Entry #1
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
‘Ello Pilot Fans,
This article is brought to you by Josh Gorecki; a Brit, a long distance runner, a Pilot, overall fan of athletics and an occasional MBA student. I arrived in Portland back in August, solely to become a cog in one of the best endurance running machines in the NCAA. Over the coming weeks, I will break down what life as a student-athlete is like at UP, I'll dip in and out of our training philosophies and generally provide an insight into the infrastructure of the team and how we like to operate. Let’s get to it.
The start of 2013 saw the Pilots embark on a collection of newly set goals, aspirations and an exciting new training program! It is an exhilarating time of year emanated by the potential of not just a few, but a whole cluster of budding talent looking to make the national championships on the outdoor circuit.
Less than a month into the training regime and the team has already revelled in the successes of a few athletes achieving in both cross country and the indoor track circuit. Special mentions must be given to Griffin Hay and Aiden Irish for their personal records in the 5000m (14.52 and 14.35 respectively), along with the efforts of Danny Martinez, Alex Dillard and Alex Bowns who represented the University strongly at the USATF Junior XC Nationals!
The next few months will see various Pilots tackle an array of disciplines; ranging from Izaic Yorks opening his NCAA track bank account in the 1500m, 5th year Jared Basset who will look to capitalize on his threatening pre-season ranking in the steeplechase, to Scott Fauble and David Perry who have the potential to make an impact in the 10k!
No glory will be achieved without intricate planning and hard work however! Throughout the first few weeks Rob Conner’s men have started out sensibly, running on a dose of solid mileage and conservatively run workouts, with the aim of intensifying the workload as the weeks tick by! The products of the team’s consistent effort and dedication will look to emerge as we enter the dying weeks of March and those of early April. One thing is for sure though, uniting under the banner of team work will “share the load and multiply success!” TIME TO GET IN SHAPE!!!
Yours in Purple,
Josh Gorecki
