Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Episode 63: Jes Woods, Ultramarathoner & Nike+ Run Coach

Transcript

Episode 63: Jes Woods, Ultramarathoner & Nike+ Run Coach · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's shag and hurdlers. You are listening to episode sixty
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: three of Hurdle, a podcast that talks to everyone from
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: entrepreneurs to top CEOs and athletes about how they got
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: through tough times hurdles of sorts by leaning into wellness.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: My name's Emily Badi. Your girl is fresh off an
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: eleven mile run. She's feeling slightly dehydrated, but good and
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: amped to bring you this week's episode with Jess Woods.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: She's a Nike Plus running coach, studio manager for Flywheel
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Sports and an Ultra marathon or more on that in
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a second. Before we get to it, quick shout out
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: to my sponsor, Athletic Greens with twelve servings of fruits
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and vegetables. Athletic Greens has everything I need to kick
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: off my day. Right They are offering Hurdle listeners a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: special deal. It's twenty travel packs a seventy nine dollars value,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: absolutely free with your first purchase. Just head on over
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: to Athletic Greens dot com slash hurdle again. That's Athleticgreens
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: dot com slash Hurdle to grab yours today. All right,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: so let's talk about Jess Woods. Like I said, Nike
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Plus Running coach Ultra Marathoner. Today she's slaying crazy amounts
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: of miles one hundred and one swoop. But not of
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: that long ago, she was working full time as a
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: project manager at NBC. In today's episode, we talk about
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the opportunity that came her way to turn her passion
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: for running into more of a full time gig. We
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: also talk about her big goals as a coach for
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the years to come and what it's really like to
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: run for twenty seven hours straights. Oh my god, it's insane.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: She also offers up some must here advice for new
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: runners on how they can start and stay with the
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: sport and something that a lot of people reach out
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: to me about often, some advice when it comes to
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: making an essential career pitvot fun fact. Also, if you're
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: into the Bachelorette, Coach Woods recently teamed up with Tyler Cameron,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: he's a current contestant on the show, to help coach
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a weekly informal running club that he's hosting with his
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: friend Matt James in Central Park. She was telling me
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: after we recorded this that she was just so enamored
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: by these two. Someone has to say it slightly attractive, Okay,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: very attractive guys bringing hundreds of people together to run,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: and she just had to get in on the action.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Now they're all working together to put together a five
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: k at the end of the summer, with all the
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: prosis going to Matt's charity, which is called ABC Food Tours.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: So for more info on that, definitely keep up with
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Jess on social Her Instagram handle is Jesslyn NYC. That's
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: j E. S l y n NYC. And check out
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: also ABC Food Tours on the Gram, it's just at
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: ABC Food Tours. As for me, like I said, Chicago
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Marathon training is in full swing. I'm so happy to
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: be in the air conditioning right now, and I'm loving
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: all the messages that are coming from you guys asking
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: for tips and tricks and advice and whatnot. So keep
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: it coming. We're all going to push through all this
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: heat and all these miles together and make sure to
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: keep up with the podcast on Instagram it's at Hurdle Podcast,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: and of course for me, it's at Emily a Body.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: If you've got a Hurdle moment of your own to
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: share or just want to say hi, I am always
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: around on email. It's Emily at hurdle dot us and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I think that's it with that, Let's get to hurdling today.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting down with Nike run coach and ultra marathon
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: are extraordinaire, Jess Woods. I know about extraordinaire, but thank
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: you you have won an ultra marathon. I think when
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: you win one.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you just have to win one local race and
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: then that's it retired?
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Can you? Before we really jump into this, give the
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: hurdlers nickname for the audience some insight into what it
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: means to be an ultra marathon.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Or well an ultra marathon or is technically anything over
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: a marathon. So they usually start at the fifty k
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: distance or thirty one miles, and then it can be
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: anywhere up to fifty miles, one hundred k, one hundred miles.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I haven't run any further than one hundred miles in
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: one I guess, not sitting, but one one standing. But
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: they definitely there's even crazier ones beyond one hundred miles,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: but that's where I stop.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Are there no sweet spots in between like twenty six
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: point two and thirty one?
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: I think fifty k on trail is where it's at
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: that seems nice.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: And why is it on trail a lot of the time,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: because I feel like, correct me if I'm wrong, but
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: a majority of the races that you're getting into are
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: all like in the woods.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. We just had one last weekend that was
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: on road one hundred miles or one hundred kilometers around
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: the streets of New York. And it's a different beast
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: on road versus trail. I mean, they're each difficult in
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: their own way, but I feel like ultra marathons on
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: trail bring a different element of obstacles and just different
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: kinds of challenges than running on road. But they do
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: exist both on trail and road. I just prefer trail.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Do you think that people lean into trail for ultras
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: because it's just less of an impact on your joints,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: like softer services.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yes. And it's also how these things started, Like the
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: first hundred miler was well it's now called Western States,
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: But these races started off as horse races, and one
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: year a man named Gordy his horse became lame and
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: they had to put it down, and so the next
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: year he instead of using a horse, he wondered if
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: he could do it on foot in under twenty four hours.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And so this guy, if you watch documentaries on him,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: super cool bearded guy, probably ran one hundred miles in
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: georts squeaked in just under twenty four hours. And instead
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: of receiving a metal like you do in normal marathons
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: at the end of these races, he received a belt buckle.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Because it was originally four horses, and so that's why
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: these things are on trail, because that's how they started.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: They started on trail four horses, and then people started
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: wondering if they could do it on foot.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: What's your one hundred mile er pr.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Just under twenty seven hours?
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Wow? Running for twenty So do you take a break
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: during that? How does that work? Give us some logistics
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: of like how one hundred miler happens, and then we'll
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: get into the rewind where we get the download on
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: how you started doing them in the first place.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Why. Yeah, So there are aid stations. Even though you're
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: on trail in the middle of the woods, in the
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: middle of the desert, there are typically eight stations. Every
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: race is different, but let's say every five, eight, ten
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: miles there's an AID station. So you do, take a
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: little bit of a break. Try not to break too
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: much because if you imagine, if you spend ten minutes
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: at each AID station, and there's at least six AID stations,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: that's an hour you could have taken off of your time, Like,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: it really adds up over the course of one hundred miles.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: So you try and take a break, get down some fuel,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: use the bathroom if there is one, and keep moving.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: It's you have to. It's a delicate balance between making
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: sure you are ready to move on to the to
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: the next segment, versus spending too much time there. Wow,
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: you can get very comfy at a station.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Just start hanging out, lounging around.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, some people nap. I'm not fast enough to nap.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I need all the time.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. Okay, So have you
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: always been into running?
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: I have always been into running. I used to hate
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: running though. I was a triple jumper and a sprinter
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: for nine years. And we are very lazy. We hate running.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: We yes, category, Yeah, we're stereotypically lazy runners. Jumpers like
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: to show up to track and do our drills and
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: run some sprints, but running was kind of a punishment
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: you know, if you were late for practice, you had
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: to run a mile, and so it was kind of
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: used as punishment versus enjoyment.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Enjoyment. Okay, So where does our running career began? Where
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: are you from? I am from Pittsburgh, Okay, born and
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: raised college.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Appropriate.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: And did you go to college and run track?
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I did run track and field there, yes, Okay, I
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: went for engineering.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Ah.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yes. I used to be smart, you're still smart. Used
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: to be a material science engineer that ran on the side.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Okay. Because these days you are running what feels like
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: full time?
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: I would like it to be full time. It's almost
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: full time. I don't know if anyone becomes a running
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: coach for the money. So we all have our we
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: all have our side gigs, but it's primarily running. Am
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: also the studio manager for a cycling studio li Will
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Sports in Chelsea, so that's my full time gig. And
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: then on the side in the morning, at night, on
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: the weekends, you name it. I'm a coach for Nike
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Running and then I also help coach Finley at Brooklyn
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Track Club and coach personal clients as well.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Cool Okay, So let's dial it back a little bit
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to when you first started running, because what you were
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: doing in track and field is very, very very different
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: than what you're doing now. So talk to me about
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: what your relationship was like with running back when you were, say,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: in college in Pittsburgh.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: In college in Pittsburgh, it was I don't know if
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: you know the event, the triple jump, very niche sport,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: but I was a triple jumper, did that for nine years,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: loved it.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And after college what goes into that it is a.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Bound, a skip, and a jump. I'll show you sometimes.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I would actually love to see you in a triple jump.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but once you I graduate from college and moved
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: to New York, like, I don't know if there's any
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: triple jump clubs, So it was kind of hard to
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: do it after college. I mean, twelve years ago in
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: New York, there wasn't the boutique fitness industry that there
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: is now. It was you either joined Equinox or you
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: did you know, Bickram yoga. That was kind of your YEA,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: two choices twelve years ago. So I didn't really find
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: myself for a bit in New York. I had a
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: best friend I have a best friend. She was always
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: into running, and I always admired her running half marathons, marathons,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: and I couldn't really wrap my head around it. And
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: after living in New York for about a year and
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: cheering for her at all of these things, I decided
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: to give it a shot. I was like, well, if
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: I want to remain best friends with her, maybe I
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: should Maybe I should take this on. And so I
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: started off actually with Lululemon. They had free yoga at
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: their stores, and then I saw a sign for their
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: free run club. So I started off with them, and
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: they were very patient, very kind. Ran my first five
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: k with them, ten k, ran the Nike Women's San
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Francisco Marathon with them, and then kind of took off
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: from there.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so how does one go from recreationally running to
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: then like from there, I mean there's a big jump
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: from running like a ten k to even running a marathon. Nevertheless,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: running an ultra or coaching other runners.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I quickly realized that I wasn't the fastest at any
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: of these distances other than sprinting down the length of
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: the triple jump runway. So I wasn't the fastest ten
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: care or fastest half marathon or and so I became
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: interested in ultra running because I figured, once you start
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: running these distances of fifty miles one hundred miles, when
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: you tell someone that you've run that, their first question
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: isn't typically well what was your pace? I thought, well,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: if I I can't be the fastest runner, maybe I'll
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: try and run the furthest.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I like it.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I became interested in the ultra running community.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: And it was actually the race that just happened last weekend,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: the Great New York one hundred mile or one hundred
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: k Running Expedition. So it's a labor of love put
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: on by a guy named Phil McCarthy. He used to
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: hold I don't know which records he still holds, but
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: he used to hold a lot of records in the
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: twenty four hour forty eight hour multi day running categories.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: He just ran across the country recently and he puts
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: on this race just out of the love of the sport.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: And I volunteered at this race I think back in
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: twenty twelve, just to see what the ultra running scene
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: was all about. Just wanted to get a feel for
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: it before entering my first one and I paced someone
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: the last twenty miles of her first hundred miler and
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: just seeing what goes on with someone in my mind
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: eighty two one hundred, and watching the whole community come
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: together because it's all volunteer based. It's all community based.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: People coming out, putting together their own aid stations for
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: these runners, people volunteering to pace runners in the middle
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: of the night, out in benson Hurst at three o'clock
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: in the morning, Like, it's crazy some of the things
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: that you see. And just seeing the community coming together
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: and seeing how much they support one another and what
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: everyone is going through and pushing through. I just I
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: fell in love with it.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Is there anything in your life that makes you as
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: excited as running? Like I'm just sitting here looking at
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: your smile and you're just so geeked out talking about running.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I am very geeked out talking about it, and especially
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: the ultra running community. It's in the trail running community.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: It's not that there's anything bad about the road racing community.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: It's just a different, for lack of a better word,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: it's just a different vibe. Whenever you go out and
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: watch an ultra marathon, it's everyone helps one another, even
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: like Scott Jerk. He had the world record or fastest
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: known time for the entire Appalachian Trail, and he came
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: out the following year and helped a runner break his
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: own record. And so it's very different from road racing.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: You just see everyone helping one another. Everyone wants to
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: show each other the trails, help them with the sport,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: let them know what to expect on their first race.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: It's a very welcoming community.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Totally totally. Okay, So you paced this runner through miles
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: eighty to one hundred, and obviously you were like, Wow,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to be in this much pain. This
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: sounds awesome.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, my runner, actually, the runner I was supposed to
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: pace never made it to me. So I hopped in
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: with a complete stranger. Yeah, I was out there anyways,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: and I hopped in with a stranger and her pacer,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: and that pacer turned out to be a Nike pacer,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: and she said, if you can pace this, you can
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: pace anything. And she recommended me to Nike to be
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: one of their Nike pacers. And so this race that
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about really kickstarted this whole domino effect of
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: how I became involved in the running community. Both as
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: a hobby and then ultimately professionally because then I became
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: a Nike pacer back when it was old school Nike
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: run club out of each of the different Nike stores,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: just helping them pace their long runs every weekend. And
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: then eventually they asked me to come on and become
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: one of the Nike coaches.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Got it, got it? Okay, So then let's pivot a
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: little bit and talk about your career because you go
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to college for engineering, yes, and we're talking all about this,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: all this running stuff. So when you land in New
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: York City, where are you working?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: I was working at NBCUniversal.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Okay, it's doing what exact So at the time they
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: runners there do I'm sure.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Every company, every company does. I recently coached Hudson River
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Trading for a mile relay race, and I feel like
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: any company you go to, you can find secret runners
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: that then have day jobs and then like Clark Kent,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: go run races at night. But I worked at NBC
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Universal at the time, GE owned NBC and so they recruited.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: GE recruited heavily from the top engineering schools, and so
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I was in their engineering rotational program. And when it
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: came time to choose which GE business unit you wanted
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: to work for. It was do you want to work
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: for Oil and Gas, GE Transportation or NBCUniversal? And I
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: was like, well, obviously, and let's move to the most
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: expensive city in the country right after college and work
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: for NBC. So I was. I was mainly a project
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: engineer there in broadcast operations, okay, and I was there
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: for about eight years.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: What does that job do?
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: So project engineers? There's major, multi million dollar projects that
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: are happening all the time behind the scenes to keep
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: the network on the air. Whether it's the first time
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: we introduced video on demand that we take for granted today,
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: eight years ago, we were just starting to put shows
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: on iTunes, on Hulu on video on demand, and so
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: I worked on projects like that. I worked on the
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Beijing Summer Olympics, which was probably one of my favorites,
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: and I didn't get to go to Beijing. The whole
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: point of the project was to keep as many people
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: in New York as possible, and so we did things
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: like turn the Saturday night Live studio floor into this
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Olympics at home effort where we had announcers and announced
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: booths on the Saturday night live studio floor announcing soccer
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: games remotely watching the feed come in so that we
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: didn't actually have to send them to Beijing to announce
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: the games live.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Wow, that's intense. Okay, So you're at NBC for eight years?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: And are you happy at NBC?
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: I was happy, ish, I mean I was. I think
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: I was good at what I did. I was a
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: good project engineer, a good project manager. I had that
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: right amount of technical smarts to be able to talk
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: to the vendors, talk to the engineers, but then also
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: the communication skills to then put together the powerpoints and
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: present you know, status updates to the bosses. And I
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: liked it. I liked it enough. Obviously I was there
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: for eight years, but I can't say I was passionate
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: about television, right, So running was always a hobby.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: And how far into your time at NBC did you
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: really get started with running.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: I think it was well twenty twelve ish is when
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: I started pacing for Nike. And so that was just
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: on the weekends or on Wednesdays at our social run
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: called home Run, And I was just sneaking out of
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: work and doing it on the side, and it was
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: actually Mile High Run Club, the indoor treadmill studio that
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: approached me and asked if I wanted to become a
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: coach at Mile High Run Club. And I had never
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: considered that before. I was always doing it for fun
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: on the side, and I didn't really think that I
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: had the gift of blarney to talk for forty five
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: minutes during a running class, and so I initially turned
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: them down. But then the more and more I went
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: to those classes and the more people that I met,
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: I decided that since this opportunity kind of presented itself
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: organically to me without me actively pursuing it, and more
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: and more Nike coaching opportunities coming up, I decided that,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: you know, now is as good of time as any
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: to take a chance and go with it.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Couple of things. First of all, I feel like treadmill
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: studios are everywhere now. There's I mean in major cities.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I know in LA like they're getting more and more
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: as we speak. There's now Dash, there's Stride here, We've
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: got Precision Run, We've got Mile High Run Club. I
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: just I think that it's interesting that people are seeing treadmills. Finally,
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: I would argue in maybe a little bit different of
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: a way than they used to. This is a new
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: thing a little too much.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: I like feeling fast and I'm learning how to feel
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: fast outside in a shorter distance capacity. So whereas like
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: for the marathon, like I feel really good about my
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: best marathon pace, I don't necessarily feel like I can
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: slam a quick short distance yet. But it's like a
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: new challenge that I'd like to work on.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the treadmill is a good tool for that
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: because you can set your pace and forget about it
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: and you know that you're running that pace. It takes
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: the guesswork out of it. Yeah, So you get your
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: speed intervals in at the exit zact prescribed pace and
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: distance that your coach has lined up for you. So
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: it is a good tool to use. And on the
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: other end, I think it's a good tool to use
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: for beginner runners who might be afraid to run outside
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: or just don't know where to begin. A lot of
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: these treadmill studios now try and make it a fun thing. Right.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: You have music, you have lights, you have an instructor
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: talking you through what speeds you should be at, what
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: inclines you should be at and it's trying to make
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: running fun. I mean, I think running's fun.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: But not everybody ever anything's running fun. Okay, so you're
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: at NBC, You're getting all of these opportunities as a
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: run coach, and you're finally thinking to yourself, maybe I
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be at NBC anymore. I feel like that's got
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: to be a really overwhelming choice, especially knowing as a
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: freelancer myself as a contractor, like what that could entail.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: Right, It's definitely not a sure thing. Yeah, totally entering
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: the entering the freelance world. So I did take my
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: time becoming certified as a road running coach. So I
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: got a certification, I made sure I had enough Malhi
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Run Club classes lined up. I had the Nike coaching
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: gig on the side, so I very cautiously made sure
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I had everything lined up before before taking the jump.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, did you have a lot of anxiety over it?
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I had a lot of anxiety over it. But also
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I offered to stay on as part time with NBC
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: or to work with them as a contractor, And it's
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: just something that they've never done before, and so I
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: don't think they really knew what to do with me,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: so they turned it down. I did offer to stay
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: on in a in a part time role, but ultimately
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I did leave and became a full time coach at
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Malhi Run Club and then a coach for Nike, and
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: then started getting my certification so I could coach people
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: one on one.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: What did your parents think?
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Uh, my mom supports it as much as she can,
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: but I don't think she fully understands it or will
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: ever understand it. Okay, that's that is the most politically correct.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Oh mom, Yeah, no, I mean I get it.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: I think required to love us regardless they are.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I think the thing about especially like when you're running
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: around and there's no like one hundred percent structure with
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: your time, is that from the outside looking in, it's like,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: look at this person just running am UK around New
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: York City and they're having such a fun time and
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: they're working out all the time, and man, it looks great.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: It looks so great. Meanwhile, uh, it's running around at
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: five point thirty in the morning. Because as a running
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: coach or an instructor, we work when the rest of
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: the world isn't working. So it's either the really early mornings,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: the really late nights and then probably some sort of
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: nine to five in the middle or other side gigs.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Was there a moment when you started where you had
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: a wow, I'm really doing the right thing feeling.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: I had the I'm doing the right thing feeling. I
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: think just based on the running community and seeing how
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: much all of these runners are either enjoying the classes
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: that I was teaching, or seeing those posts after a
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: marathon and them thanking you for either being out there,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: for coaching them or for that one class that you
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: taught them. And it's those kinds of posts or messages
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: or you know, people coming up to you after their
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: race that make all the early mornings and late nights
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: worth it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: And I love that.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: That's what I knew.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: So when you started, you were just coaching. You were
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: coaching at Mile High Ron Club, you were coaching with Nike,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: you were getting your feet wet, doing this whole new vibe,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: and you were happy.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I was happy. Like, then why did you leave? I
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: don't know?
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Bold statement now, No, I mean I think it's I
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: think we're getting into the meat of this. Okay, so
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: you're teaching out the classes. But what I will say,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: having had brief stints in teaching fitness myself is that
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: it can feel really overwhelming and then a little bit
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: unsteady based off of how many people are coming to
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: your classes and being like the only person that's on
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: the subway at four fifteen in the morning when you're
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: going to teach a five thirty It's like, wow, am
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I Like is this really how I'm making my living?
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: So I'm sure like at the beginning it came with
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: those fair share amounts of uncertainties.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Uncertainties or like there's pros and cons to being a
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: freelancer an instructor. When you're first starting out, you have
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: to work those Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and start building your
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: client base, so it can become a little not daunting,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: but maybe a little frustrating at times whenever you see
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: all of your friends enjoying the beach on the weekend
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and you're teaching at nine am and noon and a
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: four pm class and you're just in the city all
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: day on the weekends. So that was maybe the downside
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: to it. And I eventually left my high run club
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: and stayed in the fitness industry, but decided to not
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: only put my you know, fitness background, my new fitness
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: experience to use, but also my previous experience with managing
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: a business, managing expenses and a team. And that's when
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: I decided to try and get the best of both worlds.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: And now I manage a cycling studio, so I'm able
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: to manage people in budgets and community, but also keep
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: it in the in the fitness industry.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Taking a quick break from today's episode to give my sponsor,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Athletic Greens a little bit of a shout out. Let
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: me tell you I am notorious for having like four
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to five bridges within an hour of coming back inside
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: from my run, and of course one of those is
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: definitely my Athletic Greens shaker bottle. I add just eight
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to ten ounces of water. It's just so important to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: rehydrate once I get back inside and really give my
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: body everything it needs to continue my day in the
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: right direction to get back to that really solid, stellar place.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Athletic Greens to offering Hurdle listeners a really special deal.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: It's twenty free travel packs a seventy nine dollars value,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: absolutely free with your first purchase. Trust me, this stuff
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: is a game changer. Just head on over to Athleticgreens
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: dot Com slash hurdle again, that's Athleticgreens dot Com slash
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: hurdle to get yours today. You won't regret it with that.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Let's get back to it. When along the lines here
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: do you run your first full marathon? Ooh?
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: I think the first full marathon was at least in
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: twenty twelve, maybe earlier. It was the Nike Women San
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Francisco Marathon.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I didn't realize that was a full marathon.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: It used to be.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, it used to be.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: It used to be. They went away with it.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: San Francisco is a nightmare of a place for a
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: full marathon.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think enough people were signing up for
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: the full marathon. It was crickets after the decision point
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: of who was running the half marathon, you see everyone
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: leaving towards the finish line, and then there's this second
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: runway of marathoners this way. Yeah, no one was choosing.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, no offense to San Francisco, lovely city, but
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: twenty six point two miles of a lot of hills
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: is a lot of work.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Well, we had the hills in the first part of
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: the race, which was the interesting part. And then the
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: marathoners then just went out along the highway and ran
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: around a lake where nobody was cheering, and then ran
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: back along the highway. It was it was miserable.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: From the moment that you ran your first marathon on
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Did you know that you would be hooked? Because I
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: feel like it can either go one of two ways.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: It's like, man, I really love that, or like, wow,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: I never want to do that again.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: No. I think marathons are very hard.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I run ultra marathons because I think they're for Yeah,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: it's like the lazy person's marathon. It's great to run
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: slowly for a lot longer in the wilderness. It's amazing.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: I think marathons are way harder.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but your version of like slow for some is stellar.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: It's just a different kind of thing challenge.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Yes, okay, in your pr ultra marathon, yes, if I
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: were to ask you how what your pace was.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know. The pace was somewhere like like an
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: eight to fifteen pace. I don't know.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Casual, yes, just thirty miles at an eight to fifteen pace.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: But when you're in the woods or in the desert,
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: totally differ. It's totally different because if you say the
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: pace to someone, let's say it was a thirteen minute mile,
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: it's like, well, that's not super impressive. But you have
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: to think about like the aid station stops, the uphill climbs.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, sometimes you're reaching points on the trail where
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: you can't run it, you're scrambling or you're climbing. So
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: pace is kind of irrelevant on the trails. In a
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: launtra marathon, I like to train people based on feel
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: and buy perceived effort, because if you're looking at your
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: watch for one hundred miles or for twenty four, twenty five,
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: twenty six hours, it's just not realistic.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Not realistic at all. Okay, you run a marathon, you
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: change your career, you change your career again, and now
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: how do we feel?
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: We feel good? Yeah, I feel good. I hesitate saying
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: we feel comfortable because that has a negative connotation to it, right, Like,
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: you're not supposed to feel comfortable. Comfortable could mean bad.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: You should be constantly challenging yourself.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Right, I like how you're looking at me for approval.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: I think that comfortable. I think that comfortable can be
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: fine if you feel like you're constantly working to something better.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: So it's okay to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, like
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: maybe every day still feels a little bit like a hustle,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and that I think is rewarding when you are kind
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: of your own boss. If you're comfortable, which means you're stagnant,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: then I think that's bad. But if you're comfortable with
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: the hustle, then I think that's good.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: Right, right, that's a good way to put it. Yes,
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: And so I feel like this has been much like
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: the pace of my hundred milers, this has been a
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: very slow build to get to where I am right
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: now because I've always been self conscious about you know,
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: I'm not the fastest runner, so why would someone want
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: to hire me as a coach, And so I have
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: taken the time to get certified, constantly reading, constantly learning,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: going to seminars, going to training camps, so that maybe
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: I'm not the fat justice runner, but I have the
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: most knowledge in the sport. So now my goal is
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: to become the go to trail and ultra running coach
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: in New York. Oh, because I think you are starting
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: to see it. There's such a thirst for trail running
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: and it's people are interested in it and people want
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: to do it, but it's a little difficult in New
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: York because we don't have the luxury of you know,
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: waking up and driving to the mountains in our backyard.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: So there's an interest for it and a thirst for it,
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: but people don't quite know in New York how to
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: go about doing it, Like how do you train for
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: one hundred mile trail race while living in New York City?
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Totally? And if I had to ask you how trail
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: running makes you feel, what would you say?
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: How trail running makes me feel other other than happy?
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: Trail running makes me feel challenged, be giving back to
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: the community all at the same time.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, what do you mean in a giving back
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: to the community sort of why trail running?
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we get a bad reputation for these road runners
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: coming to the trails running trail races and you know,
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: maybe leaving them in a in a worse state than
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: than when we got there. But the the og trail
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: runners that I that I started off with, it's not
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: only are you running these races, but we all volunteer
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: at the races as well. It's a it's a big
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: give back to the community kind of culture. So whether
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: it's pacing someone for a race, volunteering at a race,
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: doing bag check, hosting an AID station. Uh, it's just
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: what comes around goes around. So you feel like if
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: you if you drive out to Vermont and help someone
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: for their first one hundred miler, it's going to karma
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: is going to come back around, especially in the trail
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: and ultra world where everybody's helping each other.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going to come back to this idea of
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: running one hundred miles in one swoop. So can you
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: kind of take me through how you felt when you
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: first signed up for your first one and then where
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: that happened, and then let's talk about like the mental
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: side of all of that.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the mental side is bigger than the
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: physical side in one hundred milers. That's why I find
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: them super fascinating. I mean, I was interested in them
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: because they tend to even the playing field a bit.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: So someone who might be able to totally crush me
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: on the roads in a marathon, if you put them
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: on trail for one hundred miles, there's just so much
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: that can happen over the course of one hundred miles
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: that you end up being able to compete with people
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: of all ability levels. So my first one hundred miler,
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: it was in the desert. It's called the Halina hundred.
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: It's in Arizona. And my first one actually was not successful.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: I dropped out at mile eighty three. Oh yes, so
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: it's in your head you think, oh, but you were
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: so close. But in my head, seventeen miles still meant
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: many hours out there, and it didn't feel close at
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: the time. And I was sitting down in front of
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: a hot fire, drinking hot soup, and I decided, this
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: is where I've come to end it. This feels lovely.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, But I mean that's one of those like this
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: is a failure that teaches you how to kind of
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: carry on moments when don't.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: You say, I find that in these hundred mile distances
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: miles seventy to one hundred or one hundred percent mental
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: toughness over physical ability. You could be the fittest person
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: out on the course, but if you don't have the
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: mental fortitude or the mental toughness to be awake and
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: still moving at three o'clock in the morning as an
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: ultra marathon or as a marathon, or you're working on
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: mental toughness, you're working on discipline, sticking to your training
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: plan come hell or high water. If you're working crazy
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: weeks traveling, you're trying to figure out the puzzle pieces
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: on how to make your training plan work, and you're
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: staying disciplined, and you're pushing through those tough times, and
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: you're working on all of those things in terms of
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: your race. But all of these qualities applied to real
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: life as well.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: So after you duck out in that race at mile
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: eighty three, are you sitting there sipping soup thinking to yourself,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to figure out what the next race
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: is going to be, Or are you like, man, I
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: am never doing this again. Please just keep me by
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: this fire. For all of a trinity, it was.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: They gave me a lot of time to think about
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: the decision I had just made, because again, you're either
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: on trail in the middle of nowhere, or in this case,
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: I was halfway around found a twenty mile loop and
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: so I had to get back to the start somehow.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: So I had to wait several hours for the van
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: or the truck to drive out and pick up US
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: runners who decided to DNF at that point.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: So the dnfor those for those non runner types, Stansford
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: did not finish, did not finish. It's kind of hard
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: that they have like a abbreviation for this.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, DNF, there's DNS, did not start, There's the affectionate
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: DFL dead fing.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: Last there we go.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, there's awards for that in some of these.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Have you ever had a d DNS, DNS.
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: I debated a DNS. I had one race where I
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: woke up in the morning and really did not want
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: to do it. It's called the Escarpment Trail. It's an
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: eighteen mile trail race and it was challenging enough as
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: it was a lot of cliffs, lot of boulders, but
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: that morning it was just monsooning and it was an
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: unsafe race that you have to apply for and get into,
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: and I really did not want to do it that way.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: Did it did? It was almost DFL but was not.
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: But that is the one race I have run where
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: I can honestly say I'll probably never do it again.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: I was DFL one time in my life. I think
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: my dad and I figured out the other day that
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: I was fourteen or thirteen. We decided to run the
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Great Pumpkin Classic five K in my hometown. Meanwhile, like dad,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: and I also wore the race T shirt for the run.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: So this is this is a snapshot into the father
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: daughter capacity for the Great Pumpkin Classic. And we were
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: literally the last two, followed by the Trumbull Police Department
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: cop sweeper car right behind us. And I think that's
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: why matching race a matching race t shirts. And I
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: think that's probably why I just had such a negative
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: relationship with running until I just committed to it eventually
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: as an older adult. But yeah, being DFL isn't isn't
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: the best feeling.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: It's not the best unless it's in the ultra trail
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: running world where they try and make fun of it
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: and make light of it and give out a prize
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: for it. What's the prize though, I mean maybe it's
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: some of these trail runs the prize is a painted
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: rock or a pie or I'm not your byl yeah,
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: or a hand made wooden cuckoo clock that's been one. Yeah,
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: So you get all kinds of stuff in these trail races.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Nice. Okay, So then we proceed to trail race again, Yes,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: from the DNF.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: From the DNF, what's the first successful trail race. The
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: first successful one was the Vermont one hundred Wow, so
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: left left the desert and went to the hills of
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Vermont on my birthday weekend. I think it's fascinating how
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: many runners treat themselves to races for their birthday. Yea, yeah,
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: so that's one of the few one hundred milers where
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: they still allow the horses to compete alongside the runners.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: So that was super fun and fascinating to watch. So
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: pro tip, the big pools of water that they have
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: at the aid stations in Vermont are not for the
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: runners at all. That is not for the runners to
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: cool off. That's for the horses.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, And so how did it feel crossing the
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: finish line of your first one hundred mile race?
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Sadly, that one felt a little anti climac really. Yeah,
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: you would think that it's this big, exhausting like ultras
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: can kind of rip open your soul and expose yourself
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: and just really break you down. I think at that
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: point in my first successful one, I was just too
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: exhausted and had been out there for so long that
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know when I finally crossed the finish line.
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: It's this very unassuming finish line still in the middle
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: of the woods, and I crossed the finish line and
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: just didn't really know what to do with myself.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, who was there to greet you when you finished?
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: I had a very cute crew team with me, cute
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: because they all had matching Team Woods shirts. But with
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: these ultras, it takes, it takes a whole team. You're
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: only as good as your crew team sometimes.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: And when you say that, like, what does the crew
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: team do for you?
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: So in Vermont, that one was a point to point race,
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: and a lot of it is without cell phone service,
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: and the crew team is constantly driving from one mile
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: marker to the next wherever they can, wherever they're allowed
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: to access you on the trail, and they have your
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: change of clothes or shoes, additional fuel for you, first
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: aid kits, whatever you might possibly need. A lot of
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: these ultras, like my motto is to prepare for the
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: worst so the worst never happens. So you have an
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: extra pair of anything you could possibly need. And it's
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: the crew team's job to not trust the runner and
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: think for the runner and to help you figure out
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: what you might need, because you don't even know what
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: you need at that point.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: Want like a selfless choice to just hop on somebody's
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: crew team, like you must have really trusted these people.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: I trusted these people. One was an experienced trail runner,
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: the others it was their first ultra and trail race
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: that they had ever been to, so I think it
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: was kind of a funny experience for them. It was
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: my best friend Steph, the one who got me into
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: running in the first place, but she's more of a
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: fast road racer as well as her husband. He's an
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: Olympic Trials qualifying marathon her, and so the whole point
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: of running to them is to be off your feet
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: as quickly as possible, and so to watch people willingly
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: be out there for twenty four, twenty five, twenty six hours.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: It was a little It was definitely a different experience
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Having said that the end was anti climactic, yes, what
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: kept you motivated to do it again?
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: Well, of course I wanted to go back to have
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: Alena and finish that race, to finish the remaining seventy
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: miles that I hadn't finished the first go around. And
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: the second time I went back to have Alena is
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: when I really fell in love with that race, and
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: with the one hundred mile distance, the Havelena Race is
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: a twenty mile loop in the desert, and it creates
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: more of a party scene for the crew team, So
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: it's more fun for the crew team there. I think
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: they can set up camp at the start finish and
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: they don't have to follow you around, they don't have
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: to drive around, and it's more of this tent party
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: back at headquarters, so they can hang out, eat pizza,
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: drink beer, wait for their runners to come in every
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: twenty miles, and it's more of a party atmosphere and
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: this camaraderie than any other one hundred miler that I've
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: been to so far, so far, so far. Yes.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: So then the question beckons for someone who hears this
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: and they're like, I could never do that, but they
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: still want to get into running. What are your quick
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: hit suggestions for someone who wants to start, because I
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: think for so many people, starting is the most intimidating part.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: Hands down.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you literally just said it. The first
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: and maybe only thing that you need is to want
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: to start, or to want to run, or to want
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: to run one hundred miles. I still think anyone can
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: run one hundred miles as long as they want to,
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: because it all comes down to why are you out there?
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: Why are you pushing your body to do these things?
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: And as long as you want to be there and
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: you want to do this, you're likely going to train
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: for it and then ultimately push through it and do it.
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: So as long as someone wants to get out there
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: and wants to get started, I think that's the first
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: major hurdle to get over. And there's so many apps
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: now and running crews and running teams and meditation apps
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: that talk you through your first run. There's so many
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: tools out there now that I think that getting into
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: your first five k or first group run is a
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: lot easier now than maybe it used to be.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: I think to go along with that having the willpower
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: to start but then to stay. I think sometimes we
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: start and it's like, oh, this isn't so bad, but
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: then just other things get in the way. Right It's
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: like I was out late last night, so I'm not
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: going to get up today and run or m the
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: weather is kind of cloudy out. It's just not my thing.
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: And I think that's definitely the question that I get
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: constantly is like how do I stick with this, What
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: what motivates me to keep going?
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: Right? I think maybe when you hit those those points,
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: you have to find something that makes it fun.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so totally.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: If maybe racing isn't your ultimate goal and racing a
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: half marathon or a marathon isn't fun to you, that's
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: completely fine. Everyone doesn't have to race a marathon. But
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: if you find something that's keeping running fun for you,
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: then that's what's going to make you want to get
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: up and do it, even if it's raining outside, even
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: if you didn't get a lot of sleep the night before.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: For me, it's having people to run with and having
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: that accountability and finding those crews or those teams that
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: make running fun for you. That's what helps me still
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: get out there and run, even when it might be
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: the last thing you want.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: To do, the last thing you want to do. All right,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: So then tell me, Jess, what's next on your radar.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: Next on the radar is heading back to I'm a
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: little embarrassed to say it, but heading back to the
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: Havelena hundred. I tried to pick a different race this year,
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: but unfortunately wasn't healthy enough in time to train for it,
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: So we're going back to the Havelina hundred at the
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: end of October. The reason why I keep picking these
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: hundred milers is to ultimately run the Western States one hundred.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like the Boston Marathon one hundred milers.
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: You have to qualify for it, but you qualify just
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: to be entered into the lottery, and then it's still
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: a lottery. So I've been in the lottery four times
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: thus far and haven't gotten in yet. So every year
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: I run one of the qualifying races on their list
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: so that I can get a ticket into the lottery
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: and hopefully eventually get into this darn dream race of mind.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Darn jury. You say something that begs addressing, which is injury. Yes,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: what have you experienced injury wise?
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: Injury wise? For me, it's a little difficult sometimes to
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: be a coach as well as training for your own
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: personal race, because even with Flywheel, I can be on
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: my feet all day training someone one on run. I'm
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: taking them to the track for a track session, and
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: then you also have to get your own run in
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, So you have to
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: be really careful with taking into account not only the
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: runs that you're doing for yourself, but the time that
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: you're out there with other people and training other people,
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: that also counts. That's also stress that you're putting on
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: your body and time on your feet, and so that's
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: something that I'm hyper aware of and constantly try and
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: stay in tune with. But sometimes things creep up and
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: you try and address them as soon as things come up.
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: And I'm a big proponent of shutting things down when
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: you feel a tweak a twinge, and addressing it and
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: not pushing through it because it's just it's I don't
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: think anyone has ever gained anything by pushing through an injury.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: Have you ever really pushed the envelope in a way that,
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: in retrospect maybe you wish you hadn't.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was. I was in a boot three years ago.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: I remember the boot.
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the boot. I knew something was off, but I
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: had a run caation planned in Mexico. People lined up
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: to take time out of their lives to take me
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: on trails and show me things, and I just didn't
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: want to miss it and knew that I was doing
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: something wrong, and you know, taped it up with as
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: much KT tape as you think is going to help.
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: But that definitely set me back and put me in
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: the hole. I knew what I was doing at the time,
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: and I did it anyways, but definitely not worth it
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: to do that again.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: What has been one of the best pieces of advice
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: that you have been offered in your career as a
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: runner so far?
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: The best pieces of advice I think I keep going
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: back to the common theme of only doing something if
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: you want to do it. I think signing up for
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: a race or a run because you think it's what
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: you should be doing, or you see others doing it
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: and you get caught up in the hype of comparing
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: yourself to others, and while everybody else is doing it,
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: so I should do it too. Life is too short
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: to sometimes do things that you don't want to do.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: Of course, we always have to do some things that
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: we don't want to do. It's life. But I think
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: running is applicable to life and that we should ultimately
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: be driving to doing things that we want to be doing.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: All right, we're winding down here, Coach Woods, winding down.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: I haven't called you that at all in this podcast.
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: I know that's so weird, that's really caught on.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good.
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: I like taking years to get to that point.
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: You've deserved it. Great, well, perfect woods. Yes, here's here's
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the last question. You have an opportunity right now to
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: offer yourself the Jess who is leaving her full time
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: job with benefits at NBC a piece of advice going
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: through that hurdle moment pursuing her passions. What piece of
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: advice do you offer her?
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: Uh? My one major piece of advice to myself would
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: have been to do it sooner. I know I was
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: really cautious in making sure that I had everything lined
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: up in order to make that jump and to and
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: to get over that hurdle moment. But my one piece
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: of advice to myself would have been to pursue it sooner,
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: to do it too.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time. Yes, you're the best.
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: You're the best. Please take a moment to leave a
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: quick review by clicking the link with the description to
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: this episode. We all face multiple hurdles in life. I
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: want to hear about yours. Reach out to me at
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Emily at hurdle dot us. Connect with the podcast on Instagram, Twitter,
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: and Facebook at Hurdle Podcast. Jess. Where do they find you?
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: How do they keep up with you? How do they
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: follow the hundred milers.
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: You can follow along on Instagram at j E s
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: l y n n y C Orcoachjess dot com.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: Oh, Coachjess dot com on my to do list right now. Perfect.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: I am at Emily Abody. Another hurdle conquered. Catch you
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: guys next time, bam