JERMANN RUNNING

Although I started running back in 6th grade, I'd say my running career was very unremarkable for the first 10 years.  Through High School and college it was a constant cycle or mediocre performance, gradual improvement, and setback.  Although there were sparks of potential in there, I inevitably ran myself too hard and ended up sidelined.  

 

I was able to break out of that cycle my 4th year of college at Iowa State.   I finally spent a year training within my limits and staying healthy with remarkably improved results, however still not achieving success by any standard on the Division 1 Level. 

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In my 5th and final season of College, after a disappointing cross country season, my coach had a drastic idea.  He called me into his office, sat me down for 4 hours, and told me he thought I should skip my final track season and train for a marathon.  Looking back on this, this was one of the most pivotal moments in my sticking with running following college.

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So he walked me through the plan for the winter.  Very old school, very simple.  120 miles a week.  10 x mile every Tuesday on the track.  20 miles every Sunday.  Friday 10 miles in the morning, 10 miles in the evening.  Every other day was just a single long run.  When I felt good I'd go fast, and when I was tired, I'd run easy.  A normal week would look something like the following.

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Monday: 16 Miles

Tuesday: 10 x Mile

Wednesday: 18 Miles

Thursday: 16 Miles

Friday: 10 Miles / 10 Miles

Saturday: 14 Miles

Sunday: 20 Miles

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That winter in Iowa, I reached mileage and consistency I'd never done before.  20 weeks straight at 120-130 miles a week.  Every mile alone out on the desolate gravel roads.  Cold runs, windy runs, hard runs.  And then every Tuesday, churning out 5 minute miles on the indoor or outdoor track.  It was the winter of my transformation. 

 

I ended up with an injury in May which ended up delaying the marathon debut but I knew one thing for sure after graduating, I wasn't done with running yet.  So, with very mediocre PRs of 14:57 in the 5k and 30:36 in the 10k, I made the move to Flagstaff Arizona to continue on my running journey.  

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I spent the Summer in Flagstaff with an unstructured training plan, running hard in the group runs and jumping into whatever workouts the local pros were running.  I was challenged and I improved.  My goal was to run 2:19 in the marathon and qualify for the coming olympic trials.  I ran my first marathon at the 2015 Chicago Marathon, running 2:22 with a terrific implosion over the last 10k, disappointed with the result but learning many lessons about the distance.

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I returned to Flagstaff and immersed myself in the culture.  I learned from all the professionals and olympians and great coaches around me who had been successful in running.  I learned about marathon specific workouts and long runs, and how to integrate them into a training schedule.  I changed my training and over the next 3 months prepared for one last shot of qualifying for the trials at the 2016 Houston Marathon.  With my new training, and my gained experience I qualified for the trials with a 2:18:33 at the final qualifying race, just 4 weeks before the olympic trials.  I went on to place 36th at my first olympic trials race.  

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From there I ran 2 more marathons in 2018 placing 3rd in the Pittsburgh Marathon and 10th at Grandma's marathon, running 2:20 at both races.  I had realized my improvements had started to plateau and again, the wisdom of the Flagstaff community delivered.   I learned the value of speed work in marathon training and how comfortability at faster paces improves efficiency over the long haul.  I added in weight training and learned how increased power output and ability to recruit muscle fibers leads to a more efficient stride and resistance to injury.  With these things added to my training I was able to lower my half marathon PR to 65 and my marathon PR to 2:16 and I'm still improving from race to race. 

 

These lessons I've learned have helped me transform from a mediocre sub-elite runner to a runner who can be competitive in world class races.  Now I want to help others reach their goals in the same way.  I know how to help those runners who don't feel like they've been blessed with talent, because I was that runner myself.  

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