Latest / The People Run Podcast / #45 The Long Way to a 2:15 Marathon | Paxton Smith

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#45 The Long Way to a 2:15 Marathon | Paxton Smith · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Many failed attempts and you learn through that to get to the breakthrough of two sixteen eventually and sub-two fifteen.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like what were some of those lessons you learned on the journey to your now OTQ?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I think it kind of compiles everything you've asked this point.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think between that time I ran that 217 to now, just so many variables my life changed, you know, learning the training and the heat and humidity, having the balance, like a full-time job.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Your journey's an interesting one, man.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like uh Olympic trials will just put it out there right away.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Are you in Miami now running with like some pretty elite nice feel, which I'm I'm super excited to get into.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: But uh when did running become like, man, I'm gonna start going for some some elite times here.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I've been a runner, I'd say pretty long time.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my uh my dad was my PE teacher in elementary school, and I always had like this this self-impo, you know, he never put pressure on me, but I always would because I was like people in the building would call me coach's kid, and I felt like oh, I gotta like perform at things.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and the school year was like a mile fun run, and I was just like, I gotta like show up.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I remember finishing that with a bunch of fifth and sixth graders, and that's kind of when my dad was like, Oh, you can be like a really great distance runner.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of when I knew I was like, all right, like I kind of made a pretty conscious decision when I was that young like okay, I'm gonna run that, and you know, I pretty much ran all kind of as a kid a lot, you know, cross country and middle school and high school, and was just really lucky.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: I had like a great, a great setup through there, and then um then I ran at the University of Colorado for college, and then um after college, I signed up for a marathon.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I decided, okay, like this is probably the best shape I'll ever be in.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll run a marathon now because I just didn't I didn't think I was gonna like keep running, honestly.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then I accidentally qualified for the Olympic trials, and I was like, so yes, I'll keep training, so and I've been been staying on the grind since.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So wait, so you qualified on your first one?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: On my first one, yeah.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, grandma's marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, which is an awesome race.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So wow, that's wild, man.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Did you know at that time that you were maybe gonna qualify or or just kind of you know I was I was in really good shape, but you know, it was like such like uh, you know, I was ripping 5K's and 10ks on the track.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, I always knew the longer stuff was a stronger suit for me, but but you know, I knew maybe, but I wasn't expecting it though either.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like I definitely it wasn't like, oh, if I didn't qualify, it was it was gonna be like a disappointment or something.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: What was training like training super hard where you're at with your fitness, or did there was some times like, man, I'm gonna see what happens and chase this OTQ or not?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, uh you know, University of Colorado is like a super like intense program, you know.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like when people would ask, I always say, you know, it's like playing football at Alabama or something, you know, like and I was never like a superstar at Colorado or anything.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of great teammates who were have gone on to the Olympians and you know, competing world championships, and you know, I was running a 5k and 10k, and I ran a 10k in 28 minutes and 59 seconds.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's track scene, so I knew I was in good shape, so I knew it was like, hey, it's worth trying to go for the OTQ.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went out at that pace, and my mentality was like, I'll just hold it until I can't, and I was able to just keep holding it.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was a little ahead of pace, and then I kind of struggled a little bit the last because you know, the wall at mile 20 is a real thing, you know.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And even though I've been running my whole life up to that point, people told me, like, oh, like be ready.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be unlike anything you've ever felt before.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, ah, whatever.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I should get it off, and they were totally right.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, what's going on?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I had slowed down a little bit the back half.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was enough to hang on and and squeak it out.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: What what year was this?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious now, just timing wise.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: 22.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Spring of it was June of 2022.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I just finished my track season like two or three weeks before that.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, okay.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: What was the goal time then for OTQ?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, at the time it was sub 218 for the 2024 trials.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they've since have lowered it to 216 for 2028.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh um, but yeah, that was like yeah.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any any fear going into that one?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, look, mile 18, 20, like, okay, I'm holding on, like, this is the wall everyone's telling me about where am I at?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, honestly, not really at all, because even though people told me that, I'll be honest, like, I just thought like I've been running my whole life, and like, and like I said, like long runs would always be my strong suit in in practice.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I kind of just had like this total naiveness, I think, to it, where I just thought, like, even though I did suffer through it, but there was no going to the race, I was like not nervous at all because there wasn't a lot of pressure I put on myself.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think in return, it it goes to show that when you when you can relax sometimes leading up to a competition, like it helps a lot, you know, where you're not having super high cortisol levels for a week, you know, stressed out about your performance, like it goes a long way.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a fun one.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what was dad's thoughts?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you said you grew up with dad being P teacher and got you kind of into running.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Did you give him a call right after you crossed that finish line?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or yeah, they my parents they still go to a lot of my races, and then if they're not able to make it, they're they're normally falling like pretty closely on a tracker.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: So uh from both mom and dad, there was a text waiting for me when I finished, real excited that I that I did it.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: So gotcha.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Take me back to those CU days, man, running track and running with a very competitive, as you mentioned, uh which is CU, as everyone knows.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: What was the environment like?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like running there?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was it was well, you know, first of all, it was like my dream to run at CU.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's okay popular books.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Running with the Buffaloes.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was written about the team in the 90s, and so my high school coach lend me the book, and that's when I was like a freshman high school.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, like I'm like all in on this, like I gotta run at CU.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just such an awesome experience, you know.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: My all my college coaches, Coach Wetmore, Coach Burrows, Billy Nelson, you know, just just the best the some of the best the world has ever seen in the sport.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: A lot to owe them.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's you know, it's a very high-level program where it's just like, you know, um, the bar is high, you have great teammates.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just had like the best teammates that just pushed me as both a person and an athlete.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So um it was it was really hard.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know if you want me to go in any details about training or anything.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, go for it, man.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was already about to ask you, like, do you remember one of the crazy training sessions or something?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, they they built you up.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I probably started my freshman year started 70 miles a week, but by the time I was finishing, it was running like 110, 120 miles a week, um, which was definitely training a lot.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we would do like uh 20 mile long runs, 20, 22 mile long runs, and you know, be like on these mountain roads, 8,000 feet, you know, you're going pretty hard, you know, like six minute, 540 per mile pace.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'd always do well off that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, it's obviously through the week would be, you know, kind of similar to you look at the train, you're like, it's kind of is similar to a marathon training, and I think that's kind of what allowed me to be successful in the marathon right away, because you do like Tuesdays, it'd be like a some sort of longer, you know, easier threshold repeats of some sort.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Wednesday would be a medium long run, then Friday would probably be more of like that VO2 max session.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, but it definitely sets you up for success in the marathon.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oof, 70 to start.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just to start.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: But thankfully, you know, I had a great high school coach too that also helped build me up to where it wasn't like a total like total shock to the system.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: How did it feel like after you you finished, you know, you've you're used to running 100 plus miles a week?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: How was that transition eventually to you now continuing?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, did you like mileage-wise, do you still do 100 plus?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I do now, but when I so what brought me to Miami was is a program called Teach for America.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what got me to Miami.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think just between balancing, working, like being like a real adult for the first time, and like, you know, I'm like teaching like in this like crazy inner city school.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was an awesome experience.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, definitely I my bot my mileage actually dipped down a little bit after um college just because uh working life, right?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Exhausted, you know, and and I'm sure you know a lot of people that listen to the pot, you know, they know how it is when when you're working a full-time job, it's hard to it's hard to train, you know.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's yeah.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: If training for a marathon was easy, everyone would do it, right?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so um so you know I probably dipped down like 80, 90 there for a year or two.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in a situation now though where I can now I'm back to like 120, 130 miles a week.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: You talked about in Miami.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: You went to Miami to teach, you know.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I believe there's a certain teaching you do there in Miami.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh share that for those listening.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so before I used to teach like eighth grade English, it was the Teach for America program.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh you're kind of basically they the program puts like recent college grads and they put them in like Title I schools, and it's a great experience.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: But then, long story short though, but now I'm just full-time running coach.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So now I mostly work with uh adults 25 to 75 years old, wide range, mostly half marathon and marathonners, and um, and that's now the job now, which is awesome because it's great to work with running and also allows me to train um much higher level.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: What was that culture shock like, you know, going from I I did it reverse as we spoke before this?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh you went from Colorado to Miami, you know, from altitude to poor man's altitude, heat, humidity.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: What was that like?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you got different food, the Spanish culture, it's it's very different, as you know.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: At heart, I'm I'm gonna lie, like the first couple days, I was like, oh boy, like I don't know, you know, it was hard at first for sure, you know.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but then I just totally have just really found home here and have really embraced it.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's great just being like just somewhere that's just so different than Colorado, and I love it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: But same thing with the humidity and heat, like that was also like a huge, you know, call you know how it is.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Colorado's so dry, you're at the altitude.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So just be like in this suffocating like humidity and heat, it took a while, I think, to adjust to that as well.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and now embrace it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Was there any like adjustment as far as like just the running?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: I know you just mentioned, but like heat and training, like, did you have to lower mileage?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what'd you do to like, hey, let me get my normal mileage?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Totally, yeah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think between the combination of like adult workload, not just grad student, and also the heat, definitely how to run less, and you know, the day when there's certain days you have to turn down the intensity, you know, and you gotta really dial in on that on that effort, you know, and I think just goes to show that you know a five ten mile at humidity in the heat that's taxing on a body in a different way than a five-10 mile on a perfect day in Southern California and it's 55 degrees out, right?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's a big difference between those two days.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the same thing with altitude, you know, altitude also you gotta adjust the effort level.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely big on like effort level training.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta ask you, because I'm thinking, and I know whoever's listening to this is probably thinking in which one you finding harder, the altitude and dryness or the heat and uh humidity?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, yeah, that's a great question.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: It has it has to be the heat and humidity for me.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but yeah, I was born in Colorado, so I'm so used to it, and uh yeah, heat's tough, you know.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, your body makes similar adaptations from the both of them, you know, and um, but I'll go the heat and humidity.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's tough.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And right now, as Renner and May, it's it's like the light switch game this last week, you know.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's like back to 90, super high dew point, 100% humidity.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm talking about.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I agree with you, man.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: I I did find altitude, you know, I had the reverse uh where altitude was rough, but man, humidity to your point.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just personally feel like the expend I I look at it or think of it as like a gas tank in a car.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: You're in a V8 and you're just watching full go like this.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Versus, you know, altitude, it goes a little slower.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe one's a V6 turbo versus like V8.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like more gels, more hydration, that kind of stuff.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, absolutely, absolutely.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know you mentioned your coaching now, but before that, how'd you balance, you know, because 90 miles is kind of a lot while working a full-time job teaching students.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure some students may be going crazy.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh how'd you manage that?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I think uh a lot of it's the mentality, right?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, where I viewed, I viewed my perception of running was like it was more like an escape or like that time to meditate, you know.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I really would get up early before work, so that's kind of how I'd beat the heat as much as possible.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Granted, when you're early in the morning, the humidity is the worst, but I'd get up early before the sun rose up, get it done before work.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that helped a lot, you know.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: End of a work day, that's normally I like to run twice a day, but most of those days teaching, you just couldn't because you're just so mostly emotionally exhausted from you know working with the kids and the adults of the building, and you know, just you're just exhausted.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: So would more run in the morning helped a lot.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it also just kind of helped me get my mindset just for the day of just like, all right, like this is what I gotta get done today.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is like the copies I gotta make, this is like what student I gotta deal with and what I gotta do.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so just try to just make it as like uh a double dip, was like a work meeting in my head before the day almost, and just uh um it helped a lot.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think obviously too, you know, lower the volume compared to like a regular schedule, and you know, of course, take advantage of the weekend, you know, like get a good long run in over the weekend, get some mileage in on the other day.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're not running doing your long run over the weekend, and you know, that's what you have to do, you know, when you're working, you know.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: You touching on that Cuban coffee yet or or what?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're that's what especially we'll do multiple times a week.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'll get some or some cafe con leche, you know.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, there you go.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'll get the threshold and uh VO2 sessions going for sure.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe a few extra BPMs on the heart rate, but hey.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Paxton, you've uh now run a lot faster than the OTQ we just mentioned, but I I I believe from what I saw on your stuff on the lead up, you said there was many failed attempts and you learned through that to get to the breakthrough of 216 eventually and sub-215.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what were some of those lessons you learned on the journey to your now OTQ, which we'll get into in a bit?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I think it kind of compiles everything you've asked at this point.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think between that time I ran that 217 to now, just so many variables in my life changed, you know, learning the training and the heat and humidity, having to balance like a full-time job.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you just gotta learn like how to how to balance those things and you know make the adjustments needed.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, there's nothing wrong with failing and figuring out what works, what doesn't.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think the biggest thing in this sport, you just gotta be so patient.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, big thing is just being you gotta be consistent and persistent, you know.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's the big word for me is the you gotta be so persistent, you gotta, you know, just because the marathon doesn't go great doesn't mean it's a failure.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: An unfortunate reality of our sport is you get two shots out of a year, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like you're a basketball player and you get a play a tournament every weekend in multiple games.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like that.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you you only get a couple shots out of a year, and it's hard.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're not a lot of the times we're not necessarily built or designed to like run a marathon.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it takes the training up to it, and so many things go wrong.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a long race, so many variables, and you gotta figure out what works best for you.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think it's a combination of making sure you get enough sleep, make sure you're eating enough, make sure the nutrition's on point.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think that's been a huge change in the sport is like the advancement of nutrition, and that's what's why we're seeing a lot of these breakthroughs just across the world.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: A lot more cars nowadays everywhere, which is good.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, yeah, I think more the better.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's there's really like if you can keep it down, there's not really any downsides to like keeping it up.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, 100 grams an hour, I think it's kind of like the gold standard, and obviously that's pretty hard to do.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of substance, but I think it pays off for sure.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, for sure.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're seeing, like you mentioned, a lot of breakthroughs to it um now.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Paxton, what kept you going?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you you go running, like you mentioned, two a year.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: You're going for it, you're going for it.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Takes a while to get to that that new OTQ.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what kept you going through those?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like you kind of touched on a little bit, like, hey, you're knowing that there's a longer end, but like what kept you going through those races?
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, because even though it sucks to fail, like I of course, you know, it's gonna go out there and lose, you know.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, the way I see it is you know, there's a lot of cool running cultures out there, right?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously there's like the Kenyans and these Africans, there's like the Norwegians, the Finnish, American, but my the one I've always been the most fascinated with is easily the Japanese.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: I just love like the Japanese.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: No way.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, I d I recommend anyone like look into it.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's just so I'm a huge fan myself as well, so you're hitting home right now.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: We can know we can the whole topic on this.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think for the Japanese, you know, for them running is like achieving this level of zen, or in other words, you know, just just being at peace with the world and with yourself and releasing you know so much of emotions, and just and for me, it's just more like I've just come to learn.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I mentioned earlier I didn't know if I was gonna keep running after college or not, and I didn't.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: I just come to learn that for me the outcome is just not what matters at all.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: For me, what matters is the day-to-day process that allows me to live my life with discipline, with intent, and that's what I enjoy.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy the process, I enjoy the hard work, the structure it gives me, and I just see any result that comes out of it is merely just a reflection of what like my di the day-to-day looks like, and eventually it'll catch up.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, it's like I could be running five hours in the marathon, and I think I would still be living the same way I am now, just because I just enjoy the process and and love what how love doing it, and I love what kind of person that it makes me too.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: That man, um how did you get there?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious, and I'll explain why I'm asking this.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: How did you get to the point where like, look, man, I'm I'm all about the process versus you know, process consistency?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how did mentally you get to the point where like, you know what?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Outcome's gonna be the outcome, I'm just gonna put in the work.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think ultimately it boils down to probably my days at CU is probably where it started because I went to CU and I CU has this reputation, University of Colorado, for well I mean acronyms.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, taking like a guy like me from I was a I was a solid runner in high school, a solid kid in Colorado, but I was never like the national phenom either, and I kind of just thought I'd always get better, but I had all these teammates that were like Olympians, you know, like Joe Clecker and Wardo Herrera, you know, that are some of the best runners in the world now.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I just quickly realized like look, I can work as hard as I possibly can.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: I just don't got the talent level of these guys, you know.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I just, you know, just quickly learned that, oh, like at the end of the day, I just really enjoy this process of anything.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think then it really got molded into me when you know college ended, and I'm still running through work, and it's like I'd be a mess if I didn't have like running.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like if I had to go to that school and like have to like go through those battles I had to go through like every day, it was like, you know, it's like not running is what made is what just that process.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: I just get so much joy and satisfaction from it.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, I relate to that a lot, man.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's something I found recently, which is why I was curious, you know, one who's run so much more mild, you know.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I I love how you said, you know, your first OTQ, you just kind of went out there and enjoy it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: I want to touch on this since we brought up just maybe even lightly.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So Kenya-Japan.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's a favorite topic of mine.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what are your findings between the two?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, they're considered very elite.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what have you found that you like more about the Japanese style of running versus, say, the Kenya, which is a lot of hype right now?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or I've been to Kenya, I've I've been out there to attend.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's way more similarities than there are uh differences.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, both both are super high mileage.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um both are just kind of like all in, you know, type mentality.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think for me, I think the thing I really resonate with the Japanese in particular is it's the um I'm not saying the Kenyans not like this, but you know, for a lot of kids, I mean this is like and I really respect it, like it's like I don't want to say life or death, but like this is like their method to achieve social mobility.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like athletes in Kenya they move to attend.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like somewhere in the US trying to make it big in movies and they move to Hollywood.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like that's like Kind of what it's like in Kenya where it's like they go to attend, they're all in, it's like an opportunity for like a better life and a better future for their family.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And versus the Japanese, it's more like it's just more about the the lifestyle and achieving it.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not as much the outcome based.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I really love like the it's the the team reflection.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a per a performance for a Japanese reflects like their community and like and their corporate team, right?
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because in Japan, you know, you know, they have like whether it's like your university team and your team or your corporate team.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, like, you know, the relays or um, you know, like the corporate teams.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, a corporation just says, Oh, like we're gonna like spot, you know, we're gonna have a team, we're gonna sponsor like these hundred guys, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it maybe just a little bit more relatable because it's like these guys are also like working like yeah, office jobs, but they're also able to run like a couple hundred miles a week, and you're like, okay, like if they can do it, like I can do it, right?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so like they're tough.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Those Japanese guys are just so really commendable.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it definitely resonates because from what I've seen myself, and and they're very like, for lack of a better word, but like regimented, like, hey, here's the process, here's how you get there, this is what we do.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: No if and buts about it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's here's the steps and go.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, talk to me about Kenya, man.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: That was a great experience.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: You got to go to Kenya, E10, home of the champions.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that must be insane for you know, someone at your level running hind and just seeing everyone's fast there.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, it's awesome.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's great.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I mean, it's super, super cool, super humbling, you know, just to go and just just get stretched and you find like a better version of yourself when you're there.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously, first thing first of like being an American guy and you go there, and it's like it makes you definitely realize perspective of like, hey, we got a lot of great things going for us in the States, and we're all very lucky.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, you know, I think another thing too about the people that tend, you know, is they're just so happy.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're similar to Japanese, they really love and enjoy the process as well.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's gorgeous too.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the the dirt roads are gorgeous, lots of soft surface running, um, super high expectations and standards.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, super cool.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's what was different, like uh obviously there's a lot shared, but what do you find most different from say like how we run here in the States versus Kenya or even studying Japanese?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I think um I think one thing I found interesting was how easy they take some of their running and just the aspect of recovery.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think uh, and I'm definitely not perhaps I love I love getting my running every day, but you know, they take Sundays off every week.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: They'll do Tuesday, Thursday sessions, Saturday long run, and they don't run on Sunday.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the evenings they double, they'll run twice a day.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: But put in perspective, they're even though more in session might be really hard and fast, their evening session is like they're going like nine, ten, eleven-minute pace miles.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's super slow and easy, you know.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the Kenyans are definitely very much like uh very there's definitely this big recovery common component in things that maybe us Americans and even especially the Japanese differ from where it's like we want to go every day, we want to go hard every day, you know.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's wild to for the times they run, including new recent world records, to then go in the evening and run nine, ten minute miles.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Time is relative, but when you got someone running fours and then going ten in the evening.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, show we can we can all take our easy days probably a little easier, you know?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's no shame if you if you have to go a little slower than you normally do, it's not like there's benefit to it.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: In the day, your body's just trying to learn how to burn fat for its fuel, right?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that easy running encourages that.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: So what uh what habits if anything or like traits did you pick up in Kenya that stuck with you back home?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, anything that stuck with me?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think yeah, I think that sometimes sometimes less can be more.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't be afraid to slow down.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that's a good question.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's what that was from at least from a practical standpoint there.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I think also too, it's just there's just the other side of the coin where it's just like it's just so different than the United States.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like they just they just train and they just run.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty much what they do, right?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's like their job.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And but they're so happy.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're just like the people of Kenya are just they're way happier than the average American.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're just like it just goes to sh less and more in training, but also just like less and more in life.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, maybe it's not you don't need a big house or apartment or a fancy job that's a certain you know, uh job title or status too.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, just sometimes less is more.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that really stuck with me and everyone else I went with too.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: So what was the less like there?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like they just wake up, go run, go back to work, home, sleep.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, pretty much.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like for them, it's like going home, just chilling, you know, and it's like crazy, you know, because they live in like these really small, it's really small homes, and they most of them have families and their kids go to school, and but it's also shows like for them racing is like everything, yeah.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, like when you're like it's it means a little bit more to them, you know, because it's like it's kind of putting food and stuff on the table.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: So that's cool.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: You finally broke 215.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um all these years running, you chasing not your first OTQ, but obviously new OTQs, like what was that moment like?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: What did it feel like?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, at first it didn't even like hit me.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm just the race I'm doing, it's like a three-mile loop.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going through, you know, loop by loop by loop, and um finally the last loop hit.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, I think I might actually do this.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'm just clinging on, hanging on.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: I finished and just it didn't even hit me at first.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just kind of felt like it was just any other like training day, and then uh it was a line, you know.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm driving back with my girlfriend, a couple of my really close friends from college that live in New York that you know took me up there, and it's like We Are the Champions comes on, and it's like it's been No Bed of Roses, and I was like, Oh man, it's been such a long grind to get here.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: I finally did it, and just the tears were just they were just rolling down my face.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I saw that.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: No bed of roses.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: What's that mean?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just like just going over and over those failures, you know, where it's like, you know, I knew, like I said, like I would always do what I was doing, regardless how fast I was, but it doesn't still doesn't feel good to go out and like run poor, especially when you've been that there before.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, God, like what I'm you know, it's like do I just not you know all those doubts creep in your head of like am I just do I just not have it anymore?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, why am I doing this?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those thoughts creep in your head, it's it's hard, but you just gotta like keep going and keep telling yourself that you can do this, you can do this, you know.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, each time you fail, that gets maybe a little harder, you know.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: But uh so to finally, you know, finally get through that the thorns to do it, it's been great.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: So no, that's awesome, man.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: And congrats.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh an amazing achievement, man.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's gotta feel elated, comes to mind.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was crazy, but you know, the end of the day though, too, it's like as good as it felt to accomplish then that moment, but also it's like but then it but then the moment passes and it's like it always goes back to you know, end of the day.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just so grateful to be healthy and to be able to just do the process at the end of the day is just easy and most satisfying.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Did you feel calm on race day?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Was there like a plan of execution, or was this like another let's have fun and see what happens?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, I think it was pretty calm.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was nervous the morning of the race, which I think is good, you know, to have a that right before the race, but you know, for the most part was pretty relaxed.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think the environment of that race I did was pretty on the more relaxed side.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: And but you know, definitely I knew it was like I'm here for one mission and one mission only, and so I think it was probably somewhere in the middle of relaxed, but also like pressure, you know.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's dope, man.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, congrat like I said, congrats.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: The two fan.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and sometimes there's moments I still don't even believe it where I'm like, ah yeah, that's crazy.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like that happened.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say was different from like the previous OTQ to this one?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, as far as the training to hit that, I you know, I think a lot of it's too like I got a great team support system behind me.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I got a great training partner, you know, the group that I coach, we train together, so it it kind of goes back to that Japanese style where it's like I feel like I have like this huge team behind me, and when I'm representing, it's like I got like a I got an army behind me, you know.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: So um that helps a lot.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: I got a great partner, my girlfriend, she's super supportive of what I do.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that always helps having you know village.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Talking about that army, I've seen your training, you know.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I gotta give a shout out as a Spanish person.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: I I see who you train with, Luis Horta, you know, for me is special because Spanish to see more Spanish, like people like him running out there on the scene.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: What's it like?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: You're training at an insanely high level yourself, and you're you're surrounded by a said army of people also training crazy.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, Luis, you know, I owe I owe a ton to Luis because Luis, he lived in Boulder when I did, actually.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: He was also a Colorado guy, and he moved to Miami.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: And long story short, I actually bumped into him on a flight from Denver to Miami.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's wild.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I introduced myself, we start training together, and it's when I was still teaching.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then he kind of saw he was because he's the he has the coaching business here in Miami.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, Oh, like, dude, like get out of that teaching situation and like come work with me and we can coach together.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so that that was huge, and I think my success to be able to improve just because that teaching just made it kind of hard to train, and then uh you know, it's just great to have a training part.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Before that, I was trained by myself, you know.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: I just get up early before work.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: I had a couple different loops, a couple different routes that I'd get my sessions done, but like, you know, there's so much you're battling up there in the in the mind, right?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: So have someone to help you push you in Luis, and someone who's been who's been where you want to be, right?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: He's run 215 before, he's been to the Olympics before.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: So to have that every day, especially from like accountability and just those days you don't feel great going out for a workout, you know, ah now you gotta get it done still.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: So huge.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: Training with Luis has been fantastic, and I owe a lot to him.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say you've learned, like, you know, working together that people I guess don't see on the gram and stuff?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone knows the success, right?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: Of hey, Olympic, hey, Paxton's OTQ.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what what kind of lessons have you learned that's not on the gram, if you will, or social media, YouTube, etc.?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes it doesn't go great, you know.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes Luis and I go off there, we'll sometimes we'll have a bad session.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're human.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're not in metronome.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's huge.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: We can beat off each other.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I remember Luis had a great race in Boston.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: I remember he had kind of a long run a couple weeks before that I I biked with him because I was recovering from my marathon and it didn't really go very well.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it was just kind of like, dude, like good, like don't stress about it, you know.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but you know, obviously it's a lot of work, you know.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to like, I think one thing to see, like the flashy workouts that look good, you know, and those happen, and they're they'll those are important, right?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: And they happen, but also there's just so much mileage that goes between things, you know.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like, you know, running like 20 miles a day essentially, you know, so it's a lot of like uh, you know, the more important things and the weight room and getting the nine hours of sleep and make sure you're on top of the hydration and like or like the nutrient, like do like when I was trying to build up to that hundred grams an hour, yeah.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: There was some long runs where I'm just like hurling just all over the place, you know, just like trying to get my stomach used to that level of carbohydrate.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that was really not pretty.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's really not, you know.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: So how'd you uh eventually get used to it?
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Was it just keep going, keep going a couple of days?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think the gut's pretty trainable.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my guy Joe Clecker, like he he can really put it down, no problem.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's he puts down like 140 an hour within you know, ran like 205 at Boston.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I think you just gotta be really persistent about it and train, and it's not gonna always feel great on the stomach, but yeah.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: What's your favorite part?
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: You got a whole crew out there coaching, like, and you coach yourself a big part of the group, right?
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: What's your favorite part about coaching?
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh boy, just like uh it's a great question.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just love developing the relationships with athletes, you know, it's just like and just you know, just running has just given me so much.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just so much opportunity, positive experiences, and also just like that team environment.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: I had a great high school team, had a great college team, so it's so cool to essentially like create that experience for people who are like, you know, like and it's like such a wide range of people too.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like we got people from like I said, it's like we got 20-year-olds on the team, we got 75-year-olds on the team, we got every nationality, every continent represented, you know, and so it's just such a unique group of people, and we all get to be teammates, like have each other's back.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just really cool to like have a small part of like curating like that experience.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, if you didn't compete on a college team or something, like you didn't, or an even high school team, you might not know what that's like.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: Having a team is the best.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you essentially help make some of these dreams come true, regardless of what they are.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I guess so.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: Teaching or coaching?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously, one helps the other.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: Do you find a lot of parallels there from like your teaching days to coaching nowadays?
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, for sure.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, you know, funny enough, because in bits in school, I studied business for undergrad, education for grad school, and running.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like I feel that the coaching is like it's like all three of these things just like totally intersection.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like, oh, like this is like what I was made to do type thing.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so but absolutely with the teaching, you know, and a lot of it too, is like each athlete is like it's a student, they learn differently.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, some athletes you they want that hard feedback and they want the criticism, they want to know what they can be doing better, really specific, and they want to be told and called out when they're not doing the doing.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Versus other athletes, you can't do that, or they'll you know, crack mentally in the mind and they're just doing the best they can, and you gotta be just really supportive, and you know, you gotta so it's kind of like knowing your learners, you gotta know your athletes so you can give them what they need to be the best version of themselves.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership comes a lot into play with that, probably a lot of your school stuff.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Having to lead different ways and whatnot, you know, depending on the other thing.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, like you are a manager and you're in your company, it's the same thing, you know.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone ticks a little different, you know.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Would you say coaching makes you a better athlete?
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you're balancing a lot of your own running, a lot of miles, a lot of time, but then you also have a lot of time on the coaching side.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I obviously, I mean, I'll be honest in the world, like if I can just like lay around and like sleep all day, like obviously that'll probably be more ideal.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but I think coaching makes me a better person, and it definitely is a better situation than um teaching.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, I'm at a lot of it's that you know, a lot of it you get to sit down for it between things, and uh, and also too, just because you're able to play around with a lot more ideas and you see how people respond to things differently, and then sometimes that makes you think like, okay, well, that were this worked really well with this athlete.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, maybe, you know, and then it forces you to learn more too, because it's like I go and get all these coaching certifications, and I just you know, before I got like coach certifications, I would probably be able to tell you the workouts what to do, or you know, when I was coaching myself before coach coaching people, I knew the workouts get successful, but maybe not as much as like the why behind it.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: And now I know like, hey, like this is X, Y, and Z is gonna be the physiological thing that's happening on a cellular level that we're gonna get from this workout.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't bore every athlete I coach with with that per se, right?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: But if anyone ever asks, or I can simplify it, that feels pretty good.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: And now also for my own training, right?
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: Where I can be like, well, you know, maybe I really do need more of this instead of that.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: So gotcha.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: Paxton, you've qualified now twice, I believe, for the Olympic trials.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Where where do you think you're going after this?
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, uh, you know, yeah, I think well, whatever you want to call it, elite or a sub-elite athlete, you know, position I'm in, you take you take everything by Olympic cycles, you know, so it's like, you know, that that trial will be in March of 2028, and I think the next two years, just to get as fit as I possibly can.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: And now that this qualification out of the way, I can kind of experiment with a few things.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know how it is.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like research is coming out all the time for different training methodologies, and there's several different means to the same end.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking forward to experimenting with a few different things here and there, and just to see does it stick with me or does it not?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, I mean I I have a hard time seeing myself not go for it again for 2032.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: After that, 2036, who knows?
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: But um, that's my name, I think, for that one.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, but definitely I think to I'll go for it again in 2032, I'm sure.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: At this point, two years from now, I can't envision myself being done with running, you know.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, for sure.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: That seems too too short of a time.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you know how it is.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: The years they go by so quickly, too.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's uh uh interesting, you know, four-year cycles.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: Most people think of the next 16 weeks for XYZ block, or this year, two years from now, BQ, whatever.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like to be training for four years, like how does that happen for you, like mentally and thinking wise?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're thinking about a goal that's four years long.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it in some ways relieves a little pressure sometimes.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, it's like, look, let's say I didn't hit that OTQ in March.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, I get three more chances at it, essentially, right?
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one more at the end of 26 and a couple times in 27.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that kind of relieves a little pressure because you know you have time to get towards that end goal.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so and I don't know, I love, you know, I don't know about you know, there's always the quarterlife prices and all those, you know, type of thing.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: It feels good to know that like, oh yeah, like I got two more years of good training ahead of me, and that you know, knock on wood, I stay healthy and all that stuff.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: But uh feels good to know that hey, there's there's some real estate ahead of me for training and getting getting all this way to do what I'd love to do.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Really lucky for that.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you stay healthy?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what what things are you doing day in and day out that work for you?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because different things for different folks, but like what works for you as far as staying healthy.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, and I tell this to a lot of my lot of my athletes like, what's the quickest way to get faster, better?
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like it's not normally running more a secret workout, a lot of it's sleep.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a big believer in sleep, and I know it's hard when you're you know, responsibilities of life, family, and job, it's hard.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: The closer you can get to nine hours, the better.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's that's a pretty lofty goal for most people, but uh, even if you can get them to seven, I mean, that's just huge because so much is happening in those later stages of sleep that help you recover and come back stronger.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you're getting more benefit from your sessions, and you're also allowing your body to recover so you're not trying to force a workout again and you're digging yourself deeper.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, when all these different systems go down, that's when injury happens because your body's just stretched too thin.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: Are you a big fan of naps?
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I normally I'll normally do a little nap in the between review and some coaching plans.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'll take a quick little nap.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I think that that helps.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, but nothing is like those late stages of sleep because your body's releasing certain hormones and things, and and also you gotta make sure you're eating enough.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you gotta, as endurance athletes, you gotta be fueling.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think before at CU, there's been some times where maybe I wasn't feeling enough.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: And um if you're ever in doubt, I would overfuel for sure.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, because once you start underfueling, same thing, your body's not replenishing glucose storages or doesn't have the proteins to repair itself, and then obviously that can even leave the worst things, you know, down the line of you know, so just make sure you eat eat and sleep is like I think huge things.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Real simple, but works.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's one of those things where it can be as complicated as you want to make it, right?
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: Paxton, we just talked about 2028 and potentially the next four cycle.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel you understand your potential now, or you're just tapping on it?
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I think I'm just tapping onto it.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's just, you know, don't mean wrong, I could never PR ever again, and it's not like I would ever view myself as like a failure or uh very happy with where I've gotten to.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, a lot of it for me is the process more than anything.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, but no, I definitely have big goals.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'll probably, you know, later this year I'll try to run a marathon and I'll probably go for you know, 214, 213, and just keep keep chipping away at it.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: The half try to run like I ran like 64 earlier this year.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'll probably try to run 63 and just you know, keep that's the fun thing about this sport is that that clock can always read a time a little quicker, you know.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: So Paxton, I I love this man.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: You just keep on pushing big goals, but knocking it like one step at a time.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Japanese models are coming in my head as we say this.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Paxson, I appreciate you, man.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm looking forward to hearing more of your journey and seeing it through.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Pleasure to have you on.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, thanks for coming on the People Run podcast.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for having me.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: Had a great time and keep keep it rolling.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, guys.