Interview with Shannon Rowbury

By Kevin Beck

Shannon Rowbury heads into the AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston this weekend as something of an unknown quantity. Her last track meet, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, was a memorable one for the San Francisco native, as she came back less than two hours after winning the mile to place second in the 3000 meters. But her 2007 outdoor season was scuttled by a femoral stress fracture, so the Duke University standout barely had time to celebrate her indoor achievements before realizing she was through as a collegian.

But Rowbury, 23, was far from done running. Continuing a graduate program in humanities with an emphasis in film studies at Duke, Rowbury signed with Nike as her injury healed and began training with multi-American record holder Shalane Flanagan and top mid-distance runner Erin Donohue.

Rowbury recently spent time in the mountains of Mexico at the La Loma High Altitude Center in San Luis Potosi. New York Road Runners tracked her down in Sarasota, FL, where Rowbury was taking advantage of the mild weather and local hospitality in preparing for the 3000 meters at indoor nationals this weekend.

NYRR: You've raced once since last winter/spring, correct?

Shannon Rowbury: Yes. I competed in the Seagate Elite 5K race in San Jose on Thanksgiving. It was great to make my professional debut so close to home. I had a lot of friends and family there, the course was fast, and the weather was perfect.

NYRR: That result (15:54) had to be encouraging.

SR: It was exciting to see that although it had been months since my last competition, my race instincts were still there. I had only done a few workouts leading up to the race, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a good gauge of where I was fitness-wise and what I needed to work on.

NYRR: You seem confident that you’re fitter than ever despite not having gotten any direct feedback yet. Can you elaborate on your perceived growth as an athlete in the usual terms of the game – speed, strength, and so on?

SR: I feel like a more complete athlete. Coach [John] Cook really emphasizes total fitness: core strength, flexibility, and upper-body, as well as lower-body training. While I had done some work in these areas in college, this is the first time I have ever treated the ancillary aspects of training with such a systematic approach.

NYRR: Any dedicated distance runner who’s been away from the track for an extended period is always antsy to jump back into the fray. Knowing you’re in the shape of your life has to have ratcheted up your eagerness to race.

SR: I don’t know that I would say I’m in the shape of my life. I still have a long way to go before I am on the same level as some of the other athletes out there, but it is certainly very exciting to go into a race knowing that you have prepared as well as possible. It will be nice to have a tangible measure of my fitness to eliminate the guesswork. I like to know where I am at, even if the information is less than desirable, because then I can really know where I need to go.

NYRR: Thanks to the fact that you were injured during your final spring of eligibility, you’ve actually competed in relatively few national championships, right?

SR: True. During my redshirt year (2006), I competed for the first time in the USATF outdoor nationals. It was a great eye opener for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be intimidated moving up to the professional level, but what I actually found was that I was thrilled by the new challenge. The only other national championship I competed in was the USA Cross Country [Championships] in New York that same year.

NYRR: You've run one steeplechase and remarked in the past that the event meshes well with your dancing background. With your recent emphasis on coordination- and rhythm-based drills and strength exercises, should we expect to see you over the barriers again?

SR: I don’t have any plans for the steeplechase at the moment. I figure I should count my blessings, and not try to push the envelope too far. I have a lot of work to do in the 800, 1500, and 5000, so I think I will spend some time working on those before I start adding anything else to my repertoire.

NYRR: Is your decision regarding what to focus on in June [at the Olympic Trials] likely to be influenced by what happens this weekend? More specifically, would a breakout 3000 sway you toward running the 5000, or have you not talked about this with your coach yet?

SR: I love the 1500, and as of now I am aiming for that. I don’t like to speculate too much. I figure that regardless of the outcome on Saturday, Coach Cook and I will do a lot of evaluating after the race. That said, I am always open to anything. Hopefully I can race well in the upcoming months, and leave myself with options.

NYRR: It seems standard for you to know far in advance when you’ll be doing an interval or tempo session, but you find out the workout details only at the last minute. Do you find this approach more relaxing?

SR: I never spent too much time thinking about workouts in college, I just prepared myself mentally if I knew I had a hard session. Training with Erin Donohue and Shalane Flanagan is on a higher level, though. Coach Cook teases me for asking a ton of questions, but I just want to know exactly how much the workout is going to make me hurt.

NYRR: You seem to have an unusually elaborate conditioning regimen. Including running, general strength, stretching, and throwing in formal mental prep with your coach and partners, how many hours a day would you say you spend training?

SR: I would say that training itself lasts about four to five hours or so. But I think any professional athlete will tell you that it’s more than just the hours on the road or in the gym; it’s a way of life. Practice doesn’t stop when the sports bra comes off. It’s the little decisions that set one athlete apart from another. I think this group does a really good job of keeping everything in balance, but as my college coach once said, running is a 24-hour-a-day job.

NYRR: How would you say you’ve adjusted to spending considerable stretches away from home for the first time?

SR: Pretty well, actually. I found that what I missed most in Mexico were the little things: my cell phone, peanut butter, news reports in English. I feel very fortunate to have John Cook as my coach. Besides having a deep understanding and knowledge of the sport, he is an incredibly supportive person. He treats the three of us like we’re his kids. It’s a neat dynamic. Plus, I have a very strong support network back home that I always know I can turn to.

In Mexico, German Silva, his wife, Miranda, and the people at La Loma were extremely kind and generous. In Sarasota, where Coach Cook lives, there is a great group of masters runners and high-school athletes who have welcomed us with open arms, not to mention Coach Cook’s wife, Mary, who has welcomed us into her home. While there are always little things that you miss about home, I don’t think I could ask for a more supportive environment while away.

NYRR: Shalane [Flanagan] has her schedule and you have yours, but at the same time, it can’t hurt your confidence to see someone you regularly do intense sessions with do things like demolish a national-class cross country field.

SR: Shalane is a very talented athlete, and more than that, she works extremely hard. I think all of us who have been around her lately knew she would have a good race in San Diego. Her workouts are slightly different than mine (often harder), but she is an amazing role model. Although she is still young, she is in her fifth year running for Nike. I feel fortunate to be able not only to learn from her, but also to be her friend. I don’t know if her performance necessarily correlates into a potential good race for me, but it certainly gets me excited to step to the line.

NYRR: Both you and Erin were originally entered in both distance events this weekend, and you both wound up sticking with the 3000. Was being in the same race – regardless of which one it turned out to be – part of the plan from the beginning?

SR: Not really. We both went through multiple scenarios for the spring. The general outline of our season is constant, but the specifics of our schedules are constantly in flux depending on where the good races seem to be developing. Ever since college, I knew that when Erin was in a race it would be a good one, so I am looking forward to toeing the line with her.

NYRR: As part of your masters degree program, you actually have a production role in a filmmaking festival called The Movie Making Marathon back at Duke, which is a little more involved than, say, just cramming for exams. How do you make all of the pieces fit?

SR: It is nice to have a mental distraction. Running is so physical that I like having a creative outlet. It helps keep me balanced. Although running is my number-one priority, I think I am a better athlete because it isn’t the one and only thing in my life, and as a result I can stay logical about my training and racing.

I can see how some other athletes might be pushed into unethical decisions because their sport is their only career option. I wanted to make sure that was never the case for me.

Interview conducted February 18, 2008, and posted February 20, 2008.