Ready for the Next Step

By Scott Bush - Click Here for all TF360 Archives

After a terrific collegiate career at Wichita State, Kellyn (Johnson) Taylor made a relatively seemless transition to the professional ranks, finishing tenth at the 2012 Olympic Trials at 10,000m, while making the finals of the 5,000m. Making another transition from track to roads, Taylor finished 2013 tenth overall in the USARC standings, while winning the Green Bay Half Marathon and Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. With a new season well underway, Taylor already has a big victory to her name, winning the NACAC Cross Country Championships, while finishing well at the USA Cross Country Championships last month. 

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Scott Bush (SB): You've had a strong start to your season with a top five finish at the USA Cross Country Championships, then a big win at the NACAC Cross Country Championships. How are you feeling about the start to your 2014 racing season? Pretty good, right?

Kellyn (Johnson) Taylor (KT): Well, I write this after having a bad run at the USA 15k championships yesterday (she finished tenth overall), so my view of the year is not quite as good as it may have seemed to you. Placing 5th at US cross was ok but it wasn't great. I know I should've been higher up. NACAC was ok and I was proud to represent the USA well. Mainly I'm not satisfied because my practices, which have been going really good, haven't translated into my races yet. I feel I am the most fit I've ever been and my performances thus far have remained similar to last year.

SB: You had a strong 2013 season, but seem to be running at another level this year. What's the secret?

KT: I feel like I am on another level this year but that it hasn't shown in my races yet. My workouts are so much faster than anything I had done in the previous two years of being at altitude. There is no secret, just a great group of training partners, lots of support from the community, a very involved coach and hard work! Success for everyone on this team should be imminent.

SB: After winning the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon and Green Bay Half Marathon last year, any chance we'll see you run a marathon in 2014?

KT: I really enjoy the half marathon. It's a race that challenges you in a completely new way, I will certainly be doing one of those this spring but as far as the marathon, nothing is set in stone. I would be willing to do one this Fall but I also want to be ready. I don't want to just do ok. If Ben and I feel like I'm ready then you'll probably see me on one of those 26.2 starting lines

SB: Your team, Northern Arizona Elite, is seeing some terrific racing from nearly everyone. What's the group dynamic like and how's it different from the McMillan Elite squad you were part of in the past?

KT: Northern AZ elite is an awesome group. We have a group of very talented and highly driven individuals. Everyone wants to be successful. Nobody on the team just wants to qualify for the trials, we all want to make that 2016 Olympic team. We help keep each other accountable, call one another out on the BS and work together during workouts. Not to mention they are all really great people to just hang out with. Ben had a vision for this group and he has really set it into motion. None of us are half in. 

McMillan was a great group and I really enjoyed the time I was on the team. Greg gave me an opportunity I will forever be thankful for. The teams are very similar but also different in the fact that we aren't wanting to have developmental runners. We want to be able to bring someone on the team who is able to jump in and do a hard workout with us (as soon as they are acclimated). Greg had a lot of success developing running into some of the best runners in the country but we are working towards becoming not only the best in the country but establishing ourselves as world class athletes. Those are two very different calibers that would be hard to align for any workout. I think that our small group size is also a change which allows a little more focus on each person. 

SB: At this point in the season, what makes for a solid week of training?

KT: Usually two workouts. One speed or hill focused and the other more endurance based. A few days with double runs, core one to two times a week, long run and massage. That usually ends up being 70-85 miles per week which is the highest and most consistent my mileage has ever been.

SB: Where do you feel you can most improve as a runner this season?

KT: My diet, I'm a sucker for all things bad for me. Pre-hab is also something I need to work on. Rolling, stretching, getting blood levels checked, mainly all of the little things. They could just be what's needed to escalate to a completely new level.

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