Dylan Wykes grew up in Kingston, Ontario before studying and training at Providence College in Rhode Island, where he became an All-American. Along with several Canadian national team selections, Wykes had personal bests from the Mile (4:01) to the 5000m (13:43) and 10000m (28:12), before making the move up to the marathon to place 33rd at the 2009 World Championships. Heading into the Scotia Bank Toronto Marathon on October 16, 2011, Wykes is one of a handful of runners taking a shot at Jerome Drayton's thirty-six year old Canadian record in the marathon and a qualifying spot for the 2012 London Olympics. Tnfnorth caught up with the Vancouver-based runner:

TNF: Many of those who come to our site are young athletes. If you had one piece of advice to give a young athlete what would it be?

DW: I'd say just try to enjoy the sport. I think in order to get the most out of yourself as an athlete you have to love your sport. If it ever feels like it's becoming a chore and you're not enjoying it, just take a step back and think about why you're out there busting your tail all the time. Hopefully it's because you really enjoy the feeling of running and competing.

TNF: What's your highest volume week ever?

DW: I hit 135 miles once this summer.

TNF: Do you have a favourite workout?

DW: Probably a long tempo run of 10-15 miles on the roads, where you just get in a groove and cruise along.

TNF: What does racing in Canada mean to you?

DW: Racing a major marathon in Canada is going to be great. The support we have as elites from the race organization is excellent. I expect on the day there is going to be great support out on the course too. It will be great to be able to have my family there to watch as well.

TNF: What will it take for you to break Jerome Drayton's record?

DW: Running 42.195 km in 2:10:08 is precisely what it's going to take! Ok, joking aside, it would take an absolutely perfect day for me to get that record. All the stars would have to align: the weather, the pacing, the competition, and me.

TNF: What has been different in this year's build up as compared to your previous marathons?

DW: I've been able to run higher mileage more consistently during this build up. We've also done some different long runs where we've varied the pace for different segments of the run, as opposed to just running one pace, or a slight progression. But a lot has stayed the same when compared to the build up for California International Marathon (CIM).

TNF: Your relationship with coach Richard Lee seems to have proven fruitful. What led to the change of coaching and what has been the biggest change that has allowed such breakthroughs?

DW: I was in Kingston for two years before moving to Vancouver and was coached by Steve Boyd. I just found I was in a bit of a rut, not improving much, and not really enjoying the sport a whole lot. It's not as though Steve and I were butting heads. I just wasn't happy with the environment I was in and couldn't see myself getting better or keeping at it in that situation.

I knew Rich through Steve. They went to Queens together back in the day and remained good friends. I stayed with Rich and his family from time to time when I'd go out west to race or train. I always loved Vancouver when I came out here and Rich had a good little group going with Richard Mosely, Steve Osaduik, and a bunch of others. So, Rich sort of convinced me to come out and give it a go, that it might help rejuvenate my running. Initially I thought of the move as a last ditch effort to get my running back on track with the goal of running CIM. I figured if it went well maybe I'd keep at it, if not I'd probably scale back the running and focus on other things.

I guess the biggest change has just been my focus. And I think that focus has been a product of being in a better training environment. It's certainly no Oregon Project or Speed River out here. Most people probably wouldn't think much of the setup at all. But we get a good little crew going for workouts and Rich is so dedicated to the process and takes care of so many of the details that it allows me to just focus completely on getting the most out of myself from day to day.

TNF: You have an education in the hard sciences. How does this background help you as an athlete?

DW: That's a good question because I don't take a very scientific approach to the sport. I don't really need to know why I'm doing what I'm doing or what the scientific evidence is to support the different aspects of the training. I also don't know the exact distance of a lot of my routes or the pace I run on my easy days. That's not to say I'm just out there doing whatever, whenever. There's a purpose to everything. And that doesn't mean I don't become consumed with my splits in certain workouts. I definitely do. But I'm not a slave to a GPS or heart rate monitor, I just find it too much information to process at times. I've definitely learned a lot of discipline and to take a methodical approach towards my training. That's likely a benefit of what I've learned in undergrad and grad school.

TNF: Of the top five contenders you are the only one to have had a competitive track season last year. What made you do this and how do you think it will help you?

DW: Well, looking back on it, my track season only consisted of 2 races. But they were decent ones, so maybe it seemed like a full season, it sort of did to me too. But you’re right it was more than some other guys did.

I think the philosophy that Rich has tried to instill in me is that I need to improve as a distance runner as a whole, and not get stuck in the mindset that I’m just a marathon runner. Sometimes you can run into trouble if you have that marathon runner mentality all year round. The mentality that you need to do high mileage all the time and big long runs every weekend and what not. I’m not saying it doesn’t work for some. It certainly does for a lot of guys, but sometimes you can run yourself into the ground with that mindset. So, we felt it was important to switch focus. I was running hard track intervals pretty much as soon as I recovered from CIM. And by the spring I was on the track twice a week, lacing up the spikes, and even hitting sub 60sec/400m pace for the first time in years, and only running about 80-90miles/week. Probably doesn’t sound like a big deal to real track runners, but that was a big change in focus for me, from marathon training.

I gained a lot of confidence from lowering my 10,000m PB (to 28:12), I think that’s where those track races in the spring will help me the most in the future, just in terms of my confidence. I think I needed that to have the confidence to train at the level necessary to run the times I aspire to in the marathon. There aren’t many guys out there running 2:10-12 with PB’s much slower than 28:12 for 10,000m. I’m not the type of guy that can convince myself I’m going to be capable of some sort of miracle on race day. I'm not going to be confident going through half-way in a marathon in 1:04/1:05 if my PB for the half is only 1:04. You gotta be running 1:02. And it trickles down from there: you’d be hard pressed to run 1:02 if you’re not running low 28:00.

TNF: What are your aspirations heading into October and 2012?

DW: I’d love to run under the AC Olympic standard of 2:11:29 at Toronto as the ultimate goal is to make the Olympic team. But it's going to be tough, and if that Olympic standard wasn't out there to chase I'd probably be happy with a PB, not just a 70 second PB. If I don’t hit it at Toronto I’ll keep chasing the dream in 2012 by running another marathon in the winter or spring. Beyond that, I just want to keep improving as a distance runner. If it works out that I don’t run a spring marathon hopefully I’ll get back on the track again and try to run sub 28. Maybe even try for a fast 5000m. I’m still hoping the opportunity presents itself to put in a cycle of training to try for a sub 4 mile, but I think the window of opportunity has closed for that.

TNF: Thanks for your time and good luck.