USATF Indoor Championships

Moser Seeks First National Title Since '06

Moser Seeks First National Title Since '06

Feb 26, 2015 by Lincoln Shryack
Moser Seeks First National Title Since '06




By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
©2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Used with permission

BOSTON (26-Feb) -- Here in Boston, Treniere Moser is ready to cap off her indoor season with a win, which would be her first national title indoors since 2006. The 33-year-old from Portland, Ore., has used the winter months as a springboard for what she hopes will be a very successful outdoor campaign. But before she can transition to the outdoor oval, the task at hand is to break the tape first in the 1000m final come Sunday afternoon at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center.
 
"I'm super excited to be back and competing in the 1000m again," Moser told members of the media at a downtown hotel here today. "It was a great race for me a few weeks ago [at the same Reggie Lewis track], so I'm looking forward to another fast race on a great track."
 
Moser returns to the Massachusetts state capital three weeks after setting a world leading mark of 2:37.86 for the 1000m at the the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Familiar with the newly resurfaced track at "The Reggie," Moser is anxious to add one final win to an impressive season that's seen her set indoor personal bests at 800m (2:01.79), 1000m (2:37.86), and the mile (4:27.49) in less than a month's time.
 
From the time her indoor season began, Moser's focus has been long-term improvement. Coached by Alberto Salazar within the Nike Oregon Project, Moser's training has been geared toward speed-oriented races and workouts, all priming her for the 1500m this spring and summer. Moser plans to compete in the discipline at the USA Outdoor National Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June, aiming to qualify for the IAAF World Championships to be held in Beijing, China, in August.
 
"This indoor season we decided that it'd be best for me to work on my speed. The 1000m is, I think, really the perfect distance," said Moser. "We know my speed is coming along really, really well. So to end the indoor season with a 1000m I just think it would complement my training looking forward to the spring and summer."
 
She continued: "I did a lot of longer interval stuff, like high mileage in the fall, and we switched gears and just did all speed indoors. I'm hoping those will really complement my 1500m."
 
Before she can get to outdoors, however, Moser has one last goal to fulfill: win the indoor national title. It would be the sixth national title of her career, as she's won gold four times in the 1500m outdoors and once in the 1500m indoors.
 
Moser will race the preliminary round of the 1000m on Saturday. Her competitors include the rapidly improving Stephanie Charnigo, 2013 Big West Conference 800m champion Lauren Wallace, 2012 Olympian Geena Lara, 2013 SEC 800m indoor champion Stephanie Brown, teenage sensation Alexa Efraimson, and 2014 NCAA indoor mile champion Emily Lipari, among others.
 
"My goal has been the same this whole season," Moser began, a look of confidence above her Nike Oregon Project jacket. "Just executing a great race and just having that finishing speed that I'll need. Just finishing fast."
 
This year, Moser has frequently competed alongside her Nike Oregon Project teammates Mary Cain, Shannon Rowbury, and Jordan Hasay. On Saturday, she won't have any of the three alongside her in the 1000m. Cain is not competing in the meet, Rowbury will race the mile, and Hasay has declared in the mile and two mile.
 
"I think the approach is always the same," said Moser. "We really don't depend on each other to get out there and race. But there is a certain comfort level of having your teammates out there. I will miss that... It's just kind of a good vibe that we just respond well to each other. But the race plan is always the same -- a lot of it is just race to win and that doesn't change."
 
Although she is the world leader in the discipline, Moser isn't focused on bettering her time from three weeks ago. That will take care of itself as long as she races smart and uses experience to her advantage.
 
"Every time I get out there I would like to run a little faster than I did the previous time, so yes I would love to walk away with another PR. But a lot of it is just coming away with a national title. That would be great."
 
Moser told Race Results Weekly that once the indoor season is done she will take time to relax, visit her brother in Washington, D.C., and jog very lightly here and there. Then it's on to outdoors.
 
"It's been a very busy and long indoor season for me, so I'm just hoping to end it on a really great note," she confirmed.