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Reimagine Running | Interview with Erin Dominguez S1E11 · Reimagine Running

• Coach Ryan Head: Running is a strange thing. Some people find it on the sidewalk at sunrise. Some find it deep in the mountains chasing daylight. And some of us find it when life feels heavy and running is the only thing that makes sense. For some, starts with the 5k. For others, it's a marathon. And for a few, it's a hundred miles that changes everything. But somewhere between the first step and the finish line, something happens. Running stops being about pace or distance or medals. It becomes about purpose. I'm your host Ryan Head. Hey runner, thanks for hanging out with me today on Reimagine Running. I'm grateful you're here and a part of this great podcast. I just want to remind you, if you ever feel stuck and unsure or just want someone in your corner, I do offer coaching for runners at any distance, whether you're starting out with the 5K or you're chasing some crazy big goals and dreams like the marathon or the 100 miler, I'd love to help you. Please reach out and I'd be happy to set up a time to go over options and plans and goals with you. Well, until next time. welcome to running, the podcast talking about ⁓ why we run. I am very excited for today's episode. ⁓ I have on who, I'm excited because she has been someone who ⁓ absolutely been crushing it. So crushing it that Erin: Thank Coach Ryan Head: And this is Reimagine Running, the podcast dedicated to talking about why we run. Each episode, we'll sit down with runners from every background, trail runners, road runners, beginners, veterans, and talk about their journey. Not just where they've run, but why they run. Because for many of us, running didn't just change our fitness. It helped us find clarity, healing, discipline, hope, and sometimes even ourselves. Whether your why was born on a short loop around the block or somewhere deep inside a long, lonely mile. Recently, I was racing against her out of nowhere she ⁓ just crushed me ⁓ a race. And not that I really take road running that serious anymore, but I've had a very healthy year myself and it's been exciting to see how well I've been doing. But just see her come out of nowhere and absolutely slay this race was just very, very impressive. She has been that I have known for a while in the running community. Take care of yourself, trust the process, stay disciplined and keep chasing that Y. This podcast is for you. Welcome to re-imagine running. Someone that showed up to a lot of our group runs, likes to hang out with us. It's just a fun personality, someone who really likes to just get out and move. But the main reason I'm excited to have her on is she's got a great story. She's got a great story about why her story is epic. So stay tuned. I think you guys are going to love hearing her story about everything she has done up to this point. It has been crazy. So I'm excited to welcome Erin Dominguez to the show. Erin, welcome to Reimagine Running. Erin: Thank you, Ryan. I'm excited. I am actually glad you brought up that race because that was pretty funny. Not so much the race, but then when we were running after Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. Erin: a few days later and it really cracked me up when you were like, I had no idea you were that fast. I'm like, I hide it well. You never know when I'm going to send it. But yeah, that was fun. Yeah. I'm excited to get to know you a little bit more as well. We've definitely interacted a lot, but we haven't shared a ton of miles together. we do, I beat you, guess. So I don't know. I also did do a 10. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah! Yeah, I love it. Erin: I also didn't do a 10 mile warmup before the race. Coach Ryan Head: I love it. Yeah, I love it. I love it. No, it's been awesome. I feel like we have always been kind of encouraging each other for ⁓ many years now, whether just on ⁓ social media or we do meet up on races and or even just group runs and stuff. So it's been really cool. ⁓ Just a little bit about Aaron, I'd to kind of give more of a formal introduction. So Erin lives here in Northern Utah, like most of my guests up to this point. Erin's been running for quite a few years now. had a massive, not just a little, a huge, huge, huge, huge transformation years ago. And this transformation has just completely helped change who she is in a lot of ways, but also just what been able to accomplish in running. I think... That's the part of the story that has been so cool. I remember seeing some of the stuff. And again, let me reiterate, I had no idea about any of this when I first got to know Aaron. I just always thought Aaron was just a good runner. I had no idea. But probably similar to myself, a lot of people don't know that I've had my right knee reconstructed. I know I've brought it up a couple of times on episodes and I I weighed a lot. I was a very heavy person up to 265. know heavy's relative, I get it. Erin: Thank Coach Ryan Head: I was up to 265, I'm nowhere near that anymore. But I went through a massive transformation. And so when ⁓ found out about this about Erin, and then as she's been beating the tar out of me on races, I was like, ⁓ have to get Erin on my podcast. ⁓ And that's why I out to her. She was definitely one of those people that in my head, I thought, I've got to get on here because she has a story that ⁓ some people... need to here. I think this is gonna be a great episode for some for certain people out there. So Erin, ⁓ I'm just excited. Thank you again It's an it's an honor really to have you on because I think your story is is motive not ⁓ not not just inspiring but it's motivational like It helps other people to know that they can as well, right? And that's been one of my big things is I always like to be like, people can do stuff, right? Like you sometimes feel trapped and I know we're gonna get to this with you. And I'm sure you probably felt the same way. I definitely felt trapped at times. I remember accepting, I was like, yeah, I'm never gonna, I'm not gonna accomplish much in life. I'm gonna be just whatever I am. And then all of sudden, right? All of a sudden, like. I can do stuff and my life started changing. So it was pretty cool. So I'm excited to chat with you a little bit about that today. I know we chatted and you were like, yeah, look, we can go wherever you want with that kind of stuff. So that's exciting for me. So before we get into talking about running, like I've been doing a February episode, tell us about you, something not running related at all. And it could be one thing, it can be 10 things, I don't care. Tell us a little bit more about you. Who's Aaron besides running? Erin: Yeah, okay. a massive, massive nerd. That is probably the main thing, yeah. So professionally, I work as a scientist in a hospital, movie nerd, huge Lego nerd, like all the typical nerdy things, Star Wars, all that good stuff. So yeah, I try to really do the dichotomy of being ⁓ as serious of an athlete as I can be, but then just also like the complete opposite and just being a huge nerd about a bunch of things. Coach Ryan Head: I love it. Erin: all the time. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. All right, so gotta ask, and it's funny, because I've actually talked to other people about this. I'm like, you know, I need to have maybe an episode or two that are just not running related at all, and we just talk about just crazy stuff. I don't even care what it is, like just something completely wild. So we're gonna kinda touch on that just for a second here. ⁓ listening, sorry, I know you came here for running. You're gonna get a little side bench here for a moment. Okay, Star Wars nerd, what's your favorite episode? Erin: All right. are like of the movies. ⁓ I like A New Hope, like it's just, can't go wrong, which is the first one. But ⁓ the, and have kind of a special connection with the original or the ⁓ prequel in that when the Phantom Menace came out, my brother was, ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. Classic. Mm-hmm. Erin: just all into Star Wars. And so we really bonded about that. And I think it's really important that that movie came out when it did. Because when I was born, I was born a little bit before that, but when I was born, my brother, he wanted no business having a little sister at all. Like he was ready to go live at grandma's house. so my parents had actually bought him the original trilogy on VHS. And so like always kind of joke that that's how Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Erin: you know, he got to like me because I bought him that when I was, you know, a one day old baby because that's how kids work. But then I just remember when those movies started coming out as I was then a couple of years older, we would just watch them and play the silly video games and stuff. So Phantom Menace will always kind of have a special place. I don't think it's particularly a great episode, but it is fun. Like I do. I do. I do. ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. It's amazing. It's I love it. I personally like it cuz I was was I I was 12 or 13 when it came out trying to remember for sure and so that has a real special place in my heart like personally I'm like man. I I love one two and three two's a little off ⁓ Attack of the clones for those who are not familiar with the numerical system of of Star Wars Erin: Yeah, no, that's about the only one that when I do a rewatch, which I'll start doing here in a couple weeks as we get into Star Wars Day, I don't include that one. I'll watch them all, but ⁓ I episode two most times. Coach Ryan Head: You know, Mike, what I always tell most people is I just go to right when they get to genosis. Genosis is where the war starts. So yeah, episode two really is only about 30, 35, 40 minutes long. So in my head, so anyways, but yeah, no, that's cool. awesome. I was gonna say my favorite episode, I mean, it's probably... Erin: Okay, that's fair. There are some good parts, yeah. There's some fun. Yeah, there's some fun stuff for sure. Please, there's some funny ones, but yeah. Good detour, I like it. Coach Ryan Head: know the cliche to say but Empire Strikes Back. It's just it's mean like you said New Hope was amazing I loved it but man like Empire is just like that's like pinnacle Star Wars in my mind I do think Rogue ⁓ One Movie ⁓ is probably best recently TVs I know I'm not I didn't ask you TV series I know I get a lot of hate for this from people who are listening to this Erin: Yeah. I do this. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: I personally like the Obi-Wan series. I know I'll get hate for it. I loved it. Erin: Yeah, it was fun. I wouldn't probably watch it again. But it was fun. didn't like I enjoyed it. There are some that I watched and was like I didn't like that, but it was fine. So I loved Andor. That's probably been my favorite. know, Mandalorian is obviously really good too, but I'm excited for that movie. Coach Ryan Head: I would watch it. Yeah. Did you like Andor? Andor's so good. Yeah, yeah. that's awesome. my gosh. Okay, last geek question, because I just love it, because I'm very much like you. always am like, people think I'm like some ⁓ avid and athlete and all this other stuff. And I'm like, I have such a loser side of me. ⁓ So I'm I love it. Legos, what is your favorite set that have or box that you have? Erin: Gosh, I have a lot. I'm like just looking over. have like two shelves pretty much fully dedicated to Star sets. don't know, have a lot of, because like I said, I'm a huge movie nerd. So there's a lot that are based on movies. ⁓ really the Hocus Pocus house. Maybe that one, because movies and Halloween specifically like love. Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. ⁓ nice, yeah, no that's cool. Erin: horror movies. don't know if you noticed I've got my Michael Myers and T-Mug. that one? I don't know. I a lot. ought to maybe send you a picture after because it's quite egregious. Coach Ryan Head: I noticed, saw your mug. ⁓ awesome. No, that's cool. I love it. No, Hocus Pocus awesome ⁓ movie So is it the Sanderson's home or is it the actual house? Okay, Sanderson's home or that Sanderson house. Yeah, that's awesome. That would be epic I'm gonna be honest that I would be pretty epic though. That's super cool. Well awesome Alright, I guess we should get back to running. We'll talk about running now So thank you for all of you who who humored us for the last five six minutes as we've talked about geek stuff ⁓ It sounds like me and Aaron have a lot in common, which is awesome. We will need to talk more about our ⁓ stuff. okay. Well, just like I usually start with guess so far, I always like to know, like, when did running first enter your life? And again, it could have been when you were like a kid, like, you know, six, seven, eight years old, whatever. Maybe it's been in your adult life. When did running first enter your life? Erin: When it first came into my life, it was pretty young. It's kind of been an on and off thing for most of my life. I first kind of got the inkling that like, there's something here. I would say in about ninth grade, maybe middle school for sure. And it wasn't anything to the mile when you had to run that in a gym class. Didn't like doing that. That was about the worst thing that could happen. So it definitely wasn't like seventh grade gym class. That's for sure. Did not like running men, dreaded the mile. But as I kind of moved through school and just, played softball my ninth grade year. And so I just trying to kind of be a little bit more fit for that would go run sometimes after school. And after doing that a little bit, I was like, oh, maybe there's, you know, kind of something here. So I would sometimes go run a couple extra days. And then it kind of fell out of habit when the season ended and then know, year two goes by and I would kind of get back into it and then and then I would find other things to do. So I would always get into it, be consistent for a few months and then fall off for another few months. So it's pretty on and off for like my young teenage years. Then I got really back into it my junior year, the summer specifically between my junior year and senior year. I don't know what if I was just bored maybe? don't know. Like I just randomly was like, I guess I'll do the running thing again. But that's the first time it really, really stuck. I got super into it. I actually did cross country. My senior year was perfectly content to just be the most average runner. Probably not even like how I just never wanted to be last in a race. That was always that's still my goal. Just don't don't be last. Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. Erin: But yeah, so I did that it was it was a lot of fun. I guess it never never anything spectacular. But I liked it. And then and then and then that was it. I got really busy just prepping for college and stuff. Did a ton of demanding AP courses and stuff. So once again, kind of fell off with running. And that's when sure we'll maybe get into it more. But for whatever reason, just I had maybe gotten used to getting to kind of maintain certain eating habits when you run a lot. ⁓ then I took out the piece of running a lot, but kept the other things up. So kind of gained a little bit of weight, but still nothing crazy. But just things kind of add up over time. And I just kept not running and what had been a history of two or three months off and then, okay, get back into it. freshman and really sophomore year of college, I just didn't run at all. So the two to three months turned into two to three years, basically, and just no activity, basically, at all. I would try, every once in a while, I'd go run a mile. take me 20 minutes and I'd be like, oh. Yeah, I can't really do that anymore. really a few years of just not doing it at all. And then it was about 2019 that I kind of like, no, got to, I liked it. I know I like it. have to force myself to do it and get back into it. And then even then I was pretty consistent about it for a few years, but it really took actually signing up for the marathon and then actually doing a marathon, you know, there's kind of things where they say like, sometimes you get the motivation from doing the thing. And it was once I actually ran the marathon for the first time that I was like, oh, this is what I do now. So then from 2023 until now has been like the, okay, not only has there been no like real breaks or time, like it's been a super consistent window, but it's just like, I've taken it so much more seriously than I, than I ever did. So like I kind of. Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. Erin: said to sum that up like on and off for a lot of my life, but very seriously for really a couple years. Coach Ryan Head: That's super cool. No, I get it. I love it. it and I mean, I'm just assuming where your age is, but I love that you found it so young because I think as you know, lot of the episodes that we've done so far, a lot of the people found it ⁓ they were older and that's fine. That's totally fine. But ⁓ lot of people have found it in their know, 30s, 40s, 50s, even maybe 60s, which is totally fine. That's totally cool. But that's so cool that you, like you've always liked it. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I never did cross country, I just always liked it. I'm like that. I ⁓ don't know if this is normal and I feel because I don't know ⁓ what it feels like to have your legs hurt. don't know if it's like the Lance Armstrong deal where he just, and I know he so maybe he was lying to everybody, but I don't really feel pain in my legs when I run. I don't know why. I don't know if that's normal. I don't know if I just like the brain doesn't connect. I don't know what it is, but I just don't feel pain. And so in a lot of ways, I'm just like, I can just run forever. And that's why I'm always like, dude, like people want to do 20 mile run on a Saturday. Like, heck yeah, sign me up. I'm all in because I can just go. And I mean, eventually like my stomach will hurt or my chest or. Erin: I Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: you know, whatever, but where my back starts to get a little, but I'm like, most of time I feel really, really good. And I'm just like, yeah, let's just keep going. Like this is good stuff. So, I always like, ⁓ kind of was like you, I ⁓ it. In ninth grade, I ran track and ⁓ I fun it. I was pretty fast at the mile, but I was more of like a baseball, football guy, basketball and. Erin: Okay. Coach Ryan Head: I got into high school, I just dropped it. And I think back always, and I know I've said this on other episodes, but I always think back, I wish I had stuck with track or cross country. I never did, well, I didn't what cross country meant. That's how dumb I was. But ⁓ I was what is this XC that people have on their letterman jackets? ⁓ Erin: Thank I don't think it's the most popular sport. So you're probably off the hook there a little bit. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, I know, right? Right? Exactly. I just like, don't even know what that is. And so, but I, ⁓ ⁓ was kind of like, I, I liked, I remember in football, ⁓ know, again, I've shared this before, but like, I remember in football, we'd get punished. Our coaches would be like, you guys go start running laps for what you messed up in the game on, you know, Friday. And remember always being like, okay, like this doesn't hurt me at all. So. Erin: ⁓ darn, lapsed me. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, I remember and I remember what we'd have to do is we'd have to run up the five yard line like on the football field and go, you know, we're basically snaking all the way up and down people would just be dying and like throwing up and like all this other stuff and I'm just like I just act like it I was like, yeah, this sucks. But I was like, ⁓ this is easy. Like I love it. I remember them sending us and sending us out for a five mile run and I was like, we're good. Like, I'm totally like whatever. So anyways, really cool. That's cool to hear. Erin: Okay. Coach Ryan Head: kind of like your introduction to running. what was your, so 2023, right, you said was your first marathon? Erin: That was my first marathon finish. It was not my first marathon start. Coach Ryan Head: Okay. Wow. Okay, I'm excited. Okay, so let's let's start with let's let's hear about your first marathon ever. I'm excited to hear this story. Erin: Thank Yeah, so pretty funny. The Ogden Marathon and I, have a long, complicated history. So I had originally ⁓ of gotten the idea in my head ⁓ run it first in 2019. So my family, did the half marathon and it was brutal. I ⁓ just so ill-prepared. Everything about it, I just... Coach Ryan Head: Let's go. Erin: I was a proper mess after my IT bands were on fire. I felt so sick. I just remember like barely finishing. I think I was like, I was under like 225, I think. So like not a bad time for a first half, but still just much time just running. And I had never run that far before. And I just remember feeling so ⁓ up and my older brother who had done it and he had beat me by a little bit. So he had been waiting for me and he. Coach Ryan Head: It's all good, man. Oh, great timing. Erin: And like, basically crawling across the finish line, he's like, can you imagine having to now like turn around and do that? And I like, I just like, I couldn't even process. I was like, no, that's the stupidest thing I've heard in my whole entire life. But as we were waiting for other people in my family to finish, my mom and now sister-in-law, we're still coming across, just seeing other people start to finish and some of the marathoners started coming through. I just remember being like, there's like just Seeing people do that, was like, okay, like that's, pretty, like ⁓ that could be fun. But then we left and then I didn't think about it again for a long time, because it's stupid. And still maintain marathons. Don't be fooled. I run them a lot and I like them, but I do also think they're a little dumb, but I'll say ⁓ But ⁓ it was that same year and I would remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. Yeah. Erin: once again, publicly call out Stacey Bernal for being the reason that I am what I have become as a runner. She gave us a talk on campus and just kind of shared what doing a marathon had done for her life and all that. And so then that was kind of the final nail in the coffin of what inspired me. Like I said, it had kind of been a thought, but then that pushed it. So it's like, all right, I guess I'll finally do it. So then I sign up in 2019. Coach Ryan Head: it. Erin: just all hands on deck, make a training plan. I'm so dedicated to it. training went really, really well, but it's a spring race and it was spring of 2020 that it's supposed to happen. And obviously we all know how spring of 2020 went for everyone about everything. So they initially postponed the race. So then I scrapped it and was like, all right, I'll just train again a little bit later in the year. Then they still canceled it. And then they ended up doing it virtually the next year. And I was like, no, I'm running my first marathon. Like there will be the fanfare. That will be the course I want. This is like, I'm not doing it virtually. Um, finally, like after all that, so already, you know, a couple of years have gone by. finally in 2022, um, same thing. It's like, okay, this is, this is the year we're doing it. Um, but because of my schooling, I actually had an opportunity. to go study abroad in Sweden for a few weeks. was like almost a month we were there. We went to a couple of other places, but primarily Sweden. we came back from that trip like a couple of days before the race. Like, of course in hindsight, was like, that was never gonna happen to spend a month abroad at sea level, come back, run a marathon. Like, so yeah, I... But I was convinced, I was like, I'm young, I'm invincible, I can do it. And I got like five miles in and I was like, I am way too tired for how much race I still have left. I started walking. I like, this is not how my first marathon is supposed to go. I'm supposed to run it. I started, this is totally me outing myself. Like when I tell you I know how to throw a fit. I know how to throw. I started getting mad. I had my running belt. I got to one of the mile markers and I like threw it on the side of the road. I was like, well, I guess I don't need that anymore because I'm not a marathonist. just, yeah, it was, it was a little dramatic, but that's kind of my style. Um, and I ended up just walking to like the half marathon start and I got on a bus and I, ended up having to, to phone in a rescue. So I took the bus back So it's, it's very funny now in hindsight and I, bring it up all the time, because I think it's funny, just because it's like, yeah, of course you can't go to Sweden for a month and then like, why would I even try that? But then it just kind of goes back to like, ⁓ a pretty decent runner now. But like, I always want to just remind people that it's like, you're just, it's like that always for like, there's always things that happen. So I always like to, you know, just stay super humble and I always bring that up because it's like, yeah, no, no matter what I accomplish now, I already will never have a perfect marathon record. So even now, like, yeah, this is my fifth year at Ogden, but best case scenario, it's the fourth finish. But yeah, so after that, I was mad, but also it's like, I still have to do it. It's still on my bucket list. but I... Coach Ryan Head: I love it. Erin: Didn't, mean, going on the trip didn't help, but I also think I didn't fully respect the marathon as much as I should have. So I really geared up my training and in 2023 we finally did it, but it was like a four year thing in the making, but finally doing it was kind of the, okay, that now I'm now I've done it now I just want to do everything I can to be better at it. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, I have so much that you just said that I'm excited to chat about or talk with you about. So first off, I love what you said about, I don't have a perfect record either, right? And I've talked countless times about the Buffalo 100 and how it beat me down. I was like, like you, I'm like, dude, I'm. 100 % I finish every marathon I've ever done. like, I can go deep, can dig deep, I'll get through it. I've done 50 Ks, I've done a 50, I've done multiple 50 milers. I'm like, we're good, like, we're gonna be fine. Like 100 mile, whatever. I get out there and I've never experienced weather so bad and just like, and then the motivation was gone and I just was like, I'm out. And it was hard, it was hard but. It's funny now because I'm very similar to you, it's a great way to humble me and remember, because as I'm training for my races now and I'm getting ready for races that are coming up, one in June and ⁓ two again in September, I'm like, remember, got It can still you're not invincible. And like you said, a great way to stay humble, but it also reminds me to continue to be smart about my approach. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: but also just be hungry as I'll get out. I'm still trying to learn. I'm still trying to implement new things to be like, okay, how do I get better at this? ⁓ I'm obviously not getting younger, so I'm only gonna continue to get older. And so it's just, ⁓ keep that mindset. So I love that you bring that up. I think that's so important. And maybe there's people that will listen to say they've never DNF'd a race, right? And good for them, I hope that they never do. But it's definitely been, you know. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: As I've said before, failure is one of the greatest teachers ever. It will humble you, it will help you grow so much, and it makes you go back to the drawing board. I always feel bad when I hear people that have had maybe a bad race experience, like maybe you had, right? And they're like, I never wanted to go back, I was done, and it ended it for me. And I'm like, you were that close, you were right there. just... you could have taken that and ran with it and let it change your life. so, saying that running is always the greatest thing, I mean, but this is a running podcast, so here we are. ⁓ But, to it's been a game changer. And I'm like, ⁓ you so close to finding something so different about yourself. So, I love that you bring that up. I love your four year process, because in a lot of ways, mine was very similar. It took quite a few years to get to the marathon. Erin: Good night. Thank Coach Ryan Head: For myself. I remember doing my first half and I was just like there's no way like like you said like I can't do double this like you're kidding like who would do something so dumb because I thought first half hurts right remember your first half Erin: So stupid. Yeah. Well, I forever and ever. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, like that feeling and like you said, like everybody says it, they're like, could you imagine doing double that? And you're like, no man, no way. you're like, that's gonna hurt so bad. You're like, I'm done. And like you're expecting like, no way, not doing that. So it's funny that you say that because it's like, it's so true. But then like when you train for it and you ⁓ prepare for it, like it just becomes, it becomes possible. So that's super cool. Erin: No. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: Well, awesome. Well, take us to your full marathon in 2023. What happened? What changed so much and what got you there? Erin: Well, I think part of it was, it's kind of a bit now with my life. Part of it is at that point, I had grown so used to just training for the Ogden marathon. At that point that it's like, this is just what I start doing in the fall. I have no choice but to do Ogden again, because that's what I've now done for the last like five something years or whatever. But a part of it was just this being hungry for it. because I did want to run a marathon, obviously. I had signed up and trained for it like five different times before I actually got to do it. So just knowing that I had to prove to myself that I could, especially since at that point in time, it felt like I couldn't because I had tried and I ⁓ ⁓ after I failed pretty horrendously, we like to joke. in 2022 because it was pretty bad. I I literally think I ran like maybe five miles before I had to start walking, which was not the plan. I'm not saying if you, you know, run walk a marathon, but that was not ⁓ I was going for. so I took, took a few weeks off, and really just kind of like made sure ⁓ that I gotten over it, like through my fit, but It's like you can't have a pity party forever. If you want to do it, there's no reason you can't still do it. In fact, a former coworker of mine, she had actually given me a pretty funny pep talk right after. She's like, you failed bad, but you've never really failed in your life up to this point. Because I was pretty young and things were going pretty well. So like, you? She's like, you needed this. Like, this is what happens to people. So come back from it because if you just accept that you fail and that's it, then you actually don't know how to fail. And then you're like a failure at failing. I was like, well, I don't want to fail at failing. So I guess I'll do it. Yeah, it was pretty funny. So I just didn't really think too much about it until again, about the fall, but I just, ran through the summer. Coach Ryan Head: I love it. Erin: of the changes though, there were a couple of things, like I said, with my training, I don't think I fully respected it enough. I pay super close attention to like any sort of structure with the types of running. I would just go wouldn't vary pace. I wouldn't really work in different of like interval workouts or tempo. Like I would just go run. And it was fine, but it was like, okay, I'm going to do this. have to like prepare in all the right ways. So I started just being more deliberate and smart about the way I was, I was running and, changing it up. I started kind of enjoying it more until I'd actually go run more. and then yeah, fall comes around and I just trained. ⁓ stuck with it. I kept pretty much just the same marathon plan that I had had for ⁓ now. But I didn't miss any of my days. And I just made sure to have as much fun with it as I could. at that point, it's like the worst thing has already happened. Like I have already not done it. So as long as I make it at least six miles this time, I have already done better than I did last year. But yeah, it was exciting. And then the actual race itself was terrible. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. Erin: It's a marathon Ryan. No, was okay. It was, it was over like five hours, but I think that no matter what race I run now, no matter what times I achieve, like I don't think anything will ever match the feeling of just taking that final turn and just like seeing the marathon. I mean, granted you've done Ogden and it's still, you know, five miles away at that point, but just seeing, yeah, just seeing that and just being like, Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. It feels like it. Erin: ⁓ like after all of this time, like I have, like it's, it's, it's right there. Like I have, I have done it. ⁓ like, like I said, I'm on this journey now. I have this silly idea in my head that Boston's a good idea. So like, I'm to train for that, but it's like, even ⁓ day, ⁓ day when it comes that I run a Boston time, it's like, I still don't think that's going to matter as much as the first time I, like, I just, that was such a big moment. ⁓ And it was fun and my family was there. In fact, this is the first year that I don't think everyone's gonna be doing something at Ogden. Historically, like we've all done different races, but yeah, it was fun. My family was all there. And what was really funny about it is my mom had actually made some signs in 2022 and she kept them and she just like crossed out 2022 basically and wrote 2023 and they're like, yeah, you did it. So it's fun. But after I did that, like, it was just like, okay, I have done it. It's terrible. I never want to do it again. Like it was always a one and done thing. was like, okay, I have finally done it after four years. I don't have to do it again. And I'll see you there in a couple, about a month. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. Yeah, exactly. That's crazy. That's super cool. I love your story. I love that you went back and you're like, I'm gonna do this. Like, I'm gonna keep pushing. You know, I guess my first thought that I have about that is like, how do you think that changed you overall to go back and say like, I'm not gonna let this beat me. Like, how has that impacted other parts of your life? Erin: So it really just was important to me and it kind of ties into other things that again might come up. at that point I had lost a decent amount of weight, but I was still, I when I ran it the first time I was still probably like 40, ⁓ 50 more or something. But even that point in 2022, I was like still about 30 pounds heavier than that. So there's always kind of been this thing in the back of my mind that's like, not gonna not do something because my body can't. Like I don't, I'm not at the, you know, discretion of that. ⁓ in control. Like I don't want to ever not be able to do something because I can't. ⁓ Cause there have been things, this is kind of cheesy, but one of the kind of wake up signs I had, was like, ⁓ I need to. probably do something about my health is I was actually wanting to go skydiving. I was like 2017 maybe. And I was looking at it and they had like weight limits and I was over it. And they're like, you can come in and we can see if we can, can fit you. And I was like, I don't want to have to like go to a separate appointment to like make sure that I'm going to fit in. Like that doesn't make me feel safe jumping out of a plane. So that was kind of the first time was like, ⁓ ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. too. Erin: Like my body is preventing me from doing something that I want to do. So part of it has just always been like, no, not going to be stopped or I'm not going to be prevented from something because ⁓ my body and my health. Like I will do everything I can to ⁓ in control. And so part of it was just like, okay, I didn't do it. Well, what can I change to make that happen? Cause I'm not going to not get to do things that I want to do because of what's going on with my health. And I did eventually get to jump out of a plane just for the record. ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. Man, fun little tidbit about me, man. There's no good reason to jump out of a perfectly operational plane. Sorry, I have no desire whatsoever. the fear, Cody Balebell, he's one of my friends, he's a pilot, he is, ⁓ always trying to get me to go up on his plane, and he's like, dude, let's carry your fear of heights slash plane takeoffs and landings. I'm like. Erin: Okay. Coach Ryan Head: I really don't, I don't want it. like, the fear is really bad. Like ⁓ unhealthy. And like, dude, if we do up and downs and touchdown, know, touches and all that, he's like, we'll do it 45 times, you'll be cured. And I'm like, dude, ⁓ that's cool. Like it would freak me out so bad. So ⁓ I it's cool that you jumped out of an airplane. I'm not planning to do that. Don't know if I ever will. And ⁓ I've accepted So I'm okay with that lifestyle. So. Erin: Yeah. Yeah. That's fine. That's why I did it for us. There you go. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, there you go, that's awesome. Well, congrats, that's super cool. If you're comfortable with it, like we talked about previously, I'd love to go down this path, kind of what that transformation kind of looked like for you, because there are a lot of people in our running community who, and ⁓ me off saying that there is no perfect body type, there is no, you know, Perfect weight to run a marathon. Like you said, it doesn't matter like you want to get yourself in a place where physically you can do something and and Sometimes you're gonna carry weight when you do that and that's okay But you know there sometimes for people like I've mentioned before in other episodes when was at my heaviest at 265 I Didn't feel right. I don't know what being diabetic ⁓ is, but I told that I had pre diabetic symptoms and when I get really shaky to the point that I can't control myself and I want to pass out or black out, ⁓ I guess that's pre-diabetic symptoms from what I've been told. And I just remember being like, I'm better than this. Like I know I can be in a healthier place. And why I changed, why I did what I did to try to, you know, try to get in a better place health-wise. But I'd love for you to tell kind of what that journey has looked like for you. Like if you, again, if you feel comfortable with sharing it, cause I just. There's so many people out there that need to hear this story from you. Erin: Yeah, ⁓ there was no like one thing kind of made it snap for me. There were just a lot of little things that kind of made me evaluate things. So the skydiving thing was one. Another thing was I was on one day like 10 something years ago and they had, they would always have like little science experiments in the, just like throughout the science building and there was a scale in one of the elevators and it was like, the whole principle of it was like how gravity kind of affects weight. So as you're moving up, you know, you're going to weigh more and then when you're dropped, just, or I guess it'd be less, but just doing, doing that type of thing. like, oh, that's kind of fun. So I stepped on the scale and I don't know. I don't know like how much heavier I got, but I know at least that I got 240, because that's what it said. But then of course I was like, well, that's weird. ⁓ the gravity's like, you know, affecting it. So really it's not that bad because you know, the elevator and that's, that's what we're going with. But then I was reading the thing and it was like, ⁓ the direction I'm moving, I actually weigh more than that because it's, it's it's working in my favor. So just things like, it's like, oh, okay. Like I hadn't weighed myself for a very long time. So seeing that number was kind of like, oh, like that's not great, but still didn't really act on that. I probably at least hit 250. Like I don't know if I quite hit 265, but I might've Ryan. Like we might've been the same. I definitely did not do anything right away after that. And then the other thing that I... can really recall and speak to is I used to work a retail job. So I worked at Bath and Body for a long time. And I remember one night, and cause it's a job you're up on your feet all day and all that, just walking around. And I remember there was one night where my back hurt just unbelievably bad. And I wasn't doing anything but just standing and basically existing. Like I wasn't lifting anything super heavy that day. Like I just. Coach Ryan Head: you Erin: just standing was hurting. And my coworker, who I won't, yeah, I won't say who or anything, we ended up not, but she was like, I have like these, she's like, I have like a prescription painkiller. Like, do you want one? And I didn't, but there was like a couple of seconds where in my brain, I like thought about it. And I'm a medical person. I have been raised my whole life. It's like, no, you never take someone else's. I just was in so much pain that even just the moment of like, I'm even thinking about doing that, like, that's ⁓ not good sign. So there was a lot of little things like that. And then I just kind of after a bunch of things happened, just started like, okay, I got to do something. And I didn't really do anything like specific at first, I didn't go on any like specific diet. I just kind of started doing little things and I know you actually kind of talked about one on your episode. One of the first things I did was cut basically liquid calories, so stop drinking soda. I just lemonade, things like that. I just tried to like snacking, just like little things. I didn't do anything specific and that actually did kind of help a little bit. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. Erin: ⁓ but I still, lot of what ⁓ a lot of the weight gain is just, I guess, I don't know if I should, I guess, since I've already said the company, I don't know. I didn't particularly like my job that much. Bath and Body is a great company. We love Bath and Body. I'm lab person. Don't want to, don't, didn't want to work retail. Just, it was just not for me. Nothing wrong with the company. It just isn't the type of job I wanted. And I, just would get so stressed and that job really burnt me out. And so I would leave work a lot of the times and I would, even if I made good choices throughout the day and cutting out soda and stuff, I would still frequently just go get these crazy binge meals at fast food restaurants. So even though was making some good choices, I was still not really, it wasn't really. interacting the bad choices I was still making. But I think the biggest change came and it was completely separate from anything I was doing health-wise, but I'm very grateful because it has since worked out so greatly. I woke up one day, kid you not, truly out of nowhere, no influence that I can think of or anything. So it was in 2017 at some point. I woke up one morning and I was like, I don't think I want to eat animals anymore. Don't know what prompted it. Truly nothing to do with health, but like from that day on, was like, I guess I'm a vegetarian now. And so that was probably the biggest thing. Cause then all of a sudden it was like, okay, well there's not really any more of those binges cause there I'm not going to go get chicken nuggets afterward. Cause I don't eat chicken anymore. And so that had like a huge effect. Um, and I was able to stick to it really easily because it wasn't from like a diet perspective. Like there was all of a sudden no appeal to me to eat any of those things because it's like such a deeply held ethical thing. It had nothing to do with diet or health. So it was so easy to stay away from all of those things because it's like I didn't want to. So then all of a once I did that, the weight just started dropping off like crazy. And then it was one of those things where then everything kind of cycled together. So all of a sudden, I could move more easily so I could be more active. So then I would lose more weight so then I could get more active. So I don't know if that's gonna work for everybody because it truly was very random, but it had a huge, huge effect because I just stopped eating fast food, stopped doing all sorts of, and it's so easy to stay away. And that's been, like I said, that was like 2017. It was a vegetarian till... Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. Erin: about fall at 24 and then I've been a full vegan since. So yeah. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: Nice. No, that's awesome. Yeah, I know there's always a lot of people that have opinions about being a vegetarian or vegan and all that fun stuff. And mean, I'm not ⁓ make controversial and if anyone says anything, whatever. But for me, definitely seen the influence of cutting certain things out of my diet because it just wrecks my stomach ⁓ and... and just causes just major issues. And so for me, I've just loved, you know, there's a lot of things I can't say that I'm what I am at all, There has been a lot of things that I don't do any longer because it makes me feel so much better. And it's funny because one of our good friends ⁓ in community, Jo, she's a full ⁓ vegan well. And me and her, we'll always chat about it. And she always was like, I get hate for it. And I'm like, who cares what people think? Do what's best for you. That's what I always say. And if works for you, do that, right? So that's awesome. ⁓ I love you made those subtle changes. the key, right? So if you're listening to this episode right now and you're just like, I'd love to just drop like 10 pounds, right? Go through and evaluate. You don't need to change. ⁓ wasn't built overnight. You don't have to do everything. But like you said, the big thing, number one thing I started with ⁓ I remember was like, I'm gonna stop drinking soda. And you said, liquid calories, liquid sugar. If you knew. Erin: Thank Coach Ryan Head: what that sugar does to your intestines, it's not healthy, it's not good for you. And again, I'm all for it, right? I get it. People, we all have our vices. I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, but if you can just cut little things from it, like it's a game changer and it'll just start to compound, right? Also, and you're like, ⁓ I'm not having that soda that does this to me, right? And you can just start doing those things. And I like, I think I've mentioned, I don't even know for sure how many years it's been. like 15. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: 16 years I've not drink a soda. have zero desire at this point to drink soda. That's just me I don't I would never push that on anybody but that's just my this my my decision and I just choose not to so But I think that's awesome. And then right from there you can start to build upon that by taking maybe something else out that you're like, ⁓ I really, because really in the end, mean, I get it, there are body structures, get there's science, there's DNA, there's all this other stuff, but at the end of the day, a lot of this is a numbers game, it's calories, it's what are your calories in, what are your calories out, right, and are you burning enough? And again, I know there's other factors, but I think that's kind of the big portion to your weight anybody, right? you know, what are you doing, what does that look like? And so, been good for me because a lot of times I always just go back to that when I'm like, okay, I need to drop a little bit of weight, I always think to myself, like, don't overcomplicate this, like, think through, like, what does your calorie intake look like right now, ⁓ are you doing enough to burn it, are you eating enough, are you keeping yourself in a safe place, and all that other fun stuff. ⁓ Erin: Thank you. Thank you. Coach Ryan Head: As I always recommend, if out there who's listening to this is just really questioning, there's a lot of really good dietitians out there, there's good nutritionists out there who can help you with this if you have questions. I know Cody Bibble's sister Kinsey is a nutritionist, so definitely give her a look at. ⁓ awesome, so she's someone that you can definitely reach out to if looking for ⁓ someone that. ⁓ cool. Well, thank you for sharing. ⁓ know sometimes that can be kind of a difficult conversation to have, but it's been awesome because look at what you've become because of that, right? ⁓ you, mean, only if you feel comfortable, but how much weight have you lost? Erin: Yeah. About like my about my current body weight so I hang out right now between about 120 and 130 and that's about what I've what I've like I said, I don't know for sure what I Got up to because I kind of stopped checking after a certain point Yeah, so it's one of those things where it's like I have I have lost the whole a whole me And yeah, it is one of those things where I know it can be taboo for some people I'm an open book. don't know if it's the the runner in me that over shares if it's like the desensitized healthcare worker that's like, yeah, nothing's weird. But yeah, I'm super open it. ⁓ I talk about again, part of it just comes back to like the I always want to make people feel like is no innate anything that has to be there for someone to be a good runner or even just a dead. Coach Ryan Head: Sure, of course. Ha! Erin: a runner like you don't even like I'm by no means elite I like I think I said I'm trying to qualify for Boston I'm like 20 minutes so like it's one of those things where it's like I might just be on this journey for the sake of being on the journey and that's fine because I am having so much fun on the journey but it's like my first marathon was 510 and now my best is 343 it's like the person even a couple years before that marathon couldn't even do a marathon. Like it's just, you just get out of it what you put in. So I always want to like make it very known, but it's like, no, I promise that if I can do this, anyone can. Coach Ryan Head: That's super cool. I love that you say that, because that's what I always say to people too. similar, just share my story a little bit. ⁓ will be a new story for people, because I don't think I've shared it on here. when was at my heaviest weight, I was pretty down myself. And I was like, I'm not really ever going to accomplish much in my life. Part of the reason behind that was because of my right knee reconstructions. I've had my right knee reconstructed twice playing sports in high school. And been tough because in so many ways, it limits how fast can go ⁓ and limits much I can do. Like I can't do squats. I do a weird modified version of a squat, it looks stupid, I've heard people be like, you look dumb, and I'm like, I don't care, it's what I can do. I can't bend my knee past a certain point, and that's what it is, right? But there's just certain things I can't do, and so I remember at times just being like, well, my knee restricts me, that's my out of jail card, right? That's why I'm not gonna ever do it, so I'm good. ⁓ I remember, ⁓ again, like you said, and I love that you said this, ⁓ There's not really a body style right and if you're comfortable with your lifestyle, that's awesome We just want you know find what works for you But for for some of us we didn't feel good when we had that weight on and it was nice to drop that weight And so when you do that all sudden some doors open that you're not that you didn't know that could be opened right and all of a sudden I'm like, whoa I can actually run again and I'm actually though my knee restricts me. I can actually still move pretty quickly Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: And then all of a I'm like, well, all of sudden I started to develop the same mindset that you just shared. Like, well, if I can do it, so can anyone else because like, I thought it was impossible. And then now I'm doing it and I'm like, whoa, this is actually all kind of coming together quite nicely. And that's kind of been my mantra at multiple times, especially like after I completed the Walsh 100 and the Bear 100 for the first time, the back to back in 2024. That was my mantra. I said it to everybody. I'm like, if I can do that. anyone can because this guy did not believe in himself and I am not the most gifted athlete. Like you said, I'm not elite. Never gonna be elite. I don't want to be elite. I think elites are awesome. great people. Know quite a few of them, but yeah, I'm not going to be, but I'm happy with who I am and I'm gonna push as much as I possibly can and I'm gonna be grateful for what God's given me and this is my life and I'm okay with that. So I love that you share that. I think that's just awesome. Um, because I think everyone is, is different, but I do think like, holy cow. Wow. Like most impressive dropping. Um, right. Could have been 120, 130, 140 pounds, whatever it is. like seriously, like congratulations. And I know you know that already and I know it's been years now since that's happened and what have you, but not only to do that, but to keep it off and continue to excel in running like Erin: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: That's a lot of work. That's really hard. I know you're like, well, I changed my, I changed certain parts about my life and that's why it's happened. And so it's kind of been, you know, kind of naturally fell into that. Well, I could say the same thing about running hundreds. People are like, that's impressive that you do that. Like you should be proud of that. And I'm like, well, but I go and run all the time. still it is impressive. It's still impressive when people do these types of things. So I congratulate you. Like that's so cool. ⁓ Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: You've done so much work to get to that point and that you continue to keep it off and you are becoming just an amazing runner, like seriously amazing runner. Erin: Thank you. ⁓ I appreciate it. That means a lot. Yeah, I definitely am pretty, health conscious and super aware of diet and stuff. But I also at the same time, ⁓ always sure to instill a little bit of nonsense and fun in that. And my ⁓ true goal this year, ⁓ and so it is going well, is I must eat Oreos every single day. Coach Ryan Head: Nice, nice. Erin: It's like, you still gotta have the yeah, so, and Oreos are vegan, so there you go. ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: Have a little bit of fun, yeah. Hey, that's awesome. That's awesome. I used to love Oreos. I still love Oreos, but I don't know. Maybe I watched some fake YouTube clip, but I watched what goes into Oreos and I was like, I better stop eating those. Yeah, nothing good. ⁓ good goes into those things. ⁓ was like... Erin: ⁓ I'm sure nothing real. no, I'm under no illusion that it's doing me any That's probably why I have, yeah, if I had to give up Oreos to be an elite athlete, I simply am content to not be one. Coach Ryan Head: You That's awesome. Hey, I love a good bowl of ice cream, even though, right, that has dairy and I have almost moved completely 100 % away from dairy. Again, personal decision, because it really hurts my stomach. But I have moved completely away from it, but I still love a bowl of ice cream. And I know there ⁓ options out there that don't have dairy, and I do like those options. Some of them are really good. ⁓ But man, I'll tell you, a good bowl of fars. Erin: There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: chocolate peanut butter ice cream, tiered quintessential. ⁓ Erin: It's funny you bring that up because I never actually used to really like ice cream before. Because a similar thing, like I would just not feel good after I would feel like super weighed down. Since being a vegan, I'm actually from Breyers, they have a really good one. I also that like most days. So it's like, yeah, I'm ⁓ like, do like my vegan ice cream, but it's like, because I never really Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. ⁓ nice. That's awesome. Erin: This wasn't even one that it's like, ⁓ man, I miss ice cream. have to start like I didn't like ice cream, but he liked vegan ice cream. So yeah, there are some pretty good ones. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. No, I love it. I love it. That's super cool. Well, cool. Well, thank you. You've told us so much about kind of your running journey, what it has been, kind of where you've come from, you know, this amazing transformation that you've been on. You know, I think that's just impressive. Again, you're an example to so many people out there. I hope people listen to this and they're like, whoa, like that's just really, really, you know, fascinating and just just so cool that you've you've been able to do this. So I want to shift gears just a little bit and throw a couple of questions at you because for you to accomplish not only, you know, DNF, if you will, for a marathon, and then you've lost all this weight, I want to talk about your mindset. Like, what does that look like for you? what what has running, you know, your weight journey? What has all this taught you mentally? Like, what are the mental skills that you've had to sharpen to to accomplish these things? Erin: Definitely, I think I have a lot to thank my mother for when it comes to just being so stubborn. I'm just a very inherently stubborn person and just in competitive, which I think a lot of runners are. And so it's just the aspect of, you know, it's feeling like I... No, if I say I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. I don't care what I need to do to make it happen. It's I don't feel like I have any like special, you know, tool or anything there. It's just been a lot of years of just things not going particularly ⁓ and just having to come back from them. it, you know, going back to Star Wars, right? We could just pull out like, you know. try not, do or do not. There is no try. I a lot about getting things done and I don't wanna bring, guess, anything too personal. To each their beliefs, but I am not particularly a religious person. So I just kinda at everything in life as like, I have only been given ⁓ so much time. is the time that I've got. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah. Do not. Erin: I don't get to squander any of it because I don't necessarily think that there's anything after. So it's like, if I want to do things, now or never truly. with not even just running, but just anything ⁓ life, it's like, once it's there, okay, I'm making it happen. like powered through school, made sure to do as much as I could there. I was super involved with the university because it's like, I'm not going to get this opportunity. again. And with running now, you know, there are some miles that they're maybe not as ⁓ as others, but I truly try to appreciate like every mile I get to run. It's like, I don't know how long this will last. So it's, I feel like I just want to get the most out of everything. So it's never really the perspective of like, I have to do this. It's kind of like I I get to do this because I can now and I don't know if I'll get to tomorrow. So it's just trying to just pack as much in as I can. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. Christie Rundio said something very similar. She's like, I get to do this. I love that you bring that up. ⁓ it's true, right? It's really cool that we have this opportunity. And you said, like not to get personal and I ⁓ totally where you're coming from. But I think your mindset is very sound. That like, this is our opportunity in this life to, know, regardless of belief systems. Like this is your opportunity in this moment to do whatever it is that you want to do. this is, you ⁓ you make this life whatever you want it to be. Like it really is like one of my favorite quotes that I've heard multiple times is you can do anything in this life, but you can't do it all. So pick wisely. And yeah, it's always been one of those things that I'm like, okay, like how do I want to spend this? Erin: Yeah. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: this life here and on what do I want to do and where do I, know, and so that's why my family's important to me. That's why running is important to me. It's why, you know, my belief system is important to me. But, you know, there are these certain things that I'm like, I dedicate time to and I want to be intentional about it because nothing's worse than being so, so pulled in 10,000 different directions that you're not good at anything, that you're just like mediocre at best, right? Mediocre at best to. At some of the stuff and so for me I've always been like no like if I'm gonna be in something I want to be committed and really locked in but I do want to go back to kind of talking about your mentality and You said something you've been saying stuff this whole time that I just have loved Kind of leading the witness here, but like ⁓ your with everything think about college right like and and all that stuff like you Erin: you Coach Ryan Head: No one gets good grades in college. No one becomes a scientist unless they study, right? Like you had to put the time in. No one gets good at running. No one, you know, I get it. I gotta, I'm trying to think of how to say this in the best way possible. But like, we're not finishing, me and you are not finishing in the top 10 % of a race because we got lucky, right? Like there's a game plan. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: and you have to be structured, you have to study, you have to work at it. No one just gets lucky at this stuff. That's the thing that I always laugh about is when people are like, well, you're just naturally gifted runner. And I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm so not naturally gifted. It's actually appalling. Anyways, I could go off about that for a second, but I won't. Erin: you Coach Ryan Head: Like you have to follow a game plan. You have to be strategic. Like you were saying from the get go, like there are days you have to do speed work and like, do you like speed work? Maybe you do. I don't know. Erin: I like it for one rep. it's fine. ⁓ change up enough and I run in so many different areas that I keep things interesting enough that, yeah, that I do like it. But I guess maybe just kind of go along with that. I just know ⁓ that I have with running and other things you brought up like school, ⁓ I have Coach Ryan Head: I love it. I Erin: always gotten out of things what I put into them. So it's really easy for me to stay motivated and do things because I know based on historical data that's like, okay, when I don't put in the work for a marathon, I don't finish the marathon. I know that when I do put in the work, I finish the marathon. So it's just kind of that ⁓ discipline knowing that this will go how it goes because of if I make it happen or not. just, I guess, knowing what the consequences will be is kind of a way I keep myself motivated. Because that's one those things where it's like, if I want to hit a specific time in a marathon, then I know I'm going to have to do workouts and hit certain mileage. ⁓ if I don't, I don't get to get mad at the marathon when I don't hit my time. So it's just everything. you get out of running and really just everything in life, what you put into it. And I've just learned that through a lot of trial and error. So yeah, always having that in mind. it's like, you it's cheesy and cliched. The hard work off. If you put in the work, it has results. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, no, it's not. It's funny, because I do think, as we both have experienced, because I remember, I always love when someone brings up 2019 Ogden Marathon, because that was such a bad race. It was so cold and raining and all that other stuff. And I know you were doing the half marathon that day, but I was running the marathon. as I mentioned on, whose episode was that just recently? I forget, I think it was Kirk and Laquitas. I was like. Erin: Thank you. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: I just went straight to my wife the gate when you come out with a shoot or when you cross the finish line and I was like, we just gotta go get in the freaking truck right now, because I think I got hypothermia. I was so cold. And there factors, right? There will always be factors out of our control. But ⁓ at the end of the day, you said, it's what you put it. There are certain things we can control and there are certain things we cannot control, like weather. Erin: Thank Yeah. ⁓ Sure, sure. Coach Ryan Head: Sometimes how your stomach's really gonna react to it when you maybe you've had something maybe you got sick, know, maybe got a little sickness somewhere along the line, whatever. But like you said, if you're putting in the work, you're gonna get out of it what you desire. and that's where the rubber hits the road. Like really at the end of the day, that's really what happens. Like I always say to people about running my hundreds, they're like, how do you do it? And I'm like, it's earned one at a time. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: all through the spring and summer. Like, I don't get lucky with those. Luck has nothing to do with running a marathon, running a hundred miler. It has nothing to do with it. It all comes down to your determination, your consistency, you don't have to be the most skilled person. You don't have to be the fastest. You don't have to have ⁓ genetics. You don't have to be the best looking, whatever it is, right? What it is is if you're consistent, Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: You're dedicated, you're willing to put the work in. You're gonna get out of it everything you want. So I love that you say that, because it's perfect. Absolutely perfect. So love that you shared that, because I think you're one of the perfect examples of this, because you can say, and again, five hour marathon is not bad. That's amazing. That's really good for a lot of people. But to see, yeah, yeah, better, yeah, exactly. And there's nothing wrong with D-A-Duffing too. I mean, it's tough. Erin: you Yeah, felt pretty good after your DNS. Coach Ryan Head: We got two people out here who have DNF'd. We have dealt with it, but we came back for more. Maybe we were the dumb ones, but no, I'm just teasing. ⁓ you know, going from a five hour marathon to a 343 or 342, whatever number that is, like that's real time. Like you shaved off some serious time there. again, something you should be so, proud of because is work. That is that dedication. That's that commitment. Erin: of it. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: To you just being like I'm going to make this happen. So congratulations again, like so so cool to see you do that. So So what? What comes next for you? What's I know you obviously you've kind of already hinted at it here in about a month or so But what's what's coming next for you in the next whether? four weeks or next Six months to a year. What what ⁓ are gonna do next with with running? Erin: Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. So yeah, Ogden, Ogden Marathon, if there is one thing that is probably always gonna be a constant in my life, is spring I'm doing that race. It's just too much integral to my running journey now. Whether or not I get to run it, it's like, I'm always gonna train for Ogden. And then I don't usually do anything to... ⁓ intense over the summer. I usually just kind of keep things casual. A couple shorter races I usually find like a 5k to do and then I've done the Desert News 10k the last couple years so I'm doing that one again. That one's fun even though 10ks are actually like my least favorite distance but it's like it's kind of one of those things where it's like you gotta you gotta do it all because that's just how you how you grow as a runner. You gotta see all the different distances and all that. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah Erin: And then, Ogden Marathon I like to do ⁓ because it's I do. I just, I always have to do it. But it's usually my fall marathon that it's like, I'm wanting to like hit certain times. And so those are always the ones that it's like, I'm just full send. ⁓ I'm Big Cottonwood this September. So that's kind of like my main race for year. And then, I've not done that one before. Coach Ryan Head: Have you done it before? Erin: I know, I've heard the lore. Coach Ryan Head: ⁓ man. I've done it twice, I think twice or three times, I always forget, and I'm officially retired from that race. I'm never doing it again. Erin: Yeah, it's not one, I don't know that I would have done it otherwise, but I won a free race entry. And so that was, so it's like, I'm not gonna not take advantage of a free marathon. See, I don't know that I would have done it otherwise, but I usually like to have Ogden in the spring and then something in the fall, full marathon wise. And that one usually changes. Like Ogden's always the same, but then the fall races, I... Coach Ryan Head: Thank you. Erin: usually do different ones. And then I'm just I'm hoping I can find a couple more races to pace. I've had a lot of fun doing that. I'm ⁓ pacing the woman's epic again in October. So that'll be fun. I'm hoping I can maybe find a couple others like throughout the summer because like I said, I don't like to do anything too intense over the summer. But pacing, it's kind of a different type of type of racing. So we'll see. But I don't really have too many races on the Coach Ryan Head: Nice, yeah. Yeah, cool. Erin: radar so far this year. My job's kind of crazy so it's hard to like fully know when I'm going to have weekends off and get to train so I got to kind of be strategic in what I get to allot time for and the marathons are always the focus so yeah. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, no, that's awesome. I get ya, I get ya, and that makes sense. I mean, you gotta be flexible. mean, early on when me and my wife, had our little babies, ⁓ much as I wanted to run every weekend into a race, it was tough, now they're, ⁓ a teenager, one's getting close to being a teenager, it's a little easier, to be honest with ya. So, be to sneak away ⁓ and that stuff, and they don't miss Dad. Most of time, they're sleeping until I get home. I'm like... They're still asleep when I get home from a training run on a Saturday. I'm like, you suckers. But I'm jealous, I just remember being a teenager and doing that. So I'm like, oh, I miss those days. Those were good days. Not being so insanely addicted to getting up on a Saturday morning and going to get miles. But that's cool. Well, I have to ask the question just because of who I am. Have you ever thought about trails? Erin: Yeah. Yeah. No, I haven't. I thought you would maybe I'm not a very good Utahan, right? I just I, clumsy enough on the roads. Yeah, no, I maybe one day there's just, it's not anything that it's like, I'm afraid to do or it just there's truly no interest that might that might change. But I just it's one of those things where it's like, I have too much fun. road running, so it's hard to to go do something else. So maybe I'm not going to ever ⁓ myself out of anything, but there's a lot of interest in this genre. ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: No. Yeah, no, that's cool. I mean, that's the thing is like, I remember, yeah, for the longest time, because I think I started like really running in 2013, like just doing like a mile or two. And it took me until, what was it, 2022. So almost nine years before I decided I was going to start giving trails, you know, a chance. And maybe that'll be the same for you. Maybe it'll be less, maybe it'll be more, who knows. The trails are fun. I totally get what you're saying about being like, I'm clumsy, like it's not good. You know the craziest thing about running trails is the more you do it, the better you get. Because I am ⁓ bad, because my knee, I sometimes won't, ⁓ I think the road running community, you always wanna be like, ⁓ you have good running form, but you also are like, what's the easiest way to... Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: conserve energy, so sometimes I'll drag my foot, not like completely on the pavement, but I'll kinda just drag it a little bit. Oh yeah, you do that crap on the trails, guess what happens? Boom! And you just, you go flying. And that's happened more than I'd like to admit. And so it's just funny that I'm like, K Ryan, I'll sometimes be like, K Ryan, time to lift up your feet. Because, I mean, me and Nate brought it up on our episode, but on mile 10, 11 of Bear 100 this year. Erin: it. Coach Ryan Head: yeah, took, ⁓ flew and ⁓ like, we're only 10 miles in this, I still got 90 more miles and I'm like, geez. Luckily I didn't hurt myself too bad, but yeah, it's interesting. ⁓ well, I bring up the trails just because your mindset, dedication, and how much you have ran, I know you'd be really good at it. No questions asked. I think you could do some special stuff. Erin: good. Coach Ryan Head: But again, it's one of those things, it'll be there if you ever want to do it, right? Trails are just so fun, I like it, it's so different. But if you're having fun on roads, continue to on the roads, I think that's super cool and I think there's a lot of fun that can be had there. But you're always welcome to join us on one of our group runs on a Saturday in the summer when we're doing trails and you guys are all dying of heat down here in the valley and we're gonna go up and get Benny and it's cooler. Erin: Yeah. Yeah. That's could be good point. Yeah, that's fair. ⁓ Yeah, no, it's truly just like an interesting, there's nothing about like the distance or anything that scares me because it's like, yeah, it would be probably annoying, but so are marathons and I keep doing them. So maybe one day. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: Mm-hmm. I know I'm just like, yeah, I just like the way you attack your races and like your approach, I'm like, ⁓ you would be so good. Like if you even tried like a 50k, right, just five more miles, like would be excited to see how you would do. anyways, no worries. I get it. I totally get where you're coming from and that makes perfect sense. So that's cool. Well, I'm excited to see how you do with big cottonwood. ⁓ I think it is a challenging race, but I think if you attack training correctly, you're gonna have a great day. And a lot of that has to do with just getting downhill and building up your quads. And you already know this. mean, I'm preaching the choir to you, but you're gonna do great. I know you will with that. So I'm excited to hear that, hear how it goes and see how you do with it. I think I'm sure it'll be a great race for you. Well, cool. Well, honestly, Aaron, this has been so fun to have you on, to go over all this with you. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: ⁓ Just like we do with every guest, I'd love to move to our lightning round questions if you're cool with that. Let's do it. Some of these we've already kind of answered already just because we've already been talking about them, but we're gonna do it anyway. So here we go. So first lightning round question, and like I always say, ⁓ can elaborate on it further ⁓ ⁓ can keep it a one word answer, whatever's best for you. Couple of these questions may have a second part to it. Erin: Go for it. Yep. Coach Ryan Head: Some of them I'm excited because I think I already know the answers to. Anyways, do this. This is gonna be good. Okay, so first one, favorite race distance. Erin: Thank I like halfs, which seems to be the general consensus so far from, I think, a lot of your guests. I just, it's a challenging enough distance that you gotta earn it, you gotta put in the work, but it's just not, you can recover a lot quicker. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: house. Oh yeah, yeah, a half is a good way to just go out and get your, know, beat yourself up for, you know, and you'll feel it for a day or so, but then you're like back to feeling pretty good pretty quickly. And, and like I've said, my favorite road distance, road running distance is the half. Like I'll always love the marathon, but mile 20 on the marathon is always like, okay, flip of a coin to see if this is going to go well or not. But marathon, or half marathon, I can always send it. have fun even though last Saturday did not send it. I was recovering from Disneyland and eating Disneyland food and that was a bad experience. Erin: I believe it. Yeah, no, I believe it. Hopefully. That's good. Coach Ryan Head: So we survived. We survived. Were you at the half last weekend? Erin: No, I was covering graves at my So yeah, I was fighting other battles. Coach Ryan Head: ⁓ work. Nice, nice. I know I was like, I didn't see you there. I was looking for you. Cause I was like, hey, it's game on. I'm ready to chase after on this one. anyways, now that's awesome. Well, I already know the answer to this. Obviously next lightning run question road or trails. We know the answer already. Erin: Thank Yeah, it's just, yeah, not even close. Coach Ryan Head: is Rhodes, which is totally fine. That is awesome. Next light new run question, morning or evening runs? Mornings, that's awesome. Erin: this road. mornings. Yeah, I just love love getting up starting my day that way. been a while since I've done like doubles. I sometimes like to go run like a couple easy miles at night just to kind of cap off the day. But yeah, I primarily like doing my training in the in the morning. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. That's super, super cool. Cool, cool, cool. Next question. What is your favorite post-run or post-race meal? Erin: ⁓ so it's kind of funny. had a whole conversation about soda and, and all that. ⁓ I don't know if you have ever heard the story of certain people, maybe, or maybe not passing out in a Chevron post marathon. but that's, that's, that's a whole, whole ordeal, but, ⁓ yeah, I crashed pretty hard after one of my races and it was in fact a 20 ounce bottle of, of Coke that revived me. And so ever since then, the exception to the times that I will drink soda is it's like after a marathon, within minutes, ⁓ I want my Coke. And then I'm good. I'm revived. I've got my caffeine. I've got my sugar. So that's simple as is truly. It's one of those things where it's like, is what I look forward to just ⁓ so much after a marathon, sometimes haves, depending on like... how intense they were and how hot it is. But yeah, the post-marathon Coke has done me good before. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome, that's really cool. multiple times I've known people on ⁓ trail races, same thing, if they can get like a can of Coke in them. I don't know if it's just the sugar or the way it just gets absorbed into your but it like brings them back. It's Cokes or a Monster. I've heard both of those, people love them both, ⁓ and they're for bringing people back. So ⁓ not surprising slightest. We are gonna for just a second. Erin: It's so true. Coach Ryan Head: I gotta hear the Chevron story. What is this all about? I've never heard this story. Let's hear it. Erin: Yeah, I'll try to keep it brief. Yeah, so I was after Huntsville a couple years ago and I just I really started running into some stomach issues that race and just I was I was feeling okay as long as I wasn't eating or drinking, which is a terrible position to be in for a marathon. And I ultimately was just like, well, I guess I'm just not going to eat or drink anything. And this is like mile 18. So I still have at the pace I'm going, like an hour and a half basically of running. I just didn't take in any fuel, anything. I don't know how I pulled that finish. Like if there was a race I should have DNF'd, it was that one. I somehow managed to finish and as I was driving home, I really started feeling like really, really sick and really dizzy. And I'm really... glad the day turned out the way, like it could have actually been very bad. But I'm driving home, I was like, I should probably like pull over and do something, because I'm like not doing good. So I eventually make it to Chevron and I'm just like, just get inside, get food or just get something. I think like there's these big like plants out front. I'm like, crawling along the plants, just trying to get inside. ⁓ no, it's so funny. I love sharing the horror stories because just the joys of running. Why does everyone not want to do this? But yeah, I managed to get my way inside and just ⁓ the I step in the door, I see the clerk. We make eye contact and then just hit the I don't know how long I was down. It could have Coach Ryan Head: I shouldn't be laughing, this is awful. Erin: minutes it could have been fun like I have no idea um what was a little weird so I'm not gonna say what Chevron because I don't want to get anyone like but no one like checked on me which was a little weird so my my thought is I'm hitting the floors it's like oh my gosh like I'm gonna have to pay for an ambulance I don't like this has turned into such an expensive day like okay that's not fun but then I didn't have to because no one did anything so I guess that's cool It's not, but it saved me, guess, that. But yeah, and so I obviously didn't want to drive after that. So my mom and sister had to come rescue me. yeah, they drove me back to my apartment. But my sister went and got me a Coke. And she's like, this is this drink that you don't get to do anything until you have drunk this and kept it down. So yeah, the Coke that saved my life. Not every marathon since. It's like someone better have a Coke for me. within five minutes or someone's gotta be on chevron duty. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: like wow that's crazy I that's insane that's awesome epic but like he said probably not a good idea to say what Chevron is that is baffling that nobody helped you like come on people but anyways Erin: Yeah. Yeah, but I didn't pay for any ambulance, I guess, so that's cool. Coach Ryan Head: So that's a good thing, because yeah, those things are expensive. that I've experienced personally, but I've known, instances at work that had cost a ton of money to have someone taken via ambulance. So anyways, not saying you shouldn't do it if it's the right situation or a needed situation, but if someone can drive, you definitely get a drive. It's gonna be a little cheaper. Cool, okay, well, we'll jump back into the lightning questions. This is kind of the fun one that I'm really excited about. So music, podcasts, or silence on your runs. Erin: Yes. just, yeah, it just kind of depends on just what, what I'm feeling. I don't, I could just, if I'm doing the more chill run and just getting some miles in that are easy, I'll do ⁓ like audio books or podcasts. But if I'm doing something a little more intense and I need to just kind of be a little more motivated and upbeat, then I'll usually go music. But it just like, it ⁓ just depends. There's no. Coach Ryan Head: Yes. Erin: There's no rhyme or reason. It's truly just I'll wake up and it's like, all right, what, what am I feeling today? Okay. I guess, I guess we're doing, I guess you're doing a podcast. Cool. Like it's just, there's no, it's all over. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. So because I'm such a, and I know you are too, gotta go there. I love music. Music is one of my favorite things in this life. What's on your playlist right now? Erin: Yeah. It's, it is so all over. In fact, people saw the shuffle, they'd be like, what? I was just because we've talked about it. I'm pretty, into like 2000, like 90s, 2000s rocks, a lot of the same bands there, Blink, Yellow Card, all those good ones. And in fact, when I first started running, like going back to all those years as a kid, Coach Ryan Head: I love it, that's good. Erin: ⁓ and just having my iPod, which was just the coolest thing in the whole world, because you could have like so many CDs on an iPod, right? Some of the first like albums, there's some of the first, you know, runs that I ever did, it's was the same handful of albums that I had, which were like Blink-182's just self-titled ⁓ Ocean Avenue Yellow Card, like just a couple there. So like even now whenever I hear those songs, just takes me back to those days. But then it might like transition into some movie scores or like video game scores and then go to like musicals and then to ⁓ Like it's just, it's all over. There's no what's coming on. Yeah. ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: care. primary reason. I love it. I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm the same way. Sometimes people are like, you don't even have a theme. I'm like, there's not meant to be a theme. It's meant to be just pure chaos. I want it to be pure chaos. I wanna be like, one moment I'm listening to just the most sappy love song ever by U2, with or without you or something. And then next thing I know, we're jumping to Blinkway 2's filling this. And it's like, what the freak? Erin: can't be a fiend. Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: Dude, you just shifted gears like totally. And I'm like, I know dude, that's what it's all about. Sometimes you just have fun with it. So I love that. I love that it's just kind of all over the place and I think it's fun. That's a good thing. So super cool. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So, well, cool. Well, ⁓ I've got a few more questions to throw at you and we'll wrap up here. I know I never specifically asked you, but I know you have gone over it in multiple ways, but. Erin: Yeah. Coach Ryan Head: One thing that I'd love to just kind of end with, and I always ask people my way that I usually ask this, that I say, is there anything left about your why? But I will just throw at you like, ⁓ know, ⁓ is your why? Is there anything else that you would want to tell us about your why? You've told us so much about you. You told us about your approach, about the things that you've gone through in your life, how you've come back. I mean, we, I think we've all heard your why in many different ways and forms, but Yeah, what is your why? What is your why at this point? And what keeps you coming back to do all of this? Erin: Yeah, so like you said, we've definitely touched on kind of a lot of aspects of like the transition into that for me specifically. But another element that I value just so much in my perspective is like I've mentioned, or I guess maybe it was our conversation before, not so much here. But I work in the medical field. I work as a medical laboratory scientist. I've been doing that for some time now. And When you work in hospitals, you, or I guess medicine in general, but I work in a hospital, you some things like all the time, like you'll see life-changing things. Patients will come in perfectly fine one moment and then maybe leave with some really detrimental diagnosis, or maybe there's like some just bizarre accident or something that happens. And I have seen people's life change just like that. And so ⁓ of part of it too is it's ⁓ have just this just such deep feeling of I am so grateful for every day of good health that I have and I want to do everything I possibly can to ⁓ take that for granted in ⁓ way because truly like I have seen just such just traumatic things and ⁓ medical kind of have a reputation for being a little twisted and little more, but it's like, because you you see things in the field. And it does really kind of change your your outlook on things. And so just doing things because I can like there might be people that not even be grateful to be able to run, but just like to be able to have the the health that I have. And so I just have this sense of like, how, how could I do anything to to jeopardize what I've you know, been given, especially since because for so many years, I really didn't care as much. just kind of seeing like what what happens and how quickly things can change. It's like I, I am truly going to appreciate every day I wake up healthy and ⁓ and just go from there. And I have to sometimes remind myself that because there are times where and I, I know you've faced this and everyone so far on the podcast, it seems like has where Like things come up, you get sick, you get hurt. So I've had my fair share of that. And like every time that, you know, maybe I run into a little bit of an overuse injury and I can't run for a couple of weeks. It's like, okay, if the worst thing my health right now is ⁓ can't go run for a few days, but everything else is fine. Like I have it very, very good. So just doing things because truly I can and so many others can't and might. Coach Ryan Head: life, you know. Erin: just want to more than anything. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, that's cool. I 100 % agree with you and I love that. I love that mindset. like you said, I mean, for what it's worth, whatever it is, your ⁓ field of, your career field, I get what you're trying to say and we all have seen just stuff that's ⁓ sad or dark or whatnot. And again, probably you. or in your field of profession more than most, but it is a blessing to be able to be like, get out there. It's funny, I think I've shared this before on an episode before, but I always run like mile three, four of Ogden. I'll be running down the canyon, right? And I'll just yell out, like, where else could we be right now? is the best life possible. And I'm not trying to be down to the people that can't be there, trust me, that's not why I say it, but it's like, for those of us in that area right now. this is the best life we could be living. to be that healthy that you can run a marathon, because there's no half marathoners, maybe there's some relay people, so there could be some relay people, they're not doing the full marathon. Yeah, but to be that healthy that you can do that, like, does get better? Because like, ⁓ at end of this life, during this life, you're not, ⁓ the thing that really ⁓ is the most, I think, is your health. Like, once that's gone, Erin: Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's true. Coach Ryan Head: can't buy you back your health. I don't think so I mean it's and when it's gone It's over right and you've obviously seen this more than probably most so thank you for sharing that that's I think that's really good It's a little bit of a different ⁓ than anybody else has shared But I think so important for people to hear so thank you. Thank you for sharing that so ⁓ Well, this has been amazing if people want to follow you on social media if you're open to that Where could they follow you at or any of that fun stuff? Erin: Nope. Coach Ryan Head: Strava, Instagram, any of that. Erin: Yeah, Strava is pretty much the only thing I really have. I guess I'm on Facebook. I will accept requests if I am semi-familiar with people. So I mean, you know, if it's from the running club. ⁓ But yeah, Strava is fine. Just Arundy slash Big Earn is my nickname. So you can always find me by Big Earn probably anywhere. But I honestly don't do a lot of social media. That's just one of those things where it just seems better. better for my mental health to be online as little as possible. So Strava would probably be the best place to Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome, cool. Before we wrap up, I've got to ask, because I have been dying to know what's the deal with the nickname Big Erd? I saw that, I was like, what the freak does that even mean? What is that all about? I'm just curious. Before we wrap up, ⁓ I've got ask, because I have been dying to know what's the deal with the nickname Big Erd? I saw that, I was like, ⁓ what the does that even mean? What is that all about? I'm just curious. Erin: Yeah, I don't know what it means. ⁓ My family nicknames are just like a thing in my family. Everyone gets one. You don't really know what's gonna stick or just kind of depends on who's around when something is said. ⁓ I've been bigger for like 10 years, but it's funny because it's Yeah, I don't know what it means. My family ⁓ are just like a ⁓ in my family. Everyone gets one. You don't really know what's stick or just kind of depends on who's around when something is said. And that's just was around the right combination of people. And yeah, bigger. ⁓ I've bigger for like 10 years, but it's funny because it's Coach Ryan Head: I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. Erin: I think it's at least a good nickname because it's nonsense. My sister, her name is Krissa. ⁓ Her nickname is Susan. That's not a nickname. That's ⁓ another name. ⁓ yeah, no. just... ⁓ So yeah, Nicknames are just a thing in my So everyone's got one. And so it's like, once you have one, it's like, ⁓ I think it's at least a good because it's nonsense. It's not really a name. It's bigger. Like that's a nickname. My sister, her name is Krissa. Her is Susan. That's not a nickname. That's just another yeah, no. just... ⁓ So yeah, no. are just a thing in my family. So everyone's got one. And so it's like, once you have one, it's like, ⁓ Coach Ryan Head: What? What? I love it. Seriously. I love it. Seriously. Erin: So it's just, it's random. don't know. I don't know what it means either, Ryan, but yeah, you can always know that Bigger is this one. Coach Ryan Head: your nickname Big Earn? I like it. Okay, hey, well that's awesome. ⁓ just love that you threw it out there like on your Strava. was like, what the heck does Big Earn mean? And I was like, I don't know. ⁓ was like, is that something like, that, yeah, I'm like, is that like something like I'm supposed to know? Like, is there like some kind of new social trend or whatever? I don't know. I'm old. So I don't know half the crap people are talking about anymore. I mean, I ⁓ never I'd become this person. Yeah. Erin: Yeah. No one knows. The next social trend, yeah, big earn. Everyone hashtag big earn. Coach Ryan Head: Yeah, I know I'm like, am I missing something here? Like, am I just not out of it? Erin: ⁓ It's just a dumb nickname. But it is truly. At work, everyone calls me Big Earn. Other departments, not even just my immediate coworker, other floors will call down to the lab and they're like, hey, it's Big Earn or Earn is also either or. But yeah, it's just nonsense. That's what I try to bring to this world. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. Well, I want to wrap up by again telling you thank you so much for coming on. think one of the best ways to end this is by reading the quote your wall. I've loved reading that the whole time we've been talking. Do the extra mile, it's never crowded. Like, ain't that like one of the best messages in this life? If you want to get ahead with it, that's in your professional life, personal life, running life, whatever life, do the extra mile, it's never crowded. Erin: Thank you. Yeah, that's been great. Coach Ryan Head: and that's where you're gonna grow more than probably most places. anyways, Aaron, thank you so much for coming on the episode today. It's been awesome and I'm excited to drop this episode. This will be a good one. Erin: Awesome, yeah, it's been great. Thank you. I'm happy to have been here and just so excited to have talked running and Star Wars and all the other just things that came up. So it's been great. Thanks, Ryan. Coach Ryan Head: That's awesome. Well, I do want to remind everybody about our premier sponsor for the podcast, Fleet Feet. Fleet Feet is located both in Leighton and Ogden. If you have any shoe needs, gear needs, nutrition needs, go over there, see those guys. Especially if you're running the Ogden Marathon and you're like, man, I really need to be practicing the nutrition for that race. NAC is the official nutrition for that. and they have NAC at Fleetfeet, both stores. So make sure you go over there, get that so you can start testing that out as we are getting pretty close to the race. Probably when this gets released, we'll be just a week or two out from the race. So make sure you're practicing that. If you haven't already, start doing it now. It'll probably go a long way. anyways, Fleetfeet, thank you so much for all you do. Aaron again, thank you so much for being on the episode. Erin: Thank you.