Posted: March 2, 2006

Athletics: Having Second Thoughts, Goucher To Only Run World Cross

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

After winning the U.S. 4-K cross country and indoor 3000m titles on back-to-back weekends, Adam Goucher was charged up and ready to take on both the IAAF World Indoor and World Cross Country Championships. Speaking to Race Results Weekly after his 3000m triumph in Boston last Saturday, the 31 year-old Goucher said, "I'm going to do both. I want to represent."

Going into last weekend's meeting, Goucher and his coach Alberto Salazar agreed it was possible to do both races which are three weeks and 8400 kilometers apart in Moscow, Russia, and Fukuoka, Japan, respectively. "I had my apprehensions but after talking to him I believed that it was doable," Goucher wrote in an e-mail message to Race Results Weekly yesterday.

But apparently Salazar had a change of heart and recommended that Goucher focus on only one of these championships, instead. "After talking to him I agreed that it would be better to focus on one race where I could run my best," Goucher's message continued. "We figured that by doing both races I'd be able to run well at both but probably not to the best of my ability! I'm going to focus on cross country and aim to be in the top 5!"

Goucher's career had rebounded last season after several trying years where he battled both injuries and motivational problems. He ran poorly in 2004, finishing a dreadful 10th in his heat at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000m. Seeking a major change, he and his wife Kara moved to Oregon to train under Salazar, and he began to regain his form. He was narrowly beaten by Tim Broe in the 2005 national 4-K cross country championship, and although he failed to make the IAAF World Championships at 5000m, finishing 8th in the trials race, he hit the track in Europe last summer and ran 7:40.09 for 3000m, his best time since 2001, and 13:10.19, the fastest of his career.

Goucher's decision to focus on only the World Cross Country Championships, which will be held on April 1 and 2, will allow him to continue to improve his fitness in advance of the meet, instead of having to taper for the indoor meet in Moscow on March 10-12. Goucher wrote: "This way I can get three to four solid weeks of training in before we head over to Japan which should get me into optimal fitness heading into World Champs!"

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