Interview with A Champion – Christina Doherty
When it comes to fitness, Christina Doherty is no slouch. Christina is a member of Team Eugene, coached by Matt Lonergan. On the women’s side of her team, aside from 2-time Olympian Marla Runyan, she has the fastest times in the 8K, 10K, 4 Mile Road, 10,000m, 5,000m, 3,000m, and Mile races. After experiencing physical burnout from overtraining in the fall of 2005, Christina started Pilates to help her recover. Since January 2006, she has broken personal records four times. She placed 7th in the 2006 USA Indoor Championships for the 3000 meter. Most recently, on March 31st at the Stanford Invitational, she shaved 1 minute and 20 seconds off her 10,000m personal best for a time of 33:53:62, qualifying her for the 2006 USA National Championship. Christina partly attributes the gains she has made this year to her Pilates training at reFORM.
reFORM Pilates had the privilege of interviewing her in the midst of her hectic training and racing schedule.
Here’s what she had to say:
RP: How did you start Track and Field?
CD: Prior to high school I played soccer for 8 years. Some of my teammates invited me to a local road race. Thanks to all the running in soccer, I had pretty good endurance, and did well. My freshman year of high school, my parents encouraged me to choose between soccer or cross-country & track and field. My dad hinted there was less physical risk running versus aggressive high school soccer. So I took his advice and joined the cross-country and track team.
RP: What brought you to reFORM Pilates?
CD: In July my husband and I moved to Portland from Connecticut so I could work with a coach in Eugene, Matt Lonergan, and for my husband to take a great job with Intel Corp. Once here, I started training for the October US Marathon Trials. My coach and I were aggressive with training. It was a whole new level in volume and intensity. I worked up to running 85-90 miles/week. After 2 months, I became anemic and my body completely crashed. I had the textbook case of “overtraining.” Needless to say, I didn’t run the marathon championships and had to back off training until I recovered. I immediately decided, to focus my energy towards strengthening my body so when I could resume training, I would be able to handle the workload better. My core has always been incredibly weak and my flexibility poor. I knew Pilates was a great way to help improve both those weaknesses. I Googled Pilates studios in Portland and found reFORM. I emailed Jessica to get her input on how Pilates could help my running and if I should pursue Pilates or Yoga. Jessica responded promptly, answered my questions and thoroughly explained the benefits of Pilates as well as Yoga. I was really impressed and signed up for my first session.
RP: How does Pilates fit into your routine?
CD: I come to reFORM twice a week. I wish I could come more often. I plan my sessions around races, hard workouts, and recovery. The instructors are fantastic with working with me/tailoring the sessions pending where I am in my training. They helped me identify my weaker areas and challenge me to work hard to get stronger.
RP: What physical changes have you noticed since starting Pilates?
CD: My core has gotten much stronger, my posture has improved, and my flexibility is improving. The strength I have gained in my core and body as a whole from Pilates has translated into feeling much more powerful in my running. Pilates overlaps with running in a sense that there is endless progression, you have to challenge yourself to work hard and dig deep, body awareness, and work through the “burn”. It also takes dedication and consistency to continue to progress. Pilates compliments my training immensely.
Additionally, before I started Pilates, my core was so weak my hip flexors and other areas of my body had to compensate for the major core weakness. Therefore, I would fatigue faster, especially on hills and speed workouts. Now that I have been building up the core strength, as well as learning to release my hip flexors, I am feeling much stronger while running. Pilates has helped my confidence in running because my body feels stronger and powerful.
RP: What are your goals for the next year?
CD: To qualify for the USA National Championships, 2008 Olympic Trials, and represent the USA internationally.
RP: Anything to add?
CD: I am very thankful I have an extremely supportive husband, who works very hard so I can train full-time. He is my rock and without him and my family I wouldn’t be able to chase my goals.
Thanks, Christina!
We’ll be rooting for you!
