For Thoughts on The Run this month, I caught up
with Professional Runner Laura Thweatt
over coffee. It’s been a breakout season for the Boulder based runner.
Thweatt is a Native Coloradoan. This year, the former Durango High School cross
country standout confirmed her ascent as
a coming star when she represented team USA at the Bolder Boulder. Thweatt helped team USA to a third place finish. In
the women’s elite race She followed the
Bolder Boulder with a 15th place finish in the 5000 at the USA Track
and Field Championships. It was her first ever appearance at Nationals.
I ran with
her team twice (Boulder Track Club) over
a couple of weeks to learn a little more about her training. During these team
runs, Thweatt throttled back the pace for a short stretch while chatting,
easily looking the part of the National class runner she is. Many local clubs gather
for group runs during the week or on weekends. Some club runs are open to
non-club members. Club runs are a great way to meet other runners and connect
with a coach if one is looking to train for that first or next longer distance
race.
Thweatt spoke
openly about the challenges of being a professional runner as well as her goal of
running in the 2016 Olympics. She is confident and dedicated to her sport. She
is also an assistant cross country coach at Monarch High School. It’s a
position that suits her caring and supportive personality well. She interacts easily with her runners, and
it’s easy to see why they trust her and look to her for advice.
She casually
sips her coffee during the interview showing no sign whatsoever of fatigue from
an earlier training run. She is relaxed, and looking super-fit. She is
thinking, and dreaming big for the future.
TD- Laura-
you have probably been asked this question a lot-but it must have been quite an
experience to go from Durango-to-CU-to team USA-and then run in front of the
home crowd in the Bolder Boulder. In addition to running the professional race in your
hometown, you were also representing team USA.
Laura Thweatt: (Laughing) Yes it was
an amazing experience. I never expected my first time running in the elite race
to be running for team USA, let alone, running with Deena Kastor one of the
best runners in the country, if not world. So that was a huge experience for
me. It was really the next big thing in
my career, to do something like that. But it was very nerve racking-I’m not
going to lie (laughing). The morning of the race-I was just a mess. I felt like
I was not only running for team USA, because everyone sees that USA on your chest
and just expects that you will do well.
But I was also running for Deena Kastor and my all of my teammates. I did not want to let
them down. Plus, I put a lot of expectations on myself for a big race,
especially the Bolder Boulder. The support was just unbelievable. Running in my hometown was so cool. It is so
rare that there are high level races like the Bolder Boulder right here-in my
hometown! Just being able to drive to the start line and having all of my
friends, my family ,and my teammates out there cheering for me made a huge
difference. Finishing inside of Folsom
Field, inside the stadium was simply one of the highlights of my career so far.
It was packed!! And it was so loud!!I could hear so many people cheering. And I thought wow this is really cool.
TD-Laura you
are a professional runner and when sports fans think of professionals they
usually think of multi-million dollar contracts, endorsements, and
sponsorships. Talk about some of the
challenges you have faced as you are getting started in your career. You still
work full time, plan on going back to school for a masters degree and you also
coach.
Laura Thweatt: Yeah. I’m staying busy for sure. As any professional athlete will tell you, or
people working toward that level of professionalism, I did not come out of
college having been an All-American, or winning a National Championship with a
contract waiting for me. So I had to start out at the bottom. My career at CU was
helpful. The foundation I got there along with the coaching was huge. And I
have been able to build on that coming out of school. But I definitely started
at the bottom. I even took a three month break after college and that gave me
some time to determine I wasn’t finished running. I knew I still had some
potential to run, and it made me think about my overall development and where I
could get to. So I jumped back into my training. And it has been an amazing two years. I’m
running with the Boulder Track Club and Lee Troup (3 time Olympic Marathon
Runner for Australia) is my coach. I have no complaints. I have progressed each
year. My times have gone down. And I am slowly getting on that cusp of being an
elite athlete; maybe one day, I can support myself running full time. It is a
lot of hard work. A lot. (smiling and laughing).
TD: You
mentioned the Boulder Track Club (BTC) and Lee Troup. Lee has run in the Boston
Marathon. He is from Australia and he has won races at all levels before. He
has competed in the Olympic Marathon race. So when you say Boulder Track Club
(BTC)-what does that mean? What is involved for you racing for BTC?
Laura Thweatt: Well there are
different levels, so anyone can join and pay $50 to become a member. You don’t
have to race, but you can race when you want, or even help support the team.
You will still get a training plan that you can follow. Then there is a local
race team that is coached by Clint Wells, who has a pretty impressive
background himself (USA Olympic Trails Qualifier in 1996, 2000, 2004 and former
race winner Bolder Boulder Citizens 2008) that is the bigger group. Those
runners are training for half marathons and marathons or even local races. We
also do a race series against BRC (Boulder Running Club) that has a total of
six races between our groups. That is fun and good challenge for both teams.
Finally, there is the elite development team that Lee coaches. The elite team
is for runners like me who are trying to reach that next level such as the
Olympic trials in 2016 or other National and International races.
TD-You have
already hit some impressive goals. You ran in the 5000 at the National
Championships in Des Moines earlier this year. For those who maybe aren’t as
familiar with the sport there are the Olympics, the World Championships, and
the National Championships. Nationals is
on the radar as one of the top events.
It’s really a sign that an athlete has reached, or is certainly close to
elite status and ready to compete on a professional level. So you go from
Durango, to CU, to Track Club and now on the start line at the finals of the women’s
5000 with Jenny Simpson, fellow CU graduate two time medalist at the World
Championships in the women’s 1500.
Laura Thweatt: Yes! Here I was at the
start line with the American record holder in the 5k too (Molly Huddle). It was an experience that four years ago I
never saw myself getting to. I would not have imagined that I would be running
that race when I was in high school! I always wanted to run in college, but it
just went by so fast. I started to wonder once my college experience was
over-how much farther could I go in my career? Could I run at USA’s? Could I
qualify for Olympic trials? So finally getting there and standing on the start
line with that caliber of runner was a great experience for me. I watched how
they prepare, what they do and how they approach a race. And then in the race
itself, to be in the mix with everyone was great. It was so cool. Those
experiences have set the stage for me. I know what to expect. I can see how everything builds together. I
know what to expect as I continue to compete in large National races.
TD-That
brings up a couple of questions. As you know we have a broad spectrum of
runners who participate in the Bolder Boulder. We have folks who are our there
for the great family experience the race offers. We also have runners who have
run the event before and come back looking to achieve a time goal. Maybe its
and hour, or 50 minutes or even to run under 40 minutes. But they look for
advice and specific strategies to achieve their goals. What advice would you give to our readers on
achieving specific race goals?
Laura Thweatt: The first thing and
maybe the biggest, is being patient and setting your goal. Plus you really need
to make your goal realistic. Is this a goal you will work for and is it within
your ability to achieve if you do work for it? Then break it down into parts
that you can achieve step by step. It’s
like so many other things, you start with little steps and build toward the
larger ones. But be realistic as to what you are capable of, and what you want to achieve. My coaches have
been so good about helping me achieve my goals by breaking them down that way. Give
yourself some little goals, training goals that you can shoot for those along
the way. Maybe you mix in a race or two along the way.
TD- Speaking
of racing, you also do a little coaching. You did not go to Monarch of course,
but made some connections, and how you are an assistant coach there. What has
that been like?
Laura Thweatt: Coaching has been the
best thing that I have done in the last couple of years. I love it! I just love
working with the kids and I believe in the program. It has been good for me to
be a part of that. It’s helped my perspective as well my own running, being out there training and
coaching the high school kids. They are out there for fun and as part of the
high school experience with so many
options open to them in their futures.
It’s just cool to be a part of that. I was fortunate enough to get in
contact with Kent Reeder, who graduated from CU and there just happened to be
an opening at the time. I haven’t looked back since. And I now here I am going on my third season.
(laughing) and I just love it!
TD- Ok lets
wrap up-when you look at your own racing schedule with so many different events
including road racing like the Bolder Boulder and other then your track
events-how do you train for these?
Laura Thweatt: Yeah—that is one of the
cool things about running. There are so many choices to make. All come with different types of training.
But they all can build off of each other. The road racing like the Bolder
Boulder gives me the opportunity to work on my strength foundation. And it’s a different type of racing from a
track event. Even the training is a little different. For example, my track racing is more focused
on leg turnover and speed. And mentally,
track racing is different as well. I’m
still new to road racing. It’s kind of like cross country but on pavement. So I
do I like it but I’m still trying to find my rhythm to it. Where as with track
racing, I’ve been on the track since high school so I feel like I can race on
the track with my eyes closed. But for the road racing, I’m still gaining
experience with it. I enjoy both and
they both build well-I’ll keep doing both of them.
TD-Ok so here
we are back to road racing. There are lots of quality National events, but what
about Colorado? Will we see you racing here and maybe even in Boulder again?
Laura Thweatt: Yes! I plan on doing
USA Cross Country. It’s not a World Championships year, but it is here in
Boulder, so how can I not run it? And having it here in Boulder will be great
because there will be so much support. I’ll be running in front of my home
crowd. So that is in February of 2014. Of course I may also do some local races
now and then, but that will be my big race. I had a great track season and I’m
really looking forward to the rest of the year.
TD- You
certainly have a lot going on and a lot to train for. As you survey the rest of
the season and reflect on your long term goals of maybe competing at the
Worlds, and certainly competing in the 2016 Olympics, those are big goals-yeah?
Laura Thweatt: (Laughing, but
smiling). They are huge goals for me. I know that. But those are my goals. I
know that would be really cool-that I really do have a shot to make a World
team or an Olympic team if everything falls into place for me. Just staying healthy and getting my training
in. But I have to also be patient. I’m connected to a fantastic coach (Lee
Troop) too, We have the same beliefs which makes it much easier. I enjoy what I
do and I know how much work it takes to achieve what I want. I know in running
not everything is black and white, sometimes things merge together. There are people like me who are trying to
get there in terms of sponsors and everything associated with them. There are
also, other runners who come out of college and they sign a contract to run and
have sponsorship. I know I have to put
myself out there-this is what I have done and this is what I am working toward.
I am lucky in that I have great people who are helping me. I’m not in a rush
right now, I can still run because I
love it, I enjoy it so much. I don’t look at it like a job and all of the
pressures associated with one. I like where I am right now but it would be nice
at some point to reach the highest levels.
