Southeast Ohio Dreams

One year, two months and twenty six days later...

And once again a lot has changed. I've moved three times in the past year. I was a professional runner in Greenville, South Carolina, then I was a Chipotle manager in Dayton, Ohio. I was engaged to a beautiful women, now I live with my best friend and former college teammate Jeremy Anderson. I had a great job with opportunity and a bright future, now I make subs. I ran away from all of my problems in Miamisburg and moved east into an 18th century wooden house in the middle of Southeast Ohio.

Now I'm not sure who I am or what the future holds, but like usual I find myself slowly throwing my mangled beaten up body down the road again and again, day after day, to get in my miles. Running is the only thing that makes sense to me in this world. I am eternally thankful for the countless times it has picked me up from my lowest points in life to remind me that there are brighter days ahead. In a world full of hypocrites, smart phones and fast moving fake things, running is the last beautiful thing in life that no one can take from you.

I've accepted the fact I'm never going to be the best. I've accepted the fact that I'm never going to even come close to being noticed, but none of that matters to me. Running has been there when no one else has, and for that I owe it my life.

I've been training full-time now for over two months, and its been a hard but rewarding task. It has been over a year since I put any thought and effort back into my training, and now that I'm slowly making a comeback I feel alive once again. The world is brighter, my food tastes better, and my body aches of satisfaction from the days effort. There is nothing in this world more real and honest than putting on a pair of running shoes and hammering away on a autumn day.

I've got a long way to go, but the demons are still screaming not to give up. I've got a couple things I want to do still on that 400 meter circle before I'm content with becoming a hobby jogger, and I intend to go after that full fucking throttle ahead.

Here is to the long cold winter of training ahead.
- BJW

Falling In Love With The Grind

"If you desire long term success, fall in love with the grind

and the process of your passion -- not the end result"

- Josh Cox

 

 

After what seemed to be an eternity, I am back healthy, and hungry and training full time with my team after spending a majority of my first couple months in Greenville dealing with an injury. Many hours were spent in the pool aqua jogging and working out, attempting to hold onto any gained fitness I had, and now that my hip is 100% pain free, I can finally start to enjoy the day-to-day process of training again! Thanks to Brad and the staff at Performance Therapy, and my coaches, Mike and Laura Caldwell, the slow painstaking process of easing back into things is finally behind me, and I can look forward to the fall season!

 

The big focus for GTC Elite this fall will be put on the 2014 USATF Club Cross-Country Championships December 13th, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  The race will host some of the very best runners and clubs in the United States, going after each other for ten-thousand meters in hopes of making the USA team for the World Cross Country Championships which will be held in Guiyang, China in 2015.

 

As I'm getting back into the routine of things here in Greenville, I am very focused and determined on the future and the task ahead. I have never ran a 10k Cross-Country race before, and to be with the very best doing so for the first time every this December is going to take a lot of hard work and effort to get there. You've got to appreciate the painstaking task of training full-time. With every ache and pain, is just another muscle or cell getting acclimated to the stress. After acclimation, follows adaption, and with adaption becomes results. Fall in love with the grind, and embrace the task, and results will come.

 

- BJW

Don't Pinch Me, I Don't Want To Wake Up

I thought it would be appropirate to update this old thing since it's national running day!

Over the course of the past two months, a lot has changed in my life. I graduated college from Shawnee State University, ran some of my last workouts with the Bears as they headed south to Alabama for the NAIA Track and Field National Championships, Said goodbye to my friends and family and moved to Greenville, South Carolina in pursuit of a professional running career.

This past semester has came and gown in a flash, and now that I have some free time to reflect, I can take the time to appreciate everything that has happened to me. Leaving Shawnee State, Eric Putnam, and my Bears was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. They have become like family to me, and without the guidance and support from my college coach Eric Putnam, the other coaching staff, and my team, I wouldn't be where I am today. I know that the program is in great hands, and will continue to dominate on the national level.

Mike and Laura Caldwell, coaches of the Asics sponsored team Greenville Track Club Elite, gave me a shot, and May 15th I packed up my belongings and headed South to join the very prestigious GTC Elite. I am truly blessed and grateful to be given the opportunity to chase my dreams and persue my running potential. This has been something I've been dreaming about for years, and I don't plan on wasting a single moment. Since moving to Greenville, I have been slowly getting into the daily routine of waking up, going out and breaking down the body, each muscular fiber at a time, and following that up by refueling and recovering, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again hopping that my body will adapt and something beautiful will happen in the near future. Or, as Quenton Cassidy calls it, "The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials".

My new team, the GTC-Elite

Greenville has a very warm family-type feel to the town, with an amazing downtown area that has a wide varity of restaurents and eatieries that can satisfy any food craving. The nearby Appalachian foothills makes for a lush green environment, with a variety of nearby trails that makes for any runners dream. I've been here for almost three weeks now, and still have so much more to explore and discover about this town, but so far it already feels like home.

Downtown Greenville

I will make up my GTC-Elite debut at this Saturdays Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee where I hope to improve on my 5k PR. You can follow me on twitter at @BlakeWysocki and instagram at BlakeWysocki where I will probably be tweeting something running related, or posting a picture of a nearby forest.

Now get out there and enjoy the freedom and beauty to put one foot infront of the other and run!
- BJW

OptygenHP Review

This past month I've had the opportunity to test out a new and improved product by First Endurance Sports called OptygenHP. This formula was developed by one of the leading sports nutritional companies in the United States. Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah First Endurance is an innovative sports nutrition company that has made tremendous breakthroughs in the endurance sport world.

OpygenHP was developed to reduce cortisol levels, and by controlling the athletes cortisol levels, the athlete will decrease their recovery period time, improve their oxygen utilization, increase their VO2, improve their glycogen re-synthesis, and have an overall better endurance performance. OptygenHP has shown to also increase an athletes endurance capacity by 23%, by delivering 50% more beta-alanine which increases an athletes VO2, delays exhaustion, and lactate concentrations.

Since I've been taking OptygenHP, I have noticed a significant increase in my aerobic fitness, especially during long duration, moderate-to-high intensity workouts, like tempo or progression runs. I have also been surprised to wake up the next day after a hard workout, and not get that familiar "dead leg" tired feeling that usually comes after a hard session. I plan to continue using OptygenHP throughout my spring track season, because I know this amazing formula will help me reach new and faster times.

- Blake Wysocki

The Hardness of a Northern Winter

With the fall semester coming to a end earlier this week, I drove north to Toledo, Ohio to spend the winter break at home. I was quickly greeted with temperatures in the teens, and about 6 inches of snow.  Unfortunately, I was forced to utilize the runners most hated machine, the treadmill, yesterday for my run. Luckily, I was about to get out on the trails today, since Toledo does not mess around with their plowing system.

This past couple months have flown by, with a trip to Kansas for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships, Thanksgiving break, then finals, I haven't had much time to really focus on my training. Which is what I'm hooping a change of scenery up north will allow me to get back on track and prepare for a huge spring.

I've quickly adapted to the routine, and the simplicity of full-time training. Waking up, eating breakfast, going out for a run, heading the the gym to workout, then come back home and make a home cooked meal has become the norm. The only problem with this routine is the amount of free-time I have to sit and ponder about my future. Sometimes I just want to put all my time and effort into my running.

Recently with my position as a volunteer assistant coach, I'm able to sit back and look at running from a different prospective. I'm able really understand and listen to my body and know when to push and when to back off. Without the added stress or pressure on myself to preform on a certain day, or race, has allowed me to excel both mentally, and physically. As I live by the clock, and have my daily battles with mother nature, I'll be keeping my head in the clouds dreaming of the time and day where I'll be screaming by on that oval on a warm, North Carolina evening.

- BJW

Fall 2013

"Start everyday with new hope; leave bad memories 

behind and have faith for a better tomorrow".

Yet again, it's been a long time since I've written in this silly thing. Wanted to give you an update, and tell you about the many changes that has happened in my life, yet again...

I've decided to move back down to Portsmouth, Ohio to finish out my bachelors degree at Shawnee State University. My major, Exercise Science and minor, Sport Coaching, should be completed by fall of 2014. I have also been helping out with the Cross Country team as a volunteer assistant coach. We have big goals in November, and I'm in a great position to learn from the team as a coach, and to help them out with their success in anyway I can.

Running2Win
Team R2W Twitter

As far as personal ambitions, I've recently been selected for a new team started by Peyton Hoyal and Mike Stahr called Team Running2Win. It's a new group that started this fall, with big ambitions, and lots of interest. I have been an active user to the online running log Running2Win (My Log) since the beginning of my senior year at St. John's Jesuit High School (August 2007). It has been a great tool that I have used for years to document my runs, and to look back to compare workouts or re-read some of my races. The team also has some major sponsors backing it up, from a fairly new "Run-Real" minimalist running shoe company out of Portland, Oregon called Skora Running (Skora Running), to an endurance sports supplement company out of Salt Lake City, Utah called First Endurance (First Endurance). The team, sponsors and the coordinators have big plans for the future, and to say I'm enthusiastic about my where Team R2W and my running is headed is an understatement. 

Skora Running 

Skora Running Twitter

   

First Endurance
First Endurance Twitter

As I continue building up my training volume, and getting the Shawnee State Cross Country team prepared for Nationals, I will focus on the task at hand. I came off a minor foot injury that set me back over three weeks in September, but have since then been training with the team, running workouts and slowly building back up. I raced this past weekend at Wilmington College running the "Jenna Strong" Cross Country Fall Classic Invite, where I ran an all-time best of 25:19 in the 8k off of only three weeks of training. With the addition of orthotics, a very expensive altitude tent, and a new support system, Team R2W, I can't help but catch myself daydreaming about what the future holds for my running. 

Until next time, Miles of Trials.
- BJW

Indoor Rowing Machine

What is an Indoor Rowing Machine:
An indoor rowing machine is a stationary device used as an alternative exercise for individuals seeking an aerobic workout, or a strength workout depending on the type of exercise they choose on the device. The machine has different options for you to choose from, like a treadmil or eliptical, you can choose the intensity and duration of the workout.

Proper Use of an Indoor Rowing Machine:
Setting up the machine is essential to ensure no injuries occur during your workout. Strap in your feet properly and study to correct form and posture used to eliminate any minor injuries that may occure to inproper use.

Workout:
Using the machines programmer, Row for 1 minute at a hard-moderate intensity, followed by a minute easy-recovery intensity for a total of ten minutes.

Informational Links:
http://www.indorow.com/