Chapter 9: Sub Five
Outdoors,
I was finally able to wear our actual uniforms on a daily basis. It was pure
bliss.
I won’t
ever go as far as to say I dislike
indoor track, but every time the outdoor season rolls around I realize that I
merely tolerate indoors as my only reasonable winter alternative, short of
moving to Florida. Show me someone who likes indoor track better than outdoor
track and I will show you at least three different mental hospitals, which I
would be happy to point that person towards so he or she can seek help.
I was running
personal bests basically every week, enjoying the warmer weather and feeling
more comfortable with gradually breaking free of my freshman bubble. I was also
starting to understand the sport better than ever. The building blocks for
obsession were fitting together like Legos.
As a
perspective super fan, one of the more exciting moments of the year was when we
hosted the Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia Relay Meet
at our home track. Top talent from around the state came in to compete
including the Coatesville DMR that would go on to win Penn Relays[1] and an excellent Strath
Haven DMR featuring Rob Speare and Ryan Fink, two of the biggest success
stories at Outdoor States that season.
My 2007
outdoor track season also featured a new twist on an old challenge. During
indoor track, I raced exclusively 800s and 400s. There was a limit of one
athlete per event which left the junior varsity freshmen on a lot of 4x8s and
4x4s. Thus, when outdoor dual meets rolled around and the limits on entries
lifted, the coaching staff was able to spice things up and I made a return to
my first love, the signature event of distance running: the mile.
I
quickly lowered my PR in the mile from just below 6 minutes down into the 5:20s
at Springfield High School. After dipping down to 2:21 for 800m on our home
track, I found myself eyeing a previously unthinkable minute barrier in the
mile of 5-minutes.
5
minutes is the last barrier most runners get to break in the four-lapper and
it’s usually a pretty special mark for freshmen and sophomores[2]. A sophomore on our team,
Andrew Gourlay, had run 5:00 in the mile a couple times already between indoors
and outdoors, including at least one mark at 5:00.0. Finally, enough was
enough. At our Methacton dual meet he dropped his PR down into the low 4:50s
for his first ever sub 5. But he wasn’t done. At the Trojan Track Classic, held
at Wissahickon just a week or two later, he dropped his time all the way down
to 4:39. In a span of less than a month, Gourlay went from struggling to break
5 minutes, to being a legit scoring threat at the upcoming conference meet in
the 1600m[3].
I felt
a sub 5 mile would transform me from awkward freshman to respectable runner. It
was my strongest desire and, given my personality, it wasn’t long before I was
obsessed. I wrote down splits in my notebook trying to figure out the optimum
pacing and discussed my ideas with my best friend Todd, who was chasing the
barrier with me[4].
Our
last chance would be the dual meet against Cheltenham. Todd, Brian Lee and I
were all entered in the 1600 meters with the hopes that one of us would have a
break through. It was a perfectly sunny day, a bit hot overall, but good track racing
weather.
I got
set on the line with my competitors and then the long awaited race began. After
my slow start indoors, I had beaten these two fellow freshmen fairly
consistently during the spring. As far as I was concerned I was better, and if
anyone was going to break 5, it was going to be me. However, confidence is a
dangerous weapon. You need confidence to push yourself past your body’s natural
limits, but overconfidence and a false sense of entitlement can leave you
vulnerable to an upset. In the sport of track and field, there is always
someone chasing you.
I took
it out hard the first half and Brian came with me. Then he continued on as I
started to slowly fall apart. By the last lap, it was clear he was going to
beat me. Todd came next. He passed me and on the final lap, he pulled away.
When the clocks stopped it was Brian at about 5:04, Todd roughly four seconds
behind him and then me at 5:12.
It was
the perfect wake up call. All indoors I had been chasing my classmates, trying
to claw my way back to their level. When I caught them, I became complacent. I
stopped doing the chasing.
But
perhaps more importantly, I learned to be realistic. I don’t remember exactly
what my PR was before this race, but it was no faster than around 5:18 and may
have even been in the 5:20s. If I continued to set goals that I had no chance
of achieving, every race would be a disappointment.
Everything
in running is about balance. You must balance confidence with humility and
dreams with reality. However, no matter how much you learn or grow, when you’re
competitive, nothing stings more than losing.
So the
summer of 2007 was a very, very long summer.
[1] I wanted to write about this DMR,
but decided that would be too much DMR talk back to back. The short version for
those perspective super fans like me: The Dawson brothers return for
Coatesville to try and steal the throne back from newly crowned national champs
West Chester Henderson. The roll through the opening part of the race and get
the stick to Kyle Dawson with a nice lead. Just like Ferry and Aldrich before him,
Dawson holds the lead for a while before an absurd 4:04 anchor leg from Craig
Forys gets Colts Neck within sniffing distance of the title. Rallying, Dawson
sprints away and holds on for the Wheel with a 4:15 split of his own.
[2] That being said, the best “first
time sub 5” race I’ve ever seen was between a junior and a senior on my high
school squad (Ed Brown and Charlie Smugar). It’s still one of the best races
I’ve had the chance to witness. You don’t have to be the fastest kid to be
inspiring.
[3] This was the first time I heard of
the magic of the Trojan Track Classic. In addition to Gourlay’s astounding
4:39, our senior leader Joe Dorris ran 9:26 there to beat Teddy Miller and set
the school record in the 3200. From then on I was fascinated with the concept
of “running under the lights”. As you will see when this story progresses, that
magic is real.
[4] My idea of optimum
pacing has changed drastically since my freshman year. Back then it was just
assumed I was going to have a massive positive split, but by the end of my
final season of college in the 800m, I would run my laps close to dead even.
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