Runnerslife
Meet The Guest
Matt O'Dowd
Personal Bests
1500m - 3.45
3k - 7.55
2 miles - 8.44
5k - 13.30
10k - 28.52
(Road)
5k - 14.17
10k - 29.30
10 mile - 49.13
Half Marathon - 62.38
Marathon - 2.12.20
Highlights
2000 - Cross Country - 47th - World Champs (Vilamoura)
2001 - Cross Country - 65th - World Champs (Oostende)
2001 - 10,000m - 1st - National Champs
2001 - Half Marathon - 62.40, 21st - World Champs (Bristol)
2002 - Cross Country - 102nd - World Champs (Dublin)
2002 - 5000m - 13:43, 11th - Commonwealth Games (Manchester)
2002 - Marathon 2.12, 8th - New York
2003 - Marathon DNF - World Champs (Paris)
2004 - Marathon - 2:22:37, 50th - Olympic Games (Athens)
Questions
Q. How did you get started in running?
A. At school, I was always keen on playing sports and played a lot of football. I was very active as a child and when I went to secondary school we did XC and I did well at it and ended up joining a running club from there. After this I mixed football and running until I was at college where I then concentrated more on running. I remember once going and doing a hard hill session a few miles away from college then running back and going in to the changing rooms and changing from running kit in to football kit and playing 90mins of football playing centre midfield! Within a few months of giving up football I made the World XC team as a junior (Budapest 1994).
Q. Was Marathons always your ambition or did it just work out that way?
A. I pretty much ended up running road races like halves/marathons without huge planning. Often since my early twenties I ended up doing XC Nov-March, then track, often competing on road in the autumn. I ran the GNR in 1997 which was my first half. I was always keen and enjoyed racing on the roads and it was only natural that I progressed upwards from running track/XC on to halves then the full marathon.
Athens Olympics 2004
Q. What was it like to take part in Athens Olympics 2004?
A. It was a great experience in some ways as it is every runner's ambition to make the team for an Olympics. However I had suffered from overtraining in 2003 when preparing for the World Champs in Paris and this held back my preparations. I was able to have a reasonable period of training to get in shape quite quick (AAA 10,000m in 29.05) in May but I struggled after this. When out at the training camp sessions were more draining than they should have been but I'd hoped that come the big day things would work out okay but not so. At the event itself it felt quite strange going over to Athens only a few days before hand and finding many of the GB team in party mode. One Badminton player told me he was bored of getting up at lunch time, eating free McDonalds in the Athlete Village, going to watch Beach Volleyball and then going out clubbing (mostly for free) all night!
Q. Were you on the course when Paula pulled out of the Women's Marathon?
A. We were over in Cyprus still and it was a big shock. Everyone felt for her as she is such a professional that she had done everything possible to get to the start line in peak shape and it was heart breaking to watch her suffer. However every athlete has been in this position at some point in their career and its all about trying to come back in the future and put it right.
Q. Was there a good party at the end of the Olympics?
A. Well there wasn't one really for male marathon runners! The Marathon was on about 6pm. Once the Marathon had finished the closing ceremony had already started as it was in the main stadium so we didn't get to go to it. We were taken back to the Athletes Village and it was deserted as everyone was at the closing ceremony. I remember being very tired and dehydrated, we then pretty much went to bed. I was woken by a street party in the very early hours outside but fell back to sleep again. We were up at about 7am as all the team flew back early. I remember having to try to make my way through the packed underground in London with 2 big bags with very tired and sore legs. I was pretty glad to get home to be honest!
Q. Any good stories from the Olympics?
A. Not from these. However someone I know was at a training weekend and went out on the booze. He got separated from his friend and room mate for the night whilst out. When he returned to the hotel he got the room key and went in the room (where he had been given a double bed) and got in to find someone in the bed who he presumed was his room mate. He crept in, removing his clothes, and slipped in to bed only for a female voice to shout at him. He had asked for the wrong room�s key and got in to bed with one of the female athletes at the weekend.
Q. You sort of disappeared after Athens for a while, what happened?
A. In 2005 I was preparing for Prague and was very fit. I paced Jon Brown in London for 10miles at 64.00 pace before easing up and helping out my friend Matt Smith. I paced him to 30km. I had also run 29.30 at the Great Ireland Run. I got tendonitis which then prevented me from racing Prague and affected me for a while after. After this time I have seemed to have some patches of good training followed by problems that have held me back from competing well. I spent most of last year getting fitter and ran 29.41 at the Great Yorkshire Run and 64.51 at the GNR.
Training
Q. What was a normal training week around the time you went to the Olympics?
A. When training hard for a marathon I wouldn't be obsessed with mileage. I would probably run anywhere between about 110-130m a week. I have run higher but found that it's just too much or a risk and not much more can be gained from running more than that. I like to try to build up rather than down; so try to be in good 10k shape with about 12 weeks to go, and then try to be in good half shape about 8 weeks out and then do the key marathon work. This is generally easier to do in the autumn.
Q. What was your usually build up to a marathon?
A. I would like to be in good 10k shape and then build from there. I wouldn't race often in the build up though as the marathon requires thorough preparation. I would use the few races as breaks in training, although some times use a half as a training session as it beats the monotony of doing lots of long tempos on your own. I try to be quite flexible in training so that if training has gone well and I'm tired then I have the licence to drop a session or two and get back on top of things. I get in good miles generally but if a weeks miles are a little less due to having a few light days then I'm not worried.
Q. What was your longest run, and at what pace?
A. I would generally like to get in 1 or 2 runs up to 3hrs but these are not at a fast pace (probably 6.30miling type of pace) and would often add in quite a few hills to these runs. I did a 3hr run too quick before the World Champs in Paris in 2003 and it did me in.
Q. Did you have a good training group?
A. I did all my key sessions on my own but some of the easy runs and other sessions I did with the likes of Matt Smith and some of the University runners. I also did a lot of my easy/steady runs with people who I have been friends with for a number of years in Loughborough (Ian Grime, Bill Foster, Dave Miles). It makes miles disappear easier if you can have a good bit of banter!
Q. What was your toughest session?
A. 25km tempo runs with 15km at marathon pace and 10km faster. On your own this is a bit of a slog and off of a good work of training it can be very tough. Essential if wishing to run a good marathon though!
Q. Did you ever use warm or altitude training?
A. I have used altitude on a few occasions (Kenya, South Africa and Albuquerque) and it offers a good opportunity to get away and get some training in without other things getting in the way. I don't think that these ensure that you're going to race well afterwards though. Altitude training can be damaging if got wrong.
Q. Did you consider the American system?
A. friend of mine went to Eastern Michigan and for a short while I was considering going also. I then made contact with George at Loughborough and ended up coming here instead. I'm very glad that I did and I don't think the American style of training and racing programmes would have suited me. Loughborough has offered me a great opportunity to benefit from a great set up and training areas.
British Distance Running
Q. What are your thoughts on comments that the British athletes don't train hard enough these days?
A. To be honest it makes no difference to me whatsoever. I want to just get on with my own training and racing; I don't read AW or anything like that as I'm not interested. I'm guessing though that we are talking about Ian Stewart. He can sit in his office and say what he likes; he has no idea what people do! The problem I've had is always training too hard. I know lots of runners that have suffered from this. I guess he is saying it as a way of psyching runners up to train more and prove him wrong, however I think that it hasn't been taken this way by the media. The day before the London Marathon there were stories in national newspapers following on from this that were incredibly derogatory to all those runners that have trained their socks off to be in the best shape possible. And this from the person who is employed to help distance runners!
Q. Having run 62:38 when you were just 23 do you feel you got adequate support to develop?
A. At this stage there wasn't really any form of support. Lottery started a few years later and I was lucky enough to receive access to physio, sport science testing and massage. The massage and physio, along with kit, are the most important things that a distance runner needs really so I was happy enough. I never really bothered with the testing as if I wanted to know what shape I was in I would just go and do a race!
Races
Q. Do you race a lot?
A. Sparsely unfortunately. I would like to race more, although I have never been one to race a lot.
Q. You ran 13.30 so obviously had good speed, did you still do specific 5k training when training for marathon or was it just a side effect?
A. If doing a track season I trained specifically for this. Track is vital for a good distance runner as developing 5-10k is great for building on. I sometimes do 5k training early in the marathon build up but not in the last 6-8 weeks.
Q. What is your favourite marathon you have run?
A. Unfortunately this is an easy one ..New York as it has been the only time I have been on the start line of a marathon in 100% good shape!
Q. You came 8th In New York, how does it compare to Britain's London?
A. I haven't run the full London so it's a little difficult to compare. Both are great races and the atmosphere at both is unforgettable. NY is a more undulating race but this can help those runners that start sensibly as more of the favoured runners suffer late on if they get it wrong.
Future
Q. How do you fit training around work these days?
A. I work at Loughborough College 3 days a week, although as a teacher this often ends up being 3.5-4 days a week of work mostly. The days are hectic at college but I can fit the training I need to do okay. I generally run on work days about 7am and then about 6.30pm. I enjoy what I do and it can help take your mind off of things; this is especially important when things aren't going well.
Q. Are you training seriously now or just for enjoyment?
A. Seriously. I was building up to a marathon in April quite nicely. I did 5 weeks at 120-130miles with some very good tempo runs through Feb/early March. I did a 3hr run then ran 66minutes for half marathon less than 48hrs later. I then got a bad sore throat that caused me to miss a week of training, started back for 5 days before getting a bad head cold and missed another week. At this time I then only had 3.5 weeks left. My coach and I (George Gandy) decided that there wouldn't have been enough time left to get back fit and do1/2 marathon workouts so I had to pull out. Since then I have been getting in some training but I am not training hard. I am looking at building up for an autumn race.
Q. What are your aims for the future?
A. I want to get back racing to a level that I feel is respectable. I love running and the challenge of training. I'll keep on trying to get back to racing well again.
Q. Will we see you at 2012, you will only be 36!
A. I would love to. However I've got a along way to go and am more worried right now about training and racing now rather than in 3 years time!
Drug Cheats
Q. The Olympic 1500m champ has just tested positive for drug use, do you think athletics is doing enough to combat drug use in sport?
A. I guess they are doing what they can but it's always a shame that there are cheats out there. It makes you wonder how many tests people like this pass before they get caught. Some countries seem reluctant to be as rigid as we are in the UK. There is still the Operation Puerto case where lots of bags of blood were found that were taken from sports performers ready for re-infusing. Apparently one bag was labelled with the date of the European Champs marathon on it, it must be someone's!
Lastly...
Q. Best bit of advice for younger runners?
A. Don't get too serious too soon. So many runners that were well ahead of me never made it beyond juniors. Just concentrating on athletics can cause burn out and other sports that are aerobic can also develop the bodies CV system. I had a very good first year of running (second in the UK rankings at U13's for 1500m) but I always played other sports and played more football than I ran up until about 16/17 years old. I got a bit of a hammering from some of those that trained hard in their years as U15's and U17's but I'm glad I continued and wouldn't have changed anything I did.
Comments On "Matt O'Dowd"