Tim
Hello, my name is Timothy Kieser.
I am originally from east central Illinois and moved out to the area May 11, 2015. I met my wife in Lincoln Nebraska and we married 3 years later in Index Wa on 10/17/2016, eloping with just the 4 closest people to us. We have a dog named Max, I've been with him since March of 2007 and we share the same birthday.
I picked up casually running in 2011 when my little brother started running to "keep this a 4" as he would say. I wouldn't become a regular runner until 2013 when I started training for the Chicago Marathon later that fall. When I got hurt 6 weeks before the race, I showed up to simply cross the finish line. That would become my theme, start putting on miles and then quit after I injured myself. Never having a coach or a running community to learn from, I would continue to sideline myself as I constantly pushed myself too hard and ran too fast.
After a year of dating my wife, she became interested in running. While doing my best to help her run and train intelligently, I was struggling to follow my own advice and second guessed my own strategies. I had managed to post a good year of training before, and some pretty decent PR times in the 1/2 and full, so I felt like I knew what I was doing. I just needed that outside observation to be the stronger voice of reason and an objective mind for both my wife and I to train and stay healthy with. I started to feel like I needed a coach, I later started wanting one. When I posted a strong winter training season, I was feeling like I was as fit as I've ever been and was eagerly anticipating setting my new PR's. During mile 11 of an 8 mile easy run, at tempo run pace, I felt my achilles getting sore. Finishing my 12 mile tempo run that was supposed to be an easy 8, would be the last miles I would run for many, many months. I was now rehabbing a strained achilles and suffering mentally and physically for it. My wife is the one who found CRC, knowing that I needed structure but was too stupid to ask for it.
We joined CRC around the end of June 2017 after I performed a phone interrogation on our unfortunate team manager. We attended our first team run and Yon took the time to welcome me to the group and stayed late after the run to answer questions and get to know us. He was patient, thoughtful, and came off very genuine. I remember walking away, still very skeptical, but feeling like there could be a huge upside to this club for both my wife and I. Over the next couple months, my feelings were confirmed. With Yon and the coaching staff around, I could bounce off my thoughts on my achilles injury and get instant feedback from elite and experienced runners. I managed to recover from my injury while running, riding that fine line with the experience and knowledge of the coaching staff guiding the process. For the rest of the 2017 season, I ran injury free and set new PR's in the mile, 5K, 10K and 1/2 marathon. Had I ran a full, I have no doubt I would have set that PR too. As far as my running goes, CRC is absolutely the best thing that's happened for me.
I found myself getting excited on group run days. Mondays simply became the day before Tuesday group runs. Thursdays were not the day before the end of the week now, it was the day my wife and I got to meet up with our running family for strength class or a run. Friday nights became exciting because group long runs were the very next morning. Running was always fun, but not like this. Laughing during painful speed drills in the summer heat, getting soaked on rain drenched runs, and suffering through a race as you put it all out there has never been this much fun. People in the run club have become friends and we finally feel like we have found our home out here in the PNW, with CRC and all of it's unique and lovable members.
Half Marathon PR: 1:25:05
Marathon PR: 3:11:42
Training Pace: 5:15 - 8:00
Favorite Shoes: Anything Altra
Favorite Race Distance: 1/2 for now
Favorite Racing Experience: When I first started dating my wife, I ran the Hospital Hill 1/2 in KC during a torrential downpour that delayed the start by an hour. She stood by herself at the finish line and waited for me to finish, underscoring her commitment to support me through anything. It's the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to me.
Favorite CRC Memory: My favorite memory from my first season would have to be my last minute decision to pace another CRC member the last 14-15 miles of their marathon. The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful and I got to support another CRC member while they boarded the pain train for the home stretch.