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FLRC Newsletter - December 2004 |
| Interview with Jack Daniels | |
Jack Daniels wrote "the" book on running, but it's the practical application of training research, plus inspiring teamwork that brings home the victories.
Daniels, the head cross country coach at Cortland State, reknown professor of exercise science and sports studies, author of the best-selling Daniels Running Formula—and known in the Twin Tiers as Andy Cloke's coach, was recruited by Ithaca senior runners Don Farley and Chuck Collins to compete as a team Oct. 17 at the USA Masters 5K Cross Country Championships, held at Saratoga Spa Park in Saratoga Springs.
Farley, Daniels, and Collins, representing the Finger Lakes Runners Club, won the national championship team title in the men's 70–79 division; they finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, among men ages 70–74.
Farley (23:09); Daniels (23:46) and Collins (23:50) defeated three other men's M70 teams and won the national title with a cumulative score of 1:10:45.
The FLRC women's veterans (ages 50–59) squad, with Corning's Mary Wenck, and Ithaca's Diane Sherrer, Zsofia Franck, Shelly Marino, and Deb Yelverton, also won the national championship title in the women's veterans division.
The 71-year-old Daniels, who is usually in the news concerning his coaching and not his athleticism, graciously allowed me to interview him a few days after the championship race. Winning is not something new to Daniels. He twice won an Olympic medal in the modern pentathlon, and is currently nationally ranked by USA Track & Field in his age group.
Here's some of what Daniels had to say about his training, and the masters championship race:
Q: Tell me about your individual race, citing strategy and how your earmarked your competition and teammates.
JD: "My plan was to go out slow and see how I felt as the race progressed. I prefer passing others rather than being the passee. The ages on the backs did help, and a runner five years my superior kept me motivated. I was always about five meters behind a pack of about five others, but managed to maintain contact. The hills were not easy for me, but the downhills and flats were more to my liking."
Q: How was the team experience?
JD: "It was nice to be asked to participate, although I seldom race because I seldom train for racing. I run about two miles every day (I haven't missed a day since Dec. 1998), but seldom do any real quality running, so races hurt more than I would like them to."
Q: Do you enjoy cross country, and how does it compare to road or track running?
JD: I enjoy cross-country running probably more than the track, because on the track it is so much reality. You know the distance is accurate and you know when you slow down, and it is not fun to realize when you do not keep the pace. In cross country, you can get away with just running, and not worry so much about how you're doing as the race goes on. Actually, when in racing shape (it has been many years now), I prefer the track because I like running at a set pace, and knowing how the pace is going."
Q: What do you think about the masters running movement? You're used to coaching collegiate runners and Olympic hopefuls.
JD: "I get the same satisfaction seeing anyone of any age or ability level running for a personal best time. In fact, running a best time may not even be so important, but having a goal or a race to lay it on the line is quite satisfying."
Q: What did it mean to you to win the men's M70 team title, and place third in your age group?
JD: I had no idea we would be a winning team. Interestingly, one of the guys on a team from Texas remembered me from when I coached at the University of Texas. I used to run pretty well back then. I remembered passing one or two of them during the race, and that was satisfying since I figured they had made a real commitment to do this race. I guess I figured teams that travel a long way to get here would be pretty good. Maybe they are and we were just a bit better."
Q: What kind of training do you do which allows you to still be nationally ranked in your age group?
JD: I am surprised that I can place in my age group. First of all, I grew up as a swimmer, and even in my (modern) pentathlon days (as an Olympian), the running event was always my weakest by far. In fact, that is why I studied running and became a running coach—because I was so weak at it, and assumed if I studied training that I could optimize what running ability I did have."
Q: You also work with elite-level athletes, and now you're a national champion at age 71. How does that feel?
JD: "It has been a treat for my younger daughter Sarah, 11, because she never got to see me be a good athlete. It's my greatest regret, that my wife and two girls never got to actually see me be a very good athlete—twice an Olympian, twice U.S. national champion, and not even a video or film to show them. Believe me, that is a sad thing for me to deal with. I have all those memories, and they have none of it. I just hope they get to travel some like I have been able to do. It's an education beyond anything you can get in school."
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