The Oxy High Performance meet in LA went relatively well. I won the second heat of the 800 which was great even though we didn't run nearly as fast as I would have hoped. Winning a race is always the priority, but I felt that I still had plenty left in my legs. Like my college coach always told me, "If you win every race, good times will come naturally."
After Oxy, I went home for a few days before traveling with team USA to the World Relays in the Bahamas. As I have said before, I was extremely honored to run for our country. I would never pass up an opportunity to wear the USA singlet. I was the lead-off leg for the 4x800 relay. My leg did not go as planned. I was hoping to hand off the baton in the lead or just behind the leader. But, at the break point I hesitated when the Kenyan took off and before I knew it, I was leading the chase pack a little over 100 meters into the race. Looking back, it's always easy to point out what was done wrong, but I learned a lot about racing against international competition. Overall, it was a great experience in the Bahamas and if I'm ever asked back, I will run without a doubt. The Bahamian people were great hosts and they were a lot of fun to interact with at the meet. And to walk away from the meet with a World Championship bronze medal was pretty awesome as well!
The final meet on my three week trip was the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene the following weekend. I ran in the International 800m race against some of the best American mid-distance athletes. I was feeling great for the first 600 meters of the race but my body was not working with me and during the last 150 meters, I didn't have any sort of leg turnover to accelerate me down the homestretch. I was extremely disappointed post-race because I expected more out of myself, but after a few days of looking back at the race I was able to put everything in perspective and move forward.
Since Pre, I have been back on the track and working to get myself ready for my next race. This weekend, I get to toe the line at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York. It is a Diamond League event and the World Record Holder, David Rudisha, will be on the start list. The past two years, I have had the opportunity to race in this meet and I know that this one will be another chance to get in a super fast race against some of the best competition in the world! I am ready to set a personal best. My training has shown it and I'm mentally ready for the challenge. I plan on coming away from the weekend with a sub-1:45 performance!
Here is last week's training
June 2-8
Monday
8 mile recovery run
Weight Session
Tuesday
8 mile recovery run
Strides/Drills
Wednesday
Morning-
3x400 (sub-800m race pace)
Afternoon-
Weight Session
3 mile recovery run
Mileage: 9
Thursday
8-mile recovery run
Drills/Strides
Friday
Morning-
4-mile tempo run
Afternoon-
6x150m
Mileage: 13
Saturday
12 mile long run
Sunday
6 mile recovery run
Weekly Total Mileage: 62
For questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to post below or email me directly at mikeruttrunning@gmail.com!
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