Welcome to Workout Wednesday! Here’s the deal: Every Wednesday I am going to post an answer to a fitness question. Mostly I will be talking about running, because that is my first love, my current favorite form of exercise, and it is the area of fitness where I have the most experience and knowledge. However, there will definitely be posts where I talk about other topics pertaining to exercise and fitness.

The question I answer might be one a friend has asked me, a question I once had, or a question I still struggle with. If you have a fitness/running question you want answered here, shoot me an email! Nothing would make me happier than hearing from you. If I know the answer to your question I will answer it. If I don’t know the answer, I promise not to give you some bullshit non-answer answer. I hate when people do that. Instead, I will tell you, “I’m sorry but I don’t know.”

So, first things first….

Question: Pam, why in the world do you think you are qualified to answer any questions about running or about fitness in general?

Answer: Good question. In fact, I asked Dan this very question myself just the other day. Here’s the deal. I don’t claim to be a physician, a coach, a guru, or an expert of any kind. I am a person who loves exercising (especially running). I have never been a natural athlete. I was picked last for every team as a kid. But when I discovered I loved to run, I also learned how much I love to train, race, and move toward accomplishing my goals. I have worked hard over many years to become a better athlete.

I have been running for over 20 years. I ran my first marathon in 2001, and since then I have been hooked on endurance sports. I’ve run six marathons, completed two ironman triathlons, participated in several multi-day road cycling tours, and I have competed in countless shorter events over the years. I became certified to teach indoor cycling classes in 2004 and have been teaching on and off ever since then.

Since having my first child in 2012, I have focused on running, due to the unfortunate circumstance of there being only so many hours in a day. I achieved a personal record of 1:44 in the half marathon when my daughter was eight months old.  You can read about my other PR’s here. My long-term goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. First, however, I need to accomplish my short-term goal of establishing a regular sleep pattern for the baby, who is now 7 weeks old.

I love helping people accomplish their fitness goals. I coached a friend to his first half ironman finish and I coached Dan to his first sprint triathlon finish. I also wrote a training plan for what was supposed to be Dan’s best post-college 5k ever (although I beat him in that one, so it turned out be my best 5k ever). I believe that anyone can cross any finish line they set their mind to (barring any real physical limitations, like a bad knee or a bad back).

I’m looking forward to chatting fitness with you over the course of the weekly Workout Wednesday series!