Interval Session #73 - Dominick Robinson By Dave Devine - October 9, 2008 Casual followers of high school running might have a hard time placing the name Dominick Robinson right off the bat, but the Campbell County WY senior has been performing right at the edge of the national spotlight the last few seasons.  Remember the NTN Heartland Regional, where North Dakota state champ Joash Osoro had his big breakthrough?  Robinson was third, only nine seconds back.  The Simplot Games 3200 last winter, where Wes Rickman cranked out a 9:16 winner?  Robinson was battling Montana state champ Patrick Casey for second, and got nipped at the line.  The Golden West 3200, won by Foot Locker finalist Rory Tunningley in 9:05?  Yup, Robinson was third, hitting 9:07.79, and barely edged by Alaska state champ Trevor Dunbar. He is a multiple-time Wyoming state titlist himself, claiming a 2007 4A XC victory, and then piling up a huge quadruple (1:57 800, 4:22 1600, 9:31 3200, 4x800 anchor leg) at the 2008 outdoor state meet.  This harrier season he's undefeated thus far, with several course records to his name, and has his eyes set on an ambitious post-season. DyeStat senior editor Dave Devine grabs some time with this busy senior, hot on the heels of an East Coast college visit and smack in the middle of Homecoming Week.

1) It looks like you're off to an undefeated start to the 2008 cross country season.  Can you talk about how the fall has gone so far, key wins that have built confidence, and where your goals lie for this season? I have had an undefeated season so far, which has been pretty cool. But I do live in Wyoming where most of the races aren't too big, so going through most of a season undefeated isn't quite as uncommon as it is in most places. I have broken a good amount of the course records around, so that's pretty cool since there have been some strong runners before me from my school. This year hopefully I'll be able to represent Wyoming running well at a national level, since it doesn't happen too often. 2) You're becoming more well-known as a runner on the national level, but I imagine it's hard to stand out when you're running on courses that are either more difficult or at altitude, and hearing about guys running sub-15 for 5k, when you're hitting high 15's or low 16's in meets.  Is that something you worry about, or are you able to bide your time and know you'll get a chance down the road to show your fitness? It usually doesn't bother me too much, that's just how things are out here and you get used to it. People always think runners from Wyoming are horrible because of the slow times, but not many people realize how much elevation affects running. In fact, when I ran at sea-level I cut 24 seconds off my PR in the 3200 meters because I always race above 4500 ft, so at least I know what elevation can do. 3) Despite the fact that Wyoming tends to get less attention than a lot of states when it comes to cross country, Campbell County HS has a storied tradition of great teams and nationally-ranked squads.  Is that history on display at your school, or talked about among your team and coaches?  What does it mean to follow in that tradition as a high school harrier? It's definitely known to the team and coaches at our school. Every year the coaches hand out books with all the top ten times we've had at the school in each event, and I believe that has helped a lot because it gives me something to strive for.  Then when you look at the list you learn a lot about the history of the program and want to make a legacy of your own after you leave. 4) Can you share a little about your training?  What your summer looked like, in terms of mileage and build-up, and a typical in-season week now as you head toward mid-October? In the summer I pretty much kept to easy running and built up to about 70 miles a week as the summer went on, then threw in a few road races here and there to do for fun. Now, for in-season training, I drop the overall weekly mileage a bit and start doing long and short tempo runs each week for my hard workouts. Then later in the season we change it up a bit and start doing 400 meter repeats. It's pretty simple but it's ended up working really well for me. 5) You've had a number of impressive third place performances in national-level events: 3rd at 2007 NTN Heartland, 3rd at 2008 Simplot 3200, 3rd at 2008 Golden West 3200 (in 9:07.8).  Do you feel like you've been a step away from a big breakthrough on the national level, and what things are you doing this year to see if you can make that push to the next level in your progression? Yeah, it's always been in the back of my mind, but it's a good transition to get the feel of bigger races since we don't get to do too many of them out here in Wyoming. Now that I've had more experience though, hopefully those 3rd's will be 2nd's or 1st's this year. 6) What are some things you like about living and running in Wyoming?  On the flip-side, are there things that are more difficult or challenging-- weather, distance of travel to meets, etc? Running out in Wyoming is different, especially during winter, since it starts usually in mid-October and never completely quits until mid-April. Then when you add wind to it, training for Foot Locker and indoor track isn't too fun. The long trips to races don't bother me too much, since everything in Wyoming is so spread out as it is, but it does make your butt really hurt after about 6 hours of driving haha. Overall though, I think the harsher weather makes me a stronger runner. 7) You've put up such impressive marks in outdoor track that your indoor times, by comparison, seem a bit more modest.  Is indoor something that you concentrate on, or is it a season you're more likely to train through?  Of the three seasons--cross country, indoor and outdoor track-- which is your favorite? Like I said earlier, trying to train in winter isn't very easy, so trying to do well during that season is hard to do without overtraining by outdoor. That's why indoor is usually the fun season at our school, because everyone knows it's not too serious. So we just have fun with it and get ready for outdoor. 8) Last year, you and Stephen Michel from Laramie WY both had huge outdoor state meets, with him quadrupling in the LJ, TJ, 100 and 200, and you taking the 800, 1600, 3200 and running a leg on the winning 4x800.  If you went head-to-head, whose chances do you like better-- you dropping down to face him in the LJ, TJ, 100 and 200, or him moving up to compete against you in the 400, 800, 1600 and 3200?  Who do you think wins more events? As much as I hate to say it, I think Stephen has me, just because I know if he wanted to, he could've won the 400 and HJ at state too. Stephen is a really awesome guy though, so I don't mind too much. Photos courtesy Robinson Family

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