Last year's thirteenth place finishers at Nike Team Nationals, the Los Alamos boys cross country team is looking for bigger and better things in 2007. With six of their top seven returning from their '06 squad, Los Alamos enters the season ranked eighth in the U.S. With a hardy season of competitive races ahead of them, Los Alamos has stepped up their training and looks to bring the Nike Team National title back to their little town in the New Mexico moutains.
This interview, the second of many to come this season with top teams from across the land, is held with Rob and Kathy Hipwood, the coaches of the Los Alamos boys and girls cross country teams.
MileSplit's Los Alamos Boys Cross Country Interview: Rob and Kathy Hipwood
MileSplit (MS): Expectations must be high this year with the team. With a pre-season top ten ranking and returning six of your top seven from Nike Team Nationals '06, what are the goals of this team?
Rob & Kathy Hipwood (RKH): Without a doubt, our number one goal is to win a state championship. State championships have been elusive for our boys program, so above all we hope we're sitting atop the New Mexico standings on November 10 (our only boys' state title was 2003, with nine second place finishes in the past decade, 14 runner-up finishes in school history; on the other hand, the girls have won 10 of the last 13 state title and have 13 total in school history).
Naturally, we are also setting our sights on a return trip to Portland [Nike Team Nationals]. Last year was truly a dream season and last August we never expected to progress as far as we did. Our goal was to finish in the top ten in the Southwest Region. Despite what should be a much stronger team this year, the entire SW Region is more competitive, so we're very aware of how tough it's going to be to get back to NTN.
MS: How did your summer training go? What has been the focus with the training?
RKH: We're very pleased with the fitness level of most of our returnees. The focus this summer was a weekly long run and tempo run, although some kids were better than others about doing tempo regularly.
Any example of a high mileage summer week for our older boys follows. If they follow the training schedule that they are given, they will accomplish this 4-5 times throughout the summer. And, in our tiered program, younger athletes, even if they are varsity, don't run as much.
Monday: 80-90 minutes, on cross country ski trails @ 9,000+ feet.
Tuesday: 50 minutes, 4-6 x 80-100m grass strides, core work, push/pull ups.
Wednesday: 40 a.m. / 40 p.m., relaxed pickups on hilly course.
Thursday: 60-70 minutes, 6x100m @ 800m pace, core, push/pull ups.
Friday: 45-55, varied tempo (4-5 x 6 minutes or 3x10 minutes or 25 minutes sustained) on flat course.
Saturday: 50-60 minutes, 4-6 x 200m @ 1600 pace.
Sunday - Rest or cross train.
MS: Who is in your top seven right now?
RKH: We're led by Allen Pittman (Sr.) and Gareth Gilna (Jr.), who took third and fourth, respectively, at the state meet last year. Kyle Pittman (So.) is a VERY strong #3 and finished eighth at state a year ago. After the top three spots it's going to get very interesting. We did a 2k "fitness assessment" during the first week of practice and only one of our other three varsity returnees finished in the top seven. It's very early and it was only 2k, but we really anticipate abaout 11 or 12 guys fighting for the top seven, including varsity returnees Tom Bowidowicz (Sr.), Tom Witherell (Sr.) and Steven Walter (Sr.), as well as Kevin Hemphill (Jr.), Andrew Vierra (Jr.), Eli Pulliam (Jr.), Austin Jacobson (Jr.) and Josh Willms (Sr.) from last year's junior varsity, and newcomer Nat Gustafson (Jr.) is also looking strong.
MS: With so much success from last year carrying over, how do you re-motivate everyone and what needs to change from last year to this year to take another step up?
RKH: Motivation is not a problem. Last year's successes have only motivated the guys to work harder. They are very excited about the upcoming season, so if anything, we've been preaching patience. Were not sure if there is much that needs to be changed. We always tweak the training here and there, but if we're patient and healthy, we should be ready to go late in the year.
MS: Few people in the sport probably know where Los Alamos is. Can you tell us a little bit about the community? How is running viewed in the community?
RKH: We're a small town in the northern moutains of New Mexico, about 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe. Our elevation is 7,200 feet, and the terrain is very hilly. It's beautiful with many miles of trails, but these aren't necessarily ideal trails for 5k training. There aren't many places to run at a good clip and be on a soft surface, so we have to be creative.
Los Alamos is the home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's top scientific research labs. Los Alamos holds the distinction of having the most PhD's per capita of any community in the U.S. As you can imagine, there is a high value of academics in the schools. The benefits are obvious with highly motivated student-athletes, but it adds another element when planning our training. In general, our athletes have a lot of homework, so getting enough sleep for some kids becomes challenging. We are constantly trying to balance the proper amounts of intensity/volume and recovery.
Los Alamos is a very active community, with a lot of people who run, cycle, rock climb, hike, swim, etc. The community as a whole recognizes the program's successes and the running community is especially supportive.
MS: You have quite the rivalry it seems with Albuquerque Academy. What is that rivalry like?
RKH: It's a great rivalry, and both programs have tremendous respect for each other. The competition has made both teams better and it's been a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it's been a little too lopsided! Adam Kedge, Academy's coach, is a very close friend of ours -- someone that we communicate with a few times each week, almost daily during the cross country and track seasons. It's probably a very unusual rivalry in that aspect, but it's a genuine friendship that goes back a long time. He's a friend first and a rival second.
MS: Transitioning from summer base training to in-season competitions, how does the workout regime change?
RKH: August, for the most part, is simply an extension of our summer training, with an emphasis on long runs and tempo runs and a gradual progression into interval/speed work. We also begin a twice/week weights/plyo session, sometimes substituted with yoga.
MS: You have a combined boys and girls team. Many schools around the country don't have that type of set up. How does that work out, and are there advantages from having a combined program?
RKH: The biggest advantage is probably the social benefit for both teams. Possibly that gets some athletes out that wouldn't otherwise come out; but in reality, there might be more disadvantages. It is how we have coached from the beginning, so we don't know anything else. Sometimes we feel as though having a smaller group to focus on would be more productive and allow for more intimate coaching. Organizing the practices and meeting everyone's needs takes a lot of time and energy, but, ultimately, the kids have fun and work very hard, so it all works out. It definitely takes both of us, as well as all of our assistants, to pull it off successfully.