Final Surge Podcast Episode 83: Sam Parsons of Tinman Elite

Welcome to Episode 83 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome new professional runner Sam Parsons. Sam is a runner with Adidas and the new Tinman Elite running team in Boulder Colorado. In this episode, you will hear the enthusiasm Sam has for running and the running profession. We talk about Sam’s high school days, his transition to running at NC State and what it is like running for Tinman, Tom Schwartz who he calls the mad genius of running. The Tinman Elite crew uses Final Surge as a training platform and it is great to hear the enthusiasm Sam and his teammates have for the sport. We dive into how the mental part of running is so important to Sam and how his training has changed under Tinman.

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How did you get your start in running?

Multi-sport athlete Soccer, Swim, Lacrosse
Watched sister run
Soccer coach encouraged him to run cross country for conditioning
Ran Nike Cross Nationals as a Senior

After high school, you ran at NC State. What was a harder transition, transitioning from high school to college or college to the professional ranks?

Transition to college was harder
Burn out is high because of greater impact on the body
Wasn’t ready for demands on the body

You mentioned one of the harder parts of jumping from high school to college was the milage demands, what were you running in high school?

High School we had good workouts but the next day was an easy 30 minute recovery run, in college it was a 12 mile recovery run
NC State is a development school with a 2-4 year plan

What about the mental aspect, how has the mental part of running and competing changed as you have grown?

Need to train the mind to be ready to close a race out
Mind needs to tell yourself you will win and are unstoppable
Need to stay positive

How do you think you changed to become a more serious runner?

Too many late nights
As a professional need to take care of your self with sleep and eating right

Many of us follow professional runners on Instagram and see runs in absolutely stunning locations, then naps, and free shoes… What has the transition to a professional runner been like?

Never want to look back and think should’ve, could’ve, would’ve
Boulder is a great place to be at

You are running for Adidas now, how did that relationship develop?

Started as an intern for Adidas tennis
Would finish work and head down to the running department
Fell in love with the company when worked for them
Ran into Drew Hunter when he was racing there
Reached out to Tom Schwartz

You did the BAA mile where you got 5th and then recently ran the mile at DrakeÍs. You ran a lot of 5-10ks on the track in college so is this miler thing just part of the training season you are in or what are your plans?

Tom recognized I should run sub-4
If I want to be a great 5-10k runner I need to close in 55 seconds
Need more speed work for long-term
Working on developing speed

Let’s talk a little bit about training. You are now training with Tinman, Tom Schwartz. We have had him on the podcast in the past and this past January I had the privilege of getting to spend a little time with him while at a clinic. What has been the biggest change in your training?

Tom is a mad genius
He loves hills
We run a lot slower now, easy days are now 7:30 pace
Always wants us ready for workouts
We don’t taper, always ready to race
Don’t work on one system, work on speed and strength in workouts

Tinman is known for his CV efforts. How do you define CV effort, what pace is that for you?

Critical Velocity
Pace you can hit and feel comfortable, K’s a CV are about 2:55 or maybe 5:00 pace on longer runs
Training is not hard, but easy workouts
We did 8×600 last week with rest of 1:14, that exact
Very rarely do we go hard to the well in a workout

One of our loyal Twitter follers MacBane wants to know how do you have fun on race day?