Mammoth Track Club Results & Updates: March 2019

It’s spring! Well, in Mammoth Lakes it’s almost spring. Recent days have been so warm in Mammoth Lakes and especially down in Bishop where the Mammoth Track Club has been training on the regular the last 12 weeks. The break from the cold, snowy winter just warms my heart… and skin… and joints… and blood! The Mammoth Track Club is looking forward to a great spring season.

Mammoth Track Club Athlete Results

This year has started off pretty well for the Mammoth Track Club elite team. Here are some of the top results by a few of our athletes…

Cross-Country

Reid Buchanan (26) placed a solid 8th at our National Cross-Country Championships in Tallahassee, FL. Two years ago Reid finished a disappointing 36th place in this same event in Bend, OR.  Reid has been “Mr. Consistent” by placing 8th or better at multiple U.S. Championship races in the past 18 months.

Track

In her rookie year as a pro, Grace Barnett placed 8th in both the 1-mile (4:33) and 2-mile (9:50) at the U.S. Indoor Championships on Staten Island, NY.  Just 23 years old, Grace is moving up quickly in the National rankings and currently sits 20th on that list.

Marathon

At the beginning of March, Deena Kastor (46) competed under rainy skies and cold temps in the Tokyo Marathon.  While it was her slowest marathon finish to date, she continues to work towards becoming a very rare “eight-star” finisher, competing in the World Championships Marathon and Olympic Games Marathon in addition to all six Abbott World Marathon Majors (Tokyo-Boston-London-Berlin-Chicago-NYC).

Only Berlin remains!  This September, maybe?

Half Marathon

Last, but certainly not least, Nico Montanez (25) won the San Diego Half-Marathon in a new course record of 1:04:50 (4:56-mile pace).  His season has revolved around preparing (115-mile weeks) for the 2019 Zurich Marathon at the end of April.

Up Next for the Mammoth Track Club

Upcoming Races for Mammoth Track Club Athletes

This month will be a fun one for the Mammoth Track Club elite team. Reid Buchanan will lace up his fast shoes for the iconic Carlsbad 5000 on April 7. On the same day, Nico Montanez will be taking on the Sac-Town 10 mile race in Sacramento before he heads to sea-level training camp for three weeks. The marathoners… Nico and Margo Malone will be taking on the Zurich Marathon on April 28.

Mammoth Track Club Events

Looking ahead: June 5 is Global Running Day. The Mammoth Track Club will be at Footloose Sports at  5 pm to celebrate with a mini running festival. There will be prize giveaways and a short group run. Plus I’ll be conducting a running gait analysis for participants onsite.

Training with the Mammoth Track Club

Weekly track workouts with the Mammoth Track Club begin April 9 at 7 am. Join me, Coach Kastor, and train with the Mammoth Track Club athletes every Tuesday morning throughout the spring and summer. Memberships cost $50 per year and include a Mammoth Track Club t-shirt in addition to access to weekly training at Whitmore Track. Membership sign-up forms will be available at the first training.

Inspiration for Your Own Training from Coach Kastor

This past winter (still winter) I have been listening to an audiobook (mainly when shoveling) called Atomic Habits by James Clear. In his book, Clear talks about the “fundamentals, how tiny positive changes and choices in your life can make a big difference later.”

Early in the book, Clear discusses the British cycling team’s transformation in 2003, listing the many slight improvements they made to their systems of performing tasks.  Some examples were:

• Hiring a surgeon to show everyone the proper way to wash their hands in an effort to reduce the number of illnesses during the year, as illnesses lead to missed training
• Inspecting the team cargo van for dust particles that may cause decreased performance in the bikes
• Each rider determined the best pillow and mattress for the most comfortable and restful nights’ sleep to help speed up recovery from training. 

A decade later the Brits went on to win fists full of medals at the 2012 London Olympics!

I challenge you to come up with a short list of things that you can improve upon daily, by just one percent, and stick with those for the remainder of the year. Some potential improvements that come to mind:

• Committing to sleeping 15-30 minutes longer each night
• Eating fruits and vegetables at each meal
• Taking 5 minutes to stretch each day
• Drinking more water… especially between the hours of 2 pm and 5 pm (I guarantee you will have more energy during that time then if you were to drink coffee)
• Reading inspiring and educational books
• And the last one I want to leave you with, displaying a small act of kindness each day towards someone

Make this a great month of beginning a transformation of a fitter and better you!