Friday Spotlight: Aewillia
#♫♪ THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT...♪♪♫
Ready for another Friday Spotlight!? GOOD! Because you're getting one. Today's featured athlete almost snuck under my Spotlight radar but she didn't get away. Once again, another person who's active within our subreddit helping out and contributing whenever possible. It's a name most of you are familiar with as well. Let us get ready for a good ol' time with u/aewillia!
Let's roll...
###The Runner:
First Name?
Alexandra
Age?
24, getting into the 25-29 age group in September, though!
Where are you from?
Dallas, TX
Occupation?
Sports marketing
###Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
5K: 22:51
5M: 39:48
HM: 1:57
What is your distance PR?
13.1 miles, not a step further.
How long have you been running?
Since May of 2014
Tell us why you began running?
I started running because I put on weight in college and wasn’t happy with that, but there were a million ways I could have gone about losing weight, honestly. I chose to start running because I wasn’t good at it – because I like to do things the hard way. The first year of running was essentially an exercise in "drive," to put it the way my mother would. Here at r/running, I think we'd refer to it as discipline. I started running because it was hard, and I hated every minute of it, but I knew I was getting faster and getting closer to my goals, so I kept with it.
Most memorable running moment?
I'm going to cheat and share two, actually, if that's okay.
My first memorable running moment is the first run after my stress fracture. It was pitch black and about 11:30 at night on August 6, 2015. That was the night that Jon Stewart's last Daily Show aired, and a lot of my friends were really upset about it, which reminded me of how ripped up I felt after watching the last Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. So being a glutton for punishment, I watched that last show on YouTube again. I don't know if I made it past the cold open. It was a montage of Craig and a ton of the guests that had been on the show throughout the years doing a montage to Dead Man Fall's Bang Your Drum. If you never watched the show, that video probably looks totally ridiculous; if you did watch the show, you know exactly how ridiculous it was. I sat there crying and thinking about what an incredible message it was – just keep going and doing your thing, and one day it's going to pay off. The song got me so emotional and hyped up that I threw on my shoes and a pair of headphones and went out and jogged a mile. After three months of no running, I couldn't hold myself back, so when I got to my favorite part of the song, I just sprinted. It was pure, unfettered elation. It was probably not the smartest way to come back from a serious bone injury, but I did it anyway.
The second one memory was when I crossed the finish line in my most recent half marathon. I had achieved my goal, which was to run a sub-2:00 half, but crossing that finish line was almost exactly the opposite of the elation I felt in that first memory. I wasn't really disappointed in my time, obviously, because I'd pretty much crushed my goal, and my last few miles were really rather fast. I realized that I wasn't really feeling incredible because the race was really just a formality. I'd already done the hard work, and I was far prouder of the miles I'd run in the training for this race than of the time itself. That's sort of when I realized that I had gone from just training to get a better time to enjoying running and training for their own sakes.
Do you have a running mantra?
Not really. I guess if I had to pick anything, it'd be "just put one foot in front of the other." When the going gets tough, that's all you've got to keep doing.
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
39.2 miles. Kinda wish I'd gone for those last .8 miles, but I should be besting 40 mpw next month.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
I'm an evening/night runner by nature. I trained for my half this spring in the morning, and I get the appeal of starting the day off on the right foot, ^^haha ^^get ^^it but I like to end my day with a good run to clear my mind. It's my unwind time, and even if it means I'm running in warmer weather, it's worth it to me during the week. Long runs I tend to try to get out of the way early on the weekends, though.
Any big races coming up?
No! I have my goal HM in November, but that's quite a ways away. I just finished my summer goal race, and don't plan on doing much racing beside monthly club races for fun between now and November.
What are your short-term running goals?
Within the next year, I'd like to get a sub-1:40 half, and a sub-21 5K. I'd also like to run some track races if I get a chance. I'd like to become a better member of the Dallas running community by volunteering more and make more of an effort to do group runs.
What are your long-term running goals?
I'd like to run a marathon eventually, but don't want to do it until I know I can BQ. I'm very comfortable sticking to HMs and under for the next two to three years. I'd like to win a race, or at least be first overall female.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
Stubbornness and discipline are not the same thing. Discipline means doing what you need to do to keep progressing in the long run. Stubbornness means ignoring pain at the expense of long-term progress.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Flexibility. Both in the sense that I need to get back to doing yoga again, and also in the sense that I need to be mindful of adapting the plan to my body, instead of the other way around.
What is your current shoe choice?
Newtons! When I started running, I couldn't afford new shoes and was wearing – I shit you not – a five year old pair of Nike Shox. So for my birthday that year, my then-boyfriend (now husband) took me to the LRS to get me fitted, and I walked out of there with a pair of Newton Ahas. I've tried other shoes since then, but nothing feels more right to me than Newtons now. I have a pair of Ahas and a pair of Kismets that I'm rotating between – Kismets for short distances, Ahas for 5 miles or more. Those new Gravity Vs are really sexy, though, and finally in a color that isn't fugly as hell. (PS shoe/apparel people: not all women like baby blue and purple. Regular colors are appreciated too.)
What’s your comfy pace?
Currently, it's somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00, depending largely on the weather and the time of day.
Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?
I run mostly on a paved trail. It's covered in track-like rubber stuff, though, so really, it's the best of trail, road, and track! If I had to pick one, it'd be road, though. I'm too scared of snakes to do trail running.
What is your ideal running weather?
Partly cloudy, high 40s, with a low wind.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
A tiger, probably? I took one of those quizzes, and that sounds like me. I'm big on willpower, and can be pretty aggressive when I'm passionate about something, generally to a fault. I also almost went to LSU, so there's that too.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
I've been doing photography since I was in high school, but have just gotten serious about it in the last year or so. I used to ride motorcycles, too, but the drivers here are just too crazy. I also dabble in graphic design when I get the inspiration, but I'm really just now getting the hang of it a little bit.
Do you have any hidden talents?
The motorcycle thing always surprises people because I'm a girl. I'm actually pretty good at picking up instruments and playing music by ear. I played the trumpet in high school, but could pick up the bari sax and the clarinet and mimic whatever they were playing too. I'm total crap at reading music, though.
Biggest pet peeve?
It's a tie between people who ask for motivation to run and when people say they're going to do something and don't follow through.
Favorite Quote or Poem?
"This car can be vicious, but in an amusing way. Like a shark in a funny hat." - Jeremy Clarkson
More seriously, there was a poem that Derrick Brown wrote and performed from his book Uh Oh as the opening act for my favorite band. It was incredibly moving and beautiful and I have no idea what it was called because the book doesn't come out until fall. It was about broken people, and how to cope with brokenness.
What is your biggest character flaw?
Clearly, an inability to be succinct. Also, rigidity. If I have a plan, I don't just want to stick to it, I need to stick to it. I lead a very monotonous life, and I like that, but it does stop me from going out and doing things with people with little notice.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
Spotify showed me a band called Transit, and I've been into their newest album, Joyride. There's also a song called Ooh by Jon Bellion that I've been digging.
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
I spend 99% of my reddit time on here or AR. I'll browse r/Fitness sometimes, and r/dallas, too. r/cfb when it's in season. r/FellowKids is pretty great sometimes too.
###One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
This has got to be the most boring answer of anyone's. It was part of the username that my college assigned me for my five years there, based on my name. I wish I could change it because it's so boring.
I was pretty shocked when aewillia popped up as the next person to be nominated! I was certain we'd already featured her much earlier in the history of the Spotlight, but after looking, we hadn't and here we are today learning about her. If you don't already, follow the girl on Strava! I'm so happy we got to read into what makes her tick and I can't help but to be a bit jealous that she rides motorcycles because that's pretty badass. I want to send a big thanks to aewillia this week for helping me immensely on getting this Spotlight formatted correctly as well. Thank you aewilla, you rock!
#Please tag u/aewillia's username when asking her a question in this thread!
If you don't the running Gods will give you incurable shin splints for the rest of your life and you'll die a sad lonely wanna-be hobbyjogger.
If I see that you've failed to tag her after asking her a question, I'll try my best to respond to your question by tagging her myself. So be aware. Tagging her username alerts her that her attention is needed. This way, she doesn't have to sift through all of the comments one by one, which can be a rather daunting task when there is a lot of traffic to the thread. Please don't forget that all of our Friday Spotlight athletes may need time to respond to your comments and questions so give them some time to reply.
####Thanks for reading everyone!!!
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
Posted Jul 15, 2016, 12:00 PM UTC · edited