Latest / The People Run Podcast / #76 How an Olympian Balances a Full-Time Job and High-Mileage Training | Ruben Sança

Transcript

#76 How an Olympian Balances a Full-Time Job and High-Mileage Training | Ruben Sança · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, welcome.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate you coming on.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Jumping right in, man.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: You've been to the Olympics, you do high mileage training, all while doing a full-time job.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: How do you get this done?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: How do you compete at Olympic level, pro level, fast times while having a full-time job?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for having me on the podcast, uh Fitz.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's great to be here, first of all.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um honestly, I've been I I wouldn't consider myself a pro pro, but more like on the amateur level.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've been running for quite some time um now going on almost three decades.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I never you know I started running in when I was in probably uh right around 12 years old.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um we had we had uh someone from the BAA, they came uh they and they talked to my high school, uh not my high school actually, my middle school uh coach.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um they have like these middle school programs, and um at the time I had I had come from Cape Verde not very long ago, probably less than a year, and they said uh who wants to do cross country?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I raised my hand uh thinking we were gonna you know race across the country.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: I found out that we were actually gonna race cross-country at Franklin Park.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that that's how I got started.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, it was just you know, I played soccer for most of high school and did a little bit of cross-country towards the end.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I got recruited to run at UMass Lowell, and then after UMass Lowell, um, I had the chance to to run for Cape Verde uh in in a couple of championships and uh other international events, and from there I just kind of um you know I I loved to I loved to train to kind of push my body to test myself, and it became something that I naturally sort of like incorporated into my lifestyle.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And throughout the time, you know, being a first generation um college student, um, I also wanted to make sure I I didn't want to get it just a part-time job after.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to get a full-time job.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And my coach warned me, you know, if you're gonna get a full-time job while also, you know, doing kind of like pretty high volume, high intensity training, you gotta definitely take care of your body and pay attention to things and and have a lot of discipline.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it's something that has has always come kind of like naturally to me.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I've kind of still am still enjoying doing it, um, although it's not easy, but um I enjoy the kind of like the balance that it brings to life.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: How does that come naturally?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like what sort of things do you do to keep that balance, right?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, full-time job, training at a high level, like what keeps you in check three decades, man.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think um, you know, one of the first things is always planning and uh really understanding the ups and downs.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think oftentimes you see people uh especially not not so much anymore.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like there's there are more American into the ballet runners who are now kind of doing it more, like chasing their goals after, uh, you know, going after Olympic trials and doing high mileage.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think that's that's that's changed a little bit from when I graduated, especially because there's way more stuff on social media, you know, Instagram, YouTube, all this, you know, Strava, people posting what they're doing, and people are starting to realize that it's actually doable.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for me, um, you know, it's all it always comes down to one planning.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like you gotta really plan whether you're planning your year, planning your months, or you're planning your day to day of how you're gonna break down and do your do your runs.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're traveling, you gotta understand, like, okay, if I'm traveling at this time, I gotta get up this time, or if you're gonna be late, you you you gotta just plan around it.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the most important thing that often people uh uh uh underestimate is that sometimes people just want to um they want to have success right away and they don't want to really be patient with waiting, uh with with understanding like okay, the next three months are just gonna be terrible, they're gonna be down, but then I can mentally come back and feel motivated to train for something else.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, you know, students, um uh athletes from NCAA, they finish their their college career and they just burn out.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's hard for them just to actually even try to go running again.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I think for me it's always come to about just understanding to be patient.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are times when you know I've taken so much time off where I come back and a six-mile run feels like a marathon.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like I start with the light and I'm breathing really hard.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think people sometimes forget that that's actually normal because we train our bodies to be at such a high level that when we do take time off, it's like you gotta really restart start somewhere.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, I've always kind of like um you know understood the process.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh it comes to uh you know it comes to a level where you know you you gain experience and then you gain wisdom.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that wisdom has allowed me to know where my body can land and what's possible, what's what is not possible, but also in my mind to try not to really stress out so much about certain things that are out of my control and just kind of focus on those things that are in control.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's perfect, man.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, you do see that a lot less, thankfully, in the NCAA now, where like no one's as burnt out as much as it used to be.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: It used to be like, okay, I'm done 20 something.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's I I think there's so much that has changed uh with just visibility of the sport.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, thinking about Flow Track when they first came out, you know, they had the whole driven uh series with Kem Levins, and people found out, oh, people are actually doing like you know, high high mileage and they're racing really well.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh now you see all the success that you know people like Kim Levins have had, you know, from a NTAA athlete relatively unknown to out kicking her up and now running 205 or so.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then he's still you know, he's still kind of going at it old school with the mileage.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think people see that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, there's there's just so much more visibility in what people are doing, and people are willing now to kind of push themselves a little bit further.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, huge fan of him, man.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen sometimes he triples, you know.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: People talk about doubles, this guy triples.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about planning and finding the time.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: He he has to have it sorted for sure.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: At what point did uh Olympic come, you know, like representing Cape Verde for you?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: What was that moment?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: When did that become a realization?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, this is happening and I'm doing it.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think when I was um probably my sophomore year, uh going into my sophomore year at UMass Lowell, um Cape Verde is uh for those who don't know, is a very small country, um about 300 miles off the the um the western coast of Africa, uh 500,000 population, about a million population outside of Cape Verde.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um we didn't gain our independence until 1975.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we're a relatively very small nation.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um but during my sophomore year, um I went to I we always go back to vacation during um you know the holidays, and I did a big race down there, uh they call it the Saint-Silvestre, which is sort of like the national 10K championships there on the road.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I won that race.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, which you know, for a college student to win that big race, it was a big deal.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um so since that time I was sort of like on the radar um to compete in some some races, and but you know, when I came back to to school at UMass Lowell, my times still really weren't that fast.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was doing pretty well on the kind of like cross country and and roads, but I wasn't really translating that into really good track times and then uh a lot of adjustment with mileage and things like that.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: But eventually, you know, I was I was on their radar and towards the end of my collegiate career things just really started to click.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I was now you know running a little bit faster, and that's when they said, you know, there was an opportunity to um to gain uh the wildcard uh qualification through Cape Verde, and that's when they reached out to me, and it happened so quickly.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me about that.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: What's the wild card mean?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's one of uh several athletes, I take it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um at the time rules may have changed slightly now, but at the time, um, you know, the uh the International Olympic Committee Committee, they want every country to be represented in the Olympics.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um they and that that means like they don't you don't have to have every single sport, but at least one athlete.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And track and field is one of them that actually uh a lot of countries tend to send athletes in because there's so many different disciplines in in at uh what they call athletics.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh what they do is when uh so basically Cape Verde puts their best athlete, uh, and I would happen to be their best overall male athlete at the time uh for for track and field, and they compare how I do compared to other nations that may be in very similar situations, and then they advance those individual athletes um based on some some type of uh table scoring uh that they use.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So technically I didn't have the official time qualifier, but I had the wild card qualifier, and that's what allowed me to go in.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's really dope, man.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: What did it feel like when you got to race and represent, you know, coming leaving home, coming back home to represent?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's gotta feel amazing.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was uh it was really um it was really unbelievable, you know, going there.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And um I think when I was living in Cape Verde before I came to the US, I had really bad asthma.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: So no one could believe that I was actually like becoming a runner.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I was kind of known in town as sort of like the the sick kid because I was sick all the time.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of different asthma attacks.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But people were just really uh really proud of me, you know, being there from a uh very small, you know, fishing town that that we grew up where everybody knows each other, everybody goes to the same school, and you know, everybody's parents and and and and grandparents.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it was an unbelievable experience to go there uh to represent Cape Ferd.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And also got to do it with my you know my college coach, which was even better because we hadn't been working together for so many years.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome, man.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Bringing it back to this year, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I saw at the start of the year you said you were uh training at some of the highest levels like ever.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, which is crazy because the Olympics was a while ago.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like what what's been going so well so far?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think just um overall being healthy at you know at the time, uh early this year, um finding a really good balance of like uh recovery, uh nutrition, and uh doing all the other little things to help me get better.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um but overall, um, you know, just kind of like I I mentioned earlier, sometimes we tend to like really rush things and rush racing when we're not ready to race.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I had gone uh quite some time without racing, so I slowly started kind of like really planning out uh my months of training, uh my months of um just base base work, uh, which is I think sometimes people really really underestimate base work.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh people think you know, sometimes they they that they before when they start to train for a marathon, you know, they count out 16 weeks and then they start to train for a marathon.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: But the reality is uh before those 16 weeks, you have to already be in good base shape.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I kind of just took my time um to really build up.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: I I had I had an injury a while back, and I took several time to just build up the mileage without really doing any workouts, just strides, short hills, uh, but pretty pretty decent mileage for me, you know, working full-time and in training.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: But uh eventually I started doing you know some some kind of like tempo runs, intervals.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am a heavy user of the treadmill.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've been using the treadmill for training for quite some time, and you know, being in Boston where it's it's nighttime at 4 30 and it's snowy, icy roads.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um a lot of people sometimes they were like, you know, I I don't like people some people are really against the treadmill.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I uh this is where I I think people, you know, you gotta really find what really works for you.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um we know now that everybody's using treadmills.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Every like in Europe, and now you're starting to see this wave of people doing treadmill workouts.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I had been doing treadmill workouts since I started working full-time because that's the only way you could balance consistency and understanding where your body was.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't over-train, but you also don't under train.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and I think that's one of the key things that has also helped me uh you know keep running for a long time is that um I've been able to find what really works for me, regardless of what works for other people, and uh finding what is it that allows me to do my full-time job and also compete.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um now trend trends are gonna come and go, right?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I think at the end of the day, if you really want to be uh build a sustainable life of of running, you gotta really find what works for you, like with your balance, with your work, with your social life, and just try to maintain it.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to be a you know superhero on the weekend.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I think um you know doing things like the treadmill allowed me to have a good balance of you know how I keep it going for a while.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love that about like finding what works for you, man.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like the more I talk to people via the podcast.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: I joked once, like, hey, what's the secret?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: What I'm finding is the secret is finding out what works for you, right?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: On that same topic though, like it's gonna be different for everyone.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'll put that caveat out there, but you just mentioned that you found what works for you.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: What is it that works for you?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Treadmill, what else?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what works for you to compete in training at such a high level?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, for me, I've always um I I come from a soccer background.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I was somebody who my high school coach was a hurdling coach, so we trained like almost like sprinters.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: I was on the I was anchoring the four by four for every single race.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one time I got dropped in the four by one and I had to do it.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I come just the way my body's built, um, I had more way more fast twitch muscles.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: When I got to UMass Lowell, um you know my first um I believe my first season at UMass Lowell during a fall cross-country workout, like I broke my mile PR in one of the reps.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but I and then I started to really realize like what is it about me that I personally needed, and I knew that I needed a lot a lot more aerobic development mileage because I was running in high school, I was probably running like 30 miles a week.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, I still ran sub-16 for 5k, you know, four or thirties in the mile.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: But once I got to UMass low, um I started doing a lot more volume, you know.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: We then freshmen are typically doing you know 70 miles a week, and then every you know, every year you tend to add, you know, about 10 miles or so, give or take.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I found out that the the workout in high school I had nobody to work out with.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was by myself.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: So imagining doing like three or four by eight hundred, and you're literally by yourself out there.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: That was great.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: But then once I once I got to college, I actually for the most of my college career until maybe the very end, once I started getting a little faster, I always had so many guys to work out with, and that really taught me something that I didn't know in high school was how to run fast, but also stay relaxed.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: So in everything that we did in college, you know, my coach um Gary Gardner really focused on us being able to run fast, but not kill ourselves, but maintain it pretty relaxed.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that's something that I, you know, I continue to really work on and uh really help me in the 5K.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: The 5K is a fast race, you gotta be pretty quick, but you gotta be so smooth and relax.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of like um, you know, something that really helped me over time.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I gotta ask then, man, like how do you run fast and stay smooth?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, it's just um it's uh one of those things where you know, first of all, you gotta put into training, right?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that you're not just huffing and puffing out there and just literally try to do it in practice, and then when it comes to racing, you can try to do it as well.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, your strides, um being somebody who uh could run pretty quick, so I I had a pretty natural, like fast stride, but um having the endurance to be able to last is what I really had to kind of work on over time.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that that came from just honestly a lot of just high my high mileage.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um people ask me, I think when when I joined my um college cross-country team, we had about 10 or 11 recruits, and I had the slowest two mile PR.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: I never broke 10 minutes in college, right?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um but by the time I graduated, I had run you know back to back to back mile PRs in the 5K.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: So um but it was all again, just you know, continue to build the consistency over time um and take good care of your body.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Talking about mileage, you know, you just talked about it earlier, like running on a treadmill.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: I saw you ran like a 20, 22 piece on Planet Fitness treadmill the other day.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like 128 miles in a week.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: What goes to your head in these long roundabouts in the treadmill or just outside 20, 22-piece smilers?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I I think one thing that I notice is that um, you know, you can ideally, okay, you want to be out running a long run on a nice uh dirt road rolling, right?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes that's not you know, you can't always make that happen.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you gotta go to what is next that I can do.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's the treadmill, then it it you know, it may not be the bull the most quality run that you do, but it also teaches you you're working on other things, you're working on patience, you're working on you know trying to stay hydrated, and you it can be hot in the in the gym.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you work on on other stuff, and um some people will criticize oh you're just doing treadmill training, but hey, it's some training is better than no training.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And yesterday actually we had a nor'easter in Boston, so it was windy and and rainy.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I decided, hey, let's let's keep it safe, run on the treadmill.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: But it's gonna be it's it's been it's been like that for a lot of my career um over time, where it's either you're gonna do a run that's maybe 85%, or not do a run at all and be at zero percent.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's something that it really helps me understand, and I definitely would encourage others.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh do some is rather than doing nothing.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: It definitely adds to that consistency and keeping the mileage for sure.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, you talked about an injury earlier, like how's that panning out?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Are you recovered now, working through it?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it's um so um I've had some hamstring issues on and off.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um so right now I'm actually going through one where just being super careful, um kind of you know, giving myself myself enough time to to for the hamstring to turn the corner, but rather than doing things that are very um anaerobic or or very hard, I'm just doing a lot of just aerobic activity now and letting it recover in time for race.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it was kind of feeling like that before Philly.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and the filler race, I honestly didn't really feel it during the race.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um maybe towards the end a little bit, but it's something that I'm just trying to really play it safe for now.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's three decades of running will give you that.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Man, that's amazing.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um what made UMass like the place for you?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: I know you just talked about it in your journey there, but like at one point, like you weren't sure, you know, coming from Cape Verde, what made it the place for you?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there there's several UMass uh schools, and I chose to go to UMass Lowell.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one because um it was very close, uh close to to my home in Boston, about a 40-minute drive or you know, 40-minute train ride.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, and it was very affordable for me.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, being immigrant parents coming to the US for the first couple of years, you definitely want to make sure you're in a place that you can afford.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and overall, just the team atmosphere.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh once I visited the team there, um, you know, a lot of people that you know look like me on the team, uh, which made it a lot more enjoyable.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a lot of immigrants on the team as well.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we had sort of like uh we had people from all over the place, from like Chile, from Kenya, from uh Puerto Rico, and it was it was fun to be in that kind of atmosphere.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: But also I think um one big thing for me was was you know to have my coach there who actually believed in me.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um when you're uh an idi in inner city runner, you know, like I was, I went to Boston Public Schools, where distance running really was not a big thing in my league.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and there were so there were so many questions that I had about training, and I didn't really it was hard to actually imagine myself doing some of the things I I Went on to do, and uh uh my coach uh had a lot of I don't know maybe he saw it from far away, but I remember specifically when he was recruiting me, he said at the time I was running the 1,000 meters that we have indoors, yeah, and um I had just come off of like a really, really great year.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: I went from like I don't know, running like 240s to then I I got down to 233, finished fifth in the New England Championships.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, uh if you come to UMass Lowell, you will run 228 the first year.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how he knew, but it happened.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: I went there, ran 228 the first year.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so um, you know, he he UMass Law has always had a really strong like history of like distance running in the region.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, if you look at um there there's been a lot of uh sub-220 marathoners come out of UMass Law pretty high numbers.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: But uh overall, it's just being kind of one of those like blue-collar schools where people just you know they do a lot of just hard work.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um we don't we never at least during the time when I was there, we didn't really get any like stud recruits.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: But by the time you know you get 16 minute um 5k runners, by the time they leave UMass Low, they're running low 14 minutes.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's just one of those schools where you can you can actually make it happen.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um I knew that where I was um and what I needed to do in terms of improvement, and it was the right atmosphere.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are also trails in Lowell, so a lot of people don't know this, but there are trails.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: We have some really beautiful uh trails at the um Lowell uh Teamsboro uh slash drag forest, and we get to run in those trails there pretty much every single day.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: They're just about a mile and a half from campus.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, and Lowell is kind of like a you know, it's a decent sized city, uh fourth or fifth largest city in Massachusetts.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I myself coming from a city, I really kind of you know felt like it was the right place for me.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: What did you think that Coach saw in you?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like I know you said I'm not sure, but like what do you think he saw, and like what was that support like?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think just coming from the city, you know, a lot of grit, a lot of resilience, um, and that he probably saw in me.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he knew that I had a lot of untapped potential because um I show I you know I shared with him what I was doing in high school, you know, whereas a lot of a lot of high school runners sometimes they you know they they focused a lot on mileage, and um they never really knew like the small little things like stretching, drills, like proper warm-up, proper cooldown.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And when I was in high school, uh my coach being a um he was a he was a um a hurdling coach, a hurdler at uh Springfield College.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you know hurdling is a very technical event, right?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and when I was in high school, I really learned a lot of the basics.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: We weren't really focused so much on the mileage, but we really learned the basics of track and fields.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh my coach from college, Gary, I mean, he kind of knew that I knew a lot of the basics, and what I really needed to do was now to increase the load of the volume and some of the intensity that I had to do.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, I mean, I think we just kind of went right to work.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And every, you know, every year I just kind of kept improving and improving and just taking a chunk of time off of my my races, and that's that's how it worked.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome, man.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, you reached the Olympics at such a young age, you know, pro some people would go, man, this guy reached the heights early, but you're still competing to this day.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: What keeps you competing?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think I just like the um I like the challenge again of just pushing myself.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, um, as much as I love racing, I also love to kind of build up my training and being able to do things that I didn't think I could do.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: And now uh I mean I'm I'm almost 40.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm turning 40 in like two and a half months.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um some of the things that I've been able to do now, I'm like, I don't know how I'm doing it, but like I've I've been able to do them.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the hard tempo runs, you know, that actually feel easier.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the other thing too that um that people tend to underestimate is the the older you get, and as long as you've been sort of like quote unquote in the game for a while, you're learning so much.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like you're learning yeah, I'm you're st I'm still learning new things, right?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um there are small little tweaks that like that you can make in your training that you maybe you didn't know, you know, 15 years ago.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it actually from a knowledge standpoint, uh it can really be uh helpful to you.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh and there's new you know, there's new technology that's coming out now, there's there's new science that's out there.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um although I tend to be kind of a little bit more old school.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't try all the new stuff and the new tricks and stuff like that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh as you get older, there's definitely so many things that you learn over time that you uh it makes it fun to kind of apply them in training and see how your body handles it.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to go through a long list, but what are some of those things that you do try now?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um tempo runs.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, just uh the standard old school tempo runs.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you can do 16 miles at marathon pace, you can probably race that on race day.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um that hasn't changed.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's still you know the same.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but just different recovery, like now there's recovery boots, there's uh they show the science behind them, they show the science with contrast therapy.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the the workouts that people used to think back then that were crazy, like the three by four mile at marathon pace with just you know just a little bit of recovery.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people used to think that was you know a lot of the Ronaldo Canova um style training that people are now all doing now because it works.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember when Nate Jenkins and I we did uh we did one of those crazy workouts that was almost like I think they they wrote something on it in the runner's world.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was almost like 36 mile day, um which was crazy, right?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: But a lot of that stuff still works.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: The only challenge is you gotta recover from it and try not to get injured.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um but overall, you know, there's there's new, you know, there's new s new shoes now that allow your feet to actually recover faster.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's things like you know, although I don't do much of it, there's double threshold workouts, which I don't know whether or not the science actually works behind it, but some people swear by it.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I do think also you know getting a lot of sleep, which is something that I've been trying to work on, uh, helps.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh finding out that magnesium does help you sleep and recover better.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: So there's always there's always new stuff that you know that you find in nutrition as far as like race day uh fueling has improved over time.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's different gels, different formulas, uh, and there again, there's just so much stuff.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the equipment now um, you know, that has changed over time.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: I remember maybe about I don't know, like 10 maybe 15 years ago.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember Nate Jenkins, who's from UMass Lowell, was at the um he was at the World Championship for US and he wore spandex you know shorts, right?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they uh the they made a comment during the race like we've never seen anybody wear spandex shorts.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean that was new, it was only 15 years ago, and now almost every marathoner wears spandex shorts because they've shown that like it actually does help to help their legs, and there's been more research putting into that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: So things that we have now that we didn't really have, you know, 15 years ago, and there's so much science behind um even your the watch that you wear.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've I've been a Garmin user since I don't know, 2006-2007, and there's been so much more technology that you can learn from Garmin uh from a recovery aspect from your workouts.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: Before you would do a workout and you would never really understand how much effort it actually took out of you.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can kind of guess uh as close as possible using Garmin to know when you are feeling fully recovered and when you're able to get back.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that can help with eliminating chances of injury and eliminating a lot of the fatigue behind it.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's Strava.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Strava never existed before, and believe it or not, you can still get some, you know, you can get some some uh data from your from Strava, whether it's you know the the the the course, whether it's hilly, whether it's your grade adjusted pace or your cadence, those things never really existed back then.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it's nice to have these these new technologies kind of come into place and for me to be here and be using them uh and then kind of comparing you know how it was back then, it just uh makes it a lot of fun.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: What do you find harder now heading into your forties than you know back in the day running 20, 30 years ago?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh the hardest thing is is always gonna be uh finding time for recovery.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um because uh when you are in your early twenties, you've got a lot less responsibility, you've got even you know the day-to-day job is is different.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you're starting a you know an entry-level role, um you can have a little bit more flexibility and less responsibility on the things that you want to do.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: But now, um, you know, being in uh in my career for over 15 years now, there's definitely different levels of responsibility and life responsibility that you you kind of have to take care of first.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: And at times that can compromise um, you know, your recovery or training or even just your focus.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And trying to always have a good balance is what is really gonna dictate um whether or not you continue doing what you're doing.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because um the body, if as long as you give it enough rest and you know how much stress to put on the body, you can still run for a while.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the uh the the guy from Brazil, uh Paulo uh Paulo Paula just ran 212 today at Berlin Marathon at 47 years old.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's 47 years old.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: He just ran 212 today.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I mean it's it's possible.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: That that's I gotta pause on that.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: 47, 212.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Is that like a record maybe?
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Probably it probably is, but uh yeah, he's 47 years old.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's insane.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, you're an executive director, man, like in your work life.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you balance what gets the most energy?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's gotta be really demanding work, really demanding running, mileage, family.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you balance and decide what gets the most energy?
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, for me, um, it's it's just trying to first and foremost, you know, being with my family is very important to me.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um that gets my number one attention.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh obviously, you know, everybody needs a job, right?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and but like I shared earlier, uh the older you get, uh, you know, the the more responsibility, the more stress everything is else is gonna is gonna bring you.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and my job is is you know, it's a it feels like a 50-hour work work week uh where um I am overseeing actually the launch of our Boston market.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: I work for a nonprofit um that is sort of like in the ed tech industry called Braven.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, only about 14 years um young, I should say.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: But um in in my role, I am it's a full schedule from the time you're in the morning until sometimes you're just working offline, so it's an ongoing thing.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um trying to find a really good balance of that, um, to you know make sure you're not getting too stressed out from the job where it takes over your entire life, I think that's important.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: But that's also something that I've always you know it it it's not like you get to a point where you turn on the switch and say, I'm not no, you have to kind of really practice that over time.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: That that's for sure a lot.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: Has your uh definition of success changed over the years?
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: This deep into running work.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: I I think for me success has always been to like how much I can give out of my body that I know it's available there, right?
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: In the tank.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um so there there there are times when you go to a race where you can still run a PR and just not really be fully happy.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there are times when you don't run a PR and you can still be happy with your performance with what you had on race day.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um sometimes it's the training, and sometimes it's really just the execution of the race.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: And trying to really understand when you come from a race, like what happened, right?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: Was it the training leading up to the race that didn't go well, or was the training well, but then the execution just off?
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Could have been because of the weather, could have been because you were sick.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think now, uh, where I've been racing for almost three decades now, I have a pretty good sense of where myself is, and that self-awareness doesn't let me become so stressed out about a particular performance, right?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I ran, you know, I ran Philly the other day, uh, and I know where my training is or or was, but I also knew that um it wasn't the best weather and I didn't kind of feel my best.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: But overall I come back from the race like, hey, I'm happy, I'm still putting out good times out there.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh if you look at the age grade, I'm probably running at a better percentage now than I was, you know, 15-20 years ago.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: But is um again just having everything in perspective of where you are, you know, how old you are, where what you're doing, and um continuing to just find ways to improve.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love that, man.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: New York Marathon.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: You're doing New York Marathon the fall, that's the focus.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, why'd you pick New York?
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, I mean, long story.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I I was at a work event and um I met a few people from New York, um, and um they had asked me if I had already picked a fall marathon.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: I said no, and I I got invited to run New York.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I think when you think about the big uh, you know, and and I I'm someone who I'm not I'm not one of those people that goes and try to try to check every major that they've actually run.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've always said if the opportunity comes to run New York at some point, I will do it.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: I personally I was not really picking a fall marathon just because of uh my schedule right now, which is a pretty pretty tough you know work schedule with everything going on.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: But the opportunity presented itself, and I said, hey, you know, sometimes if the opportunity is there, you just take it, and you sometimes you just can't be a hundred percent ready for one race, you're just there and you go for it.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um, and New York is again it's one of those races where you want to run it.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's just so much culture and history behind the New York City Marathon.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had watched some of the amazing videos of when the race first started.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when you think about New York as a place of immigrants, I'm an immigrant too, uh place of rich uh with a lot of culture.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: I've done some so I've done a lot of running in New York, and it's when you think about the American dream, that's what comes to mind.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I said, hey, you know, why not?
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um I try it and it's it's close to Boston, so it makes sense to to go for it.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: And also from a perspective of like comp uh a competitive perspective, a lot of people don't really like to run New York as much, at least on the competitive side, because it's not a super fast course.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: So you see a lot of people you know heading down to the uh you know uh the project, uh the December project, uh, or the Cal International during this time of the year.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I tend to actually do really well on Hilly courses.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know how, but I've done really well at Boston and at flat courses I sometimes don't do as well.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: So um I think those those the combination of those those couple of things really uh allowed me to say yes to New York.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: What makes you so strong in Hilly courses?
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe it's just the way my body's built.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I have lots of fast switch muscles, and I'm more like a big engine when it comes to to a lot of these marathon races.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it could also be because I'm I'm somebody who just trains a lot in in terms of like high mileage.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: Working them on my aerobic development um just allows me to be a better hill runner.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: You've run filly distance half, which we just spoke about some other races earlier in the year.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: What's the training telling you so far heading into New York?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think just my endurance is there, but overall, you know, I'm I can tell some you know, some people love to to really test themselves to know whether or not they're really fit.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Could be like a really hard workout, could be a really hard race, but I just know my body.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm when I'm going out there and I'm doing like 10 miles, it could be at seven-minute pace, and I look at my heart rate, and I'm like, this feels like a jog in the park.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I just know that physically I I've been able to recover so much better.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think my aerobic um development is at pretty high level now.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: I can run for I can run for a long time, but I think what's really gonna dictate how well I do is uh how I recover from this little uh hamstring setback and how I'm able to um to you know turn things around in terms of like getting some of the faster workouts in.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not particularly so so concerned with trying to be super fast.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: A course like like New York, I think, is more of a strength course, uh like Boston.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um and in 2000, I believe 2015, uh I had very similar things happen to me right before Boston, where a month out I had a hamstring injury, and I ended up not doing a single workout until race day.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I was barely doing strides.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just kept up with the mileage.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but by the time I raced Boston, I was I was top 25.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: So um again, just trying to make sure I get to the starting line healthy, but trying not to overcook myself for when I get there.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: That that's uh that's smart wisdom there talking again.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, what would make New York uh a race you're proud of?
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think place-wise is becoming a lot more competitive than it is in the past.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um I for me, I feel like a doable race is I think top top 30 is not out of reach.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think top 50 is not out of reach either.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: But overall, just like to go do the do the New York City marathon and come you know come out of it healthy and and feel like I put a good performance out there um as far as like my competitive, uh my competitiveness goes.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to come you know, feel after the race as if like I gave it all I had.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whether if my body, like if I was, if I if I'm at X shape, I want to be able to give the most out of that X shape that I have, right?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I'm really looking for, and just really looking for more to compete.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not so concerned about a particular you know time that I'm trying to hit either.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: Ruben, now at 39, heading into 40.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: Are you still open to potentially doing 2028 Olympics?
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh absolutely.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I feel like um with with the way that I felt in some of my tempo runs, especially early this winter, you know, I just um trying to make 510 pace feel as easy as possible.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like there's been moments where, you know, I'm I'm doing like tempo runs and I'm like, um, this just feels so easy.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder how much of it I can kind of keep training and keep pushing myself to get there.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think with turning 40, um, there's there's obviously going to be even a lot more opportunities to compete at the at the master's level, uh, which I'm I'm excited for.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um it you know, uh the competitiveness is really fun.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I I've always loved to compete to to win something.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um now being at 39, you know, there's there's races where a lot of the races I'm going, you know, I'm able to compete against people you know my age, but it becomes um, you know, it it's it's it's not as fun when you don't have somebody breathing now down your neck trying to catch you.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I really miss that from my earlier days of racing.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm hoping um, you know, is even after I turn 40 that I can kind of still do a lot of the things that I have not been able to do.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have a pretty soft, uh given by some of my places at at Boston Marathon, I still have a pretty soft uh PR.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, because I just don't go to fast courses.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um I still think that uh running a PR is well within my reach, even after I turn 40.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: What would it mean to you to like represent another Olympic team now?
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what 14, maybe even more than that years later?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean I it's not something you see very often.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Keep Verd um are uh Our athletic team has improved over time.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, you know, I I still I feel like since the time I I went to the Olympics, I've inspired a lot of kids back in Cape Verde from my hometown particularly.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: So if I if if I make the Olympics great, it's not something that is gonna make or break my my running overtime.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still gonna keep a sustainable running life.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, it's all about trying to really empower others and help others, motivate others to compete.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh being at the Olympics, it's not it's not something that you're just doing it for yourself.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's something that it's an honor that you get, and uh you get to share that that experience with others.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, you know, kids especially there they see you and they want to talk to you, they want to know about that, and uh that's kind of like your bargaining chip to sometimes trying to really motivate them.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, I've I I I'm lucky where I've been able to carry that experience uh once when I go back home.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we've been able to uh do a lot of local local stuff back in my hometown that has really changed um running there nationally.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we've had uh many uh national champions come from my hometown now.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um I do a lot to support them with uh with uh with supplies for running, whether shoes, equipment.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, we've sent hundreds of shoes to my hometown, and that has really, really made a huge impact uh to athletics, to running in Cape Verde, and not just from a competitive standpoint, but also helping kids uh stay out of trouble, um having something to do.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh sports in outside of the US is not as supported as it is in the US.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: Here we're very lucky.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: We have USATF, they organize all these different youth events, youth Olympics and junior Olympics and all these things.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you can your high school track, you know, your high school, middle school, they all have track teams, soccer teams, you know, volleyball teams, all this stuff.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have that back home.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it's very easy for kids to kind of you know go off the you know the wrong path and get into drugs, alcohol, or or other trouble, or drop out of school.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: So what I've been doing is just using my my Olympic status as kind of a way to connect with people down there.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um I have a foundation there that we support kids with with supplies uh for running, especially those who don't who are running their feet.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I feel like that for me being back at the Olympics is just to allow me to empower them more.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'd be really dope, man, and do it a second time and come back home, like and get that reception, but also being able to put a hand to help the current generation that's already rocking because of you and then the new one going forward.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: That would be amazing, man.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_01: All these years now, you kind of touched on it on a PR.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what do you still think you're capable of?
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what would that PR be?
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's it's funny you mentioned that because I always kind of still ask myself that.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think when I when I ran my PR, it was just I mean, after I finished that race, I was like, that was the worst race I've had because I just did not race myself well.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, after after many other races, I've never been somebody who's gotten really so lucky with a fast course or great weather.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, two years ago I was 20, no, I was 31st at Boston, but it was it was like 70 at the finish.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was not like Boston last year where everybody ran like five-minute PRs.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was crazy.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've never fully benefited from that.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I do think realistically I can hold somewhere between 5'10 and 515 pace uh for a marathon.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, I think um when when you're racing marathons, there's so much that could go, and you can't just go off of you know pace.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just competition and the weather and all these other factors.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think like eventually, um, you know, as I keep trying, I will hit it in one of these marathons.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know which one, but um the more you put yourself at the starting line, eventually it will happen.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a repeat over and over, grind for sure, and lessons and and wisdom that comes from all that.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Ruben, I want to say thank you, man.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate you coming on the podcast.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to to seeing you line up in New York, man.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping to watch it on TV or maybe be in the city.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks, Fitz.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: I am I'm looking forward to it too, and and thanks for thanks for the interest in getting me on the podcast.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure, man.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, to New York and 2028, seeing you do it again, man.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love to see what you got going on in Cape Verde.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, until next one, tune in.