Happy Wednesday everyone. I hope you all have had a great week so far. But now it's time to jimmy on over to mah's house, make a nice cup of coffee, and relax for some easy reading in another community interview.

How/when did you start running?

Back when I was in college, I played some pick-up basketball with some friends of mine. I was out of breath pretty quickly, then they ran circles around me for the rest of the game. I decided I'd start a couch-to-5K plan over the summer, but it wasn't aggressive enough for me, so I started just running until I hurt too much to run anymore, then walk until I could run again. Soon enough I could run a mile without stopping. Once I could, I started running at a local weekly fun run with my mom (who ran in track, and still runs almost every day), which was a casual 3.5 mile run. I would cross the line damn near last, but it was fun.

I started seriously training last year, near May. I just had my birthday, and wanted to try to do something special. My first thought was, "I'm going to do a marathon!", followed quickly by "F*** that, that's a long way. Maybe a half marathon." So I set my sights on the B.A.A. half marathon in October, and started training.

What are your PRs?

• Mile: 6:34 (TT)
• 5K: 21:22
• Half Marathon: 1:48:55

Favorite shoes to train or race in?

I've been training/racing in New Balance 880s (v7), and they've been treating me well. I tried out some other shoes at the store last month, but didn't quite feel right, so bought another pair.

What's your next race?

Sean's Run in April.

What is your favorite distance to race and why?

Right now, 5K. I've only run 5Ks, and half marathons so far, and felt like I performed a lot better at the 5K. It's easy to like things you're better at ¯_(ツ)_/¯

What are your goals this year?

• Sub-20:00 5K at Sean's Run
• Maybe an Olympic-distance tri this summer (I'm sorry I've betrayed your trust)
• Sub-1:40:00 half marathon this fall
• Don't get hurt

Proudest running accomplishment?

There's nothing that particularly stands out in my mind, but I'm pretty proud that I've built up to over 40 miles a week. It's weird to think that I consider less than 5 miles a pretty short run, when I wouldn't have been able to run half that distance when I started.

What do you do outside of running?

I'm a software engineer, working on internal websites for my company.

What other hobbies/interests do you have?

Ooh boy, how much time do we have? I tend to get super interested in something for a while, get good enough at it to impress people who don't do it, get to the point where I need to start putting in serious practice, see some other shiny hobby, go do that instead.

Top few, in order of serious to not:

• Juggling (I've been geeking out over state-diagrams and passing patterns recently)
• Piano (Can't play now, cause I have a small apartment, but have been playing since I was a kid)
• Fire spinning (Poi, contact staff, and a whole bunch of other props)
• Rubik's Cube (26.xx best, sub 40 average of 5)
• Astrophotography (Check out this pic i took for an example. On a break, since I'm in Boston now. Too much light pollution :'( )
• Rock climbing (Did it a lot in the gym last year, but fell out of it over the winter)
• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Did it for a while, but hurt my thumb, which freaked me out a bit, haven't decided if I'll start again)

I'm also super interested in handbalancing (can't do it), pretty much anything to do with space, freediving, people's minds and bodies (and how they interact), and generally anything physical.

What is your favorite route/place to run?

I have a route that I do for long runs, from my house, down past 2 reservoirs, down past Jamaica Pond, into the Harvard Arboretum that I really like. I would love to start doing some trail runs when the weather gets better though, I think I would enjoy that a lot.

Do you have a favorite run/race that you’ve ever done?

No favorite races yet, but I'll always think fondly of the weekly fun runs when I first started.

If you could run anywhere in the world with anyone in the world, alive or dead, where would you run and who would you run with?

That's tough. I've been thinking about this recently (common question on podcasts), and I think my great-grandpa. I knew him when I was a kid, but it wasn't until after he died that I found out that when he was younger, he was a serious endurance athlete (swam across the lake he lived near a lot), and apparently had a lot of cool life experiences. I think it would be fun to do a relaxed run with him and chat about his life.

What do you think has been the greatest contributor to your success in running?

The internet. There's no way I would have found the resources/motivation to train seriously for anything if I hadn't been able to find training plans online, ARTC, Pfitz, or anything else.

What is your favorite post long run food?

The Deluxe Colossal Hungry Person Special at the Deluxe Station Diner in Newton (I think they may have changed their name recently? Whatever, the place still sells the meal). You get some options, but I get it as 2 pieces of french toast, 2 scrambled eggs, homefries, toast, ham, and a pot of tea. ... Now I'm hungry.

If you had a year to train, with no other distractions, how fast do you think you could get?

Maybe sub 18:00 5K? It's hard to envision being able to devote all my time to training/resting.

Favorite subreddits?

/r/climbing, /r/bouldering, /r/bodyweightfitness, and when I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, /r/bjj, /r/kerbalspaceprogram, /r/cubers

Origin of your username?

So I used to play World of Warcraft in high school :nerd_face:. Spent some time trying to think of a name, thought of Timmy from South Park, decided on Jimmah. 'Jimmah' was already taken on some sites, so it transitioned to 'J1mmah' as my general use username.

Strava link if you use it?

Come creep on my uninspiring training!