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NYC HALF MARATHONMarch 15, 2012Kara GoucherNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q.  What's your approach to this weekend and where is your training right now? KARA GOUCHER: I am here to have fun and to run aggressively. The past leading up to the trials for me was not‑‑ I had a lot of fun with my teammates, but the atmosphere was very stressful day in and day out, so since the trials I've just kind of had fun and gotten some speed underneath me. This is really just about having an aggressive race and having fun before April 1st because April 1st starts the long drive out to the Olympics, so this is just a chance to do some stuff I haven't done in a really long time. Q. Will you be running the 10K trials? KARA GOUCHER: Possibly. I'm thinking about running the half marathon championship the week before because it's in the town where I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and then the 10K is six days later, so I like to do both, so we'll see. But it'll be in the middle of heavy training, so it won't be spectacular or anything. Q. The News Tribune loves‑‑ KARA GOUCHER: Well, they've watched me grow up. Q. Kevin Pate is it? KARA GOUCHER: Yeah. Q. If you did go there I can just imagine how big it would be. KARA GOUCHER: No, I mean, I really want to do it, and I'm hoping that it should work out fine, just a chance to go home so my grandparents could see me‑‑ they're in their late 80s now, so for them to see me race, they haven't seen me race in a long time, so it would be fun. My high school coach can come and watch me. Q. You said you wanted to race aggressively. The trials was much more tactical for you. Can you talk a little bit about why that was? KARA GOUCHER: Yeah, at the trials I just wasn't as fit as a lot of the other women, so I had to just sort of check my ego at the door and get the job done, which was to make the team. My coach and I never talked about me getting any place but third. The only time we ever talked about a place other than third was with two miles to go where he said I think you could be second, and I waved him off and said, no, I'm fine where I am. It was really just about getting the job done. Sometimes you just want to race and see what you can do and just kind of dig deep, and that's kind of what Sunday is about. It's about just running more aggressively, not like looking at my watch all the time or being worried about being in over my head. If I'm in over my head and I blow up, I'm still going to the Olympics. Q. So obviously you had your child two years ago? KARA GOUCHER: He's 17 months old. Q. And you came into shape pretty quickly and then struggled with injuries a little bit. You said you weren't as fit for the trials‑‑ KARA GOUCHER: Because of my injury. Coming back from having Colt took a while. I ran an okay marathon last year, but I think that the conditions helped me time a lot. I don't think it was necessarily a spectacular performance. But it was solid. And then turned around to get ready for the track, which I was really excited about it. But I had had a sore hip basically since February, and when I started to sprint and turn over more, it was kind of like a deck of cards, it all came crashing down, house of cards, and I ended up with a stress fracture honestly, and the only thing I could do to get rid of it was just complete rest. After World Championships I told my family I'm taking four weeks completely off, and they all laughed. They said, there's no way you'll do it. And then five weeks went by and I still hadn't done anything, not even ridden a bike. It wasn't out of laziness, it was just I knew I couldn't compete anymore with that hip. It was just bothering me too much. Q. How stressful of a time was that when you know that the days are clicking off to the trials? KARA GOUCHER: It was very stressful, and at the same time I was also interviewing coaches, and they're all like, where are you, how injured are you, and I had to tell them I'm actually very injured. So that was a very just stressful time for me in general. It kind of made the preparation for the trials‑‑ it was always hanging over my head. I knew that I didn't have great preparation, so that was kind of always in the back of my mind. I think that's why the trials was a very intense situation for me. I was not sore in my legs a bit the next day. I was sore in my neck because I literally ran with anxiety like this (neck muscles clenched). My form is much better now. I'm much more relaxed. Q. When was the last time you've had a race where you could just run aggressively and not really care about the results? KARA GOUCHER: I don't know. I mean, it's been a long time, honestly. Last year here, this race last year was really crucial for me because I was still coming back from having Colt and things hadn't been going great and Boston was four weeks away, so it was kind of a do‑or‑die situation. And then in track, I ran just to make the team once again, thinking I'd really let it go at worlds and then at worlds I was hurt. It's been a while. I'm not going to be crazy if someone goes out super fast. I did just run a marathon two months ago, I did have to taper down from that. But for me it's more about running a really solid second half and just seeing what I have and not worrying about if I kick too early, then it's okay. This is one of those few chances that you have where it's okay to take a few gambles. Q. So your legs will be sore Monday but not your neck? KARA GOUCHER: My legs will be really sore on Monday but not my neck and shoulders. I hope I'm over that carrying‑the‑whole‑world‑on‑my‑shoulders situation. Q. So more of the course is outside the park, so theoretically you can just start hauling ass? KARA GOUCHER: Right. Last year we were a little over seven miles and this year we exit right at about 10K. That was a little bit more running room on the other end. I know the course from last year, but last year I felt like we were very conservative through the park and then we left, and it was like a shock to my system. But this year I feel like I'll be able to handle that a little bit more. Q. Have you been to South Street Seaport before? KARA GOUCHER: Just last year. Q. I mean the Seaport. Did you actually go to the location to visit? KARA GOUCHER: No. Q. So this will be your first time there. KARA GOUCHER: Yeah. It's beautiful I hear. Q. I have a question about the half marathon distance. If it were in the Olympics would what do you think about that? Is it a legit event? KARA GOUCHER: I don't want to argue with anyone, but I don't think it should be in the Olympics. I think the Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, and it should be really hard and challenging to get in there, and even though a half marathon would suit some people better, probably myself included honestly, but that's not the point. The point is just that it's this elite group of people that can do it and get to experience it. I've heard that debate. I'd probably do better if there was a half, but I don't think it should be in the Olympics. Q. It has its own world championship. If you can just elaborate a little bit further about what makes it not ready for the Olympics. KARA GOUCHER: I just think‑‑ I think if it was an Olympic event, it would be amazing and you'd see some amazing performances. Like I said, I would probably opt for that over the marathon. But I just think the Olympics is about tradition, and it's about‑‑ it's supposed to be really hard to get there. It's supposed to be only a few people that make it. And adding another event‑‑ and granted, the 10K to the marathon, it's a huge difference. That's kind of the point. The marathon is its own sport and it's its own distance and it's its own event. I just think at that level it should just be left alone. Q. Can you compare maybe the sense of relief or the happiness or emotions involved with making the team in '08 as opposed to making the team this time around? KARA GOUCHER: Yeah, I think in '08, it was amazing, and it was this lifelong dream that I had, and I was coming off of a great summer beforehand where I was really believing anything was possible. But I wasn't as anxious about it. I really felt confident I was going to make it, like even on a bad day I was still going to make it. This time around, I think‑‑ and then I went to the Olympics and experienced it and it didn't go how I wanted, and from the moment I left there I couldn't wait for four years later. So this time around I felt like I honestly feel like my heart is in it more this time around, and I had a lot more angst and anxiety, and when I finished in '08 when I was like yes, it's finally here, I'm finally an Olympian, this time I'm like thank God, now I can actually go after this dream I have. I felt like in Houston if they had just let me lay down at the finish line, I would have slept for like two weeks. That's sort of how drained I felt emotionally. It feels different this time around. It feels better, but maybe it's because I'm here now. Q. I assume you might not have been getting as much sleep as normal when Colt was a newborn. KARA GOUCHER: He's actually a great sleeper. He sleeps like 12 hours a night now, so he goes to bed around 7:30 and gets up around 7:30 or 8:00 when I'm leaving for practice. There was just so much anxiety at the end of 2011 and if affected my whole life, it affected how I slept, everything. Just the trials was affirmation to me that I made the right decision and I'm just moving on, moving forward. Q. Is there anything about having a baby that's older now that's been easier for you? KARA GOUCHER: Oh, for sure. Colt has a routine now and he does things during the day. He can't talk but he can tell me what he wants more, he can grunt and point. He lets me know things now where before we couldn't really communicate with each other. Everything is easier than it was a year ago. I mean, it's unbelievably better than it was a year ago. Q. Do you see a third on Sunday? KARA GOUCHER: I would love to. I will take it one year at a time, but I would like to see myself in 2017, so we'll see. That will be like the last hurrah, I hope. Q. Did you take any time to rest after Houston? KARA GOUCHER: No. Well, I took two weeks without organized practice, so I went and visited my family and my husband's family, but Shalane and I were in Houston a couple days after, so we just met and ran right away. It was a pretty solid effort, but it wasn't crazy. It was more just taking a couple down weeks to recover from the stress leading up to it and the training leading up to it especially for me because I didn't taper for the trials so I was gaining fitness as I went, so like ten days before I did a really hard 20‑mile run and I went right up to the wire. We joked that my coach was going to have me out there doing quarter repeats the morning of the race trying to gain a little more, so it was trying to cycle down from that. Q. Can you take us through your trip to London? It sounded like a pretty whirlwind experience. What did you do while you were there? KARA GOUCHER: We ran and went to Starbucks and slept and woke up and drank coffee and ran again and drank more Starbucks. Shalane and I went through the course. Jerry thought it was important that I could see it for visualization, and Shalane decided to go back with us, and so we went over‑‑ we got to London at like 3:00 in the afternoon. At 5:00 we went out and ran the first ten miles. We got back, had dinner, went to bed, got up at 6:00 the next morning, ran eight miles, we went back to the room, hung out for a couple hours, at noon went out and ran the last eight miles and then 3:00 left for Amsterdam, woke up, went for a run and flew back. So it was a lot of running and so much coffee. We drank so much coffee just to try to stay awake. But it was totally worth it. For me I do better when I know what to expect. I think that's why Boston wasn't scary for me both times because I knew the course, so for me to run it and experience it‑‑ it's a loop course like Houston. First two times Jerry and Shalane led the way, the last time they made me lead the way and for me that's really good because I can look at a map and remember what it looks like and just picture it. Q. Does the course or did the Houston course prepare you do you think for some of those turns and the breaks of rhythm, or are there more breaks of rhythm in London? KARA GOUCHER: I think they're different courses but very similar layout. There are sections much like there was in Houston where you can get going really fast, but they just have very different feel. It's just different. Q. Have you been in touch with Paula? KARA GOUCHER: Yes, I actually talked to her just a couple days ago. She's in Albuquerque right now. She was kind of hoping to race here. It was kind of in the back of her mind but she has a cold and it wasn't right. She's doing good. She was training in Kenya and then we did a photo shoot in LA and then she's been in Albuquerque. Her training is going well. Same old Paula. Q. Is that something you would like to do some day is go to Kenya and train there? KARA GOUCHER: Yeah, it's actually something we're kicking around for next year before we run a spring marathon. We're talking about Kenya or Ethiopia, but I feel like it's a rite of passage, you go and you train there, and it's something even in high school we talked about. It's something that we've talked a lot about with Jerry and Shalane about doing next year before a spring marathon. Q. Are you hoping to go back to Boston and nail it? KARA GOUCHER: Well, third time is a charm, right? I mean, I have vowed to win that race. That's all I'm saying. Q. Read between the lines? KARA GOUCHER: Yeah. Q. What's the dynamic like in training with you and Shalane? KARA GOUCHER: It's amazing. Shalane is‑‑ I don't know, she's become like a sister, and it's really fun. Coming up to the trials, a lot of it was I was just kind of hanging on to her, and she was kind of like‑‑ had me under her wing a bit, and now things are a little bit better. I can lead the workout now and help her out. But we just had a have a lot of fun. When we're running hard we're running hard. We will leave each other behind if we have to. But the atmosphere is fun and lighthearted and we enjoy warming up and cooling down. I feel like I get so much more out of myself training with Shalane and Lisa than I ever did before because I push myself to a different level. I did a lot of training with men before, and even though they can obviously push me even more than Shalane or Lisa could, if I'm having a bad day I was like, he's a dude, of course he can run faster. When it's Shalane or Lisa, you're like, I should be able to do that, it's a female. And also a sense of obligation that they carried you through the last two miles, you need to carry them through a mile now. It works out really well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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