The Art of the Pivot
By Liz Anjos
On rare occasions, runners experience that perfect race day, when it’s as if they’re floating effortlessly and clicking off splits at goal pace like it’s no big deal. Then there are the days when no matter how perfectly one prepares, something goes haywire for no reason at all.
Two weeks ago on October 8th, Jaime Musgrave (above) set off to run the Long Beach Marathon in Southern California, but was derailed by stomach issues at mile four and ultimately dropped out at mile six. To make matters worse, she spent the next several days under the weather and couldn’t run at all. If put in her situation, some runners might have just hung up their shoes and called it a season, but Musgrave looked on the bright side- she had some great training under her belt, her legs were well rested, and the Ventura Marathon in southern California just happened to be coming up in less than two weeks.
Thus, the pivot: determined to finish what she had started, Musgrave ran the Ventura Marathon in stunning fashion, finishing with a personal record by seven minutes and dipping under the four hour mark for the first time at 3:56:17. She wrote on Instagram, “After the sting of a DNF 2 weeks ago, the finish line felt even sweeter today. I didn’t meet my time goal that I trained for but I put up my first sub 4:00 effort in the marathon and I am really happy about that. I have so much more of myself to give to this distance. I can’t say thank you thank you enough to all of you who inspired me and encouraged me along the way!”
Stumptown XC Race #3
From left to right in the ivory singlets: Krysta Gunvalson, Ashley Meagher, and Liz Anjos. Photo by Angela Lindbo
Back in Portland, Rose City Track Club saw Liz Anjos, Krysta Gunvalson, and Ashley Meagher racing in the third installment of the Stumptown Cross Country series. The four miler in Gabriel Park was a doozy, with wind, rain, cold temps, and hills galore.
Gunvalson and Meagher worked together for most of the race, finishing strong with respective times of 29:19 and 29:20. The meet was Gunvalson’s first ever experience racing cross country. She wrote, “Well that was fun/cold/wet/muddy! First XC race in the books with Rose City Track Club! Super proud of Liz and Ashley for hanging tough in miserable conditions.”
Liz Anjos, Krysta Gunvalson, and Ashley Meagher
This was Meagher’s second cross country race of the season. She wrote, “Today was a tough day, and that’s an understatement. Liz killed it and Krysta was super strong and carried me the whole race. I’m lucky to have the best teammates and I’m looking forward to the next race!”
For Anjos, this was her only race leading up to the New York City Marathon on November 5th. She wrote, “NYC training is going great and I’m feeling ready to roll! I jumped in the third Stumptown meet yesterday, a hilly 4 miler. It was cold, windy, rainy, muddy- everything cross country should be, haha. [Placing 3rd] was a good confidence boost, plus I just love racing and being competitive.”