[Kamal] Welcome Marcia to the podcast. I'm really excited to have you here and hear about your running journey. [Marcia] Thank you very much. I'm very glad to be here as well. [Kamal] Let's start a little bit learning about your background, Marcia, and to share. [Marcia] OK, well, born and raised in Costa Rica, I've been here my whole life. I work in HR. I'm an HR manager for a medical device manufacturing company. I've been here for the last 5 1/2 years. I have a daughter, she's 15 right now. You know how that is. I'm pursuing a master's degree right now, an MBA as well. [Kamal] Oh wow, that's a lot on your plate then working. You didn't mention or you'll talk a lot about running, for sure. So running. Yeah, working full time as in HR in a tech device company, family and bring an MBA. So that's a lot on your plate, I'm sure. [Marcia] Yeah. But I like to be like that. I like to cherish life as much as I can, doing as much as I can. So I like to be full. [Kamal] That's great. So you did Berlin Marathon this year, 2023, That's correct. Let's start a little bit. If I have to share some of your key highlights or experience of Berlin Marathon this year. [Marcia] The funny thing with that marathon, it's my third major. I applied for the drawing and I was rejected. I applied for London and Berlin and I was rejected. So I said to myself, OK, that's it. I actually entered another race, Big Bear Marathon in November, California, because I'm trying to qualify for Boston. I just forgot about London and Berlin and all that. But Berlin had a waiting list or something. Come June, early June, I receive an email from the organization saying I have just earned a spot to run Berlin Marathon 2 months and 22 days from the date of the marathon. And I was just creating base for the marathon in November. I wasn't running that much or my long runs weren't where they supposed to be if you're running a marathon in two months. So it was fun, juggling trying to open up my miles, but at the same time trying to not get injured in the process. It took a lot of strength training, physical therapy because what hurt one week, the other week didn't hurt. But another thing hurt. I run four times per week. That did the trick and at the end of the day the marathon went well. I did a negative split for the first time. So I'm very proud of that and my splits were even. At Chicago, my splits were all over the place. At Chicago my time was 3 hours and 59 seconds and at Berlin I did 4 hours and something. So it wasn't that much of a difference and for two months I'm very satisfied with my result. I enjoyed it a lot and it was my first time in Europe as well. So it was a great trip, great race. The people were amazing. Very well organized, had a lot of fun. [Kamal] And yeah, it will trigger a panic button if you get a confirmation like 2 months and 22 days before the race. Like, OK, hey, you got it. I'm excited. But Oh my goodness, there's two months left. Now, what do I do? [Marcia] Exactly. Most of the training plans are like 16 to 20 weeks. So it's like, you know, and this is. Exactly. If you're keeping up and say you're running marathons all the time, so probably it's not a big deal, but probably you're not on that boat when you got the email right. [Kamal] Exactly. But you also have a story of survival, a great story. [Marcia] Sure. I'm grateful for it. It kind of changed my life and how I feel life now. In 2022, I was deciding on which marathon to run, probably going to run a rebel race because I'm trying to qualify for Boston. But I had a medical checkup at the beginning of the year, regular checkup. And I had a mammogram. And the end result was that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So all my running plans for the year were cancelled. I wasn't able to run as much because when you have cancer, cancer is always with you. I will be driving my car from home and it's just like you're always thinking am I going to leave my daughter behind? Am I going to survive what it's going to happen, a lot of things. I also had to undergo major surgery. What started like they were just going to remove the tumor, at the end they had to remove the entire breast, a full mastectomy. So it was major surgery, but when I had the surgery it was like I've been training my whole life for this and I'm going to run and I'm going to run as soon as possible. That was a mission because running had taught me to be resilient, to persevere, to listen to my own body. At the four week mark I was able to run again very slowly, like one mile. Thankfully the cancer was caught very early and I'm on medication for the next five years, but running has made me very healthy, mentally very strong, and I was able to recover very fast both mentally and physically from that. Thanks to running. I will always say that it was running that taught me how to recover from that in a very good way. [Kamal] It's so glad to hear that you are contributing that to the habits and the resilience that you build to running. Amazing story of perseverance. I'm glad that you're doing OK and you did well this year too, so kudos to you and your mental and physical strength. Let's go back a little bit, Marcia, because you said you've been preparing for this moment for all your life. So like how did you get into running or build that liking or passion for long distance running? [Marcia] OK well, I started running like in my early 20s. But it wasn't like long distance running at first. I lived in a small town and people would say, oh, you run so much. And I thought, oh my God, I'm a good runner and I run a lot now. But I continued to run and did a few 10K races here and there, nothing following a training plan or anything like that. Then in around 2012, I decided that I wanted to take my running up to a different level. So I enrolled and signed up for a half marathon. I started training and then my mom passed away. So I had to stop running because I had to take care of my 87 year old grandma. I wasn't able to run the half marathon that year. But something very good happened that year as well. I wasn't able to run for like six months. But then a neighbor who has a running group invited me to go trail running with them. When I went back from that run, I felt happy for the first time in six months. And I thought to myself, I don't want to lose this, this made me happy. This gave me happiness. I'm going to continue running. And I did. The next year I ran my first half marathon. Some days I wasn't able to run, but I would run in front of my house because I knew my grandma and daughter were alone. Whatever it took, I did it. But I was hooked. After that first half marathon, I decided OK I'm going to run the New York City Marathon when I turned 40. I applied to enter the drawing, didn't get in, so I paid for a travel package. That was my goal and I trained myself. I always run alone. And that event was so exciting. It was great, and the people were cheering "Marsha! Marsha!" like the Brady Bunch character. It was one of the best experiences of my life. And after that I heard about the World Marathon Majors. So I decided I'm going to complete them one day. I applied for the 2020 Chicago Marathon, earned the spot for that one, but then COVID came. So I ran that one in 2021 actually. It was a great experience as well. And then Berlin this year. [Kamal] Great, now thanks for sharing your journey and looks like you found your way into running and the benefit you get which you don't want to leave. So that's why you're continuing. It's great to hear the feeling you mentioned that you went for the trail run with your neighbors and the feeling you got that, hey, I feel happy after six months. That feeling can actually be an anchor to continue exactly that looks like you are doing it, so it's pretty amazing. So what's next for Marcia? Qualify for Boston? Fingers crossed. So you're shooting for it next 2025? [Marcia] Yes. I'm gonna run a rebel race probably next year to try to qualify, downhill and all that and to try to qualify for 2025. But you know this year it's like I'm on a 3:50 that's my qualifying time so but with the cut off I need like a 3:45 or less so. A lot of people are disheartened this year, up to 5 minutes, so who knows what's going to be for next year's. But I need to shoot for that. So I'm strength training and swimming and doing a lot of things to get very strong prior to my starting my training for my next marathon, which will be probably Big Sur or yeah, probably Big Sur. So I have more than one year now to prepare for that one. [Kamal] OK, so you're running another marathon pretty soon? No? November 2024. OK, OK. So you have a little over a year now to prepare for. OK, all the best. I'm sure you're doing the right things. And you have the learning from three majors you're going to apply that. Being a qualifier for Boston actually has a different feeling compared to the other ways to get into like I did run to charity, but people who qualified, you know, have the sweat to show for it. It's a different feeling than going different routes. But if you have a goal, you figure out a way to get into it, right? Let's chat a little bit about you. You mentioned different aspects of your life that has supported you along the way. I'm just curious to know how does your support system look today as you are chasing some big goals? You have gone through significant moments in your life of perseverance, overcoming your personal challenges too. Like, how does the support system look today for you? [Marcia] Well, like I mentioned at the beginning, I've been at my workplace for the last 5 1/2 years. So they have been through two cycles of marathon training with me. So they are amazing. They wait for me like I'm a champion. Like I just won the marathon and for this one for Berlin, I came with my medal and they were waiting for me with something to eat and drink and they gave me flowers and all that. So my workplace, co-workers are amazing and my family as well, my daughter and my sister, which is the only family that I have. But they are amazing with that as well