Patrick Smyth, a distance ace from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, returns his senior year as one of the top returning harriers in all of Division I. His goals are set, and they're set high. Let's see how this multi All-American does this fall cross country campaign.

What kind of training are you doing right now?

Right now we're doing a lot of strength oriented stuff. Today it was really hot here so we tempered the workout a little bit. We had a three-two-one. A three mile, a two mile, and one mile. We ended up doing a three mile, then I ended up doing three by one mile. Three individual miles.

What kind of times were you hitting?

For the three mile, I was right around 14:35. And the for the miles...I was about 4:30s.

This was a big summer for running, did you watch the Olympics? And what did you think?

I thought it was great. It's not very often that our sport is one of the focus of anything. It's in the forefront of the Olympics once every four years, so it's great to see. It's nice to see track get a lot of exposure in general.

Were you thinking that you belong in a situation like that?

Yeah, definitely. I'm definitely not putting 2012 out of my mind. I'm thinking about it a lot. I'd like to get there somehow.

You've got a pretty fast 5K time on the track. Would you consider yourself more of a track or cross country guy?

I like the grittiness and how raw cross country is...but, track is what you're sort of measured by in our sport. I really like cross country and building up a big base for track. I don't know. I'm undecided on which I like more. Right now I'd say cross country, because I'm in the middle of the season. I don't know which is my favorite...I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Well, you took 15th at the NCAA D1 cross country Championships last year. What are you goals this year?

I'd like to be top -five at nationals. That's a goal I've set for myself. I definitely think it's attainable with a lot of "big guns" leaving. That means there are a lot of spots opening up in front of me...a lot of room to move up.

What's your base training been like this summer?

I was like...25th on the Olympic Trials list...so, I was the first one out of the Olympic Trials 5K. I kept training after NCAAs on the track for the Trials a little bit. As soon as I didn't get in...I kind of just took two weeks off. I started back up around late June. I just built it up the whole time. I started off at about 65 and the last couple of weeks before I got back here were all in the 90s. I've been pretty consistent in the 90 mile weeks.

Was your heart broken for not making the Olympic Trials?

I was a little pissed off. It was a bad situation all around. I was kind of just getting tagged along by the guy at USATF as they told me I had a shot at getting in, because they had a precedent of taking more than 24. At last year's championships they had taken a couple more and let more in. Even in 2004 they let a couple more people into the Trials. This year, I guess, they had a meeting and decided they were only going to take 24. I wasn't up there, fortunately, I hadn't spent the money to get a ticket up there. I know a group of guys right behind me, Blake Boldon, Forest Braden, and a couple other guys were right behind me and paid their way up to Eugene and got hung out to dry. I know there was a lot of controversy and whatnot, but it really just added fuel to my fire. I just took it as a learning experience to get the auto standard next time around. It'll be a lot easier on myself.

Have you talked to those guys, did you hear anything they might have said about that situation?

Yeah, I was actually in close contact with Blake Boldon throughout the whole process. He was kind of my liaison up there. Because if those guys got in...then they had to let me in. I was talking to him on the phone and through email. My assistant coach, who's now moved on to Penn State, Luke Watson, he was up there because he was running the steeple. He was talking to those two guys and getting updates on what was going on. Blake Boldon who really knows what's going on knows exactly how it goes down. There were a lot of politics and a lot of bad communication on the part of the USATF to the athletes. It had a lot of people upset and rightfully so. Especially those guys who spent a lot of money to get up there. It was definitely an eye opening experience to the inside workings of our sport. I learned a lot from it and I took a lot away from it. Next time around I don't want to have to deal with anything. I want to do it the easy way. Something to shoot for.

Back to NCAAs, what's your team looking like this year?

We're definitely young. We lost three from our top five...including Jake Watson and some good guys. I wouldn't call it a rebuilding year because a lot of these guys have experience, but it's definitely a young team. I'm pretty much the sole senior in the top seven. We'll see how it goes. Most of our guys won't race until the Notre Dame Invitational, and that's about a month away. That'll be a good first test to see where we're at. Right now, I'd say were young but we've got a lot of people working hard, trying to make the squad and kind of move up the ranks.

Which new guys did you pick up that are making some noise on the team?

We picked up Jordan Carlson from Minnesota. I believe he was third at Nike Outdoor Nationals in the mile. He's a legitimate freshman recruit that we got. We've got another guy, named Joel Miller, from Ohio. He was an Ohio state champion...and maybe set a state record or two, I'm not sure. He's pretty legit. Right now our number two guy, Jake Walker who's a junior. He just picked up a stress reaction and he's in the midst of his second week off. Hopefully we'll get him back by Pre Nats. That will be a good addition.

You took what, about fifth, last year at Big Easts?

We were disappointed with that and we kind of bounced back at regionals. We're weren't able to book our ticket to Terre Haute, but Big East was pretty rough last year. It'll be even better this year because of the talent. I know Georgetown is going to be really good. And all the usual suspects: Louisville, who won it last year...but, I think Georgetown is going to be the team to beat in the Big East. I just heard yesterday that they're actually going to come out to the ND Invite for our first meet here. It'll will be good to see where we're at.

You're originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. Why did you choose to go to Notre Dame in the first place?

I chose it because it was the best combination of academics and athletics. That's pretty much what it comes down to. I really liked the school and I knew it was a good school. They had perennial good athletic teams. Those were two main factors. My brother went here as well. He didn't run or anything but it's kind of a little family thing as well.

Do you catch the football games?

Yeah, it's all the hype around here. It's hard to avoid it. I went to a lot more games sophomore and freshman years. I actually bought tickets those years. As I got older I lost interest more. I don't go to as many of the games. Sometimes we get to go on the field, getting honored for winning the Big East or other things. I definitely go to those games and pretty much get front row seats. I'll go about twice a year to the games. I don't make every one like I used to. In the student body section you've got to stand the whole time. It's kind of rough.

Are those the kind of tickets you can sell on Ebay?

Some people do, but if they catch you...you're screwed. If you're an athlete then you lose eligibility or something. It's pretty strict. It's one of the few schools where student athletes have to buy tickets. That's a little bit annoying in my opinion. I think other student athletes should get free tickets to the games.

Can you give me some of your essential running gear?

I run in the Boston Classics. I've run in those since my junior year of high school. I came to the right school to get the hook up for those. That's pretty much our standard issue. I run with the Ipod occasionally. I used to be completely against it, but over the summer, I threw it on for a couple of runs. I realized it's not all bad.

You think Ipods are too recreational? More for joggers?

Something along those lines. It's more a weekend warrior sort of thing. People who get their one run in one the weekend. They strap on the Ipod and all the gear. This summer I kind of found that a couple tempo runs I had to do myself, you throw on a couple of good tunes and it kind of helps you pick up the pace a little bit. If I've got someone to run with and someone to talk to, I'm completely against it. If you've got running partners or a team to run with...you've got no excuse. If you're by yourself...it can be a helpful tool.

What kind of music are you listening to to aid those tempo runs?

I listen to Radiohead's more upbeat stuff. Stuff from Hail to the Thief. Some stuff from Rainbows. That's off the top of my head...that's what I was listening to on my last tempo run. Some upbeat Radiohead, none of their downer songs. They've got a couple jam songs that are good. Their lyrics are never upbeat, but sometimes the tunes are. Give 'em a try.

What's Coach Piane like?

He's definitely old-school. He's not super hands-on. He's not going to tailor-make your training. It's going to be sort of the same for everyone. It's tough training and it's worked out for me. He's just not going to cater to you. I like that. I like that about him. He keeps you straight and tells you what you need to know to progress. He expects you do to it on your own. He's not going to baby you or anything like that. Not a complete hard ass.

Can you give me a crazy running story from your past?

Last winter, we were doing an interval session on our indoor track. They had the nets down and they were practicing on the turf in the middle. They have the nets down to protect us from flying baseballs and whatnot. Sometimes the nets would come onto the track. They would sway, but they came onto the track. I think we were doing Ks or something. Maybe there were four of us. My buddy, Mike Popejoy, who graduated last year, he was a little bit off the back...and we hear this excruciating scream. Mike is a really cool kid, but he kind of likes different things and he had nipple rings. He had them in because they close up so quickly, I guess. He was working out with them and we hear this scream. We get done with the interval and Mike is just bleeding from his chest. I'm like, “what the hell happened to you?” He had got his nipple ring ripped off by the net. As he was coming around the turn, the net was sticking out a little bit and just snagged his nipple ring and pulled it right out. It busted his nipple into shambles. It was pretty ugly. I can't think of anything that's happened to me, but that's pretty classic Notre Dame running fare.