It's kind of pointless pointing out how crazy the left has become

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Closing on lap 3, 57...58...

[Coyote Mas Loco]

58.6! We are at 3:01 for three quarter mile!

But I'm getting pretty gassed with that lap and a half of leading, so you guys will have to pick it up if we are to make 4 pages in 24 hours from the original posting.

[Red Tornado]

NCAA XC is kicking off with a few low key meets last week and this week. I think the first big invites will be the week after and into early October.

Who do you like?

I think Oregon women are stacked and will be tough to beat. Colorado is also tough. They were favorites last year but sort of choked at the championship. At the individual level, if they can stay healthy, can't wait for the matchup between Karissa Schweizer of Mizzou and Allie Ostrander of Boise State. Schweizer was the surprise winner last year but went on to win 5000 indoor and outdoor titles and place 4th, against all the pros, at the USA national championships. She's got a wicked kick. The waifish Ostrander hasn't run XC since 2015 but placed a solid 2nd at NCAAs as a freshman, and won the collegiate 3000 m steeplechase last spring.

The men's field is more wide open I think. Syracuse might be the favorite, but Colorado usually has a way to come out of the woodwork for a podium finish if not vie for the title. King Ches (Oregon-Kenya) has graduated and gone pro and last year's upset winner Patrick Tiernan (Villanova-Australia) has too. So Justin Knight (Canada-Syracuse) seems to be an early favorite.

Who are your picks, or favorites from your alma mater or home state?   

My son runs for Dickinson College, which is DIII #27 as of yesterday's Coaches poll.  So I'm fairly focused on DIII XC right now.  But a teammate of his got a full scholarship to Syracuse and is in his red-shirt freshman year, so I'll be paying close attention to Syracuse over the next few years.

[morefoolyou]

My son runs for Dickinson College, which is DIII #27 as of yesterday's Coaches poll.  So I'm fairly focused on DIII XC right now.  But a teammate of his got a full scholarship to Syracuse and is in his red-shirt freshman year, so I'll be paying close attention to Syracuse over the next few years.

yeeesh, more boring than running is watching running.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

My son runs for Dickinson College, which is DIII #27 as of yesterday's Coaches poll.  So I'm fairly focused on DIII XC right now.  But a teammate of his got a full scholarship to Syracuse and is in his red-shirt freshman year, so I'll be paying close attention to Syracuse over the next few years.

There are a couple of Dickinson colleges aren't there? #27 is pretty good. I think the depth at D3 is very good these days.

I just looked at the rankings and it's somewhat different from my day, but also a lot of familiar teams. I think some years 3-4 of the top 5 teams in the country were from our region, with Augustana (IL), Carleton, St. Olaf, North Central, and LaCrosse usually in the mix. And for 3 of the 4 years I ran the individual champion was from our region as well. We'd thrash Wartburg and Loras but now they are top 20.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

And while on the subject of D3 running, I looked at my old school's XC website the other day and they keep an honor roll of the top times for 8K. I was wiped off that list years and years ago. But we had a bunch (like 6) from that era on there, from a single race in which the course was undoubtedly short--maybe 30 seconds +/-10. The coach (who succeeded our coach) kept them up there but he didn't seem happy about that. Well the old coach passed away a few years ago and they have since stripped off the names/times off the list from that race, which is well and good. But our top guy from the 1977-79 teams also ran a good time at a regional meet one year and he didn't get credit. So I emailed the coach and mentioned this. No reply yet. He probably hates it when old alums from the previous era pipe up. But I believe in giving credit where it is due. 

My son runs D2, but is taking the year off for an academic exchange at another university.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Okay, you crazy effers, drafting slackers, and hobby posting miscreants! We are on the backstretch of the final lap, 300 meters to go. I'm tied up. Time for the kickers to take over or this effort is all in vain!

This thread started at 1:48 CDT yesterday, you have 25 minutes to finish the lap.

[Cool Foot Luke]

There are a couple of Dickinson colleges aren't there? #27 is pretty good. I think the depth at D3 is very good these days.

I just looked at the rankings and it's somewhat different from my day, but also a lot of familiar teams. I think some years 3-4 of the top 5 teams in the country were from our region, with Augustana (IL), Carleton, St. Olaf, North Central, and LaCrosse usually in the mix. And for 3 of the 4 years I ran the individual champion was from our region as well. We'd thrash Wartburg and Loras but now they are top 20.

There's Dickinson and Fairleigh Dickinson and probably Extremeleigh Dickinson somewhere...
One of my fondest memories from high school track was from the Dickinson Relays, an annual indoor meet that takes place in the UNI-dome. Sort of exciting for high school, but my buddy Erik and I were running the 3200 (like always) and it was the first event (like always). We might have also been running the 1600, but either way, we were done racing WAY early in the event. So we told our coaches we were going for a cool-down jog, then ran to downtown Cedar Falls and got a pizza, which we then brought back and lorded over people who still had to race.

My sister ran at Macalester, who competed with those other Midwestern schools. LaCrosse was strong then. Of course, this was 20 years ago...

[Cool Foot Luke]

Okay, you crazy effers, drafting slackers, and hobby posting miscreants! We are on the backstretch of the final lap, 300 meters to go. I'm tied up. Time for the kickers to take over or this effort is all in vain!

This thread started at 1:48 CDT yesterday, you have 25 minutes to finish the lap.

So is "kick" really a thing? I mean, if you have enough left at the end of a race for a "kick" doesn't it mean that you probably didn't make enough of an effort earlier in the race? I don't remember having anything left at the end of most of my races, and I also remember passing people in the final 800 who were de.fi.nite.ly faster sprinters than me. Sure, they'd have cleaned my clock in a straight-up 800, but that neglects the fact that they've been spending the previous several miles making themselves tired...

[Coyote Mas Loco]

So is "kick" really a thing? I mean, if you have enough left at the end of a race for a "kick" doesn't it mean that you probably didn't make enough of an effort earlier in the race? I don't remember having anything left at the end of most of my races, and I also remember passing people in the final 800 who were de.fi.nite.ly faster sprinters than me. Sure, they'd have cleaned my clock in a straight-up 800, but that neglects the fact that they've been spending the previous several miles making themselves tired...

Thanks for jumping in CFL.
We're not going to make it.

But in a tactical race, sure there is a kick, they close in 51 seconds these days. In a time trial, less so and it would depend.

[nneJ]

I'm so confused.  Why are we 10 posts into page 4 still talking about getting to page 4?

My 5k PR is 20:47. I have a mental goal that if I ever break 20:00 I never have to run a 5k again.  But I have yet to take any actual action on that goal whatsoever.

Re: Injuries: I'm old and delicate in the hammy region.  It takes me 4 miles to warm up.  And my hip always hurts.   

[nneJ]

That's what I do, three days a week, "easy" runs supplemented by three days of week of strength training. My hamstring (and now piriformis) makes running thoroughly unenjoyable. My pace these days is what I used to do as a recovery jog in the speed work days. 

I have had an irritated hamstring/piriformis for several years now.  I made a breakthrough the other day when i realized (with help from a dr) that I was running with my quads-hamstrings instead of my core-glutes.  Just changing that mindset (drive with core, legs passive and reactive) made a huge difference.  One of my tells was that my hamstring was hurting before my foot hit the ground, which I knew because my hamstring hurt like a mo-fo every time it fired.  Also, the whole bad mechanics thing was made worse when i tried to run slower to ease off on my hurting self, which turned it into a whole snowball effect.  yay?

Anyhoo, this may not be what's happening to you, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

I'm so confused.  Why are we 10 posts into page 4 still talking about getting to page 4?

My 5k PR is 20:47. I have a mental goal that if I ever break 20:00 I never have to run a 5k again.  But I have yet to take any actual action on that goal whatsoever.

Re: Injuries: I'm old and delicate in the hammy region.  It takes me 4 miles to warm up.  And my hip always hurts.   

We're in the 4th lap. We have to finish 4 pages.

We didn't get sub 4, but still aiming for a respectable time. Every 6 hours of post time = 1 minute run time if you follow. So we are almost 90 minutes over 24 hours, which if my numbers are right puts us at

4:14...

[Coyote Mas Loco]

I have had an irritated hamstring/piriformis for several years now.  I made a breakthrough the other day when i realized (with help from a dr) that I was running with my quads-hamstrings instead of my core-glutes.  Just changing that mindset (drive with core, legs passive and reactive) made a huge difference.  One of my tells was that my hamstring was hurting before my foot hit the ground, which I knew because my hamstring hurt like a mo-fo every time it fired.  Also, the whole bad mechanics thing was made worse when i tried to run slower to ease off on my hurting self, which turned it into a whole snowball effect.  yay?

Anyhoo, this may not be what's happening to you, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

4:14....

Good luck with your rehab and quest for sub 20. 20 is a solid 5K time.

4:15...

[Cool Foot Luke]

But in a tactical race, sure there is a kick, they close in 51 seconds these days. In a time trial, less so and it would depend.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking of tactical races for short distances. I was thinking more the distances that I raced at, say 8K or more.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking of tactical races for short distances. I was thinking more the distances that I raced at, say 8K or more.

Farah and those guys kick really fast 52 or so on the last lap, even in a fast-paced race and anymore at the world stage you have to be under 54 for the last lap and super strong through 90% of the race to have a chance.

For my best mile I closed in in 2:11 (64 final lap), but that was after a fairly easy first half. 

[Coyote Mas Loco]

4:19...4:20...

Any Ema Coburn fans out there? She's getting married this month.

And I heard a rumor that Lolo Jones is pregnant. But that's unsubstantiated. Recall she wanted to 'wait' until she got married. She's like 32 now.

[morefoolyou]

ahem. should this type of behaviour be allowed:

http://chrunners.net/forum/index.php?topic=116102.msg2864574#new

[Coyote Mas Loco]

ahem. should this type of behaviour be allowed:

http://chrunners.net/forum/index.php?topic=116102.msg2864574#new

4:27...4:28

Absolutely! Because this is a black hole over here and it's a time-sensitive request, and not unreasonable to reach the broadest audience. However, I threw away my mod abilities a few years ago.

Can we break 4:30???!!!!

[Coyote Mas Loco]

...4:30...

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