Then Saturday, we had the first TNT Practice of our fall season. Despite the threat of rain, we still had a great turn out of well over a hundred people. Everyone is very excited to be training with us and I personally can't wait to get the season under way. There a lot of new faces and lots of people who have never attempted anything like a marathon or half marathon before. I love working with beginners and watching them realize that they have what it takes to tackle the challenges of a marathon. Should be a very fun season.
From practice Meg and I ran off to the Adidas Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on Randal's Island. This is one of my favorite T&F field events that happen in the NYC area. Its one of those events that attracts the top competitors in the world and has a history of having some amazing times. I was fortunate enough to be on hand a few years ago to watch Usain Bolt (Jam) break the world record in the 100m just a few weeks before he broke it again during the Olympics.
The weather was overcast and a steady mist/drizzle and about 60 degrees. Not ideal record breaking conditions for 100m by any means. A whopping 3 false starts in the Men's 100m didn't help either. The finger pointing was directed at the starter for having a long pause on his count between his move from on your marks and the gun. He was even Booed by some of the crowed. Don't mess with T&F fans.
The conditions were ideal for the HS Boys Jim Ryan dream Mile. The all HS field was stacked with superstars from around the country. Last years winner Lukas Verzbicas was out to defend his title and defend it he did. In addition to winning the race for the 2nd time he also added his name to the short list of HS runners to break 4:00 min for the mile running a 3:59.71. It was a pretty cool thing to watch especially since Jim Ryan himself was on hand to watch the race. This kid is going to make some waves over the next few years at Oregon. Not the the last time we will be hearing his name I'm sure.
On top of the HS kids we also had a great field of pros on hand in the meet including Lolo Jones, Jeremy Wariner, Oscar Pistorius, Allison Felix, Molly Huddle, Anna Pierce, and Shannon Rowbury just to name a few. I have some photos of the meet I'll try to get up here soon. All in all it was a great meet with many exciting moments. I was very glad I was able to score 3rd row seats right off the finish line and most importantly under the covering on the grandstand.
And today I wrapped up my weekend with a trip to fleet feet for some new running gear and then a easy 6 mile long run. Followed by a nice big steak on the BBQ for dinner. As I was just about to light the coals I saw something funny near my running shoe or rather ON my running shoe. As I got closer I realized the cat puked IN one of my running socks and all over one of my running shoes. The sock was a goner but the shoe should make a full recovery. Not really sure how the cat was able to get the puke exactly where it was. It was so ridiculous I couldn't help but laugh. Great weekend! Summers off to a great start. Here is a quick shot of one of the boys HS Dream Mile. More photos to come soon.
