This is this Sunday that the double world champion (2014-2015) and Olympic champion in Rio will make her debuts on the marathon distance in her career. For this athlete whose evolution was in the American’s university track (UCAA) in swimming and then athletics, it’s like she was going to it’s like she is going to her old family reunion.
In a teleconference, Gwen Jorgensen told us more about details of her preparation. Since her victory in Rio, she had to answer a lot of solicitations and she was also able to be with her family. If the American is used to run between 50 and 70 kilometres a week, all of it distributed between 6 and 9 weekly sessions, he was recently raised to 70-80 km per week for the marathon. Since Cozumel Grand Final, she added a key session which is a repetition of 3 x 7km. Her preparation was also interrupted by the triathlon by steps of Island House Triathlon which happened last week and that she won.
Despite a training volume that might seem limited regarding a professional runner volume, Jorgensen recently finished ranked 3rd in the 10 miles American championship. She crossed the line before renowned athletes as Sarah Hall (former cross-country American champion and 3000m steeple world championship finalist).
Jorgensen keeps creating doubt on her future. The 30-year-old athlete confirmed this time that her absolute priority was to start a family and she wishes to follow examples as Nicola Spirig or Kara Goucher. These two athletes suspended their career to give birth and then came back on the track. Moreover, Nicola Spirig successfully managed to win the silver medal in Rio OG. Her recent revelations claim that she is not attracted to long distance. After a break, the targets OG in Tokyo in triathlon as a goal.
For now, she has a date with history. As a comparison, Nicola Spirig ran the distance at 2:37 and Anne Haug copied her last week (Frankfurt) crossing the line a minute faster. In Jorgensen case, she will start with a known disadvantage because New York course is not known as fast.
But this athlete who won 13 World Series in a row showed us that she learns quickly.