Coach Profile - Dustin Sweeney

Meet Dustin Sweeney

Name:  Dustin S Sweeney

Place of birth:  Winchester, VA; Reared in Berryville, VA

Year of birth:  1983

HS:  Clarke County HS

College:  Shenandoah U

Coaching Credentials:  USATF Level II

Coaching Mentors:  Lydiard, Vigil

Coaching Background:  Clarke County HS, James Madison University, George Washington University, Pacers NB

Dustin's Story / Coaching Background:

Berryville, Virginia is a sleepy town nestled in the northern neck of the Shenandoah Valley.  It was once known for it's vast acres of apple orchards.  It was then, for a short period of time, known for running.  The apple orchards were uprooted to make room for corn and soy beans.  Much the same, running, has been pushed aside.

I dressed in the locker room by myself; tights, long sleeve, hat, gloves.  Laced up the Asics 2040 and I was out the door.  I was fourteen and indoor track wasn't in my vocabulary.  It didn't exist in Berryville.  The only thing that existed were miles of gravel roads, back roads that meander around cattle and horse farms, the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I ran solo almost every day.  

I was preparing myself for the upcoming baseball season.

Spring came and I made the JV baseball team.  My coach came up to me two weeks into practice, took me aside and told me something that I never forgot, and something that has been a theme throughout my life.  He said "when I was in high school I played in four sports, I was very good at all of them, but I wasn't great in any of them.  You have a chance to do something and be great at it..."  Maybe he was just telling me I was a lousy baseball player.  Once you start a season in a sport, you're not eligible to switch sports -- they made an exception in my case.  I finished the year all-state in the 3200.  

I was then possessed.  I grabbed "How to Train" by Hal Higdon, I flipped through and found a chapter written by John Davies.  Davies was coached by Arthur Lydiard.  My life changed that summer.  I ran my first 100 mile week, and it was easy.  As the youngest of three, you always struggle to define yourself.  I was a runner, and this is what I will do for the rest of my life.  

Four years later, I was back coaching at Clarke County.  I was eighteen years old when they hired me.  I would be coaching some athletes that were older than me.  I would be coaching athletes that had more facial hair than me.  I would be coaching athletes that didn't like me.  To have a winning team, you first must develop the correct culture, this is impossible to do without pissing people off.  It's a tough row to hoe, and it can take years to develop.  

It took me two.  

My girls and boys finished third at the Virginia State Meet in 2003.  Parents, friends, other coaches were all elated for me, the athletes and our program.  I was happy, but strangely not satisfied.  I understood that the culture had changed when I looked around and noticed my athletes were not satisfied either.  They weren't breaking bats over their knees, but they were hungry.

Again, everything changed that winter.

The following Monday we were still running.  Of course, some athletes had down time, but I was still there, and people ran.  Where six years ago I was the lone runner, I now had a crew of boys and girls ready and willing to see just how fast they can push their bodies.  CCHS agreed to start an indoor track and I was having the best time of my life.

We went on to win the following three Boys and Girls State Cross Country Championships, equaling Pat Henner's record at Blacksburg HS.  In 2004 we also had both individual state champions and team champions, equaling Ron Helmer's record at Virginia HS.  I was in esteemed company, and I was 21 years old.  Our teams would win eight of ten cross country titles, as well as several outdoor track titles.  Berryville was now a running town.  

I left Clarke Country to pursue the NCAA. This is my dream job.  I quickly learned that the NCAA is not designed to promote athletic excellence.  I can post about that later.  

I learned much from Dave Rinker and Bill Walton while I was at James Madison University.  Coach Rinker allowed me to take the reins of the middle distance program after less than a month on board.  This was my chance!  There was a steep learning curve and I was still developing as a coach.  My girls went to place fourth at the ECAC 4x800, running the second fastest time ever at JMU.  

I moved on to George Washington University and eventually landed with Pacers.  I'm forever grateful for the experiences I had in the NCAA, but in my endless pursuit of excellence, I understand where my talent lies and that's with developing post collegiate athletes.

I started coaching my self and my good friend, Charles, when I was 15; I'm now 30  I've been coaching an incredible 15 years.  I was insatiably driven in my younger years; getting up at 4:30 am, working off caffeine and dreams.  

I have found a great niche and incredible opportunity in the DC area.  DC was once an (elite) running town, and it soon will be again.  

Coaching post collegiate athletes is what I was meant to do and that inspires me every day when I get up.  Meaning in life is incredibly hard for some to find.  I found it when I was fourteen, logging miles in the apple orchards.

Runner Profile - Kelly Devine

Meet Kelly Devine


Born:  York, Pennsylvania   March 22, 1984

High School:  Eastern York High School
College:  York College of Pennsylvania
PBs:
Marathon - 2:55:29       
Half Marathon - 1:23:01       
Ten Miler - 62:29
5k - 18:52





Kelly's Story:

I grew up mostly playing basketball and started running as a freshman in high school.  At that point, running was for fun, a way to be with my friends and be active but I didn't really get into racing or running beyond comfort.  Throughout my high school years, I ran cross country and track and played basketball.

When I went to college I knew I wanted to work with children identified with exceptionalities and began working as an in-home therapist for children with Autism.  This wonderful opportunity meant that running would have to be on my own.  To keep myself motivated, I decided to train for my first marathon in the spring of my junior year of college.  After a few marathons with some huge personal bests (3:36, 3:17, 3:07), I finally broke the 3 hour mark and ran a 2:55:29 in New York City in November of 2006.  It was training for marathons and seeing my efforts pay off ignited the fire within me to love more than just running, I began to love pushing my body's limits.  I ran New York City while student teaching in York, PA and decided to move to teach in DC after graduating and joined the Pacer's Racing Team in the fall of 2007.

For me, the longer the race the better.  My strength is in distance and endurance and my favorite races to compete in are 10 milers to marathons (and maybe one day beyond...)

After an injury in the fall of 2008, I took a break from the marathon, coming back to run Marine Corps this year.  Training for and racing the marathon again reminded me of my love for this distance.  Over the next year, my goals are to race better my times in shorter distances in the spring and come back next fall with a marathon personal best.

Runner Profile - Steve Hallinan

Meet Steve Hallinan

Born: Philadelphia, PA March 16, 1986
High School: Cardinal O'Hara High School,
Springfield, PA
College: American University

PBs:
1500m - 3:44
Mile - 4:02
3000m - 8:09
5000m - 14:01
10 Miles - 49:12
Half Marathon - 64:35

Favorite Local Trails: Rock Creek/C&O Canal

Steve's Story:
I started running at a young age.  My grade school offered Cross Country for 4th graders, so at age 9 I followed my older sisters foot steps and began running.  I also played basketball and baseball, but my tall skinny figure steered me away from the contact sports and to running exclusively.  I had good success in track and cross country in high school, and that, with a scholarship, brought me to DC and American University.  Under the tutelage of my coach, 2-time Olympian Matt Centrowitz, I qualified for four NCAA Championships in cross country, won numerous conference championships (individual and team), and was a 3-time Academic All-American.

After graduation, I thought my running career was going to be over.  However, when the fall cross country season came around, the itch to compete was still there.  I moved back to DC and started competing for Pacers.  I kept contact with the shorter track races, but also went up in distance and started dabbling in the 10 mile and half marathon distances. This past year I qualified for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon, but in my first attempt at this distance at the Trials had to step off at mile 18 because of a knee issue.

My short term goal is to allow my body to rest up after 12 years of intense racing.  But I could see myself tackling the marathon in the future.

Why Don't We Do It On the Grass?

By Dustin Sweeney

Tripp finds me at the Ballston Metro at 6:31 am with Frank in tandem and we are off to Bluemont Park in Arlington.  If you’re not familiar, you can look at a map of Arlington and Bluemont is the last patch of open grass in the county (outside of the infamous Arlington Cemetery).  Finding grass is a hot commodity in the DC/Alexandria/Arlington Area, so much so that Southerland and DeVar venture from their U-Street abode in the early morning hours to take on Arlington’s best patch of unkempt grass.

We arrive pre-dawn to find Peter Accomando in the parking lot, ready to roll.  As we unfold out of Tripp’s Mini we find the type of morning that is unique to October.  Crisp as a first bite of a Granny Smith Apple, the type of morning that I suspect people in Ireland regularly enjoy – at least according to that Sounds of Ireland CD I found. 

I still haven’t told them their workout, and they haven’t asked.  I point them towards the Bluemont Junction Trail and tell them to warm up.  The first part of their workout will be on the paved bike path that used to be a black and white railroad track serving the DC area in the ‘50s.  Despite its rail-authenticity, there’s a “good climb” into a gradual incline and then back down.   They break into their warm up and I start marking the grass course around the grounds. 

The group arrives, less one.  Chris Rom, a freshman at Georgetown, is unfortunately at Teddy Roosevelt Island and ends up the fault of the dreaded miss-communication   He aboards the pain train solo and performs 4k upper threshold (5:40s); 2x2k @ 10k effort (5:30s) with a 3:00 recovery in between each.  The island is tricky, and I don’t mean whorish, I mean slow.  So effort is the key word here.

I tell Pete, Frank (FD) and Trippstar (TS) their workouts for the day.

Frankenstein and Tripp-odometer have:

- 2 miles upper threshold (Frank @ 10:10-10:20; Tripp @ 10:20-10:30) on the Bluemont Junction

- 2-4’ recovery, change shoes. Then into…

- 3 sets of 1200 @ 10k Effort (1’ recovery) 800 @ slightly faster (2-4’ recovery between sets) on THE GRASS.  Devar @ 3:45-3:50 & 2:25-2:30; Southland @ 4:00-4:05 & 2:35-2:40

All told 9.2k of work.

Peter:  

5 sets of 800 @ slightly slower than 5k effort (2’ recovery) 400 @ slightly faster than 5k effort (2’ recovery).  I don’t prescribe him times….Peter has never ran seriously on grass.  And this is SERIOUS.  

So all this is about to start and who is there???  CROSS CYCLERS!  They’re doing a workout at the same place/same time.  Cross Cyclers are freaking crazy, but they’re also good guys.  What’s cross cycle?  This is cross cycle:  

                          

Some baddass stuff.  They were going batshit crazy doing loops around the baseball fields, weaving around on the hill, but were always very courteous of what we were doing.  Nice guys.   Crazy, but nice. 

TWO MILES, upper threshold:  FD is right on at 10:23.0, TS follows closely at 10:31.0 – honestly it’s over 2miles, but who gives a shit.  3minutes and a change of shoes later the first set begins

The 800m course is windy, has a steep 100m climb and is true cross country.  Like a white guy at a reggae concert it was impossible to get rhythm and the grass is soaked with the morning’s dew.  My feet are totally drenched and starting to go numb – so theirs must be frozen blocks of ice. 

At any cost, this is cross country, so who cares. 

SET ONE:  FD -- 3:46.0, 2:31.4;  TS – 3:51.1, 2:37.0.  I tell them to relax, this is more about effort than splits.

SET TWO:  FD – 3:53.5, 2:30.9; TS – 4:02.6, 2:37.6.  They listened to me.

SET THREE:  FD – 3:49.0, 2:28.6; TS – 4:00.1, 2:36.5.  A great job.

They finish by doing a speed drill in and out of cones.  Yes.  Cones.   

PETE continues to improve.  His goal is to win his local turkey trot in Mass, which I believe, is the coolest freaking goal I’ve ever heard.  His results:

3:00.2, 80.1  //  2:57.5, 82.1  //  2:59.0, 80.6  //  3:00.4, 79.5  //  2:57.1, 77.6

People are telling me this blog was too long?  You know what else is too long?  The great wall of China. 

And you can see that from space.