#sparkchamber 041723 — Nancy Carlton
Today is the 3rd Monday in April, Boston Marathon day! 2023 marks the 127th running of the race, this year featuring nearly 30,000 athletes from more than 100 countries. And #sparkchamber is so pleased to have caught up with one — marathon runner [and Sarah Vienot’s sister] Nancy Carlton. It is our belief that creativity — the creative process — extends well beyond the arts. It is the elemental x-factor supercharging the ability to design our lives. To break free from a rut and find your groove — whether working on a sculpture, book, dance, quilt … or a commute, childcare solution, dinner party, household chores — success requires vision, initiative, imagination, discipline, commitment, the will to overcome obstacles, and relentless stamina. Almost the *definition* of a marathon runner, and all qualities Nancy possesses in abundance. Despite her busy schedule — wife, mother of two, grandmother of two — with decades of experience [prior to retiring a few years back] in sales, marketing, and merchandising for leading brands including Calvin Klein and Ferrero Rocher, by design, Nancy always makes time to prioritize her health and wellness.
This very day, she realizes a long-time goal of running this iconic event. The Boston Marathon marks her 16th full marathon, an achievement that speaks volumes about her dedication to the sport. It will also be her 5th major marathon, with only Tokyo remaining on her bucket list to complete her Six Star Finisher Medal.
Nancy is running as part of a team raising money to benefit CRI Community Rowing Inc. — a non-profit rowing club located on the Charles River in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston — and to date she has raised over $19,000. As she says, “Running the Boston Marathon is a dream come true, but doing it for an incredible organization like CRI makes it even more meaningful. CRI provides a space for people of all ages and abilities to work as a team and develop lifelong skills.”
Congratulations and bravo to you Nancy Carlton!
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Running a marathon requires total commitment in the form of months of training before you even get to race day.
You need coaching and planning to help you navigate the rigorous training required to tackle the marathon. Ideas for getting race ready for Boston came from all sorts of different sources; from my community of running pals that I’ve amassed over the course of two decades of training and racing, from online training programs, and from my own experiences and experimentation.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
To be part of something bigger than myself. Running a marathon requires you to push yourself beyond your normal limits, physically and mentally. You have to dig down deep to keep going. Even though I trained by myself, I was connected to our group through our amazing training program led by running coach Dan Fitzgerald, co-founder of Heartbreakers Run Club. On my toughest training days, it was so motivating to dream bigger, and run stronger with Dan’s expert guidance. Dan reminded us that we would train all winter and when race day arrived in the Spring, we would burst forth like Spring flowers — “as a powerful new self.”
But running as part of the CRI Boston Marathon Team helped create a sense of community that transcended the marathon itself. There is a real sense of purpose that pushes you through those really tough runs and sets you up for success in other areas of your life.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
I have always been an early bird — often running lots of kilometers before the sun comes up. And a slow and steady tortoise pace helps me to stay healthy and injury-free. It’s all about finishing a run or race upright and smiling. Winter runs in Ontario are tricky because you are dealing with lack of light, terrible footing and keeping on top of changing weather — I am so deeply obsessed with The Weather Network, my family thinks I should become a meteorologist.
Having structured workouts provides me the consistency to tackle the aspects of training I find most challenging. In the past, speed work/tempo runs were my kryptonite. I found them scary because I was pushing myself to the point that I didn’t think I would survive them. Something about the Heartbreaker training program allowed me to get stronger by taking baby steps. Nothing in the plan happened too quickly and my running distances increased much more incrementally week over week. My tortoise nature was finally being catered to and I completed my training feeling much better than I have with past marathons.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
Making it to the starting line healthy and injury-free and then, of course, once you cross the actual finish line! But honestly, I’ll probably never be done with running. It’s the best way to experience new towns or cities when I travel, I get to see things from a different perspective. It’s a lovely pace of life.
