{"id":660,"date":"2016-08-29T23:55:58","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T03:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/?p=660"},"modified":"2016-08-29T23:55:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T03:55:58","slug":"transcript-marathon-runner-talia-levine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/transcript-marathon-runner-talia-levine\/","title":{"rendered":"Transcript: Marathon Runner Talia Levine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandra McGill:<\/strong> If you would, please tell me your name and your title.<\/p>\n

Talia Levine:<\/strong> Talia Levine, and I am a graduate assistant at the National Park Service. Is that the title you wanted?<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Sure! That\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Okay.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And you\u2019re a second-year master\u2019s student?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I\u2019m a first<\/em>-year master\u2019s student at the Odum School of Ecology.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Okay. And how do I spell your name?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> T-A-L-I-A, and last name is Levine: L-E-V-I-N-E.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Excellent. And you are running a marathon. Would you tell me about that?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Yes. I am running the New York Marathon on November 6, and I\u2019ve never run a marathon before. I\u2019ve done half-marathons. I\u2019m actually doing this one because my mother passed away just under two years ago, and had a very sudden heart attack. She was very healthy, and [this was] unexpected. So I am running with the American Heart Association team and fund raising for them, so that\u2019s why I decided to run it.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Excellent. And did you run half-marathons at all before she passed away?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Yes. So I\u2019ve been running\u2014I\u2019ve been doing races for the last 10 years. I did my first half-marathon 10 years ago. So I\u2019ve done\u2014I guess I\u2019ve run about five or six half-marathons, but never a full.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Okay. And what inspired you to initially start running?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Um \u2026 that\u2019s a good question. I think part\u2014well, I think I started, you know, for weight loss and probably to get in shape\u2014a lot of what initially motivates people. But I think I have kept doing it because it\u2019s good for one\u2019s sanity. (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> So first for weight; now for sanity.<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Yes. (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Wow; neat. Tell me your training schedule.<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> So right now I run three kind of shorter to moderate runs throughout the week, and then a long run on the weekend. And it kind of ramps up each week, so this past weekend I ran 10 on Saturday, and this upcoming weekend I\u2019ll have to run 12.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Miles or kilometers?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Miles.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Okay.<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> And I\u2019m trying to remember\u2014I think\u2014well, nevermind: I\u2019m not going to say that because I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s accurate. But that\u2019s about what the schedule is. And then you have another day or two where you can throw in some cross-training, if you want to do walking or swimming or biking or something, if you\u2019re not exhausted, which generally I am. (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And how long are your short runs, generally?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Right now they are five and six miles.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And at what time of day do you run those?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> It depends on my schedule with school, but anywhere from\u2014um\u2014sometimes, you know, seven in the morning; five in the morning, sometimes nine or 10 at night\u2014it just depends on when I can get it in. So I don\u2019t have a very patterned schedule! (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Cool beans. What inspired you to run a full marathon this time?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s been on my bucket list; I just wanted to see if I could do it. When I first started running halfs, I didn\u2019t think that I could run a half. I just learned that, like anything else, you just have to work at it and train, and if you dedicate yourself to it, you can accomplish it. So I\u2019ve wanted to kind of test myself with the full to see if I can do that without dying! (laughs) That\u2019s my main goal.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What do you expect?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Uh, potentially to die! (laughs) I expect I\u2019m going to\u2014I\u2019m prepared to walk\/run, so I don\u2019t think\u2014it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve run. So this is really just to kind of get back into it. So I hope to finish: that is my goal, just to finish and try to enjoy [it]. [I\u2019ll] get to run through the five villas of New York, so I\u2019ll try to enjoy the experience and not be too hard on myself. So that is my expectation: just to walk across that finish line, or run. I guess run would be better. (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And why did you choose one so far away?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Um, I think just because it\u2019s an iconic race. And I wanted something I would be excited about to motivate me to train for it and do it.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Awesome. Tell me about the American Heart Association. Why are you specifically running for them?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> So I have lost two family members to heart-related conditions: my grandmother died when she was\u2014when I was a baby\u2014from a stroke, very suddenly, and then my mom of a heart attack. So, um, just kind of seeing how people\u2019s lives can change somewhat dramatically: even when you think someone\u2019s healthy and, you know, skinny and exercises and eats right, there are still underlying conditions that people can have. So I wanted to support their research and their health outreach programs to hopefully prevent that from happening in other people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And how have you found running and training is fitting in with your own health?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s been really good. I think, you know\u2014I\u2019m sure you can relate: having started grad school, I probably would not be exercising right now if I were not, you know, afraid that I would be embarrassed (laughs) in three months\u2019 time by not being able to finish the race. So I think it\u2019s been a good motivator for me, and I find that when I have a schedule like that, that I\u2019m a lot more likely to stick to it than when left to my own devices.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Did you run for any charitable causes before your mom passed?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> This is\u2014no. I mean, I think I\u2019ve done races in the past that have supported charitable causes, but this is the first time I\u2019ve kind of taken on fundraising as part of a racing experience.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> And I know your mom passed away two years ago, you said. Why wait until now?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I was going to\u2014so, it happened in December of 2014. I was actually supposed to run last year, [but] I hurt myself and couldn\u2019t do it. So I deferred until this year, and I\u2019m running with a team this year. So I\u2019ve actually kind of been fundraising for two years! (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Tell me about the fundraising aspect.<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> So you have to raise $3,500 to run, and last year I raised $6,500! This year has not been as profitable, because I think most people donated last year. But luckily I don\u2019t have a level I have to achieve this year; they\u2019re letting me run because I already did my fundraising. But I\u2019m still trying, and techniques I\u2019m using\u2014aside from peer pressure\u2014are I have a dog who likes to sing. So every time someone donates, she and I sing a song together and post it to the person\u2019s Facebook wall. (laughs) And I\u2019ve even thought about trying to record something to send to Ellen DeGeneres, to see if she would feature it and maybe some. So that is in the works in the next couple of months. (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> That\u2019s hilarious. That is very funny!<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> You gotta get creative, you know?! [There are a lot of] people with a lot of causes. You have to do something to stand out a little.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What are your other techniques for raising funds?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Um, you know, the first time was really easy because there were a lot of people who really loved my mom, so I [reached out] to a lot of her friends and family members. Facebook has\u2014I\u2019m not a huge social-media person, but Facebook was definitely, you know, paramount in helping me to achieve that goal and kind of getting the message out. Honestly, it really was pretty easy last year because of that. This year I\u2019m having more trouble and am needing to get a little more creative. I\u2019m a group fitness instructor, and I\u2019ve taught yoga in the past, so I\u2019ve thought about maybe trying to organize some classes for donation, or things like that toward the end of things. If I\u2019m not kind of at the level where I want to be, to see if I can maybe boost my donations generated a little bit.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Is that because you don\u2019t want to ask the same people again?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Yeah\u2014I mean, you know. People were pretty generous in their donations last year, and I know that people have a lot of things going on. So I\u2019ll probably email some of the people who didn\u2019t donate last year, who maybe, you know, might be interested in doing it this year. But I don\u2019t like pressuring people too much. I want to make them feel like there\u2019s something in it for them.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> You mentioned [the race benefits] the American Heart Association. Why that particular vascular association as opposed to another one that also does vascular research?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Hmm; that\u2019s a good question. I think they\u2019re just kind of the primary one that comes to mind. I\u2019ve been CPR certified and AED certified through them for many years. So I think people just kind of respect that organization, and think that they make a huge impact in people\u2019s lives. So I guess they were kind of the first that came to mind, and since they do stroke and heart disease and heart attack, it seemed like it fit my situation well.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Do you happen to know how much of the funds that are raised go toward research and that kind of thing, as opposed to operational expenses?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> That\u2019s a good question. They send us emails about how they are going to use the funds, and they did send a communication out recently about (searches her phone for the email)\u2014oh, I\u2019m not going to be able to find it. But they sent something out about how much it takes for certain preventive education [and] things like that. I should have a better answer to that, and I don\u2019t. but I can certainly follow up with you about that later.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> If you find that email, would you send it to me?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Sure.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> My email address is sandralmcgill@gmail.com<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Sure. I\u2019ll try to find that tonight.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> How long have you been training for this particular marathon?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> This one, I\u2019ve been seriously [training] for about six weeks, and I\u2019ve got about ten weeks to go. So I was kind of running a little bit off and on before that, but my schedule is a 16-week training schedule.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What would you like people to know?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I think that you can never judge a book by its cover, in a lot of different ways. My mom was someone who\u2014she and I did not really resemble one another in body: she was very\u2014she used to always tell me that she could never gain weight. That was her problem growing up, which I\u2019ve never experienced! (laughs) But she also, you know, didn\u2019t really\u2014because of that\u2014didn\u2019t go to the doctor very much. She just always kind of assumed that she was in good health. I think that you can lead a very healthy lifestyle and [bad] things can still happen, so I think it\u2019s good to get checked out and kind of stay on top of that. I think the flip side of that is, you know, I think a lot of people would look at me and probably think, \u201cOh, you\u2019re going to run 13 miles?\u201d Or \u201cYou\u2019re going to run 26 miles?\u201d and probably assume that\u2019s not necessarily something I can do based on my body [type] (she is a bit heavy set), but I think that you kind of never know what people have going on, what kinds of hobbies they\u2019re into, and what types of things they devote themselves to in life. I guess that would be my primary takeaway.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What would you like people to do?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I guess maybe two things. One would be to find something that you\u2019re passionate about and support it in the way that you can, in the way that feels authentic to you, I guess. And then I think one really powerful lesson\u2014a kind of takeaway for me from running\u2014has been that, I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s true that you can do anything<\/em> you set your mind to, because I know that there are places where you\u2019ll have more natural skill. But I think that running is a good example of something where just showing up and being consistent, you notice that you get better. So I think that\u2019s kind of 99 percent of life, they say, is showing up and trying. So if there\u2019s something that you want to do and you want to try, try it, and even if it doesn\u2019t go well the first time, continuing to show up and continuing to do it and looking at it six weeks, six months down the line, and kind of seeing where you are. And then<\/em> if you\u2019re terrible at it, you can quit! (laughs) But at least try it for about six months to a year before quitting. That\u2019s my message! (laughs)<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What other health benefits have you noticed as a runner?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> I think, just, definitely reduced stress. I think it helps to manage times in your life where you know, you\u2019re busy; you have emotional things going on; or whatever the case may be. I think it\u2019s kind of cheap therapy. I think just feeling like I can keep up with my two-year-old nephew better when I\u2019m running after him, and I think I just have a better quality of life when I\u2019m running because I feel more energetic. I feel like I can go out and do things and have better energy when I\u2019m doing it.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> What have I not asked that you\u2019d like people to know?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019d like them to know that if they\u2019d like to donate to my campaign (laughs), I am happy to provide that information! (laughs) If you\u2019d like to advertise that to UGA!<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> Thanks so much! Is there anything else you\u2019d like to add?<\/p>\n

TL:<\/strong> No. Thank you for the interview; I appreciate it!<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> You\u2019re welcome!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sandra McGill: If you would, please tell me your name and your title. Talia Levine: Talia Levine, and I am a graduate assistant at the National Park Service. Is that the title you wanted? SM: Sure! That\u2019s fine. TL: Okay. SM: And you\u2019re a second-year master\u2019s student? TL: I\u2019m a first-year master\u2019s student at the … Continue reading Transcript: Marathon Runner Talia Levine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2005,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-and-fitness","category-module-2","tag-first-interview"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Ndkv-aE","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/magwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}