The Erichsen Files

One Happy Return

2011-10-06T07:54:00.003-05:00

The blog is coming back, as I'll have a bit more time to post over the next few months. For those of you that don't already know, I'll be taking a leave from work to train for the Olympic Trials in January. Look for updates soon.

2010 in Review - Already?

2010-10-08T06:24:00.006-05:00

I'm approaching the one-year anniversary of my last post, so I'm a little overdue in sending an update. As I'm getting ready to close out my competitive racing season this weekend in Boston, it's been apparent that traveling for races has been a bigger focus for me in 2010. I've been able to visit both coasts and add a few more states to the list of those I've visited. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of some great race directors, elite recruiters, and my agent, Roger. A HUGE thank you to all!

Here's a brief recap of some of my races in 2010.

Jacksonville, FL - Gate River Run 15K (U.S. Championships)

This race was clearly early in the season. I pulled an amateur move by forgetting to bring a jersey and wound up racing in my roommate's T-shirt. I'm pretty sure I was the top finisher with some semblance of sleeves. I was also able to add an Olympian to the list of people I've beat, as I passed Dan Browne heading over the final bridge. He clearly wasn't in top shape, but I'm still counting it.
Dan Browne

Spokane, WA - Bloomsday 12K

This was an awesome race! Spokane was great, the course was challenging, the field was solid, and I raced well! There was a hill called "Doomsday" that was a steep rise for basically the entire fifth mile, but I was able to use it to my advantage and roll on some guys late in the race. I went through the 10K right around my road PR, and finished the 12K under 37:00, coming home with some American citizen prize money.
Results

Fargo, ND - Fargo Marathon

This was my first marathon. Throughout my training in the spring, I was shooting to run under 2:19, which would have qualified me for the Olympic Trials. Going into the race, the weather forecast was horrible. The Saturday of the race was slated to be 80+ degrees with strong winds. This wasn't exactly good news for me, especially as an inexperienced marathoner. The morning of the race brought rain, which helped the heat, but it was still sticky and windy. When the race started 2:19 was the furthest thing from my mind, which was actually a good thing. I went through the half-marathon point in just under 1:11 and decided to push the second half. Surprisingly, I was able to sustain the effort for most of the second half, finishing in 2:19:55. I'm glad the first one is in the books.
Video

Northport, NY - Great Cow Harbor 10K

The afternoon before the national cross country meet my senior year, I remember Tim Miles and I talking about some of the bad races I had over the course of my college career. At that point, things had been going really well for me, and the national meet was no different. Everyone who races for any length of time is going to have some rough patches, and it can be comical looking back once you are far enough removed. My race on Long Island was definitely one of the "bad" races. From the start I could tell I was in trouble. I was feeling off before the first mile, and after pushing the second mile up the course's main hill, I was hurting. I tried to push through, hoping I would feel better. It didn't work. My fifth mile was just under 6:00, and I finished in 32:44.
Map

Boston, MA - B.A.A. Half-Marathon

I'm heading to Boston tomorrow morning for my last race of the year. I'm excited and ready. Previews are below:
Elite List
Bio

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

My Week Off

2009-08-03T22:01:00.003-05:00

I had promised an update soon and I'm running out of time before I leave for vacation, so here it is:

Today was my first official day in my new department at work. I'm still a Business Analyst, so that part stayed the same. I was initially going to take this whole week off work for vacation, but I figured since I would be around the cities anyways, I might as well try to get up to speed in my new area as quickly as possible. I moved from tabletop to lighting and wall decor, so the businesses are fairly similar from my perspective. I'm actually pretty excited to get back to work and get in the full swing of things next Monday. My attitude is a little surprising, even to me, but I think it really helped to have even the smallest of changes.

As for my vacation, I'm really excited about that, too. It will be the first time that I've taken more than one day off work since I started last September. I'm flying out to Cleveland tomorrow morning, where my parents will pick me up. We're going to the Twins game tomorrow night, so hopefully the weather cooperates. From there, the details aren't totally clear to me. I'm not the greatest of planners, and since my parents did all the work, I'm just going with the flow. I know for sure that we will be driving to Niagra Falls and Toronto, but I'm not sure how long we are staying at any of the stops. The trip finishes (for me) in Detroit, where we'll be going to another Twins game before I fly back on Sunday morning. It's not the most exotic sounding vacation, but I'm still pretty pumped about it!

As far as running, there always seems to be an update. I've only got two confirmed races lined up for the Fall so far. The first one is Saint John's Invite in September, which I hope serves as a good barometer for where I'll be a few weeks later at the TC10 mile, my second race of the season. I ran both races last year, but I feel with the level of training I've been doing, I'll finish considerably better than a year ago. With work, it's been tough to be mentally prepared to do workouts after already putting in a full day. Workouts are my top priority going forward - I need quality. I'm not going to be skipping any of the workouts on my calendar just because I can't focus solely on them, and I'm going to try like hell to make sure they are productive.

Volume will be another focus, but may eventually have to take the back burner. I'm anticipating my highest monthly mileage ever in August, which ideally will be between 525 and 550. The August before my senior year, I ran 499.9 and just to prove it wasn't all about the numbers, I didn't run that extra tenth of a mile. I've already got my biggest long run this month (yesterday, 23 miles) and I'm feeling really strong. Tired, but strong. Hopefully I'll be able to parlay these increased emphases into some better race results, but I'll have to wait to find out.

July Update

2009-07-19T07:27:00.006-05:00

For anyone that used to read this blog and still periodically checks in, I think this post is going to come as a big surprise. It's not that I'm writing about anything profound, it's just that I haven't posted a single word since last September. I wrote about how things were going during my first week of work - now that I've been at Target for ten months, the comments seem a little dated. It's time for an update..

First of all, one of the reasons the writing stopped so abruptly in September was a computer issue. My laptop made it all across Europe with me , but apparently the trip from Spring Valley to Bloomington was too much for it to handle. I managed to fix it enough to the point where it was serviceable for checking email, but that was the extent of it's functionality for about six months. After March, when I finally bought a new computer, I really don't have an excuse. I was just lazy, I guess.

What else is new in my life? Well, my sister Lindsey bought a house in Bloomington, my other sister Alissa and her husband, Drew had their second child, and my friends are all getting married. As for my major life changes, I moved from Bloomington to St. Paul - a grand total of about 13 miles. I'm now living with two friends from college in a brand new (at least in June) three bedroom place just across the river from Fort Snelling. It's an awesome location for running, commuting and improving my social life. Along with trails on both sides of the river, there are tons of great places to run in the southwest corner of St. Paul. I'm able to take the light rail to work, which makes things a lot more flexible both in the morning and at night. I'm also living closer to a number of my friends, which is a huge bonus.

As I hinted at before, I am still dabbling in the running and racing scene. I'll be commenting more on that in future posts. For now, I thought I would post a picture from the awards ceremony at my last race, an 8K in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (I'm in the back row).

Since it apparently works with weekly TV shows and blockbuster movies, I'm going to give a little teaser of what's to come in my future posts, assuming they come a little more frequently..

New car!
August vacation with my parents
Department change @ Target
#1 pick in Fantasy Football draft
Fall races

Real World: Week 1

2008-09-16T17:12:00.005-05:00

It's 83 degrees outside right now in Bloomington and for the first time since before I left for Ireland, I'm waiting around for it to cool down a little before I run. Running has been a little different my first two days of work. I found out that it's not exactly light out (like it was all summer across the pond) before 6:00 AM. There are some awesome routes that I have discovered so far, with nearly every one having some involvement with a nearby lake. I have also found it difficult to cut back my mileage much. I remember writing in an interview how it takes just as much discipline to take it easy towards the end of the season as it does to get out and keep running a ton during the summer and winter months, but so far this fall I haven't had that discipline. I do have a few more things to say about my running in the recent past and the near future..

I posted new highs for summer mileage (1,252) and weekly mileage (130)
For those of you who didn't know, I raced at the SJU Invite last week, finishing in 26:04 to narrowly beat out a slew of impressive former teammates.
I'm signed up to race both this weekend at Fort Snelling in a 5x5k relay and on October 5th for the TC 10 mile. I'm excited to do both.

Hopefully I didn't completely lose my audience, despite the month-long gap between posts. To avoid rambling on about the pros and cons of my train trip across Europe, I thought I would write a one word summary and explanation about each city that I spent at least one night in over my final two weeks. Here it goes:

Brussels - bittersweet (I loved the city when I was there my first night, but I ended up missing my flight back to Dublin and had to spend the night in the Brussels airport)
Paris - predictable (Almost everything I saw I expected to see, which was probably mostly my fault)
Nice - gorgeous (If the beaches weren't filled with rocks, I might not have left)
Venice - frustrating (The islands were like a maze and the maps only added to my confusion)
Salzburg - perfect (I loved how the size of the city, the atmosphere, the sights and almost everything else about it)
Munich - rich (Filled with color, music, and history)

I also just completed my second day of work in the "real world". I'm working at Target Headquarters in downtown Minneapolis. Surprisingly, my bus ride from Bloomington is about the same amount of time as it was last summer when I lived in Minneapolis, and it drops me off less than a block away from my office. I've been able to meet up with a bunch of people that I knew from my internship last summer, which is really awesome.

Oh, and one more thing. My fantasy football team is 1-1 and I'm not happy about it.

Around the British Isles

2008-08-19T14:41:00.013-05:00

Last week was an extremely busy, exciting and memorable one. It was also very tiring. I spent the week traveling around Ireland, Northern Ireland and London with my two sisters, Alissa and Lindsey. From the time they arrived at 44 Gleann Dara (after only a few mishaps), we were on the move almost the entire time. The only "rest" day for me came on Saturday, but that night I ran my second race of the summer (5 mile, 24:36, 3rd), not exactly the relaxation my body needed.

While my latest race produced a time a ways off my personal best, I think I am fast approaching a record of another sort. Last Friday, I visited the Cliffs of Moher for the third time in a little more than a month's time - a frequency only approached by tour guides and bus drivers. Friday also brought my sisters and I around the Dingle Peninsula, a drive that was highly recommended by the owner of a B&B my parents and I visited. It was well worth the long day of driving. I even got some mountain climbing in, as I climbed down from the road to get the shot below.

(Bird on the Dingle Peninsula)

After my race on Saturday night, we got an early start on Sunday morning. We drove up to the northern coast of Northern Ireland. This area and the coastal drive was beautiful. Among the places we visited were Whiterocks Beach (near Portrush), Giant's Causeway, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. This was one of the few days where we had a goal set in mind about what we wanted to accomplish. Everything went extremely well up until the point where we decided to stop and look for a place to spend the night. The tension in the car grew as the light faded and still we had no place to stay. To make matters worse, the rain started coming down, making visibility all the more difficult. We finally found a B&B sign in a small town along the coast, but after a few minutes of awkwardness with a hunchbacked old man, we were still homeless. After 10 more LONG minutes of driving, where nobody spoke, we saw another sign for a B&B. This time, we were pleasantly surprised. If the owner would have sensed our desperation, he could have made off with a lot more than we paid him. Thank goodness for honest people. The room was spectacular, as was the full Irish breakfast we received in the morning. It was just too bad we couldn't have stayed in the small town of Ballygally any longer.

(Whiterocks Beach - Portrush, Northern Ireland)

Next up for the Erichsen children was Belfast. After hearing almost nothing but negative things about the city, we were glad to find that it appeared to be a modern, thriving city. At least in the area we were in, there were office buildings, shopping centers and other features that all seemed very new and clean. We didn't get to see the Titanic, but we did take some pictures by a huge fish by the docks.

(Me in front of some big fish in Belfast)

The weather turned out to be fantastic for almost the entire week Alissa and Lindsey were visiting me. The only time it rained was when we were in the car driving, which wasn't really a bother. After leaving Belfast we headed around the Ards Peninsula, eventually stopping in Greyabbey to visit some of Drew's relations. They were extremely friendly, going so far as to relieve us of the headache of finding a place to stay for the night.

(Alissa and Lindsey posing in front of hydrangeas)

We didn't run into any more stress (following the first night trying to find a B&B) until we left Greyabbey early Tuesday morning heading for Dublin Airport. We were on a tight schedule and couldn't afford to miss our flight to London, since we were only staying about a day and a half as it was. So, while scurrying around trying to find a gas station, return the rental car, and store our luggage at the airport, we were near our breaking point once again. It wasn't actually that bad, but after nearly an entire summer with minimal stress, any stress seems like too much.

(London's Eye)

As I said before, we were only in London for a short time, but we still got around quite well. The first day we were completely on foot. It was tiring, but also nice to be able to see all the little things that lie between the big attractions. On the second day, we all had to carry our bags so we scrapped the whole walking idea and opted for the Tube, an experience in itself.

Whether looking for a bathroom, place to fill a water bottle, directions, or coffee, I think we were in Starbucks about 8 times while in London. I think seeing them everywhere is just a transition for when I return to the U.S. in a few weeks, as I have gotten used to storefronts without those familiar green letters.

I have posted the pictures from my week with Alissa and Lindsey and they are all under the "Pictures" link to the right.

Going Solo to Glasgow

2008-08-07T07:59:00.009-05:00

("The Armadillo")

(Statue near Central Station)

(Man playing bagpipes in Kelvingrove Park - he wasn't very talented)

(Me with University of Glasgow Tower in the background)

I don't have much time to write, as Alissa and Lindsey are on their way to Galway and I have some things to take care of before they arrive. I spent the majority of the last three days in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an awesome trip and I was able to take quite a few pictures, which can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/GlasgowScotland

There are a few things that have happened over the last week that I feel are worth mentioning. Some of them I am proud of and some of them are quite embarrassing.

I ate at three different restaurants while in Glasgow, more than I have in Ireland in the past month. I was able to get some "real" pizza again, as well as my first taste of haggis, tatties and neeps (which was awesome by the way). If you're unsure of what that is, you can find more information here.
One week ago, I owned three bikes. Now, I'm down to my last one. The first was stolen from our backyard one night after work. At first I thought one of my roommates had taken it to work. I was actually much less upset after I tracked him down and found out he didn't take it after all. Unfortunately, the first to be stolen was also the best of the lot. Down to two bikes, I was forced to take one of these to the bus station and use a broken lock, hoping it would be there when I returned from my trip. Not surprisingly, it was gone when I came back. Three days in one of the busiest areas in Galway was too much to ask and now I am down to my final bike.
I found one of the elusive "other" flavors of Custard Creams while I was visiting up north. While not as good as the original, Malted Milk Creams were a welcome change. Before my trip, I didn't even know they existed. I'm still looking for the coconut and coffee flavored cookies, but hopefully I'll be able to find them when my sisters and I head to London!

I've also learned a little bit more about my competition for the Streets of Galway race this weekend. One of the "headliners" is a Kenyan who comes in with a 5K PR of 13:17 - pretty decent. Another is Vinny Mulvey, the guy who crushed me in the Irish Runner 5 mile in July. He is Ireland's national cross country champion and used to run for Iona College in New York. Finally, the defending champion of the race, Gerry Ryan, will also be running. Obviously, the competition is a little stiffer than my last time out.

Getting Fat, Custard Creams and Nostalgia

2008-07-24T05:55:00.001-05:00

After seeing my first prize-money check above, you probably assumed the picture and the title of this post were related. After all, with the exchange rate the way it is right now, €200 has some decent buying power in the U.S. (about $320). However, my race in Ireland has not provided me with uncontrollable bulkiness in my wallet region. The fat that I am referring to is one that was routinely promoted by my coach (albeit primarily during the few weeks immediately following the end of the season). I often half-heartedly listened to this suggestion, opting to interpret it to the less literal "take it easy for a while". Recently, I have taken his words verbatim.

What has led to this temporary increase in mass? The culprit has been a small sandwich cookie, generically dubbed Custard Creams. They are similar to Oreos, but square instead of round, vanilla instead of chocolate.

They are available in every grocery store for the same ridiculous price of €0.39 for a 400 gram pack. For those of you who aren't familiar with the conversion, that is almost a pound of addicting cookies. They also have trouble sticking around at 44 Gleann Dara, as the last few packs Kelly and I have bought have failed to make it 24 hours. On Monday, I found a 10 cent piece on the ground towards the end of my long run. Despite being very tired and having my senses significantly weakened, I was still able to do some quick Custard Cream calculations. That 10 cents provides the following:

1/4 package (or 100 g) of cookies
500 calories

The Bourbon Creams are also widely available in Galway. One of my goals for the rest of the summer is to find the elusive Coconut Creams and Coffee Creams. For more information, please see the always accurate Wikipedia link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard_cream

On a more serious note, my schedule is becoming increasingly more concrete for the remainder of the summer. Race week is nearly upon us, which means that I will be working (starting tonight) nine out of the next ten days at the Greyhound Track. That leaves only a few more days off while Kelly and I are both living in Galway. After race week, he will be leaving for a two week trek across Europe.

On August 4th, I will be flying to Scotland for the beginning of the week. In the never-ending search for cheap flights, I was able to find a "free" flight from Shannon Airport to Glasgow, in the end costing me a mere €20. I will spend a few nights in Scotland before returning to Galway to prepare for the arrival of Alissa and Lindsey, who arrive in Dublin on August 7th and Galway (hopefully) later that night. Strange as it may seem, they are actually going to be able to see me race August 9th in the Streets of Galway 8K.

I have also penciled in another race to my schedule, shortly after noticing the Saint John's CC schedule was posted on the website. I will finally have the opportunity to win a T-shirt that has intrigued me for the past four years. The famed Fall Finale is slated to be run on November 7th, with this prized shirt, owned by only a select few, available to certain top finishers.

Last week, anticipating a book shortage in the near future, I took three random books from our house and set off for the used book store. After a little bit of negotiating, I made a three for one swap, the one being Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days. It was odd finding this book in an Irish book store in the first place and even more odd when I delved in and found references to Minneapolis, Avon, St. Joseph and Collegeville, places I lived for the majority of the last four years of my life. Obvious nostalgia was brought about by some of the stories and references of the book. Besides the obvious things (family, friends, home-cooking, etc.), I have been missing quite a few things that I took for granted living in the U.S..

Real pizza - frozen pizzas just aren't the same here and delivery is unbelievably expensive, making that option merely it a pipe dream
Sportscenter - the sports channel here has a lot of variety (hurling, Gaelic football, horse racing, rugby) but I miss seeing the "American" sports on a regular basis
Driving - I haven't driven a vehicle since the middle of May, probably the longest stretch since I got my license
Root beer - I normally don't have it often, but I had a craving recently and haven't been able to find it anywhere, so naturally, my craving increased
Mosquitos - I don't actually miss them, but I saw a Discovery Channel show that was talking about an area in Africa where they were terrible and it reminded me that I don't think I've seen or been bitten by a mosquito in nearly a year

As of yesterday afternoon, I have officially run out of books to read. So, I either have to wait for my sisters to bring in some reserves or I have to buy/trade for a few more. If you have any suggestions, please email me (cjerichsen@gmail.com)!

Coast to Coast, July 12th

2008-07-13T11:35:00.013-05:00

Race Day in Dublin:

5:45 AM – wake up in 10 bed hostel room in Abraham House

6:00 AM – breakfast in hostel

7:30 AM – check out of hostel, ≈ 4 mile bike ride to Castleknock College, the race headquarters

8:15 AM – arrive at race headquarters, meet with race director and pick up my race number (#3 of about 3,600)

8:30 AM – walk to start/finish area (about ¾ mile away – much longer than I expected)

9:15 AM – warm up on Phoenix Park paths – all of which I had run before during my time in Dublin. The familiarity helped eased some of the anxiety I had been feeling throughout the “new” process of registration, transportation, housing, food, etc. that is necessary to race well (appreciation for coach's role continues to grow).

10:00 AM – race starts, as does a cold, uncomfortable mist

10:04:55 AM – I pass the 1 mile mark, the only split that was made available

10:15 AM – short downpour begins. It happened to come just after the 3 mile mark and as we were heading into the wind up the only real hill of the course – great timing…

10:24:32 AM – Finished 2^nd in my first post-collegiate race, 35 seconds behind an impressive Finney Mulvey, the race leader from the start. Overall I felt pretty good about my race. Even in Ireland, people get out too hard and don't run a smart race, so I was able to work my way up through the field throughout. My legs felt strong, just not very "fine-tuned" at this point.

12:00 PM – Made my way back to the bus station to catch the 12:00 bus to Galway

3:00 PM – Receive phone call from race director – I forgot to pick up my prize check after the race. Once again, proof that I am very “green” as far as the intricacies of the road racing process go.

4:45 PM – bus arrives back in Galway, over one hour late. We were caught in a major traffic jam near Moate, County West Meath.

5:15 PM – shower and eat dinner at home, get ready for work

5:45 PM – leave for work at the greyhound track

12:00 AM – finish work at greyhound track

12:45 AM – finally in bed after long, tiring day first on the East, then West coast of Ireland.

I’m starting to feel like a bit of a local. I wrote a note to myself, which I frequently do so I can remember what I want to say in my blog, about one of my runs while my parents were visiting Ireland. I was running on the N59, a “highway” in Ireland, when a lady pulled alongside my on the side of the road and asked me directions to a small town nearby. Oddly enough, I had run on the road she was looking for and was able to tell her exactly where to turn. A tourist myself, I was able to help another tourist find her way around the Galway area. I caught myself smiling frequently over the second half of my run that day.

Now I may have let this little note of mine slip through the cracks without every appearing on my blog, but I had two more similar experiences recently. The first occurred on the bus trip home from Dublin and the other was once again while I was running the country roads around Galway. I ended up sitting next to an older Norwegian man for the duration and we talked sporadically for the 4 hour trip. He was studying his map of the Galway area pretty intensely, so I asked him what he was planning to do. His ultimate goal was to end up in Lahinch, a small village near the Cliffs of Moher. I almost laughed when he said this because I had recently passed through Lahinch with my parents on our way to the south of Ireland. Not only this, but Lahinch had basically been my mental picture of Ireland for the past 10 years – ever since my sister Lindsey brought me back a golf towel from Lahinch Golf Club as a souvenir from her basketball trip to Ireland in high school. So, while I haven’t spent more than 10 minutes passing through this town, I was still able to provide this fellow tourist with ample information.

Week in Review

2008-07-11T02:44:00.009-05:00

Before I catch the bus to Dublin today for my first race tomorrow morning, I thought I would give an update and post my pictures from this past week.

On Sunday, Kelly and I biked down to Galway Bay for a swim. Unsure of exactly how cold it was going to be, we went in at the closest point to our house. The tide was low, so I was able to take my camera with me out to the floating dock before I actually jumped in and fully submerged myself. It wasn't exactly warm, but I still wouldn't rule out doing this again if a "hot" day were to come along.

Here are the rest of the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/GalwayBay

On Tuesday morning, we headed off to Cork for a few days. We didn't have to work until the weekend and the bus tickets were really cheap, so we decided to spend a few days exploring the "real" capital of Ireland. For the record, I'm not buying it.

I had read about St. Patrick's Hill, a very steep incline that provides a great view of the city from the top, but I didn't realize the rest of the city was as sloped as it was. The city center is basically in a valley of the River Lee and is surrounded by hills on the three sides opposite the harbor. Cork, supposedly a cross between the bustling capital of Dublin and the more subdued Galway, was far more like the former. It was nice to visit, but I surely wouldn't want to live there.

On our second day in Cork, Kelly and I took advantage of one of our free methods of transportation. We rode our bikes the 6-7 miles out to Blarney to see the Blarney Castle. It was well worth the effort (seemingly uphill the entire way out). The castle itself was impressive and after climbing the increasingly steep and narrow spiral staircase, we arrived at the top of the castle. Here, I was able to see some fantastic views of the surrounding area (seen above). I also kissed the Blarney Stone, unfortunate for everyone else because from now on legend has it that I will never be at a loss for words...

Comparatively, the return journey on bikes was a breeze. I once again took the N20 (a divided highway) which was the most direct route. Kelly opted for the bike trail that paralleled the N20. It was probably more scenic, but at the time I didn't want to be on my bike any longer than I absolutely had to. It was the second time in our short trip that we were separated for an extended period without an easy method of communication (he had a different sim card in his cell phone at the time). We still managed to make it back to the bus station with about 3 minutes to spare for our return journey to Galway - plenty of time.

Here are the pictures from Cork and Blarney:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/CorkAndBlarneyCastle

Summer Racing

2008-07-07T06:35:00.010-05:00

On Saturday, I will be completing a couple of "firsts" in my life. I am running the Lifestyle Sports - adidas Irish Runner 5 mile race in Dublin. It will mark the first time I am racing outside of the U.S., my first post-collegiate race, as well as the first time (as far as I can remember) that I will be running a race where I don't know anyone else at the starting line. I don't have much experience as far as summer racing goes, with only two different races on my resume.

The first of these I have run several times - Spring Valley's Wilder Fest 5K. It typically falls on one of the last weekends in August. While technically it is a summer road race, it has really been more of a kick-off to the cross country season for me in the past, both in high school and college.

To remember the second, I have to reach way back into the vault of my memory bank, all the way back to the summer before my freshman year of high school. It was the 2000 Spam Jam 8K, a race run in early July in conjuncture with Austin, Minnesota's Spam Jam. It was just prior to my first cross country season and the longest race I had ever run before this was the 1600m in track. I still remember trying to train for this race, running the Trout Farm loop in Spring Valley (about 5 miles) alongside my Dad in a green Ford Taurus station wagon. I won my age group that day (14 and under) and even though it was over eight years ago, I took three things away from this race:

Girls can run, too - I was surprised when I was gaining on a woman with about a mile to go that she was still in front of me. Determined not to let her beat me, I passed her as soon as I could, only to watch her go by me for good with about a half mile to go.
8000 meters doesn't equal 5 miles - My time was 29:5x and I was pumped because I completed my goal of running sub-6:00 pace. When I got home and saw the results online, I was rather disappointed. I was under six minute pace per 1600 meters, but my mile pace was 6:01.
A very unique plaque - my prize was a 2000 Spam Jam plaque, complete with a plastic medal and a Spam can right on the plaque. I still have it at home and if the can was actually full, I'm sure it would still be edible today.

Anyways, the reason I started thinking about this is because Kelly and I were talking about racing the other day on a run. He has some specific goals/races lined up for this fall, but as of right now, I'm still unsure about exactly what I'm training for. I only have two races lined up while I'm in Ireland and nothing for when I return to Minnesota. It's weird not having a schedule lined up for you for an entire season. I also won't have a uniform to wear in my upcoming races. I decided not to join the Galway City Harriers, as the fees, etc. were not worthwhile for the short time I am in Ireland. So, until I have a plan, I guess I'll just sort of do my own thing for a while and without wearing any colors.

Day Trips, The Aran Islands and The Ring of Kerry

2008-07-05T03:22:00.013-05:00

(Doorway at Dun Aengus, 3000 year old fort on Inishmore)

Over the last week and a half, I have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of traveling around Ireland. On Sunday, we decided to stray from the structured tour bus routes and take a day trip of our own. Mom, Dad, Kelly and I hopped in the rental car (a huge asset) and made our way along Galway Bay and up the west coast to Clifden. Along the way, we saw some spectacular views of the coast and surrounding areas. We also caught some live Gaelic football action at a local pitch. We made our return journey through the Connemara; it was even more impressive as the sunlight hit the terrain.

On Monday we headed off to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. We took the ferry over from Rossaveal, which took a little less than an hour each way. Once on the island, we decided that a horse and trap would be our best method of transportation around the island. Our tour guide was Padraig (Irish version of Patrick), a resident of the island. We traveled up to Dun Aengus, a 3000 year old stone fort. The horse and trap only took us so far and we had to walk up a sizable hill to get there. Once there, we were provided with unrestricted views of the fort and the cliffs of the island. As you can see from the pictures found via the link below, we could walk as close to the edge as we wanted.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/SunnyDayTripAndTheAranIslands02

(Kelly next to fishery that we stumbled across driving the coast)

On Tuesday, my parents and I departed Galway without any definite plans. We headed south and stopped at the Cliffs of Moher again, but this time we actually saw the Cliffs. After this stop, which was well worth the second effort, we made our way down to Tralee. Surprisingly, we had a difficult time finding a Bed and Breakfast in this coastal town. It wasn't because there weren't any around, but the first two we tried they were painting in one and the resident's wife was gone from the second. The third time was indeed the charm, but we made a roundabout way of getting to it. For all I knew, we were roughly 10km outside of Tralee. Instead, we had circled most of the town and ended up about 1/4 of a mile from the road we entered town. The owner was extremely nice, but she was leaving for London the next morning so we weren't able to get a full Irish breakfast.

The next morning we left Tralee and headed around the Ring of Kerry. The B&B owner had recommended touring the Dingle Peninsula, but we figured the Ring of Kerry was the better choice. We were definitely not disappointed. As you can see from the pictures in the link below, we saw some impressive stuff. Despite all of the negative connotations associated with "touristy" things, there is usually a reason they are so popular. So was the case with the Ring of Kerry. There were tons of tour buses, but they weren't much of an inconvenience to us as we made our way around.

Here are the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/TheCliffsOfMoherPtIIAndRingOfKerry

(Mom and Dad overlooking the bay in Waterville)

Unfortunately, my parents and I had to separate after our day in the southwest corner of Ireland. They took me to Killarney, where I caught in evening train back to Galway. I had to work on Thursday and thier flight left Dublin Friday morning, so we were forced to part ways. It was an awesome time having them here, one that I am sure none of us will forget anytime soon.

On a different note, there are a few random facts that I thought I would include.

There is a 150 euro fee if you are caught spitting out your gum
The sun is up for 17 hours a day right now
44 Gleann Dara is now full - a French couple, an Irish girl, a Slovakian guy, Kelly and I
I have seniority in our house - crazy, since I've only been here four weeks

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher

2008-06-29T04:19:00.004-05:00

Just a few more pictures from another day trip with my parents. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously foggy when we were at the Cliffs of Moher, so we didn't really get to see them. We did see some of the "baby cliffs", which helped to diminish our disappointment slightly. For whatever reason, I can't seem to stop taking pictures of cows in the stone-fenced fields.

Here are the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/TheBurrenAndCliffsOfMoher

The Connemara and Visitors

2008-06-26T01:29:00.009-05:00

After nearly a month on my own, the last few days have been quite the change. Early Tuesday afternoon, my parents arrived in Galway. They are staying in another house in Gleann Dara, which is admittedly a bit nicer than my own. As they were pretty wiped after a “long-fricken-ass travel day”, we stayed in the area for the rest of the day. They did treat me to dinner at Finnegan’s, so I was able to finally eat out for the first time since I have been here.

Wednesday ended up being a long, event-filled day for me. I had to get up at 6:00 A.M. in order to get my run in and make it over to my parents’ place in time to catch a tour bus to the Aran Islands. Due to gale-force wind advisories, we decided to postpone the Aran Island tour (which includes a ferry ride to the islands) and opted for a tour of the Connemara. As you may or may not be able to tell from the pictures, this is basically Ireland’s wild lands – one of the last “unspoilt” areas of Ireland. The tour took us through some of the Twelve Ben’s, a series of mountains that are roughly 750-850 meters high. We ended up at Kylemore Abbey before the tour made its way back to Galway. This provided some pretty cool photo-ops, but since it is still in use, we didn’t get to see much of the abbey itself.

After we got back to our neighborhood for the day, we made dinner for the three of us. At the grocery store, we decided on lamb burgers. They were unique and (at least I thought) very succulent.

Shortly following dinner at about 7:45, I received a text from Kelly, who was checking to see if he could figure out his cell phone. We weren’t expecting him at the train/bus station until about 10:30, so it was a good thing he figured his phone out because he had already arrived. After a confusing set of one-ways and no parking zones, my parents and I eventually found a place to park in an employee lot next to the train station. We couldn’t find Kelly immediately, but we eventually spotted him and made the pickup. Now, in roughly 30 hours, I went from having zero people I knew from back home to having three. It was quite the change, sure, but definitely a welcomed one.

The rest of the pictures from the day can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/TheConnemara

Random Sights

2008-06-15T08:29:00.011-05:00

The picture of numbers was starting to bother me, so I thought I'd post a few more pictures from Galway..

A typical sight on the "country" side of Galway - stone fences and animals.

Galway Cathedral, from the bay side.

View overlooking the city and Galway Bay from the hill on Circular Road.

Narrow roads that I frequent the most - a tough squeeze with two cars.

My Trip, by the Numbers..

2008-06-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

I was planning on posting this last night, but I got sent home from work at the greyhound track early because it was a slow night, so I was a little upset when I got home. Here is a link to the company I work for right now:

http://www.igb.ie/

When I'm done working here, I will definitely have to go and watch the races for a night. From where I work and what I can see, it seems like a pretty cool deal.

In honor of the lack of Sportscenter, Sports Illustrated and a general ESPN influence, I've decided to post my own "By the Numbers" for my trip. Here it goes:

14 - days I've been on the Emerald Isle
0 - seconds of NBA Finals action that I have seen, unfortunately
4 - Euro 2008 games that I have seen at least half of the 90 minutes played
11 - hours worked at my job at the Galway Greyhound Track (slightly less than 1 hour/day)
40 - minute walk to and from work - and I walk pretty fast
16 - times I have went for a run
128 - total mileage of these 16 runs
1 - elite entry for Irish Runner 5 mile in Dublin (fee waived, etc.)
8/11 - days that I have been in Galway where there has been some precipitation
1 - time that I have used an umbrella
107 - page impressions on June 1st, a record for The Erichsen Files
2 - Finnish roommates, one of which is moving out today
2 - phones that I have been using over here (Skype and my Irish cell phone)
1 - movie I have seen in theatres (Indiana Jones, in Gaelic with subtitles)

44 Gleann Dara

2008-06-06T07:19:00.001-05:00

I was able to clear up a great deal of anxiety yesterday when I decided on an apartment to rent for the summer. I found a great deal on a Galway City "suburb" apartment. It is roughly 1.5 miles from the City Centre and about 1 mile from Galway Bay. As can be seen from the pictures, it is a twin room. I'll have to pay a little more for now, but it will be much cheaper when Kelly moves in a few weeks from now. We won't be isolated in our own place, either. There will be 3-4 other people living with us, one of which I believe is a Finnish girl (she doesn't move in for about another week). If you want to see where the house is, type in 44 Gleann Dara in Googlemaps and it should come up.

My next step is to find a job somewhere in the city. An American guy who is moving out of the house is leaving his job at the Greyhound Racing Track - that would definitely be interesting. I also dropped my CV off at roughly 25 places (mostly pubs, restaurants and hotels) this morning, so hopefully an offer will come to fruition soon. Honestly, I don't even care for now. I just moved in to my new place and already I feel a great deal better about my summer in Ireland!

Also, this last picture is the dirt/cinder track that is right by the house. The track is in pretty rough shape, but I was able to do some striders on the infield tonight.

One more random thing that I was surprised about was the lack of an open bottle policy. I first noticed it when tons of people were just drinking alongside the River Liffey in Dublin. On my train to Galway, the kid sitting across from me decided to crack open a few beers on the way.

The rest of the pictures from my house can be seen here (please disregard the flowery bed linen - it was provided):

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/44GleannDara

From Dublin...to Galway

2008-06-04T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here are the links to the pictures I have taken so far. The first link is from Dublin, the second from Galway.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/DublinIreland

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/GalwayIreland

Enjoy!

Update Schedule

2008-06-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

Turns out the McDonald's around the corner from my hostel has free wireless. Considering that this is somewhat of a rarity, I will likely be visiting McDonald's a few more times than I may otherwise prefer.

Below is the link to the pictures I will be posting from Ireland. The link will also be located on the right side of this page, under "Favorite Sites" when I get around to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27237226@N07/show/

The pictures are out of order right now, but I don't have time to figure out how to fix it.

I will also shortly be including a national meet recap, as well as an update on how things have been going so far in Dublin.

Last Chance Meet - North Central College

2008-06-01T10:39:00.001-05:00

(Shortly following race - limited image choices)

After racing for three weeks with no concern for times, I did a 180° switch for the last chance meet in Naperville, Illinois. I ran the 1500 with only two things in mind; a fast time and a tune-up for the national meet next week. I think I was successful on both counts. I ran a huge PR (3:52.92) and I felt great doing it.

It was also a great trip for the team. I’ve been to North Central for this meet three times now and every time has been an awesome experience. This year, we had about twenty guys come down and compete, with almost everyone picking up a southern accent at some point during the week. Most of the time, our phrases went something like this: I don’t want…(insert anything here). It was an addicting habit and it ended up as the resounding theme of the trip. Whether that is good or bad is yet to be determined, but at least it was memorable.

2008 MIAC

2008-06-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, we had the MIAC Conference meet this weekend, too. After I got my second automatic qualifying time (5000m) at the Gina Relays, I was able to relax and “just race” for the rest of the season. I didn’t have the same added pressure of chasing a time that I did my previous three years – freshman and sophomore year in the 1500, last year in the 5000. It also made the conference meet much more tolerable (considering the cold, rainy weather on Saturday), even enjoyable for me. I think I was able to use my competitors’ disappointment about the less than ideal conditions to my advantage. All three races ended about as well as I could have hoped going into the meet. I finished second (to Kelly) in the 10K, first in the steeplechase, and another first towards the end of the meet in the 5K. We still ended up falling to the Tommies by about 20 points, but I have no regrets about racing 18,000 meters in two days, two weeks before nationals. If things would have went a little differently, we would have had a solid shot to win the meet. It was also really fun, lining up three different times with numerous teammates (eight total in the 5K) with team points that actually matter at stake. Even though we finished second as a team, I would consider this year’s conference meet a success.

Graduation

2008-06-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

It’s a little strange to now be an official college graduate, but I still get to live the college life for a few more weeks. I didn’t have the same “sad to be leaving” feeling that I expected, mostly because I was going to be on campus for another two weeks. It did eventually hit me after the ceremony and the reception that followed. The hardest part was when I said goodbye to my parents. They really don’t have much of a need to be back at Saint John’s and it is entirely possible that was the last time we were on campus together. I know I’ll be back and they could be, too, but “we” might not.

Racing Weekend

2008-04-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

After finishing two 5000s in three days, I'd have to say that it was a successful weekend of racing. The first came at the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Michigan, where I ran a PR of 14:25.70. The second came after returning to Collegeville; a 15:30 at the Saint John's Invitational. They played out as follows:

At the Gina Relays, there was a solid field of 29 runners seeded at 14:25 or better (I was seeded at 14:12 to ensure I was in the fast section). When we arrived at the track, the other 5000 sections were running. I felt bad for these guys because it was 85 degrees and very windy at the time. The weather cooperated fairly well for my race, with the wind calming down (although definitely not disappearing) and the temperature dropped a bit. It was still really humid, something I wasn't really used to at this point in the year. After the first lap of the race, I was in roughly 20th place. The second lap I ran a 68 but was passed by everyone behind me except one guy. From my spot at the back, I slowly worked my way up through the field over the next two miles. I went through the mile in 4:37 and the two mile in 9:14. The race played out perfectly for me in that I was able to use the guys that went out too hard and keep on moving. The third mile was a 4:39 and I finished in 14:25. The winner ran a 14:07 and I finished 7th. Considering the strong field I was in, I was very pleased with how I raced and where I finished.

The second 5000 had a slightly different atmosphere. It was on our home track and about half the field was comprised of Johnnies. I was planning on running a 15:30, which is exactly what happened. I really wanted to help out the other guys in the race, too, so I took the lead from the beginning. The first mile was right around 5:00, and the pace slowly (and continuously) picked up after that. Pat and Ryan finished close behind me, and Kaleb ended up running a huge PR, so this race was a success, too.

Another positive from the Saint John's Invitational race - it was my first win of the outdoor season.

News from Collegeville, for now:

2008-04-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

After a month-long hiatus, there is plenty of news worth sharing. All of it is positive and extremely exciting (at least for me), but most of it also makes me feel quite a bit older.

First, I have finally moved ahead in my plans for this summer. I will be working in Ireland, but as to exactly where or doing what, I don't know. I ordered my ticket on Thursday morning and will be leaving Minneapolis en route to Dublin on May 30. It was the first time that I've ordered my own plane ticket, too. In the past I have almost primarily relied on Coach Miles to arrange everything. The one time I didn't, when we went to Mexico as a group, the other guys made the arrangements so I didn't have to worry about them. I had to jump through a few hurdles while I was trying to order my ticket, but once it was actually paid for, it was a really exciting process.

Another first came on Friday morning (and lasting until early Sunday), when I worked on my own taxes. It's not that I wasn't capable of doing them myself in the past, but my Dad had just always done them for me. So far, it wasn't too complicated, but I don't think I'll be looking forward to doing them for much longer.

I also automatically qualified for nationals this weekend in the steeplechase. Whether or not I run it at Oshkosh remains to be seen, but I have qualified for my last national meet. It's strange to think about it that way, but for me it is more of a send-off from Saint John's than graduation, a final class, or whatever else may happen between now and then. It takes a lot of pressure off my racing for the next 6-7 weeks, so hopefully I'll just be able to relax and race fast. 9:04 isn't my PR, but I know my PR will change soon. My mileage and training is working out almost exactly like I'd hoped and with so many meets ahead of me in which I won't have to worry (solely) on getting a qualifying time, things could get interesting from here on.

Finally, I had a great conversation with Pat Ruff of the Post-Bulletin last week. His questions and the direction he wanted to go with his article were an excellent way for me to reflect on how I have evolved as a runner since coming to Saint John's in the Fall of '04. Not all the "facts" are accurate (see below average), but I thought he did a nice job. Here is the link:

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?a=336116&z=22

Good, but not Perfect

2008-03-09T08:13:00.000-05:00

I think I finally made that 15:06 go away. Friday's race played out pretty well for me. I was able to sit back for about the first 3k before I had to pick it up and go for a solid time. I ended up winning in 14:31, feeling really good the whole time. I'll once again be competing in the NCAA Indoor Championships this upcoming weekend, running an automatic qualifying time the last week possible. On the one hand, I wish I would have qualified a lot earlier because it would have taken a lot of stress out of this weekend. I guess this is just as good, though, because I know that I am running well heading into the meet.

It was really weird to think back a year and compare this race with the last time I ran 14:31 at our indoor track, qualifying for nationals in track for the first time as an individual. Last year, it was at a rather insignificant meet - there were very few spectators (I even told my parents not to come) and not much anticipation for the 5k that day. As the race played on, I was getting more and more excited about how well I was running; each lap completed at the faster than expected pace gave me more and more confidence. Finishing with a qualifying time that day was about as surprised as I have ever been following a race. I don't know how fast people expected me to run in my first 5k in over a year, but I know I easily exceeded those expectations.

This year, specifically the conference race, was far different from a year ago. Coming in to the race, expectations were way higher, both for me and the rest of the field. There were six guys in the race who had already broken 15:00 this year and I wasn't one of them. Everyone knew it was going to be a fast race, uncharacteristic of an MIAC showdown. The race went out really well, just a little slower than my overall desired pace. I didn't have to work very hard, at least for the first half. During that time, I once again gained more confidence with each lap completed. This time it wasn't because I was surprised at how fast I was going, but because the pace was feeling so easy so far. The crowd was definitely more excited than I was for most of the race - at one point I remember thinking "settle down, it's like a mile into a 5k race". Anyways, I only deviated from what Tim told me a little bit; he told me not to do any work until the last mile, but I started with about 2000m to go because I was sick of repeatedly getting cut off by David Swanson, who was doing a slalom-like thing in lane 1. I didn't really have a kick in this race, it was more of a gradual acceleration over the last 800. It ended up working and I was able to accomplish my two goals coming in to the meet, winning the 5000 and qualifying for nationals.

Each successful race brings more confidence going in to the next one, which is really important at this point of the season. Having done exactly 0 workouts so far, the races are really the only way to gauge how I'm doing in terms of training. Big things in varsity athletics are on the horizon.

Photo by John Biasi

First Race

2008-02-27T15:08:00.000-06:00

Wow, I definitely didn't see that one coming. The first race of the 2008 track season was a shock, and for several reasons. First, it was a shock to my system physically. There has been a part of my training that has been missing for a while now. I had not done anything faster than my typical training runs in almost a month. I was doing a few pickups after my runs before I had my injury, but I was overly cautious in trying to recover. I avoided anything that might cause a negative reaction or that would cause me to regress.

The second "shock" came during the race. I had pretty high (whether or not they were warranted is another issue) expectations going in to the race. It was the first time I've ever started a season with a 5000. The last race I had run was one of best of my life (CC nationals), so that figured in to my thought process, too. I planned to go out at 4:40 pace (14:35 5k) and then maybe pick it up towards the end. The race went out almost right on pace, but it was surprisingly difficult. When I was already struggling at the mile mark, I was pretty downtrodden. Looking back, it reminded me of the 3000 I ran last year at St. Olaf, where I went out hard and finished sluggishly. All in all, I ran far worse than I expected.

One thing that I found interesting following this race was how other people reacted and interacted with me. Obviously, they thought I would run faster than I did, too. People talked to me timidly, even asking me if I would still run the next weekend. Expectations can be a tricky thing.

I was able to take two huge positives from my race. First, I was finally racing again. It had been over three full months and it felt good to be running hard again. Second, I didn't feel my quad injury at all at any point. If it would have been a factor, it would have been easy to play it off like it wasn't a big deal. To have no lingering effects is a huge deal for me and it gives me a lot of confidence going in to the next few meets.

Revised Outlook

2008-02-15T15:06:00.001-06:00

I figured that if I kept the contents of this blog consistent with what I had done in the fall (posting CC newsletters), it would basically be dead at this point. So, I have decided to change directions a bit, offering updates on what is going on in my life.

I had an injury scare recently, which forced me to take some time off from running and make a visit to the doctor's office. It happened on January 29th during my second run of the day. The windchill was -40 and I felt some pain in my upper leg/quad area, but it was somewhat numbed by the ridiculousness of the cold outside. I didn't think much of it until the next morning when I could barely walk, so at first I was only mildly concerned. I decided to take a few days off to let it rest and recover. By Saturday, I was basically feeling 100%. I started on a five mile run and was feeling great, quickly opting for the seven mile route instead. Soon enough, the pain returned, getting progressively worse each step. I walked in the final two miles, almost certain that my leg was broken.

I avoided telling people how bad I thought it was for two reasons; first, I didn't want them to worry about my injury or feel sorry for what happened and second, I wasn't completely positive what was wrong yet.

By the time I reached the St. Cloud Orthopedic office the following Tuesday morning, my leg was once again feeling much better. I remember commenting to Tim that every time I go to the doctor's office, my injuries are typically already feeling much better. It was almost embarrassing because during most of the diagnostic tests, I couldn't feel any pain. Regardless, X-rays were taken, but did not show any obvious break in my femur. A stress fracture could still show up in the future as it healed, but as long as my leg continued to feel better, the chance that this was my problem was remote.

With this knowledge, I was able to stop worrying and focus on getting back to running, which I soon did. That afternoon, I was able to run two miles, virtually pain free, on the indoor track. The next day, I ran seven miles in the morning and another five in the afternoon. I still wasn't 100% sure that my leg would hold up, but a week off from training made me pretty anxious to test it.

Now, after running again for about a week and a half and another 150 miles, I'm starting to get really excited about racing again. I've decided to keep my training log to myself for a while. I don't want to feel any pressure (subconscious or otherwise) about how my training is evolving. I also haven't raced since CC nationals in mid-November and I was limited to officiating duties at our first indoor meet, so next weekend's (Feb. 23) home meet becomes more appealing by the day.

Saint John's Newsletter 3-5

2007-11-20T20:41:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 3-4

2007-11-07T14:22:00.001-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 3-3

2007-11-05T07:49:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 3-2

2007-11-05T07:42:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 3-1

2007-11-05T07:31:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-6

2007-11-05T06:16:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-5

2007-11-05T06:15:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-4

2007-11-05T06:14:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-3

2007-11-05T06:13:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-2

2007-11-05T06:12:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 2-1

2007-11-05T06:11:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-6

2007-11-05T04:16:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-5

2007-11-05T04:15:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-4

2007-11-05T04:14:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-3

2007-11-05T04:13:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-2

2007-11-05T04:12:00.000-06:00

Saint John's Newsletter 1-1

2007-11-05T04:11:00.000-06:00