Run The Roads

2009 has been quite the year for Rebecca Donaghue.  The 32-year old, State College, PA resident, is running at the highest level of her career.  Earlier this year, Donaghue placed fifth at the U.S. Cross Country Championships, earning her first Team USA position, allowing her to compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.  In Jordan, Donaghue finished as the third American, finishing 36th overall.  Since then, Donaghue won the Payton Jordan Invitational 10,000m run, winning by nearly 30 seconds and setting a huge PR by 29 seconds.

Donaghue took some time to answer questions with Run the Roads editor-in-chief Scott Bush.  In the interview, Donaghue talks about her season thus far, her experience at the World Cross Country Championships, coaching, her training and why she has her own Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as a website.

Run the Roads (RtR): Congrats on the 10k win at the Payton Jordan Invitational.  You faced some solid competition, but simply ran away from them from the start.  Could you take us through that race a bit?

Rebecca Donaghue (RD): The Payton Jordan Invite is always a great meet for the distance events. The weather is always perfect, cool and no wind, and the competition is great. In the past I’ve always raced the 5,000 there but this year I chose the 10,000. About a month or more prior to the meet, my coach and I decided on it. It was far enough away for me to recover from the World Cross Championships so it looked to be a perfect fit.

As the meet got closer we found out more and more people were not running the 10 there but at the Berkley meet, which was a couple weeks earlier and just not enough time to recover from Worlds. I really hadn’t had much of a break from racing in a while and my coach wanted me to get a good chunk of training in before kicking off the outdoor season.

Anyway, I stuck with the plan to race at Payton Jordan no matter what the conditions were. The main plan was to just get the USATF A qualifier since I didn’t have that yet. I also wanted to really lower my 10,000 track pr from 2 years ago. I ended up taking the lead right from the gun and just running my own race. I did get the qualifier, and a 29 second pr, but I had hopes of running faster. I felt in control the entire way and feel confident that I can run much faster with some people to push me.

RtR: What’s up next moving forward (any races coming up)?  Will you attempt another 10k, or will you move down in distance?

RD: My coach and I are trying to figure that out right now. Definitely not another 10 before nationals, but I’d love to get in a 5,000 and lower my pr before nationals. The tough part is trying to find one that’ll go quick. If I can’t find a 5, I’ll probably run a 1500 at one of the Boston High Performance meets just to sharpen up and see what I can do. I haven’t run an outdoor 1500 since maybe 2004, so that should be interesting.

RtR: You’ve had a great 2009 season thus far, with a top five finish at the U.S. Cross Country Championships, a trip to the World Cross Country Championships in Jordan and now your big win at the Payton Jordan Invitational.  What have you done differently this year in your training to take that next step?

RD: I’m definitely happy with the progress I’ve made over the past few years. I’ve really been chasing this down though for a long time, I just never gave in to adversity. One major difference in my training has been the level of consistency I’ve had for a few years now. I struggled with some different injuries caused from bio-mechanical imbalances from about 1997 till about 2005. Shortly after moving to State College, I found someone that was able to fix all of my imbalances and really make it stick. So, for the first time in about 8 years I’ve been able to train without any major set backs. I’m recovering so much better from races and workouts now because I continue to gain strength, it’s just a snowball effect.

RtR: You were part of Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan.  What was that experience like for you?

RD: Making my first World team has definitely been a highlight in my career. Traveling to Jordan was one of the best experiences of my life. I was a little nervous at first but once we got there I was so excited to explore the country. We were there for over a week so it was great to bond with the other Team USA members. The first half of the trip felt like a little vacation because we were able to go on some touristy trips, but toward the end of the week we remembered that we had business to take care of.

RtR: What were a few of your favorite parts of Jordan, whether it be a tourist site or two, or just something unique in terms of Jordanian culture?

RD: Easily, my favorite part of the trip, aside from racing in the USA uniform of course, was visiting Petra. I tell everyone that someday, somehow, I’ll be back so that I can really take my time there and explore it a little better. It was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been and I see why it’s been labeled as one of the newest 7 Wonders of the World. Visiting the Dead Sea and being able to sit on a camel were things I’ll always remember as well.

RtR: You’ve utilized social media quite a bit it seems, especially compared to most other professional runners.  Can you give us a little insight into why you utilize such tools as Twitter, a website and blog, and Facebook?

RD: A close friend of mine, Jayson Jackson, deserves the credit in this area. He’s the web designer for my web-site and has taught me about Twitter and Facebook, and just really opened my eyes to the importance of utilizing these tools. Jayson has worked on many other internet projects, many running related. The RunningRebecca site is kind of his own baby, and he feels it’s important to document as much as possible about my training and life in general in order to spark even more interest in the sport.

Before all of this, I was pretty close to computer illiterate. I think it’s important to keep up with this kind of stuff in order to learn as much as you can about the sport. I mean you can learn about so many unique ways to train, keep up with who’s who in the sport, find races to run in all over the world, and if you really love the sport it’s just fun to take in any and all info.

I always think back to when I was in high school, and looking at colleges, and how all I really had to go off of was a visit and a few phone calls to make my decision. Now it’s just so easy to go on-line and look at a schools web-site, their results, info about the coaches, and if you’re daring enough a message board.

RtR: You coach a high school team, correct?

RD: Yes, I’m the head coach for the girls cross country team at State College Area High School and an assistant for track. I actually first started coaching when I lived in Massachusetts. After I graduated from U-Mass, I taught art part-time at a middle school and also assisted with the cross country team. Then half way through the year I landed a full-time position teaching art at Dedham High School in MA. I also coached the boys track team that first year and then switched over to the girls team after that. I did this for 4 years.

Then I moved out to State College, PA to work on my graduate degree and train. After a couple years here the coaching position at State High opened up and I jumped on it, that was 4 years ago. The cross country team has come a long way since my first year. We went from 17 girls to 38 in those 4 years and we went from being second to last at the state meet to 8th this past fall. It’s so rewarding to see the results, and even more rewarding to see how the kids react to seeing the results.

I also have a girl right now that I love to brag about. As a sophomore she’s already run a 4:59 1600, 2:12 in the 800, and 57 in the 400. This past winter she won both the 800 and the 1600 at the indoor state meet. So, it’s very exciting to be able to coach someone of this ability.She really wants to be the best and will do whatever it takes to get there.

I also just started volunteering with the community’s youth track club, Nittany Valley Track Club. It’s an excellent way for kids to learn about the sport and just have fun with it. As a coach at the high school, I also think it’s a nice way to introduce myself to possible future athletes. I really enjoy my time with them and it’s always nice to see that level of excitement for the sport.

RtR: The past ten years has seen a running boom in the U.S., both on the professional side and recreational side.  As a professional athlete, what’s an idea or two you might have towards increasing the visibility and appeal towards the professional side of the sport?

RD: Great question. Honestly, I wish that our sport could get some more TV air time. I think that a big part of the problem is that when it is on TV, the commentating just isn’t exciting, people get bored. In other countries, such as England, the commentators really get into it and make it very exciting to watch, they can get you on the edge of your seat. Also, they don’t cut to commercial right at a crucial point in the race, or ever. It’d also be nice if the US commentators could do a little research on the sport and the athletes.

This is the age of reality TV and people love to see inside the lives of other people. Recently I started watching an HBO series called 24/7. It’s not about running, it’s about boxing. After watching it I really got into the lives of these professional boxers. They have about 4 or 5 half hour shows leading up to the fight that these 2 boxers are devoting their lives to. You really step inside their lives and see what they do to get where they are. By the end of the series you are really excited to see the fight and feel as though you know the athletes at a more personal level. I know this idea has been thrown around for running but if it can be done right it might be pretty amazing and spark some more interest to the general public and especially the astounding amount of recreational runners out there. Leading up to the Olympics or just a national championship would be great.

Fortunately the Internet is really starting to take over. However, our national championships can be difficult to see coverage even on the Internet. This past Olympic TV coverage I thought was not so great coverage, I was really disappointed. It can be frustrating. Again, the Internet is saving the sport, atleast in the US. Somehow getting the general public involved in the professional side would be key. I do see a huge separation there. I think it’s important for professional athletes to be involved in the community and form relationships rather than being closed off because they’re ultra focused on training. Of course to get to the highest level you need to be ultra focused but I do think it’s possible to still get involved in some capacity.

RtR: What’s your current training situation?

RD: Currently I do not have anyone to train with. However, my boyfriend/coach, Artie Gilkes, who is also a runner has been helping me every so often in workouts. He ran for Penn State as an undergrad and is now training for the marathon. It’s a pretty nice set-up right now because we’ve been helping each other in interval workouts. There will be times when he’ll pace me through parts of my workout and times when I’ll pace him through parts of his workout. But, I’ve learned not to rely on this because it won’t always be that we workout on the same day. And I think this is important because you have to learn how to run both alone and with people, you never know what’ll happen in a race.

It’s definitely interesting when he’s pacing me in a workout because he’ll be coaching me at the same time and yelling different things at me. He’ll even run behind me and purposely clip my heels saying that it’ll keep me on my toes and teach me how to react when it happens in a race. Sometimes it’s annoying but I think it has really helped me focus. He’s an amazing coach who covers all the little details that have brought me to where I am today. I don’t know of too many people, if any, that know more about running and have the kind of passion for the sport that he does.

Quick Six (Six Quick Questions, Six Quick Responses)

RtR: Favorite race and why?

RD: The People’s Beach to Beacon 10k. I absolutely love Maine, and you can’t beat lobster at the after party.

RtR: Favorite part of coaching?

RD: Seeing the kids enjoy the sport and their reactions to achieving their goals.

RtR: Shoes you train in and compete in?

RD: New Balance 1225s for trainers, 205s for racing flats, and 1005s for spikes

RtR: Favorite song?

RD: Hero of the Day, Metallica

RtR: Any pre-race superstitions?

RD: I used to have lots but they drove me crazy. I don’t have any now and feel much better.

RtR: Favorite movie?

RD: The Strangers

(Photo courtesy of Victah Sailer of PhotoRun)