Rebecca Lowe: Following the Sun to Her Dreams

posted by rtross on December 17, 2009, 10:19pm

By Cindy King.

Anyone who saw the 2009 Zatopek women’s 10,000m race will agree that it was one of the most exciting and competitive ever, with four women achieving the Commonwealth Games ‘B’ standard. Three of them – Eloise Wellings, Lisa-Jane Weightman and Lara Tamsett - received pre-race publicity, but the fourth was relatively unknown to many in the running community. However, it won’t stay that way for long, as Rebecca Lowe from Sydney’s eastern suburbs is definitely one of our most promising distance runners of the future. Her 32.24 eclipsed her previous personal best of 34:13 at only her second attempt at the distance on the track.

The 21-year old scholarship student from the University of Florida (who coincidentally attended the same high school as Tamsett) is half way through her third year of studies in Business Management, and then plans to complete a Masters in International Management. After winning the City to Surf in 2008, she had a motorised scooter accident shortly after, complications of which left her unable to compete for the remainder of the 08-09 University season.

CINDY KING caught up with Rebecca and her coach, Todd Morgan of the University of Florida to ask them a few questions about her training and plans for the future.

CK: You won the City to Surf in August 2008, then had a motorised scooter accident after returning to Florida. Tell us how this affected your 08-09 University racing season.

RL: Well after having my scooter accident in September 2008, I was out until October due to falling heavily on my arm and leg. Then as I was trying to come back I was not even a week out before I was suddenly having pain in my knee…it was diagnosed as ITB tendonitis and I found out that this is an extremely frustrating injury, as you cannot run at all. That put me out for the entire cross country season as I did not start running until February. From here I started very slowly with a month of about 10-30 minute runs. As I knew I wouldn’t be in top shape for that track season, my coach and I decided to red-shirt [an American term for not racing the entire season, meaning that she will be eligible to compete in her 5^th year of University] the season so I just did gradual running over the following 6 months.

CK: What has your training been like recently? What is a typical week in terms of mileage, workouts?

RL: Over the past 3 months my mileage has been building to nearly 90 kilometers a week.

Monday—Session on golf course, which is usually some type of fartlek session. Then we come back in the afternoon for an easy jog and simple body strength exercises.

Tuesday—50 minutes

Wednesday—70 minutes

Thursday— Interval session or tempo

Friday—50 minutes

Saturday—85 minutes

Sunday—off or easy jog

TM: She was really just coming off fitness gained from the cross country season, which is primarily aerobic threshold work. Here we use our fall (September-December) as the strength period of our year, which incorporates 4-6 cross country races. Zatopek was at week 17 of her fall plan. From weeks 8-14 she was able to get in a good level of interval type work (ex- 5-7 x 1k) at 3:05-3:12 with 90 sec rest. Everything was pointing towards our November 23rd NCAA Cross Country Championships where she finished 15^th (in a very competitive field, but still a disappointing finish). All of her quality sessions had been on grass during this period. The only exception was 10 days out from Zatopek she did a 6k (20:40) tempo and then immediately went onto the track for 3 x 1k (3:07, 3:07, 3:05) with a 400m jog in between. So, this was really the only time she got any rhythm-work on the track before the meet.

CK: Tell us about the Zatopek race - were you pleased with it?

RL: I had no idea what to expect as I have not hopped on a track since June 2008, so I didn’t really know what track shape I was in, especially coming off the cross country season.

I think we went through the first half in about 16.15 and that felt comfortable with the pack. I was feeling good with 2 laps to go and I thought I was in with a shot but then at the 400m to go mark I hit the wall and had no speed to finish, so I was disappointed to finish 4th but pleased to finish in a new personal best of 32.24 and get the Commonwealth Games B qualifier. I think it came down to a lack of track speed work and race experience so I’m excited to start the upcoming indoor track season. It was only my 2nd 10,000m on the track so I’m looking for bigger and better things to come.

TM: It's getting tough for Rebecca to surprise me, but this was a bit better than expected. She had been running tremendous cross country, but pegging a time was tricky for me. We had talked going into the meet about some target goals for half-way (5k) and such. Also, I knew she was tremendously better than her 34:13 PB, but it had still been a long time since she had been on a track. I had made her promise me she wouldn't come through any quicker than 16:20, and so she could work the back half. When she hit 16:15 and looked terrific I realized she was going to blow our expectations out of the water. Our University record was 32:49, which I had just thrown out to her thinking as a goal to have in mind.

CK: What are your training plans for the rest of the season?

RL: At the moment I am taking a week off running and then I will run for about 2-3 weeks before going back to start sessions. Right now I just rest while I have the time and regroup before I head back to start the indoor track season which ends with NCAAs[the National Collegiate Athletic Association is an American organization that administers the USA’s intercollegiate athletics] in March. Then we start outdoor track which finishes with NCAAs in June.

CK: Tell us about your studies. What are you studying and do you find it hard to combine running and study?

RL: I am studying Business Management, and because I didn’t compete last year, I will have an extra year there so I will be doing my masters in International Business for my last year…. At times it is difficult to balance but our academic advisor provides us with tutors who help us learn the course work, particularly when we are travelling a lot. Like anything. I think you just have to make time to fit the study in between everything. The hardest thing is catching up on everything we miss, as we are constantly on the road.

CK: I've heard that there is at least one other Aussie on your team. How is she doing?

RL: Genevieve Lacaze from Queensland is doing well and is really enjoying herself. She has been training well this past cross country season so she is looking forward to a good track season. Although she hasn’t had her best races this cross season, I think you will see some fast times from her on the track. She had a successful track season last year running 4.20, 16.13 and 10.26 so will look to improve on these in the next 6 months.

CK: Would you recommend the US University experience to other Aussies?

RL: Yes, but I would definitely recommend you do your research. It is important to visit the university before you commit, as being on the opposite side of the world you have no idea how different some of the universities are. Key things to look at include weather, coaches, team, training environment, accommodation, support staff and the amount of money that the university actually spends on athletics as this will aid you in terms of your racing schedule, medical treatment and your value as an athlete at the university.

CK: Are there any particular runners or athletes that you admire and/or try to emulate?

RL: No, but this past week I went to an Australian Female Distance Camp and spoke with a few of our top distance runners and was really impressed to hear the stories of Eloise Wellings and Benita Willis. They have had to deal with a lot throughout their running careers and have faced great adversity to be the best in their sport, so it was interesting to hear their different stories and the way they overcome barriers and obstacles along the journey.

CK: The Commonwealth Games are next year. Is this one of your goals, and if so, which events?

RL: I would love to make the Commonwealth Games, in either the 5,000m or 10,000m races.

TM: Our plan now is yes, she will run if selected. That discussion happened before we even came over to Zatopek. It does not fit perfectly with what we are doing, but we feel it is a workable situation. Our program has several Olympic, World, and Commonwealth representatives from various countries, so we are used to dealing with these issues - a good problem to have. It is a tricky situation, but can be handled positively with proper long-term planning. Our long-term plans for Rebecca revolve around 2012(London) and 2016. We will work towards these within our NCAA system, and stay in contact with the Australian Championships as much as possible.

Regarding her training, the Zatopek meet has taught me a great deal about how she responds to certain stimuli. I do not see any problems getting her prepared to run a quality 10k on the track within our fall season. I will have her on the track a bit more, and not race her in one or two cross country meets. She will finish her track season in mid-June, take a break, and then we will start to prepare. She gets fit super fast!

CK: What are your racing plans and your short and long term running goals?

RL: In mid January I will be running a 3km indoors and then a 5km indoors in February. I will hopefully qualify for indoor nationals in March. Long term, the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and Olympic Games in 2012 are my goals. I would also like to win an NCAA Title by the time I graduate.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on January 3, 2010, 3:49pm