As an undergraduate history major at CU, these words gave me solace in
helping justify my chosen major. Along with my studies I was also a miler for the CU
track team, and while not a champion miler, I was a miler, and considered myself
fortunate to be so, in the way a Roman citizen considered it fortune enough to be a
citizen of the Empire. It was fortune enough to toe the line of the perfect distance,
than to be a champion at any other distance.

I’m excited to have a guest contribute to the blog. Zach Hancock is a friend, former University of Colorado miler and one of the truly unique minds I’ve meet in my life. You may or may not agree with his stance in this blog, but I hope you’ll appreciate the

In the eighties I was educated on the virtues of the mile by watching Coe and
Ovett compete for middle-distance world records and championships across Europe
and at the ’84 LA Games. I was educated in the sport by watching this rivalry, but
even more so my imagination for track and field was captured.
Coe and Ovett were a contrast in men who came from the same noble British
running tradition that had equipped Bannister to eclipse the four-minute mile at
hallowed Iffley field.

The point in this blog post is not whether the mile is the greatest distance,
nor whether Coe or Ovett was the bigger talent, better coached, or more likable
person, but that they were each made extraordinary having been informed by the
disciplined tradition of brilliant British milers, academic coaches, and running clubs.
Inspired to achieve greatness by those that went before them. Stepping onto the
track wearing the white singlet with blue and red stripe was indeed a noble act for
the British runners able to earn their spot.

In my own modest achievements as a miler, I was motivated to do so in large
part because I had found and hooked into the proud tradition of British milers in
sufficient measure to train, compete, and aspire to greatness. For me, Seb was the
pinnacle, the picture of perfection in the perfect race, long enough for foreplay and
tactics but not too long as to bore. Short enough for an intense unleash of speed. As
a ten year old in 1984, I watched Coe run to victory unaware of the British press, not
particularly informed of Ovett’s bronchial troubles, but at an elemental level I could
see the clean form and unmatched sheer speed contained within Seb’s light frame.
Beautiful running. And this is why I loved Seb best of all, spurring my imagination
through glorious victory, and so helping to motivate me to train and step onto the
track and race. Life is about significant inputs at just the right moment.

A vital ingredient in any training recipe should include an education of the
great traditions and individuals that have gone before. Without this knowledge we
risk remaining always children, if not in performance than certainly in appreciation
for the sport and therefore in ability to pass on to other generations inspiration and
aspiration for greatness. American track and field has not produced the middle-
distance champions we might have, not because of a dearth of talent, but because
we have not cultivated a tradition to draw upon, live within, and in so doing provide

an inspired culture of coaching and training. At the collegiate level there are a
handful of schools that head in this direction, notably the University of Oregon and
the city of Eugene, although this is special case that is at times overdone and a
curious phenomena of identity. On a smaller scale there are many high school
programs that cultivate what I might call, informed inspiration. At the national level
we still lag behind. Cicero would say, remove our ignorance and in so doing grow up.

1984 Olympic Men’s 1,500m final

BBC “Clash of the Titans

If you’re not familiar with Sara as a person, I think this interview is special. Hopefully fewer qualifiers in front of her name after this interview.

I’m blessed to know Sara and blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her for so long.

You can watch it here. After the add, scroll to the 2 hour, 6 min mark to watch the 5k.

Wow…

Renee ran 15:20 in this meet and won, which is my mind is just as important as the fact that 15:20 is just 5 seconds off her PR. She had to lead much of the race – though was able to follow a determined Julie Culley during two late, important laps – and I think that this is a better indication of her fitness than the two 5ks she had run earlier this year.

Sara has an 800m opportunity on Saturday and Renee has more options now than she did 2 days ago, which is always a good thing.

…back to camp…

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Luzern Meet
1. Dobriskey Lisa 83 GBR GBR 4:08.35
2. Uceny Morgen 85 USA USA 4:09.95
3. Byrne Deirdrd 82 IRL IRL 4:10.35
4. Stellingwerff Hillary 81 CAN CAN 4:10.70
5. Vaughn Sara 86 USA USA 4:11.39
6. McNeice Kelly 00 IRL IRL 4:12.74
7. Rhines Jen 74 USA USA 4:15.66
8. Augustin-Vogel Monika 81 LAR TV Windisch SUI 4:20.23
9. Dürrenmatt Sibylle 80 LV Langenthal SUI 4:23.24
10. Britton Fionnuala 84 IRL IRL 4:28.21

Interview with Renee, Culley and Donaghue

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Question: What did I think of Sara and Renee at USATF?

Short answer: a good weekend for Sara, yet we both know she had a really good shot to make the final, but she didn’t. Not a bad weekend for Renee, yet we are both mildly disappointed.

Longer answers: Sara’s second 800m race, the semis, at any championship, was 90% of a good race, yet she let them leave her at 120m (little mistake) and while she obviously had a lot left to bolt from lane 1 to lane 3 in the last 50m, she obviously thought she would just cruise in to get the 4th spot* (big mistake). Good news is I have no doubt that if and when she runs rounds again she won’t have this problem. Sara never made an NCAA final (’07 outdoors and ’08 indoors in the 1,500m); Sara is the same age as the college fifth year seniors; she now gets paid a bit to run; she has a couple more opportunities to run in Europe this summer. Basically, she and I have to consider this season up to this point a success, yet it’s hard to feel that way. But by the end of the week we’ll get back to work and then we both need to put this meet in context and see that her fitness is the best it’s ever been and that she can run PRs in Europe. The simi race is below.

*The athletes were initially told 4 would advance out of each heat, with no one advancing on time. But as you can hear in PA state in the video, that was incorrect and it was really three, three, and two; top three out of each heat and then the next two on time. Martinez advanced to the final because of the incorrect instructions, yet that made it sting a bit more for Sara since she was now the first on out.

Renee’s weekend isn’t as clear cut. She wanted to run the 1,500m prelim and then come back the next day to run the 5,000m final. Without
boring you with details, the two reasons to let he do it were that a) she felt that racing Thursday would calm her nerves before the 5k on Friday and b) I felt that she would recover decently well and that by running 1,500m rhythm the first day 74s and 75s (15:25 and 15:37 pace) would feel better for longer. What I was fairly certain would happen in the 1,500m prelim – especially when I saw she was not only in the 1st heat, but in Willard’s heat – was that it would be slow and then there would be a killer pace shift sometime past 800m. As you can see from these splits, she goes from a 72 to a 64-high in the middle of the race and that’s a skill that I knew she wouldn’t be prepared for as we had focused on shifting pace for the 5k race. Her last 400m split is really a decent 200m split followed by a final 200m where she packed it in. Not good, but not the end of the world…assuming that habit soon ceases.

The 5k? I’ll withhold comment until after the summer and a few more races in Europe, but I will say that I’m confident she can run with the women who as of today don’t get to run in Berlin. I have to be honest that while I feel very good about her general level of aerobic fitness, we’re running out of days to get specifically fit for sub 15:25 running and that we’re also running out of 1,500m and 5k opportunities. But, it’s obviously my job to take the long view and keep the past six months that we’ve been working together framed in the context of a 2012 cycle…as well as a decade more of running, if she’s up for it. Plus, we now knows the benefits to seeing each other face to face at practice vs. email and phone conversations. The reality is that running in the 15:30′s can probably be done via email, yet if she’s going to run to her potential then we’ll need to be together at practice.

Below is a snippet from her training document, detailing her “shake-out” on Friday, Saturday’s warm and cool (the cool was important as she had to be ready to run 65-66/2:12 the next day).

Fri_Sat_Sun

Before we go into the training, check out the races below as a preface to the training and if you have any questions please comment below and I’ll answer those for you in the coming days.

Payton Jordan Cardinal Invite – May 2nd 2009

Finals
1 Anna Willard Nike 4:06.90
2 Susan Kuijken Florida Stat 4:08.90
3 Sara Hall Asics 4:09.69
4 Amy Yoder-Begley Oregon Track 4:10.04
5 Sally Kipyego Love Athletics 4:10.09
6 Lauren Centrowitz Stanford 4:10.42
7 Julia Howard Nike 4:12.82
8 Brenda Martinez UC Riverside 4:13.58
9 Jen Rhines Adidas 4:15.43
10 Sara Vaughn Team Vaughn 4:15.65
11 Jordan Hasay Unattached 4:16.80
12 Morgan Uceny Reebok 4:20.70
— Ann Detmer Unattached DNF

USATF Road 1 Mile Road Championships – May 7th 2009

1 Shannon Rowbury San Francisco CA 24 F 4:33.4
2 Sara Hall Mammoth Lakes CA 26 F 4:39.1
3 Sara Vaughn Boulder CO 22 F 4:41.3
4 Racheal Marchand Iowa City IA 23 F 4:42.4
5 Meghan Armstrong Minneapolis MN 23 F 4:42.5
6 Ann Detmer Madison WI 23 F 4:43.8
7 Mason Cathey Indianapolis IN 27 F 4:45.6
8 Carrie Tollefson St Paul MN 32 F 4:46.9
9 Colleen Newhart Oak Park IL 28 F 5:07.1
10 Angee Henry Omaha NE 33 F 5:31.1