For a runner who’s been competing professionally for 13 years, the past 10 months of Shalane Flanagan’s career have been filled with a surprising number of firsts.
She and her husband, Steven Edwards, became first-time foster parents, to teenaged twin girls. Her first book was published, a New York Times bestseller called Run Fast, Eat Slow (published by Rodale, which owns Runner’s World). And then came her first big injury, a fracture in her iliac crest, which prompted her first withdrawal from a major marathon (Boston), followed by her first real vacation, to Hawaii, in seven years.
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On Thursday night in Sacramento, however, Flanagan, 35, is returning to a comfort zone of sorts. She’ll be competing at the U.S. outdoor championships in the 10,000 meters, with a goal of placing in the top three to make the team for the world championships in August in London. She had a test run just two weeks ago at a race in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, where she won the 10,000 meters in 31:38.68 and felt like her injury is finally healed.
“I feel physically fine. Nothing hurts, but I think it took a little more out of me because I’m also not super fit,” she said. “It’s always scary when you’re coming back from a major injury. Just to have that validation that I can still do this and I’m not completely hopeless here is a relief.”
Although she’s made every national team she’s tried out for since 2004, this one is not a given. The field includes Molly Huddle, the American record holder (30:13.17), and Emily Sisson, Huddle’s training partner in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as Flanagan’s Bowerman Track Club teammates Amy Cragg, who recently ran her best time of 31:17.20, and Emily Infeld, the 2015 world championships bronze medalist in the event.
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“I’m definitely winging it, but at the same time I do know that I have had so much training behind me—like 12 years of uninterrupted training,” she said. “While my last three weeks [of training] are nothing to write home about, I do have a lot of strength. My weak card is that I don’t feel very speedy right now…I’m trying not to set myself up for too high of expectations, because I really don’t know what I’m capable of.”
And while she had to take some time to “mourn the loss” of her goals for the 2017 Boston Marathon, she was able to focus on other aspects of life, most importantly her two foster daughters, Breauna and Keauna. They came to live with her and Edwards last August, as Flanagan was competing at the Rio Games, where she placed sixth in the marathon (which will likely be upgraded to fifth because Jemima Sumgong, the gold medalist, has since tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs).
During the spring the girls competed in track in the sprint distances, went to the prom, and graduated from high school. The family took a trip to Hawaii—and nobody was too eager to return home, Flanagan said.
“A lot of runners put family on the back burner and when this opportunity presented itself to take them in, I felt like we had to jump at it,” she said. “Overall it gives a lot more purpose to what I do, knowing that I have to not only be a role model in the running community, but within my own household. I think it was a calling and a need to have more purpose beyond just putting a lot of self worth in running.”
Learning how to parent teens on the fly hasn’t always been easy. Flanagan said there was an early “honeymoon” period in the beginning, but after the family settled in and got to know each other better, some of the challenges came.
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“I call my parents all the time and ask them if I’m doing a good job. I’m constantly looking for mentorship because I don’t want to mess up,” Flanagan said. “I’m naturally someone who is passionate and motivated—trying to extract motivation in young adults sometimes is challenging for me.”
The biggest realization she and Edwards have come to is attending activities, like track meets, is important. When Flanagan had to go to Italy to help with the broadcast of the Breaking2 Project, for example, it fell on prom weekend. She made sure to help them find dresses (which they rented online) and lined up friends to help them get ready for the big event.
“When that trip landed on their prom weekend, I was kind of devastated. I thought they wouldn’t care, but they actually were like, ‘No, we can’t believe you’re going to miss our prom!’” she said. “Steven did a great job, though. I’ve learned that just showing up is half the battle in parenthood.”
The girls are getting ready to attend Portland Community College in the fall and will also get part-time jobs. They’ll miss watching this week in Sacramento because of work, but their foster mom said she’s ready to compete. Flanagan feels like she made the most of her unplanned break.
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“It was really rejuvenating. I hadn’t taken a step back or a deep breath in my career at all. I’ve just been super driven to always get after the next thing,” she said. “This forced rest really made me appreciate everything else in my life. I actually really enjoyed it, and now I feel excited to train.”
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