Matt Tegenkamp finished 4th in the 3,000m at today’s DN Galan meet in Stockholm, Sweden. Matt ran 7:40.75 behind Craig Mottram (7:37.73), Isaac Songok (7:38.97) and Daham Najim Bashir (7:39.45). (When he ran for Kenya instead of Qatar, Bashir was known as David Nyaga.)
As he describes below, Matt will now return home for almost two weeks before leaving for Beijing.
Results are here.
I thought I would send an update on what’s been going on with me these last few weeks. To say that it’s been a rough few weeks would be an understatement, but if anything it has made me stronger.
A few weeks ago at the Olympic Trials was close to the lowest time during my athletic career, but as I said, I truly feel like it has made me stronger. My parents were able to make it out for the meet and it was nice having them there to help cope with the letdown of not making the team, a dream that I’ve had for my entire career. Now I can joke around about the race that at least I was an Olympian until the last 100 meters. After a few hard and depressing days, I turned around my mentality and was working out great and ready to take on the summer season.
After a solid week of training we ran a 1500 in Madison as a tune-up before Europe that turned out really well in terms of attendance. We put the race together last minute and were able to attract over ,000 people after making it public for only two days. We ran it quite late, too, at 9:20 p.m. on the 15th of July. I didn’t run very well, however. I took 3rd behind Matt Tegenkamp and Jonathon Riley; they pretty much kicked my butt in the last 200 meters. I was pretty upset after that race, as I was hoping that it would be the turnaround I needed to completely get over the disappointment of the Trials. However, it only sunk me further. I was frustrated and searching for answers, but still was determined to turn things around.
As anyone who knows me knows, I’m stubborn and I was/am not going to let this get me down and conquer me. I shipped out the next morning for Belgium, where my next race was held. Once I got over here I felt rejuvenated and had a completely new outlook on my running. I wasn’t having any fun the last few months with running, which I’ve never encountered before; it actually felt like a job, and I wasn’t feeling like doing it anymore. So when I got here I decided that I am going into the rest of the summer with no expectations and focus on just enjoying it more like I have in the past.
So bringing you all back up to speed on my race Sunday night. I have very mixed feelings about it. It went really well for 11.5 laps–I was running the race of my life and it was going very well. Prior to the race I had heard that the pace was going to be going through 3K in 7:45, which is 12 seconds faster than I ever gone through 3K. At first I thought I would run from the back and let the lead pack go and run even pace, but after about an hour of thinking that I said screw it, and I didn’t come to Europe and not try to turn around my season to run even pace. I went out the first mile in 4:13 and felt quite comfortable, so I was optimistic about my chances of doing well.
I ended up coming through 3K in 7:53 and two miles in 8:25 and I still felt comfortable, but the pain was starting to creep in. I told myself that I had just over a mile to go and that I was going to get myself in the front pack, so I began to move up gradually and got myself into about 7th place with two laps to go. I stayed here until the bell lap where I really started to hurt and worried that I would not be able to finish the race, so I checked off, which is what I really regret. Maybe if I would have stayed in the pack I would have gotten the competitive juices and that would have overcome my inevitable dying over the last 200 meters. I crossed with a lap to go in 12:05, so I figured that if I even maintained pace I would run fast and under 13:10.
Unfortunately, my body, though it held up really well the whole race, quickly fell apart the last 300 meters, especially the last 150. I ran 73 seconds for my last lap and ended up hitting 13:18.51. I am very indifferent about the outcome, because I still hit the A standard for next year, but also went 11.5 laps of pain to come one lap short of running a great race. So there is frustration, but I enjoyed being in the race and just competing with no expectations and having fun racing again. I am going to try to get in another 5K in September that should be quite fast, so we’ll see how that works out.
My next race will hopefully be a 3K in either London or Monaco on the 29th of July. I will be returning to the States on the 31st of July to train for a month, with a short stop to the Falmouth Mile on the 8th of August, and then coming back over for some more races after the Olympics. Which include most likely right now a 3K at Gateshead on the 31st of August, and then hopefully another 5K attempt at Brussels on the 5th of September. Afterward I hope to have qualified for the World Athletics Final in the 3K in Stuttgart, Germany on the 13th, and return home to run 5th Avenue Mile on the 20th, which will bring my racing season to a close.
Things have been going very well since the Trials. That is a pretty easy statement to make considering what the weeks since Pre were like. Leading up to the Trials I only missed one workout, so I was not losing fitness, it just added a lot more stress (dealing with aches and pains) to an already stressful event. However, I was able to get 100% the week leading up to the Trials–I knew that I had put in plenty of work in the months leading up to the all-important Trials and was ready to go. Everyone knows what happened at the Trials, and I want to forget about that and move on!
Since the Trials Jerry has started the sharpening process, and I am responding very quickly. Part of that process was finding a 1500. It was supposed to be in Europe, but for a lot of reasons it did not work out. This year is a little crazy, and there were not quality 1500s when we needed them. Unfortunately, meet directors over in Europe follow the motto “What have you done for me lately?” I have not run a fast 1500 (or a fast time in any event for that matter) this year. That really limited my chances of getting into a good field. I was on the wait list for some but it is a long way to travel without having the race set in stone.
Luckily for us, our group is very strong and capable of getting in what we needed right in Madison. The one-event meet was an awesome experience. It worked out so much better than we could have planned for. It was perfect weather, an awesome crowd and no stress!! It was pretty cool talking to people after and they would be like, “I found out 30 minutes ago this was going on, so I hopped in the car and rushed down here.” It is great to know we have that support in our community and we are really going to miss it. Portland is going to be a great opportunity and we are looking forward to it, but we will not forget what Madison has done for us!
The 1500 in Madison was a great send-off for Europe. I am in Stockholm now getting ready for a 3k tomorrow. It is a great field, and ‘m really looking forward to competing. I am also glad that I am running early (12:15 CDT) so I can watch the rest of the meet. It is good to see a field of this quality leading up to the Olympics. I will need this because the Olympic 5000 is so stacked and going to be way harder than last year. Plus, I have a feeling that the runners are not going to let it come to a kick like it did last year, as we know how that will turn out!
This will be a one-and-done trip for me, so I better make it worth it. Madison will be good prep leading up to my departure for the Games–it will be hot and humid! I love that weather–that is what I grew up in and have always run well in. Also, I get to be with my wife, sleep in my own bed and relax with the dogs. I will get 12 days in Madison, and then head off to Beijing. Luckily, I get to go to the Opening Ceremonies, which is going to be awesome. I can’t wait, and I am very excited in my training progression.
Leave a comment for me so I know what I should be talking about!! More in the weeks to come.
Although Chris Solinsky ran his second-fastest 5,000m last night in Heusden, Belgium, until late, late, late in the race he was on the verge of a major personal best.
In the “A” heat, Chris was with the lead group of eight as they passed 4,600m in roughly 12:05. A sub-13:10 clocking seemed inevitable. He lost contact with 300m to go, and soon after disaster struck–his back went into spasm with 200m to go, and that last half lap wound up taking Chris 40 seconds. His time of 13:18.51 is still his second best after his 13:12.24 from last summer.
Results are here.
The soon-to-be-ex men from Madison start the first part of their European tour, and as you can see from these photos, they are ready to roll, and then some.
Chris Solinsky opens tomorrow with a 5,000m in Heusden, Belgium. Matt Tegenkamp follows that up with a 3,000m in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday the 22nd. Tim Nelson and Sean Quigley have a 3,000m of their own on te 26th in Oordegem, Belgium.
As he has during past European outings, Teg will be filing periodic dispatches. Curious about something? Use the e-mail friendly version of askteg [AT] kimbia [DOT] net to send our latest Olympian your questions.
Another in an occasional series of our friends’ post-Olympic Trials plans:
I will be hitting the U.S. road race circuit. I will start off with the Falmouth Road Race in Falmouth, Mass., on August 10th, and then follow it up with a series of U.S. championship races like the 20K Championships/New Haven Road Race in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 1st; the CVS Downtown 5K on Sept. 21st; the US 8K Championships in Akron, Ohio on Sept 27th; and next on to the 10K Championships /Tufts 10K in Boston, Mass.
Another in an occasional series, checking in with our friends who competed at the Olympic Trials in Eugene. Today, Brent Vaughn:
My short-term plans are to get healthy. I am a little banged up and am looking forward to resuming training as soon as possible. I am going to run U.S. cross and an undecided race beforehand. I would have liked to continue with my track season, but considering my history of injuries, I decided to cut it short.
I am staying in Boulder to train, but I hope to meet up with Chris, Teg, Simon, Tim and Jonathon to train this year. I am being coached by Greg Weich, and Jay Johnson is going to handle my ancillary work.
Wow, we knew Matt T. was good, but last night he outdid himself, winning every event at a meet in Madison, Wisconsin. Okay, so the meet had one event, a 1500m, but still.
In a field comprised of Matt, Chris Solinsky, Sean Quigley and Jonathon Riley, Matt held off a last-lap challenge from Jonathon to win in 3:37.94, the fastest 1500m ever run in Wisconsin. Jonathan (3:39.02), Chris (3:40.67) and Sean (3:43.46) followed, with Jonathon and Chris also under the old state record of 3:42.63.
Matt leaves for Europe on Thursday for a few larger meets than last night’s, then will return to Madison before heading off to Beijing.
You can read Madison publications’ reports on last night here and here. Video is available here, for now at least, by choosing the race video from among the options at the top right of the page.
The Singore girls may be, collectively, the best high school runners in the world, but until this spring they haven’t had a track to train on. In December, they went 1-4 at Nike Team Nationals, dismantling a good field of American high schoolers. Their fourth runner, Mercy Kosgei, finished over a minute up on the first U.S. runner, and owns a silver medal from World Junior cross country. The team’s fifth, Emmy Kerich, placed a disappointing 45th while recovering from a very recent wisdom tooth excavation. In normal circumstances the girls could be expected to have swept.
Recent Singore alumna Janeth Jepkosgei won a world title at 800 meters last year, and in 1997, graduate Sally Barisosio took Kenya’s first womens’ world gold at 10,000 meters. Internationally, it is difficult to imagine another school even considering the Singore legacy, much less challenging it. Only one country, Ethiopia, has approached distance running success on a level comparable to this high school program. It is possible “best girls team in the world” doesn’t fully capture the Singore dominance.
And yet, for all this, the girls haven’t had a functional track in decades. Each year during rainy season, water cascades from the school’s hillside campus to the playing field below, washing away what appears to be a long-forgotten attempt at grading and constructing a soccer field and dirt oval. During his trip to Kenya last year with Matt Taylor and Tom Ratcliffe, Bellarmin Prep girls coach Matt Ellis decided something ought to be done. Ellis and his team raised over $2,000, and KIMbia agreed to oversee a track reconstruction project, to begin in early 2008. Political chaos, and a series of greedy contractors, have slowed construction, but we’re happy to report that the track is nearing completion.
Thus far, drainage has been the name of the game. The field is both at the bottom of a hill and itself canted, so that the curve from 0 to 100 meters sits nearly 4 feet below the curve from 200 to 300, compounding the erosion problem. Thus far, we’ve devoted most of our efforts to diverting water away from and around the field, and correcting the gradient imbalance from one side to the other. Next, we’ll mine a special soil called marrum, a crushed volcanic rock, and spread it across six (hopefully) level lanes. Most tracks in Kenya use marrum, which doesn’t absorb water during rain storms, because Kenya’s soil has a high concentration of clay and sticks underfoot with shocking tenacity. Tune in for a report from the girls’ maiden home-field interval session in a few weeks.
With the Olympic Trials already starting to seem like a distant memory, let’s check in with our friends who competed there. First up is Tim Nelson, 10th in the 10,000m in 28:29.95. Tim will be among those moving from Madison, Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon in early fall:
I left for Belgium on July 9 to run a 1500 tune-up at Ghent. [Tim placed 3rd in 3:43.52.] The following weekend (July 20th) I plan to run the 5000 at Heusden. The next weekend (July 26th) I may run the 3000 at Oordegem. Those are all the European races we have in mind for the moment. I’m planing to stick around in Europe for a few more days and go visit the significant lady-friend in my life who is in France for a summer study abroad program.
On August 10th I plan to run the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts. After that, things are a bit more uncertain. I hope to do more road races into the fall and perhaps a half marathon at some point. We’ll just have to wait and see how things are going.
