Uceny Rising - American Now Amongst World's Best Milers
By David Monti
July 28, 2011
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Morgan Uceny may be having dream season on the track, but the gifted
middle distance runner who runs with the colorful choker necklace laced
with plastic beads is no dreamer.
The daughter of a bricklayer and a school transportation administrator from Plymouth, Ind., about 50 kilometers south of South Bend, Uceny has
moved methodically from obscure but promising Ivy League athlete to
two-time national champion and the current Samsung Diamond League points
leader at 1500 meters. In 12 appearances this year she has recorded
ten podium finishes and four victories (including heats). In her last
seven races she hasn't finished lower than third, and has set career
best times at 800m (1:58.37/#2 USA for this season) and 1500m
(4:01.51/#1).
"It's been a long, slow, steady process, I think," Uceny said today via
Skype from her European base in Lucca, Italy, just northeast of Livorno
where she shares an apartment with Mammoth Track Club teammates Alistair
Cragg and Angela Bizzarri.
Uceny, 26, who rarely ran the 1500-meters in college, said that her move
to the 1500m was a function of the extra strength she has gained over
the last four years, especially under her present coach, Terrence Mahon,
who is best known as a marathon coach. Uceny joined Mahon's group in
Mammoth Lakes, Calif., in October, 2009, where she does most of her
training with teammate Anna Pierce, an Olympic steeplechaser turned
champion middle distance runner.
"My progression in my distance has also kind of been the same as my
progression in training groups and different coaches," Uceny explained.
"I think as I changed groups and done different training I've been able
to realize where my strengths are more. So, obviously, at Cornell I
was doing strictly 800's and 400's because we had the four-by-four
relay, so I really didn't have that many opportunities to run 1500, or I
just didn't want to. But the move to Michigan, then to Terrence, and
(I) started doing more strength work I realized that doing the longer
intervals wasn't as hard, and I was actually pretty good at them."
Uceny credits this strength for her smooth-striding form in the final
300 meters of her races when many of her opponents are tying up. She
has shown a knack for gaining the right position through the penultimate
turn, then having the power to choose her own path to the finish and
whisk by her competitors. She did just that in winning the USA title at
1500m last month, and both the Athletissima (Lausanne) and Aviva Grand
Prix (Birmingham) 1500m titles over the preceding weeks.
"That's definitely attributed to Terrence and the work we've been
doing," Uceny said. "Starting with last year we started working on
changing some things with form. The first year is kind of learning it
all, and I think this year things connected a little more and we were
able to make some more progress. Last year, I was able to maintain form
maybe through half of the race. So, I've just gotten a little stronger
and able to maintain that longer and longer." She continued: "I
definitely do more weights, more mileage, and more long runs. It's kind
of a little bit of everything adding up."
Moreover, Uceny's vast experience at 800 meters has given her a tactical
edge in 1500-meter racing, she believes. This is especially true since
her Cornell team raced indoors often where gaining the best position on
the track is critical to success.
"Obviously, the shorter the race is, the less time you have to make a
mistake. Or, if you do make a mistake, the consequences are amplified
because of the shorter distance. So, going into the fifteen, I have
more room to make mistakes, but I don't think I make as many, or I don't
make them in critical spots. Because if you get boxed in in the 800
you can just really ruin your whole race."
At the Herculis meeting in Monaco on July 22, Uceny finished third
behind Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal --twice the world 1500m champion--
and Morocco's Btissam Lakhouad. Although she ran her career best time
and a USA leader, she feels a tactical error may have cost her the
victory.
"In the fifteen in Monaco I think I made one crucial mistake with 200
meters to go," she lamented. I lost contact for a second with Jamal,
and I felt that cost me a little bit of ground. Who knows if I would
have beat her, but I definitely put myself more at a disadvantage.
Things like that are good to go back and see what I messed up on and
learn from those experiences."
Uceny still loves the 800 meters, and in Lignano, Italy, on July 19, she
led five American compatriots under the two-minute mark, including her
World Championships teammates Alice Schmidt (1:58.61 PB), and Maggie
Vessey (1:59.17). It was definitely a feel-good moment during the long,
grinding season.
"I'm not going to lie," she said with a laugh. "Running that 800-meter
in Italy was pretty fun. It was definitely a nice break after doing all
these 1500's. It made me realize I'm not just a 1500-meter runner. I
still have some speed."
Training with Anna Pierce has also helped Uceny, she said, both on and
off of the track. A bond formed between the two athletes almost from
the first day she was in Mammoth Lakes. "I can't really put a measure
on how much she's helped me, and it hasn't just been as a training
partner," Uceny said. "She's just always a really positive person to be
around, and she's really encouraging, and just helpful across the
board. When I first moved to the group, she was teaching me the drills
and the new weights, and things like that. Having her in practice at
the same time is really helpful because she's more of a sprint person
and I'm more of a strength person. So, when it comes to sprint day I
know I have to bring my "A" game to try to stick with her. She really
helps me push myself there."
Making the transition to Mammoth Lakes --a ski resort-- was easy for
Uceny, who recalled that it began snowing only one week after she
arrived. Being from the Midwest, she said that she always thought of
California as a state of beaches and warm weather (the group trains in
San Diego in the winter).
"I'm from the Midwest so I'm used to the snow, so it wasn't that
shocking," she recalled. "Honestly, it's a beautiful town, the scenery
is just amazing, and you kind of feel that you are living in a postcard
everyday."
Mahon's intimate coaching style, has also worked for Uceny. "I think as
a runner, what we do is deeply personal because it's just us and the
track. Like, if you have a bad day, you can't blame it on anyone else
really but yourself, or in your training. So, he really realizes that.
So, through all of the training you're doing physically, he's also
training you mentally so that you're strong enough and in a better state
of mind so that you can handle all the training. Sometimes he's just
asking you questions, then you realize that he's psychoanalyzing you,
and your like, we're not just having a regular conversation. But, he's
digging in, trying to see what makes you tick."
Uceny, now a favorite to make the USA Olympic team next year, finished
sixth at the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 800m in an unusual race. A
four-athlete pile-up in the semi-finals resulted in the head referee
ruling that all eight athletes from the first semi should be allowed to
advance. That meant that an unprecedented 12 women contested the final.
Uceny vividly recalls the race.
"It was terrible," she said, able to laugh about it now. "I remember
doing a waterfall start (and thinking), really? We're doing a waterfall
start in the final? I pretty much remember everyone going out so hard
to try to protect themselves and get out of the way, then being a death
march for the last 200 meters. Definitely not my type of race."
With her European season suspended until the conclusion of the IAAF
World Championships in Daegu, Korea, next month (she is not running the
800-meters in Stockholm as had been reported), Uceny will remain in
Lucca, and go directly to Korea from there. She said she just plans to
continue her patient approach, and doesn't mind waiting for success to
come to her.
"I've had to be really patient over these last few years because, like
you said, I've had this slow, steady progression. But, I think that's
probably been the best way to do it because I just learned so much over
those years, and I've done things so I can say, hey, that wasn't the
best thing to do. I can also look back and see what did work for me
that led to the successes. So, all those years together have made me a
different person and athlete, but this year for sure, will be the
biggest learning benefit for next year."
Uceny's parents helped her see the value of hard work. As a teenager
she got her hands dirty in her father's masonry business, cutting bricks
and mixing mortar.
"I worked for him for a few summers and I just gained a lot of respect
for him, and everyone else who does that kind of hard labor," she said.
"It's no joke."
ENDS
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