Corona Del Mar Alumni Open Track Meet by Cal Coast Track Club, November 21, 2021

In the beginning of 2021 I thought it'd be a worthy challenge to break 5 minutes in the mile for the first time, while also taking on my first 100-miler in the same year. 

I caught my first DNF at Coldwater Rumble in January. 

Then, right before a 1-mile race I'd planned to jump into with Cal Coast Track Club, a group of good friends in Orange County who are well-known for their talent and passion for the sport, and a training block that included a 1:06 400, the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine knocked me down for a week. 

Another 1-mile race came up, again hosted by Cal Coast. 

The second dose, again, put me on my back, to the point that I knew if I joined in the race, I’d just be frustrated. 

I was and am deeply grateful to be healthy. But it was irritating to feel like I was spinning my wheels. 

I said as much to my coach Kris, and he was quick to remind me that the only way out is through. He also told me about another athlete I look up to quite a bit, Eric Senseman, who had been through two years of less-than ideal results before catching a golden ticket to Western States 100 at Black Canyon 100k in February 2021 (click for a great recap he wrote). 

“Your goals have been ambitious enough that falling short of them would have been a real possibility even if conditions were perfect,” Kris wrote me. “The best strategy is to keep training through it all, so even if your intermediate goals don't work out, you're always building for the next one, and after a long period of consistent work it's inevitable that you're going to start to see great results.” 

I’m very glad to say he was right. 

On September 11th I finished my first 100k at Timberjack in Bend, Oregon, followed by a 36:47 chip time at the Dino Dash 10k on October 31st, taking 8th overall and 2nd place in division. I then took 3rd overall, a division win, and over four minutes cut off my previous PR at Catalina Half Marathon on November 13th. 

This time feels like a special moment in my running game. But, of course, I take none of it for granted. 

Odd injuries and random speed bumps or walls strike people of all abilities all the time.

So going into the open 1600 and 800 at the Corona Del Mar Alumni Track Meet hosted by Cal Coast Track Club on November 21st, I didn’t know what to expect. 

Making good on my initial goal at the beginning of the year would make me a very happy Greg. But I was also taking into account how I had just put everything I have into a tough half marathon the week before.  

All of that said, it was wonderful to be among friends I hadn’t seen in a very long time again at the CDM High School Track. This was the first time I got to see the newly-constructed surface, hyper-blue and comfortable to the touch, but not too soft. Perfect on the feet and eyes, really. 

One of my speedier friends asked how fast I was aiming to go. I said something that sounded more reasonable than beating 5, and before I could finish he said, “Ah, come on, man.” 

Another good friend of mine had suggested going in with a 3-2-3 approach, where each proportion would be an escalation of effort. I liked it, and I think it will be useful in workouts. But after Kris told me you can’t get going fast at a mile unless you deliver from the first step, I decided I’d send from the gun. 

The morning was beautiful. 

I caught up with a lot of good friends, turnout was great, and the homie Josh Veloz did excellent work with timing the event. 

A fun two-miler around the track went well, and I laced up my Rocket Xs with an interesting lack of nervousness. It’s something I expect before every race, but the people and positivity around me, as well as a pretty solid training block, put me in a place where anxiety was at a low, hungry hum, replacing the usual alarm bells. 

Stepping on the line felt amazing. 

The crack of a cap gun is one of my favorite sounds on a morning like this, and we were off. 

Staying loose and emphasizing calm is the best way to get through any distance, for me. This was especially the case after the first 400 when, god, there is still quite a bit left to ask of a heart and body and soul that just delivered everything and has three more of this beast ahead. 

I avoided looking at my watch, putting my attention on who was ahead of me, and my breathing. 

I had been making great progress by getting aggressive in my racing game lately.

But racing with Cal Coast, of course, is to ask to be pushed to the max, then to see what you have from there. 

The talent pool, as usual, were like sushi chefs on me. I got diced to bits, for sure. And in this way, I was given exactly what I came for. 

The most beautiful point of the day for me came on the last straightaway when my Garmin told me I’d crossed 1-mile in 4:58.

It’s an event to take in, running the fastest mile of your life so far, at any point. I couldn’t have asked for a better setting for it than on the home stretch to the end of a 1600, soundtracked by friends on both sides of the track and runners coming up just as strong behind me.  

I charged the remainder, and somehow caught my breath between a lot of hugs. Everyone was hyped for me, and running in company like this, with all of the experience and passion for the sport they bring, always makes me better.

I jumped into the 800 afterwards. I said I would and it, uh, wasn’t as fast, but I got what I came for, and I was happy to get more speed work with some of my favorite people to run with. 

Afterwards I enjoyed the company of good friends on a lovely cool down run to the Bay Bay and back. A few of us caught three miles, which was plenty for me, but of course most of the others went on for six, with the strong possibility of more. I was as unsurprised as I was uninterested in going with them, the monstrous fitness of this group continues to be well-earned. 

The rest of my Sunday was similarly awesome, the weather was perfect, and a few beverages went down well in good company.

Moving forward, I definitely want to return to the 1-mile distance soon. A road mile would be an absolute blast, and I wonder what I can do in track spikes on a track again as well. 

The physicality of running on a track is, naturally, its own discipline and world. Arranging for more speed workouts on the tracks I live by can only help, and I aim to get more familiar than I have been recently with the feel of its form.

The distance also has a sweet relatability with it, too. While most of the world does not measure distance in miles, it’s a chunk of space that a lot of people can visualize, and a great indicator for one’s fitness level.

I’m signed up for the Surf City Half Marathon on February 6th, two 100-mile races in 2022 (Born to Run on April 24th and Pine to Palm in September), and between them I see every reason to keep opening my abilities to new challenges, including the mile. 

In the meantime, the California International Marathon has my attention on December 5th. Basically tomorrow, to my mind and schedule. 

I have no idea what I’ll turn in there, either. I’ve never trained up for a marathon the way I have recently, with no runs over a half marathon distance since the end of August. 

But I’ve also never run the distances I’ve raced faster. 

The mystery, as always, is a big part of what keeps me in a place of excitement and gratitude in my running. I have no idea where it will take me. And I am thankful that it keeps showing me the best places I can be.