Where Your Dreams Become Reality
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Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
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Jen Rhines Hopes for Marathon Breakthrough in Rome at End of Month By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved March 5, 2006 Hoping that a different kind of race will help produce a different kind of result, two-time Olympian Jen Rhines will run her next marathon in Rome on Sunday, March 26. "From my ups and downs in the marathon I have realized that I am a much better competitor than I am a time trialer," said Rhines in an exclusive interview with Race Results Weekly conducted via e-mail late last week. "Since the marathon is such a long event the tendency of most athletes is to focus on maintaining a steady pace rather than on purely being competitive. When I take this approach I seem to lose my competitive edge." Rhines's best effort in her previous five marathons was her come-from-behind third place finish at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon in St. Louis in 2004. Running in her third marathon after disappointing results at both Chicago and New York, Rhines made up a two-minute defecit on early front runner, Blake Russell, passing her with less than 800m to go on the race. She ran a 2:29:57, making her second Olympic team, and her first at the marathon distance. Later that year at the Olympic Games, she finished a respectable 34th in brutally hot conditions in Athens in 2:43:52, and last year at New York she was hoping for a big performance. But despite putting in excellent training, and lowering her 10,000m personal best three times to 31:26.66, she only managed an 18th place finish in 2:37:07. She, and coach/husband Terrence Mahon, are hoping that the reduced pressure of an overseas marathon --the race in Rome may be largest marathon in Italy but is less than one-third the size of either the Chicago or New York marathons-- will help bring out her best racing. "After a disappointing run in the ING NYC Marathon last fall, Terrence and I decided my next marathon should be a race that would be won in the 2:26 to 2:30 range," said Rhines. "We were looking at marathons that were in late March or early April. At the same time the race director of the Rome Marathon saw me on the cover of Runners World and contacted my manager, Ray Flynn, about my potential participation in Rome. We thought it was a perfect fit." If Rhines can ascend to the top step of the podium in Rome, she will not be the first American woman to do so. Back in 1986 before Rome recruited an elite women's field, Katherine Gregory ran 3:23:43 to get the win. However, Gregory's winning mark was a far cry from the 2:27:49 course record of Italian Ornella Ferrara set in 2004. Last year's winner, Silvia Skvortsova of Russia, ran 2:28:01. Rhines has been preparing with her Team Running USA teammates at their winter training camp in Palo Alto, Calif. Although none are doing a March marathon like Rhines, there is enough overlap in their training so Rhines doesn't have to do all of her workouts alone. "Deena Kastor is running the Flora London Marathon in April so she has also been marathon training," explained Rhines. "Since the other women in our group have been in a strength phase of training for cross country I have been able to do threshold workouts with them. I routinely do workouts with Lauren Fleshman, Sara Hall, Missy Buttry and I just do more volume." Rhines reported that all aspects of her training have been strong (intervals, tempos, and long runs) and she could run a personal best at Rome. However, she says that is only a secondary goal. " I do have the fitness to run a personal best in Rome but whether or not that happens will depend on how the race plays out. I am going to be focused on simply competing to win the race." Mahon and Rhines moved to Mammoth Lakes from the Philadelphia area last fall, selling their house in Ardmore last summer. They had gone there many times before for training, however. The city is at 7920 feet of altitude (2438m), and boasts a plethora of beautiful running trails. It was already the permanent home of Olympic medalists Kastor and Meb Keflezighi. With her spring marathon coming earlier than most, Rhines will have plenty of time to recover and run a slate of road and track races during the summer. "I plan to run a couple of road races in late May and early June," Rhines said. "I will run the Circle of Friends New York Mini 10-K (June 12) and possibly the Bolder Boulder 10-K (29). My focus this summer will be to run a fast 10,000m on the track in July or August to get the "A" qualifying standard for next year's World Championships. I will probably then look to running a Fall marathon." Photos of Jen Rhines: Winning 2002 U.S. 10,000m Title: http://tinyurl.com/nhvgh Running 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon: http://tinyurl.com/lzaxn Running 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials 5000m: http://tinyurl.com/lnpzh Career Best Times (from Tilastopaja.net): 3000m: 8:50.72 (2000) 5000m: 15:12.39 (2005) 10,000m: 31:26.66 (2005) 10-K Road: 32:19 (2002) Half-Marathon: 1:11:45 (2003) Marathon: 2:29:57 (2004)
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