Pre-Race Interview with Peter Meindl, December 7, 2001

By Alison Wade

Peter Meindl on his way to a eighth-place, 15:04 finish at the 2001 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. (Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Peter Meindl Bio

Congratulations on winning the Northeast Regional. Is that what you were aiming for, the win?
No, I just wanted to qualify.

How did you feel in that race?
Pretty good. Really good.

You skipped the New York Federation Meet which is considered a big event in New York, why did you do that?
Just because it was so far (nearly 400 miles) from my house. I didn't want to do it two weeks in a row.

Were you surprised by your win at the regional?
A little bit, just because I wasn't really aiming for that. I didn't taper for it or anything like that.

But you obviously tapered this week?
I did workouts the Tuesday and Friday after the Regional, after that I just ran about 40-50 minutes and day, now I'm doing about 30-35.

What kind of mileage were you doing over the summer and did that change during the season?
Over the summer the most I did was about 75 miles. I usually did about 65-70 a week. During the season I did around 60-65 miles a week and two or three workouts per week, depending on how I felt.

What are your goals for tomorrow, do you think you can win the race?
Yeah.

What's your race strategy?
I don't want to get caught up in emotions. I don't want to go out too hard and I don't want to feel like I have to take the lead at any point and just go way too hard for a bit and then feel that my legs are dead. I just want to run a smart race. At the end I hope to still have a kick.

What did you learn from last year's race (when he finished 21st in 15:38)?
It was a good experience, I feel a lot more comfortable being here this year. I think it was just a little too much last year, to be down here with so many good kids, I just got a little nervous.

What went wrong in the race?
After running the first mile slowly my legs were still dead. I just think I peaked too soon.

The Northeast didn't do too well as a team last year, do you think you can do better this year?
Yes. Judging by the Regional performance we're much better. But who knows what will happen tomorrow.

You've been listed as a member of the Bios Track Club, what is that?
That's my coach's club, he was a Bio(logy) major.

Do you know where you want to go to college yet?
I've narrowed it down to a couple - Stanford and Villanova - but I'm not sure yet.

And what are your goals for track season?
Just to perform to my potential. I don't know what happened last year, track just didn't work out for me, I was really disappointed.

So what is your potential?
I don't know.

We'll find out?
Yes.