Interview: Steve Slattery

By Scott Douglas

On March 27 in New York City's Central Park, Steve Slattery will make his second appearance at the USA Men's 8K Championships. At last year's championships, his first race as a professional runner, Slattery placed 13th in 23:11. From there, he went on to win the 3,000m steeplechase national title in June, and set a steeplechase PR of 8:22.32 in his qualifying heat at August's World Championships.

The 23-year-old Slattery is a 2002 graduate of the University of Colorado. He and his wife, Sara (nee Gorton), live in Boulder, Colo., where Sara is finishing her degree at the University of Colorado. Slattery graduated from Mt. Olive High School, in Flanders, New Jersey, about an hour's drive from the USA Men's 8K Championships course.

MR: As someone who's pretty much purely a track guy, why this road race at this point?
SS: To be honest with you, it's not like I'm training to run an 8K road race. I just really enjoy running that race. I grew up in New Jersey, so it gives me a chance to run in front of my family. It's also a way for me to ease back into racing before track season. And for me, it's not like there are huge expectations, so it's just a chance to be competitive, to get in a good hard race against some good competition.

MR: Is that what you got out of it last year?
SS: Yeah. I was hoping to run around 23:00. I think I ran a little over that; I was happy with it. I wasn't very sharp at that point of the year, so an 8K was a good distance. It kinda set the tone for the rest of the year — I did that 8K, then a 5K, then I started steeples and other shorter track races. It will be good for me to compare how I do this year to last year, and to break out some of the rust.

MR: This year, with the Trials in July and the Olympics late, is your training at a different point than at this time last year?
SS: I've changed my training a lot this year. It will be interesting to compare. The season is later this year, so I don't need to be as sharp as at this time last year. But still, I think I'm in better shape than this time last year.

MR: How are you defining 'changed a lot?'
SS: This year, my coach, Brad Hudson, overhauled my training a lot. Last year I was sick with mono in the winter, so I just did what I did in the past, in college, because I needed to get in shape fast for outdoor nationals.

MR: So what has changed?
SS: I'm running twice a day versus once a day last year. Brad has me doing workouts specific to running a fast steeple.

MR: When was your last race?
SS: My last track race was September 5, in Brussels. I ran cross country nationals last month.

MR: Really? I don't recall seeing you in the results.
SS: For some reason, I was left out of the results. I never got a place, but I was somewhere in the 20s. I had a little trouble in the snow there, and to be honest, I wasn't real happy with how I ran there. Sara and I got married on January 5, then we went on our honeymoon. I was in good shape, but I had a lot of distractions right around then, a lot of other stuff going on in my life. And then we had some bad weather in Boulder. I wasn't mentally prepared to race well, but I wanted to run cross country because I hadn't in a while.

MR: Why weren't you in the results?
SS: I guess my chip didn't register at the finish line. I wasn't happy with how I ran so I didn't really complain about it.

MR: Why did you switch to being coached by Brad Hudson?
SS: Brad and I have been friends for a long time. I believe in his training theories. And we get along really well. No matter where my career takes me…he's always trying new things, not settled in old ways. I wanted a coach who's always willing to do new things. I believe you have to continually change things in an effort to improve, and I felt he was the best person to take me there.

MR: Do you have regular training partners there in Boulder?
SS: I run mostly by myself. I have so many people I can call if I want to run with someone, but I do the majority of my training on my own. Maybe I'll run with others once or twice a week.

MR: You do track stuff by yourself?
SS: Yeah, pretty much. If someone is doing something similar, I'll do it with them. I do what I have to do, and if that means I have to do it by myself, then I'll do it by myself.

MR: So you really could live anywhere. Do you see yourself staying in Boulder long-term?
SS: I think Boulder is a good place to train. In the future, I'd like to increase the amount of time I spend at sea level to do more quality track workouts. Right now I sometimes go to Phoenix to train. When Sara finishes with her eligibility [in a year], we'll make a decision then.

MR: Did you run with Bob Kennedy when he was there in Boulder in January?
SS: Yeah, we did a few runs together. We also ran together last summer in England. We have the same agent, so we stayed together there, and ran together a lot. It was a shared apartment, there's a bunch of people, but me and Bob and Trinity Gray were the only Americans, so we ran together quite often.

MR: Did you pick his brain?
SS: It was hard…not hard, but interesting running with him. I'd never really met him. When I was in high school, that was the Atlanta Olympics, he was at his peak. To get a chance to become friends with him was great. I really learned a lot from him. He's another resource I can draw on, and that's really helped.

MR: What did you learn?
SS: Different stuff. What helped him make it on the international scene. I got a different perspective from him. Most of the good runners I've known, Adam Goucher and Alan Culpepper, kinda had the same background as me.

MR: So was it specific things Kennedy said, or more generally observing his approach?
SS: A lot of the stuff he told me Brad and I already planned to do. Overall, it was just learning a different perspective on how he trains. At Colorado, we all trained the same in college, Goucher and me and Culpepper. Bob trained differently. Like we all ran the old Lydiard system. Bob has a more modern system, with the double runs and other things.

MR: I was going to ask what someone who runs only once a day does all day.
SS: Yeah, now I run in the morning and afternoon. During the day I'll maybe hang out with different runners. Alan Webb is here staying with us this week, so we're just hanging out, doing normal stuff. Sara is at school during the day, and then we'll hang out at night. Running twice a day has cut into a lot of my free time.

MR: After the 8K in New York, what races do you have planned?
SS: Not anything set in stone yet. By late April, early May I'll get my track season started, and then be racing on a regular basis. Hopefully there will be some good steeples before the Trials. I'm not sure if I'll have to go to Europe to get a good steeple before the Trials. I'll just have to see what's getting organized, see what my options are, and decide what's best. Racing really helps you — I improve a lot as I'm racing. I'm going to need to race quite a bit before the Trials to get sharp so I can make the team. So I'll run this 8K, then another three or four weeks, and then start racing on the track.

MR: Other than for the 8K, do you get back to New Jersey much?
SS: In the off-season, yeah. I really like the East Coast, and visiting my parents. But when I'm training, no, I stay here. I like to be focused.

(Interview conducted March 9, 2004, and posted March 12, 2004.)