Chance to put her best feet forward
Gracey continues on comeback trail after break for injuries and childbirth
Sunday’s race will be a lot of things for Neely Spence Gracey.
It’s an opportunity for her to compete in the Chevron Houston Marathon for the first time, a step toward qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, and a chance to re-establish her form after a competitive hiatus that featured several injuries and the birth of her son.
More than any of that, it’s a chance to have fun racing again.
“I feel like this is such a cool atmosphere and I’m just grateful that I have a chance to try and run fast,” Gracey said. “For me, it’s just about that joy and doing what I want to do, and that’s why I’m here now.”
Gracey was an eight-time NCAA Division II champion at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She progressed from 5,000 meters to the half-marathon and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the marathon, although a right foot injury forced her to sit out. Later that year, she finished as the top American at the Boston Marathon.
“Things were starting off really well with my marathon career. I really loved the transition to the longer distances,” she said. “I ran New York that fall and I ran a personal record (2:34:55). I was eighth, so moved up a spot and I was really happy. Things were going in the direction I wanted them to go.”
The following year, while training for a 2017 reappearance in the New York City Marathon, she injured her left foot, which forced her into another break.
Gracey and her husband, Dillon — a former assistant coach for the University of Houston’s track team — had considered starting a family in 2016, but the timing didn’t feel right. She was enjoying her nascent marathon career and she’d just signed a contract with Adidas.
But the forced break allowed them to reconsider.
“There’s always another race, there’s always something to be training for, when can I take this break?” she thought.
“Technically, at any point, (Adidas) could have said, ‘You haven’t raced for a year, so we don’t have to pay you anymore.’ Fortunately, they’ve been behind me the whole way, so I’ve been so grateful to them, because that’s not the norm in our industry.”
Gracey quickly learned that she needed to adjust her training regimen after she became pregnant. She also contended with a looming anxiety over how that training was affecting her unborn child.
“I started feeling terrible running before I even knew that I was pregnant,” said Gracey, adding that she ran slower and felt more exhausted.
“I was doing super-reduced mileage, so maybe 30 miles a week versus 100.”
Lower back pain ultimately put an end to her running 18 weeks into her pregnancy. Her son Athens was born that July. She resumed running six weeks later.
“It took me over a month to get to a full (20-minute) run where I didn’t take walk breaks,” she said.
By April 2019, Gracey felt fit enough to handle more intense sessions, but a hip injury and hormone imbalances disrupted her training again. She questioned whether she could return to competitive running.
But by fall, she felt better. “A couple decent runs” in November produced the motivation to pursue a marathon, and a shot at Olympic Trials qualification in early December.
Typically, her marathon preparation started four months before a race and included half-marathons and shorter runs to help measure her fitness. She ran 8090 miles each week and workouts grew progressively more difficult.
But with the quick turnaround, Gracey only started preparing for the Houston Marathon six weeks ago. Her workouts were shorter. She didn’t do two-a-days and she never ran more than 74 miles in a week.
But her return was never about ego or accolades.
Athens will be in attendance to see his mom’s first race and she’ll be competing against herself more than any other runner.
“I have big goals, but I know right now they aren’t realistic,” Gracey said. “But I can win for me, with where I’m at right now.”