Track and Field Blogs - Magdalena Lewy-Boulet

I was really excited to run in Eugene. The last time I ran there was at the 1996 NCAA Championships where I ran the 5000 and didn’t make the final. I was looking forward to redeeming myself on that track.

My training up to the Track Trials had been going fairly well. I recovered from the Trials Marathon nicely and ran a solid 10k at the NYRR Mini in early June, but other than that, I hadn’t done very much track specific work. But I still wanted to run well. It is the Olympic Trials after all, and a national championship race, so of course I wanted to do my best. At the same time, the real goal for me is to do well in Beijing.

My goal coming into the Trials was to PR, and place as high as possible. My training indicated that I should be able to run in the 32:15 range, and I was pretty sure that the race would at least start out at that pace, so I was optimistic.

The few days leading up to the race that I got to spend in Eugene were really nice. The woodchip trails are fun to run on, and the weather was perfect. I was excited to see Phil Wharton and his crew in town, who had worked on me in Boston at the Marathon Trials, and I was more than happy to have him stretch me out a few times before this race, too.

The day of the race turned out to be pretty warm. Much warmer than what I would call ideal conditions for a 10k. I kept sipping all day long on my favorite sports drink - GU2O and that sure helped me go into the race well hydrated. Fortunately, the race was in the evening and it would cool off a bit. During my warm-up, I felt great. More nervous than I thought I would, but still probably more relaxed than most of the people in the race. I was so happy to be putting on “spikes” again, though they weren’t really spikes. Since I run on the track so infrequently, and am much more accustomed to racing flats, the wonderful designers at Saucony made me a pair of the Endorphin LD’s without the spike plate. They felt so fast and light, it made me want to focus on the track more for next season!

When the race started, it was clear that the pace was not going to be as fast as I’d hoped. After we all jogged through 2 laps at almost 6 minute mile pace, I decided to get out and run my own race. I led the pack for the next 2 miles or so. I felt great at first, and the 76 second per lap pace felt easy. But as the race went on, I think that pace was a bit ambitious, and I slowed back down to 79’s for a lap or two.

When Shalane went by me at about the 4k mark I felt like I’d been dropped on the freeway. I think just about everyone passed me as the leaders ran 71 for that lap, which is 1500 pace for me. But I just kept at it, running the pace I knew I could run, and gradually picking people off one by one. I ended up kicking twice, once at 500 to go to avoid being lapped, and again in the last 150, where I barely held off Sara Slattery and finished 6^th.

The time was 32:45, and although my pace varied lap to lap, my 5k splits were both 16:22. I wasn’t particularly pleased with the time, but I’m happy with the place. There were a lot of tough women in that race, and finishing up there in that field is a good indication of my fitness level going into my final Marathon preparations.

That’s is it for now. Stay tuned for more when I write about my final preparation for the Olympic Marathon.

- Magda