In the few weeks leading up to the Eugene Half and Full Marathon, we are featuring our Team Run Hub athletes to give you a peek into their backgrounds, goals and training. Enjoy!
Tia Renier is a 25-year-old social worker. She has been running for 11 years.
When and why did you start running?
I started running in high school on the track and cross country teams. At our first practice, I’d never even ran a mile. I started because none of the other team sports really interested me. I stayed with it because my team became my closest friends and I finished my fourth year of cross country as co-captain with another amazing runner.
Why did you sign up for the #teamrunhub training program?
I’d never run a half marathon before and knew I was going to need some support and guidance if I was going to stick to it. I started coming to the Wednesday night runs at Run Hub two weeks after I moved to Eugene and everyone was so friendly; it was an easy decision to decide to start the training with such a great group of runners.
What are your goals for the Eugene half/full Marathon? What pace(ish) are you planning to run during the race?
Originally my goal was just to finish the race, then it became to finish under 2 hours and now, with all the training we’ve done, I’m hoping to finish under an hour and 55 minutes. I’ll be happy with running 8:45 miles but I’ll probably try and push past that.
What has been your favorite part of being a member of the training group?
My favorite part of the training group has been the Wednesday night workouts. Wednesdays over the last few months have gone from running an easy three miles to running an easy five miles to some intense workouts like the 2 mile repeats at race pace. Every week I seem to surprise myself with what I can do and I know the new goals I’m reaching are thanks to the training program.
What has been the most challenging part of your training?
The most challenging part of my training has been the long runs. I’d never run more than 8 miles before I started the training. Having great training partners has really made a difference; this last week I ran my longest run ever of 13 miles and my running buddies are what kept me going for two hours.
Tell us: Are you running the Eugene Half or Full Marathon? What are your goals? What was your most challenging workout this training season?
