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Interview with Morgan Pearson

Some things to know about Morgan— First things first, Morgan is an insane athlete. We could go through all of his athletic accomplishments, but that would take quite a while. The bare minimum you should know:

Morgan was an All-American performer in track and field and cross country at Colorado University. After college, he worked various odd jobs in Boulder, CO while training to run professionally. Eventually, he began training for the triathlon. This event was a great fit for Morgan, and he now does it professionally with great success. Morgan is a 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist in the Mixed Relay and one of the best triathletes in the world. Morgan has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and is training for those games as we speak.

🚨 P.S.A 🚨

Before we get to Morgan’s interview, we wanted to let all of you know that The Hammer will be coming to your inbox more frequently! In last month’s poll, over 90% of you said you wanted more frequent content from us, so that’s what you’re getting!

Every month, you’ll continue to get our standard interview with a professional athlete/coach (like this one), BUT we’re going to expand our work a little bit. Our new, more frequent newsletter will feature opinion pieces from our coaches, a.k.a. the members of Tinman Elite. The topics will be wide-ranging — you’ll hear their takes on training/workouts, coaching best practices, racing, hot topics in the running world, and more. We haven’t decided on the cadence of these new sends (weekly, bi-monthly, etc), but you should expect one fairly soon :)

The Interview

Hey Morgan! Welcome to The Hammer. How are you doing today? What's on the docket training-wise?

I am doing well! Right now, I am actually taking a down period in training. My newest training theory is that you are either on the upswing - getting fitter, or on the downswing, losing fitness and trying to hold on. It's nearly impossible to maintain. So I had this down period planned after the USA Cross.

As a former runner turned professional triathlete, what's been the biggest adjustment for you?

The biggest adjustment was biking. I grew up swimming on a club team and doing Junior Lifeguard racing, so swimming and swimming in the open water came back to me pretty quickly. Running is just running, sure the race dynamics are a bit different, and in general, you just run a bit slower after biking hard for an hour. Learning the ins and outs of biking has been a huge adjustment. Biking, while sharing a lot with running, is a completely different sport. Learning how to train, the technical aspect of the race, and tactics/decision-making in the race all took me about four years to learn.

You're coming off a big performance at the USATF XC Champs where you were 4th in 29:15. I'm curious, and I'm sure our readers are too, about why you and your coach decided to do a cross-country race in the first place and what you're taking from it!

My season ended on September 29th of last year, and I was dealing with a back/hip problem. I could have kept racing, but instead, I decided to shut the season down and focus fully on getting healthy and getting to the root of my problems. I ended up taking almost a month off. So I started back up in early November, and my next triathlon race wasn't until March 8th. I decided to do USA Cross more as motivation in November, December, and January than anything. It just really forced me to make good decisions in and out of training in those months. Training, eating, sleeping, treatments, and even decisions around travel for the holidays, I knew I had to at least be in respectable shape on Jan. 20th for USA Cross. It really helped, and I think I got in pretty good shape. In past seasons, I have almost felt like I have to play catch-up this time of year, but it's nice to know I am actually in a good place, and now I can take a few down days before I start my second phase of really hard training.

Let's go back to Tokyo 2020. I remember watching you in the individual competition where you were 42nd and then in the relay where your team was second and won the silver medal. What was that experience like as a whole for you? At the time, what did you take from it all?

There's really so much I can say about this, so I will try to just get a few points across without going on so long.

On March 1, 2021, my older brother passed away unexpectedly. At this point in time, I was training to try to make the Olympics, and based on previous results, there were four USA men (myself included) who were basically battling for two Olympic spots, and we all had give or take about the same chances to make the team.

What I am trying to say is that making the team was a really big deal, I did not look at myself as a medal contender. My brother Andrew died in early March, and I spent all of March at home in New Jersey with my family - not really doing any training. Just like hour bike rides to get fresh air or 30-minute runs for mental health. I came back to Colorado in April and had 6 weeks before our Olympic Qualification Event. To this day, I believe those 6 weeks were my greatest achievement as a human because I was able to go to Yokohama WTCS and finish 3rd overall which qualified me for the Tokyo Olympics. (Note: this race included athletes from all countries, not just the USA. The guy who won went on to win the Olympics and the guy who was 4th there finished second in the Olympics). A few weeks later there was the only other WTCS before the Tokyo Olympics in Leeds,  Great Britain, and I finished 2nd there. These two podiums in the two WTCS before Tokyo kind of made me a medal contender. So, over two months, I went from being someone trying to make my first Olympics to being a legitimate medal threat.

I convinced myself after the Leeds WTCS that since I had a month off of training in March, I was only going to get better and I could keep ramping up my training. For a few weeks, I was right. I was doing some of the craziest stuff in training I've ever done - swim, bike, and run. I was also getting all these interview requests and media stuff and some sponsor stuff that I wasn't used to dealing with. The training itself was too much, and the stuff outside training was just the cherry on top of it. 

A few weeks before Tokyo, the upswing turned into a downswing. I got sick for a few days right before I left for Tokyo and never really felt good again that entire season. The 42nd place was a reflection of that. Honestly, I could have run a lot faster, but I got dropped on the bike and was so far back, I just jogged and finished, but wanted to save it for the relay. I don't know how I managed the relay. My teammates obviously set me up really well for a good anchor leg and I think I was over that sickness. At the end of the day, I just knew there was an Olympic Medal on the line, so I had to find a way to get the most out of myself. I learned a lot in that time period of my life, and hopefully, this explanation gives you some insights.

I imagine your career has had as many downs as it has had ups. For you, what's the best thing to get out of a rut / disappointing result?

It's really cliché, but most failures can be looked at as learning experiences. I believe in seeking failure actually. You cannot be afraid to face the truth. It's one reason I wanted to run the USA Cross Country Championships. I do a lot of training alone, so it can be hard to know exactly where I am at. So, to find out where I’m at, why not go race a bunch of National Class runners? If I do well and am competitive, well that's great. If I get destroyed, that's also super valuable to know because now I know I need to change some things up in training.

2023 seemed like a pretty good year for you: First World Cup win (Karlovy), qualified for your second Olympic team, and more. What did you learn about yourself in 2023 and how are you using that to your advantage this year?

2023 was solid but far from a great year. I had three goals, and the most important one was to qualify for Paris, and I achieved that. Karlovy was a nice win for me. Not just winning, but how I won. I broke away on the bike and went solo into the run. I am primarily known for my running, so winning a race with my bike was pretty cool.

However, besides these two achievements, I failed to meet all my other goals, and the biggest reason for that was my health. My back and hip really disrupted my season. Since I had already qualified for Paris, I was able to invest a lot of time and energy into getting healthy and figuring out why I was injured and unable to finish races strongly. I am also able to plan out my season and select races that best maximize my chances in Paris. For example, I am racing in Miami in March instead of going to Abu Dhabi. Although Abu Dhabi is a more prestigious race, it involves a lot of travel. By staying close to home, I can focus on training and participate in a domestic race, which will hopefully set me up for success in Paris.

What's the best advice you have for our readers who are looking to level up in running/triathlon?

The first thing is to try to understand your own body. There are various metrics out there that people like to analyze, and they can be really useful. However, one thing I've noticed is that the best athletes are really good at listening to their own bodies - knowing when to push, when to hold back, and when they need rest. Another important aspect is variety - mix up where and how you train. Incorporate short speed sessions and long hard runs. Include workouts on slow hilly routes wearing heavy trainers, as well as workouts on the track or a perfectly flat cement loop with super shoes. If you're training for a half marathon, try participating in a mile race. If you're training for a mile, run a cross country 10k, etc.

What would a good 2024 look like for you?

I really only care about one race - Paris. I want to show up there 100 percent healthy, really fit, and in a good place emotionally and mentally. If I can achieve that, I will perform really well in both the individual event and the relay, which is another great opportunity for a medal.

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