It never ceases to amaze me the types of people and places that you'll hear OK in the discussion...

This morning I had just walked into a laundromat and hadn't been recognized yet by the people inside when I overheard a couple of guys talking as they were waiting for their dryers to finish. I don't recall their words exactly, but I think it went something like this:

"Hey, did you hear about the latest test loop results?"

"No, not yet, the last thing I heard was that Dan was out with an injury, but I haven't heard any results."

"Well Spike just PR'ed with a 14:34! Can you believe that guy? 14:34 is a Dan kinda time. It just goes to show."

"Show what?"

"What I've been saying for years now. That with the kind of talent OK has they should own the relays."

"Yeah, but just 6 months ago if you had been going around talking about Spike pullin' a 14:34 they would have locked you up and thrown away the key."

"Hmmm. Maybe"

Obviously the secret is out and OK should expect other clubs to be preparing as hard as they can. We'll have to keep up the good work throughout the winter... and hopefully Dan's headlamp will make the difference come Spring.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), October 27, 1999

Answers

For those who might be interested in the "test loop," take a look at a page maitained by Mook.

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/1570/testrun/testrun.h tml

The page includes test loop times and a description of the route. (At some point in the not-so-distant-future we hope to post a map of the route). So far we only have test loop times for a few people. It would be great if some others would give it a try.

The idea of having a test loop is that it gives you a way to measure your fitness. It is, for example, interesting to get an idea of how much slower (or, if your really strong, faster) than Dan you are. By timing your runs over the course of time, you should be able to get an idea of whether your fitness is improving.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), October 27, 1999.