Elisabeth Kellerer
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Welcome to the womens month series "x THE WMN" A celebration of women, running. Get it?
If I saw this woman on the street I would call out "lizkephotography" because in my head that is her name :) but its not, she is Liz and @lizkefotografie is her instagram handle.
For those of us that are not turning up or down on this cold Saturday evening. Here is a Q & A with this amazing runner, bad ass running right here!
Can't wait to meet you one day :)
On who you are…
I tend to call myself a photographer, runner and mountain lover. But more
explicit I love long distance runs, the view over the mountains, taking deep
breaths in the forest, little streets in the fog, first snowflakes on my skin,
swimming in small lakes, longboarding on the beach, snowboarding in the powder,
cycling at Lake Garda, cuddling my cats, the faces of foxes, taking pictures of
the beauty of life, ink under the skin, the shape of an anatomical heart – and
my boyfriend. My name is Liz, I’m 21 years old and I live in Germany.
On running…
I love long distance runs. I feel comfortable on everything between 10k and 42k
and I think I my favorite distance is the half marathon – not as fast as a 10k
and not as long as a marathon. I usually run in the forest or along the river
to the lake as I love the silence of nature and seeing little foxes. I’m not a
good-weather-runner, the summer heat (well, we’re talking about Germany, so
it’s not that hot at all) keeps killing me every year and I enjoy running in
deep snow the most. However, once a week I also do some track training – it’s
the same love-hate-relationship that I have with my Blackroll. We all hate it –
but we can’t live without it. All in all, I like easy runs but I also like
running my heart out. It’s all about balance.
On your First Run...
I have always been really
active, I did gymnastics and athletics as a child, we cycled and swam a lot.
But my very first real run was a 5k race 10 years ago. I didn’t train for it
nor did I ever run 5k before. I admit, it was a unknown, new race, so there
weren’t that many runners at all – but however, the little 11 year-old me ended
up as the 2nd woman overall. I never ever made it under the top 3
women at a race since then but when people ask me when I started running, I
usually tell them about that one race back in 2005. But as I had to stop
running several times between the age of 14 and 17, I think I really started running about 4 years ago.
On Street culture…
I mean, I live in a really clear part of South Germany and in a small city – we don’t really have that kind of “street culture” that you know from other cities. However, what I noticed in the last years is that more and more people start taking their bikes for work – or even run there. That’s what I really love. We have a really weird transport policy over here but I usually don’t have problems with car drivers as a runner - as a cyclist I often curse rude car drivers and I feel really, really uncomfortable and in danger. I’m really happy that I am a careful cyclist and that I always keep attention – therefore I manage(d) to avoid many accidents. Oh, and I really hate that the bike paths in and around my city are really bad: potholes, stones, cobblestones, broken glass – all the bad things for cycling (even though this city is known for triathletes and stuff..). They should definitely improve that.
On running culture…
The running culture is simply amazing. Years ago I felt like I was one of the only girls at my age who enjoy running – now I know there are so many girls out there who run and I love connecting to them! Beside all the amazing run crews (Hello to Run Fleet Hamburg & NBRO Running!) out there, for me, the most important part of the running culture is the movement “Voltwomen”. Nothing gives me more physical and mental power than all these badass women out there. Really amazing and truly inspiring every single day.
On gadgets…
I personally use a Garmin Fenix 2 (which is a really badass watch as it can track everything from running to swimming, cycling, hiking, skiing and multisports) and I love it, but I believe that it’s important to sometimes just run. Of course you need to know how fast and far you are going when you are training for something – but on some days I run without my watch and without music, just to feel my heart, my body, and my breath. To me, this is a really important part of training.
On injury…
Oh, we’ve all been there, right? At the age of 14 and 15 I had a surgery on each of my knees. I had so much pain in my knees even when I was just walking. After the surgeries, everything was better – until I tried to run my first half marathon at the age of 17 and – I still don’t know why – ended up with a stress fracture in my left foot at km14. It’s been a long journey, but I’m really proud that no matter what happened, I’m still running and enjoying it more day by day and that I never ever questioned that running is a part of my life (and will always be). (Stretching is not only boring, it’s really important guys!!!)
On achievements…
I don’t measure achievements on races and new PRs I run. I mostly measure it on the everyday level. When I look back, I remember how hard it was to run 21km years ago – now I believe that you can always run a half marathon because “21km aren’t that far”. I love to see when my body is able to do things it wasn’t able to do some time ago. I love challenges.
But – of course – it’s also really nice to have goals and to be able to achieve them. I mean, that’s also what we’re all training for, right?
On future goals...
I want to run a marathon in 3:30 – because I know I can, I just didn’t have the chance to show it already. I want to do run an official half marathon in sub 1:40 – because smashing a personal best in your training somehow doesn’t really count. I want to do more triathlons - because I love using every single muscle of my body. But my longtime goal is to be healthy and fit and to enjoy what I do. To wake up and be happy.
On your social media…
Social media is the craziest shit out there. I met so many incredible people via social media, it’s simply amazing. Last year I was invited to run Hood2Coast in Portland with an amazing team of even more amazing young ladies from all over the world, the Voltwomen. Because we were connected on Instagram. Seriously, THAT IS CRAZY.
Also, social media is the biggest motivation for myself – whenever I feel lazy and don’t want to go outside, I check my Instagram and see the posts of all the amazing people out there, so that I just NEED to run. BUT I also think that during those days when you feel out of shape or you suffer from an injury, social media is the worst thing on the world – it can make you feel even worse.
(And I also have my own hashtag-project which you should check out: #fromwherelizkeruns)
On Pink…
Pink? Not my colour at all. I never liked it and I will probably never really like it. However, I just got some running shoes (the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante) and they are pink – I was so sad that the really amazing green colour is only for men. (I still don’t get this shit.)
On Pain…
Sometimes I feel like there’s not a single day when nothing hurts. It’s like on every day I wake up and somewhere in my body there’s always a muscle that is sore. As a runner you know pain very well, during training, during a race, during rest days. But I always think that sore muscles are a sign for the hard work I put into my body – you are either sore or sorry.
Also, one of my favorite quotes is “Pain is temporary, pride is forever” (this is not for Blackrolls – on Blackrolls pain is forever).
On women’s running (why women should run?)
The question is not “Why should women run” – the question is “WHY NOT”. We live in the 21st century, women are allowed to vote and hey, we slowly start accepting homosexuality (wow). Women are strong, women are badass, and women are amazing. I once read an article in which they wrote that it’s easier for women to push really hard, to go to the absolute limit – because women are made to go through much more pain than men (I mean, we have to give birth to children, that’s hard enough, isn’t it?). Also, my favorite thing ever is an article of the Runner’s World about who will ever run a sub 2 marathon and they write that who ever will be this person, “he’ll have Paula Radcliffe’s efficiency (and vertical leap)”. There you go.
On the Past you...
When I die…
It hopefully didn’t happen during a flight (my biggest fear) – and I hopefully already achieved everything I wanted for my life. But dying sucks anyway.
(sorry, have no picture for that one, haha)
#RunRevolution
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