T.C. Lumbar Interview

Edina Cross Country Alumnus, and current Georgetown sophomore, T.C. Lumbar has graciously agreed to keep a training log (or blog) for edinacrosscountry.blogspot.com. Hopefully it will provide some insight into training and racing at the next level from the perspective of a former Hornet! T.C.'s high school PRs were 4:13 for 1600, 9:06 for 3200 and 15:26 for 5K Cross Country, all Edina school records. While at Georgetown, T.C. has run 3:54 for 1500, 8:30 for 3K and 14:23 for 5K.

In order to provide a little context around the upcoming training logs, T.C. answered a few questions about his time at Edina, the transition to college and what he's been up to the last few months. Enjoy!

ECC: You hold all three "distance" records at Edina - 1600, 3200 and 5K Cross Country - to what do you attribute your success?

TC: I’d probably say my dedication to my training. I think simply the fact that I held myself to a pretty high standard and forced myself to get in the training no matter what. Going off to college and returning for winter break made it clear to me just how tough, or crazy, you have to be to train consistently in Minnesota.

ECC: Your younger brothers, Matt and Luke, were 7th graders on this year's Cross Country team... are you worried that one or both of them might take down your records? And if you were a nice, caring big brother, what advice would you give them to help them in that task?

TC: They’re not making me nervous yet. Maybe in a few years when that becomes a realistic possibility I might start to worry a bit, but for now I’m feeling pretty good about where my records stand. Even though I’m definitely selfish enough that I’d be disappointed if they broke the records, I’d still like to see them do well. In the next few years, whenever they decide they’re gonna get really serious about running, I might tell them that developing as a runner can be a slow process and that immediate success and results aren’t guaranteed. Also, listening to your body is definitely a good idea, especially while you’re still developing. Consistency in training is important and beneficial, but there’s no point in injuring yourself and you can’t be afraid to back off if you need to. While it’s easy to look at the short term, the long term is most important. But for Matt and Luke, if chasing my records isn’t motivation enough, I’m sure they’ll always do their best to avoid being beaten by their twin and given a hard time for it (most likely by me).

ECC: What accomplishment from high school running are you most proud of?

TC: Finally making it to state as a team in cross country in 2005 was great while also winning the Section meet for the first time individually was probably one of the best accomplishments. Also, I’m really proud of having run 4:13.9 in the 1600 at Sections my senior year. It was a huge PR and for a couple years prior I had hovered right around 4:20, but I was able to pull off the race I needed to make it to state. Even though I had known I was capable of running fast in the 1600 it was great to finally have such a breakout race.

ECC: What (and when) was the turning point for you when you started to think of yourself as a "runner", and maybe began to train year round?

TC: I have a tough time pinpointing this, but I’d say for sure by 8th grade I knew I was a runner. It may have been even before that, but after running an 18:07 and lettering that year I definitely felt like a runner.

ECC: What is the hardest workout you remember doing in high school?

TC: I’m not sure I can think of a really specific one. There was a workout the summer leading up to the start of my freshman year cross country season and thinking that was the hardest workout I had ever done. It was something like a 6 mile progression workout (3 laps of a paved 2 mile loop) at Hyland Park. I’m not even sure about my time, and I don’t know it was so much a progression but more starting out too fast and going hard most of the way, but it was TOUGH. Thinking about it, some long hills we used to do at Hylands were pretty tough too. I might just say any workout at Hyland Park.

ECC: What was your favorite training route(s) (or places to train) while at Edina - and where do you run when you're home on breaks?

TC: I always liked running along Minnehaha Creek and going out to Hyland Park for long runs on the weekends. I’ve always done quite a few of my runs around Lake Harriet and Calhoun, but now when I’m home that’s almost all of what I do.

ECC: Any favorite memories from Edina Cross Country?

TC: Not sure I can think of any one specific memory, just little things like potlucks, watching teammates finish their races, shaving our heads before certain races (or giving ourselves mohawks, which I know Jamie appreciated), the tremendous 12 challenge (actually, this might’ve been my greatest accomplishment), Money Mike doing backflips, etc.

ECC: After being at Georgetown for three semesters, what would you say are the biggest differences between high school and college running - from a training and team standpoint?

TC: In terms of training, it is not as vastly different from high school as I was expecting. The same basic principles and workouts are there, and at least in my experience it was not as if I was immediately blown away by the difficulty of the training. It’s intimidating to suddenly be training with a group of a couple dozen very talented runners. While obviously this means training at a high level, everything is still tailored to the individual, and no one is expected to do anything they’re incapable of. It didn’t seem like such a big adjustment initially, but the whole change to college (different schedule, eating, sleeping, training, school, etc) definitely took a bit of getting used to.
As far as the team goes, it’s so different in college but also so much better in terms of its advantages for running. Between running, lifting, living and eating nearly all meals with teammates, the team is very close and is such an important part of the college experience.

ECC: You talked about your toughest high school workout... what about at Georgetown?

TC: It’s difficult to think of one that sticks out. At one point I remember we did an 8 mile tempo and just a few minutes later did a 2 mile tempo. We were just barely under 10 minutes on that 2 mile but it felt pretty tough after 8 miles of hard running. One specific workout that comes to mind, and that I was pretty proud of, we did 2k, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 with a 1000 in between each of those at 5:05 pace. I ended up running 5:53, 4:37, 3:16, 2:02, and 58, and it was a tough workout but I felt great throughout the whole thing, and I was really feeling the training kicking in at that point.

ECC: You redshirted last track season and this fall's cross country season, right? Knowing how much you enjoy racing, how did you stay focused for so long without many racing opportunities?

TC: I have now redshirted the past 3 seasons in a row, and it definitely was difficult at times, not only because of the limited racing but the fact that when redshirting it’s hard to feel as much a part of the team. During indoor track last year I had XC Junior Nats to train for, so while I only raced once on the track, preparing myself for nationals was the primary focus. I raced very few times during the outdoor track season, but again I knew that I’d be running the 5k at juniors in June. Also, running the 5k at Penn Relays and finally being really happy with a race and feeling that I was getting into good shape did a lot to keep me focused in my training.

ECC: What are your goals for this track season?

TC: Well, I ran 14:23 last year and felt that I still felt I could’ve run quicker with more opportunities to race. At this point I’ll say at least sub 14:20 during indoors, but outdoor is still a ways away and I’m just looking forward to getting in some races soon and seeing what kind of shape I’m in. Hopefully at some point during outdoor I’ll also get to run a 10k or two and see how that goes.

ECC: When do you think your first race will be?

TC: Most likely in the next couple weeks (second half of January).

ECC: Can you give a little summary of your training for the last 6-8 weeks to give some context around your current training?

TC: Following the cross country season we didn’t take any extended time off, but definitely backed off on the training a bit. The last 6 weeks my mileage has progressed from the mid 50s to the mid 80s. I was also only running 6 days a week for the first few weeks, which was a change but also kind of nice. The majority of the workouts over Christmas break were either 30-40 second hills, AT pace running (1000s or miles), or simple progression runs. Basically we were expected to get our mileage in and the workouts were often mostly effort based (it’d be pretty difficult to do 8X1000 at any specific pace when its 7 degrees outside and I’m running on the shoulder of Wooddale Ave). At this point we’re starting to get into some good, hard training in preparation for races later in the indoor season.

ECC: Is there anything else you'd like to say?

TC: Running in college I’ve really come to realize the importance of being a part of a team. Now when I’m at home running on my own at times it’s so difficult to get myself to get out for every run, or to do the extra things like take the time to do core or really get a good stretch in after a run. But when I’m with the team here at Georgetown, and surrounded by so many other motivated athletes, everything’s so much easier. The nicer weather helps, but its more than that. Having dedicated teammates around you makes all the difference.