FW: How have your families been with the transition and the instability that can come from a pro running career?
SH: Both of our parents have always been so supportive of our running. They trust that, since this is what God wants us to be doing right now, we are going to be taken care of just fine. They’re just encouraging us to find a home base, since right now we’re kind of nomadic and don’t really have a place to call home. They also want us to get all of our junk out of their garage.

FW: Where have you been shuttling mostly?
SH: We’ve been moving around a lot—we went up to Mammoth in the fall and then down to Palo Alto, and now we’re back up in Mammoth. Soon it will be off to Chula Vista at the end of May to train at the Olympic Training Center. Hopefully we’ll also have a home base in Europe this summer.

FW: What has it been like training with so many peers and former teammates in the group with Team Running USA?
SH: I couldn’t ask for a better team. Even though we have different personalities, we mesh well and have a lot of fun together. Each person brings something unique to the table. Like Gabe [Jennings] inspires us all with the intensity he does his drills or core work with, and Kate and Laura [O’Neill] are always sharing stories and random tidbits of information that always provide entertainment on runs. Jen [Rhines] is the perfect example of level-headedness that is necessary for longevity in the sport… I could go on and on. Training is so much more enjoyable when you’re doing it with a group of friends. It truly feels like a team, which is such a relief because that is one of the aspects that I have always loved most about running. The thought of not having a team was something that made me hesitant to continue running after college, so I feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of Team USA.

We spend a lot of time together, meeting once in the morning for our primary workout and run, and once in the afternoon, usually to run again and then do different activities in the gym like plyometrics or weights or speed ladder for turnover. It’s nice to do those little things that I didn’t get to do in college, or sort of got pushed to the back burner. Everyone is really motivated, but it’s not a competitive environment. It really feels like we are working together. We also hang out a lot outside of practice and have post-long run brunches, poker nights, barbecues, and get-togethers throughout the week, which is fun.

FW: Does Terrence individually coach each of you or is there still input from outside sources?
SH: He’s our primary coach. When we were down in Palo Alto it was nice because Dena Evans, my coach at Stanford, was able to be there at most of our workouts. That was really great for Alicia’s and my transitions into Terrence coaching us. We’ve all been so happy with Terrence. He knows so much about training, racing and even injuries, since he has a physical therapy background. He’s able to relate to people so well, finding out what makes you tick and using that to help you thrive. I feel so blessed to be coached by him. The process happened so fast with Ryan and I that we didn’t have a chance to do much research; we just chose Team USA, and I know in hindsight it was God leading us because I can’t picture a more perfect situation.

FW: Are you and the team sort of tailoring your programs to a long-term goal, like, say Beijing in 2008?
SH: Yeah, though right now we’re all doing different races, we have that common goal of 2008. I remember when we first joined the team, we had communal bikes to get around town if you didn’t have a car, and the lock combination was 2008. It’s a common goal that isn’t talked about much, but is understood. It’s neat to have that common goal, and be able to encourage each other through injuries and bad workouts that these are the building years for what we ultimately want to accomplish together.

FW: Are you specifically aiming for an Olympic berth in the 5000 meters for sure?
SH: As of now, I see myself running the 5000 meters. I definitely want to develop my 1500 meters over the next couple of years, and who knows, I’m open to running any race. I’ll do whatever I’ll have the best chance at, and right now it seems the 5000 meteres would be that race.

FW: You’ve talked about feeling an ultimate calling to Christian missions outside the country. Do you have specific plans either for that or for running after 2008?
SH: I definitely do feel called to missions in a third-world country. Right now I feel called to run and maximize my potential by training my heart out until 2008, but I think that will be a good point to reassess. Ryan and I are going to pray about it a lot—we just want to be doing what God has for us, and we really believe that’s running right now. And as long as we feel this way, we’re going to do it all without wanting to be somewhere else. But it’s comforting to know what I want to do for the rest of my life, though we are unsure exactly where. We really enjoyed spending time in Mexico this spring, and I could see us living in a Latin American country. I know that it will be clear when the time comes.

FW: You’ve gotten a lot of international experience in the past year after not really having much before that, and with differing results. How has that experience been growing you?
SH: I feel like I’ve just been getting my feet wet with international racing, and my performances have made me hungry for more. I was pretty disappointed with my races in Europe last summer, but I am looking forward to this year when I am actually planning my training to peak late in the summer, rather than being surprised like last year when I thought I was ending in June. I also won’t have any stressful wedding planning to cram into a few weeks, which will be nice. It was difficult being over there and not physically being at my best, so I am looking forward to going back.

Basically, this year I wanted to begin changing my thinking to picturing myself competing with the best in the world, rather than the NCAA. Cross country in Japan was a good step in this direction, to see that the leaders weren’t that far away. Even my race in Moscow—which was disappointing; I was racing through a fever—was an experience to learn from and build on.

FW: Do you have any upcoming racing plans?
SH: I was planning on doing a race at the end of May, maybe the Adidas race [in Los Angeles] or the Reebok race [in New York], but I’m just kind of seeing how my training goes. I definitely want to do something before U.S. nationals just to prepare for that, and then run U.S. nationals, and probably off to Europe from there.

FW: And do you plan to play around with racing distance much this year?
SH: I would like to play around some. I’m thinking about doing the 1500 meters at U.S. nationals, but I’m just going to see how it goes, because obviously when we’re up here [at 8,000 feet of altitude] in Mammoth it’s a little more endurance-based training—you don’t even work out on the track at all—but I think this would be a good year, when there’s nothing to qualify for at U.S. nationals, to try something new.

FW: You’ve had an impressive career for a long time, starting early on in high school. How has your idea of what you could do and whether pro running was part of that changed?
SH: It changed a lot—I couldn’t really picture myself doing it in high school, and in college, I kind of went back and forth a lot. I knew I had been created to do mission work, but I wasn’t sure when to begin that, because I also knew I’d been given a talent to run, and was just trying to figure out when to pursue which. Especially my senior year in college, I was really unsure, but then when I found out I couldn’t come back to Stanford because the PAC-10 denied my redshirt [status] and I had to decide quickly, I definitely felt continuing running was the right thing to do, and I’m so glad I did. It’s what I’m meant to be doing right now.

FW: Professional running can be a pretty selfish endeavor, and I know you’ve talked before about being mindful of that in terms of your faith. How has your management of that been over the past year or so?
SH: That’s the most difficult aspect of it. The training, I enjoy that. I enjoy being with the team, racing and traveling, but what is difficult is feeling like I live a pretty self-centered life. That’s something Ryan and I both really relate to each other in. I just try to find ways to reach out to other people and not have my day totally focused on myself, even if it’s in little ways. And we also try to remind each other that running gives us a platform from which to speak to and inspire others. We both try to encourage each other to find ways to take the focus off ourselves, but I haven’t been nearly as good about it as I’d like to be. [Focusing on yourself] is really easy to do when you’re in the midst of training, and so much of our sport revolves around being deliberate with how you spend your time.

FW: I know you had that kind of relationship with Alicia Craig in college, too—is that something you’ve enjoyed within Team Running USA as well?
SH: Yeah, it’s been such a blessing to have Alicia on the team. She is like a sister to me. And also Missy Buttry is a Christian, and she shares our same desire to glorify God through our running. She’s coming back from a stress fracture right now, and it’s important to remind each other the reasons why we are training day in and day out, even if it’s on a bike.

FW: From the outside, Ryan’s and Ian Dobson’s successes at NCAAs and U.S. nationals last year were pretty surprising. What was it like to experience that with him, having been together through your ups and downs in college?
SH: It’s been really exciting getting to watch Ryan this year, just because the years at Stanford were pretty rough for him. After going through some injuries and rough times, he never got to see his potential really until the end. One good aspect of that was that it really drew us closer together as a couple. It’s easy to love someone when everything’s going well and you’re just having fun all the time, but it’s more difficult through those tough times you really have to decide if you’re going to stick through the good and the bad with them. I think that’s been good for our marriage, having gone through some hard things together, and it just makes times like now so incredible. People see him run a fast race like nationals, but they don’t know all the history and the heartaches behind it like I do.

FW:Thanks so much for your time. Anything else you want to add?
SH: Just that I’m very grateful for New York Road Runners’ support of Team Running USA. It’s a really neat thing to see them invest in seeing American distance running improve. Their support is what allows us to have the team environment that has been so incredible, and I am very thankful for that.

Interview conducted on May 3, 2006, and posted on May 9, 2006.