Scott Bauhs, 23, of the Mammoth Track Club, who was one of the greatest NCAA Division II distance runners in history while at Chico State in California, will represent the U.S. in the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England on Sunday. He qualified with a fifth place finish in the USA 20K in 59:46 on September 7 in New Haven. Bauhs attracted attention outside the ranks of Division II when he ran a 1:03:04 half marathon in 2007, a U.S. best for 21-year-olds, and then clocked 27:48.06 for 10,000 meters at Stanford University in 2008; he became the first D-2 athlete to break 28:00 in the 10,000. Bauhs had qualified for the 2008 World Cross Country Championships and placed 52nd in that 12k race in Edinburgh, Scotland. [Thanks RunnersWorld!]We're reaching you at your parents' house (in Danville, California). Where have you mainly been located lately?
Scott Bauhs: I was in Chico. My wife (Audrey, whom he married in July) still has a semester of school (at Chico State). I was planning on living in Chico while she finishes up and then we'll move up to Mammoth Lakes (the Mammoth Track Club's home base) together. I was up there for about two months this year, and then we were in San Diego for a couple of months. And then I went over to Europe for a month, and I've been in Chico ever since. There's a meet that my high school (San Ramon Valley High School in Danville) put on and they named it after me so I felt kind of obligated to go to it. I'm going to fly out to San Francisco (to Birmingham for the World Half Marathon).
You were fifth in the USA 20K in New Haven on Labor Day; that's the effort that qualified you for the World Half Marathon. Some runners, coming out of college and adjusting to a new and in some ways tougher training environment, perhaps have to take a step back before taking a step forward. Do you think that your New Haven 20k result was evidence that you are again taking steps forward?
SB: I suppose. In New Haven, I ran something that was probably equal to my half marathon PR (in quality). I wasn't particularly happy with being fifth, but I didn't lose sleep over it either. The guys who beat me, they all had great races. I've beaten a couple of them before. But one thing I was happy about with the New Haven race is that I didn't get as much training as I ideally would have for a race like that because I went over to Europe and did track and then took a little bit of time off for sightseeing in Europe. It was kind of a honeymoon. And I got back into training and I only had really five weeks of workouts going into New Haven. So to be able to get in shape that quickly, it's definitely a good sign, I think.
So from Labor Day, you had four or five weeks before the half marathon in Birmingham. Did you really go into a more serious workout mode at that point?
SB: Yeah, I got in some good workouts. It took about a week to recover (from New Haven) and then I still took a little but off in the beginning of the next week and then I got into the swing of things. Lately, I've had some better workouts than I had had going into New Haven so I definitely think I'm in better shape than I was for that race. I definitely think I can improve on that at Worlds.
Who are you working out with at this point?
SB: I've been working out on my own in Chico. I've had a little bit of help from alumni from Chico, and then my (Chico) coach rode his bike along with me on one of the workouts, but for the most part, I've been on my own. Terrence (Mahon, the Mammoth Track Club's coach) gives me my workouts.
Do you think you can take your half marathon personal best down pretty far on Sunday?
SB: Yeah. I'm not quite sure what the course in Birmingham is like. I think I'm going to come away with a really good PR or something that would be equal to a really good PR if the course is hard or it's pouring rain or windy or something. I think I'm definitely ready for something like that.
Is there anyone on the U.S. team you could pair up with and share a pace with for the first half of the race?
SB: That's hard to say. You never know how the race is going to work out. I think Ritz (Dathan Ritzenhein) is going to try and go out with the leaders, and I don't know how far I'll be going with him. I think all four of the rest of us are going to be shooting to break 1:02 in the half, assuming the course is fast enough. I think we can all work together but I'm not necessarily going to say we will work together, because who knows how everybody's going to start? But there's a good chance we could end up working together.
Tell us about your track season this year, starting with the USATF meet.
SB: I ran about three-quarters of the 10k (10,000) and then came back and ran the 5k (5000) and got tenth (in 13:39.06). I wasn't thrilled with the weekend but I think it was a good experience anyway.
Was that your original plan in the 10,000?
SB: Definitely not. My plan was to try and make the World Championships team in the 10k. I was definitely in contention until I just started dropping back. Maybe in the span of three or four laps I lost 200 meters on the lead or something; I can't remember exactly what it looked like or what happened, but I definitely was going in the wrong direction.
What did you end up doing in Europe?
SB: I did two 5ks in Europe, both in Belgium. They definitely weren't the big series meets. They were kind of low key by Europe standards. It was good to get used to the Europe way - so seemingly disorganized, and finding out that you're in races at the last minute, and booking travel at the last minute and trying to make it to the airport and stuff like that. In the second race I did, I couldn't get into it for awhile, but there was no reason I shouldn't be in the race. I was fifth or sixth of the PRs on the list, and I ended up getting third, so I definitely deserved to be in the race, but it took awhile. There are just a lot of logistics that go on.
What times did you run at those races?
SB: I ran 13:28 (13:28.92 in Heusden) and then 13:35.
The 13:28 is a new PR, right?
SB: Yeah, that's my new best.
When you ran your 10,000 PR of 27:48, that was considered a surprise and huge breakthrough for you. Did you sense that that was a case of everything going just about as well as it could on that day?
SB: Yeah, I think so. There are some races you look back at and you think "oh, if only I could have made this move there, or not gone out as fast," or whatever. I didn't look back and think anything like that in any part of the Stanford race. It did go probably about as well as it could have.
How good were you in high school? Chico State has a great running program, but did you run well enough in high school to draw interest from NCAA Division I recruiters?
SB: In high school, I improved by leaps and bounds every year. I had run 9:30 as a junior and 4:20 (for 3200 and 1600 meters, respectively), which definitely had smaller Division I schools recruiting me. I think I got a phone call from University of San Francisco. I got recruiting packets from all sorts of schools. I was really interested in going to Chico. I went on a recruiting trip in November and I signed a letter of intent in November of that year. I got ninth in the state meet (in cross country) I could have done better. When I was in high school, I ran as hard as I could from the start in pretty much every race that I did. I never used any tactics or anything like that. But then that (senior) track season I ran 4:16 and 9:09, which definitely warrants getting recruited to Division I schools, but I had already signed a letter of intent (to Chico State). I think I remember the high school athletic director saying Martin Smith of Oregon had called.
Scott Douglas mentions in his "Running Times" article about you and the Mammoth group that Terrence Mahon tries to stress to is runners that they are runners every single hour of the day - which means cross training, weight work, lots of sleep, and eating right. How different is this for you from college, when the typical runner likely did the running and maybe a little bit of gym work but doesn't obsess about these other details all the time? Do you find that the fact of being a runner is present in your consciousness for much more of the day than when you were in college?
SB: Yeah, definitely. When I was in college, I certainly didn't think about what I'm eating, pretty much ever. I'd just ate whatever I wanted unless it was the day or or the day before a race. And I never was on any sort of schedule with my sleeping. I would go to bed very late, just as college kids probably now. And it was way worse when I would procrastinate on papers and stuff. Now, when I'm back in Chico and I hang with kids on the team, I'll leave them and they're not even close to thinking about bedtime.
How many hours per night of sleep do you think you get now?
SB: Usually, I'll go to bed at 10:00 and get up about 8:00 or so. So about ten hours.
Are you doing a lot more weight work and drills than you did in college?
SB: I did almost none of it in college. We never had a structured weight routine. I never even went to the weight room. Like I don't even know where it is. There was definitely a core routine that we did, but I never was really good about it because I ran as much or more than just about anybody on the team. On our easy days we'd run and people would group up and do the core as together. I'd be coming back from a 12-mile run and everyone would be gone. I'd be tired and convinced myself that I didn't need to do it. Now, it's kind of standardized at Mammoth. We always do our main big run in the morning and the easy run in the afternoon. So we'll go right in after the easy run or do the easy run and then do weights, but weights is almost the more important and bigger activity in the evening.
So as we suggested, there's a period of adjustment after college and starting out in the pros. Do you think you're on an upward swing now and things are going to get better from here on in?
SB: I certainly hope so. I think I've adjusted to the training a little bit and it's definitely gotten a little bit easier, doing what I do in Mammoth. And I'll have the advantage of two extra months of training. Last year I ended my college cross country season in December and took some time off and started up again in January. Now I'm ending in early October, I'll take a little time off, and I'll be back training before the end of October. That will help give me even more time to adjust before next season when I think I'll really have a chance to improve on PRs.
Have their been discussions about what the goals will be for 2010? Will you be trying to qualify for World Cross Country, or focus on getting the track PRs down?
SB: I've talked to Terrence and we've talked about cross country. I would like to put a very large focus on cross country, and I think Terrence is on board with that. When it comes down to it, I'm going to do whatever he tells me to do, but he likes the idea of going over and doing cross country races in Europe before coming back and making a push to make World Cross Country (by qualifying at the USA Championships) and then peaking for World Cross Country and then taking a breather and then getting ready for some track races. But we'll see. I really want to run a very fast 10k and Terrence might view that as a priority over cross country.
Do you have any plans in the near future to do a marathon?
SB: I'm not opposed to doing a marathon, whenever. I think it's up to Terrence to decide when I move up and make a big push for it. Terrence, especially with the marathon, doesn't want you to do something unless you're ready for it. He won't have me go do one just to feel it out, If I'm going to do one, it's an effort I'll do very well. We've got Ryan (Hall) on the team and he's the benchmark for what it means to be a good marathoner. I should be able to work with him before I can do a marathon, and I'm not at that point. Maybe next year, maybe the year after, maybe not until after the Olympics. But it's definitely in my future, without a doubt.
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