Athlete Race Recap: Littlefoot Triathlon & Erie Marathon

‍Little Foot Triathlon

On Saturday, September 7, 2024, Jennifer Pearce wrapped up her triathlon season at the Littlefoot Triathlon in Lakewood, Colorado!

Jennifer has been putting a ton of work into her swim form and technique this season, and we really saw that work pay dividends at this race.  Water and ambient conditions made this a bit of a rougher swim that slowed her down, but Jennifer’s current “slow” pace is now faster than her “fast” pace used to be!  This process took nine months, and Jennfier was patient with that process, letting progress unfold in its own time.  All too often, athletes seek to rush processes, which often ends up extending (not reducing) the timeline it takes to see progress and achieve goals.

Jennifer had a strong bike, but she did lose some of her planned fueling.  Fortunately, she had packed back-up fuel.  It wasn’t quite as much as she was planning to take in, but it was certainly better than nothing.  On the run, she started to feel the effects of that missed fuel, and she faded a bit in the final half of the run.  However, she still crossed the finish line strong!

Great job this season, Jennifer!

Erie Marathon

On Sunday, September 8, 2024, Leslie Smith ran the Erie Marathon in Erie, Pennsylvania!  

The Erie Marathon is well-known among seasoned marathoners for being flat, fast, and fun.  This race is usually one of the last - if not the last - opportunities to qualify for the Boston Marathon in a qualifying cycle (which is usually from September 1 of one year to mid-September of the following year).

Held at Presque Isle State Park, the course offers runners scenic views of Lake Erie and the island’s natural beauty.  The aid stations go all out on decorations and themes; the runners get to vote on which one is their favorite.  The final aid station is Christmas-themed, with an appearance by Kris Kringle himself.  For all of these reasons, Leslie was excited to do this race for the first time!

Because of the nature of this course and its timing within the Boston Marathon qualifying cycle, this race attracts a lot of fast runners.  It takes a lot of confidence to run in this particular race both due to the other runners participating and the restraint and patience it takes to run your own race.

Our goals for this race were very process-oriented.  Leslie has had tremendous success in the past at the marathon distance, but one thing we honed in on is that her race execution strategy could be improved so she could feel stronger for the entire race and execute more even splits over the course of the entire race.

My biggest (and most commonly reiterated) piece of advice to Leslie for this race was to be patient, especially for the first 18 miles.  I told her to let everyone pass her at the beginning and to remember that they were running their races.  Only she was running her race.

Leslie did an excellent job following this advice.  So excellent, in fact, that the volunteers on the course kept telling her how strong she looked, even as the miles ticked by.  Leslie was right on  planned pace until Mile 21, when her calves seized up, forcing her to have to walk more than what we planned as part of her run/walk race strategy.

While this was certainly annoying and discouraging, Leslie didn’t let this adversity tank her entire experience.  Instead, she showed excellent resilience and adaptability by modifying her strategy based on how she was feeling continuously from that point until she finished the race.

Congratulations on such a strong and well-executed race, Leslie!