Interview with Magdalena Lewy Boulet

By Pat Goodwin

At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon in St. Louis, Magdalena Lewy Boulet ran a personal best time of 2:30:50 and finished fifth. And then, for the next four years, she seemed to disappear from the national running scene. First there was the long-term bout with plantar fasciitis that began shortly after the 2004 Trials and continued to affect her right through the ING New York City Marathon 2006, where she ran 2:42.38.

In addition, she and her husband, former professional miler Richie Boulet, had a son, Owen, in May 2005. Until April 2007, “Magda” was working full-time as the director of research and development at GU Sports and volunteer coaching at her alma mater, the University of California-Berkeley. She began coaching full-time at CAL in the summer of 2007 in addition to training for the Trials.

So, for many spectators at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon, the woman with the long braid and the singlet that said “Transports” (the name of her husband’s running stores) who took the lead in the first mile was an unknown. As it turned out on that sunny day in Boston on April 20, Lewy Boulet held that lead until mile 23 and then finished second to earn a berth on the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon. Her time of 2:30:19 was a new personal best.

Lewy Boulet, 34, who lives in Oakland, is originally from Poland—she left in 1989 with her family. After a stay in Germany until 1991, the family immigrated to the United States and Lewy Boulet became a citizen on September 11, 2001. She was an All-American at 5000 meters at Berkeley, where she received her bachelor’s degree in human biodynamics in 1997, followed by a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Cal State-Hayward.

Her coach since 2000 is Jack Daniels. After representing Transports, located in Oakland and Berkeley, Lewy Boulet recently signed a multi-year contract with Saucony. She will compete in the women-only NYRR New York Mini 10K in Central Park on June 7.

New York Road Runners: First of all, congratulations on making your first Olympic team. Tell us about how the race unfolded for you.
Magdalena Lewy Boulet: Right before I went to warm up before the race, my husband said to me ‘the race won’t come to you, you’ll need to go after it.’ I didn’t do anything extraordinary when I went out by myself from the start—it was a pretty even pace for me. I was very surprised that at mile one that I had such a lead and the gap just kept growing and growing. I knew there were not that many people in the race who could catch up to me if I kept going with the exception of Deena [Kastor]. The further I went into the race, I thought I was going to run away with it (at one point, Lewy Boulet’s lead was 1:55). I was thinking maybe I timed it right, maybe if I didn’t slow down, which I did, I could have run away with it.

NYRR: When did you know that Deena was beginning to get close to you?
MLB: At mile 22 when I made the U-turn, I could see that Deena was getting close to me. She went by me at 23-and-a-half miles. I tried to get pulled along for a little bit, but at that point I knew she was going a lot faster than I was.

NYRR: Did you like the design of the course with the criterion format?
MLB: I absolutely loved the design of the course in Boston. It gave me an idea of where I was in the race and how people were running. I could tell by their form if they were getting tired or not. On a bigger loop or a point-to-point course you can’t see this. They did such a great job of putting it together. To have the Trials the day before a major marathon and to have all that support from the spectators provided such a great atmosphere. Everyone was screaming and the energy along the course was amazing. It was definitely a lot of fun. It is a day that I will remember forever.

NYRR: At the 2004 Trials, Blake Russell finished fourth and you were fifth. Were you pleased that Blake also made the team this time around?
MLB: At mile 22, I saw that Blake was making a move to hold her third-place position. I wanted to shout out, ‘Blake, we made it this time.’ But then I thought, it is too early to say it and we still had four miles to go. I didn’t want to celebrate too early. I am pleased that Blake made the team as well. I am so excited for her and for myself and to be on a team with Deena is just an honor.

NYRR: What have you been doing since the Trials? Did you take some time off? I know you won the Marin Memorial Day 10K, so it looks like you’ve started your build-up for the Olympics.
MLB: I took one week off right after the Trials—I didn’t run at all. Then, the second week I ran every other day. Two weeks after the marathon, I started building up again and I did workouts this week. At the Marin 10K, my coach did a little twist and made it into a 20K workout for me. I also spent a couple of days in Colorado Springs in May for the Distance Summit. It was very informative and fun to see all the athletes and coaches for the marathon team.

NYRR: What type of preparation will you be doing for the marathon in Beijing on August 17?
MLB: I will definitely be preparing myself for the heat and humidity. I’ll do that by simulating the conditions. I’ll run more on the treadmill and dress up more for my runs, and I’ll run in the middle of the day when temperatures are warmest. There will be challenging conditions in Beijing but there are ways to prepare for it. The USA team that prepared for Athens did such a great job and we have definitely learned from them. I think everyone is really fired up to go and show what the USA can do. I’ll be going to China two weeks prior to the race and spending the time at the training camp. My husband and I are going. Our son is only three, so he is going to stay home and have fun with his grandparents, who will spoil him.

NYRR: You recently signed with Saucony, which will be a change from running for your husband’s Transports stores.
MLB: Yes, this was just announced last week. It is a multi-year contract and I am really excited about working with and representing them. When I was running at the Trials, I could hear people saying, ‘who is that girl in the Transports top.’ It was funny to me but totally understandable. I disappeared from the national scene for a while but I did run a lot in the Bay area.

NYRR: After the 2004 Trials, with your plantar problem and having your first child, were there times you wondered whether you could come back for 2008?
MLB: To be honest, I have had rough times. I questioned how realistic it would be for me to come back and make the team. But I never gave up. I believed I had the passion for it and with the support I had from family and friends, I have been able to become an Olympian.

NYRR: What were some of the things you had to overcome?
MLB: The plantar problem was one of the things. I had hoped to run well at the ING New York City Marathon 2006, but my biggest reason for not performing as well as I hoped was because of the plantar. Halfway through the race I made a decision that the “A” standard wasn’t going to happen that day. I decided to just get the “B” and walk away as healthy as I could from that race. After New York, I took a good six weeks off and searched for some training that would take my plantar problem into consideration.

NYRR: How long have you had the plantar problem and what adjustments did you make in your training to combat it?
MLB: I actually got it right after the Trials in 2004 and had it for a couple of years. I sat down with my coach and discussed what it would take to make it feel better. The biggest change we made is that I started using the treadmill on a regular basis. I don’t have to take turns on a treadmill like you do on a track and I could do a little bit more incline and slower turnover for a harder effort. My marathon training for the 2008 Trials was then very successful and my plantar was not getting aggravated. The consistency was the biggest factor. That was the missing ingredient to my formula.

NYRR: Your coach is in Flagstaff and you are in Oakland. Did you spend some time in Flagstaff prior to the Trials?
MLB: I spent three weeks in Flagstaff in January. I had visited Flagstaff at the same time a couple of years ago and it was very nice then but it snowed there this time. It was quite a surprise. But I found this five-mile loop to run. A lot of the time I was running alone because most people left Flagstaff during that time. Primarily, I ran with Anthony Gallo, who is training there and is also coached by Jack.

NYRR: Did you also reduce your work schedule so that you had more time to train?
MLB: I resigned from GU Sports in April 2007 and then started coaching full-time in the summer at CAL. Prior to accepting the full-time position I had been volunteer coaching there off and on for seven years. My college coach accepted a head coaching position at CAL and so the assistant distance coach position opened up. I really enjoy coaching and I also enjoyed working at GU Sports. But I wanted to give back to the program I was part of and this was also a great opportunity to work under my college coach.

NYRR: Are you looking forward to doing the Mini 10K in New York?
MLB: I have done the Mini twice before. I did it right after the 2004 Trials and then again in 2006. I think that this time around it is going to be a little bit different. I am 100 percent healthy and I have a little more experience than the times I ran it before. My recovery after the Trials was really good this time around. I ran within myself so it didn’t take so much out of me. I am ready to run much faster on the Mini course than I have in the past. I love going to New York City. I feel that I still have some unfinished business. I have never run as fast as I wanted to run there, and I am going to do something special this year.

NYRR: Will you be doing any other races prior to the Olympics?
MLB: I am going to run the 10,000 meters on the track at the Trials in Eugene on June 27. I think it is going to be a lot of fun for me. There is no pressure to make the team and I don’t have anything to prove. I am just going to enjoy it to the fullest. It will be good preparation for the marathon for me because it breaks up the training and there will be such great competition. There is a chance I might also do the Wharf-to-Wharf race in Santa Cruz as part of my last effort before Beijing, but that is not set in stone.

Interview conducted May 27, 2008, and posted May 30, 2008.