Runner Spotlight - Jim Borden

Jim is a current member of the South Davis Road Runners and is a great inspiration to many.

Occupation

Construction Management Specialist for a company that does primarily Federal Government Work.

Where are you from/tell us about you?

Born and raised in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. I have a wonderful wife and two great kids, a parrot, and a conure (another bird). I do not come from an endurance sport background. I played football and baseball through high school. I played softball and golf after I graduated college but that just wasn’t doing it for me.

How did you get started in running?

There are a lot of reasons I started running, but the biggest (probably) is that I couldn’t find anything that was motivating me to stay in shape.

The catalyst that got the whole thing going was a co-worker who invited me (in 1998) to compete in the 1999 Burley Lions Spudman Triathlon. I had never done one before, but it was something I had thought I could see myself liking. I knew how to run, so I figured that was a good place to start. All I needed to do was to learn how to swim, and get a decent bike I could train and race with. I started training with my old 12-speed road bike that had gotten me through college, and I bought a punch-pass to the local Jr. High pool in West Jordan. Not really knowing how to swim, I picked up Terry Laughlin’s “Fishlike Swimming” and began teaching myself how to swim. I still use the drills to keep myself balanced and streamlined in the water. I shopped around what seemed like forever and was able to find a very nice, slightly used bike that I still have and ride regularly. I’ve found that with road bikes, you get what you pay for, and a good road bike is worth it. And if you can find one in great shape second hand, even better! I prepared myself pretty well for that first Spudman (fear is a rather large motivator, too!), and posted a time that I was able to better just this past July. I was hooked. That guy that got me into the Spudman? He never followed through.

What teams have you been on?

Used to belong to the Desert-Sharks Tri Club, but it’s been a while.

Currently a member of the most awesome South Davis Road Runners Club!

Just started swimming with the SDRC Masters in November.

Tell us about an interesting/funny experience you have had with running?

I was fortunate enough to run 3.5 miles with Joan Benoit Samuelson last April a few days before the Boston Marathon. I was amazed at her leg turnover rate. If I had a turnover like that I would be running 4 minute miles! The next day she broke a record for her age group in the Olympic Trials. Amazing lady!

What is your currently weekly mileage?

40-50, will peak out at around 65-70 on the marathon schedule that I start in December.

When is your next race?

Painter’s Half Marathon in St. George (January), and Canyonlands Half Marathon (March) to help prepare for the Boston Marathon.

What other races do you plan for 2009?

Besides the Wasatch Back Relay and those mentioned, I don’t know yet, will likely do some triathlons and some other races. Will try to get into Spudman again. I usually participate in 10 or so events every year. I want to do the Xterra trail running series, I have really gotten into trail running and love it.

Favorite run?

Right now my favorite run is this one: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ut/farmington/383139787869 a quite challenging and fun trail run.

Favorite race distance?

I like half-marathons, but I love the commitment of the marathon. It isn’t something you can be half committed to and expect to finish well. Even when you train properly it hurts to run one, but I have learned a lot about myself training for and competing in marathons.

PR’s & most memorable race?

5k: SDRC Thanksgiving 5k – 18:56 (anyone see me dry heaving at the finish?)

10k: Skunk Cabbage Classic – 38:40

½ Marathon: NUTS ½ Marathon – 1:33:45 (I ran a 1:28:54 the first half of the 2008 Boston Marathon)

PR Marathon: Top of Utah 2007 – 2:59:32

Most memorable race: 111^th Boston Marathon (2007) – My first Boston, the Nor’easter, waterlogged shoes, the wind, the crowds, the venue, the atmosphere, the scream tunnel at Wellesley College, the guy in a cow suit…

Why do you run?

I think about my dad, who was stricken with polio as a small child (he was one of only two children out of eight in the polio ward that lived through the disease), suffered a major broken back and subsequent back surgeries with questionable results, who did far beyond what he really could with his body to create adventures and experiences for me and my sisters (he is paying for that now). I don’t want to waste what God has given me, and I remembered all the times I had wished I could trade bodies with him for just a day, so he could enjoy the things he wanted to do but couldn’t or at least enjoy them like I could. I joke with him that when he dies he is going to have to donate his body to science fiction (fused vertebrae, knee replacement, polio deformities, pacemaker, morphine pump, etc.). I can’t remember a time when he was without pain, but he has never lost his sense of humor with all he has been through.

What are your running goals?

Run a sub 3 hour Boston Marathon. In the long term I’d like to complete an Ironman distance triathlon.

Best advice you have been given by someone about running?

Not all 26 miles are going to hurt.

Best advice you can give to others just getting started into running?

Don’t increase your mileage too quickly when you are starting out; your cardiovascular system will greatly outpace your joints as you get in shape. Running puts a lot of stress on your musculoskeletal system, it needs more time to build and strengthen bones and joints than it does to condition your heart and lungs. Your body can adapt to a lot of stress IF you let it. Listen to your body.

Other hobbies or interests?

Cheering on my kids (swimmers and soccer players) and wife (running and teaching), swimming, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, mtn. biking, exploring, thrill rides, camping, getting crazy with friends

Tell us more about you (family, work etc…)?

This is really long, but I know a lot of Road Runner’s are just getting into this stuff, and sometimes it can all seem a little intimidating. I wanted to tell my first marathon story. Don’t think you can do it? Neither did I, until I committed to and completed the first one.

Marathon training was tough that first time. I missed a lot of workouts due to fatigue (mental and physical), a busy schedule, and pain. At a certain point in the schedule, every long run was the longest I had ever run in my life. I lost 5 toenails (an optimist would say my feet were half-full of toenails) during training. I began doubting that I could really do it, and questioning why I was subjecting myself to so much pain. I stuck it out and did what I could, and go to the tapering portion of the schedule. The taper was good and let me get my confidence back some. I was as ready as I was going to get.

In the dark (literally and figuratively), I went up to the starting area for the inaugural Salt Lake City Marathon with an upset stomach (I thought it was nerves) and no real idea of what I was doing. I had no real goal, no strategy, I just wanted to finish (which was 6.2 miles further than I had EVER run at one time). I remember being pretty intimidated looking around at super lean guys and gals in team singlets and racing flats, and feeling a little out of place. I started moving back in the crowd until my gear and physique resembled those around me. I kept telling myself something I had heard somewhere that sounded really good to me: “Not all 26 miles are going to hurt,” and, “don’t go out too fast.” OK, I told myself, I can go with that.

It was true, not all 26 miles hurt. Besides the upset stomach, I actually felt pretty good through 15 miles. That was when it stopped being fun and started to feel like work. At mile 18, my quads started to fatigue and hurt. The long corridor down 5th West in Salt Lake (miles 18 through 23) seemed like some sort of never ending death march, with the spectators not cheering us, but jeering and taunting us with their lawn chairs, sofas, and beer and soft drinks. How I loathed them. I was really hurting by the time I got to Liberty Park. I walked through a water stop, took a big drink and wondered how I was ever going to get my legs running again. It seemed impossible. I was able to trick myself into running by pretending to fall on my face, letting my reflexive response take over and thrust a leg out in front of me before I really did fall on my face. It worked! This got me running again, albeit a little funky.

There is this little uphill grade on State Street before you turn and head down to the Gateway. On any other day you don’t even notice it’s there. That day I was climbing Mt. Olympus! Who put THAT there? Suddenly my quadriceps muscles on each thigh seized simultaneously and I nearly went down again. I very gingerly paused and did a quad stretch on each leg, while a spectator came to offer me assistance. I asked if she had a cot to offer so I could lie down. I really, really wanted to. After my stretch, amazingly, I began to run again. Anyway, the crowd down at the gateway was great, and gave me the boost I needed to finish with a smile on my face. I had done it! It was by far the hardest athletic event I had ever completed. The nerves? Turns out I had a stomach bug.

I literally had to forget about the 2004 Salt Lake City Marathon before I decided to do another one. In fact, I had to do that for the first three. When I ran a 3:19 in the SL Marathon in 2005, the 3:15 qualifying time I would need for Boston seemed within reach. So I made it a goal to qualify for Boston in 2006, and run it in 2007. I suspended the other two triathlon events and focused on my running. I met my goal at the 2006 Ogden Marathon (that’s another story), and, barring injury, in 2009 I will have run 3 consecutive Boston Marathons. What I’m saying is keep at it! It gets better!

As I train, I’m not afraid to try different schedules, workouts, techniques, nutrition, gadgets, etc., to find out what I like and what works best for me. If I had one additional tidbit of advice to give it’s this: Use your training not only to achieve a certain level of fitness, but to find out what works for YOU. Everyone has their own opinion of what the right shoes are, or what the right training program is, how much or what you eat, or how many miles you should run in a week. We are all different. After liking running the least out of the 3 triathlon events, I really love to run now. It is a great time of introspection and self discovery, and if you run with people, you can learn a lot about them and make some really good friends. I have and I am very thankful for that.

Don’t ever look at someone else and think that you can’t do it yourself. It hasn’t always been easy, and some days and weeks are still hard. It is easier now because it isn’t just a goal or something to check off on a list, it has become a lifestyle and I choose to do what I do. It is a positive part of my life instead of something I feel like I need to do or must do. That was a very important change in how I thought about exercise in general and running in particular. As my kids grow up I want to be able to do these kinds of events with them, and hope that I have been a positive role model on how to live a healthy life. I have a wonderful wife and two great kids, friends, and a full time job. I am never going to weigh 130 lbs., or have the time to train to be a really competitive triathlete or runner, but I can set realistic goals for myself. I do the best I can, and I’m happy with that. Not to say that I don’t always think I can do better. That is what keeps me going.