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St. Louis Track Club Men's Elite Mile BEN ROSARIO
1. Ben, your 2009 got off to a great start when you ran 4:03 indoors in the mile in your first race of the season. You were unable to improve on that time though and we haven't seen any results from you outdoors. What have you been up to? 2. You have taken a somewhat unique path in your post-collegiate running career by starting out as a marathoner and now going to the mile later in your 20s. How did that come about and what are the differences between the two events? I always thought that I was a marathoner even as far back as high school. I loved long runs and I loved hammering tempo runs. The short stuff always killed me. The fastest I ever ran for 800 in high school was 2:02 and that was a relay split so who knows. In college I only ran the mile or the 1500 a couple of times and it was always during a big training week just as a way to tune-up for the 5k or 10k. I think my fastest 1500 was 4:05 and my fastest mile was around 4:20 …honestly. When I went to the Hansons-Brooks team after college I started training for the marathon right away and qualified for the 2004 Trials. By the time I was 25 I had already run five marathons and after all those 120 mile weeks I never thought about being a miler at all. I did try a couple of track segments at Hansons but they never went very well. I barely beat my college 5k pr and was really pretty disgusted with myself and what I did on the track in those years. When we got the store going in 2006 I thought I would really dedicate myself to training for the Olympic Trials Marathon in the fall of 2007 and then I thought that would be it…I would retire. I ran so terrible there though that I just couldn't go out like that. I ended up running well only a few weeks later at the US Club Cross Country Championships and then I figured I'd run a mile indoors just for fun. I cut my mileage way back for the first time since I was probably sixteen years old and found that I actually had some pop in my legs. I ended up running 4:06 and I really enjoyed the race. Since then I have stuck with the shorter races because with two stores now it would be very difficult to train 100 plus mile weeks and still have the energy I need to run a successful business. As for the difference between the two races they are immensely different in some ways but I don't find them as different as you might think. The mile is over with very quickly so you have to stay very focused and locked in as there in no room for error (especially for a guy like me without a ton of natural speed). I get really jacked up before a mile and use that emotion in the race. The marathon also takes a lot of focus but you can't be too intense early and you have to be prepared for a mile here and there that will be too fast or too slow. You get back into your rhythm and try to nail that next mile as best you can. The big thing for me though in each race, or any race for that matter, is to master running fast and relaxed. Even while running four minute mile pace you have to stay relaxed or your form will fall apart and it will be all over. Same thing in the marathon, once you start giving into the pain past 20 miles and let the negative thoughts enter your mind your body will follow suit and begin breaking down. For me it is one lap at a time in the mile and one mile at a time in the marathon. That is how I approach it. 3. As a Saint Louisan and a graduate of Saint Louis U. High you will likely have a lot of people pulling for you to run well on Saturday. What are your goals for the race? My goal for Saturday is to put myself in it. Just give myself a shot basically. My training has not gone as I planned it with March and April being extremely busy months at the store but these last couple of workouts have gone well and I think I am in shape enough that I can at least run close to a PR. 4. What other races do you have planned after the Festival of Miles? I will be going to Portland Oregon for the Portland Track Festival on June 13 th to run a 5k. My wife lived in Portland for three years and still has lots of friends there. It will be a good excuse to see them and to hopefully run a fast time as well. After that I am not exactly sure. I do know that I will be running the Macklind Avenue Mile on July 4 th and the Ryan Shay Mile in Charlevoix , MI on July 26 th . 5. How much of a difference does it make for you as an athlete to have a really big crowd at race? It makes all the difference in the world for me. I am a very emotional runner and I definitely like a big time atmosphere. I can't wait for Saturday to have the fans going crazy and to have the music pumping. Well, I think it's a great field for sure. There is no question in my mind that it will go under four unless there is unusually bad weather. As for how it will play out that is the beauty of racing…you never know! Watch Ben run 4:03 in the mile *** |
West County |
