The Art of Running: Tania Fischer

The flash of the electronic clock changing at every lap, five kilometers and her fierce competitors stood between her and her goal.Every sprint and countless miles that cross country coach Tania Fischer ran led her up to one time: 15:44, her time at the Olympic qualifying race in Atlanta, Ga. in 1996.Fischer’s journey to the Olympic trials began when, as a child in Santa Monica, she eventually found running after trying out many different sports like gymnastics, horseback riding and soccer.“At an early age I was exposed to running at higher and better competitions and that just kind of fueled the fire,” Fischer said.She joined the Rialto Road Runners, a prestigious youth running club that allowed her to compete at a national level. But when she was 14, her family moved to Kirchzarten, Germany for two years for her father’s new job. Her coaches there saw potential in Fischer and invited her to camps, and finally promoted her to a national level where she represented Germany and ran against other countries. The German government sponsored her as a teenager and she competed on a world scale.When she returned to Chaminade High School in Los Angeles in 11th grade, she was a much stronger runner but could not compete because her school did not have a team. According to Fischer, her urge to run was so great that she advocated to establish a girl’s competitive running team at her school.“Because I wanted to run, I started promoting cross-country and I think that’s where I became a coach really,” Fischer said.As high school ended, Fischer found that her hard work paid off, as she became the number one recruit in the nation for the one mile and two mile races. Her time for the two mile was 10:15 — one of the fastest in the nation.Fischer decided to attend University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she ran on the cross country team all four years. There, she was a sculpting major and went on to teach drawing, painting and sculpture.In 1990, she joined the Santa Monica Track Club. This club has been home to more than 20 gold medalists and was where Fischer did most of her training for the Olympics.Unlike most Olympic contenders, Fischer had a full-time job.  She had begun teaching at Samo in 1993 and started coaching in 1998. Nonetheless, she constructed a rigid training schedule for herself: get up at 6:00 a.m., run five miles, teach her ceramics class at Samo, coach and then have her second workout of the day.“It’s about focus. You want to hit a certain time per lap and relax and focus on your breathing and position,” Fischer said. “There is so much going on, so for 15 minutes you’re completely focused on your goal.”In 1996, Fischer competed in the Olympic trials in Atlanta, Ga. Only she and 23 other women (five percent of those who competed) passed the qualifying time of 16:00 for the five-kilometer race. She was then able to make it to the finals, where she finished seventh in the nation. Unfortunately, only the top three runners are eligible to compete in the Olympics, ending her near Olympic career.In 1998 and 2000, Fischer won the Swiss National Championship in the 5,000 meter run, an important highlight of her career. This competition is one example of Fischer’s experience on the world stage. From these meets, she learned many important lessons which she later applied to her coaching and running.Fischer still completes as a runner and in 2002 founded The Janes, an elite women’s running team. However, with a career and her 8-year-old daughter, Alise, running has taken on a different significance. Although she has excelled in many competitions around the world, running has sometimes just been a way to take a break from her busy life.“Running is almost meditative,” Fischer said. “I do my running now for different reasons. I still compete, but [the running] is also just for peace of mind and to be social.”Now, Fischer uses all of her experience as a coached athlete while coaching the Samo cross country and track teams. She said having such high level experiences is important in coaching. Fischer is able to give concrete advice that comes from first hand experience, which has also given her credibility with her students.Fischer has been able to bring back what she has learned in her ongoing career and apply it to her coaching.“Knowing she [is at] such a high level makes us all trust what she says as a coach because we know we can rely on her to tell us what’s best for us,” varsity runner Danielle Shapiro (’15) said.Fischer’s accomplishments as a coach are apparent by the success of Samo’s cross country team that sent the boys’ team to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state championship this past year.“She always pushes us to do our best and is a great coach,” varsity runner Kasia Krzyzanowski (’16) said. “When she runs with us and races, her talent for running really shows.”But for Fischer, what matters now is helping her runners learn that the essence of competitive running is that success comes only from dedication — dedication that a good coach can work with and depend on.Fischer continues to develop as both a runner and a coach. She was recently named the United States national coach for the 19 and under girls’ cross country division and still runs in many local races.“Its all about how much you put in,” Fischer said. “You give me what you’ve got and I can transform that.”