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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

October 30, 2015

Buzenesh Deba

New York City, New York

Q. Can you just clarify. Did you leave New York for a while, and now you're coming back?
BUZUNESH DEBA: No, we stayed here in New York.

Q. So the trip out West for altitude, the altitude training trips, they weren't like a change of residence or anything like that? When you go out of town, it's just for training?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Last year I was in New Mexico. This year I trained here in New York.

Q. How long were you in New Mexico?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Ten months last year.

Q. And was that in Albuquerque?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, in New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Q. That's more than just altitude training, though, if it's ten months?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, there's altitude and a lot of training places.

Q. So when did you come back here again?
BUZUNESH DEBA: April, after Boston Marathon.

Q. And you're in the Bronx?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. Whereabouts? What part of the Bronx?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Kingsbridge.

Q. That's a fairly long stay, ten months. Do you think you would do that again? In New Mexico.
BUZUNESH DEBA: No more. Just wintertime.

Q. When you came back, this time you decided to stay since April. I know you're happier here. How important is it to be happy when you're training for a marathon? Just to feel good about everything. How important is that?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I know the place very well, and I run with my husband, and a lot of people support us. They call my name. Yeah, I enjoy it.

Q. Listen, do you have any idea‑‑ none of us ever really do know how this 2014 Boston thing is going to eventually be settled. Theoretically, if Rita's title is taken away, that makes you the champion. Do you expect this is actually going to happen? Have you heard from any officials about this?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I can't explain.

Q. No comment?
BUZUNESH DEBA: No.

Q. Well, you have the best record of anybody who has not won a championship in a World Marathon Majors. You've got several seconds and a couple thirds and all that. Do you have the sense that, if you'd won at least once, that you would be a much bigger, better person?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Excuse me?

Q. You have all these seconds and a couple of thirds from Boston and New York. How much different do you think your life would be if you won at least one of them, came in first place?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Well, first place is train hard, and I train very hard this year. I was injured for a few months. We'll see.

Q. You were injured for a few months?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Two months.

Q. What was that injury?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Knee injury.

Q. Right knee or left?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Left.

Q. Which months were those?
BUZUNESH DEBA: June 25.

Q. To August 25?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. After coming so close to winning on several occasions, would you feel different about your career or anything if you were to win? Would you feel somehow different about yourself as a runner or your career?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, I learn from my mistakes, and I watch my race video, and I changed my strategy.

Q. You changed your strategy for this race from prior races?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. What did you learn?
BUZUNESH DEBA: In the race that's a lot of miles, you lose your energy. Better to stay with the group.

Q. More tactical?
BUZUNESH DEBA: More tactics, yes. Especially, I learned in the Boston Marathon, she lead almost the whole one.

Q. Same thing happened to her that happened to you?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. In this race, do you think it's possible that Mary Keitany will go out really hard again like she has in the past?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I don't know. This year is a hard group, yeah. This year is a very tough group.

Q. There are a lot of people who don't like New York. They don't like all the people and how loud it is and all the things, and you obviously like all those things. What about your personality that you like how kind of how loud and crazy New York is?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I'm surprised I do like it. No, New York is‑‑ I don't know how to explain. I ask a lot of people that they love New York. It's beautiful city, especially the people. They are very nice.

Q. Some people don't think New Yorkers are nice, but you've obviously found that that's not the case.
BUZUNESH DEBA: I like the people, yeah.

Q. You do most of your training in Van Courtland?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. On the trails or on the grass?
BUZUNESH DEBA: The trail, sometimes the grass.

Q. Do you know her [Tigist Tufa] very well? Do you train with her?
BUZUNESH DEBA: 2013, she stayed with us. We were training together.

Q. How about this time?
BUZUNESH DEBA: This time she trained in Ethiopia.

Q. So she just came like a couple days ago?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. Two years ago, how long did she stay with you?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Almost one year.

Q. Do you have any idea why she changed her mind about staying? Was there a possibility she might stay permanently and she changed her mind? Did she think about maybe moving here permanently?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Maybe in the future. I don't know.

Q. Why do you think‑‑ you have found that the altitude training doesn't seem to make you faster. You've done some of your best races without the altitude training. Why do you think that you're able to run fast without training at altitude?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I don't believe in the altitude. For me, it's the same thing here in New York and at altitude. Like training hard in the same place. That's why. If you're training hard anyway, you win.

Q. So why did you stay in Albuquerque as long as you did?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Last year?

Q. Yes.
BUZUNESH DEBA: We ran Boston first time, and maybe it's changed. That's why we stayed there.

Q. So you thought it would help?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. So that was before 2014's race?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes, 2014.

Q. You ran 2:19.
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, Boston. Albuquerque was a nice place for training.

Q. But that was more because of the weather than the altitude?
BUZUNESH DEBA: The weather than the altitude, yeah. Especially in wintertime, it's nice. Summertime, very hot, and we don't like snakes. It has a lot of snakes.

Q. Snakes?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, oh, my God. I said, I'm not coming any more wintertime. Summertime, they're everywhere.

Q. No snakes in Van Courtland?
BUZUNESH DEBA: No.

Q. So are you confident this time? Are you feeling in as good a shape as in the past?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Not like the past because I was injured. But I'm not giving up. I will try my best.

Q. So when you started up again on August 25th, I guess it was, you're really like starting‑‑ it's like you have to build the base before you even got into some of the hard training?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah. After Boston, I trained for shorter distances.

Q. Have you raced since August?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Mini 10K, but I dropped out. I didn't finish.

Q. How do you feel?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I feel good.

Q. How's your‑‑ how long have you been preparing?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Four months. But I was injured two months.

Q. How do you get over the hump, so to speak? How do you manage to get not just on the podium but on the top step of the podium? Have you done anything different in your preparation, or has your preparation really solidified over the last several years and you know what works for you and you just did it again in preparation for this?
BUZUNESH DEBA: My training is the same. I didn't change the training. But the speed workout has changed.

Q. How has it changed?
BUZUNESH DEBA: The pace.

Q. For instance, tell me a workout, what you do now, that you did not do before? When you say you do a new type of speed, before, what did you do? And now what do you do?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Only change the speed. The speed is [ck ] acute.

Q. Did you do this on a track?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. Track? Road? Central Park?
BUZUNESH DEBA: No, the speed workout on the track.

Q. So you do 400s, 800s?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah, 1,000 and 10,000.

Q. How many repeats?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Ten times.

Q. Ten times 1,000?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. What range of times?
BUZUNESH DEBA: 3:00 to 2:50.

Q. And so how much faster is that than before?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Before, 3:05 to 2:59.

Q. So your confidence, you think, has gone up?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes, but I was injured two months.

Q. What was your injury?
BUZUNESH DEBA: My knee.

Q. Frustrating?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. So you had therapy?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. And when did you begin doing regular training then?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I recovered August.

Q. So you've been training well since September, so two months?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. And generally, in the past, how long has been your training time? Eight weeks? 12 weeks? A normal training session no injury is how long before a marathon?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Before, I prepare four months.

Q. Before, four months. Now this is just two months?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah.

Q. Does this mean you have to race a little bit more conservatively? Less aggressive?
BUZUNESH DEBA: More aggressive. I'm not training as much as last year.

Q. So, again, does it change the way you approach the competition?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yeah.

Q. Is it disappointing for you to have to go through a period like that of injury before training for this race? Which obviously means so much for you living in the Bronx. Is it frustrating for you that you had to go through that injury period in your training block for New York because this is a special race for you?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I am excited to win, and that's why I start before four months, but I'm injured. I'm disappointed.

Q. Did you have a chance to do any competitions? In the fall.
BUZUNESH DEBA: No. In April, Boston Marathon. Mini 10K, but I dropped out. I didn't finish.

Q. And that was the only competition?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. So coming into this race, how do you feel physically?
BUZUNESH DEBA: My confidence is not like last year because I'm injured. I'm not training very well. We'll see. I won't give up.

Q. Was it the knee problem at the mini that made you drop out?
BUZUNESH DEBA: No, the mini, this one.

Q. The Achilles?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. On the other leg, the right?
BUZUNESH DEBA: Yes.

Q. As a New Yorker, what would it mean to you to win this race?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I'll try to explain. New York is my home. If I win, oh, my gosh, I think I'm going to be crazy.

Q. Would that be the ultimate thing in your career to win this race?
BUZUNESH DEBA: It is my victory, yes. For me, more than the Olympics.

Q. Can you tell me a little bit about what your plans are for Sunday? Are there other competitors you'll be looking at, kind of following what they're doing, or are you going to do your own thing like before?
BUZUNESH DEBA: This year, I'm losing my confidence because I'm not training that much. And the group is very hard this year, I think. We'll see. Maybe I stay with the group.

Q. Is there anybody in particular, if they make a move, you're going to try and cover, or you're not sure yet?
BUZUNESH DEBA: I'm not sure.
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