Sub 5 Dreaming

Life

Well, this has been a long time coming!

The last few years of my running have been all over the place. There's much to say. I've done a lot of healing over the past 5-6 years: going back to church, putting down the running shoes for a bit, expectations, pride, going to counseling, paying off debt and more; it’s been a journey.

I've always loved running. It has been really tough not achieving the results I thought I was capable of for the majority of my running career. It's hard to be one of those people you hope not to be when you're young and getting after it. For years I had wondered what it was like to always be injured, or to not improve for years. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was coming down the pipeline.

In short, my running career has not been great. It's been good, great at times, but mostly disappointing with few tastes of excitement. Not to take away from the good parts, but I just thought I'd have a lot more wins than I do.

I'm definitely a redemption story type of guy. My favorite scenes are the 14th round of Rocky, Sam picking Frodo up on Mount Doom, and Captain America picking up Thor's Hammer and eventually facing an impossible army by himself a few minutes later. I like the underdog and comeback stories. They are emotional and hopeful.

So in some ways, I'm thankful for my story and how it unfolded. It just doesn't have the showcase like those movies have. I have great people in my life and many who've supported me along the way, but I have to live with the results. Even though I never gave up, I wish my personal bests were faster. At this point, I figured I'd have a couple of solid marathons under my belt and much more.

But here I am.

Running History

About 2 years ago, a roommate of mine, Willie Moore, and I would joke about my comeback. One of those jokes was breaking 5 in the mile again. At one point, I ran an 8k cross country race in 25:06. That's 5:02 per mile. In college I ran a 6 x 1 mile workout and averaged about 4:57 per mile. There's many more stats to my history, many that are really fun -

I strung together a consistent, innovative winter of training in my final year of college. I ripped off personal bests of 8:35 and 14:55 for 3k and 5k - a moment of serenity in the eye of the storm. The storm resumed for the outdoor track season as I began to learn of my autoimmune problems that set me back for years (not just with running).

So to say, even still at the youthful ages of 33-35, my goal was to just break 5 minutes one time. This was really tough to comprehend. At some point in life, you just can't do that anymore, but I originally thought that'd be in my 40's.

Sub 5 Attempts

Thanksgiving 2020: A sub 5 attempt on a downhill road (75 feet net downhill at 6,000 ft altitude). I had 4 pacers and finished in 5:04. That was a great attempt. With my training I can look back at that and give myself some praise that it was a good run despite not hitting the goal.

In 2021, I had more setbacks than planned and just couldn't keep things consistent enough to really feel confident to go at it.

2022: We still had the goal in the back of our minds. I definitely did. The year didn't start out great, but I was still putting in good workouts. Most importantly, I felt like I was really close to a good stint of healthy training. It didn't end up being great, but it sufficed.

In early March, my roommates were talking of going to Cali for track races. Now, April in Cali is where you go to run fast on the track. It's huge in college, and many pros do this as well. The weather is phenomenal, the energy is electric, and it's just plain fast.

I didn't expect myself to go, but Willie asked me, jokingly I might add, "Wilson, you want to go?!" I said yes, and the energy shifted. I got a bit nervous again. I was putting myself out there. I was going to fly to Cali to try and break 5 minutes in the mile. At these track meets, that's very slow for men. For track post high school you typically do the 1500 which is 109 meters short of a mile.

A Weekend in LA

A month later, we flew out there. I was excited to see my roommates and friends race. Plus we had some UCCS athletes out there and they really got after it. It was so much fun watching them race!

Intro acts for the weekend: Willie ran a 14:02 5k. Sick. Afe ran a 13:44 5k. Stupid Fast. Evan ran a 3:45 1500. Enough said. Oh and Willie ran a 3:48 1500 the next day. Crazy double.

Future Elmwooders Cade Michael and Jojo Dicke also competed that weekend. Cade completed an insane double running 8:55 3k steeple and 14:06 5k on back-to-back days. Jojo ran a blistering 9:00 for 3k steeple and paced a heat of the 1500 the next day. Zev, another roommate, dropped out of his 10k due to heat and terrible cramping. However, he was able to enter my 1500 heat, running under an alias of a friend who scratched. All of this was a precursor for the main event of the weekend: Heat 5 of the Long Beach 1500 :)

Btw: the race was pushed back a whole day while we were out there! This is extremely uncommon.

The Race

75 degrees and sunny...familiar pre race nerves…caffeine and adrenaline counteracting the rough night of sleep on a friends floor…

In the blink of an eye, I have my #EAT jersey on, and I'm doing strides. At 34 years old, in the slowest male heat probably in all the track meets in LA that weekend. But I was pumped. I got my shades on, took a few deep breaths and all the sudden the gun went off…

All of a sudden I fell in love with the sport again. Each lap meant something to me. I got to 700 meters in and knew I was going to run well. I waited 200 more meters to start pushing and when I hit the bell lap, I put it out there. My last lap was roughly 67 seconds. I don't think I had run a 67 sec quarter in years.

My time: 4:36. Just typing this made me emotional. I did it. For those that don't know, this time would equate to about a 4:55 mile. Well below my goal.

My roommates and Callum might I add, went nuts. Zev ran out of his comfort zone that day finishing in 4:22. He's more of a distance guy, with a 1:10:56 half marathon personal best (5:24 mile pace). He was working on speed and has much more in the tank for shorter races.

A couple hours later, we were celebrating at Long Beach. Great place to be.

In my running circle, this time is just not fast. For me, on that day though, it was perfect. We all figured if I broke 4:40 that would be the best case scenario.

Context

I ran a 5:04 downhill mile on Thanksgiving 2020. In February 2022, about 7 weeks before the 1500, I raced a mile on the UCCS indoor track. I ran 5:22. The NCAA conversion calculator would convert that to a 5:09 mile at sea level (equivalent to a 4:48 1500). Clocking 4:36 for a sea level 1500 was an incredible performance for me on the day.

Two weeks post 4:36 1500, I went back to the same mile road from Thanksgiving 2020. Willie paced and Zev/Josh rode in a car in front of me. I didn't even feel that great, but I went 4:54! When I got done and saw my watch, I immediately got emotional. I put my hands up and looked back at all 3 guys and knew how special this moment was.

Reflection

The fact that I have people in my life that dream of this - the coveted sub 5 minute mile, reminds me of how special the sport of running is. The people in it have changed my life. I now look at my running much differently. I do it because I love it. It's not my identity but it's a part of it. I like fitness, I like lifting, I love running and I want to put my head down and burn for the rest of my life. No matter how fast I go, how much weight I lift or what brick wall is in front of me. I'll figure out a way to climb it.

I don't know how people go through life not challenging themselves and being challenged by those around them. I'm so thankful to have had the people in my life for many of these reasons.

Life is a pretty amazing thing. It's hard, but so sweet. Especially when you find a purpose and go after it. Breaking 5 minutes in the mile again lit a fire under me again. I don't know what my running future holds, but I do know I found at least pieces of what I was always looking for. I can definitely say it's been worth it.

On to the next goal, but first celebrate the fact… I'm here. Not again, but for the first time: with a new perspective and a healthy body inside and out. That's worth the struggles.