Keeping Track of... Steve Holman

Steve Holman, 32, was the top American miler of the 1990s. He made the Olympic team in 1992, the same year he graduated from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. He was ranked fifth in the world in 1994, fourth in 1995 and 10th in 1997. He was the outdoor national champion at 1,500 meters in 1999 and placed 9th in that year's World Championships. His bests include 1:44.98 for 800 meters, 3:31.52 for 1,500 meters (3rd fastest American in history), 3:50.40 for the mile, 4:57.14 for 2,000 meters and 7:43.21 for 3,000 meters (indoors). His wife, Teresa, is due to give birth to a girl on Sept. 9.

Scott Douglas: Are you officially retired from world-class miling?
Steve Holman: I never made any official declaration, but for all intents and purposes, I've been retired since last year. I had planned to compete one more year after the 2000 season, but a string of injuries and training burnout accelerated my schedule. I love running, but I've always had other interests, so I figured it was time to move on.

SD: How much do you run now?
SH: For about eight or nine months, I didn't run a step. Part of it was that I kept getting shin pain after two weeks of even light jogging, but mostly I enjoyed being a normal person who didn't have to plan my life around my next workout. I took up golf last spring for the first time in my life. But then I got fat. So, since this spring, I've been running 45-50 minutes per day, five to six days a week, fairly consistently, amazingly injury-free. I try not to worry about pace and distance, but old habits are hard to break.

SD: How good of a golfer are you?
SH: I stink. I've broken 100 once.

SD: And how are you defining "I got fat"?
SH: During my period of inactivity, which also didn't include participation in the four food groups, I learned that I gain all my weight in my face and my gut. I wasn't "fat" in the American sense of the word, but I didn't like how I started to look. I wasn't ready to have a spare tire around my waist.

SD: Do you ever do anything fast now?
SH: I haven't done a single track workout or tempo run, because I'm not training for anything. I simply love to run. I may jump in a marathon eventually to say I did it, because everyone asks, but right now, my running is purely recreational.

SD: If you had to race a mile on the track one week from now, what could you run? How about one month from now?
SH: While I'm fairly fit now, I haven't done any speedwork in almost two years. If my life depended on it, I probably could run between 4:20-4:30. With a month of speedwork specifically designed to run this hypothetical mile, I could probably do 4:10-4:15. Of course, I can't imagine a scenario where I would be motivated to do anything like that.

SD: You got a stress fracture soon before the 2000 Trials, but still got 5th there. Then you ran a few races in Europe, and came home early when you got slower each time. Then the last anyone saw your name in results was in road miles that fall. Walk us through that year and what came after.
SH: Like I said, I planned to race the 2001 season, and make a decision about my career after that. I ran a couple of low-key road miles in the fall of 2000 and planned to do more because I hardly raced that year, but my shin kept bothering me. I took some time off, then started running again in late October or so. By Thanksgiving, I had another stress fracture in my shin. I was so fed up and burnt out, I just couldn't summon the motivation to endure another two to three months of crosstraining. Retirement evolved over the next six to nine months, when I slowly realized that life would be okay if I weren't a competitive athlete any longer. I didn't want to keep racing if I didn't feel I could keep improving. I promised myself that I wouldn't be one of those athletes who cling to the sport and keep running past their prime just because they can't find anything else to do.

I initially sought a promising employment opportunity in London that fell through when the company went bankrupt. Then I entertained a, frankly, harebrained scheme to start a company with an old friend. Eventually, I returned to Minnesota with my wife, Teresa, a college professor who found a job at a school in St. Paul. After a few more months of soul-searching and unemployment -- remember this is 2001 -- I decided to apply to business school. I took an odd job as a writer at the Minnesota State Senate along the way. I've been very fortunate to gain admission to The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and my wife and I have been in Philadelphia since July.

SD: How does a guy with an English degree who has never had a conventional job wind up at Wharton in his early 30s? What have you been doing to prepare for business school-slip phrases like "leverage interface functionality" into casual conversation?
SH: When I started looking for a job, I quickly determined that I was going to have a hard time finding a position I felt was appropriate for my interests, abilities and ambitions without some sort of further education. And most who retire from a long athletic career will tell you that it's rather difficult to find another career that's as exciting and fulfilling as running. The down job market had a lot to do with my lack of opportunities, but I didn't want to settle for an entry-level position that would normally be reserved for someone 10 years younger than me. Coming out of Georgetown, I had planned to attend law school, but instead I chose to focus on running, and never attended. I ruled out law school now because the wisdom of time has taught me that the legal profession is not for me. I opted for business school because an MBA is an ideal degree for those seeking to change careers. I believe business school will give me the training and connections to find a stimulating, challenging career.

I haven't done much more to prepare for school other than start to the read the Wall Street Journal daily and research the types of jobs MBAs pursue.

SD: Any idea what you want to do with your MBA once you have it?
SH: I'm going into school with an open mind. Part of the attraction for me to further my education was to be exposed to individuals, industries and opportunities to which I simply have never been exposed. I've long had an interest in the media industry, so I anticipate seeking opportunities in that area, but who knows where I'll end up?

SD: In running circles, you're also known for your writing. Will you be able to keep doing that? And how about the TV work you started doing this past indoor season?
SH: I won't be able to do my Runnersworld.com column for a while due to the demands of school, but I hope to write for the site occasionally. I do hope to get involved with the weekly student publication at Wharton. I never have done any TV work -- the opportunity has never presented itself. The stuff I did indoors was solely in-stadium announcing.

SD: Enough about you for now.
SH: Can I go now?

SD: Any thoughts on Alan Webb going pro? Will this help or hurt his chances of being a factor internationally by the 2004 Olympics?
SH: Alan Webb speculation has become a popular parlor game in track circles, but since no one has a crystal ball, no one knows how it all will turn out. Personally, I wish that he had given collegiate competition another shot, because I believe it's the best developmental system for the stage he's at, but it's clear that his relationship with his high school coach compromised his ability to thrive at Michigan. At the end of the day, some shoe company is going to pay him a lot of money for the foreseeable future, so who's to say that any of us wouldn't have done the exact same thing given the opportunity?

Frankly, the expectations that he will be a factor in 2004 are a bit premature. Realistically, to be a factor for an Olympic medal in the 1,500 meters means that you can run consistently in the 3:29-3:30 range, demonstrate success not only on the European circuit but also in multiround international championships and demonstrate tactical savvy in a variety of race types. A guy will get lucky once in a while in tactical race, but that's not the standard of a contender. Webb certainly has the tools and the potential, but it's rather optimistic to think that it's going to happen in less than two years. And if it doesn't happen in two years, he shouldn't be viewed as a failure. And if he thinks college was a tough adjustment -- homesickness, burnout, injury -- college is a trip to Disneyland compared to the pro circuit.

I'm all for settings high goals and dreaming big, but in the next few years, I would rather he focus on building his skill set, gain experience, learn patience, find a way to navigate the enormous internal and external expectations, and gear up for the 2008 Games. I can't help but think that Webb is in a similar situation as the high school kids going directly into the NBA. You can have all the talent in the world at 18, but if you don't follow a developmental program that's appropriate for your situation, your career can be ruined before it even starts. Look at all of the phenomenal high school players who were drafted, but don't even play any more -- not because they weren't extraordinarily talented, but because it was too much, too soon. Even Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady -- high schoolers who leapt into the NBA -- took two to four years before they started to realize their potential, and they're in a team sport, for Christ's sake.

I wish the kid luck. But I also like a few of the other young guys who are being ignored now and will be able to develop without all the baggage they'd have if Webb wasn't around.

SD: Okay, back to you, kind of. The main dig against you was always that you ran great in rabbitted races in Europe, but had a hard time in championship races here at home. The flip side of that, of course, is that the guys who win the tactical races here often get eaten alive overseas. How can someone like Webb learn to win qualifying races here while preparing for what are essentially time trials in Europe?
SH: Is that what the main dig was against me? I never heard that one before.

Webb needs experience and patience. I'm not a coach, so I can't really say how he needs to train. If you're a 3:30 guy, winning tactical races here isn't an issue. It was my particular albatross for much of my career, but a 3:30 guy will drill a 3:36 guy every day of the week. And right now, most Americans, with one or two notable exceptions, are 3:36 guys.

SD: Finally, what do you read now that Oprah has scrapped her book club?
SH: Accounting, statistics and management economics textbooks. Actually, I've picked up a couple of books related to my long-time interest in race and sports in America written by a Wharton professor, Kenneth Shropshire: In Black and White: Race and Sports in America and Agents of Opportunity: Sports Agents and Corruption in Collegiate Sports.

(Interview conducted Aug. 8, 2002, Posted Aug. 14, 2002)

Scott Douglas is a former editor of Running Times and the co-author of four running books, including Advanced Marathoning and Road Racing for Serious Runners.