5th place!
(Photo courtesy of Davey, Dyestat.com)
Getting faster is the easiest part of running. Running times and winning races that get you into the elite of an event is a lot tougher. But feeling like you belong in that group... well, that's a journey that many attempt, but even fewer achieve. That was Liz Costello's journey this year, and on Saturday, she arrived.
The Conestoga high school grad has had a dream year. She won a state title in cross country, and several weeks later, qualified for the Foot Locker finals. In January, she won the prestigious New Balance Games mile at the New York Armory in a PR for the distance, and earned an invitation to race in the Millrose Games in early February. She won the 3000 title at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships, and nearly made it two-for-two, getting 2nd in the Mile. She anchored her team to a come-from-behind 5th place in the Championship of America Distance Medley Relay at the Penn Relays Carnival. She won her third and final state title, taking the 1600 at the PIAA State Championships in May in a PR for the distance.
And then there was the Nike Outdoor Nationals. She helped her two relays, the 4x800 and DMR, post strong times. But her lone individual event, the 800, did not go as she had hoped. Running in the 5th of seven heats, her 2:14.99 did not meet her expectations for the season, the race, and more importantly, for herself. "That was not the way it's supposed to end. I put in a lot of work over four years."
She had one more race. The 1500 at the USATF Junior T&F Championships.
Arriving for the race with her dad, Jim.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)
But first, the Princeton signee had some demons to exorcize. And she had spent much of her senior season trying to figure out why, in her mind, she "fizzled" when she would get to big meets. She counted three such races as perfect examples of performances that had not met her own high expectations for herself – Foot Locker Finals, Millrose Games, and the Nike Outdoor Championships.
Her 21st place finish at the Foot Locker Finals in early December in San Deigo would have pleased most athletes. But Costello had all-American (top 15) on her list. Then the winter season hit... and so did the huge expectations. "Winter was a little difficult. Everyone around me was excited. My expectations shot through the roof."
She had a great race at the New Balance Games. But she was not the favorite, so the pressure was not as intense. She next raced in the vaunted Millrose Games Invitational Mile... finishing 8th in 5:03.95. "Millrose was hard on me. It set me back. I hated that performance. I think I bugged out with the competition."
Costello is an intensely competitive person, and the quality of her big race performances was not sitting well with her. "It was frustrating. I wanted to know when things would come together. In practices, I was just getting through it."
Her spring season didn't give her much of an opportunity to shake her growing perception that she had problems racing well in the biggest races against the best competition. "I did a lot of events. It was all over the place. I wasn't fresh, and at Districts and States, I had this huge target on my back."
12 of the 14 starters prep for the gun.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)
She decided to just race for place and not time. And with all the races at PIAA States, she says her legs "were knots."
She won her 1600 title. And while her 4:55.08 was a PR for that distance, she didn't feel it was her best race. Two weeks later, she took a shot at running a fast mile in hopes of getting back in a groove. She ran a 4:56.22 at the First PA Distance Festival at West Chester Henderson. She was not pleased with the performance.
Then came the Nike Outdoor Nationals. It wasn't a bad performance. But the 800 left her less than thrilled. When her coach, Ryan Comstock went to find her immediately after the race, she had already left the infield for her warm-down.
The focus was back.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)
The two talked over the next few days. Comstock gives his star choices, and she wanted badly to do something different to get back in gear. He knew that long runs let Liz regroup. And it had been some time since she had done a long run. It's not the conventional training approach between races, but these were not normal circumstances. He knew she needed "to get out there and let it loose." He did the first five miles with her in 32 minutes. He thought briefly about reigning her in, but knew that would have a negative effect. So he let her go. She finished that 10-mile run in the woods in 64 minutes. She felt great. Comstock says her pulse was 70. Conditioning was not a problem.
What next?
How about a quick 800? Knowing she was not happy with her 800 at Nike, he took her to an All-Comers meet at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School the next evening. Knowing she had just done a hard 10-miler, he didn't think she could get her PR of 2:12.30 set at the 2005 Nike Outdoor meet. But she came close, popping a 2:13.1. It was the 2nd best of her career.
They both knew she was set for Juniors.
Costello says that during the Tuesday 800 she again started to feel a return of the passion and competitiveness that helped her start this whole process in late November at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals. "I went out in 64-65. I felt strong. I felt aggressive for the first time in a long time."
It was that Foot Locker race that Costello still counts as her best ever so far. "I wasn't thinking all weekend. I felt like I sprinted that 5K, and couldn't believe my 2nd wind I got before kicking the final 800 meters. There were all the big names, but I was unfazed. I wasn't focused on them."
She followed her therapeutic 10-mile and 800 meter runs with an easy five-miler on Wednesday, and then a jog, drills and striders on Thursday and Friday. And plenty of visualization of everything from the race prep, to different race scenarios. She was ready to race at Juniors, and was even more excited when she learned Wednesday evening that the Friday trials of the 1500 had been cancelled, and that they were going to let the 14 elite runners settle it on the track in the final on Saturday. "That was one less thing to worry about and gave me time to settle in." Not even lost luggage on Thursday could faze her this weekend.
The first lap... Liz is off the rail and marking the front.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)
Her thinking had changed. "A huge part of this week was that I didn't care who was in the race. I didn't care about the prestige of the race. I was ready to run fast." All she thought about was her Northeast Foot Locker race. The last time she had met her own standards.
And just to make sure she knew how important racing well was for her, she added, "I didn't want to return home if my race was not good."
Costello has made some great friends this year, and says everyone she has met is nice. But when you're getting ready to race, nice doesn't enter into the mix. "I can't be nice under the tent." She wanted to warm up alone. Her father, Jim; who Comstock says was like a great assistant coach at the meet; had asked around and found an air-conditioned indoor track within walking distance of the meet. The only other person there when she and Comstock went in was sleeping AJ Acosta, getting away from the meet before what turned out to be his winning 1500. It was hot and humid outside, and she thinks the indoor warm-up may have helped her. She had a great warm-up and felt "superb."
Then a dinner at a German restaurant that night that included a little dancing to some of her favorite music helped to ease the tension the night before the big race.
She was ready to race and had but one thing on her mind. Top six.
She started in lane one, but wanted to be on the outside, and certainly did not want to set the pace. She usually goes out quickly, but shot over to the right almost immediately so she wouldn't be boxed in. "It was a smart move."
The race worked perfectly to her favor. The first lap and three-quarters were not super quick by 1500 meter standards. And she came through the 800 in 2:28. "It was a little slow, but it just built confidence in me."
She was getting anxious to kick it into that next gear. With two laps to go, she said she "felt perfect."
At 600 to go, she moved with the front pack as they started to separate themselves. "It was time to see which medal I would contend for."
The finish... and the six have separated from the rest of the pack.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)
With 300 to go, "first place was not that distant." For a brief second, she let them go, then attached herself to the lead pack that Comstock describes as "the girls that wanted a medal."
In the final 200, "Danielle (Tauro) and Erin (Bedell) took off." Costello was comfortably in the top six, and nearly passed fellow Foot Locker Finalist Nicole Jones at the end for 4th. Costello's 5th place time of 4:29.36 (Splits: 73.0, 2:29.0. 3:39, 4:29 (49.9 last 300); converts to just over 4:47 for the mile.
Her prep career was now complete. "I learned that the only thing to inhibit me was me underestimating my ability. I knew I could hang with these girls. I belonged here. This is the caliber of runner I am meant to race. with."
She also says that there was a Team PA feeling in Indianapolis, and that the support was evident during her race. She heard her name all around the track.
Costello will spend the summer at her family's vacation home in South Carolina, recharging and getting ready for what she hopes will be an equally rewarding college career.
She is anxious to get into a college program that gives her the time to get into the weight room. "I'm not as muscular as the other girls."
And she feels she is ready to "burst onto the college scene" and make an impact, and believes it is her competitive nature that will give her the drive to move up to the next level. "I don't back down from a challenge. Soccer. Golf. Any time." Comstock says he purposefully did not get the most out of her, so he agrees, her best races are still in the future.
Costello says that most of all, she has learned a lot about herself and the sport. "This race made up for everything. I learned so much this year. I went from doing well at states. then being propelled onto the national scene. That whirlwind caught up with me. This year taught me how to prepare. How to focus on me, and that who is there and what they have run is not important."
"It was a great way to go out."
The results say it all.
(Photo courtesy of Ryan Comstock, Conestoga HS)