Life as I know it

It's been a while since I posted anything on here. An update of me is what this is. Currently I am working on my teaching credential, working as a substitute teacher, and coaching track at Bakersfield High School. Running for me has taken a turn. I am not quite as motivated as before.

Deep down mentally, I want to train and compete. I look at times that I have run. I watch videos of races, but something keeps me from doing what I love. I don't know what it is. I yearn to get back to it. I was coming back for a while, but after I completed my first marathon, my body was wrecked. I have been plagued with a leg injury that has kept me from my running a bit, but there is an upside to it. I can only run without pain if I am going faster than 6min mile pace. This is where one of my issues comes in. Who wants to run that pace everyday when you feel tired? I am struggling with it. I manage 6 miles yesterday at 7 min avg. My leg was killing me afterwards. I have run a little bit with the kids I coach, but I fear that they will surpass me soon and there will be less motivation there than before. I need to find this motivation. I know there is something deep down within me that will lead to greatness. How do I get there though? I need to find the will, strength, and determination that was once there. There is so much I can do, but I am lazy. I need to get rid of this laziness... 6 miles take 2 tonight... hopefully it goes alright.

The CSUB men's distance squad has a dog pile before the meet. "The Guys," as all off their girlfriends call the group, like to horseplay and joke around all the time
Senior Connie King leads sophomore teammate, Yesmin Tanguma in the 3000 meter steeple chase. Connie runs the steeple chase for her own sick amusement, as the steeple is one of the most tiring races to compete in. She runs the 400 hurdles for her true event.
Senior Edward Lee led his 1500 meter race from start to finish. He recently became world famous when he broke 4 minutes in the 1500 for the first time. His best time is 3:59.48
Sara Mijwel, a tri-sport athlete at CSUB, competes in the women's 1500. She came to the school to play tennis and was eventually recruited for the track and cross country teams. Sara's best 1500 time is 4:54.
Eddy "Bruce" Lee talks to his mom on the phone after his victory in the 1500.
Senior Jose Orozco, AKA "Josie," tries to talk his teammates out of making him run the 800 meter after he had a not-so-great 1500.
Derek Kasselstrand (formerly Derek Johnson) a junior throws the shot put for warm-up. Derek is graduating a year early and will move to Scotland with his wife Isabella. Derek is a former California State High School Champion in the discus.
Al Collatz is the head track and field coach at CSUB. He is one of the best coaches in the US. His daughter, whom of which he coaches, is one of the top ranking discus throwers in the world for her age group. Dayshan Ragan's
Connie King won the 400 meter hurdles. She has dropped nearly 2 seconds off her time this year and been a great competitor for the team.
Track and field senior Daniel Hernandes is known not only for his running ability, but he also dives for the CSUB diving team and participates on the cheer squad. He ran his last meet with a stress fracture in his foot and 3 weeks of not training.

Daniel and Sara discus their races from opposite sides of the fence.
Coach Robert Boyles talks to Junior Mike Davis after Mike pulled his hamstring during the 100 meter dash. Robert has been Coaching at CSUB for quite a while and heads the distance squad.
Jose "Jos B" "Pookie" Lopez runs the steeple chase. He will remain at CSUB for another year and carry on where the other distance guys have left off.
Alex Haver(senior) throws the javelin for his personal best mark.
Alex also does the high jump and coaches track at Bakersfield High School.
After a long day Eddy studies and falls asleep doing so.

Another Week, Another Meet!

This week is coming to an end and my second to last track meet of my college career will be on Saturday. Our team will compete at Cal State Los Angeles. Hopefully I will run well. I had a not so good practice yesterday and i'm still recovering from my 1.5 weeks that I took off. The meet we are going to is hosted by Tommy Lister, better known as DEBO from the "Friday" movies. I put a picture from another time we were there.

The heat sheets are set up and I am dumbfounded. The coaches from both USC and Northridge have entered in their athletes times at ridiculously false marks. There are 7 USC guys in my heat of the 1500 all entered below 4 minutes. The fastest any of them has run is a 4:04, the next is a 4:16, then 4:23 and 4:38 etc. Seriously, could the USC coaches be any more full of crap? They are bumping people who have legitimate times into the slow heats. In the 800 meter, I got bumped down into the slow heat since USC entered fake times. My teammate Jose and I are both in the slow heat and the only 2 guys in our heat that have broken 2 minutes. LAAAAAAME!!!!

My mom and dad will be at the meet as well. Very rare occation, it's like a solar eclipse and does not happen very often. After the meet though, I will be going to the LA Opera to see Stigmatized. It will be my first time going, and hopefully it is a fun occation.

CSUB Athlete Becomes Famous

As of Friday May 16th, around 11 AM Eddy Lee of the CSU Bakersfield track team became one of the most famous guys to break 4 minutes in the 1500. It all started about 2 1/2 years ago when Eddy started a message board on the site letsrun.com. He talked of his goal of breaking 4 minutes. Immediately he gained followers. People started giving him tips, boosting his confidence, and putting him down all the same.

After a year, he still had not reached his goal. Many began to doubt him, but he had gained even more followers. Eddy continued to train another year passed and he still didn't reach his goal, yet he was much closer. 4:01 was his time at the end of the 2009 track season. Yet, the message board continued.

It is now 2010 and much has happened. This year our team opened up our first real outdoors meet at CSU Northridge. I became the first of our team to break the 4 minute barrier that day. Eddy saw my accomplishment and went for it as well, but only hit a 4:07. As the season has continued on he has managed to keep dropping his times closer and closer to sub 4.

Friday at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Eddy went for the sub 4 minute mark once more. He had success. After 2.5 years of trying, he finally hit the time he has dreamed about. He was elated! Within the hour, I decided to post to his message board that he finally did it. Many didn't believe me. There was a lot of speculation and at that point people started searching frantically for meet results. The message board blew up with responses, therefore the people in charge of the website decided to do a piece on him about his training and accomplishments. It can be found at the following link: www.letsrun.com/2010/eddylee0416.php

Congrats Eddy on becoming the most famous sub 4 minute 1500 runner!

Mt. Sac Invitational

A few lucky or should I say talented CSU Bakersfield individuals will be competing this weekend at the Mt. Sac Track and Field Invitational this weekend. It is a very tough meet to get into. Derek Kasselstrand and Mike Davis will be our athletes competing in the meet. Derek throws the discus(171-10 and was the high school state champion his senior year. Mike runs the 100(10.65) and 200(21.57) and is a very fast individual. You can check them out along with the rest of the team on the gorunners website. www.gorunners.com

I wanted to go, but had not yet raced the event that I would have run (steeplechase). When I did race it I was having foot issues which caused me to drop out of the race about halfway through. Tomorrow I will compete in the 800 meter(half mile) at Azusa Pacific. My goal is to run faster than a 1min 55sec. I took a week and a half off of running so may have lost some. I will be running with my teammate Eddy Lee who is currently our #2 distance runner. Hopefully he will finish along side me, but not in front!

Athletes plan to return

Bryan Clay is crazy. When athletes go to a track meet to compete they usually compete in 1-4 events. Not this guy, he competes in 10 events. Back in 2008 he won the decathlon at the Olympics in Beijing, now he is planning on going to the Olympics again in 2012, in London, England. The guy is sponsored but many do not know who he is.

Not only is he an Olympic gold medalist, but he also has a track meet named after him. The Bryan Clay Invitational is held every year at Azusa Pacific University where Clay attended college. The CSU Bakersfield Track and Field team travels to this meet every year. We will actually go to Azusa to compete this Friday. Some of our athletes will be going to a bigger meet, that is held a few miles away from Azusa.

More pics and information can be found about Bryan Clay at the link below

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/02/sports/olympics/20090601-CLAY_index.html