FW: So, is there a large running community in Phoenix?
SL: There is; it’s funny though, you would think that it would be larger. Now that I’ve gone to different cities, like Minneapolis, there’s a huge running community there, so I have that to compare Phoenix to. We have a good running community, but I think that it can be better. The new P.F. Chang’s Marathon coming there has contributed to growing the running community; it’s heightened the awareness of running and it has resurged the running community and the enthusiasm. So, that’s been nice.

FW: How is it to train in the desert?
SL: I absolutely love it, to be perfectly honest. The USA Masters Marathon Championships is in October and I always run that, so I train through the summer and I seem to have the best training cycle in the summer, probably because I have to be home to get ready for work by 7:00 AM every morning, so all of my runs have to be early.

FW: So, let’s talk about the many things that you are involved with. I’d like to first know more about your marketing manager job.
SL: I’ve been kind of lucky. Two years ago, I got a divorce, so I had to go back to work. So, to try to find a balance, I wanted to find a job that supported my running so that I could, in turn, support the kids. So, I work for Foothills Sports Medicine, and of course, their specialty is physical therapy for athletes, so that’s great for me to have athletic trainers and personal trainers there. Also, with my position, we decided to start a running group. So, last August, we had a kickoff meeting. We didn’t really advertise, we just put a few flyers up and we had over 100 people sign up for this group, actually we ended up with 130 beginner runners that I coached for the P.F. Chang’s Marathon. So, the marketing position kind of turned into a coaching position too because it tied in nicely. I was able to have physical therapists at our training, at our workouts, and at our long runs in case people had injuries and questions, so we just tried to make it really fun, a nice slow progression, so that we could keep people injury-free and have fun during the training.

A local wine bar, called My Wine Cellar, sponsored with us. The owner of My Wine Cellar, Kathleen [Fordyce] is actually from New York. So, the team is called Foothills Sports Medicine and My Wine Cellar Running Team. On the back of the shirts, it says “We run for wine, not time.” So, I think the group was a huge success because of all of the elements that we had in the group. Because of the More [Magazine] Marathon, to be perfectly honest, I have a lot of exposure, even in my community, so that’s inspired a lot of women my age to think “Well gosh, if she can do it, I can do it.” So, I would say that 75 percent of the group are women in their late 30s, early 40s, and 50s.

FW: Wow, that’s really neat! You brought some of them up here with you, didn’t you?
SL: Yes, we have 10 of them running.

FW: Is it the first marathon or half-marathon for any of them?
SL: It’s Christine’s first half-marathon. They’re all doing the half-marathon. They paired each other up. A lot more people wanted to come, but it’s expensive to come up here, and requires a lot of time. So, this year we have 10, maybe next year, we will have 30, who knows?

It’s really fun. I think everything happens for a reason in life. I started running and gained a healthier lifestyle and fitness. I had amazing experiences, and now, I feel like it’s my turn to give back. I’ve gotten so much out of it, so now, I am able to give back to these women, and I’m able to inspire them and encourage them. They’re all kind of where I was nine years ago. They’re like “Boy, this feels good and I am in the best shape of my life. I’m accomplishing things that I never thought I could.” At the end of the P.F. Chang’s Marathon, I had a decent race and I was happy with myself, but I actually had more joy from watching these gals. For many of them, it was their first marathon or first half-marathon.

FW: That’s so great!
SL: I know, I almost get teary-eyed just talking about it. They were very inspiring!

FW: If you were to look back at your life, say 15 years ago, is this something you could even conceive of?
SL: : Never, ever, ever! If you knew me in high school, I skipped gym! I don’t even know if I passed gym now that I think about it. I didn’t like to sweat. I hated going to gym because then I had to shower afterwards and wreck my hair. I was just kind of a girly-girl. I was not athletic at all. My girlfriends from high school and back then cannot believe I am doing this [laughing]. I was never heavy or really overweight; I was a thin, out-of-shape person [laughing].

FW: What attracts you to run the More Magazine Marathon?
SL: The first year I ran it, I was 41, and I wanted to run it specifically because it was for women over 40. I was new to masters-level running, and I just started being competitive. I liked what it stood for, just to be fit and 40, so it ended up being a great experience. The More Magazine people were great; New York Road Runners was great; it was such a fun experience. Running to me is about the competition and I love to do my best, but it’s the journey and the experiences I have had that have been the most rewarding.

My first More Marathon actually has a very special meaning to me because I had been in the hospital the December before that for two months, in and out, because I had an emergency hysterectomy in the middle of November. I went home and started recuperating and in December, there were complications from it, so I was back in and they had to open me up again, so it was kind of a disaster.

What running gave me mentally helped me through all of that because I never felt sorry for myself, I would just get up and say “ Today, I am going to do one lap around the nurses’ station and tomorrow I’ll do two laps around the nurses’ station, and by New Years Day, I am going to do my first run again. So, sure enough, I had a really fun New Years Eve party with a bunch of friends and a lot of them stayed the night, and I got up the next day and did my first run on New Years Day and that was the first year that I ran the More Marathon, in 2005 and I ran a 2:45, so for me, it was a great example of how you can really accomplish anything with a great program and a plan. I was able to get back in shape in four months.

FW: Along the same lines, to run a marathon, you have to have a lot of mental tenacity, especially when you are racing by yourself for patches of a race, and in some cases, even the whole race. How do you accomplish that so well? What keeps you motivated out there?
SL: I run one mile at a time; I run within the moment. Even though I ran a lot of the More Marathon alone last year and the year before too, the other women [some running the half-marathon and some that she ends up lapping] are cheering for me, and I’m cheering for them, so it inspires me to keep going.

When I am running a race by myself or if I am in a patch by myself, I guess I can stay pretty mentally focused. I know that if you let your mind start to wander, you slow down a little bit; I do a head check and make sure I am loose from head to toe; I make sure I am relaxed. I’m basically constantly thinking about my form. I try not to think about the end, just the mile, so really I have 26 goals in the race.

FW: What do you try to aim for as far as your mile splits?
SL: Well, Sunday [for the More Magazine Marathon], I’d like to be between a 6:15 and a 6:20 mile pace. Central Park is a little harder because it’s up and down, so it’s tough to get even splits, so I guess that I’ll just know that my uphills will be a little slower and my downhills will hopefully be a little faster.

FW: So, how does it feel to be very close to the Olympic A-Standard for the marathon?
SL: Well, I ran a 2:41 last year at P.F. Chang’s and my goal was to run a 2:38 there this year, however [laughing], life becomes a little out of balance with my marketing and coaching position, my running, and my kids, so I wasn’t able to put in the training that’s required. After the More Marathon, I’m going to refocus and maybe drop a couple of things at work so that I can have the time to dedicate to running. This fall, I would like to get the A-Standard so I can have that for the Trials. I haven’t picked a marathon yet, but since I do have my best training all summer, I’d like to use the summer to train hard and then have a little time to recover for the marathon. I figure at 44, it would be really fun to go in there with the A-Standard.

FW: I read a quote in a recent article, where Brett Shumacher said that it’s your confidence that places you above most runners. Tell me where that stems from.
SL: My mom. 100 percent. I was raised being told that I could do anything. Any dream, any desire I had, my mom said that I could absolutely do that. All my life, I never heard the words “I can’t.” I guess that it’s just never crossed my mind that I can’t do something. I’m also realistic too, so I know what’s within my reach. I guess that if I just put my mind to something and I work really hard at it, then I can accomplish anything. I owe all of this to my mom.

FW: It must be wonderful for her to see you race.
SL: It is. She and my dad surprised me at the 2004 Olympic Trials. And this race on Sunday is very special so I wanted to share it with my mom and my sister. My sister joined the running group in August. Basically, I wanted Charlotte to show up to this meeting because I was thinking “What if nobody joins? What if nobody shows up?!” So, Charlotte came to that meeting just in case nobody trained or nobody showed up. I was blessed though because so many people joined. Charlotte stuck with the group and ran her first half-marathon at P.F. Chang’s and she couldn’t run around the block last August. So, it’s changing her life, and she has met new people, and she’s inspiring other people. So, for my mom to come here, it’s very special to us!

FW: So your mother and sister both live in Phoenix as well?
SL: Yes, they just moved there two years ago from Seattle. It was basically because I was never moving back to Seattle and they wanted to be closer to my kids.

FW: So you love the shift from Seattle to Phoenix.
SL: I do. When I moved to Phoenix, I originally said that I’d be here for two years at the most. After two months being there, I said “I’ll never move back home.” It’s just so great, especially for the kids. They’re very athletic; my one son’s on the high school baseball team; another son plays club soccer, so 365 days a year, they can be outside playing.

FW: Tell me more about your kids.
SL: I have three boys. Michael is almost 21. Taylor is 14, and Chris is 10. They’re great kids; I’m very, very blessed. They’re healthy; they’re athletic; they’re happy. I always wanted girls, but now I couldn’t imagine not having all boys. I love them so much.

FW: One last thing I want to ask you is about your strength training. I’m sure that helps with your stamina, so tell me more specifics about your training.
SL: Well, when I started training for my first More Marathon after my surgery, I thought “What can I add to my training to make me stronger and faster and more fit? “ And it was strength training, so I started training with Jeff Bloom at Foothills Sports Medicine, so he puts me through a great program that has a lot of core, upper body, and legs, and some plyometrics depending on where I am in my running cycle. I think that’s why I had such a good More Marathon after recovering from surgeries, because I was really, really strong. So, it’s been over two years, and I still train with Jeff two times a week. I also think that I am getting faster even after 40 because I added strength training. I’ve been injury free and continue to get stronger because of strength training, so I can’t imagine a training program without any focus on strength training.

I do speed work once a week, a tempo run once a week, a long run, and strength training twice a week. I do a lot of higher reps, lower weights and a lot of core. I do squats and lunges just to strengthen my legs. I was having a hamstring issue last year, so I strengthened all of the muscles around it so I haven’t had any problems since.

It’s so important to be balanced as well. I allow myself to eat brownies and red wine; as long as you’re good with your nutrition 90 % of the time, that’s what counts. Sleep is important too, and that’s what I need to work on the next training cycle.

FW: Thank you for sharing all of this great information. I look forward to watching you and your teammates compete on Sunday. Do you have specific goals for Sunday?
SL: Thank you; I’m really excited! You know, I always go into each race with three goals: a dream goal, a realistic goal, and a suck-it-up-and-finish goal (that’s always the third goal because I never want to quit). My dream goal would to break the 2:45 that I ran the very first year I came here; the reason I choose not to make that my realistic goal is because they did change the course a little bit, so it will be a little bit hillier. My realistic goal is around 2:47 or 2:48. And as for the suck-it-up-and-finish, I don’t even want to think about that [laughing]; that’s not going to happen.

Editor's Update: Susan Loken won the More Magazine Marathon for the third consecutive year. She finished in 2:47:52, more than 23 minutes in front of runner-up Gordon Bakoulis, 46, of New York City (3:11:24).

Interview conducted on March 23, 2007, and posted on March 24, 2007.