Ryan Shay

This weekend I eagerly logged on to my lap top to see how the Olympic Trials had finished up. I still have many friends and former training partners that were racing for a spot on the Olympic Team. When I first logged on, the first thing that I saw was that Ryan had passed away. I can not explain the shock and the horrible feeling that I experienced. 

 Ryan and I trained together at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista so I got to know him fairly well. To this day I still tell the story of my first and only pulled hamstring. I was doing a speed workout that was designed by Joe Vigil along with Ryan, Meb Keflezighi and a bunch of other long distance runners. I thought that it would be a walk in the park….I am a miler after all. About half way through that workout, Ryan and I had dropped the rest of the group. At one point I looked over at him and he had this look of determination on his face, almost as if to tell me that he was going to hang with me no matter what I did. Sure enough, on one of our final intervals, I surged ahead and just as I went by him I felt a pinch in my hamstring. As I pulled up, Ryan looked over at me and gave me that look as though he wanted to say “You just got out kicked by a marathoner you chump!”

I learned a lot from that Vigil, Bob Larson, Shay and Keflezighi group. They taught me what being a professional runner was all about. I still thought that I could cut corners and that I could stay out late because I “only did it every once in a while.” After training with that group, my life changed for the better. I owe a great deal to them and to Ryan. I wish his family and friends the best. Most of all, I wish coach Vigil the best. He and Ryan shared a bond that I have never seen between coach and athlete. Even though it was cut short, I can tell you that it was special.

Everyday is a gift….It is just a bummer that it takes things like this to remind me of that fact.