TURKEY TROT ADVICE FROM TYLER MCCANDLESS: 2017 & 2018 EIGHT MILE WINNER

American distance runner Tyler McCandless’s passion for running began his freshman year of high school when he joined the track and field team in order to get in shape for the upcoming soccer season. When finishing in 4th place at his district meet that year, he slowly began transitioning from a soccer player to a year-round runner. Running at Penn State University and earning All-American at his last 10,000-meter race, McCandless knew his relationship with running was far from over. 

With winning the Dallas Turkey Trot in both 2017 and 2018, we sit down with McCandless to hear how he balances training, his career, and his new role as a father: 

1. Describe what your day to day is like as a professional runner. Are you constantly training, do you have races every week?  

Although running is a great passion of mine, my career is a Machine Learning Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and my number one priority in life is my family.  My wife is incredibly supportive as well as a competitive runner herself, so we typically start each day with breakfast and coffee, feeding our 3-month-old baby Levi, and then running on treadmills at our house together. Around 2-3 times per week instead of the treadmill I meet my training group, the Boulder Harriers, and we run hard workouts before all of us go into our offices for work.  I work a bit more than the 9-5 with a second run at lunch about twice per week. When I get home, it’s about spending time with my wife Kristin and our son.  On the weekends you’ll typically find me and the training group running hill repeats on Saturday morning. We do a long run on Sundays, which usually ends a typical week with 90-100 miles in non-marathon training, and 100-120 miles in marathon training. 

2. When did you first begin running the Dallas Turkey Trot?  

I first ran the Turkey Trot in 2015, where I took 2nd place.  2016 I did not run because my wife and I were on our honeymoon in New Zealand, and then I won in 2017 and 2018. 

3. What were your initial thoughts being the first person to cross the finish line in both 2017 and 2018?  

It’s just such a fun event and with the 5k finishing and the spectators near the finish, it was thrilling to come through the final straightaway with the crowd cheering.  2017 honestly surprised me a bit with running as fast as I did (38:39) as I was hoping to get under 40 minutes and maybe get close to 39 minutes. 

4. What do you look forward to about the Turkey Trot each year? 

It’s been a family event for myself and my wife’s family, which makes it very special.  The first year I participated, I ran with my wife Kristin and her dad Steve ran together in the 8 Mile.  Kristin's mom has also run the race and it’s fun to get together afterwards and share our experiences on the course over brunch, and of course it makes watching football and eating a lot of food later in the day more rewarding...or at least a better excuse to do so! 

Advice to first time runners of the Turkey Trot: 

• Best training tips for the 8-mile race? 

Be consistent in your training! You don’t have to have run 8 miles before running the race, just be consistent with exercising leading up to the race.   

• What is your pre-race/warm up ritual? 

I typically have oatmeal or bagels with peanut butter and coffee about 3 hours before racing.  Then about an hour before the race I’ll do 20 minutes of light jogging, dynamic drills and strides to get ready for the gun to signal the start of the race. 

• What is your post-race/cool down ritual? 

A very slow jog of anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how I’m feeling, and definitely getting hydration and nutrition back into me (hopefully in the form of peanut butter M&Ms)!