Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interview: Toni Wiszowaty of SUNY Plattsburgh

(Courtesy of Alison Wade, eliterunning.com)

There was one notable name missing from the indoor national performance lists earlier this year—SUNY Plattsburgh's Toni Wiszowaty.  The senior, a six-time All-American, including two straight runner-up finishes in the 10000 at the Outdoor National Championships, was injured and saw both attempts to qualify in the 5000 for indoor nationals fall short of the provisional standard.  But unbeknownst to the rest of the country, since that time her training had taken off, and she entered the Penn Relays in the best shape of her life.  It was in the penultimate event in Thursday night's Distance Carnival that Toni won the 10000 in 33:57.46 to spectacularly announce her return to the national spotlight and stamp herself as the favorite heading into her final championships.  Toni took time following the Penn Relays to discuss her goals, running as a vegan, and what she's doing when she's not hitting the Olympic Trials "B" standards.

Coming off a tenth-place performance at the Cross Country National Championships this year, you only raced twice indoors.  How did your training go during that time?

Well after Cross Country Nationals my training picked up rather quickly because I was coming off of an injury. My mileage increased, my easy pace increased and so did the workouts. My coach, John Lynch, and I were aiming for the first BU meet in January and since I had a short cross country season I was ready to race again. Unfortunately, about two days before the BU meet and a great workout, I was struck with another injury in my glut/hip area. This injury came on with the snap of a finger and kept me out for almost 4-5 weeks of no running, just cross training. So my first indoor race was just an attempt to try and get me in for indoor Nationals, which didn’t happen. Not only did I suffer from the physical aspect of coming off from an injury but also the mental aspect. It was hard, I feel like most of my career is spent dealing with injuries.

Your Penn Relays 10000 win was stunning—in fact, your second 5K split (16:52) would be second in the country right now, and better than your own season best time for that distance!  Describe how you felt leading up to the race, what your expectations were for it, and how the race played out for you.

HAHA Yes, my second split was faster than my previous 5k race (bad conditions at Bucknell might be the reason, who knows!) I felt strong and ready to prove that I can run an amazing race. My workouts leading up to the race kept me confident and helped me see that I am capable of running around 34 minutes. Thankfully my coach does some of the tough workouts, like the longgggg tempos, with me because man those are mentally tough to get through. Before the race I was so calm and I didn’t get nervous at all, it was really surprising. My coach kept joking around with me saying, "34 minutes" and I would just laugh and say, "yahhhh sureeee." Finally, when I got on the line I was in shock mode and I started to get nervous. The first half of the race felt amazing and I knew I needed to go faster, so I took off. It was hard to run the rest by myself but all of my training had left me prepared to do so. I have to say the conditions were nearly ideal, minus a bit of wind that picked up throughout the race. When I crossed the line and saw my time I finally felt content with a race this year, as it has been a rough one.

Last year, you entered the outdoor National Championships with the fastest 10000 seed (34:40) by 7 seconds.  But this year you’re the 5^th fastest performer ever and you lead the performance list by over a minute.  Does this change the goals you set for yourself for this season?

There have been some pretty fast 10k’s out there for DIII, I can't believe the first time of 33:22 that is so insanely fast! It does feels great to be on the list for the fastest performances ever, it definitely adds a smile to my face. My goals haven't really changed all to much because of my performance mainly because champions aren’t guaranteed before a race is even raced. Nationals can go in any directions depending on the weather, the time of day, and the mentality of runners going into it. Hopefully it goes in a way that is positive for me but with all the talented runners out there I’m not guaranteed anything.

What is your favorite workout during the track seasons and what do you like about it?

Workouts and favorite in the same sentence…ummm yah. If I had to pick one it would probably be long tempos usually about 40-50minutes in length only because I am accompanied by my coach which makes it go by so much faster. I always feel good when I’m done and knowing that I just ran at a great, fast, comfortable pace and that I still have energy left. I do enjoy long distance stuff much better than fast short stuff.

How long have you been vegetarian/vegan and how has it been to train seriously given that?  Do you have to carefully watch your diet to make sure you’re getting the right balance of food?

Well I have been a vegetarian a long time, since I was about 16years old. When I first decided to give up meat I suffered from an iron deficiency and had to take iron pills. It was very hard for me to become aware of what I needed as far as nutrients go when I was in high school. Then when I came to Plattsburgh I started to become a little bit more informed about nutrition and the whole balance of food thing. I made the life change of becoming a vegan the summer before going into my junior year of college. This decision was for me, not for anyone else and I do get made fun of all the time by my teammates (in a joking manner of course) but I have such an easy going personality I just give it right back to them. It was definitely hard to realize what I needed to add to my diet and how to make sure I was getting all my nutrients which is necessary for being a runner. I would say I am pretty well informed now, after loads of research done by many people who have helped me along the way.

What's the relationship between the track team and the other athletic teams?  What's the athletic culture like at Plattsburgh?

The track team and the cross country team get along well with one another. As far as the other teams go we all try to be supportive of one another by going to their games when they are at home. I have a great relationship with some of the coaches here at Plattsburgh state and they are constantly keeping up to date with how our team does, and our coach does the same for their teams. It is really a supportive atmosphere here; no one is out for themselves to say the least.

How do students (and professors) at your school view the track team and its members?

I am in the education program here and so I pretty much see the same people all the time. Everyone knows that I am a runner here at PSU so they all constantly read our schools paper or our local paper. They all support me and always congratulate our team on our success. Also, they are many professors here who are big time running fans and constantly follow our team’s progress. Its always nice to be in a grocery store, or on campus somewhere, and have someone come up and say, “Nice job this weekend.” It does happen a lot, which is really nice and always appreciated.

You mentioned before that you hoped to pursue a running career after college.  As graduation quickly approaches, what are your thoughts now as you look ahead to your post-collegiate days?

I can’t say much as far as where I will be next year with running, I am going to still run and train. I am so uncertain what next year will bring for me so I just go with the flow. I would like to continue training under my current coach because I have had such great success with him, coming from a nobody in high school to where I am now.

Do you follow running at the collegiate or professional levels at all?  Would you care to confess to what extent you lurk on Letsrun.com or other message boards?

I love to follow professional running, I am constantly on flotrack.com and trackshark.com looking up what people like Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, and Kim Smith are running. I also love to follow DI individuals; it amazes me how fast these runners can run. I admire them so much for their dedication and their determination to put their bodies through pain like that. Our team recently took a spring break trip to Flagstaff and man that was an experience. I was fortunate enough to meet Jack Daniels, Amy Hasting, and a bunch of other professional runners out there and I was in awe. I DID go on letsrun.com last year but my coach made me promise not to go on this year and I have kept to that promise. (I swear!!)

Do you keep an online running log that you'd be willing to share?

I do not keep a running log let alone an online running log. I probably should start keeping track of my running more than I do. I just do what I am told and it works.

Are there any other closing thoughts or pieces of wisdom you'd like to share?

I have experienced so many ups and downs with running but when you run that one amazing race it puts all your negative and positive thoughts into perspective. It’s amazing how it only takes ONE race to make someone happy after so many disappointments. Therefore, as the old saying goes, never give up. 

I also think that there is no limit to what your body can do, as long as you train it to do so not only physically but mentally too.

Thanks to Toni for a fantastic interview.