Under Armour professional athlete Rachel Schneider, who ran the second-fastest 10,000-meter debut by an American female competitor in history with her victorious 31:09.79 effort Dec. 5 at the Sound Running Track Meet, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to reflect on her first race in 296 days and leading eight women in the race to achieving the Olympic standard. Schneider shares the relief of having Olympic standards in multiple events and how significant it is for her to possess the versatility of competing at an elite global level in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000. She expresses gratitude for her first outdoor race since last year's World Championships in Doha, Qatar, as well as the chance to compete in such deep field that produced 12 sub-32 performances and had 17 American female athletes qualifying for the Olympic Trials in June. Schneider also shares how thankful she has been to be coached and mentored the past nine years by Mike Smith, in addition to being inspired by his leadership with the Northern Arizona program. She also revisits the success Lumberjack athletes had at the Sound Running Track Meet, including Luis Grijalva winning the 5,000 and Abdihamid Nur prevailing in his section of the 10,000. Schneider examines how impressive the culture of distance running is in Flagstaff, and how meaningful it was to see six athletes who train in the community representing Under Armour or HOKA ONE ONE Northern Arizona Elite achieve the Olympic standard. She analyzes the formation of the new Under Armour sponsored Dark Sky Distance group in Flagstaff, and the occasional opportunity to train with Sharon Lokedi and first-year professional Weini Kelati, who also earned the Olympic standard in the 10,000 race. Schneider also speaks about the inspiration gained from training with Sara Hall and Diane Nukuri, and her excitement for the Dec. 20 Marathon Project. She shares how significant it has been to have her sister Kathy now living in Flagstaff, along with having the opportunity to connect with fellow athletes through her new Joy Run Training virtual platform.