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| Joanne crossing the finish line of Iron Man, Boulder, Colorado, 2014 |
Come see Jo rock the mic at TRL 2014!
Ted’s Run for Literacy - How long have you been running and how did you start?
Joanne Schiewe - I had been an athlete and runner in high school but after graduation I spent many years not doing any sort of physical activity. It's a long story on how I became active again but I started running in January 2009. I was on the elliptical at the gym, and I was jealous of all the treadmill people who each had their own TVs. I decided to try the treadmill purely so I could watch TV. I ran 2.5 miles that night. I went home and said "Manitoba Half is in five months - I think I'm going to try to do that." My friends and family know that once I say I'm going to do something, I never back down. Training for that first half marathon was tough and I didn't think I would do it again....until I crossed the finish line. I was super hooked after that.
TRL - You've done some pretty amazing competitions this year (Ironman) - how'd you balance your work life/social life/training? And what are some of thing things you learned from training, and doing these events?
JS - In the beginning I didn't balance things well at all. I annoyed (to say it nicely) a lot of family and friends that I was only available on select days. Training for marathons and especially Ironman, taught me that I needed to learn to prioritize what was important and communicate that to my family/friends. I tell them that they will ALWAYS trump training if they need me. Since I usually have "blinders" on when I am in the thick of things, they just need to speak up when they need me around, want to hang out or even just to go dancing. Balancing everything else....well....I have a problem saying “no” to anything.....so I have over booked commitments multiple times or just plain forgotten about things (sorry TRL committee). I now depend heavily on my iPhone, sticky notes, and others to keep me organizes. Last year, during Ironman training I felt like I was living from gym bag to gym bag and living out of my vehicle so I had specific days dedicated to appointments, grocery shopping etc... and check-lists to help me prepare for each day.
TRL - You don't like beer right? You get to create and name your own beer as a post race bevy. Tell us about it.
JS - Beer....yuck! **hides beer behind back and looks other way**..... I would name it "Quick Feet Pale Ale". It would be infused with the sweat and tears of 1,000 runners.
TRL - Name your top three signs you've seen during a race.
JS - I've see a lot of great ones, but I will try to keep this PG (sort of)! "If this was easy, it would be called your mom", "Run like Ryan Gosling is at the finish line, holding a puppy". "If I said you had a nice iliotibial band, would you hold it against me"
TRL - What does Ted's Run mean to you?
JS - That's a loaded question! Ted's Run means many things to me. Unfortunately, I never met Ted but I've heard so many stories about the man he was. He devoted so much of his time to helping people fall in love with running, which I respect and admire so much and I try to emulate in the clinics that I instruct. I love the sense of community (between racers/volunteers/committee members) that exists within our "little race that could". I am so pleased that through our race, we are able to support Start2Finish, who are promoting running and living a healthy lifestyle to kids that will one day run this country.
