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| Photo by Gene Niemi |
Down the Backstretch: You didn’t start running until your junior year at Chaska. What were you doing prior to that? Why did you get into running?
Ben Sathre: I didn't do anything prior to running in high school. I played football until seventh grade, but didn't do much else. I got into running because my sister, Stephanie Sathre, was pulling me out. She was a pretty good runner for Chaska back in her day, and I guess everyone thought I would be good too. She tried unsuccessfully to get me out, but I really didn't want to. The idea of running to me did not sound like fun. Somehow she eventually got me out.
DTB: Now that you have a national championship “under your belt,” what are your goals for indoor and outdoor seasons?
BS: My goals have always been to see what I'm capable of and also to show others what I'm capable of. I want to see how high I can climb, and also want to show others that I deserve be there. This year, my goals are to stay healthy and learn to run more relaxed. I set goals of working on improvement, and I'll see where that can take me. Last year I messed up my hamstring early and suffered most of indoor season before a stress fracture took me out for outdoors. I don't want a repeat of last year. I guess if you were looking for more quantitative goals, I'd like to be in the 3:45 range for 1500 and 13:50 range for 5000 meters.
DtB: You were low mileage in high school and have brought it up in college. How has that adjustment been as you only had two years of high school running to get your body used to the work?
BS: Surprisingly the adjustment from low mileage in high school to higher mileage in college has been quite easy. I just increased by about 15 miles per week each year and ended up around high 80's and Pete (Wareham) keeps telling me I can't go higher than 90, so I leave it at that, but no problems adjusting really.
DtB: Your coach says that you are very tough mentally. It’s one of your strengths. Where does that positive, never-give-up attitude come from? The self confidence?
BS: The positive attitude is something I grew up with. I encountered a lot of obstacles as a kid, and life taught me that the only way to get anywhere in this world was to just pick yourself up and keep going. And Keep going. And Keep going.
If something doesn't work the first time, you just work a little harder and try again until it does work. Sometimes you don't have any other option. I've seen how much a difference it makes in life if you give that extra little effort. I try to surround myself with that idea and keep it in my head that way. If you surround yourself with positive role models who have fought hard for what they want, then you start to believe that you can do it to.
On race day, confidence comes from knowing you put in the work. Do what you are supposed to do and then do a little more. And then a little more. Last spring Pete was having me do workouts on a stationary bike when I couldn't run. We'd do a 15 minute all out or 60 minutes all out, and we had to burn a certain amount of calories in that time. I did that all summer too.
When I toed the line at nationals I knew I had put in the work and deserved the win. I set the St. Thomas record for most calories burned in one hour (1023) and 15 minutes (318) on the stationary bikes.
DtB: How do you approach a race like the 3K at the Jack Johnson meet? Do you have a specific time goal? A race strategy on how you think the race will go and what you need to do? Do you get intimidated by the competition or inspired to meet the challenge?
BS: My goal in the race was to hang with Mead as long as possible. I knew he would probably be around 8:00 to 8:05 and I felt confident that I could run that. I didn't have a time goal or anything and the 3000m isn't run in D III so I didn't have much riding on it. I just wanted to see what I could do.
It's tough to say. I wasn't really intimidated going into the race. I time trialed a 3000 on our track last fall after cross, and ran 8:16 in training flats all by myself and felt comfortable. I knew I could go considerably faster, and so I had a lot of confidence. At the same time though, standing at the starting line I was a little shocked to be there next to Hassan Mead. I've followed his career for years, and I fully respect him and his abilities, and to be standing there and running with him was a little shocking to me.
DtB: How did the race play out for you? About like you thought it would go or did something surprise you?
BS: The race was about what I expected. I was thinking I'd be around 8:05 or so, but I was happy with the result. I didn't really prepare that much for the race. I didn't taper or rest up for it, so I wasn't expecting a perfect race and probably could have gotten a little bit more out of myself, but I was happy to start the season on a good note.
DtB: What did you learn from the race? Tactics? About yourself/ About what you have to do to improve,etc.?
BS: The thing I take away most from this race is that I feel like I can put myself on a different level. I felt like I was improving quite a bit, but to have that evidence is a boost to the confidence and allows me to think of my racing ability differently. To improve I think I have to stick my nose in there more than I did. My goal like I said was to sit there and run a quick time. I was more in a time trial mood than a race mood like I would be at nationals or conference.
DtB: You may be moving up in distance. How do you feel about the longer races, especially the 10K. Do you see them as your future?
BS: I'm not the fastest runner, and I don't have a huge kick so I would say that my future is in the longer distances. I don't understand Pete and his philosophy. Pete has never let me run 10K. He always throws me in the 5000 and 3000 and 1500. He doesn't want me doing high mileage or long runs or anything that most other long distance runners do. I guess he is just trying to be careful with me since I don't have that high mileage background.
I don't know how I'll fare in 10,000 races, but I feel that I'll do even better than I do at 5000 and 1500 because I'm definitely better suited for longer distances, and I could see that in high school when I was running 9:36 for 3200 but couldn't break 4:30(for 1,600) or 2:04(for 800).
DtB: What are your plans for post-collegiate running? Try and get with a pro group?
BS: I would love to get with a pro training group. I love running and competing, and I feel like I have a lot more to offer to the sport. I don't know if it will happen though, because I don't have a proven record, and I havent done the kind of high mileage that most pros do. I'm thinking about running the half marathon at Grandma's in Duluth this summer to see if I can potentially make it as a distance runner post college. If it doesn't work out, I'll just move on with my life.
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