Leuven, Belgium

For now I won't go into much detail about the Olympic Trials and the drama involved except to say that despite at least one public opinion by a USATF committee member, I am not "slinging accusations of unjustice." I also don't prescribe to the theory that a single shoe company controls the entire entry process. What I do know is that it is a flawed system to say the least. Hopefully the things that happened this year will lead to some changes and improvements so that athletes won't have to go through what I went through again. And for those people who have asked for my opinion on the men's 10,000 I will give you a short answer. I think it is great that Adam Goucher was allowed to run because it at least demonstrates that somebody actually knows how the appeals process works and Adam did add to the race. I feel that it should be an inclusive championship when athletes have the B standard and their addition won't alter the number of heats or the schedule of the meet. The key is that that USATF needs to consider all appeals equally and provide legitimate rationale to those who are denied. Whatever rules that the USATF has in place need to be followed consistently. That's more than I wanted to say but hopefully that answers whatever questions are floating around out there. Right now I'm sitting in my dorm room here in Leuven watching it rain and thinking about going for a run. I left Ames on Tuesday and arrived here on Wednesday afternoon. I met up with Sean O'Brien of the Oregon Track Club on the flight from Amsterdam to Brussels and we've gone for a couple runs here in town. Yesterday, Anthony Gallo arrived and we were out in the town today. The dorms here are a good set up and there are plenty of English speaking athletes staying all in the same complex. Strangely, since I landed I have gotten sick. I had a little bit of an itch in my throat and a cough before I left home but it has developed into a full-blown cold. I slept more than 13 hours the first night I was here but yesterday I still had a sore throat and a tight chest. Last night I fell asleep pretty easily only to be woken up by some pretty bad coughs a few minutes later. I tried everything I know for falling back asleep but mostly laid in bed coughing until the sun was up. Then fatigue took over and I was unconscious & coughing rather than actually sleeping. I drug myself out of bed to take a look outside and I realized that it was 2:30 in the afternoon. I'm loaded up on orange juice, vitamin C and anything else that I can think of. I need to get a couple good nights of sleep because I'm set to run a 3k on Sunday. So far, this trip is par for the course in 2008. Right when I feel like fitness is coming together and I have a couple great races lined up something happens to change the plan entirely. In case I don't find ambion enough to post before I start racing here are links to information on the meets that I have planned: Flanders Cup Meeting, Gent, Belgium; Sunday, July 13 - 3000 meters http://www.rcgent.be/ (go to 'Wedstrijden' and click on 'Flanders Cup') KBC Night of Athletics, Huesden, Belgium; Sunday, July 20 - 5000 meters http://www.sport.be/kbcnacht/2008/eng/ Memorial Buyle Flanders Cup Meeting, Oordogem, Belgium; Saturday, July 26 - 1500 meters http://www.memorialbuyle.be/