Track is Back!

     My indoor racing season officially began last Saturday in Johnson City, Tennessee.  I traveled down to East Tennessee State University for the ETSU Invitational 3k and to help with the high school invitational that was taking place at the same site hosted by Knoxville Youth Athletics (KYA).  The high school meet was a huge success as several top 20 National marks were set by some of our areas' best young athletes, and I was able to win my season opener in a time of 8:11.  Big thanks to my good friend, Adam Freudenthal, who joined me for the 3k to help push the pace and set himself a new PR of 8:19.

     Our practices at KYA have been going extremely well, and I have really enjoyed getting to see our athletes make so much progress these first three weeks of winter training.  The KYA High School Indoor Classic was our first meet of the year for our high school athletes and our team will travel to Nashville, TN, next weekend for the Vanderbilt High School Invite.  KYA has been the catalyst for bringing high school indoor track to the state of Tennessee, and 2015 will be the first year for the Tennessee State High School Indoor Track and Field Championships in February.  I am so glad to see first-hand how proactive and progressive this organization has been at our local, state and national level.

Final 20 meters of 3k in Indiana. (P.C. Rich Anderson)

     This week was a big test for me as I prepared for my first competitive race of the year.  I traveled to Bloomington, Indiana, for a 3k and mile at the Gladstein Invitational at Indiana University.  I lived in Bloomington for 8 months in 2012 when I trained with Team Indiana Elite and have really missed this town.  A huge reason Bloomington has a special place in my heart is because of the Bohn family I met through my church who so graciously hosts me and loves me like one of their own children!  On to the RACE…!!! A pacer and competitive field were assembled for the 3k, and my goal was to win and run a qualifying time of 8:00.00 to punch my ticket to the USA Indoor National Championships in February.  The track at Indiana University is a supreme 200m banked track that felt literally like heaven to run on.  The pacer took the field through one mile in 4:19 and I was able to fight to the finish for the win in a time of 8:00.85—just missing the qualifying time.  15 minutes later I came back to run the mile for a workout in 4:13 and couldn’t be happier with my performance in these two races.  My fitness is there, and I gained the confidence (that was missing) I needed to perform in two huge upcoming races--so STAY TUNED!  I am so thankful for the opportunity to compete and am so hungry to get back out on the track!  Onwards and Upwards!!

Bloomington Friends post intense game of "Catch Phrase".

My Bloomington Mom (Jenni) and I engaging in post race dialogue at Steak and Shake.