Could something as basic as a taper turn out to be the difference between Katie McGregor and Kara Goucher in Sunday's much-anticipated clash of Minnesotans at the USA Women's 10 Mile Championship contested at the Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile?
Both athletes -- Team USA Minnesota's McGregor and Duluth native Goucher (pictured) -- will race Sunday in the middle of their high-mileage training build-ups for the ING New York City Marathon on November 2.
In a media conference held this morning, the two well-decorated distance stars -- McGregor a four-time USA Champion, Goucher an Olympian and World Championships bronze medalist --revealed different training strategies for approaching a championship 10 mile race four weeks ahead of a major marathon.
McGregor told reporters that she tapered slightly from her typical 100 mile marathon training weeks to freshen up for the race. Goucher, however, hasn't backed off from the 110 to 115 mile weeks that have defined her marathon build-up.
Might a little extra tapering spunk mean the difference between the fleet pair?
"Last week and this week have been a little mini-break for just a couple weeks before the race," McGregor, the five-time TC-10 champ and course record-holder at 53:48 said. "I haven't really done any constant hard mileage, just over a 100 [mile per week.]"
When Goucher was asked by the Pioneer Press' Bruce Brothers whether she'd taken a "mini-break" to rest up ahead of the race, Goucher quipped: "I'm not rested ... I'm going to rest tomorrow!"
Her rest-day on Saturday will be a 10 mile run.
"I think, probably like Katie, I have pretty heavy legs right now from running a lot of miles," Goucher admitted. "My goal really is to get out there and run competitively and run fairly aggressively. I just want to get my legs under me -- they've been a little tired lately -- and get a negative split in the race -- hang out for the first half and try to push the second half and try to run it faster in the second half."
As with their tapering regimes, the two former NCAA cross country champions have historically employed different race strategies for their successes.
"I'm definitely a front-runner," McGregor admitted. "I'm just going to run as hard as I can for 10 miles, and hopefully that gets me somewhere -- hopefully crossing the finish-line first."
Goucher has usually been more comfortable waiting until later in races to make her bids for victory. Still, don't expect her to simply sit and kick.
"I'm certainly not going to sit around and let Katie do all the work," Goucher allowed. "I think the course record is probably in jeopardy. Hopefully we'll run really fast together. I would love to run right around five minutes for the last few miles."
Both athletes -- Team USA Minnesota's McGregor and Duluth native Goucher (pictured) -- will race Sunday in the middle of their high-mileage training build-ups for the ING New York City Marathon on November 2.
In a media conference held this morning, the two well-decorated distance stars -- McGregor a four-time USA Champion, Goucher an Olympian and World Championships bronze medalist --revealed different training strategies for approaching a championship 10 mile race four weeks ahead of a major marathon.
McGregor told reporters that she tapered slightly from her typical 100 mile marathon training weeks to freshen up for the race. Goucher, however, hasn't backed off from the 110 to 115 mile weeks that have defined her marathon build-up.
Might a little extra tapering spunk mean the difference between the fleet pair?
"Last week and this week have been a little mini-break for just a couple weeks before the race," McGregor, the five-time TC-10 champ and course record-holder at 53:48 said. "I haven't really done any constant hard mileage, just over a 100 [mile per week.]"
When Goucher was asked by the Pioneer Press' Bruce Brothers whether she'd taken a "mini-break" to rest up ahead of the race, Goucher quipped: "I'm not rested ... I'm going to rest tomorrow!"
Her rest-day on Saturday will be a 10 mile run.
"I think, probably like Katie, I have pretty heavy legs right now from running a lot of miles," Goucher admitted. "My goal really is to get out there and run competitively and run fairly aggressively. I just want to get my legs under me -- they've been a little tired lately -- and get a negative split in the race -- hang out for the first half and try to push the second half and try to run it faster in the second half."
As with their tapering regimes, the two former NCAA cross country champions have historically employed different race strategies for their successes.
"I'm definitely a front-runner," McGregor admitted. "I'm just going to run as hard as I can for 10 miles, and hopefully that gets me somewhere -- hopefully crossing the finish-line first."
Goucher has usually been more comfortable waiting until later in races to make her bids for victory. Still, don't expect her to simply sit and kick.
"I'm certainly not going to sit around and let Katie do all the work," Goucher allowed. "I think the course record is probably in jeopardy. Hopefully we'll run really fast together. I would love to run right around five minutes for the last few miles."
Follow the Races ... The USA Women's 10 Mile Championship begins at 7:05 AM Sunday in downtown Minneapolis. WCCO radio will break into its regular Sunday morning fare for race reports -- listen for my report from the TC-10 lead vehicle around 7:25 -- and Down the Backstretch will have top results, race re-caps, and winners' quotes from the finish-line for each of the day's races.
Also ... Check out Rachel Blount's Star-Tribune story on the pair HERE.
Photo by Charlie Mahler.
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