GOUCHER NOW TRAINING UNDER SCHUMACHER
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

(24-Oct) -- Kara Goucher announced last night via her blog that she will stay in Portland, Ore., and be coached by Jerry Schumacher under the Nike Oregon Track Club Elite program.  Goucher had been without a coach since parting company with Alberto Salazar last month.

"Earlier this week I joined my new group," she wrote at Competitor.com.  "I am honored and excited to have been welcomed by Jerry Schumacher to join his group of the OTC Elite."

Under Schumacher, Goucher will train with rivals Shalane Flanagan and Lisa Uhl.  Both Flanagan and Goucher plan to run the Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston in January, while Uhl (the former Lisa Koll) will try to make her first Olympic team on the track next summer. 

Goucher, the 2008 USA Olympic Trials 5000m champion and the 2007 IAAF World Championships 10,000m bronze medalist, said that Flanagan and Uhl have welcomed her.

"I can’t tell you how welcoming Shalane and Lisa have been to me," Goucher wrote.  "Instead of feeling territorial or worried that I would disrupt their great dynamic, they have supported and encouraged me. It is like being in this sisterhood where you are dedicated to getting the best out of each other."

The full blog post is here: http://karagoucher.competitor.com/2011/10/23/change-is-hard/