The Stopwatch Wars

The sun has yet to peak out of the sky on this Sunday morning.  The wind is blowing a chilled breeze over the track at Saint Ignatius High School in San Francisco.  A woman sitting on a yoga mat gets up, steps onto the surface of the track, and begins a routine. A Nike baseball cap hides her chocolate brown hair that is blowing slightly with the breeze. She wears Nike sweatpants, a jacket, and running shoes that cover her small frame as she skips through lane 4. She is powerful, precise in her movements and has a look on her face that shows focus only those who have been through track workouts can understand.  The woman who is commanding the track on this Sunday morning is Olympic 1500-meter runner Shannon Rowbury, and she is on a mission. 

It is impossible to say, at this point in time, what the end result of Rowbury’s training will be. Her ultimate goal of winning a medal in the 1500 meters at the Olympic Games in London this summer is just on the horizon. Her goal as she has said, “to be the best that I can be at whatever level I’m at,” has been a driving force throughout her life.  It is this drive for excellence that has led her to be a force to be reckoned with on the track.  But what does it take to train with London as the ultimate destination? To run with the goal of beating the best in middle distance running? To train every day with the dream of being the best in the world?

Will it be enough?

“I feel like the nature of the sport is that you’re always wanting more,” said Rowbury in an interview regarding her running career.

Rowbury is not just a name in the running world.  She was 7^th in the 1500 meters in Beijing at the 2008 Olympic games, won the bronze medal at the World Championships in 2009, and has won the US Championships for the 1500-meter race twice.  Her 7^th place finish at the 2008 Olympic games was the highest finish ever by an American woman at that distance.   

“It was so overwhelming,” Rowbury said recalling her feelings after making the US team in 2008 and arriving in Beijing, “I was shocked and terrified. There was so much information coming in that I couldn’t really process it."

As Rowbury stretches on the infield of the track, her coach, Al Berrin examines the workout for the day written on a white board.  Coach Al, as Rowbury refers to him, stands next to the white board wearing a USA jacket and a stopwatch that hangs from his neck. The white board reads from the top:

800m (70’s) 2:20            2-3 min.

4x400m (70’s)             90/3-5 min.

            1600m (45/35)                        5 min.

            4x400m (70-63)            90/5 min.

3x150m (24-22).

Translation: on a 400-meter track, the first interval of the workout is twice around. The second set of intervals are each once around the track four times with 90 seconds rest in between each interval.  The 1600 meter interval is four times around the track with each half lap alternating speeds between 45 seconds and 35 seconds every 200 meters.  After five minutes of rest, Rowbury will run another set of 400 meter intervals, accelerating after each one, beginning with 70 seconds and gradually increasing speed to 63 seconds each lap.  To finish off the workout, Rowbury will run three intervals 150 meters long alternating between 24-22 seconds for each.  Most of the paces for this workout are equivalent to a 4:40 mile pace, which is a bit faster than her 5k race pace and a little slower than her 3k race pace. 

“Everything but the 1600 is just supposed to make her tired,” says Coach Al, “the meat of the workout is the 1600.  We have to talk about how to get through it.”

“I’m a little nervous for this workout because Cook called me and said to take this workout seriously,” says Shannon thinking about the day ahead. “Yeah he said, ‘make sure the weather’s good and that you’re on a track,”’ she says in her best Coach Cook impression, which resembles that of an old man whose been around the track for years.

Running may be an individual sport but Rowbury has a team of people that are helping her accomplish her goals.  Team Shannon consists of Coach John Cook, Coach Al Berrin, and training partner Nick Aldarado.  Cook is Rowbury’s head coach that writes her weekly workouts from his home in Sarasota, Florida.  Berrin is the eyes that oversee all of Rowbury’s training in her hometown of San Francisco.  Aldarado is a post-collegiate runner from Seattle University that has been training with Rowbury almost daily since November. 

“He does everything she does,” says Coach Al when asked about Aldarado as her training partner, “They are pretty well matched.”

Competing in the Olympics wasn’t always on Rowbury’s radar.  The San Francisco native began Irish dancing at the age of six, which she says helped her understand the importance of dedication.  She then started to play soccer, introducing her to the concept of a team sport.  She decided to quit Irish dancing at 16 so she could focus on running in high school at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, “on a whim” as she says.  She never thought of running in college until her high school coach told her that she had the potential to compete at the collegiate level.  She attended Duke University where during her junior year, her coach told her that she could compete at the post-collegiate level. Running professionally wasn’t always an ambition for Rowbury who was surprised when her coach introduced the idea. 

Rowbury describes her fourth year of college as the period when she came to the realization that she truly loved competing at the professional level.  She redshirted the track season, continuing to train but competing unattached from Duke to gain a year of development as a runner.  It was during this year of development that Rowbury was able to compete in races with professional runners and acquire a taste for racing at the elite level. 

“I always thought being an Olympian would be cool but I never really considered it,” said Rowbury on her evolution as a runner, “I’ve always just wanted to be the best at whatever level I’m at.” 

On this cold morning, after a thorough warm-up Rowbury and Aldarado begin. Together, they glide through the turn of lane 4 and down the straight away on the other side of the track.

“Too fast!” yells Coach Al from the middle of the field with his hands clutching a stopwatch as the pair reaches the 200-meter mark.

Rowbury and Aldarado cross the finish line of the interval breathing at a fairly comfortable pace.  “70.5,” says Coach Al as they come across the line together.

She jogs around for the rest period of 90 seconds and walks towards Coach Al replying, “I had 69 on that one.”

After the 90 seconds of rest go by, the pair takes off down the track again. As they move down the straight away, Coach Al chuckles and says, “I used to send the interval workouts back to Cook saying well, ‘Shannon says this, but she actually ran this.” He recalls Cook laughing because he knows Shannon and understands “that’s just how she is.”

With the US Olympic Trials beginning June 21^st, Rowbury has her sights set on the months ahead leading to her ultimate goal of winning a medal in London. She has been on this road before.  She is not a stranger to the stage that gives her the chance to perform against the best in the world.  She has walked in the opening ceremony and she has raced in the USA singlet, but she has yet to have an Olympic medal placed around her neck. 

“I hope I can get myself to the starting line of the Olympic Finals and let myself go for it,” said Rowbury when asked about whether the amount of training will be enough to reach her goals.

As an athlete, knowing whether or not your training will be enough can be very difficult to assess and satisfaction is not always easily acquired, but being unsatisfied can be the fire that keeps athletes striving for more. 

“You could get a gold medal and set a record but you’ll always wonder, well if I did this or if I started better maybe I could have run faster,” said Rowbury reflecting on her own ideas of feeling satisfied with running.

During the last set of intervals on this San Francisco morning, Coach Al watches as Rowbury and Aldarado come through the straight away at a much faster pace than when they started the workout.  These last few intervals are meant to simulate a race where Shannon is forced to make decisions that would resemble a racing situation. Aldarado is purposefully elbowing her as they fight through the last turn. Both fly through the finish line breathing heavily.

“64.3,” says Coach Al with a smile.

“I had 63 on that one,” replies Rowbury as she jogs towards him.