Knock Knock- Mac Miller
A little bit of my dweeby side coming out, but the song is catchy and the way I look at it, we are knocking on the door of 2012 as I write this.
2011 was a year of high hopes and expectations and also a year of many changes. As 2011 began I could wonder was if it would be better than a emotionally draining 2010. To be honest it was a much better year. I still had a couple of rough patches, but that is life.
I began by moving back to Spokane to train with my old coach Chris Zeller and my teammates at Eastern Washington. The team has some real studs and I was hoping that training with them would give me a fresh start on my training that had been slightly screwed up after leaving college. I would return to Cheney on the eve of the Eagles football team claiming the National Championship. It was great to be with friends again and I was excited for the year to commence. Training was going great and I once again felt alive when I was doing workouts. I felt fresh for the first time in months. Because of this I set my race schedule in place. I would race only 3 times before my goal marathon of Grandma's Marathon in June. Things would go great and mileage would be high until I caught the flu in mid March. This set me back as I missed a few workouts and upon coming back I would injure a sore hamstring. I had to take another week off because of this and went into my second race Bloomsday under trained and weary of a sore hamstring. The race itself was a disaster as I struggled from the get go and never caught a rhythm. However, the race itself would help me refocus and get ready for the USA 25k Championships a couple of weeks later. I went to Grand Rapids with hopes to just bounce back and give me some confidence going into Grandma's. I would be fortunate enough to have my best race since college and finished 11th, less than 30 seconds out of the top 10 after spending most of the race in 16th and in no mans land. After the race I would meet a key person who would help change my life. Jennifer Houck is a rising star and complete stud in the women's marathon. (I am willing to say she has a shot at shocking people here in a couple of weeks at the US Olympic Trials). We became good friends and she helped me out as I was struggling to figure out plans for Grandma's. Training between the 25k and Grandma's would be sporadic as I had to balance long hours at work with my sharpening phase of my training. I still put in workouts, but some just sucked.
I went to Minnesota for the Grandma's Marathon with high hopes. I had visions of qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Instead I left with my tail between my legs and my head who knows where (most likely up my ass, but what can you do). The weekend started off great as I met a guy who I had been in touch with before about a training group, but it hadn't worked out. Enter, Mike Reneau. He would run the half marathon that weekend, but I still got to run a little with him, (he is central figure number two in my major life change). Jennifer would finish as the second American woman and would lower her PR, which I was excited for, but its hard to keep excitement when you drop out of a race. It was a race I had trained six months for. SIX MONTHS. I felt completely discouraged dropping out, even though it was a good decision. I felt my hamstring begin hurting at 12 miles and at the half marathon point I felt a weird sensation, and not a good one. I tried to push through hoping that it was a small phase, but after two miles it kept getting worse and I dropped out.
I came back to Spokane discouraged. It was now summer break for my college friends and what better way to recover than to party right? To be completely fair I had a great time and learned something, but I will get to that in a bit. I spent a lot of time drinking. Most nights I wouldn't stop until I had passed out. I would wake up the next morning, go for a run, go to work and repeat. Not exactly the healthiest of lifestyles for someone who still wanted to make the Olympic Trials. I had become the person I had never wanted to see myself become, but it was also an eye opener for me in a sense. Mid way through what I will probably title: 2011 the Summer of the Binge, I got a message from Jennifer asking how I was doing. I let her know that running was just something I was doing and that maybe I would try for a fall half marathon. She asked if she could help and I said if she knew of any sponsors or people on a team that would have me I could use that. This is where Mike comes in. He was looking to move back to Minnesota and told me there was a lot of guys to train with there. I pondered it for awhile. I also pondered while drinking still. I decided to ask my parents advice. They told me that as long as I had a job they would support me in trying to continue to run. Jennifer helped get me in touch with some local running stores and by Mid September I would hop a plane to Minnesota.
It has been one of the most drastic changes I have ever made. It has also been one of the most rewarding changes. I have met great people here. I have a great job. I have someone to train with nearly every day. Although I did not run as well at the Club Cross Country Championships in Seattle as I would like to have, I still improved on a short training cycle. My running is continuing to come back into form. I am happy again. I miss my college friends and my family, but they are supportive so it makes the transition easy.
I have also made the goal of changing the way I live. I decided after the marathon to change who I am friends with. I no longer want to be around people who are negative. It brings my mood down and it makes living and dreaming no fun. I have big dreams and goals. I will chase them for as long as I can. I can only do this with people who believe in me and support me. If you are reading this, you are most likely one of those people. I thank all of you who continue to support me even when things seem like a pile of shit for me.
As for 2012, the dreams are big, but I will achieve them. I am proud to announce that I will start 2012 right as I signed a contract to be a part of the Brooks ID Elite running program. It has always been a brand I have loved and trusted and I look forward to representing them well both on and off the track. I hope you all have a safe and happy New Years and look forward to sharing many great memories with you this upcoming year!
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