As I’ve stated in the bio for my tech blog, I don’t like to write about myself in the third person.
From my Team Run Wild Bio from 2006:
I’ve flirted with running forever. In elementary school, I joined the “running club” until I found out they ran before school (7am). That was too early for me. (At that time, my motivation was lacking!)
My junior high school wanted to be known for its track team, so they had all sorts of perks to joining. One of them was that you didn’t have to run during gym class, since you were running after school. I joined. I was a ‘distance’ runner, which at that time meant I ran the 2K. When the city finals came around, they surprised us all with a 3K course that none of us were prepared for. I busted out a 9th place overall and promptly hung up my running shoes. (that was in ’92 or so)
I rejoined the running world in 2001, I’m almost embarrassed to say, in an attempt to share an interest with my significant other. I quite enjoyed it, but was injured training for my first marathon in 2002. I took nearly a year and a half off. When I decided to start up again in 2004, the significant other was long gone, and running was now something I was doing for me. I haven’t looked back since!
My first marathon was the Columbus Marathon in 2004, where I qualified for Boston. In 2005, I ran 5 marathons in total, culminating with a three-marathons-in-three-weeks streak that included my PR race: 3:30:05 at the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA.
In 2006 I completed my first ultra marathon, and 5 marathons in addition. 2007 was an “off” year for me, and I “only” completed three marathons. In 2008, I completed four marathons and one ultra (including running a BQ in Boston). I took up cycling and moved to Colorado, where the mountains beckon to me daily.
I am a saucony fan, and their company information states: “At Saucony, a good day is when we get to run. A great day is when we inspire someone else to run.”. I certainly espouse this ideal, and am ecstatic that my mom has taken up running over the past few years. She has now completed three half marathons, including the ING Edmonton Half (2007), The New Las Vegas Half (2007) and the Flying Pig Half (2008). The latter two events were ones we attended together, where I participated in the full event and she did the half. I am so thankful we share this interest.
For more details on the races I have completed, you may view:
[...] “I don’t know if it was just my high expectations or if the shoes actually accomplished what they were designed to do but I ran my entire forty minute set without any hint of pain. It was, as in Oceanside when I first tested the shoes, very obvious where my foot needed to be landing and the fact that the heel of the shoe isn’t super thick like most cross-trainers meant that I wasn’t over compensating to make sure I landed on the front half of my foot and in so doing straining my peronius brevis. I was able to keep a nice fast cadence with light foot-fall, landing properly on my midfoot keeping my feet underneath my hips and I was surprised at how quickly the forty minutes flew by. I guess without any leg pain running doesn’t seem so tedious. ” Read more here. And another review from amateur runner Andrea Hill. [...]