Breaking Down

As a runner, I was drawn to the book Once a Runner to compare my experiences to those of the fictional character Quenton Cassidy. In chapter 17 “Breaking Down” of the reading, I made my first real deep connection Quenton. The chapter follows a competitive indoor meet in which Quenton places 5^th overall running a 4:00.1 mile. After the meet Quenton decides he will start training with his teammate and former gold medalist Bruce Denton. The type of training they plan to follow is something called breaking down. This is a risky move, it is a way of leap frogging months of safer slower training to reach a single goal of becoming an elite runner. Bruce described the object as “running through”, practicing running through the demanding work outs just as you would run through a hiccup in life like a death of a family member or a diagnoses of cancer. The training consists of logging miles on miles of running and literally breaking down your body every day, reaching a point where after every work out you feel as though you will never be able to recover. The training effects every aspect of your life, you find yourself breaking down psychologically as much as you do physically. You become irritable and constantly looking for rest. Breaking down is a metamorphosis for runners and in chapter 17 Quenton opens up to relieve his deep connection to running. Quenton describes his most powerful drives and what makes him unique as a runner. The novel states in the final paragraph, “Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But It also made him free.”

The way Quenton describes his pure connection to runner is something that I understood. His drive as a competitor is something that I feel strongly about myself. Being a competitive runner is something not easily described or comprehended by those who do not experience it firsthand. Author John L. Parker, Jr. captures that lifestyle in this chapter and surrounds it with the perfect combination of words that anyone can enjoy. As I begin the next step in my life finding a college, I’m blessed with the choice of running track and field in college. This chapter in particular both excites me and terrifies me for the next level of competition. So I guess I relate to Quenton with these conflicting feelings. Maybe I could also be free.       

Blog Post #3

"How did I know you ran the mile in a 4:30 in high school? That's easy. Everyone ran the mile in 4:30 in high school."
-Frank Shorter, out running somewhere, circa 1969

The quote from above is a epigraph or short quotation that the author chooses to place at the beginning of the novel to set the theme for the novel. The rhetorical devices used in this quote from Frank Shorter are hyperbole, and irony. Hyperbole is defined as obvious and intentional exaggeration, Frank Shorter is clearly exaggerating about everyone running a 4:30 mile in high school because it is such a common lie for runners. Along with hyperbole I believe Shorter is using Irony. As a world class runner and gold medalist Olympian, Frank Shorter attracts a lot of runners that come seeking answers and truths. Over the years many up and coming runners have approached him looking to spark interest in the guru by boasting their high school mile times. Frank uses irony in this quote by suggesting to whoever he is talking to that he already knew they ran a 4:30 mile in high school because everyone he talks to ran a 4:30 mile. I believe the author John. L. Parker chose to include this quote leading into the book to set the tone that this story will bring the truth out of running 

Blog Post #4

“Isn’t that something? He said, shaking his head.

“Weird like everything else around here. I don’t think I get it.”

“I didn’t either, for a while. I’ve seen the hurdlers, the shot, and disc guys doing stuff like that. Never made sense. Then I figured it out. What they’re doing is they’re playing track.”

“Playing?”

“Right. See, when you’re doing the actual thing itself, it’s so competitive and serious, I don’t think anybody really has much fun at it. Rarely in practice and never in meets. Oh, they like the idea of it all right, they like going to competitions, and they like being on a team and the general hullabaloo of being a jock. But when you get right down to it, while you’re doing the thing itself, it’s not a lot of grins. I can’t remember a mile race in my life that was even mildly amusing.”

“So what was all that back there about?”

“Well, sometimes Spider or one of the others will be sitting around here and suddenly realize that he likes doing what does. He may have turned it into a compulsion or a job, but it was once something he did as a kid just for the neat sensation it gave him. So Spider will have a few tokes and suddenly realize he loves sailing through the air without having to hand someone a boarding pass. I’ve seen Mobley drink three pitchers and go out and heave his goddamn shot around a playground by moonlight all night. Weird stuff like that . . .”

“But they do this every afternoon. I don’t see why he would want to go out in some garage . . .”

“It’s very simple. Though it looked amazing to us, for him jumping six-five is like strolling around the block. He could do it in his sleep. So, for him to make it into a play, all he had to do is drop back several notches off his true capabilities; he puts on a pair of cutoffs, rigs up a stupid cane pole for a bar, and he does . . . what he does. It would be like me going out and running a 4:20 mile. I don’t know how else to explain it. They do it all the time. Everybody likes to watch, particularly when the high jumpers do it. They make up these fantastic situations, give themselves glamorous foreign names, pretend it’s some great vendetta in the Olympics or something . . .”

This section of dialogue takes place right after Quenton brings Andrea to the garage of Doobey Hall to show her how the track athletes of Southeastern University wind down. They come across a high jumper showing off his stuff to pass the time. I chose this section because of the way Quenton explains why the track athletes are the way that they are. Quenton is speaking as though he has figured out the majority of what is happening but still hasn’t fully grasped the answers he seeks. Andrea is completely confused but is fully committed to hearing out Quenton and learn more about what makes him, him.    

Synopsis part 1

In the novel Once a Runner, author John L. Parker, Jr. intensely illustrates the life style that surrounds a college miler. Parker draws from his own personal experience as a three time mile champion of the Southeastern Conference in college to create a fictional story of a young runner named Quenton Cassidy. The story begins with a young man approaching a track at night. He observes the night joggers, as they observe him. As he walks toward the starting line he remembers back to years prior.

At this point you enter the world of college running. You’re introduced to Southeastern University where Quenton Cassidy is a promising miler. The author Parker briefs you on Doobey Hall early, the dorm house for the track and field athletes of Southeastern. It is fall and most of the athletes on campus are training – like they do all year – for the winter indoor and eventually spring outdoor season. Quenton is named captain and is constantly evaluating the incoming freshman to see who has real potential. One such runner that has stuck out of the pack is Jack Nubbins, A young hot shot that has potential to knock off Quenton as the top Miler on the team. Quenton doesn’t seem too concerned but, in early training Quenton stays with Nubbins constantly. Another runner on the team that you meet is Jerry Mizner, another distance man and a good friend of Quentons. The two train constantly, logging in nearly 18 miles a day.

As a reader you get a distinct early sense of the chemistry within the team at Southeastern University. The author explains everyone’s role on the team such as the relationship between the throwers and distance men and how the dynamics of their events leads to mutual respect. Sprinters on the other hand carry a swagger of their own, John L. Parker lightly touches on the subject of sprinting only to show that it is not important.

Quenton “falls in love” early in the book to a girl named Andrea. An attempt to introduce himself ends badly when he notices her running on a warm up run of his own. He tries to teach her proper running form, but his cute suggestions come across as pretentious and he strikes out. Quenton redeems himself a week later at a bar and the two hit it off. Andrea is quickly thrown into the world of dating a track athlete and struggles to deal with the traveling of Quenton at away meets. When the two are together at Southeastern they click. Spending nights on the pole vault mat and at Doobey hall, Andrea is fascinated by the way Quenton looks at the world, and fits into it.

John L. Parker Jr. does a fantastic job of keeping Quentons identity somewhat of a mystery while continuing the plot of the story in a way that keeps the reader interested. Parker leaves room for Quenton to grow before the spring outdoor season even begins.

Still a runner..

Once a runner has been claimed, "The best novel ever written about running." By Runner's World. Naturally, as a high school track and field runner such a serious claim caught my attention. In competition with two other books for my AP English class reading list, eventually, Once a runner won out due to heavy recommendation from my teacher. The choice was instantly reinforced after reading the first few chapters. The style chosen by author John L. Parker, Jr. flows effortlessly like a well conditioned miler, showing his clear obsession and understanding of the sport.