Friday Spotlight: DAHarlow
##Note: Our featured athlete will be in and out during this thread as he is working to make cash-monies. Please continue to ask your questions and make comments and he will get to them as soon as he can! Thanks
Friday is here! Grab your coffee...or beer, and get ready for a great thread. This week's featured Spotlight athlete is once again, another member of the 2016 Black Mountain Monster Ultra team and a great guy to have in your corner. It's always fun highlighting someone I've met in person because I get to learn about all the things I missed out on asking the first time around. I'm beyond excited that I'll get to meet up two more times this year to race with today's featured runner so it's probably a smart idea to get this started and not drag it out so he can't hate me later! Lasses and lads, here he is.../u/DAHarlow!
Let's do this!
###The Runner:
First Name?
David
Age?
37
Where are you from?
Knoxville, TN
Occupation?
Project Manager
###The Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
5k- 23:50
10k- 52:26
Half Marathon- 1:55:50
Marathon- 4:47:43
50k- 5:49:24
The 5k and 10k PRs are not races. They were set during group runs hosted by one of our local bars. It’s amazing how much motivation can be provided by friends that are faster than you and the anticipation of a cold beer. We have a lot of bars that host group runs during the week and give free or discounted beer to the runners. There’s four within easy running distance of my condo, and another one that’s about five miles away. The groups range from only three or four runners to dozens to more than fifty.
What is your distance PR?
41.6 miles at a 12-hour ultra about a month ago. I ran a bit more than 50 miles last May, but there were some multi-hour rest breaks during that so I don’t count it.
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
60 miles, but that might change this week. My training plan calls for 70 miles this week. I was supposed to do 70 a couple of weeks ago, but I spent half of that week sick.
What’s your comfy pace?
About 9:45 on pavement, maybe about 11:45 on flat trails. Something around 17:30 on steep or very technical trail.
How long have you been running?
Almost 2 years exactly
Tell us why you began running?
I used to be very overweight. About three years ago our dog passed away. Since we didn’t need a big yard anymore, my wife and I moved from the suburbs to downtown. Living downtown meant I had far more occasion to walk to places than I did in the suburbs. The walking helped me lose a little weight. Then I discovered counting calories and lost more weight. I started walking to the gym, but I got cold walking there, so I decided to try running to the gym. The gym was less than a mile away, but I couldn’t run the whole way there. I worked on a run-walk strategy, but I still wasn’t progressing very much. I would see runners all the time downtown (I never saw runners in the part of the suburbs that I lived in), and they looked like they were having fun. That sort of encouraged me to stick with it. Then I discovered r/running and figured out why I was having such a hard time running (aside from being out of shape, I was also overstriding and running too fast). I signed up for a trail 5k a couple of months out and trained until I was able to run that kind of distance. I ended up getting 3rd in my age group. It was a very small race. From the time I started losing weight until now I’ve lost about 75 pounds. Now I see running as a way to be in nature, a time to be alone with my thoughts, a way to think through problems, a way to relieve stress, and a way to prepare for the challenge of racing. The exercise aspect is ancillary to all of that.
Most memorable running moment?
Probably the completion of my first 50k. At about 49 kilometers I started sniffling, and by the finish line I was in tears of joy. Also, running at Frozen Head State Park the first couple of times and seeing the some of the places associated with the Barkley such as Rat Jaw, Son of a Bitch Ditch, the Garden Spot, and the yellow gate.
Do you have a running mantra?
"There is no tomorrow," as in I don't get to try this race again tomorrow. There is no do-over. There's another mantra that isn't my mantra, but I like it. A friend told me this one. "You can't win the farting contest if you're scared to shit the bed."
What time of day do you prefer to run?
Sunset and twilight. Maybe it’s odd, but I really like running into the setting sun on a warm day. I like the feel of the sun shining on my face.
Any big races coming up?
I've got the Georgia Death Race on April 1-2, a 12-hour ultra in the spring, I'm running the Barkley Fall Classic with u/zazzera and a half dozen local friends in September. I'm also considering pulling the trigger on my first 100 miler in October.
What are your short-term running goals?
To finish the GDR and BFC. These will by far be the hardest races I've ever attempted. This summer I have a variety of plans, some of which might actually be realized. I want to attempt to run the ~72 miles of the AT that run through the Great Smoky Mountains. I want to make that fat ass ultra a reality.
What are your long-term running goals?
Well, there's that hundred miler that’s on the horizon. And once I get past the first hundo, there will surely be more after that. I'd also be interested in a long distance thru hike sometime, but that's hard to achieve without quitting my job because of the time commitment. I’m also working on hiking/running all 900 miles of trails in the Smokies by the time I turn 40. I haven’t added up the miles since early fall, but I think I’m close to 300 miles so far.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
I don’t think younger me would have been very receptive to running advice, so let’s just stick to life advice. He probably wouldn’t listen to that advice either, though. You won’t find any more happiness in the next beer and next slice of pizza than you found in the last one. Stop using the phrase “When I’m older.” You’re old enough to pursue your dreams now. It’s ok to not have all the answers and it’s ok to ask for help.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Besides stretching, foam rolling, yoga, core strengthening, improving my diet, and speedwork? My mind really gets in the way sometimes. My mind tells me things like “this bed is too warm to leave right now, and it’s too dark outside.” It says, “you have too much work to do to spare time for running today.” It reminds me that my friends are having fun, and that if I cut this run short then I can join them at happy hour. It tells me that this run is even slower than last time, so maybe you should quit. It points out that running for two hours on a weeknight is a bit selfish, especially if you plan on spending six hours running on Saturday.
What is your current shoe choice?
I love my LaSportiva Wildcats for the trail. I’m not in love with my road shoe, but it gets the job done for now- the Ascis Gel Pursue. I occasionally run in Ascics Super J33s. I call those my fast shoes. Apparently I’m not one for the popular models of shoes.
Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?
Trail is best. Because of time constraints I do most of my weekday runs on roads, or pedestrian greenways and sidewalks more precisely. I’ve never run a track, but I’d be willing to experiment. I’ve run one mile on a treadmill and promised myself I’d never do that again.
What is your ideal running weather?
I like it warmer than most folks. I’m going to go with between 65 and 75 fahrenheit (18-24 celsius), sunny, blue skies, with low humidity. I don’t handle the cold well. I’d take 90 fahrenheit and sunny over 20 and cloudy.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
I occasionally go by the trail name Goldfinch. When I had a yard, I kept bird feeders. My favorite bird was the goldfinch. Their yellow plumage can brighten any day.
Besides that I’m tempted to say the black bear. I’m most at home in the woods and mountains. I’m usually solitary. I’m easily scared away by loud noises. I’m powerful and lazy at the same time. And I have a voracious appetite.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
I enjoy hiking and backpacking. I cook pretty well. I enjoy writing when I can separate myself from distractions. I have a neglected blog. I used to be really into genealogy, but that’s on hold right now.
Do you have any hidden talents?
They are so well hidden that even I can’t find them.
Biggest pet peeve?
I could go on for quite a while about all the things that irritate me. I’ll just stick with my annoyance of suburban sprawl and the concept of using interstate highways for intra-city travel. I’m reminded of this every day while sitting in traffic. The next time you’re stuck in traffic, imagine if our cities were still built around pedestrian usage, and if all of the cars disappeared and the same number of people were simply walking. There would be plenty of room for everyone. Also, it really irritates me that there is no public transportation from my condo to my work. I’d love to be able to occasionally ride the bus to work and then run home at the end of the day, but there isn’t even a safe way to run some of those roads near the office, much less a way to take a bus there in the first place. I live downtown, but sadly I do not work downtown.
Dream job! What would it be?
I think I would really like some kind of work that gets me out on the trails. Probably being a ridge runner on the AT would suit me well. I like the idea of helping people get the hiking experience they are seeking while staying safe and informed. I don’t think I would do well with the confrontational aspect of being a park ranger. Working in search and rescue sounds appealing, but then I remember the kinds of things that those workers have to deal with when a rescue turns into a recovery. I trained to be a wildland firefighter about a decade and a half ago, but never did get deployed on a fire. That would have been fun to do when I was younger, but my wife instantly vetoes that idea as an adult. Besides a ridge runner, I also really like the idea of being a race director. It’s only in the “we should do this” phase, but I’m vaguely working with some friends to put together a fat ass trail race this summer.
Favorite Quote or Poem?
I don’t know if it’s my all time favorite, but there’s a passage from John Morelock’s Run Gently Out There. I recalled this anecdote a few weeks ago upon learning of John’s passing. I’ll paraphrase a bit.
John and his wife, Kathy, were participating in a trail run. He describes the results as, “I was first (overall), set the course record, and beat my wife soundly. She, on the other hand, came in dead last—even needing assistance at the Hamma Hamma river crossing.”
On the other hand, his wife describes the event as such, “John and I ran the Staircase to Dosewallips run last Saturday. I finished second overall. He came in next to last."
In reality, they were the only two runners. The river crossing was too high for his wife to cross on her own, so he gave her a piggyback ride. The love in that story makes me smile.
What is your favorite movie?
Oh man, I don’t think I can top u/Vermilionweirdo’s movie picks. Casablanca, Paths of Glory, Dr. Stangelove, and The Great Escape are some of the best. Maybe I’ll add Dazed and Confused and Animal House to that list. Also The Right Stuff.
What is your biggest character flaw?
I try to meet other’s needs at the expense of my own needs.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
I listen to a bit of everything, but my favorite bands/artists are Robert Earl Keen, The Old 97s, Townes Van Zandt, Scott Miller, and Mic Harrison & the High Score.
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
About the only other place I sometimes comment is r/TrailRunning. I also read r/CFB (my team is the original UT, the University of Tennessee Volunteers), r/ockyTop, r/WildernessBackpacking, and r/AskAnAmerican.
###One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
It’s simply derived from my name. I never intended on commenting when I created my Reddit ID, so it didn’t matter at the time. Now, I think the lack of anonymity helps me act like a decent person when commenting. I really don’t have anything to hide behind.
That's it folks! Have a great weekend and enjoy the miles.
####Thanks for reading everyone!
#Please tag u/DAHarlow when asking a question in this thread.
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
Posted Feb 24, 2017, 12:54 PM UTC