Week 21: Logan Soldo

Home State: New Jersey
Status: Sophomore
Year on club: 2
College: College of Natural Sciences
Major: Earth Science with Meteorology/ Atmospheric Science concentration

Logan’s favorite events are the 400, 200, and 100. In addition to running for the club, Logan is one of our three sprinting coaches. Aside from running, Logan enjoys Star Wars, cars, and the weather. Check out our interview below:

Running Club: “What is it like to be a sprinting coach?”
Logan Soldo: “It definitely comes with challenges because I never made my own workouts, and making workouts is definitely tougher than it seems because something that might work for you might not work for someone else. And then you also have to make it so that if you’re not working with your distance, you’re working with other distances. So it definitely comes with challenges, but it’s definitely rewarding because just like any other coach, you’re going to go out there and see people that you’ve trained with--that you made the workouts for--go out there and run good times. It makes you feel good.”
RC: “So do you know how to make workouts for all of the events, or have you run all of the sprinting events?”
LS: “I’ve definitely run all of the events. I mean, I haven’t run hurdles or anything--so hurdles and the field events I don’t have much skills with. But I know most of the events. I’ve run most of them and I know what works. [I get] most of my inspiration from my coaches, especially with the workout planning, because I know what works for me. But you train for some of the longer events and then you can do any of the events, really. It just comes into a little bit more individual practice.”
RC: “Do people seem to like you on the team as their coach?”
LS: “Uh, I hope so! I definitely hope so.”
RC: “Sorry, that was worded weirdly.”
LS: “I mean, yeah. I don’t want to be conceded. I mean, I haven’t heard many complaints. I mean, what I say isn’t the be-all-end-all of your workout. So if someone wants to do something else....”
RC: “Is it weird coaching people that you ran with regularly last year?”
LS: “Oh, definitely. Especially just being a sophomore. It’s definitely a trust factor, especially because I’m only a sophomore. I don’t know if everybody trusts me. And I’m working with people older than me, and I guess people trust me. I think that’s a big part of it. Especially when I don’t run the best results, I feel like I’m letting the team down, like I’m not the best that they can do. But I feel like if I’m trying 100% during the workouts, I feel like everyone else will. It’s not about being younger. It’s just someone that can go out there and work hard every day. And I think that’s a lot about coaching.”
RC: “Do you have to go to practice every day?”
LS: “Yes. I try to do my best. I have a routine where I like to lift on the off days which are Monday and Wednesday and Friday. I like to lift weights instead of do easy runs because I start out with easy runs at the beginning of the season and now that I feel that I have a base, I’m more warmed up and everything. I feel like I can come to these [track workouts] confidently. And I feel like showing up to all of the practices--which, Devin’s not here today--I feel like that’s a big thing. I understand that if we have something to do, then we have something to do. And we made the workouts already so hopefully one of us is always here. But it’s not just me all by myself doing this. It’s definitely a team effort. I like the input of everyone else. I like to know how other people are feeling. And, just as a leader, I feel like I have to come to all of the practices, just to be reliable.”
RC: “Do you ask for any feedback or anything from the members?”
LS: “Definitely. I feel like everybody has a specialty in something. If people are better than me at starts, I’m going to ask them what they are doing, what feels right for them, and what they can show other people. I’m not an expert on this. I’m not an olympic athlete. I ran through high school, and I like it, but I don’t know everything about it. I feel like it’s a big learning experience for me.”
RC: “And you still do cross country even though you’re more of a sprinter. Is there any sort of gap between yourself and the distance runners? Not time-wise but socially.”
LS: “Yeah. Well--I mean. We go to late-night and everything. We still hang out. I feel like I’m still a part of that group as much as I am a part of the sprinting group. I like to talk to everybody. I don’t run with them as much anymore, but I try to get out and connect myself with them because I feel like that’s a big part. We are still a team; just because we run different events and train differently doesn’t mean we are any different.”
RC: “Would you say that going to the social events helps too?”
LS: “Oh, yes definitely. I feel like going to the social events is huge...going to the social events is important to me.”
RC: “And then, you also go to all of the travel meets too--or most of them.”
LS: “Yeah, well. When I can I do. It depends on school. But I definitely try to go to all of the travel meets because those are huge. Especially for bonding with the team. You get a lot of people out here that aren’t fully committed and when you go to the travel meets, it’s all people that want to be there--all people that love running. And of course, you get to see the different competition. But really, it isn’t even the running. It’s the travelling and everything that’s a great part of it.”
RC: “What’s your favorite travel meet that you’ve been to so far?”
LS: “This year?”
RC: “Yeah. Or last year.”
LS: “Well. Penn State sucked.”
RC: “Okay. Why?”
LS: “I was just cramped in a car, and it was just too far. But I like Kentucky. Kentucky was a good one. Illinois was a good one too because it was just a small bunch of us, and I had a lot of fun with that. I like all of the travel meets, really...except for Penn State. I don’t think we saw enough of Penn State either. When we...You were there. When we went to Kentucky this year, I really enjoyed that because we looked at the campus. We went into a library and people were studying--probably for finals because it was in November--and we just made a lot of noise. Yeah, it was fun. I don’t know. That’s the thing about traveling.”
RC: “Is that your favorite memory from a travel meet?”
LS: “Probably. Yeah, it was something adventurous we did. We don’t get to see all of these other schools. Especially one that is down south like that: you don’t get to see that. And it was cool to do with friends.”

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