Thumbs Up Thursday...Connie Spielman

I met Connie back in March at the St. Malachi 5 Miler. She was very kind and we had a lot to talk about while waiting for the race. She was well into her training for the Boston Marathon and I was in the midst of training for the Cleveland Marathon. Fast forward to yesterday when I sent Connie and email and asked her if I could give her a thumbs up today. Her response was: "I would be honored, but I'm not running right now! My foot is still bothering me (sigh). I'm off to see the podiatrist again tomorrow afternoon. But if that's okay, I would love to!" I immediately responded with: "Of course it is okay for you to be spotlighted. Injuries are a part of running." With all of this said, I give you the question and answer portion of Thumbs Up Thursday!

Jodi: How long have you been running?
Connie: I have been running all my life! I ran my first race when I was 8 years old.

Jodi: Why did you start running?
Connie: My dad started running in the late 60's, and when we moved to Cleveland he started running races. I guess I wanted to be like him, so I begged and begged to be able to run a race too! My mom and dad finally said okay, and I ran/walked a 3 mile race while he did a ten mile race. I won a medal for being the youngest finisher, and I was hooked!


Jodi: When you are really tired and want to skip a workout what motivates you to do the workout anyway?
Connie: Ohhh, this is hard. I keep my goal in mind - whether it's the next race, weekly mileage, getting faster, or just to keep up with the cross country girls!

Jodi: How many years have you been racing?
Connie: See above - over 37 years!

Jodi: What is your favorite distance to race and why?
Connie: I think either the 5 mile or the 10k - they are short enough that you still have to go relatively fast, and not super long so I can usually hang on until the end!

Jodi: What is your favorite race memory?
Connie: Oh, this is hard. I have so many! One of my favorites is crewing for my brother when he ran the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in California! It was just amazing - beautiful scenery, an amazing race, for 28 hours we just drove to different places to see him and check if he needed anything, make sure he was eating, drinking enough, gave him change of clothes, ran with him for awhile, helped him at the aid stations. I had never seen an ultra trail race before, and I completely understood why he loved it so much! It was incredibly difficult, but everyone knew everyone else - which was how it was for our family when my brother and I were younger. There weren't as many runners doing races and we all knew each other!

Jodi: What is your least favorite race memory?
Connie: Well, I have a bunch of these too! It would have to be when I was a senior in college, and during our first race of the season something in my hip "popped" half way through a cross country race. It hurt horribly, and I was out for the rest of the season - one which I had trained so hard during the summer for, and had hoped to have a PR season!


Jodi: What is your proudest running moment to date?
Connie: Qualifying for Boston last year at the Cleveland Marathon, or else Boston this year, when I finished and found out my daughter had finished her first marathon in 3:35!!!
Connie and Katie before Boston
Connie crossing the finish line at Boston
Connie and Katie after Boston

Jodi: What is your favorite running related purchase to date?

Connie: I love my Garmin 405!!

Jodi: What is your favorite non-running related purchase to date?

Connie: Food? Our house? Chocolate!!!

Jodi: Finish this statement, running makes me _________.

Connie: Feel alive!

Jodi: Do you have a favorite quote?

Connie: Since I have been an assistant coach for the high school girls cross country team, I've discovered so many great ones! We like to put them on the back of the team tshirts, and look for a different one each year. Right now, I love "The gun goes off and everything changes...the World changes...and nothing else really matters" by PattiSue Plummer.

Jodi: What is your biggest frustration at the moment?

Connie: Not being able to run! I have plantar fasciitis right now, everything feels great and ready to go except for my foot. Grrrr!!

Jodi: What is your current goal?

Connie: Still working on having a great marathon - and I would love to get under 21 minutes in the 5k again. :)

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to give you a Thumbs Up Connie. Best of luck achieving your marathon and 5k goals. First and foremost, heal well!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and Connie YOU inspire ME!!