Latest / The People Run Podcast / #58 This Wasn't the Plan: From 3:15 to a 2:46 Marathon | Sydney Levenfeld

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#58 This Wasn't the Plan: From 3:15 to a 2:46 Marathon | Sydney Levenfeld · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You recently wrote that running helped you become the person you wanted to be.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about that.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: How did running do that for you?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, that's a very great question.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: I deep put a lot to unpack there.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think running really helped me um be the person I want to be in the sense of I struggled a lot for a really long time kind of finding myself and the in in multiple different facets, but particularly um just in being able to really believe in myself um as I struggled with like confidence for years and years and uh in like finding what I wanted to do with my career and struggling with a lot of those different, you know, I feel like young 20s or mid-20s struggles.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I kind of got more recently in like very into running, and I found that it really just made me like the best version of myself um in in so many different ways.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like every single day when I started to run, I just I felt so happy and so it's just so awesome, and I've I've met so many amazing people through running, and just the community is like unmatched.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: It just really like helped me believe in myself and believe that I was able to push myself harder than you know I I once thought.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So why do you think running was that made it happen?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: What made running stick?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: To be honest, I think just even going back to like my running like running history.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: I got into running kind of like later in more I know this sounds like kind of during COVID.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I ran I ran cross country and track in high school because I was actually a basketball player and my dad was one of those dads, yeah, love basketball.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: I could talk, I could talk hoops all day.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was gonna say if you have any questions about that, like um so obviously we're stoked about the Knicks, but um my dad was one of those dads who was like, all right, you're gonna do cross country, you're gonna get in shape for basketball.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, no, no, thank you.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: But then I I really liked it.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was fun.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: I met a lot of friends, it was very average, um, but then in during COVID, I actually moved back home with my family into like my family home, um, which was super nice, spending time with family, but then I kind of started to go stir crazy, as I think we all did, and um started running.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then with that, I think a big part of just like my story in in running is I was actually diagnosed with epilepsy in 2020, um, which was very confusing to me, and it was it was a very long process and it was a hard time.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I was safe to run.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like I never knock on wood to this day, I have never had a seizure while actually running.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I felt like running kind of became like that safe space for me um during a really, really hard time.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: And um I just really like fell in love with it and have truly I I truly don't think I've looked back since like I I ran my first marathon in 2022 to raise money for epilepsy, um, which was super powerful and really awesome.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: And in my home, and I'm from Chicago, so I ran the Chicago Marathon and it was truly incredible.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Was that your first one?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Chicago?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: That was my first one.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:01
  unknown: Yeah.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: That was my first one.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm still biased, but I think it's the best.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: What you think Chicago is the best?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what's not to love?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: What's not to love?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I may be biased too, but I'm gonna go off here like all the guests I've had that have done like a lot of these majors, and I gotta say it's New York for sure.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I haven't done New York.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, there we go.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's fair.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: I can't I can't say anything about New York.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: I have heard amazing things.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm only teasing joking.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Your favorite's your favorite.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've done Chicago, it was my second one.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um but that's so cool.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: You got to go for your first back home raise awareness for epilepsy.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: That that's freaking amazing.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: How'd that feel running that race?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: You had like three whys right then and there marathon, home, and epilepsy.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was awesome.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I, you know, I think I went into my first marathon kind of clueless, and but in a great way.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's also awesome.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Your first marathon, there's no pressure, it's super low stakes.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I just hope I can finish this thing, and I came away with it.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was it was such a great day.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: I everyone's cheering and like screaming, and I had so many like family and friends watching, which I think made it so so awesome.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I had an amazing time and I was hooked.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hooked, not cooked, just for the record.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Not hooked.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean cooked, but not totally cooked.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: How was that finish line?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, during the marathon, no one's ever happy unless you're having a great one, which happens, I'm sure, for you later on.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: But how do you feel after finishing that?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're back home, family's watching, you know, you race for a cost just to get there.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously you signed up for another one.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, crossing that finish line was incredible.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: I truly I I don't even have the words to explain that.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: I just remember being kind of like in awe at that, like I just had done that and accomplished that, and I ran like way faster than I thought I would.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that was like super cool, and I I remember just like my family and friends were all like freaking out, like, Sunny, you're you're really fast, and I was like, I know that like um, but it was so so fun, and then we had a little celebration after, and being surrounded by my family and friends was just incredible.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: What'd you run?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious now.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know the later races, but what'd you run the first one?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um I ran a 315, so okay.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was happy.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was happy.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I I had never even imagined, like I thought, I don't know.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: I you know, I think as a marathon runner, you kind of always dream of Boston being a possibility, but I didn't really think that that would happen for quite some time, and so that was obviously awesome.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Did you ever have like, because it looks sounds like two years after, like any thoughts as you were building and running to this 315, if you will, thoughts of epilepsy, like, oh man, is there anything I need to do, not do, stop?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you went through some times where it was like, okay, should I be doing this?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think the biggest thing for me was figuring out the right combination of medications.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was a struggle for a little bit, um, for quite a bit, honestly.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm also super sensitive to medication, and then like I get I'm I like almost always allergic to like every antibiotic a doctor ever will prescribe me.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm just like, no, if you tell me, I'm gonna like I remember my neurologist at the time was like, okay, we're gonna start you on this medication, but like just so you know, a lot of times people can it's it's a really common one for people to be like allergic to.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I literally looked at my mom and said, Mom, we're I don't want to go on this medication, I know exactly what's gonna happen.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, No, just trust the doctor.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: Two weeks in, I like break out into hives all over.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I literally called this.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, with all that said, once I found the right combination of medication, um, I was doing really well for a really long time.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it was just it's it's weird because running never running always felt like a very, very safe space for even still.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I I often would have seizures a lot in my sleep, and it would they would wake me and I would know that I just had a seizure, and it's kind of a weird out-of-body experience, so it's hard to explain to somebody else.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, in terms of running, you know, my doctor and my neurologist and I are we keep in very close touch, obviously.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but she's always very forward with me, and um, she's super supportive of supportive of my running journey and um just making sure that like I'm doing the things I need to do, which are things that I think every marathoner needs to do in general, right?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like staying hydrated is super important.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh getting enough sleep is really, really important.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think I do a really good job.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely do a good job of getting enough sleep.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: I could be better about the hydration for sure sometimes.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: No, I still when did uh it get serious then?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I mean some would say 315 is serious, but eventually obviously you went on to run a 246 and you broke that up into faster and faster.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: When did it turn from like, all right, this was cool, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna try to get faster.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let me find out how to really do this.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's like uh so I think you know, so for or for Boston, it's like I ran Chicago in October, but then you don't qualify, you qualify for like next April the following year.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, all right, I'm just gonna that was fun.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: That was awesome.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm gonna keep running.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, I signed up for Chicago again just because it was easy.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: I loved the race.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Hometown race.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is awesome.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I knew it would be before Boston.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: So and then I think that year, so that was that was October 2023, and then I ran a 302.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I was like, oh wow, like this is act I love this, and like this could actually, you know, I think I could actually like you know make some headway here.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think that's when I kind of like started taking it like more serious, um, like hired a coach and um have been working with him for quite some time now, love him so much.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think he's really like changed the game for me in so many different ways.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: But I think once I, you know, started to see the possibility of even like breaking three, um I was just I was like hungry and super like eager to do it.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I just yeah, I really like fell in love with this sport.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, it's crazy because I could have never imagined like this being like my trajectory or like path in life, but um it's been so awesome.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's really cool.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting excited just hearing that.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously you're working through a coach or some of the things that led to your breakthroughs, yeah, consistent success in the marathon, you still continue to what were those key things that helped you keep improving?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I think one finding my coach was a big believer in me, which made me really like believe in myself.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: And he's very he's very hands-on and was very invested, still is very invested.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, when he tells me I can do something, I use I wouldn't like really believe him at first.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then first, you know, I think the biggest hurdle I'd get over was like me being in my own way sometimes.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then I think just things like I learned about running and how to properly train, and I think some of like the things that have really helped me, you know, get better and like learn learning about the sport as well, like my coach like t teaching me and telling me about all this and having so many friends who are either coaches or also really awesome runners and just like really like diving into like the background behind like the science behind running.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I think for me like really focusing on like marathon specific.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'd I'd say my two like go-to like workouts are like a threshold workout for sure, or some sort of a threshold workout.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um during a marathon specific like build or block, and then those longer marathon style workouts where it's like I don't know, I've I think I think in my last build I had like a three by five mile, three by five miles at like goal marathon pace or something like that.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Just like getting comfortable with marathon pace and not feeling like overly cooked.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm gonna overuse that word now.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I think just like learning about it truly and um I've kind of become like a like a like runner and like nerd.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just love learning about it and I I think I fell in love with I fell in love with the process.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and falling in love with the process, like I've fallen in love with just everything about the sport, whether it be you know the people, the community, the just it's brought me so much so much opportunity, and like for that I'll always be like so eternally grateful wherever wherever my running journey takes me.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So you love the threshold, you know.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's like a love-hey relationship for some.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, you know, I love I love the feeling after.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I think it's just it's just I I've I've been talking about this right now with my coach as I'm kind of not yet in a specific marathon build, but I'm more in like this this shorter like speed build where we kind of want to like raise my ceiling and so we're doing like those shorter, more kind of more painful reps.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like for me this might be a hot take, but like for me, I would rather run a marathon or like even like an ultra marathon than run a 5k fast.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like so just getting like more comfortable with the uncomfortable and in order to like raise my ceiling and raise my you know, I guess lower my thresholds.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of uh jokingly explains the the whole 5k race we were talking about earlier in bandit.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but no, I think every marathoner relates to that, including myself.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing the same thing right now.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: I took a year off the marathon, I'm working on speed, and it's just like, why are we doing this?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what this is so painful.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you feel the the burn, uh you you sneeze in after them two minutes or four hundred, you know, them short intervals, and like it's it's good the first 30 seconds, and then you're like, oh god, I gotta keep going.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Oh god, yeah.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like I today I had like eight by eight hundred, and I think like on the the this fifth or sixth rep, I was like, no, no, like I'm about to like DNF this workout, like there's no way there's two more, you know.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's just but I don't know, it's it makes you stronger, so every time I'm like hating it, I'm like, this is gonna make me better, it's gonna make me better.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, just keep repeating that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm with you until the ultra part.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think at some point I'll do it.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know about that yet.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: I I think like when I say ultra, like I think like 30 miles would be like my max, yeah, like nothing crazy.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Not I'm not I'm not ever doing like on a hundred mile race, that's for sure.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: I can I can confidently say that.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, those those uh I I've had a few ultra runners on and I'm just like astounded, like you doing what?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe someday, I don't know, but for now, no.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's so crazy like to listen to for me to listen to them like speak about their like running and experience.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, how what?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing that?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, then there's some out there.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Crazy.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: When was uh like your fastest race so far?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Was that Eugene?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: That was in April.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the very end of April.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, that was a that was a cool race.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: It was different from very different from a world major.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think I I had heard like some, you know, things about the race, but it was very different from like, you know, a Chicago or a Boston.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I was it was it was beautiful.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um super super green, super like Yeah.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: It kind of felt like at a certain point, well, to start off, you start off with the the ha so there's a half marathon and a marathon.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: They start at the same time, so you're all running together.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember everyone saying, like, make sure you like don't go out too fast because there's gonna be half marathoners who are like, you know, half marathon pace is very different from marathon pace and whatever.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I just kind of tried to like stay uh stay grounded, a little bit conservative at the beginning.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: And um I had like a little bit of a pack, I would say, at the beginning, and then and I was running with or not running with, but went to you to Eugene with like two of my best friends, which made it that's cool, yeah.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I made it so fun, and it was just an incredible weekend all around.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um but in the race, I think once you peel off, I think at mile 10 you peel off from the half marathoners, and then it just becomes like a whole different ball game because you're like kind of on this like long, it's it was pretty flat race, but you're on this like long trail for like after mile 10 to like 23 or 4, I want to say.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: So you're just like out there, yeah.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so you kind of just have to mentally lock in because I was I was alone for like a big chunk of the race, so it kind of felt like like a long run, you know, not there, it's definitely not giving like world major vibes, um, which was really great in a lot of ways.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think I was so calm, like so calm.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Me and my friend like joke, maybe we were a little bit like too calm, like we could have used some more like energy.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I was just like so calm, which was super nice, and it like I said, it was so beautiful.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like where we were, I was like, I had never been to Eugene, so it was awesome.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, I mean, I have really like good things to say about that race, especially finishing on Hayward.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, there's nothing like that.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: I that was that was magical, truly.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was so cool, and you just like I don't I don't even I was so dead and I was so tired, but as soon as I stepped onto that track, and you only run 200 meters on the track.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's dope.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, like let's go.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and like yeah, like let's gun it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I I literally I kind of stopped looking at my watch because my splits were off, and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna run, you know.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I saw my time, I was like, oh Sydney, run, like run, totally gun it.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I was super happy with the outcome.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think you know, with every race now, I'm like always a little bit more like oh, I could have done this a little bit better, like I should have done this a little bit better.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: But overall, like I was a PR is a PR.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's one thing, and two, like just being there with my two of my best friends, um, and taking in everything.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, ever it's so they're very runner-centric there, like everything, everyone's so into running.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just like overall such a great experience.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm really, really glad that I did it.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Were you going for 246, or that's what the day brought?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's what the day brought.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I do this funny, I I don't think it's funny.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: I actually think it's awesome, and I think honestly, everybody should do this.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: And this is like something that my coach um taught me or showed me, and I've done it for four races now, three races.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so every like block after every training block, I kind of think about how the block, the build is gone and level of fitness I think I'm in, and I talk with my coach about.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: that as well and then you know I write on like a literal like notebook piece of paper I like cut off like a little like I don't like rectangle and I write down like my goal time or like what I what I like see or envision for myself and where I see my fitness at and um I also name my podcast on Spotify the same time just like now I'm like superstitious about it um but and then I like write down the time and then I write like fold this to have when like either like your dreams come true or like you crush it and um I put it in like my race like kit like in this one of my pockets.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah the pockets yeah yeah and I've done that for ever since my coach taught me about it and then I it's super awesome when you like unfold it even even if it's like a little bit off or whatever.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: I remember the first time we did it was for Boston and I um went sub three and like I was I went pretty like below sub three so I thought like I I I was so happy I was like Boston too.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: I was like I was crying like I was like hysterical I that I've never been so emotional at like a a finish line but I remember like having that and then unfolding it and being like oh my god like I did that and I actually did better than that and like it was just so awesome but to answer your question um I wrote down 244 um 24419 oh no no no 2443 I wrote down um and so you know it's that was you know I think like I said there are things that I wish I did a little bit differently but like overall I was super happy with the 246 um and just it was a great day it's a good it was a it was a great day it was good vibes it was beautiful like can't complain when do you open that paper mid-race or or after?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: After after okay got it not mid-race I'm I might try that for the next one I I really think you should I feel like everybody should I'm like my I'm so glad my coach like told me to do that I've done it like ever since we always like talk about it too we're like alright so what are we writing down the paper?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay I could see me at a finish line paper in hand no that's how I was from Boston I literally was just like holding it up and like I was just like hysterically crying it was just it was awesome.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: No I like that I'm gonna borrow that if it's okay with you it's more than okay with me Cindy you've done a few races you've talked about a few just now Chicago Eugene Boston um forgetting the time for a second if you could revisit any of your races which one will you go back to which one was the one that was like oof this is like vibes I had a great time I felt amazing I think yeah I would say Boston no oh this is so hard uh I would say this this Chicago so Chicago 2025 um just because I think it had a lot of like deeper meaning to it maybe um in a way I was moving after that race like a couple in like I think I was moving like a week and a half after the marathon to New York where I currently am and it was like I was like it kind of felt like a victory laugh around like this city that like I grew up in the suburbs like of Chicago so I've been I had been in Chicago my entire life and I love Chicago um that's a whole other story but it was just it was such a good race and I I feel like I had so many friends running it um so many again like it's I I I love the race just because I feel like it's really easy for spectators to see you at multiple different points.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the first time that my dad had seen me um run a marathon which was like awesome and I remember I was at he saw the first time I saw him was at mile 11 and he I was like running by and my dad was like hysterically crying.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm just thinking myself like dad like I have like 15 miles left to go like don't do that to me now.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: But like even like I have nieces and nephews and they were there and it was just it was so awesome because also I was you know really really sad like to be leaving um but I think overall you forget about time like truly I had such a fun experience um I think that was my favorite Chicago just because of like I was I was vibing like I was just I was seeing friends everywhere and I I don't remember I feeling like truly truly so so awful which is a good thing I feel like to for sure yeah like I don't feel like I ever like hit the wall quote unquote or whatever.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah I think the biggest thing was just again the community like especially I think especially my friends and family like my dad that was he was just so so emotional um and I'm super close with my twin I have a twin brother he was there super close to my family so it was just it was so great and I was like you guys have to all come because you don't know when you're gonna see me next um so yeah that was definitely I think uh maybe that's been my favorite race so far it's so hard to choose one yeah I mean there's still more to come too but I get that you know having the family there um good race where you feel good they don't always feel good that's for sure yeah you could have a great time and it felt like crap so that's awesome yeah Cindy you have lead pack athletics tell me about that what led you to build that yeah so ooh um so my co-founder and I his name is Neil um he we had been in chatting about this idea for a really long time and my background was actually a little bit all over the place I was a teacher for uh five years and then yeah um I feel like a lot of people don't know that about me I feel like that should be like my fun fact um I taught second and third grade so I was gonna say just I can't even like some people are like Sydney I just cannot imagine you being a teacher and I'm like same I I really I can't believe I did that um it was it was fun until it wasn't so fun um but I all jokes aside like I do really love kids and it was it was a really great way to like enter my career and um you know being in Chicago there's it's it was a very rewarding time and then I got into I need I needed a change.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: I got a little burnt out so I wanted to add tuck and um overall like I was just again I think I I I touched a little bit about this at the start but I was I knew that like I wasn't happy and I wasn't feeling like super fulfilled and I really wanted to do something that would like sometimes it's hard to like separate you know just like your happiness for me it has always been hard separating like my I think happiness and like and with my self-worth whereas I felt like I was kind of for a long time I felt like I was kind of a failure because you know I went to college I got my I actually got my master's in elementary education um and I spent so much time you know investing in this career that eventually like I was no longer doing.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I kind of felt like I was having this like identity crisis and I just I I kept like talking my dad my mostly my dad and and my mom about just feeling like I'm I kept like apologizing to them and I'm like I'm so sorry like I feel like just like such a failure that I like didn't pursue this and I I really though struggled with that.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then Neil and I had gotten got talking and I was in my ad tech job and we started bouncing this idea off of each other for a little bit and then um Neil is based in New York and I was moving to New York and he was like Sydney like now's the time like it's like if you're if we're if you're ever gonna like take a leap of faith or if you're ever going to do this like we're both like gonna be in the same city like let's do it.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like okay like I kind of like put everybody's opinions and like voice aside and I was like this is something that I I truly like really really believe in.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we decided to start lead pack um I started to realize so many there were so many problems with like the running economy and how how these athletes are being compensated and treated.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: We're still in like the beginning stages but it's been the best decision I have ever made already.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I've met such incredible people I'm so excited every day to wake up and to chat with them and even do chat chat with the athletes and do some of the things that like people might find incredibly tedious and annoying but for me I'm just I'm so much happier and I think that all ties back to this love of running that I found