Steve Bence: My UO Freshman Year

Steve Bence: 1971 Zaragoza HS, Spain Senior Year (left) ... 1972 UO Freshman Year (right)

In June 1971 I graduated from Zaragoza American High School in Spain. I was an 800/1500 meter runner. Three months later I arrived at the University of Oregon to start my college career. Bill Bowerman and Bill Dellinger coached a very talented group of teammates which included my soon-to-be friend, Steve Prefontaine.

Below is a short story, including workouts, of how I went from a 1:55 high school half-miler to a 1:47 all-American during my UO freshman year.

MOVE TO OREGON

Moving from Spain to Oregon was a difficult path. As a High School senior in Spain I had to find a US college who would allow me to run on their track team.

I wrote to many college track coaches including Ohio State, Kansas State, and USC. The most discouraging reply was a very candid response from USC. I was told that my 1:55 time might be very good in Spain, in fact it was a European record, but my high school 800 meter time was "a dime a dozen" in Southern California and in order to be nationally competitive they had to be very selective who they allowed on their track team. I was denied.

I learned that Bowerman had a very generous walk-on policy at Oregon. He stressed that we were attending college for an education, which should be top priority, but if we thought that we might be good enough to make the team we were allowed to train with the varsity runners and find out. So over the summer I was accepted as a student at Oregon and I was a walk-on student-athlete that fall.

STEVE PREFONTAINE

By my Senior year, Pre and I became good friends.

Matt Centrowitz, Steve Bence, Steve Prefontaine, Mark Feig 5/29/75 Steve Bence, Steve Prefontaine

My freshman year we were just getting to know each other. Pre warmly welcomed to me to the team when we first met and he knew that I was coming. As we said good-bye after our first meeting I was puzzled when he said, "You speak good English!" I realized that he must have thought I was Spanish.

Pre had an incredible work ethic which rubbed off on the rest of us. He said that he had the least amount of talent, which of course wasn't true, and he simply out-trained the rest of us. Dellinger said that Pre never missed a workout nor a race.

Pre lived as though he was on borrowed time. I said that in the locker room that he could be in and out in the amount of time that it took me to put on and tie a pair of shoes. My good friend Dave Taylor claimed that to open a lock we had to turn the dial left-right-left. But with Pre he'd turn it left and start pounding on the locker because he'd been there for two seconds and the locker wasn't open. He was fast and impatient.

Later when Pre lived me and my roommate Mark Feig, I barely saw him. He'd come back to the apartment after I was asleep and usually went out for a morning run, shower, and eat before I was awake. He had a lot to do and was disciplined to his full schedule.

OVER MY HEAD?

I had a few wake-calls which made me question if Oregon was too big a leap.

The first came at an Oregon cross country 6-mile time trial in late September. Our 1971 cross country team would go on to win the NCAA team title with Prefontaine the individual champion. Dellinger wanted me, as a freshman middle distance runner, to run the time trial with the team and said that I should only run the first 3 miles. Great! I thought I'd run with the leaders and drop out at the half-way point. My best 1500 meter time in high school was 4:17 which equated to about a 4:35 mile. I ran with the leaders which included Prefontaine. After a relatively easy first half mile I found myself having to push in order to keep up. We went by the first mile in about 4:50 which was only 15 seconds off my personal best. I couldn't believe how fast they were going. The leaders ended up finishing in 30:17 which was an average 5:03 pace. I dropped out at 3 miles in 16:20, a 5:25 pace, totally spent. I had no idea what I was getting into that day and questioned if I belonged on the team.

As a side note, Prefontaine later won the Northern Division Cross Country Championships that year. Washington State took the number 2,3,4,5,6 spots to easily beat all other teams for the team title. Washington State also won the Pac-8 Championships. Dellinger was so upset that he decided only Prefontaine would go to the Nationals. Pre said that he wouldn't go unless the whole team went and Dellinger backed off. The Oregon team won the meet with 83 points to WSU's second place 122 points. The first four Ducks qualified as all-Americans.

Another wake-up call, or perhaps call it a challenge, was in March 1972, just before the start of my freshman track season. The Eugene Register Guard published a depth chart at each distance. It listed all the UO runners who could run the half-mile and of the nine runners, I was #9 with my 1:55.2 high school lifetime best. After six months of UO training, I was going to change my status.

1972 880-Yard Depth Chart

OREGON WORKOUTS: 6 MONTHS

I had six months of Oregon training … from 9/21/71 until my first outdoor race on 3/18/72.

The biggest lesson that I learned was consistency. Each individual workout wasn't all that hard, in fact the hardest workouts were the most exhilarating, but getting motivated each day was often the most difficult. Especially getting up at 6:30 or 7:00 on a weekday morning to get in our easy run. Thank goodness I was in the dorm and had teammates waiting for me each morning. Looking out the window at a dark, cold, rainy morning wasn't very inviting to get out of bed. But regular runs made a big difference.

We had a predictable workout schedule each week. I loved the track work on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I don't think I missed many, if any, track workouts.

	Monday		Easy morning run, Easy 3-6 mile afternoon run.
	Tuesday		Easy morning run. Longer track interval work.
	Wednesday		Easy morning run. Moderate 4-7 mile afternoon run.
	Thursday		Easy morning run. Shorter, quicker track work.
	Friday		Easy morning run. Easy 3-5 mile afternoon run.
	Saturday		Time trial, Simulated race, or Race.
	Sunday		Long easy often 10 mile run.

I listed many of my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday track workouts below. The Monday, Wednesday, Friday runs were usually just a run and it varied based on my schedule and how I was feeling.

TUESDAY WORKOUTS

A December workout at Hayward Field
Pre, Knut Kvalheim, Steve Bence, Mark Feig, Lars Kapaung

9/21/71		3 sets of 3 x 330 (total of 9 x 330), easy mile, 6 x 100, 3 mile easy run
9/28/71		8 x 440, easy 3 mile run, 6 x 110
10/5/71		2 x 1320, 2 x 880, 2 x 44, 2 x 220, easy run, 4 x 330
10/18/71		3 x 880, 3 x 440, 3 x 220, 3 x 110
10/26/71		3 x 660 (1:30, 1:27, 1:24), 20 minute easy run, 3 x 330 (45, 43, 41), 3 x 110
11/2/71		1 x 550 (55 at the 440), 1 x 330 (39), 2 x 165, 4 mile easy run, 6 x 330 (cutdown 48 to 42)
11/9/71		15 x 220 (cutdown 32 to 28)
11/16/71		Mile (4:36), 1320 (3:22), 880 (2:09), 440 (63), 4 x 220, mile easy
11/30/71		6 x (220 in 27 then 440 in 90), 4 mile easy run, 3 x 330
12/7/71		6 x 330 (41-43), 3 mile easy run, 6 x 330 (47, 44, 41)
1/25/72		440 (53), 1 mile easy run, 440 (52.1), 1 mile easy run, 2 x 220 (24.9, 24.5), short rest, 2 x 110
2/1/72		6 x 110 (fast, all under 12), 3 mile easy run, 6 x 220 (cutdown 30 to 25)
2/15/72		6 x 330 (all under 41 with last in 38.2), 3 mile easy jog, 6 x 110 (started at 16 and last was 11.5)
3/1/72		550 (53 at 440), 550 jog, 330 (39), 550 jog, 2 x 165 (19), 3 miles easy on grass, 3 x 330 (47, 44, 41.5)

THURSDAY WORKOUTS

1973 Team Picture. I'm on Pre's right in the second row about the middle.

9/23/71		16 x 165 (24-25 seconds), 3 miles easy
9/30/71		3 sets of 4 x 165 (total 12 x 165), first set in 25, second set in 22, third set in 25, 3 mile easy run, 3 x 330
10/7/71		4 x 165, 4 mile Lydiard Fartlek, 4 x 220
10/14/71		3 x 110 (12), 20 minute easy run, 3 x 165
10/28/71		First & Last 220 drill … 220 (24), 440 (90), 220 (25), fast 4 mile run, 3 x 330
11/11/71		2 x 110, 6 mile fast run, 4 x 110
11/18/71		6 x 330 (42), 3 miles easy, 6 x 110 (cutdown 15 to 12)
12/2/71		First & Last 220 drill … 220 (24.9), 440 (81), 220 (26), 3 miles easy, 3 x 330 (45, 44, 38)
1/20/72		6 x 165 then inside to Mac Court because of wind & rain
1/27/72		2 x 220 (28, 27), 3 miles easy, 4 x 110
2/17/72		2 x 110, 4 mile easy run, 4 x 110
3/9/72		3 x 330 (44, 42, 37.5), 4 mile easy run, 3 x 110

SATURDAY WORKOUTS

Saturdays were Time Trials, Simulated Races, and Actual Races. The goal was to get the mind and body accustomed to racing on the weekend.

I developed from a freshman walk-on to winning my first 8 races, 2nd in the Pac-8 Championships, 6th in the NCAA Finals, I qualified for the Junior National team, and ran in the Olympic Trials.

I ran in the 1972 Olympic Trials.
Dave Wottle won in a world record time and then won the gold medal at the Olympics.

9/25/71	3miles		16:20	Time trial … I ran 3 miles in 16:20 … the fastest 6 mile was 30:17
10/2/71	880		1:56	Time trial … 880 in 1:56, 5 mile easy run, 4 x 330
10/9/71	3miles		15:32	Time trial … I ran 3 miles in 15:32, 2 mile jog, 4 x 330 (49, 47, 46, 40)
10/16/71	3+miles		15:35	Time trial … A touch over 3 miles in 15:35
10/23/71	9miles		54:12	A timed distance run … approx 9 miles on the road … first mile 5:20 with finish time at 54:12, 4 x 330 (48) on track
10/30/71	3miles		15:45	Time trial … a touch over 3 miles in 15:45 (same course as 2 weeks earlier and 10 seconds slower)
11/13/71				3 sets of (660, 440, 330, 220, 110), 3 mile medium paced run
11/20/71				20 x 220 (averaged about 29) with 1 minute rest between each
12/4/71	660		1:23	Time trial (rainy, cold, many puddles) … 660 in 1:23, 3 mile easy run, 3 x 330 (47, 44, 39)
12/11/71	880		1:54.6	Time trial … 880 in 1:54.6 (my fastest 880 ever!)
1/15/72				10 x 220 (30), 3 mile easy run
1/22/72	990		2:10.2	Time trial … 990 in 2:10.2 (1:55 at 880), easy jog, 6 x 330 (cutdown 45 to 42)
1/29/72	1000yd	1st	2:14.2	Indoor Competition on wooden track, won 1000 yard race in 2:14.2.
2/19/72	770		1:37	Time trial … 770 in 1:37 (55.5 at 440, 1:23 at 660), 2 x 165, light jog, 3 x 110
2/26/72				1320 (3:27), 2 x 880 (2:10), 3 x 440 (62, 59, 55.5), 4 x 220 (cutdown 30 to 25), 3 mile easy run, 3 x 110
3/4/72	880		1:51.4	Time trial … 1:51.4 (55 at 440, 1:23.5 at 660) … my fastest time ever at 880!
3/11/72				Fast pace … 440 (51.9), 2 x 220 (25, 24), 3 x 110 (12.5), 3 mile easy run, 3 x 220 (28, 26, 24)
3/18/72	880	1st	1:52.3	Fresno California Meet … 1st 880 1:52.3
3/18/72	880	1st	1:52.0	3/25/72Bakersfield California Meet … 1st 880 1:52.0
4/1/72	880	1st	1:49.2	Oregon Invitation in Eugene … 1st 880 1:49.2
4/18/72	880	1st	1:50.8	at University of Washington … 1st 880 1:50.8
4/15/72	880	1st	1:49.4	at University of Nebraska … 1st 880 1:49.4
4/23/72	600yd	1st	1:09.9	(Sunday) – Oregon Twilight Meet in Eugene … 1st 600 yards 1:09.9 (50.5 at 440)
4/29/72	660		1:21.7	Workout of simulated 880 of 660 (1:21.7), 880 jog, 220 (24.5), long jog, 2 x 110 (11.6, 11.1)
5/6/72	880	1st	1:49.8	Oregon State in Eugene … 1st 880 1:49.8
5/13/72	880	2nd	1:49.y	Northern Division at Corvallis Oregon … 2nd 1:49.7 (Pat Collins won 1:49.5)
5/19/72	880	2nd	1:51.0	(Friday) – Pac-10 Trials … 2nd 1:51.0
5/20/72	880	2nd	1:48.6	(Saturday) – Pac-10 Finals … 2nd 880 1:48.6
5/21/72	550		66.8	(Sunday) – Simulated 880 for 3 race days in a row … 550 (66.8), 1 lap jog, 3 x 110 (11.8, 12.2, 11.5)
5/27/72				No meet so sharpening workout of 6 x 330 (40.3, 40.7, 38.8, 40.4, 39.2, 38.5) with 330 jog between each
6/1/72	800	Heat	1:48.4	(Thursday) – NCAA Prelims in Eugene … 800 in 1:48.4
6/2/72	800	Heat	1:48.9	(Friday) – NCAA Semi-Finals in Eugene … 800 in 1:48.9
6/3/72	800	6th	1:47.7	(Saturday) – NCAA Finals in Eugene … 6th in 1:47.7 (winner was Willie Thomas of Tennessee in 1:47.1)
6/3/72	800	3rd	1:50.0	Junior National Championships
6/3/72	800	4th	1:47.7	Olympic Trials, first round