Renewed Purpose

by Antonio Vega on September 12, 2012

About a month ago, I moved back to the Twin Cities from Des Moines to rejoin Team USA Minnesota. It’s great to be back and training in my hometown again. For the first time in many months, I can report that my training has been going well. I’m in surprisingly good shape and have a renewed sense of purpose with my running. My enthusiasm for training has returned and I find myself looking forward to every practice to see how hard I can push myself and what new goals I can accomplish. It’s a great feeling to have again.

The other big change in my life is I have taken a head cross-country coaching position at one of the local high schools. This is a new frontier for me as it is my first coaching opportunity and dealing with runners of every level and the responsibility that goes along with it is new to me.

Last week we had our first home meet of the season. One aspect of coaching which I never considered before was just how difficult and how much is involved in putting together a little cross-country meet.  The major challenge for me was constructing a 2-mile course in a park that was no bigger then a 1 ½ miles around. It took me several hours of walking around the park with a meter wheel and a can of spray paint to measure and complete the course. It might not have been the most scenic looking or the fastest cross-country course in the city, but it was done in time for my runners and the other team to compete. And doing so, definitely gave me a new level of appreciation for anyone that has ever organized a race.

What with my new coaching responsibilities and my improved level of training, my life has suddenly become busy again. I’ve felt so good that I’ve been training with Andrew Carlson who is getting ready to run the New York City Marathon.  Andrew and I were teammates at the University of Minnesota and running together has given us time to rehash the old days of college running.

Even though my fitness is returning, I don’t have any racing plans on the horizon. Right now, I am just looking to get back into racing shape. That will come soon enough and when I do, I can start thinking about racing again. I know patience is important, but I still look forward to the day when I can toe the line again.

I can’t wait for that day.

Antonio