Marathon Training Team Q&A: Nan Turner

Welcome to the first in an occasional series on Sports Backers staff members participating in the Marathon Training Team, which leads up to the Anthem Richmond Marathon on November 14, 2015. First up is Nan Turner, Customer Engagement Coordinator and social media extraordinaire.

Q. Hello Nan.

A. Hi!

How’s training going so far?

It’s going really well, though I’ve only been to one of the first two group training runs, and it was a 5-mile run. All my weekday runs have been three miles so far, so we’re still doing distances that I’m comfortable with.

What’s the group dynamic been like so far? What team are you on?

I’m on Blue Bandits and it seems like a pretty close-knit group. They seem familiar with each other already and it’s a team that people try to come back to year after year. As a new person to the team and MTT, I’ve never felt like an outsider and everybody is really welcoming. I was surprised by how many people are running their first marathon, and since I’m also training for my first marathon, that’s been really helpful. It’s good to experience it with others who are going through it for the first time, but to have a lot of teammates with a few marathons under their belt who can give us guidance and advice.

Blue Bandits – where did that name come from?

I don’t know. That’s a great question (editor’s note: thank you). I’m going to ask a coach on our next training run.

So in addition to answering questions about team name origins, what else are the team coaches helpful with?

They’re great at helping take your mind off of the run while you’re out there but encouraging you to stay strong and enjoy the experience. They’re a wealth of knowledge and information because they’ve done it before.

This is your first Marathon Training Team experience. What’s your running background up to this point?

I haven’t always been a big runner, but after I was a Sports Backers intern in 2012 I felt inspired by what I experienced at our events, and I decided to take up running. I started with the YMCA 10k Training Team and the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k. That was a great experience and opened my eyes to what I could accomplish. I kept running shorter distances and then started thinking about a half marathon, so I did the Sports Backers’ Half Marathon Training Team in 2014. That was another great experience – going into it, I wasn’t sure if I could do it, I was running much longer distances than I’d ever run before and I really felt a sense of pride and accomplishment at what I was doing when I was able to complete my first half marathon. The training program was really easy and manageable, and everything was really organized with a good structure in place.

So, like many runners, I decided the next step should be a marathon so I’m looking forward to it – I’m very nervous because there are some long distances on the training runs. But even after the first group run, I’m feeling really excited. It’s great to be back in a routine and training with a group!

What’s your favorite thing about the Anthem Richmond Marathon?

My favorite thing is standing at the finish line on race day and seeing how excited people are as they cross the finish line and how much it means to them to achieve a goal!

Rapid fire:

Favorite place to run: The Fan

Favorite music to listen to while working out: Beyonce

Favorite food after a long run: Biscuits, cheese, and/or Chipotle

Favorite time of year to run: Fall

Best piece of encouragement during a race: “One more mile, don’t forget to smile!” – Ro Gammon

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