Caroline White goes from pole vault to Marathon!

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http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2011 ... white.html

A Brief Chat With Caroline White
November 9, 2011 12:40 am

By Hal Higdon

Photo provided by Capt. White

Captain Caroline White, an Olympic Trials qualifier and Air Force Academy graduate, trained for her first marathon using a program she found on the Internet – one by Runner’ s World contributing editor Hal Higdon, who interviews her below. White’s best marathon is a 2:37:32 at Boston last April.

With all of the training programs available in books and on the Internet, what prompted you to pick one of mine for your first marathon?
Caroline White: I chose your training program for several reasons. First, my close friend and fellow Air Force pilot, Mike Wetherbee, referred me to your Web site (halhigdon.com). Mike said your programs worked quite well for his marathons, and I wanted to replicate such success. Second, when I looked at the different options out there, your programs were the most widely trusted. And third, I liked the color scheme of your Web site, because it matched my Air Force blue.

How did you get involved in sports, particularly distance running? Did you compete in cross country or track in high school or college?
CW: I was a pole vaulter in high school and my early college career. In high school, my sister tried to get me involved in distance running. I walked onto the cross country team and earned my way to the State meet. At the time though, I wasn’t exactly passionate about running. When track season came around, pole vaulting seemed far more appealing than running endlessly. Once I picked up a pole and cleared the bar I concluded, in my infinite fourteen-year-old wisdom, that distance running was the Devil’s work and pole vaulting was far superior.

Common sense eventually prevailed.
CW: I did pole vault for the USAFA track team my freshman year, but after the spring season I earned my jump wings through the parachute program. The experience was once in a lifetime, and my retirement from Track was required to join the Jump Team. It was a great sacrifice; by graduation, I had survived 600 jumps, landed the American flag before an NCAA football game, and served as a jump-master for hundreds of cadet’s first jumps. A few months after graduation, Mike challenged me to a marathon. Parachuting was no longer an option, so I realized this could be my next big adventure, and more importantly, I couldn’t let Mike think he could outrun a girl!

But you’re more than a pole vaulter or parachutist or marathoner. You also have trained for and competed in Ironman triathlons. Did the marathon come first, or the Ironman?
CW: Once I committed to the marathon, and started your training program, I was immediately hooked. I loved the challenge, the healthy lifestyle it necessitated, and the idea of improving myself every day, mile by mile. Two months into your training program, I decided to try an Ironman. I was warned, by lots and lots of people, that it’s a pretty dumb idea to attempt an Ironman without any experience. But as my fiancé, Ben Gilliland, reminds me, I suffer from selective listening, and so I combined your marathon training concepts with other triathlon programs to prepare for Coeur D'Alene. There, I won my division at my first Ironman, and earned a spot at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. (where she placed 12th in her division.)

Then you finished your first marathon in 3:09: impressive, but not predictive of the 2:37 that would follow. What convinced you that your talents might best be focused on running versus swimming or cycling?
CW: It became very evident that running was not only my strength, but my passion. Doing the swim workouts became a grind, and I wasn’t very excited counting pool tiles for several hours. This was a stark contrast with the running portion of triathlons. I always looked forward to knocking out an 18-mile run. I also grew weary of the triathlon lifestyle; friends would ask me to join them on weekend escapes, but I was a slave to my bike and the pool. With running though, you do it anywhere, and it’s awesome to experience new places being propelled by your own two legs.

Did you go straight from 3:09 to 2:37, or were there some interim steps that got you to that fast time in Boston?
CW: After Kona, I wasn’t sure there was much else I wanted to accomplish in the tri sport. This is when I decided qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the marathon was my next calling. I suspected I had the potential, but needed some serious wisdom and knowledgeable experience, neither of which I had. I desired a coach who had worked with elite athletes and knew how to get them to the elite level.

This was the point where you realized that programs downloaded from the Internet could only get you so far. (I don't disagree.) Tell me about your current coach, Randy Ashley. How did you hook up with him?
CW: I heard about the organization ZAP fitness, located in Blowing Rock, NC. It’s similar to the Hansons-Brooks distance project, housing and training a small group of elite athletes. Being active duty in the Air Force, I could not live in North Carolina, but I contacted them, explained my athletic experience and goals, and they set me up with Randy, who agreed to coach me from afar. And it has worked out great; I have moved four times in the past two years, but still have the consistency from one coach, who really knows me and knows his stuff.

You now train in Colorado Springs, just down the road from your alma mater, the Air Force Academy. What are some of the advantages?
CW: The advantages are exhaustive. Being in Colorado leads me to wonder: How did I ever qualify for the Trials given my former lifestyle? Boston training was comprised of running in a small town in the Texas flatlands, getting up at 4:00 in the morning before a day of flying. During most of the summer, I was running in 90-plus heat. Not optimal. I hope I don’t offend my Texas friends, but Colorado is phenomenal in every aspect: training partners, nutrition, massages, weather, altitude, terrain, and general running culture. I don’t get flicked off, cussed at, and people don’t pull over asking me if my car broke down, or “Girl, what in the world are you doing?”

Among your varied accomplishments, you were selected to participate in F-15 training at Kingsley Field, Oregon, the first female to do so. Can you contrast the experience of flying at 1000 mph vs. 10 mph in the marathon?
CW: Flying the F-15 is literally like interval training; very intense. It even strains your cardiovascular system. Pulling Gs in a fast jet is like running 800s; I’ll be exhausted at the end of each engagement. Thank goodness for the track training! I don’t understand why more fighter pilots don’t train like marathoners.

As good as 2:37 seems, that's still 10-15 minutes off the time it will take to both make the U.S. Olympic Team in the marathon, or run well in London. What are your goals for 2012 and beyond?
CW: In the upcoming Trials, I hope to finish in the top 25. I’d like to believe with some certainty that I could qualify for the 2012 Olympics, but I need to take a realistic look at the progress I’ve made in one Olympic cycle. I went from nothing to a 2:37.
However, I am inspired by two factors; I’ve been running competitively for only a few years, and have another decade before I reach peak competition age. I believe lacing up my shoes and bearing the American flag is a serious possibility in 2016 or 2020. And if it doesn't happen, I won’t necessarily feel like a failure. For me, running is about the transformation deep within yourself. I intend to wake up each day yearning to develop myself and to change the world. Having the goal of making the Olympic team is just my current way of achieving that.

(If you would like to read more about Caroline White's running, flying, and life ventures visit http://www.facebook.com/CarolineWhiteRunner)