Arizona Track & Field Journals: Myers & Freriks - Entry #5

One final hello, fellow Milesplitters. I apologize in advance if this journal entry is a bit jumbled; so much has happened and my emotions seem to have been running (pun intended) on high intensity. As all in our track world know, regionals and state are archives now, and I find myself with ambivalent feelings. First, I honestly don't think I enjoyed these past several weeks as much as I potentially could have or, better yet, should have. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day stresses. I did, often losing sight of the magical, "senior" moments happening as they did in my last year of high school. That said, the Grand Canyon 4 A II regionals was a hard meet. Spring wind prevailed once again, as they have all season, putting yet another damper on times and enthusiasm. I also raced more than I am normally used to. I ran the 4 by 800, the open 800, the mile and the two mile, the latter being only my second one this year. None of my times were very good. In fact, my mile time was the slowest I've had all year. It'd be nice to lay all the blame on the wind, but I can't and yet another chance to PR or reach my preseason goals faded. Thankfully, it was a relatively small meet and I performed well enough to ensure my opportunity to run each at state. 

 

The week leading up to state was relatively nerve-wracking. The stressors as a senior are different than those as an underclassman. As an underclassman "there's always next year." Not any more. That realization adds to the pressure to perform. Plus, there is intense desire to try to walk away on a good note, leaving nothing on the table of regret. Fortunately, State went much better for me than regionals, and before I continue on to elaborate on how my races went, I would like to sneak in a quick congratulations to my Sinagua teammates. Taylor Stapley (hurdles and jumps) and Brian Shrader (distance) both performed phenomenally at our State meet, earning championships. I would also like to thank my teammates in the 4 by 800 - Megan Palley (my 4-year distance buddy), Jamie Shrader and Mikalya Shannon for all working together to get us a medal. Great job guys! And great job to all the other athletes there, just making it to the state meet is an accomplishment in itself. 

 

As for myself, I PR'd in all my events and was able to place first in the two mile and second in the mile. I find it's funny and ironic that as I have improved, I've been less satisfied with results that would have previously thrilled me. It seems as though small amounts of disappointment continue to gnaw at me. Perhaps it is just the attitude many runners have: never cease pressing, keep working to improve. More likely, it's probably because I finally believe what my coach has always said: there is still more within.

 

Although I am planning on running at the Meet of Champions, the majority of my team is done competing and practicing. This has really driven home that my high school career is ending. It's sad that I will not be with those teammates anymore, many being close friends. It's also sad that I have only one more meet with my coach, Coach Bo. I don't believe I can find the words to describe the respect and admiration I have for him. He is truly a remarkable coach and person and it has been such a gift to have him along side through this chapter of my life. I know that the relationships I have developed through high school athletics have been some of the truest and best one could ask for, and surely will be one of the things that I miss the most. That said, I'd be lying if I told you I'm not am looking forward to a break in training and hanging up my spikes for a while. Before I know it, those few weeks of rest will give way to summer training and preparation for cross country running at U of A next year. 

 

Have a wonderful summer and enjoy the journey.   

 

alex

Wow, yet another couple of weeks have gone by. It seems as the year comes closer to it's end, time goes by faster and faster. It has been both enjoyable and stressful during the close of my senior year. The continual rapid passing of time has enticed both excitement and anxiety. As the end of the season lurks just out of view, my eagerness to train harder and reach some new personal records has intensified. Although, I must admit a bit of a lazy spell has hit me and I occasionally lack the motivation I need to push myself as hard as I can.

 

Despite my occasional laziness, I have been able to hit three PR's within this last week. The first was in the two mile,. Because I have not actually raced this event in several years it wasn't extremely difficult to hit a PR. And because we were at a very little meet, the Chino Multi Invitational, it was a combined girls and boys event. It was fun to be able to run with some of the boys. Then later in the week I was absolutely blown away at Arcadia. The size and competitiveness was slightly overwhelming, as it was a completely new experience to me. The frenzied excitement of the meet began on Saturday morning when after a brief nap at our hotel I was informed that I had the chance to race in the mile ( I was an alternate in the race). With about 35 minutes until the race, we hurriedly began to load up in the van. While we were in route, I tried to stretch some, as well as attach my bid number to my jersey.

 

We arrived at the meet with no time to spare. My coach and I ran through the tents and check-in areas as quickly as we could. The girls were on the line when I got my hip number but I was able to make it to the starting line before the gun went off.  I pulled my spikes on and the gun went off. Although the race was fast and exciting and, for me, I don't think it gave me nearly the adrenaline I received from the race I had just to get there on time. My official time was 5:12, a PR without a warm up. I was very happy with it. Shortly after I had to warm up and prepare for the 800. I was only able to hit a very small PR in the 800 at a 2:21, and was not quite as excited by it.

 

Watching the rest of the meet was exhilarating. I would have to say that within the last couple of weeks and most likely for the next couple to come, it will probably remain the most notable point in my track career.

 

On one last note, I encourage all who are feeling any laziness or lack of motivation to continue to press on and work hard. I strongly believe that it will pay off.

~alex

 

 

 

Tim Freriks

(Sr., Mingus Union)

 

 Entry #5 (May 20, 2009)

 

                  Congratulations to all the athletes that made it to state and competed this weekend!!  I wish that my experience at state had been a bit different than what it turned out to be, but obviously I’ve learned that we’re not always dealt the cards we’ve anticipated.  Throughout the season I’d been hearing about so-and-so getting sick and the past couple weeks I think it’s been my turn; although not terribly ill or anything, I have felt under the weather lately.  Maybe I’m a bit worn out from my season, but I really don’t think I should’ve felt as lousy at state as I did.  Thankfully though I was able to get into a doctor and am on some antibiotics to clear up the chest congestion and kick the sinus infection, maybe I’ll even be able to breathe on an easy training run again!  I’d love to get out and support the Meet of Champions this weekend by racing, I think that the group of people that put it on are doing a great thing for Arizona Track & Field, but it really depends on how I’m feeling in the next few days… hopefully I’ll see some of you out there.
                  State was still very exciting nonetheless and it’s awesome to see the winning times of almost every division get quicker throughout the four years I’ve attended the state meet.  From what I saw here on Milesplit there was definitely some amazing stuff going down at each of the locations that hold our state meets.  Hopefully most were pleased with how they performed at state.  I know it’s what we work all season, even all year for, and when you focus so much of yourself on one day out of the thousands we work so hard on, I know it is disappointing when you come up short.  I don’t know what I’d do without these shortcomings though, when everything goes perfectly, what is there to motivate you to get out and do something like put in the biggest summer of training yet??  In the past I’ve had a tendency to think too negatively, but to excel at each of the “next levels,” I think we as athletes need to try our best on turning the negatives somehow into a positive.
                  On a side note I do believe that the state 3200 on Saturday evening was Brian, Sherod, and mines’ last race together, at least in high school.  We took a long cool down together after our race and it really had me thinking of the last couple years in this sport.  Haha, when Brian decided to do cross country and started competing against me in the Grand Canyon region it put things in a whole new perspective.  I was no longer able to run comfortably out front frequently at meets, and everyday training I knew those guys were out there working just as hard as I was, and would push myself that much harder.  I really owe it to those guys for the success that I’ve had these last couple years in high school, it’s been a fun ride.
                  Aside from running, I’ve had an interesting time dealing with some mistakes I made previously in the year.  In January I made a bit of a stupid decision involving a homemade wooden “cart” of sorts and ended up breaking my wrist.  The first x-rays revealed that everything was fine and that it was just a case of some tissue damage.  After some time passed and my wrist’s mobility didn’t improve, I got a second opinion and some ct scans.  I was informed that I’d need surgery, including a bone graft from my hip to put a bone wedge in the broken Scaphoid bone to help it heal.  In the past I’ve timed things like this (ie wisdom teeth) with my couple weeks off that I take after every season and hopefully I’ll be able to do the same with this.  Just one of those things you have to deal with I guess, here’s to a summer of training in an uncomfortable and smelly cast!
                  Anyways, as far as school for me goes I am out already a week earlier (along with all other seniors at Mingus) than the rest of our school, and graduate this Friday the 22^nd.  I really can’t believe that I’m already graduating…  I don’t think I could be more excited to go to school and run for NAU next year, that distant idea of “college” is finally becoming reality.  Hopefully everyone has met at least some of their goals this season on the track and in the field, and if not, more reason to head out to O’Connor High for the MOC!  Hopefully I’ll be feeling better and have a chance to bounce back, good luck to all who are competing this weekend.

-Tim 

 

 

 

 

Entry #4 (April 27, 2009)

 It’s been a pretty uneventful two weeks as far as large meets go, and for me that means it’s the perfect time to get in a quality block of training.  I’ve kind of viewed the last couple weeks as my one last “hurrah” before the state meet and I think that’s what it has turned out to be.  Over the last couple weeks we had two meets on our schedule and our distance team only attended one, the Yavapai County meet.  Only our sprinters attended the other, the Valley Christian Invite, while our distance team paid their respects to the Mickelsen family by attending the first annual Brian Mickelsen Memorial road race here in Cottonwood.  Brian was the father of one of the core members of our team in past years, Ky Mickelsen, and was a very influential and supportive person for our cross country team over the years.  It was great to run the ½ marathon as a long run workout in his memory, and I’d take running a race dedicated to a person like him over an invitational any week of the season.
                 

Other than some good long runs over the past few weeks I’ve been getting into some of my favorite kind of training that’s consisted of a lot of “combination” workouts.  I thrive off of longer workouts such as repeat 1000’s, miles, and tempo runs, but as we get closer to the end of the season I’ve been throwing in the shorter stuff after those workouts which has been a lot of fun.  Running quick while tired is something that my coach and I try to emphasize in all workouts, but I think it’s especially important as the season’s end gets closer. 
                 

The one meet we did have was the county meet, and though a tough one for me, I’ve found it’s the “tough” meets that we can learn the most from.  I ran on our 4x8 team and also ran an open 8, the emphasis being to try and get used to running quicker and use it as a bit of speed work.  I think the big couple weeks I’ve had definitely showed through in both these races, but hopefully it will also “show through” in a positive way in my upcoming meets in the next few weeks.  I ended up running around 2:04-2:05 for fourth in the open 8 and definitely lacked that extra gear.  Those guys ran tough and I wish I could’ve mixed it up with them to try and run under a certain time, but some days you just don’t have it and those are the days you just have to push away and not over analyze. 
                 

I think if I’ve learned one thing this season, it’s definitely been the value of teammates and training partners.  Recently Wilson Cutbirth, my main training partner, came down with a bad viral infection and I learned today he most likely would not be able to finish out the season.  More than any other season in high school, I’ve had to do quite a few workouts alone or just with Willie because of how many younger guys we have this year and it has been a learning experience to say the least.  Other than the enjoyable long run conversation partner, guys like him, Bruce Logan, Sam Hayes, and Ky Mickelsen (all three of which graduated) have helped me become the athlete I am today.  Going after it alone can be rewarding at times but at the same time, there is nothing like having guys there to push you day in and day out.  Definitely don’t take those training partners for granted, some day they might graduate on you! 
                 

I’m definitely looking forward to our regional and state meets, and right now it looks like we might also be heading to Winslow for their invitational as well.  This is always my favorite part of the track season, as most everyone is running their best and you start to see some of those younger guys really “break through.”  Every once in a while you might even see a long-haired freshman nab the last qualifying spot in a regional 3200 and get to see his entire outlook on the sport change.  I’m looking forward to writing about the next three weeks; just as the past couple have been all about training, the next three are all about racing!  Good luck to everyone, the championship season competition should be awesome this year.

-Tim

 

 

Entry #3 (April 14, 2009)           

ARCADIA!  This past weekend my family, coach, and I headed westward to the 42^nd Arcadia Invitational so that I could run the Invitational 3200.  In my last entry I was hoping that my 9:17.34 from Chandler would get me into the fast heat at Arcadia and it did, just barely!  I talked with Steve Magnuson, another AZ entrant in the race, a few nights before the race and I think we determined that there were only a couple others entered at times slower than 9:16.  That detail was pretty intimidating, but I was up for the challenge nonetheless.
                  

Racing at Arcadia was indescribable.  Once I checked in, came through the tent and into the stadium-lit track and did a couple strides it really hit me that this was the real deal.  Every bib-name I had seen out in the warm-up area I recognized: NXN regional champs, Footlocker finalists, nine minute two-milers.  A couple years ago this kind of thing would’ve had me a nervous wreck.  This year it only had me more fired up than ever to run a fast time.  I knew I belonged with these guys, the same thought that had passed through my mind so many times in November during the cross country season.  The amusement of bib-watching didn’t last long, I knew I needed to focus, but at the same time not over think things.  I just stuck to the same routine I always have and came to the line less anxious than I’ve been before a race in a long time.
                 

The last three years of high school I’ve toed the line in cross country with some of the best runners in the West region at Footlocker West, but have just never had the opportunity to get in a track race comparable in depth.  This was my first time doing it on the track and was an awesome experience!  When the gun went off I tried my best to settle in to the pack as quickly as possible, those guys went out pretty hard and I came through my first lap in around 65.  The next series of laps I just did what my coach and I had talked about, just punched 68 second laps and whenever there was a separation in the pack, hopped on the tail end.  By the 1600 mark I knew it was going to be the race…  I came through the 1600 around 4:31 and all I could think was “do it again and you’ll have just what you came for, low 9:00’s.”  At that point I was still lingering towards the back of the pack, trying to run smart. 
                  

With three laps to go I saw the gap that I knew would take place open up and a group of leaders form.  I think I went from the very back of the pack to around 7^th or 8^th place when I made a move to the lead pack and I still felt stronger than ever before at this point in the race.  Coming up to the 800m to go mark on the homestretch is where it all got pretty exciting for me.  Wes Rickman from Colorado had opened up a gap on the pack and I made a move to the head of the chase pack; right at the finish line I decided to take the risk and surged up behind him.  Coming into the homestretch with 500m to go, and running on adrenaline, I made a move into the lead and began to close as hard as I closed in my PR 1600 a month ago.  At 200m to go I realized I still had the lead, that the finish line was right there, and put everything I had left into that race, but coming into the last stretch the crowd was going nuts and I knew there had to be someone right on me.  With around 50 meters left, Collin Jarvis went by me, and just as he did I looked to the clock and saw 8:51 ticking by…  8:51!!!!  I did all that I could to cross that line before the clock hit nine minutes and ended up crossing at 8:58.71, running 65-63 for a 2:08 last 800m. 
                 

Any disappointment from losing that race was lost in the moments after I crossed the finish line and it’s a feeling I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  Now I’ve had time to evaluate my race and find a way to be disappointed about losing, but in those moments I could care less…  9:00 was finally mine, a goal I’d had since the time I dipped under 10:00 as a freshman at our state meet.  I’ve heard many competitive runners also speak about the exact same thing that fuels my workouts and keeps me motivated on a daily basis.  There’s always that one fictional race that replays in a runner’s mind during mile 15 of a long run, or the 12^th interval of a hard session.  I really believe that every runner needs to dream about these races to make it happen, no matter how far-fetched they might be.  It was amazing to finally run the race I’d dreamt about for years.
                 

My coach and I have taken a pretty conservative approach to racing this season.  It’s my last season, and over-racing is something we did not want to risk this time around.  It was definitely tough turning down the 1600 or 3200 at the Scottsdale Distance Classic the week before, one of my favorite meets on our schedule.  In the upcoming weeks before state I think that I’ll be limiting myself to mostly short stuff and making an assault on that evasive 2:00 mark in the 800 (my friends have found it funny that I took down 9:00 before I could muster up a 2:00 effort) and hopefully a team effort for a school record 4x8.  It’s been a fun season so far, and I hope everyone has enjoyed the season the same as I have.  If Arcadia is any indicator, Arizona is gaining national recognition and I think it will be an exciting state meet.  Good luck to everyone in their upcoming invitational, city and county meets!

-Tim

 

 

Entry #2 (March 30, 2009)

The track season is in full swing in Arizona now and for me it’s been a good couple weeks.  It’s funny how things work out sometimes with goals and times you set for yourself on the track.  After an exciting sophomore cross country season, I headed into the track season two years ago with fast times, school records, and state titles in mind.  That season was a rough one, and I think I definitely walked away with the tough realization that things don’t always (and rarely do) go according to plan.  Two years later my body has developed a lot more, my training’s been adjusted to where I think I can benefit the most, and I’m finally starting to do the things on the track I’d aimed to do a year or two ago.  I’ve found that the persistence to keep plugging away in your training and the ability to not over-think the down turns and rough patches is something you really have to do in order to succeed in this sport.  It’s been exciting to finally hit some times I’ve been aiming at for a really long time, but anyways…
   

The event that really set the tone for the last couple weeks for me was the 1600 I ran in the Gaucho Relays meet at Glendale CC.  Finding out that this relay meet had an open 1600 on the schedule had me really pumped to race and run a PR.  I had seen what the “big three in AZ” had run in the 1600 the week before and wanted to go under that 4:20 barrier and qualify for state.  As I said in my last entry, I’ve been really trying to work on my weak points, the main one being closing hard in a race.  After getting out hard the first lap and relaxing the next two, I was able to close in 62-63 for a 4:19.4, an 8 second PR from a dual meet time trial in February last year.  After the 1600, I led off our DMR with the 1200 leg and then ran the open 800.  It was a fun triple, but that last 800 was tough and probably served as more of a workout than anything else. 
   

The relay meet was the Friday before our spring break and that week was a much-needed mental break from school and the strenuous day-to-day schedule that comes with it.  It was nice to be able to get a lot of sleep and do the fun things I can rarely find time for when school, practice, homework, and work consume most of my free time.  My next race was also two weeks away, so I was able to really pile on some miles and get in a good week of training.  The 3200 at Chandler would be my next race, and the goal there was just to run a PR and hopefully run fast enough to get into the invitational heat of the 3200 at Arcadia in California.  Something I still don’t know as of now, but hopefully will soon.
   

The majority of our track team didn’t have Chandler on their schedules, but it’s been a meet that I’d been hoping to run in by my senior year and so my coach ended up taking Wilson Cutbirth (my training partner – whose made getting through the tough days of training so much easier), and one of the girls on our team whose been right on the line of our school record in the 300 hurdles for a while now (and got it at Chandler!).  The 3200 went really well, I didn’t feel phenomenal but I didn’t feel lousy either, it was a great day to just see what kind of fitness I’m in and where I’m at in my training.  I lead from 800 through the finish and ran 9:17.3, a 19 second PR and 11 seconds under our old school record.  One of the minor goals accomplished!  I’m still crossing my fingers for that time to be fast enough for the fast heat at Arcadia, so we’ll see…
    

Half the fun of going to a meet like Chandler was just spectating. The distance races were really deep and in my opinion some of the better ones in-state in recent years.  There were twenty sub-10s in that boys 3200!  It’ll be an exciting next few weeks and I wish everyone luck in their upcoming meets before the championship season gets rolling. 

-Tim   

 

Entry #1 (March 14, 2009)

 

Hello everyone, my name is Tim Freriks, and I’m a high school senior at Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood, Arizona.  Being born in San Diego, California, my dad took a job teaching at the local community college here and I’ve lived in Cottonwood for the last 16 years of my life.  I’ve run cross country and distance in track all four years at Mingus and have been working out with the high school team here since 7^th grade.  After experimenting around with many other sports when I was really young, I first took an interest in running when I was in elementary school, and have been running ever since.  Running was something I felt that I could control, and I quickly became addicted to the feeling of running faster than I had been able to run before, after putting in hours of hard work.  After setting the tone for my senior year with what I would define as a successful season in cross country, I am looking ahead to what will hopefully be a successful season in track this spring.  Throughout the track season I’ll be doing journals on the meets and events of my last track season in high school.

The season’s finally under way, and I’m definitely excited.  It was a long cross country season for me this fall and overall I feel that I accomplished a good portion of what I set out to do.  With that season ending in December, I’ve been slowly building up for my last track season in high school.  Track for one reason or another hasn’t come as easily to me as cross country has and I feel like I’ve left a void the past couple of track seasons that I definitely want to fill in this upcoming season…

Since the cross country season went pretty late, I’m not going to really be diving into the season until later in March when I’ll hopefully be running the 3200 (the event I’ll be focusing on this season) at Chandler.  My coach wanted to mix it up a little bit with our schedule this year so our first meet was at NAU in the skydome last Monday and was a nice indicator of what kind of shape I’m in at this point in the season.

 
Upon arrival to the meet I was much more nervous than I’d expected…  It’d been a while since I’d raced and I guess it was just the first-race nerves showing through, I hadn’t been that nervous in a while.  My coach and I decided that for some of the earlier races this season I’d do some shorter stuff (primarily the 1600), so I was entered in the open 1600 and open 800.  Right now I’ve been doing a lot of longer training with longer intervals and tempo type stuff, and getting thrown into these quicker races is probably what had me so anxious when we got into the dome.  I always try to do the same thing before each meet and treat the smallest meets just the same as a national caliber meet – get there and make sure I’m hydrated and have eaten something, and then do my stretches and try to stay off my feet until around 40 minutes before my event when I’ll warm up and do some quick strides before the race starts.  I followed this same routine on Monday, anxious for the race to get started.

Running my first indoor race ever was definitely a good experience.  Doing my strides I felt smooth and quick and knew I’d be able to run a decent 1600.  To add to the new experience of running indoors, the race was at 7,000 feet and that in itself was pretty intimidating.  After the gun went off I did my best to run relaxed for the first couple laps, really trying to focus on finishing strong which in the past has been a weak point for me.  So much of my training this last year in high school has been focused on that finishing point of a race and I think it has helped immensely.  The last quarter of my 1600 was the fastest which, regardless of the time I ran, was satisfying.  After closing hard, my dad yelled to me that I was right around 4:30 (4:31.3 officially) which is just about what I was shooting for.  It was really hard not to get too caught up in the early stages of the race, up in Flagstaff you’ll pay for it, and it was a new experience having to hold back so much and by the last lap be completely winded.  It’s too bad our high school association doesn’t do altitude adjustments the same as the NCAA; for qualifying purposes that would’ve taken 9 seconds off my time and been under the auto time for 4A-II which would have been nice.  That’ll definitely be the goal for this coming Friday at the Gaucho Relays meet…  If I can run a quick 1600 there that’d put me right where I want to be later in the season, focusing a lot more towards the 3200 and not worrying too much about the 1600.

Anyway, after my 1600 I cooled down which also served as my warm-up for the 800 about 45 minutes later.  I ended up running 2:06 and came in second to Brian Shrader who ran an awesome race.  I really wanted my time to be quicker than that and getting beat by ten seconds in a two minute race is never a great experience, but my speed is something I’m definitely willing to develop as the season progresses.  Brian’s talent in the 800 is admirable and I’m sure he’ll be throwing down some crazy times this season!  This season should be a lot of fun with guys like him, Steve Magnuson,  Sherod Hardt, and myself all going at it (although most likely not so much in the 800 for me haha).  I think this season will definitely be a great one for Arizona distance running.  Good luck to everyone this season; it should be an exciting one!

-Tim