Track star on training for Olympics while pregnant
Sarah Brown says unique hurdle made her tougher
Top American middle-distance runner Sarah Brown gave birth to her first child, a girl, Darren Brown, announced on Twitter last week.
Abigail Ann Brown arrived at 2:39 a.m. on March 4, weighing in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and “mom and baby are doing great,” Darren Brown reported.
Now Sarah Brown will begin her next big project: making it to the starting line at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Brown hasn’t been shy about making her goals public—she hopes to make the U.S. team heading to Rio in the 1500 meters. She has just over four months to prepare for the opening round of the women’s 1500, scheduled to take place July 7.
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Abigail’s arrival, more than two weeks ahead of her March 21 due date, gives her mother, who ran and cross trained throughout her pregnancy, a little extra time to recover and train for the trials.
Sarah and Darren, who also serves as her coach, could not figure out why Sarah’s 2015 track season suddenly went downhill. Then they learned that she was pregnant, despite having an intrauterine device.
Having a baby four months out is certainly a non-traditional approach to making an Olympic team, but Darren believes that if anyone can make the team off of a less-than-ideal buildup, it’s Sarah, because she's had success coming off of extended periods of missed training in the past.
“I’ve seen her do a lot more with a lot less time,” Darren told Runner's World by phone in September. “I know that if we just keep her healthy and we’re safe and cautious with this process, she’s going to come out the other end ready to fight, like she always has, and she’ll do something special.”
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“I understand there’s a level that I need to get myself to, and once I’ve gotten myself to that level, anything can happen,” Sarah told Runner's World in September, adding that she doesn’t expect she’ll be in sub-4:00 1500 shape by the trials. “But there is a level of fitness that you can get yourself to, and I’ve been really successful once I’ve hit that level. [The hope is to] get myself to that point and then see what happens.”
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The Browns recently moved from California to Northern Virginia to be closer to Sarah’s family. Last week, ESPN announced that filmmaker Daniele Anastasion will make four short films about Sarah Brown, examining motherhood and athleticism.
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