I don't know about you, but I sat in the stands looking forward to prize Villanova recruit Megan Venables competing against Aisling Cuffe, Haley Pierce, Waverly Neer, et al in the girls' 3000 on Thursday night. Injury robbed Megan and us of that spectacle in the New Balance Indoor Nationals 2 mile. A week or so prior to Penn Megan indicated that she was looking forward to the race so I was surprised when she was not on the line.
NJR talked to Megan about missing the race and where she is with her training and plans for the balance of the season and her high school career.
NJR: We expected to see you in the Penn Relays 3000, which turned out to be a heck of a race. Why did you not run?
MV: I didn't run Penn Relays because I wasn't in my best shape to compete with those girls yet. I'm getting there, but missing a month of training put me a little behind. I was there watching though, and it was a great race.
NJR: Was competing in the Penn 3000 a major goal?
MV: Competing in the Penn 3000 was actually a big goal for me until I was hurt. After I ran it last year without really preparing for it I knew I wanted to focus more on it this year. We were trying to take indoor a little easier and then start pushing the training for Penn. I was looking forward to it since the end of cross country, but things happen.
NJR: How is your injured foot? Are you completely healed?
MV: My foot is pain-free! I took off from running for a few weeks and did a lot of aquajogging, icing, and physical therapy. Taking off is torture but the foot has been good for a while now, so I am happy.
NJR: What are your plans for the balance of the season?
MV: For the rest of the season I'll be focusing on speed workouts. That's what I've been doing on so far since I've been back . I really want to break 5 minutes in the mile! After that I'll focus on the 3200 for states and meet of champs. I just want to finish the year like I started it in cross country.
NJR: When will you race again?
MV: I haven't raced much yet, but I actually have a race today (5/6) at the Rowan meet. After that, I'll be racing in the Camden County meet and the Conference meet.
NJR: How fit are you right now?
MV: Right now I think I am as fit as I was in the beginning of cross country. Based on the way I feel during my workouts I can tell that I'm not in amazing shape yet, but I feel like I'm getting faster. Once I can finish a hard workout feeling good I know I'm in good shape. But that hasn't happened yet.
NJR: You’ve raced Aisling Cuffe; how surprised were you to see that she was beaten?
MV: Aisling Cuffe is a great runner and works harder than anyone. She led the entire race and just didn't have enough foot speed at the end. But she fought the entire race and she still ran a great time.
NJR: So the state meets (sectionals/groups/MOC) are in your plans and you will be ready for them. How about the nationals?
MV: Unfortunately because of the snow days this year, graduation was pushed back to the same night as the 5000 at nationals. I wish I could go to nationals instead, but everybody is forcing me to go to graduation. I guess it's important. But I'm pretty disappointed. I'm not sure yet what I'm doing.