4 Minute Mile

Looking run a sub 4 mile on the track before I hang up my spikes for good. “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

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4 years ago today my legs carried me to a sub 4 mile!

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Summer 2016 with Dusty Solis

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Track time

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Living with Elite Marathoner’s

Was just thinking about what it is like living and training with talented marathoners.

It feels humbling and disheartening at the same time. 

Its humbling because I eat what they eat, I train like they train, I put on one shoe at a time just like them. If they start picking up the pace mid-run, I am right there with them, stride for stride. These similarities, even though seemingly trivial, are the building blocks for confidence. Its easy to draw the conclusion “If he can run xyz and I run with him...” Motivation by association.

Although, the downside is no matter how good I feel, they seem to be able to push the pace a bit further. We did a 12 mile run awhile back, I was feeling great. Cruising conversation pace @ 6flat per mile. We turn around 5:55, 5:50, 5:45, 5:40, .... conversation died. We close in 5:25 and somehow, after a great run, I still feel slow comparatively, next to this stud. He went out for another run that evening, while I recovered doing easy jogs for the next few days. It was like he was Bruce Denton, that run was just one drop into a bucket filled with water. His training was daily pain, an accumulation of relentless training which is his life. I was batman and he was bane, he was born in darkness, I was just visiting.

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The pre-run warm up

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Week 1 in the altitude tent complete. Don’t feel any different except it getting really hot inside. Just going to keep acclimating. Currently at 6,000 ft and rising.

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Are you still running ? I see you no longer post Olympic aspirations on this board.

Yes, still running.

Olympics was a real long shot. I was hoping to make a trials standard for 1500m and was far off from that as well. 

Struggling with injuries, money, time, effort, it just didn’t transpire. If everything had gone perfectly then maybe I think I could have squeezed by and had a shot. 

For now though, I am just aiming to get myself into great shape, to go after a few sub 4 attempts on the track before I stop running competitively. 

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WOOOH! 

Didn’t get my name exactly right but who cares GOING TO TRINIDAD!

Last year Jamaica, this year Trinidad!

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The Rye Derby 5 miler! Fantastic course, beautiful weather, and veggie burgers post race. What more could a runner ask for!

First race this season (was chasing some prize money finished one spot out of the money which seems to be my MO). Pretty happy to be able to open up with 25:52 after 2 months of getting back into it. I can feel my fitness coming along nicely. Another month or two, I will be ready to start rolling.

Didn’t think I would say this, but 5:10 pace for 5 miles didn’t feel so bad. Didn’t think I was in that kind of shape. I wouldn’t say it was easy, especially since I consider myself to be more of a mid distance track guy, but I thought that pace for that distance, would feel a lot harder. Glad to know I am in better shape than I thought.

In other news, I got the altitude all setup (Thanks Thad! Wherever you are). Ordered a new filter and tube, will start sleeping in it shortly when the parts arrive. I have never slept in one of these before, so I am excited to see the effects it will have. Going to start low at 1k feet and slowly build my way up. Hoping in three months, at ten hours a night, @ 8k to 10k feet, I will be kicking some serious ass.

The tent is massive, nearly takes up my whole room, will post pictures soon. it fits my queen size bed, with room to spare.

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My boy Harbert placing 15th at Boston!

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Running form is looking good

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“The progress principle” suggests that we receive more happiness from making progress toward our goal than we do from achieving a goal.

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White water rafting down the Nile. I was so sick for this, but I pulled through.

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Back to Training

Had a rough few weeks with training. Was wrestling myself to get out the door. Almost quit running competitively altogether. 

It started with two bad performances indoors. I was feeling exceptionally tired and closed horribly for my mile race. In retrospect, I think this was due to going vegan. I felt great the first 5 months, but month 6 got to me. Slowly breaking me down. I decided to take off a week until I could gain back my energy.

It is very challenging to be a vegan and elite runner. Not impossible, but definitely more difficult. I have since decided to incorporate some chicken back into my diet. So I will be mostly plant based foods, besides the occasional chicken.

When I went to Uganda, I was going to wake up early and hit the roads before our library visits, but we were waking up so early, and traveling so far, that it proved to be very difficult. I ran only once, and it was painful. Didn’t help that I didn’t know Uganda was at altitude. Altitude, combined with the heat, traveling for 33 hours from NYC, and dehydration, left me riding the struggle bus. It also left a very bad taste for running.

I started questioning the selfish pursuits of running and the opportunity costs of all the things I could be doing with my time. After all, I could be helping kids get access to books and doing some really great work for mankind. But here I am spending every ounce of energy on myself trying to break the 4 minute mile.The more I thought, the more I was convinced, I was going to pursue other endeavors.

Ironically, the last day in Uganda, after consuming all the local foods I could get my hands on, I ate some pasta that got me sick. Really sick. By the time I got back to the states, I was in no condition to even go for a jog. So there I was out for 3+ weeks. Determined not to make a come back.

But last Saturday, I woke up early, meditated, and got started on my new personal affirmation/mantra. Who do I want to be now? What do I want to do? What should I set myself to achieve? I sat there in the quiet and thought.  

I have been running competitively for 10 years. 10 years. I have been waking up early, running before people wake up, running before work, running at midnight, running in the snow, running sick, running in heatwaves. Always running. Always chasing something. And to always be chasing something for so long can be exhausting. And I was most definitely tired.

I thought about the bad. It thought about all the good too. I thought about never lacing up to run 400′s on the track again. I thought about how I broke the 4 minute mile.  I thought about the feeling of being in phenomenal shape, and never being there again.

Could I look back and say I was satisfied with what I have accomplished? Of course not. I don’t think I ever will either. Its just the nature of track and field, but I most definitely didn’t feel I reached my potential. 

What If I gave it one more shot? Next few months to seriously train, and then be OK with whatever I accomplish. Fuck it. What’s a few more months? I have already come this far.

That morning I went to Weschester, I ran a workout with the Million Wolde, the 5k gold medalist at the 2000 Olympic games. He’s roughly 40 now, and I was out of shape. We were perfectly matched fitness wise. After a few reps, I started asking him questions. 

I asked him if he ever just wanted to quit. And he laughed, he said “yes all the time”. I laughed to myself.

On the way home from practice, Thad’s mom called coach. Thad had left his altitude tent in a storage facility. His mom was getting rid of the storage. So she asked if we wanted a free altitude tent. This thing is worth $3,000 dollars. Not kidding. So we went and picked it up. Now I have an altitude tent. Cool.

Oh and we have a new temporary roommate. His name is Girma, hes from Ethiopia but grew up in Kenya. He’s run 13:17 for 5k and 62:16 for half marathon. So hes training with me now (just easy runs because I am way out of shape). 

One decision to keep running snowballed into this.

All of a sudden I feel like I am back in the game. I am excited and refreshed. I feel like shit on my runs, and getting back into shape is tough, but I feel mentally rejuvenated. I am ready to give this one last go. 

Thanks for reading :)