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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONOctober 30, 2014Meb KeflezighiNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I feel so honored. Everybody's here. This is such a great moment to be in New York because this is my ninth New York City Marathon. I started here. And I had my ups and downs. Didn't make the Olympic team here. In the trials, I'm going to win this and win that. But to be at the TCS New York City Marathon 12 years later. My career, you've seen it unfold through ups and downs, and the cap was the Boston Marathon. It's nice to have those under my belt, and now I can say, you know what, what can I do more? Instead of saying I have to do. It's nice position to be in. Q. What is it about New York? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: New York is an excellent place where you want to visit just to visit. Statue of Liberty or one of the museums, and you want to see everything on TV. To be able to come to New York City Marathon and run the course, people enjoy that. It's just got all the traffic lights, like I said, just to be on foot or on wheelchair, to go through that, it's a great view. Now that I've done the New York City Marathon, kind of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, that was the slowest moving around, I'm here to enjoy it. I'm here 30 seconds, 40 seconds, but to see all the different boroughs and all the different cultures and diversity. That's what the exciting part it, and that's what New York provides. Q. Do you notice that when you're running? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Most definitely. Almost every neighborhood you run, you see different cultures, different ethnicity, different kind of music, and what not. Q. You talked about winning the New York City Marathon in 2009. What was that feeling coming up towards the finish line? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: It brings back memories. To be able to win the New York City Marathon 2009, that changed my life. In terms of personal gratification. I wanted to win a medal for the United States. I did in Athens. Then I want to win another medal in Beijing and didn't happen. I remember during the trials people saying, Meb, we love you. You're still our hero. I just started crying and just break down because I give everything I can, every race I do, I give 110 percent. Sometimes you come on top, and others you just struggle. That's what life is. To be able to come back and win the New York City Marathon 2009 and have that jersey on for USA, it's a proud moment. To be able to do that on top of that of what happened in Boston last year, in terms of variety and helping my career because that was probably do or die for me in Boston. That one shot, one opportunity, and I've thinking about it for 365 days. What can I do positive? Hopefully win it, but positive to change Boylston Street. Q. Can you talk about last year, you and Mike Cassidy finishing together. Maybe how you‑‑ I guess reflections on that and your development throughout the year. MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Kind of myself, we're good friends now. In fact, we text each other. That's what support does, friendship. We talk about the Team For Kids, the kid, he wants to make more friends. That was part of me when I was in seventh grade. I want to be‑‑ I didn't speak English. So I ran as hard as I can, and people giving me high fives. To be able to cross the finish line with Mike Cassidy last year, I was in St. Louis, and somebody asked me, what was the highest career‑‑ this was after Boston. My highest career achievement, I said Boston. He says, it was New York last year. So people have different perspective of that. It connected me to the mature athletes or the mass runners just because at one point my body was shut down. I couldn't go. But at the same time, I'm like, you know what, I'm going to get that finish line. It crossed my mind that it was wonderful to win it. It was wonderful to get second and third. But this time I'm going to get to that finish line, and a lot of people would love to be in my shoes, whether I break 2:45 or 3 hours, I wasn't sure what it was going to be. But I met Mike that morning. We shook hands and said good luck to each other. Many people have encouragement to go through. He was just the right guy at the right time to say let's push the pace. I said, I'm going to try. I'm going to draft out of you, and I did. Two miles or so ago, I told him, hey, we'll help each other, keep encouraging each other, we'll hold hands and finish together. That's what this sport does. You win some, you lose some. At the same time, you have to help each other. When I finished the race, he said this is the greatest highlight of my career. I said, wait a minute, you just helped me get to the finish line, and it equally meant a lot to me. He wrote a beautiful blog describing the situation, and I felt blessed that he was there to make it a great experience for me. Q. Meb, how different is it coming to New York after winning Boston as opposed to coming to New York after you won here in 2009? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I mean, after winning the Boston Marathon, I know New York has changed me, but it's another level of change because many people consider me a hero because of what I did in Boston, to be able to win that race and the most important day of marathoning and after what happened last year, it's hard to describe. I try to describe as much as I can, but it's just not feasible to put into words. America needed me. I delivered. But there's no guarantees. You just get the best out of yourself. And the way I did it, I mean, I told Coach Larsen that I was just going to draft. I did as well as I can until two miles left, but you've got to evaluate, assess the situation, and I made a move unaccounted and kept pushing it. If somebody's going to catch me, they're going to have to earn it. Boston strong, Meb strong, have the victims' names there. I thought about it. Nobody told me it was on. I have a photo of them, in fact. But toward the end, taking the photo out is going to get a little messy. I decided to write their names down. Definitely give me the energy. People chanting USA, USA, Go Meb, it was the moment of a lifetime. Trying to describe going to Boston, but I know I trained for something positive. Hopefully, it helps the healing process. We never forget Boston or what happened in 2013, but hopefully it can take a little bit of what happened after to say, you know what, that was a wonderful moment. Q. Do you feel more intimidated going into this race from that win or the pressure? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I'm a competitor. I love to compete. I love to get the best out of myself. Now people know who I am, probably more seriously when I'm 39 years old. I'll give it a shot. It's just going to be all assess of what they're going to do, how they're going to do, what I'm going to do, and make the adjustments during the race. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but my career has been solidified, 110 percent complete. But I feel honored for TCS and the New York Road Runners giving me the opportunity to be here and show my talents. I still believe I can run strong. If I win, awesome. If I don't win, you know what, I'm still going to be Meb. Q. You've had your greatest successes in championship style races here in Boston, the Olympics? How did that come about? Were you always strong with that, and why do you think you've been the best in those sorts of races? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Many people consider me not a firm runner, but I'm a firm runner. I used to take‑‑ when I ran the mile in high school, I used to take 59 seconds and then 60, 61, and then try to beat 64. It just‑‑ you know, you compete. That's why I never really‑‑ I shouldn't say never. I have done London. I did Chicago. Chicago just get standard time, 2:12. But I've never been fit and speedy and pace was on. I could have run faster, but at the same time, I just concentrate on the championship because I wasn't the American record holder in the 10K or 20K, but I love wearing those medals around my neck, and nobody can take it away from me. It's like a diploma. You earn it, and you can physically touch it, whereas, oh, I ran 27:13. That's all right. But it has a lot of‑‑ but people will say, I ran New York City Marathon or Boston Marathon, and the Olympics, it's like, how did you do? To just participate in those things is huge, but to be able to say I won them, people kind of like double take, really? It keeps the conversation going. Q. Meb, in an age of 2:02 marathon, for a guy that's never run that fast, can you talk about what it means to have three real signature marathon moments‑‑ Athens, New York, and Boston. MEB KEFLEZIGHI: For me, it was my dream in Sydney‑‑ I set goals, or I said to people write them down. That's how my goals are set. Before I left Sydney, after that first win in the USA jersey, I said, that was awesome. I want to do something significant for the United States. At that point, I thought it was going to do the 10K to get a medal, but life takes a turn, and I became a marathoner. I won the trials in 2004, and went over in the marathon. To be in Athens, to do the original course, to be able to equalize on a hot and humid course, Coach Larsen and I decided to go to the marathon. If I was looking for a vacation in terms of being an Olympian, I would do the 10K, but I really wanted to change U.S. distance running. For me, I wanted to win a medal for the United States, and that's what I did. New York, I thought I could win it the first time I did here. 2002, I went crazy and hit the wall. I got my Ph.D. learned a lot, and to come back in 2008, not to make the Olympic team, but that was my Olympics. That was my personal goal. To be able to win Boston on the most important day of a marathon after what happened, to own that Boylston Street, in lead the 36,000 people, to have those under my belt, I feel blessed. Just a work through miracle of God. I never thought how I would achieve the things I achieve, but I work hard, do the right things. Never rest until I put my head on the pillow because there's always something I could do to better myself. Q. What was that crowd like at Boston? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: The crowd in Boston was electrifying. It was just amazing. It's like I have that experience here in First Avenue. This time around in Boston, it was just‑‑ everybody wanted to be part of it. Just want to say, you know what, we runners are resilient, and we are‑‑ don't want to be intimidated by what happened. People, are you concerned? No, it happened once in 17 years. We went out there, and everybody wanted to be able to be part of it. It was very loud, extremely loud. Q. Did you feel that they were carrying you, the other runners to a certain extent? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Most definitely. If it wasn't for the crowd, I don't think I would have won that race. To have the victims' names, you draw energy. You think about constantly to change, you think, hey, towards the end, the last mile and a half or so, I'm like use the crowd, use the crowd, use the crowd. You get energy. In fact, at mile 18 1/2 or 19, I was blowing kisses or saying USA, USA, but you have to focus because the emotion was so deep. You can't have them say USA, USA, and you're like, I'm proud of that too, USA, USA. At the same time, just keep pushing and pushing. Toward the end, that made the difference because I was relying on them, and they gave me a spurt of energy. Q. What do you feel fitness‑wise compared to where you were before Boston? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Going into the race for Boston, I was not in the greatest shape, but I feel the same way right now. It's not like 2004 or 2007. 2007 and 2004, the trials, that is, that was probably the best shape I've ever been. But as long as I have the consistent and strong, I feel I'm healthy. When I'm healthy, I can compete. I feel‑‑ my strength is there. Speed might not be there, but it's a marathon. I feel strong. My stamina's there. I've done long runs twice over 26 miles and done tempo runs and done the intervals. Most importantly, I'm healthy and happy to be here and give it my best shot. Q. Is there a specific type of race that you're really hoping for? I know there's a few guys, Mutai and Kipsang, that are going to be going after the course record, which is like 2:05. Does that intimidate you, or are you just going to be sort of keying off them? Are you going to be doing your own race? How are you approaching this race? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I wish them good luck on the win. I mean, once the gun goes off, you can see, if they're going to go from the get go, you can say, you know what, I have no business going with that. When I did what I did in boss not to, I wasn't doing something crazy. I just did what was common sense. Be smart racing. I came through. If they're going for 2:04, 2:05, you know what, I can't do that in the New York City Marathon. I know that better. I've just got to go for place, and hopefully I might tie. Q. You've run New York City in May weather conditions. This week you mentioned the wind. Probably going to be a little chilly, a little windy. How might it affect how you run, and also how might it affect the lead two or three guys going for a course record will run? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Any marathon is a test of patience. If you're going to split it, you'd be better off. That's what it's going to take, I think, make it a split to be able to do it, even in the wind. Might be 1:06, 1:07 and come back 1:01 or whatever. Or it might be 1:05 and then come back 1:01. So it's just going to be difference of tactics. We have all this kind of energy. At one point, should we make that move and how do we get to that finish line? Because you've got to have some left toward the end. You can't just let it all out at 17 miles. Q. You were thrown into the national spotlight after your win at Boston. You said that you're pretty much fit, but how did that affect your training? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I mean, to be fit is one thing. To be competitive is another. Training is just the spotlight has been amazing. I've done some fun road races in the summer, more so than anything, and I was dealing with some injuries. But I just came back from Mammoth Lakes, where I used to live, and now trained there. I was there for four weeks. Training has been good. Just now it's time to show it on Sunday. I didn't have a tune‑up race. For marathon, I don't always need a tune‑up race either. For Athens, I didn't do that or for New York race I didn't have a lot of tune‑up races. I'm excited about the opportunity. Q. You talked about USA running and the Olympics, and the Olympic trials are really about a little more than a year away. What are your thoughts on your hopes and chances of making that team and also who do you think some guys in this race among them, will be competitive for those three spots? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: You know, the United States have fair and square, just like racing. Racing is there's no judgment. You've just got to earn it. Same thing with USA. I didn't go to Beijing because I didn't earn to go to Beijing, that race. So come February 13, 2016, a lot of people are aiming for that goal, and I hope to work hard. If I'm honored and earn that spot to be there for the United States, it's one of my goals to do that. So training is, as long as I can stay healthy and stay fit and have‑‑ for me, I just have to have a decent race. I don't have to have spectacular races anymore. Over the years, I've been training pretty hard. Hopefully, Sunday will be a good indicator of that. If not, just get ready for 2016. Q. How do you get over nerves on race day? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: How do you get over nerves? Run in high school, I guess. I ran so many races that in high school I used to be‑‑ I used to visualize how I'm going to come across the finish line, how I'm going to win. I talk a lot about that in my Run to Overcome book. I'm excited. I get anxious most of them, just nervous. Do the work, and may the best man and best woman win. Q. What about age? Does that become a factor? Is that a factor? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I mean, age is funny because we wouldn't know our age if somebody didn't tell us or we celebrate every year. You've just got a feeling about it. You have got to work within that system. You know what, I feel good, I'm going to push. I don't feel good. I'm going to take it easy. Marathon and training is all about hard work. If you can do consistently hard work and stay healthy, that's about it. Q. Do you feel it? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Do I feel it? I feel it when I get injured or I have setbacks like I did this summer. You just have to recover. You can take a day off, two to three days off and bounce back, but nowadays, it takes me a couple weeks, three weeks to recover. Training is, I'm not running like I used to do probably, in my tempos or intervals, but I'm solid. I'm solid and close to it. It's kind of hard to compare because ten years ago versus now, I change my training a little bit, just to give more recovery. Biggest goal is to stay healthy, and that's hard because, for 24, 25 years, I've been running, and now it's like you want to do more. You want to be able to maybe train a little bit, especially if the weather is nice or you want to be able to do more things, but at the same time, it's like, you know what, I'm just going to take the afternoon off. It's hard to do that. Q. Do you still train the same mileage like you have been doing like ten years ago? What's the biggest difference between then and now? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: The biggest difference is it used to be a routine Monday to Sunday, intervals, long run, and tempo runs. But now I just go off of how my body feels. I take two days off in between. Not off, but ten and four, ten and four, in between days versus come back one day and then do intervals or tempo or long run. So leave a little bit more recovery time. Q. This is your first New York City Marathon after being a Boston champion. Has the buzz worn off? Has there been any carryover effect? Is it in the past? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: No, I mean, still got the medal from Boston. Q. Here? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Yeah, it's in New York. I'm going to be giving a talk in Connecticut for one of my sponsors, Jonah, who has a rare disease that started todeteriorate because he had lack of glycogen. So he's turning 13, and I'm going to go to his school and talk on the 4th. So he wants to see it, and the school wants to see it. And they've been asking me to come since Boston. So this is the right time. I just did a photo shoot when I was in Mammoth for one of the famous photographers there, Moose Peterson, and I had my three medals together and be able to reflect back and say, you know what, you get sick, you get injured, you get bad condition weather. There's so many things that can go wrong, but you know what, I've been blessed to be able to get every single one of them when I needed to, and to have those under my belt, I feel blessed. Q. Have you talked to Stephan Shay as he's prepared for New York? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I haven't talked to Stephan Shay in preparation for this week, but I ran into him about three months or so ago. I ran with him in the past when Ryan was around and tease him about‑‑ Ryan and I, we've got to go up that hill. Run for dear life. Then we tease him he wasn't old enough. Just kidding. Just stay with us. I met his parents, Ryan's parents, Stephan's parents, and I met Nathan and his sister. So one thing I want to do is go to Michigan and be able to do that one race for him. I know it's getting close to ten years ago, but it's all positive. He's smiling down and proud of what I have accomplished and what his brother meant. Q. You mentioned this summer that you have an injury setback. I was wondering, can you tell me how much time you missed and what was the injury? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: After you get‑‑ there's good and bad things about knowing your body. The bad thing is you know there's something going on and it's time, but at the same time, I was just having fun. I didn't push it. I just enjoyed the process, and it was fun to run with Joan Benoit and her 30th anniversary in Falmouth and the San Diego Rock 'n Roll. So the injuries really, I didn't miss like a period of time, but had to take it easy and nurse it and pay attention to it. I feel so blessed now that it was nothing because it was like the hamstring and then the plantar fascia and then the knee, and I start overcompensating. I was in pain in Boston. I wouldn't be surprised in it was the cause of that because I was holding on for dear life. I gave everything that I had, and that probably did over compensation. But you can see my left foot was not landing right in Boston. If you look at that video again. I got a chance to see it twice, of the race, and you can see definitely I was favoring my left foot. But now that's behind me. I feel decent, in great shape. In decent shape and great health. Consistent training and see what happens Sunday. Q. What is it going to take to win the whole thing? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: Well, may the best prepared man or woman might win the race. We play tactics. I haven't done my homework thoroughly yet, but I don't think anybody is showing their cards yet, except Lelisa who did the Boston Half Marathon and ran well there. I don't know what Geoffrey has going or Kipsang. Just the gun goes off and you use tactics, and you have 26.2 miles to make some decisions, hopefully good decisions to get away from them. Q. Being a good racer as opposed to being a good runner for time, is that based on running on emotion? I mean, do you get caught up in the moment when you're six miles out from the finish? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I think you have to make calculated decisions when you need to make decisions. When you're running fast‑‑ and I've been there before in the 10K. You just follow and make sure it doesn't come to the last 600 or 800 meters in a 10K. Here you have to evaluate how much you have left and whether you need to give more or you have to, you know what, I'm just going to go back and collect myself. Sooner or later, if somebody's‑‑ anticipate somebody's going to make a move, and you're like, you know what, I have to be ready for that. You have to be able to know that before it happens. That's what racing is. A lot of strategy, a lot of tactics. And make a decision and make them count. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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