fifteen-hundred meters as fast as you can

I just finished packing my bags for the Olympic Trials in Eugene in anticipation of my departure tomorrow morning. I have waited 4 years to avenge my 4th place finish from 2004. Since I began competing in track and field at the age of 14 it was always my dream to represent the US at the Olympics. I’m in the best shape of my life (meaning in the right race my PR of 3:33.28 is TOAST!), and mentally I’ve never been more hungry to compete and lay it all on line. I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.

Over the last 10 years there have been a number of people who have been truly instrumental to my success and I want to thank everyone. Your love and support means more to me than anything I might accomplish on the track. This weekend is for all of you, namely: Jackie and Rich my loving parents; my grandparents who are my biggest fans in the world; my sister Erika who has shown me the beauty and grace that life allows; Juli Henner my coach of 6 years for guiding me and pushing me to believe that I can be one of the best runners in the world; Pat Henner, Greg Isham, Darryl Genest, Paul Prather, and Steve Neubauer, who coached me in various sports over the years and taught me so many things about the pursuit of sport; Sam Burley, Rod Koborsi, Fleet Hower, Steve Meinelt, Chris Esselborn, Tommy Manning, Tyler Campbell, Lindsey Holts, Chris Miltenburg, Mike Smith, Neil Grosscup, Dylan Welsh, and every other teammate I have ever shared the passion of the sport with; Tiffany Jow, Evan Hendrickson, Mike Ells, Jared Harman, Brandon Wentzel, Travis Volk, Amy Bowers, and Russel Gehrett who are my best friends from Auburn, WA and who I left behind to move to Washington, DC to pursue this drean; and thank you to everyone else that I might have left out. This is for you.