Sarah "Ran Her Race", she reached her goal

  I truly admire and am always inspired by the effort, perseverance, dedication and talent exuded by Sarah Bashinski-Flament, she has been recognized for making some of the biggest improvements, and also known as the come back kid. 
    Sarah had a wonderful running career in High School and College (UW-L) "Go Eagles".  After college Sarah hung up the spikes, married and started a family.  It was 11 years later in 2009, 11 when Sarah made her debut at Twin Cities and ran an Olympic Trials qualifying time, and the fire was lit, during the next two years Sarah went on to achieve a Marathon PR in 2011 at Boston hitting a fast time of 2:43:37. 
   Sarah had suffered a stress fracture in 2010, that stopped her running for almost 5 months, but after healing and doing her rehab, Sarah returned to running with a new confidence and fire that propelled her to her PR at Boston.!!!  This tough, determined, and recharged attitude was contagious, many of her friends and fellow runners were so touched by Sarah, and her positive attitude, it effected her entire community.  Poland Ohio and Wausau Wisconsin were alive with supportive articles, talking about and promoting Sarah in her journey to the Olympic Trials.  Sarah had run a great race in Boston and knew she had faster times in her.  This period of training after Boston was going to be tough, Sarah's foot was not recovering, there was something a miss.  Sarah developed Plantar Fasciitis, while training and seeing many medical professionals, the PF was not going away, as she trained and got closer to her 6 month training period leading up to the Olympic Trials Sarah could not get rid of the PF, the PF eventually led to a minor stress reaction and this was scary, not another fracture only 5 months before the Trials.  But, Sarah played it smart, she backed off her running, cross trained, and treated her PF.  Eventually the stress reaction healed, the PF went away, and Sarah was healthy, but she had only 12 weeks to build a base, and do speed work for the Trials.  This was not enough time, 12 weeks of training is not enough time to recover from an injury, to build a base, to go from 8 weeks without running to a 12 week marathon training plan was going to be very hard.  Knowing all this Sarah set out to train smart, train hard, and mentally prepare herself. 
   For Sarah racing at the Olympic Trials was one of the most important running goals of her life.  Sarah had her heart and mind set on this for years, this was one goal Sarah would reach, even if it killed her. 

Sarah at one point in 2011 was ranked by USATF as the 80th female in the US for 2011 in the Marathon...  that is AWESOME!!!!!

Sarah set out on her mission and it was going to be a tough one, it was a huge undertaking, with winter weather approaching, raising children, running a household, family visiting for holidays, Sarah had a lot on her plate, as many of us mere mortals do.  We find the winter months hard to deal with, reduced amounts of sunshine, colder stormy weather, pressures to celebrate holidays, and of course working and taking care of the domestic chores.  Sarah did all this and ran her 80 mile weeks, just 4 weeks before the trials Sarah had her highest mileage weeks, while celebrating Thanksgiving with family visiting, celebrating her Daughter's 4th birthday, getting ready for Christmas.  Remember black Friday?  Well I went shopping for hours and complained about the crowds and bad drivers, but Sarah ran a long run, did an ice bath, and still did the Black Friday thing with family.  After all the ups and downs, two major injuries setting her back in two years, setting a PR in Boston, and then getting ready for the Olympic Trials in just 12 weeks. Sarah was able to do it, to make it to Houston, run at the Trials and even run on a PR pace for over 20 miles, that is huge considering how little training she had leading up to the race. 
    While Sarah has never hit the "Wall" this was a first for Sarah, and this is what happens when you don't have enough mileage in. Unfortunately Sarah did not have the time to train for a PR, Sarah had 12 weeks and knew she needed to get the most of it.  Sarah was able to get out on the course, with over 185 women racing(only 152 finished almost) in the trials Sarah was ranked around 95.  Based on her PR she would have placed around 65th, right behind Jenn Rhines, WOW, that would be awesome!!!!  Sarah went out and ran a PR pace for 20 + miles, unfortunately she hit the wall, yet she did not quit, (And plenty of other men and women did quit that day, over 30 women dropped)  instead Sarah just backed it off a little and finished the race with a 2:53:26. (133rd of 187... Awesome finish) the last 10K was the hardest 10K ever, not so much physically but mentally.  This was Sarah's big day, and her body was letting her down, it was crushing her spirit to watch her times slow down every mile.  Now this may not have been a PR, or a goal she had in mind, but keeping it all in perspective, this is still damn impressive considering where Sarah has come from, how hard it has been to fight the uphill battle against injuries. 

    Only 132 women in all of the US were able to go to qualify for Houston and run faster than Sarah, and it was a bad day with inadequate training for Sarah.  Imagine if this had been her best day, with all the right training, and rest....  Look out!!!  Remember Sarah didn't have a big shoe contract throwing money and teams of specialists at her, no underwater treadmills, no Alberto Salazar coaching her.  No altitude training camp or tent to sleep in.  No dietician checking her blood work every week.  This woman lives a regular life just like the average Jane, except she has the heart of a Lion, and the determination and will like no one else, nothing can stop her.!!! Sarah ran in the Olympic Trials in 2012, Sarah reached her goal, it may not have been the fastest race of her life, but it still was the most important, and she made it happen.  All on her own, coaching herself, running thousands of miles, mostly on her own, taking care of her aches and pains along the way.  Her tireless and selfless dedication to her family and running is so inspiring, and this is why Sarah is an Olympian in my books!!!

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Meb in 2012

It was a great run in 2011, all of us had our ups and downs, our new PR's and our bad races.  Some of us went on to chase our dreams, weather it be a PR, qualifying for the Olympic Trials, or getting healthy and starting to train again.  While we focused on our running goals and set out each day to train for this goal we all faced challenges from the daily life like everyone else, some had to overcome financial problems, sponsorship reductions, some faced loss of a close family member, or a problems in personal relationships, all these problems where balanced out with the beautiful thoughts and blessings of a new born child, an expecting child, an engagement, a new job, a promotion, and a new close loving relationship.  While we all looked forward to the big day, the Olympic Trials and the excitement of finally running in the one race where America's fastest runners compete to be one of the three fastest runners to represent the USA in London at the 2012 Olympic Games.
    While the Olympic Trials where in January, and its been a month since the Trials I am finally writing a blog about my thoughts and reflections on the years leading up to the trials.  I am sorry for it being so long overdue, and long winded.  But my biggest appreciation for a stellar performance is that Meb Keflezighi was able to pull off a PR, and a win at the Trials.  Meb had raced all year long, finished the ING NYC Marathon with a PR of 2:09:13, and first American, to then suffer an infection in a blister on his foot, to then go on and race two months later at the Trials, winning the race, by 22 seconds ahead of Ryan Hall, and a new PR of 2:09:08.  Great Job Meb!!!  My friend and fellow runner....  I am so proud of how well you run, but I am even prouder of how great a friend you are, and what great kindness you share with others.  everyone could take a page from your life and learn from it.
 

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Remembering the Fallen Heroes of our time

I know this is a Running website, but on Memeorial day, I must support the great American Men and Women serving our country and those who we have lost in harms way.  To all the Gold Star families - Thank you for all that you and your loved ones have done for our country!!!

I often think of how many great American men and women have died defending our way of life, and on this solemn day, the US takes pause to pay a tribute and remember our fallen service men and women.  Prior to 2001 I would have thought of those killed in the Revolution, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam.  But now we have a whole new generation of American Service Men and Women who gave their lives for our freedom. 

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My Weekend in Boston

What an incredible weekend!  It wasn't just the weekend in Boston with my awesome daughter Megan and sister Wendy, but also the opportunity to witness the fastest Marathon finish in the world, watch Olympians achieve new personal bests, see friends have a great race, enjoy the race atmosphere that surrounds Boston on race weekend, and to just be there to see two of INFINITE RUNNING's Elite Runners have the race of their lives.

It was an emotional few days to say the least.  So many dynamics came into play over the weekend.  I was made the trip east with my 17 year old daughter, Megan who had never been to Boston.  Marathon weekend coincided with her spring break, so we combined a little work with a visit to some Colleges and Universities in Boston.   What a great plan! I invited my little sister to come up from Long Island and visit with us for the weekend as well.  It was a special time for the three of us. We spent some great quality time together and reflected back on life and what we had all been through over the years.   Our college tour included Harvard, Tufts, MIT, BC and BU.  Whew!  I wanted Megan to see all the different types of campuses and she did!  Megan loved Harvard Yard, of course, but who wouldn't?

Caitlin Smith arrived on Saturday night, very excited about the weekend and Monday's race.  She had flown in from San Francisco and was still wired, her energy level was non-stop.  We picked up her race packet and bib number, did some shopping for groceries and visited the race expo.  We walked around Boston to find some dinner with Megan and Wendy and found a nice Irish restaurant on Newbury Street.   We discussed Monday's race plan, pace and strategy.  Go out easy and negative split the race.  Be consistent.  Finish strong.  What ever she decided to do, really doesn't matter now, but she had a plan!!  Caitlin had raced a few marathons before - she was an experienced trail runner with little track experience.  It had been eight years since her last Boston Marathon, and she wasn't training seriously then.  This race had the potential to be an incredible experience for her and could be her ticket to the Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston.  This would be her first attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials in January and she needed a BIG PR (13 minutes) to do it.
 I saw Caitlin off on the bus to Hopkinton.  It was great to see Caitlin on Monday morning, pumped up and ready to tear it up!    We spoke briefly about her experiences and how this would seem easy at first, but resist the temptation to go out too hard early in the race - hold off until the last 10 miles. Save some energy to reel in the competition late in the race.  When they begin to fade, you can pick it up.  Caitlin was used to running for long distances on her own and she knew what it was like to be all alone for hours on a run.  Today was different, she would be in a large group of world class runners - she needed to hold back and let them go.  It was time to focus on running her own race not everyone else's.  Caitlin is a tough runner, she was the overall female winner of the North Face 50 mile trail race in 2009.  It seemed funny to think of Boston as one of her shorter races.  The focus today needed  to be pace. She needed to run faster then she was used to in her long ultra events.  She smiled and I knew that she really didn't need my advice. Caitlin was confident and had a plan (clearly, I was the nervous one) LOL.  She had heard all this from Jack and she knew how she would handle this race.

The bus pulled away at 7:00 am, and I had to wait back at Copley Square until Caitlin crossed the line at 12:13  pm (2:41:37 gun time).  I enjoyed a nice breakfast with Megan and Wendy.  We went over to the hotel and watched the race on TV for a little while where we spent the morning tracking all of our friends with text message updates, phone reports from other friends and tweets from all over the country.   It was crazy - we had so much information on how everyone was doing.  Eventually,  there was a black hole of race splits.  Caitlin had crossed the last timing mat, there would be no more updates until we saw her turn onto Boylston Street.  Now it was a matter of minutes to see if Caitlin was going to hold it together and finish with a PR and qualify for the Trials.  She was running a smart race, but anything can happen at the end of a marathon.  We waited patiently and sure enough, along came Caitlin swinging along like it was a walk in the park.  She crossed the finish line in 2:41:37 and walked over to me, smiling from ear to ear,  Her first words were "wow, that was awesome, I feel great!!!"  I burst out laughing and said, "You're not supposed to feel great, you didn't run fast enough!  Great job, you did awesome out there and you are going to the Olympic Trials in 2012 with a huge PR"  

We walked and talked, but lost contact as I had to get back to the finish, and guard my post, and wait for the next MEGA event of the day…..  more on that one later!!!

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USATF Half Marathon Championships

Tomorrow is a big day, Dan Browne, Sarah Bashinski-Flament, Kara Storage and many other great runners will take to the streets of Houston Texas and run on the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials course as part of the 2011 USATF Half Marathon Championships.  This is a debut of the 2012 Marathon Trials course, in 2012 the Olympic Marathon Trials will be run on this same course with two extra loops.  For some runners this will be a once in a lifetime event, but hopefully not the case, hopefully they will all run in the Olympic Trials in 2012.  Lets all wish them well and cheer them on as they race with all their heart tomorrow!!!

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