American Pie
published on
I always get asked the question if university in America is like how we see it in the movies, like American pie, with wild Frat parties and crazy girls, well I imagine at big state schools it is, but for me, the University of Tulsa, just so happens to be s mall private university stuck smack bang in the middle of the bible belt. So in short, no it's not really. I mean, there are parties all the time on campus and the frat houses do have things going on most weekends, but for anyone coming from a party city like Newcastle, it's fairly low key, and honestly, very lame. The university itself is very small, with about 2,000 students or so, and it's about 2 miles right around the outside of campus, so in comparison with a campus like say Loughborough back home, its tiny. But with it been such a small and quiet school it benefits athletes such as myself, as there are little distractions, other than that of your team mates, video games, TV and movies to occupy your time between runs and workouts.
Here at Tulsa, I am currently finishing up my last semester of my undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with Teacher certification, basically a physical ed degree if you like and I am currently student teaching. I am coming back for another year and will work on some classes towards some minors. Our workouts are always Tuesday and Thursday through the year, and in the fall we tend to practice every day at 6am with the heat and humidity early fall, and during the spring we workout in the afternoons around 3pm, so we have to try and fit our class schedule to fit this. Occasionally, some classes are only offered on one time during a semester and some guys have to take classes during practice time and are therefore left to train on their own. Athletes over here are required to do quite a lot and when regular students can go home or whatever for Spring break, we have to report back on campus midweek, or during thanksgiving, if you make nationals, your break won't start until the Monday night or Tuesday the day after nationals. So, been a student athlete, you are required to be around or near campus for the majority of the school year with limited holiday time, due to athletic requirements. Often, the better athlete you are, the less time you get to go on spring break holidays etc, as generally, the NCAA stuff takes places during thanksgiving break, spring break, and into summer break for each respective season. I guess if you can win or get All American, it's probably worth the loss of a visit to beach or where ever your spring break may take you. In the case of the infamous Andy Norman, I believe his destination of choice was Tijuana! Is it any wonder Coach won't let us have the full week off anymore!
So what's the latest here, well things have been going well with me in terms of running. I've been very happy in the direction I have been moving and feeling very positive about the upcoming season. I feel I have had a great mix of training with lots of tempos, plenty of base repeats and quicker work to get the legs turning over. Generally, feeling very solid and happy with how I've been running since Christmas. Touch wood, things go well and nothing goes wrong.
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29th January 2010 |
80.46.00 on own in ice and snow. Very cold but felt good and just moved along relaxed and smooth. (7.15, 6.53, 6.52, 6.41, 6.41, 6.41, 6.31, 6.34, 6.36, 6.39, 6.44, 6.35) |
12 |
43.17.00 with former team mates Eric Harris of Arkansas! Felt good, a lot of snow fell, maybe 10 inches or so on the ground so made run very much recovery pace. (7.49, 7.30, 7.00, 6.56, 7.11, 6.48) |
6 |
good day of running, got some nice miles under the legs and felt good, really just enjoying getting out the door and running right now, trying not to put too much pressure on it and running to how I felt, went out in the morning intending to run only 10, but was running a little steadier and was enjoying icy conditions so kept going. Afternoon run was enjoyable catching up with Eric who I've not seen much of lately, so went by fast. Alot of snow falling right now! |
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30th January 2010 |
49.19.00 on own in snow and ice, very deep and hard to maintain decent pace in parts. Felt ok, legs little sore. (7.11, 6.51, 7.07, 7.01, 6.53, 6.59, 7.14) |
7 |
2 mile warm up / cool down. 8x300m off 450m jog in 3minutes. 43.2, 42.7, 42.3, 41.9, 42.3, 43.2, 43.9, 41.9. Felt pretty good, very relaxed and trying to work on relaxation, pace and turn over. |
8 |
Good day, plenty of miles and some turn over to work the leg speed. |
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31st January 2010 |
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0 |
1.50.20 with Justin, Dekker, Carl, Edwin, Mel. Felt good, relaxed and moving nicely. (7.38, 7.03, 6.59, 6.50, 6.45, 6.42, 6.35, 6.36, 6.23, 6.12, 6.03, 5.57, 6.04, 6.08, 6.15) |
17 |
Good run, felt good and relaxed. |
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31 |
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71 |
Total =102 |
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1st February 2010 |
day off |
0 |
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had staff meeting till 4.30 and felt little tired so decided to have rest day |
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2nd February 2010 |
44.00 With Edwin. Nice and easy, nothing too fast and just chatting. (7.49, 7.26, 7.35, 7.16, 7.01, 6.51) |
6 |
2 mile warm up, cool down. 10 mile tempo. Splits were = 5.16, 5.13, 5.14, 5.17, 5.18, 5.12, 5.08, 5.13, 5.12, 5.01 = 52.09.00 |
14 |
Good day of running, tempo felt very relaxed and picked up last mile quite easily. |
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3rd February 2010 |
off |
0 |
75.03.00 on own. Moving nicely, not much effort required to pick up pace. (6.36, 6.26, 6.31, 6.20, 6.20, 6.13, 6.15, 6.10, 6.05, 5.48, 5.54) |
12 |
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4th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
70.00 relaxed running with Dekker @ ORU track. |
10 |
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5th February 2010 |
37.00.00 with Edwin. Nice and easy. (7.51, 7.35, 7.23, 7.13, 6.56) |
5 |
3 mile warm up, 2 mile cool down. 20 x 200m off 200m jog. Times were = 31.4, 61, 32.4, 63, 31.9, 63, 31.3, 63, 31.6, 66, 31.1, 61, 31.8, 62, 31.1, 65, 30.8, 60, 31.0, 64, 31.3, 63, 31.2, 62, 30.8, 61, 30.2, 63, 30.8, 62, 30.7, 58, 30.9, 58, 30.4, 61, 30.3, 62 |
10 |
good day of running, 200's felt good and wanted a good workout to maintain work already done and turn legs over a little ahead of 10k this Sunday. |
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6th February 2010 |
79.47.00 (7.32, 6.53, 6.39, 6.41, 6.41, 6.49, 6.52, 6.06, 6.29, 6.17, 6.20, 6.23) with Carl, beattie, pitbull and Brantley. Felt good, enjoying run. |
12 |
35.06. with Edwin and Sam who ran 2 miles each. Felt terrible. (6.47, 6.52, 6.55, 7.06, 7.25) |
5 |
Good day's mileage. Feeling strong and enjoying getting out and running |
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7th February 2010 |
Mohawk 10k winter classic. 2 mile warm up / cool down. 1st place. 29.49.37 splits = (4.47.6, 4.47.02, 4.48.33, 4.49.97, 4.49.84, 4.45.67, 60.94). 9.34, 14.22, 19.12, 24.02, 28.48. |
10 |
44.46.00 with Carl, beattie and recruit from Canada. Nice and easy, chatting and plodding along. Felt ok. (8.18, 7.07, 7.45, 7.10, 7.27, 6.55) |
6 |
Great race, really happy as felt very strong and moving really well. Seems race was a little long been 6.24 miles, but never mind, maybe lost 10 seconds or so. Can't complain! |
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33 |
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57 |
Total = 90 |
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8th February 2010 |
71.08.00 with Carl. Legs felt sore and stiff! Just ran slow. (7.46, 7.16, 7.22, 7.09, 7.09, 7.15, 6.59, 6.48, 6.41) |
10 |
35.19.00 with Dekker, Kevin and pitbull. (7.33, 6.49, 6.56, 6.51, 7.08) |
5 |
Tired day, felt stiff and sore! |
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9th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
84.00.00 on own, running from campus to ORU and finishing up on the indoor track after 10 miles in 66.00. (6.59, 6.36, 6.38, 6.39, 6.30, 6.40, 6.30, 6.33, 6.27, 6.31, 18.00. finished at a very quick pace for last 15-20 minutes or so. |
13 |
Good run, felt strong and moving very quick at end! |
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10th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
66.05.00 with Pit bull, Dekker, Justin, Matt Lincoln and Kyle Smith. Felt nice and easy, just talking and recovering. (7.35, 6.49, 6.38, 6.35, 6.31, 6.29, 6.25, 6.21, 6.17, 6.16) |
10 |
Nice relaxed run, just talking and feeling good. |
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11th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
79.08.00 with Edwin, Sam and Brad. Felt good, relax and comfortable. (6.54, 6.35, 6.35, 6.26, 6.24, 6.24, 6.23, 6.40, 6.39, 6.37, 6.54, 6.41, 6.15) |
12 |
Good run. |
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12th February 2010 |
34.20.00 on own. Felt ok. (7.04, 6.56, 6.50, 6.48, 6.40) |
5 |
62.17.00 on own. (6.40, 6.22, 6.29, 6.21, 6.14, 6.04, 5.48, 5.54, 5.52). Felt good and relaxed toward end. |
10 |
Good day of running. |
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13th February 2010 |
3 mile warm up/ cool down. 2 mile tempo, 3.30 rest in between. 8 x400m with 2 minutes rest jog 200m. Tempo = (72.6, 72.9, 71.5, 73.2 (4.50), 72.1, 74.5, 72.3, 72.2(4.50)) = 9.41.2, then 400's = 60.6, 60.9, 60.9, 60.7, 59.5, 60.9, 60.8, 61.5. good session, happy with it, it was pretty cold and windy in the morning when I got going and surprised how I felt on the 4's. Basic idea of session was to get a little tempo in, so keeping volume reasonable and tiring legs out a little and then bringing in some faster running toward end. |
11 |
38.00.00 on own. Felt good, running quickly without increased effort, felt smooth. (6.43, 6.19, 6.25, 6.09,6.06, 6.15) |
6 |
Good session felt good and was happy with it considering the conditions and having to do it on my own. |
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14th February 2010 |
1.49.59 on own. Started off with Justin and Edwin, but they were going a little faster than me early on and I wanted to relax a little more so let them go. They ended up going 16 and 14 respectively anyway. (7.04, 6.25, 6.14, 6.31, 6.10, 6.12, 6.10, 6.10, 6.18, 6.05, 6.11, 6.03, 5.56, 5.50, 5.40, 5.39, 5.39, 5.31) good run with a good last couple of miles, honestly felt really comfortable, very relaxed and smooth and moving well. |
18 |
off |
0 |
Great run the last few miles, after the first 5/6 felt better and moving quite quickly without forcing it and just picked it up toward finish. |
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15th February 2010 |
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44 |
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56 |
Total = 100 |
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16th February 2010 |
64.49.00 on own. Felt good and moving quite quickly. (6.51, 6.32, 6.28, 6.24, 6.16, 6.32, 6.25, 6.32, 6.26, 6.18) |
10 |
39.28.00 with Edwin, Kevin, and pitbull, felt good and ended up going another mile as was talking to ed about stuff. Then did 4 x200m with 200m jog in about 70 seconds. Times = 30.7, 30.9, 30.4, 30.1. In heavy trainers, so not too bad and something a little quicker to turn legs over after two days of quite big miles. (run = 6.43, 6.34, 6.32, 6.27, 6.36, 6.34) |
7 |
Good day of running and some good 2's feeling good to stride out after. |
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17th February 2010 |
39.40.00 on own from school back to campus. (7.00, 6.32, 6.28, 6.29, 6.33, 6.30) |
6 |
Workout at ORU. 2 mile warm up / cool down. 4 x 1k, 3 x 750m, 2 x 500m with 2 minutes jog 250m and minute between 5's. Times = 2.51.02, 2.52.56, 2.51.31, 2.49.78, 2.00.57, 2.01.00, 2.00.27, 76.02, 75.16. Good session, felt relaxed throughout and working on trying to get a little turn over without straining too hard. |
9.5 |
Good workout, felt quite good and moving relaxed/ fast. |
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18th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
42.52.00 (6.54, 6.32, 6.38, 6.38, 6.33, 6.25, and 3.11) then did hurdle drills for first time since November, 2 x each leg 5 hurdle of walk over, side high knee, side straight leg kick, backward walk over and hurdle skip. Odd day, woke up and legs were really tight from indoor track, heel felt so sore and tight, and wasn't sure whether or not I really wanted to run today, so instead ended up using it as active recovery with a shorter 6.5 mile run to loosen legs off and then do some drills and ice bath. |
6.5 |
Felt decent and legs loosened off after. |
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19th February 2010 |
42.12.00 with Carl. Legs sore and tired. (7.47, 7.15, 6.58, 6.44, 6.44, 6.46) |
6 |
Tempo Run. 2 mile warm up / cool down. 10 mile tempo. Started with lads doing 4 miles and carried on own, around riverside, across bridge and finished on opposite side from where we started and jogged back across footbridge to van. Felt easy to start, maintained and had to work a little as wind was into my face last 4 miles. But felt relaxed and felt as though I had a little turn over in the legs. miles = 5.16, 5.13, 5.14, 5.17, 5.13, 5.13, 5.11, 5.16, 5.14, 5.16 = 52.28.00 |
14 |
Good tempo, felt relaxed and very smooth, trying to maintain good pace and felt as though I could pick up toward end, except I turned back and it was windy so just maintained same pace. |
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20th February 2010 |
off |
0 |
77.02.00 with Sam, chuckles, and James. Good run, talking and relaxing. (6.47, 6.15, 6.42, 6.31, 6.30, 6.27, 6.49, 6.31, 6.30, 6.06, 6.04, 5.51) |
12 |
Good run, felt good after feeling tired and worn out from a long day teaching, was nice to get out and get a good run done, considering it was cool and windy, as well as long day at school. One of those surprising runs where you feel good and quite enjoy it. |
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21st February 2010 |
66.16.00 with Dekker. Felt good, talking, relaxing and enjoying run. (7.33, 7.01, 6.47, 6.43, 6.31, 6.25, 6.23, 6.18, 6.21, 6.09) |
10 |
Off |
0 |
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22nd February 2010 |
1.56.17 with dekker and Edwin, just running, chatting and having some good crack. Ran last four on own. ( 725, 7.01, 6.44, 6.41, 6.28, 6.22, 6.24, 6.30, 6.23, 6.34, 6.22, 6.29, 6.30, 6.20, 6.00, 5.57, 6.01, 5.56) |
18 |
off |
0 |
Good run, felt easy and relaxed. |
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50 |
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49 |
Total = 99 |
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