The first thing I am going to ask when I die and go to Heaven is, "How close could I have come to breaking the 4-minute mile in that life if I really, really tried during my peak years?"
"Hi Ron. I hope your holidays were good. Every winter, my club trains at the Saginaw Valley State University track, a very new, nice 300 meter indoor facility. We always start the once a week session (Tuesdays for ten weeks) with a mile time trial. Last night I ran 6:32. In ten weeks, the last week, we will run another time trial. I want to run a sub 6:00 mile. What's encouraging is that I haven't been running much and am about 10 pounds heavier than my normal racing weight. I think a sub 6 is achievable. Was wondering if you can sort of help me get there with your training knowledge." (Facebook Message to Ron Becht from Jim Ferency, 1/10/18, 12 days before his 66th birthday)
Jim Ferency with Ron Becht, February 24, 2018
at Rock Bottom Pub, Windsor, Ontario.
On January 10, 2018 I ran a mile in 6:32 indoors. Because it was 12 days before my 66th birthday, and because I love the precision and purity of running ... especially the mile ... a little voice somewhere in my head (or was it my heart?) said,
“You've thought about it for the last two years. Break the six minute mile before it's too late. Everything you need you have, and the Time is Now. ”
I was never an elite runner, but this guy was:
That's Ron Becht. I met him through my girlfriend Jackie last Fall in Windsor, Ontario. In the previous photo (by Jackie), we're having beers with a group of track fans and coaches in a local pub in Windsor, after a big indoor meet at the University of Windsor. Just two sixty-something guys who have running history.
But Ron's running history is special: he's a member of an elite class of runners known as the Sub-Four Minute Milers. They're so elite, you don't often get to meet one, and as it happens, Ron is the first sub-four miler I ever actually met (and the mile was just one of his events).
Me? I'm a member of a class of runners known as the Sub-Five Minute Milers ... but I like to narrow that down to the Sub-Four And A Half Minute Milers.
Because I did one, Once upon a time ...
4:28 on July 4, 1984 at age 32.
I'm pretty sure I was never capable of breaking a four-minute mile ... I certainly didn't have the mind or maturity to entertain the possibility when I was a teenager, which is when I think such a dream and quest begins. 4:15? Maybe. I'll get my answer when I'm dead. That and a host of other answers to a pretty lengthy list of questions (... not all about running, either).
But now I want to run under 6 at 66. I'm feeling lucky, not only for having crossed paths with Ron, who has graciously agreed to coach me, but for the timing of it all. Which, among other things, is what this story is about. The big date is exactly two weeks away, March 13.
Just to be clear, it's not easy for a 66 year-old to run a mile under six minutes.
“You've thought about it for the last two years. Break the six minute mile before it's too late. Everything you need you have, and the Time is Now. ”
* * * * *
I was never an elite runner, but this guy was:
That's Ron Becht. I met him through my girlfriend Jackie last Fall in Windsor, Ontario. In the previous photo (by Jackie), we're having beers with a group of track fans and coaches in a local pub in Windsor, after a big indoor meet at the University of Windsor. Just two sixty-something guys who have running history.
But Ron's running history is special: he's a member of an elite class of runners known as the Sub-Four Minute Milers. They're so elite, you don't often get to meet one, and as it happens, Ron is the first sub-four miler I ever actually met (and the mile was just one of his events).
Me? I'm a member of a class of runners known as the Sub-Five Minute Milers ... but I like to narrow that down to the Sub-Four And A Half Minute Milers.
Because I did one, Once upon a time ...
4:28 on July 4, 1984 at age 32.
I'm pretty sure I was never capable of breaking a four-minute mile ... I certainly didn't have the mind or maturity to entertain the possibility when I was a teenager, which is when I think such a dream and quest begins. 4:15? Maybe. I'll get my answer when I'm dead. That and a host of other answers to a pretty lengthy list of questions (... not all about running, either).
But now I want to run under 6 at 66. I'm feeling lucky, not only for having crossed paths with Ron, who has graciously agreed to coach me, but for the timing of it all. Which, among other things, is what this story is about. The big date is exactly two weeks away, March 13.
Just to be clear, it's not easy for a 66 year-old to run a mile under six minutes.
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