Jim Sorensen is a single gent with a girlfriend and a busy job teaching middle-school P.E. in the East Bay town of San Leandro. And, oh yeah, a new M40 American record for 800 meters. A thoughtful man with a story to tell, Jim consented to an email interview. The first part is below. It’s a humdinger. He tells of running into Johnny Gray at the meet where he beat Johnny’s M40 AR. He also chronicles his return to racing, “Part B” of his athletic career. Among several revelations: Jim said he ran a half-marathon less than a week before setting the 800 AR (shown at left) at Oxy! Incredible.

Masterstrack.com: What do you do for a living? What’s the reaction of your co-workers to your running accomplishments?
Sorensen: I teach PE to middle school kids in San Leandro, just below Oakland. It is my fifth year at this site. I taught algebra at a high school before that. I received a few congrats here and there. I am pretty low-key about it.
My immediate office mates kind of knew about the quest already, so it wasn’t like a surprise that I set a record. There was a loudspeaker announcement by our vice principal in the morning. I think he said I set the American Record, as if it was THE American Record. I ended up explaining a few times that there are junior, normal and masters records. I broke a masters record.
The kids and community see me running all the time. I live 0.8 miles from school and start many of my runs from home. A lot of the kids asked if had won a lot of money or if I was going to the Olympics or if I won the race.
What’s your family situation — wife and kids? Cats and dogs? How do they support your track career?
I am single but dating a great gal. Her name is Alissa. She is very supportive, but it is hard because, between my job an training, I am always tired. It takes so much of my energy and motivation. She is not a runner, but joined Team ‘N Training and just did the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon and recently completed a 17-miler. She did a great job getting ready for the race and one of the reasons she did it was to try to experience the passions/motivations/etc I have for running. I really appreciate that.
I hopped in the Half Marathon myself since I had to run 13 miles that day anyhow. I ran too fast, 72:24. It was six days prior to my 1:51.57. It shows that at 40 you can still dumb things. Anyhow, I have no kids (other than the 220 I teach), cats or dogs. I have been dating Alissa for about a year now. I met her through a gal who was a member of the Farm Team last year.
Lots of people have been cheering your progress toward 40. What’s your motivation for running at this high a level at this stage of life? Records? Titles? Just for fun?
All of the above, I suppose. I kind of thought my serious running career was over after a pelvis stress fracture ended my season in May of 2000. I was training in Philadelphia and coaching at Penn. I couldn’t run the day after the Penn Relays. I was in great shape but injured. I was planning to move back to the Bay Area in June anyhow, and since I couldn’t run, it jumpstarted my progress and decision to be a teacher. I started teaching in the Fall of 2000. I stayed in shape by mountain biking and lifting weights here and there.
I even entered a couple of mountain bike races and won them, so I was keeping fit that way. I started running about 8 months later. I was running 20 or 30 miles a week, but my pelvis still hurt pretty bad. It was supposed to be healed by now. It felt like I had an abdominal strain, just like when I first received the dissapointing diagnosis back in Philadelphia.
I figured I would be able to run to stay in shape, but ceratinly not train like I had before. But a funny thing happened. I got sick and also hurt my knee from a fall on my bike. It all put me out for about seven weeks. When I started out for some jogs after that time, my pelvis felt fine. I eventually got up to 40 miles a week and was now running more and biking less. I was actually doing some up-tempo runs and longer runs.
This took me to September 2001 and I joined Coach Gagliano and the Farm Team at Stanford. I guess I was excited about running and still had the desire to train and race. I was 34 at the time. I turned 35 that season (now 2002) I ran 3:44.47 and 1:51.86.
I felt like that was the first year of Part B of my career. I continued to stick with it and had the carrot of the 2004 Trails to motivate me and then the prospect of reaching 40 and setting records. Since that season in 2002, I have run 3:43-3:45 every year and 1:50-1:51 every year, and each of those seasons had forced time off due to injury.
So I always felt like the next year would be better if I could stay healthy. Well, a 100% healthy year hasn’t happened yet, but I have been healthy enough to maintain. And here I am today.
You dashed Johnny Gray’s outdoor record on your first try. Will you go for Colm Rothery’s WR this season? (BTW, when Gray ran his 1:52 at the Trials, he jogged in. I was there.) (5/25 correction: JG ran 1:53.27 at the Trials; his 1:52.42 came a month earlier at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.)
I don’t know about jog, but he wasn’t sprinting and kicking it in. He may have waved to the crowd as well. My next attempt will be the 1500 meters at the Jim Bush Inv. I am looking for a mile race as well. I want to run the 800 sometime later, perhaps after the U.S. national meet in Bloomington. There will be three races at IU, where the 1500/800 are usually the featured events. I will run whatever master exhibition race they have in Indianapolis before this series.
But I think Rothery’s world record is possible. I ran 1:50.89 last year, so we’ll see.
At the race where I ran 1:51.57, I saw Joe Douglas several times. Later on, I asked him if he still spoke with Johnny Gray much. He said yes. I told him that I just broke Gray’s Masters Record. Joe did some math in his head, and said he ran 1:44, but then realized that it was at age 39. I said it was 1:52.42.
Anyhow as we were speaking, Johnny Gray himself walked up to talk with Joe about one of his/their athletes. Joe told him that I just broke his record. Gray didn’t even know what his record was. When he was told it was 1:52, I think he was embarrassed that a 1:52 was his record. I mean Johnny Gray and 1:52 are not synonymous. I had Gray autograph his name on the 800 results I had.
What’s your meet schedule the rest of the season? When will you shoot for 1500, mile or other records? Will you compete in Orono or Riccione?
I am not sure yeat about Orono. It’s on my schedule. Hopefully I can decide as late as possible. Riccione would be hard to do since it is at the beginning of the school year. Besides, I missed the entry deadline.
Here is my potential schedule:
6/3: Jim Bush, 1500
6/7: Mt. SAC, not planning to run, but it’s possible I will do a 1500 or 800
6/9-10: No races planned yet, but may try to race this weekend
6/23-24: USATF master exhibition, mile or 800
6/25-27-30 Series at Indiana University.
8/2-5: Orono (masters nationals), maybe?
Can an M40 WR be set in masters-only competition? Or is a rabbit, or elite-level opposition, needed for your going sub-4?
I would most definitely need to be in a field where I could follow and then chase people down. I can’t fathom tying to set a masters record by doing a solo effort. I need competition. Perhaps I could try to set a fast mark in a masters-only competition. If anyone has ever kept track of such a thing, but I doubt I could approach the records that way.
So to get the records, I need to be in a race with the young guys. Perhaps I could run A 1:52.42 on my own (moot point now), a 3:49, and a 4:09 on my own, but I don’t think I could run some of the World Records and some of the non-ratified American marks such as 3:46 and 4:07.
You have a rep for starting at the back of the pack and working your way up fast at the end. Is this by choice or necessity?
This is my style. It helps me to shorten the race. That’s why I like the 800 meters so much. The thinking process for me is minimal. All I have to do is be just aggressive the whole way and then the race is over. The mental and tactical aspect of the 800 meters to me comes more naturally.
But I am trained for the 1500 meters. This is where my God-given physical talents match the best. What I try to do is run as easy and relaxed as possible the first half of the race and then start picking people down as they fade or as I speed up. Plus I have a good kick.
Once I near the end of the race, I turn myself over to that 800 meter mind-set, where I am aggressive. This is why I have kicked from 600 on out at times. As I round into shape in a given season, the first half of my race gets faster, and my kick stays the same. But as I have gotten older, I have found that early fast paces are sometimes too much for me. I do not respond well and my kick is zapped.
When I was younger, I could handle it better. So nowadays, I often hang too far back and then run out of real estate. The key is finding a fast early pace that allows me to be relaxed and doesn’t take away my finishing 400-600 burst. So for me, the 1500 has many more challenges and tactics to consider. It is easier to make a mistake and have many more nerves before a 1500 than any other race. And its even worse for the mile.
I prefer the 1500 over the mile because it’s shorter and I have more mental checkpoints or focus points in the 1500. The laps-to-go point and the lap-split point allow me to focus more. And with all of this said, maybe I have just developed this habit of hanging back and I am afraid to break the habit.
Perhaps this is my weakness, I am too cowardly to run even splits and maximize my potential. Or have I found the perfect formula for my success. I do know that hanging back and then kicking people down can be pretty exciting. So at least I acheive that. It worked well for me at the 1996 Trials as well. I was licking my chops when the race went out in 2:06 at the 800.

How often do you train? What’s your weekly mileage? And how much speed work do you do?
When healthy, I run 6-7 times per week with two track sessions per week. It’s good to have the day off if I need it. And if I run seven times in a weeek, then it’s it is a bonus.
A typical training week this year may look like this:
SUN-long run, 10-14 miles, 70-90 min
MON-pretty easy 30-40 min
TUE-tempo, hills, intervals, or speed
WED-day off or easy 30 min
THU-50-60 min, 8-10 miles, maybe strides
FRI-tempo, hills, intervals, or speed
SAT-30-45 min easy
This gets me about 50-55 miles a week, which has been great. The previous few years I have been in the 40-50 miles-per-week range. Right now, as I have transitioned to speed and racing, my mileage is in the mid-40s. When I had Christmas break (2 weeks off) and Spring break (1 week), I was able to up the miles to about 60. That was great. I felt so much better. I really enjoy putting in the miles.
My job, teaching middle school PE, requires a lot of energy, so the schedule above is about all I can handle without breaking down. At one point it may have been too much. I got pretty sick in February. I did nothing for 8 days straight and then it took me a long while to get back to where I left off. I also got hit in the knee by accident during a Capture the Flag game back in October in my first-period class. That was scary; it put me out for about two weeks. The knee still hurts here and there. It is the same one I had surgery on back in 1997.
I had a rough summer as well. My feet were hurting and I got sick a few times. It was frustrating because summer can be a time of good training for me. Having a good base allows me to handle the riggors of simultaneously training and teaching. With all of that said, the time in between injuries this season has been really good. I am pleased with the training schedules and guidance my coach Tom McGlynn has provided.
Anyhow, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that nothing is ever perfect. My 1996 year, where I ran 1:47.24 and 3:38.65, was the ONLY year of my career as a 1500-meter runner (1989-2007) where I didn’t suffer some sort of injury that prevented me from reaching my potential for that season. That year of training was as close to perfect as I will ever get.
Part B of my career, since 2002, has been a series of setbacks. But part A of my career was very much the same way. Its not like I am getting old and I am suddenly dealing with injury issues. I am used to it. I know I can come back and make the most of the season. Perhaps that is one reason I am still motivated. I am looking for that excellent, uninterrupted training season. If I can have one of those, then the sky’s the limit!
So to answer any question about training, I have to include my experiences with injuries because avoiding them is just as important any training schedule you adhere to.
Do you lift weights? If so, how often and what kinds of lifts?
I have in the past, but not since 2000. What I have done is core work, drills, and body weight type exercises. Its not like I am totally consistent and hammer this stuff, but I try to get it in when I can. A few years ago, I was having all sorts of calf problems. They would randomly lock up on me, and I would be out for 1-2 weeks. I really focused on calf raises and wearing low heeled shoes. My calves are much better now.
I strained a hamstring in late 2003 and the strain woud come back here and there. I strengthened it through some core exercises such as supine planks and learned not to sit for a long period of time if it was bothering me. Lifting weights requires a facility with weights. I can do core drills, and body weight exercises practically anywhere and anytime.
Me again:
Jim has more to say. Stay tuned.
Here’s Dr. Robert Elliott’s photo of the final sprint at Oxy in Jim’s 800 record: