Tamara Jewett makes a comeback at Sporting Life 10K

Tamara Jewett, a University of Toronto track runner was the first woman to cross the line at the Sporting Life 10K on Sunday. Jewett certainly ran a fast one, finishing the race in 33:32.

This win is a great one for her. She has just come off dealing with a long string of injuries over the past few years. Sunday was also her first 10K. After sitting out with injuries, she’s finally back, feeling strong and racing hard. “It feels good just to be running,” says Jewett. “Running is great and running a good time is icing on the cake.”

Road racing is new to her. Jewett is used to racing the 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m on the track for U of T. She says 2012 was her last big year. That year she placed eighth in the 1,500m at the Canadian National Track and Field Championships and Olympic Trials. She also came ninth at the FISU World University Championships.

Her list of injuries is a long, and painful one. She has just recovered from a stress fracture in her femur. Before that she had a stress fracture in her other femur, a toe injury, and two rounds of plantar fasciitis. Last year, she raced once in Guelph in May and right after, the fracture in her femur flared up. She says it seemed to come out of nowhere, making dealing with it that much more disappointing.

“In the past, I could pinpoint things that could have been done differently,” says Jewett. Getting hit with a new problem one after the other is disheartening. “It’s been quite a frustrating stretch,” she says.

To deal with it, she turned to triathlon training. She joined the club at U of T and says she’s been doing a lot of training in the pool (considering it was the training she was able to do.) Cycling is her weakest of the three sports but she plans to work on that over the summer.

In terms of recovering from injury, she largely credits Dr. Kris Sheppard of The Runner’s Academy. Jewett says she had considered many options but the treatment he gave was exceptional. It’s got her back racing competitively.

And now Jewett seems to be making the comeback. Sunday was her first 10K and not only did she finish in first place with a great time, she felt strong.

“Overall it felt good. I went through 5K pretty fast. I felt strong for the first 6.5 kilometres,” she says. After that it was a slight struggle. “I felt aerobically strong but was having a bit of trouble holding onto the pace.” Once the final 500m was in view though, she adds that it was easier to push.

Going forward, Jewett is focusing on keeping her body strong. “Really my main goal is to stay healthy for more than one season at a time,” she says.