Andrew Carlson Ready for the Big Apple

Photo Courtesy of Team USA Minnesota

Team USA Minnesota's Andrew Carlson hopes to follow up on his impressive performance at the US Olympic Trials at Sunday's New York City Marathon against strong national and international competition.  Reared in North Dakota where he was the state high school XC champion, Carlson continued his distance running success at the University of Minnesota where he set a school record in the 5K on the track that was broken by Hassan Mead in 2009 and finished ninth in the NCAA 10,000 in 2005.  Carlson has won two national championships on the roads--15K in 2008 and 25K in 2010.  At age 30 he hopes that his best years are ahead of him as he moves his focus to the marathon with his aim at the Trials for the 2016 Games and another shot at the Olympic team.

Down the Backstretch: Quite an auspicious debut in the marathon—2:11:24, sixth at the Olympic Trials.  What were your thoughts going into the race?  Did you have concerns about not having run the distance before?  Did you have any specific goals other than to give your best performance or where you just “going with the flow’ and would see how things unfolded?

Andrew Carlson: My thoughts going into the Olympic Trials revolved around getting the best I could on that day. I  had ideas in my head of what I hoped I would do, but I wanted to be flexible with my approach because I was not sure how the race would unfold. When the leaders went out at such a strong pace it made my decision to not go with the lead group easy. I had to make decisions based on giving myself the best chance I could to place high and going out on 2:06-2:07 pace was not in my best interest. 

DtB: You talked afterward about the tight hamstrings, wishing you had known what the last eight miles would feel like, and that you could get through rough patches you experienced.  Talk a little about what was going through your mind as the rest of you felt fine, but your hamstrings were rebelling on you. The “freaking out.”

AC: I would say that  a more experienced marathoner would have been equipped to deal with the notion of hamstring cramping late in the race. I freaked out a bit, but for the most part was able to keep myself under control. Hopefully going forward I will be able to have a better understanding of what my body is going through late in a race and make adjustments from there. 

DtB: You said after the race that you’d thought about a lot of stuff in preparation for the race , but some things way too little.  What things do you think need more thought before the next one?  Things you need to improve upon?

AC: I certainly need to improve on my nutritional intake during the race. I think I was too quick to discard my fluids and that may have had something to do with my hamstring cramping. But it may not have been either. I choose to focus on the most major parts--training and preparation--and let the other things fall into place. 

DtB: You were going to debut at Twin Cities in 2011, but you tore some ligaments in your ankle in a training run before the race.  How was the recovery from that?  How serious an injury was it?  You’ve noted that it might have been a blessing not doing the Twin Cities prior to the Trials? Why?

AC: I certainly wanted to race the marathon at Twin Cities and hope to in the future. I'm just not sure how I would have recovered between TCM and the Olympic Trials. I think the training and preparation ahead of Twin Cities really benefited me in my preparation for the Olympic Trials. I was able to have a barometer for key workouts and a better understanding of how my body would respond to the rigors of marathon training. 

DtB: You have a degree in kinesiology, has that scientific background been a help, a hindrance, or somewhere in between in approaching your running, training, racing?

AC: Though I have a degree in kinesiology I don't believe I think with a very scientific mind. I didn't graduate with honors or anything like that. I believe I have a very keen understanding of the amount of work it takes to run fast, but I don't think I derive much of that from science. I leave that part up to Dennis Barker and just train hard. 

DtB: You have a geographic connection to another runner with Minnesota ties, a contemporary of your college coach Steve Plasencia--Mark Nenow, who was born in North Dakota but moved to Minnesota for high school in Anoka .  He was the American recordholder for 10K.  Ever meet him or had a chance to compare notes?

AC:  I have never met Mr. Nenow, but have certainly heard a lot about him. I have a strong interest in the history of distance running in Minnesota and North Dakota. Though I don't put myself in the category of Plasencia, Beardsley, Bjorklund, Nenow, Kempainen, etc, it is fun to aspire to be at that level and maybe one day be in that category. 

DtB: You’ve got a lot of range, having been successful on the track, on the roads at intermediate distances, but everyone is probably going to be pushing you for the marathon after your trials performance.  What are your thoughts on future plans?  A mix of track and marathon, somewhere in between, or total focus on the marathon?

AC: My future plans are in the marathon, beginning on November 4th in NYC. I think I will compete at a variety of distances until my career is over though. I believe that being a well rounded athlete is very important to having success in the Marathon.