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QandA with Alana Hadley, HS marathoner - 2014 DyeStat

Published by
DyeStat.com   Apr 14th 2014, 3:45pm
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Alana Hadley gearing up for Grandma's Marathon


By Chris Lotsbom, Dyestat.com



April 14, 2014 -- While a number of the best high school track and field athletes were in California this past weekend for the Arcadia Invitational, Alana Hadley was racing 13.1 miles in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 17-year-old junior at Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte has chosen to specialize and focus on the marathon, getting ready for the 38th Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota on June 21. On Saturday, she won the Charlotte Racefest Half Marathon in 1:22:10, earning a $300 first-place prize.



Hadley has already achieved the Olympic Trials Marathon 'B' Standard thanks to her 2:41:58, fourth place finish at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon last year. That mark serves at motivation going forward. 



(In case you missed it, check out our feature story on Alana from September of last year here:



Now in the thick of marathon training, Hadley answered a few of Dyestat's questions, giving an update on where she is at training wise.




DYESTAT: How has marathon training been? From your posts on Facebook, it looks like things are going pretty smooth. What has your mileage been around? 



ALANA HADLEY: Training has been going really well right now, each workout has been getting better and better, but I am still early in the cycle, 10 weeks left to the marathon. My mileage is now back to around 100 miles a week. My longest run so far this training cycle was a 22 miler I did just last weekend. Later in the cycle it will grow to 110 miles per week and 24 mile long run. 



DYESTAT: What is your favorite marathon workout? 



ALANA HADLEY: That is a tough one; I’d have to say my 12 x 600 meter speed workout or my tempo long run combination workout where I go 18 miles with the middle 10 mile at marathon pace. Total opposites in the spectrum but I love both of them. 



DYESTAT: What are your goals at the Grandma's Marathon now that you've got the Olympic Trials standard? Are you aiming for a certain time? 



ALANA HADLEY: My goal is get under 2:40. I would love to get close to getting an A standard now that I have the B standard however my main goal is a new PR to take off some time from my Indianapolis Marathon time. I want to go high 2:30’s at Grandma’s and then mid 2:30’s and the “A” standard this fall. Then continue to take time off in small chunks (2-3 minutes at a time) in 2015 leading up to the Trials in February 2016.




DYESTAT: Why did you choose the Grandma's Marathon in particular? They traditionally have strong and fast fields - was that a draw for you? 



ALANA HADLEY: I chose Grandma’s for many reasons. One was that the timing of Grandma’s worked really well. The course there is also really nice, plus for being a later marathon the weather is normally not that bad as it’s typically in the 50s, which for June is nice. I was also drawn to Grandma’s because of the strong competition as I want to have a strong field to race in to help me get into a good race and hopefully produce a faster time. 




DYESTAT: Will you be watching the Boston and London Marathons? Any predictions? [Note: The Interview was conducted before Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon]



ALANA HADLEY: No, I unfortunately will not watch Boston as it is on a Monday morning and I will be at school. Such a bummer! I am excited though to watch the London Marathon. I don’t have any predictions for either but can’t wait to see how Mo Farah does in his debut, and am so excited to see how Shalane and Desi do! Really cheering hard for an American Woman victory! 



DYESTAT: Beyond the Grandma's Marathon, do you plan on doing any road races this summer? 



ALANA HADLEY: I currently don’t have any definite race plans past Grandma’s. I will most likely do a solid training cycle during the rest of summer that includes some races at distance between 5k and half marathon before gearing up for a fall marathon. 



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