Race in Colorado often enough and you’re bound to soon find Andy Rinne towards the front. The Colorado Springs runner has already race eight times this year, winning three times and finishing on the podium five times. The 5k is his favorite distance and he’s run as fast as 16:41 this year, as a 39 year old. Rinne is this month’s “The Runner Box” Colorado Runner of the Month and he tells us how he does it below.
Andy, congrats on what seems to be another fine year of racing. I’m impressed with your longevity. I mean, you’ve been a fixture of the Colorado road racing scene for a long time. How do you do it, what keeps running and racing fresh for you?
For me, running has always been a part of my life. I started running when I was in middle school and continued throughout college as well. Even though I did not pursue it as my professional career, it was an excellent source for me to challenge and push myself to the limits, both physically and emotionally.
So, you can say running to me is an integral part of my life. I do realize that when you prolong a certain craft for a long time – such as running here and I have been running for nearly 13 years – you naturally get complacent and lose that drive you used to have toward it. I can say that to keep my running fresh and get myself motivated I focus mostly on how my running effects myself and people around me more than the actual results of the running itself. Please don’t get me wrong I love to win and that is part of what drives me, after all I am a competitive athlete and I will not be where I am without it.
For myself I enjoy running as what it truly is. As cliché as it sounds, when I run I truly feel free and also the sense of belonging that I am part of this wonderful world. I wake up in the morning when the sun comes up and to feel that sense of belonging makes me tremendously happy. I am also thankful for extraordinary people I have met in my running career and feel a sense of accomplishment in helping some of those runners myself by coaching and guiding them to improve their times.
As far as running and racing goes, I strive to enjoy the racing experiences and competition as well as finding new places to race all over the state, and sometimes outside of Colorado. I believe that I can still run near the top competitors at races even as I have moved closer to the 40 year old age bracket. For normal training, running with friends and finding new places to train keeps things fresh. 40 will be the next chapter in my running with the hopes to keep running at a high level and try to break some master’s records at 40.
Do you keep track of how many races you’ve run, lifetime and in any one year? What’s the most races you’ve run in a single year?
I do keep track of the races I have run, however as time has progressed some of the results from the early 2000s are no longer around. In a single year, I have raced 34 times, both in 2009 and 2010. On average I race over 25 times a year. Overall I have run more than 310 races since 2002.
What’s your favorite Colorado race, and why?
Grand Junction, the Evergreen Town Race 5k, the St. Pat’s Day 5k here in the Springs, Sailin’ Shoes 5k here in the Springs, and the Pearl Street Mile in Boulder. There are so many extraordinary and great races it is practically impossible for me to just choose one!!!
You’re getting older, close to 40 (!) I think. How long ago was your last PR and how has your training changed in recent years?
So the last PR for me was the 5k last year in Grand Junction (15:47). As time has progressed, I have learned that I needed to change things up, so I decided to have someone coach me. Cody Hill started working with me in 2014. Before I started with Cody, I would go out and basically run 8-10 miles a day at about 6:50 to 7:10 pace, with an occasional long run here and there. I was not really doing any specific workouts at the time. With Cody, I have two track workouts a week, a long run, and four medium days. The medium run days are 7:30 to 7:40 pace, so overall I have slowed down my easy days. Sundays are usually 12-13 miles around 7:15 to 7:30 pace. I have learned to focus specifically on my hard days. The average mileage for a week is 60-65.
What’s your favorite item in the Runner Box?
My favorite was the Go tape and the Egg white chips.
“Leave the research to us, and we’ll leave the training to you,” says Runner Box. The Runner Box is a subscription-based service that delivers a “box” of runner-friendly goodies to you every other month, items like gels, bars, and other accessories hand-picked to add to your running. Many items are new to the market, and new items are expected with each box. A great service for yourself, the boxes also make great gifts and are often themed around holidays.