Cut the excuses: Marty Hehir's got a full time job (equivalent), 2 kids, and a 2:08 Marathon

toughen up butter cup wrote:

Agreed, I am currently in a job where I have to wake up at 0400 on the weekdays, so I can run before work and have to run immediately afterwards, so I can go to bed at 2000, no later than 2100. Though it is easier for me being single, no girlfriend, no wife, no kids and my social life is very limited. But I'm only young once, so why waste it on things I can do later on? It is all about priorities, time management and being discipline.

Your life is the perfect example of the phrase, "Youth is wasted on the young."

Humans love to make excuses but everyone already knows that some people are incredibly disciplined and driven. Some of this is a matter of priorities. It is easier to be driven if you have that type A personality which makes you goal oriented and often a workaholic. Some of us did not grow up with much discipline. The main reason some of us could run well was due to talent and mental toughness/tenacity. We did not necessarily train any harder than others but we ran races as if we were going to war. It made all the difference.

Jokerrr wrote:

Of course the implication of Wejo’s post is that people are either trying to run 2:08 or are making excuses as to why they cannot. Wejo knows that most people do not have the requisite talent or drive to run 2:08 or even 2:11 if we want to factor in the shoes as making a generous contribution. Yuki Kawauchi ran 2:08 with a full time job, and without the super shoes, but now that he does not work full time he cannot seem to run as fast, whether this is due to injuries or getting older or something else I am not sure. I know that for some the requisite drive to try to run a peak marathon may not last for more than a few years if it ever exists at all.

I'm not going to bother to listen to the podcast so for anyone who did, did the jobros honestly point this finger at themselves as well and address all the reasons why even without supershoes they never ran faster than 2:18 & 2:23 when they were jobless in Flag with no family responsibilities?

@toughen wrote:

toughen up butter cup wrote:

Agreed, I am currently in a job where I have to wake up at 0400 on the weekdays, so I can run before work and have to run immediately afterwards, so I can go to bed at 2000, no later than 2100. Though it is easier for me being single, no girlfriend, no wife, no kids and my social life is very limited. But I'm only young once, so why waste it on things I can do later on? It is all about priorities, time management and being discipline.

Your life is the perfect example of the phrase, "Youth is wasted on the young."

How so?

wejo wrote:

As close to a full-time working guy I think we're going to get these days who can run 2:08

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJY0-bQHyuY/

Full podcast here:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/12/marathon-project-sarahall-martinhehir/

See, this is what always gets me.

There’s so many dudes that go out to Flagstaff, Boulder, LA, wherever; they take crappy gear deals and work part time jobs while running to try and “make it.” I.e. most of Tinman that you never hear about (even the stars outside of Drew live on mummy and daddy’s money while pretending to be “pro athletes”).

And they never will. If they had any real talent, they would have gear deals within a year or two of coming out of college, or they’d have a serious job and run “on the side.”

But they’re so blind, entitled, and caught up in “chasing the dream” that they never realize they were left in the dust long ago. God forbid they’re self-righteous enough to write a book about it.

Marty? Marty on the other hand does it right. Dude has one of the hardest working jobs on the planet. He probably doesn’t sleep very much, nor does he have a lot of time to train: but he gets the freakin miles in.

He has the talent, maturity, and work ethic that all those chumps lack. The key among those is maturity: the humility and responsibility to say “I can’t make it alone as a professional runner, I need a career.” And to STILL run one of the best US marathon times ever, while all the dudes working part time are taking years and years to never break 2:19.

I hope we get more Marty’s. Bring back the American Marty: the Frank Shorters, the Malmos, Dick Beardsleys, all of them.

And here’s to them being the death of the “Flagstaff Guy”

Marty has a wife and children and he us in medical school. You think young single guys with Tinman are supported by Daddy when they survive on $15k per year but you say Marty is doing it right when he ia spending $100k per year? Pretty sure Daddy pays much more for him than a Tinman guy.

To continue with my rant about Ron Clarke (27:39.89 on DIRT from 1965) and the insane and maybe unappreciated men and performances of the mid 1960s ...

Derek Clayton* on a certain certified marathon course 2:09:36.4 @ Fukuoka JAP. 12/3/1967 ... now we make heroes of our own men who run 2:08:59 to 2:10:00 in 2020 ..52 years later nearly to the day.

2:09:36 in 1967 is fvkcin savage.

* 2:08:33.6 on May, 30/1969 considered to be run on a short course.

Both of these guys held down full time jobs and didn’t run in spring loaded mechanized footwear.

Former Iowa Great wrote:

Marty has a wife and children and he us in medical school. You think young single guys with Tinman are supported by Daddy when they survive on $15k per year but you say Marty is doing it right when he ia spending $100k per year? Pretty sure Daddy pays much more for him than a Tinman guy.

I wouldn't assume that. First of all, his wife is a nurse practitioner and NPs usually make high five to low six figures. Secondly, his wife got her DNP earlier this year, which means she'll make low six figures at a minimum now. Third, he's reaching the end of his residency so soon he'll be able to get a doctor job and make actual money. I'd say that since he left Flagstaff the household income has been strong.

Some of this analysis is neglecting that Hehir is paid by Reebok, and his strong results should help increase his pay as a professional runner.

Re: med school, I think it is normal to have large loans.

Sure. He moved to Flagstaff after college to live the sub elite life. Somebody paid for that. He passed up attending Ivy League schools and it doesn't sound like it had anything to do with finances. He has 2 children and a wife and he is 28 and has never earned a penny but will be $200k in debt. They have a nanny also. He said his wife has been off work since the summer. So somehow a woman in her 20s is able to graduate college and then earn additional degrees and get married and have 2 children and you think she supported her husband all of that time? Come on. She has been earning a nice salary for just a couple of years. Somebody got them to where they are which would have required at least $500k before she was able to support their lifestyle.

'Full time job' covers a multitude of situations. I always ignored it as an excuse. Even when runners detail their supposed daily routine in the media, I take it with a pinch of salt.

BZ wrote:

Steve Jones ran 2h07 off a fulltime job back in tbe day

And he went out wayyy too fast. Well under 62 minutes when the WR for the half was only 60:55. Jones had 2:05 in him that day for sure, without pacemakers too. Absolutely incredible.

Heir doesn’t spend any time with his kids or wife. They are deeply in debt. He sleeps like 4 hours a night. No marathon time is worth that. This is no way to live a life. Just saying.

Sometimes it's just fun to go somewhere new,. get a crappy job, and focus on your running with others who are doing the same. I've never bought the idea that you can't train seriously and work a normal job but sometimes you'd just rather not.

HRE wrote:

Sometimes it's just fun to go somewhere new,. get a crappy job, and focus on your running with others who are doing the same. I've never bought the idea that you can't train seriously and work a normal job but sometimes you'd just rather not.

It depends on the job. I'm on my feet all day walking back and forth and constantly going up and down stairs. I can't possibly imagine being able to also do the training necessary to run at that level. Just for example on my Garmins step counter I've had over 25000 steps regularly even on days where I don't run. Even had back to back to back over 30000 two weeks ago. You just can't execute great training working like that.

You know you have increased your profile and started to have success when running 28:08 10,000m at age 24, and then sub 2:09, gets you called a sub-elite and brings out the trolls to make up lies about your academics, your work life, your finances, your wife's professional career, your family life, and your sleep patterns.

video watcher wrote:

You know you have increased your profile and started to have success when running 28:08 10,000m at age 24, and then sub 2:09, gets you called a sub-elite and brings out the trolls to make up lies about your academics, your work life, your finances, your wife's professional career, your family life, and your sleep patterns.

Yes Marty there is no excuse for people to be fabricating nonsense about you.

Why don't you lay out the truth instead of saying things are untrue? The only truth you provided was his running times. Here is what I believe to be true.

Running - He is elite

Academics - Great student

Work Life - Puts in 10 hour days

Finances - In debt but families have supported them. They have a nanny.

Wife - Nurse Practitioner. He said that she hasn't been back to work since summer but also said they use the nanny when they are working, so unsure.

Family - 2 children

Sleep - 4-5 hours per night

Jokerrr wrote:

video watcher wrote:

You know you have increased your profile and started to have success when running 28:08 10,000m at age 24, and then sub 2:09, gets you called a sub-elite and brings out the trolls to make up lies about your academics, your work life, your finances, your wife's professional career, your family life, and your sleep patterns.

Yes Marty there is no excuse for people to be fabricating nonsense about you.

Ha, that proves you don't get it. I'm not him, and he doesn't know me. You don't understand, but a high achiever does not have time to screw around reading troll comments, and does not care much about what people are saying.