Off to Nationals in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Off to nationals and I for one am ready to go and I think the team is as well. We have a lot miles and meets under our belts for this season and we are ready to go see how we stand up against the best teams in the nation. It was a good week and half of preparation for the race. We are done tapering and we need to race.

We stopped the first night in Lexington Kentucky and stayed at a La Quinta Inn. The rooms were great and we had a big meal of pizza down in the lobby as a team. Everyone was in great spirits and then the next morning we were off to Spartanburg. The scenery was incredible. The Appalachin's are a little different looking than the prairies of Iowa. We got in to Spartanburg around 2:00 P.M. got into our rooms and headed off to the course to get in a practice before the sun went down. Weather was awesome a bank clock said it was 82 and that was fantastic to run in. We kept the practice light and just covered the course and did a little speed work on a few of the really flat.

Everyone really likes the course. It is flat and there are no repeat sections there should be some fast times.

That night we went out to Ghetti Town to eat. An all you can eat pasta place. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun.

Friday before the race we took it easy and hung out at the hotel. We hit the course around 2:30 and had another good practice as we went through our pre-race routine. That night we attended a banquet put on by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the guest speaker was Jim Ryan. He gave a great speech and the meal was very good. Tomorrow is the day. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work and I know everyone will lay it on the line.