03/31/2007
After struggling with a lower leg problem that turned out to be a stress fracture for the second half o 2006, Bernadette Hayburn set her goals for 2007 as rebuilding her endurance, staying healthy, and trying to set some new PRs at shorter races - she has accomplised all three just over a week into the spring season.
Before coming to 2L Coaching, Bernadette practiced regularly with a local running club, but seemed to go through a cycle of overtraining and injury regularly. Even after starting to work with coach Lowell Ladd, she struggled to get away from the overly ambitious group workouts, and fell victim to overtraining. But through a determined cross training routine, and patient buildup of mileage over the winter, she was able to get fit and ready to start racing this spring with a goal of breaking 20:00 for the 5K (her PR was 20:53).
After getting her first planned race cancelled because of a late season snowstorm, Bernadette entered the City Six 5K in Philadelphia on March 31st. Her workouts, both intervals and tempo runs, indicated that she was ready to both run a personal best, and break the twenty minute barrier. But neither she nor her coach realized how big her breakthrough would be.
Running as the first woman from the gun, Bernadette ran a huge PR of 19:16 and indicated that she needs to come up with some new more ambitious goals quickly. As long as she sticks with the plan as laid out by coach Ladd, there are surely more exciting race results in store for Bernadette in 2007.