Hanson/Brooks - Kelly Stewart
4/5/07

Kelly has been with Hanson/Brooks for over two years now.  She is about to make the jump from the smaller scale Division II national scene (where she was an all-american in XC and track) to the big time Boston Marathon scene (arguably the most popular/historic marathon in the world). Kelly will be toeing the line with personal bests of 10:00 for 3k, 17:14 for 5k, 35:34 for 10k, 1:20.24 for half marathon and in her only time in the marathon, 2:58.21. Read on to find out about Kelly's training and her thoughts on the Boston Marathon.

RM:   This is your second marathon. What have been the biggest changes in your training for this marathon from your first marathon and why were those changes made?

KS:   For me the only major change was in my volume of training. For Chicago because I was coming off of a couple of injuries K+K wanted to be fairly conservative with my training. I think my highest mileage week was around 105 miles while for Boston my highest week was around 120 and I've been doing a lot more high volume weeks. Prior to Boston, K+K felt that my poor performance at Chicago may have been because I was tired from the training so they thought that for Boston I would benefit more from higher mileage training than I would by trying to run a faster pace. So that's what I've been doing.

RM:   What do you see as being the biggest hurdle with you having a great race at Boston?  Why do you feel that way and how do you plan to overcome that hurdle?

KS:   I guess the biggest hurdle would be finding the best way to fuel myself before and during the marathon. I think my lack of knowledge about what and how to eat definitely hampered my performance at Chicago. Since then I've been experimenting a bit with my diet as well as getting some advice from other more experienced marathon runners to try to figure out what will work the best for me.

RM:   With all the different training that you have been doing for the Boston Marathon, what have you liked the most and what have you liked the least amount?

KS:  The main difference is that we've been doing more downhill workouts.  Everyone I've spoken to about Boston has told me that it's the down hills that really beat you up during the race. So our downhill workouts have been aimed at getting our bodies used to that feeling as well as teaching us to control our pace (especially since Boston has that nice downhill start). I guess I've liked the long runs that best because they feel so much easier than they did preparing for Chicago. And, what I've like the least is doing down hills on ice.  The fact that we all got through the winter without any major falls is a bit of a miracle.

RM:   When you were running for Shippensburg, what events did you see yourself running after you graduated college? Was the Boston Marathon even a consideration and why?

KS:   I knew I wanted to run a marathon at some point but Boston hadn't really entered my mind at the time.  I had actually hoped to have run a couple of half marathons and gradually work my way up to the marathon, but with my recent injuries that didn't exactly happen.

RM:   What would have to happen for you to be able to walk away from the Boston Marathon satisfied?

KS:     Plain and simple: to qualify for the Olympic trials.

 

Thanks for the great interview Kelly! (Interview conducted by Nick Cordes)

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