Big River Interview: Adam Behnke

Lutheran South junior Adam Behnke is coming off an incredible sophomore year in which he finished fourth at State in Cross Country and fifth at State Track in the 1600 with a phenomenal time of 4:22. His school competes in the Class 3 division so Adam often runs against the runners from Potosi High School. That challenge has motivated him to get even better this year. We sat down with Adam as he prepared for the Lutheran North Invitational [which he won in 16:18].

BR: How did summer training go for you this year?

AB: It went really well. I was lucky enough to stay injury free and I was able to do my workouts all summer. About a month in my knee was bothering me a little bit so I went to the doctor and she said it was just over use so I took a couple days off and I was fine. That's really the only problem I've had in my career so far.

BR: Coming off such a great sophomore year in which you placed fourth in cross country and fifth in the mile what are your goals for this cross country season keeping in mind of course that two of the guys who beat you last year [Potosi's Josh Mathis and Josh Thebeau] are back?

AB: That's the goal right there. If I can get it I will.

BR: You've actually already raced them once this year at Jefferson Barracks at the Lutheran South Invitational. Take us through that race.

AB: Well, they and I were pretty strong through two miles or so. It seemed like it was a good day for running, it was awesome weather and I felt great, my legs felt great. It stayed that way through 2 miles or so when they started to pull away and I tried to go with them but my body didn't allow me to do that. I wish I could have but that's what motivates me to train harder and next time I'll try to stick with them even longer.

BR: How many more times will you see them this year?

AB: I'll see them at their meet, the Potosi Invitational and at State.

BR: Do you have any specific time goals for this year?

AB: I'd definitely like to break 16 and get the school record and my goal would probably be in the 15:40s.

BR: Before we officially started this interview we talked a little bit about your training. I think it is important for runners to know what's out there and what people are doing. Can you take us through a normal week of training for you.

AB: A normal training week will usually start off with a 6-12-6 and we'll do that on Monday and Wednesday. The six minutes is easy jogging, conversation pace, and the 12 minutes is 80% of race pace which I usually go harder than I should although I don't know if that really helps or not. We usually have a meet on Saturday so Friday is usually 6-6-6 so we just minimize the hard part in the middle. Our hard days are Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday will be a longer interval day such a 1:30 or 2:30 and we'll do 16 of those or so. Thursday will be shorter intervals like 30 seconds or 45. We'll do anywhere from 9-16 of those but in the summer we were doing as many as 32.

BR: So is this system what you use all year long?

AB: We bring it down a little bit in the competitive part of the season and then coming up here soon we'll change it from intervals to step-ups where we'll start at 30 and then go 1 minute, 1:30, 2:00, all the way up to 4:30. We also might do pyramids or step-downs where we start at 4:30 and go down.

BR: Take us back to State Track for a minute because 4:22 is an incredible time for a sophomore. How did that race play out?

AB: Just being there and soaking in all the atmosphere was great after not being there freshman year. I got there and the nerves were going a little bit and I was also really excited about it, being a sophomore and getting to run in the Mile at State. All I had to do was the Mile and give it all I had and show everybody what I was all about. It was a hot day though.

BR: What did the race go out in?

AB: I think it was 56, 57 so quite a fast pace. I was just like, if this is what we're going to do I'm just going to keep going. The whole race I was just going to make sure I didn't get boxed in and run my race. I was so focused. With a lap to go I was in fifth or sixth at that point. At 200 to go I passed someone and then with 50 meters to go I passed someone else but then I ran out of room.

BR: Back to cross country, last year you went to the Foot Locker Regionals and placed 17th in the freshman-sophomore race. What are your goals there for this year?

AB: I would like to see a better performance there now that I'm training in the winter and I've dropped basketball. I can really focus on that and I'd like to PR there if I could.

BR: Speaking of basketball and other sports, yours is kind of a unique story in that you actually played soccer your freshman year and just ran in the cross country races on the weekend.

AB: Yeah, freshman year I played soccer but they wanted me to run so I was running with them in the Meets. The rare days I did train with them they were just running for a half hour or so. I really didn't know what it was all about actually, I was just out there running knowing that I had to race on Saturday.

BR: But you still made it to the State Meet.

AB: I did. I was actually the only one to do that. I didn't know that I could do that. I just went out at districts and ran my race and ended up in the top 15, ninth I think. That's when I started thinking about it.

BR: But you still played basketball that winter and last year as well. What changed that you are now going focus only on running?

AB: I decided after looking at all the sports that I participated in and thinking about what am I actually the best at and how can I become the best at what I do that running is what I want to do. I finally decided to drop everything and put that as my top goal and not let anything distract me from that.

BR: Well, you're not a sophomore anymore. You're an upperclassmen so what is your advice to younger runners especially those who maybe dealing with the same kinds of decisions you dealt with.

AB: It's just that feeling of accomplishment that you get every time you get out there and do it. It takes someone special to be a runner. We're just different from everyone else.

Thanks for the great interview Adam and best of luck the rest of this season!