[NEW]Friday Spotlight: a-german-muffin
Last week's Friday Spotlight was a hit and a lot of people really enjoyed it. So we are back for a second round. If you missed it, you can find it [HERE!]. Palindrome27 did a great job and now we're looking forward to getting to know a bit more about u/a-german-muffin.
Let's get started!
###Who's a-german-muffin?
First Name?
Bryan
Age?
A semi-ancient 36
Where are you from?
Born and raised in Jersey, now a Philly transplant.
Occupation?
I take terrible writing and turn it into something readable (or at least less unreadable), specifically about global and country economics and automotive stuff. I can tell you a lot about obscure Chinese and Indonesian automakers, heavy truck sales in South America, or what's happening in Malta, for instance. Otherwise I mostly sit at a desk and eat Clif bars and cashews.
###The Running Q&A’s:
What are your PR’s?
As of this past weekend -
Marathon: 3:06:24
Half: 1:25:36
10 mile: 63:58
10K: 40:31
8K: 31:03
5K: 19:25
How long have you been running?
Just slightly more than 5.5 years.
Briefly explain why you began running?
I'd turned 30 about six months before I went for my first run, and although I was never in bad shape, I figured it was about time I started doing something to keep myself healthy in the long term; my ex was a runner at the time, so it seemed a logical move. Of course, my first run was a wreck—a slow, 1.9-mile slog around the neighborhood; my legs wouldn't speak to me for a few days afterward. It hasn't gotten a whole lot easier since, but I have gotten faster (and my legs and I are usually on speaking terms).
Most memorable running moment?
Most people would fill in a triumphant PR moment or a first-time finish here, but I'm going to say the time I had to hurdle an opossum while going hard on a night run. Those things are horrors, and I'm not likely to forget those beady eyes burning straight through my soul.
Do you have a running mantra?
Do the work, get some results; repeat until your quads are on fire, you want to puke, but the clock looks right. Alternately, just run, damn it.
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
Cranked it up to 92 miles at one point in August, which means I have to take a more serious run at 100 in a week sometime in 2016. Probably a couple sometimes.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
I used to be an afternoon/evening runner, but in the last year or two, I've turned into one of those early morning psychos, mostly out of necessity. I'd say there's something baller about waking up at 4:45 and banging out 15 miles before most people are even awake, but it's equally badass at any time of the day.
Any big races coming up?
Just got through the bulk of my fall race schedule, so now it's just a matter of trying to shoehorn in a 5K or two before the end of the year before flipping over the calendar and figuring out 2016.
What are your short-term running goals?
Dipping under 19 for the 5K is shortish term, but the big one is getting an NYC qualifying time—I've already hit the marks for Chicago and Boston, so NY is the last of the big three. I'm targeting the Brooklyn half in the spring; if I can break 1:23—and I'm not that far from there right now—I'm in (uh, assuming I'm reading the NYRR stuff right)!
What are your long-term running goals?
Cracking three hours in the marathon and going sub-60 for 10 miles are the two big ones; topping 3,000 miles for a year is also in there (and probably goes hand-in-hand with the first two).
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
"Uh, hey, 17-year-old Bryan? Turns out you're gonna run and love it later in life. Don't let that screw with your brain too much."
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Besides just grinding out more miles and pushing myself more on speedwork, I can probably stand to add a bit of strength training—if nothing else, that could help with those last four or five miles of the marathon, when my hips and calves start bitching at me.
What is your current shoe choice?
Brooks Ghosts for most daily stuff, New Balance 1400s for speedwork and races.
What’s your comfy pace?
Somewhere in between 7 and 8 min./mile, with most runs lately falling in the lower half of that. I do love fall/winter weather.
Trail? Road? Or Treadmill?
Mostly roads (or pavement, anyway—I live on the river loop), but Philly has some gnarly trails—I beat up my legs on Boxers Trail pretty regularly, and I need to do the Belmont Plateau XC courses.
What is your ideal running weather?
Cloudy and about 40 degrees.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share?
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
Probably a manatee with a Snickers in one flipper. I'm secretly a big softie, and my girlfriend can tell you the frightening rate at which I can snorf down some fun-size Snickers.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
Writing, photography (more than a decade in journalism partly accounts for those), hiking, camping, among others.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I'm not sure if it's hidden, considering I started out college as a music major, but I' a decent bass/baritone. Even got to sing at Carnegie Hall a couple times (but only as part of choirs).
Biggest pet peeve?
Slow walkers. This is probably a Northeast/city thing more than anything.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
A whole lot of the Muse channel on Pandora, mostly. Plus whatever I need to keep me sane at work, usually a mix of instrumental stuff.
###One Final Question!
What is the origin of your username?
It's simultaneously a piece of one of my favorite Ron Swanson lines and the most obscure Parks & Rec reference I could come up with.
That is going to sum up our second Spotlight interview with u/a-german-muffin. When responding to this post be sure to tag his username in your question so that he is notified! Thanks for reading.
####Have a great day folks!!!
Posted Nov 27, 2015, 1:33 PM UTC