ONE-ON-ONE WITH WELDON JOHSON

LetsRun.com turned the tables on one of its founders Weldon Johnson and interviewed him about his high school running.  Weldon was a good high-school runner, but did not really show his promise until his senior year.  That track season he ran 9:35 for 3200m and 4:28 for 1600m.  Despite not being recruited by any colleges, he went to Yale University where he made the difficult transition to collegiate running, eventually attaining All-East status.  After college, Weldon continued to show subtle signs of improvement as he stuck with his training program until this past spring when he had his breakthrough running 28:27 for 10,000m.  For a complete bio on Weldon click here .

Tell us a little about your background in running.

Well, I was always active as a kid playing just about every sport.  Looking back at it now, it's easy to see that I really enjoyed running even though then I didn't realize it.  I remember in first grade, 5 of us tried to see if we could run the entire P.E. period.  (He laughs) Either we were crazy or maybe I was destined to be a runner.  I didn't run anything competitively until 7th grade when I started doing cross-country.  My school had middle-school cross-country.  I did cross-country and track in 7th grade, and after that year only did cross-country up until my senior year in high school when I ran year round and did track again.

How much success did you have?

I was always a fairly good runner, but nothing to suggest that I'd go on to run in college or have the success I 'm having now. In 7th grade I was the best runner on the team, but in 8th grade a new guy, Erick Hawkins, who actually would go on to be my college roommate came to my school and he was way better than me and everyone else.  In high school, we always had very good teams because of my coach, so there were always guys a lot better than me on the team.  I ran JV as a freshman, as a sophomore I was I think the 5th man on the varsity, and like 15th overall in the conference.  As a junior, I moved up to 8th in the conference, and #4 on the team.  As a senior, I was #2 on the team and in the conference.  I got a lot better my senior year.

Why do you think you got a lot better your senior year?

Mainly because I started to run more.  I always thought I took running very seriously, but its not possible to do this unless you put in the work prior to the season.  I guess you could say that I took running seriously if you want to call it that during the 3 months of the season, but did little running in the summer.  It's hard to say you're a serious runner if you're not training prior to the season.

The summer before my senior year, I ran consistently over the summer, so I had a base that my coach could work with.  Then, I started to follow exactly what my coach told me to do, and began to reap the rewards. I honestly believe John (Kellogg) is the best coach in the world, but no matter how good the coach is, if the athlete does not do the proper training over the summer to give the coach a base to work with, the athlete will be limited in his or her success.  A good example of this, was a friend of mine on the team, Wes Tydlaska.  To put it nicely, in middle school Wes was not a very good runner.  However, in high-school he worked his butt off consistently doing the proper training, and he became a very good runner becoming all-conference as a senior.

Tell us about some of your workouts in high-school.

Well, I don't remember specific workouts, but the focus was on long-term development, and the workouts were more aerobically based.  I remember in the winter doing a lot of tempo runs, and other aerobic workouts.  These type of workouts made it possible for me to improve quickly once we started doing some faster speed stuff on the track. I remember when I broke 10:00 for the first time, running 9:53.  It nearly killed me.  I didn't think I could run much faster.  However, my coach had confidence in me and had laid the proper foundation.  Sure enough I ran 9:35 a few weeks later.

 I cringe today when I see a lot of these "so-called coaches" running there kids to the ground by doing too many an-aerobic intervals.  It not only hampers their enjoyment of the sport, but it thwarts their development if they do decide they want to keep running.

What was it like having a runner such as Erick Hawkins (9:12 3200m) who was much better than you on the same team?

I think it really helped my running. My team always had really good runners on it, so they helped show you what you could attain.  Erick especially, really helped me become the runner I am today.  Not only did he provide me encouragement, but he showed me what could be done.  My senior year, I ran really good times especially for a kid from a small school, but I wasn't even close to Erick.  I think this helped me make the jump to running in college and post-collegiately.  Each level is a lot tougher than the one before it.  However, I was used to running for my own-self improvement, and could judge myself off of this.  As long as I was getting better, I was happy, and stuck with it.  A lot of kids put too much external pressure on themselves to do well, and as a result they quit enjoying the sport.  The second you don't derive any satisfaction from the sport you should quit.

What would be your advice for high school runners today?

First, I'd tell them to enjoy the what they're doing. Some of them will have the opportunity to run on a team in college, but most of them won't.  There is something special about running on a cross-country team, everyone sacrificing physically for a common goal.  That's what I miss most now running on my own.

As for more specific advice, I'd tell them to gradually increase their mileage, and run year-round definitely their junior and senior years if they want to be really good.  The key is to have a good coach.  That's where I was really lucky.  There are probably thousands of high-schoolers out there now who have the potential that I had, but they never have the opportunity to reach it because of inadequate coaching.

Also, I'd tell them to run more on the grass and trails to stay healthy.  My coach was always telling me to run on the grass, but I thought he was nuts, as I'd run on the pavement every day.  Perhaps, that's why I was always injured.

Tell us about your injuries in high-school.

Well, most of the injuries were one minor thing after another.  I was very small in 9th and 10th grade, (5 foot 1 and 5 foot 5 respectively), but then I started growing a lot which I'm sure didn't help with the injuries.  I had Osgood-Schlatters in my knees.  Every day during high-school and college I would ice some minor ailment on my body.  Ok I'll admit there were some days that I missed, but I constantly was taking care of my body.  I think gradually my body adapted, but also now I run a lot more on softer surfaces which explains why I'm healthier.  Most running injuries are caused by all the over-repititious stress from pounding on the pavement.  Luckily, I escaped any really serious injuries.  I think my twin brother Robert, got all of those.

What do you think of this year's crop of high-schoolers?

I think they are truly incredible.  There was all of this Alan Webb hype which excited me, and now there is this kid, Donald Sage, from famous York, who ran 8:42 and 4:07 on the same day with 57 second last laps. (Laughs).  I'd better not get in any races with him.

(Editor's note: Weldon's best 3k time only converts to about a 9:58 3200m.  He can run 10,000m at nearly this same pace, but hasn't run a 3k any faster.  He plans on running a 3k this year before the Olympic Track Trials in the 10,000m)

Seriously, it's  a good thing for the sport.  I really think the internet is raising the bar for high-school running because now people are more aware of what's going on outside of their state.  Most importantly, I hope these kids are enjoying what they are doing, and no one puts too much pressure on them.  The jump to college is tough enough, especially when you're hailed as the next great hope.  These kids, are just that-kids, and hopefully are having a lot of fun doing what they're doing.  They've got a special talent, and should take advantage of it while it lasts.