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Ryan Hall, 24, once again caught the attention of the athletic world by setting a new American record of 59:43 at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on January14.
Hall already held the U.S. record for the 20K from his 11th-place finish at the World Road Running Championships in Hungary last October. He is the reigning 12K national cross country champion, was the 5000-meter NCAA Division I champion while at Stanford, and he was the national champion in the high school mile while growing up in Big Bear, California.
Though he has decided not to defend his title at the USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder on February 10, Colorado, Hall has decided on the Flora London Marathon for his much-anticipated marathon debut.
Hall took time from his busy training routine in Mammoth Lakes, California, where he trains with Team Running USA, to speak with Mensracing.com about his recent victory, his tough decision not to race in Boulder and his plans for an Olympic medal.
MensRacing.com: Your record-setting run in Houston was your half-marathon debut. Was running this race different than you expected?
Fernando Cabada:
I think I went into this last race more prepared than for the couple 20Ks that I did this fall. I’d done some longer tempo runs, longer long runs, more volume; so I think that helped me out a lot.
But I was surprised with my time because by training at altitude you’re not able to train at the pace that I was running at. For example, I’ll do a tempo run at altitude at 4:55 pace or something like that and down at sea level that’s like running a 4:40 pace. So you just don’t know where you’re at coming down from altitude. So those first couple of miles I was just kind of feeling out my body and what pace felt comfortable and I was surprised it was right around 4:30ish basically and that felt pretty easy.
MR: You’ve said that the days before the half-marathon were a challenge.
RH: The whole lead-up to the race was just crazy. We drove back down to Big Bear to spend one night and at first the weather was fine, and then it just starts dumping. I got up to run that morning before we left and I am running in a foot of snow. Then we start to drive down the mountain and we slide off into a ditch even with chains on our car. I thought great, we’re gonna miss our flight. Then this super-nice guy comes and pulls us out of the ditch and we continued down the road. But then they had just shut down all the roads going out of Big Bear. So then I thought I might not even make it to the race. I was also feeling like I was coming down with a bit of cold the week leading up to it and so I was all stressed and worried about that, but that eventually passed and didn’t develop. Once we finally got there, I was only in Houston for like 24 hours before the race. I could not sleep at all the night before. Eventually I fell asleep and got like two hours. It just seemed like everything went wrong.
It’s a long story, but the whole point is that even when you don’t have perfect build-up and you get stressed out sometimes, the Lord is just with you, and it works out, and you have a great race.
MR: Your recent win has been called among the best performance by any American distance runner ever. You’ve been mentioned in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated…do you feel like more of a celebrity since this major win? Are people treating you differently?
RH: I try not to pay too much attention to media because unfortunately, they have to be kind of fickle because they cover people who are doing well. But you can’t get really into all the media hype because if you’re not doing well, then it’s gonna burst your bubble and you’re gonna be all bummed out. But I know that there’s a pretty good buzz in the community right now and that’s exciting. Anything that I can add to American distance running – getting more excitement and enthusiasm to promote the sport – I am very pleased to add and contribute as much as I can to that.
That’s the nice thing, too, about being up in the mountains is you kind of stay out of the limelight. I don’t have TV or Internet, or even a computer up here right now, so I am just doing my own thing and getting back to training.
MR: Tell me about your training for the next couple of months; will it all be in Mammoth?
RH: Yeah I will be up in Mammoth for a couple of weeks and then I am gonna kind of break it up because I’ve been at altitude for a long time. So then I am gonna go down to sea level for a couple of weeks. I’ll probably just stick with the same game plan and just the training will be a little bit different.
Since [watching] the ING New York City Marathon [in November 2006], that’s when I first started doing workouts and it’s been good. I’ve kinda been letting it come to me. I haven’t been pressing runs really hard or doing anything crazy. I’ve just been going for volume and really enjoying the training – all the long, long runs and the longer tempo runs and the additional volume. I’ve really enjoyed just running more. It’s been a fun couple of months for me and I am really looking forward to the next couple of months and training for the marathon.
MR: And you finally decided that London will be your marathon debut?
RH: Yeah we actually just decided that it will be London. It’s gonna be a really stacked race. All the best guys in the world will be there, but I am really excited.
MR: Has all of your recent success increased your confidence or the pressure you feel for your first marathon?
RH: A lot of it depends on who you are racing against. Now, racing the U.S. guys, there’s gonna be kind of like an X on my back a little bit because now people are gonna wanna race me. But then you get out on the world level…and you’ve got all the world record holders like [Haile] Gebrselassie, and Paul Tergat and all these guys and they don’t even know who I am. So in that type of situation, you’re still in a pressure-free environment.
The thing about it too is that the only pressure you feel is the pressure that you allow and that you put on yourself. So I just try to look at myself as the same runner as I always have been. I go into every race with a lot of respect for my competitors. I am not ever surprised that they run well. The American guys are running awesome right now. There’s not gonna be any easy races out there.
MR: Why did you decide not to run the cross country nationals in Boulder? Was that a difficult decision?
RH: Yeah, that’s kind of my breakthrough race and I’d love to go back there and be a part of that special race. But at the same time, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of learned that you can’t do everything. I would have to really be on that day to defend my title and there are only so many days that you can be on and I’d rather have it be at my spring marathon than in Boulder. I am bummed to not be a part of it, but it’s one of those decisions you have to make.
At this point, the priority is the spring marathon. It’s important not to race too often before the spring marathon. Because every time you go out there and race you’re getting up for it and I would definitely have to get up for that race to be competitive. And just being able to focus on training for a block of time is really important for marathon buildup. So we’re just looking at different races and scheduling for when those races would be. So it’s more just an issue of timing.
MR: Who do you think has the best chance to win in Boulder?
RH: It’s gonna be a stacked race. Dathan [Ritzenhein] is still probably the guy to beat out there. He’s a really good cross country runner and being from Boulder I am sure he’s gonna be ready to go for that race. And then you’ve got guys like Adam Goucher who has won in the past and has a lot of speed. You’ve got Meb [Keflezighi] potentially running and Abdi [Abdirahman]. I think it’ll be one of the really special cross country races out there.
I heard it’s a pancake flat on the golf course, so it sounds fast. Obviously being at altitude is going to be a big aspect of the race. So just running smart. You put a premium on not going out too hard and knowing your edges really well. Because at sea level if you kind of mess up or go out a little too hard or have a lap in there that’s a little soft, you can kind of regroup and finish up well. But at altitude if you get out of your head or you go over your threshold then you really can be in trouble. So I think the person who runs the smartest decides it.
MR: Which victory of your successful career has meant the most to you?
RH:
There have been a lot of special races for different reasons, but the half-marathon is definitely the highlight. Not because I pushed myself to a limit I’ve never pushed myself to before or anything like that, but more just because I have this dream of being a world class runner and I feel like God has given me a gift to run and I feel like I haven’t ever really…I have seen glimpses of it but it’s never really come out. And that’s what I was so thrilled about. [My wife] Sara told me that coming down the last hill I was acting like a crazy man and she’s right, I was. I was just so excited that finally, after all this time, finally I am starting to realize my dream and starting to be all that God has given me. For that reason, I would say this was the highlight of my career so far.
MR: You took home more than $20,000 for your victory in Houston. Do you and Sara have any plans for all of the prize money you have been bringing home?
RH: We bought a place in Big Bear a while ago, back in the fall. But the problem is that our group is based up here in Mammoth and so we’re looking into getting someplace up here. So we found this really cool mobile home with this awesome view of the mountains. It’s just a mobile home, not anything pricey or anything, but just to have a place we can call home here while we’re training. So the prize money will be a nice down payment. We actually just started escrow on that a couple days ago.
MR: What does Sara have to say about all of this? Is she preparing for any big races right now?
RH:
Yeah, she just ran in the New Balance Games and she came in second. Next she’ll run the 3K [at the 100th Millrose Games].
She’s been so great throughout this whole thing. Even before the race she made me go to bed early four nights before. We had to clean our place in Mammoth the night before we left and she stayed up late cleaning the whole night so I wouldn’t have to. She drove all the way down from Big Bear so I could stretch my legs. And not minding all the marathon talk and all the hype. She’s just been there for me and sacrificed her training. It feels really good to have that support. I know there’s no way I would have had the same results if she hadn’t been there for me.
MR: Speaking of family, you’ve said that you were thinking about your brother Chad [who won the 2006 Foot Locker Cross Country title] in the last few miles at Houston. How are you each affected by the other’s successes?
RH: I know he has definitely inspired me. I went down to watch him run in San Diego in the Foot Locker. That was one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. I was thinking about that when I was out there.
I hope I have taught him some things. Hopefully he will make different mistakes than me and not the same ones. It’s really fun to be doing it together. I look forward to training with him when he starts college. I know he just took a visit to Oregon and he’s going to Colorado and I know he was in contact with the Michigan coach and also with U.C. Riverside, so I think those are the schools he is potentially looking at. I don’t think he has seen me race in quite a while. But it would be fun to have my whole family out at the spring marathon for support.
MR: What other runners inspire you?
RH: There are a lot, but especially Meb. He’s up here training with me right now. He was just so gracious with me after the Houston race. I never saw him pouting at all even though he has every reason to be as the silver medalist. He was just genuinely excited with me. I learned so much from him, about how to handle the ups and downs of racing with grace and he has supported me so much. I am still looking to learn a lot from him. It’s really great to have someone so experienced that has competed so well at a high level of running to look up to.
MR: You got a close-up look at the ING New York City Marathon course riding in the lead vehicle in November. What is your opinion of the course for the Olympic Trials? And what about the competition?
RH: It’s gonna be a really challenging course. I am gonna have to do some good, smart preparation for that. The course undulates the whole way. There are not too many good flat places and if you start falling apart the hills will really kill you. You could really lose a lot of ground there. So I think the preparation for that is gonna have to be really good. I’m gonna have to spend some time on the hills and get my legs really callused to the up and down course.
As for competition, obviously [Khalid] Khannouchi, being he’s the previous world record holder. And then throw guys in there like Meb and Abdi and [Alan] Culpepper and Dathan. It’s gonna be a battle out there. It’s gonna be the toughest team ever to make.
MR: You’ve said your goal is to make it to the podium at the Olympics. What other goals do you still have for yourself?
RH: After the half-marathon it made me realize that I think I can run at a really high level for longer distance races. I don’t think too many of my goals have changed. I want to make the Olympic team and take a swing at a medal. It would be fun to run the half-marathon on a flatter course. I felt like at the end of the race that there were a couple of miles where I had some problem areas and I could’ve run a little faster. And I know that if I had people around it would have helped a lot.
So it’s kind of just a curiosity. I don’t have any crazy goals. I am just curious to see what eventually I can get out of myself. I have no idea how I will do at the marathon.
I realize that the half-marathon and the marathon are two completely different things, but it has given me more confidence that my body is going to respond well to marathon training. I might not hit it perfect my first time out but eventually I think I can run really fast in the marathon. It just feels more comfortable having established my half-marathon time. It just gives me more of an open door in terms of what is possible. You know whether or not I actually run 2:05 my first time out, it depends on a lot of things. It will probably take years to find out if I can do that or not. Now I just think okay, I have the mechanics to possibly do this and that just makes you excited to get out there and train and possibly give it a shot.
Interview conducted January 21 and 26, 2007, and posted February 1, 2007.
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