MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Darci Kruse is the athletics director at IronWorks Gym. Like many people on the station, Kruse is busy. Kruse manages to juggle every title from wife and mother to worker and student.
A day in the life of Kruse would go as such: up before dawn to run, back home to feed baby, take baby to daycare, go to work, organize a function at the gym, teach an aerobics class, get off work, pick up baby, make dinner, study for college classes, sleep then repeat. Kruse’s schedule is not what makes her remarkable; it is her cool and collected behavior.
“She is always on the ball and manages everything so well,” said Adam J. Kruse, Darci Kruse’s husband. “She has always been that way, but I can really tell that running does kick off her day in the right mindset. She motivates me.”
According to Kruse, it all comes down to how she starts her day, with a brisk run on the seawall.
“It’s my time to get away and kind of be by myself,” said Kruse.
In high school Kruse ran off and on, but it was not until she became pregnant that she caught the running bug.
“Some women talk about getting in tune with their bodies and your babies, and that is exactly what running became for me,” said Kruse.
But after her son Owen was born, a friend of Kruse’s encouraged her to run a half marathon.
During her pregnancy, she ran a couple of miles on the seawall, but now that she decided to run a half marathon, she began running a little farther.
“The first time I decided to run six miles I thought I was going to die,” she said.
She didn’t die. She ran and ran and ran. Kruse ran herself all the way past the half marathon and on to Florida to compete in the Disney World Marathon.
Kruse finished the 26.2 miles in 3 hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds, which qualified her for future marathons, and placed 17th out of 786 runners in her age group.
In preparation for this past marathon, Kruse went through three pairs of shoes. Kruse suggests changing your shoes every six months or 300 miles.
Besides shoe suggestions, Kruse also urges others to get outside and start running.
“You get out there a couple of times and you build your stamina and you just get hooked,” said Kruse. “Especially when you are able to gain speed. It’s relaxing, you think, you get a chance to clear your head and you just feel great when you are done. Give it a try!”
If you are a new runner, Kruse suggests you start out slow. When she first started, she set a base number of miles she would run every day and then on the weekends push herself past that base line.
Like Kruse said, once you get to running, you might get hooked like she has, which would not be a bad thing. Lots of people have busy schedules and the daily grind can get a little overwhelming.
By her adding a morning run to her schedule, she has found a natural and healthful way to release steam. So when all the stress comes piling down, put on the running shoes and do like Kruse: run, run, run.