Tyler Pence is running his way to the top in this year’s cross country season. Pence just won the Southern Indiana Regional Preview for the Eagles, putting in a time of 23:55 for the 8k (5 mile) race. Pence is a standout in his last year running cross country for the Eagles. He has two more years of eligibility for track. He will graduate in the spring of 2016. We sat down with the Springfield, IL native for an interview to get a look into the successful distance runners mind and his thoughts on the rest of the season.
The Shield: How do you feel about winning the Southern Indiana Regional Cross Country Preview?
Pence: It’s my first ever college cross country win so that’s cool. With it being my senior year, it’s nice. But we have a lot of other meets ahead that I’d rather win. It’s a step in the right direction but I still have a lot of work to do.
The Shield: What was your state of mind going into that race? Did you think you were going to win?
Pence: My teammate Johnnie Guy is my training partner and we’re always really close in races. I think he beat me by seven seconds the first race and one second the second race. I knew I should be by him and with 3k to go I took the lead and just went with it. We’re good friends and we train together every day. We base our races off each other and we know where we should be. It’s nice to have someone to work with.
The Shield: What’s the feeling running a race like that? When you’re running well how do you feel?
Pence: Honestly I didn’t feel that good which is weird. It’s not something I’ve been used to. But I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. With me, I feel like its just confidence. Johnnie and I are ranked in the top 10 for Nationals so both of us are kind of getting used to running in the front of the pack. With Conference coming up and Regionals and Nationals, we just need to make sure we’re running in the front of the pack and being smart.
The Shield: When did you start running?
Pence: My mom talked me into doing track in 6th grade. I honestly hated it at first, but by the time 8th grade rolled around I realized it was what I was good at. I ended up doing that in High School. I ran cross-country and track.
The Shield: What’s in store for the rest of the season?
Pence: We have Conference next Saturday. We should win as a team. Regionals will be the same. As a team, it takes top four to get to Nationals and I think we are ranked second. We’ve always wanted to beat Grand Valley at Regionals so that is a big goal of ours.
The Shield: What kind of workouts do you feel best prepares you for the season?
Pence: I think what helps the most is our mileage. Our Coach is known for high mileage. I run 110 miles a week. That started in May and it was every week. You get to the season and then you just keep building on it. I think that is what makes our program so good.
The Shield: What is the ultimate goal of the season?
Pence: We’d like to get a trophy at Nationals. Those are given to the top four teams. Individually, I’d like to go top three. And Johnnie Guy, I think his goal is to win. He’s a national champion in the 10k. Everybody has their individual goals and we have our team goal as well.
The Shield: What is the next race and how are you approaching it?
Pence: Conference is in Chicago. We should win that as a team. Johnnie and I should go 1-2 in that race. I don’t know who will win and who will get second.
The Shield: How are you planning on keeping up the success this season?
Pence: I think I need to stay healthy, that is the most important thing. With running there are so many injuries, stress fractures and things like that. I’m just trying to maintain health and not get sick or anything that makes you take a couple steps back.
The Shield: What are you plans after college?
Pence: Elementary education is my major. I’m thinking I want to go into teaching. I’ll still continue my running career until 2020 probably. There are the 2016 Olympics in Rio and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. I’ll probably give both of those a shot, at least the trials. And I would try to go into the marathon if I could. I’d probably like to teach at the fourth or fifth grade level.
The Shield: How did you get to the point you are now?
Pence: Well I’ve had a lot of setbacks. My senior year I cut open my leg and had to have surgery. I was never supposed to run again. After that, I ended up coming back. I wasn’t even going to run in college. Coach Hillyard wanted me to come here. But I started out first walking, then jogging, then fully running. And since then, I’ve been a better runner than I ever was before, which is weird. Kind of knowing what it was like not running has made me enjoy it more and not take it for granted.
