Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interviews: Tim Miles of Saint John's University

Interview by: Keith Solverson (11/08/2006)

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

I wanted to coach just because I enjoyed being part of the sport so much as an athlete.  I believe I am very team oriented.  Actually, after coaching at the high school level for three years, I was ready to move onto a different profession altogether (forestry) when the Saint John's job just fell in my lap.  That was 1979, and times were more simple.


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

It's all about summer and winter training.  If you want a nice peak, you need a big mountain. Everybody is different.  I have had All-Americans whose mileage maxed out - in the dead of winter -  at 120 per week, and others who never went over 55.

Over the 10 or 12 weeks prior to nationals, we do something faster twice per week - two workouts or one workout and a race.  We simply try to "add gears" as we go.  Basically, we begin with hill repeats, then onto intervals, and then reps with the occasional tempo run throughout.  We almost never really pin our ears back, save for races.  We want to run
the workouts, we don't want the workouts to run us.  And of course mileage declines as we get deeper into the racing season.


Who has influenced you the most in your coaching?

My experiences and the experiences of all the athletes I've coached have had the biggest impact.  And Arthur Lydiard's take on things jives with my experiences as a competitor and as a coach.  Also my brother, Bill, who was my high school coach and has been coaching since 1970.


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

I do my reading during the off-season.  Right or wrong, if something doesn't match with my basic philosophy, I pretty quickly disregard it. An alum sent me handwritten copies of Jack Daniels' training schedules about fifteen years ago - before the books - and I appreciated how he put his puzzle together.  I would say that Jack has a clue.


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

Choosing the sixteen at large teams is a thankless task, and we will have opportunities to say "they got it wrong".  But as much as I liked the old method (because it was objective and simple), we have to recognize that it was also flawed and also "made mistakes" in identifying the best teams in the nation.

I believe that a diligent and objective committee can do a very good job of selecting 16 at large teams, given a couple constraints.  The first constraint is the requirement that at least two teams compete from each region, but I get that and I'm okay with it.  The other constraint is
the five team cap from any one region.  I believe the cap should be at least six teams.  Our top cross country runners want to and deserve to run against the best.  And of course our best teams deserve to run.


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

I enjoy the daily association with outstanding people.  I believe we would be hard-pressed to find a more outstanding group of people on any college campus than can be found at cross country practice.  And I enjoy being on hand when those passionate people see their hard and
intelligent work rewarded with big improvement.


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

Most important, the person has to enjoy running.  Getting out the door should be enjoyable and not an act of iron will.  They have to believe that off-season running is the key to success, that the only magical workout is the morning run, and that rest and recovery is also an essential part of the training equation.


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

Get your toe in the door wherever you can, but find a place where you can be happy working hard and working cheap.  Then others will see you at your best and perhaps a door will open for you.  Good things happen to good people.

Thanks to Coach Miles for a great interview.

Tim Miles Interview

2:48 PM, November 13, 2006 .. Posted by Anonymous

I was lucky enough to run \"miles with Miles\" a long time ago!
<br>The man is a class act. The Division III world of Cross Country and Track and Field is a better place with Tim in it.

I Second That

6:56 PM, November 14, 2006 .. Posted by Anonymous

Tim's all class.

He's also a canny coach. He understands the sport deeply, but keeps his focus, properly, on the basics of getting faster.

It was my great pleasure to have him as my coach!

coach

12:58 AM, December 16, 2006 .. Posted by Anonymous

Does anybody know who coached Tim Miles in his senior year of college?