On Top of the World - Interview with Felix Sanchez

Nick Dakin

Sanchez Lane 6 Poised for Victory in the 2001 Edmonton Final Photo Alison Wade/www.mensracing.com

Felix Sanchez date of birth - 30 August 1977

400H - 47.38 [2001]

400M - 44.90 [2001]

100M - 10.63 [2001]

200M - 20.87 [2001]

800M - 1.50.9 [2002]

UKHC:
Felix, thank you for agreeing to the interview.

FELIX SANCHEZ :
Thank you it is truly my pleasure.

UKHC:
Congratulations on you 2001 season, it was a quite outstanding year for you - did you have any inkling at the start of the year that things would go so well?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
Actually I was considering stopping at the start of it because I was not sure training myself would hold up on the world scene. Then in April I met my now coach and I was still battling with his training philosophies; they were so different and the I ran my first hurdle race and I was disgraced when I got 5th in a little meet and ran the slowest race of my life 51.67. I really started thinking of other things to do.

UKHC:
Sometimes things take a little time to iron out moving into a new training régime, but you must be very glad you persevered! Moving back I believe you got into Track & Field when you didn't make it in Baseball, is this true?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
Well I played baseball since I was eight or so but we moved a lot so it was kind of difficult finding a local team to play for and finally we moved to place where there was no local team - you had to play for the high school so I was to young to try out I had to wait a year. So when the year came that I could try out I had decided to play a sport I tried wrestling and I was picking up on all the moves and I was training with my coach and he was trying to show me a new move and when I tried it I did it wrong and broke my wrist. So when the season ended I was not yet healed so I could not try out for the baseball team. The track coach told me that I could still run and the rest is history.

UKHC:
The definitive 'lucky break' story! Did you start out as a hurdler or try many different events?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I started out as a 100 200 guy but that lasted about a day when we all raced to see who would get top four [places] for the relay , I got last and to make matters worse when the girls went , the winner ran faster then I did - I was the only one with spikes on and it was a dirt track now that is funny! So I stuck with the 400 for the majority of the season and then tried the 300 hurdles.

UKHC:
What level of performance did you reach at the 300H?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I got third in the state finals but I ran 36.82 in the preliminaries relaxed and then in the final I got nervous and hit almost every hurdle it was bad and what made it worse the wining time in the final was 36.90.

UKHC:
Was this the what got you into USC?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
No, the fact that I ran the 400h at nationals for the first time and won and ran 51.33 in high school and I still have the record for the state of California for high school.

UKHC:
At USC you worked with Coach Allice and by 1999 had broken through to a sub 49 second clocking at the Pan Am's. What stride pattern were you using then - and has it changed much since?

FELIX SANCHEZ ::
Yes coach Allice was my coach but my hurdle coach was coach Lanning. My stride pattern was 13 for 5 14 for 2 and 15 for 3. It is hard to say which [pattern] I prefer here is why - I ran at the worlds 13 for 6 14 for 2 and 15 for 2, then I ran the first pattern at Zurich and ran faster but I felt like I fell asleep for hurdles 6 to 8 so I have not decided which I prefer.

UKHC:
Not bad results off either option though!! If the stride pattern is relatively similar - 13's to H5 or H6 - what areas do you feel have really brought you on in the last couple of years and last season in particular?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I have a certain amount of speed thank God. The main difference is I'm so much stronger and the short recovery endurance training allows me to hold that speed until the last three hurdles opposed to before I used to use it to get down the back stretch.

UKHC:
Can you share with us changes in emphasis with your new coach that have produced this - different type of workouts .

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I won't spill all the beans but I will give you the basics for instance no work out gets more than 3 min recovery whether it is 1000 meters or 150 meters.

UKHC:
Is that through out the season? Chris Rawlinson's program is very much based around 3 min recovery work, up until the start of March.

Sanchez in Action in Edmonton Photo Mark Sherman

FELIX SANCHEZ :
That is the whole season. We have 1 mile or more warm up and 1 mileage day that is usually our rest day in which we run for 30 min. He calls it "money in the bank" - most of our work is actually 1 or 2 min rec. And that is about it - there is no real secret, it is just different , at least to me. oh we only put spikes on if we have a hurdle session.

UKHC:
With the 2002 season just around the corner - do you have any specific areas you are looking at to develop?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
The main thing is to work on my hurdles to get like Chris's , then I can break the world record - he is so quick over the hurdles.

UKHC:
How often do you hurdle - all year round ? or just in the build up to the season

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I have had about 5 sessions this year. See the thing really is that last year I did not start working with him until mid April , so I have had a better fall training and I have been in the system for a whole season and I'm starting to see the difference apart from my hamstring strain which was a 3 week set back everything is going as planned. I 'm not where I should be because of it ,but I'm still ahead of last year so that is good.

UKHC:
You've started the season with an 800 at Azusa and then a lead off 4x400 leg at Mt Sac, after your excellent sub 45 second 400m clocking at Gateshead last summer will you look early season at some more flat races?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I actually started the season with a 200, but yes I have about four 400's set up before I start the 400H.

UKHC:
Will you then come back into training for some specific hurdles development or will this take place in Europe on the road?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
I will come back I will not be gone for more than a weekend and I have about 3 weeks before my first 400h race.

UKHC:
How many of you in your training group, or do you work alone?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
There's about ten altogether, but just three of us at World level, Jerome [Davies] and also Sherman Armstrong have joined us this year.

UKHC:
Finally what are you looking for from this season. 400m hurdles is a Grand prix event this summer so there will be lots of quality races to be had - but in a season with no major championship for you, what will you be looking for in terms of progress?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
See I feel in track you need to build a consistency level. When I was in college I was a consistent 49 sec hurdler - yes I ran 48.6 and 48.3 my last year I was still a 49 sec hurdler. Last year everyone looks at my 47.4 and 47.3, yeah that is nice but I don't look at that I look at it like this; a little less than half of my races were 50 or 49 outside of the one 51 sec race. The other 60 to 65 percent of my races were around 48.4 to 48.6, so the average I would say being realistic is last year I was a 48 .5 sec hurdler. This year I want to be a 48.0 to 48.2 sec hurdler.

UKHC:
W ith any target in mind for a season's best or a PR?

FELIX SANCHEZ :
If it comes it comes but to me it has always been the consistency factor that is of sole importance but I'm not naive I know they go hand in hand, a PR would be nice!

UKHC:
Well its good to see someone pushing the envelope of the event back down to the low 47's. Good luck for the coming season and thank you for your time.

FELIX SANCHEZ :
Thank you.