Today on Episode 130 of The Final Sprint Podcast, I had a chance to speak with Matt Tegenkamp, the American record holder in the two-mile run and two-time US Indoor champion in the 3000m who competes for Nike and KIMbia Athletics.
In the interview, Matt talks about his repeat victory in the 2008 US Indoor Championships 3000 meters, why he’s staying home while his KIMbia Athletics teammates Chris Solinsky and Jonathon Riley (who finished 2nd and 3rd) are heading to Valencia for the world championships while he’s staying home. He also talks about what’s in store for him in 2008 leading up to the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR and the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Download the podcast to hear Matt discuss about his plan to assault the American record in the 5000m, his long-term goals for running and beyond, and much, much more!
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Host: Jimmie Markham
Guest: Matt Tegenkamp
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 13.2MB
Length: 00:19:17
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If you’ve been having trouble getting in your own training this winter because of the weather, Matt Tegenkamp feels your pain. In snowy and cold Madison, Wis., the fastest American ever over two miles has been counting the days until spring.
“It’s been a record-breaking year this year for all the snow,” Tegenkamp said in a telephone interview from his home yesterday. “I was actually in Tempe (Arizona) for December and January. I keep complaining about it. Maybe the warmer weather made me soft.”
“Soft” isn’t an adjective one is likely to hear when Tegenkamp’s name is mentioned. Under the tutelage of University of Wisconsin associate head track coach, Jerry Schumacher, the 26 year-old 5000m runner has blossomed into America’s #2 5000m man behind double world champion, Bernard Lagat. He’s coming off of a career year where he ran a USA best for the two-mile (8:07.07), and recorded U.S.-leading outdoor times for both 3000m (7:35.68) and 5000m (13:07.41). He also ran the #3 U.S. time for 1500m (3:34.25).
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People who have longer lower leg lengths (the distance from knee to ankle) will usually have greater endurance during running or walking than those with shorter lower leg lengths.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that people with longer lower legs use less energy when they run (Journal of Human Evolution, August 2007).
In a previous paper in the same journal, these authors showed that people with longer lower legs are better able to prevent heat build-up, which slows you down and makes you tired. When you exercise, almost 80 percent of the energy that you use to power your muscles is lost as heat.
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The Wisconsin men’s cross country team had five runners finish in the the top-10 to score 33 points and win its ninth-consecutive Big Ten Conference title Sunday at the Ohio State University Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.
With the win, the fifth-ranked Badgers set a new conference record for consecutive conference championships. UW also held the previous record of eight straight titles between 1985 and 1992. No. 22 Minnesota finished second with 65 points while Ohio State was third with 91 points.
Wisconsin was led by junior Matt Withrow (Tinley Park, Ill.), who took home the individual title by completing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 23 minutes, 44.37 seconds. He finished more than three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Hassan Mead of Minnesota. Fellow junior, Stu Eagon (Portland, Ore.), finished fifth in a time of 23:55.35. Both Withrow and Eagon earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.
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Top-ranked Oregon defends its title at the Pacific-10 Championships as other nationally ranked Division I teams also prepare for conference meets this weekend.
Oregon, the top-rated team in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, will be challenged Saturday by eighth-ranked California, No. 14 Stanford, No. 19 UCLA and 25th-ranked Arizona State. The Pac-10 Championships will be held in Corvallis, Ore.
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Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years BR Sportswear is closing out their line of high -quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Episode 88 of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, features my interview with former University of Wisconsin star KATHY BUTLER (who now competes for Great Britain) just days before she competes in the 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
In the interview, Kathy talks about bouncing back from a DNF at last April’s Flora London Marathon, the keys to her success at Sunday’s Chicago Marathon, qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, and which events she’ll focus on in 2008.
Download the podcast to hear Kathy discuss these topics, as well as admiring the work ethic of runners like Bob Kennedy, wanting to compete in the 2008 World XC Champs in her hometown of Edinburgh, and how moving between America, Canada, and Great Britain has helped her to feel at “home” when racing in different countries, but also made her yearn for stability when she decides to eventually retire.
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you
Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Kathy Butler
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 12.9 MB | Length: 18:49 MIN
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years Bill Rodgers Sportswear is closing out their line of high-quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Gay Wins, Powell Injures Hamstring in Yokohama
Tyson Gay ended his season strongly by finishing 1st in the 100m in a steady rain at the Super Track and Field Meet in Yokohama, Japan Sunday. In the same meet Asafa Powell pulled a hamstring muscle while running the turn of the 200m. Tyler Christopher of Canada went on to win that race. Read more at: [The Canadian Press]
Cross-Country: Oregon Upsets Wisconsin at Bill Dellinger Invitational
Number three Oregon pulled off an upset victory over number one Wisconsin in the men’s race at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, OR on Saturday. The Badgers were outscored by the Ducks 54 to 73 points. Read more at: [UWBadgers]
Tergat Salutes Gebrselassie’s World-Record Run
Kenyan Paul Tergat, upon hearing that Haile Gebrselassie had beaten his four-year old marathon world record of 2:04:55 by running a time of 2:04:26 at the Berlin Marathon, said, “There is no better person to break the record than Gebreselassie… He has been hunting for it for a long time and had been successful. Now that he has done it I salute him.” Tergat will be running in Fukuoka this December. Read more at: [SuperAthletics]
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Cecil Harris of Mensracing.com, a member of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) family of websites, recently did an interview with four-time All-American and Olympic Marathon hopeful Matt Downin about the November 3 U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials in New York City and much more.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:
MensRacing.com: This may be unfair to ask, but if you don’t do as well at the Trials as you would like, would you second-guess yourself about not having a coach?
Matt Downin: No, not about that part. I would second-guess a lot of other things I did. Every athlete who doesn’t meet his expectations might second-guess his training and preparation whether he has a coach or not. I’m never going to look back and say that not having a coach was a mistake. I’m sure there will be people who say that’s a bad approach to take in sports, and they may be right, but it’s a decision I’ve made.
To read the interview in it’s entirety, please visit: MensRacing.com
If the first Division I men’s poll of the season is a reliable indicator; this should be a very interesting cross country season at the national level.
Wisconsin claimed the top spot in the poll released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Badgers received five first-place votes to tabulating 379 points.
Second-ranked Colorado picked up four first-place votes. Third-ranked Iona and fourth-ranked Oregon received one and three first-place votes, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 are Arkansas, Stanford, UTEP, Oklahoma State, Texas and North Carolina State.
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Former Wisconsin Badger, Chris Solinsky, who now runs for Nike, is a 5-time individual champion in the NCAA and has personal bests of 3:57, 7:36 and 13:12.
Q. Can you explain how you first got starting in the sport of track and field?
A. I got started in running through some persuasion from my parents after some early signs of success in running. I was a soccer player all my life and really enjoyed it, but showed some glimpses of ability in running during the gym class mile. I ran somewhere around 6 minutes when I was in 4th grade and won the district track meet mile in 6th grade. I ran track in middle school but never really trained as I would practice my high jump when the rest of the distance guys would run. I would get beat a lot. My first 5k was something like 19:40 or so in the 8th grade my parents had me try cross country and actually train for running and I had pretty good success and fell in love with the sport. Our team was great as we were all real close, so that helped a lot too.
To read the rest of this interview conducted by our friends at Joffroi Running, pleaseCLICK HERE.
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