NorthShore presents the next blog in our series where we follow Becky as she trains for the Chicago Marathon on the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports (GLASA) Charity Team. About two months out from her big race, we check in to get to know her better and see how training is going.

Have you always lived in the Chicagoland area? If not, where did you grow up?
Except for a five-year period where I went to graduate school in Seattle and then worked in New York, I have been here in the Chicagoland area. 

What is your age? Do you think it helps you with training?
I’m 43 years old and I don’t think my age affects my training positively or negatively.  Training is most affected by the rest of my life stuff...competing priorities.

What is your home life like?
I’m married with four kids that range from 3 to 16 years old, so home life is hectic :)

When you’re not training, what are you doing to keep the lights on – what’s your job?
I’m the VP of Biostatistics and Programming for a clinical research organization.   

How do you balance your responsibilities with training?
To be honest, balancing my responsibilities with training has been tough.  One thing that has really helped me is meeting a friend for long runs on Sundays.  Knowing that someone is there waiting for me is very motivating. 

You are two months out from your big event, how do you feel about it?
I’m a bit nervous.  The last marathon that I ran was in 2010 before my last two kids were born!

How is training going? What does your schedule look like?
Training is going ok!  I try to run three days per week (one short, one medium, one long run) and do cross training two days per week.

What has been your favorite part about training for the marathon so far?
Doing the long runs with my buddy on Sunday mornings.  A good excuse to chat it up :)

Training is tough, especially on top of a busy life and responsibilities. How do you push past the days that you don’t feel like training?
I remind myself how good I feel after I complete a workout...and I also remind myself that I’d prefer not to crawl across the finish line, ha ha.

What are you most looking forward to after the marathon?
Eating something delicious - Lou Malnati’s? Portillo’s?  A milkshake from the Shake Shack? The possibilities are endless.