What have you been up to recently? You’ve been injured, haven’t you? I’m not injured any more. Hooray! Yes! In the middle of February, a glute issue reared its ugly head, and I tried to fight through it because I was desperate to get to the start line of the London Marathon. I really wanted to go for the world champs qualifying time of 2h 14min, and to be able to do that I had to risk it and not back off much. And it didn’t pay off. I lost the battle. So I had to allow that to recover. Now I’m back in full training and I’ll be doing the Edinburgh Marathon. [Steve actually sneakily ran the London marathon as a training run. As you do.]
The Garmin stats are telling me I’m pretty fit now, but in all honesty I don’t think I’m going to be in PB shape. But I’m hoping that I’ll be back in sub 2:20 shape, which should leave me competitive, maybe fighting for a podium, maybe first Brit. My main target for the autumn, assuming I get selected, is the world 100k championships again.
You’ve had quite some journey over the past few years. What has been your career highlight so far? In terms of pure moments, 27 July 2014 [the Commonwealth Games marathon] is going to be a hard one to beat. It was two weeks after my 40th birthday, I was going for British vet 40 record, a top 10 finish and a PB, and I smashed all of them. It doesn’t get much better than that! However, on paper, in terms of pure athletic performance, I would probably say my UK 100km record in May last year: 6 hr 19min. But with ultrarunning and its popularity, that was done in front of a crowd of 30 people in Gravesend. I managed to run 62 miles in 6:06 pace per mile, but the atmosphere didn’t quite match up!
Where is your favourite place to run? I’m very fortunate where I live in Dorset. I have the best of both worlds: the Purbeck Hills and Jurassic coast for long running, and Bournemouth promenade for fast running. There is nothing better that the hills and the coast on a sunny day, though it is the worst place to be in torrential rain and 30mph winds.
Do you remember your first ever race? Did you run as a kid? I used to do cross-country at school, but it was a two-lap course and I always used to hide on the first lap, in a hedge, then pop out and come last. My enthusiasm for cross-country was non-existent. When I was in my unhealthy stage, up until 33, I used to to fits of yo-yo dieting. I would enter a local road race and, with no training, just turn up and run it. I never used to think twice about the fact that I could enter a half marathon and get round with no training as an overweight smoker. In retrospect, someone might have pointed out that if I’d done some training I could be half decent!
So do you ever regret not starting earlier or younger? No. Everyone finds that surprising. But even though I was unfit and unhealthy, I still had a fun life. So I’m not going to try to claim that the first 33 years were all miserable and terrible. I had a great time, but I paid the price to a certain degree with my health. But the way I see, I’ve got the best of both worlds – not that I’d recommend it, as I know I’m very fortunate that I got away with abusing my body, where a lot of people won’t. I’ve managed to turn my life around and a lot of people don’t have that luxury.
And would I have been faster? Possibly. But would I have had that special moment at the Commonwealth Games, and being interviewed by Gary Lineker and Clare Balding because of my backstory? No. I’d be just like any other 2h 15min marathon runner.
What do you say when people ask for training tips? I upload all my runs to Garmin Connect and that’s now the social hub for me. Plus I have my blog where I link my training runs. Of course, it’s a bit dangerous to start recommending training to people where you can’t even see them, you have no idea of their background or fitness. So I try and be generic but helpful!
Do you ever struggle with motivation? Yes. Especially when I don’t have a target. And after injury – that patch when things aren’t going well, you are still recovering, training is really hard, your heart rate is through the roof and your pace is slow … But even when things are going badly, it’s still all about consistency. If I was to lose motivation for six months and not bother training, I’d be back where I started. The reason why I’ve done what I have is that in the past eight years, I’ve run 31,000 miles. So even when things are at their hardest, you’ve got to think: I’m not just doing this for today’s run. Everyone assumes that if you run 140 miles a week, every time you go out for a run you must be going: “Great! Time for another run! Brilliant!”. Sometimes it is. But sometimes you are grinding out another run you just don’t want to do, and you feel awful and have no interest except as a means to an end.
Do you ever listen to music? No, never. I’m quite a running geek, so whenever I am running I’m thinking about running. I try not to be too obsessed, but I’m always referencing my target for that run, whether or not I’m hitting the effort levels I should be doing, so I’m more likely to be looking at the stats on my watch.
Even on the treadmill? Yes, that’s my mindset. If I was in an unfamiliar place, I’d be happier to run 20 miles on a treadmill than go off and try to find a route. I’ll be quite happy to go and run around in circles round a 400m track for a marathon if it’s a means to an end.
What’s the worst thing about running? I don’t think I’ve been asked that before! [Long pause] The washing. Obviously I have to deal with my own smelly clothes. And when you are running twice a day, that’s quite a lot of kit.
What’s the best thing? Race day. Definitely. That satisfaction of getting a PB at the end of a race. The beauty of running is the honesty of it, the fact that when people cross the finish line of a marathon and get a PB, it’s because they put that work in training for the last three or four months. And the more work you put in, the better your performance.
What’s your post-race indulgence? How long have you got? Pretty much everything. I have no shame in admitting that, basically, if I have hit my target and I don’t have another target race immediately, I basically let old Steve out of the box. You will have found me, after my 2:19 marathons, within 10 minutes in the pub with a pint and a cigar, followed by pretty much every fast food I can get my hands on before going to bed. I’ll do that for 48 hours then I’ll be sick to death of it all.
What do you eat on the morning of a race? I’ve got my routine – I get up 5 hours before the race and do a 12-minute jog followed by three slices of white toast with strawberry jam and two bananas. One of the only times I’ve not managed to follow that routine was at the world 100km championships in Doha, where it was an evening race. We were in a hotel that didn’t have white bread, bananas or jam, so my schedule was all thrown out. I had no idea what to do with meals. I got it wrong and it ruined my race.
Have you ever run barefoot? No. I have very bad form!
Well, it’s not doing you too badly … Ha, well, my physiotherapist basically has no idea how I can run a 2:15 marathon. He uses a video of me running on a treadmill to show people how not to run. I’m a heel-striking over-pronator who is quite heavy-footed. The reason I can run fast is because I have a heart that is a diesel engine, basically. That’s why I’m good at ultrarunning, too. I’m an aerobic monster but my actual running form is a disaster.
Have you tried to change it? My physio said if I was 20 years younger, he’d start from scratch and teach me how to run and put in orthotics in my shoes. But because of my age, I might only have another year or two at my peak marathon performance, so we could break me in trying to fix me. It’s quite dangerous, playing around with people’s natural form. It can lead to benefits, but you might spend six months injured, waiting to get there. So we work with what we’ve got, and ignore the fact that I look like someone who couldn’t run a six-hour marathon.
Usain Bolt and Mo Farah are running at the same time. Who do you watch? Mo. Not even because of the names. You could have just said 5,000m race or 100m race, and I’ll be on the 5k. I’ll record the 100m race and watch it back when I’ve got 10 seconds free … I can relate to endurance runners. Sprinting is a totally different sport to me.
Who is the greatest runner ever? Paula Radcliffe. Without a doubt. One of the worst thing about endurance running is how the average person is so unaware of what she did. One of my proudest moments is when I managed to beat her PB! If you look at any other comparison between men and women … Her 2:15 is a sub-two hours. It’s that good. And the majority of the world is completely unaware. And watch that race! The way she did it! She not only negative-splitted, but her fastest 10km was the last 10km. You look at her and you see a woman who was on a mission that day. I don’t think anyone will break that record in my lifetime.
Steve Way is a Garmin ambassador, for more information, please visit garmin.com
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