Interview with Bryan Schneider!
We have a very special Isthmus Runner interview for you. Bryan Schneider, a Stevens Point native, is finishing up his master’s degree in library science here at UW-Madison. While earning his master’s degree, he has been busy running some pretty impressive races. Some of the highlights include a 2:36.45 at last year’s Boston Marathon! He also won the inaugural Instep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon in Milwaukee in 2:37.03. During his undergraduate days, Bryan ran for Ripon College.
When and/or how did you start running?
I had pretty terrible asthma as a kid growing up and my dad, being a runner, thought running would be a good way to strengthen my lungs. My doctor said that it couldn’t hurt to try, so I started running with my dad. It was pretty miserable at first, but I just grew to love it. I’m very grateful I have parents that would think to do something like that for their kid.
You posted some great times while running at Ripon College. What was a highlight from your running days at Ripon?
As I get older, the first thing that slips from my memories are times and finishing places in races. The memories of practice and running with my teammates are what now sticks. Running with a group of guys year round really builds some strong bounds.
I know the marathon is one of your strongest distances. What do you like about that race?
Honestly, I'm not really sure if I truly appreciate the distance yet. The thing I probably like the most is the camaraderie that marathoners possess. In college, or even high school, it is all about beating your competition. That is really not the case for non-elite marathoners. We are all out there with a common goal. Some are faster, some are slower, but everyone respects each other for just attempting the distance.
When did you run your first marathon? How did it go?
I was 19 when I ran my first marathon. Maybe I shouldn't say that, I never told my college coach and he wouldn’t be pleased with me.
I’ve always just loved long distances and wanted to try it. I believe I ran 2:44 at Grandma's Marathon. The last 10k was brutal. My body wasn't physically ready for it.
Last year you won the inaugural Instep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon at the Petit Center in Milwaukee (see picture below). The race consisted of running around a 400+ meter track 93 times. What was the most challenging part of that race?
The mental aspect, but I pretty much just spaced it all out. This was evident in the fact I only drank about 8 ounces of Gatorade during the race. People kept yelling at me to drink, but I was just in a zone. That's pretty much the only way you can get through a race like that.
Would you do it again?
Only if someone breaks my course record (laughs).
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(Michael Sears, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
What have been some of the highlights of your running since graduating from college?
Finding out what kind of runner I am. I'm not really that big of a fan of racing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have races as milestones, but running is much purer than that. Training for marathons is something I've treasured since graduation. Being alone and still being able to push myself on long 20 to 25 mile training runs is something I never thought I'd be capable of. Those runs are a representation of something very internal that drives me. I never knew that aspect of myself until I embarked on these longer races.
If you could give one piece of advice to beginning marathoners, what would you tell them?
Just be confident in everything you do. Running is very personal, I’ve never been a supporter of these one-size-fits-all training plans. They are good for first-time marathoners, but runners should be always analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. Once you do this, you can really cater your training to match.
To put this in perspective, though, I don’t even measure my training courses or am ever really concerned about how fast I am running (unless I'm on a track). Running is all about feel and running comfortably. You want to run fast, not hard. This is an adage I’m buying into more and more as the days pass.
At Berkeley Running Company, there's a good group of people running the Boston Marathon this year. You ran a really solid race there last year. Any advice to first-time Boston marathoners?
Everyone talks about the hills, and yes, they are tough. You’re not going to make any friends with the Newton hills, but don't worry too much about them. Do some downhill, yes downhill, running to prepare for the course. Enjoy the moment, though. That is a regret I have from Boston. I was very caught up in running fast and forgot about the moment.
Any special goals for 2010?
I have a few. Mostly just trying to run fast again. I’m going to try to help some of my former college teammates run some fast 10K times on the track. Other than that, probably try to finish around the top 5 at Crazylegs.
These are very dependent on my schedule. I’m finishing my master’s degree in May and also looking for employment. That's not the easiest in this economy.
Are you running any marathons this year? What are you hoping for?
Yes, I believe I'm going to run Chicago. I wrote down “2:29:59 @ Chicago” on a piece of paper as my New Year's resolution. So, I should probably try not to break my resolution (laughs).
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