Tag: Tina Fernandez

“Hey Tina, what if we run a marathon?”

I stopped munching on my chocolate chip cookie, and looked up at Ben, startled, confused. “Let’s do it.” I said. And that was the beginning.

My friend Ben Chen and I decided to sign up for the “Virtual” Boston Marathon this past Spring. We had both done a fair amount of cross country meets, track workouts, and charity 5Ks, but 26.2 miles seemed like a daunting feat; the most I had ever run had been ten miles. 

I emailed coach Katie for advice on how to best prepare for the marathon. Once she got back to us with an incredible 16-week training plan, Ben and I were destined to spend our Freshman Summer intensely tracking mileage, carb-loading, and perfecting the art of zone 2 training. Fun. He would be in San Diego and I would be in Florida, but we planned on keeping up with each other, encouraging each other, and checking in to monitor our progress.

After a few months, it was time to run. I decided to run the marathon in San Francisco, since I took an off term to intern at a company there. If I’m being completely honest, I was so busy at work during the last few weeks of training, that I found it difficult to strictly adhere to the training plan. So, when the weekend of October 9^th rolled around, I felt a bit underprepared. Still, though, my goal was simple: to finish and to enjoy.

And so, I woke up the morning of October 9^th, made myself some peanut butter toast, drank a ton of water, and began my run. My friend Annaliese (a ’23) was super helpful and made me a 26.2-mile-long route that would take me around the most beautiful parts of San Francisco (the best part to explore a city is by running!). I first ran from my apartment to the beach (first segment, ~6 miles), then I headed north till Presidio Heights (very hilly, ouch), across the Golden Gate Bridge (more noisy than pleasant; mucho tráfico), east to Crissy Field, the Marina District, and finally ended up in Embarcadero (very touristy area). I think being able to explore San Francisco was the best part of my marathon experience. To make it even more exciting, that weekend was also Fleet Week, which featured the iconic Blue Angel plane show to honor those who served in our armed forces. Therefore, the city was vibrant with thousands of people, both visitors and residents, that had flocked to Marina Green Park to watch the Blue Angels perform. As I ran through the Fleet Week spectators, I felt the energy of SF, the breeze, and the sunshine strengthen me. I was almost done.

When I reached the end, I met Annaliese at the SF Aquarium (near Embarcadero). She was surprised that I wasn’t even breathing heavily nor sweating profusely. So maybe I didn’t look super tired, but oh boy, my legs felt like noodles. That leads me to my next point: I need to start lifting more. Whether I end up doing another marathon or not is unclear right now, but I realized that in the midst of my intense running training, I overlooked strength training! Not a good choice on my end. All in all, though, while the marathon was far from easy, I am happy I did it. After much training, very sore legs, lots of peanut butter and protein bars, and time spent curating a Spotify playlist, I felt triumph and satisfaction in knowing that what began as a perhaps impulsive “Let’s do it,” became a memorable accomplishment. If you’re reading this and wondering if you should run a marathon, the answer is YES! Start slow, build up speed and strength, and have fun with it! You never know if you don’t try.

About the Author

Tina is a ’24 at Dartmouth from Puerto Rico. She now lives in Florida with her family, and in her free time enjoys cooking, roller blading, and discovering new music. She is a bio + French double major, and in addition to Tri is involved with the Collis student center, the dartmouth undergraduate journal of science, and research at the Geisel School of Medicine.

Running is fun! Said no one ever? Noooo!!! With either a good playlist, nice company, or scenic views, it can be an enjoyable activity! Most people will disagree, but I’m a firm believer that running CAN be fun! I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. My dad picked up casual jogging when I was about 5 after finding out he had hypercholesterolemia- fancy word for high cholesterol. His doctor recommended he pick up jogging, and as a little girl, I started going on runs around my neighborhood with him. Soon that fun pastime evolved to become more than a hobby. My school in Puerto Rico had a track team early in elementary school, so since the fourth grade I became a part of that. Once I moved to the mainland US, I stopped running competitively, but still enjoyed it on my own as a good workout and way to relax. I’ve found that even though sometimes going out for a run might seem tedious, I am guaranteed to feel happier, more relaxed, and more energized after the run.

When I got to Dartmouth this past fall, one of the most pleasant surprises was discovering all the beautiful running trails around campus. Now that I live in Florida, most of the running I do at home is on sidewalks around my neighborhood or sometimes by the beach. While I can’t complain about that, I will say that Dartmouth’s running trails are by far more enjoyable. I’ve LOVED running by Pine Park, the golf course, Mink Brook, down Main St and by the river, and of course RIP ROAD! With Tri-Team, I’ve been able to discover a ton of new routes and I know I always have good company to run with.

This past weekend, Tri-Team partnered up with the Dartmouth Running Team to host a Virtual 5K. Although I anticipated running the trail in Pine Park along with some of my Tri-Teammates, my parents surprised me with a visit for Mother’s Day, so I ended up spending the weekend in Boston with them and some friends. Finding myself in Boston, I was still committed to running the three miles I had signed up for. I don’t really know much about the city, so I figured I would map out a few streets I could run by, maybe along the water, and just give it my all! So, after a delicious milkshake from J.P. Lips, I headed back to my hotel, rested for a bit, and then put on my running clothes, tied my shoes, grabbed my Air Pods, and hit play to Boris Brejcha’s Tomorrowland set on Sound Cloud. Like I mentioned before, I am a firm believer that a good playlist is key to a good run. My dad and I share a profound love for house music, and Boris Brejcha is one of our favorite DJs. I listen to his same live set every time I go for a run, and it never fails to motivate me.

Running in Boston was super fun. The streets were quite busy, so I ran past a lot of pedestrians. The course I ended up choosing though, wasn’t hilly at all, a nice change from Hanover. I hadn’t really run a fast 5K in a while, since I usually go on longer, slow runs. In the end, I finished with a good time and right on the beat drop in Boris Brejcha’s set. A successful run.

(Two pictures of breezy, cloudy Boston that I took while running the 5K!)

I’m super grateful for Tri-Team for being such an active club on campus. Starting my freshman year in the middle of a pandemic, I was scared student organizations wouldn’t be as active. To my surprise, Triathlon was all the contrary. Since the fall, I’ve been able to go on countless runs, bike rides, and now in the Spring, swim practices. I love the supportive and welcoming community Tri-Team fosters, and I can’t wait to see us all grow (both physically and mentally) these next years.

About the Author

Tina is a ’24 from Boca Raton, Florida looking to major in Biology and French on the Pre-Med Track. Being originally from Puerto Rico, where she lived for fifteen years, Tina loves the tropical outdoors, and enjoys going to the beach, running (with a good playlist, of course), mountain biking with her dad and younger brother, and roller blading (a new skill she learned this past Winter). Although not extremely experienced with SBR-related activities, she is so excited to be a part of the Triathlon Team and looks forward to developing her skills during her next four years at Dartmouth.