There are two types of runners.
One kind of a runner is a sprinter: one who needs focus, perfection, and execution in a matter of mere seconds toward each and every step. Their body is an instrument of power that must be strong and in control to portray the intensity of what lies within.
The other kind of runner is a distance runner: one who needs endurance, drive, and true determination to make it through the multiple mile races. Each imperfect quality step, collectively carries them to the finish line; only having done so through a grueling grind of self-liberating torture.
It’s rare when someone can be both a sprinter and a distance runner, but Millikin’s Track and Field and Cross Country program has an athlete who does just that.
Sophomore Jamie Michl from Newton is both a top-notch sprinter and a constantly improving cross country runner. Michl is one the top runners on the women’s team and a strong contender in the CCIW, but little did she know that when she decided to join cross country this year that she would do such a stellar job.
“I really didn’t know what to expect, all I knew was that I wanted to run cross country to help in track,” Michl said. “After track freshman year I knew that I needed to do cross country to get better at track; running more miles so that I can further train for my track races.”
A sprinter who runs cross country is rare. The mental preparation for each is too extreme.
“Jamie has the tools, both mental and physical, to be excellent from 400m up as far as she wants to extend it,” Jacob Shaver, her coach, said. “She has excellent leg speed (she was 5th in the CCIW 400m dash last year) and the toughness and desire to develop the aerobic fitness she needs to be great in cross country.”
However, the transition from focusing on mid-distance sprints to long distance running has not been easy.
“Sprinting and distance running are very different in both mental and physiological terms,” Shaver said. “Both are difficult, just in very different ways.”
“Sprinting focuses on perfect mechanics, speed, power development, and extremely intense mental focus over short periods of time. Distance runners’ training is geared more towards aerobic development and sustaining focus for long periods of time. Both involve planning and hard work and a long-term vision, but the day-to-day workouts and stresses are very different.”
Michl has proven she’s up for the challenge physically, but she’s still adjusting to the mental challenges of cross country.
“The race is so long in cross country,” Michl said. “It’s really hard to stay focused for 24 minutes in cross country whereas in track, the race is only 1-5 minutes long. You have to constantly worry about where you are going in cross country and in track you just run fast and turn left.”
Michl finds a simplicity in the sport of track; sprinters find the crimson loop as an escape, never fretting over the run. They don’t have to worry about how they will feel a few miles in, where to go, if they will get lost, will there be hills, and they can always see the finish line. Cross country is nearly the opposite.
Cross country runners do not find an escape in track, because that loop is run too many times during an event. Hills or beautiful scenery can’t distract a runner on an oval track. The feel of a distance race is different on a track than it is outside on a cross country course.
Michl described her emotions during a cross country race compared to a track race. The description is one that distance runners know well, the feeling of death via running. It is a slow suicide that manifests from the burn in the lungs and the legs. It is a kind of torture that is specific to distance running.
“I feel super tired,” she said. “I always ask myself why am I doing this? When is this going to be over with?”
The key is blocking those questions out.
“When I’m not thinking about that I focus on keeping up with somebody,” Michl said.
The way the season has played out, it is more about who is able to keep up with her. Michl has improved tremendously this season going from her slowest performance of 25 minutes, 22 seconds, a solid time, to being the number five all-time Millikin record holder of 23:28. Michl shows a passion for running that becomes evident with her times.
Michl’s season has mirrored Millikin’s. The women’s team has nearly doubled in its size since last year and has given Millikin University plenty to be proud of in terms of its performance. This season alone, the women’s team has turned in a collective six top 25 all-time fastest 6k performances made by Sarah Bradley (22:36), Jamie Michl (23:28), Amanda Meeker (24:41), Ashley Livinggood (24:49), Elizabeth Wrobel (25:02), and Rachel Sapp (25:38).
Millikin runs in the Midwest Regional meet Nov. 16 in Rock Island.