Nationals and the Midnight Mile

Even though I’m replaced, I’m still better in this current state than anyone but the newly crowned top7. So, coach keeps my ticket and I’m off to Waverly, Iowa for Nationals. If someone gets sick, breaks their leg, etc, I’m in.

My legs are an insurance policy for a disaster, so as far as I’m concerned I can just enjoy the ride and stay fresh in case of a random occurrence of failure.

The trip is fun. If there’s anyone who can enjoy a well-run and talent-filled meet, it’s me. I eat this shit up every day, so nothing is better than seeing it in person.

The guys run solid, but not spectacular. Bennett runs the best, hands down. Good choice on coach’s part. Despite that, he gets ~180th/290 runners. If I had a great day, I would’ve been right with him. It’s a humbling experience for sure.

19th as a team / 32. Top20 in the country sounds better.

The girls are the same, except our #1 girl Jenn who gets 7th. 7th! Can you believe that? Ridiculous. She has one more year too. We may be looking at a national champ. She’s tough as nails, if there’s anyone I would peg to do it in track or cross, it’s her. Maybe the 10k on the track would suit her better, I don’t know. We’ll see.

20th as a team / 32. Top 20 in the country definitely sounds better.

After the long, fun weekend we come back and that’s it. Cross Country is over for another year. As my teammates who didn’t run past the conference meet start running again, and the top guys take some well earned time off, they slowly start fixing their eyes on track.

I’m already there.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of racing cross country. But it doesn’t even come close to how I feel about racing track. It’s pure, it’s fast, and it’s just. plain. fucking. awesome. I could talk all day about it so I’ll leave it at that.

After the Nationals meet the conference gets together at Occidentals track to run a midnight mile. It’s just what it sounds like. An all-out, no holds barred, mile that starts at the stroke of midnight. I’m thinking anything under 4:25/6 would be a success.

I run 4:20 with erratic splits of 63-67-68-62, and almost win the damn thing.

I meet with coach the following day, and we talk about this upcoming track season. We argue about the which direction to go, he listens and modifies what I say. I do the same.

A tentative schedule is set. A little deviant from the norm, but hey, there is no one-size-fits-all in running. The only thing that we agree on fully is that proper mileage is very important, and that I can’t be 178 lbs again. Stick to the 160 I am now.

He also tells me that if I don’t run under 3:55 in the 1500m this spring that we’ve done something wrong.

And we lay out a long term plan to run well under 3:50. We conclude that my speed is almost right to do it, but my endurance is not.

“You have to be able to run all of these: 49 400m, 1:51 800m, and sub25 8k XC. When you do that, you can do it.”

I’ve developed a very solid base under me, and now its time to carry it for a few more months as I gradually shift to speed.

I’ll post my workout schedule when It’s ready.

Like and plan, it has to be carefully planned, edited, and sent to the higher-ups for proofreading.

But man, when I slipped those Nike Victories (my favorite track spikes) on for the first time since May, I couldn’t help but smile.

Here we go.