For anyone who has been long awaiting my thoughts on racing
at historic Hayward Field, running two steeples in 5 days, and attending my
first fashion show, no more need to hold your breath. If you think that sounds pretentious, I am
completely kidding, because the main people who read my blog are my
parents.
I had such a fun experience competing at the Olympic Trials
this past week. I missed out on the ’08
trials in the steeplechase by a couple spots, so I was very happy to get to
race this time around. Especially since
the field in the steeple is so much deeper.
In ’08 the last athlete in had a time of 10:10; this year the last
athlete in had a time of 9:58.
In the first race, I ran a half a second PR of 9:51 to time
qualify for the finals of the women’s steeple.
I was pleased with my effort because I was able to keep my cool running
in a large pack, something I do not have a lot of experience with in the
steeple. I was disappointed with my
performance in the final. My goal this
year was to be in the top 8, and I finished 12th in 9:56. I was only able to stay with the lead pack of
women for 2 or 3 laps. My goal next year
is to be in that top group of athletes.
I stayed in a house for the week with Heather Kampf, her
husband Ben, our coach Dennis, and elite master’s runner and board member, Paul
Gionobile. We spent the week playing
hearts and golf, and watching Dennis eat cheez-its for every meal. Our official mascot of the week was a squiver (squirrel beaver) - someone had drawn a picture of one and framed in on the wall of the house.
On Friday evening, after my final race, I went out to a
wonderful dinner with all my relative who were kinds enough to come support me:
my mom and dad, cousin Cole, his parents Tadd and Julie, and my aunt Eileen and
uncle Gene.
After dinner, I attended my first fashion show with my mom
and two aunts. The show was put on by
Oieselle to highlight their fall line of clothes and celebrate the trials. The event was so fun – lots of runners,
drinks, food, and MC Hammer was the DJ!
The new clothes were awesome – I can’t wait to get my hands on
some. Fellow Minnesota Erin Ward got to
show off a sports bra and spandex shorts.
I was happy to find fellow young tracksters Caitlin Gregg and Whitney
Liehr. We had a blast dancing and taking
pictures in the photo booth.
Since trials, I’ve been doing a little bit of running
around. I spent a couple days in
Portland after the Trials exploring with marathoner, Ariella Deprenger
Gottfried. We got to visit the Nike Employee Store, run in Forrest Park, and walk around downtown.
Once I got home, I hopped in
a car with Heather Kampf, Elizabeth Yetzer and her boyfriend Dan, and Chris
Rombough and his girtlfirend Melissa, to drive 13 hours to Cleveland for our
college friend, Katelyn’s wedding.
I am now heading home and trying to decide whether or not to
buy a ticket to Belgium for a few more track races before the season is
over. I am hesitate because I don’t have
anyone to travel with, since most of my teammates finished their track seasons
by now, and I don’t have an agent yet, so I don’t have a group to travel
with. I am excited to try out the
European experience!