Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interview: Julian Boggs of Colorado College

(Courtesy of Alison Wade, eliterunning.com)

It takes confidence and daring to proclaim "I want to win in St Olaf," but that sort of self-assurance will come as little surprise to those who have seen Colorado College's Julian Boggs race at various National Championships.  Julian's initial step forward was an All-American run in Cross Country in 2005, but the race that made everyone take notice was his runner-up finish (and mid-race race breaking surge) in the 5000 that following spring as a sophomore.  He made good on that promise by finishing third in last year's Cross Country National Championships before adding a fourth All-American certificate in the 5000 this past May.  Coached by Ted Castaneda--whose running accomplishments range from a 3:57 mile to a 2:15 marathon--Julian is a senior and co-captain of an experienced CC team with high hopes.  Already one of the most successful runners in the history of the program, Julian will look to add to his own individual accolades and lead his team to its own breakthrough--a team berth to the national stage for the first time since 2003.

First things first: You finished at the National Cross Country Championships last year with no shoes on and there were a lot of different versions of why this was the case-you took off your shoes, they came off in the mud, you purposefully didn't wear shoes, etc.  People are dying to know: what's the real story behind what happened?
Hah. Yeah. Man, I tell this story a lot. At the risk of boring anybody or making myself nauseous, I'll keep it short and try to spare the emotional details and whatnot. Basically, I didn't tie my shoes tight enough at the start. Around 400-600m in, when things were still pretty much a wild stampede, somebody caught the back of one of my shoes and my heel popped out. Split-second decision making: I didn't think I could easily get the shoe back on, and there was no guarantee it would stay on (the mud had been sucking hard on them from the start), so what seemed most sensible was to kick it off and then take the other shoe off. Incidentally, if anybody saw Jenny Barringer at NCAA's [Editors' note: watch first 60 seconds of the video*], you saw how much of a hassle trying to fit a shoe back on in a race is. Imagine if she'd been surrounded by 300 other runners. So anyway, I tried to take the other shoe off, didn't really work, lost my balance, had to kind of sit down, got it off finally, and tried to get back up to the front.

*The Trackshark DIII Blog webmasters would like to apologize for linking to a video containing Carol Lewis.

A lot was made of the course conditions at last year's championships, but you ran really well.  What do you think enabled you to do well there and what did you gain from that experience?

If Yuot had got to run on the road, and I had to run in the mud, then I would've been worried. Actually, I was kind of relieved to have the mud there because it meant I didn't have to out-PR anybody on a flat course like that, especially a guy like Yuot who had run a 29:2x and a 1:06 or something half marathon. But I mean, it ultimately comes down to the fact that I had trained well, and had a lot of confidence in my fitness. If you're in good shape, you can run with and maybe even beat other people who are also in good shape.

In the 5000m at the Outdoor National Championships this previous spring, you finished fifth.  Given that you were second in the same event a year before, this year's showing must not have been quite what you were hoping for.  Can you take us through what led to that race and what you took away from that experience?

Hah. Yeah. That race wasn't fun. The worst part was that I felt like I had cheated: everybody in front of me was already tired from another event. I was like Joaquin Phoenix's character in Gladiator, still getting owned by Russell Crowe (i.e. LeerSiglClokeErichsen) even after rigging the match. I had never seen pictures from that race before you sent them to me just now, and I'm glad I hadn't: I really look like I wanted to cry.

(Courtesy of Alison Wade, eliterunning.com)

Fortunately, by the time the race was over, I was so relieved to be finished with it that I wasn't bawling on the podium. I was basically still reeling from track all summer, but now, several months later, I'm able to look back on it pretty objectively. I actually didn't screw up the race itself. I ran hard, according to plan, etc. The problem was I just wasn't in the position, fitness-wise, to meet the standard I had set for myself in '06. Why I wasn't in that position is another story. It would take quite some time to tell it, but I will say that I did learn some things about myself and certainly gained some extra motivation for
training this fall.

What was your training like this past summer?
It was pretty good. I was doing this ecology internship in Minnesota, so I didn't get to put in that coveted high-altitude base. I always run easy during the base season (I did like 2 4-mile tempo runs all summer), so I never come into the season in killer shape, no matter how many miles I put in. I look at it as an opportunity to recover from the interval season and put in some good lifetime base, base that will allow my body to handle the real training of the season.

What are your goals for yourself and your team this season and year?

Well, I want to win in St Olaf. That's the goal right now. I haven't decided what the plan is going to be for track, although since I've focused on the 5k the past two years, it would be difficult to let that go. So I'll probably be going for at least the 5k title. Team-wise, first and foremost we want to go to nationals. In our four years that this senior class (which is, there's no secret here, the whole team) has been here, we've been heartbreakingly close, but never been able to pull that off.  Even though Willamette wowed the ranking committee with their impressive home win last weekend, there's not a guy on our team that doesn't think we have a legitimate shot at the regional title. As a side note, we would like to win the SCAC, but this is only our second year we've had a conference meet, so it's not something that we've oriented very many goals around.

A lot of people may not realize this, but in last year's National Cross Country Championships, Colorado had their third man in before all but 3 teams--and all 3 of you return this year.  For a self-described close knit team, what's the atmosphere like as you all prepare to qualify as a team for the first time since 2003?

I think there were some people that noticed that fact, given our bizarre 10th place preseason ranking (that's not to say that we don't think we can earn it, but we certainly haven't earned it yet). I guess they thought that with three guys in the top 35 returners, we'd surely be able to scrounge up somebody for 4 and 5. The NCAA scores 5 guys in cross country, not 3, and we're very aware of that. I would like to note that our depth last year wasn't as bad as it may have seemed, especially at the regional race. Our 4 and 5 guys, Robby Waldeck and Nic Campbell, walked the course the day before in boots, as they both had stress fractures/reactions but wanted it so badly they ran anyway. The recoveries from the complete breakage thereafter extended well into the following track season. There is a lot of excitement right now, but I think that's a little tempered after not making the national meet last year, even with the enlarged field. We know we have the potential, we do have guys that can reasonably shorten that 3-4 gap, but depth is an issue and it's a matter of holding our bodies together through November.

On an individual level, you're the top returning finisher from last year's championships.  Do you view yourself as the favorite?  How do you deal with those pressures?

One nice thing about not doing quite so hot last season is that it takes a little of the spotlight off me. Right now I see Tyler Sigl, the long distance champ of last spring, as the favorite (sorry Tyler) and Peter Kosgei as a very threatening wildcard. Of course I think I can win. I fell a little behind last season and there's some catching up to do.
Fortunately I feel like catching up is what I do best. I do feel a lot of pressure, but it's mostly from myself. Anybody whose opinion I really care about doesn't need me to win a national title to appreciate the runner or indeed person that I am. But of course, I'm my own harshest critic, and I always place high expectations on myself, ever since I started running competitively. So pressure is just something I've learned to live with.  It's a little worse senior year, but really nothing new.

You're originally from Berea, Kentucky.  Can you talk a little bit about coming from so low down to train at altitude (Colorado College is at around 6000 feet)?  What are some adjustments you've made to your daily training and workouts?

Well, it's honestly pretty hard to compare. In high school, I didn't take running or training incredibly seriously, so coming to college was way more of an adjustment of volume than altitude. But I guess one thing you learn training at altitude is not to go out hard. If you get into oxygen debt early at 6,000 ft., you're totally screwed. This worked well for me as I've always been kind of a conservative runner. In fact, the main adjustment I've had to make is when I go down to low altitude I have to convince myself that it's okay to be a little more aggressive.

What's the relationship between the cross country team and the other athletic teams?  What's the athletic culture like at Colorado?
Colorado (or CC, so as not to be confused with our speedy neighbors in Boulder) is a very, very athletic school. I swear, sometimes I'm pretty sure that 3/4 of the kids here ran cross in high school and those that didn't played soccer. Unfortunately, they come here in that outdoor, athletic spirit, and want to spend weekends in the mountains, not running circles around a track or some cowfield in Kansas. They come here for a very different outdoor experience. So there's two different types of athletes at CC: varsity and recreational (well, there is a third, the DI Hockey player, but we won't get into that), and there is a healthy respect, and a fair bit of overlap between the two. I see classmates running on the trails all the time. Cross country guys go skiing in the winter or biking in the spring. As far as inter-team relationships go, it depends. We share a locker room with the football guys and mostly stay out of each other's way. A few soccer players run track and we follow their season and cheer them on at home games when we're around.

How do other students (non-runners) and professors at your school view
the cross country team and its members?
Again, with the athletic culture, they're generally very supportive, but at the same time generally off doing their own thing. We don't get a ton of fans at the home meet, and it's not like many people who don't have friends on the team follow our season. But hey, it's cross country, not football.

Do you follow running at the collegiate or professional levels at all?
Definitely. I didn't really at all in high school, but there's a huge running-nerd atmosphere on the team and I've gotten border-line obsessive. Ryan Hall is my hero.

Would you care to confess to what extent you lurk on Letsrun.com or other message boards?
Honestly, it�s been a real problem in the past. I was never much of a poster, but always couldn't resist checking out what people had to say about Webb's latest bomb or triumph, or whether or not some guy should dump his girlfriend because she can't break 25 minutes for the 5k. (For those of you who aren't familiar with Letsrun culture, please believe me that I'm not a terrible horrible person). This year, I'm trying to boycott Letsrun, but I can't resist checking results on trackshark and keeping up with this blog.

Do you keep an online running log that you'd be willing to share?
I can't let go of good old pen and paper. I've tried an online blog in the past, but it's too much of a hassle to keep both up at the same time.

Are there any other closing thoughts or pieces of wisdom you'd like to share?

My specific running philosophy has shifted back and forth throughout my college career. I think what I've found to be most true for all great runners is not how many miles you have in your log, nor how fast you do your long runs, nor how short or long intervals should be, but rather consistency, patience, and confidence in your training plan and your self.