Nick Symmonds Interview
Pretty Princess Girls:
Hi Nick! Thank you sooo much for doing this! We’re huge fans and super stoked you’re taking time out to answer questions for a girlie blog 
. And just to show that we’re actually fans of your running, we’ll start with a racing question. We loooove watching you run. You have this fire like you know you could be the next Johnny Gray or Sebastian Coe. We are pretty big believers in having no limits in life, and we’d be so excited to someday see you be the guy to take over Johnny Gray’s record… or even …Kipketer’s. Since the 1:43, does that kind of thinking enter your mind, or do you try to stay away from going too far ahead?
Nick:
I always knew that to really be considered world class I would need to have a 1:43 under my belt. It seems that generally speaking the people who win world medals have all achieved this. Now that I have done that I will definitely be focusing on improving my PR. I already feel that I have what it takes to win a medal, but perhaps a little more strength would help me through the rounds even more. While I’m not entirely focused on American or World Records at the moment, I am excited that 2010 is an "off" year (i.e. no global championship) because it will allow me to really train hard and try to improve on all my PR’s from 400m to 1500m.
Pretty Princess Girls:
Well, we’re definitely super excited to watch you improve even more.
When we used to ask our track coach for advice before a race he’d say, "Run fast, Turn left". Yup. That’s it. We figured your coaches have a little more inspiring words in their vocab. What really gets your head focused before a race?
Nick:
Haha that reminds me of my first race. I was 14 and about to compete in a 5k cross country race and the night before I asked my dad (who ran XC in high school) what his advice was. He said, "go out in first and stay there." Obviously, I have refined my tactics a bit since then, but there is something to be said about not over thinking before a race. A race is a dynamic thing that changes form from second to second and it is the person that is able to adapt to these changes the best that will ultimately succeed. These days my coaches simply tell me that I have trained smarter than my competition and that my racing instincts are sharper. That is all I need to hear to totally believe that I can beat the field.
Pretty Princess Girls:
Yeah, we’ve actually noticed in bigger races this season you’ve been trying out different strategies outside of your comfort zone by going with the feel of the race. It’s super exciting because it does seem like you really do race “in the moment”.
Speaking of being focused, we know you we’re a Sigma Chi, so do you still struggle between your inner frat boy and your good boy? Or are you on your best behavior these days?
Nick:
I’ve always said that my running talent is my biggest blessing and my biggest curse. On one hand it has allowed me to have so many amazing experiences and see so many incredible places. It has kept me out of trouble and given me a love for living a healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, my nature is to be spontaneous and to give in to the inner frat boy…the part of me that likes to stay out late and drink beer! I think that I have been able to find a happy medium and for me it is this balance that allows me to compete so hard. If I give in to either side too much I find that I’m unable to really run due to either mental or physical fatigue.
Pretty Princess Girls:
Ha ha, to party, or not to party – the ongoing dilemma of a young athlete .
No matter how many big races you run, being an Olympian is seriously cool. Do you ever just trip out and think, "I’m an Olympian. No really, I’m totally an Olympian."?
Nick:
Until I became an Olympian I used to day dream about it every single day. I thought that my life would totally change once I made a team and that I would redefine myself by that accomplishment. Now that I can call myself an Olympian, I can say that nothing has changed at all! I am extremely proud of that accomplishment, but it was one of many goals that I have set for myself. I’ve found that each time I accomplish a goal, it then pales in comparison to my next goal. As soon as I had won the Olympic Trials, my new goal was to be an Olympic Medalist and suddenly being an Olympian didn’t seem that impressive in my own eyes. Its weird how it works that way. In one sense it is sad because I’m never satisfied, but also I think that it is this constant desire to improve that makes me the athlete that I am.
Pretty Princess Girls:
Yeah, it seems like people who work really hard to achieve amazing things in life tend to always be hungry for even more amazing things to achieve, but since we’re not Olympians we still think it scores you serious cool points.
k…gossip time. Who are your biggest frenimies in racing? You know…guys who are your bro’s off the track, but they’re totally going down in a race, or else.
Nick:
Haha frenimies! Great term. The funny thing about guys is that we are able to be totally cool with each other off the track, but once we step on the track we will do everything in our power to absolutely destroy the other guy. I love every guy on the Oregon Track Club and would do just about anything for them, but when the gun is fired I will cut them off, elbow them, shove them, do just about anything legal to make sure that I get to the finish line first. Its nothing personal, simply that my job is to win no matter who I’m competing against. I’ve found that internationally I get along best with fellow 800m runners and I spend most of my time with them. However, we have a mutual understanding that on the track there are no friendships until the race is over.
Pretty Princess Girls:
We actually love Andrew Wheating too, but we’d totally trip him for you in race, haha – don’t tell him we said that 
.
And speaking of racing Andrew Wheating, The Olympic Trials race was hands down our favorite race. ever. We can’t lie, we’ve YouTube’d it more times than we can count. We’ll never get sick of watching it. Do you feel like a broken record talking about it? And do you ever YouTube it and get butterflies all over again? Maybe just a little?
Nick:
I still feel that that was the finest race I have run to date. I executed my race plan perfectly and PRed while competing under the most pressure I’ve ever faced. So, of course I don’t get tired of talking about it! That remains the greatest day of my life and I do occasionally go back and watch it. Although, now I prefer to watch peoples’ home recordings of that day because it is not the outcome or the race, but rather the reaction from the crowd that gets me fired up!
Pretty Princess Girls:
Yeah, we’ve been to Hayward Field, and it’s for sure the best crowd in US Track and Field, but we’ve never been there for anything like the stadium was during your race that day. The home movies from the crowd are probably pretty unforgettable.
We’re such big track and field fans and we’re always super bummed at how little TV coverage there is even when there are huge events. Like during Berlin, our stations covered a few hours on the weekends and we couldn’t watch any of the heats unless we went online. We think there are so many amazing athletes in the sport with these incredible stories that go unknown to mainstream America. Since you’re um…ya know…like…handsome, haha, would you welcome attention for things other than your running if it brought the fans to the sport? Like would you take hottie pictures for GQ magazine?
Nick:
LOL =) I feel that anything I can do to help market the sport of track and field is something I would be interested in. I’ve done a few things that might be considered "out there" to help market my sponsors products and to grow my fan base. Running naked through the hills of California for a Nike commercial comes to mind… So, yeah, if GQ magazine needs a 5′10" 160 lbs. runner for its pages then I’m down!
Pretty Princess Girls:
Haha – we we’re too shy to say anything, but since you brought it up… we maybe, might have YouTube’d the Nike video too 
.
We think it’s so amazing that you get to travel and run in places like Monaco and Valencia. When you’re in foreign countries, are you always just hardcore training, or do you ever get to just go on a run and take in whatever beautiful place that you’re in?
Nick:
It is incredible how many places we get to see when we compete. For the most part we get to see the airport, hotel, and track of these cities, but I do my best to schedule a few days after competitions to see the country. After Valencia last year I took a week vacation to travel to the north of Spain and am planning a tour of Egypt after this year’s World Indoor Championships. As with anything in life, these opportunities are what you make of them, and I try my hardest to take full advantage of the incredible trips running takes me on.
Pretty Princess Girls:
We’re total music nerds, so we’re always curious about what people like. What are 5 songs that have to be in the soundtrack of Nick Symmonds’ life?
Nick:
Ohh this is going to be a tough one. I listen to just about everything so I will give you a very eclectic mix here. These five are GUARANTEED to be on my ipod.
- Guns N Roses "Sweet Child of Mine"
- Built to Spill "Car"
- TV on the Radio "Love Dog"
- Lil Wayne "You Aint Know"
- Santogold "You’ll Find A Way"
Pretty Princess Girls:
Lil Wayne huh? So Nick gets crunk sometimes .
Ok… last one… since you’re one of our boy crushes, do you have a celebrity crush?
Nick:
The only thing I want more than an Olympic gold medal is Shakira
Pretty Princess Girls:
Ha ha, well, we can’t hook you up with Shakira, but we promise we’ll be cheering you on for the gold medal in 2012!
Thank you soooo much Nick, and tons of good luck in all your future races!
Nick Symmonds Racing
if you’ve never watched Nick race…go do it…
Nick Symmonds 2009 USA Track and Field Championships 800m »
Nick Symmonds 2008 Olympic Trials 800m »
Nick Symmonds 2007 Prefontaine Classic 800m »
if you’ve seen Nick race…go do it again!
