Hey Y'all,

I'm baaaaaaaack.  Just wanted to stop by and drop you a line to catch you up on my training over the past couple months, as I have been building a solid base and preparing for the upcoming World Championship Indoor Season. 

A few months back, while I was panning the upcoming season with my coach, Steve Sisson, I found out that the USA Indoor Championships were going to be held in Albuquerque NM this year at 5000+ ft. of elevation.  So what did I do?! After getting a solid base phase in and the first of two transitional phases, I discussed it with my coach, grabbed one of my TeamROGUE Elite Teammates (Kyle Miller) and left the day after Christmas to head up here to good 'ole ABQ for 6 weeks of altitude training. 

This is both Kyle's and my first extended trip to altitude and its been ... interesting.  Really, it has been a very positive experience so far.  The first few days were rough.  I was running soooooo slow and feeling sooooo tired ... check that, exhausted!  Even before I broke a sweat I felt like I was ready to be done running.  Needless to say, we pressed on and after a few days were feeling a bit better.  Now, after a couple weeks, we are starting to finally feel adjusted.  Training has been going very smoothly (knock on wood), so Kyle and I are getting ready to open up our season this weekend at the Lobo Invite here in Albuquerque in order to get us back into the racing mindset and learn a whole new side of altitude ... racing at it.  I'm looking forward to the learning process this weekend and finally getting an accurate test of where I am and what I need to focus more on now to get where I want to be by the end of February when I return for the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

All the best and I hope everyone is having a GREAT new year!

db

p.s.  Hopefully I will be back soon with some exciting news related to an earlier post!  Everybody keep their fingers crossed!!!

I want to talk about a recent event in the world of running and the response to it that has left me a little angry ...

Recently, Under Armour has decided to enter the competitive side of running (they plan on making performance footwear and apparel) and are currently partnered with the media organization flocast.com.  They are doing a new segment each week where they give an inside look into their production and some of the products we can expect to see from them.  I think it is great that a company is doing this and showing the openness that they are to those of us who have been in the sport and care about where its heading.

Other people have not been so friendly.  At the bottom of the page, there is a small space that allows the flocast user to leave comments on videos (while hiding in anonimity) and I have been shocked at the amount of negativity that can be found there about this company's entrance into the market.  Some claim that it is simply a gimick and that they are only concerned with profit, others that they are only truly concerned with football and baseball and could never produce a good product, and some that have written them off even before they have started for other rediculous reasons.

For me, UA entering the Running market can only mean good things and progress.  Sure, they may not have a proven product yet, but the bigger question is, are they committed to making one?  Look what they HAVE done in football and baseball in such a short time-frame!  They committed to making a top-of-the-line product and they threw recources behind it to ensure success.  I have had the opportunity to speak with the UA Run Group and I assure you, they have that same committment towards running.  Plus, you wouldn't tell a guy who runs 15:00 for 5k to stop running just because you don't think he will ever be a 13:00 5k guy would you?!  We are a small sport and one that needs to be open and accepting, so if that is not who you are, then maybe YOU should leave the sport.  I'd rather lose YOU than the 20 or so 15:00 guys you will push away.  On top of that, who wouldn't want to see more competition (and more money) enter the Running Scene.  I remind you that I was an economics major, and just as more good runners pushing each other produces better overall times, more competition in the market is going to produce better products and a greater investment into the sport we love so much.

Quit with all the hate folks and give them a chance to succeed.  Constructive criticism is probably the best thing they can ask for right now and, if they listen closely, I know the running world will tell them exactly what it is they're looking for ... just check those comments below the videos!  Who knows, maybe UA will even come out with something brand new that we haven't seen before and that all the haters hadn't thought of ...

Best of luck UA ... I'm a supporter!

Recently I went in to the University of Texas FITLab, who we are very grateful to for being a sponsor of TeamROGUE Elite, and had my baseline fitness tests done.  In these tests, they look at and measure our DEXA Body Comp, VO2Max, HR Max, and Lactate Threshold.  The tests require about 30min worth of running on a treadmill during which they gradually increase the pace (to maximum speed - 5min miles or 12mph on this particular treadmill) and then the incline until you decide you can no longer go on.

During this testing, the goal is to push yourself as long and as hard as you can; because I was hurting so much from the test, I didn't even notice the pain I was in from one of the long distance runner's most common rites of passage.  Sometime during the test, the inside seam of my flats ripped open on my left foot, resulting in my toes sliding forward into the front of my shoe with every step.  By the end of the test, I had jammed my big toe into the tip of the shoe so many times, that a HUGE blood blister had formed underneath my toenail.  Thinking it would slowly die and fall off, I left it alone.  Later that night however, it felt as if a fire cracker had been set off on the tip of that toe.  The pressure under the toe became so great that my toenail had popped straight up in the air, connected now only at the base.  At this point I had to remove it to prevent infection ... root, cutical, and all ... and am now of the opinion that it will never return.  Moral of the story, if you ever do get a blood blister under your nail or a black toenail from running, burn a hole in the top of the nail to relieve the pressure and save your feet from becoming ugly, but proud reminders of the tolls we pay as runners.

Despite this event however, there was also a lot of good that came out of these tests.  After working with Dr. Z at Advanced Rehab to finally fix the hip problem that has plagued me for 4 years now and that had really became enflamed during this past year, I seem to have done more than just relieve that injury's pain.  I seem to have also fixed a disability and hindrance to my running abilities.  When the tests were over and done and the data analyzed, it turns out that despite having just taken 3 weeks off and my body comp being 1.5% "fatter" than I was in June when these tests were done, I am actually "fitter" and had better VO2Max, HR Max, and Lactate Threshold levels than I did last year when I qualified for the 1500m finals at The USA Track & Field Championships!  This has been a very exciting find for me and I am hoping that it is a positive sign of things to come in the year ahead ... but only time shal tell ...

The time has come!  This past Monday marks the first week of official team practice for the newly formed TeamROGUE.  Everybody involved is incredibly excited about the endeavor and opportunities for success we have ahead of us.  If you read my website's homepage, you will realize that we have organized this team differently than any of the current post-collegiate groups in the country.  Yes, we borrowed organizational ideas from some of them, but as a whole, we are a new, unique support system and group that has grown its roots in THE grassroots capitol of the world (in my opinion) ... Austin, Texas.  So here are a few of the highlights from TeamROGUE thus far:

Athletes:  We currently have 8 athletes, 5 of whom are USATF Championship/Olympic Trials finalists, 1 of whom is a Kona World Ironman Championship Qualifier, and all of whom are multiple time NCAA Champions/All-Americans.  This is the most exciting part of the group.  Our athletes are not only the most talented athletes we believe ever assembled by a newly formed post-collegiate group, but these athletes are driven, smart and most of all, good persons.

Team Organization:  Our team is being formed as a non-profit organization that will be used two-fold.  TeamROGUE will provide the support structure for these elite athletes while, at the same time, the athletes then provide a healthy, active culture and community for our city's youth population in which our next generation will be able to participate in positive events promoting their health, safety and future opporunities.  We have already passed our Texas State Non-Profit Incorporation and are waiting on final approval from the IRS which we hope to recieve very shortly so we can carry out this wonderful mission.

Local Support:  We can not thank all of our local supporters enough for the services and in-kind donations we have already recieved.  We even have free haircuts from Bird Barbershop!!!  How cool is that?!  We are in fact still looking for a few more local sponsors for in-kind support for certain areas of our athletes' lives and hope that recieving our 501c(3) will help with those, but can't say enough how grateful we are to have people like Dr. Z at Advanced Rehab on board and creating a long-term relationship with us already.

National Support:  The responses from our possible national sponsors, which will compliment our local efforts, has been incredible.  We never could have predicted (although we hoped!) the amount of interest we would begin to draw on the national level.  We are looking forward to settling this side of the organization soon and starting a partnership that will grow and flourish over the many years to come.

That's all I will overload you with for now, but I hope you can all sense, through this blog, the excitement myself and my new teammates have about TeamROGUE Elite.  We will carry this excitement through our fall training and onto the track as we turn heads with our performances.

All the best,
dbrown

Well, it's been a while since I have been on here and at first the reason was solely that I was frustrated with the way training and racing had been going.  I had been dealing with injury, poor performance, poor luck, etc. so between being mildly embarrassed about that and beginning to feel sorry for myself, the posts became easier and easier to ignore.  It was hard to hear people continuously tell me I was having a good year, a big year, a breakout year just because of a few highlights when I felt like I was running worse than ever.

I'm done with that.  I'm done feeling sorry for myself (I actually have been for quite sometime as you'll soon find out) and I'm ready to continue moving forward with all of my goals, personal and communal, professional and athletic.  Things have actually already been moving since my main focus has been getting everything prepared to hit it hard over the next 3 years.  My formation of a TEAM here in Austin is underway and our amazing list of inaugural athletes have already migrated to the great City of Austin.  We are really excited about the start we have and the results we are anticipating.

Start checking back regularly as I catch you up on what's been going on the past couple months, where I am as of now, and where I'm going because its definitely going to be a ride to get there!

In my last blog I mentioned that I was NOT satisfied with making the finals of the 1500, even though that alone was one of my goals.  After competing in the final, I wish my performance had shown this dissatisfaction a little more, but in the end, the results are what they are, and for me, they are quite disappointing.

There are a few things that I am going to take away from the Final as positive however.  First, for the first 1000m, I could not have had a tactically more sound race.  I got out well, moved up well, and spent the majority of time on the rail while still getting out and into position in time to not be boxed when the move was made.  Secondly, I now know what it is I need to work on in my training.  My ability to shift gears simply was not there.  I tried to wind up the pace as Stephen Pifer went around me and my body was simply not reacting.  Maybe I should have taken a little more of a chance and gone harder at that point in time or maybe I should have been the one to make the move myself, but either way, I made a decision at the time and it turned out to be the wrong one.  I can always say would-a, could-a, should-a, but the fact is, as I was winding up, the field was pulling away and it left me with a LOT of work to do over the final 250m when I finally reached top speed.  Lastly, my summer season has gotten a lot more interesting and competitive since making the final.  I will now be traveling to Ireland, England, Italy, back to England, back to Ireland, England again, Sweden, and Finally back to England again.  The races have gotten more competitive and the cost to me has gotten a lot less.  I am in more demand than I was before and with a few fast times over the summer season, I hope to only increase that demand not only with meet directors, but with sponsors as well.

I made the finals of the USA 1500m Track and Field Championships and am proud to be able to say that.  It will not, however, let my 2009 season be defined by that statistic alone.  I want to run a lot faster and feel ready to run a lot faster.  Follow me as I chase times all throughout Europe over the next few weeks.  It's gonna be exciting!

Yesterday was the Prelim of the 1500m at the USA Track and Field Championships.  A major goal of mine going into this year had been not only to qualify for the USA Champs, but then to make the final.  I am happy to report that I have successfully completed one of my goals.  This Sunday I will compete in the final of the 1500m at the USA Track & Field Championships. 

Do not be fooled however.  While I am pleased with tackling this obstacle that was in front of me, I am in no way satisfied and I am not happy to merely be "in" the final.  Sunday is an entirely new race where anything can happen and I assure you that I will be looking to make things happen.  The purpose of these Championships is to pick the team that will represent us at the World Championships in Berlin.  I want to be on that team.  The excitement of making the final is over.  Now it is time to get prepared mentally and physically for the biggest race yet of my career.

I've never been "the favorite" and I'm pretty sure that nobody has ever even really considered me worthy of "underdog" status, but I know there are a lot of people out there who believe in me and have never counted me out.  I am realistic about the way I am running and my chances of making the team, but I also know that I am the only one who knows how my body has been feeling and how my training has been going, and I am ready to surprise some people.

So with that being said, thank you to all those who have continued to believe in me even when others haven't.  Your support and cheers are my inspiration and I want to win this as much for you as I do for myself.

Look for me as I toe the line on Sunday and cheer as loud as you can no matter where you are, even if you're simply yelling at the television ... I'll hear you. Follow Me.

God Bless,
dbrown

Father's Day was this past Sunday and, although it was no different than any Father's Day of previous years, with the events that have occurred over the past year and my recently released article in the June issue of Runner's World, I reflected on my situation as a son more than ever before.

I began to think about my father ... both of them.  I thought about how, even amongst all of the trauma and pain I went through, I must be one of the luckiest men in the world.  I have had the privilege of being shaped and molded by two incredible, distinct men.  One gave me my physical gifts/attributes while the other took those gifts and matured them to make them better.

I am thankful for being born the son of Barry J. Brown.  I appreciate the genes and attributes he passed along to me and the support I receive from  the amazing friends he gathered over the years both on and off of the track scene.

I am blessed to be the son of David L. Norris.  His unwavering love and support is something I could never thank him enough for.  To become a man like him is something I can only strive for and I feel lucky to have a first-hand mentor in becoming just that.

Hopefully I can take this blessed situation I have been put in and make the most out of it by becoming an outgoing, athletic resemblance of my father, Barry, and a loving, individual resemblance of my father, Dave.

Thank You Both and Happy Father's Day!

I flew to Nashville this past weekend to compete in the Music City Distance Carnival's Invitational Mile.  While the event was scheduled to go off very late in the evening (10:25pm), I was excited about the possibility of good weather and good competition.  The meet did not disappoint.

 

The weather the entire weekend was perfect.  The locals were claiming it was getting "a little too hot", but for a Texan like me, it might as well have been heaven.  I don't believe anybody could complain about the temperature at race-time however.  It was a balmy 70 degrees and wind was non-existent.  The weather was perfect for a fast Mile to ensue.

 

Coming into this race, I had been feeling very confident about my training and where I was physically.  I had recently received some good test results from the F.I.T. Lab and was beginning to feel much more comfortable running "at pace" and faster.  Even with all of this, I had my instructions.  Coach Hayes wanted me to focus on going out conservatively and closing hard, winding up the last 400m with negative splits each 100m.  I felt this was a great idea seeing as my finish had been ... let's just say ... "lacking", in my last 2 races after having gotten out to great starts and feeling good.  This is how the race unfolded ...

 

The gun is up, the gun is off, and the race begins.  There is some jostling for position (more so than usual) as we come off the line and head into the first 100m, but I make sure I run tall and strong and take control of my position.  I settle into 4^th as we come off the first turn and it feels like we are flying.  At 200m, I realize that I feel this way because we ARE flying.  The rabbit and Andrew Bumbalough have gone out in 27 high and the rest of us are through in 28 low.  The pace feels quick but comfortable.  However, this is not the race plan set forth by Coach, so I quickly pull back the reigns and settle into a more relaxed pace behind another competitor.  By 400, Andrew has a 3 second gap on the runner I am following and that gap continues to slightly grow to 4 seconds as we go, positioning unchanged, through the second 400.  This is fine by me however because I am still on pace for my own race-plan, coming through 800m in 2:01.  Just before the end of the second lap, I see the runner I am following beginning to fatigue.  Just as I am about to make a move around him, Matt DeBole beats me to the punch line and swings around us.  I am quick to follow.  I queue off of DeBole’s pace over the next lap, as I know his intention is to run under 4min and that he has been very close many times before.  All the while, I never think of the now lone-Bumbalough out front as the rabbit has dropped off.  I am running “MY” race, and as Marty Liquori did many times throughout his career, I knew that if I was patient and closed as hard as I wanted to, that he would come back to me eventually.  Coming off the last turn onto the homestretch of the third lap, I swing wide a bit and start to push my eyes ahead of me to two things.  First, the clock.  I am still on pace.  It looks as though I will come through 1200 right around 3:02 … perfect.  Second, I know gaze directly in the center of Andrew Bumbalough’s back 5 seconds ahead of me.  I decide right then and there to start winding it up as I make a move around DeBole. I hit the bell lap in 3:02 as I thought and begin to focus on running smooth and relaxed while winding at the same time.  Another runner goes around me as we head into the back stretch, but he is not dropping me and Bumbalough is coming back to the both of us.  200m out from the finish, we are within 2 seconds of Bumbalough.  Here I focus on form and running tall, feeling as if the win is definitely within my reach.  As I dig down for the final push, I dig just a little too far.  I strain instead of relaxing.  I head into the last 150 holding on instead of letting my body stride out and finishing up.  I cross the line a disappointing 4^th in 4:01.

 

After the race, I am not happy, nor am I upset with the performance I have turned in.  It is definitely a big step back in the right direction.  By going out conservatively, I have taught myself what it is like to close with a negative split again.  I wanted to cover the final quarter a few seconds faster than the 58-59 I did, but I will count it as a small victory instead of a small defeat.  I will look at the positives and accept what God has given me on the day.

 

I do this and it gives me a good perspective coming into the final two weeks of training before the USA Championships.  My body is coming into its own again and I am feeling confident about the steps I will take in the next couple weeks.  I will show up ready to get tough and race at USA’s.

This BLOG is LOOOOOOOOONG overdue.  Many of you have asked me if I would post my daily runs and weekly workouts on this site.  I hesitate to do this for a few different reasons.  The main reason for this is that I already host all of my training, complete with footnotes, feel, etc. on flotrackr.com.  Many of you know this website, but many of you still do not.  I highly recommend you check it out. 

One of a runner's best used tools should be his/her training logs.  You've all seen them.  They can be found in any Barnes and Nobles, Borders, or other book store and are basically a calendar with Running-Related entry blanks.  The only problem with these traditional logs is that after a few years of running, they begin to pile up and storage space is not always plentiful, hence, many people simply throw away or do not keep, in the first place, these very important records.

The importance of these logs are two-fold.  They help you understand what worked and, more importantly, what didn't.  You can see patterns in them leading up to great races and PR's or (on the other side) to injury and defeat.  These logs can help you refrain from repeating the latter.

But I digress.  Flotrackr.com is an online running log that you can sign up for, for FREE (and none of this "free, but read the small print" business either ... actually free).  This is a service started by a friend and ex-teammate of mine and is entrepreneurial ingenuity.  This online log is only an added bonus to the great site they have created, and which has revolutionized and made more accessible the sport of track and field to the people who wish to follow it.

I keep all my daily runs/weekly workouts on my flotrack account, and by adding me as a contact on flotrack, you will gain access into my day to day training.  I do need to log more about the ancillary training I do, but when it comes to running, you'll find it all right there.  All you will need to sign up for your own account is a creative username and password ... that's it!  So if you would like to get an idea of what it is I do on the roads/track/trail from day-to-day, sign up, get on board, and take a look. 

For those of you who don't wish to do this, what I will offer to you is a brief synopsis of my weekly routine listed by day below (Understand that this is only one period of my training however and that it varies as you cross into different times during the season.  I will post what a typical base/interval period of training would look like for now.)

Monday -
a.m. 60-70 min run (10-11 mi) / strength session / training room & hot-cold contrast bath
p.m. drills & stretch,15 min warm-up, speed development, 10-15 min cool down / core session and hurdle mobility / training room & ice-bath

Tuesday -
a.m. 20 min shakeout
p.m. drills & stretch, 20 min warm-up, intervals or hills or mix, 30 min cool down / core session and sand  / training room & ice-bath

Wednesday -
a.m. up tempo 15% of total weekly volume (90-95 min/15 mi) / strength session / training room & ice-bath

Thursday -
recovery day
a.m. easy 45-60 min (7-9 mi) / training room & ice-bath
p.m. optional easy 20 min shakeout

Friday -
a.m. drills and stretch, 20 min warm-up, threshold run, 5 min jog, short intervals, 30 min cool down / strength session / training room & ice-bath
p.m. easy 20 min shakeout / core session

Saturday -
recovery day
a.m. easy 45-60 min

Sunday -
a.m. 20% of total weekly volume (2 hrs/20 mi) / training room & ice-bath

I hope everybody finds this overview insightful and helpful.  Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions you may have regarding this training at darrenbrown@darrenbrownrunning.com