Why Runners Should Watch the Olympic Swimming Events

With the opening ceremony's in a few hours and the competition starting tomorrow, Rio is actually here. But as a reader of this blog, you're probably wondering what you're gonna do until the exciting stuff (a.k.a. people running in circles) starts a week from now. Lucky for you, all of the swimming events are going to be happening the week before track starts, so you have some action to get you warmed up before the real fun starts.

Now if you like watching the world's best run in circles really fast, you might also like watching the world's best swim back and forth really fast. But if you aren't quite of that mindset yet, or if you want to watch swimming but have no real clue what to watch for, or if you just read every single thing that pops up on this site, than this is for you.

1. Just like track, its racing at its core
Every swimmer stepping up on the blocks is doing the exact same thing that every runner who toes the line is doing: trying to beat the person next to them. Everyone loves a good race, track fans especially. Every race in Rio will be exciting in its own way, and the swimming will be just as good as (if not better) than the big oval. The two sports are the same at their core.

Now, if you're looking for a more direct comparison between the two disciplines, taking a race distance in the pool and multiplying it by 4 gives you pretty much the same race distance on the track (it breaks down a little bit outside the middle distances, but it's still close). Don't believe me? Let's look at some world records.
Men's 100m Freestyle/400m dash: 46.91/43.18
Men's 200m Freestyle/800m run: 1:42.00/1:40.91.
Men's 400m Freestyle/Mile run: 3:40.07/3:43.13.
Men's 800m Freestyle/3000m run: 7:32.12/7:20.61

While this obviously isn't perfect, it's pretty good at letting the avid track and field fan have some inkling as to what kind of race they're watching.

2. Katie Ledecky
I'm going to do my best not to go on for pages about her, but she will steal the show at Rio. After becoming a surprise gold medalist in the women's 800m freestyle at age 15 in the London Games, Ledecky has quickly cemented herself as the top distance swimmer in the entire world. She holds the world records in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle. She is undefeated in major international competition, with 1 Olympic gold medal and 9 world championship gold medals. She holds the 10 fastest times in all of history in the 800m freestyle, and is over 7 seconds faster than anyone in history. She has set world records at small in-season meets just because she can.

Now, as any track and field fan should rightly suspect, the doping question is immediately raised. However, as far as we know, she has passed every drug test she has ever been required to take, and taken additional drug testing in support of having a clean sport. Her big secret? She trains with the boys and isn't afraid of them. And i don't mean she lags behind the male olympic distance swimmers that she trains with. She keeps up with, and even beats them in practice day in and day out. Her drive and determination is other-worldly, and she is going to demolish the competition in Rio. If you want to see someone win a distance race from the start and push to the very end, watch for when Katie Ledecky comes on TV. You won't be dissapointed.

3. Experienced veterans vs youthful energy
This is a headline that we could also be seeing in track and field. Just as an aging Mo Farah will try to go out on top in the 5k and 10k, the 31-year-old Michael Phelps, 32-year-old Ryan Lochte, 30-year-old Lazlo Cseh, and 35-year-old Anthony Ervin will be battling the youthful racers in the likes of Japanese superstar Kosuke Hagino, Austrailia's Cam McEvoy (who came within .13 of a WR in season this year), and many other new faces on the U.S team, some of whom upset defending Olympic gold medalists at US Trials just to get on the team, will engage in a battle of the decades up and down the pool. Perhaps we could see the same thing with the likes of Clayton Murphy, Boris Berian, Robby Andrews, running on the same team as Bernard Lagat and many others competing for the U.S. on the track in a week.

4. Michael Phelps
Ok, yes, we've seen him winning medals and breaking world records for the past 16 years. But as he pulls a Brett Favre and swears he's retiring "for good" this time, we are actually seeing a very different Phelps than usual. He's not the quiet, laser-focused, machine that we saw in '04 or '08. He's not a 20-something party animal who gets DUI's or bong photo's plastered all over the internet. He's not even the guy we saw two years ago make a soft comeback "just for fun." He's a changed man, who has now revealed that he had a lot of inner demons that made him not even want to be in London for the 2012 Olympics. He's a sober man, a man who has finally reconnected with his estranged father, and a man who has recently become a father himself and has a wedding planned for after the games.

He's put in training that his coach "hasn't seen him do since the lead up to '08." In the 3 individual events that he will be contesting, he owns the World #1 times from all of 2015. He's been talking about wanting to go personal bests, which for him, would be World Records. But at 31, he'll face stiff international competition, including Chad Le Clos of South Africa, who ran him down in London for the 200m butterfly gold. The 200m fly is Phelps' signature event, it's where he made his first Olympic team in 2000, made his first world record in 2001, and where he has the world leading time for 2015 (a time faster than what won gold in London). Many believe Phelps is coming back for revenge on what happened in 2012, and will be out to do what he couldn't last time around in his best event. Oh, and he has the chance to become the first swimmer ever to win 4 consecutive golds in his other two individuals. History. Revenge. Phelps. You won't want to miss the G.O.A.T's last races.

5. There's never any tactical jogging. Its all racing
If there's one thing that a lot of modern track and field fans don't like, its watching elite athletes jog for 95% of a race and let it come down to who's a better sprinter when they're a little tired. Swimming doesn't see that, ever. Every race in the pool will see an assault on the World Record and everyone pushing their limits on the biggest stage.

The main reason for this is that everyone is in their own lane, so passing someone doesn't require covering extra distance and trying to get around somebody. In the pool, you just speed up and go for it. Everyone trains this way, so they train to give it their all and challenge not only the people around them, but challenge themselves as hard as possible. In the end medals will be won, records will fall, and everyone in the pool will have pushed themselves to their absolute maximum.

Get hype

-Paul Hayes

TheRoundHouse Episode X: States!

Coming to you live tonight at 8:30! Click on and watch us answer your questions about the upcoming state championships at Shippensburg!

500k: The Man Behind Etrain

By: The Etrain Crew (minus Jarrett)

*Before we get started, we would like to congratulate fellow writer Caleb Gatchell for qualifying for D2 nationals in the 1500! It is an outstanding accomplishment and we are happy to know that he will represent PA as well as the Etrain brand at NCAA's. Congrats again Caleb!*

If you're reading this post, thank you! This means that the blog has reached over 500,000 total views (half a million!) and we couldn't thank you enough for the support.

Jarrett Felix started the blog because he loved the sport. He wasn't in it for recognition, he wasn't in it to bash/criticize certain individuals, and he wasn't in it for money. He simply loved the sport (and that's pretty rare when we talk about track and xc coverage today). Jarrett started the blog because it was a way to facilitate discussion and give credit where credit was due.

For over a decade now, athletes, parents, and coaches have tuned into the blog to read the outstanding content Jarrett has posted. Now, the Etrain writers felt it was time to give Jarrett some of the recognition he deserves, and what better way to do it than to interview the man himself?

Below are a list of questions from the Etrain writers asking Jarrett about himself and his blogging career. As you can see by his answers (and probably by most of his content), the guy is pretty selfless which is why he was initially hesitant to do this interview because he "didn't want the blog to be about him". After some convincing, we got him to agree.

Be sure to read up below and ask any questions we missed in the comment section below! Again, thank you for the support!

-The Etrain Crew

Click here for Jarrett's most recent District Preview/League Recap post

GETTING TO KNOW ETRAIN

1.     If you could interview any runner, who would it be and why?

Unsurprisingly, I think the answer to this would have to be Robby Andrews. As most people probably realized if they read my stuff, he’s my favorite runner and he’s been a part of some of my favorite races to watch over the years. If nothing else, I’d enjoy just reliving all his awesome moments in his career. However, he’s also had a ton of ups and downs in his career with some big highs and big lows, seemingly on the brink of retirement from the sport just a couple years back, so it would be cool to hear and write about his journey first hand.

2.     What was your favorite state meet (XC or Track)?

This a tough one because there have been so many individual races that stand out as extraordinary. However, I’ve only had the privilege of attending a select few meets in person over the years and those experiences have definitely been memorable than watching anything back on replay. So I’d say the 2012 XC State Championships was up at #1. The races were pretty epic including a crazy finish between Galassi and Luke Jones in A, a battle of three of the best AA talents ever in Shearn, Jaskowak and Todaro and, of course, the climax of the Henderson vs. O’Hara debate that had dominated the blog since the summer (I think the original post I made on who would win states back in August is still the most viewed post I’ve had in my career). I’ve found over the years, it’s rare that a race will live up to the hype or turn out how you dream it will. But when they do come together, like that race did, ending in a 6 man tiebreaker again, they are unforgettable.

3.     If you could put together a dream PA alumni race (all in their prime) what event would it be and who would be in it?

Man, another really tricky question. Personally, I always loved relays. I think they are what really made the sport fun and seeing everyone come together to do something special is a great time. Honestly, my favorite race to see would be a 4x800 battle with the top programs from the last decade facing off with their 4 best alumni. I’ve done mock versions of this before, but seeing it live and in person would be fascinating. I’d probably have CB South, Abington, CB West, Upper Dublin, O’Hara, LaSalle, Henderson, Cumberland Valley, Pennridge and State College on the agenda for this race as of right now. If we give it another couple weeks, we may sneak another team or two in based on their performances down the stretch this year. I think 10 teams is probably the perfect amount for a 4x8, but I can push for 12 if need be.

And it’s really hard to pick which schools belong in (Baldwin, DT West, Wissahickon, etc.). Upper Dublin has to get because they are my alma mater, sorry fans.

4.     What is your proudest racing moment?

I feel fortune to say I have a lot of moments I’m proud of in my racing career. I’m definitely not the fastest kid (pretty much everybody I blog about is better than I was at my apex), but I think the best thing about running is that each person can have individual success regardless of their starting point/ending point and each other runner can related to that success. Not to get too philosophical or anything.

But to answer the actual question, I think if I have to pick one moment, my proudest moment is probably the first time I (officially) broke 2 minutes in the 800. It was a goal of mine ever since I overachieved my sophomore year of high school and, despite one split under 2 minutes that I can’t really count, it took me until my sophomore year of college to actually do it. It was fresh off a miserable 1500 and a rough indoor track season, which had made me really question whether I wanted to keep training so hard if I meant I wasn’t going to continue to make any progress.

But on Muhlenberg’s home track on a random day, I pulled out a 1:59.62 and won my heat of the 800 (which wasn’t the fast heat, but still feels good). It was my first time under 2 minutes and I got to celebrate with all my friends after the race was over. I’ve been under the barrier again since, but I’ll always remember that first time.

5.     What are your hobbies outside of running?

Um, nothing really. Just kidding. Does writing about running count? Just kidding. Guys, seriously. I do other things. I really like basketball. It’s probably my favorite sport to actually play, I’m just not particularly good. Ultimately, I’m a pretty competitive person so I’m always down to play games and compete. There’s this game we play called spike ball. It’s pretty sick, look it up. I also listen to a lot of sports podcasts and Bill Simmons stuff. Grantland/Simmons was/is kinda my blogging related inspiration.

6.     If you could go on an easy run with anyone, who would it be?

Well, the cliché answer here (but true answer) in order would probably be my girlfriend Nicki and then my college team, then my high school team. But those aren’t really fun answers, so I’ll give you my fun one.

I think it would have to be Chris Derrick. I feel like he’s the kinda sarcastic, smart, runner dude that would be very entertaining to go on a run with. There’s also like a 50 percent chance I wouldn’t like him much at all and he would think I was lame and stupid. But I’ll never know unless I find out right?

Merber would be invited too. For sure.

7.     Anything the readers should know about you?

I just want to take a quick sec to clear the air about the Steph Curry thing. Yes, I am a bandwagon mega-fan of Steph, but I was a band wagon fan circa 2012-2013 rather than circa the year the Warriors won the title and stuff. It started with NBA 2k and hit its full peak in the Warriors-Spurs series. So, like, don’t get it twisted.

ETRAIN AND THE BLOG

8.     For any new readers or those who might not know, just tell us a little bit about how you got the nickname Etrain and how you began blogging.

Well, at Upper Dublin High School, we had a number of guys who were real into the Penntrack forums (believe it or not they used to be hugely popular among runners, not just people complaining about things). So, naturally, by the time I hit sophomore year I wanted to get involved. My dad had already made an account using our family email (didn’t have my own email back then) so I started borrowing his account. So the name “etrain11” was actually the name my dad created based on his nickname (“Earl” was his nickname because of the basketball player Earl Monroe and “train” comes from the act of training in the gym, my dad powerlifts as a hobby. The 11 comes from the month we were both born, November). Once I got the account, I just got hooked posting and discussing track. I was on the website all the time and became something of a well-known name.

We realized at a couple meets that people recognized the name “etrain” so we (my friends at Upper Dublin) made a fan page on Facebook and got a ton of followers through it (relatively speaking of course). I also made a Top 50 list for XC that became kind of popular on the site and something of a trademark for me personally. My brother then came up with the idea for a blog. He created the very first one for me personally and inspired me to give it a shot and have a bit more freedom to get readers. That was really the birth of the site.

9.     What is it that you think separates the Etrain brand from other track and field websites? Any one aspect in particular?

Honestly, I feel people recognize the name because I’ve been around so long. I strive to be knowledgeable, fair and fun in my work and I hope people are attracted to that aspect. I feel like many people could do what I’ve done, however, I had the advantage of doing it first and growing a bit of a fan base for it. From there, the commenters and the readers have really blown the things up. Without the community of readers we have, the blog is nothing. I get many of my best ideas from them, a ton of information and they are the motivation to keep me working harder and dreaming bigger.

Also, I feel like I’m not afraid to treat the high school sport a bit more maturely. I’m not afraid to make predictions or rankings that aren’t just strictly numbers, but considering the subjective parts of the sport as well (and there are way more subjective pieces than objective). Many sites are afraid to be subjective because they are so concerned with offending people. I trust that my readers are mature enough to know that I don’t mean any offense and I’m just having fun and trying to keep things interesting. I’m always proud to hear that people read what I had to say and were motivated to prove me wrong. It’s just a perfect attitude to have about the site and the sport in general.

10.  When did you realize the blog was going to be this big?

Haha, never. I never had high expectations honestly because I know it’s a very small, niche market and I guess I just never thought I would get any readers at all. I’ve done a lot of writing just because I love it and I love the sport, but when you are behind your computer you have no idea who is actually reading. You can’t get a feel for it at all.

I think in 2012, when the blog really hit it’s stride, I realized just how big of a deal it was to some people. When I went to states and parents were coming up to me and saying that they loved the site it was just amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I never really thought about kids caring what I had to say, let alone parents and coaches.

As long as I have one reader who gets joy or motivation from what I (and now we) do, it’s “big” to me. So in a way I guess never might be a bad answer haha.

11.  What is it like to have a community of runners know who you are and regard your opinion so highly? Why do you think that is?

Again, I don’t really think I’m doing anything ground breaking. It’s amazing to have like a “fan base” of sorts and to have people who I admire and respect reciprocate is really unbelievable. The best part of my blogging career has been readers reaching out and talking track with me. It’s unreal.

But there’s a ton of guys who have brought a lot to the table for our site and I’m just one of the few that was willing to put my name on everything. Really my biggest advantage is I’ve been doing this for a long time. Experience, as I’ve said like a million times on the blog, is important in any part of life. So definitely for the blog as well.

12.  What is your most memorable post and why?

Alright you’ll have to let me over indulge a bit on this question. I have a couple posts that I really like. I think a lot of my best work probably came in the 2014-2015 seasons, just because I had the most time and really got into it. But my favorite actual posts might be on my old blog. I did this one post on Valentine’s Day in like 2012 or so where I just kind of starting writing and then, by the end, I had ending up accidentally making an elaborate running-girlfriend metaphor that I had not envisioned when I started. I thought it was one of my cooler posts.

But my most memorable post is probably the post I made right before the 2012 XC state championships about one of my best friends, Francis Ferruzzi. It was right before his last race and I came up to Hershey to watch him run. The post still brings a bit of a tear to my eye and makes me very nostalgic and happy. Sometimes the best part of running has nothing to do with races or times and has everything to do with friends and teammates.

13.  Is there a certain writer you try to emulate?

I love Bill Simmons. He’s definitely like a writing icon of mine and I get inspired by reading his stuff. I like to be factual and knowledgeable, yet funny and casual. I aim to try and write in a way that lets you imagine we are just talking to each other. I want people to hear my voice when I write and seem like they could talk back. And I definitely want people to laugh and to think. That’s the way Simmons writes a lot of stuff and I really like it.

14.  What went through your mind as you were writing the Brett Favre post on the old blog? What was the reaction to that post like?

Retiring from blogging before my senior year of college was really sad. I think that last year, it had gotten a little overwhelming. When you have a lot of readers commenting and sharing thoughts and making requests, it can take a toll on you, especially because I like to try and please everyone. So I just decided to take a break, especially because I could feel myself getting so old.

But writing the post was very sad and thinking back on all the memories and experiences was crazy. The support the post received was unbelievable. The comments I received both on the blog and off it were unreal. I felt so touched and appreciated and a part of the community. It really meant a lot to have so much support even after I was finished.

15.  What was it that made you comeback to blogging? Any one instance in particular?

Like I said before, I retired originally because I just felt like I was trying to please too many people and I was getting overwhelmed. But I never really stopped writing or following the sport, I just changed tactics. I was doing a decent amount of D3 stuff and crunching a ton of numbers for my XC team that year. I started a new blog on the side, didn’t really tell many people about it and just went about business as usual. I decided that if I was gonna start up another blog, I was going to write about whatever I wanted to and do things my way. Stop trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be and just do what I felt like.

From there, things just kind of grew. I always knew the most about PA High School stuff and, not to brag, but I feel that the time and effort I’ve put into study the sport in the last decade has made my knowledge base pretty darn extensive. So it just was easy to write about that kind of thing and slowly the site became more and more PA central.

I think what really made my comeback complete was finding Grantland.com. I started reading that stuff all the time and it reminded me how much I loved writing. I really love the stuff so it didn’t feel like a job or a duty anymore, it just felt like a passion and things really took off after that. I think people saw my passion and got on board and then the site became as popular as ever.

16.  How have you noticed the impact of the blog on the running community?

I’m not sure how much of an impact it’s had on the runners themselves. I think people like reading it and talking about it, but the kids make the results on their own with hard work and determination. I do, however, think that the way we talk about running has shifted dramatically thanks to the blogs that have existed.

When I was in high school, penntrack forums used to be all the rage. They were huge, bigger than this site was for sure. Now, I feel like the blogs have taken on the role of the discussion which is interesting. I also feel like the small level of competition we have injected into the market has helped push Penntrack and ourselves into better coverage. I’ve seen some of our ideas reflected in their work over the years and obviously I’ve incorporated some of their ideas into our work.

17.  If you could go back and change anything about the blog, what would it be?

I definitely made some big mistakes, especially in the beginning. I was still a kid when I started up and I made some posts and handled some situations very poorly. Even now, there’s a lot of times where I just don’t what the right thing to do is morally. I have had some sleepless nights for sure trying to think about that.

But honestly, I’m not sure I would change anything. The mistakes I made proved to be lessons for the future. I have goals to improve the site in the future for sure, but I’ve kind of accepted what the past of the blog was and I’m very happy with the experiences I’ve had and the positive feedback we’ve received over the years.

18.  What’s your most memorable fan interaction fan from the blog?

The most memorable time period was my junior and senior year of high school. That’s what I started to realize the people actually knew the name “etrain” outside of the UD circle. We met up with the CB South 4x8 that was on the verge of the state record a few days later. CB South knew our 4x8 because they were both really good teams and I was just chilling as an alternate gawking. Then one day in the hallway at Shippensburg, I was talking on the phone and Tom Mallon, future state record holder (and current indoor state record holder), walked by and just said, “What’s up, etrain”.

And I just inwardly lost my mind like nobody’s business.

19.  What is the vision for the blog moving forward?

Moving forward, my #1 goal is to increase the site’s legitimacy. I feel like a lot of people just see the site as “some kid with a blog” and, although that’s technically at the most basic level what it is, I feel like we are so much more than that. I feel like we’ve received some great feedback over the years, but it still kind of feels like no one wants to associate themselves with us at some level. I think I can help improve this by hopefully opening up more of a dialogue with coaches and athletes and getting a more active twitter following going forward and, if things go well, we can continue to make strides in the right direction. We’ve already come a long way from our initial “blacklisting” of sorts where we were the “he who must not be named” of the penntrack forums and stuff and I think we can continue to become more respected in the community if we can continue to respect the sport, promote a fun environment and create strong contact.

I’ve been unbelievably blessed to be joined by a talented and passionate group of writers who want this blog to be just as big as I do (if not more so) and work really hard to expand our range and build on our ideas. I’m so thankful that these guys have come along and done so much. We’ve expanded into a variety of new areas and I think we will hopefully continue to expand in those areas. It’s a much trickier market as there are a ton of sites out there that do what we do for college and professional athletics, but I do think my fellow writers are knowledgeable and creative and bring a lot to the table.

The next big focus will probably be a YouTube channel that we will be working to update and develop. I think we can do a lot of fun stuff through the video avenue in addition to continuing to come up with new ideas for writing pieces. We can’t lose sight of what made us who we are and what got us to this point and, hopefully, we will continue to bring great content to the community.

TheRoundHouse VI: Democracy for PA

PA specific content!

TheRoundHouse Episode III

State Vids by Paul Hayes

Our own Paul Hayes was on site for the PTFCA Indoor State Championships and did a little move making. He threw the videos up on youtube and I've linked them here. He's the same man that brought you some outdoor states videos and some Henderson distance festival action. Full recaps (somewhat building from the instant reactions below) are still in production ...

Boys Mile Heat 1
Boys Mile Heat 2
Boys 800m Heat 3
Boys 4x800m
Boys 3,000m

Tall Paul Weighs in on Paul Short

By: Paul Hayes

I know HS previews aren’t typically my thing, but Jarrett thinks his viewers might be tired of “reading me speak”, so he wants a different perspective on things. And the meet has Paul in its name. I basically have to do it.

It’s no secret that the course at Lehigh is very fast. The flat, easy layout can really play into the hands of the speedsters out there that typically shine brighter on the track. That said, this is still XC and the true studs will likely put on a good show tomorrow.

Individuals-Brown Race

This race is going to be loaded individually, headlined by Sewickley Academy stars Griffin Mackey (ET#8) and Ben Clouse (ET#30). The duo went 1-2 at Pre-States, and Mackey has gone sub 15:40 already this year on a similarly fast course down in North Carolina. Look for Mackey to be in the top pack, with Clouse doing what he can to stick with him.

Matt Kravitz (ET#14) comes in as the top PA returner from last year’s race, where he set his PR of 15:39. He finished 2nd to Hock at pre-states, showing good strength on the Hershey course. Considering his 4:17 mile speed, he should do very well at Lehigh, and make for a good race up front with Mackey and others. 

Big man Kevin Lapsansky (ET#15) comes in from D11, looking to improve upon his 15:48 PR set at this meet last year. Last year we saw his former teammate Colin Abert run away from the field with a jaw-dropping 14:55. He’s been relatively quiet this year, but I think Lapsansky could really step up for his last go-around on a fast course and hang with the top pack. 

Jeff Kirshenbaum (ET#13) didn’t run here last year, but that won’t take anything away from his potential to take this race. Coming off a PR of 15:45 at Bulldog a few weeks ago, and could look to take that momentum forward into this week. He’s only lost to Jake Brophy and Nick Wolk this year, so he’s certainly in the running to take a top spot here.

Don’t sleep on Zach Lefever (ET#19), even though his PR of 16:08 is sitting 20-30 seconds behind some top guys. He finished less than a second (0.99s to be exact) behind Lapsanskyat PTXC, which means he’s certainly confident enough to hang with the top pack and will be there in the final straightaway. 

Also in the mix should be Liam Conway (ET#40), the talented sophomore leader for Owen J Roberts. He’s coming off a top-10 finish at Pre-States, and his 1:58/4:28 speed on the track as a freshman can’t be overlooked when racing at Lehigh. He’s younger than most of the field, but I can see him getting into the top pack and finishing well. 

 

I’m going to make the quick disclaimer right now that I have no idea what the times will be like, as they’re usually tough to predict at this meet anyways with people going for different goals, and Hurricane Joaquin may be ruining some people’s days this weekend to make predictions even more of a mess.However, to quote my HS coach, “There’s no sense in complaining about weather when everyone’s dealing with it.” So assuming everyone deals with the weather, my top 5 are as follows:

1. Griffin Mackey, Junior, Sewickley Academy

2. Jeff Kershenbaum, Senior, Methacton

3. Kevin Lapsansky, Senior, Easton

4. Matt Kravitz, Senior, North Pocono

5. Liam Conway, Sophomore, OJR

 

 

Brown Race-Teams

What I’m really excited for, other than Jarrett rocking his pink shorts in a hurricane for all of you, is the team race. By my math, which at this point is just rough approximations in my head because I don’t feel like doing real math, shows that this is going to a very close race for the team title. 

Hershey comes in with an honorable mention on Jarrett’s team rankings, boasting a strong pack with a tight spread that could pack it in quickly at this invite. OJR runs slightly opposite, boasting Liam Conway as a very strong front runner looking for a low stick, who is then followed by a solid group that took fourth at pre-states against very impressive NA and La Salle squads. 

Narrowly topping OJR at the Centaur Invite was Parkland High School, lead by junior Hailemichael Geiger, who probably has an intimidation factor just from his name. Look for them to be in the mix with OJR and Hershey’s pack.

My sleeper pick in the teams might be a tad biased, but my alma mater West Chester East is in consideration for a top 2 finish in my book. Rob Moser has stepped up as best he can to fill in for the void left by Eric Diestelow, and is being followed closely by seniors Sebastian Hoyos and Jared Franz. WCE has historically done very well at Paul Short, and with some pre-season injuries healing up and the team working well together, I don’t see a reason why they couldn’t steal the show in this team race.

 

Final Predictions: The top three are as follows, separated by less than 15 points total

1. Hershey

2. WCE

3. OJR

 

White Race

I can’t find too many individual stars in this field, but the team race looks to be tight between Shanahan and William Tennent, with WT’s top three of Sean Rahill, Evan Hutton (not to be confused with our Western PA writer Evan Hatton), and Dylan McHenry. Those three can put some serious low sticks in with or ahead of Shanahan’s pack, with a developing 4-5 that could bring it home with a good day. But at the end of the day, I think Shanahan’s pack gives them the edge here, and they come out on top. 

If you don’t feel like doing math for Jarrett’s prediction contest, leave your top individuals or teams in the comments below, and discuss.

 

Train Hard,

-Paul Hayes

Boxcar Mile Recap

By Paul Hayes

It had been a normal afternoon in West Chester, PA, an area known well for high school distance running, but had never come up on the map for any professional races. However, that night at the Henderson High School J. Oscar Dicks Stadium, a new event was lining up for history. This wasn’t the typical scene of Kevin Kelly working his magic with his high school runners, or the large high school invites that happen every year. This was professionals racing a mile with over $4,000 on the line.

Thanks to the twittersphere, I managed to catch wind of this a few hours before it happened, enough time to alter plans and swing over to the stadium in time to catch the men’s and women’s elite heats. I’ll say that it was well worth it to see professionals run for a big prize, much larger than one would expect for a small, local race. But what really made the event awesome was to see hundreds of fans line up on the track to cheer the runners through the home stretch as they battled each other out for the both the prize, and their pride.

The women’s race went rather tactical, with the opening laps going 1:09/1:12, for a 2:21 opening half. But then the tactics wore off as 3 women emerged clear front runners, hitting the 1200 in 3:28, and continuing to drop the pace as the crowd started to roar. When the dust settled, Rachel Schnieder walked away with the top prize in a time of 4:31.04, running a very impressive 2:21/2:10 negative split mile.

As soon as the women finished, the men’s field was announced. The field features some rather impressive names that I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know about prior to the race. English Steeplechase champion Rob Mullet was across the pond for this race, sporting a 3:59.18 mile PR. 2014 Sir Walter Miler champ and clear winner for coolest name in the field was Ford Palmer, and next to him was Wisconsin alum and 3:35 1500m runner Jack Bolas.

The gun went off with Steve Thompson (Henderson ’14) doing the pacing at his alma mater. The opening couldn’t have been better, with Thompson pulling the field through in :29/:59/1:28 before dropping out. By 800m the race was established between the top three moving in a line at 1:58-1:59, with the rest of the field shortly behind. The lead traded hands a few times as the top three battled through the 3rd lap, and at the sound of the bell it was still the same 3, this time at 2:59. The men flew around the curve, racing for well over $4,000 from sponsors, and as they came through to the back stretch, the crowd erupted as Bolas put on a great finishing kick to cross the line in 3:58.63, followed by Palmer barely edging out Mullet, 3:59.30 to 3:59.47.

Overall it was a great race to watch, and an event that I hope grows even bigger, as it was evident that the West Chester running community was out in full support of the event, with a large crowd cheering every runner on as they battled for a prize. Some of the fellow writers speculate that it could be as big as the Sir Walter Miler race that happened a few weeks ago, which would be pretty cool, and really put West Chester on the professional running radar.

Overall it was a great event, and I can’t thank the organizers, sponsors, and amazing community that showed up. A link to the full results is below.

http://www.runccrs.com/boxcar-mile-81315/

How to swim like a runner

By Paul Hayes

Running is innate to human life, a built-in function of evolution that is ingrained into human genetic code in various ways. It comes naturally to us and is something that we are built for; humans are the best long distance runners on the planet. You don’t have to get taught how to run when you first try it. Running is just part of life.

Swimming does not come with the same built-in ability in humans. We’re not evolved to swim. We’re not built for the water, especially when compared to other animals. We have to be taught by others how to swim when we first try it. Swimming with no experience invites death.

But yet, professional athletes compete in both athletic ventures the same way: against the clock, and against others. The key to this, is learning. You may not have to learn how to run, but you do have to learn how to run the right way in order to run fast. Once you have learned to stay alive in the water, you can learn how to swim the right way in order to swim fast. The two sports share very similar ideas and basis, but swimming comes with a much steeper learning curve. And that learning curve gets just plain weird when you try to cross the two and want to learn the right way to swim in order to run fast. And hopefully I can clear some things up.

 

I’ve highlighted previously that swimming can be used by runners as an improved form of recovery. Scheduling a swim in-between hard running sessions can really help keep a distance runners ability to perform well during such tough training. However, you can hop in the pool and really murder your legs if you want to. A few keys to a recovery swim are as follows:

1. The swim itself should be a like a recovery run: easy, slow, and anywhere from 20-45 minutes. You should feel better after this type of swim.

2. If you’re using swim trunks or board shorts, ditch them and just use compression shorts (or a speedo if you’re a real man). The extra drag everywhere from the loose shorts is really going to hurt your stroke and make you over-work. It would be like running in basketball shorts 3 sizes too big with your phone and wallet in your pockets. 

3. You should be trying to take it easy on your legs.This means not kicking too hard, and letting your upper body do most of the work during the swim. Watch 1500m world record holder Sun Yang’s stroke during his Olympic gold/WR performance through a multi-angle group of shots that someone else was cool enough to put together [1]. That video is what 1450m of swimming slightly under world record pace looks like: an easy, stabilizing kick to keep the hips up and not much else, while the upper body does the majority of the work. This keeps lactic acid and inflammation from building up in his legs, which would cause them to drop and drag in the water. It also allows Sun to be able to pick up his kick rate massively at the end for a strong finish. If you want to model a recovery-based stroke off a professional, Sun’s is the best.

So if you’re going for a recovery swim, the two tips above should help a good deal. As always, please put any questions you have in the comments section and I would love to answer them.

 

Swimming for a workout can be a very tough thing, especially for a beginner. Working nearly every muscle in the body while taxing the aerobic system in an abnormal way, all while wondering whether or not it’s fast or even totally right will be exhausting both physically and mentally. And while just getting in and swimming hard can be beneficial to any runner, there are some specific things that distance runners who want to cross train in the water should and shouldn’t do. So here are the DO’s and DON’T’s of swimming for a runner’s workout:

• DO listen to your body and figure out what does and doesn’t work for you. I can’t stress that point enough, you should be doing this for your body, so pay attention to how it responds. Try backstroke or breaststroke, see what you think works best

• DO engage a strong kick with a technique focused upon leg drive. Michael Phelps’ freestyle is an excellent example of a very leg-driven stroke. Check out a multi-angle view of his freestyle [2] and his 200m freestyle Olympic gold in ’08[3], the most dominant race of his perfect 8-for-8 in my opinion. You can see how much work his legs do the entire race and how well it pays off.

• DO make sure that your kick is driven from the hips. The motion starts there and travels through the leg muscles, not starting in the leg muscles. It’s a weird concept to put into words but its how swimmers kick. If you watch that mutli-angle video again [2] you can see that the motion starts from the hips and travels through the legs. 

• DO control your breathing so that you stress your aerobic system in a way you’re not used to. What I really mean is don’t breathe every stroke if you can help it, and try to push a bit through the pain you might feel in your lungs. Your body can use oxygen a lot more efficiently than you think, and though you may have to force it at first, you will adjust.

• DO be creative with your workouts and changing things up, again to see what works. If you have a favorite running workout that you want to adapt to the pool, the simple math is to divide the distance by 4 to get similar repeats (e.g. repeat 1600’s on land would be repeat 400’s in the water).

• DO look at other resources for how to swim. I don’t know everyone’s ability levels and I can’t teach you very well from a blog. YouTube is a great starting point, and there are other great resources out there, all you really need to do is look around for them. If enough people ask, I’ll put a playlist together on my YouTube channel and share it here.

• DON’T quit because you suck at first. It’s not in any way easy and the learning curve is steep, but a little commitment can go a long way.

• DON’T stress out over your times in the water. Remember that the main purpose is the times out on the course and the track.

• DON’T forget to have fun with it. That’s why I started running in the first place. 

 

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uncOBURz-6o

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax77_hHq9Dc

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ofor9NlZSE