Nov 8, 2008
Desi Davila - Hanson/Brooks - Chicago Marathon - 5th Overall Views- 2099

Desi has been putting in the training over the past few years at Hanson/Brooks and is just starting to really take off. She recently placed as the 5th overall female at the Chicago Marathon, where she ran 2:31:33. Read on to find out about her training and thoughts on the financial side of running.


RM: How did your training go leading into the Chicago Marathon? Did you try anything new for the marathon from how you have prepared in the past? Did you cut out anything that you have done in the past?

DD: The training leading up to the race went well, there was a bump in the road here and there, but it went about as well as a segment could go. One thing we focused on over the training segment was really making sure I was taking in a lot of fluids during hard workouts and long runs; I've struggled with that in the past. We also worked on being quicker in the later miles of workouts and really building through and finishing them off strong.

RM: What was your goal going into the race? Did you have a place goal, a time goal, a goal to beat somebody in particular?

DD: There were a couple different goals I had going into the race. Time wise I felt I was capable of running right around 2:30 if it went just right, but anything under 2:32 was going to be a success. After the trials I though it was going to be really important to gain some confidence in my ability to close well over the last 6 miles. I wanted to set myself up for a good chance to make the 2009 World Championship team, so finishing
as high as possible was important, but you can't control how anyone else runs that day so I didn't have a specific place goal in mind.

RM: How did the race unfold according to how you planned/hoped it would? What would you change if you could go back and run the race again? Was the weather a factor in changing race plans, why or why not?

DD: Everything pretty much went as we planned it. I was expecting to be running the majority of the race alone, as I was shooting for 2:32, and it seemed most of the elite field was interested in running under 2:30. I was pleasantly surprised that it went out slow and I had the group to run the early miles with. When the leaders pace got a little too quick for me I just settled into my own rhythm and then dropped the pace around the 20 mile mark.

After having a good amount of time to reflect now, the only thing I would change is being a bit more aggressive over the last 4-6 miles. I think I was overly cautious, due to the whole trials experience, I never really let go and raced those last few miles.

We made a minor adjustment to my race plan due to the weather.
Initially, I wanted to start picking the pace up a little earlier
(halfway) in the race, we held off until later just to play it safe.

RM: What do you do to recover from a marathon? How much time do you think you will need to bounce back and be ready to train hard again?

DD: I'll take two weeks off, no running, get some massages and kick my feet up. After the two weeks it will be a gradual build up of my mileage. It's usually a couple of weeks before we get going on workouts again, which drives me crazy, but I guess it's good.

RM: When you get back to training, what will be your next goal race? What do you hope to run in the future for the marathon? How long do you see yourself training at the level you are at now?

DD: I think the next big thing we'll put on the schedule is Houston Half Marathon. That will be followed by some shorter quicker races to get a little more speed in the legs.

DD: I don't really have some set time goal for the future; I'm not really sure what I'm capable of just yet. Every time I complete a marathon training segment I feel really strong when I come back and usually see some solid improvement. As long as I continue to improve and am still enjoying training and competing, I'll keep at it.

RM: For those who are interested in running post college, it would be nice to give an idea of what type of financial incentives are out there.If you wouldn't mind, combining your prize money from Chicago and the bonuses from Brooks, what do you stand to make off that race performance?

DD: I obviously don't condone runners to make the financial side of things the most important to whether or not they should continue training hard after college. Instead, I want to excite those with the ability and dreams that chases those dreams can be worth there time.*

To be honest, I don't have an exact number. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon money will be $15,000 and the Brooks bonus will be at least $15,000. The Brooks bonus may amount to more based on some end of the year results, so who knows. It's certainly nice to be rewarded for all the hard work, but at the end of the day they are just that, 'bonuses', on top of all the real accomplishments.