Time to Go

Today we are two weeks out from the IAU 100k World Championship race which will be contested just outside of Milan, Italy.  Tomorrow I leave on a business trip to France.  I'll be in France until next Thursday and then I'll fly straight to Milan for the race.  It's really quite amazing how well all this fell into place with a wind tunnel test being conducted just prior to the race.  It should allow the body plenty of time to acclimate to the new time zone.  Plus, the weather should be very similar where I'll be working and racing.

Almost packed.

I know I've been a little short on the updates lately but that's just because I've been so busy.  I was in Seattle last weekend for a wedding and had the opportunity to catch up with US 100k teammate Andy Henshaw while I was there.  Between that trip and preparing at work for this business trip, I haven't had much time to do anything besides work and run.  

But everything is going well.  Training this year has been really good, and I am confident that I'm in the best shape of my life.  I feel like I entered my taper phase for this race in a really good place.  I think last year before the 100k I was bordering on injury and overtraining when I began my taper.  I've been really smart this year and, while I'm tired, I haven't put my body in a hole.  I hope this shows in the result of the race.

For those of you who aren't aware, this won't be my first time running the 100km World Championship.  The 2011 race was last September in the Netherlands and it did not turn out well for me.  You can read my full race report here if you like, but the short story is that I caught some sort of bug before the race and was forced to drop out around halfway.  It was my first DNF ever, and it was really disappointing.  I hope to redeem myself for last year's poor performance and help team USA bring home the gold medal once again.

Early in the race last year.

In my final hard workout on US soil before the race, I donned my team USA uniform as a sort of dress rehearsal just to make sure everything fit properly and I didn't have any issues with chaffing.  Let me just say, it is really hard to keep the pace in check when you're wearing the US flag.  I feel like it gives me super-human powers and instantly makes me faster than I would be in any other uniform.  I can't help but feel an immense sense of pride when I represent this great country.   Hopefully I can channel that feeling and turn it into a worthy performance.