Interview wth Stephanie Pezzullo
by Shannon Martin

Stephanie Pezzullo running in the 3K at the USATF Indoor Championships in 2006, where she finished eighth with a time of 9:27.02.
Photo by: Alison Wade
New York Road Runners

Though the name Stephanie Pezzullo may not ring a bell for you right now, you will begin hearing her name more often in the running world. A former Nittany Lion soccer great, Pezzullo, 24, began running in the spring 2005. She joined Penn State’s track team as a walk-on in an attempt to fill her sports void after finishing her final collegiate soccer season. Despite not having a background in track, Pezzullo was able to get her 1500-meter time down to 4:29 in just one season. After completing college, with a degree in kinesiology, Pezzullo moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to work as a personal trainer, where she also played soccer for the Charlotte Eagles, a semi-pro team.

After a chance meeting, Pezz, as she is known among athletes, piqued ZAP Fitness coach Pete Rea’s interest. Pezz began running for ZAP in the winter of 2006 and already, she is achieving much success. Since joining ZAP, Pezz has PRed on the track in the 1500 with a time of 4:21.08, in the 3000 with a time of 9:19.08, and in her first-ever 5000 with a time of 16:23.1.

In the summer and fall of 2006, Pezz had many successes in both road races and cross country races. On September 17, she ran the CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5K, which served as the USA 5K Championships, in a time of 17:03, and finished in 22nd place. On November 9, Pezz placed 11th with a time of 35:00 in the Health Plan 10K for Women, which served as the USA National 10K Championships. On October 22, she ran in the Mayor’s Cup race in Boston, and placed sixth with a time of 16:54. On November 23, she placed fifth in a very hilly 5K leg in the International Chiba Ekiden, with a time of 16:56. Most recently, on December 9, Pezz placed 10th in the open women’s 6K at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco, with a time of 21:04.

Pezzullo will run at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run on December 31 in New York City. Fast-women.com was able to catch up with the energetic Pezz a couple of weeks before the race while she was reluctantly taking a few days off in her training regimen.

Fast-Women.com: As many of our readers may not know of you yet, I want to start off by asking you about your running background. It’s my understanding that you just walked on to Penn State’s track team in 2005. Is that right?
Stephanie Pezzullo: That’s correct. When soccer ended at Penn State, I decided last-minute to try out for the track team.

FW: Aside from running in soccer, did you have any background in running prior to making this big move at Penn State?
SP: No, the thing is with soccer, I was an outside midfielder. I always liked to run a lot on my own, but in soccer when you’re a midfielder, you run a lot anyway, especially in the games. So I think I put in a lot of miles throughout my high school and college soccer career. I also added runs just to be extra fit for soccer. I always liked to run, so it was fun for me.

FW: Your story is just a fascinating one. So, you didn’t run cross country or track in high school either?
SP: [Laughs] No, well, soccer took up so much of my time and I played basketball as well. And I did a little bit of track like the long jump and I just threw some things in here and there like the 100 meters, but I missed a lot of track meets because of soccer. Soccer was always first. I never did distance running though.

FW: So, are you enjoying the distance running lifestyle?
SP: Yeah, I’m definitely enjoying it. It’s a big, big change. I played semi-pro soccer here in Charolette, right up until last season. To finally make the switchover to fulltime track is different, but I do like it a lot; I like competing.

FW: I bet you a lot of people ask you if you miss soccer a lot.
SP: I do; I miss it a lot. I miss being physical and getting on the ground. I miss being around 24 girls all of the time; you know, that was just fun! It’s fun because soccer girls are pretty crazy, so we have a blast together. I miss being on a team, but I don’t regret my decision at all. I’m really happy to give this a shot.

The other really difficult thing about running as opposed to soccer is learning to rest. I’m putting in so many miles, 80 miles a week or so. Pete’s always telling me “You know, you have to rest during the day. That’s part of being a runner,” and I’m just so used to going, going, going, hiking, biking, and going to work, and now I find myself not being able to do the other sports. That’s really been the hardest thing. I don’t mean to be superficial, but it’s true.

FW: I don’t think that’s superficial at all; sure, it must be a hard adjustment.
SP: I’m glad you understand, like I used to play in a guys' basketball league and just little things like that; I can’t do that anymore because I have to watch out for injuries.

FW: I’m curious to learn more about this chance meeting with Pete Rea. All I have heard is that the two of you met at a soccer match, and suddenly you are training with ZAP, competing, and doing tremendously well.
SP: It was really one of those things where you just have to think “This has got to be from God or something.” I was running on my own at a track, just waiting for a soccer game to happen. My friend was playing in a game and I was gonna watch it and I was just kind of running on my own while they were warming up, just putting in a couple of miles for the heck of it. I had a Penn State shirt on and I actually approached Pete because he was there with one of his athletes. I just said “Hi, how are you doing,” making small talk. And he said “Oh, did you go to Penn State?” And that brought up, “I played soccer there.” And then he said, “I know the track coach there.” I said, “Well, I actually did one season of track just this past year, but it was just one season.” And then we started talking and he flat-out asked me what event I did and what my best time was for that season and that was it from then on!

FW: What a great story! Are you excited to come to New York for the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run?
SP: Yes, I am. I think it’s going to be a really cool experience. I think running at midnight is just one of those things where the adrenaline is in you, you know? [Laughing] Hopefully it is, because I know it’s going to be cold.

FW: Well, if it is cold, the adrenaline will get you through. And hey, it may even be warm. Two years ago it was 60 degrees.
SP: No way! Great! That’s what I hope for.

FW: Let’s touch on your training. Are you doing indoor this year and have you begun training for indoor?
SP: Yes, Pete has me running in a couple of indoor races, and Cross Country Nationals in Colorado, and I think I’m going to start training for the steeplechase for the spring. ZAP Fitness goes to Florida for a few weeks in the winter, so while I’m in Florida, I’ll be training for the steeple. I’ll start focusing on the shorter stuff then, which I like better than the 8K and 10K stuff.

FW: So, your first exposure to cross country and road racing was relatively recent?
SP: Yes, correct. My first cross country race ever was [this] year, the Mayor’s Cup in Boston, and then, I’ve done about two more since then and that’s it. I haven’t done much with cross country. I did a few races. Pete has me on a plan where we’re totally peaking for track. He does a great job with laying out the schedule and everything and taking control.

FW: Are you excited to try out the steeplechase?
SP: I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be a huge challenge because I think about how tired I am when I run a 3K, so to add in a million jumps like that is going to be a challenge. I’m very excited though just because I know that my soccer background, and my strength and power from soccer, will help big time.

FW: I have to agree, and your agility will help out as well.
SP: Exactly. I have no problem with doing drills and speed and agility stuff. I’m so used to it. I’m used to the weight lifting and the body exercises. I did that constantly throughout college.

FW: So it seems to me that you are experimenting with different events right now. I was going to ask you if you were eyeing the Olympic Trials in any specific event, but I bet you are probably just taking your training day by day and event by event right now and will come to a decision on the trials a bit later on.
SP: Yes, that’s what I’m doing. I’m so new to the sport that right now, I’m just trying to take in every experience and every race and learn from it. I have to say that ZAP Fitness, the whole facility, the whole fitness group, have been so supportive of what I’m doing, that I don’t feel that there’s that much pressure on me to worry about making certain times and doing all of that. I know they want me to improve, but we know it’s going to be a process.

FW: A lot of experts believe that you have an advantage by joining the sport so late, because you haven’t put all the wear and tear on your body.
SP: I’ve definitely heard that. Mentally, it’s all new to me too, so I’m very motivated and very excited for each race and training and all of that, so that’s kind of cool.

The biggest thing is trying to avoid injury, which has been fine so far. I want to stay healthy as a new runner. I know that when you do too much too soon, you’re likely to get injured. So far though, my body has handled the miles well.

FW: That’s great. What stage would you say that you are in with your training now in terms of your preparation for track? Are you in a base stage?
SP: You know what [laughing], I don’t even know. I have no clue; I just do what Pete tells me to do. I’m not really doing track workouts yet; I’m doing a lot of fartlek runs and a little bit of hill work. I just took a big break after my run in San Francisco, so this past week I haven’t done much at all. I start up again this coming week.

FW: And what do you have lined up for this coming week?
SP: I have a progression run, a progression tempo run, and an interval workout. This week is like 65 miles and then back up to 75 to 80 the next week. I’m up there in miles.

FW: Do you run with anybody on the team or do you do your workouts primarily on your own? How does that work?
SP: I don’t live at ZAP Fitness full-time, but I’m there for four days a week so I run with the people there when I am there. There are two other girls and seven guys. So, yeah, I do workouts with the two other girls: Allison Grace and Caroline Cretti. Pete is always there telling us what to do and when I come back to Charlotte, which is where I live the other half of the week [laughing], I do everything on my own. I’m fine with that. All last year, I did most of my workouts on my own. It worked fine.

FW: Do you prefer training with the members of the team over training on your own?
SP: To tell you the truth, I like the change up. I like that half of the time I can work out on my own and push myself on my own and then I also like having that partnership where you can motivate each other and encourage each other. Either way, it seems to be working.

FW: I’d like to know more about your great experience in Japan, racing in the Chiba Ekiden Relay.
SP: It was very exciting. I was so, so, so thrilled when I found out that I got to compete on a world team like that; it just seemed amazing to me. I ran a 5K leg and I guess if there’s one word to use to describe the leg, it would be hilly [Editor’s note: I was told that Pezz’s leg looked comparable to an EKG]. It was very, very hilly, but I had a lot of adrenaline in me and I was ready to go from the beginning, so I felt great in it.

FW: It must have been invigorating seeing so many running stars there.
SP: It was; it really was. To tell you the truth, I don’t know too many of the famous runners; I don’t all of the stats and stuff like a lot of the other people who were there knew, but I could just tell that I was around very, very elite competition. I was definitely with the best of the best and that was cool.

FW: Let’s change the topic a bit. You majored in kinesiology at school. What were your career plans before this running career fell in your lap?
SP: It’s funny, before running, last year at this time, I hade a full-time job. I was working 40 hours a week, doing personal training and selling fitness programs and so that has kind of dwindled down to doing soccer training a couple of nights a week, because the running has been a lot. You know, we’re [away] every other weekend or I’m in the mountains at ZAP half of the week, so I’ve had to definitely put my kinesiology on hold.

FW: Well, you might be putting it on hold indefinitely, you never know.
SP: [Laughing] Yeah, well, that’s what they tell me at ZAP. I don’t know if I believe that yet.

FW: Have you formed any specific goals when it comes to running?
SP: I think Pete and I are mainly focusing on the 1500 and 5K for this spring and to just get my feet wet in the steeplechase.

FW: Not literally, right?
SP: [Laughing] Exactly! Well, I don’t mind getting wet. But, I think we’re looking for some big time improvements in the 5K. I only ran one last year. I’m going to be in a couple of more 5Ks this year, and it’s always good to have some exposure to the 1500. So, we’re looking for some specific times, and just taking it from there. My main goal is to qualify for indoor and outdoor nationals.

FW: So, tell me where your nickname comes from. Obviously, it stems from your last name, but who started calling you that?
SP: Oh, Pezz, that is my sports nickname. I have had it since high school, and everyone calls me Pezz, everyone! It’s really odd; my coaches in soccer always called me Pezz; my coaches in basketball always called me that, and now all of the running people call me that. And even all of my friends now call me Pezz. The only person, who doesn’t call me Pezz, is you know, my Grandma.

FW: Okay, I have one final question. What has been the most enjoyable factor about transitioning from soccer to running?
SP: The training is what I like the best, getting these workouts from Pete and going out every day to try to accomplish something. I’m a very competitive person with myself, but to have something to challenge myself with every day, is just something that I have always wanted to [have]. I don’t want to go and sit in an office all day or do bookwork or whatever, I want to challenge myself physically and mentally. With running, that’s what you do! That’s what it’s about, so it’s been very easy for me to accept the training.

FW: I like that answer!
SP: Thanks, man.

FW: Everybody is looking forward to seeing you here in New York in less than two weeks.
SP: Thanks; I’m really excited. We’ll see what happens. I hope to get over this break really soon; I had to stop running for a few days, but hopefully, I’ll just get right back into it.

Interview conducted on December 18, 2006, and posted December 21, 2006.

Nothing contained herein may be reproduced online in any form without the express written permission of the New York Road Runners Club, Inc.