My name is Mark Wieczorek (aka Wiz). I just wanted to introduce myself to anyone who doesn’t know me. I ran in college at Mid America Nazarene, which is a small NAIA school in Olathe, KS, where my best time was 148.07. Shortly after graduating college I ran in the US Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis where I ran qualified for the semi finals. Last year I trained under Gags as a part of Team XO and I lowered my pb to 147.14 at the Milers Series, which qualified me for the Olympic trials.

    This year I came back to Oregon to train with the OTC Elite, despite the departure of Gags (who really did a lot for me and made it possible for me to be able to continue my running career). With Gags leaving I was afraid I would slip through the cracks without Gags here looking out for me, but from the moment Coach Rowland showed up he has really taken an interest in my running career and helped further integrate me into the team, and after my first race he allowed me to officially join the team. I have been very fortunate that this year to have not gotten sick, and aside from a hamstring strain that put me out for a few weeks in the fall I have been injury free and able to keep my training going smoothly.

    I opened up the 2009 indoor season with races at the UW Invite and Husky Classic where I ran 148.43 and 148.27. My pre race goal before the first meet was to break 1:50 so I could qualify for US Indoors. I knew my fitness was definitely the best it has ever been but I was still really happy with the times I was running so it increased my excitement for nationals.

    For nationals, my big goal was to make the finals and then just run my best and I would be content with whatever happened (I really wanted top 3 as well but I didn’t know what to expect), as long as I got myself into the finals. I definitely felt a big difference dropping down to a 200-meter track, and it was my first time on a banked track. In the prelims I felt like I wasn’t running very efficiently and I wasted a lot of energy on the turns, and in the end it took much more effort to run the 1:49 than I thought it would, so I was pretty nervous in the finals. For the finals, my pre race plan was to settle in the back so I could just relax and gauge the pace of the race. I also felt like I wasn’t running very comfortably in the front of the pack in the prelims, especially with such a slow first 400 so I thought I could run better from the back. In the finals I think I came through the quarter around 55 mid to high and I was beginning to 2nd guess my decision to go out so conservatively. At the end of the 3rd lap I was feeling surprisingly good (I have always struggled with coming back the day after a race) so I just gave it all I had and I was really happy with how things turned out. I definitely like the direction Rowland is leading us and I think he has us on track have a great year, and I am very excited to see how far I can go this year.