December Runner of the Month: Tamar Fleshler
Joining North Brooklyn Runners in early 2022, Tamar initially sought community during Monday Night Plyo, fully diving into the club by May for a debut half marathon. With NBR, she coordinates events and leads the iconic Friday Bagel Run.
Beyond running, she's a cyber security engineer at Uncommon Goods and an adventure seeker, with upcoming destinations including Montreal and Kilimanjaro.
After racing in triathlons in college, Tamar began to focus on running in NYC. Soon, running became therapy and NBR her running crew.
Tamar is newly embracing the no-music runs, though if you find her with headphones in, you can count on songs with 180 BPM. After cutting Kanye from her life, her current favorite running album is Reputation by Taylor Swift. (How fitting!)
When did you join NBR and why?
I started coming to plyo in January or February 2022 - but I’m not sure that I really started to run with the club until May of 2022. I joined initially because I was looking for a community of people to run with - I was running my first half marathon and wanted some extra motivation.
In what ways have you been involved with NBR?
I am one of the events coordinators, as well as being a Friday Bagel Run leader!
What do you do when you’re not running?
When I’m not running I’m usually working or traveling! I work as a cyber security engineer at Uncommon Goods (if you’re in need of some holiday shopping - we’re a good place!) I also love to travel - I’m heading to Montreal to ski in a week or so, and then climbing Kilimanjaro at the beginning of January! Adventure travel is the best kind :)
How did you initially get into running
You’re going to laugh but my little in my college co-ed fraternity got me into long distance sports. She was on our college triathlon team and she basically kept begging me to come out to a practice - so I came out to swim practice (because running scared me, but I’m actually a pretty good swimmer). And after a semester, I really liked the team and my friends and decided to commit to triathlon!
I competed on the USC triathlon team all through college. I have since completed one half ironman, and a bunch of olympic and sprint distance triathlons. When I moved to the city, it was harder for me to find time to swim and bike, so I ended up transitioning to running and finding NBR!
Best running memory?
This is such a tough one because there are so many good ones! I think one of them is running to Maspeth on one of our bagel runs this summer. I really love my fellow bagel leaders, and they let me take the reins and lead everyone to this incredibly random bagel spot in the middle of (kind of) nowhere with very little public transportation options. But it ended up being silly and fun and just the best! I love the times when running allows you to explore neighborhoods that you might never have otherwise.
Favorite running route in NYC?
I’m torn!! I think best is Williamsburg Bridge, for obvious reasons. But I used to live on the UWS and I spent a lot of time running on the west side highway - so the upper part of the west side highway is probably tied, or at least a very close second.
What has running taught you or changed about you?
Running is one of the few times during the day when I’m not surrounded by technology. I know this is a cliche - but it really does feel like a form of therapy. Recently, I’ve started running without headphones and it is such a treat to just run and listen and notice everything around you. It’s also a great way to explore new cities when I’m traveling!
Favorite post-race food?
A breakfast burrito. In the months when I’m not training for a race, I literally never eat them. They don’t even come to mind. But the MINUTE I start training seriously, I’m somehow always searching for or eating breakfast burritos. It’s the weirdest thing.
Favorite song to run to make you want to run?
I try to keep all of my running playlists at 180 BPM so that my cadence stays quick. Which works! But does limit my song choices - my favorite song used to be monster by kanye (and nicki minaj has one of her best verses). But I have since cut kanye out of my life and my current favorite running album is probably Reputation by Taylor Swift.
Favorite running social media account?
My absolute fave serious running account is @colt.dayne. She runs so slow most of the time except for tempo workouts and just Boston Qualified! She has really shown me that slow girlies can be fast girlies too! My fave fun account is @lauramcgreen. She’s just so fun :)
What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
Injuries!! And little aches and pains when you start increasing mileage. Running is a sport in which you really have to be careful about increasing mileage, making sure you’re strength training and doing plyo alongside the running. I’m learning that the hard way as I’m starting to come back from an injury.
Best advice to running newbies?
Slow it down!! I am a hard core party pace girlie and something I’ve learned is that it’s okay to run slower than 10 or 11 minutes miles! And it’s also okay to walk sometimes. Joining a running club can be scary because people are always fast and for me, the fun of running is running slow and building up that aerobic capacity, which allows you to eventually become fast!
Current running goal?
Enjoyment! Like I mentioned, I’m coming off of an injury so I’m really just getting back into the swing of enjoying running for the sake of running and not necessarily working towards a specific goal.
