sara hall

By, Sara Hall

Hello from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!

I’ll attempt in one paragraph to sum up my life and racing since my last blog post 5 months ago…. Ready, Go!

My favorite memories of the sport are moments like this- at Pittsburgh 10 Miler

After my appendix rupture and taking two weeks completely off of running, I started back training with a shuffle that eventually became a jog and then what I would consider a “run”. However, the further I pushed the envelope, I was surprised how easily the training started coming back, and I ended up PRing in the 10k at the Tufts 10k (32:13) just 2 months after surgery. That sparked some more PRs (12k and half marathon) during my Fall race binge, along with a fun win at the Pittsburgh 10-mile in November. I capped off the 2014 year with a 2^nd place finish in the USA Running Circuit series and a win at the Dallas Half Marathon, finishing off the most fun year I’ve had as a professional thus far!  We also hosted our first ever Hall Running Retreat in the wine country where I grew up, which exceeded our expectations and we hope to find time to do another sometime soon!

At the end of 2014 Ryan and I headed back to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to start our marathon training in the thin air (and summer!) of 9,000 ft. elevation. Spending time here is just as much about the experience for us as it is the training, and I find I

The view from my room in Yaya Village, Addis Ababa. Yes, I eat lasagna for breakfast when marathon training.  Anything is fair game!

always gain refreshed perspectives and motivation from being there. This last trip, one thing that God was speaking to me about was areas in my life where entitlement has crept in. I won’t bore you with the typical “I went to Africa and realized how many material things and comforts I take for granted in the US” speech as I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, though I am reminded of it every time I come here. But it was more entitlement as it relates to running that I found myself becoming aware of in how it has subtly slipped into my perspective as an American runner.

When you spend time in Kenya and Ethiopia, you see hundreds of runners every morning killing themselves in training, hoping for a lucky chance or opportune break to race outside their country and make some prize money. They are motivated by generational extreme poverty and lack of other opportunities besides running. They have no gear sponsor, often their shoes are falling apart at the seams, they likely have just enough food to fill their bellies, let alone focusing on the nutritional components. It is inspiring, yet sad at the same time, knowing that realistically the majority of them will never have the chance to make money from running simply because of the vast number of runners doing the very same thing with only a small handful rising to the top.

Now, I realize that right now it isn’t easy even as an American distance runner to make a living full-time through running. Yet we in the US do all have more access to opportunities and support, and worse case scenario, can secure good jobs outside the sport, whereas in these areas that is not usually the case, running is the only option. I am very grateful for the opportunities and support I’ve been given to pursue my career full-time, yet I find that it is easy to lose sight of it and for entitlement to creep in.

Likely where I got sick. Hilarious that we have a photo of it and that the place is called “Seedy”- I was asking for it! To my defense, it is where all the local runners go after training…

Recently as I competed in the US half marathon championships at the Houston half marathon. I was excited about my fitness, but right before leaving Ethiopia and flying to Houston I ate something bad and came down with a nasty bacterial infection, such that I thought about skipping the race altogether. In the end, I managed a good race, coming in 4^th in 70:50 which I was initially very happy about considering the circumstances. But it wasn’t long before those little voices crept in saying “man, when will I catch a break? First the appendix, now this, I just want to be able to run the race I’m capable of!” It took a bit for me to realize that, although there was truth in that, there was also a good helping of entitlement as well. I am not entitled to have every race go as planned and run exactly what my fitness is capable of. It is by God’s grace that I have the opportunities that I have. Sure, when you work hard you want to reap the reward for that hard work. But what about the Ethiopian athletes, working just as hard as me, if not harder? They would kill for the opportunity to come to Houston and run the half. If they won the same prize money I did it would feed their family for a year.

Holding it together at Houston Half Marathon

Now I am not about to become complacent about my running performances. But rather than feeling entitled to having everything go perfectly my way, I am trying to focus on being grateful for the opportunities I do have and what I do achieve. In this sport, there will always be something greater out there to achieve and there’s a healthy (or unhealthy) discontent in the process. But I’m hoping it’s possible to have an awareness and gratefulness in the process at the same time that I am constantly pushing myself to greater levels. And remembering the athletes I see training in Ethiopia gives me motivation not to overlook a race as “less important” but to take advantage of every opportunity, because each one is an undeserved blessing.

Well that’s enough of my soap box, in other news, I am running my first marathon at the ASICS LA Marathon! Speaking of gratefulness, I have been incredibly grateful to have enjoyed nearly every moment of the training and buildup for this race. When I first decided to run the marathon, I expected it to be this miserable grind of a process, peeling myself out of bed to trudge through the miles every day, but it has been quite the opposite. I feel like an over-eager newbie, energized by the constant satisfaction of running bigger workouts and more mileage than I ever have before and feeling like my body is absorbing it like a sponge. I have been waking up the morning of my hard workouts giddily excited as if it was race day, not thinking about the pain I’ll be going through at the end of 24 miles at altitude, but looking forward to the fun of challenging myself. I don’t know what race day will hold for me, but I do know that I poured my heart and soul into the process and I hope to wake up with the same deep gratitude and giddy smile on my face as I have during training and fully take advantage of an amazing opportunity! I also qualified for my 4th  World Cross Country Championship team to compete in Guyang, China the end of March, and I hope my marathon strength carries over to representing the US well there!

Grinding away on Lake Mary Rd. in Flagstaff, a marathoner’s playground

Lastly, I am committing my race at the LA Marathon to bringing clean water to people in Ethiopia.  Clean water decreases infant mortality 50%, allows young girls to go to school instead of fetching water, and increases life expectancy 10 years.  I can’t think of a better use of $50 than to bring clean water to one person and change their life! For every person you fund, Ryan and I will also fund until we reach our goal! teamworldvision.org/team/hall

Can you imagine drinking muddy water from a pond? I can’t. No one should have to. It’s $50.

I first met Jack during the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school back in 1999 at Jim Ryun’s Running camp. My Dad and I attended the camp that summer and we were like sponges, soaking up every story, every conversation, every video, and every seminar we attended. One of the speakers at camp was the legendary coach, Jack Daniels, who’s coaching expertise rivals that of any coach in the country. He told story after story of testing he had done on various Olympic runners, like Jim Ryun prior to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and all he had learned with each study. My Dad picked Jack’s brain during our week in Kansas and we came back ready to take on a new year.  With our new found knowledge my Dad coached me from a mile PR down to a 4:05 by the end of my junior year. It was one of the biggest breakthrough I’ve had in my career.

During my time at Stanford I crossed paths again with Jack, as he was one of the coaches on the Farm Team (a group of professional runners that trained at Stanford), and I did a couple of VO2 Max tests under Jack’s eye. I remember doing those tests with Jack and thinking to myself what an honor it was simply to say you’ve been tested by Jack Daniels, joining my name to a list a mile long of incredible runners Jack has worked with and tested. There are few coaches in the world I have as much respect for as Jack.

Now, as a professional runner I am thrilled to be working with Jack as my coach.  It has been a fun ride over the last couple of years being self-coached and I have learned a lot, but I feel like I am back in my old “sophomore self” shoes looking forward to soak up everything Jack has to say. Jack has already played an influential role in my development as a runner as well as hundreds and thousands of others and I am confident he can help me get back to my full potential as a marathon runner. With the Olympic Trials just a year and a half away it’s time to start making progress towards my main goal as an athlete, to return to the Olympics and be at my very best there. This is something that has eluded me the last two Olympics but I am hopeful and expectant for the next years ahead with Jack’s guidance.

Battling the Central Park hills in the Oakley Mini 10k

When I look back on Summer racing of 2014, I will remember two things: a fun and successful string of road races, and enduring a lot of pain!

Since I last blogged, I continued my binge of 10kish distance races with Bolder Boulder 10k: 3^rd place team finish and

More recovered and savoring the atmosphere with other American runner friends

16^th individually, and a 9^th place finish at the Oakley Mini 10k in a strong international field. Bolder Boulder was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run, the combo of the heat, altitude, and mostly uphill first 4 miles left me in a wheelchair for the first few minutes after I staggered across the line. However, I will never forget the crowd support the whole way and the roar of a packed stadium finish. The mini 10k was a bit less dramatic, and I enjoyed getting to celebrate my love for running with so many other awesome women in the longest running all-women’s race!

I had an uptempo cool down after the race, so as I cruised around the Central Park reservoir dodging runners, I hopped up on a slanted curb that was slick from the morning rain and wiped out straight onto my chest. Once the race endorphins wore off, I realized I couldn’t move my elbow and had pain in my chest, and subsequent X-rays showed a cracked elbow and rib. Throughout the coming weeks, I trained through my broken rib as I had been advised that it would hurt, but running wouldn’t make it worse. Sure enough, it hurt like heck for a month, like I was being stabbed continually in the chest, but the pain eventually subsided and finally went away the week after I placed 2^nd in the US 10k championships at Peachtree in Atlanta, Georgia, one of my favorite races with a crowd that never disappoints and a challenging course. Right after the race, I flew to DC for my layover on the way to visit my sister in Senegal, which

Now this is a post-race celebration! 4th of July on the Lawn watching fireworks

happened to coincide with 4th of July night where I took advantage of my best friend working in the White House and joined her for fireworks on the White House lawn! It was a surreal moment and unforgettable experience.

Keeping the training up in Senegal, with some company on my strides

After a short trip to Senegal, it was back to the grind, turning the corner on marathon training and winning the Destination Races Napa to Sonoma half marathon. This was a fun win for me as it was just miles from the home where I grew up and had a lot of family waiting for me at the finish. Running through the hills of the wine country will always remind me of falling in love with running growing up in Sonoma County!

6 short days later, I competed in the US 7 mile championships and placed another 2^nd. I was proud of how I ran this race forcing the pace in front of the chase pack (Molly Huddle was out of sight!) for the majority of the race. Bix was an extremely challenging hilly course, and it was rewarding to finally head down the steep hill and cross the line. From Bix I headed up to higher grounds in Mammoth Lakes for a couple week training stint with Mammoth Track Club and helping out with the Altitude Project Christian running camp, a camp Ryan and I have been involved with for 10 years now! While in Mammoth, I felt like my training went to another level, finally fully focused on the marathon and loving grinding out hard long runs and

Visiting the maternity clinic in rural Senegal renovated by The Hall Steps Foundation (with my new niece Aby Zahra!)

longest-ever tempos. My body was adapting surprisingly well to the increase in work load and I was enjoying having plenty of energy left to fly around the lakes at 9,000 ft on easy days.

Just when I was starting to feel invisible, disaster struck. Out of nowhere after a great training day, I woke up in the night with what felt like food poisoning. 36 hours later of the most painful sickness I’ve ever experienced, they figured out it was apendicitus, and unfortunately we didn’t catch it in time and my appendix ruptured, spilling toxins into the surrounding areas, a potentially life-threatening situation. To this day they don’t know what causes appendicitis, it just strikes you one day and this was mine, in the midst of my best training block ever.

Immediate surgery followed by 4 days in the hospital and my world suddenly was turned upside down. I was in extreme pain in the hospital and could hardly hobble down the hallway, pushing my IV. It’s been all progress from there and I am thankful my recovery has been ahead of schedule, but it took me two full weeks before I was able to run, and when I was, it was a pitiful shuffle while my body regained its strength. As I returned to training, it is hard to imagine that in such a short time your body can change so much- from being in the best shape of your life to “ground zero”.   I had lost weight and muscle from essentially not eating anything but IV fluids for 5 days, and after being on super-all-life-killing antibiotics I could hardly get off the couch.  It’s easy in these moments to dwell on what was lost and have a “why me, why NOW of all times?!” pity party. It took intentionally focusing on what I was thankful for, and thanking God for that, and worshipping Him to keep myself on a positive track.

Chugging away in Mammoth Lakes before disaster strikes

I am happy to report that despite the slow start, my running is coming back quicker than expected! I’ve adopted the diet of a college freshman guy (burgers, pad thai, and pizza) and am back to my more normal strength.  I’ve still been dealing with some issues like running through stomach cramping/pain, which between this and my broken rib seems to be the theme of this season. I’m hoping it is preparing me to tolerate even more pain in my racing when I’m finally back at it! And in the meantime, I truly am taking joy in the journey. I’m celebrating the progress, even if it’s something before I would consider insignificant, like running 8-minute mile pace on a run. I love the feeling of running hard and pushing myself, and feeling your body responding and getting stronger. So rather than dwell on

A new season begins in Flagstaff- starting with a walk, progressing to a shuffle, and finally back running. Enjoying the beauty of my surroundings and the joy of the journey!

races I won’t get to do, like a Fall marathon, I’m focusing on the joy of getting to do what I love again and no longer being in constant pain (and being alive!). I am hopeful I will still get to debut in the marathon, though a bit later than I had planned, and be back out at the races soon!

Huge thanks to my husband for rarely leaving my side in the hospital and sneaking me in Thai food when I was supposed to be just drinking broth and eating wretched hospital pudding J (Though no thanks for losing my engagement diamond ring that I took off before surgery- oops! This operation just got a bit more expensive!) And also thanks to John Ball at Maximum Mobility for busting through all the restricted areas that were putting me in so much pain after being released from the hospital and Steve Magness for once again having to scratch our plan and start a new one. I am thankful for the support people God has brought into my life and all the encouragement from running friends near and far!