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Jenny Simpson Readies for Olympic Year: Planning for More Success
Photo above by www.PhotoRun.net: Jenny Simpson (right) won the women's 1500m World title in 2011 by a narrow margin of 0.28 seconds, ahead of Britain's Hannah England.
By David Monti (c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.
(19-Jan)--Don't mess with success. Jenny (Barringer) Simpson won the Women's 1500m (4:05.40) last September at the IAAF World Championships, becoming just the second American woman to win a world 1500m title since Mary Decker in 1983.
'Don't mess with success' appears to be Jenny Simpson's mantra for her Olympic year as she prepares to open her indoor season at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Saturday, February 4, followed by the Millrose Games in New York City on Saturday, February 11. Simpson will run the 3000m in Boston and the NYRR Wanamaker Metric Mile (1500m) in New York.
"That's one of the wonderful things about the season I had last year; the end of the story was really great," Jenny Simpson told reporters on a conference call hosted by New York Road Runners yesterday. "The only thing I hope to change over the next year is have fewer interruptions, not get the flu, and minimize the risk of injury." [She noted that it would be tempting to train like a world champion, but instead she will stick to a schedule that has worked well]: "I will continue to train like Jenny Simpson has trained over the last five years."
Simpson, 25, who spoke from her training base at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO almost had her dream season derailed by a serious hip injury in 2010 which took six months of rest and rehabilitation to overcome. Then, before last summer's USA Outdoor Championships, the trials for the IAAF World Championships, Simpson became sick with the flu. Her coach, Juli Benson, who joined Simpson on yesterday's call, said her athlete was "really sick" and endured "seven full days with a high fever." [This midseason illness came at a crucial time of the racing season, when athletes typically sharpen their speed at meets against international competition. Coach and athlete had to 'go back to the drawing board' and come up with a new plan to prepare for the national championships.]
But in the USA Outdoor 1500m final, Jenny Simpson was strong enough to sprint past Christin Wurth-Thomas just before the finish line to clinch second place, clinching her world championship team berth. That set the stage for her greatest career accomplishment, and one of the big surprises of last summer's IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
"My coach and I conducted a workout yesterday, and I think she said it best," Simpson recounted during the media call. "It was a really challenging year for me as an athlete. [A return from injury and the midseason illness might have stopped her momentum. But always give yourself a chance to advance.] In a championship series [the three rounds of races: prelims, semis, and final] like that, you have to focus on yourself, focus on your own fitness. Don't count anyone out." Jenny has enormous respect for her competitors.
Coach Juli Benson said that she saw Jenny Simpson steadily getting stronger as she raced in Europe prior to the Daegu World Championships. In Daegu, South Korea, Coach Benson helped her athlete prepare for each round by methodically dissecting each race she would run. The pair sat down after each round in Daegu, watching each race [that Jenny had just run] to pick apart the race and look for opponents' weaknesses and Simpson's mistakes. [Benson praised Jenny's job watching video as a student and processing what she did right and wrong. It can be nerve-racking to debrief in a high pressure situation, but Jenny has shown 'wisdom and maturity at a young age'.]
"I watched the men's and women's marathon broadcast," Simpson said, referring to last Saturday's USA Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. "Something that Shalane (Flanagan) said really resonated with me. She talked about 'cold execution' (and leaving your emotions out of the race). I didn't particularly enjoy watching the first round and the semis [in Daegu]. . . but it was absolutely vital to my success. My tactics in the first and second round were not perfect [so she needed to correct those mistakes in the next round]."
Jenny Simpson's winning time of 4:05.40 was the slowest in IAAF World Championships history, but demonstrated that the former steeplechaser and NCAA star at the University of Colorado knew how to put herself in position to win, and had the closing speed to do it.
"I knew that I not only had to get through the rounds, but learn from them," said Simpson, who also won New York's Fifth Avenue Mile last September with her explosive sprint. [When Jenny has watched the Daugu races in reverse order, starting with her 1500m final victory], "I can see myself ways that I improved from the rounds before."
For the upcoming indoor season, coach Benson said that Simpson is at a much better starting point than one year ago when she was still ramping-up her fitness after her hip injury. While Benson said that they would make adjustments and improvements in her training, she would not be rewriting her playbook.
"As Jenny touched on, it's business as usual," said Benson who, as Juli Henner ran the mile in 4:26.64 and competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in the 1500m. "The exciting thing for me is that last year Jenny was coming off of an injury (and mostly cross training). Having the summer she had. . she went into her break very fit, and came out of it very fit. We are preceding as normal. She came into this training segment very fit and I know she is stronger than she was one year ago."
Simpson said that she really enjoys indoor racing, especially because the fans get to sit so close to the track and the atmosphere in a full indoor arena can be so electric. She said that she has felt that energy--she competed in the Reggie Lewis Track Facility in Boston [last year she placed second in the 3000m, 8:50.78] where the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be held; and raced last winter in New York City's Armory [winning a mile race in 4:28.60], the new home of the Millrose Games. At the latter meet, she'll be running against the reigning world 1500m indoor champion, Kalkidan Gezahegn of Ethiopia, and American Shannon Rowbury, 2009 World Championships 1500m bronze medalist .
"The greatest excitement for me about Boston and Millrose is it's my first opportunity to get a peek at how my training translates into results," Simpson said.
Coach Benson said that the remainder of Simpson's indoor season was still under discussion, and that she might compete at the USA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque at the end of February (she's the defending champion in the mile and 3000m, and the meet would provide 'an opportunity to run fast') to try to qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March in Istanbul.
"We're going to focus on the Boston indoor meet [New Balance Indoor Grand Prix], and the [New York City] Millrose Games," Benson said. "We haven't made a definitive decision on the IAAF World Indoor Championships."