Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Some Favorite Blogs: Run With Jill

DISCLAIMER: Jill's my coach, so I've taken the red pill!

Background: 

When I wanted to start to learn about running this summer, I searched for a few words ("training", "schedule", "marathon", "sprint", "5k", "10k") used in blogs hosted on blogspot.com.  I found a bunch and I began to follow them and the blogs that followed them.  Jill's was one of these first blogs.

Blog: Run With Jill

I did a tag cloud of one of some of her last posts


created at TagCrowd.com

and as you can see the blogs about running!

Jill's blog is also about 
  • Marathoning (but only the ones that are 26.2 miles long!), 
  • her heel and the struggles with insurance, 
  • her family, and
  • maybe dualthon or triathon in the future!
"Run like a girl" is part of her email address, and I already have been thinking of buying a running skirt!  Jill also hosted a very successful* gift exchange this month.

As of writing she:
  • has 321 blog followers
  • has a RRCA certified coach designation
  • runs in all distances and has done a du
  • has run Boston in 2009 at 3:51:55 (corrected to 3:51:32)
4 Questions for Jill (responses in fuschia!):

1. How long have you been blogging? Do you have any blog post memories, comments or post from other sites that stick out in your mind?

I started blogging two years ago this January 1st. My then-personal trainer wanted me to write out my thoughts, as sort of a daily journal, about my training as a way to analyze and understand a little more, and to see if we saw patterns in performance due to daily activities/nutrition/sleep, etc. It was a great little experiement at first but then he never really read it daily and the whole thing ended up being more of a personal journey describing my thoughts on my running. After about 6 months of blogging, people started following me and making comments - which I didn't even know was an option - and I thus have found a world of support, encouragement, and true friendships.

2. Have you ever trained someone who was really poorly adjusted to running? How did that go?

I obtained my personal training cerification because at one time I thought it'd be pretty cool to be one, and I was aimlessly going to the gym and ramdomly doing whatever, having no direction or guidence whatsoever (before I hired a personal trainer. Which, btw, I no longer have); I wanted to know more about weight training and the proper exercises and techniques to fuel my running. I achieved the latter, but after I worked with a few people for stricly weight loss, I quickly realized this was not an area I wanted to spend much time in. Non-runners do not want to run, not even for weight-loss. Cardio is a scarey word to may of them and I got really tired really quick of constant excuses. I do have one person I work with right now who hired me to give her a 6-week program of nutrition and exercise for weight loss, despite my hesistation not to. The first time I put "run 2 minutes..." on the plan, suddenly she had a slew of medical conditions which prohibited her to run. Funny, cuz she never mentioned them on her pre-screening questionnaire :). I'd much rather stick with runners/athletes.

3. What's a common mistake you see with people who self-train? Do you have any advice for them?

I see many but one big one is no strength training. Advice: strength train. It will make you a more efficient runner by helping your running economy and making you stronger for those last hard miles in a marathon - and will make you faster!

4. How much time do you spend on treadmills and how much running on ground that doesn't move?

I actually do a lot of treadmill running because 1) I have horrible allergies and living in a semi-arid climate causes a lot of dust and allergens in the air which play havoc on my sinuses. 2) I have been hospitalized twice for dehydration so to abate carrying so much water with me, the treadmill allows me to refuel frequently. But when I am marathon training, I do like to run along trail on a creek, it's very pretty with great views of the Rockie Mountains - and there are frequent gas I have marked out so I can stop to refuel my water. And in the summer, I do love to run in the mountains as much as possible. It's a commute, though, so do not get up there as often as I wish - but it also makes it that much more special when I do.

Recommendation:

I started working with Jill 12 weeks ago. In that time I've improved my PR in the 5k by 40 seconds and in the 10k by 5 minutes!

Jill was able to build up my confidence with her deep experience. She exposed me to the proper race-time demands, an energy- and muscle-building nutrition plan, a cross training plan to build up my strength and aversion to injuries, and a varied and interesting weekly plan that altered based on my progress and my overall time constraints.  She help me understand the basics of running including the exercises, tools, and drills involved. Not only was she a help in training, but here confidence in me before races and before some of the more demanding training weeks helped me strengthen my own desire to improve and tackle objectives that would have been impossible even a few months ago.

I would highly recommend her to runners that have a desire to experience professional guidance and want to improve their running abilities to reach - what seem to be - impossible goals.

Merry Christmas Jill, this is my gift to you!



* because I sent my gift and it was received already and I don't really care about anything else!


15 comments:

misszippy said...

Go Jill! She's the best...thanks for sharing her Andrew!

Shawn said...

Andrew, I love reading your blog. You definitely do not lack eloquence. A great read and all the best to you and yours in 2011. And btw, how did things work out in Scarborough with the wallet?

Anonymous said...

What a nice shout out !

Adrienne said...

Nice Andrew! I'm a little scared to hire someone like Jill since they will want me to run and stuff.....oh wait :)

She sounds awesome!

Nitmos said...

This is your gift? How about making 'paying your bill' your gift? ;)

BrianFlash said...

Nice review of Jill's blog. Sounds like she has helped you a lot!

ShutUpandRun said...

Great testimonial to Ms. Jill. She's awesome.

Jill said...

Awwww, thanks, Buddy!! You brought a big smile to my face and that is the best gift ever (well, aside from cash. :) ). Thank you!!

And are you sure I didn't run Boston in 3:51:32?? :)

I actually have a very funny/interesting story that goes along with that Boston '08 time. My trainer/running coach I work with at school/countless prior uber fast Boston runners told me repeatedly to run it for "fun." My trainer even made me swear I wouldn't run it hard. Boston was to be "experienced" and "enjoyed" - it was the reward for all the hard work I put in to get there. I knew in my heart I wouldn't go there and run a 4:10 on purpose as my trainer wanted me to do, despite my promise not to (trust me, it was easier this way); I knew that I was in amazing conditioning and I knew I had to give that course everything I got. And to me, "joy" is being happy with myself and my performance - I was not going to experience joy if I lolly-gagged. Countless texts from the trainer in the two days I was in Boston prior to the race: "4:10 nothing faster". I got to the start line and I said to myself, "Give it your all." I was on track to run a wickedly fast PR that day, but mile 22 brought a bad case of dehydration (again) and I started vomiting. But I never gave up and I never stopped (slowed, but not stopped) - so I was filled with so much emotion when I crossed in 3:51.

And THAT is my gift to you: you train for a race and you give it your best. No matter what. As Pre would say, "Anything less is to sacrifice the gift." You have a gift to run, Andrew, and I couldn't be more happy with your sheer enthusiam to run!!

Merry Christmas, My friend!

Chris K said...

Plus, she is witty, kind, supportive, and sooooo pretty.

Jill said...

I didn't pay Chris to say that. Well, not much anyway!

Johann said...

Lovely post about a lovely person! Nice one Andrew! Your progress tells the story.

The Boring Runner said...

I love these posts!! I always love the story about how people started blogging and how they 'discovered' the bloggosphere.

Julie said...

This was fun Andrew! I am also a Jill's blog stalker:) Love that girl!

Teamarcia said...

Dammit I cannot believe my name did not show up in that cloud.

Unknown said...

I will have to check out Jill's blog.

Very cool that she is your coach! :) Sounds like a very interesting woman.