Back from Reno and Still Plugging Along

I made it back safely from the USATF annual meeting in Reno and there's a lot there to talk about. I'm excited about the new direction of the organization and I think the restructuring (paired with Doug Logan as CEO) will improve the governance of our organization and hopefully increase our sport's standing in the public consciousness. Logan's goals are ambitious but I admire it and think it's exactly what we need to energize the membership and hopefully make track & field a premier sport in the US again. In the presidential election, Stephanie Hightower won a close race and although Dee Jensen was a great candidate I think Stephanie's charisma, enthusiasm and passion will be good for the organization. On a more personal level, during the Athlete Advisory Committee meetings I was named the event leader for the men's 3000 to 10,000. I hope that I'm able advocate for distance runners and improve the sport on some level. If you have ideas of ways to help elite and aspiring elite distance runners, please share your ideas. The trip to Reno was good for a number of reasons. Firstly, I got to reconnect with friends from all areas of the sport including runners, meet/race directors and officials. It's so different hanging out with them when I don't have to worry about competing in the same trip. I also made a lot of new friends and met some great new people. My roommate for the trip was Fasil Bizuneh who trains in Flagstaff, AZ and we happen to have the same coach. This brings me to my next item of big news. I'm now working with Scott Simmons and The American Distance Project. Coach Simmons is one of the premier coaches and lectures on distance running in the country and I consider myself lucky to have his guidance. Here is information on Coach Simmons and the program: http://www.americandistanceproject.com/ADPWeb/Index.html It was great getting to know Fasil and training with him while we were in Reno. Speaking of which, training is going very well. My last four weeks have been 101, 101, 105, and 106 miles respectively. My workouts since moving to Colorado have still been at a pretty high level. Two weeks ago on Tuesday I did 6 x a mile with 3 minutes rest on a track at 6500 feet. That day my times were 5:13, 5:09, 5:06, 5:05, 4:54, 5:07. Today I did the same workout on a trail near my house (6000 feet). It was strictly out and back and the way out was an incline the whole way, so numbers 1, 3, and 5 were naturally significantly slower. I ran 5:15, 4:51, 5:08, 4:45, 5:08, 4:44. There's definitely progress but the 500 foot difference in elevation plays some role. It's certainly not a world-class workout but I'm very happy to be able to train at this intensity at the elevation, especially considering my increase in volume. My four week total (413) is definitely the highest of my life and I'm still getting quality work outs, long runs and managing drills two days a week. There are still a few things that I need to add and I'm learning to focus on recovery. Since Reno sits at 4500 feet I still haven't had a true break from altitude so I will definitely post on how that goes when I get back to Iowa for Christmas.