The vicious look of Zach Dale when he is in striking position to win a race (Zach Dale photo credit)
The name Zach and Zack has come up startling big over the past few years on the Illinois prep distance running scene and even on the national spotlight. Of course, by now, most running fiends in the state in the past running season or two know Zack Smith, the former Downers Grove North standout now at the University of Illinois. But there is another kid with a Z by his name. He is Zach Dale. He is a senior at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates. Zach has established himself well since entering high school, going from 16:23 as a freshman to a current 14:26. The Mid-Suburban League ace is only going to get better. Zach takes us inside of his world of running on the dawn of his championship season run.
You really emerged as a top notched runner since the beginning of your junior year. What do you attribute that to?
I really attribute my success to my coaches. My coach John Powers is, in my opinion, a genius when it comes to training... he knows what I need to do to get me where I want to be. My brother in law, Dan Walters (son of '72 state champ Dave Walters13:57), has been helping me out in all the areas that Powers isn't allowed to by IHSA rules (non-contact days, winter training, etc.). They are both awesome motivator and mentors. After my sophomore track season, we knew what I was capable of, and thankfully I have them and an amazing support team to get me to where I am and where I want to be. On the personal side, running is no longer a chore; running has become a main part of my life and at the end of the day it’s something that is going to get done one way or another. My family has been helping me take care of the little things, such as sleep and the right diet, which I believe is a huge factor when you get to this level.
After finishing off your longest track season you took some time off and then jump back into your training albeit at the pace that you desired, are you where you want to be in terms of physical and mental fitness?
After having a nearly 4 month track season, I was really confident about my strength and ability to hold out a peak. I only took a week off, since it was really late, then slowly built up my mileage. It was a little slow getting back into running shape, but my coach and I planned on holding off from races early on. My mileage is still high since I'm trying to peak at state and then carry that into December. I'd say I'm definitely where I want to be physically, and after my first real race yesterday, mentally too.
You ran 14:48 for 3m in your first race. Can you describe the feeling of finally competing again this XC season?
I actually ran a rust buster at our Hoffman dual just to get my legs back. I ran an easy 15:30. But I would consider yesterday my first "actual" race. This was quite possibly my last race on our home course, so I wanted to break the course (14:49 by [former Prospect runner] Quentin Shaffer) and Conant Record (15:06). To be honest, I was pretty bummed I couldn't race Jesse Reiser [of McHenry] and Ryan Clevenger [of Downers Grove North] last week at FTTF, and seeing all these new results I was starting to get anxious to throw a fast time down. There's always that little bit of doubt at the beginning of the season that goes away after the first race. Yesterday was such a relief to know that I can run fast, even by myself. Several weeks ago I had an awesome mile repeats workout on a Monday, then cruised 14:45 for our three mile threshold on the track that Wednesday. That was a huge confidence boost, and I knew that I was in good shape, but there's still no telling until you get on the grass for the first time. It was a good feeling to run fast on the home course in a solo effort, but now I'm just looking forward to competing.
You missed out on last weekend's FTTF Invite, how do you feel about competing this weekend at Peoria Notre Dame?
I'm pretty upset that I missed out on last week’s race, but it's really about getting some good state course experience in for me. That would be awesome to get to compete with Jesse and Ryan early on, but at the same time it'll be nice to not have that much pressure on me in my first invite. I'm super excited to have an opportunity to run at Detweiller before November. I can't wait to get out there and just compete with some awesome guys.
Do you follow your stats and stats of other elite runners around the state and nation?
I may or may not have an addiction to MileSplit, DyeStat and Flotrack. I constantly look at results and through every crevice of known data about high school running. I definitely don't let the stats bully my mentality around and get to my head though. I'm very curious about everyone out there; there's tons of people that I'll see in results then realize during a race, such as Arcadia or New Balance that I'm running right next to that person; definitely a fun aspect of the sport, getting to know people other than just by numbers.
What will the 48 hours look like leading up to PND?
My 48 hours leading up to PND: recovery, recovery, recovery, eat, hydrate, sleep, recovery.
Do you run on Sundays? If so, why is it important to you?
I do run on Sundays. I consider myself a strength based runner, and I really thrive off of long runs. I use them as a way to get some good aerobic and tempo work in. I'll typically do a long run and throw in a cut down fartlek or some threshold work.
