Jackson Horner - Coach, Gentleman and Friend.

Ever have one of those moments when a song you h-a-t-e suddenly pops up and you can't get it out of your head? I did a pretty tough... pretty fast paced hill workout today and during the last half (when I was starting to bonk)... I started hearing two voices running thru my mind... much like one of those songs.

The first was my old SCAHS track coach yelling "Work the hills Mengle -- work the hills!". That was one of Jackson Horner's favorites. And to this day I know he was right in pushing us on those hills... because that is where races are won and lost. Remember last year's Tour? (Forget the mechanical... forget Alberto's bad behavior... the race was "won"... and "lost" on a hill!).

The other voice was Penn State and US Olympic Team track coach Harry Groves... "You can't teach guts!"... as he reminded me many times last summer. For anyone who knows Harry this would of course be one of his less "colorful" quotes. In fact there is a whole website dedicated to Harry and his famous (and unedited) quotes and comments on anything from running to politics.

Anyway... like a blast from the past I could hear both of them like they were right there beside me. And I was thankful I couldn't get their voices out of my head because I found myself standing in the pedals and powering up the hills with renewed vigor and determination. Not wanting to let them down... not wanting to let myself down.

As a runner I owe much of my (moderate) success to both these outstanding and dedicated individuals. And it appears that even though I'm not running much now... and have traded running shoes for rubber tires and gears... they still have much to offer in terms of advice, inspiration and motivation. These could be my two favorite quotes of all time and of course cover much more than running, cycling or getting through a tough workout.

Thanks and Rest in Peace Coach Horner.

Now It All Makes Sense...

“The chances are great that the best potential athlete in the world is an overweight, sedentary smoker. Right now sitting in front of the television somewhere is this person born to be the world champion in cycling and to dominate the sport as no one else ever has…

The problem is that he never had the opportunity to discover his ability.”

-          Joe Friel, author of the “Cyclists Training Bible”.

Wow, as we used to say back in the 70’s when I was a kid… “That’s heavy man”.  A scary thought, but I have no doubt it’s completely true.  And it makes me that much more grateful and appreciative of the fact that I had the honor to be coached by people like Jackson Horner (State College Area HS), and in later years Harry Groves (Penn State) throughout my “career” as a middle-distance runner.

Now even though I was actually a pretty decent runner it was clear I was never going to the Olympics… or even going to consistently win all the “Big Races” in my own backyard.  Yet these guys both spent countless hours and expended considerable energy working with me and my team-mates to bring out the best in us.  To allow us to “Be all we could be”.

And no doubt inspired by Jack and Harry a few of my former teammates have gone on to become coaches themselves.  Bill Kvashay and Dave Felice both work with high school kids in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.  Bill has produced some very respectable runners at Lake Lehman HS and Dave continues to work in his hometown with many promising kids at State College.

However, despite all I owe my coaches and teammates… even more instrumental to my (modest) success was the constant and unwavering support of my parents and family.  At the time, I’m sure I didn’t really realize, understand or fully appreciate the amount of time, energy and resources they put into supporting my running.  But without them I couldn't have taken that first step onto the track.  I can only hope all the late night pick-ups at practice; weekends given-up to attend meets and occasional “breaks-in-stride” both on and off the track were worth it for them.  It was (and still is) to me.

And now circling back to coach Friel’s observation…

Pardon the pun… but a few years ago I “shifted gears” from running about 1000 miles a year to cycling 7000.  On more than one occasion various people have accused me of being crazy, OCD or even worse to ride as many miles, spend as many hours in the saddle and push myself as hard as I do each year.  And to some extent they might even be the tiniest bit right. But I’d rather think it as my way of honoring the family and coaches that showed an interest in allowing me to discover my abilities early on so I didn’t have to wonder if I was “That guy on the couch”.