An Update (Finally)

Ok, so I didn’t post any more information before I left for New York but I’m on my second of three flights today so I’ll make an attempt to recap everything since the US 8k championships and post this when I have internet access. My first real trip to New York City was marked with an unseasonable spring snow storm. I had looked forward to spending St. Patrick’s Day in the city but the race was delayed a day so I spent most of the weekend in my hotel room. I did venture out in the snow storm with some friends for dinner on Friday at a restaurant in Greenwich Village named Lupa. It’s apparently owned by “The Iron Chef” but the significance of this information was lost on me. With temperatures hovering around freezing, the race went well. I finished 14th and ran a new personal best of 23:28 but I had really hoped to run 23:20 and crack into the top 10. The highlight of the trip might have been coming to terms with Saucony for the rest of 2007. Although I’ve pursued a shoe contract for several years, it still seems a little odd that I’m compensated to endorse a shoe. When I get some time, I’ll post more specific information about the shoes that I’m using for training and racing. Two weeks later I went to Stanford to race the 5000 meters. I had high hopes for the race because I felt that it would shape the rest of my season. My aim was a 2008 Olympic Trials qualifying mark, or at least a significant personal best. The first 4k went pretty well and I was with the leaders but as a friend put it, I went from the penthouse to the outhouse in about 400 meters. My last 800 was over 2:30. I’m not sure of the cause of the debacle and I tried not to dwell on that result for long. It was, however, the primary cause for my vacation from my web log. I think my official time was around 14:16, more than 30 seconds off my goal. A physical meltdown like that can make me view my choice to pursue running as some sort of quixotic quest. After a week of easy running those thoughts were dismissed and life was back to normal. I changed plans for April a little bit and didn’t race again until the Drake Relays on Saturday, April 28. It was a gorgeous day in front of another sell out crowd. Fortunately I had my mom and a bunch of friends in the stands. Unfortunately, I fell short of two goals. I had hoped to pull out an upset in front of the home crowd and I thought I had a shot at running under 3:58. I had underestimated Alan Webb’s fitness and the effects of not racing for a month. Webb ran away with the title and destroyed the old Drake Relays record. I was a distant second in 4:03. The silver lining of the day was that I had run most of the way by myself and ran as fast as I have in my three attempts at the Drake Mile. I was 59 though the quarter, 1:59 at the half and 3:00 or 3:01 for 3-quarters. Five days later I toed the line again. On Wednesday I headed to Minneapolis for the Twin Cities 1-Mile on Thursday. It’s a well organized road mile in downtown Minneapolis to raise local interest in the Twin Cities Marathon in October. The elite field draws athletes from all over the country and this year offered $1000 for the victory. Prizes went five deep so I was hoping to make a little coin before returning to Iowa. The field started at a pedestrian pace. I heard vague splits and for the first quarter, we were between 66 and 68 seconds. I definitely heard 2:18 at the half way point and within a few strides Luke Watson bolted to the lead. I responded to his move and the two of us quickly separated from the field. With just more than 3 blocks to go I made another move and I came away with the win in 4:15. So now I’m in New York and I’m finally posting this. Today I ran the Kip Keino Mile and finished fifth in 4:04.9. I’m disappointed with my tactics/effort but there are a lot of positives to build on. The elite athlete coordinator for the event is Weldon Johnson, creator of the world-famous, Letsrun.com. Check there for details. I promise to have links to official results and some photos posted from all of these races soon.