My Marvelous Monday Interview

1. Introduce yourself: ie, first name, married +family life, profession

Lauran Crawford age 45, Married to Chris (a hard core runner he has done 91 marathons and run over 67,000 miles since I've known him and we are still married) for 21 years, 3 Children Ellen-19 dropped out of college and is currently working on a cruise ship in Maine, Will-15 Sophmore in HS Swimmer and in the Culinary magnet, Ben-almost 11 in 6th Grade loves soccer and literature. I am a stay at home mom and I sell stuff on eBay so we can travel to Hawaii during the Summer.

2. Can you give a brief history of your running life? When you started etc, and why?

First of all I don't think I have ever really run I mostly at best jog and it is practically a slog. Started running in HS in Duncan, OK the guy that lived across the street was a runner and he had a great body and I had always been a little chunky so I tried it I immediately hurt my right knee which has been giving me fits ever since. I took it back up my freshman year in college in Abilene, TX to lose the freshman 20, again my knee hurt and I quit, I moved to Fullerton, California and started running more, when I met Chris just before Junior year at CSUF he had just done the San Francisco Marathon and at that point I had never even heard of a marathon or met anyone that had actually done one, so I started jogging more. We moved to Santa Barbara (actually Isla Vista) in 1987, which in my opinion is the best, most beautiful, perfect place to run it is heaven, I guess my 1st race ever was the Lompoc Half Marathon in 1988. I was so proud of that medal (I still have it). After we got married in 1989 we moved to New Jersey and I ran and walked off and on, Ellen was born in 1991, still ran off and on, Moved to Hawaii in 1993 and ran off and on, Will was born in 1995 and shockingly after he was born the weight did not just come off after a year I still weighed 163 so I joined TOPS (Take of Pounds Sensibly) and started walking & jogging, I lost 39 pounds, although I didn't know it then I was too thin, I did the Honolulu Marathon in 1996 & 1997 and I aslo did the Windward Half Marathon, KoleKole Pass Half Marathon, the Great Aloha Run a number of times and many shorter races. We were very active members of the road runners club there. I think I would have just stayed thin and fit in Hawaii because like Isla Vista it was perfect. We moved to Dallas, TX in 1998, one of the hottest summers on record, I tried to get out but felt like I was frying I gradually was gaining back all the weight I had lost. Then I got pregnant and had Ben in Sept. 1999 and like Will the weight did not just come off after a year I still weighed 170 so I joined TOPS again and started walking & jogging, I lost 34 pounds, I did the Anchorage Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in 2001 and the Myrtle Beach Marathon in 2002, which was slow and painful and I was not very commited. I guess I had a lot going on with my children and did not do enough for myself mostly because I really hate living in Dallas, because I stopped running and walking as much and gained all the weight plus more back. In April 2008, I weighed my all time high of 196 and I wasn't even pregnant. It took me awhile to find myself again. At 191 pounds I rejoined TOPS in January 2009, but only lost 8 pounds in a year. In December Chris asked me if I would like to do leg of the White Rock Marathon, only 4 miles. I was in such bad shape that I honestly thought I was going to die. Then he got the big idea to do a marathon month for 2010 and that maybe if I trained I could do the half marathons and it would give us some quality together time. I started training, eating right I follow a book called "the sugar solution", and as of today I have done 13 half marathons this year alone and have lost 62 1/4 pounds. I FEEL GREAT! Most days my knee and ankle don't hurt and when they do I listen and instead of pounding the pavement I go to the gym and do the elliptical. Plus I have a great chiropractor now. Listen to your body.

3. How many races have you done this year?

This year I have done 13 half marathons: Mississippi Blues, Jackson, MS; Waco Miracle Match, Waco, TX; Mardi Gras, New Orleans, LA; Lucky Trails, Seabrook, TX; Hogeye, Jacksonville, AR; Hills & Heels, Irving, TX; Andy Payne, Oklahoma City, OK; Wounded Warrior, Los Colinas, TX; Niagara, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada; University of Okoboji, Okoboji, IA; Fitness for America Sports Festival, Hoffman Estates, IL (where I met Michel & Tammy); The Hottest Half, Dallas, TX; Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, CA

I have also done a couple of 5K's but the Half Marathon is my favorite distance.

4. What was your last big race?

Last big race was The Santa Rosa Half Marathon in Santa Rosa, CA on August 29th. It was perfect. I started early because I needed 16 miles for my training for Chicago and we were going to have lunch with my brother in law in San Francisco. The race finally caught up to me at about mile 3-4, at mile 6 when we were suposed to turn I continued to straight to add in my extra 3 miles, the caught up with exactly where I should have been if I had started at the start. I jogged and walked 1 minute intervals the whole way. I felt great. The weather was perfect. My time was my best this year. Yea!

5. What advice can you give others who might not know where to start?

Well my advice to me would be don't listen to your husband he's crazy. The internet is a great place, there are a lot of great training schedules - I actually love Jeff Galloway and if you google him there is so much information on his run/walk training methods. Get a good watch I have a Garmin 205 and Love It, if I get lost it always gets me back to start. I also like to alternate between several pairs of shoes. Mostly start slow, but have a plan such as picking a race to do and paying for it immediately so you don't back out.

6. What was your best race?

My best race recently time wise would have to be Santa Rosa, but my overall favorite races ever would be a 3 way tie between the KoleKole Pass Half Marathon, The Honolulu Marathon, and The Midnight Sun Marathon.

7. How has running affected your life in general?

I think running keeps me sane. I always feel better when I do it and can't figure out why I stopped so many times. I love the way I look now and now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I hope to keep it up as long as my body will let me.

8. What advice can you give a newbie runner?

My advice would be walk before you run, if you need to weight lose some weight before you start jogging because the more you weigh the more damage it does to your body, mostly listen to your body and if your like me and injure something go immediately to a chiropractor. They are awesome.

9. Running gear you can't live without?

Gear I can't live without would be my Garmin watch, Asics running shoes, my fuel belt on hot days here in Texas, my amphipod belt for races and not so hot days, my phone that also is my mp3 player and on race days Avril Lavigne singing "Alice" from Alice in Wonderland over and over and over and over again in my head.

Tripping out
Spinning around
I'm underground, I fell down
yeah, I fell down

I'm freaking out
Where am I now?
Upside down
And I can't stop it now
You can't stop me now

I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
When the world's crashing down
When I fall and hit the ground
I will turn myself around
Don't you try to stop it
I, I won't cry

I found myself in Wonderland
Get back on my feet again
Is this real?
Is it pretend?
I'll take a stand until the end

I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
When the world's crashing down
When I fall and hit the ground
I will turn myself around
Don't you try to stop me
I, I won't cry

I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
When the world's crashing down
When I fall and hit the ground
I will turn myself around
Don't you try to stop me
I, and I won't cry

10. What are your plans for your training future?

I am currently training for the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10 after that I am not sure but maybe Hawaii in December!