Freshmen

Most of my training partners were gone this week. They were off in Greensboro, NC trying to qualify for the NCAA Championships (a lot of them did, congrats to all the Columbia and Gtown kids who are flying out to Eugene in a week for NCs!), so I was left with but a few kids to run with.

They happened to be freshmen. The whole week I was running along with Andrew Springer and Bobby Peavey. I am five years older than these kids, so one would think that my maturity level may not necessarily mesh with theirs…but it was an AWESOME week.

It reminded me of my freshman year. My classmates and I were idiots. We were always scheming and planning something. Once, we planned a dinner date for the entire freshman class. It was going to be held at the famous (or more infamous) Columbia Cottage, a Chinese food place where free wine was served with dinner. We told everyone that they must dress nicely. Here is a quote from the invitation we sent out to the class of ’08: “A night of class, sophistication, and revelry. This is a formal affair in which you will dress appropriately and act in a proper and fair manner.” We went on to tell the girls that they would be paying for dinner since we took care of the wine tab beforehand. Somehow, people showed up even though as freshmen boys, we were clowns.

But Peavey and Springer aren’t really as big of idiots as I was, at least I don’t think so. Our runs were spent discussing video games (namely tetris, which apparently Springer is very good at). And in the process, Springer and Peavey tried beating me in some workouts.

Tuesday of this week was not an easy day for me. It was hot and humid, and I was doing a 5k workout; my least favorite type of workout. We were running 500, 1k, 500, 2k, 500, 1k, 500 all at 67.5 pace. Two minutes were allotted for resting between the intervals, which seems like a lot until you have just run a 2k in 5:37.

So we get through the 2k in 5:37, and Springer is looking good. Peavey’s foot is kind of bothering him, so he stops the workout. It’s just Springer and I (he’s legit, ran 4:02 for a full mile as a high schooler last year), and I do not run the 500 too well. I hit the pace, but struggle doing it.

Coach to me: “Can you finish this up, Liam?” Me to coach: “I don’t know.” And then I walk away from him to the start line for the 1k. I was straight hurting. Arms locking up, back arching, lactic acid filling my legs. Springer took us through the first 400: 67.1. I was hurting like hell, and definitely questioned dropping away from him. Then all of a sudden, I wasn’t anymore. I was just going to stay on him and finish this workout. We came through in 2:14 and finished up in 2:47. Then I led the last 500 and we ran 1:18 (62 through the quarter). I was done. But I had finished.

Two weeks ago I would have dropped out of the workout, but sometimes good things happen even when you feel terrible. The rest of the week went well, and now I’m getting stronger and stronger waiting for USAs.

My schedule is shaping up: I am going to be running an 800 at Indianapolis on the 12th of June and then gearing up for USAs after that (sorry to Ryan Pett, I definitely thought about the Tennessee Distance Classic, but its just not going to work out, thanks for the suggestion!). As always: Let’s Go!!

Ps – if you’re looking to read even more Liam Boylan-Pett, check out my latest PowerBar blog-post.