I’m A Runner
THE ACTOR AND COMEDIAN, 40, ON OLD SHORTS AND POST-APOCALYPSE RUNNING
Actor and comedian Kristen Schaal on how she would cope in the event of an apocalypse
‘I don’t like to brag about the amazing run I did. I like it to be an ‘I woke up like this’ kind of thing’
IN MIDDLE SCHOOL [around 11-14 years] I set the mile record, which was 7:11, because I was the only one running it. But I didn’t get into running until my mid-20s, when I was living in Brooklyn.
I STARTED MY CAREER doing stand-up in New York. I won an award at the HBO Comedy Festival in 2006 and got onto Flight of the Conchords not long after that, which was a big get for me.
WILL FORTE, my co-star on [TV comedy] The last man on earth, always runs after work alone at night, along the beach. I’m so jealous because it must be nice, but as a woman I can’t really do that. Too many murder stories.
WILL SAID ONCE that he uses his runs to memorise lines, but I don’t know how. I have to keep my eyes on the road at all times because I am a big tripper.
I TRY TO RUN EVERY DAY, for about 30 minutes, usually in the morning with my husband. Sometimes it’s like, ‘I ran five days in a row,’ but some weeks it’s one day, or three.
I LIKE TO KEEP MY EXERCISE KIND OF I don’t like to brag about PRIVATE. the amazing run I did. I like it to be an ‘I woke up like this’ kind of thing.
I OFTEN WRITE WITH MY HUSBAND, [former writer for Thedailyshow] Rich Blomquist, so occasionally we’ll use runs to bounce some ideas – all the TV shows that we’ve pitched and written pilots for that are now lost in the ether.
MY GEAR REALLY IS SHORTS THAT I’VE HAD FOR 20 YEARS. I don’t have stylish workout clothes. It’s the one part of my run that I pay the least attention to – and I generally love to dress up.
THE BUSIER I AM WITH WORK, the better I am about getting my runs in. When I have a long week off, my body is just like, fuhgeddaboudit.
MY RUNNING WOULD DEFINITELY HELP IN A POST APOCALYPSE WORLD. I’d have the stamina to get through the day. I would be fine with no petrol. I mean, I wouldn’t be fine, but I think that I could survive on foot for a year.
MY GOAL IS TO RUN until my body tells me that I literally can’t do it anymore – then will I try yoga.