Joe Moore Talks about Trailers, USATF Club XC Championships, and Coping with Cold and Ice

Joe Moore winning the Worthington Turkey Day 10K
Photo courtesy of TCTC

Airstream-drivin', shoe slingin' Joe Moore has begun to make his mark on the roads and in cross country in the US.  You can get a flavor of his pedigree from his Twin Cities Track Club interview prior to this year's Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon HERE. For his exploits since then, read below.

Down the Backstretch:  You had an interesting “training prep” for the USATF XC Club Nationals by doing a "trailer tour" as a promotion for Karhu, the shoe company.  

Joe Moore: Yes, I was one of the American drivers on the "Karhu Originals Tour."  I drove around the Eastern half of the country pulling a 1975 Airstream trailer and stopping at races and running stores.  I was somehow able to still get in solid training, I just had to be very creative, since a lot of times we didn't know where we'd be the next day. 

I definitely learned to be more flexible in training and everything else because of that.  Things got a little dicey in the last month when it started to get cold. The Airstream was remodeled as a touring shoe museum and not so much as a living quarters.

DtB:  You were the last qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials.  Talk a bit about that journey.  What you were thinking as it came down to the last day and literally the last yards/meters of the race as you dipped under the qualifying time by three seconds.

JM: I screwed around and missed the 1:05 standard several times by less than twenty seconds, including a 1:05:18 at Las Vegas.  The next week I saw a half in Lower Alabama near where my brother-in-law lives, so I hopped a flight and went down there.  

The weather was perfect and the course was flat as a pancake.  I was really going to pieces in the last mile or so, but turned the last corner, and knew I'd made it.  It was a surprise actually, because I'd stopped looking at my watch with 5K to go and just put my head down and ran.

DtB:  In your training log that you have posted up on the internet HERE, you have been commenting on the mental and physical challenges of training for racing in a Minnesota winter, which has been made even more difficult by the roller coaster temperatures and the icy spots that leaves on roads and paths.  Talk a bit about how you deal with those challenges.

JM: I grew up in Kansas, which isn't a lot different than Minnesota.  The cold hangs around much longer here, and the ice seems harder to avoid.   I really shouldn't complain because the lakes and river paths are cleaned up quickly. 

I've been feeling the cold a lot the last few days especially.  Sometimes it just really gets to you, freezes you up and makes it hard to even want to run fast. I'll get used to it again though. I love Minnesota - it's a great place to train, but you still have to be tough.

DtB:  You’re pretty active on the internet with your blog HERE and the training log.  Is that a way to manifest your journalism training, an outlet for your thoughts and ideas, and/or just a way to communicate with others what’s going on in your life.

JM: The blog is an ongoing struggle.  I would really like to make it more interesting than a normal running blog, which usually only includes some training updates, race reports and the occasional "what am I doing in this sport?" kind of self-reflection.  

Of course, my blog has all of that stuff too, but I want to try to be more creative with it when I can, even if it does just wind up as an indecipherable stream of consciousness mess. I'd like to offer a look into the runner's life, which is oftentimes quite boring.  That doesn't make it easier.

DtB:  Talk a bit about the Club Cross experience.  What was the goal going into the race?  How did the race develop? 

JM: I wasn't sure what I was doing in the Clubs race.  I looked at it is as a chance to beat people that I wouldn't be expected to beat, and a chance to place well in another US championship.  I have to admit I didn't realize the race was the selection race for Edinburgh or NACAC(North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic  Association)  this year, which is why I was acting like a total spaz at the meeting to fill out paperwork. 

Mike and I were wondering if we would have tried even harder if we'd realized that ahead of time.  I'm pretty sure I raced as hard as I could that day though, and it paid off.

DtB:  You’ve got the Scotland race and NACACs in Jamaica, quite a contrast in climates, if nothing else.  Aside from being your first trips on US teams, any thoughts on those two races?

JM: I'm really excited to go to Scotland to race.  It will be extra cool because my good friend Bobby Mack will be racing too. He's been to this race the last two years, so he can show me the ropes.  I want to really race well in both races.  I feel a kind of responsibility to run fast when I'm representing the USA in another part of the world.  I usually do well under that kind of pressure.

DtB:  What are your goals for 2013? 

JM: My plan is to hit the track a little more and try to get a few shorter distance PRs while I still can.  My 10K is probably my weakest PR, and it's usually hard to get into a fast race, but I'll keep trying.  

My big goals will be the half marathon championships in Duluth again, and then the marathon championships at the TC Marathon.  I won't have to leave the state for my big goal races, so that will make up for all the traveling I've been doing lately.