Colorado School of the Mine’s Ben Zywicki most recently won UCCS Rust Buster Invite. He finished 22^nd last year at XC Nationals on a team that finished 9^th overall. He was a member of the indoor distance medley relay team that took first place at Indoor Nationals. He was an All American in the 10k this past spring. DII Weekend Review caught up with after last week’s win.

 

DII Weekend Review : You had a strong season last year with a 22^nd place finish at XC nations and finished high at both the indoor and outdoor track nationals. What was your training like this summer so that you can keep this up?

Ben Zywicki:  My training was very similar to years past. I focused on building my mileage up pretty high and keeping the mileage at a solid pace. Most of the runs are based on feel, so some runs end up turning into tempo runs. Some hilly days in there too. That’s really it.

DIIWR:What are your goals heading into this season?

BZ:I would like to continue building upon the successes I’ve had over the past year. The main goal is to stay consistent throughout the season in everything I do. That encompasses sleeping and eating too.

 

DIIWR:You are in what some would argue the hardest conference, the RMAC, in DII. How does this affect your training and your mindset?

BZ:To be honest, it doesn’t affect my training or mindset in the least. The goal is always to run well at nationals and to do my best on the way there.  Nationals is the race that matters. That being said though, I try and treat Nationals no different mentally than any other race.

 

DIIWR: There has been a lot of talk on some running boards that Colorado School of the Mines might be one of the most overlooked teams. Do you feel this at all? Is it nice being considered the underdog?

BZ:You know, every team has high goals and expectations so to say I don’t feel we’re overlooked would be a lie. However, rankings and chat on message boards don’t make any difference come Nationals time. As far as being the underdog any team that didn’t get a trophy last fall is an underdog. I guess it’s nice but we’re certainly not alone.

 

DIIWR: Can you give us an example of a typical week of training?

BZ: Well it depends on what part of the season we’re in but typically we have a hills day, either repeats or a long sustained hill, and either a long tempo or intervals each week. We run a long run at least once a week.

 

DIIWR: Last year’s XC Nationals had some crazy weather; did your team have to do anything to adjust to the weather?
BZ: Well the nice thing about living in Colorado was that we had already had a couple of those days. Regionals was incredibly cold and windy too. So the only major adjustments we had were to put ½ inch spikes in.

 

DIIWR: CSM has finished in the top ten the last two years; does this make the team hungry to finish higher?

BZ: Of course it does. Our highest place finish as a team was four years ago. We would like to continue to build on that.

 

DIIWR: You were on the team that won the National DII distance medley relay title, what was that experience like?
BZ: That was a great experience for us. To share that with some of my best friends is something I’ll cherish forever because you never know when you’ll get an opportunity like that again. The best part about winning a relay championship is that all members must perform on that given day and as most people know, that’s something to be said for.

 

DIIWR:What is the best piece of running advice you were ever given?

BZ:  Probably two things that go hand in hand. My high school coach, Greg Mitchell, told me one day, and it’s always stuck, is the best thing for running is running. You can be a plyometrics God but if you aren’t out there pounding out some miles, you’re gonna have a tough time. The other advice I’ve been given was from my coach, Art Siemers, who has told me, on numerous occasions, that no matter the training, you have to believe in what you’re doing and at that point you have to get out there and run. Long story short, keep it simple.