3/18/0

A Brief Chat With Max King

By Peter Gambaccini

Max King of Eugene, Oregon, was seventh at the USA Cross Country Championships on February 16 and will represent the U.S. at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 30. At Cornell, King was a two-time Heptagonals and onetime IC4A titlist in the 3000-meter steeplechase. His steeplechase best is an 8:31.26 in 2007; his best USATF Championships placing was fifth in 2005. The 5’6" King did triathlons and adventure racing during a post-collegiate hiatus from serious running. He works part-time as a chemical engineer. He is coached by Frank ("Gags") Gagliano.

What had you been doing in the months between the end of the summer track season and the USA Cross Country Championships in February? Had you raced since your last steeplechase venture?
Max King: No, not very much. We finished that, and I did a buildup throughout the summer. I raced the USA 5-K Championships in Providence (in September). I did pretty well there (seventh in 14:02) considering what I was doing at the time, just a lot of mileage and not much in the way of workouts. I pretty much built up all the way through the fall. We really didn’t race at all. I did a 10-K race on Thanksgiving that went OK. I was running anywhere from 100 to 120 miles a week. We started getting into some harder longer workouts in November and December, just trying to get ready for track season. Everything this season is pointed toward the Olympic Trials. Gags isn’t real big on other races outside the season, but two weeks before USAs, we did a 5-K up in Washington (Seattle) on the indoor track. It went pretty well. I finally broke 14:00. I know I can run a lot faster, but I finally got that mark in.

Really, it was your first time under 14:00? Sometimes runners just haven’t accomplished things you’d think they could because they haven’t really taken a shot at it.
MK: It was my first good shot at it. I’ve had some other shots, too, but either I wasn’t in great shape or it was after season when I didn’t lacked the motivation. So I finally got under 14:00. It was kind of nice - 13:54.

It sounds like you’re doing what a lot of aspiring U.S. Olympians have been doing so far in 2008 - racing at what we’d call "over distances," doing cross country and the 5000 instead of a 3000, which we might expect of a steeplechaser. Is that something you’ve talked to Gags about?
MK: Yeah. Part of my strength is being able to just be really really strong, and I don’t have a lot of speed like some of the other 3-K guys do. Last year, I was working on my speed and I don’t know if I neglected my strength or what, but just working on speed for me just didn’t do it. It kind of backfired on me. So this year, I went back to what I was doing a couple of years ago when I was running on my own, which is basically just doing harder, longer workouts. The races play into that as well, like 5-K races. My strength is always in the longer distances, but it just happens to be that we have to jump over hurdles in the steeplechase and they only do the 3-K (3000 meters).

When you talk about harder, longer workouts, does some of that include longer interval repeats, something like three times two miles, for example?
MK: No, not as much. I guess the longest intervals we so are about a mile, anywhere from six to eight repeat miles, or 1000-meter repeats. We do a lot of "Michigan drills;" the rest period between intervals is like 5:20 pace. It’s a longer rest period at threshold pace, and then you do back on the track and do anything from 800 to a mile at faster pace.

So going into the next interval, you’re obviously not fully recovered?
MK: Right. Those are pretty good. We did a...