Location: Montreal, Quebec (formerly Lafayette, IN)
Original Hometown: Belle Plaine, Iowa
Professional Career: Veterinary Pathologist working for Charles River Laboratories
Favorite Running Shoe: My current shoe, which is the Nike LunarEpic Flyknit
Favorite Race Distance: Marathon
Favorite Personal Record (PR): My half marathon PR of 1:09 from the 2016 Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Book or Movie: Anything by Agatha Christie
Q: Can you give us a little background on your running history?
I have been running since I was very young, and was always an extremely active child. I competed in track and cross country in high school, but stopped running when I started college. I picked running back up during my senior year of undergrad when my roommate and I signed up for a marathon. I was instantly hooked after finishing that race.
Q: What are your top memories from your competitive career?
My favorite part of my running career is the traveling that I get to do. I have visited many amazing places and run in some memorable races, but my trips to the Boston Marathon are probably my favorite overall.
Q: Who has had the most influence on your athletic career?
I would have to say Jenni Peters, who was my former running coach when I lived in Louisiana. She had a big influence on reviving my running career and re-committing myself to running after finishing veterinary school.
Q: What races are you preparing for and what are your goals for those races?
I am currently training for the New York City marathon, which is the first week in November. I actually won a free trip to this race as part of Team Michelob ULTRA, and just recently found out about this. Therefore, I am a little behind on my training, but my ultimate goal would be to run sub-2:30.
Q: What are one or two of your favorite workouts that you are looking forward to running this training segment?
One workout that I plan to do towards the end of this training segment is 15 x 1 kilometer repeats at half marathon pace with 60 second jog recovery in between. This is actually a workout that I got from the Northern Arizona Elite training group. I have run this workout a couple times before, and it has always gone well for me. Another workout I will do during peak training is a 22 mile long run with two sets of 4 mile tempo during the run, one towards the beginning and another at the end of the run. This is probably one of my more challenging workouts and doesn’t feel good, but it definitely helps to build strength for marathon training.
Q: How has the Lafayette community helped you towards your running goals?
When I moved to Lafayette 3 years ago, I immediately met other runners and made running friends. The Lafayette running community in general is extremely welcoming and friendly, which has helped me stay committed to running. Getting up and going out for a run is always much easier when you have other people to run with.
