2012 USA Olympic Marathon Trials HoustonJan 4, 2012 by Molly Pritz
It's Worth the Bumps Along the Way
It's Worth the Bumps Along the Way
It's Worth the Bumps Along the Way
When someone talks about how wisdom comes with age, I typically roll my eyes, slouch in my seat, and wait for some subtle insult about my lack of life experience to come my way. Since one of my best friends and full-time college training partner is 17 years older than me, it would be fair to assume that this situation is one I’ve been in regularly.
When I first started setting time goals for myself three years ago I would put so much pressure on myself to nail every workout, never miss a weight lifting session, and if an injury popped up, no matter how small, racing was simply out of the question! My training segment was ruined! My junior year, sixteen week, flawless build-ups were all the rage, but let’s face it, how often does training go perfectly? Heck, how often does life go just how you had imagined? Needless to say, I did not race very often.
As I have gotten older and many training segments have come and gone, the main lesson I have learned is how important it is to adapt. No training segment is going to be perfect. You might have a bad workout. A tendon in your foot might remain inflamed for just enough days to put your nerves on edge. An ill family member may require you to leave your ideal training environment to be by his or her bedside. A homework assignment keeps you up until 3am before a track workout. You know, life can be cruel to your training! I know that all of these situations have happened to me sometime over the course of my running career and at one time, I would see them as the final nail in the coffin of my training segment. Every time a “catastrophe” would happen, my good friend, Aimee, would assure me that I was still ready for my race. She would tell me how her “age” allowed her to realize that training was about the big picture and not every workout was a “make or break” situation. I would likely follow her words of wisdom with a comment that should probably not be repeated and an air of annoyance that she thought she knew more than me, because she is older. Why can’t the young ones be smarter just once?!
I believe that 2011 was my best year to date in regards to my running achievements and I would say it was probably a year filled with more road blocks than any other year of my life. Stress fracture? Check. Anemia? Check. Coaching and training environment changes? Check. Break-ups? Check. Falling flat on my face on a training run? Check. I could go on, but you see the point. Events that would have seemed insurmountable two years ago did not define my training segments this time around. I tried to view them as just an added challenge to training. I would relish at the idea of my coach adding another workout to my weekly regimen so why can’t I look at these challenges in the same positive light? Yeah... there were still bad days that I would call Aimee to complain that I’ll never be anything but an injured mess ever again, but instead of rolling my eyes at her “just relax and have faith that things will turn around” advice, I embraced it. The wisdom that once aggravated me are now the words I live by. Maybe it’s maturity or maybe I just finally wanted to finish more than one training segment a year, but I have learned that despite life never going just how I had imagined, the final result can be worth the bumps along the way.
Molly Pritz, 23, hasn't had the typical path to an elite marathon status. Pritz, who started running her senior year of high school, ran only one season for xc and track at Bucknell University. She picked up cyclying while continuing to run on her own, working with coach Jack Daniels. In 2008 she slid under the radar with a 1:16:09 half and finishing as the top American women (8th overall) at the ING Philadelphia Half Marathon. After graduating from Bucknell in 2010 Pritz joined Hansons-Brooks where she soon after won her first US Road title at the 25k and also PRed in the half at 1:11:05. Even though she was only with Hansons for a few months, Molly holds the team record for 25k and is second all-time for the half. After leaving Hansons, Molly went on to debut at the New York City Marathon this past November where she was the top American women and 12th overall in 2:31:52 which ranks as the 8th fastest US time of 2011. Read more on Molly here: Running Times Article | Brief Chat on Runnersworld | Bucknell.edu Story
More athlete blogs for Olympic Marathon Trials
When I first started setting time goals for myself three years ago I would put so much pressure on myself to nail every workout, never miss a weight lifting session, and if an injury popped up, no matter how small, racing was simply out of the question! My training segment was ruined! My junior year, sixteen week, flawless build-ups were all the rage, but let’s face it, how often does training go perfectly? Heck, how often does life go just how you had imagined? Needless to say, I did not race very often.
As I have gotten older and many training segments have come and gone, the main lesson I have learned is how important it is to adapt. No training segment is going to be perfect. You might have a bad workout. A tendon in your foot might remain inflamed for just enough days to put your nerves on edge. An ill family member may require you to leave your ideal training environment to be by his or her bedside. A homework assignment keeps you up until 3am before a track workout. You know, life can be cruel to your training! I know that all of these situations have happened to me sometime over the course of my running career and at one time, I would see them as the final nail in the coffin of my training segment. Every time a “catastrophe” would happen, my good friend, Aimee, would assure me that I was still ready for my race. She would tell me how her “age” allowed her to realize that training was about the big picture and not every workout was a “make or break” situation. I would likely follow her words of wisdom with a comment that should probably not be repeated and an air of annoyance that she thought she knew more than me, because she is older. Why can’t the young ones be smarter just once?!
I believe that 2011 was my best year to date in regards to my running achievements and I would say it was probably a year filled with more road blocks than any other year of my life. Stress fracture? Check. Anemia? Check. Coaching and training environment changes? Check. Break-ups? Check. Falling flat on my face on a training run? Check. I could go on, but you see the point. Events that would have seemed insurmountable two years ago did not define my training segments this time around. I tried to view them as just an added challenge to training. I would relish at the idea of my coach adding another workout to my weekly regimen so why can’t I look at these challenges in the same positive light? Yeah... there were still bad days that I would call Aimee to complain that I’ll never be anything but an injured mess ever again, but instead of rolling my eyes at her “just relax and have faith that things will turn around” advice, I embraced it. The wisdom that once aggravated me are now the words I live by. Maybe it’s maturity or maybe I just finally wanted to finish more than one training segment a year, but I have learned that despite life never going just how I had imagined, the final result can be worth the bumps along the way.
Molly Pritz, 23, hasn't had the typical path to an elite marathon status. Pritz, who started running her senior year of high school, ran only one season for xc and track at Bucknell University. She picked up cyclying while continuing to run on her own, working with coach Jack Daniels. In 2008 she slid under the radar with a 1:16:09 half and finishing as the top American women (8th overall) at the ING Philadelphia Half Marathon. After graduating from Bucknell in 2010 Pritz joined Hansons-Brooks where she soon after won her first US Road title at the 25k and also PRed in the half at 1:11:05. Even though she was only with Hansons for a few months, Molly holds the team record for 25k and is second all-time for the half. After leaving Hansons, Molly went on to debut at the New York City Marathon this past November where she was the top American women and 12th overall in 2:31:52 which ranks as the 8th fastest US time of 2011. Read more on Molly here: Running Times Article | Brief Chat on Runnersworld | Bucknell.edu Story
More athlete blogs for Olympic Marathon Trials