Name: Cristina
City: NE DC
Other Activities: Salsa and Samba
dancing, weekend soccer league, volunteer at WEAVE's domestic violence clinic and EJC's workers' rights clinic
Goals for 2007:
I decided to start teaching aerobics and I achieved that goal.
Goals for 2008: To
remain injury-free and diversify my workouts. In doing so, I hope to complete my first Century bike ride (100 miles), which was accomplished on 8/24 at the Reston Century...and is actually 104 miles! Another
goal was to complete my first sprint triathlon, which I did on 8/9, and I might try an open-water tri before the year is over,
and shoot for an Olympic distance tri next spring. I also ran my first career road races this year, completing a 5k,
a 4-miler, and I broke 1-hour in my first 10k, which was the farthest I had run at the time!
Goals for 2009: To complete a lot
of firsts! My first half-marathon in under 1:55, my first 10 miler in under 1:30, my first marathon as close to 4 hours
as possible, and my first duathlon. I'd also like to obtain new PRs in a 5K and 10K. While I'd like to focus on
becoming a better runner, I also want to maintain my cycling fitness so I can ride another Century, and keep working on my
swimming so I can complete another sprint triathlon.
What helps motivate
you to train/exercise: It doesn't take much motivation to train since
I need regular exercise for my physical and mental well-being. But if I do need motivation, training/exercise is essentially my
Prozac and painkiller. For example, working out may be the last thing I want to do after a mentally draining or
physically exhausting day, but I go anyway because I know I'm guaranteed to feel much better afterwards.
Thoughts on having a coach: Having a coach simplifies my life. He takes the guesswork out of training so I can focus on challenging myself and
achieving my goals, while still having fun.
2008 Race Results:
*Bright Beginnings 5k (5/3) = 28:00
(first 5k; "ran with a friend")*Bastille 4-miler (7/14) = 35:36 *Friends of the W&OD 10k (7/26)
= 57:09 (first 10k; longest career run at the time) *DC Triathlon Club training tri (8/9) = 1:44:19
(first triathlon)*Giant Acorn triathlon (10/4) = 1:58:13 (first open-water tri)*Arlington Turkey Trot (11/27)
= 24:53 (beat goal by 7 seconds)
