About Scott

Welcome!

It was a fall day back in 2007 when I decided that I wanted to run the New York City Marathon the following year.  I trained.  I sacrificed.  I ran it. 

As an athlete growing up and college football player, running always seemed like a punishment rather than a form of excitement or sport. Getting started with my first Marathon training program was a huge challenge and without the guidance from runner friends or the world wide web, I possibly would not have made it.

Once I allowed myself, I did fall in love with running and everything associated with it.  I loved all the gear your could buy.  I loved the training and mapping long runs.  I loved the incremental increase each week and hitting goals. I loved setting PR’s.  I loved race days.  I loved crossing the finish line.

After I completed my first Marathon I was hooked and I quickly decided to run another; the 2009 Chicago Marathon.  After tweaking my training and learning from the first experience, I ran a PR by erasing 20 minutes off my time.  At this point I was hooked even more and kept wondering “how good can I get?”.

When I am not running, and blogging about it, I am getting paid to be a Senior Vice President at a dot-com, I am being a supportive husband,  I am dying as a Mets Fan and I am enjoying everything that New York City has to offer with great friends.

So here I am having completed thousands of miles, 50+ races at all different distances, looking for my next challenge (qualifying for Boston) and blogging about it.  I am not a certified trainer or an elite runner or a nutritionist, so I have brought friends Jerry and Marisa with me to fill the “elite” voice and the “running physical therapist” role and Tanya and Sarah to fill the dietitian and nutritionist role.

I have a huge passion and respect for running as it has taught me a lot about myself. I look forward to sharing my “average Joe” running experiences, expertise and witty observations.

About Coach’s Corner

I am very lucky to know Jerry, AKA Coach Jerry the Resident Running Guru, and have him provide monthly posts which will range from training tips to gear review and motivational insight.  I met Jerry a few years ago while training for the NYC Marathon, the girl I had started dating  had a brother and that brother turned out to be Jerry, a sub-2:45 Marathoner.    Jerry and I hit it off from day 1, and he coached me to a PR by 20 minutes the following year at the Chicago Marathon.

Jerry began his collegiate running career at Georgetown University where he was coached and mentored by Frank Gagliano,  he finished his running career at the University of Kansas.  Jerry ran a 29:50 10k (4:11 min mile), he was a member of the USA Cross Country Team, member of the USA Triathlon Team and was an All-Big East and All-Big 12 selection in cross country and 10k.  Jerry has trained for and completed many Marathon’s over the past 10 years, with a PR of 2:35.  He has also completed multiple Triathlon’s and has conquered the Ironman.

Coach Jerry has coached at the High School level and coached Carnegie Mellon’s track and cross country team.

When not training,  Jerry owns a very  successful business in Kansas and is a loving husband and father.

About Runner Therapy

I met Marisa R. D’Adamo when she was treating me for some minor running pains, she is here to answer any running related problems you may have so you can tie the sneakers up pain-free with no psychological imbalances.  She will also provide valuable information so “we” runners can continue to achieve our goals and hit PR’s.  I look forward to implementing Marisa’s knowledge into my training and sharing it with everyone.

Marisa, MS PT SCS ATC, is a physical therapist in private practice in midtown NYC. When she chose to specialize in runners, she was condemned and told a ‘niche’ business would never float. Nonetheless, as an avid runner, marathoner and triathlete, she gave it a go. The result, success! Her path was chosen specifically for such. After getting her Master’s Degree at Duke University, she received an athletic training certification working with athletes at Columbia University, and then became one of only a dozen or so therapists in the state of New York with a Sports Board Certification. On graduating, Marisa worked with several elite and Olympic track and marathon runners, including winners of previous NYC and other marathons. She was the former Physical Therapy Coordinator of the ING NYC Marathon, and also provided care for athletes at the Millrose Games, Lake Placid Ironman, several road races, high school and college sports programs including the US Women’s National Soccer Team. In addition to those making money from running, she has treated hundreds of first-time marathoners and routinely sees recreational runners every day, all day. Her clinic in midtown provides only one-on-one care to runners, with no assistants or aides, because, after all, that’s what us runners need!

For more information about Marisa and her practice visit Dash Physical Therapy.

About Nutrition Nerd

Tanya Halliday is here as a bi-monthly contributor to provide you with scientifically-based sports nutrition information to help you properly fuel for runs as well as answer any nutrition questions you may have.

Tanya is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and is pursuing her PhD in Nutrition and Exercise Science at Virginia Tech. As a former NCAA Division I soccer player Tanya has always had a strong passion and interest in sports nutrition and knows first-hand the importance a proper diet plays on both athletic performance and overall health. Tanya is also very interested in nutrition based research, particularly examining the effects of diet and exercise on athletes and casual exercisers. During her undergraduate career at the University of Wyoming she worked in the Nutrition and Exercise Laboratory assessing the vitamin D status of collegiate athletes. After graduating with her Bachelor’s in Dietetics, Tanya completed an American Dietetic Association (ADA) approved Dietetic Internship through the University of Houston. During the course of her internship she provided Medical Nutrition Therapy and nutrition education to a variety of patients and clients in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. She also further honed her research skills by working in a physiology laboratory on the University of Houston’s campus, where she started her PhD before transferring to Virginia Tech.

Now that her career as a college athlete is over Tanya stays active by running, hiking, biking, lifting, and skiing. She has completed many road races from 5k to the marathon.

You can also follow Tanya at her personal blog Dine, Dash, and Deadlift.

About Runners Plate

Sarah Gold is here as a bi-monthly contributor, her column will focus on recipes, nutrition, diets and things that will help runners in the kitchen.

Sarah is a 2nd year grad student pursuing her MS in Nutrition Communication at Tufts University Friedman School in Boston. She is also completing the requirements to become a registered dietitian and will begin her dietetic internship in 2012. Sarah was a competitive gymnast growing up but once her days of tumbling came to a close, she picked up biking and running to keep in shape. She is now a certified spin instructor and an avid runner and regularly participates in road races anywhere from a 5k to a 1/2 marathon. Training for a biathlon back in 2008 sparked her interest in diet and nutrition, particularly as way to improve training and race performance.

Sarah loves everything there is about food - cooking it, eating it, and reading, writing and talking about it! You can often find her in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes and creating healthier versions of old ones.

You can read more from Sarah at her personal blog Food and Fitness Friend.