POWERGRAMS

3 Hedrick, who lives in Homewood and oen runs a 7-mile loop in Mountain Brook. "I can easily get to Lakeshore Trail or Jemison Park." In addition to enjoyment, she is serious about training and improving her running time. "I'm trying to get to the Boston Marathon," Hedrick said. To qualify, women ages 18 to 34 must run 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 35 minutes — a pace of 8.11 minutes per mile. To help reach that goal, it's not unusual for Hedrick to take an 18-mile run on the weekend. To stay in marathon shape, she runs five days a week, totaling 40 to 50 miles. She also swims once a week. Those strenuous workouts don't prevent Hedrick from allowing her body to rest and heal, however. "I have two rest days — usually on Sunday and one day during the work week," Hedrick said. "I'll switch it up as needed, depending on what I'm doing. Saturday is always one of my longer running days." Hedrick has trained for eight years with certified running coach Danny Harrelson, who guides her with tips to run stronger and longer. She's among about 40 members of Harrelson's Run University who regularly meet in the wee hours on Saturday morning to work out and run. The training isn't for the faint of heart. "It's always a work in progress," Hedrick said. "Danny does quarterly boot camps, where we do stairs and lunges at scenic areas like Railroad Park. I do crunches and other exercises to build my endurance." To maintain such a demanding physical regimen, Hedrick keeps her food choices healthy. "I eat to run," she said. "It's a necessity every morning to eat eggs. I do scrambled eggs a lot, or poached eggs. At lunch, I may go out to eat with co- workers. Every once in a while, I'll treat myself." To keep up her energy while running, Hedrick likes to slip in a few energy gels and snacks such as Fruit Roll-Ups in her pockets. "They're a good pick-me-up for quick energy," she said. Hedrick puts a lot of miles on her running shoes. She prefers Asics, which she's worn since she first caught the running bug. She replaces her shoes every three to four months. "Geing shoes fied for you is worth a million dollars," Hedrick said. "I've stuck with Asics since they hold up a long time. I'll probably do 300 miles in a pair of shoes." Hedrick doesn't call running so much an addiction as a pleasure. For her, it's a quiet and special time that she enjoys to herself. "It's my time to figure out life," said Hedrick, who recalled stopping once during a run to watch a family of turtles swim downstream. "I enjoy it because I can get out in nature," Hedrick said. "It's soothing, and it's a stress-reliever. I do a lot of running alone. It's one of those things where you challenge yourself more. It's my own competition with myself. When I finally run a marathon in every state, it'll be time to set a new goal." Alabama Alaska Arizona Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Illinois Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Minnesota Mississippi Running state-to-state with Nicole Hedrick A seasoned runner, Hedrick has run marathons in: Missouri Montana Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia.

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