The Year After Bronze

By Scott Bush - Click Here for all TF360 Archives

After a ridiculously impressive 2013, which saw her capture World Championship bronze in the 800m and run world top seven marks in both the 800m and 1,500m, Brenda Martinez is ready to roll into the 2014 season. The former UC-Riverside standout currently lives in Big Bear Lake, California and is coached by legend Joe Vigil. Martinez's rise to dominance over the past few seasons is both inspiring and impressive, so catching up with her recently, we discussed a variety of topics and what's led to such success on the global stage.

Follow Brenda: Twitter | Instagram

Scott Bush (SB): It's been a quiet winter for you, while many of your fellow competitors competed indoors at least once or twice. How's training been going? 

Brenda Martinez (BM): Training is going great. It has been quiet a build up and I feel very fit. Going back to my training logs and seeing the progression is getting me excited for the outdoor season. I definitely had to change my miler's mentality to a 5k/10k mentality, I had to adjust and learn to be patient. Going into my workouts now, I feel strong and efficient and I owe it to my base training. 

SB: You're opening up your 2014 racing season this weekend, running a 5k on the track. Why a 5k and what are your expectations for the race?

BM: I am racing at my college and it will be more of a hard workout, since I won't be doing a pre-meet workout. I have a hard workout two days before the race.  My training schedule has a 3 mile anaerobic tempo, so we thought why not do it in a race. Coach Vigil wants my anaerobic tempos at 5:00 minute pace for 3-5 miles. Adaptation is key in our training so when I can lower my 5K time that is when I can also lower my time for the 800 meters. I also thought it would be nice to get in a rust buster before Carlsbad 5000.  

(editor’s note: Martinez placed second in 16:09.83, on a warm and windy day)

SB: You're set to run the Carlsbad 5000 at the end of this month. Are we seeing you change your focus from 800/1500 to 1500/5000?

BM: My goal is to be a very versatile runner. I want to be able to run fast times from the 800 meters to 5000 meters every year. The faster I am in my 5k, the bigger my kick will be in the 800m/1500m. Coach Vigil told me when I can break 25:00 for 5 miles is when I can run 51 in the quarter. I get my speed from my strength.  I am doing a great amount of strength and if and when I do decide to move up in distance it will be a smooth transition. 

SB: Chanelle Price won gold at World Indoors this past week. How does seeing an American win a middle distance event make you feel, especially when you're so close to finishing in the top spot yourself?

BM: I'm so happy for Chanelle Price. Her reaction when she crossed the line was awesome.  She is a great of example of what an athlete is, she is someone who has an unshatterable belief in her coach and she stuck to what works for her. 

SB: This time of year, what does a typical week of training look like for you?

BM: Here is a typical training week looks like for me in March: (This is a posted on Instagram) My weekly mileage is around 75 miles.

Sunday: 1mile warm up with drill routine and strides

10 miles @ sub 6:00min pace

Monday: Recovery run 10 miles

Tuesday: 2.5 warm up with drill routine and strides

 4x1 mile @ 4:50

2 mile cool down 

Wednesday: 8 mile Fartlek 

Thursday: 2.5 warm-up with drill routine and strides

  13x400 @65

    2 mile cool down

Friday: Recovery run 10 miles

Saturday: 2.5 warm up with drill routine and strides

   2 miles @ 9:50 and 1 mile @ 4:35

         2 mile cool down 

SB: You're coach, Joe Vigil, is considered one of the true coaching legends in U.S. distance running. What's the most important thing you've learned from him since you started working with him?

BM: Coach Vigil really emphasis being a good person and  being of good use to others, so that means sharing the knowledge, wealth, compassion, reputation or whatever it is I have to offer. Now that I have medal, I have a bigger responsibility to give back. We believe that in order to be a great athlete you have to have the right kind of living and I just want to do good things through my running.

SB: You're volunteer and work with kids quite a bit. Can you talk about your involvement there a bit?

BM: I find it so important to give back and last year I had my first running camp for girls in Big Bear Lake. I have a writing contest during the fall and choose a group of winners to attend camp. I promoted my camp to girls in the Riverside and San Bernardino County area. We had 5 girls attend last year and this year I doubled the attendance to 10 girls. I'm constantly trying to find ways to better my camp. Camp is about four days long and we have seminars/clinics that cover healthy choices, injury prevention, positive thinking, and all sorts of topics I think are helpful. New Balance has been very supportive and they were able to get the girls geared up for their season. I wanted to pick one girl to mentor through out the year and I decided to work with the same girl this year.  

SB: You're pretty active on your social media channels. What's your favorite part on connecting with your fans, whether that be on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram?

BM: All these social media outlets have allowed me to connect and interact with fans and have made the journey fun. I get to share a part of my world to others and they get to see how I train and live. People constantly want to know what I'm doing in training, so I will post workouts here and there. I try to make it fun by having contests and giving away NB product or a signed book from Coach Vigil. 

SB: What's your favorite thing to do off the track when you're just chilling at home?

BM: My favorite thing to do when I am at home is spend time with my family, that means, Carlos and our three rescues Rainy, Bolt and Chase. The pups are the life of the house and we are all happy together. 

Click Here for all TF360 Archives