The Champion Who Almost Never Was

Lidiya Grigoryeva is tough... and looking for a second Boston Marathon win.

ByABC News
April 17, 2008, 1:32 PM

Apr. 18, 2008— -- The mother was having a difficult delivery. Her sixth child would not come out and, in rural Russia in the 1970s, cesarean births were not an option.

The doctor turned to the mother and told her, "You have five children, I think it is better we lose this one, so those five children will still have a mother." The mother panicked, and began pushing with a newfound power. Then, legs first, the child appeared. The Doctor squeezed hard on the mother's stomach, calling "Don't blame me if she has puffy cheeks, the baby can always wear a headscarf!"

She was born to be a fighter and, on Patriots' Day last year, Lidiya Grigoryeva realized at 37 kilometers she was going to prove to others, at the world's most historic and prestigious marathon, Boston, that she was also a champion. "I thought to myself, 'okay I can win this,' " she remembers. "I noticed Jelena (Prokopcuka) was no longer able to respond, but I thought, 'let's wait until 40-K.' "

Coming down Boylston, running 26 miles in probably the worst weather ever recorded at a marathon, Grigoryeva opened her lips and thanked God. "I thanked God because I did not have it easy. Firstly, I did not want to be in Boston as I had heard the course was tough. I wanted to be in London on a flat course, but they would not accept me. Then I said I would run for free in London as I had a bet where I'd get $20,000 from a friend if I ran sub 2:22, but London would not even give me a race number. (The flip side of the bet: if she lost, she'd have to run 10-K dressed only in a diaper in her hometown). I had even had problems getting a (shoe) sponsor. So it was a way to show people I am a good runner."

Did the Boston victory change her life? "Not really, I bought a car, not a new one, it's three years old. There is a national television program that everyone watches in Russia and it was announced that I had won, so a few people from my hometown told me they'd heard my name mentioned, but nothing more than that."

Grigoryeva does admit, though, to now feeling a heightened level of responsibility when coming to races as the defending Boston Champion, "Yes, as an athlete, it does come with responsibility when you come to a race as a Boston Marathon champion."

The other problem with "responsibility" is that it sometimes does not allow her to plan her own life.

"When I was younger, I grew up thinking I would be doing something with sewing, and staying at home. Life is not like that!" She smiles.

Usually at this time each year, Grigoryeva is asked to go to Japan. "Every year before, I have been picked to run the Ekiden for Russia at that time so I had to be in Japan." As she explains, that's what happens if you are a female who has clocked 31:09 for the 10-K on the Japanese roads and have a track PR of 30:32 for the same distance.

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Although Grigoryeva competed at the Sydney Olympics, she did not really "get serious" with her athletics career until 2002. "After the birth of my daughter, then I started to train hard," she explains. "I thought about the responsibility of motherhood, and was afraid of pushing my body hard before I had given birth to a child."

Then, upon the urging of her sister, Irina Timofeyeva, who was four years her senior, she picked up the pace. "Earlier at school, she had also encouraged me and introduced me to a coach, but I did not like the coach." A nice twist: Lidiya won the 2005 Paris Marathon and, following in her footsteps, Irina won the event in 2006.

Grigoryeva's training for Boston 2008 began on January 10, jumping up to 110 to 125 miles per week. The plan, which is based on a progressive long run, a medium long (75 percent of that long run), and two speed sessions per week involves training in three different countries, Turkey, the USA, and Russia.

Because of inclement weather, and an offer from the state, she joined 20 other athletes to train in Turkey during January; "perfect weather, it was very nice to be running in 15 degrees celsius!" (59 degrees Fahrenheit). The next phase was a visit to America to get checked out by the Madison avenue-based physio, Gary P. Guerriero. "My back is very tight, not an injury, but after running maybe in Boston last year and the preparations of hard downhill running I feel very sore there, so we have been working with massage," she explains. And then, to get some warm weather training down in Gainesville, Florida, a U.S. hotbed for Russian athletes.

Most of Grigoryeva's running is done alone, in forests or on the open road. "I like this time, and I love to do the training. I have a good sense of pace, I know my body well. If I am out training, I don't need to know splits, I can feel if I am on pace or not," she observes. "When I am out running, I often try to think about form, if I can run with better form."

I ask Lidiya if she ever thinks about her earlier life, and if the hardships she endured push her on to harder training? "The days were hard. When I was four, my father left and I would be a herder for the neighbor's geese to earn money. Yes, maybe this is why I am able to squeeze everything out of myself when I am racing. It was difficult times."

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