10 Laps with Erin Finn

presented by The PreRacePodcast

Age: 28

Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI

Day Job: Medical student, soon to be Neurology resident(!)

1. What's your favorite place to run locally?

Up Underdown, around Country Club, and then across the Maple Bridge on a sunny summer day. The hillier, the hotter, and the more humid, the better.

2. Craziest thing to happen to you while running?

In one of my first cross country races in college, a runner from Kansas State hocked a massive loogie on my hip during the first kilometer of the race. It was so thick that it stayed glued to my leg for a couple of minutes. I swear time stopped as I looked over at her, bewildered, and asked "What is WRONG with you?" 

Also, in a different race, but a chick stepped on my shoes at ~2k and I ran the race barefoot  

3. What do you think about when you're running? Is it different when you race?

Running is one of my favorite times to think about nothing and everything all at once. It's a rare break when I am without my phone* and feel completely disconnected. (Even if you promise not to check your phone on a run, the temptation and tacit knowledge that you have the ability to check it remains.) I find a freedom in choosing to not think about all of the work of the day on my run, and this freedom creates space for all of the other thoughts and laughs and ideas that haven't had the resources to take root outside of the run.

When races get hard, I generally tell myself to get to X point and then I will drop out!! I fully believe this, in the deepest darkest depths of my soul. And then I get to X point, telling myself I will drop out, and don't. I just create a new X point. A key point about this tactic is that I don't allow myself to think past X point; by not creating a future of what I will do after the X point dropout, I'm allowed to define that next moment in time by still racing once I arrive there.

*I impaled myself with a stick on Miller Drive a couple of miles from home last year and was stranded without a phone due to my phone-less predilection, but I'd say it's a small price to pay for the freedom this kind of run affords.

4. Favorite workout?

Who doesn't love gut-grinding kilometer repeats? Whether they're on grass or the track, they're a blast and can help strengthen you for a goal race of any distance. I'm also a glutton for some tempo.

5. How has your approach to running changed over the years?

Running was once one of my central purposes in life, and I am truly thankful for the massive role it played. It opened many doors, built incredible friendships, exposed me to unmatched trips and experiences, and taught me how to work stupidly hard. However, my purposes in life are shifting. I feel drawn to using the bulk of my ability to work hard to become a physician and care for people in some of their most vulnerable moments and experiences with the healthcare system.

This investment (as well as many other careers!) can drain the energy I used to put toward training and racing. However, it's a trade I am honored and thankful to be making. It's cool to be entering a different stage in life and encountering new challenges; remaining with running as the central challenge was no longer where I derived the most meaning in my life. It has been (and still can be) really difficult to change this identity, but the ways

I'm growing and the new life I am experiencing is worth the tradeoffs. Life is more meaningful (and fun!) when I am living it in new ways.* I am still dealing with a few health issues incurred over the pandemic, but I am excited to see what racing looks like as an outlet for stress rather than a creator of stress during residency. 

Others might manage to do both (high stakes working and racing) better than I can. I'm learning that's okay, too. I only have what I am, and I can do my best to manage what I have been given and cultivate new strength. I constantly remind myself that there is nothing gained in fretting about who I am not yet.

*Those are scary words for an introvert!!! 

6. Conspiracy theory you subscribe to?

Birds Aren't Real.

Hannah Montana isn't Miley Cyrus.

JT was short.

7. Do you have any race day rituals?

I wake up and say the line from Finding Nemo when they're trying to escape the tank: "Today's the day! The sun is shining. The tank is clean and we are getting out of...the tank is clean! THE TANK IS CLEAN!" It sets the day off with a touch of humor and excitement. This line, however, isn't exclusive to race days, but rather any grand day in general. I also subscribe to the ENTHUSIASM UNKNOWN TO MANKIND manifesto, but that's an everyday thing.

^See bathroom mirror with enthusiasm quote. Clearly I like bathroom mirror selfies.

8. Biggest running pet peeve?

Locked portapotties.

9. PR you are most proud of?

My 10,000m PR! Although I did break 30 seconds in practice in the 200m a few times and that will always be wild to me.

10. One thing that most Bandits don't know about you?

I really like to write. It's how I think and process my life and purpose in this world. I sometimes even write haikus at work instead of normal patient presentations. I wish I had a better way to write and run at the same time, then I would have solved all the world's problems (including locked portapotties) years ago.