The last three months have been busy and full of excitement. Since January, I have traveled from snowy Flagstaff AZ, to Houston & Austin TX, Spokane WA, and most recently to sunny Jacksonville FL. The Gate River Run was a blast (huge thanks to Richard Fannin for putting together a great field and a great event). The day before the Gate River Run, Samia Akbar, Phil Wharton and I were given the chance to talk to underprivileged children at the Sanctuary on 8th Street School in Jacksonville and after the race Bolota Asmerom, Phil Wharton and I ha...
Although not exactly what I expected, 2009 was a solid year for me. I feel like I am in a much better place right now, both physically and emotionally. Last summer I resigned from coaching at CAL to explore the world of a full time professional athlete. To be honest I struggled for a while with the total readjustment of my routine that I had worked so hard to make over a period of years. I missed the team that inspired me on a daily basis, I missed my fellow coaches who became my friends and I missed being a role model for the athletes I coach...
7 days to go. I leave for NY City in a couple of days to race the ING NYC Marathon on November 1st. The excitement and challenge I will face in one week is gradually sneaking up. I will be racing through he streets of New York's five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. I am looking forward to testing myself up and down the 5 bridges, and ultimately finishing at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. How can you not get excited? My mileage has been lessening each day, my workouts are shorter and my legs are starti...
But can’t do it without the passion and hard work. I have been enjoying the full time training so much lately and am starting to see the benefits of proper recovery. I have some solid races behind me, but most of all the training has been going very well for so many weeks now. It is important for me to be frequently reminded to not lose sight of the big goals at the end of the season. For me this year, the big goal is to have a race of my life at the ING NY Marathon. I have done NY a few times and never performed as well as I had hoped t...
I just returned form a week at Sea Ranch, California. It is a family tradition to go to Sea Ranch each year now with my family, my best friends to escape the city life, run the beautiful coastal trails, play with our dogs on the sandy beaches, cook delicious food and take good naps. This place is very peaceful, inspiring and very unique. It makes you want to run forever! I began each morning with a 12-mile run and wanted to run more. Perhaps it is the coastal air or the fog sitting over the ocean or the views that makes you want to keep going....
Flagstaff is an amazing place to train. Despite most of the trails (and roads) being covered with snow the first week of our stay, I’ve been able to get in some amazing training. My first week here, which included Christmas day, my family was here with me. It was a nice little vacation for them, and it was great to be able to spend quality time with them between runs. After that, my good friend Bridget Duffy was my training partner for the next week. My average days have consisted of a run in the morning of 90-120 minutes, followed by st...
I LOVE New York City This weekend I will have another chance to compete at the ING New York City Marathon. If you have never witnessed this race, all I can say is that I hope one day you will have the privilege to run the race or be one of those badass spectators. The ING NYC Marathon is the place to race in the fall. I will give you 3 reasons why I strongly believe that: 1. The New Yorker Road Runners Club puts on the most professional event in the world. The support and care they provide to the athletes is beyond what I have experienced even...
First off, I'd like to thank everyone for all their emails, letters and wishes before and after the race. I read them all and they all put a smile on my face. As most of you know, the race did not exactly end up the way I dreamed it would. When I arrived in the Olympic Village I slammed my knee pretty hard on a metal part of the arm of a seat in front of me as I was getting off a shuttle. It was pretty swollen for a few days, but after some anti-inflammatories and plenty of ice, the swelling went down and I regained most of my range of motion ...
One week to race day! I am feeling great, excited, and honored to be here. Currently I am staying in Dalian, China with the rest of the US Track and Field team. We are all very well taken care of here and I am getting all the rest I need. I get a nap every day and I go to bed at about 9:30. The country of China is on one time zone so the sun rises each morning at about 4:30am in Dalian. This means that I am up and ready to start the day no later than 6am. I have been training a lot during the late mornings to fully experience what it feels like...
I have been training in North Lake Tahoe for a week now and I just completed the highest mileage week ever in my life. I have been coming to train here every summer since 2005. Owen, my 3-year old son, has made all four consecutive years to my training camp. North Lake Tahoe is located at 6,000 feet of altitude, but I do not come here because of the altitude. I absolutely love to run in this area and I always come back fit, recharged and ready to take on the world. I only spend 3 weeks here at a time, and always wish I could spend months. This ...
