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Transcript

#HURDLEMOMENT: What Do I Do When My Race Gets Canceled or Postponed? · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We as runners, we're so used to having a time
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: goal and a deadline and a structured plan in place
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: in order to hit that deadline. And now we don't
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: have to and that's okay, and we should look at
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: it like a gift, to be honest, because if we
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: don't look at it like a gift, then it is
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: going to be, you know, added stress on top of
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the daily stresses that we're experiencing.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Now, Hey, hurdlers, Emily Abadi've hoppened into your feed today
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: with another installment of Hurdle Moment from Hurdle, a wellness
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: focus podcast where I sit down with inspiring individuals to
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: talk about everything from their big wins to how they've
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: gotten through some of life's toughest moments.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: On the show, you can.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Expect vulnerability, motivation, and candid discussions with everyone from top
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: athletes to aspiring entrepreneurs and what it really takes to
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: follow your passions.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: My mission is simple to.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Inspire you to be your best self, move with intention,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: and have some fun along the way. Today, I am
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: talking about a question that has been flooding under statement
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: my d MS, and that, my friends, is what to
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: do if the race that you have been training for
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: has been either canceled or postponed. I'm calling in the
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: big guns for this one. I'm chatting with Jess Woods.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: She's a Nike running coach among many other accolades, and
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: between the two of us, I think we've got some
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: good insight to share with you on how to navigate
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: this unsure time. Before we get to it, a quick
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• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and with that, let's get to hurdling. All right, hurdlers,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: it's a question that you have been asking me in
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: the DMS, and I am calling in reinforcements to get
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: you the answers that you need. What happens now that
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: my race has been postponed, whether it's a five k,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: a half marathon, a full marathon, A lot of us
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: have been training for spring races, myself included. We'll get
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: into that in a little bit, and now we want
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: to know how do we handle it? She's the track
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: and ultra head coach for Brooklyn at Track Club here
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: in New York. What are their accolades do we highlight here?
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I also coach people one on one and then I
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: also managed the male Hi Run Club studios.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: What was the last race that you ran, jess Ooh?
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  Speaker 1: The last race that I ran would probably be for
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: myself last year's OSR thirty miler. No, that's not the
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: last race? Are we kidding me? How do I forget
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  Speaker 1: about my own one hundred mile race? Not the best
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: race of my life? And I have already distanced myself
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: from that last race.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Only we've blocked out on it. Yeah, I blacked it out. Well.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I'm happy to have you here on the pod today
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  Speaker 2: for hurdle moment because I don't have all the answers,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: and you might not have all the answers, but together
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: we have some answers. So let's jump right into it.
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  Speaker 2: First things first, the races that have been postponed. I mean,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: from a major standpoint, we've got Boston, We've got London.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Of course, we had Tokyo.
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  Speaker 2: As if what's going on right now in the world
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  Speaker 2: doesn't feel overwhelming enough, it's really hard when you get
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: to a place where you're so excited about something and
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  Speaker 2: then it just is it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, and I think both of us can relate
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  Speaker 1: to it as well.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: For sure.
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  Speaker 2: I mean for me with London, I honestly feel like
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  Speaker 2: it's a little bit of a blessing in disguise. I
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: have been dealing with what seems to be a strength
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: discrepancy between my left and right sides, and that's presenting
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: itself with some pain and my left hip, and I've
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: been pushing through and feeling pretty okay. But I know
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: that I am pretty grateful for a string of extra
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: months until October now where I can really really focus
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  Speaker 2: on giving back to my body.
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  Speaker 3: What were you training for, What did you have in
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  Speaker 3: the bank.
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  Speaker 1: I was training for the inaugural Speed Project solo division,
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  Speaker 1: so that was going to what was usually a three
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: hundred and forty mile relay race. They were offering it
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: up as a solo division this year. So at first,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: I was, of course really bummed about it because it
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: was something big and new that I wanted to do
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and I wanted to be one of the first people
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  Speaker 1: to do it, and you can't really replicate that or
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: find an alternate race for something like that. So you know,
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  Speaker 1: I gave myself a day to be bummed about it.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: But with everything that's going on, I think it was
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: pretty quick to realize that, you know, a blessing in disguise,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, we all have bigger things to focus
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  Speaker 1: on right now.
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  Speaker 2: I could probably for the next twenty minutes talk to
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  Speaker 2: you about how one even fathoms or runs a three
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  Speaker 2: hundred and forty mile race by themselves.
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  Speaker 3: I will refrain, but that's kind of crazy.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't have that much time here, but yeah,
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  Speaker 2: So basically moral of the story is we're both dealing
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: with the shift in plans, so now we need to
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: talk about how to go about handling that. First things first,
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  Speaker 2: you're not alone, as we both mentioned, we both have
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: had to shift our personal plans, And I think what's
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: important is just acknowledging that it's okay to feel a
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  Speaker 2: little bit bummed. I mean, for so many of us,
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  Speaker 2: regardless of what race you're running, you have put in
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  Speaker 2: a considerable amount of work. You've gone out on some
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  Speaker 2: of those long runs, You've woken up early, you've stayed
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  Speaker 2: up late, whatever the case may be.
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  Speaker 3: You have put in the work.
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  Speaker 2: And so it's okay to feel a little bit bummed
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  Speaker 2: about the shift.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, totally, I agree. You can be bummed about it.
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  Speaker 1: But then, on the other hand, try not to dwell
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  Speaker 1: on it.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Right, So that is step two is coming up with
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  Speaker 2: some sort of an action plan, if you will. I
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  Speaker 2: think that is where a lot of the struggle seems
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  Speaker 2: to be. Is exactly what do I do if I've
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  Speaker 2: been training for or a half or a full and
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  Speaker 2: I've been getting out there and doing all those long runs,
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  Speaker 2: and now I feel as though I have all of
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: this fitness and I just don't know what to do.
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  Speaker 2: So do you abandon your plan altogether? Should I still
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  Speaker 2: be doing things like long runs? Just give it to me.
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  Speaker 1: I think that it is okay to abandon the plan altogether.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I kind of have a mixed bag of athletes right now.
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  Speaker 1: Some are sticking to the plan and then simply running
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  Speaker 1: the race. You know, air quotes race on their own
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  Speaker 1: on the day that it was originally scheduled for, just
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  Speaker 1: because they still want something to train for. So if
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  Speaker 1: you're that type of person and you and you can't
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  Speaker 1: really get out the door unless you have something that
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  Speaker 1: you're training for, by all means you can can if
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  Speaker 1: you have that kind of motivation. I think it's harder
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  Speaker 1: to run solo than with a pack of people, But
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: if you can, if you can do it and stay
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  Speaker 1: motivated and that's what's motivating you, then by all means,
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  Speaker 1: go out and keep at it. But personally, I definitely
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  Speaker 1: abandoned my training plan as part of the you know,
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  Speaker 1: don't dwell on it. We can come back to it
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  Speaker 1: and revisit it later, but for now I've put it
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  Speaker 1: behind me, so totally okay to trash it, forget about it,
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  Speaker 1: put it behind you, and use this time now as
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  Speaker 1: a time to refocus, and as my fellow coach Finley
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  Speaker 1: on Brooklyn Track Club says, use this as a time
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  Speaker 1: to expose your weaknesses.
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  Speaker 2: I think what's also really valuable right now is coming
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  Speaker 2: back to the reasons why we run in the first place.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, yes, of course, it's great to have a
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  Speaker 2: goal and having some sort of plan. It gives you structure,
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  Speaker 2: It kind of helps in all aspects of our lives.
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  Speaker 2: I think we could both agree. But right now, when
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  Speaker 2: you're getting out there by yourself and you're running, you're
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  Speaker 2: getting back to kind of that emotional mind body connection.
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  Speaker 2: For so many of us, running as a way that
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  Speaker 2: we also give back to ourselves, And for me, I
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  Speaker 2: have gone on the route that Jess talked about of
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  Speaker 2: abandoning my training plan of just going back out there
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  Speaker 2: and running for the joy of running. I've been doing
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  Speaker 2: a lot of those Nike Run Club Mindfulness runs with
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  Speaker 2: Andy Puttacolm and coach Bennett, and I find those like
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  Speaker 2: really relaxing, really enjoyable, and just in the chaos and
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  Speaker 2: the stress of what's happening in the day to day.
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  Speaker 2: This run now, for me is my time just to
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  Speaker 2: reclaim my calm and oh.
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  Speaker 3: It feels really good.
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  Speaker 1: That is really good to hear.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I like to utilize the guided runs on the app
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  Speaker 1: as well, And I just wanted to add that no
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  Speaker 1: one should feel like an underachiever for shifting goals right now, because,
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  Speaker 1: like you said, we as runners were so used to
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  Speaker 1: having a time goal and a deadline and a structured
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: plan in place in order to hit that deadline, and
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: now we don't have to and that's okay, and we
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: should look at it like a gift, to be honest,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: because if we don't look at it like a gift,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: then it is going to be, you know, added stress
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: on top of the daily stresses that we're experiencing now.
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  Speaker 2: Definitely, And I also think another great suggestion is to
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  Speaker 2: make a new goal for yourself. Just because you don't
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  Speaker 2: have the deadline of a race or a specific marathon
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  Speaker 2: coming up, you can set other types of goals. It's
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  Speaker 2: something that I did for myself earlier last year when
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I trained to run the Brooklyn Mile. It was an
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: opportunity for me to flex different running muscles if you
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: will try something new. So maybe your new goal is
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  Speaker 2: timing yourself for a three k or a five k
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: and then working down on that, trying to get faster
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: and faster month over month, or what other goals would
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  Speaker 2: you suggest, Jess, Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: That's that's definitely another tactic that I've been giving to
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: some of my athletes right now because I think that
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: even if you are running solo, you can take yourself
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  Speaker 1: out on a timed my or three k or five
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: k time trial like those are short enough kind of
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: digestible distances that you can go out and time yourself
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: on a solo run, and then you can train for
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: X number of weeks, maybe it's four weeks.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: You look up a four week.
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  Speaker 1: Plan to run your fastest five k, and you keep
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: track of your progress, and then time yourself again after
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  Speaker 1: those four weeks. So I think using this time now
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: to focus on some shorter, faster distances that we maybe
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: don't normally take the time to focus on as we're
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: training for half marathons and marathons and beyond, I think
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: it's a really good time to do that.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Also, I think it's really important to reiterate that we
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: need to manage our expectations. I know that I personally
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: am certainly not moving around as much as I usually am.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: I'm not running around this city in my day to day,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: which means that my fitness is shifting a little bit,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: and it's certainly an adjustment. But with that I definitely
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: have to have some grace, which is another reason why
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: I'm thankful right now that with the running that I
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: am doing, I'm just kind of being kind to myself
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: and not really expecting to too much.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you definitely have to be easy on yourself in
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: times like this, So don't be too hard on yourself.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Be easy on yourself, and really lean on the community.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Right now, I think everyone is doing such a fantastic
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: job of checking in on one another. And if you
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: were part of a crew or a team or a
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: track club, there's so many you know, runners out there
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: that are in the same shoes right now that now's
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: the time to really lean on the lean on the community,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: and check in on one another.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: I was out there this morning at the reservoir in
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Central Park, and I was doing four hundred meter repeats
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: with sixty seconds recovery between each and because of the
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: nature of that and how you slow down after each interval,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I was continuously running up on a guy, getting ahead
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: of the guy, and then I'd slow down and he'd.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: Run against me.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: He'd run past me then and after like the third
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: or fourth time of us doing that, he looked at
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: me and he like gave me a thumbs up.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: He's like, you're kicking ass today. And I love that.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I had a similar experience in Brooklyn. It's nice to
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: see the streets abandoned in Brooklyn and being able to
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: run in the streets which we wouldn't normally advocate, and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: you know, crossing paths with a runner and us kind
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: of dodging each other and going on the other side
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: of the street and giving each other that that head
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: nod like yeah, I thank you, appreciate you.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Good work, keep moving, don't come near me exactly, all right. Well,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: one thing that we do need to talk about is,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: of course you cannot forget to handle and take care
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: of the logistics that go with postponing a marathon. So
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: for me, for instance, I mean, I'm still technically about
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: a month out from when London was originally scheduled for
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: I have yet to move my London flights, which is
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: something important that needs to be done.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely important. I went ahead and immediately looked into
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: getting refunds for all of those things. And it is
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: nice that right now, the airlines and hotels and even
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: down to the RV that I had rented for my race,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: everyone is being super kind and generous about refunds and
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: credits back in your account right now, So definitely take
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: care of all of those things and not just assume
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: that you lost that money. And I think the last
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: thing to really make sure you button up and take
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: care of is reading over the details of your race cancelation,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: your race cancelation, or if your race has been postponed.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: So read through those things carefully. Some of them are
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: offering full refunds, while others are simply postponing to a
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: later date, and maybe you have the option to defer
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: your entry until next year, So just make sure you're
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: reading through all those options and details carefully.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: And also, I think as much as we said that
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: it's okay to be bummed about the cancelation or the
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: postponed situation, it's also really important to celebrate how far
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: you've come. Whether this is your first race or your
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: one hundredth race, every training cycle is something to be celebrated,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: and it's so important to remember that the journey is
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: such a big part of what culminates in that race day,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: So appreciate the effort that you've put out there and
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: understand that there are going to be more races. There
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: is more to be done, and right now just soak
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: in what might be this little reprieve before we're all
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: really back into the swing of things.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Absolutely couldn't agree more.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: All right, Jess, Well, thank you for your time. I
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: appreciate you.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Of course, Where can they find you on social media
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: if they have more questions, need more tips, or just
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: want to be inspired?
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they can reach out to me through my website
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: if they'd like, coach Jazz dot com. Uh, j E
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: s with one s dot com or on Instagram. Uh.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Definitely have time to read all the d ms now.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: So that is j E. S l y n n
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: y C.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I am at Emily Abodi at Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle conquered.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.