Mike Rutt KWIK-E

March 20, 2009

800-meter runner, Mike Rutt, of Connecticut, recently earned All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. He's going to red shirt this outdoor season and hopefully succeed at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Have you taken any days off since NCAAs?

I'm taking these next five days off. Just to kind of regroup and give my legs a little rest. I haven't really rested them since—well, once or twice during the season—but since XC not much.

It's a complete coincidence that your days off land on St. Patrick's Day?

(Laughs) Yeah. Yeah.

Can you wrap up this year's indoor experience?

I feel ecstatic about it. Going into the season my goal was to just make the final at NCAAs and just compete there. Last year I got to NCAAs, which was a really big goal for me and I kind of was more worried about being there than actually competing there. I kind of went out and all season was right around where I wanted to be. Right around the time of Big Easts I was running 1:49 low and started really hammering it the next few weeks. New Englands I got my qualifier in then the following weekend after that we ran a hard, hard four by eight. I split 1:47 mid, so I knew that I was right there and ready to go. I just went to NCAAs and competed my butt off.

What is your 400 personal-best?

I haven't had an open 400 since my freshman year. I ran about 49 flat. Outdoors last year, I split 47 mid. I haven't done any 400 stuff indoors. I did the 500 at the Big Easts and stuff. I went 1:02 there. I knew I had the speed.

Can you walk me through a typical training week for you?

Getting into the real tough weeks of indoor season, I was trying to keep my mileage up around low 50s, high 40s. We're lucky if we get three workouts in a week. We do some longer interval type stuff, maybe a three by mile outside or hill work or something like that. And as the week goes on we try to cut down on the length of the intervals a little bit and get down to the distance that we're running that week. We usually do the longer distances, but nothing too, too long.

What kind of times were you hitting for the miles in the workouts?

They weren't exact miles on our road. We call them “1500s”, but they're probably only 1300 meters. We were hitting about 3:50ish as the average. That was for about 1300...we're not exactly sure. We didn't really want to know how long there were.

Do you have any idea what kind of schedule you're going to do this outdoor season?

(I'm) going to be red shirting outdoor season. We're going to try to get some mileage in and change up training strategy and see what works for us and see what doesn't.

When you go into a season knowing that you're going to red shirt, do you still set a time goal or do you just look at the big picture?

We're looking at the big picture for the most part. At the same time, I'm still looking to PR, obviously. I want to get to the USA Championships and I want to compete there and make it to the final. I want to see what I can do with that. Getting that experience is what I think the red shirt year is for. Just trying to get all kinds of experience at high levels of competition and come the NCAA season, you'll be a lot more used to it.

With the young batch of 800m runners in the US running such fast times and being so successful, how do you feel about that situation?

It's one of those things that I strive off of. If you see one of the young guns throw out a quick time...it kind of wakes you up and brings you back down to reality. You think, “you're doing well, but you have to do this much better if you want to get to their level.” After this weekend it was a huge confidence booster to know that I hung in there with (Jacob) Hernandez, and Tyler (Mulder) and Andy (Wheating). Just competing there and knowing that I'm there feels really good. It's a big confidence booster going into this outdoor season.

What pumps you for this big meets?

I try to blast the music when I can. Here and there. Nothing too big. Sometimes the atmosphere, like this weekend...knowing that I was there and trying to put my name out there. Just the whole atmosphere and being there just got me really amped up and going.

Do you have any race day superstitions?

I usually have a few superstitions. Nothing really comes to mind. I like to listen to the same handful of songs right before I'm about to go out and race. My superstitions always change because one race I'll do bad and then I'll throw that superstition out the window and have a new one.

What songs are working right now?

The two I usually listen to. It's usually hip hop. I like...(Nelly's) ”Heart of a Champion” and Fort Minor's “Remember the Name”. They get you thinking about what you can do out there and being a champion and being what you can be. It just gets me thinking about a bunch of stuff and it really gets me going.

What do you when you're not training or studying?

I'm usually on the computer a lot. A normal amount of video games and TV. In the off season and in the summer I like to play soccer with my high school buddies. I used to play soccer all the way up to my senior year in high school.

Do you miss it? Get any good pick up games going when you go back home?

Yeah. I miss it a lot. It's one of those things that I try to stay away from as much as I can because I know that as soon as I start playing it...I'll get going and I'll get amped and I'll get into the game and then I have a good chance of hurting myself. My mom always yells at me about that and it's one of those things you just can't help.

What's the hardest workout you've ever done?

It was my freshman year. It was a cold, rainy, windy day. It was a track workout. We did a 400, 300, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 300, 400. It just seemed like it was never-ending going up and down the ladder. I was young back then and was in the back of the pack, trying to hang onto the top guys. The wind was blowing in my face and it was brutal.

Can you give me a crazy running related story?

I don't have one that happened to me particularly. My freshman year a few distance guys went out on one of the eight-mile runs that we have around here. It was like out and back woods. It kind of goes through some farmland and backwoods. They came out to a little clearing and someone shot at them with a gun. They didn't know what to do so they ducked quickly and started yelling, “we're human! We're human!” They darted off into the woods and ran away. Now whenever we do that run we're always keep our eyes and ears open.

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#6	Alyssa Recny June 12 at 8:34am Hook me uppppp lolol reply
#5	Gags March 22 at 6:49pm 1.Thanks for not telling me you got interviewed by Flo Track 2.Way not to even mention me ONCE!! 3.Can i get a ride to class tomorrow Good old 1987! reply
#4	Andrew Judd March 22 at 12:17am hahaha That last one was the Ireland run right? I remember that story. and it all started back in 1987, when Pennsylvania was just a new state.... reply
#3	Big Dog March 20 at 5:15pm He's had a great indoor season this year .Congrats to him!! He deserves some props. I hope his hometown newspaper recognizes his accomplishments. reply
#2	Martha March 20 at 9:21am "Can you walk me through a typical training week for you?" You should have asked him to "run" you through a typical training week. Oh well, TCtheJumper still rocked the interview as usual! reply
#1	Justin Kopunek March 20 at 8:14am So happy about this interview. Since the monster runs at New Englands and the sick 7:20 4x8 at IC4A's I was hoping somebody would give us a little on Rutt, Gagnon or one of the coaches at UConn. reply