by Chris Lear
I’m getting a bone scan.”
Wetmore, hiding his anxiety, tells Bat, “Don’t panic. We’ll still get 99
percent done.”
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Wednesday, September 16, 1998
The Prasad Household
Noon
Recovery
Goucher is leaving no detail to chance in his quest to win his first NCAA cross country title. He has upped both his volume and his intensity this season, and in order to aid his recovery from the daily pounding, he is electing to pay forty dollars per session out of pocket to receive periodic massages from one of Boulder’s premier masseurs, Binesh Prasad. Binesh’s office is located in his house on the edge of the Reservoir in North Boulder, and Goucher arrives for an appointment around noon.
This is his second appointment with Binesh, a two-time Olympian in the 10,000 meters for Fiji with a lifetime best of 28:30. Despite such illustrious credentials, Binesh is not the most revered runner in the household; Binesh is married to Nadia Prasad, a French native who is one of the world’s premier road runners.
It was while working with Nadia at a training camp in France in 1995
that Binesh first considered going into massage therapy professionally.
As he tells it: “We were working on each other when Khalid Skah [the Moroccan 10,000-meter Olympic Gold Medalist] walks in and says, ‘Hey, I want one too.’ I was not a trained masseur then, but I worked on him, and after that I worked on the other French athletes. After that, Khalid told me, ‘Hey, why are you wasting your time? You should charge us, do this professionally.’”
Binesh took Skah’s advice, and his business is prospering. A sign on the door outside Binesh’s office reads , When you walk through these doors, you join the best athletes in the world. This is not hyperbole. Thanks to Binesh’s ability and Boulder’s continuing status as one of the world’s premier training grounds for endurance athletes, Binesh’s clientele includes top marathoners who have done training stints in Boulder. Belgian marathoner Vincent Rousseau, South African Olympic Medalist Elena Meyer, and several domestic distance studs, such as 1996 Olympian Mark Coogan and emerging 10,000-meter star Pete Julian are among the elite who have patronized Binesh. Photos and letters from his clients cover his office walls. Hiromi Suzuki writes: As you know, I got the Gold Medal at the World Championship in Athens. I really think that I got this happiness result because of your massage. Thank you very much to you. In fact, at every major track and field competition, from the Goodwill Games to the Asian Games to the European Championships, there are athletes who rely on 92
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Binesh’s hands to keep them going. Says Binesh, “At every big meet and every big marathon, there is someone that I have worked on.”
Amid the autographed letters and photos is an autographed photo from Romanian middle-distance star Anuta Catuna. She writes a statement with which Goucher will shortly concur. To Binesh, she writes, the hardest massage therapist I know.
Goucher’s first massage from Binesh last Sunday was a painful experience, and Binesh adjusted his hips for him when he found they were slightly out of alignment. Goucher is a relative newcomer to massage, so today, Binesh promises to go lightly. He tells Goucher, “Today, we’re just going to get you into massage. We’re going to go deep, but not the regular Binesh.”
He starts in on Goucher, paying particular attention to his right hamstring, which has been giving him problems as of late. “If it’s too hard,” he says, “let me know.” Kneading Goucher’s hamstrings, Binesh tells him,
“Today, with good pressure, we’ll flush the muscles out, then the body makes the next step of changes.” He admonishes Goucher to relax and communicate: “If you’re tight because you are not relaxed, I’ll think your muscles are tight and I’ll work them harder—so you have to let me know if it’s OK.” It is a message some are not quick to grasp. Two weeks from today, Severy shows up to practice with a bruise the size of his fist on his thigh. “See this,” he says to Wetmore, “I got a massage from Binesh.”
Goucher is in obvious discomfort as Binesh works. Grinning, Binesh says, “The stronger the muscles, the more painful it is too. It takes a lot more to release them, so you have to break them more.”
When Binesh gets to Goucher’s upper gluts, the usually stoic
Goucher moans, “That didn’t feel good, at all!” When Binesh hits his calf, Goucher says, “Good Lord!” Binesh finishes by pulling and pushing on Gouch’s back. “This,” he explains, “will open up your chest.” He has to remind Goucher to keep breathing, and Gouch’s back reddens quickly when Binesh applies pressure, the result, Binesh says, of excess toxins in the area. To help Goucher clear his system of unwanted toxins, Binesh suggests he take an Epsom salt bath once a week. Goucher asks him why once a week, and Binesh tells him if he wanted to, he could do it every day, but no one would do that. As with massage, he advises establishing a routine, and doing it consistently. Binesh, almost condescendingly, tells Goucher that his “elite” Boulder-based clients, such as Coogan and Julian, regularly see him once a week. On the way home, Goucher, bristling, says,
“What the hell did he mean by that? Does he know who I am?”
Binesh meant no disrespect, but in a town full of Olympians and World Record setters, it is possible for someone of Goucher’s caliber to be small-fry, even in the running community.
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As Binesh wraps up the massage, he reiterates that he went easy on Goucher today. Later, he will beat him up. “The pain,” he says, “will fix the injuries. You have to know if muscles are strong; you need to work them harder to eliminate the tight spots. The stronger the muscles, the deeper the massage, the more benefits you’ll have from it.”
Goucher does not think this was so easy. “My God,” he says, “I’m gonna die. That fucking hurt so bad. Especially when he got to my back.”
Yet, despite the pain, and the forty dollar hit to his pocketbook, he will be back to see Binesh. After all, he could have signed a lucrative shoe and endorsement contract after winning NCAA’s in the spring —but he elected to return for this one final season to “maximize my options and increase my marketability. By sticking around, most likely I will.” He is not cutting any corners, and if all goes according to plan, the forty-dollar bi-weekly investment will help him sign a six-figure contract after winning NCAA’s in November. By then, perhaps, Binesh will know who he is . . .
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Balch Gym
3:15 p.m.
Roybal has just received his equipment today. Wetmore has withheld it until now because last year he caught Roybal trading one of his CU shirts for an ARMY T-shirt at a meet. Needless to say, Wetmore was not pleased.
Wetmore gives Roybal all extra-larges. Roybal puts the sweatshirt on and the sleeves extend half a foot past his hands. Roybal shakes his head in disbelief as he moves his arms up and down and the sleeves flap around. He is disappointed and exasperated. Wetmore is still in his office, so he turns to JD and says, “JD! What am I gonna do with this?” JD asks rhetorically, “Well, are you gonna complain to the boss?” Again, while flapping his arms, Roybal says, “No, but JD, what am I gonna do with this?” JD
just laughs.
Wetmore, conversing with Goucher in his office, says, “What you gotta say to yourself is, ‘The best thing I can do for my marketability is to have a monster cross season.’ So that means not thinking about Nike,
[agent] Brad Hunt, or anything else; just eliminate all distractions. Then you’ll be able to go on David Letterman and just sit there and not say shit.”
Goucher agrees. While most of his teammates come from relativel
y secure financial backgrounds, Goucher does not. Winning the NCAA title will have a tremendous impact on his financial future. He knows his priorities. “If it comes between getting an A in class or getting rest for Nationals, I’m gonna get my rest! The rest is what’s gonna help my marketability.” Given Goucher’s situation, Wetmore voices his approval.
“Well, I think I concur with that.”
Goucher puts all distractions aside this afternoon and runs the 15.7-mile Marshall loop in 1:27. “I felt good. I was going sub-six’s and it was easy, considering I thought I’d feel terrible.” Tessman, yesterday’s star, runs a solid 79 minutes for twelve and a half miles. “It was tough,” Tessman says, “I was pretty tired.”
The Buffaloes will need Tessman to go the extra mile. Batliner just called Wetmore to inform him that he has a stress fracture in his tibia.
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Friday, September 18, 1998
Kitt Field
6:20 a.m.
They All Want to Be You
They all want to be eagles, but they don’t want to act like eagles, so we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
Ken Kesey in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
by Tom Wolfe
Time to get those legs turning over. The men are doing anything from twelve 300’s on the grass in 56 seconds with a slow 200-meter recovery to 24 times 300 in 50 seconds for Goucher. In case there is any confusion about today’s task, Wetmore addresses everyone at 6:28. “OK folks, this is a neuromuscular workout. It’s a leg workout, not a cardiovascular workout. I’m not trying to get a deep aerobic stimulus. These 300’s will be faster than race pace, faster than you will run a race this season, barring a miracle. Get your groups together, let’s get going.” He cautions them before they head out, “Don’t get greedy. Bad things happen when you get greedy.”
Getting greedy, that may be why many of the men are getting hurt, but that is also why they are good. Bat’s news has all the guys thinking about their training. Ponce says, “I think that the problem is we’re all trying to chase Goucher, and we’re not at his level. Look at Bat, that’s why he’s hurt. But it’s also what makes us better.”
Goucher certainly sets the standard. On his rest day yesterday, after having run over fifteen miles on Wednesday, he ran eighteen miles. He is no worse for the wear. The 300’s are slightly uphill on the way out, downhill on the way back, and Goucher averages 51 out and 48 back. He runs powerfully with that slight roll of his shoulders, and he leans into every stride. He runs shirtless, and Wetmore notices his ripped appearance:
“Goucher’s looking lean enough, huh?”
In terms of leanness, Goucher also sets the standard. After practice yesterday, Wetmore reached out and pinched Slattery’s stomach. “Pretty good,” said Wetmore. Slattery has lost ten pounds since arriving in Boulder. Then Wetmore held his hand out, rubbing fingers. “Goucher”— he paused—“he’s like paper.”
Tessman has made the jump and is now in the second group with
Friedberg, Sev, Napier, and Ponce. Tessman leads the charge. Wetmore likes what he sees. “Well, this is a good-looking group here, better be, needs to be” (especially Tessman)! Losing Batliner is a huge blow, and 96
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someone needs to pick up the void. Can Tessman help? “Brock is the unknown,” Wetmore says, as he eyes his athletes. “After three or four years of being with a guy, you know what to expect of him. I spent most of last night fantasizing about him making a big jump.”
Not that Wetmore is giving up on Bat. “We’ll give him 30 days in the pool, put him on the conference team, and try to race him into shape.”
The runner whose spot he is going to take is going to be pissed, so Wetmore will address the men this afternoon regarding the situation.
Roybal, meanwhile, moves through the third pack, at times leading the group. Like Schafer, Elmuccio, Napier, and Slattery, Roybal is blessed with natural speed. Today gives him an opportunity to show off a bit.
“Roybal’s mostly well, at least he’s weller than a year ago,” exclaims Wetmore. “If I can get the same improvement curve as a year ago, I guess I’d be pretty satisfied.”
Elmuccio and Slattery are going at each other with some vigor. The Jersey boys always seem to have a little something extra when they run against each other. Wetmore is pleased to see them battle like this. “Slattery’s finally feeling his oats today. This is his style of workout. See Elmo, he’ll run himself to death if I put him with Slat.” Wetmore keeps his eye on the third pack, and he focuses his attention on Johnson, who runs comfortably with the Jersey boys. Wetmore watches him as he bounces from foot to foot, his long, curly blond hair flopping up and down with each stride. “Good J-Bird, good. Looking great!” he says.
Goucher is the last one out there. Some Marine ROTC cadets play a spirited game of flag football on Kitt, oblivious to Goucher as he flies by them on the perimeter of the field. Wetmore alone offers some encouragement. “All right, Adam, good poise, practice feeling poised . . .”
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Balch Gym
4 p.m.
The men and women sit in the stands above the indoor track while Wetmore directs the proceedings from the front aisle. He passes out a form for them to choose their training shoes. “You don’t have to put your event down on these yellow things. I know your event. Your event is to follow instructions.” Everyone laughs at Wetmore’s characterization of himself as a disciplinarian. He gets them to do what he wants, but he never needs to assert his authority over them to accomplish his goals.
As the runners fill out the paperwork, Wetmore begins telling Friedberg, seated in the front row, his tale of the seven-dollar running shoes.
A minute later, he has everyone’s attention. “One day when I was a poor young coach running 130 miles a week, I said, ‘This is ridiculous, I keep paying $75 for a pair of shoes!’ I figured, it’s brilliant, I’ll go to K-Mart and pay seven dollars for a pair of shoes. I figured I could get at least 100 miles per pair of shoes. Great. That’d be seventy bucks for about 1000 miles. I get a pair and go for a fifteen-mile run in the rain. Six miles in, they fall apart. It turns out the glue is water soluble.”
When the team finishes filling out their forms, Wetmore addresses them for the first time this season. It is a memorable speech: This is our first meeting and it’s one month into the season. I wanted to wait until we finalized the roster. We’re done. We’re not taking anybody else. Some people were here a year ago, and they’re not here today.
Those of you who ran the time trial, I wanted to know if you had the stomach for the fight. Some people were annoyed that I made them run.
Sixteen women and some guys didn’t have the stomach for the fight. Sean Smith made it. He had the stomach for the fight. I want you to know you guys paid a stiff price to be here, you should be proud of yourselves.
Everyone in Boulder wants to be you. The dilettantes, the posers, the dreamers, the schemers; they all want to be you.
The Wally Rutherfords [walk-ons] of this team, you’re the envy of them.
Being the real deal is the price of this team.
We’re interested in doing it. We’re here to run races. I run the time trial to scare off people who think this is the camera club. Races are scary.
You could vomit.
We’re here to run races. This is leading up to the caveat emptor. Because we’re not the jogging club, I have to pay attention to the first nine athletes first. There are 54 people on this team, 50 are here now. I need 98
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fourteen. Seven men and seven women to go to conference, districts, and Nationals.
I have enough money in the budg
et for 36. But everyone who’s in here had gumption. I’ll find a way to give you a chance. But understand I have to pay attention to some people more than others.
Look at Friedberg. Last year we practically ran him off the team, now he’s up to the point where I speak to him one on one twice a week. The majority of my attention has to be for the fourteen people on the team. I hope you understand that inequity, that you’ll forgive that unfairness . . .
If we go four days without talking, understand: our number-one priority is to beat people. Wait your turn like Friedberg, you’ll be on a higher ech-elon, you’ll travel to meets, and get to race.
October 3rd . . . Rocky Mountain Shootout. I hope you’re all running that day. I want everybody running. It’s the first time we open the floodgates and we want to show off.
October 10th . . . I need nine men and nine women to run the Pre-National championships on the [championship] course. Competition for those spots will be pretty heated. My decision will be a subjective decision, not an objective decision. I’ll say, I feel good about these nine people. It’s based on what I’ve observed and what I feel. The best thing you can do is run well and train well for conference on October 30th.
October 17th . . . Our next nine, numbers ten through eighteen will travel to sea level to Ft. Hays, Kansas, for a good, fast meet. It’s a fun meet.
You want to be on that bus if you can.
October 30th . . . Conference Championships. This is when I really have some handpicking. If you’re not in that nine, it’ll be tough to make the districts two weeks later.
Remember, it takes 100 days to impress me. No one day impresses me.
November 7th . . . For those of you not running districts we have a small meet here to monitor your progress. The cool part of running is watching you get better and better and better. That’s the fun part. This is the last chance for those folks.