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Franklyn
Sanchez burst out of the gates during his freshman season at Georgetown,
finishing fifth at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships and setting
a U.S. Junior 5,000m record of 13:38.39 in March of 2001. Since then,
however, he has struggled with various ailments that have kept him out
of competition. We caught up with Sanchez in July 2002 for a progress
report.
See Also
Interview
with Franklyn Sanchez (Feb. 2001)
MensRacing.com:
How many seasons of eligibility do you have left at Georgetown?
Franklyn Sanchez:
I have three more cross country, three indoor and three outdoor seasons
left.
MR:
When was the last time you officially competed for Georgetown?
FS:
The last time I competed for Georgetown was this past indoors at the Armory
and Big East Championships.
MR:
Can you tell us specifically what injuries you've been dealing with all
of this time?
FS:
Last year, after racing the 5,000 at Stanford, I started having shin problems.
Three weeks later, when I ran the 4-by-mile at the Penn Relays, I developed
a stress fracture. Unfortunately, I was out for seven months. When I got
healthy I started gearing up for indoors; however, after dropping out
at the Armory meet, I had to race again the next day in order to get a
qualifying standard to compete at the Big East Championships. I started
having problems with my right foot by the time of the Big East Championships.
I took some time off and got healthy again, but three weeks later I developed
an I.T. band problem.
MR:
How is your health now?
FS:
Thank
God my health is getting better. I am getting healthy—I just have
to be patient.
MR:
How is your training going now and what kind of mileage and workouts are
you doing?
FS:
I
just started my training on July 1st so my mileage is not much. At this
point in time I am running two miles a day. And no, I am not doing workouts
yet.
MR:
What kind of cross-training were you able to do while you were injured?
FS:
I
did an abundance of biking during the time of my stress fracture. The
other times I swam and lifted weights couple days a week.
MR:
When and what do you think your next race will be?
FS:
To
be honest, I cannot predict when my next race will be. Right now, I am
just trying to stay healthy and get back on track with my training. I
have not had the opportunity to train consistently for 15 months; therefore,
my number one goal right now is to build a foundation. I wish I could
say when my next race will be; however, I am taking every day as it comes.
MR:
What are your goals for the cross-country season?
FS:
If
everything go as planned, my goal is to lead the Hoyas on a great cross
country season. If I can finish in the top 30 or 40 and have the company
of Mike Smith, Rod Koborsi and Chris Esselborn right in that range, and
along with sophomore Charlie Milleon, Chris Miltenberg and the two frosh
— Lukezic and Fleet Hower in the 50’s and 70’s, I would
be very, very happy. That is my number one goal for cross country. I believe
we have a great shot on placing in the top five at NCAAs this year. One
never knows, anything can happen on any given day. I have a lot of faith
in my teammates.
MR:
You had an amazing freshman year, including a fifth-place finish at XC
Nationals and an American Junior Record in the 5,000. Do you think that
you can get back to that level in the near future?
FS:
No,
it is definitely going to take some time for me to get back to that level
again. I have a lot of things to work on. My level of confidence is very
low and I have been out of the game for a long time. I believe that in
order for me to get back to that level in the near future would be a miracle.
I would be very happy if I can just get out there and compete at a level
where I can help this team finish high at the NCAAs.
MR:
How has Frank Gagliano's move out West to coach the Farm Team affected
you? Are you still in touch?
FS:
Not
having the presence of the Italian man, coach Gags, has affected me tremendously.
I miss the simplicity of the philosophy in his coaching. He is an awesome
motivator and also a great mentor. I wish he was here to coach me, but
I guess it was time for him to go on with his life. So I respect that.
We talk on the phone once in a while, so we do keep in touch. I know that
some day in the near future we will meet again.
MR:
How's school going? Have you decided on a major?
FS:
School
is actually going very well. The academics at Georgetown are quite arduous,
it can be very challenging — at least for me. But it is going well
thank God. In terms of my major, I have decided to major in English with
a concentration in Cultural Studies. Thus far, I am really enjoying it.
Where
are you living this summer? Are you doing anything other than training?
FS:
I
am just finishing up with summer school here at Georgetown, so I am getting
ready to go home — back to Massachusetts. I am really apprehensive
of heading back given the fact that I haven’t been home for such
along time. I don’t know what I will be doing besides my training
when I get back. I guess I will just go with the flow and be spontaneous
with things.
MR:
What have you learned from the setbacks you've encountered in the past
year or so?
FS:
This
is a very good question and I don’t know where to begin: I guess
I learned not to run too hard or overtrain. But to be honest, I still
don’t understand that concept because every time I ran, I just went
out there and listened to my body. What I really have learned from my
setbacks, though, is that life can be funny — life is full of surprises.
One day you can be on top of the world and the next day right at the bottom.
I certainly valued my running in the past and I was passionate about it;
but never before have I realized how meaningful and important running
has become to me — and it will always be.
I have learned
that one cannot take the talents that God gives us for granted. I have
learned that one has to appreciate life and [pursue] all our endeavors
to the fullest.
In many
cases, while experiencing from all these injuries I would ask myself:
Why? Why me? And than I would walk on the streets or around campus and
I would see a person in a wheelchair; or I would read Lance Armstrong
autobiography; or I would watch the news and see two planes crash into
the Twin Towers building and kill so many innocent people. These observations
help to put my life in perspective. I realize that my life is not bad
at all. Life is beautiful! But sometimes we human beings tend to forget
that. We are always in a hurry — we forget to live life and appreciate
it.
I learned
this when I went through a long period of “depression” and I
didn’t know what to do with my life. I sought professional help;
I met with a psychiatrist once a week but realized it was not helping
much. I got myself a girlfriend thinking that it would help. I would party
more than usual and surprisingly even get drunk for the first time and
many times after that. I lived a life that was not in concert with the
person I wished to become. I was “depressed” because my running
was taking away from me.
These 15
months was a learning experience that I will carry with me for the rest
of my life. I am very happy that I went through it because now I truly
realize not only how much running means to me, but who I really am as
a person. Every day of my life now, I live with faith and hope; and one
day, with the help of God, I will reach my dreams on becoming the best
runner that I can possibly be. With all my setbacks, I have learned from
yesterday: live for today and hope for tomorrow.
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