From 1996-1998, my running really started to take off. I think it was a combination of things, from finally having a few years of consistent training under my belt, to working harder than ever, to simply being at a good point in life. I also got up the nerve to seek out some advice from Steve Taylor and Howard Nippert, who I found to be quite nice and more than happy to help. I ran under 55 min at the Virginia Ten Miler in Lynchburg in the fall of ’97 (no easy feat if you know anything about that course) and also ran a 1:11 half marathon at the Star City race, again no easy feat if you know the old course. In the spring of ’98, I set 3k and 5k PR’s, including a 15:22 on the track at Duke that April. For a guy who never broke 16 min while in college, I was definitely making huge progress and was pretty excited about it.
During the summer, I decided to enter the Running Journal Grand Prix Series, something I had heard about because local runner Jeff Stone, who I had run with for several years, had recently won the Master’s category. With my motocross background, the idea of a series was very appealing to me, and I thought it would be fun to see if I could place in my age group. The first race was the Parkersburg Half Marathon in Parkersburg, WV, which just so happened to be the US National Championship race at the time. I toed the line that late August morning with some of the best runners in the country. It was awesome just looking across the starting line and seeing all these guys I read about and watched on television. When the gun fired and we set off, it didn’t take long for me to realize this wasn’t a local road race. I found myself in probably 50th place (or worse) and just a sea of humanity behind me. As the race went on, I started running with a guy who was sponsored by Reebok (their sponsored athlete’s uniforms were rainbow colored at the time and therefore very hard to miss). It sort of boggled my mind that here I was going stride for stride with this sponsored athlete and feeling pretty good while doing it. I hit ten miles in a PR time of just over 54 min, still feeling strong. Shortly thereafter the hills, heat, and hot pace (for me) got to me though, and I started to struggle. The last 3 miles were a death march, and I got passed by quite a few people, but when all was said and done I finished 42nd in 1:12 and change.
Now some might say that was a decent result, especially since I hadn’t done a lot of half marathon training that summer, knowing I wanted to race deep into the fall and most of my races would be of the 5k-10k variety. I was pretty disappointed, however, and this was the final motivation I needed. Getting a taste of running with sponsored athletes left me wanting to get better, so I set a plan in motion. I had reached out to Howard and Steve for coaching advice, but I had also gotten to know George Probst after being thrashed by him at numerous local races, so I decided to see if I could actually train some with those guys. They were more than happy to have me join them for Sunday long runs and whenever else I wanted and not only did I get in some great runs, but I gained a whole new perspective on what it took to be a great distance runner. Sure there was talent involved, but these guys worked HARD. They were tough as nails too, physically and mentally. I picked their brains whenever I had the chance, and I began to run some of the same workouts they were doing. I also started running twice a day, a completely foreign concept to me but a staple of serious distance training.
By the time 1999 rolled around, I was a completely different runner. Not only was I fitter but I had a whole new attitude. In the past I had always felt like I was incapable of doing certain things and beating certain people. My new training partners had taught me that this very attitude was holding me back, so I became much more aggressive and developed a chip, of sorts, on my shoulder. I still knew my place in the pecking order, but I was much more confident that I could mix it up with just about anyone that I would actually be racing and hold my own. Before I knew it, I was running times I had never even thought about. Low 32 min for 10k became average for me, and I went under that mark several times over the next few years in addition to setting PR’s at every other distance I raced. I was doing tempo runs faster than my PR's of a year or two before. Also, as for the Running Journal Series where my original goal was to simply place in my age group. Well, I led the entire thing most of the way and just got edged out at the end, finishing second in the Men's Open Division. This led to me getting invited runner status at several races, which included free hotel rooms at places like the Hyatt and Hilton. Definitely more added motivation.
There was only one problem though. I knew that I was getting better because I was training harder. What I didn’t know was there was a limit to it. In other words, at some point it becomes counter-productive. 90 miles might be better than 80 and 100 might be better than 90, but 110 isn’t necessarily better than 100 (or 90 better than 80 for that matter) if your body can’t handle it. Next up, May of 2002, when it all came crashing down.
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