An Interview with erica fischer
I sit down with Erica to begin the interview and it has clearly been a long day for her due to work and practice. I begin the interview with a very broad question, “Why do you run?” "I constantly chase the feeling after a race when you know all your hard work has paid off." She goes on to further explain that being able to look at your times and say, “Damn, I’m fast” is a truly rewarding feeling. I explain to her that I know the feeling all too well and go on to explain my story. I started running cross country as a 7th grader and quickly learned how much effort it would take to be truly great, but I was lazy and had my priorities messed up, so naturally I would find ways to cut practice. Come my freshman year in high school, I was still just as lazy and my dad had actually forced me to run cross country for the season. Being the lazy individual that I was, I would take frequent “water breaks” which consisted of sitting inside until practice was over. The question that was frequently asked was, “Where’s Weitzner?”…this was how I earned the nickname of “Houdini.” So, come the end of the season, my times are pretty atrocious and I had no real interest in pursuing cross country any further.
Realizing that I am getting ahead of myself with my story, I ask Erica how she even became involved with cross country in the first place. "I was actually on the soccer team at first and would run track to stay in shape." She explains that she “kind of enjoyed it, but wasn't in the right shape for track at first.” As it turns out, she ended up being cut from the soccer team her sophomore year and needed a replacement sport, which is where cross country came in. "I really enjoyed running and ended up doing cross country, winter track, and spring track each year for the remainder of high school," she explains." Junior year was when I began to fall in love with the sport,” she recounts. “So, when during junior year did you realize that this was the sport for you?” I ask. She pauses and explains, "During junior year when I was running with some of the top runners on the team I achieved some of my best times and realized that I was addicted to the sport." She goes on saying that she had 140 girls on her team and laughs, saying, “Yeah, it was pretty cool being one of the best runners out of a group that large. I saw a lot of the other girls struggling, but for whatever reason "it just came naturally for me". At this point it was clear to me that she was a natural when it came to running, so I continue to explain more of my story because I was not a natural runner, at least not at first. I go on and explain how I rowed crew for a season my sophomore year instead of cross country, which I ended up disliking very much. In fact, I even missed running. Come junior year, I am much more mature, much more in shape, mentally focused, and I am back on the cross country team. The season begins after summer training and I could not be more excited for the first race. I have my bright colored spikes on and my adrenaline is pumping. The race goes fairly well and I run adequately which is pretty much how the rest of that season went for me. |
The next season rolls around and I am as ready as I will ever be to finally reach my goal of breaking 20 minutes on a 5K. In the beginning of the season it seems as if I’m not going to reach that goal, but gradually I progress. The words, “Weitzner, you’re never going to break 20 with times like these” linger in my head. Those words are hard to hear from a coach but I know now that they were said not to discourage me, but to motivate me.
Curious, I ask her how she ended up here at Emory. "My friend actually convinced me to submit an application, so I did" she responds. "About a month later I got a call from the head coach saying 'Congratulations and welcome to Emory.'" As I observe the happy look on Erica’s face as she recounts that experience, I could tell that she would never forget that moment. As the conversation winds down we begin to get off topic and talk about our college lives so far and various aspects of running. I finally ask her about the philosophies she has taken away from running and how she has applied them to daily life. “Work hard and work consistently,” she says. Long distance running is all about building up momentum, there is no room for laziness. She goes on to tell me that her high school coach would frequently send emails to the runners that would read, “Be consistent, be consistent.” Next I ask her about what running has helped her achieve. Smiling, she responds, “This may sound weird, but it’s actually made me a nicer person in a way.” She goes on to say that "before running I was always caught up in such small things." This gave her a slightly negative attitude. She further explains that when she found running "it was as if all those small things went away" and suddenly she had more focused goals and had also matured. I reassure her that what she had just said did not sound weird in any way, for I myself experienced a similar change. I went from being unmotivated and lazy to not being able to sleep until all my goals are achieved. I now wake up each morning with a vision and each day I work towards that vision until it is finally achieved. Breaking 20 minutes was one of my visions, I explain, and, while there were a few bumps in the road, I was finally able to achieve it. She nods while smiling, as if to say: “I know that feeling all too well.” We end the conversation talking about our future goals, both on and off the trail. She explains that one day she would like to begin running half marathons and marathons. She says she would even like to do a few ultra-marathons, which are 50 plus mile races. She also mentions that there is actually a race in which the runners have to run a marathon each day for a week. At this point it becomes clear to me that she is someone who likes to test her limits. She asks what my goals are and I tell her that my next goal is to run a marathon. Growing up, I remember my dad training for hours and hours on the weekend for the New York City Marathon. I remember the look of achievement on his face when he finally finished the race. One day I will get to have that same feeling, and I have no doubt in my mind that Erica will as well. |