Kelly Williamson To Take On 3M Half Marathon

After a few well-deserved months off, 34-year-old Kelly Williamson has jumped back into training in the wake of a successful 2011 season.

At the full-distance Ironman World Championships in October, Williamson was the fourth-best American in the women’s field, placing 13th overall.

“Last season was a good year for me,” Williamson said. “Right now, I’m just coming off what I call my ‘5K offseason ‘ in November and December. I did four 5K s during that period.”

In one of those 5-kilometer races — Austin’s Reindeer Run — Williamson won, notching a personal best of 16 minutes and 45 seconds. Now that she’s readying for the 2012 triathlon season, she’s added biking and swimming back into her training.

“The past three to four weeks have consisted of getting some good volume in on the bike, which includes a couple of 60-75 mile rides each week. The running has been moderate in volume with some focus on tempo-type efforts — not real ‘speed’ work but more like trying to hone in on the speed I’ll need for the upcoming half Ironmans.”

Williamson will likely call on that speed Sunday, even though the field will not be as deep as it has been in past 3M Half Marathons.

Read more: Statesman.com