RM: Congrats on making the World Championships in Japan (and your 23rd place finish - 2:23:28). When did you know you made the team? What was it like to be selected to represent the US of A? MM: I had a pretty good idea that I made the team after the London Marathon. We had a good idea who was going to accept the World positions, we just had to wait to see if anyone jumped me with a time from London.
To put on that US jersey is a very special experience. Other than the Olympic Games, it doesn't get any bigger than the IAAF World Championships. It is one of the most memorable experiences in my running career.
RM: What things did you do to acclimate yourself to the conditions? How much different did you have to train for this marathon than you have in the past? MM: I did all of my afternoon runs in a sauna in Clint Verran's rubber suit. No, seriously Kevin and Keith gave us a chance to train in Orlando for a week before we went to Japan. In addition, the USATF allowed us to go to Japan 10 days which was a tremendous help.
RM: How did the race unfold? Did it play out the way you had planned for it to? MM: The race played out almost exactly how we pictured it. We had a great advantage with having three teammates who competed in the marathon in Helsinki. They ran in similar conditions and had great races, so we really used their experiences to develop our race plan. We knew that we would be playing clean up the second half. The runners with the 2:07-2:10 personal bests, felt that 2:14 would be easy, so they went out at that pace and couldn't"t hold it, so there was a lot of carnage. With my PR, I was seeded 71st out of 91 entries, so heading out with the leaders didn't"t make sense for my current ability. The heat and humidity played right into our game plan and things just fell into place.
RM: If you could run the race again, what would you change? In other words, what did you learn from the race?
MM: Playing "Monday Morning Quarterback" is easy. I came through the half at 1:11:04 and came back with a 1:12:24. Looking at that positive split tells me that maybe I could have been a little more conservative the first half. It helped to have the experiences of our teammates who ran the marathon in similar conditions in Helsinki, we were very confident that the race would
Being my second marathon, I feel that I learned even more this time then the first time I ran this distance. I say that because the second time around you know what is coming. You have to take that and tweak it to better your race strategy. When you throw in the crazy conditions, the overseas travel, a different culture, and a very good field, there are a lot of things to learn.
RM: With the Olympic Trials only a few months down the road, what are you going to do to get ready for it? What goals do you have for yourself at the Trials? MM: While my time at World's wasn't that great, the effort was definitely there, so my main focus is to get recovered. The World Championships was my focus, I knew that when I accepted the position. I am taking things one day at a time right now and not stressing about the trials, my goals will develop as I get my legs back.
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