Latest / The People Run Podcast / #32 400m Hurdles to the Marathon | Brown Bambi on Competing, Coaching & Staying True to Yourself

Transcript

#32 400m Hurdles to the Marathon | Brown Bambi on Competing, Coaching & Staying True to Yourself · The People Run Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_00: You've done a lot of marathons.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you did 400 meters at a very high level.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: What do you find harder?
0:05
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
0:06
SPEAKER_04: My gosh.
0:07
SPEAKER_04: Look, the community is about to be like, hello.
0:09
SPEAKER_04: Running is hard, and they're both a part of running.
0:13
SPEAKER_04: Because the 400 hurdles had rounds, and it's a different type of raw speed that you cannot fake.
0:22
SPEAKER_04: And I'm not saying anybody fakes anything in the marathon because when you break down.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: This is the People Run Podcast.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Today's guest here have Asia, aka Brown Bambi.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Jumping right into it.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, she has run a couple major marathons, and we'll get into more details.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: But most recently, she ran Sydney, New York, Sevilla back to back.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: She ran a great race that was very happy, healthy mindset, going right into it.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, what changed in Sevilla that you know felt really good and you got to run a happy race versus you know the usual this race is tough and I'm struggling.
1:02
SPEAKER_04: So um, it reminds me of like these books that I read.
1:05
SPEAKER_04: It's like it was saying that two people can be on a plane and two people can have different experiences on one flight.
1:11
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like with myself, I've learned to have some of the best experiences with running.
1:17
SPEAKER_04: So I feel like with Sevilla, I had to take control and say, what kind of experience do you want to have?
1:23
SPEAKER_04: And then I created.
1:24
SPEAKER_04: So anytime someone goes into a marathon, it's always scary, right?
1:28
SPEAKER_04: It's like 26.2 miles, getting on planes.
1:33
SPEAKER_04: International marathons are different.
1:35
SPEAKER_04: So I said, one, this is a blessing.
1:39
SPEAKER_04: Um, two, you're in a different country, you're around people who speak differently.
1:43
SPEAKER_04: How cool is that?
1:44
SPEAKER_04: So it's like I try to create my own oasis, and I feel like when I start there, the race just picks up on that energy.
1:52
SPEAKER_04: So I had such a great time in Spain, in Sevilla.
1:55
SPEAKER_04: I've never been to Sevilla.
1:57
SPEAKER_04: Um, it was really like a great experience, and I enjoyed every last mile.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: No, I I love that.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's definitely uh new country and and you know, great food out there.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Really uh definitely think about during the race.
2:11
SPEAKER_04: And this is really important.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: The course, okay.
2:16
SPEAKER_04: So I've ran, like you said, I ran a few world majors and I've ran a few non-world majors because it'd be beef about world majors, but I've ran some local races, I ran some local races, and Sevilla is a fast course, like I'm not even playing.
2:34
SPEAKER_04: The course felt effortless.
2:36
SPEAKER_04: I ran a lot of races where it was a struggle bus and I didn't have much fun.
2:40
SPEAKER_04: Like maybe it was too many turns, maybe it was too many hills.
2:43
SPEAKER_04: Sevilla was just really beautiful.
2:47
SPEAKER_04: It was fast, it was declines, it was good crowds, and I felt like that kind of carried into the race.
2:53
SPEAKER_04: Like the course is just amazing.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love to hear that.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: I gotta run it someday for sure.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: There's so many global ones too.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know if you saw recently they announced like a new like major six, five star, but Europe version now.
3:05
SPEAKER_04: Listen, you know I saw that, and I was breathing the detail.
3:09
SPEAKER_04: I was like, okay, they metals really connect though.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:14
unknown: I was like, okay.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: I did see that.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: I instantly thought, like, wait a minute, they kind of connect like some infinity stones or something, and it's just like Dragon Ball Z.
3:25
SPEAKER_04: I was like, I wasn't like how they okay, this is really good, and then it said um easier process to get in for their uh races.
3:33
SPEAKER_04: So I think that's really cool.
3:35
SPEAKER_04: And actually, Sevilla is part of a five marathon series.
3:39
SPEAKER_04: I meant to put that in my post.
3:42
SPEAKER_04: Um, there are five races in Spain, and I completed one of them, but there's four more.
3:48
SPEAKER_04: I think the other is like Madrid, and there's a few others, but yeah, everyone does have like some secret non-world major connections.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: No, and then the views, you you gotta see like uh some crazy cathedral, some some great like building art architecture.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: I can only imagine.
4:06
SPEAKER_04: I went inside, I went inside of a bull ring.
4:09
SPEAKER_04: I learned about bulls, I learned about the culture, I learned about like how those were moments to feed the poor by killing the bull.
4:15
SPEAKER_04: Um, I did so many things.
4:17
SPEAKER_04: Like, and I feel like even if you're not international, like you're local, I will still create an experience to where my race was more than just the race.
4:27
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's important because everyone will experience a bad race.
4:31
SPEAKER_04: And if you're not careful, it can really like mess with your mood.
4:36
SPEAKER_04: It can really mess with your energy and aura.
4:38
SPEAKER_04: So you have to have like I call it quantitative goals, like time goals, and then you have to have qualitative goals, like things that you are gonna make the experience make you and not the race.
4:50
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like people aren't really romanticizing the realm like they should be.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm with you on that with with such I love the running boom and and a lot of the racing that's going on, but yeah, like the process and the views and and the trips is also part of the experience.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: It's not that I had I just ran 26.2, I crossed the finish line.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh, here's my medal, goodbye, I'm off of playing.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: It's it's more.
5:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and it's like I may not ever go back to Sevilla.
5:16
SPEAKER_04: I don't know, right?
5:17
SPEAKER_04: But I want to at least say I was there, I experienced it, and I'll even say this a lot of people can call it bougie, they can say what they want.
5:25
SPEAKER_04: There was there was one time where I had a travel agent assist me personally on one of my marathons.
5:32
SPEAKER_04: And here's the reason why.
5:34
SPEAKER_04: I like a lot of times marathoners, we don't have time to plan all the trips.
5:39
SPEAKER_04: Like, if you think about what does it take to tour cathedral, what does it take to do that?
5:44
SPEAKER_04: I didn't have the mental space.
5:45
SPEAKER_04: So, like, if people have the financial means or they can pre-plan it before, don't think you're gonna run 26.2 and the next day you're gonna just find stuff online and just go do it.
5:58
SPEAKER_04: You have to already bought the ticket, made reservations, have the dinner reservations, know what you're gonna do, and it's taken care of.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: That's a great tip, you know, if you travel and doing a marathon, if you can and you have the means, get an agent and book all the fun stuff because that next day we're tired.
6:15
SPEAKER_04: Listen, I had somebody already booked my car ready to go from the airport.
6:20
SPEAKER_04: Like, I had no thought process and I loved it.
6:23
SPEAKER_04: Because I call it this what you're doing before a marathon is you're reserving your energy.
6:29
SPEAKER_04: Like, I have a runner now doing Tokyo Marathon, and one thing I tell her, which she did, she packed a bit of her groceries because I said, once you get to Tokyo, you don't have time to use Google Translator and go to the shops and try and find your favorite oatmeal or bread.
6:44
SPEAKER_04: They may not have it culturally there like we do in America.
6:48
SPEAKER_04: So she sent me the screenshot.
6:50
SPEAKER_04: She was in her Airbnb.
6:51
SPEAKER_04: She had already packed the stuff from her house, brought it to Tokyo, and she's not stressed.
6:57
SPEAKER_04: So the whole point of me saying what I was saying about an agent is you have asked for support and your energy level of thinking before your race decreases.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: It's like freeing up bandwidth for the important things and let everyone else take care of the rest.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: What was your uh favorite part of the whole Sevilla experience?
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like you made an experience, got some enjoyment, and had fun on both the course and off the course.
7:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so the Sevilla race came about um through our partners with A6.
7:27
SPEAKER_04: They um definitely allowed our run club members who are part of We Run 313 and myself to select some guests.
7:37
SPEAKER_04: So we actually were able to select a guest to go.
7:40
SPEAKER_04: Um myself and Lance Woods were able to select a guest, and I felt like the best part was when you get to select someone to go on a sponsored trip with you, and you think to yourself, who do I really think deserves this?
7:55
SPEAKER_04: And I, you know, selected Malik Jordan, who ran 236 at Chicago.
8:00
SPEAKER_04: And Lance selected Doug Williams, who's runs a hundred milers and he does these ultras.
8:06
SPEAKER_04: You know, we're black.
8:08
SPEAKER_04: And I say that with pride because when you say, What was the best part?
8:12
SPEAKER_04: Knowing that my blessing could bless someone else was really the highlight of the trip.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: No, that's amazing.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, getting to run and and, you know, like you said, blessings other people.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: And wow, some fast times and hundred milers like different and the league, this was his first time um running internationally.
8:34
SPEAKER_04: So when I was training him before, I said, you might just want to get your passport.
8:38
SPEAKER_04: I didn't even know this opportunity was coming, but I believe in stay ready so you won't have to get ready.
8:43
SPEAKER_04: And he was like, Oh yeah, coach, I'm gonna get my passport, I'm gonna get my passport.
8:47
SPEAKER_04: And then when I got the call that not only am I going, they want me to take a guest with me.
8:52
SPEAKER_04: I was like, Oh my gosh, I know who I'm taking.
8:54
SPEAKER_04: And then when I told him, his face was just like, Are you serious?
8:58
SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, I'm so serious.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Get that passport.
9:01
SPEAKER_04: Oh no, oh you know, he was like, I'll call you back later next day, coach.
9:05
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna get my passport right now.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: No, that's so cool.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Stay ready so you don't have to get ready, you know.
9:12
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: We've heard this before, but you gotta do it.
9:16
SPEAKER_04: You really have to.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Take it back a bit.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: So, like, you used to do 400 meter hurdles, now you do marathons.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: What did 400 meter hurdles teach you?
9:27
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, that's a great question.
9:29
SPEAKER_04: Okay, so I ran 400 hurdles at Eastern Michigan.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
9:35
SPEAKER_04: One of my proudest 400 hurdle moments was when I got to the NCAAs and I qualified.
9:43
SPEAKER_04: Now, during this time, I was one of the only sprinters on the track team.
9:50
SPEAKER_04: Not only women, not only like only sprinter that have qualified to the NCAAs.
9:57
SPEAKER_04: They tell me, um, it's like a lot of rounds you have to do.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:01
SPEAKER_04: So the 400 hurdles really taught me, and I know this sounds like very simple, really to not give up because when you say in your region, we're only gonna take the top 12 women to the NCAAs.
10:17
SPEAKER_04: Imagine if the basketball association in college said, we're only gonna take the top 12 point guards, and they gotta all battle in their regions and all battle and all battle and go through rounds, and then we're only picked 12 out of all the colleges.
10:33
SPEAKER_04: It taught me that, like, no matter that you go to Eastern Michigan, I'm going up against U of M.
10:39
SPEAKER_04: I'm going up against Michigan State, I'm going up against the best of the best, Texas AM, whoever, Clemson.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:45
SPEAKER_04: And that moment when I made it, I just remember I was just like, oh my God, I cannot believe I did it.
10:52
SPEAKER_04: And it just reminded me that hard work pays off, period.
10:57
SPEAKER_04: And I remember the day I had three rounds, I think it was like pre-lens, semis, and finals.
11:03
SPEAKER_04: And each round, I made it by like the skin of my teeth, like the skin of my teeth, like by the point millisecond.
11:10
SPEAKER_04: And then when I did the last round, I was like, I'm so tired, like I have nothing else in me.
11:15
SPEAKER_04: Like I was just so down and out.
11:17
SPEAKER_04: And then I ran it.
11:19
SPEAKER_04: And even when my body felt injured, even when I felt tired, I was still strong.
11:23
SPEAKER_04: So the marathon sometimes makes you feel injured.
11:27
SPEAKER_04: It makes you feel tired.
11:28
SPEAKER_04: You feel like you have nothing left to give.
11:29
SPEAKER_04: Like I just ran a 20-mile long run.
11:31
SPEAKER_04: I did a whole training block.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:33
SPEAKER_04: And the 400 hurdles really beat you on the ground with the hurdles, with the rounds, and that really went into the marathon.
11:45
SPEAKER_04: How important it is to never give up, to work hard and really believe in yourself because you might get there by like this.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:51
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like in the marathon, as a black woman, I have done so much incredible work.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: 12.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm just still thinking about that.
12:01
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was something I will never forget.
12:03
SPEAKER_04: Because I feel like the marathon, I say this about the marathon.
12:07
SPEAKER_04: The marathon is one of the most spiritual races I have ever ran.
12:11
SPEAKER_04: And the 400 hurdles is very spiritual.
12:13
SPEAKER_04: And what I mean by that is physical and physics kind of die out in the marathon.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
12:20
SPEAKER_04: Physics and physical, like you get to mile 20, 21, or even 18, you're you're done.
12:27
SPEAKER_04: But the spirit in that mind, and that's how the 400 hurdle works.
12:30
SPEAKER_04: You know, you're running, you're hitting the hurdle.
12:33
SPEAKER_04: If your steps are off and you jump incorrectly, you gotta have this spirit of vision and just like I can get there.
12:39
SPEAKER_04: And the marathon is the same way.
12:41
SPEAKER_04: Like, it's not hurdles, but it has hurdles.
12:44
SPEAKER_04: It's just different hurdles.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: I get what you mean.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: More on the marathon side, but I get when you mentioned the jumping.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, I can only imagine, ooh, I landed wrong, and I still gotta go.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, I gotta keep going.
12:55
SPEAKER_04: And so imagine in the marathon, you have these invisible hurdles where you land wrong, you do things wrong, your pace is off, but you still have to literally keep going and you gotta just keep striking that hurdle.
13:07
SPEAKER_04: Now, some people, this is where it makes or break people, just like the 400 hurdles.
13:11
SPEAKER_04: Some people really are broken spiritually and immensely, and they just kind of really, really give up.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: And the 400 hurdles teach you if you give up, guess what?
13:19
SPEAKER_04: You can't get over the hurdle.
13:21
SPEAKER_04: You know what I'm saying?
13:22
SPEAKER_04: Like, what you gonna do?
13:23
SPEAKER_04: Run up to the hurdle in front of a crowd and stop in front of it?
13:26
SPEAKER_04: You can't you you would look like crazy.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Walk around it or something like, yeah, I'm done.
13:32
SPEAKER_04: Right.
13:32
SPEAKER_04: We don't do that in 400 hurdles, so the same thing applies to the marathon.
13:37
SPEAKER_04: When you see a hurdle, you don't stop in front of it, you keep going.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I gotta ask you then, since you do you've done a lot of marathons, obviously, you did 400 meters at a very high level.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: What do you find harder?
13:51
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
13:53
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh.
13:54
SPEAKER_04: Look, the community about to be like, hello.
13:59
SPEAKER_04: Okay, running is hard, and they're both a part of running.
14:05
SPEAKER_04: Because the 400 hurdles had rounds, and it's a different type of raw speed that you cannot fake.
14:15
SPEAKER_04: And I'm not saying anybody fakes anything in the marathon because when you break down these Kenyans and Ethiopians, you're just like, it don't even make sense how he's running 430 a mile.
14:26
SPEAKER_04: The marathon, you can kind of like warm up to, you can take your time a little bit, you can kind of like make it up if you mess up.
14:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:34
SPEAKER_04: 400, if we just talking about the open 400, I would I would say that's a little more difficult for someone like me.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:43
SPEAKER_04: Um, but I prefer that kind of difficulty because it was just something I'm used to, like shooting out the gate fast, yeah, going for it, like having that like competitiveness, and then it's done in a short amount of time.
14:57
SPEAKER_04: The marathon is you are literally out there for so long, but you have time to like, you know, I'm saying you have time to manage it.
15:08
SPEAKER_04: With sprints, you really don't have time to think.
15:12
SPEAKER_04: You just like it's like dog straight out the gate.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, even just from being a fan of the sport and watching it, I just you know how you run marathons, you're like, all right, what zone, what pace I'm working on, but 400 is just I'm heart rate all the way up right away.
15:29
SPEAKER_04: The marathon is for sure hard.
15:30
SPEAKER_04: I don't want anyone to think that that race is a jokey joke.
15:33
SPEAKER_04: I want to really make sure people know the marathon is hard, but here's what I want people to think about what I'm saying about the 400.
15:39
SPEAKER_04: As a coach, I cannot teach everyone to run 100 or a 400 very, very fast.
15:44
SPEAKER_04: Some people either got it or they don't.
15:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I'm not trying to talk about like DNA and all that.
15:49
SPEAKER_04: The quick twitch muscle that it takes for you to fire at that, some people just have to move to the marathon.
15:57
SPEAKER_04: And it's like why so many people can run the marathon because you're able to build that um oxygen VO2 levels to handle the cardio for that.
16:06
SPEAKER_04: Whereas sprints is a like your body may not even be able to physically just fire like that.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: No, I I get what you mean.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: It's definitely a whole different beast in itself.
16:18
SPEAKER_04: It really is.
16:20
SPEAKER_04: It really is.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: You've done both, you coach both.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: What do you think distance runners ignore when it comes to mechanics?
16:27
SPEAKER_00: I've seen you're big on mechanics and teach it.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: Like, um, you know, I even saw some drills and whatnot, but what do you think they uh ignore mechanics most?
16:36
SPEAKER_04: So I think there's things sprinters ignore, and there's things distance runners ignore.
16:42
SPEAKER_04: And if you take what they both ignore and swap them, both crews would be a lot better.
16:47
SPEAKER_04: But I think when you talk about distance runners, um, I read a lot of books and I did a lot of studying before I became a coach.
16:55
SPEAKER_04: And I was a grad assistant coach at University of Detroit Mercy for three years, and this is my 11th year coaching in Detroit.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
17:03
SPEAKER_04: Um, so I say that to say when I first start studying um like why Kenyans or Ethiopians are so much faster at the marathon, drills are important because in their country, they're naturally doing drills at young ages, but they're not drills.
17:21
SPEAKER_04: They're farming, they're lifting.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:23
SPEAKER_04: And it is stated by the time they're in high school, they have the body structure of a collegiate American athlete because of all the things they do.
17:33
SPEAKER_04: So, what I believe in true is that mechanics are no different from biomechanics and engineering for a plane, a boat, a car.
17:43
SPEAKER_04: And if you can improve someone's biomechanics and they can spend time understanding cadence, foot strike, you can make a faster marathon runner.
17:52
SPEAKER_04: It's not really that difficult.
17:54
SPEAKER_04: But if you skip the mechanics and biomechanics, you're running 10 times harder than someone who's efficient.
18:01
SPEAKER_04: You know what I'm saying?
18:02
SPEAKER_04: It's like if plane A has the superior engineering and biomechanics, and plane B is just running down the runway a hundred times, plane A is gonna have that efficiency to beat plane B with the power and with the mechanics when you put it all together.
18:18
SPEAKER_04: So I try to build the complete athlete.
18:23
SPEAKER_04: I try to build an athlete that really understands the whole diaspora of running, not just the distance, but also how do I apply what sprinters do?
18:34
unknown: Yeah.
18:34
SPEAKER_04: You know what I'm saying?
18:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious now, only because similar to you, and I didn't know this before recording, I read a lot of books as well.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: And you you talked a little bit about like canyon runners and wires running.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm just curious, what kind of books have you read that help shape you as uh a coach or some of those that you refer back to?
18:52
SPEAKER_04: So I would say most of my philosophy and books come from a study from coaching.
18:59
SPEAKER_04: Like a coaching will reference certain coaches, and and I learned from other coaches off the top of my head.
19:04
SPEAKER_04: I can't even think of books, and I got like a bunch over here staring at me.
19:07
SPEAKER_04: But there is another one.
19:09
SPEAKER_04: Um, there are some I do read when professional runners, not just the marathon, but any distance, I do read a lot of their books.
19:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:18
SPEAKER_04: And a lot of them talk about different things.
19:21
SPEAKER_04: Like you have Dina Castor, who's um has her book, um, Let Your Mind Run, and things like that.
19:28
SPEAKER_04: And a lot of times when we go back to the mind, like outside of mechanics, when you talk about what made me a great, great athlete, like in the 400 hurdles and the marathon, I will credit my mind and my ability to think very positively.
19:45
SPEAKER_04: I think a lot of people don't know when they say, so as a man think it, so is he?
19:50
SPEAKER_04: That is really true.
19:51
SPEAKER_04: And when I started helping professional runners, I didn't start with the mechanics.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
19:57
SPEAKER_04: I start with how do you see yourself in the mirror when you look at yourself?
20:01
SPEAKER_04: Do you think you're a runner?
20:03
SPEAKER_04: Do you think you're a professional runner?
20:04
SPEAKER_04: Do you think you're really good at what you do?
20:06
SPEAKER_04: How do you mirror the language of yourself?
20:08
SPEAKER_04: I always start there because when I was growing up, my coaches mirrored a very positive language about myself.
20:16
SPEAKER_04: And you can watch Serena Williams, you can watch The Great.
20:19
SPEAKER_04: You can, they always are mirrored in a very confident way.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: No, that's big.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: And uh big gem just drop there for those listening.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh mirror who's the runner you want to be.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's definitely something.
20:33
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
20:34
SPEAKER_04: Like, don't even start running, like, just literally start mirroring.
20:38
SPEAKER_04: I tell runners all the time, who's your favorite runner?
20:41
SPEAKER_04: Okay, how do they walk?
20:42
SPEAKER_04: How do they talk?
20:43
SPEAKER_04: Are they like it are they walking to the start line all scared?
20:46
SPEAKER_04: No, they got big energy.
20:47
SPEAKER_04: You have to have so much big energy, but it has to match your work ethic because you can't have a low work ethic with big energy.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: For sure, because they got a big work ethic.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: That's a good point.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: Because when you look at these pro runners, or even just runners that you see maybe at a track local that are fast or like you feel they're like really good, they got that oomph, that confidence you're talking about, like their postures up, their chest puffing out, right?
21:08
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, how is there a stride like that?
21:10
SPEAKER_00: And you over here like jogging lightly, like now you gotta kinda so I love that.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: Embody the the runner you want to be.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, on that, I want to ask you you know, I'm gonna paint as an example.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: You're on mile 20 of a marathon.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I've heard you speak a lot about rhythm.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: The rhythm starts breaking down.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: In your opinion, or as a coach, from your experience, what breaks down?
21:38
SPEAKER_04: Well, I always say, okay, so the mind and the body.
21:43
SPEAKER_04: One of my cues I always do when I coach people, especially in our track workouts, I build workouts so you can break down.
21:51
SPEAKER_04: Like I want to literally break your mind down and your body.
21:56
SPEAKER_04: And so the mind is either fight or flight.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: And it will either say, I can do this, or it's gonna say, I'm a loser and I can't do this, and why did I sign up for this race?
22:06
SPEAKER_04: And I can't believe my foot is hurting and I can feel my Achilles falling off my ankle.
22:10
SPEAKER_04: Every great athlete will hear that fight or flight.
22:14
SPEAKER_04: You know what I'm saying?
22:14
SPEAKER_04: When you look at boxers and their eyes are closed and their lip is busted and they're still fighting, they have channeled that energy somewhere, somehow.
22:23
SPEAKER_04: So one thing I always tell people, like you said, what starts to give.
22:27
SPEAKER_04: Mine, you can either give it or not.
22:30
SPEAKER_04: But the cues that I tell people is hold on to your mechanics.
22:35
SPEAKER_04: Something as simple as keeping a straight back, a relaxed mind.
22:40
SPEAKER_04: When you panic, you literally, I call it you get stuck in the cave.
22:44
SPEAKER_04: What do I mean by that?
22:45
SPEAKER_04: If you watch cave divers, they have to stay relaxed because if they get afraid and their body swells, they're like twice as their weight and they're stuck in the cave and they can't get out.
22:56
SPEAKER_04: And what do people do to get them out the cave?
22:58
SPEAKER_04: They literally talk to them to get them to relax, to laugh.
23:02
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, when you get in those moments of, I feel like I'm about to get stuck in the cave, your muscles are swelling now.
23:08
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, drop the shoulders.
23:09
SPEAKER_04: So I scream cues like drop the shoulders, stay relaxed, knees up, chest up, be real proud.
23:15
SPEAKER_04: We call it marching, like you just marching in motion, you're just powering through.
23:19
SPEAKER_04: Um, you have to rely on those mechanics.
23:22
SPEAKER_04: So, same thing back to 400 hurdles.
23:24
SPEAKER_04: If my mechanics are sloppy and it's the last 100 meters, the last 50 meters, the last 30 meters, I will not clear that hurdle.
23:31
SPEAKER_04: I can it doesn't matter how tired I am.
23:34
SPEAKER_04: Mechanics just cannot suffer.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: I like that.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: That was a phenomenal analogy.
23:41
SPEAKER_04: You got to be like, I'll take it out with you.
23:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I get it.
23:45
SPEAKER_04: You have to practice it though.
23:46
SPEAKER_04: Like, I wouldn't throw a runner out there and say, oh, when you get to this mile, you should know what to do.
23:51
SPEAKER_04: So I basically take you through those cues, I take you through breaking your body down.
23:55
SPEAKER_04: I remember when I was in college, I was so crazy, like literally with doing all these things.
24:01
SPEAKER_04: I would see how long I could go without water.
24:04
SPEAKER_04: Now, if somebody listening to this, please take your water.
24:09
SPEAKER_04: I said I would really try and see, like, what did it feel like to be in discomfort?
24:16
SPEAKER_04: Because I would like think about track, it's in the summer, so you are sometimes sprinting in 90 degree weather, and I would literally just do all these things to see how my body would respond.
24:27
SPEAKER_04: And I don't know, that's just like techniques I did.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they're working, and uh for those listening, they're they're getting hella insight.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Like how you're blending two running world spaces.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: You started also your own company, Machine Athletics, because of this.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Um and you're coaching people to great success.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: Like on that, like what inspired you to start machine athletics um and wanting to coach others, you know, after running yourself and running, still running yourself, which is crazy.
24:58
SPEAKER_04: But okay, so when it came to machine athletics, I had just finished my coaching contract as a grad assistant at Detroit Mercy.
25:07
SPEAKER_04: So that means I went through a three-year program, I'd studied all these things, I already had my coaching license license, I was certified through USATF, all these things.
25:17
SPEAKER_04: I knew for a fact that at the university level or D1 level, I didn't want to stay coaching in that arena.
25:24
SPEAKER_04: I knew I wanted to have my own coaching business.
25:27
SPEAKER_04: Um, so I was always coaching independently.
25:30
SPEAKER_04: I just didn't have a brand, I didn't have a name.
25:33
SPEAKER_04: And so as I started to grow in the run uh culture world, I knew like run clubs were growing.
25:39
SPEAKER_04: A lot of other people wanted more coaches.
25:42
SPEAKER_04: But I'm gonna tell you really what created machine athletics.
25:46
SPEAKER_04: When I wanted to keep running, I knew that I put education first.
25:50
SPEAKER_04: So I got my master's in business and computer science.
25:54
SPEAKER_04: During that time, to be able to train and go to the Olympics, you would have been dirt broke.
26:00
SPEAKER_04: You would have almost had to live with someone, you would have had to have a second job.
26:04
SPEAKER_04: And I felt like, and I'm being totally honest, I felt like I didn't want to be exploited for my talent to make it to the Olympics, but all the things I had to do on my own to budget and sponsor myself to be the best in the world.
26:20
SPEAKER_04: It the math was not mathing.
26:22
SPEAKER_04: So I said, if if if there's only gonna be coaches for Olympic talent, where are the coaches for non-Olympic talent, not non-Olympic talent, because I still had Olympic talent, I just didn't want to go.
26:34
SPEAKER_04: But where are the coaches for people who are like me who still want to run, but they need that D1 type coaching?
26:41
SPEAKER_04: They need that professional coaching, but they don't have to be a professional athlete, but they want to train like that.
26:46
SPEAKER_04: So I felt like there was a gap in the coaching space for people who wanted to really compete.
26:52
SPEAKER_04: They would either have to stay at their college or they would have to find an AAU coach.
26:56
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, where is the space for that?
26:58
SPEAKER_04: So then I birthed Machine Athletics to really be able to assist there.
27:02
SPEAKER_04: I worked with Hansons, a lot of their runners.
27:05
SPEAKER_04: Um, I work with semi-pros, I work with high schools, but I did it all under the umbrella of me.
27:10
SPEAKER_04: And I really want to tell you why I did it under me.
27:14
SPEAKER_04: When I started coaching with institutions and other programs, I would have to defend my training philosophies, my training plans.
27:22
SPEAKER_04: Like they would have to always be overlooked.
27:24
SPEAKER_04: And someone could look at your training method and say, I don't agree with that.
27:28
SPEAKER_04: I don't want them to do that workout.
27:30
SPEAKER_04: I want these kids to do that.
27:31
SPEAKER_04: But I knew what I had worked.
27:34
SPEAKER_04: So I basically said, I just gotta create my own lane and my own methodology.
27:40
SPEAKER_04: Like, black women are some of the most talented people in sports.
27:43
SPEAKER_04: It's time we start really teaching the game to people of why we are so athletic, you know.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: That's super big there, too, to your point.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: There's so many, like Serena comes to mind.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of WNBA comes to mind.
28:00
SPEAKER_04: Uh there's a diversity of thought in how culturally and diverse how people train and things I learned, especially, you know, being a woman, what makes that different from someone else?
28:12
SPEAKER_04: What have I learned that I can add to the game that's just unique?
28:16
SPEAKER_00: On that, without giving your philosophy away, because you can holla at Asia for that.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: What are some uh you know, I'll put it this way, what makes machine athletics one of the hardest coaching systems in the game?
28:28
SPEAKER_04: Well, I will say one, the stats speak for themselves, but I feel like I feel like when you when you think about like coaching and coaches, machine athletics first, from a brand perspective, really has this elevated swag in my potential, in my opinion.
28:44
SPEAKER_04: Like it really screams the aura of a champion in a winner in a winner.
28:49
SPEAKER_04: I look at a lot of like people's coaching style and it's very just generic to certain groups of people.
28:56
SPEAKER_04: I feel like machine athletics is for an array of different runners, not just marathon.
29:01
SPEAKER_04: I know that's hot, I know that's in demand, but machine athletics speaks to a volume of athletes.
29:08
SPEAKER_04: I remember I was in Chicago and Coach Bennett came up to me.
29:12
SPEAKER_04: Come on, Coach Bennett.
29:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and he was just basically like with your knowledge of what you've done in college from long jump, I even did shot put because they thought I was a hept athlete.
29:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, they thought I was a hept athlete because there was not anything I could not do very well.
29:28
SPEAKER_04: 800, 400, 400 hurdles.
29:30
SPEAKER_04: I got the college record in the 500.
29:32
SPEAKER_04: I ran the 600.
29:34
SPEAKER_04: And then the marathon, machine athletics basically says we understand the full sport.
29:43
SPEAKER_04: Most coaches are limited to just their experience in distance running.
29:48
SPEAKER_04: What track and field coaches have done the marathon and track and field events?
29:54
SPEAKER_04: I have conquered three of those areas: field events, track and field, spirits, hurdles, and the marathon.
30:01
SPEAKER_04: It's literally a trifecta of greatness that machine athletics has to offer.
30:05
SPEAKER_04: And I want to eventually get more coaches like myself who have who has that amount of um, it's like how many languages do you know?
30:13
SPEAKER_04: Some people know one, some people know two.
30:15
SPEAKER_04: Machine athletics knows many languages in running.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: It's definitely very different.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: And when you said, you know, how many coaches you know do 400, 600 hurdles.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't name one right now.
30:28
SPEAKER_04: You have to be so passionate about running in general, yeah.
30:31
SPEAKER_04: But you know what I'm saying?
30:31
SPEAKER_04: You gotta really love the game and the sport.
30:34
SPEAKER_04: I love it so much that in all of those areas, I have competed at a high level, like made it to championship rounds and even long jump.
30:41
SPEAKER_04: I have the high school long jump record.
30:44
SPEAKER_04: I'm taking all that knowledge.
30:45
SPEAKER_04: Even like, how does long jump compare to a marathon?
30:48
SPEAKER_04: Like when you're going down the runway and you gotta hit the board at a certain my bad, I gotta calm down.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: No, you don't.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: I love the passion, so we're good.
30:58
SPEAKER_04: Just like it all opened up my mindset.
31:01
SPEAKER_04: It's just like with traveling, right?
31:03
SPEAKER_04: It's like the more I do, the more opens up my mind.
31:06
SPEAKER_04: Like, wow, Spanish, this language, Portuguese.
31:09
SPEAKER_04: Like, I'm just very that's the number one thing.
31:12
SPEAKER_04: A lot of coaches aren't passionate.
31:14
SPEAKER_04: They do it for money, they do it for this.
31:16
SPEAKER_04: I am so passionate.
31:18
SPEAKER_04: I love what I do, I love running.
31:20
SPEAKER_04: If people are looking for a coach and they don't feel the fire and the passion, like if a coach don't make you feel like I'm about to go run right now, get rid of that coach.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: When you're training uh athletes, you know, at any level, what do you demand physically and psychologically from them?
31:37
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like it's a lot of content.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:40
SPEAKER_04: So here's my disclaimer.
31:43
SPEAKER_04: I cannot love the sport more than you.
31:46
SPEAKER_04: I cannot like be the main one with all this energy.
31:49
SPEAKER_04: So people first gotta ask themselves, am I running for because it's just popular?
31:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:55
SPEAKER_04: Am I running because like I really want to do well?
31:57
SPEAKER_04: Am I like, and I hate to be like, what's your why?
32:00
SPEAKER_04: But it's really so important that people understand what do you want your story to be in running?
32:06
SPEAKER_04: A lot of people, it's I want to lose weight.
32:08
SPEAKER_04: Some people just really want to lose weight.
32:09
SPEAKER_04: Running is great for that.
32:10
SPEAKER_04: I want to like really run fast.
32:12
SPEAKER_04: Hey, I'm your girl, I'm big on performance.
32:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I feel like when people are all over the place mentally, on average, they don't do well in a distance like the marathon.
32:26
SPEAKER_04: And here's why I say this, and here's some hard truth that I have learned.
32:31
SPEAKER_04: Coaching the marathon has been one of my most difficult disciplines and races to coach because I realized that race and that distance really shows a lot out of people.
32:45
SPEAKER_04: And what I mean by that is I didn't realize how many people dealt with anxiety.
32:51
SPEAKER_04: And sometimes in my forums, I'll tell people, like, if you got an injury, let me know if you got things going on.
32:56
SPEAKER_04: And one of the feedback I was getting was like, people have anxiety.
32:59
SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, oh, okay, that's that's still fine.
33:02
SPEAKER_04: But when I started to coach them, I realized anxiety is a real thing in the marathon.
33:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like people will almost throw up or cry before the race.
33:11
SPEAKER_04: They're so anxious, they're like, like all these childhood things start coming up.
33:16
SPEAKER_04: Like people tell me, like, you know, someone in my childhood told me I'd never be a runner, I could never do this, and I used to have weight, like you start literally hearing all the things, and I've learned a lot.
33:27
SPEAKER_04: I've learned a lot.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: The marathon is definitely an emotional distance, even from the start line.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: It just makes you think, whoa, 26.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Or at the end of it, you're like, wow, like you go through it.
33:41
SPEAKER_04: And in that moment, like you said, in that moment when they say, Wow, 26, what happens is their sometimes their childhood trauma comes up with maybe something someone said to them when they were like 10 or 11 or 12.
33:53
SPEAKER_04: It comes out in their training, and like the marathon really reveals who you are.
33:59
SPEAKER_04: The marathon will reveal if you are healthy, if you need a therapist, what you haven't dealt with.
34:05
SPEAKER_04: Um, it just really reveals a lot.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: So you've gotten a lot of results, people you've coached on on marathon.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: I think one stood out to me that I think I saw, I believe his name was Balik went from 251 to 230, low 230, 236, somewhere around 235.
34:19
SPEAKER_04: Come on, research.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: Come on, research.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a big jump.
34:23
SPEAKER_04: Like it's a huge jump.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: Was that someone who was just like really dedicated?
34:29
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm going all in, or or you know, you guys work through some things.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: Like, how'd that come about?
34:35
SPEAKER_04: So I've had many different athletes that I train and that have different jumps, and it's hard to really collect everyone in my mind.
34:43
SPEAKER_04: But I feel like with Malik, he was a runner that was a part of, you know, run club culture.
34:49
SPEAKER_04: He was a part of we run 313, just doing it to have something to do after work.
34:54
SPEAKER_04: Then you have myself who can take people to the next level with all this energy and all this thought and all this philosophy.
35:01
SPEAKER_04: And I remember he used to tell me, like, hey, I want to talk to you about coaching and I want to talk to you.
35:06
SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, whatever.
35:08
SPEAKER_04: People always want to talk to me about coaching.
35:09
SPEAKER_04: Like, yeah, you know, I do this little game where I'm like, I want to really see if like you're passionate.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you're serious, yeah.
35:14
SPEAKER_04: Right.
35:15
SPEAKER_04: So I didn't talk to him about it.
35:16
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, let me really see.
35:17
SPEAKER_04: And then the next day he was like, No, I'm serious.
35:19
SPEAKER_04: I have these goals.
35:20
SPEAKER_04: So he told me his goals.
35:21
SPEAKER_04: And through that time frame of him running his first marathon around 251.
35:29
SPEAKER_04: There was a series of like Boston, and he did um Detroit Free Press.
35:34
SPEAKER_04: So in that moment, again, I already told you what I did.
35:38
SPEAKER_04: I was grooming his mind to really be before he became.
35:44
SPEAKER_04: And we went through a lot of passion and self-talk and a lot of um pushing it to the limits.
35:52
SPEAKER_04: And I can't do that with everyone.
35:54
SPEAKER_04: Like sometimes when you push people to the limits, it's too much.
35:57
SPEAKER_04: They don't like that coaching style.
35:59
SPEAKER_04: And there's different coaches, there's coaches for everybody, but the type of push that he wanted, him and I were just yin and yang when it came to that.
36:08
SPEAKER_04: And honestly, when he ran 236, no, when he at Chicago, he was like, Coach, are you coming to watch me run the race?
36:15
SPEAKER_04: I was like, Nope, I can't make it, but I know you're gonna do well.
36:18
SPEAKER_04: Then he asked me again, Coach, did you say you was coming to my race?
36:21
SPEAKER_04: I was like, nah, I can't be in Chicago.
36:24
SPEAKER_04: And then two of the other people that I was training, they came or they we f they found a way to get me to Chicago.
36:31
SPEAKER_04: They drove me there.
36:32
SPEAKER_04: And I realized like he was nervous.
36:35
SPEAKER_04: That was a he has to run a five-minute pace for 26.2 miles.
36:39
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, you know you can do it.
36:40
SPEAKER_04: Like, you like what it what?
36:42
SPEAKER_04: Like to me, I'm like, man, you got to do it.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: You got all the training and machine and everything, yeah.
36:47
SPEAKER_04: And so to see him accomplish that, his legs were like shaking.
36:51
SPEAKER_04: He was just like, I cannot believe I did it.
36:53
SPEAKER_04: And for someone to text you after the race, days after, he said, Did I really run 236?
36:59
SPEAKER_04: Like, he still couldn't believe it.
37:00
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, Yeah, you did.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: You did that.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Did that shout out to him?
37:07
SPEAKER_00: One thing I love about you being a coach, one, obviously the fire and passion we just heard, but also that you in it, you running, you do marathons yourself.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: I even saw you doing some marathons, and you got other runners you coaching with, you were like, What's harder?
37:21
SPEAKER_00: You at a race, you gotta PR yourself, or you gotta help PR them.
37:26
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, that's a great question.
37:28
SPEAKER_04: I will also I will say making sure somebody else PR is more harder because leaders put I put myself last.
37:37
SPEAKER_04: Like my training comes last.
37:39
SPEAKER_04: Like I really put them first, but I find that when you are in sync with the sport, it makes you a better coach.
37:48
SPEAKER_04: Like, I literally understand the marathon so much better.
37:51
SPEAKER_04: Now I'm not gonna lie.
37:54
SPEAKER_04: Not only am I coaching people and I'm am I coaching myself, the amount of marathons that I have done back to back to back.
38:02
SPEAKER_04: When I did Sydney, that flight to Sydney was 22 hours and folded me.
38:07
SPEAKER_04: Then I ran the marathon and I also coached another athlete.
38:11
SPEAKER_04: I did two athletes at Sydney.
38:13
SPEAKER_04: One wanted to break four hours, and another one wanted to break three.
38:16
SPEAKER_04: Both did it.
38:16
SPEAKER_04: There's really not any athlete that has never not done whatever we set out.
38:21
SPEAKER_04: But I say that to say Sydney, then New York, which really put me in a chokehold, and then I did Spain.
38:29
SPEAKER_04: And throughout that, I was coaching so many people for big races like world majors and international races.
38:36
SPEAKER_04: And sometimes, I'm gonna be honest with you, it doesn't even make sense to me because of how tired I was.
38:44
SPEAKER_04: But again, the person who like to push themselves without drinking water.
38:48
SPEAKER_04: Well, my secret sauce is when you help someone, they also say gratitude is what makes you feel better.
38:54
SPEAKER_04: Like giving first receiving, giving is gonna be feel better.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: When I give and I can make someone like Malik or anyone that I've trained have that euphoric feeling, it makes me run faster, it makes me train harder.
39:07
SPEAKER_04: Like people think like, wouldn't that tire you out?
39:09
SPEAKER_04: You would think so, but it also fuels me, it also energizes me.
39:13
SPEAKER_04: Like they motivate me.
39:15
SPEAKER_04: Like when you see an athlete at a track workout tearing it up, you go home like, dang, I need to go do that because they just ran 236.
39:23
SPEAKER_04: Like, what am I complaining about?
39:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: How do you uh still keep it going?
39:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, you referenced Sydney and Chicago, and apparently it sounded like New York was a rough roller coaster.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: I've done that one myself.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: For me, it was a roller coaster.
39:37
SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: How do you keep going?
39:39
SPEAKER_00: You know, injury, tough race.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, how do you still lead?
39:42
SPEAKER_00: You know, you got people counting on you and athletes and whatnot when you're feeling that way, and those races for you don't go that way.
39:49
SPEAKER_04: I really feel like when you have passion and love for something, that love just gonna carry you through.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, on that, I do want to ask you, what's for you right now and going forward?
40:02
SPEAKER_04: Um, that's a great question.
40:04
SPEAKER_04: So I feel like from now, I am really in a good space.
40:08
SPEAKER_04: Like I see myself expanding, I see my business growing.
40:12
SPEAKER_04: I feel like it's in a really great space to what I'm trying to do is build this wheel.
40:18
SPEAKER_04: So when I do want to take a step back, I know that a lot of good effort effort was placed into building machine athletics.
40:26
SPEAKER_04: I know the coaching space is always changing with AI, and people, people either want training plans or they want a coach or they want this.
40:33
SPEAKER_04: Um, but I will say I'm at the space now where I do want to start telling my story more.
40:39
SPEAKER_04: I want to start helping and motivating women.
40:42
SPEAKER_04: I feel like with women, um, there is a piece where some women do have very low self-esteem when it comes to sports.
40:49
SPEAKER_04: When it comes to running, I do see that men are more like competitive and they kind of like are like amped up with running.
40:57
SPEAKER_04: But I feel like for me as a woman, me entering sports, especially as an adult, has strengthened my outlook on life, has strengthened me as an employee, as a worker, as a friend.
41:09
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like I want to write some books.
41:12
SPEAKER_04: I want to start writing my methodologies out.
41:14
SPEAKER_04: I want to just start giving to the world.
41:16
SPEAKER_04: Um, from what's in my mind, I want to just start pouring and releasing more of that.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, put it out there.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: That's so awesome.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: That's that time me up.
41:25
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
41:26
SPEAKER_04: I I feel like the first thing I have to do, like when you say when I ran with my athletes, to be honest with you, you have to get respect from the community, right?
41:35
SPEAKER_04: Like when people see, like, hold on, okay, she running 330s, like it ain't nothing.
41:39
SPEAKER_04: She's talking, and then she trained him to do 236.
41:43
SPEAKER_04: And then, like, the community is gonna do the math.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: Is that why you also run along with them?
41:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm putting in the work and I'm gonna show you the work at the same time.
41:53
SPEAKER_04: You know what?
41:54
SPEAKER_04: Okay, I'm gonna answer this in twofolds.
41:56
SPEAKER_04: First part, people start off as my friends, my run friends, and then they become my athletes.
42:03
SPEAKER_04: But most of my athletes I have great relationships with, which is why I think they run fast.
42:08
SPEAKER_04: But the second part is you actually write.
42:10
SPEAKER_04: Let me tell you why you write on the second part.
42:12
SPEAKER_04: When people see you're a coach and you're doing the workouts, I remember one time one of my athletes said to me, I was gonna complain to you and say the workout is hard, but you're actually doing it with us.
42:23
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, right?
42:24
SPEAKER_04: I'm actually showing you this workout is possible.
42:27
SPEAKER_04: You want to be on the ground, frolicking, like, oh, I can't breathe.
42:30
SPEAKER_04: And I'm literally with my clock, I might jump in, I might jump out.
42:34
SPEAKER_04: I am the teacher here, but you still gotta remind people.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: I am the teacher, but I will also show you.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: I could give you this work, uh, which is what I love about your coach's style running and everything.
42:48
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like um, for me, which makes me a great coach, the running industry has changed so much.
42:54
SPEAKER_04: Like 10 years ago, five years ago.
42:55
SPEAKER_04: The shoes are different, the gels are different.
42:57
SPEAKER_04: If you're not really in the mix as a coach, you're a little outdated.
43:00
SPEAKER_04: And some coaches are outdated, like some professional coaches are run 130 miles a week, 150 miles a week.
43:06
SPEAKER_04: Like people are looking for flexibility, they're looking to do other things and be a professional athlete and have families.
43:12
SPEAKER_04: Even women now are looking to have families at younger ages and return back to the sport.
43:18
SPEAKER_04: Like it's so different now.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: No, and it's to your point, it's even proven now.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: I think I just saw a woman uh OTQ'd late 40s recently.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: She OTQ'd has a family.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: There's definitely different ways to get it out there now.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: Um talk about you mentioned this a few times, like community and being involved.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: What's that mean to you to be in the community in Detroit and seeing like elites come out of there?
43:42
SPEAKER_04: Um man, it means that this is a historical moment.
43:46
SPEAKER_04: I and I feel like when I look back to Detroit years ago, decades ago, you did not see, like from the track and field side, I feel like Detroit has always produced like great speed and great high school athletes.
44:00
SPEAKER_04: That matured into the college and Olympic level.
44:02
SPEAKER_04: When it comes to the marathons and distance racing, black people in general have always been a super minority in that area.
44:13
SPEAKER_04: And now we're seeing that there's so much possibilities to go sub-three, to go sub-240, to go sub-250.
44:21
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like to witness it and to be a pinnacle figure in that in Detroit, I feel like it is so historical that I can't even like wrap my mind around it.
44:31
SPEAKER_04: And I'm not even gonna shy away from this.
44:34
SPEAKER_04: To be a woman to do that, right?
44:36
SPEAKER_04: Like a lot of times when we think about that amount of running progress, those type of elite times, um, a lot of that has been dominated by men solely because a lot of times women, you know, had kids career planning, they just went to different things.
44:51
SPEAKER_04: I feel like Detroit, like if you think about, like we talked about New York before, Detroit really didn't have a lot of like running culture and community to the level that our run club has with other people.
45:05
SPEAKER_04: It's like Detroit had high crime.
45:07
SPEAKER_04: Um, there wasn't grocery stores, it was a food desert.
45:10
SPEAKER_04: So you don't really see black people running 20 miles, 18 miles on the weekend.
45:15
SPEAKER_04: Like, where are you from?
45:16
SPEAKER_04: LA?
45:16
SPEAKER_04: Like, no one does that here.
45:18
SPEAKER_04: It's a manufacturing industrial.
45:20
SPEAKER_04: Like, my dad's been working at GM for 42, 43 years.
45:24
SPEAKER_04: My mom works at um manufacturing.
45:27
SPEAKER_04: So when you come, when you have parents that are from that background, your first thought isn't to take on something like the marathon, which requires luxury.
45:35
SPEAKER_04: Like, I'm not gonna lie, you gotta it requires some type of luxury and some expenses that the average Detroiter just would not do.
45:42
SPEAKER_04: So the sport in Detroit has come a long way, and I really credit a lot of people in the run club who has helped and supported me in the distance running um community to really show what's possible.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: No, for sure.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: And I think you can agree to this.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll share for me and my family, like I'm Dominican.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: For me to tell my family of like Spanish and Dominican background that I'm gonna.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: I remember to this day, every time I tell my mom I run for some reason in Spanish, she says walk.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, we're running.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: And 26.2, and I translate to kilometers because they use kilometers, is like, why are you doing that?
46:18
SPEAKER_00: It's not a common thing, but um I I definitely like relate and agree to that.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: So to see that now, I I love seeing it.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: I love seeing all types of runners.
46:29
SPEAKER_04: Um I feel like when you run in Detroit, people look at you like, well, one, what kind of job do you have that you can you know saying it's like and then they're looking like, well, hold on, you look healthy, like your mental health up.
46:44
SPEAKER_04: Like, what kind of black person are you?
46:46
SPEAKER_04: And honestly, running in Detroit has been like the coolest experience because these people will literally start clapping.
46:52
SPEAKER_04: Like, I've had a good experience.
46:53
SPEAKER_04: I know a lot of people have like horror stories, but I feel like for me, me running past people and they're seeing a black woman do something so incredible, they see my body looks in shape, they're literally clapping.
47:05
SPEAKER_04: It's like I made their day.
47:06
SPEAKER_04: It is a privilege to run long distance on the weekends.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: Talking about shoes a little bit, you know.
47:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, what do you look for in like a brand partnership?
47:17
SPEAKER_00: You have a few yourself, but I'm curious now because you're you're very authentic in all your showings.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you?
47:22
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure you're selective, is my guess.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: What do you look for in a brand partnership?
47:29
SPEAKER_04: Well, um, I look for brands that make me feel like not that we're friends, but that it's very authentic between us, that we have a good brand relationship.
47:42
SPEAKER_04: If you have a brand relationship or partnership with someone where they feel like make you feel like you're bothering them and that you're a burden behind the scenes, your relationship with the product will also be dampered by that experience.
47:54
SPEAKER_04: And so a lot of times, the first layer is I gotta have a good brand experience.
47:59
SPEAKER_04: The second thing is, I'm not even gonna lie, the product gotta work.
48:03
SPEAKER_04: I'm not like, I'm not one of those influencers that's like, oh, give me the check.
48:07
SPEAKER_04: Like, the shoes gotta be comfortable, or let's say it's gels, because I do get a lot of like emails these days, like people want me to like talk about their hair ties, their this.
48:17
SPEAKER_04: I don't mind.
48:18
SPEAKER_04: It has to be quality, it has to be quality, it has to be something where I really love the product.
48:25
SPEAKER_04: I will not show it, I will not talk about it, I just cannot do it.
48:30
SPEAKER_04: Um, and in those cases where let's say they describe to me where I just want feedback on how we can make it better.
48:36
SPEAKER_04: That's a different story.
48:37
SPEAKER_04: Okay, I can talk about it and along the journey, I can get feedback from me and my team or my, you know, whatever, and we can help you, you know, bridge it out.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: I respect that.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: Because again, talking about the authenticity of the brand and representing at the same time, how do you yourself, as you're representing some brands, um stay authentic yourself?
48:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I feel like you do that very well, but I do want to beg the question, how do you do that?
49:05
SPEAKER_04: So when we go back to um, like I was talking about like quality in the product, if I don't feel comfortable in the product, if I don't like it, I really will give feedback or I don't demonstrate it.
49:16
SPEAKER_04: Like there was one time I was supposed to talk about some headphones.
49:18
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, these headphones aren't even standing on my ears, like the sweat making them flip off.
49:22
SPEAKER_04: Like, I'm sorry, like I just can't.
49:24
SPEAKER_04: Um, but I feel like, you know, I love to show diversity in sport.
49:33
SPEAKER_04: Like, if you think about like track and field women, like the nails, the hair.
49:37
SPEAKER_04: I feel like for a black woman, that's so effortless for us.
49:41
SPEAKER_04: Like, it's really just showing up as you and everyone else figuring out.
49:46
SPEAKER_04: You have to be confident in that because brands look for that.
49:49
SPEAKER_04: Now, I'm not saying overselling and doing the most.
49:52
SPEAKER_04: Like, that's kind of like too much.
49:54
SPEAKER_04: But I feel like when you can say, Here are the things about myself that I think a brand will like.
49:59
SPEAKER_04: It could be your height, it could be your skin tone, it could be your hair texture, it could be your teeth, it could be your lips.
50:05
SPEAKER_04: Brands are looking for uniqueness in different body shapes.
50:08
SPEAKER_04: You don't even have to be skinny.
50:10
SPEAKER_04: You can have a voluntuous body, you can like, but it's like if you are not confident in you, brands don't want to work with you.
50:17
SPEAKER_04: So I feel like I just love showing natural beauty as well.
50:22
SPEAKER_04: Like, wow, she just made them shoes level up by showing how she would wear it versus how Cindy down the street will wear it.
50:30
SPEAKER_04: Like, I really people will tell me, we got the same shoes to show, but yours just look different.
50:38
SPEAKER_04: We got the same jacket, we got the same jacket on, but how you wearing it just look, and that's how that's that's what I like to do.
50:45
SPEAKER_04: I like to show that we can wear the same hat, but I'm gonna sell it better and I know how to rock it and I know how to wear it and I know how to style it.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: So that's where those fit posts come from.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
50:55
SPEAKER_00: For those who follow Asia, I'm like, oh okay.
50:58
SPEAKER_00: If you start seeing some fit posts on the People Run podcast now, you you know why you can blame Asia.
51:04
SPEAKER_04: Well, I also feel like ASICs is such a hidden gem with their clothes.
51:07
SPEAKER_04: Like, I put on stuff and I'm like, wow, I didn't know, like, even this top, like, I didn't know like it's scrunched up like this.
51:13
SPEAKER_04: I didn't know it gave that, and I feel like that's why they trust in certain people because they know that you can rock it and wear it to where they don't even have time to explain it.
51:22
SPEAKER_04: And I feel like once you wear it a certain way, people will be like, Oh, that's actually kind of nice.
51:27
SPEAKER_00: I will say uh two things.
51:31
SPEAKER_00: When did they drop new shorts when I was looking at like all the new stuff after following your page?
51:35
SPEAKER_00: And then second, um, the fit for Sevilla.
51:41
SPEAKER_04: Listen, that purple, whatever color that was, violet purple.
51:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that was fire.
51:47
SPEAKER_04: I gotta give it to them.
51:49
SPEAKER_04: I have to seriously give it to them.
51:50
SPEAKER_04: They really put their foot in that color because I did not think it was funny because there was this girl on TikTok who like trashed the shoe because she said she didn't like the color.
51:59
SPEAKER_04: Then I was like, No, go to my page and see like, and she was like, Oh, you gotta really put it on and like put it together.
52:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you you gotta do the that whole fit with the the singlet and the shorts matching.
52:11
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Okay, I see it now.
52:14
SPEAKER_04: Very powerful fit.
52:16
SPEAKER_00: Asia, for those out there listening who they're listening to this episode right now, there's a lot of confidence coming across across good mindset, healthy mindset on like being your best self.
52:26
SPEAKER_00: I will I will say, and like having that oomph, that drive in the running space.
52:32
SPEAKER_00: What would you say for them to achieve that or start with to achieve that?
52:37
SPEAKER_04: So I would say to have that drive.
52:40
SPEAKER_04: Um, when I look back at my journey, I had a lot of notebooks.
52:45
SPEAKER_04: My first notebook was at 10 years old, and I would always write my goals down, I would always speak to myself.
52:50
SPEAKER_04: Once you start speaking to yourself, you start writing goals down, then you have to be a bull.
52:56
SPEAKER_04: There will be people that's going to doubt you in anything that requires focus because how else is focus tested by people that come in?
53:05
SPEAKER_04: And I want to tell you, I don't care if they're your parents, I don't care if they're your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, you stay fixated on your goal.
53:13
SPEAKER_04: I'm not saying being selfish and making it about you, but I'm also saying that for you to show up in the world, you have to be happy about something that you do for you.
53:22
SPEAKER_04: That is not selfish, that's called setting boundaries.
53:25
SPEAKER_04: I am able to pour into people and to change lives because I change my own life.
53:32
SPEAKER_04: So I want to encourage people to know that it always starts with you going for a walk, going to sauna, reading, writing, traveling.
53:41
SPEAKER_04: And once you do that, your spirit will lift in many, many different ways to help others.
53:46
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: Asia, thank you for sharing and showing us that you can run, have fun, be confident, dress well, crush them numbers and run fast and have small trips.
54:00
SPEAKER_00: Um and still be crushing and go on big goals.
54:04
SPEAKER_00: Everyone, this has been the People Run podcast.
54:06
SPEAKER_00: I want to thank Asia, aka Brown Bambi, uh for being on and and chopping it up with us.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, guys, tune in.
54:15
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
54:15
SPEAKER_03: See ya.