Interview Series: Michelle Didion
After multiple knee surgeries, Michelle was told she’d never run again. She endured chronic knee pain most of her adult life and left running behind. But her spark could not be quenched. Five years ago she dug her shoes out of the moth balls.
Now she is quite literally a running machine. In the middle of what can only be called the great surge of aught seven, she’s collecting PRs like they’re going out of style, logging 100 mile weeks, and racing up Chicago’s Sears Tower. Seriously.
Oh yeah, and she just won the Knoxville marathon.
Michelle is a blood n’ guts runner. If you’re racing her, and the drive to the finish becomes a contest of wills… you are doomed.
READ THE INTERVIEW>
(After you read, come back here to add your comments.)
– Dean
April 26th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
That was a great interview! Michelle is very inspiring!
April 27th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
One of your best Dean! Take care!
April 27th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Michelle is a true inspiration to all of us out there trying to improve our P.R.’s and her story proves that dreams can come true. Snickers picked a true winner to represent them!!!!
April 27th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Michelle is, by far, one of my two most influental runners. I met her and ran with her (well, we ran in the same race) at the Flying Pig 4 years ago and since then I have been in complete awe of her progress. She has an incredible personality. No one deserves success more than Michelle.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Hey Michelle:
Now I REALLY want your autograph. You are the Queen of the SS group. Keep raising that bar. Somone needs to push us!
May 1st, 2007 at 8:22 pm
This is the kind of interview that makes me want to run after reading it.
“I was taking rest days because I was mentally weak.” I’m writing that one down. How can I miss a training day after reading that? Awesome…
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:12 am
The point of mental weakness is well taken (certainly with me). but I highly recommend rest days as a sensible part of any marathon training regimen.
Michelle is not typical in her ability to sustain running performance with little rest. Even she will have to rest at some point.
For most of us, the temptation to skive off *scheduled training days* is our “el Guapo.”
– D
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
Awesome interview!!
I’ve known Michelle for a long time and she is quite an inspirational runner. The sub 3 marathon may not happen this year, but it should be her goal for 2008.
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:30 am
For me, “Sub 3” is part of the “Jared” nutritional regimen replacing more standard fast food (been on the wagon all year).
– D
June 4th, 2011 at 9:22 am
I saw Michelle win the women’s Flying Pig in Cincinnati a few years ago, the year I ran my first half in the same race. I was enamored to see her cross the finish line and thought 2 things:’Wow, she’s amazing and must have a great family of support around her to be such a great runner.’ and: ‘Hey, she and I are about the same height and build, but my having 3 kids would NEVER enable me to be a marathon runner!’ THEN to read in your interview that Michelle has 4 kids of her own, left me NO excuse to give up a dream of running a marathon. Being a mom, I suddenly realized Michelle doesn’t rely on support from her family/friends, she IS the support to her family. I can personally relate to her loving the treadmill because I know it gives kids direct accessibility to mom. I wonder: Do Michelle’a kids try to keep up with her on their bikes during road runs? How does she maintain a household, mealtimes, and bed times running 100 mile weeks? (These are all responsibilities that can seem overwhelming with a minimal-mileage schedule!) Thank you for acknowledging Michelle being a parent – which, in itself is a marathon of a different kind – Please continue to inspire and encourage those of us who also ‘run from’ being ordinary parents and want to lead the next generation away from the video screen to a life of physical fitness.