Interview with Kim

Hi. I have wanted to do an interview with my Ohio running friend Kim for a while. She graced us with a few answers. She is a connector. I have paced her at the Umstead 100 miler a couple of times. She is determined and positive. Good traits for running and life.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am 43 years old; married, no children, 3 dogs, live in east central Ohio. I am a pharmacist

2.When and why did you start running?
I started running when walking was not giving me enough of a benefit. To back up a step, I once weighed over 225 lbs. I began WW and walking, and the weight started coming off. I would walk almost every day, on a gravel road behind our house. At one point, I decided to jog the distance. I can still remember the feeling of triumph as I was able to jog that entire distance, without stopping!
I then signed up for a 2 mile run in the local town. I had started the "Couch to 5K" program somewhere in the middle. I was so surprised to see other fit people literally "pop" out of the woodwork for this race. (Ohio has a high rate of obesity and sedentary lifestyle.)

3. What motivates you to train?
 I usually have a goal race in the future to train for.

4. What are your favorite shoes?
I wear Saucony Road Shoes, the Trigon Ride. For trails, I wear Mizuno Wave Ascends. I also like my Italian Scarpa "Raptors".

5. Do you train with friends or alone?
I train alone, mainly because the other runners who live around here run too fast for me.

6. What is your favorite training route?
 I have trails at Salt Fork State Park, which is a 15 minute drive for me, which are now my favorite. For roads, which are NOT my favorite, I have a nice 11 mile loop with lots of hills and great views from the tops. I live in Amish country, and it's very beautiful here.

7. What was your first race?
The Cleveland Browns 5k. I was so pleased I finished!

8. How many marathons and ultras have you attempted?
I don't keep track. Not really. Do you count FA's ? (FatAsses?)
I've run ultras in Ohio, PA, WV,VA, NC, IN. I've run marathons in Ohio and Las Vegas.
I've completed the Umstead 100 Mile Race 3 times. I have attempted and DNF Mohican 100 3x, Rocky Raccoon once, Burning River once, Oil Creek once. I did DNF the Mountain Masochist 50 mile run.

9. Do you have any running gear to recommend?
Nathan Hydration Vest. Handheld running bottles. Atalanta running skirt. Petzl running light.

10. Could you give us some tips for beginners?
Go slow. Build up miles. Don't feel you need to run a marathon the first year you start running IF Ever! If you don't like to run long distances, don't. Running should be about having fun. If you are dreading your runs, then do something else until you enjoy them again.
Also, don't wait for someone to run with. Go out there and do it!!!!

Simple Motivation

This morning while I was out running with my friend Scott, he was running ahead of me due to my low fitness, a thought came into my head. "I want to be good at this!" That is enough, even after 30 plus years of running.

Learning to suffer!

One of the things that has come up in my transition from running to biking is learning how to suffer. Years of running taught me how to push and dig deep. With biking I have to learn the handling skills before I can push myself hard enough to suffer. I experimented today with hammering every hill at Umstead. In an effort to learn how the bike handles, with a mile to go, I stopped and let most of the air out of the rear tire and then hammered to the end. It was wobbly when I got to the max speed of 22.0 mph. That was as fast as I could go and stay upright. Fun!

Matisyahu

Concert tonight!. Tickets provided by Jessie. First introduced to Matisyahu by my friend Ken.

Merchants Millpond and Sunnyside

Sunday was a beautiful day. Charlene and I took our friends Cosmin and Simona to canoe at Merchants Millpond in Northeastern NC. Merchant's is a swamp and natural area that has an abundance of turtles, turkey, bald cypress and duckweed. The turtles were out sunning on the logs and we even found the resident alligator. On the way back we stopped in Williamston at Sunnyside's Oyster Bar. We had some cold beer, oysters, bay scallops, shrimp and tried the house speciality the Red Rooster. It is an oyster on a saltine cracker with fresh horseradish, black pepper, texas pete and some little peppers. It was wicked hot and the need for cold beer increased! Enjoy the pics.

Single Track Biking and Running

Yesterday I went out to Beaver Dam recreation areas on Falls Lake to ride the mountain bike trails. It has been a while since I went out there. The trails were leaf covered and slippery. At some points I was not even sure I was on the trail due to the leaf cover. I rode the inner loop, outer loop, west loop and south loop. This was a total of 14.3 miles. Since the last time, my bike skills have improved greatly. No falls and the only times I had to put a foot down was went I went off trail!

  Today I met Stephen and brother-in law Troy at Umstead for a 6 mile trail run. While the trail was slippery, I had a good run. Troy handled the trails well and showed no signs of fatigue, despite the hills! Charlene and sister-in law Youngin were out as well. Charlene got in a 53 minute run walk. Now it is time to relax until I go pick up a load of firewood from my friend Bea.

Dance Lesson with friends

Tonight Charlene and I went to take a free dance lesson with our neighbors Cosmin and Simona. Much fun was had by all.

Mix it up!

    Fitness returns slowly after a layoff. My layoff was due to sickness and it lasted from mid September to late October. I still did some stuff but, nothing felt good. I am trying to get in good shape before the holiday food onslaught. I am going to mix it up a little more.
      The first part is strength work that is geared towards explosive moves versus endurance. Think jumping on benches, lunges, quick movement with weights. This should help develop more muscle and burn some calories.
    The second part will be short but, intense running or biking. Try starting a run or bike and when you are warmed up go hard for 30 seconds, easy for 60 seconds and keep repeating this your whole workout. This should help shake the sluggish body.
    The third part is the endurance workout. These are workouts that last over an hour. Low intensity but, necessary to develop your cardio and burn large amounts of calories.
  The last part is nutrition. Try each day to eat well for that day. Repeat the next day. Eliminate the stress eating!

Get out there and use your body to its maximum.