Jenny Kincaid Boone

Jenny Kincaid Boone has been running since she was in eighth grade. She competed in cross country and track at Fort Defiance High School (Fort Defiance, Va.) and at Roanoke College, where she was all-ODAC in cross country for four years. When her knees and legs aren't aching from the wear of years of competition, she hits the 19 to low 20-minute range for a 5K.

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Bonnie McDonald has been running circles around Roanoke’s local competitors lately. She has several wins under her belt, including the 10K at the AEP race in June. Last year, she was ranked among the top seven women in her age group, 35 to 39, in the Washington Running Report’s rankings of Virginia area runners. What’s her secret? She would call it experience and balance.

McDonald competed for the University of Michigan in track and cross country, where she ran 17-minute 5Ks. She ran less than 5 minutes for a mile on the track in high school and grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Now 39, McDonald is learning the ins and outs of running and training as she approaches the 40-year-old mark. She’s a mother of three young boys, including a set of 9-year-old twins. Recently, she shared some insights on running as she prepares to enter the Master’s division, which is for runners who are 40 years and older. Aging, from a runner’s perspective, can be considered an accomplishment, she said.

Q: How did you train after you graduated from college and before you moved to Roanoke from North Carolina in 2002?

A: I burnt out after college, and I told myself I was never going to run again, which lasted three months. Ever since then I have run. I didn’t run competitively until about 2 years before we moved here.

I ran every day for four or five miles a day. I couldn’t run when I was pregnant. It was uncomfortable, and I just physically felt bad. I didn’t mind being pregnant, but that was the worst part, not being able to run. The first pregnancy, I ran two weeks afterward. The second I ran 10 days after. After I knew I wasn’t having any more [children], you try to get your life back.

Q: Describe your training.

A: I am running pretty much seven days a week. I take a day off here and there. I get up at 6:15 a.m. I hate getting up in the morning. During the school year, I usually just get them [kids] out the door, and my morning is just spent working out. I’m fortunate that I can stay home, that I can just do this right now. Lately I go downtown to run. I go to Wiley Drive.

[On Saturday long runs] If I run 10 or 15 miles, I’ll go to the RAC and stretch, and it’s a good couple of hours.

In the summer, I try to survive. I’m back to running 40 or 45 miles a week. My long run in the summer is about 8 miles. My mind set is that summer is the time to take off.

But when the cooler weather starts to hit, I just get really excited. It goes back to college and high school. You took June and July off, and you’re racing from September until the end of May. Probably in the middle of August, I’ll start revving it up again.

Q: What are some of your running goals this year?

A: I’m turning 40 at the end of the summer, which actually is good for me. Then I’ll be up in masters, and I won’t have to worry about the little punks anymore.

[The] 5Ks are getting harder and harder. My goal is for the next two or three years is to keep my 5Ks under 20 minutes and to keep my 10Ks under 40 minutes, and I’ll be happy.

I can do a decent 5K, but I have to really get on the track a month before and really work it for a couple weeks. Otherwise, I can definitely get into the 18 minutes and get into the 19 minutes just kind of by doing whatever.

Bonnie McDonald won the women's 10K at the AEP Festival Run in early June. Her time was 39:45.4. Roanoke Times photo by Natalee Waters

A: Well, for me, it’s having the time to do it and do it well. As I approach 40, I’ve got a lot of miles on my legs. I’ve been running seriously for almost 26 years.

It’s trying to balance enough miles so I can run a decent race without too many that I’m going to fry myself. I haven’t had a bad injury but something always hurts on me. I’ll get a little plantar fascistic or a little bit of knee pain, just stuff that’s annoying and I’m always worried that this is the big injury.

And I try to balance it with three kids and their sports and stuff. Trying to find the time to run enough and to stretch enough. That takes a couple hours a day.

I’m not working right now, and I haven’t been working for five years. So I guess, if I’m not working, and I’m still at the point where I can be competitive, I’m just going to do it right now. I probably have a five-year window to do that.

Q: Do you plan to go back to work? (McDonald is a registered nurse. Her husband is a surgeon for Carilion.)

A: I probably will, but I may not even until the kids are out of the house because it’s just too hard to juggle it. My husband’s hours are so wacky. Some days he may not have much to do, the next day he may be home at 10:30 p.m.

I could probably get a job, but still it would be a struggle. I’d have to pay somebody to do everything I do. I figure I’d be paying somebody to take care of my kids and mow the lawn, and there would go my salary.

Q: What has been a factor in your success?

A: I give most of the credit to my husband. He knows that if I don’t run, I’m a basket case. And he’s as proud of me as anybody. He really tries to make sure I get out and run.

Especially when the kids were little, he would try to get home as soon as he could because he knew I had to run. He’s probably been the biggest help ...

On Saturday mornings, when I do my long runs, he makes waffles for the kids. He’s basically Mr. Dad.

Q: What’s your greatest strength in running?

A: I’ve just done it for so long. And with injuries, if I get something, right away I can nip it in the bud.

As far as racing, if you have a crappy race, you have a long view of things, and say ‘Ok, I have another race.’

I’ve always been real competitive. I love to race. It also just gives you goals, and something to work for.

Q: How long will you keep running?

A: I see it where my competitive years will be more or less over, but I will run until I just can’t run anymore. Probably when I’m 80, I’ll be walking. I’ll walk 6 miles a day, but I will always do something. I love to ride my bike. Maybe one of these days, I’ll do more mountain biking.

My husband loves to bike. He’s not a runner. Probably when the kids are older, we’ll do more biking.

Upcoming regional and local races:
July 31: Take Pride in Your Hide 5K cross country run and walk, Reidsville, N.C., Web site

Aug. 14: Lewis Gale Foundation Salem Distance Run 5K and 10K, Salem, 774-4022

Aug. 21: The FAB 5K, Greenhill Park, Roanoke County, Web site

Aug. 21: Lynchburg Half Marathon and 5K, Web site