Olympian Flanagan makes the most of her injury timeout
Faced with the first significant injury of her career, Shalane Flanagan didn’t know how she would fill her time.
Amazingly to her, it was easier than expected. With 10 weeks off from running, she took a vacation, spent time with her foster daughters, worked on her second cookbook and tried broadcasting events.
But now the four-time Olympian is back to racing and will run the New York City Marathon in November, her first race at that distance since the Rio Olympics.
Flanagan’s time off came after she broke the iliac crest in her lower back.
Like many athletes, Flanagan found the mental challenge of recovery more difficult than the physical one. She questioned whether, at 36, she’d get back to the level she was at.
“I don’t think there are a ton of women that have gone on to compete at this level at my age, at least in the U.S.,” she said. “So I’m kind of at unknown territory. I’m kind of always like, well, is this realistic to expect certain things of myself ? ... I think there’s definitely some doubt — do I still have what it takes mentally and physically to keep working at this?”
In her time off, she went on her first vacation in seven years, visiting Kauai with her husband, Steve Edwards, and foster daughters, Breauna and Keauna.
The couple took in the twin girls more than a year ago after a teammate of Flanagan’s emailed their Nike Bowerman Track Club team to see if someone could foster them during their senior year of high school.
Flanagan was training for Rio but forwarded the email to Edwards and said they should do it. He immediately agreed, and the teens moved in while Flanagan was in Rio.
She finished sixth and returned home, where she and Edwards learned to balance parenthood with training. Running was a common bond, although Flanagan jokes that the girls, both sprinters, think 200- and 400meter races are long.
Flanagan also worked on a sequel to Run Fast. Eat Slow., a bestselling cookbook that she wrote with Elyse Kopecky.
She knows she’ll face a challenging field, one that includes three-time defending champion Mary Keitany.
But in 2010, Flanagan finished second in New York with the Kenyan runner a spot behind her. She knows it’s possible, and she’s aiming for a great race with a shot to win and a place worthy of her work and fitness.
“I want that one last really special moment,” she said, “and I’m hoping I can achieve it soon because I just want one more big performance, and I feel like I have it within me. I just need the right stage and the right day to get it done.”