Eugene to Europe with Elise Cranny

This week’s guest is Elise Cranny of Bowerman Track Club. Elise is a Tokyo Olympian and 2-time U.S. champ in the 5,000m who came on the podcast to look back on her 2022 season as she wraps up a spin through the European race circuit.

We talked about Elise’s growth as a professional runner and her relationship with Bowerman coach Jerry Schumacher, including the difficult decision to scratch the U.S. 10,000m champs earlier this year and how it paid off in her racing season. We also talked a lot about the mental side of the sport an the importance of listening to your body and planning for your long-term success over short-term satisfaction. Elise also shared her post-season travel plans, her European laundry strategy, and of course, her love language.

This episode of Run Your Mouth is presented by Nike. We’ve partnered with them to help share athletes’ stories in a way that reflects the different reasons we all choose to run, work out, and find our part of the track and field community. In my conversations with athletes in all events and all levels over the years, one common theme I hear over and over again is that finding the unique ways running brings you joy is the best way to develop a happy lifelong relationship with the sport.

Come run with Nike. For the everyday and common runner Nike is committed to motivating, standing by, listening to, and helping them from the starting line to the finish line and every inch, meter and mile in between. Whether it’s a local race, a major marathon, or just a run with friends, get out there and run. Just do it. Check out the Nike Run Club app and come run with us.

On training under Bowerman coach Jerry Schumacher:

“I’m a pretty independent person to a fault. I’m still trying to work on being better at communicating [with my coaches], but with Jerry, the energy he brings is what I love most. He helps you believe that you can go do something special.”

On skipping the U.S. 10,000m champs:

“It was hard to forgo the 10k championships in the moment but in the end, showing up at USAs and focusing on the 5k was the right call. I don’t think I’d be still going this far into the season if I didn’t make that decision.”

On planning for a long professional running career:

“In this sport, it’s so easy to get caught up in short-term goals. The sport takes so much patience and a lot of times it takes years and years of work before it pays off, but consistent work can be really powerful in the long term.”