Feb
6
Predawn Profile – Madelyn Hribar
Alright, we might be stretching the definition here on what it takes to qualify for a Predawn Profile. As Maddy Hribar would be the first to confess, she’s not the earliest riser in the world. But her impressive marathon accomplishments in a short time frame and her sparkling personality made it well worth taking the time to get to know more about her. And I’m convinced that as life puts more boundaries on the time frames available for her running, her commitment to getting it done will driver her to the predawn.
Predawn Runner: With your kind of speed, please tell us you ran track in high school and / or college – if so, what were your events and what kind of results did you achieve?
Madelyn Hribar: I didn’t get into track until my junior year in high school, I played basketball, and soccer before that and I slowly transitioned over to Cross Country and track my junior and senior years. I got into track wanting to run hurdles, and ended up competing in the 2 mile, the mile, the 800 and the 4 x 8 relay. I had a good year my junior year but never ran any incredible times and senior year just struggled with my running in general. I went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and they are Division One in the Atlantic Ten league so they get a lot of really talented runners, I knew I couldn’t compete at that level, but never stopped running for fun.
PR: How did you then come to “carry on” with your running and ultimately begin doing marathons?
MH: I went through a couple of years in college that I didn’t race at all, I love to run and just didn’t really feel like I wanted the pressure of competing for a while, but then when the Pittsburgh Marathon came back to the city I knew it was something I wanted to train for, so I started racing in a lot of the smaller winter series races to get my long runs in.
PR: What has been your history with marathons – how many and which ones have you run, and how have your times progressed?
MH: My marathon history started the year I was born; my dad ran Boston a month after my birthday. My mom carried me around the course in a snuggly cheering for him and bringing him water etc so its always been something that I wanted to do, and when I started to train for Pittsburgh, which was my first marathon, I looked at the time I needed to qualify and though “I can do that” so I went for it and qualified with a 3:33. When I moved up to Massachusetts in May this past year, some of the guys in the office convinced me to run Baystate with them and I bettered my time by 10 minutes. Those are the only two real marathons I have under my belt, I did the Rhode Island 6 Hour Ultra with Brian R in November and that was totally different and something I really had fun doing. Boston will be my third marathon and then I’m going back to run Pittsburgh again a month after.
PR: Qualified for Boston in your first outing? That’s amazing! Which was your favorite marathon thus far?
MH: Pittsburgh was definitely my favorite of the two, I love the participation from the crowds and how they lift you up when you are struggling is just awesome. The Pittsburgh Marathon runs through all the major parts of the city and each area has so much energy. It poured through the entire race in 2010 and there were still people out all over the course cheering you on.
PR: Had to be special running it in your hometown too; I found the same thing at Akron. What types of training plans have you used in preparing for your marathons? Any lessons you’ve learned from them that you’d care to share (what works for you, what doesn’t work)?
MH: I’m a Hal Higdon girl, I met him in Pittsburgh at the expo before the marathon and he is so down to earth and friendly. His Intermediate II program got me to the starting line in Pittsburgh and made the distance bearable, I liked the program so much because of the flexibility of it, you can essentially move the days around to fit your schedule. I used the same program for Baystate. I’m actually mixing things up for Boston and basing my training around a 12 week program designed by Higdon for Boston, but adding in some hill workouts and speed work, so we’ll see how it goes.
PR: Last year you moved to a new city – how has it been finding new routes and running partners and making the other adjustments you’ve needed to carry on with your passion?
MH: I think the hardest thing for me about moving was not knowing anyone in Massachusetts. I was super lucky in that my boss and one of the guys in the office are runners and they showed me some great loops to do on my lunch break. I found a gym, and fell in love with the Minute Man trail where Paul Revere rode through yelling, “the British are coming.” Being able to run and workout are a huge part of my life so I knew if I couldn’t find good places to run right away I would be miserable regardless of how the rest of my life in New England panned out. DailyMile has been a huge help too, there are tons of people from Boston and the surrounding areas who really helped me out with pointers on everything from where to look for housing to finding local races.
PR: What are your goals for 2011 and how are you modifying your training to meet those goals?
MH: If you’ve looked at my DM profile the Goals portion still says “Hmmmmm” next to it. But really I’m looking to better my marathon time at Boston, not entirely sure by how much haha but we’ll see as my training progresses. I’d also like to run a sub 20 5k, which I’ve never done in a race, but have done several times in training and I want to keep moving up in Ultra distances too. There’s a 50 miler I’m looking at in July and I’ll probably be back at the 6 Hour Rhode Island race again. So essentially my goals are to run everything from a 5k to a 50miler and PR in all of them haha. I guess that means I better get working and pray I don’t get hurt.
PR: Well, it seems you have added a bit of strength training and that should help you avoid getting hurt too. And lastly, what is your beef with the predawn? I mean, I know you “want to” get out there early, so what’s the issue with joining us (fool)hardy souls in the wee hours? I mean, even Jay Parker has come over to the dark side.
MH: I knew this was coming. I have no beef with the Predawn! I have nothing but the utmost respect for you nuts who run between the hours of 3 and 7. I just don’t have the kind of responsibilities that you all do. I have no kids to shuttle to practice or school, or daycare, I have no family to cook for or wonder when I’m coming home. Its just me and the dog and he doesn’t care if I stay at the gym after work, so I guess the main reason I work out after 5pm instead of before 5am is that I can and until there’s some reason that I cant I’m gonna keep hitting that snooze button. I do get up for 5:30 spinning sometimes, does that count ? J
