WE deserve it, do YOU?

(Important note for this post- This is written from a collegiate runners POV, but many of my experiences are the same for athletes in all of the other collegiate sports.  I’m not looking for a pat on the back for describing my schedule/stresses, I can do that myself.)
(Important note number 2: Anytime I write a potentially offensive post, I get a pretty sizable amount of hate mail/bashing comments.  Y’all, read some of my posts. Take things with a grain of salt, relax, and enjoy these for their mix of humor and truth.)

You know something has to get me pretty worked up to bring my blogging self back from the dead.  I was just peacefully scrolling through my Twitter Feed while sitting on the toilet before my night run when I saw this “article” retweeted by an Illinois athlete.

http://www.dailyillini.com/opinion/columns/article_826b725e-7a47-11e2-a1c6-001a4bcf6878.html

Take a minute to calm down before you read this post.  Maybe go for a run, take a hot shower.

Ok, do you have yourself collected?  Good.  Let’s destroy this horrible human being’s argument.

Before we even get to taking apart how poorly written, biased, unsupported, and stupid this article was, let’s start by looking at a picture of the gal who wrote the piece (it’s not creepy, her picture is in the article)

The symbol of America’s oppressed college student: a pretty white female.

Also, this was posted in the comments section on your article, but looking at your room really makes me feel for you.  Life looks pretty damn tough 😦  YOU’RE AN RA, YOU DON’T EVEN PAY FOR HOUSING YOU IDIOT.

Next, let me give you a few tips on journalism, dear.  I know it’s an opinion piece, but tip number one:
Don’t discredit your authority in the first few paragraphs of your article.

“I never finished the mile run. I always dropped out around a third of the way to puke or pass out — whichever came first”

LOL. Wait, WHAT??  You can’t run 533ish meters without puking or passing out?  You expect anybody to take you seriously after opening with something like that?  I sure hope you’re exaggerating and this claim isn’t true.  I guess I wouldn’t expect a cardio system to be very efficient in somebody who is so cold-hearted.  I know 200+ pound non-athletes that can run longer than that.  I know people without the bottom half of their legs that can run much further than that, except they use their talent to murder their girlfriends, unfortunately (too soon, I know.)

THIS guy is fitter than you. Hit the gym, girl.

“This occurred to me as I noticed my one friend take out her student athlete class planner. I front a small fee for an iBook. Her student athlete school supplies are free.”

A.) You only have one friend?

B.)  I’ve been informed by people at your own school that iBooks can be obtained for free at the Illini Union Bookstore.  Are you paying just so you can get more people to listen to you whine?

C.) Yes, some of us at our respective Universities get free planners.  PLANNERS.  I have never received free pencils, books, pens, papers, notebooks etc. etc.  Maybe your school has a special deal with Staples, or maybe you’re just making another unsupported claim.

Student-Athlete Planners, the number one coveted athletic benefit by muggles nationwide

“Not only do they get blue and orange gear free of charge, which includes those trademark Nike tracksuits and backpacks, but student athletes are also privy to tutoring services that the rest of us standard, non-athletic-scholarship students have to go out of our way for or otherwise not have. But I wonder how many of those athletes would be doing so well if they were just plain, non-athlete students?”

Give me your address, I’m being serious.  I will gladly mail you some of my gear for free (as long as it’s not an NCAA violation to do so).  Also, I haven’t met with a tutor since my freshman year in the Fall of 2009.  But say I did need to use a tutor, let’s just examine how “unfair” this is that I could see one for “free”.

Please, dear, tell me how rough your schedule must be.  Tell me how hard studying must be with all of your free time.  Do you have the slightest clue what it means to have the schedule of a student-athlete?  Do you think we can have the same class schedule as you?  Think we can start classes at noon and go until 5pm instead of 8am to 1pm?  Here is a quick look at my schedule.  With this schedule, the best I could work it out since these are required classes for my major, I have to miss practice THREE out of the FIVE schooldays every week (Regular practice is at 2:30pm, I can only attend M/W).

Monday (MY EASY DAY):
8:00am-9:00am- Morning run (6-10 miles)
9:00am-9:30am- Stretch, roll out, rehab, ice bath
9:30am-10:00am- Shower, get dressed, maybe get coffee/eat, take the bus to campus
10:00am-12:00pm- African American Studies 490
12:00pm-2:00pm- Eat lunch, get homework started, make my way to training room.
2:30pm-5:00pm- Practice (10-16miles depending on workout) (Note to NCAA- don’t total up these hours because they aren’t all observed)
5:30pm-6:30pm- Shower and eat
6:30pm-10pm- Homework (once again, remember this is my EASY day)

Tuesday:
5:30am-6:00am- 3-4mi jog in the dark, usually below 15 degrees
6:00am-6:40am- Eat breakfast, get dressed for Student-Teaching
6:40am-7:20am- Pick up carpooling classmates and drive to Saline High (20min away)
7:30am-11:29am- Student-Teaching with 10th-12th grade English Students
11:29-12:00pm- Get back to campus and drop off classmates at their houses.
12:00pm-1:00pm- Drop car off at track, get on bus to campus, eat lunch, get to North Quad basement for class
1:00pm-2:30pm- Writing 300 (Peer Tutoring for Education Majors)
2:30pm-4:00pm- Ed 391 (Educational Psychology)
4:00pm-6:00pm- Ed 307 (Education Practicum)
6:00pm-6:30pm- Take bus to the track, get changed, and get ready to run by myself for the second time of the day.
6:30pm-7:30/8:oopm- 10-14 mi depending on workout
8:00pm-8:45pm- Shower and eat
8:45pm-10:00pm- Homework (even though I’m usually completely spent by this time)

Wednesday (My “Easy” day again):

8:00am-9:00am- Morning run (6-10 miles)
9:00am-9:30am- Stretch, roll out, rehab, ice bath
9:30am-10:00am- Shower, get dressed, maybe get coffee/eat, take the bus to campus
10:00am-12:00pm- African American Studies 490
12:00pm-2:00pm- Eat lunch, get homework started, make my way to training room.
2:30pm-5:00pm- Practice (10-16miles depending on workout)
5:30pm-6:30pm- Shower and eat
6:30pm-10pm- Homework (once again, remember this is my EASY day)

Thursday:
6:00am-6:40am- Eat breakfast, get dressed for Student-Teaching
6:40am-7:20am- Pick up carpooling classmates and drive to Saline High (20min away)
7:30am-11:29am- Student-Teaching with 10th-12th grade English Students
11:29-12:00pm- Get back to campus and drop off classmates at their houses.
12:00pm-1:00pm- Drop car off at track, get on bus to campus, eat lunch, get to North Quad basement for class
1:00pm-2:30pm- Writing 300 (Peer Tutoring for Education Majors)
2:30pm-4:00pm- Ed 391 (Educational Psychology)
4:00pm-4:30pm- Take bus to track, get ready to run alone.
4:30pm-6:00pm- 12-16 miles
6:00pm-6:30pm- Shower, get dressed, get home
6:30pm-7:00pm- Cook and eat dinner
7:00pm-9:00pm- Hmwk
9:00pm-10/11pm- Spend time with girlfriend, my cherished free time I’ve made for myself.

Friday:
9:00am-10:00am-5-8mi depending on what I plan on getting out of afternoon run
10:30am-1:00pm- My best time span for doing homework during the week.
1:00pm-4:00pm- Education 440 (Teaching English, Methods Course)
4:00pm-4:30pm- Get to track, get ready to run
4:30pm-5:30/6pm- 10-12mi depending on total for the day/week

Saturday:
“Easy Day” if there is no meet, generally run 5-10mi and do work the rest of the day.
If there is a meet, I would have travelled one to two days beforehand and would be at a track for 6 or more hours on this day.

Sunday (LONG RUN.)
10:00am-12/12:20pm- 20-23 miles to cap off a 100-120mi week. (in the fall we drive 20-30min out to the run, adding to the time this takes.  In the winter, this run is done in the snowstorms outside while you are lying down comfortably in your bed recovering.
Rest of day- fighting off post long run exhaustion sleep to do my very heavy homework load.

Sorry for the runners that had to read that, I permit you to just skip over that because it’s not anything new to you.  But Miss Renee, does that seem like a fair trade for some “free” sweatpants, shoes, and gear that isn’t given to us for the hell of it but instead so we don’t freeze to death while we are running in snow storms?

Ever had to repeatedly pull ice off of your eyelids for an hour so you can see during your run?

 

I’m actually LUCKY with my schedule, my coach allows me to miss practice for these classes. The majority of athletes have from 8am-2pm to sneak in ALL of their classes.  Friday classes, you can forget about that. I have to miss 1/4 of my Friday classes this semester and my professor already told me “it’s going to be very hard for you to pass” (to which I replied, in my mind, “Game On.”)  And for each time I have to miss class to go to a meet, do you think my professor gives me extra time to study for tests, to hand in homework later? NO. The OPPOSITE, actually.  Professors don’t bend over backwards for us, and actually many times you probably have the advantage in winning your professor’s approval over us.  We have to turn in our work EARLY more often than not, and have you ever taken a test while at a hotel with your athletic trainer sitting next to you in a room making sure you have no extra resources that aren’t allowed and that you get exactly the amount of time that the instructor has provided you with?  Let me tell you how awkward that is and just how “fun” and “easy” it is to focus when you’re taking a test in an eerily quiet hotel room the day before a major race.  No late night cramming the day before either, because you need your rest to run fast.

As for your comment about what if we were regular students- I think I would have a 4.0.  In fact, I have little doubt that I would.  I would literally have 20 or more hours given back to me every week and an unmeasurable amount of energy restored to my body and mind allowing me to perfect my studies.  In fact, with your schedule you have no excuse not to get the highest grade possible.  But that’s just me.  I have so many teammates, with schedules similar to or worse than mine, who very rarely if ever use tutors and maintain GPAs between 3 and 4.0 in difficult majors like Engineering and Pre-Med.  But yeah, they don’t deserve those grades because from time to time they see a tutor and they can show up to the tutor in a pair of sweats the university provided for them, right?

Oh, in case you were wondering, my GPA is above 3.0.  I have been a part of 8 Academic All-Big 10 Teams and have received several accolades for my academics.  What’s yours, hot shot?

By the way, what do you do on weekends?  Go out? Get drunk? Sleep in?  Howabout St Patty’s Day, Football Pre-games, “Thirsty Thursday”, Halloween, Your Birthday? Your friend’s Birthday?  Because WE don’t do that.  I can’t speak for every collegiate athlete on this, obviously, but since you made grossly over-generalized statements you’ve set the rules for this game.  You know what a crazy Friday night is for me?  When I stay up past 11pm.  St Patty’s Day? I believe I did a 21mi run last year on that day and then spent most of the day sleeping the run off. Yeah, it can be a boring life, but there’s a thing called discipline you might not have ever heard of.

Typical regular student spring break.

Actual picture from my Ann Arbor Spring Break 2011. Not allowed to leave campus, studying for exams as it snowed heavily outside.

 It would take me 18 years to discover coordination, stamina or anything that vaguely resembled athleticism. And it’s too bad, really — had I hit my fitness stride just a few years earlier, maybe I could be getting more out of this University. Because that is exactly what student athletes do.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve read all year, congratulations!  You think ANYBODY can do what we do?  You think I just happened to run one day and automatically was good enough to run for a Division 1 institution? This is a slap in the face to every one of us who have worked our ASSES off to get the incredible opportunity to MAYBE, just MAYBE, compete for a university should all of our hard work come to fruition.  If this was something everybody or anybody could do, EVERYBODY would be doing it. So shut your mouth, lady, because I’ve been running since I was 7 years old so I could have an opportunity like this.  My parents lived in a trailer park when I was born and although we’ve achieved middle class through my dad’s service to our country and my mom’s 20 years of teaching, I still don’t receive any aid in tuition from my parents.  I, like regular students, have over 50 thousand dollars in loans I will have to try and pay off some day.

“It’s no secret that it pays to play. Sports generate money, and every state in the Union knows Illinois is basically broke. But not everyone knows just how much is spent on sports and the student athletes who play them. Athletes at nearly all American colleges and universities get some sort of specialized physical, nutritional, psychological and academic accommodations. I understand the priority put on food, workouts and mental health, and there are services at the University that are of little to no cost that us mere-mortal, sport-challenged folk can go to for our own lifestyle concerns. But academically, student athletes here are blatantly getting a leg up on the competition.

At the Irwin Academic Center, student athletes have to log mandatory hours in either the study rooms or computer labs reserved specifically for them. It is the Salt Lake Temple of our supposedly “Inclusive Illinois” — these tutoring services and study spaces are for members only. Tell me again what’s wrong with the UGL? Or any of the other 20-some area studies libraries on campus? Several of my friends who happen to be student athletes are both highly intelligent and motivated — do they really need this service? Illinois athletics boasts that Irwin is “offering the very best in academic services to Illinois student-athletes.” So what does that leave for the rest of us? Are we not “striving for excellence” as well? If a non-student athlete had issues passing a class, few professors, instructors or TAs would take the initiative to seek me out for extra help. (I say few because I have had the privilege to meet some outstandingly passionate and dedicated educators who will all but bleed for their students to succeed, but I digress.) 

If a student athlete’s grades start to suffer, Illinois has it covered.  “

Sports are part of the reason institutions like yours can keep putting up new buildings on campus.  Whether you agree with it or not, sports are an incredibly important institution on big campuses.  Especially in the Big 10.

Another way we can tell you know nothing about our experience.  Do you know how much “mandatory study hours” SUCK?  I dare you to find a single athlete that likes those.  Being forced to study somewhere where the student may not even be comfortable studying? Those are the bane of our existence.  If you did your research, you’d know they usually only exist for struggling upperclassmen or freshmen.

Scumbag Renee.

” If a non-student athlete had issues passing a class, few professors, instructors or TAs would take the initiative to seek me out for extra help”

This line is crap.  Office Hours are available to ALL students and neither student-athlete nor n0n-athlete get any more hours than the other.  To be fair though, I wouldn’t seek you out either, because you seem like a not fun person.  But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.

” Of course every student athlete on this campus will have his or her own experiences with the system. I don’t blame anyone for trying to get the most out of a college education —”

Wait. You just discredited your whole argument.

 

 “Besides the money, the memories and the merchandise, the association says that student athletes are more likely to live longer due to healthier lifestyles developed through forced fitness. “

The NCAA- We FORCE you to LIVE LONGER.

Leadership skills and discipline are almost a given on any team, but become a college athlete and you get to write those skills on your resume with the stamp of Illini approval.

 LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND DISCIPLINE ARE NEVER a “given”.  Those are skills have to be LEARNED.  Just being an athlete doesn’t make one a good leader or disciplined, and there are plenty of things you can do for your resume that require LESS time than being an athlete that will be just as useful on your resume.  Btw, do you even know how hard it is to survive 4-5 years on a collegiate athletic team?  Do you think everybody gets to put this on their resume?  My recruiting class originally had 5 distance runners, there’s only 2 of us left.  The class below me has lost more than half of its original class due to poor grades, cuts, dropping out, and quitting.

I can run several miles today. But the time for scholarships and color-coordinated perks are behind me — so what’s the point? I’ll buy my own planner.

Once again proving you HAVE NO IDEA what we do. We don’t go out there and jog several miles.  It’s a lifestyle.  It’s a job. Work hours are 24/7, and guess what we’re not getting paid for this job.

So yeah, maybe we get a few things you don’t.  I’m sorry you have to buy your own dang planner.  We work too damn hard to put up with you and your high horse you ride on.  The truth, which you are terrified to admit, is that WE DESERVE THIS. 

Do you?

Election Day Post: Politician PR’s

I thought of possibly doing another satire piece but there is already going to be enough political arguments going on in everybody’s Facebook feeds today.  So here is a list of the fastest politicians, enjoy!
(NOTE: These are American politicians only)

Paul Ryan (His REAL time): 4:01:25

He may be a liar and kind of a sh1tty person, but he is still a beautiful, beautiful man.

Michele Bachmann- 21:52 5k

She didn’t even train, just ran on pure hate

Rick Perry- Former avid triathlete, 1:42:17 half marathon, 21min 5k

Shorts over tights!! NOOOOO RICK PERRY NOO!!!

Sarah Palin- 3:59:36

Don’t try to outrun this cougar!

Palin gets a high ranking because she ran her sub 4 on frozen ice keeping her eyes on the Russians.

George W. Bush: 3:44:52 Marathon, 5k PR- SUB 20min

GEORGE BUSH HATES SLOW PEOPLE

Michael Dukakis: 3:31:00

He did better in this race than his vice-presidential run

John Edwards: 3:30:18

Presumably he got his mileage in while running to his mistress’s house

Harry Reid: 3:16 at Boston

This mormon leaves Romney in the dust

Max Baucus: 3:01:18

 

Who the hell is Max Baucus?

Gary Johnson: IRONMAN 10hrs39min, CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST

 

I VOTED FOR YOU ❤

 

Barack Obama: sub 13 5k

Guys, he’s a Kenyan, duh!

Ron Paul: 220yd PR 22.2, 440yd PR 51.2!!!!

State champ in the 1800’s!

 

Jim Ryun: 3:51 mile

Clear winner in this race.

 

Breaking News: With NYC Marathon Cancellation, all in NY back to Normal

Following pressures from bourgeois fat internet bloggers journalists, crossfitters, The NY Post and other media outlets, Mary Wittenberg cancelled this year’s jog through the city most famous for The Beastie Boys, A-Rod, Rudy Giuliani, and the cast of Mob Wives.

The Pride of NY

Wittenberg and Bloomberg handled the cancellation fantastically by giving the athletes word of the cancellation a whopping 2 days before the race.

In the post NYCM cancellation time-span, the city has undergone a miraculous transformation.  As the sun rose above the Big Apple this morning it’s glorious rays didn’t fall on destroyed piers, flooded homes, and powerless homes.  Instead, daybreak displayed a completely healed and repaired metropolis.

With the lack of weirdos wearing grossly short shorts trotting through the city and bringing mayhem to the city with their displays of athleticism and struggle, the empire city was finally able to heal.

NYC before the cancellation

 

NYC this morning due to the NYCM not happening

 

 

A study done by an imaginary person at the New York Post reports that the power generators that the marathon course had planned to use were able to power the entire city.

“The New York Post is definitely the most credible news source!”- Said Nobody, ever.

“Do you know how much energy it costs to keep the marathon clock on for the people with finishing times greater than 4 hours?  Enough to restore power to every project building in the Bronx! Selfish runners should be ashamed of what resources they were keeping for themselves and a silly “PR” or whatever they call it.” reports an internet blogger from Seattle who had spent the previous 48 hours slamming every poster in favor of the marathon online for not donating their life savings to the relief effort.  (When questioned how much he had donated, he offered no reply)

I don’t always criticize people for not donating to relief efforts, but when I do, I make sure I dont donate either

The power generators from the race restoring power to all five boroughs was just the first ingredient to the city’s overnight regeneration.  Without 40,000 Phidippides wannabees crowding the city for 8 or so hours, those left homeless from the storm were able to rebuild their apartment complexes hastily without having annoying runners interrupting their work asking them where the nearest port-a-potties are.

Actual picture of homeless enthusiastically getting to work on their homes this morning

While many proponents for having the marathon run today offered that the race would provide inspiration to many throughout the city, after today’s miraculous display of healing it’s clear that wallowing in the pain and suffering of a natural disaster is the best way to fix problems.  Inspiration is just for those damn hippy liberals.  Widespread anger, finger pointing, resentment, and more complaining than an all day TV marathon of The View injected the spirit that had almost been broken right back into the city.

 

 

IN RELATED NEWS: NYPD reports a spike in mischief committed by Kenyans in the city over the last 48 hours.  After finding out the marathon was cancelled, elite Kenyans spent the night playing the world’s most intense game of Red-Light Green-Light through all of Manhattan.  Afterwards they headed to the bar and caused problems when consuming one single sip of alcohol caused the athletic beings with -24 percent body fat to get instantly frat-bro on saint patty’s day level drunk.  Bouncers commented that at first they were scared of the unruly drunk runners until a breeze came into the bar and they were instantly carried away with it.

 

Also, sightings of Kenyans racing up stairwells in skyscrapers and starting a very efficient pedi-cab service were reported

 

Rule 40: The “Keep em Poor!” Rule.

It seems that continuing to make the Olympic Sports, especially Track and Field, look like a joke has been the theme of the last few months.  We’ve all followed Symmonds and many of his fellow athletes battles with the IAAF and USATF, but now we’re finally seeing the effect that these  stupid unfair advertising rules have on a MUCH larger scale.  A problem of Olympic proportions you might say.

But hey, look on the bright side, it’s not just America screwing it up this time.

Rule 40 (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH RULE 34 of the Internet) was developed by the Olympic Committee to keep the small companies and athletes from profiting help prevent “ambush advertising” as well as helping to preserve the “amateurism” and “integrity” feel of the games.

First of all if you don’t think the Olympics are a completely commercialized event and really are just about friendly competition and athletic endeavors, wake the heck up.

Not just a game

The rule is set up to make sure the money stays in the hands of the big boys.  Basically, only the major corporations who have spent MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars to be official sponsors of the games, are the only companies with any rights to advertise with the benefit of Olympic association.

Forbes did a really well put-together article here describing some of the odd restrictions these rules have:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/07/24/olympic-hurdles-for-advertisers-the-games-unique-rules-and-restrictions/

The “Chips” ban and the ATM restrictions are my favorites in the article, copied and quoted from Forbes below (I gave you credit Forbes so I’m fairly sure this isn’t plagiarism)

• All 800 Olympic food retailers are banned from serving chips (French fries) during the Games in Britain—except for McDonald’s. A leaked memo reads, “Due to sponsorship obligations with McDonalds, LOCOG have instructed the catering team they are no longer allowed to serve chips on their own anywhere within the Olympic park. The only loophole to this is if it is served with fish.”
• ATMs at Olympic venues have been replaced by Visa ATMs, as part of an exclusivity deal. This means that those without Visa cards won’t be able take out cash.

That seems fair, right?  So much for equal opportunities for local businesses.

The rule also prevents the actual athletes from appearing in advertising during the games.  Ok yeah, this probably will not effect Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, or Lebron James at all, but what about the athletes who don’t make sickening amounts of money every year? More specifically the athletes whose biggest most important event is the Olympics and really probably the only real opportunity for the athletes to make a significant amount of money with the worldwide exposure.

I’m gunna take a wild guess and assume Female Olympic Archers don’t make 20mil a year from their sport.  (Photo Cred: Gawker)

In conjunction with athletes not being allowed to appear in non-official sponsor advertising, the athletes are also forbidden from doing any kind of advertising through social media.  If an athlete wanted to send a shoutout to “EatRunSwag” (let’s imagine this blog is a real brand for a second) for helping them make it to the Olympics, this would be forbidden.  (Feel free to thank me if you’d like though, Olympians, especially you Mr. Rupp 😉 )

If Rupp said “Thank you (insert sponsor here)!”, VIOLATION. You’re welcome, though.

How do the athletes feel about this?  Check this good collection of Twitter responses below:
http://twitchy.com/2012/07/29/wedemandchange-many-u-s-olympic-track-and-field-athletes-protest-rule-40/

Leo Manzano is particularly upset because the rule prevents him from doing something as simple as describing how much he likes his spikes. RIDICULOUS, HOW DARE HE!!!??

So if a non-major sponsor wouldn’t be able to use a sponsored athlete in any form of advertisement during the Olympics, why the hell would said sponsor have any reason/desire to sponsor the athlete?  This just sets us even further back in the advertising fiasco.   It’s not as if sponsors were jumping at every chance to sponsor track athletes before this rule, and now they’re pretty much being told that if they did sponsor the athletes, they really wouldn’t be able to profit at all from it and could face punishment should they try to. If I was one of those corporations, I guess I wouldn’t waste my time sponsoring the athletes either.  This keeps the money with the major corporations as well as making sure it also stays out of the athletes hands.

Great job Olympic Committee, way to preserve the spirit of the Olympics.

The unofficial slogan goes: “The most important thing is not to win, but to take part!”, well we know who’s winning, and sadly, it’s not the athletes.

Interviewing Olympians: Emma Coburn

A couple of weeks ago I did a post about how I embarrassed the hell out of myself behind Emma Coburn in 2008.  If you didn’t read, here’s the link:  http://eatrunswag.com/2012/06/19/how-to-creep-out-girls-and-embarrass-yourself-a-re-telling-of-an-unfortunate-event/

Luckily, she thought it was a funny post and allowed me to ask her some interview questions 🙂

So without further adieu, here is my FIRST INTERVIEW WITH AN OLYMPIAN!!

 

 

America’s Sweetheart

If you could choose one place in the world to vacation right now, all expenses paid, where would you go?

Phuket, Thailand! I hear it’s beautiful there and I like hearing other people mispronounce it when they read it.

“Want to go to Thailand?” “Ah, Phuket let’s go”

What’s your favorite movie and why?

Pulp Fiction. I love the multiple story lines and how they all come together. I love the soundtrack. I love the cast. Above my TV in my living room I have a poster of Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta, guns pointed out, about to shoot a fool…. (I don’t even care that it clashes with all the pretty girlie things)

This steepler has a great taste in movies.

Who are some of your favorite athletes?
Aaron Rodgers. My boyfriend Joe is from Wisconsin and made me a Packer fan. I still love my childhood team of the Denver Broncos, but its hard not to love the Packers and Aaron. This tribute video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPdC1ltLWvU) was filmed in Joe’s hometown …it explains why

Maybe not one of my favorite athletes, but one of my favorite mustaches of all time for sure

Do you prefer dogs or cats?

Dogs

Me too. Here’s me with my dog when I was a little tot

What’s your major?
Marketing

This is what you get when you google “Marketing”. Looks fun!

Just so I can get it on record: You forgive me for making a fool out of myself and essentially ruining your NON interview back in 2008? Yes, but its taken 4 years for me to get over that embarrassing moment. (jk)

Me at my finest, scratching my butt, ruining an interview, about to fall

Running Questions:

I’m currently doing a month-long training stint at altitude in Flagstaff, AZ. You went to high school at altitude and live at altitude in college too. Many people have been asking me if training at altitude like I’m doing/you’ve been doing for a long time is worth it. Would you recommend training at altitude to those thinking of trying it? I don’t know if I’m the best person to answer this. I grew up at 9,000 feet so Boulder (at 5,400ft) is like sea level to me. I love it though, I recommend trying it out.

MAGS. Always wanted to try this

What made you want to try the steeple? When I first saw you do it I was a junior in high school at the Great Southwest Meet (where I also ran the steeple). Was that your first taste of the steeple? And have you grown to love it even more since then? I went to the Great Southwest Classic to run an 800 my junior year. We didn’t want to drive all that way to just run 2 laps, but the only other event on a different day was the steeple. So I tried it! I love it now more than ever.

Emma being good at sports. (Photo Cred Mike Scott)

After reading the Runnersworld interview, it sounds like you really have great people/coaches supporting you at Colorado. What made you choose to go to school there, could you tell you’d have that kind of support right away? Every person in my family has gone to CU. I grew up cheering for them and even had a mini CU cheerleading outfit. It was the school I always saw myself at but wasn’t sure if I could be good enough to run there. I looked at other schools, but when Mark called me, I was sold! I’ve always had supportive family and friends, but it was a nice surprise to have that support in the team, coaches and athletic department too.

Running with the Buffaloes

That pic that surfaced of you kissing your boyfriend after the race was pretty adorable. I can’t really think of a faster distance running couple in the NCAA. Is it nice being with somebody who can understand the lifestyle of an elite athlete (him being one too)? Will he be able to make the trip to London?

What you can’t see in that picture is that I am stranding on a 5-foot tall fence. Joe pulled me up! It was a really special moment and I was so happy to get to share it with him. We have been dating since high school and so he has been there from the beginning. He’s seen me go from an 11:30 2-miler in high school to an Olympian…he was there for every step of it. He isn’t an emotional guy but I made him tear up that day! Joe is great because he doesn’t settle for less than his best, and he has passed that trait onto me. He has definitely help make me the best version of myself I can be…on and off the track. And yes, he will be going to London!

Most adorable track picture of the year.

Only a very select few people can answer a question like this, so maybe let us regular people/people still dreaming of this know how it feels: What did it feel like crossing the finish line at the trials knowing you’d be representing the US at the Olympics? For me, it wasn’t a big rush of emotion initially. When I crossed the line, I was really happy obviously, but that race was more business than emotion. I knew what I had to do, and I did it. When I crossed the line, I wasn’t as elated as expected just because I knew I had done my job. But then later, I broke down because I was so happy! Its still weird to think I am an Olympian. Its so surreal!

Olympic Trials Victory SWAG.

After your race, do you plan on trying to see some other non-track events?
I’d love to but I think most events are sold out!

Maybe go see this guy if you can?

Would you like to send any shout-outs or special thanks to anybody?
Shout out to the Coburn fam, Joe and the Bosshard crew!

 

 
Thanks so much for letting me ask you some questions Emma! We can’t wait to see you chase your dreams in London! Best of luck!

EatRunSwag’s Super Trials Recap!

Quick news on shirts: Last night I submitted my bank info to the google checkout store I setup. It’s going to take up to three days to verify my account, then when I submit tax info the store is ready to go!

Anyway, all of us track junkies just got finished watching the Olympic Trials.  It was WAY more dramatic, exciting, disappointing, and controversial than many of us thought it would be.  Favored athletes failing to qualify, drug cheat agent scandals, the Fam debacle, and the women’s 100m dash amateur hour special (in the words of LR) made for an interesting week, to say the least, in the sport of track and field.

Here is my recap, with a hint of humor, and a dose of honesty.  *WARNING- This post contains foul language, humor, and satire, not recommended for the average stuck up runner douche or women who may be pregnant or nursing.

 

WOMENS 100m DASH- Tarmoh gives Felix the friendship bracelet she made for her back.

VICTORY IS MINE, BITCH.

 

We all wondered what would become of the “dead heat” between the two runners who are (were) also great friends and training partners.  I can’t really hate on Felix because when it comes down to it, track is an individual sport, and if an athlete wants as many chances to get a gold medal, that’s what they train for and live for. But dayum, gurl, I would have let her have that spot. You took 3RD in the US trials, focus on the 200m LIKE EVERY ANALYST AND FORMER GREAT has told you to! That’s a cold move. You better medal in both now babe.

 

MENS 100m- Justin Gatlin enjoys benefits of drugs to win US title and Olympic Berth

Fuck. You.

While I am not so naive to really think that a lot of the top athletes aren’t on drugs (while I desperately hope they aren’t), I firmly believe that anybody caught should get a LIFETIME BAN.  Seriously, by letting these people return for their “second” chance we’re pretty much saying, “cheat until you get caught. But if you get caught, you’re going to have to sit out until the next Olympics. Then come back and have fun!”  We aren’t providing enough incentive for people NOT to cheat.

Was also sad to see Walter Dix injured 😥

 

Womens 100m Hurdles-  Lolo Jones pops her London Olympic cherry.

..virgin?

I was going to type something about the race but I forgot while posting that picture. Enjoy

 

MENS 110m HURDLES- JEFF PORTER YEAHHHHH GO BLUE!

Those who dive…

 

Surprise 3rd place finisher Jeff Porter was so ecstatic on qualifying that he pretended there was a slip and slide after the finish line. This guy works his butt off, we see him at our track every day and he deserves this after all the hours he has put in. Go get em, and Go Blue.

Also, David Oliver looked TERRIBLE in becoming one of the most surprising athletes not to qualify .

 

WOMENS 200m DASH- Allyson Felix is way faster than I’ll ever be.

And prettier than I’ll ever be, too

 

MENS 200m DASH- Wallace Spearmon wins, no surprise there.

 

Is it racist if I think he looks like Ice T?

 

WOMENS 400m DASH-  Sanya Richards is scary fast.

I could win this shit with my eyes closed y’all

 

MENS 400m DASH- Jeremy Wariner isn’t very good at sports anymore, and Bryshon Nellum wins the swagged out comeback award 

50 cent got shot 9 times and made some shitty records. I made an Olympic Team. YOLO.

WOMENS 400m HURDLES- Arizona gal is quite a wildcat

She seems to have some swag

 

MENS 400m HURDLES- BATMAN doesn’t RETURN, has a DARK NIGHT (I’m too punny)

Pretty much this happened.

WOMENS 800- Geena Gall represents the Wolverines well, Vessey shits the bed.

Wolverine Swag

 

MENS 800- Jock runs like a high schooler, Duane Solmon makes me tear up, and Nick Symmonds proves that “One Night in Paris” was pretty helpful 

I’m staying in a “Hilton” tonight

 

WOMENS 1500- Boring. No surprises in this one.

Pretty sure she could beat me up. Blindfolded.

 

MENS 1500m- Manzano Hooks Em, Robby Andrews runs like a fool, Matt Mr Steal Yo Girl Centro through, Wheating makes second Oly team

Omg he’s so little and adorable

 

WOMENS 3k STEEPLE- Emma won. I fell behind her once. See two posts before this.

Sorry boys, she’s taken. Also, AWEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

MENS 3k STEEPLE- My team captain made the final, Jager doesn’t bomb and I like his hair, Cabral continues awesome season.

“Rule #1, no touching of the hair or face”

 

WOMENS 5K- Sorry I didn’t watch it I was driving to Flagstaff.

MENS 5k-  This race was “Rupp-Certified”, see previous post.

“Suck it Kenyan!”- Rupp

 

WOMENS 10k- Natosha Rogers proves NCAA title was not a fluke.

Eh hard to cheer for an aggie but I’m a fan.

 

MENS 10k- NBC brings in a British guy who knows his shit, Rupp makes it look easy, Teg and Ritz are back, and I just choked on a chip while typing this

I thought the starting line was the beginning..?

 

MENS DECATHLON- Ashton Eaton is really good at sports.  ESPN shows how f-cking stupid they are.

“You only ranked me 10th???”

Sports center ranked him 10th on the top 10. Behind a fan who caught a ball at a game with his hat. I’m not making this shit up.

Also how awkward was the exchange between Bruce Jenner and Dave O’Brien? Damn.

 

NIKE Proves they own the sport and don’t give a fuck about rules.

Suck it Nike/Hayward Field.

Example 1- http://www.letsrun.com/2012/block-0701.php  Excellent article by the Brojos on LetsRun. This is sure to ruin your day.

Example 2- They kicked out the Brooks dudes for a silly advertisement

Example 3- Alan Fucking Terrible at Running Webb

Example 4- Fam not let in

 

 

Wow that took a lot of time, I’m going to go do something productive now. Hope y’all enjoy this post!

Special Shout-Out to Derek Rubis, the biggest fan in track and field, who I’m sure had a phenomenal time at the trials, you deserve it Derek!

 

 

Dear Galen Rupp: You’re Welcome.

OK, now I know that the post that essentially made my blog well known was this post about Galen that I did shortly after the US champs last summer: http://eatrunswag.com/2011/06/24/the-infamous-galen-rupp/   but now I can safely say that Rupp has redeemed himself (to me at least)

 

Pre-2012 Galen Rupp was pretty ridiculous.  Although he ran some pretty damn impressive times and races, he donned that ridiculous Hannibal Lector mask, effeminately posed on starting lines, and found many of the races in the US to not be “Rupp Certified”

Never Forget.

 

2012 Rupp, however, was a completely different person.  I think “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” finally decided to leave Neverland

Good, don’t go back, I like the new you bb

 

And I take full credit for this.

 

Now I know that elite Nike athletes have most likely never heard of my blog as they justifiably have better things to be doing with their time.  But I’m going to assume confidently that Galen read my blog postings about him, was embarrassed, went into a bout of depression, started eating an all raw meat and thyroid medication diet and became a man. 

 

Examples of the transformation below:

From this

 

To this.

 

From this

 

To this (much better.)

 

“Ew, boobs”- Pre 2012 Rupp

 

“Got the hottest chick in the game, wearing my chain”- Post 2012 Rupp. 

And finally, from this

 

to this.

 

Does Rupp have a realistic shot at medaling at the London Olympics? Maybe. We’ll see.  But I’ll be rooting for him.

 

Some quick stuff:

First- Please click this web site and vote, it takes all of 5 seconds, for “Run CB”, a running store in Crested Butte, CO, to get a huge grant!  Click the link, login w/fbook, search “Run CB” and just click vote.

https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/

 

Second- I’m going to do a big trials recap when it is over, that comes in the next post!

 

Third- I’m now in Flagstaff for about 6 weeks to finally become good at running.  Did my first fartlek at altitude here at Buffalo Park this morning. It was a bitch and a half.

 

Fourth- Now that I’m finally somewhere for a longer period of time, I shall get T SHIRTS UP ON MONDAY FOR SURE 😀

 

How to Creep Out Girls and Embarrass Yourself: A Re-Telling of an Unfortunate Event

Good news, my blog is officially a year old.  I just renewed it today,  over 200,000 views in the first year!!! And I started off getting about 30 views a day for the first month. So thanks for following my incredibly inconsistent posts y’all ❤

Anyway, I got the idea for my blog post today while eating lunch with Ryan Fenton and Alex Lohr.  NAAAAMMEEE DROPPPPP.
They are taking off to Eugene for the Trials soon and Ryan said “Zach, your girl is going to be out there!”.  I was like “Um. What?”.  I was thinking to myself “well, my girlfriend isn’t because she’s in Michigan.  Who is he talking about?”.  Then he told me to think about it for a while.  And then…Ding!  Emma Coburn.  Ryan has never let me live my “blooper” from my junior year down.

If you haven’t seen it, and this is your first time, well…you’re in for a treat.  Honestly I HATE watching this and it’s probably the most embarrassing thing I’ve done besides peeing my pants during a little league game back in 6th or 7th grade (any excuse to let me leave those boring ass games!).

As a preface to watching this, here is some info you should know:

Here is Emma, in case you know nothing about women’s track and field:

She’s good at sports.

and here is me:

I’m too sexy for my retainer, too sexy for my retainer, too sexy to keep both eyes open!

I had talked to Emma once before this, briefly, after the steeple about 2 weeks earlier at the Great Southwest Invitational.  After my race, I was in a kind of happy/dazed state where I just wanted to tell her good job and well, ya know, she’s a blonde and stuff, so I guess I stuck around a little longer than normal.  My dorky self didn’t realize there was a camera that I was standing directly in the frame of.  The rest is history…
(Idk how to embed, just click the link below, tell me if it doesn’t work.  Technology n00b here.)

http://www.flotrack.org/embed/ODc0MTA4MDIw?related=1http://www.flotrack.org/embed/ODc0MTA4MDIw?related=1<p><a href=”http://www.flotrack.org/video/108020-Best-Blooper-of-2008″>Watch more videos on Flotrack</a></p>

Seconds 1:38-1:48
Official tells me that it’s just about time for awards for my race and I should head over there (I won the weakest event at NON).

I never was a good listener.

1:50
I decide I’m gunna stick around and “get some water” first.

There was no turning back after this point.

1:50-2:13
I’m hanging out off camera, not ruining Emma’s interview. Good boy Zach!

WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST STAY THERE, DUDE??

2:14-2:16
WTF ARE YOU DOING ZACH???  This is where it starts. It only gets worse from here on out.

HOPE YA DIDN’T MISS ME WHILE I WAS GONE, BABY

2:30
I’m not sure if that’s steeple water, or ass sweat.  Either way it’s making an appearance in the video.

Yep. Def. Ass sweat

2:35
Dear lord. I’m wiping snot off my face with my elbow.  Somebody come tell me I’m in the way of this interview, please God!

Nah man fuck tissues. I gots elbows.

2:42
Notice how many sips I took of this small water cup.  Wanna know a secret? There wasn’t any water left in there.. Kill me now.

Sippin on some of that air.

2:47
As if I couldn’t do anything more embarrassing than stalk this poor girl and ruin her interview, I scratch my butt.

Yep, that’s the spot!

3:11
I give up, finally, maybe some other time.  One track mind, off to awards now, better hurry!

I’m just gunna pretend I wasn’t awkwardly creeping and go get my award meow

3:16
I start jogging. WHY, NOO WHYYY

3:19
You can hear a loud “bing” type noise.  The noise that is made when a spike collides with an inside rail and a dorky runner falls on his face on the infield.

The Grand…

FINALE.

3:20
Ryan starts laughing, knowing he got this whole thing on tape.

3:22
I walk off in shame as an official comes to try and help me.

It was painful reliving this.  I’d like to think I’m less awkward and dorky by now. Idk my girlfriend  and close friends might tell you otherwise.

But this is the 4 year anniversary, as Flotrack tweeted, of this monumental event in my life.  I think I can finally look back on it and say “wow, haha, what a dork I was! Glad I grew up!”

My sincerest apologies, Emma, if you ever were to read this, for any embarrassment I may have caused you.  Despite my actions in this video I am not a creepy stalker.  Good luck at the trials, we’re all hoping to see you kick some ass!  And maybe, one day, if you’ll forgive me, an interview for this blog would be great!

I have 40 shirts I need to sell and all I need to do is set up the online store.  More info on that in the next post.  Until next time…

Eat. Run. Swag.

The Real Maine Bros

Tonight at 6PM is the premier of the long awaited “The Real Maine”.  If you haven’t heard of it, where the hell have you been?
Here is the link to the site where the movie will be streaming, along with clips and info about all of the guys:
http://www.therealmainemovie.com/

swag

I’ve met most of these guys before and they’re real chill, which is one of the reasons I’m so excited something like this was made.  I think Erik sums it up best when he said ”  It’s one thing to see Kiprop run 3:30, but when you see someone who’s relevant to you run well it raises the level of expectation. It’s like, I know what he does, how he trains, how he lives. If he can do it why can’t I?”.  This is a regular, albeit talented, group of guys who are extremely dedicated to what they do.  They are REAL runners.

Here’s a quick last minute series of interviews I put together with some of the guys. Thanks so much dudes, we will continue to enjoy watching you kick ass this year.

Mark Feigen:

Feigen or Gerard Butler?

 

How did Kyle approach you about this trip to Maine? Were you pretty much on board right away?

Kyle asked me what my plans were for the summer and I told him that I didn’t have any. He said he had been talking to Riley and Erik about getting together for the summer and asked if I would be interested in joining them. It seemed like it probably wouldn’t happen but since I had no other options I said I was in.

When I’m home in the summer in Texas I get to run with a lot of runners from different teams such as Texas, Tulsa, and Arizona. Getting to run with people from different programs is one of my favorite things to do since it’s a nice little refresher from the normal school-season training and it allows me to learn about a lot of different point of views on training. What did you learn from this group of guys that helped with your running (philosophies/training aspects)?

Getting to run with guys from different schools and areas is definitely one of my favorite things too. Training and talking with Riley and Erik showed me that there are a lot of different ways to accomplish the same goals. Erik has probably run twice as many miles as Riley since being in college but somehow they have very similar PR’s. Different styles work for different people but as long as you believe in your own training you have a good chance to be successful.

Sharing running philosophies. Or discussing peeing in public

I know some people who have headed out to New Mexico for the summer to train and I’ll be doing a stint in Colorado, do you think the change of location helps focus on the training while keeping things interesting, and what would you tell somebody who is still on the fence about doing something like this?

Getting out of the usual training environment and into something different is a good way to keep training from getting stale. When i’m in the city I do the same runs all of the time and taking a break from that for portions of the year is fun and makes me excited to get back to school in the fall when the season starts up again.

Avoid this cabin in the woods though, unless you have Bruce Campbell with you (Anyone know this reference?)

How many runs did you drop Merber on?

We probably only dropped kyle on a few runs but he definitely complained about us going too fast pretty often. Riley loves to one-step.

Love.

Kyle Merber:

g2g4gold

When we hung out in Ann Arbor last year, I believe you were only running about 2 to 3 miles a day. In case there are readers who don’t know, tell about what your setback was and how you overcame it to have such a successful year:

In August of 2010 I stepped on a piece of glass while on a training run. It pierced my trainer and tore my flexor tendon. I was out for 7 months and my entire junior year. It took two bouts of PRP to help me overcome the tear. This was a tough time in my life, and Erik does a great job of doing that struggle justice in the film. There was a large chunk of time when I became quite depressed because the future of my career was in question. But one day I will look back and view this as the turning point for me. The reason I was enthusiastic to be a part of the film is I wanted to give credence to those who are injured and say that it gets better. Once you encounter a serious injury, it becomes part of who you are as a runner. And that’s a powerful vendetta.

All of you have had some pretty impressive successes this season, most recently your 3:35 comes to mind. Do you attribute some of this year’s successes to the time spent out in Maine? 

I don’t necessarily point to Maine as the reason for any of our success. However, I think that anyone who shows a willingness to dedicate oneself to training will experience improvements. We weren’t the only group of college kids to have a training camp in the summer, we just did it with a film major. I definitely think getting a great base in is essential for any runner, and we all walked away with some new found strength. That probably could have been accomplished in most US states, and probably even parts of Canada, but we had a lot of fun in the process.

Most flattering pic I could find from the meet

Related to the last question, what do you think is the biggest thing you learned/took from The Real Maine Experience?

The biggest take away I left Maine with is that there is an infinite number of ways to train. Over the course of the summer, we had plenty of talks about workouts and training plans. Every one of our coaches brought something different to the table, but all produce results. The main objective in training is to find a way to stress the body, and then recover so you come back stronger. The variables employed to accomplish that goal will vary greatly.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN??

This is less of a question and more of a request, I think you should grow just a ‘stache for track natties, how do you feel about that?

Request: Denied. I am a light beard kind of guy.

P.S–I stand by “easy days easy.”
Riley Masters:

Wrigley Field Riley

What is one thing you learned about each guy there while in Maine?

Mark and Erik always have something witty and funny to say. There aren’t a lot of serious conversations that go on around them. Mark is the kind of guy who will call you out on anything, he keep you on your toes. Erik is the guy in the group who finds a few good one liners and uses them obsessively in every situation. Chris is a super competitive kid. Whether he is racing, playing wiffleball or horse shoes he is GOING TO WIN! Kyle is the kind of guy you go to if you need advice; but regardless of the problem you go to him with, he’ll give you some kind of antidote about his injury or winning millrose. In all seriousness, they were a great group of guys to spend the summer time with. All of them are extremely hard working with very big aspirations. I learned a lot from all of them.

words of wisdom from the Millrose Champ

When asking Erik about the funniest thing/story of the trip he told me to ask you about that one, is it a story you’d like to tell?

The story Erik is referring to involves a minor procedure I had when I was a freshman in high school. I would love to share it with everyone, but I am not sure I could do it justice with out telling it in person. The content of the story is jaw dropping but my timing and delivery is what makes it great!

All of you “Real Maine” guys are having great seasons, which is great because to the viewers it helps validate everything that you guys say in the movie. Looking back at your college career so far, what kind of advice would you give to the graduating high school seniors who will be going into their first semester of college next fall to achieve the levels of success that you, Erik, Chris, Kyle, and Mark have?

The advice I would give to young runners is to be patient. Running isn’t something that comes to you overnight. Sometimes it takes a while for all of your training to pay off, but if your patient and stick with it then eventually you will see the benefits and rewards of all that hard work.

Hard work is paying off, 3:37 is blazing.

Erik van Ingen:

swag.

I read in a previous interview that the idea stemmed from Quentin Cassidy’s escape to the cabin in the novel Once a Runner. This has actually been something that I, and I’m sure many other runners, have dreamed of since reading that fantastic book. To all of us who have had this in the back of our heads but have never acted upon it, would you recommend it and what words of advice do you have in terms of finding a place and a group of people to do it with?

I would definitely recommend it. It was a fun summer, the best of my life. My advice is keep it basic, real cheap. To quote fight club, “It’s only when we have lost everything that we are free to do anything”. As far as a group, chemistry is key. The dynamics of how each person interacts within the group is priority. We knew that going into the summer and stayed true to that.

Running to him was real..

Here’s where I try and ask some questions that haven’t been asked yet.

This film is your final project/thesis type film, correct? Who do you consider some of your artistic influences and who is your favorite director?

Yeah, this project was my senior thesis ,after the fact though. I had another project lined up, but bailed it for this. TRM was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I look for artistic inspiration in a lot of different places. I think that’s how an artist is pieced together is being influenced by so many things that you can sift through the good and bad and create a style that reflects you. I really admire well rounded artists. Mos Def comes to mind for me. He’s one of the most influential hip hop artists of our time, he performs on broadway, he’s been on screen with some of Hollywood’s biggest actors. I also like figures that transcend genre, like what the Fugees have done with their live performances. I think being able to combine multiple influences to create a unique sound is brilliant. I’m using hip hop as an example mostly because that’s something that I hold close to me in terms of a personal interest, but I feel that I can still pull ideas from other forms of art and have them compliment whatever it is that I’m working on. As far as a favorite director, I’m a huge Derren Aronovsky fan. His aesthetics are so dark and gritty. The struggle and internal conflicts that his films deal with are something that have always resonated with me. I can’t relate to wrestling or dealing heroine, but the ideas that are conveyed by the subject matter is something that I can relate with.

Yo it’s 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills,
Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill’s

I don’t think many people realize how good of a skier you were (I assume you still are). Do you still hit the rails in the winter?

Skiing, that was my first love. It will always have a spot in my heart. Unfortunately this was the first year in my life that I didn’t ski. I see skiing as a detractor from my training. It’s a very tiring sport as is running. Pounding out a run in the morning then spending the day at the hill is a bit too much for my body. At this point, my eggs are all in the running basket so I’m fine with it. I’ll always have skiing when I decide to hang up the spikes.

Did Kyle get dropped on every run you did?
Kyle got dropped many a time, he also did some dropping. Contrary to popular belief he’s not a big pussy.

Did y’all have workouts to do while out there and if so did everybody do their own separate workouts or were there times when y’all did them together?

We were all on different schedules. Mark and Kyle had similar workouts being that they have the same coach. Riley’s training was flexible so at times he would hop in with them. As for me, I was getting back into things after a long outdoor season so I was just getting in some miles. We had some days where we had to do our own thing, but for the most part we all ran together.

Bros before hoes

Tell me about your decision to release this online for free to the public:

As for releasing it online for all to see. I want this to be something that others can appreciate. Everyone is going to pull something different from it. For some it will be a different perspective, others might be motivated. Whatever it is, I want a lot of people to see it and I want a lot of people to pull something positive from it that they can apply to their own running. Making it to view for free is only going to heighten the exposure. I’m young with very few expenses. I figure I have plenty of time to make money in the future. Right now it’s about fine tuning my skill set and promoting what I do.

We appreciate the hours of work you put into this

One of the most intriguing things about this film to me is that it’s by runners that people like me can actually relate to. From the clips so far it looks “real”, that’s the best way I can describe it. It’s not a Saint Ralph, but rather a down to Earth group of guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goals in the sport. What do you hope viewers take away from the film?

That was one of the biggest things I was going for, was making something real, something relatable. We are college kids working our asses off to be the people that we want to be. Almost every runner our age can relate to that manifestation of self. I think a great example is Kyle running 3:35. That came out of nowhere. We were texting the other day and he said the first thing he thought when I ran 3:38 was “shit, I need to get to sleep so I can get on my horse”. It’s one thing to see Kiprop run 3:30, but when you see someone who’s relevant to you run well it raises the level of expectation. It’s like, I know what he does, how he trains, how he lives. If he can do it why can’t I?

No guts, no glory

In retrospect, what do you think is the most important thing you got out of this trip? Sorry that’s kind of broad. 

This trip was the first time that I could just relax. I can get super tightly wound. I was able to just get away, do something new, and have fun. I had a purpose, but no outside stress. We were a bunch of kids out running on some dirt roads, nothing more, nothing less. As a filmmaker I have grown a lot in the past year because of this film. I learn very well in a hands on environment. There’s no better way to learn about making a movie than to actually make a movie. For the group as a whole, I think there’s this bond that we hold. We’re not teammates and we sure as hell aren’t doing each other any favors when it’s race time. A bystander wouldn’t notice, but we can look each other in the eye and know that there’s something there. We are the real Maine.

EatRunSwag Interview: A Chat with Lawi Lalang

Howdy y’all.  BIG weekend for track and field with the NCAA’s and World Indoor Championships.  So thanks to having several friends on the Arizona team (hey Amanda, hey Jenn!) I managed to secure a brief phone interview with one of the best athletes competing at this weekend’s NCAA’s and asked him a little about his diet.  Enjoy!

 

Note:  I couldn’t get it all down very quickly while talking on the phone because at times I had a little trouble with his accent and I felt bad asking him to repeat things.  Lawi seemed really laid back and quite funny, we actually discussed burritos a little more than this.  I was quite starstruck, so I apologize for not asking more questions.  My favorite thing about the whole conversation was he seemed genuinely interested in how I was doing with my season and he sounded very sincere wishing me luck at the end. Can’t even tell you how much that meant to me.

Expect big things from this little dude this weekend.

 

Me- Hi Lawi, it’s Zach Ornelas calling for the interview, how are you?

Lawi- I’m good, you?

Me- I’m doing pretty well, how was your run today?

Lawi- It was good, I had a good run today I’m feeling good.

Me- Me too, I actually did a 10mile tempo today, averaged about 5:10

Lawi- 10 miles! That’s great!

Me- Yeah, I’m trying to go very low 29 in the 10k this season, I’d imagine you’ll be breaking 27 soon enough?

Lawi- No, I’m not going to run the 10k.

Me- So the 5 will be the focus?

Lawi- Yeah, I’m going to run the 5k.

Me-So uh I heard a little rumor that you may aiming to break 13 this outdoor season, that would be pretty sweet.

Yeah, haha, I am going to do something like that. It would be nice.

Me- So tell me, how are you feeling going into this weekend’s NCAA meet?

Lawi-I feel confident I’m really ready. I’m pumped. I’m excited to race the good competition too, It’s nice having those guys to race with.

A Great runner with Great sportsmanship

Me- I like the sportsmanship.  Now you do a lot of training with Bernard Lagat. How is it getting to train with one of the best in the country and one of the best in the world?

Lawi- It’s really motivating training with him. Just the feeling of being able to run with somebody like that gives me a lot of confidence and really motivates me to keep running hard.

A pretty elite training group headed by coach Li

Me- Now one of the things I like to focus on in my blog is eating, tell me a little bit about your diet. Do you eat your traditional Kenyan foods or have you switched to an American diet?

Lawi- Traditional recipes. I eat a lot of Chapati and Ugali. You can make it, you can buy the stuff for it at the store. It’s made of corn flower.

NOMZ

 

Me- Ok, I’ll have to try it. I’ve actually made chapati before. Do you like to enjoy some of our tasty, but not super healthy, American fast food ever?

Lawi- Oh yes, I definitely eat American food too sometimes like pizza. I like the mexican food, I really like burritos haha.

Chipotle: The diet of champions

Me- Good choice man, being a former resident of Texas I really love that mexican food too. Back to running, you’ve had quite an incredible year already and you’ve already accomplished quite a bit. What are some of your goals for the rest of the year?

Lawi- I want to go to this ncaa’s indoor championships and do well. My main aim for the year  is to prepare for the kenyan trials. I want to represent Kenya.

Me- I’d imagine that’s a pretty tough team to make, you’re definitely going to need to get under that 13 minute barrier then I’d imagine.

Lawi- Yes, it’s a very tough team. But if you can make the Kenyan Olympic team then you can medal at the Olympics.

A bit harder to make than the American squad.

Me- You know recently I was watching a documentary on the school in Iten coached by brother… umm brother..the Irish guy?

Lawi- Brother Collum?
Me- Yeah. One of the things I took from it is that one of the reasons Kenyans are so good is that the standard of excellence is incredible. I heard athletes say that just making it to the Olympics is no big deal in Kenya, you’re expected to medal.

Lawi- yes, it’s a tough team, we all want to medal.

Me- Well we want to see you do well this weekend for starters. Thanks for letting me ask you some questions Lawi. We’re all pretty excited to watch you run this weekend, I wish you the best of luck this season and with the rest of your year.

Lawi- Thanks Zach. Best of luck to you with your season, keep up your hard work and training and pursue those goals.