Issue 6

Interview with Brogan Austin

Brogan! What’s up, dude? Thanks for joining The Hammer.

Hey, man! It’s good to be here, and thanks for having me.

You’ve been injured off and on for the last year or so, can you talk about the injury process and why it was so important for you to get healthy for the upcoming Olympic year?

Injuries are unfortunately a part of the job description when you’re pushing your limits. Over the years, I’ve become more in tune with what I can and can’t handle but every now and then I make some mistakes. My most recent setback has been a bout with plantar fasciitis that doesn’t want to go away. We’ve been slowly rounding the corner and hope to jump back into racing in May/June.

With the upcoming Olympic year, it is important for me to have everything dialed in well in advance. Fitness is a major component of racing but so are confidence and tactics. To be truly prepared, I need to use the summer/Fall racing seasons to dial in my training plan and practice competing again.

How has this better prepared you for coaching your Hammer & Axe athletes?

As a coach, learning how to navigate and avoid injuries, as well as, mentally preparing athletes for the competition are key attributes for successful runners. As professional athletes, we’ve tried a myriad of training techniques and worked through the kinks of training so our athletes have a smoother path forward.

I know you have a full-time job outside of running. How do you balance work, family, and running all at once?

I’m fortunate to work for a company and run for a team that supports a work/life balance. While there are times I may have to sacrifice one for the other, the quality and quantity of the work I put in don’t suffer. I know a lot of people perceive this as a difficult balance but I still have a lot of free time on my hands. I typically start my day around 7:00 am and have everything done on my to-do list by 5:00 pm or earlier. In the end, I think I’d go a little stir-crazy if I didn’t have passion projects in multiple areas of my life. It gives me more milestones to look forward to and helps diversify my happiness portfolio when times are tough in certain areas. I’d also argue that some of my Hammer & Axe athletes have much more demanding schedules than I do and they’re out there crushing PRs all the time.

How does Hammer & Axe fit into your daily routine? What do you like about coaching athletes from around the world?

I’m lucky enough to have a number of athletes I’ve coached long-term, and our relationships have evolved into going with the flow. I typically build out training plans in 3-4 month cycles and adjust the training if anything unexpected comes up (College tests, sickness, injuries, and other stressors). We usually keep in touch via text about our training and have reset meetings after we’ve completed our big milestone races. In short, we’ve moved away from a daily regimen and work in more of an open-door/collaborative environment.

I’ve worked with athletes all over the world, but the thrill of coaching exists in the athletes who really want to work hard and are dedicated to our mission. For instance, I was able to build enough trust in one of my athletes to drop them down from marathon training to mile-10k training for a season, which led to a 26-minute marathon PR over the course of two years. This athlete happened to live less than 30 miles from me.

How’s it feel to have a couple more road guys join the fold in Tinman Elite? What does having training partners like Reed and Connor do for you?

Tinman Elite is a disguised accountability program—where we’re constantly in the fold of some of the best athletes in the world and see day in and day out what it takes to be the best. If we’re not keeping up with that standard, then we’re going to be left behind. With that being said, it’s important to not get carried away with keeping up with each other’s individual fitness levels. A lot of the time, I get an ego and try to run faster than my body is currently capable of running, which leads to injuries. So it’s important to keep my ego in check with new training partners and work with each other when we’re able.

In the end, being able to share workouts, experiences, and knowledge with training partners is an invaluable experience. Where we can build each other up and begin to uncover the nuances of road racing together. I’m excited to dial in our training and see what we can do this coming Olympic cycle.

What races are on the horizon for you, and what are your goals for them?

The main objective this summer season is to knock out the Olympic trials marathon qualifier and then focus on a marathon in the fall. I’m tentatively planning on the Chicago half marathon on June 4th and will potentially double back to the Chicago Marathon in the fall.

Follow Brogan on Strava to see his prep for the upcoming Olympic year and follow him on Instagram to see his beautiful face more often ;)

Are You Looking For Something to Step Up Your Morning Running Routine?

If so, try some 2before! (Let Sam convince you) ⬇️

“2before is one of those no-brainer products for me to utilize in my training now. To be able to start the recovery process before I even start stressing my body is a huge advantage to be able to maximize my overall fitness and feel my best after even the hardest sessions that coach Joan gives us. I’m looking to chase the highest levels in the sport of running, and I’m going to do that with 2before by my side throughout every training day.” - Sam Parsons

Strava Group Launch

Hammer & Axe is excited to announce our new Strava club!

We plan on using this page for giveaways (like free training plans, swag, and more) and also to announce upcoming group runs in Boulder and abroad! These announcements and exclusive giveaways will only be visible to members of this club, so make sure to join! 😄

Tip of the Month

Tip: Hill Strides

In one of our earlier editions of The Hammer, our tip of the month was to do normal strides. Strides, a race-effort sprint for 10-15 seconds, are essential for runners no matter the distance or terrain you’re training for. They help runners attain better-running economy, top-end speed, and motor unit recruitment. If you like doing regular strides, we suggest also adding hill strides into your routine!

Hill strides help you work on high-output sprinting but at a lower cadence than strides on the flat (since you’re going up a hill). This is good because the lower cadence is probably more what you’re used to in a distance race.

TME (and plenty of other pro groups for that matter) do 4-6 x 15-20 second hill (5-8% grade) strides at ~mile/3k race effort after easy runs for speed, mechanic, and aerobic benefits. We love them and hope you will too.

Giveaway

Last month’s winner: sophtrach@*********

Thanks for responding to our poll. We’ll be in touch about your prize!

This month we’ll be giving away a free custom training plan to 3 random people that respond to this poll and leave some feedback on the response page 👇

That’s it for this month. If you haven’t already, check out our other newsletter, The Axe, and read interviews from athletes that have used Hammer & Axe’s 1-on-1 coaching. Thanks for reading ⚒️