Wow guys we need to pace ourselves here...Copenhagen is still over a week away! Still plenty of time for speculation and posts to criticize me or whatever.
I've posted on these forums under my real name for the past 12+ years. I've actually learned a lot from the sport on these boards. So I still frequent here from time to time.
[And no I did not start this thread and haven't posted on here until now...this will be my one and only post on this thread. Whether or not you believe me...I don't really care].
So I just wanted to post some facts and set some things straight:
First off, I'd like to thank those of you that have offered their support and encouragement. It's great positive energy and I really appreciate it. I lot of what I've been able to do in running (mainly mountain ultra trail running as my post collegiate career) is due to the extreme generosity of the running community. I can't thank you guys enough and I hope your running is going well!
1. I don't claim to be a "pro road marathoner." I'm a sponsored mountain-ultra-trail runner. I've never pretended to be "elite" at road marathons. Maybe when I ran 2:16:52 and 1:04:32 at Hansons and focused on the roads for 3 years you could say I was all about road marathons...but I hardly made any money on the roads and still worked 30 hours a week at the shoe store. When you run in the Olympic Trials you know exactly where you stand (i was mid pack, 44th place or so...with a 2:18:30-32 at my last Olympic Trials). Not than many guys in the US run under 2:19:00 each year though and many do not do it at the Trials...especially those that qualified with sub 65min halfs. I greatly respect those that work to try to reach their potential at one event like the road marathon...and guys that have run sub 2:15 and much faster than me. Honestly for my career at this point there is not much incentive to try to run 2:16 or PR with a 2:15 (and i don't enough know if it is physically possible for me!). I would like to improve much more at trail ultras though.
In the past 3 years I've run under 2:20:00 three times. I was 16th at Boston in 2015 with a 2:19:12. This year I've already run 2:19:50 at Houston. It's not great, but it's a start....especially for an "old and slow" ultra runner like me now! Honestly it's really just a selfish personal side goal of mine to run an OTQ and try to go under 2:19:00 again. I've for sure focused hard on it for the past 6 months though and take the road training and racing very seriously. Originally I thought it would be neat to go after the Trials men's record (and qualify for 4-5)...however since I missed by 12 seconds in 2016 I kind of messed up that goal! Being fairly close after doing much longer trail ultras has been a big challenge for me.. I'm certainly not a super talented runner and my Vo2max is only like 67-68 so the speed does not come back quickly! I'll be back in the mountains this summer and fall for sure...doing what I'm sponsored to do.
For our coaching business Sandi and i guide a lot of runners that want a BQ and/or to go under 3 hours for the first time. A lot of them do ultras as well. No doubt me doing well on the roads and qualifying for my 3rd Olympic Trials is a good business move. I really enjoy running marathons on the road....I'm probably better at net uphill races like Mt. WA and Pikes Peak though. I also really like ultra-trail races.
2. As a coach Sandi has guided countless runners to BQs and sub 3hr marathons for the first time. Yeah, she usually doesn't coach super fast runners, but I measure the ability of a coach by how well they can get "non elites" to improve. It's easy to coach a super talented fast athlete. As an athlete she has qualified for the US Mountain Running Long Distance Team since she finished within 1-2 min of 2:26 Marathoner Renee Metivier at the Moab Trail Marathon USATF Trail Champs in November. It should be a pretty decent team this year with Addie Bracey and Ashley Brasovan also on the team. Sandi totally earned that spot.
3. I mentioned this in a youtube video, but I truly believe that when people "put themselves out there" and open up publicly about their goals or ambitions (or even just "buck the system" and don't follow the status quo with their careers), they open themselves up to vulnerability and criticism. I chose to do that. So I'm not surprised that some people don't like what I do. I'm a social media addict! I'll admit to that. I'll admit to being selfish and vain and narcisitic at times as well. I mean I am a millennial...right?!
When I chose to leave Hansons after the 2012 Trials I got dropped by Brooks. When I arrived in Boulder that summer I had zero sponsors, no job and a few thousand dollars in life savings. I fully admit to "shameless self promotion" online and looking at new marketing angles. I liked the idea and energy of social media marketing and business and entrepreneurship. Truth be told I have never purchased any social media followers. Running is generally a pretty selfish endeavor. I expect some "push back" for the kind of career I have carved out...going into ultras and mountain running....a certain "niche" of running with less competitive depth. Don't say I duck the tough competition though. If I really wanted to duck competition why would I still be doing major road marathons and trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials?! Even in ultras I will pick competitive races...Comrades, the World Mountain Running Champs, TNF50 in San Fran ($10,000 prize money for the win there was a big incentive).
I also don't feel like I've really done anything to make that many "enemies" in my life. For sure I've disagreed with some of my teammates and coaches in the past - but I've been very fortunate to have many friendships and positive experiences from people I have been able to run with. Most of my best friends to this day were teammates of mine in college. I was voted "co-captain" of the cross country team. College running was a great experience and the camaraderie was amazing. I've been to teammate's weddings and am in regular contact with multiple college teammates...many who still run at a pretty high level around demanding full-time jobs.
At Hansons the team concept was much the same. For sure I was pretty cocky and brash at times and known to "run my mouth." I was pretty immature back then (if you've read my self-published memoir "Running For The Hansons" you can see that)....actually I'm still pretty immature now. But I stand by everything I wrote in that poorly written book. I hired one of my teammates to help edit it even. Some of my other teammates read it while I was writing and seemed quite supportive of the project. A couple teammates of mine and I formed a little "track band" called "The Strokes of Midnight". We were pretty bad...but we played some live performances for our other teammates and friends at the Bloomer house. Actually a song that i still use in my youtube videos today called "What Else" came out of that era and that collaborative creative effort with my teammates at Hansons. I still have a video clip of us performing together (again though we were horrible at being "musicians"). I was also invited to several weddings from teammates from my days at Hansons....but I digress.
4. Wow this is a really long post! I've been known to be very verbose as well and ignore basic writing conventions/grammar (I got a pretty low score on my SAT writing)...so I'll leave you guys with a cool quote that is not mine:
"All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why." - James Thurber.
I know what I am running to (and from). I know why I run. Do you know those answers for yourself though?
In any case, I wish you all the best in your running!
Sincerely,
Sage Canaday