What's Next for the UCONN Huskies?


Interview: Amy Yoder Begley                     August 28, 2013
By: Meggie Sullivan

Amy Yoder-Begley has unmatched poise on and off the track. Her repertoire runs deep within the record books, as she ran professionally for Portland’s Nike Oregon Project and in Eugene for the Oregon Track Club Elite. She’s been decorated with a sundry of national titles, and a famed 6th place in the 10k at Worlds in 2009. Amy has retired from competition, but she’s not quite done. Recently named the University of Connecticut’s women’s head coach, she is taking her career to unchartered territory. Here’s what she has to say about the change, being coached by Alberto Salazar, her amazing husband, and the future with her women’s team…

MS: So, how’s everything going?
AYB: Well, it’s definitely different.  There’s a lot of paper work right now.

MS: And you’re done with running?
AYB: I guess in 2010 I accomplished my last goal. Then, I had an achilles surgery and a lot of injuries in 2011. In 2012, I was still trying to get better. My last running was in February of this year, and my body just decided it wasn’t going to do it anymore.

MS: How did you turn to coaching?
AYB: I had always been volunteering and helping my husband, Andrew’s team. Usually I coached individuals. Then, my husband asked if I would coach the team. So I started, and I loved seeing them improve. I got more nervous for them than I had for myself. We had 80 kids from 400m-800m. It was a good mix of kids. And now I’m at UConn. It’s the same but different, definitely smaller.

MS: How many girls are on the cross team?
AYB: We have 11 girls.

MS: What are the goals for this year?
AYB: I just finished having my one -on- one meetings with the girls. I’ve looked at their background and most of them didn’t run until they were a junior or senior in high school. They are all very young in their career, and young mileage -wise. There are seven sophomores. A lot of them didn’t run as freshman. It’s a young team. We’re just going to see what happens.


MS: How did you come about to choosing UConn?
AYB: It’s a funny story. I was applying to college coaching all summer. Most of them told me that I needed more experience. Then, in one week I got calls back from three schools. By that time, I had started applying to non-coaching jobs. I went to visit UConn, and they offered the coaching right away. Coach Morgan had the faith I could do the job and gave me the title.

MS: Do you see yourself becoming a head coach?
AYB: Yes, I would love to be a head coach. But, I’m learning once you become a head coach it’s more paperwork, it’s less time with the kids, it’s more administrative. Right now, this is where my passion is.

MS: Over the years, how has your coaching philosophy developed?
AYB: For me it’s all about keeping them healthy. Consistence is healthy training. The best mileage, the best cross training, find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. I want the [UConn] girls to progress, building strength into cross-country, into indoor, and then outdoor. It’s all about getting faster.

MS: Who has been your mentor along the way?
AYB: For me, it’s been a lot of people. They’ve taught me a lot of things. My college coach [Lance Harter] still keeps in touch when I have questions and has helped guide me. Also, Joe Franklin was one of the people I turned to. He knows more rules in the NCAA than anyone else. Then there’s Jack Daniels, who helped me learn about altitude [training]. Lastly, my husband, he and I make a great package because he’s the physiology guy and I’m the biomechanics.

MS: How did you two meet?
AYB: We were actually both born in the same town. We raced against each other in middle school. We didn’t start dating till junior and senior high school then he transferred into my college. He’s moved everywhere I’ve needed to be. My husband is amazing. He helped me set up with everything here.

MS: What has been your proudest moment in your running career?
AYB: 2009 was an amazing year for me. Every time I stepped on the track I ran a PR, from the 800m to the half -marathon. Had I been asked if I was still running again then, I would’ve said yes. I proved I could compete on the world stage. I was 6th in 2010, breaking 15 min in the 5k, and that race being one of my last was very rewarding.

MS: You were running under Alberto Salazar then. What was he like as a coach?
AYB: Alberto is amazingly dedicated to his athletes. He’s all about the little things, that we have the best of everything. You’re training against the most talented people in the world. We had massages, the Alter-G, an underwater treadmill, he sent us to best doctors if we were injured. He was dedicated. One of the things he said to me is, “If you’re training like a bicycle wheel, there are 8 spokes and sometimes you’re competing with people that have stronger spokes. You need to make sure all 8 spokes are as good as they can be, so your wheel isn’t as wobbly.”

MS: The 8 spokes, how big was the scope of that idea for you?
AYB: My philosophy is that a happy runner is fast runner. To compete on the elite level there’s a lot you have to give up. With training camps, you’re gone for 1-3 months. At altitude, you’re taking a two-hour nap, training with an altitude mask on. For six weeks, you’re completely committed, when you get breaks it’s time to see family. There’s a lot of commitment to be the best in the world. I had great family and friends. They knew they would be as supportive as possible, they knew I had limited time. If your goals are that big your dedication needs to be, too.

MS: What is the message to your athletes today?
AYB: Oh wow, my message to my athletes? The mantra is going to be positive forward thinking, a new chapter.