Photo By Douglas Stutz | How does one compete in a marathon? One mile at a time -Gina Slaby, a Navy lieutenant...... read more read more
BREMERTON, Wash. - There is one day that takes place once every four years when the best of the best toe the line for the Olympic Marathon Trials and the United States Navy will be represented.
Lt. Gina Slaby, logistics support officer with Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center Puget Sound, will be amongst the approximately 259 women and 217 men marathoner runners who have qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games being held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Slaby qualified for the trials with a time of two hours and 40 minutes in the 2013 Chicago Marathon. She also qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials with a 2:39 time in the Twin Cities Marathon in 2011 despite sustaining an injury with a little over 10 miles remaining.
“I have been focused on this race ever since breaking my foot at the Twin Cities Marathon in 2011. At mile 16, I stepped funny and broke it. I didn’t realize it was broken at the time and continued on with the race, finishing with a personal best time. Unfortunately, that happened three months prior to the 2012 Olympic Trials. I had only six weeks to train once off crutches. I was actually going to withdraw from the race, however Coach Felty said I would regret not running and told me it would give me experience. I ran a horrible race, but it my fueled my desire to run in the 2016 Olympic Trials,” said Slaby, age 34 with 10 years of Navy experience.
The three women and men with the fastest finishing time in the 26.2 mile course will represent the U.S.A. in the 2016 Summer Olympics. But for Slaby and all the others, the trials represent a culmination of effort and commitment to excellence at a peak level of physical and mental fitness.
“Honestly, I have virtually no chance to make the Olympic Team. Only the top three will go to Rio. I will be a good ten to 15 minutes behind the leaders but I’m aiming for redemption for my previous performance at the 2012 Olympic Trials,” Slaby said.
To qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials, a male U.S. citizen has to have completed a certified full marathon under two hours and 19 minutes and a woman in less than 2:45, or finish a certified half-marathon - men under 1:05; women under 1:15 – during a two and a half year window before the actual trials.
The redemption process for Slaby is a shared family goal that overlaps her work and also includes a sound partnership with her running mentor, Jim Felty, head coach for the All Navy Cross Country/Marathon and Triathlon Teams.
Slaby estimates that in the past six years, under the tutelage of Coach Felty, she has logged 18,211 miles. With still more to come.
“I have been blessed to work with a great many athletes over the past 22 years, but Gina has been very special. After running the trials just weeks past a broken foot in 2012, she was determined to get back to that starting line in LA in one piece and in PR (personal record) shape. She has done the work and is ready. For this I am very proud of her, as is her command, the Navy Supply Corps leaderships, Navy Sports and family,” Felty said.
Felty has designed a specific training regimen for Slaby of speed, tempo, fartlek (mixed interval), long distance, and tempo runs, along with light weight lifting, core work, stretching, massage and necessary rest and recovery.
According to Felty, Slaby’s strength is not just her physical ability. She also has a strong mental makeup.
“She is a mental giant. Her ability to train hard while working a full time job as a Navy Supply Corps officer is unbeatable. In addition, her ability to handle the heavy workload it takes to be a nationally ranked runner is outstanding. A lot of people want to be a top runner. Gina does the work while others are thinking about training,” Felty said, citing that Slaby is also an officer that has not shirked any duty responsibilities from assignments on a surface combatant to deploying with the Navy SEALs.
A typical week for Slaby involves two workouts, usually Tuesday and Thursday and a long run – 20 Miles or more – on the weekend.
“I average between 90 and 100 miles a week, with a max close to 120 miles,” shared Slaby.
“Her training consists of all the facets of a championship level athlete,” added Felty, noting that rest, recovery, nutrition, and achieving a work-life balance are all an integral part of the equation needed to have any athlete perform at a high level.
“We talk about all of these things. Fortunately her husband Steve also runs for Navy. They work together to ensure they get rest, ice baths, eat right, sleep when there is the opportunity and support her efforts to run her best on that one day that only occurs every four years,” exclaimed Felty.
Slaby attests that the most difficult part in qualifying for her doesn’t center on running as much as it does on her caloric intake.
“Dieting is difficult. Obviously it’s much easier to run fast when you weigh less. I have dropped over 10 pounds in the last three months. Cutting back on all the good tasting foods like pizza and burgers is tough,” Slaby said.
In trying to achieve and manage the delicate work/life/train balance Slaby notes that she probably has it better than most. Steve is also a Navy officer as well as a committed marathoner who logs 100-plus mile weeks.
“We are both up early, running on trails with our dog Porter and training together. If Steve wasn’t a runner, I think it would be difficult to achieve a balance,” commented Slaby, adding that the spousal support has been a vital part of her overall well-being.
“Steve is incredibly supportive of my training. Leading up to the 2012 Olympic Trials and now, he has given up his training plans in order to push me to the next level. He is much faster than me and can pace me during workouts and races. Between him and Coach Felty, over the last two months I have run my fastest times ever in the 5K, 10K and Half Marathon. My training has been going exceptionally well,” said Slaby.
Gina placed first overall in November 2015 in the challenging Seattle Marathon Half for women with a time of 1:20:52 and Steve took first in the Seattle Marathon Full with a 2:38:15 finish.
Gina claimed first with a 1:17:18 overall time and 5:52 mile pace, and Steve came in with a close second and a 1:17:31 finish with a 5:53 mile pace in the Yukon Do It Half Marathon in Port Orchard, Wash. held on Dec. 27, 2015.
More recently, Slaby qualified for the Pan AM Games Cross Country championship to be held in Venezuela in March by winning the Armed Forces Cross Country Championship and finishing seventh at the national cross country championship held in Bend. Ore., on Feb. 6, 2016.
Slaby, a South Glen Falls, N.Y. native and graduate of State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland, never ran in college or high school. She just took up the sport prior to enlisting in the Navy to be able to handle the physical readiness training run standards.
A few years later while stationed on Diego Garcia, she not only met Steve but decided to apply for the Navy Running team after testing herself on the island’s 5K and 10K fun runs.
With no true idea if she could adequately take on a full marathon, she finished as fourth overall female in the Marine Corps Marathon and as the first place military female.
“I realized at that point that with some good training, I might be able to get fast enough to run in the Olympic Trials someday,” Slaby said.
The day will happen, again, on Feb. 13.
“Steve, Coach Felty and the Navy Supply Corps community and all of my past command have been incredibly supportive of my training. From DCMA Raytheon-Tucson to LOGSU-2 to FLC Puget Sound, all my commanding officers have been 100 percent on board supporting my running goals. I have been very fortunate. They have been the reason for my success. Without their support, I would never have reached the level I’m at today,” asserted Slaby.
And her goal for the 2016 Olympic Trials?
“As my coach says, ‘that’s classified coach-athletic information.’ But let’s say I’m hoping for a personal best,” shared Slaby.
| Date Taken: | 02.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.11.2016 10:05 |
| Story ID: | 188588 |
| Location: | BREMERTON , WA, US |
| Web Views: | 312 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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