Click portrait to enlarge!
Jennifer (and on the web here, too). is a runner I met through Twitter. Jennifer is one of those impressive athletes who manages to balance her family life (two cute kids and a triathlete husband), a work life, and a LOT of training. Like Kristen, Jennifer came out for the Riverwest+ in July 2013, and we’ve been Twitter-running friends since!
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+How old are you? 35
+How long have you been running? I started running about 11 years ago, with more serious effort over the last five years.
+Why do you run? I run for many reasons: weight loss/maintenance, therapy, for the physical and mental challenge, the scenery, to be able tocompete (against myself usually) in long distance runs like half marathons, full marathons, as part of triathlons, and perhaps this coming year an ultra.
+What is the hardest part of running for you? Getting out the door and on a run when it’s cold and/or dark outside can be difficult to find motivation, but it feels great when I’m done. But more, the hardest part is choosing what races to run, as I want to run them all!
+Do you do other sports/athletics? I try to sign up for 1-2 triathlons a year, which involves swimming and biking in addition to running. They both serve as great cross-training activities, and are the legs of the triathlon that scare me the most, each for different reasons. So I do things that scare me to motivate me and make me stronger overall.
+What got you started running? I signed up for my first sprinttriathlon in 2002, which concludes with a 5K run. I had only run on the treadmill (aka The Dreadmill) among my usual gym routine. Suddenly I was buying books on triathlon and following a training plan. Throughout the training for that first tri, and then beyond race day, I was suddenly signed up for a 5K practically every weekend. In 2008, I decided to run a marathon once a year throughout my 20s. I turn 36 in December, and I now have eight total marathons under my belt.
+What sort of distances do you run, and which do you like best? My favorite distance is the full marathon. I enjoy the entire 16-20 week training process, and seeing my progress in training over time. Come race day, I get to do one of my favorite things for an entire morning, with celebrations at the end.
+For anyone just starting to run, do you have any tips to share to? My tips would be to sign up for a fun and local 5K to have an event inthe foreseeable future to train for and track progress. Don’t go into it with a time goal; race against yourself and you’ll find your self stronger over time. Aim to run long once a week (no more than 10% increase per week), one easy run a week, and one run to try to gain speed per week. Take in the scenery, track your progress, choose a healthy reward to celebrate your hard work, and enjoy it!
+What part of Milwaukee do you find most enjoyable to run in, and why? I love the Oak Leaf Trail. I can access it from so many points of the city – froait to enlarge!