Summer is upon us and while most of us are outdoors and active these days, how many are running qualifying times for the World Championships to be held in South Korea late this August?
Well, that is precisely what Kara Goucher, proud spokeswoman for Nutrilite, exclusively from Amway did last week at the USA Track & Field Championships in Eugene.
Kara ran a solid second place behind Shalane Flanagan and qualified for the 10,000 meter event. She was really focused on making this qualification because despite already making the team as a marathoner, she wanted to be able to run a shorter race in the high heat and humidity of South Korea. Considering she is less than a year from having her first child, I can’t say that I blame her!
To read up on Kara’s performance, and in particular to see how she is one of the few who are focusing on both being an elite runner and a mom, check out these great articles:
As you know by now, Kara is fueled by Nutrilite and in particular, ROC2O, Endurance Cubes and Double X are helping drive her to success (among other great Nutrilite products)…
Good luck Kara! See you in Philly this September for the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon.
Last week I introduced Tom O’Rourke to you. Tom is a Masters Track Cyclist on his way to the World Championships in Sydney, Australia later this month. He’s agreed to guest blog for us and share stories and insight about his sport and training. Here is his first post (along with a short video clip).
Success in bike racing like anything else in life is in the preparation. Racing itself is the best training followed by specific improvement exercises. Gymnastics serves as a good example, many repetitions of the same moves.
Each event requires special skills and in cycling there are three major ones, acceleration, top speed and endurance. The 500 meter standing start race requires all three skills.Acceleration from a dead stop to top speed and then into endurance as top speed cannot be maintained for more than 200 meters. The last 300 meters requires endurance. At the end you have a near death experience, all within 40 seconds.A five mile warm-up ride is needed before the attempt.Two of these races in a day, and then a ten mile endurance ride after for recovery, and you’re exhausted. It's important to stretch, hydrate and replenish. My body recovers quickly using protein and electrolyte drinks within thirty minutes.
(If the video doesn't appear in your browser, click here.)
Next time we'll talk about endurance training and the use of our new endurance cubes, recovery products and proper hydration.Till then I'm off to the track.
Sanya Richards has played an important role in raising brand awareness for NUTRILITE, while serving as a world-class testimonial of our products and their benefits. She has been a wonderful advocate for our company and shares our common goal to help all customers achieve optimal health. Sanya has been a great member of Team Nutrilite and her presence and support is much appreciated.
Amway has spent a great amount of time evaluating our sponsorship and endorsement portfolio to maximize our resources to best support our IBOs in their businesses. To that end, Amway / NUTRILITE has decided not to renew our endorsement with Sanya Richards. Our focus for now will be to invest in our Rock-n-Roll Marathon Series sponsorships, and our relationships with soccer stars Marta and Ronaldinho, as well as our sponsorship of the San Jose Earthquakes, L.A. Sol and A.C. Milan.
We wish Sanya all the best in her quest to remain the world's best in the women's 400M and thank her for all of her energy and hard work in support of the Nutrilite brand.
Travel and illness have kept me from the blog for the past few weeks, but a lot has happened since we last spoke. Of course Jenn was a late scratch for Berlin due to a nagging Achilles injury (but you'll be able to catch her at the Rock-n-Roll Marathon in Virginia Beach in a few weeks), however our Sanya Richards delivered the goods.
Sanya scored gold and some personal redemption with a triumph in the women's 400 meters and then anchored the women's 4×400 team to the sixth best time in history.
For more on Sanya's feats, check out this story from USAToday.com
I just received word that Team Nutrilite's Jenn Stuczynski has had to scratch from the World Championships in Berlin. Jenn has been fighting a nagging Achilles injury for most of the outdoor season - an injury that nearly kept her out of the U.S. Outdoor Championships in June.
Despite numerous treatments, rest, etc. Jenn regrettably has to shelve her quest for World gold. While a disappointment to Jenn and her camp in the now, this will allow her to mend and come back stronger than ever in her quest to be the world's best female pole vaulter.
Here is an official statement from Jenn herself:
"Despite my focused efforts for the last five weeks to get 100% healthy, I made the decision on Sunday that I just can’t be ready in time to compete in Berlin. The doctors who are treating me say that my Achilles injury is not serious, but it just has not improved enough for me to vault next weekend. I think I just ran out of time. I’m disappointed I won’t get the opportunity to join Team USA in Germany."
Heal up soon, Jenn!
In the meantime, be sure to watch for Sanya Richards in her quest for that elusive individual World Championship in the women's 400 meters.
Since the last time I wrote, I competed at the USA National Champs in Eugene, Oregon. I won with a jump of 15' 3" (4.65m). Nationals is always a meet that I get VERY nervous for. This year, we were qualifying for the World Championships in Berlin in August so it was very important for me to place in the top 3. Also, the field size is always larger at Nationals and the wait time from my warm-up until I compete is about 1 1/2 hours longer than I am used to. However, this year I was a little banged up with an injured Achilles and hip flexor. I received a lot of physio treatment while I was in Eugene and everyone helped piece me back together long enough to get the job done (phew). I am very grateful to have won my 8th US Championship title.
Technically speaking, I have improved so much since indoor and even from my first couple of outdoor competitions. My speed times (measuring how fast I come down the runway) were very good at Nationals which is proof of the all-around gains I have made.With my speed, strength, and technical adjustments improving, I can’t wait to see how high I can go. All I need to do is get 100% healthy! That has been pretty frustrating for me but I am dealing with it day by day and trying to keep a positive attitude.
Although my outdoor 2009 season has had some setbacks, I have enjoyed the summer months here in western New York. I went home for July 4th and had an awesome time with my family. We went to the pier in Dunkirk where the fireworks display takes place. My entire family was there (parents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, nieces) and family friends. We sat in the same spot with the same families that we have sat with for over a decade. Some things never change and I love it!
I decided to re-do my bedroom since we haven’t been travelling this month…a task that sounded so much easier in my head! A friend taught me how to spackle, sand, and paint so I figured…how much work could it be? The first two were pretty easy but painting is an art. I always figured, dip the roller and go but now I know there is plenty more to it. There is taping off, edging, tackling corners that the roller can't get to, paint dripping to deal with…yeah, a lot more to it than I thought of! I painted the room a very light cream/rose color that turned out even better than I thought. I have all white dressers and the hues of my curtains, valence, and duvet cover all blend so well and look very pleasant. I am all girl! I love designing and redoing rooms but in the future I will definitely leave the painting to someone else!
Another tradition that I continued since I’ve stayed home this July was attending the Chautauqua County Fair. I told Rick he hasn’t lived until he has been to the Chautauqua County Fair so yesterday (Thursday) we packed up and headed to Fredonia for the night. The 4H barns are my favorite place. I must have petted more than 20 cows, a dozen pigs and a handful of sheep… but I never pet the roosters or chickens, I am afraid of them! I did allow myself one non-healthy type of carnival food…Cotton Candy. It is my absolute favorite but the hardest decision was to decide between the pink or the blue. I will let you guess what one I chose, it shouldn't be too hard
As for now, I am going to continue to stay focused on my efforts to get ready for the World Championships. I am continuing with adapted training around my injury and have been very disciplined with it. I appreciate all your support and am looking forward to competing again.
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Track & Field) are coming up soon. This year, the championships will be held in Berlin from August 15 – 23.
Team Nutrilite athletes Jenn Stuczynski (pole vault) and Sanya Richards (400m) will represent the USA and Nutrilite in attempts to be world champions.
Jenn vaults into action with the qualifying round on August 15 and the finals slated for August 17.
Sanya sprints into the championships with qualifying heats on the 15th, semi-finals on the 16th and finals on the 18th.
The conditions were a little less than ideal this past weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene, OR, but that didn't stop Team Nutrilite athletes Jenn Stuczynski and Sanya Richards from winning their respective events and making the U.S. National Team.
The U.S. National Outdoor Track & Field team will compete at the World Championships in Berlin from August 15 through August 23.
With the top time in the women's 400M, Sanya Richards headlines her team. Jenn bested a tough field and also headlines her team in the women's pole vault.
Here are some quotes from our winners this past weekend (credit to USATF.org):
Sanya Richards – Winner Women’s 400M
On her performance: “I don’t think this was one of my best races, just by looking at the time, but the wind has been tough at Hayward all week. I just wanted to run smart and make sure I brought it home to win. Now I’m ready to move on and focus on Berlin.”
On her goals this season: “I want to run fast. I haven’t run a 48 in two or three seasons, but my number one goal is still to win in Berlin.”
On what her experience has taught her: “I think I learned a lot from last season. I think sometimes I put a lot of pressure on myself at the big meets, and I just need to run relaxed.”
Jennifer Stuczynski – Winner Women’s Pole Vault
On winning the pole vault: “It was kind of a gutsy event. If it was Thursday, Friday or Saturday I would have pulled out. I have so many nagging injuries going on. Today I was able to compete. I am glad it worked out. Now it’s time to move on and get healthy.”
On the windy conditions: “It was just me being able to come down the runway. The wind had no play in it at all. Everything was clicking.”
Results from the 2008 IAAF World Indoor
Championships
JENN:
At the 2008 IAAF
World Indoor Championships in Valencia,
Spain
on March 8, 2008, Nutrilite-sponsored athlete Jenn Stuczynski brought home the silver medal in the women's pole vault with her clearance of 4.75 meters/15 feet 7 inches. Reigning Olympic and World
champion Yelena Isinbayeva won the competition at the same height, but with
zero misses, while Stuczynski had a miss at that height.
Congrats!!!! 4.75 meters indoors
is a personal best for Jenn!!!
LIU:
China's star hurdler and Nutrilite-sponsored athlete Liu Xiang
finished first to snatch the title in men's 60-meter hurdles. Liu finished in
7.46 seconds winning the gold medal, his first of such event, though he is the
world champion and world record holder in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles.
Liu’s biggest competition, Dayron
Robles, was surprisingly eliminated in the heats. Dayron who last month ran the
second fastest time ever of 7.33 seconds, was expected to give Liu a run for his
money but stayed in his blocks and stood up at the start of his heat as the gun
went, expecting a false start to be called. However, the judge did not call
back the race. Dayron made a vain effort to try to get back into his running
but finished last before leaving the track in tears.
So, I started off my morning by flipping through the September 2007 issue of Track & Field News magazine. I was pleasantly surprised to find that all four of our Nutrilite-sponsored athletes are featured with photographs in this month's issue!
A little tour of the publication:
pg. 37 – Jenn Stuczynski, American-Record Holder Pole Vault. Jenn's shown in the recap from the US Track & Field Championships, where she was "the very model of efficiency, needing only a single attempt to win."
pg. 41 – Liu Xiang, World-Record Holder 110-meter Hurdles. There's a full-page photo of Liu as a part of the article "Who's Going to Osaka?"
pg. 43 – Sanya Richards, American-Record Holder 400-meter sprint. This article, "Richards Bounces Back," recaps Sanya's performance at the Paris Golden League.
pg. 44 - Liu. A really cool picture of Liu as the crowd is cheering for him at the Lausanne Grand Prix.
pg. 45 – Asafa Powell, World-Record Holder 100-meter Sprint. This article, "Powell Back on Track," recaps Asafa's gold medal performance at the Rom Golden League.
I love this mag. Especially seeings how our Nutrilite athletes are consistently featured in it.
If you don't already get it, you may want to check out www.trackandfieldnews.com. The magazine is published 12 times a year, including an "Annual Edition," which wraps up the whole year in one spot with World Rankings and Top 40 Lists. One of the sweet perks to having a subscription is the free eTrack service you also get. It includes an eTrack Newsletter, an extensive results publication which is produced more than 40 times a year (weekly during the peak season) and sends all the latest results directly to your e-mail address. During the Olympics and World Championships, special daily reports are issued. (Something worth keeping in mind as the '08 Olympics near.)
