September 27 update: Llano placed 13th in 2:12:28 in Berlin to lower his personal best by almost four minutes.

Matt Llano has a 1:01:47 half marathon to his credit, but the fastest of his two marathons was a more modest 2:16:12 in Los Angeles last March. Llano believes “I have at least a 2:10 in me.” And if he achieves that goal in Sunday'sBerlin Marathon, the effort will owe a lot to the mentoring, expertise, and hospitality of Shalane Flanagan.

Llano, 27, a Northern Arizona Elite member based in Flagstaff, has been staying at Flanagan’s house in Portland, Oregon, since September 6. Flanagan’s 2:21:14 for third place in Berlin last year made her the second fastest American woman ever in the marathon, after Deena Kastor.

Flanagan and her Bowerman Track Club teammates occasionally train at altitude in Flagstaff. Two winters ago, she and Llano met for a couple of easy runs and began chatting. “We’re both real foodies, so we bonded over that and met for coffee a few times, and more runs,” Llano told Runner's World. “Llano came out as a gay man to members of his family several years ago, and went public with an.”

When Flanagan learned Llano wanted to come down to sea level this September for training, she extended a welcome for him to stay with her and her husband, Steve Edwards, at their Portland home. “I get to live with one of the best marathoners in the world,” said Llano. “It’s a good opportunity for me, to learn from her.”

What he’s learned isn’t restricted to workouts.

“She has everything in her life dialed in. She knows there’s no room for stress in a professional runner’s life, and to compete at the level she does, that’s something she has to eliminate completely,” Llano said of Flanagan. “She’s done a good job of having a good life. Each athlete has to find what their niche is outside of their own running. That helps lead to overall life happiness and your ability to compete really well.”

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Llano wasn’t certain if he should get another marathon in before the 2016 Running in the Cold, which will be held on February 13, or put in a base phase of training in the fall. He was leaning toward racing, and Flanagan helped steer him to that decision.

Flanagan conveyed her love of the Berlin race to Llano, emphasizing how well-organized it is, how flat and well-tended the roads are, how it has a history of fast times (including the last six men’s world records). Her enthusiasm sealed the decision to go to Berlin.

For two and a half weeks, Flanagan and Edwards have been showing Llano the trails around Portland and “making sure my stress level is really low, and that I’m having fun while I’m picking her brain,” said Llano.

“One of the first things she really drilled into my head was the idea of practicing fueling in training all the time,” said Llano. “That was definitely my downfall in Chicago last year.”

In his debut there, Llano realized at mile 20 that he hadn’t taken in any fluids during the marathon. “That was when I started to fall apart,” he said about his 2:17:43 finish. Flanagan has been “really getting the idea of nutrition during the race into my head. Hopefully, that will pay off in Berlin,” Llano said.

Llano’s decision to come down to sea level three weeks before Berlin was also “partially Shalane’s influence. She used that time frame before and it’s worked really well for her,” said Llano.

He had previously subscribed to the more common approach of racing within 48 hours of coming down from altitude. But physiological adjustments to lower altitudes can create “a little bit of a funk for anywhere from three to 10 days or two weeks out,” said Llano.

Nutrition - Weight Loss.

“In Flagstaff, for a lot of my long workouts, I’m not touching marathon pace, but actually running 15 seconds or so slower [per mile]. It’s a little bit tougher to gauge your fitness,” Llano said. “It’s harder at altitude to get as quick turnover as you might need in a really fast-paced marathon.”

Breaking Through, Coming Out

Llano was a cross country All-American at the University of Richmond, where he ran 28:43 for the 10,000. In the fall of 2011, he was hit by an SUV on a run near his parents’ home in Annapolis, Maryland, and suffered a mild concussion. Then he developed a “mysterious injury,” as he put it. His diaphragm “would seize up violently and I couldn’t breathe” after any run beyond 10 miles.

On his own when he arrived in Flagstaff in July 2012, he supported himself by working in a natural foods store and coaching for Greg McMillan’s online service. He began to see Ben Rosario at the Bagel Run, a Thursday session for Flagstaff’s professional and community athletes. By the middle of 2013, Rosario approached him about becoming a founding member of Northern Arizona Elite.

Rosario, a 2:18 marathoner who now coaches, put Llano on a conservative plan to get him healthy and racing again. “Having that watchful eye, that objective person, really helped, because I tend to push myself all of the time,” said Llano. “I needed to be pulling in the reins, and Ben was the one who was able to do that for me and get me on the right track.”

A former member of the Hansons Distance Group, Rosario perceived similarities between Llano and 2008 Olympic marathoner Brian Sell, and shapes much of Llano’s training accordingly. Llano’s blog We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.

Llano’s breakthrough began with a seventh-place finish at the U.S. 20K championship on Labor Day 2013. Then came the 1:01:47 for fifth place at the U.S. half marathon championship the following January. In Llano’s mind, that performance stamped him as an elite runner. It also earned him a ticket to the 2104 World Half Marathon Championships, where he was 35th.

More recently, he was fourth in the Rock ’n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon in May 31 in 1:03:52 and sixth in the Peachtree 10K Running Shoes - Gear.

“I haven’t been secretive about my goals. I know they’re lofty,” said Llano, who talked about breaking Ryan Hall’Health - Injuries.

For Berlin, his agent, Josh Cox, has secured a pace group aiming to run 2:09:45. Llano expects Americans Gabe Proctor and Shadrack Biwott as well as some Japanese runners to be in the group. He will be glad for the company.

“My hope is to be able to tuck in and turn my mind off for a while while pacers keep us on target. Having to think as little as possible for as long as possible in the marathon is a good thing,” he said.

It would take a considerable leap for Llano to get into the 2:10 range, but he's ready to take the chance.

“I’m not really afraid of failure,” he said. “I’m going to put it out there and I’m going to go for it, and if it pans out, great, and if it doesn’t, I’ll go for it somewhere else. It’s a barrier I want to get at some time in my career.”

Llano came out as a gay man to members of his family several years ago, and went public with an “It’s Time” blog post on December 12, 2013. What Llano has to say about the effect of such openness on his life sounds akin to Flanagan’s principle of minimizing stress and maximizing happiness.

“The whole idea of life happiness and your confidence as a person impacts your abilities as a runner,” Llano said. “When I was keeping a secret before I came out, I wasn’t able to be authentically happy. It was a relief not having to feel like I’m hiding this aspect of who I was.

“Once you’re able to break down that barrier and be open with people, it’s amazing how confident you are in yourself. That just carries over into your running and into other aspects of your life.”