Interview with a Marathon Runner....or two.

Have you ever thought of pounding the pavement for 26.6 miles???? We interviewed two of the three staff members who ran the Rockfest Marathon On October 6th, 2013 about their training and racing experiences. Ms. Benson and Ms. Miskinis both ran and were nice enough to tell us about it.

Why did you decide to run a marathon?

Miskinis: We had run a half marathon on the course where the marathon would be, and the marathon would just be two loops instead of one. It is a flat, scenic route that we were very comfortable with.
Benson: It was sort of a mob mentality decision I think.

Was this your first marathon? What was your furthest you'd run before it?

Benson: Yes it was a first for both of us. We ran two 18 mile training runs the two weekends before the race.

How did you know what to do for training?

Benson: We have a Hal Hidgons plan, but we didn't necessarily follow it all.
Miskinis: We run with Ms. Orchard and Ms. Whitehouse. Ms. Orchard actually forgot to sign up for the marathon, but she was supposed to run it.
Benson: We run as a group together mostly on weekends, but it's harder to coordinate during the week.

Did you change your diet for the race?

Benson: Well... I should've.
Miskinis: My husband is also a runner, and he loves kale, so we ate a lot of that.
Benson: We mostly tried to be more conscious about hydration.

What were some of the challenges you had to overcome, mental or physical?

Benson: It was very humid over the summer, and running alone was difficult. 5 miles with my friends always went by so fast, but 8 or more miles alone seemed to last forever.
Miskinis: Looking forward at the longer runs towards the end of our training was very overwhelming. It's hard to believe that you can run 18 miles at once just for training.

What was the day of the race like?

Benson: I like to call them "events" because I’m just running to finish.

Miskinis: We saw so many of the “typical” runners that you picture when you think of a marathon.

Benson: We learned that you can’t tell someone’s time by what they look like.

Miskinis: I just tried to focus on doing the first eighteen miles because I knew I could do them. Once I was past that point I just focused on finishing.

What do you wish you had done differently?

Miskinis: I wish we had trained more consistently and followed the plan better.

Benson: I knew I needed to get new sneakers because my knees were very sore and stiff during and after the race.

Would you run another marathon?

Benson: We both are!

Miskinis: I am running a marathon in Connecticut in December. They limit the race to 100 people and all of their times are very fast.

Benson: I’m running in December, in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. It’s a fundraising event and the cause is very close to my heart.

Do you have any advice for someone considering running a marathon?

Miskinis: I wore compression sleeves during the race and they reduced aches and pains.

Benson: I also wore compression pants, but after the race, and they were very helpful for recovery.

Thank you Blue Hawk athletes....we are VERY impressed!