NEW YORK - Olympic gold medalist pole vaulter Stacy Dragila and top-rated American middle distance runner David Krummenacker on Monday spoke to a meeting of the New York Track Writers via telephone hook-up. Dragila and Krummenacker both will compete Saturday (Feb. 1) at the first stop on the Indoor Golden Spike Tour, the adidas Boston Indoor Games. They also will compete at the Verizon Millrose Games on February 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Dragila and Krummenacker discussed their upcoming participation in the both meets with the Track Writers. Below are excerpts:

STACY DRAGILA

Q: How are your preparations going?

SD: Things are going well. I had a great fall. As everyone knows, I didn’t have a great year last year. My foot is healthy, and training is going well. I’m looking forward to coming out to Boston and then out to Millrose.

Q: Talk about your injury last year.

SD: It’s kind of a mystery to everybody. I started having a pain in my [left] foot. I was going into last year not knowing what it was. X-rays didn’t show anything. I had a bone scan, which showed hot spots in both of my feet in similar areas. At times it felt better, but when I’d get back into intensive training again, it would come back. We went back and got an MRI, which didn’t show anything. So it’s still a mystery. Everything’s feeling good now.

Q: I understand you triple jumped recently.

SD: We had an intrasquad meet the week before Christmas break [at Idaho State, where Dragila is an assistant coach]. We divide the team into Orange and Black teams, and we have alumni who participate. We made our own alumni team and thought we could give the other teams a go. I thought, I’ve never done it before [triple jump], let’s see if we can do this. I think I went 32 or 33 feet, or something like that.

Q: Tell us about the use of larger poles on the way to clearing 16 feet.

SD: I have up to eight poles in my bag. I number all my poles from 1-8 [with 8 being the longest pole]. I don’t necessarily need to have those bigger poles to jump 16 feet – it just depends on how fast I’m running. Coming into Boston and Millrose I know the tracks are fast, so I may not need my bigger poles.

Q: Last indoor season, you saw your indoor world record beaten by Svetlana Feofanova of Russia. Are you motivated to regain your world record?

SD: I’m pretty dang motivated right now, because I’m healthy and I’ve got a spark back. I know I’m still in the hunt and can jump another world record. I’m ready to get out there. I had two great years before last year. I think I was pretty fatigued. I didn’t want her [Feovfanova] to just go out there and take the record from me, but that’s what she did. I’m looking forward to going against my competitors to show them I’ve been working on some things on my technique. I think I have more strength, and I’m ready to take it up on bigger poles.

Q: You’ve always competed well in the United States, and in 2003 you are competing in the full Indoor Golden Spike Tour. Is competing so much domestically part of your plan to get back your old form?

SD: The schedule is really appealing to me. It’s pretty easy for me to do the U.S. circuit and to stay with Dave [Nielsen, her coach and also the Idaho State head coach] as much as I can. I want to be with Dave as much as I can and get on a roll. I want to make sure the cobwebs are knocked out.

Q: Tell us about your training in the weight room.

SD: We have a new guy on staff from Virginia. He does a lot more explosive things in the weight room. He concentrates on the Olympic lifts a lot. I’ve been under Dave’s weight-training plan for 9 years. It was getting monotonous and I felt like I needed a change. I’m leaner than I usually am at this time of year, and I’m a little lighter and stronger when I go in the weight room.

Q: Whether a world record, American record or meet record, you’ve always saved something special for the Verizon Millrose Games. Do you have anything planned for this year?

SD: The Millrose crowd is always an awesome crowd to jump in front of. I can’t believe how well they run the Millrose Games. The last few years I’ve been there, more and more people know who I am. When I won and broke the world record two years ago and everyone stayed to watch, it showed how much they care about track and field here and what it means for the fans to see a world record. Howard Schmertz always runs a great meet, and that crystal dish [for Athlete of the Meet] was a pretty big inspiration for my world record that year. I’m looking forward to some great heights and hopefully wowing the crowd again.

DAVID KRUMMENACKER

Q: Get us up to speed on your training.

DK: I’ve been in Tucson, Arizona, where I’ve been for most of the winter. I was in Albuquerque for 4 weeks. Training is going really well. I’m really looking forward to racing again. There’s a lot of talk about American records and that kind of thing. [The adidas Boston Indoor Games is offering cash bonuses for any American record.] My main focus is to race well, mix it up in front and to try to win races. That’s my main goal: to win races.

Q: Do you think you’re in shape to run under 3:38.12 in the indoor 1,500, the indoor American record?

DK: I believe if the rabbit runs a good race [at Boston], without too much pushing and shoving going on. Indoors is a different situation. If it’s a smooth race and the pace is good, I’m in shape to run that kind of time. My strategy will be to get up toward the front of the pack, maintain close contact and to put a good surge on the last 400 meters.

Q: What is your training like?

DK: Coach Olivera has been giving us lots of endurance stuff right now, so the main focus is outdoors. Anything that happens indoors is icing on the cake.

Q: What are you looking for outdoors?

DK: My main goal is to get a medal at the World Championships in Paris. My belief is that if you’re winning some of those races to compete at the top level and you’re coming in 2, 3, 1 in those bigger races, the times are going to come. … The 800 has been my focus. I will run some 1500s, but the 800 will remain center stage.

Q: Last year you opened at the adidas Boston Indoor Games with an American record in the 1,000 meters (2:17.85). Compare your condition now to last year.

DK: I believe I’m in better shape this year than last year. Coach has given us some harder training, and last year I had a few points where my hamstring was bothering me and I had to take a couple of weeks off.

Q: You’re running the 800 at Millrose. At your height of 6-2, compare running on an 11-lap [to the mile, the size of the track at the Verizon Millrose Games] track vs. an 8-lap track [the size of the track at the adidas Boston Indoor Games].

DK: I’m at quite a disadvantage at Millrose. Although it’s tough for the tall guys, it’s a classic event. On a small track, you can’t save it for the last turn. I was pretty fortunate to win Millrose last year. I don’t think I’ll play it quite as risky this year.

Q: You’re the first American in several years to really mix it up with the best in Europe in the middle distances. Tell us about what it feels like to have such high expectations on you.

DK: I try not to spend too much time reading what people are saying about me. I just listen to my coach. I try to focus on what’s going on at the moment. I’m going to take each event as it comes and to take things slowly. There’s a lot of talk about how there’s a need for medals in the middle distances in America. Those kinds of things loom in the back of my mind. When the time comes, I let my mind prepare and intensify for those kinds of things.

Q. Talk about last season.

DK: The entire season, I felt like it was one great surprise after another. Winning the first Golden League meet in Paris was amazing. It was a coming of age for me. Each race that I went out, I thought about how far I’d come in the last three years or so. Although the season was great, I need to use it as a foundation to build upon the next few years.

Q: Have you noticed a difference in how you’re treated by meet directors or competitors, since you had such a great year?

DK: Certainly. The first race I noticed it was at Portland (the adidas Oregon Track Classic last May 18). They had guys who’d been ranked in the top 10 for several years. After the race they came up to me and said, ‘Who’s this American guy, where’s he coming from?’ Then more guys started saying to me, ‘You surprised us in Portland, but it’s good to see you’re running well.’