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American Morgan Uceny Now Amongst World's Best Female 1500m Racers
By David Monti (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.Used with permission.
July 28, 2011
Morgan Uceny may be having a dream season on the track, but the gifted middle distance runner who runs with a colorful choker necklace laced with plastic beads is no dreamer.
Morgan Uceny Rising: The daughter of a bricklayer and a school transportation administrator from Plymouth, IN, about 50 kilometers south of South Bend, Morgan Uceny has moved methodically from obscure but promising Ivy League athlete (Cornell 2007) to two-time national champion (2011 Outdoor 1500m, 2010 Indoor 1500m) and the current Samsung Diamond League points leader at 1500m. 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 USA).
"It's been a long, slow, steady process, I think," Morgan 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.
Morgan Uceny, 26, who rarely raced 1500m 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. Mahon is best known as a marathon coach, and his group is based in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Uceny joined Mahon's group 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 distance has been the same as my progression in training groups and coaches," Uceny explained. "I think as I changed groups and changed training, I've been able to realize where my strengths lay. So, at Cornell I was doing strictly 800m's and 400m's because we had the four-by-four relay; I didn't have that many opportunities to run 1500m, or I just didn't want to. But after the move to Michigan, and then to Terrence, I started doing more strength work. I realized that doing longer intervals wasn't hard, I was actually pretty good at them."
Morgan Uceny credits this strength [training at longer distances] for her smooth-striding form in the final 300m of her races, when many opponents are tying up. She has shown a knack for gaining the right position through the penultimate turn, and having the ability to choose her own path to the finish and whisk by her competitors. She did just that in winning the USA title at 1500m (4:03.91) last month, and both the Athletissima (Lausanne, 4:05.52) and Aviva Grand Prix (Birmingham, 4:05.64) 1500m titles during the preceding weeks. Lausanne and Birmingham in the prestigious Diamond League series of meets.
"That's definitely attributed to Terrence and the work we've been doing," Uceny said. "Starting last year, we worked on changing some things with form. The first year involved learning it all, and this year things connected a little more--we were able to make more progress. Last year, I was able to maintain form maybe through the first half of the race. So, I've gotten a little stronger, and am able to maintain that longer and longer." She continued: "I definitely do more weights, more mileage, and more long runs. It's a little bit of everything adding up."
Moreover, Morgan Uceny's extensive experience at 800m has given her a tactical edge in 1500m racing, she believes. Her Cornell track team raced indoors often, where gaining the best position on the track is critical to success."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 1500m, 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 800m, you can ruin your whole race."
At the Herculis Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 22, Uceny (in green singlet, race photo by www.photorun.net) finished third (4:01.51) 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 Monaco 1500m, 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 review, see what I messed up, and learn from those experiences."
Uceny still loves 800m races, and at a meet in Lignano, Italy on July 19, she led five American compatriots under the two-minute mark (1:58.37), 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 a nice break after doing all these 1500m's. It made me realize I'm not just a 1500m runner. I still have some speed."
Training with Anna Pierce has also helped her, both on and off the track. A bond formed between the two athletes almost from the first day she was in Mammoth Lakes. "I can't really measure how much she's helped me, and it hasn't just been as a training partner," Uceny said. "She's always a very positive person to be around, she's encouraging, and 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 so helpful because she's more of a sprint person, and I'm more of a strength person. When it comes to sprint day, I know I have to bring my "A" game to try to stick with her. She helps me push myself."
Making the transition to Mammoth Lakes--a ski resort--was easy for Morgan Uceny, who recalled that it began snowing only one week after she arrived. Being from the Midwest, 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; it wasn't that shocking," she remarked. "Honestly, it's a beautiful town, the scenery is amazing, and you feel that you are living in a postcard everyday."
Terrence Mahon's intimate coaching style has worked for Uceny. "I think as a runner, what we do is deeply personal because it's just us and the track. If you have a bad day, you can't blame it on anyone else but yourself, or your training. So, he realizes that. 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 to handle all of the training. Sometimes he's asking you questions, and you realize that he's psychoanalyzing you. . . we're not just having a regular conversation. 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 remember everyone going out so hard to try to protect themselves and get out of the way, then it 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, South Korea, next month, Uceny will remain in Lucca, Italy, and go directly to Korea from there. She plans to continue her patient approach, and doesn't mind waiting for success to come to her.
"I've had to be 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 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 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 gained a lot of respect for him, and everyone else who does that kind of hard labor," she said. "It's no joke."