The USATF Cross Country Championships in St. Louis turned out to be a positive experience for me. With only 6 weeks of training after my break following the Fukuoka Marathon, I wasn't sure where I was in terms of fitness. My coach, Dave Smith, had me doing fairly high volume workouts to rebuild a base for the Spring/Summer. With this in mind, I was pleased with my performance over the 12km course in St. Louis. While I would have liked to hold on to the 4th place position I was in down the home stretch, it's hard to be too disappointed to be within one second of three other great XC runners.
I am thrilled to be heading to Poland on my 4th World XC team for the March 24th race. It is truly the most exciting race I have ever run in, so I cannot pass up the opportunity to do it again. I have had some success at the IAAF World Championships in the past, but I am confident this will be my best race yet. I am also excited about the team that I will be joining. It will be by far the most talented team I have been a part of; team USA will be well represented.
My decision to run the World Championships has also given me the opportunity to run the USATF 15km Championship at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville. This will be my third appearance, and as always the field is loaded. Keep an eye on this race on March 9th; it's going to be fast.
Until then, my workouts will slowly begin to increase in intensity as I begin to sharpen up for the spring season. I'll be heading to the Czech Republic straight from Jacksonville to prepare for the XC World Championships, and will stay for another two weeks to take advantage of the fantastic running.
I am thrilled to be heading to Poland on my 4th World XC team for the March 24th race. It is truly the most exciting race I have ever run in, so I cannot pass up the opportunity to do it again. I have had some success at the IAAF World Championships in the past, but I am confident this will be my best race yet. I am also excited about the team that I will be joining. It will be by far the most talented team I have been a part of; team USA will be well represented.
My decision to run the World Championships has also given me the opportunity to run the USATF 15km Championship at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville. This will be my third appearance, and as always the field is loaded. Keep an eye on this race on March 9th; it's going to be fast.
Until then, my workouts will slowly begin to increase in intensity as I begin to sharpen up for the spring season. I'll be heading to the Czech Republic straight from Jacksonville to prepare for the XC World Championships, and will stay for another two weeks to take advantage of the fantastic running.
