5 More Days….2012 Olympic Marathon Trials

Posted on January 9, 2012 by tootallfritz

It seems like I have been awaiting the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials forever. This is obviously not true but there are only a couple of times a year where we get to see the American Elites barreling down our streets ~~with a tv camera in their face~~. That is why I am glued to the tv or Universal Sports each and every Boston, Chicago & New York Marathon. Our Streets, Our Athletes. Go Team USA!

My focus, of course, is on the women’s line up. I think most are now fans of Desiree Davila who many ~~including myself~~ now refer to as “Desi”. If you weren’t a Desi fan before the 2011 Boston Marathon, I bet you are now. She had been on my radar previous to Boston because she had frequented the Chicago Marathon and is usually the top American female for us. So I had “hoped” she would do well but when she re-entered the live tv stream during the 2011 Boston Marathon after pushing her way back to the front, I was on my feet in front of my computer ~~screaming in my office~~. I just couldn’t believe that she would win, or even come that close, but she sure made a believer out of me and the rest of America on that Monday morning in April 2011. Wow. So Desi has my hope for top spot on the 2012 US Women’s Olympic Marathon Team. GO DESI!

I think Desi’s biggest competition will come from America’s current distance running sweethearts: Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher. These women are now training together under Jerry Schumacher and are both converted track stars who have moved up to the marathon distance after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Shalane is currently in the “best shape of her life” ~~although I don’t think we have ever seen her in poor shape~~ and I really think she will make the team. She is strong mentally and physically and she is a competitor. She hasn’t done much real racing this year as her focus has been toward the trials. I think we are going to see an amazing fight from her. Good luck Shalane!

Kara Goucher is another amazing distance runner. She took some time off after the Beijing Olympics and her marathon debut to have a bouncing baby boy. Let me just remind all of you that I too have a bouncing baby boy and they take up a lot of time. Kara, like many moms, went back to work immediately after the birth and has really knocked out some fast times for a strong come back…..then she got injured. Too much, too fast? Maybe. Or possibly ~~I just find that childbirth kicks the shit out of a women’s body~~ this was related to the birth or just overtraining but it was definitely unlucky timing. However, Kara is now back on track and will be ready to run by the Trials. She has had a lot of changes lately between the birth, injury and a coaching change but I don’t anyone will be thinking about those things on Saturday ~~unless the commentators keep mentioning them over and over again~~ when she toes the line with Desi and Shalene. The heart of every distance running mom will be pushing Kara forward on Saturday. We LOVE Kara!

Although Desi, Shalene and Kara are sucking up some serious press time, there are several other ladies who will show up Saturday ready to fight. This has to be the best line up ever for an Olympic Trials. So many wildcards. I don’t think anybody expects former 2008 Olympic Marathoner and American record holder Deena Kastor to hand over her spot without a fight. This is another lady who took some time off for childbirth between Olympic games. I feel like nobody really knows what level of fitness Deena currently maintains. I will certainly be watching her closely on Saturday and hope that she has the run of her life to fight for a spot with those youngin’s! Go Deena!

We also have a lot of other players in Saturday’s race. Magdalena Lewy Boulet is probably the most well-known from the 2008 Beijing Marathon team.

Amy Hastings

Colleen De Reuck

Stephanie Rothstein

Chicago’s Hometown Favorite – Tera Moody

Janet Cherobon-Bawcom

Serena Burla

These are some of the faces that I will be looking for on Saturday during the 2012 Olympic Trials. Who will you be watching? Can you pick the three who will make the team? I just can’t narrow down to which three will be the best on Saturday. So many random factors go into making race day perfect and I know there are hundreds of women looking for a perfect day and a spot on the team. I wish them all lots of luck and hope that they have good health, good results and are able to walk away happy. However, looking over this crew, there is going to be a lot of unhappy ladies walking around Houston on Saturday afternoon. Congratulations to all the ladies who graced my list and all of those who qualified for the trials. This is a class act which I can only join in on by watching thru the eye of the camera.

Have you noticed that each day we have more and more amazing and inspiring women? You know these ladies are just like you ~~they just run faster~~. Inspire somebody today.

Counting Down til the Trials, Amanda – TooTallFritz

Interested or Committed?

Posted on December 7, 2011 by tootallfritz

As the new year fast approaches, I have been hearing lots of chatter amongst runners about what 2012 will bring. There is a lot of ~~peer pressure~~ encouragement of some to make this the year to attempt the marathon distance. So, in case this is YOU and you are feeling the pressure, let’s just break it down a bit so you can decide if you want to commit. There is a big difference between loving to run and committing to a marathon. I certainly don’t want anyone to lose the love for running because of ~~peer pressure~~ committing to a marathon.

Most Training plans are 18 weeks
If you are “thinking” of running the 2012 Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2012, training will start the week of June 4th.
18 weeks is a LONG time to train, if you keep a 10 mile base, you can jump into the beginner plan at week 5 and make it a 13 week training plan, thus commencing the week of July 2nd.
You CANNOT skip the long runs.
You will be tired and hungry.
Your social life will suffer from ~~lack of alcohol~~ early bedtimes.
You will be proud each week as your mileage increases.
You will be in disbelief that although you ~~crawled to your car~~ barely made it back last week that you managed another mile or 2 “this” week.
You will learn to love ice baths.
You will get acquainted with Toe Protectors.
You will learn about nutrition and what your body needs to recover.
You WILL be able to run 26.2 on October 7th even though you will never have covered that distance previous to that day.
You may cry, hyperventilate, vomit, ~~crap your pants~~ have to make a pit stop, get chub rub, lose a toe nail ~~or three~~ …..but you will never be prouder than crossing the finish line.
You will swear that you will NEVER run another marathon.
You will be on the start line with all your friends on October 6, 2013.

Here is the Hal Higdon Beginner Marathon training plan. I don’t know many people who would need to start at this point, but it’s an option. Check out Hal Higdon’s site HERE to browse his other options, or just show up and run what I run and you’ll get there.

Hal Higdon Marathon Training Schedule: Novice 1

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	Rest	3 m run	3 m run	3 m run	Rest	6	cross
2	Rest	3 m run	3 m run	3 m run	Rest	7	cross
3	Rest	3 m run	4 m run	3 m run	Rest	5	cross
4	Rest	3 m run	4 m run	3 m run	Rest	9	cross
5	Rest	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	10	cross
6	Rest	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	7	cross
7	Rest	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	12	cross
8	Rest	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon
9	Rest	3 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	10	cross
10	Rest	3 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	15	cross
11	Rest	4 m run	8 m run	4 m run	Rest	16	cross
12	Rest	4 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	12	cross
13	Rest	4 m run	9 m run	5 m run	Rest	18	cross
14	Rest	5 m run	9 m run	5 m run	Rest	14	cross
15	Rest	5 m run	10 m run	5 m run	Rest	20	cross
16	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	4 m run	Rest	12	cross
17	Rest	4 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	8	cross
18	Rest	3 m run	4 m run	2 m run	Rest	Rest	Marathon

I personally adapt a version of his advanced plan and then fit in what I can. I would be running more than this on the weekends but ~~never~~ rarely fit in all the miles during the week. I also am a big proponent of rest days. After I run a 20 miler, I will rest, not run a 3 mile recovery run on Sunday or Monday. This may be why I will never BQ but my body needs that. I do it for fitness and to push my limits. This means that some days I walk cuz I ~~feel like it~~ need it. I will probably walk some during the marathon, especially if it’s hot. My personal goal is to cross the finish line. I know others have more concrete goals and that is okay but this is an ~~excruciating~~ difficult distance for me so an accomplishment in itself. I know it’s much easier for some than others and I hope it’s easy for you.

Look thru the training plan here, browse the net a bit, and then make your own decision as to whether you want to commit. As with anything, if you want it, you and only you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN. I’ve made my decision, how about you?

Happy Running, Amanda – TooTallFritz

Baby Steps……

Posted on November 22, 2011 by tootallfritz

The response to yesterday’s post on my achieving the 1000 mile goal was that some ~~thought I was crazy~~ were overwhelmed by the idea of running 1000 miles. As in all goals that a person attempts to achieve, break down the ~~hopeless~~ MAJOR undertaking into small parts or baby steps. If one were to train for a half or a full marathon they ~~should~~ might look at a Hal Higdon training program that breaks down the training week by week so that the thought of running 13.1 or 26.2 doesn’t ~~scare the shit out of them~~ seem so daunting. I never think about the “end game”, only what I have to run to get thru this week. And let me just say that anything over 16 miles makes me wanna cry like a baby, I CAN’T think about 26.2 or I’ll never get out the door to hit the start line.

When I considered the 1000 miles as a goal, I broke it down into small pieces. 1) Run 19.2 miles a week or 2) Squeeze in 83.3 miles per month. This makes it much more manageable and very doable on those terms. 1000 miles does sound CRAZY ~~and the 2000 that Frogger is running is certifiably insane~~ but if you take it down a notch, look at what needs to happen for just today, or just this week, then you will be able to manage anything.