Hello and welcome to my brainchild of a blog! 🥳 I am so excited to finally have a platform for sharing my passion for running, philosophy, sustainability, and health. Running has helped me flourish in a multitude of ways and has been an escape from mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, but I’m also very familiar with its negative pressures. There is really nothing that quite compares to distance running—as a mental, physical, and sensory experience, or as a sport. Its uniqueness has allowed me to explore the world’s beauty, endless surprises, and life from the front seat.
Aside from running, I love to cook experimentally (using many different spices and vegetarian ingredients), play guitar, listen to music (I’m a Taylor Swift and house music superfan), read, grow plants, travel, and spend quality time with my family and close friends. I have a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and Spanish.
I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Norway, Italy, and all around the US on family road trips. My parents, two younger brothers, dog, and rabbit are all huge parts of my life, as well as my few best friends who never fail to support me in my endeavors, make me laugh, and constantly help me to be a better person.
I grew up in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin and have been running distance since I was in eighth grade at South Milwaukee Middle School. I went on to compete in cross country and track at South Milwaukee High School, where I finished 9th at the WIAA Wisconsin State Meet my senior year, and then I continued competing at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI where I was All-American in cross country (8k) and track (10k). My best 10k in college was 30:17 at the Gina Relays my junior year of college. After graduating, I ran my first marathon, placing 15th in the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in 2:41. After taking a break from running to recover physically and regain an appreciation for the sport, I am currently running for health, enjoyment, and social reasons.
My work experiences are quite varied. I am currently a freelance copyeditor for the popular editing site, Grammarly.com. Previously, I was a retail assistant at Performance Running Outfitters for almost two years (during which I learned a lot about running shoes, gear, gait analysis, and marketing, and I met many incredible and interesting coworkers and customers) until I became an assistant to our stellar athletic director at South Milwaukee High School. I was a public health intern at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where I helped survey and run health clinics for Spanish-speaking farmworkers across the state to determine how pesticides affected their health. In college, I was a personal trainer for students and staff at Lawrence University, as well as a writing and language tutor for Spanish and English. I was a Spanish-English translator for a family in Guatemala and worked as a grill cook at Ferch’s Beachside (bar, grill, and malt shop) for a summer.
I am passionate about reading books about health, philosophy, and running, among other topics. My favorite running books have included: Run Fast, Eat Slow, Once a Runner, Again to Carthage, Racing the Rain, The Runner’s World Complete Guide to Nutrition, Born to Run, Eat & Run, Why We Run, Anatomy for Runners, Zen and the Art of Running, The Barefoot Running Book, Going Long, Running & Philosophy, Running Through the Wall, The Sports Gene, and The Perfect Mile.
Thanks for visiting my blog! I’m always open to questions and suggestions at runinthezone@gmail.com.
-Joshua Janusiak