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YourShoesUntied

Friday Spotlight: Runwichi

##[Note: Today's highlighted runner will be bouncing back and forth between work and Reddit due to a few work related things popping up at the last minute. Please give him time to answer your questions as he may be busy dealing with real life stuff. Thanks!]

Ah yeah! It's the end of the work week and what better way to start your day (or go to bed if your not in Freedomland) then getting cozy with another new Spotlight athlete?! Today's featured athlete is no stranger to the game. He hosts some pretty speedy times and always seems to be around when questions need answered. This is yet another person that I've always been curious about and I'm finally getting to let our community in on what makes him tick. Let's get started shall we? Ladies and gentlemen.... u/runwichi!

Let's rock!

###The Runner:

First Name?

Chris

Age?

Old enough to know better, but young enough to think I can still get away with it.

Where are you from?

Wisconsin, USA

Occupation?

Electrical Engineer, specializing in Medical Oncology Systems

###The Running Q&A's:

What are your PR’s?

These are from years ago, I'm working on getting them back...

5K - 18:52, XC
10K - 38:27
HM - 1:36:35

What is your distance PR?

27mi, injured just before a marathon attempt and never raced it.

What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?

63mi, lately topped out around 58mi prior to a setback

What’s your comfy pace?

8:35 goes forever

How long have you been running?

Off and on over 20 years, but got serious again about 2.5 years ago. Man I feel old now, thanks Shoes.

Tell us why you began running?

Much like another Spotlight member, I frankly sucked at most traditional sports. I can't focus on a baseball traveling at me to save my life (or front teeth I learned early), I was too uncoordinated to dribble a basket ball, and I was turf fodder on the football field. Man could I run, though. I was always the fast kid on the playground, and it wasn't until I got into middle school that I found out there was a sport for running. After that, it was just finding what I liked about it. XC in the fall, Track in the spring. I found I didn't like the sprint distances, so I did more field than track, but I still enjoyed it - not nearly as much as XC though.

Most memorable running moment?

I've had more than a few, so it's hard to pin down just one. Everything from winning a race to just running quietly on a gravel access road being paced by a couple foxes. If I thought about every run I've done, I'm sure I could find something memorable in each one so I appreciate all of them for what they are. Even the ones that suck - you know, the 35F, ice cold rain blowing at you sideways from 40mph over a bridge in the dark as you wonder what the heck you're doing out here in the first place. See, those are memorable too!

Do you have a running mantra?

I think my favorite is "Anyone can take the easy route". If I'm in a dark place on a run, I'll say it out loud so I can hear it, and it gives me motivation. The easy route is the shortcut home, the quick way to comfortable - to me, performing at my best means training hard to get to my best. Training hard isn't easy, so why take the easy route? The scenery's better on the hard route anyway.

What time of day do you prefer to run?

I am 95% a night runner, it just works best for my schedule with a busy work and family life. The other 5% are reserved for races and the occasion weekend afternoon if nothing's going on.

Any big races coming up?

I had thoughts of doing a HM again this fall/winter, but I don't like early fall races because it's very possible to be still in "summer" heat, and once cold fall hits I'm usually in the woods. I've got a 10K lined up in a month or so, but I'm not 100% if I want to race it as I'm currently running support for my wife as she's attempting her first 10K. If I don't sign up for a Dec HM, I'll be building mileage again for a spring PR in HM/M.

What are your short-term running goals?

Get it through my head that I don't need to run through injuries. I do this crap all the time, and most of the time I get away with it. Not so on this last one, I screwed up good. It's okay to rest/recover, but doing more damage for the sake of keeping a streak or "fitness" is just silly. It'll come back, it always does.

What are your long-term running goals?

Maybe a common one, but I do want to solidly BQ. It's obtainable, and doing so will wipe all my previous PR's out that have been hanging out for so long. After that, I'll have to regroup. I haven't thought beyond that point, to be honest.

What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?

Have fun, don't stop so much, and don't squander your youth. The potential is there if you believe you can do it. Oh, and don't waste time with A* - totally not worth it.

What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?

Patience. 100% of the injuries I've gotten have been the result of lack of patience. Out running my current pace level, building mileage too quickly, doing too much too soon, trying to hurry through recovery - patience is the subtle key of success in running. Practice perfecting patience, and progress will proceed.

What is your current shoe choice?

I've been a NB guy forever, but the last few years I've been running Skechers Performance and I really like them. Most of my shoes right now are Skechers.

Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?

Trail when I can, Road because it's convenient, I fell back in love with Track for interval work over the spring/summer, and the Treadmill thing I've got plans for this winter. I'm not wild about the Treadmill, but I'm looking into structured training similar to what I use for cycling over the winter. I think it's got a lot of potential, I just need to see how I can use the programming to my advantage while generating live feedback from monitors (HRM/FP/etc).

What is your ideal running weather?

50F, overcast, any time after noon, with a strong tailwind.

Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]

I do have a Strava account, but I'm not one to advertise. If you can find me, and want to follow me send a request - please don't feel slighted if I don't follow you back, though. I do check in on everyone that follows me and comment/kudos, but I have no idea how folks with hundreds of people following them can keep up with everything. I have trouble keeping up with real life, much less Strava life.

###Just For Fun:

What’s your spirit animal?

This is easy - a fox. Playful, determined, cunning, intelligent, sly, bushy red hair - all qualities that we share.

What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?

I have too many hobbies - and I love to find new ones. I actually rotate them every year, and the ones I truly love I keep regardless. Long term hobbies have been bow hunting and fishing, music (I can play more than 5 instruments, at one time 2 professionally), running, and gardening. I want to learn more languages, I've really let the ones I kind of know slip to the point of terrible.

Do you have any hidden talents?

Um - I have a photographic memory, I'm not allergic to poison ivy, and my wife says I can be a world class jerk at the flip of a switch. Not sure that last one is a talent.

Biggest pet peeve?

Laziness. Hate me some laziness.

Dream job! What would it be?

Honestly I love what I do now, but if I didn't have to do it and had the means to do anything I wanted, I'd like to do philanthropy work around the world. Be more involved than just writing a check, though. I'm a "get your hands dirty" person.

Favorite Quote or Poem?

Quote, anything from Mark Twain. I love the dry, sarcastic wit of age when observing the mundane or fanciful. Poem, "The Road Not Taken" from Robert Frost

What is your favorite movie?

I'm a Martin Scorsese fan, so most of his work.

What's your favorite type of music?

I listen to everything with a hard preference to electronic. Been abusing Youtube's New Retro Wave channel pretty hard lately.

What is your biggest character flaw?

I become frustrated when people don't understand things as fast as I do.

What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?

r/triathlon, r/velo, I really haven't exploited all that is Reddit.

###One Final Question:

What is the origin of your username?

It's an amalgamation of my enjoyment, my name, and my state.

It's really neat to find out so much from a person you interact with on an almost daily basis when you had no idea how much you may have had in common. In my case, from sharing the same name to having too many interests and hobbies. I'm hoping you readers today can relate to u/runwichi's ways as well. Big thanks again to our highlighted athlete for taking the time to answer the questions and get them back to me quickly. Now let's all start the bombardment and throw some great questions and compliments his way.

####Thanks for reading everyone!!!

#As usual please tag u/Runwichi's username when asking him 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 him after asking him a question, I'll try my best to respond to your question by tagging him myself. So be aware. Tagging his username alerts him that his attention is needed. This way, he 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.

Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:

Palindrome27A-german-muffinxfkirstenPepperoniFirerennuR_liarT
Santa ClausBrwalkerncPinkpiggieFobo911Kinsibit
Jaime_mangerCraigster38DespoenaPhilpipsBrunchweasel
ChickensedanSkragenIncsterFreedomweaselJennifer1911
RedKryptoniteZebanoKevin402canPunkrock_runnerProudPatriot07
Once_a_hobby_joggerLoratliff57001BorichuDenovosibi
CausticwonderDirtybritchTheRedInTheSkyAewilliaJudyblumereference
FlocculusEl_day2YourShoesUntiedJeade-enKyle-Kranz
ItsReallyReallyTrueJangle_Bo_JinglesRichieClaresloworfastRobotPettingZoo
Runwichi????????????????????????????????????????????????
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Posted Oct 7, 2016, 11:55 AM UTC

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