Interviews

Mt. Taylor Profiles: Lisa Goldsmith

I know of Lisa Goldsmith more by reputation than personal connection. My fitness advisor/coach and all around great guy Steve Ilg introduced me to Lisa during the awards ceremony at the 2007 Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. The duo had just captured the overall win for mixed pairs and all pairs, with the 40-something-year-olds handily trouncing all challengers in both divisions. Lisa did the bike and run portions while Ilg took on the snowshoe and cross country ski. (Editor’s note: Ilg is returning as a soloist this year so stay tuned for updates on that race.) For those of you who are going to the Quad this year, go to last year’s results and look in the pairs division for a Fair Pair of Mountain Yogis too see some impressive times.

To say that Lisa lights up the room is an understatement. Her life force, energy, aura, chi, whatever you want to call it, was apparent for all to see. Even after a grueling day running up and down the mountain, she had the smile and vibe of someone who had just come back from a week at the spa.

I wanted to talk to Lisa for this series on Mt. Taylor athletes under the assumption that she was returning to the mountain this weekend. Unfortunately, her training for the Boston Marathon in April has pushed the Quad to the backburner for this year. Lisa, however, does provide a great perspective on the race and endurance training in general. Just one look at her resume should impress the hell out of anyone who has ever toed a start line.

A collegiate soccer player, she was a triathlete from 1984-1989 and captured the USTA (now USAT) amateur national championship in 1988. She briefly raced as a pro in 1989, taking 9th in the Olympic distance and 5th in the sprint distance during the nationals.

From triathlon, Goldsmith focused on cycling for the next four years and was a member of the Kahula Pro Team and helped her team keep the yellow leader’s jersey for seven days during the 1992 Tour de France Feminin.

After cycling, she put her energies into running and was a member of the U.S. mountain running team in 1997 and holds records in several races like the Pikes Peak Ascent, Imogene Pass, and Mt. Washington, to name a few. She was the 2001 North American Snowshoe Champion and took fifth place in the 2007 Masters World Mountain Running Championships in Austria.

Oh yeah, she also took second in the master’s division of last year’s Boston Marathon.

Question: What’s your relationship with the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon?

Goldsmith: I have raced Mt. Taylor just the two times with Steve Ilg as my partner. The first year, 2006, I was part of a three-person team with Steve doing the two upper legs of the race (cross country ski and snowshoe). We beat all teams in 2006 and beat all of the pairs in 2007, including the men’s teams, when we raced as a mixed pair.

The tragedy for me is that I have never been to the top of Mt. Taylor! I could very much see going as a soloist for the overall individual competition, however, I am too focused each winter on my running/skate skiing. Plus, I just do not have the gumption to train for that race. Those past two forays on Mt. Taylor are perhaps the highlights of my long racing career primarily because of the energy of my partner, the venerable Ilg! I owe him big gratitude for bringing me down to Tsidol (the Native American name for Mt. Taylor)! I have often been intrigued by this race having heard of it and its lure to serious multi-sport athletes. With Danelle Ballengee having been the queen for so long, and me being competitive with her in many snowshoe races over the years, someone inevitably would ask me, “So, ya doing Mt. Taylor?!”

I was just too intimidated by the drive to get there in the winter and all of the equipment necessary to race as a soloist…not to mention the pure act of doing all eight legs by myself. Fortunately, Steve had put out an 11th-hour call for a runner and I was psyched when we hooked up and that he wanted to race with me. That first race was a blast!

Question: You’ve competed in the Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon as a part of two different teams. How would you describe the race to someone who doesn’t live around mountains or any appreciable hills?

Goldsmith: Mt. Taylor is a special/unique event for sure! It is a party of athletes trying to get up to the top of a mountain and back down, either solo or as a relay team. This means the person next to you, in front of, behind, may or may not be there during the next leg. It’s a very interesting concept because it forces you to do your own thing, and not get too focused on the competition so much as doing your part well!

Question: Let’s go back a bit. How did you discover your talent or passion for endurance sports?

Goldsmith: Hmmm…I don’t ever recall not loving to play sports. My first inspirational endurance experience was racing bikes as a kid in my neighborhood. I remember riding so hard one day that I nearly passed out. I fell off my bike into my dad’s arms, hyperventilating.

It wasn’t until I ran my first 5K during my second year of college that I had another inspirational endurance experience. I had only been a soccer and all-around sports-playing girl when I entered this 5K, so I took off like I was chasing a soccer ball! I was fairly anaerobic the entire run, feeling completely nauseous and, well, even peeing in my shorts as I crossed the finish line. I was so impressed with the difficulty of such an event. Anyway, if those two things didn’t keep me from endurance racing, they surely inspired me to learn about how to race an endurance event.

I ran my first ever triathlon in a relaxed way with a boyfriend in 1984. I took third in my age group and got hooked! I decided to leave my partying school life where I was intramural athlete of the year in 1983…that involved a lot of beer drinking…and I started racing more seriously within months of that triathlon.

Probably my third endurance experience of great inspiration occurred in December 1985 when I decided to run the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I thought I was in the best shape of my life at the time, never mind that I’d never run more than 10 miles at once prior to that. I ran the first half in well under 1:30. But from that point forward I went downhill. I was shuffled across the finish line in such pain at 3:42! Ouch!

I didn’t run for a month for that. However, I was intrigued. How does one do this endurance racing correctly?

By 1987-88, I won every amateur triathlon (Olympic distance/short courses) I had entered, beating some pros along the way. After winning the 1988 USTA Nationals in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where I placed 15th among pros, I was invited to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to try out for an Olympic development team in cycling.

Question: Wow. That’s quite an impressive leap from partying intramural athlete to blossoming Olympian. What happened next?

Goldsmith: I went out to Colorado and went through their testing program which evaluated my VO2 Max and my “all-around athletic ability and coach-ability.” I was selected to join the team and promptly quit triathlon, and my job, to move to Colorado Springs for my new life as a full-time bike racer. Up to that point, I had never actually raced my bike aside from triathlon time trials.

My first real bike race was the International Tour of Texas. I got waxed, but learned a lot! I then raced in Europe that spring and summer, and even won a “Queen of the Mountain” prize which honed my love for going uphill. By the end of the year, I was well enmeshed in the sport of cycling. I made time to race three pro triathlons that fall and that was the end of my days as a triathlete.

I raced quite successfully through 1993 and into ’94, but felt very tried and burnt out. I quit bike racing cold turkey and got a job as a bike courier in Boulder for eight months before entering massage school in January 1995.

Question: You must have felt like returning to racing at some point because it seems to be such an integral part of your being.

Goldsmith: Yes. I decided to try another marathon in 1996 and completed it in 3:04. I got re-hooked in to the simple act of just running!

The next year, I ran a 2:58 and decided to hone in on trying to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Trials. I missed the cutoff by 12 seconds at the Boston Marathon in 1999 with a time of 2:50:12.

Since then I have just followed my bliss around the running scenes of trail/mountain running, hill climbs, road racing…I have a particular love for the marathon and for races that only go up.

In 1997, I competed in my first mountain run at Mt. Evans. I loved this race! I was asked to be on the U.S. Mountain Running Team that was traveling to the Czech Republic. I said “yes” and was the top placed American.

I came home and soon after La Sportiva was trying to start a mountain running team and called me I accepted and mountain running has been the main focus of my running. I still dabble in road racing along the way, particularly the marathon, which I am convinced is the best all-around kind of training for a runner of any genre! My Pikes Peak Masters record felt like such a culmination of years of work and, more importantly, figuring out how to train and race for these kinds of events. It has all been so rewarding.

Question: What’s a typical training day for you?

Goldsmith: I usually run six-to-seven days a week with some weight training included. My longest run is 20-ish miles, but I don’t do very many of those. I typically do one-to-two long runs per week. I also do lactate threshold intervals once a week during certain phases of training, a tempo run once a week, and a hill workout once a week. I run maybe twice a day if I have the time.

I always work in the middle part of the day which generally leaves me not having to get up too early to run! I’ll do more specific hill training come late spring into summer for mountain running events. I am looking to the master’s record at Mt. Washington this June and a spot on the Mountain Running Team as it is an uphill year with a very deep field of women in the U.S. these days. It will be a challenge to make the team this year.

Question: What’s your take on strength training for endurance athletes? Is it a waste of time or is critical to an athlete’s success?

Goldsmith: Well, I have been in the weight room consistently for all of my years of training, since high school and even through my beer drinking intramural days in college. I have never gotten very muscular though. That’s probably because I am made up of 99.9 percent slow twitch muscle fibers! I have never bulked up, which is nice, because I have always thought I can do weight training anytime of year and get the overall benefit of straining my muscles and tendons in a way that is healthy.

I think of weight training as a healthy compliment, like my feeble yoga practice, and a necessary component of healthy living. Much of the day, I am literally bent over, if only slightly, in my massage practice. Plus, running and cycling is also very forward bending to the spine. I just know that keeping my back and arms strong is a huge benefit for my posture and health.

Question: You mentioned yoga. How much of a role does that play in your training?

Goldsmith: I was introduced to Hatha Yoga and meditation from a mentor-type friend back in the 80’s and during my triathlon days. While it is not a big part of my everyday life, it does make a significant impact on my health as I have been relatively consistent with both yoga and strength training. I have no doubt that yoga plays a bigger or more natural part of my everyday life than I give it credit, but I don’t have a regular “practice.”

But to get back to your question, I will say that the yogic principles of balance/strength/flexibility absolutely do play a role in my training. I pay close attention to my posture, my holding, letting go, reaching, allowing, flow, and energy aspects of my movements in my body and my mind. I am always aware of these things as I train and work. I am quick to recognize when things aren’t right in my body or mind and this is when I might give more particular attention to my meditation and yoga to “right” myself. I also get massage and chiropractic adjustments regularly.

Question: What are some of the biggest mistakes you see in people new to endurance sports?

Goldsmith: Hmmmm…everyone has their own arsenal of mistakes, from which to learn hopefully!

First off, I don’t think one (a coach, mentor, or friend) can actually keep someone who is ambitious from making mistakes, so it always seems futile to try!

Typical mistakes are in training much too quickly, say coming back from an injury. Our minds and our cardiovascular systems will come back much quicker than say a muscle or tendon injury, and often athletes will get excited to come back quick only to have set-backs and re-occurrences of the injury.

For example, my last injury was a torn tendon at the metatarsal head of my second toe joint in 2002. After fussing around with training, not training, cross training, etc., I finally took eight weeks off completely. It felt like an eon. OK, I did a little bit of swimming, but I wouldn’t even push off the wall on my bad foot.

After that eight week period was over, I started back by running with a very, very light load. I would run five minutes one day and take the next day off. Then I would run six minutes. Take the next day off. I continued that pattern until I was running 20 minutes for the day. From that point forward, I increased each run by five minutes and then eventually began to run on consecutive days for longer sessions. But, I never ran over 90 minutes for an entire year.

Since then, I have been injury free. Each of my past 4-5 years have actually felt like progress in fitness and speed. I feel like I restarted when I turned 40!

So, maybe I can summarize some thoughts on mistakes:

• Coming back too quickly form rest/injury.
• Not doing the maintenance work (body work/rest/eating-hydrating well)
• Not making changes according to what was learned from an injury or illness (different shoes, get more massage/body work).
• Not tapering for races.
• Worrying too much! I know people who physically get sick worrying about performance and they aren’t even in contention for the podium. They’re just participating age-group stuff. It is supposed to be fun, no?
• Having expectations that are not in line with your training preparation.

Question: Are there any training tools that you believe should be in every endurance athlete’s tool box?

Goldsmith: Every endurance athlete must become efficient. Long days out are absolutely a must!

A calm mind is a must, especially for events such as Mt. Taylor where there are up to six transitions!

Be organized and fluid!

If you only train these things in your mind with visualization, you’re ahead of the game. You can literally, of course, train transitions as well, but you never have that race energy until race day. To mentally prepare for that chaos and unknown can make you suffer or have a brilliant day of fun!

Question: What is the one thing that an athlete could do today that would improve their performance tomorrow?

Goldsmith: Know why you are doing what you are doing and have some goals. Then, ask yourself, “Does what I am doing line up with my goals?”

I believe my performances have improved over the years by simply honing in on this idea!

You can follow Lisa Goldsmith’s racing season at Mountain Running La Sportiva and the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team.

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