Maybe When I am Older -- Profile of a Prolific Flyer

Heather Tolford

Blogmaster Dave: Flyer Heather Tolford has been breaking Flyers Hall of Fame racing records throughout 2018, including her own newly set records. I recently caught up with Heather (though not during a race!) to learn about her running and related experiences. She also talked about her training and racing strategies.  Here's what I learned!

Blogmaster Dave: Heather, I'd love to hear about your years as a star high school and collegiate runner. Tell us about your early years?

SFVTC Girls with Coach Laszlo Tabori

Heather's reply:  My original running mentors were world class marathoners and one really fast miler. From 1974 to the end of 1976, Jacqueline Hansen, Miki Gorman, Sue Kinsey and Leal Ann Rhinehart were training partners every Tuesday and Thursday evening at Valley College in southern California’s San Fernando Valley (SFV) where we endured 2-3 hour workouts under the guidance of the legendary Hungarian, Laszlo Tabori -- the 3^rd man to break four minutes in the mile. Laszlo had convinced my father to let me train with his group during my first year of competing when I was a senior in high school. There was no girls' program at my school and I had crashed the JV boys cross country team in the wake of Title IX. I received the first women’s running scholarship to the University of Oregon and by the spring of 1978 I had set school records for the Duck women in the 3K (9:46), 5K (17:03), and 10K (35:51) .

  

In June of 1978, Fred Lebow brought me to New York to run The Crazy Legs Mini Marathon (10K) and for a special presentation to my former coach, Laszlo Tabori, for his contributions to women’s running. I fell in love with the city. After that, I jumped right into a summer of road racing, including a 1:15 and change at the Bohemia Mining Days Half Marathon in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Oregon Coach Tom Heinonen thought I might have some luck with the marathon so I signed up for the 1978 OTC Marathon in Eugene set for early in the fall. I made my marathon debut, finishing 3^rd for women in 2:46. Unfortunately, that escapade ended my collegiate running career, as illness and injury took their toll in the wake of that effort.

OTC -- 1978

Blogmaster Dave: Heather, you eventually came back to running.  Tell us about that?

Heather's Reply: Fast forward 10 years and I have a 3 year old, and a challenging spouse who had moved us to a tiny town on the Oregon coast the week I turned 30. I panicked and started to run. I dominated the coastal races and started traveling two hours across the mountains to Portland. I took second at the Portland Marathon, 3^rd at Honolulu and ran a string of marathons under 2:45, competing briefly for Saucony, and then Nike’s Oregon International Team. My 2:40.15 marathon PR at Los Angeles in 1991, the closest I got to my goal of breaking 2:40, got me an Olympic qualifying A standard for the 1992 trials in Houston, but I was starting feel worn down in my longer races, and was battling Achilles issues, so after a painful 3-hour Boston Marathon in 1993, I started coaching high school track and had my second daughter in 1995.

Blogmaster Dave: What have you been up to more recently, Heather?  And when did the NY Flyers enter your life? 

Heather's Reply: I continued to teach, coach track, cross country, and gymnastics while raising my two daughters on the rugged northern Oregon coast. When I reunited with my high school sweetheart and moved to New York from Oregon in 2011, I was looking forward to a new life and running and racing in Central Park.

Coach Heather -- With Her District Champs, 2006

I had been running consistently in Oregon before the move and had a lottery entry into the New York Half, but ended up scratching due to a slip on the ice and a torn MCL. A few months later, I started up again, with a full time job teaching gymnastics and some easy runs in Central Park.

I returned to the Mini 10K again in 2014 and New York Flyer, Francine Alfandry introduced herself at the finish line. She encouraged me to join the Flyers and race more frequently. I wasn’t training seriously, but I had ditched my metro card in favor of running to work and back across the island each day. I saved time and money (which I promptly spent on running shoes), and combined with my very physical job, throwing children around the gym, I got into decent shape.

I had picked up a second job working for a coaching service, Coach Up, and added more mileage working with high school kids, and runners of all abilities when I was not at the gym. The bulk of my training was still easy running, with the occasional short, faster paced “late to work” run.

I have been reluctant to do the intense speed interval work that I did when I was younger. I had developed Achilles problems in the 90’s, and when I “retired” in 1993, I had to stop running entirely for nearly a year. I started training as a gymnastics coach for the Tillamook YMCA to supplement track and cross country coaching at the high school there and to my surprise, the lifting, stretching and jumping helped my Achilles issues and I was able to run comfortably again. My gymnastics day job ended up being really good strength and PT work!

I would occasionally jump into a race for fun and fitness, but had no master’s ambitions until I started placing in races competing for the Flyer’s. Approaching 60, I started thinking about trying to have a good 2018 season and added a longish (8-10 mile) run to my weekly commuting on Mondays. I typically run it at 9:50 -10:30 pace per mile, going by feel. This easy run has resulted in a slew of “senior” PR’s this year.

I have had minor injuries over the past few years, trips, falls, getting hit by a bicycle, and bumps and strains from the hazardous job of catching little children as they flip into you, but I have managed to run through most of them. As I write this, I am working on recovery from a bone-bruised knee from a fall navigating a slushy curb during the recent November snow storm. A few days off and exercises to maintain mobility takes care of most issues but I am cautious about committing to an aggressive race schedule during the winter months due to potential hazardous conditions and occasional klutziness on my part.

NYRR Mini 10K -- 2018

Blogmaster Dave: Heather, how would you describe your training regimen? 

Heather's Reply: As of November 25, I have run 2040 miles this year, mostly in the form of 2.5 - 3 mile runs, twice a day commuting to work, 6 days a week. I try to throw in a longer run of 8-10 miles on my way home from work on Mondays when I work half a day. Sometimes on Saturdays and on weekday evenings in the summer, if I have multiple running clients booked, I get extra mileage running them around the park for up to 3 hours. I have not been doing any interval work to speak of myself, but occasionally run at a faster "tempo" pace when I am running late to work. Because running is my main mode of transportation, I only take a day off if I am injured or really sick.

I am in the gym 40 hours per week and spend much of that time stretching with my classes, demonstrating gymnastics drills, moving heavy equipment and lifting kids infant sized to 9 years old. 

When I am coaching runners, I have my athletes use a modified Jack Daniels type plan, but interject specific interval workouts from my experiences with Tabori and the at the University of Oregon. I emphasize the importance of listening to your body and taking easy days really easy. I try to practice what I preach, but skip the fast stuff. I did enough of that when I was young!

Blogmaster Dave: Heather, do you have racing strategies to share with other NY Flyers?

Heather's Reply: Consistency to the point of being a bit OCD helps with my pre race routine. I Iike to eat the same meal the night before a race, a pasta carbonara with turkey bacon (I don't eat red meat) and a glass of red wine. I never imbibed before a race prior to my 1991 marathon PR, so it is a good luck ritual for me.

I wake up at least 2 hours before I have to be at the starting area,have one cup of coffee and a banana or a little yogurt with honey and chew a piece of Run Gum 30 minutes before the race starts (I was a brand ambassador for the company this year). 

I tend to start a race a bit fast to get out of the crowd and then settle into my pace. I am not the greatest uphill runner, but can relax and let it rip on the downhills to make up time. I try to push my races as hard as I can go and often look pretty wobbly at the end. I race at a much faster paster than any of my daily "workouts."

I ended up with a 9+1 this year for guaranteed entry into the 2019 NYC Marathon, but have no marathon plans right now and want to try to improve my mile to 10k times and perhaps try another half marathon next year. Maybe when I am older….

-Heather Tolford 

Coaching Website: https://www.coachup.com/coaches/heathert