Originally from Pittsburgh, David has moved around quite a bit, including stops in Arizona, California, back to Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.  Most recently, he has settled in Houston (Pearland) where he works as an engineer for Continental / United.  David is married with a two kids, six and eight years old.  He reports that his eldest is a bit into running kids races, but only so she can stay one medal ahead of her younger brother!  Having met his wife through a running club in Pittsburgh, David has enjoyed running with clubs each place he has lived, and has even coached USA F.I.T. teams along the way.

Coach: How did you start running?

DB:   Well, when I was in California, one of my coworkers in 1995 talked me into doing the 1996 Los Angeles Marathon.  I was completely oblivious to any of the training plans out there, so I bought a book.  It was kind of disastrous.  What helped me was the Mt. Baldy run, 8 miles up.  Hill training really helped me, and I ran a lot with some of the Road Runners clubs.  10 years after I left California, I found a club in Pittsburgh, called People Who Run Downtown.  Every Tuesday evening, they would meet at a bar or a restaurant and run 2,4, or 6 miles.  By the time I moved to Houston, I had run three marathons by that point and run Pittsburgh.  I thought I was done with the long runs, but my boss was running Houston.  I met him at mile 22 and ended up running him in.  I kind of caught the bug again, so here I am looking forward to two more marathons this year.

Coach: Who is your running role model?

DB: The only role models I have, I realize they are the people I have met through the running clubs.  They are the typical runner, anywhere from a 3.5 hour marathoner to the people that are doing the walking.  Everyone is out there to enjoy themselves, just have fun, and get to know people.

Coach: What has been your most memorable running / racing experience?

DB: I was trying to remember all the racing that I have done so I could answer this question.  I came up with one idea, but in this case it was it was more of an incentive for me while I am racing.  My wife and kids try to get around the marathon course to see me as many times as they can.  I try not to allow her to do this [by going as fast as possible]!   The slower I go, the more times they can see me.  So, she had a PR of five two years ago when I ran 4:30.  However, no matter what race it is, that has always been the most memorable thing, coming around the bend and seeing them.

Coach: What have you enjoyed about working with us?

DB:   A lot of it has been talking and emailing with the coaches.  One of the things I really like is that even when I have coached, it is a standard schedule and doesn’t take into account your fitness.  With this, you can run a time trial and if you end up doing better than what is showing, then you can have your schedule adjusted so you can train harder and vice versa.  I really dread speed work, I’d much prefer hills.  Because I am not that fast right now, I can do my speed work on the treadmill.  I do my warm up on the track, then set the treadmill on a slight incline and set the paces for what FNF has told me.  Although I dread doing it, it is a balance between not looking forward to it, and seeing the payback for it.

Coach: What is one part of your racing routine you can’t do without (sleep, pre race meal, tie shoes certain way, other ritual)?

DB:   I guess I have a couple.  One I have had from a racing standpoint from the California club days is that only on a run of 10 of miles or more, I’ll do Vaseline on my feet.  I don’t know if I would get blisters otherwise, but I have never gotten blisters doing it.  A bunch of us would do mud runs, so we got dogtags, and everywhere I go now I get new ones, even if the information is already on my bib.  I got shoe tags from USA FIT, and still use those.

Coach: What is your favorite place to go for a run?

DB:  Whenever we go on vacation, no matter where we go.  I’ll usually go for an early morning run; not a fast run, but just exploring, finding parks and restaurants.  Then during the day we’ll try out those parks and restaurants.

Coach: In the next year, what goals do you hope to accomplish?

DB:   I hope to actually come up with that magical racing moment. I’ve worked with Kate on the schedule because I am really training for Houston.  It will be a big jump for New York, but I am just using it as a long run.  I’m hoping to run a reasonably slow, well-paced long run. My dad and grandfather grew up there and I have only really been there twice, once to help with clean up after 9/11.  I’ve run Houston, and even though last year was fantastic, it Is still businesslike.

My goals for Houston last year were first, always finish, and second, break a PR (4:13).  The third goal was to break four hours.  I ran 4:03.  I was happy, as the projection from FNF was 4:04. I knew from mile 12 that I wasn’t going to break the four.  I was going to move on to half marathons, but now I’m optimistic that as long as I stay healthy I have a reasonable shot at it!