March 31, 2015
After a few failed attempts, I finally caught up with my former athlete Keni Harrison last night for a phone conversation. Harrison recently won the NCAA 60m hurdle national championship for the University of Kentucky, even though it was only her second meet of the year after coming back from a hamstring injury. We talked about her national championship victory, her Southeastern Conference championship victory the week prior, and her thoughts as she looks forward to the outdoor season, which starts this coming Saturday. She will be competing in the 400 hurdles at the Florida Relays.
McGill: When did you first injure your hamstring?
Harrison: Coming back from Christmas break. That Saturday, I came back early to start training. I probably did half the workout, then we had some sprints to do at the end, and I started feeling a little pain in my right hamstring. Thought it was just an ache, but it didn’t go away. A week later I was doing 150’s and it was hurting.
McGill: Had you competed in any meets prior to then?
Harrison: Just one meet prior to then; I ran the 300. But I hadn’t raced in the hurdles at all.
McGill: So you didn’t compete again until the SEC’s at the end of February, and that was your first hurdle race. What did you do in the meantime to get your hamstring right?
Harrison: Yeah I ended up missing two months of competition. I was rehabbing, doing a lot of tempo things, doing drills over three small hurdles to keep my rhythm. A lot of reps. I did them slower at first, ‘til I felt no pain. Then at a pretty comfortable pace, not too slow, not too fast.
McGill: And you ran the 4×4 at SEC’s. You felt you were in shape to run that?
Harrison: I didn’t think I was going to run the 4×4, but I guess I was ready. I didn’t get out as hard as I should have because I was trying to gauge where my endurance was. I probably got out at about 70-80 percent, then I put it all out there at the end.
McGill: What did you split?
Harrison: 52.
McGill: Did you do anything specific in your training in the week leading up to SEC’s?
Harrison: I did a lot of powerful sprinting to get my speed back, because I hadn’t sprinted the last two months. I also did a lot of block work, and some tempo runs to get my endurance up.
McGill: So what was your mindset heading into the SEC meet, seeing as how that was your first meet back from injury?
Harrison: My mindset was, do the best you can. I had nothing to lose; I hadn’t raced all season. So my attitude was, if I get on the line and it’s not enough, so be it. But before the prelims I had a mini panic attack. I felt fine warming up, but right before the race I got nervous. When I got on the line I was still really nervous – as nervous as I’ve ever been. The gun went off, I got out kind of slow. I didn’t start competing ‘til like the third hurdle. That’s when I started feeling like my old self again. The next day, in the finals, I felt strong, had my confidence back, like I had nothing to lose.
McGill: Okay now let’s jump ahead to Nationals. Did you feel like you were the one to beat, or did you feel nervous knowing this was only your second meet of the season?
Harrison: I was a little hesitant. I knew I had the fastest time going in, but that had been true last year. So I had some self-doubt nagging me in the back of the head. Coach [Floreal] was telling me my confidence wasn’t where it needed to be. A lot of people don’t know that about me – they don’t know I get nervous. Having the fastest time going in didn’t mean I was going to win; I still felt I had to prove a point. Going into prelims, I was like, just do the best you can, you can do this. I got out slow, was hitting hurdles,. got beat by two girls, but I was at peace with myself. I put a smile on my face like nothing happened. Coach thought I’d be upset, he asked me what was wrong, but I said I’m fine, I’m good. In the finals, I went to the track early and warmed up. I joked to one of the assistants, ‘Next time you see me I’m gonna be national champ.’ But I was very serious when I said that.
McGill: Talk about that finals race, and the moments leading up to it.
Harrison: I had been doing frequency drills in warmups, trying to get the race cadence in my head. I got out strong, got into good position, felt someone next to me off the last hurdle, sprinted as fast as I could and dove at the line. I don’t remember details of the race too well, but I felt a little all over the place, like I was coming off hurdles kind of sideways. But I just focused on getting to the finish line. I didn’t really see my technique ‘til I watched the film and was like, wow, I got a lot to clean up.
McGill: Like what?
Harrison: Technically I have to clean up coming off the hurdles and coming right to the ground. My lead leg goes over the hurdle and waits for the ground. I also have to work on staying forward coming off the hurdle instead of popping straight up.
McGill: So now that you’ve won a national championship indoors, what’s the plan for outdoors? Will you focus on the 100 hurdles or will you continue to double in both hurdle events?
Harrison: I plan on doubling outdoors. The goal is to win Nationals in both.
McGill: How does that work training-wise?
Harrison: We break up the days – we have our short hurdle days and our 400 hurdle days. Fridays are our really hard endurance days; I run with the quarter milers, and toward the end of the workout Coach will put hurdles up for me to get me to execute the last part of the race. I feel good about my 400 hurdles. I think I’m gonna drop a big number this year.
McGill: Looking at your journey thus far – from a soccer player as youngster to someone to who decided to focus on track as a junior in high school, to someone who has gone on win a national championship at the collegiate level – where do you see yourself going from here, now that your senior year is winding down?
Harrison: I see myself kind of just evolving, continually evolving. Coming from high school and being one of the best, then going to Clemson and not being one of the best, racing [former Clemson teammate] Brianna [Rollins] and just running for second. Then junior and senior years here at Kentucky I’m the one that everyone’s trying to beat. Winning nationals has put me in the mindset of, I can do this. I can go into races against professionals believing I can win. It’s just a mental thing, and if I can overcome that part of it, I can be one of the best.
McGill: Maybe you already are.
Harrison (laughing): Maybe.
