The joy of forward motion
I discovered my love for running almost by accident. As a youth in summer tennis camp, under the direction of veteran tennis coach Arcadi Edelman and his classic Soviet training formula, I was, along with my fellow platoon mates... ah, I mean campers, often made to run (about a mile at a time). To a gaggle of twelve-year-olds from New York's Russian enclaves, compulsory running often carried punitive overtones, but it quickly became a fun challenge for me. In the five summers I spent with Coach Edelman, running went from being an afterthought to the tennis curriculum, to an enjoyable and even essential part of my identity.
By the end of High School, I had adopted running during free periods as a form of stress relief, and I became fascinated with running races after seeing my father compete in the grand spectacle known as the Chase Corporate Challenge in 2002. The following year, I had convinced him to register a colleague so that I could run under a pseudonym. Actually, we did no such thing. Bib transfers? Us? Nah.
Fast forward to the present - seven marathons, a dozen half-marathons, numerous shorter races, countless track sessions and a handful of running-related injuries (sustained and thankfully managed) later - and I am fortunate enough to say that running is as inextricable a part of me as music. My major racing accomplishments - marathons, PR's set, destination races planned and completed - have taught me that I can do hard things, some of which might have once seemed impossible. While my times are hardly world-class, they are both respectable and considerably better than what I once thought possible. Having had to deal with training setbacks and injuries, as many runners almost inevitably do, has given me a layer of resilience and an appreciation for the importance and meaning of my sport. "Any day I run is a good day" is now a frequent mantra of mine.
Running has been a gift for me, and I would be thrilled to share that gift with you. Whether you want to train for your first 5k, sharpen up your training and improve your half marathon time or just introduce running as a regular practice in your fitness routine, I am here to help. Contact me to set up a training plan.