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| Amanda Smock winning the USATF Indoor TJ title. Photo courtesy of Randy Miyazaki |
Down the Backstretch: Another national championship. Do you approach nationals like any other meet or does it have a different feel? Once you’ve won multiple national titles does the feeling shift from wanting to win it to not wanting to lose it
Amanda Smock: I approached the National meet pretty similarly to any other meet, the goal was primarily to jump technically well and come out with the win. It’s a good feeling to enter the meet as the reigning national champion, only because it hosts a sense of accomplishment, aside from that, the feeling of ‘wanting to win’ holds a stronger force over ‘not wanting to lose.’
DtB: For a runner there is no shortage of opportunities to compete, but not every meet has a triple jump, especially indoors. Does that complicate things, especially if you have to hit a qualifying standard? Does it influence how you train, when you try and peak?
AS: Thankfully, I hadn’t planned on competing much this indoor season, so the lack of opportunities didn’t affect me. I do struggle with this issue during the outdoor season though. I guess it just forces me to embrace every jump of competition.
DtB: Are you one who thrives on the competition in meets or do you enjoy the training and preparing to compete and it doesn’t matter how often you compete?
AS: I’ve come full circle on this. I definitely used to be an athlete who only wanted to compete, and do it as often as possible. Unfortunately, for a triple jumper, this is a perfect recipe for injury. I still really love to compete, and do thrive on competitions, but I have also come to really enjoy the training process.
DtB: You’ve noted that Mt. SAC and the Drake Relays are on your outdoor schedule. Any others you are looking at aside from nationals?
AS: I’ve actually had a change to this schedule and am now going to open up my outdoor season at the Kansas Relays. I am really excited about the meet, I’ll get to jump against a KU jumper who is currently having a great season. I’ll follow that up with the Drake Relays, a World Challenge meet in Puerto Rico, and then the Prefontaine Classic.
DtB: You’ve been to the Olympics now. Have soaked in that atmosphere and have seen what it’s like at the top. What did you learn from the experience? About what you still want to do in the sport?
AS: Competing at the Olympics was incredible, and for a long time, the goal had been “to get there”. I didn’t perform as well as I would’ve liked to in those three jumps and that left me with a huge unfulfilled performance hole. While competing on that stage was great, I know there is more in me and that is what I am after in this season.
DtB: You’ve been referring to San Diego as your “second home.” How valuable is it to be able to get outdoors during the winter months to train? Obviously you could still train indoors and succeed, but is the time in “the tropics” something of an experiment to see if it does make a difference in your training, your ability to get more out of yourself this year?
AS: The greatest value in training in San Diego is being able to train with my coach, Jeremy Fischer; the warm weather and access to the Olympic Training center are added bonuses. I’ve been happy with the success I’ve had in previous seasons training remotely from a coach and indoors for a big portion of the season, but in approaching this season, I wanted to shake things up and try some different things.
DtB: Do you have specific goals for this year aside from making the US team for Worlds? A specific goal in terms of performance(PR or a particular “barrier” you want to break)?
AS: Making the US World Team is a goal of the season. The World “A” standard is 14.40m, so achieving this distance would be a PR, another goal. The distance also happens to fall just 5cm short of the American Record…So why not tack on a few extra centimeters and just chase that distance, right?
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