February - Space Coast Runners

A Mile With…Lee NesselName: Lee NesselFamily: Boyfriend, Ian and two dogs: 160-pound Max and 7-pound Bailey. They’re quite the sight together.Ages: Mine? 34, but most people still guess mid- to late 20s. And I still feel that way.Occupation: Sports editor at FLORIDA TODAY. I keep a fitness blog at floridatoday.com/fitnessblog andwrite a weekly off-beat sports column that appears on Mondays. I also co-host Today in Brevard Sports, a TVshow about local sports that airs each Friday on Brighthouse Channel 5, and streams online at floridatoday.comat 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.Number of Years Running: 13Began Running Because: Growing up, I was told I had “flat feet,” and that’s why it sometimes hurt to run, soI never really did it. I was hit by a car in 1996 and broke my back. I was on scholarship for swimming at theUniversity of Miami and in those precarious moments after the impact, my greatest fear was thinking my athleticcareer might be over. My healing could be classified as uncharacteristically fast, and having moved toKey West about a year later, I started with short runs because it was such a beautiful place to experience. Iworked my way up to an occasional 5K, then a 10K, and finally a sprint tri and the 7-Mile Bridge Run. Justbecause I could.Page 10I Knew I Was Hooked When: Iwas on a morning run in Key Westand had just passed through the oldcemetery. I remember kicking it inand getting some kind of secondwind. I could hardly feel my feethit the ground, and I felt like Icould just go forever. It was abeautiful feeling that I keep tryingto replicate.Race PRs (Personal Records):I’m not fast enough to mention. Ican probably swim faster than I runanyway. :)Most Satisfying Race Performance:Finishing the 7-Mile BridgeRun. It was the longest I had everrun at once, and there was the