Tim Downey

Athlete of the Month

Tim Downey

Coach: Brogan Austin

Event: Marathon

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“2before is one of those no-brainer products for me to utilize in my training now. To be able to start the recovery process before I even start stressing my body is a huge advantage to be able to maximize my overall fitness and feel my best after even the hardest sessions that coach Joan gives us. I’m looking to chase the highest levels in the sport of running, and I’m going to do that with 2before by my side throughout every training day.” - Sam Parsons

Interview with Tim Downey

Q: Howdy, Tim. Thanks for joining The Axe! How’s it going today?

It’s going well - running is on the back burner for a month or so as I’m in my final clinical rotations for PT school back in NYC right now. Taking a month down after a busy winter of running before getting back on the horse in late spring and summer.

Q: Which coach do you work with and what event are you training for?

I reached out to Brogan last Spring after I completed Boston and asked him if he felt like trying to get a big guy to break 2:50. He laughed at me but said I definitely could do it, so he put together a plan for Chicago.

Q: I heard you used to absolutely crush miles (100+per week). How has your training been different under coach Brogan?

I’ve always found that I can handle bigger mileage weeks easier than most - and I also don’t get warmed up until I get a few miles in for a workout so it just works out. Brogan did a great job building me up from the 80s into the 100s. He put together a plan with plenty of recovery miles throughout and pushed me into long threshold efforts and mile / 5K pace efforts much more than I would have ever pushed myself into. At the time they are awful, but week over week, they get a little easier and you start to feel like you might actually be getting fit!

Q: Is there anything different about working with a coach compared to training and coaching yourself?

Absolutely - it’s significantly easier to back off workouts and talk yourself out of a workout if it looks too hard on paper, and just as easy to push yourself too hard. Brogan also helped me return to key workouts every couple of weeks so I could assess progress, which at the moment sucked, but in hindsight was a great way to see myself getting fitter.

Q: How did coach Brogan help you in your latest marathon buildup? What strategies did he employ for you individually?

When I reached out to him about Chicago, he asked me if I wanted a moderate or aggressive marathon build - true to form, I immediately said I wanted an aggressive one. He pushed me well beyond my comfort zone. He knew I hated, and in fact still hate, running short and fast. I’m not even sure you could say I am fast, but I have more gears than I ever did prior to 2022. He let me handle my own strength training and challenged me with short efforts, long efforts, and short recoveries to increase my aerobic capacity and ability to handle a faster marathon pace for longer.

Q: Favorite workout so far?

Shoot. we had a lot of good ones. My favorite in terms of the workout was the 6-mile tempo + 6 x 1’/1’ we did several times over the build. Running fast, then running faster after I was tired was something I had always been missing. The first time I felt relatively fit was when I went to visit my parents at sea level at the end of August and I thought wow, it’s nice to see the training is working.

Q: Next race and goals for that race?

This fall will be a fun one, but the next big goal race is going to be a return to Chicago - shooting for sub 2:45, maybe 2:40? I don’t know. I’ll probably try to run a couple of “fast” mile races before then, but those are significantly more miserable than a marathon, so I won’t be upset if those don’t happen.

Q: Any last thoughts, Tim?

Regardless of smashing the goal in Chicago, I have never enjoyed a build-up to a marathon more — when you have a good guy, who gets that there’s a whole other world outside of the training, it makes it feel pretty manageable. Brogan’s pretty funny, a great guy, and a top-level coach. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Keep up with Tim! 👇

Tim’s Strava

Tim’s Instagram

Work with Coach Brogan

Be like Tim, and work with Coach Brogan Austin! Check out his HAX coaching profile here.

Don’t need a coach? Try one of our training plans instead. We have plans for almost every distance and goal time you could think of (plus, they’re a good bang for your buck).

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