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The Coach's Corner: Toby Tanser
An Interview with Coach Toby at the 91st Street Hill, January 26, 2010
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Running in the Cold
Editor What do you say to people who say it's too cold. Can you recommend some kind of indoor workouts for the next month or so?Toby: New York is not too cold, I used to run in minus 40 myself. I would never say it was too cold. But there are a couple of things you can do - first the complicated method: if you belong to a gym near your running route you could go in and use the Jacuzzi and warm yourself up and then throw on your gear and take off.
Now for the practical version: just put on a lot of clothes
and do some running or jumping-jacks or something indoors, and then run out straight away - as long as you're moving when you hit the cold outside air,
you won't be too cold. And it's all about layers - start with plenty of layers and peel them off as you warm up.
Cross Training
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Toby: I'm actually the words biggest advocate of not cross training. One of my reasons is that having spent a lot of time in Kenya I have noticed the runners look very good there - smooth and relaxed; but if you stand in Central Park, runners look very stiff and tight. What's the difference? All the Kenyans do is run! New Yorkers are too busy and they don't run enough. If you're cross training instead of running, that may be part of the problem. Many runners in New York do some form of cross training. Besides taking time away from running, certain types of cross training will strengthen some muscles and that may pull you out of balance, out of running shape.
Editor: You're saying to run better, run more.
Toby: To be honest I'm speaking here from a purist point of view. But you might say you can cross train "within" your running - that
is, don't just run the same way, the same speed, the same distance - you'll get stale. Use speed work or hill work or long vs. short distance or
"Strides", etc. as your "cross training". The truth about running is that your body needs to get used to and adapt to the
pounding because that's what hurts your body. You can sit on a bicycle for 8 hours or cross country ski for 12 hours but you can't really run
for that long. Cross training won't help you adapt to the pounding.
Editor: The Flyers have a good number of triathletes and obviously that takes a different kind of training, have you got something to
say about that?
Toby: Yes, if I wanted to do a biathlon or triathlon, I must train for running and then do cross training for the other parts
of the event. But for pure running, no.
And admittedly you can do some good for yourself at the gym and use the elliptical or arc trainer. They're all great exercises and shouldn't hurt your running, but I'm saying I wouldn't want to see NY runners run less - I would encourage them to run more
Getting Back into shape after the NYC Marathon
Editor: There's a fair number - I don't know maybe - 10 to 30% of people who did the marathon and then took a month or 2 off, and they're just thinking
about getting back now. What would be your advice to them for restarting their engines?
Toby: Start really slowly and then only increase 5% per week - don't go for the 10% that some people advise. I say start very cautiously
because anything more will be a shock to the body - that's when you will get your injuries. And don't try to run long straight off. A big mistake is
people start training again, and they look back at their training mileage before the marathon. They might say "I was running 40 miles a week - I have to
get back to that 40 miles." No you don't! Marathon training should be a specific time of the year. When you determine the mileage the rest of
the time, be happy and set yourself a smaller goal like a 5K or 10K. And if you hope to do Boston, it's already late in the game.
Boston or other Spring marathons
Editor: There's going to be a number of people running Spring marathons particularly Boston. Where should they be now and when should they be hitting
their maximum mileage?
Toby: That's very topical because today is actually 12 weeks away from Boston. I was just talking to a couple of people who are running Boston.
I would say the 11th week before the race (next week) you need to be starting your long runs. This week you need to get ready for that, and
hopefully you won't be starting from scratch. What you do in a 12 week program is to progress in 2 week segments (counting back from
the marathon): a 16-18 miler at week-11, an 18 miler at week-9, a 20-21 miler at week-7, another 20-21 miler at week-5, and finally
an 18 miler at week-3. Then you go into your taper. Those other weeks should be "easy weeks". That's simplistic, but it's how I would do it.
Editor: So you are saying right now they should be training.
Toby: They should be training but not quite marathon training. This week they need to be getting into marathon mode which of
course means increasing mileage.
Your Goals for the Flyers
Editor: What is important to you in your efforts to help our team and what gives you satisfaction for what you do?
Toby: For me I love to see human betterment. In one of the comments that came up when I first came to the Flyers was something like:
"Oh, you only like to run with the faster runners" - for me "running with the faster runners" has no bearing on my coaching. It's all about the person.
If you have a group and you have someone who is interested and alert, it doesn't really matter if he/she gets to 100%. It is the
willingness and interest in training that matters. Someone who comes to training sessions who wants to improve and is interested in their body
- that's an interesting person to a coach. That's what I like. It doesn't matter if you're helping someone improve from a 4:50 to a 4:45
marathon or for another runner to improve from a 3:40 to a 3:30, as long as they want to work to improve.
Editor: So you're looking for improvement from whatever base they were at, whether they're slow medium or fast?
Toby: And not only improvement in time but improvement of enjoyment. Running is a holistic sport and for lots of people the
whole point of running is about getting out there and having a better time. If you can get somebody to enjoy themselves, it is often one of
the greatest things you could do. And working with a group in training helps enormously. Often they train by themselves 6 days of the week and
come together for the weekly workout to try work together. And the encouragement and learning from the group should help them enjoy running more
and run better. When that happens, I'm satisfied.
Believe in Yourself
Editor: You sound like you have an endless supply of anecdotes.
Toby: Well I am a little bit opinionated. I remember one of the most disappointing things in my early training was when I ran for a team
in Sweden and the coach said to me "What do you think about our training". So I said "To be honest, I really would like to be doing more 800 repeats".
The following week he spoke to the group "Now we're going to do 800 meter repeats". Gosh, I was thinking, what kind of belief
do you have in your own system, if you're so easily swayed by a nonchalant comment that I made?
I really think that with a coach, you have to have a system that you believe in.
I was lucky that I spent so much time with really, really good coaches around the world, and by listening to them and getting pieces of advice -
seeing their systems and how well they worked - I formed my own system . And there's no doubt I believe in what I do.
Getting Older
Editor: I personally have made the transition from "young and strong" to whatever comes next after that. And I think you
probably have seen the result of aging too - what do you recommend to people who are getting into their 50s or 60s?
Toby: the most important thing with aging is we have to keep the range of motion - and I'll give you an example: in my gym there's twins
who are around 75 years old, and one is 2 inches smaller than the other - one does Yoga and the other one doesn't. You can guess who the one that
does the Yoga is.
What I've found is it's all about maintaining a range of motion. One good method that anyone can use is to go to a grass field where there's a slight slope
and do "Strides" twice a week. This will help you keep your range of motion. I can see myself when I don't do Strides, my running stride gets smaller and
smaller and my speed starts to come down.
And don't go crazy with speed work. I know this well - when I was 20,
I could do 5 sessions a week, hard sessions. Now I'm lucky to do one. Yes, you have to accept that your body will slow down, but really work on
the range of motion.
Editor: I think one of the greatest inventions was publishing the percentages of performance. I get disappointed when I look at my minutes per
mile but the percentages help me to stay motivated. I used to be in the 65% - 70% range. Just last Sunday at the Manhattan Half, I was initially
disappointed in my time. But when I looked up the results, I had done a 64% and that reassured me that I was still "in the game".
Do you think that's a good way to look at it.
Toby: Absolutely, because you're an experiment of one. And you know the real thing that I love about running is the comradery. Look at
The Superbowl - you will never, never see Team A go over and give Team B the Gatorade. But at a marathon you'll see the leaders
will pass a drink from one to the next. Obviously that means the sport of running is not just competing against other people, it's actually
about competing against yourself. That's why it's so important to concentrate on your own performance and not worry about how you're relating
to anyone else. Each of us is an experiment of one.
Running on the Dirt
Editor: I've moved more to cross country and trail races and try to do my long runs on the dirt - that seems to help me.
Do you recommend that sort of thing?
Toby: Without a doubt. I was talking to Paula Radcliff 2 years ago after she won the NYC marathon. I used to know Paula back in the 90s and we were
wondering where all the people, all the old friends had disappeared to. She thinks one reason is she would always run on grass the whole
time - always on the softest surface. The same was true with Haile Gebrselassie. I ran with him when he came New York. And his career has almost
exactly the same kind of time span as Paula - they've both been running since the early 90s. Both of them are meticulous about picking the softest surface
to run on. When you think of about all the pounding - 4 times your own body weight every single stride - it has to take a toll on the body.
Editor: Often when I'm running with friends in Central Park, I'll say let's go on the bridle path. Some of them have never been there before -
to me that's astounding!
Toby: For me it's the first thing I ever look for when I come to a new city. I take out a street map and I look for a patch of green.
I always look for a patch of green. I would rather run around a square this size (the intersection of Third Avenue and 91st Street) rather than
going on a road. I don't care, as long as I'm on soft ground, my body is good.
Editor: Well I think I've got enough - my hands are getting cold holding this recorder.
Toby: You need gloves my friend.