Jacob Thomson is a junior at Holy Cross High School in Louisville. He has won four Kentucky State Track Championships over the last two years while establishing himself as one of the best in Kentucky. He also led Holy Cross to their first team state championship in any sport, scoring 30 points alone. His 3200m best of 9:15 ranks 5th All-time in Kentucky. He will be looking to win his first Kentucky State Cross Country Championship this fall after sickness knocked him out last October. He has set big goals for this upcoming season, read below.
KY: At the Kentucky State Track Meet in May what was sweeter your 3 Individual wins (1600m, 800m, & 3200m) or 1 (Class A Team Title) ?
JT: If I had won the quadruple then I would have to go with that, but since we came up short in the 4x8 I’ll go with the team title. Contributing to the first boys team title in school history in any sport was my main objective at State. We were disappointed that we didn't come away with the first title last fall in XC, so I was determined to do all I could to secure the title in Track by scoring in all four events.
KY: Goals for this season?
JT: My two main goals this year are to place top 5 at Foot Locker becoming an All-American and to make the US junior team in February. I want to win the Foot Locker South Regional, but I would rather run my best race a nationals. Throughout the year I want to establish myself as one of the best in the country by running well at the Indiana State Preview, Trinity Invitational, Great American Cross-Country Festival, and Foot Locker. Also on the list of goals is to break 15:00 as many times as possible and breaking the state record.
KY: Will you use the fact that getting sick last October set back your training and essentially knocked you out of running the Seeded Race at Foot Locker to motivate you this season?
JT: Yes, I will use last season to motivate myself. I believe that if I had stayed healthy last year I would have qualified for Foot Locker Nationals. So this is a big redemption year for me to become one of the top few runners in the country.
KY: What kind of mileage did you put in this summer?
JT: After being sick last fall I committed myself to building up a strong base throughout the track season and after a short break I've picked up where I left off. I’ve built up to high 50, low 60 mile weeks so far.
KY: How is the loss of (Class A State Champion) Dominic (Perronie) as a training partner going to affect you this season?
JT: Losing Dom is going to be a big change, but I am always up for a challenge. It always helps when you have someone there to push you every day. I know that it's going to take a lot to achieve my goals and it will take much more focus and determination on my part to workout at that level of intensity alone. He took me under his wing and I owe a lot of my success to him. I still run with him as much as possible but when the season starts I will be mostly on my own.
KY: You recently finished second at the MidSummer’s Night Run in Lexington with a 15:34. How did it feel to get back to the 5k and off the track?
JT: It felt great to get back out there and run a 5k. I wanted to see where I was going into the season and see what I had left after 2 miles. I wanted to test myself midway because I've learned that my finishing speed will always be there no matter how hard I run in the middle of a race. I've been looking forward to running another 5k since the night I ran 9:15 for a 3200. I felt like I could have kept that pace up and ran a very fast 5k. So this year I am committing myself to the first 2 miles of the race regardless of what I have left in the end.
KY: Overall, were you happy with your race?
JT: I was happy with the way I felt. Sure I would have like to run a little faster, but I felt great during and after my race. I didn't have to kick or press at all. I know that I will have to run the middle part of the race more aggressively this year because it will be the difference between 15:02 or 14:50.
KY: You made up a lot of ground over the last mile to pull closer to the winner. You did the same thing at the Trinity Invitational last year, what gives you the ability to track down runners over that last mile?
JT: Actually my last mile was the slowest. I ran 4:50/5:03/5:04/:34. I felt great and just tried to stay as even as possible, but similar to the Trinity Invitational and even the KY Dream Mile I have to stay more focused on the pace midway because I have always finished strong. My coaches and uncles are encouraging me to test my limits midway and to be willing to risk having nothing left at the end. So to some degree I have an ability to dig down at the end and overcome pain, but that may be because I haven't truly worked hard enough midway. I was in 4th at the 2 mile, about 6 seconds behind 2 runners. Once I passed them, they didn't give chase.
At the Trinity Invitational I caught an earful from Mr. Lilly at the 4k... needless to say that's always helpful, haha. I feel that in order for me to reach my full potential and succeed at national level I have to run with this type of attitude. As Prefontaine said "A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more."
KY: You have set big goals for this season, how are you preparing yourself mentally and adjusting your workouts to get your ready to run sub 15?
JT: Mainly I am focusing on consistency in my training. As Michael Eaton recently stated in his {KYtrackXC.com} interview, "The longer I can stay healthy and train at a high level the stronger I become." After getting sick last October, my track season felt more like XC season all over again. I built up my aerobic base that I lost from my time off. My coaches and I agreed that it was in my best interest to focus more on a successful XC season as a Junior than trying to do too much too fast and making the most of a Sophomore track season. Since the end of track season, my training has been very consistent, because I was not training to peak. I have been able to continue workouts after a short break and feel that I am in the best shape of my life right now. I have been hitting the same workout splits with far less effort than I was a year ago.
KY: Last year you said your favorite workout was “My favorite workout would be 2x2mile tempo. I run 2 miles in under 11 minutes, and then rest for 5 minutes. Line back up and do it again. I also like 6x1000m with 200m recovery.” Has that changed?
JT: I still love the 2x2m workout. I recently did the 2x2mile tempo with my old teammate Dominic Perronie, Mike Horan, and Mark Brios. It’s great to get out there and have people to run with. I ran 10:34 (4:00 recovery) and then 10:39. I am working up to doing 4 mile tempos at the same pace. I have also grown to love mile repeats. 4x1600 with 4:00 recovery is a very challenging workout, but it really helps mentally in races to know you can pull out a 4:50 in the second mile of a 5k when you focus on it.
