Jim Sorensen, WR man

A year ago, the big story in masters track was Jim Sorensen’s attempts at a sub-4 mile at age 40. He set world records at 800 and 1500 but came up short on the mile (although he did claim the American record). But his goal for 2008 was qualifying for the Olympic Trials. (And more than half the respondents to a poll thought he could make it.) That dream collapsed amid injuries and setbacks, however. He was hobbled for three months. Now he’s feeling healthy again and ramping up his mileage. In a quickie Q&A this week, Jim told me he’s considering a try at 10K at masters nationals in Spokane — and maybe competing at Lahti worlds in 2009.

Here’s my chat with Jim, who wrote back to me yesterday:

Masterstrack.com: What’s your injury status now?
Jim Sorensen: Well I didn’t run from Feb. 15 to about May 15 – three months. It was an Achilles sheath issue that required aggressive ultrasound and rest. Three sessions usually helps, but I had to go through six sessions. I still feel it some and wonder how it will hold up to rigorous training. My weeks since mid-May have been 3-5 runs a week. I have hit 4, 9, 16, 15, 27, and 21 miles per week. So I am coming back slowly. School (my teaching job) is now out and I plan to hit 30 miles this week and keep progressing slowly. With no school, I should be able to do a little more.
When was your last track competition?
The youth exhibition meet last July, where I set the American Record of 4:04.98. I also did a few road and cross country races in the fall of 2007. I focused on quantity of races instead of a few quality races. It was fun running the cross country circuit, something I hadn’t been able to do in a long while.
Do you plan to race on the track this season?
Well it all depends on my summer training. I will obviously work on my base and getting the miles up. I may do the USA Masters nationals if I get in shape and my Achilles is healthy. Perhaps I can do a 10K.
Have you followed the progress of fellow middle-distancers Alisa Harvey and Aeron Arline Genet, Tony Young? If so, any comments?
I look at results here and there and see Alissa’s name come up and Aeron quite a bit. Aeron lives in california so she does a lot of the local races. so the odds are that I will see her name. I think she ran 4:21 or 22 this year at age 40. It’s just great to see her continuing with the training. I actually dated her back in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. When I see her at meets, we usually chat for a bit. Alissa ran great indoors, like 2:05 for the 800. And Tony Young and John Hinton, Nolan (Shaheed), and others just keep on running.
What are your latest track goals/ambitions/hopes?
Just to get healthy and train. I can’t have any goals without that. so, I just want to start training again, get in shape, and then race the roads, track or cross country. It doesn’t matter. I would be motivated to train for a 1/2 mile or for a 1/2-marathon. I just want to run.
Will you consider running at Lahti, Finland, the masters world championships in 2009?
I will consider anything. I just need to get in shape and be able to run.
How did your middle school’s track team do this year?
It was a great year. The girls finished second and the boys finished first in both track and cross country. The cross country team had about 125 members on the team; 100 kids ran at the league final. We had to have a third race (co-ed) at each league race since so many kids were running cross country.
What has this year taught you about masters track?
Well, I can’t say I learned that I am fragile, because I already knew that. I have had injury and setback problems since college. And even though I knew this, I realized that I still want to train. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the time off from running, like getting on my mountain bike some, and staying late at work more often. I took advantage of the time away from running. But now that I am running more, I am thinking big again. I am looking forward to today’s run and seeing how the summer goes.
Any other reflections on rehabbing and comebacking?
One cool thing about this injury is, assuming I can get back to training rigorously, is the timing. Often, my racing season ends mid-summer, then I back off for a few weeks before I start to build again. That process takes the whole summer and then school starts again. Summer is actually a great time for me to enjoy running and train well, but that doesn’t happen when I wrap up my track season in July, rest some, and then build up slowly.
By the time all that happens, the nice warm, work-free days of summer are gone. The injury has put me on a different schedule. So if all goes to plan, I can utilize this summer for some great training.