But Lagat has some unfinished business on the outdoor track. Despite the fact that he’s beaten some of the world’s best, the 35-year-old former Kenyan sits fourth on the U.S. all-time list in the 5,000m—a position Lagat is hoping to change in his coming outdoor season.Running Times: What are your goals for the upcoming outdoor season?
Bernard Lagat: I want to run very fast at 5,000m. I haven’t been in very many races where the winner runs like 12:49 or 12:50. Normally, I get into races where the winner runs around 13:00. I’d love to get into a race where people take it out hard like 12:50. That kind of time—12:50 or 12:51—would be good for me. I would be really happy.
So if you run 12:50 that means you’d set the American record. Do you think you are in the kind of shape to pull this off?
BL: Oh yes, I think if the race is set up really fast like a 12:50 and I try to hang in there. In the race, I don’t think I’ll be thinking about the record. I’ll be thinking more about just being one of the top runners. To run 12:50 would be really great. It would also break the national record of 12:56 set by Dathan Ritzenhein, which is an awesome time. So it will give me something to do while I am trying to run my personal best of, say, 12:50.
Will you be doing anything differently in training to prepare for this record attempt outdoors?
BL: Yes. I’m heading to Flagstaff on April 1st. I normally do that every year. But when I’m there this year, I’m going to be focusing on endurance, working on long, nice runs—nothing less than 10 miles. We will be doing long tempo runs. We will be doing a lot of long hill work. We will be doing soft-surface repetitions as well, like on a golf course. We will be doing things this time around that will really get me ready for the 5,000m.
I’ve realized when you run the 5,000m, when they show seven laps to go, that is when the tempo sometimes picks up and I start to feel it a bit. We are going to be working on that feeling in the race. By training harder, we are going to get me physically capable to keep up that kind of pace. Let’s say the guys try to slip in a 59- or 60-second lap in there when we have five or six laps to go—that is the territory I have never been in. And it would hurt if I were not ready. So we are going to make sure my training will be ready to handle any kind of surge or sudden difference of pace. This isn’t a world championship year, so it is very important that we aim at something like the 5,000m and the 3,000m.
You are 35 years old and are beating some runners who are 15 years younger than you. How is it that you are running so well at your age?
BL: One of the things that I do is really good training. When I run 10 miles or even 15 miles I am running at a hard pace. I attribute it to my good training.
Now, more than ever, I am having so much fun. Before, I just wanted to win so badly. Even now, I hate when I lose, but I don’t beat myself up about it. I used to want to win all the time. Now I’m having so much fun. Being a family man, having kids, it makes me even more relaxed. When my kid comes to watch me train, I’m having a blast. My son is like my coach. It’s so funny. He does cooldowns with me.
But most important is my mental toughness. I tell myself that I am the toughest guy here. I have the experience. Some of these guys are even 16 years younger than me. But I say, “OK, you are a young guy, but when we square off, you know what? I’m going to be the winner, because I’m tough. I have the most experience. And I’m fast.” These are the things that are inside me. I’m not cocky. I just want to psyche myself up. I want to be the best. I think of a good workout that I did. And I know that I am ready for the race. There are a lot of things that come together. I’m enjoying it more than ever now.
Does it feel any different physically at 35 than, say, 25?
BL: I just need more rest. I can’t handle it week after week after week without a day off. I normally train six days with one day off. Let me tell you: By the time I go back to work Monday, I’m glad I had Sunday off. I feel so fresh on Monday that I’m ready to train again.
I know what works for me is taking care of myself. I know that I need to get more rest nowadays. I’m an active person, who doesn’t nap during the day, but I stay in the house with the kids and that makes me relaxed. You know, I don’t play video games. Some people relax with video games. My style is to play with the kids. My son and I play cards and read books. We go outside and play on the swings or ride a bike. He rides his bike and I ride mine. Our neighbors have horses so we just walk and look at the horses. I tend to relax more that way. It’s a really laidback life. It’s the kind of life that lets me train better.
Since your son’s last name is Lagat does that mean he tries to race you on the bike?
BL: Oh, exactly. But of course I give him a head start.
Does he like to run?
BL: Oh, he likes running. But my wife is from Vancouver, Canada. She grew up with hockey. So she bought him a puck and hockey stick. My son is coordinated. I’m surprised. He might actually be good at hockey.
Do you have any plans to move up to the marathon?
BL: Definitely. I would love to. I like the challenge of the marathon. That will come after one more try at the Olympics. I feel like right now I need to do what I’ve been doing and focus on getting a gold at the Olympics in London. That is my current ambition, but after that, I’d love to move up to the marathon.
Would you ever consider doing a half marathon before London or are you going to just focus solely on track events?
BL: I don’t know. It will depend on what my coach thinks. Maybe he’ll say I can do a road race, like a 10-miler. Maybe he’ll say, “Just go for it as a training run and see how you feel.” As long as I don’t risk anything then I’m happy to do it. I would love to do something like that. I do think road races would be really good. The New York Road Runners puts on the Fifth Avenue Mile and I really enjoyed the mile, so I think I would enjoy the 10-mile and everything like that. I would love to do something like that in the future.
Earlier, you brought up the mental aspects of racing. Do you do anything to hone your mental skills before the race, like meditation or positive mental imagery?
BL: I don’t meditate, really. What I do is go to a quiet place like an hour or two before the race. Sometimes I imagine the worst scenarios, not necessarily the best scenarios, because sometimes the race doesn’t go perfect, but gets perfect near the end. At the beginning I can get pushed and bumped. A lot of that has happened to me lately. And when it does happen, I want to know how I can regroup mentally. You can get cut. For example, look what happened to me in Berlin. It hurt and I couldn’t feel my toes. Sometimes that can throw you off. It happened to me in 2004 when I was stepped on and my shoe came off in the semifinal. Things like that happen. But when I step up to the starting line, I’ve already run the race several times in my head. I’ve thought about different options—how I will attack and how I will respond.
Are you ever nervous before a race?
BL: No. That’s the thing: At the world indoors, some runners asked me, “Are you ever nervous? Have you ever been really nervous, because we don’t see that.” And I was like, “No. I’m not nervous. I don’t know how nervousness feels. I wouldn’t be there if I weren’t ready. I’ve done this many times. This is nothing new.”
Seven years ago, your career was temporarily sidelined when your urine sample came back positive for EPO. You were then exonerated with a negative B sample. Still, this incident caused you a lot of hardship and threw some doubts as to whether you were running clean. Seven years later, do you think things have gotten better in terms of accurate drug testing?
BL: Thank you for asking that question, because it’s always a question I get and a question I’m always happy to answer.
It’s terrible what happened to me. Sometimes I think these things happened to me so that I can be the voice of change. From what I hear, things have really improved so much with EPO tests. It makes me feel confident that whenever I give my sample, the integrity of my sample throughout the whole process is going to be preserved. And that my samples will show the person that I am. It will be a clean sample.
But it should not be the other way around, where you give a clean sample and the process is not followed properly and so the test is not reliable and it taints you as a dirty athlete. That is something I fought really hard and I said that these tests need a lot of improvement, because I don’t want another athlete to go through what I went through. That was the toughest thing in my life. It’s something I will never forget. It’s always in my head. Sometimes I think about it and wonder what is the answer. I always get questions like this and I am happy to share, but one thing that my parents told me was that the truth will always come. And the truth came out that my sample was clean, and I’m glad. And now everyone across the world, from U.S. to Africa, knows that when they give out their sample, they will be protected as well. Every time I give out a sample, I know that the process has improved.
So you are saying you feel more confident with the system.
BL: Yes. I feel confident now. Before I did not feel confident. For years afterwards, I kept a huge amount of physical data and records about myself in my house in case they come again. I didn’t know what else to do. If they came again, I would say, “Well, let me look at all my records.” That was the only thing I could think of doing. I didn’t know what else to do. But now I am confident that the guys who are really dirty will always be caught.
You donated all your bonus monies from the indoor season this year to the Haiti Relief Fund. Are you interested in pursuing philanthropic endeavors like this when you retire? Are you considering starting a foundation?
BL: Yes, I would love to, especially a foundation that helps kids in terms of education in developing countries. Some of the kids in these countries are so smart. If they had access to a good education, it would improve their lives and make them the best people they can be. They can be able to go everywhere in the world. That’s my goal: To help kids from poor families get education. I don’t know which direction my career is eventually going to go, but God willing, I’m going to help out.
Duncan Larkin is a 2:32 marathoner and writer from West Chester, Pa. this piece is courtesy of running times
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