Issue 32

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

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Something to Prove - Interview with Austin Miller

We’re excited to feature Austin Miller in today’s issue of The Hammer! Austin embodies the power of self-belief and determination in forging your own path to success. Now a professional middle-distance runner for Tinman Elite, Austin’s journey to the professional scene wasn’t typical. He didn’t start running until his senior year of high school and began his collegiate career as a walk-on at Augustana University. Despite this, his love for the sport, relentless determination, and drive to prove himself propelled him to become a decorated athlete — culminating his career with a runner-up finish in the 1500m at NCAA DII Nationals. In this interview, Austin reflects on his unique path as an athlete, his recent comeback from injury, and shares advice for younger athletes navigating setbacks. His story shows the value in working hard and dreaming big —and reminds us that the strongest driver of success is steadfast belief in yourself.

To learn more about Austin, follow along on social media @hammerandaxetraining this week as he shares behind-the-scenes content, training tips, and more!

Hi Austin! Fill us in on how fall training has been going after building back from injury this summer. Any races coming up soon?

Hey there. It’s nice to be on the opposite end of a newsletter interview! I’ve been good. For those who don’t know, I stopped running in April, during the early part of the outdoor season, because of a re-injury to my pelvis. This was very disappointing for me, as it was the same injury that plagued me during the previous season and took me out for a few months. But the good thing about a re-injury, if anything, is that you have a much better idea of its magnitude and can respect it a bit more. Knowing how stubborn the injury was, I made a much more concerted effort to actually get rid of the injury this time around. Part of that effort was finding and working with a new specialist who really knew their way around the injury. I ended up finding one in Australia! He and I met virtually and worked through an injury rehab protocol for about 3 months, and by the end of it, I felt like I had actually gotten rid of it, unlike the previous year when I knew deep down that I didn’t fully fix the problem. We wrapped up the protocol in about August, and I’ve been training ever since with little to no road bumps. I’m probably as fit as I’ve ever been, and I credit that to a lot of consistency over the last 3 months or so. My next race is scheduled to be the BU Opener 3k on Dec 7th, a distance I’ve never competed in. Should be fun!

Let’s rewind to the start of your running journey. How did you get into the sport? Did you play other sports previously? What was it about running that made you want to continue with it in college?

I always played sports growing up—soccer, football, basketball, you name it. Soccer was probably my favorite sport, and that’s what I wanted to do in college. Unfortunately, I was not good enough for that and didn’t get any college offers. So, the spring of my senior year, I went out for track, and the rest is history!

I think the main reason I kept doing it was the individuality of it. I had always played team sports, and sometimes it was hard because I felt like some of the others didn’t work as hard as I did or didn’t care about it as much as I did. On the track, I was completely reliant on my own efforts every day. I really liked being the only person who could stop myself from success.

You made major jumps in college, progressing from a walk-on to a NCAA DII runner-up in the 1500m. What things do you attribute to making these improvements? I.e. coaches, mentors, personal traits, lessons learned, etc.?

I think the two biggest factors I attribute to my progression are having people to chase and having a chip on my shoulder. Since I was so new to the sport, I didn’t really know what I was doing early in college. Thankfully, I had some great upperclassmen, and I made efforts to pick their brains whenever I could to get advice. I also got to be around them in practice every day, and they were all much better runners than I was, so that naturally drove success because I wanted to be one of the best guys on the team.

The other unique aspect for me was that I had a massive chip on my shoulder. Growing up, I was always the smallest kid in my grade and struggled to keep up with my peers in sports. This motivated me to work harder and prove myself. When I got to college, I felt like I had a lot to prove, and that drove me to push myself even further.

I remember early in my freshman year, I often finished at the back of the pack during training and races. It was frustrating and discouraging, but it fueled my determination to improve. I knew that if I wanted to compete at a higher level, I needed to put in more effort and train smarter. So, every day, rain or shine, I was out there doing the little things. Even when everyone else was taking a break or hanging out, I pushed myself to become faster and stronger. Eventually, all that hard work paid off.

Talk about the decision to join Tinman Elite and pursue running at the professional level. When did you realize this was a path you wanted to take? How did your expectations for pro running compare with your experience so far?

I always wanted to be a professional athlete! I found so much happiness competing with others, so throughout college, running post-collegiately was definitely in the back of my mind. The main factor in my thinking was really trying to see what my potential was. I didn’t really want to leave anything on the table. But you also have to be realistic in this sport, and I really didn’t have the race times or accomplishments to go pro until my 6th year of college. I started reaching out to coaches after I had run 3:40 for 1500 and 1:48 for 800 and got a visit scheduled with Tinman Elite.

My visit with the team was more of a formality. I was pretty confident that I wanted to join the team and pursue running “professionally,” and my visit confirmed that. Now I’m starting my 3rd year on the team! Although I haven’t done anything I’m super proud of yet, I know that injury has been a major factor in my lack of performances. I’m looking forward to a year where I’m not held back by an injury.

The main point I want people to understand is that running "professionally" isn’t very glamorous. If you’re not on a contract, you’re on your own. And if you don’t get a contract out of college, there is a very slim chance you’ll ever get one unless you make an Olympic or World Championship team or have some other qualities (like being an influencer or something). I’m not on any sort of contract, so I pay for almost everything myself. Of course, I get certain benefits from being on Tinman Elite, but I’m 80% self-reliant. This was something I knew going in, but I still wasn’t prepared for it. There’s a lot of stress that comes with using most of the money I make from my job to travel to races, pay for treatment, injury rehab, etc. But that piece also breeds a certain kind of chip on my shoulder, which I’ve always thrived on.

You’ve said that one of your big goals is to make a U.S. 1500m final. What are you focused on right now in getting closer to achieving this?

The 1500 is now a strength event. When I joined TME, I knew that a major focus would be on getting stronger. Thankfully, this is a great group for building strength. I get to train with some of the U.S.'s top marathon, steeple, 5k, and 10k runners. In my first couple of years, I probably overtrained a little at the cost of gaining some strength. I definitely ran at the incorrect effort during workouts far too often. This was certainly a factor in getting injured, so this year, I’ve placed far more emphasis on running at my own pace during workouts, and so far it’s been going really well! I’m running more mileage than I ever have, consistently doing great but unglamorous workouts, and developing a much better feel for my body. It’s been challenging to adapt to more regular workouts, double threshold sessions, more frequent lifts, and all the other aspects of professional-level training, but I’ve made a lot of progress this year.

If I can keep that up, I think I’m setting myself up for a great 1500m. I’ll need a good one at some point in order to compete at a US championship. I still haven’t competed at one of those, and I’m itching to get that checked off the bucket list. I know that when I get there, my instincts will kick in, and I’ll be able to be competitive with the rest of the country.

What is a piece of advice you have for runners dealing with injury/setbacks and looking to build consistency in their training?

Take ownership. That was the biggest thing for me in my second bout with this pelvis injury. The first time, I just saw the therapists that people told me to see, did what they told me to do, and didn’t really take any ownership. That blew up in my face after getting reinjured. I knew that if I wanted to return to the sport, I was the only person that could do the work that was needed. So I put a ton of energy into finding a PT that knew how to fix the problem, and then once I found them, I put a ton of energy into doing everything they told me to do in order to get back to running.

Training Tip: Strides! 🏃‍♂️

My biggest tip for every single runner is to incorporate strides all year long. It's pretty imperative that you run fast if you’re racing. If you’re just running to stay in shape, that’s a bit different, but if you’re racing, you need to be running fast semi-frequently. I like to do 4-6 fast 100m strides on the flat or on the hill pretty much all year. I do it more frequently in a base period and less frequently when I’m racing. Try to do that a couple of times a week; you’ll notice a difference in your running and racing very quickly.

Austin now offers one-on-one coaching. Reach out today if you’re interested in working with him!

⚒️ Next up on The Hammer ⚒️

A veteran known for his passion and bet-on-yourself mentality, Sam Parsons joins us to share wisdom and insight that all runners can learn from. Watch your inbox on December 9th!

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