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Jen Toomey competes at an indoor meet at Boston University in December, 2007. (Photo by Marisa Petrillo.)

Interview with Jen Toomey

Posted on January 15, 2008, Interview conducted January 13, 2008

By Alison Wade

Despite showing some talent in high school, Jen Toomey did not take up serious competitive running until the late 1990s, when she more or less found immediate success. She gradually improved until her breakthrough year in 2004, when she set an American Record in the indoor 1,000m (2:34.19) and won the USA Indoor 800 and 1,500m titles before going on to finish fourth in the 800 at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships. Unfortunately, a fall during the latter meet set off a series of injuries that have set her back in recent years. Despite struggling with those injuries, Toomey finished second in the 1,500 at the 2004 Olympic Trials (but didn't make the Olympic team because neither she nor the race winner, Carrie Tollefson, was able to meet the "A" standard of 4:05.80). She followed that up with a 1,500 win at the 2005 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Toomey recently returned to working with the coach, Tom McDermott, who helped her find so much success in 2004. She has also returned to racing again and shortly after turning 36 in December, she ran 2:04.71 (800m) and 4:34.83 (mile). Toomey, whose maiden name is Lincoln, holds lifetime bests of 1:59.64 (indoor 800m) and 4:06.24 (1,500m). Toomey lives with her husband, Mike, in Salem, Massachusetts.

Can you give a synopsis of what happened at the 2004 World Indoor Championships that set you back, and how did that hurt your buildup to the Olympic Trials?
I was in really, really good shape going into World Indoors. In the first round, someone clipped me from behind and I fell. I got up, made it to the next round and ended up coming in fourth overall, but it really threw my body out of whack.

When I got home, I experienced a lot of pain in my knee. Of course I kept running through it, to the point where it got so swollen that I couldn't run and I couldn't walk up and down the stairs. I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. My doctor recommended against surgery because the recovery time would be too long and I would miss running in the Olympic Trials. We decided to wait until the swelling went down and keep our fingers crossed. That was the only chance I would have of even running the Trials. After months in the pool, I was able to start running again in late May, basically being thrown right into the fire.

So the Olympic Trials ended up going very well for you, all things considered, in the 1,500, right?
Yes, definitely. I ended up coming in second in the 1,500, running a PR. With the time standards now, I would have had the [Olympic] "A" standard, but the standards were much more difficult that year. I only had a couple of weeks to attempt to get the standard, but the races didn't set up right.
[Editor's note: The Olympic "A" standard in 2004 was 4:05.80 with a "B" standard of 4:07.15. In 2008, the "A" standard is 4:07.00 and the "B" standard is 4:08.00. In 2004, Toomey ran a best time of 4:06.61. Because the rules at the time stated that the Trials winner would make the Olympic team as long as she or he had the "A" or "B" standard, Toomey would have made the team even if race winner Carrie Tollefson had just run half a second faster and had gotten the "A" standard, allowing a "B" qualifier to go as well.]

Did you get healthy at some point after that 2004 season?
I was able to run, but I was never really better. For all of 2005, I struggled with different things popping up. When you get hurt in one area, inevitably you're going to compensate in another area. You find that sometimes you get hurt in completely different place, where you don't expect it, because you're compensating. That's what happened to me. I liked to call it my 'migrating pain,' because it seemed to migrate from one place to another [laughs]. But in 2005, I was never really healthy. I just kept running through it and I never gave myself a break.

After what happened in 2004, we were in panic mode. My coach and I have talked a lot about this. He changed my training based on what I told him would work and unfortunately he listened to me. I just wanted more speed more speed, but speed wasn't working. In 2005, I decided to try something totally different. I thought, 'Maybe if I just totally change everything, maybe I can get back to where I was.' So when Mike got back from a running symposium in Flagstaff, he said, "Why don't we move to Flagstaff?" We knew that they had the High Altitude Training Center there and Jack Daniels was out there, so I called Jack and asked if he'd be willing to coach me. He agreed, and within two weeks, I packed up my car and drove out west.

When exactly was that?
That was at the end of 2005.

Would you say that things ever went well with your training out in Flagstaff?
I thought that training was going well. I was doing a lot of strength-oriented workouts, more than I've ever done. I was optimistic and healthy, but when it came time to race, I was flat. For whatever reason—maybe the altitude didn't suit me very well, or the training didn't suit me well—it just didn't seem to work.

It seems like you had some pretty good races in there, too. It hasn't been all bad since 2005, has it?
I think I ran 4:31 or 4:32 a couple of times, but I went to the Millrose Games that indoor season (2006) and I twisted my foot on the track. Before our race, they had to put the track together, and they were having a tough time doing that. I tweaked my foot during the race. When I got back to Flagstaff, I tried going back to training as usual. I typically had a hard effort scheduled every other day and I think with a combination of this increased intensity and with the added strain of being at 7,000 feet, I simply wasn't recovering.

I ended up being diagnosed with a stress fracture in my foot, and had to take another five months off or something. I finally called my old coach, Tom McDermott, up and I said, 'I don't know where the heck my running is going, but I'm not ready to give it up yet. If you'd be willing to take me back, I'd really like you to coach me again.' Tom is an amazing person. He doesn't get caught up in the politics of the sport, he just loves watching people run hard and run fast.

He agreed to take me on again. I was still just cross training and we started from scratch. Things were working out really well. I started training with a high school kid (I'll call him M) that my husband coached the previous track season and Forrest Boughner, a college cross country runner. I loved that energy of having people to train with again.

Without getting too much into it, we found out that M was having some problems at home. I didn't know it at the time, but what followed completely changed my running and my life. Mike and I ended up having to get certified as foster parents and M ended up moving in. I know a lot of runners out there have kids, but to go from nothing to a teenager, especially one facing some really challenging situations, was a big change for us. Running, for the first time since I started, took a back seat to everything else. Our number one goal was to keep him safe and to do our best to keep him on the right path. I certainly wasn't perfect in this regard, but I would have done and still would do anything to help him.

So when did you end up moving back to Massachusetts?
We ended up staying there for the rest of the school year and moved back here last June.

Was it around that time that you really decided to give your running one last try?
When I coached in Flagstaff, I worked with an amazing group of kids. We became very close with a lot of families, but ultimately, I needed to be back with my coach if I wanted to make running work. It was a tough decision because we loved being in Flagstaff. We still own a home there, we're still in touch with a lot of the athletes and parents, and maybe someday we'll go back there to live…but to make this running thing work, I need a coach to be there holding a stopwatch and yelling out splits or getting excited or even getting pissed. I just didn't have that in Flagstaff.

Since I returned to Boston, everything has gone amazingly well. Workouts that were once daunting are now easy and I'm just plain excited to run. I've completely changed as an athlete and as a person.

So that was a turning point for you?
I had been struggling a lot, for different reasons, and had really questioned, 'Is it worth it?' Probably just about every runner goes through that feeling. Is it worth putting in all of that time and all of that energy for so little in return?

Like always, Tom put it into perspective for me. When I first came back and was obviously a mess, he said, 'I don't care what happens. I really just want you to try.' He said, 'We'll just take it one step at a time, and if it seems like it's going to get us somewhere, that's great, and if not, at least you know that you tried.'

Running is so hard and you have to have a reason for doing it. Until I had that talk with him, I couldn't find that reason anymore. Now that I've been back with him and been in his space, all of the sudden it's so clear why I do it. I feel like I have unfinished business and I need to find out how fast I can go and how hard I can run. It doesn't really matter what anyone else does. Obviously I'd like to make the Olympic Team and that's my goal. I have to explore it, I came sooo close last time. I know I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't try.

When you have that sort of outlook where you are just focusing on trying your hardest and not worrying about what other people are doing, does that help make you any less nervous when you get on the starting line?
Oh no [laughs]. I always tell kids, 'You never get any less nervous.' You can't worry about what you can't control, but you get nervous for so many different reasons, and I think the biggest reason is that you want to do well. If you stop getting nervous, I almost think that you've stopped caring. You need to be nervous, it's good.

Are you training with anyone right now?
I have a very eclectic training group right now. I train with my husband, two masters 800 runners, an open 800m runner, and an old friend of mine named Amory Rowe. She ran with me during my first year with Bob Sevene. She was amazing! In her first year, she ran 4:20 or 4:21 for the 1,500 and 2:07 for the 800. She only stayed with it for a year or two before going to biathlon and triathlon training. Amory called me out of the blue a in June asking if I could help her with training. Turns out we both moved back to Massachusetts, so she and her husband started training with us as well. Everyone's really enthusiastic and it's a lot of fun.

Do you work out at a particular indoor track?
We've been going to Reggie Lewis and sometimes we'll go into Harvard. When the weather's nice, we train at St. John's Prep.

What does your upcoming racing schedule look like?
I'm running [the GBTC Invitational at Harvard] this weekend, I'll run in the Boston Indoor Games, and then the Tyson Invitational. I'll definitely run U.S. nationals; I'll probably run the 1,500 there.

What are you focusing on during the indoor season?
We're trying to train through the indoor season. With the 800 you do need a little bit of speed work, but we're trying to keep the speed to a minimum, so the 1,500 works a little better.

Has having these ups and downs over the past few years helped you think about what you want to do after your professional running career is over?
My life has never been boring. In many ways I shouldn't even be running, but here I am following this crazy dream. I've tried to learn from all my experiences, good and bad. I hope when it's all over, that I could use the love I have for running in some way. I suspect that I'll explore coaching more. I've already studied sports massage therapy extensively since I returned, so that is also an option. One never knows what paths will open, it's just a matter of watching for them.