RunZuzanaRun

MY LAST POST: thank you for being part of my experience

2008-08-23T23:40:00.005+08:00

Hello everyone,

With tomorrow’s closing ceremony just around the corner, I have decided to conclude my blogging from the 2008 Olympic Games. I wanted to thank you all for your generous support and enthusiasm. I've been thinking hard about picking my most special moment during the Games and it is impossible, though the recollection of me getting up off the ground, believing that I was indeed going to finish the marathon shines through the blurred fragments of my Olympic memories. One other moment that has had a profound impact on me was a posting by a woman called Amanda whom I have never met. She said that my story inspired her to start running and living more healthfully. Reading Amanda’s words lifted me from the very bottom of self-pity and disappointment the day after the race. It is my hope that I will continue living my life in a healthy and productive manner and will inspire others to do the same.

After a short visit to Da Lian and Xi An, Aleksandar and I will head back to the good city of Salt Lake on Sunday, August 31^st. I’m looking forward to sharing the experiences about the rest of our trip when I see you all in September.

Thank you again!

Zuzana

Helping out my fellow sufferers

2008-08-22T20:27:00.011+08:00

Feeling a little guilty about sightseeing during the Olympics, I was eager to help with the aid station for the 50k walk this morning. It ended up being a long day, frying on the sun from 6:00am untill noon, but it was very exciting at the same time. We had three guys in the race: Peter Korcok got top 16 in the World Championships and was hoping to get to top 12 here. He ended up pulling out with a strained a muscle at mile 10. I felt so bad for him, though his whole family, his parents and two siblings, was here to support him. They were all so sad—it was heartbreaking. Another guy, Milos Batovsky, walked well, I thought, only finishing over ten minutes behind his personal best, which, given the conditions, is at least at the level of his best performance. The third guy, Kazo Verkin, got last, also struggling with some health issues.

I certainly gained a lot of respect for this event. They may not get the impact that marathon runners do, but clearly they struggle with overcoming plenty other limitations.

Here are a few pictures and some brief commentary.

Early in the race, we weren’t sure if the sky would clear completely, but, unfortunately, it did. It got very clear and very hot. The temperature climbed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (about 43 Celsius) and these strong and tough men struggled.... Some pulled out, others DQ-ed, and many others went down with injuries. Yet, the Italian was able to walk the Olympic Record. AMAZING.

I like the story of this guy. He is called Roman and is from the Czech Republic. His dad represented Czechoslovakia in the Olympics in 1968 in 50k walk. At the age of 40, Roman got a chance to walk his own Olympics for the first time. He only had one person behind him and, though he looked awfully uncomfortable at times, he had a huge smile on his last lap.

Kazo Verkin walking into the stadium... He had his moment and enjoyed every second of it, blowing kisses into the camera.

"The small world" saying came true again as the guy at the station next to ours knew my father-in-law (he was there helping/coaching a Serbian guy).

A FEW FUNNY SIGNS: A REVISED POSTING

2008-08-21T22:24:00.012+08:00

Explanation: My original posting which included pictures of somewhat uniquely translated signs, accompanied with somewhat humorous pictures of Aleksandar, has been misunderstood. I wanted to set things straight with the upset blogger so here is my response/apology.

Thank you for your posting! I don’t think I have ever been “accused of” being demeaning toward other cultures (nor of being an American.) J After all, my mission, as a teacher of English as a Second Language and as a teacher educator in training, has been to promote appreciation of all languages and cultures. I want to thank you for your posting because it was a good reminder of how humor does not often translate across cultures and how my linguist’s fascination with translations may have led me to an act that could be viewed as inappropriate. What was meant as a joke was, clearly, taken very seriously by you and perhaps by many other people from your culture. It also made me realize that this blog has reached an audience wider than I had ever meant for it to reach and, as such, I need to be more careful about not insulting people from other cultures. I have decided to take the pictures off in order to show my respect for the Chinese culture. My experience here has been very positive and the last thing I wanted to do is to insult a Chinese person.

PS: I would disagree with your evaluation of Americans as being bad tourists. That cultural generalization can also be similarly perceived as inappropriate.

Forbidden City (+before and after)

2008-08-21T22:03:00.008+08:00

Here is a quick update and a few pics taken yesterday and today. It was the first day after the marathon that my legs were not really sore so we did some walking around...

Yet another group of athletes left the Olympic Village yesterday morning. It's kind of sad watching people leave...

Alex being Alex on the Tiannamen Square...

Alex being Alex in the Forbidden City...

Zuzka in the Forbidden City: a stark contrast to her less than less elegant husband....

OK, I did get one decent picture out of him.

The end of the Forbidden City visit. It was interesting and cool to see despite the rain, but the guards made us walk a lot more than we wanted to... I guess you are not supposed to be in charge of your sightseeing experience in China.

The lunch in the Slovak House was nowhere ready so we went to do a bit more shopping. This is Alex's look that roughly translates to "Much as I love you, if you make me give you an opinion on one more tea box or silk scarf I will divorce you!".

I feel super important in the Slovak Representative House. The food is INCREADIBLE- I had three portions of halusky and all kinds of meants and of course, a really, really good traditional Slovak drink with foam on top :)))

I wish I could cook like this. OK, let me rephrase - I wish Aleksandar could cook like this.

Moving on....

2008-08-19T13:40:00.016+08:00

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all your emails and posts over the last few days—they provided a well-needed balance to a few considerably less positive evaluations of my race. Don't get me wrong, there is little negativity surrounding my race, but you all know how the human brain tends to focus on the negative rather than the positive regardless of a favorable distribution. For a while, I was racking my brain over what could possibly have gone that wrong. Alex and I will, eventually, think about this again. However, I got to a point yesterday when I just felt too physically exhausted and emotionally drained to continue worrying about it. One of the possible conclusions is, for now, anyway, that it may have been a mistake to have taken Ibuprofen when the muscles started pulling initially at about 20 miles, as this may have masked the pain that could have been manageable with a few brief stretches, resulting in pain that almost wasn’t. I tried this in Houston and it worked as it has worked for many other runners in other marathons. Perhaps, given the different conditions here, it backfired…

In any case, having bought a ticket for Aleksandar to watch some track and field yesterday, I found myself enjoying things again and letting go. Here are a few pictures and a brief commentary.

Aleksandar and his big track and field meet in a while. He was quite excited though both of us kept wishing we could share the experience (yes Albert, Malaika and co.- we should totally make it to London if not as athletes at least as spectators!)

At first we were not sure about how Aleksandar’ seat will be, which was at about 150m before the finish line, right next to the pole vault competition. Little did we know it was to be the hottest seat in town that night. It was unbelievable to watch Elena Isinbaeva compete against herself and overcome not only the Olympic record, but also the World Record! The pictures show her getting one last piece of advice from her coach and then the celebrations following the event. The movie clip does little to capture the atmosphere on the stadium.

The moment was quite magical. There were no other events—it was just her and her pole. The stadium just erupted at the end in comparison to the rest of the competition. It’s like everyone was just holding back the whole night—both Alex and I were quite disappointed with the atmosphere in general, which, compared to your classic European meets, had a lot less clapping and overall excitement. Perhaps cameras should be banned… Then we, as spectators, would let ourselves to enjoy the moment and engrave it in memory rather than trying to capture it and keep it as evidence of our being there… I am guilty as charged though I at least have this blog as an excuse. J

It was increadible to see just how much better Isinbaeva is compared to everyone else.

That must have been one good piece of advice from her coach as it led to the Olympic Record.

Does one ever get tired of seeing the excitement of a fresh Olympic champion? It's like getting an instant happiness shot. Seriously, next time I'm down, I am going to watch some reruns of the finish of some Olympic finals....

Sadly, we missed the actual event, but it was still fun to see the medal ceremony for 10000meters. I was curious to see Haile all happy in the dinning room (I knew he did not get top three). Once I realized two of his countryment took first and second, I knew what the reason for his infamous big smile was.

Jelimo was DOMINANT in 800m.

We also saw the 400m hurdles final where the three Americans took 1, 2, 3 and the long jump final (though only from a distance). The only really magical and special moment was during the 3000m Steeple Chase final. The race was exciting with a Frenchman getting second in a fabulous finish and an injured runner running his own race, almost getting lapped. He was blowing kisses and waving to the crowd- I thought it was quite refreshing to see someone do something like that. He got huge applaud on every lap.

PS: Those of you who worry about Aleksandar-he did get his visa today and will be able to come back to the US with me. Though he is becoming quite a Beijinger as far as moving around town goes, he said he'd rather avoid living in China :))).

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great".

2008-08-17T15:39:00.019+08:00

These were the words from the League of Their Own that Aleksandar had for me as I poured my heart out over the phone to him about all my misfortunes during the Olympic marathon. Here is a quick re-cap:

Last night my stomach was upset, but I figured it was just nerves. I took some Pepto-Bismol and went to sleep, hoping it will sort itself out. In the morning I woke up at 4:30 and went over my pre-race routine. I caught a shuttle and got to the start at 6:30. All the great runners were there: Dena Kastor, Paula Radcliff, Catherine Ndereba, and I had a chance to say hello to Maria Portilla, who ran the Salt Lake City marathon, and Liza Hunter-Gullivan from New Zealand, whom I had met at a race in Minnesota earlier this year. The start was magical, though there were no spectators. The first kilometer I stayed with the group because, surprisingly, they ran slower than the pace I wanted to run, which was about 3:50 per kilometer. Then I ended up holding back as the group started moving faster. I ran side by side with a woman from Costa Rica—we had agreed to take turns running into the wind.

At 10k I saw Aleksandar and his dad, which was great. With the tight security in place, I did not think I was going to be able to hear or see them. The pace started to feel too slow—I was only running about 3:52s with the runner from Costa Rica—so I tried to push harder and pulled away from her. My stomach started feeling upset and I had to stop in the bushes—thanks to Sasha for the great "pit stop" tips!—at 18k and then in a road side portable toilet at 22k. I lost time and had to make up the distance on all the runners I had passed before I had to stop, which was about two minutes. However, I was feeling strong and found myself picking up the pace with each kilometer. At kilometer 29, about 18-19 miles, my calves started to cramp up. I was surprised because I drank at every station and had two gels. I remembered I had two ADVILS taped to my bottle at the 30k mark so I took them with water and gel. I was able to continue running at a good pace till the 35k mark. The walking coach, Juraj Bencik gave me my last bottle, yelling out I was in the 59^th place. I focused on the runner ahead of me and told myself I had to get to her by 36k and then to the runner ahead of her by kilometer 37. I did.

At kilometer 38 I started feeling my legs, especially my hamstrings, which were getting really tense. I was not sure what was going on. I did not feel like I ran out of glycogen or anything like that since I was really, really good about my drinks. Like my friend Carre in the trials, I hang on to my bottle longer than anyone else. Suddenly, at kilometer 39, my hamstring just seized up in the worst cramp I had in my whole life. I screamed and stopped and kept on screaming, holding on to a huge lump in the middle of my muscle. I thought I tore it; it was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced. I thought my Olympics were over for sure, but at that time I almost did not care. My whole being was just trying to figure out what was happening. Within a few seconds the medics were there. I was so lucky that they were not far from me. One of them was holding me, the other was massaging my leg, and the third stretching my foot. After about two minutes I was able to start walking and shortly after that I started running again. The crowds cheered and I remember telling myself, “Okay, the worst is over, you have three kilometers to go, you can do this. You can finish. You don't have to fail.”

I was able to get back to an okay pace—no more running 3:45 pace. Though I think I was just too scared that the hamstring would seize up again, I was running at least a 4 minute pace. My breathing was easy and I wanted to go faster, but I just kept telling myself that the goal was only to finish at that point. Now, at 40.5 kilometers, with not even a mile to go to the finish line, the cramp came back. I went down immediately. I grabbed the big knot that I knew all too well by now. The hamstring was seizing up and cramping and I was trying to massage it out with both of my hands. Tears of pain came to my eyes, but I knew what I had to do. I just needed to massage it out. Just do what the medics did a mile ago.

So there I was, completely pathetic, massaging my hamstring, looking jealously at the runners I had worked so hard to pass now zoom by me. They were paying back the words of encouragement I had for them when I had passed them, but it did not make me feel any better. I looked to the stadium. It was right there. I was next to it. I saw the Olympic flame, only I did not know if I was going to make it inside the stadium. I pushed back the tears and thought to myself, “If I have to sit here for half an hour until I massage this knot out, I will.” After about three minutes, I tried to get up and... SUCCESS! I was able to walk, wait… and to run again! I even tried to catch up with the last of the girls that passed me, but, within half a mile, my muscles, especially the left hamstring, was acting out again, so I just let go of everything and everyone and just let the crowd in the stadium carry me to the finish line. At least that's how it felt.

I challenge anyone to provide a less flattering picture of themselves. Not exactly the typical finish line photo that media love. But I guess that's what cramps do to you.... I do hope I will have at least one other, less painful-looking photo from the race to keep…

At the finish line, I went down again with pain. But medics were available again to help me one last time. And then, I walked off the race of my life. The day was perfect. The course was perfect. My race strategy was perfect. My body gave up on me, but, upset as I am right now, I think that I will, with time, look back at this experience as perfect, too. I have never had to overcome obstacles like this before. The time might not have reflected my fitness and capability, but it is an official Olympic experience and my name will not be mentioned in the Olympic statistics with a “DQ” next to it.

Thank you all for sitting by your TV screens, watching me, cheering on me, praying for me, wishing me success. I thought of you at different times throughout the race—okay, not between 11-22k when all I thought about was finding a toilet. J I cannot believe how lucky I am to have so many good people behind me. Thank you!
Now, I’m off to have some rest and I will write after Aleksandar and my evening at the track and field events tomorrow.

Note 1:

Official results: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/AT/C73K/ATW099101.shtml

P.S.: Novinari zo sportu spravu celkom dobre zhrnuli v Slovencine:

http://sport.aktuality.sk/oh-peking-2008/slovaci-v-pekingu/olympijsky-maraton-vyhrala-tomescuova-tomasova-bojovala-az-do-konca

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-16T19:44:00.008+08:00

Hello everyone!

I printed all your comments and went to my room thinking I was just going to read and not respond. But I found myself so overwhelmed by gratefulness that I thought I would write a quick note back to let you know that, with what little time I’ve had to reflect and Aleskandar by my side for a few hours, and with all your heart-felt support, I have been able to get to a point where I am truly looking forward to the race. It will be hard to stay cool and collected enough to get adequate sleep, but with or without it I will enjoy every step of the marathon, regardless of how painful it is. So many of you—some I did not even think were following the blog—have said things that mean so much and so right on point so, again, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A rychlo v Slovencine-vdaka za vsetky krasne slova na ktore ste si nasli cas-dostala som sa do bodu, ze sa na ten maraton uz neviem dockat. Drzte palce. Este raz vdaka!

Zuzana

Searching for meaning and believing in the midst of glorious moments

2008-08-15T18:45:00.012+08:00

With the Slovak Cycling team-Matej Jurco, Roman Bronis, and Jan Valach before their departure for Slovakia today (ok, their moments here were not so so glorious perhaps, but I enjoyed chatting with them. Palmer would have had a blast).

I slept well, but woke up to a warm morning, so I did not feel like running right away. I said goodbye to some of the Slovak athletes leaving today and headed off one more time to the Olympic pool to see three more world records broken, one of which was by Michael Phelps. It may sound like it's getting old for me, but there is no such thing as getting tired of witnessing a world record being smashed in a packed swimming pool stadium. The closest experience to this one is being at the Tour de France, waiting for the first rider to ride by the spot where you are standing. A big time athletics high.

200m backstroke world record smashed...

At the Slovak office, it was not much more calming with Lucia Klocova easily moving on to the 800m semifinals with the third fastest time and with the brothers Rizdorfer and Eva Kaliska winning Gold Medals in the kayak/slalom competitions.

Following some seriously glorious moments in the lives of athletes, I came up to my room feeling quite insignificant. I mean, my best time in the tables is 81^st out of 85 competitors, which means only four women have entered the Games with a slower personal best than mine. Some of you may have been following this blog, thinking I had a chance at a medal. I mean, Steven Krashen and Lyle Bachman, two gurus in my field of study, have been posting on my blog. Or, should I say they were posting on my blog since now they know just how slow I am and probably won't bother. J No, seriously, I was quite disappointed to find out just how far back I was.

Don't get me wrong—I am not immersing myself in self-pity or lacking of perspective. I know there are people who, as Alex reminds me often, have difficulty just breathing or deal with cancer or other major health issues. So worrying about only being able to run a subpar marathon may sound rather pathetic. I guess I just don't want them to close the gate to the National Stadium before I get there—one of the coaches said they are closing it at 10:15... I hope he was joking. J

The thing is that my friend Abby, a former Winter Olympian, warned me about this: when people hear that you've participated in the Olympics, they immediately ask if you have won a medal. It's kind of like in linguistics, when people ask how many languages you speak, you cheat and count the ones you were once able to complete tests in back in high school. I mean, for the rest of my life, I may have to say, "No, actually, I was last.” Or, “No, actually, I was 82nd out of 85 competitors.”

I know I need to do two things right now. First, I need to look inside rather than outside to find meaning in this race. I must find a way to block off all the possible negativity of any coaches or media and find a way to ignore any disappointment on the side of my friends and family. Second, I know I have to somehow get myself into an even-headed and more optimistic mode. I think, up until now, it's all been figuring out what the worst possible disasters may be and how I will be dealing with them. Not for once have I thought that maybe, just maybe, I may actually have a pretty good race. How I wish I was as positive and optimistic as one of my running partners who never writes herself off! Though, needless to say, she indeed often ended up beating folks who were a lot faster than her on paper.

Well, this may not have been the most exciting entry, but I guess it reflects the turmoil I am feeling inside. Please, pray for me over this last day that I might find meaning within; so that I can, even just a little bit, believe that I am going to have a positive experience. I doubt I will have time to post anything more before the race. Aleksandar is coming tomorrow so I will get to spend some time with him and perhaps with his dad too. Then, I need to get my water bottles ready and just get all my things ready for the race. While I may not find time to post, I will check any comments you might post, so, please, feel free to do so. I am sure you will find a way to follow me during the race and you will hear from me soon after, though I worry my fan club will have shrunk significantly by then. J

Thanks. This has, indeed, provided some clarity in what's ahead.

Zuzana

A busy day at two different venues

2008-08-13T19:51:00.008+08:00

Today was a good day. I ran my last workout (more like a tune-up than a workout). I did 3x1000m in 3:23, 3:19, and 3:20. I felt a little stiff, which is perhaps not surprising after a day off. After the workout I went to the gymnastics venue and saw the US women lose to the Chinese women. The event was pretty fun to watch-the Chinese audience went CRAZY. I will try to post some short videos though I have not had much luck with posting those…

After I had lunch I was determined to go to the road cycling time trial to show support for one of the Slovak riders. Also, the race took place close by the infamous Great Wall so I was eager to get out of now a muggy, smoggy Beijing again and check out the Great Wall area. However, I missed the morning shuttle due to gymnastics so I hoped on a cab-a big mistake-it took two hours instead of one to get there. But in the end it was worth it. I saw about one third of the riders finish the race and then I sneaked in for the medal ceremony, catching some glorious glimpses of the top three. I yelled out “Awesome job Levi” for Naomi and Don and he yelled back “Thank you Butte, especially the Kronenberg Ranch!”. OK, not quite, but he smiled big. In fact, they were all so happy…. It just makes you know that they are clean. Then again…

Here is a few pics from the day. Most are self-explanatory. The one with all the kids was kind of interesting. All these boys and girls were just hanging out, supervised by their strict looking teachers cheering like they had been paid for it when the riders went by. I guess they were allowed to miss a day of school provided they would cheer. Hang on, there is no school in August…. The whole situation reminded my of the communist charade (the marches, etc). when I was little... But the kids were worth it! One boy was really cute in particular- your typical class clown- the only kid brave enough to try to use his English on me. This was our exchange:

The Chinese boy (CB): Hello
ZT: Hi-how are you?
CB: Fine.
ZT: Very fine or only a little bit fine? (smile)
CB: Very, very fine. Where are you from? (kids start gathering looking curious and excited)
ZT: Slovakia and you?
CB: China.
ZT: (Looking really surprised): no way! (All kids laugh. I give the boy a Slovak Olympic pin- it pains me for a second to not use it for trading, but then I see a smile on the boy’s face bigger than any pin in the world. I think to myself: "That was one pin well spent!"

The one picture with the soldier was taken on the course-I got to chat with them a bit through the interpreter. He wanted to take one with me using his camera so I thought I should take one too…

Tomorrow is going to be more quiet day as I am going to start focusing on getting ready for the race-probably no more major distractions from now on. I think I will watch events on TV and try to stay off my feet.

A Blue(ish) Sky and Two World Records!

2008-08-12T15:22:00.010+08:00

Today was a good day though I slept poorly (I have roomates now-oh, well). First, I saw some blue sky, not much and not for long, but blue sky nonetheless. Then, I made it to the Cube to witness two world and one Olympic records. Here is a few pics.

I really should have been sitting on the other side, but my brave, ok, ruthless, Slovakian teammate who did not have a ticket made her (our) way into this, cool area for swimming athletes and coaches. I did not complain... if anyone lives by the Slovak proverb: Kto sa hambi ma prazdne gamby, Mirka Bobkova does :))). We are totally going to try into the gymnastics gym tomorrow (sorry to rub it in Albert and Malaika :)

NOTE: Notice the growing number of pins on my pass/badge. I have a whole lot of cool countries now including Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Samoa, and others. Our deputy chief made a big mistake yesterday when he congratulated me on my nameday. I was quick enough to say: "No, dakujem. A ked uz mam tie meniny nedate mi este nejake extra odznaky?" He could not say no and I ended up with 5 extra pins to trade!!!

You can see the Olympic maskots dancing around the pool as athletes finish their warm up....

With a teamate (notice the difference in our biceps-her race is about 26.1 miles shorter than mine :) She is a 110m. hurdler.

Swimmers waiting to start 200m Freestyle. Mike Phelps is in lane 6...

It was increadible to see the lead Phelps had with one last turn to go...

One of the two world records I saw today....

During the men's 200m Freestyle medal ceremony (see the bottom middle of the picture and the big screen on top of it). I wish I had taken a photo two minutes before I took this one. Mike Phelps was actually stretching his hamstrings on the medal podium as they were starting to announce the results. I completely understand he had to focus on keeping lose for the upcoming semifinal, but can you imagine to be so good that you could even think about stretching before receiving your Olympic gold medal???

Before the start of another race...

During the medal ceremony for 100m backstroke in which yet another world record was broken. One also does not see two swimmers finishing in the exact same time to take the third place... (hence the four flags being raised).

A long line for tickets crushes the Olympic Spirit

2008-08-11T14:57:00.005+08:00

I witnessed something quite sad yesterdat afternoon, but let me give you the background before I share my biggest human-generated dissapointment during the Olympics so far.

I noticed the ticket office finally opened so I stood in the line waiting for the tickets. The office was a small space with four tables, staffed by volunteers who were being guided by American supervisors standing behind their backs (on the scale of 1-10, the capability of the volunteers seemed to be at level 2 and the capability of the supervisors at 10, however, for some reason, it all had to go through the volunteers first). The line quickly started growing-it took me about 45 minutes to get inside the office where I was able to sit while I was waiting for another hour and then 20 minutes buying the tickets (some coaches took as long as 45-50 minutes buying theirs).

Just before it was my turn, two guys, one a tall, African guy, the oher a Swedish guy got into a heated conversation as to who should have gotten help first. Their exchange started to culminate very quickly and had it not been for a quick move on the side of one of the supervisors who asked one of the guys to move to another table, I am sure they would have gotten into a fight. I was so taken aback and saddened by all this (the Swede was right by the way-but who cares...). I wish I did not have to witness that. I guess, even athletes on their Olympic highs are prone to the unpleasant behaviors if you have them wait in a long line at a high temperature for long enough...

In any case, I was hardly able to get all the ticket I wanted for (I had more, but the computer crashed the first time I tried to pay....meanwhile the coaches on the tables next to me were buying hundreds of tickets for their teams...). However, I was able to get Aleksandar tickets for Monday and Tuesday night athletics which has some pretty awsome finals, including 1500m, 3000m steeple chase, and many others). I got myself a ticket to see a few swimming events tomorrow morning. I tried for gymnastics, but, not suprisingly, everything was sold out. In any case, I am to see some swimming and will post some pictures later this afternoon.

A Cool Morning in Bejing-could this really be?

2008-08-11T14:37:00.005+08:00

I woke up to a cool morning in Beijing (it had rained the whole night). I could not believe that there is such a thing as not being too uncomfortable running here in August. I did 14k (about 9miles) running loops around the village at about 4:10km/6:35mile pace. Then I went to a mondo (tartan) surface loop and did six laps maraton pace. I have asked four different coaches how long the loop was and I got the following answers: Coach 1: 1000m, Coach 2: 900m, Coach 3: 950m, Coach 4: 925m). Whatever it was, I ran 3:27 per lap and I am guessing it was 5.4k worth of 3:45km/6:00 mile pace. Overall, I ran 22k (about 13.5miles). It was my last longer workout and I am glad I waited a day. I certainly felt a lot better both physically and mentally (I could actually see a mountain in the distance - that's how clear the air was!)

How I so wish it would rain the night before the marathon too. Aleksandar has been looking into the effects of heat on the marathon times. Here is what the prognosis is. Supposing I am at 2:38 shape in conditions comparable to those I had in Houston, Texas, where I qualified (60F/16C or below). That projects the following times at the following temperatures and their marathon time equivalents (based on http://www.runworks.com/):

65F/18C: 2:39:01 marathon (3:46.3 per kilometer, 6:04.2 per mile)
70F/21C: 2:40:08.3 marathon (3:47.9 per kilometer, 6:06.7 per mile)
75F/24C: 2:41:21.5 marathon (3:49.6 per kilometer, 6:09.5 per mile)
80F/27C: 2:42:40.8 marathon (3:51.5 per kilometer, 6:12.5 per mile)
85F/29C: 2:44:06.0 marathon (3:53.5 per kilometer, 6:15.8 per mile)
90F/32C: 2:45:37.3 marathon (3:55.7 per kilometer, 6:19.3 per mile)

I refuse to even look at the temperatues and time equivalents of anything warmer than that. Obviously, other factors such as wind, humidity, course will play a role on the day....

Anyway, this post is probably only interesting to you runners, if at all, so off I go to live some experiences so I can write about them :)))).

With an untypical Dane

2008-08-10T19:16:00.006+08:00

Now, I think Albert will be jealous...then again, you may be too young to remember the great Wilson Kipketer? He is running for a position representing athletes at the International Olympic Committee so he hang out in front of the dining room yesterday. I got a picture and a free Danish pin! (You can see the dining room in the background)

A Gloomy Day in Beijing

2008-08-10T19:11:00.005+08:00

Today was a bit of a gloomy day, outside and in. I got up at 5:30am. My hope was to do a pre-race rehearsal as far as the morning routine goes, then drive the course on the way to the start and then back up until mile 15 or so and then do my last longer run. However, things did not quite go that way….

First, it took a lot longer than it should have to find the right car/driver that was supposed to take me. Then I found out that the driver had no idea about the area and since my map was not exactly too great, he had to stop and do all kinds of driving gymnastics about every 5 miles. It was pouring down too and believe it or not, the speed limit, even on freeways, in Beijing seems to be 80 KILOMETERS/hour. Needless to say, after about two hours of sitting and stiffing up in the car, driving by enormous buildings with names like “China Glory Center”, I was ready to call it a day. I briefly saw the Tiananmen square where the marathon will start and the first two kilometers and then the blue line (which the marathon will follow all the way to the National Stadium) disappeared in the park. I just told the driver (or rather signaled since he had NO English) to turn and take the fastest way home.

By the time we got to the Olympic village I had been sitting in the car for over three hours. I certainly did not have the last longer run in me. I ran around the village for five miles and felt completely drained. I tried not to dwell on feeling so bad too much-one can’t feel great running every day and I’d rather feel like this now than in a week. Insecurity in us running creatures is a state we can easily slip into though.

In the afternoon, for the first time since I came here, I took a nap. I did not fall asleep, but I just lay there energyless for 50 minutes too tired to move. But, because I knew I would not fall asleep at night if I kept napping, I made myself get up. The only thing I had energy for was to watch a movie. My friends Albert and Malajka were kind enough to send some movies with me to China so I picked one called “Hillary and Jackie”. If you thought Thelma and Luise was depressing, watch this one. (Albert, I thought I requested “cheerful, souless, unRussian types of films”?). Now, completely down in the dumps, I figured I needed to be around people to snap out of the gloominess so I walked down to the Slovak Olympic office and watched the women’s road cycling race. Two of the Slovak cyclists who did that same race (only longer) yesterday were there and served as commentators, which was kind of fun. I wish Alex could have been there-he would have enjoyed chatting with them about their bikes and biky things. A gutsy British girl won the race so it was inspiring (it was pouring down there whole race and she got back to the front pack with two kilometers to go-which is VERY unusual in cycling and had it in the end). Now is the evening and I feel a lot better about life again. I went for a dinner, saw Jeremy Warriner on my way (!). I so need to bring my camera with me at all times. Now, I am considering even going for another short run and then it’s off to prepare for the last hard workout tomorrow early in the morning.

It was pouring down so this Estonian rider chose to workout in the hallway. I have never seen those rolls...

NOTE: Some of you have asked me about the air in the email. I think I may have mentioned it at one point in the blog, but the air does not seem to affect me too badly during the actual workout. I feel like coughing afterwards. Today, after it rained, it felt so much better! Funny, how a few days in the 90s makes a high 70s (Farenheit) day feel pleasant. I wish it would rain before the marathon….

The day of the Opening Ceremony

2008-08-09T11:34:00.022+08:00

I keep getting emails about how cool the Opening Ceremony was. Geat to know! Now seriously, you'd think that being here and all I should know the best, but I really did not get to experience any of it until our team walked into the stadium. In other words, we missed the whole show (we were at the indoor gymnastics venue waiting and though they had screens there, they were showing flags of different countries instead.... Every now and then they would show a little bit of the show just to interupt it by the flag display, which was always followed by the intense booing).

However, just as I was starting to feel like I missed out, we were in the tunnel leading up to the Olympic Stadium and I could feel the excitement building and culminating. When we finally walked from the dark tunnel into the stadium, the waiting seemed all worth it. I just tried to soak in the atmoshphere so I could remember the feeling forever....

The night was long, I did not make it back to my room until 1:15 am so I am feeling quite tired today. I am off to recover and will try to post something again tomorrow.

Slaven (a decathlete) with two great Slovakian swimmers... (Martina Moravcova on the left is a two time Olympic silver medalist)

Before leaving the Olympic village - with Slaven who qualified in the decathlon-he got his qualifier to the point. One point less (could be as little as a few centimeters in one of the jumping events or a few seconds in the last 1500m race....)

In the shuttle, on the way to the Opening Ceremony

With others on the Slovak team and a volunteer

While waiting I came acroos Rubin McRae (the New Zealand team)-a friend from the Western State College....

The back of Coby Bryant's head....

Outside of the gymnastic venue, waiting in line for marching toward the stadium

And just before the most magical moment of the night: walking into the Olympic stadium

Branca's photo of the march taken in Vancouver

Was he sweating or what?

These outfits looked really warm....

Athletes from Somalia, Netherlands...

Inside the stadium waiting for all the countries to march in....

The Fire Lighting Part.... I mean, seriously, is this the best one ever or what?

And it's time to go home....

The Opening Ceremony

2008-08-08T08:24:00.006+08:00

Hello everyone,

I know some of you are planning to watch the opening ceremony partly in the hope that you will catch a sight of me. I was thinking about wearing a superman outfit to stick out enough so that you can see me, but unfortunatelly, I will have to fit in and wear the outfit you can see on the photo-a white dress and a red jacket (and a very "unique" white hat not shown on the picture).

You want to be looking out for SLOVAKIA not Slovenia or Czechoslovakia :))))). (I don't mean to be condescending or anything, but I know sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the little countries...) I think we are going to march in as number 163, but I am not completely sure. I will try to keep on the right side marching in, so it will bethe left side for you as you are watching. I will be waving the hat (I'll do anything to have it, but not have it on :))))). It will be about 60 people marching so don't have high hopes of seeing me, but who knows..... I will try to take some good pics and videos.

Next time you think losing weight takes a lot of time....

2008-08-08T07:55:00.005+08:00

Recently I have eaten in the dinning hall with some wrestlers and competitors in judo from Slovakia (I fit right in :))). Attila Batky pointed to his Hungarian colleague and told me that the guy has seven more days to lose 7.5 kilos (about 17 pounds) to compete in his category. The poor guy had an apple for lunch! I have found out that these guys often don't drink for up to two days before they are weighed and then they have one day to get their bodies back to normal. It seems so crazy, but I guess the system is better than it used to be (they used to weigh them in the morning and they competed the same day!).

I felt extra guilty having an extra piece of cake for dessert that day....

Short video of an early morning in the Olympic Village

2008-08-07T11:24:00.006+08:00

This could give you a sense of what it feels like waking up to a very early morning in the Olympic Village. Though I must say, the second morning (today) was a little busier. It is clear that more and more athletes have been arriving.

Four other noteworthy events of the day

2008-08-07T10:40:00.007+08:00

1. Here it is. My first encounter with the toilet/hole. I heard about it before leaving for China and tried hard to imagine it, but my imagination came short of what it really is like. It flushed only after I left the porto-potty and I did not dare to go back to see wha the end result was :)))).

2. As I started running today I saw my former Western State College teammate, Rubin McRae! It was quite funny-we looked at each other and were not sure..., not sure..., not sure..., and yeah, could this really be? He is here with the team from New Zealand working as their massage therapist. I do hope to see more of them-if anyone reading this blog from Gunni happens to have his email would you email it to me or post it? I hope to catch up with him more-he said he'd even run with me...

3. I sat next to Amy Begley (Team USA-10,000m) and Nicole Teter (Team USA- 800m) during the dinner tonight. I guess they have just arrived. Pleasant girls. I guess Amy is planning to run her first marathon this fall (either Chicago or New York). It will be interesting how fast she will go.

4. The people from the Slovak Television just about raided my room and made me do an awkward interview. I beg my Slovak friends who see it not to judge my intellect on the way I was expressing (or failing to express) myself :)))). It was pure hell. If I ever commit a crime and they ask you for ideas as to the worst possible punishment, by all means suggest being interviewed on the Slovak National Television.

Yasso's 800m workout

2008-08-07T09:39:00.008+08:00

Before the workout

I am excited to report that I have just had the best pre-marathon workout in my career. I was able to average 2:38.2 which, according to Bart Yasso, should translate to a 2:38 marathon in the same conditions. I am not going to get too excited though and my goal will remain to go under 2:42 and finish in the top half. However, this is very, very encouraging.

It was not easy. The fog/smog was even heavier than yesterday. By the time I got to the stadium I was already sweaty, by the time I was done with the first two repeats I was soaked. During the first two repeats I felt quite relaxed. With number five and six I was able to just completely focus and listen to Alex's voice in my head: "Now, this is when it's going to be tough. You just stay with it. It's the middle part that hurts. Just stay with it, stay with it, stay with it....." Once I was done with number 5 and 6 I knew I was going to finish the workout well. The last two started to hurt, for sure, my legs were slowly getting heavy, but given that I was able to get to 2:35 on the last one makes me know that I could have done two more at 2:38ish.

The track was kind of eerie early in the morning (I started my workout at 7:30am, which is when the marathon will start). I was the first and only athlete there for a while. Then other athletes started coming- with their teamates, and their coaches, and possibly even their massage therapists. I felt quite strange being so by myself. But I feel only stronger for it. I was able to do this by myself. No Alex to hide behind when I was running into the wind, no Carre or Rebecca to yell out a word of encoragement. I only had my legs, lungs, and head to make this happen. I must say I am quite proud of myself today. Whether the marathon time that I want happens or not, I know that I have been able to prepare for this race like I had never prepared for a marathon before.

WEll, here are all my splits for my fellow runners out there. I will post another message and some pictures later today.

Repeat 1: 02:39.4, Repeat 2: 2:38, Repeat 3: 02:38.9, Repeat 4: 02:39.3, Repeat 5: 02:37.7, Repeat 6: 02:38.5, Repeat 7: 02:38.9, Repeat 8: 02:35.4

AVERAGE: 02:38.2

On the way to the stadium-as you can see the air was ever heavier/smogier?/foggier? than yesterday....

The track as I started the workout...only a lonely volunteer in the background....

The National Stadium (two versions)

2008-08-06T18:45:00.007+08:00

I ran by the famous NEST stadium. I took a picture. On the way back to the village I ran by a commercial, which also includes a picture of the NEST stadium. Unfortunately, I am not as good at photoshopping. But hey, it is entirely possible that I will see the sky that blue here one day (or is it?).

The Olympic Village

2008-08-06T18:23:00.006+08:00

The room where I am staying....

These are the buildings in which we are staying. The building with the blue banner is one of the computer labs/entertainment centers.

First of all, thank you for your kind and supportive posts, it makes it at least that much more exciting for me knowing people “back home” are cheering for me as it may be making the Olympics just that extra little bit more special for you. Here is a little commentary on my first day in the Olympic Village…

This morning I woke up at 5:30am, feeling pretty good. That is until I went outside (probably at about 6:30). I was disappointed to find out that it did not exactly feel much cooler than the heat I had experienced the evening before. It was barely bearable as I started running and was progressively getting worse and worse.

While I struggled with the temperature, the pollution did not seem to affect me (I purposely did not wear the mask today to see how I would feel). Not during the run anyway. However, for about six hours after the run, my lungs felt irritated; I constantly cough or feel like I need to cough. Generally, I have not been feeling too well since after the run. I feel like I may be coming down with flu. Not sure if I can blame it solely on the pollution though as I am still jetlagged and sleep deprived.

Fingers crossed I will start to feel better tomorrow as I am hoping to do one of the last two harder workouts- Yasso’s 800s. Those of you who are not familiar with this workout, it is kind a test as to how fast one can run a marathon. So, let’s say I can do 10x800 (or do eight feeling like I can do another two) in 2:40 with a 2:40 jog in between. This would suggest I will be able to run close to 2:40 in a marathon. Before Houston I was able to maintain 2:41s (at altitude), which translated to a 2:39ish marathon at sea level. So, my hope is to maintain 2:40s here, but we’ll see. Enough analysis of my health and running though, here is what you may find interesting….

The most unusual (for me)
Hands down, it has to be the climate and the air. The fog or smog or whatever this is seems so dense and oppressive-I have never seen or experienced anything like it. It’s like you can only really see up to quarter of a mile, everything else is just kind of smudged in the mist far away. If I woke up in Utah one day and it looked like this I would think some awful catastrophe was going to take place-like the end of the world or something. It really just gives one (or at least me) such a feeling of unease and discomfort. But escape is always close-the rooms, the dining room, the internet places are all air conditioned and, similar to a lot of places in the US, one needs to put on a top not to be freezing. So, it’s a constant back and forth between being a little too cold and a lot too hot.

General Feel of the Olympic Village
The Olympic Village venue feels kind of like being at a huge conference like TESOL. People with badges everywhere-only a lot more security. OK, and the people are generally not quite so overweightJ.

People
Everyone is wearing cool sport stuff, generally, something you would only wear to a gym if you really wanted to impress someone (unless you were an Eastern European in which case you are also likely to wear sporty stuff for non-sport activities). So, it kind of feels like being at a Sports fashion show or something.

Generally people seem in good spirit. I only really talked to two athletes so far today, one of whom was an Australian rower who is hoping to medal with her seven other teammates. It’s kind of funny- as soon as you tell people that you are running the marathon, they give you this “oh, you poor thing” look that is well-intentioned, but that kind of freaks me out. As far as celebrities are concerned, I saw that really tall basketball player in the dining room today-Yao Min I think his name is. It was quite amusing actually-he walked across my section of the dining room and EVERYONE (probably 500 people) turned to look at him. You just can’t quite help it-it’s not so much that he is so famous, but he is so TALL - you wish you did not have to look and in the end you just can’t help it.

As for the “other”, you see the volunteers because they are constantly trying to facilitate your life. But then there are these people- the “sweepers”. About every few hundred yards, if you look hard enough, you see people with brooms. The sidewalks seem completely clean so it just seems a little needless to continue sweeping them and most people who do this seem at quite a different place as they are doing it. I wonder if these are some of the factory workers who were asked to do this once their factories were closed…. I wish I could talk to them, but instead, I have to do with an awkward smile and a butchered “nihao”.

Food
Now, I know at least four males who would consider the dining room a complete paradise on earth. You get amazing free food from all around the world 24 hours a day. Yes, that’s right. If you happen to wake up hungry at 2:30 in the morning you can go and eat. In fact, this whole village is just a total utopia. Besides food, you drop of your laundry and pick it up 6 hours later! You can sign up for free massages and everyone goes out of their way to make your life easier. I have yet to open the door when I want to walk into a building J.

Room
Rooms are simple, but very modern and sleek. I mean, how could they even have afforded the newest Kohler faucets? I wanted those so badly in our newly remodeled bathroom, but there was just no way we could have 1. afforded them and 2. get them. How it is possible to have the 2008 expensive model Kohler faucets and sinks for 10,000+ athletes is beyond me. Though I must say, the craftsmanship or functionality are just not quite there. And again, this is something I probably would not see had we not been remodeling a bathroom lately. The shower is only separated from the bathroom floor by a flimsy plasticky thingy so when one showers the whole bathroom floor gets completely flooded. The grouting looks worse than that Alex and I put on in our own bathroom. It just does not look like something that is going to work very well with heavy duty use (I am not sure what the future holds for this village-perhaps these will be turned into dorms like they were in SLC?).

Stuff
If I were ten years younger, being at the Olympics would be like Christmas. I mean, I knew we were going to get some clothes, but I had no idea we were also going to get suitcases, bags, cosmetics, shoes, hats, vitamins, drinks, you name it. I have no idea how Alex and I will be able to get all this home. But hey, what a problem to have!OK, let me figure out how to post the few pics and a short video I took.

Till tomorrow,

Zuzana

I'm here, now what?

2008-08-05T18:32:00.005+08:00

All righ Beijing, here I am. Sitting in the Slovak Olympic Committee office in the Olympic village with no one around....? I figured, I can as well do a bit of email checking and blog posting before someone shows up.

The trip was relatively uneventful, but the airport in Beijing was electrifying. It was just buzzing with excitement and confusion and more excitement and more confusion. At all times, you had three volunteers attacking you, eager to help (I wonder if they will be able to maintain this 10,000 athletes later :))). On the shuttle I sat next to Thijs van Valkengoed, a Dutch breaststroke swimmer who made it to the semis in Athens and is hoping to do a lot more here. Interestingly, he has a sister who will swim the same event here (well, women's, of course). We talked 40 minutes non-stop so despite me being tired from the journey, the trip to the olympic village seemed refreshing.

When I got off the shuttle, the heat hit me. It feels bad. REALLY BAD- I think my mother-in-law captured it well when she said it will kind of feel like running the marathon in the sauna... oh, well, the same conditions for everyone I guess. Ok, I am hearing some sounds so i will be back later.

Bye Bye Vancouver, Beijing here I come

2008-08-05T04:06:00.003+08:00

AFter a lovely sunny morning in Vancouver, which made running a 20k run much easier, I got to the airport. I have checked in and am waiting on board on a flight to Beijing. As a saavy apprentice to Dr. Palmer (my friend Jennifer VanDyke's personal hero), I tried to get myself a seat in the business class (dream big, right?). My friend Abby once told me that while being an Olympian will not change who I am, it will change how, at times, people treat me. She said playing the O card works real well sometimes and you get favors and privilages you would not otherwise even dare to dream of. I guess she was partly righ. While the O card may have not gotten me a business class, I am getting the first economy seat with extra leg space (are you proud of me, Dr. P? :)))). It's probably going to come back and bite me though-I bet I will end up sitting next to a crying baby the whole way.

I've bought some Vancouver 2010 Olympic pins at the airport. I figured, if the Slovak team does not have any official pins, this should give me some serious trading power. Afterall, I have promised Kristen an Olympic pin....

I was thinking to myself just this morning-how strange it is that I left Salt Lake City where the Olympics took place just to have to make a stop in Vancouver where the Olympics will take on the way to Beijing where, technically, the Olympics are taking place right now.... It seems kind of symbolic of something...can't quite decide what. Any ideas? Albert, can you come up with something meaningful? Some metaphor for life perhaps? :)))

In any case, I'd better go to the GATE so I don't end up stranded in Vancouver yet again :)))).

An unexpectedly pleasant detour in Vancouver

2008-08-04T13:47:00.004+08:00

With the Salt Lake flight being late and with having to get through the customs and get the luggage, I missed the China Air gate by five minutes and was unable to continue on to Beijing. Luckily, Aleksandar's aunt and uncle who live in Canada happened to be home, ready to meet me on a short notice. We spent a lovely afternoon in Horseshoe Bay. I got to go for my second run in a beautiful Mundy Park (kind of like the Horsky Park in Bratislava only ten times better) and had a yummy dinner in a Japanese/ Korean restaurant with a strange name. I was reminded how cool Vancouver is.... I wish it had 100,000 people and an average house costing $150,000 (and a need for L2 teacher educators). I mean, seriously, they have it all! The beach, the mountains....

Now it's off to bed and I will hopefully be writing my next post from Beijing.

One day to go....

2008-08-03T12:56:00.002+08:00

The race/workout went well today. I ran 17:48ish, roughly averaging 5:45 per mile. The second 5k (the threashold pace) I averaged 6:01 and the third (the marathon pace) 6:11. I struggled a little on the second one, but felt great on the last repeat.

The rest of the day was just a lot of cleaning, organizing, packing, and last major chat with Alex about the upcoming two weeks worth of running. Now it's 11pm so off to bed so I can wake up early enough to squeeze in a morning run before flying off at 10:55 am.

Two days before leaving for Beijing

2008-08-02T07:07:00.005+08:00

I think/hope my concern from yesterday has been taken care of. I may actually end up with two respiratory masks paying close to $70 for the next day shipping, but oh well. It looks like a good product (click here for details) and since my main mission is to do as well as I can, I have to accept the health-related expenses. (A side-joke that only my Slovak friends are likely to get: Maybe the Slovak Track and Field Federation will reinburse me :)))).

I have done some breathing tests at Aleksandar's lab today to have baseline data and to see just how badly the pollution will affect me. It will be interesting to see. It's kind of funny how my training in linguistics springs ideas for research in other areas-I was thinking of all sorts of interesting research questions revolving around elite athletes at the Olympics. Perhaps I could do my next doctorate in exercise physiology, but then again, I'd have to learn all those latin words for ten million body parts...

Well, it's off home to do some packing and organizing. Tomorrow I have a small 5k road race that I am planning to use as tune-up. My hope is to actually run the race and then do another 5k at the treshold pace, and another 5k at the marathon race pace. It would be one of the hardest workouts of my career, but hopefully I am ready for it.

The biggest remaining concern: airtickets. Just found out today that our return flight from Shanghai got cancelled! Why must there always be a problem?

Welcome to Beijing Video

2008-08-02T00:10:00.001+08:00

Beijing Olympic National Stadium Video

2008-08-01T06:07:00.000+08:00

Three days to the departure

2008-08-01T04:53:00.009+08:00

I am feeling a little under the gun with the final preparations. It is also quite hard to gauge training at this point- still doing enough, but not over training. But, I know once I am on that plane I will be able to leave the worries behind and focus on preparing the best I can.

Biggest concern: My respiratory mask. It's been hard getting the company to ship it and both Aleksandar and I feel it would be extremely beneficial to have it. Apparently, all the endurance athlete on the US track team have gotten one and the British team is using them (click here to read a story about the British endurance athletes). There was a good segment on NPR talking about just how bad the air really can get and another story on what the US athletes are doing to prepare that some of you may like to listen to. Click here to listen to the story.

My Journey to the Olympic Qualifier

2008-07-31T04:31:00.008+08:00

My running journey began almost two decades ago, when, as an eleven-year-old, I found myself glued to the TV, watching Rosa Mota from Portugal win Gold in the Women’s Olympic Marathon in Seoul. I remember thinking to myself, “I think I could be good at that.” After the swimming pool I used to practice at was closed down, I eagerly registered at a local athletic club. Within a year, I broke five minutes in 1500m—thank you Coach Gigac for all your effort and time in getting me there!—and a coach from a local athletic high school noticed me and encouraged me to continue running in Banská Bystrica. I never really did anything too out of the ordinary, only getting to 4:35 in 1500m and 10:15 in 3000m. But, unlike many of my fellow athletes in other disciplines, I never got injured and I never lost my love for running—thank you coach Okal!—despite the long gaps between training during my early college years. What led me to rediscover my passion for running again was a chat with Alena Mocariova, a former elite Slovakian runner, following a small local race. She talked me into training with her and equipped me with running clothes, shoes, and an abundance of enthusiasm. I managed to get to low 10 minutes in 3000m and earned a spot on the European Team Cup in Pula, Croatia. While there, I further improved to 9:50. In turn, this helped get me a running scholarship at the Western State College in Colorado, where I first realized what it was going to take to be a good runner. For one, I learned that running 30-40 miles a week was too little to expect any major improvements. My running career at Western State, though short, was fruitful and utterly enjoyable. Thank you Coach Vandenbusche and all the teammates in Colorado!

After almost two years in Colorado, I was ready to move on and start graduate school. With the 2002 Olympic Winter Games taking place in Salt Lake City, it was a no-brainer. I moved to Utah and enrolled in the Applied Linguistics program at the University of Utah in 2002. Though I only had one semester of eligibility left and started the year with an injury, I got to work with yet another fantastic coach—Brian Apell. Coach Apell supported my post-collegiate training in 2003 when I won my first marathon (the Top of Utah marathon in 2:47:31) and in 2004 when I first qualified for the Olympic Games. Sadly, with my time only being a B standard (2:41:40) and with me being a relatively unknown athlete in Slovakia, I did not make the Olympic team. Even worse, I struggled with a stubborn iliotibial band injury following the 2004 marathon and was not physically or emotionally ready to run another marathon until 2007, when I was a runner-up in the Salt Lake City marathon.

Though I only ran 2:53 in the SLC marathon, I started believing again that it was possible to get back in shape and try for the next Olympics. With Coach Apell being gone, Aleksandar Tomas (whom I married in 2006,) was there to help with setting up my training schedule, even running most of the workouts with me. He adapted Coach Apell’s training and I thrived on the adaptations and the support. We picked Houston as the marathon where I was going to attempt the Olympic standard. The race went more or less according to plan and, on January 13^th, I qualified for the Olympic Games. Thank you Aleksandar for running the race with me, it would not have happened without you! Though I showed considerable improvement (I ran 2:39:26,) I was not quite able to get the A standard, which would have guaranteed me a spot on the Olympic team. Instead, I found myself on an emotional roller-coaster, constantly evaluating my chances from a series of optimistic and pessimistic emails from Slovakian coaches, journalists, and friends. Finally, on July 19^th, the news came: this time, the B standard was going to be enough to make the Olympic team!