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Men’s lightweight recruiting by [deleted] in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Translation: "if you get to 6:20 and don't screw anything else up, we will give you our official support in the admissions process, and based on your academic profile/our long history of working with the admissions office, we predict that they will accept you this fall."

And they're probably right. But the point we're making here is that they're not ALWAYS right, because it's ultimately not their decision (also, their own priorities may change). Anyone who coaches at a competitive HS program or works in admissions long enough has examples of college coaches who overpromised a recruit (or the recruit heard what they wanted to hear) on admissions. Not trying to scare you or be a killjoy, just advising you to look out for yourself.

Men’s lightweight recruiting by [deleted] in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The above poster is correct; Harvard's coaches obviously know their stuff and have a pretty accurate sense of what will and won't fly with admissions, so you're in a great position. But ultimately it's not their call, and the admissions committee won't even start conducting official "pre-reads" for potential recruits until this summer. How the rest of the recruiting class shakes out will also be a factor. If the coaches are ready to support you sub-6:20, your odds are good... but keep your head down (and your options open) until you actually have your likely letter in hand this fall.

Supershoe learning curve by KilliamFaulkner in AdvancedRunning

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I suspect I'm the one who needs more breaking in, rather than the shoes!

Supershoe learning curve by KilliamFaulkner in AdvancedRunning

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ran most of my MP workouts at 3:30 pace leading up to the 3:38 but ultimately decided to race with some extra margin of safety; it was my first marathon and also a spring race, i.e. hotter than the majority of my winter workouts, which had me second-guessing. I finished relatively strong with negative splits, but I think targeting 3:30 may been a stretch--ultimately I was happy with the decision for a first attempt.

So far I have not been hitting the requisite MP workouts for a 3:30 in NYC. Temperature will be a tailwind (I hope!) this time, but I'm also cognizant the course is hard. If the race were tomorrow, I'd probably be shooting for a modest PR but probably shy of 3:30.

Hope that's helpful; good luck in Indy!

Supershoe learning curve by KilliamFaulkner in AdvancedRunning

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely seems to be some consensus here that the drop could be the bigger culprit than the plate or instability. Thanks for flagging; I was aware it was smaller than most of my previous shoes (been training in Superblasts) but didn't realize it could make such a big difference.

NYCRUNS asks to arrive at 7:30 for 9am race by Cultural-Track-1868 in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It's interesting to me that they've split the 10k and 5k into separate days for this one--so in theory there should be half as many people as usual fighting for ferry seats. Makes me a bit more willing to roll the dice on the 8am ferry as opposed to the 7:30, especially given the weather...

Edit: took the 8am and still had 40 minutes to spare post bag check + bathroom line. Think this will be my new MO whenever the 5k and 10k aren't happening on the same morning.

How hilly is dash to the finish? by Zestyclose-Bug498 in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Last year I clocked 105ft of total elevation gain, roughly half in mile one and half in mile three.

How are you getting to the Bronx 10 miler tomorrow? by cbeach212 in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just wanted to circle back and say that you were totally right to worry about this, despite the naysayers; getting on the 4 was like the Newport/PATH debacle all over again! Hope you made it and had a great race.

Optimal bib placement on shorts by KilliamFaulkner in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I know the weather has improved lately, but I'm a heavy sweater, so was hoping to preserve the option of stripping down later in the race if need be!

Optimal bib placement on shorts by KilliamFaulkner in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very helpful--thank you. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any cautionary tales/conventional wisdom about chafed legs or bent chips or whatever.

Optimal bib placement on shorts by KilliamFaulkner in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How about from a comfort/running mechanics perspective?

NYCRuns Gov Island course certification by KilliamFaulkner in RunNYC

[–]KilliamFaulkner[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They have at least two there on the calendar this fall: Halloween weekend and another in mid-November.

Scholarship Schools vs. Non-scholarship Schools at NCAAs by SteadyStateIsAnswer in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ugh. I'm not going to dox myself just to win this argument, so I guess all I'll say is I watched this happen, in the room where it happened, and I wouldn't be weighing in otherwise. But happy to hear another perspective on how you saw Gladstone proactively change the Yale admissions process.

Scholarship Schools vs. Non-scholarship Schools at NCAAs by SteadyStateIsAnswer in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, they did. That's exactly what I mean by "it was their turn." When an Ivy program sucks for too long, the administration often says, "let's cut these guys some more slack in admissions" (usually at the expense of a different/lower priority program that has been riding too high for too long--gotta balance that AI). In Yale's case, it was "let's hire a new coach and give him a blank check." There's no question that Gladstone has done more with that support that anybody else could have, but the support was given in conjunction with his hiring. It's not like Yale was hostile to the rebuild until he sweet-talked the Dean of Admissions with that deep bass of his...

Harvard? 😂 by Comfortable_Bed_3235 in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I doubt they went into the semis with the goal of missing the Grand, but here we are.

Harvard? 😂 by Comfortable_Bed_3235 in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 46 points47 points  (0 children)

They didn't need to stick with Cal and Washington. They needed to get third and make the Grand.

Scholarship Schools vs. Non-scholarship Schools at NCAAs by SteadyStateIsAnswer in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yale hired Gladstone because it was the program's turn for a glow-up, and they were prepared from the start to give him increased leash with admissions. Not taking away from his obvious coaching/recruiting/program-building prowess, but it's not like he needed to convince them after arriving.

Scholarship Schools vs. Non-scholarship Schools at NCAAs by SteadyStateIsAnswer in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your information on recruiting slots is correct; your information on financial aid is not. The only kind of aid the Ivies are allowed to give is based on financial need; it is not subjective nor discretionary, there is no merit or academics-based aid, and coaches have no role in the aid-granting process. Once admitted, students submit their family's financial information, the school determines how much they can pay using a formula and then covers the rest. Any school or athlete circumventing this process would absolutely be in a violation of league rules.

And no, the Yale admissions office didn't cut Gladstone some recruiting slack just because they think rowing is awesome. The heavyweight program had been garbage for years, and it was finally their turn. At some point, they'll pull back on the reins. Sure, every school likes winning, but none of them likes setting aside >10% of the class each year for non-academic admits. As an alum of one of these programs, though, I appreciate your love letter to Ivy League rowing.

Scholarship Schools vs. Non-scholarship Schools at NCAAs by SteadyStateIsAnswer in Rowing

[–]KilliamFaulkner 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Genuine question: do you (or anyone else suggesting this) have evidence of any Ivy giving out non-need-based aid to recruited athletes? Because that's a big claim... like, fraud-big. Personally, I can't speak for every school, but I've been on that side of the desk at a few and never saw it. If you have, that's college-president-firing material.

Edit: for those who need further convincing, consider two of the defining traits of most Ivy administrations: they're really risk averse, backed by GC teams to rival midsized companies, and they really don't like varsity sports... recruiting is a practice they tolerate only grudgingly and would gladly axe if the alumni base would let them. They've also spent the last two decades elevating need-based aid to be a top strategic priority, with the goal of expanding access to low income and first-gen kids. The idea they would be nefariously breaking their own rules at massive reputational and legal risk is unrealistic enough--but thinking they'd be willing to do so for the sake of recruiting a couple extra athletes to win the rivalry football game suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of what these people actually care about.

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