Vitality
A
lthough Berry had only run a few 5ks previously, the goals and achievements soon started piling up. In January 2013, Berry ran the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon as part of a company-sponsored event. A few months later, he broke the two-hour mark in San Diego, achieving his year’s goal. In 2014, he turned his sights toward completing two marathons. “Marathon training is a whole different mentality,” Berry says. “Waking up on a Sunday and saying, ‘I’m going to run 22 miles’ isn’t something you normally get up and do.” For 2015, Berry ratcheted back on the distance — but not on his ambition: 10 half marathons around the country in the Rock ‘n’ Roll series. As of early November, he’d completed eight of them, with Savannah, Georgia, and Las Vegas left to go before the close of the year. (He was also down 45 pounds from the point when he started his running program!) His plan in Savannah was to break his year’s best time (1:38:40 in January in Arizona) on the fast, flat coastal course. In Las Vegas — in addition to hitting his tenth half marathon of the year — there would be another reason to celebrate: his girlfriend’s first race at the 13.1-mile distance.
Couch to Half Marathon “Traveling with Guy, and experiencing the palpable energy at the races, was the driving force to get me out there,” says Ariane Pettit, a 6th-grade teacher at Mirage Elementary School. “I would get so emotional at the finish lines, watching competitors push it those last few feet, that I started thinking, ‘What’s stopping me?’”
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Healthstyle Magazine • Winter 2015
Although she’d been a swimmer and played softball and volleyball in her youth, Pettit’s adult fitness activities had leaned more toward hiking and yoga—so starting running in May 2015 was a definite change of mindset for her. “Guy pushed me to keep up with a 9-minute pace in the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego 5k, and that opened my eyes to the fact that I was capable of running faster and longer distances.” To train for the half, she followed a 14-week guide from a copy of Women’s Running magazine that she’d grabbed at the San Diego event.
New Year, New Goals Berry has two goals for 2016, number one being to break four hours in a full marathon for the first time. “The other one is breaking three hours in an Olympic triathlon,” he says. Pettit says, “Once I finish the Las Vegas half marathon, the goal will be beat that time in the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll 2016. I also need to invest in new running shoes—my big toes have little sun roofs in the mesh on top.” What does the couple advise for anyone looking to make events a part of their fitness routine? “Each year, I come up with new goals to challenge myself,” Berry says. “For anyone who hasn’t run a race, just get out and walk one, and you’ll realize what a motivating experience it is.” Pettit advises telling others about your goals and asking them to hold you accountable. “My students ask me all the time about my running,” she says. “I post pictures from runs and a strategy board so they can see my work towards my goal — it’s a great way to model for them that goalsetting is a real-world skill.”