Shalane Flanagan: 'I Love the Marathon'

The Olympic medalist runs her debut half marathon on Sunday

At the end of 2008, 28-year-old Shalane Flanagan was coming the best season of her career. That year, she won three U.S. titles, broke the American record in the 10,000m twice, and won an Olympic bronze medal in Beijing. Going into 2009, things continued to bode well for the University of Carolina graduate from Marblehead, Mass. At the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, Flanagan broke yet another American record, this time for 5,000m. But then things began to unravel. In April, she switched to a new coach, Jerry Schumacher, and moved to Portland, Ore. She wrestled with injuries throughout the summer and at the world championships in Berlin finished a disappointing 14th in the 10,000m. At Sunday’s national half marathon championship in Houston, she hopes to get things back on track. Houston will be Flanagan’s debut half marathon and a good indicator as to whether she’s ready to move up to the marathon, an event in which her mother is a former world record holder, later this year.

Running Times: You are about to debut in the half marathon, a pretty big career move for you. How are you feeling going into the race?

Shalane Flanagan: I’ve tackled some of the hardest training I’ve ever encountered this fall. In my mind, the race is a reward for all that hard work. I’ve tackled what Jerry [Schumacher] would call marathon training. It’s been fun, but also challenging since I’ve never done anything like it. It’s been really good, but it’s been hard. So I’m really looking forward to racing. I’m looking forward to having some fresh legs. Houston is a great place to test my fitness. I expect a pretty big race; it’s going to be fun.