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| 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?
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| 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 3rd 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 3rd
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.
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| 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, 3rd
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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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