Interviews: Zach Vaslow of Haverford
(Photo courtesy of the Columbus Running Company)
Vaslow (#190) is a senior at Haverford College. Last year at the 2005 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships he finished 54th individually helping his team to a 3rd place finish. He was recently declared the individual winner of the Centennial Conference Championships after crossing the finish line with teammate Donald Letts. The men’s team finished as overall champions for its 14th consecutive Centennial Conference title. The Haverford men’s team is currently ranked 7th in the latest Week 6 Division III National Poll.
By: Derick Lawrence (11/03/2006)
Tell us a little bit about yourself (where you’re from, what high school you went to, how you got started running)?
I’m from Bethesda, Maryland- right outside of Washington DC. I didn’t have much of a program in high school, but they are much better now. I started running because I could succeed simply by running fast times and beating people. I really liked other sports but that aspect of running really drew me in.
What were your PR's in high school (cross country and track)?
16:37 in xc. For track, 9:42 and 4:44.
What are your current PR's (cross country and track)?
24:40, 14:50 and 31:00 (soph. year)
What was your training like this past summer (mileage, workouts, etc.)?
I started at 30 miles and added 8 miles every week until I was at 70 or so. The last 4 weeks of the summer were 90 (6 days), 100, 110, 105. We don’t do any workouts over the summer, just running.
How has your training progressed over the years from high school to now (cross country and track)?
Tom has helped me progress to the point where I just feel like a totally different runner than when I got here. I like to say that Tom has a four year program, not four one year programs. If you fully invest into the ideals and the culture that he brings to the table, you will eventually reach a competitive peak. Talent might take you that one or two extra steps, but it’s not necessary to be talented to become a great runner here. The two most important components of competing are physical preparation and mental preparation. Those are the things that we try to master in our training. Since high school, I’ve progressed from not really knowing much, to mastering my physical and mental preparation. I can say that with confidence, regardless of how successful I am this season/year.
What has your training consisted of over the past two weeks (mileage, workouts, etc.)?
Our training is very basic, there is no real formula. If we don’t have a race we’ll do a workout (6 x mile with a minute rest, or 8x1000 with 400 jog) and our hilly 9.5 mile loop- at whatever pace we feel like. I’ve been everywhere from 56 minutes to 75+ minutes on that loop. Sometimes there are weeks where we won’t workout at all apart from the hill loop, depending on what Tom’s judgment is.
The rest of the days are just easy running and recovery, including the long run. You get better at running by running, so it’s important to do a fair amount of it. Just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean that you aren’t getting better from it.
Everyone that’s not a freshman is encouraged to do morning runs, and more or less everyone does on a daily basis. Morning runs reflect a lot more than just mileage- living on a schedule that includes something aerobic (even walking!) in the morning, followed by breakfast, somehow makes you much better at running. Maybe someone should do a study on it.
A typical easy day for me would be 5 miles in the AM and 10 miles in the PM. Although that’s on the high end in terms of mileage- our better freshmen usually run around 60 a week in singles and build up year by year from there.
What is your favorite workout(s) during the cross country season and what does it include?
The bread and butter workout for us is 6 x mile on our xc course with 1 minute rest. It’s basically a threshold workout. Usually the top guys do it in 5:10 to 5:25 depending on where we are in the season. It’s amazing how much better you can get just by running for strength.
You were recently declared the individual winner of the Centennial Conference Championships after crossing the finish line with teammate Donald Letts in an 8k time of 25:58. The men’s team finished as team champions for its 14th consecutive Centennial Conference title. Tell us about this race (individual and team performances).
Me and Don wanted to get in a good hard effort over the first three miles, and we definitely did that. Don could have pulled away from me, but Tom wanted us to run in together. They just randomly picked me as the winner because I guess they weren’t prepared to give out two 1st place awards.
The conference meet is very important to us and we absolutely do not take it for granted that we are going to win every year. For a lot of guys it is their final chance to make that top 7 or 8. We also usually get a lot of alumni that come and watch us. It is a big meet for everyone.
What are your goals (individual and team) heading into regionals and nationals?
I believe we can get onto the podium for a third consecutive year. We have a very young and inexperienced group outside of Don and I, but having been there before I can say with confidence that this group is good enough to get to that level. As an individual I would like to place high, but I would like to do so by scoring as few points as possible in the team race.
Do you walk, bike, or drive to class and/or practice? If you bike or drive, what kind of bike or car do you have?
The track is basically right outside my window, and my two classes at Haverford are about a minute walk from my room. My other two classes are at Bryn Mawr College. There is a bus that runs back and forth all day between Bryn Mawr and Haverford, and a lot of people have a class or two over there. They let Haverford students eat over there too, and their food is amazing. I don’t care what anyone says, college life is pretty easy when you think about it.
What's your major? Favorite professor? Most memorable class?
I’m an economics major, which is a good fit for me. The best class I’ve taken, however, has been ‘Survey of the Cosmos’ which was a class designed for non-science majors that went into really cool stuff like space-time, relativity, the expansion of the universe, etc. The class was taught by Bruce Partridge, who is an amazing professor and a brilliant man. We also had a big track team contingent in that class, which is always good.
What are the dining options like at Haverford College? Does most of the team eat together?
Dining Center
(Photo courtesy of the Haverford College website)
There is one dining center at Haverford, and since most people are on the full meal plan everybody eats there. The team has all of its meals, but especially dinner, at the same table every day. (The track table). This has been the tradition for as long as anyone can recall, and it serves as the foundation of our team. Everyone at Haverford knows what the track table is and that they generally shouldn’t sit there. Some people interpret it as a cultish thing, but the reality is that we just value our time together after practice. After finishing a tough workout or race, it’s a great feeling to be eating with 40 other guys that just went through the same thing you did. Rather than eating dinner and listening to, “Oh you’re a jogger, right? Do you do marathons?” Some of the best times I’ve ever had in the last 4 years have been at the track table, and I think that’s true of a lot of guys.
Who has been the biggest influence in your life and/or running?
Tom Donnelly.
What are your plans after college?
Not sure about that one. Right now I’m just trying to soak it in, enjoy every day of my last year.
Do you have a pre-race routine (certain foods you eat, songs you listen to, warmup routine, etc.)? If so, could you describe it for us.
I just warmup and stretch/strides, I try not to worry about it too much. Over four years I’ve found that how I feel on a warmup has absolutely no correlation to how I’ll feel during the race, so I don’t let it bother me too much. There is no warmup routine that exists that can increase or decrease the effectiveness training that you’ve done. Once the gun goes off, the last thing that matters is your warmup (at least for me).
My friend Power may not agree however. I know he usually listens to “Are You Ready to get your guts Spilled Out???” by Starts the Party- whether or not he’s racing.
What do you like the most about Haverford Cross Country?
I value the teammates that I’ve had and the amazing friendships I’ve made through the track team. One of the greatest things about being on a team like this is that there are so many guys to care about and so many guys to root for. It’s very rewarding to see someone make an investment in running, and in turn be rewarded with improvement and better times- no matter their talent level. Some of my best friends over the years have been guys who weren’t even in our top 20. But when someone’s commitment to the team and to running in general is so strong, that completely overshadows their 5k PR.
Tom is a great coach because he knows ‘this thing’ is about us, it’s about the guys on the team. Walking into his office is surreal, because every inch of every wall is filled with All-American certificates. You will never see any coaching awards or anything like that. If he doesn’t burn them or throw them off a bridge, I’m sure he just sticks them in a box in his basement or something, we’ll never know. It’s a lot easier to go out and kill yourself in a race when you know you’ve got a coach who so selflessly cares about your performance.
What's the running environment like at Haverford College? Where does the team train?
Duck Pond Lane
(Photo courtesy of the Haverford College website)
We have a beautiful 2.25 mile nature trail that I do close to maybe half my mileage on. A lot of good runners come here to run on it- it’s not unusual to run into an Adrian Blincoe or Carmen Douma on the trail. There are some other trails around, but mainly we run on roads. A lot of the routes we run on are the same ones run by Sydney Maree, Marcus O’Sullivan, Karl Paranya, Will McGuire, etc. So that’s pretty cool.
Does the men’s team have any unusual traditions during the postseason (i.e., mustaches, beards, etc.)?
Well I guess we try to grow beards, but a lot of us look like 12 year old boys and can’t really grow facial hair. I guess our other tradition is focusing on winning conferences and regionals, and in recent years placing high at nationals. There’s also a guy named Sarge who graduated many years ago who hangs around a lot. So maybe he’s kind of a tradition. When he’s not around us he’s usually out apple-picking with his imaginary girlfriend.
Any parting words for readers?
I guess I’ll share my opinion on D3 running for any D3 prospectives, since this is a D3 blog. (and an excellent one, by the way). Basically I feel that we have it really good in D3. During the bulk of the season, there is no limit to our level of competition. Because of the nature of our sport, no matter how good an athlete you are you can always find guys that are better, stronger and faster to race against. At the same time, for someone with modest PR’s coming out of high school, there is a very real opportunity to compete at a national level, and one with a great amount of depth and regional diversity. No, Nike doesn’t have an investment in how good (or good-looking) our teams are. But that makes it “ours” all the more. The coaches, teams and individuals who succeed on this level are ultimately people who are truly passionate about the sport- because they sure aren’t in it for the chicks.
Thanks to Zach for a great interview.
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