Ultramarathoner, Gym Owner & Author Edna Vazquez Is Showing Pilsen The Power Of Healthy Living

PILSEN — When most of the city is asleep at 4 a.m., Edna Jackeline Vazquez Núñez is by now hitting the pavement — when else would she have time to prepare for a 100-mile race?

By day, Vazquez is a accredited managing coach and boxing teacher at her Pilsen gym, Vive Wholesome Sport and Nutrition at 965 W. 18th St. On weekends, she’s schooling on trails in Illinois and Wisconsin, preparing for her subsequent ultramarathon.

Usually, an ultramarathon is any extended-length running race for a longer period than a conventional marathon of 26.2 miles or about 42 kilometers. Vazquez mentioned she’s operate a variety of races, from a 50K to 100 miles.

But Vazquez’s most important triumph was in 2016 when she became the initially Mexican-American to finish The 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series, a set of four 250-kilometer races in seven times in some of the world’s most grueling deserts: the Atacama in Chile, the Gobi in Mongolia, the Namib in Namibia and the Previous Desert in Antarctica.

Credit: Offered

Vazquez wrote about her days jogging in the deserts and the worries she’s faced as a immigrant girl and company owner in her 2018 guide Las carreras de mi vida, for which she received the Intercontinental Latino Book Award in two classes — Most effective To start with Spanish Language Guide and Finest Women’s Challenges Book.

Vazquez wrote the reserve in Spanish, but she mentioned she later made the decision to generate an English edition so even additional folks could study it. The English version — The Races of My Lifestyle — launched past thirty day period and is now offered for buy.

“I stated, ‘I have to create it all,’” Vazquez stated. “Someone in my society, in my group has to read my tale, just for the intention that looking at that it is doable to get to nearly anything in lifestyle, even if you really don’t have footwear, even if you really don’t arrive from economic assistance. I believe it’s crucial to desire even larger.”

Vazquez was born and lifted in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and ran her very first ultramarathon at 17 decades aged. The moment she recognized what her system was able of, she claimed she was hooked on the super-endurance activity.

“I imagine the energy that runnings gives me very a great deal is applicable for any other spot simply because you can’t quit, like you have work, you have aims. … So that similar factor is relevant in operate and research and your private lifestyle. It is how I take care of my everyday living with discipline,” Vazquez said.

Next her initial ultramarathon in Mexico, Vazquez explained she competed in races around the entire world.

“I was in a position to travel the planet through my footwear,” Vazquez reported.

Credit score: Provided

Vazquez claimed she isn’t from a household of athletes, but relatively a middle-class Mexican relatives that taught her to do the job tough at what she would like and be resourceful.

The technologies offered to runners now wasn’t an option when Vazquez started off running in the late 90s, in particular not at an newbie level, she explained. Right now, issues like a GPS view can support runners track distances and paces. But when Vazquez was initially instruction for races in Mexico, she had to improvise.

Vazquez stated she would question her father to push a distinct route about their property and monitor the mileage, and that was how she realized she was managing the appropriate distance for her education.

Vazquez settled in the Chicago region in 2005 and opened her physical fitness studio Vive in Pilsen in 2018, seeking to share her enthusiasm for becoming active and healthy residing with the community.

“I assume my mission in this everyday living is supporting other people to arrive at their have utmost progress,” Vazquez reported.

Vive Healthier has a wide variety of courses and membership degrees for patrons, ranging from 1-on-just one individual coaching classes to lively group High Depth Interval Schooling classes.

Folks can also join the Managing Club Membership, which consists of group operates and individualized coaching for races like the Chicago Marathon — the a person Chicago race Vazquez pledges to operate every single 12 months.

You can find out far more about Vive’s courses and teaching below.

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