Testing Your Mind

            My time in my favorite state is unfortunately coming to a close this week as I return back to the southeast Wednesday.  I have accomplished many of my training goals in Colorado and am looking forward to seeing the fruits of my labor in three upcoming races in May.  The first will be a 5k at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University on May 2nd.  The second will be a 1500m at the USATF High Performance Meet at Occidental College on May 14th. The third will be a 1500m at Furman University on May 30th.  My goal in each of these races is to practice my positioning and racing tactics by solidifying a spot in the front half of each pack of the races I run.  Running standards and a personal best are (obvious) goals, but my coach Ruud and I feel that if I want to make a World or Olympic team my tactics have to improve.  Mentally, I must prepare in a concrete and intense manner to allow myself to feel comfortable with top level athletes going into the last lap of a race.  It is a great feeling to pass people in the final kick, but it will be a horrible realization finishing 4^th, 5^th or 6^th in a final or failing to qualify for a final knowing I have one of the fastest kicks in this country but failing in my tactical endeavors during the race.

            We all have pieces of adversity or daily adaptations that life may bring, and the choice of how  to handle and make the most of those situations.  We all have strengths that can help us overcome these “battles”, and we all have weaknesses that we need to address in order to help realize our full potential.  Colorado has been an extraordinary teacher in my life these past three weeks.  Although the weather is beautiful and sunny 300/365 days a year here--many evils that hinder running performance lie in this place!  Here are some of the elements of training in Colorado that create a beautiful struggle for the distance runner’s mind and body daily—ultimately providing the challenges that create a better athlete while seemingly breaking us down at every turn:

• Altitude—Training at altitude can create the highest of highs after a good workout and one of the lowest lows after a poor performance.  The good and bad sessions require a 2-3 hour nap to regenerate, and sleeping at 8,500 feet each night is another workout in itself.
• Wind—The average wind in Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas is between 10-20mph during the Spring season and over half of the days I have been here have had steady wind readings between 20-30mph.  The wind has frustrated me tremendously and caused me to become an infant mentally many days during this training block.  However, it has caused me to make appropriate adjustments to my training, allowed me to focus on effort instead of time and helped me focus at a deeper level than I could have reached otherwise.
• Weather—I have run in as cold as 22 degrees and as warm as 79 degrees during this training block.  I have experienced the driest conditions of my life at 9% relative humidity in Pueblo, CO, and seen over a foot of snow fall over night for the first time in Woodland Park, CO.  I am a very regimented person and like structure in all areas of my life.  This weather, however, has added an era of flexibility to my daily routine and helped me to become a more adaptable and tougher athlete.

Supporting Dr. Jay Kinsman's son at his track meet in Fountain, CO, when it snowed on April 18. #NoExcuses

• Excessive Monitoring—Training at altitude requires us to be even more conscious of their body.  Hydration is critical and slightly annoying as we must constantly drink water and isotonic solutions to keep our bodies functioning properly.  Going to the bathroom 2-3 times a day more than normal and multiple times throughout the night is hilarious at times—but worth it.  On a side note, I also am eating 200-300 grams of carbohydrates more per day here as the body needs more to fuel and recover because I am even “working” while resting at altitude.  Talking with my coach has been even more of a priority because at altitude it is much easier to overreach in training, and I risk losing all the benefits altitude provides by “going too hard.” 

79 degrees and sunny in Pueblo, CO.

One week later in Woodland Park, CO when it snowed over 12 inches.

     These challenges have impacted my life and all helped make this trip special in their own way.  I am very blessed to have a great deal of support to help combat these pieces of adversity.  I want to thank Brooks Running for funding a large part of this trip and for Dr. Jay Kinsman for opening up his home to me free of charge for 23 days.  I want to thank Coach Scott Simmons and the American Distance Project for allowing me to join them on many workouts and training runs.  I would like to thank Fred and Joe at Action Potential Physical Therapy for keeping me healthy as I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t seen them twice a week.  Many thanks to my new massage therapist in Colorado Springs, Lori, as she provided the most thorough one hour massages I have experienced to date.

Tempo run with the American Distance Project.

Dr .Kinsman, daughter Audrey, Meredith and I on our way to see Dr. Kinsman's son Colin at a track meet in Salida, CO.

     And lastly, I would like to thank my rock Meredith  Dolhare for coming to visit me for a week.  She sacrificed an immense amount of time away from her family and RunningWorks to visit me. She always wears many hats, but she was my training partner, my coach, my encourager, and my best friend to name a few.  One of the highlights of her visit was a helicopter rider over the Royal Gorge and Pikes Peak just outside of Colorado Springs.  Seeing the Rocky Mountains from this venue really helped me put this entire trip into perspective as their inexplicable beauty summed up how truly blessed I am to be able to take a trip like this and focus on my biggest passion in life—running the race that is set before me!  

Surround Yourself With Good People

View from the Woodland Park High School Track at 8,500ft. that has Pikes Peak (14,108ft.) as a spectator every day! 

This past week I began a three week altitude training camp in Colorado.  I will be staying with Dr. Jay Kinsman, who is the team doctor for the American Distance Project, where he resides in Woodland Park, CO, at an elevation of 8,500 feet.  I will be doing a large part of my training in Colorado Springs, CO, (6,000ft. elevation) and Pueblo, CO (4,700ft. elevation).  Many professional distance athletes choose to train in Flagstaff, Arizona, at this time of year, but I feel that Colorado meets my altitude needs in an even better way as I can travel from 8,500ft. to 4,700ft. in a 1 hour drive right down the interstate with track access at virtually any elevation in between.  This is my fourth trip to Colorado for altitude training, and I am focusing solely on letting the thin air prepare me for my first outdoor track race of this 2015 season (and beyond)—a 5k on the track at Stanford University on Saturday May 2.

Dr. Kinsman has two children, Audrey (a 7^th grader) and Colin (a 9^th grader), who both run track.  I had the privilege of speaking to Audrey’s middle school team and Colin’s high school team this past week in Woodland Park.  Even though Knoxville Youth Athletics doesn't have any programs at this time, I am still often times presented with opportunities to connect with youth wherever I go!  Audrey had around 50 athletes on her team and Colin had approximately 40 on his team.  The main focus of my talk to the middle school team was having fun and learning how to compete and set goals for yourself.  The main focus of my talk to the high school team had three parts: how to take care of your body, how to prepare your mind, and to always surround yourself with good people.  As I spent time with each of these teams and reflected prior to and after each talk I gave, I could not help but think about how truly important it is to surround yourself with good people who love and support and invest time in your life.

I was humbled to the core as I thought about all the people on my own support team who have sacrificed an immense amount of time and energy on my behalf.  The more I thought about it, many people on the outside looking in may think that these individuals help me because I am fast or because I am an athlete seeking an Olympic berth.  But truth be told, these people have invested in my life because they want me to be the best person I can be, and they are dedicated to the process of my development as an athlete as a result of this fact.  I challenged the athletes on the Woodland Park middle school and high school teams to find people who care about them and love them for who they are and the rest will take care of itself because the time you spend with these people will be maximized to the fullest and you will be constantly taking positive steps towards your goals in life—on and off the track.

          I am thankful for the support system I have and get overwhelmed as I think about all those who have had a part in helping me become the person I have become today.  God is good, and I know that my relationship with Him has been the catalyst for forming these relationships and in having the indescribable opportunities I have been given through the sport of track and field. So I leave you all with HAPPY EASTER! And remember to thank someone today who has invested time in your life and helped you become who you are today!