Portland Pilot junior Tommy Betterbed has a unique opportunity. He, along with his team, have the ability to make vast improvements. After Portland took 14th last year, and Betterbed 194th, both have the chance to comeback with vengeance on November 24 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships at Terre Haute.

The Portland guys looked great at the Bill Dellinger Meet, keeping it really close with Oregon. Were you guys surprised with that kind of performance?

We weren't that shocked. Our coach kind of played us down because we haven't been doing any fast workouts or anything. We've been doing a lot more longer stuff. He likes to tell us that we're not ready, so we're not freaking out when we're behind during the race or whatever or after a race when we get beat by people. He likes to talk us down. We had it in the back of our minds that we could go out and at least run with those guys. So, it was encouraging to be able to compete with some good teams there.

Do you like that style of coaching?

I've gotten used to it. It's a lot different than it was in high school. We kind of just laugh at him. It's become kind of a joke. We've won conference 29 straight years and every year he says, “this is the year we're going to lose. We're going to lose. We're going to lose.” It's kind of become a joke between us on the team.

You took 14th last year at NCAAs and you're ranked seventh now. Where do you feel you belong right now and where do you think you'll end up?

Last year we weren't thrilled with 14th. I was like 190 something individually. I'm certainly hoping to improve upon that and I think we lost two guys who qualified for the Trials in the 10K, but we've had a lot of other people stand up.

Your one-two-three punch finished ahead of Oregon's at the Bill Dellinger Meet, granted Galen Rupp wasn't running. Where do you think your one-two-three punch will finish at NCAAs?

That's hard to say. It's kind of scary to think about. I have no doubt what our top two guys can do. They're unbelievable, but, I'm kind of new to this. It's hard to even look that far ahead. I just take it a week at a time. Try to get my mileage in and hopefully when it comes to November, be in a position to be in my best shape and we'll see what happens then. I try not to get too far ahead of myself because I've never really been in this position before.

You just mentioned that you took, it was 194th last year at NCAAs. What's the difference in one year? I mean your performance (at Bill Dellinger) was close to, if not, All-American status at NCAAs. Are you taking steroids or something?

No, definitely not that. I've been hurt a lot. In high school and here. I came in low-iron—anemic. I've had a lot of injuries and stress fractures. I've usually in the past trained too hard. Until I break down basically. My coach took a little more conservative route the last year or so. Running less mileage and I had a deeper track season this past year. I kind of got hurt at the end of that. But, the last two months of the summer, I ran with decent mileage and came in and started doing workouts with (David) Kinsella and also Alfred (Kipchumba). I started hanging with them and it's helped my confidence a lot. I'm out running as well as I'd hoped.

What kind of mileage are you guys doing?

I've been hitting about mid-90s. That's kind of where I like to be. Just trying to be as consistent as I can. That's pretty comparable to the guys on the team. Well, there are guys who are doing a lot less. For myself, I like to be around the mid-90s to feel good.

You mentioned that you've over trained in the past and that's lead to injuries. Is it the kind of mileage you were doing or is it being really aggressive during workouts and skipping recovery runs?

I was pretty immature about my training. The summer before this, I'd run like 118 in singles. Just out of the blue, coming off an injury. I was running way too hard. I didn't let my body recover. My coach sat me down a while ago and said, “just run easy. Get the mileage in, be consistent, run all summer, and then once we come into the season, you can start running harder...start doing workouts and it'll come to you.” So, I tried his method and it's been working out so far.

That's why they pay him the big bucks.

Yeah, he knows what he's doing.

118 in singles. Are you going to train for the longer stuff post-collegiately?

Well, I wound up with a little hip injury after that. That wasn't a good idea. As for after college...I haven't even thought about that. I don't see myself doing longer stuff, but I guess you never know.

Are you doing indoor and outdoor?

Yeah, that's the plan. We kind of focus a little more on cross country here. We don't have a real track program, but my focus will be the 10K for outdoors and indoor I'll probably run a couple of 5Ks.

How did you get into this sport in the first place?

Well, I kind of fell into it. I started to run cross country in high school to stay in shape for soccer. Soccer was always my number-one sport. I was never really that into it, to be honest. Then I ran some faster times in cross country. So, my senior year, I focused more on track. And I started running some fast times. I just kind of made the transition my senior year and then I came here. I started getting into a little bit. Then injuries. Things have worked out now I guess.

Do you miss soccer?

Right now I'm over it. There are times when I go home, during breaks from school, and just play soccer. Maybe not training as much as I was supposed to. But I'm over it now.

What's the hardest workout you can ever remember doing?

A lot of them when I wasn't in shape. That's hard to say, I can't even think of any.

What's some essential running gear for you?

I don't run with an Ipod and it's the same old shoes every time. No specific gear all the time.

What brand and what model do you wear?

I wear Nike Structures. Based on my injuries, I try to get as much structure as possible.

Can you give me a crazy running story?

We had a team camp just before school started at one of our teammate's cabins up in rural central Washington. Someone spotted a rattlesnake really close to the house and long story short...we killed it. Maybe not PETA-sensitive but it looked pretty dangerous to me. After celebrating the kill, we barbecued it and ate it. Pretty good team-bonding experience.