Friday Spotlight: Craigster38
##CRAIG!!!!!!!!!
Okay Okay! Calm down! Calm down!
It's another Friday and you're already reading this so you know what that means. Keeping it short and sweet (like CRAIG), let's learn a bit more about someone that is just about as frequent around here as poop stories and race reports without flare tags. I'm talking about Craigster38 of course. Let's get rolling folks!
###The Runner:
First Name?
Craig
Age?
25
Where are you from?
Northeast Ohio
Occupation?
Safety Manager. I make sure that we don't get fined by OSHA and no one gets their hand chopped off.
###The Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
Mile: 5:54 (8/25/15)
5k: 20:31 (10/18/15)
10k: 43:05 (8/30/15)
Half Marathon: 1:35:27 (10/4/15)
Marathon: 3:56:56 (5/18/14)
How long have you been running?
I've been doing some form of running for the majority of my life. I started playing soccer at the ripe old age of 5. Played through most of high school, had a fall out with the coach and stopped playing my junior year. I did zero physical activity from then until September 2012, when I picked up running.
Briefly explain why you began running?
I asked u/MrsCraigster38 to marry me in June 2012. She said yes (in case you didn't know). We told my family, and my aunt (who owns her own private gym), told us that she'd whip us into wedding shape. Did I want to look good for my wedding? Hell yes. Did I want to look even better for our honeymoon to Hawaii? You betcha. My aunt put us on a weight lifting/running program to lose some weight. Things were working, but u/MrsCraigster38 said she wanted to run a race at the end of our program to see how far she has come. So she signed us up for a Color Run the following April. It was alright for my first "race", but I wanted more. After the run, I said to my aunt, "So hypothetically, if someone wanted to run a half marathon, how would they go about doing that?" And I've been hooked ever since.
Most memorable running moment?
I love all my PR's. They're my babies. I love the feeling of all the hard work paying off. But I think my most memorable running moment was [will update once I get a response from Craigster38]
Do you have a running mantra?
I saw a sign that said, Pain only gets so bad before it stops getting worse. I've shortened it to Pain will pass and got it engraved on my RoadID. Just a simple reminder that I can put my body through hell and still survive. For my most recent half marathon PR, I ran at my lactate threshold heart rate the entire time. It sucked. It was painful. But I survived.
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
I hit 60.16 miles as part of the r/AR [/r/advancedrunning] super week the week of Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to surpass that during my current training plan.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
I've come to terms with being an afternoon/night runner. I just don't have the energy to run in the morning, even on weekends. I wish I could knock out anything other than a recovery run in the morning, but it's just not gonna happen.
Any big races coming up?
I have a Shamrock 5k at the beginning of March where I'll be racing a couple other Runnitors. Sure, they're at least 3-4 minutes faster than me, but I'll still be racing them. After that, I'm running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler with a bunch of other Runnitors. Last but not least is my goal half marathon at the end of April where I plan to make u/ChickenSedan kiss my shoes after I beat him.
What are your short-term running goals?
PR. Always love to PR.
This year, I'm trying to hit 2016 miles for the year. That shouldn't be a problem as long as I don't get lazy.
I've also started a running streak. As of this post, I should be on day 46 and I'd like to keep that going as long as possible.
What are your long-term running goals?
If my April half marathon goes well, I might try to BQ next spring. If it doesn't go well, I'll push it off until Fall 2017 or Spring 2018. That's my end goal for now. Once I hit that, I have no idea what I'll do.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
Don't be so lazy! I'd be miles ahead of where I am not if I had started sooner, or didn't skip so many runs years ago.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Speed work. I've been base building since last October, and have only gotten in 2 real days of speed work since. It feels good to churn my legs. I realized this during my last 5k - it felt great to be moving fast again, but I was rusty.
What is your current shoe choice?
So many - it depends on the run! I'm really diggin my Saucony Kinvara 6's over the 5's (sorry u/ChickenSedan).
What’s your comfy pace?
A heart rate of 140-150. The majority of my training is done by heart rate. At the present time, this heart rate is somewhere around a 8:30-9:00/mile.
Trail? Road? Or Treadmill?
Treadmill recovery in the morning (because I can do that now), and road to get to the trail in the afternoon.
What is your ideal running weather?
55F and cloudy. We had this weather while in Florida over the weekend, and it was wonderful.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
Recently, it seems like all I do is eat, sleep, work, run, watch netflix, and renovate bathrooms.
When I actually have time, I play soccer and the piano. I occasionally indulge in video games (PS master race). Final Fantasy is where it's at.
Do you have any hidden talents?
My best talent is waiting 3-4 months to finish a project.
I'm also pretty good at getting companies to give me free stuff.
Biggest pet peeve?
I hate being on time or late. I have to be early. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen when u/MrsCraigster38 is around.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
The new Panic! At The Disco album. u/MrsCraigster38 has been listening to it non-stop, so therefore, I have been listening to it non-stop.
One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
I've had many nicknames over the years - Craigly, Craig-money, Cheeseburger, and Craigster to name a few. Back in 2004, I made one of my first email addresses and I wanted it to be Craigster@email.com. Well, that one was taken, and it suggested Craigster38 instead. It's stuck with me since. I should probably switch it up every so often.
Now that that's over with and we can totally bombard CRAIG! with questions and keep him busy for the rest of the day. As usual, please tag u/craigster38's username when personally asking him a question. All responses come to my inbox and if you've not tagged him personally, he has to search each comment one by one (which I'm sure he'll do anyways) which can be a daunting task at times when there's a lot of traffic. Please don't forget that Craigster might be busy making sure someone doesn't lose a finger or watching paint dry so be patient in allowing him time to respond.
####Thanks for reading!!!!
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
Posted Feb 12, 2016, 12:47 PM UTC · edited