Dream Dreams and Work Hard: Will Steele
By
Woody Green
of
RUNNERS NICHE
There are many runners in the United States that just need a
little more time, some good training and wise counseling to
become elite runners. There are also plenty of good runners who
don't come from powerhouse university programs like Arkansas,
Stanford, Colorado or Oregon. One such runner is 23 year old Will
Steele from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Will got off to a solid start in high school. "I attended
Catholic High School in Baton Rouge where I ran under the
guidance of Pete Boudreux, who, in my humble opinion is one of
the best coaches in the country, at any level," Will relates. Not
a great runner in the beginning, he worked and managed to
continue running in college. He went to the Christian Brothers
University in Memphis, Tennessee, which had a fairly low profile
cross-country program. "I ran in Nationals once, regionals four
years, and, placed in the all-conference teams a few times," Will
told us. Track was another matter, because the Christian Brothers
didn't even have a track program. "My bests from the track, which
I ran unattached for lack of a school team, were 3:50 for the
1500 and 13:59 for 5000."
"Since my junior year, when the coach who began the program left,
I pretty much coached myself into a lot of overtraining," Will
admits. Looking to improve that situation now that he has
graduated, he says, "It was only three months ago that I hooked
up with an excellent coach over the internet which, paired with
the use of a heart rate monitor, has helped me get back into the
right frame of mind for national level competition."
Will has set some serious goals now that he is back on track.
About the 5000 he says, " I figure sub-14 is a good goal (for
this season), because, while it's relatively fast, it's not
unattainable. Plus, it's only about 15 seconds from the Trials
standards. Within two years, when they relax the standards for
2002 nationals, I should be able to get down to 13:40, which,
from what I can tell, would put me in the top 20 to 25, depending
on how the Stanford, Colorado, and, Arkansas crews produce
runners over the next two years.
"This year, I hope to break a local 10 K course record of 29:59
on April 1, and, three weeks later, try to dip into the top 10
for Crescent City Classic in New Orleans (he figures he'll need
to be in the 29:30s). After these 10,000's, I'll drop my mileage
from around 100 mow to 90 to start hitting the track for summer
meets. Summer goals are to try to drop under 4:00 for the mile,
though my PR's only 4:07 right now. Also, that 5000 goal of sub-
14 will probably come into play around July or August, depending
on the weather here. Louisiana's climate is perhaps one of the
worst training climates in the States, but, it's what I have to
work with."
Will's short-term goals may not put him among the world's elite,
but he seems to have a realistic approach with his goal setting.
He knows it will take time, and he does have some lofty long-
range goals. "I'd like to work towards sub-28 in the 10 K, and,
if I can develop in the longer runs, try to get near an hour for
the half marathon. Some American has gotta' try!"
What about his non-running long term goals? "I'm looking for a
wife who resembles Suzy Favor-Hamilton," he laughs.
The training plan that Will hopes will get him to his running
goals is straightforward and scientific. "Even though I've heard
about a lot of professional and elite athletes training at very
fast paces, running too fast on easy days was the biggest cause
of my overtraining, and, utlimately, the past two and a half
years of mediocre training. I know many younger athletes cannot
afford heart rate monitors, but, they are an excellent way for
them to make sure they take it easy on easy days."
Just how easy is easy? "Some days, I run 10-minute miles,
especially the second day after a hard workout or race. Other
days, I run 6:20's. It just depends on how I feel. Listening to
your body is an absolute. Noredine Morcelli, the Algerian star,
is often rumored, though he will only deferentially smile and say
nothing, to train at 10 minutes per mile-and, he's a sub-3:45
miler!"
Will's current base training weekly schedule looks something like
this:
M - 11-1/4 easy
T - am: 5 easy
pm: 2 warm-up - 5 miles of speed work - 2 warm-down
W - am: 5 easy
pm: 10 easy
T - am: 5 easy
pm: 10 easy
F - 2 warm-up - 10 mile tempo run (53-55 minutes) - 2 warm-down
S - 16 easy
S - 11-1/4 easy
Of course, he took several years to build up to that kind of
mileage. Will offers some encouraging advice for young runners.
"The most important things I would tell up and coming athletes
are to dream dreams, but realize that it takes a great deal of
hard work and determination to make them come true. I began on my
high school team as THE slowest runner on the team. Even though I
ran with a 15-time state champion, and many nationally ranked
high school runners, I am the only one still running. This is
just a testament to the truth of the tortoise and the hare fable.
Granted, there are a lot of wunderkinds out there who peak when
they're 22, but, running should last a lifetime; Carlos Lopez was
37 when he won the marathon; Roger Bannister-the first man to
break 4 for the mile-had a high school PR of 4:50 for the mile!
Just because you don't set the grade or school record at a given
level, that doesn't mean you cannot later become the champion at
another level of competition down the road."
One has the feeling that Will is going to be around, and running
strong, for many years.
