Whitetail week
Hi. I'm Emory Mort, a teacher at Mercersburg. This is my
first Burg Blog. I've tried this before, it hasn't worked out so
well. I'm trying it again.
I'm sitting in my apartment in Fowle Hall. Many students are home
for the long weekend. Many students are writing their SAT
exams. I'm sitting in my apartment in Fowle Hall. Dire
Straits is on the horn. I'm listening to a live performance
recorded in 1985 in San Antonio directly after they released Brothers in Arms,
an LP that would sell 10 million copies and includes the hit "Money for
Nothing". The website "Wolfgang's Vault" (www.wolfgangsvault.com)
allows you to listen to archived live performances by many 60's-80's
bands playing classic to alternative rock, blues and jazz.
This blog is going to tell a story. The stories will probably
told poorly. I'm a math teacher, after all. I'm also a
distance runner. Let me tell you some stories from this week in
distance running. This week, I went to Whitetail Ski Resort and
ran up the mountain 3 times. It was a beautiful day. On
Sunday, September 30, I ran a 5k race in Syracuse called the Syracuse
Festival of Races. I won and they put my picture in the
paper. Now I have a gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods and
a Jacket that is embroidered with the words: "Syracuse Festival of
Races". To the victor go the spoils, no?
Better than the race were the people I met and the things we did in
Syracuse. I attended the baptism of Mary Faustina Grady, daughter
of David and Hope Grady. There was no professional photographer
so I became a very nervous one. Hope said the pictures look good,
I hope she means it! Also, we all ran/walked in memory of Lauren
Grady. I walked and talked with Joe Cresko, Godfather of Mary and
long-time friend of David and Hope. I ate in Grandma Betty's
Diner, and have been snacking all week on fresh, upstate NY apples and
chocolate from David's sister's chocolate shop on Martha's
Vineyard. Chocolate, apples and a grandmother's diner... these
are the good things. Last night, Mark Herring '09 cooked dinner
in my apartment with the help of Nebiyu Osman '10. Then we ate
ice cream from Al's. I drank a milkshake that was near 2 Liters
in volume (that's 2000mL).
On Tuesday I ran to Whitetail ski resort, but this time it was a 19
mile journey. I only ran up the mountain once. But the
purpose was to run 19 miles this time, not to make my legs burn hot
yellow like sulfur lamps. We're studying electromagnetic
radiation in chemistry right now, so pardon my comparison.
Overall, it's been a 120+ mile week. Of the last 13 weeks, 10 of
them have been 120+. Today, I'm going to go run 6 miles at Speed
2. Speed 2 is moderate. Tomorrow, a large mass of humanity,
including Mercersburg's own Jeff Reeder, will run the Chicago
marathon. Unfortunately for them, it appears as if the weather
will be very hot for Chicago in October. Last year it was cold,
windy and rainy. Go figure.
Providence 5k Race
Welcome to the first installment of my "BurgBlog". My blog will
normally focus on stories from my running experiences. I am a
distance runner. I compete in events on the track in the winter,
spring and summer. In the fall and early winter, I also run races
on the roads and cross country courses. The distances I compete
at range from the 1500m (about a mile) to 15km (about 9.3 miles).
My best event is the 3000m steeplechase, a track event about 2 miles in
length that involves jumping 5 sturdy barriers every lap and navigating
a water pit. It's an exciting event because there is jumping,
splashing, falling, and the normal fatigue of a distance race.
People ask me whether I will ever do the marathon. I might do a
marathon, but right now it's not in the plans. My legs don't like
racing distances over about 9 or 10 miles at this point. A
marathon is 26.2 miles. Although the marathon is not in the
racing picture, I would describe my training as "marathon
training". A typical week of training for me involves 100+ miles
of running. How can I do marathon training but not like the
marathon? Well, there's a big difference between running 7:00
miles for 17-20 miles (a typical long run for me) and attempting to run
5:30 miles for 26.2 miles. That is what it would take for me to
be competitive at the same level in the marathon, and right now it
would be an unwise decision to take that step. My body would
probably break down.
So what's the story? The story for the first blog is from
Providence, Rhode Island, where this weekend I ran in the USA 5k Road
Race Championships. I've been training very well all summer in
preparation for my fall/winter races, and this was the first
step. Most days this summer I ran twice, usually totalling about
18 miles every day, or about 120 miles per week. Usually, I'll
run a longer run (90 mins or 13 miles) and a shorter run (40 mins or 5
miles). So I was ready for the race. I was in shape, but
not "fit" or "sharp". I was put up in a very nice hotel with two
teammates of mine from the Willow Street Athletic Club (WSAC) based in
Albany, NY. The hotel was crawling with runners, many of them the
elite runners who came from across the world to compete at this large,
competitive race. Overall, 7,000 people would take part in the
day's races. There were elites from Japan, England, New Zealand,
Kenya, and many states in the US including Michigan, California, Oregon
At a race like this, the toughest part is focusing on what I need to do
without letting these other guys distract me. So the plan was to
play to my strength at this point in the season: my aerobic
capacity.
Emory Mort '01 is a math and chemistry teacher at Mercersburg
Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he lives in Fowle
Hall. He coaches winter track. At Mercersburg Mr. Mort was
a member of the soccer and track teams and the Octet. Mr. Mort
received his B.S. in Biological Engineering from Cornell University in
'05. At Cornell he was a 4 year member of the cross country,
indoor/outdoor track teams, for which he served as a captain in his
junior and senior years. Mr. Mort was an All-Ivy and All-East
performer in the steeplechase while at Cornell. Post-collegiate
experience includes qualifying for the 2007 USATF National
Championships in the steeplechase, ending the year #22 in the country
with a personal best of 8:45.82. In the future he plans to continue the
long-term pursuit of excellence in the sport of competitive distance
running. He logs over 4,000 miles a year in twice-daily
preparation to meet his goals. Mr. Mort has 2 brothers, Austin
'04 and Tyler '08, and hails from Ghent, NY.
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