Nike Running Camps

Day 2 - Tuesday 7/26

"The Real Life":
      I woke up today at 6:45. My suite mates(steeplers John Martinez and Kevin McDermott, 5kers Daniel Nunn and Paul Hefferon, 10kers Neal Naughton and Joshua Perrin, and racewalkers Zachary Pollinger and Roberto Vergara all in a large suite) were all still asleep. Since I couldn't get back to sleep I took off to breakfast. I walked out the door into a breeze, unfortunately it was all hot air since the weather has been hot and muggy. Since I had a track workout today, I went light on the food. I ate some "eggo" style waffles, melon, toast, and a few glasses of OJ.

 
Seen above in the early laps of the 10k at the Junior Nationals,
a trio of Eastern Michigan runners eventually pulled away and
dominated the latter stages of the race, with Joshua Perrin (left)
and Neal Naughton finishing 1-2 in the race to qualify for PanAms.

Coaching Staff/First Workouts:
      After breakfast I followed coach Danny Williams (Cal Poly SLO) back to Alumni Hall so that I could trade in some of the clothing that was too big or small. He took my order and told me to come back later to pick up the right sizes. After trading in the gear I
headed for the track.
     Coach McNichols, distance coach at Indiana State, was there waiting to help out the distance guys with their workouts as we needed it. The Eastern Michigan guys were there doing track work--2 miles followed by a few 300s. I finished my 30 minute warmup as they were finishing up their track work. My workout for the day was 4x200 with 400s between each 200. Coach McNichols was there observing and chatting during rest periods. I hit 28, 26, 26, 25 for the 200s and 59, 58, 58 for the 400s with full recovery. I felt very good about how the workout went. John Martinez jumped in on a couple of 200s in between his hurdle work for the steeplechase. As I was cooling down, Daniel Nunn showed up to do 1000s. I stretched out and did glute strengthening drills. By the time I finished cooling down and showering, it was lunch time.
      I headed over and had some roastbeef, mashed potatoes, and green beans. After lunch I picked up the gear I traded in earlier--three sweet long sleeve shirts, competition shorts, and 2 USA Track polo shirts. I also iced my hamstring after the track work because it has been a bit tender lately, but I felt fine during the track work. I had a lot of down time so I hung out with the distance girls and guys and played some card games. I won the first game of spoons. After we got bored of that we just chatted about random stuff for a while until it was time for dinner. We had a countdown from 3-hours out, so dinner's arrival was much welcomed. I went to dinner and had some veal parmesean and veggies.

The Group Is In Good Hands:
      Then I went over to the trainers to get some work done on my ankle and hamstring. The treatment the team receives here is wonderful. The medical staff is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The coaches are all great, fun people to be around. I have
a lot of free time right now, so I have to find stuff to do. My parents come in tomorrow and the athletes are allowed to be signed out by their parents so I may take advantage of that. There is a team meeting at 10 tonight. A talent show is on the itinerary, so I'll let you know what that's all about  (give us the scoop on the Talent Show, Mark!).

       Well, that's all for day two. Enjoy! -- Mark