It’s a Wrap! Dan White’s Zap Fitness Blog – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
I am excited to have been nominated the team “bloggist” by Coach Gary (His term. I’m not entirely sure what it entails, but I assume my duties are similar to that of team blogger). Anyway, as team “bloggist” I will be chronicling our 10-day training excursion to ZAP Fitness in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. I will focus primarily on training, although it is my hope that some of the more extraneous details will provide unique insight into the team’s unique personality. Enjoy.
Saturday, 9/18
I am writing this blog from the road. It has been a long trip and while we have enjoyed our time at ZAP, it feels great to be heading home to Columbus. I have said all I can about the trip so I thought I would interview men’s coach Robert Gary and women’s coach Chris Neal.
Here are their thoughts (the most important thoughts) on our 10 day training excursion:
What is it that you hope the team gets out of their trip to ZAP?
Coach Neal: I hope we got some good training out of the tough terrain and the altitude at ZAP. I hope the girls became closer as a team through living, training, and playing games together for 10 days without any outside distractions. I think the team seems to be the closest I have coached since coming to Ohio State and that everyone understands each other as well as our expectations/goals for the season.
Coach Gary: ZAP is a good opportunity to jump up everyone’s mileage, get a gauge of where we are at as a team, and get a last solid block of base training in before racing starts. It’s always great how our academic calendar is set up such that we can afford to make a trip like this so late into the summer. It is always the team’s goal that our season will extend through the NCAA meet in late November.
Speaking of goals, what are the goals for your team this year?
Coach Neal: Our goals for the season are a top 4 team finish at the
Big Ten Championships, a top 3 finish at the Great Lakes Regional and qualifying for the NCAA championships.
Coach Gary: I feel like we have created a team culture over the last 7 or 8 years such that the goal is always to be a top 3 finisher at
the Big Ten Conference meet, an NCAA national meet qualifying team and a top 20 program in the country. For the guys who aren’t quite ready for a cross country season, we hope to use this time for fall conditioning with an eye toward aerobic development for indoor and outdoor track. It is our goal that this time next year they will be joining us at ZAP Fitness.
When will your team be in competition next?
Coach Neal: We will be sending our top seven to Notre Dame on the weekend of October 1st and we will be sending a “B” squad to race the All-Ohio Championships.
Coach Gary: Our next meet will be the Wisconsin Invite on the weekend of October 1st for the varsity. The rest of our guys will run their first 4-mile time trial on that day also.
So, that was our ZAP trip. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read this blog. I would like to thank Coach Gary for this opportunity and Ohio State’s assistant director of communications Adam Widman for helping me post the blogs to the web site. Adam dedicated a lot of time to helping with a blog that was read by about 10 parents and I appreciate it.
Finally, I have received a lot of complaints about the blog from my teammates the past 10 days. To conclude my final entry I have allowed each of them to voice whatever grievances they have had with my written accounts of the trip. I do not endorse the majority of these opinions.
Taylor Williams: My interview was extremely unprofessional.
Adam Green: Just wanted to clear up the stopping on the mountain. I was actually just stopping to go to the bathroom and coach happened to see it from afar. I took my Gatorade punishment in stride. Chad did not fulfill his responsibilities ONCE. I had to make it AND carry the cooler on my birthday.
Julian Meyer: I am the best soccer player. Not Dan.
Chris Fallon: Dan kept lumping me in with the JV team, but it was really just him.
Chad Balyo: I didn’t ask Dan four times to put my mafia playing abilities in the blog like he claimed. He exaggerates. A lot. And Dan misquoted EVERYONE he interviewed.
Volunteer Assistant Coach Jeff See: Dan did not mention me enough. He never even linked any of my FloTrack interviews or mention my girlfriend Heidi.
Friday, 9/17
8 am: Race Day. We woke early to get breakfast at The Mountain House. I ordered a ham and cheese omelet and two plain pancakes. It met expectations. I always feel that breakfast food is overpriced. And why is it that I always get sides with an omelet, but never with pancakes? It seems to me that sides of meat would integrate better with a batter-based entrée as opposed to the cholesterol heavy juxtaposition presented by joining two like-meat foods. Are restaurants suggesting that pancakes are in some way inferior to omelets? I think we can all agree that in the hierarchy of breakfast foods, pancakes reign supreme. Anyway, it was race day.
4:45 pm: We arrived at the course about an hour and a half early. After relaxing for about 30 minutes, the team began warm up stretches. About an hour before our races we usually will start our normal warm-up routine. We then loosen our legs by running an easy 20 minutes. By the time this is done we will stretch a bit more and do whatever strides we feel we may need. Then it is time to race.
5:45 pm: Appalachian State’s course is 4 miles long and is predominantly run on flat, open fields. Coach Gary really wanted the team to focus on pack running today. He gave the team the instruction to key off of Julian Meyer for the first mile and then run together for the remainder of the race. The top five stayed together until the final 200 meters at which point Chad Balyo and Adam Green surged ahead. Ohio State won the meet, scoring 29 total points.
Here are Chad and Adam’s thoughts on the race:
What was the plan for the race and how do you feel the team executed?
Chad: Our plan was to run hard together around 5 minutes per mile pace for the race. We got out a little hard (first mile split of 4:45) but I thought the team did a good job of finding each other and continuing to press the entire race.
How did you feel during the race?
Adam: I felt really good. I was a little bit tired going into it due to the past 10 days of training, but I felt in control the whole time. Never felt like I was pushing that hard. With about 200-250 meters to go Coach told us to focus on the race ahead of us and we all just kind of took off.
Chad: I felt OK. The past 10 days of training have been difficult and all of our legs were heavy but I would say I was in pretty good control.
How did you feel about the ZAP trip overall?
Adam: I thought the trip was a great success. Everyone got a lot fitter over the course of the 10 days. I think this was a better trip than last year based on workouts and how the race played out. To be able to race that well and together given the training we had leading
into it is a good indicator for the rest of the season.
Chad: I thought it was the best overall ZAP trip I’ve ever been on. I think having the women’s team here to hang out with after training
really helped the team stay relaxed between workouts. We have an exciting year ahead of us and I’m looking forward to being right in
the mix of things with these guys!
Would you like to give a shout out to (future Ohio State stand-outs) Alex and Emerson Green?
Adam: Yes. I would like to say hello to the whole family back in Indianapolis. I know those two have been following the blog and heading all of Dan’s words. Alex, be ready for Call of Duty when I get back.
Thursday, 9/16
8:30 am: Today we previewed the course for tomorrow’s race. At the end of the ZAP trip, the team races at Appalachian State. We ran an easy 40 minutes followed by 8 hard strides. The goal for tomorrow’s race is to keep a low spread between our top five. Taylor Williams will be sitting out due to some minor injuries that have plagued him this trip. The rest of us will race at 5:45 pm. It is the first cross country meet of the year and everyone is excited. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing and preparing for the race. I will blog tomorrow with results.
Today is Adam Green’s birthday! Here are the team’s thoughts on Adam:
What is your favorite thing about Adam?
Chad Balyo: I like all of Adam’s imperfections. Like his extreme affection for friends and teammates.
Julian Meyer: His personality.
Donny Roys: I like his unique hairstyles (euro mullet and rat tail).
Taylor Williams: His legs.
Chris Fallon: His passion for technology, particularly BlackBerrys.
Cory Leslie: His ability to gut out the toughest workouts and races, regardless of how he is feeling.
Coach Chris Neal: His keen style and ability to excel in any situation.
Dan White: His friendship.
Melissa Meade: My favorite thing about Adam is that I always have fun with him no matter what we are doing (and his smile).
Wednesday, 9/15
8:30 am: Today we ran Globe Road. It is hands down the most difficult run of the trip. It is a 7.5 mile run that climbs 3500ft. The first
3.5 miles are flat, which means the next 4 are at a constant incline. It is nearly twice as much of a climb as the firetower run. Although today was supposed to be a controlled effort, it is impossible to control much of anything on Globe Road. I knew how difficult the run would be, so I purposefully stayed behind everyone to document how the run played out. Unfortunately, I misjudged the distance and lost sight of the group early on. I was told Donny was our first finisher today, so I decided to ask him a few questions pertaining to the day:
How did Globe Road compare to the other runs we have had at ZAP?
Donny: It was a lot more difficult because of how steep the hill was. Even without the switchbacks, the incline was tough on our legs.
What was the most difficult part of the run?
Donny: The last mile was the hardest for me. It was the steepest part of the run and we kept expecting the hill to end. However, that is where I began to pull away from the group.
What was your focus today while running?
Donny: I was focused on trying to maintain a pace. Lots of pace changes can kill you on a run like this. I tried to keep my momentum and pay attention to form. Coach told us to keep our toes pointed forward and hips underneath us.
How do you feel about your training at ZAP thus far?
Donny: So far it has been really good. Training is going well. There have been some rough patches, but overall it has been successful. I feel fitter than I did this time last year. My times have been quicker on nearly all the runs and I feel stronger.
Why do you feel that Brunswick produces better athletes than Medina?
Donny: No idea.
Tuesday, 9/14
7:30 am: Today we ran Coach Gary’s staple workout: 3x3mile repeats. This session has been in the program for years and even utilized by Coach Gary in his training during his professional career. It is one of the most revealing and calculated aspects of training for Ohio State cross country teams throughout the entire fall season. Usually we run this workout on the Ohio State golf course. However, today we altered it a bit and ran the 1500m loop around Bass Lake. It was flat and generally fast. Today the varsity ran 3x4500m (as opposed to 5000m on the golf course), while Chris Fallon and I ran 3x3000m. Coach gave us the direction to start at 5:10 (about 5:30 mile pace) and cut 10 seconds per lap on each successive 4500m interval. The workout was difficult, but the guys made it through. They ran 15:26 (5:10/lap), 14:57 (5:00/lap), 14:45 (4:55/lap). The team warmed up and cooled down 3 laps, so in total it was about a 14-mile day ran completely on the 1500m loop. It was considerably faster than what they ran last year, so everyone was content. It was a solid effort and left the team feeling completely exhausted. We decided to relax and agreed that we would take the rest of the day off. We wanted to stay off our feet and give our legs a chance to recover. There would be absolutely no more physical activity for the day. None.
1 pm: Coach Gary made us hike up a mountain.
6 pm: Tonight we had chicken curry. I felt like I didn’t get enough chicken in my portion. All the chocolate-chip cookies were gone by the time I got dessert. I think the women’s team ate the majority of them before I was able to get there. Luckily, I have friends like Adam Green and Cory Leslie who shared some of the extras they took with me.
Tomorrow we have to run up Globe Road. It is certain to be a serious gut-check. More blogging tomorrow.
Monday, 9/13
Today was another recovery/uneventful day. So here is another interview with Ohio State standouts Cory Leslie and Chad Balyo. Cory qualified for the NCAA Championships last spring in the steeplechase. He has PR’s of 4:03 for the mile and 8:49 for the steeplechase. He holds Ohio State school records in the 1000m run, the 4×800, and the 4×1600. He was a member of last season’s world-leading and Drake Relays championship 4x800m relay team. He is the Division II Ohio state record holder in the 800 meter run. In 2008 he won the Penn Relays mile.
How do you feel you are handling training at ZAP this year as opposed to last season?
Cory: I feel like I am handling it much better this year. I attribute [my progression] to logging more miles this season prior to camp as well as a year of solid training without any major injury or setback. I am thankful to have such a great group of guys to train with. It definitely helps make the hard workouts easier. This track season was instrumental to my progression as a runner. I feel I made some substantial leaps both in training and racing. As such, I am more confident in my ability to handle the workload Coach Gary gives us.
What is the most difficult workout you feel the team runs while at ZAP?
Cory: I think the 3×3 session we have tomorrow is usually the most challenging. Anytime you run that workout it is tough. However, coupled with the elevation and packed inside a difficult work week, it can be even more difficult to handle. I think we are fit enough to get through it successfully, however, I think it will be tough for everyone. We have spent the past six weeks getting 3×3 in place and each week we have tweaked it in some way. I expect this week will be no different.
What are your goals for the upcoming season?
Cory: As a team, we always feel we should be top 3 in the Big Ten conference. This year we really believe that on the right day, we can be a top 10 team in the country. Individually, I would like to be top 25 at the Big Ten conference meet. I would like to continue to progress aerobically and stay healthy.
Have you enjoyed your time at ZAP thus far?
Chad: Yea.
Sunday, 9/12
8 am: This morning we drove 80 minutes to Creeper’s Trail in Virginia. It is a 15-mile long, flat bridal trail. It was recently voted one of the top 10 places in the country to run by Runner’s World Magazine. We broke into three groups for our long run: 105min, 95min, and 85min (my group). It was an out and back route. We were supposed to go out five minutes slower than we came back. The pace got a bit quick early on which made the way back tougher than intended at points. There were mile markers the whole way, which helped us pace our efforts. Everyone averaged about 6:20-30 on the way out, and about 6:00 on the way back. Most of us felt pretty good, it was nice to run on something flat. Not sure if we were at altitude or sea-level, but I haven’t really felt the effects of anything yet. I am starting to think elevation is a myth perpetuated by Kenyans and U2.
1 pm: Mrs. Gary and Percy arrived at camp today. Percy just had his first birthday and he has been a constant source of entertainment at camp (particularly for Coach and Mrs. Gary). He is very well behaved; however I can’t shake the feeling that if he could talk he would have some choice words about my physical fortitude. He is quite a cute kid. He has understandably hijacked most of the team’s picture taking. Mrs. Gary has been nothing short of a pleasure. She is currently training for The Chicago Marathon. It is strange to see her in such better shape than Coach Gary.
7 pm: The team went bowling. My fingers NEVER fit in any of the balls. It’s not an excuse, I’m just saying that for some reason I can never find a ball that has the holes at the right distance for my fingers. If they ever are at the right distance then they are too small and my thumb gets stuck when I throw the ball causing me to release late and thus decreasing my accuracy. If I do find a ball with the right sized holes AND at the right distance apart then the ball is always too heavy. Not that I am weak, but I don’t work much in my upper body that doesn’t pertain to running so I can’t be expected to roll a heavy ball. Today I had to try bowling one that was 16lbs. It was too much. When it gets that heavy I can’t release it at the opportune moment. It always slips out of my hand early and again decreases my accuracy. Again, none of this is an excuse because I don’t even care; bowling is a dumb game anyway. I shot a 71. Chad Balyo won.
8:30 pm: We got ice cream. I didn’t eat any. I can assume that it was overpriced.
Saturday, 9/11
The cookie I mentioned yesterday was delicious … certainly worth the wait.
8:30 am: Today we had a definite recovery day to revitalize our legs after yesterday’s tough workout. It was much needed recovery. All the guys ran for 40 minutes at a very relaxed pace. A few even commented on how short it felt. Nothing much else to say about today’s run. Afterward we went to a local watering hole and jumped about 20 feet into a lake. It was a blast. Some people didn’t jump, mostly from the women’s team. Check out the video!
3:30 pm: We went to Beef-O-Brady’s to watch the OSU-Miami game. Ohio State won, 36-24. I know most people only care about cross country, but if you ever get the chance you should really check out our football team sometime. I think they are pretty good.
9 pm: We played Catchphrase. Chris Fallon has a special way with words. Think Maya Angelou’s famous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. OK? Now think of the complete opposite of that. He quit after two games.
Since today was a little light on running discussion, I thought I would ask the guys from yesterday’s top group how they thought the workout compared to last year’s results.
How do you feel about yesterday’s workout?
Taylor Williams: “I felt the workout went well. We tried to save a little energy through the first half because the second half is more taxing. Julian and I worked together to push through the switchbacks. After reaching the top I felt that we may have had slightly more to give, however the time was faster than I ran last year by almost a minute (editor’s note: on this run last year, Taylor beat volunteer assistant coach Jeff See by 5 seconds). The team is in good shape and I am excited to start racing.
Julian Meyer: (smirking awkwardly the whole interview) “I feel the workout was very beneficial. We ran progressively faster all the way up the mountain, as Coach Gary instructed. Both Taylor and I worked in tandem to get the most out of the workout. I probably had the most improvement over last year.”
How do you feel about the current lack of Gatorade being provided after workouts?
Julian Meyer: That happened one time! No comment. (editor’s note: that was a comment)
Friday, 9/10
8:30 am: Today was one of the teams’ staple workouts for the year. As I mentioned in my previous blog, the fire tower run has served as a gut-check for Ohio State runners since we began coming to ZAP fitness. The total climb is 1800ft with constant switchbacks. Above is a link to a video filmed in 2007 that follows a former Ohio State team as they run the same workout.
Instead of running in a large pack like previous years, we split into groups of two. This helped us to work together better on the uphills while also forcing us to attach onto the back of a guy when we were struggling. The team was grouped as follows: Taylor Williams and Julian Meyer, Adam Green and Chad Balyo, Donny Roys and Cory Leslie, Chris Fallon and myself (or junior varsity as it is called by some (Coach Gary)). The run started at Bass Lake, at the base of the ascent. Each group ran two 1500 meter loops around the lake (Chris and I ran one) as a warm up before starting the run. Taylor and Julian had the fastest time up, clocking a 32:15. All the groups finished within 90 seconds of each other. The return down was as slow as we wanted to go, and we took full advantage of it. In fact, Adam and Chad stopped at one point to admire the view. Coach happened to pass and catch them at this exact point. They are now in charge of filling the Gatorade coolers every morning (a job that had been continually neglected by Julian and Donny). Chad is a senior so I would expect a little more out of him, but as I/he said yesterday, he is still really good at Mafia.
Once we returned to the bottom, the groups went right into two more loops at 6-minute pace (again Chris and I only did one). Coach said that this would help us “run the workout out” of our legs. I definitely think it helped. As difficult as the run was, it felt good to end up-tempo. Upon finishing, the team drank the last of the Gatorade from the day before, as Donny and Julian refused to fill the coolers AGAIN this morning. I will not comment further as I don’t think there is much left to say.
As an aside, today I ran to the tune of Robyn’s Dancing on My Own. I would like to thank my good friend Brady O’Callahan for recommending her to me. It made the run much more bearable.
2-3 pm: We played 4-square. I won twice. I won’t elaborate because I don’t like to boast and I’ll let you catch the highlights on SportsCenter tomorrow morning.
4 pm: The team went to a local pool and aqua jogged for 15-20 minutes to further help flush the legs.
6 pm: We ate pasta for dinner. There were also chocolate-chip cookies, but I didn’t eat mine yet. I’ll let you know tomorrow how it was.
7:15 pm: The team went to see The American. I give it a 6/10. Kind of slow moving, however I thought George Clooney gave a typical quality performance.
Thursday, 9/9
Coach Gary has requested that I make my blog posts longer. I reminded him that I am, in fact, still on summer vacation and that this blog is not a Leo Tolstoy novel. Here it goes anyway:
7:45 am: Julian Meyer and Donny Roys prepared Gatorade today. I can only assume that they read my blog post yesterday and felt ashamed of their inactions on our first day of camp. They are coming along, albeit reluctantly.
8:30 am: The team began our run from the mansion this morning, halfway up the route we ran yesterday. Today we took Ridge Mountain Path for an easy 9 miles in the morning. Coach Gary demonstrated his Olympic-caliber racing tactics as he sat in last with a freshman girl until the final 200 meters … at which point he blasted past her. When finished we replenished our lost fluids with the aforementioned Gatorade. It was revitalizing. Coincidentally, as I write this post Taylor Williams is confronting Julian about the water cooler being empty tonight. Julian responded that he “will do it in the morning.” That type of attitude is what sets Ohio State student athletes apart from their peers.
We ran easy today to conserve our legs for a hard run back up firetower tomorrow. That workout has historically been one of the most difficult of the year for the squad and everyone is currently nervous with anticipation to get after it. The team is gaining fitness and they are excited to push themselves to test their limits. I have submitted a picture of the mansion we started our run, mainly for my mom who is into that type of stuff.
12 pm: We had ham and turkey sandwiches for lunch with a choice of peppercorn ranch or salsa flavored Sun Chips. I chose peppercorn ranch. It was satisfactory.
1-3 pm: I slept. Not sure what everyone else did. I assume they discussed my first blog.
4 pm: We left for a local park. There we ran an easy 3 miles before beginning what Coach Gary refers to as our “Jesse Owens Routine.” It is a 20-minute routine that combines core and dynamic exercises. It is a great supplement to our rigorous running schedule. The routine combines pushups, sit-ups, line-drills, leap-frogs, karaokes and acceleration strides. It was a solid anaerobic effort. After Jesse Owens, we played soccer. Despite having the best players on the field (myself and Adam Green), my team was unable to produce for me and we lost. Despite the loss I took comfort in knowing that if cross country doesn’t work out this season, coach John Bluem will still have use for my talents.
6:30 pm: Dinner.
8-10 pm: The men’s and women’s teams played Mafia. It is a game that combines strategy and mental fortitude. The men dominated. Chad Balyo played well (he asked me to mention that at least four times).
That’s all for today. Time for bed.
Wednesday, 9/8
7 am – The team departs Biggs Athletic Facility for Boone, North Carolina. We were initially disappointed to hear that volunteer assistant coach Jeff See would not be joining us on the trip, as he is taking some well-deserved down time after a long summer track season spent splitting time between New York City and Europe. Jeff is a former Ohio State stand-out. Barring injury, he will rejoin the team later in the fall.
The eight hour drive went by relatively quick. The men’s team spent their time sleeping and playing “would you rather” … with head women’s coach Chris Neal (who opted to drive our bus instead of the women’s for “logistical” reasons). We stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and Subway for lunch. I ordered my usual oven-roasted chicken breast on honey oat with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, and mayo. I also ordered three cookies. They were sufficient.
4:45 pm – Our first run at ZAP was an easy 11-12 miler. We ran the fire-tower run, a 5-mile uphill trek to the top of a mountain. Although it was an easy day, the 1800 foot climb was, at times, uncomfortable. To make matters worse, Julian Meyer and Donny RoysChris Fallon and I ordered a sausage and green pepper pizza. It was adequate. neglected to fulfill their duties as hydration coordinators by failing to prepare both the water and Gatorade coolers. Julian accepted responsibility for his actions (or lack thereof) while Donny attempted to pass the blame onto the team captains, attributing his incompetence to a lack of proper delegation of duties. Regardless, Coach Gary was displeased. After a nice long stretch to shakeout the car ride and the run, the teams grabbed dinner at a local pizza kitchen.
