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Brian
Sell of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Olympic Development Project
based in Rochester, Michigan, is considered by some to be a sleeper
to make the U.S. Olympic Marathon team despite his relatively modest
PR of 2:19:57, run in his only marathon (Chicago 2003). A graduate
of tiny St. Francis University in Pennsylvania, the 25-year-old
Sell has quietly amassed some impressive credentials which make
him a legitimate contender for a top-10 finish in Birmingham on
February 7.
The
owner of track PRs of 13:59 (5,000m) and 28:36 (10,000m), Sell has
made his biggest mark on the roads representing the U.S. at several
international road championships including his 25th place finish
(making him the first American) at the 2003 World Half-Marathon
Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, in a PR of 1:03:53.
2003
was indeed a good year for Sell, most notably with his breakthrough
race at the New Haven 20K (the USA 20K Championships) where he finished
second behind Meb Keflezighi in a time of 59:18 and defeated many
of the top U.S. road racers in the process. Sell begins 2004 by traveling
to the Olympic Trials Marathon with nine fellow Hansons-Brooks team
members. We caught up with him three weeks prior to the big race.
MensRacing.com:
Let's begin by discussing your buildup to the Trials. How has your
training progressed?
Brian Sell:
It's been going pretty well for me up until this deep freeze that
we have up here now. But so far everything has been going to plan.
MR:
You recently spent some time training down in Florida with a few
of your teammates. How long were you down there and how did your
training go?
BS:
We went down there for a week just to get us out of the cold, but
it kind of spoiled us and then we had to come back to this cold.
We had two pretty tough workouts down there and then we had the
[Disney] Half-Marathon, which was, more or less, a tempo run for
us. We hit all three of those pretty well and nailed the times we
were supposed to.
MR:
What are your goals for the Trials? In another interview you said
you planned on going after a fast time at the Trials. Does the fact
that the IAAF has changed the 'A' Standard from 2:12 to 2:15 change
your race plan at all?
BS:
The change in the standard doesn't really change our plans. We're
planning on trying for a fast time. I'd be pretty happy with anything
from a 2:12 to 2:15 or so. I definitely want to finish in the top
10 and if I have a really good day, top three.
MR:
Last fall was a very successful one for you, highlighted by your
breakthrough at the New Haven 20K. Looking back, briefly take us
through that race and describe what it's done for your confidence
when it comes to racing.
BS:
Leading up to New Haven, we basically ran the same races as we did
in 2002, and I only ran faster in one race, the [USA Men's 8k Championships].
I think I ran about five seconds faster in that one and all the
others were slower or about the same as the year prior. I was pretty
discouraged so I went into New Haven just hoping to finish top 10
or so. I just got out well and basically led that second pack behind
Meb, and felt good doing it. That was a real confidence builder
for me.
MR:
I read that you were considering retirement before New Haven because
you were frustrated with your lack of improvement. How seriously
were you thinking about hanging up your shoes?
BS:
I was considering it pretty seriously. I'm planning on going to
dental school eventually when I get done with running and I had
a lot of outside pressures from family suggesting that I should
get along in life and begin dental school. I wasn't seeing the improvement
I wanted to see. I wasn't racing badly, but I have a long way to
go if I want to be one of the top guys in the United States, and
not a lot of time to waste if I'm not seeing the improvement I want
to see.
MR:
You credited much of your New Haven race to the fact that you really
backed off on your recovery days leading up to the event. Is this
something you've tried to continue now as you prepare for the Trials?
BS:
Yeah, it's kind of been forced on me lately. Jeff Campbell and Nick
Cordes have each had some minor setbacks this week so I've been
running by myself. Clint Verran is training in Birmingham and he
will be there all the way up to the Trials. So I'm stuck running
by myself this week and we've had 10 inches of snow which has caused
me to run pretty slow on most of my runs. I'm just out there trying
to keep moving forward.
MR:
You followed up New Haven with a solid performance at the World
Half-Marathon Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal for a second
straight year (he finished 25th in 1:03:53). What is your mindset
going into a race like that where you're a major underdog?
BS:
I guess I've had a lot of experience at the half-marathon compared
to a lot of U.S. guys. I think that Track & Field News
ranked me third in the half-marathon behind Khalid Khannouchi and
Brad Hauser, which just shows that there aren't too many guys running
the distance for us. Both times I was just looking for PRs so I
tried to run my own race. I had a little experience from a few years
ago when I ran the half-marathon at the World University Games and
ran 1:05.
MR:
Other than the last two years at the World Half-Marathon Championships,
have you represented the U.S. in any other races?
BS:
Yeah, I ran the NACAC meet for under 25-year-old athletes and the
Chiba Ekiden Relay in 2002 in Japan. I see it as a big honor. There's
nothing better for me than throwing on that USA singlet and going
out and competing for the country. It almost feels as if I'm contributing
in some way, although it's nowhere near what the folks over in Iraq
are doing. But it's about as close as I'm going to get to doing
something great for this country.
MR:
Would you say you are most comfortable at the half-marathon distance
at this point in your career?
BS:
Yeah, I think so. Around that 20K or half-marathon distance seems
to be ideal for me.
MR:
Only a week after the World Champs Half, you were back in the States
securing your Trials qualifier in your marathon debut in Chicago.
Take us through your first 26.2 miler.
BS:
Honestly it felt great up until about the 24-mile mark. We (Hansons)
had six guys going for the 2:22 standard and we basically stayed
together for 18 miles at that 2:22 pace. Nick Cordes and I were
training at a little higher level than the other four guys and Kevin
and Keith (Hanson) told us that we were allowed to go if we felt
inclined. So we both took off at that point and I was clicking off
5:05's per mile from mile 18 to 24 and I hit the wall pretty hard
at mile 24. I was reeling in Josh Cox and Dan Browne and then all
of a sudden my 25th mile was a 5:30 and my 26th was a 6:00 and it
felt all-out.
MR:
What was your fueling strategy during the race?
BS:
I didn't take any [Gel] or Power Bars during the race; I was just
drinking water and diluted Gatorade. I think I'm going to try to
get a [Gel] or two down during the Trials. We've been experimenting
with stuff during our long runs. We tried licorice a couple of weeks
ago. We're just trying to find something that doesn't gum you up
too much.
MR:
How long did it take you to recover after Chicago?
BS:
I took about a week and a half down time and then came back and
I felt fine. I was nailing workouts for three or four weeks and
then I just kind of hit the wall. I ran pretty awful at the Club
Cross Country Championships in early December. I was third last
year and then this year I was 26th or something. I don't know if
it was the marathon catching up with me or just a bad patch of training,
but after that we jumped back into marathon training and I've been
running well for the last five or six weeks.
MR:
Besides the obvious resources such as housing and coaching, what
has the Hansons program contributed to your running?
BS:
I think the major thing is that it's allowed me to train with a
really good group of guys. I'm one that has a hard time training
on my own. I went home for four days over Christmas and luckily
we have a new guy in the program who qualified for the Trials marathon
in Chicago as well. His name is Terrence Shea and he's from my area
originally so he came home with me and we ran together. But if he
hadn't been there... I just have real problems motivating myself
to get out there when I'm at home. I wake up at 7:00 a.m. and try
to get out and run and my Mom wants to make me breakfast. Breakfast
quickly turns into lunch and it's 4:00 p.m. before I finally get
out on my run. So the biggest thing for me is this great group of
guys to head out with every day.
MR:
Is there a certain sense of pride within the group to be sending
10 guys to the marathon Trials?
BS:
Yeah there is some pride there. Within the 10 guys, there will be
three or four different groups who will have different race plans,
but we're certainly happy to be bringing such a large group of guys
who will all be wearing a Hansons jersey.
MR:
What is the camaraderie like within your training group? How much
does that contribute to your success as athletes?
BS:
I had a great experience with my college team. We had a group of
guys who were totally loyal to each other and would do anything
for each other and that really left a mark on me and helped me realize
how great it was to have a team. It's a little harder to take it
out here because we are racing individually most of the time. The
only time we really compete together as a team is at the Club Cross
Country Championships. But we definitely have a good camaraderie
among the guys and we get together outside of training and have
a good time.
MR:
Though your most notable success has been on the roads at the 20K
and half-marathon, you also have run well on the track. Do you plan
on competing in the 10K at the Trials this July?
BS:
Yeah, I think I will try to get a good 10K in this summer. If I
do run well and qualify for the marathon team, then I would definitely
focus on preparing for that and not even race on the track. But
I would like to run a low 28 minute 10K if I get the chance to race
on the track.
MR:
With three weeks to go until the 'Big Dance,' what will your taper
look like?
BS:
I've been up around 140 miles per week the last three or four weeks
and then this week will be about 110-120 miles, and then 90 miles,
and maybe 70 miles the week of the marathon. We will have a good
taper to get us ready.
MR:
Do you have one or two more key workouts you want to nail?
BS:
Yeah, we came back from Florida on Monday and Thursday morning we
had our marquee workout, 2 x 6 miles. We usually try to do that
at about 10 seconds faster per mile than our marathon goal pace.
This year we decided to alternate 4:50 and 5:10 miles for each of
the intervals. Unfortunately there was two inches of snow on the
trail where we do our workouts so our plans went out the window.
I ended up running the first one at 5:10 pace and the second one
at 5:04 pace, so that was a little disappointing. We'll have a "4-2-4"
workout where we'll do 4 miles - 2 miles - 4 miles at a little faster
than marathon pace. And then we'll have a couple shorter workouts
at around 4:40 pace to stretch out the legs before the race.
MR:
The way you talk about running gives me the impression that you
are a bit of a throwback in your approach to training and racing.
Would that be fair to say?
BS:
Yeah I think so. I think it's just about putting the work in. There
are no shortcuts out there — I'm sure of that. I just look
at guys like Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter back in the day. They
just went out there and busted it every day, putting in the miles.
I think that toughness they had is what we're lacking in the U.S.
as far as distance running goes and I'm struggling with it myself,
to be honest. I totally believe it's going to take guys like me
five to 10 years of consistent 120- to 140-mile weeks to get to
that level again and that's something I deal with every day.
MR:
Do you still swear by long shorts unless you're racing?
BS:
Oh yeah. The Brooks people must have seen that on our Web site because
our new uniforms came with pretty baggy shorts. We wore them in
Chicago and at (Cross Country Club Nationals). I don't do tights
or short running shorts.
(Interview
conducted January 16, 2004 and posted January 27, 2004.)
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