Can we assume that you're coming into New York City ready to break 2:30 by quite a bit and that you're totally satisfied and happy with the condition you're in? Tell us if that's true.Magdalena Lewy Boulet: Yes, it is. I actually had a really good build-up for New York. I've been training pretty hard for the last two to four months just for New York. It all started with a trip to altitude in July. I just finished my last difficult workout today. I'm ready to go.
What was that final hard workout?
MLB: It wasn't really that hard, but it was kind of a longer total workout, volumewise. I did three miles kind of easy, than 12 miles at close to marathon pace, at around 1:07. I did one mile easy and one mile tempo at 5:16 and then two miles to finish. So it was a total of 19 miles. From now on, it's just "don't do anything dumb."
Where was the altitude trip this time?
MLB: I actually first went to Flagstaff, where my coach (Jack Daniels) is. I spent a little bit of time there, came back to sea level and did a couple of races, and then went up to (Lake) Tahoe for a little bit. Flagstaff and Tahoe are the two places I like to go between.
Tahoe used to be favored by runners more. The Olympic Trials were there in the past. It used to be a place lots of people went to run, but you don't hear about it as much now. It's certainly beautiful and there's no shortage of places to run.MLB: It has beautiful trails, especially at North Tahoe. It's a little bit lower than places like Flagstaff and Mammoth that are above 7000 feet. It's still six and a half (6500) and you can get up a little bit higher than that. It's gorgeous. There are plenty of places to run. Some of the runs are hilly. The (local) running community is definitely very involved. Yeah, I'm surprised more people don't go up there. I absolutely love it, and I keep going. My son loves it to. There are places to swim. You can run and jump in the lake.
So what races have you done most recently?
MLB: I did the half marathon three weeks ago in San Jose, the Rock 'n' Roll (and finished second). Right about that time I think I started to come down with flu. I ran well there, but I didn't feel that great, and then after the race I get really sick. And I ended up going to Boston to run the Tufts 10K (a women's USA 10km Championship) and that was a disaster. I was just out of it. I probably shouldn't have raced. I would have to say that was probably the worst race of my life (laughs). It felt, really, really hard running 34:00 for a 10k. It felt like I was running an all-out mile.
Was the USA 20K (on Labor Day) the race where you went out really hard? Did you think you could keep that pace up, or did you figure you needed a hard run at that point in any case?
MLB: No, not at all. Actually, I was hoping to go out in low 5:20s (per mile) and I really thought I was going on that pace, and I just miscalculated it. I just felt really, really good and I wasn't patient enough. I wish I could say that was a rookie mistake, but I'm old enough to know better. I just felt too good and I paid for it starting halfway through.
And you were fourth in the 10,000 at the USATF Championships. You're one of the few top U.S. women marathoners who's still trying to be a good track runner. You would have loved to have made it to Berlin for the World Championships, we assume.MLB: Yes. Going into that, I didn't do a spring marathon. I got sick and then I got hurt, so I took a little bit of time off and started getting back into things around April or May. Going into the USA Championships, I was definitely very fresh, I didn't have much mileage behind me, and I was just starting to to run on the track. I didn't really have much base because I'd taken a little bit of time off, but I was happy with the race. I would have liked to have made the team. I missed it by a little bit. I'm still trying to PR in the 10k and get my times down in the 5k. I actually PRed in the 5k in that 10k halfway through. I think we came through around 15:54. But I had not run a 5k on the track since 1997. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get a real good and more extensive track season next spring.
At what point did you decide to stop coaching at Berkeley?
MLB: Unlike other people that might have ten years ahead of, I only have a couple more years that I can run at this level, and I've never had a chance to run full-time. This is really something that I enjoy, and I would like to give it a try. I just wanted to go for it and see what it was like to be a full-time professional runner and be a mom, which is having two jobs.
People might think being a coach of people you could work out with could be a good gig, but it does mean you have to travel at times when you might want to do your own workouts, and there are obviously major distractions from your own career.
MLB: Well, you're totally on a different schedule, first of all. Being a marathoner, if you're trying to do fall and spring marathons, you're trying to work out with people who do the longest event in college, which is a 10k. They're peaking for June, for NCAA track, or they're peaking at the end of November for cross country nationals. It's a lot of fun to jump in and do workouts with people, but I used to do that when I was done with my season and I was in a stage when I was just having fun and running and not really in a specific preparation period for anything. When I'm preparing for a marathon, I like to stick to the schedule that my coach writes. More than anything, when I show up as a coach to a workout, I like to watch. I don't like to run with a few people and then ignore the rest of them. It's intense. It (coaching) is an amazing profession, it's a great job, and I definitely want to get back into it. But for a couple of years, I just want to give it (full-time running) a try and have fun.
We just did a Brief Chat with Bolota Asmerom, and he said he would talk to Jack Daniels about his workouts and that you would even be on site for a lot of what he did, and he was very happy with how much you know.
MLB: For someone like Bolota who is very talented and loves to run fast - it's a lot of fun to watch him, and he's a such a beautiful runner - it's really hard for him to be patient in the longer workouts and to really back off. He goes "what do you mean you want me to run so slow for two miles?" I said "well, that's because you have to do four of them, four times two miles." It took awhile. When he trained for New York last year, on a lot of the workouts he went out too fast and never got a chance to complete them. You're done when you go out so fast. It was a learning period, and I think he's definitely maturing. He definitely has untapped potential in that event (the marathon). It takes time to learn how to pace yourself, how to be patient, and he's doing it. It's been fun to watch him mature and just enjoy training for a marathon.
Your son obviously occupies your time, but now that you're not coaching, do you ever just look around and say to yourself "gosh, I have some free time now?"
MLB: More than anything, I go "gosh, where did I fit everything?" I look at the clock sometimes and think "where did the time go?" I ran twice today, I did strengthening stuff, and the day's gone. I go to pick up my son from preschool and wonder "where did I fit a job into my day?" The difference is I don't have to get up at 5:00 anymore. Owen is my alarm clock right now, so I get a little bit more sleep. There are little changes. My last day of work was the end of summer. It's really been since the end of August, so it hasn't been that long, so for the first month and a half I thought "wow, I do have a lot more time," and now, I'm starting to find out that I do have to manage my time a little bit differently. For years, I always had a job and I had a certain routine that I was accustomed to that was set. Now, I'm basically trying to rearrange and readjust and find a new routine. I'm really enjoying it but I'm in a transition period.
How old were you when you left Poland?
MLB: I was 15, and I lived in Germany for three years (in Kiel, near Hamburg).
What do you remember of it?
MLB: I have a lot of memories. From childhood, I remember standing in line for bread before school started. I even remember tanks driving on the street in the middle of the day or the morning. A lot of people don’t even know what they look like or what they are, but I remember that as a child. Random memories - walking to school for about a mile…. My parents made a conscious decision to leave Poland so they could give their kids a better opportunity and a better life.
When Katrin Dorre, formerly of East Germany, was here some years ago, she said it took her a while to become accustomed to the freedoms she suddenly had, about being allowed to make her own decisions. You were younger, but was it tough for you to adjust to the fact that you could now do more of what you wanted and have more responsibility for yourself?
MLB: Even when I was 15, I didn’t really experience what my parents had experienced, not having the freedom to make decisions and so no. For me, it was more when I came here that I never took anything for granted, that I really appreciated everything I had. I knew my parents never got a chance to have the freedom to do anything they wanted. Even to this day, I see that jumping at opportunities is something that my parents are more hesitant to do. I’m so fortunate that I can really do whatever I set my heart to doing. I just need to work hard and go after it.
At this New York City Marathon, if someone like Paula Radcliffe is healthy and has gotten over her tonsillitis, obviously you're not going to have to worry about dictating the pace because she always goes out hard. But it's not a terribly deep field. It's certainly a race where you could be contending for the top five quite seriously.
MLB: Definitely, I think the emphasis is on the men's field, especially with it being their (men's) U.S. national championships. Just looking at the entries, the men's field is definitely loaded. And looking at the women's field, there's always great competition, maybe not as many in the previous years, but there will always be a good group of ten women who will be fighting for the top five. That's the goal, to be in the top five.
It could string out a bit. You could end up running with one person, or nobody, in the second half.
MLB: And that almost has happened every time I have run New York. You have to be mentally strong enough and prepared. You have to run your own pace, and you might be out there by yourself. That's something you have to think about way before, even during your training. The field is usually pretty small and it tends to separate, and you don't have ten men around you because the elite women start a little bit earlier. If you're counting on running with people, that (New York City) is not the race where it's usually going to happen. You have to be confident that you can do it by yourself.
You've made your presence felt in the past way years, making an Olympic team, but the fast time is still something you want to get. You're probably saying to yourself "now's the time to run 2:28, or 2:27," something like that, right?
MLB: Now's the time, yes. And I would like to do it in New York. There is no better place where I would love to get it done.
We don't really want to go to this topic so much, but is the Olympic disappointment wearing off at this point?
MLB: Definitely. I mean, it took awhile. It took the rest of 2008. 2009 was a new year and I was setting new goals and I definitely have moved on. Once in awhile, the memory comes back. When I do think about it now, it's from a totally different angle. I would like another shot and have a much better race at the next Olympics.
Would you like to go to Daegu if you qualify for the 2011 World Championships?
MLB: Oh, of course. Oh, of course.
Thank You Runner'sWorld!
ShareThis