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Tara Storage competes in the 10,000 at the 2007 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis.

Interview with Tara Storage

Posted on August 22, 2007, Interview conducted August 3, 2007

By Alison Wade

Though the hot and humid conditions during the 10,000 at this year's USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships were not conducive to personal best times, Tara Storage pulled out a strong performance to finish ninth (33:52.73) in a star-studded field. Though the former University of Dayton runner had a great deal of success during her collegiate career, she has shaved minutes off of her best times since graduating in 2003 and now can claim PRs of 16:05.26 (5,000), 33:36.16 (10,000), 51:19 (15k), and 1:13:14 (half marathon). Storage finished fifth at the 2007 USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston, seventh in the 2007 USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville, and seventh in the 2006 USA 10k Championships in Boston.

Storage was a six-time Atlantic-10 champion for the University of Dayton, winning the indoor 5,000 three times, the outdoor 5,000 twice, and the 10,000 once. Her highest conference cross country finish came in 1999, when she finished second at the A-10 Championships and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Storage still holds the University of Dayton's school records in the 10,000 (37:00.70), the indoor 5,000 (17:19.82), and the indoor mile (4:56.23).

Storage has been working as a materials research engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base since graduating from the University of Dayton with a Chemical Engineering degree in 2003. She's one class away from getting her Master's in Materials Engineering, also from the University of Dayton.

Storage trains with her identical twin sister, Kara, as well as Ann Alyanak, the current University of Dayton distance coach. The three are coached by Ed Alyanak, Ann's husband.

So you're a materials research engineer. What is that?
Well, actually I work in the composites branch here at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. I work a lot with the processing of high temperature composites, but organic matrix composites, so like your tennis rackets or road bikes, stuff like that. The carbon fiber organic resin composites—that's what we do. I like to say I just cook all day.

You hold Dayton's 10,000 meter record of 37:00.70, so is it safe to assume that's your college PR?
I ran the 10k my junior and senior years. My junior year, the first time I had ever run the 10k was in the conference meet. It was either that or the steeplechase. My freshman and sophomore years, they still had the [flat] 3,000, which I did. When they switched to the steeplechase, our coach [George Brose] was like, 'Well, I think we can get the most points if you try the steeplechase or the 10k.' I had done neither. So the week before the conference meet, he had Kara and me try hurdling, which we had never done in our entire lives. After like one or two times of almost killing ourselves, he was like, 'Okay, stop, we'll put you in the 10k!'

You mention George Brose. Was he your main coach at Dayton?
George Brose was the head coach for cross country. He was a good runner for the University of Oklahoma…We still keep in contact with him. In track, for most of our years, the head coach was Harold 'Lefty' Martin. He and George jointly coached us for track. You've probably heard of either LeBren Martin, who was our age, and ran for [the University of Dayton] for a couple of years before transferring to [Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo] or LaVonna Martin, both daughters of his. LaVonna was a silver medalist in the 100 meter hurdles [at the 1992 Olympic Games]. So it's a big sprinting family.

What kind of runner were you in high school? Was college a big improvement for you, or was it in line with what you had done in high school?
It was pretty much in line. I didn't start running until sophomore year of high school in cross country. I did a little bit of junior high track, but I always considered myself a soccer player turned runner. I played soccer freshman year for Beavercreek [Ohio] High School. Kara, this other girl who was a senior, and I played soccer, and we were all short little people. Every practice, the soccer coach was like, 'Girls—to the weight room!' Everybody else got to practice, but he sent us to the weight room, hoping we'd get bigger. I was like, 'I'm doing pushups until I'm blue in the face and I'm just not getting bigger!' That was when we decided that we'd try something different, just because it wasn't fun anymore, not getting to practice with the team.

So we ran cross country under Coach Jack Holliday, who has quite the running tradition at Beavercreek High School. He's coached there for 38 years and has a really good high school program with a lot of crosstraining and supplemental stuff. It was fun for us and a good experience.

What were some of your high school accomplishments, and do you remember any of your PRs?
Well our first year, sophomore year, in cross country we won the Division I state championship, so that was pretty cool, and we had no idea what we were getting into. I think the next year we got eighth at state, and then our senior year we got third, which we were kind of bummed about, because we were a couple points out of second or something.

I think I ran 17:59 or so—just under 18—my senior year in cross country at the state meet. In track, I don't remember my times, but I ran the 3,200m and 1,600m a lot, and the 4x800.

So you improved in college, but it wasn't a huge jump, right?
Yeah, not a huge jump. In college, we were definitely a low-mileage team. George, if anything, undertrained us versus overtrained us. I think that was a good thing in the long run, seeing that Kara and I are still running post-collegiately and enjoying it. I think it was his experience running at the University of Oklahoma—he was a good miler and they had a high-mileage program—where he just got burnt out. Apparently, as soon as he graduated, he didn't run for the next five or 10 years, and then he got back into it. I guess this was a result of his not wanting to do that to his athletes. Sometimes I wonder, 'What if we had done a little more mileage?' The what ifs…

What kind of mileage would you say you did in college?
It was probably in the 50s. We probably hardly ever got up into the 60s at all.

And how much do you do now?
Low 70s.

To what do you attribute your post-collegiate success? Has it been a gradual improvement? Were there any big jumps or changes?
I think it's been a combination of things—just getting stronger in terms of core training, and a lot of Ed Alyanak's good workouts. The increase in mileage has helped, but Ed's strength-based training has really been one of the big keys to my improvement, and just maturing…Another thing that's really helped the improvement is Ed's confidence in us, which I think has really contributed. I can't say enough good things about Ed.

How long have you been coached by Ed Alyanak?
George introduced us to Ann, because he was looking for an assistant. So we met Ed a little while after we graduated, probably in the fall of 2003.

How often do you end up training with Ann and Kara?
Well, Ed trains all three of us differently, based on our strengths and weaknesses, and especially since Ann's training for the marathon. He tries to incorporate runs which we can do together as much as possible. I probably end up running with Ann once a week, if that, and Kara and I do our easy runs together and maybe one speed workout a week.

Also, they have this running club here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and when I decided to do shorter stuff, like the 10k, Ed was like, 'Tara, you really need someone with more speed.' So we found Major Jeff Kuzma. This past season, he's helped out a lot in our track workouts. Man, talk about speed…I didn't realize this, but he was a 2000 Olympic Trials finalist in the 800. We'll be running along, and suddenly he gaps me in two seconds. I'll be like, 'I think I changed pace, but clearly not, or not that much!' He's gone so quickly. Having him as a training partner has been a great addition.

Do you normally run once a day, twice a day, or some mixture of the two?
Normally twice a day, or if there's not a second run, I'll crosstrain, do Pilates, or core strengthening.

How do you find enough time for everything?
I definitely have to prioritize. You know the T-shirt 'Eat, run, sleep?' It's kind of like that, but I guess it's 'Eat, run, work, sleep' for me.

Do you do your main workout before work?
Yeah. It's really nice because Wright-Patterson and the Air Force really promote and advocate fitness. They even have their own Wright-Patterson Air Force Marathon, and stuff like that. We have these flex hours where we need to be in from 9:00-3:00, but normally I'll run in the morning, come in at 9:00, and leave at 5:30, whereas someone else might come in at 6:00 and leave at 3:00.

What's it like to have a twin sister who runs? Do you ever get competitive with one another, or have you ever had issues with that at other points in your life?
I think it's great. Kara's the best supporter of all. I never feel like we're competing against each other; I feel like we're competing against all these other people. Sometimes Ed will be like, 'I don't like it when you guys are in the same races because you forget that she's your competitor!' But it's definitely great for training and even racing too.

In terms of the mental aspect, we would use it to our advantage in cross country. I can remember in high school we'd have fun [laughs]. We'd pass people together, one of us on each side, and it's mentally discouraging to them.

Even though we're identical twins, there are differences. First of all, she's left handed and I'm right handed, but she definitely has more speed than I do, so not all of the abilities are the same. But our heart rates are similar and we're about as close to compatible as any [two people] can be. Sometimes it's hard to find good running partners because you have different paces.

Kara did not run at the USA Championships. Why was that?
It's pretty crazy, we've both made similar steps in improvement, but I like to say she's one season behind. She had sort of a hip/hamstring imbalance which I think, knock on wood, she's gotten over. She got the 'B' qualifier for the 10k [for the USA Championships] but because they actually only took one 'B' qualifier, she didn't get to run.

I was so bummed, and she was bummed too. It was kind of funny because they put your last name on your race [bib]. On mine they had 'T. Storage' because the provisional qualifiers don't find out until like the day before if they're going to get to run or not, and they had printed bibs for both of us.

Do you have a sponsor?
Nothing contracted or anything, but we have a local running store in Lebanon, Ohio—On The Run—that helps the three of us out with shoes and stuff. I'm always open to ideas, but I don't know how I would go about doing that, exactly. Since Ann is the coach, she knows more about sponsors and stuff, so she keeps us informed on stuff like that.

You've had considerable success in longer road races. Does the marathon appeal to you at all?
Yeah, it does. Hopefully someday soon I'll run a marathon, but I want to be ready for it when I do it. I think it might be my best event yet.

Did you think about trying to get a 2008 Trials qualifier?
Yeah, I talked it over with Ed a little bit and I haven't totally decided, but I think I might wait just a little bit longer, and in another four years we'll see.

What races are you focusing on right now? Do you have any races planned for the near future?
I'm focusing on the USA 20k Championships [in New Haven] on Labor Day, and I'm looking at the half marathon [and races in that range] for the fall. Ann, Kara, and I, and a couple of other local runners, might do the [USATF National Club Cross Country Championships]. Since it's going to be in Ohio, we're hoping to put together a team for that. It should be an exciting fall.