Tony Hoff – Class of 2007

 

Those damn Monday tempo runs.  You don’t see workouts like that much any more; all the trendy coaches do neat little tempos that precisely target some magical threshold pace.  But Thunder’s 11-mile bakeoffs went way beyond mere physiological training.  Through dust and sweat all the way back from Dundas we learned to work as a pack, to face suffering head-on, and to dig something up at the finish that we didn’t know we had.

The Comanche, of course, was at each mile mark, and Coach would make damn sure you knew when you were selling yourself short.  He always had some smart comment about a sluggish stride, a widening gap, or an Oscar-worthy display of agony.

One still sticks out in my mind: “Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get back up there.”  I heard that many times; on Old Dutch Road, at Como Golf Course, and up to 25 times in a single miserable indoor race.

Even when Coach wasn’t around I would hear his voice in the back of my head, dismissing self-pity and pulling my mind back in the race. Those words made me stick on packs that I had no business running with, and beat a few of them too.

My senior year I pissed away most of my talent in overtraining, doing far too much running on my own outside of Thunder’s strenuous but sensible schedules.  A few bad cross races made it clear that I would be contending for the last scoring spot on the squad instead of a conference title this year.  I trudged down to Coach’s office one Sunday evening with every intention of handing in my laundry bag and hanging up the spikes.  He looked at me, and one more time reminded me to quit feeling sorry for myself and get back in there.  I returned to my team and poured my heart out through my shoes; and damn if there wasn’t more gas left in the tank then I thought.

I eventually did hang up the spikes, but I can still hear that voice any time life gets tough.  Coach, you taught decades worth of runners to never, ever give up.  I will always consider that the most important lesson I learned in college.  Thanks for being out there for us.