Nick Symmonds is Retiring from the Track After 20 Years & Aiming Higher

Today I’m running a few easy miles with friend of the show Nick Symmonds.

Nick Symmonds

Nick was on the show nearly 150 episodes ago, and now he’s back to talk about some new things in his life as well as some topics we didn’t cover the first time.

Nick is a two time Olympian and has represented the USA in a number of international competitions. Nick is also the Founder and CEO of Run Gum.

Obviously, Nick is a busy guy and I am excited that he has found some time for us to be able to talk again.

Moving On to the Marathon

When we last chatted, Nick mentioned that there may be a marathon in his future at some point.

The future is apparently now, as Nick is currently training for the Honolulu Marathon.

After Nick decided to retire from the track, he decided to make his first marathon his last professional event.

What is Nick’s goal? Nick is no stranger to aiming high, and he has set his sights on a sub-3 hour marathon in his debut.

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Saving the Best For Last

Nick has a different approach to the preliminary rounds of a track meet than many other runners.

Nick would argue that the true “winner” of a prelim is the runner that qualifies while exerting the least amount of effort possible.

The strategy of doing the least work possible to advance is the strategy that Nick used for all of the big meets in which he competed as a pro. And in almost every instance, he was running faster in the finals than in the prelims.

This strategy also helped Nick make every team he tried out for, except for his most recent attempt.

Nick found himself limping around the track in his final attempt at making an international team.

Nothing seemed to click in his preparation and as soon as the gun sounded he knew that this would be the last 800 meter race of his 20-year career.

My second chat with Two Time Olympian Nick Symmonds #elite #blessed #runchat Click To Tweet

Shifting Vertically

After running for 20+ years, Nick is making a vertical move.

Nick has always had a love for the outdoors, but he put mountaineering on the back burner to focus on running.

Nick set the goal of climbing the highest peaks in each continent (7 summits) when he was 12 and has every intention of seeing that  goal to fruition.

The preparation needed to climb such heights is great, but Nick is ready for his next challenges.

Nick Symmonds at the Summit

Check out more from Nick on his Website, Instagram, and Twitter!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Honolulu Marathon

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