“Running gives me time to disconnect from all types of life’s stresses.”
What inspired you to run the marathon?
I used to run a lot, many years ago, and I picked it up again about five years ago. And I was doing 10-mile races. There’s a New England 10-miler series, so I was doing those consistently. A lot of times people would ask me if I would ever do the marathon, and I said no. Most people don’t realize that Boston is a qualifier event. I said I would never qualify for Boston. And I knew from my time working at some other organizations that the fundraising requirement was significant, and I had never done a fundraiser.
So, when the opportunity came up with Point32Health, I thought, “Oh, okay! I’ll try it.” Last year, I got accepted in January, so I had a very compressed 12-week training cycle. That was a big leap of faith to even think that I could pull it off. So, I just barely pulled it off. It was a hot day and that was very hard. So, I’m glad to have a second try.
Can you talk about how running helps your overall well-being?
It definitely helps. I find that it’s a great release mentally. I don’t really hit my stride until I’m four miles into a run. So being able to run long distances is nice, it’s comfortable. Running gives me time to disconnect from all types of life’s stresses.
Physically, it’s been great. I’ve had a lot of people ask me, when they hear that I run, “Don’t your knees hurt, or this or that?” And they don’t. But I am careful about not doing too many miles and I also have a strength plan that I do alongside. So, I enjoy it because it’s a good way to focus and give me direction. So, instead of just showing up at the gym or deciding, “I’m going to go for a walk today,” I have a real purpose for what I’m doing.
What’s the best advice you’ve received or would give about running?
I think most people have training plans that will get them through the running portion of how to prepare for the day. I would say that nutrition is a vital piece that needs to be trained as well. If you go into it thinking, “Well, I can usually do, you know, 12 or 14 miles without taking a single gel and I only need to drink a little bit,” just know that a marathon is a different animal altogether and you will help your performance by training your nutrition.
Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions?
I have a very prescriptive plan, like my standard work of what’s in my gear bag, and I go through that the night before, like most runners. The night before the race, I’m laying everything out in various iterations based on what might happen with the weather. Then the ritual is I eat the same breakfast. I never vary from that, because once you find something that works, it’s really hard to move off that. Plain oatmeal with some frozen mixed berries and maple syrup.
You ran the marathon before. Is there anything interesting or unexpected that you experienced last year?
I had run New York a long time ago, so I had one other marathon in my pocket. As much as I knew the mental fortitude needed to get through the 26 miles, I was really kind of hit by that at a certain point in the race, so kind of a negative surprise was just that you really need to have something besides the miles under your feet. You have to have a reason to keep going.
It was a beautiful day for spectators last year, so I would say I was surprised by how great the crowd was the entire way. I mean, the whole way there were people, and they were so awesome to hear.