Heidi Westover: In It for the Long Run

by Bob "Wish" Wischnia on June 8, 2011

For most national-class marathoners with Olympic aspirations, the Vermont City Marathon is not often on the must-do list. But for Heidi Westover it is not only on her must-do list; it’s on her schedule every year.  For Westover, the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont is her Boston Marathon. Westover has won it five of the last six years and even though she didn’t break her course record of 2:35:02 at this year’s race on Memorial Day weekend, she was still thrilled to win what is something of a hometown marathon for her. 

“I love Vermont City,” said the 30-year-old.  “I’m not from Vermont, but there are always so many people out there cheering for me. I just love coming back every year.”  Next year is an Olympic year and like all national-class marathoners, Westover will be focused on January 14^th when the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston are held.  Westover certainly won’t be one of the favorites to make the Olympic team going into Houston, but no marathoner in the race—male or female—will have trained harder for it.  Her training is practically legendary. Believe it or not, Westover ordinarily trains at least 130 miles a week and often takes it up several notches with huge weeks that can reach 180 miles. But what’s truly remarkable about Westover is she does this week after week on a treadmill in the basement of her Walpole, New Hampshire home (a small town of 1000 in the southwestern part of the state).

That’s only half of it. Rather than resting and recovering like other pro runners, Westover spends all day on her feet teaching a roomful of fifth graders. After class, she does another workout.  In all, Westover logs 25 miles a day—every day--except on the weekends when she goes even farther. On long run days, she’ll go as far as 30 miles, almost all by herself.  “I know running 160 miles a week seems crazy to a lot of people,” says Westover, “but I’m used to it and to be honest, it’s something I enjoy doing.”  Westover normally begins her day with a 4:45 a.m. wakeup. She goes downstairs to her basement, sets the treadmill at nine miles an hour (6:40 pace) and pounds out 15 miles without the distraction of even a TV. She goes at the same rhythm, same pace, day after day, week after week. No speedwork, no tempo or fartlek runs, just the same constant 6:40 pace every morning.

“I can’t say I get super excited about going downstairs to run 15 miles every morning but that’s what I do,” says Westover who has worn out two treadmills and is currently on her third. “Being on a treadmill every morning has its advantages. There’s no traffic, it’s not cold and there isn’t any ice or snow to deal with. It also gives me time to think and prep for school, but I still have to concentrate on my form or I’ll fall off. The few times I’ve missed a morning run {due to the occasional winter power outage}, everything feels different to me and I feel so out of it when I get to school.”  After a quick shower, Westover says good-bye to her husband Rob about 7 and arrives at North Charlestown Community School in nearby Charlestown about 8 a.m. for a full day of teaching until about 3 p.m. which is often followed by meetings.

Westover’s integrated a bit of her running into the curriculum and her class is interested enough to follow her races on the internet. She’s also started a walking program for her kids last year and the class has totaled well over 3500 miles—through some of the roughest winter weather in years.  “Nothing ever gets in the way of our walking,” says Westover. “The snow, the cold in the dead of winter doesn’t stop these kids. We had a foot of snow one morning and the first two or three kids just plowed through the snow to make a trail for everyone else. I give the kids my worn-out shoes and old Mizuno winter gear. They love it. Some of the other classes are now following our lead and starting walking groups of their own.

“But it is a very long day and sometimes I come home completely exhausted,” says Westover who usually runs another 10 miles after school with her high-school coach, Larry Sayers. Ordinarily, Westover doesn’t get off her feet until about 7 p.m. Then, after dinner, there is still school work to do before bedtime around 10 p.m.  “In the dead of winter when it’s so dark and cold, it isn’t easy getting in all my training, but teaching is something I truly love,” says Westover who is a  graduate of the University of Rhode Island. “To me, some days teaching is  like running a marathon every day."  The thing is Westover actually runs a marathon every day. Or, close to it as she totals about 25 miles between her two daily workouts.  When she actually runs a marathon, the distance “doesn’t bother me at all.” It shouldn’t.

Although Westover has run some of the biggest marathons in the country, including New York City and Boston, she has had her greatest success in smaller races such as the Vermont City Marathon which she has now won five times and where her PR of 2:35:02 was set in 2009.  “It’s always a focus for me,” says Westover who has also won the Cape Cod Marathon four times.  Westover has plenty of strength (as evidenced by her incredible weekly mileage totals), but her clear priority as she preps for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in January is to get faster.  In order to be competitive in Houston, Westover knows she’ll have to be in sub-2:30 shape to have any chance of contending for a top three spot and a berth on the Olympic team.

“I think I’m becoming a better marathoner who can still improve,” says Westover who has a half marathon best of 1:11:35. “I have such a huge mileage base that endurance just isn’t an issue. The challenge for me is to get faster.”  In order to make that leap up the marathon pecking order, Westover is toying with the idea of following the advice she has heard for years: Run fewer miles, but run harder.  “Yeah, I get that a lot,” says Westover. “I also get a lot of, ‘Are you the crazy woman we hear about who runs over 200 miles?’ But that’s just me. I do what I do for myself. Not anyone else. 

“I realize what I do is outside the norm. I mean, I hear people ask, ‘What’s wrong with her?’ But there’s nothing wrong with me. This is who I am. What people don’t understand about me is I love what I do. I need it. I crave it.”