Ian Burrell KWIK-E

May 2, 2008

University of Georgia's Ian Burrell is battling back after suffering allergies and breathing problems. He's posted impressive personal bests of 13:46 in the 5k and 7:59 in the 3k. Burrell is looking to go into law school and continue to pursue running.

How has your training being going lately?
Training has been going really well lately. Our workouts for the most part have been pretty decent. We're trying to figure out the races, which lately aren't going too well. There actually pretty awful. So, we're trying to figure out how to take the training and put it toward the races...see if we can get it the other way around.

What's been going wrong with your races?
Well...we're not really sure. For the most part, it's just confusing. We just went out to Oregon and I had some breathing problems and have been having pretty significant problems with allergies. Apparently Oregon's not a great place for me to run...at least not that night. We're still just trying to figure it out right now. I wish I could give you a better explanation of what's going on, but we're really not sure.

Is it one of those things where only time will tell?
I think so. I think hopefully, eventually, we'll just get it right and I'll be able to start racing well again. It's just one of those things that you just have to work through. Hopefully we'll get it right.

With this setback, is it hard to set goals?
It is pretty hard to set goals. It's like you go out there and set all these goals and your work outs show that you're on pace. Then you get in the race and it doesn't go so well. It makes it frustrating to keep after those goals. I guess it's one of those things that you have to do after a while. Just keep on going after it and hopefully you'll break through.

Do you plan on running at the Trials?
Yeah. If I can make the Trials, I'd surely run in them. It's going to be pretty tough to make them right now. That's unless something big happens. That was a goal starting the season. If I get the opportunity to run, I would definitely jump at that opportunity.

So, when did things start to go sour for you?
You know...I'm not really sure. Almost at the beginning of indoor. I didn't run as fast I wanted to in indoor. We did a bit more strength training than we normally did. I tried to peak at the right time for nationals. I was having some breathing difficulties working into the indoor season. Then at SECs, then nationals there was a problem. Now we're just trying to get it back around. Trying to keep running solid workouts. I guess that's the encouraging thing. You keep on having solid workouts then eventually you hope that translates into a good race. But right now we try to keep after it and hopefully it happens.

Do you have those breathing problems when you're doing those workouts, or is it only in races?
Yeah. A little. I have a pretty long history with allergy problems. I've been taking allergy shots for those. Last year was kind of an interesting year for running. During outdoors last year, the allergies just really got me down. I would have awful, awful workouts for about six weeks, but I'd be racing fairly solid. I raced the two Stanford meets. Those went fairly well. The workouts were awful here in Georgia. Eventually it caught up to me. SECs and nationals...I just didn't have very much left and just kind of tanked the season. This year...it's just the weirdest thing. We're just trying to figure this out.

How do you keep positive during a frustrating time like this?
You just gotta be positive the best you can. Try to search for solutions. Just keep going and trust in the workouts. Eventually it's got to break through.

I read that you're going into Law School...how well do you think that will gel with being a runner?
Going to law school and running at the same time will be pretty tough. Luckily running is a sport that's pretty flexible. You can train at all parts of the day if you need to. So it's something that can work, with going to law school, but you can't take it easy. There's going to be many days where you're going to be tired and you won't be able to get the work in. The work that you want to get in or the work that you should be getting in. You have to take the good and the bad. The unfortunate thing about running is that it doesn't exactly pay the bills unless you're one of the top runners in the country. You really have to have a backup plan. Going to go law school and trying to get my future situated kind of takes priority over running right now.

Are you up to that challenge?
Absolutely. I think I have pretty big desire to keep running and have success at that. It's a lot of fun to go out there and compete...well, compete well I guess it's a little bit more fun than going out there and getting toasted in the 5k. I would like to go after it. I am going to take a year off if I do go to law school. We'll see what happens during that year. I'll have to see which law school I get into, because some are going to be easier to run at than others.

College can be the land of temptations, can you talk about making sacrifices to excel in this sport?
There are a lot of weekends where you have to stay in, where you might want to go out and hang with your friends and do a little drinking. It's tough sometimes because you want to go out there and be a normal college kid and have your fun. There are times when you can go out and do that. But there are also times where you have to stay in and call it an early night because you have a workout in the morning, or you've got a race coming up. You've got to take care of business with that. I think there are times when you need to go out there and hang out and take a bit of the stress off. Running is one of those things where you need to take a mental break every once and a while. I think it's important to get out occasionally. But I think you need to make sure you're getting your rest and doing all the proper things to prepare for your sport.

Can you give me a crazy story from your running history?
(Laughs) Hmm...let's see. All right. I've got a pretty interesting running story. Last summer, I went to Peru for five weeks. I enrolled in a Spanish-immersion school. I went to Peru for five weeks, just to learn some Spanish. Running in Peru was kind of difficult. It was a pretty difficult challenge, because it was...it just wasn't the United States...let's say that. (Laughs). One of the things that was difficult out there was all their dogs are pretty much strays. And they're all pretty pretty aggressive. One day I found this trail through the hills. The hills in Peru are inhabited by these farmers, just out the farming the land. Some of them grew potatoes, some of them grew...what were they? I forget the crop they grew. They just farm the land. And they all have these dogs. I'd been previously warned about the dogs these farmers have that are pretty mean and they're pretty territorial. So, I'm running up and I see this family and I run by them. All of a sudden this dog starts tearing after me. It's a fairly decent sized dog, and it's snarling and I'm getting pretty nervous. It's coming after me. I just keep running. I pick up a rock...and the dog just keeps on coming after me. It gets about a foot away from my calve. I just unload the rock on this dog's head. The thing just drops right behind me. The thing is out cold. I'm not sure if I killed it or what, but this thing is on the ground. These farmers aren't too happy that I just knocked out their family dog I guess. They start running after me. I just try to book it out of there as quick as possible. I didn't want to find out what Peruvian farmers do to people who mess with their dogs. Luckily I was able to make it out OK, but I don't know about the dog. It could still be alive...or it could not.

It's better than a case of rabies in Peru.
That's for sure. I didn't want to mess with their medical system.

Post a Comment

#6	I Care May 6, 2008 at 10:18pm this really helps. im goin thru the same allergy/breathing crap. can workout fine and then races dont go so fine. any way i can talk to him to see what hes doin to handle the allergy/breathing? reply
#5	ivanvano13 May 6, 2008 at 11:59am I love these. keep em coming. reply
#4	Youknow May 3, 2008 at 8:02pm ask more questions about training/mileage/etc! allergies? who cares? reply
#3	Champ_x May 2, 2008 at 3:39pm everyone needs to watch out for this guy. I can easily see burrell winning the 5000 outdoors, then the 5000 olympics, THEN pass the bar exam. reply
#2	Cara Hawkins May 2, 2008 at 9:13am Haha, love the story at the end. reply
#1	Meg May 2, 2008 at 8:44am Sweeeeeeet article, good job, Tony Casey!!! reply