Interview: Pete Pfitzinger

by Kevin Beck

Pete Pfitzinger, a native of Pittsford, New York, and a graduate of Cornell University, represented the U.S. in two Olympic marathons, placing 11th in Los Angeles in 1984 and 14th in Seoul in 1988 and winding up the top American in each.

At the end his competitive career, Pfitzinger earned a masters degree in exercise physiology and has since become even better known, perhaps, for his work as an author, physiologist, and coach than for the running that preceded it. With Scott Douglas, Pfitzinger has co-authored two popular training books — Road Racing for Serious Runners and Advanced Marathoning. With one-time 13:33 5,000-meter runner Greg Lautenslager, he operates DistanceCoach.com, a coaching and training information resource. Since 1997 he has lived in New Zealand with his wife Chrissey, a 1988 New Zealand Olympian at 3,000 meters, and their two daughters, Annika and Katrina.

MensRacing.com: You've lived in New Zealand with your family for seven years now. What keeps you busy?
Pete Pfitzinger: A combination of work, family and running-related projects. In my first three years in New Zealand, I worked as an exercise physiologist, testing athletes at the University of Auckland. In 2000, I was appointed Performance Services Manager for the New Zealand Academy of Sport North, and will become CEO in December. We provide sport science and sports medicine services to 500 elite and developing athletes in 21 sports. The concept is similar to the US Olympic Training Centers or the Australian Institute of Sport, but the funding is not at quite the same level. As a country of four million people, New Zealand 'fights above its weight' and I have learned an incredible amount about the challenges common to all sports in succeeding at the elite level. In addition, I have been writing for Running Times for 10 years, and still love coaching. I am also in the process of setting up a company to distribute LOCO running shoes in New Zealand, and am helping Chrissey with her personal training business. So life is full!

MR: You've arguably been as successful in an advisory capacity as you were as an athlete, co-authoring two of the most popular training books for distance runners of all time. In terms of publishing, do you have anything in the pipeline?
PP: Advanced Marathoning is still gaining momentum, which is great. I do not have any books in the pipeline, but Chrissey and I are just finishing Total Body Conditioning for Women Runners, which is an interactive exercise CD containing 31 conditioning programs including core strength exercises, running technique drills, flexibility exercises and general strength exercises. The CD will be available through Running Times and my Web site.

MR: It's now been 20 years since you ran in your first Olympics. Is there one race in your career that stands out in your mind more than any other?
PP: Definitely the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trials. Back then, the US had some of the best marathoners in the world, with Alberto Salazar, Greg Meyer, Dick Beardsley, Bill Rodgers, Ron Tabb, Benji Durden, Garry Bjorklund, Bob Hodge, etc., and 202 guys qualified for the Trials by running under 2:19:04. I had the 13th-best American time in '83 with a 2:12:19, so I was a long shot to make the Olympic team. I was working as assistant product manager at New Balance back then, and Jim Davis gave me a leave of absence in November to go to New Zealand to train for the Trials. I upped my mileage to 140 per week and lived the life of a full-time runner.

In the Trials, there were 12 of us together at halfway, and I figured my chances of making the team would be better if the pace was faster. I picked it up, and because everyone was keying off of Alberto and Greg, no one went with me. By 21 miles I had a 30-second lead, but then John Tuttle and Alberto started reeling me in, and caught me at 25. I never looked back and hung on to Alberto and John for dear life so as not to become a footnote that said, 'Pfitzinger led from 13 to 25 miles only to get passed by the pack and finish ninth.' With 600 meters to go, John looked back and then eased up slightly, and I passed him, which felt great. Then I looked up ahead and saw that Alberto wasn't pulling away anymore. Tom Ratcliffe will verify that he and I had practiced sprinting at the end of a hard 25-mile training run, and rather than that being the difference between third and fourth, it helped me pass Alberto and win the race.

MR: You cemented your world class credentials with that amazing effort. How did you fend off an emotional letdown heading into the Games themselves?
PP: We only had 11 weeks between the Trials and the Olympic marathon, so there wasn't time for an emotional letdown! With the Games on home soil, there was a lot of media interest and I did over 75 interviews in the first three weeks after the Trials. Then I slipped away to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to train in peace.

MR: Was your preparation for the '88 Games markedly different from your preparation for L.A.?
PP: Not particularly, except by then I was doing more tempo runs and fewer intervals on the track, which helped prepare me more specifically for the marathon with less risk of injury.

MR: Do you feel you were just as hungry for Seoul as you were in '84? You produced an equally solid result.
PP: I was definitely just as hungry for Seoul as for LA, and was much more experienced. Unfortunately, injuries were starting to hold me back by '88, and Seoul was actually my last marathon.

MR: You never broke 14:00 for 5,000 meters, yet ran 2:11:43 for the marathon. This 'skew' seems characteristic of many American marathoners of your day. Why do you see as the reason for this?
PP: There were quite a few guys back then who were so focused on the marathon that they never reached their full potential in the shorter distances — the classic was Dick Beardsley — but there were also guys like Alberto Salazar, Greg Meyer, Tony Sandoval, and Gary Bjorklund who ran under 28 minutes for 10K.

MR: If your marathoning career could be characterized in one word, it would be "consistency." To what factors do you most strongly attribute your uncanny ability to deliver?
PP: I loved the challenge of preparing for the marathon. In most years, my running was built around two marathons and I focused my mental energy on being as well-prepared as possible. I gained a lot of confidence from doing regular long runs at a fairly hard pace and really had no fear of the distance, and also instinctively knew how to adjust my taper so as to be well-rested on race day.

MR: Here's the obligatory question for every former great. Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your training?
PP: There are quite a few things that I would do differently! For one thing, I would have tried altitude training, and am sorry to have let that opportunity slip away. I would have taken it easy when an injury or illness was coming on and saved much grief with major injuries and bronchitis. And I would have backed off the long runs in 1985, when I ran myself into the ground with too many runs of 26 to 31 miles trying to out-do my training from 1984. I probably should have had less beer in college too...

MR: Throughout your running career, who were and are your chief sources of knowledge and inspiration?
PP: I will try to answer this one, but am worried about missing someone important! Back when I started running in 1972, my biggest inspiration was Frank Shorter, and he is still an inspiration. I was lucky to have excellent coaches in high school and college in Tom Cole and Jack Warner, and I still keep in touch with both of them. New Zealand Olympic marathoner Kevin Ryan trained with me and coached me in '83 and '84, and helped give me the attitude of a hardened marathoner. Jack Daniels, was, and continues to be, a wonderful mentor, and Arch Jelley (John Walker's and Chrissey's coach) provided much wisdom and support over the years. I was also fortunate to learn from other runners who were happy to share their training methods such as Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer, Joan Benoit, Dick Quax, John Treacy, Dick Beardsley, Bob Hodge, Jack Fultz, and others.

MR: What's your running like these days?
PP: My body is like a car in need of a front-end alignment — it's fine as long as I do not try to go too far or too fast. I usually run five times per week, with a longest run of an hour. What used to be a recovery run is now my long run! Beginning in the last few years I've also done some kayaking in the summer, which has a similar rhythm to running and is nice to do with the kids.

MR: You've explored crosstraining as a means of both facilitating recovery from hard training and keeping fit during periods of injury. Though the word didn't exist then, did you do any 'crosstraining' during your prime?
PP: Predictably, I only crosstrained when running injuries made it necessary. I did a lot of deep-water running and some cycling when injured, but didn't have the discipline to keep it up once I got back on the road. Ever since high school, I also did some weight training, but wasn't very scientific about it. Looking back, I realize now that my core conditioning got worse and worse during the 80s and that is partly why I became more injury-prone. But I didn't understand that back then.

MR: Meb Keflezighi's silver medal in Athens notwithstanding, much has been made of both the relative and absolute decline of American marathoners since the late 70s and early 80s, with the number of 2:12 to 2:20 types falling off drastically. In your view, can this be chalked up to a simple explanation or two?
PP: Meb's silver medal and Deena's bronze medal are the best thing to happen to US distance running in 20 years! The bubble of American guys running sub-2:20 peaked in 1983 and was already dwindling by 1992. Looking at the men's side, to rekindle the depth of American marathoners, there need to be clear development pathways for guys who run sub-9:40 for 3,200 meters in high school to become sub-30:30 10K guys in college and then have reasonable options to continue beyond college in a supportive environment. It requires the availability of coaches who understand the marathon and reasonably-priced medical support. If USA Track & Field can help provide that environment, there will be no shortage of guys — and women — who are willing to put their heart and soul into their marathoning careers.

MR: Based on what you know of contemporary US running, would you liken the informal group training situation you enjoyed with the Greater Boston Track Club in the early 1980s to the Hansons' group in Michigan or any others?
PP: Anytime you can get at least four runners of similar ability together, there are going to be huge benefits for the whole group. Back in the early 80's there were over 50 guys living around Boston — we counted them once — who ran under 30 minutes for 10K, and almost anyone was open to training with anyone else. When I first moved from Ithaca to Boston and joined GBTC, I was a lowly apprentice to Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer, Bob Hodge, Randy Thomas, and others. When the top guys switched from GBTC to shoe company teams, it didn't interfere with the training groups. Although most of us New Balance guys trained together most of the time, we were always happy to have anyone join in — in fact, that helped keep training interesting. From what I hear, a similar atmosphere still exists in Boulder, Eugene and Portland, Philadelphia, Providence, Michigan, etc., with a healthy mix of American and overseas athletes training together.

MR: How much coaching are you doing these days?
PP: I coach 11 runners and one triathlete. Seven of the runners are Americans whom I coach by e-mail, and the others are from New Zealand. In the past year, the largest improvements have been with Debbie Tanner, who was fifth in the World Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships Elite Under-23 Division, and Sarah Morgan, who ran 9:46 for 3,000 meters as a 16-year-old. Sarah has won eight New Zealand titles and recently won the Australian Under-20 Cross Country Championships as well.

MR: You've been coaching marathoners over the Internet for about a year and a half now. Has this experience reflected your expectations?
PP: It seems to be an effective way to work with adult runners, as long as they are conscientious about providing regular feedback on their training. I currently have seven 'clients' and they are all great to work with, but I cannot take on anyone else without compromising the quality. Greg Lautenslager joined me as co-coach a few months ago and is taking on new athletes.

MR: Not that I'd know first-hand, but New Zealand looks like a frighteningly beautiful place. What do you miss most about living stateside?
PP: Definitely the old training group & Tom and Bobby Ratcliffe, Ron and Pat Gillooley, Ken Halla, Bruce Bickford, Joe Arthur, etc... and Bertucci's pizzas.

MR: Your daughters have quite the athletic pedigree. Do you expect them to follow in their parents' running footsteps?
PP: It is obviously up to them. At 12, Annika is testing for her black belt in combined martial arts and seems to really enjoy kids' triathlons and running. At 6, Katrina is into everything, and would probably rather be a princess than a runner.

(Interview conducted September 19, 2004, and posted September 21, 2004.)