Interview with Michelle Lilienthal

By Duncan Larkin

The list of declared athletes for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon includes 16 runners with sub-2:40 qualifying times. Twenty-six-year-old Iowa City native Michelle Lilienthal is one of them.

Lilienthal’s running career has been meteoric. In high school she was a Foot Locker finalist and set the Iowa high school record in the 3000-meters (9:47.53). At the University of Wisconsin, she ran both track and cross country and garnered All Big-Ten honors before graduating in 2005. That year, Michelle debuted with a 2:49:22 at the Philadelphia Marathon. In 2006, she really took off—improving her marathon PR to an impressive 2:35:51 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon (which was the 2006 USA Marathon Championships, where she placed fourth).

Lilienthal ran shorter distances in 2007 with equal success. She placed third in both the USA Half-Marathon Championships (1:12:46) and the USA 25K Championships (1:25:53). In August, she relocated from Philadelphia to join Team USA Minnesota under coach Dennis Barker.

Lilienthal is engaged to former Hansons-Brooks Distance Project member and 2:16 marathoner Jacob Frey; the two met in 2006 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.

New York Road Runners: I read on your distance journal that you’ve been struggling with plantar fasciitis this season. With one week to go before the Trials, how are things going?

Michelle Lilienthal: It’s going well. I’ve been dealing with plantar fasciitis since last summer. It’s been a different build up to this race than it has been for previous marathons because I’ve had to alter my training a bit, but my foot is feeling pretty good. I’m in my taper now and I’m starting to feel good..

NYRR: How’s the taper going?

ML: It’s going well. I’ve been doing a lot of crosstraining, and since I’ve tapered the crosstraining and have only been running, my legs are starting to feel really fresh and good. Because of the crosstraining, my legs usually feel heavy and tired when I go to run.

NYRR: What are you doing for crosstraining?

ML: Biking, elliptical, pool, and aqua jogging.

NYRR: What was your highest mileage peak as you trained for the Trials and where are you at from a mileage standpoint now with your taper?

ML: The highest mileage that I was running was 95 miles of pure running on the roads, but there were weeks in February when my foot was really bothering me when I only ran 40 miles on the roads, but I was implementing about 130 miles of crosstraining. So there were weeks when I was doing about 170 miles of work. The way I counted my crosstraining for mileage was for every hour of crosstraining I did, I would count it as 4 or 5 miles of running depending on what it was.

NYRR: Going into the Trials race itself, Deena Kastor is the clear favorite. You are the seventh seed. How do you see the race unfolding? Have you worked through a strategy with your coach?

ML: Not really yet. We haven’t really sat down and talked specifics. It’s really hard to see how the race is going to unfold. It’s kind of wide open. Besides Deena, it’s hard to say what’s going to happen. My strategy is to run my own race—especially in the beginning—and not worry about how fast everyone goes out and what happens, because I know the second half of the race is my strength. So I’m just going to go out reserved and make sure I’m at a good point and at the halfway mark and start picking people off.

I’m not going to be in the lead pack at the beginning. I don’t really care how slow it goes out. I’m not going to be in the front at the beginning.

NYRR: What do you think about the criterium course in Boston? Jacob Frey, your fiancé ran the men’s Trials in New York on a criterium course. Have you guys compared notes?

ML: No, we haven’t really talked about what he thought of the loop course. I know that he said Central Park was one of the hardest courses he’s ever run because it was so hilly. He did talk about it being a spectator-friendly course. I was able to see him a lot of times on the course. I think he liked that. I’m excited for the course in Boston because it’s pretty flat so it will give a lot of people a lot of opportunities to see whoever they are cheering for.

NYRR: The weather in Boston at this time of year is almost always a factor. Do you have any concerns about the weather?

ML: No. I don’t think it will be a factor. If anything, it will be cool. The start is at 8:00 a.m. It could be 40 or even cooler. Coming from Minnesota, I think I’ll have an advantage. I don’t think the weather’s going to play a big role in the race. Everyone is going to be prepared.

NYRR: Are you thinking at all about Beijing—about the political and environmental conditions over there assuming you make the team?

ML: No. I haven’t really even thought about it yet. I’m trying to take it one step at a time. I guess I’ll start worrying about the heat and the humidity if and when I make the team.

NYRR: I spoke to your Team USA Minnesota Matt Gabrielson before the USA Cross Country Championships this year. He was really big on Team USA Minnesota—about the camaraderie and how great it is to run there. Along those lines, do you feel like the move you made from Philadelphia to Minnesota was a good one?

ML: Yeah, I do. I really do. It’s such a good setup for training in terms of having the teammates here all working for the common goal and common interests. Everyone is so supportive of each other. Just being surrounded by that is really helpful. Also, the team is fortunate to have a lot of support in the community through doctors and chiropractors and physical therapists. Especially since moving here and dealing with plantar fasciitis; it’s been a big help to have a lot of medical support through the team. If I had stayed in Philadelphia, I would have been in a tough situation there trying to see doctors.

NYRR: You’ve got a 2:35 marathon PR. You want to make the Olympic team, but where would you like to be from a time perspective? Are you looking at chasing a sub 2:30?

ML: Yeah that’s the ultimate goal—to run under 2:30. I think with a solid block of injury-free training that’s definitely doable for me. I know I haven’t maxed out at a 2:35. I know that there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. I just need to stay healthy and have a lot of good training. Unfortunately this past year that I’ve been dealt has been a crappy year for training. I did the best with what I was dealt and did a lot of crosstraining. I think that will translate well to the road, but I think ultimately for the marathon to be under 2:30, I have to get in a solid block of training. I don’t know when that will be.

NYRR: I saw you recently on the cover of Runner’s World. How did you feel about that? Tell us about the experience. Did you ever think that some day you’d be on the cover of Runner’s World?

ML: No. I never thought I’d be on the cover of Runner’s World. When they called me and actually asked me to come down to Miami for a photo shoot, I was like, “Are you sure you want me? Are you sure?” But yeah, it was really neat. It took a long time. They did two different shoots. They were shooting two covers at the same time. It took six or seven hours. We changed outfits a couple times. We went to a couple different spots there. So yeah, it was quite a process. Everyone that was there from Runner’s World was really nice. It was a fun experience; I’d definitely do it again.

NYRR: Where would you like to take your running next? What are your short-term and long-term goals?

ML: Short term, I am just really excited to run this race and do my best. After the race, I want to focus on getting my foot 100 percent. This year was a lot of crosstraining, which is really kind of hard to enjoy when you are a runner and are forced to do hours on end of biking and being in the pool. It’s almost punishment. I am really focused after this race to take a couple weeks and get my foot healthy so I can get my mileage back up this summer. I’m hoping to be in the Olympics or do a fall marathon. I guess I haven’t really planned, because I don’t know how my foot’s going to feel. I just want a really solid block of training before I do a big race. So I’m not really sure about short term, but 2012 is a big focus for me. It’s unfortunate that I’ve been injured and have had a difficult year with training. But in my mind, it is keeping me sane knowing that 2012 and 2016 are really my best shots anyways. Everything between now and 2012 will be focused on that. And running under 2:30: I’d love to do that. So we will see when that happens.

Interview conducted April 11, 2008, and posted April 17, 2008.