Hello everyone,
First off I’d like to thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to talk about my progression through the sport. I will also be giving you updates on how footlocker is going while I’m in San Diego, including after the race.
Where do I begin? Well, I first got introduced to the sport when I was in 3rd grade through the Knoxville Track Club’s youth athletics program. I’d go out to the practice sites mainly to hang out with my friends. It was fun. Eventually my friends started making the AAU team, so I decided that I was going to have to make this “team” so I could hang out with them. The first event I made it in was the high jump, ironically. After a couple sub-par seasons (to say the least), I decided that the high jump wasn’t for me. The next move I made was the multi-events, which are the combination of 110 hurdles, shot put, long jump, high jump, and 1500 meters. Now I wasn’t as bad at this as I was at the high jump, but still sub-par. The good thing that came out of this was that I discovered that I wasn’t half bad at the1500. The rest is history as they say. I eventually only did the 800 and 1500m in AAU, picked to do track/ cross country instead of playing football in high school, and here I am today.
That’s how I got started running, now to Footlocker. I first started running Footlocker South when I was 11 years old. It was another rainy day. I got out hard (in the top 3). I remember thinking ‘when is this race going to end. Its too long.’ 3000m later I walked in, in 23rd place. Not bad for my first run there, but there were 16 girls that beat me that race (they combined the boy’s and girl’s races). From then on I was determined not to lose again.... to the girls. I also decided that one day I wanted to make nationals. That’s where it all started for me at Footlocker.
Its amazing how your goals can change in 7 years, from not wanting to lose to the girls to wanting to get top 10. Coming into this cross-country season the goal was top 10. After the horrible track season I had, I knew I had to bounce back. During the summer I basically only did mileage sprinkled with some tempo runs. I peaked at around 72 miles (yes very random number), and held that through the first two meets of the season. All and all the high school season was “ok.” I thought I should have done better in the national meets, but otherwise it was a pretty solid season. I was really thrilled to finally win a state title after two years of Sean hammering me into the ground. (Yes Sean you hammered me.) I also think that was good for me in a way. It taught me how to compete and made me rise to another level, so I thank him for that.
After state my dad (who is my coach) really turned up the heat in the workouts. The goal at the beginning of the season was to peak at Footlocker South, so the hammering began. I did a pair of workouts, one being 7x1000 with 2min rest, and 4x1mile with 3:30 min rest. That really boosted my confidence and had us thinking that I was ready. The real kicker was the 9:12 3200 time trial I did a week before Footlocker. I felt good, and I was confident that I could withstand the hard first 800 at South.
When Footlocker came around, I was relaxed. I had thought about this day for about 4 years, so there was no need to stress. I was also lucky I had some of my best friends around me the night before and the day of the race to keep me relaxed. So big thanks to Chris Kane, Bryan Mckeen, Clint McKelvey, Jordan Chaney, Brent Smith, and my boy Sean Keveren for keeping me laughing that day.
After Clint, Jordan, and I had finished warming up, I felt good, which is rare for me after a warm up. We got to the starting line having three people saving us three different spots. I switched three different times.
The race was finally here. When the gun went off I got out prefect, in the top 5 within the first 200m. By the time we entered the woods I was in 3rd and didn’t drop back further than that the whole race. I made my break from the pack at about 1.5 miles when C.J. Brown from Texas took off on the downhill. I felt good, so I went with him. By the time we got to 2 miles we were 3-4 seconds out on the field. And with about 1200 to go I took the lead. ‘Holy crap I’m leading footlocker,’ was the first thing that went through my head. But with 150 to go that went away when Bill passed me to win the race. Still, I was going crazy. I had just made it. I remember hearing my mom 200m away yelling, “that’s my son.” Probably the funniest thing all day. It got better when I heard Clint say “MATT I MADE IT!!” It couldn’t have been any better. 3 guys from Tennessee making it. AWESOME!
Once again, thank you for letting me do this. Sorry for the long blog, they will be shorter. I promise
Sincerely,
Matt Sonnenfeldt
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