Training Room

Tough workout on the track; a great long run on the trails; a tempo run at Liberty Park....how do we recover and stay healthy after these great workouts? Play todays video to find out.

Chili Night

I hosted the annual post xc season Chili Dinner this past Thursday night. My dabble into the cooking world for bachelor's has included learning my grandma's chili recipe. I make enough for the whole team and serve it with cornbread as a way for our team to come together and put closure on the season that has just completed. Unfortunately, we had the dinner a littler earlier this year because we didn't get anyone to the NCAA Championship meet. However, that is the only negative as the chili was excellent again (thanks grandman), the team trivia game was hilarious, we had a chance to discuss the season in a meaningful way, we got to say 'goodbye' to our volunteer coach (Carol Eckerly), and finally...it was a chance to come together as a family in a great social environment.

This is another chance for me to say thanks to all of our women for their efforts and growth throughout the season. I think we all learned a lot about each other and what a privilege it is to run at this level and for this program. I know this group will continue to improve by leaps and bounds because they are all so committed to each other and the sport.

A special thanks to Carol. Her parting shot to the team was a message that spoke to the very heart of being on a team, trusting each other and the coaches, and following your dreams. it was one of the best messages I've read from any of the runners or coaches I've been associated with. We wish her the best as she moves on.

Throws Practice

With cross country season over indoor track practice will now take center stage. Today I filmed a short snipet from our the throws and jumps facility here on campus. It is a very functionable facility for all of those events and it's just down the hall from our locker room. Enjoy!

Tough Day for Utes at Regionals

Today was a humbling day for our young and under-maned team at the NCAA Mountain Region meet. Illness and injury left us at less than full strength (five runners) and that combined with our inexperience at a meet of this caliber was a recipe for poor results. However, I give the gals who made the trip and ran credit for running hard and believing in each other. As we sit at the airport awaiting our flight home I watch them sit together and live through a tough moment together. In their moment of humility they communicate with family, do homework, and read in an attempt to move on and look forward to their next race as a Ute. For some this race will stick with them until they race again during the indoor track season. Others will be able to move forward quicker and learn from this moment in shorter time. Ultimately, you can only control so many things. I will take some time and have meetings next week to find out if we did our part to have a successful season or if we need to make changes to have more control of our own fate. The untimely illnesses and injuries we will have to live with and do our best to avoid them in the future. Most of the time it's never one or two glaring issues that lead to poor performance. It's usually a bunch of little things which for a team as young as ours can be difficult to understand. It is my job to evaluate and help them understand what we must do better to achieve our goals as we move forward. I know we (and that includes me as the coach) have some things we need to change, do better and continue to help this team learn and grow towards the success we all know is possible.

The greatest part of being on a team is being able to lean on each other, especially when times are tough or races don't go particularly well. We have all been at the top and know how good that feels. Todays results only reinforce how special those days are and how hard we work to reach them. I know this group. I know they will bounce back. We will back off a bit next week and let everyone catch their breath physically and mentally and then get back to work...teaching, molding, improving, learning, and caring even more with and for each other.

Indoor track officially begins when we land back in SLC this evening. We will be ready! Go Utes!

Finally...An American Wins!

Congrats to American Meb Keflezighi for winning the NYC Marathon yesterday. What an awesome race! First American to win since 1982. Meb was injured last year so this victory is another in a great year for American distance running. I was fortunate to meet and hang out with Meb prior to his race at last years Olympic Trials in Eugene. Nike helped set up a pre race family/friends gathering at the house where the original Nike Company contract was signed by Phil Knight, Bill Bowerman, and others. It was actually next door to Bowerman's ranch on the McKenzie River north of Eugene. A good friend, Chris Rogers, knew Meb from his days working at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego and even ran with him on his recovery days for a while. Meb called him and invited us. You couldn't imagine a more humble, nice, and better representative of the US. Meb was born in Eritrea, but became a naturalized American citizen at a very young age. Congrats again!

Survival Mode

We all thought we could do better, but ultimately we were fortunate to take sixth place at the conference championships. Fighting the flu, some nagging injuries, and inexperience I have to give my team a ton of credit for fighting and doing just enough to grab sixth. The fact is we were seventh or eighth with 800 meters to go and we fought our guts out to regain a position in the middle tier of our conference. Amanda overcame a side stitch. Jenny was consistent, but is still looking for her big breakthrough. Megan's foot continues to nag her. Lucy had a tremendous finish despite straining a calf. Our lone senior, Sydney fought a back and kidney issue, Alexis was in bed for the last three days with illness. Chantel is battling IT band issues. Hillary ran the race of her life and will go to the Regional meet with our team because of an effort that was this coach's silver lining in a less than perfect day.

We will be back. This group will mature and learn. This group will persevere and be better for putting up a great fight instead of doing what many teams do when it's not their day which is to throw in the towel. The dark clouds lingering above the Utes today will be soon be replaced by the smiles and joy from the success which awaits this young group. Patience will be learned and it will serve in time.