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Sheila Reid on her move to Oregon

Olympic 5K hopeful - Sheila Reid Photo by Claus AndersenSheila Reid, one of Canada’s top middle distance runners who has been based largely in Philadelphia, Pa. at Villanova University since she began her NCAA career there in the fall of 2007.

What has prompted the change in training environment?

The biggest thing that prompted my desire to find a new coach was to find someone who was dedicated to professional runners. Marcus O’Sullivan [Villanova’s track and cross-country program director and men’s coach] has been extremely accommodating, but his duties are to the Villanova team. Both he and my college coach, Gina Procaccio, were very encouraging when it came to my search.

I wanted the infrastructure that I took for granted while in university and I feel like I will have that in Eugene.

Why have you picked Oregon Track Club? What other groups were you considering, if you were?

I chose OTC because I felt like it was a place where I would have like-minded training partners, great training facilities and an excellent full-time coach.

I’ve also heard that there are some track fans out there…

You missed some time this indoor season due to injury. How is the training going now?

Training is coming along nicely, progressing each week. While I’m feeling very good at the moment, I continue to exercise caution. I’ve only ever had one major injury in my career and I treated that comeback with a lot of respect. I’m trying to use the same approach here, making a realistic racing plan for the summer that will progress me towards my ultimate goals in 2016.

What’s going to be largest difference from Philadelphia to the new environment?

I’ve so enjoyed getting to know Villanova and the surrounding mainline area. I love the city of Philadelphia, despite its surly reputation.

Eugene definitely has a reputation of being pretty progressive. I think that living in Oregon will be a refreshing change, but I will miss the east coast.

Goals for the season and upcoming year?

My main goal for the upcoming summer of racing is simply to stay healthy, which is boring, and trite, but staying healthy and training without interruptions is what ultimately yields big returns. A bolder goal would, of course, be to improve upon my times from last year.

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