Friday Spotlight: SecretSexBot
It's Friday. It's time to get down and dirty. Today's runner should be a familiar one. Always around to help answer questions and share information, she's been a huge part at times in getting our newer members squared away when they need answers. She's another member of 2017 r/running meetup and I can't wait to meet her in person myself. Ladies and gents... u/SecretSexBot!
Let's do this...
###The Runner:
First Name?
Kate
Age?
28
Where are you from?
Various parts of the south US originally, currently in Boston
Occupation?
Prefer not to answer
###Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
- Mile: 6:55
- 5k: 23:45 (first half of a 10k)
- 10k: 47:58 (in training)
- HM: 1:49:11
- Full: 3:49:10
What is your distance PR?
53.1 miles
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
100
What’s your comfy pace?
9:45
How long have you been running?
Since the fall of 2013
Tell us why you began running?
I’d just moved to a new city and had a boring job and no friends, so I needed something to do. Running seemed like an easy hobby to pick up, and gave me goals to work towards when I didn’t know what I was doing with my life.
Most memorable running moment?
I’ve got a couple:
- Near my birthday last year I went on an epic adventure run, with no distance target in mind. I wound up running along trails and up serious hills in the pouring rain. After a couple dozen miles I hunkered down under the overhang protecting a trail map and enjoyed some food while contemplating my life. I did 40 miles that day.
- At the end of last year I did a double marathon, the Boston marathon route as an out-and-back. At about mile 13 I stopped to watch the sunrise over the most beautiful frozen lake, which had these amazing ripples as though it had been flash frozen on a windy day. I sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed some breakfast and was utterly pleased with all aspects of my life. Literally one of the best memories of my life.
Do you have a running mantra?
Not really. When I’m powering through a hard run I’ll mentally berate myself, while in an ultra I’ll keep saying “I can’t do this” over and over, while my body continues to move like a wind-up toy.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
Early morning, preferably during sunrise.
Any big races coming up?
Eagle Up ultra! I realized when this goes live it'll be one week until EU/death. This is a 24 hour race on a 5 mile loop; I’m
hopinggoing to do a 100k and then try to make myself stop, as I’ve got a couple marathons later this year and don’t want to be completely broken.
What are your short-term running goals?
Get that belt buckle and don’t hurt myself.
What are your long-term running goals?
In the next 2-3 years I want to either do a 100 miler or BQ. I’m not sure which, but I need to decide soon since the training is pretty different. My lifetime goal is to run the Vol State 500k, a 500k race across Tennessee. Really I want to run across the US, but that takes so much time I doubt I’ll be able to make it happen unless I’m still in ultra shape when I’m retired.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
You need more than 2 weeks to recover from a 53 mile run before going into hardcore marathon training. Also, don’t ignore pain if it’s altering your form.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Diet definitely, and strength/flexibility/balance training as well.
What is your current shoe choice?
Just got some Nike Pegasus 34s, and I have several pairs of Saucony Ride 8s.
Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?
Road. If I’m in the right mood trails can be fun, but more likely they’ll just annoy me. I want to be able to turn my brain off, not worry about where to put my feet so I don’t fall on my face.
What is your ideal running weather?
35-40 degrees, sunny with a light breeze.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
no
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
I’m going to go with a husky. Loyal, pretty smart, and a good distance runner.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
You may have seen me complain about DnD in here. It’s taken over a large chunk of my life, but I may be taking a step back because the other players are starting to drive me crazy and I’m kinda bitter about how I died yesterday. I also read a lot and love to travel.
Do you have any hidden talents?
Through the course of my school and work career, I have demonstrated considerable skill in composing seemingly meaningful sentences while not saying much of substance. Maybe I should become a political speech writer.
Biggest pet peeve?
People who complain about things but take no steps to change them. Don’t like your job? What are you doing to get a better one? Tired of being overweight? Why don’t you have a salad instead of pizza for dinner? Also people who don’t show up to DnD so I die because there’s no healer.
Dream job! What would it be?
I want to be paid to yell at people until they run farther/faster. I would be willing to set my own alarm for 3 am to call someone and bully them into getting out of bed.
Favorite Quote or Poem?
For running it’s a quote from Once a Runner, which I have not actually read yet: “All of a sudden everything was possible; then what was possible became necessary.”
What is your favorite movie?
Ah, this is a hard one. I’m going to cheat and give three: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, The Princess Bride. I mostly like “what the hell?” type movies, but had to add some comedy.
What is your biggest character flaw?
I constantly underestimate myself. Running has helped me realize that if I leave my comfort zone I can do more than I think, but it’s still something to work on.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
I mostly listen to terrible pop music or super chill oldies.
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
r/Dnd, r/wholesomememes, r/HighQualityGifs
###One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
I was watching Futurama or something, and someone made a Harry Potter reference that was wrong and I had to correct them. If I’d had any idea that I’d be actually meeting reddit people a few years later I definitely would’ve put more thought into it.
That's it folks! Have a great weekend and enjoy the miles.
####Thanks for reading everyone!
#Please tag u/SecretSexBot when asking a question in this thread.
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
ATTENTION READERS!
I've been getting some more messages recently from a lot of people asking to be featured in the Friday Spotlight Thread. My response to them is the same every time. I do not get to personally choose who is chosen for each thread. With exception to Palindrome27 (which I randomly chose to get this started), every runner thus far has been selected by the person before them. It's one of the perks of getting nominated. There is no list of names. No spreadsheet with columns of people. Nothing. So for those confused, users like Philpips was chosen by Despoena. Despoena was chosen by Craigster38. So on and so on. You get the idea. Doing it this way eliminates the hassle of having to personally pick someone every week. This keeps me neutral. Some of you have expressed your opinion (via PM) on who's been featured this far claiming that I have only chosen runners who are fast, have been running for a while, or compete in longer distance races. Quite frankly, you're wrong. Just browse the table of previous athletes above and you'll see that a wide variety of runners have been on display. Being chosen is simply luck of the draw. There is zero favoritism here. Each featured runner gets to personally pick someone they find interesting. I apply no pressure to the runners to pick a particular skill level of runner. This is the beauty of the process. If you want to be featured, you can up your chances of being chosen by being an active member of the subreddit. Comment as much as possible. Submit quality content. Provide as much as you can as a runner to help keep this community growing and I'm certain your efforts will not go unnoticed. Just keep tuning in and making friends and eventually it'll pay off if you want to be featured. Thank you.
Posted Jun 16, 2017, 11:50 AM UTC