McMillanElite :: Andrew Lemoncello

The best part is that I have an even bigger pool of athletes to train with from when I left. There is now a big group to meet with everyday and we all help push each other so we can achieve our goals whether it's a 5km in the summer or a fall marathon. The old adage of you only get what you put in has really sunk in and I am excited to get back into full training up here at 7,000 feet.

The best part about being back in Flagstaff is the routine. I have been away for the whole summer, travelling to lots of different races and it feels good to have taken a break now and come back here and get back into way of things with the team. Meeting at eight in the morning everyday sets the day up nicely to get enough rest, do circuits and core, a second run and then go to work. Don't get me wrong, I love being back in Scotland and running on the track circuit but I feel so much more at home now that I am back in Flagstaff.

We are getting into an exciting time for the team as everybody has been up here training for a while now and the racing season is starting to kick off. Almost the whole team is away racing this weekend leaving only a few of us to anxiously wait for the results to come in. This is the other great part of having a team dynamic, we motivate each other with our results. If one person does well, we all feed off of that and get excited to race again.

Good luck to all the team that are running this weekend and to any of you out there reading this who have races coming up.

Lemon

Fortunately the next weekend was the European Cup in Annecy, France where I knew a tactical affair would be on the cards. After a well-judged run I managed to pull a few places back on the last lap and get third with Great Britain winning the team title. That again got my head back into the right frame before I hit another two races over the next week, winning them both.

So...(breathe!).... after four races in sixteen days I had a couple of weeks to get my body ready for the Olympic Trials. Everything went very well with my confidence sky high and my legs feeling great. I traveled down to the trials knowing I was going to do well and felt very relaxed. As I was running I felt very easy and was ready to for a hard kick. Unfortunately visions of the previous years race came into my head where I kicked from 500m to go and winning by a good margin. I tried this again but after coming over the last water jump the dreaded lactic kicked in. I got over the last hurdle, still leading but I had just towed two of my rivals along with me and they took inspiration from my body slowing up and came flying by. Well, the leader did. With one meter to go my former team mate from FSU used a sprint type dip to beat me by 0.05 and push me out of the first two automatic qualifying places. It didn't hit me right away that I had just screwed myself out of the Olympics but once I was sitting in drug testing and fellow competitors were filling out their kit forms it sunk in....HARD. I was tearing up and I hardly said a word for the next two days.

The guys that beat me weren't going to the games because they hadn't achieved the A standard time but I had. The stipulations of selection were a top two placing in the trials and the achievement of at least two A standards. My only hope was to run fast enough before the next weekend and try to convince the selectors that I had just messed up. The only race available was the Paris Golden League which I assumed was almost impossible to get into. It turned out that this wasn’t the case as my agent called me on my way to spend some time at the Adidas headquarters in Germany that I would be running there three days later. I quickly realized that this was my opportunity to prove something to the selectors and prepared myself to run fast. Standing on the start line in Paris was a great feeling as I knew I could run fast and all the disappointment that I gone through the previous week had really helped focus my mind on what needed to be achieved. That was crucial as my race became more of a time trial than anything else as I was left to run on my own after the lead pack moved away on the third lap. I had got into a good rhythm and managed to run perfect splits and a one second PR but more importantly I was two seconds inside the qualifying time. I was happy but couldn’t celebrate as I still didn’t know if it was enough to secure my spot in Beijing. Luckily I got the call the next morning giving me the nod to run in the Olympics so I spent the next hour and about forty dollars calling friends and family.

So that brings us to the present day where I am in the holding camp in Macau, South China with the rest of the team before we head into the village three days before our individual events. Training has gone well and I really looking forward to competing in the Bird Cage stadium. My race on the sixteenth is going to be the biggest moment and opportunity of my life so be sure that I am not going to leave anything on the track. I am looking forward to catching up to my house mate and fellow Greg-coached athlete, Martin Fagan, once I get to the village and maybe taking in some other sports such as beach volleyball or synchronized swimming! As good as this summer has been traveling around Europe and racing a lot, I am looking forward to getting back home to Flagstaff and training with all the new team members who have joined since I left at the end of May. Sorry this was a long blog but its been quite a full summer!

Entry #30
Week of March 10, 2008
by Andrew Lemoncello

Half of my mission is now complete. Step 1 - Qualify for the World XC championships. Step 2 - Run well in the championships and make the Scots proud! It is good to be home and racing on the domestic scene in the UK again. Being in the states for the last 4 years has kept me away from appearing regularly in British results but luckily I have been doing well in enough in the US to not be completely forgotten about at home

I feel just like Martin did when he was back in Ireland - although im back in my home country and training where I grew up, Flagstaff is still definately my home now. I miss waking up to the sight of the snow capped peaks and breathing the mountain air. And of course I miss the family of friends I have in Flag and their constant support. Being back in Scotland where I only have my old coach to turn to about training really highlights how important everyone in McMillan Elite has become in my new life in Flag. Greg and Tracy have brought such a stability to all of our lives that it is so easy to live and train happily everyday.

The trials race itself was a strange experience for me as it was my first XC race in a year and a half and luckily for me nothing went badly wrong! On the days leading up to the race I was feeling terrible and not too confident about my fitness but luckily I felt a lot better the day before the race and that got me in the right frame of mind for competing for a place on the team. Training has been going well enough since I have been back at sea level but there has been something missing and it wasn't until after my race that I worked it out. During the race I felt as though I had no change of gear and was just plodding along. The moment I finished I knew that it was actually being in that race was what I needed as I just looked at it as more of a training run as I was confident of making the team. I now have the edge and drive that I have been looking for and have been missing I think mainly because of having such an inconsistant winter of training due to illnesses. I am truly looking forward to every single run now until the Olympics. I just needed to flip the switch.

The day after the race I actually took my first day off in a long while as I was exhausted from the race and from sitting in a bus for the next 8 hours to travel back to Scotland from England. This turned out to be the best thing I could have done as I felt really good for my long run the next day (a lot better than I did for the race). From here on out I will be just training hard and preparing to do my best in the World Champs. I am really excited for the event as its the first time Scotland has had the event for 30 years and they are expecting around 20,000 spectators. As the only Scot running the champs there is some pressure but I am looking forward to the challenge. As the commentators from the trials race said as we finished crossed the finish line, "Now these guys have to go from the toughest race in the UK to the toughest race in the world!"

After a couple of weeks feeling decent we decided to start on my preparations for the World XC champs and started to get some specific workouts in to get me ready. I am happiest when I am working hard throughout the week and having that lethargic feeling at the end of the day knowing that I have put some good work in. With base work it is quite hard to get this feeling so I was really pleased to be passing out in the middle of the day for a couple of hours and then falling asleep just as fast when it came to bedtime. This week was a bit of a test for me as I had a hard hill session and track workout and then a race at the end of the week.

The hill workout with the team went really well for everyone with Hanlon showing us that he is capable of some serious hill speed, Brett was as consistent as ever and Middle seemed to have saved himself to kick our asses on the last rep! I wish I was as tiny as Middle as myself and Jordan (the 6 foot 2'ers on the team) found it hard to lug our bodies up possibly the steepest hill in Flag. But, we stuck it out and felt the burn just as much as the other guys. Steep hills have always been my worst workout so it was good to be surrounded by the guys and to all be pushing each other. The next day brought about some very tender rumps for everyone from the workout so a nice gentle bagel run was in order to ease the pain.

The next day I went to the Dome for the first time to do a fartlek on the track and was pleasantly surprised with how good I felt. The one minute reps I was running felt very easy and it didn't feel like I was running at 7000ft so I took that as a good sign for the weekend.

I arrived in Austin with no expectations about the race. I wasn't worried about times or who I beat, I just wanted to be competitive and get the instinct back as I hadn't raced since August. The race went out very slow for the first half and there was still a group of about 15 of us through 8 miles so I decided to try and push it on a bit. Arriving at 10 miles the group had reduced to 10 so I figured that it’s only the same distance as a warm down to the finish so I could really start to pick the pace up. Within half a mile there were only 3 of us left and I felt very comfortable leading so just stayed there. Arriving on the finishing straight the 3 of us stayed parallel for a while until the eventual winner took off in a huge burst and took the other African runner with him. I almost just settled for 3rd but I decided that that wasn't satisfactory so I kicked again at 150m to go and picked off the 2nd place runner and just about caught the winner. I finished and realized that I wasn't that tired and that I was never in any aerobic stress during the race.

I got a nice big hug from my sister who had driven up with her new husband to watch me race and went for a nice cool down. The race has really put my head in the right place now as I know I am ready to go and give it everything when I return home to try and make the world XC team. Although I initially got frustrated with the new training I now realize it all has a specific purpose and the race put that in perspective for me. Its hard when your heart and head are not in the right place but it is safe to say that I am full of enthusiasm for this next period of training and for the team to be pushing each other everyday again.

Now the other big thing that happened this week was that Tracy and Greg had their first child. We had all waited for a few days for the news that he had arrived but I guess he didn't want to leave Tracy right away. The amazing thing was that the day that Tracy went to the hospital was the same day that she was out filming us training so it just goes to show how amazing she is! And the best part about the birth for me was name that Greg and Tracy picked for their first born - Angus Scott McMillan. He sounds as though he has just come straight from the set of Braveheart! The first thing I buy when I get back to Scotland is a tiny McMillan kilt for the little fellow!

The biggest thing for me was starting back running after taking 2 weeks off with sinusitis. I picked up a cold when we went to New York, which was frustrating as I was really pumped up after watching the trials and also seeing Paula getting back to winning ways. It made me realise how it is only a little while until I move up to the marathon and why I am so excited about it. It helps that someone like Ryan Hall makes it look so easy! I had a sore throat after being in the Big Apple and I figured it would pass in a couple of days but I continually felt worse as the week went on and one thing I have learned from making mistakes in the past is that my body does not function well if I continue to train while I am ill. I prefer being injured because at least then I can continue to train in the pool or on the bike but with illness I am stuck on a bed or on the sofa all day. It really sucks when I can’t wake up in the morning and get a dose of endorphins by popping out for a run. At the very worst I thought I would have to take just a week off but right when I thought I was starting to feel better again I suddenly felt worse and decided I needed to go and get checked out. The doctor told me I got re-infected after the normal 5-6 days that you have a cold for and gave me a course of antibiotics. I actually started to get a bit down about it because I would go and watch the sessions that the rest of the team were doing and that would get me pumped up and itching to run.

This all coincided with the arrival of my uncle and my dad, who had arrived from Scotland. They had both driven from Texas to see me and take me down to meet a bunch of family in Phoenix. Once I got down to the warm oxygenated climate of Phoenix I started to feel a lot better and managed to get some steady running done for an hour a day. I decided to take the week easy as I took off the same amount of time I would at the end of a season and there is no rush to get fit as I am aiming to peak in March.  That quickly went out the window as my girlfriend told me she was running a local turkey trot on thanksgiving day so I decided to go along and run as I figured it would be a bit of fun and I could make it into a little workout for myself. It would also allow me to gauge how much fitness I had actually lost through my unplanned break and it would get the pistons firing again. I planned on running around 30 minutes and that’s exactly what I did. It felt good to be running without coughing every couple of strides and just getting my legs moving at a decent pace again. I won a nice big turkey for my efforts but I couldn’t get anyone to take it off my hands. I tried to give it to my girlfriend’s family but that was a no. I then tried my own family but nope because they already had 2 of them in the oven so it is sitting quietly in the freezer now waiting to devoured by the team at some point.

The other fantastic thing about this thanksgiving was being around family. I am usually on my own for most of the year as my family is either in Scotland or in Texas but now that I am out here in Flagstaff I have my aunt and cousins in Phoenix and it was the first time I had met some of them. I had such a good time with them all and learning the history of our family and hearing stories about my relatives through the generations. The other great part was of course the food. There is a long line of great cooks running through our family so I was really happy to sit back and watch them all at work and preparing to add the inches to the waist lines but at least now I am able to get back to the hard work and the pounds drop off in a day I’m sure.

I am now back in Flagstaff more ready than ever to get back to the business of running as I saw how quickly I got fit before I was ill and I’m just looking forward to being around the team more again. I tried to distance myself from them the last couple of weeks so no one else would get ill from me and that made me realise how we have our own little family up here. I look forward to seeing the guys everyday and having that camaraderie that running brings to so many people. And on the note about family, we are proud to announce that we have a future addition to our Flagstaff family some time soon with announcement of Middle’s engagement to his long time girlfriend, Casey. Congratulations guys………Wham ohhhhhh!

From the moment I arrived in Flagstaff I knew I had made the right decision. I was greeted by Greg, Tracy and Martin and got settled into the house right away and was introduced to the rest of the team properly. Pretty much all of us had raced each other before (Martin and I have been racing each other for almost 10 years now) but I had never really talked to most of the guys before. Everyone seemed to gel very well so that made the transition to a completely new place a lot easier. I am really happy to have a good team of runners around me as we can all rely on each other for support and help when we need it. The great thing about being in a post collegiate group is that it is a totally different dynamic than in university. There are no egos or team mates trying to out do each other, something that I found to be a very strange concept in Uni. Everyone is here for the same reason – to do as best they can and become successful runners.

            The first week of training was great because I just had to go out and run every day, gradually building up the time on my feet. The thing about doing this in Flagstaff is that it is so easy to log the miles as the trails are great and there are so many other people to run with whenever you want. Watching the other guys training hard from the sidelines has really motivated me and I am itching to get back into the hard sessions again. I have been quite impressed by the way the guys handle the training and how thorough they are in doing everything they can to be a complete athlete. Everyone knows there are no shortcuts to being successful in distance running and Greg is helping to fill any gap there may be that we need to fill. We can all see Greg’s vision and how hard he and Tracy have worked on this project so we all want to see it through and fulfil our potential.

            The Sunday long run has been the highlight of the week for me. Last week there was about 20 people who showed up to the ranch to pound the roads and get used to running on the tarmac. Although it was my first long run of the season, I felt pretty good until about 12 miles when I started to tire and backed off for the last few miles. The altitude really kicks you in the ass if you don’t treat it right! It was great to watch the others from behind working together and pushing each other throughout their session. This week we ran a new trail that climbed to about 7900ft for the first 11 miles and then you turn back (which was a great relief for everyone). I think I have gone through the first adjustment period to altitude as I felt good running with the guys but not good enough to start cranking the speed to marathon pace courtesy of Mr Peter Gilmore. I’ll leave that for another day!

Everyone has a big week coming up. Andrew is running his marathon debut in Chicago. Brett and the Mikes are running the ten mile champs in Minneapolis and Martin has the Boston half marathon. That just leaves Brianna, Ben and I to get on with training and twiddle our thumbs while we wait for everyone else’s results!