Time: DNF
Place: DNF
Affiliation: Oiselle
Runners Feed: Describe your 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials experience
Still Smiling!
The whole marathon weekend experience was a true treat, from start to finish. I was skeptical Houston, as a city, would be able to generate as much enthusiasm as Boston did 4 years ago, but I was wrong. The city was decked out in colorful banners, buildings with Trials signs hanging everywhere, and a central park area (the Discovery Green) filled with some neat Olympics related exhibits. And the second we walked into the hotel lobby of the host hotel, you could feel the adrenaline coming off athletes and coaches in waves. For someone like me who rarely gets to race these super elite runners (Seattle is not usually on the map for national caliber road races, nor am I at a level where I would get to “race” them even if those races were here) it is like a kid in a candy store being surrounded by the very top long distance runners in the country. I had to fight the urge to go up and shake everyone’s hand and tell them I’m a huge fan, because a.) they might call security on the freak who keeps following them around grinning ear to ear, but mainly b.) I wanted to respect the fact that they probably didn’t need to be harassed by someone like me before the biggest race of their lives. But trust me, at the dining tent, technical meeting, hospitality suite, and the staging/ waiting area we were housed in before the race began, I was giddy being surrounded by such greatness. And the one thing I took away from all of these “sitings” is that these uber-elite athletes worry about the same things we more normal runners do — getting sleep, eating the right foods, shaking off nerves before the gun goes off etc. That, and they also seem to genuinely want to see their fellow athletes run the very best they can too.
RF: Were you satisfied with your performance?
Yes and no. I was very satisfied in the sense that my overriding goal was to enjoy the experience as much as I possibly could, knowing very well that this will be my last attempt to run in an Olympic Trials race. I loved the crowd support, found myself running and smiling, and I truly did take in the atmosphere more than I ever have before. But I was unsatisfied in the sense that I stopped just short of 20 miles. Everything just seemed to start hurting, and when you have a lot on the line (which I didn’t on Saturday — my accomplishment was getting there), you tend to be able to push through some of that discomfort. For some reason I just chose not to continue pushing, and now I’m admittedly a bit mad at myself for stopping. Now that I’ve had a chance to review my paces, I realize I was running faster than what my own race plan had been (I recently just began using my GPS watch in races to save me from needing to click my watch every mile — and I’m not sure if I was the worst tangent runner out there or if my GPS was off, but my GPS indicated I was running much faster than what I should’ve been, yet I wasn’t paying any attention to that fact because I couldn’t hear my watch beep and they were always short of the official mile markers). Had I paced it like I should have, I think I was in shape to run a PR, especially given the course and pretty ideal weather.
IS YOUR GPS TELLING THE TRUTH?
RF: What would you attribute your success to?
While I didn’t have a great race, I do still think I was in shape to do so
RF: What would you have done differently?
Paid attention to my watch!
RF: What is on tap for the spring/summer?
I’m going to work on some shorter distances and see if I can improve my notoriously slow turnover. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy some pressure-free training for a while.
RF: Share an inspiring/funny/fascinating Olympic Trials story
Empey on the right as Meb cruises to the win.
I learned there is a benefit to being “slow”. I got some nice, but undeserved NBC air time, as Meb lapped me just as he was reaching the 26th mile. It gave me shivers as the crowd was going wild, and I couldn’t help but smile as after yelling “Way to go, Meb!” he cracked a bit of a smile too. Well he was also probably smiling because he was rightfully enjoying his last few yards when I think he realized he would not only make the team, but win the race. I betcha Nike didn’t see that coming……
Great fan support.
RF: In 1 word describe your approach to the race. Enjoyable
RF: Rate the crowd support out of 10. 10
RF: What besides water fuelled you throughout the race? Nuun and 1 vanilla gel
RF: Who proved to be your #1 fan today? my family and the wonderful Oiselle ladies (sorry, there were “2″ fans)
TRUE or FALSE
RF: I executed my race plan. FALSE
RF: I hit the wall. TRUE and FALSE
RF: I had fun! TRUE
RF: I will do my best to make it to the start line of another OT race. FALSE, but I will do my best to make it to the starting line of other great races
RF: I will take a week or more off running. TRUE!
