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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONOctober 31, 2014Jelena ProkopcukaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q.  You won here twice and ran so well. You know that you won't get a fast time here because of the course. What are your views on the race as against the record? JELENA PROKOPCUKA:  The course is tough, and especially in the second part of the race. To run fast in New York, it means you have good weather conditions, maybe wind behind, not in front. Last year it just was difficult, as we expect this year. Q. A headwind, yes, but that might give you a better chance to win against, say, Mary, who would be faster on a fast course. Are you happy that it might be bad weather? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I don't understand. Q. In bad weather and on a difficult course, you have a better chance of winning against, say, Mary and Edna, who are basically faster than you? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I think yes. Q. Just as last year you came through and got third. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I think they were only one person who create similar weather conditions at home because some days at home we have ‑4 and very windy. So it was so realistic. So I can imagine what we are going to have on Sunday, maybe a little bit, because the runners from Kenya, it's warm conditions. Portuguese runners, warm conditions. So maybe I'm a little bit adjusted to cold. Q. Desi Linden, who lives in Michigan, where it's very cold. Desi used to be Desi Davila, the American. She was second in Boston three or four years ago. So she likes the cold as well. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. So you're happy that there are no pace makers. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Not happy. Q. You're not? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: It's easier to run when you have a pacemaker, especially the first part of the marathon. The second part, of course, it's different. Especially in weather conditions, it's not good. Q. Headwind? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. So when you first saw the weather forecast for Sunday, did you say, "yes"? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: No, because too cold is not good for me, too. Yes, I prefer cold weather conditions, if compare hot and cold. But 4 degrees is cold for me, too. But I'm not afraid because I can run in cold. But the wind is no good for all of us because it makes it not 42K, it's 45. Q. With the wind. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. So it's very difficult to set a good time. Q. Does that matter to you the time? Or is it more place for you anyway? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I think all of us it matters because, if you can run fast‑‑ because only three, first three positions, one, two, three, and then you think about time. Of course I can run faster in this race. Last year was poor weather conditions, and my result was 2:27:47. Q. You ran a 2:24 in Nagoya this spring? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. What were the conditions there? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: The weather conditions, a little bit warmer than I like, but in Nagoya, it's very difficult to‑‑ it's not asphalt. Too tough. Q. Like concrete, we would probably call it here. Hard on the legs. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. But anyway, I was happy because I was second, and I was able to set a good result. Q. You took off two years really for maternity, more than that. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Four years. Q. Four years. Do you think that is now helping you prolong‑‑ make your career longer and faster? You had a rest on your legs. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: It's a difficult question. Maybe two years is enough years, but it took me four years, but it's life, and I can't change it. So of course it's good for my legs, for my body. But anyway, I became for four years older. Q. That's true. You can't stop that part. None of us can. 2:24 is faster than you've run in a few years. Did you do anything different in your training? Have you changed anything as you are getting older? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Of course we're changing our training, not just more power, but the order. Before, I could do hard training almost each day. Now I need more rest. Maybe sometimes, before I had two trainings a day. Now I have one but long because I have family, I have son, and I have to spend time with him, too, not only training. Q. How old is Victor now? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: 3 1/2. Q. That's a fun age. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. He's a lovely boy. Q. How many miles in your highest week now, or kilometers do you do? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Approximately 210 kilometers a week. Q. That would be your peak? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. For this training? Last year here third. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. Many people were surprised, but were you surprised? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: When I was running on the 15K, I didn't believe it was possible to be in third because three women were behind us three minutes. And thinking was struggling for third place, and to imagine myself on the third, it was unbelievable. But before the last mile uphill, I started to run my mile up in poor conditions. And with the last mile to go, I saw the coach, and he said "third". And I didn't believe. Q. Your coach said you were third? Is that what happened? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: When I run uphill, and I understand I am third, but I didn't believe. When I finished, I asked my husband, "I am really third?" Q.So your coach at one mile to go said you were third, and you didn't believe him. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I understand, yes, I know who was in front of me, but it was so unexpected. So I understand I was third, but I didn't believe. Q. That's exactly right. You understood, but you didn't believe. In addition to the conditions on Sunday giving‑‑ playing in your favor a bit because you trained in them, you're also a stronger runner than‑‑ you run a lot on strength. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Yes. Q. I suspect that you have a very good chance on Sunday. How do you feel? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I did a lot of workouts, yes. I feel that I am good prepared, and I understand a lot of good runners. I expect them, but I am not afraid of them. I feel I am strong enough to run well, and I am going to do the best I can. Q. I was going to ask if someone takes it out at a 2:20 pace, if you would go with them, but in this wind, probably no one will do that. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I'm waiting Sunday because now it's very difficult to speak about wind, what's strong, in front, in back. So of course during the race, I understand what strategy and tactic I'll run. But I'm ready to run my own pace. So I'm going to do the best I can. Q. Do you have a goal time ready to run your own pace? Do you have a goal in mind? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: First part, maybe 1:13. Maybe a little bit faster. Of course it's very difficult to run alone first part. The second part, you can go alone. Yes, I'm ready to work hard for it. The first part is the hardest part of the marathon because you have just started. So it's very good when you start with pack and other runners who can help you make the space. Q. The second part, you don't mind running alone? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I like the second part. It helped me two times to win, and it helped me to get third place last year. So if I am ready, I can run. And now I am ready. Q. The news with Rita Jeptoo, obviously, you probably found out about it this morning on your way here. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I didn't read about it. Q. She had a sample that tested positive. I was just asking people in general what their thoughts are on the sport, whether you think that it's been a clean sport, whether there could be improvement in anti‑doping, what your thoughts are in general. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: It's a very difficult question. Now I don't have enough information to discuss this problem. So I don't want to comment. Q. But in general, just leaving that situation aside, when you go to an event, do you feel like it's there? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Of course it's not good, and it's not honest. It's not honest. Q. Do you think the windier it is, the better your chances? So do you have a plan depending on how strong the wind is? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I don't want to run when it's windy. Q. When you were starting out early in your career, would you have expected to still be running this fast and this well at your age? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: When I started my career, I didn't think about such big competitions. I didn't dream about this. When I was 22 years old, I was thinking about finish my career. But my coach help me, and I'm still running, and I reach such big races. Q. Is Rio in your plans, to run the marathon there? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: No marathon for me in the Olympics. Rio de Janeiro too hard for me. I don't like the weather conditions. It's not for me. Q. How many Olympics have you done? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Three. Q. So Athens, Beijing, Sydney? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: No. Athens, Beijing, Atlanta. Q. All marathon? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: No. On track. Q. So you're not tempted to run on the track in Rio? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: No. This year I ran two on the track. Q. You ran fairly well. You ran good times on the track. JELENA PROKOPCUKA: Not good times because the pace was slow and was some reasons why all ladies go back. Their start was pushed back. It was way too much. We were waiting, waiting, waiting, and all of us was tired and didn't go off well. It was not running. It was keeping all the time. All the time you are running, you're thinking down, but not about running, about your suffering. It was for me maybe. For another, it was something else, but for me it was suffering. Q. You mentioned that you are planning not to run the marathon in Rio because it's too hot for you. What does it get too hot for you? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: In the Olympic games, world championship took place in summer, June, hottest place of the year. It start at 9:00. In Athens, 6:00, the hottest time of the day. My body can't work with those weather conditions. I don't want to stay on the start line not feeling strong because the hot weather conditions. Q. If someone besides yourself were running this race, who would you say is your favorite? Who would you expect to win, apart from yourself, in New York? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: There's lots of good runners, and we can expect all of them to make a good time. Mary Keitany. Q. How do you feel fitness‑wise? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I feel stronger. I am stronger than last year. And I'm more confident than last year. Q. Why is that? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I felt because each year I'm improving my result. This year I ran 2:24, and it gave me confidence that I improved my conditions, and before this competition, I did a lot of workouts, and everything was well. So I feel I'm good. So I'm expecting a good result. Q. So last year you were very surprised, you couldn't believe it. What about this year? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: It was a surprise for me. Of course I wanted to be on the podium. It was like a dream. At that time, I could understand how it's difficult because the field is very strong. Q. But it won't surprise you this year, will it? JELENA PROKOPCUKA: I don't think about it, just running. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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