Joe Klecker’s Race Plan Ahead Of His Marathon Debut In NYC + Lessons From His Transition To The Roads

“My big mantra for the whole weekend is to just execute. Just do what we’ve done in practice and this is going to work. I haven’t thought about kicking into the park or anything like that because that’s going to take care of itself if I execute mile 22. And if I execute mile 21, that’s going to make mile 22 better. Just working from the start, if I execute each bottle station and each section of the course, I think it’s going to be very positive."

My guest for today’s episode is Joe Klecker — a 2020 Olympian and a U.S. 10,000-meter champion on the track. But this year marks something new. After an adductor injury forced him out of the Olympic Trials and cost him a shot at Paris, Klecker is stepping into the next phase of his career — the roads. We chronicled much of this transition last winter when we produced a mini-documentary series on Klecker facing off against Conner Mantz and Clayton Young in January.

In January, he ran his first half-marathon in Houston and ran 1:01:06. By spring, he was grinding through the U.S. road circuit with races in Atlanta, D.C., Boulder and learning what it takes to trade spikes for super shoes. And now, he’s taking on the biggest debut of all: the New York City Marathon.

In this episode, we talk about that transition, the process of learning the roads in a very public way and how he’s dialed in a plan for a successful day in New York. Without further ado, here is Joe Klecker.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Joe Klecker | @joe_klecker on Instagram

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

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