The Milk Father

The Milk Man is now a father. Coach Leeman, who moved away to Pittsburgh over the summer, and his wife Kim welcomed their first child to the world on Wednesday: Samantha Jane Leeman. Mom and baby are doing great. Congratulations! We are so excited for the Leeman Family.

This is the third new member of the DeSmet XC family in the past five months. Samantha Leeman joins Hannah Traughber and Amelia Williams. The Dynamic Duo is now a Terrific Trio. They will go by their unofficial nickname, the HASty Three.

Legend of the FET

So, a glorious thing happened one day last winter (pre-MT). For the short version- It was epic!! If you’d like the more complete, long version- keep reading.

It was a typical after-school winter training run a day or two after a snowfall last off-season. Boyle, Seiler, and I headed out our run with no particular destination or direction. We ended up at Villa’s track, one of our favorite places. After a few laps around the partially snow covered track, we had an idea. We saw all the fresh snow in the middle of the field and thought it would be sweet to run on it. Snow Strides. It was as cool as it sounds. We liked it so much that we decided to race the length of the field in the snow.

At this point we came up with what Zach describes as the “best idea we ever had.” We’re not sure which one of us it was so we share the credit. It went like this. Why run straight races when we could run turns. Why run the boring normal track that we always do when we can do whatever we want. Why don’t we just run in a figure like the hot wheels track.

That’s exactly what we did. We spent a few minutes stomping out a figure 8 track in the snow in the middle of Villa’s field. Next we proceeded to race and it was awesome! Fast and Furious. Instead of racing next to your opponent you could watch them take their turns as you take yours. At the half way point there is a chance for a nasty collision as both come flying through the middle. At the end you are charging to the finish while staring directly at your counterpart who is doing the same. Now that’s some quality fun.

It was believed that figure 8 track was a legend and would never return. But it made its way to DeSmet as the offseason was winding down and runners were battling the Snowpocalypse. When co-creator Zach heard the news he commented: “Glad to know someone is keeping the dream alive.” The track lasted an unprecedented 4 days at DeSmet.

I made an effort to get on it every day—from the races, to a morning jog, to an extension to a run. The biggest day was Thursday when we told people to meet out there for FET races. It was definitely different from last year, but in a much improved way. We had teams and did all sorts of fun races. Among other races, there was the exciting half relay where each member of the 4-man team ran half a loop. There was also the surprisingly challenging one loop skipping race. For the toughest of us, there was a 3k race which was 15 loops (we got the wheel out and measured the course; it was 304m course with semi-identical halves). The event was an absolute blast for those who braved the cold to participate in it.

The picture at the top is of the FET at DeSmet taken from Mr. Bender’s room. The track is sorta tough to see but it is there. From a distance it wasn’t as clear as when you were on it. But that didn’t stop teachers at DeSmet from taking notice. It was the talk of the town for a couple days in the science wing.

The creators of the FET will all be gone next year so it will be up to others to keep the tradition and dream alive. Remember all it takes is a runner’s mindset, some creativity, and an open field. Running is what you make. And we do our best to make it awesome.

Blake Waters

From the summer camp, Blake Waters was set for a great Freshman year, placing in the top two for the freshman squad in every race.

Over the past few months, freshman Blake Waters has experienced some back pain. Coach Traughber suggested that he go see a doctor. After MRIs were taken, the doctor found a tumor on Blake's spine.

The tumor is non cancerous, and he should make a full recovery, but Blake will have to be operated on to remove the tumor. Anytime you have to operate on the spine, it can get a little tricky.

Blake hopes to be ready for the fall cross country season after recovering in the spring. Good luck Blake. We will all be praying for you.

Why We Do What We Do

Guys, below is a good article about chocolate milk as a recovery drink. It's from The Costco Connection and written by T. Foster Jones.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Milk: Post workout recovery secret?

One of the Best post-exercise recovery drinks could already be in your refrigerator, according to new research presented at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in 2010. In a series of four studies, researchers William Lund and Nancy Rodriguez, both of the University of Connecticut, found that chocolate milk offered a recovery advantage to help repair and rebuild muscles. Drinking low-fat chocolate milk after a strenuous workout could even help prep muscles to perform better in a subsequent bout of exercise.

Specifically, the researchers found a chocolate milk advantage for:

Building Muscle. Post-exercise muscle biopsies in eight moderately trained male runners showed that, after drinking 16 ounces of fat-free chocolate milk, the runners had enhanced skeletal muscle protein synthesis-a sign that muscles were better able to repair and rebuild-compared to when they drank a carbohydrate-only sports beverage with the same number of calories. The researchers suggest, “Athletes can consider fat-free chocolate milk as an economic nutritional alternative to other sports nutrition beverages to support post-endurance exercise skeletal muscle repair.”

Replenishing muscle “fuel”. Replacing muscle fuel (glycogen) after exercise is essential to an athlete’s future performance and muscle recovery. Researchers found that drinking 16 ounces of chocolate milk, with it’s mix of carbohydrates and protein (compared to a carbohydrates-only sports drink with the same number of calories), led to greater concentration of glycogen in muscles at 30 and 60 minutes post exercise.

Maintaining lean muscle. Athletes risk muscle breakdown following exercise when the body’s demands are at their peak. Researchers found that drinking chocolate milk after exercise helped decrease markers of muscle breakdown compared to drinking a carbohydrate sports drink.

Subsequent exercise performance. Ten trained men and women cyclists rode for an hour and a half, followed by 10 minutes of intervals. They rested for four hours and were provided with one of three drinks immediately and two hours into recovery: low-fat chocolate milk, a carbohydrate drink with the same number of calories, or a control drink. When the cyclists then performed a subsequent 40 kilometer ride, the trial times of those who drank chocolate milk were significantly faster than the trial times of the cyclists who consumed the carbohydrate drink or the control drink.
Milk also provides fluids for rehydration, as well as electrolytes, including potassium, calcium and magnesium lost during exercise, that both recreational exercisers and elite athletes need to replace after strenuous activity. Plus, chocolate milk is naturally nutrients not found in most traditional sports drinks.

2011

Before we get into what is to come, Senior Kevin Abernathy received a pair of awards in the last two weeks of 2010.

Kevin was voted onto The St. Louis Track Club All Metro Team. as the honorable mention. Several former runners, coaches, and Big River's Ben Rosario voted on this team. There is a banquet in February for the first team, second team, and honorable mention.

On Christmas Eve, Kevin was listed in the Post Dispatch after making their All Metro Team. This time, Kevin was listed on the third team. These teams are voted on by the Post Dispatch and STLhighschoolsports.com staff.

"Kevin Abernathy, sr., DeSmet
Won districts and was second at sectionals before finishing 16th at the Class 4 state meet in 16:19, and followed with a PR of 16:04 at Nike Nationals Midwest Regional."

Congrats Kevin!

Onto 2011. As Kevin talked about last week, 2010 had its ups and downs. 2011 could be epic. The Track Coaches think this could be the best all around track team they have ever coached, and the distance team will play a big role in that. The first big goal is Conference. The Distance team matches up with the other Jesuit high school very well. Conference could be some of the best individual races of the year.

Going from there, Kevin Abernathy, Brian Scherping, and I if things go right will have a chance to advance to possibly State in several events. It will be very interesting to see how the 4x800 team, which has a great shot to break the school record of 7:57, will shape up.

The one downside about distance track is there is just not that many Varsity spots. A good amount of Varsity spots will most likely be taken up by seniors. Obviously we are all leaving in May, so in the fall, there is a great chance for younger guys who have worked hard through out the last few years to get their shot at Varsity. There are at least 3 spots on the Varsity top 7 wide open next fall, and it will be great to see who trains the hardest and is the most determined to get those spots. If things go right, the Spartans could go to Jeff City for the 17th straight year.

2010 had its fair share of great moments, 2011 could be much better.

kabes added another new post. Read it too!

Slippery When Wet

With Christmas break coming to an end and the start of a new year here, now is a good of time as any to do a post on some winter running. This post is primarily about the Big River Running Winter Distance Camp that I attended this past week.

But before I get to camp, I’ll start with last Sunday December 26th. It was the day of the 10m Frostbite. Zach Boyle (HOF) and I helped pace Coach Traughber through his marathon workout. We were just about right on the 7:15 per mile goal pace the whole time. Also there in his Marquette gear was former Spartan Connor Callahan who finish second in a little over 55 minutes, and Rob who ran the race as work out finishing 7 in just under 58 minutes. Zach and I ended up running over 12 miles; it was great to catch up with him and we had blast running together—just like old times.

On Monday through Thursday I hung out with about 50 other middle school and high school boys and girls interested in distance running. The camp counselors were coaches, college runners, and Big River employees. Each day we listen to a running talk, go for a run, learn some core and drills, eat lunch and play a game.

Monday
We listened to a talk on motivation. As part of it I made an ornament with my motivation on it: the Milk Table and the School Record. Interestingly, I wrote this down while sitting next to the 1600 record holder, Jeremy Doherty. Then we went on a run Queeny Park. I had a chance to run with Eric Fernandez. Eric currently runs for the University of Arkansas, and he was a 2-time state champ at Parkway West. It was really awesome to run with someone at that level. He was a lot fun to be around during the week and I enjoyed meeting and getting to know him. I am a proud member of “Taking Babies, Taking Names” (the nickname he gave the group of guys that ran with him).

Tuesday
I heard the famous “Spoon Speech” which deals with the importnace of training. We also learned about workouts and putting together a training schedule. For the run, we did 8 times up Dog Museum Hill at Queeny Park. As many of you know it’s quite the hill so it wasn’t just a jog in the park. Rob came and joined in on the fun. I ran the cool down with DeSmet grad Coach Porter from SLUH. He did half of the hills with us and it was cool to get to know him. After the run we watched some races including Eric running a 28:37 10k at Standford last track season, and Ben and Matt (co-owners of Big River) going 1-2 in an indoor mile at Mizzou in just over 4 minutes. I got through the first two round of Big River Madness, the camp game. It was a bracket trivia challenge with a sweet prize pack going to the winner. Best 2 of 3, winner moves on. First question on camp, the second on running, and if need be the third on pop culture.

Wednesday
We did a panel discussion that had questiona about every facet of running. Everyone is so experienced and I was able to learn a lot. This day I ran Lutheran South grad Adam Behnke who currently runs for Columbia University in New York City and Aimee Bonte who runs for Mizzou. She's a 2-time state champ for Rockwood Summit HS. Once again, I meet some great people and had an awesome time.

Thursday
Camp moved from CPop (Christ Prince of Peace) to SLUH. This was for the camp race—a 2 mile at Forest Park. I won the race in 10:53 running a big negative split. My team, Slippery When Wet, finished in 3rd out of 5. After the race I cranked out another 2 miles at tempo pace before heading back to SLUH for pancakes. Oh and of course Chocolate Milk. The final rounds of Big River Madness were played. I lost in the quarters to the eventual champion getting knocked out on a Justin Beber question. After this I hung out with the counselors for about an hour just to kill some time.

All-in-all I really enjoyed camp. It was a very good way to get my runs in over Christmas Break which can be a bit of a challenge sometimes. I had a great time and meet some great people. It was a blast.

REMEMBER: 2 months till track. Take care of business now so we’re ready to go. As the camp motto says, “Everybody runs in the summer. Champions train all year long.”

Merry Christmas from the Milk Table

We’d like to wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas filled with joy.

The birth of Jesus our Savior, reminds us to recall the other blessings we’ve received. Among these blessings is the success of the Milk Table. The great distance this blog of humble origins has traveled is remarkable and truly a blessing. This could not be possible without your support, encouragement, and involvement. Runners, Coaches, Alums, Parents, Families, and Friends: we thank you for everything you’ve done. It means the world.

It has been an incredible year filled with fast times, many laughs, and great memories. The Milk Table is proud to have been a part of it. We tried to expand the happiness and fun beyond the track and 5,000 meter line by recording our adventures and sharing them with whoever will listen. During this time, we experienced the lows of missing out on State Track and the highs of the 16th Straight trip to State Cross Country and newborn babies. It really has been quite the ride, one that will not soon be forgotten.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. We love you guys.

Kevin
Jacob &
Alex

p.s. The picture above is an actual Christmas card that we made and distributed to the families of the runners on the card and all of the coaches. The idea came about when the picture on the bottom right was taken on the ride to Rim Rock and we said it was a “Christmas card picture.” So Christmas time rolled around and we made it a reality. The two color shots are from the first meet (Nike) and last meet of the season (State). Top left is the varsity guys sitting outside the Jewel Box on our Forest Park run. Top middle is on the return trip from State. Bottom middle was taken while we were waiting during the awards ceremony at the Parkway West Invite at McNair Park.