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Nick Willis: Commonwealth 1500m champion & Olympic contender
Star Kiwi miler, Nick Willis, needs little introduction. At 25, Nick has had an impressive career to date. His achievements include gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, first at the 2005 NCAA indoor mile and a 1500m finalist at the 2007 World Championships. With Beijing fast approaching we catch up with Nick and discuss the launch of his new website, his training, lead up to Beijing, as well as reflecting upon his career to date.
RunnersTribe: Nick, thanks for your time. You have just launched a new website, (www.willisrunning.com). What was the motivation behind the site?
NW: Firstly, I receive a lot of emails from media, friends and family, asking me where they can find information on my races etc. Those who are outside of the running bubble don't know how to scan the message boards for results, or find videos on sites such as flotrack. Hopefully through my website, media and fans will be able to get more direct information on upcoming races, so they can tune in during, rather than after my races. Secondly, with the Olympics coming up, I see this as a perfect time for me to share some of my beliefs, and hopefully provide some inspiration to young runners. I want to show the youth, that you can be a serious sports person, and still have faith. Many coaches preach that faith makes people soft off the sports field, but through my training and racing, I hope to show kids how faith only makes you stronger, especially in times of trouble.
2007 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Victory
RT: You have run some very solid races this year so far including a PR for one-mile (3:50.66) at the Prefontaine Classic, a 1:45 800m at the Reebok classic (in awful conditions), and a 3:35 first up 1500m at the Addidas Track Classic. How has the training been going since these races? Do you feel as though you are currently coming into the best form of your life?
NW: As I crossed the finish line, in the Prefontaine mile, I slightly strained my adductor muscle. What this did however, was force me to go back to easy running, and tempo pace workouts for a couple of weeks. I could run fine, but anything faster than 65 second pace, irritated the strain. I then had my wisdom teeth taken out, and had to take three days off to stop the bleeding.
These obstacles to my training turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise. At this point of the year, rest can be a really helpful thing. When you have the Olympic Games around the corner, the hardest thing to do, is take some days off. Illness or an injury often help it that sense. Many of my best races, have come after being forced to take a few days off because of a sickness.
Having said all that, my training has progressed really well in the last three weeks. I have put in some solid workouts, and kept up my core and agility training in the gym. As we head over to Europe on July the 18th, I feel ready to improve on my early season times, and to time my peak perfectly coming into Beijing. Had I not taken those two weeks of down time, there is a good possibility I would have overdone it, and peaked some time in late July, instead of when it really matters - August 19th.
RT: Looking back at the decisions you have made and the roads you have gone down thus far over your career. Do you feel the move to the University of Michigan all those years ago was the correct move as far as your running career is concerned?
NW: Yes, most definitely. There are so many reasons why the NCAA system worked so well for me, but probably the most important was my new training environment. In my first two years at Michigan, my coach taught me the benefits of cross country training. The strength I developed over the cross country seasons made track racing feel easy. I came from a 400m/800m racing background through most of high school, with one or two 1500m races a year. Without my team mates, extremely strong competition throughout the NCAA, and a motivating coach, I could not have pushed myself in the off season the way that I needed. My mileage went from 20-30 miles/week in High school, to 70-80miles/week. But because I had to face phenomenally fit competitors each week, it was easy to be motivated to work on that strength. My first cross country nationals I finished 27th running 30.20 for 10km. The next year I was 18th running 29.55. I hated finishing so far back from the winner, so my hunger to have an awesome track season following these defeats was huge.
Mayoral Mile Wanganui 2006 - Victory over Mottram
My sponsorship deal with Reebok would not have been possible without the NCAA/Letsrun.com platform either. So that is something I could not have dreamed of before coming over to Michigan. Having a coach, who was regarded highly by Reebok, really helped also. Purely from a sponsorship perspective, I would recommend guys like Ryan Gregson, and Dallas Bowden to come to the NCAA, to really boost their value.
If a foreigner wins some NCAA titles, and posts some fast times, their value to the shoe companies is much greater than if they get 10th running a fast time at a European GP. Unless you are making finals at major championships, sponsorships are very meager for non-NCAA athletes.
Sponsorship is not everything by any means, but it sure helps the best athletes train and travel the way they need, in order to win the medals.
RT: How do your deep religious beliefs help or impact on your running career? Is this something you see yourself devoting your time to once your running days are over?
NW: My faith is the foundation of who I am whatever I am doing. Running is a really really tough sport. There is no place to hide when I line up for a race, but I take great confidence that God's love for me will not change whether I win, or finish last. There are many Olympic champions who do not believe in God, but I still believe that He has granted them with the health and amazing talents to be able to train and race the way they have. My faith is not so that I run faster; it's just what I believe to be the truth. I believe in Jesus Christ, that He died on a cross, and rose again three days later. This is what gives me hope, inspiration, and motivation. I believe that through Jesus' sacrifice, anyone can ask for forgiveness and be invited into heaven as part of God's family. Whether I coach, teach, sit in an office, or own a business after my running career is over, my forgiveness from Jesus will still be the same, and so I will continue to share that with others.
RT: You are down to run the double (800m and 1500m in Beijing). The 800m heats kick off the day after the 1500m final, do you think backing up will be a problem?
NW: It will definitely be a challenge, and also somewhat of a guessing game how I will feel after running three rounds of the 1500m. The 1500m is my primary goal, and I will focus 100% on that before even thinking about the 800m. This is the Olympic Games though, so you never want to turn down an opportunity to race on the world's greatest stage. Who knows? Maybe I could turn out to be a better 800m runner that 1500m runner? 800m racing in a championship is very different to that in grand prix meetings. Often the races are run with negative splits, which will suit my style of racing.
RT: Leading into Beijing, I see you are down for two 800m races (London GP on July 25, and the Karelia Games on August 3rd) and just one 1500m (Herculis Grand Prix on July 29). What are you reasons for racing the 800m races, when the 1500m is your main goal?
NW: We have really tried to improve my ability to relax while running at a fast pace this year. Running 800m races helps me get into the rhythm of running fast, then when I step up to the 1500m, the pace feels extremely easy comparatively. After the 2007 season finished, I studied a huge amount of old race videos that were available online. The major trend I noticed was that most of the top milers of the 70's and 80's were also great 800m runners. Coe, Ovett, Cram, Bayi, Elliot, Boit, Walker, Vandam, all could run at least 1.44 over two laps. After missing out of the final in Athens, I moved towards improving my strength, which was not a bad move in theory, but it was at the expense of my speed. If I can get down to 1.44 in the Finland race, then it will give me huge confidence going into Beijing, that I will be able to kick with anyone on a tactical race. If it becomes a fast final, then the speed will help me cope with the early pace.
RT: Nick, thanks for your time. Good luck for Beijing as well as your website. We hope to catch up with you post Beijing, hopefully reminiscing on Olympic glory.
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