Steve Slattery's Journal

December 19, 2008 Entry (Posted December 29, 2008)

The fall is a quiet time for me. I usually spend my time putting in the miles and watching football. My teams are the New Jersey Giants and the Colorado Buffaloes. In Boulder Sara and I had season tickets to the Buffs and we would go to the games with all of our friends in town. Like most college towns, football games are huge events that usually take up an entire day with pre-game tailgates and post-game trips to a local sports bar for burgers and soda. Since there is not a football team in Mammoth, and Sara only likes football when it involves some kind of social event, I have been mostly watching games on TV. Currently I am in a pretty serious fantasy football league. The league is made up of runners from all over the world. Adrian Blincoe is the one who started it. I won the first season but have had mixed results the last few years. My team is not that great this year, but I am in the championship game despite my team scoring the least amount of points in the league. I like fantasy football because I enjoy talking trash with my running friends, it also gives us something to talk about throughout the season.

My fall training has kind of mirrored my fantasy football season. When I came to Mammoth in November I was not in great shape. I had been running for a few weeks, but it was a shock to my system getting back into uphill tempo runs and long runs. My first few weeks were torture, I was a zombie barely making it from run to run. But I adapted and I have been feeling better. Tempos and long runs at 7000ft are not my best events, but like my crappy fantasy football scores they are somehow going to get me into the postseason. Terrence knows I have been suffering through all this long stuff, but he always finds way to keep things fun. The last few weeks he has been timing our strides with an automatic timing system. It is the highlight of my week sprinting down the street trying to shave a few tenths of a second off my time. The strides have made me more excited for the indoor season. So I will write again next year when I will hopefully have something more exciting to say. Merry Christmas.

October 17, 2008 Entry (Posted October 22, 2008)

Last year my season was a complete disaster. I had trained well doing more mileage and intensity than ever. I just never put together any races that reflected my fitness. So to forget all that went wrong last year, and to heal some injuries I was struggling with I took a longer break than normal. I feel that having such a long break reminded me about who I am as a runner. I went to New Jersey for a few weeks. First I went to Blue Mountain Running camp in Pennsylvania to spend a few days with the campers. Then to Flanders, NJ to spend some time with my friends and family, while Sara was finishing her season in Europe.

Going back to Blue Mountain was a lot of fun. I went to that camp going into my junior and senior years of high school. It made me remember that as a younger runner in high school I was a lot more relaxed about training and fearless in my racing. As a high school runner I was never a guy who needed to rack up unnecessary mileage, I trained hard but I was really just a racer. On the track I would run hard from the front rarely relying on my kick. I always would work as hard as I could in practice, but off the track I was a normal kid, well normal for New Jersey. I was very serious about my running, but my running ended when I crossed the finish line (no cool down). I always wanted to run better, so I went to the University of Colorado to train in Boulder and learn what was needed to be a world class runner from the best runners in the world. There I became more serious and businesslike. I learned that running did not end when you crossed the finish line but was 24/7. I learned to run a more even pace and to rely on my kick to win races. With the start of a new season, (yes for me training for track season starts in October) I want to continue all the things I learned about being more serious and businesslike. But with my racing I want to bring back more of the runner I was when I was younger. I want to be more confident, take more chances, and be more relaxed. I still have a lot of goals to accomplish and this year I would like to run some faster times. I think I am a better runner then 3:56, 8:15 and 13:36. But to set some big PRs I not only need to train hard and smart, but in my racing I will need to get out on that edge and push the envelope further. I am excited for the new year of racing, but know I have a lot of training ahead until I get there.

Introductory Entry (Posted March 18, 2008)

It has been a few months since Sara and I joined the group and things have been going well. I enjoy training with the group, it is nice to have people to run with every day, and Terrence has been great helping me work on my weaknesses. I know that if I am going to have an outdoor season like I want, I need to do everything right. That is why Sara and I decided to join Team Running USA. This summer when I toe the line, I will know I did everything I could to be ready. But I am not ready yet.

I had an ok indoor race in Seattle, despite being sick I felt very good. I quickly got over my cold, but unfortunately I gave it to Sara and ended up ruining her race at cross nationals. She was disappointed because she was in great shape. My next race was indoor nationals, which ended up being disappointing. I ran the 3K, I knew it would come down to an 800-meter race and I was fine with that. I sat near the front and stared at Chris Solinsky the whole time thinking he would be the first to make a move. The pace was slow and I was excited wanting to take off for home. Then it happened, Solinsky took off, and I did not respond. The last 800 meters was a disappointment. I could never get going and was sixth in 8:09. That is what happens when you race in the winter off base training. Sometimes you have it the last few laps sometimes you don't. What I know is important is that I have it the last few laps this summer. I can't wait to see if I do.