Project: Break 3:00:00
Hi, my name is Olivia.
Running on a dirt road in Ann Arbor, MI (October 2020)
I’m a 28-year-old that enjoys caring for my houseplants and dancing in my living room to terrible 90s techno music. I also love to run. My running story spans over 10 years, but in order to look toward my future goals it’s important to look back on how I got here.
In 2009 I joined my high school’s track team as a senior. Surprisingly, I was recruited to join Wayne State University’s Women’s Cross Country team. With a 5K PR of 21:02, I was lucky to run for a respected program. My college running was defined by sleeping 10 hours a night and eating everything that was put in front of me. Training in college consisted of daily (sometimes twice daily) runs, morning biking, evening strength training and ending the day with the dreaded ice bath. By the end of my college career, I lowered my 5K time by over two minutes, to 18:47. I was in the best shape of my life and was ready to take advantage of that college fitness to focus on the highly respected marathon.
3rd place at Race for the Cure in Detroit, MI (May 2012)
The allure of racing 26.2 miles never excited me but enticed my competitive edge. At this point in my running career, posting a great marathon time would let me accomplish one final goal. After, I planned to stop running competitively, or what post-collegiate athletes like to call “retire.” The marathon training experience was tiring. I ran an all-time weekly high mileage of 75 miles. Under the guidance of my college assistant coach, I ran hours on hours stacked on weeks on weeks of speed work, long runs, marathon-paced workouts, and recovery mileage. In May 2013, I ran the Bayshore Marathon (Traverse City, MI) in 3:06:52, a really respectable debut for a 20-year old college student. I was done with running for big, pie-in-the-sky goals.
Over the last seven years, I put away my racing flats and explored other recreational and academic interests. I completed a master’s degree and dabbled in yoga and CrossFit. Even though running wasn’t anchoring my life anymore, I still never gave up completely on it. I putzed through a lot of running. I knew my easy, short runs worked to strengthen my cardiovascular health. I didn’t wear a watch. I didn’t care to know my pace or time or distance.
College running left me with slight anxiety for running races at all, so I strongly avoided any race and especially races with large crowds. But as I drew further away from this highly structured running time, my competitive itch eventually returned. It started with joining small workouts with the local running store, Hansons Running Shop. (Yes, the Hansons brothers who have led the highly successful Hansons-Brooks ODP team for twenty years and who coached beloved Des Linden back in 2018 when she won the Boston Marathon). The Hansons group runs and workouts taught me how to enjoy cross-country style workouts again. I remember lightly laughing at myself for running a 1:45 400m during my first workout at the Dodge Park sessions (This was a slower pace than some of my everyday runs back in college). It was fun. I found a running family that praised me for every good attempt or bad attempt, a family who showed up with me to put in good, hard work. When I had to move to Ann Arbor for work in 2018, I found another running family with the Ann Arbor Track Club. I started to run college-paced workouts again. I couldn’t believe this was me. Everyone always told me I would never be “college good” without the coaching staff, support staff, access to icing, workout equipment, team doctors and all the free time that comes with being a college athlete instead of a working professional.
Power Five Invite at University of Michigan 1600m race with Ann Arbor Track Club (January 2020)
It’s 2020---eleven years since joining my first team, seven years since my first marathon, and six years of post-college running. This past summer, a friend generously provided me with a loose training plan where I ran close to a college 5K PR with a time of 19:02. It was in the middle of marathon training (a now cancelled CIM 2020) and the middle of July. The objective coaching got me excited to train hard again. It was satisfying to know that every single run I did was carefully planned for only me, improving on my weaknesses and building up my strengths. I was reporting to someone who cared about me and my running goals. It was exactly what I needed.
Years of base running, yoga, and CrossFit have given me functional strength that my college body lacked. Even though I’m getting older, I’m not letting myself slow down. My success is not determined by chance and age---I’ll get out what I put in. With the proper coaching, anything is possible.
Now, I am ready to push harder and dig deeper. I am SO very excited to team up with Coach Johnny and Team Wicked Bonkproof. I have a healthy dose of anticipation and anxiousness to impress my new coach and team. Long-term, I want to break down the 3-hour barrier in the marathon. I am done putzing along.