USATF on Tuesday hosted a media teleconference with two-time World Outdoor Championships silver medalist Regina Jacobs, who will compete in the women’s mile Friday night at the second event on USA Track & Field’s 2002 Indoor Golden Spike Tour, the Verizon Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Verizon Millrose Games will be broadcast LIVE from 8-10 p.m. Eastern on Friday, February 1 on Fox Sports NY. In addition, the meet will air nationally from 4:30-6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, February 3, on ESPN.

A four-time Olympic team qualifier, Jacobs set a world indoor best in the women’s 2 mile Sunday at the adidas Boston Indoor Games at the Reggie Lewis Center. After finishing the first mile six seconds ahead of pace, Jacobs scorched the final 200m in 32 seconds and finished in 9 minutes, 23.38 seconds. The previous record of 9:28.15 was set by Lynn Jennings in 1986. It was Jacobs’ second record at the Reggie Lewis Center, where she ran 2:35.29 for an American record at 1,000m in 2000. Jacobs also holds U.S. records at 1,000 and 5,000 meters.

Below are excerpts from the teleconference. Or listen to the full teleconference.

Q: Did you expect to break the record going into the race on Sunday in Boston?

JACOBS: I’d have to say that judging from my workouts and time trials that I had run at some all-comers meets, I felt that I was absolutely capable of doing it. But of course a lot would rest on the actual race, and how you control the race and what happens while you’re out there – meaning the pace and working through some of the pain. It was a physically hard race, and it wasn’t an easy record, so I honestly didn’t know if I was going to 100% do it. I knew there was a really high chance, but it was going to be close.

Q: Did the enthusiastic crowd at the Reggie Lewis Center play a role in you getting the record?

JACOBS: They were a really huge factor because they were so loud that I couldn’t hear the splits, and at one point I thought I heard that I was two seconds off of the record. Tom (coach and husband Tom Craig) was on the side of the track and I couldn’t hear a word he was saying, so I was running out of fear (laughter) like ‘Oh my God I’m down, I’m not gonna make it,’ and I just kept digging and digging and digging because I didn’t know where I was. I had got to a point where I was really physically fatigued and I didn’t know if I was gonna pull it off in the last two laps, and I just said ‘I gotta keep running. These people are just going nuts so I went for it.

Q: Could you talk about what you’ve done since last summer when you tore your plantar fascia? What have you done to change your approach, and how has it benefited you this year?

JACOBS: That’s a really good question. I did feel that after my injury at the World Outdoor Championships that I wasn’t listening to my body as much as I should in terms of knowing when to rest. I’ve always been good at pushing myself, but the rest part is something I’ve not been very good at. Tom and I sat down and looked at all of the work that I have in my body, and made a decision that I could afford to rest a little bit because I’ve been running for so long, and there’s an accumulation of a lot of work inside my body. So, what we’ve done a lot of, just this fall, is taking days off that I would have never taken off before, and I think it’s really paid off.

Q: What are your plans for later this summer and 2003 and 2004?

JACOBS: Right now I’m taking it a season at a time. That’s one of the things Tom and I decided to do after the world championships, and I’m not looking that far down the road. Obviously I can go on to 2004. It’s just going to depend on my attitude and my outlook and my body. I’m just looking forward to this indoor season and really enjoying it. I can’t wait to get to Millrose and have a great race.

Q: Are you planning on defending your 4K U.S. Cross Country title next week?

JACOBS: I am. I had so much fun last year. It was great, so definitely I will be competing at cross country.

Q: Will you go on to the World Cross Country Championships?

JACOBS: We have not thought that far in advance. There’s a lot of time between the national championships and the worlds. We’ll just have to see how the season progresses. I really wanted to do it last year, but I wasn’t able to do it physically. So, is it something I want to do? Yes. Will I be able to do it? I don’t know. There’s a lot of things that I want to do (laughter). You really just have to wait and see how everything winds up. If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be on the plane.

Q: We understand you are working on a book, could you tell us about it?

JACOBS: The publication schedule depends on me finishing writing the book (laughter). I’m the one writing the book, and Tom is also going to contribute a lot to it. It’s Regina Jacobs Running for Women, and it’s going to be geared towards women who want to take their running to the next level. I didn’t want to leave the sport and not give something back that was really long-lasting, and I have all this information and I thought, you know what, let’s put it in a book.

NOTE: Jacobs will have her own Web site online at the end of this week: www.regina-jacobs.com.

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