Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Weekly Log: March 29-April 4, 2010

As father and son, we share a similar passion for the sport of running and wanted to share some worthy accomplishments and news from the past week in our local world. Enjoy!

-Mark Lorenzoni (on the run since 1973) and Alec Lorenzoni (running since 1999)


The Weekly Race Report

Not much to report in the world of local racing this past weekend, as the only road race in the area was the Zeta Tau Alpha Run for Life 5K, which is held annually on the UVA grounds course to raise money for breast cancer and typically has around 500 finishers (no results available yet for this year's edition). In other action, the UVA track and field team traveled south to compete at the Raleigh Relays, while the area high schoolers enjoyed one more week of training before April arrives and the spring outdoor season begins in earnest.

The highlight of this past weekend was probably in Lexington at the Washington & Lee Track Carnival, where several RMR athletes took to the track for the first time this spring. Racing for the first time in a RMR singlet was former VMI standout Donnie Cowart, who ran to an easy victory in the 3000 meter steeplechase, his time of 9:01.66 just missing his goal of 9:00-flat. Last year, Cowart was an All-American steeplechaser at VMI, where he holds the school record of 8:44.66 in the event. In the men's 1500, Mike Hendry's 3:51.57 clocking led a 1-2-3 sweep of the event for RMR as two former UVA greats Alex Tatu and Kevin Tschirhart followed closely in 3:52.60 and 3:52.61. Capping the evening off was Thomas Adam, whose time of 14:49.46 in the 5000 meters was good enough for 3rd overall and a big personal best, as the UVA graduate student cracked the 15:00 barrier for the first time!

Blue Ribbons To...

Local trail speedsters Eliza O'Connell, Sophie Speidel and Hallie Hegemier, who scored impressive outings at The Terrapin Mountain Trail races outside Bedford last Saturday. O'Connell led the ENTIRE half marathon field for most of the race and ended up finishing second overall (first female) in a blazing time of 2:05 over this steep mountainous course. Speidel finished atop the masters leader board in the 50K, as she clocked a stellar 5:53. She was followed by training partner Hegemier, who scored a big personal beset of 6:47.
Go to Sophie's blog for photos and a complete report.

Mark Hampton, who ran a big personal best of 40:50, and was among several dozen local runners who weaved their way in and round over 32,000 other racers en route to excellent times at The Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond last Saturday. Other times of note were turned in by the following locals: Diana Burk, Chris Samley, Harold Smith, Kase Lazur, Becky Keller, Joseph Strukl, Katie Goode, Kevin Wells, David Zirkle, Stewart Ackley, Madelyn Saunders, Jennifer Tucker, Fernando Dizon, Margaret Murphy and Dean Johnson to name just a few.

Father/Son Running Tandem of the Week...
(As father and son we've enjoyed many memorable running times together all over the world over the years,so we thought it would be fun to recognize a father/son running team each week)

Vic Schiller and twin sons Ben and Adam are quite the running trio. The boys are sophomores at Western Albemarle high school, where they have excelled on the cross country and track teams under Coach Lindy Bain's guidance. Ben had a great cross country season this past fall which included a 3rd place finish at the Jefferson District Meet and a huge personal best of 16:03 for 5K at the Footlocker South meet, where he was 3rd in the sophomore race. In the same race, Adam finished in a PR of 17:12 and wrapped up a great cross country season where his big improvements led to him toeing the line with the varsity seven for several races. Adam also has the tough task of splitting his training time with WAHS pole vault coach Kevin Matheny, who has turned him into one of the area's better vaulters (PR of 11'0"). Meanwhile, Dad (and Mom) has taken a liking to long distance running and he will be competing in the Ten Miler this Saturday.

In the Starting Blocks...

The area's oldest and most prestigious foot race, The Charlottesville Ten Miler, will fire it's starting gun outside the McCue Center and JPJ at 7:45am this Saturday. Close to 3,000 folks are expected to do battle with the famous hills at the 35th running of this legendary CTC event.

As coaches, our #1 tip is to have our athletes run the first 2 miles (which are deceptively hilly)
of the race SLOWER than their targeted race pace. The best way to warm up your engine properly is to line up at the start in a "pace group" BEHIND your normal pace. This will allow you to ease into your race pace. Here is a pace suggestion handout that details the conservative paces you might try running on a hot day for each mile of the race (broken down into specific goals).

This golden rule of negative splits is particularly important this year because the forecast is calling for sunny skies and temperatures of 55 degrees at the start. Highs will be in the mid-eighties, so we're expecting the temps to be somewhere in the high sixties for most of the race. UGH! This is a huge handicap for us folks (up to 30 seconds/mile as you get over 60 degrees) who have been training in winter like temperatures (in the morning anyway) up until a few days ago. So, go out EXTRA slow for the first few miles and take water at each and EVERY stop...don't wait until you "feel thirsty"!

The race will be covered live on WINA radio (1070 AM) and complete results will be in Sunday's Daily Progress.

Two time Olympic Marathon medalist (1972 and 1976) Frank Shorter will be in town this weekend and will be on hand for autographs at Ragged Mountain from 10:45-noon on Friday (4/2). He will also be handing out the awards at the Ten Miler post race ceremony on Saturday.


Odds & Ends

UVA's only home Outdoor Track meet, The Lou Onesty Invitational (named after the legendary UVA coach), will be held at Lannigan Field Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10. This is a great opportunity to see Jason's Vigilante's talented squad, one of the best programs in the nation, in action.

The Kids Triple Crown series kicks off at the Run for Autism 5K (kids quarter mile road race) on April 17. This fun series for kids ages 4-12 will also feature a cross country race (Charlottesville Day School Family Fitness runs at Panorama Farms in Earlysville on April 25) and a track race (The Discovery Dash at Monticello High on May 29). Kids participating in ALL three events will be awarded a very special Triple Crown medal!

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