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ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHONNovember 1, 2013Jason HartmannNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. So to make your debut at the New York City Marathon, what would it mean to you if you won this marathon? JASON HARTMANN: Well, if I won, it would be not only an incredible race for me, but it would be a life changing thing. You know, my goal on Sunday is just to finish as high as I can and not place that level of expectation on myself. I think everybody's goal is to try to maximize their race, and that's my goal as well. Q. How would it be life changing? JASON HARTMANN: Just the notoriety, and I think it obviously would be the pinnacle of my running success. In those kind of ways, I guess. Q. And having won in Boston earlier this year, do you have any security concerns here going to New York? JASON HARTMANN: I have no security concerns. With the experience at Boston, and I was a part of the Chicago marathon a couple weeks ago, and they're doing everything possible to make the event safe. So I feel comfortable with everything that's happened here thus far. Q. And you won in Boston twice now. What were your thoughts when the bombing happened? JASON HARTMANN: At the time, I was so far away from it, and I was just responding to text messages and being really happy with the results of my race. So I went from joy to complete sadness. It's an experience that you can't really explain because of the human element that you're just‑‑ you don't know what's going to happen next. As relieved as I was crossing the finish line, I was equally getting back home to Denver, to the airport. It was a whirlwind of emotions. Q. I know you're not sponsored yet, and you've been placing so high in Boston. What would a good performance on Sunday mean hopefully for sponsorship? Your career can only last so long without a sponsorship. JASON HARTMANN: To be quite honest, I don't make those decisions. The only thing I can worry about is myself and trying to prepare myself as best I can. So that's the things I focus on. Those are‑‑ those decisions are out of my control. I run for myself and my family and my friends. Those are things that I take great pride in. It's not about a logo or jersey. It's about making my family and friends proud. Q. Has not having a sponsor impacted your training or anything like that at all? JASON HARTMANN: You know, there's sometimes I buy shoes, but overall, I can't really say it's impacted‑‑ it's made me definitely more hungry. You know, when you're in a situation where sometimes you feel underappreciated, but it doesn't motivate me to get a sponsorship. It motivates me to try to do the best I can and maximize my performances as best I can. That's kind of things I worry about. Q. After coming so close to making a couple of podiums, how badly do you just want to take that next step? JASON HARTMANN: Well, it would take a heck of a performance on Sunday. It will happen. If it happens, great. If it doesn't and I maximize my performance that I feel proud of, that's what I'll take. I've been close, but it's just kind of a sport, like you just never know what's going to happen on the day. We'll see. Q. What kind of an effort do you think it's going to take on Sunday to get there? JASON HARTMANN: It would take my best effort. It would take really a performance of‑‑ you know, my best performance ever. That's what I expect to have that level of performance, you have to expect better than you've ever done before. So that's kind of where I'm at with it. Q. How are you feeling coming off the training and after pacing Dathan a few weeks ago? JASON HARTMANN: To be quite honest, I can't really complain about where my fitness is at. You know, I'm confident in the things I've done. We'll see Sunday if I did the right things. You know, you can have perfect training blocks and not workout. You can have bad training blocks and have a spectacular day. The element where you can't control is the day. So whatever happens will happen. Q. I know you don't have a coach. How does that work for you? It's working for you so far. Why do you not have a coach? JASON HARTMANN: I think at my age‑‑ I'm 32 now. So I've been through a lot of coaches. You know, I've evolved and learned a lot. And so at this point in my career, I balance two hats, the side of coaching and the side of being an athlete and trying to make the situation work to maximize performance. And so I have to be honest with myself and then tread the line of not overdoing it. So it takes‑‑ I like the responsibility. One day I want to be a coach. I just like the responsibility knowing that I'm the one pushing myself to get out the door. I'm the one responsible for everything. If I fail, it's because of me. So I like those things. Q. Who do you bounce ideas off of? JASON HARTMANN: I kind of use the knowledge that I acquired from the coaches that I had success under, and then if I'm really struggling, I'll talk to Dathan about it and bounce some ideas off him because he's someone I respect as not only a friend but a training partner. So I'll go to him for advice on stuff. Q. What are you most looking forward to for your first New York? What do you think is going to be the coolest part of the course, the most strategic part? JASON HARTMANN: I'm just‑‑ I mean, I'm looking to just have a good performance. It will be exciting from the very beginning to the very end, probably much like Boston is. So it's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to experience it. I'm just excited for the opportunity. Q. So going back to your coaching, you're coaching Elise; is that right? How is that going, with the perspective on running? JASON HARTMANN: It brings me back to when I was her age. It allows me to focus on other things other than myself. So trying to accomplish her goals and the things she has set up towards the beginning of the season, it's a lot of pressure. So I try to the best I can and maximize her performances and try to put her in position to where she can accomplish her goals. It puts pressure on me to run well because, if I don't run well, I'm worried about her firing me. Q. That's true. So once your career is over, do you see yourself coaching full‑time? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, coaching full‑time, probably at the Division I level. That's where I feel my progression is, to do that. Q. How much longer do you think your career is going to go? How much longer do you want to keep pushing? JASON HARTMANN: I can't answer that question. My thought process is November 3rd, and we'll see what happens from there. One day I could be running, and then be like, no, I don't want to do this anymore. As nerdy as it is, Forest Gump, when he's running, and you're like, you know, I don't want to do this anymore and just stop. I could see that happening to me, and, boom, put my energy in other things. Q. You said that it would take your best effort to get on the podium here. Are you confident you've set yourself up to do that? JASON HARTMANN: Well, I can't say. It's hard to put a place and stuff like that. I've trained really well. I have no regrets with the things I've done. If I fall into a place like that, then I fall into it. But we're talking about probably the deepest field, one of the deepest fields they've ever had, and I'm not naive to the fact that it's going to take a Herculean effort for me to do something like that. But the Boston Red Sox finished last this past year. This year they won the World Series. Anything can happen in sports. I don't try to put limitations on myself. Q. Regardless of place, though, I guess in terms of running‑‑ I mean, if your best performance ever comes out sixth, more like where you think you're at in terms of what you've done in the past? JASON HARTMANN: As far as like‑‑ Q. I know you've run 2:11. I don't know what you judge as your best performance ever on a course like New York. JASON HARTMANN: I think‑‑ I look at it as more place. If you look at times, PRs and stuff like that, if I'm getting beat by guys that have run substantially faster than me, am I going to have regret about it? No. But at the same time, I want to try to execute a plan that maximizes my performance to put me in position to beat those guys. My race is more falling into finishing high rather than banging it out and running against guys that run substantially faster than me. I have to capitalize on other people's mistakes to maximize my performance. Q. Are you confident that, in trying to master how to get through a marathon, do you fear ever‑‑ people say you go through those really bad stages or when you hit mile 20. It seems like you've been pretty consistent lately. JASON HARTMANN: Yeah, but there's always that concern that you're always riding the line. New York, you don't know‑‑ I've never run New York. So managing the course and then also your effort are a difficult task in itself. Any time you run a marathon, those are things you have to deal with anyway. So do I worry about it? I don't lose sleep over it. Q. What would you say is your strongest tactic? Like how you race. What would you say is your best tactic? JASON HARTMANN: I think the ability to read my body and assess situations. That's probably my strongest suit, and that just comes from years of running and years of being in tune with my body. Coaches expected me to give them feedback in that area. So that's kind of allowed me to become a good marathoner and have success in a marathon. For being a big guy and all the things that people‑‑ they look at me and don't see me as the norm. So I have to be even more in tune with what's going on. Q. So a lot can go wrong over 26 miles? JASON HARTMANN: Yeah. Q. It's key to be in tune so you know what's going on. JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. I read somewhere that you run every race like it's your last one. Are you going into Sunday with that mindset? JASON HARTMANN: That's the mentality I take. I don't train really for the future. I train for now. And whatever happens, I'll step to the line, and whatever happens, I am not going to have regret about it. I'm not going to look in the past and be like, oh, I should have done this. I should have done that. I live with it, and whatever happens happens. Q. I know you said you're just focusing on Sunday and this and that, but do you have any future plans for next year looking forward? JASON HARTMANN: I have Elise Krany hopefully finishing high at NXN, so that's kind of where I'll transition into being strictly focused on what she's doing. That's kind of where I'm at right now. Q. Do you see yourself running Boston again next year? JASON HARTMANN: I see myself running New York November 3rd. Q. Jason, let's talk a little bit about your coaching and how it's impacted you as an athlete and how your athletic experience impacts your coaching and vice versa. JASON HARTMANN: I've been fortunate enough to have some great coaches and really learned a lot from them. So applying the times where I've had success and learning from those successes and trying to apply those things to what I do in my training to maximize my performance. So just really taking experience from my past races is what I try to maximize. Q. Not looking past last Sunday, but after your career is over, whatever that may be, do you see yourself kind of expanding your coaching role and maybe diving deeper into that? JASON HARTMANN: Definitely. I see myself coaching at the Division I level and hopefully try to win national titles and put my efforts into doing that and maximizing kids' goals and all those things that are really important for development. Q. You've worked with a lot of good coaches. What's the best coaching advice you ever received? JASON HARTMANN: Run easy. That's probably the advice that is very beneficial for everybody. Q. With the American field, we have a strong American field coming back, what's it like to be a part that have? JASON HARTMANN: Feels great. The thing about New York is it puts a fantastic field together of highly competitive race. So just here to compete. Q. Jason, tell me about how you come in after Chicago, how that Chicago experience will help you in the race Sunday. JASON HARTMANN: Well, I just rabbited the 5K for the lead group and checked off and helped Dathan for the next 10K. About 4K in, I was like, holy crap, these guys are fast, and these guys are doing it for 42K. Most importantly, just taking away the experience and the excitement of what the marathon is and what it brings, the crowds of people, their excitement, and them cheering for you. Q. But in the sense that‑‑ I remember Matt ran his debut here in 2002. He made the move up Fifth Avenue, trying to get rid of Tsegaye. Didn't have it in his legs to go all away. I said, Matt, you know what it's like to lead the New York City Marathon going up First Avenue. You can't know what that's like back there. Irrespective of what your job was, you know what it's like to be in the lead of a world marathon major at damn near world‑record pace. At some point, it's almost like a speed workout in the sense that psychologically you know exactly where those lines are. Does it‑‑ that's what I'm saying. Does it help discrimination for you where you are, and what it is they may well be doing and how close to that line you have to play it? JASON HARTMANN: Definitely. And also, there's an element of pressure too. Like you're the point man to make this race happen. They wanted a fast pace, and they wanted someone they could trust and rely on. Fortunately for me, they called me to do the job. So it just worked out. It was a good training effort and just something I couldn't do at altitude and run that same effort. Q. Yeah, exactly. But what's your goal here? What would make you happy at the end of the day? JASON HARTMANN: To finish as high as I can. I think that's my goal. I don't really place a time goal or a place goal. I'll let the race unfold as it does and try to maximize my performance. Q. Jason, I hate to ask about last year again, but what do you remember cupping into the city? Are there any images or any things that really stand out that you remember? JASON HARTMANN: I'd say the‑‑ I guess the lack of life in the city. You walk around, you see people everywhere this year. Last year you didn't really have that. A lot of areas where they didn't have power. So those are two different things I see already. Just the energy is so much better this year than it was last year. Q. Which one of your fourth places in Boston was better? JASON HARTMANN: I'd say the first one, to be quite honest. Q. Why was that? JASON HARTMANN: Missing out on a lifelong goal and not making the Olympic team, finishing 32nd place and then coming back when your back's against the wall and there's a lot of things that weren't going right for me at the time. And just kind of making a race like that and maximizing my performance like that. Q. That's what happened to Bill Rodgers. He got 40th in the Olympics in 1976 and two months later runs 2:10:10 in New York City and completely redeemed himself. Things can happen. JASON HARTMANN: Yes. Q. And before Boston, you were saying this might be my last marathon. JASON HARTMANN: Like that's even how I perceive things now is I don't live for tomorrow or train for the future. I train for now. I take great satisfaction in that. I just don't want to have any regrets about things like that. Q. I think you said that in Boston. No regrets, just work as much as I can right now. Why is it you seem to do so well tactically in marathons? You know, you're right there. Some people just have the mentality to be able to know when to go, how close to the line to take it. What is it about you and marathons? 6'3", 160, there's not a ton of you guys floating around. JASON HARTMANN: No, there's a very limited amount of people. I'd say I'm playing chess, not checkers. I feel like I have a better gauge in how things are going now in situations where I need to check off. So I'd say just the knowledge, and most people don't get this far. I'm 32. So I've been in this sport as a professional for eight, nine years. It's been a learning experience. And most people don't take that learning experience this long. Q. Painful. JASON HARTMANN: It's been painful, that's for sure. Q. What gives you the confidence now in your preparation? Anything specifically that you can tell us about why this cycle has gone especially well? JASON HARTMANN: I think I've been really consistent. I don't really focus on a workout, per se. I just kind of monitor how I'm feeling in training. I don't really do the same loops that I've done before. I think it's just‑‑ for me it's too much pressure to have to live up to what I did before. So I like to change things up and have a perspective as I train for a marathon. Q. Who knows what the weather is going to be, sort of changing the page, windy and stuff like that. With no pacers, how do you‑‑ you did this in Boston as well. How do you find your rhythm? Are you used to training by yourself? Do you train by yourself? JASON HARTMANN: In Missouri, I'm going by myself. The majority of my runs, I'm going by myself. I'll jump in with Brad Hudson for long runs and things like that. But I'm solely responsible for the things I do, and I have to be more in tune with the things that are going on. I don't worry about‑‑ I try not to worry about what other people are doing. I think for me it used to take me out of my game, and we used to talk about how great a shape they were in and I did this workout that would indicate this. I don't read any interviews. I try to stay away from it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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