I decided to interview my wonderful roommate, Mary, because she is a constant highlight to my life. She is always making my day and encouraging me to be the best I can be. She always listens to me complain about how much work I have or how tired I am, when in reality she is probably even more tired and pressed for time. Mary, even though she is not on the cross-couuntry team with me is an avid runner. She is always up bright and early, even on weekends, to go for a run. This is amazing to me because I know very few people who actually find joy in waking up in the wee hours in the morning to run
What inspires you to run? Especially when you aren’t on the team
Running is definitely a great stress relief, being a junior, a biology major, and a part of a sorority definitely keeps me busy! Running helps me not to focus on what I have to do and focus on myself and wellbeing. “ I genially enjoy exercise” getting up early in the morning, even though it’s hard, definitely gets my day stared! It puts me in a really good mood and helps me to clear my mind for the busy day.
Whats your favorite part about running?
My favorite part is seeing the improvement I make over the weeks of consistently running. Its amazing when you can run further and faster the more you commit to running everyday!
I can completely relate to that! I love to see my times go down during workouts and especially at meets! Its such a great feeling of accomplishment.
Do you ever have any bad days while running and how do you deal with them?
Of course! Doesn’t everyone? Bad days are.. well BAD! They suck! But you just have to pick your self up because tomorrow is a new day. Sometimes I go out for a run and my legs feel like heavy blocks and I just don’t really feel “in tune” with my run. When this happens I just accept it push through my run and set my focus on the next day.
Same here, after a bad workout or bad race you can feel extremely down. There is rule called the “5 minute rule”, where you can complain for 5 minutes about your horrible run then its over and time to look at what is ahead!
That seems like a really great rule!
Ok so lets talk about something happier than bad runs. Where is your favorite part of Carlisle to run?
Hmm? So many. I really love running at Dpark but when I get bored of running there I really enjoy running through all the neighborhoods.
That’s great! My team always runs at Dpark too! We also like to run on the trails behind Dpark you should check them out!
Thanks! I totally will! I have always wondered what was back there, and now that I know what, I think it will be a great way to mix up some scenery while running.
What sneakers to you run in?
I run in the Brooks Ghost sneakers! I love them so much, they are very supportive of my foot. Sometimes, people find the Brooks Ghost to be clunky and too heavy, however, I feel that the extra support helps to stabilize my feet while running. Also, to add to one of your previous questions, I think that getting new sneaker is one of the best parts of running! I feel like I am running on a cloud when I get a new pair of sneakers.
Cool! I have had the same pair before, and I know that lots of girls on the cross-country team where Brooks Ghost and love them.
What is your favorite post run meal?
My favorite meal to eat after running really depends on the time I run. If I do a morning run I love to have oatmeal with apples and peanut butter. If I run in the afternoon, I love having pasta with tomato sauce! I also like to drink chocolate milk. In addition, at night I love having a nice warm cup of tea, Chamomile to specific! I think that having a warm cup of tea helps me to get ready for bed and reflect on my day.
Same haha no wonder we are such good roommates, great minds think alike!
Do you like to run by yourself or with other people?
Both are great! However, I really like to clear my head when I run and sometimes running by myself is great in the sense that I have nothing else to focus on except for my running and me! But I do get jealous sometimes of the cross-country team because they always have people to run with!
I can totally relate to that! I LOVE running with my team, in fact it’s the highlight of my day, but it is nice to sometimes run by myself to clear my head about all the pressures from school. I am so impressed with how dedicated you are to running, I mean sometimes you run more miles per day than I do and im on the cross country team! So, I have one final question for you.
If you could give anyone else advice on how to be motivated to run each day, what type of advice would you give them?
I would definitely say to set goals, similar to what you probably did in high school for sports. I think setting little goals, especially if you don’t have a team to motivate you is extremely important. I set goals like: Eating double dessert , upping my running pace, and hopefully running a half marathon or full marathon one day!
Those sound like great goals! I wish you the best of luck in those goals, hopefully I can come and cheer you on in your half marathon or marathon! Yay! Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate getting a different perspective of running from someone who isn’t on the team. Have a good day, Mary!
