Isaac vanWestrienen can run a mile in the amount of time it takes to brew a cup of coffee, write an email, or microwave a frozen meal.
He’s fast—so fast that he recently ran an 8K, which is about five miles, faster than anybody in the college’s history. In fact, he crushed his own school record by 18 seconds with an average speed per mile of around 4:45 at the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22. That means he finished the race in just 23 minutes and 39 seconds.
He hasn’t always been that fast, though.
“I came into college not very fast compared to a lot of people who are my speed now,” vanWestrienen said.
After a less-than-successful start to his college running career, he transferred to Cornell in his sophomore year and quickly fell in sync with Cornell Head Coach Jerry Frawley.
“Isaac has elevated his confidence in how he views himself as a whole,” Frawley said. “He has a newly found sense of self that isn’t easily shaken.”
With a solid emotional state and support from his new coach and team, vanWestrienen’s times quickly began improving.
“I think my success is a mixture of—I’m really happy here,” vanWestrienen said. “Also, I have a high level of control over my training, where I can help decide what I want to do. Like, over the summer, I said I’m going to run 100 miles a week for most of the summer, and I’m going to do double workout days. And Coach Frawley was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’”
So, how is he powering through the block and finding his stride on the track? Here’s a day in vanWestrienen’s life at Cornell College:
5:25 a.m. Alarm goes off.
5:40 a.m. Eats a granola bar and drinks a cup of coffee.
6 a.m. Practice begins on the track at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
7:50 a.m. Practice ends. He heads back to his residence hall to get ready for the day.
8:20 a.m. Eats breakfast at the Hilltop Café.
9 a.m.–11 a.m. Morning class.
11:00 a.m. Lunch.
12:45 p.m. Snack before class.
1–3 p.m. Afternoon class.
3:15 p.m. Homework
5:30 p.m. Dinner at the Hilltop Café with his team.
“Other than ice cream, I try to eliminate all desserts and processed sugars from my diet because they keep inflammation in my body,” vanWestrienen said. “And that's not good as a runner. But I just eat a lot. I eat until I’m full, and then I eat one more plate. I’ve done a lot of research on how many calories I'm burning. And it’s like 5,000 or 6,000 a day, which is so, so hard to eat.”
6:30 p.m. Homework.
8:15 p.m. Relax, play a video game, or watch TV.
9 p.m. Snack before bed.
9:15 p.m. Lights off—time for bed.
“I try to get as much sleep as I possibly can because I’m burning a lot of calories running, and I’m pushing my body pretty hard. And, Coach Frawley always grades my sleep. And I get a little annoyed sometimes because he gave me an A-minus last week, and I averaged like nine hours and 40 minutes of sleep, and he said it wasn’t good enough,” vanWestrienen said with a laugh.
Coach Frawley says the block plan helps the team to structure their day and find success with their running goals.
“The academic experience here at Cornell with the block plan really allows our student-athletes the flexibility to have more control over their routine and lifestyle,” Frawley said. They are more focused, less overwhelmed, and less stressed than the average college student, and that is because their focus is narrowed to one class and their training/team/etc. It truly is a huge advantage we have here at Cornell for anyone wanting to have a well-balanced college experience.”
vanWestrienen has taken advantage of the One Course At A Time schedule, and Frawley says accomplished a lot and has become one of the very best runners to wear a Cornell uniform.
“I think I can chalk up almost all my successes to being at Cornell College,” vanWestrienen said. “I’ve had such great experiences with the training that Coach Frawley has for me, and then having a big supportive team, which is a built-in support system.”
After graduation, this kinesiology major has a goal of becoming a professional runner for two to five years. Before he goes to physical therapy school, he hopes to make it to the Olympics. While he’s on his way to fulfilling his dreams and working hard to make it happen, he has learned a very important lesson:
“Just find the things that you love and do the things that you love,” vanWestrienen said. “Don’t waste your time doing what you think other people want you to do. Just do what makes you happy.”