It's rare that a junior distance runner tops the U.S. rankings in track, however this season Doug Smith of New Jersey has already accomplished this feat. In early February, Smith ran a U.S. #1 time for 3200m in 9:06.05. Smith currently has the lead in the 3k in 8:24.3. This coming weekend, Smith will take on the current U.S. #1 3200m runner in Brian Leung (NJ), his in-state rival. Both athletes have a chance to become the first under nine-minutes for 3200m this year, which should make the pace honest from the gun.
Interview with Doug Smith (NJ)
Doug Smith MileSplit Profile Page
MileSplit (MS): Congratulations thus far on such an amazing season. You've put up some great numbers. Are you pleased with the start to your season so far?
Doug Smith (DS): I am very pleased with how my season has started thus far. I've been running how I was expecting to run going into this season. I have run some good times and hope to run faster since I haven't reached my goals just yet.
MS: Moving on from here, do you plan to run Nike Indoor Nationals or the NSIC meet?
DS: I plan to run the two-mile at Nike Indoor.
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MS: What are your goals for this season?
DS: My goals are very high. I am not going to say exactly what they are, but they are very high and if I reach them it will be very evident what the goals were.
MS: You had a sub-par ending to your cross country season. What happened exactly, and did that motivate you for track?
DS: At the end of the cross country season I had come down with a pretty bad bronchial sickness that affected my chest. I had a sharp pain in my chest for the last 2-3 weeks of the season. I didn't take action in trying to get on antibiotics soon enough. I got put on antibiotics after dropping out of the New Jersey Meet of Champions, and the antibiotics helped me get better for Foot Locker Northeast, but I do feel it was too late for it all to be fixed since I still felt about 85% at FLNE.
Those last two weeks ending the way they did has motivated me greatly. Not a day goes by that I don't remember those last two races. Training all season for those races and having them turn out the way they did was horrible. I have used that bitterness to help motivate myself, but I do feel that even if cross country ended the way I wanted it to I'd still be running the same. It was just a bump in the road.
MS: You've been a big name in the sport for a few years now. When did you first get into the sport? When did you first know you were going to be a good runner?
DS: I started running in seventh grade since we had a cross country and spring track team in middle school. I just ran because I thought I had good endurance. I won most of the races pretty easily, but didn't think too much of it. I was very into playing soccer. I had games every weekend, was on a club team, etc. I ran some 5k races throughout the summer and began to realize that I was beating kids who ran for high school teams and were pretty good on those teams.
In eighth grade I broke five minutes in spring track and realized that was a pretty big accomplishment, so I decided I was going to run track my freshman year. I played soccer my freshman year instead of running cross country, then decided I was going to run track instead of playing basketball. I trained really hard during the winter and it paid off. After that, I quit soccer and haven't regretted the decision since.
MS: Take us through a typical week of trianing if you could.
DS: Monday: 45 minutes easy a day after a long run with a couple strides.
Tuesday: 30 minute warm-up, then a hard workout of some sort, usually a longer workout. 20 minute cool-down.
Wednesday: Anything from an hour and more. Depends if I am racing soon. 80 minutes max. Some strides and drills.
Thursday: 30 minute warm-up. Then workout on the track. Usually shorter, fast stuff...200's or 150's. 20 minute cool-down.
Friday: Hour+ easy, then a couple strides and drills.
Saturday: 45 minutes easy and 4 strides.
Sunday: 90-100 minutes.
MS: You know your coach Ryan Grote is kind famous in the professional running circles. He used to do a college cross country rankings section on LetsRun, which was hilarious. How has he influenced you, and is he just as hilarious when he's coaching?
DS: Ryan is pretty much the best coach a runner could ask for. He knows what to do to get you to where you need to be. He's been through it all, and knows what to say to help you get through things. He helps me on and off the track. Ryan is also just as hilarious when he's coaching. A lot of funny stories have been told by him during runs, and many other things that I shouldn't say. He can make anything funny, especially when you want to laugh when you're nervous before a race and things like that.
MS: Enough with running, what do you like to do in your free time?
DS: I like to play basketball, play video games, and hang out with girls.
Quick Six (Short questions/answers)
MS: What kind of shoes do you train in?
DS: Brooks Glycerin, Brooks Infiniti, and Asics Kayano.
MS: What kind of spikes do you race in?
DS: Brooks Z2
MS: What is your favorite food?
DS: Sushi
MS: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
DS: Japan
MS: Favorite band?
DS: Hannah Montana
MS: How fast will your mile PR be by the time you graduate?
DS: 4:05
Thanks Doug. Best of luck this weekend and the rest of the season.