We're 10 days out from the first day of the meet of the year and everyone is getting their ducks in a row. The spring has brought us several great performances, none of which were mine personally but nevertheless, they were great. Heidi, being Australian, will unfortunately miss out on the opportunity to compete at our nation's biggest race, so I'll get her "progress" out of the way so we can then focus on the Red White and Blue.
Heidi came to Furman looking for a change and a chance to really hone her focus on training, and it's shown. She's set 3 PRs and an Australian national record in 4 of her 5 races this spring. She will be focusing her efforts toward this Wednesdays' meet in Indianapolis to cap off a great block of races and then its a long summer of kitty-cuddling before she re-emerges in August for the Falmouth Mile.
So anyway, back to us, or US (elbow nudge). We have 4 athletes qualified for the US Championships that take place next week in Des Moines, Iowa. We have two steeplechasers, Nicole and Cory, and two in the 1500m, myself and the Jack.
Nicole's progress since January has been equivalent to that of the butterfly. It started out slow, like ridiculously slow and lethargic in the worst way. But as the weather warmed and the sun shined the Bag Lady emerged as a deadly and poisonous threat in the women's steeplechase (butterflies are venomous right?). Nicole is one of only a handful of women who've shown the capacity to dip under 9:40, look for her to be in the mix with 6 other women for the top 3 on Saturday the 22nd at 4:20 pm.
Jack's been here before, a 7th place finisher in 2010, Jack knows the ropes of championship races and has, in this writer's opinion, never been one to count out. One thing I've learned from training with Jack is that in his preparations he's very particular. His anxiety is soothed by efficient planning so Jack likes things his way. We will make every effort to accommodate "Princess Jacqueline" (That's from Heidi) so that we can assure a strong performance next week. The men's 1500m is a strong field as usual, but Jack's been progressing nicely, he'll be in the mix. Round 1 is Thursday at 5 pm with the final on Saturday at 5:50 pm.
Cory heads in to the Championships with the number 2 time in the country. Showing huge improvements last year, Cory worked his way into the final at the Olympic Trials, finishing 9th. Having graduated from The Ohio State University last spring, Leslie is no longer bound by the rigorous curriculum of a state-school communications major. This has translated to an estimated 100,000 hours of extra nap time, which in turn has translated to a new level of fitness. Cory's shown no sign of slowing down and has been crushing his latest workouts. His final will be on Sunday the 23rd at 3:55 pm where he'll be one of only 3 men with the A-standard.
And as for me.... Game of Thrones season finale is about to start so you'll have to tune in to NBC Sports at 5:40 pm on Saturday the 22nd to see what happens. Editor's Note: Can you believe what happened in the last GoT episode??? OMG.
And now, back to the nicknames given to me over the last couple of weeks:
The Librarian - From Nicole after having moved roughly half of her 10,000 lb. book collection up 4 flights of stairs.
Sledgehammer - From Cory after burying him in mile repeats last week.
Perfect Angel Bunny-Dove - <Private>
Captain - From everyone, always.
Big Thunder - From Coach after I ripped through a filthy quarter workout.
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