Diane Nukuri inspired by training with experienced racers

​Transcript by ASAP Sports

Q. Tell me about your mileage. What do you put in, and how long is your buildup here for this?
DIANE NUKURI: After the Olympics, I ran a 10K, I took a little down week where I didn't really do much. Three times in that week, I did a 30-minute stretch because I knew I had about three months to get ready for this.

Q. How much time off after the Olympics?
DIANE NUKURI: About a week off.

Q. That's kind of standard.
DIANE NUKURI: Yeah, it's kind of hard to go from that and then go home and start running 80, 90 miles that week. So I just took a down week where I just did what I wanted, just relaxed. Then when I got back home, I didn't have to start over, so I started 60, 70 miles that week.

Since I had a really good, consistent year, and I started racing in actually February when I was in Japan. So I knew I had a pretty good year with strength and speed. So I just kind of did about 100 to 110, and I did some cross-training as well, biking, elliptical, and was in the weight room a lot. So I feel like it would be a one. It would be my first marathon of the year. So I'm a lot more fresh than I would have been the year before or something like that.

So it's been good. But then again, it's so long. You just never know, but I feel like I'm prepared.

Q. Your best 10K is what?
DIANE NUKURI: On the track? 31:28. That's what I ran in Rio.

Q. What place did that get you?
DIANE NUKURI: 13th.

Q. That was a pretty solid PR, as I recall.
DIANE NUKURI: Not bad, yeah. I was pretty happy.

Q. You probably feel that you're in the best shape coming into this?
DIANE NUKURI: For sure. I feel like every year I've gotten -- you can't do everything. If you want to do weight lifting and all these things, you can't do it all at once. But I felt like it's been a progression every year.

Q. Do you have a pace in mind that you're comfortable -- let's assume there's no headwind. There might be a mild one, but I don't think it's going to be big because the temperatures are cool enough you're going to have at least a cornering wind, which you can tuck in behind people. What pace are you comfortable running at out of the box, so to speak?
DIANE NUKURI: I think I'll be comfortable around 5:30, 5:40. I should be able to feel comfortable. My PB is 2:27.50, and it wasn't the best day. It is what it is -- in London last year. I feel like I'm a better runner.

Q. What was that an average of? I can look it up. But 5:30?
DIANE NUKURI: Around 5:40. 5:40 is like 2:28, right? Yeah.

Q. It's something like that. So you think in theory, under perfect conditions -- and this is a tougher course than that -- maybe 2:26 or 2:27 is where you are?
DIANE NUKURI: On a great day, I think I can run around 2:26, 2:27 here. It's a tough course. I remember three years ago when I did it, we went out, and I ended up running 2:30. I would like to think I'm a better runner than I was three years ago. But I feel like at least 2:27, 2:28, but you never know how the race plays out.

Q. When you run a 10K and you're running road races and so forth, what do you weigh? What's your weight at that time?
DIANE NUKURI: Honestly, I don't -- I can count how many times I weigh myself, but maybe 130, 128.

Q. And do you drop any weight for the marathon at all? Do you get a little lower?
DIANE NUKURI: I think so. I mean, I always feel like you do a lot more, obviously, but we also have to make sure we eat a lot.

Q. I get that.
DIANE NUKURI: I think it's more like the strength. Yeah, I probably feel a bit smaller before the marathon.

Q. What's your height?
DIANE NUKURI: I'm like 6 foot tall.