Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a third year medical student on clinical rotations. I’m a Christian, an athlete, and a socialite.

When did you start running?
I started running since I started playing basketball in second grade, at that time I hated it. I didn’t appreciate running until I was a freshman in undergrad at UCO. I turned to running to help me fight off the Freshman 15, relieve stress, and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

What was your most memorable race?
My most memorable race was the first annual Tulsa Oktoberfest 4 mile run. I was in the process of training for my third half marathon that was about a month out. I was running about 9 minute miles by myself and about 8:30 min miles when I ran with Katie or Kasey.  I wanted to win a Tulsa Oktoberfest ceramic beer stein so bad, and that is what the top 3 finishers in their age group won. Most of my friends started off in a sprint. I knew I wasn’t as fast as them, so I just started running. About a mile into it I looked at my RunKeeper app and saw I was running a 7:30 mile. I thought to myself whoa I better slow down, but on second thought, I am feeling very comfortable at this pace, so I stuck with it. By mile 2.5 I passed all but 2 of the runners I was friends with. By mile 2.75 I passed Katie, what the girl who helped me train?!  Yes, the Katie Seikel, veteran marathon runner. She caught back up with at about mile 3 and we ran together the rest of the race encouraging each other every 20 steps. Then, I saw the finish line was about 150 yds away and sprinted ahead! I finished wait for it, wait for it, 1st in my age group!!! My time was 29:49… and for what it is worth, the second place in my age group was 34:26  (Katie had a pic of it on her phone and sent it to me while I was typing this!) Katie finished 2nd in her age group, Blake finished first in his age group, and Lauren finished second in her age group! We all did great, and more importantly, we all won a beer stein. We stayed at Oktoberfest all night long and every time my beer stein got low, I lifted my glass, told my story, and next thing you know gold was poured into my cup while saying, “Compliments of Oktoberfest!” That my friends was the most memorable race I have ran in to date!

What is your running diet?
I am blessed with a fast metabolism, and I try to be a healthy eater all the time, so my diet doesn’t change when I am preparing for  a race.

What do you listen to when you run? (If you listen to anything at all)
Everything! Rap, R&B, country, Christian, dubstep, pop, punk, and rock n roll!

When was your running “breakthrough?”
My running breakthrough was probably when I was training for my first half marathon with my roommate at the time Kelsee. We were living in the sorority house together and both had running a half marathon on our bucket list, so we decided to train together! We started out really good, then with the hustle and bustle of recruitment, homecoming, and big/little stuff, running quickly took the backburner. We realized a week before her Colorado race we had not ran in awhile, so we sat out for our longest run yet 6.5 miles. We both felt like we could have gone farther after! I ran my race 2 weeks later and that is when I came up with my motto, “If you can run 6 miles, you can run 13.1!”

How do you feel after a good run?
Mission accomplished

What kind of cross-training are you doing?
Well, I take the stairs in the hospital for starters. I also do EA Active on my wii, and have intentions to ride my road bike using the charity miles app, and roller-blading! Maybe throw in some yoga here and there too!

What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about helping people that can’t help themselves. This is why I chose to go into medicine and specifically pediatrics. This is expanded by me trying to volunteer at Bedlam Clinic, tc kids (my church’s children ministry), food pantries, and any other volunteer opportunities that come my way. I am most excited about my first mission trip ever, to Nicaragua at the Chacraseca Medical Clinic this December through Just Hope and my school! Yes, I will bring my running gear with me!

What is your favorite thing to eat before & after a long run?
As I mentioned before, I kind of eat whatever I want, when I want, and it hasn’t affected me yet. I do like chocolate milk after I run and my dear friend Katie told me it is skim chocolate milk is one of the best things you can take in after a long run!

What training plan are you using?
I am kind of doing my own thing. I am on my “Core” rotation November-February which includes Internal Medicine, ICU, OB/GYN, and Surgery in that order. 10 hour days are a minimum, plus some weekends, so I can’t commit to a specific plan. I will try to run 3 times/week and do cross training at least 2/week and do the long runs with the girls!

Why did you choose to be an author on this blog?
Well, at first I was anti-blogs. However, since we are all in a group text together, the authors would send a group msg every time there was a new post. I started reading it and realized it was many of their first times to blog too. Specifically, Nicole encouraged me! This was her first blog, she was opposed, then thought about how awesome of an opportunity this would be. I had to agree, so here I am! Helping feel Amanda’s Saturday spot for now until she is done with finals and after that, only time will tell.

How many half-marathons have you participated in?
3. Each one was the Tulsa Route 66 in November. This year was my first year in the past four years not to run it, which is probably what pushed me over the edge to run in this race.

What will your blog posts be centered on?
Life as I know it.