Elite Q&A with Dayna Pidhoresky

Hometown: Tecumseh, Ont.

Age: 25

Personal Bests:

5K – 16:12

10K – 33:46

Half-marathon – 1:11:46

She’s a marathoner in the making and Dayna Pidhoresky of Tecumseh, Ont., isn’t rushing the jump to the 42.2K distance. Pidhoresky won her first Canadian title at the 10K road championships and ran a huge personal best in the half-marathon in 2011. She tells Canadian Running about her love for road racing and her plans for marathon debut this fall.

1) What do you like most about road racing, compared to track and cross-country?

I have never loved the track. During university, I really enjoyed the cross-country season because it generally involved longer distances than track and it was much less monotonous. Once I became more comfortable racing on the roads after university, it quickly became my favourite way to race. I discovered that I tend to flourish at the longer distances and, on top of that, it doesn’t hurt that the roads pay more too.

2) You still live and train in the Windsor area, why have you chosen to stay there rather than move to a high-performance marathon group?

For now, I have everything I need right here. I have continued to improve over the last two years and I decided to stick with what was working for me. I like to think that my coach and I have our own little high-performance marathon group right here in Windsor.

3) How do you handle the challenges of working out alone?

Usually my coach is able to be at most of my workouts. The majority of the time he’s riding a bike beside me and telling me splits as I go. It’s a great help to me because it allows me to focus on the pace and how I feel, without having to constantly glance at my watch. For the few times that I have to workout on my own I try to think of some sort of motivating factor to get me through the workout — usually it will be an approaching race.  I know that if I can get through the workout then I will become that much more prepared mentally to race tough.

4) Although it wasn’t recognized as a Canadian record due to the point-to-point nature of the course, what did it mean to you to run 1:11:46 at the Niagara half-marathon?

It was validation to me that I was still progressing. I had managed to get personal bests in every distance throughout the 2011 season, yet I had not broken my 1:13:15 Detroit half-marathon time set in October 2010. Setting such a significant new personal best really made me realize that I had improved at the half-marathon distance and my training was definitely working. It also made me realize that I can compete at the world level and may be able to put together a fast marathon in the future.

5) There have been many distance runners who were successful at the 10K and half-marathon, but struggled at the marathon. What do you think is the hardest part of making the jump?

Patience. It can take years to train your body to run the marathon. I know that many people, myself included, want to run the perfect marathon at their first attempt. I think it’s important to realize that it may be years before it comes together the way you want it to. I hope that I can be patient enough through the training process. Furthermore, it’s much different than the 10K and half-marathon because you have to learn to fuel yourself while racing. Many people struggle with on-the-run fuelling and their bodies do not handle taking in fluids or gels. This is certainly something I will be working on during training throughout the next year.

6) What is your goal for your first marathon?

I’ve decided to wait until the fall to debut. We are currently looking into New York.  As for goals, there is nothing firm yet, but we will probably look at it after the spring season.  I will hope to run a time that would be in line with my half-marathon performances, taking into account the course and race day conditions. I’m excited to see what I can do.