Interview with Blake Russell
by Alison Wade

Blake Russell on her way to a fourth-place finish in the 10,000m at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Russell competes at the 2003 Freihofer's Run for Women.

Russell competes at the 2002 CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5k. Photos: Alison Wade/New York Road Runners

Since graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1997, Blake Russell (née Phillips) has gradually climbed up the U.S. distance running ranks, and now stands solidly among the country's best. After missing much of 2002 to injury, Russell came back strong in 2003, setting a 10,000m personal best of 32:11.94 in May at the Cardinal Invitational. Two weeks later, she came within seconds of her 5,000m best (15:21.37 from 2000), running 15:24.68 at the adidas Oregon Track Classic. At June's USA Track & Field Championships, Russell finished fourth in 32:28.25. She will make her marathon debut October 5 at the Twin Cities Marathon.

A Winston-Salem, North Carolina native, Russell currently resides in Acton, Massachusetts with husband Jon Russell (also an elite distance runner) and works as a physical therapist. She will be using her physical therapy expertise to author articles for the New Balance web site, beginning in the near future.

Fast-Women.com: It seems like you don't race a lot compared to some of your competitors, but then you seem to show up for national championship races in good shape. Is it accurate to say you race less than other top runners?
Blake Russell: Yeah, I probably don't do a lot in the fall and I think I just stuck around here and did the local indoor races this winter. I guess I hadn't thought about it... I just don't want to tire myself out and a lot of times it takes a lot out of you just to fly across the country, which I did that about five or six times, between Oregon or California, it takes a lot of time too, especially when I'm trying not to miss a whole lot of work.

FW: Do you work full time?
BR: I was [working full time] until about a few weeks ago when I went down (from 40) to 32 hours, just mainly to try to put a little more effort into running.

FW: What made you decide to cut your hours now?
BR: I was just tired of being tired all the time. I work late a lot of nights — I work until about 8:00. I just wanted more time to lift, get extra runs in. Usually when things go, it's the extra stuff — the stretching, the weight lifting... the sleep.

FW: What's your work schedule like now?
BR: I'm taking Wednesdays off, it breaks up the week a little bit.

FW: Have you noticed a big difference yet?
BR: I definitely feel more rested. I'm a little less stressed out. Usually I do my workouts after a long day of standing on my feet, so on Wednesdays, I get the advantage of getting up, doing it in the morning and having plenty of time to warm down and do whatever else I need to do afterwards. As opposed to rushing home before dark... It's definitely a little bit more relaxing.

FW: Do you usually run twice a day?
BR: I'll run twice a day maybe two or three days a week, but not every day.

FW: How did you end up in Massachusetts?
BR: After the Olympic Trials in 2000, Jon — my husband — and I just wanted to reevaluate things. We were both kind of left without a coach in North Carolina, where we were. We immediately thought of Bob Sevene because Jon knew him when he was in high school... Jon is from Wakefield... I didn't really know Sev at all, I'd just heard good things about him, so I called and asked if he would coach me... Then we made the move.

FW: Do you have any people to train with out there?
BR: Right now, I'm doing all my workouts on my own. The only time I really meet people to run is on Sundays...

FW: And your coach has left you behind again, it seems.
BR: I know! (Editor's Note: Bob Sevene moved to California after being selected as the head coach of Team USA Monterey Bay.)

FW: How is that going to work?
BR: It's definitely lonelier not having him around. He left in July, I still talk to him probably a couple times a week, definitely through e-mail, and he's still training me at this point. I'm just going to see how it works. I think it'll work fine, I'm motivated enough to do things on my own, I don't really need someone standing over me, but I just enjoyed having him around.

FW: New England doesn't seem like the ideal training location in the summer or the winter, but plenty of top runners — Lynn Jennings, Cathy O'Brien, Joan Benoit Samuelson — have trained here with success.
BR: During the summer, I don't complain when it's hot, I love it when it's hot — that comes from being from North Carolina. The winter — I always joke — we moved up here in December, the first day, I called my husband from work and I was like, 'It's 4:00 and it's dark. What is going on?' He was like, 'Oh yeah, I didn't tell you that.' I think if I had known how cold and how dark the winter would be, I probably would have thought twice about it.

FW: Do you do a lot of indoor training during the winter?
BR: Usually in December and January, we have to move indoors — we'll go to Reggie Lewis (the indoor track facility where the 2003 USA Indoor T&F Championships were held) twice a week and just do track workouts. I can do my easy runs outside, as long as it's not too icy or cold, but you just can't do workouts, you'll hurt yourself and fall on the ice.

FW: So tell us about your marathon plans...
BR: I'm doing Twin Cities. I guess I got the urge. I didn't think I ever would, but I thought it would be a good way to mix things up a little bit. I'm definitely scared of it a little bit, I think you're supposed to be scared of your first marathon. But that'll be the first weekend in October. Things are going well. Sev said I'd be feeling tired and kind of bad around this point, and he's right... The only hard part is trying to slow down [my workouts] a little bit and go a little bit longer.

FW: Why run a marathon now?
BR: Well, I needed to bump up my training a little bit. I've been stuck at about 70 miles a week... I just wanted a goal. I knew if I had a goal to work towards, [it would] make me put those extra miles in during the week. I just told myself that [I would train for a marathon] as long as I could do [it] and feel good. If for some reason I felt really run down or tired, or like I was going to injure myself and hurt my season for next year, that I wouldn't do it. But so far, so good.

FW: And it's worked for Paula Radcliffe and Deena Drossin.
BR: Yeah. I think if you do it right and you do it smart, it's just going to make you stronger, and you'll be a better 10k runner in the long run.

FW: What's the maximum mileage you're hitting?
BR: I'm anywhere from about 85-95, which is a lot for me. But when you tack on long runs and longer workouts, the miles just creep up on you a little bit.

FW: Why did you choose Twin Cities for your debut?
BR: We were debating between Chicago and Twin Cities, because of the time of year — I knew I just couldn't train through a Boston winter — and then the decision was made for us because Jon's sister is getting married the weekend of Chicago. We're both in the wedding, we couldn't miss the wedding for a marathon, we though she'd be a little mad at us... And we've heard that Twin Cities is a good first marathon course.

FW: Do you have a goal in mind?
BR: The first goal is to finish (laughs). That's Plan A. Plan B, I think, realistically, running low 2:30s, and obviously to try and get an Olympic Trials qualifier and just have that other option out there.

FW: Do you think you would run the Olympic Marathon Trials?
BR: I don't know. I don't even know what to expect, so I'm going to go see how it goes. If it's a good experience and I feel like I could be competitive in the marathon then I'll definitely do it.

FW: When did your outdoor season start, and is this going to end up being a really long season for you?
BR: Yeah, it kind of is, but I don't feel so burnt out, because I missed all of outdoors last year. I went out and did the Cardinal Invitational... Then I went out to Oregon and did the Adidas track meet, then back to nationals, with [the Freihofer's Run for Women 5k] in the middle there. I was kind of a little tired after outdoor nationals and ready to stop, but I kind of got my second wind. I took about a week off in-between and re-motivated...

FW: Will you be running any races before Twin Cities?
BR: I wanted to do the [New Haven Road Race] 20k but we have a wedding this weekend, so... We're busy people. But it's funny — it's a wedding for some of our running friends, and the groom's actually mapping out a tempo course that he can do that morning (laughs). So we'll all be running that day... (Editor's Note: On September 7, Russell won the Boston Race for the Cure 5k in 16:04, finishing third overall.)

FW: This season, you PRed in the 10,000 and you came really close to your 5,000 PR, were you pretty happy with that?
BR: Yeah, I'm definitely happy — I'm always happy to be getting faster. It went well. I thought that sub-32:00 was doable, but I just didn't feel like myself at outdoor nationals. So I was definitely a little bit disappointed in my 10k time. The 5k — I wasn't really doing a lot of speed to be focusing on a fast 5k.

FW: Can you tell us a little bit about your work, what you do on a daily basis, etc.?
BR: I'm a general rehab. physical therapist, which means that I could see anybody. Anything from a five-year-old kid with a broken leg to an 80-year-old with back pain. Most of our diagnoses [involve] neck or back pain for one reason or another, so I've gotten more into specializing a little bit. I help with a spine program, which is kind of just a comprehensive back rehab., a lot of core stabilization things. I make custom orthotics for people, if they need them, and that's about it... I did a running clinic this year with some other therapists there, so I get to do a lot of different things.

FW: Is it pretty physical work where you're on your feet a lot?
BR: Yeah, I hardly ever sit down. Unless I'm doing an [evaluation] and getting a patient's history, that's about the only time I'm sitting during the day. It took me a while to get used to that, just the standing. Sometimes you're doing joint mobilizations with somebody, or you're doing massage, or you're handing people weights or showing them exercises. I'm up and down on the floor all the time, doing things with patients, because sometimes it's just easier to do their exercises with them, than to try and explain what to do.

FW: Being a physical therapist, are you able to diagnose your own problems, or is that something that's hard to do?
BR: ...I think I've finally learned that that's not a good idea. Last year, when I was out all year, I thought I had strained my IT band a little bit and never had anyone look at me. [Eventually] it got so bad that I couldn't run at all. If I had had somebody look at me, they would have probably told me that I was all out of alignment and that was my problem. It just helps, I think, to have a second set of eyes, so I've learned not to do that anymore...

FW: How much time did you miss with your injury?
BR: I guess I ran a few cross country races up here and then I missed all of indoor and outdoors in 2002.

FW: When did you start racing again?
BR: My first race was Falmouth [in 2002].

FW: So you've been back for just over a year.
BR: Yeah, and I feel like I'm back to normal.

FW: What made you decide to pursue a career and top-level running? Most of the runners you compete against, if they're working, they're just working a job to make a little money and support their running, many of them are not on a career path outside of running.
BR: I guess I got injured in high school and I went to physical therapy and thought, This is something really great. I loved the woman who worked on me, it seemed like she had really flexible hours, I loved the atmosphere. I decided this was what I wanted to do. I got to college and just kind of kept that in my head. I guess I definitely always wanted to have a career, something to fall back on just in case. I really didn't even think I'd be running at this level until I got to maybe my senior year in college, and said, 'Hey, this might work.' If I didn't have a job, something that I really enjoyed doing, I would just drive myself crazy. The few times that I've run full-time, while I was looking for a job, I just got bored (laughs).

FW: Do you plan to drop your work hours down more leading up to the Olympic Trials, or is this as low as you plan to go?
BR: I think this is pretty good for me, it feels like a good setup for me now.

FW: What kind of runner were you in high school?
BR: I probably ran about 20 miles a week. I loved my coach, but we didn't know a whole lot. I went to a private high school (Forsyth Country Day) and didn't have a lot of competition. I think I won 11 out of 12 private school state titles, so I never really knew what was going on. I'd never even heard of indoor track until I got to college, which is kind of funny. I was solid, my mile PR was, I think, 5:14, and I ran a 2:22 half, so nothing remarkable at all. I just, luckily, gradually improved every year.

FW: Your school has had other good runners, haven't they?
BR: Just recently. My high school coach's daughter (Mackenzie Pierce) just ran the second-fastest 800m time (2:06) for high school...

FW: Did you go to UNC on a scholarship?
BR: I actually walked on, but I got a partial scholarship by the time I graduated. There wasn't a lot of scholarship money out there... I wasn't the top runner coming out of high school.

FW: Were you on the team at the same time as Marion Jones?
BR: Yeah, Marion was a freshman when I was a freshman. She ran the first two seasons and then she got hurt, and then she got a little bit more into basketball. She was there long enough to set some records and then move on.

FW: Not everyone can say they were her teammate.
BR: I know! I've been on the relays with some of the Olympians, so that's kind of cool.

FW: Who was the coach at North Carolina then?
BR: The head coach was Dennis Craddock, but my coach was Joan Nesbit.

FW: Oh, wow. Did you have a good experience running there, in general?
BR: I loved it, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Joan, I think, she was perfect as a college coach. She was just so enthusiastic, she really supported the runners and she was safe, she kind of nurtured you a little bit, she never pushed you to do distances you weren't ready for, and things like that...

FW: Did she run with the team?
BR: Yeah, she did, because she was still training and running really competitively at that point. When I first got there, she had just had a baby, but then she would gradually get back into shape and start kicking all of our butts.

FW: UNC has a great team right now, was it a competitive team when you were there?
BR: I think it was on it's way up. There was another really good girl when I was there, Karen Godlock, and I think by the time I was a senior, we had pretty good name recognition. Then they got a couple big recruiting classes in the next year or two, so I like to think that I helped a little bit in that.

FW: What was your progression like in college, did your times improve every year?
BR: They did, actually. In college, I think I only had one or two races where I ran slower than a previous race. I think I kind of kept that [steady progression] until I got injured up here (in 2002).

FW: What were your PRs when you graduated from college?
BR: I stuck to the 1,500, so my PR was, I think, 4:18 and a 2:07 half. I think I did a 3,000, I can't even remember, I think I was around 9:12. I think I ran two 5,000s, ever.

FW: But you were an ACC champion in the five...
BR: Yeah, that was the second time I'd ever run one. It wasn't really a fast time, but...

FW: When you graduated, were you sure that you'd pursue a professional running career?
BR: I knew I definitely wanted to give it a shot. I stayed around Chapel Hill for a year and Joan coached me. Actually, that was the one time where I was kind of just working a job to get by, because I was waiting to apply to grad school. So I focused a little bit on running and actually had a pretty decent year. I think I ran better that year than I ever ran in college.

FW: Do you remember your times?
BR: I don't remember exactly, but I know that was my first experience doing the US road circuit and things like that. I finished like maybe top 10 in races like Freihofer's and the 8k, so it was kind of exciting, and something new to do, too. Joan definitely helped teach me the ropes a little bit, with all the races, trying to make my own schedule, and kind of be my own agent.

FW: Do you have an agent now?
BR: No. Since I never really get a chance to go to Europe, I don't feel that I need one at this point. I'd love to go to Europe, but I haven't had it work out yet.

FW: Is that mostly because of your work, you think?
BR: Actually work, they said they'd be really accommodating if I needed to take a leave of absence to do that. If I had run a little bit faster outdoors, I would have tried to go, but I don't think my times were competitive enough to really get over there and benefit. So I didn't really pursue it this year.

FW: When you look ahead to 2004, what are your main goals regarding the Olympic Trials, and what do you think you'll focus on?
BR: You know, I haven't quite decided between the five and the 10 yet. I looked ahead and the schedule is kind of flip-flopped. Last time, in 2000, it was the 10,000 first and then the 5,000, which kind of worked better for me. Next year, it'll be the opposite, so I'll have to decide if I'm just going to focus on the 10 and leave the five out completely. I don't know, it's kind of nice to at least give yourself two shots. But this year I probably will just have to pick one, and it would most likely be the 10,000.

FW: Up until this year, you ran some of your best times in 2000. Do you know what caused that big improvement, was it the motivation of an Olympic year?
BR: I think it was just the culmination of just constant running. I'd never been injured at all — through high school, all of college, even the three years after college. [It was] just a lot of running, getting used to the training. My body was able to handle more, so I could do more workouts. And I definitely think I was pretty focused. I had a good setup, just being in my hometown, I had a good routine.

FW: Is the Olympic 'A' standard something you worry about for 2004, or do you think you'll need to run that kind of time just to make the US Olympic team?
BR: Yeah, I think you're right. It's going to be a fast 10k. They were fast this year and they've been fast every Olympic Trials. And to deserve to be on the team, I'll have to be well under the 'A' standard (currently 31:45, subject to change).

FW: Do you train with that time in mind, or do you just sort of train to improve?
BR: Yeah, I definitely think a lot of my workouts are focused right around that, which should be a realistic time goal... It would have been a stretch — I would have had to be in the right race at the right time — for me to get that time this year, but hopefully, next year, I'll have one more year under my belt and I'll be a little bit faster and a little bit stronger.

FW: Have you been watching the World Championships at all?
BR: Actually, I haven't watched it at all (laughs). It's been a little hard to find on TV, I mainly check things online. I always see the results, and once you've seen them, they're only going to show the last 50 feet of the 10,000 anyway...

FW: But you do follow it with interest?
BR: Yes.

FW: Random question: At USA Indoors this year, there was a whole group of kids cheering for you, chanting your name. Who were they?
BR: A woman who I train with, Yasheka Taylor — actually, I don't train with her because she's a little fast for me, but she's an 800m runner and she ran nationals. She teaches and she brought all of her kids to the track to watch. I think it was their first track meet, so they were really excited. That's where all the kids came from... I had my own fan club there, it was cute.

(Interview conducted August 27, 2003, posted September 12, 2003)