RunBlogRun: Coach on athletes: Lance Brauman speaks about Shaunae Miller-Uibo

RunBlogRun, 1. How did you come to bring Shaunae Miller UIbo into your mix?

Lance Brauman: In the Fall of 2014, Shaunae gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in her joining the group. I obviously said yes and was very excited to work with her. She joined the group in January of 2015.

RunBlogrun, 2. What is her biggest strength?

Lance Brauman: Shaunae is one of those rare all around talents. Strengths include good speed and over all build for sprinting. She has a competitive nature and is very coachable.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo, 2018 adidas Boston Boost Games, photo by PhotoRun.net

RunBlogRun, 3. Shaunae races well over 100m, 200m and 400m, what is her best distance?

Lance Brauman: She does have good speed over the 100m, but I would consider her more of a 200/400m athlete. In my opinion she is equally as good and has the ability to run fast in both those events. However, I think she prefers racing the 400m, but training for the 200m.

RunBogRun, 4. In 2016, Shaunae won the 400 meters, and there was some discussion on US TV about her win. It was one of the most exciting races that I have ever seen, your thoughts on that race?

Lance Brauman: Anytime you have an athlete win a gold medal at the Olympic games, it is an exciting experience. In that particular race, I think what everyone saw was an athlete that gave 100% over the entire race and literally ran herself into the ground…leaving everything she had on the track that day. For anyone who understands sprinting, falling or diving at the line is actually counter productive and therefore was not planned.

RunBlogRun, 5. In 2017, Shaunae had a rough last 50 meters in the 400 meters. She came back to medal in the 200 meters and win DL in 200m and 400m. How did you motivate her after the 400 meter race? What is the coaches role after a tough race?

Lance Brauman: In the 400m race at the 2017 World Championships, Shaunae put herself in a great position to win the race. She made a mistake and took a glance at the scoreboard coming down the straight away, which caused her to trip. It was unfortunate, but also one of those learning experiences that athletes sometimes have to go through. After the race, we discussed what happened and actually a conversation between her and her father put things more into perspective. She is a naturally mentally strong athlete and was able to refocus and overcome the disappointment. She was able to come back and finish her season in a very positive way and also put up times so that everyone knew the type of shape she was in. As far as the coaches roll after tough races, that sometimes changes from athlete to athlete and situation to situation, in this case, I emphasized that she still had a lot of opportunities throughout the summer and to make sure she took advantage of those.

RunBlogRun, 6. How does her strength from 400 meters help her at 200 meters?

Lance Brauman: It gives her the confidence that if she executes a good turn and transition into the straight, that as long as she’s close to the leader, she will always have a chance to win.

RunBlogRun, 7. How does her speed from 200 meters help her in 400 meters?

Lance Brauman: Her speed in the 400m gives her the ability to run a few different race models, depending on her competition.

RunBlogRun, 8. With championship years in 2015, 2016, 2017, does 2018 with no global championships help sprinters like Shaunae? Do you think we have too many championship years?

Lance Brauman: Being that 2018 is somewhat of an off year from championships, it has given us the ability to increase her training load a little bit. We have also been able to concentrate on one off races to hopefully decrease her personal best times. On championship years, from a personal point, I don’t think there are to many and am currently happy with the system the way it is.

RunBlogRun, 9. Does Shaunae juggle the travel well? Is that something you speak with the athletes about during their seasons?

Lance Brauman: Traveling is part of the sport at the professional level. I do talk to my athletes on a regular bases and Shaunae has always seemed to handle it well.

RunBlogRun, 10. Will we ever seen Shaunae run the 400m hurdles or 800 meters?

Lance Brauman: Right now the concentration is on the 200m and 400m, but Shaunae does like to try new things, so I guess any event is a possibility.

RunBlogRun, 11. What spikes does Shaunae race in? Does she train in a different spike?

Lance Brauman: Shaunae races in the Adidas Prime. Sometimes she will train in an Adidas mid-distance shoe depending on the type of training we are doing.

RunBlogRun, 12. How long is her pre race warm up?

Lance Brauman: Shaunae’s pre-race warm up generally beginning 1 hour & 20 min before the final call room time.