Running Institute Mile

So last night was the Running Institute Mile at Saline High School in Saline, MI and all I can say is WOW.  This was such a great experience to be a part of and the support from the state of Michigan was unbelievable.  I was invited to this earlier in the summer by Nick Willis (2008 Olympic Silver Medalist in the 1500 for people who don't know who he is) and I was honored to be a part of it.  This event has been gaining steam all summer on Facebook but I wasn't sure just how big it was going to be.  I checked the night before to see how many confirmed guests there would be and it sat at about 600 people which isn't bad considering it was just one race.

As I began warming up an hour before the race started though, I knew it was going to be special because people just started piling in and by 7:45 when I had to weave in and out of people to get down on the track it really hit me.  Putting on my spikes and jersey I started to hear the calls, "Go Josh!" "Let's go Titans!" (my high school mascot) I saw old high school teammates, coaches, current teammates from Michigan State and many other people that I had grown up with in the running community.  The crowd was electric and the race hadn't even started yet.  The pre-race introductions started and apparently I was sponsored by Adidas even though I had on Nike from head to toe which not only confused me but I was questioned by family members and friends on when I had signed with Adidas.  For the record I am unsponsored so that was a typo by the announcer, unless someone wants to sponsor me!

After all the pre-race introductions and strides the time had finally come to line up and begin the racing. Before this race I had ran 4 flat in the mile 3 previous times so I was really itching to get that monkey off my back.  For all you non-runners reading this, the 4 minute barrier in running is possibly the most coveted barrier to break and a very exclusive club to be a part of.

Start of the race

The pacing was supposed to be through the 800 in 1:58 and 1200 in 2:57, but from the gun I could tell that this possibly wasn't the case as we came through in :60 and 2:00 for the 800.  I told myself before the race started that from 1200-1400 meters I was going to really lay it down and see what I had the last 209 meters.  As we passed 1200 meters in 3:00-3:01 I made a move to the front and held a lead until about 300 to go.  This is when my legs started to get heavy and I could feel people behind my starting to wind up, which might be the worst feeling ever because at that point I had 4-5 people pass me in an instant and I was holding on to that 4:00 pace for as long as possible.  With 200 to go I heard 3:30 and I knew I was in trouble.  I was telling myself alright just 29 seconds to get that 3:59 you have wanted your whole running career.  100 meters to go I was really struggling and tried to keep it going.  As I saw the clock with about 40 meters to go I knew it was going to be close, I have been in this position before and as I crossed the finish line the similar feeling of disappointment washed over me because I sensed I just missed that barrier yet again.  The announcer began clicking off times and it finally got to me: "McAlary 8th place in 4:00.49, just missing 4 minutes."  Bummed yet again that I missed it in such a good field where 7 people broke 4, but I couldn't be too upset because I know I am one race away from breaking off a really good one.

That was my 4th time running 4:00 (4:00.52, 4:00.46, 4:00.08 and now a 4:00.49) but I'm happy for the 7 people in front of me that got under the barrier, especially Dan Clark, who is an old high school teammate, for having a big PR run of 3:57.4 for second place.

Thank you to the Michigan running community for coming out last night, my old and current coaches for putting up with me, my teammates, my family and of course my girlfriend, Lindsay Clark who is there through the highs and lows and knows just what to say to cheer me up.

My next race coming up possibly is the Crim Road Mile August 23rd or the Grandma's Mile in Minnesota September 8th.

Follow me on Twitter @JoshMcAlary

--Josh

Brief Biography

I figured this would be a perfect time to start blogging about my running journey because in the next few weeks I will be making some big decisions and leaving my little nest here in East Lansing that I have called home for the past 5 years.

Nothing beats the Steeplechase

For people who don't know me I started my running career in 8th grade at Jackson Catholic Middle School focusing on the 800 meters and finishing the year with a 2:19 PR.  I played Football in Middle School and by played I mean watched my teammates run on and off the field as I warmed the bench for them.  Still, going into High School I had big dreams of becoming a star football player but my step-mom and dad's friend really pushed for me to run because they saw I had some talent. So I called up my lifelong friend, Brett Leach, one day in the Summer and asked him if he wanted to go try this running thing and we decided to show up to Summer practice to see what it was all about.  We showed up and ran 4 miles with the team and just destroyed it and after that we both were hooked.  The rest is history from there and I graduated from Lumen Christi with 2 school records, 1600: 4:11 and Cross Country: 15:36.

From there I moved on to Michigan State University, as a scholarship athlete, under the Head Coach Walt Drenth.  For people that don't know Coach Drenth he is a world class coach who has coached many Olympians, NCAA record holders, Conference Champions and the list goes on and on.  So I was in good hands.

Indoor Big Ten Mile Final

College running is a whole different beast from high school and it was a steep learning curve but I think I adjusted pretty well.  By the end of my second year I had made Nationals in the 1500 and All-Region in Cross-Country, helping our team to a NCAA National bid.  From there though I thought it was a good idea to do my own thing and hammer runs no matter how I felt and my body quickly deteriorated.  After 2 years of 3 stress fractures and frustrations I decided that maybe my coach knew what he was talking about and started to listen to him and put all trust in his hands because after all he has had much more experience then what I had.

This past year of fully listening to him I PR'ed in every single event from the 800, 1500 and Mile.  I ran 1:50.53, 3:42.25 and 4:00.46 which were all significant Personal Records.

So if there is one piece of advice I can give to young runners it would be LISTEN TO YOUR COACH especially while in college.  Believe it or not, they do know more than you and are looking out for your best interests.  Go in and talk to them everyday even if it is 5-10 minutes at a time, it builds trust and allows you to be open about training, academics and any other topic at hand.  I'm kicking myself because I didn't listen to this advice until it was almost too late but I was able to right the ship in the end.

As for my future plans I am waiting to hear back from Team Indiana Elite in Bloomington, Indiana to see if I can join them or not and also looking at the American Distance Project out in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram @JoshMcAlary

---Josh