Long Overdue

           It has been an incredibly long time since I have updated my blog, and although I would love to say it is because I haven't had time, I have to admit, I have been avoiding it. I read my last post again, remembering how I felt before the Olympic Trials with all that excitement and emotion churning inside me. And it gives me mixed emotions. Yeah, I gave myself one hell of a shot at making that Olympic Team. I put it all on the line that day, and I have zero regrets with how I prepared both physically and mentally, and how I executed my race plan. At the end of the day, it was just not my time. In the back of my mind leading up to trials, I really did not know what to expect of myself. The year before, 2011 USA Championships I was in over my head, placing 7th in a field of women where I had to talk myself into thinking I could compete with. This year, although the outcome was a mystery, I did know in my heart that I belonged, and I had just a good of chance as any of the US women to represent my country at the London games. When I was coming down the homestretch with 80 meters left of that final race, I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, I really will make this team." As I neared the finish and my body completely went into debt, that "Olympic Dream" flashed in front of me as two girls passed me and there was nothing I could do about it. I don't even really remember what I was feeling at that moment. I think it was more shock than anything. Shock that I was that close, shock that I lost it so fast, and shock that I was going to have to spend the next 4 years thinking about what I could have done differently. 

 After the initial tears and hysterics winded down, it was pretty easy for Coach Helmer and I to articulate what had just happened. I had put it all on the line, took the biggest risk of my athletic career so far, and fell a little short. Coach Helmer explained to me that he would never in a million years tell me to execute a different race plan. I ran fearless, took a chance, and he would never want to take away that mentality from me. I will continue to run fearless, I will continue to train at the highest level, and I will come back with vengeance in 2013. I have no other choice.

Just after the Trials I headed home for a week to take a mental break with my family. I did a photo shoot with Ben Davis, a high school friend, who has made quite a name for himself. The pictures turned out awesome! Here are a few of my favs:

Check out his website at: http://www.benjaminjamesphotography.com/

 After some more pouting and some more crying, and finally Coach called me up and told me it was time. Time to go over to Europe and reassure to myself that, once again, I belonged. My first taste of this was at the Crystal Palace DL in London where I won a "dead heat" against a Kenyan runner. (A dead heat means we ran the exact same time to the ._ _ and it came down to the thousandth to determine a winner.) Here is a replay of the race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_ozqZscbU4&feature=share

I also ran in the DL in Monaco where I finished 4th and ran 1:59.3. I wish I would have done some things differently in this race, particularly NOT hesitate and NOT run tentative. After this race, I just felt like I had more racing left, so I made the decision to train for the 3 long weeks during the Olympics and come back afterwards for more racing. I am currently sitting at my friends home in Nazareth, Belgium getting ready to race a rust-buster 800 this evening in Leuven, Belgium at the 2012 Meeting Voor Mon. I am then headed to Linz, Austria on the 20th, and then to the DL meet in Birmingham, UK. After this I am unsure what my schedule looks like, but I promise to make it a point of keeping my blog updated with new adventures :)

US Olympic Trials

A post-race interview at the Adidas Grand Pri in New York where I placed second and ran 1:59.18...almost a PR by .06 :)

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=71047

The olympic trials are here. I remember thinking to myself 6 months ago that the Olympic trials were something in the distant future and it was hard for me to put my mind around it, and here we are, one week away! I cannot believe how the time has flown by, and I’ll be honest, I am ready for the week to come AND be done with. Don’t get me wrong...I am excited beyond belief to get out there and do what I do, but the anticipation and build-up to the Olympic Trials is something no one could quite prepare me for. 

I have nothing to lose as I make my way to Eugene on one of the finest tracks in the World with among the finest athletes in the world. I feel different this year than I have in previous years. I finally feel like I actually BELONG...belong in the presence of such elite competitors. I have all the confidence in the world that I can represent the US in the London Olympics this summer, and whether or not I come out of the Trials with that opportunity, I am going to be happy with the turn-out. Whatever happens, I will continue to move forward, grow as a person, an athlete, and take with me experiences for which many never have. 

Reed and I will leave Tuesday for Eugene. I will race in my first round of prelims on Friday, June 22nd. The second round of the prelims in the next evening, Saturday June 23rd. Finals will be held on Monday, June 25th. Top 3 finishers on Monday will make the Olympic Squad and will represent the US at the London Olympics!! You can find my race times AND watch my races live on the west coast at this website:

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/248612-2012-US-Olympic-Team-Trials

I am so thankful for everyone who has supported me this season...my support system is one of a kind and I couldn’t have asked for more encouragement. I will be leaving for Europe to do my summer racing regardless of what happens at Olympic Trials, so tune in for some EURO updates throughout the rest of the summer :)

SUMMER is upon us!

Every time I update my blog I get this guilty feeling because it has ALWAYS been so long since the last time I have updated it. I know there aren't TONS of people reading it, but after about a month of leaving it unattended people start giving me a hard time. That means I am overdue for blog updating. My Spring season has been super busy so far. I have been traveling quite a lot lately. I started my season out with a few rust busters at Georgia Tech and Florida Relays. My first REAL opening 800 was at Mt. Sac Relays and I led the race wire to wire to win in 2:00.3.

 This was the first time I have ever really led from the front with confidence, and I can honestly say it made me feel really good. After this race I noticed a chance in the way I thought about each race, and of my competitors. Never before in my track career have I ever felt such confidence in my ability as an elite athlete.
My sister has always told me that I have lacked confidence. It seems crazy to say such things. If you ask 95% of the people who know me, they would tell you that she was bonkers and that I radiate with confidence. I never realized how "dead on" she really was until I had that first "feeling" this year of real, genuine confidence. I guess it wasn't surprising to me that my sister knew me better than myself...that's why she is my oldest and most important friend, right?
Anyway, next I took a trip to The Penn Relays and ran a mile. I never thought I would admit this, but it was actually really fun. I ran a personal best mile time of 4:36 for the W. 

Pretty clear who the 800 meter runner is...

 Next stop for me was the first Diamond League race of 2012 out in Doha, Qatar. After a 13 hour flight and a 7 hour time change, I managed to run 1:59.53 for 6th place.  The winner, reigning Olympic Champ Pamela Jelimo from Kenya ran 1:56! whoaaa. If you want to check out my race, it is here: The quality isn't very good, but if you can pick me out of the two blondes in the race, you will find me :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2KldtoDtc

There is one word to describe the city of Doha...HOT!!! It was 120 degrees during the day, 95 degrees at 10 PM. The people of Qatar were very accomodating to the international athletes, and the city is very very rich. They are hosting the next World Cup and they are VERY excited about it. I am sure whoever has the opportunity to experience it will get treated very well.

A little Mother's Day treat for the best MOM's ever!!

   

Mom, Dad, and I enjoying the weekend!

Off of the track, life has been pretty low-key. My parents, Jen, and Ty came to visit me in Bloomington on my off weekend and we had a blast! Reed's mom, Dian cooked up an amazing meal. It was the perfect distraction in my life at a time where it is getting pretty hectic. My sister and parents make me feel so relaxed and at home, and to find this escape was just what I needed.

Reed and I at the Ludlow's Mother's Day dinner.

Up next, I will be traveling to the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon to run an 800 on May 2nd. I am very excited for the opportunity to run at this meet, it will be my first time! There will be live results on http://Flotrack.org

Spring time is HERE!

April 3rd, 2012

TD  gets quite spoiled by his auntie...add a pair of Kinvara 2's to his closet :)

It has been quite the realization in the past week just how quickly the 2012 track season has crept up. I think I am feeling the rush of the season earlier this year because of the crazy warm temperatures Bloomington, Indiana has put up. And I am NOT complaining. My season has finally started, and I can subconsciously feel myself getting into the “zone.” I know it is very early and we are about 12 weeks from Olympic Trials, but getting that subconscious “feeling” is something I can’t really control from happening. I am trying my best to make my easy training days REALLY easy to counter that anxiety. I opened up with my first 800 of the season on Saturday in Atlanta, GA at Georgia Tech University. It wasn’t as smooth (pre-race and race) as it would have been in an ideal situation but it’s situations like these that I need to be prepared for. Coach told me to put myself in trouble early (also known as, “don’t pace yourself, just sprint until you collapse), and that’s exactly what I did. So needless to say, coming home on the final stretch was pretty ugly. Good thing not a lot of people I personally knew had to see it ;) But it was a learning experience. 

Another reason I was visiting Atlanta was to do a photoshoot with fellow Saucony teammates Queen Harrison and Adam Nelson. Our manager, CEO of Doyle Management, Paul Doyle, set it up and brought in a photographer out of Portland, OR named Zach Ancell. It was a lot of fun to get treated like a model...make-up artist and everything :) But, I can say after 13 hours of shooting, I had a new appreciation for the modeling industry. It was exhausting. Here are a few proofs I borrowed off of Zach's computer:

A little blurry, but the background will change. Can't wait to see the final result!

Zach told us to "celebrate" a win.

 Meanwhile, Reed has finally made his new pad home! It is the picture perfect bachelor pad, and he recently invested in a sectional couch equipped with seat warmers, massages, and recliners. Can you say unnecessary? Oh well. It is ME who gets to enjoy these luxury items on a daily basis!  My brother-in-law, Dustin, has just accepted a job at Wooster University as a football coach. I am SO excited for him as he can finally pursue his dream of coaching college football. And not to mention they will be living an hour away from my parents (SO JEALOUS!). My sister is still finishing her school year out in Louisville, and will then pick up and move to Wooster, Ohio where they will await their second little bundle of joy :) Another niece or nephew for me to spoil...can’t get any better than that.

Next up for me is a trip to the Florida Relays in Gainsville, FL. I will be running the 800 meters on Friday, April 6th. If interested, I have listed the rest of my Spring 2012 schedule below.

*Schedule is subject to change

Date	Event Name	Location
April 6-7	Pepsi Florida Relays	UF- Gainsville, FL
April 21	Mt. Sac Relays	Mt. San Antonio College- Walnut, California
April 28	Penn Relays (mile)	Philadelphia , PA
May 4	Billy Hayes Invitational	Bloomington, IN
May 11	Doha DL	Doha, Qatar
June 2	Prefontaine Classic	Eugene, OR
June 9	Adidas Grand Pri	New York City, NY
June 22-25	US Olympic Team Trials	Eugene, OR

Spring time is HERE!

April 3rd, 2012

TD  gets quite spoiled by his auntie...add a pair of Kinvara 2's to his closet :)

It has been quite the realization in the past week just how quickly the 2012 track season has crept up. I think I am feeling the rush of the season earlier this year because of the crazy warm temperatures Bloomington, Indiana has put up. And I am NOT complaining. My season has finally started, and I can subconsciously feel myself getting into the “zone.” I know it is very early and we are about 12 weeks from Olympic Trials, but getting that subconscious “feeling” is something I can’t really control from happening. I am trying my best to make my easy training days REALLY easy to counter that anxiety. I opened up with my first 800 of the season on Saturday in Atlanta, GA at Georgia Tech University. It wasn’t as smooth (pre-race and race) as it would have been in an ideal situation but it’s situations like these that I need to be prepared for. Coach told me to put myself in trouble early (also known as, “don’t pace yourself, just sprint until you collapse), and that’s exactly what I did. So needless to say, coming home on the final stretch was pretty ugly. Good thing not a lot of people I personally knew had to see it ;) But it was a learning experience. 

Another reason I was visiting Atlanta was to do a photoshoot with fellow Saucony teammates Queen Harrison and Adam Nelson. Our manager, CEO of Doyle Management, Paul Doyle, set it up and brought in a photographer out of Portland, OR named Zach Ancell. It was a lot of fun to get treated like a model...make-up artist and everything :) But, I can say after 13 hours of shooting, I had a new appreciation for the modeling industry. It was exhausting. Here are a few proofs I borrowed off of Zach's computer:

A little blurry, but the background will change. Can't wait to see the final result!

Zach told us to "celebrate" a win.

 Meanwhile, Reed has finally made his new pad home! It is the picture perfect bachelor pad, and he recently invested in a sectional couch equipped with seat warmers, massages, and recliners. Can you say unnecessary? Oh well. It is ME who gets to enjoy these luxury items on a daily basis!  My brother-in-law, Dustin, has just accepted a job at Wooster University as a football coach. I am SO excited for him as he can finally pursue his dream of coaching college football. And not to mention they will be living an hour away from my parents (SO JEALOUS!). My sister is still finishing her school year out in Louisville, and will then pick up and move to Wooster, Ohio where they will await their second little bundle of joy :) Another niece or nephew for me to spoil...can’t get any better than that.

Next up for me is a trip to the Florida Relays in Gainsville, FL. I will be running the 800 meters on Friday, April 6th. If interested, I have listed the rest of my Spring 2012 schedule below.

*Schedule is subject to change

Date	Event Name	Location
April 6-7	Pepsi Florida Relays	UF- Gainsville, FL
April 21	Mt. Sac Relays	Mt. San Antonio College- Walnut, California
April 28	Penn Relays (mile)	Philadelphia , PA
May 4	Billy Hayes Invitational	Bloomington, IN
May 11	Doha DL	Doha, Qatar
June 2	Prefontaine Classic	Eugene, OR
June 9	Adidas Grand Pri	New York City, NY
June 22-25	US Olympic Team Trials	Eugene, OR

Full-Stride Ahead!

I am currently headed a bit north to the University of Notre Dame to make my 2012 debut in the 800 meters!  It has been quite the journey back after my stress fracture this Fall, and I am FINALLY feeling like myself again. My holiday season wasn’t as cheerful as I would have liked due to my injury, but being around my family and the people closest to me made it as tolerable as it was ever going to be. I never realized how much my sport contributed to other aspects of my life besides “my job” and “what I do for fun.” It provides me with endorphins that I can’t seem to get out of any other activity, and I feel a sense of calmness and clarity after getting a work out in.  At first I thought this was a bit embarrassing and I even felt a little like an exercise addict, but then I remembered that this has been something apart of my life every single day for the last six years now.  Something that I have grown to put hours of excruciating pain into, changed my entire lifestyle for, and put every ounce of my physical and mental being into. Although it was only momentarily taken away from me, I took it pretty hard! I knew being smart about the injury was my only option, so I took a full 6 weeks off of running and knowingly felt myself getting more and more out of shape. So many days I would wake up with optimism and go to bed in tears...another day behind. A ticking time bomb- getting one more day closer to the Olympic Trials. 

I was released January 1st to start getting after it again, and boy have things been “going.” I have zero pain in my stressed area of my shin and I am feeling better than I have ever felt March 1st of any year thus far. I have not missed a work out in two solid months, and I have been working my A$$ off to catch up, and I believe I finally have. I love testing myself at this point in the season because it gives me an opportunity to make changes that I need before my outdoor season takes off. It is absolutely necessary that my mental state of mind is positive and enthusiastic during this important time in my career.

On the lighter side of things, Reed has permanently moved down to Bloomington and bought a beautiful condo! It has been so much fun for me to be the interior decorator and it has been keeping me very busy. Shopping for nic-naks has become a lot of what I do during the daytime.  Having him in the same city for the first time in our relationship has been a very positive experience. I have always been a tremendously independent person and it was hard to imagine sharing A LOT of my time with another person. This sounds totally selfish, but it was true. However, the transition with Reed has been effortless. I get to spend time every night with my boyfriend and/or best friend and he doesn’t begin to distract me from my own goals and motivations. He is the supporter I want to be there with me this summer at the Olympic Trials when I am at my most vulnerable self. He is great at putting things into perspective when I need a reality check, and for this, I am thankful :)

If anyone is interested, I think flotrack.org will be broadcasting my event tomorrow afternoon (not sure what time my race is yet...probably between 12-2 PM). The meet is called Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame, 800 meters. This link should take you there: 

http://live.flocasts.org/alexwilson-live.html

Fall 2011

I knew I needed to update my blog when I started getting complaints about my lack of dedication to it. I knew I REALLY needed to update my blog when perhaps my busiest friend, Ryan Fenton from flotrack.org, tweeted at me (yes, I joined Twitter thanks to my roommate Kelley) and not only noticed my lack of tweeting abilities, but absolutely slammed me on my blog silence. Ok Ok you got me. Thanks Ryan for calling me out and noticing such irresponsibility on my part.

Well, since my last blog about Stockholm, Sweden, I have been back in the US enjoying my time off of track and field, followed by some really really really good training, followed by injury. I took two lovely vacations immediately following my return from my last meet in Europe. My first vacation was to Las Vegas with my close friend, Haley. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. We just so happened to meet some "high rollers" and did not drop a dime the entire 3 days we spent. Lucky us.

 

 Wet Republic Pool party at Encore Hotel and Casino

Oh yeah...Ronnie from Jersey Shore!

Next on the agenda was a trip to Holland, Michigan with my boyfriend, Reed, and his family.  The lake house in Michigan has become one of my favorite places to be. There is a beautiful beach where we play beach volleyball, badminton, and corn hole. The farmer's market is HUGE and a perfect running distance away. I love this place so much because it is so laid back, and exactly what I needed after a long summer season. Whether it was reading a book in the sun room, playing sports on the beach, or taking 15 naps a day, anything goes here.

Reed and I took a trip to Cedar Point for his birthday! Look at this picture of us on the Top Thrill Dragster, by far the best roller coaster in the world. His face on the left is classic.

I have been keeping my mileage consistently around 55 miles a week since the first week in October, and training was going awesome. I was doing some very different work outs with my coach to build up my aerobic endurance. He kept saying, "we have time this year...your season ended early so we have time to really hit this part hard." I spent 90% of my time on the cross country course just building a massive base to work with through the winter and into the Spring.  Hill work outs were kicking my behind and I was starting to see some positive results. It wasn't until one morning I woke up with a sore fibula (shin) and quickly got an MRI. It turned out to be a stress reaction and I have been wearing a boot for 2 weeks now. At first I handled it poorly and went into denial. I was shocked that this would happen to me because I never get hurt! And everything was going SO well and I don't want to lose any of my training and hard work that I have put in. After talking to a lot of people, in particular other elite runners, they have reminded me that this is a blessing in disguise. It was going to happen sometime...what better time than right now? What if it happened in May or early June? Then how different would you feel about it? I guess with 7 months until Olympic Trials, I can afford to have a small glitch in my master plan. :)

Saucony's "Strong Stories" will be available on saucony.com starting the first of the new year!  My Saucony rep sent this to me while he was working on it. I can't wait to watch it!

Other than my sidelining injury, I had a really good Thanksgiving. I spent it here in Bloomington, Indiana with my boyfriend's family. On Friday after thanksgiving, we piled in the van and went out to the Feline Rescue Center. Check out these animals living less than an hour from my apartment! Who would have known?!?!

The next few weeks I am dedicating to healing and getting back into the normal swing of things. I'm excited to head back to Columbus, Ohio for Christmas to be with my family.

Oh ya, and can I finally say O-H...I-O again?! Yay for Urban Meyer taking the head coaching position for the Buckeyes!!!!