Do you love running? Does your
On this Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating all of GGRC’s couples. Check out our interview with running partners and also life partners Kathy and Patrick.
Who joined GGRC first, and why?
Patrick joined GGRC first. We were living in San Rafael at the time and Patrick was working from home, so he needed a good social outlet. So he tried out some running clubs in the north bay and San Francisco. When he found GGRC he knew it would be a great fit. It was the perfect combination of running and socializing. After he spent some time with GGRC, he wanted to introduce Kathy to all these great people he met. Kathy was happy to join because she needed to get back into shape after residency and she had a bunch of fun with the people she met through the social gatherings.
You trained for an Ironman together. What was that like?
Training for the Ironman was really difficult and we are glad we had each other during the long training days. The hard part about doing a long race like that is that it is much more difficult to train with or even see friends. Luckily we had a bunch of great friends from GGRC that were happy to train long distances with us or even short distances during long runs. We were reminded of our great friends from this club when they came out on race day to cheer us on and to run an aid station for the day. Once we finished the Ironman, we were so proud of each other and this great accomplishment.
When do you like to run together, and when do you prefer to run alone?
We like to run together as much as possible when we can run the same pace. It is really nice to have time together without all the distractions of life. We can have great conversations and do some good brainstorming to come up with fun and exciting things for us to do. How else do you explain all of the great relay costumes that we (and David of course) have come up with over the years? We like to run separately when we need to do different paces or if we want to run with other friends that day.
What’s your next race?
We both plan to do Mountains to Beach Marathon. This will be the second go around for Kathy as long as her foot heals (fingers crossed). Luckily she knows a good podiatrist. This will be the first try for Patrick. He is hoping to run a PR and to then retire from marathons, unless a GGRCer Peppers him into another one.
How do you stock a fridge for two runners?
We run so we can eat more. We tend to have a lot of milk (chocolate milk is the best recovery drink) and lots of beer (the second best recovery drink and this is GGRC, after all). We also always have some bacon and all the carbs to keep us fueled.
What’s one thing every runner should do?
Kathy thinks every runner should find a good podiatrist and get custom orthotics. Jk/nr. She also thinks you need to have a goal race and tiered goals. It helps you keep motivated and on track. Patrick thinks you need to find a runner/group of runners that is just a little faster than you. It will push everyone to improve and it can also lead to some great friendships.
That and join GGRC, of course. Thanks, Patrick and Kathy! We love having you as part of our club and we love that you love each other!
