Keep on Keepin' on ...
That's how my great-grandmother, GiGi, signs every card she sends me - "Keep on Keepin on, GiGi". Hey, it's worked for her for the past 92 years . . . Of course, she's never run a marathon . . . then again she was a senior citizen by the time they let women run marathons in this country - but that's an entirely different post . . .
In the past two weeks many of us have experienced first hand the non-discriminating unkindness that only the marathon can bring. And while the sting of PMSS - post marathon stress syndrome - can easily take us down an anti-climatic road, we are reminded that these are the parts that make us stronger - first mentally, then physically - and as Deena Kastor's race this weekend demonstrates it happens to even the very best of them.
"If it doesn't kill ya, it only makes you stronger" - I don't know who first said it, but the last time I heard it was in college at practice from Lauren Fleshman long before she was US goddess of the 5K. And in the years between that comment at practice and her 15:02, my guess is that she's walked that fine line many times much like Deena K., Lorna, Megan, Waz, and many more of us have recently. Now, we may not all have sub-2:20's in our future or $200K marathon pay days, but you better believe we've got more PRs and victories in the road ahead.
Keep on Keepin on, ladies.
posted by srf @ 10:10 AM
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Kastor survives brutal final 3 miles to edge Tomescu-Dita for crown
By Skip Myslenski
Tribune staff reporter
They broke from the pack early, and over the next 18 miles, they were like two friends out together on a Sunday run.
Then Deena Kastor suddenly surged and relentlessly pulled away from Constantina Tomescu-Dita, defending women's champion of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
But Kastor, 32, had even loftier goals. She wanted to become the first U.S. woman to break 2 hours 20 minutes, so she pushed on, churning out the miles at a pace of a bit over 5 minutes 20 seconds that she hoped would carry her to a 2:19 finish.
For 23 miles she maintained that pace, gaining a 50-second lead over Tomescu-Dita. But then her form faltered, her stride shortened and her every step was tinged with pain.
"They just didn't want to go anymore," she said of her balky back and screaming hamstrings.
Then she slowed significantly even as the end neared.
Miles of 5:41, 6:25 and 6:14 were all she could manage, and though she held on to win, her time was 2:21:25, and her edge over Tomescu-Dita was a mere five seconds.
"There's nothing that parallels what that feels like," she said, looking back on those last, torturous miles. "The marathons are unkind, and when they're unkind, they're harsh. This one was extremely harsh."
Kastor was striving from the start to break a barrier breached by only five women. Tomescu-Dita, a Romanian, had said she would not follow a 2:20 pace, but she hung with Kastor until they neared the 19th mile.
"When Deena went, I stayed maybe 100 meters back," Tomescu-Dita said. "But I had a little problem with my stomach. I said, 'Maybe Deena can run 2:20. I'm not ready for 2:20.'"
Kastor did look ready for that time, but at 20 miles she started suffering. First she noticed her feet, which were suddenly sensitive and feeling the pavement, and then her back and hamstrings tightened.
"With about 4 miles to go, I really thought that this is going to be a long 4 miles," she said. "The mile marks weren't coming fast enough. It was really the last 3 miles that were the ugliest. I really, really felt awful."
She knew she would not break 2:20, and her goal became simply to keep herself together. That was a pitched battle, her mind fighting her body, and as she struggled toward the finish, her body often threatened to take over her mind.
"This is going to be the ugliest mile of my life," she recalled about passing the marker telling her she had only 1 mile to go. "I really dug down for it then.
"There were a couple seconds in there that I was justifying second place. Then it was, 'Are you kidding me? I worked too hard for this.'
"I kept digging down, digging down and really used the last bit of energy I had."
Two hours after that bit of energy earned her a victory, she was sitting easily in a chair and holding a bouquet of flowers.
"I don't think I'd do anything different," she said. "To have great things happen, you have to take risks. I took a risk … it almost ended up costing me. I suffered greatly that last 5K. Only now am I starting to feel OK."
Age group results:
http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USAMarathonChampionships/results.asp#women
Open Women
1 Nicole Aish 2:40:21
2 Zika Palmer 2:41:06
3 Susan Loken 2:43:10
4 Nicole Hunt 2:43:25
5 Johanna Olson 2:44:09
6 Christy Nielsen 2:45:19
7 Jennifer Derego 2:45:22
8 Jill Boaz 2:45:34
9 Sopagna Eap 2:45:57
10 Mary Kate Bailey 2:46:03
11 Joan Samuelson 2:46:27
12 Dana Coons 2:46:54
13 Michelle Simonaitis 2:47:30
14 Megan Daly 2:47:39
15 Betsy Keever 2:47:39
16 Christine Brough-Glockenmeier 2:47:52
17 Susannah Kvasnicka 2:47:57
18 Ann Alyanak 2:48:04
19 Genevieve Kiley 2:48:13
20 Donna Anderson 2:49:26
Masters
Top 3
Women 40-44
1 Susan Loken 42 AZ 2:43:10
2 Doreen Mccoubrie 43 PA 2:50:05
3 Lisbet Sunshine 41 CA 2:50:24
Women 45-49
1 Joan Samuelson 48 ME 2:46:27
2 Marie Boyd 45 MT 2:55:15
3 Nina Stamer 45 WY 3:09:24
Women 50-54
1 Andriette Wickstrom 50 IA 3:38:01
2 Linda Gentling 54 MN 3:45:26
3 Janet Cain 54 CA 3:47:36
Women 55-59
1 Irene Herman 56 CA 3:47:30
2 Francine Lepage 57 MN 3:58:47
3 Kathleen Shea 57 MN 4:04:18
Women 60-64
1 Marie Slonski 62 CA 4:00:18
2 Jan Rohde 64 MN 4:32:32
3 Monique Robitaille 63 MA 4:34:14
Women 70-74
1 Patricia Wahlgren 71 MN 5:58:27
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