Intro

I've been invited to do some entries for the Lead Pack. Hopefully this will be the first of a few in the coming months. I'll start with a quick history of myself. I went to Wartburg College and graduated in 2005. From there I was part of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project until the summer of 2007, when I moved back to Iowa. I'm currently an assistant cross country coach at Wartburg and run for Brooks Sports. I train under Steve Johnson, head coach at Wartburg. We're a good team.

Right now I'm getting ready for the US Cross in hopes of making it on the World Cross team. The past couple years at US Cross haven't gone so well so I'm looking at doing better. I'm in better shape coming into US Cross than I have been in the past. We'll see how that translates. I'll post a quick run-down of last week's training since that's usually interests people. I do my longer runs at Wartburg with the men's team.

1/21 4 miles in the AM
8 miles in the PM -- very cold and snowy today

1/22 4 miles in the AM
WORKOUT in the UNI Dome
Mile -- 4:30
1200 -- 3:22
800 -- 2:13
600 -- 1:39
3x400 -- 64's and 65's
Kept the workout shorter because all that turning can lead to problems for me.

1/23 4 miles in the AM
10 mile in the PM -- was a frozen wasteland today, appendages suffered

1/24 5 MILE TEMPO on treadmill, progessive
5:15
5:10
5:05
5:00
4:52
workout felt easy, but boring
4 miles in the PM

1/25 8 miles in the AM -- almost got hit by a PT Cruiser
4 miles in the PM

1/26 4 miles in the AM
3k at Iowa State (8:20) -- Went into this not looking for much except to get in a competitive atmosphere again. Basically a rust-buster. Anyone who knows me, will tell you a 3k is too short for me.

1/27 8 miles in the PM -- waited too long to run today. I don't like to run on Sunday mornings
4 miles at 8 PM in the country. I love running in the country in the dark.

1/28 4 miles in the AM
10 miles in the PM -- felt rough today

1/29 TEMPO RUN on treadmill (roughly 12k) -- too icy outside
5:05
5:00
5:00
5:00
5:00
--took a water break, probably 45 seconds--
4:52
4:48
2:24
I got to Wartburg and talked to Coach before the workout. He asked me if I brought a long-sleaved shirt with me to workout in. (He wants me to acclimate to San Diego temperatures) I said I didn't so he volunteered a long-sleave for from his locker. I wasn't pleased. He gave a too large shirt that chaffed everything it touched and held in every drop of sweat.

1/30 4 miles in the AM
10 miles in the PM -- cold out again, a little tired