I first laid eyes on Sedona after surviving a sleepless night of food poisoning in nearby Flagstaff, Arizona.

Thank goodness I’d never driven the Oak Creek Canyon before, or I might’ve skipped the trip entirely. No one who hurls their guts up the previous night would knowingly agree to ride in a 12-passenger van hugging the cliffside of this narrow two-lane road, navigating hairpin turns on switchbacks that drop more than 2,500 feet into Red Rock Country.

But as a first-timer, visiting the area for an adult running camp and eager to check out this famous adventure mecca, I went along. Somehow, despite a super sick stomach, l still fell in love with the place.

Make no mistake—on less nauseating days, the hour-long journey on Route 89A between the alpine forest of Flagstaff and the sandstone desert of Sedona is iconic. Awe-inspiring, even.

Now, after 15 years living in Flagstaff, that commute is one I savor. Until I relocated to Arizona, I had been a life-long East Coaster. But after visiting this slice of high desert (and subsequently moving here), my appreciation and fondness for the Southwest’s geological diversity, and that of Sedona’s upper Sonoran Desert region has only deepened.

Every time I head down that canyon, I marvel at its beauty. I love taking visitors and watching their reactions to first glimpses of giant red rock formations that suddenly replace the canopy of oak trees and ponderosa pines. I imagine it’s akin to landing on Mars—otherworldly. Perhaps that’s why Sedona attracts such a strong enclave of New Age spiritual devotees searching for metaphysical energy in the allegedly sprinkled throughout its buttes and spires.

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Why the Fascination with Sedona?

It’s true. Sedona is a playground for all kinds of people, with interests as wide-ranging as fortune telling, aura reading, and crystal healing to mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and trail running. It welcomes the luxury spa vacationers, culinary aficionados, and jeep tour enthusiasts, too.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I won’t lie—I’ve visited a fortune teller or two over the years. I also eat dinner at Sedona’s , the kind of Mexican meal I don’t mind making reservations for 60 days in advance (at least!). Sometimes it’s fun to hit the local running store, , or just relax in one of the many coffee shops with tranquil garden seating. For the quintessential experience, I often end up at , billed as “a sanctuary where each being can nurture their authenticity.”

But most often Sedona is my wintertime weekend trail running refuge—when the snow dumps in Flagstaff, I’m guaranteed a clear path, warmer temperatures (averaging around 60 degrees), and sunshine in the red rock valley below. I love a good “wintertime double”: a morning run, hike, or ride in Sedona wearing shorts and a t-shirt, followed by afternoon powder turns at back home. Few places in the world hold such a mix of outdoor activities available in one day during the doldrums of February, and I love that about where I live.

Yes, Sedona Is Crowded, but I Don’t Let That Stop Me from Visiting

In recent years, however, Sedona’s storyline has taken an unfortunate (though not unwarranted) hit. Just like many areas that saw a surge of visitors seeking outdoor adventure during COVID, Sedona’s popularity—which was already quite high—soared further. Influencers, along with their Instagram and TikTok followings, —a double-edged sword for a place where 3 million visitors per year contribute to a $1 billion tourism industry, according to the .

More than a third of Sedona’s homes have become short-term rentals, and the city government and other local agencies have become of visitors—and how to infuse education on respectful public land use.

After all, we are all just guests to this place, originally inhabited by the Sinagua people who came here around 900 A.D. I applaud how the people who manage the city and the public land are helping its diversity of users enjoy the area in myriad ways. From my perspective, there are a few things every visitor should know to maximize their Sedona experience.

Spring Break Is Not the Best Time to Visit Sedona

To fully enjoy Sedona, you have to choose your time and activities carefully. I’m saying avoid spring break (most of March) at all costs, and plan your outdoor pursuits for early mornings (arrive at trailheads by 7 A.M.  at the latest) year-round to dodge flocks of people. If you’re a real morning person like I am, you can get started even earlier for cooler temperatures during the summer swelter. The traffic, parking, and crowded trails on the most popular routes quickly become a turnoff if you’re desperately seeking solitude in nature.

Avoid Downtown, but Grab Some Grub at Wildflower

The downtown area is a genuine tourist trap. Unless you’re looking for souvenirs or a cartoonish taste of the old wild west, you can skip the main drag, save for Wildflower, a local chain good for family-friendly breakfast and lunch where you’ll find reasonably priced meals with a terrific red rock view. (Bonus points for identifying from the patio.) But Sedona is at its best when you go off the beaten path.

For Less Crowded Trails, Hit the Outskirts to Go Higher and Farther

Most locals won’t divulge those lesser-known destinations, however. In discussing places that my friends and I like to go in Sedona for a beer or a quick bite to eat or a trail run, most of them either decided against sharing at all, or their suggestions came with the caveat: “don’t tell anybody I said this, but
”

I get it. During the pandemic at the end of 2020, I headed to my friends’ house in Sedona for a day hike—and along the way it appeared that the rest of America had the same idea. The fight for parking at the nearby trailheads was bananas—crowds rivaling Disney World during winter break.

Thankfully we could just exit out their backyard gate to a series of established, but unnamed trails—ones I wouldn’t have found on my own. On our hike, new-to-me perspectives of the famous and in the distance were stunning—and as I took out my phone to capture a shot, my friend jokingly threatened to push me off the ledge of our undisclosed location above (the “scenic byway”) if I dared to geotag the photo on social media. Of course, I’d never do such a thing. For Northern Arizonans, sharing isn’t always caring.

Which is all to say, I’d tell you where to hike or run, but then I’d have to move far, far away from here. What I will say is that any trail on the outskirts of town that is rated as “strenuous,” includes a healthy amount of vertical gain, or is higher mileage than the routes topping travel blogs and Trip Advisor, will likely yield a more serene experience. You know which apps to use ( and have options), and doing your own research to head farther afield is best.

Sedona Is Helping Us All Become Respectful Visitors

As much as we regulars would like to hoard our Sedona secrets, I still applaud the efforts of local agencies to help ensure that visitors can continue to enjoy the area, too. I’m an advocate for making such a majestic corner of the U.S. accessible to all—it’s an immense privilege that it’s so close to my home. Angst-alleviating initiatives include to trailheads and the , which asks visitors to agree to nine ways to help preserve Red Rock Country’s natural beauty, like not forging your own trails and packing out your trash. No. 4 is my personal favorite: “I won’t risk life or limb (human or sapling) for more likes. I won’t get killed for a killer photo.”

My Recommendations for Best Outdoor șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű in Sedona

It’s understandable that all of us who call tourist destinations home would want to keep a few spots to ourselves, I also recognize that none of us own these places. They’re meant to be explored and enjoyed. So, here are a few of my hot spots for those who are new to Sedona.

Camping in Sedona

Camping in Sedona takes a lot of planning ahead, I’m told. I haven’t gone camping in Sedona myself, mostly because I live so close by and my visits tend to be on the spontaneous side. Free dispersed camping is available in the western part of town, and it fills up quickly, as do the campgrounds that require reservations, which are mostly located along Oak Creek on 89A. The options around Oak Creek are cooler during the summer, next to the water, and heavily shaded by the forest. The dispersed campgrounds, though fully exposed to the sun, offer some of the best views of the red rocks and canyons you can find.

The best way to find a spot is to visit and you can also try Hipcamp.

Best Sedona Hikes

If you’ve never hiked around Sedona, pick one of these three options for a taste of the town’s best trails.

• : This one is a bit outside of Sedona, on the other side of I-17, but worth the detour. Go early to beat the crowds inevitably seeking relief in the cool creek at the Crack, which comes at the end of the 3.5-mile trail. It’s a popular place to hang out and, for those who dare, jump off the cliffs into the water.
• : This is one of those “strenuous” paths that takes you up 2,000 feet in a bit less than 2.5 miles. The panoramic views extend the whole way up to Flagstaff—you can see the beloved San Francisco Peaks from the top.
• : About two miles north of Sedona, is Wilson Mountain, which packs about 2,300 feet of climbing into the first mile. Keep going—you’re rewarded along the way with hundreds of miles of views that include Oak Creek Canyon, Coffee Pot Rock, Capitol Butte, and the Verde Valley.

Best Sedona Trail Runs

If you’re an avid trail runner, don’t miss these three spots with stunning panoramic views.

• : Start at the Baldwin Trailhead and run along the Buddha Beach to the Templeton Trail at the base of Cathedral Rock. You’ll get a bit of everything on this one (make it an out-and-back or create a loop with your Gaia or Trailforks app)—cruise along the creek, climb sandstone ridges, and see the iconic Cathedral Rock, too.
• : Start from the Old Munds Wagon Road Trailhead off of Schnebly Hill Road, follow Old Munds Wagon Trail to the Cow Pies, forking left, to the Hangover Trail, one of the most scenic routes along the slickrock you can find.
• : This is an old standby and a popular place for visitors, so beware that the trailhead parking at the Bell Rock Trailhead might be tight. However, it’s the quintessential Sedona vista—like a postcard from the southwest. Follow the Big Park Loops signs for a four mile circumnavigation of the butte.

Why Sedona Will Always Be Magical to Me

To be sure, we live at a time where the deluge of information available to us all can make us jaded. When it seems like “everybody” is going to Sedona and posting every detail of their adventures, our natural instinct is to declare that this special place is overrated. But that denies the region of its magic.

I was recently reminded of what Sedona can do for the spirit when I took a day off work and headed down 89A for the afternoon with a friend. We stopped at one of my favorite spots, , on the way into town, a lovely counter-service restaurant with lush, shaded outdoor seating on the east side of Oak Creek. Then we drove out to , a strenuous-rated hike that requires some rock scrambling and the ability to power up nearly 2,000 feet of elevation in a short 2.5 miles to earn an exhilarating view of fantastical red rock formations.

The only thing that would’ve made my day more complete? A dip in the Oak Creek to cool off. A chance to swim in a natural body of water is a true treat for most Arizonans—especially me. I have plenty of fond memories of post-run cannonballs at , 10 or 12 years ago when it was less visited. Now, of course, it’s not so much a secluded swimming hole. Nature’s ice bath is usually worth it in my book, though.

Sedona has been dubbed the “most mystical place” in America by travel experts and spiritual visitors alike. And it might be. What I do know is that it offers one of the most valuable opportunities for renewed astonishment at the world around me. It may not be a hidden gem (spoiler alert: ), but it’s a place that offers outdoor access that’s unrivaled by most other places on the planet.

Here’s my takeaway: It took 350 million years to form those red rocks. It’s no wonder people want to see them. Sedona is many things, but in my book, overrated will never be one of them.

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Erin Strout is a journalist and author based in Flagstaff, Arizona, who writes about health, fitness, and Olympic sports. She likes to focus on the big issues women face as athletes and humans who want to perform and feel their best. She still loves visiting Sedona every chance she gets. 

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Not everybody crosses over into the 40-plus age category in running with grace and fortitude, but Des Linden has managed to meet the milestone with ease—and, in fact, gratitude.

On Sunday at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, Linden, a two-time Olympian and the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, had one goal, and it wasn’t to win. She had her eye on setting a new American record masters record for the distance. And she did just that, finishing 16th in 2:27:35, just under Deena Kastor’s previous mark, 2:27:47, set in 2015.

Choosing to race on a flat, fast course like Chicago, with a specific time goal on deck, was a novel approach for Linden. For much of her career, she’s focused on races that demand strategy and competition over speed. But as she’s reached this point in her running career, she has to choose new objectives to keep it fun and interesting—and yes, realistic, too. With athletes like Sifan Hassan, who won on Sunday in 2:13:44, and Ruth Chepngetich, who took second in 2:15:37, Linden was well aware that her tactics would not include competing with the leaders, or even with the top Americans, who included Emily Sisson, the current American record holder (2:18:29), who placed seventh in 2:22:09.

Linden, who celebrated her birthday on July 26 with an ophthalmologist appointment (“This checks out,” she remembers thinking that day), said that chasing the masters record was the obvious goal when the calendar flipped. But had the mark not belonged to Kastor, the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist, Linden doesn’t know if she would have been as excited to break it.

“[Kastor] is an icon, so it was fun to feel like I was chasing someone who I admire,” Linden said. “I also think it’s going to be hammered down in the next couple of years.”

Sara Hall, who is also 40, already clocked 2:25:48 at the 2023 Boston Marathon, but the course’s elevation drop and point-to-point route made the time record-ineligible. Then there’s Keira D’Amato, who ran her personal record 2:19:12 in 2022 and will turn 40 in October 2024. Several other highly competitive American women are approaching their late thirties now—in other words, like every other category in the sport, the masters are only getting faster.

After Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia smashed the women’s world record in September, finishing the Berlin Marathon in a mind-blowing 2:11:53, Linden knew she was born right on time—the shoe technology today has changed the entire game.

“I’m glad I’m 40 because the sport when I started? That’s a different sport,” Linden said. “If I had to peak in my career with the super shoes, maybe I’d break 2:20, which doesn’t put you in the conversation now. I don’t mean that as a knock on anyone, but if you want to be competitive, you’re going to have to level up and start believing that 2:14s are in your wheelhouse. So, I’m glad I’m 40.”

While the transition into the masters’ era is different for every runner—and especially for a professional like Linden—we can still glean a lot of solid advice from each other about how to maintain motivation and change our mindset as we grow up in running.

Here are three ways to make the most of the post-40 running life, just like Linden.

1. Don’t Count Yourself Out.

At the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Lisa Levin, 49, finished in 3:11. Out of curiosity, she went back in the results archive to see what time she ran on the course 20 years ago. She was surprised to learn that at age 29, she finished in 3:11:01.

Levin, who is a running coach at Run Farther and Faster, alongside Julie Sapper, constantly tells her athletes that they shouldn’t assume that their athletic performances will automatically decline in their forties. While some people do see a change in their paces, many others can hang on to consistent performances well into their masters years.

“Many runners anticipate that there are going to be changes before they actually happen,” Levin said. “What it comes down to is not assuming that just because we’re getting older, we have to give up certain goals or that we can’t keep achieving PRs.”

Declines will come eventually, but don’t rush them—the timing is different for everybody and is determined by many factors (how many long breaks in training you’ve had or what age you started running, for example). For Linden, the next big race is the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, scheduled for February 3 in Orlando, Florida. She is approaching the preparation and the race with a different mindset than when she made the Olympic team in 2012 and 2016. The first time she lined up at the trials thinking, “I won’t be crushed if I don’t make it,” was in 2020, she said. But she finished fourth, one place shy of competing at her third Games. It stung a little bit more than she thought it would.

“It was still crushing, and I realized that it kind of meant more than I originally anticipated it would,” Linden said. “This time [in February], I want to go out and run to the best of my ability. It’s not totally impossible to have an outlier day, but I would still need a lot of people to have a rocky day for me to have a shot.”

Linden still finds the preparation for the trials exciting, but if she starts the training cycle and it isn’t going well, she isn’t opposed to pivoting to other goals, either.

“I don’t necessarily have to do this,” Linden said. “If I don’t think I am going to be able to have a good day, then I’ll figure out what’s exciting for me to do instead.”

2. Seek Joyful Running Endeavors.

Training seriously as we age gets tricky because we’re just, well, tired. Whether the training itself causes fatigue or the myriad responsibilities we have on our plates, like parenting, taking care of aging parents, careers, and more, we need more rest and recovery whenever we can get it. Given that fact, Levin and Sapper suggest that runners make certain that training is adding joy to life, not detracting from it. If time goals cause frustration or don’t seem to get you out the door to train anymore, switch it up. 

“Maybe you’ve always been a marathoner, but you’ve never broken 20 minutes in the 5K. Or maybe you don’t want to run a certain time in the marathon but you’ve never negative-split one before,” Sapper said. “Like Des says, ‘Keep showing up.’ Your goals may look a little different, but that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to motivate you to be the competitive runner you are.” 

Linden still leads the pro-runner’s life, but she also prioritizes sleep and doesn’t rush out the door just to have a workout done by 8 A.M. She’s made her routine more flexible, depending on how she’s feeling from day to day. 

“I want to make sure I’m having a good experience,” Linden said. “One thing I really try to avoid is rushing out for a run just to feel like I’m getting it in. I’ll wait to feel like I’m excited and ready to run. I don’t want to feel like I’m just getting through it or getting it over with. I really want to enjoy it and appreciate it.”

3. Recognize the Increase in Camaraderie and Competition.

Anecdotally, it seems like more people are running well into their forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond. Go to any local race and masters-aged runners are lining up in droves. It’s a great time to count yourself as one of the crew—and with so many peers, we can stop running with and comparing ourselves to the younger crowd.

Levin and Sapper coach several women in the 50- and 60-year-old age group who have found they don’t have much fun anymore running with groups that include people in their thirties and forties.

“Maybe you’re not compatible as training partners anymore—it’s better to find a group of people who are like-minded or can understand what your training is like at this stage,” Levin said.

Sapper finds a lot of camaraderie in the masters age groups and believes that more people are able to run longer now than ever before as the research starts to give more insight into how to support athletes as they age. 

“Over the last decade, masters running has had such a surge—it’s more competitive,” Sapper said. “It’s a lot of fun to race people in your age group and also be inspired by the people 10 or 20 years above yours.”

4. Laugh it Off.

The Chicago Marathon on Sunday also served as the World Age Group championships, so those who were competing had their age groups pinned to their backs. Levin, with “45-49” displayed for all to see, was pleased with her performance but couldn’t help but notice toward the end of the 26.2 miles how many women in their 50s and 60s were passing her. 

“I was like, ‘Where did you come from and how are you running like that?’” Levin said, laughing. “It has changed so much over the years, just how many masters women are out here running strong. It’s incredible and so inspiring.”

As for Linden, she also sees the humor in the clichéd aches and pains that happen at inopportune moments. Like, during the second half of the marathon on Sunday, when her pace slowed, and she felt a little chilled. 

“In the most ‘old person’ comment ever, I was like, ‘My lower back is super tight,’” Linden said. “And then I was like, ‘If I’m going to keep doing this, I’m going to have to implement a weightlifting strategy. So, it’s on its way.”

As they say, Father Time is undefeated, even for the best of us.

“You have to adapt and adjust and figure out how to problem-solve for where you’re at, not for where you were, not for where you want to be, but just in the moment,” Linden said. “But it doesn’t have to be a sad story. It’s just part of the process and this part is fun, too.”

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I vividly remember standing on Boylston Street on April 20, 2009, watching the final meters of the women’s professional race. I was new to following the elite side of the sport, but I knew enough to look for one woman expected to race up front. Her name and image were everywhere. Kara Goucher was going to contend for the win at the Boston Marathon—it was all anybody was talking about.

By the time Salina Kosgei, Dire Tune, and Goucher ran by, it was clear that Goucher was going to finish in third place, maybe 10 seconds back, but she was still charging toward the tape like she had a chance. The roar from the crowd was thunderous—so much adulation for the U.S. athlete who had given a thrilling performance. It was the best that an American woman had finished in Boston in 16 years. But looking up at the jumbotron, we could see how upset she was, visibly sobbing at the result. I could understand her disappointment, but the despair seemed excessive at the time. What did I (or anybody else) know? As it turns out, we didn’t know the half of it. We knew less.

In Goucher’s new memoir, The Longest Race, which she wrote with former New York Times sports reporter Mary Pilon, Goucher reveals just what she endured in order to achieve as much as she did in her running career. Among the highlights: making the Olympic team twice, a world championships 10,000-meter silver medal, third place finishes at the New York and Boston marathons, while building one of the largest platforms of any U.S. track and field athlete and eventually leveraging it to advocate for a fairer, cleaner, safer sport for all.

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By now most know that Goucher reveals, for the first time in the book, that her Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar sexually assaulted her twice while giving her massages, as well as sexually harassed her while traveling on airplanes to competitions (both times, Goucher writes, he had been drinking and and had taken Ambien). Salazar, who is currently serving a four-year ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and has also been permanently banned by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct, has denied the doping violation charges, as well as the abuse allegations.

The details Goucher shares about the assaults are horrific, of course. And although they have made most of the headlines since the book was released on March 14, Goucher’s transparency about so much of her career is what elevates this memoir as perhaps the most important contribution she’ll ever make to women’s sports.

For those of us who had closely followed the six years of investigations into Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project, many of the anecdotes in The Longest Race seem unsurprising. We’ve heard stories from other former athletes like Mary Cain and Amy Begley, who have also courageously come forward to talk about the physical and verbal abuse they experienced while under Salazar’s direction. Still, reading the totality of what occurred, who was involved, and how the biggest brand in sports allowed (and even cultivated) such widespread and egregious mistreatment of the country’s most talented female athletes, makes Goucher’s story all the more powerful.

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Throughout the book, Goucher describes a revolving cast of men at Nike who were largely responsible for fostering a culture of misogyny and abuse, including then-CEO Mark Parker; John Capriotti, who was the vice president of Nike Track & Field (now retired but still a Nike consultant); John Slusher, Nike executive vice president of marketing; Darren Treasure, hired as the Oregon Project’s sports psychologist, although as it turns out, he was never a licensed psychologist; and Salazar.

In one of many disturbing stories, Goucher describes going to the Nike campus 11 days after giving birth to her son, Colton, to resume training, wearing “two sports bras and a diaper under my running tights while completing a timed mile on the track.”

“No one checked in on how I was doing—not Alberto, Darren, assistant coaches, or physical therapists. There was no talk of creating a plan for me that put my health and safety first. Nike was making money by tailoring its marketing to motherhood and femininity, while up close, the story was very different. It was dangerous, and looking back, it makes my heart sick,” Goucher wrote.

As we now know was common practice, thanks to Goucher and other women who have shared their similar maternal health experiences (including Olympians Allyson Felix and Alysia Montaño), Nike had suspended Goucher’s contract while she was pregnant, citing clauses that mandated how often she raced in order to receive her compensation. She felt pressure to get back to training immediately.

Meanwhile, USA Track & Field, the governing body of the sport, had cut off the family’s health insurance because her marathon ranking had dropped while she was pregnant. Slusher confirmed that Nike would dock Goucher $325,000 in pay—even though she had made many appearances on behalf of the brand during her leave from competition—and even allowed Nike to orchestrate her pregnancy announcement for maximum marketing impact. In relaying his decision via email, Slusher had the audacity to describe how he had been thinking about Goucher at his daughter’s first track meet—his daughter had been “amazed” to learn how much Goucher trained.

“The hypocrisy of this male executive thinking of me as a role model to his daughter while also determining that a hardworking female athlete didn’t deserve to be paid during her pregnancy astounded me,” she wrote.

And while Salazar was definitely a creep, making inappropriate comments about the size of Goucher’s breasts after giving birth—for one of too many examples—he was also cruel, controlling, and manipulative. His alcohol consumption was problematic, often imbibing during afternoon practices. Goucher, whose father was killed by a drunk driver and whose mother subsequently devoted much of her life to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, describes a harrowing instance in which Salazar picked Goucher up from the airport while intoxicated. The night before that 2009 Boston Marathon, he kept Goucher out at a restaurant well past the time she wanted to go to bed, drinking red wine and trying to push it on her, too (she declined). He once treated her shin splints with a topical cream mixed with crushed aspirin, which resulted in second-degree burns on her legs. And, of course, he famously distributed prescription drugs to Oregon Project members for performance enhancement, telling Goucher and Cain that they needed to lose weight and thyroid medicine would help.

Goucher’s story is, in the end, a reflection of the failures across all of women’s sports, still rampant today: the abuse, the male-dominated systems that refuse to protect athlete safety or well-being, the problematic corporations that drive these win-at-all-cost practices, the lack of required training, education, certification, or accountability of coaches and other support staff. The list goes on.

And yet, athletes like Goucher have still succeeded at the top levels, despite the burden of carrying so many forms of mistreatment along with them. It makes you wonder how much better these female athletes could have been—what barriers they might have broken—had they been surrounded by people who had integrity and valued athletes as whole human beings, deserving of the basic care and respect that would nurture their talent. So much potential and talent has been lost, careers cut short and replaced by lifelong trauma.

The head scratcher has always been how Nike, the world’s wealthiest brand in sports, with every resource available, believed that the Oregon Project and Alberto Salazar were the best that it could offer the country’s top athletes. And how still, today, despite what we know, the Swoosh still controls the funding of USA Track & Field and the decisions that are made at the highest levels. Salazar is still celebrated as a member of the USATF Hall of Fame. The brand is everywhere, from the construction of Hayward Field to the shoes that proliferate every marathon and local 5K in America (and beyond). Where’s the accountability? Where’s the hope in that?

The hope is, of course, in Goucher’s story—the only way to change anything is to demand better. It would have been far easier for her to quietly retire from professional running and move on. And who would have blamed her? Instead, Goucher has put herself through years of grueling testimony, endured endless backlash and even death threats, and has shared the most painful moments of her life in order to work toward a safer, healthier, more equitable sport for those who come after her.

“If I’ve learned anything,” Goucher writes, “it’s that change starts when good people refuse to stay quiet.”

Thanks to Goucher and all the women who keep talking. Your voices will always matter.

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For fans of distance running, the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon has become the most-anticipated 26.2-mile race in the country. And in just one year, it’s back. On February 3, 2024, the best American distance runners will once again go head-to-head, this time in Orlando, Florida, to decide which three athletes will compete for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Games.

The event also marks the 40th anniversary of the first women’s U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, which took place on May 12, 1984, in Olympia, Washington. It was about 12 weeks before the Los Angeles Games, but the quick turnaround didn’t seem to have much effect on Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won in 2:31:41 after rushing to recover from knee surgery, then went on to also win the first women’s Olympic gold medal (2:24:52) in the event.

It was the beginning of decades of enormous growth for women’s running. Back in 1984, the qualifying time to participate in the trials was 2:51:16. In 2024, women have to run 2:37 (or a 1:12 half marathon) to earn a place on the start line in Orlando—eight minutes faster than in 2020, when 512 women achieved the standard of 2:45 (or 1:13) to race in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta.

While that 2020 event was quite a celebration of the progress in women’s running, it also caused some officials, coaches, and athletes to question whether the qualifying times were challenging enough. So USA Track & Field, the governing body of the sport, tightened them. As of January 25, 104 women have made the list of 2024 qualifiers, according to USATF—the qualifying window opened in January 2022 and closes December 5, 2023 for the marathon. (The window for the half marathon qualification opened in January 2023). Ultimately, the field will likely be smaller, but how much smaller remains to be seen.

“There’s still going to be over 300 women, if not 400 women,” predicts Kara Goucher, the 2007 world championships 10,000-meter silver medalist who was second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and fourth in 2016. “They’re still dreaming big and they are willing to make a lot of sacrifices to take their shot.”

The More, the Merrier?

Those big dreams have fueled interest and boosted the popularity of the sport, especially over the past decade. The big marathons like Boston and New York attract great elite competition every year, but the trials is the only place where all the fastest Americans show up to race each other, which has made the event so compelling—a must-see marathon—for fans. The American system of selecting the top three finishers (who also have the Olympic standard of 2:29:30 or faster) to go to the Olympics makes it a high-stakes spectacle.

“When you get to the trials, you’re actually seeing all of your favorite athletes competing and that’s such a big draw,” says Deena Kastor, former American record-holder (2:19:36) and 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist. “Years ago, you might have said that it’s a given that these are the top three runners in the country by far. Now it’s less predictable, so it’s more fun to watch the race unfold in front of you.”

Atlanta police estimated that 200,000 fans lined the course at the 2020 trials. For every one of the 500 women who qualified, it seemed like an army of relatives and friends showed up to support them, not to mention the people who watched the national broadcast from home.

For a sport that often lacks mainstream appeal, many saw that the high participation numbers captured increased interest in the race—when a neighbor makes it to the Olympic Trials, suddenly a community becomes invested in it. And the crowd in February 2020? It was really loud.

“It was like they knew that was going to be the last fun event before COVID shut everything down,” says Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. “If you were somebody who is distracted by noise, you were easily distracted by that because it was just ringing in your ears. It was so loud. You kind of had to tune out a little bit.”

Nonetheless, Tuliamuk is of the belief that the more competitors who can reach the starting line, the better.

“I just hope that no matter what happens, we will still have a lot of women who make it,” she says. “It’s amazing to race with all these women and in return, they’ll go inspire their communities. It’s what sports should be all about.”

Only Three Make It

Every time the bar is raised, women have responded (also with the help of advancing racing shoe technology, of course) and 2024 should be no different, especially if the results at the very top of the sport are any indication.

In the past year alone, the American marathon record has been lowered twice, after standing for 16 years (2:19:36, set by Kastor at the 2006 London Marathon). First Keira D’Amato, 38, finished the 2022 Houston Marathon in 2:19:12, then Emily Sisson, 31, improved that mark in October, finishing the Chicago Marathon in 2:18:29. And who knows? The record could fall again by next February. The U.S. has 22 women under the Olympic standard of 2:29:30.

But part of the allure of the trials is that so many factors are at play, as we witnessed in 2020. The course in Orlando, though not released yet, promises to be flat, unlike the relentless hills of Atlanta, but the weather very well could be warm and humid. Although D’Amato and Sisson are the country’s leading contenders right now, D’Amato, who was still early in her comeback after being away from the sport for several years to start her family and career, finished 15th in 2:34:24, while Sisson was unable to finish the race. (She went on to make the Tokyo Games in the 10,000 meters.) It was Tuliamuk, Molly Seidel, and Sally Kipyego who came out on top—and rookie Seidel also brought home an Olympic bronze medal from Tokyo.

That’s all to say, nobody knows what will happen, but experts predict something fast.

“We might even see personal best there because the competition is going to be so stiff,” Kastor says. “My first professional coach, Joe Vigil, used to say, ‘I’m going to have really high expectations for you, but the higher my expectations, the better chance that you’ll strive high.’”

The day always brings the gamut of emotions for everybody involved. Goucher has experienced all sides of it—the elation of making the team in 2012 and the deep sorrow of just missing it in 2016. She absorbs the highs and lows even as a spectator. Although she didn’t compete in Atlanta, she confesses that she took a moment on a side street for a good cry by herself.

“There was this wall of women running down the street and it just touched me,” Goucher says, adding that she was thinking how many athletes would be left out at the end of the day. “At least 12 people who we’ve all followed are capable of making that team, who deserve to make that team, but only three of them can go. That’s the cruel beauty of it and what makes it so special.”

A-Games Only

The ultimate but improbable dream for February 3, 2024, is that all the top athletes arrive in Orlando healthy, in peak fitness, and able to give the trials their absolute best shot over 26.2 miles. What a race it would be to see a late-stage battle between those dozen or more women who have the credentials to land on the podium.

“I want to see everyone with their A-game,” Goucher says. “And that’s a scary thought, but my dream would be to see all of them at the top of their game. We have the deepest talent among American women that we’ve ever had and there’s this respect for everybody.”

Kastor agrees—once again, it’s going to be the hardest team to make. “People are going to have to have nearly perfect buildups,” she says. “The race itself will need to be flawless.”

Tuliamuk welcomes the competition while acknowledging that the 2024 Olympic trials will be the challenge of her career so far. She’d love another chance to represent the U.S.A. After the Olympics were postponed for a year, she gave birth to her daughter, Zoe, then was injured in Tokyo.

“I want to represent my country to the best of my abilities. I didn’t really get to do that, so I’ll be doing my best to make sure that I make it to the start line healthy and ready,” she says. “It’s going to take so much more to make that team, but there’s nothing better than making a team when everybody brought their A-game and you emerged in the top three. I’m looking forward to that.”

The post The Countdown Is On: One Year to Go Until the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon  appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

When Kathryn Martin stepped to the starting line on March 18 at the USA Track and Field Indoor Masters Championships, the feeling was familiar and foreign at the same time. Although her name appears next to 23 American age-group indoor and outdoor track records—11 of them world records—Martin, 70, hadn’t run around an oval in five years.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” she says. “During the race I was thinking, I don’t know if I can even do this.”

She did do it, and it looked like she hadn’t lost any momentum during her absence. She won the 3,000-meter race, setting a national age-group record for 70-to-74-year-old women. Then she turned around the next day and ran the mile in 6:31.25, an indoor world record in her new division. For context, that’s the of a 4:06 mile for a 25-year-old, faster than the open women’s world record of 4:12.56.

Before she disappeared from the scene, Martin had been a consistent threat on the masters circuit for decades, earning honors in her age division every year from 2002 to 2016, and the title in 2017. But after that hot streak, life got in the way: an illness in the family, a move to a new home, and then the pandemic led her to take a hiatus from racing.

“I think we were kind of a little burned out on competition,” says Chuck Gross, Martin’s husband and coach. “She’d been at the top of her game for quite a few years. After a while, it’s very tough being on top.”

During the five-year break, Martin still ran for fitness and fun, without a training schedule or speed workouts. She enjoyed easy miles with friends and the chance to get outside five or six mornings each week. But when she turned 70 in September, she felt rejuvenated, and as COVID-19 restrictions started lifting at races, she got the itch to compete again.

To remain engaged in the sport and competitive with her peers, Martin uses the following four strategies.

Keep Fun at the Forefront

Martin doesn’t deny that she’s driven by setting records, but during her extended break from training, she reconnected with the concept of running for running’s sake—something many tend to lose sight of when races or other goals loom on the horizon.

“It’s totally different when you’re doing serious training versus just running,” she says. “We had a lot of fun just running.”

Martin has always aimed to enjoy herself during competitive phases, too. In previous years, she and Gross have scheduled her races around places they’ve wanted to visit. They’d go for the track meet and stay for the vacation—she’s competed in Finland, Italy, South Korea, and many other international destinations.

“She loves to travel. She’s a social animal,” Gross says, noting that he’s more of a homebody but her running opportunities have gotten him out of the house.

As the original “running realtor”—a label now extended to some younger pro athletes, like Keira D’Amato and Sara Vaughn—Martin finds that the two parts of her life complement each other. Over the years, she’s discovered that the more she shares her running success with her clients, the more invested and engaged they become, and that can also make balancing her career and training less stressful and more fun.

“You can have a very full life—a good family, a good business—and still run. You just find a way to mesh things together,” Martin says. “You share who you are, you share what you have, you share what you know.”

Run Less, Lift More

Martin’s weekly training schedule continues to evolve as she moves up in age group. On Mondays, for example, she doesn’t run at all; instead, she’s added a strength-training session with a coach at a nearby gym for the first time in her running career. “I’ve never gone to the gym, because I didn’t know what I was doing and I thought I’d injure myself,” Martin says. “It’s a new adventure.”

The sessions at the gym include body-weight exercises mixed with “a little bit of weights.” The objective is to  in an effort to stave off injuries. “My legs are like rubber when I leave there,” she says.

Martin follows Monday’s strength training with a yoga session on Tuesday mornings—another day she typically doesn’t run. She spreads her training “week” over nine or ten days to ensure she gets enough recovery.

A nine-day training cycle for the 10K usually includes:

• A 10-to-12-mile long run at an easy 8:15 to 8:30 pace
• One endurance workout, slightly faster than 10K race pace (for example, a two-mile warm-up, four miles at a 7:30 to 7:45 pace, and a one-mile cooldown)
• One medium-long run of four to seven miles, plus strides
• Four runs of three to six miles at an 8:30 pace

She typically builds to 40 miles per week over eight weeks before beginning a specific two-month training cycle.

How has her training changed as she’s gotten older? More than anything, she’s added recovery days and decreased the intensity of her workouts. Gross says, “Fifteen or 20 years ago, she’d get on the track and do six repeat miles in sub-six minutes.”

Have a Care Team and Keep Perspective

Recently, after a series of walking lunges, Martin felt pain in her ankle, which later swelled during the night. By the next morning, the joint felt more stuck than hurt, so she didn’t waste any time calling her chiropractor. He worked some magic, and injury was averted. The secret to her longevity isn’t much of a secret—it’s just knowing how to take care of her body.

Along with her strength coach and chiropractor, Martin relies on a physical therapist, a massage therapist, and an acupuncturist as needed. “I have a whole posse of people who keep me running,” she says. She tries to be diligent about self-care, too, including regular foam rolling.

Martin and Gross don’t force workouts if they aren’t going well, either—she’ll discontinue a session and try again another day if she isn’t feeling it. “Runners are all guilty of not paying attention to their bodies when they’re trying to tell us something. You have to be mindful of that as you get older. It takes longer to recover,” she says. “You just have to pay attention.”

It’s always disappointing when illness or injury sabotages a training schedule, but having an otherwise full plate helps Martin keep it in perspective. She’s never bored, at least. Aside from work, she picks her eight-year-old granddaughter up from school twice a week, then they do homework, have dinner, and go for adventures on the nearby trails.

“Over 40 years, she’s really gotten good about backing off,” Gross says. “Running, for her, is not the be-all, end-all. She has her priorities straight.”

Know What Keeps You Moving

Setting age-group records is what keeps Martin enthusiastic about training. She and Gross look at the races that are record eligible and make a plan for each season based on which distances she wants to focus on. This year she’ll likely stick with the 5K-to-15K range, though she and Gross (who likes to encourage some longer races) are still in negotiations.

Next up? Likely the Boston Athletic Association 10K on June 26, where she’ll aim to beat the existing American road record for 70-to-74-year-olds of 45:19, set in 2015 by Jan Holmquist.

“I need fresh, visible goals out there,” she says. “It’s just challenging myself against the clock.”

Aside from those time-oriented objectives, Martin craves the community she finds in her running. After her extended break, she longed to reconnect with the friends she’d made over the many years of competition. “What I really missed was the camaraderie. Masters runners are so unique,” Martin says. “You can be warriors on the track, but prior to and immediately afterward, everybody’s hugging. We’re just so happy to see each other and be in each other’s company.”

She also finds emotional comfort among her running friends at home. “Everybody is struggling with things in life, but we always find things to laugh about when we’re running,” she says.

As she continues to succeed on the track and roads, more women ask her how they, too, can make their running last a lifetime. Martin thinks it’s pretty simple.

“Just keep moving,” she says. “People tend to get sedentary when they get older. There’s no reason to stop moving. Longevity is just enjoying what you’re doing, having friends you like to run with. And you really have to listen to your body.”

The post How Kathryn Martin Staged a Record-Setting Comeback at 70 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

After she placed tenth in her marquee event, the 1500 meters, in June at the 2021 Olympic Track & Field Trials, Jenny Simpson wasn’t sure what would come next. Up until this year, she had never failed to make a U.S. team, in 14 years of competing.

The last time Simpson had watched the Olympics on television, it was 2004, she was a 17-year-old high school student, unaware that in 2016 she’d bring home the bronze in the 1500 meters, becoming the first U.S. woman to medal in the event. Along the way, she won the gold at the 2011 world championships, and a couple of silvers in 2013 and 2017.

While she was undeniably sad to not make the trip to Tokyo, Simpson, 35, was surprised that she enjoyed watching the Games from home in Boulder, Colorado.

“I wondered if I was going to be weird about it, but I loved it,” Simpson said during a phone interview on Tuesday. “I don’t remember the last time I was able to really just sit down and enjoy a track meet
the Olympics in 2021 will always be a memory for me of a time where I stood down and I watched Team USA and just got to be a total fan.”

She toyed around with a lot of ideas of what to do with herself this summer. Maybe compete on the Diamond League circuit? Or pick a couple of other track meets to race? But nothing sounded particularly fun to Simpson until her coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs suggested something completely out of her element: the 10-mile U.S.road championships, held on September 12 at the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler (rescheduled from it’s usual April date because of COVID-19), in Washington, D.C.

“I’ve never done anything like it and there was something about that that just really intrigued me and sounded really exciting,” Simpson said. “It’s so funny. I mean, this is one of the most exciting things about our sport. How long have I been doing this? And I’m relatively unfamiliar with some of the most popular and beloved road races in the world.”

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In preparation, Simpson has traded her track spikes for road flats and her 200-meter intervals for tempo runs. She talked with Women’s Running about what it means in the context of her career to make a move up in distance on the roads, how she coped with the fallout of the Olympic Trials, and what her expectations are for her first 10-mile road race. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Women’s Running: What’s appealing about the 10-mile race distance to you? And racing on the roads, too?

Jenny Simpson: Starting from the beginning, in middle school, there weren’t a lot of inter-school competitions, so we’d put on our cross country uniforms and run the local road races in Orlando, Florida. My first experiences with running, like most people’s introduction to the sport, was through road racing and through the community aspect of it. So the idea of taking a time of my life where I felt really disoriented and just kind of sad missing the Olympics, but also thinking, “OK, where’s my career headed?” even in the next three or five months, it felt nostalgic and familiar and inviting to return to something that I have known in the past and drew me into the sport in the first place.

Also, my husband has been running marathons for years and I’ve experienced the road racing world through him. It’s been so fun. One of the things that’s silly, but I am looking forward to, is when you’re on the track, you’re in a stadium. There’s tens of thousands of people cheering for you at one time and it’s just so exciting. With road racing, instead of having this huge crowd, you can hear individual voices and sometimes you get lucky and hear your name. It sounds small and silly but I’m looking forward to that.

WR: What are your goals or expectations for the race?

JS: Literally, I just emailed the people at the Cherry Blossom race and just said, “Hey, would you mind if I competed in the women’s elite section?” I told them that I know nothing about road racing, so to please treat me like a newbie. I mean I’ve run the Fifth Avenue Mile so many times, but are you kidding me? Ten miles? I have no idea what I’m doing. So, as far as goals? I have no idea what I’m getting into. The truth is, I don’t know. I’ve certainly run long runs, but we all know that it’s totally different. I’m taking the same approach as any other race—I’ve done the training, I know I’m ready to do it, and I know I can absolutely get myself to the finish line. I’m really looking forward to watching the mystery unveil itself live just like everybody else. I’ll learn if I have an aptitude for this or if my very best years of running I was smart to sink into the middle distances.

WR: You’re so used to knowing all your competitors on the starting line. You’re lining up with a lot of people you’ve never raced before.

JS: It’s funny because I was trying to explain to a friend who isn’t a competitive runner the difference between racing on a track and the road—it’s almost different sports. The elite sections, there’s crossover, but there’s not 100 percent crossover. And I’ve never raced in these shoes before. I’ve only done a few workouts in road racing flats in my entire life. Even the idea of what it’s going to be like running with a pack of women at that effort for that long in the middle of the road? I’ve only ever done that for a mile. I’ll be excited to see if I regret my decision at mile eight or nine.

WR: Before the Trials you had mentioned in an interview how much you had been enjoying your long runs. Do you still enjoy them now that you’re training for a longer race?

JS: My long runs haven’t changed much at all. It’s really my workouts that have changed—I don’t have to do 12 x 200 anymore. I have no plans to close the last 200 meters of a 10 miler in 29 seconds. One of the reasons I’m really looking forward to this kind of race and why I’ve enjoyed the long runs is because there’s an intensity that I bring to track sessions that has made me good for a lot of years. It’s been an important factor in my consistency and success. I could keep going and I still have a few years of good running left in my legs, even if I chose the 1500. But there’s no doubt that I’m not as young as I once was and there’s a resiliency in your legs when you’re 22 that you don’t have at 32. It’s not in the mileage or running, but in the explosiveness. In the long runs, I can mentally dial it in and for a long time I can feel really strong. That’s been an attraction to me and a meditative relief in the midst of a lot of uncertainty that we’ve all been living in.

Watching some of my workouts naturally progress to a point where it’s starting to get a little bit harder on my body, I go out on long runs and have long stretches of time where I feel really good about who I am and what I’m doing. It anchors me and reassures me that my good years of running aren’t over yet. Having experienced that in the last year is part of what made training and getting ready for the 10 mile attractive. If I’m going to compete, it’d be really fun to have an effort with a similar feel.

WR: How else has the training changed?

JS: The best thing is that now I do almost all my workouts with my husband, which is not unusual but I’ve never done it this consistently. He’s a really good marathoner so to bring him into the fold of the hardest parts of my training has been really fun. It’s also angering when we’re four miles into a hard effort and he’s still giving me training cues. I’m thinking, “This should be harder for you.” It’s fun to experience it together.

Also so much of my running career I’ve been the expert and now he has more experience than I do. It’s a flip for us. It’s fun to learn from him and defer to him. You can always learn from each other. He’s opened up a lot more about what might be useful in my training and my racing and my mental game.

I’m just doing longer intervals and I’m out of my spikes, doing more work in my road-racing flats. I haven’t put on spikes and done repeat 200s or repeat 400s in a long time. And I don’t miss it. I think this new challenge is fun—doing this in new equipment and with no pre-recorded history to compare myself to has been such a relief. I do a two-mile time trial and I have nothing to compare that to, so if I get to the end and I feel good and the time is what my coaches told me to do, then I think, “I’ve had a great day,” and I don’t compare it to anything.

WR: Has your overall mileage gone up?

JS: I’ve probably always trained more like a distance runner than a traditional middle-distance runner. In college I was probably doing 70 to 75 miles a week toward the end, my senior year. I’ve always been right around there or a little higher. It hasn’t changed much. I’m not running 100 miles a week—I have a really good foundation. I just do what my coaches say. It’s funny that training for a mile or a 10 mile, I’m doing the same mileage every week.

WR: Is this a permanent move to longer distances?

JS: I’m not ready to close the book on my track career yet. I’ve never dedicated a season to training for the 5K and I have an OK 5K PR but it’s certainly not what I think I’m capable of. I don’t think this is a permanent switch. My intention in running it is to have a fun effort. It’s dipping my toe in the deep end and see if there’s potential if I wanted it. It’s a vacation from the intensity that I’ve had for so long more than it is a career shift.

WR: I know the Trials didn’t work out the way you wanted it to, but if you’re willing to talk about it, I’d like to know how you recovered from it, emotionally?

JS: It’s fair to say that I’m still processing it to some degree. I feel like I have a lot of my mind wrapped around it but I don’t know if I’ll sound very articulate.

Leading up to the Trials, it was a tough year. But once I got there and started going through the rounds, I really felt good and I was regaining my confidence. Without sounding too arrogant, I thought that if anyone could pull it off after a less-than-perfect year, it’s me. I think you have to have that belief if you’re ever going to pull it off. You have to be irrational going into the biggest races, otherwise why are you there? I felt good. I looked good. But the rounds were 4:11, 4:09 paces. When the racing really got going in the final, my lack of fitness just showed through. I wasn’t fit enough. We had indicators through my training that it was probably the case.

When I came through and I didn’t qualify, I will say my happiness and my joy for the three New Balance women [Elle Purrier St. Pierre, Cory McGee, and Heather MacLean] who made it was genuine. I really was happy to see the results. I’ve watched all three train really hard, take the sport really seriously, and I have a lot of respect for the way they worked their way toward that week and executed.

But then I go through the mixed zone and I wasn’t chosen for drug testing, so I came out to see my husband and coaches. For the first time ever I just had to get my backpack and go home. It was so weird. I’m so used to running a victory lap, going to drug testing, going through team processing, having to manage my family and friends who want to celebrate with me. Having that experience repeated over and over for so many years, it was like falling off a cliff. The inactivity around me was the weirdest thing. I was like, “OK, I guess you just cool down and get your bag and go home.”

I wasn’t as devastated as people might expect. I did all the training so I had indicators that not making the team was a possibility. I wasn’t caught off guard. But it took two weeks or so. I was on the track doing a hard session and that was the first day I was really sad. I didn’t really know what it was for. It wasn’t for the Olympic team. I had that moment of sadness. I finished the workout, I had a good day, but it’s like grieving. You go through different stages and you don’t know how it’s going to hit you.

On the other end of that, I feel a combination of intense gratitude for how much I have and how much I’ve gotten to experience and how much I just feel in my bones is still left. I know it. I know there’s still something great left in me. I don’t know if it’s going to be on the roads or on the track. I don’t know if it’s world championships or something different, but the Olympic Trials and stepping off the track and grabbing my bag and going home is not the end of the story. I still have a few more years of great running in me.

Having time to get some distance from that experience and now, truly I wake up excited to see what’s next.

WR: Will we see Jenny Simpson on the 2024 U.S. Olympic marathon team?

JS: You’re not the first person to bring that up and I keep telling people I’m running the 10 mile, but I am absolutely not committing to running a marathon. That’s one thing I said to my coaches—if I agree to do the 10 mile and I enjoy it, I don’t want that to be a commitment to the marathon. I feel like it’s this automatic leap, but they agreed. If they’re putting together a master training plan for the marathon they’ve kept it away from me so far.

WR: I would imagine that having the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon, is attractive.

JS: Absolutely. There’s still unexplored events for me on the track. I’ve never trained specifically for the 5K and I’ve never run a 10K competitively. There’s undiscovered things on the track along with the lure of the championships in Eugene.

There’s a different, more exciting ending to this story and I’m looking forward to finding out what that is. But it’s definitely not the 2021 Trials.

The post Jenny Simpson: “I Know There’s Still Something Great Left in Me” appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

It’s no surprise that Elise Cranny enjoys the mountains during altitude camp. She grew up collecting Colorado state cross-country titles for Niwot High School, so despite the grueling months of training with the , she still feels refreshed.

“When we are up at altitude, the bar is being continually raised,” she says. “It’s really challenged me to be able to do workouts that maybe I didn’t think I could do.”

Cranny joined the BTC in 2019 and was one of the younger athletes contending at the Trials after an unexpected bonus year of settling into pro athlete life. In that time, she improved at every distance she raced, including her debut at 10,000 meters (30:47.42), as well as bests at 1500 meters (4:02.62) and 5,000 meters (14:48.02).

She arrived in Eugene, Oregon, for the Trials with declared entry in all three events, and ultimately scratched the 1500 meters. Cranny won a strategic 5,000 meters in 15:27.81, on a hot day to earn her place at her first Olympics. She placed fourth in the 10,000 meters, one place shy of making that team, too.

In the opening 5,000m round in Tokyo, she stayed in the back of the lead pack that was running relatively slowly, then moved confidently into the top 5 when the pace picked up in the last two laps, holding on to fourth in the final kick to ensure an automatic qualifying berth for the final.

Her coach Jerry Schumacher told her early on in her career that she needed to “run a pretty good 10K to run a fast 5K.” Mission accomplished.

“It was just cool to see that in a year and a half, trusting in Jerry and my teammates, just putting in that consistent work and getting that strength, that it really translated to the shorter races, too,” Cranny says.

In her short time learning the ropes as a pro runner, Cranny says one of the cornerstones of her progress has been learning that doing more isn’t always better.

“That’s been huge as the workout intensity has increased, going from the collegiate scene to the professional scene, just not underestimating sleep and naps and nutrition and all those little things that are really so important to keeping up consistency,” she says. “I think having a whole other year of training under Jerry was really huge, physically and mentally.”

Cranny has also reaped rewards from implementing strength training that’s more specific to her needs, addressing her weaknesses and imbalances. It’s improved her ability to withstand the higher load of training without getting injured, she says, and also made her stride and form more efficient.

Perhaps most importantly, Cranny says, she’s worked on her mental game, increasing her confidence and bringing more courage to her workouts.

“When I was a younger athlete, I was a little bit too focused on getting the confidence from external sources or from a couple of good workouts,” she says. “You can’t be constantly shaken by a bad workout
and you also have to keep it fun, joyful, and exciting. Focus on what you’re doing well and what’s allowing you to grow and take steps forward.”

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·Ą±č±đČÔłÙ/±ÊžéČő:Ìę1500 meters (4:02.62), 5,000 meters (14:48.02), 10,000 meters (30:47.42)

Training tip: Like most of us, Cranny has had injury setbacks and other unplanned hiatuses from training and racing. Consistency is king in progression, so she’s learned to let patience lead her decisions, which has resulted in big breakthroughs like her 10,000-meter debut in February.

“This past year we’ve had to take a step back from racing a ton and really focus on honing mental skill that I needed to work on just in practice,” Cranny says. “I needed to try different racing strategies and work on my confidence. Looking back, I feel grateful for that time to try new things and get a whole other year of consistency as a younger athlete.”

Favorite workout: Despite the step up to longer race distances, Cranny still craves a good speed session — shorter reps with longer rest are her jam, especially when she gets to do them with teammates like Gabriela DeBues-Stafford and .

“You’re not getting a ton of volume, but it’s a chance to run really fast with the speedsters on the team,” Cranny says. “That’s always one of my favorites, to be pushed by them and just see how fast I can go.”

The worst part of race day: When Cranny gets to the track and it’s time to warm up for the race.

“You’ve been waiting all day and you’re trying not to read too much into how you feel,” she says. “You’re excited to race and you kind of just want to be warmed up and ready to go — you’re close, but you’re not quite to the race.”

The best part of race day: Learning how to harness nervous energy into something positive.

“It’s something I’ve had to work on, using the nerves as excitement to step on the line,” Cranny says. “I think that’s what’s so cool about our sport is you get on the line and you have as good a chance as anyone to finish in any place. It doesn’t matter what your PRs are if you’re ready to go on that given day. That’s something that really excites me, just standing on the line, putting myself in the best position I can, and knowing anything can happen.”

Trials success (aside from the obvious goal of making Team USA): If Cranny can stay out of her own way and let herself perform to what she knows she’s capable of, she’ll find satisfaction in the results.

“I want to run with confidence and compete,” she says. “We talk about this a lot as a team — at the end of the day, that’s all we want for our teammates. I would view it as successful if I’m not afraid to put myself in it, race with confidence, and be the best version of myself on that day.”

Last words to herself on the starting line:  is a Finnish word for strength and perseverance and it’s one Cranny says to herself often. She also writes a Bible verse on her wrist.

“I like to repeat on the line, ‘I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength,’” Cranny says. “So I really kind of cultivate that strength and think about that on the start line.”

Sage advice: Jason Hartmann, Cranny’s coach in high school, and Chris Miltenberg, her coach at Stanford University, gave similar wisdom.

“They taught me I have to cultivate confidence from myself and not find it from a coach, a teammate, or a workout,” Cranny says. “And they also similarly taught me to celebrate the steps I’m taking forward. We always want more, but sometimes along the way you need to celebrate the progress you’re taking even if you’re still not where you want to be.”

Pandemic pastimes: During altitude training camp in Park City, Utah, Cranny, who also took up the ukulele last year, read a lot of books. She’ll read just about anything her teammate  tells her to, she says. Her recent favorite is Small, Great Things by Jodi Picoult, about “a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race.”

“I’ve done probably the most reading I have in a while,” Cranny says.

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More people are getting vaccinated, allowing COVID-19 restrictions on big events to ease in cities like New York, where was held on June 12 with 3,000 entrants. While a lot of runners are eager to get to those start lines, how you approach your first race back is important.

Molly Seidel, on August 7 in Sapporo, Japan, was lucky enough to race a few times during the pandemic at small, mostly elite-only competitions. she came away with a personal record (2:25:13) and in February at a half marathon in Atlanta she finished in another best of 1:08:29.

“I’ve been very, very lucky to get a lot of race opportunities this year,” she says, “which is unusual.”

Ted Metellus, race director of the New York City Marathon, which is planning to host 33,000 runners on November 7, says he and his team at New York Road Runners have been putting on smaller-scale races since September. Their priority is always to communicate clearly with participants so that they know what to expect in regard to safety precautions and have learned to evolve the protocols and logistics as the state and city change policies.

NYRR, like many other race organizations, have studied crowd flow and density, how touch-points (like aid stations) can be managed safely, and other ways in which they can produce events while still allowing participants to feel safe in their return.

“More people are seeing not only the physical benefits of running and being outside, but the mental benefits,” Metellus says. “Participants really want to engage in this sport, in this activity, and that’s been pretty awesome to see. It shows value in what we’re doing.”

Seidel placed 5th at the Mini 10K in 32:13, and she’s learned a few tips and tricks to handle the transition back into a racing routine — something most of us haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy for 15 months or more. Fortunately, she’s willing to share what she knows.

1. Decide if you’re ready to dive back in again.

Just because the races are coming back doesn’t mean you’re ready to sign up yet, even if your group of running friends is registering. We are all coming out of the pandemic with different experiences and circumstances, so give yourself some grace if a road race isn’t the first thing you want to do as COVID-19 rates recede.

“First and foremost, trust your own gut instinct on what you feel comfortable with,” Seidel says. “It’s OK to not be OK sometimes. It’s OK to not feel comfortable. I was lucky and traveled a lot during the pandemic and my set-point had to be a lot higher.”

If you’re not ready to travel far or fly, start with a local, smaller race.

“Stay true to what you feel comfortable with, because any added stress is just that: stress,” she says. “You don’t want added stressors when you’re thinking about a race. Stick to what feels safe.”

2. Have compassion for yourself.

Although most of us aren’t getting paid to race, we still go after results and want our performances to reflect the effort we put into preparing. But, we also haven’t gone head-to-head with anybody in a long time — we forget the fundamentals sometimes like pacing, hydration, and even the simplest race morning routines like timing breakfast the right way.

“I experienced this coming back from injury — I went a full year and a half without racing from 2018 to 2019 — and it’s kinda hard. You might not feel that sharpness or that competitive drive if somebody is passing you,” she says. “Remember that racing is a skill and just like fitness you have to develop as well. If the competitiveness isn’t there at first, you haven’t lost it forever. You just have to work on developing it again.”

3. Enjoy it.

No matter what the clock says when you finish or how many people in your age group had a better day, take a moment to appreciate the opportunity. We now know how quickly racing can disappear — along with the sense of community and the fun that comes with it. Let’s never take that for granted again.

“Even if it doesn’t go the way that you necessarily want it to go, just appreciate how awesome it is to get to race again,” Seidel says. “My very first race back, I was just overwhelmed with the feeling, ‘Oh my God, I get to do this again,’” Seidel says. “It’s so cool to have this in my life again.”

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A lot has changed for Marielle Hall since she competed in the 10,o00 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Most significantly, she joined the , based in Portland, Oregon, and has adjusted to the rigors of training with many of the nation’s top distance runners.

Hall, 29, has tried to master the right formula of mileage, intensity, and recovery as she prepares to Her personal best at the distance so far is 31:05, which she set at the 2019 world championships in Doha. She’ll face one of the deepest women’s fields ever assembled at the U.S.A. Track & Field Olympic Trials, scheduled to begin on June 18 in Eugene, Oregon. The top three finishers who also have run the Olympic standard (31:25) will go on to the Tokyo Olympics in August.

“I’m still figuring out when to do more mileage or less, or which phases of training are going to be most important for me,” Hall says. “And how all of it is going to apply to how I feel on race day. Am I doing too much? Or am I not doing enough? I’m working out that equation.”

Her 2019 world championships mark stood at No. 8 on the all-time fastest U.S. women’s list this winter, but the rankings are constantly being rewritten as the country’s growing talent collides with advances in shoe technology, leading to ever-faster performances. She also has the Olympic standard in the 5,000 meters (15:10), with a personal best of 15:02 set in 2019.

Here’s Hall’s go-to workout when she wants to see how well her fitness is progressing. You can give it a try based on your own ability level and paces.

WHO: Marielle Hall, 29

WHAT: 10 x 300 meters with 30 seconds recovery between (if you’re really fit or experienced with speed work, increase the number up to 20 x 300 meters with 30 seconds recovery)

WHY: “It’s one of those workouts that we constantly revisit at different times, so you can really see progress from when you do it the first month of training versus when you do it at the end of a training block.”

DETAILS: This workout appears several times throughout the year for Hall, but you can adjust the number of reps based on your fitness level. The pace should be around your 5K race pace, though if you’re doing more reps, keep it to your 10K pace.

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When Emily Sisson studied the weather report for the 15K national championship last Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., she quickly adjusted her race plan. The 20 mile-per-hour winds were not record-setting conditions, so her new strategy? Just race aggressively.

And that plan resulted in a decisive win for Sisson, 29, who trains in Phoenix and is coached by Ray Treacy. Finishing in 48:09, she also won the equalizer bonus against the men — the women’s field started six minutes ahead and she crossed the finish line first, taking home a $15,000 prize.

“This gave me something to work toward,” Sisson said during a phone interview with Women’s Running. “So that was motivating.”

turned out to be a good indication that the past year of examining her training, niggles, and imbalances was time well spent. The pandemic didn’t leave many opportunities for pro runners to race, but Sisson also decided early on that the lack of competition might work in her favor.

She has raced three times since February 2020, when she dropped out at mile 21 of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta. Sisson, whose marathon best is 2:23:08, came into the Trials as a top contender to make the Tokyo Games, but the brutally hilly course and relentless wind that day took a toll. Afterward she felt beat up and defeated.

“Usually how I get back after bad races is to just jump into the next one,” she said. “But Ray said that losing this year of racing could just add time to the end of my career if I invest in getting stronger and learning how to correct my weaknesses. It took four months before I started feeling all right again after the Trials.”

With the help of her husband and often training partner, Shane Quinn, she’s looked at more videos and photos of her running form. They had noticed that it was not the same as it was before her 26.2-mile debut at the 2019 London Marathon. It seemed like her quads were the culprit, she said.

“I think my body just fell into some patterns that we needed to correct, so I’ve done some posterior chain strengthening. I was getting really stiff, so I’ve worked a lot on mobility,” Sisson said. “Now there are days where I feel tired just from the mileage, but I feel more powerful.”

She’s also learned the difference between feeling sore and tired from the high-volume marathon training and what could actually indicate the beginning of an injury — an important distinction to make for sustaining a career.

“I just thought that feeling was normal during marathon training, but looking back maybe we should have been more aware of some things prior to Atlanta,” she said.

In December, Sisson traveled to Valencia to race the half marathon, where she finished in 1:07:26, just one second off of her training partner, Molly Huddle’s, American record. Sisson also raced 5,000 meters in March, at a Sound Running meet in Southern California, where she won in 14:55.82, a personal record.

From here, Sisson’s attention turns fully toward preparing for the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, scheduled for June 18–27, in Eugene, Ore. That will entail an altitude training stint in Flagstaff, Ariz., and probably some time back in Providence, R.I., with her coach. Although Sisson had originally planned to also race the 5,000 meters there, officials and the revised plan doesn’t allow enough recovery between the events to race both.

The 10,000 meters could be a crowded field, with approximately 35 women already qualified. She finds herself again in the top contenders club, with a fastest time of 30:49:57.

“The talent is deep,” Sisson said. “It’s going to be a hard race no matter how it plays out, so I think we just need to prepare for any type of scenario.”

The focus doesn’t extend past making the Tokyo Games right now, but Sisson also knows she isn’t done with the marathon. Should everything go according to plan, she’d like to race 26.2 miles in the fall — and she’ll have plenty to choose from with all six World Marathon Majors currently scheduled to take place between September and November.

“It’s probably good for me to take a break from it, but I’m excited to get back to the marathon,” Sisson said.

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