Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, the official
Rob Simmelkjaer: podcast of New York Road Runners. We are presented by
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton. I'm your host and the CEO of New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer. And with me this week and
Rob Simmelkjaer: just about every week, my lovely co- host, a Peloton
Rob Simmelkjaer: running instructor, and an incredible runner in her own right,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs Gentry. Hey Becs, nice to see you.
Becs Gentry: Hello. Hi, I missed you. It's been a couple of
Becs Gentry: weeks while I was having a bit of family time,
Becs Gentry: but I missed having our chats.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I know. It's always hard, but we knew you were
Rob Simmelkjaer: coming back and I follow you on your Instagram and
Rob Simmelkjaer: all the places so it sounds like you guys had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great, great time and Becs-
Becs Gentry: We did.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... this is exciting. We are joined today by a
Rob Simmelkjaer: whole new audience. We've got now a new partner in
Rob Simmelkjaer: iHeartMedia, and for the first time this week, our podcast
Rob Simmelkjaer: is being broadcast over the airwaves of WOR 710 AM here
Rob Simmelkjaer: in New York City, so welcome to all of our
Rob Simmelkjaer: new listeners-
Becs Gentry: What's up?
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... on WOR with iHeart. It's super exciting to welcome
Rob Simmelkjaer: a whole new group of people to this podcast. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: for those who don't know what they're listening to right
Rob Simmelkjaer: now, this podcast is all about running. We are New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners, which of course is the nonprofit organization
Rob Simmelkjaer: in New York that puts on the TCS New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: City Marathon and many, many other races. And so every
Rob Simmelkjaer: single week, Becs and I get together, we talk a little
Rob Simmelkjaer: running, and then we always bring in a guest sometimes
Rob Simmelkjaer: too, to talk about what running has done for their
Rob Simmelkjaer: lives. And we've had so many different kinds of people
Rob Simmelkjaer: over the years who have been runners and have had
Rob Simmelkjaer: their lives really transformed by running. And so we like
Rob Simmelkjaer: to talk to those people, and that's what we do here on Set the Pace, Becs.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. And it is so awesome to have all these new ears listening
Becs Gentry: and maybe getting inspired to come along to their first
Becs Gentry: New York Road Runners event in the future.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's the idea. And you don't have to see yourself
Rob Simmelkjaer: running a marathon-
Becs Gentry: No.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... to just go for a run. You can go
Rob Simmelkjaer: outside and run a mile, find a track nearby, run
Rob Simmelkjaer: a couple laps, and guess what? You've started to run.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And then we've talked to so many people on this
Rob Simmelkjaer: show over the 100- plus episodes we've now done who
Rob Simmelkjaer: said they never thought they would run and then they
Rob Simmelkjaer: something or someone inspired them to give it a try,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and they took that first little jog and that turned
Rob Simmelkjaer: into a longer one and a longer one. And some
Rob Simmelkjaer: of those people end up at the starting line of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the New York City Marathon. Some of them don't, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: that's okay because it doesn't mean you have to run a marathon just when
Rob Simmelkjaer: you start running, you can just love running and get
Rob Simmelkjaer: something from it at any distance.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. And even if you do one, that's it, one
Becs Gentry: and done of any distance. The other thing you do though,
Becs Gentry: once you're in the running world, is you come and cheer for all
Becs Gentry: of your friends in the running world. So if you've never
Becs Gentry: come down to a New York Road Runners event in either
Becs Gentry: capacity, we can't wait to welcome you down however you
Becs Gentry: choose to be there.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right, that's a huge part of our community. It's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a huge part of what we do and talk about here
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well as all the support that runners need from
Rob Simmelkjaer: folks. So hey, the New York City Marathon, we call
Rob Simmelkjaer: it the best day of the year in New York City.
Becs Gentry: True.
Rob Simmelkjaer: But it's just one day of the year in New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: because New York Road Runners is putting on running events
Rob Simmelkjaer: just, well, not just about every single week and weekend
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the year, whether it's one of our 40 races
Rob Simmelkjaer: or our open run, which are free races and free
Rob Simmelkjaer: runs, 5K runs in New York City parks, our rising
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners program where we've got over 100,000
Rob Simmelkjaer: kids in schools running. So there's so much we're doing
Rob Simmelkjaer: and you can be a part of it. So if you are new
Rob Simmelkjaer: to us, you can check everything out at nyrr. org
Rob Simmelkjaer: and come join the party. Well, Becs, the running community did
Rob Simmelkjaer: get some sad news this week we have to talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: about. New York Road Runners Hall of Fame member Nina
Rob Simmelkjaer: Kuscsik, a legend in women's distance running and a lifelong
Rob Simmelkjaer: advocate for women's participation in sports died this week at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the age of 86. Becs, Nina was the first official
Rob Simmelkjaer: woman finisher in the history of the New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon. In 1970, she was the only woman to participate.
Rob Simmelkjaer: She had to drop out due to illness that year in 1970.
Rob Simmelkjaer: In 1969, she ran the Boston Marathon unofficially as the
Rob Simmelkjaer: race didn't even recognize women finishers at the time. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: then in 1972, of course she was famously part of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Six Who Sat. Those were six women who showed
Rob Simmelkjaer: up at the starting line of the marathon in Central
Rob Simmelkjaer: Park. But when the gun went off, they sat down
Rob Simmelkjaer: because they were protesting the fact that women had a
Rob Simmelkjaer: separate start and they thought they should be able to
Rob Simmelkjaer: start with the men. After the press got a hold
Rob Simmelkjaer: of that story, the women stood up and they started
Rob Simmelkjaer: running. And Nina, she won that race in three hours
Rob Simmelkjaer: and eight minutes. She was, Becs, a real legend in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the sport of running.
Becs Gentry: She truly, truly was. And also that year, 1972, she was
Becs Gentry: a Boston Marathon champion, and that was the first year
Becs Gentry: that women were officially able to actually run the Boston
Becs Gentry: Marathon, which is just wild. She's worked with other friends
Becs Gentry: of New York Road Runners, Fred Lebow, Kathrine Switzer, and
Becs Gentry: together the three of them actually co- founded Crazylegs Mini
Becs Gentry: Marathon. Have a Google of it, it is amazing. And
Becs Gentry: she worked tirelessly alongside Kathrine Switzer to bring the women's
Becs Gentry: marathon to the Olympics, which we all know finally did
Becs Gentry: happen in 1984. Go JBS for winning that one. And in
Becs Gentry: 2022, so relatively recently, Nina received the Abebe Bikila Award
Becs Gentry: presented annually by New York Road Runners to an individual
Becs Gentry: who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of
Becs Gentry: distance running. I think that is really, really just the
Becs Gentry: icing on the cake of how she will be remembered
Becs Gentry: and celebrated forevermore in the world of running.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, it is hard to imagine running and distance running
Rob Simmelkjaer: and marathons without women today in 2025, just about half
Rob Simmelkjaer: of our finishers are women these days. They've made such
Rob Simmelkjaer: huge contributions at the professional level, at the amateur level.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I just can't imagine this sport without the incredible gender
Rob Simmelkjaer: equity that we have, and Nina was a trailblazer in
Rob Simmelkjaer: making all of that happen. I mean, she was running at
Rob Simmelkjaer: a time when there was a widespread belief by the
Rob Simmelkjaer: powers that be in the sport that distance running was not
Rob Simmelkjaer: something that was appropriate for girls and women. And she
Rob Simmelkjaer: realized that was hogwash and she stood up and sat
Rob Simmelkjaer: down and did all the things that make the world
Rob Simmelkjaer: that we have today possible. So she just was a huge force for change in the sport
Becs Gentry: She was, and as a female in the sport of
Becs Gentry: running, I will be forever in her debt for allowing
Becs Gentry: us to be here and doing all the things that
Becs Gentry: we get to do today. So guys, if you want
Becs Gentry: to learn more about Nina's incredible legacy, head to the
Becs Gentry: link in today's show notes and deep dive and learn
Becs Gentry: more and more will help widen your mind, which she's
Becs Gentry: always a bonus.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right. You can find out more about her at nyrr. org as
Rob Simmelkjaer: well. We had a great blog post about her and
Rob Simmelkjaer: our social media as well. So rest in peace, Nina
Rob Simmelkjaer: Kuscsik. Well, Becs, last Saturday was a little bit rainy.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We had some wetness, but luckily no thunder, no lightning.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And so that allowed the show to go on at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Citizens Queens 10K. A giant field turned out at
Rob Simmelkjaer: Flushing Meadows Park right there between Citi Field and the
Rob Simmelkjaer: US Open National Tennis Center and the Hemisphere. It's such
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great environment where the old 1964 World's Fair took
Rob Simmelkjaer: place and the rain did not hold 10,997 runners back.
Becs Gentry: So good.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Including yours truly by the way.
Becs Gentry: Well done.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Running that race for the second year in a row.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It was a great day and luckily the rain eased
Rob Simmelkjaer: up. By the time the race really got going, there
Rob Simmelkjaer: weren't too many raindrops and it was such a fun
Rob Simmelkjaer: day out there in Queens for the Citizens Queens 10K. It's
Rob Simmelkjaer: one of our Five- Borough race series. It's the fourth
Rob Simmelkjaer: Race of the year in that Five- Borough series. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: the winners this year for the women it was Khia Kurtenbach
Rob Simmelkjaer: with a time of 34: 33. She's with Central Park
Rob Simmelkjaer: Track Club. The non- binary winner was Pierce Lydon at
Rob Simmelkjaer: 36:44. And for the men it was Bekele Shiferaw Agunafr, hopefully
Rob Simmelkjaer: I pronounced that correctly, with a time of 30 minutes
Rob Simmelkjaer: and 52 seconds from West Side Runners. Becs, this is a
Rob Simmelkjaer: fun race.
Becs Gentry: So fun.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And having Citizens on board as our partner has made
Rob Simmelkjaer: it even more fun because there's just this giant festival
Rob Simmelkjaer: that goes on a big stage and music and giveaways
Rob Simmelkjaer: and it's just a fun spot to be. And you
Rob Simmelkjaer: know what, there was one really big piece of news
Rob Simmelkjaer: actually, Becs, out of the Citizens Queens 10K, speaking of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the marathon, are you familiar with the rapper named Nore?
Becs Gentry: Yes. And I follow him and it was all over Instagram, yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right.
Becs Gentry: So cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nore, who is a native of Queens and has had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a very successful hip- hop careers, had a couple of
Rob Simmelkjaer: big hits, Nore with his whole crew, he's got a
Rob Simmelkjaer: run club that he runs with, and they get to
Rob Simmelkjaer: the finish line of the Queens 10K, and then Nore drops
Rob Simmelkjaer: the big news that he is going to run the
Rob Simmelkjaer: TCS New York City Marathon this fall, first marathon of
Rob Simmelkjaer: his life, and yeah, the internet went crazy when he
Rob Simmelkjaer: announced that.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: But yeah, we love it when someone who has a huge
Rob Simmelkjaer: fan base like Nore and think about it, a guy like
Rob Simmelkjaer: that who's got this huge number of fans, many of
Rob Simmelkjaer: whom probably most of whom are maybe not runners, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: they see him taking on this challenge. And I love
Rob Simmelkjaer: this announcement because he said, " Running makes me happy." That's
Rob Simmelkjaer: what he said when he announced that he's running the
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon. I'm like, " That's a beautiful thing to hear." It's
Rob Simmelkjaer: not the kind of sentiment that we maybe expect to
Rob Simmelkjaer: hear from rappers like hip- hop guys running makes me
Rob Simmelkjaer: happy and I love that. And that was the reason
Rob Simmelkjaer: why he said he's going to take on the marathon.
Becs Gentry: That sentiment is really permeating all of the world right now. As you say, you
Becs Gentry: don't expect to hear it from certain types of people,
Becs Gentry: but it really is coming through with musicians, actors, business
Becs Gentry: people, whoever. Oh, it makes my heart sing, I was
Becs Gentry: so happy to see that. And then I went on
Becs Gentry: a deep dive on his Instagram and yeah, great. We
Becs Gentry: can't wait to see you crush it, Nore.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Something to look forward to this fall.
Becs Gentry: Absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, Becs. Coming up on the show, it's a great show. We have an amazing guest
Rob Simmelkjaer: today, a New York City sports legend, a longtime friend
Rob Simmelkjaer: of New York Road Runners Tiki Barber will join us
Rob Simmelkjaer: to talk about his running journey and how he went
Rob Simmelkjaer: from running back to runner. And then later on you
Rob Simmelkjaer: can check in for today's Meb Minute. Meb Keflezighi, if
Rob Simmelkjaer: you don't know him, of course, a legendary runner in
Rob Simmelkjaer: his own right, New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: champion. He joins us every week to give us a
Rob Simmelkjaer: little bit of a running tip. And this week, Meb's
Rob Simmelkjaer: here to remind us of what we should be thinking
Rob Simmelkjaer: about as we begin summer training for fall marathons.
Becs Gentry: And before we go into too many more marathons, Rob,
Becs Gentry: I just want to tell everybody a little bit of
Becs Gentry: my marathon news if that's okay.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Absolutely. Now, we knew that you were planning to run the Grandma's Marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: out in Minnesota.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, this coming Saturday. And unfortunately, but fortunately in many
Becs Gentry: ways, I have decided to withdraw from the race because
Becs Gentry: I talk a lot about mental health and enjoying running
Becs Gentry: and the love of running. And if you followed me
Becs Gentry: during this training, you know it's been a strange one
Becs Gentry: for me, Rob, to be quite honest, I thought I
Becs Gentry: was ready to go after 777, ready to push it. I
Becs Gentry: was invited to run this race as an elite. My
Becs Gentry: body just was giving me so many signs that it
Becs Gentry: wasn't the right time to do this. There's no injury,
Becs Gentry: I'm absolutely fine, I'm running every day, but my heart
Becs Gentry: was not in it to race the marathon distance this
Becs Gentry: Saturday. And sometimes you've just got to put your gut
Becs Gentry: instinct first and look after yourself. And I thought long
Becs Gentry: and hard about why am I putting my body through
Becs Gentry: this stress? What was the reason? And I live by
Becs Gentry: the mantra forward is a pace, and I know I
Becs Gentry: could have run it at any pace and finished in
Becs Gentry: any time and been proud of it. But alongside that,
Becs Gentry: I have to remember, and I always remind people that
Becs Gentry: 26.2 miles is a lot of cortisol on the body.
Becs Gentry: And oftentimes you have to just say, " Hey, you know
Becs Gentry: what? My body doesn't need that right now," and that's
Becs Gentry: where I was. And serendipitously, alongside that, I am hosting
Becs Gentry: my first ever run event alongside the actress Jennifer Garner
Becs Gentry: this weekend in Los Angeles.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Becs Gentry: So logistically, it would've been really difficult for me to
Becs Gentry: do both getting from New York to Duluth to Los
Becs Gentry: Angeles all within 72 hours. But if you have followed
Becs Gentry: mine and Jennifer's Instagram, Jennifer decided to run a mile
Becs Gentry: a day for 67 days for Save the Children. And
Becs Gentry: I had this harebrained idea a few weeks ago. I
Becs Gentry: said to her, " Hey, we should do a run on
Becs Gentry: day 67 as a finale," and it's spiraled into an
Becs Gentry: event that will be held in West Los Angeles on
Becs Gentry: Sunday. Event details will have dropped when we air this.
Becs Gentry: We're really, really excited to just help spread this radical
Becs Gentry: love that we're trying to get around the world to
Becs Gentry: help save as many children as possible from the brink
Becs Gentry: of starvation to help improve their nutrition and health because $
Becs Gentry: 67 is all it takes to help that journey kickstart.
Becs Gentry: We've already helped just over 6, 000 children since this hashtag
Becs Gentry: has been rolling 67 strong for kids, so we're hoping
Becs Gentry: it's going to at least double it. So if you're
Becs Gentry: interested, check it out on my Instagram, check it out
Becs Gentry: on Jennifer Garner's Instagram and on Save the Children. And if
Becs Gentry: you're in the West Los Angeles area, look out for
Becs Gentry: us on Sunday.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That is amazing. Absolutely a phenomenal reason to change your
Rob Simmelkjaer: running plans and an incredible cause as well, so congratulations
Rob Simmelkjaer: to you to Jennifer Garner as well. So cool that
Rob Simmelkjaer: I know someone who knows Jennifer Garner. That's the headline
Rob Simmelkjaer: for me to this entire conversation, but it sounds really cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And for those who don't know or who are new
Rob Simmelkjaer: to the podcast, Becks referred to 777. That was seven
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathons on seven continents in seven days that she took
Rob Simmelkjaer: on back in November, so yeah, I guess I could
Rob Simmelkjaer: see how your body might still be in recovery mode.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I think I'd be in recovery mode for the rest
Rob Simmelkjaer: of my natural life if I did what you did. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: think that you're owed as much time as you want
Rob Simmelkjaer: before you decide to race the marathon distance again.
Becs Gentry: Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And I think people talk about running marathons, but you just can't
Rob Simmelkjaer: overstate the physical toll that a marathon, especially when you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: going all out and racing a marathon, takes on your
Rob Simmelkjaer: body. It is really a hard thing to do.
Becs Gentry: It is, so we have to listen to those signs and
Becs Gentry: as joyful as it can be to get out there
Becs Gentry: and get those medals, I'll be cheering from afar with
Becs Gentry: our podcast friend Carrie Tollefson will be there. Dick Beardsley,
Becs Gentry: their amazing panel that they host out there, and my
Becs Gentry: girls from the 777 race, Ash, Hillary, and Chirine will
Becs Gentry: be there still competing so I'm definitely going to be
Becs Gentry: cheering so loudly for everybody running that race this weekend.
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Becs Gentry: for New York Road Runners.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Our guest today is a New York sports legend and
Rob Simmelkjaer: one of my heroes as a lifelong New York Giants
Rob Simmelkjaer: fan. Tiki Barber spent 10 seasons as a running back for
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Giants before retiring from the NFL in 2006. In 2014, he
Rob Simmelkjaer: ran his first New York City Marathon and he was
Rob Simmelkjaer: hooked. And over the next decade, Tiki completed more than
Rob Simmelkjaer: 15 marathons including Boston, Chicago, Big Sur, and Jerusalem. He's
Rob Simmelkjaer: been a regular in New York Road Runners events, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: also served as an ambassador for Team for Kids raising
Rob Simmelkjaer: money to support youth fitness programs. His last official race
Rob Simmelkjaer: with New York Road Runners was the 2023 Achilles Hope and Possibility
Rob Simmelkjaer: four miler, where he served as a guide runner, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: so Tiki is here to talk a little running and
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe a little football. This is an honor, my man.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I've seen you around in races a lot. You're such
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great part of our running community, but to me
Rob Simmelkjaer: you'll always be one of the best running backs in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Giants history. I think the best, I'm not even going
Rob Simmelkjaer: to say one of, the best running back in the
Rob Simmelkjaer: history of the Giants. So it is great to have
Rob Simmelkjaer: you on. How are you?
Tiki Barber: I'm doing fantastic. It's great to see you Rob. And Becs,
Tiki Barber: I run with you daily on Peloton, so I feel
Tiki Barber: like I know you even though I don't actually have
Tiki Barber: met you yet, but this is exciting for me. Yeah,
Tiki Barber: I'm a different kind of runner these days. And you
Tiki Barber: talked about that first marathon in 2014, I sucked so bad.
Tiki Barber: I basically walked the last 10 miles, but I finished
Tiki Barber: and then I was hooked.
Becs Gentry: Yes, but you know what? Getting to the finish line, Tiki, that's
Becs Gentry: what we always talk about. It doesn't matter. Forward is
Becs Gentry: a pace. You get there and it's learning, it's all
Becs Gentry: learning. And the most beautiful thing is, as you say,
Becs Gentry: you were hooked from that.
Tiki Barber: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: That sucky 26. 2 wasn't enough to make you go, "
Becs Gentry: Nope, not doing that again." It made you go, " Ah,
Becs Gentry: how do I do this better?"
Tiki Barber: Well, my body said, " Don't ever do this again." And
Tiki Barber: then about a week later my mindset said, " You can't
Tiki Barber: be that bad as a runner." I also had to
Tiki Barber: change my body. I mean, I still had a little
Tiki Barber: bit of a football body in 2014, I was weighing
Tiki Barber: over 205 pounds or so.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Tiki Barber: I couldn't push my muscles for 26.2 miles. And so
Tiki Barber: over the next couple of years I got down to
Tiki Barber: more of my natural weight. You guys know I have
Tiki Barber: an identical twin brother.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Ronde, yeah.
Tiki Barber: Yeah, Ronde. Our natural weight is about 185 to 190.
Tiki Barber: And so now I weigh about 190, so I'm back
Tiki Barber: to a natural weight as opposed to wearing shield of
Tiki Barber: muscle to play football.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How does that feel different, Tiki? Just walking around day
Rob Simmelkjaer: to day must feel a lot different. You must feel
Rob Simmelkjaer: so much lighter just going up and down stairs and
Rob Simmelkjaer: doing your day- to- day stuff versus all that mass
Rob Simmelkjaer: you had to carry to take and sometimes deliver a
Rob Simmelkjaer: hit on the football field.
Tiki Barber: I'd say, Rob, it's freeing in a way. There was
Tiki Barber: a point in my life where I had to have this
Tiki Barber: padding on me because I'm getting hit 30 times a
Tiki Barber: game, and it became natural for me even after I
Tiki Barber: retired to want to lift weights, power lift, dead lift,
Tiki Barber: bench press 300 pounds, all the stuff that was just
Tiki Barber: part of my existence for two decades. But I realized
Tiki Barber: that once you get older, once you hit 35, your
Tiki Barber: body doesn't respond to things anymore and you actually started
Tiki Barber: doing yourself damage, and so I just started to feel heavy
Tiki Barber: and once I lost a lot of weight, I actually
Tiki Barber: got down in one year because I ran three marathons.
Tiki Barber: I was down to 178, which was a little bit too skinny.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Tiki Barber: You could really see it. But I feel so much
Tiki Barber: better. I changed my diet and I'm not as much
Tiki Barber: of a carnivore as I used to be, but I
Tiki Barber: feel so much better as of now, a 50 year
Tiki Barber: old than I did when I had all that weight
Tiki Barber: on me.
Becs Gentry: Isn't that just incredible that you at 50 can say
Becs Gentry: that and having such a massively successful sports career before
Becs Gentry: you turn to running that you feel better now? I
Becs Gentry: think most people would just be like, " That's unfair, man.
Becs Gentry: That is so unfair," because you were the top of the world
Becs Gentry: in football and now you are saying how incredible it
Becs Gentry: is to run, but.
Tiki Barber: Yeah, it's funny, Becs, because people always ask me why
Tiki Barber: I work out so much because I still run, even
Tiki Barber: if I'm not training for marathons and putting in 50 miles
Tiki Barber: a week, I still run three or four times a
Tiki Barber: week and I'm always working out. I'm always in the
Tiki Barber: gym. People always ask, " Why do you keep doing that?" And I say, "
Tiki Barber: Because I'm vain." I like to look good.
Becs Gentry: Listen, that's totally fine because it's important when you look
Becs Gentry: in the mirror, if you're happy with what you see
Becs Gentry: that does translate to the rest of your day and
Becs Gentry: how you are outwardly and how you are outwardly is
Becs Gentry: how you affect other people.
Tiki Barber: 100%.
Becs Gentry: Circular, it's all circular.
Tiki Barber: And it also, so it's part being vain, but I
Tiki Barber: also am so competitive that I wake up one day
Tiki Barber: or I wake up in a couple of weeks and
Tiki Barber: I'll be like, " Man, I used to have better abs.
Tiki Barber: I want to get that back." Or, " Man, I used
Tiki Barber: to be strong. I used to be able to put
Tiki Barber: up at least 225. I want to try to do
Tiki Barber: that again." And the same thing happened with running. The
Tiki Barber: first one, I told you I finished it, and you
Tiki Barber: have it Rob, I think it's five hours and 18
Tiki Barber: minutes or something. I finished right with my wife Traci
Tiki Barber: because I waited for her and then we come just walked
Tiki Barber: across the finish line together.
Becs Gentry: Aw, I love that.
Tiki Barber: And then since then I've taken an hour off.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right.
Tiki Barber: So I don't think I'll ever get under four hours just
Tiki Barber: because my body is not built-
Becs Gentry: Never say never.
Tiki Barber: ... for 26.2 miles, but.
Becs Gentry: I got you buddy. I got you. I can get
Becs Gentry: you that.
Tiki Barber: Okay, maybe. But it's a competitive nature in me to just want to
Tiki Barber: continually improve, even if I'm getting older.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, absolutely. Tiki, I have to ask you a question,
Becs Gentry: because being English, I've got to stop saying that really
Becs Gentry: after I've been here now eight years, I should know
Becs Gentry: a lot more about American football. I have to paraphrase that
Becs Gentry: as American football. And initially when I see running back
Becs Gentry: I'm like, " Well, he should have always been really good
Becs Gentry: at running. I don't understand." And then my partner's explaining
Becs Gentry: it to me and he's like, " No, he basically sprints
Becs Gentry: for a living really, really fast but then has to
Becs Gentry: stop dead because there might be another massive guy coming
Becs Gentry: towards him at the equal speed and he has to
Becs Gentry: try and stop him but then carry on sprinting." I'm like, "
Becs Gentry: Oh, got you."
Tiki Barber: Right, that's exactly right. It's a bunch of starts and
Tiki Barber: stops and change directions.
Becs Gentry: Start and stop. See, you're HIIT training.
Tiki Barber: I was never the super fastest guy, but I always
Tiki Barber: was elusive and I always considered myself above the Xs
Tiki Barber: and Os and so I could tell where the contact
Tiki Barber: was coming. So I didn't get hit a lot, but
Tiki Barber: I did have to have a quickness to me, just
Tiki Barber: not an endurance. It's not like the football that you're
Tiki Barber: probably used to in London or England, wherever. Where are you
Tiki Barber: from over there?
Becs Gentry: Originally from Worcestershire. Like the sauce, yes.
Tiki Barber: So what's the team? I'm a Liverpool fan.
Becs Gentry: Okay, Worcester doesn't have a team that we'll talk about.
Tiki Barber: But which one's good?
Becs Gentry: Well, they're terrible. My dad supports Ipswich because he's from Ipswich.
Tiki Barber: Got it.
Becs Gentry: If I had to say I supported anyone, it would
Becs Gentry: probably be Chelsea.
Tiki Barber: Chelsea?
Becs Gentry: But definitely Chelsea women's.
Tiki Barber: Right. But they're playing in the World Cup or the
Tiki Barber: Club World Cup. I saw them yesterday against, I forgot
Tiki Barber: who they were playing, but they won yesterday 2-0.
Becs Gentry: Doing well.
Tiki Barber: But those football players run miles.
Becs Gentry: They do, but the stats are so different.
Tiki Barber: We don't run nearly that far.
Becs Gentry: Exactly, yeah. So that's why in my mind I was just like, " I rarely have to get
Becs Gentry: to grips with this American lingo here."
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's very different, and most Europeans would argue shouldn't be
Rob Simmelkjaer: called football because the feet are rarely involved in actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: touching the ball. Only one or two players on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: field actually kick the ball. But that's another conversation. We
Rob Simmelkjaer: love American football, I love football. I have to ask
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tiki, what was it that first put the idea of
Rob Simmelkjaer: running the marathon in your mind?
Tiki Barber: The first inkling I had of it was, well, first
Tiki Barber: of all, I have a long experience with the marathon,
Tiki Barber: but really not in a good way. So I lived
Tiki Barber: on the Upper East Side and so every marathon Sunday,
Tiki Barber: I used to go home before games. So wake up
Tiki Barber: at 5: 30 in the morning, I'd go home, see
Tiki Barber: my kids then have to be over at Giants Stadium
Tiki Barber: by around 11:00 or so. I remember the first time
Tiki Barber: I got caught in marathon traffic on the Upper East
Tiki Barber: Side and I couldn't get across town. And I'm like, "
Tiki Barber: What in the world is going?" I'm panicking because I'm going
Tiki Barber: to be late for the game. And eventually I just
Tiki Barber: went to the outsides and went all the way down.
Tiki Barber: It took forever. But CC Sabathia, CC and Amber Sabathia
Tiki Barber: have a foundation. And we were over at their house
Tiki Barber: one Memorial Day and they started talking about ways to
Tiki Barber: raise money for PitCCh In which is their foundation. And
Tiki Barber: I said, " Yeah, let's look at the marathon." So they said, "
Tiki Barber: Yeah, let's do a marathon team." I was like, "Yeah, I can do that.
Tiki Barber: It's easy." And so I kind of trained but didn't
Tiki Barber: really know how to train and got hooked because the PitCCh
Tiki Barber: In Foundation was sponsoring a bunch of runners to run
Tiki Barber: that first marathon in 2014. And the thing I remember most about
Tiki Barber: it is it was freezing. I'm scared of heights, not
Tiki Barber: really, but just if I feel like I can fall,
Tiki Barber: I get scared being at altitude. And so we start,
Tiki Barber: we're on the Verrazzano Bridge and we're running up this
Tiki Barber: bridge and I'm like, " It is windy and this wind
Tiki Barber: might throw me over the side." You know the barrier
Tiki Barber: in the middle? I hug that thing like it was like my child.
Becs Gentry: Oh, no.
Tiki Barber: I was so scared running over this bridge, but I
Tiki Barber: was flying. I mean I'm naturally about a, I don't
Tiki Barber: know, I run nine and a half, 10 minute miles
Tiki Barber: maybe. I think I did that first mile in seven minutes.
Becs Gentry: Oh, gosh. Took a bunch of that downhill.
Tiki Barber: And that was uphill. And then going down, I did it in probably 6: 50.
Becs Gentry: Oh my God.
Tiki Barber: And then we get to the bottom, I'm like, " I am
Tiki Barber: going way too fast. I'm basically sprinting right now." So
Tiki Barber: I had to pull myself, I tried to pull myself
Tiki Barber: back and it was challenging, but it was awesome. Running
Tiki Barber: through the burrows and the support that's out there, it's
Tiki Barber: something that you never get tired of.
Becs Gentry: No. And I can imagine for you having been supported by
Becs Gentry: New Yorkers for your whole career, having New Yorkers show
Becs Gentry: up to every game you played, even if you were
Becs Gentry: on the bench for some reason, they were there screaming
Becs Gentry: and shouting and supporting you, and then it's like you're in
Becs Gentry: a different role.
Tiki Barber: It's true.
Becs Gentry: And they're truly getting you through in this one.
Tiki Barber: Well, the beauty of running is that it is all encouragement.
Tiki Barber: Unlike in football, there are times where they will boo
Tiki Barber: the hell out of you. That happened to me often.
Tiki Barber: And so the one thing I always felt that running
Tiki Barber: before I got really involved with it was a solitary
Tiki Barber: event. You train, maybe you train with a partner, but
Tiki Barber: when you're out there, you're running by yourself. It's a
Tiki Barber: mental fortitude that you have to have. But the reality
Tiki Barber: is it is so collective. And after my third or
Tiki Barber: fourth one, I kept hearing this mantra, right? You're not
Tiki Barber: going to win, so just best yourself. I found myself
Tiki Barber: always just challenging myself, but then as I got to
Tiki Barber: six or seven or eight of them, you realize that
Tiki Barber: everybody there that you're running with is your teammate. And so
Tiki Barber: that's what I've come to love most about running is the
Tiki Barber: community of it. And you don't have to know anybody yet
Tiki Barber: you do know them and they will pick you up,
Tiki Barber: especially if you're struggling. And it's a beautiful thing. It's
Tiki Barber: a solitary thing, but it's also a collective beauty that
Tiki Barber: comes with being out on the pavement and trying to complete
Tiki Barber: a marathon or a half- marathon or a 10K or
Tiki Barber: whatever race you happen to be in.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm always curious with people who have crossed over to
Rob Simmelkjaer: running marathons from other super successful athletic careers and other
Rob Simmelkjaer: sports where they see the similarities and the differences. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: think you just talked about one, I mean the community
Rob Simmelkjaer: and the support you get from other people. I know
Rob Simmelkjaer: on a, certainly on a team, an NFL team, obviously
Rob Simmelkjaer: the support you get from your, especially on the offensive
Rob Simmelkjaer: side, you've got linemen and people who are there and you
Rob Simmelkjaer: can't be successful without them so it's a different kind of
Rob Simmelkjaer: community. What about the differences? What's the biggest difference for
Rob Simmelkjaer: you other than no one trying to take you out
Rob Simmelkjaer: when you're running the marathon?
Tiki Barber: Right, you're not getting knocked out and blindsided. I would
Tiki Barber: say the biggest difference is the length of focus that
Tiki Barber: you have to have. As a football player. People always think, "
Tiki Barber: Oh, you guys played perfect." I'm like, " No, we didn't.
Tiki Barber: We messed up a lot." You just can't tell, right?
Tiki Barber: Because you don't know. You see a successful play, but
Tiki Barber: 10 things might've went wrong, but the play could still
Tiki Barber: somehow be successful. But it happens like that, right? There's
Tiki Barber: an immediacy to it. And after every play, after every
Tiki Barber: quarter, after every game, whether or not you are successful
Tiki Barber: or not, but in running, you have to have a
Tiki Barber: plan. So that's the similarity. Same thing, game plan. You
Tiki Barber: have to have it. You have to follow it. And
Tiki Barber: if you don't have a plan, you're going to be
Tiki Barber: all over the place. Kind of like my first marathon
Tiki Barber: where I'm running 14 miles in the first two 14
Tiki Barber: minutes in the first two miles. And so you have
Tiki Barber: to have a plan, you have to be consciously sticking
Tiki Barber: to it, but always aware. Right? There's no bench time,
Tiki Barber: there's no defense taking the field while you no special
Tiki Barber: teams. It's a constant awareness that you have to be
Tiki Barber: dialed into. And that took some getting used to. I
Tiki Barber: think the first couple I ran, I didn't have a
Tiki Barber: plan. I was just like, " All right, just run as
Tiki Barber: you feel," right? Because you know you have those training
Tiki Barber: runs, run as you feel. I said, " I'll just run as I
Tiki Barber: feel." And that's why I started getting in trouble around the
Tiki Barber: 59th Street Bridge.
Becs Gentry: As a lot of people do.
Tiki Barber: Don't worry.
Becs Gentry: That is one of those sneaky bridges that people are like, " There's another one.
Becs Gentry: Really? Really Rob and Ted?"
Tiki Barber: Another mile uphill?
Becs Gentry: Another one. All right, so let's talk about the other ways
Becs Gentry: that running has changed or added value and love to
Becs Gentry: your life.
Tiki Barber: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: And you've mentioned before that you've used running as a way
Becs Gentry: to travel. And when Rob interviewed you, there are some
Becs Gentry: really cool places that you've run marathons. So talk us
Becs Gentry: through your favorite destinations, reasons why.
Tiki Barber: Yeah. I did a lot of national ones, meaning United
Tiki Barber: States first, so Chicago and Boston and Big Sur. And
Tiki Barber: Big Sur was just gorgeous out on the Pacific, right
Tiki Barber: on the water, it was amazing. But I also realized
Tiki Barber: that, man, this is an opportunity for me to go do something
Tiki Barber: that I never would've thought of. And because of a
Tiki Barber: relationship with a buddy of mine, Ron Berkowitz, who was
Tiki Barber: working with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, they invited me
Tiki Barber: over to run the Jerusalem Marathon and I'd been to
Tiki Barber: Israel before back in 2005 and I had seen it in a
Tiki Barber: different context. And so when I went over for this
Tiki Barber: marathon, I had no idea what to expect. I know
Tiki Barber: that it's somewhat hilly, but I didn't expect it to
Tiki Barber: be this hilly. And in fact, when people ask me
Tiki Barber: about it, I say it's punitive because it's that much
Tiki Barber: of an incline over the course of the marathon. But
Tiki Barber: it was my favorite because at mile 10, almost exactly
Tiki Barber: at mile 10, you're on top of the mountain and
Tiki Barber: you're looking down at the Wailing Wall and the Dome
Tiki Barber: of the Rock. It's just this gorgeous view of the bed
Tiki Barber: of Biblical and religious history for so many cultures and
Tiki Barber: it just moves you. It was emotional. I stopped and
Tiki Barber: took a picture and it was crying a little bit
Tiki Barber: because of what it meant, and then you're running through
Tiki Barber: the old city and the cobblestone roads. I love that
Tiki Barber: marathon for what it brought to me emotionally. It's Jerusalem.
Tiki Barber: How many people can say that they've run that marathon?
Tiki Barber: It was an odd start because the half and the full
Tiki Barber: start at the same spot, and if you take the wrong
Tiki Barber: turn, you're running the half as opposed to the full,
Tiki Barber: so you really have to be aware.
Becs Gentry: Bonus or not, it depends on your mood that day.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, your day could end a little early and you're like, "
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh sweet, okay, I'm going."
Tiki Barber: Right, Rob, it's not like in New York where everything
Tiki Barber: is so corralled and perfect and you can't mess it
Tiki Barber: up in New York, you get directed to where you're
Tiki Barber: supposed to go. In Jerusalem, it's like you're just wandering
Tiki Barber: around, all right, we're going to start now.
Becs Gentry: Do whatever.
Tiki Barber: But it was an awesome experience.
Becs Gentry: I just saw that, I just looked up and it
Becs Gentry: says it's just over 3000 feet of elevation gain.
Tiki Barber: Oh my goodness. Wow.
Becs Gentry: Just under 1, 000 meters. That is unreal. So it's just rolling
Becs Gentry: hill after hill after hill.
Tiki Barber: Becs, I felt like I was constantly going up. I was like, "
Tiki Barber: All right, I just went up. I know I have
Tiki Barber: to go down and here comes another hill." And I'm like, "
Tiki Barber: God, here's another hill?"
Becs Gentry: Was that when you were hoping someone would come and
Becs Gentry: take you out?
Tiki Barber: Exactly.
Becs Gentry: You're like, where's that big guy coming to tackle me, please?
Tiki Barber: You know what was crazy? We live on such a small
Tiki Barber: world. So Amar'e Stoudemire has became friends of ours just
Tiki Barber: because he was in New York. He lived in former-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Former great Knicks and Phoenix Suns forward, yep.
Tiki Barber: Right, so he lived in Israel at the time and
Tiki Barber: we knew his wife, obviously Alexis. I'm running through this
Tiki Barber: neighborhood now. We're off the mountain and we're going through
Tiki Barber: these neighborhoods. I come right on this corner and I see
Tiki Barber: Alexis right in front of me, out of all of
Tiki Barber: places in Israel, we're running right by their home. And
Tiki Barber: I stopped. I was like, " Alexis, what's happening?" She's like, "
Tiki Barber: What the hell are you doing here?" And so the
Tiki Barber: world is just tiny and you have these experiences when
Tiki Barber: you live experiences. It's one of the reasons I love
Tiki Barber: marathoning. Paris was another one that I thought was amazing.
Tiki Barber: It was unfortunate that day because I stayed with a
Tiki Barber: buddy of mine who was out in (inaudible) , which
Tiki Barber: is a little bit about an hour away outside of
Tiki Barber: Paris. And I drove in that morning, my plan was
Tiki Barber: to just find some place to park the car, go
Tiki Barber: run a marathon, and then literally get on a plane and
Tiki Barber: come home. I parked the car in the garage, I had
Tiki Barber: five bottles of water so after I was done running,
Tiki Barber: I could just drench myself with water, put my clothes
Tiki Barber: on and get on a plane and come home. And as
Tiki Barber: I'm getting on the plane, I hear the news that
Tiki Barber: Notre Dame is on fire. And so that happened the
Tiki Barber: day of the marathon in Paris and I was there
Tiki Barber: and my brother was texting me on the plane. He
Tiki Barber: was like, " Dude, what'd you do?" I'm like, "I didn't do anything."
Rob Simmelkjaer: I actually did not know that that fire started on
Rob Simmelkjaer: the day of the marathon, I never put those two and two together. That's crazy.
Tiki Barber: It was insane. And I happened to be there.
Becs Gentry: It started small, I think.
Tiki Barber: Right. So there's been a lot of experiences from running
Tiki Barber: and I'll never forget any of them.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So you are-
Becs Gentry: And still, you didn't get out of them.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. So you're halfway to the Abbott Six Star Medal right
Rob Simmelkjaer: now. Which are the three that you still need?
Tiki Barber: Well now I'm three- sevenths of the way. Because of-
Rob Simmelkjaer: You still get a medal for six though, Tiki. So
Rob Simmelkjaer: you can still focus on the six, and then worry
Rob Simmelkjaer: about seven afterwards if you choose.
Tiki Barber: I was on a grind. I had done 15 in
Tiki Barber: seven years and then COVID happened. I was booked for
Tiki Barber: Tokyo and 2020 shut down the world, and I was
Tiki Barber: going to go, even though they weren't going to run
Tiki Barber: the Amateur, I had never been to Japan. And a
Tiki Barber: buddy of mine was like, " You're not going to be
Tiki Barber: able to come home if you go, you're going to
Tiki Barber: get stuck in Japan because of this COVID thing." And
Tiki Barber: so we ended up canceling that trip and I haven't
Tiki Barber: done that one yet. I still need to do London
Tiki Barber: and obviously Berlin, and so I can now I think
Tiki Barber: try to make time for them. The hardest one is
Tiki Barber: Berlin because it's in the fall during football season, but
Tiki Barber: I think Tokyo and London are around the corner in
Tiki Barber: the next couple of years. And then now obviously I have
Tiki Barber: to go do Sydney.
Becs Gentry: Which is not a shame to go all that way.
Tiki Barber: No.
Becs Gentry: That will be amazing. All right, Tiki, let's talk recovery
Becs Gentry: because I have no idea how a football player would
Becs Gentry: recover other than I'm guessing massages and I don't know,
Becs Gentry: ice bars to get the bruises away. I just think
Becs Gentry: it's a violent sport. That's why I'm saying that, compared
Becs Gentry: to running.
Tiki Barber: It is. It's much more violent than you can even imagine.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. So how did your training and your pre- hab,
Becs Gentry: rehab routine change from being a football player to being
Becs Gentry: a runner, and especially now at 50?
Tiki Barber: Yeah, so it's interesting. As a football player, you get
Tiki Barber: beat up so much and you're ridiculously high after a
Tiki Barber: game, meaning emotionally it's like, man, that moment, just whatever,
Tiki Barber: and so it was always hard to come down and
Tiki Barber: honestly, and this isn't a good thing, it's just the
Tiki Barber: reality of athletes. Sometimes guys would turn to alcohol, and
Tiki Barber: now as the case is, it's mostly legal and not
Tiki Barber: punitive to cannabis to bring themselves to a homeostasis or
Tiki Barber: at least what they think it is. But as I've
Tiki Barber: gotten older, I realize how bad that is for your
Tiki Barber: body and how much alcohol breaks down your muscles. And
Tiki Barber: so if you're beat up, it only doubles the damage,
Tiki Barber: so to speak. And so now as more of a
Tiki Barber: runner than a football player, I take so much care
Tiki Barber: to first of all, hydrate, but then also stretch because
Tiki Barber: we used to just finish a game and go take
Tiki Barber: a shower, do the interviews and go home, and we'll
Tiki Barber: worry about how we feel the next day. You do
Tiki Barber: this inventory check when you get out of bed. All
Tiki Barber: right, does my foot hurt? Nope, that's good. Does my
Tiki Barber: ankle? It's all right. All right, my back feels all
Tiki Barber: right. You had to check yourself and then you'd go
Tiki Barber: get worked on. I think as an older now runner,
Tiki Barber: it's more about preemptive maintenance, and so I still get
Tiki Barber: worked on a lot. You talk about massage, I try to
Tiki Barber: go at least once every two weeks. Sometimes I'll go
Tiki Barber: every week if I'm training heavily. Stretching, sometimes I'll go
Tiki Barber: acupuncture in just different ways to get myself feeling emotionally
Tiki Barber: and physically with myself. And it's definitely harder now that
Tiki Barber: I'm 50 because I can't run five days a week
Tiki Barber: anymore. And so it's three a week schedule. If I'm
Tiki Barber: going to train for something, maybe I'll kick it up
Tiki Barber: to four, but I have to supplement it with other
Tiki Barber: types of workouts now and high intensity training, complex movements,
Tiki Barber: things of that nature to get my heart beating and
Tiki Barber: sustaining this 30 or 40 minutes of pump without actually pounding on
Tiki Barber: my legs.
Becs Gentry: It is so important to mix it up as you
Becs Gentry: get older. Just, we all need to keep looking after
Becs Gentry: our bones, our joints and running is a fantastic gentle
Becs Gentry: cardiovascular exercise for sure. But to stay healthy as we
Becs Gentry: get into our later decades, yeah, we need that strength
Becs Gentry: training. We need that multi- plane movement exercise. So our
Becs Gentry: brains are also getting that like, " Oh, which way am
Becs Gentry: I going to go now?" Instead of just la, la, la, la la.
Tiki Barber: It's funny because I tell my wife all the time,
Tiki Barber: and she's younger than I am, but I was like, "
Tiki Barber: I'm 50, you'll be there in a decade or so."
Tiki Barber: But the most important thing, and I've heard this often
Tiki Barber: is protecting yourself against false as you get older, because
Tiki Barber: that's what kills you. You break a hip, you do
Tiki Barber: something that keeps you, makes you sedentary for an extended
Tiki Barber: amount of time, your body doesn't respond well. So building
Tiki Barber: muscle is so critical, one, to protect yourself and keep
Tiki Barber: you from having weaknesses and muscles, but also if you
Tiki Barber: should fall, at least you have some girth there. I
Tiki Barber: know for especially women who are focused on their body
Tiki Barber: image, they think they're going to build muscle by lifting
Tiki Barber: and doing squats and things of that nature. But in
Tiki Barber: order to put significant muscle on your body, you'd have
Tiki Barber: to squat at least double your body weight. And most
Tiki Barber: people, they're not going to do that.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Tiki Barber: And so it's all about cardio, physical strengthening of your
Tiki Barber: bones and your muscles and your tendons, and the only
Tiki Barber: way you can do that is by lifting weights. I
Tiki Barber: know people are so scared of it sometimes they're like, "Oh,
Tiki Barber: I'm going to get bulky."
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Tiki Barber: It's hard to get bulky. It really is hard to
Tiki Barber: get bulky. You can do it.
Becs Gentry: You really must take my classes because I do it
Becs Gentry: often when we're running up hills and I'm like, " Anyone
Becs Gentry: out there who's worried about the aesthetics of running up
Becs Gentry: hills, your calves are not going to bulk up unless
Becs Gentry: you eat a cow and directly put it into your calf."
Tiki Barber: That's right. That's exactly right.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tiki, I'm wondering about the best reaction you've had in a
Rob Simmelkjaer: corral when someone is lined up, ready to run and
Rob Simmelkjaer: they just turn to their left or their right. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: there's Tiki Barber because you're still a pretty recognizable guy
Rob Simmelkjaer: around New York from your playing career and then also
Rob Simmelkjaer: from all the work you do on TV, so have
Rob Simmelkjaer: you had some pretty funny reactions from folks who realize
Rob Simmelkjaer: they're running next to Tiki Barber?
Tiki Barber: Yes, but Rob, it's not even in the corral, it's
Tiki Barber: on the course. And it's funny because I wear my
Tiki Barber: name just like everybody, and sometimes people will be like, "
Tiki Barber: Tiki, Tiki, Tiki." They can't say it. I'm like, "It's all good. I know you're talking about me,"
Tiki Barber: just smile. So they don't know who I am, but
Tiki Barber: they're still screaming my name. But then every now and
Tiki Barber: then I'll get the guy I'll either pass or I'll
Tiki Barber: be running next to, and then they'll speed up and be like, "
Tiki Barber: Hey man, can I get a selfie?" And so I
Tiki Barber: can't tell you how many running selfies I've taken over
Tiki Barber: the last 10 years or so, and so it's kind
Tiki Barber: of awesome, but it just goes back to that community thing.
Tiki Barber: We're not winning, we're out for a nice little stroll.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, and you make somebody's day with that selfie out
Rob Simmelkjaer: there at mile 13, whatever it is, it's a beautiful thing.
Tiki Barber: But there's something about people yelling your name, and this
Tiki Barber: is why everybody should wear a name when they're running
Tiki Barber: because you just hear it and it just lifts you up.
Tiki Barber: And you talked about when I was ambassador for Team
Tiki Barber: for Kids, I love the Go Team for Kids, you
Tiki Barber: see it all the time. Now I'm doing some work
Tiki Barber: with Achilles International and they're amazing. I forgot I was
Tiki Barber: at a run down in Spring Lake, New Jersey, they
Tiki Barber: had a five- mile run and I ran with my 11- year-
Tiki Barber: old daughter and she did it in 55 minutes, which I
Tiki Barber: was impressed by.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Tiki Barber: Five miles. I know, I was shocked, but I saw an Achilles
Tiki Barber: athlete running, being guided, a blind runner being guided, and
Tiki Barber: I was shocked because I usually only see them in
Tiki Barber: the New York Road Runners events, but the Achilles athletes
Tiki Barber: are everywhere. And so I ran by and I was like, "
Tiki Barber: Let's go Achilles." And so that encouragement is so meaningful,
Tiki Barber: especially when you get to latter parts of marathons and
Tiki Barber: you read the signs and you know they're lying to you. "
Tiki Barber: It's not that much farther. You only got a couple miles left."
Becs Gentry: The worst couple of miles of my life.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. Can you talk, Tiki, about your time with
Rob Simmelkjaer: Team for Kids and what drove you to do that and
Rob Simmelkjaer: what's your memories are? I mean, I know it meant a ton
Rob Simmelkjaer: to the people at Road Runners to have someone like
Rob Simmelkjaer: you involved with these kids. I mean, I can only
Rob Simmelkjaer: imagine what it meant to the kids who you were
Rob Simmelkjaer: with, but talk about that and what did you most
Rob Simmelkjaer: get from that experience?
Tiki Barber: I first got introduced to it because of the 5th
Tiki Barber: Avenue Mile, and so I went and ran the mile.
Tiki Barber: Christopher Susan, who was in the PR a couple years ago,
Tiki Barber: invited me. And so I see they had the kids
Tiki Barber: race before and I see these kids that are running and
Tiki Barber: it got explained to me what Team for Kids does.
Tiki Barber: And because running is so simple, all you need is
Tiki Barber: a pair of shoes and a place to go get
Tiki Barber: out and run around, and it's a great activity for kids
Tiki Barber: who are becoming, unfortunately, a lot more sedentary and at
Tiki Barber: home and they want to be on their games and
Tiki Barber: not outside and playing. It was a way for me
Tiki Barber: as a former athlete to talk about how important it
Tiki Barber: is to just be athletic, and that's anything. Jim Harbaugh,
Tiki Barber: who's a football coach now for the Chargers, the Los
Tiki Barber: Angeles Chargers, when he was a coach at Michigan, we
Tiki Barber: had him on one of my radio shows and we
Tiki Barber: were talking about these odd ways that he recruits athletes.
Tiki Barber: And so one thing he started talking about climbing trees.
Tiki Barber: We're like, " Why are you climbing trees?" And he's like, "
Tiki Barber: It's an athletic rep. It's just something that gets you
Tiki Barber: active and moving." And it's really the philosophy that I
Tiki Barber: have for kids is just be active. Go play, go
Tiki Barber: run. And running is so simple. And the fact that
Tiki Barber: Team for Kids had those programs for young kids and
Tiki Barber: young adults to get them out and effectively competing was
Tiki Barber: something that I really galvanized and felt really strongly about.
Becs Gentry: Absolutely. You have six kids?
Tiki Barber: I have six kids, yes. I have a 23 year old who just graduated from Princeton.
Becs Gentry: Oh, congratulations.
Tiki Barber: Thank you. A 21 year old who's at Brown, 15- year-
Tiki Barber: old twins who were getting ready to go into their
Tiki Barber: sophomore year in high school, and then a 11 year
Tiki Barber: old, and a soon to be 9 year old.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Becs Gentry: Oh my gosh. You are spread in all of the moods.
Tiki Barber: Yeah, 23 to nine, right? It's kind of crazy, but it's
Tiki Barber: awesome. It keeps me young and I'm lucky. I have
Tiki Barber: great kids.
Becs Gentry: And they're all, I'm getting active. I mean, you already
Becs Gentry: said your one daughter crushed the five miler there with you.
Tiki Barber: Right. My oldest played football, so both my boys played
Tiki Barber: football. AJ at Princeton. Chason is going into his senior
Tiki Barber: year at Brown. My twins are running track in high
Tiki Barber: school at Greenwich High School, they're both sprinters. And then
Tiki Barber: my two youngest daughters, Brooklyn and Teagan, are competitive cheerleaders.
Becs Gentry: Oh, no way.
Tiki Barber: Now I know some people don't know cheer, but cheer
Tiki Barber: is as intense as anything any of my kids have
Tiki Barber: done because it's serious. They're there to win. It's not
Tiki Barber: participation. They travel, they've been to Oklahoma, this is yearly,
Tiki Barber: Dallas. They go to Nashville, Maryland. The Summit Championship is
Tiki Barber: down in Orlando, and so it's a massive commitment, but
Tiki Barber: it teaches them about teamwork and focus and dedication to
Tiki Barber: a team, and they're good at it and we love it.
Tiki Barber: And I've become a cheer dad.
Becs Gentry: Aw, that's really cute. Also kind of brutal as well.
Tiki Barber: Oh, yeah.
Becs Gentry: Because those falls are like you getting slammed by that big guy.
Tiki Barber: No, that's exactly right. I'm knocking on wood, luckily my girls
Tiki Barber: have not fallen yet. They've gotten very close. Back last
Tiki Barber: year, Brooklyn, one of the bases just was just a
Tiki Barber: little bit too far apart from each other, and her
Tiki Barber: head got that close to hitting the ground.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Ooh.
Becs Gentry: Oh God.
Tiki Barber: They caught her and pulled her back up and she
Tiki Barber: got right back into the stunt and everything was fine.
Tiki Barber: But I get nervous watching her as a flyer because
Tiki Barber: she gets tossed up in the air, all this other
Tiki Barber: stuff. But she's a great athlete and she, like me
Tiki Barber: I think as a football player, doesn't have fear. So
Tiki Barber: when you have fear, it gets hard to perform and
Tiki Barber: she doesn't think about what negative could happen. It's all
Tiki Barber: positive and trust. It's really what comes from team sports.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, and I'm sure they've seen that from you, living your life as a football player and
Becs Gentry: now being not afraid to change to an endurance athlete.
Tiki Barber: Right, exactly. Even though that's harder.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, Tiki, so we got to get you on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: record now for when we're getting you back out there
Rob Simmelkjaer: running another marathon.
Becs Gentry: I knew this was coming.
Rob Simmelkjaer: This is when we put the pressure on. So what's your plan?
Rob Simmelkjaer: It sounds like London maybe is the next thing you
Rob Simmelkjaer: have circled. It's in the spring. It's outside NFL season,
Rob Simmelkjaer: so are you going to try to go for that in 2026?
Tiki Barber: Yes, 2026. London is going to be on the docket.
Tiki Barber: I'll probably run.
Becs Gentry: You've got a coach right here.
Tiki Barber: Right, there you go.
Becs Gentry: I'm in.
Tiki Barber: I'll probably run with Achilles, but in the very short term, not
Tiki Barber: very because it's actually in the fall, I'm going to
Tiki Barber: be running the Staten Island Half with Francesco, who is a
Tiki Barber: blind runner. Francesco is a great runner, and so when
Tiki Barber: I guide him, he's actually guiding me because he pulls
Tiki Barber: me along, and so I'm going to do the Staten Island
Tiki Barber: Half in October, whenever that is, and then shoot for
Tiki Barber: London in 2026.
Becs Gentry: What a great race to do. I love that you're
Becs Gentry: guiding him, but he's pacing you.
Tiki Barber: Yes, that's exactly right, Becs. That's the perfect way to
Tiki Barber: put it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: He's a very good runner, Francesco from Achilles International. Yes,
Rob Simmelkjaer: that sounds like a killer combination right there. Tiki and
Rob Simmelkjaer: Francesco, he's got the speed. You'll get anybody out of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the way, right?
Tiki Barber: Right.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Anybody's in the way, you will clear a running lane
Rob Simmelkjaer: for Francesco.
Tiki Barber: I just got to get myself back in shape, Rob. I'm in sprint
Tiki Barber: shape right now, I'm not in half- marathon shape yet.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's a great race, Staten Island Half, so I ran
Rob Simmelkjaer: it a couple of years ago. You'll have a really good
Rob Simmelkjaer: time out there. All right, well, we can't wait to
Rob Simmelkjaer: see you back in a New York Road Runners Corral.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's been a minute. Can't wait to see you back
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there with Francesco out in Staten Island. And yeah,
Rob Simmelkjaer: you've just been, you've done so much for the organization.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You're such a great ambassador for running as well of
Rob Simmelkjaer: course, as for football. Have you gotten any of your former
Rob Simmelkjaer: teammates to try running any Giants that you've tried to
Rob Simmelkjaer: convert into marathoners?
Tiki Barber: I did. I got Jason Sehorn to come run. God,
Tiki Barber: this was before COVID, so I can't remember how long, so it
Tiki Barber: was six or so years ago, and he absolutely crushed
Tiki Barber: it. I think he ran 3: 30 or something. 3:20.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow. He was a defensive back, as I recall. Is that right?
Tiki Barber: Defensive back. It was his first marathon. And I saw afterwards,
Tiki Barber: he's like, " Yeah, I'm done. Not doing that ever again."
Becs Gentry: Made it.
Tiki Barber: He's like, " I killed it and I'm not doing it again. Bucket
Tiki Barber: list checked. I'm good."
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, we love the bucket listers in the New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon. They are a big part of our community and
Rob Simmelkjaer: we love that because let's face it, if you're a New
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yorker and at this point, Tiki, you are very much a
Rob Simmelkjaer: New Yorker, it's just one of those New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: passport stamps you have to have to be a true
Rob Simmelkjaer: New Yorker, and you've had it stamped many times.
Tiki Barber: You're right, and New York Road Runners, I commend you
Tiki Barber: guys because your races have become iconic. They're part of
Tiki Barber: the fabric of this city. And whenever there's a big
Tiki Barber: marathon, especially the New York City Marathon, the 60 plus
Tiki Barber: thousand people that run this thing and all the supporters
Tiki Barber: that are out there, it takes over New York for
Tiki Barber: a day and it's awesome. And I commend you guys
Tiki Barber: because I can't imagine that's easy to do and coordinate
Tiki Barber: yet. You give so many people from all across the
Tiki Barber: world this amazing memory that will last their entire lives.
Tiki Barber: So I thank you guys for what you all do.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you. Tiki, you took over New York a few
Rob Simmelkjaer: times yourself on a lot of Sundays wearing the blue
Rob Simmelkjaer: and the red out in New Jersey technically, but it
Rob Simmelkjaer: was for New York.
Tiki Barber: Right.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And we certainly, we love you, New Yorkers love you,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and it's great to still have you as part of
Rob Simmelkjaer: this community through running as well as through the broadcasting
Rob Simmelkjaer: so great to have you, Tiki. Thanks for being on.
Tiki Barber: Good to see you. And Becs, one of these days, I want
Tiki Barber: to meet you in person.
Becs Gentry: Oh my gosh. Anytime. You're welcome in the studio, anytime.
Becs Gentry: And we'll go for a run when you're in the city. I'd love it.
Tiki Barber: I would love that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a
Rob Simmelkjaer: vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the
Rob Simmelkjaer: transformative power of running. The support of members and donors
Rob Simmelkjaer: like you helps us achieve our mission to transform the
Rob Simmelkjaer: health and wellbeing of our communities through inclusive and accessible
Rob Simmelkjaer: running experiences, empowering all to achieve their potential. Learn more
Rob Simmelkjaer: and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate. And now it's time
Rob Simmelkjaer: for today's Meb Minute with Meb Keflezighi.
Meb Keflezighi: Smart summer training. Summer is a fun way to train
Meb Keflezighi: to be able to just do gradual mileage. Sometimes we
Meb Keflezighi: want to run as many miles as we can, but
Meb Keflezighi: this is a good time to be able to do
Meb Keflezighi: drills, to be able to just be smart, when to
Meb Keflezighi: run, and also be wise to be able to do
Meb Keflezighi: the... Sometimes let the body, it's not about the mileage,
Meb Keflezighi: but going out and doing a little bit of stretching.
Meb Keflezighi: Run five minutes, stretch a little bit in the shade, and continue with your
Meb Keflezighi: run. It is good time to be able to just
Meb Keflezighi: visualize your workouts or what is going to look like
Meb Keflezighi: because you have to be able to just see yourself
Meb Keflezighi: run those miles, do the cool down, do the stretch.
Meb Keflezighi: Sometimes in the winter, you can't wait to get fast
Meb Keflezighi: enough to the house to be in a warmer place,
Meb Keflezighi: but in the summer you can go in the shade
Meb Keflezighi: and be able to just stretch the muscles, and the mileage
Meb Keflezighi: is important, but the speed is more important on this day.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That does it for another episode of Set the Pace.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thanks again to our listeners on WOR 710 in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York, and to all of our regular listeners on all
Rob Simmelkjaer: the podcast places. We want to thank our guest today,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tiki Barber. And hey, if you like this show, make
Rob Simmelkjaer: sure you go on to wherever you get your podcasts,
Rob Simmelkjaer: follow the show, subscribe to it, leave it a rating
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well, we like five stars, so that folks can
Rob Simmelkjaer: find it as well. And we'd love to hear from
Rob Simmelkjaer: you so you can leave a comment because I love
Rob Simmelkjaer: reading the comments of how people enjoy listening to this
Rob Simmelkjaer: show. Thanks for joining us. We will see you next
Rob Simmelkjaer: week. Enjoy the miles.