Former Lady ‘Baler Amanda Boyd clears regional qualifying
standard in 5,000
Walnut
Amanda Boyd has only ran the 5,000 meters three times, but she feels like she’s been training for it her whole life.
Boyd, a 2006 graduate of San Benito High School, recorded a 16:45.57 in the 5K at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut last Thursday, shedding some 13 seconds off her time from the Stanford Invitational on April 5, and easily clearing the qualifying mark (16:52) for the NCAA West Regional.
“I finally hit it. This was a mark that has been hanging over my head and I finally hit it,” said Boyd, a freshman at Northern Arizona University. “I’ve only ran three 5K’s in my life, but I put so much into it to get better.”
At Stanford three weeks ago, Boyd shattered her previous best 5K time by 36 seconds, but she felt that she hit somewhat of a wall toward the last mile of the race.
“I know where I messed up at and I know what I gotta do,” said Boyd on April 5. “[Six seconds] is definitely doable.”
While easily clearing the six seconds that separated her Stanford time from the regional qualifying standard, Boyd trained with a series of threshold workouts, which allowed her to, as she says, “sprint when you don’t think you can sprint anymore.”
The threshold workout, which was conducted at the nearly 7,000-foot altitude on the NAU campus in Flagstaff, Ariz., consists of several 600- and 200-meter repeats in order to build up a tolerance for when runners hit that proverbial wall.
“Your legs will know what to do when it comes to that point,” Boyd said of the training.
On the final lap of the 5,000 meters, when most runners can’t run anymore, let alone sprint, Boyd needed an 80-second lap to reach the qualifying standard.
“I just sprinted my last lap,” said Boyd, who clocked her final lap at 72 seconds. “That last 800 (meters), I took off.”
Boyd will now look toward the Big Sky Championships on May 14 and the NCAA West Regional Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, slated for May 28-29 at Cal State Northridge.
Having already taken approximately 49 seconds off her 5K time since the indoor season, Boyd, whose time is ranked fourth in the Big Sky, is seeking the next step: a time of 16:30 before regionals.
“There are some fast times,” said Boyd, adding that only the top five finishers at regionals advance to nationals. “But I’m only getting better.”
