Lindsay Flanagan is one of the best marathon runners in the U.S. and she proved it at the Olympic Marathon Trials.
Flanagan, who runs for Asics, finished eighth in Orlando with a time of 2:26:25.
Early on in the race, Flanagan stayed within her race plan, as she said that she was locked in to running 5:25 pace. She was among the lead pack through the first 5k of the race. Flanagan said that she didn’t want to find herself in the lead, so she held back to withstand the pace changes early on in the race.
“I kind of knew that I didn’t want to go under 5:20 too soon, and I think that I did do that and I think that’s where I burned out a little bit,” she said. “You have to put it out there in a race like this, you can’t really hold back. I tried to be aggressive, it wasn’t my day.”
Flanagan stayed with the lead pack through 15 miles, along with Fiona O’Keeffe, Sara Hall, Makenna Myler, Emily Sisson, Caroline Rotich, Dakotah Lindwurm, Emily Durgin, Nell Rojas, Betsy Saina, Keira D’Amato, and Annie Frisbie. She fell behind around 25k into the race, and she said she couldn’t hold on to the lead pack. She was able to recover in the last 5k of her race, which led her to a top 10 finish against an impressive and elite field.
“I felt great, I had a great buildup, but I think I was playing with fire a little bit at the beginning,” she said. “It’s pretty disheartening when you see third place and you know that you’re not quite there. But I couldn’t have changed the way I race, you have to put it all out there in a race like this.”
Flanagan spent her marathon buildup training in Australia during their summer months instead of training in the U.S. during the winter time. Training in Australia’s summer weather prepared her for the weather in Orlando on the day of the race.
“I don’t think it was the weather for me,” she said. “Obviously it started to get warm towards the end, but I think I red lagged maybe a little too soon.”
She was also pleased with her buildup and the work that she and her team put in ahead of the Trials, even if it didn’t manifest itself on the marathon course.
“I figured if you’re going to leave for 12 weeks, you might as well go somewhere cool,” she said. “I went there and had a fantastic buildup. That fitness isn’t going to go anywhere. We felt like I was in 2:20-2:22 shape, but didn’t have it today.”
While Flanagan might have experienced a disappointing day in Orlando, she knows that there’s more in store for her as she goes forward in 2024. She mentioned in a recent post on Instagram that she knows that this year is just getting started and that she’s looking forward to the memorable opportunities that are ahead. She’s not sure of when she’ll race again, but she’s hoping to recover from the Trials quickly and plan her next race.
“I hope I can bounce back quick from this,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll do another (race) this spring or early summer.”
