2005 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Interview with Ian Dobson

Reported by Parker Morse

As part of the two Stanford teams which dominated the 2002 and 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Ian Dobson knows what it feels like to be one of the best. But it wasn't until he won the 2005 NCAA Indoor 5,000m, in his last season of indoor track, that Dobson was simply the best.

As a senior at Klamath Union High School in Oregon, Dobson was the third-place finisher at the 1999 Foot Locker nationals; he finished seventh as a junior in 1998. At Stanford, Dobson has earned nine All-American certificates, set a school record in the 3,000m steeplechase, run Stanford's second-fastest 10,000m, and won the 2003 PAC-10 cross country title. He has one season of eligibility (outdoor track) remaining. In February, Dobson qualified to represent the U.S. at the World Cross Country Championships by finishing sixth in the 12K at the USA Cross Country Championships. He also competed at World Cross in 2001 as a junior, after he finished third behind Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegenkamp at the USA Championships.

On the last time he'd raced:
I ran a 5,000m at the Mountain Pacific meet [Dobson won in 13:45] but before that, the last time I'd raced was at the end of July, at the NACAC Championships. That was a joke, really, so the Trials was probably the last time I raced.

On what he did instead of running the cross country season:
[Getting a long base period] was the plan, but I got injured in the fall, and had to take about five weeks off. So I just started out from zero at the beginning of December. So I didn't get the base in that I wanted in the fall. I'm really happy with this, based on that. I get pretty good aerobic fitness, I get a high threshold pretty quickly, so I can run a race like that, where it's not fast. The 12K (cross country) was basically threshold stuff. That's all I've done so far.

On this being his first win in a long time:
It feels awesome. Somebody like me, who was pretty good in high school, but not a superstar, it's just been a long time since I've won anything of consequence. I've had a lot of success with the team. I just imagined myself, so many times, coming across the line in first, and it just hasn't happened. It feels so good.

On looking at the indoor season:
World Cross was the focus. I really wanted to make that team. Last year I ran well indoors, and if Alistair [Cragg] hadn't been here... well, I was second last year, and he beat me. He was out of my league. Last year I think I raced too much indoors, and raced over my capacity indoors, and paid for it outdoors. This year I tried to do the right training and then whatever racing I got out of it was a bonus. I think I've done a good job of that. I haven't done any VO2 Max training. It's all been threshold, threshold, threshed. I think that will set me up for outdoors much better.

On his race strategy coming into the NCAA 5,000:
I didn't have a strategy. I think I've developed a pretty good sense of how to race. I didn't want to do the work, I knew that. And I didn't think I'd have to, because there are guys who've run significantly faster than me. I figured the Colorado guy [Brent Vaughn] would want to run hard, because I figure those guys don't have much of a kick. I didn't have much of a strategy. I'm surprised to beat [Robert] Cheseret, actually. I thought he was going to blow by me there at the end. I was just trying to get to the finish.

On the many lead changes in the last mile:
And I didn't take it once! There was so much jostling, a lot of stepping on heels and clipping around. Somehow I managed to stay out of it. I think I was doing a lot more clipping than getting clipped, but that's how it goes.

On the pace early in the race:
I ran 13:45 in flats, by myself, a couple weeks ago. That pace didn't feel hard. I think I could have closed in whatever I closed in off of 13:30 pace, too. I just don't have that high of a top-end speed. If it was hard for the other guys, that's the only reason I won.

On the spring plan after World Cross:
I'm planning on running a 5,000m at Mt. SAC, and then a 10,000m at [the Cardinal Invitational] at the end of April. I really wanted the [Olympic] standard last year, but I got in the race and just wasn't in good enough shape. I went out in 8:50, and I knew it wasn't going to happen. This year, I don't know if I want to go out in 8:50, but I would prefer to negative split it.

On his preparation for the World Cross Country Championships:
I'm in a lot better shape now than I was at the [US Nationals]. Dathan [Ritzenhein] is in another league, but I'd like to have him in sight. I'd like to be the second American. Really, I'd like... I don't know if top-20 is out of my range or not, but that's what I'd like to run for. Top 20 or 25. I'd be happy with that. I ran the junior race in Belgium when Dathan and [Matt] Tegenkamp did really well. They've got logs and stuff on the course. It's going to be tough. It's flat, but with a bunch of real steep little pitches. Steep up, flat, then down.

On his long-term plans after Stanford:
I don't know. I really like to train at altitude, and I haven't done a lot of that. I grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon, which is like 2,500 feet. Besides our three-week pre-season training camp at Mammoth, that's pretty much all the altitude training I've done. I really like it, and being a strength guy, it would really help me. I'd like to relocate somewhere I could train at altitude. As far as groups and coaching, I'm really looking. I don't know.

On going to World Cross with a win:
I was thinking to myself, that if I can do well here, then go there and do well, that would say something for the rest of the year. So, I've got it halfway done. I really, really want to do the other half.

(Interview conducted March 11, 2005, and posted March 18, 2005)