When I first started writing here on Substack eight years ago, there weren’t that many of us. A few people writing about tech and business and politics, but that was mainly it. So, one of the really cool things to see is how much it has grown since then, bringing in people of all walks of life and all areas of interest.

Especially fun has been the growth of running-focused newsletters here, everyone from to to to — all of whom I’ve gotten to know and chat with, and consider friends today.

That’s why I’m really excited to introduce you to , a running coach and (very!) accomplished runner whose work and writing I’ve gotten to know and love over this summer, and who has been an inspiration to me as I get my running back in gear.

She writes a newsletter worth checking out, in which she shares what motivates her as well as her story of how she got here. I know you’ll love it too! — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m Abby Heffern. I’m 31 years old and I’ve lived in South Florida for the past eleven years, but I’m originally from New Jersey. At the end of this year, I’m planning to move to Central Florida to be closer to better trails and a larger trail running community!

I’m a trail runner, 14-time ultramarathoner, and online running and strength coach through my own coaching business, Wild Dog Athletics.

Before taking my coaching fully online, I ran Wild Dog Athletics as a brick-and-mortar personal training gym for almost five years, where I worked with runners in person on both their running and strength training.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

I run five days a week, and how far I run depends on what race I have coming up! With my next race being a 50K in November, I’m at about 40 to 45 miles per week right now, with a three-hour long run on the weekends. I also strength train three days a week.

But my running routine hasn’t always looked that way! I’ve been ultrarunning for seven years, and when I first started, I was only running two to three days a week.

As I’ve gotten stronger and fitter — and fallen more and more in love with running — I’ve slowly increased how often I run, how long my long runs are, and my weekly mileage.

I mean, think about it: it took me seven years to go from running 2 to 3 days a week to five! Training in a way that’s sustainable and allows me to stay healthy and excited has always been my number one priority.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was an athletic kid! I’ve always loved sports. I ran track and cross country, but mostly just for fun on the side of my main sport, which was equestrian/show jumping.

I was a competitive equestrian for almost 20 years and worked professionally managing barns and riding horses for other people through college. It was my life, my calling, and my biggest passion until I graduated from college and started to feel disillusioned by the politics of the sport and the financial demands of pursuing it professionally.

I decided to walk away, which is when I started leaning more into running as an outlet for my competitive drive.

I credit my time with horses for so much of what I now bring to trail and ultrarunning: my work ethic, resiliency, competitiveness, love for monotony and grunt work, for the outdoors, and for moving freely and wildly over the earth.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

While I’ve been running since I started track and cross country in middle school, I didn’t really get into it until I graduated from college and was looking for something to fill the void left by quitting competitive show jumping.

Even when I wasn’t racing and was still mostly focused on horses, I would run after long, exhausting days at the barn. It was how I decompressed, managed stress, re-grounded myself, and got some time alone with my thoughts to work through things.

So naturally, when I found myself in an identity crisis after walking away from a passion I’d had for 20 years, running was the first thing I leaned on. It didn’t just give me an outlet for my competitive drive — it also helped me cope with the disappointment and frustration of my riding career not turning out the way I’d dreamed.

I started with a few 5Ks here and there. Then it was 10Ks, half marathons, and eventually marathons. While I was training for marathons, I stumbled across a seven-mile trail race online and thought it looked like a fun way to switch up all the road running.

I expected it to be a one-time thing. Instead, I fell in love with the trail and got completely hooked on trail running.

At that race, I also met runners doing the 50- and 100-mile distances, which was my first introduction to ultrarunning. Seeing how strong, positive, and determined those runners were made me want to be that way too.

I’d say the runners I met at that first seven-mile trail race were some of my biggest inspirations early on. So much so that I came back the very next year and ran the 50-mile distance — my first ultra.

That was seven years ago, and I’ve been running ultras ever since.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

I’ve always felt drawn to running farther. Ever since I ran my first 50-miler, my goal was to eventually run 100 miles, which I finally did this past January. So while that’s always been the goal and the direction I’ve been headed, I’d say my “why” has evolved.

When I first started ultrarunning, I was pretty driven by my ego. I loved running, but I also really liked being able to call myself an ultrarunner and having progress to “show,” whether that meant running faster or running farther.

I think that’s just part of being in your early twenties, too. It’s easy to get caught up in how you’re being perceived by other people and there’s this feeling that everyone’s in a race to be as successful as possible, as quickly as possible.

And while I’m still very competitive and have specific goals to keep running farther and faster, that’s not why I run every day anymore.

I run because I genuinely love to run. It feels like what I’m supposed to be doing. Like I’m fulfilling something deep within myself. It connects me to who I am in a really powerful way.

It’s also how I feel connected to the outdoors. Growing up spending all day at the barn and around horses, I don’t miss the equestrian sport itself, but I do miss being at the barn and around animals all day. There was something so simple about that way of life.

When I run, I get to reconnect with that simplicity. Moving my body over the earth, being in the quiet, and just being present and free.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I mainly balance running with work, which has gotten a lot easier now that I coach online.

When I had my gym, it was a much harder balance to strike. Two years in, I had built a full book of clients and was coaching in person, on my feet, for 10 hours a day. On top of that, I was managing all of the backend work when I wasn’t coaching because I had no staff, it was just me.

At the time, I only had time to run 3 to 4 days a week max, with two of those runs happening at 5AM during the week, and the other 1 or 2 runs happening on the weekend.

But beyond the hours, I’d say the hardest part was the energy drain and mental load that came with owning a gym. My landlord would surprise me with a $1,000 invoice. My AC would break. I felt like I was constantly putting out fires while still showing up positive, energetic, and happy for my clients all week long, never letting anyone see the stress and labor happening behind the scenes.

That left very little energy for running — or for much of a personal life.

It was incredibly hard to fit running in during those years, but I also knew how important it was that I did. Running was the one thing that was truly mine. It was the time when I wasn’t answering client texts, picking up my landlord’s calls, or checking my email to see what urgent problem was waiting for me next.

It wasn’t easy to run at 5:00 a.m. twice a week or get a long run in on the weekend when all I wanted to do was sleep in. But I made it work because running was also what kept me grounded, sane, and connected to the fact that I was a human outside of my career.

The key during that time was being brutally honest about what I could handle. I had goals of running 100 miles, and I wanted so badly to be running more than 3 to 4 days a week. But if I had tried to force myself to run 5 to 6 days, I would have been setting myself up for failure.

Being realistic about what I could do — and then being really consistent with that — worked so much better than trying to do more than I could handle, falling off, getting discouraged, and feeling like I had to start over every week.

That’s how I stayed consistent, kept running, and continued training for big races through some of the busiest years of my career.

In the age of AI, when runners can create training plans with a few keystrokes, how are you approaching/changing the way you coach and train the runners you work with?

AI hasn’t changed how I coach, because I’ve always focused on a deeply personal, 1-to-1 style of coaching that goes beyond writing a training plan.

That started when I owned my gym and worked face-to-face with people all day, and it’s something I’ve intentionally brought into coaching online. I text with my clients weekly and sometimes daily, get on calls with them every month, and help them not only adjust and execute their training, but navigate the doubt, frustration, and emotions that come with chasing a big goal.

I’m actually really proud to be doing that in the age of AI, when so much of life is losing its humanness. I want to keep the experience of running fully human.

I coach beginner half marathon, marathon, ultra, and trail runners who also have really busy lives. They’re working 50-hour weeks, sitting in back-to-back meetings until 8 p.m., or traveling every other week. Some have tried AI-generated plans and found they didn’t work because a plan can’t always account for what happens when life gets exceptionally chaotic or sh*t hits the fan.

And while adjusting plans daily when unexpected things come up is part of what I do and how I help my runners stay on track, sometimes what a runner needs isn’t just an adjustment to their plan. They need someone who knows what they’ve been through, understands how hard they’re trying, and can remind them when they’re doubting themselves: “You’re doing enough. You can do this. I believe in you.”

I don’t just coach the plan. I coach the runner — the person. I’m passionate about running as a vehicle for growing as a person, building character, and becoming stronger and more resilient than you realized you could be.

I coach because I’m passionate about running, but I’m even more passionate about serving people, pouring into people, and loving people.

I’d love to see AI try to do that the way only a human being can.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m really proud that, no matter what I was going through — the busy years at the gym, races that didn’t go my way, the normal self-doubt and questioning, and wondering why I was trying so hard when it maybe would have been “easier” to stop chasing big goals — I never gave up.

For seven years, I’ve run consistently. What that looked like changed depending on the season of life I was in. There were years when I ran 2 to 3 days a week and barely did long runs, and there are years like now when I’m running five days a week and doing a long run every weekend. But I’ve never stopped. Running has always stayed part of my week and part of my life.

And that, more than anything, is how I’ve gone from running my first 5K to finishing ultras from 50K to 100 miles. Not because my mileage has always been impressive, or because I do crazy workouts, or because I’m exceptionally fast or talented. I’ve just kept showing up — and I’ve learned to love running more and more along the way.

I recently heard someone on a podcast call himself a “perennial bloomer,” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

I’m a perennial bloomer.

I may not be the most impressive runner with the most impressive results, but I keep coming back year after year. And because I keep coming back, I keep growing. I keep getting better. I keep finding out what else I’m capable of.

I think that’s what I’m most proud of.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’ve changed completely since I started. When I ran my first 50-miler seven years ago, I had no idea what I was in for or how hard it was going to be. I’d never run more than a marathon and figured if I could run 26.2 miles, I could run 50, right?

I finished, but I cried and complained through most of the second half. I had no concept yet of what it meant to work on mental strength and toughness.

It was one of those finishes where everyone was telling me how proud I should be, but I didn’t feel as happy as I thought I would. I was disappointed in how I’d handled myself when things got hard.

I had gotten into ultrarunning because I was inspired by the 50- and 100-mile runners I met at my first trail race. They were positive, strong, and determined. At my first ultra, I hadn’t been any of those things. That race held up a mirror to who I was when things got tough, and I wasn’t happy with what I saw.

I remember promising myself I never wanted to act like that at a race again. No matter how future races went, I wanted to be able to stay strong, positive, and determined when things got hard.

Over the 13 ultras that followed, I treated every difficult moment as an opportunity to keep that promise. I learned that I couldn’t always control how my race was going, but I could control who I chose to be while it was happening.

That became more important to me than any finish time or place on the leaderboard. I wanted to cross every finish line knowing that, regardless of the result, I was proud of how I handled myself that day.

People remark on my mental strength at ultras now, and I think it’s important to share that I wasn’t always this way. I became this way by putting myself in hard situations over and over again and choosing, little by little, to respond differently.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I want to go so many places with my running! I’d love to keep getting faster at the 100-mile distance, and I definitely want to run a 200-miler one day.

I’d also love to section-run the entire Florida Trail, a 1,500-mile National Scenic Trail that passes through some of the most stunning and diverse landscapes in Florida. And once I’ve experienced the whole thing in sections, maybe I’ll try to run it continuously!

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

Because running has become part of how I live a full life and express myself, I really don’t get bored with it. I feel incredibly lucky to run five days a week, especially because I used to not have time to run that much.

Now that I coach online, I can also spend so much more time on trails. When I owned my gym, I did a lot of my running on the treadmill or roads because they were more efficient and accessible. Now I get to build my life around trail running and being outside, and I’m genuinely grateful for that.

That doesn’t mean I leap out of bed stoked every morning when my alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. I’ve just learned not to let temporary feelings dictate what I do.

I might wake up tired and grumpy, but I know those feelings will pass. So I get up anyway and do the thing I’ve done for years, knowing I’ll probably experience another 50 thoughts, feelings, and emotions before my morning run is even over. That’s just part of being human and none of it has to mean anything unless I give it meaning.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I talk to that kid every week, if not every day! Because that kid was a dreamer. She was bold and courageous and looked at life like there were no limits and anything was possible. She assumed she was capable of anything she put her mind to and never even considered that she couldn’t have everything she wanted.

I ask that kid to help me live that way now as an adult. Because it’s so easy to let life slowly dim your dreams, your drive, and your sense of wonder and possibility.

I have to believe there was a reason that kid was so confident and so sure of herself at such a young age. So I let her make the decisions and drive the ship — not the 31-year-old version of me who sometimes tries to convince me to “be more realistic.”

The older I get, the more intentionally I return to my younger self.

So I guess I would say, “Thank you. You inspire me.”

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There are so many more reader stories we’ve shared — don’t miss these:

I can’t tell you how happy and excited I am to share this story with you today. In fact, I had the feeling Carlos might be someone I’d want to feature here from the moment he became a paid subscriber to THM just a few weeks ago.

From the start, he was excited to share his experiences and thoughts, and I saw from each post the passion he had for running — a sport, by the way, he didn’t take up until well into middle age, when he was 50 years old.

I love that because today, especially, it’s so easy to think of running as largely a young person’s activity — on social media, on the covers of magazines, and elsewhere, that’s who we tend to see. But Carlos shows that age isn’t a barrier at all, as he’s still running strong now at age 67.

His story is so much fun to read, I won’t dilly-dally anymore other than to say, I think you’ll find his relationship with his grandchildren as endearing as I did, and stay tuned because an interview with his granddaughter Mia, who’s every bit as accomplished and enthusiastic a runner as he is, will follow soon. Enjoy. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m Carlos Sanchez, age 67, and I live in Round Rock, Texas. I’ve been retired for a year now, trading my keyboard and slacks for shorts and the marathon running circuit.

My tech career began in 1980 as a computer programmer on big IBM computers, long before PCs were a household staple. The computing landscape has completely changed since then, but I adapted as programming languages changed.

In the latter half of my career, I transitioned into systems administration. Back then, my job was keeping the computers running — now, I focus on keeping myself running.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

I run six days a week, averaging 40 to 50 miles. Twice a week, I meet my teammates for speed work and quality miles, wrapping up the weekend with a 15-to-20-mile long run.

At age 67 in 2025, I ran a total of 1,808 miles, three marathons, and two half marathons — earning two new PRs and qualifying for Boston twice.

My first marathon time at age 50 in Chicago 2008 was 3:59:48 and my latest marathon in Boston 2026 was 3:54:53, another BQ for Boston 2027. My fastest marathon of 3:50:19 was in July 2025 in the Juneau Marathon. At the other end, my slowest marathon time was 4:42:31 during the 2015 South Padre Island Marathon.

My running routine has looked a little different these past few weeks. I am currently working through my very first running-related injury. An abdominal muscle pain surfaced in February, I ignored it through June; there was absolutely no way I was going to let anything disrupt my plans to share the Boston Marathon starting line with my granddaughter.

Now that the issue is nearly resolved, I am eager to get back to my normal routine and begin training for the 2026 Chicago Marathon. Through the 17 years I’ve been running, I have been very fortunate to not have any running-related injuries until now.

There was, however, a cycling injury in 2023 that kept me from running for about 18 months. I am not a cyclist at all, but did participate in the annual MS150 charity bike ride eight times. This is a 150-mile bicycle ride to raise funds to help folks living with multiple sclerosis.

With 15 miles to go, I was going 18 miles-per-hour on the bicycle and crashed into a pedestrian. Not knowing what happened, I woke up in the ambulance arguing with the medics that I needed to go finish the ride. They said, “No.”

My wife has imposed a life-time ban on cycling for me. As soon as I healed up, I resumed running.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

When I was 14, watching Mark Spitz dominate the 1972 Olympics convinced me I could swim. My theory collapsed the moment I jumped into the deep end of a pool and immediately sank. A friend had to dive in, pull me out, and spend the rest of the day teaching me the basics of swimming.

For most of my life, sports were just casual outdoor fun. My running routine was limited to showing up for the Austin’s annual Capitol 10K with zero training or chasing around the cross country race course to see my children run.

To me, a marathon seemed humanly impossible. That changed at age 50 when I finally took up running seriously. Now, 17 years and 38 marathons later, I am proof that anyone can redefine what is possible.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

Watching my son and daughter compete in high school track and cross country, I always deeply admired their talent and dedication. My daughter, Alexis, continued running in college, often mentioning her dream of running a marathon after graduation.

The idea felt completely wild to me, something only superhumans do, but I thought it sounded like an incredible challenge we could try. In early 2008, once her college days wrapped up, I threw out an unexpected offer: if she wanted to run a marathon, I would join her.

We started training and lined up for the 2008 Chicago Marathon. At our pasta dinner the night before the race, I casually mentioned that I’d probably lose time stopping to retie my shoes, which constantly came undone during training.

Right there at the table, she taught me the proper runner’s knot. We finished the race, and in all the miles I’ve run since, my laces have never come undone again. Alexis and I have run three marathons together.

Seventeen years later, in February 2025, I was preparing for the April Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in California. I texted my granddaughter, Mia, asking if she wanted to run her first marathon and possibly qualify for Boston. She had about ten weeks to prepare while attending school at Harvard in Boston.

Running there in the winter is a little tough, but she put in the necessary miles and was ready to run her first marathon. She was a decorated high school and collegiate runner, so she knew how to prepare even in harsh conditions.

Lining up with her at the start line of her first marathon was such a beautiful, proud moment that is seared in my mind. It reminded me clearly of that morning in Chicago when I ran my first marathon with my daughter.

I had a few tears of joy in 2008 and now again in 2025 standing at the start line with Mia. We both finished with Boston qualifying (BQ) times in California. We then went on to make Boston Marathon history and crossed the finish line on Boylston Street in April 2026.

My children and grandchildren inspire me to run. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton: if I have gone further, it is by running on the shoulders of these giants.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

From 2008 through the start of COVID in 2020, my training was unstructured, consisting of roughly 15 to 25 miles over three days a week with friends. Despite the lack of a formal plan, I completed approximately 30 marathons, generally finishing around the four-hour mark. I didn’t really know how to run.

My running underwent a major transformation in 2022 when my marathon times dropped to Boston Marathon qualifying levels. The change happened after I started training with a running coach who transformed my approach to training.

My routine shifted to a 40-to-50-mile week over six days, including weekly speed sessions with long runs that included speed work. Surprisingly, at age 67, I am faster now than when I began my running career 17 years ago.

Running remains a great adventure. Whether it is waking up at 4:44 a.m. for an early morning long run with friends or stepping up to the starting line of a marathon, I still find joy in every single mile.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

With my children now grown and raising families of their own, staying closely connected with my kids, grandkids, family, and lifelong friends is my highest priority.

I am incredibly fortunate to have a wife who is very supportive of my running goals. To ensure my training never interferes with family time or normal life, I set my alarm to 4:44 a.m. and get most of my workouts done first thing in the morning.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I feel immense pride — and even a bit responsible — that my six grandchildren love running and excel at it. We all talk about running often and their achievements. While the two youngest are still small, they already show an eager interest in the sport.

My oldest granddaughter, Mia, ran competitively for four years in college, qualified for the Boston Marathon on her very first try, and completed it with me in 2026 to make Boston history. Her three siblings are already setting school records of their own and want to run a marathon with me once they finish college.

Knowing I have a few years before they graduate, I have to stay in shape and be ready for when they finish school and we can find a marathon and get to the start line together.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I run year-round, even through the tough Texas summers when morning lows can hover at around 82 degrees. Whether I am putting in miles with friends or going out for a solo run, I find equal joy in the movement.

Over the past 17 years, I’ve discovered that the running community is incredibly welcoming. In fact, I met one of my closest friends when I first started, and we still log miles together today — a friendship that never would have existed without this sport.

Running has a unique way of breaking down barriers, making it easy to meet people and learn about their lives. It has taught me to be a better listener and to appreciate the beauty of shared silence. After all, when you’re running hard, breathing takes priority over talking. Quiet is okay, quiet is peace.

There are amazing people all around us, and a shared passion like running gives us the perfect opportunity to pause, share our stories, and truly connect.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

With 38 marathons completed — including three majors, a Boston qualification, and a wild stretch where I inadvertently ran four marathons in 100 days — my running days are far from finished.

Racing through Chicago, New York, Boston, Wisconsin, South Padre Island, Austin, Greece, Cuba, and many other cities has been an incredible adventure, but my biggest wish is simply to keep moving forward alongside my friends and grandchildren.

I love catching glimpses of them out on the trails, working hard with their high school cross country and track teams. Eventually, I plan to share a full 26.2-mile starting line with each of them.

More than anything, I want my miles to serve as proof for them that with the right mindset and dedication, even the hardest things in life can become second nature.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

For me, every run is an adventure, whether I am exploring a new route or winding through a path I’ve traveled hundreds of times. There is something fascinating about marveling at a beautiful, dark morning sky or watching the trails slowly come to life with other people.

I always make it a point to greet the people I pass by. I never wear headphones; I find tuning into the sounds of nature and my own body far more rewarding than any music or podcast.

Of course, my solo runs look very different from my group runs. When I’m out with friends, our miles are filled with endless laughter, lighthearted teasing, updates about our families, and conversations about whatever is happening in our lives. There is truly never a dull moment as I run.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

If I could speak to my younger self, I’d tell him this:

Right now, as you climb trees or sit at home in the southernmost tip of Texas, watching Mark Spitz make swimming look effortless during the 1968 Olympics, keep dreaming big.

You too will do incredible things in your life and career. Sure, you are about to run wild and barefoot to the local pool — dodging thorns along the way only to sink the moment you hit the deep end — but don’t worry. You will be pulled out by loving friends and family. Remember that moment, and always give back just as they did.

You might not notice opportunities when they first arrive, but every event is shaping an incredible future for you. Never look back wanting to change your past — alter one detail, and you change the destination.

Brace yourself, because you will witness staggering, unimaginable shifts. Computers in every home, the internet, a global pandemic, self-driving cars... the future is wild.

You’ll see TLAs (Three-Letter Acronyms) for everything, Disco will eventually die out, luckily rock and roll will rock on, the Beatles will split up, and country and western will morph into just country. Through it all, live big and enjoy every single moment.

The best part is you’ll have a fantastic family too. A loving wife, two beautiful children, and six amazing grandchildren.

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It’s been a minute since I shared one of your stories, and I can’t wait for you to meet , who writes the wonderful newsletter , in which she shares her adventures (and amazing photography) of all her, well, outdoor adventures — running, hiking, skiing, and exploring of all kinds.

One of the things I love most about Jenn’s story is the legacy her mother — whom she describes as “fiercely strong and independent,” and who encouraged her daughter to cultivate those same qualities — gave her. Because I’m a parent of two myself, seeing how deeply Jenn’s mom influenced her has given me so much to think about.

Jenn came to running a little over two decades ago, and has since achieved things many of us dream of — running the Boston and New York marathons, as well as many ultra-marathons. She’s just amazing, and I know you’ll love her story as much as I did.

As always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going. And if you’d like to share your story here, please reach out! — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Jenn Woltjen and I am now 68 years old. I live in upstate New York near the Finger Lakes. I retired from a career in higher education about 10 years ago.

Since then, I’ve devoted my life to pursuing my love of endurance sports and my passion for sharing my adventures through my writing and photography. You can find more about me, my writing and photography on my new website at JennWoltjen.com.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

These days, my exercise routine is more about listening to my body than about training plans.

My general goal is to run or cycle about 3 to 5 times a week. I wake up, check in with how I feel, and go from there. Some days call for miles. Other days, I may do yoga or lift weights.

When my body asks for it, I lean more on cycling and less on running. It allows me to stay active while reducing impact and giving my legs a break. In the winter, I cross-country ski more.

Earlier in my running career, I would run 5 to 6 times a week when training for a marathon or ultra. While I’d love to run that much now, those days are behind me. My goal today is to stay active — with cross-country skiing, running, cycling, and other sports — for as long as possible.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I wasn’t a runner growing up — and I wouldn’t have described myself as particularly athletic.

I loved being outdoors, shaped in large part by my mother. A fiercely strong and independent single mom, she encouraged that same spirit in me — signing me up for Girl Scouts and opening the door to camping, hiking, and life outside. Those experiences built my confidence and independence.

I was also drawn to horses. When my mother could afford it, she took me to a local stable that offered trail rides. Getting out onto the forested trails on horseback opened up a new world for me.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I was not born to run. My first love was cross-country skiing and I took up running simply to stay in shape.

After my mom passed away in 1996 from Alzheimer’s, I stayed rooted in those same pursuits — skiing, hiking, moving through the woods. When I started running in the early 2000s, it was still just a tool to help me get in shape for skiing.

At first, I wasn’t sure how far I could run. My first half marathon felt like a major accomplishment. I was slow, and I didn’t have the confidence to go faster — let alone imagine finishing a marathon. But I did have endurance built from my years of cross-country skiing.

So I made an unexpected leap — from half marathons to ultras. To me, ultras felt like a natural extension of what I already loved: a combination of fast hiking and slow running, often on trails. I finished my first ultramarathon in 2014, and I loved it. Being out on the trails made all the difference.

Over time, running became something more. I’ve since run marathons, including New York City and Boston, along with many long-distance races in between. I often think about how proud my mother would have been — and wish she could have been there at the finish line.

In 2019, I ran the Chicago Marathon in her honor, raising awareness for Alzheimer’s disease. In many ways, running became an extension of what my mother started — another path to the same sense of adventure she first introduced me to.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I balance physical pursuits with my work in writing and photography and with time with my family. I don’t follow a strict schedule — I fit it in where I can and adjust based on how I’m feeling. For me, running, cycling and cross country skiing is part of how I take care of myself.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Running has helped me build confidence in myself — and prove that it’s never too late to set meaningful goals.

I came to running later in life and started out unsure of how far I could go. But over time, I kept increasing my goals as I became more confident. I think my biggest and hardest effort was spending three years devoted to running 5 to 6 days a week to qualify for the Boston Marathon — all in my early 60s. I ran the Boston Marathon in April 2022.

That journey to Boston taught me patience, discipline, and resilience. It showed me that progress takes time — and that no matter when you start, you can still achieve things you once thought were out of reach.

That’s what I’m most proud of.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’ve learned to trust my body — and to listen to it.

When I started running, I focused on distance and goals. Over time, especially as I’ve gotten older, that shifted. Longevity matters more than pushing through at all costs. Some days I go farther, some days I pull back — and both are part of the process.

Running has also shown me that I’m more capable than I once believed, even starting later in life. Growth still happens — often just beyond what feels comfortable.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I’m currently working through an injury, which has shifted my focus. But I’m already thinking about the next chapter — hopefully a return to running another ultra.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

What keeps me going is the pull of new trails and the simple desire to stay active — and to stay in shape for cross-country skiing, especially as I hope to do more long-distance ski events.

I don’t really get bored with it because it’s never just about running. It’s about being outside, exploring new places, and moving through the woods and mountains. That sense of discovery keeps it fresh.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I’d tell her to trust herself — and to be patient.

I’d tell her that you do not need to have it all figured out. Your love of the outdoors and the quiet confidence you are building will come together over time.

And I’d tell her to pay attention to her mom — to her strength, her independence, and the opportunities she created for you. That influence will carry you further than you can imagine.

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So far in our profile series, we’ve heard entirely from runners. But when I first heard from the person you’ll meet today, she told me that while she does run, her true passion now is cycling — and could we talk about that?

It struck me as the perfect opportunity to open up our series to people with different experiences, who have stories that are a little outside the strike zone of what we normally cover — and that that could be a great thing.

And when I first read what Catherine had to say, I knew she’d be the perfect person to kick off a new direction — I just loved what she shared about growing up in the U.K. and living now in the Basque country that straddles France and Spain, and all the adventures she has.

I think you’ll love her story too — as always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going! — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

Hi! I’m . I’m a freelance writer and editor. I’m 33 years old, I live in the beautiful Basque Country, but I grew up in the equally beautiful county of Essex, in the U.K.

I used to work in policy in London, but I quit and ran away to be an English teacher. Now I write for organisations including the Kyiv Independent, an English-language, independent Ukrainian newspaper. I also run a cycling Substack (Spinning Tales), and work part-time in a bike shop.

What does your cycling routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you bike?

My routine really depends on the season! I try to cycle twice in the week and then do a long ride at the weekend — “try” being the operative word. In the autumn and winter a lot of rides end up being on the indoor trainer because the Basque Country is very wet and windy.

Rides in the week can be pretty short, only one or two hours, but weekend rides can be much longer. The distance also depends on what kind of cycling I’m doing, and the elevation. You can do way more kilometres on the road than on mountain bike trails.

This spring I was preparing for the Kyiv Half Marathon, so from January to April I was running three times a week and cycling twice a week.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

It’s funny, I never thought of myself as athletic because I wasn’t good at the sports we played at school, but actually I always did lots.

My mum was really into sailing — she taught it when she was younger — so I first learnt to sail a dinghy aged about four, and we used to go sailing after school and at the weekends in the summer.

I learnt to ride a horse when I was very little too, and I’ve got lots of memories of swimming and cycling and enjoying it. But I don’t think I ever thought of any of that as “fitness” or something to do to be healthy. It was all just fun.

When I was 11 I started fencing. Someone came in to run a class at my school, and I was good at it because I was tall and left-handed. I kept doing it and by the time I was 13, I was representing Great Britain in the Cadet (under 17) team. I carried on doing that until I was about 16.

Fencing competitively was probably what first made me think about my fitness. I used to do circuit training — it would probably be called CrossFit now! — to build muscle, run a bit for aerobic fitness, plus I went to weekly pilates classes with my mum.

How did you first get into cycling? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a cyclist you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I first rode a bike when I was very small, but then when I was maybe eight or nine I had a crash and smashed my front teeth out. I didn’t really pick it up again until I moved to London at 18.

I got a single speed bike and rode it around London for years — I don’t think my legs have ever been so strong! I used to do spinning classes too, which I love, they’re such a weird cross between exercise, a night out, and church.

When I was about 26, I started mountain biking with my boyfriend at the time who used to race Enduro, a downhill mountain biking discipline. I was very scared the first few times and I realised that, if I was going to stick with it, I needed to convince myself that it was something cool girls did — not just my crazy boyfriend!

I started following female mountain bikers on Instagram: Kate Courtney, Jolanda Neff, Rachel Atherton and Tahnee Seagrave, to name a few. I did think they were cool, and they really inspired me. They’re still inspiring me now!

Later I got more into gravel and road. The pro cycling teams are a real inspiration. I’m a big fan of athletes like Puck Pieterse and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot who compete across different cycling disciplines.

How has your interest in cycling — and, by extension, fitness and health — evolved since then? Do you bike farther, or faster now?

Cycling is such a huge part of my life now, it’s hard to believe I only really started a few years ago! I have three bikes, a cycling Substack, and I work in a bike shop.

But honestly, the biggest thing, and the thing that surprises me the most, is what I am now capable of on my bike, both in terms of distance and skill.

When I first started, a 30km bike ride felt like a lot. Last summer, I cycled 1,200km from the Basque Country back to the U.K., cycling over 100km every day, carrying my tent and all my stuff, and I absolutely loved it.

On my mountain bike, I can now ride trails that I remember thinking I would never, ever even want to ride when I first saw them. It sometimes blows my mind how far I’ve come — though I’m really still not particularly good!

What do you balance your cycling with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to bike/care for yourself?

I don’t have children or caring responsibilities so I am super lucky to be able to organise my time largely around my own whims. Of course, sometimes I don’t quite manage to balance things anyway!

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your cycling and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

My dad died about six weeks before I was meant to start my cycling trip from Spain to the U.K. It very nearly stopped me going — there was so much to do, I hadn’t trained in the way I wanted to, and I was worried about how I would feel.

But in the end I decided to go anyway, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. All that time on the bike really helped me process my emotions. It’s not so much an achievement, but it’s definitely something that cycling helped with in my life, and I am proud of myself for going even though I was scared.

What have you learned about yourself from your cycling journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’m naturally quite an impatient person, and that doesn’t pair well with a) starting a new sport as an adult, or b) doing any endurance sport.

Learning to mountain bike was very frustrating for me to start with. But I stuck with it, and I got better, slowly but surely. I’m now more confident that if I can’t do something, I can learn how to.

On longer rides, and particularly in races, I find it very hard to pace myself. I want to go fast from the beginning and I can’t imagine I’ll run out of energy, until, of course, I do. I’m gradually learning that slow and steady wins the race (or at least finishes it with a bit less drama).

Where would you like to go with your cycling? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, biking a particular amazing place in the world, or a particular distance?

There are so many places I would like to cycle!

In terms of long-distance road or gravel rides, I have plans in the works to cycle Corsica from North to South, and to cross the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean back to the Basque Country. The Atlas mountains in Morocco, the Balkans, and Kyrgyzstan all look amazing too.

For mountain biking, there are a ton of bike parks I still need to get to in Europe, but I am actually dying to go to North America. I would love to go back to Colorado for mountain biking, and to visit Whistler one day.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been doing this for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

There are always new places to go on my bike. I like to give myself a challenge every year, instead of a New Year’s Resolution.

Last year I did what I called the Txakoli Txallenge — trying a different kind of txakoli, the Basque lightly sparkling white wine, every month — and this year I’m operating the Trail Centre Taskforce, which means I’m inspecting (visiting) every trail centre here in the Basque Country.

When I was running, I started having to drive myself to new places to keep it interesting. The feeling of adventure and exploration is very important to me.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

Enjoy being a child. Just keep playing, keep exploring the things you’re interested in. No one knows you better than you do, so try to stay tuned in to how you feel and what you want.

If it’s not fun, what’s the point?

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Sometimes you meet the most amazing people doing the most amazing things, taking on challenges I’d never even imagine.

That’s what impresses me again and again about the people I’ve met through writing this newsletter, people who aren’t thrown by what might seem impossible to many of us.

And that’s definitely the case with today’s interview, a man from New York named Kenneth Posner, who since he took up running has completed more than 100 marathons and ultra-marathons — and more than two dozen of those, he ran barefoot!

You’ll understand why when you read Ken’s interview, so why don’t I put down the mic and let Ken take his turn — I know you’ll love and be as awed by his story as I was. And, as always, if you’d like to share your story, I’d love to hear it!

Keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m a runner, writer and analyst. Aged 63, I live in New York’s Hudson Valley, and work as a consultant advising companies on strategy and investor relations.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Every week is different because my goals are constantly changing, and I'm always super-focused on how I'm feeling, rather than trying to follow a rigid plan.

I love track sessions, where I practice what I call “controlled intensity interval training." This could be 1/4's or Yasso splits or a mix of things, but as the title implies, with an intense focus on control.

I believe that control is one of the most important attributes in life — and if you don't believe me, ask a race car driver or a fighter pilot! For runners, the reality is, as we get older, injury risk and recovery time increase, meaning we have less room for error, and precision becomes more important.

I've built some controls into my training log to track injuries and irritation, which helps me confront the reality when things aren't going well. Having said that, I still feel a need....for speed! Why, I love running hard and fast and I crave the intensity.

As we get old, we don't want to get too cautious. We don't want to give up. I like to borrow a phrase from our Army friends — "stay in the fight." This means still practicing "grit," which is another way of saying, still taking on some level of risk, because without taking risk, you can't learn.

For easy runs, I love to visit the local grasslands, where the trail is soft and grassy, sometimes sloppy mud and puddles after rain, or sometimes hard-baked in the dog days of late summer.

There are a couple sections with some gravelly rocks, which forces me to pay attention as a barefoot runner. These grasslands have amazing wildflowers — wave upon wave of color changing from spring to fall — butterflies and birds galore — a herd of deer which always see me first unless I turn a corner when the grass is high and surprise one from behind — and coyotes which never come out during the day, but you see their scat.

Racing is a big focus for me. I love every distance from 5K to ultra. Tomorrow is a half marathon on a smooth flat course, and I'm really excited to get out there and try.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

Growing up, I was an athletic disaster. I still remember how a kindergarten friend once pushed me and I was so upset, I couldn't move.

By age seven, my baseball dreams were over, as I discovered that baseballs are actually quite hard, and if you close your eyes they're difficult to catch (I learned to keep my eyes open when I was about 40). I hated gym class. I was literally the last one picked for every game.

By the time high school rolled along, I was starting to try a little harder, thanks to some encouragement from the coach. Outside of school, I had fun with karate and fencing.

As for running, however, I suffered from debilitating shin splints — later diagnosed as chronic anterior compartment syndrome — which caused my shins to swell and go numb after about 10 minutes, although weirdly, if I persisted and clumped along for 45 minutes or so, the condition would begin to fade.

It was so frustating! My career as a runner started with endless frustration. Eventually I had surgery to alleviate the condition.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

In high school, my fencing coach had me do some running to build stamina, but due to the compartment syndrome I never ran more than a mile. After college, somehow I made it through four years in the Army, where better overall fitness helped me manage the shin splints most of the time.

The Army is where I first discovered the importance of physical and mental endurance... and the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from a hard day's work with both body and mind.

I started to get more serious about running in my thirties, after surgery for the shin splints, although now my problem was Iliotibial Band (ITB) syndrome, which, strangely, no one seemed able to diagnose.

During this period, I was working on Wall Street and saw colleagues getting sick and falling by the wayside. In fact, there was a boss who had a mild heart attack and retired early, which led to me getting a promotion. And then a colleague who smoked and drank and disappeared on a medical leave, which led to another promotion as I was assigned her workload.

I decided that if I was going to last, I had better invest in myself. About that time, a memory from my teenage days resurfaced about a man who'd celebrated his 40th birthday by going for a 40-mile run.

With my 40th birthday looming, I suddenly realized that I would have to do something like that, but long distance running was so painful and boring it actually took me until age 42 to get it done, which is when I discovered ultra-running.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

The initial hook into ultra-running was the chance to travel to beautiful places (my first 50K was on Angel Island, in the San Francisco harbor).

Very quickly, ultra-running became a huge passion. The sport nearly took over my life. It was a good fit for me, since it didn’t require any special coordination or skill, which had never been a strength of mine, and thanks to the shin splints and military experience, I’d gotten used to persevering in the face of difficulty.

It was SO THRILLING to discover that I could reach the finish line for longer distances than I’d ever imagined possible. With training and racing, I got faster, eventually setting all my PRs in my early fifties at distances from one mile (faster even than I’d run in college) to 100 miles.

I also set a handful of multi-day fastest known times (FKTs), including for the 350-mile Long Path in New York State and the 294-mile Badwater Double, which stretches from Badwater Basin in Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney and back.

I like to describe running as the ultimate source of self-empowerment, because with each race you prove you can manage yourself in a high-intensity, high-stress regime. The rest of the world may be totally outside of our control, but at least you can control yourself.

By my mid-fifties, however, I began to face a new set of injuries, partly related to the inevitable aging process, but also partly related to bad form that I believe I developed from running in shoes.

The worst was posterior tibialis tendinitis, which dogged me for two full years and ended the aggressive phase of my ultra-running career. I was forced to pivot, shifting to a lot more hiking and taking on different kinds of challenges like a peak-bagging project called the “Grid,” which is the subject of my book Chasing The Grid.

The Grid is a big project, entailing 420 separate climbs. But there’s no rush. You can take multiple years to get them done. The Grid is more like a pilgrimage, rather than a race.

During this period, I was spending a lot of time in the mountains and I began to change. I started running and hiking barefoot. I experimented with fasting. I got into cold training (running shirtless in the winter), moving at night without lights, natural navigation (off-trail without map/compass or GPS).

Overall, I tend to think of this new style as “super-minimalist” or as “running naturally,” the way our ancestors used to, instead of the more conventional running we practice today, especially the new super-shoes, [and the] preoccupation with complicated metrics like VO2 max and HRV, and now the 120g/hour carb-fueling. Increasingly this looks like tech-enabled running.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I like to joke that my biggest challenge today is balancing running and hiking! All kidding aside, I don’t really use the idea of “balance” in my life. I consider myself aggressive and action-oriented.

I’ve done some things, and I want to do more. That means embracing an execution mindset, which includes detailed planning, ruthlessly cutting out the non-essential, and accepting some risk of conflict and chaos.

Now, it’s easier for me today because I’m single and an empty nester, which allows me to live a very frugal and simple life with minimal distractions.

Having said that, family occasions are still the top of my priority list, and if one of my kids calls, I slam the brakes and pull over to talk and everything else goes on hold.

I’m getting close to retirement, but still looking for ways to make a difference in the corporate sector, which at this point is a lot of fun for me, since I’m really good at my specialty.

I love my community and am constantly looking for ways to give back, which I do in part as board chair for two organizations, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and Run Wild, Inc. Given my love for getting outdoors, land conservation is very exciting for me, as is the chance to create opportunities for kids to experience nature.

To be honest, one of the keys to my current “success” is the decision I made a few years ago, to stick with my current corporate specialty, rather than stepping up to a bigger leadership role. Maybe this is a limitation, but if I don’t get enough running and time outdoors, I pretty quickly start to feel unhappy.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m proud of every race I’ve finished and every mountain I’ve climbed — although to be sure, some are more memorable than others. “Proud” not in the sense of being arrogant, but that deep sense of satisfaction that comes from having gone out there and done something.

By the way, I love my finishers’ awards because they remind me of what I did — I have boxes of the trinkets!

Does running help me achieve things? For sure. Running is a practice which in my opinion generates the full mind-body engagement that is our birthright as human beings. Running taps into the deep wells of strength and energy that all people have — the strength and energy our ancestors needed to survive living naked in the forests.

My sense is that in the modern world, with so much emphasis on comfort and convenience, there’s a risk of settling for less intensity, which means less engagement and less independence.

For me, the most powerful aspect of running is the sense of self-empowerment which spreads throughout life. This — not how you feel right after a race — is the real “runner’s high.” For me, running provides the energy that powers the rest of my life and it is also key to the positivity that I bring to my relationships with other people.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

For me, running has also turned into a gateway to the inner world of subjectivity and spirit. I believe this inner world is super important because it contains the genetic wisdom accumulated over billions of years of evolution, what Carl Jung called the "collective unconscious."

This inner world contains our sense of intuition and judgment, our connection to nature, and the true magic of life.

I am very curious about indigenous culture, as a window into how people thought before the introduction of modern industrial technology — for example, the Lipan Apache concept of "good medicine," which refers to special experiences in nature, and how they can spread a glow throughout your life and change your thinking.

In this regards, I think of running and hiking outdoors in part as a practice of vision-questing, and really as the spiritual foundation for my life.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

In my forties and fifties, it was all about those A races, like Leadville, Badwater, Boston, New York, etc., and then the FKTs. In other words, my goal was to break through perceived limits and discover what I could truly do.

Now that I'm in my sixties, my goal is to sustain the practice. Instead of individual events, today I'm more focused on multi-year initiatives. For example, I've run 117 marathons and ultra's (29 of which were barefoot), and I'd like to keep growing this count.

I've climbed 647 mountains barefoot, towards a multi-year goal of 1,000, and I'm constantly thinking about the next set of peaks to go after. I celebrate every 1,000 miles of barefoot training (running/hiking/walking) and want to keep growing that number.

For this year, goals include taking another shot at some of my barefoot PRs (I set a new 10k barefoot PR last year and a 5k PR the year before), as well as getting back to 100 miles in 24 hours (or closer, anyhow).

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

Goals keep me moving. Goals generate energy. The positive outcome from achieving a goal times the probability of success = the energy budget available to pursue it. Set the right goals and you can live a life of virtually unlimited energy. I come up with new goals all the time, mainly by letting my imagination run.

Boredom isn’t typically a problem for me. If you think about “flow state,” recall the “flow channel” as defined by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi, the psychologist who coined the term, is bounded by anxiety on one end, and boredom on the other. Anxiety is when intensity is too high for us to manage, boredom is when intensity is too low.

One way to deal with boredom is to work on structuring your thought processes, for example, by taking the dreaded treadmill workout and adding micro-intervals where you are constantly varying speed and inclination or by breaking the session down into smaller parts (yay, I just got to 10%...yay, I just got to 20%...etc).

Having said that, okay, I admit it — treadmill runs are sort of boring.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

What I generally tell young people is, go for it. Action produces outcomes, so whatever happens, you are guaranteed to learn and grow.

As you get older, you develop greater capacity for patience (old people are crafty) — but this is rarely the right course for young people, who are charging forward into the unknown.

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Last night, I had a Substack Live conversation with and about everything that inspires us about running and sports, especially the books, movies and stories we love.

That’s when it dawned on me: the stories I love most involve a character — like Louis Zamperini in Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, or really all the lead characters in her bestseller Seabiscuit: An American Legend — who discovers a talent they didn’t know they had, often well into mid-life.

I think that’s what I found so inspiring about Wendi Anderson’s story, whose path echoes many of ours — as a mom who found herself facing a potentially serious health challenge in her forties, she realized she needed to make a change. A big change.

Instead of shying away from it, or burying her head in the sand, she faced it. And ended up changing her life (for the better!) in ways she never could have expected.

I found so much to love and relate to in her story, and I know you will too. As always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going! And if you’d like to share your story, I’d love to hear it. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

Hi, I’m Wendi… an almost 51-year-old wife, boy mom, photographer, and outdoor enthusiast. I work full time and LOVE to run events of all kinds!

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

I am a hybrid athlete, so I have an extremely varied workout schedule. I usually run 3 times a week. These are quite often 60-minute zone 2 runs, occasionally longer on Saturday. Sometimes intervals and speed work thrown in.

The other three days of work are either weight lifting, my first love, or DEKA skill work. This year I am trying to trifecta qualify for DEKA Worlds in the Ruck division, so some days the workouts or runs include wearing a 20-pound ruck pack.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I wasn’t allowed to play sports growing up. I danced, but dance looked different 40 to 45 years ago than it does today, so although it was active I never considered it to be an athletic endeavor. Sports were for the boys at my house.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

It was an evolutionary accident!

Back in 2017, I was over 200 pounds with extremely high risk of developing diabetes. I was working full time, had three boys all in sports year round and was earning a bachelor’s degree (I was attending college as a “mature adult” after spending most of my life thinking I’d never earn a degree).

I knew I needed to get my health in check, so I made the decision that after I graduated I would then take on that pursuit. That summer, my lifestyle change began. My only goal was to get healthy to avoid diabetes.

Fast forward to 2019, I am down 70 pounds and loving working out and adjusting to my new body. I had run out of time at the gym to complete a full workout — thanks to mom duty — so decided that I would run at the park where my son was having baseball practice.

I was just doing laps around for 30 minutes and when I looked at my watch I saw how far I had gone with surprise. I think it was about a 5K. I thought to myself, that’s kinda fast… maybe I should run a Spartan.

Where that came from I really don’t know. I didn’t know anyone that had done one, really didn’t know anything about it. Well, I told my friend, who I then found out had done one — and she said let’s do it. We did, in June of 2019. I… was… hooked.

That day, I decided I would try and do a Trifecta in 2020. I started my pursuit in January, finishing another Spartan Sprint, which is a 5K with obstacles. Then, of course, 2020 happened and halted it all, but I continued to train, but still not running very much.

Once things began to open up and my 2021 plan was in place, I started to work towards the required distances for the Super and Beast. I generally ran once a week and started increasing from 3 miles up to 6 for the 10K Super.

After I finished my first of that distance, I increased a bit, running the half marathon distance once before taking on the Beast course. To this date my longest training run is a half marathon distance, and I think I’ve only done that twice. Running at this time was purely to build confidence about running the distance between obstacles. (My hashtag was #notarunner!)

I earned my first Spartan Trifecta in 2021, and have gone on to complete 8, a couple of which are known as “ultra-fectas,” and several accomplished in a single weekend. I am also working on my fourth DEKA Trifecta.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

Now, I am a trail runner and an athlete — two terms that I had a very hard time internalizing and saying without being uncomfortable. I wish I could say I have gotten faster, but that is not entirely the case. Farther, definitely.

I went from running between obstacles to simply running. I have completed two trail 50Ks, a 50-mile lap race, numerous 10Ks and half marathons with more than a few local 5 and 10K road events. I usually just do those to support local charities. Next weekend I will take on my first 100K — I’m pretty nervous, but excited to see how it goes.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

As far as balance, I probably do more races/events than my family would like, but they are super supportive and don’t hold me back. I try to maintain a reasonable schedule of local and travel events so I am not gone too much.

My boys are adults now, with the “baby” graduating in June and the older two out of the house. Even so I am very connected to them, and being a good wife is super important to me, so I still keep most of my workouts to an hour and in the morning before work, so that I can have evenings to focus on family.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Finding the Spartan and Trail running community has changed my life. It has put me down a path I didn’t know existed.

It has given me a place of belonging and challenge I could have never dreamed of. There are moments throughout that have changed me as a person and opened up doors I never thought I’d walk through.

Little things like learning to eat alone, the empowerment that comes from traveling alone and learning to fill the space that comes with that. These are the things that I never even knew I needed to learn until I got there.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I often tell people: this was never the plan. I have learned that I can achieve things that I never even thought to consider.

Like my husband likes to remind me, especially when I am upset about a race result, in the not-so-distant past I couldn’t run to the mailbox. Now I am running 50-plus miles…wow.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I don’t have any big running goals past the 100K this weekend. I have several races on my list, but haven’t set any more goals. I think it will start being more about locations than adding distance.

I love variety and to start getting into 100-mile-plus races would push my training needs in a direction I am not sure I want to go. I’d still rather lift than run anyday.

My biggest goal is DEKA Worlds. I am looking to get in a couple more qualifiers and be faster there. I want to make sure I am competitive at all 3 events.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I love events. I sign up for as many as I can, while staying married and not going broke 🤣 Honestly it’s an addiction, and if I don’t have something scheduled I am a wreck.

I’ve had different addictions throughout my life though — not drugs, thank goodness; that’s something I knew I couldn’t handle, so I never even smoked —and this is the healthiest.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I don’t know. I don’t have a whole lot of childhood memories, and I don’t think I can even picture myself at that age. I might warn her that even when she is 50, Dad wouldn’t like her doing sports stuff, ha.

I guarantee there is no way she would believe any of this, there was too much darkness. Probably a big part of why I push myself the way I do, is the life that got me here, especially the hard parts. I think I am trying to mostly learn to look forward.

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I know it’s late so I won’t dawdle, but I’m really excited for you to meet Thu Nguyen, who reached out when I asked you to share your stories last month. She had just one condition: “If you really promise that excitement is not the required vibe from a running story, I’m happy to answer some questions.”

On the contrary, I found Thu’s story inspiring and a reflection of the poet she has become — she notices every small detail, and fully experiences every moment she spends running in a way that’s, dare I say, poetic.

I found so much to love and relate to in her story, and I know you will too. As always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Thu Nguyen, and I am a 46-year-old woman who has lived around the Washington, D.C., area for more than half her life now. I first moved here after graduate school to teach, and I did that for about 15 years before I set off on my own to write (I am a poet) and paint full time.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

My running routine is really dependent on if I am training for a race. Ideally, I like to do one “big” race a year. I just ran the Eugene Half Marathon at the end of April, and it was the first time I trained for a spring race.

Winter race training is no joke! This winter was particularly difficult because the roads were so icy for so long. I ran twice a week on my treadmill, and did my long run outside. I used to run 4 to 5 times a week when I was training for races, but that kind of mileage ended up injuring me a couple of times.

For the past two race cycles, I’ve only run three times a week (one with hill intervals, one tempo, and one long). That kind of running seems to be my sweet spot.

When I’m not training for a race, I typically go out for a few miles, 2 to 3 times a week. I still try to go for an hour or so outside once a week just to stay in the habit.

All the flowers are in bloom where I am, and I am so grateful that I get to see this season as I run. Yesterday on the trail, I saw the fattest, happiest groundhog. That felt like a boon.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was not athletic as a kid if you think of athletics as team sports. My family and I were all immigrants who owned restaurants, so I spent every day after school and every weekend at work with my family.

But if you count roaming neighborhoods by foot and bike for hours at a time, then I was definitely athletic. I also played a lot of tennis in high school because my boyfriend played tennis.

I guess my athleticism was based on friends and being outdoors, which honestly, I think suited me best.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

The very first time I ran was when I joined my local shoe store’s Couch to 5K program. I was lonely because I had just moved into a new neighborhood, and I thought it would be a great way to make friends — and it was!

I have since recommended programs like that to people interested in getting into running. So low-key, and mostly just walking to begin with. The program also helped me get to know the local running routes.

I think I am glad I wasn’t trying to run a super long distance, or live up to a running idol when I began. I was just impressed that I could run at all.

I started running again after I had my two boys, one right after the other, and my goal was really different the second time around. I had postpartum depression, and nothing made me feel as alive as running did.

Those long runs made me feel so capable and strong. That was when I first started training for longer races. I needed bigger goals to look forward to.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

I was actually just telling a friend that I ran this year’s half marathon slower than the last one I ran, and it was remarkable. Choosing to run slower for me has meant choosing joy.

The reason I ran faster than I probably should have a couple of years ago was because it was freezing out, crowded, and everything was so chaotic that I just wanted to get it over with. Last month in Eugene could not have been more the opposite.

I met the loveliest pacer, and we chatted on and off for most of the race. At mile 10, she looked at me, and said, “if I have been doing my job, you should feel great now, and really go for it.” She gave me the confidence to leave her, and I felt the best I have ever felt completing a race.

You could say the last three miles were negative splits, but I remember them more as joyful. At Eugene, you end the race inside Hayward Field, and the entire stadium is filled with people cheering on runners.

I know they weren’t all there for me specifically, but it felt so much like they were that I got emotional at the end. This was my year coming back from injury, and I was grateful for every single step that I ran.

My main goal for Eugene actually had to do with what was going to happen afterwards. I wanted to run a race with enough ease that I could hang out with my friends afterwards. I remember other years and races when I would finish, and not be able to walk anywhere.

One year I immediately got sick afterwards because I had put my body through so much. After Eugene, my dear friends (who I never get to see) picked me up, and we walked around town. I spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the sun with them, took a nap in a hammock, and had energy enough to go out to dinner to celebrate. That, to me, is the perfect race day.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I’m not sure about balance, but I have worked out a schedule where I take one of my boys (15) to the bus stop, and then run on the treadmill, and then take the second one (14) to the bus stop.

It’s tight, but probably best for me to keep my running in check. I would — and have in the past — overdo it otherwise. My injuries have always been from too much mileage, so the boundaries of a busy workweek help a lot.

The boys come to my races if they are in town. In Philly they met me a few miles in so I could throw my outer layers at them. When I ran Eugene, they tracked me by my bib number and congratulated me by text. Most importantly, they know that I feel so much happier if I have run.

Weekends when I come back from long runs, we eat big breakfasts and relax together. I know I am so privileged to be able to fit running into my life. I work for myself now, and mostly from home, so if I need to move a run to a different time, I can do that.

I do travel for work at times, so finding time to run is hard, but the challenge has been rewarding too. I was in Paris during my race training this year, and I got to see parts of the city I have never seen before because I needed to run while I was there.

I also just happened to run my fastest 5K of the season while I was there, and I think it was because there is nothing like the Jardin de Tuilleries first thing at the break of dawn.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I think as I’ve gotten older, I have had to be so much more flexible with my expectations, and with allowing myself to pivot when I need to. When I am injured, I take time off. I do physical therapy. I cross-train. I go to bed so early so that I can get up early.

And I am still a deeply curious person, so this year I decided to see what finding gels that I could actually swallow would do for my long runs. And now there are so many more choices than even just a few years ago!

It’s so boring and true that sleep and fuel will get you so far. I’ve learned that I can be really good to myself, and it pays off.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’ve learned that people run for all kinds of reasons, but I run for my mental health. I run to be outside. Everything else is nice to have: good gear, good company, etc., but I don’t need anything except that time alone.

I’ve learned that it’s okay to do things seasonally. I can still call myself a runner even in the summer when I refuse to run in the 90-plus degree heat of D.C. I used to have such strict ideas about what made someone an athlete or a runner, and now I know that it’s more about a mindset than anything else. Every time I see someone running on the roads as I drive by, I am clapping for them in my head. I cheer for everyone.

A couple of years ago, I signed up for a running retreat in Alaska. I didn’t know anyone on the retreat, but I wanted to see Alaska, and I wanted to do some trail running. Our group ran and walked at such a diverse range of paces, and it was the first time I really gave myself permission to not go all out every time.

I ran a 10K, and then the next day I felt like I wanted to walk to the glacier lake instead of running it. The person I was with felt like she wanted to run. We high-fived, and then went at our own paces. On the way back from the lake, I felt like running, so I caught up with another couple in our group.

I loved getting to know them through this run. I learned that I can really listen to what I want and need in the moment, and that giving it to myself is the right thing to do.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I honestly just want to continue to love running. I want to be able enough to keep doing what I love. I never say never to anything, but I don’t want running to feel like a burden.

Right now, training for a half marathon is just right for me as far as time commitment. I am super interested in ultras because of the terrain. The shorter trail runs I have done have been so great.

I also want to keep integrating my creative life into my running. This summer, I am co-leading a running retreat with two friends, and my contribution will be to lead workshops on writing and painting after our runs.

Running sparks so much creativity for me, and I want to share with others how running can be a way to unlock different parts of a person’s identity and talents.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I am different every year, every reason, every day that I show up to run. A few years ago, I could only listen to books while I ran. This year I listened to music. Maybe one day I won’t need to listen to anything.

I don’t really get bored of running because I always look for new challenges. I try to sign up for my big race in a new city every year. I try to go where friends live. Sometimes I throw in a relay with friends, and we have more run than we actually race.

The best thing I have done is join my local running community. Montgomery County Road Runners Club has been so welcoming to me. When I am running with them, I don’t have to think about anything because they come up with the track workouts, and long run locations.

Most importantly, we have monthly low-key races all over the county. They are free for members, so I have at least one 5K race to look forward to every month. Two friends of mine and my husband usually run those races with me. It feels so good to do hard things with your loved ones.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I would tell that kid that I had no idea what I was capable of! I would tell her not to pay attention to the mile test they give in P.E. It’s not about winning or racing. I would tell her just to keep doing what feels good to her.

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It’s a little after 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, the sun is shining here in Atlanta where I live and it feels like a brand new day. And I’m really glad it does, because that reminds me of the person I want to introduce to you today, a runner I’ve gotten to know through Substack, .

For those of you who don’t know her, Verity is a longtime U.K.-based runner who managed her own running club for more than a decade. But an injury forced her to step away from running for an extended period, time she spent reassessing a lot of things — which she’s written about eloquently in her newsletter, RunVerity.

I’m always drawn to people who’ve gone through things — who’ve hit some turbulence in the air and been tossed around, and have had to figure out where to go and what to do when “fear obscures the path,” as Mary Chapin Carpenter once sang.

That’s why I’m so drawn to Verity’s story, and I think you will be too. As always, I’d love to hear your story too! If you’d like to share it, just reach out by replying back or in the comments. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m Verity Wright, 57 years old and live in the U.K.

I set up an inclusive running club in 2014 and closed it in December 2025 after eleven years. I’ve been running for over 25 years and I’m currently rehabbing a broken ankle from November 2025 by writing a book about why women stop running.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

My running routine has dramatically changed in the last six months, I've gone from running six days a week, three of those days twice a day, with a weekly mileage of 45 miles.

I’m now building endurance back up slowly having started run/walking for 20 mins in January. I’m pleased to say I’m running four times a week now with my longest run of 13 miles a couple of weeks ago.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

No, I really wasn't an athletic kid. I was firmly placed in the "not sporty" category at school and to ease the visible exasperation of my P.E. teachers, many blind eyes were turned on my forged "please excuse me" notes.

I left school with a well-honed smoking habit that was perfected on those Wednesday afternoons.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

My dad was a runner, and I used to go and support him at race events. He ran the Everest Marathon in 2002; I hadn’t started running then, but it was there in the background.

Once my children were born, I became more active, throwing myself around an aerobics class, mainly because the leisure centre provided a free creche for my kids.

I’d always wanted to be able to run, but just didn’t think I’d be able to. Then one Christmas in France I went out with my dad, there I was, puffing and panting, trying to keep up with him, but he just said three words: “slow it down.” I did, and I was hooked.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

Since my ankle break, it feels like my running has come full circle, because where I am now really reminds me of when I first started.

I’m building confidence and endurance again, sprinkled with just a dash of speed to see how it all fits and I’ve entered a few new races that I’m using to benchmark this new, older version of a runner.

I still love it, but, just like when I started, I’m building a new relationship with it, we’re finding out what works with my new routine and I’m developing confidence again, both physically and mentally.

It feels a bit like getting back on a horse that’s thrown you off, tentatively re-establishing those bonds of trust.

For eleven years I ran with the community I’d created, and it was fabulous to have that accountability and support. Now I’m learning to run on my own again and be accountable only to me.

This is new and it’s scary, but also exciting, it’s running in its simplest form; what can I achieve when nobody’s measuring but me?

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

When I had my run club it was hard to fit my own running around the club sessions and family life. I have a husband, two children and three grandchildren, and I used to be out four nights a week and most weekends. Now [that] I can fit running in around what matters to me, running doesn’t feel like a grind anymore.

There were mornings when I was meant to run for me, but I’d tell myself I wouldn’t go because there was always tomorrow, or I’d be too tired to run, so wouldn’t go because I knew I’d have to run with my club either that evening or the next day.

Now, especially after my injury, I know that running tomorrow isn’t promised, so I just go. It’s hard going on your own, I’m not going to lie, it would be a lot easier to stop running all together but, I keep putting my trainers on and showing up.

To help, I run with a friend once a week, and my daughter, which is a joy, and go to parkrun to push myself. My whole running landscape has changed.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m proud of so much, I don’t know where to begin.

For me, running gave me a purpose, it changed my life and gave me a confidence I never knew I needed. I remember after running my first marathon I felt I had something to hold my head high about, I was a late starter in everything, running, my Psychology degree, this all of it happened in my 30s and running made me feel as though I belonged.

Then I started teaching everyday people how to run, people just like me, who’d been told they weren’t sporty or good enough when they were at school.

Their internal narratives still stung as they turned up on the first night of my beginner’s course “You don’t look like a runner” “You’re too slow”. “You can run; you’ve got asthma”. And I watched what running did for every single one of them as they crossed many finish lines in bodies they’d spent years hating.

I won a Changing Lives Through Physical Activity award which was a wonderful moment. I still get messages from people telling me what they’ve achieved through running. Giving people the tools to do this, to run in their own bodies, at their own pace is what I’m proudest of.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’ve learnt that I’m tough and resilient. Running has been a complicated relationship that at times has been hard to navigate. I suppose a bit like a friendship, sometimes we’ve fallen out and I’ve been angry and frustrated with it, stubbornly ignoring it for months.

And then they’ve been other times when we’re never apart, and the joy and laughter make all the bad times worthwhile. I’ve also been to some wonderful races, and run through breathtaking scenery — the Yosemite Half Marathon last year was a highlight.

I’ve run marathons through the streets of Paris as though I mattered to everyone there. And sometimes I’ve had people turn their back on me as I’ve run past, clear signals of dislike. But I’ve just kept on running. It’s just something I must do.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I’m excited to see what’s next. I’m 57 years old and a nanna. Some women my age might be thinking about giving up, well I’m not.

I don’t know what a 57+ women can achieve because the research hasn’t been designed with women like me in mind, so I’m going to try and rip up the nanna stereotypes and just keep going.

Last week I achieved my highest ever age grade percentage in a race and I thought that was cool, so who knows what’s around the corner. More marathons, not this year, but next.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I don’t know, it’s just something I must do, it’s who I am and part of me now. I've been doing it for over 25 years, and I've never really got bored of it because it's never been the same twice. Different routes, different paces, different bodies, different reasons.

Right now, it's about coming back from injury and seeing what this new version of me can do. Next year a marathon, just for me. The year after, something else. The running keeps changing because I keep changing, and that's what keeps it interesting.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

That what other people think of what you look like when you run is bollocks. Don't let their comments stop you from doing something you love.

One of the reasons women don't run is their fear of judgement of what people think they look like. I’ve learnt no matter what you do, people will always have opinions of you.

But if they stop you feeling the confidence and joy you get from running, what would your 85-year-old self regret more? Running with a red, sweaty face or sitting the race out because you don't look like how a woman should look. What, happy?

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Above all, the best thing about writing this newsletter is hearing from readers just like you, as I love hearing your stories and about where you are in your journey — whether that’s running or your life.

I couldn’t have asked to hear from a sweeter, more heartwarming man than Jim Newton, who wrote to me last week when I asked readers to share their stories with us.

I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say you’ll be as touched and moved by Jim’s story as I was, and to just imagine what he’s gone through in his life — from going through cancer treatment twice to all the places he’s been through running, both in this world and in his spirit.

That’s enough of me yammering on, though — I’ll let you enjoy Jim’s story. But also, please know I’d LOVE to hear your story too, if you’re interested in sharing it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I was born in Elmira, N.Y. on October 12, 1949. An interesting fact is that when Columbus Day was celebrated on its actual day, I never had to go to school. I was an environmental engineer for over 46 years and am now retired.

I still am active as an engineer by conducting webinars for professional engineers on various topics. I offer over 50 webinar topics. I am trying to become a produced scriptwriter and have written many scripts, several of them have placed in writing contests.

I have used my running experiences in many of them. I started running at the age of 28 trying to lose weight. I have now been running for over 49 years and have covered over an estimated 60,000 miles. I have completed 17 marathons, the first in 1978 and most after I turned 55 (15).

In 2014, I was diagnosed with Stage IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), an aggressive blood cancer. I have been in remission since 2015 and continued treatment through 2017. I ran several half marathons while undergoing treatment. In 2021, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and in 2022 received a stem cell transplant and am now in remission. It is ironic that I used to run marathons for Team in Training, a fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I am also dealing with squamous cell carcinoma, a result of my many years of outdoor running. I refuse to run on a treadmill; [I’m] always afraid I’d fall off (I used that in one of my comedies). I also sing in various church choirs and have done so for over 35 years and occasionally cantor at mass.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

I typically go out running around 8 each morning. I cover 3-4 miles a day, six days a week. If I’m training for a half or 10K I will go longer. I actually ran several half marathons while going through my cancer treatment. In ended up in the ER a couple of times for dehydration.

While being treated for ALL at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, I was hospitalized for 30 days. I would walk around the nurses’ station three times a day, 10 laps dragging my IV pole I called George.

George and I walked 3 miles each day. He sometimes protested but I pulled him along. George and I also walked 300 days after my stem cell transplant. In between I had to have an infusion pump and walked the Houston neighborhood. I referred to them using female variations of George (Georgette, Georgia, etc)

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was not an athletic child. I wore husky clothes. I once tried out for my high school basketball team. I had never actually played and pulled a muscle in my first practice. I never even considered track and field.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

As I said, I started running to lose weight. I went from 197 to 140 over the first year of running. I targeted the 1977 Peachtree Road Race. At that time, total entrants were 11,000, a far cry from now. I ran the Peachtree for 15 straight years, now I run the virtual Peachtree.

I had a coworker who would play golf after work. We rode together, so I started running around the golf courses while he played.

After completing my first Peachtree, I thought a marathon would be cool. I was never thought of as athletic and wanted to show me and all my old friends that there were some athletic genes in me.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

At 76, I am much slower. I ran my fastest marathon in 1980 and completed it in 3:52. I stopped running marathons while undergoing chemotherapy. I intend to return to them soon.

My ultimate goal is to be the oldest US male to finish a marathon. When I run now, I am around 15-16 minutes per mile. I often hear people complement me on my walking pace, although to me it feels more like running/jogging.

I also use the time to pray the rosary, and ruminate on my various stories.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I am retired now so most of my time is spent running, reading or writing and going with my wife and kids. I have four adult kids, two boys and twin girls. One of my daughters has three kids. All but one of my kids live within four miles of us.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I have completed 17 marathons. Each one has a different story. I ran NYC twice. I ran the NH marathon in a driving rainstorm and developed a blood blister on my ankle. I ran the Rehoboth marathon in 17°F windchills.

I ran the Marshall University marathon and was beaten by a 91-year-old — but was ok with it since he set the US record for 90+ in that race. I ran the Monster Marathon and finished last in 7 hours, but took second in my age group.

The USA Track and Field Association offers an award for runners over 40 called the Pheidippides Award. Runners meeting specific point totas based on the type of races completed, receive a plaque. I have been awarded 10 years of these awards — the tenth is a crystal plate.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I have learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to. It just takes perseverance and dedication. Also, as I get older I have a better chance of winning medals since there are so few runners in my age group!

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I want to get back to running marathons and be the oldest U.S. male to complete one.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I am now targeting 50 years of running and maybe 75 years because 50 years is next year. Running is part of my daily routine, and I feel lost when I don’t, although it is not as strong a feeling now. Running offers me the opportunity to pray each day and helps me with my writing, especially when I have a project I am working on.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I would likely tell him to open up and be more outgoing. I was always a shy kid and kept to myself. Sometimes it was the result of being bullied. I would have liked to have taken chorus or acted in a musical.

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There are so many more reader stories we’ve shared — don’t miss these:

One of the coolest things about writing this newsletter is hearing from readers far from where I live (in Atlanta, Ga.). It’s just amazing to me to hear that someone in Brazil, or Israel, or Jamaica, or Costa Rica reads it along with us — and I’ve heard from readers in all of those places.

So when a reader named James Hsu shared a comment in a recent post and let me know he lived in China, I knew I’d love to hear his story.

James grew up on Canada’s West Coast but has spent more than a dozen years living in China, where he works in technology by day and gets out to run trails on the weekends, sometimes running as many as 100 kilometers a week.

As impressive as that is, he wasn’t athletic at all growing up; “I was always the C student in gym class,” he says. These are the stories I love to share, because I was like that too, to be honest — I love to see how far we all can come when we try, you know?

Also — please know I’d LOVE to hear your story too, if you’re interested in sharing it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m James Hsu. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada on the West Coast, but I have been living in mainland China for the past 14 years. Life and work, in no particular order, has taken me to China and given me some interesting paths along the way. Now I’m based in Shanghai.

I’m turning 44 years old this year, which is pretty wild in some respects. On most days, I feel younger than I actually am! I have to credit running with helping me stay young, or at least feel young.

I’ve worked in the tech industry, in product management roles, for most of my career. Today, I’m a freelancer and entrepreneur focused on helping others achieve their personal and business goals.

My three buckets of work today are creator, trainer and executive coach. Due to my background, I have clients who look to me for insights on how to communicate and work effectively across cultures.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Canadian here, so I’m using kilometers, not miles 😀

My running routine consists of a LOT of low intensity, easy runs. I try to incorporate one tempo or interval workout per week, one long-ish run of 25 kilometers or higher a week, and the rest is easy miles. I tend to run five to six times a week, and my runs typically range from 12 km to 25 km.

All in all, it adds up to about 60 to 80 kilometers a week, on average. On some weeks, when I’m feeling adventurous and strong, I might top out at 100 kilometers. But in recent years, I’ve adopted the mindset of “go one less,” especially if it helps with recovery.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was absolutely NOT athletic. One of my earliest childhood/teenage memories was high school gym class, where our coach gave out grades on a bell curve for completion times — if you were one of the first 3 finishers in a 10 kilometer run, you received an A, if you were in the next 5 finishers, a B, etc. I was always the C student in gym class. Gym class was tough.

For most of high school, I struggled to run six laps around the school track. I mostly played basketball with my friends, or with the kids around the neighborhood. Wasn’t good enough — or fit enough! — to play on the school team, I just enjoyed shooting hoops.

Aside from those memories, I remember bike rides with my dad and brother.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I wish I could say I knew about running as an international sport back then, or was inspired by a certain athlete, but that was not the case. I “found” running by identifying it as an accessible sport that didn’t require a lot of gear or personal investment.

After high school, I was looking to lose weight and gain self-confidence to talk to girls, and figured that running was the easiest way to exercise regularly. I didn’t need a gym membership; all I needed were running shoes and willpower.

I started back in the late 1990s to early 2000s, and had no concept of what running gear was, nor pace, nor the concept of owning a running watch. My earliest runs were entirely based on feel.

What I did find out later, as many runners do, was that the “I can do this” moments came from within. It came from a place of earned self-confidence as we realize that after a slightly longer, harder and/or faster run, we’ve pushed ourselves just a little bit harder... and we’re still standing. Over the years, those gradual moments have been amazing for me.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

First of all, I’m definitely more invested in the sport. I’ll follow the marathon event in the Olympics, the Hakone Ekiden (Japan’s most prestigious relay race, where half-marathon records are unofficially smashed on an annual basis), and even subscribe to a few running-related Substack newsletters.

As far as my own running goes, I’ve been running half-marathons for the past 20 years in a recreational sense. I never ran them with any serious goal or training plan in place; the “goal” was always about completing the races.

It’s only in the past two to three years that I started down the path of running full marathons. I’ve run six marathons since then, all of them in China, and I’m finally at the point where I feel that I can comfortably finish them now. I’m working on getting progressively faster, but at the same time, I’m patient with my process.

That being said, I do have some goals to run farther and faster. Completing a 50K trail race is also one of my goals for 2026.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

These days, I balance running with my freelance work and spending time with my spouse. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to make time in my life for running, due to a flexible work schedule that I’ve designed for myself.

My extended family and relatives are not in Shanghai, and I do make time to visit them throughout the year. Those visits turn into fun opportunities to run in cities that I’m not used to running in — also a fun diversion.

On a personal note, I believe that life is about prioritization and that true balance is impossible. There will be times where I can make more time for running, and times where I can’t, and that’s okay. Over a longer time horizon, I’m happy so long as I can prioritize the things that truly matter to me.

I’ve also struggled at times with finding the true “meaning” in running, but those struggles have allowed me to reflect meaningfully on how important the sport is to me, in the long run (pun intended).

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m proud of my consistency and getting myself out the door most days. The consistent slow mileage comes with so many benefits, including the task of staying injury-free.

Consistency, combined with a rational sense of what my abilities are, has helped me run faster than ever in my forties.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

The biggest learning I have about myself, since starting my running journey, is to put the concept of “good things take time” into practice.

There are a lot of cliches in sports, and elsewhere, flying around. Phrases like “trust the process,” “take it one day at a time,” and so forth. Since starting running, however, I’ve found all those phrases to be 100% true!

Running rewards patience over years and decades. It’s humbling as a sport, but also incredibly rewarding so long as you’re willing to stick with it.

To go along with that sentiment, I do feel like I’m a more patient person now. Not only when I’m running, but in general. I feel like I’m not “chasing” things that are realistically out of reach for myself. Running taught me that.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I’d like to get progressively faster over the next five to 10 years, and run some marathons outside of China. Nothing super specific in a quantitative sense, just enjoying the journey and seeing where it takes me.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I’ve definitely had the “runner’s blues” a few times a year, especially after an underwhelming race or tough periods in general. What helps me get back on track is telling myself that running is a privilege, running is a part of what I do, and running is hard work.

There are lots of things in life that we don’t always want to do, but they prove to be beneficial to us in the long run. That being said, incorporating new shoes and workouts tends to be an effective “carrot” for my own self-motivation.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

“Be kinder to yourself, and believe that things will work out. At the same time, you have to make mistakes to learn and grow.”

Maybe a little corny, and I’m not sure 10-year old James would believe all of it, but I’d sure as heck try!

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There are so many more reader stories we’ve shared — don’t miss these:

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you probably remember me putting out a call last year to share your stories, your personal reflections on the journey of your life and what running has done for you.

The stories you’ve shared ever since have been some of the best pieces I’ve ever published here, and I feel like I’ve gotten to know you on an individual level so much better.

Today, we meet , who I discovered recently on Substack Notes. His amazing photos of his runs throughout the western U.S. where he lives caught my eye, and I’ve just been so intrigued by hearing what it’s like to run through places like those — he brings a sense of adventure and exploration that has been so cool to see.

I know you’ll enjoy hearing Tyson’s story and what inspires him about running, and how it’s changed his life, as much as I did — and seeing all his amazing photos!

This is where I add, please know I’d LOVE to hear your story too, if you’re interested in sharing it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Tyson Baker. I am 33 years old and live in Visalia, California. For those of you who don’t know, that’s basically the middle of California and the gateway to Sequoia National Park.

What do I do? That’s a hard question to answer, but in a nutshell, I chase adventure, which is what eventually led me into trail running.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

My weekly routine is pretty much the same. I don’t live super close to the trails, so most mornings I’m running about 7 miles around town right after I wake up. I usually start the day with coffee in bed, then head out.

When I get home, I work for a couple of hours at my marketing job, answering emails and taking care of whatever needs attention that day. After that, I head out for a second run of around 3 miles.

On a few afternoons or evenings each week, I roll straight into a bar shift at the brewery. On the weekends, I like to get out for longer runs on the trails.

I typically run 6 to 7 days a week, averaging anywhere from 50 to 80 miles, depending on where I’m at in a training block and whether I’m preparing for something big.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

Growing up, I wouldn’t say I was an athletic kid, or at least I didn’t think I was. I had more of that ADHD energy and loved being outdoors. I spent a lot of time riding my bike, skateboarding, and I was also in the Boy Scouts, where I was introduced to backpacking and rock climbing at a fairly young age.

In a sense, that’s where athletics first showed up for me, even though I didn’t really view it that way at the time. It was less about sports and more of a lifestyle.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I got into running almost five years ago, during a pretty low point in my life when I was dealing with a lot of mental health stuff. One day I was on YouTube and came across a documentary about the inaugural year of Cocodona 250. It really stuck with me and inspired me to go out for a run.

I remember that single run made me feel so good. It cleared my mind and helped more than I expected. I honestly haven’t stopped running since that day. Running has taught me a lot of valuable lessons and pushed me farther in life than I ever imagined, all with the hope that one day I’ll line up for Cocodona 250.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

Oh yeah, my running has changed a lot. Back then I was really weak, both mentally and physically. I remember thinking three miles was impossible.

Since then I’ve done multiple multi-day runs, and most recently I ran across all of Portugal with friends. Running has become something I’m obsessed with, but in a healthy, mindful way. I’m not really focused on speed, it’s the distance and the terrain that really captures my mind.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

Yeah, I’m still young. I’m in my thirties and don’t have kids right now. I do have a wife, and part of learning to run consistently has been figuring out how to balance being a husband, keeping up with chores, managing two jobs, and still carving out time for myself.

Sometimes it’s as simple as just getting out the door, even if it means sacrificing a little rest. But you know, I’m also not perfect and I don’t have this all figured out.

I’m still a runner at the end of the day, with sweaty running clothes sprawled throughout the house like a complete feral animal. Then again, I’m pretty sure all runners are like that. Ask me this again once I have kids, and I’m sure my answer will be completely different.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’d say running has helped me achieve a kind of mental clarity and perspective that I didn’t have before. When I’m out there on long runs, it’s like the noise of life quiets down, and I can really think or sometimes, not think at all, and just be present.

That sense of calm and focus has been huge for me, and it’s something I carry with me off the trail too. It’s definitely one of the things I’m proud running has given me.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

Yeah, this one’s pretty easy for me to answer. Running has helped me build resilience. I used to be pretty weak mentally, dealing with my own mental health struggles, and running taught me that I’m stronger and more resilient than I ever thought.

Honestly, that mental strength and healing is probably one of my biggest accomplishments from running, it’s given me a sense of confidence and endurance in life that I never had before.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

Honestly, Cocodona 250 is kind of the race that inspired me to start, so finishing that one is definitely a goal. Beyond that, I’m drawn to self-supported adventures through the mountains and other personal projects. Running not just for races, but for the challenge, the exploration, and the experiences along the way.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

What keeps me going is motivation in the movement itself, the simple act of getting out the door, even on days I don’t feel like it, or going for a long run when I’m tired. It’s really all about consistency that motivates me. But what drives me most is discovering new terrain.

If running ever starts to feel like it’s taking a toll or getting repetitive, I try to hit new trails or explore different areas. Turning a run into an adventure keeps my mind fresh and motivated.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

That it’s okay to feel restless and unsure, those are the things that will lead you to the adventures that matter. Keep running, keep exploring, and trust that getting lost is part of discovering your path.

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Ever since, I’ve been blown away by what you’ve shared — and I feel like I’ve gotten to know each of you on an individual level so, so much better.

Today, you get to meet , who was born in South Africa and later moved to Australia with her husband Walter, where they still live to this day. Walter was the first to take up running, and after watching him while she volunteered at races, she saw so many different kinds of people crossing the finish line she thought, “I figured if they could do it so could I.”

I loved Glenda’s entire story, but the kicker at the end is what really got me, and a reminder of how circuitous the journey is that life can take us on, and that sometimes we need to be reminded of where we started.

Please know I’d love to hear from you too! All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Glenda Mitchell. I am in my late 50s, currently living in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and met my husband, Walter Mitchell, at university in a place called Pietermaritzburg, where we were married 34 years ago.

We were both studying for a Bachelor of Commerce degree and ended up with a major in Information Systems. It was in the day when PCs were largely unheard of and corporations had enormous boxes housing mainframe computers.

We moved to Sydney, Australia in 1995, and I worked for a number of the large management consulting firms as a business adviser to their corporate clients and in my own consulting business before deciding to move into internal corporate executive roles.

Following a health scare nine years ago, I did a re-prioritisation of my own life and decided to start a business to help others do the same. I am passionate about encouraging people to be intentional about choosing what they do and intentional about doing it.

Whilst living in Italy for a couple of years at the end of Covid, I wrote a book called Kicking Out the Bucket List: Living Life with Intention and Passion, using my own stories of adventure and achievement aimed at prompting others to work out what’s of value to them and to do it.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

This has changed over the years.

A long run for me these days is anything over 10 kilometers, usually a weekly 14 to 18K with a monthly half marathon thrown in for good measure. I then do another 3 to 4 additional runs per week, each about 8K.

I don’t do specific speed, interval or hill training any more, but do tend to incorporate some tempo time into some of my runs, use Parkrun for speed training and I have a few hilly Strava segments set up to test me.

In the past, my weekly long run would be 25 to 30 kilometers, (a bit more when leading up to a marathon event), backing up with a 15K the following day. I was never one for exceeding 100K per week.

I am equally happy on the road or trail, although generally do more road as it’s easier logistically. Currently I live near the beach, so some of my running is along the sand — compact, not soft.

What I do like about trail running is that I am so busy concentrating on the technical aspects or scenery that it almost feels easier. No chance to think too hard about what I’m doing or to get bored.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I grew up with two much older brothers so competed with them and didn’t really think of limits. I was always fit and active, everything from dancing to tennis and various team sports.

I was competitive in just about anything I tried. I won dance competitions, was on the top of tennis ladders and was the person that was chosen first for the netball team. If I was on my own at home I’d be throwing or hitting balls against the wall or swimming laps.

But as far as I was concerned, I was not born to run and running was not for me. It was only done when I had to in a school gym class.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

It’s funny that you mention the Olympics as that is a bit of a can of worms. I grew up in South Africa under the apartheid regime, and we were under severe sanctions so were excluded from the world sporting stage, including the Olympics. My early years, we also had no television.

I often wonder how different my sporting life would have been had I been exposed to and inspired by the Olympians. I was always very competitive and felt I could do everything so if I had seen others competing, I suspect I may have been driven to give it a go. I was 28 when I saw an Olympic Games on TV for the first time.

That said, during my teenage years, I lived in Pietermaritzburg, the start and finish of the famous Comrades Marathon (90K) and used to volunteer at water tables or spend the day sitting alongside the road watching the race.

It was one day of the year that the whole country knew about running. One of my mother’s friends had a daughter who was first female on a couple of occasions and I admired her.

My husband was the runner. I used to sit and watch him coming in at marathons. After a number of occasions of watching everyone else – thin, fat, old, young etc, — make it over the finish line, I figured if they could do it so could I. I realised that I could learn to do so — as with any other sport.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

When I started running, long before the days of Parkrun, 10 kilometers was a normal target. So that’s where I started. My initial training was walking / running two to three kilometers at a time and leading on from there. I was happy to complete my first 10K event without walking.

Later on, I was part of a running club called Sydneystriders and they were pretty serious. I was running a sub 45-minute 10K which was considered pretty slow and weekly social runs were 25K or more. I always said that I wouldn’t do a marathon, that I wasn’t interested.

One day, in the week leading up to a marathon that my husband had entered, I realised that having run these social runs consistently, I was ready to tackle the event. Not an approach that I’d recommend to most people but under the circumstances, it worked.

The furthest I’ve run is a 45K trail run with an elevation gain of around 1,500 meters and completed that a hand full of times. I had intended to run the Comrades Marathon about 10 years ago, but circumstances put paid to that.

I’m old now…

I used to run further and faster… now I run shorter and slower. That said, I still manage to hold my own amongst the recreational runners. I am very competitive in my age category and not too bad against the youngsters.

Now I enjoy helping others reach their goal and am always up for being a pacer at Parkrun or events such as half marathons. It also gives me an excuse for running slower!

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

On the people side, I am fortunate that my husband is my running buddy. He’s faster than me but most of our training is done together, even if he leaves me towards the end.

My mother, who passed away recently at 93, was more of an encouragement than a drain. She was always interested in finding out about my running even though she had never been a runner herself. She knew that Saturdays were key run day do she’d always ask whether I’d done Parkrun or a long run that day.

My career was demanding. This often meant getting up in the cold, dark and wet to run before work. Sometimes it was of benefit as when I was travelling for work as running was an easy way to exercise. All I needed was a pair of shoes. When the others went to the pub, I could have some “me time” on a run.

It’s all about prioritisation. If it’s important make time, if not, that’s OK.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I’m not sure that I can identify one single thing but my running had contributed to my life in so many ways.

Physically, it has meant that I have been fit enough to take on activities when the opportunity arose. It meant that I could embark on my trek to Everest Base Camp and climb Mount Kilimanjaro without specific training. The unknown was more about altitude.

I’m not entirely sure whether I’d say my mental tenacity has come from pushing through to complete endurance events or whether or whether I’ve completed them because of my mental endurance — perhaps a bit of both.

And I’d say the same applies for most things I’ve embarked on, in work or life, including writing my book and having it published.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

My running journey has spanned over more than 30 years, so it’s difficult to identify changes that would be directly attributable to running.

What I do know, is that my ability to keep running through injury & difficulty (some significant) is testament to my ability to endure and running has provided an outlet to keeping pushing through.

Had it not been for running, perhaps I’d be less tenacious and maybe even lazy. I’d no doubt be fatter.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

This question implies that I am at a different stage of my running journey, so I’ll tackle it from a slightly different angle.

I have run marathons and half marathons across the world. I have chase PBs in various distances. I am now at a stage where it’s an achievement to remain fit. Most of the people around me are fatter, less able to even do much in the garden and walking for an hour is an accomplishment.

They certainly aren’t able to embark on a run. I would like to remain competitive in my age category. Next year I am planning on hiking the 192-mile Coast to Coast trail across the U.K. — whilst I may only run some of it, my running ability is likely what will pull me through.

Most importantly, I’d like to continue to inspire, and help motivate others to achieve their goals — whether it be starting to run when they didn’t think it was possible, doing a sub-three-hour marathon or competing an endurance event. Or even to achieve something that it totally unrelated to running or even exercise.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

My initial answer: my inability to give up, my stubbornness. And that really is a big part of it. I can’t imagine life without running now. I often say that I run so that I can eat — I know that I’d get fat if I didn’t run, so I guess that’s a motivator.

Having worked with people of many types, I realise that others are motivated by very different things. Entering events, setting PB targets, finding new places to run are all ways of keeping going.

The thing to be aware of is that these things all give the dopamine hit but not necessarily the commitment. There are those that are happy to run a marathon and that’s it — and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a huge achievement.

But then there’s those that are serial runners, running because they run. I fit into the second category.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

At 10 years old I thought I was invincible, that there was absolutely nothing I couldn’t do. I was fortunate that I had parents that encouraged me to learn, to grown, to reach for the stars.

I have largely retained the fearlessness that I had back then, but have a lot more self-doubt now. If I could talk to that kid now, I don’t think I’d look to change a thing. I’d more likely talk to the older version of me to remind myself of the 10-year-old kid.

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Today, you get to meet , who grew up in Southern California and led an active lifestyle as a kid, playing different sports every season. He didn’t even think about running until the year his father decided to join a running group and run a half marathon — an “unreal” distance, he thought at the time.

Later, in his twenties, he’d decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps and try running for himself — until his training was derailed by a horrific car accident, which he by a miracle survived. However, months in the hospital — including a brief, medically-induced coma to reduce swelling in his brain — lay ahead.

A lot of soul-searching followed, John says, but he found his way out and today is running distances far longer than the half marathon his father ran. He’s also found a path forward that allows him to pursue his dreams in running while still also maintaining balance with the other parts of his life.

I really, really enjoyed John’s story and I know you will too — and, if you feel inspired to share yours, I’d love to hear it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

First and foremost, I’m a dad and a husband. My wife and I are doing our best to raise two independent, smart, fierce, and caring daughters (now 17 and 14) with strong moral compasses. They take after their mom.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I’ve spent most of life in Southern California, specifically between San Diego and northern Los Angeles. During the pandemic, we relocated from L.A. to Orange County for a career change in biotech.

I’m 47, but I still feel like a kid. Though I have all the responsibilities of a professional, including a mortgage that’s commensurate with living near the beach in So Cal, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

As an ultra-runner, I typically run six days per week, with Monday being a rest day. (I find little value in run-streaking.) My weekday runs are usually six to 12 miles, and my weekend long runs range from 14 to 28 miles.

However, as I write this, I’m coming off an injury, so I’ve incorporated more biking and cross-training into my routine. Regardless of the workout, six days a week, I wake up by 4:15 to exercise.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

Though my wife was probably a better athlete than I was (she definitely had a better jump shot), I’ve played sports my entire life. While I loved sports, I didn’t specialize in any discipline (back in the 80s and 90s, we California kids played the sport of the season: soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring, swim team in the summer).

I high school, I played four years of varsity soccer, three years of varsity golf, and during my senior year, I finally relented and played high school football, where we were league champs and my strong leg earned me the distinction of first team all-league kicker (“Just imagine if you had played all four years?” my dad exclaimed, somewhat disappointedly).

But my true passion as I got into my teens was surfing. It was the first time that I connected to a sport in a physical, mental, and spiritual way — and the first time a sport brought me close to nature.

I loved the challenge that surfing presented: the unpredictability, the strength and courage it demanded, the patience it required, the danger, the unknown. But above all, the beauty. There is truly no feeling like getting barreled. Though the moment is fleeting, time pauses and everything is calm and in sync.

My passion for surfing led to me to enroll at the University of California-San Diego, as it was not only an excellent school, but it also sat on the bluffs overlooking Black’s Beach, hands down the best beach break in the country.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

When I was a kid, my dad ran with the Hash House Harriers, the international running group whose members get together for some wacky runs and then drink beer afterwards (and probably during the run, too). My dad also ran a half marathon. As a grade-schooler, I thought that was unreal.

I think that opened my eyes to what might be possible. In fifth grade, our school had a walk-a-thon, and the grand prize was a season’s pass to California’s Great America. As we set off around the schoolyard to do our first lap, I decided that I’d run it, because I wanted to win that prize. I probably ran-jogged-walked 17 miles that day. I was beat up, but I won that season pass.

Of course, my real running journey didn’t start until after I earned my undergraduate degree. With college barely in the review mirror, I decided in 2001 to run a half marathon — just like my dad had. I had no idea what I was doing, but I printed out a 13-week training plan from Runners World and got working.

On race day, I showed up in basketball shorts and a white Hanes undershirt. I didn’t have a plan, but I gave it my best and ended up running a 1:33. I also had the worst chafing ever!

As we turned the calendar to February 2002, I began to train for the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. This was before Strava, GPS watches, and high-carb fueling — and I was still clueless. But I had a goal in mind, and I followed my 16-week plan to a T.

Though I was ready, life had other plans.

Six days before the marathon, I went on a joyride with my roommate in his dad’s super car. He overestimated his skills, and we slid into oncoming traffic on the windy roads of Rancho Santa Fe, going at least 90 mph. We were t-boned on my side of the car. The force of the impact smashed the passenger side of the car, where I was sitting, into the driver’s side.

The firefighters used the jaws of life to extract me from the car, and they called a helicopter to rush me to the hospital.

The brunt force left me with broken ribs, a fractured cheek bone, collapsed lung, strained knee and shoulder, facial lacerations, and a traumatic brain injury. To mitigate the swelling, they put me in an induced coma. I stayed in the hospital for a month, where I relearned to chew, swallow, stand, walk, read, and write. (I also learned that you don’t store milk on a nightstand and you can’t escape a hospital when they’ve strapped a monitor around your ankle.)

Over the next several months, I did physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. Under constant, 24/7 supervision, and told what I could and couldn’t do, I felt hamstrung. I couldn’t sleep for more than two hours at a time, and I managed a bout of depression.

In short, I felt sorry for myself, and I yearned for sympathy and for someone to tell me that it was okay that I wasn’t as good as I used to be.

Then over Thanksgiving, while visiting relatives in the Pacific Northwest, one of my dad’s cousins asked about the accident. I did have any memory of the accident, let alone the weekend before it, but I recounted what people told me had happened.

“Sounds like you had a moment of indiscretion,” he said.

At first, I felt betrayed. I was livid. I wasn’t driving! I thought. I was just a passenger. Why would I be to blame? How was I the careless one?

On our trip back to California, I thought about our conversation. It hit me: He’s right. My roommate wasn’t being malicious. He knew that I loved cars, and he just want to show off the car. And I chose to get in the car. I wanted to go for the ride.

That interaction changed everything for me, and it put me on a course to fast-track my recovery.

Six months post-accident, over Christmas 2002, I decided that I was going to run the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll the next year. In February 2003, I began marathon training. In June 2003, I finished it — one year late — in just over 3:29.

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How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

After finishing that first marathon in 2003, I wrote off covering that distance again. Though I met my goal of going sub-3:30, I didn’t love the lifestyle change required to train for and run 26.2 miles.

Fast forward two kids and 12 years later — and running found me again. My older daughter had just started playing AYSO soccer, and her coach told me about his goal to run the Boston Marathon. I hadn’t run further than 13.1 miles in more than a decade, but I put a new, ambitious goal on my calendar: to qualify for Boston.

After two failed attempts — including one massive flame-out in fall 2016 — I finally earned that covered BQ and punched my ticket to the 2018 Boston Marathon — the same harrowing race Des Linden won in the middle of a deluge.

Running Boston was a dream, but at the same time, the YouTube algorithm began to serve up documentaries about 100-mile races. So, naturally, my focus turned to ultra running.

In 2019, I ran my first ultra marathon, the Leona Divide 100K (62 miles), which takes place in the mountains in northeast Los Angeles County, along the famed Pacific Crest Trail. Though I was over my skis, I thoroughly loved my experience, as I met some of the best humans on the planet during those 12 hours of joy and pain and shared suffering.

From there, I’ve gone on to run all kinds of distances in the mountains, from “short” 50K races to long 100-mile races that call on runners to dig deep and problem-solve on the fly.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I don’t think my running journey is about balance. It’s about prioritization, commitment — and also communication. Training for ultras, while also being a dad to two girls and a husband, means that there is little time to waste.

It’s less about balance and more about fitting all of the pieces together. I try to make sure my training impacts my family the least. That’s why I get up at 4:00 a.m. to train.

On weekdays, I’m home from my runs before anyone wakes up. On the weekends, I also start my runs early — and just how early depends on my daughters’ sports schedules. If I have an 18-mile trail run, and they have to be at the field for a soccer game by 8:00 a.m., it means I’ll need to start my run by 4:00 a.m., sometimes as early as 3:30 a.m.

And, I’m always careful not to let my training adversely impact other responsibilities, like home repairs, yard work, grocery shopping, cooking, etc. In fact, I consider it all part of the training (you know, time on feet).

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Running (and ultra-running, in particular) has taught me so much — about myself and others. During an ultra, when the total distance seems far, if unthinkable, you learn to break the event down aid station to aid station. And, when even the 8 to 10 miles between aid stations seems overwhelming, you break the task down even further. Keep moving forward, and pretty soon you’ll be eating boiled potatoes and watermelon at the next aid station.

I’ve been able to translate this approach to my professional life. When the project seems to big, I’ve learned to calm down, take a beat, and break it into bite-size chunks.

When you’ve overcome existential crises that accompany 100 milers, major projects aren’t that big of a deal.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

Maybe it’s a result of getting older, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this running is patience and the compounding power of stacking bricks. Often, the work we’re doing today pays dividends not today or tomorrow, but well into the future. By showing up consistently, we keep adding, to paraphrase Courtney Dauwalter, grains of sand to our pile of fitness.

In February, I realized this philosophy when I paced the 3:10 finish at the Surf City Marathon. Three weeks before the event, a good friend of mine asked if I wanted to pace. The only slot they needed to fill was the 3:10 finish (which means running a pace of 7:10 per mile).

I didn’t know I had that kind of speed in my legs, but I agreed to give it a go. Mostly because I was curious. Somehow, I pulled it off, and though it wasn’t my fastest marathon, I ran in my eyes a perfect race, finishing with a two-minute negative split.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I’ve hit all the milestones that I’ve wanted to hit: sub-3-hour marathon, three 100-mile ultra finishes, the Boston Marathon, etc.

But I still have two races on my bucket list: the Western States Endurance Run and the Leadville 100 Trail Run, the two oldest 100-milers in the country.

Above all, however, I’d like to be a lifelong runner. And, this is sort of pie-in-the-sky, but I’d love to run an ultra with my daughters (job one is to get them to crew me first).

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

For nearly a decade, running has become a bigger part of my life. Since 2016, I’ve averaged at least 2,000 miles per year running. Last year marked my biggest year to date, with more than 2,600 miles and 300,000 feet of elevation gain.

It’s the adventure and the opportunity to improve that keeps me engaged with this pursuit. At 47, I know I will start slowing down… eventually. Until then, I’m going to keep noodling with this whole thing. Running hurts. But it’s also a darn good way to start your day.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

When I was ten years old, I don’t think I doubted my capabilities. Not because I was a cocky kid, but because I didn’t know any better. At 23, when I finished that first half marathon in 2001, I thought that no one had ever run that far in the history of the world. (I was such a hero!)

When first heard about ultras, and specifically 100-mile races, I thought no way! How in the world do people run that far?! That’s insane. I couldn’t ever do that.

But sometimes the best way to change your perspective is to do the thing that you think is impossible, to prove yourself wrong. And, if you put in enough work, keep showing up, and commitment to your goal, you’ll learn that what at first seemed unfathomable is just a matter of left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot.

We’re all capable of achieving great things. We just have to want to.

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Today, you get to meet , who started running mainly as a way to stay in shape for the sports he played growing up, like soccer, cricket and rugby. It was only when he hit adulthood that he began to love running itself.

That led to trying long distances and even a marathon, until a health scare with a bout of pericarditis kept him away from running for many months. And even then, he was only able to come back slowly, a bit at a time.

Today, he’s fully back and enjoying himself again. I just love his story, and I know you will too — and, if you feel inspired to share yours too, I’d love to hear it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

Who is ? The job interview answer would tell you I’m a 48-year-old former journalist turned marketeer and copywriter (cue spelling mistake) from Northampton in the U.K.

But who really wants to hear what LinkedIn can tell you? The real me has been married to Michelle for nearly 20 years, and loves sport, literature and travel. Why do I suddenly feel like I’m one sentence from taking long walks on the beach…?

In recent years, running has become increasingly central to my life with Michelle and I having launched the Running Tales podcast, followed by our Substack newsletter.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Erratic! I generally run for fun and for my mental health rather than with specific goals in mind. This means my routine can vary from week to week, and on some runs I don’t know whether I’m going to run five kilometres or 15 miles when I step out the door.

I have, though, just finished a training block for the Eden Project Marathon, which was much more structured. During that time, I was running somewhere between 20 and 35 miles per week, with a long run on Sunday. I even did some strength training!

That block has finished now though, so the plan is to be more relaxed until the New Year, and just run as and when I feel like it.

That said, the long — anywhere from eight to 20 miles — runs on Sundays are likely to continue as that is club run day. Michelle and I have a running club called Step Forward With Lewis, and try to put a relaxed Chatty Run on for all abilities every Sunday.

We are also big fans of parkrun, so most Saturday mornings will see us at a different park across the U.K. or at our local ‘parkrun home’ of Northampton Racecourse.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I don’t know if athletic is the right word, but I played pretty much every sport going.

I used to be a goalkeeper in football (soccer for my American friends), although that obviously didn’t involve much running, and I would play cricket two or three times a week.

I remember briefly and badly playing rugby and hockey at school, and I was able to finish 16th in my school cross-country three years in a row — cleverly avoiding the top 15 finish which would have meant having to take part in a county event that I’d have been humbled in!

I did represent my school at 1,500m a couple of times, and ridiculously at 100m when I came last by a considerable distance. Sprinting was never my thing.

My earliest memories were that I always loved playing sport and being active. Team sports were my first love, but anything that kept me moving was a winner in my eyes.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

Apart from my sporadic school running exploits, my earliest running experiences were all based around staying fit for other sports.

Although I would regularly watch the Olympics and other major athletic meets, they never had the same pull as Ashes cricket or World Cup football. I do remember loving watching the likes of Steve Cram, Steve Ovett and Seb Coe battling it out at the top of the middle distance running world, but I was never pulled to take it up myself in any serious way.

At university, and really for the next couple of decades or more, running was something I did occasionally just to prove I could still move and to keep my cardiovascular health ticking over.

That said, there must have always been something in me urging me to run. I remember a charity run I did when I was about 13, raising money for my cricket club by running round the outfield. While most of my teammates had quit after a lap or two, I was still going after 20… Harvey Lewis eat your heart out!

And, in 2012 I ran the Milton Keynes Marathon. It was one of those bucket list goal things that I didn’t foresee happening again. Plus, it was really hard… I finished with no great desire to run more than 10K in the future.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

Further, faster and more often. Much to the surprise, no doubt, of my former self.

During my training for that first marathon, Michelle had joined me for the last few miles of a few longer training runs. Around that time, she was firmly bitten by the running bug, and within no time was clocking up marathons — she’s done 19 now — and forming her own running club.

Michelle made sure I kept myself honest through running, but it remained well down my list of “things to do” and, when I did run, I was picking up a lot of injuries as I was always running at (my) top speed (and I’m VERY flat-footed!).

That all changed due to two different things. Firstly, I challenged myself to run 1,000 miles in a year, deciding to run slower and do more group runs in an attempt to avoid injury.

My new plan not only worked in terms of injury avoidance, but I started to get faster as well.

But the real change came the following year.

It was actually while I was editing one of the episodes of the podcast, which was live by then with Michelle hosting, that I felt a pain in my chest. At first, I thought it was it was indigestion but it got steadily worse and I couldn’t lie down without being in extreme pain.

Less than two hours later, I was being rushed to hospital, full of morphine and digesting an early heart attack prognosis.

Indeed, I made it all the way to the operating table before the surgeon told me it wasn’t my heart — at least not in the way I’d thought. I had a viral condition called pericarditis, which causes the pericardial sac that holds your heart in place to inflame. This puts pressure on the heart itself, presenting all the same symptoms as a heart attack.

Although the diagnosis wasn’t as bad as it might have been, pericarditis came with a seven month recovery time. Initially, my heart rate would peak at 180 if I walked up a short flight of stairs.

Running was out of the question for several months, and when I returned it was via the Couch to 5K app. Every run was a post-pericarditis distance PB, but I was running too fast for what I should have been doing. The answer was to start running on the trails, taking photographs and videos of the woods and fields I carefully made my way through.

And I loved it. Before long, I was running further than I ever had before, culminating in my first 50K and later the 107-kilometre Isle of Wight Challenge.

My illness had helped me to find a running that I loved, enjoying the scenery and serenity of the trails.

I’ve not got bored of them yet!

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

In terms of other commitments, Michelle and I don’t have any children and my parents are both healthy and have retired to Cyprus. You might, therefore, think that would mean I have more spare time than most to dedicate to running and other hobbies. But in truth, it doesn’t feel like.

I work full-time and Michelle is a self-employed fitness instructor and personal trainer. As with most self-employed people that means most of her running these days is spent chasing her own tail — and I get called in to help on occasion.

Sometimes, I do wonder how those with young children and/or caring responsibilities manage to find the time to do anything. That they can find the energy to run, and achieve amazing things, is inspiring.

Me? I just try and keep moving forward whenever I get the chance!

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

From a personal point of view, I’m pleased with some of the distances I’ve managed to run — 107 kilometres round the Isle of Wight was especially memorable, while completing a 50K event which I’d had to reduce to a marathon on a previous occasion was a proud moment.

In particular, using running to recover from pericarditis was fulfilling and it has pushed me to achieve levels I hadn’t reached prior to the illness.

Running has also really helped me with my mental health, and I always feel better after a run — and am probably a nightmare to be around when I’ve had a few days off!

All that said, I’m most proud of how running has allowed me to help others achieve things in the sport. Firstly, via Running Tales, where I have really enjoyed being able to tell people’s stories and promote those runners who have done incredible things in the sport outside of the elite level.

My favourite stories come from those runners who don’t even realise they are exceptional or that they have a story — revealing what they have done and being able to reflect their achievements back to them can be very special.

Secondly, I love seeing some of the results we get from the running club. Helping runners complete their first 5K, set a new PB, or just find themselves on a group run is a tribute to the power of running, and it’s great to be a small part of that.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

That I’m really grumpy when I’m not running!

More seriously, running has helped me to realise that I can do hard things, although remembering and celebrating those achievements rather than simply moving on to the next one is something I’m still working on.

I’m probably fitter — at 48 — than I have been at any other stage in my life, and that’s definitely down to running. I’ve learned that to remain fit for longer, I need to keep moving and that running has become my way of doing this.

It has also taught me that getting out in the fresh air, enjoying nature and both embracing some vital alone time or enjoying conversations with others are essential for my happiness, and I’d argue for anyone’s.

Running has also demonstrated to me that people can do unbelievable, inconceivable things. We are all capable of so much more than we think.

On Running Tales, I have spoken to runners who have overcome drug and alcohol addiction, completed superhuman feats despite having Parkinson’s or cystic fibrosis or cancer, who have run multi-day events or covered hundreds of miles in one event, and who’ve finished their first parkrun when they thought it would be impossible. It’s pretty amazing, and so are all of us runners!

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I have an itch to run a sub-four hour marathon, but if I can get that out of the way my main aim is just to do interesting and different events. I’d like to do more trail running races, and after the Eden Project Marathon this year I’ve entered Beachy Head Marathon for 2026. I’ve also got an eye on doing some point-to-point ultras to see how I get on with those.

If I can achieve any PBs along the way I’m not going to complain, but really I’d like to do events that leave me with a smile on my face and having seen some amazing scenery or done something a bit unusual.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

At the moment, I’ve been enjoying running more than ever before and my motivation has been fairly high. I used to get bored with doing purely road running or pounding the same streets again and again, but taking to the trails has solved that issue.

My running friends at Step Forward With Lewis and parkrun help to keep me going, and when I hear about other people’s amazing races or stories that keeps me inspired as well.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

As a child, I always thought I’d play cricket or football forever, and I wouldn’t want to put my younger self off from doing those things, but I’d also tell them to think of running as an end point rather than simply the means to do those other sports.

If I could talk to my younger self, I’d tell him hard things are possible and there are no limits if you believe in yourself. I’d hope he would embrace that message, as it gets harder to teach to yourself as you get older.

I’m working on it — 10-year-old Craig would probably have grabbed it and, ahem, run with it...

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Today, you get to meet , a fellow runner and writer whom I met through Substack and has since become a friend. She has written so movingly about her family’s health journey over the past few years, all while competing in some big — really big! — challenges, like the JFK 50-Miler.

I hope you enjoy her story as much as I did — and, if you feel inspired to share yours too, I’d love to hear it. All you need to is reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there. — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m Julie B. Hughes, a 45-year-old mother runner. I’m a licensed physical therapist, author, and run/write coach in my community. I live with my husband Jeff and two children, Brindsley and Delaney, in central New York.

I’ve written four memoirs about my running journey:

• My Road: A Runner’s Journey through Persistent Pain to Healing

• Staring Down a Dream: A Mom, a Marathoner, a Mission

• A REAL BALLBUSTER: Untangling Testicular Cancer Together

• And most recently, Miles of Meaning: from Doubter to JFK 50 Mile Finisher

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

I run on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tuesday is my rest day, and Friday is optional: rest, fitness walk, or yoga.

My runs during the week vary from 50 to 75 minutes. My long runs are on Saturday and usually last 90 minutes or two to three hours, depending on what I’m training for. Strength training is two to three times weekly for 20 to 25 minutes.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

Yes, I grew up loving to run and play all kinds of sports. I had four siblings, and we grew up playing pick-up games outside. Softball, kickball, basketball, soccer, etc. Moving our bodies was something we did every day.

My uncle organized the Bloom Run, which took place every year around my grandparents’ wedding anniversary. We would run a two-mile loop on the roads near my grandparents’ house and then have a picnic afterward. The winner’s name was etched on a wooden plaque with a silver spray-painted sneaker.

It’s funny because the sneaker isn’t one you’d wear running; it’s a high-top basketball sneaker, but my goal was to get my name on it. I thought it was super cool, and looking back, I’m grateful my uncle organized this. Fitness became a part of who I was at a young age.

When it came to running at a young age, I noticed how it changed my mood from sad or upset to happy and calm. Running was my escape. It was my way of dealing with pain. I would lace up my sneakers and head out the door to the sound of the wind or birds. Then it was just my breathing and my feet hitting the pavement.

There was no criticism, no judgment. It was just me, alone, and I liked that. I liked being alone. There was a sense of comfort and safety for me on the roads. I found that running decreased my worry and fear, replacing those emotions with a sense of inner calm and contentment. I noticed as a young girl that the longer I ran, the better I felt.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

My Uncle Tim was an avid runner and hiker. He introduced me to road races and track clubs when I was a kid. We received a special yellow T-shirt to wear when we participated in the races. I would put the shirt on over my ponytail, standing taller, with a smile spreading across my face.

I would line up at the start with all the other runners, as music played and the announcer spoke into the microphone. There were cheers as we ran and snacks afterward. It felt like a big party, and I was invited! It was such a fun experience, and at that age, running was never about winning, pace, or who I could beat. Running made me happy because it was my playtime. It got me out of farm chores. (Yippee!)

Lynn Jennings was a professional runner I admired. I remember my uncle taking me to an event where she was speaking. I was so excited to go and couldn’t wait. I sat next to my uncle and watched her speak. Lynn talked about her running career with calm confidence. I loved that her legs were so muscular — just like mine! — and she made a comment about her “bigger than other runners’ legs” in a proud and relaxed way.

That made me feel good about my body. I thought, I look like her. I got an autographed poster of her and hung it on my wall as soon as I got home. I also loved watching Joan Benoit (now Samuelson), and of course, Kathrine Switzer and Bobbi Gibb were women I wanted to emulate.

The more I read about them, the more I dreamed of running the Boston Marathon. This became a goal of mine at a young age, and I ran my first marathon as a senior in high school. I had a great support system as I joined Team in Training to raise money for Leukemia.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

My dream to run the Boston Marathon became a 20-year mission. I finally achieved it in 2021. Since I crossed that finish line, I wanted to challenge myself at longer distances. I worked with my coach to gradually increase my training load to finish a 50K, then set my sights on 50 miles.

There were a few delays, but I was able to run my first 50 Mile race in November 2024, and my newest book is about my experience running the JFK 50 Mile Race. It was incredible and I highly recommend it.

I enjoy the longer distances and would like to continue working my way up to a 100 mile race.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I balance running with writing, inspiring others to move and write, hiking, teaching my children, and preparing meals in the kitchen. My husband Jeff and our two children keep us active as they decide what activities they want to participate in.

I make time for myself by waking up early. I’m thankful to be a morning person, and I attribute that to all the early 3:00 a.m. wake-up calls while growing up on a dairy farm. So, I get up and go for a run before my children wake up. It’s a habit I’m grateful for.

I’m realizing that a true balance might not really exist. Some seasons, I have to shift or change my training load, race schedule, kids’ activities, and priorities as life unfolds. When my husband was sick, I learned that some days you just won’t be able to do everything, and what matters most is the time we spend caring for each other.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Running has helped me prepare for life. When my husband went through chemotherapy, I was very thankful for my running. I was already an endurance runner and used that mindset to get through that difficult time with my husband.

The physical and mental training from running extends to many areas of our lives. As runners, we have a big advantage in this regard. I’m so grateful.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I have learned so much that I’ve written four books! I have improved how I talk to myself, and I’ve learned to recognize my inner critic as well as the mindset tools and skills to prevent that voice from controlling my life.

For many years, I had a very unhealthy relationship with food. The old story of “thinner meant faster” or “thinner meant better” was a belief I clung to that caused years of pain, fatigue, and unhappiness.

I used to put enormous pressure on myself and wanted to be such a fast runner that it consumed me. I developed an unhealthy relationship with food, over-trained, and went through a period when I couldn’t run and was in a really terrible situation.

I experienced so much emotional pain that it affected every aspect of my life. Yet, running was what pulled me back up once I was able to get back to it.

When I worked with Marni Sumbal, a sports nutritionist, she helped me shift my focus from my weight to asking better questions: “Do you have good energy for your workouts? Do you feel strong, resilient, and healthy? Are you able to recover well after your workouts? Are you feeling stronger, faster, or fitter?” She wanted me to pay attention to how I was feeling and evaluate what my body could do instead of how it looked.

I learned to question my thoughts instead of just criticizing myself or pushing thoughts away. When negative thoughts took over — You don’t belong here, You’re not fast enough, or You’re not good enough — I learned to ask, What else could be true? Who does God say I am? I questioned and prayed instead of defaulting to self-criticism. This questioning helped me make a shift each day to decide whether the story was worth listening to again.

Marathon training and racing taught me a lot about the importance of having a mantra. When I’m tired, I ask myself what will keep me going. When I feel pain or nerve twinges, I remind myself of words that motivate me. I’ve realized these mantras carry over into my life. Some days, I get tired. I don’t want to do another load of laundry or dishes, and having a mantra helps me push through. Life can be so hard, but running gives me the perseverance and endurance to keep going.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I run because I love it and want to keep running for the joy of it. That said, I would love to complete a 100-mile race. It’s my next big goal to work toward. I haven’t ruled out the six World Marathon Majors either.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

My children motivate me to keep going. I want to be healthy and strong to keep up with them. I also aim to instill a love of movement and the importance of working hard toward a goal, regardless of the outcome. I set goals for myself to stay motivated. That’s why I race at least four or five times a year. It keeps me motivated and gives me a challenge. I want to show my children that goals require time and effort.

I love to run, which helps. I enjoy being outdoors. What will I see, hear, and smell? It’s glorious. Every time I step out the door, it truly is an adventure, and I’ve noticed how it fuels my writing. I don’t get bored with it, but if I start feeling a little off, I change my routes or buy a new pair of sneakers or apparel to get excited about heading outside.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

You have what it takes. You don’t need to be fixed; you are loved. Your running will fill your life with joy. You’ll make new friends, see new places, and through it all, you will grow stronger physically and mentally.

I want to hug Julie as a little girl so hard for choosing to run in the dark, the rain, the snow, and the sunshine. Choosing to run no matter what. If it wasn’t for running, I may not have kept going. I may have stayed in the trenches of self-doubt, self-sabotage, and a victimhood mindset. I may have accepted my pain and given up.

Running saved us, little girl. We made it!

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Now, I can’t wait to introduce you to Raziq, who’s been writing a Substack newsletter for the past few years called and has even written a new book that’ll be out next year, titled This Is Running. (You can pre-order it here.)

As you’ll see in the interview, I really loved what he had to say about his own running, how he tries not to put pressure on himself to go for goals just because they’re all the rage (like a marathon), but instead focuses on goals and distances that are right for him. (And he still runs a lot!)

I know you’ll enjoy his story as much as I did — and, if you feel inspired to share yours, please know I’d love to hear it. Reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there! — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Raziq Rauf. I’m a writer, originally from London, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 11 years. This is home now.

I started writing about music as a teenager, 25 years ago, but moved more into corporate copywriting when I moved to the U.S. and needed something resembling a salary.

For the past two and a half years I’ve been writing about running in my newsletter, . I started it when I realized that I wanted to get back to my journalism roots — and music was a different, closed chapter of my life.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

When I’m in a good spot, I’m running about 25 miles a week quite comfortably. I try to run a minimum of six miles when I get out there, but that’s something I’m trying to change in my head because a one-mile run is better than a zero-mile run.

I run with my local run club, Glendale Runners, which I set up with a friend almost two years ago. They get me out of bed on Tuesday mornings! I also try to join a long run with a different crew on a weekend morning, dependent on my schedule.

Other than that, I’ll run whatever other mornings I can. Yes, I’m definitely a morning runner.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was not an athletic kid. I was very nerdy. Can you believe that I liked to sit down and write stories the most? Crazy how things turn out! But I also became a big fan of Premier League soccer (I still am an Arsenal fan), and I enjoyed playing it even if I wasn’t the best at playing it.

I made my peace with not being on the school team, but we had P.E. classes twice a week and once I got into middle school, we had three full afternoons dedicated to sporting activities at school, so I had to do something, right? That was the message all those classes were imbued with.

It was suggested that I join the athletics team, and it turned out that I was a decent runner. I ran the 400 meter and 800 meter on the track team but also ran cross-country pretty well. I enjoyed running through the forest the most. I used to stop a lot with my friends. Maybe have a cigarette. I miss that.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I was working at a big radio station in central London, and they had huge alcohol-fueled parties seemingly constantly. I was also freelancing for a bunch of music magazines, so I was out basically every night, and everyone wanted to buy me a beer for some reason.

That wore on me. It wasn’t a life that I wanted. One day, upon exiting the radio station building, a colleague was waving me over to join him at the pub next door (yes, it was a perfect storm). I went over and told him I couldn’t stay for seven lagers on a Tuesday evening because I had a race to train for.

He accepted that excuse immediately. And so I had to start running. I signed up for a 5K and raised about $1,000 for a cancer charity. The good old days.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

When I went fully freelance a couple of years later, I was listening to music every moment that I was awake, so I went for runs — without listening to music — to get a bit of peace and quiet. I ran along the river by my apartment, and it became my daily hour of solace.

It was a place to un-jumble my thoughts and relax a little. I ran a 10K every spring, and tried to recruit a new friend to run with my each year, but that was it. It wasn’t about competition, or exceeding my previous. It was a happily therapeutic exercise.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

Yes, I have two young sons at home, and we have no familial support network nearby as all four grandparents are in the U.K. That means it’s a demanding world.

Back in 2017, when my eldest was just eight months old, I trained for a half-marathon (the best distance, I know you agree), but the long runs every weekend meant that my already-exhausted wife was left fending for herself with this small baby while I was gallivanting across the city (on my own).

Then I came home and was wiped out for the rest of the day because I didn’t have any kind of fueling strategy! That was definitely a moment where I could’ve moved up to longer distances because I got a good time in that race, but ultimately knew that I wanted to stay married!

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Not really. I am happy that I still run, and I love what running gives my life in terms of health, friendship, and material to write about, but, for me, running really is about the practice and process. I enjoy doing it. I enjoy working through the kinks, back to smoothness. I enjoy running with my friends. That’s it. Tomorrow’s run will be different, and I love that.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I’ve always learned more from others than from myself. Maybe that’s why journalism suits me. I see other runners rabid for Boston qualification, and I know that’s not for me, but then I think about why.

I don’t care for medals or accolades. I strive for happiness and health — for me and those around me — through stability and steady accomplishment. I know that I don’t need to run every day, so I likely don’t have an addictive personality, for instance. Learning little things like that help me.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I have been running for 25 years, and I’d like to run for another 25 years. That’s it. Ideally with my friends, on occasion.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I don’t listen to music or podcasts while I’m running. I like to take in my surroundings, even when it’s the same five-mile route from my house that I’ve run 1,000 times already. What keeps me going? My ability to run that route again. It’ll be a sad day when I’m not able to, for one reason or another.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

You’re gonna smoke a cigarette soon, and I’d love to tell you not to because it’s really going to hinder your running. Yeah, you’re going to be running for a long time. However, the people you’re going to meet in the smoking area are going to become some of your best friends. Give it 20 years and none of you will be smoking any more, but you will be running for hours together. It’s a strange old world.

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A longtime reader of THM, Chris is a professor at Baylor University in Texas, where he took up running for the first time just a few years ago, after a lifetime of battling with his weight.

Starting slowly, he progressed from short runs to longer runs, spurred on by his daughters, whose encouragement was the catalyst for him to start running in the first place.

He kept at it and today, he’s running longer and longer distances, which helps him think even more expansively about what he’s capable of. I just loved Chris’s story and I know you will too — and, if you’d like to share yours, please do reach out, as I would love to hear it. — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I’m Chris Hansen. I’m 54 years old — which is weird, every time I say it or type it, because I can’t figure out how or when I got this old. I was born in New York but grew up mostly in the suburbs north of Atlanta.

I made my way to Texas after grad school, to teach at Baylor University. I’ve been here more than 20 years now (which is the longest I’ve lived anywhere in my life, so I guess I’m a Texan now), and I’m currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Film & Digital Media.

I have four grown daughters (two currently in college) and have been married to my college sweetheart for more than 30 years.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

This seems to change every few months. I’ve only been running a little over two years now, and there have been many discoveries and iterations of “routine” on my journey.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

Some background: I grew up struggling with my weight. I was the definition of “husky,” which was the dubious term for kids’ clothes in my size range when I was younger. I never liked doing anything athletic because I lacked the fitness and coordination to be good at anything.

I liked basketball as a kid, and played often with my brother in our driveway, but I wasn’t fit enough to run up and down the court and play for a team. I always wanted to be good/better at sports and athletics, but I never had (or really fully understood) the commitment it takes to get and stay fit. And because I loved reading, I gravitated toward intellectual pursuits, excelling in grade school, high school, college, and grad school.

In 2022, after losing and regaining 100-plus pounds multiple times, I was at my heaviest ever, around 325 lbs (I’m currently 5 feet, 8.5 inches tall, for reference). I finally did something I’d never done before: see a doctor for treatment. And the doctor I was referred to by a friend put me on Mounjaro.

I was, at the time, completely unaware of any controversies surrounding GLP-1 medications. Frankly, I’m not sure it would have mattered to me anyway. I was desperate for real change.

But the doctor also told me that if this was going to work and cause real lasting change, I would need to move my body and eventually to also build muscle to combat my metabolism’s anticipated adjustments when I started losing. I started the medication, and it helped to shut off the “food noise” that has always plagued me. I didn’t know the term “food noise” then, but I totally get it now.

And I started exercising. Walking, at first. Then, at the doctor’s recommendation, a virtual reality fitness app. I spent almost a year boxing in virtual reality, which ended up building a strong base of cardio health and fitness.

One day, my youngest daughter said she was going for a run, and on a lark I said I’d join her. I had never voluntarily run for health or fitness purposes in my life. But that day I ran a little over one mile without stopping, something I had never been able to do. It lit a fire under me. I felt like I had crossed a threshold I’d never knew existed. I got addicted to running, and within a month was up to three, four, five miles or more every day.

Eventually, I started getting up early to run six or seven miles every morning. I signed up for my first 5K — and won my age group. At my oldest daughter’s urging, I signed up for a half marathon in Dallas. It would be six months after I started running, and 13 miles felt ridiculous. I was running half that.

But I started training for it. A week out, on my last long training run, I badly strained my hamstring. I was pretty upset because I really wanted to run the race. I wanted to finish a half marathon with two of my daughters. So I rested it, got some massage therapy, and ran it anyway. It was painful and probably ill-advised from a recovery standpoint, but I did it.

I’ve now run in cities all over when I’ve traveled. I’ve run in L.A. and London. I love how portable running is as an activity.

And since then, I’ve run a couple more halfs, including one sponsored by the university where I work, the Bearathon — also known as “the toughest half in Texas” because of the incredibly hilly route through Waco’s Cameron Park. And I now want to conquer the next

(Side note: I lost 160 lbs on my weight loss and fitness journey, and in the process I went from 48 percent body fat and an undetermined but low muscle mass to under 10 percent body fat and over 50 percent lean muscle mass. I basically lost a whole extra person in terms of the weight that I was carrying around.)

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

I started out trying to best my previous run’s speed every time I went out. I think I thought faster was better, and that’s probably what led to my hamstring injury (I also had no clue about the need to warmup before a run, so that was a contributor as well).

Now, ever since doing a training plan for my last half that emphasized zone 2 running and varying weekly runs (intervals, Fartleks, easy runs, etc.), if I’m not training for anything in particular, I’m trying to learn how to just enjoy the run.

I’m a competitive person, so I tend to think in those terms, but running is something I crave now, so when I go out to run and I’m not training, I just want to enjoy myself and reach a goal — a distance or time I want to hit that day.

Running in Texas in the summer can be a real challenge. The temperature yesterday afternoon “felt like 104” according to my weather app. Running four miles in that is draining, so my focus on hot afternoon runs is just to take it easy and pace myself.

As I said above, I really want to train for and complete a full marathon. I had planned to do the one in Dallas in December where I ran my first half. But I did not have time to start training adequately back when I needed to so that I’d be ready for that race.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I balance my running with having a family and with a very busy full-time job as a university professor and administrator. Though my kids are grown, two of them attend college where I work, so they don’t live at home, but they’re still in town.

And I try to balance it with my relationship with my wife as well. I am fortunate that my job allows me the flexibility to run during the day, as long as I keep up with the work — which is often a challenge!

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I think the main thing way this journey has helped me and changed me is furthering something I learned a long time ago: I can do hard things if I work at it, even things I never imagined I could do. I’m especially enjoying being in the best shape of my life at the age of 54 and pushing myself to achieve new things physically when I never emphasized that before.

I have never been a person who liked exercise, but now I feel like I have to do something physical every day. And as I’ve lost weight and kept it off, my overall energy level is such that I feel antsy if I don’t do something physical every day.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I think my limit will be successfully completing a full marathon. Once I do that, I’m sure I’ll want to do it again, but I don’t know if an ultra is in my plans, and I’m not sure running in the World Majors is realistic for me. I would love to be able to train for and complete a full, any full, and then do one of the majors just to be able to say that I finished New York or Boston.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I honestly just love getting out there and listening to music or a podcast, feeling every step and thinking about how far I’ll go that day. It’s still a joy to be able to get out there and do it after never being able to before.

I do occasionally get bored of my routes and change things up for that reason. I have very few places to run in my small town outside Waco, so unless I want to hop in the car and drive somewhere else, I usually get stuck on the same few stretches of road that are safe for running.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I would tell that kid not to let himself get so far gone in terms of weight and fitness that the road back would seem so challenging. But I would also tell him that he can do so much more than he thinks he can with his body and mind.

And most importantly, I’d tell him something I’m still trying to internalize: that you must learn to find joy in the journey and not only in the result. That is true for my professional/artistic pursuits as a professor and filmmaker and for my physical pursuits as a runner.

I’m trying, still, to learn to just enjoy what I can do and not base my sense of accomplishment or happiness on where I stand against everyone else doing whatever I’m doing.

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Now, without further ado… today we hear from Lana Rodriguez, a longtime THM reader whose life has taken her on a journey from small-town Texas to a career in the U.S. Navy, and now back to Texas where she lives with her family.

She played all kinds of sports growing up, but didn’t take up running until the mid-2010s because (like a lot of us, I imagine!) she dreaded doing it whenever coaches asked her to. Fast forward to today and she has learned the value of finding things out on her own, and discovered a joy in running she never thought possible.

I know you’ll enjoy her story as much as I did — and, if you feel inspired to share yours, please know I’d love to hear it. Reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there! — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

My name is Lana Rodriguez. I'm from a small Texas town, Hearne, Texas, which is close to College Station, Texas, home of the fightin' Texas Aggies- whoop! I currently reside in Brenham, Texas, home of Bluebell ice cream. I am 44 years young, and feel as if I'm on my fourth or fifth life now.

Two months after graduating high school, I shipped off to Navy boot camp and did nine years in the U.S. Navy where I worked with a couple of different weapon systems on ships in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and San Diego, Calif. Towards the end of my Navy career, I went to school at night and became a licensed skin care therapist, totally changing career paths.

In 2009, I moved back home to Texas with my two very young children, and worked two jobs while going to college at Texas A&M and graduated in 2014 with a degree in Communication and Journalism. (I was the first person in my direct family to get a college degree, and still the only one so far.) I have written for some small Texas-based magazines and also for the college of liberal arts at Texas A&M.

In 2015, I (finally) landed a federal career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an HR assistant, and over the last 10 years, I've worked my way up to become a Supervisory HR Specialist.

I have two children, my daughter is in college at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas, and my son is a senior in high school this year. My husband and I also have four Yorkies — Rossi, Coco, Audi and Nico. I love to travel but do not do it often enough.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Currently, I only run on the weekends — Saturday and Sunday, and I do four to five miles each of the days. I drive to town — I live about eight miles outside of the city, and it's not a safe area to run because of a gravel road and busy highway — to a nice park to run or go to the gym if the park is packed with sporting events or pouring rain. Light rain never stops me from running outside!

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was very athletic growing up, but did not like running at all. Running was my least favorite part of training. I remember dreading it!

I played every sport, but spent most of my time devoted to softball. I played little league, and in junior high and high school. My family did not have money to let me play in the leagues that cost money. The position I played was catcher, although I did play third base sometimes.

I also played while I was in the Navy on my ships' teams. Other sports played: volleyball, basketball, golf and track (high jump). I was always doing something, never sitting still. My mom played softball when I was very young and had my sister and I at the softball fields most weeknights.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I was inspired by one of my cousins. She has run full marathons in many cities, including the Boston Marathon. In 2012 and 2013, I was going through a weight loss journey — I have always struggled with weight and being bigger than my siblings and cousins — and was very active in a local gym.

I was working with a trainer, and I kept hearing about how much fun people would have at races, and signed up for a Thanksgiving Turkey trot 5K. I had a friend and her husband that encouraged me and said that they would do it with me. I did it and had the best time.

Ever since that race, I've done at least a dozen 5K races, several 10K races, and three half marathons. I plan to do another half this December (the BCS Marathon) and a 5K each in September, October and November (the Gourdy's Pumpkin/Fall Runs.)

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

I have ran further since that first 5K. I have not, however, been interested at all in a full marathon. Running makes me feel so good — If I miss my weekend runs, I feel “off.” Not complete, or something like that. I think a lot when I run, and even listen to my entire church services on Sundays when we do not attend in person.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I have a family. My son is a senior, and my job is very mentally intense and exhausting. I blame this for [my] not running during the week. Once I get off work (6:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) I just do not feel that I have the energy to run.

I am looking for ways to overcome this feeling of fatigue and make myself go and get in some runs after work during the week. I'm hoping if the weather cools off in the upcoming months that I will be more motivated. It's been pretty toasty here in Texas, and the hottest time of day also coincides with the time that I get off of work.

My family knows that I run on the weekends and they let me have my "me time" without question. My son has done one 10K with me, the Bluebell Fun Run. He said he was miserable. He plans to join the military next year, so maybe after he runs more, he will eventually love it too. (Maybe? LOL)

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

Running helped me achieve weight loss goals many times over the last years. It's helped me achieve physical endurance and mental clarity — most every weekend.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

I have learned that with minimal training that I can run 13.1 miles — a thing I never thought possible more than half of my life.

My body also remembers that I can run that far, so if I can get my brain and breathing in check and on board, running isn’t hard at all. I also learned to love running, versus thinking it was horrible, and how much it does for my mind and soul, not just my body.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

I would like to do another half marathon each year. I have slacked off and not done one in a couple of years. I would also like to travel and do some runs in other places.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

The feeling afterwards — mind, body, soul — is what keeps me going. As mentioned previously, I feel "off" or incomplete in a way if I do not get in at least two runs a week.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I would tell that kid to be more open minded. At a young age it's easy to take what others say, do, think and feel, and let them influence you, positively and negatively.

It's better to experience things and make your own opinion of them. That’s how you break generational curses — you do better, learn and grow outside of where you grew up, so that your children and their children will do and be better!

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👉 Get all the details here and sign up for the race here.

Now, without further ado… today we hear from my friend Cathie Caimano, who started running in a consistent way during college yet never considered herself a “real” runner. Not until she met her now-husband Jeff, that is, when she was in her mid-forties.

Fast forward to today and she has accomplished things she never thought possible before then — including running the New York City Marathon, a 100-kilometer ultramarathon, and a 400-day-long running streak — all by simply sticking with it.

I know you’ll enjoy her story as much as I did — and, if you feel inspired to share yours, please know I’d love to hear it. Reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there! — Terrell

So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

I'm Cathie Caimano — also known as “Fr. Cathie.” I'm an Episcopal priest, and I live near Charlotte, N.C. (on the shores of beautiful Lake Norman). I'm 58 years old, married to Jeff, an accomplished triathlete and coach — though he has a day job! He also coaches me.

We have three grown kids, two daughters-in-law, and we're soon-to-be first time grandparents. We also have an adorable and thoroughly spoiled Great Dane.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Right now I run four days a week, about 25 to 30 miles. I run 45 minutes on weekdays, 60+ minutes on Saturdays. I'm currently training for a half marathon, so I'll work my way up to two-plus hours of running on Saturdays.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was an athletic kid. I grew up in the days of kids running around and playing outside, so we were constantly playing pick-up games of soccer, basketball, tag, etc., in the neighborhood where I lived. I played basketball in high school, and generally loved gym class.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

I always loved running, and knew I was a runner. Somehow, though, when I was young — all the way through high school — I just thought I wasn't a “good enough” runner, so I never did it with any seriousness. I was never on the track or cross country team — I was too insecure to try.

But when I went to college, I started running every day! I was in Washington, D.C., so I would head out and run along the tow path on the Potomac, down to the museums (I would duck in and look at an exhibit, all sweaty, then run back). I loved to run through the zoo. It was my time to just be with myself and explore.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

Since college, I just kind of ran on weekends, and occasionally did races, but I never thought about being a “good” runner. I went to seminary in New York City and again, I used running to relax and sight-see. I did start watching the NYC Marathon in person — and I vowed someday I would run it!

When I met my husband, though, things changed. I was 46 then — I'm a late bloomer in love and in running. Jeff is a serious athlete, and he encouraged and challenged me to take my running seriously. And I did! And a whole new part of my life opened up.

I started running farther and faster. I did run the NYC marathon — in 2014, just weeks before Jeff and I married. I started placing in my age group — and winning! I ran a sub-two-hour half marathon when I was 53 (1:59:53!) — the fastest I've ever run.

A few years later, I ran an ultramarathon — 100k. I did a 400-plus day running streak. I started thinking of myself as an athlete — and loving it!

Also, I joined a running group in 2014 — it evolved as part of a run training group. We're an informal group — the Cornelius Crawlers! — but we've been together for over a decade, running almost every Saturday together.

We attend each others' life events: weddings — and even funerals. We run races together — and endlessly dissect our ups and downs as athletes. We've become like family, and this has been such an amazing gift to my running and my life.

We now have our own race — the Crawlers Marathon (and half!), the last Saturday of the year. We run and crew each other. We even have prizes! Then a party after.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

I mostly work from home — I have my own online ministry: , as well as serving a small congregation. So that makes it easier to run during the week — though I do work almost all weekends and holidays! So this makes scheduling races somewhat of a challenge.

I serve my church only two Sundays a month — partially because they're a small community, and partially because it makes it easier to race. Also, my husband has big races, too! So we look at our calendars every year and plan our “A” events, then “B” events around those. We probably do about six to eight athletic events total a year. We're both accomplished crew members, as well as athletes 😊

Our kids are grown — though we're expecting our first grandchild in the fall! So now we're planning our races around being near our grandbaby 😊

Running is so crucial to my physical, mental, and spiritual health that it is right at the center of my life. It helps that the other centers of my life, prayer and time with my husband, are also intertwined with my running!

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

SO much! But I will say that finishing the NYC marathon was absolutely, without question, the moment I was proudest of myself. I did not know if I could do that — and I did. It hurt, it was hard, it was freezing cold that day, and it proved to me that I really am stronger than I think I am.

There's a photo of me when I finished (I'm attaching it below) where I am just sobbing for joy. It's my favorite photo of me, ever.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

Running has taught me about my limits, and about overcoming them. It's brought me closer to God, and to myself, my husband, my friends. What's changed? Now I know I'm good enough. I take myself seriously as an athlete.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

Right now I have one goal: be a fast old lady!

I'm so inspired by older athletes, especially women, who are really blazing trails and breaking records. Right now my fastest times and longest distances are in my fifties. As I look towards 60 (I'll be 59 in a few weeks), I want my personal bests to be in that decade. I want to keep pushing my limits.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I rarely get bored running, but I do have to set challenges before me. I have embraced my competitive nature, and now I want that age group podium every time I race (or top 10% if it is a big race). I joke about it, but it's true: every starting line feels like the Olympics for me. I love it!

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

You are a real runner.

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The response has surpassed all my expectations, and the stories that have poured in have bowled me over, each and every one of them. It’s been so much fun, and so moving, to get to know each of you better and hear your stories — that’s the whole reason why I write the newsletter, as they’ve become by far the most fulfilling part of it.

Today we hear from Alexandra Schweigert, who took up running just a few years ago and already has accomplished a lot — and learned a lot. One of my favorite things she said, which you’ll read below, was learning not to get too caught up with speed and other performance-based metrics: now, she’s moved “from a performance-based mindset to one rooted in longevity, enjoyment, and self-care.”

I know you’ll enjoy her story as much as I did — and, if you feel inspired to share yours, please know I’d love to hear it. Reply back by email or in the comments below, and we’ll go from there! — Terrell

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So, let’s hear a little bit about you! Who are you, your age (if you’d like to share), where you’re from, what you do, etc.

Hi there! I’m Alexandra (she/her), a 30-year-old living just outside Ann Arbor, Mich. I’m a dog mom, a sister, a partner, a friend, a runner, and a writer.

I grew up in a 2,000-person mountain town outside Denver, Colo. — the kind of place where you ran barefoot all summer, disappeared until the streetlights came on, and thought a “traffic jam” was a deer in the road.

I studied International Studies and Political Science for my B.A., then earned an M.A. in Global Community Engagement, which opened the door to a lot of travel. I set a goal to visit 30 countries by the age of 30, and hit it just three days after my birthday last December. (Thank you, Turkish Airlines stopover program.)

After that milestone, I wanted a new challenge for a new decade of life. I landed on the somewhat-common goal of running a half marathon in all 50 U.S. states. Since I’ve always been a writer (I’ve published a workbook and a few pieces in magazines like Bella Grace), I decided to chronicle this goal on a new Substack, From State to Finish.

By day, I work in alumni engagement for a university. By night and weekend, I love being outdoors, finding cute coffee shops, or hanging out with a good beer on the deck.

What does your running routine look like? How many times a week, and how far do you run?

Michigan seasons definitely shape my training. In the summer, I average 25 to 35 miles a week. Once the school year starts and work ramps up, I settle into more of a 15- to 20-mile groove.

I run three to five days a week: two recovery runs, two more focused training runs (speed work, intervals, fartlek), and one long run to build endurance. I also mix in two to three CrossFit sessions.

I love the strength benefits, but honestly, I stay for the people. CrossFitters, like runners, are a unique breed and I love the quick nature of it, and how frequently the workout changes.

Were you an athletic kid growing up? What are your early memories of what fitness and health were about?

I was athletic as a kid. I was a competitive gymnast through high school, spending about 15 hours a week in the gym. In college, I made the cheer team my freshman year. I loved it, but by sophomore year, I wanted the freedom to just be a student.

Endurance sports didn’t enter my life until after college, when I realized I needed to design my own workouts. Running filled the gap: I could stay active, move on my own schedule, and still feel like I was working toward something.

How did you first get into running? Was there something that inspired you — like a performance at the Olympics, for example, or a runner you discovered by watching them on social media or TV? Or was there someone in your own life who inspired you to think, ‘maybe I can do this?’

My mom was a college track star, so running was always in the background. I dabbled in it during college and my early post-grad years, but in 2020, when Covid hit, running took on new meaning.

I started reading running blogs and newsletters, and I got excited about how much I could accomplish when running was part of my routine. I noticed my thoughts felt clearer after runs and energy spiked.

After Covid, I made a big leap and packed up my life in Colorado to move to Michigan on a bit of a whim. I didn’t know many people yet, so I was spending a lot of time in my own head and looking for ways to fill my days. That’s when I began running more seriously.

That summer, I completed three Michigan half marathons (two official organized races and one just-for-fun run organized by a running company). Running quickly became more than just a workout — it was a way to build community, find stability, and anchor myself during a brand-new chapter of life.

How has your interest in running evolved since then? Do you run farther, or faster now?

I don’t know that I run farther or faster, but I definitely run more consistently. I’m proudly part of the “10-minute mile club,” and in the early days, I felt like I always had to be pushing myself — faster paces, longer distances, bigger goals. Over time, I’ve realized running doesn’t have to be a constant chase for improvement.

These days, my focus is more on fueling my love for the sport and appreciating the lessons it teaches me. I’ve learned so much about the importance of warming up, cooling down, slowing down on easy days, and dialing in my nutrition and hydration to avoid injury and feel my best. My relationship with running has shifted from a performance-based mindset to one rooted in longevity, enjoyment, and self-care.

What do you balance your running with? Do you have a family to take care of? Kids, parents or other relatives or loved ones? If so, how do you balance all of it and still make time to run/care for yourself?

Sometimes I balance running better than others. While I’d love to be a parent someday, I’m very aware of the privilege of time I have right now. I care for my dog, have a committed relationship, maintain a full social life, and enjoy hobbies outside of running — but I’ve been fortunate to build in plenty of time for my training.

That said, I’ve also learned that making time to run is never just about logging miles. When I’m running regularly, I show up better in every other part of my life. I’m more creative and productive at work, more attentive in my relationships, and more present in my day-to-day life.

Running has become one of the cornerstones of my well-being, and I’ve seen firsthand how taking time for it pays back in energy, patience, and focus.

Is there anything you’re especially proud of that you can point to your running and say, ‘this helped me achieve ______’?

I think one of the biggest things running has given me is proof that I can stick with something even when it’s not easy or exciting every day. Training for races has taught me to show up for myself over and over again, even on the days when my legs feel heavy or the weather is terrible. I’ve been able to apply that same persistence to my work and personal life.

What have you learned about yourself from your running journey? Is there anything that’s changed about you since you started?

Running has taught me that consistency beats perfection every time. I used to think progress only came from pushing harder and going faster, but over time I’ve learned that showing up — even on the days I don’t feel like it — matters more.

It’s also made me more patient with myself. I’ve learned to celebrate small wins, like finishing a tough run or nailing my hydration, instead of only focusing on big milestones. Since I started, I’ve become more resilient, more disciplined, and a lot more comfortable with the idea that growth happens slowly, but it sticks.

Where would you like to go with your running? Is there anything special you’d like to achieve — like, say, running all six World Marathon Majors, or running an ultra?

My entire Substack is about running a half marathon in every U.S. state, so that’s the big dream I’m chasing right now: 50 runs, 50 states. It’s part running goal, part travel adventure, and part personal growth journey.

Beyond that, I’d love to try a Ragnar Relay one day. There’s something about the idea of running through the night, relying on a team, and sharing in that gritty, sleep-deprived camaraderie that sounds both ridiculous and amazing.

I’m also open to seeing where running takes me as my life changes... maybe that’s longer distances someday, maybe it’s pacing others, or maybe it’s simply continuing to run for joy and health for decades to come.

What keeps you going? Especially if you’ve been running for a while — do you ever get bored with it? How do you find new things to motivate you, to keep you going?

I think the easiest way to keep running fresh is to build variety into your training plan through different types of runs, distances, routes, running partners, even playlists. It keeps things interesting and challenges you in new ways.

Earlier I mentioned cross-training, and that’s been key for me too. On days when I’m just not feeling a run, I can still bike, row, or do strength work and know I’m contributing to my running goals.

When it comes to finding new motivation, there are endless possibilities. We live in such a tech-friendly world that makes it easy to connect with runners everywhere. I use Pinterest, running apps like Nike Run Club and Strava, and even TikTok or Instagram for fresh ideas. Surprisingly, some of my favorite workouts and routes have come from random posts by other runners online — it’s like getting inspired by a global running community.

Look back at yourself when you were a kid, maybe say 10 years old. Remember how you felt, what you thought, especially what you thought you were capable of back then. If you could talk to that kid now, what would you say?

I was a wild, free-spirited kid, and while I’ve kept some of that energy, adulthood has a way of dulling the magic. If I could talk to my 10-year-old self, I’d tell her to hang onto it for as long as possible.

Keep running barefoot down the block. Keep whispering secrets under the moonlight. Don’t take life too seriously. And whenever an opportunity comes your way, no matter how intimidating, say yes. That sense of wonder and boldness will take you far.

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