Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interviews: Dave Warth of RIT

(Photo courtesy of the RIT athletics website)

Coach Warth is entering his 11^th year as the head cross country and track and field coach at Rochester Institute of Technology.  He is a 1989 graduate of the University of Notre Dame in which he ran cross country and track during his four years.  He was awarded the Atlantic Region Indoor Track Women’s Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA after the 2004-2005 season.  Last year at the 2005 NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships the men placed 8^th overall while the women placed 13^th.  The men’s team is currently ranked 23^rd in the latest Division III Cross Country National Poll from the USTFCCCA.

By: Derick Lawrence (10/09/2006)

What made you want to become a collegiate cross country coach and what steps did you take in achieving this goal?

I worked as a CPA in public accounting right out of school (Univ. of Notre Dame ’89) but decided to get an MBA after a year and a half.  While I was pursuing my MBA I coached HS cross-country and track at my HS alma-mater (McQuaid Jesuit HS).  I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed that experience, especially working with and learning from my HS coach, Bob Bradley.  When I graduated from RIT with my MBA I had the opportunity to work at McQuaid full-time and also continue coaching.  During my 7 years at McQuaid I realized that my great love in coaching was working with the most talented and dedicated runners, college coaching seemed to be the logical next step.  The RIT position opened up in 1997 and I jumped at the chance to make the move, despite the fact the position was part time.  I did not move to a full-time position (despite coaching Men and women, c-c and track) until the 2005-2006 school year.  My own experiences in college and high school certainly were a big reason I chose college over HS coaching, despite the fact that for me it was a significant financial burden.

In your profile on the Rochester Institute of Technology’s athletics website it states that you were a 1989 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and ran cross country and track during your four years.  Could you tell us a little bit about your collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame (i.e., most memorable experiences, progression of your training each year, etc.)? 

My entire college experience is framed within my track (primarily) and cross-country experience.  I joke with my athletes that I really majored in track and minored in accounting!  While I did well in the classroom and really enjoyed the academic experience, it was track and cross-country that were my passion.  I primarily ran the 800m and relays and was a very modest c-c runner, never making the top 7.  I held the school record in the 1000m run (2:23.53 as a Sophomore) for many years and made the NCAA championships in the indoor 4x800m my Junior year.  I can vividly remember a lot of great races, especially indoor meets at Loftus fieldhouse and the oversized 1/5^th of a mile track we had.  I had the privilege of running with my brother Tom who was three years ahead of me in school and then came back for law school after his graduation.  My greatest memory is running and training with some very fun teammates.  Ron Markevich, Dan Garrett, Rick Mulvey, Mike O’Connor, and Nick Sparks were some of the greatest people to play and train with.  They have all gone on to lucrative careers (Markevich is Chief Information Office at Microsoft, Sparks is a top-selling writer) but I think they each envy me a little bit that I get to continue in running as a coach.

Would you briefly describe your program's training philosophy (volume, intensity, frequency, etc.)?

I would call our RIT program a hybrid program.  Taking aspects from Lydiard (most influential, especially his “Running Training Schedules”), Jack Daniels, Mark Wetmore and others we have created a program with relatively high mileage (75-90 average throughout the season) combined with lots of strength work (hills, hard fartlek, tempo) to make our runners as strong as possible.  Once late October rolls around we take that strength and fine tune it with specific speed intervals to peak them for the championship season.  In my experience I have found that you can work most athletes aerobic cardio system for weeks and months on end and get very positive gains.  But once you reach a certain threshold (we test with track time trials) you need to move quickly to the anaerobic and neuromuscular work.  One of my goals is to have a program that works well not only for our top athletes, but also for our newer runners and less experienced runners.  I believe the program we have in place does that.

Who has influenced you the most in your coaching?

My two high school coaches, Bob Bradley and Bill Quinlisk.  Bob has certainly been my mentor, he is a coaching legend in NY State and has garnered many awards including a HS coach of the year.  I will never be able to match his passion and love for running and runners.  He constantly has a quest for new experiences and techniques and even after 40 years was adjusting his training to try new things he had read or learned about.  Bob finally retired from coaching this past year, yet on Tuesday I ran into him at the local park watching the weekly dual meet.  I have been very fortunate to have Bill Quinlisk as one of my assistant coaches for my entire career at RIT.  Bill’s organization and methodic approach to training and coaching have been a great asset to me and have taught me that without a organized plan, even the smartest coaches will not achieve the most they can from their athletes.

Could you give us an example of a typical microcycle in your training program from September to mid-October of a cross country season?

Monday:  10 miles maintenance with plyo’s, hill strides and crunches

Tuesday:  Longer tempo, fartlek or interval with modest (less than 1 to 1) rest.  This day will usually be 12-14 miles in the afternoon and a 4 mile morning run.

Wednesday:  OFF Day.  Either rest or recovery run (8-12 miles) depending on the particular athlete.  This day is important because it allows me to vary the weekly mileage for each athlete individually.

Thursday:  Shorter fartlek or interval work.  I like to have them run at goal race pace this day and have longer rest.  Also includes 4 mile morning run.

Friday:  Similar to Monday, sometimes slightly shorter.

Saturday:  Race or race equivalent.

Sunday:  Long run 12 – 20 miles depending on the week.

Could you tell us about your team this cross country season (returning upperclassmen, incoming freshmen, how your season has been going so far, upcoming schedule, etc.)?

This has really been a special season for RIT.  We have tremendous  leadership with our top 3 all being seniors including one 5^th year man who had co-op last c-c season.  What has really been surprising is the rise of our Sophomore’s and Juniors.  I tell runners in May, that with a great summer I would like to see 2 or 3 “new” runners in the fall.  This year’s team has more like 4-5 “new” runners, guys that have totally taken it up a notch.

            With the new NCAA qualifying I felt the need to reduce our number of meets (we have 1 less this year), but increase the quality.  We went to pre-nationals for the first time in over 10 years and ran well (3^rd) and then followed it up with a good but not great run at our pre-district meet (2^nd place by 2 points to 4^th ranked Geneseo).  After a week off we’ll be at the Albany invitational and at Saratoga (two very fast courses) as we prepare for our championship season (NYSCTC, Districts, Nationals) in November.

Is there any running related training material (books, scientific journal articles, etc.) that you commonly refer to throughout a cross country season?

Yes.  Arthur Lydiard’s Running Training Schedules is really a pamphlet of about 20 pages full of training nuggets.  J. Gerry Purdy’s: “Running Trax:  Computerized Running Training Programs,” helps me write consistent workouts and gauge where the team and individuals are at on any given day.  Both these books are at arm’s reach every day.

Are there any motivational techniques that you incorporate in your program to prepare your team for a meet?

I think every college and coach has some specific motivational techniques they use.  To be honest, my athletes tend to be extremely self-motivated so I do not go too overboard with them.

What are your thoughts about the new qualifying procedures for the 2006 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships?

It stinks.  We absolutely need to find a way to have meet day specific qualifying standards so that everyone can drive away from the meet site knowing whether they qualified or not.  I will continue to stress this point as long as I coach.  We are hurting the sport when a parent/spectator/coach/athlete does not even know who qualified for the Nationals on the meet day.

What are 2 key workouts that you incorporate into the peaking period of a cross country season?

Without being too specific I would say:

1)  Interval ladders; with parts at race pace and parts faster.

2) 3 race pace intervals with short rest that add up to a PR.

What concepts do you believe are necessary for success of a collegiate distance runner?

Life-style dedication.  A lot of athletes are dedicated to training and racing, but the great ones dedicate their entire life-style (eating, sleeping, socializing) to their sport.  THIS IS NOT A GREAT SACRIFICE!  In my opinion the benefits far outweigh the costs.

What aspects of coaching do you feel are the most rewarding?

I would be lying if I didn’t say winning.  Watching a team or individual work hard and then win is the greatest reward for me as a coach.  Like a lot of things in life, I believe that winning is a learned skill and that runners will take that with them in whatever they pursue in life.

For those that are aspiring to become a collegiate cross country coach, what would be the best piece of advice you would give them?

There are MANY roads to being a coach.  Volunteer to coach in HS, club, or any setting as soon as you can (including during you college time) and start learning from each coach you work with.

Thanks to Coach Warth for a great interview.