The Halfstep Pod

Episode 23: "Fix My Calf, We Have Ten Minutes..."

On Episode 23 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant joins the Pod from back home in Oregon, after completing his 10k-5k double at the Olympics last week. With two top 10 finishes in his debut experience at the Games (5th in the 10k, 9th in the 5k) Grant discusses how he managed to get through that intense week of racing, a sudden injury that prevented him from running a step between the 5k prelim and 5k final (and jeopardized his ability to compete at all), and Moh's crazy push for a Silver medal in the 5k. The guys also dive deep on the 5k prelim and final from Grant's perspective as they do with all races. They conclude by talking about Grant's upcoming race plans now that his calf is recovering, which could include the Pre Classic in Eugene next week.

Be on the lookout for our Instagram post this upcoming week asking for questions about Grant's Olympic experience. Also feel free to email (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us with those same questions if you can't find it. Thanks to everyone for listening!  Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop!

 

Episode 22: Give Yourself a Shot

On Episode 22 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant joins the Pod after placing 5th in the 10k at the Olympics, the best finish over that distance for an American man not named Galen Rupp since Frank Shorter in 1972. The guys do a brief recap of the race, including the keys to Grant's composure running in the lead pack in his first Olympic race, how he maintained belief that he belonged up there, and just who exactly he was giving the double thumbs up to after his historic race finishing 2.5 seconds out of the medals.

 

We'll be doing a more in depth recap of the 10k and the upcoming 5k after the Olympics, right now, Grant needs to move forward in preparing for his 5k prelim in a couple days so we didn't want to linger too long on this one, despite the incredible result.

Thanks to everyone for listening ! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop!

Episode 21: Live From The Village, Tell Me About Your Bed...

On Episode 21 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant joins the show live from Tokyo (Not live by the time you're hearing him, unfortunately). The guys go through what it's like living in the Village- from how much he is actually able to socialize, how he's getting his runs in, and what a cafeteria pumping out 40,000 meals a day actually looks like in action. 

 

Grant and Connor then spend the second half of the episode previewing Grant's 10k on Friday night, 8:30 Japanese local time. 7:30 Friday morning US Eastern time (4:30 AM PST, yikes). They go over how he is preparing to run the biggest race of his life so far, what it'll be like to have so many of his training partners and teammates in the field with him, and what his goals are for the race. 

Thanks to everyone for listening ! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! We've gotten a lot of questions about XC season and college/pro recruitment stuff- we definitely will tackle those after Grant's upcoming races.

Episode 20: Goodbye PC + Race Recap: El G vs Lagat 2004 Olympics

On Episode 20 of The Halfstep Pod, Connor and Grant discuss Grant's final week in Park City as he heads to Honolulu this weekend in preparation for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.

The guys then get into their race recap of the 2004 Athens Olympics 1500 meter final. A final that came down to Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, the 4 time World Champ at the distance searching for his elusive Olympic Gold, vs Bernard Lagat of Kenya, the man who had most recently beaten El Guerrouj before the Games and was already an Olympic Medalist. We encourage everyone to watch the race online before/after/while listening to the podcast to have the best experience! Just google "2004 Olympic 1500 final" for results. They talk about both runners' legacies in the sport, the somewhat sketchy era of track and field they existed in during the early 2000s, and a bunch of little details in the race that are often missed.

As always, thanks to everyone for listening. You can find us at halfsteppod@gmail.com or DM us on instagram at @ halfstep_pod. Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

 

Episode 19: Julia Heymach Recaps the Olympic Trials + Her Breakthrough Season

On Episode 19 of The Halfstep Pod, Connor interviews his Stanford teammate, Julia Heymach on the heels of her breakthrough 2021 Cross Country and Track seasons. The two go through her training experiences during the COVID pandemic, and then recap her whole season starting with her first cross country meet in Florida and culminating with her 6th place finish at the 2021 US Olympic Trials in the 1500. Along the way they discuss her 13th place finish at NCAA XC Nationals, Her victorious debut track 5k at PAC 12s, her double at NCAA Outdoor, and her experience getting through the rounds at the Olympic Trials. 

 

They also discuss how much goal setting can influence performance, ways to stay calm and controlled while racing, and how to train through sickness in a smart and safe way. This was a really fun episode to do, so we hope you all enjoy it! Thanks again to Julia for coming on! You can find her on instagram @ jhey__

 

Grant and I will be back later this week for the normal episode!! As always, thanks to everyone for listening. You can find us at halfsteppod@gmail.com or DM us on instagram at @ halfstep_pod. Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

Episode 18: Tokyo + The Drug Testing Scandals Across Track & Field

On Episode 18 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant and Connor talk about the recent news that the Tokyo Olympics will have no fans in attendance, and get into a bit of a deep dive on why the games probably can't get moved this close to the start date. Grant updates everyone on his training situation, including a surprising trip he and the team have planned before arriving in Japan.

 

The guys then transition into discussing the three separate drug testing scandals that have shaken track and field the past couple weeks involving Sha'Carri Richardson, Brianna McNeal, and Shelby Houlihan. Grant offers some inside perspective as someone who gets drug tested frequently on how he interacts with the USADA and WADA systems. The guys also try to get into the current issues with the drug testing system, while recognizing all athletes have to deal with the same high standards to prove they are clean.

 

We both want to acknowledge all these situations are nuanced and controversial. Not everyone is going to have the same opinion on each of them as either of us, but we did want to share our perspectives and try to provide educated points given all the background research we have tried to prep going into the episode. As always, thanks to everyone for listening. Don't hesitate to reach out to us halfsteppod@gmail.com or DM us on instagram at "halfstep_pod." Plus, be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

Episode 17: Straight Line Speed (Alt Title: Grant made the Olympics again)

On Episode 17 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant and Connor go chronologically from Grant's return to Park City after the 10k final, all the way through the 5k final and the reaction to Grant making the Olympic team in his second event. (2nd place in the 5k). The guys get detailed on the Trials environment, the structure and difficulty of the 5k prelims, the 10 am race start time on Sunday for the Final, and, of course, the last 100 meters of the 5k race, which saw Grant pushed out into lane 5 across the finish line. 

Thanks to everyone for listening and sorry for the delay between episodes! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

 

Timestamps: 

3:00- Grant's time back in Park City post 10k

8:40- 5k Prelim & Prelims in general

34:00- 5k Final recap

49:00- Final sprint drama

59:30- Eye toward Olympics & Misc ramblings

Episode 16: It's Binary

On Episode 16 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant recaps the biggest race of his life so far: his second place finish at the US Olympic Trials 10k. Race-winner and BTC teammate Woody Kincaid comes on as a guest, too. The guys talk about everything. From how it feels to make their first Olympic teams, to throwing up on the bathroom floor the day of the race (just one of them), to how long they believed what happened on Friday would be possible, Woody and Grant cover a lot of ground in the 50-ish minute interview. If you’re at all interested in an inside perspective on the crucible of the Olympic Trials, this episode is a must-listen.

 

The first part of the Podcast is just Grant and Connor. Woody joins as a guest at the 22:10 mark. Thanks to everyone for listening! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

Episode 15: A Week Out From The 10k, + NCAAs, Rome DL and More

On Episode 15 of The Halfstep Pod, the guys discuss Grant's mentality a week out from the Trials 10k, how he plans to attack that race, and his mentality for his potential double attempt. They also talk about the first two days of the NCAA Championships and touch on the killer 5k at the Rome DL. They end by answering a listener question about the Tokyo Games-inspired Bowerman merch and the story behind the Japanese athletes who train with the group on a consistent basis.

 

Thanks to everyone for listening and sorry for the delay between episodes! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop! 

Episode 14: Tune Up W

On Episode 14 of The Halfstep Pod, Grant and Connor recap Grant's victory in last weekend's Portland Track Festival from heat two of the 5k. The guys then talk about Grant's kinda-finalized plan of events for the Olympic Trials in two weeks. They also touch on Hobbs Kessler being very fast and the NCAA regional meets this past weekend. 

Thanks to everyone for listening and sorry for the delay between episodes! Please continue sending us your listener questions (halfsteppod@gmail.com) or DM us on instagram! Be sure to rate us and subscribe if you haven't already in order to get our podcasts as soon as they drop!