LEWY BOULET CONFIDENT FOR LONDON DEBUT

By David Monti

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

LONDON (16-Apr) -- At the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon, Magdalena Lewy Boulet finally broke through.  The 37 year-old Olympian from Oakland, Calif., came into that race with a respectable 2:30:19 personal best, but knew she could run much faster.  Starting conservatively, she glided through the first half in 1:13:54, then accelerated and covered the second half in 1:12:28: a classic negative split.  Her finish time of 2:26:22 was good for second place, and that mark made her the fifth-fastest American of all-time.

But Lewy Boulet didn't come to the British capital to rest on her laurels.

"I'm chasing the sub-2:25," she said in an interview where she was joined by her husband Richie, a former miler.  "I'm trying to PR."

That was also her goal at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last October.  Turning down an opportunity to run at the USA Championships race at the ING New York City Marathon, she poured herself into her training to run fast on Chicago's flat course.  Her seventh place finish in 2:28:44 was solid, but she was less than satisfied.

"I felt like I'm going into Chicago, I was fit for a PR last year from what I ran in Rotterdam," she explained.  "And, it just didn't happen.  Training went really well prior to Chicago, and it's not that I had a horrible race, but I just didn't reach my goal.  So, I'm chasing it, and that's why I'm here."

Lewy Boulet, who has a five year-old son, Owen, has blossomed as she has aged.  She finished a surprise second at the 2008 USA Olympic Marathon Trials to make her first Olympic team, and has been a consistent performer on the USA road running circuit.  She won her first national road running title in 2009 at age 35 when she placed first at the Armaco Houston Half-Marathon, and also won the USA 20-K title last year in New Haven.  She also discovered a love for cross country, finishing 18th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships last March and winning a team bronze medal.  That race really helped keep her motivated to train even harder for London.

"Very, very motivating," she said of her World Cross race.  "Again, it's pretty inspirational to be on a really strong team.  We had our goal set pretty high; we were hoping for second."  She added: "I love to race.  I love cross country."

Lewy Boulet logged most of her miles for London with various teammates of the Bay Area Track Club.  For her longer runs --her longest was 28 miles (45 km)-- runners took turns joining her.  Hers was a solid build-up.

"It went great," she said of the training.  "I feel like I've been healthy for a while now.  I haven't really had any major injuries pretty much since Chicago."

In tomorrow's race, Lewy Boulet will let the designated pacemakers go.  Two pacing groups have been organized, the first for 70 minutes at half-way and the second for 71.  That's too fast for Lewy Boulet, who prefers a more conservative first half.

"Number one priority for me is to run a time," she said.  "Definitely I'm shooting for a PR, so I would like to be under control for the first half.  I would like to negative split if all possible.  Go out pretty reasonable in the first half and see if I can turn it over in the final stages of the race."

Although son Owen is with Lewy Boulet's parents in San Diego ("on beach holiday," she joked), husband Richie will be getting around the course by Underground to cheer for his wife.  He forms a one-man support crew this weekend.

"My job is kind of Magda's state of mind," said Boulet.  "Just make sure she's happy, she has everything she needs, and always try to make sure she hears a familiar voice out on the course."