If you watched the 2020 U.S.A. Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta on February 29th, you may have noticed one of the men running with long, flowing. fabulous locks of hair trailing behind him. Or blowing into his face depending on the strong winds that day. And you may have thought: “Who is that guy?”
This week’s interview is with professional runner Andrew Colley. Andrew runs at On ZAP Endurance in Blowing Rock, NC where Runners Connect hosts running retreats every fall. Andrew is in the top tier of American distance runners and holds some incredible personal records, like 2:12 in the marathon, 1:02 in the half, and 13:40 in the 5k. This guy is super fast and incredibly talented.
We dive into what kinds of things he and the other men and women at ZAP are doing that helps them be so successful in endurance running. Is it just talent? Is it the shoes? Is it the food? And what is the team doing right now with the calendar wiped clean of races?
In short, Coach Claire asked Andrew how he could help us become better runners and he absolutely delivered. We talked about both mental and physical training tips, a little bit about nutrition, and more.
What is refreshing is that professional runners might not be so different from us after all. Sure, it’s their job to run for a living, but we can use similar techniques and habits to get the most out of our running too. And it sounds like there are a few things Andrew thinks elites can learn from us as well!
Questions Andrew is asked:
2:08 How is everyone at ZAP handling the current quarantine situation?
3:12 How do you plan for long-term goals without any upcoming races to plan for?
4:36 How has your training changed, especially the hard to easy ratio?
5:34 How would you explain ‘strides’ to a brand new runner?
7:26 Your last race was the Olympic Marathon Trials in February where you came to the starting line with a 2:12 PR. It sounds like it wasn’t your day. Can you tell us a bit about what happened?
9:19 Is this an injury you’ve had before or a new one?
10:45 What kind of company is ON?
11:04 I reached out to our audience on Facebook and asked them what kinds of topics they’d like to learn about and I think this one from Pete Fenn is great to ask you: “Do you have any tips or ideas for how to be able to really ‘go for it’ in the midst of races of any distances, to get over the intense feeling that you just don’t have any more gears to go up to?”
13:09 Do you practice mental training outside of running?
14:37 Is it as important to visualize negative race circumstances as much as positive outcomes?
15:54 One thing that I caution my athletes about is:, while we can learn a lot from elite runners such as yourself, we shouldn’t train like elites for many reasons. Do you agree with that?
18:17 How much slower, by minutes, is your easy run pace than your marathon pace?
19:27 What do you do for recovery and what’s the most important?
22:32 What is the nutrition philosophy at ZAP?
25:08 How do you approach nutrient-timing?
25:47 What is your favorite indoor workout?
27:02 What’s next for you with the calendar being pretty empty?
28:38 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
29:29 What is the best gift running has given you?
30:30 How can people connect with you?
Quotes by Andrew:
“The last thing you want to do is get yourself ready for a hard effort when there isn’t going to be one. So, it’s just about getting that base and keeping a mindfulness that there is purpose behind that base and that it will serve you in the long-term, even if that’s 6-10 months from now.”
“You’re not running top speed for that whole stride, but you get up to it and you touch it. Whereas when you’re finishing the stride, you should be at that speed. It should make you feel like you’re fast.”
“Recovery is not the ABSENCE of training; it IS training in itself.”
“I like to warm up into my runs, whether that’s doing drills or doing the first couple minutes walking. I like to get the body into running mode. I count that as part of recovery because it is easier on your body.”
“To look on the positive note: there are no races in the future, so if I have to miss time I guess this is the best time to be missing.”
“There’s been several times in my career when I’ve just seen the race happen in my head and when the race comes, it’s not surprising. It’s more of a habitual reaction because you’ve been there before.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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