“Hey ENDURrunners! Can’t wait for August 12th!”
We’re back with daily posts for the next few weeks. Follow this blog for profiles on the 2018 ENDURrun Ultimate Contenders.
Related: Full blog series | Full list of Contenders
ENDURrun: How is your training going?
Rebecca: Training is going well – had a strong start to the year but took a wee setback with illness and am working back up to distance and speed, slowly and carefully. Plan this year involves more interval training, more strength work, and more hills (always more hills!)
How will your ENDURrun 2018 compare to previous years?
Not really sure – will have to wait and see! Plan to do my best every day, encourage all of the new (and old) faces on the course, and have a blast!
What are the key pieces of advice to Rookies that you’ve learned over the years?
ENDURrun is a family. The best piece of ‘advice’ I got my first day in 2016 was from Joanne Bink who said simply ‘welcome to the family’. That mentality makes an enormous difference to your week. The encouragement from spectators and aid station volunteers and other runners is amazing, heartfelt, and personal. Even disappointments (maybe your half marathon is slower than you wanted it to be) are easier to handle because the group cares about your race, supports you, and gets you out again the next day. The other piece of advice is – most of the volunteers and spectators around you are seasoned ENDURrunners – so their advice is WELL worth heeding!
Congratulations and welcome to the new ENDURrunners in 2018. It’s a big step to take the plunge and register for this crazy event but I promise you it will be SO worth it.
For someone who has never been to ENDURrun week, what should they expect?
Expect…..a fantastic variety of race styles and settings, the best post race food you’ve ever eaten, amazing race photos, tons of encouragement (by name)….oh, and expect to be tired. You will need to protect sleep time that week!
What about ENDURrun keeps you coming back?
The races, the volunteers, the race courses, Lloyd and Julie and the entire Schmidt family, and the whole group of runners (and their families). I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this event in my own neighborhood.
What are your ENDURrun 2018 stories? Motivations, goals, etc.
First goal is always to finish. Every.single.kilometer. Second goal is to finish with an overall faster time – even if just a few minutes 🙂 Third goal is to know every runner’s name by the end of the week. I got pretty close last year but not quite….the runner profile series is helping! Overall, though, I just want to enjoy the week. No matter what running-oriented goals I can or cannot achieve this year, being able to run is amazing – a privilege many athletes have taken away from them (my mom included) so every km I get to run, I’m thankful for.
What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2018?
Running down hill at Chicopee. (I’m serious – I LOVE those downhills).
What are you nervous about, if anything?
I’m not really nervous about anything…..should I be?
Can you share any details of your training?
Sure! I get to about 70-80 km a week when I am training regularly. I’m building back to that mileage after an unexpected hospital stay in early April…..
I do intervals either on my own or with H&P once or twice a week; deliberate hill runs every couple of weeks, and strength training once or twice a week when I can. Long runs don’t happen every weekend, but I try, and sometimes I do two 20 kms back to back. I’ll have one, maybe two weeks where my mileage gets to over 100 km but those weeks are extremely rare (I’m very, very injury averse!)
What is your runner profile?
I ran 5 km distances frequently as a teenager and university student, but didn’t run my first half marathon till 2014 – Boston’s Run to Remember! Never looked back….first marathon was July 2014, and plenty more since! Every year, I do a mix of road and trail, find at least one new marathon and one new trail race, and try to find one race in a place I’ve never raced before. This year, it’ll be the Chicago Marathon if all goes well.
Oh – one other important thing….my favorite runs are the one I do with other people 🙂
What is the most important part of the ENDURrun identity that appeals to you?
Camaraderie. Intensity. Striving for excellence while achieving an incredibly supportive environment.
Welcome back, Rebecca!