Resilience personified: Rio Olympian Brenda Martinez
Coach Vigil bases a lot of his training off Sebastian Coe’s training. Back in the day, Coach Vigil didn’t know much about the Mile, so he went to the UK to learn about the Mile.
By Runner's Tribe
Runner’s Tribe recently caught up with 2016 Rio Olympian, 2013 World Championships 800m bronze medalist, and Big Bear Track Club co-founder, Brenda Martinez for this awesome chat. (Phone interview transcribed by Runner’s Tribe.)
RT: Where are you currently situated, and how is training going?
BM: So I live in Big Bear Lake, which is about 2-hours east of LA, located in the San Bernardino Mountains at an altitude of about 6700 feet. We live high and train low, and everything is going very well. If we have a hard session we drop down to sea level, which takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is one of the quickest altitude drops in the USA. This means we can work hard in each session with and without levels of altitude, which has benefited me, and the squad a lot over the years.
RT: The Big Bear Track Club has some major studs on the roster with the likes of the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Champion in the 800 meters, Boris Berian. How is the club going, and how do you look at whom you will take on in the future?
BM: Every year has been up and down with fluctuating numbers. Right now we have 6 people regularly training on the Big Bear TC. We just need people to bring the right attitude to the group and be flexible with things. There’s no point having any dead weight in the group, so we’re careful with whom we let in. We get a lot of emails from people asking what it will take to get into the squad. We are not necessarily looking for a top D1 Champion or anything like that, but someone who we can work with and bring something to the squad. We know we can develop athletes very well, and we are open with who we bring in, but have limited spots. So, with whoever comes in a positive attitude and being a good person is key.
Continue reading at: www.runnerstribe.com
