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Running withPassion and Purpose,Professional runner, businesswomanand soon-to-be mom, LAUREN FLESHMAN,has figured it all out. The 31-year-old Oregonianhas co-founded two companies, Picky Bars andBelieve I Am, writes a popular blog, is a two-timenational 5K champion and owns a 14:58 personalbest in the distance.Photorun.NETWHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO WOMENWHO WOULD LIKE TO BECOME MORECOMMITTED RUNNERS? “I would encouragewomen to do more shorterraces as opposed to longer races. Itgives you more structure and morestepping stones along the way asyou improve. I’d recommend doing10Ks and half-marathons at thelongest so you can recover faster.[Running shorter races] also makesthe risk of injury less and you’reless likely to get discouraged. 5K,10K, half-marathon—those are yourmoney events. Don’t be in a rush todo a marathon. And don’t be afraidto cross-train.”HOW CAN FEMALE RUNNERS HELPBUILD THE SPORT OF RUNNING? “It’sawesome to see a bunch of girls inSpandex and sweaty running shirtsin coffee shops after their workouts.All it takes is people continuing tobe open and welcoming and supportiveof one another. Also, thinkglobal, act local. If we can applythat to our running and supportwomen’s events and professionalfemale runners I think that willreally help build the sport.”HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A BUSY LIFEAND RUNNING? “The most importanttactic I use is working with otherpeople. If I leave training to myown devices, and I get too busy,my training suffers. I’ll skip an afternoonrun or something. But if I planmy runs with one of my buddies andplan out when we’re going to run Iplan the rest of my schedule aroundthat. And it’s really hard to flake outon a friend for a run but it’s reallyeasy to flake out on yourself. Plustraining just flies by when you’rewith other people.”GOING THROUGH INJURIES IS OFTENAN UNAVOIDABLE PART OF BEING ARUNNER. WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TORUNNERS GOING THROUGH INJURY?“There are two different ways toapproach injuries. My first approachis to work with it and work around itby staying really engaged and committedto my goals. Do the rehab,get treatment and do whateverelse is needed to make this better.This approach really requires beinga fighter, super tough and smart,which is a challenge. Most of thetime this will work. But then thereare those injuries where it doesn’twork. Pretty much every runner hasgone through that or will go throughthat and no matter what you do, theinjury just hangs around and themore you try to fight it the worse itgets. You get to a point where youhave to let it go. I think that is amore advanced strategy that takesrunners longer to get to. Somerunners never learn and will keepfighting and fighting to their owndetriment. You need to be OK to getout of shape and to let a goal go,because it will be healed when it’shealed. Once you let it go, it comestogether.” — L.L.Go to www.asklaurenfleshman.comto read Lauren’s blog or follow heron Twitter at @laurenfleshman.“RUNNING SHORTERRACES ALSO MAKESTHE RISK OF INJURYLESS AND YOU’RELESS LIKELY TO GETDISCOURAGED.”competitor.com 49
“YOU CAN’T SAY YOUDON’T HAVE THE BODYTYPE OF A RUNNERBECAUSE NEITHERDOES OPRAH.”Jan Casciari, who also ran the Nike Women’s Half-marathonwith her daughter, agrees.“Anybody can do it,” says the 55-year-old from SanDiego. “Just put on a pair of shoes, walk out your door and run.”Take a look at any race today and it is clear anyone can be arunner, but when Oprah ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 1994she opened up the door for millions of women to call themselvesrunners.“Prior to the second running boom runners were skinny ectomorphs,”Lamppa says. “That’s not the case any more. We areall runners. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow, or what body typeyou have. When someone like Oprah does a marathon you can’tsay you don’t have the body type of a runner because neitherdoes Oprah. She is a cultural icon and exposed our sport to millionsand millions of people, mainly women. That was 18 yearsago but it still resonates today.”However, just 30 year ago, this wasnot the case. Prior to 1972, the year TitleIX legislation passed, providing womenthe right to participate in school sports,athletic opportunities for women andgirls were few and far between.“I was in high school before Title IXlegislation passed,” said Samuelson,the only woman to run a sub-3-hourmarathon in five different decades. “Sorunning [for the school team] wasn’teven an option for me. When I firststarted to run I was embarrassed to beseen. I would stop when cars passedand pretend I was picking flowers.”When schools began implementingTitle IX legislation and offering girls the opportunity to play onsports teams, including track and cross country, “it really transformedthe landscape,” Switzer says.Girls and young women were spreading their athletic wingsand beginning to experience the sense of empowerment inherentin sports and running.“Running builds confidence and self esteem that many womenhave never had,” according to Switzer, who introduced morethan 1 million women to running through the Avon Global Women’sRunning Circuit with more than 200 events in 21 countriesbetween 1978 and 1986. “It gives women the sense of feelingthat ‘I can do anything.’ And there are more women running thanmen now because of that.”Running has always been a way to ward off stress, lose weightand get fit, but now more than ever Americans, and women inparticular, are hitting the roads for their health.“There are more resources than ever promoting health andGetty Images50 Competitor January 2013
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