Most avid track fans know the four year cycle of our sport.  We have the the Olympics every four years, as well as the World Track and Field Championships the year before and after each Olympic games.  That really only leaves one year of every four that is truly a rest year.  When I say rest year I really mean experimental year.  I was watching the World Indoor Championships on TV this past weekend and I saw so many people in different events. (continue reading…)

As many already know, we have our second child on the way.  We found out about two weeks ago that we will be having a baby boy.  We were a little shocked when we heard the news.  There is some crazy statistic that male distance runners and cyclists have mostly girls.  Aside from that, my Dad’s family has seven girls and only two boys, and my Mom’s family was four girls and no boys.  On my wife’s side it is similar as well, so we were thrilled when we broke the odds.   (continue reading…)

I regret to announce that I am withdrawing from the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.  I am very disappointed not to be able to lead the team that will be going to Poland to compete for Team USA.  I have had a series of setbacks this winter that have held me back from training at 100%.  A nagging injury as well as a stomach virus have caused me to miss training over the past couple weeks and I have not been able get to the level of training that is required for me to be at my best.  (continue reading…)

Sorry for the delay in posting.  So I had a successful weekend at the USA XC Championship.  I was very happy to get my third XC title and to continue the success I have had over the past six months.  You never really know how fit you are until you actually get out there and race.  Workouts can be going great, but until you lace up the spikes you never really know. (continue reading…)

Over the past few months I have had a few questions about injuries and what I do to stay fit, so I wanted to dedicate this blog to cross training.

I always seem to come back from injuries better than ever, and I feel I have a pretty good grasp on what it takes to get back to peak form quickly.  I think when I am done running I should just coach injured runners and send them back to their coaches ready to go.  There is no secret recipe to cross training, and you don’t have to have access to an Alter-G treadmill, even though they are much more readily available and the easiest way to simulate actual outdoor running. However, the type of injury you have will dictate what range of cross training you will be able to do.   (continue reading…)

I was recently talking to my wife Kalin about Haile Gebrselassie because we were amazed that he still made yet another world record attempt this weekend.  It is incredible to think that after all these years he is still break barriers.  If you would have asked me a year or two ago if I would still be going at his age, I would have been surprised.  However I now feel that I have so much more life in my career.  She said to me “do you think you are going to still be able to train like this when you are that age?” (continue reading…)

So in the last blog post I had a few requests to look at periodization of training.  I thought it would be a good idea to post some sample training weeks, as well as what the different training has been like for me over the years, pulling from high school, college, and the two post collegiate systems I have trained under.  First, here are some samples of the best weeks that I have had in each system.  This is how a normal week would look during these training periods. (continue reading…)

This past week USA Triathlon was at Nike Campus picking Alberto’s brain about how to get the guys faster off the bike.  I had dinner with them one night because I know one of the nutrition experts who works with them.  I joked with them about how when my running career is over I am going to make a switch back to the Triathlon. (continue reading…)

I chose this weeks quote of the week on my website from Bill Bowermam. “There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” I was reminded when I was home in Michigan the past 10 days that I have gotten soft living in Oregon. (continue reading…)

On my website the quote of the week is by Napoleon Bonaparte, “Ability is nothing without opportunity.” The reason I used this for my quote of the week is because of all the great high school races that took place over the past two weeks, and how they reminded me of how I got to where I am today. (continue reading…)