Grandt ranked 7th in upcoming Olympic Trials Marathon this weekend

"I thought, 'Why is she doing strides now?'" Cleary said, recalling that memory. "I told her we wouldn't be running for 45 more minutes. She wasn't doing strides. She was running a warm up."

That rather quick speed on a daily basis, that determination to never truly rest easy, is now Grandt's trademark as a distance runner. A hard working distance runner with a modest personal best time of an 11:28 3,200 meter in high school, she is now running at the level she always dreamed of attaining.

Grandt will step on the line in Houston, Texas this weekend for the Olympic Trials Marathon, with the seventh fastest time in the field. She is the second fastest American woman under the age of 25 in the marathon distance, not to mention she is also one of the youngest women to qualify.

Put simply, Grandt can describe this in just two words.

"It's huge," she said.

Arguably one of the least experienced women in the field, Grandt knows what she is up against. Eight of those women, including herself, have run sub-2:30. Her competitors' times at 5k and 10k distances easily outrank her on the national scale, as she has run 16:01 and 33:16.97 respectively. Desiree Davila has the fastest time in the elite field, clocking a smoking 2:22:38 in the Boston Marathon last year.

After fighting her way to the top, Grandt could still be looked upon as one of the underdogs in the field. But, not quite, according to Cleary. Just take a look at her performance in Boston last year.

"She was an unknown," he said. "She was just out there, tootling along at the Boston Marathon, running 2:29.54. Now, she's in a very unique situation in that everyone knows who the giants are currently in the sport, the giants, and Clara's name is being mentioned - not whispered - mentioned in the same breath with some of them."

And possibly, just possibly, with the training she has put in following Boston and the transition she has made from the NCAA Division 1 scene to the marathon stage, she might just surprise even more people.

"Having another few months under my belt with all of this training and increasing that, I think I will feel stronger in the end," she said. "I'm hoping that will carry over by this race."

Although she will step into another unfamiliar situation this weekend, competing against all of the very best in the sport, she feels she has shaken off any uncertainty and jitters she may have felt before Boston.

"I just feel more like a marathoner," she said. "I felt more like I was still transitioning before Boston from college running to the marathon. I did a lot of marathon stuff still in college, but not totally, and I feel like I prepared like a marathoner this time."

Take, for example, her speed. During her runs she is now accustomed to easily averaging 6:20 mile pace or faster, a pace she has beaten down since her early college days when she was happy to average sub-7 minute pace. Even her workouts have drastically shown a transformation. For 200 meters on and 200 meters off, Grandt ran 1,000 meters before jogging across the grass, only to do it again at least seven more times. By the time she finished her workout, she averaged right at her 5k speed.

"We knew that, 'Boy, she was getting really, really fit,'" Cleary said.

So fit, in fact, that he feels she could have set personal records in both 5k and 10k distances right then and there. Having a few good workouts at this time last year was encouraging, but now, it's not just every other workout. Grandt is now performing at that level on a consistent basis in a series of workouts that have challenged her mentally and physically, all while averaging nearly 120 mile weeks.

All variables considered, including her long runs, have been impeccable.

"Out at Cooper's Rock, I ran on some pretty hard runs on the hills out there. Those were probably some of my best runs I've had out there, so I'm really happy to have those going into this race."

Looking back on her training, Cleary knows he made the right decisions in the past year to bring her to this moment. Following her stellar performance at the USA 20K Championships, placing second in 1:09:05, Cleary shut down her training. By fall she slowly eased back into it and didn't start high intensity workouts again until November.

"Her training has been tremendous," he said. "I feel very, very happy with where she is in her shape."

But, if there is one thing Grandt has learned, always remember the past that has shaped you and guided you to the present. With her Boston performance in the forefront of her mind and knowing the depth of the field in the trials, she is taking a modest approach to what she will face this weekend.

"I think I've grown, kind of learned from Boston," she said. "Boston was a really good experience. So, I want to take that and take what I learn from that and not get in far over my head. I don't want to be too confident and say, 'Oh, nothing is ever going to go wrong.'"

For this race, she knows she has to stay focused and under control, avoiding temptation to click at a faster pace than she has planned.

"I just want to focus on having the best race I can have, try not to let other people's races affect my race too much. I kind of have to look at places and stuff, but I can't go out at a pace that I know I can't maintain. If other people do, I just have to let them go and just hope they go back to me, eventually," she said with a laugh.

In order to make the team, which is the pinnacle of her goals, one thing is certain. She has to run aggressive. It may be a long shot for someone who is on the same level as four or five other contenders hoping to sneak into the top three. However, Cleary is an optimist. Statistics show that in the history of the marathon, a long shot has always made the team.

After working with her for the last several years, he knows that her performance in Boston exemplifies who she truly is as a blossoming elite runner and who she could become.

"Absolutely no one will convince me that it's a misleading time, and no one will convince me that it's not an accurate reflection of her shape because of the tail wind and how fast the day was. She ran 26.2 miles in 2:29.54. That's a reality. If Clara runs a smart race on Saturday and runs with the poise of a 27 year old experienced marathoner, she'll run well and that confidence will go very, very far."

Confidence she has taken in the form of silence, she continues to acknowledge the extremely talented and elite women she will toe the line with in just a few days. A twinkle sparkles in her eyes, as she thinks about what is to come with an unfaltering enthusiasm that has proven to move mountains.

"To know I'm already that far up in such a deep field is a pretty big confidence booster, but I do want to be in top three. So, it's going to make it harder, but I'm glad to say that I'm a part of a better field. It's a big goal (to make the trials). I've always had this goal, and I am one of the possible contenders, so I'm looking to make a spot on the team. It's all the hard work, and it's paying off."