Teacher Highlight: Ms. Thompson

As some of you may know, Ms. Thompson, one of our school's wonderful and dedicated Upper Grades Spanish teachers, is also a devoted runner. When The Eagle learned that she had committed to running three marathons this school year, we just had to speak with her.

The Eagle: When did you first start running?

Ms. Thompson: I first started running in fifth grade. I joined the cross-country team—I didn't even know what cross-country was—but it sounded interesting! I went to my first day of practice and we ran three miles and from there I went “I think I like this, I think I could do this.” I ran cross-country and track through middle and high school. I ran for fun in college, not on a team or anything, and then when I moved to New York I started doing the New York Road Runners races and got interested in racing more.

The Eagle: Where is your favorite place to run in the city?

Ms. Thompson: I really like the waterfront—any time I can run alongside the river I feel like that’s really nice because you're away from any traffic and you’re alongside other runners.

The Eagle: How are you going to train for these next few marathons?

Ms Thompson: It depends, my training plan isn’t the most consistent because I get really busy with things but I usually have a weekly mileage goal that I aim to build up to. Right now I’m between marathons, so I just finished Chicago and I have New York in three weeks. Training is sort of weird because the goal is to recover from the first one and build back up for the second one. 

Typically the weekly mileage goal for marathons is 40 miles a week and at the start of the week I plan out when I’ll do a long run, what day is going to be a speed day and then I fit in the other miles around there.

The Eagle: Tell us about your other races. When and where are they? 

Ms. Thompson: This school year I'm doing three races. I just ran in Chicago last weekend. I'm doing the New York marathon in early November, and the really exciting one is I got into the lottery for the Tokyo marathon—I'm gonna run that in March. There’s around a 2% chance of getting in the lottery so when I got in I was like “I have to do it!”

Part of why I'm doing those races is because they are a part of the Abbott World Majors, a series of six international marathons that [give marathoners] a special medal and a special recognition if [they run] all six. So I’ve done the Boston Marathon several times and Chicago a few times, New York a few times, those are the three in the US and then the international ones are Tokyo, London, and Berlin. So my goal is to eventually do London and Berlin.

The Eagle: What inspired you to run marathons?

Ms. Thompson: My first marathon was originally planned to be my only marathon. [My mindset was:]“I like running and I've been running long distances for a while, I'll try a marathon just to say I did it.” And now I’ve run 13 marathons with more in the works, so obviously that plan changed. But I think what inspired me was finding that I really like long-distance running and that I’m more competitive as a runner at longer distances so I would rather run a half marathon than a 5K, because I'm not that good at a short speed. 

Another thing I find exciting is that you get better with experience and age. There are so many sports that you age out of very quickly, where if you don’t start things really young you’ll never really be that good. With running, a lot of the really strong runners are a bit older because you learn so much every time you run a marathon and you have a better sense of strategy of how far you can push your body before your legs give out, so I think that part makes me keep coming back to marathons. 

It's a cool way to set goals for yourself and every time you run it's like you're trying to beat your past self.

The inspiration to stick with running was to feel balanced, with the stress of daily life running helps with that. I really feel it helps with my mental health and my ability to unplug from things.

The Eagle: What was your worst marathon?

Ms. Thompson: My second marathon was the Kentucky Derby Marathon and I had trained really hard. I had a really detailed plan where I had done speed training, so I worked really hard and I got into the race. I ran the first 8 miles at my goal pace, the race was 26 miles. After the 8th mile, I started dropping off. I couldn't sustain the pace, my training didn’t prepare me the way I thought it would. I felt like I was getting slower and slower. That was the one I felt the worst at but probably the worst day was the second time I ran the Boston Marathon. It was in a downpour, like horizontal rain the entire time. Before the race began everyone was soaked. You're out in the cold and wet for two hours or so before you even begin. It was miserable... When I made it across the finish line, I thought to myself “I don't think anything can be worse than that.” 

The Eagle: What are your hopes for this year's marathons? And future ones?

Ms Thompson: My big hope for Chicago was to beat my record of three hours and 19 minutes, and I took nine minutes off my best time which is a lot. I thought I would beat my record but I didn't think it would be by that much. I felt really good throughout the race. 

For New York, I don't really have a goal, because I'm still recovering from the last marathon so my plan is just to run that one and enjoy the energy of the day and have fun without putting the pressure of a time goal. I still have to decide for Tokyo because it will be at a weird time of year, I’ll be training through the winter to get ready for that one but I’ll have to choose if I want to race it through and put in my best, I think that's one where I should experience and have fun, while having a decent running time but not a personal best.

The Eagle: What are some words of advice for other runners?

Ms Thompson: Stay with it, if you build it into a habit running can be something you can do your whole life and running can bring a lot of joy and community and balance to your life and routine, especially if you're someone who likes running. It’s worth sticking with it.

With her amazing journey, Ms. Thompson inspires us all. We wish Ms. Thompson luck with all her marathons to come!