The best way to become a mentally tough runner is to believe that you're a mentally tough runner

For most of the track world, the Olympic year is such a huge year, and it's a big year for us marathoners too.

I don't really study the guys that I'm racing against.

The best way to become a mentally tough runner is to believe that you're a mentally tough runner

You dream about the Olympics for so long and you have that one day, then it's over, and when you don't run well there is this huge letdown. It took me years to deal with that. I feel like I almost had to cleanse myself of that experience.

I don't know how you keep the world record holder off your team.

But it is nice to know that you have other races lined up, because sometimes you can get so focused on your next marathon that it can become kind of unhealthy in some ways. So it's nice to have something else to slap you in the face and say, all right, there is life after the Olympics.