Lives : San Francisco Bay Area.
Works: I’m a CPA that doesn’t do taxes. (I’m a consultant that prepares complex insurance claims)
Hobbies: My hobbies are running (obviously…perhaps better described as an obsession), I also enjoy composting and traveling.
How long have you been running?
I think I started at 4. Got serious in high school and college. Gained 50lbs between 1994 and 2010 then started over again at 38. I’m on my second running career.
What are your goals? Goal races? Any bucket list running goals?
My goal is to break 3 hours in the Boston Marathon. Other than that – every race the goal is to win.
Hard to say that I have a specific goal after Boston. In the way back of my mind, I’ve wanted to run the Fukuoka Marathon, but I’m not sure I have the time to invest in working this relatively old body into the qualifying 2:40 time.
And I’m not actually certain what (if anything) it takes to be invited beyond the qualification time. I just enjoy the setting of a race and then trying to be competitive at whatever the level of competition.
What has been your proudest moment as a runner? Are there any particular races that you are proud of?
Probably my proudest moment as a runner was when I was a junior in high school when my team won our league’s championship. It important in the scheme of world competition, but the race and the camaraderie of that team have been a constant reminder of what running means.
On a personal level, I think I’m most proud of 2013’s Boston Marathon. It was a great race. I finished in 3:01:36 and I was very happy and pleased with the effort. I was planning to end at one and done in Boston.
However, with the events last year, I thought it would be good to come back one more time and I’ve dedicated myself to trying to break 3 hours this year.
What had been your favorite race or race experience?
To be honest, most of those “favorite” races or experiences probably happened 1/2 a life ago while running for Babson College. I never did a lot of road races. I enjoyed running for a team and I’d have to say that the parties after the hard 8K races were the best part of racing.
Have you ever had any set backs or injuries that you had to overcome?
I’ve been really lucky in my running career. I have never been injured before the last couple of years. Usually I could just take a day or a week off and I’d work through it. However, I’m currently dealing with an achilles issue on my right side. I’m still getting through it.
The experience is causing me to learn more about how the body works – the muscles, the tendons, and everything else. How they all work together. I’m confident that I’ll be stronger because my lower legs will literally be stronger from all the exercises I’ve been doing to defeat this pain.
I’m much better than I was eight weeks ago. Let’s check back in a year… hopefully I’ll have no pain.
What were your biggest struggles before joining RunnersConnect?
As an experienced runner, I knew about hard days and easy days before joining RunnersConnect, but RunnersConnect helped me with the discipline to stay on task and finish every workout week in and week out. I struggled with the lack of a support system before joining RunnersConnect.
A motivation to “get it done” even when I was tired or when I had something else that I “needed” to do. With both coaches and teammates reading and commenting on the posts from the workout there is a real feeling of community that I lacked before. That is important to keep me motivated to do what I need to do.
Looking back at my preparation for Boston 2013 compared to Boston 2014 – there is no comparison. I’ve done more miles, but more importantly I’ve done more quality miles. I just did what I felt like when I was training alone (even with the plan I printed off from the internet). Now I feel like I have a plan.
What did your training look like prior to working with us?
My training before was actually similar, however there was a definite lack of “speed” work. I did every workout basically the same – I ran. Mostly I ran at a “moderate” pace by RunnersConnect standards. Not much “easy” and not much “hard”.
I think my own plan worked fine, but I think RunnersConnect’s plan is sharpening the edges to squeeze a bit more speed in and hopefully provide a better finish to the 26 mile race.
What prompted you to start looking for a better solution?
I reached out to a friend and former teammate in Boston for a suggestion on how to train to break 3 hours in a marathon. She introduced me to Nate Jenkins. I traded emails with him. He suggested I try RunnersConnect. Here we are.
Did you have any doubts or fears before joining RunnersConnect?
I’m going to be honest… nothing was intimidating for me here. In some ways it has been interesting. I’ve wanted to go “harder” on a few of these workouts. But I have trusted that the workouts are getting me ready to achieve my goal – 2:57.
So I haven’t seen anything that made me doubtful or fearful. Its a good team approach and the team is nothing but encouraging.
What is your favorite part of RunnersConect now?
My favorite part by far is the banter that sometimes develops between the runners. I’ve engaged with a few people and they have been fun to hear how they enjoy each workout and support their performances.
What recent results have you been able to attain since joining?
I’m a work in process here. Boston is 4 weeks away. That was where I wanted a PR and you are helping me with that. I did a tune up 1/2 marathon race along the way – but it turned out to not be a PR because my achilles was sore and I saw no use to run harder.
Although I felt perfectly comfortable and could have gone faster and perhaps PR if the achilles were 100%.
