Monday, January 30, 2012
2012 Olympic Trials Recap - Camille Herron
I don't even know where to start on how awesome this past weekend was! I was overwhelmed by the love, support, and energy in Houston. As always, I was totally in my element and had a 'great' time. Thank you to everyone for making the Olympic Marathon Trials a magical event once again.
Pre-Race
I flew in my typical 2 days before the Trials. I don't think I could have handled getting there any earlier than this-- it was krrrrazyyy-with-a-k (yet fun)! Right away, I started seeing people I know.... bodies multiplied by 10. Fortunately, I've been to so many races now, I was well prepared for all of this. My hubby Conor said he doesn't know how I do it (~it is exhausting if you're not used to it).
Friday began more craziness-- went for a nice easy morning run (shockingly, lots of people were running in shorts, and it was 30-something degrees! I don't know what they were thinking cause it definitely felt chilly to me!). We did the course tour, lunch, technical meeting, interview with Runner's Space, nap, and then.... had to visit the duct tape tyrants, yikes! USATF was being extremely stringent with advertising/logo rules, so I had to cover up lots of logos.
After my nap (and to destress from the duct tape debacle), I went for my usual second brief run of the day. Then we went for dinner, which was really good! I was like a Hoover Vac, shoving massive quantities of spaghetti, meat sauce, and cookies in my mouth. My friend and fellow Team MG.com teammate, Leah T., captured the moment as it happened. :)
Race Day
I slept in until 6:30am (race time at 8:15am). No way Jose.... do I get up early and do a "shakeout run". Thank goodness for having a hotel right by the starting line too (thumbs up to USATF for this fine plan). Conor went down to get breakfast for himself, while I prepared mine in the hotel room. As he described it, the hospitality suite was packed with so many stressed out runners, you could slice the stress with a butter knife. I can't even imagine the amount of stress the HM/10K qualifiers must have felt-- making their marathon debut at the Trials!
We went down to the holding room around 7:20am. I couldn't believe the number of people already warming up and running around! My gosh, it's a marathon. I sat until they walked us down, and then I did my usual light 10 min. jog and drills 30 min. before the race start-- I actually didn't do any strides, but I felt fired up anyways (while conserving energy).
The men took off at 8am, while we took off at 8:15am. Everything happened very quickly-- I remember being on the starting line much longer back in '08, and it feeling very calm/quiet. After the men passed through, we had to line up quickly, and BOOM! I couldn't help but smile and look forward to what was about to unfold. I positioned myself on the outside, as I prefer it that way.
Suddenly before we turned the corner, the main pack slowed down, while I maintained my pace and moved from 100th place to 1st place-- I led the first mile! In my mind, I was thinking, "OMG, what just happened?!" I got goosebumps being in front of such a high caliber field. Knowing that feeling (while also having the experience of winning 4 marathons the past year).... I will now dream of leading the last mile of the next Olympic Marathon Trials! :)
Edit-- here's the blurb on Runner's World from my first mile lead:
"Camille Herron to the lead for the women. She's a [2:38] runner who ran the Pan Am Games Marathon in October, then New York two weeks later. For you Born to Run fans, she's a dyed-in-the-wool minimalist. (She runs for inov8)."
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-239-569-0-14140-0,00.html
My "claim to fame" was very short-lived, as I was soon engulfed by the main pack (like a whale shark swallowing a scuba diver), who started picking up the pace. I went with the flow, and focused on my internal rhythm. I really don't remember what happened the next 6-8 miles, but I remember passing people and eventually catching up to a big pack. I ran with this pack for most of the next 10-15 miles. In hindsight, having caught up to the pack.... I now wonder, "What if I'd kept going?" I felt I got too comfortable running with the pack and maybe lost focus on pushing myself. Admittedly, I liked running beside two legends, Linda Somers-Smith and Colleen de Reuck.
The course-- this was not a super fast course or conditions. Boston '08 was a faster course and conditions and more crowd support. I would say we were about 1-2 minutes slower than what I expected. It was a very diverse race, with a lot of rhythm and pace changes. The course was gently rolling, and you had to be mindful of running the tangents, avoiding the manholes, road reflectors, and being careful around turns. The course was hard concrete as well-- my back started feeling a bit beat up on the second loop. I wore my Inov-8 233s (rather than the 230s)-- I'm glad I chose the 233s cause they're softer. We had a headwind on one side and a tailwind/crosswind on the other side. Once we got strung out going into the last loop, it got pretty tough running alone and running into the wind.
I started reading a sports psychology book on our flight to Houston called, "The Way of the Champion" by Jerry Lynch (Jerry is friends with Conor and lives in Boulder, CO). This book is fantastic!!! He relates a lot to the Zen and internal focus you need as an elite athlete. There's a great quote, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." On the last loop, when I found myself running mostly alone, I started thinking about this quote and how I would began to pick people off.... one "bite" at a time! While I didn't pass as many people as I would have liked (and got nipped by a few people in the last 800m), this was possibly the best I've mentally and physically felt the last 6 miles. It was a good stepping stone for me.
We had 9 fluid stations total, so I took full advantage of this, drinking a little bit at a time from each station (plus gels at around 8+ mi., 16 mi., and 22 mi.). The bottles from Bel-Art were perfect-- thank you Bel-Art!!! I also took Excedrin at 1 hour before the race and another at 16 miles into the race. I was mindful of only drinking enough to feel satisfied. I kind of needed to go to the restroom on the second half of the race, but the feeling eventually subsided.
The last few miles, I caught up to my friend and Hoosier, Erin Nehus, who's a 10K track runner transitioning to the marathon. It was really fun running with her that last bit! While I had to strength to catch up to her, she used her leg speed to outkick me. Goes to show what each of us needs to work on!
Overall thoughts
I had a lot of people trying to give me advice on how to approach the race. As bold, confident, and risky as I am (which you have to be to win a marathon!), I felt what was most important to me was running a steady race to ensure I got a new PR. I've tried many times the past year to "throw myself out there" for a new PR.... and have come up short. Sometimes you take the risk and it pays off.... and sometimes it doesn't. Great quote, "Every GREAT race involves an element of risk."
I ran a conservative race this time, probably too conservative, and got a PR (sometimes the risk, IS, running conservative and coming from behind). I would have liked to have passed more people and finished around 2:35 or faster, but given the nature of the course/conditions, I think it was a slower race than everyone anticipated. Additionally, I believe steady progress and not forcing it is a good thing. My fitness continues to improve, so I'll go with the flow! I'll devote the next 4 years to developing myself to become a "contender".
Post-race
Team inov-8 2012: Stacey Kroon
1) Primary sport (s): Crossfit
2) Team member since: 2011
3) City/state of residence: Norwood, MA
4) Occupation: I work for Again Faster selling Crossfit gear.
5) Goals for 2012: Top qualify and comete in the 2012 Crossfit Games.
6) Notable achievements/memories/PR’s in your sport: In 2009 I won the Northeast Regionals and went on to place 10th in the Games. In 2011, I placed 2nd in the Northeast Regionals and placed 15th at the Games.
My Favorite memory is after the first workout on the final day of the 2011 Crossfit Games. This workout had two of my biggests goats in it. I was terrified to do the workout. I finished second in my heat and the rush of emotions, pride, relief, and disbelief were overwhelming. That workout really means something special to me because I overcame and succeeded at doing something I doubted my abilities to do. This taught me not to doubt myself and really helped me remember to hold myself to a higher standard.
7) Favorite inov-8 gear: The f-lite series.
8) List one thing others may not know about you: I grew up riding horses and competed in barrel racing.
9) Favorite energy drink/food: I love coconut water.
10) Your favorite race/event and why? My favorite event is Regionals because this is where you find out if all the hard work is going to pay off and win you a spot at the Games.
11) Advice to other athletes: You can do it. Nothing is easy. Expect a struggle. The struggle is the best part when you end up succedding.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Team inov-8 2012: Alex Nichols
1) Primary sport (s): Trail Running
2) Team member since: 2010
3) City/state of residence: Colorado Springs, CO
4) Occupation: Running store worker and Film Maker
5) Goals for 2011: Run sub 30 for 10k, sub 2:20 for a road marathon, qualify for the US Mountain running team, and get some vengeance on the North Face 50 Mile.
6) Notable achievements/memories/PR’s in your sport:
2010 Colorado State Marathon winner and CR
2011 Colorado State Trail 25k winner and CR
5 time top 10 finisher Pikes Peak Ascent
2010 Triple Crown of Running winner
2007 NCAA Cross Country All American
7) Favorite inov-8 gear:
Flite 230, X-Talon 190
8) List one thing others may not know about you:
I PR’ed by over 2 hours in my second marathon.
9) Favorite energy drink/food:
GU Roctane
10) Your favorite race/event and why?
The Barr Trail Mountain Race is one of the best trail races in the west and it just happens to start 3 miles from my front door. It’s run smoothly and always draws a lot of good competition. As long as I’m in the country BTMR is always going to be on my race schedule.
11) Advice to other athletes:
Run more.
Bare-XF 210 Review - Mark Laakso
If you like 5 fingers, you'll LOVE the new Inov-8 Bare XF 210's designed specifically for the CrossFit community. Immediately I recognized the same minimalist/barefoot feeling, with my feet feeling close to and griping the ground. I found the XF Inov-8's more comfortable, light and certainly easier to put on and take off vs the 5 fingers. I notice a slight more cushion than the five fingers, which my 62 year old feet appreciate. I have not done any significant running in them, and I doubt that I would choose them over the Inov-8 195's for running. I was never a big fan of running in 5 fingers either. You won't get the odd and curious stares, as when wearing 5 fingers. This may or may not be a good thing depending on ones point of view.
I just completed my 3rd WOD in them, including movements such as, Jumping Lunges, Clean and Jerks and multiple Rope Climbs.
No issues at all, in fact, I never gave the shoes or my feet a second thought, (a good thing) with the exception of the Rope Climbs where I appreciated the secure grip, non slip feature of the Inov-8 XF. After a dozen rope climbs, the Inov-8 XF's showed zero wear and tear. I feel confident that they have achieved there purpose in every way.
Mark Laakso
2012 Team inov-8: Ben Nephew
1) Primary sport (s): Trail running, Ultrarunning, Mountain running, Snowshoe running
2) Team member since: 2004
3) City/state of residence: Mansfield, MA
4) Occupation: Research Professor
5) Goals for 2012: Run a few interesting FKT’s, lower my road 50k PR, win a few races with CR’s.
6) Notable achievements/memories/PR’s in your sport: 6th at the IAU World Trail Championship and 11th at the IAU World Road 50k Trophy in 2011. CR at the Escarpment Trail Race, FKT’s for the Great Range Traverse in the Adirondacks, Devil’s Path in the Catskills, and the Pemi Loop in the White Mountains
7) Favorite inov-8 gear: Road X 233 and 255, Roclite 318 GTX, Terrafly 313 GTX, f-lite 230, X-talon 190
8) List one thing others may not know about you: I spent the first month of my life in an incubator in Montreal after getting a ride in a US Air Force helicopter from northern NY 10 minutes after being born. Apparently it was an emergency.
9) Favorite energy drink/food: Gatorade and Coke
10) Your favorite race/event and why? The 2011 IAU World Trail Championships in Connemara Ireland. It was the first time I have seen a trail eat a person, I learned that grass can grow on a vertical surface, I experienced an uphill bog, and I witnessed someone rowing down a mountain. From a competition standpoint, I had the strongest race of my life on the exact day I wanted it. Between the people and the landscape, Connemara is an incredible part of Ireland.
11) Advice to other athletes: Don’t waste your time on events that do not suit your strengths. It is much more enjoyable to compete at an event where you use your absolute potential. Miracles rarely occur on race day; your training should be at a level which makes your race goal a logical result, and not dependent on a vast improvement on race day.
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