1. Marty tell us where you were born and bred, how you first got
involved in athletics, who was influential on you as a young athlete and
when you first realised you were better than most?
Simon, I was born and bred in Wellington. I guess that I first got
involved in Athletics at the tender age of 7. It was at the Karori
Athletics club on Thursday nights, that I got my first taste of track.
It was on a grass track and if I recall correctly there was always a
good turn out. I don't think that there was actually any one person who
influenced me in the true sense of the word. Like so many young kiwi
kids I thought that I would grow up to be an All Black. I knew who the
likes of John Walker were but never really thought of them as role
models or some one who I might want to be like. If there was one person
to single out it would be my dad. He taught me to have a dream and to
always do my best. I don't think that I ever thought that I was better
than most. In fact during the years that I can actually recall, I wasn't
the best, close maybe but not the best. What I did know was that I had a
goal and that was to represent NZ at the Olympics and try and bring NZ
Athletics back to the heights that it was once at I needed to be
persistent and sacrifice certain things in order for that to happen.
2. You mentioned using a US scholarship to assist you in chasing an
Olympic dream tell us more about this decision and what there was in the
way of opportunities for promising NZ athletes in those days?
The whole US experience was a great opportunity for me. It was
something that I felt that I needed to do in order to realize my dream.
I would have much rather stayed in NZ, however, it was not to work out
that way. The decision was purely based on the need to find the three
things that I thought were necessary for me to attain that goal. The
first was an environment that would allow me to train at the necessary
level. The second was having the ability to race against the best
week-in and week-out. Finally the coaching, all due respect to my
college coach but I needed full time coach. Someone to be there to time
workouts, give race strategies, and understand the individual needs and
strengths of mine.
I really think that ANZ should embrace the US system. The major problem that I see is that we are sending ill prepared and ill-advised people to the US. We need a system where we give our brightest prospects the information necessary for them to make informed decisions on where the best place for them to go is.
I also think that NZ administrators need to understand the seriousness of our situation and stop bickering about things, get on the same page and get things done. In your question you use the words those days, unfortunately it seems as if those days are still here. I was never addressed as a promising junior and consequently never was afforded any of the opportunities as rare as those may have been. We need a system in affect that identifies talent and then offers programs that will aid in the development of the individual.
3. Most of us only dream about competing in an Olympics, was it the
sort of experience you expected it to be? What did you learn from it and
what should others who may get there be wary of?
Obviously my inept performance at the Olympics overshadowed my Olympic
experience. Nobody goes to the Olympics and wants to perform poorly.
Unfortunately I was not here in the aftermath of the Sydney games but I
understand that the athletes who competed were severely criticized by
both the public and the media. I don't mean to justify poor
performances, as their causes are as individual as the events at which
they compete but the public and most of the media really don't
understand. People don't try to fail that is not human nature we all try
to do our best.
The rest of the Olympics was great the fanfare the people and the opening ceremonies were awesome a once in a lifetime deal. I guess that I learnt that you must continue to do what you had been doing and have a plan and stick to it no matter what occurs around you.
4. You have run one of the fastest miles ever by a kiwi especially in
the last 10 years, tell us about this run and some of your other big
results. You were often injured, do you feel you ever got the best out
of yourself?
I ran 3:54.10 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene,Oregon in 1996. The
next weekend I ran 3:37.37 at a meet in Canada. I capped off a good
month with a 1:46.50 800m in Canada. This was with out a doubt my best
month of racing. They were all huge PR’s and although my training
indicated that I was able to do this and had the workouts to prove it
but the bottom line was that I hadn’t ever run up to my potential. What
those races told me was that it is mental at that level. The need to
have an unshatterable belief in ones self is paramount. The mile was a
great race I don't actually remember much of it apart from the splits
and how easy I felt it was. The splits were 400m 54 800m 1:54 1200m 3:54
1609m 3:54.10. I raced in the middle of the pack and to tell the truth
I was really pulled through to the time. It was very much a European
type race, rabbits etc.
I guess I was injured quite often. I didn’t really consider the many problems as injuries as I was able to continue training and racing through them. But they obviously hindered my preparations and racing from 1993 to 1998. I do not think that I ever got near what I was capable of as far as times were concerned but my training log is impressive. If anything I may have done too much. At 31 my best may be behind me but I have not entirely ruled out a return to racing and who knows.
5. Carl Lewis once said he owes his successes to the people around him
and the support he has had from his club. Who has supported you over the
years and had a positive influence on your running, in what way?
As every one knows there are a lot of people involved behind the scenes
as such. My High school coach Alan Coulston was a big factor he was the
guy who kept me going through the high school years. He was innovative
and knowledgeable. As I mentioned earlier my dad was a big help. But the
single biggest influence was that of my collegiate Coach. Coach Vigil is
without a doubt the reason I was able to attain my goal. Coach is one of
the most prominent coaches in the world. It is not only his coaching
ability but also his ability to motivate and get the best out of me. He
is extremely well educated in the art of training and his sense of what
to say and when to say it was uncanny. It would be great to have him
come to NZ to impart some of his knowledge.
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6. What sort of training did you do? Were you a Lydiard athlete? What do
you consider the most important aspect of training?
Coach Vigil was very much a Lydiard disciple. I would do 100 mile build
up weeks during the summer. During the cross season I would continue
with the long runs of 15-18 miles. (at altitude, Alamosa is at 7500
feet) I would then have two intervals days per week that consisted of
anything from 400’s to 3k repeats. I would also have one hill workout
each week. Then on Saturday’s either a race or a time trial. During the
track season I would move to a 10 day micro-cycle so I could get in all
the necessary workouts but at the same time give me enough time to
recover fully. I really think that all aspects of training are
important, work on your strengths but don’t forget your weaknesses. One
facet of training that I think we don’t really understand is recovery. I
don’t think that we give ourselves enough time to fully recover and let
our bodies adapt at the cellular level as well as giving our mental side
a break. Hammer, hammer, hammer is usually what I hear but what I found
was as I matured and let my body take more control and have more of a
say in the way I felt I actually raced better.
I also think that the use of testing is very important when trying to assess fitness. I would go to the US Olympic training center in Colorado Springs twice a year for testing. They would test max Vo2, lactate thresholds, aerobic thresholds and analyze stride biomechanics. What that did was allow coach to take the guess work out of my training program. It allowed us to also get very specific in my training program.
7. Young athletes like Ben Ruthe, Jason Stewart, etc seem to be
concentrating on developing their speed knowing that these days to
progress past the first couple of rounds at the Olympics or World Champs
it is often necessary to be able run the last 300m of a 1500m in around
37-38 secs. What advice would you give to these guys, are they on the on
right track?
Not knowing these young athletes personally it is hard for me to
comment on their training programs but with some good experience in
training methodology as both an athlete and as a coach I can give a few
of the concepts that I think are important. Speed, I believe is
something that you can definitely enhance but not something that one can
really develop in the sense that I believe that you either have leg turn
over or you don’t. Now in saying that I am sure that there are a lot of
coaches and athletes that would disagree with me however I believe that
strength is what allows the top middle distance athletes run 36-37 sec
or that last 300m not their 46 sec 400 speed it sure is nice to have
that but it does not guarantee that athlete will win just because he is
the quickest. Strength endurance is a intergral part of a sound training
program and I would like to see maybe a little less emphasis on the
speed work at a younger age and more on the development of a strong
aerobic base then with the addition of speed at the appropriate time in
the training cycle.
I also believe that weight training is a necessary component for a complete training program. Add to that plyometrics and a comprehensive stretching program. There are many parts to the puzzle and I think that we need to adopt a more professional approach to our training at an early stage. Not in the sense of making a living but one that if we are going to do something then we must be as well prepared as we can be in order to do the best job on any given day.
8.What was your biggest disappointment in athletics? Any regrets?
Obviously my performance at the Atlanta games was a big
disappointment. I don’t really think that I have any regrets I don’t
think that you can lead a productive life if you worry about too many
things that you now think you may have done or should have done. That
was then and this is now. What I need to focus on is my education
(getting my MBA) and how I can help ANZ get back to where it needs to
be.
9. How common is the use of EPO amongst top athletes and how much do you
believe it can improve the performance of already well trained middle
and distance runners?
The use of drugs and the problems surrounding them are here to stay and
I don’t think that the appropriate organizations are doing enough to
stop them so I’m afraid that they will continue to be a huge part of the
sport. I could write forever literally on the use of drugs in our sport
both from first-hand knowledge and hearsay, but as I said before until
the IAAF and the IOC decide that they don’t care who they catch then
really it is an exercise in futility.
In regards to the use of EPO, I know first hand that there are a large number of the world’s elite using the stuff. From a physiologist point of view I believe that it has allowed athletes the ability to run under 13mins for the 5K and under 27mins for the 10K. far earlier than the adaptation of both human ability and training programs would have otherwise allowed. At some other time if it interest anybody I would definitely be more than happy to discuss more stories and theories on way certain athletes are caught and others are not.
10. Being based in the States did you feel that some of your times /
achievements weren't really acknowledged in NZ when it came to being
selected to represent NZ? The sport here is struggling, what state is
middle distance running in the US? What things are being done well in
the US that we could maybe learn from?
Yeah, I believe that maybe that was the case but at the same time that
was my decision and I would not have had any other way. As I said before
I had a dream and a goal and I needed to do what ever it took to do it.
Lets face it even had I stayed here in NZ would have it made much of a
difference, probably not. I would not necessarily look to the US as a
model for our middle distance woes. They are really not that much better
off taking into account the amount of money they have and the gene pool
that have to dip from. I think, not knowing too much about it other than
the success that they had at the games but the Aussie model maybe more
appropriate for us to try and emulate. I really think that we must look
into things very deeply before we formulate a plan. Once we have decided
which way we want to go then stick to it. We seem to change things the
first time that it does not work we need to give things time to develop.
We must also take into account our own (NZ) quirks and strengths and use
those to our favour. As an example, don’t fall into the trap that some
countries have and try and emulate the Kenyans because we don’t have
kids running 10 miles to and from school.
11. Marty what are your plans from here? Do they involve coming back to
NZ permanently? Is there any truth in the rumour that you might like to
get involved in the running of the sport back here in NZ?
My plans really revolve around ANZ. What I am going to do is hopefully
to get accepted to Stanford (my application is in) to do my MBA. Then I
would like to return to NZ full time and take up a position with ANZ.
One of my goals 12 years ago when I left NZ was to come back after my
running career was done and put back into the sport something that I
thought was missing when I was coming through the ranks. I vowed that
today’s athletes would not have to leave NZ if they didn’t want to in
order to realize their dream. There has to be a way for it to be done
and over the past 12 years I have learnt a lot about different things
and ways for change to occur. I do think however that we the athletes
need to take on a larger role in order for us to get out of this slump.
We need people that know our sport and are passionate about our sport
and most importantly care enough that they will do what ever it takes to
get things done. We need someone to market our sport in a way that does
not show negativity. We need to have a plan in place that targets our
youth. We need to address the talent that is out there and have
qualified people in the field looking for new talent. We need full time
coaches of the quality to take our Olympic stars of the future all the
way. We need a system in effect that will take our future athletes from
the grass tracks to the Olympic arenas.
I would like to thank Simon for letting me get on my soapbox and give you an idea of what I have been doing for the last 12 years and what I plan on doing in the future. I would also like to set the record straight that the obvious highlight of my Olympic experience was rooming with Jonno Wyatt.
Cool Running 04.11.00 & 19.11.00.
