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About Hometown Hopefuls Hometown Hopefuls follows Atlanta Track Club Elite Team members Abe Alvarado, Brandon Lasater, Keturah Orji, Yolanda Ngarambe, Jarryd Wallace and Allie Wilson as they continue their journey toward Olympic glory. Be there every step of the way from training camp to the Olympic Trials and to Tokyo with every workout, every split, athlete reflections and coaches' comments too. Six athletes. Six months. Six shots.

Alvarado reflects on his training and competition period between February 8-21 in this post. To learn more about Alvaradoclick here.




Workouts for the Week: June 14-20

Monday:  5 miles @ 7:26 average

Tuesday: 

  • 2 mile wu

  • 4x400 with 90 second jog

  • 67-66

  • 4 minutes

  • 4x200 with 90 second jog

  • 26-25

  • 2 mile cd

Wednesday:3 miles easy

Thursday: 3 miles easy plus strides

Friday: 

  • 10 min shakeout

  • RACE DAY!!! OLYMPIC TRIALS 800 PRELIMS

  • 2 mile wu

  • 800-1st 1:48.

  • 2 mile cd

Saturday: 

  • 10 min shakeout

  • Olympic Trials 800 Semifinal

  • 2 mile wu

  • 800-1:47. 8th place

  • 2 mile cd

Sunday: Off



Commentary and Reflection on the Week: June 14-20

We finally got to the big dance.  As we started approaching the end of the week all sorts of emotions started hitting.  I was excited, nervous, anxious, had allergies to the crazy pollen, but most importantly ready to go. I was able to go see the stadium Thursday morning to get a feel for it before my first race on friday.  I left Hayward Field on Thursday feeling ready to go.  I had a good night's sleep.  I woke up on Friday and went for my shakeout. Everything felt good. I had my usual breakfast which is oatmeal with berries. For lunch I had a peanut butter sandwich with a banana. In my spare time before the race I watched tv and just chilled.


It's finally time to head over to the track. The moment we had trained for all season has finally arrived.  I have about an hour to check in and relax before I have to warm up.  An hour before my race I go for my warmup which is 2 miles, I did my usual drills, and strides. They call us into a tent, and then take us under the stadium (aka the call room). They have chairs, tv’s, and cold drinks down there. It’s also super nice because we have a long straightaway to do some strides in spikes before we go out to the track. I was in the 1st of 4 heats to go.  The goal was to finish in the top 3 to automatically advance.  The gun goes off and I just go with my race instincts.  I didn’t get good positioning for the first 200m but I moved up going into the 400m.  With 200 to go I started pressing a little more and locked my automatic Q by winning the heat.  I felt great, in control, and achieved the goal to move onto the 2nd round.  One complaint I had was that my throat felt super dry.  It was weird to me because I hadn’t felt that all year during my races. 


After the race I cooled down, got some treatment in the medical tent, and went off to dinner.  Overall a good day, now I just had to do it 2 more times.  On Saturday during the semifinal, I did the same preparation before the race plus decided to wear a nose strip to help me breathe since my allergies were getting worse. For this Semifinal, I was in heat 2 of 2.  Top 3 in each heat advance plus the next 2 fastest times. Seeing what the first heat had run gave us in heat 2 an opportunity to advance 5 out of the 8.  The gun goes off and I get out the fastest I had all year.  I wanted to make sure I had good positioning because there were better guys in this race. I was 51. Through 400 sitting in 3rd on the outside. I felt strong and ready to start moving up.  The race suddenly got bunched up with 200 to go and I found myself stuck on the inside rail towards the back.  I stayed patient, and made a hard move to the outside with 150 to go. I was confident my kick was going to get me in the top 5 but it didn’t seem like I was making ground and with 80 meters to go my olympic dream seemed to have disappeared.  I couldn’t believe it.  I couldn’t believe that was happening to me. That is not how I had envisioned it going down. All year the last 200m was the strongest part of my race.  The bad positioning had cost me a spot into the final. I was disappointed but knew I still had another event (the 1500m).



Commentary and Reflection from Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley for the Week: June 14-20

We traveled to Oregon, and started off the week with an appointment with Active Release treatment.  Abe had a good appointment. He worked with one of Amy’s favorite providers.  He found a lot of things that we can work on to get stronger and more balanced.  We constantly want to look for ways to improve, and sometimes a fresh set of eyes are a great tool.  


We drove down to Eugene on Wednesday.  We have a small house and a hotel rented.  The house is essential, so the athletes don’t have to eat all of their meals at a restaurant.  We also got our second test of the meet.  We will have to test every other day throughout the Trials.  


Abe had his first race on Friday.  He didn’t get a great start, but he moved up gradually and got back into position.  He made a move with 150 to go, and easily won the heat.  He looked good!  


For the semis, Abe made a few mistakes, and that ultimately cost him a trip to the finals.  The race went out quick.  They were 25 through the 200, and 50 through 400.  Abe looked good, but panicked a little bit with 300 meters to go.  He made a move, but he should have relaxed for another 150-200.  As a result, he ran out of steam during the last 100.  


He was disappointed. We talked through the race and told him that it was OK to be mad/upset for 24 hours.  After that, he needs to put it behind him, and get ready for the 1500.  


We capped off the week with a trip to the Oregon coast.  We saw the sand dunes and some sea lions, so that was a good mental break before we get back to the stress-filled environment in Eugene.  




Workouts for the Week: June 21-27

Monday:  

  • 2 mile wu

  • 2x(4x200 with 100 jog), 4 min rest between sets

  • 28-27, 26-25

  • 2 mile cd


Tuesday:4 miles easy

Wednesday:3 miles easy

Thursday: 

  • 10 min shakeout

  • RACE DAY!!! OLYMPIC TRIALS 1500 PRELIMS

  • 2 mile wu

  • 1500m-3:47, 10th place

  • 2 mile cd

Friday: 5 miles 7:26 average

Saturday: 7 miles 6:37 average

Sunday: 

  • 2 mile wu

  • 3x1 mile w/ 3 min jog

  • 4:50’s

  • Jogged to the track switched to spikes

  • 4x400 at mile pace with 2 min jog

  • 56, 57, 58, 53


Commentary and Reflection from Coaches Amy and Andrew Begley for the Week: June 21-27

Abe had a light workout on Monday.  It’s always tough to do a workout on a day that you should have been racing.  We had a good talk about what went wrong, and how to avoid the same mistakes in the 1500.  


Tuesday was all about getting in the last physio prior to the prelims, getting some rest and good fuel for the races.  We went over the heat sheets, and what to expect.  They are ready to go!  


The race was a little rough.  He never really got into the position that we had planned.  He was too far back, and made a move with 200 to go in the outer lanes.  At the end, he didn’t have enough in the tank and faded over the last 100.  The fitness is there, but the confidence to use it is lagging.  To use your strength you have to believe in it.  


We took a couple days off, and then reset the goals for the rest of the season.  We plan to do some races after a few weeks of training.