Running Times, Online

I just declared myself in the Olympic Trials 800m.  My final seeding is 48th on the list.   The final day for declaration for the Women’s 800m is June 24th.  Unlike the Olympic Marathon Trials where all “B” standard runners can compete in the event the T&F Trials cap the entries to an undetermined number.  The USATF will not decide how many to accept into the race until June 25th.

I did gave it my best shot on June 8th at the local all-comers track meet.  What fun!  My 13-year-old daughter, Virginia,  pace-set the competitive all-women race.  She dropped-out at 300m.  I was impressed with Virginia’s performance given that she has not trained in the sport of running, just soccer.  The weather was a wicked 90 plus degrees.  I ran unchallenged to the tape with a 2:12 performance.

On June 11th, I was back in Indianapolis at the American Milers Club series of races.  I made the tactical error of going out in 28-seconds for the first 200m and 59-seconds through the first 400m.  I struggled in to the finish in 2:09.1.  I needed a 2:04.0 to secure my spot at the Trials.

I was moved by the personal sagas that I encountered this season.  There was the woman who was a 2004 Olympic Trials finalist in the 800m who returned to the sport this year after getting married and having a baby boy.  She drove 5-hours by herself to Indianapolis to race in hopes of hitting the 2:06.5 standard.  She missed the standard by one second.  Then there was the woman who ran every American Milers Club race and other races across the country in hopes of hitting the standard.  She was successful on the last qualifying day though, like me, her time may not make the final cut.

For those who qualified but don’t make the final cut:  Don’t feel defeated.  There will be better days.   A champion may suffer many losses before they succeed.

For those who will race at the Trials:  Give it your best shot.  Good luck.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the event.

For those victorious three that make the Olympic Team:  Congratulations!  Make us proud in Beijing!

I want to give a special thanks to Katie Wolpert of Running Times for giving me the opportunity to blog for the last four months.  I have been inspired by my blogging experience to start my own website:  www.alisaharvey.com.   I constantly encounter people who have questions about running or are just inspired to get going themselves.   I hope I will be able to assist people of all ages and abilities to enjoy running as I have for 28-years.

I wish you all the best,
Alisa

I am content with my performance at the American Milers Club track meet last Saturday night in Indianapolis, Indiana    I ran 2:09.95 to finish 6th in the race.  I admit that I struggled during the entire race.  I just did not have any “bounce”.  My legs almost gave out on me in the last 60 meters; they locked up.  The competition was held entirely under the lights of the spectacular I.U.P.U.I stadium.  There were national caliber runners in every event.  The weather was an ideal wind-less 70 plus degrees by my race time.  The only thing missing was the spectators.  There were about 50 eager fans cheering us on in our attempts to qualify for the Olympic Trials or improve our Trials qualifying time.

At present I am about 24th on the Women’s 800m list.  I am quite anxious about the entire situation.  There are still some top-seeded 800m runners that have not yet entered the meet.  The entry deadline is June 15th.  I guess I will sweat it out until then.  Although, the additional twist is that there still may be some scratches from the list.  Athletes do not have to declare until June 24th.

I am staying positive and training hard.  I confess that part of my lack of fitness is due to my weight gain during my injury.  At 5′2″ a gain of a few pounds is significant.  I have a big appetite.  Perhaps the chocolate chip cookies and ice cream sandwiches that I ate regularly during my time off was a bad idea.  I think I was depressed.  Gaining weight is easy for me to do.  Thankfully, it is just as easy for me to lose it.  I am hesitant to even mention my weight because of the negative history many women runners have with their diet.  Take it from me, severely limiting your calorie intake is never the way to go for an athlete.  I just cut out the treats.  I love my oatmeal in the morning.  Chocolate Power Bars are my snack; with a tall glass of milk.  I eat meat.  Prune juice is my bedtime snack.  I don’t count my calories.  Once a day I take a prenatal vitamin.  The prenatal formula works well for me.  I have a tendency to become anemic.

Today I ran 57.6 in a 400 meter time-trial (running start) in my workout.  I am running in the Potomac Valley Track Club’s all-comers track meet this Sunday.  The race director is having a special women’s 800m race.  Normally the guys and gals run together, but I wanted a legal race.  Some local Washington, D.C. area runners will be in the race.  Should be fun.  I may even get one of my friends to pace-set the race.

I am pleased with my progress over the last two weeks. I am training and racing at full-speed now. Tempo runs and fast-pace training have been no problem during my recovery. Though, I have found that explosive push-offs sprints have been much more difficult due to tenderness.

On May 17th, I travelled to the University of North Carolina to race in an 800m at the Nike Elite Meet. I was less than satisfied with my 2:12.8 second-place performance (Results Here). Though, my splits were good up until 600 meters. There were just four women in the race. The meet was lightly attended. I came through the 200m in a conservative 30 seconds. I ran 61 seconds for 400m. At the 600m mark I came through at 1:31; it was there that things fell apart. There was a steady breeze into the finish where I struggled to the line for second place. Not a blazing time, but I certainly needed the effort.

On Sunday, May 25th, I raced a group of masters women and one youngster in the 200m at the Potomac Valley all-comers meet in Langley, Virginia. My time was 26.8 for third-place. The youngster was first. I was reminded of my brief high school days as a sprinter. I even used starting blocks! I ran the race in order to help my friend an fellow masters runner, Charmaine Roberts, who was attempting to improve her qualifying time for the Masters Exhibition 200m that is to be held at the Olympic Trials on July 5th. Charmaine successfully improved her time finishing second in 26.2! I was pleased with my performance. My speed is improving nicely.

This Saturday I will give it another shot at improving my 800m time for the Olympic Trials. I am now at number seventeen on the list: http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-TF/entry/status.asp#women. Only the top 30 women make the cut to race at the Trials in the 800m. I am travelling to Indianapolis to run in the American Milers Club High Performance Series track meet. The race will include individuals with posted elite times that are trying to run fast in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Trials: http://www.indianainvaders.com/americanmilersclub/amc_instructions.asp. The current postings are not updated. Apparently the website is having some difficulties. The race will be run in the evening under the lights. Wish me luck!

I caught the flu last week just six days before I was scheduled to race in the Medtronic TC 1-Mile road race.  On Saturday, May 3rd, I had a 101 degree temperature.   My doctor prescribed Tamiflu, an antiviral medication.  By Sunday I was able to run again; the Tamiflu worked!

On May 7th, dealing with some congestion and a slight cough, I stuffed my carry-on bag with tissues and flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Elite Recruiter, David Smisek, had been communicating with me via-e-mail since March.  He was even more pleasant in-person.  Race Director, Brian Mastel, was generous with my travel and accommodations.  I figured that I desperately needed the competition.  The fact that the race was one mile and off of the track was a bonus since I was coming off an injury.

Thursday, May 8th, was race day.  The elite men and women gathered together in a grassy area near the start of the race.  The race was scheduled to begin at 7:53 PM.  I was pleasantly surprised when Carrie Tollefson, who is as friendly as she is beautiful,  approached me and asked, “How is your leg?”  I responded with a smile and said, “I don’t know.  I guess I’ll know in a few minutes.”

On the starting line there were just nine runners; seven elites and two elite masters.  Zofia Wieciorkowska, a forty-five-year old native of Poland would be my direct competition.  Zofia is a former elite open 400m/800m runner.   I had not lost a race to her thus far, but I knew this evening she was healthy and a tremendous competitor.

At the sound of the starting horn the ladies shot off the line and immediately opened up a gap on me.  Even Zofia was amongst the pack when I made a brief scan of the entire field ahead of me.  The course began with a slight decline for about 150m then inclined for 100m.  At the sharp left turn I noticed Zofia beginning to get distanced from the pack.  By the first quarter mile I was even with Zofia.  I made a special attempt to conserve my energy at this point in the race because I was aware that the remaining three quarters of the race would be a gradual up hill to the finish.  At the second sharp left turn I surged ahead of Zofia, but I knew she was close behind me.  As I passed the half-way point I saw the clock read “2:26″.  My pace was the least of my concerns.  I had 800m remaining in a race with Zofia stalking me.  My lungs were giving me all they had.  I faintly heard a man read off my 3/4 split; all my brain could decipher was the number nine.  I was hurting pretty bad at this point.  I could feel my legs no longer lifting.  Ahead of me in the distance was an African runner who had fallen way-off the pack.  The crowd support was wonderful.  I think I even heard my name cheered a few times; though I may have been hallucinating.  As I approached the finish I was just praying that Zofia would not gather her former 400m speed and walk by me; I would not have been able to respond.

I finished in 5:14 as the first place master. http://www.mtcmarathon.org/OneMile/Results.cfm. Though my time was not spectacular I was pleased with my performance.  My injured leg was back to form and soon my body would be rid of the flu.  I would gladly run this race again.  The Race Organizers were all professional and friendly.  Compared to all of the many mile road races that I have run in the last 25-years the Medtronic TC 1-Mile was one of the best I have ever experienced.

Yesterday was my last day of physical therapy.  It was bittersweet to say good bye to the folks at The Jackson Clinics in Vienna, Virginia.  My physical therapist, Kerri Kramer, certainly lived-up to her reputation as a skilled therapist.  Kerri is a competitive triathlete.  She does the longer triathlons not the sprints.  Kerri was incredible at explaining to me what was going on with my injury.  She gave me a valuable education on my IT Bands, knees, tendons, and quadriceps.  When I came in one morning and announced that I was certain that I had torn my meniscus she calmly suggested that I schedule an MRI in order for me to be at peace.  My common sense prevailed and I decided not to have an MRI.  After all, I was improving every day.

Kecia Reed was my exercise specialist at the clinic.  Kecia politely instructed me through the various exercises that I desperately needed to heal, and strengthen my left leg.  When my form failed (which it often did) during my exercises she was quick to correct me.  She sent me off yesterday with a detailed written description of exercises that I need to continue on my own.

It’s full steam ahead for me now.  I was at the George Mason University track for the first time in four weeks yesterday.  I had no idea how much I could miss nine-lanes of rubberized track, bleachers, and an immaculately kept soccer field?  I did a 600 meter time-trial (1:39.2).  I rested for one minute then I ran 200 meters (34.1).  I noticed that my arm swing has not been affected at all from the time-off.  I believe the pool running has kept my arms fit.  Though the power in my stride has taken a hit from being off the track so long.  Over-all I am pleased with my fitness.

Thank you, Kerri and Kecia!