Jenna Shoemaker rolls forward
Jenna Shoemaker is a triathlete on the verge, and lately she has been living on the knife edge of the best of Charles Dickens’ opening lines: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Trailing her brother Jarrod into the sport, Jenna watched his rapid rise from NCAA cross country and track success at Dartmouth to triathlon stardom. As she gradually shifted from swimming to cycling and then to the triathlon while at Harvard, watching her brother’s ITU Under 23 World Championship gold and Olympic starting berth inspired and motivated her to take the sport seriously.
Without Jarrod’s high-powered running background, she pushed hard to play catch up on the run and solidify her strengths on the swim and bike. After her graduation with a degree in psychology, she started to train with Siri Lindley, and then joined Australian Darren Smith’s high-powered squad of women including Lisa Norden, Daniela Ryf, and now including the likes of Sarah Groff (only joined this year – followed Shoemaker there), and 2010 Chilean sensation Barbara Riveros Diaz.
Starting last year, that dedication started to pay off in tangible results with a win at the lower-echelon Mazatlan ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup, a second place to Mary Beth Ellis at the Oklahoma PATCO Pan American Championships, a strong 5th at the Chicago Triathlon and a second place at the USA Triathlon Elite National Championship in Tuscaloosa.
In the same year, she was knocked cold and suffered a concussion when she crashed on the bike at the Dextro Energy World Championship Series event in Washington DC. In big ITU World Cups and World Championship series events she was struggling to crack the top 10 – a 14th at the Mooloolaba World Cup, a 24th at Hamburg and a 32nd at London WCS races. All the while she was fighting a painful hamstring-glute problem and trying to stick with the ambitious training regimen followed by already successful ITU stars Lisa Norden and Daniela Ryf.
This year, while sensing her place in the Darren Smith squad was ebbing, she survived a painful training crash on the bike in February and, healthier than she had been in a year, had an excellent training block in Australia leading up to the Dextro Energy World Championship Series season opener in Sydney. While her 23rd place at Sydney and 9th place at the Monterrey Mexico World Cup were disappointing, she felt encouraged and stronger than ever.
That strength became a crucial bulwark when she got the bad news from Smith – she was let go from the training squad. She then flew to California, looking for a new coach and any good signs that her dreams could still come true. The good news following the bad news was Shoemaker’s impressive second place finish at the classic Escape from Alcatraz triathlon May 2 – just 13 seconds behind two-time previous winner and 2002 ITU World Champion Leanda Cave and ahead of defending champion Mary Beth Ellis.
Buoyed by her recent accomplishment, Jenna Shoemaker has gathered herself. She has renewed her natural optimism and determination, was philosophical about the inevitable ups and downs of a professional triathlon career, and expressed gratitude for her time with Smith and his squad.
Slowtwitch: What led up to your great race at Alcatraz?
Jenna Shoemaker: At Sydney I didn’t have a great swim but we bunched up all together on the bike and I was in the lead group to start the run. I ended up finished 23rd but I was running with Anja Dittmer and Nicky Samuels of New Zealand and that was the first time I was actually running even with excellent runners. So I grew in confidence.
In Mexico I was ranked number one in the field but my swim was terrible. I came out in the second pack, we struggled on the bike to make up time and I took it out very hard and ran with Carole Peon of France, and Ai Ueda from Japan and ended up finishing in 9th. I was disappointed. But I knew I was in good shape.
ST: Escape is a classic test with a non drafting format. Were you looking forward to it?
Jenna: I had only raced Alcatraz once before in 2008 and was 7th, so I was looking forward to get back out there and tackle that tough course.
ST: The race had a good field, but two former champions looked to be the women to beat.
Jenna: When I came out of the water I knew I was running with Leanda [Cave] and Mary Beth [Ellis]. At T1, I had a little trouble getting out of my wetsuit and when I got up to speed Mary Beth was already 50m up the road. Leanda and I worked together (as much as was legally possible) and kept MB in our sights. Leanda took the descents faster, she knows the roads better, and I was a bit more hesitant, but I made up the time easily on the uphills.
ST: What was your main concern in this race?
Jenna: Because the race was a month earlier than normal, not only was the water cooler, but the air temperature was cooler as well. On cooler days, it is easy to forget to eat and drink enough because you don't feel the sweat loss the same way. I knew I need to be smart, and I knew it would be important to take on fluids heading into the hard run, so I really tried to concentrate on that while trying to expend the least amount of energy possible on the bike. When we caught Mary Beth, I hung back and didn't immediately make my presence known. I was just really trying to stay relaxed, not get too excited and prepare for the hard run ahead.
ST: Were you concerned with pacing on the run?
Jenna: I was the first out of T2 and I settled into a rhythm as quick as I could. My legs did not feel particularly wonderful. They kind of felt like heavy buckets of Jello and I was just hoping that they would come right. About the one mile mark Leanda caught and passed me and put about a 20 seconds on me. At that point, I wasn't prepared to try to go with her, so I just tried to keep her in sight, in "striking distance". That course is tricky because it has flats going out for the first two miles but then it is largely up and down hills and stairs until 3 miles left to go. I didn't want to leave it all in the first 2-3 miles trying to stay with her, especially with my body feeling the way it did. I thought I’d go out more conservatively and bring it home at end. Let her gap me but keep her in sight.
ST: How did that play out?
Jenna: Through the middle of the run, I had people telling me 20 seconds, 30 seconds. So I had an idea where she was. I was expecting Mary Beth to come charging through, but when I got to Baker Beach I got an idea how far ahead Leanda was and how much of a lead I had on Mary Beth. As it turns out, I had what I guessed to be about 2 minutes on Mary Beth and at that point and felt I could stop worrying about her catching me and focus on cutting down Leanda’s lead.
As I hit the flats 2 miles from the finish – I saw Leanda ahead and I was told the gap was 42 seconds. Instead of negatively framing it, I said to myself: “Here we go. It’s time to go get her.” On that last long flat stretch I could see her the whole way, I lifted my cadence and I started pushing to close the gap. At the end, it was 13 seconds. I am pretty happy with how I ran those last two miles.
ST: How did you feel about the way you finished?
Jenna: To close like that is always a good thing. Especially since I’ll be working so hard on my running the next two years. This was a sign that I’m become a stronger and more confident runner. But it was not good enough. I did not win. Almost perfect is not the answer. So that’s what keeps you going forward and makes you continue to improve.
ST: How will you play off this success?
Jenna: Actually I am now in transition. I do not have a coach currently and I’m trying to figure out what direction to go. I will race Madrid the week before Hy-Vee and that will be a back-to-back situation. I have raced back to back in the past and had solid results, but sometimes the travel can be hard, and your body won't respond, so you never know. At this point, winning Hy-Vee is not on my mind. Olympics points start June 1, and after that every race matters for the next two years, so I'm just hoping to continue laying down good results to work towards 2012 qualification.
THE SHOCK
ST: Were you surprised when you were let go from the Darren Smith group?
Jenna: Darren had kind of warned me that it might happen 5-6 weeks before Sydney — that I was on my last legs in our group. It was hard to hear. I just didn’t quite understand why. I put my head down and tried to get everything I could out of my last few weeks in Australia. In reality, he’d made up his mind at that point, but with only a few weeks left until Sydney, it did not make sense to send me home then. I am grateful for that, because I had a really good block of training and it set me up well for the start of the year.
ST: In retrospect, what do you think happened?
Jenna: I think it was about personalities and I guess he didn’t feel I was the right fit for the group any more. To be honest, it is hard to talk about it. It is definitely his group to run as he wants to run it. I did what was asked of me, but, at times, I guess that was not enough. Really, I think in many ways once I get this whole coaching thing sorted out, it will be a blessing and I will be able to move forward and continue to grow in the sport.
ST: Was it encouraging to see Daniela Ryf come on and win Seoul after she departed Darren Smith’s group?
Jenna: Yes. That is her first WCS win and was a fantastic race for her. I am so glad to see Daniela have success. And of course it is reassuring to see you can find a different coach and a different path that still works. It was very important for me to realize, whether I win a gold medal some day, or whatever the pinnacle of my career turns out to be, that it won’t be worth it if I am not happy getting there. I need a support network and people who believe in me and want to be a part of that journey with me. Now that I am building that team for myself and having distanced myself from the group, I recognize the opportunities moving on can offer me.
ST: How are you approaching your quest to improve and your search for a new coach?
Jenna: I hope this will be the last big coaching change before London. There are a lot of factors to weigh. There are certainly a lot of really good coaches out there. But, I have to find the best coach for me, which is not proving to be that easy. I think, it’s actually worse than trying to find somebody to date. I know I need to be really picky, so I have set my standards really really high!
ST: Where are you based now?
Jenna: When I left Australia, I came back to Santa Monica and my “California family" took me back in. I lived with them a few years ago when I came here to train with Siri Lindley. I live in their study (and sleep on an air mattress!). For all intents and purposes they are my second family. Susan and Stewart Given opened up their home to me, clearing out space for all of my various equipment, and they have opened up their hearts to me as well, taking care of me and giving me a lot of support. They are part of the triathlon community, not super serious, but they do spin classes and masters swim classes, at the TriFit Club, here regularly. They both raced Ironman Florida a few years back. It's nice to have a family out here since I can't make it home to Boston to see my mom and siblings often enough.
WHAT SHE GOT FROM HER TIME WITH SMITH
ST: What made you seek out this coach in Australia?
Jenna: I was looking for a change. I looked at the options and saw how Darren had taken Lisa Norden from a good athlete and seemingly overnight he brought her up to this world class competitor. He did the same with Daniela. I realized he might be exactly what I was looking for. I knew I needed to be in that sort of environment and so I sought him out. I had to bang on the door for a little while to get him to let me in. I'm really glad he finally did.
ST: Where did you start to realize you were becoming a tougher, better athlete?
Jenna: It happened the day I packed up my life and moved to Australia. That decision to take the sport seriously, to see how far I really could go, was career changing for me. Since then, there have been plenty of ups and downs, but I think the steady improvement speaks for itself. There are no miracles, just hard work.
ST: Where did you stand in your life at that point?
Jenna: I had been flailing around and had not capitalized on any of my strengths. I didn’t know how to train and didn’t know what it meant to train to be world class. He taught me that the sport is a lifestyle – that it is everything including workouts, recovery, diet, mental preparation. And that it really does require complete dedication and very narrow focus. Obviously, being surrounded by some of the best triathletes in the world provides you great examples to feed off of and the setup was a way to free myself from distractions and do what was necessary day in and day out.
ST: What were you like before you joined Darren’s squad?
Jenna: Before I joined the group I was not very confident in who I was and in my abilities. When I would get to the start line, I was not even sure if I could get through the swim. I was not prepared mentally. I was all over the place and I had no coping mechanisms. Now, when things do not go well, I know how to handle it. Basically, I was a very raw athlete with some sort of an athletic gift and a lot of desire. I was still struggling at that point to find my own identity as well.
ST: What did that experience do for you?
Jenna: For me there were certainly a lot of benefits. It put me in a position today that if I keep moving forward I will have a legitimate chance to make the 2012 Olympics. But, I still have quite a long way to go. It will not be easy.
ST: How would you rate Darren Smith on knowing when to let off before you got injured or sick from overtraining?
Jenna: He is a really tough coach, but he is very smart. He has worked with a lot of athletes and created a lot of champions. It is part of his philosophy to lead the team to train even when you are completely smashed and think there is nothing left. But in cases where your heart rate numbers are up and your glands are swollen, he is not stupid. He will order you to take the day off. To miss one workout is a heck of a lot better than missing a week due to sickness and injury. But just being tired is not enough to get out of the workout. Pushing in training is good preparation for race situations when you are not feeling the best.
ST: So how did that approach work with you?
Jenna: He was not going to take any of my crap, which is exactly what I needed. He let all of us know this is how hard you have to train to make it. It is not like any other sport. You are training for three sports at once. So you are almost always tired. He taught me not be afraid of being tired.
RELATING TO HER TALENTED BROTHER
ST: Did your brother’s success when you were just starting out make that process of becoming the best you can be a little harder?
Jenna: What he needed and the path he took to go to Beijing in 2008 is very different from the course I have charted. Along the way, I found out I needed to accept that we are two very different people.
ST: So what are your biggest differences with your brother?
Jenna: From childhood through college Jarrod focused on running. I spent lot of time swimming. I joke with my mother [Mae, who has done 20 consecutive Boston Marathons] that I wish she had given me all the same genetic gifts to run as well. I actually think if I focus on my run, I will prove that the apple does not fall too far from the tree — stay tuned!
ST: How did you react to Jarrod’s making the 2008 Olympic team?
Jenna: I was psyched and so proud of him. I have always been his biggest cheerleader. When he won under 23 Worlds, I knocked over several Japanese people to get to the finish line so I could give him a hug. I was absolutely thrilled for him. During the whole Olympics process, he caught a lot of heat with people saying that he didn't belong on the team. I am really proud of the way he handled things. That was inspiring and motivating to me. Going to Beijing and cheering for him motivated me and focused me for 2012. I want to be on the start line in London (hopefully with him). I want to be on the pontoon in red white and blue – and that experience, watching the races in Beijing, gave me an extra kick in butt to go after it.
ST: What is different in your temperaments?
Jenna: He is a homebody and seeks comfort out of familiar surroundings and the network that he carefully builds there. He was never quite as adventurous and was never the first to try things. I’ve always been the adventurous one. I think I needed to go halfway around the world to find myself. I wasn't scared of uprooting my life and throwing myself into a completely new environment. I needed the discipline and the camaraderie of the training squad. He tends to be more of a loner, and rarely trains with too many other people, although I think he has more training partners now. He knows what he needs and likes to be more in control where I needed to let someone else be in control.
ST:Is there a difference in your run capability? Has he talked to you about running?
Jenna: Jarrod has years of running behind him and spent time with great coaches in college. He is willing to talk running with me, but I’m hesitant to go too much into it. It’s a tough balance. He is obviously willing to offer advice and he offered to coach me, but I thought that was probably not in either of our best interests. CHUCKLES. Better not go there at this point. I do talk to him about things and some of my ideas, what I’m thinking about workouts and all of that. We support each other and get excited for each other, but he has his own stuff to focus on so I think it's better if we keep our training pretty separate.
ST: : Where are you starting from on your run now? What is your 10k PR?
Jenna: Last year I’d say my best run was 36:40. Right now, realistically, I know I need to cut at least 2 minutes off my 10k time. I recognize that I have a good bit of work to do there. I am in the process of building my team and am trying to put together a network that can help take me the rest of the way. I know I need to change my training to get under 34 minutes come London in 2012, so right now, that's the big challenge for me.
