Jon Rankin: Growing Up
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #6)
Posted February 14th, 2008 at 2:30 PM by Jon Rankin
Section: News & Results, Motivation, Cross Country, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin
Welcome to the official blog of rising U.S. track & field star
Jon Rankin; the inaugural member of TheFinalSprint.com’s
Elite Athlete Blog Series. Make sure to check back every other Wednesday for Jon’s latest entry.
I turned 26 last Saturday, February 9th. And as I grow older I assume I gain wisdom from the time I get to spend here on earth. As far as my running age is concerned, I’ve been a runner for a little over 10 years, but I’ve only really been able to train like one (meaning actually spending time on my feet running) for about half of that time. (The early part of my career had been riddled with stress reactions and fractures in both my left and right tibia and left foot). As a person I definitely grow older in age with every passing day, but I’m still a little kid when it comes to the game of middle and long distance running. The great thing is that with every race and every training session I complete I gain a little more insight about the type of athlete I am, what I’m good at and what I’m not so good at. This weekend’s USA Cross Country Championships here in San Diego (my hometown), the 12km race in which I’ll be competing will be no exception to my education and continued growth as a runner.
I’m humbled by the thought of my inexperience when it comes to the sport of distance running and track and field. Yet, in the midst of my inexperience I often think that it’s amazing how a high school kid can be capable of running a sub-4 minute mile or a twenty-year-old kid from a poverty stricken village on the other side of the world can become a Gold Medalist. Based on the fact that Alan Webb and Joaquim Cruz achieved such momentous accomplishments at such early ages proves that inexperience is no excuse. But I do contend that it is a factor for all of us in various differing ways. My inexperience has led me to more defeats than victories. For example, my ability to run fast in the middle distance races has proven to mean very little against much savvier competitors. I’ve lacked the ability to exercise patience and have relied on my fast finish because I once was not as confident as others might be in my abilities as a runner. I believe this virtue as well as others will eventually come with more experience. The irony is that I have to practice patience now so that I can acquire all the virtues that make up a great runner from my many future experiences.
I’m optimistic about the fact that patience is just one of the many virtues as a runner that I still have to learn. I’m eager to develop that skill and add it to my bag of tricks one day. I’m optimistic about my inexperience, even at 26 years young, because my injury riddled early career may add years to the latter part of my career. Ten years from now when I’m 20 in my running years and 36 for my actual age I’ll be a very young 36 year distance runner because I’ve not put in as many hard sessions and long runs as most other runners. I hope this means that this year’s Olympic trials will not only be my first Olympic Trials, but that it will be one of many to come. With this thought in mind I’m very optimistic that I will have a few opportunities to make at least one US Olympic Team in my lifetime. That would truly be a dream come true.
As this weekend’s competition nears I imagine all of the great runners with whom I will be racing and I realize that I’m not the most experienced long distance runner in the field. In fact, this fact has been pointed out to me many times over the last few weeks by my peers who compete in the middle distance events with me. They all think I’m crazy and constantly ask why I’m doing it. My biggest reason is that I aspire to compete against the best distance runners in America whenever I get the chance. I may or may not be ready to win a race like the 12km against such a quality field of runners, but that unknown doesn’t deter me from trying. The other reason is that I don’t want to put my self in a box by solely my preferred running distances. I like to do things that are challenging in order to learn more about my self. This weekend’s race is a learning opportunity for me. Regardless of how well I do, I know that I will be humbled by the experience because it will be a great challenge.
I wish all of this weekend’s competitors in the junior, senior and masters events the best of luck! I imagine San Diego and Mission Bay Park will play a great host to all of the spectators and runners at this weekend’s event.
With great Humility–Rankin
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Tags: 12km, Alan Webb, blog, cross country, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite athlete bog series, Joaquim Cruz, jon rankin, professional running blog, san diego, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field, USA cross country championships
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