Posted: July 16, 2005

Athletics: Toomey Looking At 'the Big Picture'

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

In the last 10 days, Jen Toomey, the runner-up in the 1500 meters at last month’s U.S. national championships, missed twice in her attempt to collect the 4:05.80 “A” qualifying standard for next month’s world championships. But for the 33-year-old Tufts grad, chasing standards is no longer the ultimate goal.

“I still have to get the standard in the 1500, but I’ve kind of decided that I really just have to embrace racing and enjoy it and bring the love back to racing,” the affable New Englander said after her personal best 2:36.46 third place finish in a 1000 meter race in Zagreb, Croatia on Monday. “And hopefully the times will come.”

Toomey also finished second at last year’s Olympic Trials in the metric mile, but her subsequent qualifier chase that summer resulted in an adductor injury.

“I’m tired of having to chase a time,” she admitted bluntly. “It’s not what racing’s about. Racing’s about racing. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you have to really kind of see the big picture of it.”

In Lausanne on July 5, Toomey finished fifth at the Athletissima Super Grand Prix, clocking 4:08.16. At Rome’s Golden Gala last Friday, she was eighth to reach to reach the line, clocking 4:06.24, eclipsing her 4:06.61 personal best set last year. In Rome, and again in Zagreb, Toomey ran assertively down the final back straight, challenging for the lead at the Golden Gala and carrying the lead into the final straight in Zagreb, before running out of steam.

“I’ve been pretty aggressive in my races,” she said. “I’m hoping that I’m getting the beginning and later part of the race down and being really competitive and not trying to back off at all, and being aggressive. Which I’ve had problems with in the past.” Breaking into a hearty laugh, she added, “Hopefully the end will come together soon.”

Despite missing her Helsinki qualifier by less than half a second in Rome, Toomey was hardly disappointed.

“My coach said, ‘you can never complain about a PR.’ You keep hearing that in Europe you’re going to catch this train,” she continued, again laughing, “but I have yet to see that train.”

Her next attempt to catch that “A” train will come at tomorrow’s (16-July) Super Grand Prix in Madrid.