February Runner of the Month: Nicole Freeman

Nicole joined NBR in 2019 when she moved from Queens to Brooklyn with her husband. As a former QDR member, she wanted to rejoin a NYRR club so that she could participate in club points races and meet new people to train with. Although she hasn’t been involved in NBR in person, she most recently crushed the NBR Virtual Mile and 5K with a time of 5:33 and 18:43 respectively.

What do you do when you're not running?
I’m a senior software engineer and when I’m not running or working I’m being a couch potato with my doggo.

How did you initially get into running?
Despite hating running at the time, a few soccer teammates convinced me to join winter track in high school.

What is your favorite race distance?
Hmm this is a tough one and the answer changes depending on my fitness. Right now, maybe the mile or 5k, lol.

Best running memory?
Probably breaking 3 at CIM. The race itself went well, but the build up was really great. Also it was the last time I trained regularly with other people— so maybe I’m waxing nostalgic about running and socializing.

Favorite running route in NYC?
I love and miss my run commute from work. Before Covid, I lived in Crown Heights so my run was from Rockefeller Center to CH by way of the East River Promenade and the Manhattan Bridge. I really love running along the East River, especially over by Pier 35.

Any running-related superstitions?
No superstitions here.

What has running taught you or changed about you?
Something I learned early in my running life, circa 11th grade is: you should always have ibuprofen on your person.

Favorite post-race food?
I usually don’t like eating right after a race. But a race-day’s dinner will always be something fun from Seamless, like fried pickles or Chinese take out.

Favorite song to run to make you want to run?
I am a child of the pop punk/ emo era and almost anything from that time period will do. But a specific song… hm… I’ll go with Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World.

What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
When you finish a long run and your garmin says “yes that was 20 miles, good job.” But then you check Strava and it says “lol no sorry that was 19.98 miles, you turd”.

Best advice to running newbies?
It’s a hobby! Keep it fun!

Current running goal?
Until it’s safe to run races again, I don’t think I’ll be doing anything long. I admire everyone who’s signing up for virtual marathons… but if I’m running for that long, I need water tables and other people to chase. I don’t think I could run 26.2 miles alone with just gels stuffed in my bra and no course support. So I think it’s more doable (for me) to hang at mile or 5k training while in quarantine. I ran 5:13 at the 5th ave mile in 2017 and I think I’ll never get bored trying to get back to that speed.

Any other fun running facts about you?
I am not an early riser, or a night owl. So if there are any other NBR afternoon runners, one day we should meet lol.