Becoming a Runner

 Junior year: 2010-2011

The last thing I wanted for my transition from a non-runner to collegiate cross country runner was to be behind more than I already was. Sometimes you just get dealt the wrong hand. Due to my stress fracture, I missed out completely on pre-season training as well as the first few weeks of the actual season. So here I am falling further behind my already intimidating team mates.

I didn't know what I was getting into so I kept my goals simple. I had only two.
       1: Finish all of my races (with the exception of injury)
       2: NEVER take last place in a meet.

Pretty simple. And the fear of making a fool of myself drove me into training. I really didn't want to be the last guy across the finish line. Sure all of these other runners have been doing this for as many years as I had months, but they don't know that, and my male instinct is to not look weak in front of others. That being said, I had totally defied that instinct by trying this sport.

After healing up, I spent about three weeks getting fit before my first race. These workouts were kicking my butt but I was determined. After spending many years as a swimmer I was mentally tough enough to take on the practices. But physically my runner muscles were not prepared for the collegiate load. More than anything fear of looking weak drove me on in the first couple months.

Then my first race. I was not in the best physical shape yet but I needed to get racing. And if anyone has ever been "baptized in the fire" it was me. My first running race was one of the largest collegiate races in the country. Roy Griak Invite in Minneapolis. Hilly, slow, and competitive with a tight funnel start for over 300 guys. Races all day going all the way from DI to NAIA to high school. When it became time for our division's race I headed to the start with my two goals in mind. Our event was an 8K, 5 miles

Never having run a cross race before and hearing the horror stories about things getting physical at the start with athletes getting pushed around and spiked my start plan was to hang back and let the guys out front duke it out. I figured I'd save those physical starts for the many swim portions of triathlons to come.

After that I had no plan. I didn't know race strategy yet and I wasn't there to compete, I was just there for me. The only thoughts I had were go out strong, don't settle in the middle, and start that kick with about 2 minutes to go. Oh yeah, and don't finish last! After about a mile the pack began to thin out and I began to drift back but looking behind me a still had a fair few guys slower than me. As the race went on, however, I kept getting passed. The hills were killer! Miles 4 and 5 were slow and painful, but finally I finished in just under 37 minutes. As for my goals, they remained intact.

328 finishers. My place: 327

It wasn't the prettiest display, but it would do. I would go on to race the 8K four more times that season with the Griak meet being my worst time and worst finish at 2nd to last. I dropped time to get my PR in every race to follow, finally finishing the season with a 33:30 as my best. It was a tough road, but I was becoming a runner.

I would go on to compete in track, where I knew, in my 5K races of about 15 guys, last place was almost a sure thing for me, but I was okay with that. I was getting better every week and felt prepared to have some decent tri's in the summer of 2011. My track season best in the 5K was an 18:48. Things were falling into place.