Member Profile of the Week - C. Beth - A "new" running family

C. Beth is 32 and has lived in the grand state of Texas for the past 10 years.  She’s originally from Phoenix, Arizona, then Yuma, affectionately known as “the armpit of Arizona.”  Having been through there several times on travel, I know exactly what she means. ;-)  C. Beth is a stay at home mom “with some residential real estate thrown in here and there.”  She has earned a BA in theatre/drama from the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.  She began running recently, within the past 10 months.

She and her husband have two young children and Hammer, a freakishly large Miniature Schnauzer, 6 years old, of which they adopted from a military family.  (His full name was “HAMMER OF JUSTICE.”)

C. Beth describes her most unusual or memorable running experience as being the time she ran her first (and only) 10K race.  “[It] was so amazing.  I’d had 5 weeks to get my distance from 5K to 10K.  The furthest I ran in training before the race was 4.7 miles.  My goal was to run the whole 6.2 miles, and I did it.  I was even able to speed up at four miles, since I had extra energy.  It was completely exhilarating!  After that, I started building my distance further.  My furthest distance so far has been 8.86 miles (shod).  So far every “furthest distance” is my favorite!”

C. Beth posts some pretty good times for a new runner with a PR of 8:55 in the mile, 31:33 in the 5K, and 1:07:45 in the 10K.  She hopes to complete her first half marathon in December.

She normally runs barefoot and incorporates huaraches as the terrain dictates or if it’s dark out.  She’s looking forward to her new pair of ZEM booties to come in the mail, so she can try those out as well.

C. Beth says she enjoys running because, “I always labeled myself as ‘not athletic.’  Running has shown me that there is an athlete inside me!  I may never be naturally fast and may never win any races, but running brings me feelings of strength, exhilaration, well-being, and accomplishment.  I’ve overcome my belief that I couldn’t be athletic, and that’s a big enough win for me!

When asked what brought her to running barefoot, she replies, “I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook and found out that after many years of running, he’d switched to BFR/MR.  I’d also come across BFWendyBird’s blog and found myself inspired by her.  (Her blog post about running over glass without any cuts was particularly interesting and inspiring!)  And I was hearing bits here and there about BFR.  I thought BFR was odd, but I was fascinated enough to start reading on it, out of curiosity.  (Meanwhile, I was planning my next running shoe purchase.)  As I read, it just made so much sense.  I thought I’d buy some VFFs and learn to run in them, but as I read Barefoot Ken Bob’s site, I realized minimalist shoes probably weren’t a good idea if I wanted to really learn barefoot form.  I ran some BF/some shod (in my old Asics) for a week, but the Asics just frustrated me and so I “jumped in with both feet” and ditched the shoes entirely.  Having to reduce my mileage a lot was frustrating, but I’m gradually building my mileage back up.  My legs and knees feel so much better than they did when I was running in shoes, and after I hit my one-monthiversary of BFR, the form started feeling a lot more natural and fun.

C. Beth states she has way too many hobbies. “I write regularly on three blogs (C. Beth Blog, my mommy blog http://cbethblog.blogspot.com; The One-Minute Writer, a blog for fellow writers http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com; and C. Beth Run, my running journal http://cbethrun.blogspot.com).  I have started crocheting recently and plan to start selling hats, etc., on Etsy.  I love to read; I’m currently into Orson Scott Card’s Ender series.  (When I’m not into any books, my favorite magazine is Wired.)  My kitchen is one of my favorite places; I love to bake fresh bread and try new dinner recipes.  I play the keyboard at church and help organize women’s activities there.  I’ve had a Little Sister through Big Brothers Big Sisters for almost 7 years; she’s now 16.

When asked to share an interesting fact about herself, C. Beth recites a few, first being “I’m an identical twin.  My twin sister lives in the Boston area.  I also have a brother in Portland.  Neither of them are runners…yet!  But there’s a lot of running going on in my family right now.  My dad has been a runner for many years; he did his first two half marathons last year at the ages of 57 and 58, and he’s planning at least one more half this year.  My mom completed Couch-to-5K (from CoolRunning.com) a few months ago after seeing how much I’d liked that program.  (I started running with the C25K program, and it was such a wonderful way to begin.)  My husband started doing sprint-distance triathlons last year and loves being a multisport athlete.  And my 4-year-old daughter runs with me sometimes, so I’m really excited about her possibly catching the running bug a whole lot earlier in life than I did!”

“My second child was born with a midwife in a birthing center.  It was a natural birth in a birthing tub.  It was an incredible, empowering experience; and running has given me some of the same feelings that natural childbirth gave me.  Thankfully being addicted to running comes with less responsibility than I’d have if I got addicted to natural childbirth!”

“Oh, and another interesting fact about me is that my kids just happen to be the cutest and smartest kids ever born.  I suggest that if anyone has any problems with that statement, they keep their thoughts to themselves!  ;)”

She states her reason for joining the Barefoot Runners Society as “I don’t have any real-life, local friends who are barefoot runners (yet.)  I like being involved in message boards, and BRS is a great place to get the support I need as I learn to run barefoot.”

You’ll get that here, C. Beth, and then some!