MOHAMMED AHMED
"As a coach,'' Mick Byrne said, "part of me wants to shake him and say, 'What do you mean you have no clue? Are you serious? During that race, you didn't know how fast you were running?'''
That he was not aware of the clock bothered Byrne far more than it bothered Ahmed. "As a coach,'' Byrne said, "part of me wants to shake him and say, 'What do you mean you have no clue? Are you serious? During that race, you didn't know how fast you were running?''' That's what he wanted to say to Ahmed. But he didn't. He knows his runner too well to ques- tion his thinking about such things. "Look,'' By- rne said, "it's not about time, it's about racing with Mo.''
"Mo'' is short for Mohammed and momentum -- one in the same today. "The thing is,'' Ahmed said, "you have to com-
pete in a big race like that. You can't be focused on just time, time, time.'' This was not just any race, race, race, mind-
you. The star-studded field for the 10,000 me- ters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational included rising star Cameron Levins, collegiate record-holder and former NCAA champion Sam Chelanga and hometown favorite and All- American Chris Derrick; the top three finishers. Ahmed ended up sixth, despite breaking the UW record by nearly 30 seconds. The run also leaves Ahmed with nothing be-
tween him and a spot on the track at the Olym- pics in London but a top-three finish at the Ca- nadian Olympic trials in June. Now consider this for context: Ahmed's per- sonal best over 5,000 meters was 13:34.
38 ยป VARSITY MAY 3, 2012
Last Sunday, he ran 13:56 over the first 5K; and 13:38 over the second 5K of the 10,000-me- ter race.
"I'm still pinch- ing myself trying to figure out how that happened,'' Byrne said.
Tuesday, he re-
layed those times to Ahmed.
way,'''
"Mo said, 'No Byrne re-
called laughing. "I said, 'Way.''' Ahmed reacted accordingly when he was as- sured that he had run the second 5K that fast. "I was shocked,'' he said. There was no sense that he had this type of 10K race in him, either. "To be honest,'' Byrne said, "his last week of training wasn't that good.'' But it was not a factor. It never is with Ahmed.
"He doesn't panic, he doesn't get all nutty up- stairs and all crazy doubting himself,'' Byrne said. "For a majority of athletes, one bad work- out and you spend the whole week as a coach trying to get their head back. Not Mo, he just
TRACKANDFIELDPHOTO.COM
