Christo Landry With 150 Mile Weeks and 32 Mile Long Runs Behind Him is Ready for Chicago
by: LetsRun.com
October 10, 2014
Below is our video interview with Christo Landry prior to the 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
Landry has been on fire in 2014 winning the US 10k, 10 mile and 25k road titles and setting a US 25k record.
He said this year he isn’t doing anything different, just building on what he’s done in previous years. He said, “I don’t think I’ve done all that much different this year. Main thing is I’ve been able to put another successful cycle back to back on top of my previous years. Each year I’ve been getting a little better…My first year on the roads I got dropped 80% through the race, last year, I could make it to the final kick…. This year a couple times I came out on top.”
This is Landry’s third marathon of his life, running 2:17:11 at Richmond in 2012 and 2:14:44 at Twin Cities last year, and he hopes for a big PR.
In an ideal world Christo says he’d like to go out in 65:20 or 65:30 at half-way and run a negative split. He may go out a bit quicker with American Bobby Curtis who hopes to hit half-way in 65:00.
Christo knows the marathon is a different beast than all of the other road races he does as fluids are important and patience. “The biggest challenge for me is going to be patience,” he said, noting he got carried away too early in his other marathons.
One gets the impression that Landry, coached by UNC Charlotte XC Coach Alex Gibby, is very meticulous in his training and loves the longer distance work. As he said, “This is where my talent lies.” He’s run up to 150 miles a week with a 32-mile long run with the last 8 miles at 5:20 pace. It’s doubtful anyone in the field has done more training than him heading into Chicago.
Christo wants a 4+ minute PR and knows a good run will set him up well for 2016. “Hopefully I can grab a big PR tomorrow and put myself solidly in the conversation for the US Olympic Trials,” he said.
$10,000 will be on the line for the first American in Chicago on Sunday. Landry will be racing in Mizuno Ronin 5’s.
He talks pretty extensively about his training below and some of his workouts including 2×7 miles with the first at 5:01 pace and the second at 4:55.