Hernando junior Trevor Foley came into 2016 with a sense of something to prove after a swollen left ventricle saw him finish 15th at regionals and a disappointing 79th at the Cross Country Finals. Foley won his last two meets at the RiverWood Invitational and Central High Bear Run and recently let our cameras come out to film highlights of his most recent workout, a 3 mile progression threshold followed with 4x800m.
"The workout was a 3 mile progression threshold. The 1st mile was 4:59 , the 2nd was 4:52, and the 3rd was a 4:44 mile to equal 14:37 3 mile. Then I had a 5 minute break to do 4x800 with 2:30 rest, 2:16 2:14 2:13 2:11. I did this workout because i haven't raced hard all season so i wanted to get a good hard effort in and prime the system."
Foley is coming off of a track season where he set new personal bests in both the 1,600 and 3,200. His time of 4:18.98 was good enough to win the 2A state title. He says he wanted to run the workout a little slower than race pace and then see what race pace felt like afterwards.
"I think I am in the best shape of my life. I am way farther ahead than I was last year at this point. I know i'm in sub 15 shape, I just need to be mentally strong and i'll be fine."
Confidence isn't something "King Foley" lacks, but he has the credentials to back it up. The junior heads into this weekend's UF Mt. Dew Invitational as the top returner from 2015 when he finished second behind FSU's Steven Cross who was recently named ACC Men's Freshman Performer of the Week. His time of 15:34.53 still stands as his personal best, and is only the third time he's gone under sixteen minutes in his high school career. He says the meet ranks as one of his favorites.
"I just love the whole course, everything about it. The footing is great there's only a few rolling hills, and it's a very spectator friendly course, so that always pumps you up when you run by. The game plan for Saturday is just get out there and get after it from the gun. I'm going to go out hard, try to hang on, and try to get as close to 15 or sub 15 as possible!"
Watch Trevor's runner-up finish from the 2015 UF Mt. Dew Invite as well as all our coverage from the event!
By The Numbers (Personal Bests):
- 1500m - 4:21.66
- 1600m - 4:18.98
- 1 Mile (in) - 4:58.61
- 3000m (xc) - 9:56.50
- 3000m - 9:31.76
- 3200m - 9:37.87
- 5K (xc) - 15:34.53
