Brian Dalpiaz, Sayville, NY

Brian Dalpiaz, Senior, Sayville, NY, was on the top of the world last summer. He was in the best shape of his life and anticipated a record-breaking season.

But in the midst of some of his best training, Dalpiaz suffered a ruptured appendix. He was sidelined at the worst possible time; one month before the opening of the cross-country.

He contemplated bypassing the cross-country season with the hope that he could get back to full strength by the winter. But his team was “pretty good” and looking for a good season. He decided to run with two victories at NYSPHSAA state meet and Federation meet, he was able to “salvage” a season and help his team.

Still feeling the effects of the appendectomy, Dalpiaz decided to call it a season

and did not participate in the Footlocker Northeast Regional. The decision was an easy one, but he still hasn’t seen the race on TV nor does he care to.

After a few days off following the end of his cross country season, his coach,

Glenn Drago, “pounded’ him in the winter trying to make up for the base lost in the summer. Weights and speed training were also thrown in the mix to strengthen him for the long track season, which lay ahead.

Dalpiaz opened the indoor track season running early with the fastest mile and

personal best, 4:14.52 at the Hispanic Games on January 11 in the Armory. His time also set a new meet record in the process. The next week, he did even better at the Stanner Games. Running the two-mile this time, he ran alone to a national leading 9:01.92.

His decision to forgo the Regional Cross Country Championships seemed like a good one. He is set to run the New York Indoor Champs on March 8^th, but will “train through” that meet. What he will be focusing on is the two-mile at the Nike Indoor Championships the following week in Landover, MD. There, he will be facing one of the most competitive fields ever assembled for an indoor high race. Dalpiaz looks forward to the opportunity.

It’s been a long time since he has raced this type of competition and seems anxious to see where he stands, though he feels that the season is just not what it could have been after last summer’s appendectomy.

He spoke of his season, the upcoming NIC race and his plans for the outdoor season.

RQ: You have the fastest time in the country for the two-mile. How does that feel?
Dalpiaz: It feels great I guess. I think the fastest times have yet to be run though. Probably at nationals. So it doesn’t mean much now, but we’ll see how it holds up by the end of the season.

RQ: Towards the end of the season, if I’m not mistaken you decided not to run the northeast footlocker regionals.
Dalpiaz: Right, I didn’t.

RQ: Can you tell us why you chose not to run?
Dalpiaz: I won NY federation so that was nice, but then I felt as though it would be more beneficial to me if I just stopped my cross-country season right there on a good note and train for winter because I lost a huge base over the summer because I had an appendectomy. I knew that was the best I could do right there because I knew I wasn’t at the top of my game. I wouldn’t be able to compete at nationals the way I would hope to, so I decided to can that and train for the winter.

RQ: Did you watch that race?
Dalpiaz: No. I never saw it. I really don’t care to [laughing].

RQ: So it was a difficult decision for you?
Dalpiaz: Yes, it was a difficult decision. I mean, my body… what I did during cross-country, I don’t even know if it was smart. Coming back as quickly as I did. I’m glad I did. It really helped out my team. We had a pretty good team so we did well that way.
I got to salvage a bit of my season towards the end. I’m glad I got to states at Sunken Meadow, my home course. That was very nice. I’m glad I got the win at federations. That was nice. But really, there was no point to even running. In fact, I was considering for a while about not even running cross-country. So it was that difficult of a decision not to go to nationals. I knew I wasn’t in the shape that I needed to be in.

RQ: What did you do between footlocker and winter track?
DalPiaz: I really brought up my mileage. Actually, I took a few days really easy after my hard effort at Federations. After a couple of easy days, my coach pounded me for a couple of weeks. A lot more mileage. A lot more speed drills and weight room. Trying to get my body back in shape. I didn’t really do any speed work or intervals or anything of that sort for weeks at a time. It took me about a month of getting in some sort of base before my coach had me doing some sort of speed work. But really the whole thing was getting in kid of the base that I had missed over the summer. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was a substitute for it I guess.

RQ: Do you feel that you are back to where you should be?
DalPiaz: I feel like, there is no way I could be back to where I could’ve been. I was… during the summer, my training was going really really well. I was in the best shape of my life easily over the summer. And then at the height of my training, my appendix burst and that was that. I really lost like… I mean I don’t think this whole year is going to the same as it could have been. But I feel like the decision I made, not to go to nationals, was the right one. It was certainly beneficial for the rest of my year. I certainly couldn’t go to nationals and try to bounce back and have it be winter season. It wouldn’t have happened.
I’m glad I did what I did and I think it’s the best.

RQ: Can you go through the 9:01 that you ran?
Dalpiaz: I as hoping to break 9. That was the goal. So I was trying to run straight 67’s the whole way. In the Armory, there’s a clock right there so I was checking my splits. The meet director was yelling splits and everything and I kept on hearing 68’s. So, of course, I ran out front the entire time. So I was trying to.. it was really a mental battle trying to run out front like that and pick it up on your splits like that so it was tough.
I was way off my times until my last quarter. I think I ran 63 or something like that. That really salvaged the race. The fact that I was really able to kick it in.

RQ: Leading into the race, you had really run a fast mile, correct?
Dalpiaz: Yeah. The week before I ran a 4:14.5 at the Hispanic Games.

RQ: These times are PR’s across the board, correct?
Delpiaz: Well, for indoors yes, but not for outdoors.

RQ: How do you feel about those times?
Dalpiaz: I’m very happy. At the time, when I ran those times, I was content with them. Certainly the 9:01, I’m content with because during my cross-country season, it really hurt not to be able to touch the times that I ran last season. I had no hope of PRing no matter how hard I tried too or no matter how good conditions were in cross country. That was really frustrating for me. It was nice to finally PR and better my times even if it is just indoors. It felt really good to do that.
Looking back on it now, I think I could have run a faster mile. I’m sure I could have run. The two-mile, I’m still pretty happy with. A 4:14 mile, I’m a little better than that.

RQ: In the next few weeks, how will you train leading into NIC?
Dalpiaz: Well, I’ve got states in about two weeks about. I’m not going to really taper for that. I’m not going to alter my training. I’m just going to run straight through it pretty much. I believe nationals is maybe ten days or a week after that.
So I’m just going to train straight through. Work on a lot of tempo runs and do a lot of long intervals instead of speed work. For the first half of the season, I’ve been training pretty much for the mile until the Millrose Games. Since the Millrose Games, I’ve been trying to work my two-mile speed. That’s what I’ll be doing.

RQ: At the Millrose Games, Debole got you there.
Dalpiaz: Yeah he did.

RQ: What did you think about that race?
Dalpiaz: For me, the Millrose Games is more fun that anything else because the track is so awkward, you can’t really compare times. It’s a school night. Not exactly the best racing situation. For me, it’s just a fun experience. It’s really awesome being there in Madison Square Garden. I had a ton of family come out and see me. It was a lot of fun. I don’t want to say that it wasn’t a serious race because it obviously was a serious race, but my performance, I was not as concerned with there as I would be otherwise on a track where I can judge my time.
By losing to Debole, though, I’m not upset about that because I’ll be running with Debole next year or one and obviously he’s probably got has definitely more raw speed than I do. I’ve got no shame in losing to him. It was a good race, I guess.

RQ: What has your winter training been like?
Dalpiaz: Up to Millrose, for my speed work, it’s been 200 up to 400 meter sets. Fast with quite a bit of rest. Trying to get my raw speed down and my form. After Millrose, it’s been longer intervals. Slower, less rest. Trying to get myself in shape for the two mile.

RQ: What kind of race do you expect at NIC’s?
Dalpiaz: I really don’t know. It’s been quite a while since I’ve run a two-mile. It’s been quite a while since I really seriously raced. It’s been even longer since I race the kind of people I’ll be racing at NIKE indoor, with Solinsky and such. I promise I’ll bring my best. I don’t know what it will be. Hopefully, it will be… I’m sure it will be sub 9, but hopefully better than that.

RQ: What about outdoors? Do you plan to attend Arcadia?
Dalpiaz: I’m planning on Arcadia.

RQ: What kind of goal times are you looking at?
Delpiaz: Outdoors, I couldn’t even tell you. I have no idea.

RQ: Based on what you’ve run indoors, do you have a ballpark figure?
Dalpiaz: I don’t know because, one of the reasons, last year, the times at Arcadia where so outrageous. They were 5-7 seconds faster there than anyone ran any other meet of the year. It seems to be a very special track and a very special place. So I don’t know. I would expect to run fast there, but at this point, I don’t know what fast is anymore. It’s pretty hard to tell where my body’s at and how far along I am.

RQ: When do you expect to get back where you were during the summer?
Dalpiaz: I think probably this summer will be the first time I can. I need to just train without any interference of racing or any sort of interference. I just need to train for maybe six to eight weeks before I mentally feel like I’m as physically fit as I can be.

RQ: How’s the outlook for Georgetown?
Dalpiaz: I think pretty darn good. Fleet Howard just qualified, I believe for World Junior XC Champs so that’s awesome He’ll be back as a sophomore next year. Chris Lukecik will be a sophomore and of course, Debole and I will be there. We can come up together. It will be great to train with those guys.
I think Franklyn Sanchez, who’s been injured as of late… I think he’s making a come back and getting healthy again. When he’s healthy, he’s pretty unbeatable. It looks good for next year and the next couple of years really.

RQ: Georgetown is considered a middle distance program. They have had some 5k’ers and stuff. What was the reason for choosing it?
Dalpiaz: I feel like Georgetown has depth at all distances. That’s the reason I chose it. They have pretty legitimate sprinters and certainly they have an incredible middle distance program. That’s well established. Their cross-country team is not too shabby either. All the way down the line, I’ll have someone to train with. If I’m going to be doing a really intense speed work out, I’m always going to have someone to run with no matter how fast I’m going. That’s part of the reason I chose Georgetown was because of the depth.

RQ: What are the best tactics for you in a race with tough competition?
Dalpiaz: Ideally, I’d like someone to take it out at my goal pace and have me just sit on them. That’s everybody’s favorite race conditions, but that almost never happens. Ideally, I’d like to have someone take it out for me and with 600 to go in let’s say a two-mile, take over and really charge it in. I guess that’s my ideal race.

RQ: Do you have confidence in your kick?
Dalpiaz: I have a lot of confidence in my kick, especially in a two-mile. I’m a lot stronger than most people are I think. And I think, I’ve really been working on my mile speed. Not only this winter, but also last year. I feel like I have legitimate mile speed so that really really helps me at the end of a two-mile.

RQ: You said that you really don’t have the raw speed of a Matt Debole. What kind of speed do you have?
Delpiaz: My PR in the 800, not that I’ve run a really competitive 800, is like 2:02.I’m going to guess that I can run 1:52 or something.
My PR in the quarter is 56. That’s horrible, you know. I don’t have that kind of speed I don’t have like, “knock you socks off” speed, but I can sustain what speed I have over a good distance, which is more important in a two mile. I feel like that’s my event.

RQ: The two-mile is going to be your event in the outdoor season?
Delpiaz: Definitely.