KIMbia Athletics

A very pleasant morning, indeed, in New Haven, Conn. James Carney won the New Haven Road Race, which, as per usual, doubled as the national 20K championship. James ran 59:11 to beat Josh Rohatinsky, the second finisher, by 47 seconds. James’ time was 28 seconds faster than he ran last year while finishing second.

After leading late in the race, Elva Dryer finished second in 1:08:54, 6 seconds behind Jill Steffens.

For James, it was his second national road title of the year, after the half marathon championship in January. James had a solid lead by midway and was never challenged thereafter. He passed 10 miles in 47:26.

Results

Lots of KIMbia folks in action over what for non-professional American runners is a holiday weekend.

First up, on Sunday Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky race 3,000m in Gateshead, England. You can watch the meet live online here, starting at 9:55 a.m. Eastern time.

On Monday, Elva Dryer, James Carney and Fasil Bizuneh will contend for the national 20K title in New Haven, Conn. Elva and James were second in last year’s race. Running Times will have live coverage here.

The same day, (much) further south, Jane Gakunyi, Richard Kiplagat and Luke Kipkosgei will race half as far at the U.S. 10K Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Luke and Richard were second and fourth, respectively, in last year’s race.

Matt had a tough day once the leaders got going, and faded to 13th.

Here’s what he had to say right after the race: “I just didn’t have it. It was a slow first mile, and then they started going. At the mile we were 7 seconds off 12:55 pace, but he still ran 12:57. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ve got to get a lot stronger. I know I have the finish. Now I have to get close enough to use it. I have to work on the important part of the race, the first 3K. I hope to close the gap. I’m disappointed. I felt good. I thought I was ready to roll. They were messing around with the pace. It took a toll. It was tough. I might have forced myself too hard to cover the moves. I should have run more patiently to get back in it. I’ve got the anaerobic system. I can kick with gusto. I’ve got to get more miles in to get stronger, but I have to be smart about it. My coach and I have a plan. We’re going to switch things up a little next year.”

Results

Matt’s 5,000m final is scheduled to start at 8:10 p.m. Beijing time on Saturday. That’s 8:10 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:10 a.m. in Madison and an eye-rubbing 5:10 a.m. on the West Coast. Rumors are that NBC will show the day’s track session live.

We had been intermittently lucky earlier in the week with live Internet feeds through various end-run machinations, but NBC and the IOC seem to have contacted our friends in Denmark, the Bahamas, etc., and those feeds are no longer available. If the promised live showing on NBC doesn’t pan out–and we are nothing if not defensive pessimists–here are your back-ups:

Amby Burfoot will live blog the race on the combined Runner’s World/Running Times Beijing site. He’s in China, and will no doubt frequently update where Matt is in the field.

Parker Morse is live blogging the entire meet for the IAAF. His accounts aren’t as American-focused. Of course, if things go as they should, there won’t be a distinction between writing about the leaders and writing about Matt.

Step one, complete!!

What a crazy race, the most physical race I think I have ever been in. People may question why I like to race from the back, but in these races if you want clean running it is either in the very front or you give yourself room at the back. I don’t really understand the reason for the pushing and shoving, either, because no one is going anywhere and they waste so much energy. I guess if I am out of trouble I should not complain.

Because of the physical nature of the race it was very hard to get into a good rhythm, and I felt terrible for the first 10 laps. “Terrible” may be an overstatement, but I was not comfortable because I kept getting cut off. At least I was able to run on the rail the entire time and use as little energy as possible. The last 800 felt great; we were actually running! When I needed to respond I was able to with ease. Hopefully I didn’t use it all up!

Recovery has been going well. The legs are not too beat up, but the track is hard, so they are a little sore from the pounding. It does not seem that the race took too much out of me, but only time will tell. I am pretty sure, from my experience last year, that the first half of the final is going to be horrible no matter what. I have been able to get in the ice bath a few times, get massage and lots of sleep. I have been around family, which is taking my mind off things for awhile, which I like, because I don’t want to think about this race for every minute leading up to it.

Jerry, on the other hand, that is all he can talk about. Good thing he is staying at another location; what are coaches for!

I will head over to the track tonight to watch the women run their final, and that will be the last little tune-up I need. I really like to go over to the track the night before I race because just being there gets the adrenaline going.

Some more exciting news is that I hear the Saturday portion of track and field is going to be live. NBC is finally doing something right!! Hopefully I will hold up my end and show that it was no fluke in the prelim.

I truly believe that the athletes always strive for medals no matter what event they are in. You would not survive in the sport if you did not dream of winning a medal. Some are happy just to make it to the Olympics, even more so making it to the final. I realize it is a great accomplishment, but I was expecting to make the final. I want to compete and challenge for a medal; that is why I am here.

Hopefully, we will start getting more Americans to think the same way. By “Americans” I am referring to the general public, family and coaches who are influencing the athletes. We need more of these people, who are in the ear of the athletes daily, that we can succeed on an international level. That is what is so special about Jerry–he is a great motivator and never lets you lose sight of the goal. The final will not come easy, and I am looking forward to butting heads with the best in the world.

Hopefully good news will unfold right before everyone’s eyes!!!

Teg

Matt Tegenkamp made sure he would be in Saturday’s 5,000m final by winning his heat today in Beijing. Matt was in the first of three heats, with only four automatic qualifiers from each heat advancing to the final. Knowing that he couldn’t leave it up to chance, Matt ran a beautiful tactical race, covering every move by the lead pack but staying out of trouble toward the back. He squeezed past the others on the homestraight to take the heat in 13:37.36. Matt’s last kilometer was just under 2:29.

Matt’s immediate post-race thoughts: “It was a little tense out there for a long time. I didn’t feel confident until we started running hard the last 800. Before then, there was just so much pushing and jostling around. My family hates it when I run in the back like that but it’s the most comfortable place for me. I can stay out of trouble and keep my eyes on the front of the back. The last 800 was awesome. I felt great. I had gears coming down the final stretch. I’ve been working on my kick, and I’m confident in it now. Not that anyone should put a lot of stock in the finish of this race. Everyone was just trying to save energy for the final. I’m going to run the exact same race in the final. There’s no way I have the ability to get out there and run away from these guys, so I have to believe in my kick and try to be there when someone makes the big move. I have total confidence in my coach Jerry Schumacher. He put together a great long-range plan. At this point I’m feeling very fresh.”

Results

This is it, so glad it is finally here. Training has been going great and I am ready for this. The 5K is so loaded, and it is going to take a perfect race to make the final, but that is what I am here to do. I do not have the attitude that merely making it to the Olympics was “mission accomplished.” I am here to make the final! Nothing more needs to be said! Hopefully by the time most of you are reading this I will be cooling down getting ready for the final. Thank you so much for all the support and please keep it coming!!

Teg

This is my last day in Dalian, and I must say I have really enjoyed it. It has been very relaxing, which is good, because I think if I had stayed in Beijing it would have worn me down. The excitement and anticipation that is built up in the village is great, but only in small doses. That is why it was good to get away so I can use that energy over the next week.

When we arrived in Dalian, we were pretty impressed with the setup. Right from the airport we were told to expect tight security, and it was, but did not affect us at all. Whenever we travel we have cop cars and SWAT surrounding the bus, with the street closed us just for us. Traffic is even stopped as we roll through intersections; that is pretty sweet. We can’t even leave the hotel to go run without someone on a bike or in a car following us.

Because of all the security, we are pretty much confined to the resort; it is not too bad because they have a lot for us to do. We have access to a swimming pool, bowling, ping-pong, golf simulator, movie theater, board games/cards and the Internet. Between all of that, running and eating, it keeps us occupied.

We went bowling the other night, and it was horrible—I bowled four games and broke 100 only once. Jorge Torres and I did a warm-up game, and he was trying to act like he had not been bowling in awhile; however, I knew from Ritz that the Torres brothers go bowling all the time. They even have their own bowling balls and shoes; he was trying to hustle me! Anyway, after I had bowled 87, and then backed that up with 84, I figured I could not get made fun any worse than I already had, so we got a little team competition going. I was with Torres, and we were against Galen Rupp and Brad Hudson. Well, I started lighting it up and bowled 140, but I wasted my good game on those guys, who only bowled a combined 110. My coach, Jerry Schumacher, got added to their team, and they were going to take the two best against Torres and me. I laid an egg and choked in that game and bowled only 96; it was a pathetic night. Torres lead the way for the night and bowled a high score of 164–not bad.

Schumacher and I have been playing a lot of ping-pong and I apparently suck at that too. No wait, I mean he is really good! We have played like 15 games, and I have not won one! The closest I have gotten is overtime, and still lost 22-20. He has this stupid spin serve so when I hit the ball it shoots off the right side table out of bounds. I cannot figure it out and I almost whipped the paddle across the room. As you can see we have been keeping each other company and entertained.

After all the working out and playing, we are hungry which is good, because there is never a shortage of food. USATF did a great thing this year and flew a chef over here to cook for us. We have a buffet for every meal, which is dangerous, and the food is great. I have had to try really hard going up for only one plate, and it doesn’t work all the time. It has been a little easier with Jerry around, because he gives me the evil eye, but that sometimes doesn’t even stop me! The chocolate chip peanut butter cookies always get me!

Oh yeah, that running thing. Running is good over here; the best USATF has ever set us up with, anyway. The golf course is there but you can’t really run on it because the ground is very uneven and it is hilly. Running on the cart path is not bad; combine that with the sea wall and it is a good mix of hills and flat. The best is going to a horse track, where they have rolled a 750m section of the infield so we can do loops on it. It is pretty flat, nice and soft, and actually goes by pretty fast. Then we also have the boardwalk, which is nice because the boards are soft and it goes a long way. I am not saying I would want to do base training (or marathon training, for that matter) here, but it is good enough for this time of year.

There you have it—USATF training camp. I am looking forward to getting back to the hustle and bustle of the Olympic village. I am feeling good and workouts are coming along great. I will be back in a couple of days!

5:15 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.—that’s the amount of time that we were at the opening ceremonies. Do I second-guess the decision to go? NO WAY!

The evening started out with Team USA arriving in the fencing hall for a message from President Bush and a team photo. It took a while for the president to arrive, so it was nice to get to mingle with the other teams. It was pretty impressive to see the amount of members that encompasses Team USA—I think we had close to 400 members walk, and that did not even include everyone. What was completely unexpected was the entire “Dream Team” arrived shortly before the president did; they were immediately swarmed with teammates wanting pictures. It was amazing to see how they took everything in stride and took pictures with whoever wanted one and there was time for.

Jorge Torres and I were pretty smooth with our attempts to get our pictures. Once President Bush arrived, every individual team had a designated spot that formed a horseshoe. President Bush was going to walk around and get a picture with each team. Basketball was first and we were like 15th, so as the president moved on, Torres and I moved on over to the Dream Team and were able to get our own individual pictures with these guys. It was awesome, and it is great to see that they just wanted to be a part of this special occasion just like everyone else. Once we got that important task out of the way we got our picture taken with the former and current President Bush. I can actually say that I got to shake both of their hands; what a great start to the night!

After about two hours Team USA was moved to the staging area across for the Bird’s Nest. This is where things get a little boring for the athletes; contrary to what most think, we do not get to see the show before the parade of nations. We were put in the upper deck of an arena, and it was so hot. We may have been the best dressed, but we also lost about three pounds from sweating. But everyone was in the same boat. It was a little sad that we did not get to see the show because of the rave reviews, but I have it recorded and that would not have replaced walking out into that stadium. I heard Greece was out in the stadium two hours before we walked in—that is crazy!! I have had people tell me that I got about half a second of airtime with they were zooming in on Tyson Gay. Awesome!

The rest of the night was realizing that I fulfilled my dream. At times it almost brought tears to my eyes, and for some it did. I was seriously acting like a little kid in the candy store running all over the place trying to get as much video and pictures as I could. I wanted to be able to keep this experience with me forever.

Funny little story: Dathan Ritzenhein did the opening ceremonies in Athens, so he knew once you are out on the field you can’t leave. That means no bathroom breaks unless you have a bottle handy or what Ritz brought—a rubber bag that you could pee into, and the pee would turn into a gel. Kudos to him for thinking ahead, and it came in handy for a bunch of the guys. (He had multiple bags.) The funniest of them all was when Abdi got us to form a wall, and he seriously went for about three minutes. When he was done the bag looked like it was going to burst—it was crazy how much came out. I wish I could put up a picture, but it is not allowed.

Obviously the lasting image for me will be the lighting of the torch, and it was great. We could not believe they took him around the entire stadium. I will leave you with this, though: Did this torch lighting top that of the ’92 Barcelona Games?

P.S. My roommate while over here is none other than the U.S. flag bearer Lopez Lomong!!!

Got to San Jose on August 5th and that was a lot of fun, mostly because we got about $5,000 worth of clothes from Nike and Polo. With how big this event is I cannot believe how smooth everything has gone. The USOC and the Chinese have done a wonderful job.

The following day, August 6, was the longest day ever. What a trip–12 hours on a plane that had the worst movie selection of all time. Talk about boring! Once we arrived in Beijing, though, everything was very quick. We made it from the airport to the village (and in our rooms) within two hours. And that was traveling with about 30+ people; just goes to show how good they are doing planning things.

Some of the guys got settled a little bit and then got a short run in; then dinner. (The food was great.) After that it went downhill fast. We had a meeting about village life, and I felt like I was back in school. I would be sitting there, and all of a sudden I would snap up because my arm slipped off the table that was supporting my head sleeping!!! Ah, jet lag!

I got great sleep last night and am ready to go do a workout today. Can’t wait for opening ceremonies tonight. I saw the stadium last night and it is going to be amazing!!! This is going to be a great experience. Hopefully I will be able to get pictures up tomorrow. I can’t believe this is finally here!

P.S. There is a thick haze in the sky, but it does not mess with breathing, at least not on easy days. I think we are going to be fine.