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Nationwide Insurance’s slogan, “Life Comes At You Fast,” is applicable even to those who, like Rock, always are a few steps ahead of the rest of us. One minute he was a 17-time NCAA Division III All-American sprinter at UW-La Crosse who, months after his final collegiate meet, won a gold medal as a member of the United States’ 1,600-meter relay team at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
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And then, before Rock knew it, it was 2007. He moved to Madison from La Crosse. He had to acclimate himself to new training facilities. And then there was his engagement and Oct. 6 marriage to Missy Buttry, his college sweetheart. It was, in Rock’s words, “a year of transition.”
He very easily could have used less flattering words to describe what he went through. The “something isn’t quite right” feeling in his body. The mental strain that came with pressing when perhaps he
didn’t need to. The absolute low point of failing to even make it to the 400-meter dash final at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships a year after winning the event.
Rock had lost races by
one one-hundreth of a second and bounced back just fine. He knew recovering from what easily was the most challenging period of his career wouldn’t be easy. But that didn’t deter him.
“It (a slump) happens to everybody in track and field,” Rock said. “You just have to put it behind you and learn from it.”
Rock is, at 26 years-old, a wiser man. He realizes that
perhaps in some way, the adversity he faced could, and would, benefit him. When he says everything happens for a reason, he means it.
Of course the true test comes on June 29, when Rock will run in the 400 quarterfinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. If he reaches the finals on July 3 and finishes in the top three, he once again will be a U.S. Olympian, bound for Beijing, China, in August.
“Andrew’s goal is to be in the top three. And when he wants something, he’s not going to let anybody take it away from him,” said Missy Rock, a former Division III All-American in both cross country and track and field at Wartburg College.
“I really believe he’s going to finish in the top three in the 400 and be on the Olympic team.”
‘I was scared to death’
Even now, Rock can’t explain how things got away from him. How he, someone who is under contract with adidas and was the fourth-ranked 400 runner in the world at the end of 2006, according to Track and Field News, was absolutely petrified when the starting gun went off that June day in Indianapolis.
He had been feeling a little out of sorts since early spring. True, he had the familiarity of working with Mark Guthrie, his coach at UW-L who now is an assistant at the University of Wisconsin. But he was struggling with his training. He wasn’t sleeping well. He saw a doctor and had a blood test, but everything came back fine.
Rock admits the changes in his life, combined with overtraining, likely were the causes of his struggles. It would explain why he was “scared to death” at the USA Outdoor Championships. Finishing ninth in the semifinals and failing to reach the finals did nothing to soothe his nerves.
“I’ve always been the type of athlete who cares deeply about how I compete and how I train. It bothered me that I wasn’t running well, and that affected me,” Rock said.
“Things just kind of snowballed. I let it bother me more and more, and that just made it worse.”
This was the time both Guthrie and Buttry stepped in. Buttry, who had dealt with her fair share of injuries and setbacks, gave Rock her support and, when he asked for it, her advice. Rock said Guthrie simply told him to take a step back and relax.
So Rock packed his bag and competed in five meets in Europe later that summer. While his first two meets didn’t go as well as he would have liked, Rock said he ran well at a meet in Monaco. It was the confidence-booster he had been seeking.
“It was very hard to go to Europe,” Rock said. “But I realized that the best way to deal with adversity in life is to take it on head-on, just like anything in life. You’ve got to deal with things like that and not hide from them.”
‘Just like his old self’
Even now, Missy Rock raves about what she saw her husband do that night in January.
Andrew Rock was competing in 500 at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, his first meet since he and Buttry got married. He was in top form, moving from third place to first over the final 30 meters and winning with a time of 1 minute, 2.87 seconds.
“Andrew ran such an amazing race,” Missy Rock said. “He was so strong at the end. He looked just like his old self again.”
Rock knows that can only help him over the next two months, and beyond.
“I enjoy running again. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing,” Rock said. “I’m just going to do the best I can and hopefully I’ll be back to where I was (in 2006).”
Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com
