Dena Evans joined runcoach in July, 2008 and has a wide range of experience working with athletes of all stripes- from youth to veteran division competitors, novice to international caliber athletes.
From 1999-2005, she served on the Stanford Track & Field/ Cross Country staff. Dena earned NCAA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors in 2003 as Stanford won the NCAA Division I Championship. She was named Pac-10 Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2003-04, and West Regional Coach of the Year in 2004.
From 2006-08, she worked with the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative, helping to expand the after school fitness programs for elementary school aged girls to Mountain View, East Menlo Park, and Redwood City. She has also served both the Stanford Center on Ethics and the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession as a program coordinator.
Dena graduated from Stanford in 1996.
The weather’s improved significantly in the past week or so and my fitness seems to be improving with it. I’ve been able to run my last several workouts from the pace chart dictated by my last race performance, which was before the hamstring injury that derailed my last training cycle. The marathon pace from that chart indicates that I’m on track to be ready for the race in Napa in three weeks. My heart rate has been dropping as well, which is always a confidence booster for me. I still have my longest training run (just 19 miles) to get through next weekend, but otherwise it seems like it’s going to be all about staying healthy through my shorter-than-normal taper to get to the starting line.
For me, waking up and running well before dawn is something I dread, and I’ve only turned to it as last resort. So, when driving rain, howling wind and a flooded track, are piled on top of that, it starts to feel like torture. As a result, the last couple of weeks in the bay area have been a significant test of dedication to my running goals.
The highly sought after Boston Qualifying time… that’s the goal. 3 hours, 10 minutes, 59 seconds. I’ve had my sights set on it ever since I finished the NYC Marathon with a 36 minute improvement over myfirst marathon. But, that was back in 2005.
Congrats to Brooke, who finished the Twin Cities Marathon / US Marathon Championships in 12th place and a personal best of 2:40:07, a qualifying mark for the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials!
I woke up this morning and thought… really? I’m running a marathon in 3 days?
10 days to go…
When I was training for the 2008 Women’s Olympic Trials, I spent two weeks in Flagstaff Arizona with Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, her family and coach Jack Daniels. Magda’s husband Richie, used to help us get pumped up for morning runs by playing the song “The Final Countdown”, by 80’s sensation Europe.
I have a mileage marker, that when I hit it, I feel it all over. Everything in life suddenly becomes… HARDER. I feel like I can’t put a work outfit together, I can’t properly address an email, I can’t keep my flats tied, and above all, I can’t get enough food or sleep. I feel like a total mess. I am now 4 weeks from Twin Cities and I have been consistently hitting high (for me) weekly mileage. Last week during a threshold workout, I realized how much I am relying on the people around me to keep me going and to keep my head straight.
Brooke Wells, a local elite athlete and Cal graduate, is training for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 4th. As the 2009 US Women’s Marathon Championships, Twin Cities offers the only chance to log a qualifying time for the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon before the official qualifying window begins in 2010. In the following post, read about Brooke’s adventurous experience at the recent America’s Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego.
Angela took a few minutes away from last minute race preparations to give FNF members a snapshot of some unique race features. You may not realize that by running the 2010 ING Bay to Breakers, you might be able to….
Run alongside some of the world’s best…
AF: We’ve got an awesome field, a really spectacular race particularly on the women’s side, featuring many world class athletes from around the globe. Emily Chebet is the reigning World Cross Country Champion, and Lineth Chepkurui ran 30:45 on the roads for 10k last year, the world’s #9 all-time performance. On the men’s side, Sammy Kitwara returns to defend his crown and improve on his world record.
Experience all that the race is known for, but also get to watch….
AF: The possibility that a woman can win the race with an equalizer in place. For most of the people in back, they don’t know what is going on in front, but it is a thrilling thing to see a woman win, as happened a couple years ago [Edna Kiplagat, 2007]. The women will start 4 minutes and 51 seconds ahead of the top men, which ideally will create an exciting stretch run to crown one victor.
Benefit from some new race features…..
AF: Our corral system continues from last year, and we are getting more runners back to the race based on the changes instituted then. We will have more activity in the finish area, including t-shirt distribution.
Join a community or even be part of a Guiness World Record…..
AF: In our first year of setting up a group, we have over 7000 fans on facebook, mostly people who are going to go out and actually run the race. We also just worked out a deal with LinkedIn, a push for world’s largest centipede…anyone who is on LinkedIn can take part. We also have been excited to add Focus-N-Fly.
Look forward to the 100th year in 2011….
AF: One of the things we want to do is bring out some past champions. I’d like to have some races within the race – come up with some new fun things for the runners, and have a big post-race celebration.
Focus-N-Fly will be organizing group training runs during this spring’s lead up to the ING Bay to Breakers 12K on Sunday May 16th. These runs will depart on Saturdays at 8am from the Hyatt Embarcadero Center, and include routes along the San Francisco waterfront.
All FNF members welcome, regardless of whether this race is on your schedule. Come join in!
