November Runner of the Month: Alen Shapiro
Alen had been running with teammate Shawn Young for years separate from NBR when she acknowledged that his running form was slightly wrong. NBR had just created a “Running Form” group (WFR), which Alen promptly joined. “I joined in on their first-ever third week form (when we had 12 forms (one a week)). That was 7+ years ago.” Since then, Alen has been passing on his wisdom to teammates trying to help others stay healthy and work on their own running form. He has even taken the original 12 forms all the way up to 19!
What do you do when you're not running?
Machine Intelligence Research (that’s where the “Bubble Diagrams” came from :-)). I write programs that write programs, then I sell the programs my programs write. Hobbies: Adapting tech to load auto-generated programs into micro-controllers (Raspberry Pi Pico/Arduino) integrated with sensors to do some fun things around the home, like a CO2 sensor. Fixing Mac motherboards, especially those that have been rudely introduced to liquids. Help people navigate through MacOS and iOS issues. Help Alex’s school with tech-support (e.g. repairing iPads and (gasp) ChromeBooks, run movie-night projector and soundboard from Mac).
How did you initially get into running?
Had a son, Alex (he’s 11 now), and I wanted to figure out a way be healthy and stick around while he grew up (project still in progress :-)). Shawn introduced me to regular running to get healthy and stay that way.
What is your favorite race distance?
4.6139 miles (Figure 8 around Prospect Park).
Best running memory?
Brooklyn Half Marathon 2015. Just about the whole NBR/WFR group turned out to run that event. What a BLAST!
Favorite running route in NYC?
Prospect Park: “Figure 8” around Prospect Park (4.6139 miles). Outer Circle (3.3 miles). “Figure U” 2.1 miles. Two different “Figure 6” routes (mileage that I’ve not measured). Prospect Park is amazing.
Any running-related superstitions?
Never eat just before running (or was that swimming)?
What has running taught you or changed about you?
Angry for some reason? Go running. Feeling achy? Go running. Feeling old? Go running. Having a great day? Go running. Hmmmm just go running :-).
More seriously though, learning how to breathe was probably the most important individual lesson. Running increased my lung volume, strengthened my musculature (incl. heart). Without its benefits I don’t think I would have survived a stroke in 2016 (caused by a time bomb I was born with). Recovery was incredibly fast! The discovery that “Arm Swing marshals most of the other techniques” was an epiphany (it’ll take another cycle to reflect that in the WFR notes (there’s always more to learn about running)).
Something positive came out of the pandemic: The discovery that face masks help prevent the cold air getting to your lungs while running!
Favorite post-race food?
Whatever Liza makes (she’s a *great* cook). If, for some reason, Liza’s not around, find a diner and eat something supremely unhealthy - my favorite is double eggs over-easy, steak-fries and ketchup with wheat-toast+jelly for desert. If I had to choose, it would be Baked Macaroni Cheese.
Favorite song to run to make you want to run?
*Cough* Unplug. I sooooo hate getting run over by the Teslas and bikes I don’t hear! (ps :-)).
What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
I have to bite my tongue. There’s no way to offer running advice without being asked to do so.
Best advice to running newbies?
First: Speed is not a goal, it’s an emergent quality that increases when technique improves (that’s why we don’t have a week called “speed”). Second: Everyone is different, personalize the running advice, making it work for you. Incorporate those pieces that work for you. Don’t stress about those bits that don’t fit (keep them handy though as they might fit later).
Current running goal?
One day run a marathon. Post-stroke it should be possible, if slow.
Any other fun running facts about you?
I run-lead WFR from behind, obnoxiously coaching anyone who stays back with me. Seems to provide a great incentive to run faster; to get away from the coach-monster :-).
