Saucony 2009 - Molly Huddle Heading into the TrialsJune 17, 2008 6/17/08:
The long awaited first day of the Olympic Trials is only 10 days away and
as I notice every commercial, Today show segment and magazine article about the
Olympic Games, I get a nervous/excited knot in my gut. I can't decide whether
I'd feel better if I could push the clock hands forward or wind them back. I
can't wait to get on the track and make it happen, yet I sometimes find
myself thinking I want time for one more 5 mile tempo, a few more 70's around
the oval, or even one extra session of pumping iron at Gold's Gym. So I think
it's normal for these little doubts to creep up on us, especially as our
season's biggest races are on the horizon, but upon looking back at the earlier
weeks of the old log, some of which I'll share in a moment, I'm realizing "dang,
I've done a lot of work." Time to psych up and count all the hay bales in the
barn.
This last week I just got some base miles in and 2 workouts after a few
days off for a sore calf. On Monday I did a 5-mile tempo on the bike path at
5:34 pace with a 3 mile warmup and 3 mile cool down. It was during the humid
heat wave here, so despite going at 10am, it was sort of like doing a tempo run
in the shower...all the better for Beijing, right? An easy 4 in the evening made
it about 15 miles for the day. On Tuesday I did an easy 4 followed by a brutal
1x sit on the beach and eat a hot dog (my coach wants me to "avoid a state of
tiredness" so I thought that was a good way). On Wednesday, I did an easy 12
miles at some trails and saw various wildlife such as chipmunks, old people,
small dogs and a dead snake, which helped pass the 84 minutes. On Thursday I did
an easy 7 and 4 with a few strides at the end. It was back to the track for the
first time in a few weeks on Friday. I had an easy 3 in the morning, then in the
evening I had a 3 mile warm-up and cool down, a few drills and 5 by 1200 with 2
min rest at 3:45 range to ease into things. I was really missing the girls I
train with, my coach and the assistant coach, who is nice enough to pace us in
his free time since I was working out alone that day for the first time in a
while. The next day I did a really easy 7 and 3 and some light core work at the
gym for half an hour. Sunday I did a good 10 miler and called it a day, rounding
out about 75 miles for the week, which has been the average for track season so
far.
So, while this week's workload wasn't really mind blowing; I trust in the
consistent weeks of fall base work behind me, and just focus on the little
things to get me feeling good on race day. For the next week and a half, I'm
maintaining and not straining as I narrow my focus on the prize of making the US
Olympic team.
-
Molly Huddle |
About Molly Huddle
Since an early age, Molly Huddle has been determined to be an elite runner. So much so, that she didn’t allow the absesnce of a cross country or track program at her high school stop her- she simply made her own; with herself as the only team member. Since school records were too easy to come by, Molly decided to go out and break the national high school 2-mile record of 10:01. Following a stand out collegiate career at Notre Dame, Molly has found success running professionally for Saucony, and has found a new team. Under the tutelage of Ray Treacy, Molly trains with some of the finest female distance runners in the world in Providence, RI. This environment has proved to be beneficial, as through her 07/08 campaign, Molly has set PR’s in the 5,000 meters (15:17) and bested the Olympic “A” standard in the 10,000 meters (31:27). Molly continues to be one of the premier distance runners in the United States, and recently made it to the 5,000m and 10,000m finals at the 2008 US Olympic Trials. Sign Up
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