Interview with Chris Solinsky
by Ricky
Quintana
Entering
the final race on his
standout,
Chris Solinsky(Steven's Point, WI) had not suffered a
defeat to a
he
had not lost a cross country or track race since his sophomore year.
During
this year's streak, he had won the Footlocker National Cross Country
Championships,
the NIKE Indoor Championship two mile and the
Invitational
3200m in impressive fashion over some of the top athletes ever
to
run those events.
In his
final race of the
finished
third in the 800m final. Solinsky, looking for to win
three state
titles
in the 3200m, 1600m and 800m, fell just short when one, and then two
juniors
past him in the final straight away in the finals.
" Everything was going perfectly until the 800m," Solinsky
recalled in an
interview
on Sunday, the day after the state meet. ".. to lose
the last one
kind
of sucks."
The
versatile Solinsky also came up just short of the
1600m
record held by Gabe Jennings(Madison
East,
seem
to affect him as much.
"....
my goal was to get Gabe
Jennings record which was 4:04.97 and I hit
4:05.25
which was you know... I was right there."
For the
goal oriented Solinsky, that one loss may have soured
his state meet
a
bit. But from an outsiders point of view, his task was
made more
challenging with the four races over two days. His performance was
impressive
to say the least. Take a look:
On
Friday, Solinsky took the 800m preliminaries in
1:55.83 and then came
back
later to win the 3200m in 9:04.37. In the 1600m, his first race of the
day
and his third of the weekend, he missed his designated pace and came up
just
short with his 4:05.25. Then came the third place in the 800m in a time
of
1:55.38.
Already
having proven his ability in the 3200m by winning what high school
pundit,
Jack Shepard, called "the best
3200m ever," Solinsky has turned his
attention
to his final race of the season; the mile at the adidas
Outdoor
Championship this Saturday. The meet will be held over
two days, June 13
and
14th and features some of the nation’s best track and field athletes
He is
upbeat heading into this weekend's mile which will be contested on
Paul Derr Track on the
NC.
Lightly regarded as a miler, he intends to "make a point" and put
himself
among the "best milers" ever when all is said and done.
Sunday,
he spoke of his season, his state meet and this weekend's meet.
RQ: Can
you go over your state meet?
Solinsky:
It was successful up until my last until my last race[laughing].
It went
well. The 800m trials I came through the 600m in
down
with 150m to go. I felt really really comfortable. I
think if I would
have
kicked or something, I would have been in
down
because I had the whole weekend ahead of me yet. About an hour later I
did
the 3200m. I felt pretty comfortable, pretty easy during the whole
thing.
I had one of those little things where I had one person on each
shoulder
telling me to go after the record and one tell me to take it easy
so
that I could go for the mile record the next day. In the end, I ended up
taking
it pretty easy. I just kind of coasted it in at the end.
RQ:
What were your splits for the 3200m?
Solinsky:
I think it was
what
all of them were. I was just running and wasn't paying attention to all
the
splits. I think I ran
RQ:
What about your 800m?
Solinsky:
I believe I came through in
comfortable. I wasn't even fatiguing at all. I just felt smooth. I was in a
rhythm.
I know I could have gone at least
in
the last 50 meters. I had a lot more left in the end. It went smooth. It
was
really encouraging for my races on Saturday.
RQ: Can
you go over those races?
Solinsky:
The 1600m, my goal was to get Gabe Jennings record
which was
4:04.97
and I hit 4:05.25 which was you know... I was right there. I didn't
feel
too fatigued in that race. Just kind of towards the end some oxygen
debt
and that kind of stuff which had a little bit to do with the day
before.
But, I felt great. I still have to master hitting my splits in the
mile.
That's the hardest thing. Once I get to run with somebody, I'll really
nail
a good mile. I've never run... except last year at AOC where I was
tired
for, I've never really run a mile in competition. I'm looking forward
to
AOC where I can do that.
An hour
and a half later, was the 800m finals and just going into the race I
had
a negative feeling about it. I was seeded number one by about a second
or
so. After the first lap of 54 and right before we hit the finish line of
the
first lap, this kid flew right by me. And I was like "What the heck is
up
with this?" At first I thought we were going slow and then I heard the
split
and we were 54 so I really jumped on it and right around the 3/4 lap
mark
I really started to feeling it in my legs. They didn't have it. My arms
were
starting to get heavy and my legs were starting to get heavy. I thought
I had a
lead, but I guess he just tucked in behind me and once we hit the
straightaway, he just flew right by me and I had nothing left. I got nipped
right
at the line and ended up taking third.
RQ:
What does it feel like to lose?
Solinsky:
I don't like it. That's the biggest thing that's been troubling
me.
Losing my last high school race. I've gone two years
without losing a
race
in
of
sucks. It's not my distance. The 800m is not my distance so it's a little
bit
more understandable, but I went all senior year without losing to any
high
schooler and then to go and lose to two juniors, that
kind of sucks.
But
like I said, the 800m is not my distance so it's not concerning me too
much.
RQ: You
also ran the 1600m before. How much time did you have?
Solinsky:
I think about an hour and half. Planning for it, I thought it was
enough
time, but in the scheme of things, with the whole weekend and
everything,
it probably wasn't enough time. I probably could have done a
little
bit different in between. I probably should not have stood on my feet
too
long talking with people. I probably should have gotten into the dorms
and
everything and sat down and rested up a little bit.
RQ:
What were your splits for the mile?
Solinsky:
I was 59,
RQ: You
said that you were off. What kind of splits were you trying to hit?
Solinsky:
I wanted to be
quarters
and then hopefully, 4:03. I didn't hit what I wanted to but I PRed
by
two and half seconds. I was pretty happy with that. That's a pretty big
PR when
you're getting down to that level and running that fast especially
by
yourself. I was happy with it. Up until the 800, I was having the perfect
meet.
RQ: At
concentrate on the mile. Can you kind of go through those two weeks after
season?
Solinsky:
We just kind of assessed what I had accomplished already and we
figured,
since I already had the state record in the 3200m, that we should
really
gun for the 1600m. Along with that, I kind of proved that I was one
of
the guys to beat for the 3200m/2 mile, so I decided to step down and see
what
I could accomplish and get people in the mile and see just what type of
a
range I had.
RQ: You
did make an attempt at the two mile record. How did that go?
Solinsky:
Well, there was a restart which kind of played with my adrenaline.
It
always helps to have adrenaline at the beginning of the race. I got about
80
meters out and they shot the gun because somebody fell. So I had to come
back
for the restart. My legs didn't feel quite as good. I felt good through
the
mile. I hit
laps,
I started getting off pace a little bit so I started pressing a little
more
which I think in the long run made me tie up. Just towards the end of
the
race, I started to feel it and just kind of slowed down. I just didn't
really
have it that day.
RQ:
After doing so well in
Solinsky:
It was weird to call
to
go in there and run at least as fast as I did at
national
record, but you know, a
But
right away, I was really disappointed so.
RQ:
That was a race that was highly publicized. I guess you came out and
said
that you were going to go after the
record. Did that put more pressure
on
you?
Solinsky:
Yeah. I didn't expect it to be that big. I just told a few people
and
they kind of spread it around and then somehow the newspaper found out
which
spread around even more. I just told a few people I was going to take
a
shot at it and then all of the sudden, it became this big huge thing. I
got
a little out of control. It added quite a bit more pressure, but I still
went
into the race with the same drive that I had before anyone knew about
it.
RQ:
You've done an on line diary. How has that worked into your scheme?
You've
kind of put everything out there.
Solinsky:
It's not too bad. It's just going on there and telling how I feel
in
races. Just sharing a little about what I do in workouts. Nothing too out
of
the ordinary.
RQ:
After making that decision to go for the mile, did that really shift
your
training?
Solinsky:
My workouts haven't been geared towards the two mile. I'm doing
the
same stuff, but with shorter recovery to help me adjust. Instead of the
longer
ones, I've done shorter and faster stuff to really get me some speed.
I think
it's going to really work out well. I think it was a good decision
to
do the mile and take a shot at that.
RQ:
What is the best mile workout that you've done?
Solinsky:
I did a broken mile. It's actually 1800m. The best thing about it
is
that after a ten hour day work shift, I was on my feet all day and I felt
like
crap, then I went in and did the workout and it was 200, 600, 200, 400,
and
a 400m with 60 seconds rest in between. I was below 4 minute pace on
each
interval. I'm real happy with that.
RQ:
Talk about this work you've been doing. You've been out of school since
May 22.
Ten hour days?
Solinsky:
They range from like 6 to 9. That ten hour day I had to do a
little
extra. I've just been working every day. It kind of sucks.
It doesn't
effect
my training too much. I'm just a little more tired. So when I work
out,
I know if I were fresh, I really really would have nailed the workout.
I've
been doing well in workouts even with being tired so. It's encouraging
that
I can hit this stuff while working.
RQ:
Where do you work and what do you do?
Solinsky:
It's called Jay Mar. It's a feed mill kind of place in a way. It's
a
retail store. It's kind of hard to explain, but we sell fertilizer, bird
seed,
grass seed, everything you could pretty much imagine. What I do is I
stock
the store. I unload and load semis. Loading smaller variety, ten to
twelve
pound things. Kind of like a go-fer. Go for this go for that.
RQ:
That's some real manual labor.
Solinsky:
I always view it as a benefit. I don't see anything that would
effect
my running in a negative way.
RQ:
Going into the mile, this is another big publicized thing. I don't think
people
are regarding you as highly as they should, but that's my opinion.
You are
going up against milers. You are stepping down. What are you going
to
do for that race?
Solinsky:
I really don't know. I think I'm going to go in there and feel it
out
the first few laps. I know no one in the field will be able to run away
from
me, so I'm just going to try and just hold on the best I can and try to
put
a finish together and see how fast I can run.
I've
never run
know
that when I get in that race, I'm not going to let anyone run away from
me.
RQ: Do
you think you have a 58 second quarter to close with these guys?
Solinsky:
Um, I think if they do it, I'll be right there with them. Like I
said,
I'm not going to let anyone get away from me. If they make a move,
I'll be
right there with them.
RQ: How
do you feel being so lightly regarded?
Solinsky:
As a challenge. I'm looking to going in there as an underdog and
hope
that people die and see what I can do. You know, try and prove a point
in
there.
RQ:
What is the goal? A win or time?
Solinsky:
I'd like to PR definitely. I'd like to run under
mile.
those
are the bare minimums. I definitely want to go in there and give my
best
shot at the win. I think that I haven't been challenged in the mile yet
with
my competition. It's unproven that I can do it, but I know I can. I
know
I can run with these guys and post a win.
RQ:
This could be a tactical race. It's been somewhat tactical. Are you
willing
to go out and push the pace?
Solinsky:
Yeah, definitely. I feel I can run that fast by myself and if I
have
somebody there right behind me, I know I can run faster. If the pace is
lagging,
I'm not going to be afraid to get out.
RQ: So
time is really important for you too, not just the win.
Solinsky:
Yeah, I'd like to get a really good time. I'm not going all the
way
to
is
my only shot in high school. This is my last race in high school to run
fast
in the mile. I'm going to put it all on the line.
RQ: Are
you going to take a break from your job?
Solinsky:
Yes, I'm going to take off early this week and do some light
running
and just get ready to taper for this weekend.
RQ: At
Are you
going to have the same approach for this race?
Solinsky:
Yes, I'm heading out... I think I'll get there Thursday afternoon.
RQ: You
spoke before about last year hitting your peak maybe a little early
at
How
does this year look?
Solinsky:
I feel great. The week before state, I was a little bit tired
because
I had regionals and sectionals in both those meets. I
tripled in
those
and in conference. We were working hard in practice. The week before
state,
we took it fairly easy nothing to improve me peak wise. We trained
through
a little bit. Kind of a 30, 50 miles or so. I'm going
to be really
tapering
it down for this weekend. I'm going to feel great. My legs don't
feel
really too bad. They feel a little bit fatigued after this weekend, but
I think
it will get better. I feel energized still and ready to put on a
good
race. Last year, I was more ready to end my season. I'd like to go even
past
adidas, but I have a family commitment that's keeping
me out of junior
nationals.
RQ: One
race. That's going to be weird for you.
Solinsky:
Yeah, definitely, but that gives me a chance to put all my eggs in
one
basket and out it all out there. Just lay it all on the line.
RQ: Who
do you think are going to be your biggest challengers in the race?
Solinsky:
Ummmm, a lot of people. I don't even know for sure
who all is in
the
field, but I know Magness is going to be big
challenge, and Erik Stanley
will
be a big challenge, Sam Vazquez will be a big challenge. Let's see, I
know
there are more, but those are three names for sure that are going be
tough.
I don't really know who else is in the field.
RQ:
This is probably the best field ever assembled. The top 11 are all under
4:09.
Does that give you added motivation?
Solinsky:
Yes, definitely. I'd like to go out and like I said prove my
point.
I kind of proved my point at
prove
my point in the mile and see if I can be among the greatest milers
ever.