Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / For The Love The Grind: Sara Hall Talks Longevity, Choosing Love Over Fear & Running Her Own Race

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For The Love The Grind: Sara Hall Talks Longevity, Choosing Love Over Fear & Running Her Own Race · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's not about place or pace or anything, right, It's
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: like just the feeling you get and the fun of it.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Hey, Hey, Emily, here, you are listening to another episode
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: of Hurdle, a show that dives into the true stories
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and mindset secrets of the most inspiring women in sports
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: and wellness, empowering.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: You to conquer your own hurdles.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: This week, I'm thrilled to bring you a conversation with
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: an athlete who's longevity, incredible range, and commitment to the
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: sport is truly inspiring, and that is Sarah Hall. Sarah
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: is the only American athlete in history to win USATF
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: national titles in both the mile and the marathon, a
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: testament to her incredible athletic journey.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: I got up with Sarah right here in New.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: York on the weekend of the TCS New York City Marathon.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: In this episode, we dive into the grit required for
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: a long and successful professional career, including the mental fortitude
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: it takes to navigate the inevitable challenges, whether that's a
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: tough injury cycle, the complexities of competition, or even.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: The online critics.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Sarah opens up about her unique personal journey in our
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: conversation today, including the decision to adopt four children from
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Ethiopia and how that was rooted in choosing love over fear.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: She talks about how motherhood has shaped her life and
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: her perspective on running, and we.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Also talk about her upcoming book, for.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: The Love of the Grind and what grind means to
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: her specifically at this chapter in her life now. As
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: you may know, Sarah ultimately decided to step off of
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the course at mile seventeen of the New York City Marathon,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: saying that she just didn't have it in her that day,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: and I sent her so much respect for this decision.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I have no doubt that it was an incredibly tough call. Now,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the insights she shares in this conversation regards list. They're
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a powerful reminder that every day offers a new opportunity
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: for growth, for learning, and the pursuit of your best self.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: After the marathon, she shared a few ways she moves
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: on from big disappointments on her Instagram, including helping others,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: slamming a bunch of coffee my personal favorite, coming back
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: to your breath, assooming out, and setting a new goal,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: which I absolutely a doore make sure you are following
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: along with Hurdle over on social It's over at Hurdle podcast.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: You can also check out Iheartwoman's Sports over at Iheartwoman's
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Sports and me over at Emily a Body. Listen to
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: a hurdle with Emily a Body on the iHeartRadio app,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: hurdling today. I am sitting down with Sarah Hall.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: She is a pro runner for a six, she's a
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: former American record holder, and the half marathon, the marathon.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: We have some fun backs to get to in today's episode.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Hurdle Sarah.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: How are you?
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Thank you? I'm doing well, excited to be here in
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: New York.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, we love it when the people come to play
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: in New York.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: So this is you.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: This will be coming out after the marathon. But you
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: this is your second New York's any marathon.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: This is my third time lining up, second hopefully finishing.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: There we go. How are you doing really right now? Oh?
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: I'm really doing good.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I'm like I feel so grateful to be here, like
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: being lining up, being able to like still be doing
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: this career.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: At forty two and like, yeah, it's just feeling really good.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I had an amazing run in Central Park yesterday, just
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: feeling like these are the days, like, oh, I just
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: love doing this.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I feel as though every conversation that I read, listen
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: to that you have, everyone's focused on your age.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: How does that make you feel?
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: That's that's a good question.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I feel like at first it was okay, because yeah,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: you're approaching forty turn forty You're like and you're like.
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a master.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Like it was fun, you know, But now, yeah, it
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: does get a little bit like I don't want to
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: be good for my age, Like I just want to
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: be good period, right, and so like it is a
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: little bit like and she's this, but it's like, yeah,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: but you know, I'm that's not That's not my goal
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: necessarily to like be good for a master's runner or something.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: So it's it's an evolving process, like, you know, just
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: dealing with age and like as an athlete and stuff.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: I think it's I'm kind of constantly, uh, just growing
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: into that and h and figuring out how I feel
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: about it and how to handle it and everything.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is so impressive though, because you set the
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: American record in the half marathon only three years ago.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: So when people are saying good for XYB, it's like, no,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: just to your point, just.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Good period, Well that's the goal.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, But then I think you do have to like
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: cut yourself slack at times and be like when you're
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: really hard on yourself about a performance, than be like,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: but maybe it was good for forty two.
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: So I guess it can like work both ways, you know.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, totally speaking of having grace with yourself, do you
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: feel like you're good at having grace with yourself?
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I'm getting better And actually I listened to your podcast
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: recently on perfectionism, and I can like really relate to
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: some of the stuff you talked about because it's funny.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: I don't think of myself as a perfectionist because if
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: you come to my house, it's like a total wreck,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: and I'm like totally fine with mess and totally fine
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: with like disorganization.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm not like super type A in those ways.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but actually I realized like I can be, yeah
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: with like my performances or certain things like just really
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: hard on myself. Like I've learned to get better because
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I've realized as a mom that like, I'm better at
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: extending grace to like my kids or people around me
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: if I'm better at.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: Extending it to myself. So I think they've made me
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: like really work on it.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's something that you want to show them, right,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Like you want to model how important it is to
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: be kind to yourself because you wouldn't want them, I'm
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: assuming most of the time, maybe to say some of
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: the things that you were so freely saying to yourself.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Totally, Yeah, you want them to, like you can see
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: how it steals the joy of the moment when you're
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: like fixated on yeah, not quite living up to whatever
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: it was. Like my daughter called me the other day
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: after a cursed country race and she's like, I didn't
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: break nineteen and I really wanted to, you know, and
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: like you but like when you can step outside of
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: it when it's your kid and be like, I just
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: want you to have fun.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: I just want you to do your best, you know.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: But then you're like, oh, I have to actually like
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: listen to that myself.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know it's so funny. I have a story
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: for you, and you won't remember this because you didn't
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: see me. I was just creeping on you. You after
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: the twenty twenty two World Championships in Oregon, you went
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: for a cool down run. You would come in fifth,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: you were the first American, and you went for a
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: cool down run and you were like running near like
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: somewhere downtown Eugene where I was, and I saw you
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: go by, and I was just like looking at your
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: face and there was so much there. And I remember
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: thinking to myself, and now it's kind of crazy three
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: years later to have this opportunity to ask you what
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: goes through your head after such a major effort like
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: that in that marathon, And as you know, it requires
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: a lot of opportunity, costs, so much goes into one day,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: one performance. And so I saw you running that day
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: and I thought to myself, if I ever sit down
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: with Sarah, I want to know what goes through her
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  Speaker 2: head after an effort like that.
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's interesting.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Well, when I think of that place, I think of
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: how much certain places hold memories, right like Eugene for
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: me holds so many because all our track championships are
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: their Olympic trials everything, and I had so much disappointment
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: on the track some awesome memories too, like I've made
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: you know, three world indoor teams and different things, but Eugene,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Like it was it was so interesting to be running
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: preest trails there probably that that run or even like
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: in the days leading up to and just remembering so
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: many cool downs just crush, just like your dream of
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: making the Olympics once again crushed, you know, and like
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: tearful cool downs in those pre trails. But then going
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: into that race, I was I was like just reflecting,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: like wow, like like I never.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Stopped believing in myself.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: I'm like, here, I'm getting to run the World Championships
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: in Eugene, and like in this place that like and
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: I finally made that outdoor team that I had tried
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: so many times on the track to make it never
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: quite could and so it was this beautiful moment of
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: just realizing like I hadn't given up on myself, and
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: like the rewards of that was special.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do you think that as we speak about your
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: journey with Grace, like you were as far along then
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: as you are now, I would say worlds.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: In Eugene, maybe not quite as far, but like getting there,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: like it was really kind of towards the end of
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: my track career, I started to just really actually experience
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: like God's unconditional love in a way that like I
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: knew about it in my head, but I hadn't hadn't
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: like quite hit my heart like fully, or hadn't like
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: integrated it fully, and and so it really just took
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: a lot of failure just get to the point where
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I actually experienced it. And it was like like God
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: telling me, like I couldn't be any more proud of
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: you if like you get last place, Like I just
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: love watching you run, you know, and like I'd like
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: never felt love like that. Like my parents like loved
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: me really well and like really unconditionally, but like I
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: could tell they were like stressed by my failures, right
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: like we're like just because they cared about me, and
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: they could see it was like hard for me, you know.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: But just to like think of him just like beaming
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: like just so proud at me when I was like
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: really failing, like that changed like everything for me. And then, yeah,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I think ever since then, I think I've gotten a
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: little bit better about it. Each year of just like
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: getting freed up from fearing failure and just feeling like
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: if I do fall short of what I expect of myself,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: like I can more quickly rebound.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, what was the failure that you felt
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: like that really resonated with you around that time?
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Like I just placed, actually lasted the US Championships in
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: two thousand and nine and the five thousand meters on
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the track, and it was humiliating, right, Like You're getting
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: paid to be a professional runner, to like win, to
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: like succeed, and I'm like, I don't even think I'm
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: good at this, you know.
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Major gratitude to A six for their loyalty throughout my
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: career because it allowed me to get to the point
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: where I had my best races in my career at
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: like thirty eight thirty nine, you know, But like a
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: lot of other companies, I don't know if that would
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: have been the case, you know, Like I think after
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: races like two thousand and nine, that might have been
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: the end and I would have been okay, you know,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: but I wouldn't have gotten to experience like just so
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: many moments that are gonna be like the favorite moments
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: of my life, you know. So I think, Yeah, it
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: was really in that real valley then where I was like, honestly,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I would have rather moved on from the sport probably
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: at the time. But Ryan was really thriving. He was,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: you know, setting American records, like making Olympic teams. So
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: we were really rooted where we were in Mammoth and
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: so I felt really like trapped, honestly, Like I was
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: like the first time in my life, like I wasn't
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: getting to necessarily dictate my path, like where I wanted
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: to go. All of a sudden, I was like tied
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: to this person and like, yeah, I wanted to support
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: him in this phase of his career. So so yeah,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: it was. It was a challenging season, but I think
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I think, as often happens, like God can use those
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: really tough things to really get to you, you know,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: in a deeper way than you haven't before.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're touching on your husband, Ryan, who was
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: also a former pro runner. People might hear you talk
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: about this difficult season and wonder beyond that season, what
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: it's like when there are two people that are constantly
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: chasing their big potential for you, what would you say
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: is the peak of a relationship like this and what
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: could be kind of like you just spoke about the Valley.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, oh well, there's so many fun peak moments I
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: think of, like here in New York, like seeing him
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: win the trials, like in one of those races where
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: the marathon seemed to get easier as it went for him,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: you know, and it was just I've never seen anything
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: like that, honestly, and it was such a fun ride,
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: like so incredible. But yeah, there were challenging moments for sure,
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: and I talk about it a lot in my book
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: For the Love of the Grind that's coming out in April.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: He might be here for my.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Indoor race where I win the Millrose Games, and it's like,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden though, it's like I'm seeing more
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: as like Ryan's wife then, like I'm used to be
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: in the star right, Like I like we kind of
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: were the same level in high school and college and everything,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: but but then early in our careers, like his career
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: just really took off. And then so people would be
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: like comfort a photo and hand me the phone, right
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: like they'd be like take the photo of us, and uh,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and you know that's like ego and stuff. But at
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: the time, you know, you're just processing it all, like
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: you're like it was a really fun ride.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: But there were yeah, just moments where.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, this is different, you know, like Okay,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: I used to them taking the photo with me. But yeah,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I think the hardest part was just not maybe getting
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: to pursue what I felt called to, which was international
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: development work. So like I never really dreamed of doing
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: this pro running thing as long as I have, for sure,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: but especially at the time, like I thought I'd just
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: do it for a little while and then move on
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: to that. But but then all of a sudden, when
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: his career took off, it was like, no, we're like
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: there's no moving to you know, Africa to do development work,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Like we're stuck here and so but in the end
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: it was wonderful because it kept me in the sport
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: longer than I would have and then I'm getting to
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: enjoy it now and so so.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you never know how your path is gonna unfold.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: But enjoy it now.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Do you feel as though maybe you're enjoying it more
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: now than you have for a while?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Definitely later, Yeah, in the later years, Like I would say, now,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: it's been a little at this very moment, a little
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: more challenging, just because like I want to be in
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: like American record shape like I was at times, and
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: like I'm just not quite there right now.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: But yeah, definitely.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I mean in those years where I was chasing American
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: records just a couple of years ago and stuff, it
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: was really fun and like really like just rewarding to
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: have persevered for so long and to like get back
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: to that kind of place.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: When you say I want to be in shape to
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: chase records and I'm not right now, what I hear
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: you say is I still wholeheartedly believe and feel as
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: though these are within my grasp.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: Is that how you feel?
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I feel like a curiosity that they could be and
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: then but I feel kind of a sense of like
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: anything can happen, but nothing has to happen kind of
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: thing like I think, Yeah, I think that that could
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: be obviously more and more challenging as I grow older,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: But I don't know. I think if my career has
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: taught me anything, it's not to put limits on myself.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: And I think so at this point, I'm not going to.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Start right because I think I've really.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: Tried to be intentional not to speak things.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Over myself in my career of like especially with age,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: like my first pro coach Terrence Madhen. I heard him
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: say to Dina Castor, who was my teammate at the time,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: and she was she was only like thirty one or
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: thirty two or something, and she's like, oh, I can't
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: do any more of these squats, like I'm old. And
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: he's like, he's like, Dina, when you start seeing you're old,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: you start the cl you know. And like ever since
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: I heard that, like I was only like maybe twenty
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: three at the time, but it.
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: Just like stuck with me.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: The yeah, like what you speak over yourself is like powerful,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: you know. And and she obviously went on to have
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: a really long career and stuff, but I filed that away.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: And so I think I've I've just tried to, yeah,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: just always believe that it's possible and just keep an
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: open mind.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: What do you think has been one of the most
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: progressive things that you've spoken over yourself, Like, what has
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: been something that you've said to yourself that you really
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: do feel has shown up for you.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: That's a good question.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Well, I like to write my mirror goals on my mirror,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and so like it's kind of like as I'm looking
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: in the mirror, like I'm seeing those things like underneath me.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: So yeah, that's always been really powerful for me, Like
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: and I'll write like, you know, Olympian, like twenty twenty Olympian,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: or like American record holder things. And at the time
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: where I set the American record, that was the only
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: thing written on my mirror, you know, And so that
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: was really cool. And what was awesome was my kids.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: I came home from that race and they had written
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: all over the mirror like you did it, and like
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: I didn't even know they had like seen it, And
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: so it was cool to just realize, like, your kids
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: are watching.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the most powerful would be, but yeah,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: I like to to keep them visible, to.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Keep them visible, and that again talk about that modeling behavior, right,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: like they're watching when you don't even realize that they're watching.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I know that becoming a mother was something that was
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: so important to you, and so now in this second
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: phase of your career, having the opportunity to do both
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: is a really awesome component to the story. Do you
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: feel that the joy that your children bring into your
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: life has benefited you on the run as well?
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: It has for sure.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I Mean I don't think anyone could argue motherhood is
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: like performance enhancing, right, It's like it's definitely really challenging
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: to juggle both. I'm sure, yeah, plenty of people have
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: spoken to that, but I think it's it's tough. Like
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I definitely sometimes miss my old life when I got
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: to like really focus on the sport. But then but yeah,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: I mean there's so much too that comes in having
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: a richer, happier life that helps your performance too. Like
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I think when I didn't have kids in our life
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: was kind of all revolving around running.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: There's a pressure that comes with that.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: There's kind of like an emptiness kind of like you're
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: putting your life on hold for this thing that creates pressure,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: you know. And so I think like now, like my kids,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: they had so much joy, like in richness and fun.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Then I was just doing a training camp away from
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: home actually, and like I came home early because I was.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Like, I just like wouldn't be around them, like they're
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: just like I just miss them. And so yeah, it's
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: it's been there, for sure, the greatest blessing in my life.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: But I think it trickles over. When you're happier, you
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: run better. I would say in.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: General, adopting them in twenty fifteen was a big decision,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: especially going all in with all the kids. Yeah, at once,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: talk to me about the decision to go all in.
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was a tough decision.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Even just having kids at the time was a tough
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: one for me because like, I was really enjoying my career.
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: It was I was.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Finally having some success after a lot of struggle, and
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: but Ryan was kind of going the other way, like
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: his career is wrapping up, and he like wanted kids
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: like yesterday, you know, And so I think I was like,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: you know, well, adoption, you know, it's what we always
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: wanted to do, and I think it takes a while,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: so I'm okay just starting the process because it could
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: take years, you know. But then in the end it
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: accelerated because we met them and in a way that
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: we didn't expect to and so so yeah, you know,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: it was Honestly, I wanted to feel a real clear,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: like word from God about it, or like a real
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: peace that these are my kids, because like I had
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: no idea what it was going to be like to
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: adopt four kids ages five to fifteen years old that
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: had been through a lot of trauma, everyone we talked
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: to had had a really difficult road that had adopted
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: older kids, specifically from Ethiopia or from like other countries. Yeah,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and so I think we kind of were counting the
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: cost internally. Everyone was like count the cost, like you're
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: not gonna be able to do what you're doing right now.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: And I believed in like the cause, so like part
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: of me wanted to be selfless enough, like wanted to
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: be willing to do that, but there was a part
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: of me that wasn't. Like I was like, no, I'm
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: really loving what I'm doing, like I love my life,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: and so it was it was a hard decision.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: In the end.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Ryan really said something that I feel like helped, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: he was like, you know, I can't think of anything
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: any reason not to do this that isn't based in fear.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, like all my reasons are
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: fear based. And so in the end we just chose
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: love over fear. And like it just felt like like, yeah,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: I wanted that clear word or that clear piece and
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I didn't have that.
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: But it was just like closing your.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Eyes and like jumping off a cliff and just just choosing,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so bringing home four girls all at once.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: What was the most challenging part of that for you?
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the most challenging part was like feeling
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: like I was playing a role, Like I kind of
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: felt like I was like a suburban mom or something,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: or I was like in a sitcom, like driving them
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: in our big old you know, suv to school, and
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: I was like, this doesn't feel real. It feels like
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I'm like acting, you know. And even like you know,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: our attachment as a family is it's grown over the years,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: and like it's it doesn't automatically. You don't feel like
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the mom of a fifteen year old that's like practically.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: A woman, you know, Like it's just not biological.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: And I knew that that would be the case, and
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: like talking to a therapist was like just accept it
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: for what it is, you know, and like that really
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: helped to just be like, yeah, like of course we
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: would feel this way about, you know, and then talking
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: to other families and they're like give it five years,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: you know, and then sure enough, like yeah, like over time,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: like your attachment does grow, like you have shared memories
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: together and shared experiences and so so yeah, all of.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: Those things I think we're we're challenges, but like.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Something that you you just don't know what's going to improve,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: like later, like is our attachment gonna you know, like
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: you hope it will, but you just don't know. So
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: I think the uncertainty of that sometimes is hard.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Was there guilt or shame associated with that at times?
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: Definitely? Yeah.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: I think I think shame that like you want to
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: feel like more love than you do at the time
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: or something, and I did have love in my heart
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: for my kids from the beginning, but it's like you
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: want them to feel like your kids, you know. And
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: that's what people are afraid of a lot of times
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: with adoption, and it's a valid fear. But I think
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: what people don't realize is like they do become your kids,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: and it doesn't take long, and it doesn't it's not
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: as hard. It happens naturally and it happens really like
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: it just becomes instinct, you know, and it's it's not work.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I would imagine also that because of the wide age range,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: you are learning so many different things.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: At once, like how am I dealing with.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Littles under five and then also this fifteen year old
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: And these are lessons that so many people like get
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: to learn along the way and you're just thrown into it.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there are a lot of dynamics too, because the
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: language barriers and my kids didn't speak any English when
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: we met them and then we're you know, learning it
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: quickly when they got home. But there's that, there's the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: cultural barriers, there's the different ages. There's like teenagers biologically
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: are pulling away from their parents, and that's a very
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: healthy natural thing at that age, right, But we were
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: trying to connect at a time where you're naturally you
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: would be like pulling away from your parents. So so yeah,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: you have all those dynamics like their their family of origin,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: you know, what their norms were and their experiences and stuff.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: So yeah, their native language is pronounced Amharic. Okay, So
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: is there a word or a phrase in that language
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: that you felt like really started to resonate with you
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: from the get go.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: That's a good question.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: I've no one's ever asked that, But yes, there's a
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: phrase the runners say a lot, which is burchie if
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: you're a girl.
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: It's berta if you're saying it to a man.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: But it means be strong, but it's kind of like
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: tough enough up like be strong or like it can
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: also be like kind of compassion if you get hurt
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: or something like be strong. And in Ethiopia they run
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in like single file lines and if you even let
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: a little gap open up between the person in front
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: of you, that.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Like Burchie, Burchie, like get up there, like kind of
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: encouraging you.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: But I like to encourage the runners here, like on
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Sunday at the starting line, I'll be telling them Berchie.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: But it's something I would say a lot with my
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: kids too, like cause I kind of wanted them to
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: keep that mental.
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: Toughness I saw with people over there.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, like sometimes in the US kids
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: can be a little bit soft or like caught older
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: things at times, and so I was like I wanted
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: them to be like keep their Ethiopian toughness, you know.
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: Their toughness.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: I love that.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: And I think it's so admirable and obviously understandable that
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: you took it upon yourselves to learn the language so
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: that you could do the best that you could with
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: the girls. And I'm sure that although they may not
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: have had a full understanding of what was going on,
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: they appreciated that you were making that effort, I hope.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I wanted to meet them like halfway because yeah,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: typically international adoption, you swoop in, grab the kids, bring
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: them to this like completely different alien planet, you know,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and like expect them to do all the changing and adapting.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: But but yeah, we were hoping to try to help.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Like we spend a lot of time over there in
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the process, learning their culture, seeing them in context of
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Ethiopia and stuff, and I think that helped.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: And you had spent a good chunk of time there,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: not only in the process of the adoption, but then
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: also you've trained there as well. What do you feel
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: like that process really brought to you as an individual?
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's one of the greatest privileges of my life.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I feel like to be able to be embraced by
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: a team over there and really get to experience like
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: the running culture, not as like a truist as much.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, I still was, but I feel like, you know,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: people will go to Kenyan Ethiopian, they're kind of like observing,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: but like I got to really join in with the team,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: and that was one of the things I was excited
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: to share with the running community because I feel like
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of people haven't trained in Ethiopia or and
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: definitely like not in the context of like that I
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: got to, and so it was really fun to I
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: was actually writing those parts over there, and it was
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: like reminding me of all all the fun, quirky aspects
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: of training there. But I think when the biggest takeaway
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I got from my time training there was learning to
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: like keep my peace because there it's like just so
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: chaotic a lot of times, like on the roads, like
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: there's stray dogs, there's donkey carts like cutting you off.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: There's like a bus coming and exhaling smoke all around you,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and like and already I have no idea what the
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: workout is a lot of times, like because I don't
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: speak the language fluently, and the pace isn't you know,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: it's not being dictated by me or a pa, my
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: pacemaker or something.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: And so there was like a.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Wildness about training there that I feel like I bring
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: now to the race on Sunday that like the chaos
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: of the bottle stops there that's like normal for me.
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: Like like they're even more chaotic over there.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: And so I really learned how to just like find
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: my peace in the chaos and even just like daily
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: life there is it's you know, everything doesn't run quite
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: like it does as efficiently always as here, and so
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: that was I feel like it's been sticking.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would imagine that that chaos and being able
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: to come back here it really gives you a deep
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: appreciation for like some of the things that are just
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: so easy here in the United.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: States for sure. Yeah, And I think there's its pros
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: and cons. Like I think there's all beautiful things about
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: warm weather cultures that are awesome, like where when they're
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: not as maybe exact with time and stuff, there's more
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: of like a relationalness where it's like, yeah, where you
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: can just drop in on people.
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: And stay as long as you want. You know, those
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: things are really beautiful too.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: But but yeah, I think it's really it's fun to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: step into other cultures because it really makes you kind
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: of evaluate your own norms.
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: You are.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: This is a Sarah Hall fun fact. The only American
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: athlete in history to win USATF national titles in both
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: the mile and the marathon.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: That's some wild range, Sarah.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: When I say that back to you and we think
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: about that transition moving away from the track and going
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: out onto the roads, where's their fear and that decision
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: on your part a little bit, I.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Think just because you never know what's possible ahead, And
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: I think it's the same thing that kind of keeps
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: me in the sport now, right, is like you never
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: know what might be ahead, and so I think on
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: the track, like, I still loved being fast and sprinting,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: like I was a fifteen hundred meter runner for a while,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: So I think moving to the marathon, like you're like,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: but I like to sprint and like do all out
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: two hundreds.
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: And it was really just a breath of friends shared it.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I've always loved cross country, and I feel like the
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: roads is kind of like our equivalent of cross country.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: So when I kind of framed it that way in
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: my mind, I was more excited.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: And you also love running on the trails a huge
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: part of what you get to do regularly as a
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: part of your training. Growing up, you would do a
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: lot of trail running kind of in a maybe a
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: different way than a conventional runner. For you, what is
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: it about being able to be outside and be on
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: the trails that really gives back to you and really
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: aligns with your spirit.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: I really love how you have to be really present
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: in the trails, Like it's like you have to be
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: looking at your steps or you'll trip right. And so
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: I feel like there's like a meditativeness of that where
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: maybe on a wider road or even more even surface,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: like you want to be listening to music or podcasts
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: or you kind of be thinking about other stuff, but
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the trails kind of keep you really present. And also, yeah,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: like you said, brings me back to kind of my
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: roots in the sport and how I fell in love
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: with the sport. And so yeah, I would love to
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: race in the trails at some point, and I think
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: that that day's coming closer, but yeah, for now, I
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: try to train in them when I can.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: I would love to race in the trails some point.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: There is like this like narrative going on with like
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: women marathon rs that like, once you decide that you
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: just don't want to run marathons anymore, I would be like, Okay,
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: maybe I'll go back to has or five k's, and
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: then all these elites are like I'm going to hit
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: the trails, which is just wild to me because it's
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: like I'm just gonna keep going forever. That is just
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: the mentality that it requires to be out there on
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: your feet for such a long time I think is
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: really beautiful. What you're doing is already like so incomprehensible
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: for so many They like, you run how far?
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: How fast? That's so crazy?
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: But then the desire to continue to challenge yourself in
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: this new way I think is really impressive. What is
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: it about the curiosity that goes.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: Hand in hand with that? Have you always been a
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: curious person?
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: Oh? Yeah, I think so.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: I've always been someone similar to Ryan where we like
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to push ourselves physically to like like when I was
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: a young kid, I'd be like, I'm going to try
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: to rollerblade to the beach today and it's like thirty
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: miles from my house, you know, like just something like that.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Like now that I have kids, I'm like, yeah, I
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: guess that wasn't normal because they don't say that stuff.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I think I think that's still there where
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: it's like, oh, I wonder what one hundred male Reice
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: would feel like, you know, yeah.
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: But a lot of it is the process too.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Like Ryan's running a lot in the trails and he
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: just comes back and he's like, you don't know what
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: you're missing out there? It's like so amazing, and so
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: a lot of it is just knowing you would enjoy
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: that process too.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what else are you curious about right now, like
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: beyond the trails, whether it's about running or maybe it's
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: not about running, what is interesting you?
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, curious as far as running to see how
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: good I can still be in my forties, for sure.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: I think that's kept me going.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I'm also really working right now to start our very
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: own project in Ethiopia. There's over sixty thousand kids living
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: on the streets just in the capital city alone, and
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: so up till now, we've supported other organizations through our charity,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: the Whole Steps Foundation, that are doing work with these kids.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: But we're in the process of starting our own project
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: and so yeah, it's it's a big learning curve as
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: we hire staff, and so I'm I'm excited. It's also like,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: you know, it's gonna be challenging, like working with the
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: government there and everything can be challenging. But I just
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: had a moment where, you know, we're I was out
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: there training last December and we're driving by a warehouse
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: and there was like over a thousand kids in this
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: warehouse that.
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: The government had just kind of like rounded up and
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: put in there.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: And it was it was just a moment where you're like,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not okay with this, like like not on my
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: watch kind of moment, you know. And so so yeah,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: we're gonna be doing job training, housing rehabilitation, and career
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: like training and everything for these kids is kind of
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: the vision. So so yeah, I'm excited and curious like
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: about that process.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: It's so cool to hear you say, I saw this thing,
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: I wasn't okay with it. I knew I wanted to
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: do something about it. The difference between you and many
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: is there's that desire to do something about it, and
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: then there's taking the initiative and asking the questions so
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: that you can. Can you talk a little bit about
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: that process of one goes about asking the right questions
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: in this circumstance because to your point, such a crazy
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: learning curve.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good point, because you know, starting a
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: project isn't always the answer, right. I think, like number one,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: it's like supporting local people that are doing the work.
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: If you can.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: And so I've worked to build relationships in Ethiopia first
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: over a number of years, and it was going to
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: those people and saying, hey, do you feel like there's
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: a need for another project or if we provided funds,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: like can you just scale up what you're doing well,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: you know, and so kind of taking the time to
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: do that, having people you really trust that can give
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: you an honest answer with that, right, And I feel
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: really grateful that I've been able to make those relationships
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: and and in the end they did encourage us, like, hey,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: let's partner, but yeah, I think there is like a
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: need for someone else to come alongside us.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and viewing it that way, viewing it as let's
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: help each other instead of either assuming that you're gonna
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: have to do it all or they're going to do
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: it all and you're not going to be able to
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: be as actively involved as you want. Like, that's so special,
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: And I think that that's a really foundational point and
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: helpful tip for anyone that's looking to start something or
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: get involved in something. It's like, be okay asking for help.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: Someone's probably done something along the lines of whatever it
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: is that you're interested in doing. So don't be afraid
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: to ask questions. Yeah, asking and asking questions is going
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: to be super intimidating as well.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: Absolutely Yeah, I think really honoring what people have done
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: well too, like is really important and just like I
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: feel like we've we've really taken the time to like
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: do our research there and like really just celebrate people
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: because it's definitely challenging and you need a lot of
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: courage to take stuff on there.
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, courage is such a keyword.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: You also mentioned, of course a couple of times now
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: your book coming out next year.
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: Congratulations, very exciting. So along those lines.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Of the title of the book, what would you say
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: that your personal definition of grind is and has that
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: evolved maybe as your self compassion has increased as well.
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: That's a good question. Yeah, I think it has. I
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: think there's you know, hustle culture was really big for
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: a while. It's like no days off and like grind
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: and stuff.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: And I don't think that's necessarily what I mean when
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I say grind, but probably was at one point right earlier,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: where it was like just be tougher, just go harder.
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: And now it's it's not.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: I think like parenting is a grind, right, It's like
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: it's not always just like stuffed towards your goals, but
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: it's it's just realizing like when you're trying to be
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: excellent at things, when you're trying to show up for people,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: when you're parenting kids, coming out of trauma, you know,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: all these things, Like it just takes like perseverance. There's
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: going to be like ups and downs that I talk
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: all throughout the book and stuff. There's weather thwarting your
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: record attempts, there's doping, there's you know, there's all these things,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: and you have to really have a love for the
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: process and like an excitement to just continue to believe
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: in what you're doing.
• 35:14
  Speaker 4: That like keep that hold you through all of it.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you said the D word. So I'm going
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: to talk about you've been in races where women who
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: finished ahead of you were later disqualified for doping, which
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: meant their victory was fraudulent. What would you say is
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: the deepest emotional tax that doping takes on a clean
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: athlete like you. So you've been in the game for
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: so long, you've been working for so long, we find
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: out what happens in these awful instances.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: How does that impact you emotionally?
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you get a mix of emotions, like,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: you know, anger, kind of frustration. My mind tends to
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: go back to, Yeah, how didn't just impact my race, like,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: but also the training, Like you're dreaming of that race,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: like you're dreaming of what it's going to take to
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: beat this person.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: It's kind of how much your energy went around that
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: and you're like, or the expectations that were on you
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: to beat this person, and then that person was.
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: They were disappointed with you.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: You know, your mind just kind of starts to replay
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: these things, and you know, I try to lead into
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: empathy and just realize, like I don't know what it's
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: like to maybe grow up in a country where there's
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: extreme poverty, like and from a young age, you're really
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: worried about survival.
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: And I mean, of course i'd never condone doping or
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: like to a means to that end or something, but
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: you also just, yeah, I've never lived that before, you know,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: But I wouldn't say empathy is like the first emotion
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: I go.
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: To, not the first one.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I you know, I kind of had a
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: hunch that you would go in that way, And I
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: think that just shows how strong of a person that
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: you are and how compassionate of a person that you are.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: I definitely think it's entirely understandable also to feel all
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: of this anger and frustration because you don't work hard
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: for things not to go as you'd hoped, and then
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: to get a wrench like that thrown into the mix.
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't even I can't even imagine.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I try to remind myself that, like in business,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: people are cheating, like in all different areas of business, right,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: and it's like kind of have to be okay with
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: your performance, like being feeling like you did the absolute best.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: And Bryan was actually always really good at that, like
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: he was really good at comparing himself to himself and
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: almost like of course he wanted to like win every
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: major he went out to, but like he he's taught
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: me a lot about that, and so I think it's that,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: And then it's also just really loving the process. Like
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: when you love what you're doing, it's not a means
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: to that end. And so if that the end result
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: gets taken away from for some reason, it's not like
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: that was all not worth it because you loved it,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: So that's part of it too.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Now for those that may not fully understand or like
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: know what's happening like right now within the climate of
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: women's running. Would you say that this seemingly is becoming
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: something we're seeing more often.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I think what's awesome is like the World Marathon Majors
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: are doing a really great job, and Athleics Integrity Unit
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: is doing a great job out of competition testing and
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: with a biological passport. I think it's probably just more
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: people getting caught more frequently.
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: Which is encouraging.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: It's as like angry and frustrating as you are, you're
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: also have that other emotion of like, yay, this system
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: is getting better and stuff, So that's encouraging.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: And then for those that don't know, so like for instance,
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: for you, you came in second to a marathon to
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: someone that now has been found that she doped. With
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: that circumstance, someone's question is do you get retroactively awarded anything?
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: Not right now?
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: So I think it has to be a positive test
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: as far back as when that event happened. So yeah,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: there's no proving that the person was that day or
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: like as far back as any other result than from
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: when they tested positive.
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: But I think there could be some change with that too.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: I think as athletes, I think we're wanting to work
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: with race directors and over policies around these things and
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: be like, hey, like maybe if you sign something where
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: you're like, if I ever test positive, like my records
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: or my things are going to be wiped. I think,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: you know, every race can decide what they want to do, yeah,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: and if you want to run that race, you have
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: to comply with those rules. So I think maybe we
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: can see some change there.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: I think it would be really special to be able
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: to have more of that open dialogue between organizers and athletes,
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: making the athletes feel like they're a more integral part
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: of the conversation, because without the athletes, there's there's none
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: of it, right, Yeah, yeah, there's none of it now.
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: Speaking of the state of sport bigger than that, the
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: state of women's sports right now, it's a very different
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: ballgame right now than it was when you got into
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: the mix here. How do you feel about the state
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: of women's sports as a whole and what is your
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: kind of hope moving forward.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so exciting to see what's happening and in
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: women's sports, and it specifically our sport, Like it's so
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: cool to see the depth coming and like these young
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: I feel like when I came out of college being
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: a professional runner. It seemed like it was something only
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: the top people really took on, or a couple other
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: brave people wanting to go for it and try to
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: be development runners. But now it seems like there's just
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: so much more depth coming from college that are like, yeah,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: I want to run professionally, Like there's less pressure to
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: like start a family right away or anything like that.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Like it's like I love seeing yeah, just girls going
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: for it at all ages. And I also love to
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: see people like in their forties, like still believing like
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: amazing days are ahead and that's really cool too, and
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: so so yeah.
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: It's it's an exciting time.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: It's tough, right, it's getting more competitive in the US
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: and world ride.
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: I feel like the marathon in general, but definitely really exciting.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: When you think about the women that have help helped
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: guide you along this sport, How does it feel for
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: you now to think that, hey, I'm probably this person
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: for other women coming up as well.
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, gosh, I hope.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: So I mean, yeah, I got really lucky having Dina
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Castor and Jen Ryan's as mentors. They were already in
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: their like late twenties early thirties when I joined first
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: came out of college, and they really helped me learn
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: how to take a more professional approach to the sport.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: And and also just like I just learned through their
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: mentality just watching them too.
• 41:31
  Speaker 4: So so yeah, I hope I can be that for
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: other people. I think.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think what's cool about social media is it's
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: your You can share more even if you're not in
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: the same place, whereas before we didn't have that.
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: So sometimes the sharing is good and sometimes the sharing
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: is not so good. Do you feel like, because obviously
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: that has really, you know, grown in popularity since you
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: started in this sport, do you feel like for you
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: that it has been more of a tool or perhaps
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: sometimes more of a hindrance when it comes to your
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: mindset and showing up and knowing that so many people
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: are right behind the keyboard to chime in.
• 42:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: In my book, I taught you see the whole arc
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: of my relationship with the media or like criticism, online
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: criticism and stuff like that. When I started in high school,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: like that was a real detriment to me mentally, like
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: just experiencing myself being like torn apart by people on
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: an anonymous message board, you know, like.
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: A tell me more I need to know.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you'll have to like read it all the
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: whole story. But you know, I think I was in
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: sophomore year and I just it was like the dawn
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: of the Internet because I was, you know, I'm forty
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: two now, so but I just stumbled upon it and
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: it was like pictures of me critiquing my body, like
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: critiquing like my performance.
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: And I think it's just at an.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Age where you're you just want love and belonging as
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: a high school girl, right, And it was just and
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: I wasn't used to the internet, like and so it
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: was like and something happened in that moment where I realized, oh,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: if I fail, I can lose love and belonging from people,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: you know. And then I really that was kind of
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: like the seed of fear and failure that I kind
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: of battled for years after that and so so yeah,
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: and obviously as I grew and matured and now I
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: handle it a lot differently.
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: I don't seek it out. I know how to like
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: and even if I do come across it, like, I'm tougher,
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: you know, but I just have a lot of compassion
• 43:27
  Speaker 4: for that high school girl too. And also I think.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: It's good to just learn how to be confident in
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: your path to aside from others opinions. And I had
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: to deal with family's opinions along my career, you know,
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: like it's kind of like learning all of those things,
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: like how do I stay true to my path, like
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: regardless of what these voices are saying.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: You know, there's no roadmap to doing this, so that's
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: not lost on me. But I'm sure from your journey
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: of getting to this place where you understand that your
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: self worth and your identity is not completely wrapped up
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: and being a runner, that took a certain special set
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: of skills and a certain special amount of self talk.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: Any tips you can offer someone who may feel like
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: they are in the struggle point of being really unsure
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: about their identity and self worth.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think that that's actually a big value
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: of the process of running something you can get out
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: of it. Personally, is like learning to find your identity
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: in who you are apart from what you do. You know,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: and that took me a long time, like into my
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: professional career to figure that out. For me, it was
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: my faith was a big part of that like, just
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: what does God say about me, like in the Bible
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: or when I pray, Like what is he saying?
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: Who I am?
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: You know, especially when I'm getting last at the US Nationals,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: I no longer I am getting that like I'm a success
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: from my performances. So that's where I turned. But also
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: I think the people that love you no matter what,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: can probably tell you to.
• 45:09
  Speaker 3: How does running make you feel, Sarah.
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: Happy and alive?
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: Like I was just I flew in here last night
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: and I went out running in Central Park in the darkness,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: and I was like just having the best time.
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: I was like, these are the days. I love this
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: so much.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: And I think, I think that's what's cool is you
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: can have that if you tune into the feeling, no
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: matter what the watch says, no matter what your performance says,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: like you can always have that, you know, and so
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: even as you age, even if you know that's what
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: special is that we can always still come back to
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: that feeling.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: What else in your life gives you that kind of joy?
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: Ooh, that's a good question. I think just being in
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: beautiful places and like being with people you really love,
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: just having like a collective experience together. I think both
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: of those things.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: Do someone comes to your social media and they see
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: both a loving mother and then also this woman that
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: has had such an impressive and long successful career within
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: this sport. But when you look in the mirror, Sarah,
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: what is it that you see looking back at you?
• 46:21
  Speaker 4: Hmmm, that's a good question.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: I think someone that like just really tried hard, like
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: to do the best she could in all areas, and
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: like because she really cared, like cared about people, cared
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: about what she was doing.
• 46:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but that also just like really loved the grind
• 46:38
  Speaker 4: of it, of all of it, you.
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: Know, yeah, the grind of it.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: And again, like I appreciate what you said earlier about
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: that time and I remember it well when like hustle
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: was like so glorified and now it really more so.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: Is like, are you taking enough time for yourself?
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: For you? What does taking time for you typically look like?
• 47:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of times my run is that
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: time like I want to just go be in the trails,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: like in a beautiful place, like by myself or with
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: the kids or something like. That's what I found is
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: like I try to focus on things I.
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: Actually enjoy, like doing them with the kids, and.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: Then it's not just like doing things for them or
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: like it's trying to help them with things, but it's
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: actually like I actually enjoy them and enjoy the thing
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: in the moment. Other than that, Yeah, the running, I
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: feel like is like my passion and the fun part and.
• 47:34
  Speaker 3: The fun part.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: It's so funny because I feel as though ninety nine
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: percent of time and I'm like, what do you do
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: for you?
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: Every athlete is like I do my sport.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: It really is right, It's like, yeah, it's your passion
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: and hobby and everything too, as well as your career.
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: I'm sure all the time you get asked, you know,
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: for someone that feels as though they could never be
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: a runner or I'm no good at this, like how
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: do they get out there? So I'm going to bring
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: it to the table for the people listening. Maybe they
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: have dabbled in the sport, but they just don't feel
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: as though they're good at it.
• 48:06
  Speaker 3: What advice do you have to offer them?
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I want to say it's it's never too late.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: Like my mom started running in her mid fifties. She
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: ran a half marathon a year in marathon two years
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: in and she'd never done sports, never done and I
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: just kept encouraging her. It's like takes a bit to
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: get over the hump, and now she's like addicted to it.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: She gets the endorphins, she loves it. I mean it's
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: not about yeah, when you say like they don't feel
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: like they're good at it, Like, it's not about place
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: or pace or anything, right, it's like just the feeling
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: you get and the fun of it. And she got
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: there like pretty quickly, So.
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, quickly. And you yourself have had such an evolution.
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: Not only do we talk about being great on the
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: track and then also on the roads, but when you
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: ran your first marathon in twenty fifteen, you ran it
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: in two forty eight, and now your personal best is
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: almost thirty minutes faster. What do you think is the
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: secret sauce to.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: That, Oh, underperforming a lot in your first marathon, but
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: but also yeah, I think after that I kind of
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: improved just like a minute of marathon every time out.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: So that was each one of those minutes was us
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: experimenting and training. Ryan and I was just getting a
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: little better at the same things we were doing and
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: loving the process, and improvement's addictive. So each one of those,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: like constantly improving just kept me coming back for more.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: It's so crazy because you say we were progressing a
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: minute at a time and someone hears that and they're like,
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: how do you keep going? And so obviously a big
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: part of that is the joy for the journey, right,
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: And I'm sure that's something that you've had to learn
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: over time, because more often than not, I mean, you're
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: giving it your best, but you might not always be
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: getting the result that you're after.
• 49:43
  Speaker 4: Right for sure.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's where you can have a lot of
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: things for your end result. And so it was really
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: like those times that it did, I would tell Ryan, like,
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have changed the thing because I loved every
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: bit of the training we did for this race, you know.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: But but yeah, in those races, I guess I did
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: just hit good days and was able to keep the improvements.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: And it wasn't all linear like I would have a
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: couple you know, once it didn't go well.
• 50:09
  Speaker 4: But yeah, for the.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: Most part, You're it's more like evaluating it based on
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: like if you didn't have the result come all together,
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: it's like did we move the ball forward in training?
• 50:20
  Speaker 4: And so that's always rewarding.
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: You said that you're still in it to win it
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: right now, that you're still seeing what's the balance of
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: your potential on the roads as an athlete. I'm curious
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: when was the closest that you came to hanging up
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: your sneakers. Sounds so weird, but to saying all right,
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: maybe I'm done now so far probably in the thick
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: of this really long injury cycle I was in from
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I had more days for a year and there
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: where I couldn't run than I could, which had never
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: happened to me in the sport, and I was just
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: not sure my body could do this anymore.
• 50:59
  Speaker 4: I was like, you know, maybe, Like.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: I've done this so much longer than I thought I could,
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: And I'm really grateful for everything the sport's giving me.
• 51:07
  Speaker 4: Like I had a.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: Team that really believed there were more days ahead and
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: kept me in it and kept teaching me how to
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: rebuild my body, and so so here I am.
• 51:15
  Speaker 3: And yeah, rebuild my body. Elaborate a little bit on that.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean it took a lot of strength work,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: It took a lot of changing my mechanics Yeah, I
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: talk a lot about the specifics in my book of
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: that process, but definitely I think as you age, like
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: your chassis can start to break down, you know, And
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: so I had to really change how I was running.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: And and it's little things, right, Like it's my form
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: isn't like drastically different than it was before, but those
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: little things can really help. And yeah, this last build up,
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: you know, I started with a little bit of a
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: foot injury, but the rest of the actual marathon training
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: for four months, I didn't miss a single day, you know.
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: And so it's it's cool to feel my body handling it.
• 51:55
  Speaker 4: Again.
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: You haven't worked for twenty years to get to this
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: point and be like, all right, I'm gonna throw it
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: all out the window.
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: But you do the best you can of what you have.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Yeah, it's about the best version of you.
• 52:05
  Speaker 4: You know, your type?
• 52:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, your type.
• 52:08
  Speaker 2: All right, as we wind down here, Sarah, my question
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: for you, what else are you excited about right now?
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: I'm excited about this project in Ethiopia. I'm excited about
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: my book and just getting to like share so many
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: things that I've learned along the ways. Really was my
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: heart behind it, Like, and I think in the process
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: of the book, I'll get to meet a lot of
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: people because I think sometimes we at least hunker down,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: you know, we really focused on performance before the race.
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: But it's gonna like allow me to really spend more time.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: And MEB told me, he's like, you're gonna love that
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: part of it, and he's he's such a like amazing
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: guy with that stuff.
• 52:39
  Speaker 4: So yeah, I'm excited to just meet a lot more
• 52:41
  Speaker 4: runners out there.
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: Why now for the book, Well, I.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: Started it in twenty twenty just I felt like there
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: were things I'd learned in my career that it allowed
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: me to have my best year ever that year, even
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: though it was a year a lot of people were
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: struggling and with motivation and things like that. But I
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: really felt like my story wasn't done and so I
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: wanted to like see it unfold a little bit more.
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: And it's still not done now, but I still I
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: wanted to write it at a time where I was
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: still doing a lot of road racing and could like
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: still yeah, like be able to be at a race
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: to race but also do stuff with meeting people and stuff.
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: So yeah, you still wanted to be in the mix.
• 53:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, And I think it just felt like time. Yeah.
• 53:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you gotta trust your gut, right, uh huh.
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: Right, now you have an opportunity to offer yourself a
• 53:28
  Speaker 2: piece of advice.
• 53:29
  Speaker 3: I want to go back to.
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, you so beautifully talked about that time where
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: you were like, Ryan is succeeding. I just don't know
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: if this is working for me. What are we doing here?
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: I am leaning one way he is taking off. What's
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: going on right now? Knowing what you know now about life,
• 53:48
  Speaker 2: about yourself, you have the opportunity to offer that version
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: of you a piece of advice.
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: What would you tell her?
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: Enjoy the moment, Like, enjoy this fun ride with Brian
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: and know that, like your moments are coming and just
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: keep in join the process, enjoyed the journey, and like
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: just wait and be patient.
• 54:08
  Speaker 3: Be patient, same kind of advice.
• 54:09
  Speaker 2: When we think about the hurdle moment of you navigating
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: that injury twenty twenty two.
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like you're gonna get back to being able to
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: trust your body again and you're gonna learn.
• 54:20
  Speaker 4: So much about yourself in the process. So hang in.
• 54:22
  Speaker 3: There, Hang in there.
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: There is nothing worse than wanting to do something and
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: knowing that it's not on your best interest.
• 54:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like nothing worse.
• 54:32
  Speaker 4: It's tough.
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: It is tough, and I think that that's a true
• 54:35
  Speaker 2: skill to be able to exercise that restraint and also
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: like a level of maturity that is, like it doesn't
• 54:42
  Speaker 2: matter how old you get, like you always struggle with it.
• 54:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, Sarah Hall, I'm so glad that you were
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: able to come in today. For those that aren't following
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: along with you just yet, give me the details. Where
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: do they keep up with you? At your Instagram all
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: that stuff? Okay, Yeah, my Instagram's at Sarah s A.
• 55:00
  Speaker 4: R A. Hall the number three. Yeah, I'm on the
• 55:04
  Speaker 4: other platforms at that too.
• 55:06
  Speaker 3: Why three?
• 55:08
  Speaker 4: Actually it's a that's funny story.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: There's a Bible verse about like a quard of three
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: strands is not easily broken and Ryan I always liked
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: that one. It was like us and God like together,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: like if we stay close to God, like we're gonna
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: keep our connections stronger and stuff.
• 55:24
  Speaker 4: So and then it just stuck. Ever since.
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: Another Hurdle Conquered.
• 55:33
  Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.