In honor of National Running Day, TheRunChat is doing 24 hours of questions. Since I have work (boo!), I can’t answer them on the fly like some lucky people can, so I’m answering them here.
- What do you love most about running?
I lost a metric shit ton of weight, partly from running. When I started, I was somewhere around 240 – 260. I now weigh 184. I enjoy competing, but also the process of preparing to compete (practice runs). I enjoy being outside (I loathe dreadmills entirely!)
My feelings on dreadmills. - Where’s your favorite place to run?
I have several. The Ohio River Parks (Friendship Park/Sawyer Point/Yeatman’s Cove/Smale park) is nice, as is the other side of the river (and Newport is really cool about letting us run through their levee/commons area while festivals are setup). - What’s a must-do marathon in Europe?
After hearing the Munich Marathon race recap from Marathon Training Academy Podcast, I think that would be a fun one to run. Not as big as Berlin (one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors), and Munich is well known for good beer! A second would be Dublin, Ireland (also known for good beer, and part of my ancestry comes from there). - Running with music: of course/no way?
I normally run listening to podcasts and AfterShokz headphones, so for normal running, music is good too. I don’t race with headphones, though. - Do you prefer to run as the sun is coming up or as it is setting?
When it is coming up. Afternoon runs are more difficult because I’ve had time for other stuff happen during the day (you know, life!) - What’s your biggest lesson learned with running?
Patience is important. It’s possible that I fractured my sacrum due to impatience. I’ve seen a lot of people that go from zero-to-marathon because they want to check something off the bucket list – and they usually hit the wall HARD. I’ve improved immensely – I remember being so happy when I ran 4 miles in 48 minutes several years ago, and now I run around 6 miles in 48 minutes! It’s all because of perseverance. - What’s your favorite race medal?
Maybe it’s because it’s my first marathon and you always remember your first, maybe because it’s the hometown, maybe because I consider the race a success (I missed my ‘A’ goal by 14 seconds!), but this is it…
Flying Pig Marathon 2018 Medal - How far in advance do you sign up for races?
Depends on how much of a training cycle goes into a race. If it is a 10k or shorter, I don’t mind signing up really close to the event. Longer races tend to be a target for a PR and require much more of a training commitment (as well as cost more), so I sign up earlier. Also, cost – I try to get the best prices by signing up early. - What PR do you want to set next?
My next big race is the Honor Run Half Marathon, and I’m pushing for a PR there. Even to the point that I’ve decided to up the ante with Hal Higdon’s advanced half marathon plan (previously, I used the intermediate-II plan to get me to 2 PRs in 3 half marathons – and the third was not a PR due to a back strain two weeks before race day). - Did you run track in high school? What was your big event?
I was on the track team, but I didn’t run except when the coaches made me. I threw shot put and discus. I was decent, but not near the best in the school or anything. - If you could do a relay with 3 Twitter friends, who would you pick?
I was drafted to a team on this one, and I think my answer is similar, and I would add that I got a chance to meet @ShimmyRunner and @LordDolish at the Little Kings Mile (which isn’t a relay, and we ran in different heats, but it’s kinda similar)
https://twitter.com/DRappBeerRun/status/1004377900735520768
After much discussion, it was decided that this would be a great group run so we could talk during the run. - What’s your ideal running weather?
Mid-40s, dry with no rain, low humidity. I prefer to wear a long-sleeve shirt and shorts, gloves are okay. - What’s the best shoe you’ve ever owned?
I’m going to go with my New Balance Zante v3s. I just ordered my third pair. - What’s the best sunscreen you’ve used?
Banana Boat active. - What’s your favorite trail?
In terms of real trails, I’ve only run in Mt. Airy Forest and NKU’s Valhalla course. Both are my favorite. - What’s your favorite community race?
The Hudepohl 14k. It’s a serious race, but a lot of costumes are involved. One year, I ran around four people in prison stripes – they had last names on the backs (like with sports jerseys) with Lohan, Peterson, Rice, and a fourth that I don’t remember. The person with Peterson came complete with a switch. And there’s beer at the finish line. - What’s your favorite non-racing distance to run?
12, because math. 1/12, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, ?, 1/2, ? 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 11/12, done! It’s like a fucked up Fibonacci Sequence! - Living or dead, what singer would you pick to run with? What would you ask him/her?
I really don’t have an answer to this questions. I don’t know what singers can run easy at sub-9 paces, and I’m not really enamored by famous people. However, I can think of several that I’d be happy if they performed along the course of the next half or full marathon I run… - What’s your all-time favorite running memory?
Finishing my first marathon missing my stretch A goal by 14 seconds. I had kinda dismissed my A and B goals (3:45 and <4:00) and was really concentrating on the C goal (run the entire race), so narrowly missing A was fucking awesome. Add in the fact that the race went to yellow flag.
Second to that is finishing the Flying Pig Half 2017 where a friend (volunteer) came running down from his spot at the finish line to give me a high-five because it was a great race. - What’s one thing you’d like to improve with your running?
Speed. I want to get to some fast 5ks and qualify for Boston. - What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever seen on a run?
Saw someone getting arrested on the back of a police cruiser in Covington, KY. Also, on a different day a block away from where that happened, I was running a long run on Easter Sunday. I ran past Molly Malone’s bar, where someone stumbled out of the front door with a Bud Light in their hand… at 9:00 AM! - Friends with Dogs! How far does your dog run with you?
I have a dog, a miniature long-hair dauchshund, and I don’t run with her. She’s old. And she’s short. - What’s your next race? What’s your goal?
Batavia Bulldog Blast 5k. I want a PR out of this – it’s a short, flat course, but it’s in July :-/
