Hello FLRunners! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Morgan Lucey, and I am a rising senior at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville. I’d like to thank Todd for giving me the opportunity to share my journey through running, which you may find to be a little different than most competitive high school runners.
I started running track and field in 7th grade, at Trinity Prep in Orlando. I was relatively successful in the middle school meets, and began to develop a love of running. I still remember being incredibly excited about winning a tree in the Run for the Trees 5K in Winter Park. Before 8th grade, my family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and I started attending Episcopal.
Episcopal is a fantastic school, but the transition took my mind off of running and onto volleyball, both at school and on a club team. Though my track and field PR’s continued to improve each year and I was able to run Varsity, I still was not very competitive.
Episcopal is a fantastic school, but the transition took my mind off of running and onto volleyball, both at school and on a club team. Though my track and field PR’s continued to improve each year and I was able to run Varsity, I still was not very competitive.
Fast forward to sophomore year: In the spring, I decided not to play club volleyball, and focus on track. I think this is when my passion for running resumed, and I really began to focus on training. However, I still had a lot to learn, and my times definitely showed that. I had a fairly good season, but I was nowhere near to where I wanted to be.
I trained throughout the entire summer after my sophomore year, but I still decided to play volleyball in the fall instead of running cross country. Throughout the volleyball season, I truly missed running, and I decided that the season would be my last. I still was able to train for and run 2 half-marathons in the fall off of one long run a week, which actually built a really great base for me for the upcoming track season. You don’t know pain until you run 13.1 miles in 25 degrees weather, which was the experience of many at the Thanksgiving Subaru Distance Classic.
Once volleyball ended, I went right into training for track. Episcopal was undergoing a little bit of a transition in the distance running program, but I really appreciate the support I got from Coach Kara (who is now the best mother, probably in the world) and Coach JJ. I was lucky enough to have an incredible coach once preseason started, Stacy Brunell, who truly understands what works for me regarding training. This was her first year coaching, but her workouts were some of the toughest I have ever had. Come track season, this hard work paid off. My 800 PR improved 16 seconds; my 1600 PR improved almost 30 seconds; and in my favorite event, the 3200, my PR improved from a minute and a half. After qualifying for the state finals for the first time ever, I placed third in the 3200 and met my goal of breaking 11 minutes. I think that day marks one of the best days of my life.
I’ve finally learned what works for my body in terms of training. I sleep at least 8 hours a night. I fuel my training with a balanced diet of complex carbs, protein, and healthy fats (My standard pre-meet dinner is a burger with swiss cheese, wheat bun, and some type of vegetable). At the same time, I don’t restrict what I eat in any way. My family is also incredibly supportive. My father has only missed two meets in my entire running career.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt that I needed to give you readers some background! Though I have come a long way, I am nowhere near satisfied. I will be running cross country in the fall for the first time and track in the spring, and I have a lot of lofty goals. I am currently working hard and loving the tempo runs, weight training, and long early morning runs (along with the post-long run pancakes, courtesy of my mother) that make up this phase of training. I also am thoroughly enjoying the naps that are justified by having two workouts a day.
It’s so exciting to talk to other runners in the area about their training, and I can already feel the anticipation of the upcoming season. I’m really looking forward to sharing more about future experiences in my summer training, recruiting, and races. Everybody’s different, but hopefully my experiences and training will help other young runners live up to their potential and improve!
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