Marathoner Ready to Take on the Field in Toronto

By Scott Bush

For most successful pros, consistency in training is what allows an athlete to go from good to great. If you ever wanted to see the perfect example of such an athlete, look no further than marathoner Tim Young. After owning a marathon best of 2:19:01 set in 2010, Young dealt with a series of injuries that knocked him out of competition for over two years. 

After healing up and changing his mindset around training, Young ran a new best of 2:15:14 in Houston at the beginning of 2014, only to follow that up with a 2:14:40 best in Chicago. The 28 year old Virginia-native now sets his sights north of the border, where he'll compete for Team USA at the PanAm Games in Toronto later this week. We caught up with Young this week, discussing his recent fitness, his continued improvement and much more.

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Scott Bush (SB): You're set to represent the United States in the marathon at the PanAm Games next weekend? How excited are you to put on the Team USA jersey and how's training been of late?

Tim Young (TY): I'm honored and very excited to represent the USA at the PanAm Games. It's been a goal of mine for a long, long time. Training has been going well.  Training in the heat and humidity of Virginia has allowed me to acclimate to the warmer temperatures I’ll probably face in Toronto on Saturday.

SB: The PanAm field only has 19 athletes in it. How do you prepare yourself mentally to have such a small group of athletes around you, especially in those later stages of the race?

TY: A smaller field can make a race like a marathon tough. Those latter stages of the race especially can be mentally challenging when there are fewer people to run with.  Fortunately, most of my training runs and almost all my long workouts are done alone so I am ready for the possibility of the race being the same way.

SB: You've gotten progressively faster in each of your marathons, including a 2:14 best in Chicago last fall. What have you been working on to take another step in lowering your marks?

TY: Staying healthy has been the key for me. I'm not forcing runs and workouts and have done a lot on feel. Listening to my body more during training and taking care of the little things before they become major have become really important ingredients to my routing. Just keeping myself healthy and building on previous successful training segments has been the key for me.

SB: Your results from late 2011 to basically 2014 were very quiet. How come?

TY: Most of 2011 and 2012 I was out with various injuries. I had issues with tendonitis in the spring of 2011 and then had Achilles tendonitis prior to the 2012 Marathon Trials in Houston, so the majority of that time was spent rehabbing. After I moved back to Virginia in the summer of 2012, I still had lingering injuries that needed time to heal. I spent most of 2013 building up my mileage and regaining my health to gear up for the marathon again.

SB: Being a few years older now, how have you progressed as an athlete and what's one or two key things you've learned that have helped you continue to trend forward over the past year?

TY: With age comes wisdom. I am a lot smarter in my training now. I used to push the pace and run too fast on each and every training run. I never let my body recover from each day of such hard work. The cumulative effect is that it just hurt me over time. These days if I feel I need to take a day off or cross train instead of doing a double I do that. Learning to listen to my body is the biggest lesson I have learned.

SB: What's the game plan after PanAms with regards to training/racing leading up to the Olympic Trials? Will you attempt a fall marathon or just focus ahead to LA?

TY: I haven't planned anything for the fall but that could change depending on PanAms and how my body recovers. At this point, I'm not sure if I’ll do another marathon or if the Trials in LA next February will be the next one. After PanAms, I will sit down with my coach, Luke Humphrey, to see what we think is best.

Quick Six

SB: Top song on your iPod?

TY: “Hollow Moon” by Awolnation

SB: Favorite training route?

TY: I have a loop of about 14 miles that goes on a road called Castle Rock which makes me think of Casterly Rock from Game of Thrones.

SB: Typical breakfast?

TY: Pre-run bagel with peanut butter and a Generation UCAN drink.

SB: Favorite movie?

TY: I never get tired of the original Star Wars trilogy.

SB: Favorite dish to cook?

TY: Chicken parm, but I'm not sure if it's any good.

SB: Dream vacation?

TY: You mean after I “visit” Toronto this week? I really would like to go to the land “down under,” Australia.