Not so SUNY Cortland

Another week down, and we made it a good one.  A few members from our training group including Pat, Zachary, JoJo, Michelle and myself travelled down to SUNY Cortland (State University of New York) for our first decathlon and heptathlon of the year and Pat's second.  

A helpful tailwind started off Day 1 and kept rolling for the remainder of our events.  Sending me to my second best 100m (11.10s) and Pat a PB (11.63s).  After running myself into a bit of trouble in the long jump starting off with two fouls, leaving a very important and very nerve racking last attempt where I mustered a 6.97m jump!  Sadly this is not the first time I've done this to myself this year...I must help myself out a bit more and get jumps in on the first attempt!  The rest of the day went along smoothly and ended with a surprisingly calm evening for the 400m.  Wish that could be said for Day 2..

Day 2 began as a beautiful but overcast day. It quickly darkened during the running of hurdles (coming from indoors 10 hurdles is far!). Shortly after the long day of rain began, making the throwing events especially challenging. Despite the less than ideal conditions Pat still was able to hold onto the discus long enough to throw it a PB distance of 48.83m. Luckily the kind people of Cortland State moved the pole vault into their repurposed airplane hanger that is now an indoor track facility.  This proved quite beneficial as both Pat and I had PB's in the vault with Pat jumping 4.20m and myself 3.90m.  Next was the absolute worst conditions for a javelin competition we have endured.  It was raining, a cool 6 degrees and on GRASS!  Not to mention grass with potholes, rocks and divots making full runways absolutely out of the question leaving room for only muscling it out there.  Needless to say we were all way off our normal throws.  However, it was an experience and an obstacle we dealt with and got through, now anything will be better and absolutely welcomed compared to that.  

And then all that was left was a rather uneventful yet still exciting 1500m.  Prior to the race Coach James told me I needed a 4:51.00 to reach 7000pts, and after crossing the line seeing 4:51.xx showing up I was quite nervous that I missed the mark by mere points.  Then he proceeds to tell me about a time he scored his PB 6999pts. He told how awful it was to have this PB stand for a year.  At this point I'm fearing the worst and accepting the loss.  Then he tells me that he was a big fat liar and all I needed was a 4:54.00. I actually scored 7033pts...needless to say I got James'd (a slogan we coined for being smeckledorfed by James).  Very funny coach!  Pat finished with a solid second decathlon of the season with a third all-time best 6910pts.  Congrats!

Overall a very solid decathlon for all and a new experience, as all decathlons are. 

As for Reid, he spent the weekend finishing his last exam of the school year and began celebrating his summer with a trip to the casino winning himself a handsome $70. With some of his winnings he made a trip down to Chinatown to a shady little acupuncture store. He walked away with his own set of needles so he can practice unlicensed acupuncture on his and Pat's legs. He's seen it done in movies and is convinced it's easy enough. Nice work all around this weekend I'd say..Until next week!      

For all those interested here is a link to the results!

http://www.leonetiming.com/2012/Outdoor/Cortland/   

Lastly, a big congrats to our teammate Zachary Kevlar for his pb in the dec. 

Summer is Almost Here

This week Pat took full advantage of the weather as the summer sun made its appearance. It is still not quite hot enough to train outside, but that didn't stop him from playing the very legitimate sport of frisbee golf this Saturday.

I on the other hand was trying to stay awake and study. I don't know which reason made it more difficult to stay awake: the brutal 1500m workout that all three of us completed earlier in the day or my realization that I don't care whether or not the Real Business Cycle predictions reflect the actual deviations observed in the economy. That reminds me, I have good news for all of you. On Friday I write my last final exam and commence a four month summer vacation, so that was the last random economics reference you will have to endure for a very long time :)

Mark has been in much the same situation as I with writing finals. He wrote 2 last week and only has 2 more to go.

This coming week will have Pat already preparing to compete in his second decathlon of the year alongside Mark who will be contesting his first. The destination is not nearly as exotic as Arizona this time unfortunately, instead the forecast is for just above freezing temperatures with rain. I will be continuing to transition back into as much training as my rib will allow.

Last thing I want to say is CONGRATS to our awesome coach James and his lovely wife Vero for celebrating their 2 year anniversary last week!

Easter Weekend.

Hi there everyone! Happy Easter to everyone and their families from your three favorite decathletes!
In news this week, nothing happened to Chen...absolutely NOTHING of note, quite boring week for him, aside from the end of classes for the year (about time!).

Reid is continuing to heal and has really cool finger toe shoes -_-. He can run on his hands and we wouldnt know the difference, sporting his new VIBRAM shoes Reid kind of feels like this...

Reid has joined me at le Chateau Casa del Arbour. We enjoyed the closest most intense game of Bocce ball coming down to a 1" victory on match point. We will let you figure out who won ;)

I on the other hand am nursing the small aches and pains of the post-decathlon. The most notable of which being a fast fading tan. I miss Arizona :(
Thanks to Jen Cotten I have my day 1 and 2 recaps from the season opening decathlon. See below

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Have a good week everyone, and stay tuned!

Fine Start, Fine Art..

This was an exciting week for us as Pat he contested his first decathlon of the season in Arizona. It went extraordinarily well!  He began by running the second fastest 100m of his career and jumping a seasons best in the long jump.  The next event was the "builder" as Pat had a massive throw of 14.65m in the shot put. This was the first time in the 14m range outdoors (although his PB is 14.86m).  This clearly pumped him up as he tied his PB of 1.90m in the high jump.  This momentum carried Pat to his second best 400m to finish off with a day one PB of 3570.  

This mojo then carried over to Day 2 where Pat started off the gruelling day with a 0.2s PB in the 110mH running 15.38s. He followed that with a 37cm PB in the Discus, throwing 47.47m.  Now it was to the event Pat was really looking forward to, the pole vault.  Despite not continuing on the "PB Train" Pat jumped 2cm off his PB which he recorded a couple weeks ago.  Pat finished off the decathlon throwing 58.98m in the Javelin and 5:05.8 in the always painful 1500m, concluding his OPENING decathlon with a PB decathlon total of 7086pts.  Congrats to Pat, Damian (7977pts) and Jamie (7706) on an exciting start to our 2012 season!

Here is a cool article on Pat's decathlon in Arizona: http://www.harryjerome.com/2012/03/30/canadian-multi-event-athletes-shine-in-jc-shootout-in-tuscon/

This week was much less exciting for Reid and myself who, enjoyed a "lovely" one week period with no internet (because Bell sucks).  While Reid was still recovering (although he is back this week!) from a rib injury, and I was still enjoying a reduced work load, we had plenty of time to create our own fun.  Inspired by a great British improv show we decided to create an interpretive dance to a hit 90's pop-rock boy band song. Take a look at how the pros do it.  

Now take a look at our attempt. We encourage you to attempt our "masterpiece" on mute and see if you can guess the song.  If anyone is able to guess it I applaud you; you are one of the smartest people in the world...Fact!  

Reid also had a lovely visit from his mother this weekend and I benefited from a couple of dinners and a fully stocked fridge: score!

On another note the University of Ottawa Gee Gee's held their annual Athletic Banquet on Saturday night with a fine showing by Track and Field members.  Most notably Michael Robertson (400m) who won the coveted Male Athlete of the Year Award beating out some tough competition.  Congratulations to all Gee Gee's team members on a fine season.

Transition Week

This was not an overly eventful week for any of us. Mark is transitioning into training for the outdoor season after coming off of his success at the CIS Championships. The first step of his transition: week off. It's a tough step indeed, but somebody has got to do it.

As for me (Reid), I am still nursing this rib injury that is healing more slowly than I would have hoped. But alas, I am making progress as I make the transition from sleeping in a seated position on the couch to sleeping in a bed like a normal person. Huzzah! It's all about little victories when it comes to rehabbing an injury.

Pat had a productive week as he figured out his javelin approach that he will use in his upcoming meet. And again, as always, he lifted some big weights with a new max bench of 300lbs. I know what you skeptics are thinking: there is no way I will believe that without video proof. Well eat your words and lay your eyes on this:



We all ended the week by enjoying some festivities of the "friendliest day of the year," which of course is Patty Arbour's birthday (Guinness). Happy birthday Patty!

The Silver Lining

Mark had a busy week at the CIS Championships competing in the pentathlon, long jump and hurdles. Back in Ottawa we watched and cheered for Mark while trying to comprehend how they found such knowledgable and sophisticated commentators (*mild sarcasm*). In the pentathlon he lead through the first 4 events. Heading into the final event of the day, the 1000m, Mark had to run the fastest race of his life by 10 seconds to hold off Saskatchewan's Keegan Sharp. Leaving it all on the track Mark came out with a new 1000m personal best of 2:48.34 to earn a silver medal and a respectable 3811 points. Mark then had a night to recover for hurdle qualifications and long jump finals. Getting in some good practice for the outdoor decathlon, Mark came back strong on day 2 with hurdles and made the finals where he would score more team points placing 7th. He then turned around with a solid jump of 6.82 which would place him 6th. What a great team player! Mark will now enjoy a short lived recovery week before joining Reid and I with outdoor transition training.
-Check out Chen lining up for the 1000m, scary feeling right there.

Back in Ottawa Reid suffered a minor set back in his training when he miraculously landed straight on his head this wednesday during a pole vault session. Feeling substantial pain in his rib Reid had to go to the hospital and make sure everything was ok. Nothing was broken, but the pulled intercostal muscles are greatly affecting his mobility as even sitting up is an amusing challenge for him. We now know what Reid will look like when he is an 80 year old trying to race us down the hallway of the retirement home. This injury has lit a fire under Reid, motivating him to come back and train harder than ever. He is optimistic about things and already itching to make a return.

I have had a normal week of training with the coaches gone. I trained alone for the most part with Reid out with injury and the University team competing and taking their week off. Most of my week was spent following athletics with indoor championships in NCAA, CIS and IAAF. I may add, we have two new world records in the women's Pent and mens Heptathlon. Congrats to Natalia Dobrynska of Ukraine and Ashton Eaton from Oregon. I would also like to congratulate our University of Ottawa team on their most successful CIS meet ever with golds going to Sekou Kaba (60mh), Jen Perrault (1000m) and last but not least the men's 4x400 and 4x200 which was a new CIS record! Silver's to Chen (pent), Mikey Robertson (300m). Bronze goes to Jen Perrault in the 600m also. This wraps up our indoor season for the world of athletics and onto bigger things outdoors.
Stay tuned, until next time!

-CIS record 4x200 squad.

Leap year Indeed

After coming off a very competitive weekend at the OUA Championships in York, this week was a recovery and prep week for the CIS Championships next weekend with a final preparation meet today.  Pat singled in on the pole vault and had an extremely solid meet vaulting to a new PB of 4.12m.  This puts Pat in a great spot, as himself and Reid are on a slightly different training program gearing more for the outdoor season.  For Pat to be in this kind of condition after a hellish loading week sets him up looking good for his upcoming decathlon at the end of the month in Tucson.  He is excited and feels strong.

For myself I competed in the 60m Hurdles running a time of 8.37 coming out of it a little more bloodied than when I started. Notice the picture below of my knee taken on my saucy new phone - bye bye crackberry.  Next was an extremely painful and sickening 400m where I ran personal best opener of 50.07 along side fellow 4x400m relay team member Tolu Makinde.  Next it will be a couple more prep days and finally leave for Winnipeg on Wednesday to conclude the indoor season.  Hopefully with a bang!

Reid had a bit of a different focus, having to battle with midterms all week.  It's that time of year and thankfully for both of us it has ended, soon it will be finals time. Yikes!  He also decided to make his girlfriend a delicious birthday dinner last night which I got to cash in on today with lovely Pork Dumbling leftovers!

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

Pork Dumplings with Hot Chile Glaze

Veal with Red Currant Onion Gravy
....and Jojo