Summary: "Nothing changes. We do learn from our mistakes but as a person, hopefully, my teammates from high school or college would still say the same thing [about me]. And that’s my goal. The demands on my time change, and we evolve, and have learning experiences, but the person I am hopefully hasn’t changed." It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome Meb Keflezighi to the podcast. The recently retired 42-year-old is the only runner in history to capture an Olympic medal and win both the Boston and New York City marathons. He joined me last week from his home in San Diego to talk about his career, the various triumphs and disappointments he experienced along the way, and just how hard it was for him to keep going after making his fourth Olympic team in 2016 at the age of 40. "I was burned out, not physically but mentally. I was done," Keflezighi admitted to me. "Those three marathons, to this day—and maybe New York was a little closer to satisfaction—but the three of them did not go the way I planned them, the way I trained. And I worked very, very hard for all three of them." We also discuss his role models in life—and why he takes the responsibility of that role so seriously himself—to his relationship with longtime coach and mentor Bob Larsen, the support of his family, sponsors, and fans throughout the years, as well as how he'll continue to make a living for himself, inspire others, and promote the sport of distance running even though he hung up his racing flats after finishing 11th at last fall's New York City Marathon. In the course of this conversation we cover training, racing, and injuries, including how he considered retiring after suffering a pelvic stress fracture at the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon, what he learned from that experience about listening to his body—"One day off, or two days off, or a week off could have changed my life," he told me, "maybe become an Olympian again, or maybe another medal, but I didn’t listen to my body,"—and how he was able to bounce back to post some of the top performances of his career from his mid-30s into the early 40s. Keflezighi also provides advice for older runners who want to continue competing at a high level, makes a case for why younger runners should wait until they're older to race marathons, and explains why he's so meticulous and deliberate in everything that he does, whether it's preparing for a race, fulfilling a sponsor obligation, or giving a speech. “People think you just run and run and run," he explains. "I wish it was just that simple. … I think you’ve got to do the small things that make a big difference and sometimes you question those, but you just have to go out there and get the best out of yourself every day and that’s what I did.” Finally, we talk about the upcoming Boston Marathon, which he'll be running as an honorary member of the MR8 Foundation, who and what is exciting him about the sport of running today—"The women’s Trials is going to be crazy in 2020!”—the legacy he hopes to leave on the sport, and much, much more. “I just want to be a positive example, a doer, someone who does things versus talking about it and never accomplishing anything," explains Meb. "I hope to be a complete person. I try to live by my name: Maintain Excellent Balance, and I hope to do that for the rest of my life. I try to do that every day of my life and not just when the camera’s on." This episode of the morning shakeout podcast was edited by John Isaac at BaresRecords.com. Complete show notes here: https://www.themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-10-meb-keflezighi/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout
