My third 20K Olympic Trials

Olympic Trials 2021!  

The day is done and the race has been raced.  As is typical with any athlete after a race I have a ton of emotions going through my body and brain right now.  It'll take time to sort them all out, but for the most part I am content.  The race could have gone better and it could have gone worse.  I gave it what I had under the circumstances and I know (and preach to my athletes ALL THE TIME) that the only thing you can do is your best.  

The race was held in Springfield, a few miles from Hayward Field.  There's a strong Simpsons influence :) 

My goals going into the race were mainly process goals.  I wanted to race strong, which for me means a strong technique, not going out too fast, and finishing well.  I figured if I did that the place would take care of itself.  My outside place goal was 8th as that's the last place that has prize money, but I didn't know if that would be doable or not.  I went into the race seeded 13th of 15.  

The race started off and a few ladies took off.  Then there was a huge pack of about 8-10, of which I was a part.  I was at the back of the pack, but still there.  I was honestly confused because I wasn't expecting to be with a bunch of the ladies that had much faster qualifying times and had raced significantly faster than I had this season.   The race was on a 1K loop, and as far as I know the 500 wasn't marked, so I was walking blind in terms of pace.  But once I came around to the start/finish I saw my first K was about 5:35, which was just about perfect for what I wanted.  It was feeling easy, which was what I wanted.  So I settled in.  Well, most of that big pack in front of me saw that split and took off.  I'm sure it looked like I slowed down, but my second K was actually 5:31, so it really was them shooting forwards.  

My backstretch cheering section!  Apparently they were "assigned" to cheer for me, but after a quick google they were totally into it!  They made signs and cheered every lap!  Yay for new friends!

I stayed patient and it didn't take long before I picked someone off.  I was still feeling great.  Strong, but slightly off.  I got some bent knee paddles, but didn't get a card so didn't sweat about it too much.  (I did end up getting one card)  I felt a few times like I felt a bit uncoordinated, which sometimes means my SI joint is about to go out.  I didn't panic and just tried to focus and really engage the muscles I needed to engage to keep my hips stable.  Since I ended up with only the one card I'm not too worried, but I will go back to some hard-core technique work and lots of video.

One thing I thought about but didn't think about was the bottle situation.  I usually race with a reusable bottle and I know how much I drink out of it each time.  Well, they weren't allowing those to be chased after so I ended up losing a bottle.  My amazing aid station helper (thanks Katie Grimes!!!!!) sprung into motion and got some disposable water bottles and put my drinks in there.  I really think I drank way more than I usually do.  I'm not entirely sure this is what happened, but it's the best I can come up with.  My splits were spot on through 11K.  My race plan was to hit the second half harder.  But once I started to push I got a stitch just under my ribs.  Not just a normal stitch, a whopper of a stitch.  I couldn't breathe!  Once that happened, wham!  My pace hit the wall.  What was interesting though was that my HR data didn't change.  I dropped 20 seconds a K but my HR stayed the same.  It was nuts.  I stopped drinking my drinks and just got a smidge of water.  I was never thirsty and I had to pee after the race, so I didn't dehydrate myself.  I kept waiting for the stitch to go away.  Every time I thought it was going away I tried to push and it came right back.  It was so frustrating because I had more in my legs, but it just absolutely hurt to breathe!    Finally with about 2.5-3K left it loosened up enough I was able to push just a bit more.  

I know I pushed all I could but man is it frustrating to not be able to push how you want to.  My time ended up at 1:54:48.  I think the stitch cost me about 2 minutes, maybe more.  So frustrating.  

I accomplished what I wanted to.  As far as I know I'm the oldest woman to be competing in the 2021 Trials in Eugene.  I'm really proud of that.  I've qualified for three 20K Olympic Trials AFTER I broke 6 bones in my neck.  

So now it's on to new goals.  I've got big ones and I'm not afraid.  First up is a big distance block and some massive work in the gym getting ready for Paris-Alsace the end of August.  That is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!   

I don't know what I'd do without the constant support from Dave.  He always believes in me and it means the world to me.  My chiropractor is not only the best chiropractor I could wish for, but also someone I consider a friend.  I wouldn't be able to do what I do if it wasn't for her keeping my body sorted out.

Soon I'll post more about Paris-Alsace.  It's a race I'm REALLY excited to race this year.  And with the different format I think it's going to be really great for me.  But for now it's train, train, train and fix up house, sell house, move!  

Outside the Whole Foods

Stretching on a bridge over the river.

Motivation

Post race fuel!

A year in recap and the 20K Olympic Trials

 

Well, I haven't written in forever.  I see my last post was over a year ago.  The Pandemic affected everyone differently, and I sort of went into my own shell.  I, like so many, was frustrated, devastated and upset.  When they canceled World Team Champs I stopped training for a while.  I've always been very goal oriented.  I train for specific events.  When there are no events I feel lost and adrift.  The same is true for me in music.  If I don't have a concert coming up I don't practice.  Apparently it's how I'm wired.

With all the races cancelled Dave and I were trying to figure out what to do with our pent up energy.  We decided to buy a run down house and fix it up to resell it.  From June of 2020 til February of 2021 that's what we worked on.  It was a HUGE job, there was a fire in the house in 2012 and a hole in the roof and two of the foundation walls were falling inward.  There was no plumbing and very little electrical.  It was also a hoarder house, so the first three weeks we spent trying to get all the stuff out.  Luckily a lot of the stuff had value and we were (and still are) able to sell it.  We ended up building a beautiful house that someone is now (hopefully) enjoying.  And we made a nice profit on it.  

The downside of flipping the house was that we trained very little.  We were working extremely hard, many days were 10-16 hours of work, but not race walk specific training.  

When races started opening back up we started training, but it was very frustrating.  No one likes to feel slow and out of shape.  I gained weight over the Pandemic and that was literally weighing me down.  

I got excited for our 35K nationals and started training in earnest.  I even went to Santa Fe, New Mexico to train at altitude and to focus on training and to get out of the Upstate NY winter.  Training was going okay.  Not great, not horrible, but okay.  I felt safe going there during the Pandemic because basically all I did was train.  I didn't go out, didn't interact with anyone, just trained.  Grocery store obviously, but I'd have to do that in NY, and I'll tell you what, the people in Santa Fe ALL wore their masks all the time when in public.  So in a lot of ways I felt safer there than I did in New York.

As the race got closer we saw that California was having a spike in cases.  It just looked so bad.  I was going to have to drive there, since I had driven to Santa Fe, and the thought of being in an area with so many cases just made me nervous.  I didn't feel like it was the responsible thing to do in a Pandemic, so I decided to skip the race.  I also thought that if the Pan Am Cup were to happen I would qualify based on my 2020 performance.  Pan Am Cup didn't happen so all I was out was a national race and some prize money.

It took a while to get going.  Motivation came and went.  I thought I found someone to help me to reach my goals, but that person turned out to be a dud.  Oh well.  I've done well coaching myself before, I can do it again.  

One thing I've changed is that I'm going to the gym 3-5 times a week.  It's an interesting system, everyone has an area and there's either one or two trainers at the gym, they give you your set and them wander around the whole gym.  When you've done that set of whatever they give you what's next.  So you're getting personal guidance, but there's anywhere between 3-15 other people there at the same time.  It's going really well for me.  I've never been so strong in my core, ever.  And boy can I tell the difference in my technique.  It's helped me get fitter faster than I probably would've if I was just walking and cross training on my own.  It has negatively affected some walking workouts, sometimes I'm just blown out, especially after leg days.  But I know I'm in the building phase so it's okay.  Most importantly it's fun, and that's really what I need and want is to go out and have fun. 

I've set some BIG goals for myself.  Goals that I think are just on the edge of what I can achieve.  But I believe.  And Dave believes.  And really that's all I need.  I may wish that others believed in me, but when it comes down to it it really doesn't matter if no one else believes, I do.  

The 20K Olympic Trials are Saturday (it's currently Tuesday)  I'm very happy to have made it in.  I didn't have the qualifying time, but I made it based on top 15.  I go into the race ranked 13th.  There are members of the Race Walk Executive Committee who think that people like me (those who made it in on place and didn't hit the qualifying standard) shouldn't be allowed to race.  I intend to show them wrong.   

I know I'm getting older and that physiologically I'm going to have to work harder and harder and harder.  I'm prepared to do that.  I have my own personal motivation, the reasons that when I'm tired or don't want to go out, I think about those things and get fired up.   I remember that when I've truly believed in myself I have ALWAYS hit my goals.  I believe in myself now.  

The Trials on Saturday are a stepping stone.  They're a means to an end.  I'm very happy to be going to my third 20K Olympic Trials.  I have zero chance of making it to the Olympics so there's no pressure.  It's just going to be to prove to myself and reach my personal goals.  And hopefully show some of the youngsters that this old lady's still got it ;)