Yet Another PR

This weekend I made my decent upon what is the final piece to my PR spread. I’ve now PRed in every event from the 800 on up to the 8k this year; It’s official! I ran the 1500 in Halle, Belgium. It was called the Allonsius B-meeting. You can watch it on Flotrack if you’d like to see the sweet action. The race went pretty much as planned. Although I am finding out in each race I run that the middle portion of my races have been less than par. I had a 400 in the middle that was :72 and I closed in a :67. I need to think out every step of the race I’m about to race but I have not been doing so. I’ve also noticed myself doing this for workouts. I’m not fully invested into the workout. For instance not thinking about what each split needs to be. I really like to “feel” the pace but that doesn’t always cut it, especially with these faster workouts, it is way more important to hit the pace than “feel” it at this point in the season. It’s good that I’m realizing it now, I have some goals set already for next season I guess! I hope to fix these things in the last 2 weeks of training and racing though.

I have another 1500 set for this Saturday at Ninove. I for sure hope to break into the 4, teens. I think coach and I have a good plan set for this one. No falling asleep during this one and I will run right where I think I can! I had 2 solid workouts this week, my legs and mind are feeling amazing. I did some 400’s with Lauren Fleshman on Tuesday and a tempo on Wednesday. It’s been so great getting to meet new people this summer. I love hearing their stories and about their training. It is truly amazing that a lot of us are trained totally different but in the end the results are very similar and where we want them to be. I think all of this will help me be a better coach. As a coach you have to be versatile because each athlete is different and they will need different training and attention but mainly they have to buy into the process that you’re trying to sell them.

I’ll leave yall with a quote for the week: “The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it.” – Jim Rohn

Almost forgot(maybe tried to block it out), I’m running an 800 on Sunday in Brussels as well! This should be fun!

When in Rome

Well, I’ve made it thus far to Europe. The road has been a rocky one to say the least but I am getting out of my experience everything I had hoped for and probably more! I’m based out of Leuven, it’s a quaint town in Belgium. So far I’ve been to Kortrijk, Belgium and Velletri, Italy to race an 800 and 3k. The 800 happened straight off the plane from the states. Needless to say I didn’t wake up until 600 meters into the race. Of course 2:12 is a PR but was rather disappointed in it. The few days after this race nothing seemed to work quite right, I felt as though I had no control over my body. No matter what I did I couldn’t make my body respond positively. Going into the 3k my confidence was down because of how badly I had been feeling all week but I went in fighting and battling for the time I thought I was capable of but ended up dying in the middle. I still ran 9:28, only 9 seconds off of my PR indoors. I was bummin’ pretty hard after this race. This was the first time this whole year I’ve really been disappointed in the way I’ve performed in a race. Of course I’ve had bad workouts or practices but I’ve never let it into a race. In some ways I felt as though no matter what I did to make the situation better there was nothing I could do to turn it around.

I knew there had to be an upside coming and I believed in that. The workouts I had done before the 3k had gone fairly well but just felt awful at the same time. This week rolled around and I just kept at it, I did a semi- long run that helped turn my legs around. The next day I had a faster workout and Thursday I was able to hammer an awesome tempo run averaging at a mile pace right around where I left off. It’s crazy how travel can make a negative affect on your body; I’ve never experienced anything like it. Maybe for me it’s just a super long season as well. I do however feel like I have some great races to come while I’m out here.

Next race is on the 31^st, the Allonsius meeting. I will be racing my first 1500 in 2 years! Get excited, I know I am!! After that are only 2 more races. A steeplechase and I have my choice between a 1500 or 5k to round out my season. I’m so excited and thankful to be in Europe experiencing traveling and all the crazy stuff that goes along with it. This is an experience of a lifetime and I’m trying to learn everything I possibly can for future adventures over here!

Prefontaine Classic

I’m blogging for the first time ever! This is very exciting for me. I thought people might want to come on the journey with me through my professional running career. The ups and the downs and everything I learn from each experience. If you would have told me even 3 weeks ago that I was going to sign with an agent (Charisma Sports Management), Sign a contract with Brooks through 2012 and then go on a week later to get 6^th at the outdoor U.S. championships; I would have said okay where do I sign! Well, that is exactly what happened, a whirlwind of events that boosted me into the professional running world at a fast pace. USA’s was a bit of a mental battle for me, going home to the Drake stadium full of fans that knew exactly who I was and knew every piece of my story. I was there to achieve my ultimate goals that coach Kepler and I had set way back in December of last year, placing in the top 6 at these prestigious championships. Everything I had achieved along this years journey was just icing on the cake and I was definitely very hungry for more. 6^th place was exactly what I achieved although not exactly in the easiest way. This was my first time ever to have a prelim/final situation. I had done mini practices that should have set me up to do well but ultimately my confidence had been broken down by a situation the week prior to the championships and I for some reason gave into it and didn’t fight the negative emotional battle that was placed in front of me.

When I got the call that I had been accepted into the Pre Classic to run the steeple I jumped at the opportunity. I realistically knew what potentially the race would look like with gold, silver and bronze medalists from last year’s world championships in the race. I also knew I was ready to take the plunge and yet find myself in another battle as a professional! My approach to the race was, “wow, what a wonderful opportunity I have placed in front of me to run super fast and face some confidence issues…” I knew I had nothing to lose but so much to gain from it all. I had run 10:03 and change 3 times this season, plus a 10:02 and a 10:09 on a bad day. So I figured I would run with the women as long as I could hang on and by that point in the race I should be able hang on until the end. I also knew that I had to find that person in myself that I had lost in the last 2 races because that was not me. I surrounded myself with positive people, positive thoughts and refocused my attention to regain that poise I had been running with all year.

Race day had finally come and I was more than ready for the challenge. I knew I had to stay calm and remember everything I had done in past races that would help culminate a much needed confidence boost for this day. I felt very calm and collected the entire day. I had put in so much work this year, there was no way I wasn’t ready. As I warmed up I found that overwhelming feeling of peace I try and find before every race. I knew at that point that I would be fine. This feeling helps remind me of exactly why I run and race; because I love it! The time had finally come to make our final decent onto historic Hayward field to run in the fastest meet held on U.S. soil this year. I couldn’t look around at the sold out crowd I just stayed focused on the task at hand; to run faster than I’ve ever ran before this point. That’s just what I did. Finally breaking 10 minutes! I never let the gap that slowly emerged in the race discourage me. I knew what I was trying to do and I also knew what the rest of the women were trying to do. After the race I was left hungry for more, so badly do I want to be with that next group. I do however know that it may take me another year but am not opposed to the idea of my travels over seas to produce this effort either.

I realize my reaction to my race may lead people to think that I was unhappy with my effort. That is not it at all! I’ve PRed in the steeplechase by 32 seconds alone this year, I’m just not ready to reflect and be happy with just that. For now though I am off to Europe to race! More details will be coming later! You will be seeing me in anything from 800 to a 5k race, get excited!!