#056 – Active duty military member, mom, and runner Dominique Cofield shares her running journey and how she regained her joy through running after the loss of her sister. We also discuss ways to enter a marathon and Dominique’s fundraising efforts with the American Cancer Society for her first marathon.
Topics Covered:
- How running can help you during a time of grief
- Taking the next step and increasing your race distance
- Different ways to sign-up and run a marathon
- Benefits of being part of a running group
Today’s Guest
Dominique Cofield
Dominique grew up all over the world being in a military family and is the youngest of three children. She considers Chicago home and attended Kenwood Academy High School on the Southside of Chicago and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Dominique’s family is made up of service members, with her older siblings who served in the United States Air Force and her father who retired from the Army many years ago. Dominique spent the last 15 years in the Army as a patient administration specialist.
Dominique currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of 13 years, Deon, and two children, Lauryn (10) and Elliott (7). She will soon receive her second Bachelor of Arts degree, this time in Organizational Development. As Dominique prepares for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2023, she is raising funds for the American Cancer Society.
Follow Dominique Cofield:
- Instagram (Dominique) – @the_one_that_smiles_often
Listen to Inspire to Run Podcast:
Richard Conner
Welcome to Episode 56. Today’s guest will share her running journey and along the way how she regained her joy through running after the loss of her sister. We’ll also talk about her latest goal of running the Chicago Marathon. Hope you enjoy. Welcome
Intro/Outro
to Inspire to run podcast. Here you will find inspiration. Whether you’re looking to take control of your health and fitness or you’re a seasoned runner, looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here’s your host Richard Conner.
Richard Conner
Hi, everyone, welcome to inspire to run Podcast. I’m here today with Dominique Cofield, who is an active duty military member with older siblings and her dad who served in the military as well. She spent the last 15 years in the Army as a patient administrator, specialist. And Dominique is married with two children, and is preparing for the Bank of America Chicago marathon in 2023. So, welcome to the show, Dominique.
Dominique Cofield
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Richard Conner
Super excited to have you here, I definitely want to hear more about your story about how you got into running and eventually what led you to prepare for the Chicago Marathon. So just really excited and grateful that you’re here with us today. So you know, just to kind of kick the conversation off, I’d love for you to tell our audience just a little bit more about yourself, and how you got into running.
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so I started running mainly for my job, be an active duty service member. But I wanted it to be fun. And I wanted to still feel healthy and be able to do this when I get out of the service. My older sister that’s used to be in the Air Force. We use the rent together all the time. But unfortunately, she passed away in 2018, from breast cancer. And running hasn’t really felt the same. But I’m finding a home and sisterhood with people that I do come across and meet in the running community, which is awesome. I started running, I want to say doing fun runs as early as 2009. I can say that was like my first one that I did. Being in the service outside of work. And from there, I just look for different runs and I do on and find a different city I do a run of ran and Germany, Korea, I plan on running when I go visit Jamaica later this year. But with it done several half marathons. And I always say I would never do anything more than a half because by mile nine, I’m like who would want to do this? Who will want to do this who wants to do 26 miles, he wants to do an ultra like, Oh, it’s just impossible. But I’ve been around people that have motivated and inspired me to actually do a full marathon by them posting and sharing their stories like I’m doing today. And it’s encouraged me to actually sign up for the Chicago Marathon. And I chose Chicago because that’s where I’m from, because currently I’m here in Seattle, great running community out here. But I wanted my first full marathon to be at home around family and friends.
Richard Conner
All right, well, I appreciate you sharing your story. And you know, very sorry to hear about your sister, you know, I can’t imagine what that was like. And it must have been very hard for you during that time. And I’d like to talk a little bit more about that. But you know, kind of before we get into that, just when you mentioned you got into running because you want it you ran it sounded like you’re active as part of your job. But you wanted to get healthy or feel healthy. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, like what was kind of going on in your life or, you know, running through your mind when you decided that you want to just start running.
Dominique Cofield
So being in the military, we’re supposed to be to the fittest that we can be because at the end of the day, we’re you know, protecting the United States. But my running has always been hard. I’m not the fastest runner and it shows on being in the uniform and having to go out and do my physical fitness tests and things like that. And speaking with someone recently, a few years ago, I just wasn’t having fun while I was running. But bottom line it was just wasn’t that fun to run for work doing the formation runs because you’re running at the same pace with someone and everybody runs at a different pace. But it builds unit cohesion. But at the same time, it wasn’t building my endurance for running. So doing the fun runs really made it fun. So I do color runs, I’ll do the bubble runs. But mainly getting out and doing the five K’s. It’s not just getting out getting the T shirts in the metals but meeting other people and encouraging them as you’re running because I’m not the fastest runner but I see other people that are running at my pace and may be going through the same thing and it’s really encouraging to know that I can I can do better. And I love the motivation and encouragement that I do get. It has helped me run for the military because I’ve taken several minutes off of my actual I want to say a lot of time for running. So it’s it’s been helpful but I really do enjoy doing it outside of work.
Richard Conner
For sure for sure. And it’s nice to hear that you started to enjoy it and that you’re not here very similar stories, where others may start running for other reasons, maybe they run as part of other sports that they do. And running is just part of their training that, that they don’t necessarily like to do, but they have to do it or, you know, the story about kind of growing up and running felt like more like a punishment moreso than then fun. So it’s, it’s nice to hear that you kind of found joy in that. And it sounds like you did it through kind of community through others that you met, as well as through some of the races. So that’s really nice to hear.
Dominique Cofield
I really enjoy it.
Richard Conner
And then, you know, what would you say would have been your biggest obstacle, kind of during that time as you’re starting to improve, or you’re looking to first improve kind of your fitness and your running, but also find joy in it, what would you say would be your biggest obstacle,
Dominique Cofield
I want to say a few months before I actually lost my sister. It was it was hard, because I didn’t really know how to grieve because I was already kind of losing her. And I didn’t understand that because her health had declined. But she didn’t let us know what was going on. So I was filling my time with everything, but exercising and doing what I needed to do to actually be fit for service and just here for my family. So when she did pass, I just, it was really hard to get back into running because that was a person that I would run with that was the person I would call after I would do roads or when she would come visit, we would go run together even go for walks. And it just became really hard. So to help me get through that I kept running. And I would always run with someone didn’t want to run by myself, even if me and the other person weren’t together just to know that I wasn’t outside alone and running with someone that was really helping me to get back into running. So guidance even more fun runs at that time. But also in remembrance of her. Her birthday is November 15. Usually in the month of November, I do a birthday challenge run. So whatever year, whatever he would have turned that year and this year would have been her 43rd birthday, I do a mile challenge. So this month would have been a 43 mile challenge for the whole month, not in a week, not in a day. But for the month the goal was to hit 43 miles, I did not do it this year, was not feeling great. And most of the most of the month I’ve been dealing with back to that codes and fighting off viruses. So I do plan on actually doing something similar leading up to the actual Chicago marathon to get more of my friends and family involved because they want to support and maybe they can’t donate money, or you know, they can’t physically be with me. But doing that has brought all of us closer together. So this would be the would have been the fourth year that I’ve done it. But the last couple of years, sometimes I would do fundraisers with the actual birthday challenge, or I would challenge other people not to just do exercises, but these things that will help out your overall health, including your mental health, like maybe do some yoga or do 42 minutes of just nothing, just read a book or something, something that will contribute to your health and you know, make it so it’s easier for you to get out and exercise.
Richard Conner
Thank you for sharing on Dominica, I really appreciate you sharing, you know a little bit more about the time with your sister, and and kind of what got you through that time. I think that, you know, finding something to kind of help us you know, through those difficult times is it’s not easy to do. But it was it’s really nice to to be able to find that and then kind of develop those challenges. And her memories is really nice. So sorry to hear that you weren’t able to do it this year, but I’m sure you’ll be back to it next year. Yeah. So you have the so you have these fundraisers that you’ve been doing or the challenges that you’ve been doing and the fundraisers connected to it. And you know, maybe we’ll talk a little bit about the Chicago Marathon cuz I know that you’re also fundraising for that. So, you know, I have a lot of questions around kind of what led you down to the road to go to do a marathon and then I’d love to talk about the different ways someone can do a marathon like the Chicago Marathon and then the path you chose. So maybe we’ll just start with the first part around in what made you decide to go from your five K’s and your half marathons and your fun runs all the way to a marathon. So maybe we could start there.
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so the first thing that I was told when I complain about oh, why would you i i am very motivated by what you’re doing, but I can never run anything more than a half mile the person told me that it’s one step at a time one mile at a time. You can look at it as it’s 26 Miles look at it as I just did one mile I just did another mile I just did eventually it’s going to add up to 26 because that’s how I now look at doing my half marathons which has helped me mentally to get through and just complete them. So it just seems like so much fun also with the support that goes along with especially with the the major marathons that they have around the world with the Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin, London and I believe Tokyo how everyone comes together, not just because it’s televised, but just the community in Chicago, I know somebody that will be just about an almost every mile marker when I go. So I’m very excited about that running through the neighborhoods and seeing family and friends.
Richard Conner
That’s great. And, you know, I love what you said about one step at a time because, you know, share a little bit of my own journey. I ran five K’s in high school as part of cross country, and then I ran small, shorter distances for track. And then after high school, it was really just five K’s or running here and there, but not anything serious until a few years ago. And I’ve always had it in my mind, you know, I really wouldn’t do anything farther than a 5k. So a 10k seemed out of reach to half marathon, Marathon Ultra, etc. And there’s some of it has been fears, just going that distance. And then some of it has been just a motivation to do it. And over time, it’s just like you said, it’s like, okay, you accomplish one distance, and then, you know, you’re inspiring others. And then you’re thinking, well, maybe, if I’m inspiring somebody to do something, maybe I could do more. So maybe someone’s inspiring me to do more. And that led me to do my first half marathon, I think, three years ago. And where I’m at today is I’m looking to do maybe need to decide if I’m going to do my first full marathon. And I’d love to do one, you know, like to Chicago one, or I’ve been talking about the New York City Marathon. So we’ll see. But, um, but I love what you said there about like one step at a time, because 26 miles just seems very daunting.
Dominique Cofield
But it’s doable. It’s doable. I’ve seen people on live to tell their story afterwards. And so looking forward to it.
Richard Conner
That’s great. And then, you know, kind of taking a step back with the half marathon. How did you feel during those races? Did you feel at the end of those races, like a marathon is for sure within reach? Or while that’s still a big step. And I don’t know if I’m ready, like, what did you What did you think? And how did you overcome maybe some negative thoughts to get you to the point of signing up for the full marathon?
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so the very first half marathon I did was in December of 2018. And I trained for I invited people to come run with me, like give me motivation to actually do a half because before that, I think the furthest I did was I want to say a 10k 10k. Because right after that, I did the hot chocolate, which was a 15k. And then I did another half. I don’t know why I did the second half because I wasn’t trained. But the first one that I ran, I was in top tier shape. And it was just me that actually ran out there didn’t run with any friends. I didn’t know, runners out there. But I didn’t, you know, like I’m doing with the fool. I’m going to run with someone else. They’re going to be out there too. But I was motivated from that first one because of how I felt afterwards, I felt relieved and then see my babies at the end of the finish line. My husband was there, my kids and they were cheering me on gave me my banana and Gatorade, I felt great. But then I had to drive home. That’s when my body locked up. So I’m gonna do this again. But I was a friend had came to visit and right before I left San Antonio to go to overseas and decided to run another half marathon. But I was not trained, like whatsoever. I just went out there and did it. I finished it. But it wasn’t my best run. Because I had my first one that compare it to. So then I told myself that once I got trained up, I would do another half. But I was overseas and I didn’t do a half over there. But just because of elevation, humidity in the air quality. So after COVID My first one, since 2018 19 was here in I want to say it was here in Seattle. No, it was the Las Vegas half marathon. That one was awesome because it was flat and it was a party but I was not again really trained for it because I just got over COVID and did well but not as great as I wanted to do. So I guess the pattern is that I want to do better than what I did the first time so that’s why I was chasing the half marathon was like I know I can do better. Why am I not doing better? So then I did the cherry blossom run out here which was beautiful on the U DUB campus. And I didn’t do as great as I did the first time. So then I was like, You know what, I’m going to do another one. So I did this Seattle. I wouldn’t say Seattle rock’n’roll which turns to Washington rock and roll but the elevation. I was like, Whoa, this is this is tough. So I was amongst my running group talking about the challenge I had at the Seattle or the Rock and Roll Washington which took place in Bellevue where was a lot of heels and someone had said I think you’re ready to do a full if you’ve managed to finish out when walking, you can actually do a fool. Just remember, it’s one mile at a time, don’t look any further than just that mile in front of you when he hit the mile marker. And I was like, Well, you know what, I guess I will, because I’m going to keep chasing the half marathon and wanting to do better than the first time but actually going to have a different baseline, going after that first full marathon. So I’m excited.
Richard Conner
That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful. And, you know, tell me more about the running group, I assume when you’re talking about the running group, who is Black Girls Run? So tell. Tell me a little bit more about that. How did you find the group? And what has that? How’s that helped you kind of along your running journey?
Dominique Cofield
So I originally when I was in San Antonio, I saw a Black Girls Run member and I didn’t know anything about it. The group, but nice lady came up to me was like, Are you part of Black Girls Run because there’s not a lot of, you know, black people at a lot of the run events. So we’re out there, but there’s not a lot of us. So I was like, No, so she sent me the Facebook link, I went on the page. And from there, it’s like a like one of the best sisterhoods I can ever think of out there on the road or on the pavement because I fly or I flew to Korea for a duty assignment. And I was linked up with somebody else from Black Girls Run and ran a actual 10k. With her, she did a half marathon and I just did the 10k We met through that group moved here to Washington didn’t know anybody. But I knew that there was a black girls were in Seattle, Tacoma, and LinkedIn to the page and met some very awesome women and we run on the weekends we do the fun rides, we’ll meet up for just off the pavement events. But it’s built such a bond that, you know, it’s unlike anything else, and just to have that community, they do have black men run out here, try to get my husband to do it, he enjoyed it. But our schedules are kind of challenging, because we’re both active duty. But it’s a great organization, because a lot of black people, I would just say in general, we don’t look at our health in a serious way, after a certain age. So this helps combat the hypertension, that high cholesterol getting up and just moving around. Even if we’re not running, we’re walking and we’re still doing it as a community.
Richard Conner
That’s great. That’s really wonderful that you found that and that’s helped, again, helping you along in your journey. But it sounds like you’re helping each other. So so that’s really wonderful. And they’re all over the US Correct?
Dominique Cofield
Yes, every major city just about and I was finding people in Germany and I didn’t even know bonded through running.
Richard Conner
Right, right. All right. So you know, kind of back to the Chicago Marathon. So there’s a number of ways to get into, you know, these types of marathons. And so maybe let’s talk a little bit about those different ways to do it. So I know you, there’s some marathons where you have to qualify in terms of your time and, and then others it’s a potentially a lottery to get in. So you know, tell us a little bit about what the options were for Chicago marathon, and what did you end up eventually going with.
Dominique Cofield
So I didn’t have a qualifying full marathon trying to get a guaranteed entry to apply for that. So that one went away. So I know you had to run it. I know, for Boston, it’s like 330, for my age bracket under or 340. And under three hours, 40 minutes. So I didn’t have that. The next way is to do the lottery, or you just apply. And they do a drawing I believe, either at the end of this month or in December. And I’ll let people know if they actually got into the Chicago Marathon. Another way to get a guaranteed entry is to apply through a charity. So certain organizations and charities do good bibs. And with it the trade off is that you’ll fundraise for that actual charity. So it’s awesome, it’s guaranteed, but you also want to be able to fundraise for an organization that you fully support, and we believe in their mission. Because if not, you’re just doing it and you’re trying to raise funds that you’ll end up having to pay back yourself because one of the things is that you have to actually or No, I have to endorse the say that if I don’t cover the minimum fundraising amount, then I will have to cover it, pay for it. So as I this is too easy, because this is something that I actually believe in, and I can encourage others to donate to this organization. So I chose and there was it was really hard because there’s so many organizations that I want to reach out to and I was like, I want to do this and I want to do that one. But because this first marathon is an honor of my sister, I chose the American Cancer Society. So I follow through with their registration and everything. And I’ve been raising funds through that organization. And a lot of the organizations do provide training plans meet up special things for you when you’re actually going to run a marathon under their organization, which is pretty neat because I had no idea because I just knew that I can just do the lottery and apply and if I got it I’d get it but I knew I really wanted to do it at this age at this moment. Not I probably wouldn’t do it. So I was like, you know, I’m gonna go ahead and do to guarantee Through the American Cancer Society, got approved for it and utilizing a lot of the tools that they’re giving me as far as fundraising, but also using the training plans. But the fundraising seems to come natural, as I said, because it’s something that I believe in their mission and what they’re doing for patients families and trying to prevent such a harsh disease.
Richard Conner
Well, it sounds wonderful, and congratulations on getting getting into the Chicago Marathon, I know you’ll be successful. And like you said, it’s, you’re very passionate about this. So that’s, you know, that’s really going to help you get to your fundraising goal. Thank you. So Dominique, I really appreciate you sharing your story with us. And, you know, it’s really great to hear that you set up this fundraiser and all the support that came along with it. And I think it’s really important for our listeners to hear your story, in terms of how your journey to deciding you wanted to do this full marathon. And the different ways someone could can sign up for a marathon, whether it’s a qualifying time, or a lottery, or in your case through fundraiser, which I know a lot of people do. So you know, kind of as we wind down here, what would be the one thing that you would say to our listeners to inspire them to run?
Dominique Cofield
Like if you can do don’t wait. Everyone has the ability to do something. So do something great. Get out there and move.
Richard Conner
All right. All right, wonderful. So thank you again, Dominique, for coming on the show. And, you know, we want to support you along your journey to your full marathon Chicago marathon. So how can our listeners find you and follow your journey online and donate?
Dominique Cofield
Alright, so I have a Instagram page set up. It’s the one that smiles often so each word has an underscore between it. And on that page, you can follow my journey as I trained and prepare for the Chicago Marathon as well as the Disney World princess challenge weekend that’s coming up in February and the Rock and Roll half marathon that’s also coming up in June. I’ll be doing it in San Diego. And just my running journey overall. And just sharing stories. I like doing that. And on there. Also in my bio is the link for the ACS American Cancer Society donation fundraiser page for myself. And you can make a donation and my name. And also I’m selling this awesome t shirt. I have that link on there too. Through custom ink I design shirts, to hopefully inspire others to wear as they work out. It just says the Chicago Marathon with the skyline and a runner on it and you know, Get Ready get set in Chicago. That’s my chant as I prepare for this amazing 26 miles in October of next year.
Richard Conner
Wonderful, wonderful. Well, you are going to do amazing, I’m sure of it. So thank you again, Dominique. Good luck with your fundraising. Thank you for sharing all this great information with our listeners. I’ll put this information in the show notes to make it easier for everyone to find you and follow you online. And with that, thanks again and have a great day. Great, thank you. All right, I hope you enjoyed this conversation. Two quick things to ask of you. One, please support Dominique and her fundraising efforts for the Chicago Marathon. So you can check out our Instagram page to find out more information and to if you enjoyed this conversation, really appreciate it if you rate and review the show. Super easy to do an apple podcast and it helps us get in front of more listeners like yourself. So again, thank you so much for listening and have a great day.
Intro/Outro
That’s it for this episode of inspired to run podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community. And also please rate and review. Thanks for listening
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Welcome to Episode 56. Today’s guest will share her running journey and along the way how she regained her joy through running after the loss of her sister. We’ll also talk about her latest goal of running the Chicago Marathon. Hope you enjoy. Welcome
Intro/Outro
to Inspire to run podcast. Here you will find inspiration. Whether you’re looking to take control of your health and fitness or you’re a seasoned runner, looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here’s your host Richard Conner.
Richard Conner
Hi, everyone, welcome to inspire to run Podcast. I’m here today with Dominique Cofield, who is an active duty military member with older siblings and her dad who served in the military as well. She spent the last 15 years in the Army as a patient administrator, specialist. And Dominique is married with two children, and is preparing for the Bank of America Chicago marathon in 2023. So, welcome to the show, Dominique.
Dominique Cofield
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Richard Conner
Super excited to have you here, I definitely want to hear more about your story about how you got into running and eventually what led you to prepare for the Chicago Marathon. So just really excited and grateful that you’re here with us today. So you know, just to kind of kick the conversation off, I’d love for you to tell our audience just a little bit more about yourself, and how you got into running.
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so I started running mainly for my job, be an active duty service member. But I wanted it to be fun. And I wanted to still feel healthy and be able to do this when I get out of the service. My older sister that’s used to be in the Air Force. We use the rent together all the time. But unfortunately, she passed away in 2018, from breast cancer. And running hasn’t really felt the same. But I’m finding a home and sisterhood with people that I do come across and meet in the running community, which is awesome. I started running, I want to say doing fun runs as early as 2009. I can say that was like my first one that I did. Being in the service outside of work. And from there, I just look for different runs and I do on and find a different city I do a run of ran and Germany, Korea, I plan on running when I go visit Jamaica later this year. But with it done several half marathons. And I always say I would never do anything more than a half because by mile nine, I’m like who would want to do this? Who will want to do this who wants to do 26 miles, he wants to do an ultra like, Oh, it’s just impossible. But I’ve been around people that have motivated and inspired me to actually do a full marathon by them posting and sharing their stories like I’m doing today. And it’s encouraged me to actually sign up for the Chicago Marathon. And I chose Chicago because that’s where I’m from, because currently I’m here in Seattle, great running community out here. But I wanted my first full marathon to be at home around family and friends.
Richard Conner
All right, well, I appreciate you sharing your story. And you know, very sorry to hear about your sister, you know, I can’t imagine what that was like. And it must have been very hard for you during that time. And I’d like to talk a little bit more about that. But you know, kind of before we get into that, just when you mentioned you got into running because you want it you ran it sounded like you’re active as part of your job. But you wanted to get healthy or feel healthy. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, like what was kind of going on in your life or, you know, running through your mind when you decided that you want to just start running.
Dominique Cofield
So being in the military, we’re supposed to be to the fittest that we can be because at the end of the day, we’re you know, protecting the United States. But my running has always been hard. I’m not the fastest runner and it shows on being in the uniform and having to go out and do my physical fitness tests and things like that. And speaking with someone recently, a few years ago, I just wasn’t having fun while I was running. But bottom line it was just wasn’t that fun to run for work doing the formation runs because you’re running at the same pace with someone and everybody runs at a different pace. But it builds unit cohesion. But at the same time, it wasn’t building my endurance for running. So doing the fun runs really made it fun. So I do color runs, I’ll do the bubble runs. But mainly getting out and doing the five K’s. It’s not just getting out getting the T shirts in the metals but meeting other people and encouraging them as you’re running because I’m not the fastest runner but I see other people that are running at my pace and may be going through the same thing and it’s really encouraging to know that I can I can do better. And I love the motivation and encouragement that I do get. It has helped me run for the military because I’ve taken several minutes off of my actual I want to say a lot of time for running. So it’s it’s been helpful but I really do enjoy doing it outside of work.
Richard Conner
For sure for sure. And it’s nice to hear that you started to enjoy it and that you’re not here very similar stories, where others may start running for other reasons, maybe they run as part of other sports that they do. And running is just part of their training that, that they don’t necessarily like to do, but they have to do it or, you know, the story about kind of growing up and running felt like more like a punishment moreso than then fun. So it’s, it’s nice to hear that you kind of found joy in that. And it sounds like you did it through kind of community through others that you met, as well as through some of the races. So that’s really nice to hear.
Dominique Cofield
I really enjoy it.
Richard Conner
And then, you know, what would you say would have been your biggest obstacle, kind of during that time as you’re starting to improve, or you’re looking to first improve kind of your fitness and your running, but also find joy in it, what would you say would be your biggest obstacle,
Dominique Cofield
I want to say a few months before I actually lost my sister. It was it was hard, because I didn’t really know how to grieve because I was already kind of losing her. And I didn’t understand that because her health had declined. But she didn’t let us know what was going on. So I was filling my time with everything, but exercising and doing what I needed to do to actually be fit for service and just here for my family. So when she did pass, I just, it was really hard to get back into running because that was a person that I would run with that was the person I would call after I would do roads or when she would come visit, we would go run together even go for walks. And it just became really hard. So to help me get through that I kept running. And I would always run with someone didn’t want to run by myself, even if me and the other person weren’t together just to know that I wasn’t outside alone and running with someone that was really helping me to get back into running. So guidance even more fun runs at that time. But also in remembrance of her. Her birthday is November 15. Usually in the month of November, I do a birthday challenge run. So whatever year, whatever he would have turned that year and this year would have been her 43rd birthday, I do a mile challenge. So this month would have been a 43 mile challenge for the whole month, not in a week, not in a day. But for the month the goal was to hit 43 miles, I did not do it this year, was not feeling great. And most of the most of the month I’ve been dealing with back to that codes and fighting off viruses. So I do plan on actually doing something similar leading up to the actual Chicago marathon to get more of my friends and family involved because they want to support and maybe they can’t donate money, or you know, they can’t physically be with me. But doing that has brought all of us closer together. So this would be the would have been the fourth year that I’ve done it. But the last couple of years, sometimes I would do fundraisers with the actual birthday challenge, or I would challenge other people not to just do exercises, but these things that will help out your overall health, including your mental health, like maybe do some yoga or do 42 minutes of just nothing, just read a book or something, something that will contribute to your health and you know, make it so it’s easier for you to get out and exercise.
Richard Conner
Thank you for sharing on Dominica, I really appreciate you sharing, you know a little bit more about the time with your sister, and and kind of what got you through that time. I think that, you know, finding something to kind of help us you know, through those difficult times is it’s not easy to do. But it was it’s really nice to to be able to find that and then kind of develop those challenges. And her memories is really nice. So sorry to hear that you weren’t able to do it this year, but I’m sure you’ll be back to it next year. Yeah. So you have the so you have these fundraisers that you’ve been doing or the challenges that you’ve been doing and the fundraisers connected to it. And you know, maybe we’ll talk a little bit about the Chicago Marathon cuz I know that you’re also fundraising for that. So, you know, I have a lot of questions around kind of what led you down to the road to go to do a marathon and then I’d love to talk about the different ways someone can do a marathon like the Chicago Marathon and then the path you chose. So maybe we’ll just start with the first part around in what made you decide to go from your five K’s and your half marathons and your fun runs all the way to a marathon. So maybe we could start there.
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so the first thing that I was told when I complain about oh, why would you i i am very motivated by what you’re doing, but I can never run anything more than a half mile the person told me that it’s one step at a time one mile at a time. You can look at it as it’s 26 Miles look at it as I just did one mile I just did another mile I just did eventually it’s going to add up to 26 because that’s how I now look at doing my half marathons which has helped me mentally to get through and just complete them. So it just seems like so much fun also with the support that goes along with especially with the the major marathons that they have around the world with the Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin, London and I believe Tokyo how everyone comes together, not just because it’s televised, but just the community in Chicago, I know somebody that will be just about an almost every mile marker when I go. So I’m very excited about that running through the neighborhoods and seeing family and friends.
Richard Conner
That’s great. And, you know, I love what you said about one step at a time because, you know, share a little bit of my own journey. I ran five K’s in high school as part of cross country, and then I ran small, shorter distances for track. And then after high school, it was really just five K’s or running here and there, but not anything serious until a few years ago. And I’ve always had it in my mind, you know, I really wouldn’t do anything farther than a 5k. So a 10k seemed out of reach to half marathon, Marathon Ultra, etc. And there’s some of it has been fears, just going that distance. And then some of it has been just a motivation to do it. And over time, it’s just like you said, it’s like, okay, you accomplish one distance, and then, you know, you’re inspiring others. And then you’re thinking, well, maybe, if I’m inspiring somebody to do something, maybe I could do more. So maybe someone’s inspiring me to do more. And that led me to do my first half marathon, I think, three years ago. And where I’m at today is I’m looking to do maybe need to decide if I’m going to do my first full marathon. And I’d love to do one, you know, like to Chicago one, or I’ve been talking about the New York City Marathon. So we’ll see. But, um, but I love what you said there about like one step at a time, because 26 miles just seems very daunting.
Dominique Cofield
But it’s doable. It’s doable. I’ve seen people on live to tell their story afterwards. And so looking forward to it.
Richard Conner
That’s great. And then, you know, kind of taking a step back with the half marathon. How did you feel during those races? Did you feel at the end of those races, like a marathon is for sure within reach? Or while that’s still a big step. And I don’t know if I’m ready, like, what did you What did you think? And how did you overcome maybe some negative thoughts to get you to the point of signing up for the full marathon?
Dominique Cofield
Okay, so the very first half marathon I did was in December of 2018. And I trained for I invited people to come run with me, like give me motivation to actually do a half because before that, I think the furthest I did was I want to say a 10k 10k. Because right after that, I did the hot chocolate, which was a 15k. And then I did another half. I don’t know why I did the second half because I wasn’t trained. But the first one that I ran, I was in top tier shape. And it was just me that actually ran out there didn’t run with any friends. I didn’t know, runners out there. But I didn’t, you know, like I’m doing with the fool. I’m going to run with someone else. They’re going to be out there too. But I was motivated from that first one because of how I felt afterwards, I felt relieved and then see my babies at the end of the finish line. My husband was there, my kids and they were cheering me on gave me my banana and Gatorade, I felt great. But then I had to drive home. That’s when my body locked up. So I’m gonna do this again. But I was a friend had came to visit and right before I left San Antonio to go to overseas and decided to run another half marathon. But I was not trained, like whatsoever. I just went out there and did it. I finished it. But it wasn’t my best run. Because I had my first one that compare it to. So then I told myself that once I got trained up, I would do another half. But I was overseas and I didn’t do a half over there. But just because of elevation, humidity in the air quality. So after COVID My first one, since 2018 19 was here in I want to say it was here in Seattle. No, it was the Las Vegas half marathon. That one was awesome because it was flat and it was a party but I was not again really trained for it because I just got over COVID and did well but not as great as I wanted to do. So I guess the pattern is that I want to do better than what I did the first time so that’s why I was chasing the half marathon was like I know I can do better. Why am I not doing better? So then I did the cherry blossom run out here which was beautiful on the U DUB campus. And I didn’t do as great as I did the first time. So then I was like, You know what, I’m going to do another one. So I did this Seattle. I wouldn’t say Seattle rock’n’roll which turns to Washington rock and roll but the elevation. I was like, Whoa, this is this is tough. So I was amongst my running group talking about the challenge I had at the Seattle or the Rock and Roll Washington which took place in Bellevue where was a lot of heels and someone had said I think you’re ready to do a full if you’ve managed to finish out when walking, you can actually do a fool. Just remember, it’s one mile at a time, don’t look any further than just that mile in front of you when he hit the mile marker. And I was like, Well, you know what, I guess I will, because I’m going to keep chasing the half marathon and wanting to do better than the first time but actually going to have a different baseline, going after that first full marathon. So I’m excited.
Richard Conner
That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful. And, you know, tell me more about the running group, I assume when you’re talking about the running group, who is Black Girls Run? So tell. Tell me a little bit more about that. How did you find the group? And what has that? How’s that helped you kind of along your running journey?
Dominique Cofield
So I originally when I was in San Antonio, I saw a Black Girls Run member and I didn’t know anything about it. The group, but nice lady came up to me was like, Are you part of Black Girls Run because there’s not a lot of, you know, black people at a lot of the run events. So we’re out there, but there’s not a lot of us. So I was like, No, so she sent me the Facebook link, I went on the page. And from there, it’s like a like one of the best sisterhoods I can ever think of out there on the road or on the pavement because I fly or I flew to Korea for a duty assignment. And I was linked up with somebody else from Black Girls Run and ran a actual 10k. With her, she did a half marathon and I just did the 10k We met through that group moved here to Washington didn’t know anybody. But I knew that there was a black girls were in Seattle, Tacoma, and LinkedIn to the page and met some very awesome women and we run on the weekends we do the fun rides, we’ll meet up for just off the pavement events. But it’s built such a bond that, you know, it’s unlike anything else, and just to have that community, they do have black men run out here, try to get my husband to do it, he enjoyed it. But our schedules are kind of challenging, because we’re both active duty. But it’s a great organization, because a lot of black people, I would just say in general, we don’t look at our health in a serious way, after a certain age. So this helps combat the hypertension, that high cholesterol getting up and just moving around. Even if we’re not running, we’re walking and we’re still doing it as a community.
Richard Conner
That’s great. That’s really wonderful that you found that and that’s helped, again, helping you along in your journey. But it sounds like you’re helping each other. So so that’s really wonderful. And they’re all over the US Correct?
Dominique Cofield
Yes, every major city just about and I was finding people in Germany and I didn’t even know bonded through running.
Richard Conner
Right, right. All right. So you know, kind of back to the Chicago Marathon. So there’s a number of ways to get into, you know, these types of marathons. And so maybe let’s talk a little bit about those different ways to do it. So I know you, there’s some marathons where you have to qualify in terms of your time and, and then others it’s a potentially a lottery to get in. So you know, tell us a little bit about what the options were for Chicago marathon, and what did you end up eventually going with.
Dominique Cofield
So I didn’t have a qualifying full marathon trying to get a guaranteed entry to apply for that. So that one went away. So I know you had to run it. I know, for Boston, it’s like 330, for my age bracket under or 340. And under three hours, 40 minutes. So I didn’t have that. The next way is to do the lottery, or you just apply. And they do a drawing I believe, either at the end of this month or in December. And I’ll let people know if they actually got into the Chicago Marathon. Another way to get a guaranteed entry is to apply through a charity. So certain organizations and charities do good bibs. And with it the trade off is that you’ll fundraise for that actual charity. So it’s awesome, it’s guaranteed, but you also want to be able to fundraise for an organization that you fully support, and we believe in their mission. Because if not, you’re just doing it and you’re trying to raise funds that you’ll end up having to pay back yourself because one of the things is that you have to actually or No, I have to endorse the say that if I don’t cover the minimum fundraising amount, then I will have to cover it, pay for it. So as I this is too easy, because this is something that I actually believe in, and I can encourage others to donate to this organization. So I chose and there was it was really hard because there’s so many organizations that I want to reach out to and I was like, I want to do this and I want to do that one. But because this first marathon is an honor of my sister, I chose the American Cancer Society. So I follow through with their registration and everything. And I’ve been raising funds through that organization. And a lot of the organizations do provide training plans meet up special things for you when you’re actually going to run a marathon under their organization, which is pretty neat because I had no idea because I just knew that I can just do the lottery and apply and if I got it I’d get it but I knew I really wanted to do it at this age at this moment. Not I probably wouldn’t do it. So I was like, you know, I’m gonna go ahead and do to guarantee Through the American Cancer Society, got approved for it and utilizing a lot of the tools that they’re giving me as far as fundraising, but also using the training plans. But the fundraising seems to come natural, as I said, because it’s something that I believe in their mission and what they’re doing for patients families and trying to prevent such a harsh disease.
Richard Conner
Well, it sounds wonderful, and congratulations on getting getting into the Chicago Marathon, I know you’ll be successful. And like you said, it’s, you’re very passionate about this. So that’s, you know, that’s really going to help you get to your fundraising goal. Thank you. So Dominique, I really appreciate you sharing your story with us. And, you know, it’s really great to hear that you set up this fundraiser and all the support that came along with it. And I think it’s really important for our listeners to hear your story, in terms of how your journey to deciding you wanted to do this full marathon. And the different ways someone could can sign up for a marathon, whether it’s a qualifying time, or a lottery, or in your case through fundraiser, which I know a lot of people do. So you know, kind of as we wind down here, what would be the one thing that you would say to our listeners to inspire them to run?
Dominique Cofield
Like if you can do don’t wait. Everyone has the ability to do something. So do something great. Get out there and move.
Richard Conner
All right. All right, wonderful. So thank you again, Dominique, for coming on the show. And, you know, we want to support you along your journey to your full marathon Chicago marathon. So how can our listeners find you and follow your journey online and donate?
Dominique Cofield
Alright, so I have a Instagram page set up. It’s the one that smiles often so each word has an underscore between it. And on that page, you can follow my journey as I trained and prepare for the Chicago Marathon as well as the Disney World princess challenge weekend that’s coming up in February and the Rock and Roll half marathon that’s also coming up in June. I’ll be doing it in San Diego. And just my running journey overall. And just sharing stories. I like doing that. And on there. Also in my bio is the link for the ACS American Cancer Society donation fundraiser page for myself. And you can make a donation and my name. And also I’m selling this awesome t shirt. I have that link on there too. Through custom ink I design shirts, to hopefully inspire others to wear as they work out. It just says the Chicago Marathon with the skyline and a runner on it and you know, Get Ready get set in Chicago. That’s my chant as I prepare for this amazing 26 miles in October of next year.
Richard Conner
Wonderful, wonderful. Well, you are going to do amazing, I’m sure of it. So thank you again, Dominique. Good luck with your fundraising. Thank you for sharing all this great information with our listeners. I’ll put this information in the show notes to make it easier for everyone to find you and follow you online. And with that, thanks again and have a great day. Great, thank you. All right, I hope you enjoyed this conversation. Two quick things to ask of you. One, please support Dominique and her fundraising efforts for the Chicago Marathon. So you can check out our Instagram page to find out more information and to if you enjoyed this conversation, really appreciate it if you rate and review the show. Super easy to do an apple podcast and it helps us get in front of more listeners like yourself. So again, thank you so much for listening and have a great day.
Intro/Outro
That’s it for this episode of inspired to run podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community. And also please rate and review. Thanks for listening
Transcribed by https://otter.ai