Last month, American mathematics teacher Susanna Sullivan, 32, was 10th and the best American in the London Marathon, with a time of 2:24:27. This is 47 seconds better than his previous personal best set in Chicago in October. Previously, he arrived at 2:26:56 on the Grandma’s Marathon of 2022. Prior to this race, he had run a pair of 2:33s at Boston in 2021 and at the Marathon Project in 2020.
For 40 hours a week, Sullivan teaches pre-algebra to high-achieving sixth graders (104 of them in four classes) in an elementary school in Falls Church, Virginia (United States). He also tutors older students in the afternoons for at least 12 hours a week.
Regarding his passion for athletics, runs 145 kilometers a week and practices cross training about 6 hours a week, swimming in the pool and doing a pilates class called Solidcore. Along with academic grades, lesson planning, and a bit of time to socialize, there isn’t much wiggle room.
Sullivan has run so well that now likely to be part of the US marathon team at the World Championships in Hungary in August. Those athletes are selected by a list of times in descending order, but not all runners accept a place. Sullivan is currently ranked sixth on the list, but three women ahead of her have said they probably won’t run. As of 2023, she is the second best time of all American female athletes in the marathon distance.
His keys: excellent relationship with the coach and a strict calendar
Their workouts are not as long as those of professional marathon runners. In full preparation, Sullivan does 10 to 15 kilometer intervals at various distances and paces. Her coach, Andrew Gerard, often adjusts the plan as he goes, depending on how he feels after a day’s work to ensure his disciple doesn’t get discouraged.
Sullivan’s long runs rarely exceed 20 miles. But she does them at a brisk pace, often starting at 3:30 and slowing down to 3:40, buoyed by a conversation from longtime training partner Marty McCormick, 42. They never train together during the week since their schedules do not allow it, a different case than on weekends.
Sullivan and Gerard believe the volume of cross-training she does has also helped her stay injury-free. In the morning, on non-training days, he runs 13 km, showers, and on his way to work, stops at a pool for 30 to 45 minutes of aquarunning. In the summer, she can swim laps, but during the school year she stands upright in the water, since she doesn’t have time to wash her hair again.
Taken from: Runners World
2023-05-16 05:02:53
#math #teacher #finished #tenth #London #Marathon #Running #Colombia
