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Ryan Fisher Story Posted on February 11, 2014

This month we feature, Ryan Fisher. Ryan is a sophomore at The Ohio State University and native of Loveland, Ohio. On his first attempt in the marathon he qualified for Boston! Not only does Ryan have a great amount of talent but is the perfect candidate for inspiring your every day runner. While he juggles Greek life, school, clubs, and much more, he still finds time to put the miles in! This month we had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan and hearing about the nuts and bolts to his training! 

MS: Why did you choose running as a sport?

RF: After getting a heel injury from soccer in fourth grade I started running to get back into shape. From then on I enjoyed the sport of running and did Runner’s Club after school throughout fifth and sixth grade. I fell in love with the sport and decided to run cross-country during middle school.

MS: Did you run on your High School Cross Country or Track team?

RF: All four years in high school I ran on both the varsity cross-country and track teams, excluding sophomore year when I played volleyball in the spring. I went to Loveland High School in Loveland, OH and competed in the FAVC against other Cincinnati high schools. In track, I ran the mile and two mile.

MS: You just ran a marathon this fall. Where was it and how did it go?

RF: This past fall I ran the Columbus Marathon, which was my first marathon, and I was glad I could run it with my friend, Zach, who is in Running Club at Ohio State with me. Zach and I followed the same marathon training plan throughout the summer and early fall. Going into the marathon we just wanted to enjoy ourselves and be happy with the fact that all of our hard work would finally pay off. Little did we know we would qualify for the Boston Marathon, finishing the marathon together at the exact same time of 3:03:14. We were ecstatic with our performance and we are looking forward to 2015 when we’ll run in the Boston Marathon together.

MS: How much has your sister Sarah influenced your running career?

RF: My older sister, Sarah has the biggest influence in my running career. She inspires me every day to be a better runner and person in general. I enjoyed being on the same team with her in high school for two years and then watching her run competitively at Washington University in St. Louis. She now coaches women’s distance track at a high school in St. Louis and I couldn’t be any more proud of her. Sarah has overcome many challenges throughout her running career and she has inspired me to be happy and enjoy the sport of running. We plan on running a marathon together in the near future, preferably the Big Sur in California!

MS: What have been some of your biggest obstacles you had to overcome to be successful in this sport?

RF: Running is a mental sport. Therefore, I’ve struggled with putting myself down and getting easily discouraged. Additionally, I’ve had to put running on hold for a while due to an injury my senior year of high school and that drove me crazy not being able to run. However, I’ve learned to be patient with myself and persevere through the mental and physical obstacles that come along with the sport of running. Instead of beating myself up over how fast my times are or if I’m better than someone else, I’ve started to appreciate the fact that God gave me two working legs and because of that I’m going to do my best to glorify Him.

MS: How many miles a week do you tend to run in training?

RF: I’ve never been good at logging my miles, but I would say I tend to run around 50 miles a week during cross-country season and a little less than 40 miles during track season.

MS: Do you have any foods you like to indulge on post run?

RF: I’m a huge fan of eating cereal after my runs. It’s simple and I usually help myself to a second (or even a third) bowl. I like to drink chocolate milk or Lemon-Lime Gatorade after my runs as well.

MS: Where do you see your running in 20 years?

RF: In 20 years I see myself still enjoying the sport of running. I want to travel and run marathons across the country and also participate in local, fun road races wherever I live. Running has given me so much happiness and gratitude; therefore I plan on continuing to run for the rest of my life.

MS: What's the best piece of advice you can give to anyone just starting the sport?

RF: I always tell people that the hardest part of running is tying your shoes. Like I mentioned before, running is a mental sport. Once you tell yourself that “yes, I’m going to run today and I’m going to enjoy it”, then the rest of the run is easy. Be patient with yourself and be focused. Take one day at a time. Run with a friend. Make goals for yourself. And most importantly…have fun!