Latest / The People Run Podcast / #33 She Works Full Time and Runs at an Elite Level | Amy Hoagland

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#33 She Works Full Time and Runs at an Elite Level | Amy Hoagland · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: I run probably 90% of my miles on the treadmill, uh, if not more than that, some weeks.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and and a lot of that has to do with logistics.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: And also, I have a two and a four-year-old.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: So um I can't I can't leave them home for hours at a time.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: But we have a treadmill in our house.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: So um, if there's they're usually asleep, um, and they know like mom's running in there.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, what's up, everybody?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the People Run podcast.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm excited for today's episode uh because it takes me back to why this podcast started.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: When I reached out to this guest here, her exact message to me was like, Look, I'm just uh a mom trying to be fast and trying to get it done.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Amy.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Great, thank you for having me.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, of course.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, it's it's I'm really good.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just finished post work, but I'm feeling really good.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk uh recent.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you just ran a half uh at Mesaf, I believe, and 116.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um what clicked?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: What worked?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's a new PR for you.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like what was the experience like?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I had two um back to back half marathon PRs in the last couple months.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: I ran a 118 at the Phoenix half and was the third overall female, which was like amazing.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: I was on my almost five-minute PR.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then followed that up with a 116 at Mesa, um, which I was the 10th female, uh, which was pretty cool because I actually I didn't start with the elite field.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: I started 30 seconds behind them and still, um, and we actually caught some of the elite women.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and like, you know, it was it was pretty cool, or the people that started with the elite field.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was a really cool, cool experience.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think honestly, part of it was I came, I came back after injury with kind of a a new plan for cross-training, and I took cross-training a lot more seriously.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I worked, so I couldn't run at all for seven and a half weeks with a sacral fracture.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I just worked incredibly hard on the bike um and on, you know, elliptical once I was able to elliptical, but I did um at least once a day, if not twice a day, I did uh sauna cycling.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I I go to Hot Works, which is like a sauna cycle studio.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I was just doing like so much cardio and so much heat training, just like trying to do anything I can to get my heart rate up to keep fitness.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I think, you know, I think the some of it was I significantly improved nutrition.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um I also really spent a lot of my injured time kind of focusing on honing in nutrition and cross-training.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I just I came back and ran a 35-minute 10K as my first race post-injury, um, which was that's amazing.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: What I previously would have thought not in my realm of capability.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then which I was helped by a friend of mine who helped pace me in and out of the 5k.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then, but I was like, I'm I remember looking at my watch for the 10K being like 35 minutes.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: How that can't be right.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the which was wild.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: But and I think I just kind of figured out how to run faster.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I also have um my coach pace me for the 116, and that was incredibly helpful.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he's he's been really great, but he was like ran with me uh step for step for the for the 116, which was awesome.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a lot there.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um to take it back a bit.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me a little bit about the cross-training.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did you try to mimic your running a little bit?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like what obviously the the heat training is gonna work, but what were those sessions like?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I when I first hurt when I first um realized I broke my sacrum and wasn't gonna be able to run for a while.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was like, okay, I gotta figure out how to how to keep some fitness.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: So and I struggled on the elliptical, um, getting my heart rate as high as I wanted it.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't get it anywhere, even no matter what I was doing on the elliptical, really, I couldn't get it anywhere near where I wanted it to be.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I was like, okay, I'm gonna do spin classes.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: I still couldn't hold the heart rate that I wanted.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't feel like it was hard enough.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: Or I I mean, I could have been, but then I realized there was a like a sauna cycling studio right near my office.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, oh, we're gonna try this.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then the first time I I did when you do a site, I did a cycling class in a 130-degree sauna, I think my heart rate was higher than like my 5k PR.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, perfect.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: That that is what I want.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: I want I want something that feels horrible and is very, very difficult.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of that's what I found.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I went to, I went to it's called Hot Works.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's a chain.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's all of them, anyone can do it.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's like there's thousands of them or hundreds at least, I think.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just it's just a sauna and a spin bike.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's basically what it is.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: And you just it's like a pain, it's a little 130-degree pain cave that um I spent a lot of time in while I was injured.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it I was as I sit here now, I was worth ever worth every minute of it because uh I definitely I came back and ran.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've run a PR in every distance except a marathon, but I haven't run a marathon.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm sure that is that will happen.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what I asked.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've struggled myself with cross-training, you know, heart rate's like way lower than even like your zone two, and you struggle, but that's a good combination with sauna in there.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh how long were those sessions?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Were you doing longer sessions, or the heart rate was high enough where like you can keep it within the same realm of your running?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I started, I think, I think when I first started, I did 15 minutes at a time, like just because it's so hot in there, like it's really hard.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: But I I increased to 30 minutes and then now I'm at now I can do a 45-minute class in the sauna, but it's hard.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, like, but I have to be ready.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have to you have to have like water and you didn't know that this is gonna this is gonna suck, uh, 45 minutes.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually do Peloton classes in the sauna.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I like headphones in my phone, so I'll do like a 45-minute hit class or something.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I, you know, it and I just it just works really well.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the heat, the heat training has been super helpful, even from a um, you know, I'm a nurse practitioner, so even from a lab standpoint, um, my hemoglobin is increased significantly, which I think as a female runner is such a big deal is your like is your like blood levels and iron and all of that, it's your oxygen carrying capacity, really, um, and such a big part of running.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it, you know, plays into your VO2 max and and all of that.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that the heat training, um, and I think that I saw a very significant jump in my hemoglobin and hematocrit, which I think is in part due to nutrition and in part due to heat training, um, which also is uh you just feel better when your blood work is better.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: So you know, you I can handle I can handle way more um high effort, I can handle higher mileage, uh just just because I think I'm just so like heat adapted for the for the trip for the uh sauna training.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: No, for sure.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a reason like heat training is such a big thing, and Mesa uh is typically hot.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Was how how'd you find the weather at the race?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it was perfect.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um I didn't start, I didn't have any issues.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: People actually say that the marathon start is cold sometimes, like because you're kind of up and then you run down.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't have a weather issue at all.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was for me, it was perfect.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: It was um I like threw away a sweatshirt at some point and donated at the beginning and then was fine.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think the marathonners, maybe it was a little hot by the end of the day.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I was thinking it was a perfect day.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that I was talking with my coach about I don't think that I could have run any faster on that day.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that was that was what I had on that day, and I'm hopeful that I can get faster moving forward.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: But I think I'm very, very proud of that effort.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's amazing.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds like a great day when you can walk around, walk away like very positive and felt like I gave it all I got and feel great about what's coming next.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: What do you feel like, you know, chasing down some elites for you, like towards the end on the tail and you're catching some elites?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: You probably know some of them just from following or just being in the running space.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I actually I saw a couple people that I recognized, um, only because usually if I see them, I'm running too fast at the beginning.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because I I tend to run too quickly at the start uh and then like fade.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: So that's actually why I wanted my coach to run with race with me, because I was hopeful that um he would help me pace better.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I got to see some familiar paces and familiar people.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: There's not that many women out there running in the one teens.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are, but it's not a huge population.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I know I know a lot of a lot of the people um in that, in kind of that, that like one 115 to 120 area.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of us do a lot of the same races.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: So um it was it was pretty it was pretty cool uh to kind of realize that I'm kind of in the mix with a group of people that I had previously not thought I was capable of running with.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it was it was just it was just cool to kind of get to kind of get to run with some fast ladies.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: And um I think a lot a lot of women had a good had a good day.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, for to be 116 to be 10th in a half marathon, it's a fast field.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that I'm I'm pretty happy.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: I I think I looked it up the the the US half marathon championships.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um their elite cutoff is 117, so or at least it is now, so I'm I can under I'm under that.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to, I mean, I'm gonna get my ass kicked when I'm there, but it'll be really fun.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: I want to I wanna go just just to say that I can and why not?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: That'll be a great achievement getting in and competing and being there regardless of what happens.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the dream right there for many.
• 9:49
  unknown: Yeah.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about your training.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I saw you run a lot of treadmill miles.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Most people would hate that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm personally in a phase where I'm loving the treadmill.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you feel it works for you best?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a big treadmill believer.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I run probably 90% of my miles on the treadmill, uh, if not more than that, some weeks.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and and a lot of that has to do with logistics.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I also I think it it pushes, it forces me to hold the pace that I want, um, which I think has really helped me move from kind of in kind of change gears a little bit in in chasing these faster paces.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and also I have a two and a four-year-old.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um I can't I can't leave them home for hours at a time.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: But we have a treadmill in our house.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: So um if they're they're usually asleep, um, and they know like mom's running in there.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: If they wake up, they know where I am, uh, or they can find somebody else in the house.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: But they, you know, I I need to be home.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it allows me to sort of be home with my kids and while they're sleeping and not um my husband's also an incredibly busy uh like plastic reconstructive trauma surgeon.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: So he's not there a lot of the time, uh, even though I'm sure he'd love to be, but he's putting someone's hand back on.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: So um I I'm kind of in the home more.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it just it just works better for me.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that the second you start to try to like do weird stuff, and actually the time when I broke my sacrum was when I was listening to a whole bunch of people that were telling me to stop running on the treadmill and run outside more, and I you know broke a bone, and I think it was just too much impact on cement for too long.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I was trying, I was trying to, I was trying to follow somebody else's plan and not what works for me.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: And what works for me is the treadmill.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I I I think I've shown in the last you know couple months that it it can translate to races.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: You just need to, you know, it is it can.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: You just and if it works better for you, I think that's fine.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I agree wholeheartedly.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um my last uh marathon I trained for was India and I did a lot of treadmill miles miles.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Something about the treadmill, like you said, holding the paces, doing my workouts, know I'm gonna hit the splits, I need to hit on my workouts, you know, ignoring the variables of it's not on pavement all the time.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um also like there's a safety factor, I think.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Just the unfortunate reality of being a you know 5'4 female.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: There is a safety fact.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: I I love that no one's gonna grab me off my treadmill because it's just safe in my home and it's fine.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so I I've it works, it works best for me.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: I I I I've I've had so much success with the the kind of getting faster incrementally from the treadmill that I I can't really see a reason to change it.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: My coach is fine with it.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um what what sort of uh workouts or you know, what do you do to like stay consistent on the treadmill?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: What I mean is like mentally, like some people go, oh, it's I can't do 20 miles on a treadmill, it's too long.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: I find it great, but for some reason people struggle with like the longer paces or like oh it's a tough workout on a treadmill.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you find works for you and how do you make it work?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think part of it honestly is that I'm just so used to it at this point.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've run hundreds and hundreds of miles on the treadmill.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I trained almost entirely on a treadmill for my my first sub-three marathon at CIM in 2024.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was almost entirely treadmill miles.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of it is I watch television for easy miles and I listen to music for hard miles.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I can I'll watch a movie during uh, you know, I'm pr I run pretty high mileage.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think last week I hit 80.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm probably gonna hit at least 80, if not 90, this week.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I I just run a lot of miles, but I also sometimes I'll like play games.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like I if I love some reality TV show, I'll say, okay, I can I I can only watch Love is Blind on the treadmill.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I like I can only watch The Bachelor on the treadmill.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: So if I want to watch The Bachelor, it's gonna be during a half marathon on the treadmill.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: And and then I usually have like music for harder efforts, um, but I don't I don't race with music anymore, but it helps for training.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: I personally I know that everyone says like it's so terrible and it like they drives them crazy.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love the treadmill.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I could run, I actually my coach and I were planning a treadmill marathon in a couple weeks.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I'm gonna run 26 miles on a treadmill like in three weeks.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: For training.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be fun.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just want to see see if I can do it and practice nutrition.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna do it like similar to or close to the race pace or a little bit off of it?
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: My plan is, well, my coach and I's plan is we're gonna do 10 minutes hard, 10 minutes easier, basically just to try to do keep you somewhat entertained for to change the paces back and forth until we get to 26 miles and and see kind of where where that puts me.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um my dream marathon pace is you know, five, it would be, of course, 559 to see if I can get to the Olympic trials.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I you know, I I I told my coach that I wasn't gonna even think about the Olympic trials if I couldn't run a half marathon at that pace.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: But now I've run a half marathon at that pace, I've run a half marathon significantly faster, or at least, you know, 12 seconds faster than that pace.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm like, okay, this is becoming like a little bit more realistic.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Not totally insane.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's a little insane, but not, you know, it's it's at least, and I have no idea whether I'll be able to do it or not, but I'm certainly gonna try.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: So our plan is 10 minutes, 10 minutes Olympic trial qualifying pace, 10 minutes off back and forth until I get to 26 miles or I go to the hospital, one of the two.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no hospital here.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: But uh no, that'll be fun.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: PR E R.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, P R E R.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're giving me ideas for stuff I shouldn't do myself on the treadmill now.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I might have to throw something in for the next training block.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: What would OTQ mean to you?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so now it's maybe a possibility.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, let's say you get in.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean to you?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Has it always been a goal?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: No, I I I don't even honestly, I I it wasn't even in like the realm of what I thought was even possible.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not even sure I really knew what that was until maybe like a year ago.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: My my I think when they no, when they first announced the standard, uh, maybe like a year, maybe a little over a year ago, my coach sent me a screenshot of the time.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and like that that it was it was gonna stay at 237 and he and I'll I screenshotted it and I will never all gonna keep it, but he said, you can do this, you know.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, no way, like absolutely not, I can't do that.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: And at the time I was nowhere close.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think that kind of like put the seed in my head of like, can I do this?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: I don't maybe I can.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that would be, I mean, it would be it would be amazing.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm uh I'm not 25, but I'm 33, I have two children, I've you know been through a lot of things.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: I've had two C-sections, like I, you know, there's been a lot, a lot of sort of various obstacles I've had to get over to get here.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that that would just be huge, huge for me.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I always joke, it's like a you know a party story for the rest of your life, just to just to see if I if I could do it.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I think I don't know, I think I can't.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm certainly gonna try.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Coach for planting that seed.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now, you know, you guys are making it realer and realer every day.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about nutrition.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned you worked on nutrition to get to these times.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did you have to change?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so uh oh man, so uh that's a whole that's a longer story.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: But the so I have had an eating disorder my basically entire life.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I've gone through lots of different phases of being healthy and not healthy, and I've had every eating disorder with every possible iteration you can imagine.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I actually uh had a really bad relapse uh starting, I don't know, for like in like most of 2024, the beginning of 2025.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was just so horribly prepared running wise.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was I was still trying to run like 50, 60 mile weeks, and I was very, very underweight.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so there was a there was a pretty significant period of time where I pulled back on mileage just to focus on gaining weight.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to gain like 30 pounds, um, which is actually not as hard as you think because you're I was starving.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: So um it wasn't really that hard.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: But um, and I think my my entire like nutrition team told me like there, you are not gonna be able to run as much as you run and gain weight.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, watch me.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I did, and it was fine.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I just I needed um, I just needed, I was in such a bad place nutritionally.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: I just I just needed to get out of that and kind of like figure out what running was if it wasn't connected to my eating disorder.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think that a lot of female athletes I know struggle with this is that I I love running, but it also sort of ties into my eating disorder in like in like you know, just in the exercise compulsion component of it.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think I I'm finally settling in now to a point where I am I am fueling properly to run.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not running to compensate for eating the opposite, actually.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm fueling in order to fuel my training.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um and that's just a that's a balance and it takes time, and I'm really thankful.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: I have a I'm I'm incredibly lucky.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: I have a a very, very supportive family um and a whole eating disorder team that it that has kind of helped me through uh this relapse, which really came out of nowhere um as an adult, but it happens.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first and foremost, thank you for sharing.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I appreciate that.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: I had this whole like irrational fear that I was going to get slower if I gained weight, and I've only gotten faster.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've gained anyway, any anytime a woman asks you about that, gained 30 pounds and am much faster than I was before.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, or maybe not, I don't know, I've gained a lot of weight and much faster.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, like it, you know, it's just none of that was true.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: All of that was just my eating disorder convincing me of something that wasn't true, uh, like a fixed false belief.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think just kind of working through all of that um has made me, you know, a better runner, a better wife, a better everything, just to kind of get back to myself.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it's been fun to kind of fall in love with running again, not you know, it being associated with earning food.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it can be a tricky slope.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, like I kind of mentioned before we recorded, I come more from the bodybuilding world before I got into running and you kind of start associating like, I need to earn this meal, let me tough out this workout.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or I'm gonna fast.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, especially in the bodybuilding community.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you see it in running too when you go higher.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a tricky slope because then you, you know, you start crashing.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: My my husband makes fun of me because the only way I figured out how to sleep through the night is with high mileage, is I eat like a huge amount of oatmeal and peanut butter before I go to bed.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's just like I eat, I don't know, like 500 plus calories of oatmeal and peanut butter, and like that's just it, that's what it takes.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I run 80 miles a week.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's a lot of a lot of fuel.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I wake up and run usually again.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: So um and I I eat a lot of food.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: It takes a lot, it is what it is.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: It takes a lot of food to fuel that kind of training.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you recollect maybe when you started like obviously eating more and the times were getting faster, like what that moment was where it's like, oh, wait a minute, this weight gain is working, and I'm eating a lot, but I feel great.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what was that moment?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you recall that?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I it definitely wasn't immediate, right?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and that is, and that is what I think I definitely took steps back before I took steps forward.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's it's easy for me to sit here now faster saying like, oh, everything's great.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: But there was definitely some really hard months.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um I DNF'd of a half marathon for the first time ever at the beginning of recovery.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: I ran, I just like I, I, I couldn't figure out how to run in like this new body that I had that felt like I was just out of control with weight gain and I just I was so upset.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: I ran one mile of the half marathon and I was like, I'm done.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: I can't I can't do this.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I run a half marathon almost every day.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: So if I can't run a half marathon like something is really wrong.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you know I just it it it wasn't immediate.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I I even remember telling my um my husband that I'm so miserable underweight that I don't care anymore about running.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: If if I become very slow and lose and like I can't qualify for Boston and whatever and I lose all discipline I would rather that than live another month being this miserable and hungry and underweight.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: So um it it did happen and then I kind of had I was starting to get things were starting to get better and I was starting to get faster and I actually matched my my half marathon PR that I ran very underweight.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: I ran a 122 very underweight and then I ran another 122 healthy um and I was like okay good next one is going to be a PR and then I broke my sacrum so I had a sacral fracture.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: So that was like okay all right and we're starting over we're um but actually that ended up being that fracture ended up being really good for me for a lot of reasons because I think it also helped me it really it helped me realize how much of my mental health was um like kind of contingent on running and that I needed to continue to work on myself and continue to be happy and figure out to find joy outside of running um to kind of have more balance.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: But coming back from that injury was amazing because I been faster than I even thought possible.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah that's beautiful I uh I I've often seen when people get injured there's two mindsets there's like the oh I hate this feeling it happens this sucks I'm in a horrible place versus when you can go to like hey I learned so much from that injury and like look at you now on the other side getting faster.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I love hearing that that's amazing.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's easy to say on the other side during when it actually happened I was miserable um and just like so I was like I just felt like I was like kicked when I was down like I was finally like pulling myself out of this eating disorder relapse and then I had a fracture and I couldn't run and I was it was also incredibly painful.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Which was I I remember like I I I first assist in the operating room and there were days where my boss would look at me and I was like in tears just from pain of the from the sacral fracture.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it was just it was a rough time but I think that you know that's why it's that's life right you the rough times make the good days even better.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you can exactly were you always this fast?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because you you're saying some paces that were fast even back then even to now like how did you get to obviously it's relative but like yeah so not always I I was I would say a decent age group athlete for like 10 years.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: I ran somewhere in like the one third I've run hundreds of half marathons.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was like I was part of like the half fanatics and I ran a bazillion half marathons all through college and I ran some marathons.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: I did qualify for Boston twice in college and then um sort of after that I'd been running on and off but I was kind of like 135 145 ish um 335 ish marathons for a for 10 years really um and I would like have a baby come back like you know I would um and I also did an Iron Man in there as well.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh so I was I focused on triathlon for a while and and then I started getting faster in I started really training again in summer of 2024.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I was not in shape at running shape at all.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: I had just had I had had a baby the year prior yeah um so I was basically building I've built from pretty much nothing starting in 2024.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha okay so a lot of running and having fun with it for a long time um yeah and I thought at the time I thought I was working hard.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now I I know that I wasn't actually um what's the difference then?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: What's the working hard now versus then actually oh my gosh it's like like night and day like I I my mileage is of course way higher um I mean this just the sheer like amount of effort I put into my training is so different than it used to be.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that that's that's been that's been a big learning point for me is I always thought like oh I'm just like this is just the paces that I run like I used to be kind of like an 830 mile somewhere around there like I'm running which is very good don't get me wrong I did very well I run man I ran many marathons.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: I did an Iron Man in like a relatively okay time I think I mean I finished um and I just I wasn't working hard I wasn't doing speed work I wasn't you know as dialed in with my nutrition I wasn't like you know taking creatine and mag and like you know doing all the things I possibly could I wasn't doing strength training I wasn't pushing myself that hard like I this morning I almost like threw up on the track like you just I just push I'm able to push myself so much harder yeah than um you know than I ever would have before and I just don't think I I can tell you I was never I was not waking up at four o'clock in the morning I was not running 80 miles a week I was not pushing myself to the point of you know vomiting in on a track like I just I wasn't working at that at that hard and I only started getting faster when I started really working hard and that's like that's that's the biggest thing I've learned in the last year is that there's no secret to running.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's just you just work hard yeah that's something I'm finding the more and more I talk to people and you know you you go into the history of running it's just hard work.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: You just mentioned it 4 a.m you run early in the morning um you got neurosurgery for work you got two toddlers high mileage how does this all work you're working harder than ever as you just shared you know like um someone sees that and goes okay how where does she find the time how is this possible but you're doing it making it happen having great success how I think it's a lot of planning um and a lot of discipline and it it just like I I hate to say it that's like nobody wants to hear it but I don't snooze my alarm I I get up at the time that I planned if I plan to do a workout I do it um if I you know if if work runs late which happens all the time it's neurosurgery right there are emergencies there are things um I you know pivot and come up with a plan B.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm always ready like at any point I have running clothes and shoes in my car all the time because things happen you know surgeries cancel we finish a case faster than I think we're going to or I have an extra hour here or there I run.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah and I you know I I don't I'm overall my my husband and I we always do we sometimes we joke that we're like monks because we go to bed early we don't drink alcohol we like you know eat pretty healthy we you know just really just we I just run and hang out with my family that's like my entire life which is not bad and and my job and I love my job.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with that love for running love job love family like who's gonna argue with that love and my health like come on now.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I mean I have I have a fabulous life it's definitely not you know exciting or I'm not going out or doing anything but I don't want to do that.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm home with my family and my husband and um we have little kids uh and it's just like it you know the the early mornings work for me right now um and then because I can spend the afternoons with my kids like when I get home from work I don't have to run most of the time I've already run um or sometimes even when I get home from work I've already done one workout in the morning and one workout at lunch so I've already worked she worked out twice.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah so then I can just hang out with my kids.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: No I love that having the time and space for anything especially also the keeping the the clothes in the car for emergencies ready to go around gear enough.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: You keep gels in there too yep well you gotta I live in Arizona so you gotta be really careful about what you keep in your car because it's gonna melt.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah that's true.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: But I have gels in my I have a locker at the gym so I can pretty much like I have multiple different options of working out if I kind of get the time and I think that's been the that's been the biggest thing is there's you can you're gonna you can always think of an excuse not to do something right like oh I don't feel good it's a Wednesday I'm tired my kid didn't sleep I had a hard day at work my kid woke me up at two o'clock in the morning and has a stuff like you're always gonna think of 10 different reasons why you can't do something but it you just have to do you just get out of bed and and do it and you know like you worst case scenario you're tired like there I can sleep at a different time it's fine there isn't um you'll be fine that makes me want to paint a scenario you're gonna wake up at four and you know you got your run one of the kids can't sleep so you up at two now do you still go on that run?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yes I'm right I can tell you that so sleep deprived you get it in anyway yeah a couple weeks ago um my son I like I don't he he woke up and was afraid or something and it was like it was like 350 and I put him back to bed and he was fine.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: He was he's four he's he's a little kid and um you know I was looking at my watch and I'm like I should just start running now.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: I could I it's 350 I'm gonna get up at 4 430 anyway so now I can run five more miles there you go than I originally planned.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: So excellent win win and uh and my son's back to sleep and I'm good to run downstairs.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Do they ever want to jump on a treadmill with you?
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_02: I know you mentioned sometimes they know you're in the house and running yeah no they they know that uh it's really it's it's dangerous um because I I think there's been like some kids injured by a treadmill so we actually take treadmill safety pretty seriously and so does so does Peloton um it has like a Peloton is great they there there's a passcode and a key so essentially uh my kids are far too small to even touch even get anywhere close to the screen um but even if they were big enough to get close to the screen they wouldn't be able to uh turn it on or anything like that but they but I love they um you know they kids kids kids are watching you they they are they they know what you're doing they watch your habits they pay attention to everything so I mean my my children are all are fully aware of what you know like mama's running or when when I'm racing and they and then it's just it's really I think it's um it's pretty cool.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: I got to take my daughter to a 5K just like a little silly local 5K um and it was just really fun for them to see me race and uh and just kind of have a have a sense and I and I like that you know my husband and I are kind of um modeling that behavior that exercise is normal.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Exercise is a normal part of life it is something that they do daily no that's awesome yeah definitely rubs off they they watch you know I have a little nephew who grew up with me for the first five years they they watch they pick up the books even though they can't read it they they try to hit the gym you know or like fake pushups and whatnot um that's awesome you know for them to see you running eating healthy out racing traveling all that fun stuff you know that's cool let's talk Boston so you ran Boston some very very long time ago uh different person if you want you're gonna run Boston now 2015 okay so math here 11 years is that right I think it was 11 years ago yeah what does Boston mean to you now versus back then oh gosh it means so much to me now honestly because I um that was the whole the whole me getting back into running was the Boston was the goal and you know all this like compete like US championships Olympic trials all of that is amazing and and insane that I'm even thinking about it.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: But the goal was always Boston.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I even like I had this whole like back to Boston because I kind of wanted to I you know pregnancy and motherhood it really can feel like your body is not yours.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know you essentially share a body with another human for nine months or for me like eight months but and you just you just constantly just everybody needs something from you all the time and I just wanted to see if I could accomplish something for myself.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: And at the time the the initial goal was Boston I ended up running a 259 which was you know well well under the Boston qualifying for women.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: But you know I think that just it just it means it means it means a lot to me like I uh I you know teared up getting the acceptance email even though I knew that I was going to get in it was just um it was a it was it was a bit it's a big moment.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: I've always been incredibly proud of qualifying for Boston even 10 years ago.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: So to be back to be a mom to qualify by 24 minutes or something like that and um you know be able to to be able to run that this year when I'm in you know actually training for it as opposed to when I was dumb and 21 and didn't train for it.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is this is gonna it's gonna be it's gonna be great.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm excited.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: My coach and I are really positive and hopeful for um a Boston Marathon PR which I know you're not technically it's usually not a PR course but I think in this particular scenario I think it can be.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: No for sure yeah some time ago you're training very hard as everything we just discussed a lot harder and you know certain goals and paces have shifted mileage would you say this one's about proving something if you will this Boston no I think the I think it was less about the actual I think the the initial goal was proving sort of to myself that I could get back to Boston as um as a mother you know that that I didn't you know one of the with the Robin Arizone quota or something like that I didn't relinquish being an athlete when I became a mother is something that I always think about and that you know I still retain that part of myself I'm still an athlete I'm still a person I'm still like my own individual um I just now have children that I love deeply and that I you know would die for and care about and spend most of my life caring for but just having just carving out something that was for me and being able to see if I could accomplish something as as kind of amazing as qualifying for Boston I mean I think running as a mom running a marathon is incredible.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: Running running it all is is a lot most women do not do that.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: So to even be to running a marathon to qualify for Boston and then I ran a sub three marathon and like it's just kind of like you know and then I'm like okay well I guess now just the goals keep we kind of keep like raising the bar.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm excited I don't know where the ceiling is but I'm gonna figure out where that whatever that is.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: No you're definitely crushing it I mean kudos to you here if you haven't heard it I'm sure you hear it from many but uh 116 half 35 minute 5k sub three Boston coming up it's been some time where you're training better than ever like I I know you say you don't know where it's gonna go but you like what where would you like it to go?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think OTQ would be like the absolute dream goal.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I truly don't know if I can do that.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously there's a big difference between running that pace for a half marathon and a full marathon.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't even really know what I can do over a marathon because I haven't run a marathon in since 2024.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't run a marathon since I've recovered from my eating disorder relapse.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I really don't know what I'm capable of over 26 miles.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm you know there are some indicators that said that you know that if I keep working hard my coach thinks it's possible.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think more and more people that run with me and are like I'm talking to think it's the increasingly potentially possible.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: But the great the great thing is that I don't I have nothing to lose by trying I have a it's not my job.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's not it's not you know I nothing I have nothing to lose by trying um it's and I think I have a whole bunch of opportunities to keep trying um so I will not be trying to OTQ at Boston.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: The goal at Boston will be just to run it I'm hopeful like somewhere in the 240s um and then I think my first OTQ attempt will be CIM uh 2026.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: So this year CIM December okay um but if that doesn't happen I'll come up with some some more you know some more opportunities and um I may or may not be able to do it I'm not sure but I think there's not a huge downside in trying.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_02: As you're getting faster now you know and you're doing well in these races that you you've been running so far do you ever feel any pressures like oh I'm super fast now like I need to change stuff up or like just that pressure of like I'm I'm knocking on that door of 240 as you just mentioned and other no I think the I think the sometimes I I of course think like well how fast could I be if I didn't have a job you know like if I just if I made this my job could I be faster and I'm like yeah but then I'd have to like I don't want to do that.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: That sound that that makes it more stressful.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I actually uh I actually like that there's very very little stress or pressure really at all because nobody expects anything.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just a mom and um it's not my whole life I have a career and uh lots of other things going on.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: So it's kind of just an added bonus to my life at this point.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: So no I don't really I don't really feel stressful.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think the only thing is that of course um it there are diminished returns as you get faster.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it is very difficult to cut your half marathon time by minutes by minutes as you get faster and faster.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's that's the biggest thing you know I'm I'm thinking I just I just set a new pace some new pace goals for like a now my updated half marathon times and it's like oh man we're getting in like the 530s here like this is this is fast.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_02: So you know it just gets harder and more painful but I don't mind that that's awesome.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: Do your uh coworkers at work know you run very fast and what do they think?
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_02: I think they probably are tired of me talking about running um I would imagine and I know uh unfortunately a lot of people I know in real life follow me on Instagram also.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_02: So they're probably like what is this run?
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just want to see like your life or your pictures of your kids or something.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know why you keep posting every single run you do.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: But I think I like um and my I have really lovely coworkers and I've had the same I have there's two nurse practitioners I work with who are fabulous and we all share an office.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love them they they are very kind in listening to my ramble about running at least a couple times a week and my boss is probably also pretty tired of hearing me talk about running but I I think he's starting to realize like I I told him I told him um about the Phoenix half and that I was told a whole bunch of people at work that I was third and they were like third of like your friends and I was like no like third I wasn't third I was the third woman and I think that they you know like they they like didn't didn't like really understand that necessarily like really I was like yeah yeah so um I think like be being faster and uh I had a patient uh tell me I told him I was training for the Boston marathon and he was like you know you have to qualify for that right and I'm like yes I did that like I thought I was just gonna like show up and see what happened but people don't know even even my husband doesn't really know like the the difference between like if I I could tell him I ran a half marathon in like two and a half hours and he'd be like great job or like one sixteen and I don't really know that he would necessarily know I think he's like starting to understand that like I'm relatively fast, but um he's not a runner and doesn't doesn't really know.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_02: But he he's happy if I'm happy, which I think is makes a good marriage.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: What's gonna happen when you tell him you'll tq'd and and you say Olympic qualify?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think I I don't I think I don't know.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: I go I the first time I told him because I I was trying to explain him like I was like, well, I've already run a half marathon at that pace.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: He was like, Oh, then you can run a marathon at that pace.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, well, that's not really the same.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: But I I think he'll be he'll be very he'll be happy if I'm happy.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I think I think my my family has been very kind about supporting me through lots of various different athletic adventures over the years.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_02: They, you know, waited while I did an Iron Man and uh were at the finish line many, many hours later.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: So um they've been incredibly kind and supportive through all the crazy things that I want to do.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome, man, and very needed.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um what would you uh want your kids to learn like when you're they're 20 and they're seeing all these accolades from your running?
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think, you know, in part, I think one of the a lot of the things I think about is like teaching my daughter that it's okay to take up space as a woman.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to um to have opinions, to work hard, to have things you care about.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, a lot of times, um, you know, I just want to show her then that also that you can you can have a life that's rich and full of lots of different things.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you don't just I'm not just a mom, I'm not just a nurse practitioner, I'm not just a runner.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm or I'm all of these things.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that you don't have to kind of like put yourself in one box.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um and just just that, you know, I also think running, one of my favorite things is it's so much of running is just hard work.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of been how I've been successful my entire life.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: I always remember joking and even college and NP school that I might not be the smartest person in the classroom, but I'm gonna work harder than than anybody else.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna study longer.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, uh I had a good amount of academic success.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I went to I went to NYU and then I went to UPenn for graduate school.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think a lot of my academic success just came from working hard.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_02: Just that's it, and that's it, that's what works is study, study, you know, study more, work harder, more flashcards, more planning, more, you know, more reading.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you know, it's kind of as you can imagine, uh figuring out how to be helpful to a neurosurgeon is also incredibly difficult.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that takes time and you just work hard.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's kind of just been how I've lived my whole life.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: And my husband is very much the same way.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_02: He's a very, you know, accomplished specialty surgeon.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and he is an incredibly hard worker.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I think between the two of us, my children are gonna see a lot of examples of how far you can get by just like putting your head down and working hard.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a beautiful household and family.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that's amazing.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you, there's a parent out there listening to this going, How do I get faster?
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: How do I improve?
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: How do I like keep all this in check and balance?
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: What if we can name a few tips of advice you would give them, what would they be?
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_02: I would say that I started getting faster when I started being intentional with my workouts.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is that I used to think that like junk miles were not a thing, but I now do think that you can do, you can just, you know, and not that every running session needs to be a specific effort.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: There certainly should be easy days, but that's that's intentional.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, be intentional with your time and intentional with what you're trying to do.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I used to, you know, my when I just first started with my coach, I would just run the distance at this exact same pace.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: And since I started working with a coach, I've run both the slowest and the fastest miles I've ever run.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: Because I, you know, that I have that variability, there's intentionality to what um to what I do, and there's a goal of the workout, you know, and usually if I understand what the goal is, or maybe even if I don't know, Sam, but my coach probably does, that the um, you know, is is just try to be be intentional with your time and that's how you that's how you get faster.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you you like I I'm not one of those people that just magically can run a 545 mile on race day if I can't do it in training.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, I I wanted a sub 120 half, so I spent a lot of time running 605, 555.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I want OTQ, so I'm spending a very large amount of time running at 559 because that's the pace that I need to hold.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that you know, that's bringing intentionality and uh an ultimate goal to the workout, which I think is probably the best way to see results long term.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: There you have it, everyone.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: Intentionality.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um Amy, thank you for being on the People Run Podcast at TuneIn.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: This has been the People Run Podcast.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, guys.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.