Flyer Spotlight- 5/1/08

Below is my Spotlight Profile from the May edition of my running team's newsletter. I was featured alongside one of my best friends, JG.

I've been told that I am a difficult person to get to know, something about Fort Knox. So here's a start.

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Age group: Women’s Sub-Masters

Years with Flyers: 2 years

Favorite quote?
“And on the seventh day, God did an easy three.”
- Stolen from the Runner’sWorld.com discussion boards

How long have you been running?
I “officially” started running in August of 2006, a few months after my 30th birthday that June.

What inspired you to get started?
I actually started racing before I started running. I had signed up to participate in the Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5-Miler, also in June of that year, thinking that my co-worker would walk it with me. But the week of the race he told me that he had secretly been training and was going to try and jog it. I had never, ever run before but got caught up in the excitement at the start and ran the first two miles without stopping. After a brief walk break I rallied with a strong final mile, passing co-workers on my way to the finish.

I was psyched but my body was not. Six weeks of physical therapy later I was cleared to try again and—despite this foreshadowing of PT visits in my future—I have not looked back.

When and why did you join the Flyers?
I joined the Flyers in October of that year, once I had worked up to the 6-mile Central Park loop. I joined the night before the Hunter Moonlight Run and have fond memories of DG herding us up Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg while the hipsters watched in amusement and confusion.

I became very active in the club last spring and now I can’t imagine not being a Flyer.

Who has been your biggest influence in running? Who inspires you or do you have a favorite athlete?
Growing up, my younger brother J and I had very little in common. We were seven years apart in school. I was on the speech and debate team and dyed my hair black. He played varsity basketball as a freshman and could run a 4:40 mile. I was proud of him, but had no idea what that meant.

In June of 2006, J ran the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. When I called to congratulate him I asked how him long the marathon was. Again, I was proud of him, but had no idea what that meant.

So, after my own accidental brush with the runner’s high that same month, I started to understand my brother a little bit. And ever since we have grown much closer. His support and advice, along with my parents’ encouragement, have allowed me to become a runner. And I now understand what 26.2 miles really means.

Training tip?
Everybody tells me to listen to my body and not run through injury, yet most people do it anyway. So…do as I say, not as I do?

What are your 2008 goals?
I just accomplished my main goal last month—completing my first marathon—and my body is recovering. Once I feel healthy again I want to get back into race shape and focus on speed. My relative newness to the sport allowed me to PR in every distance last season, but I haven’t been able to match my times since my stress fracture last August. However, it’s in me.

I’m also taking a $136 tour through the five boroughs in November. I hear Staten Island is lovely that time of year.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Completing the National Marathon was surreal. Afterward my dad asked me when I knew I was going to “break four” and, honestly, I didn’t even believe I was going to finish until I saw the clock over the finish line.

I am also amazed that I moved across the country from California to NYC. I had talked about moving here for four years before I had the courage to do it, and will celebrate my fifth East Coast anniversary this summer.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. It applies on and off the roads and is incredibly difficult to follow.

What is your line of work?
I am a Sr. Interactive Producer for an advertising agency. The hours are long, it’s more responsibility than I have ever had before, and it’s an incredibly high-stress environment. But I love what I do.

Where did you grow up? Where do you presently live?
I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but grew up in the suburbs of Central California. To some extent, my heart will always remain in Berkeley and San Francisco, where I lived and worked for nine years before moving to NYC. I now live in Brooklyn Heights and start most Saturday mornings with a run across the Brooklyn Bridge. So I can’t really complain.

What are your other hobbies?
I spend a lot of time working on this newsletter…and have some really expensive photo equipment gathering dust in my closet. I’m going through a yoga phase right now and am also learning how to knit in an attempt to stay busy, reduce my time on the roads, and try something “girly”. But if there is a way to injure oneself while knitting I will let you know.

What is your favorite time of year and why?
Most people say fall because of the leaves, the weather, or marathon season. I’m in it for the pumpkin: pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes. You get the gist.

What is your favorite book?
I heard Sarah Vowell read from Take the Cannoli years ago in Berkeley and fell in love with her writing. You can’t go wrong with any of her books.

Favorite restaurant?
I grew up on Mexican food so my favorite restaurants are in California and Albuquerque. But my last meal in NYC would probably be at Momofuku.

Favorite movie?
Waiting for Guffman

Where was your last/most interesting vacation?
Paris, November 2006: running from my hotel near Notre-Dame to the Louvre, through Jardin des Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde, up Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, then over to the Eiffel Tower and back along quais de Seine. Eight miles in the rain. And I was the only girl out there.

What’s your worst habit?
I am impatient…

What do you do to relax and unwind?
…but I’m working on it with the yoga and (hopefully) knitting.

What is one of your pet peeves?
Unfortunately I have many. Most involve people who stop when they shouldn’t, such as in the middle of the sidewalk, just inside the subway car doors, at the top or bottom of the stairs or escalator, etc.

Come to think of it, we should have pace corrals for the morning commute. Through the tape!