I came across this article from Running Times about what Paula Radcliffe would need to do to win in the 2012 Olympics. According to marathoner, Ingrid Kristiansen, who won the 1983 Houston Marathon five months after birthing her first child, “If she wants to win in London, I am afraid she cannot keep going with so much training for four more years without having a lot of injuries…”
She also thinks that having another baby could be in Radcliffe’s favor. Studies are a bit inconclusive about this except that blood volume increases during pregnancy and remains so for 4-8 weeks postpartum.
One thing is that Radcliffe doesn’t have time in her favor as she will be 38 when the next Olympics rolls around, and that is unfortunately getting up there for an elite marathoner’s running life. It’s sad really, but running is less forgiving than some of the other sports out there.
Secondly, she seems to be vey injury prone which can also be problematic. I don’t know what will happen, and 4 years is a long way off. Anything can happen by then, so it is best to never rule anyone out.
