Summertime And The Livin's Easy

(Me, Michael, Shane, and Reece out at Picnic point)

I just finished up my Chemistry exam which was my third to last final of the week. After my Civ Lit final on Thursday I will be free from academics till July. Still doesn't feel like summer yet due to some rainy conditions this past week, but warm weather is on it's way. I have to work pretty much everyday till Sunday then It's off to Oklahoma with 5 other Geology students and two professors for ten days.

I will be leaving Monday morning From Portsmouth and the first stop will be in Missouri for two days. From there we will be driving to Arkbuckle country, Oklahoma to spend six days camping out in the woods and doing field research. Still pretty unsure about all of the details and what not about the trip, but I'm pretty excited.

I am gonna try my best to wake up at 6:30 a.m. and get my run out of the way during the trip. It Should be a fun experience running on some the trails out there. Last week was my first week of summer training went perfect hitting 60 miles exactly. Oklahoma will be a big test to my dedication and after that it's smooth sailing. Time to kick up the feet and take it easy.

-BJW

The Dead Weather - Gasoline (new single off their album)

And Let It Begin...

Today marks the first day of "official" Summer training for me. Last week I sat down and marked where I want to be at from April 19th until August 15th mileage wise...

4/19 - 4/25: 60 miles (Last week of classes)
4/26 - 5/2: 60 miles (Finals WeeK)
5/3 - 5/9: 60 miles (Oklahoma Trip 5/3 - 5/12)
5/10 - 5/16: 65 miles
5/17 - 5/23:65 miles (Toledo 5/21 - 5/23, Bedford 5k 5/22)
5/24 - 5/30: 65 miles
5/31 - 6/6: 70 miles
6/7 - 6/13: 70 miles (Bonnaroo 6/9 - 6/14)
6/14 - 6/20: 70 miles (Toledo 6/18 - 6/20, Happy Trails 5k 6/19)
6/21 - 6/27: 70 miles
6/28 - 7/4: 70 miles (Dayton 7/3 - 7/5, Centerville 5k 7/5)
7/5 - 7/11: 70 mil;es
7/12 - 7/18: 70 miles (Johnny Cake 5 miler 7/18)
7/19 - 7/25: 70 miles
7/26 - 8/1: 75 miles
8/2 - 8/8: 75 miles
8/9 - 8/15: 80 miles (XC Camp)

I am taking summer classes first and second half of the summer and going on two big summer trips (Oklahoma and Bonnaroo). I have a pretty tight schedule and really need to be as meticulous as possable in order to reach my goals and hit my weekly mileage. My goal is to be hit 70+ miles ten weeks before camp. Past summers I've been all over the place mileage wise and haven't raced anything close to good. I really would like to put up some good 5ks this summer and try to stay as consistent as passable.

I tried to pick races far enough apart so that I have something to be motivated by and look forward to. I will be running some harder tempo stuff may through July to keep up my aerobic capacity. Along with form drills, striders and tempo runs, I really would like to fit in some longer distance runs on the trails. These next three months determines the outcome of the fall season.

-BJW

Dj. Shadow - Building Stream from a Grain of Salt

Twentieth Century Image

What exactly is the "American Dream"? To be brought up in a nice suburban home with Parents who love each other and will give up anything for their children. Go to church every Sunday, Get good grades and be accepted into a five star college. Go to school, get a degree so you can get a nice job so you can pay for shit you don't need. Eventually buy a house in a nice quiet neighborhood. A wife, white picket fence, two children a dog. Well I say fuck that.

Today's society is forced to believe this is what you SHOULD do and make you believe that if you don't succeed at this you don't succeed in life. Life passes most people by when their busy making grand plans for it. What are you gonna do tomorrow, this weekend, after College, in ten years? In reality the real question is what the hell are you doing now.

People spend countless hours and thousands of dollars in order to create this "Image" of themselves that make them feel good and special. Clothes, shoes, etc. They spend their whole life trying to perfect there idea of what they feel society will accept them as. The way they walk, talk, what music they listen to, what kind of car they drive, everything and anything in order to be accepted. Some people can only feel good and get a laugh if they make fun of people and make them feel like shit. People say it is better to be hated then loved. It has gotten to the point where all I can see on a daily bases is nothing but fake.

I can't help but to have this negative attitude towards these people and this society. It seems like every single person puts up this fake ass image of themselves in order to be liked and accepted. In reality, I believe it's not what you do, but it's who you are.

Live true to yourself.

"Some of us pursue perfection and virtue and if we're lucky we catch up to it, but happiness cannot be pursued. It either comes to you or it don't. You can always say if only this or only that, but IF ONLY is a state of mind that we get into when we feel deprived".

Bob Dylan

-BJW

Back on my Feet

This past Saturday I rode out with the team to Miami (Ohio) for a track meet. We got there around noon just in time to watch the men's steeple. Brett Wager, A former High School teammate of mine at St. John's, placed 6th with a time of 9:53. Very exciting to watch and I really wish I could jump in a steeple, but I'm gonna have to wait until next spring when I am in shape enough to do something.

Some other good races to note are Chuck Wentz with a 4:01 in the 15, Eric Holbrook with a 2:02 in the 8, finally Corey Culbertson 15:14 and Eric Putnam 14:51 in the 5. Very exciting to watch the five thousand meters unravel with the lemons taking it out in a 4:27 and run away with a win with a 14:26. Watching these guys race has really given me an itch to really get back on the track and start pounding away.

I managed to rack up a total of 13.5 miles of trail running at Miami yesterday. Ran 6 with Brett and the rest with people cooling down. Gave me a total amount of 58 miles which means I get to take today off. I felt extremely well running yesterday and FINALLY I can say my hip was 100% with no Pain. Very exciting and a huge relief. Next week I'm looking at 63 ish and I might need to re think my summer milage/training. I am starting to get that itch for milage.

As the season comes to an end, Eric told me he would like to see me run the five thousand at EKU next weekend. I am a little hesitant because I haven't been running the best workouts lately, but This will probably be my only outdoor track race till next year so what the hell.

-BJW

That Feeling...

The overpowering pressure you get deep down within your soul, coming around that famous bend. Blazing past the 300 meter mark as you stare down that long cinder lane, grasping to find that final deep breath. You open up your stride to unleash that un-healthy thing of a kick and then that feeling comes. That feeling of complete power and strength. You are an animal! That long lost, but familiar cool spring breeze comes along your back pushing you towards that tiny line. That line that is so small, but yet means everything. As you pump those arms in a last second effort to shave milli-seconds off that damn clock. Your form is nothing less than your best, your final stride is pushing three meters, as you blaze through that line with that classic "near death" feeling that is familiar but new. Your body is to the point of collapse as you try to find any position that brings small amounts of relief. With your arms above your head trying to find those deep, grasping, hidden breaths you are rewarded with a feeling of self confidence and complete accomplishment...

- BJW


The kills - Tape Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdeWQIM1FgY

Family Time

This past weekend my mom, Laura, came down to Portsmouth to help clean and move to the new house. It was a lot of work, but we pushed through it. Friday after my workout we drove up to Dayton to spend the weekend with Jeremy, Kara, Dave, Aaron, Nichole, and the kids. We pretty much laid around, ate a lot of food and entertained joey and sophia. It was nice visiting with everyone and hanging out with the babies.

That is all for now.

-BJW

The Dead Weather - Die by the Drop (new single from their album Sea of Cowards)

One More Cup of Coffee For The Road

No real importance or special event to blog about, just going to update you on some things. First lets talk music. On friday MGMT's new album "Congratulations" (that is set to be released on April 12th) leaked on the web sometime in the afternoon. I quickly jumped on the opportunity to listen to the album a month early. As anticipated, it is very 70's surfy psychedelic sounding. It is growing on me and will definitley be a great cd to listen to all summer. Also, friday The Black Keys released their first single titled "Tighten up". It has the classic Black Keys feel but more catchy in the beginning with some whistles and maracas. Still very good and can't wait for the album release "Brothers" in May. Finally, The Dead Weather released their "album art" and details of their new cd titled "Sea of Cowards" that is set to come out in May.

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards

In other news, the distance guys had a great weekend down in North Carolina. With great weather and close to perfect conditions everyone ran out of their ass. Some big PR's were droppd and to be honest it was kinda a kick in the balls. I haven't been able to train 100% for a track season since my senior year of high school and it's extremely frustrated. With small baby steps I've been trying to get there. I ran 20.4 miles last week and 30 miles this week. I will probably go up by 5 miles every week. To be honest I would love to be able to start running 70 miles and keep that up with hopefully no pain. I kinda don't want to race any on the track becasuse my hip is still no where close to 100% and I am in no shape to race. Eric will probably make me jump in a 5k near the end of the track season.

These next four days will be the last in my apartment. I spent all weekend packing and getting ready for the big move. My mom and brother are coming down thursday to help with the move. I have been making decisions that I'm not very excited about. I threw away most of my Steve Prefontaine posters and some big Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Jim Morrison posters. Also I'v been giving away most of my furniture and a lot of clothes because there is not much room in the house. I am starting to realize what is important to me and making that step towards "minimalist".

Well thats all I have for now.

-BJW

MGMT - I Found a Whistle (one of my favorites off their new album)