Loxsom brings the speed to the partnership while Symmonds brings the strength Nick Symmonds out of contention at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in June. But the usual signs and signals of a forthcoming breakthrough weren’t there—not leading up to the meet and, really, not even for the first 650 meters of the 800-meter final.
Then, in signature Symmonds style, he came from behind in the final kick to claim his sixth title in a time of 1:44.53 and earn a spot on the world championship team heading to Beijing later this month. He came into the meet ranked 14th and left with a win.
Even his coach, Danny Mackey, was a little caught off guard.
“Actually, I was more concerned about him getting into the final—once he got in, I wasn’t that surprised that he won it,” Mackey said. “He’s so experienced with that kind of race.”
Before he got to the U.S. championships this summer, Symmonds made a series of life changes that he believes are for the long-term good, but may have put a dent in his short-term fitness. He joined a new team (the Brooks Beasts), with a new coach, and then moved to a new city (Seattle). In between, he threw in a month-long altitude training stint during the spring in Flagstaff, Arizona. As a result, he didn’t get as much of a training build up as he normally would before a national championships.
“It was a lot to bounce between L.A. and Flagstaff and Seattle,” Symmonds said. “But once I relocated my life and made Seattle my home, everything started to click. My races slowly started getting better and better and that all kind of capped off with the outdoor title.”
It’s a far cry from the hints of retirement Symmonds was giving a year ago, as he dealt with an injured knee. He had recently signed a new contract with Brooks, ending a long relationship with Nike, the Oregon Track Club, and coach Mark Rowland. He began wondering, at age 30, if he was finished—and some of that uncertainty lingered earlier this summer.
“I had a lot of self-doubt because I hadn’t run as well as I had in previous years,” Symmonds said. “I work with a sports psychologist and our mantra going in was, ‘Don’t question it. Let your body do what it does.’ Over nine years the worst finish I’ve ever had [at the national championships] was a silver medal. If I can just turn my mind off and let my body run and meter myself appropriately through the rounds I usually find a way to get on the team.”
Symmonds has also turned some of his focus to other projects and activities outside of running. What some might see as distractions from getting into world-class shape—like an appearance on Couch to 5K Plan and starting a new company Run Gum, a caffeinated gum for athletes—Symmonds sees as performance enhancers. He began working with the sports psychologist in 2012 mostly because he had a hard time adjusting to the lifestyle of professional running.
“I was extrememly unhappy just focusing on the athletics side of things—I need to be stimulated athletically and intellectually,” he said. “The way I found to channel that energy is in an entrepreneurial business. This is what makes me happy. If I can feel like at the end of the day that I’ve exercised my body and my mind, that's a perfect day.”
The fundamentals of his training haven’t changed much under Mackey’s guidance. Symmonds now takes one rest day per week instead of running seven days, as he did before. The biggest advantage in his new situation has been his new teammates, specifically training partner Casmir Loxsom, a 24-year-old who also earned a spot on Team USA in the 800.
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“Being able to work with him and sharpen up and become a proper sprinter has been really challenging, but really beneficial for me,” Symmonds said.
Loxsom said that the duo doesn’t feel overly competitive with each other, which makes the partnership work.
“We are in such different places with where we are in our running careers,” he said. “We have some of the same goals—we’re both trying to make teams consistently and trying to win medals, but I’m trying to soak up knowledge and he’s having fun showing me the ropes. I think it’s refreshing for him to have somebody new to train with.”
Going into the world championships, Symmonds has been hovering around 60 miles per week, which includes a long run around 12 miles, plus lifting, swimming, and challenging speed sessions. Last week, for example, he ran 5 x 300 meters with six minutes recovery between each. Every interval was “intended to be faster than 800-meter race pace,” he said.
Symmonds opted not to race the European track meets this summer so that he could enjoy more consistent training at home without worrying about tapering for track meets along the way. Also, he admits he doesn’t travel well, so he’d rather make one trip to Asia instead of going to Europe, coming home, then going to Beijing.
“He was still on an upswing in his training following USAs, so he’s not in a situation where he’s maintaining fitness—he's still building it,” Mackey said.
So what will success look like for Symmonds at the world championships? In 2013 he declared that anything less than a medal would have been “failure,” and he came home with a silver. The older and perhaps wiser Symmonds doesn’t use the word “failure” anymore.
“If I’m not in the final, I think that’s a huge disappointment,” he said. “The reality is I need to focus on each round at a time. I need to get my spot in the final and then let my body do what it has done in the past.”
