Interview with Dennis Barker

By Rachel Wallack

Dennis Barker coaches some of America’s most promising young distance runners at Team USA Minnesota, a training program for professional athletes—primarily from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest— in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The group was founded in January 2001, with Carrie Tollefson, Katie McGregor, Jason Lehmkuhle, and Matt Gabrielson all joining by the summer of that year. New members in 2007 include Emily Brown, Michelle Lilienthal, Mandi Zemba, and Antonio Vega.

Barker has been the coach of Team USA Minnesota since its inception. An NJCAA All American in college and a top local postcollegiate runner, he brings much personal experience to the team. Barker is also the head men’s and women’s track and cross country coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Along with coaching both teams full-time, he manages to fit in some running of his own.

New York Road Runners: Your team and others like it provide group training and support to talented postcollegiate runners. What is Team USA Minnesota all about and how do you select individuals for the team?

Dennis Barker: The whole idea of our group is to get people onto U.S. national teams to compete internationally and to keep being competitive. We're trying to achieve a very high level in the sport. It's almost a mutual selection process [in choosing athletes for the team]. The athletes need to feel comfortable here and fit in with the program and what we're trying to achieve; they need to believe in the group and the methods.

NYRR: Part of the benefit of Team USA Minnesota is the group dynamic and shared commitment to the program. How do you maintain the balance between group training and individual programs?

DB: We never want more than 15 in the group. There's always 12 to15 and a balance between men and women. We plan to keep it that way. We want to make sure that the people we have get a lot of attention, not just from me, but as far as coaching, the board, the medical team, and the physical fitness they require.

They all warm up together and then there may be four different workouts going on-it depends on what events people are focusing on at the moment. A 5K runner will sometimes train with someone training for a 10K or 15K, and it can benefit both of them. Carrie might be prepping for a 1500 and Katie for a 10K. They'd do some workouts together. It would help Katie improve her speed and Carrie improve her endurance.

They also do a lot of their easier runs together as group. It's mostly split along male/female lines because of the times, but group work is beneficial. Guys sometimes chide Carrie for pushing the pace. Katie does it too, when they start talking and the pace goes up pretty good.

NYRR: You have retained a lot of your runners, but you still manage to pull new athletes into the group. How does this affect the dynamic and how do you make it work?

DB: It’s really important to be surrounded by a group with positive goals. You have to be careful to individualize it so people are doing the best workout to help them each day. Sometimes it means they’re doing something on their own and sometimes they’re working in the group.

It’s why I ride my bike with them; I can provide individual attention and conversation. Warm-up and cool-down are usually about three miles and if Carrie, Katie, and Michelle are in the group there is a lot of chatting. We can cover a whole range of topics. One of the strengths of the group is that they like one another and get along. I talk to almost everyone every day.

NYRR: What are the benefits of training in Minneapolis-St. Paul and how does it help the runners when they compete?

DB: The winter weather was so bad this year that we did more strength and endurance training, rather than speed training. Winter training here has been a natural advantage and it sort of forces you to do things in a certain way to build a lot of strength. Now we're doing more track workouts and they're going well. When the weather gets nice, it comes around pretty quickly. When you step on the track, you're in good shape already.

NYRR: What are your main coaching philosophies and pieces of advice you've taken from your own running experience and adopted for use as a coach

DB: Basic principles apply to everyone no matter how fast or slow they are. Within that, it's really important to individualize it. You need to pay attention to things that come up one on one, psychological or otherwise. I ride a bike with Michelle and talk to her while she's running. Those kinds of things really give a runner confidence; you're paying attention to what they're doing.

I've read and talked to so many great coaches and people, and I take little bits from all over and put it together in my own thing. It's not that radically different from others, but I package it a little differently, and I think it works.

NYRR: Your own running success must earn you extra respect from your runners. Do you continue to run?

DB: I jog now. I enjoy longer runs on the weekend and being by myself. I use the time to think intensely about workouts and different individuals. This slowed me down the other day on a long run, and I ended up walking. I was solving issues as I went. I like the time by myself to organize and think about each individual.

I ran some of my best times in my 30s, training on my own--I learned a lot at that age that would have helped me as a younger runner. Having that experience and applying it to the younger runners—calming them—helps. It’s really gratifying when they trust you enough to do that and have more success. As people increase their confidence and see Katie, or others, succeed, it brings everyone up.

NYRR: How have recent successes—Lehmkuhle’s fifth place PR at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials—Men’s Marathon in New York last year and second place in the USA Half-Marathon Championships this year and Carlson’s win in the USA 15K Championships and second place just a week later, in the 8K Championships this year—affected individuals and the team as a whole?

DB: I’m never surprised when we have success, but the recent ones were part of what we were doing at the time. Some people, like Andrew, who’s had some good races, have confidence going into the season; even without too much work he’s already in really good shape.

NYRR: In this Olympic year, how are you preparing your Team USA Minnesota athletes for the various Olympic Trials races? Who’s shooting for what spots at this point?

DB: We started last fall; you have to have a pretty good base to have a strong season. Most of the group has qualified for the [Olympic] Trials: Katie in the 10K, Carrie in the 1500 or 5K, Andrew and Matt in the 5K, and Jason is running the 10,000 in the [Olympic] Trials too.

Michelle’s the only one in the Olympic Trials [Marathon]. Our biggest challenge has been her severe bouts of plantar fasciitis. Cross-training has been a huge part of her preparation. There were times she did up to five hours of cross-training per day. Now the foot’s good and the training has gone really well leading up to it [the race]. The road work had been real nice{Editor's Update: Michelle placed 85th at the Trials with a time of 2:48:46].

We’re getting in good, solid training and looking for tune-up meets. We’re geared toward the Trials right now and trying to get them to make the team. The way we train, whether people make the team or not, their season will be extended here or at other races. Even if they do make the team, there will be races in between the Trials and the Olympics. And [if they don’t make the team] there are still European track races and other U.S. championships; we’re planning on racing all through the summer.

NYRR: Is all of the talk of pollution and tough conditions ahead in Beijing affecting your training plans for the athletes?

DB: It’s going to be hot in Beijing and we know how to train for heat. We’re addressing the issues of heat and humidity in training. It sounds like the Chin ese are doing a lot about pollution, along with USATF, so I’m not worried about it because you can’t prepare for that. We’re only preparing for what we can—the hot weather.

Interview conducted April 15, 2008, and posted April 23, 2008.