Da Bear.

First week in Flagstaff is complete. I think it's safe to say I have done more in this week than I have in all my previous time in Flagstaff combined. Kyla Coates, happened to be in Flagstaff for the first few days I was here. Her and I went out and got some Thai on either Sunday or Monday, neither of us can remember. Either way, it was really nice to spend some time with her and catch up.

I have found the wonders of Macy's Coffee Shop. It's a pretty famous and really popular spot here in Flagstaff. You can drop in at anytime of day and there is always a crowd. I am currently there writing this post, I have been about 4 or 5 times since I got here.

I always forget how hard altitude is, but it is never shy about reminding me when I get up here. No matter how fit, altitude makes you feel like you have never ran a step. Our first workout was 2 sets of 5x300. Usually for our track work we go to Sedona, but we can only go on the weekends this year due to some new rules at the school where the track is, so we had to do it in Flag. The extra 3000ft of altitude really makes workouts a lot harder! All things considered it went alright. On Saturday we drove down to Sedona for arguably the hardest workout of the year, and possibly ever. We did 200,1000,300 then 500,800,200. This is what I'll say about that workout; I ran damn near a PB in the 1000 and then the proverbial bear jumped on my back. Don't get me wrong though, I'm happy with the workout. I've recently just been trying to tag on to the front and hang on for as long. I figure eventually I'll just be able to stay there the entire workout.

This next paragraph was suppose to be about how nice Flagstaff has turned out to be. The first couple days were a bit rough as stated in my last post, then the weather turned for the better. Plus, our balcony over looks a forest and faces west so we get beautiful evening sun. We are also treated to a first class view of the sunset every evening. I have made it a bit of a routine to eat dinner around that time. It's quite a treat to be able to sit on out there and watch the sun go down every evening while enjoying a nice meal. However, I took a break from writing this post to go to weights and during that session it proceeded to snow as well as be pretty darn chilly, windy and just plain miserable. So for that, Flagstaff is back in the bad books.

On a brighter note I was informed this week I will be heading out to Occidental College after our training camp here to race a 1500m. They are putting on a high performance middle distance meet with just 800, 1500, and steeples. I really didn't think I was going to get in because the entry standard was set quite high. But alas, somehow I am in and have a great opportunity to run a great time! Hoping for a PB if nothing else.