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NYC HALF MARATHONMarch 15, 2013Jason HartmannNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. Let me start by asking, after that race didn't happen, did you‑‑ I mean, you apparently haven't raced since then. At least that's what the book says. JASON HARTMANN: No, I haven't raced since the marathon or the potential marathon‑‑ Q. That didn't happen. JASON HARTMANN: The one that didn't happen. Q. Were you looking for something? JASON HARTMANN: I looked at maybe potentially doing Cal International or Fukuoka and even Houston down the line, but I think, after the emotional letdown and training for a specific day just kind of took a lot out of me, I just felt like it was the best decision to shut it down and take a rest. It was pretty hard, when you prepare for one day and kind of be emotionally let down a little bit. Q. What about even during that week? You must have been up and down and up and down? The news was different every day. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, it was definitely an emotional roller coaster just because like there's a certain level of uncertainty with what was happening. So it definitely was. I think everybody kind of‑‑ it was a pretty big burden for a lot of people. Q. I asked the guys yesterday this. The financial side of things, there's a lot of talk about what happened with that, without getting into too many details, but if you're running two marathons a year and that's a big part of your financial year, how did that work out, the whole situation? JASON HARTMANN: Well, I can't discuss figures or anything like that‑‑ Q. But you kept a percentage? JASON HARTMANN: I probably shouldn't discuss that. Q. You can't do that? JASON HARTMANN: But if‑‑ like not having the race can hurt someone, especially like me, who makes money at big marathons and stuff like that. So it definitely hurt me. But someone, if you put just the average person, you work for six months, and at the end of the day, not get a specific‑‑ and not get paid for it or whatever‑‑ not to say that happened, but it's‑‑ it's disappointing not to be able to kind of do what you trained to do. And I think that disappointment was felt by everybody, not just the athletes, but all who organized it. Q. This is several months down the line from that. Were you‑‑ did you resume training fairly seriously in late November? JASON HARTMANN: No, I took about two weeks off and then just slowly started to build back up. So I didn't really start focusing on Boston probably until after the new year. Q. I'm just wondering, you came in fourth in Boston, and the top three guys get on the podium. What happens to you in terms of celebrations afterwards, things of that nature? How do they salute you? They give you a nice check, I'm sure. JASON HARTMANN: Well, just being a tall white guy, people tend to notice me a little more in comparison to people I race against. So when I finished fourth, definitely people had acknowledged my performance, and that's probably‑‑ it wasn't like I was hoisted above people's shoulders like Rudy being carried off the field. Q. You're too big for that. JASON HARTMANN: I know, I know. So just the notoriety and stuff, people being very happy to have an American finish that high, and in a lot of people's eyes, probably a relatively unknown American. So it definitely was like life changing. Q. As you go back there, do you think that you're somehow suited for that course? JASON HARTMANN: I don't know. It's a difficult question. You train for a course. You put everything into it, and then you‑‑ whatever the results are what they'll be. I like to think any course probably fits my profile, but long straightaways and strength course, I do tend to do pretty well. Q. And all the rhythm changes? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. Some people say they like to get into a rhythm for the whole race, but you're okay with all the changes? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, I like to think so. Being a taller guy too, there's a lot of turns. I am a rhythm runner. So if there are a lot of turns, like the trials course was probably a little more difficult for me just because with all the turns and stuff. But I think Boston is a great course and great atmosphere and just really a whole‑‑ is a whole positive race. Q. Did you think your training segment going into that was better than it had been for other races? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, I felt, when I stepped to the line, I prepared myself the best I could, and I take comfort in knowing that and having complete faith in what I'm doing. So I felt like I prepared myself the best I could for that day. I was pretty confident where I was at. Q. Did you feel that way in November again? JASON HARTMANN: I did actually. I did. So I felt actually better prepared for New York, but the thing with the marathon too is you could have a perfect buildup and really just confident in where you're at, and it just depends on the day. I've had some training, great training leading up to a marathon and had a bad performance. There's a relative unknown when it comes to the marathon. It's two hours and, for some, three minutes, to two hours and‑‑ at the elite level, 2:30. There's a lot that could go wrong in that amount of time. Q. Was it nice after the trial just to have Boston so quickly to focus on? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, it allowed me to rebound after the performance in the trials. I was really disappointed. When you work for something, and your goal is to accomplish‑‑ I felt like I had a legitimate shot. Things would have had to fall into place a little bit, but I felt like I had a legitimate shot of making the team. To run as terrible as I did, I just needed something to‑‑ you know, I needed to get out of the dark room that I was in and allow myself to focus on something different. Q. Did it go bad early? JASON HARTMANN: It was about 17 or 18 miles. I kind of hit a rough spot and just never really came out of it. Q. In this segment that you're in, you still have a few weeks to go, how does it compare with last year's Boston and also the buildup to New York? Are you feeling as good? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, I'm feeling pretty‑‑ I've done more mileage this time around. I've added some cross‑training. I did it two times a week where I'm on the Alter‑G for like 30 minutes and then the FX on another day. So I'm doing a lot more training than I have before, and probably about ten more miles a week than I've previously done. Q. What's that added up to? JASON HARTMANN: Let's see, I'm varying between 130, 135 miles a week. So I'm doing a lot more running in comparison to the things I've done in the past. Q. Are you coaching yourself? JASON HARTMANN: Yes, still coaching myself. I'll jump in with Hudson's group if they're kind of doing something similar to what I had prescribed for myself, and we work together, and I help those guys out. Q. Who's in that group? JASON HARTMANN: Let's see. Fernando Cabada, Kenyon Neuman, Pat Rizzo, a few other guys, Zach Hine. Q. Is it good to have guys, someone else to run with? JASON HARTMANN: Definitely, definitely. I also enjoy the time of just running by myself. There's a certain level of toughness that you kind of gain when you're the only one out there and you don't have someone patting you on the back, telling you how great you are, and things like that. So I enjoy that time by myself, but I also enjoy the time running with other people. Q. How did coaching yourself come about? JASON HARTMANN: Well, I've had great coaches in the past, and I felt at my age‑‑ I'm 31, approaching 32‑‑ that I just kind of wanted to do it on my own. So I just felt like it was a good decision for me to leave my last coaching situation and do it on my own and just have complete responsibility over what I was doing. So it was just kind of a point in my career. I didn't know how long‑‑ it's not that I didn't expect Boston to happen, but it happened, and so there's potentially just kind of moving on from running after Boston and pursuing other things. Fortunately for me, I ran great, and it allowed me to continue on. Q. I remember when we talked, I guess it was before, you pretty much said if this one doesn't work out, that's it. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah. For a guy in‑‑ at my level, it's very difficult to stay in the sport. Q. Sort of like [inaudible]? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, it's a top heavy sport. It's slowly starting to‑‑ the gap is starting to grow a lot more. Whether that's‑‑ fortunately, you'll probably be seeing less guys sticking around in the sport just because it's so top heavy. Guys are running a lot faster. Money is more limited. Q. Not among Americans, but internationally you're seeing a profusion of 2:05s and 2:06s, and that makes you think, well, maybe I ought to hang it up or something in? JASON HARTMANN: All you can do is the best you can. You never know what happens. I don't think anybody at the starting line at Boston expected it to be 80‑plus degrees. So there's a certain element of the day that just happens that's out of your control. Q. What's the best part about having complete responsibility for your training and your career? JASON HARTMANN: I sleep a lot easier at night. Like I trust in what I'm doing, and that's a big component of‑‑ when you trust things and you believe in what you're doing, I think you just take confidence in that. So I have a lot of experience with people I've been around as far as the coaches and other athletes, and I formulated a training program that I felt fit me the best and the things I've taken from the times I've had with coaches successfully and applied it to the things I'm doing now. That doesn't guarantee it works out or anything, but I'll take the chance. Q. Was that just the right time in your career to do that? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. Would it have been a good idea or a bad idea to have done that earlier? JASON HARTMANN: I think part of me wishes that I did it earlier, but I didn't have the confidence yet. Now I'm at the age that I feel 100 percent confident in what I'm doing. I'm not selfish enough to be like this is the only way. I seek advice from other people and kind of another pair of eyes to help me along the way. But I take satisfaction in knowing what I'm doing in writing my own training and trying to apply it to a day and making sure that day goes well. Q. Did the coaches you have usually‑‑ I mean, I'm wondering about going to bed at night and not even knowing what the next day holds. Do the coaches you have usually give you a long‑term program and tell you during the week or sometimes show up to workouts and not even know what's happening that day? JASON HARTMANN: For example, I work with Jonesy, someone I have a high amount of respect for. We wouldn't find out our workouts until the day of, and that's the way he did things, and I had a great deal of success under Jonesy. But I also‑‑ I like a plan and direction, but that was Jonesy's coaching style, and it worked for me. But I'm at a different point in my career now too where I'm trying to oversee everything and wear two hats and try to run well. Like Jonesy was very simplistic in his coaching, and there's a great level of purity that it was working with him where, when you're high school, you just train. That's all you really do. There's no thought process. You just do the work, and you get the results and stuff. As you get through the years of running, it becomes more of a business and trying to put food on the table, and so you can kind of lose a little bit of that purity as you get through the years of running. That's one thing I've taken from Jonesy is just trying to keep that high school innocence, kind of that purity and the reason why you do things. Q. So what's the worst part about having all the responsibility for your career? JASON HARTMANN: Being honest, I guess, sometimes, like trying to balance the line of if I'm going too hard and seeing things down the line. So for a moment, I could be going really well, but maybe I'll want to do another interval or prescribe another interval. But I'm trying not to push myself over the edge. It's a fine line. That's probably the most difficult thing. Q. There's nobody there telling you to stop? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, yeah. It's like I've got to be smart with some stuff because I tend to‑‑ my weakness is just overdoing it. And so I have to be somewhat more intelligent with the things I'm doing. It's not just about needing home runs all the time. It's just about I'm fine with hitting singles now instead of trying to jack one out of the park because you strike out a lot too when you're trying to hit home runs. Q. Do you periodically have workouts where you're looking to have like, let's say, certain times for those workouts that will be a barometer of your fitness at that point? JASON HARTMANN: Yes and no. There's certain segments where, like if I'm moving into a race where I like to take some confidence, I guess the stopwatch or whatever. But I try not to control myself by a stopwatch. In a marathon, it's a lot about how you feel at certain points and just being really in tune with what you're doing. So yes and no. Q. How have preparations gone for Boston? JASON HARTMANN: I feel good. Like I said before, I'm doing more mileage this time around and doing a little more cross‑training. I've never done cross‑training prior to any of the marathons, just to do something different, try to keep some freshness. Q. How do you get on an Alter‑G? Because we don't own one. JASON HARTMANN: No, I don't own one. I'm fortunate enough to know a pretty good PT there who has one in his office, so he allows me to come in and just jump on it real quick and then jump off. Q. This is in Boulder? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. Can we ask did anything change about your sponsorship situation after the Boston? JASON HARTMANN: No, it didn't change, unfortunately. Q. Did it give you extra cash? JASON HARTMANN: I wish. Q. Are you Nike? JASON HARTMANN: No. Q. No one? JASON HARTMANN: Nothing. Q. Do you have any non‑shoe sponsors? JASON HARTMANN: Boulder Running Company actually provided me with some shoes and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, I can't control what other people do. I just try to focus on what I'm doing. I mean, I love‑‑ Q. So it's totally dependent on the races? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah. Q. So the prize money in Boston, there was like an American bonus, was it $18,000, the extra time bonus? JASON HARTMANN: It was 25. Q. And there's no shoe bonus or anything for you? JASON HARTMANN: No. It was just‑‑ yeah. Q. And you're pursuing other races going forward? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah. Q. At this point, how long are you committed? Are you committed to 2016 or thinking it could run out this year? JASON HARTMANN: Until April 15th, and I'll reevaluate after that. Q. Have you thought of life after running? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, I have actually. I'd probably like to get into coaching or be involved in running in some capacity, whether it be one of the shoe companies or trying to grow the sport at a youth level and maybe be the next Mary Wentworth. Q. That would be a good job to have. Probably use a couple more. She might want to give it up at one point. JASON HARTMANN: She's got to retire. Q. Did you learn anything in particular from Boston last year? It was such a hot day, but anything from the course, anything about the race that might help you this year a little bit? JASON HARTMANN: Like any marathon, patience is a virtue. It's really‑‑ it's a course that, if you don't run smart, it will expose you. So like any marathon, that kind of pace, that's the‑‑ I lost my train of thought. But patience is a great key for you to have in any marathon, but especially there because you can get easily trapped in the gradual downhill of the first 13 miles and then, boom, you hit a tough hill 4 miles, and it's gradual, and it comes at a hard point in the race. So the easiest thing is patience, for sure. Q. Now, last year‑‑ earlier, you talked about when marathon day comes, a whole number of factors could play into effect in training at that "A" minus level equal with the "A." Did that give you confidence last year, and if that could happen this year? What do you feel about that? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, definitely. Like how do I compete against guys who have run 2:05 and 2:06? Well, I have to always strategize and outsmart guys that are running way faster than me. A lot of times that's falling into fourth place. So the race is going to play out the way it is, but just kind of always hold the line and hold the line and hold the line, and then, boom, like if they beat themselves, I'll capitalize on their opportunity, the mistakes that they made rather than me beating myself and making poor decisions off emotion and just not beating myself, I guess that's probably the best thing. So like I don't necessarily focus on what other people are doing. I focus on myself and then reading the race as it comes. Q. Can you say in the past you focused more on training and‑‑ I guess training‑wise. But not only that now, it's more the mental aspect that you want to fine tune and will give you the edge. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, definitely. As I've gotten older, just kind of realizing what the focus should be and not being clouded by garbage, I guess. Like I've always been a focused person, but I feel better focused now because, in all reality, I have nothing to lose. There's a certain amount of comfort in that, knowing that I have nothing to lose is comforting. Q. What do you mean nothing to lose? JASON HARTMANN: I mean like I don't know what tomorrow holds as far as my running career, so I train‑‑ instead of training for development, I train for the day, and I don't train‑‑ I train for April 15th, and beyond April 16th I'm not really thinking about. So I just focus on what's important. Q. Is it harder to focus on yourself? You have your plan, and that's to strategize. Is that harder to do mentally than to be aware and focusing on your career, or is it easier? JASON HARTMANN: It's actually easier. It's a lot less stress. With the Olympic trials, it's three positions, like it's three positions that make the Olympic team. That's a stressful thing. If you're fourth or to last, in all reality, you didn't really have all that great of a day because you didn't make the top three. So you do have to depend a little bit on where you are in that type of race as well as trying to have a plan that best suits you in that day. But like when I'm running, I'm focused on running, and when I'm away from running, I have other positive distractions that kind of allow me to take mental breaks and then when I'm running, it's just what I'm focused on, if that makes sense. Q. When did the switch come from career development‑‑ that's how you put it, right? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. To one day focus? JASON HARTMANN: I would say probably after the trials. That's kind of when I knew I either had‑‑ I mean, I had three months. It's like‑‑ I'm not comparing the same two, but it's like someone that has cancer or whatever and is given three months to live, you learn to value those days you have left, and that's kind of the best‑‑ not to make light of cancer and all that stuff, but that's just the way my thought process is. I want to know at the end of my days of running, whether it be tomorrow or a year from now, that I gave everything I did to the sport. I didn't cheat the sport. I didn't‑‑ I did everything with a high level of integrity, and that's what's important to me now. I see myself ten years ago, and I'm like, man, that kid was lost. I wish I had the same level of mental capacity that I did back then because I would have had a lot more success. But I don't regret anything that I've done. Q. Seems like a lot of that comes from experience, though. JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. Ten years ago, you might not necessarily have had the experience. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, yeah. I totally‑‑ I wish I would have had the knowledge I had when I was younger. Q. Don't we always say that? JASON HARTMANN: I know. Q. You couldn't have done it ten years ago because you were ten years younger. It's as simple as that. JASON HARTMANN: Yes. So knowing that has made me an all‑around, I feel, better athlete and a better person too. So can't complain. Q. This race, what are your goals, or what do you expect? JASON HARTMANN: I would say a question mark as far as performance, but I trained really hard. I mean, I'm in a huge block of training and stuff. So it's a good‑‑ it's a pretest to my test on April 15th. I feel confident in where I'm at, and it might work out to be a good day. I mean, that's what the race is for. Q. I like that analogy of a pretest, then the test, then it's like the SATs or something, you're going to go to college or somewhere else. Q. So will you really wake up on April 15th or go to dinner on April 15th with a completely clear slate? You really don't have any notion of what you might do after Boston? JASON HARTMANN: No. I mean, I have‑‑ I like to think I have some plans, but I'm not naive to the fact that, like if my running is done post‑Boston, then I have something that I'm focusing on next. So yes and no. Yes and no. As far as running goes, yes. As far as beyond running, no. Q. So it's really possible that you could wake up on April 16th and decide that you're done? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. I mean, as far as circumstance and stuff like that, yeah, yeah. But I feel like really comfortable with it. I really just have a comfort with my running now that I just work hard and do the best I can. Q. If I remember correctly, last year at Boston, you were not necessarily in the same position, but you were in a similar position as you didn't know exactly where you were headed because you were using that race as a big‑‑ it was after the trials. It was as a direction. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, yeah, totally. As runners too, like Boston is one of the majors, and it's here. I grew up with a lot of older runners that did Boston and talked about their experience there. So there's always kind of a goal to run the race anyways. And I want to run it when I'm fit and young. So yeah. Q. Thank you. JASON HARTMANN: No problem. Q. Hopefully come April 16th, you're not done. You've still got a few more marathons in you or something. JASON HARTMANN: I'd definitely like to do more if it worked out. Q. You prefer to keep it going, I assume? JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. Is there a benchmark that you feel you need, or will you just know it after you did it? JASON HARTMANN: I'll just know. Q. You don't say to yourself, if I don't finish in the top five, I'm done. If I don't run a 2:00‑whatever, you'll just know. JASON HARTMANN: I'm just throwing a time out there. Say if I run 2:09 or something, just the time, and that places me in tenth, is that a bad performance? No, it's a great performance for me. That's two minutes faster than I've ever run. But in a normal person's eyes, they say, well, you were fourth last year. You finished tenth. So that's a bad day. Not really. Nine people had also great days, but you're not in the top five. So if I ran really well, I mean, I would know. I'd know. Q. Good luck. See you there. JASON HARTMANN: Appreciate it. Thank you. Q. In a very few weeks. JASON HARTMANN: Yes, I know. Count down. Q. A month from today. JASON HARTMANN: You're right. It's five weeks from Monday, is it? Or four weeks. Q. Boston is April 15th. JASON HARTMANN: So four weeks from Monday. Q. Yeah, get the date right. JASON HARTMANN: I got the date right, just not the weeks. Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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