Adam Goucher to Run Just World XCs, Not World Indoors By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved March 3, 2006
After
winning the U.S. 4-K cross country and indoor 3000m titles on
back-to-back weekends, Adam Goucher was charged up and ready to take on
both the IAAF World Indoor and World Cross Country Championships.
Speaking to Race Results Weekly after his 3000m triumph in Boston last
Saturday, the 31 year-old Goucher said, "I'm going to do both. I want
to represent."
Going into last weekend's meeting, Goucher and
his coach Alberto Salazar agreed it was possible to do both races which
are three weeks and 8400 kilometers apart in Moscow, Russia, and
Fukuoka, Japan, respectively. "I had my apprehensions but after
talking to him I believed that it was doable," Goucher wrote in an
e-mail message to Race Results Weekly yesterday.
But apparently
Salazar had a change of heart and recommended that Goucher focus on
only one of these championships, instead. "After talking to him I
agreed that it would be better to focus on one race where I could run
my best," Goucher's message continued. "We figured that by doing both
races I'd be able to run well at both but probably not to the best of
my ability! I'm going to focus on cross country and aim to be in the
top 5!"
Goucher's career had rebounded last season after several
trying years where he battled both injuries and motivational problems.
He ran poorly in 2004, finishing a dreadful 10th in his heat at the
U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000m. Seeking a major change, he and his
wife Kara moved to Oregon to train under Salazar, and he began to
regain his form. He was narrowly beaten by Tim Broe in the 2005
national 4-K cross country championship, and although he failed to make
the IAAF World Championships at 5000m, finishing 8th in the trials
race, he hit the track in Europe last summer and ran 7:40.09 for 3000m,
his best time since 2001, and 13:10.19, the fastest of his career.
Goucher's
decision to focus on only the World Cross Country Championships, which
will be held on April 1 and 2, will allow him to continue to improve
his fitness in advance of the meet, instead of having to taper for the
indoor meet in Moscow on March 10-12. Goucher wrote: "This way I can
get three to four solid weeks of training in before we head over to
Japan which should get me into optimal fitness heading into World
Champs!"
