A week ago today I was in Boston with one of my best friends and college teammate. Despite living hundreds of miles away from each other, our friendship remains strong. This is because of our shared experiences training and racing together and our dedication to continue doing those things now. A good teammate is your teammate for life and will push you and cheer for you long after you wear the same jersey. As my friend waited to run perhaps the most famous race in the world, I was eager to see what she had to say in way of running advice for both beginners and experienced racers alike.
We may not talk every day or log our miles together, but we both know we’re rooting for one another. There’s a certain connection with someone that you’ve spent so much time with working towards the same goals, sweating through the same workouts, crying through the same pain, and rejoicing over the same successes. No amount of time apart or distance between such a friendship can change that relationship. When you come back together you pick up where you left off; both trying to set a game plan for the task at hand.
Last weekend, the task at hand was getting Heather through 26.2 miles. Heather qualified for the Boston Marathon on her first attempt at the famous distance and despite a rough training block, she would lace up the day after this interview to take part in this world-renowned race. Though sad not to be lining up beside her, I was eager to cheer her on. I pulled out a notebook and pressed record on the voice memo app on my phone before picking Heather’s brain about running advice.
Though willing to do the interview, Heather (like many others) seemed wary of being recorded.
Lindsey: It’s just a conversation Heather…
Heather: You’re taking notes.
She eyed my notebook accusingly. I chuckled. Though I enjoy interviewing new people, there’s something really fun about interviewing someone you know well. The questions flow easier and laughter spills in abundance.
Heather: Hold on. Let me get my gummy worms.
More giggles between us.
Lindsey: So, if you were going to tell someone who didn’t really know you a little bit about yourself, what would you say?
Heather: I would say… that… what-what kind of audience do I have?
I start laughing again. “An audience of like ten-ish people” is what I should have said.
Lindsey: Runners, adventurers.
Heather: Okay, I used to be an athlete but I still take my running… more serious than other runners? Maybe more serious than people that just kind of do it for fun. And running, or training for any sort of long-distance race is a whole other game when you work a full-time job. That’s what I’d tell someone right now.
Heather ran cross country and track in college and excelled at both, but her specialty was middle-distance. She just graduated from the University of Wisconsin with her masters in Occupational Therapy and started her full-time job with a hospital just a few months ago.
Lindsey: Tell me more about your relationship with running. Why is it so important to you?
Heather: Hmm. I don’t know why I do it. I think I kind of got thrown into it in high school and then it became more of a lifestyle. I’ll plan my day around running. I just don’t think I would know who I was as a person without it in my daily life…
Lindsey: I think a lot of people can relate to that. Sometimes things just become part of who we are… So, why the marathon? Why are you running this race and, especially in comparison to the shorter races you ran in college, what do you like about it? Or not like about it?
Heather: Well I did it because you made me the first time… There is no secret to that…
Laughter interrupts the conversation again.
Heather: …but after that, I think it’s the… after any sort of race you get a little bit of a runner’s high. Even if the race sucked, there’s still a little bit of a runners high. But there’s no runner’s high like the end of a marathon. So I think when I signed up for my second one I just wanted to feel that sense of accomplishment again.
Lindsey: So do you think you relate to the theory that you can get addicted to it?
Heather: Oh yeah, that’s why I’m here doing another one I guess. I think you do get addicted to it, but I also think you need to have realistic expectations while chasing that high because life gets in the way. I mean, training for my first two was easier because I could pretty much determine my own schedule, but now I’m working full-time and it changes the game a little bit.
Lindsey: Watching other people run, especially at a huge event, can be really inspiring and make people want to do that too. Actually training for a race is a whole different monster. What sort of running advice would you give someone who is maybe interested in starting, but finds it a bit intimidating? What would you tell someone who wants to start or take it further?
Heather: Take baby steps. Don’t start out too quickly. You’ll end up getting small injuries and that’s going to turn you off to it. Start off slowly and find a small, local running group to join up with. Having some sort of small group to hold you accountable, but also make it fun is so important, especially when you’re starting out. It’ll help you get through the initial aches and pains while you’re figuring it all out.
Lindsey: The whole concept of the blog is about being “in-between” and about not knowing what you want to do, with anything. For me, personally, that feeling corresponds to running because going for a run helps to give me a purpose for an individual day. Do you have any running advice thoughts on how it can help you cope with life?
Heather: Yeah, I think with running I always know what to expect. I may not know exactly how the run will go but it is something I can plan and prepare for. It’s one thing that isn’t an unknown. It’s a constant; one of the things no one can control but me. So I think it’s a coping mechanism in some ways.
Lindsey: Do you have any advice for “in-betweeners”?
Heather: I found through the whole graduating and finding a job and struggling to figure out what’s next that sometimes things will fall into place without you realizing it… Sometimes you might come to a crossroads and think, “I don’t know what to do.” But if you look back you’ll realize well, I didn’t know what to do four months ago but I did something… So, I think everyone is in an “in-between” part of their life, it’s just a different in-between part.
