Laurie is 45. She has been running for 4 years, and her goal is to qualify for the 2008 Women’s Olympic Trials in the marathon. 2 years ago this would have been a preposterous goal for her…but, a lot can happen in two years.

In 2005 she was a 3:04 marathoner without training direction. She really didn’t have an idea of how much faster she could run when I began working with her, and nor did I. I soon found out that she was a unique person in her ability to have a single minded focus towards her work.

I began coaching her in earnest in the spring of 2006. We began by working to improve her efficiency at running paces faster than her current marathon pace. Like many recreational runners her efficiency when running at paces faster than 10K race pace was poor. We used short hill repeats with long rests, progressive long runs and specific runs at or below her date “Stamina” (or lactate threshold) pace. She thrived on this work and responded quickly to it.

By October of 2006 she ran 2:58 on the same course she had run 3:04 and had improved her 5K and 10K performances exponentially. She recovered quickly from the marathon and it became a game of ‘how fast can I go’. We began to set new goals, since she had surpassed the ones we thought it would take her 12-24 months to achieve, and we verbalized the possibility that if things went really well…perhaps she could take a shot at running 2:46:59 for a place in the Women’s Oly trials.

Her training thrived in the winter of 2006 and heading into the new year she was FIT. She was off to Austin for the traditionally fast marathon there in February. Course changes were announced, but the certification and fast course of years prior were assured to us.

Laurie ran an phenomenal race in Austin in 2007 running 2:50 on what turned out to be a very hilly course. It was bittersweet. How fast could she have run? There was time. She had until march of 2008 to hit the mark. Now it was attainable not just a pipe-dream kept between coach and athlete.

We decided to put in the work over the next 7 months and prepare for Laurie’s hometown marathon in Portland, OR. It’s not the fastest marathon, as it has a 800m hill that rises 210m near mile 17, but it is home and otherwise flat. She put in her miles, kept up her strength training and showed her marathon specific speed was better than ever with a 10K personal best of 37:00 the month prior to the event.

I am still not sure what exactly happened in Portland that made it so challenging for Laurie, but the short version of the story is that she was on pace through 16, lost a bit of time in the next 6k and by 20 miles was running for the win with a very outside shot at hitting the qualifier. That soon was evident to be a lost opportunity by 22, but she had a 20m lead on 2nd and was still running strong. In fact Laurie held the lead until the final turn to the finish, perhaps all of 25 m before the finish line, where one of the Japanese athletes swept her up for the win in 2:53. This is when I realized just how unique Laurie was.

I was beside myself, and would have been more accepting of godzilla trouncing the city than what I had just seen. I knew she would be devastated! To miss the qualifier and then have the win slip away that late in the race would certainly crush her. I walked in the opposite direction around the block from the finish to meet her, unsure of what I could say. There she was wrapped in a space blanket shaking her head. “I gave it everything I had” was all she had to say. She meant it. That was it, and what was done, was done. Soon she was enthusiastic about taking another stab at the qualifier.

I weighed her options for winter marathons and felt that California International would be her best opportunity. It was a flatish course (elevation loss over slightly rolling hills is better than it may sound), temps slightly above Portland during the day, with less average rain in early December, and an inexpensive flight.

If you have read these posts you know Laurie met 10+ mph headwinds in the last half of her race and slowed down about 20 seconds a mile as is predicted when running into such a headwind without any shelter. She race a great race considering and set a personal best with 2:49:41. So here we are again with decisions to make.

I am working to get her into Houston (and have been in vein for 2 weeks). The marathon is closed for registration, but I am pleading to the elite athlete coordinator for some help despite Laurie’s times being slower than required for elite status. If we cannot get in to Houston I think the newer Phoenix Rock and Roll marathon may be a decent choice as it appears quite flat, with temperate weather and solid competition.

I know Laurie has the fitness to run under 2:47. I hope she has her day in January. I am proud of her to chase ambitious goals that others deemed unattainable but a year ago.

Wish her good luck in her upcoming attempt at the trials qualifier.

Sean Coster