Road to Houston: 5 Questions with Olympic Trials competitor, Drew Polley

Today, we were lucky enough to have 5 Questions with Drew Polley, who runs for the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, on his "Road to Houston." We'll have a few more of these features as we lead up to the big day on January 14, 2012.

Drew Polley ran for Washington State and is now running for the Hansons. Much of he and his teammates training for the Olympic Trials is on Flotrack's "Made In Detroit: A Hansons Brooks Series." He's currently with the team in Florida, prepping for the trials, which will be his third marathon. Follow him on Twitter here.

5 Questions with Drew Polley

1. Writing About Running: You're part of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, but can you give us some background on where you went to college and your PR's coming out?

Drew Polley: I grow up in western Washington and ended up running for the mighty Cougs of Washington State University. I was actually very lucky the coach, Jason Drake, even let a scrub like me walk on the team. I knew I had some talent, but got a late start to running and had pretty modest high school credentials. I have a feeling my high school coach, Ed Santos, may have badgered him a bit. Fortunately, I improved more in college than anyone, including myself, probably expected me to. Eventually, I ran PR's of 29:26 in the 10,000 and 14:18 in the 5000. I also ran at NCAAs in cross country and got to be captain of the team. I considered those solid achievements for me, but I still wasn’t a big factor in the super-competitive Pac-10.

Polley was a cougar

2. Writing About Running: What led you to joining the group and how's your time with the team been thus far?

Drew Polley: I was observant enough to notice that I raced much better at longer distances, could cruise through long runs and tempos, but regularly got dominated by baby-faced freshmen in speedy track workouts. I watched an older teammate qualify for the 2008 (2007) Olympic marathon trials and knew I had to take a shot at that myself after college. During my first semester of engineering grad school at WSU, I trained on my own and ran the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon in November of 2009. The conditions were miserably hot and humid, and I just missed the Olympic Trials qualifying time. On the plus side, a magical combination of stubbornness and luck allowed me to beat a few decent guys and finish as the top American. Wearing my old WSU gear, I ran into a woman who was also a WSU grad, as well as the sister of Brooks’ elite athlete coordinator. She suggested I look into the Hansons-Brooks program, which I was already familiar with. I had never allowed myself to consider this route, but I realized I owed it to myself to at least look into it. The Hansons were more welcoming to me than I expected and suddenly I realized I’d continue to be a half-assed student and engineer until I got this running bug out of my system. I had a feeling that I still had more to achieve in the sport. The only hard part of the decision was telling my graduate advisors that I’d be giving up my graduate fellowship and not returning next semester. They were actually really pumped for me and even broke out some scotch to celebrate. Luckily, my first race as a Hansons-Brooks member, the 2010 Boston Marathon, went pretty well, a 2:16 PR and Olympic Trials qualifier, so they didn’t kick me off the team. It’s possible I’ve made them regret that, but I’m still here! I’ve had some ups and downs with injuries and performances over the last year and a half, but I’ve already had so many unforgettable competition and life experiences that I know I’ve made the right choice. And I haven’t even raced the trials yet, which has been the long-term focus.

3. Writing About Running: Those winters in Michigan seem pretty brutal. How are you enjoying the buildup in Florida right now?

Drew Polley: For a Northwest guy like me, snow has definitely shifted from a novelty to an eyesore in the last couple years. I’m sure it’s like anywhere else in the Midwest or Northeast; there are bad days, moderate days, and some miserable days. If nothing else, it certainly toughens you up for about anything. However, I’ll gladly trade those Bad-ass Points for the relative comfort of the Florida winter. Other than the obvious improvement in footing and weather, the biggest advantage of spending the last 5 weeks here might be the ability to focus on recovery between runs. Without work obligations or other distractions, we’re able to nap every day here and basically rest as much as we need to. In fact, I’m lying in bed right now. So in short, I love it.

Polley and Sage Canaday

4. Writing About Running: You're mentioned a good bit in Sage Canaday's book, "Running for the Hansons," was there anything he left out or anything you'd like to refute?

Drew Polley: I already harassed Sage into omitting some of the things he wrote in the original draft. He certainly has a creative mind, which doesn’t always reflect reality. I think his original draft mentioned something about me devouring two giant burritos, launching directly into a hard long run, and consequently breaking my heart-rate monitor due to extreme exertion. I’ve never owned a heart rate monitor nor have been known to eat large quantities of food. I actually was a little bummed to read his portrayal of me as gloating at the finish line of Boston 2010 when I finished ahead of him. I’ve never been big on intra-team competition and felt very bad for Sage’s rough day at that race. At the time I felt bad, anyway. Now I make fun of him constantly for it. Apparently I also have him fooled into thinking that I’m constantly going to the gym to work on core strength; I’m usually just sitting at Starbucks slamming chai tea lattes and creeping on Twitter.

5. Writing About Running: What is your goal for the trials?

Drew Polley: As I write this, I can honestly say that I am in the best shape – marathon shape anyway – of my life, which is exciting. The fact that my training partners and I have handled most of the workouts pretty well doesn’t change the goals we set at the beginning of the segment though. The Hanson bosses will tell you that it is important to stick to your plan and run your own race! Accordingly, I won’t be trying to stick with the leaders and hoping for the tiny chance of catching lightning. There is too much to lose by doing that and plenty to gain by running a more conservative race and turning some heads by finishing strong. I want to break 2:15 at the trials. I also want to finish high enough to make at least a few people say “who the #@*% is Drew Polley? I plan on finishing in the top 20. I think I can get in the top 15 on a good day. Having run only two marathons, I would interpret that as a sign that my progression is going well.

Stay tuned for more articles this upcoming week and continued coverage leading up to the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, TX on January 14, 2012.

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Daily Daegu: On the last day, Mo Farah gets his Gold

Farah's eyes now turn to London 2012

The Brits will have a lot to be excited about heading into London 2012. After many years of mediocrity in the distance events, they now have the favorite, or at minimum, co-favorite, for both the 5000 and 10,000 in Mo Farah. Farah looked great on Day 9 in Daegu, taking charge when he needed to and powering home for that Gold Medal in the 5000; the one he desperately wanted in the 10,000. His winning time was 13:23.26. Bernard Lagat gave a hard charge down the homestretch to pass the Ethiopians, Imane Merga and Dejen Gebremeskel, for Silver, but ran out of room to catch Farah. Merga held on for third, but was disqualified for stepping inside the rail. Karma for his continued jostling with force? Perhaps. Gebremeskel came in fourth, but will be awarded the Bronze. Farah's training partner, Galen Rupp, looked great until about 450 to go, when he just couldn't kick with the big boys. Rupp's last lap was 58, Farah's was 52. Rupp would finish ninth.

The Women's 800 was a barn burner as well, as it looked to be Gold for Caster Semenya with 200 to go. At that point, Russia's Mariya Savinova had one more push and outlasted Semenya to the line to take the Gold in a blazing 1:55.87. The early leader, Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei, barely held off a diving Alysia Montano, for the Bronze. Montano's time was 1:57.48. Maggie Vessey finished sixth in a season's best of 1:58.50. A strong showing, but not likely what she wanted.

Kirui didn't stay with the pack long

The night before was the Abel Kirui show in the Men's Marathon. Kirui broke free around 25k and ran a 14:17 5k from 25k to 30k. That was enough to secure his victory and his victory was huge. Kenya's Vincent Kipruto finished second in 2:10:06, which was 2:28 behind Kirui's 2:07:38. Kirui is now a repeat World Champion. Can he bring that kind of intensity to London next year? He'll surely have better competition, but he would have beaten just about anyone today. Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa broke up the Kenyan sweep with a Bronze finish in 2:10:32. Mike Morgan, of the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, was the top American in 31st in 2:18:30. Nick Arciniaga, the most accomplished American on the team, finished a disappointing 41st in 2:24:06. Hard to think he'll truly be a threat to make the London team with a performance like that going into the trials, but maybe he was holding back a little or just having a bad day. The Marathon is a strange beast.

The night finished with the 4x100's. The Women's went off first and the Americans did not disappoint. Bianca Knight got off to a great start, Allyson Felix worked the backstretch, Marshevet Myers ran an unbelievable curve and Carmelita Jeter isn't going to give away a lead in the final stretch. A job well done and a Gold Medal to show. The Men were up next and would be the last event on the track for the 2011 IAAF Track and Field World Championships. The Jamaicans were the heavy favorite and delivered as promised. They went above and beyond with a new World Record in 37.04. All this without Asafa Powell. The Americans failed to finish yet again, although this was just as much the British team's fault as it was Doc Patton's. Coming around the third curve, Patton caught an elbow from Great Britain's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, sending him to the track and ending the United States' chances at Silver. Could it have been avoided? Probably. Just more disappointment for the 4x100. Not much you can do in that situation, except to be aware it may happen next time.

All in all, the 2011 IAAF Track and Field Championships went off without a hitch. The United States got more medals than expected and had some very nice surprises in the distance events with Jenny Simpson taking the Gold in the 1500 and Matt Centrowitz taking the Bronze in the 1500 as well. All eyes will focus on London 2012 now. Hope you enjoyed the coverage here and on Universal Sports!

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