Latest / C Tolle Run / 462: Adrian Wildschutt - A Change of Pace
Transcript
- C Tolle Run: Hey everyone, welcome back to C Tolly Run. I'm Olympian Carrie Tolfson, and today we have South African Olympian and Hoka Nazit elite pro athlete Adrian Wild Scoot. Wheeled Scoot. I can't wait to hear how he says it because I feel like I say it wrong every time. But anyway, Adrian is joining us. Adrian has been one of the best distance runners in the world over the last several years. He holds South African records from the 3,000 meters all the way up to the half marathon. He finished 10th in the 10,000 meters at both the Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Championships on the track. And earlier this year, he won the United Airlines NYC half. And now he's about to try something completely new: the marathon. Adrian will make his marathon debut in Chicago this weekend. so today we're talking all about next chapter. Why now? What marathon training's been like. What scares him about 26.2 and what excites him about finding out how good he can be? Plus, I want to hear more about his journey from South Africa to the NCAAs to Flagstaff and now his new book. So let's get after it. Carrie: Hey Adrienne, welcome to the show. Adrian Wildschutt: Hi, Kerry. Thanks for having me. Appreciate that. Carrie: I'm super excited. Yeah, this is gonna be good. We've been like, you were on, well, I was on the New York Roadrunner Set the Pace podcast with you after the NYC half. So, you know, some of some people know you a little bit from there, but that was a pretty short episode. So this time I wanna get into everything. We wanna hear everything about Adrian, okay? Adrian Wildschutt: Sounds good, sounds good. Carrie: all right, so let's start with this marathon debut. It is happening. So this is gonna come out the Thursday before Chicago. How's the build been? Are you super pumped? Tell us everything, all the all the feels going into the weekend. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, I think overall it's been very good. I did a 10k in Boston, I think in June and took some downtime after that and then started my build a week or 10 days later. But it's been good. Yeah, like this is the longest I've run for ever. there was a few, not really nothing that hindered me from continued training, but a few niggas that popped up just because I was trying to get my body to... get prepared for running a marathon. But I think overall, I never had to skip a day of training or push workouts away. So in that case, I feel like I Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: have a lot of people to thank for. yeah, I think overall the training has been going really well and we are in taper time now. So it's all good. Carrie: Tell me how, you know, Chicago was the one that you chose. Like why did you wanna open up and and start this marathoning journey there? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, I don't know. think, especially coming from the track too, I figured it's probably going to be a little wiser to get used to the distance first and then you can explore things that's a little more harder like New York or Boston or even some of those. So I thought Chicago's flat, I can also try and chase a national record. And yeah, just, and it's also just a great event from what I've seen over the years and people competing there and how fast they ran and. I watched it last year as well in the year before and I just want to be a part of the spectacle. And hopefully, and after my teammate Alex Masai did so well last year too. He was third in REN 2004. So I thought, wait, maybe that would be great for me because I can also feed off of him if I need something or like, or there's something that I'm unsure about when it comes to training. So it just makes it such a... perfect and he was gonna do it as well. was gonna do the marathon, the Chicago marathon as well. So we would have been able to do it training together, but then he got hurt. yeah. Carrie: Shoot. Yeah. I know that's always rough. But you know, when you were talking with Jack Mullaney, your coach, was he I mean, he's from Minnesota. I don't know if you know that, and that's where I am. So I always like I always root for you guys just, you know, not not only because I I think the world of all you runners, but because Jack is a Minnesotan. but was he too like, okay, let's do it, or would he have been fine if you chose New York or Valencia or anywhere? Was was he kind of the one that said Chicago too? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, well, I guess, I mean, I guess we generally decide which races we want to do. And from what it seems like is that they would always support us and try and get us ready for these events. And like as a professional runner, I of course always would advise him on certain things. Like, for example, we decided to do my first half marathon in Valencia last year, and it is pretty flat. And so we figured I need to do that race if I want to do Chicago because it could be good preparation. But then also I wanted something a little more hilly like that's why we chose New York. And then eventually Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: like I think they would prepare me well for Chicago. But yeah, it's check is always like, it just is on board, know, he just wants to, he wants us to do what's best for us. And if I like sometimes for me, I like to have something to chase for, like if I were to go to New York right now, I don't like. because I've never done a marathon, wouldn't even know how I would place myself there. What would I even go for? Whereas with Chicago, I kind of know, okay, well, I can at least prepare for a national record. And whether that happens or not, at least I have a goal that I can go for. Carrie: That's crazy that I mean, you hold all the national records for South Africa. You hold everything from the three thousand meters up to the half. So, in your very first marathon you're just going for it. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, Like I said, know, that's his very, the record is 205.36. So that's for first marathon, that's a little bit optimistic, but like I said, it's more about having a goal and say, because I just don't want to train and train and train and I have no idea what I'm training for. So it's nice to have a goal there out Carrie: Right. Adrian Wildschutt: there. And then now I'm hearing there's a bunch of people going for the American record. So that kind of puts me right. I prepared Carrie: Mm. Adrian Wildschutt: in a manner where I can run with them. So that would provide me a group to run with and I won't have to run by myself or a lot of it. Carrie: It's gonna be really fun. So you and I last saw each other at the NYC half, which is in March. It's like mid-March every year. And it's a big race and it's super fun. They shut down Times Square for you. You finish in the park. you kind of you come in the opposite way than the marathon finishes, which is different and super fun too. but that race went really well. I mean, you won that race in a always stacked field. you're newish to the half marathon. Like, was that a big confidence boost for you to win? Over here in that race. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, I I think so. I think so. It was a really deep field, even myself. I just knew I was really well prepared, but I didn't know if I was going to win necessarily just because of how deep the field was. But yeah, definitely a big confidence booster. But like the thing about me is like I was the best on the day. And I feel like with that same people in that race, maybe another day, maybe somebody else would have been better. So, and that's how I carry myself too with these races. Like one day you might be doing really well, but the other day you might not do your best. And so I just set my focus to something completely new after that. always try to look forward. Carrie: Yeah. It's funny, I ask Jack, your coach, all the time for like inside scoop, how you guys doing, how you looking in workouts. And he wrote me back before the half marathon that sometimes he has to put the brakes on you, Adrian. Like you are a go-getter. he you know, he said that you're almost like a video game character at times. You just keep going and going and going. You are a driven Adrian Wildschutt: Mm. Carrie: man. Like you love to run, you love to train, you love to race. what is it about the run for you that gets you so fired up? Adrian Wildschutt: Honestly, I just really appreciate competition. And in order for me, if I know if I want to compete really well, I have to do the base work quite well as well. I like to, like, I'm not, I know some people so often think that I'm very like, not one dimensional, but I'm a man of ritual that I could just stick with. No, I'm pretty flexible. I'm chilling. I'm very chill. But it's, I do believe in Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: preparation because if you can't prepare well, then you won't be able to do well. Like I watch a lot of MMA fights and things and I understand like how they do their pre-camps and things and how they prepare in order to be exactly right down to the weight even when they step into the octagon. So like I think I learned a lot from how people operate there and how I know I have to prepare in order to get the maximum performance at the end. Carrie: There's got to be some kind of psychology that you use while you're watching MMA. Like you like, I don't know. I do this when I'm watching car racing. I think of it when I'm watching other types of sports. Like, for su for some reason, I always bring it back to me in my racing. So I just kind of want to get into your head. Like, when you're watching MMA, how do you like, you know, relate that to being out On the Chicago Marathon course. Are there moments where you're like, I remember that hit or that kick that that guy had and he got back and he came back hard? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, well, and I know I used to watch before my races, I used to watch a lot of I am a huge Conor McGregor fan. I know there's a lot of like, like I'm just talking about the fight. I'm not talking about what he does outside the octagon. I'm just when he was still in his prime, I guess what I really appreciated is he's extremely Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: technical and he's extremely talented and he's very light on his feet. But what I really appreciate the way because he always could knock people out in the first or second round, but What I also noticed from him is that he's very good, but as long as the longer the fight goes, it doesn't mean he's going to lose, but it means the chances of winning is getting smaller. Now, that is all to do with how you place the The same with chess. I like chess as well. If you have a bad opening, then you would probably have a dreadful end game. So you kind of have to start very smart, be tactical or stilt, and be light on your feet, but don't be too aggressive early on. and pace yourself, pace yourself so that you can go the full five rounds and still be able to have the same capability as what you do because the longer you go, the slower you get. I can see the fatigue setting in the move, the legs move slower, the arms is a little imprecise. And so that's how I look at it is that if I mess up early on, then I might have to pay for it later on. So I want to be very precise, very technical and be doing as little as possible work and just using the competitors as well. Yeah. Carrie: I love it. Okay, let's just w we we gotta still stick with Chicago 'cause I wanna think Adrian Wildschutt: Okay. Carrie: a little bit more about your race plan. So obviously you kinda have that that goal or that that time. But how do you race? What is your I mean W I without giving too much away, because obviously if you're gonna be, you know, going that fast, you're gonna be up there and you're gonna wanna beat people and whatever. But what is the race plan for you? Like, do you plan to get through the half at a certain time? Do you plan to just find those people that are trying to set an American record and run around that two four pace? Like what do you do? Shut your brain off? Do you engage the whole time? Tell me a little bit about your race strategy coming in. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, so because this is my very first one, kind of have to be, I'm a little new to this. And so I need to figure out what I don't want to have Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: a whole full set plan from the start. And then it's just unravel very quickly. but I do have a general idea of what I'm trying to do here. I am not trying to run alone. That's first of all, I'm trying to get a group that I want to be able to run with for most of the race. if that's with the two or four group, I Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: think I'm well, I'm well prepared for that. I always, yeah. I'm well prepared to run with a 202, 204, 40 pace that's 62, 62, 20, 62, 30. I think I'm well prepared for that. But again, it's my first one and I have no idea. Maybe I changed my mind when I reached 15 K or two or halfway. Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: but what all I can do is from here is just prepare well and see how, how I need to adjust during the race. But I think, I think we've done a great job the last 10, 12 weeks in getting myself ready in training. The work has I've done is all. was all aligned with running about 204 pace. And I think I should be able to, and other than that, it's the most fundamental things is just making sure I get my nutrition in. Don't miss water bottle, don't miss a station, don't miss bottles. Make sure you have backup in case that happen. Let's say maybe I run with a gel in case somebody knocked my bottle off. But also even if I knock it off and I don't have a gel is to still try and be composed, don't panic. You don't have to worry about it. There's nothing else you can do, but just getting back into your, if something does go wrong. but yeah, I think overall is just to be conservative early on, yourself and then around 30 by 35 kilometers, if I feel good and I'm still with a group of people and then starting, starting to squeeze, starting to squeeze a little bit. Carrie: my goodness. What's the last thing you tell yourself before the gun goes off? Is do you have any mottos or do you say anything to yourself on the start line? I'm getting nervous, Adrian, by the way. I'm I'm getting fired up right now. Adrian Wildschutt: Well, I'm extremely privileged. That's first of all. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the first thing I do remind myself of is how fortunate I am to even be able to stand there. Because the thing is, Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: like, sometimes we take the sofa granted. And I think I write about this in my book as well as when I'm on the starting line, there's so many people that would have given everything to be able to stand there. Now I'm there complaining, stressing and all that. the ability to... so my Carrie: Mm. Adrian Wildschutt: gratitude allows me to run free with no pressure. If things go wrong, that's okay because I at least did everything I could in my control to be able to be there. So if it does, if it works out well, amazing. If it doesn't, that's also fine. But still, I'm still very fortunate and grateful. And I get to do my debut with my brother, which a lot of people never have the opportunity to do. So that's even more something that I think we will look back on later in our futures. Carrie: Yeah, that's so good. I love that. can you tell us a little bit about, you know, growing up in South Africa, your brother is an elite athlete. He's running Chicago as well, right? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, he's doing Chicago, yeah. We've been training together. Carrie: Yeah. that's so awesome. So like let's talk about that. your brother, you know, being in this family with runners, but then also moving on over to the US. So tell us how you got into the sport. Adrian Wildschutt: Well, my brother introduced me to running because I played different sports. played rugby, cricket, soccer, all that type of stuff growing up. And he was running more, he was the runner, I guess. And he introduced me to running when on the day that I didn't have anything going on, homework was done and I was like, wait, I should just go with him. And then it's the first taste I got from really how individualized your progress is because I only played team sports and now I... I was able to do something that I can track my progress in a very individual way. One day I can see how I went, the next week I can see exactly how much faster I went without the influence of a team necessarily. So from that point onwards, I gravitated towards running and I was like, this is kind of fun. One week I can just go further and further and further and push my body. yeah, so that's how I got into it. And yeah, and I guess I never looked back and then moving to the US to answer your question is... Zola but I don't know if you guys know Zola but he was part Carrie: yeah, I know Zola, the barefoot runner. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, correct. Yeah. So she was the head cross country coach at Coastal Carolina University. And so she recruited my brother and I did. Carrie: Mm-hmm. That's so cool. She is a legend. I mean, you know, people can remember her back when she and Mary Decker Selaney collided in the Olympics in the 3,000 meters. Adrian Wildschutt: 84, yeah, in Los Angeles. Carrie: Eighty four. Yep, yep, in LA. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: Tell us what your do you is it just you and your brother? Did you have other siblings? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, we have two younger sisters. Well, not quite young anymore, one is turning 26 Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: now and the other one is 23. Carrie: And are they over in the States or are they still back home? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, they're in Cape Town. They're still in South Africa. They wouldn't move for anything. Carrie: Okay. Mm. You know, where Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: where you grew up though, I was looking how do you say the name of the city you grew up in? Ceres? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, serious, serious, yeah. Serious. Carrie: Sirus, okay. It looks like it's in the mountains, but it's not at altitude, correct? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, it's basically a valley, so we are completely surrounded by mountains. But the elevation is Carrie: Okay. Hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: probably about 600 meters, so it's nothing. It's just over thousand feet. But it's basically sea level, yeah. Carrie: Yeah. So you went to co okay, yeah. But you go to Coastal Carolina, then you finish up at Florida State and then you end up in Flagstaff at altitude. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, that was a huge adjustment. We always talk about it, how I struggled with the elevation because like I said, I never really was exposed to that. I never did training camps like some of the high schoolers do these days. They would come to flex stuff and I never done any of that. The first time I moved it was just into the deep end. I had a lot of struggle the first two years almost, really, because I wasn't able to really get to push myself where I needed to because I was struggling too much. Now I think I'm pretty good at it and it takes a little bit of time. yeah, it does remind me a little bit of Cirrus just because it's so mountainous. Besides the elevation in snow, pretty... Like we Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: get a little bit snow in Cirrus as well, so pretty similar. Carrie: Yeah. Tell us a little bit about tr your training group. I mean you you talked a little bit about your training partners, your brother. you know, what is it about that team? Hoka no N A U, Hoka N A Z, sorry, not N A U, N A Z has had such success. And it just seems like everybody is happy and and having so much fun. The team has changed slightly in the last few years. but you guys really seem to just I don't know, it's there's this common you know, camaraderie between one of one of you all and you and you just have so much fun, it seems like. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, I mean, even when I first came to the team, it's one of the first things that I was probably was the deciding factor of what I'm going to do. It's only the team was the people because immediately I was, I felt like even though I was still somewhat often outside, I felt like I was part of the team already only on my visit. And so that's how we treat everybody and how we are as a team. And it just allow us to collaborate and work together even better. So yeah, think the team culture is amazing and obviously now Jack and Jenna and even before Ben Bruce, Ben Bruce them and even the founder Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: of Ben Rosario, a lot of them is attributed to this. And we just trying to sustain that when it comes to the culture of the team. When it comes to training, like I said, that Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: allow us to really work well together. And now that I'm moving up to the Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: marathon now, I'm not gonna be like with the likes of Olin Heiko or Jackson Saab or those guys that still like completely on the track. But I always find myself now with people I can still run with Ahmed Mohammed or like Wesley Kipto, my brother now, Alex Masai. So yeah, we just kind of move between each other and sometimes we are all together as well. we just... We have a good understanding Carrie: Great. Adrian Wildschutt: that we all are professionals and we all have different goals and we all have different events that we prepare for. And we just want all of us to be successful. It's not like I am trying to steal your whatever, your sign or whatever it is. No, we all work together and we all want each other to be successful. Carrie: Yeah, I know you can see that and it's really fun. you've been tenth at the Olympics in the ten thousand meters. You ran the world champs in the ten thousand meters, but you also are so good over all the other distances on the track as well. What's your favorite? I mean, I'm I guess we're getting close to finding out if you like 26.2, but what do you think is gonna be your distance? Adrian Wildschutt: I think the one I'm better at is not necessarily the one that I enjoy most, but I would probably say 3K is my favorite event. I like running the 3K, although it's not my best event, it's Carrie: I love the three K. Adrian Wildschutt: yeah. So the 3K is my favorite event, but I would have to say my best event so far has been the 10K. But Carrie: Mm. Adrian Wildschutt: we will see, like it seems like the half marathon has been going well and we will see with the marathon, but I think probably our favorite 3K best event so far is probably the 10K. Carrie: It's perfect timing for you to try the marathon because, you know, we still have I mean, I guess it's just under two years till the Olympic Games, but that drive to get back there I'm sure is like no other. And also now is the time for you to figure out what distance you're gonna actually compete at there. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, exactly. was the driving force behind me deciding to do Chicago is that I need to make sure that I can, how I would, because my mentality is that if then I've always been told that the marathon probably will be my best event, but we never really know. But I would like Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: to find out before I feel like I'm getting older. If the marathon is my best event, you would figure that you want to stay at your best event the longest. And so I didn't want to wait too long for another Olympic cycle before I go to the marathon. I want to try it now. If I do well, then I can look forward and just running marathons for as long as I can and then, you know, move on. Carrie: Yeah, for sure. coup couple of quick things. What was your highest mile week that you got up to before Chicago? Adrian Wildschutt: that's a good question. I would have to say we work from, if I work from Monday to Sunday, why is would be one 25. but they are certain the way, because we have a 14 week, we have a 14 week cycle almost. So there's certain parts of that 14 week cycle where I would have. Where I would let's live over 130 miles a week in a seven day period, for example, because there's days that we go, let's say if you were to go on. Tuesday and Friday. So you go a hard workout on Tuesday, but a long run on Friday, and then you have a three day workout the following week. So those two long Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: runs falls within a seven day period. So sometimes I Carrie: Right, right. Adrian Wildschutt: can, get well over 130 miles for that seven day period. So, and Carrie: Hm. Adrian Wildschutt: I know some people might say, well, you know, it doesn't really count. Your highest was 125, but the way I look at it is my body was still able to maintain and do over 130 mile a week, even if it was just like, in all seven day, year and day. Yeah. Carrie: I see. I see. Do you take a day of zero ever? you Adrian Wildschutt: No. I wish I could. Carrie: don't. There's n there there's Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, I Carrie: no days off. Adrian Wildschutt: No, I keep that for after the race and then I can do whatever. Carrie: Okay. But do you ever do where say you do a long run on a Sunday and you don't run till a Monday afternoon? Do you ever do that where you almost have twenty four hours of nothing or no? Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: Yes, because I run on, yeah, on Saturday, Sunday mornings. I usually run before I go to church. And Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: then I would run the next morning at around the same time I ran the day before. So that's about 24 hours. Carrie: Yeah. Okay. Okay. What was the hardest workout? And it might not even be like that big of a workout or whatever, but what do you think? Like when you go back, Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: what do you think of right now when you think of the hardest day? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, think I've done really well with the longer stuff, think. But I think moving from that coming back to like, let's say, VO2 max, here's what's probably the hardest because we do do, what is it called? We do these heel circuits and it's Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: the total of two mile one. So we would do it three times of those and then you progress each circuit. And then you finish the last one with a hard 800, which include a heel. And then you just like basically go full out. But then, yeah, so I think that's one of them. But then Carrie: huh. Adrian Wildschutt: I also had 10 miles, 10 times a mile on the track, which was also really hard because we progressed Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: to like 10k pace towards the end. Carrie: And that is so many laps on the track. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, there's so many lives, yeah, exactly. Carrie: You know? I mean that's one of the things. It's not always so hard physically, but mentally doing ten by a mile on the track. Jack! That's Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: mean, Coach Jack. That's mean. I Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: love it. What was like this moment where, and maybe you're just getting it now as you are in your taper, but like, like I just can't wait. Like, you know that you are ready, you've done everything. Has there been a moment in the last couple weeks where you're like, let's do it? Adrian Wildschutt: That's a good question. think probably three weeks out when I did my last peak session, marathons had marathon specific session three weeks out. And it was a 25K in marathon Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: effort straight up in Flagstaff. And I was like, okay, I was able to pull this off. And that was like the thing that I was most scared of. So that went fine. But then it's like the funny part about that is now you still have to train for another three weeks in the week Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: directly after it was. the worst because like my body's like you kind of does absorb the work but you also know the biggest one is done but you still need to get up every day and getting it done so I Carrie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: think we did two times ten two times ten day on Friday last Friday and they felt really they feel the hardest and it should be feeling relatively easy considering I ran twice of that plus another five gay straight continuous at the same pace but it felt way worse so Carrie: Ha It's just a mystery sometimes too. Like why? Why did Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: you know in the next build you do you might nail it and feel great and you know, run the same way. your last race, Adrian Wildschutt: Exactly. Carrie: Adrian, was when again? Adrian Wildschutt: I did the Boston 10k, BAA, yeah. Carrie: The the BAA ten K. Which is usually in is it August? it's June. Yeah, June twentieth. Okay. Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: Tune 20th. Yeah. Carrie: Yeah, and so you didn't really have like a tune up per se? Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, that's part of the reason why we did the 25K as well so that I can Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: get... I felt like in the past I never really had... And I could be wrong, who knows? This is my first Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: one. But I'm saying in the past with other races, I've never really felt like that I needed the race in order to be ready. I just kind of assimilated in training, which is what the 25K was. But then also with some other workouts as well that Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: prepared... That I felt like prepared me quite well. so that I don't feel like, I haven't raced in so long. Yeah. I remember I was injured in 2024 right after the Olympic games. And then I did the BU last day in 5K. So I didn't train for six to eight weeks. And then I didn't race for another three months. And so I didn't race for six months straight. And I still was able to run a PB at BU my last week. And I didn't have any race in between in the 5K. So I just figured, you know, if I could do that, I should be fine. Carrie: Yeah, a lot of people can't do that, you know, but you have to have, I think, a strong mentality to be able to enter a race without a tune up and feel good about it. this is an exciting time. Not only are you getting ready to debut, but your book is coming out soon. Tell us about it. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, it's coming. It's launching October 28th. So a couple of weeks after Chicago, but it's called Carrie: October twenty eighth. Adrian Wildschutt: Eight Saints of Pace. And it's just a, I guess, a motivational memoir in just sharing my story, I guess. just like, don't, talk about races and things like this is part of the, the, the four words I was explaining there too, is that I'm telling two stories. One includes the races, events and things and all that. But then the other ones are the lessons that I learned between those miles. And Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: I kind of like, hop in and out between the two sometimes and just sharing my story. think it's quite, I've had a lot of people reading it and it's quite very good feedback. So excited about that. Carrie: That's awesome. I mean, I I'm very interested. I can't wait to read it because, you know, I went on I went to the East Coast from rural Minnesota where I grew up. I went out to Villanova. And it Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: was a hard transition for me. But I was in the same country. You know, my parents could get to me if they needed to. If we lived three hours from the airport, so it was a little bit further. But like, I just think. Anyone that co decides to go to a different country and to leave home like you and your brother did, I mean, that's a big, big step to take at a young age. And so that for me Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: I'm like super excited to see that hear about that. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah, know. Look, there's another thing that I talk about in the book is that sometimes I just think about things differently because maybe that was difficult and sure it was, but I feel like just like you moved away from Minnesota to let's say Villanova. We all sometimes we like to think that my experience, my difficulty is worse than somebody else's. We all in our worldview, what we have is the same. We experience the exact same thing. Maybe somebody else from the outside might look in and say, okay, you know what, you move from a country, she just move states or whatever. No, but in our personal viewpoint, the way we experience that pain and that feeling that leaving home is Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: no different. It's exactly the same. And so for me, it's like, Carrie: Hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: I think sometimes I don't allow myself into thinking that, I'm making all these amazing sacrifices and everybody else is just like, David, so much easier. No, I think we all have different ways of dealing with life and different experiences in some way. We feel very similar when we go to these things. Carrie: Yeah, I love that. I can't wait to see how you put that. what was the hardest part about writing a book? Was it, you know, like finding an editor? Was it finding the title? What was it? Adrian Wildschutt: That's a good point. I don't know. think it's probably the final parts because when I started writing, didn't know I was going to, okay, this is when I'm going to release a book. just wrote, wrote, And then by the end of it, towards the end, now I have to work on deadlines. Now I have to start writing and pushing to get Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: it right in a certain timeframe so that the editor can go through their stuff and so I can revise again and all that type of stuff. So I think this was the hardest part when I have to write when I didn't feel like writing. some of the parts because there Carrie: Mm. Adrian Wildschutt: was a deadline. Carrie: Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. Were there did you pull all nighters? Or were you like, No, I Adrian Wildschutt: no, I was never gonna do that. Yeah, I would rather push it back because I'm still a professional athlete at the Carrie: Mm-hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: end of the day. Running is still primarily my job, so I have to focus on that first and making sure I do the best Carrie: Yeah. Adrian Wildschutt: there. And so if I have to push back the Carrie: Hmm. Adrian Wildschutt: book, then I would do so. I already pushed it back from me. yeah. Carrie: that's so cool. So how can we get it? Where can we find your book? Adrian Wildschutt: Well, it will be on Amazon once it's released in public. I'm sure Carrie: Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: it's going to be up for pre-sale as well, but it should be on Amazon. Carrie: Okay. so fun. Okay, before I let you go, we have to do the Rundot rapid fire questions, which I love, and they're all about Chicago. Okay? So are you ready Adrian Wildschutt: Okay, let's do it. Carrie: for it? These are quick. What's more intimidating, running 26.2 miles or towing the line at the Olympics for the 10K? Adrian Wildschutt: running 26 miles. Carrie: Woohoo, okay. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: Would you rather have perfect weather or the perfect pace group? Adrian Wildschutt: Perfect bass group. Carrie: yeah. 'Cause if they screw that up, that's tough. But you can handle bad weather. Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. And also you can kind of seal behind people Carrie: Yeah. Okay. Adrian Wildschutt: that spacing when the wind is bad, let's say it's bad wind. Carrie: Yep, yep, yep. Okay, would you rather have pasta or deep dish pizza while in Chicago? Adrian Wildschutt: Basta. Basta. Carrie: Okay. What's Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: harder? Long runs? Or ten by a mile on the track? Adrian Wildschutt: boy. Thin Dimes a Mile, yeah. I'll go with it. Carrie: that has to be so hard. Okay. W are you nailing your fueling or still learning your fueling for the marathon? Adrian Wildschutt: I am absolutely nailing it, even I am shocked by it. Carrie: That's awesome. Okay. Post race meal: hamburgers or Chicago style hot dog? Adrian Wildschutt: Hamburgers, definitely. Carrie: me too. Me too. And if this ama this marathon goes amazingly well, will you admit your coaches were right about moving you up? Or will you just let everyone celebrate? Adrian Wildschutt: You know what, I would admit that, yeah. I think, yeah, I would admit that. Because at that point, I don't care because I did well. Carrie: That's great. Exactly. Gonna celebrate regardless. Hey dude, we are Adrian Wildschutt: Yeah. Carrie: so excited for you. This is gonna be really fun. I'm really excited about your book coming out. Everything about you, your smile just says it all. Like everyone wants to root for your Adrian Wildschutt: Hey. Carrie: Adrian, and I'll be there cheering for you. I'll be on the mic for the commentary. So have fun, run hard, and get after it. C Tolle Run: Thanks so much for joining us today on CTLirun. We are so excited for Adrian and cannot wait to watch his next chapter. Thank you all for listening and watching CTolirun. Make sure you subscribe, share the show, and leave us a review at cetallyrun.com/slash review. And thank you so much to Tailwind Nutrition for supporting CTOLirun. Use the code TOLLY20 to save 20% off your order at TailwindNutrition.com. Big shout out to Rundot for sponsoring this episode and to Andrew Harley and Sarah Bernie for producing the CTollyRun, Try Dot, and Rundot podcast. Hey, we are on social media at Carrie Telefson and at C Taliron. And also give some love to Adrian. Head on over to Adrian Wieldshoot A-D-R-I-A-N-W-I-L-D-S-C-H-U-T-T. my gosh, that was such a good cheer. Head on over there and follow Adrian there. Until next time, get after it.