By CORY MULL
MileSplit.us
(Photos by Don Rich and Margot Kelly)
Contrary to popular belief, Rochester High and Michigan native Megan Goethals isn’t the type to reserve exhaustion for the final moments.
While the future University of Washington product has won a number of distance races in the last, few short breaths recently, she adamantly denies the suggestion that she saves her best and final steps for last.
“Despite what people say,” Goethals says quite firmly, “I never leave anything for a late race kick. That’s never a good plan.
“When that has happened, like at Foot Locker Nationals [December of 2009] and Nike Indoor Nationals [March 2010], it was just determination. I gave everything I had during the race and wanted to win so badly, that even though I had fallen behind, I dug deep and pulled from a source I didn’t know I even had.
“I am confident in my kick, but never rely on it.”
In taking ownership of her entire repertoire -- start, middle and end -- Goethals, arguably the nation’s best girls’ prep distance runner in 2010, has grasped what it takes to become the best.
Heading into the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, which starts Thursday and continues through Saturday at North Carolina State University, Goethals will aim to earn at least one last medal in the two-mile before she heads off to the Seattle campus, home of the Huskies.
But just for a point of reference, it was only three weeks ago when Goethals was thinking about an entirely different race.
Originally, she had settled on competing in the 5,000-meter run, one such event she will feature predominantly in at the collegiate level.
Yet perhaps if not for her trailblazing 10:00.15 in the 3,200-meter run three weeks ago -- which stands US#7 all-time -- at her county meet in Michigan, she still would be enrolled in that event this Friday.
“I knew that I couldn’t be satisfied with being so close, but not reaching my goal,” she said.
There’s something so cathartic about breaking new ground.
There’s the need to do it again, to do it one last time.
Because for Goethals, this might be her last shot.
“I am very determined to get well under ten at nationals,“ she said. “It’s my last shot and I am going to give it my all.”
With the understanding that she won’t focus on the 3,000-meter in college, Goethals has grappled this race with an enlarged grip. It’s now or never to dip below 10-minutes.
“I am going into Friday’s race with confidence that I have done everything I possibly could and the only thing left to do is break 10,” Goethals said.
Plus, there’s not only the need to prove oneself, but also the realization that with one final race, it will be one final chance to live up to the expectations she has set this year.
“It would mean a lot to me [to win one last time],” Goethals said. “I know that next year I will have to work my way up from the bottom -- so I’m going for the wins now.”
In her last two years at Rochester High, Goethals has won two cross country championships and five individual track titles.
So it’s been a rather quick ascent to the top of the prep distance circuit for Goethals, who as early as eighth grade was still peddling between running and basketball.
With her long, lean and sinewy frame, Goethals has the perfect, traditionalist body for basketball. But for some reason, even though Michigan churns out a number of basketball products each year, the sport never stuck with her.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to give up basketball after I had tried running, because I realized that it was what I loved,” she said.
Turns out, not only is Megan a buccaneer of her craft, but she’s also the pioneer of the family. She’s the first of her clan to run specifically.
Her three siblings, Matt (16), Jenny (15) and Jessy (13), all took up soccer -- a sport that, not coincidentally, requires indefatigable endurance. And her parents show tremendous support for her endeavors.
“They come to all of my races and have taught me [the lesson] that even if I don’t always do how I want, I should be grateful for the gift I have been given,” Goethals said. “It’s always fun to talk with them because they have made themselves very knowledgeable about the sport since I started.”
Once Goethals chose her athletic path, her indomitable work ethic took over. It takes a certain breed to train in the Michigan winter.
“I’ve been out in many snowstorms when I should have been on the treadmill,” Goethals said. “The worst was this winter when it was snowing so hard that I couldn’t really see. The cars would honk and it just about scared me to death.”
As for her workload, it’s gradually increased since her junior year. She’s up to 60 miles per week and incorporates several medium length workouts and one long run per week. Plus, she adds in a touch of weight training.
“Weight training has helped me immensely,” Goethals says. “It helps me to keep good form when I am tired at the end of a race.”
Her career arc in the 5K has risen in merit considerable since her 17:30 season best at Foot Locker Nationals in 2008 as a sophomore. While the ladder time is no slouch, her current 16:54.80 has put her within elite company at the prep level in 2010.
The same has occurred in her arc with the 3,200 run. She’s cut nearly 26 seconds off her time at the Michigan Indoor State Championships on February 27, when she recorded a 10:26.98.
“It’s the little things that make you better, like proper nutrition, sleep, weights, stretching and icing,” she said. “Anyone can put in the miles, but not everyone is dedicated enough to make it a lifestyle and I think that’s what has really helped me rise to the next level.”
She’s registered a 2:10.58 in the 800, a 4:43.05 in the 1,600 and also a sub-10 in the 3,000-meter with her 9:49.80, which would put her within contention among the leaders right away at Washington University.
But right now, Goethals’ premier focus is the two-mile.
While she enters into the competition as the presumed favorite, she doesn’t overcompensate with confidence.
With 12 seniors vying for the same title, plus eight other vastly talented standouts from across the nation, Goethals understands that it takes a measured amount of patience to get it done.
While she doesn’t rely on her kick at any point, she can bet on having one of the strongest wills out on the track.
“I know that nothing is ever guaranteed,“ she says. “It depends on who has a good day and who has a bad one.
“I am going in with the mentality that I can win, but I know that when you get overconfident, that’s when you get in trouble.”