Pittsburgh senior Sam Bair, who has run close to going sub-four in the mile so many times, has another great opportunity this weekend at Notre Dame's Meyo Mile. If he goes sub-four, he and his father, Sam Sr., will be the first father and son combo in the prestigious club. Flotrack will be there! Good luck to Sam!

So, you've got a meet this weekend, where are you going?

Yeah, I'm going to Notre Dame this weekend to run the Meyo mile.

Do you know who else is going to be in the race with you?

I haven't seen the starting lists yet, but I know Jake Watson and (Kurt) Benninger are going to be in the meet. As far as other people, I haven't been online to check them out yet. It should be a good race, it should be a fast one. There will be a rabbitted pace and whatnot.

Is it taboo to ask you if this is going to be "the one"?

(Laughs) No, I don't think so. It's really hard to say. In the past I've run so close to four minutes flat so many times. In the past I think I've raced better than I've trained. I think those times that I ran close to four flat so many times because I've pushed myself over how I was training at the time. A lot of those times I was running workouts for like 4:03 shape, or 4:02 shape. I got myself into trouble early on in the season because I wanted to break four minutes and run fast. I would race faster than the workouts I was doing would support. So, I'd finish the race pretty tied up and have to race again the next weekend and have to run the mile. In response I would come down in my training that week so I could race again on the weekend. It was almost like getting unfit to do it. This year I've been a little bit more patient with my training and things. So, I definitely think this weekend will be a good chance. If it's a fast enough race I know I'm fit enough to do it. I haven't really been doing anything that says I can really run fast for sure. Two weeks ago, I ran a pretty good time and I'm about where I should be for right now. It's definitely possible.

What kind of training are you doing right now?

During a non-race week I try to hit three up-tempo style days during the week, I try to do some sort of tempo effort, even if it is lighter. I usually try to do something like one of those and I also throw my long run in during the week. I also try to do some sort of "turn over stuff", like fours, or threes, or twos. Then there's usually a track workout with low reps. And that track one is more like a tempo where I give a hard, long effort without digging too deep. That's how it goes and usually if I do those hard workouts, I give myself two or three days recovery.

What are your goals for this indoor season?

Indoor. I guess just try to break four minutes. Try to make the final at the national meet, try to become All-American again. I want to keep my volume high, but not too high, keep it where it needs to be to keep me fit so I can keep going to the outdoor season. I want to enjoy what I'm doing and stay healthy. I want to do as many races as I can without doing too much or too little and find that balance, that's the main thing. Like I said, I also want to try to run fast.

How high can you go up, have you ever raced up in the 5K area, or do you keep it around the mile?

I would say I'm more of a miler strength sort of guy. When I was in high school I was more of a leg turnover style runner and did a lot of fast stuff with low miles. I ran 1:50 point in the 800m in high school, and actually I ran my fastest 800m when I was in high school. I think I can definitely run faster now. I really try to run more along the lines of a strength oriented style as opposed to when I was younger. I'd like to run more 3K/5K races than I do, but the collegiate system doesn't give me enough time to do that and I think I am more of a middle distance guy and I get beat up easily. I can't do too much racing. If I run a 5K with my spikes on I have to take some down time after the race and then build myself back into it. If I had a training block of three to four months in the winter where I could train, I could run a 5K. I have run a 3K in like 8:19, I think that's it. That was earlier this year and I haven't run many of them. It was during sort of a high volume time. Running a 5K, I think I could run pretty fast, but it takes a lot out of me. Running a lot of miles also would make it pretty hard and it's hard to do both.

You ran a 1:50 in high school. How did you first get started in this sport, I'm guessing it was your dad?

I grew up playing a bunch of different sports, playing soccer, baseball, basketball. But mostly soccer and basketball. When I was in middle school, I was at the track for fun and I knew my dad was a runner and I knew a lot of people who did soccer and basketball also did track. When I was in seventh grade, I ran the sprints mostly, I ran the 400m. I guess you could say I had the ability to do it. It was more like I took to it pretty well and was able to run the 400m in 56 seconds. When I was in eighth grade I ran 53 seconds and 2:07 or something. It was good and I knew my dad was a runner and figured, "yeah, I guess I'm taking to this pretty well." I guess my dad understood too, yeah, that was good for my age. When I got into high school I wasn't playing soccer anymore, I was just playing basketball. As a freshman, I won my district meet in the 800m. My dad knew what to do with me. He was coaching at the time and he didn't push me into it. I was doing like 30 miles a week or something, real low miles and kind of having a good time with it. He was giving me pointers and talking to me about how to do it and won my district meet in 1:56. From there I decided not to play basketball and run track, which I was sort of thinking about anyway, because I knew basketball wasn't going to be my thing down the line. I got into it from doing other sports and also the knowledge my dad handed down to me.

OK, so along those lines, is that added pressure for you to break four minutes? Because you would be the first sub-four father/son combo.

I would say that it was added pressure, but it motivated me too much, I might have run too fast too early in the season. It took a lot out of me and it was hard for me to come back and train right after that race. I don't want to say that I raced better than I trained, but I sort of did. Most guys wait until the end of the season to really let themselves loose and come down in their volume and I was doing it too early in all of my three of my seasons, because I was extra motivated. I was getting used to front running and when I got close to four minutes, I was always leading races and really enjoyed it. This year I took a different approach. Yeah, it's effected me. I raced a lot and beat myself up early in the season and ran some of my faster times early. I've learned from that. It wasn't really pressure, it was me being too hard on myself and me making myself do a little too much too soon. I've definitely learned a lot from it.

Looking at the big picture, do you intend on running at the Olympic Trials?

I would love to if I can run fast enough and qualify, which I think I'm definitely capable of doing, provided that things go well. I would love to get into some of those races, some of the ones with American runners and see what I can do against some of those guys. In the past year, I've been able to run with better guys. If I can get in the right races at the right times and be healthy, then yeah.

So, I've got to ask, you said you ran a 53 second 400m in high school, would do you think you could run for 400m now?

Well, in high school I split 48 high for a four by four. I feel like I've got a lot of good leg turn over and haven't really used it as much in college because I've been trying to train more on the strength oriented stuff side. I mean there are a lot of guys who can really roll on a 400m, but can't last the whole season and get their mile time down and I've taken that into account. I do a lot of stuff that keeps me from running faster. I ran a 400m on a four by four a weeks ago just for fun after running 2:23 for the 1k and split like a 50 flat. It felt really good. I didn't really fast, I felt kind of sluggish. I definitely think I can run under 50 seconds.