Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interview: Don Letts of Haverford College

The scorecard reads:

    Don Letts, sophomore: zero provisional qualifiers in track

    Don Letts, junior: Four-time All-American in cross country, indoor track (5000), and outdoor track (5000, 10000)

Having solidified his place as an elite runner at the Division III level last season, Haverford College senior Don Letts is hoping to continue his upward trajectory by adding to his own individual accolades this coming Saturday. But even more so, he aims to match or exceed the two team podium places that Haverford notched in his freshman and sophomore years. Don took some time to talk about the hard-won patience he has developed--lessons learned by recurring injuries in high school and early in college--and his unique approach to keeping his easy days easy.

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you're from and how you got started running?

I grew up in a small, rural town in Southwest Michigan and ended up transferring to a larger, suburban, public high school as a freshman. That change put me in a competitive environment athletically and academically.

As a kid, I was never really exposed to running. My dad was a police officer, and I remember him telling me stories about having to run at the police academy. One day we were driving home from middle school and we saw a group of cross country runners and he made some comment about how tough he thought runners were. It's funny what kind of stuff you remember as a kid.

I played AYSO soccer (didn't everybody?) through most of elementary school but I distinctly recall not liking it. That's not entirely true, I think I liked spending time with kids my age on Saturday mornings, and eating orange slices at half time, but I definitely wasn't in it for the glory. I actually ended up quitting soccer in 5th grade because we got a new coach who made us run laps around the soccer field before and after practice. It's sort of ironic that I should later join the cross country team in high school. I guess my parents let me do whatever I wanted with sports until I got to high school where they basically told me to pull myself together and join a team. Of course I wanted to do something like football or basketball, and my parents let me decide between golf or cross country.

How do your PRs in high school compare to what you've done so far in college? More importantly, how has your understanding of training, racing, and running in general evolved?

I guess when I started running I had no idea what to expect. Cross Country started my freshmen year of high school and two weeks later I just showed up for practice in cargo shorts and skateboarding shoes. That first run really took me by surprise, and it wasn't until the end of my junior year before I sat down and really just asked myself why I was doing something that was fairly difficult, if not to be good. I put in a solid summer and made some strong improvements my senior year, before getting injured that winter.

What drew you to choose Division III, and Haverford College in particular?

My parents were a big influence in helping me pick a college. Looking back, I was so clueless (although at the time, I thought I had it all figured out). I knew I wanted a small school with a sense of community and I wanted to run. Other than that, I just figured that no matter where I went my running would improve and I would do well academically. I was having a hard time deciding between a couple of different schools and then my dad sort of hinted that Tom was a pretty outstanding coach and Haverford was a pretty outstanding school. Looking back I remember noticing how much success Tom had had but not really understanding what it meant. My dad really knew how special it would be to run under Tom and he sort of helped me decide on Haverford. Haverford turned out to be the perfect fit for me.

I think what makes this place so special is the team, the students and the professors. Tom has created such a sense of closeness among the team, that no matter if you are marginal or mainstream, everyone is relatively putting in the same amount of work. There are guys who deserve to go to nationals just as much as I do based on the level of dedication they have to the team and the sport. I think it really makes it easier to work hard when you have so many people working just as hard, if not harder, than you.

What was your training like this past summer? What was your peak mileage, what kind of pace did you run on the typical day, and what did you do in the way of harder efforts?

After nationals in track, I was pretty beat up. I took some time off and just tried to build back up slowly. One of Tom's caveats about summer training is not to overextend yourself. The cross country season is so long and there are too many people who put in a huge summer only to fade by the end of the season. In some sense, Tom's philosophy is fairly simple, just get out there and put in the miles. It doesn't really matter how hard or how fast you're going, but mostly about training your body through repetition to perform a certain motion. I had some higher mileage weeks around 100, towards the end of the summer, but I didn't do anything very fast until I got back to school. I've kept my mileage up around 100 for most of the season, unless something was bothering me.

You had some injury struggles off and on your first two years, but really put it together last year. What have been some of the keys to you staying healthy?

Getting injured was actually a huge problem for me in high school and even into my first two years at Haverford. I was hurt at least once a year between freshman year of high school to my freshman year of college. It was really hard to understand that in some ways, injury is just a way to mentally and physically give yourself a break. I became much more consistent once I started cutting back when I felt like things weren't right. I really try to listen to how my body is responding and back off when I need it, even if that means taking a day completely off. Over the past year and a half I have avoided any serious time off because of injury. I guess I just feel that if I stay healthy and keep grinding away at my training, eventually I'll get better. One of the things that I have learned from Tom is the ability to be honest with myself about my goals and what is holding me back. In some sense, it was the little things that I really had to focus on. Once I figured that out, it was much easier to be consistent.

You're rumored to run your easy days very easy. Can you talk a little bit about how you've come to that sort of training pace and why you think it's beneficial?

That is something that I tend to get a lot of flack for, but I truly believe running easy is beneficial for me. I have really made a change in the last few years from doing most of my runs at "LT" pace to doing the majority of my running a lot slower than that, I even stopped wearing a watch on runs where I knew the distance. In high school I think it was rare for me to do any sort of "easy" run. I can remember some specific runs, especially a 12 miler where I dipped down under 6:00 pace a couple of times. My senior year of high school was a real breakout-year for me but I think it really set me behind for the next couple of years of training. I got hurt the winter of my senior year and didn't run a step for the majority of that summer.

I have done a lot of reflection over the past few years about training and racing and I have come to understand that doing my recovery runs hard was an emotional release for me. I would channel all of the frustrations and the stresses of my life into an easy run and just pound. All of the worries of everyday life just seemed so trivial on a hard run. Going hard on a run really just simplified things. I remember feeling so good after some of those runs my senior year, which I have come to realize was just a way to prove to my self worth to my self. I think part of it also had to do with a lack of patience. I was constantly thinking about prs and what I had to do to be better. Over time, I just wore myself out.

To me it seems like being a good runner means being consistent. For me that is something to strive for; especially since until last year, I have never had a full year without injury. Whether realistically or not I have have come to think that as long as I stay healthy I will progress. I guess it is important to note that I have also consistently progressed over the long term, while not being consistently healthy over the short term.

Becoming honest with myself about what was holding me back and focusing on removing those excuses was the key. For me that meant going easier on recovery days and paying more attention to my body. In season workouts are much faster than my "normal" training pace, which is probably around 7:00 pace. To balance this out, I sometimes end up running much slower than that in between workouts based on how I am feeling. For instance, I would regularly start out at 8:00 pace and not get much faster than that. The summer is certainly a gray area, where I end up a lot closer to that normal pace more consistently, but at the same time, I still try to address recovery. I try and maintain a balance.

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

We want to win. There is really never any other question about what we want to do as people or athletes. We want to do the best we can with the tools that we are given. Most of that time, that means putting in the work, and minimizing excuses. Other times it is possible to compare ourselves with other people and those goals can become more concrete.

After two years of college, you had zero All-American certificates; in fact, you didn't even score a provisional qualifier in any events. Fast forward a year, and you became a four time All-American, earning the distinction in Cross Country, the 5k (both Indoors and Outdoors), and the 10k. What do you attribute to this jump in the level of your results from your sophomore year to your junior year?

Last year was kind of a surprise for me. I guess my goals had been so high for so long, I had kept letting myself down. When I finally had a breakout, I wasn't really expecting it. The improvements I had last year really go along with the things I have been describing above. Making a push to really pay attention to what my body is telling me and really just making the decision to do whatever it took to avoid any major setback. My training was consistent, but more so, it was the little things that helped me improve. I think there was also a physiological maturity that occurred. I got tired of making excuses for myself. I made a decision to do well and I did everything I could to stay on track.

What is your favorite workout during the cross country season and what do you like about it?

Tom has had a fair amount of success as a collegiate coach, and coming in as a freshmen I just assumed the intensity of my training was going to increase dramatically. Tom's philosophy is much more centered around gradually increasing the volume and intensity of training over an extended period of time. The goal being that the body will be able to handle tough training if given the chance to adapt to it.

One of the workouts that I really enjoy is a staple of the cross country season. There is a grass mile loop around campus that has a slight hill around the 3/4 mark. We usually do this workout once a week for the majority of the season as a way to measure the improvement in fitness. Tom sometimes says that a mile on this loop is about 5-10 seconds slower than a track mile. The workout consists of 5-7 repeats on this grass mile with 60 seconds rest. As the season goes on we lower the pace of the repeats, while trying to maintain effort. We also do a 9-10 mile run over some pretty big hills, that tends to get pretty fast. The workout plan is pretty simple, the goal being steady and consistent improvement.

Who has been the biggest influence in your life and/or running?

My father is the biggest influence in my life. He has always supported me in my interests and I would be remiss to think any success I may have had or will have is anything other than a result of the support he has given me growing up.

In terms of running though, I think guys like Will Mcguire, Bobby Cannon, JB Haglund and James Jablin have all had a strong influence on me. To be around guys like that on a day to day basis is something that I can honestly say has helped me learn what it means to be a consistent competitor.

Tom is an amazing coach, and much of what makes our team so special is a direct result of his personality and character.

What do you like the most about Haverford cross country?

The team and the coach. Every guy on our team puts in kind of work that makes you feel guilty when you start making excuses for yourself. That kind of atmosphere breeds success. It is hard not to like that. As a result of everyone's dedication to the team and the sport, we are very close, which I think makes doing something that is inherently very difficult easy.

How do students (and professors) at your school view the track team and its members?

I think there is an unspoken respect for the track team. We have such a history of success and I think they (both students and professors) realize that. Sometimes I think our success gets taken for granted though and people forget how much work we put into being successful. At the same time, we are at school for academia and any athletic success, while respected, is not overshadowed by our goal as students.

Do you follow running at the collegiate or professional levels at all? Would you care to confess to what extent you lurk on Letsrun.com or other message boards?

I follow the running community as much as possible. I like following some of the people that I used to run against in Michigan, because a lot of them are doing really well right now (like Kyle Mena, Eastern Michigan and Zach King, Hope). Letsrun is a great place to catch up on what's happening around the country and around the world. Trackshark is also nice in terms of results and blogs. I also follow up on some of the small scale running sites and boards. I don't really post much on the message boards, although once in a while I'll find something that interests me to the point of posting. I should probably spend less time on some of these sites, but it is something that I am passionate about, so I think it is a good idea to stay connected.

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

Sometimes people tend to forget to enjoy what they do. If you enjoy what you are doing, success will follow. Focusing on success inhibits the real reason for doing anything.

Also, best of luck to all of the guys running in Minnesota this weekend!

Thanks to Don for a fantastic interview.