Shalane Flanagan has retired from competitive running.
Here, she talks about her coaching career, how to push through threshold runs, and more.
Now retired, Flanagan no longer spends her days chasing PRs.
Shes a coachnot just to elite athletes in the context of runningbut toallof us on and off the track.
Well+Good: You have a cookbook coming out late next year.
What are you recipe testing in quarantine?
American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist, New York City Marathon champion, and global head coach of Nike Run Club
Flanagan:Ive been deemed the art director for this next cookbook.
So based on that, we just felt like there was a demand for a book like this.
What running gear are you loving right now?
During COVID, every second someone is downloading the Nike Run Club app and going for a run.
Thats a huge spike and runningso that makes me super happy.
To me, that is one of the more innovative things that is going to take off right now.
What other metrics do you think indicate the success of a run and a runner?
A lot of runners tend to focus on their pace and mileage.
With our elite athletes, its obviously an important factor in getting to the highest level.
American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist, New York City Marathon champion, and global head coach of Nike Run Club
But in their daily runs, we do reinforcetime spent on their feet.
They dont know how far theyre running.
Do I need to slow down because I feel tired?
Theyre not checking splits and worrying about that.
Theyre just focusing on spending time on their feet.
How do you coach your athletes through them?
Its a grind; its about being uncomfortable for a long amount of time.
As your fitness changes, your threshold pace changes.
So well takelets just saythree-by-a-mile repeats and ask athletes to run 5:30 a mile.
Theyll start off with three-by-a-mile with 90 seconds rest so that they can mentally break it up.
Do you have a brain trick you like to use while youre logging your miles?
Sometimes in my workouts, I would give a shot to get so into a rhythm of my run.
Id reward myself for coming within a half-second of whatever it was supposed to be.
Obviously, I want to help inspire people.
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