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Meet The Guest
Steve Lisgo
Currently at the Euro U23 Championships Steeplechase runner Steve Lisgo takes time to speak to RunnersLife about life in the USA.
Having won bronze at the NCAA Championships, running 8.05 for the 3k it has been a very succesfull year so far and a medal in British vest would cap it all of very nicely!.
Q. So how has your first year in the states gone?
A. Outside of running it has been okay, I have lived a far more simple life than ever before but boring guys run fast right?! Saying that though we still have a lot of laughs just not the 24 hours a day of stupidity which became the norm in Leeds.
Running highlights have been running 8.05 for 3k and 1.51 for 800m during the winter months and obviously my NCAA medal.
Low points have been...every XC race. I was so unfit when I started Butler! I had it all on coping with the training load never mind racing, I was knackered all the time. Hopefully this year I can help the team out though.
Q. You are with fellow Brits Darren and Kris Gauson as well as Tom Boardman out there, did that make it easier to adjust?
A. Having a few Brits out there does help but only with little things really. Like chatting about football, Kris is a Newcastle fan and Joe Mac is a Man United fan so I throw a lot there way. But they give as much as the get and to be quite honest a Sunderland fan is somewhat an easy target. I have a funny relationship with Kris, or piss as I like to call him, yes it is that immature. We just belittle or humiliate the other one where ever possible. But he is a great guy and the most talented athlete ever! He was out injured for ever then came back and ran a 4 minute mile - crazy! Although if I am to show him that level of respect I cannot go without sharing with whoever has enough spare time to read this interview how much he looks Beavis from Beavis and Butthead.
But on a more serious note Andy Baker, Tommy Davies and Darren Gauson were great for us new guys this year, they just shared with us all they had learnt the year prior which really helps when you're tout of your comfort zone trying to make a go of this running thing.
Q. What is the main difference to training out there?
A. Hard to pinpoint because every College is different but the difference between what we do at Butler and what is the norm here in the U.K (session Tues, Thurs, Sat, Long run Sunday and easy 60/70 every other day) is we only do two sessions a week but supplement this with a very hard long run on a Sunday
Q. So what's the training like?
My long runs are 1 hour 45 minutes I the winter and 90 minutes in the summer.
My training group is littered with Brits; Darren and Kris Gauson, Andrew Sherman, Andy Baker, Tommy Davies, Tom Boardman, Rob Mullett, Joe Macdonald, and some really good Americans; Justin, Madison, Kent, Madison, and Lawder. A really strong training group and what is most beneficial is everyone is like minded in wanting to get the best out of themselves. Before being apart of this training group that definitely wasn't the case for me!
Typical sessions for me are 8 x 1k and 6 x 1 mile in the winter and a variety of things in the summer. Very individualized plans depending on your upcoming goals. Although that being said I did a lot with Joe Mac .
Q. What was a typical week's training in the winter?
Mon - 70 minutes
Tuesday - Tempo or Grass Session
Wednesday - 80 minutes
Thursday - 60 minutes
Friday - Tempo or Grass Session
Saturday - 70
Sunday - 1 Hour 45 minutes
Darren Gauson takes some good core sessions following runs which I hate but it is really good having someone on top of you encouraging you to do these extra little things throughout the week. Also we do quite a few strides.
Q. What is the cross season like in the states?
A. AMAZING!!! Imagine the buzz around the team competition at say the 12 stage or the English National XC intensified dramatically and reoccurring every two or three weeks. And not just that everyone on the teams are running for the people they train with each and every single day. There is just a huge invested interest in each others performance like nothing else I have experienced in the sport. Just a shame I ran like a little girl last XC season, hopefully I can be adequate this year.
Q. NCAA bronze medalist!...how did the race pan out, did you expect to get a medal?
A. Well...it is kind of hard to summarize my race as I was involved but here goes;
It went out very hard and I just went for it. 65 first lap and then maybe a 67 but surprisingly I felt really good....Surprising because in my heat I felt like shit from the off. Coming through 1k I was in 3rd or 4th holding the very inside line and concentrating on nothing other than hurdling well at this point. That continued for another lap or so and then it began to bite at around a mile, a few lads came past me and my mind was beginning to wonder. But again I just used to coping strategy of focusing on each of the barriers and just relaxing in between them and before I new it I was back on the 2nd group of 3 coming through 2k. From there on out adrenaline took over and before I knew it the bell was sounding and it was time to sprint.
I and two Kenyans closed a gap on the runner from Arkansas on the back straight and coming into the final 200m I realized if I really got going I could catch the Texas guy, which I did however I lost out in a sprint to one of the Kenyans. But I am very happy with 3rd place!
Oh and I didn't mention the winner...that is because he smashed us all! Huge surge coming through 1200m to go and he had it won easy.
As regard my expectations, I wanted to finish in the top 8.
Q. 8.05 indoors this winter, did you expect that performance?
A. That was a huge highlight. I had run 8.14 two weeks prior in a race local to Butler which was a big PB and a run I was truly happy with. So I had nothing to lose when we flew out to Seattle and that mentality really help as it allowed me to make aggressive moves in the middle of the race which lucky enough paid off. After the race I was ecstatic and this was magnified as my good friends Luke Cragg and Drew Graham came across to me screaming ‘Outrageous'.
Another highlight was my 1.51 for 800m I never knew I had that speed in me. I was really chuffed with that performance.
Q. So you have run 8.05 (3k) and 8.35 (3k steeple) already this year, did you expect to have already run these times this year.
My seasons just snowballed really. I ran a few decent races and then train more and more and in turn improved more and more. I definitely didn't expect to have run these times although I had the euro U23 qualifying time (8.40) in sight.
Q. Has steeplechase always been your event or moved to it recently?
Yeah I have run the chase ever since I was able to do so. My first steeple was when I was 15 years old at the national junior league midland division 2 where I ran 7.04 but I hurdled the whole way and didn't water jump too badly. I had hurdled a lot as a kid as it was far more enjoyable than running and that informal training has properly been more valuable than any miles I have ran on the roads or in the forest. From that race I ran the chase every year and achieved moderate success.
Q. Is your diet any good these days?
A. If I said yes I would be lying. I have such a sweet tooth was is my achilles heel. But to make up for that I have very balanced, healthy meals.... unless I hit the ‘all you can eat' canteen with Boardman following a Tuesday session it gets well out of hand!
Q. Do you get good support team over in the states?
A. Yeah we are all incredibly fortunate to have the support team we're blessed with. On campus we have an abundance of physio's, masseurs, ice baths, foam rollers, etc. etc. everything you need to prevent overuse injuries but what is real special about Butler is we have the ability to take advantage of some superb sports medicine staff at St. Vincent's Sports Performance Centre http://sportsperformance.stvincent.org/. Bob Kennedy and numerous other US Olympians were looked after by the same two guys who see us nobodies. I feel so privilege to have access to this place, they really sort your problems out and not with the same old ‘just rest' tagline in sight.
Q. What do you make of the recent rule at the European cup where the last runner on each lap gets taken out?
A. I didn't get to see any of it as BBC iplayer does not work out in the States. Horrible isn't it? But from what I have heard sounds a good idea on paper as regard drawing an outside audience to the sport but in principle it ruins races. Good on them for trying it though, I have been crying for years about how athletics meetings are not appealing to anyone but the already established running community. It may not have worked this time around but maybe next time hey?
Q. London 2012?
A. I would love to be there running! If not I will be there cheering whoever is lucky enough to make the GB team. A lot of guys have left the chase this year which opens doors for a guy in my position but I would not be surprised if I few of those guys returned to the event I the lead up to London. And even if they do not Luke Gunn and Mark Buckingham will definitely be in my way and hopefully Chris Hart will be back running seriously by then also.
Q. Favorite runners around at the moment?
A. I am I huge supporter of all the British lads running at the moment. Phil Wicks, Lemoncello, Andy Vernon, Phil Nicholls, Scott Overall and many more. But my favorite runner at present would have to be Mo Farah. He is so good!
Q. Good luck at the Euro U23 Championship is there a chance of a medal out there?
A. I am very happy to be here representing GB for the first time. I will race to the best of my ability and see where that gets me. Everything in Lithuania is an added bonus on an already better than imagined summer.
Steve Lisgo went on to place 5th in the final of the steeplchase at the U23 Euro Champs on 19th July.
1 PAVELYEV, Aleksandr RUS 8:40.55
2 GALVÁN, José Luis ESP 8:41.53 PB
3 ZALEWSKI, Krystian POL 8:42.06 PB
4 MARTOS, Sebastián ESP 8:42.69 PB
5 LISGO, Stephen GBR 8:45.77
6 STEINHAMMER, Christian AUT 8:56.21
7 GHINEA, Alexandru ROU 8:56.84
8 SENORSKI, Eric SWE 8:58.17
9 BAS, Osman TUR 8:59.28
10 PFEIL, Valentin AUT 8:59.34
11 OSLIZLO, Lukasz POL 9:09.13
12 SAVCUKS, Konstantins LAT 9:24.14
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