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Current Public News
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| Terry Shea To Represent the B.A.A. at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Men's Marathon This Saturday, November 3, 2008 |
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| 10/29/2007 |
On Saturday morning, November 3, 2007, the B.A.A.'s Terry Shea will toe the line at the Olympic Trials Marathon in New York City along with 133 other qualifiers. Shea qualified in February 2006 at the Austin Marathon with a 2:20:52 personal best. This will be his second Olympic Trials Marathon having previously competed in the 2004 Trials in Birmingham, AL.
A Pennsylvania native, Shea currently resides in Cambridge, MA, where he does most of his training. His longtime girlfriend, Carly Graytock, has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Women's Marathon and will wear the B.A.A. singlet when she competes in Boston on April 20th.
The 2008 Olympic Team Trials Men's Marathon is one of the most competitive to date and the entry list is a "whose who" of great American distance runners. Twelve individuals have met the "A" standard of 2:20:00.
The course will be a criterium-style course in Central Park that will start in Rockefeller Plaza and finish near Tavern on the Green. The criterium loop in Central Park will be the reverse of the loop used when NYRR hosted the USA 8 km Championships from 2002 to 2004. Athletes will run the loop five times, with distance added to complete the full 42.195 km of the marathon. (USATF.org)
Race highlights will be broadcast on Saturday, November 3rd from 2-2:30 PM on NBC Sports. Additionally, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men's Marathon will be broadcast LIVE, Saturday, November 3rd at 7:30 AM for FREE at nbcolympics.com/marathon. (Note: This is a LIVE webcast only! There will be no on-demand replay available.)
Shea recently took some time out of his busy training and work schedule to talk about the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials:
Q: I guess we can start with the basics - how old are you, what do you do for a living?
Terry: I am 33. I am a Data Analyst at The Broad Institute – a genome research collaboration of MIT, Harvard, and affiliated hospitals. I work in the Computer Finishing department which is the end stage of DNA Sequencing.
Q: How long have you been running competitively and when/where did you get started?
Terry: I grew up in Altoona, PA. Junior High Track in 7th grade (spring 1987) was the start to my running. It was at first purely social – my gang of friends all signed up, so did I. One friend, Chad, had done some running because his parents and older brother ran, so based on that we all chose distance. Furthermore, we all were very small and had no speed or strength, so it was also by default. Our coach called us the Derelict Squad. Only two weeks into practice and before any meets, this same friend convinced me to do a local St. Patrick’s Day 5 miler with him. A wrong turn led the whole field on almost a 6 mile course. I stuck with Chad until the last few blocks when he out-kicked me. I had just enough success during the 7th and 8th grade track seasons and in a few other local road races to be convinced that once in 9th grade I should join the high school cross country team rather than stick with soccer. The rest of the Derelict Squad kept with soccer in the fall.
Q: Did you have immediate success or did you have a breakthrough race that convinced you to continue to pursue the sport? Were you recruited to run in college?
Terry: I would say that my first breakthrough came in 9th grade track, months after my first full season of cross country, as I saw my track PRs drop from 5:21 to 4:49 (1600m) and 11:21 to 10:39 (3200m) in just one year from 8th grade. For the remainder of high school I consistently improved but with just moderate success and only on the local level rather than state level (PRs of just 4:31 and 9:43). Yet for some reason I was still recruited by a few different Pennsylvania colleges. When decision-time came it was relatively easy to pick Bucknell University as the academics, the campus, and especially the team and the coach – the late Art Gulden – combined to make for a perfect fit for me.
My college running – while a fantastically rewarding experience – never generated the performances that I could feel satisfied with. I left with PRs of just 15:01 (5,000m) and 31:25 (10,000) and never having even qualified for the IC4A meet.
Q: How did you end up in Boston after college and why did you decide to join the B.A.A.?
Terry: I spent my first few years after college living in Washington DC. My running at that time was quite casual - inconsistent, with very little racing, and with more days off than not. I focused on work and enjoyed the social aspects living in a big city for the first time. Looking for a change of scenery and offered a good job in Cambridge, I moved up to Boston in the fall of 1999. At that time I had gone nearly a year without running at all. I decided that with a new life in Boston I should start back up. I missed it and I was woefully out of shape. It was really tough starting back after year off: My first week was 25 miles of running and it remains one of the harder weeks in my life. From there I added 5 miles a week. Once I got to 70 miles I decided to try track workouts. I got in a few but by December winter really hit and fast workouts outside in the snow became a challenge. After a few times sneaking onto some indoor tracks I began to realize I might need to join a club simply to have access to facilities. In these first few months all my running was on my own, and I did not yet appreciate the unique competitive club aspect in New England. The first group of guys that I began to meet up with on occasional Sunday mornings in Wellesley included Jeff Dosdale and Ken Leinbach. They mentioned the B.A.A. to be a great club. Jeff gave me Coach Pieroni’s number and Michael invited me over to a Wednesday night workout at the old BU indoor track. It was 24 x 400 and I thought it was insane at the time, but I managed it okay off the back of the group.
Around this same time I had gotten lost in the Fells on a planned 10 miler and it ended up closer to 20, but I felt great and it was enjoyable going such a long distance - it planted the seed to try to run the Boston Marathon in the spring of 2000. I ran a 2:53 at Cape Cod in February to officially qualify and then 2:35 at Boston a few months later.
Q: This is your second trials, correct? How is the Trials different from other marathons?
Terry: Yes. I qualified for the 2004 Trials with a 2:21:54 at LaSalle Bank Chicago in 2003 while running for the B.A.A.. Shortly thereafter I moved to Michigan and during the Trials year competed for the Hansons-Brooks group.
Based on my first Trials experience I would say that it does feel different. It is easier to feel great pressure to be at your best. It is somewhat comparable to competing in high school cross country and eventually making it to the State Meet – throughout the season a moderately talented runner will often beat most of the field in low key invitationals due to wide variance of talent. But once at the state meet nearly everyone is good, and even going out faster than ever before in a race you might find yourself in the middle or back of the pack. The increased level of competition at the Trials can be nerve-racking and intimidating.
Having that experience in 2004 – where I do not think I handled the nerves well – will be valuable for the upcoming Trials. I know what to expect and can really appreciate the importance of managing the pressure, stress, and excitement; I will feel comfortable if I find myself near the back of field, confident that with patience I will eventually move up through the field. Patience will be more important than ever in a race given the difficulty of the Central Park course, and managing emotion will be critical with the elevated excitement a race in New York City will bring and with so many friends present.
Q: Having qualified so long ago, how have you maintained your focus? How have you been able to stay healthy?
Terry: Having qualified over a year and a half ago has not led to a lack of focus at all. I have had intermediate goals along the way – namely the attempt to run the A standard last year in Chicago (which I missed running 2:22:25) and then to run a solid Boston Marathon earlier this spring. The time has gone by quickly.
I have been able to stay “mostly” healthy. I missed some spring 2006 races due to a month off with some bad tendonitis that was initially diagnosed as a stress reaction. But mostly I have just been dealing with things which fall more in the “discomfort” zone rather than injury, at least if I define that as being able to run through. So I have missed only a few days here or there over the past year and a half. My biggest problem has been ongoing for well over a year and that is discomfort in my right side hip and groin. Core work – primarily in the form of Yoga – has helped both strengthen and increase flexibility in that area. While not near 100%, I have been able to train well enough.
Q: How do you balance work and running?
Terry: By giving up a social life, of course. Partly true, but more importantly, I am fortunate to have a situation in which I can utilize running as my commute to and from work. I live and work and Cambridge – just 4 miles in between the two. I have a routine where one day, Monday usually, I bring in a backpack of clothes for the week (informal dress code at work) as well as breakfast and lunch for the week. That day I do my first run over lunch. From that point on I can run home from work (usually my shorter run of 5-7 miles), and the next morning begin my (usually longer) run from home but end it at work and shower. For example, if I have a 90 minute run I can start at 7:15 a.m. from home, finish at Starbucks to get my coffee, walk over to work, shower, and still be at my desk right about 9:00 a.m. So the hour or two saved on commuting can be put to extra sleep at night, or extra mileage. Carly has the same run-as-commute setup so it is great that we can do a fair amount of running together. Additionally, work is fairly flexible in terms of the hours so on my long workout mornings during the week I will arrive closer to 10 a.m. and just stay later that evening.
Q: What are your goals for the Marathon Trials?
Terry: Unlike most marathon races I am not making any specific tangible goals. In terms of a time-goal – I think I am in 2:20 sort of shape, but I am not sure what that might translate to on this very challenging course. Perhaps a 2:23? I don’t really know. Despite some 15 marathons I have never raced on a course like Central Park. Setting a place goal is also difficult. I placed 41st in the 2004 Trials, which was just a fair race at best. This time around I could run my best marathon and still finish worse than 41st due to the elevated level of competition from the top to bottom of the field. I think I will need a really great race to beat 2/3rds of the field. So instead my goals will be based more on how well I execute the race, run evenly to move up through the field, and in the end evaluate with all honestly if I gave everything I possibly had on that day.
Q: Have you trained on the course at all? What do you think of it?
Terry: I have been on the course a few times. Earlier this March I competed in the USATF 8k Road Championships hosted by the NYRR. The course was to be the exact Trials loop, but due to the snowstorm the course was changed to a smaller 1.7m loop (done 3 times) and the race delayed one day. I still took full advantage of the weekend though by running nearly 20 miles (in two runs) the day before the 8k, then a long cooldown after the race. Then a few Sundays ago (at the 3 week-out point) I traveled to NYC and did a big workout on the course with another Trials qualifier, Bobby Cannon. We did 3 x 40 minutes (3 x 7.15 mi.) with a few minutes rest in between, at 5:35 pace so a little slower than marathon pace. We covered from mile mark 5 to the 26, so we got a number of laps in and over 21 miles of uptempo running.
I think it is a very, very difficult course. As there is only one half mile flat stretch on the 5m loop, it is almost entirely either up or down. While no individual hill is a killer, there is really no point in the race to lock into a steady rhythm. I have never raced on a such a course. Even the reputed “tough” marathons generally have their challenging hills distinctly isolated from longer easier sections. For instance, the Boston Marathon has bigger hills in Newton, but they are all situated in a 5 mile span and the first 16 miles are really easy (provided the quads are not getting shot in the process). Aside from the first mile outside Central Park, thereafter there is nothing easy about it as the miles alternate net uphill and downhill for the most part, and typically a downhill does not make up in time for a comparable uphill. I think that those guys that approach this with a strict time goal expecting to PR will find themselves in a rough place on the final lap. I think only a select few will PR in the Trials. I am not expecting it for myself, but I would love to be wrong on the hunch.
Q: Does the course suit your running strengths/style? Do you have a strategy mapped-out?
Terry: Success at the marathon usually requires a steady consistent rhythm, and naturally the flatter the course the easier it is to find such a rhythm. A constantly rolling course will not allow for this, at least in the same way. I tend to be more of a strength runner, so perhaps the challenges of the course will suite that. But if I have any real advantage I think it will come less from any physical capability and more from race experience and mental faculty: It will be important to anticipate the effects of the hilly course and mete out a slightly reduced effort early on. I consider myself good at being flexible during the race and adjusting effort as needed, due to say weather or terrain. I do not feel committed to a pre-determined pace if it does not feel like the proper effort at the time. Compared to most I do think that I am a very intuitive and patient marathoner, thanks mainly to having raced several in adverse conditions and experiencing first-hand how just a little extra conservation early may pay off huge (in terms of places, and minutes) late in the race. While others in the Trials might look to find what they believe to be their maximal sustainable effort, I will look for something just under. The workout I did a few weeks ago in Central Park was a confidence boost because I realized that a game-plan involving a pace that feels slightly more conservative (early on) than Marathon pace can still be sustained well after 18-20 miles. On that day 5:35s felt close to marathon effort, and while it was not easy we still held it all the way from start to finish. (I am counting on the taper to convert marathon effort to a faster pace on race-day.) Also, I tend to approach uphills in marathons more conservatively than others around me. I never want to approach threshold, so I keep breathing rate under control by going more slowly uphill. Since I am a better downhill runner I often re-group with whomever I might have lost contact with going up. Guys who might deem themselves good uphill runners, but through attacking them hard, might find themselves spent on the final lap or two.
So you can see my strategy involves both running well within myself early but also depends on tactical errors made by my competition. Although for different reasons, I think the lap splits might look somewhat like the 1k splits from the February World Cross Trials in Boulder, where most everyone slowed drastically and those few who ran closer to an even paced and held it to the end finished relatively high compared to what was expected of them.
Q: Do you have any pre-race rituals that you will follow?
Terry: I have many pre-race rituals. I’ll list a few. Some common, some not: Coinciding with my training taper I also go through a caffeine taper, cutting it out fully in the week up until race day when I hope to get a bigger boost with putting the coffee back into my system. At 7 days out I have dinner at Cambridge, 1. They make great pizza, the manager Ian is really cool, and it is where I have my last beer (just one). Closer to the race, I eat pancakes both the day before and two days before. Night before is take-out dinner of steamed veggies and steamed white rice. I eat in (the hotel) to maximize relaxation time and not deal with potential long waits or walking from restaurant to restaurant looking at menus. Morning-of is wake-up about 4 hours before, grab half a bagel, and head outside for a 7 minute walk into a 5 minute shuffle jog that starts the warm-up process. Oatmeal + Banana breakfast then at 90 minutes from race-time the much desired coffee.
Q: What are your post-trials running plans?
Terry: Immediately following the race it will be great to not think about running, and just enjoy the remainder of the Marathon weekend with nearly all of my close running friends all assembled in one place. After that I will continue time off running for anywhere from 5-20 days, depending on how physically damaged I find myself after the race as well as what my motivation levels are. I should definitely be running by Thanksgiving though so I can open up some room for maximal food intake.
Into the winter I will likely do a wide mix of races both on the track and roads. I want to have fun with a variety of things and take advantage of no upcoming marathon. This means more frequent racing and my training will incorporate more fast speedwork than usual. I would love to PR on the track at both 5,000m and 10,000 at some point next winter and spring. It would be quite satisfying being able to say I PR’d at those distances at the age of 34.
Q: What is your favorite distance to race?
Terry: Without a doubt, the marathon.
Q: Do you have a favorite race (or races)?
Terry: I will list 3 categories: Favorite race: B.A.A. Boston Marathon. My first Boston was absolutely thrilling and was the most fun a race has ever been. My favorite non-marathon: the old Stowe 8 miler. Since it is retired I will substitute it with the Mt. Washington Road Race. Finally, my favorite team event: the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon, run with fellow Bucknell alumni.
Q: Do you have any runners whom you particularly admire?
Terry: I could go on for awhile with a long list of legends like Bill Rodgers and Bob Hodge. I have many that come to mind, but more than anyone else – Carly Graytock. She is a daily reminder of what 100 percent commitment means. Others include Bucknell alumni who inspired me early on: Brian Fullem, Brian Harshman, Joe Cresko, as well as past marathon qualifiers Bob Murdock, Jeff Morganti, and Rich Stark. Artie Gilkes and Brian Sell. And two remarkably generous guys who shed some wisdom around the time I was starting to get better at the marathon – Bob Schwelm and Joe McVeigh.
Q: What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment in the sport thus far?
Terry: Running 2:21:51 at Chicago at 2003 and qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials. As mentioned I started as a 2:35 marathoner and over my next few attempts I improved but could not break 2:30. Finally in 2002 I ran 2:27:40 at Chicago. That was nearly a 5 minute PR and a great race, but I still needed almost 6 minutes more to make the Trials and with just one year to do it. The 2003 year was a culmination of many 100-140 mile weeks and solid workouts and by October it manifested in big breakthrough with the sub 2:22. Qualifying was particularly satisfying because I had felt like I had come up short both in high school and college, and here later in life I found that I was finally reaching my potential.
Q: What is your advice to other marathoners? Any tips that you have
garnered from experience (either racing or training)?
Terry: What I love about the marathon event is that “natural talent” matters a bit less and “hard work” (and race-smarts) matters much more. I have no shorter distance PRs that suggest by way of charts or calculators that I can run a 2:20 marathon. But by simply just running more and more miles - at least as much as one’s body can handle and given the time to fit it into the work/life balance – one is almost guaranteed to improve in the marathon.
Besides increased mileage I also learned to shift my workout emphasis to tempo paced training rather than weekly fast but short interval track sessions. When I began to more frequently do tempo work – and do it properly – I saw improvement in all race distances. By “properly” I mean as finding the proper “maximal relaxed” effort rather than going overboard and approaching race effort. While I still do a few track workouts during my buildup, most of my key sessions training for a marathon involve longer intervals at 5-15 seconds faster than marathon goal pace, with relatively short rest. For instance, a few weeks ago I did 4 x 3m at 5:12 average with 2:30 jog rest. This is a sort of workout that is very effective, but it is also something that took me years to work up to. At first I began with less total workout distance and maybe longer rest.
Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Terry: In terms of what running has meant for me over the past several years, I feel really lucky that I ended up in such a great city as Boston and particularly with the B.A.A.. The club has been really supportive and I have made some great friends. I am proud to have the opportunity to wear the B.A.A. singlet next weekend in the Trials.
If you aren't already inspired, below is an excerpt from Terry's recent training schedule.
Two-week excerpt from training log: October 1-14, 2007
10/1 Total Mileage: 14 (8/6)
am: 6 Easy on River w/ Carly, feel bad from LR a few days ago.
pm: 8 Easy home from work, feel a bit better.
10/2 Total Mileage: 24 (18/8)
am: 18 4m warmup ; 8 x 1 mile w/ 60 sec. rest ; 6m cooldown
5:12, 5:12, 5:02, 5:00, 5:02, 5:01, 4:57, 5:01. A bit too fast on a few.
pm: 6 Easy home from work but with some white dot fever (i.e. lightheaded)
10/3 Total Mileage: 19 (13/6)
am: 13 Moderate on River during Carly’s progression and with Ox, Voce, Mike D.
pm: 6 Easy with Carly from work ending at Porter Square for burrito night.
10/4 Total Mileage: 24 (13/11)
am 13 Moderate on River, partly with Bedoya, felt good.
pm 11 Easy at Lincoln Woods with Schmeck and Carter, very tired first half but then okay.
10/5 Total Mileage: 18
am - Travel to Altoona, PA
pm 18 2:15 total with last 45 minutes uptempo including 2 x 1000ft climbs. Very tired.
10/6 Total Mileage: 16 (11/5)
am 11 Easy with Carly on very hilly route, tired.
pm 5 Easy with Carly before parents 50th wedding anniversary.
10/7 Total Mileage: 21 (11/10)
am 11 Fartlek (16 pickups from :30-2:10) on very hilly route, felt so-so.
pm 10 Easy at Fresh Pond after long travel day, felt surprisingly good.
Week total – 136
10/8 Total Mileage: 26
am 26 3:02:30. Easy 16 then uptempo 8m at Fresh Pond (as fast as 5:15 for a mile) last 2 easy.
pm - Carly’s birthday dinner at Oleana.
10/9 Total Mileage: 20 (14/6)
am 14 On Boston Trials course, easy with Deena and Terrence, felt okay after yesterday.
pm 6 Home from work easy, with Carly, feeling weak and lightheaded.
10/10 Total Mileage: 15 (8/7)
am 8 River into work, easy with Ox. Felt terrible at first but okay later on.
pm 7 Home from work easy, feeling okay.
10/11 Total Mileage: 18
am 18 3m warmup ; 4 x 3m with 2:30 rest; 3m cooldown.
15:44, 15:37, 15:31, 15:36 = 5:12 average. Heavy legs, but strong.
pm - Skipped p.m. run – instincts say too tired, need a rest. Dinner at Border w/ Bernie.
10/12 Total Mileage: 18 (9/9)
am 9 River into work w/ Ian, easy. Psoas very tight. Last apple fritter until after race.
pm 9 Home from work easy. Left hamstring very tight.
10/13 Total Mileage: 13 (7/6)
am 7 In Hartford before John LaRosa’s marathon, easy with Carly.
pm 6 At Rockefeller Preserve in Tarrytown NY, easy with a few strides. Dinner w/ Fullems.
10/14 Total Mileage: 24
am 24 2m wu ; 3 x 40:00 (~7.15 mi.) in NYC Trials course w/ Bobby; 1m cd
mm5-12 at 5:37 avg. (2:45 rest) mm12-19 at 5:34 avg. (2:20 rest) mm19-26 at 5:32 avg.
pm - Drive back to Boston, dinner and a few beers w/ Carly at Bukowski’s
Week total - 134
For more information regarding the Marathon Trials, visit:
2008 USA Olympic Trials Men's Marathon
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