Every college team has their own traditions when they play on their home turf, and Virginia Tech is no exception. Lane Stadium was rated the number one home field advantage in all of college football by Rivals.com in 2005. It is also #2 on ESPN.com’s list of “Top 10 Scariest Places to Play.”

You want to know why?  It all starts with Metallica’s ‘Enter, Sandman’, which is (in my opinion) the best entrance in college football. But I admit, I am biased. After a round of “Let’s Go! Hokies!” the opening notes of ‘Enter, Sandman’ begin and the entire stadium jumps up and down. The football players come through the tunnel, jump up and touch the Hokie stone mounted above the entrance to the field, and then take to the field as 66,223 fans (the stadium regularly sells out) jump up and down and scream at the top of their lungs.

When the Hokies prepare to kick off, the crowd stomps a foot and slashes an arm (like the Florida State tomahawk chop), increasing in speed until the ball is kicked off. If the ball repeatedly gets blown off of the tee (it is often very windy in Blacksburg), the crowd boo’s the wind.

When the Hokies score, be ready for the Corps of Cadets to fire a cannon called Skipper. Skipper is the world’s largest game cannon, and the cadets also fire it after the national anthem at the start of the game.

When we lived close to the football stadium and were watching the game on TV, we would often hear the cannon fire before we actually saw the touchdown. Of course, we would also often hear the crowd before the cannon, because Lane Stadium is just that loud. We make audibles impossible, and sometimes force the other team to run out of time on the play clock because the QB can’t hear what the coach is shouting at him, or the center can’t hear to snap the ball. The time we beat Nebraska, the stadium was so loud I think I nearly lost my hearing.

Also when the Hokies score, VT freshman cadets do pushups to equal the point total on the shoulders of their classmates.

In similar fashion, the Hokie Bird will bench press a weight the number of times equal to the score.

When the opposing team has the ball on third down, it is known as a “key play.” Many diehard Hokie fans have a key ring of random keys reserved solely for game day.  As the opposing team’s offense lines up for third down, Hokie fans shake their keys and yell as loud as possible to ruin the other team’s concentration and keep them from converting to first down.

At the end of the third quarter, everyone needs to stretch their legs. So the Marching Virginian tubas take to the goal line to lead the stadium in a round of the Hokie Pokey.

Although we love our mascot, the Hokie Bird, we also have a tendency to eat him during a football game. Turkey leg, anyone?

During the football season, you can’t tell which game is the homecoming game, because Virginia Tech Alum come to every game. We call it “West Stands” and it is where you get to sit (and I literally mean you get to sit) after you have graduated.

The alumni section

Speaking of sitting, if you attend a game in any of the student sections (North Stands, upper East Stands), don’t expect to sit. You will be on your feet the whole game. In fact, they even made a t-shirt because of it.

Our football team hustles more than any other team that sets foot in Lane Stadium. Head Coach Frank Beamer puts a lot of emphasis on special teams, in a style of football that has become known as ‘Beamer Ball’, which focuses on kick- and punt-blocking, and scoring from anywhere on the field. Beamer Ball also encompasses the defense’s propensity for interceptions and scoring points, and a “lunch pail” defense mentality.

2007 Maroon Effect shirt

Lunch Pail defense was developed by Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster, and it is based on the blue-collar hard-working ethics of a coal miner. The lunch pail is filled with the defense’s mission statement and goals.

From ‘Enter Sandman’ to key plays, from the Skipper to Beamer Ball and Lunch Pail defense, there’s never a dull moment in Lane Stadium. Clearly, I love my Hokies and I love Hokie football!

What traditions does your favorite team have?

Today my schedule called for 7 miles with 3 at marathon pace. Seven miles on a weekday? Cool. Traditionally, I have categorized any run over 6 miles as a long run. I think that definition may change in the near future. But for now it stands. I have done very few runs over 6 miles during the week. Usually if I do it’s on a Friday and it’s to get a long run in early. So to run 7 miles today was pretty neat.

I swear it’s worse than it looks, and this only shows about 1/3 of the hill

Last night I had 6 miles on my schedule. I had planned to come home, fix dinner, eat dinner with Barry, and then run sometime before sunset. But shortly after I got dinner in the oven Barry texted me that he would be late. Forty minutes later dinner was out of the oven and he still wasn’t home. I debated on what to do about my run and finally settled on running with Sven (the treadmill) so that I would be home when he got home. I figured if Barry got home before I was done and was ready to eat, I could just hop off of the treadmill and finish my run after dinner.

Sure enough, he got home just before I hit 2 miles. He said to go ahead and finish my run, so that’s what I did. I watched the movie ‘Friday Night Lights’ while running. During the football game scenes, I had to focus on not trying to juke and jive. I kept trying to “help” the guy with the ball dodge defenders while I was running, which nearly made me fall off of the treadmill.

My legs were pretty sore from Sunday’s race, so I took it nice and easy and did lots of stretching afterwards. As I was stretching I got to thinking about this new mindset I have. It’s something I talked to Kim about as we ran together on Saturday morning.

Being in marathon training has completely changed my mindset about mileage and what I expect of myself. Never would I have looked at a schedule that told me to run 5 miles on Friday, 5 miles on Saturday, 14 miles on Sunday, and 6 miles on Monday and thought it possible for me. But that’s what my schedule was for the past 4 days and it’s exactly what I did. And I never questioned it.

Never would I have run 5 miles on each of the two days leading up to a half marathon, nor would I tack an extra mile on after the race. And I definitely would not have set out for a 6 mile run the day after a half marathon. All of a sudden I find myself pushing further than I ever have before and I’m enjoying it.

Barring injury, illness, or complete exhaustion, I intend to run my miles as planned. My peak week is 44 miles, which includes a 20 mile long run. As daunting as that is, I have no doubt in my mind I will set out to tackle those miles.

A year ago I was satisfied with the half marathon distance and a maximum weekly mileage of 25-29 miles, with a maximum long run of 13 miles. Now I am training for a 26.2 mile race and my old way of thinking has gone out the window. I am embracing the new expectations I have for myself. The decision has been made, the mindset is there, now it’s time to put in the work. 

Have you ever seen ‘Friday Night Lights’?

Are you training for anything right now?

Today is Barry’s birthday, so everyone wish him a happy birthday! He doesn’t like a lot of fanfare, so I’ll just leave it at that.
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Another week of training in the books and another week of new mileage for me. I hit a new weekly high mileage of 34 miles this week, which included a new personal distance record of 14 miles for my long run yesterday. This week I took a break from the track and took two complete rest days, in an effort to let my body recover a bit. I had been feeling sluggish for several runs in a row and the rest was definitely the right choice.

Monday- 5 mile run with Barry in Bisset Park in Radford. It was fun to mix things up and run on a different trail. I was feeling really tired during this run, but Barry helped me run a strong last mile.

Tuesday- Complete rest day, and boy did I need it.

Wednesday- 5 mile run on the treadmill. I wanted to watch TV, so I decided to run on the treadmill. It definitely makes hitting marathon pace for the middle 3 miles a lot easier. Although keeping track of my splits (without falling off of the treadmill) is harder. My body did feel a lot better after Tuesday’s rest day.

Thursday- Compete rest day. Even though I am in training, I just felt like I needed a bit more rest this week. Plus I wanted to go into Sunday’s Hokie Half feeling rested and strong, as much as is possible in the midst of training.

Friday- 5 mile run, unexpectedly in the morning. That is what happens when you go to bed at a decent time and wake up an hour before your alarm. It was dark when I started running, so I did the first 3 miles with ‘Sven’. The sun came up and I did my last 2 miles outside, where it was nice and cool. I got to see a pretty sunrise, as well.

Saturday- 5 mile run in the morning with Kim at the Dora Trail. Once again it was nice and cool outside (a good omen for the next day’s race) and my legs were feeling pretty good. We are finally getting some relief from the summer heat/humidity and seeing some signs of fall.

Sunday- 14 mile long run (a personal distance record) in the form of Hokie Half Marathon with a little bit tacked on before and after the race. I got to run with Barry, Deb, Bill, and Julie.

I felt pretty good on this run, overall. I hit a bit of a rough patch during the race but I persevered. I think my legs realized I wasn’t going to give in, so by mile 10 they quit complaining and just did what I was asking them to do.

Total miles: 34 (another new weekly mileage PR)

This week’s schedule (cutback week):
Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: rest/XT
Wednesday: 7 miles w/ 3 @ MP
Thursday: rest/XT
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 11 miles
Sunday: rest

We had a great time today at the Inaugural Hokie Half Marathon! Barry and I were able to meet up with Deb, her husband Bill, and her daughter-in-law-to-be Julie. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for a mid-September race. It was in the low 40’s at the start and couldn’t have been much above the mid-50’s at the finish.

Deb’s picture of Julie and me around mile 6 I think

Once I was on my own, my mind just went blank and I actually thought of nothing. That’s really odd for me, as usually my mind wanders to some random and often entertaining places. Without my mind entertaining me, all I could do was keep chugging along and that’s exactly what I did. We got to the end of the trail in Blacksburgand looped around through the neighborhood roads. Once I passed mile 10 I started to feel better, like my legs had gotten their own second wind.

Home stretch!

Have you ever had to scramble to get to the start of a race on time?

Do your legs ever get a “second wind” during a long run/race?

What is the funniest sign you’ve seen at a race?