Interviews: Willy Kaul of UW-Oshkosh
 (Photo courtesy of DePauw University assistant coach Linda Skaggs)
Kaul is a junior at UW-Oshkosh. This past outdoor track and field season he finished 4th in the 10,000m and 11th in the 5,000m at the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships. During the outdoor track and field season he placed 6th on the Division III performance list with times of 14:33.87 in the 5k and 30:07.01 in the 10k. On October 14th he finished as the overall winner at the UW-Oshkosh Cross Country Invitational helping his team to a 3rd place finish. UW-Oshkosh is currently ranked 6th in the Week 5 Men’s Division III National Poll.
By: Keith Solverson (10/18/2006)
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself (where you're from, how you got started running)?
I grew up in Milwaukee, WI in a family of seven. I have two older bothers and an older and younger sister. We are a very competitive family so I think that has helped me to get where I am now. I was not really interested in running until my senior year of high school (I was a big basketball and soccer player all my life up to that point. My track coach convinced me to run XC and I had a lot of success doing it. I decided to quit basketball and soccer and I have not looked back.
What were your PR's in high school (cross country and track)?
XC 16:00, Mile 4:20, and 2 mile 9:28
What are your current PR's (cross country and track)?
XC 24:20, 5k 14:30, and 10k 30:07
What made you choose
Oshkosh?
Reeve Memorial Union
(photo courtesy of the UW-Oshkosh website)
The environment here is great, the school is great, the guys on the team are great, but most of all Zup. He is a great coach and a friend to me.
What was your training like this past summer?
I am a high mileage type of guy. I like to take it easy after track all through June and July. I keep mileage in the 50 to 60 mile range all the way up until the end of July. But once August, September, and October arrive I run a lot of 80, 90, and 100 mile weeks. I think it makes me so much stronger and I function well doing it. I don’t do any workouts over the summer, it is strictly mileage. It’s not unbelievably fast mileage, I take my easy days very easy, but my hard days are hard. My long runs are also a very important part of my training, I will get them up to 18 or so.
What is your favorite workout(s) during the cross country season and what does it include?
We focus on strength workouts, because that is all you really need during the XC season. We do a lot of tempos, fartleks, and long intervals with very little rest. I have two favorite workouts I do every year. One is two miles at race pace or faster, five miles at tempo, and then two miles all out at the end and that’s all a continuous workout. Or we do 8x1000 uphill all continuous. Run uphill and back down. It’s fun stuff.
What are your goals for this cross country season?
(Photo courtesy of DCRunner)
Well ultimately I would like out team to be a trophy team, and be a conference champion. We have the potential to do it and we have worked very hard this season. For myself, I think I have come a long way since my injuries and burn out I had last season. I would like to be one of those guys to look for at nations. You never know once you get there but I would like to put myself in that position to do well.
Is there anyone out there that you love to race (maybe a rival or someone you haven’t beat yet)?
I love racing the Calvin guys. They are the cream of the crop team wise, and we see them a lot during the season. They are a great group of guys and fun to race against.
What are your plans after college?
Well, I would like to run after college, but that’s too far away to know. I like to just focus on what is going on right now and then see what happens after school is over.
Who has been the biggest influence in your life and/or running?
My Pop’s by far has been the biggest influence in my life. He has taught me a lot of what I know, not only by telling me but by his actions. He is the most humble person that I know, and that keeps me humble. He is my #1 fan and hasn’t missed a race since I was a frosh in high school (he has taped every race since then too! Haha!) He was the first person who really got me interested in running because he runs a lot on his own. He used to kick my butt when I would run with him, but I guess it is a little different now. Haha!
On the day of a race, is there anything you do to mentally prepare yourself (i.e. pre-race routine.)?
I do eat the same thing every morning before a race. Oatmeal, a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich. I don’t listen to the “usual” music you would listen to before a race. I like to keep it calm and listen to bands like Coldplay, Copeland, and Mae( thanks to Patrick O’Brien). For the most part I get in a good warm up, do my drills, and stretch a bit. I go with the flow mostly because If I HAD to do the same thing before every race that would mess me up mentally with if I wasn’t able to do one of those things.
What's the running environment like at Oshkosh? Where does the team train?
Oshkosh Sports Complex
(Photo courtesy of the UW-Oshkosh athletics website)
It’s pretty flat here, and it’s not what you call a “running” town. We get a lot of “nice shorts” screamed out of windows. But it’s alright, we make them look gooooooooood! We have a sweet trail that I personally run on every day. It’s gravel, has lots of nature and goes on for about 25 miles. So we have plenty of running room.
What advice would you give to other runners who struggle through injuries and over-training?
Well being that I went through all that last year I can relate. I over-trained last summer and paid for it during the end of XC and indoor track. But at the same time it made me that much stronger for Outdoor and XC this season. Don’t give up and don’t panic if you get injured or over train. Take care of it, cross train, lift, do whatever it takes to stay in shape. It will all work out in the end.
Thanks to Willy for a great interview.
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Untitled Comment
3:57 PM, October 30, 2006
.. Posted by Anonymous
hey willy where do you train at during the summer?
training
8:20 PM, November 1, 2006
.. Posted by Anonymous
I train back home where i live. I\'m usually on the bugline/ menomnee park in Menomnee Falls, the parkway in wauwatosa, or down by the lakefront.
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