Hinkley runs in at third
Assistant track and cross country coach runs an amazing race in the 31st Annual Detroit Marathon
Brandon Muri
Issue date: 10/30/08 Section: Sports
Among milling chaos downtown and a frigid 7:00 a.m. morning two Sundays ago, women's assistant track and cross country coach Sarah Hinkley was one of 18,000 competitors warming up for the Detroit Marathon.
Pasta for dinner, bagel for breakfast, she pumps her legs alternately likes pistons.
She breathes slowly, deep and as she does, her core tightens, taught as a bowstring. She senses that the grueling, uncounted hours of training will pay off.
Stretching, she pushes thoughts aside: her last race - a nightmare - 25 miles of gnawing, throbbing pain culminating in a disappointing finish in Boston last April.
With a strong will, she gathers her churning thoughts into focus; no amount of training can prepare a body the pain ahead.
She said it's 80 percent mental.
This was her fourth marathon, and she placed third.
Along with cascading showers of relief bordering on euphoria, a completed marathon is accompanied, inevitably, by intense physical trauma.
"The last thing I saw right before the starter pistol went off was all my track girls cheering me on," she said.
Hinkley said the anxiety leading up to a marathon can be pretty intense because each race takes about six months of training.
"You can really do only two a year," Hinkley said. "Your body needs a lot of time to recover. Breaks are every bit as vital as the actual training, so that makes each race really significant."
Hinkley qualified for the Olympic trials last year with an impressive performance in Duluth, Minn., followed by a disappointing struggle in Boston, where she failed to qualify for the Olympics.
"You have bad days just like anywhere else; only with marathons having a bad day can be lots more costly," she said.
Hinkley's experience in Boston became manifest in an evolved training regiment - in addition to running 105-110 miles per week, careful diet, sensitivity to physical stress (proper rest, stretching and periodical icing), she attributed added prominence to her core.
"I definitely included a little more diligence in the weight room and I really focused on core exercises," she said. "As a result I noticed a significantly strengthened core, which resulted in faster miles and less fatigue."
The biggest battle for Hinkley, she said, is mental toughness.
"If you don't have it up there, you aren't going to take it anywhere," she said, quoting a line she said is frequently heard by her college athletes.
A 26-year-old, she is still a youngster by most standards. She said marathon runners usually peak from 29-30 years of age. Standing on an impressive record, she is setting her eyes on the bright road and many races that lie ahead.
Pasta for dinner, bagel for breakfast, she pumps her legs alternately likes pistons.
She breathes slowly, deep and as she does, her core tightens, taught as a bowstring. She senses that the grueling, uncounted hours of training will pay off.
Stretching, she pushes thoughts aside: her last race - a nightmare - 25 miles of gnawing, throbbing pain culminating in a disappointing finish in Boston last April.
With a strong will, she gathers her churning thoughts into focus; no amount of training can prepare a body the pain ahead.
She said it's 80 percent mental.
This was her fourth marathon, and she placed third.
Along with cascading showers of relief bordering on euphoria, a completed marathon is accompanied, inevitably, by intense physical trauma.
"The last thing I saw right before the starter pistol went off was all my track girls cheering me on," she said.
Hinkley said the anxiety leading up to a marathon can be pretty intense because each race takes about six months of training.
"You can really do only two a year," Hinkley said. "Your body needs a lot of time to recover. Breaks are every bit as vital as the actual training, so that makes each race really significant."
Hinkley qualified for the Olympic trials last year with an impressive performance in Duluth, Minn., followed by a disappointing struggle in Boston, where she failed to qualify for the Olympics.
"You have bad days just like anywhere else; only with marathons having a bad day can be lots more costly," she said.
Hinkley's experience in Boston became manifest in an evolved training regiment - in addition to running 105-110 miles per week, careful diet, sensitivity to physical stress (proper rest, stretching and periodical icing), she attributed added prominence to her core.
"I definitely included a little more diligence in the weight room and I really focused on core exercises," she said. "As a result I noticed a significantly strengthened core, which resulted in faster miles and less fatigue."
The biggest battle for Hinkley, she said, is mental toughness.
"If you don't have it up there, you aren't going to take it anywhere," she said, quoting a line she said is frequently heard by her college athletes.
A 26-year-old, she is still a youngster by most standards. She said marathon runners usually peak from 29-30 years of age. Standing on an impressive record, she is setting her eyes on the bright road and many races that lie ahead.
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