Jessica: I am a Runner

Good morning friends. Ready to feel inspired?

Jessica from Laces and Lattes fame is featured today. The Waterloo resident has been running since 2007. When she’s not lacing up, you can find her at Home Hardware Corporate where she works in print marketing.

I love her response to the “best running memory” question. It’s so true.

1. Why did you start running?

I cannot remember why I started running. For me, it has always been something I have enjoyed and a huge part of who I am. It was never a conscious decision to start because I guess I always have been.

What pushes me to keep going is the amazing community of runners that I have found and developed in my local area and online, as well as a deep passion for the sport.

2. What is your running/fitness routine each week?

A typical week of training has three spin classes, two interval workouts, two long runs, two trail runs, two Pilate’s or yoga classes and one swim session.

3. What does running mean to you?

Running is a hobby, a lifestyle and an obsession for me. It means friends and and it means quiet. It means being calm and centred and full of life. Basically, it means staying sane. 🙂

4. When did you have your first “a ha” running moment?

My first “a ha” moment was the first time I won a race. It was track and field in grade 8 and I was not athletic but liked running. It was the 1000 metre dash and I wasn’t expecting anything special. I crossed the finish line and realized I had won the race. I kept running because it is really the one thing I can do.

5. What is the running community like in your ‘hood?

We have a vibrant running community in Waterloo. I train with Health and Performance which is a tight knit and dedicated group of runners and I do intervals and long runs with them. There is a fantastic local running store called Runners Choice that I join for their trail runs. And we have one of the greatest local race series called RunWaterloo which I race almost every year.

6. Best running memory? Tell us about it.

It really is hard to narrow down one, but I would say it would be a tie between my very first run where I stopped to walk beside the river and I said “I am NOT stopping this!” and last April when I was running 100 miles in the Badlands of North Dakota and was climbing a particularly challenging hill and I had a conscious thought of “This is who I am and this is what I do.” It’s the small moments of clarification of why you are running in the first place that are the best.

7. What has running taught you about yourself?

That I am made more of spice than sugar. Every distance has taught me something different: completing ultra marathons has taught me that I can over come every obstacle, racing a marathon taught me I can reach any goal and racing a 5 KM has taught me that I am constantly growing and improving.

8. Do you have any current running goals?

I have a goal to complete my first double marathon on trail this year, as well as running Boston and another 100 miler in 2015. I also want to get my 5 KM time below 19 minutes.

9. What kind of runner are you? Competitive? Recreational? Goal chaser

I am more of a goal chaser than competitive but I certainly love racing for the competitive aspect. I love the progression tracking that running provides – I use a colour coding system to determine where I am at in terms of performance and I am always trying to increase my pace, my time and my performance. (So, a fairly Type A Runner! 🙂 As a result, I train with those who are better than me to always remind myself that no matter how fast or strong I get, there will always be people in front of me.

10. Has blogging made you a better runner?

Blogging has made me a better runner because it has established a strong community that holds me accountable to my goals. It has given me running buddies and in order to produce valuable content, I do a LOT of research, which makes me a stronger and more knowledgeable runner.