1st lap of 5. Ken Goglas to my left, me wearing camo head band in honor of Andrew Capizzi. Dense racing over rough ground! Photo by Michael Scott
I write to inspire and amuse. When you race with poor tactics, it is hard to talk about it. But I have to be honest, we have to look at the ugly truth. I started way too hard in this race. I told myself "Run 50-80m hard and then settle in". Given that the first turn was a straight line and about 350-400m out, around a tree into a 90. The starting line was not that wide for 400+ runners; I figured this made sense. Instead, I probably kept rolling for more like 150-200m into the steep incline and went into oxygen debt and ran like shit for all but the last mile. Arguably I ran well in the last 1000m, but was pained to see a clump of about 20 runners that were just a bit too far ahead for me to catch. It's a hard thing traveling to an important race and flat out blowing it. I should know better, I'm 32yrs old, I've been racing for 18yrs. But shit, I'm human too, right?
The upside is, a handful of my teammates had a pretty good race, and good for them! Two Men and One Woman inside the top 100 finishers (Chris Johnson, Ken Goglas and Cheyenne Ogletree). From where I battled within the race, I saw Matt Eder, Joe Zeoli, and Will Appman all run well. Joe kept a steady pace throughout, picking off the fast starters (like me). Matt battled with Will and I in the last 600m and ultimately laid down the hammer to outrun us both. And Matt, Will and I all passed 2-3 men each in the last 200m I believe. Also, all 18 men and 12 women, and 2 coahes, and Bill Zeoli(Joe's Dad), had a good time in the town of Bend, and just being around all of the other runners. I'd never been to Oregon, so it was a dream to go for a Championship race. Honestly, I never dreamed I would have a chance to race in Oregon on a team in a race like this. We really had a lot of fun!
About 50m from the finish, and yes, I beat #1752, his beard was no match for mine. Photo compliments of Michael Scott.
This was the toughest XC course that I have ever run. It was designed with intentional contour and challenges that resembled a cyclocross or motocross course. It was a lot of fun being in a race where you can hear the ground rumbling under 800+ spiked shoes. 3600ft over sea level and a tilted, twisted, hilly, muddy course were tough. I got my assed kicked. 280th of 410, my time was 36:20. Next yr friends...next yr.
And now one more photo, because this is what teammates do:
About 2seconds before this, Paul went down, but Josh and Matt helped him up quickly. Ted is on the far right. In a crazy race like this, it's good to have some teammates nearby. That's XC! Compliments of Michael Scott
Commuting in a 10yr old Honda Civic w/138k miles and worn out struts to work 35-40hrs a week and running 100miles in that same week, is tiring. Yes, I put out another 100mile week (103 to be precise), but I have to admit, it will likely be the last one for the year. With the remaning races and roughly 8 weeks in the calendar yr, I'll have to start cashing in the chips soon. This is not to say, "I've found my limit", rather, "I'm in a good place and know I shouldn't push beyond it for now". Keeping things in check around 80-85mpw would be wise.
Last night, with my GSTC teammates, Ken Goglas, and Steve Mennitt I prodcued an effort in a workout that was unprecidented in any of my previous training. I know we were battling a bit in this workout. Or maybe it's only in my head, because I'm the one battling to stay close to them. Our team is deep and figuring out who will be part of the A team, B team, and perhaps C team for the Club National 10k XC Championship in Bend, Oregon will be a series of tough decision. I'm working on making those decisions more difficult for our Captains and Club President.
Behold my lack of graphic desgin abilities! Or some 3rd grader's attempt at a history project. Note: Currently the members of GSTC are searching for the Oxen, as it appears they have wandered off during last night's interval workout.
2 miles at T pace-10:22-this felt smooth, no lie.
4x1k at 8k race pace-3:00, 3:02, 3:02, 3:01-too fast, oops.
4x200 at mile race pace-30-32ish-yea, oops again.
Still, I feel good today. Onward ho!
The trail to Oregon is long. The pace has been grueling, if our flights are delayed, we might have to ford the river...
We all "pop" a good one, now and then. Well, some of us do. It has always seemed to me that I seldom do. But, I've been running well this yr, and people are taking notice. Post race conversations with competitors have been a bit longer than usual. It's nice to get some recognition for your hard work.
Far Left to Right: Sean Donohue, Ted Doyle, Paul Matuszak, Matt Eder, Me, Ken Goglas, Mike Fonder. There are a couple other people in this photo, identify yourselves! This was just before the end of loop 1 at the 8k nj xc champs race. Note: Like me, Paul has a beard, he beats most others due to his beardpower.
Oct 20th-On a course that was claimed to be short(and I honestly don't care if it was I still ran fast as hell), I "popped" a 15:35 for "5k", finishing 4th. This was remarkable to me. I felt strong through the whole race.
Oct 27th-Before anyone could recover from the shock of seeing me beat some well accomplished runners the previous week, I ran 26:00 for 8k. I'll admit, my case was overstated, but not by much. Ken Goglas beat me by 16 seconds (coincidentally the same gap he beat me by in the previous week's 5k race), and Mike Fonder just ran away from us in the last lap (25:20) Let's not ignore, I ran 26:53 on the exact same course last yr. I am pleased with this result.
Putting things into perspective: the past three months I've been like a ticking clock with my training, I expected 25:30-40 for the 8k if I felt good. Honestly, I felt weird. Not bad, just not all that good either. If 26:00 on a rough day is what happens, I can live with that...for now. Anyway, I finished 3rd, and I'm stoked about that. In both races I beat guys that I figured I wouldn't. After the 5k, I stepped onto the starting line for the 8k telling myself, "I can win this race"! I don't frequently feel that way. Confidence can do a lot for you in racing! Am I satisfied? Not exactly...no.
As I've said before, there is more honor in the fight than there is in the win. Some may have been surprised, and some may doubt it, but results don't lie. Cross Country is my thing, and I'm crushing it.
At the midway point in the USATF-NJ 5k XC Open Championship at Deer Path Park in Readington, NJ. There are 6 runners pictured here, look closely, and you will see an extra foot/lower leg.. From L to R: Mike Dixon, Will Griffin, Eric Dubois(piece of his leg and head anyway), Mike Anis, Steve Mennitt, Ken Goglas
So, it's October 23rd. The Club National 10k XC Championship is now less than 8 weeks away. I ran the Paul Short XC Invitational on a hot day in 26:36. This is slower than what I produced on a chilly day in 2009 by 9seconds. Two huge factors here, heat and density of field. It was about 78 and rising when I started, probably 80 when I finished. This Open race had 516 runners in it, the majority of which were Collegiate guys, and they always start fast. It's only natural at a huge race of this sort that people start out hard. Well, I didn't exactly. My opening mile was 5:18, probably slowed by taking the turns wide to avoid getting tripped and pushed and others runners who were already redlining and settling after 1000m. The results page has mile splits, a very cool thing to have in a race like this. So, apparently, I was in roughly 350th position. I finished 87th. Take a look at this excerpt from the results below: full results from Open race here
67 Peter Drews, Sr 5:14 26:27 5:20 Williams College
68 Matt Hassett 4:57 26:27 5:20 Georgetown R C
69 Elias Howard, So 5:11 26:29 5:20 Dickinson College
70 George Oliver, So 4:54 26:29 5:20 Cornell
71 Ryan Lee, Sr 5:12 26:29 5:20 University of Richmon
72 Sean Leighton, Sr 5:00 26:30 5:20 University of New Ham
73 Pat McLaughlin 4:59 26:30 5:20 Unattached
74 Andreas Kellas, Jr 5:15 26:31 5:21 Army
75 Connor Strynkowski, So 5:06 26:31 5:21 Cornell
76 Stephen Keith, Jr 5:01 26:32 5:21 Lehigh University
77 Ryan Cooney, Fr 5:02 26:32 5:21 Lehigh University
78 Joe Beveridge, Sr 5:11 26:33 5:21 La Salle University
79 Ryan Chiesa, Fr 4:55 26:33 5:21 University of New Ham
80 James Beacham 4:55 26:33 5:21 Unattached
81 Daniel Salas, Fr 5:01 26:33 5:21 Dartmouth College
82 Michael Lederhouse, Fr 4:48 26:34 5:21 Georgetown University
83 Tucker Hamilton, Fr 5:06 26:35 5:21 Brown University
84 Kirk Webb, So 5:06 26:35 5:21 University of Pennsyl
85 Tyler Erhard, Sr 5:08 26:35 5:21 Bucknell
86 Louis Saviano, Sr 5:00 26:35 5:22 University of New Ham
87 Michael Anis 5:18 26:36 5:22 Garden State Tc
88 Alec Brand, Fr 5:05 26:38 5:22 Shippensburg
89 Jason Hartman 5:28 26:38 5:22 Unattached
90 Robert Biro, Fr 4:55 26:38 5:22 University of New Ham
91 Ed Sheridan 5:09 26:39 5:22 Unattached
92 Zachary Simmons, So 5:12 26:39 5:22 Dickinson College
93 John Corona, Sr 5:06 26:40 5:22 University of New Ham
94 Dan Swain 5:12 26:40 5:22 Una
95 Matthew Lutcza 5:08 26:42 5:23 Unattached
96 Victor Allen, Jr 5:12 26:42 5:23 University of Pennsyl
97 Michael Kurvach 5:03 26:43 5:23 Unattached
98 Connor Clark, Fr 5:01 26:43 5:23 Dartmouth College
99 Stephen Schelander 5:04 26:44 5:23 Sstc
100 Noah Williams, Fr 5:17 26:44 5:23 Williams College
101 Tyler Scheving, Fr 5:09 26:45 5:23 University at Buffalo
102 Mike Garrity 5:08 26:45 5:24 Unattached
103 Austin McGinley, So 5:06 26:46 5:24 Shippensburg
67th was 11 seconds ahead of me, 103rd 10 seconds behind.
This is the sort of competition that you dream of as a post-collegiate athlete. Having done some more runner-nerd math, I calculated that I passed a runner on avg every three seconds from the 1mile mark to the end of the race!
Yep...I think that is cool.
More recently, was the USATF-NJ 5k XC Open Team
Championship. GSTC, ran
the show, we took the first 5 spots on the Men's side! Individually, I finished 4th in 15:35! I beat some guys who whipped my ass at the Liberty HM, really it was just the sort of thing that I would never expect. I've been traning and racing with some of these guys for years. When you keep getting beat by the same people again, and again, you might start to believe, "Well, he's just better than me." It is hard, but we have to remind ourselves that this is just a defeatist rationalization for a lack of hard work and patience. Every dog has its day. So when you finish a race with someone in your sights that historically has left you in the dust, it gives you renewed strength!
Anyway, I figured I was fit enough to run at least 16:05, 15:55 if I ran a smart race. This was a huge breakthrough race for me. My previous best XC 5k race was 16:22(RVRR summer series July 21, 09'), and my best on
the Deer Path course was 16:23(2012)! More runner-nerd math: 16:22-15:35=47seconds. At age 32, after
competing for 18yrs. I know a lot of runners that have run for many yrs; none of them ever told me about the time that they ran a 47second 5k XC pr when they were 32. I can go, faster I'm sure of it. Sidenote: Yes, I heard the course is a bit short, but I'm comparing times on this same course, so it's a solid case for analysis.
Workouts and general aerobic runs: have suddenly gone off the charts, 8k worth of intervals are often totalling somewhere around 25:00-25:20. In previous yrs, this sort of workout I would perhaps at best have totaled 26:00 and with longer recovery times between each interval. I go out of my way a bit to run with Chris Croff, Jacob Edwards and Chris Johnson in Summit or the Watchung Reservation, a lot of days I feel like somone is pulling me along a touch faster than I'd like, but those are the days you get a little better. Also, I never felt good enough to go and run doubles the day after workouts. This bodes well for the upcoming USATF-NJ 8k XC championship on Sunday.
Inspiration: I love running, watching African's win marathons is cool. But I also enjoy watching boxing. Welterweights and Middleweights most of all (140-147lbs and 151-160lbs) currently seem to be where the best guys are to watch. Recently, I have watched Ruslan Provodnikov fight Timothy Bradley(a fight he very narrowly lost by majority decision) and Mike Alvarado. Alvarado was in two brutal fights against Brandon Rios(who is now slated to fight Manny Pacquiao on 11/23). Provodnikov is the type of fighter that "takes two shots to give one". I identify with this sentiment. Early on, Alvarado was throwing more punches and landing at a better rate. But as the rounds wore on Provodnikov's heavy shots took their toll on Alvarado, who went down twice in the 8th and was nearly down again the 10th. He did not come out to answer the bell for the start of round 11.
Provodnikov beating the tar out of Alvarado. photo courtesy of usatoday.com
As a runner, I don't fancy myself to be too slick. I just grind it out, like Provodnikov. I train hard, and I stay focused on hitting the target, even if it means I take a pile of punishment in the process. I'll keep coming at you, hurt and tired, that's the only way I know.
This is what it looks like when you've won a fight against Mike Alvarado, no one said it would tickle. Photo from boxingnews24.com
I just had a chat with one of my Coaches from College, Mark Haug. He took notice of my recent 5000m track race. So we reminisced about the "old days". Mark was Coach for seven yrs or more before he handed the reins over to his assistant James McCusker. Mark and James were teammates in their own College days at Ramapo. They were terrific guys, both of them. They motivated me, and made our team feel like it was a band of warriors. Tonight, Mark referred to us as "The Bad News Bears of the NJAC", and I can say that was fairly true. We had crappy uniforms, no real warmups, old busted vans with no team insignia, and an old tattered bag that carried our first aid and spike kit. Mark called it..."Red Bag". As we boarded one of the anonymous white or grey 15 passenger vans that Ramapo had in it's stable of vehicles for its Athletic teams, Mark would shout "Who's got Red Bag?!" Just like that. Not the Red Bag...just, Red Bag. Mark would make us do 10 pushups if he heard us cursing.
I liked these things, strange stuff like the importance of a team member grabbing a Red Bag named, Red Bag, Punishment Pushups, just quirky stuff that was unique to our team.
Workouts were rough, and while some may argue that it is not a best practice to keep your athletes in the dark, he wouldn't tell us what the workout was going to be. On two occasions I made the error of asking "So, what's the workout today?" My teammates would sharply object, "Are you kidding? You don't ask what the workout is! Now it's going to be more!" Again, if this was true, we could say...bad coaching. But I think the point was, that Mark would enjoy toying with our minds a bit. Keeping us on our toes, to keep ourselves ready for workouts, and not prejudge how your were feeling about the effort you were going to give. Just that you were going to run your guts out. As you all may have gathered by now, I enjoy the trial by fire method. The Fall of 1999 through the Spring of 2000 were trying times in my life, and most of what mattered to me was fighting the good fight on Tuesday, Thursday, and most of all Saturdays...Race day!
Letchworth! The Grand Canyon of the East!
I had some breakthrough moments during that Cross Country season and a couple during the track season as well. Perhaps the best moment in all of the mayhem that was my Freshman yr of collegiate running, was the Regional Championship at Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York.
I'd been fighting cold/flu syptoms for a few days, but it wasn't bad enough that I would have bowed out on the trip. So, naturally, I was nervous that I would run poorly.
The drive up there was long, riding in a Coach USA bus, we watched Orgazmo on VHS(for real), still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Back in the day before cell phones, we used calling cards. I called my Mother before leaving Campus and told her where and when I was racing. It just so happened that my Father, the truck driver, was possibly going to be in the area the morning of the race. I dismissed this as a non-factor. I mean, what is the likelihood that a 48' foot tractor-trailer is going to drive into a State Park to see a Collegiate DIII XC race?! But he did it! One of the biggest surprise of my lifetime! My father pulled that truck in there, and made well in time to see the race!
My Father, George Anis, the Line Haul Driver
Maybe this is 53ft? Well, you get the point, Dad drives these.
Much credit to my Dad, a guy who isn't a runner or all that much into sports, and most often was so exhausted from his work, wasn't too energetic about seeing me run races. He went along to see me run a few times in the last couple yrs of HS, and I recall the previous yr, he and My Mother came to a race in Delaware, he missed the entire race, standing on a line to use a Port-a-John...brilliant! We butt heads, and generally have a rough time, "getting along".
But there he was, and I actually saw him before the race, we chatted for a couple minutes, he may have joked that he had plenty of time to hit the head this time! Most of the rest of it all was a bit of a blur in all honesty, but I recall hearing my Father's voice several times as I ran by. And it made all the difference on that day. I ran a PR by more than 30 seconds, my time of 29:34 for 8k felt impossibly fast for me then! I finished as the team's 5th man!
Dad congratulated me afterward, paid me some compliments of which details have long since been lost in my memory. My teammates' parents had come to meets that were nearer to home, but my Dad somehow timed it just right, and managed to see us run in the biggest meet of the season hundreds of mile from home!
The details of that weekend will remain in my memory for the rest of my days. Mark shouting through the walls from one room to the next, "Anis, that's ten pushups!", after catching me cursing the crappy TV; the weird bus driver(let's just say he was weird), Orgazmo, and my crazy teammates...bunch of whacko's! And my Dad, and his New England Motor Freight truck rolling into the park, how surprised I was. He knows, that I appreciated this, and I'll be sure to tell him again the next time I see him. People can redeem themselves, so be ready to be glad when they do. I'll always remember all of this.
For those of us who ran XC in HS, and found ourselves "on the bubble" as the 7th or 8th man, we know odd coupling of stress and motivation that was thrust into our training and racing. Some rise to the challenge of the pressure to perform, others crack, crumble and shy away from it. Some people just win, plain and simple their bodies developed into a natural state of readiness to run fast and win. But this doesn't describe me. I am not a born winner, I'm just a born fighter. Maybe I've done so many things, simply because someone told me I shouldn't or couldn't or wouldn't believe I was good enough to beat them. There is more valor is fighting than winning. As winning is merely one half of the outcome, while the fight may be as masterful as it is tragically flawed.
My development as a runner has had plenty of valleys that followed some great peaks. Maintaining the mindset of competing when you know, realistically, you aren't going to win against the best, can be daunting. But that is a key aspect to sportsmanship, knowing that you should give it "the old college try" for yourself, your teammates, coaches, and your opponents. Besides, pain doesn't hurt. Sucking when you don't want to suck is what really hurts.
So it's all kind of gone like this:
Winter/Spring 1995'-weather kept all of my "training" indoors as a HS freshmen, and as the spring pushed on I realize I don't like getting my ass kicked by girls at dual meets in the mile.(Yes, they combined boys and girls together), so I learned to try hard at running, and I hit a 5:57 by season's end.
Winter 96'-I ran a 5:24mile, I got a Varsity letter for the first time, but I still get my ass whipped at most meets.
August 1997, After concluding that soccer wasn't working out, I was fighting for a Varsity Singlet on the Edison High School Cross Country team.(trust me, it was well worth the fight, the JV uni's were cheesy) At the time this seemed tough, but I was in the mix, and after the first couple weeks of Captain's practices and then official team practices, I'd done it. I'd pulled away from a couple of guys who have been with the team 3-4yrs. I work my ass off, I travel with the team to all the invitationals and championships, and my spot was never safe.
August 1999-After a summer of rehab for a bad case of IT band syndrome(thanks crowned suburban roads!), I found myself fighting to regain enough fitness to be the #7 man on the Ramapo College XC team, the older guys on the team go easy for the first few miles of a run, but the back half always turned into a race(or so it seemed when you just can't hang with the pace). I manage to slide into the 7 slot, and by late season I'm 6th and twice 5th. But the whole season is a battle with the IT band and tenacious teammates ready to take my spot. I make the trip to the Regional Championship and run my best race of the season, we place 25th(I seem to recall), better than Ramapo had done in a long time I'm told.
Fall 2000-04'-Each season is a battle for a Varsity spot, 00' was pretty good, 01' and 02' were a bit of a let down, I sat out 03' with stress fractures, I finish anywhere from 8th to 3rd in these yrs I'm on the team at Ramapo. I allowed myself to be distracted by douchey fraternity "brothers", crazy girlfriends, and assorted shenanigans. Got sick all too often from living in the dorms, and generally drank far too much. I was mediocre at best, and at my worst, a bloated 170lbs of drunkenness. As one of my coaches put it, in a season-end review, "Dedicated, but with limited Athletic ability".
Spring 05'/06'-I'm back home and the heavy drinking isn't so interesting anymore, running with some old teammates and competitor's, but nothing's too organized. I also start running with Rartian Valley Road Runners, the only dedicated runners I know besides HS kids and my college teammates who are now too far away to run with regularly. I join RVRR, and find some steady training partners there, as well as some decent competition on the NJ race circuit. The battle has shifted more to an internal struggle of staying motivated and focused on good/consistent training. I run my first marathon(lackluster, but still sub 3hrs), and I'm fighting the clock and a lack of self acceptance.
2007/08'-I run the Boston Marathon, I run the NYC Marathon, and the Philly Marathon along with some HM's and many other races, I kept getting PR's. I grew accutom to this. Faster, Faster...aaand injured.
2009'-5months of not running from Dec 08' into the spring of 09'. I battle back, and ran some fast races late in the yr, much to my own surprise.
2010-Jan/Feb brang me some long overdue PR's in the 800m, 1mile, and 3k indoors. I was truely surprised at my fitness in the short game, and I was thinking big things for the rest of the year. The Boston marathon turns out to be an effort that I'm not sure I'll ever reproduce, getting a nice little PR and finishing inside the top 150, truly a great thrill. In August-I hurt my lower back in a competitive trail HM, I finish the race 5th, but the damage is done, and now 2yrs later I'm still struggling with the aftermath of it. But I still went to the Club National XC championship...and ran like crap, at least we had a good time in Charlotte, NC afterward! The end of this yr brings about a sobering realization, no one is pushing me to be a better runner, and so, I switch to racing with GSTC.
2011-12-I run some good races in 11', no lifetime bests, but I'm in the hunt and racing with some very talented and dedicated teammates. In Sept I qualified for Boston and entered, but the 12' race wasn't blessed by the gods, to say the least. To end 11', I went to Club Nationals in Seattle, looking like the slowest of 6 men, but surprised some and ended up being the 5th! So far this yr has been interesting, I've run a 20k pr that is faster than my HM best by a little bit, and so I've got a fighting chance for a spot on the Club National A Team, or so I like to think.
The law of diminishing returns has really been kicking me in the ass the past 4yrs, but I am in no way ready to lay down my arms. New goals have gotten tougher to achieve, and thinking back, making the top 7 on the college and HS teams seemed hard, but it didn't take long at all. I'm going full on Guerilla warfare on running! And it just occurred to me, that I've always kept at it because I want to see if I can stay up there with the big dogs. So all these yrs later I've got the same goal as I did in 97' and 99', the pace and combatants are just way faster. The base building is under way, we'll see how I shape up this time around. So, like Manowar, We'll to fight until we win or fight until we die!
