SDHS Hates Track

Time: 72:07
Distance: 9.63 miles

W/u: 2.11 miles in 18:39
Workout Summary: 6.14 miles in 41:37. 6:47 pace.
C/d: 1.38 miles in 11:51.

Meagan and I got out the door a little later than what would have been ideal and drove around looking for the track that is located near Balboa Park, San Diego City College and, unfortunately, San Diego High School. I was able to find a parking lot that was free near the track, but it involved crossing one of those graffiti covered pedestrian walkways that goes over an interstate. The track itself was sunken down about three stories and was only accessible after descending a series of ramps or steps. (If we had Owen's skills on descending steps, this wouldn't have been a problem). Anyway, we started the warmup and tried to scout out the best possible loop for the two three-mile tempos.

The workout was: mile (5:40), 3-mile tempo (6:40s), 1200 (4:15), 3-mile tempo (6:40s), 800 all out. Everything was supposed to be continuous.

Meagan ran well on the opening mile and hit a split of 5:37 that was run really evenly. We ran up the steps and started the first 3-mile tempo which is a bit all over the place according to the splits: 3:23, 2:56 (not sure if this was accurate), 3:35 (mostly uphill), 3:24, 3:08, 3:37. I'm not sure what that totals but I think it's decent. We returned to the track and Meagan managed to run a 1200 in 4:25 while dodging the PE class full of delinquents. This is where the workout turned into a cluster and completely fell apart.

Just as we were about to run up the stairs I was called over by an older gentleman and he asked if I was from the City College. Hoping for leniency to remain on the track I responded "yes," but that only brought him to tell me that "adults" aren't allowed on the track while high schoolers are present. Okay. Fine. He told me something about the dangers of mixing adults and students during school hours. At that point the convo was getting ridiculous so I asked ask "if he liked track" knowing that any track fan would allow a cute blonde to complete her workout. He said that he loved track and that he was actually the track coach at the high school. Okay. Fine. If he were really clever he could have used Meagan as a recruiting tool for his team saying she is the type of athlete that frequents meets. At the very least he could have used our presence as a teaching tool to show the 150 students what track is all about. But, instead we had to leave. Okay. Fine.

Lady, Coach Ed Ramos, Meb, Dude

Turns out the teacher that asked us to leave was Meb Keflezighi's high school coach, Ed Ramos. He was also Marc Davis' high school coach. Initially, I found this to be a curiosity worth forgiving the guy, but then I did a little more research and realized he's a terrible coach. A Mexican sea horse could have probably guided Meb and Davis to high school glory. I discovered that in the 2006 CIF San Diego Section Finals his boy's team placed 13th while his girls were 19th. The best boy ran 17:09 for 5k while the best girl ran 19:27. Last year the boy's team improved to 11th place at the state meet qualifier while the girls were 21st. The best boy ran 17:15 for 3.05 miles while the best girl blazed 20:02 for 2.75 miles. I'm no shit shiner, but one would think that out of a population of 3,000 students a coach could field a team capable of averaging 17:15 for 5k and 20:02 for 2.75 miles.

After leaving the track we ran back into Balboa Park and I was hoping to get Meagan to do the second 3-mile tempo but it wasn't to be. She was shot and we stopped shortly after cresting the hill. We jogged in the park before heading back to the car.