The USA A Standard is no joke.  Even to think about hitting that 1500 time of 3:41.20 is not fathomable for many runners.  I would say at the given state of middle distance / distance running in the US there are probably 50-60 runners that can run that time.  Not everyone has the fortune though of competing at high performance opportunities and also staying injury free throughout the season.  Also, some of the runners who are capable of the A Standard may be focused on a different event such as the 800 or 5,000.  Now, if I talk about the World Championship Standards, then I believe we would be down to maybe 10 runners that have a chance at hitting the A Standard of 3:36.00.  However, I'll save World Champs Discussion for another time and place as that is beyond my current realm of thinking.

 I've raced 3 times since the USA Road Mile Champs and those 3 races have actually all been PRs so the momentum is shifted in the right direction.  I ran an 800 on dead legs at Hillsdale College to win with a 1:49.31 (Bettering my 2010 PR of 1:49.38).  It was fun to get out there and run what would be probably my only 800 of the outdoor season.  You can check out the youtube video if you're bored courtesy of SVSU 1500 Alum Ashley Meyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=moUqmI7D7NI

My 2nd PR came at the GVSU Second to Last Chance Meet.  The temps were maybe in the 40s that day, so pretty chilly and wet which has been a common theme of track meets in Michigan this year.  I ran a 1500 PR 3:45.98 which came only two days after my 800.  I was beat by Fraser Kegel out of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  I would say he is my Canadian rival now as you will see in the next race video where we meet again.

The 3rd PR (3:44.31) came in the Speed River Inferno Meet by New Balance at Varsity Stadium in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.  The facitlity itself was great!  There were weather delays due to severe thunderstorms and the temps dropped to the 50s which actually felt pretty decent to race in.  When I raced, there was a misty fog coming from the track which made it pretty epic as you will see in the video: http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/TrackieTV/2013-speed-river-inferno-mens-1500m-h3/2715/

After that race I had to drive back 4.5 hours to go to work in the morning.  I drove through parts of Michigan with tornado warnings and didn't get back until 2:30AM.  Work wasn't fun in the morning, but I was definitely happy hitting my first USA B Standard of 3:45.00 with my 3:44.31 race the night before.  Now it's back to training to keep working on my strength and finishing kick before the American Miler's Club Series.  My weekly mileage average this year has saw a healthy jump to nearly 46 miles per week, and by the time the year has come to an end, the average should be near 50 which would be great for me.  Continuing the Chase...