Experts Q & A

[Nick]

Nate Brannen of Michigan participated in the Trackshark Chat Wrap on Wednesday, May 7, 2003 from 8:00pm - 9:00pm EST.

The sophomore from Cambridge, Ontario, established himself as the nation's best indoor 800-meter runner as he captured the NCAA crown in a U-M indoor record time of 1:47.79 at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Brannen was also a part of the distance medley relay team that upset favorite Arkansas to win title at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia last month. Brannen outkicked Alistar Cragg of Arkansas over the last 100 meters as Michigan finished in 9:32.65, 0.22 ahead of the Razorbacks.

Below is the Chat Wrap session transcript from Nate Brannen:

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John from Michigan - What kind of track sessions do you do to get ready for big meets like the NCAA's? And is weighlifting part of your training?

Nate Brannen - Some of my favorite workouts heading into big races are some fast 400's, or anything ending with a fast 600. They hurt like hell but show me I'm ready to go. Lifting is incorporated in my training but it not a main focus. I try to lift a couple times per week. The focus is to only get stronger not bigger.

Kenny from Florida - As a fellow Canadian, I wonder if your nationality protrays any positive or negative factors on your running career and life here in the states?

Nate Brannen - No, it has been a great experience coming to the US and getting the opportunity to race and train with some of the best runners in the world. I think it has been a very positive experience in my life.

Steve from Ontario - How do you balance the speed and endurance work that you do? I am having a hard time doing speed twice a week and also trying to do distance the other days. Maybe you can give me some advice how to balance that.

Nate Brannen - I don't really do too much speed stuff until later in the season. I focus on strength then add in speed as the fine tuning at the end of the season. While hitting mileage, i still incorporate fast 150's a ?ouple times a week, this helps maintain my speed while keeping my mileage up.

John from New Jersey - Who do you feel is your biggest competition this year in the 800 meters?

Nate Brannen - The 800 is the toughest it's been in years. There are many guys that on any given day could take the title. There are too many guys to name but many have just as good a shot as the next at winning.

Cris from Kansas - Is there anything special you do to recover from a really hard workout or a race that just fried your legs?

Nate Brannen - I think a massage it key to distance runners and the recovery from hard workouts or races. If you can't get a massage then an ice bath works well as well. I try to get in an ice bath everyday to help my muscles recovery and try to get a massage per week.

John from Ann Arbor - Have you read an advanced copy of Chris Lear's new book? What did you think of it?

Nate Brannen - I actually did have the opportunity to read it and thought it was amazing. It was interesting to read how he saw everything here. For only the short period of time that Lear spent here, I thought he hit everyone's personalities with a nail. He told the story exactly how it went down and the ups and downs that we went through. I recommend the book to everyone, it was a great read.

Lance from Boston - How much time do you spend on the web and what are some of your favorite sites?

Nate Brannen - I try not to be on the web as much as I am, but it just gets addicting sometimes. I usually hit up Letsrun, Dyestat and Trackshark. I try not to look at the message boards too much because there is just too much stuff talked on there and I don't really care to deal with it or let it affect me.

Joe from Quenns, New York - What kind of mileage do you in order to train for cross country?

Nate Brannen - During my freshman year here at Michigan I maxed at high 60's. This year, I brought my mileage up, hitting high 70's with a day off per week. The major thing for me was taking that one day off per week, letting my legs rest up.

Jeremy from Michigan - I am fully aware that there are no shortcuts in getting faster, just good old fashion training. But is there anything that you do to help freshen up your legs before a big race?

Nate Brannen - The only thing I really do to "freshen" up my legs before a big race is a light run and some good strides the night before. This really gets my legs loose and feeling ready.

Bill from Carlisle, Pennsylvania - With so many good universities and running programs out there, how did you decide on Michigan? What advice would you give a high school kid on selecting a school and track program?

Nate Brannen - It was a very tough decision trying to pick a school that I wanted to attend for the next 4 or 5 years of my life. Overall, I felt that Michigan was the right place for me. Ron is an amazing coach, the school has a very good academic status and is known around the world and the training group here at the time was world class. The only advice I would give is to look into everything. Don't just go to a place for one or two reasons. Make sure it has everything you're looking for. For me, I looked at the school itself academically, the running, how close it was to home, the people at the school, the team and the coach. Here at Michigan, everything I was looking for was met.

Berni? from Philadelphia - What was the feeling you experienced after you had outkicked Alistar Cragg of Arkansas over the last 100 meters in the DMR at the Penn Relays, what was going through your head at the time?

Nate Brannen - It was an amazing feeling. Alistar Cragg is an amazing runner, one that many look up to including myself. To outkick him was an amazing feeling. Actualy with about 50 to go I thought it was over and he had me, then I got my head back into it and relaxed and was able to pull just ahead to take the win.

Amy from New Jersey - Do you do anything while training that helps to prepare you mentally for racing? Do you visualize your races ever?

Nate Brannen - The only thing I do during training that helps me mentally in races is when I start hurting I push through it and try to focus on what I'm doing. This helps me when it comes to the end of a race and I'm just mentally dead.

Chad from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan - Do you think that the new regional qualifying meet set in place to qualify for nationals was a good idea, espacially givien the length of the season?

Nate Brannen - I have mixed feelings towards the new system. In some ways it's good because running is to see who's the best in any given race not just the races that are paced. Then again, it is a lot more racing. The new system has us racing 6 races in a span of two weeks.

Paul from Jonesville, Michigan - When racing the 800, what is your strategy? Do you aim for a specific 400 split, or do you just go with how the race feels? Do you think you can beat out most guys in the last 100?

Nate Brannen - It has been very interesting running the 800. It has taken me until this point to actually know how to race one. I was very inexperienced with running 8's. My strategy now is to get out fast but relaxed, trying to hit 51-51 for the first 400. I wouldn't necessarily say I think I could beat most 800 guys over the last 100.

MGoBlue from Michigan - An addition to Skelly's question, is it also a more relaxed training atomoshpere without Paul McMullen and Kevin Sullivan around too? Good luck this weekend at Paddock and then Nationals...GO BLUE!

Nate Brannen - No, I wouldn't say so. I had a great time running with Sully and McMullen. They were amazing training partners.

Jenny from New York - Your coach, Ron Warhurst, takes a lot of heat on running message boards for injuring his runners with too much speed too early in the season. How do you respond to these accusations? Do you feel they are valid?

Nate Brannen - I really do feel that Ron is a great coach and is only looking at the best interest in his athletes. It has been hard the past year for us and Ron with the departure of Alan and many of us getting injured. I don't feel that we do too much speed at all early in the season. If you think about it, I'm an 800m runner, shouldn't I be doing speed? I don't feel that any of what people post or say are valid. Ron has been around, coached many great athletes and I believe he knows what he's doing.

Matt from Sioux City, Iowa - First off congrats on the Indoor Championship. I was wondering what you feel is the toughest part about college athletics?

Nate Brannen - Thanks. I would say the toughest part is just staying focused on the task at hand. Since you're training all year round and racing three different seasons it's someties hard to stay focused as well as getting all your work don? and having time for yourself. Time management is a key part to college athletics.

Skelly from Wisconsin - How has your training changed with the departure of Alan Webb? Is it easier or harder to push yourself in the workouts?

Nate Brannen - I feel that it has been a lot more relaxed since Alan has moved on. Last year it was almost like ever workout was a race. This year we have had the opportunity to work together more helping each other out. It has been a lot more relaxed. I have been able to focus more on my running instead of what Alan was doing.

Peter from Boston - You ran a great race last year up at the Maine Distance Classic, will you be heading up there again this summer? How does your summer look to shape up leading to the World Championships in September?

Nate Brannen - That was a really fun experience but unfortunately I will not be heading there this summer. As of right now its looking like after the NCAA Championships, Willis and myself are going to try to head to Europe for a couple of races.

Chris from Wisconsin - What was your training like back in Canada? Mileage, Intensity, Coaches philosophy etc. How has your current training changed from then as well. Thanks and keep up the great work on the track.

Nate Brannen - My training was pretty low key in high school. I hit my highest mileage week while training for the world cross country champions and it was only 54 miles. I was lucky to have a great coach during high school which was a big reason for my success. His big philosophy was to help his athletes grow and learn but not giving them too much. He set me up to run fast in high school but not really excell until I hit college. The intensity was pretty low as well, that is until my last summer before college. That summer I really stepped up the intensity. Nothing crazy, just more than I had ever done. My training in college is similar to that of high school, with the added mileage. I average around 60 miles per week now, compared to that of only high 30's, low 40's in high school.

Rachel from Concord, NH - I was wondering whether or not you take nutrition very seriously. Do you eat healthy? Or, do you just eat whatever you want, whenever you want? Do you find that how you eat affects your training at all? Thanks for your time, and good luck at Nationals!

Nate Brannen - I try to take nutrition seriously, but sometimes I find that very hard. During season I try to watch what I eat but I'm not too strict on my diet. I definitely find that certain things I eat help my running compared to others.

Brian Anderson from Preston, Ontario - Hey Nate, it's your Preston High School 4x400 relay teammate here. Our team this year could really use you! Anyways, congratulations on your amazing season so far, PHS is proud! Assuming you make the 2004 Olympics, which
race(s) do you plan on running in?

Nate Brannen - The plan right now is to run the 800 meters at the next Olympics, that is assuming I make it. After that, I will probably be moving up to the 1500 meters.