The year that was...

As 2013 draws to a close I'd like to reflect on my favorite Furman Elite memories.  I do have a small handicap having only joined the group this September but a lot can happen in 4 months! So here are a couple of my top moments of 2013 with Furman Elite...

1. Visiting Furman in July and telling Coach Gary I wanted to join the group.  His reply, "why don't you think about it some more and tell me by mid-August." I hope he never gets into sales.

2. Receiving an email from my soon to be roommate, this kid Michael Hammond, saying that he will be bringing a puppy to live with us. The pup, Brail, has turned out to be part black lab and part cat-dog as he climbs around the apartment with little grace.

3. Putting my altitude tent together with my girlfriend Bridget, our first true test of compatibility.  The tent still stands.

4. Ripping the football across the pool with the next great American steeplechaser, Wilkerson Given.

5. My first workout on the Furman golf course were I was dropped like a bad-habit.  A summer of life guarding and eating pork roll sandwiches didn't help my fitness level.

6. The "lunch at Ale-House" that turned into lunch, and dinner, and Sunday night football.

7. When it was time to strip down to singlet and shorts for our first race as a group and mother nature decided to give us a shower to add to our cold early morning plight.  Thanks for the good times Richmond.

8. Arriving at our month long rental house in Flagstaff, Arizona and running around the place calling rooms like the first episode of "The Real World." Especially when we found the missing room outside the main house which Jack and I claimed and coined "The Bro Den."

9. Beating Jeff See twice in a row in Ping-Pong.

10.  The arrival of Furman Elite's father, Coach Robert Gary, in Flagstaff.  It was no surprise that with his arrival we all had our best workout of the trip, capping a great month of growth as athletes and as friends.

Happy New Year, 2014 looks bright for Furman Elite

-Craig

A Very Furman Elite Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the nation
Furman Elite trained hard, through cold weather frustration.

Craig went northeast to the so-called Garden State.
I'm not sure if Bridget joined, probably left her in the crate.

Nicole traveled north to her home state of Michigan.
That cat seriously better not scratch my chest again.

It was off to the See's for Furman Elite's favorite pair.
I'd love to see the Christmas sweaters Heidi makes Jeff wear.

For Jack, family was near, in the town of Chapel Hill.
A good thing, as he's likely tying his shoes still.

Stephanie roamed the land, traveling who knows where.
T. Paste has no boundaries, no bad days and little hair.

Surely Wilkerson rests at a ranch in the south
Shooting skeet, eating duck, hardly moving his mouth.

Back in Ohio, Cory plays his PS4.
I wonder if he can do grass field loops any more.

Lee and I argue, sometimes intensely debate.
He's probably happy back in 'Bama where I can't make him irate.

The Chad likely slumbers, fatigued from our nonsense.
Actually, probably not, as I keep having to move those hurdles myself; it's quite intense.

RG and the gang are back in Chicago, the place of his birth.
Hopefully enough eggnog and he'll forget about 15 by K on the first.

That last one was a questionable rhyme, but it's okay.
I'd just be happy to celebrate New Years the right way.

As for your humble author, Brail and I are just great.
He has a certain surgery upon our return so we're hastily searching for a mate.

So to my family, friends, and those many I've yet to meet:
Happy Holidays and New Year from Furman Elite!

-Michael

A Flagstaff Tell-All

Well guys, we made it! Furman Elite Flagstaff survived 29 days at altitude and lived to tell the tale. You know how they say "What happens in ___ stays in ___"? Well, what fun would that be? Furman Elite isn't shy about sharing our secrets! So, without further ado, a round-up of the best-- and worst-- moments in Flagstaff, Arizona.

2 10 day cycles. There were good days. There were bad days. But one thing was certain: lots and lots of running.

Countless hours crafting. I can safely say Baglady crocheted a dozen or more presents.

1 glorious week with The Chad

1 visit from #robertgary

500+ hours watching football. The boys said we'd only watch football on football days... but the only days the television was free of a football game was Tuesday (it seemed).

1 road trip to the Grand Canyon. Glorious! No one fell.

3 trips down to Sedona. 

108-- the number of miles Nicole and I ran during our first 10 day cycle.

4 pool sessions at the NAU pool. Let's just say we're glad that is behind us.

~25 days where snow covered the ground. Bonus points for days we didn't see the sun.

2 thumbs marred by a slight slip of a knife.

2 Direct TV boxes

1 circuit blown

4 trips to JoAnns / Michaels

1 furnace man called (what was his name again?)

Half a dozen Percy circuits

2,000 calls to the house owner

1 (max) day in between trips to the grocery

4+ massages from Bo Reid, master masseuse!

0 people voted off the island

1 arguably okay / questionable 1k workout

1 AWESOME 1k workout

3 minimum number of layers worn at a time on a run

3 kitties missed

1 million hours of bonding time

6 bottles of iron consumed

1 hip-hop album (dropping soon)

30 maximum number of eggs Stephanie had in the fridge at one point

8 flower crowns made by Mama Kitty

0 number of words Craig could say without abbreviating it

1 blog post written late (sorry guys!)

0 puzzles completed

While it's so nice to be back home, it's safe to say we cannot wait to go back!

Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

t-paste

You Don't Know... Bolas

Real Runners' World--Kachina Village (map it)

A final altitude blog post coming to you straight from Forest Highlands, the once pristine neighborhood that Furman Elite has taken over for the last three weeks and made our own. One week to go and we have yet to exploit the 36 holes of golf, two immense club houses, pools, tennis courts, and other amenities reserved for that run-of-the-mill family with a bit too much money, a few too many mountain homes, and a genuine fear of the simplicity of a tent and an overused JanSport backpack. But don’t get me wrong, thanks to The Hi-Lands, Furman Elite has been blessed with a near ideal setup on the outskirts of Flagstaff. I’m sure the timing helps, arriving right between seasons when the weather is too cold to adventure into the mountains, but the snow accumulation is not quite significant enough for skiing (but just enough to complicate our daily running routine). I’m not sure how Jeff pulled off the deal he did to get us this place, who he wined and dined, who he was forced to sell his body (or Heidi’s) to, but we certainly couldn’t have asked for a better location or housing option for the six members of Furman Elite who bravely took a leap of faith and tripped it to altitude. As such, I can’t speak for the suckers who remained in Greenville during this time, enjoying the mild South Carolina winter, the home-made cafeteria meals, and the company of Bobby Gary; I can only assume, in spite of progressing nicely with their training, that without the rest of us present to entertain them and pump up their egos, they have resorted to cannibalism, or crocheting at the very least. Speaking of Coach Gary, he will be joining us at altitude in just two more days!! It would be a lie to say Furman Elite has been lost without him, but we do need a fourth guy to make ping pong doubles a reality, so welcome Coach to our stomping grounds. There’s a pullout in the BroDen or an extra bunk bed in the room at the top of the stairs (watch out, it’s covered in tomato paste).

So for our readers curious about the logistics of our Olympic-preparation training center in Flagstaff, allow me to indulge you. We’re crashing in a quaint 22-bedroom (give or take) cottage at 7000ft about 10 minutes from downtown and NAU’s campus. Through a series of connections, we’ve managed to obtain use of most of NAU’s essential facilities on select mornings when the rest of the world is soundly sleeping. In the case of the two or three snow storms that have struck the area, we pile into our all-wheel-drive GMC Monstrosity and off-road it down to Sedona, which, at 4000ft, has remained clear for our running pleasure. Otherwise, Flagstaff is home to miles and miles of dirt roads, the ones that wind deep into the Coconino National Forest and leave you considering where you might stash that next dead body. The training effect is slow to set in; the first couple weeks at altitude leave you gasping for air as if you’d been gut-punched by the same guy that killed Houdini. I think everyone felt pretty out-of-shape to start things off but the adjustment to the thin air is now becoming evident. Today, for instance, we tripped it south through Oak Creek Canyon to our go-to running location near Sedona. Over the course of our progression run, I, for one, felt akin to Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Juice Jacobs, Eddy Hellebuyck, Mary Decker, Lance Armstrong, Leonid Shvetsov, Rashid Ramzi, probably Taoufik Makhloufi, and Christian Hesch, among others... all athletes who have taken advantage of the extensive aerobic benefits that altitude training has to offer, of course. Except for Hesch, he plain doped. Point being is, despite struggling to hit times at altitude that we’re usually accustomed to running, it is great to find affirmation in the few runs we do where the oxygen is plentiful. I know we’re all hopeful to see big gains in our aerobic fitness with four weeks of training in Flagstaff. We’ve sacrificed our sanity, certainly any shallow friendships we may have built prior to coming here, and the busy social lives that Greenville cultivated. But with those sacrifices comes the opportunity to say with full confidence: “Arizona, huh? Yeah, I was there once. That’s the state next to the one where they did ‘Breaking Bad’ right?”

-jackie b.

Dear Mr. Henshaw,

Here we embark, on this, our third week at the Flagstaff compound. Our second week without The Chad. In the last 15 days we’ve made at least 10 trips to Safeways, 3-6 trips to Michael’s and/or Jo-Ann Fabrics, and went to no less than 7 stores looking for a turkey baster and meat thermometer on the Thanksgiving day.

We’ve watched too many hours of football. Had not enough hours of crafting. My hair is slowly dreading itself. And much like Mama Kitty, I miss my precious cat fat Nurmi.

And together have run miles on miles on miles of beautiful Flagstaff runs.

But anyway, here’s some gifs with mediocre captions!

a tasty of some beautiful flagstaff tree ice

my favorite, the furman elite pre-run stand

some pre-run lady skips in the tire tracks

exciting crafting blanket gif

 craigers & femezy pong skillz

sitting down to watch football! and/or gopro videos

how we do the cleaning

 post endless-thousands buffalo time

aannndd finally, an out of context shout-out to the Furman teams

on their double SoCon wins

Until next time, 

The Bag Lady / @nicolebbush