T&FN INTERVIEW Matt Tegenkamp by Don Kopriva great experience, but overall, I think In his first year as a pro, Matt Tegenkamp I made the right decision. emerged as one of the brightest lights on the fast- T&FN: You didn’t have any fear improving U.S. distance scene in ’06. After an of the heat? It could be really hot in injury-plagued—yet successful—collegiate career Osaka and Beijing. at Wisconsin, he has now been enjoying a run of Tegenkamp: Yeah, it very well health. It showed in his racing, as he earned a No. could be. I’ve heard that it will be 2 U.S. Ranking and threatened the 13:00 barrier very humid. But I grew up in hot, in the 5000 while mixing it up strongly with the humid weather and that’s some- big boys on the European Circuit. thing that I’ve always run well in, The 5K will be his sole focus this year, and—bar- so it doesn’t bother me too much. ring a sudden change of plans—almost certainly T&FN: When you finished 5th in in ’08 as well. World Cross in ’01, did you have any He would have liked to run a 10K last year international awareness, in that you but it didn’t fit his training and racing schedule. and Dathan [Ritzenhein, who won As for a marathon, he wonders what he could the bronze] were kind of carrying the do and figures one banner for a talented group of young — Teg Facts — will be in the cards American distance runners? sometime down the Tegenkamp: I was kind of in •Personal: born Lee’s road, but he laughs my own little shell at that time. I Summit, Missouri, didn’t know a lot of the history of January 19, 1982; as he points out that the sport, coming in as a freshman. I 6‑1/145 (1.85/66) “I’ve got to get the 10K first... and then was starting to learn about some of •Schools: Lees Sum- there’s another 20 the guys I was competing against, mit HS, Missouri ’00; but I didn’t know anything about Wisconsin ’05; now miles to go.” the international scene. represents Nike T&FN: Why I think a function of that race •Coach: Jerry didn’t you run U.S. was just, I knew I was fit, but we Schumacher cross and, presum- had heard from the Seniors the day •Major Meets: ably, Worlds? before that our placing wouldn’t 3K—16)NCAAi ’03; Tegenkamp: change much because of how 3) NCAAi ’04; 3) My season went muddy and cold and windy it was, NCAAi ’05; 1)US- very long last year and that we should just run a tough, ATFi ’07 and, after taking grind-it-out race. 5K—12)USATF ’01; time off, and try- Ritz and I knew we could run 5)NCAAi, 3)NCAA ing to build back together, got out front and kept ’04; 5)NCAAi, 5) my base, I just NCAA, 6) USATF ’05; pushing as hard as we could. didn’t think that I 2)USATF, 3)WCup ’06 T&FN: Did you then realize that, XC—1)USJ, 5)WJ was in the kind of “Hey, I can be pretty good”? ’01; 12) NCAA ’02; fitness I needed to Tegenkamp: That definitely 11)NCAA ’04; 1)USA be in to run well. was the eye-opener. I had had as- Club ’05. The second pirations about continuing on and •U.S. Rankings: 3K: part of it was that trying to make a life out of running, ’06—3. 5K: ’05—10; the race was at but that was the first time where I ’06—2. altitude and I’ve could see making an Olympic team never done any and becoming a professional could training or racing be a reality. whatsoever up at altitude. T&FN: It seems as if you couldn’t “As a younger athlete, Honestly, things went so well on the track get through a full year in your five years last year that I didn’t want to anything to jeop- at Wisconsin without being injured. I had a bunch of ardize this season, and I felt like doing all that We’ve joked about how you’ve grown traveling and racing over there that I would be so much, but isn’t there something to people telling me taking a chance of something happening and the notion that your growth spurt may having a negative affect on my track season. have contributed to your being hurt? what to do, but I could T&FN: After Mombasa, did you have second Tegenkamp: I think it was a thoughts or were you happy you didn’t run? combination. No matter who you just never figure Tegenkamp: There were [thousands of] are, there’s a change in mileage people there. I don’t know if we’ll see that kind from high school to college, but it out myself” of fan support for it again anywhere. It would when you’re doing that and there’s have been neat to see and would have been a a huge change in intensity; those 32 — May 2007 Track & Field News JIRO MOCHIZUKI/PHOTO RUN two things along with my growth so it’s not just something we decide suddenly and maturing were just too much each weekend. for my body to handle. T&FN: Is racing itself the only way you can As a younger athlete, I had a get accustomed to the discomfort of racing? Do you bunch of people telling me what to have to be willing to go through that pain barrier do, but I could just never figure it to be successful? out myself. Tegenkamp: You can just kill yourself in It took me three years to learn workouts, go all out and have nothing left, then how to learn from my injuries, make go and race. Some people have great success the necessary adjustments and apply those my last two years of college and onward now Learning How To Recover [see sidebar]. Matt Tegenkamp says the secret to his esc- T&FN: How is it training caping injury woes was to learn on his own with that competitive bunch in that less can be more: Madison, with Bairu, Solinsky, “After the World Championships in cross, Riley, et al? Do you feel a need to I thought, ‘Well, I did this, so I’ve just got to lead workouts? work extremely hard to become better.’ Tegenkamp: We generally “I just went out every day and just ham- alternate and generally the last mered myself into the ground trying to train. repeat is the fastest one and My philosophy was that I had to train harder that’s when I’d try to lead and than anyone else out there. And that just killed push a little bit harder. me and it caused a lot of injuries. It is a very competitive “I’ve always said that coaches and athletes group but it’s always controlled who are older can always tell you what to do so you don’t have to lead. It’s but it takes the athlete himself to figure out never been something where what’s going on and what he needs to change I’ve left everything on the track and until that time, injuries keep happening. in practice. “It took me until my redshirt junior year T&FN: On that point, then, that I figured out that I needed to slow down, how does that philosophy work— take my recovery days and let my body rest, that idea of leaving something in and then really work the hard days. I’ve had a the tank, not hurting to the fullest long stretch now of my body being healthy and extent? Does running a 13-minute am starting to reap the benefits of it.” 5K take you to your highest pain threshold? Or does it feel like 13:44 once felt? with that. They go and race themselves into Tegenkamp: I can’t really com- shape, so to speak, during practice. ment on that because I’ve only done Jerry’s philosophy is that we learn from it once, but I can say that anywhere specific race paces in practice, but we never from that 13:10–13:20 range is much go over. We always have just a little bit left. easier. We just teach our bodies the pace we’re sup- It’s something I can go out and posed to run in practice. pretty much do, whereas, at the start But we know we could hammer if we of the season I could be running 13:30 needed to. When it comes to a race, we just where now I could run 13:20 or a little kind of roll with the pace. But I learned last under and say that was hard work year, off the type of training we do, that I don’t but a great starting point. want to wait I gained from running the 13:04 until the last Teg The Author last year and knew coming into the 400. We’re very Many modern athletes Tyson meet this year that I could run good at chang- have a web presence, but in the mid-7:40s. Once I got into the ing gears from few do it as well as Matt race, it’s like my legs just remem- a long way out.