Youngster Craig Huffer, surprized all but a few, when he recently ran a 3 second 1500m PB overseas (3:36), after a long injury layoff. We caught up with Craig to find out the inside happenings of this talented miler.

RT: Craig thanks for your time. You disappeared for a while, and then out of the blue you popped up in America and broke the 4min mile for the first time. What’s the story? Were you injured for a while?

CH:  It has been a rollercoaster ride the last 12 months. I had a good winter base where I had taken my training to another level. However around November just before the NSW 3k champs everything started to spiral downwards. Leading into NSW 3k I had been struggling with plantar fasciitis. A few days before the race my plantar started really take a turn for the worst. I didn’t realise at the time but I had actually torn it and continued training through the pain just thinking it was a bad case of plantar fasciitis. In the race I could hardly put my right foot on the ground after the 3^rd lap… I battled on for a bit but I ended up having to DNF.

After a week of rest and no relief I had some scans done which showed the tear and with that it meant 10 weeks of no running. In the pool and on the bike I went, training desperately to be fit again for the Commonwealth Games trials. Finally… … … … I was back running. After two weeks of gradually getting back into it… Tragedy struck again when I rolled my ankle. And with that went my season. It took two weeks to heal even though the problem was only some bone bruising and bad inflammation. Now it was March and we felt it wasn’t worth rushing back at this stage of my development for Nationals. We decided to have the next couple of weeks off and to fly over to Alamosa, Colorado to train under the eye of my coach Dean who attends college at Adams State. The rest did do me good and I grew another 2cm. 

Above: Nashville Sub 4 Mile – 3.59

RT: Since coming back from injury, have you changed anything up? Who is coaching you?

CH: Yeah, there have been a few changes made. Being out for so long gave me plenty of time to reflect and I definitely have a different outlook on my whole running biz now. Since my return I have been a lot more relaxed about it all and I am really enjoying being back running and most of all racing. I kind of got to the stage last year where I was desperately reaching out for something more all the time instead of just enjoying the moment.



Training wise, the big change was moving to Colorado. Training at 2300m in Alamosa Colorado has meant I have had to make certain changes to my training as you just wouldn’t survive if you tried to train the same as you do at sea-level. Being able to train with other runners, having facilities and working closer with my coach Dean has been a big bonus. It definitely has made the comeback so much easier.

I am coached by my brother Dean (3:45 1500m runner). It can’t get much better than having your brother as your coach. Dean is doing his Masters in Human Performance/Exercise Science and is a very in-depth kind of guy that never takes any decision lightly. It works well as he knows and understands me so well.

With my running there has been a plan set out since I have been little. The legend Joe Carmody was the man who set out the foundations of my running and it has been Dean’s job to follow through the plan since Joe passed away when I was 14. Dean also works closely with Coach Damon Martin his collegiate coach who is one of the most respected coaches in American distance running.

 
RT: How long have you been overseas for? And where are you based?

CH: I arrived over in Alamosa, Colorado late March and based myself there till early June when I moved down to Oklahoma City while I raced my American circuit. Following my last race in America I flew to London and based myself in Twickenham. Thanks to an English mate I was set up with accommodation about a 5min jog from St. Marys University athletics track.  After a few weeks in London I traveled to Uden, Netherlands for my first race and since then I have been traveling from race to race.

Above: Barcelona International 2010- 3:36

RT: The 3:36 in Barcelona is an awesome PB. Talk us through the race?

CH: All week leading into the race I thought I was in the B race but a few hours before the race I saw the start lists and they had me in the A race (the slowest man in the field). I was absolutely pumped… this was my chance. I was expecting it to be fast from the start and one of those races that I would have to cling on but it turned out to quite the opposite. I kind of stayed back a bit all race and I felt as relaxed as anything. The race just got gradually faster. The splits were approximately for me 58.4 (58.4)  1:56.8 (58.4), 2:54.2 (57.4) , 3:36.35 (42.15) so as you can see we just got faster and faster. About 150m to go I was feeling like I might have chance at a win… but at the moment I don’t quite have enough strength to close like those guys, but that part of my race is definitely on the improve.

RT: Did you feel that a 3:36 was on the cards?

CH:  After running 3:39.98 at the Sydney Track Classic last year Dean and I set a goal of 3:36 for this year.  Unfortunately I was not able to do it this domestic season due to injury so I have had to wait 4 months later to achieve this.

I ran a 3.41 1500m solo in America in mid June and I won a tactical race in 3.41 against some solid competition in Netherlands; both races gave me the confidence that I could do it.

RT: What sort of training have you been putting in to knock yourself into 3:36 shape?

CH: Since the time I started back training late March I basically did easy jogging with a tempo once a week. We gradually built mileage back up and started to implement other areas of training as my body got stronger. At the end of May I started to hit some 90mile weeks. These were some massive weeks for me as I hadn’t done this mileage ever before. (When I ran 3.39 last year the most I ever did was around 40miles a week.  Over last year’s winter I gradually built my mileage to around 70). Being at high altitude you can’t hit as high intensity so you tend to run slower and longer to compensate. It was easier to run that sort of mileage because my house and training mate English runner Luke Cragg is never on the wrong side of a 100mile week.  I spent a good period of time training at Oklahoma and in London training at sea level where I was really able to do some specific work at race pace. When I combined that training with my strength I had gained training at altitude I was ready to fly again.

RT: Are you traveling around by yourself? Do you have some training or traveling partners?

CH:  I did travel around with Dean on my American circuit and I also traveled with some guys from Oklahoma, Sam Dech, Frezer Legesse and Silas Kisorio a 3.57 indoor miler.

I have traveled around Europe by myself.  Traveling around solo has been different. I am normally a very quiet kind of guy so over here I have had to come out of my shell. Traveling alone is always a bit tougher when things go wrong. But in the end it was all a part of the fun. 

Above- Liege 800m

RT: What is the plan for the rest of 2010?

CH: This is it for my season. Short and Sweet. However, I can return home content as I hit new Pb’s - 800m 1:48.09 (1.23 off),  1500m  3:36.35 (3.63 off), Mile 3:59.66 (2.61 off).

I have loved my time in the U.S. and in Europe and I would love to go back.  I am going to have a bit of down time and then work out with Dean a plan on how best to qualify for the World Championships next year.

RT: To leave us. Come London 2012, where do you see yourself being at time wise? What is the goal?

CH: London 2012 is definitely a big goal of mine and I am sure it will be a competitive task to make the team based on the current depth of Australian middle distance running. In the meantime I’ll be working hard to make next year’s World Championships as I see this as a stepping stone to the 2012 Olympic experience.

RT: Thanks Craig, all the best.

CH: Cheers mate. 

Q: What was your mileage like as a 17 year old?

 

RG: Skip stepped up my mileage gradually over time when I was younger so when I was 17 I was probably doing up over 100km, maxing out at around 110km

 

Q: How do you have both the speed for the 1500 and the aerobic ability for the 5k to nab all 3 records within a few weeks?

 

RG: I'm lucky enough to be naturally quite fast so I mainly work on my endurance which is my weakness. So I was able to train more like a 5km man.

 

Q: As a 17 year old how fast did you do your long runs/ recovery runs?

 

RG: All recovery runs very easy because it's all in the name, 'recovery'. Long runs harder, if I feel good, push it along a bit, but if I'm tired, I just jog easy.

 

Q: What was the biggest difference between your training from 2006 to 2007?

 

RG: Nothing. Just consistently getting it done for a number of years made everything click in November 2007.

 

Q:  As a 17 year old did you ever have rest days?

 

RG: Always had a rest day on Friday when I grew up. Skip thought it was essential to have a full day of recovery. But now I run much more, I need all the days of the week to spread the running around.

 

Q:  As a 17 year old how many days a week would you train on the track?

 

RG:  In winter never and in summer once a week. Reps still weren't short though. Always working on strength with an occasional shorter tune up session to get me ready for a race.

It’s the return of the ‘wow’ factor.

Ryan Gregson, three minutes 31.06 seconds, 1500 metres Australian record, Monaco Diamond League Meeting. Wow!

That would just about sum up the general reaction to Gregson’s performance. We knew he was good, knew he was that good even: but that good, this soon? Wow!

It’s not so easy to get ambushed by a result these days what with cable, live internet streaming, the 24-hour news cycle and Runner’s Tribe. It’s sobering to think that it was only 15 years ago _ 1995 _ that the IAAF went ‘live’, well live-ish, anyway, with internet cover of its Atlanta Grand Prix meeting held to mark the opening of the 1996 Olympic stadium.

Back then, even us mainstream media people had limited access to results. Unless it was big enough to make the morning radio news you had to wait until you got to the office to access the overnight results.

Now, however, many results are only as far away as the importance you place on them. Thus, if you have cable and an international sports channel, you can watch live in the middle of the night. Otherwise, you can log on to the internet as soon as you get up.

Performances such as Ryan Gregson’s in Monaco, however, transcend the technology to elicit a delighted ‘wow’. A ‘pb’ by four-and-a-half seconds, breaking a national record that had stood for 18 years, and all this from a man just turned 20 _ ‘wow’ barely covers it.

It was an amazing performance in an amazing race. Silas Kiplagat of Kenya improved by five seconds to win in 3:29.27, the fastest in the world this year, the fastest since 2006. He became the 19^th man to break 3:30, Amine Laalou, the Moroccan who followed him home, the 20^th.

Gus Choge, the Commonwealth Games 5000 metres champion, was third in 3:30.22. Choge was going to win in something like 3:28 before the ‘bear’ jumped on his back on the final bend. He had led by 10 metres at 1200.

Then came the two revelations _ Andrew Wheating, the US NCAA 800/1500 champion from Oregon, and Gregson _ in 3:30.90 and 3:31.06, respectively. Six of the first eight ran PBs, the other two _ Choge and Bernard Lagat _ their fastest of the year.

Kiplagat’s previous best _ if you had looked hard enough _ was a 3:34.28 chasing Asbel Kiprop home in the Kenyan championships. Among those he beat was Nicholas Kemboi, who before Monaco held the year’s fastest time, so he was obviously more than handy.

So ‘wow’ it was, for Gregson and all-round.

Interview with Jackie Gallagher:  How Can We Get Female Distance Runners To Achieve Their Potential At The Senior Level?

 As a writer, you sometimes wonder if people read what you write.  So it was heartening toread the comments to the article "Commonwealth Games:  Where Are Our Elite Females?" (http://www.runnerstribe.com/article/post/show/id/784-Commonwealth-Games-Where-Are-Our-Elite-Females-), which confirmed there are others who care about the subject of promoting the women in our sport.

I loved the suggestion of keeping the forum going, and have decided to go to the experts - elite women who understand running, know what they wish that they could have done differently, and are willing to pass this information on in the hope of helping others. I decided to start with a two-time world title-winning triathlete and 2002 Commonwealth games marathon bronze medallist Jackie Fairweather(nee Gallagher).

RT:  Why do you think that we have so few elite female distance runners in Australia now?

JF:  I don’t actually think the number/depth of elite female distance runners has changed that much. In the 28 years I have been around I think the quantity and relative standard of the top level of female runners has varied from year to year but on average stayed about the same. It also depends on what you call “elite”. Again we only ever have 1-3 women who are truly competitive at a world level at any one time and I think that is the same now with Lisa Weightman getting up there, Benita Johnson on her way back into some form and similar for Eloise Wellings. There are a few others knocking on the door but yet to establish themselves. One thing I will say is that Australia is notorious, over many years, for having exceptional junior female distance runners who never realise their potential at senior level.



RT:   What do you think that we can do to promote more elite female distance runners in Australia?

JG:      Promoting more distance females... hummm. Apart from promoting the sport of athletics in general (in schools, in the transition from Little A’s to seniors, from Fun Running to Athletics, and promoting/publicising the talent and personalities we have), I think we need a much more supportive and collegiate environment in order to nurture more good female runners along. We need to support them and keep them healthy. Our biggest problem is, and has been for as long as I have been around, keeping them healthy enough to get some consistent running happening (over many years). In my opinion very few of our good distance females achieve their potential because they only last a couple of years before injury, illness and/or burnout hampers or stops their progress in the sport. This is not an easy problem to fix, but I wonder if we have put enough collective thought and energy into it...

RT:  There seems to be much more depth in elite female triathlon participants in Australia.  Why do you think this is?

JG:     I don’t think there is more depth in Triathlon. In fact I think there is less, however Australia’s top female Triathletes are among the best in the world. There is arguably not the same depth in the sport of Triathlon internationally as in distance running, but our girls are and have been consistently competitive and even world beating for 20 years! In Triathlon success has bread success – Michellie Jones showed the rest of us what was possible, but every one of Australia’s female Triathlon world champions (8 Aust women have won 12 world titles) have been bloody tough, hard working, ‘can do’, confident, trail blazers. In saying that, Triathlon is far from perfect – our conversion rate from Junior worlds representative to elite rep is pretty poor. Triathlon has not done a good job on managing what I call the ‘obligatory shit’ for females between about 17/18 and 22/23 (i.e. injury, weight gain and confidence issues). There is a lot of pressure on young Triathletes – it is a bit all or nothing, make it or not. But I think there are a few differences between the female Triathletes and runners:


·        

• Firstly I think triathlon allows for the obsessive attitude to training which is also common to runners, but because of the three disciplines there is perhaps less likelihood of overdoing it in one discipline (only so much time and energy!), but even more importantly you have to be strong to be a good Triathlete – they are not as frail and have to be more ‘balanced’ in order to be of the standard required across all three disciplines. As an example of this point... there have been a few 32min (+/- 30sec) 10k runners who have gone to triathlon with varying success, but I don’t believe it is possible for a female Triathlete to be able to run better than about 32min because in order to do so you must do too much running volume and be too light to be strong and have the energy for the swim and bike. So as a result successful female Triathletes don’t run too much and are not too light! For this reason I believe men with running backgrounds can transition better to triathlon than women – because they can be pretty light but still be strong. The women who had run backgrounds and did well in Tri were all ‘strong’ running women (myself, Emma Carney, Rina Hill) and didn’t need to be super light to run well off the bike, and didn’t need big volume to be in 32:30 shape.

·        

• One of the other big differences between Triathletes and runners is that triathlon is more collegiate and supportive. Women Triathletes train together more because the ‘pecking order’ is less of an issue because everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. In my experience and observation it is hard to get women in individual sports to train together because they get too stressed and (bitchy) because they can’t handle the competitiveness. Women need to feel accepted and need to get confidence from their environment. Head to head competitive environments are counter to this need. It is easier to get this in Triathlon because people have different strengths and weaknesses across the three disciplines so I think women feel more valued within the group for their individual strengths and the competitiveness is less direct. In distance running it is often easier and more comfortable for women to train on their own. Men don’t have the same problem because their pecking order is not quite so distinct and they have the egos and confidence to handle being beaten in training.  Plus I think that Triathlon by its nature has a lot more group training and therefore is a more supportive environment for women – they may not run together a lot, but at least in triathlon swimming and cycling is usually done in groups. Women need social support and connectedness (lots of studies of sport have shown this) and I don’t think there is enough of it in distance running in Australia. It is too easy for running women to isolate themselves.

 

• I don’t think there is a culture of supporting each other enough in women’s distance running. The Australian female Triathletes are certainly competitive against each other, but they have always gotten together in squads and camps and there is a much stronger sense of supporting each other and sharing hopes, fears, experiences etc – and younger girls get exposure to the older more experienced females. There is not nearly enough of that in Australian distance running. Also in Triathlon the men support the women a lot and vice versa. There is just a lot more mutual support and respect.
  In saying that, we now have a fabulous little squad of females in Canberra that is very supportive of each other. Dick Telford coaches the squad and I am part of it but also ‘assistant coach’ and a mentor for the girls – but the girls support and look after me just as much (or more!) as I do for them. It is the first time I have ever been part of such a positive squad of running girls (no bitchiness and everyone supportive of each other) and it is awesome. And the girls are healthy, happy, connected/social and improving gradually but steadily.
• Dare I say it, but I think the Triathlon coaches in general understand the female athletes better. There are several coaches who are just very good with female athletes. I think it is too easy for distance running coaches to give female athletes too much work too soon, not listen to them enough and push them to breaking point too often (and too young). Women will do the work until they break, feeling like they are weak if they complain or can’t keep up. By nature of the sport Triathlon coaches have to tailor the training to each individual, but I think there is too much of a blanket squad mentality in distance running – everyone has to do the same and if you don’t keep up you are not good enough. The biggest problem with this is what it does to the self-esteem of female runners... my heart breaks every time I hear about female runners who just feel so bad about themselves because they can’t keep up (in individual sessions and backing up for session after session) and feel pressure from their coaches to do so. It just happens way too often. In Triathlon there is much more of an awareness that everyone is different and some people can handle more, some less etc. 
  Also in Triathlon there is much more acceptance that sometimes people are tired and just can’t nail every session – coaches are much more attuned to picking up when an athlete needs rest and recovery time. I think the distance running mentality is too rigid – you have to get through three quality session and x amount of work or you are weak/soft/fail etc. Women are so hard on themselves and even if the coach is attuned to the fact that some people can’t do as much, female distance runners have taken on and internalised these unwritten rules of what training consists of week in week out. In my coaching, my biggest task is to give people (sometimes males too) permission to be tired, have a day off, vary from the “have to” mentality of the weekly training cycle. Females (endurance athletes) are hard on themselves and obsessive – this is not managed at all well in distance running.
  For many of the reasons above, female Triathletes are healthier than female distance runners. They have to look after themselves in order to be competitive in the sport. Distance runners can get away with not looking after themselves for a period of time – and too often by the time it catches up with them it is too late. Plus I think the Triathlon women have much better role models and culture around self-management which includes eating well, recovery strategies, body maintenance (massages etc), etc.

In saying all of this, I think Australian swimming is probably the sport that supports female individual athletes within a very competitive, but team supported environment. Swimming Australia puts a lot of thought and work into how they support and manage female athletes in order to get the most out of them.



RT:  Is there anything that you wish you had done differently in your athletic career, and/or advice that you would pass on to aspiring female distance runners?

JG: Anything I would have done differently? Hell yes! ..and no... I am/was an obsessive female endurance athlete! I have overtrained myself into the ground (ruining my Sydney Olympic dream), and have at times not had enough confidence in myself. I have also had my eating issues/struggles over the years. I have made a lot of mistakes, but I think the fact that I have always tried to learn from them has made me a better athlete and person. It took me far too long to learn that me as a person was more important than my performances! All my experiences and lessons learned have given me better insight and empathy and enabled me to help, guide and support some other females (and males). Hopefully I can continue to do this. Big advice – seek support and assistance from others. Don’t try to do it all on your own. But get the support from others who listen to you and accept and treat you as the individual that you are – and who are positive for you.
I guess what I did well, looking back at my history, is that I built up steadily over many years. The first 10 years of my running life (pre-Tri and from age 14-23) I only ran 50k/wk, but with good quality. This set me up well to increase my training (but with a good background and very good base speed) as a Triathlete. When I finished Triathlon I had a very good endurance base from which to go to marathons. I think I would have better run PBs if I had met Dick earlier and spent my Tri years running, but I don’t regret my Tri career and give full credit to my coach Brett Sutton, who believed in me like no one else (and certainly a lot more than I believed in myself!) and showed me what was possible. I know I would not have achieved what I did without him.

RT:  To what extent do you think that 'eating issues' are affecting our female distance runners?

JG:  Eating issues... not talked about nearly enough and not nearly enough support or understanding. I have seen SO MANY running careers cut short because of eating issues in distance females.   I’m not sure of the solution to this one, but I think it comes back to better managing and supporting women being obsessive and hard on themselves, and also finding a way to create a more supportive, connected environment around our female runners. Women need to support each other. This issue is not absent in Triathlon, but it is much much less of an issue...

RT:  Anything else that stands out for you and suggestions for the sport?

JG:  I will repeat the highlighted bit above: Females are obsessive and hard on themselves and this is not managed at all well in distance running – by coaches, by other female distance runners, by the system...

By Len Johnson.

Looking at Tyson Gay running down Asafa Powell in last weekend’s Gateshead Diamond League 100 metres, I couldn’t help thinking of Cathy Freeman and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor.

Gay is developing an uncanny knack of beating Powell in the last 20 metres of their races over 100, and the manner in which he does it must feed back into the psychological approach of both men. Powell must be thinking: “How far in front do I have to be to hold Tyson off?”; while Gay must feel: “No matter how far behind Asafa I am, I’ve always got a chance.”

As I said, it puts me in mind of Freeman and Gainsford-Taylor and some of their epic clashes over 200 metres in Australia during the 1990s. Gainsford-Taylor generally had the upper hand, and invariably led with her sprinter’s start and superior bend running. She was one of the best bend runners in the world.

Yet every now and then, Freeman would come out of the ground to beat her great rival. It seemed there was a zone around Gainsford-Taylor usually about two or three metres, and if Freeman could get inside that zone, she could win. It was like a magic box, from Freeman’s perspective anyway. Once she put a foot inside that box, you could almost see the self-belief in her face.

What would inevitably follow, was that Freeman would come out of the ground to grab Gainsford-Taylor and win. One such race was in the 1999-2000 Australian championships. It was the first meeting conducted in the Olympic stadium, a potent additional motivation for Freeman.

The 200 final was on the last day of the championships. Gainsford-Taylor had already won the 100; Freeman had run 50.00 _ her second-fastest ever in Australia up to that point _ to beat Ana Guevara of Mexico in the 400.

Now it came down to the 200 final. It was a classic meeting of the two. Gainsford-Taylor held the advantage coming into the straight, but Freeman was inside the magic box. With 20 metres to go, it still looked as if Gainsford-Taylor would win, but Freeman jumped out of the ground to make up two metres in the last few strides and win _ 22.78 to 22.80.

Freeman and Gainsford-Taylor swapped wins throughout their career, but Gay has a worrying habit (from Powell’s point of view, at least) of beating Powell, leading one to ask: has Tyson got Asafa’s number.

It wasn’t always so. In 2006, Powell’s great year, he never lost to Gay, beating him on half-a-dozen or so occasions. But the tide turned with Gay’s win over Powell in the final of the 2007 world championships and, unless I’m forgetting one, I think Powell has beaten Gay only once in eight meeting since.

Still, a they came to Gateshead, Powell was the dominant force in the 100 this year. Both Bolt and Gay had already had injury down-time. Powell had the fastest legal time in the world for the year (equalled by Bolt a few days earlier in Lausanne) and several wind-aided 9.7-second runs.

Yet, in cool conditions and into a 1.7 metres per second headwind, Gay ran him down, 9.94 to 9.96.

“Asafa’s one of my favourite competitors and I managed to get him today,” Gay said after the race. “I really had to stretch to get to the finish line and he didn’t see me coming.”

Powell’s take was: “I think I forgot it was Tyson Gay out there. In the last 20-30 metres I should have run differently. But he’s a great sprinter and I gave him a chance. I didn’t see him coming.”

That’s the thing. Gay is always coming at Powell. To some extent this is style, Powell has a great first 60-70, Gay is second-to-none as a closer. Powell is tall and upright and thus does not put himself in a physical position for more than a token ‘throw’ at the line. Gay is good on ‘the lean to the line’.

It was much the same with Freeman and Gainsford-Taylor. The latter would drive to the line tall and strong, but with most of her energy expended getting to, around and off the bend. Freeman was at her best over the final 50 metres anyway.

Powell compounds his difficulty with Gay by his seemingly deep-seated habit of not running through the line. Against most sprinters, it doesn’t matter so much. Head-to-head against Gay, it leaves the door ajar. And that’s all Tyson needs.

Powell is due to clash with Bolt over 100 in the Paris Diamond League as I write. Perhaps he had half a mind on this race when he went to the line in Gateshead and Gay genuinely did catch him unawares this time. In any case, Powell’s performance against Bolt takes on added significance. He needs a good one to maintain his early-season momentum.

Hey Runners Tribe,

I have officially become part of the Commonwealth Games team since I wrote to you last. To my delight I will represent Australia in Delhi as part of the women’s 4x400m relay team.

I have had a fantastic season. I can’t say that it has gone exactly to plan but I am definitely very proud of what I have achieved thus far this season.

After commencing my season with a PB performance of 52.81, I was left feeling very about the season ahead. I was also very optimistic about achieving an A qualifier to earn my own individual 400m spot for the Commonwealth Games.

Due to a few personal reasons, the lead up to Nationals was a real battle and this showed in many of my lead-in races. However, together with my coach, Tony Fairweather, we managed to pull things together and perform when it mattered most.

I was absolutely over the moon with my performance at Nationals. I felt I performed under pressure and produced a new PB of 52.78 taking home the silver medal.

Right now I am back into heavy training and racing the odd 400m here and there to work on my race plan in preparation for the Commonwealth Games and beyond. After an annual performance assessment with my coach we are set to prepare for the upcoming season with plenty to work on in training. The fact that my coach and myself believe that I have a lot to work on is a real confidence boost, as it makes me hopeful of significant improvements J

Although there is still so much athletics to be raced in 2010, I can’t help but be excited for the following season. I am looking forward to breaking up the typical athletic season with a highly anticipated trip overseas. I look forward to experiencing the overseas athletic scene and competition in hopes of inspiration, personal growth and development as an athlete.

I am also busy seeking a financial sponsor for myself so I can afford to be a full time athlete and ensure that I give myself every opportunity to be at my best for the lead up to the London Olympic Games and beyond.

I guess I can say that the experiences both good and bad that I have encountered during my athletic career thus far have served me very well. The Olympic Games is only 2 years away and together with my coach, Tony Fairweather, I intend to prepare myself to the best of my ability during this time. Thanks to all the up’s and down’s from the past I feel I have a pretty clear picture about what exactly I need to do so that I am the best possible athlete that I can be, come the 2012 Olympic Games.

Pirrenee Steinert

2010 NSW CHAMPS WOMEN'S 400M FINAL

By Cindy King.

In April after the national athletics championships, Athletics Australia (AA) announced its first round of nominations for the Australian athletics team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. Nothing too unusual about that, except that the women’s list was a little short. There was one nomination for the 100m, 400m hurdles, 5,000m and 10,000m, two 100m hurdles nominees, and a 4 x 400m relay team. No 400m runners, no 800m runners, no 1500m runners, and no steeplechase runners.  Lisa-Jane Weightman was an automatic nomination for the marathon, and Lisa Flint was added to the marathon team in May.

The purpose of this article is not to debate whether or not the “A” qualifiers are too difficult.  Based on world records and times that are being run around the world, 2:01.00 for the 800m, 4:09.50 for the 1500m, 15:20.00 for the 5,000m and 32:10.00 for the 10,000m certainly seem reasonable.

Good on the women who are out there competing and trying to make the team, but the question seems to be, why don’t we have more elite Australian female distance runners?

Elite distance coach and manager Nic Bideau does not think that things are as negative as the team named in April suggests. “This year we've had Nikki Chapple run 68.37 for a half marathon, Lisa Weightman win a marathon, Eloise Wellings place 2nd in Osaka 5000m, Kaila McKnight place 2nd in Daegu 1500m and Benita Willis place 17th at the world cross country.  Throw in Lara Tamsett, Lisa Flint, Becky Lowe, Zoe Buckman and Melissa Rollison and we certainly have produced some talent that is still active.  Most Commonwealth countries would be proud of those stocks. Perhaps the AA high performance team didn't look closely enough at what is required to compete for the medals at the Commonwealth Games when they wrote the selection criteria. Of those mentioned, only Eloise and Lisa are confirmed in the team but in my opinion at least 4 of the others, possibly 5 could be contenders for Commonwealth medals in October - if they manage to get themselves into the team.”

Athletics Australia National Distance Coach Tim O’Shaughnessy agrees “the situation is not as dire as it appears”.  He notes that in the Zatopek 10,000m race in December of last year, 6 women got under the “B” Standard for the Commonwealth Games.  And “the women’s 1500m is a mystery to me.  I believe that the talent is there but that they just have not had the opportunities or made the opportunities to be aggressive enough to make the times happen. We’re still hopeful that they will make the times. And in another case, Nikki Chappel’s injury has come at a bad time.”

Injuries appear to be the biggest hurdle he faces in developing our femaledistance stars.  “We not only lose them at the top end – we also lose them in the development phase.  At the end of 2009 I came across a picture of a development camp that was held at the beginning of 2008.  There were ten girls in the photo with Sonia O’Sullivan, many of whom had competed internationally, and within that 2-year period every single one of them had suffered a major injury, most of them stress fractures.”

This begs the question of why girls are so susceptible to stress fractures. Again, this is not an easy question to answer, but we know it is related to diet (getting adequate calcium and calories) and that a disproportionate number of elite female runners suffer from clinical and sub-clinical eating disorders in their efforts to achieve what they believe is the ideal female running body. But when they get too thin they lose both fat and muscle, and muscles work to protect bones from the stresses of elite running.

O’Shaughnessy notes that the boys coming through get injuries, but that they tend to be shorter-lasting. “It could be eating, or it could be a lack of general sport in the girls’ younger ages.  Their bodies do not seem to be conditioned well enough to handle the stresses and loads of training.  We need to do more work around this area.”  Eloise Wellings, who has qualified for the team in the 5,000m and the 10,000m, concurs with this theory. “Beyond nutrition, one of the reasons why I have suffered 10 stress fractures is that my muscles were not strong enough to support the impact of running. So I focus on lots of core work and a little bit of lower body work to build lean muscle in my legs.”

Anna Thompson, who ran the 5,000m at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, also notes that we need to get a greater base of runners into the sport, on the theory that only a few of those who compete will become champions.  She ran a cross country race in Chiba, Japan in February of this year, and there were over 300 junior Japanese girls in a cross country race – “all fast!”

We are achieving the mass numbers of females competing at the non-elite level.  Approximately half of all Little Athletics participants are female, and in 2006 more women than men registered for The City to Surf Fun Run in Sydney, which is the largest in the world. It is in the area of elite female runners that we need to improve, not necessarily mass participation.

What can The Runner’s Tribe readers do to help ensure that the 2014 Commonwealth Games have a full complement of female distance runners?

1.      Encourage any girls that you know to compete in all sports, including athletics.

2.      Be a real track fan!  Go to track meets and support the athletes so that athletics becomes a popular sport for girls.

3.      If you are a parent or role model of a developing female athlete, encourage them to focus on strength and fitness, not leanness.

4.      There may still be more additions to the team, so cheer on all the athletes who do make it to India – it hasn’t been an easy road for them to get there!

I began my Australian domestic season feeling confident after a win in the Noosa5km for the first time, and was really looking forward to running well on the track......or not! 

Around Christmas time I found out I had a bad bacteria in my stomach. It was something called “helicobactor pylori”, which I have preciously had three times. They say you can get it in China ... from animals! They don’t know too much about it, but I was told that usually if you get rid of it the first time it’s unlikely to come back. Not in my case! 

I spent the majority of the season on antibiotics to fight off the helicobactor and a few chest infections, sinus infections and throat infections which was definitely frustrating. 
My first race was the Sydney Track Classic where I finished 3rd in not the fastest ever time, however I was just so happy to be back out racing. I followed that up with Melbourne the week later, which was better and once again very enjoyable. 

 
I was feeling a little lost and couldn’t work out why I was always getting sick and why I wasn’t getting any better. I was doing full time university studies through the season so had a lot on my plate. However I was still getting all my training done, but the results just weren’t coming. 

The weekend before Nationals, I did one of my best track sessions all year. I was pretty pumped for Perth. 

That was until 5 days before when I woke up with a really sore throat and feeling terrible yet again. Come race day I could barely get out of bed that morning. I was still hopeful that perhaps I could run and somehow get a top 3 placing. But I had to finally accept the fact in the afternoon that I wasn’t going to be racing at Nationals. 

It was a long way to go over to Perth to just be a spectator. Lucky for me, my sister had recently moved to Perth, so it was great to see her again. Perth is also the same place where my new manager, Sam Maxwell, is based, and I got to properly meet him for the first time. Sam was great. He made me feel like an athlete again and made me realise that it was just one race, and there was plenty more out there! 



I left feeling better about things. 

I had to complete my 10 week teaching Internship which started on the 31st of March and ended on the 4th of June. It was a long and tiring 10 weeks. Surrounded by secondary students all day and constantly having to be talking, yelling, marking ... the list goes on. The experience was great and the school I was teaching at was fantastic. 

The hardest thing was teaching full time and trying to fit in my training. I found myself getting very run down and stressed. I had to change something. With strict instructions from my coach, Richard Telford, I began running once a day. At first I didn’t like it as I felt I wasn’t doing enough training, but as the weeks passed I don’t think I could have done it any other way. 

Finally my Internship was finished and that night I flew to Perth to race in Leonora on Saturday. I have never enjoyed a plane trip as much as I did that night. No kids around. No papers to mark. No school work to do! I felt so relieved and excited and was really looking forward to racing in Leonora. 

I was a little nervous about the race. I thought perhaps I was a little under done... had I done enough training? Had I gotten enough rest? Had I eaten well enough? The usual things that go through your head when you race. But, in the end I just wanted to run. It had been a long time since I raced and I was excited. 

A week before, Sam managed to get me a sponsorship with Ryders Eyewear!  I was stoked as I didn’t expect it after the season I had. It felt good to have a sponsor again and to know that someone still had faith in my running. I have always run in sunglasses, so to have Ryders on board is such a privilege and one that I am very grateful for. 

I lined up in the final of the Leonora Mile, a little nervous, but so glad to be racing. It was unusually cold for Leonora but the crowd was still out supporting us and I had such a great time. 

LEONORA ELITE WOMEN'S FINAL

To win my third Leonora mile was an amazing feeling. I can’t say I was the most confident I had ever been going into the race; Bridey Delayney had out-kicked me in just about every race this season and Erica Sigmont was looking as fit as a fiddle! In the end I was really determined and it all worked out well. 



I am now looking forward to heading to Europe and trying to run the Commonwealth Games Qualifier. I want to get back into PB shape and start moving up in the world rankings. 

Now my teaching Internship is over, I can be an athlete again and do everything right. 

My short term goals are to make the Commonwealth Games team and run a personal best for the 1500m. However, long term, my ultimate goal is to make the final of the London 2012 Olympics and run sub 4minutes for the 1500m. 

With the help and backing from Sam, Ryder’s Eyewear, my coach, and my family and friends, I believe it is possible and I’m looking forward to every step of the journey!

By Len Johnson.

As I write this, Oslo’ Bislett Games are only a few hours away.

Meeting three in the IAAF Diamond League series, the Bislett Games scarcely need association with the new track and field showcase for credibility. Rather the reverse, I would think, given Bislett history.

One of the goals the Diamond League aims is to offer more head-to-head competition, so it’s hardly surprising that one of the featured events was the men’s 800 metres in which rising young guns David Rudisha and Abubaker Kaki were to clash.

As much by accident as design, 21-year-old Rudisha and 20-year-old Kaki find themselves at the top of an event which has stagnated since the retirement of world record holder Wilson Kipketer. Neither has achieved his potential as a senior: Kaki is world indoor champion but bombed out at both the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin world championships; Rudisha was run out in the semis in Berlin.

Rather it is the thought of what they might do that excites. Rudisha bounced back from his world championships disappointment with a string of fast times, culminating in a 1:42.01 in Rieti last September which left him behind only Kipketer, Sebastian Coe and Joaquim Cruz _ middle-distance royalty all _ on the all-time list.

Kaki has had extenuating circumstances for his two major championship blow-outs _ sick in Beijing, coming back from a hamstring injury (incurred, ironically, at last year’s Bislett) in Berlin. He looked imperious in taking the world indoor title in Doha, as did Rudisha in wins in Melbourne, Doha and Ostrava this year.

So if neither yet has the status of a Coe or a Steve Ovett, each appears capable of attaining it and it might be a canny thing for the Diamond League to get in early on what could be the next great middle-distance rivalry.

Sport thrives on great rivalries. So often great performers come along in pairs _ Nadaland Federer or Borg and McEnroe in tennis; Bannister and Landy in pursuit of the four-minute mile; Zola Budd and Mary Decker. Sometimes it’s more than two _ Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen in the women’s marathon in the mid-1980s, with Rosa Mota and Lisa Ondieki coming along in the second half of that decade; Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay currently in the sprints; Ron Clarke, Kip Keino and Michel Jazy in the 5000 in the 1960s.

And, of course, there was Coe and Ovett in the 800 and 1500 in the late 1970s _ a rivalry given sharper piquancy by the fact they rarely raced against each other.

Coe and Ovett are also an example of how great rivalries do not always play out the way expected. Only at the 1980 Moscow Olympics _ where, ironically, each man won what was regarded as the other’s specialty event _ did the two clash at both 800 and 1500 in peak condition. The scarcity of their meetings led to a series of races, immediately dubbed ‘The Covett Series’, being planned over 3000, 800 and 1500 metres in 1982.

Announced with great hoopla at the end of 1981, the series was a fizzer. Within days, Ovett seriously injured himself when he ran into some iron railings on a training run. He recovered in time to run the 3000 only of the scheduled three races; Coe fell ill in 1982 and missed all three.

Fortunately, in an athletics sense if not commercially, the first race of the ill-fated series saw the emergence of a British saviour in the form of Dave Moorcroft. A fine athlete who won the 1978 Commonwealth 1500 and 1982 Commonwealth 5000 metres titles, Moorcroft chose 1982 for his year of years. He broke Henry Rono’s world record for 5000 metres _ and almost 13 minutes _ in running 13:00.41 in Oslo (Bislett again!) and won the ‘Covett’ 3000 in 7:32.79, a few tenths outside another Rono world record.

Another rivalry which confounded expectations was that between Rob de Castella and Alberto Salazar in the marathon. Salazar ‘broke’ Derek Clayton’s long-standing world record with 2:08:13 in New York in 1981 on a course which turned out to be around 150 metres short, then defeated fellow-American Dick Beardsley in an epic duel in Boston in 1982. ‘Deek’ ran 2:08:18 in Fukuoka in 1981 then won the Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane.

Sports management company IMG, which represented both athletes, was desperate to arrange a ‘match race’. Of course, there was the world championships coming up in Helsinki, but the athletes would get nothing to run that and 25 percent of nothing is – nothing. After several possibilities fell through, Rotterdam 1983 saw the meeting of the big two.

It was a magnificent race, won by de Castella in a time only 20 seconds outside his world record after a last-man standing duel with his closest rival over the last five kilometres. Only problem was, his closest rival was not Salazar, but Carlos Lopes. Salazar was fifth; Lopes went on to become Olympic champion the following year and then world record holder the year after that.

Other rivalries, of course, produce great race after great race. Even the invincible Herb Elliott had Merv Lincoln dogging his heels throughout most of his career. One mile race between them was so close that both were given the same time; crucially, Elliott was given the win by an official margin of “inches”; Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat at 10,000 metres; Sonia O’Sullivan and Gabriela Szabo at 5000 (and other distances); Kenenisa Bekele and Zersenay Tadese at 10,000 are others that come to mind.

Come to think of it, by the time this is posted, the result of the Rudisha-Kaki clash will be known. Which of them won? Or did someone upstage them both? Are we on the way to a new grand rivalry? Stand by.