I came across a good article yesterday that talked about how the Beijing games had great preparation, but lacked celebration. I think a good indication of this was how far away the marathon spectators were from the runners. Sure there was “the tackle” in Athens, but does that mean spectators have to be 100 feet away the next time?
Everyone keeps talking about how London won’t be able to top Beijing. But really, who says they have to?
In a comment, Mark said my persistency is paying off. He’s probably right. However, it’s a little frustrating that I have to work so damn hard just to get back where I was. I mean, how can I hope to improve when it takes the entire training cycle just to get back where I was? What the hell was so different in May of 2007 that allowed me to run a half three minutes faster than Saturday? 5 weeks later I PRd at Grandma’s. I have 6 weeks till TCM and it’s hard to imagine PRing based on the difference in half times. My only hope is that conditions at Grandma’s that year were less than ideal – I know, that’s hard to believe.
Quote of the day;
“I didn't cross the line in second. And if I don't cross the line in second, I don't care if people are disqualified or not. I didn't deserve a medal.” – Shawn Crawford after moving up from fourth to second due to two disqualifications
9 comments:
I agree with you on the Olympics. I was not that impressed with the coverage. I was happy that they showed a large portion of the marathon, 10k and 5k. But they were delayed so long it was hard not to know what happened before the race. Also, they showed many of these events very late at night and even if you looked at the TV schedule it would say Track and Field coverage not specific events. Hopefully, London will be better.
I enjoyed the Olympics. NBC is in a no-win situation -- there are so many sports and everyone has different tastes. To get the most viewers, they had to focus on Michael Phelps, gymnastics, and women's beach volleyball. One complaint is with the tv listing. If you have Olympics listed for six hours, don't just say, "track & field, rowing, and diving;" give a time estimate for each sport.
I'm sure they did research, but I think NBC overestimates the need to have an American in the event to get viewers. If you're a track fan, you're going to want to see track, whether Bernard Lagat or Tyson Gay is in the finals or not.
Bart
Maybe I just didn't have high expectations, but I was pretty happy with the Olympic coverage. I liked being able to watch both marathons live, and the online coverage had a ton of breadth - both triathlons were streaming live. The encore and highlight presentations available on nbcolympics.com are also pretty nice. For some reason, the racewalking got more online coverage than the 5 and 10k races though. Wierd.
i wish they would have shown brian sell in the marathon. with only 3 athletes representing the US, it would have been nice give him 30 seconds of the 2+ hours of coverage; i think he earned it. i'm not saying they needed to run a segment on the guy but can i at least see him once? i watched the race again today in HD (i recorded it). the commentator was pretty good (i forget his name).
There are other olympic sports besides volleyball, the 100 meter dash and swimming?
Who knew!
It's frustrating that they'll show the women's 5k (a 15 minute race) and feel compelled to break away for a field event update and commercials, causing us to miss at least 1/3 of the race. I mean, it's 15 minutes! I've seen scoreless 1/2 innings in baseball and softball last longer than that, but you'd never break away in those sports.
Hey Chad, thanks for commenting on comments made by a guy too lazy to sign up for a blogger account.
If you want a marathon PR you are going to have to run 190 miles a week. Ha Ha just kidding.
Seriously though, you probably could have run your 1/2 marathon a bit more aggressively (like 6:20 pace).
You still have plenty of time for speed work, tune-up races, & taper to kick in.
I think you can safely conclude that XC skiing did set you back some but at the same time probably gave your body a well needed rest from running.
Time is relative. Would you be happy with a 3 hour marathon at age 70? Hitting a time goal is awesome, but its also about the journey along the way. Do Hall, Ritz, and Sell have anything to hang their heads about. Maybe they will win an olympic medal someday but that will just be the icing on the cake.
Running is not easy, it is hard. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. We invest a lot of ourselves in our running. Sometimes I wonder if its worth it. The time away from family, the aches and pains, the hardship of it all. Sometimes the return on your investment is realized on race day. Sometimes the pay off comes in a form(s) not easily recognized or may not be apparent for many years.
If you are running, you are moving forward & viewing the world from a unique perspective, and if you are running, that is a sure sign that you are living and not just alive.
Mark in New England
Mark,
I don't think I've ever had a comment with more clichés in it;
still have plenty of time
Time is relative.
its also about the journey
And basically the last 2 paragraphs. :-)
I would suggest that you don't wear a watch during your next marathon or even check the official results. Just run it by feel and gain satisfaction from the knowledge that you gave it your all!
Mark
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