Shannon Rowbury is my inspiration!

5 Oct

So in addition to running, I also closely follow the international running scene, specifically track and field athletes. I draw tremendous inspiration from our home-grown American athletes. Alan Webb and Adam Goucher have always been my two greatest running heroes. In high school, I read both of Chris Lear's books profiling these athletes: Running with the Buffaloes (1998) and Sub 4:00 (2002). I remember watching Alan Webb run 3:50 at the Prefontaine Classic in 2004. I was running on the treadmill at the time, in the middle of a six or seven mile run. I remember shouting "Go! Go!" as Webb came into the homestretch. As a miler, I follow the middle-distance athletes the most. Webb has undoubtedly done more for US distance running than anyone else in the last seven years, ever since he ran that 3:53 as a high school senior in 2001. He's inspired countless high schoolers, myself included. I've continued to follow his career, even during the three years that I was out of the running loop (2005-2008). Last year, he set a new American record with 3:46.

Though I still have tremendous respect for Webb and his accomplishments, it was disappointing to see his fifth place finish at the Olympic Trials this year. He's had another mediocre year in a career that has ridden on the proverbial roller coaster: tremendous highs (high school and American records) followed by tremendous lows (finishing fourth at the 2002 Outdoor NCAAs and failing to get a ticket to Beijing). So until Webb returns to form, I'll be drawing inspiration from another US middle-distance star, lesser known but arguably just as accomplished: Shannon Rowbury.

Yeah, she's a girl, but why should that matter? Guys can be inspired by girls, especially when they're better. Let's do a quick comparison. Rowbury's PR in the 1500 is 4:00, and mine is 4:10, meaning she would absolutely destroy me on the track. She's run 4:20 for the mile, a high school goal that I never achieved (my best was a 4:28). So yeah, she's a hell of a lot faster than me. But that's not (the only) reason why she inspires me. In the course of one season, Rowbury brought her respectable 4:12 PR down to 4:00, catapulting her into the international rankings and elevating her to legendary status amongst American middle-distance athletes. She ended up getting seventh in the Beijing final, definitely in medal contention. A year earlier, in the summer of 2007, she was just coming off of a catastrophic stress fracture in her hip that had interrupted her final season at Duke University. So over the course of a year, she went from being sidelined due to injury to lowering her PR by 12 seconds and making the Olympic final. And a 12 second PR in the 1500 is HUGE, let me remind you. She also won the 3K at the USATF Indoor Track and Field Championship in February, running a huge PR of 8:55 after not racing for months.

In looking at Rowbury's career, I can see some parallels to my own experience. Like Rowbury, my collegiate career had to stop due to injury, though in my case this occurred my freshman year. My PR leaving college was basically the same as Rowbury's: 4:10 to 4:12. Like Rowbury, I now have a new coach who can turn me into a much better athlete. Like Rowbury, I'm working on building a strong aerobic base in preparation for the outdoor season (though I won't be able to get in 6 weeks of altitude training as she did). So I've got all of these things in common with Rowbury, and she lowered her PR by 12 seconds. If that's possible in the course of one year of training, then I can certainly PR by 7 seconds by early June and run 4:03.

Consistency and patience, as well as guidance from a great coach (John Cook, who also coaches the great Shalane Flanagan), have helped Rowbury to run faster than anyone had thought possible. With Webb absent from Beijing and Lagat reaching the twilight of his career, we middle-distance athletes need an American idol, someone with whom we can identify. Until Webb gets his act together, Rowbury is going to stay my inspiration through June of next year. Can my own achievements match hers? That question will be answered in nine months. Until then, I've got a photo of her winning the Trials posted on a cork board in front of my desk. When I consider Rowbury's success, I am reminded that good things can happen if you're willing to put in the work. I'll understand that fully once I scratch 4:03 on my bib number and post it next to Rowbury's picture sometime next spring.