Out of all the workouts I do, the Sunday long run is certainly my favorite. After a long week practicing with the same guys, Sunday mornings in downtown Jacksonville allow me to train with a new crowd. Sometimes it's just me running alone along the banks of the St. Johns River. Other times runners from various local high schools will join in, or perhaps a few Jacksonville club runners. Several Sundays ago, I showed up groggy and still half asleep, to find Ben True, three time Gate River run champion and professional distance runner for Saucony, down from Boulder Colorado, warming up for a 20 miler.
A friend of my father's, Richard Fannin, elite athlete coordinator for the River Run, brought Ben down so he could avoid the frigid winter of Boulder, Colorado.
I walked up to him and politely introduced myself, to which he responded with a “Hi, I'm Ben." I wanted to reply, “I know," but held my tongue.
He happily allowed me to run -- and pace --10 miles of his 20-mile endeavor, since he knew nothing about the area. The plan was to meet him 4 miles into the run and pace him through 14. He asked for a humbling pace just under 6:00. After that he would start his real workout: pickups to 5:00 pace.
I had never experienced a more productive run in my life. The guy was an open book. Any running question I would ask he could answer. From base building to warm ups to final kicks in a race to cross-country skiing, he enlightened me with priceless information no everyday person could provide.
I remember watching Ben run his 13:02 5000m, racing with some of the best American distance runners -- from Lopez Lomong to Evan Jager to Hassan Mead and many more. Ben gave me the lap-by-lap analysis of one of the greatest American 5000m races, talking about it as if it was a high school 1600.
Throughout the workout, I would forget whom I was running with: "this couldn't be a professional athlete, he's too easy to talk to."
Whenever I needed a reminder of whom I was pacing, I just looked at my watch.
He cruised and I worked through 9 sub 5:55 miles; needless to say I was a little tired -- ok, a lot tired! My legs transformed into lead, and it was just my luck that Ben was getting antsy and ready to do his surges. The one issue was the fact that he had no idea where to go. I pleaded that he stay back with me until we hit 10 miles so he would know where to go (it was a 10 mile loop course). The last thing I wanted was to lose one of the best runners in the country and have him venture into a not-so-safe neighborhood. He gladly concurred and slowed the pace back down -- somewhat. I stopped at my car, having run a 5:38 last mile, and Ben kept on. As soon as I peeled off he clicked his watch, lowered his head, and drove the pace down to sub-5:00.
I caught up to him (in my car) after he finished, thanked him for the opportunity, and we took a quick picture.
Running with a professional athlete was a surreal experience, and one I will surely never to forget.
This is an example of how awesome our sport is. An aspiring college quarterback would never sniff the opportunity to have a one-on-one training session with Peyton Manning. Nor would a high school soccer player get to sit down and pluck the mind of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ben True has no paparazzi chasing him around, no reporters looking to quote his every word. He's just a guy who likes to run -- and is pretty darn good at it.
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