Oregon's freshman phenom, Jordan Hasay, has one NCAA cross country season under her belt. She recently finished 18th overall for an All-American finish, running 20 minutes, 23.1 seconds over the 6,000-meter Terre Haute championship course. With outdoor track—Hasay's bread and butter—rapidly approaching and maybe a new NCAA rivalry in the works, 2010 shapes up to be a great season for track and field and for the Oregon Duck prodigy!

Did you get your long run in today?

Actually that was yesterday. Today I was in the pool.

Are you slightly injured or is it something you usually do?

No, I do a lot of swimming as cross-training.

Do you get a day off from running completely?

I do a shake-out for like 20 minutes...which is like a day off for me.

How has your break been going, did you have a good Christmas?

It's been going really well. It's been nice just hanging out with my family and friends and catching up with everyone and relaxing.

Did you pull any sweet presents? What's the best present you got?

I just got a lot running stuff and warm hats for Oregon. I got the Nike Plus kit for the Ipod. That's kind of cool. I hooked it up with my Ipod and it tells me the mileage and stuff and my pace, which is pretty neat.

Some runners that I speak to are completely anti-MP3 player. You're not against them?

I used to be, but I just started trying it over break because I was so used to running with the girls and other people. I got used to having someone to talk to when I was running. A lot of the other girls would run with their Ipods when they ran and I just tried it out. Some days I go without it, but it's nice on some days...like long runs when I'm by myself and I can have some music.

How far is your long run?

My long is usually about 80 minutes. We normally do that on Saturdays unless we have a really hard workout on Friday, then we'll do it on Sunday. Either Saturday or Sunday, I'll have a really light run—either 20 or 30 minutes—and then I'll do a longer swim...like 90 minutes. Typically I'll do about four hours of swimming a week, split up into four days. Swimming is definitely a huge part of my training.

That seems like an awfully lot of time in the water. Do you get any other benefits from swimming?

I think it just helps aerobically. It builds your aerobic base without the pounding of all the miles. It's something I always did. I was on the swim team before I started running. I just kept it up in high school and once I got to college they thought it was great to keep it going. It's worked so far.

Is a 90-minute stint in the pool as hard as a long run on the roads or trails?

No, it's not. If you're not used to swimming then it can be pretty tiring. But if you do, then it's more easy swimming and not too taxing on the legs. It's more of an aerobic workout.

You're two-thirds a tri-athlete! Have you ever been on a bicycle?

Not too much! I'm not really that good on the bike and that would be my worst if I was going to do a triathlon.

Not something that's going to happen any time soon?

Maybe in the future I would do triathlons for fun.

How much did your training change from high school to jumping on at Oregon's program?

For cross country we tried to not do too much of a drastic change, just because it would already be a transition just being in a new environment and having people on the team. My mileage was pretty much the same. I was in the 60s in the fall and I guess the main thing that changed was the workouts were harder and much more volumed than I was used to. At the same time, it was much more beneficial having people to do the workouts with and to train with. Mentally it was less exhausting and I was able to recover better from some of the workouts that may have looked hard on paper. When I was able to have help from my teammates it was really beneficial.

Now that you have one NCAA season under your belt, are you feeling less pressure?

Yes and no. Track is what we've talked about focusing on—specifically outdoor track is going to be what I've wanted to focus on...even through cross country. Indoor track is less pressure than cross country, kind of the least important of the three seasons. I've never really done indoor track, so it will be a fun experience.

What will your focus be when outdoor comes? Will you stick with the 15 and some fives or will you move up in distance?

I think I'll mostly focus on the 15. I'd like to run that event, hopefully at world juniors. I'll definitely try a couple of 5Ks. That sounds really exciting to try a couple of 5Ks on the track and hopefully run a fast time.

Are you still eyeing world and American junior records?

Yeah, definitely. It's my last year as a junior. I have some time goals and if I reach those, then hopefully there will be some records.

Back to indoor track. Do you have any specific goals laid out or, as you said, is it going to be more fun?

There aren't really too many goals. It's more like getting used to racing and getting used to running in a pack. I'm still not really used to that. In cross country I had to get used to that. But track is going to be even more different because everyone is going to be trying to get into an even tighter space. I think indoor will really prepare me for outdoor.

With how popular you are on internet message boards, what's your feeling on them? Do you check them out or avoid them completely?

It's something that I've had to get used to ever since I started running. Ever since I was really young it's been something that has always been a part of the running. I get on there and read them sometimes. My dad reads them a lot and sometimes he sends me the funny ones. At the same time, sometimes you have to ignore what some people say. Sometimes I can get on there and get pretty mad and frustrated. Other times it can be kind of funny. It just depends. But I do read a lot of them.

Who are some runners that you look up to?

My favorite professional runner is Deena Kastor. I really look up to her. Not because she's just a great runner, but because her attitude is great and I think she's done a lot of great things for the sport and has represented the sport well. I also look up to Jenny Barringer. It was cool to be able to race her a couple of times this year. It's going to be fun to watch her future I think.

I don't know if you know, but we put up a video on Christmas saying, “I'm going to be interviewing Jordan Hasay and what kind of questions do you want me to ask her?”. A lot of people responded with a lot of different things.

Yeah, I read them all and thought they were funny (laughs).

People want to know about Allie McLaughlin. Do you think there could be a rivalry brewing after cross country?

Obviously I was disappointed—well, not disappointed—but we kind of had a little rivalry for NCAAs. I obviously wanted to be the first freshman. It was a little upsetting. She's a really great girl. I got to know her the last two years at Footlockers and NCAAs. I think it's really awesome. She only really started running her senior or junior year. I think it's cool that she's done so well. I'm looking forward to racing her in track and continuing the...I guess you could call it a rivalry.

Have you ever considered the possibility of leaving college early to go pro?

When I was about to graduate high school even, people were talking about me going pro right out of high school...which is pretty crazy. We didn't really talk about it...we talked about people talking about it. I never really considered that. Now that I am in college and have been able to experience that and have been training with the girls on the team and having that great support system, I don't think I would leave early. I've talked to some professional runners, like Lauren Fleshman, she's up there in Oregon with the OTC and she just said to enjoy all the years of college, because once you leave college it can be kind of difficult as a professional runner. You're used to having that team support and having the school's support. It can be difficult by yourself. I enjoy the environment of college and I don't think that at this point I would like to leave early.

Have you picked a major yet?

Yeah, I'm human physiology. I'd like to do physical therapy eventually. That's what I want to aim for.

You hear a lot of people saying stuff like, “oh, she'd cut off three seconds if she cut her hair!” Have you thought about changing your hair?

I get that question a lot. It's just like my trademark and my mom doesn't want me to cut it...so, it's stuff like that. I get mixed opinions. Some people say to never cut it and some people are like, “you could run a bit faster.” I think eventually I may get it a bit shorter. I actually got six inches cut off before college, but I don't know if people could tell the difference. We've also got a girl on the team who French-braids, so that's what I do for races. It's kind of a different style.

If you could have one meal, prepared by anyone, what would have and who would make it?

My mom always makes me special spaghetti before races. That's like my favorite meal!

Can you give me a crazy running-related story?

In high school, I used to run really early before school. I'd get up at like 5:30 a.m. and be out the door. It was like right after the time changed, so it was really dark one morning. I was just running along this trail and I come upon—in the middle of the trail—what I thought was a piece of wood. It was so dark that it just looked like a black blob or something. I get closer and I'm about to pick it up and move it off the trail, when I realize that it's a skunk! His tail was like sticking up right at me! Luckily I didn't get sprayed too much, just a little bit on my shirt. There was no permanent damage. I sprinted away passed it. It was pretty crazy! It did get me a little bit, but luckily not full-on!

About the Running Warehouse:

 

My KWIK-Es are sponsored by runningwarehouse.com, located on the California coast in the small community of San Luis Obispo. The folks over there include one of the owners, Joe Rubio, a two hour, 18 minute marathoner and current head coach of the Asics Aggie RC. Jonathan Spiros oversees footwear buying and served many years as assistant coach at College Park High School helping Lindsay Allen. Erik Dube is in charge of accessories and helps with footwear buying. Erik has finished the Western States 100-Mile Race several times and was assistant coach at San Ramon Valley High School helping Scott Bauhs through high school. Erik’s wife, Tera, is in charge of customer service and is an ultra marathoner and former track star at Campolindo High School, where her brother Chuck Woolridge is currently head coach. Kara June handles web content. Kara was 6th at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in the steeplechase. Kara was also third overall at Last Fall’s USATF Club Cross Country Championships. The entire online and phone customer service representative staff at the Running Warehouse, including the staff listed above, have spent considerable time working the retail floor. This, along with the coaching and personal athletic experience, enables the company to have a unique perspective of understanding the needs of every level of runner from beginner to All-American. Check them out when you get a chance!