Runner’s Spotlight: Claire
I am back with another blogger friends who runs! Claire has 2 young daughters and has a lifestyle blog at I Do DeClaire. She lives in Illinois and works part time as a speech pathologist.
1. How and when did you start running?
I started running in 8th grade. At the time I had played soccer a few years and wanted to get into shape for it. I was never any good at soccer. So a few years later when I missed soccer tryouts because I was sick, I decided to join the track team. After that, I joined cross country in the fall. That was when my true love for distance running started. I was really never very good, but I was very persistent. Since I went to a small D3 college, I was able to run cross country for 3 years. The fourth year I was studying abroad so I ended up doing my first marathon instead in Dublin, Ireland. What an experience!
2. What keeps you running?
Running is hard, but it is such a stress reliever for me. You really don’t have to think much about running while you are doing it, so it’s nice to listen to music or audiobooks. It’s truly ‘me time.’ I also feel a big sense of accomplishment and pride when I finish a long or hard run or a race. I like that it keeps me fit and strong.
3. Do you have goals associated with your running?
Typically my goals change throughout the year and the race distance I’m running. I am working on my pace right now and hoping to decrease my 5k pace a bit with the idea it will help the longer distances as well. If I’m not training for a race, I just try to maintain my endurance with 3 runs a week and cross training the other days.
4. What do you like best/least about running?
I would say the hot, humid days in the middle of summer are what I like least about running. I am NOT a hot weather runner. Speed workouts aren’t my favorite either. I think my favorite parts of running are the comradery amongst runners. They are normally a friendly group of people!
5. Share a running story/adventure (can be funny, struggle..)
Before I had kids (and I had more time to train), I ran a few marathons. The craziest one was 2007, if I recall correctly. It was my 3rd marathon and I had signed up for Chicago. The weather was predicted to be HOT. As in over 90 degrees with the heat index. Not the kind of weather you want to run 26.2 miles in. It was after mile 20 when I heard an announcement. The organizers had cancelled the race due to lack of water. They blamed it on runners dumping water over their heads to cool down. Because I was so close, I still ended up finishing, but it was crazy that the race was cancelled so far after it started!
