Hawaii running back Miles Reed prepared all season for his ironman performance against New Mexico

The home stretch is not an easy path for Miles Reed.

The distance from the bottom of Colt Street up to Reed’s family home is a six-block, leg-burning challenge. But to build wind and lower-body strength, Reed spends his breaks training in his old neighborhood in Corona, Calif.

“Where I’m from in Southern California, there are a lot of hills,” said Reed, a sophomore running back for the Hawaii football team. “There’s no shortage. I live on a hill. It’s a pretty big hill, a nice incline. I like running down and back up.”

Reed’s workouts proved beneficial in the Rainbow Warriors’ 45-31 road victory over New Mexico on Saturday. The game was played at a breathtaking 5,100 feet above sea level. With Fred Hollly III unavailable, Reed was counted on to be the main running back. Reed responded with 16 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Since Dayton Furuta suffered an ankle injury in the opener, Holly and Reed have trained for the worst-case possibility either might have to carry the load in a game.

“In case it was just one of us going,” Reed said, “we would be ready to run the marathon and not just run the race.”

Reed’s preparation involves familiarity. During workouts, he will wear a helmet with a visor, just as he does in games. He also will use a training mask while going through the cardio circuits in the weight room. The mask is a resistant-breathing apparatus intended to strengthen the diaphragm to allow greater oxygen intake. Translation: It builds endurance for playing in high altitude’s thin air.

“If I can play with less oxygen, I can play better,” said Reed, who is averaging 4.92 yards per rush after the intermission.

Reed has benefited from the Warriors’ spin classes. During position drills, the backs will work on whirling out of the grasp of would-be tacklers for extra yards.

“That’s stuff we drill,” offensive coordinator Brian Smith said. “Sometimes that comes more naturally to some guys than others.”

Reed said he developed a spin-out technique at Centennial High. “It kind of carried over to here,” Reed said. “It’s just spinning on a 360 rotation and just getting back vertical as fast as possible.”

He likened the technique to the old picnic game of putting your forehead on a baseball bat’s handle, spinning around three times, and then sprinting. “I was great at that,” he said, smiling.

But for all of Reed’s moves, the coaches still are trying to keep him grounded. The two lost fumbles of his UH career came when he lost his grip during launches.

Fumbles were “never a big issue with him,” Smith said. “The jumping is a problem for him. I don’t think he’s been sloppy with ball security the entire year aside from when he leaves the ground.”

Reed has not fumbled the past four games, a streak of 31 carries.

“Fumbling has never been my thing,” Reed said. “Even the fumbles I had this year, that’s not my game, that’s not my philosophy. I don’t ever condone putting the ball on the ground under any circumstance. I’ve been working on ball security for myself, and not even giving defenders a chance to make a play on the ball.”

Left guard J.R. Hensley said of Reed: “One of my favorite guys I have a chance to block for. He’s a hard-working guy, and he reads plays and hits holes. You can’t ask for much better as far as a running back.”