This Friday, I’ll be heading off to Shenzhen, China to compete in the FISU World Student Games. To be completely honest, I didn’t really know much about this meet until we received an invitation to declare shortly after the NCAA meet.

As far as international multi-sport events go, the World University Games (as the USA commonly calls it) is second only to the Olympics with 24 different sports competing, but hasn’t really seemed to have caught on here in the US. One reason running fans here might not be familiar with the event is that the US hasn’t sent a Track & Field team to compete since 2001 when the Summer Universiade was held in Beijing. America is sending a selective contingent of just 10 men and 10 women, all of whom have hit the World Championships A standard in their events. As you might guess, this competition is open to athletes still pursuing, or just finishing up, a university degree.

After USA’s we still weren’t sure whether this was a done deal or not, so the focus was on two meets up in Canada to try and potentially end the season on a high note. I got to hang out for a few days in Eugene with Tyler Mulder before my flight up to Vancouver. It was a blast up there with my former teammate Ryan Foster also racing the 1500. Our group or Lea Wallace, Lauren Hagans and Flotrack’s own Ryan Fenton got to spend a good bit of time together, and the two single 800’s were fun after a month of racing in rounds. It felt great to have some no pressure races and I left with some new friends and a little PR.

By the end of the trip, we had received the the nod from USATF and laid out some training plans for the rest of the summer to get me through August. We decided to take a bit of a down week after Canada, which I couldn’t have been happier about. Racing at a high level since January takes it out of you and I needed a break. After giving my body a rest, we got back to some quality miles for a few weeks with a few low key workouts.

Following that phase it was time to take a vacation. I got to spend a few days back in Connecticut visiting my family before heading down south for a week with my roommate Cody Edling for some R&R, good food, and southern hospitality. We were all over the place for a few days between New Orleans, Pass Christian, Mississippi and the beach in Pensacola, Florida. Training in the heat and humidity might actually turn out to be good practice for the sub-tropical climate on the southern coast of China. I got a solid speed workout in on that Saturday at the Pass Christian High School track with the McGee’s. Cory’s little sister Regen was out working out for the AAU Junior Olympics and everyone was down to watch, it was a real family affair. The only problem was that someone had the bright idea to put in a black track there, it was HOT! After a few 200’s to warm up, I ran a best effort 400 in 46.8, called it a day and spent the rest of the day at the beach with Cory, Cody and her two best friends Sara and Anna Gray.

I got home last Tuesday relaxed and reenergized for China and have been riding out the last week in State College, training and packing for the trip. Workouts have been short and fast, just the way I like them. Sunday we just did some work on changing gears, and yesterday on Wednesday we did a few warm up 200’s and a 600 time trial on our outdoor track. The 600 was a huge confidence booster for me, I just tried to stay as relaxed as I could the first 400 and ended up with a big PR 1:14.6 (48 mid/26).

Having the opportunity to compete in the Red, White and Blue is something that I never plan on passing up. Last summer, World Juniors was such an eye opener for me and really allowed me to come back to the NCAA a little more seasoned and experienced. Just like last year, Coach Gondak is going to be able to come abroad and be there along with me. Sorry I’m stealing him for preseason you guys at PSU! I couldn’t be more excited to have another opportunity to compete against some of the best athletes in the world, meet new people, and gain valuable racing experience with Team USA! Other then the 16 hour flight this coming Friday, and the lack of Facebook in China, I’m looking forward to everything. I start out with the first of three rounds in the 800 on the 19th, and end with the 4x400 on the 21st. Good luck to the rest of Team USA in every sport, and I’ll be checking in once we’re abroad!