Day 26 – Back to the Lab

You cannot transform in a single day, a week, or a month. However, you can experience a significant transformation in a year. You could decide right now that you are going to start doing the things that you know you should be doing, put your head down, and start doing them. Keep it up consistently for a year, and you will see yourself transform. This means that you cannot give up, you cannot get discouraged, you must press on and keep up your new course for a year. You need to effectively go back to the lab and figure out what it takes to be a better human, spend a year of intense effort at your new path, and in one year, come out of the lab a new and improved version of yourself.

In recent memory, we can think of sports figures that had such a profound impact on their sport that they changed the course of the game forever. Tiger Woods’ impact on golf is one of them. Although there were many greats before him, his impact on the sport and his rise to success captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere. In the long-distance running world, that person was Steve Prefontaine. He was such a flamboyant and fascinating person that people began to refer to him by his own three-digit abbreviation, PRE. So next time you see a runner on the street wearing the letters PRE, you will know the reference.

The part of his story that I want to focus on is the transition from his sophomore to junior year in high school. He had a successful college career and many accolades following, and sadly, his life ended tragically in a car crash at age 24. There are many articles about his life story, all worth reading. However, I want to focus on the year that PRE went back to the lab. In 8th grade, he noticed the Cross Country team practicing. He commented to others that he thought it was crazy that people would spend their time running for 2 to 3 hours a day. Later, he had some modest success in his PE class. He did well in the 1320-yard race, finishing 4th in his class. When he started high school, he decided to join the cross country team, in which he was not that spectacular. They started him in the #7 position that season. He eventually moved up to the #2 position but only finished 53rd in the State Competition that year. In his sophomore year, he showed some modest improvements. In the cross country state meet that year, he was a ball full of energy and finished 6th overall. People remember him yelling, ‘lets run it again,’ at the other participants.

Watch my video on Going Back to the Lab, here

This is when PRE went back to the lab. Something happened that year. From sophomore to Junior year in high school, he transformed completely. He went from a decent cross-country runner, 6th in the State, to arguably the best cross-country runner in the nation. He went to the lab that year. So, what was in his laboratory? This is the narrative that made him so famous. That year, he had 2 workouts every day. People in the Oregon Community of Coos Bay would see this young kid running everywhere. Every morning 6 am, the garbage truck drivers would start to cheer him on as he ran past. Everyone in the Eugene and surrounding area started noticing the diligence of this young man. His lab was on the streets of his community. This is where he learned to focus, accept mental and physical punishment, and keep pushing through.

He broke the Cross Country 2 Mile State record his Junior year, this time winning the State Championship. He was completely undefeated that year. His senior year would be even more amazing. Undefeated but also beating the National High School 2-mile course record. He then went to the University of Oregon and ultimately rose to fame. His name would soon be known by the entire country. I always think about that Sophmore to Junior year. I specifically think about that summer. When most kids were doing the usual summer routine, PRE was in his lab. Running. Everyday. Improving.

That captures my imagination. I like to think that I, too, can have a similar transformation, and that type of change is possible if you just put in the effort for a season. All you have to do is go back to the lab. Figure out what you need to do and just start doing it. Be like PRE.