Flanagan discusses preparation for 2012 Olympic marathon

With less than 100 days remaining until the Olympic marathon in London, American entrant Shalane Flanagan of Marblehead is wondering where the time went.”It’s amazing how quickly it’s coming up,” Flanagan said last week. “When I qualified in January, there was so much time. Now you’ve got to make everything count.”The last time Flanagan represented her country in a Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at Beijing in 2008. The distance is certainly greater this time around, yet she will head to London with a strong marathon resume.Flanagan qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by winning the women’s trials in Houston in January, setting a course record of 2:25.38.”Winning is always very nice,” Flanagan said. “It’s always special to say you won a marathon. It’s a dream, a huge goal. Making a third Olympic team is always special.”Flanagan continued her list of running events this year with the World’s Best 10K in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February. She finished sixth (32:20) in her second time running the race, and said, “I wasn’t incredibly fast.”Then, in March, she traveled to Portugal and won the Lisbon Half-Marathon, finishing in 1:08.52.”Lisbon was another great win,” she said. “I just hope to continue the trend. My health’s been good. That’s half the battle in marathon training.”Flanagan lives across the continent, in Portland, Oregon. Her training venues include the Nike campus.”I’m looking forward,” she said. “I keep training. I don’t want to get too cute, too fancy. (I want to) string together good workouts.”While she was out West (in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) on the day of the Boston Marathon, she did note the difficulties runners faced in Boston.”This spring was a tough one,” she said. “It was such a warm day.”When she heads to London, she will join a field of talented runners, quite a few of whom have already taken home honors in the UK. They include the Kenyan contingent, who went 1-2-3 in the London Marathon this year: winner Mary Keitany (her second win in London); Edna Kiplagat, who finished second but is the current world champion; and Priscah Jeptoo, the reigning worldwide silver medal-holder. They also include British “hometown favorite” Paula Radcliffe and the other two members of the American contingent: Desiree Davila, who finished second in the 2011 Boston Marathon; and Kara Goucher, who finished fifth in Boston that year.”I think everybody knows the Kenyans probably have the strongest team,” Flanagan said. “They have two women who finished under 2:20 in a marathon (Keitany and Kiplagat). They have incredible depth.”However, she added, “Anything can happen. The Ethopians, the Russians ? I think our American squad is incredibly tough.”Flanagan knows what it takes to achieve an Olympic medal, and is keeping her perspective.”That’s a special experience, to have an Olympic medal,” she said. “It’s so hard to come by. It’s its own special entity by itself. I don’t have any added pressure to attain another.”Yet, she said, “It’s the ultimate high as an athlete, to achieve a goal as that. I know I could have my best day and not have a medal. I’m very focused on getting the most out of myself.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].