ARC Member of the Month

Name: Julia Weatherby, many runners know me by the nickname "Comet"

Age: 28

Occupation: IBM Software Services Consultant

Family: A parrot named Harley, four sisters, a mom and a dad. Most of them live in Oregon. Three of us have completed at least one marathon and our mom may be next!

Native of: Portland, Oregon

Years running: 3

I began running because: My coworker and friend, Jennifer Fogell (the new ARC Vice President!) tried talking me into training for the Motorola Marathon in 2000. I immediately said "No way. I’m not a runner" and that was that. She gathered a group of beginning runners together in August and they trained for Motorola 2001. The next summer she approached me again and this time was even more persuasive. I gave in. "Okay, I’ll run because it’s healthy for me, but I’m sure not doing a marathon!!" After my first 5K (IBM 5K), I was hooked. I signed up for the Distance Challenge, and quickly turned into one of those runners.

Current weekly mileage: In the winter, I average 30 miles, but this summer my running mileage has gone down as I concentrate on swimming and cycling.

Favorite places to run: On the road, it’s the hotel gym for convenience and safety. In Austin, the RunTex Gateway Raincreek Parkway route is my favorite. In Portland, Forest Park. Favorite non-Austin running route is along the beach in Orange County, California.

Favorite racing distances: 25K-30K Long enough to feel like a great accomplishment, but short enough for a reasonable recovery time.

My training philosophy is: To follow a training plan as much as possible when training for a serious race. Otherwise, I run to stay in shape and socialize with other runners.

My racing philosophy is: Only 1-2 serious races per year. The rest are for training or for fun. If I’m cheering and high-fiving people during the last half mile of my race, it’s been a great one!

PRs:

Distance	Time	Pace	Event	Date
5K	26:26	8:28	Resolution Run	1/01/04
10K	55:02	8:53	Go for the Gold	3/15/03
half	2:01:55	9:18	3M Half Marathon	1/25/04
30K	2:57:51	9:34	RunTex 30K in Buda	1/19/03
marathon	4:11:57	9:37	Motorola Marathon	2/15/04
50K	8:53:18	17:11	Rocky Hill Ranch	4/24/04

Other than running, my interests are: ARC Happy Hour, RunTex Foruming, travel, geocaching, triathlon, hanging out with friends, LiveJournal, photography, geeky things like making websites.

One other thing that ARC members would like to know about me: I travel for work almost every week, Monday through Friday. This makes scheduling my training quite a challenge (when it comes to cross-training especially), but I never get bored with the same running routes. I like to check out the local running specialty store and find the local great places to run. I do miss having the opportunity to train formally in Austin during the week. Fortunately there are plenty of weekend events to make up for it!