Sports Talk: Joining the Elite

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published Aug. 28 , 2013. 
A few weeks ago a group of ladies in the area competed in a half iron-man competition but this past Sunday, two took the “go big or go home” motto to heart and are now among the elite Iron Man finishers.

Dr. Erica Montgomery Turner and Nell Tarter Duggins made a complete day of it in the swim, bike and run competition.
 
Even being an athlete my entire life and being a runner, I cannot wrap my head around what these two ladies did. The day itself is one thing but the time and training it took to prepare for such an obstacle is beyond my comprehension.
 
The run alone is 26.2 miles—a marathon. I commend marathon runners, but can you imagine having swam 2.4 miles and biked 112 before taking on the marathon?
 
Nell finished in 12:54:20, which put her 30th in her division and 944th overall. Erica finished in 15:27:46, which was 76th in her division and 2,002 overall—and that was despite experiencing not just one or two but three flat tires during her biking leg of the event. I have no doubt both were grateful to have had support on the sidelines from family and friends from their ladies bootcamp group.
 
If you see either of these ladies this week—or any time for that matter—be sure to congratulate them. While the challenge is obviously physical, I believe the mental side of it must be just as big of a challenge. A goal that is physically exhausting that takes 10-17 hours to accomplish means there is a lot of time to back out, feel sorry for yourself or come up with excuses for why you need to throw in the towel. Neither of these ladies did.
 
Even if joining the Iron Man elite is not a goal you have for yourself, look to these two for inspiration for setting your mind to a difficult challenge and not backing down from it.

Sports Talk: My Favorite US Gold Medal So Far

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published August 8, 2012.
  

I know that the track and field events just got underway this past weekend, but I think I found my most impactful moment in the 2012 Olympics on Friday evening in a non-running event.

It was indeed a race that resulted in a gold that has won my awe and it was even in my preferred distance: 800 meters. However, it was not on a track, but in a pool, when 15-year old Katie Ledecky blew away her competition in her unexpected swim to glory.

I believe much of my enjoyment in the swimming events this year is the parallel to track, which I spent a good portion of my life dedicated to. My appeal for swimming is the duration it takes for the finish.

Having been a 400- to 1600-meter runner,  my focused run lasted more than a blink of an eye, like the 100-meter. They required more strategy than simply all-out speed. You took things into account like your start and your pace and your kick. These things are not looked at in the same light for a 100-meter sprint, but they are in a 100-meter swimming event.

I love seeing come-backs, or watching the one competitor push the pace, or seeing someone decide to make their charge.

Ledecky—only 15—was not expected to win gold in the 800-meter freestyle. (Do you realize she was only 11 years old when the Beijing Olympics took place??) It was a hopeful thought that the youngster would make it on the medal stand when up against the reigning champion and the world record holder, Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain.

But I believe that her youth is the greatest advantage Ledecky had in that race. Rather than being intimidated on the big stage she swam with a ‘what have I got to lose’ attitude.

Ledecky took the lead early in the race with Adlington and the Lotte Frilis, Denmarke’s expected competition to rival Adlington for gold, comfortably behind her. I felt proud of the young American not afraid to go out with the big dogs and even push the pace.

In my mind, even with her early lead, I never expected her to win. In a distance race, the early leader never wins. It’s the same way I feel when I see my horse leading the opening of the Kentucky Derby.

The champ, the experienced, knows what their pace should be. That person knows how to stick comfortably with the pack and kick it into high gear at just the right moment to take over the event. Adlington would clearly do just that, right?

It was after 550-meters that my thoughts began to change. Ledecky remained on that yellow world record pace indicator. She was not only not backing off from it but Adlington and Frilis were not gaining on her. She had stretched her lead to a full body length.

By the time she was on her last 100-meter I was a believer that she just might hold this lead and, by golly, she might even break the world record! With her final turn she was over a body ahead of her competition. Unless she died to the point of being unable to swim, her competition was not going to catch her. Her lead was too strong.

Die she did not. She did not punch the wall in world-record time but she was only a half a second short.  Adlington’s world record time in Beijing was 8:14.10. Ledecky swam 8:14.63.

 All that came to my mind watching that young athlete swim ahead fearlessly was the most idolized runner of any track athlete: Steve Prefontaine. Anyone who knows the runner’s name knows he was much more than a record-breaking runner in the 70’s before his early death.

Prefontaine was a fearless runner who was oftentimes condemned by his coaches for not running a more traditional race, with a pace, a plan and a reserved kick. Prefontaine was the living  phrase “go hard or go home” and dying at the end of a race was never on his radar. If it happened, he would deal with it then, but the possibility of it happening never slowed his pace.

I suppose my newfound love of swimming really just proves my love of racing in general: pure gut, pure strength and pure athleticism on the line, side by side, in the spotlight to determine who is the best with a final time to declare it without question.

And the excitement is in the truth that on any given day in any given race, any given person has the chance to rise to the occasion and achieve the unexpected. For as much as we area amazed by through these Olympics, someone else is always waiting to give us another jaw-dropping moment.

Sports Talk: The Olympic Spirit

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published August 1, 2012.
 
If you have not noticed, I thoroughly enjoy the Olympics.

This goes back pretty far. My earliest memories of the big games were the 1994 Winter Olympics when my brothers and I got hooked on the Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding drama. They might kill me for making this public, but we were so inspired by the skating that year that we attempted our own performances in our roller skates complete with video commentary. Thank goodness that was pre-YouTube.

My first memories of the summer Olympics came in 1996. My family had a layover in Atlanta that spring, and I remember my parents pointing out that the airport construction was in preparation of the Olympics. I was so impressed that my own country had the honor of hosting the Olympic games. I adored USA’s women’s gymnastics team who brought home gold after Kerri Strug’s heroic “stick it” moment.

As I grew older and became more involved in my own athletics (I gave up skating...) I came to appreciate more of the events and learn more about the history of the Olympics; America’s triumphs and woes alike. 

Then the music became a part of my own competitive spirit year-round. Musical compositions are big in my life in general (not because I'm at all musical, because I'm not. I've never played an instrument in my life. I just have a deep passion for movie scores.) 

In my years of running for the Casey County track team my family put together a collection of strictly instrumental inspirational music that we would listen to on the way to meets and I would usually continue with once at the meet. (My brother probably switched to something cooler like Eminem or Metallica.) 

Along with many other themes were "Bugler's Dream," introduced at the 1968 Olympics and John Williams’ 1984 Olympic Fanfare (that anyone who watches the Olympics would recognize) as well as his "Olympic Spirit" written for the 1988 Olympics. 

This year I have kept our TV on nearly nonstop since the Opening Ceremonies and simply walking through the room is dangerous as I get tend to get sucked into anything from water polo to rowing. And, I admit, simply hearing the music is what grabs my attention half of the time. (In fact, I'm listening to the music and watching the TV along with having six screens with Olympic updates open on my Internet browser as I type.) I'm as much in the Olympic moment as a young girl in Kentucky can possibly be this far away from the games themselves.

You might remember last week when I said the most exciting events and Olympic news were still TBD? Well, that was at least one thing I was right about in my preview.

I noted to pay attention to Team USA’s diving because we had the chance to medal the first time since 2000. We did medal, but Kelci  Bryant and Abby Johnston, two athletes I did not key in on, beat David Boudia and Nick McCrory to the punch. Bryant and Johnston took silver in the 3m synchronized springboard. No worries, though, Boudia and McCrory also medaled, taking bronze in the 10m synchronized platform.

Not to be on a girl power streak, but seeing the joy on the face of 17-year-old Missy Franklin who won the women's 100-meter backstroke could have made anyone love the girl. Even Michael Phelps called this young lady a stud and seeing her win that gold just after competing in the 200-meter free-style semi-finals proves he knows what he is talking about. 

To go from Missy’s radiant smile on the medal stand to the cloud of disappointment that loomed over the men's gymnastic team as error after error dashed their hopes of medaling was such an emotional roller coaster even for me. If I can get this worked up over the 2 minutes I pay someone, how can the years of dedication feel?

On a final note, for possibly the best laugh so far, and a throwback to my recent column giving hats off to athlete parents, find the video of Aly Raisman’s parent's watching her bar routine. These games might be harder to get through for the parents than anyone else.