Issue 27

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The Rookie Year

Interview with Anthony Camerieri

Today we welcome Anthony Camerieri to The Hammer! Anthony just finished his first year as a pro with Tinman Elite, joining after a successful collegiate career at Miami University of Ohio and Ole Miss. In his rookie season, Anthony went after his goals and qualified for the World XC Championships and the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000m. He wrapped up his rookie season with some summer racing, grabbing wins at the Yakima Mile and Sound Running Sunset Tour. In this interview, he shares the major differences he’s felt between pro life and college, how he incorporates cross training into his weekly mileage, and his coaching philosophy as a new coach with Hammer & Axe.

What were your expectations for moving out to altitude and joining Tinman Elite for the first time? What were the major differences between pro life and college? 

It’s hard to know what to expect when you change training groups, locations, and coaches. That said, I tried to not put too much expectation on what it was going to be like. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to get way better because of living at altitude, something I had never done before. Many runners don’t get better or have a down year their first year as a pro, however, so I would be happy with any improvement.  

As far as the differences between pro and college life, the biggest difference is the amount of free time you now have from no more school. That is something that I really enjoyed and welcomed since I had a rather time-consuming schedule my last 2.5 years of school. I no longer felt like I was running from one thing to the next with no breaks in between. The other difference is the pressure involved. Especially as a pro without an individual shoe sponsor deal, every race feels like I need to prove something. Now I certainly felt pressure in college to perform because I wanted to do well, but as a pro it is everyone’s livelihoods that are at stake.  

You’re one of the most solid all around guys on the team. You can run xc, you can do the 1500/5k, How do you decide what events to run as a pro?  

Ultimately, choosing races that excite me is important. If I don’t care about a race, I won’t perform up to my capabilities. This year, I had two main goals: make the world cross country team and make the 5000m final at the Olympic Trials. That said, the races I picked were an attempt to best accomplish those goals that also got me excited. I don’t think the 10k is my best event right now. I think it’s probably the worst out of those three, but I saw an opportunity to make my first world team, so I went for it and it paid off. As far as the track races go, I wanted to get a few reps in at the 5k, each time trying to get the Olympic Trials qualifying time. It took me 3 tries but I eventually got it. I ran 1500’s throughout the year to get more speed at the end of my 5k’s.  

What was training like for you this year compared to years past? What was the same, and what was different? 

Training was similar to what I have been used to with a few changes. The main difference was the addition of double threshold training. I had never ran more than 16 miles in a day and those were anomalies so running 20-21 miles in one day with 12 miles of work every week was a big change. Even two years ago I never would’ve thought I could handle that kind of training without getting hurt so being able to do it this year was a huge win for me. The other main difference was I ran about 10 miles per week more than I did last year, hitting 75 miles when I was at my peak mileage. 

The main similarity was the cross training that I do on a regular basis. I spent roughly 5-6 hours a week cross training in addition to all the running. Most of the cross training is spent on the bike with an additional 1-2 hours in the pool aqua jogging every week. I’d love to get to a point where I can handle 100 miles per week of running and there isn’t a need to add in the cross training. That is not where I am at, however, so I need to make up for the lack of running mileage. 

Talk about the importance of cross training for you and give us some examples of how you incorporate it into your weeks? 

Cross training has played a crucial role in my training for four years now. It started after my sophomore year when I was running 65 mpw, but feeling like I was running 120 with nonstop aches and pains and minor injuries every single run. The year culminated with a stress reaction in my foot. After a long period off, my coaches and I decided to reduce my mileage to 55 mpw. That said, basically everyone I was competing against and everyone who I aspired to be like was running way more than me. I felt that if I wanted to accomplish the goals that I had set for myself in the sport, I needed to do more. I started adding in some biking and aqua jogging in addition to my easy runs and on my off day very week. It started with only a couple hours a week. Now, it’s progressed to up to 8 hours some weeks. I attribute most of my success in college to cross training. Obviously, I got older and got more accumulated running under my belt, but I ran less mileage my junior and senior year (stayed at 55 the whole time) while drastically improving my PR’s in every distance.  

It took a while to find a weekly plan that worked for me. After much trial and error, this is how I’ve laid out my weeks for the past 3 years. 

1. Monday: Run + 60 minute aqua jog 

2. Tuesday: Workout + 40 minute Bike or run double (depending on current mileage) 

3. Wednesday: Run + 90 minute bike ride 

4. Thursday: Run + 60 minute aqua jog or run double (mileage dependent) 

5. Friday: Workout + 40 minute bike or run double (mileage dependent) 

6. Saturday: 2-3 hour bike ride 

7. Sunday: Long run + 60 minute bike ride 

You’ve had some time off now. What are you looking forward to in the coming months with training/life?  

One of, if not my favorite, parts of running and competing is just the uninterrupted everyday grind of high volume. Coming from a history of not being able to handle a lot of training, and now being able to handle a lot of training, I find a lot of joy and fulfillment in putting in large amounts of training, uninterrupted by racing. Every time I’ve had a breakthrough, it has come from a solid summer or winter where I was able to put in a big block of training with volume that I have never done before. So not only do I simply enjoy the training, but it’s also symbolic of PRs in the future. 

Can you talk to us about your coaching philosophy and how you want to grow your clientele this year? 

My coaching philosophy is that everyone is different and there is no one size fits all for training. Now there are some basic principles that people need to do to be good, but using those principles, there can be so much variety in how you reach your potential. The things I mainly look for and try to do are to:  

1. Keep the athletes excited about training and racing 

2. If you dread getting out the door every day to train, you are unlikely to complete all of the training and dig deep in the training and races to really get better. 

3. Keep the athletes healthy 

4. Through careful buildups and calculated risks, injuries can be minimized. The goal is to get as much consistent training in as possible. Injuries get in the way of that. 

There is no way around needing to do a lot of training over a long period of time to really get better in this sport. I believe if both things can be achieved, then it will almost certainly lead to better results over time.  

On top of this, there are a few things that I can offer as a coach that I think set me apart. With my unique running background and path to the top as well as my education with a bachelors in kinesiology and a master's in athletic training in mind, I think I can coach a wide variety of people at all levels and all backgrounds. The athletes that get me most excited to train are the ones that have seemingly no luck with getting out of an injury cycle. I was that runner and finally getting out of that cycle made me go from hating running every day to it being my favorite part of every day. I would like to do the same for others. All other athletes are welcome too. I’d love to coach anyone that wants to better themselves. 

Anthony has openings for coaching. Head over to our website to learn more!

Stay Tuned:

Next up on The Hammer, hear from Reed Fischer as he dives into the details of his training for the Chicago Marathon!

Training Plans - What Others are Saying

Nick Gischia, a high school English teacher from Michigan, started his running journey just a few years ago after being asked to help coach the XC and track teams at his school. Since then, he has become the head XC coach and holds PRs of 1:31:00 for the half and 17:53 for the 5k. Here’s what he has to say on how Hammer & Axe training plans helped him along the way: