The Tom Williams file

Age:

24

Major/Occupation:

Technical Communication/Technical Writer

Native of:

Huntsville, Alabama (NASA, anyone?)

Years running:

9

Started running because:

I had a choice between it and another year of PE. Which do you think I wanted?

I knew I was hooked on running when:

I lost count of my twenty + mile runs while training for a marathon.

Favorite places to run:

Huntsville Running Park, three mile loop around my neighborhood.

Current weekly mileage:

70

PR's:

mile: 4:56, 3K: 9:33, 2mile: 10:35, 5K: 16:39, 8K: 27:54, 10K: 35:26, 15K: 58:50, 10 miles: 59:00, 1/2 marathon: 1:18:03, marathon: 2:45:45

Best or most satisfying performance ever:

I guess I should put in a college race, now that my college career's over. :| Well... Kachina Classic 2001 and 3K at the Texas Tech Early Bird Meet in December 2001. My best cross country and track races, respectively.

Most recent race:

Rocket City Marathon in 2:45:45. I actually *PRed* for the first half marathon; you can probably guess how the second half went. Still a good time, though.

Favorite race:

Any cross-country race.

One of my misconceptions about running was:

17:20 was at least a reasonably competitive 5K time.

Any pre-race superstitions?

I try to wear a brand new pair of socks for important races.

Training philosophy/schedule:

Anything broken? Then keep going, darnit!

Training diet:

Try to get enough meat and protein, just a tad of junk food on top.

One piece of advice I'd give to other runners is:

Never lean backwards.

If I could go on a social/training run with any person, living or dead, it would be:

Khalid Khannouchi.

When nobody's looking, I like to:

Act out daydreams.

In a movie of my life, I would like to be played by:

Me.

Favorite restaurants:

Anything with fish, chicken, or steak.

Favorite movie:

FLCL, if you consider watching all six episodes in a row a movie. It's just... everything.

Favorite book:

The Fountainhead.

My least favorite physical feature:

My visible ribs. Gotta eat more jelly doughnuts...

One of my hidden talents is:

I have the uncanny ability to solve problems in my sleep and create them while I'm awake.

My idea of a dream vacation is:

A week long backpacking hike along a nature trail.

Other interests:

Internet (duh!), reading, strange music, anime.

What was your first impression of Tech?

Geez, the architecture stinks. But, the tech writing program seems good, and the track coach seems... a little overly optimistic about my chances. Oh well, he'll learn soon enough how slow I really am...

The most impulsive thing I've ever done is:

Decide, five minutes before going on stage, to do a monologue from A Raisin in the Sun instead of the one from Charlie Brown like I'd planned. (but hey, they clapped, and only one person walked out!)

One thing that other track team members would love to know about me is:

What kind of girl I like. But I'm not telling. :oP

Quote:

"The key to winning all the time is to focus mainly on yourself. That is the one thing you can control. Let other people worry about themselves." - Runner's World

Back to the roster page