Looks to Take Over USARC Lead

By Scott Bush

At last month's USA 10 Mile Championships, Christo Landry pulled away from the talented field relatively early and never looked back, cruising to a dominating 41 second victory and his first national title. Landry's win showed he'll be a contender on the roads all season long and firmly established him in second place in the USARC standings, sitting only five points behind leader Chris Derrick. 

A strong finish this Saturday at the USA 25 km Championships would put Landry into the USARC lead and a win would be a great way to wrap up his first block of the 2014 racing season. We caught up with the former William & Mary All-American and current Ann Arbor, MI resident this week, chatting about his recent success, why he calls his recent racing tactics at Payton Jordan those of a "bumbling neophyte," and a whole lot more.

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Scott Bush (SB): You've been incredibly active this spring, racing both on the roads and the track. With a USA 10 Mile Championship in your back pocket, how are you feeling heading into the USA 25 km Championships?

Christo Landry (CL): It's been a busy past month, but that's perfectly timed as I feel that I am in the best shape of my life. This is little surprising to me as I had a pretty bad start to the cycle back in December through February. Winning the 25k USA Championships would be a great way to cap things off.

SB: You ran the Payton Jordan 10k this past weekend. How did the race unfold for you and what are your thoughts coming away from such a competitive race?

CL: The race had a pretty jerky start as without a pacer there was some question as to who would lead going out in just over 14:00 for 5k. During this time I participated with the tactics of a bumbling neophyte, which resulted very sub-par effort in the second half of the race. It's nice that I have a chance to rectify things in such a short period of time.

SB: What does recovery look like for you this next week, getting your legs ready to race 15.5 miles after a very hard 10k effort?

CL: This happens to be the last race in my current training cycle, so I'll be looking at about 10 miles for the first few days, a shakeout workout Wednesday and a slight taper on Thursday and Friday. Compared to the 120-130 mile weeks I put in before other races this cycle, this is pretty light.

SB: Last year you finished fourth at the USA 25 km Championships, while finishing runner-up in 2012. What do you have to do this coming weekend to put yourself at the top of the podium?

CL: The most important thing for me is to stay relaxed and keep focused on making all the hard decisions when they come up. Last year I covered all the surges that were thrown in over the second half of the race except for the last one, just looking for that one last step.

SB: You've been one of the steadiest performers on the USA Running Circuit. How do you view each race you compete in, while keeping the entire season in mind?

CL: I try to take everything one step at a time. While the mileage will drop a little for each race, (say 100/110 mile), the overall mileage of curve of the cycle isn't disrupted which allows for sustained performance throughout.  As for the races, it's easy to get excited for them, they're what all the training is for!

SB: Currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, what's your training set up like these days?

CL: My coach, Alex Gibby, is the Cross Country Coach at Michigan and was also my college coach at William & Mary. So most days I'll be running with the Michigan guys and while we might not be moving at the same speed during some of the workouts, having other people working at the same time as you somehow makes things a little easier...and sometimes I start after them and chase them down.  

SB: I could ask about workouts, core work, etc., here, but...on race day, what type of breakfast do you generally have before a race and do you celebrate and really get after it in the evening after a race?

CL: Race day breakfast is a cup of coffee and 1-2 bagels with cream cheese. The traditional post race meal is pizza, don't know why, but that's what I'm always craving.