The youngest Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier in 30 years is also just a regular high school student, trying to balance academics with high professional goals.
In retrospect, the whole process looks like it was planned to perfection. In truth, though, Alana Hadley's view of her own future has evolved significantly over the last five years, and you get the sense that the ups and downs have been as surprising to her as they have been to everyone watching her progression. In many ways, that process came to its conclusion two weekends ago when Hadley (whose first name is pronounced Ah-lah-nah, not Ah-lay-nah) ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in a time of 2:41.56, fast enough to qualify for the 2016 US Olympic Trials. Even more than the amazing time, though, it was the decision afterward that signaled the start of a new phase in both her training and her life.
But first, that time! For reference, the world record for a 16-year old is 2:31.51, 10 minutes faster than Alana's mark; the US Junior (under 20) record is 2:34.24, set by Cathy O'Brien in 1984 (Hadley is the youngest to qualify for the US Olympic Trials since O'Brien, as well). This was her second attempt at the full marathon distance (she holds US records for 14- and 15-year-olds in the half marathon), but the first didn't go according to plan. She sustained an injury relatively early in the race, though she was still able to limp to the finish line. "I struggled in the beginning after I had that setback, however I tried to think about it logically and positively," Alana now says. "I looked over my marathon and took what I could from that experience to use in racing my second marathon. I figured out that I needed to become mentally tougher for this second marathon and started to train accordingly."
As she prepared for her second try, with her training going well, she felt her confidence return and a plan formed. "My ideal race for the marathon would be to run even splits and possibly negative split my race. I wanted to feel comfortable until half way and still have more in the tank to push at 20 miles to have a fast last 6.2 miles." Things came together nicely, resulting in the performance that put her in the national spotlight, as well as putting her in a position to make a potentially life-changing decision. You see, her finish at the Monumental Marathon was high enough - 4th place among all females - that she qualified for an award of prize money. To remain an amateur, and preserve her ability to compete in college, Alana would have to decline. For some time now, though, she has known that she wants to pursue a career in professional road racing. "I knew I wanted to pursue the marathon probably around 2-3 years ago. That was when I had first run a half marathon and I loved the longer distance, I could just picture myself running marathons."
Hadley and her father, who coaches her, decided that the time was now, and she accepted the prize money, declaring herself as a professional at the young age of 16. In her own words:
I wanted to become a professional road racer as soon as it made sense, even though I didn’t know if I could do it this early; so I’m excited that I am able to be professional right now. Some of the factors that led me to my decision of taking the step now is that my passion lies with the road and longer distances. I just couldn’t picture myself running track and cross country for my college, so there was nothing holding me back from taking the leap and going professional now.
For those that haven't been tracking her career, this might seem like a rushed or even impulsive decision, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This has always been in the cards for Alana, although not even she could have predicted that things would come together so quickly. Beginning with her decision not to run for her 
high school (she attends Ardrey Kell, where she seems to have earned the respect and support of her fellow students), she and her father have charted a course on the road instead of the trail, and her development has been more gradual than many may realize. Her mileage has increased over each of the last five years by an average of 10 miles per week (an increase of roughly 10% per year recently). Her mileage is certainly quite high, but she has a lot of systems in place to help her recover and tolerate the training: "I have many different types of rollers I use to help in my recovery including The Stick, Roll Recovery, and some different items from tptherapy.com. I also like to take ice baths (summer) and Epson salt baths (winter) after hard workouts to help my muscles recover." Hadley follows a strict regimen of form drills and general strength training, which is geared toward maintaining solid muscle development. Nutrition is also critical to this process:
One thing that I definitely do is eat a lot of food, which might even be an understatement. I always seem to be hungry and never have a problem finding something to eat. It’s very important to eat a lot when you run a lot. I try to keep a balanced diet and eat a little bit of every food group but I still get in my sweets, I’m a chocoholic so I like to have some candy. However I still make sure I eat enough healthy foods as well. Some of my favorite things to eat are my mom’s homemade lasagna and banana bread. Though during the summer I really enjoy freshly grilled vegetables like cherry tomatoes and mushrooms, mmm the best!
Sleep is also a critical factor in her training and recovery, and she has had to form disciplined habits in order to meet her academic requirements (she is an excellent student and takes AP classes). Alana says that she targets a 9:00 bedtime, even on weeknights, although she often makes up for any lost sleep with long Sunday afternoon naps (something she and I have in common).
So, what comes next for North Carolina's newest professional marathoner? Hadley seems to have a very long-term view, and the big decision doesn't seem to have altered her training focus at all. "My goal now is to continue to bring down my marathon time; I plan on running a spring and fall marathon in 2014 to complete that goal. I also plan on running some other race distances, like half marathon, 10K, and some distances in between to bring down those times as well to help bring down my marathon time."