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Current Public News
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| Brett Ely: The Choice to Compete |
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| 3/6/2008 |
In six weeks, six women from the B.A.A. will take part in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Women's Marathon. The race will be run on their home turf - right here in Boston and hosted by the B.A.A. - on a loop course that utilizes the Boston Marathon Finish Line as the Start/Finish and runs through the Back Bay and along the Charles River.
Each week we will be profiling one of these women as we count down to race day. While they have the Trials in common, they are a diverse group, each of whom incorporates competitive running as a part of her very busy life.
Our first athlete, Brett Ely (nee Romano) is preparing to run her second Olympic Trials Marathon, having run in St. Louis in 2004 - a race that she did not finish. She qualified for the these Trials with a 2:46:12 at the 2006 Lasalle Bank Chicago Marathon and a desire to see what she can accomplish this time around.
A Connecticut native and a former All-Conference runner in high school and college, Brett currently resides in Cambridge with her husband, Matt, who is also a stand-out runner for the B.A.A.
Brett recently took the time to answer some questions and share her thoughts on training, racing, and balancing life and running.
Q: I guess we can start with the basics: how old are you, where do you live and what do you do for a living?
A: I’m 28 years old, I reside in Cambridge and I work in Natick, MA. I work at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) in the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division. My job entails working on research exploring the effects of environmental conditions and hydration status on human physiology.
Q: How long have you been running competitively and when/where did you get started?
A: I actually got a late start to running in high school. I grew up playing (or at least trying) every sport imaginable. I loved being active, but nothing really “stuck” until I ran my first season of cross country my junior year in high school. I knew nothing about training or racing, so I wasn’t running all that fast, but it was a good, low-key atmosphere for me to develop enjoyment for the sport.
Q: Did you have immediate success or did you have a breakthrough race that convinced you to continue to pursue the sport?
A: After trying cross country as a junior, I continued running through the year and found myself returning the following fall in much better shape. There wasn’t any one breakthrough race, but it was a season of realization. I learned that with a little bit of training, I could improve very quickly. I think my junior year I was 35th in our conference meet and 69th in our Connecticut state class meet, and I moved up to 3rd in the conference and 6th in the state class meet my senior year. It got me much more excited about running and made me start thinking I could probably run in college.
Q: Were you recruited to run in college?
A: I received letters from a few New England Division III schools, but I had already decided where I was applying the summer before my senior year (before any thought of running in college had entered my head) and they all happened to be Division I schools. I contacted the coaches there and they were all interested in having me on the team, but I was far from a blue-chip recruit. I ended up at James Madison University and really enjoyed the team there. The coaching staff changed a few times, but I learned so much from each coach that I think it actually enhanced my college running experience. Juli Henner (‘96 Olympian at 1500m) was coaching the women and handling the recruiting for my incoming freshman class, and I still remember the thrill of getting my first phone call from her. I had recently found out how fast she was, so I was a little bit star struck.
Q: How did you end up in Boston/NewEngland after college and why did you decide to join the B.A.A.?
B: I am originally from Connecticut, so while I attended school down South, I always had the intention of returning to New England. The decision became much easier when I met my husband, Matt, at JMU. He came there for graduate school in my senior year, and I ended up staying for a masters program in nutrition and exercise physiology, so we overlapped in a few classes. He is originally from Andover, MA, and he moved back to Boston while I was still in Virginia. We did the long distance thing for a year, but once he proposed I figured we should probably live in the same state. I moved to Boston in the summer of 2004.
As far as running for the BAA, I have Matt to thank for that as well. I came up to visit him over winter break in 2003-2004, and I tagged along to a few BAA workouts while I was up there. I just hit it off with Jeff and the entire team right away. My first workout was very much a trial by fire (it was actually my first workout in over a year), with Diana Bowser, Mimi Fallon, Cathi Campbell, and Julie Peterson –all previous Olympic marathon trials qualifiers- but I made it through okay. I kept in touch with Jeff and some of the women throughout that spring, and actually ran most of my qualifying marathon (Austin 2004) with Diana. I wore the BAA uniform for the first time at the 2004 marathon trials and have been a very proud Unicorn ever since.
Q: How is the Trials different from other races?
A: In 2004, I qualified less than 7 weeks before the trials in my second ever (and first “serious”) marathon. It was really a surprise, and I had to be talked in to even trying to run the trials race itself; the marathon was still so new to me and I certainly wasn’t prepared for back-to-back efforts like that. I came in injured and very tired, so I only made it through about 14 miles of the trials race, but all things considered, it was a great thrill just to make it that far.
In hindsight, it was still a good experience for me to go and just be around these women. I came in very intimidated, but after seeing how normal even the best runners in the country are, it gave me a little more of a sense of belonging. It also lit a fire under me for 2008. I realized I still had plenty more potential in the marathon, and I wanted to come to the 2008 ready to really compete.
Q: How have you maintained your focus on the Trials since qualifying?
A: I think in order to stay focused and keep going in this sport, you almost have to think you’re better than any race you’ve run. I came out of Chicago 2006 grateful to have met the trials qualifying standard, but disappointed with many elements of that race. Part of what has kept me focused is a desire to move forward from my qualifying time and compete with some people further up on the trials list. After basically being a spectator in 2004, I want to really take advantage of the opportunity to race against the best women in the country.
Q: Have you been able to stay healthy?
A: Well…I haven’t, really. I’ve made quite a few mistakes over the past year and a half, but thankfully things seem to be coming together now. I came back really quickly from Chicago, and never really took a break from training and competing before running Boston the following April. I basically spent that entire spring with a marathon hangover, and just felt depleted all the time. I took a good break after Boston, but then changed gears to do some shorter races in the summer and fall. I overdid the racing and workouts in September-October and ended up with some nasty plantar fascia problems. I was out of commission for most of October, November, and December. It was certainly not the way I had planned to jump into marathon training, but it probably was a very good physical and mental break before gearing up for the trials. I’m working on a short build-up, but my foot seems to be under control, and I’m trying to supplement with some cross training.
Q: How do you balance work and running?
A: It can be challenging at times, but I love my job and I love training, so I can’t really consider giving either one up. My current job has some flexibility, where I’m able to run during lunch time or come in early and then leave a little early for a workout. The biggest challenge so far this spring has been the research environment. We just finished a study in a hot environmental chamber (our chambers usually run between 40-50°C or 104-122°F), which can really wear you out. I was trying to run right after working in there but found myself overheated and dehydrated a little too often, so my runs weren’t high quality. Other than that, the training itself isn’t too hard while working full-time; it is more challenging to try to stay on top of recovery (nutrition, hydration, stretching, sleeping). That is often what gets sacrificed when work gets too busy.
Q: What are your goals for the race?
A: Since getting injured in the fall, my goals have become more focused on getting myself to the starting line before I can even think about what I want at the finish line. I haven’t really made formal goals, other than showing up on April 20th healthy and ready to race.
Q; How much training have you been able to do on the Trials course?
A: I have run along the Charles River occasionally over my years in Boston, but I have yet to do any real training on the trials course. I did run the Tufts 10k in the fall, which has a similar layout, and I have been trying to duplicate elements of the course in my current training (i.e. u-turns, running into the wind, repeating segments).
Q: What do you think of the course? Does it suit your running strengths/style?
A: I think it’s a pretty gentle course, and I like the loop format as far as seeing where other people are throughout the race. It is also very spectator friendly, so I think it could be pretty crazy out there. The best thing about the course, to me, is that it is in Boston. Showcasing the top marathoners in the country in a city so steeped in marathon history is just amazing for women’s running. And more personally, it means I don’t have to travel, and my nearby friends and family can come to cheer.
Q: Do you have a race strategy mapped-out?
A: I tend to race my best when I stay patient and relaxed for as long as possible, so I’ll probably try to be conservative early and work my way up later in the race.
Q: Do you have any pre-race rituals that you will follow?
A: I’m not that into rituals-I trust my training much more than I’d trust a lucky sports bra or magic bagel flavor.
Q: What are your post-trials running plans?
A: I’m not sure at this point. There are some famous New England races (Mt. Washington, Beach to Beacon, Falmouth) that I have always wanted to do, and this may be a good year to try some of those.
Q: What is your favorite distance to race (5k, 10k, marathon, etc.).
A: I really like them all.
Q: Do you have any runners that you particularly admire?
A: Absolutely! Nobody inspires me more than my BAA teammates. We have such a collection of phenomenal women, who are not only great runners but amazing mothers, wives, students, and people with careers and lives outside of running. It isn’t easy to balance it all, but knowing that so many of us go through the same struggles and are there to support each other makes it that much easier to get out and train every day. I love being a part of this organization and knowing that I am representing a club with so many members who contribute to the world in such meaningful ways. I think the coaching staff really fosters this as well, by caring about who we are as people beyond how we’re running. The coaches themselves-Jeff, Mike, and Suzanne are also all people I respect and admire for many reasons.
Q: What is your advice to other marathoners: any tips that you have garnered from experience either racing or training?
A: Running is a gift and a choice, every day. It’s too easy to get into a groove and forget either of those things until an injury or illness sidelines you. I know when I’m injured, part of my internal bargaining process usually involves thinking “I don’t care how fast or how long, I just want to be able to run again!” It’s easy to lose sight of that when things are going well.
Conversely, if you’re in a training rut and not really feeling good or enjoying your runs, remember that it’s a conscious choice you’re making to get out there every day. I have even tried to shift my choice of words from “I have to do a 10-mile tempo today” to “I am choosing to…” or “I would like to…” as a little reminder that nobody is making me do the training. It works both to remind myself that I have freedom to do whatever I want, and to reinforce how impressive it is that so many of us DO make this choice every day and we are better for it.
Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
A: I just want to acknowledge the amazing people in my life that have brought me where I am as a runner and a person. My parents are two of the most incredible people I have ever encountered; to have them as role models my entire life has really helped mold who I am. They instilled in us very early on the importance of effort and the belief that we are all given gifts in life, and that it is our responsibility to use those gifts for good. Part of the reason working and running are so important to me is that I am trying to make the best of everything I’ve been given. My mom is the most gracious, generous person I have ever met, and my Dad is unbelievably strong, loyal, and hardworking, yet so gentle and loving at the same time. I am even luckier to have found another man as wonderful as my dad-my husband Matt. Everything good in my life, I feel is a direct result of the people who surround me: my parents, my brother Jack, my sister Sally and her husband Scott, my husband and his entire family, my friends, coaches, and teammates.
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