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Papa John's 10 Miler Interview: Matt Downin
Editor's note: The interview below was conducted by Chris Graff, who is the elite athlete coordinator for the Papa John's 10 miler, and an elite runner himself. The Papa John's 10 miler is serving as the US 10 mile championship this year.

April 9, 2006

Chris Graff: Matt, you have a lot going on, recently married, Angie is pregnant, Liz and I were thinking of naming our son Jack but you stole it, how is it all balancing out?  

Matt Downin: It's all going very well.  Obviously there is a lot of excitement in the Downin house right now, but we are anxiously awaiting Jackson's arrival.  As for my running, I have been able to be pretty consistent with everything, so that's good.

CG: You have a lot of races planned that Americans don't usually mess with, Cherry Blossom, Bloomsday, what is the motivation behind this schedule?  

MD: I want to have fun with this sport while I can.  I figure guys like us only have a few years that we can compete at such a high level, and I want to have as much fun as I can.  Cherry Blossom and Bloomsday (along with other big road races) are a big part of our sport that a lot of Americans overlook for one reason or another.  I am going to go and give them both a good shot and see if I can compete with the highest level of road race competition available.  It will be fun I think.

CG: And the fall marathon plan is to keep running NYCM, get a fast one in Chicago...?  

MD: Right now, I don't know.  I love the city of New York and The New York Marathon and would love to be able to run it every year.  I have great friends and family in the area and love that it is such a great event.  At the same time, I can't ignore the pull to go somewhere where I can run maybe a minute or two faster somewhere down the road.  It's a tough call, but one that I will have to decide sometime soon.  Whichever the choice, I am going to give myself a very long build up this year that I think I have been missing in the last few years for the marathon.  I am going to cut out my spring racing a little earlier to make sure that I am very ready for the marathon this fall.  

CG: Your brother Andy is a great runner and a big part of your life and running career.

Both of you seem to have the point of view that things will work out, and no one thing is worth getting very stressed over.  Is this how you train and race as well?  

MD: Yeah, I think that if you keep everything in proper perspective, eventually things will come around for you.  I work very hard at what I do, but I try not to get rapped up too much in any one thing.  It's fun for me, I try to keep it that way all the time.

CG: You went to Wisconsin.  They are really running well year after year.  Any comment?  

MD: It's really a combination of a few things.  Jerry is an unbelievably nice guy who really has his head on his shoulders as well.  He is a great recruiter who gets in the right guys every year to continue what was started when he came in with us finishing 2nd at NCAA's his second year there.  They also seem to have gotten very lucky with the guys that have come through there in the last few years: Tegenkamp, Keller, Spiker, now Simon and so on.  They are all just great guys who have really been able to, with Jerry's help, figure this sport out.  It's really exciting to watch as an alumnus.

CG: So typically, your training week is set in advance and strictly followed or changed often?  

MD: I typically write up a 4-6 week training schedule every week so that I have some idea of what the next month plus should look like.  I rewrite it every week to make sure that I am doing the right thing every day based on how I am feeling day to day.  It's a pretty weird system for me, but it seems to have worked a little over the last year or so.

CG: There's 2 years to the Olympic Trials, are you going to try to run a 10k qualifier along the way or go exclusively with the marathon?  

MD: I am still pretty much undecided on that.  It will depend on whether I feel like I need to run another marathon in the spring next year.  If I don't think that it is necessary, I will just train to see if I can run the 10k qualifier in the spring.  If there is some way that I can get that one done, than it will be a very nice plan "b" for me if I don't make the team in the marathon

CG: You have run 28:08 and 2:14 and were a Footlocker National Champion.  Angie ran 2:03 800m for Michigan and was on an NCAA Championship DMR.  Do you think those genetics and your low stress level will be enough for little Downin to take on the likes of say, Cruz Culpepper in 20 years?  

MD: We will see.  I think statistically Cruz would have it over little Downin, but you never know.  All I care is that he can beat your son at Wiffle ball.



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