Q&A With Tim and Adam (Yes, THAT Adam)

I get to interview Tim Catalano and Adam Goucher!

Now, I, Terzah, sort of pride myself on not being a celebrity worshiper (though I'm not above a sneak peek at People every once in a while). But when I saw that Adam and Tim--both former University of Colorado runners, with Tim now a teacher and coach and Adam a pro married to the equally awesome Kara Goucher--have a book coming out, I emailed them right away to ask if I could interview them for my blog.

I was bowled over when Tim wrote me back right away, and not only said yes to the interview but let me have a glimpse at a chapter of the book. It's called Running the Edge: Discover the Secrets to Better Running and a Better Life and will be available in September. To find out more about it and pre-order, visit their blog, Run the Edge.

On their site, they state that the book "will recharge your running batteries as you become aware of the connection between successful running and successful living." Based on the bit of it I read and the reading I do in your blogs, it's something that all of you will find compelling: how to take the principles that will make you a better runner and let them make you a better person. "None of us is perfect, and we never will be," they write, "but we can dedicate our efforts both in running and in life to become closer and closer to our ideal. This is the definition of running the edge." It's a book for all of us, not just those of us who run as fast as they do (or fast at all).

SO! I need your help. What would you like to ask Adam and Tim? I plan to send them ten to twelve questions and will post the interview here. Questions about running, humorous ones, serious training questions, questions about running and its parallels with our life journeys....just send me a bunch.

And now that I've laid out my exciting news, here are answers to a few more questions...yours for me. These are numbers 12 through 16, all from Julie at You Just Have to Tri.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Columbia, MO, a beautiful Midwestern college town. I went to Hickman High School, home of the Kewpies (yes, that's a real mascot). My formative runs were done on the MKT trail, a rails-to-trails project where you can knock out some really long but flat runs. Watch out for horseflies there in the summer, though. The only time I ran fast back then was when one of those was chasing me.

Are you running Denver R n' R?
I don't think so, but maybe. If I run it, I will do the half-marathon as part of my ramp up for the Houston Marathon. I did the relay for this race two years ago with some friends from work and had a great time. Are you doing it, Julie? I'd love to meet you.

How do you managed twins? I'm so glad my boys are older...wait maybe I'm not, it has it's perks but I can't believe they will be leaving me soon.

Will and Ruthie at age two; they are easier now!

I think everyone with kids manages what they have simply because they don't know any different! That said, I had a tough time the first four months of their lives. I am not good with sporadic or non-existent sleep. Anyone who's had a newborn will tell you that's just part of the deal, and anyone who's had two or more newborns at the same time, well, you can imagine....

But once we got them sleeping all night most nights, and once I got used to hauling two carseats and a giant diaper bag and the fact that it took me forever to get out of the house, it was do-able. Now that they are 4.5, it's downright fun, and it's been that way for a while. They are very different little people in personality (and appearance; people don't even realize they are twins any more because Will is so much bigger--he's four inches taller and nine pounds heavier). There's some fighting, but they mostly really love each other. I'm very proud of them!

What is your favorite bed time story?
The Velveteen Rabbit is my current favorite. I have to abbreviate it a little for their attention spans (and so I'm not reading all night), and it sometimes makes me choke up, but they love the idea of the nursery fairy and "stuffies" becoming real because a child loves them.

What kind of books do you like to read?

My taste is all over the map, but beautifully written (Toni Morrison, Colm Toibin, Marilynne Robinson), fantastic and romantic (The Time Traveler's Wife), epic/heroic (The Lord of the Rings), and/or outdoors (Jon Krakauer) describe a lot of what I like. I do NOT like navel-gazing memoirs (Eat Pray Love...not my cup of chai) or over-intellectualized stuff. I have a book-review account with GoodReads. I'd love to be friended there and share book reviews!

More of these to come! In the meanwhile, please let me know what you'd like to know from Tim and Adam.