Clint McKelvey's Running Journal

 Hey guys,

     First of all thanks to Coach Parks for asking me to do this. I told Matt I'd be sure to make my journal better than his, so hopefully I will.
     I first started running in eighth grade. I played football, basketball, baseball and ran track that year. I was pretty excited to get first in my gym class in the mile, so I decided to try track since everyone said it was really fun. The season went surprisingly well, so I decided to run cross country the next year because I had already decided to quit football. My main sport going into high school was basketball, but I gave that up after freshman year. As s oon as I focused solely on running and trained almost year-round, I made a big fitness jump. My sophomore year I Pr'ed by 63 seconds in the 3200 and 21 seconds in the 1600 due to more consistent training.
     Going into the year, my goals were to get top 2 at state, run 15:30, be in the top 25 at Footlocker South, and be one of the top 3 juniors at FL South. The only races I was really happy with before Footlocker were Tennessee Classic and Volunteer Invite. I got outkicked by 14 seconds in the last 800 meters of Furman, and I never got close enough to seriously challenge Matt. So that season was decent, but not great. Our team was hoping to challenge for the state title, but a couple guys had a tough season, and we had to run well just to get fifth.
     After state, I started going to Oak Ridge to train with the Oak Ridge guys because of the dead period, and we were coached by Bobby Holcombe. It would've been hard to get where I am without him, so big thanks to Bobby. I think it really helped to still be able to train with Jordan Chaney, Chris Ostrouchov, and John Sharpe during that time. I peaked at 60 miles during the summer, and I've run 50-55 miles a week during the year, moving down to around 40 before state and Footlocker. 
     This was actually my first time running Footlocker, because I decided to end my season after a good state race my sophomore year. I had some good advice of what to expect, and I just wanted to be in the top 10-15 after 1.5 miles. The race developed about as well as I could have hoped, and I stayed at the back of the first pack and waited for others to drop off. I don't think I got in the top 10 until the last mile, and just hung on from then. After a subpar state race, I was surprised to run the 41 second PR that I did. 
     We came to San Diego Thursday morning, and spent most of the day hanging out at the hotel. It's kind of funny how all the regions hang out within their team, and I've found myself spending a lot of time around the guys from the South. But they do mix up the regions with room assignments, so I'm rooming with Joe Whelan from New York. It's weird how you read about all these guys on dyestat all year, but everyone's cool and running is about the last thing people are talking about.
     I'm not too worried about the race, I'm just having a good time. I just don't want to get last or get beat by any girls, which might sound stupid, but me and Matt got passed by 4 girls on our run today!
     Anyways, I should probably wrap it up. Thanks again to Coach Parks.

-Clint McKelvey