Peter Gambaccini for RunnersWorld: Does it have any affect on you psychologically that a switch has been made at this late moment and Deresse Mekonnen (Ethiopia's 2009 World Championships silver medalist in the 1500) is out and Asbel Kiprop (Kenya's 2008 Olympic gold medalist) is in? Does that change your out look at all?Bernard Lagat: Yes it does, absolutely. There are a few things you have to understand about running in the Garden. It's different. It's not a 200-meter track. And so when you look at a guy like Mekonnen, he's short like me, even shorter, if I may say so, so he can run very well on a track like this (in the Garden). But then when you have somebody like Kiprop, he's tall, he might feel a bit different (out there). But you know what? Kiprop is young, and with adrenalin, a new place, his first race in America indoors, he might not even think about all these other things, not even feel like the banks are so steep or the track is too small, 145 meters. But I prepared for them. So I wish Mekonnen was going to be here, because he's always a good runner, and so is Kiprop. We're adding an Olympic champion. At Prefontaine (Classic in Eugene outdoors) last year, he ran a very good time, he ran 3:48. And also we have Andy Baddeley. He beat me at the Fifth Avenue Mile right here in New York (in September), and he ran a great race. And when we look at his results from just this past week, he did incredibly good (a 3:55.64 win at the Armory in New York). His 3:55 is a good time.
When do you see the Garden track for the first time - only at the (pre-race) introduction or do you actually get to warm up before the mile?
BL: You don't even have a chance to practice over there. There's a high school boys' mile, and then straight up to the elite athletes. The only time we get onto the track is just for the introduction (of the milers).
Have you been in Tucson recently, or Flagstaff?
BL: I've been in Tucson all this time. No weather problems. We're training sometimes barechested. We don't have any shirts, and we don't wear all the tights that people wear in the cold weather. It's really a perfect place to train. That's why my friend just moved in from Illinois, because I always brag about Tucson - "hey man what's your temperature there?" And he tells me "oh, it's about five degrees." And I tell him we have 60 or 65 or 70 degrees." That's why I love Tucson.
There's always talk about the large loud crowd at Millrose. When you go to a place in Europe like Karlsruhe or Birmingham, do you get that kind of audience fervor?
BL: I would say yes, we get it. Here, the fans are really close to the track, so you feel the energy and the noise.... But in Birmingham, we get a lot of people out to watch, but they're really farther away from you. So you hear the noise, but it's not like we get over here at the Garden. And the fact that people stay all the way until the last race at Millrose is really important, it's really special. And they always make the Mile one of the last events, if not the last one.... The noise is incredible. It's really there to support us, and that's really important in the Garden.
Last year, when you won your seventh Wanamaker Mile, you weren't absolutely certain you'd be back. Aside from the obvious commercial considerations, what convinced you to come back?
BL: It is just the fact that I want to see if I can win again. Eamonn Coghlan is a great man. I respect him. He's a true gentleman. I'm sure he's going to be here. Every time, when I think about what he did - to run seven, and to win all of them is really a great achievement. And I was able to do that (win his own seventh) last year. What makes me want to come back is that I just want to be that athlete who has won eight of them. I don't take it lightly. It's important, and I have really trained. James (Li) didn't even take a lot of time to convince me to come back here. I remember when I won the sixth, I said in the press conference "okay, I'm coming back next year to see if I can equal it (Coghlan's total)." And then now that I equaled it, I didn't want to say too much because I didn't know how my shape was going to be. I wanted to wait until after Berlin (the 2009 World Championships) to make sure that I'm still fast enough. I can just worry about one thing at a time. After Berlin, I sat down and said "you know what, Millrose Games is going to be it. I'm going to work hard to try and make the eight." And that's why I'm here now.
Last year, you said you were training 40 miles a week, training less as you got older. Are you training longer miles now that you're focusing on the 5000 (for later in 2010)? Has that changed at all?
BL: Yes, it has changed. Right now, we are doing so many miles, and we are trying to do it in such a way that I don't lose the speed. Sometimes, when you make that switch, it's very hard to come back and work on that leg speed which is really essential in the race itself. So we are working on so many miles now. I am able to run 15 miles, 14 miles, 12 miles. My shortest run, actually, is when I'm calling it almost like a day off, six miles. It's a big change. Sometimes we do the hill work. We try not to forget about things like the hill work that makes you strong, and tempo runs that I always like to do. When we combine all this, it's close to 80 miles.
You mentioned this was an important year for you. It's not a championship year, but based on what we've heard, it sounds like you're going to try and do some pretty amazing things in the 5000.
BL: Yes. It's an off year, so my thinking was I want to try and see if I can go up in distance.... I really never had to train well for the 5000. So now we want to try it out, and so Coach Li and myself sat down and said "this is the year that it's going to be important for you, because we want you to run a very good time." We are thinking that in July, we want to able to run about 12:50, and we cannot do that if I train like the 1500-meter guy. Not that I'll be ditching the 1500 altogether, but I'll be doing that as one of the side races. But the focus is going to be the 5k, so that is why I am upping the mileage and making sure I stick to Abdi (Abdirahman, his friend and frequent training partner) most of the time now because he's the man who knows how to run the distance. That's why he's going to be important.
And at the same time I have an 800-meter runner who came from Rend Lake (College in) Illinois. His name is Boaz Lalang, he was on the Olympic team for Kenya, running the eight (800). So while I'm going to use Abdi to train for the 5k, of course I'll be having Boaz as well to get that speed. That's why it's good to have a good training group. And at the same time, these guys will be benefiting as well because when they go into the middle there, when we have hard tempo runs, Abdi's going to get faster and Boaz is going to get strong.
What was it like getting onto the Garden track for your first Wanamaker Mile? What were your impressions?
BL: That (2001) was my first trip to New York. I was getting overwhelmed by the city, more than even thinking about the race. So coming into the race, I didn't even know anything about it or the track, until when we were running, I felt "this one seems a little too slow, it's just too small." And that was the realization after the race; I didn't even know the distance (of the track). I don't know if somebody mentioned it, but it didn't even click in my head that it's going to 145 (meters). I thought it was like 160. The steep banks, those didn't affect me at all.
So I was in there, running and having a good time. And I think I remember running with Mark Carroll (of Ireland), he was one of them, and then Seneca Lassiter, he was in the race. And Seneca was a good friend of mine. We were running so hard. I don't remember much about it.... Coach told me (in 2003) "it's different." That's when I realized you have to run smarter. But I wasn't too smart the year before, because I lost to Laban Rotich. He just passed me toward the end. And it was hard to pass people back. That's what I always know when I come here. I have to be careful not to be in an awkward position. By that I mean, getting to the outside especially while everybody else is kicking, especially the last lap. You cannot catch anybody. You have to be careful. And what's my strategy - which I hope you guys are not going to write.
You had some problems in 2008, but only by your standards. You did win the Olympics Trials in the 1500 and 5000 and you were an Olympic finalist in the 5000. There were some people who wondered if you were going to come back to a high level again - which you obviously did at the World Championships in Berlin. How aware were you of the public perception, which is obviously not one that you shared, since you knew you had something left?
BL: That perception is really in track and field, especially as you get older. They always believe "this guy is going." And it is so sad, because I would talk to James (Li), and he would say that's the perception, when you got toward your 40s, people will always think when you have one bad year, it's like "oh, he's done." Because the history shows that. Even when they get to the 30s, in the distances and middle distances, they tend to go down and never come up. But for me, I knew that I'm better than that. I can actually feel like I'm so strong. I feel like I'm young again.
Even leading up to the Olympics (in 2008), people were asking me "is this going to be your last Olympics? What do you think your chances are?" People were telling me "it must be really hard because this is your third Olympics." But I told people "hey, look back, not too long ago, 2007, I was the (World) Champion in Osaka, nothing's going to change. I'm still feeling the same way." As a matter of fact, I knew how to prepare well now for the Olympics. But then unfortunately, I got the Achilles tendinitis problem on my left ankle, and that shattered everything. But I knew in my mind it was just the Achilles problem; it was not something that was going to stop me from running in Berlin (in 2009). As a matter of fact, I knew all I had to do was walk out again, try and get in Berlin and try to do the best, and I knew I could medal. You always have to walk out and be optimistic and know that you can do this. And I knew that I was going to work hard and be focused in my training. I knew that "you can do this once you put the work down."
Do you have a favorite among your Wanamaker Mile wins?
BL: Yes, 2005, when I ran the (meet) record, 3:52.87. That's when I talked to Howard Schmertz (the Millrose Games Director Emeritus). The night before, he was in hospitality, and I looked at the trophy for the best athlete of the meet (it's the Fred Schmertz Trophy, named for Howard's father). And I asked him "what does somehow have to do to get that, Howard?" And he says "all you have to do is just break the record (Coghlan's 3:53.0). Run fast." So if I broke the record, I would get that." He told me "yes." And I was so excited. Howard told me at the right time, when my shape was incredible. Of all the indoor races I've been in, that was the one where I felt I was in the best shape of my life.
Going into the race, I wasn't so sure if I could really get it (the record). Looking at the time, to run 3:52 was really hard, because it's the (Garden) track. Knowing it in your head puts some limitations in your preparation mentally. But then I went for it. I wasn't even sure I was on the record but then in the middle of the race, I knew it. we were just running so fast. And I think they were mentioning "he's on the record" and I thought "okay, let me keep going." I felt strong as well. So I got it, and I took home the trophy. So that was really the best one.
That race gave me confidence. That same year, James and I thought "do you think I can get that world (indoor) record, 3:48?" And James told me "hey, why not try it?" I said "let's go"... James talked to the people in Arkansas (at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville) and they said "okay, we can set it up for Lagat." And they really set it up for a world record pace. And I ran 3:49. So I missed it by a little bit. But it was a really good year, thanks to the motivation that I got from the Garden here.
How do you compare your fitness this year to 2005, when you set the Wanamaker Mile record?
BL: Similar. Before I came here, I was asking Coach Li the same question - "what do you think of me now," which I rarely ask him. I think he even said "whoa, why do you ask that," because I normally don't ask Coach Li, I wait for him to tell me "man, you're looking really good this time." Since he didn't say anything, I guess he didn't want me to feel "oh man, I'm the best right now." Coach Li sometimes goes slowly and watches what he says. So I asked him "hey coach, what do you think," and it was after the workout just a few days ago. And he told me "man, you know what? You're looking really good this year. Of all the years that you've run indoors, I think that you are well-prepared this time around." And because of the workouts I've been able to do, compared with the workouts that I even did three years ago, this is the fastest that I've run the 400 in the workouts at this time of the year. I was able to run 54, after doing 800s and another 400. Then the last 400 was in 54 and I felt really good. Then we did a time trial before I came over here of 600 meters, and I ran 1:20. So I've never run all those (times) in mid-January before. And I don't labor much. And that's why Coach Li is very pleased with it. He thinks the trick is maybe the workload, going to the miles and hills.
I really want it so bad. I just want to win this eighth one. And I'm glad Asbel is here and Andy Baddeley is here. They're going to make it go fast. I like running under pressure and when I look at those guys, they are not easy guys. They have beaten me before. So sometime you have not fear but uncertainty - "I might lose today, am I really going to run today?" That drives me crazy in the race, so I think I like that myself.
Since you're going to be focusing on the 5000 outdoors, how much does it mean to you that two other Americans have recently gone under 13:00?
BL: That is really beautiful. Let me start with the (American) recordholder. We have Dathan Ritzenhein and then we have Matt Tegenkamp. Those guys have run really, really well. I remember watching both races ... I saw Dathan run, and he looked so easy, really, really easy. If he tells you he was hurting, it's hard to understand to believe it. But of course he doesn't say that, because he looked so relaxed. And the way he did it made me feel "wow, this is good." These guys are raising the bar. I like the fact that I have two countrymen who have run faster than me.And that alone adds something in my ambitions of what I should do. So I'm so ambitious now. For this year, I want to run as fast as those guys if not faster.
Looking ahead to next weekend (Boston on February 6), what does all this training mean for a 5000 now?
BL: First of all, I've not run an indoor 5k. I've been preparing for the mile but at the same time training for the longer stuff. I think it's going to be a really good test. I'm going to be testing myself on really, is this working? And I think it's going to be working out .... When I go to Boston and do all those laps, I know it's not going to be as fast as the mile, but it's going to be steady and strong. I don't know how it's going to turn out, but the preparation is there.
The American indoor 5000 record is 13:18. Do you think there's a shot of getting it in Boston?
BL: I don't know. I haven't really thought about the record. I know it's 13:18. I'm just going to run. I really hate to say "hey, I'm going to run for a record" and then disappointment myself and my fans. But if the opportunity comes and it's fast enough, then hey, why not? I will try, to my best.
Are you going to try to go to World Indoors?
BL: Yes. After Birmingham (England, for a 1500) on February 20, I will come back and get ready for Albuquerque (the USA Indoor Championships) and run a 3000.
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