Running advice can come from anyone who knows how to put one foot in front of the other. The best running advice comes from the people with experience running, racing, and living a life filled with endurance. “The Best Advice” is a series of interviews with endurance athletes that highlights some of the rules they live by in a hope to pass along their lessons learned on the run.

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Last year I met Megan Foster in New York when I flew out to run the marathon in November, 2008. Over a pasta dinner, I got to pick her brain about running marathons, and what I should be thinking about before completing my own NYC Marathon.

(KS) How many marathons have you run?
(MF) 6

(KS) What other race distances do you like besides the marathon?
(MF) 1/2 marathon and 15K

(KS) What’s your favorite marathon?
(MF) NYC Marathon. After running it five times, it feels familiar and I know where it’s going to be easy (‘easy’ may be the wrong word) and where it’s going to hurt.

(KS) How many times have you run the NYC marathon?
(MF) 5

(KS) Do you do any visualization before/during/after a race?
(MF) When it gets tough I tell myself, “one foot in front of the other” and only look at the road in front of me. Often, after mile 23, 200 hundreds yards ahead seems too far to go. Usually the feeling passes and I hope to see a familiar face to keep me thinking about something other then the last two miles.

(KS) Do you get nervous/anxious/excited before a race?
(MF) Twice I started too fast and ruined my marathon. I think I got my 10K PR on the first 10K. I guess I got carried away running behind a women’s lead car with my time on a giant blinky board. Oops, I’ll never try that again. Experience has taught me to trust my goal pace and hold back for the first 18 miles. The most exciting part of the marathon for me is picking up my number. After that I’m nervous and have a million “what ifs” going through my head. What if I need to use the bathroom? What if I hit the wall? What if it’s too hot? What if it rains? Etc.

(KS) How do you like training with a coach/running group?
(MF) I’m still learning to run the marathon. Running with Urban Athletics has taught me different speed workouts that have definitely improved my time. Also, running with a group pushes me to run faster in practice then I do on my own.

(KS) Your boyfriend is also a marathon runner, how is that? Do you train together?
(MF) We train most of the time together… then we have our secret training sessions alone. 10k and shorter, he can stay a little too close during the race and we usually end up sprinting to the end. It’s fun running with and against Carl. Loser has to pay for the beer later that day.

(KS) The marathon is pretty painful, how do you get through it? How is your recovery afterward (any tips?)?
(MF) Give yourself a week or two and do nothing! Then do something other than running to give your running muscles a break. I started swimming this winter. It feels good to focus on your upper body for a while. I thought I was going to drown after 20 minutes the first week or two but now I can last 45 mins. I’ve been aqua jogging too. It’s sort of boring and you wear a dorky blue belt but it’s a good nonimpact workout.

(KS) What’s next for you in the marathon? Any interest in trying to break 3 hours?
(MF) I plan to set my watch at 3:05 in NYC this year and hope for the best.

(KS) How did you get into endurance running?
(MF) I ran cross country in high school. After, I did a lot of road races and never seemed to hit a wall in any distance. That said, I don’t feel the need to run longer that 26.2. At a certain point there is too much stress on your body.

(KS) If I were running a marathon next month for the first time, what advice would you give me?
(MF) Set a comfortable pace you know you can run. Your first time it’s all about knowing you can finish a marathon. Go for time on your second marathon.

(KS) Any secret Megan tips that you’d like to share? (About training, racing, gear?)
(MF) Several years ago I started setting my watch to beep on my ideal race pace. It totally changed my way of racing. During a long race I did funny math in my head to figure out if I was on pace or not and usually just confused myself. Now, when I hear my beep I know exactly where I am and if I should slow down or pick it up in relation to the mile markers.

(KS) Have you ever tried out some “woo woo” gadget that all the runners are using and found it helpful? or… a total waste of money?
(MF) Not yet, however I may invest in a garmin forerunner this spring. For Christmas, Carl bought me some running sunglasses for the long runs. This is as high tech as I’ve gotten so far.

(KS) How much time do you spend training? Does it ever interfere with other parts of your life? (Job/friends/family/interests)
(MF) Most of the year training does not interfere with my life. The longer runs during marathon training seem to take over the weekend however I still go out with friends and have a few beers. Carl and I think of it as part of the training. It makes race day seem easy when we go to bed early and don’t drink beer the night before.

(KS) What are your goals for 2009?
(MF) To run as close to 3 hours as possible in NYC in November and break 1:30 for the half marathon.

Megan is a runner and artist in New York City. View Megan’s prints and paintings: Meganfoster.net