With cool people to celebrate with.</div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-6779770509523262622016-04-10T05:45:00.001-07:002016-04-10T05:45:37.146-07:00Count to 10: Race Pain Management<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In a utopic world, racing would
always be challenging but smooth, a semi-conscious test of fitness and
daring. But in the real world, sometimes
it is just a grind. A couple weeks ago
at a run from the Oiselle store in Seattle, I was asked by a Volee member how I
dealt with pushing myself while being uncomfortable. I didn’t have a good answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I got the opportunity to think
through mentally handling pain this past weekend when I raced the 5k at the
Stanford Invitational. I do my best to
avoid 5k’s on the track, and for the most part of my running career, I have
been successful. However, this spring,
my coaches and I decided it would be a good test of my strength early in the
outdoor season. I have not done a lot of
work to prepare me for a fast 5k, so I took a deep breath, put on my badass
race kit, decided to woman up, and competed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I spent the first mile following
fellow Minnesotan Mara Olson, as a gap formed between us and the lead
pack. I continued to follow Mara for the
next three laps, but I started getting anxious because it felt like we were
slowing down a lot, but I didn’t want to run entirely on my own. At the 3k split, I came through in 9:30, and
I took off by myself knowing I had fallen a few seconds off of the pace I
wanted to run. Running on my own, I was
able to get back down to the pace I wanted, and I finished in 15:49 (5:00,
5:10, 5:03), a second off my PR. While I
was able to get back on pace, it was really challenging to mentally push
through it. With my running buddy’s
question on my mind, I asked myself, “How did I handle the pain? How could I have done it better?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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Pain face</div>
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<br /></div>
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I decided pain management in racing
is a combination of factors leading up to the race and in the actual
event. I believe these three are most
important:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Getting your mind in shape before racing through
mindfulness and workouts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Carefully choosing when to race and how often to
give your all-out effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Knowing where to direct your mind over the
course of the race.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Today I’ll dive into knowing where to direct your mind, and
I’ll tackle the other two aspects later.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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At the beginning of any race, I do
my best to be present and mindful of my body and effort. Because racing pushes your boundaries, the
first stretch of the race will likely be uncomfortable, even if it isn’t
painful yet. My body is usually
questioning the effort, “Are you sure I can hold this pace for 12 and a half
laps?” Or sometimes, “This seems too
easy. Are you sure I shouldn’t be going
faster?” I try to be present enough to
answer and remind myself of my racing plan.
I try to have controlled, steady breathing, and I do my best to release
unnecessary tension.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Once the race becomes painful
enough that I cannot be fully present while maintaining the effort, I try to
distract myself. I think about how good
I will feel when I’m done racing. I look
at the people ahead of me, and try to slowly reel them in. I picture how proud I will feel if I’m able
to accomplish my goals for the race. I
repeat a positive mantra. I go through
some song lyrics. In the final stretch
of the race, when just about everything besides the pain becomes too much to
think about, I revert to one of the most ingrained information I contain; I count
to 10, then repeat until I cross the finish line.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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I know I am far from having all the
answers. In our Thursday night Oiselle
run, one of the women talked about a pain management concept from a Matt
Fitzgerald book she had read: deciding to change your perception of pain. I don’t think I’m very good at that, but it
seems worth trying. Do you have any
different ways of managing pain in racing?<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-29881374026125498692016-01-20T16:11:00.000-08:002016-01-20T16:13:52.906-08:00Sacrifices in an Olympic Year: Hear From My Friends<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">My lifestyle is pretty different from many other people my
age. I, and the other professional and
elite runners I know, usually go to bed early on weekend nights, avoid
situations where injury is a moderate possibility, and live a largely transient
life, spending a couple months altitude training, a month in Europe, and
seemingly every other weekend away from home to race. While a few professional runners make the big
bucks through large contracts and winning prize money, many of us struggle
financially. I’m anxious about earning
enough money to support kids while I’m young enough to have them, and I
question whether I’ll ever have enough money to make a down payment on a house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The sacrifices we make to chase our running dreams usually
seem worth giving up stability and financial security. Most of the time I don’t see the things I
forgo in a non-traditional career as sacrifices. However, this is an Olympic year, and I
decided to give up some things that are particularly difficult in order to give
myself the best chance of making the Olympic team. These include:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Part-time Work</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">:
Throughout my professional running career, I have supplemented my income
through part-time jobs in order to make ends meet. I decided to stop any outside jobs this year
so I could focus entirely on running and be able to travel easily, including a
fall and spring training stint with my coaches in Fayetteville. This means living on a tighter budget and
finding other avenues of support (thank you Oiselle, Inhealth, West Seattle
Health Club, Garden of Life, Club Northwest, parents, boyfriend, and gofundme
contributors!).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sweets and Alcohol</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">: I was twenty pounds heavier than my race weight when I came back from
surgery last year. I wanted to be
careful about how fast and what method I used to get back to race weight. In the first year I gradually lost fifteen
pounds, but it had been a long time since my body had been at my ideal race
weight, and it didn’t seem to want to return.
I believe the body has incredible knowledge about what it needs, and I
am going to continue to listen to mine, but I decided to take a couple things I
have a hard time using in moderation (sweets and alcohol) out of the equation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I wondered what special steps my running friends were taking
to prepare for the Olympic Trials (and we are all hoping the Olympics). Phoebe Wright (Nike, Seattle) and Shalya Kipp
(Oiselle, Boulder) both took this year off of graduate school in order to focus
on training. Shayla wrote, “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I love being in the lab (it's a sort of second family to me).
But this year is all about those small details, so somethings are just going to
have to go.” Others gave up jobs. Heather Kampf (Asics, Team USA Minnesota,
Minneapolis), gave up coaching her high school team this spring. “Because I told them they have to be the best
they can be, I knew I had to give up coaching this spring to put everything I
could into running.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Everyone I
talked to mentioned less socializing. Eric
Finan (Saucony, Team Run Eugene) says he is giving up late night hanging out
because, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sleep is one of the greatest things a runner can do
for expedited recovery, and lots of it. Getting to bed earlier can be
difficult, but necessary for optimal performance.” Kate Grace (Oiselle, Sacramento) said,
“[Socializing is]</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> an added energy drain that I
have to be careful with.” She had to
miss a good friend’s wedding this fall and she this year she is skiping out on
traveling to see her best friends.
Collier Lawrence (Oiselle, Bend) likes to be with people and usually
“hands out “yes” like Halloween candy. I figure out a way to make it all work
as I go, but it gets me into trouble. So lots of "Thank you, but I
can't" will be coming from my mouth this year.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Some people
talked about having a shift in perception.
Joanna Murphy (Brooks, Boulder) hasn’t given anything up, but she has
shifted her </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">focus to “prioritizing the little
things like sleep, nutrition and stress relief.” Heather described her sharpened attitude in
training as “not being safe and wanting it more. The people who will make it at Trials are the
ones who want it more. I’m practicing that more at workouts. I’m practicing wanting it more than feeling
my arms when I’m done with a workout.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Stephanie Brown
says ther is a heightened focus going into the track season, but the sacrifices
she’s making now aren’t any different than the rest of her career:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">The sacrifices that are the largest for me is what my career and future
outside of athletics could be. What I mean by this is, as an endurance
based athlete there is a lot of focus, passion, and will to succeed that is put
into every day. I imagine myself in the business world putting out this
effort, and can't help but think of how successful I would become. I know
for a fact that it would yield a much higher paycheck at the end of the
day. There is obviously frustration in that aspect. Also, being
able to even think of starting a family is out of the question. As a
female athlete, I have been trained since college that babies are out of the
question (which I am not ready for) but being allowed to have the thought of a
family would be nice. Dating as an adult athlete is hard because,
athletically our schedules are skewed and it's strange to explain why I
couldn't work a regular job then go run and still be successful. The
non-runners can understand but not at the deep awareness and understanding that
the elite runners do. It is difficult to put this stuff into words, especially
since when it's written down, it almost doesn't seem 'worth it'. But,
there is something inside of me that knows it's too late, that knows if I don't
try to do this running thing, I will regret it forever, unable to be at
peace knowing I didn't put myself out there. Living with regret is a hard way
to live. With all that being said, I will have to continue to sacrifice; Not
for the #roadtorio, just for the #roadtomybest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">I’ll leave you with Phoebe’s
list, which sums up what most of us are feeling:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Things I
sacrifice:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">1.
School--I put it on hold this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">2. A
social life-- I hibernate after 7pm nowadays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">3. A
Guilt free beer <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">4. Those
hiking boots I bought will come in handy in September! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">5. Hip
hop Zumba<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">6. Donuts.
Mostly for vanity reasons. I want to look intimidating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">7. I've ordered tea at a bar at least 6 times this year-- so I guess I
also sacrifice social norms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt;">8. Rita
(my dog) no longer can run with me because I can't get distracted at practice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black;">9. Trails are kept to a minimum--even the slightest misstep can be a
sprained ankle. And a sprained ankle can mean a missed season. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-44910131446321268442016-01-18T16:42:00.001-08:002016-01-18T16:42:27.761-08:00I'm Rejoining the FlockI signed with Oiselle, and they wrote an awesome blog about our relationship:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oiselle.com/blog/welcome-jamie-cheever-haute-vol%C3%A9e" target="_blank">Check It Out</a><br />
<br />
<img alt="cheever-believer.jpg" src="http://www.oiselle.com/sites/default/files/cheever-believer.jpg" />Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-26663967951799573932015-12-26T11:55:00.000-08:002015-12-29T14:35:29.913-08:00Not in full form for Club XC<div class="MsoNormal">
The Club Cross Country National Championship race is an
intersection of ambitions, fitness levels, affiliations, and ages. The first two times I competed at Club XC, I
ran for professional teams, who saw the race as a good indicator of fitness
during our base season, as well as an opportunity to win a bit of money and a
chance to qualify to represent the United States at the Bupa Cross Country race
in Edenborough, Scotland.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year I raced with Club Northwest, a much larger running
club with a wide range of members. While
runners had to qualify to make the Club NW squad that traveled to the race,
most of the members on the open men’s and women’s team hold full-time
jobs. They run and workout intensely,
but competing is not their first priority.
In addition, the club fielded a 40-49 year old men’s and women’s masters
teams and a 50-59 year old men’s and women’s teams. Having teammates again was the best part of
the trip. I was surrounded by friendly
faces at the airport, getting food, and on the starting line. I enjoyed getting to know some of the
master’s runners and hearing from runners who are fast and competitive past the
age of 40.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to San Francisco Friday morning, we went
straight from the airport to the cross country course to learn the route and
shakeout our legs. The course was unique
in that it was a full 6k loop. In just
about every cross country race, participants have to do multiple loops of 2k or
3k. Unfortunately, the course also had
some rough sections with bad footing. Along
one rocky section, I sprained my ankle.
I turn my ankle fairly often after years of soccer have worn out my
ankle ligaments, but for some reason this time was worse than usual. By the time I finished the pre-meet run, my
ankle and calf were significantly swollen.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<img alt="Embedded image permalink" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWDrV7ZUkAAR2w4.jpg" width="240" /></div>
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The next day I decided to race because, although my ankle
and calf felt sore, I didn’t feel any pain.
I didn’t feel quite in full form during the race, but I managed to run a
solid race, finishing 21<sup>st</sup> in 20:35.
Most importantly, I didn’t do any further damage to my injury. However, I was still pretty frustrated with
my race. In 2012, I had finished 7<sup>th</sup>
in 20:36 and in 2013, even with a torn labrum, I finished 18<sup>th</sup> in
22:33 on a very difficult course. I know
a sprained ankle will impact running efficiency, even if I didn’t feel anything
beyond soreness in the race. The good
news is our team finished 3<sup>rd</sup> in the women’s race, an impressive
accomplishment for a non-professional club.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEIwDIhwJaZpEr_k5Gw-a0c5AhGGUlcq20l8EEb3uNnG4kFEX_-zQE2lBIf11dipsd88NnrF5SP0FY7AACSArwVNRowLh07uOrT1ucsrrqxk0BN6UYW0krmFN30fj3XcBqdjRqw19Crz2/s1600/11046260_639482789517232_7435566570183740903_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEIwDIhwJaZpEr_k5Gw-a0c5AhGGUlcq20l8EEb3uNnG4kFEX_-zQE2lBIf11dipsd88NnrF5SP0FY7AACSArwVNRowLh07uOrT1ucsrrqxk0BN6UYW0krmFN30fj3XcBqdjRqw19Crz2/s320/11046260_639482789517232_7435566570183740903_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Despite my frustrations with this one race, I know this is
just part of the process of my build up to be in my best fitness until
July. My coaches, Rick and Megan
Elliott, have been so smart in gradually building up my mileage and
workouts. I’m usually more fit around
the time of Club XC, but so far this year, I’ve only been doing one workout a
week. This year, I will have to be more
patient to see the results of my hard work, but I will have a much better
chance of being in prime shape at Olympic Trials. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-83593170975914058662015-11-23T14:15:00.000-08:002015-11-23T14:15:01.267-08:00Sitting with Grandpa Herb<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I’ve spent most of my waking hours
over the past two weeks in my grandparent’s condo in downtown Minneapolis. My grandpa, Herb was diagnosed with terminal
pancreatic cancer two and a half years ago.
He didn’t choose to have any treatment since doing so would, at its
best, delayed his death a bit. Instead
of going through painful treatments, he has lived the last couple years as he
has lived most of his life, just at a little slower pace. I greatly admire how both my grandparents
reacted to news of the cancer; heartbroken, I’m sure, but also determined to
make the most out of the time my grandpa has left. About a month ago, Grandpa’s health started
to seriously decline, and Grandpa started hospice care at home. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One of my favorite memories of
spending time with my grandparents after grandpa’s diagnosis was when he and my
grandma were able to travel to Des Moines in 2013 to watch me place 4<sup>th</sup>
in the steeplechase the USA Outdoor Championship Meet. I was devastated to have barely missed
qualifying for the World Championship, but I was proud of having gutted out a
tough race that made my grandparents proud.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I
told my grandpa, I am grateful he has been supportive of my athletic career and
especially my running. I have always
appreciated his inquisitiveness about my training and racing and his lack of
questions about getting a real job, getting married, and having babies. Whether or not I make the Olympic team this
spring, I appreciate his encouragement of my dreams.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many of my friends have had to go
through the agony of watching a loved one die of cancer. Few are fortunate enough to have lives that
allow them to drop everything and spend quality with their loved one near the
end of their life. Getting the
opportunity to support my grandpa is yet another reason I am thankful I have
pursued professional running. I have had
difficulty concentrating while engaged in long, hard hours of training, but I’m
lucky I can get my work done just about anywhere.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-60170136073950408442015-09-27T13:15:00.001-07:002015-09-27T13:15:24.175-07:00Aged Gopher Among Young Hogs<div class="MsoNormal">
A week ago I packed up my dad’s car in Minneapolis and drove
ten hours down to Fayetteville, Arkansas to spend two months training with my
coaches and the University of Arkansas cross country team. Rick and Megan Elliott are the assistant
coaches at Arkansas, and they have been doing an awesome job coaching me long
distance since December. I thought we
would have an even better relationship after getting to work together in
person. What better time to quit
everything and hang out in Arkansas than ten months prior to Trials?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Prior to driving down here, I had met Megan once at the
Payton Jordan meet, and I had never met Rick, but they have been gracious
enough to let me stay in the their spare bedroom. Even though I knew they were cool, I was
stressed out about being in their space.
I’m sure it’s hard having me in the house whenever they are home from
work. I have a hard time getting out of
the house at night since I’m usually exhausted, I don’t have any friends to
meet up with, and I really should just be working on grad school applications
anyways.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On top of feeling like I’m hanging out too much with a newly
married couple that probably wants some alone time at the end of long work
days, I know I’m definitely out of place at practice with the University of
Arkansas cross country team. I feel
elderly tagging along to practice with women who are as much as ten years
younger than me. On the first day I ran
with them, one of the freshman asked, “So, how old are you?” When I told her I was 28, she incredulously
replied, “Whoa, I’m 18.” And, while
everyone is considered a legal adult, and my life closely mirrors an NCAA
student athlete, there are big differences in life experience while can make
relating difficult.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the other hand, everyone has been very welcoming and
tolerant of the random person who decided to join their training group. And I’m so thankful to have a group of fast
women to train with again. Plus, it’s
when differences exist that learning happens.
I hope I can share something of what I’ve gleaned during my running
career, and I’m hoping they can keep my mindset fresh and get my legs fast.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-29346135213651985772015-08-18T14:53:00.001-07:002015-09-05T11:14:50.896-07:00Interview with World Championship 1500m Runner, Kerri Gallagher<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Kerri Gallagher surprised the track world by finishing 3rd at this year’s US Outdoor Track and Field </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Championships in the 1500m. She later secured her spot on the World Championship team by running </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">4:03.56 and winning the Lignano, Italy meet. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Kerri’s story, here is a </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">link to a recent Runner’s World article about her background: <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/kerri-gallagher-from-running-dropout-to-world-championships-team-member" target="_blank">http://www.runnersworld.com</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">I’ve been lucky to get to know Kerri the past couple of years through track meets and because Kerri lives </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">with one of my best friends and college teammate, Amy Laskowski, in Washington DC. I enjoy watching </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">any strong woman succeed, but I was ecstatic to watch such a humble, thoughtful, and tenacious runner </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">make a break through.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Question: Although the Runner’s World article mentions you are an assistant coach at American University, I don’t think it gives you credit for the all the pieces you juggle while running professionally. Can you give me an idea of your weekly work, academic, and athletic load? How do you maintain enough time and energy for quality workouts and runs? </b> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Right now I'm balancing a job as a full time assistant track coach at American University, training and finishing my masters in Quantitative Analysis. I work about 35 hours a week on average, but the hours are not very traditional which gives me flexibility to prioritize my training which is ultimately my main focus. I train 7 days a week which usually has me running about 10 times a week including workouts and doubles. I made the mistake of taking on too much of an academic load in the Fall 2013 and Spring 2015 so that year I had a much bigger time commitment to academic work. This year I made a point to spread out my credits and make sure I'd be able to train at a high level while still getting the most of my studies. Because of this I've had to push my graduation plans to December which was tough to do but extremely important. My first tea of grad school I didn't have enough energy to maintain quality training and I ended up with a small injury that winter. It was a wake up call that if I wanted to be the best I could be o was going to need to commit. I didn't need to cut everything else out, but everything has to feed into this goal. I've done a better job this year of managing that and I think I've found a good balance so that my three main commitments compliment each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Question: You beat a lot of really fast, talented women in the 1500m final at US Outdoors in June. Many of these women had more resources than you including salaries for running, altitude trips, and access to the best medical care. One reason it is rare to see athletes make a jump from a pretty good professional to one of the best in their event is the lack of these resources. How were you able to make this jump without the same support as many of the women you compete against?</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
I may not have the top resources at my fingertips, but Oiselle and NYAC have been a huge support for me in helping me to compete at this level. With their support, I have the resources I need to be able to train and race. I've also learned a lot working with Coach Matt Centrowitz about understanding your body and understanding what it is ready for when it comes to training. You won't be able to compete unless you've been able to put the work in. Patience and consistency are extremely important. I have made the mistake of entering races I'm not ready for and forcing workouts my body can't handle. It isn't always easy, but it can be worth it!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Question: How did Lauren Centrowitz’s mentorship help you transition to the professional running world? Have you been able to mentor anyone?</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lauren was someone I looked up to even before we knew each other so having the opportunity to get to know her and train with her was incredible. She looked out for me that first year and helped me adapt to life in a new city and training with a new coach (who happened to be her dad ha!). We also trained with Erin Koch, an American University graduate, who finished her collegiate career in 2011 as well. Erin and I learned a lot from Lauren, but it was equally important to have each other as we navigated this new arena. I wouldn't say I mentored her, but I think we in some way mentored each other the two years we trained together.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Question: Have your goals changed since this summer? What will you have to do this year in order to make the Olympic Team?</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I'm just taking this one step at a time. The World Championship is a major event and so all my focus is on that right now. Looking a little ahead to next year, I don't know that much has to change. Maybe some more competitive races, but as long as I stay healthy I know I have just a good a shot as any next year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kerri will race in the prelims of the World Championships at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1013681452" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">11:15 am,</span></span> August 22<span style="vertical-align: super;">nd</span> in Beijing, which is 10:15 (CT) on August 21st for us.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-16391386793747883162015-08-17T13:57:00.001-07:002015-08-17T14:25:39.850-07:00European Trip Part V: Scandinavia<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 26</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – Stockholm</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-ee2951a6-3d48-5a78-650c-b6aabd14d877" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dad and I met up with Mom and my brother, Dylan, in Stockholm. Every time I race in Europe, I try to convince my family to meet up with me, so we can all vacation together. Growing up, we spent out family vacations on the road, driving to camp at a national park or visit a relative. As I started to travel a lot for sports, family vacations transitioned to watching me play soccer in high school and then run in college and as a professional. While this European vacation was influenced by where I was running, I appreciated getting to spend time with my family without having to worry about competing or training. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dad and I found the Airbnb where Mom and Dylan had already spent a night. The apartment was fine, but was a very tight fit with four people. Mom and Dad had a bedroom with no door (which is a big bummer with how loudly Dad snores) and Dylan and I shared a snug pull-out coach. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stockholm seems to be a city of islands. Mom and Dad took a boat tour while Dylan and I walked around. We stopped at the Modern Art Museum, the entrance of the ABBA museum, a beautiful garden with a meditation walk lined by trees, a plain castle with wild raspberries nearby and outdoor choir performance. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFahJm3dnJGv1XINPRgihh6_mLRDGJESicp1yG5inZsWGypxX9dJFPNxT4hpmljDg6-yBAV7dAeOwrcr9KIxuckNTbtAY-LkKVrllufNaadJ9erysEnKsebzUS7NTXCDXkmIGOk3VRdPqr/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFahJm3dnJGv1XINPRgihh6_mLRDGJESicp1yG5inZsWGypxX9dJFPNxT4hpmljDg6-yBAV7dAeOwrcr9KIxuckNTbtAY-LkKVrllufNaadJ9erysEnKsebzUS7NTXCDXkmIGOk3VRdPqr/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I joined ABBA</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 27</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Stockholm</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My poor boyfriend, Michael, bought tickets to visit me in Europe before realizing it would be a full Cheever family vacation. The five of us are going to have a lot of fun, but it was not quite what Michael had expected when he bought his plane tickets.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I spent a good chunk of the day waiting for Michael to arrive at the Central Station in order to show him the way to our apartment. Once he had showered, the five of us ventured out to visit a glass museum and a ship museum which showcased a ship built in the early 1600’s that sunk on its first voyage. The ship was pulled out of the Stockholm bay in 1961, refurnished, and put into a museum.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan got bumped from the coach to a yoga mat on the floor. Good thing he is an exemplar of easygoing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 28</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Oslo</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We spend most of the day riding a train from Stockholm to Oslo. We shared a six person room in a hostel with bunk beds.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 29</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Flam</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the morning Michael and I found a delicious coffee roaster which was also a coffee shop. I was a bit confused because there were only two chairs and most the space was taken up by a roaster. But I took my seat, sipped my latte, and enjoyed watching two people using the roaster for a big batch of beans.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We took the train across Norway to Western Coast. The train ride is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and it did not disappoint. Dylan saw a bull moose, and we watched as majestic forests turned into snowy mountains which turned into the fjords. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mom and Dad stayed in a fancy hotel in the town of Flam which Michael, Dylan, and I walked to the outskirts of the village to a hostel. We were momentary panicked when we found the registration area was closed, but the woman who was working returned after a few minutes. Dylan and I decided to ‘scramble’ up a mountainside while Michael went for a run. We found friendly sheep and got close to a powerful waterfall.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58TXh9O5GfV12OBMao8-c-gYKem5sk_j5jz8Mx0ecf9OGNs1OV-qzHss7YxfSQMruRwPg4jpRuj7GivJhFqG_GE_6aPAjMqkMaYqodNuIrl1HRAuqsLM-iT9VvG4Et2hET-kNUrjVh9oO/s1600/image+%252810%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58TXh9O5GfV12OBMao8-c-gYKem5sk_j5jz8Mx0ecf9OGNs1OV-qzHss7YxfSQMruRwPg4jpRuj7GivJhFqG_GE_6aPAjMqkMaYqodNuIrl1HRAuqsLM-iT9VvG4Et2hET-kNUrjVh9oO/s320/image+%252810%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My New Friend</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fjords were more beautiful than I had imagined. We were surrounded by mountains, except for the fjord channel which leads up to the sea. Everything was green and lush, and everywhere you turned, there was another magnificent waterfall.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 30</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – Bergen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We took a five hour ship ride from Flam to Bergen through the Fjords. The ride was just as picturesque as the train ride yesterday.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzhuXfNhs-5kZAAtNpYs8CHwm06lJPb-kFXNdmv0KLYCYO-i0TNZ2PbWRkmMtzS00RU2F2d2qx_R6cRrqKaoyoKd1w16oKq01EC0XPEjtjDcUyiR0pCQTdmhFaipXuWk3OfmbrAiLOMLY/s1600/image+%25288%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzhuXfNhs-5kZAAtNpYs8CHwm06lJPb-kFXNdmv0KLYCYO-i0TNZ2PbWRkmMtzS00RU2F2d2qx_R6cRrqKaoyoKd1w16oKq01EC0XPEjtjDcUyiR0pCQTdmhFaipXuWk3OfmbrAiLOMLY/s320/image+%25288%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I was trying to take a nice picture</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufqHxKK31b5m1kQ80X5HxwN071YTirLTI1rf3PYA4HFNLva4VQ7YD1EkUuL9KSwo1o8ZSG1rScAob37nAz6M0rQH3hrQxiWVjlB-YdFmVKb1WuldcV1AH_6kDuJMtKHeBiYKJ-HcvorxY/s1600/image+%252813%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufqHxKK31b5m1kQ80X5HxwN071YTirLTI1rf3PYA4HFNLva4VQ7YD1EkUuL9KSwo1o8ZSG1rScAob37nAz6M0rQH3hrQxiWVjlB-YdFmVKb1WuldcV1AH_6kDuJMtKHeBiYKJ-HcvorxY/s320/image+%252813%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Waterfalls Everywhere</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><img height="205" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11800576_10204774132175642_351611049582453669_n.jpg?oh=444f70c9f4a1d42540f8db3e295d3c20&oe=56378E9A" style="line-height: 1.2;" width="320" /></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> Fjords and Fells</b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> </b><img height="239" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11264883_10204774132535651_8649795234058728535_n.jpg?oh=257a7dceac0d0c28054ec80633235b8a&oe=568152FF" width="320" /><br />
Mom and I on the Boat<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We find out hotel, and are fortunate to be close by a nice restaurant with traditional Norse food. Whale steak is on the menu, but everyone passes that option. Michael and I share fish and macaroni pie and sausage and dumplings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 31</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">st </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Bergen</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We spent the day walking around Bergen. Michael and I hike a good way up the mountainside to find their track. Unfortunately, it’s gravel. I was hoping I could find a race here as a chance to return. We visit the old fishing docks and explore the castle walls (not nearly as impressive as the Welsh castles).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxo8DiWAU8SlIADxsdKTpmNkVveIr2Y1_k-zAfQdGFpK2mWIfdkpf6E8XzkC0HInpdh2Hrg-nasXqAC59gqp-44rKFkawwCMUKiYvvbLMtkwDJYrCD5eBiz8KRCAMp9KVC6dhya4hHFeDX/s1600/image+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxo8DiWAU8SlIADxsdKTpmNkVveIr2Y1_k-zAfQdGFpK2mWIfdkpf6E8XzkC0HInpdh2Hrg-nasXqAC59gqp-44rKFkawwCMUKiYvvbLMtkwDJYrCD5eBiz8KRCAMp9KVC6dhya4hHFeDX/s320/image+%25285%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Fishing Area</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have another awesome meal. Here is my dad’s short take on it:</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I online stumbled across what looked like a great restaurant and walked 5 blocks to check it out and get a reservation for a half-hour later, at 6p. Peruvian-Norwegian fjusion.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A man I gather is the owner was the only one in the 20-seat, 6-table, off-the-main-tourist-trail den of cozy and warm. He was quick to lower expectations, saying his primary chef was on holiday and his number 2 chef, his brother, was out because he had chopped into his own foot with an axe.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The owner then explained he had a very limited menu (3 dishes) because he was cooking instead of waiting tables, he was accordingly short-staffed, and he had a party of 12 coming at 8:30.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked the obvious question, "Can you cook"? Something about his answer made me think it was a stupid question and that his skill was not at all a part of the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of it was a problem. Awesome meal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In talking with the non-owner waiter after the meal, I learned they closed for a week after the axe accident, canceling all the reservations they'd taken. When they reopened, they stopped taking reservations so as to prevent it from being too busy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He pointed to the ringing phone he was not answering and said, ordinarily, you need reservations days ahead of time. I said we were lucky. He said very.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The 3 dishes were a Peruvian raw fish dish (ceviche--drink the lime juice from the plate when the food is gone), a sorta pork lasagne (the "meal of the day"), and meatballs with rice and red sauce.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 10:00 pm we board a train headed back to Oslo. It’s a seven hour ride, but we get beds to sleep on. I have a harder time sleeping than I thought with the constant motion and noise, and many of us are sleep deprived when we leave the train the next day.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 1</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">st</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – Oslo</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We step off the train, grumpy, but I try to be cheerful because it’s Michael birthday. He’s having none of it until he can get some coffee. No coffee shop is open yet in the train station. None are open in the blocks around the station, but we finally settle for some Seven 11 coffee. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We get the day to wander Oslo. The five of us go to a large park full of famous sculptures. Michael and I are unimpressed, but Dylan wants to stay and looks at them longer. Michael and I follow my parents to the Oslo modern art museum. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We board a cruise ship for another night of sleeping transportation, but at least it’s easier for us to sleep and we get a longer time before we are kicked off.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 2</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Copenhagen </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Copenhagen is off to a bad start. We start to take the metro the wrong way. Luckily Dylan notices, and we return. Then, Dad is almost pick-pocketed in the central train station. He catches two guys opening up his zippered pants pocket where his wallet is, but we don’t know what to do besides yell at them and push them away.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, it smells like piss. Everywhere. Because it is summer, and Dylan, who spent a semester studying abroad in Copenhagen, says it’s legal to pee against outside walls. We find our way to our Airbnb (Dylan, Michael and I get to share a room with three single beds). The apartment is cute, but grimy and lacks some of the promised amenities including internet and a washing machine. We all need a washing machine, but Dylan really needs a washing machine.</span></div>
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Michael and I and Castle</div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br />Dylan showed Michael and I around Christiania, a neighborhood that has annexed itself from Denmark. It's an interesting place - it seems like it has expatiated itself in order to sell pot and avoid paying taxes, yet the inhabitants rely on the government in very substantial ways.</b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;">The best part of visiting Copenhagen is getting to have dinner with Dylan's former host family. They cook us a wonderful dinner, and I get to try pork with skin on (so fatty, crisp, and delicious). We all had a good time talking about life in Denmark (most surprising fact: McDonald's treats its Danish employees really well) and making fun of Dylan.</b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"> </b><img height="240" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11813243_10204792237708269_8556946392723972556_n.jpg?oh=dbb7140029e100f92d84865cc3cee552&oe=56778B3F" width="320" /><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> Dylan (in the middle) and his host family</b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;">My favorite part about the city of Copenhagen is how bike friendly it is. There are bike lanes everywhere, and bikers everywhere. One bridge had a counter of how many bikers had passed during the day. We have a similar counter for the Fremont bridge and it gets to about 2,000 at the end of the day. This one had tallied over 15,000 when we walked by in the evening.</b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"> Bikes Everywhere</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I ended my trip in Munich, partly because I haven’t gotten to spend any time in Germany before, but mostly because my college teammate, Feli, lives there. Feli is a steeplechaser who grew up in Germany, went to undergrad at Coastal Carolina University, and came to University of Minnesota for her Master of Engineering degree. She then earned her Ph.D in Lyon, France, while simultaneously learning French. Now she designs the power train (everything that propels a cart forward) for alternative fuel cars at BMW. She has always been the only woman, or one of the few women in her education and her career, and, if you couldn’t guess, I admire her a lot.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael and I arrived in the late afternoon and went directly to BMW World (an exhibition hall for new BMW products) to meet Feli. We walked around the Olympic Park, which is right next door to all the BMW offices, and we got to check out a great view of Munich from the top of a lookout point.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael and I set out to explore old town while Feli and Etienne worked. We had a great time wandering through Baroque chapels, watching hipsters surf in the city river, and looking at a plethora of archaic paintings of baby Jesus. But the real full started when Feli picked us up in one of her BMW test cars to go run a small mountain race in the foothills of the Alps.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGVhaYRsjFSvul269Mzw3FrwNccy-EnMDpyd9f11I22SVEZ0RFtxEmv56S3zjiY70ntOCNmFHjw4TznldQbvgpT7p58cAev8juvUl1Nsb6APZz3OwVr5gaAsbzKuNwdjv1WC2Oml02D6o/s1600/image+%25287%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGVhaYRsjFSvul269Mzw3FrwNccy-EnMDpyd9f11I22SVEZ0RFtxEmv56S3zjiY70ntOCNmFHjw4TznldQbvgpT7p58cAev8juvUl1Nsb6APZz3OwVr5gaAsbzKuNwdjv1WC2Oml02D6o/s320/image+%25287%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Feli With Test Car</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We drove about 40 minutes outside of Munich to a small village at the base of a mountain. We met up with a few of Feli’s colleagues and about 200 other runners to race 7.5 kilometers up the mountain, climbing about 2,000 feet. The race was difficult, butI had so much fun. After 1k of running flat, we entered the forest and started a steep uphill. There were a few flat sections, but for the most part we were slowly climbing. The race took me about 43 minutes to complete, which is a long time for me, but it was one of the most fun races I’ve ever done. The scenery was beautiful, we got to finish at a beer garden, and I received my best trophy ever: pretzel bread in the shape of a one. Many of the runners stripped, showered, and changed at the finish line with not embarrassment of nudity. Then everyone ate a hearty meal and the parents drank beer while the children ran helter skelter over the hillside. When awards were over and it got dark, we turned on our running headlamps and walked down the mountain.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6nwJWxTvgIDhs4UaunN3VjuXtgAeIib-7AY6IDJBXiIgw4vhiJkFkWbb3Klwe8-CeMU2IgEBcvjZPSBqiI0CaL2DseoQ7Qww4dlct5rBEFAqu9885XO11X25LK1vlNYdd_C1ZTBNki9l/s1600/image+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6nwJWxTvgIDhs4UaunN3VjuXtgAeIib-7AY6IDJBXiIgw4vhiJkFkWbb3Klwe8-CeMU2IgEBcvjZPSBqiI0CaL2DseoQ7Qww4dlct5rBEFAqu9885XO11X25LK1vlNYdd_C1ZTBNki9l/s320/image+%25284%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEFlnvkGL9NfGF-RIee2VcDvwpUPf5RRVP7AdNd7XFXnehAQKqExjCvJlA0uzRm3tjVRIjbCQyp4YN6B_fiRx2dtcK4TZ3jwHDcURRgrDkkpSJtJLn_4HGQfWG4G-gGq1zeTR2R28M2ee/s1600/image+%25286%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEFlnvkGL9NfGF-RIee2VcDvwpUPf5RRVP7AdNd7XFXnehAQKqExjCvJlA0uzRm3tjVRIjbCQyp4YN6B_fiRx2dtcK4TZ3jwHDcURRgrDkkpSJtJLn_4HGQfWG4G-gGq1zeTR2R28M2ee/s320/image+%25286%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihW0XMgNPVuKo5H5i7xYXWFRN8pB9wtfPifd_o7SnkdN59gfKBhfKqfXYmIsUIvgr4GoAEPd4UdPUsxssq98WYvx1037fjFX0Iuz5-ZgG3ij43L8mPOmOxDpIAIix2Rr0OOtSZBg7yIOWy/s1600/image+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihW0XMgNPVuKo5H5i7xYXWFRN8pB9wtfPifd_o7SnkdN59gfKBhfKqfXYmIsUIvgr4GoAEPd4UdPUsxssq98WYvx1037fjFX0Iuz5-ZgG3ij43L8mPOmOxDpIAIix2Rr0OOtSZBg7yIOWy/s320/image+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am so thankful I had the support to travel to Europe this summer. In four races, I set personals records in two events (flat 3k, and 1500m) and ran a World Standard in the steeplechase. I got to relax in Wales on my own, race with friends in Ireland and Finland, and travel with my family and boyfriend in Scandinavia. I’ve loved it all, but goodness gracious, I am excited to sleep in my own bed, dress myself from my dresser, and cook my own meals.</span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-35222101187492974582015-08-07T12:22:00.001-07:002015-08-10T10:33:49.855-07:00Europe Trip Part IV: Finland<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I was hoping to keep an up-to-date account of my European trip, but I broke my laptop about a week into the trip. I managed to post my second and third posts from borrowed computers, but now I'm playing catch up. I also had trouble adding pictures to my second and third Euro blogs, so check them out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 16th</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I flew from Manchester to Copenhagen, where I had an eight hour layover before I flew to Helsinki. During the eight hours I left the airport to get a run in. I took the subway a couple stops out to what had looked like a giant park on the map. It was more like a business area with a lot of green space, but I found some brush to hide my backpack in and got my run in. All was successful - I got my run in, my stuff wasn't stolen, and I got to pet a pug mid-run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I must have looked slightly Danish because people kept asking me how to use the metro. One young man looked and smelled like my brother (I.e tall, shaggy, and smelly), and was on a European hitchhiking trip, something Dylan would do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When I arrived in Helsinki I got a shuttle to a nearby airport for the night.</span></div>
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You know you're in Finland when all signs in the hotel include how to find the sauna</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 17th </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the morning I took the bus from the Helsinki airport (which is actually about a half hour outside the city) to the central station to meet my dad. My dad did a great job planning out the remaining part of the trip, and he has a daily itinerary saved on his phone. We were supposed to meet at a fast good restaurant called Sybilla <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">at 10:45</a> in order to make the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">11:12</a> train to Kuopio. I arrived about an hour early, and spent the first half an hour looking around the station for this restaurant. I asked an information person, who kindly looked it up on his phone. The map showed the restaurant as being in the main room, but it was not there. Thankfully, both my dad and I decided to go to Burger King instead, since it was the closest place in existence to where Sybilla was supposed to be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We rode the train five hours to Kuopio, the closest city to Lapinlahti, where I race in a couple days. I love the landscape - endless forests and even more lakes than Minnesota. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We checked into a hotel and set out to explore. There wasn;t much going on. We saw a lot of Soviet-style buildings and a paucity of the people who must live in them, even though it's <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Friday evening</a>. The main square is just about empty, although s few people sip beers on a restaurant lined street just off the square. We pick the most crowded restaurant, and I order a liver burger to get a good dose of iron and see if the Finns have a trick to make liver more palatable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 18th</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dad dropped me off in Lapinlahti and continued by train to check out the next small city. I was collected by Heli, who was one of the meet organizers. We drove the mile across town to a private Christian school that was converted to room rentals in the summer. I shared a room with Kim Hansen, a javelin thrower and a common space with steeples Addy Bracy, Maggie Callahan, Rachel Johnson, and hurdler Sirena Alise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Lake next to our housing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I felt like I was at summer camp. We ate three cafeteria meals a day in the school gymnasium. Breakfast always included deli meat and cheese, hard boiled eggs and porridge. Lunch and dinner usually had some combination of salad, pasta, fish, and meatballs.</span></div>
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Me, Addy Bracy Maggie Callahan, and Rachel Johnson enjoying the fish.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">July 19th</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17px;">I pr'd in the 1500m by running <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">4:16</a> and winning the race. I felt really comfortable through 1100m, when I took the lead. The rabbit was supposed to go through 800m in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">2:14</a>, but we ended up going through in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">2:19</a>. By running a more even race, I think I could run between 2 and 4 seconds faster. Results: <a href="http://live.time4results.com/yu/2015/Lapinlahti/10-1-r.html" target="_blank">http://live.time4results.com/yu/2015/Lapinlahti/10-1-r.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Steeplechasers in the 1500m</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the meet the Americans, some Finns, and a couple others decided to hang out and drink some beer. Liquor sales had already shut down </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">at 9pm</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, but sprinter Joe Morris asked the meet organizers if there was a different way to obtain alcohol. There was rumors of a son of someone having some beer to sell. We went inside to sing 80s karaoke, and when we were done, a car full of early 20s young men pulled up. "We are gangsters. Don't mess with us," they told Joe. We all had a hard time these young men seriously, but Joe bought some beer from their trunk, and we went inside to play some card games. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;">Games - A Russian athlete, me, David McNeil, Terrell Cotton, Sirena Alise, Mike Atchoo, Joe Morris</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;">We eventually ended up jumping in the lake</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 20th - July 22nd</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Most athletes who ran at Lapinlahti are also going to run in Joesnuu on the 24th, so the meets paid to keep us housed and feed in Lapinlahti were it was probably less expensive than a city. Summer camp continued with runs on dirt roads and lounging around with fellow athletes. The most stressful action I had to take was figuring out how to work the Finnish washing machine (there was a knob separate from the machine which controlled the water). </span></div>
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The meet organizers kept us entertained each evening. One evening we roasted marshmallows and hot dogs in a small hut, which was especially fun since the Japanese athletes had never roasted food over a fire before and kept dropping pieces into the flames. <br />
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Just the cutest hut with a fire pit inside<br />
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Japanese athletes figuring out marshmallow roasting</div>
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Another evening we got to go to the local Strawberry and Cheese festival. The festival included a stair-climbing contest and a safety-boot kicking contest. The athletes excelled at the stair-climbing contest, and a Ukranian 400m runner set the festival record. But the Finns showed most of us up in the boot-kicking contest. We had to kick a rubber blog off our non-dominate foot. While many of the athletes kicked the clogs straight up in the air, out of bounds, or, sometimes, in bounds but not very far, the Finns walked up to the line and with no issue, kicked the shoes super far. Apparently boot-kicking is somewhat of a national sport, and they had the technique down.<br />
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Mike Atchoo in the stair climbing competition</div>
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Boot kicking field<br />
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I got to forage for wild blueberries - Yum!</div>
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Boarding the bus for Joesnuu</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 23rd</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17px;">I had high hopes for my last steeple of the season. Unfortunately I felt sluggish from the start. I bought heel cups because my plantar in my left foot had been really tight since the Letterkenny steeple. Each water jump hurt my foot and the buoyancy I felt in my other European races was gone. I struggled to a third place finish behind Rachel Johnson and Victoria Mitchell. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 17px;">I did have fun watching para-athlete Richard Brown break his 100m pr twice, thus setting the world record. Results: <a href="http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Flive.time4results.com%2Fyu%2F2015%2FJoensuu%2F" target="_blank">http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Flive.time4results.com%2Fyu%2F2015%2FJoensuu%2F</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">After racing the meet organizers took us to the only sports bar in town, which was showing our meet on the big screen!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"> Track on tv</span></span></div>
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Me, Rachel Johnson, Victoria Mitchell, Addy Bracy, Maggie Callahan</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 24th</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I walked through an art museum, enjoyed the first cup of good coffee I'd had in days, and met my dad to take the train to Helsinki.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I had a low key day between traveling, taking the day off running, and going to bed early.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 25th</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">Dad and I wandered around Helsinki. Our main stop was at the modern art museum, where we were lucky to catch a tour in English. The tour guide asked us where we wanted to start and two guys in the group immediately asked to start with the Mapplethorpe exhibit. I hadn't seen Mapplethorpe's work before, but I wasn't particularly excited to look at photographs with my dad from an artist who was controversial for S and M and objectification and exploitation of race in his pictures of naked men. I ended up really liking the exhibit, except for two photographs where I felt like I was being flashed. In the two photographs the heads were cut out of the frame, and the bodies were fully clothed except for their penis' hanging out. The tour guide did a great job explaining the critiques of Mapplethorpe's work and his reasons for choosing his subjects. For the most part, I thought it was a really cool to see his definition of beauty to include black men and and muscular women.</span></span></div>
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Busy Helsinki Street</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">In the evening, when we boarded a cruise ship. I had never been on a cruise ship before, but it was a great way to travel to Stockholm. We got to eat a gourmet seven course meal, while watching the ship pull away from Helsinki, then slept through the night for most of the travel.</span></span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-35760038298156600012015-07-17T05:05:00.000-07:002015-08-07T10:43:13.375-07:00Europe Trip 2015 Part III: Northern Wales<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
July 11th</div>
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I arrived in Liverpool and found my way to the Manchester airport to pick up the car I had rented. I was not excited about navigating a new place on my own, while having to concentrate on staying on the left side of the road, but the area seemed even more difficult to navigate by bus.<br />
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I drove into the center of Manchester before taking off. I enjoyed exploring the People's Museum and the Ryland Library.</div>
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Ryland Library - Fremont has a nice library, but I wish I would check out books from a place like this.</div>
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Driving was terrifying. My sense of place was off so I was much closer to the curb than the center lane. I tried to go the speed limit, but slowed everyone down at that speed. Once we got into Wales, all the driving was on single lane, curvy roads. On the left side of the road was usually a stone wall, about a foot away from my mirror. On the right side of the road oncoming traffic whizzed by very close to my right mirror. I think NASCAR has a lot of untapped talent in this region. <br />
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Everything that day took a lot longer than I had anticipated, and I didn't arrive at my hostel, in the small town of Dolgellau, until 6:30. My hostel was above a gift shop which had closed at 6. I had a key code, but there wasn't a door where I could enter a code. There was no reception office, no sign for the hostel, and no information for guests. The shop was part of a continuous stone building, and I didn't see a way to get around back. </div>
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I assumed the hostel reception area had closed down with the shop at 6. There hadn't been much information on the website, such as reception hours, so I gave up and walked around town trying to find an Internet connection or a different room to stay in. The town had a raft of b and b's, but they were all full. </div>
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I went into a pub which had hotel rooms upstairs. A very nice older man was standing in line, and started making conversation with me. He asked the bartender if there were rooms available (there weren't), then walked with me to another hotel to ask. They were full too, but they called another hotel outside of town and, thankfully, they had a room free. </div>
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The man and his friend were very excited to talk about Seattle. I should have bought them a beer, but I hurried off, hoping to secure a bed for the night.</div>
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I was in luck.</div>
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July 12th</div>
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By looking online for recommendations, I found a scenic gravel trail along a river for my run. However, I had to pay 20 pence to drive across a rickety wooden bridge I wasn't convinced could support my car and was barely wide enough god if to get across. This bridge is one of many reasons I haven't seen an SUV on my trip.<br />
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Wooden Driving Bridge<br />
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Beautiful Trail Running</div>
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After running I tried to hostel again since I had already paid for two nights there. I emailed the owner saying I would try again at 3. I should have asked for more information, but I assumed if I showed up during regular reception hours, entering a hostel would be easy. But the shop was closed on Sundays. I had gotten a reply from the owner saying my key code would work until 11pm, but she didn't tell me where the door was that used the key code, and it didn't say on her website. </div>
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I drove to Bewts-y-coed, a town recommended by my grandparents. The place was as picturesque as the tourist books claim. Along the Main Street is a babbling brook with a small waterfall. I got desert at a pastry shop and ate while icing my feet in the stream. On the way back I listened to the Wales male choir who were giving a performance at the church.<br />
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Brook Flowing Through Middle of Bewts-y-Coed<br />
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Bewts-y-Coed Church</div>
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July 13th</div>
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I visited nearby Swallow Falls and Castle before heading to Conwy, a town along the North Coast of Wales. </div>
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Swallow Falls<br />
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I found a track to do a workout on before heading to the Airbnb room I had reserved for the next three nights. The Airbnb was great. First of all, I was able to enter. Second, it was inexpensive. Third, the hosts were both runners who had written a book about trail running in Northern Wales.<br />
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View From My Room</div>
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July 14th</div>
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I ran the first route suggested in my hosts' book. The path follow the shore. The footing varied from pavement to grass to sand.<br />
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I spent the rest of the day exploring the Anglesey region. I visited the Beaumaris castle, the former largest copper port in the world, and Holyhead.<br />
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Beaumaris Castle</div>
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July 15th</div>
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My hosts tried to convince me to run up Snowdonia, the largest mountain in Wales, but I had to spend the day as an athlete. I spent the morning doing the track workout, core, and stretching. I spent the afternoon getting a leg massage and acupuncture. </div>
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I've been craving fish n chips for a couple weeks, so I finally got some at a place that claimed, "probably the best fish and chips you've ever had." I was very surprised they were, by far, the worst. </div>
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July 16th</div>
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I was very relieved to drop off my rental car at the Manchester airport without any damage. I'm excited to be traveling on public transportation for the rest of my journey.</div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-85591843279729840202015-07-13T02:27:00.002-07:002015-08-07T10:58:12.830-07:00Europe 2015 Part II: IrelandJuly 5th<br />
<br />
I got picked up at the airport by Terry O'Rourke, whose daughter, Derval, won a gold medal for Ireland in the 60m hurdles at the 2006 Indoor World Championships. He was volunteering his time to drive in circles between the athlete dorms and the airport all day. All the athletes were housed in dorm rooms which were empty for the summer. I had my own room, but I shared a common space with Riley Masters and Ford Palmer.<br />
We were given three meals a day at a restaurant a few steps out our front door. At the first meal we were served three types of potato: steamed, fried, and mashed, along with some meat and more root veggies.<br />
<br />
July 6th<br />
<br />
I was lounging around on the first floor with many of the other athletes, trying to get some wifi in the one room with internet, when one of the meet volunteers told us a bus was leaving in five minutes to visit downtown Cork. I went to my room to put on some shoes, grabbed my wallet, and ran out to meet the bus. I got on with two high jumpers, Garrett Huyler and Donte Nall, a long jumper, Norris Frederick, an Irish woman, Kathleen, and her daughter, Queva. On the bus I was told we were going to walk through the English Market and have a meet and greet session with the Lord Mayor of Cork. I was not in my best form with my Chacos, sweatpants, and greasy hair, but it was too late to change. <br />
The English Market was similar to an indoor farmers market. We met the local seafood vendor who is infamous for making the Queen laugh when he tried to sell her fish. Apparently the Queen is notorious for her stoicism, but his raillery helped lighten the mood.<br />
We then walked to city hall to say hello to the Lord Mayor. Kathleen informed us the Lord Mayorship is more of an honorary position than anything else, and each of the five parties takes turns having the post for its one year term. The Lord Mayor was very friendly and patient while we took numerous pictures with him. He said he would be cheering us on at the track meet the following day.<br />
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Athlete Delegation with the Lord Mayor</div>
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Signing the Guest Book with the Lord Mayor<br />
<br />
We ate at least two types of potatoes with every meal.<br />
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July 7th<br />
<br />
I ran the 3k race with a deep field of mostly American athletes. Abby D'Agonstino won the race 8:58, and I set a PR of 9:12.49. The weather was windy and chilly, but it felt great to me, especially after competing in soaring temperatures in Eugene and Nashville.<br />
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July 8th<br />
<br />
About 15 athletes were going to Letterkenny, Ireland to race after Cork. The meet organizer had told us they would send a bus down to pick us up from Cork, but yesterday they emailed us to say we should catch the public bus to Dublin, and they would pick us up from there. This was a pretty stressful proposition for us Americans and South Africans. We could no longer reserve tickets since it was less than 24 hours before the bus left, and we didn't know if there would be enough seats on the bus. Also, the Cork meet organizers suddenly had the responsibility of transporting another bunch of athletes into the canter of Cork. As we stood anxiously in line for the bus to Dublin, it didn't look like thert would be enough room for us, but thankfully they wre able to drive a second public bus at the same time as the first, and we were all able to get on.<br />
Between the bus ride to Dublin and the bus ride to Letterkenny, we rode for about eight hours. The Irish countryside was beautiful; happy sheep and cows munched on green grass all along the route. When we arrived, we were shown to apartments similar to the ones we had in Cork. Danny McDaid, a two-time Irish Olympian brought us to a restaurant inside an arcade that was surprisingly tasty and unsurprisingly featured potatoes.<br />
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July 9th<br />
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I walked in to the small city center of Letterkenny with the other Americans, and Michelle Finn, an Irish steepler who had trained with Team Rogue for a year after she was done with college. We found the Catholic Church, a used bookstore, and had lunch at a little diner.<br />
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Addie Bracy, Mary Goldkamp, Sarah Pease, Me, Michelle Finn, and Maggie Callahan</div>
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July 10th<br />
<br />
I ran the World A Standard!! I went 9:40.99 to win the race. The standard is good for a year, so I have run the time I need to go to the Olympics. But, I also have to get top 3 at the US Olympic Trials in July of 2016 to go.<br />
The race was very low-key. We ran on a track with no stands, slippery barriers, and the officials tried to put all the barriers on the track before the start of the steeple (we run the first 200m without barriers, so officials have to put 2 barriers on the track after the race has started). But, the weather was cool, the train hadn't started yet, we had a pacer going through the 2k at 9:40 pace, and we had a deep field of athletes.<br />
I hung on the back of the front pack for the first few laps because I wasn't sure how well I would do at 9:40 pace since my fastest time so far this season had been 9:54. I felt tired, but in control after three laps, so I slowly started to pass people as they fell off the front pack. With two laps to go, I put on a surge and took the lead. I got passed by a couple of Irishwomen. With 150m to go, we jumped the last water barrier at the same time. I landed first and sprinted to the finish. Three other women in the race, all Irish ran big PR's to get the Olympic A standard, and two of them hit the World A standard for this year. Since Ireland doesn't have many people who hit the World A Standard, they will go to the World Championship this summer in Beijing.<br />
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Beginning of the Race</div>
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Last Water Jump</div>
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Post-Race</div>
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July 11th<br />
<br />
<br />
We had another stressful travel situation trying to get to the airport. Three of us had flights out of the Derry airport, and we were told we would get a ride at 6:30am. I happened to check my email right before I went to sleep last night and saw our pickup time had changed to 6:00 because a fourth person, with an earlier flight, was added to our car. Unsurprisingly, the other two people didn't see the email and weren't ready until 6:20. The driver drove like a NASCAR racer through the tight turns of the single lane road to the airport, and we all made our flights on time.Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-5080442170695614942015-07-06T03:08:00.005-07:002015-07-06T03:10:31.332-07:00Europe 2015 Part I: Southern Wales<div class="MsoNormal">
June 30<sup>th</sup>-July 1<sup>st</sup></div>
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Of the last 24 hours, I have been
flying for 15, traveling by car, bus and train for another 3, and I’ve been
waiting to travel for 6. It’s been a
long day, but I finally arrived in <st1:city>Cardiff</st1:city>,
Wale in the evening. I went for a quick
run along the <st1:place><st1:placename>Taff</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>River</st1:placetype></st1:place>. I’m surprised how similar the climate feels
to <st1:city>Seattle</st1:city>. On my run, I see all the same flora and fauna
I see in the <st1:place>Pacific Northwest</st1:place>, even the Oregon Grape
bush. </div>
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I’m staying at an Airbnb with a Malaysian
family near the city center. The
neighborhood is predominately Muslim but there are a lot of Chinese owned
businesses. The houses are built sharing
their adjoining wall, so there is a straight row of concrete down the block. We are half a mile away from the huge <st1:place><st1:placename>Bute</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>, but it’s strange imagining a
childhood without exploring among the flowers and bushes in a yard. </div>
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July 2<sup>nd</sup></div>
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I tried to
get on the track for a morning workout, but I failed. I tried one stadium, then I tried a high
school, and finally found a third track open to the public, but a kids meet was
in progress. Loosing access to reliable
facilities is one compromise of heading to <st1:place>Europe</st1:place>.</div>
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After
running, I went the <st1:city>Cardiff</st1:city>
castle. As soon as I got inside the
castle, it started pouring. After waiting inside for a couple minutes, I got
bored, and braved the elements. As I
climbed out of one of the topmost rooms, a bat tried to fly in, and bounced off
my chest full force. </div>
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"The Mound" inside Cardiff Castle</div>
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The most recently
renovated living quarters were luxurious, with golden ceilings, elaborate
hearths, and Italian marble floors. </div>
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Fancy Hearth</div>
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My
favorite room was the library with animals carved into the bookshelves. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggawSLwatpC8k71aBXWbpgeTyTJoZ-t3BVWkPTkCMw9yP26zOKwWe3YiKZpiUv1s6w9ZHx2hrI-sHuD0nKWOS7AD_6DkS8osK61tat1GOADj3G7q8YHs3izaVN9q8G4sl0fgOQljUaZo_O/s1600/bookshelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggawSLwatpC8k71aBXWbpgeTyTJoZ-t3BVWkPTkCMw9yP26zOKwWe3YiKZpiUv1s6w9ZHx2hrI-sHuD0nKWOS7AD_6DkS8osK61tat1GOADj3G7q8YHs3izaVN9q8G4sl0fgOQljUaZo_O/s320/bookshelf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even the Welsh love gophers. M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next I
visited the Cardiff Nation al Museum, which housed both natural history and art
exhibits. My favorite peice was the first known painting of a Welshman holding a leek. According to the museum, the Sovereign and courtiers wore leeks on St. David's day. James I commented, "the wearing of leeks by Welshmen was a good and commendable fashion.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprrKCzMmZPubb_973AcNSqmOMHbkuJMTw_MJBPaHGgWj_31h_h-68zYtQAhkpA2IbcvIDHx3972tdELce-Bw07uFwynptVBujcv47YcPSRoHk28s7ws40LS9PoDh_8lXd_brRNNpjpKsI/s1600/leeks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprrKCzMmZPubb_973AcNSqmOMHbkuJMTw_MJBPaHGgWj_31h_h-68zYtQAhkpA2IbcvIDHx3972tdELce-Bw07uFwynptVBujcv47YcPSRoHk28s7ws40LS9PoDh_8lXd_brRNNpjpKsI/s320/leeks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I tried the
track again in the evening, and was successful getting in.
I was impressed with the array of people already practicing on the
track. A couple high school students
practiced water jumps with two coaches while a masters runner practiced his
hurdle form and another masters runner did a long interval workout under the
guidance of another coach. As I finished
up my workout, about 70 middle school students came out with their coaches to
start practice. I wish we had as many
enthusiastic runners in the <st1:country-region>US</st1:country-region>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
July 3<sup>rd</sup></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I didn’t set an alarm clock and
sleep in until <st1:time hour="14" minute="0">2 pm</st1:time>, making a total of
15 hours of sleep for the night. Oh my
goodness, what a mistake. I was planning
on taking the train to <st1:city>Swansea</st1:city> for
the day, but instead, I run and then walk over to <st1:place><st1:placename>Cardiff</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place>. According to the guidebooks, the city has
done a remarkable job of turning the bay around. What used to be a run-down, seedy shoreline
has been transformed. I was most looking
forward to seeing the Roald Dahl Plass because he is one of my favorite
childhood authors. While the walk along River
Taff was pleasant, the Mermaid Quay area was just like any other outdoor
shopping mall and restaurant area. The
shops were shiny, but boring. I got some
coffee, read a book, and watched a <st1:country-region>Wales</st1:country-region>
family eat a deep-fat fried American dinner next door. The Roald Dahl Plass was
also disappointing. All it was an
irregularly shaped basin now used as a public space. Tents were being set up for an event. I couldn’t even find a statue or a plaque
talking about Dahl or his books. Someone
should be sent to The Chokey.</div>
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<br /></div>
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July 4<sup>th</sup></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
After a melatonin-induced few hours
of sleep, I woke up to my alarm, ran, and got onto the train to <st1:city>Swansea</st1:city>,
a small town about an hour away. I saw
the <st1:city>Swansea</st1:city> castle, the Dylan
Thomas Musum, the <st1:place><st1:placename>Swansea</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place>,
and the <st1:place><st1:placename>National</st1:placename> <st1:placename>Waterfront</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place>. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG38d1Vqi-7_vRiP6EnsXeBp6hsWrwIQzPtgZ2JLcWG0enCE1jLdh-Trtw6g1rMMe7Bd_Yq17BvL1V5SbmpJl5IALGjF5Oolx-E8ZkY2JsSFC1Wh6-jpVkaCKdRM1P7ng6XD8xv7DXB2jQ/s1600/war+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG38d1Vqi-7_vRiP6EnsXeBp6hsWrwIQzPtgZ2JLcWG0enCE1jLdh-Trtw6g1rMMe7Bd_Yq17BvL1V5SbmpJl5IALGjF5Oolx-E8ZkY2JsSFC1Wh6-jpVkaCKdRM1P7ng6XD8xv7DXB2jQ/s320/war+poster.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> My Favorite WWII poster on display at Swansea Museum</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMqMRtMm9zdXiJpSJU0ZapcK-WoGjQB63jfMyI1KMCVfgtz4DqckL6iu0L3OgpeyW8HS1E1xVVPci3Ff1RE96EsewLg7uwXlejHcLoKx6BlTbwowXwuyi17YP2AhP647faMUILuaM1UgF/s1600/welsh+dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMqMRtMm9zdXiJpSJU0ZapcK-WoGjQB63jfMyI1KMCVfgtz4DqckL6iu0L3OgpeyW8HS1E1xVVPci3Ff1RE96EsewLg7uwXlejHcLoKx6BlTbwowXwuyi17YP2AhP647faMUILuaM1UgF/s320/welsh+dinner.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> A typical Welsh kitchen on display at the Swansea Museum. I like how the portion of cheese is as big as the portion of meat.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">After seeing Swansea, I took the bus to Mumbles, the first town of the Gower region, along the sea. I explored the well-preserved Oystermouth castle.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOIfLdCCennRWHKPghKudMPlXyGQ0D0YSrqvcdPt0ljhC_pGb0SmGytjb2AehEiNsklM1imkoCfyjKNn-pcN-GtsqSrQbn03hL3ra97a4kFvRNHhFK699K0g1qzbyQZOYfgkTJOJeV4eA/s1600/oystermouth+castle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOIfLdCCennRWHKPghKudMPlXyGQ0D0YSrqvcdPt0ljhC_pGb0SmGytjb2AehEiNsklM1imkoCfyjKNn-pcN-GtsqSrQbn03hL3ra97a4kFvRNHhFK699K0g1qzbyQZOYfgkTJOJeV4eA/s320/oystermouth+castle.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of the day I bused back to Swansea and trained back to Cardiff. As I walked
home from the train station, I took a detour back the monstrous Millenium stadium
used for rugby. On the sidewalk outside
the stadium, an artist had created a mosaic square for each country that must
participate in <st1:place>Rugby</st1:place>.
Most county's squares featured some combination of plants, food,
clothing and animals. The United States
square had a car, a dollar sign, Mickey Mouse, baseball, a teepee, and a
hamburger. Happy 4th.</div>
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<br /></div>
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July 5<sup>th</sup></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I have one last run through <st1:place><st1:placename>Bute</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> and along River Taff before
getting on the train to the bus to the airplane that will bring me to <st1:place><st1:city>Cork</st1:city>,
<st1:country-region>Ireland</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-47331384989931091512015-07-03T12:45:00.001-07:002015-07-03T12:45:34.237-07:002015 Outdoor National Championships: Folks, it was a hot one out there.<div class="MsoNormal">
I would rather race in a snowstorm than the heat and
humidity any day of the week. This is
why I was thankful the Outdoor US National Championships were held in <st1:place><st1:city>Eugene</st1:city>,
<st1:state>OR</st1:state></st1:place> this year. <st1:city>Eugene</st1:city>
can usually be counted on to be temperate, even if that means sometimes
navigating water jumps in the rain. Last
weekend had other plans, however, and temperatures ran in the 90’s for the
entire meet. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was thankful to even participate in the Outdoor US
National Championships Track Meet. I’ve
spent this track season chasing the auto-qualifying time to get me to the
Outdoor Championships. By hitting the
auto time (9:53.0 for the women’s steeple), runners automatically get to run at
the meet. If you don’t hit the standard,
meet officials will fill the field (26 women in the steeple) with a descending
order list from race times over the past year.
Usually a few people get in who haven’t hit the standard, but it’s
better to not have to worry about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started things off by running a 9:59 steeple at the Payton
Jordan meet in the beginning of May, followed by a 9:57 at the Hoka High
Performance meet 10 days later. I tried
again at <st1:city>Nashville</st1:city> on June 6 and
was running on pace for about <st1:time hour="9" minute="48">9:48</st1:time>
until I belly flopped into the water pit on my last water jump and finished in <st1:time hour="9" minute="54">9:54</st1:time>.
Even being a second off the auto time was nerve-wrecking since a lot of
runners had hit the time or were very close.
I signed up for the Portland Track Festival, the last chance to qualify,
but had to bow out due to an angry calf muscle.
That week I held my breath hoping not too many people would pass my time
on the descending order list at the meet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few days after <st1:city>Portland</st1:city>
declarations to <st1:country-region>USA</st1:country-region>’s
were due. A couple collegians scratched from the list (unsurprisingly after
three long NCAA seasons), and was finally able to exhale as I made the meet
with a couple seconds to spare. Even
though I was near the bottom of the descending order list, I felt confident I
could make the final round of the steeplechase.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I warmed up for my prelim at 7 pm, I was able to keep my
core body temperature from going too high by running with ice packs in my
sports bra and a ice-water soaked towel around my neck. But as soon as I the race started, my body
heated up and tensed up. I didn’t think
running at 7 would be so hot, but the heat had peaked at <st1:time hour="17" minute="0">5 pm</st1:time>, and there was still direct sun with no cloud
cover. I was running near the back for
most of the race. I tried to make a move into mid-pack a couple times, but was unable to hold the position and got passed
back each time. I was in so much pain I
didn’t know where I was in the race. Despite
my fatigue I rallied on the last lap to run my fastest lap of the race and I was
able to pass a two runners who had gone out too fast. While I got 9<sup>th</sup> in my race, I got into the finals
on time. After the race I was worried
that I was not in as of shape as I thought, then I noticed that it had been so
hot that the track and melted onto my spikes - something I have never experienced
before (and something I hope I never have to experience again). This gave me hope that everyone else had hurt
just as much as I had.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although it was still in the mid-90’s for the Finals on
Saturday, I got lucky and there was some cloud cover during the race. I had made a plan to not get caught up going
to fast in the heat and I was able to relax at the back of the race for the
first mile. With three laps to go my
plan was working and I was still feeling good while several runners in front of
me showed signs of coming back to me.
That’s when I made my move. I ended
up passing three runners in those final three laps and finished 12<sup>th</sup> in
<st1:time hour="9" minute="56">9:56.</st1:time> This just happened to be the
same place and time I finished at the 2012 Olympic Trials. I’m happy to have come as far as I have since
surgery, but I also had a hard time accepting where I am at right now. I want to be at the front of the pack,
challenging for a spot on the World Team.
I know I dropped 20 seconds from my PR in 2013, and I can drop that time
again. I have put many of the pieces in
place to train well next year. Now I
just have to put in the work.<o:p></o:p></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-8614195807222860782015-05-13T18:58:00.001-07:002015-05-14T12:12:41.964-07:00Preparation & Perspective<div class="MsoNormal">
My boyfriend, Michael, hates going into a meeting at work unprepared and is known to hole himself up in a conference room in the days leading up to a presentation to practice his speech over and over. I doubt anyone enjoys going into anything they care about feeling under
prepared. I am the same way when I get
on the track. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Usually, pro runners have a year-long build-up to their
spring and summer racing seasons. The
year starts in the fall, hopefully after a nice break from running; 2 to 4
weeks is typical. Runners slowly build
up their mileage, and I usually begin to do workouts a couple weeks after
returning to running. Depending on if
I’m racing cross country or indoor track in the winter, workouts start to be
tailored to the distance I’m focusing on.
In February or March, many professional athletes will spend some time at
altitude and change their focus to outdoor track. By spring they have had a long base-building
period, and bodies have slowly been sharpened for outdoor track during workouts
in the winter and early spring.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My year has been atypical – to say the least. After getting
surgery in late August, I spent the next three months cross-training. In November, I transitioned from the elliptical
and swimming to running on the anti-gravity treadmill. December was spent
transitioning from the anti-gravity treadmill to running on the ground. January, February, and March were spent
trying to get back in shape and losing my extra surgery weight. Beginning of April I did my first steeple
workout, and at the end of April, my first steeple race at Payton <st1:country-region>Jordan</st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My goal at Payton <st1:country-region>Jordan</st1:country-region>
was to run sub-10:00, and I snuck under in <st1:time hour="9" minute="59">9:59</st1:time>. I was pleased with the performance. It’s not anywhere close to my PR, but my
coaches have done an excellent job getting me in as good of shape as possible,
without injuring me, in the short time-frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, I was exhausted after Payton <st1:country-region>Jordan</st1:country-region>. The steeplechase is a grueling race, and it
usually takes me a few days to recover, but a week out I was still feeling
lethargic. I felt more rested after
taking Sunday completely off, but I had to get going again quicker than I
wanted to for the Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic, which is tomorrow and 12 days
after Payton <st1:country-region>Jordan</st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This season will continue to be an adventure and a test in
keeping my perspective. With not being
fully in shape, I have to continue to balance doing the races I need in order
to take the next step in the season (right now I need to qualify for Outdoor
Track Nationals by running under 9:53) with giving my body the rest it needs,
knowing that I’m asking it to do a lot after a very short build-up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even if I don’t achieve all my goals this season, I know it’s
a building year. The long term goal is
to be healthy and ready for Olympic Trials next June. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div>
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Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-62358393468731610492015-03-26T20:12:00.000-07:002015-03-26T20:12:42.346-07:00Testament to the Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6MlA707wYhMN8lGypMZiIBt1yVwVIL7J4EQ8WHop4O5Kw4XsF8nn7QUrH6PgVHhde5YBjVx6HtrrA36YtS0KvrtfxawGbneQRzxcpudjgHer4D5D6-8dgegr9g8D03482od7_w-oNkss/s1600/blog+email.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6MlA707wYhMN8lGypMZiIBt1yVwVIL7J4EQ8WHop4O5Kw4XsF8nn7QUrH6PgVHhde5YBjVx6HtrrA36YtS0KvrtfxawGbneQRzxcpudjgHer4D5D6-8dgegr9g8D03482od7_w-oNkss/s1600/blog+email.png" height="210" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">I
received this email four days before my first race back after surgery. </span><span style="color: #222222;">I was already anxious about toeing the start
line.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">After almost a year away from
racing, I was uncertain about pacing and how I would handle the pain of a hard
effort.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> I knew I wasn't</span><span style="color: #222222;"> at the level of
fitness nor at the weight I wanted to be for racing.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">I thought a fun local 5k would be the most
stress-free way to begin my journey back to racing, until I read these hateful
words.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">I was
having a tough week already, and this put me over the top. I couldn't stop crying for the next couple of hours (which is really embarrassing at a law office where there are only three
people working!). I was shocked and
hurt. This man had called me rude and
conceited, when I try really hard to be considerate and humble. Even worse, he said I wasn't a very good
runner, at a time when I am questioning my talent as an athlete and my ability
to return to competitive steepling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 99.6pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">I was
crushed and couldn't stop thinking about this email for the next couple
days. I knew my obsessive thoughts were
unnecessary. This man and his mean words
should have no influence on my well-being, but I couldn't shake that this
stranger had taken a stab where my ego was most vulnerable. I thought about not racing because I felt so
distracted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">But
after two days the pain had dulled, and I finally felt what I had been telling
myself all along: I try to be a good person; I didn't do anything wrong; and racing
is a celebration of hard work and having the courage to challenge
yourself. Racing is a testament to
friends, family, medical support, and coaches, who have supported you in your
journey. I've had many periods in my
life where I have been overwhelmed by the expectations, or my perceived
expectations, from others. In most
cases, the expectations have been for me to achieve high results. In a few cases, such as this man, people want
to see me fail. Either way, it can be
hard to let them go, even though intellectually I know these outside judgments
don’t matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">As I stood
at the start line, I did have to face the man who had briefly shaken my
self-confidence. He was giving
commentary over the loudspeaker before the start of the race. He listed the elite athletes in the race and
their accomplishments. He didn't mention
my name, but I didn't care. I’m not
running to please anybody or to hear my name over a loudspeaker. I’m running for myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-963967826986710563.post-16122166116096135502015-03-08T21:36:00.002-07:002015-03-09T16:41:32.856-07:00DIY Depression Medication<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">I’m been thinking about, experimenting with, and enjoying
creating my own<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il">natural</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>remedies for a few months now.
Some of my concoctions have been amazing; others less impressive. Either way, I’m gathering knowledge about
herbs I’ll be able to use for the rest of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">My curiosity with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il">natural</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>health remedies
got started when I looked into alternative ways to treat depression. I am
very thankful for the bump in my mood I get each day thanks to my little white
pill. I don’t know how I would have survived the last few years without
it. But I hate feeling so reliant on one piece of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il">medicine</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Over the past few years, I’ve supplemented the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="il">medicine</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>with getting as much sunlight and
Vitamin D as I can. In the winter I take
Vitamin D supplements and go tanning once or twice a week for 10-12 minutes on
the most basic bed available. I also
keep a big full-spectrum light by my bed to use when I wake up in the morning
and before going to bed. I spend as much
time as I can run in a sunny location during the winter months. Usually I can only squeeze in a couple weeks,
but I was lucky to be able to train in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Albuquerque</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> for two months last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Over the past year, I’ve tried a couple new things. I’m
meditating regularly, about 10 minutes, 5 days a week. I’ve also tried to get some counseling, but
there are not many options on my poor-runner state health care plan. My latest scheme has to get seen by a local
psychiatric clinic that takes Medicaid, but you have to go through an intake
process, and I’ve been playing phone tag with the admissions dude for about a
month now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">While all these methods seem to elevate my mood, I’m always
looking for better ways to manage my depression and seasonal affective
disorder. In my research, I came across </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort, a plant that has been used
medicinally around the world. </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort is commonly prescribed for
depression in </span><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Europe</span></st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">, but is rarely used in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">I’ve started drinking </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort tea, and I made a </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort tincture, which will be ready
to try soon. I also just put together the ingredients to make a seasonal
affective disorder tincture from Rosemary Gladstar’s book, <u>Medicinal Herbs</u>.
The tincture calls for equal parts </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort, oat tops, and Hawthorn
berries, leaves, and bark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:city><st1:place><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort Tincture (from <u>Medical Herbs</u> by Rosemary Gladstar)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">2
parts </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">St. John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;"> Wort flower<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">1
part green oar top (milky top of just-riped oats)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">1
part hawthorn leaf, flower, and berry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">80
vodka<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">Directions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Fill a
glass jar with herbs, leaving </span><st1:metricconverter productid="2 inches"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">2 inches</span></st1:metricconverter><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> of space at the top. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Fill the
jar with vodka. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Let the
mixture sit by the radiator/heater/fireplace for 1-3 months, depending on
the recipe, shaking it as often as you remember (recipes recommend once or
twice every day). <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Once the
time is up, strain the herbs out of the liquid, and divide between dropper
bottles. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica;">To use a tincture, squirt a droperful of the tincture into a
glass. Fill the glass with some water or
juice, and drink. Tinctures don’t always
taste great, but the health benefits are well worth the flavor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jamie Cheeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794592605526772538noreply@blogger.com2