Lansing, MI

Nate Usher has come along way from the Grass Lake High schoolcross country and track teams that he ran on in the late 90's. Since, Nate has gone on to run a 5k time of 14:45 and a 10k time of 30:24. As the distances get longer Nate seems to find performances get better with his 2nd attempt at a marathon resulting in a 1st place finish. Read on to find out more about Nate and his running.

RunMichigan:  How did it feel to win the 2005 Bayshore Marathon and were you confident with your race plan that you could win today? (Nate won in a time of 2:23.06)

NU: It felt great to win.  My plan was to run even splits each mile and try to run under 2:25, so I was pretty confident that none of the other guys would try to run with me. 

RunMichigan: How many Marathons have you run?  How did you train different for this marathon, than the 2004 Detroit Free Press Marathon where you ran 2:30? 

NU: This is only my second marathon.  I didn't change my training much from Detroit, but now I'm more careful to not go out to fast in longer races.  At Detroit, I went out way too fast and my legs were dead with eight miles to go.  This time, I made sure to control the pace at the beginning to avoid that. 

RunMichigan: Can you describe your race? 

NU: I originally planned to try to run even splits at about 5:30 per mile.  I was feeling good and conditions were perfect, so I ended up settling into about 5:20-5:25 pace for most of the race.  Since I was running even pace, I never really hit the wall, and I only slowed down a few seconds in the last few miles. 

RunMichigan: What did you think of the course today and were you able to enjoy the view of Grand Traverse Bay during the race? 

NU: The course was great.  I tried not to enjoy the view too much, since I needed to concentrate on holding my pace. 

RunMichigan: What made you decide to run the Bayshore Marathon and will you be back in 2006? 

NU: I wanted to run here because the course sounded very fast and the weather during this time of year sounded perfect for hitting a fast time.  The $1000 bonus for breaking 2:30 also helped me choose this marathon over a couple others.  I will probably come back in 2006, but I won't know for sure until next spring. 

RunMichigan: What other races will you be running this summer and when will you run your next Marathon? 

NU: I'll run my next marathon this fall, but I haven't decided which one it will be yet.  I'm going to be running several local 5k and 10k races this summer. 

RunMichigan: What are your goals for the rest of 2005? 

NU: My main goal is to keep improving my marathon time.  I want to get a qualifying time for the next Olympic trials marathon. 

RunMichigan: At what point in the Marathon did you take the lead and when did you feel confident that you were going to win? 

NU: I took the lead right at the start.  Before the race, I looked up the seed times for the other top guys before the race.  Since no one was seeded under 2:30, and I was going to try to run 2:25 or faster, I was pretty confident that I would be able to win. 

RunMichigan: How do you balance your work with your training?  Do you have people to train with? 

NU: Right now I'm working full time, so it makes it difficult to get in as many miles as I want, and I haven't been running as many miles as I did in college.  I like to do most of my training by myself, but I usually to a few runs a week with my brother or some of the guys I ran with at MSU. 


Thanks for the great interview! (Interview conducted by John Brabbs)