Division 3 Spotlight: Mike Spain
Division 3 Spotlight: Mike Spain
This week the D3 spotlight falls on North Central senior Mike Spain, who has accumulated eight All-American awards over his collegiate career, including this year’s indoor 5k title. With his help, the Cardinals have won four of the past five national championships (‘09 cross country, ‘10 and ‘11 indoor track, and ‘10 outdoor track), and they will be shooting for another victory this outdoor season.
Scott Rodilitz: So last weekend you went 14:34 and 3:55, pretty solid results, and you’ve run 29:37 already this season, which is pretty impressive stuff coming off your indoor 5k win. Do you have any big plans for the rest of the outdoor season or do you think you’ll just coast until nationals?
Mike Spain: Well, next week we’ll be going off to Drake, so I’ll be running the 5k there, and that’ll be a fun trip. We’ll get to race some good guys, and it’ll be kind of exciting because they moved the 5k to nine at night. I’m thinking there will be a little more, you know, prestige to it this year, since they’re more showcasing the distance events this year, so I’m looking forward to that. And then from there it’s the conference meet, then our last chance meet, and then nationals.
SR: That should be some good stuff. You’re thinking about doubling at nationals again this year, I’m guessing?
MS: Yeah, the 10k is Thursday night and then the 5k is the last race, so I figure if you make it to the 5k, you gotta race, just because you can only possibly score points for the team. So yeah, it makes sense for them to double me.
SR: Cool. Well, let’s take a step back now—how did you get started running?
MS: I did cross country in junior high just to do something, but I wasn’t really that into it, and then in high school, I joined cross country really to get in shape for wrestling because I considered myself more of a wrestler back then. I had a great coach, Jim Macnider at Schaumburg High School, he’s a pretty decorated coach in Illinois and the program there is pretty good. I ended up doing both cross country and wrestling and I ended up liking cross country more and I devoted more of my time to that, so in my junior year I focused more solely on cross country and track.
SR: And now you’ve ended up at another storied program in Illinois at North Central--was that just the logical place to go or was there more of a decision process involved?
MS: Well, my high school coach was a North Central grad, and that was a big influence. I looked around at some of the schools in the area, but my gut was telling my North Central, that’s where my heart was, and it seemed to match up with my beliefs and philosophies best out of all of the other programs that I looked into. So yeah, it was a pretty easy choice for me.
SR: That’s great. And like I said, it’s a solid program—you guys have won 13 cross titles since 1975 and last year you guys won the triple crown (XC, indoor and outdoor track team titles). How important has that tradition been to your success, do you think?
MS: It has been a big part of it just because you get the confidence factor from that. When I was a freshman we were in a bad lull there for a couple of years and our program really hadn’t been what it was, but we had a good group of guys that believed in the coaches, believed in what we were doing and got us back on the right track as to where North Central was in the past, and that’s been a great confidence booster. When you have success you feed off success, and I think the program’s history and the coaches have allowed us to do that.
SR: Definitely, and your entire team has had success this year, with two other guys running in the 14:30’s [Dan Kerley and Neal Klein], so I’m sure that helps for training partners. Do you guys also train with [2010 national champ and North Central alum] Kyle Brady? I’ve seen his name in some of the results.
MS: Yeah, we do. He comes around quite a bit. He did the Chicago Marathon last fall, so he was training for that, and then after that he’s been helping out around North Central a lot more. Getting to train with him is definitely a bonus because you’ve got the experience, the insight, and obviously he’s still very fit, so he can push guys, and he’s also a great role model to have around, too.
SR: Cool. Do you think you’ll continue running after college like that?
MS: Yeah, I plan on it. Running’s a part of my life and I love being in the shape that I’m in and competing at the level that I’m at, so I don’t see myself letting go of what I’m doing, in the near future at least.
SR: Got it, sounds great. So what’s a typical week of running like for you guys?
MS: Well, I do quite a bit of mileage, so I do a morning run on Monday through Friday of a couple miles, just to shake out, and then we’ll work out on Mondays and Wednesdays. Depending on the time of the season, that could either be a long tempo run or some hills or something, you know. Maybe some intervals, but more often aerobic, longer base kind of stuff. Tuesdays and Thursdays are our recovery days, a long, maybe 70 to 80 minute, run, and then long runs are on Saturdays and then Sunday on your on. It’s a simple week, geared for long-term developments, slowly bringing up the mileage as you get older, but I’m at the point where I’m doing quite a bit.
SR: I can imagine. It seems to be working out very well for all of you guys.
MS: Yeah, it definitely has. If you’re patient enough and have confidence and belief, it seems to work very well.
SR: Cool, well that’s the important part of this interview, but if there’s anything else, like pre-race traditions or funny stories, you’d like to add, feel free.
MS: Well, you know I’m not much of a superstitious guy or anything, so I don’t know if I have any cool stories or anything. Well, there is one story I think is kind of funny, and it actually involves Kyle Brady. My sophomore year we were at nationals about to start the 5k and Brady is the kind guy who is always sick, and at North Central we don’t like to let things get into our heads. A lot of our program focuses on the mental side of things and being mentally tough, but he was sick all weekend and then blows his nose. So then five minutes before the start of the race, blood just starts gushing out of his nose and everyone on the line just starts freaking out, you know “Holy cow, you’ve got… you’re bleeding dude!” and everyone’s freaking out and he’s like “Aw crap.” I just started laughing at him because I thought it was so typical of Brady, but the trainer just ended up shoving a cotton ball up his nose and he went out, and I think he took sixth off of a double, so that’s just one of those short little North Central moments that are kind of badass. But yeah, that’s really all I’ve got. If you have any more questions, I’m an open book.
SR: Well, I think that’s all I’ve got, but thank you very much, you’ve been great!
MS: No problem.
So that’s a quick look at North Central’s Mike Spain, a great and classy competitor for one the best D3 programs of all-time. It’ll be exciting to see him mix it up at Drake, and I’m sure we can expect some more stellar performances from him at nationals and beyond.
I’ll try to keep these interviews coming as a weekly occurrence, so be sure to check back in. Next week’s guest will (hopefully) be either Ben Scheetz of Amherst, 1:48.08 800 meter runner and indoor national champion, or Nick Guarino of Fredonia St., three-time mile/1500 champ, who will be assaulting the 4 minute barrier at Penn Relays in a little over a week.
Scott Rodilitz: So last weekend you went 14:34 and 3:55, pretty solid results, and you’ve run 29:37 already this season, which is pretty impressive stuff coming off your indoor 5k win. Do you have any big plans for the rest of the outdoor season or do you think you’ll just coast until nationals?
Mike Spain: Well, next week we’ll be going off to Drake, so I’ll be running the 5k there, and that’ll be a fun trip. We’ll get to race some good guys, and it’ll be kind of exciting because they moved the 5k to nine at night. I’m thinking there will be a little more, you know, prestige to it this year, since they’re more showcasing the distance events this year, so I’m looking forward to that. And then from there it’s the conference meet, then our last chance meet, and then nationals.
SR: That should be some good stuff. You’re thinking about doubling at nationals again this year, I’m guessing?
MS: Yeah, the 10k is Thursday night and then the 5k is the last race, so I figure if you make it to the 5k, you gotta race, just because you can only possibly score points for the team. So yeah, it makes sense for them to double me.
SR: Cool. Well, let’s take a step back now—how did you get started running?
MS: I did cross country in junior high just to do something, but I wasn’t really that into it, and then in high school, I joined cross country really to get in shape for wrestling because I considered myself more of a wrestler back then. I had a great coach, Jim Macnider at Schaumburg High School, he’s a pretty decorated coach in Illinois and the program there is pretty good. I ended up doing both cross country and wrestling and I ended up liking cross country more and I devoted more of my time to that, so in my junior year I focused more solely on cross country and track.
SR: And now you’ve ended up at another storied program in Illinois at North Central--was that just the logical place to go or was there more of a decision process involved?
MS: Well, my high school coach was a North Central grad, and that was a big influence. I looked around at some of the schools in the area, but my gut was telling my North Central, that’s where my heart was, and it seemed to match up with my beliefs and philosophies best out of all of the other programs that I looked into. So yeah, it was a pretty easy choice for me.
SR: That’s great. And like I said, it’s a solid program—you guys have won 13 cross titles since 1975 and last year you guys won the triple crown (XC, indoor and outdoor track team titles). How important has that tradition been to your success, do you think?
MS: It has been a big part of it just because you get the confidence factor from that. When I was a freshman we were in a bad lull there for a couple of years and our program really hadn’t been what it was, but we had a good group of guys that believed in the coaches, believed in what we were doing and got us back on the right track as to where North Central was in the past, and that’s been a great confidence booster. When you have success you feed off success, and I think the program’s history and the coaches have allowed us to do that.
SR: Definitely, and your entire team has had success this year, with two other guys running in the 14:30’s [Dan Kerley and Neal Klein], so I’m sure that helps for training partners. Do you guys also train with [2010 national champ and North Central alum] Kyle Brady? I’ve seen his name in some of the results.
MS: Yeah, we do. He comes around quite a bit. He did the Chicago Marathon last fall, so he was training for that, and then after that he’s been helping out around North Central a lot more. Getting to train with him is definitely a bonus because you’ve got the experience, the insight, and obviously he’s still very fit, so he can push guys, and he’s also a great role model to have around, too.
SR: Cool. Do you think you’ll continue running after college like that?
MS: Yeah, I plan on it. Running’s a part of my life and I love being in the shape that I’m in and competing at the level that I’m at, so I don’t see myself letting go of what I’m doing, in the near future at least.
SR: Got it, sounds great. So what’s a typical week of running like for you guys?
MS: Well, I do quite a bit of mileage, so I do a morning run on Monday through Friday of a couple miles, just to shake out, and then we’ll work out on Mondays and Wednesdays. Depending on the time of the season, that could either be a long tempo run or some hills or something, you know. Maybe some intervals, but more often aerobic, longer base kind of stuff. Tuesdays and Thursdays are our recovery days, a long, maybe 70 to 80 minute, run, and then long runs are on Saturdays and then Sunday on your on. It’s a simple week, geared for long-term developments, slowly bringing up the mileage as you get older, but I’m at the point where I’m doing quite a bit.
SR: I can imagine. It seems to be working out very well for all of you guys.
MS: Yeah, it definitely has. If you’re patient enough and have confidence and belief, it seems to work very well.
SR: Cool, well that’s the important part of this interview, but if there’s anything else, like pre-race traditions or funny stories, you’d like to add, feel free.
MS: Well, you know I’m not much of a superstitious guy or anything, so I don’t know if I have any cool stories or anything. Well, there is one story I think is kind of funny, and it actually involves Kyle Brady. My sophomore year we were at nationals about to start the 5k and Brady is the kind guy who is always sick, and at North Central we don’t like to let things get into our heads. A lot of our program focuses on the mental side of things and being mentally tough, but he was sick all weekend and then blows his nose. So then five minutes before the start of the race, blood just starts gushing out of his nose and everyone on the line just starts freaking out, you know “Holy cow, you’ve got… you’re bleeding dude!” and everyone’s freaking out and he’s like “Aw crap.” I just started laughing at him because I thought it was so typical of Brady, but the trainer just ended up shoving a cotton ball up his nose and he went out, and I think he took sixth off of a double, so that’s just one of those short little North Central moments that are kind of badass. But yeah, that’s really all I’ve got. If you have any more questions, I’m an open book.
SR: Well, I think that’s all I’ve got, but thank you very much, you’ve been great!
MS: No problem.
So that’s a quick look at North Central’s Mike Spain, a great and classy competitor for one the best D3 programs of all-time. It’ll be exciting to see him mix it up at Drake, and I’m sure we can expect some more stellar performances from him at nationals and beyond.
I’ll try to keep these interviews coming as a weekly occurrence, so be sure to check back in. Next week’s guest will (hopefully) be either Ben Scheetz of Amherst, 1:48.08 800 meter runner and indoor national champion, or Nick Guarino of Fredonia St., three-time mile/1500 champ, who will be assaulting the 4 minute barrier at Penn Relays in a little over a week.