Selena Samuela: If someone was like, " Go through another twin pregnancy or
Selena Samuela: run a marathon every single day, let's say a year."
Selena Samuela: I would run the marathon every single day for a
Selena Samuela: year. I swear to you, I would choose that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, the official
Rob Simmelkjaer: podcast of New York Road Runners presented by Peloton. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: your host, the CEO of New York Road Runners, Rob
Rob Simmelkjaer: Simmelkjaer, and Becs Gentry from Peloton with me as always. What's
Rob Simmelkjaer: up, Becs?
Becs Gentry: Hi. How are we doing?
Rob Simmelkjaer: We're doing great.
Becs Gentry: We're doing great. I'm full- on mom mode right now so that we might have
Becs Gentry: a little guest appearance any second.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, yeah.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, we're doing it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We are taping the day after Memorial Day and you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: with the family at your home out of the city
Rob Simmelkjaer: and it's got a little family time going on. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: love it.
Becs Gentry: A little family time. Yeah. Popped into the studio this
Becs Gentry: morning. The sun was shining and got my run done.
Becs Gentry: So, we're here.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It was nice to see the sunshine on Tuesday after
Rob Simmelkjaer: a bit of a rainy weekend, but you know what?
Rob Simmelkjaer: We find a way to get it done. Hopefully everybody
Rob Simmelkjaer: enjoyed that holiday. But Bec, we're wrapping up the month
Rob Simmelkjaer: of May here before you know it.
Becs Gentry: Busy month.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, it flew by. I mean, of course we had
Rob Simmelkjaer: busy month with the running and the RBC Brooklyn Half
Rob Simmelkjaer: and lots of great things happening on the running front,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but it's also Mental Health Awareness Month and we've done
Rob Simmelkjaer: so much at Road Runners focusing on that over the
Rob Simmelkjaer: last few years. We know, Becs, that for our runners,
Rob Simmelkjaer: running is a vital part for so many of them
Rob Simmelkjaer: to their mental health.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I always say, when I go to a race and I
Rob Simmelkjaer: ask 10 people why they run, the number one answer
Rob Simmelkjaer: is always free therapy. And so, we know that's a big part of it and we are
Rob Simmelkjaer: having conversations this month about mental health. It's also Mother's
Rob Simmelkjaer: Day, of course, that we had a couple of weeks
Rob Simmelkjaer: ago. And so, for a lot of our runners, those
Rob Simmelkjaer: things, running, mental health and motherhood for our moms out
Rob Simmelkjaer: there, they're all tangled up in each other. For this
Rob Simmelkjaer: episode, then we're going to talk with a mom who's
Rob Simmelkjaer: been through all that and been navigating the intersection of
Rob Simmelkjaer: those three things.
Becs Gentry: I'm so honored to have this guest on to bring
Becs Gentry: all of those things together because as you say, she
Becs Gentry: truly is somebody who is shouting out for the moms
Becs Gentry: out there advocating for mental health through physical health. And
Becs Gentry: that wonderful woman is Peloton's Selena Samuela, who is a recent
Becs Gentry: mom of three. I cannot believe I'm saying that about
Becs Gentry: my friend, having had our first children around the same
Becs Gentry: time. Now, she has two more beautiful twin girls and
Becs Gentry: we are going to chat to her about navigating that
Becs Gentry: physical and emotional side of pregnancy whilst running was taken
Becs Gentry: away from her during that pregnancy and how she stayed
Becs Gentry: being so Selena.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I think it's really a great conversation. So that is
Rob Simmelkjaer: coming up just after this.
Becs Gentry: Peloton has got something for whatever running mood you're in.
Becs Gentry: Try instructor- led runs and walks that are built to
Becs Gentry: fit into your routine with classes that help you stay consistent,
Becs Gentry: build speed and be in the moment. Track your metrics,
Becs Gentry: see your progress, and train smarter. We've got it all
Becs Gentry: to help you reach your goals and stay on track.
Becs Gentry: Peloton, the official digital fitness partner of New York Road
Becs Gentry: Runners. Our guest today is not only a Peloton instructor,
Becs Gentry: but she is an absolute legend in my eyes, a
Becs Gentry: massive inspiration and a very good friend of mine. I'd
Becs Gentry: go so far as to say calling her my sister.
Becs Gentry: It's Selena Samuela, everyone. Now this past year, Selena has become
Becs Gentry: a mother for the second time. Two beautiful identical twin
Becs Gentry: girls, Stella and Frankie, who have spent their first three
Becs Gentry: weeks in the NICU. And because of complications in her
Becs Gentry: pregnancy, her doctor told her she had to stop running. So,
Becs Gentry: for somebody whose job and her own personal happiness depends
Becs Gentry: on running being part of her fitness routine, that is
Becs Gentry: not a small thing. But now, 24 weeks after giving
Becs Gentry: birth, Selena is back teaching live with us at Peloton,
Becs Gentry: rebuilding her running piece by piece. And she's thinking a
Becs Gentry: lot about this year and the difference between acceptance and
Becs Gentry: complacency. We're here to go through her whole story and
Becs Gentry: I'm so honored to welcome Selena Samuela. Hi.
Selena Samuela: Hi, everyone. Wow, what an intro, Becs. Thank you so
Selena Samuela: much. It's such an honor to be here to be
Selena Samuela: chatting with you and Rob.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you.
Becs Gentry: We are honored to have you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Great to meet you, Selena. Absolutely. So, let's start by
Rob Simmelkjaer: going back to that moment that you first discovered you were
Rob Simmelkjaer: having twins. That's a big moment.
Selena Samuela: Yeah, that was a big moment. Yeah, I was not expecting that. I thought I
Selena Samuela: had everything under control. I shared about this publicly, but
Selena Samuela: I had been through a few losses. And so, my
Selena Samuela: husband and I chose to go the IVF route essentially
Selena Samuela: to avoid some of the complications that popped up that
Selena Samuela: we found out were the reason why those losses happened.
Selena Samuela: And so, when you go through that, you think you're like, "
Selena Samuela: Oh, I've got it under control. I know exactly what's
Selena Samuela: happening. We did the testing and we know we have
Selena Samuela: one embryo that's being implanted." And you think, boom, I
Selena Samuela: know everything. And I went on vacation. I went to
Selena Samuela: Italy, so I had a later date for that instead
Selena Samuela: of an eight- week appointment. It was a nine- week
Selena Samuela: appointment. And I go in and my doctor's like, " Oh, great.
Selena Samuela: Look, little arm buds, little leg buds, heartbeat, baby looks
Selena Samuela: good." And I see a little, I don't know, lump
Selena Samuela: at the bottom of the screen and automatically my head
Selena Samuela: goes to the worst place. I'm thinking, " Oh my gosh,
Selena Samuela: fibroids, maybe cancer. What is that?" And I ask her,
Selena Samuela: I'm like, " Can you just take a look at whatever
Selena Samuela: is going on down there at the bottom of the
Selena Samuela: screen, the ultrasound?" And she moves the little magic stick
Selena Samuela: that goes on (inaudible) . I don't know what they're
Selena Samuela: called. And sure enough, there was another baby with the
Selena Samuela: little arm buds and little leg buds squirming around in
Selena Samuela: there and she's like, " Oh." I think she was shocked
Selena Samuela: as well because she put one embryo in herself and
Selena Samuela: she was just like, " There are two babies there." And
Selena Samuela: she's like, " You're going to have identical twins. That was
Selena Samuela: an embryo that split. Congratulations."
Becs Gentry: My goodness. I can't even imagine. How did that feel
Becs Gentry: hearing, going from the catastrophizing moment to joy, fear. What
Becs Gentry: was that feeling?
Selena Samuela: No, you're so right, Becs. You hit it right on
Selena Samuela: the head. It was a rollercoaster of emotions because I was
Selena Samuela: catastrophizing, correct. And then you hear it's another baby and
Selena Samuela: you're like, " Okay, so the worst isn't happening, but now
Selena Samuela: wait, wait a second. I was not prepared to have
Selena Samuela: three kids. This is crazy." But I think it also
Selena Samuela: was validating because I was having so many experiences that
Selena Samuela: were so vastly different from my first pregnancy and I was like, "
Selena Samuela: Am I going crazy or am I going crazy?" So,
Selena Samuela: I think it was validating when she was like, " Yeah,
Selena Samuela: there are two babies." And I'm like, " Okay, so this makes
Selena Samuela: a lot of sense." This makes sense why I'm so
Selena Samuela: much more exhausted. Why going up a flight of stairs
Selena Samuela: feels like I was completely breathless, even more so than
Selena Samuela: the first time I was also raging. I was so
Selena Samuela: mean, my poor husband. I was so mean. My poor
Selena Samuela: mom too. I was on a trip with her in
Selena Samuela: Italy visiting my family and I was just not the
Selena Samuela: coolest person to be around during that trip. And so,
Selena Samuela: it was validating. I was like, " Oh, okay. This is
Selena Samuela: why. This is why."
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Oh, my gosh. There are hormones and then they're
Becs Gentry: essentially doubled and the fatigue, I can't... Having only had
Becs Gentry: a solo pregnancy, I can't imagine what that is like. It was wild. It was wild. Talk
Becs Gentry: to me more about that. As somebody who has grown
Becs Gentry: and birthed a child, what is that first trimester into
Becs Gentry: your second trimester? What is that like with twins?
Selena Samuela: This is going to sound like I'm exaggerating a little
Selena Samuela: bit, but I swear to God I am not. It's not just
Selena Samuela: double. So, when you think, so there's two, you would
Selena Samuela: think it's double the effect. It feels like a lot
Selena Samuela: more than double the effect. And if someone was like, "
Selena Samuela: Go through another twin pregnancy or run a marathon every
Selena Samuela: single day for the duration of whatever a pregnancy would
Selena Samuela: be..." Or even let's say a year for every... I
Selena Samuela: would run the marathon every single day for a year.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Selena Samuela: I swear to you, I would choose that.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Selena Samuela: I would choose that.
Becs Gentry: Mentally and physically, I guess.
Selena Samuela: Yes, because there is... So also with my twins, I
Selena Samuela: had mono- di twins, meaning there was on placenta and we'll
Selena Samuela: talk a little bit about the complications that I had
Selena Samuela: in this pregnancy specifically, but there was one placenta and
Selena Samuela: both babies were feeding off of that one placenta. Most
Selena Samuela: twins are di- di, meaning they each have their own
Selena Samuela: placenta because most twins are not identical twins. Most twins
Selena Samuela: are fraternal twins. And then even amongst identical twins, there's
Selena Samuela: a small percentage that could still be di- di, but
Selena Samuela: the majority of them are mono- di like my twins.
Selena Samuela: So, there's a higher risk with that sort of twin
Selena Samuela: pregnancy. So just the anxiety alone was just, it was
Selena Samuela: more than my first and just having to go to...
Selena Samuela: You go to appointments every other week, you do ultrasounds
Selena Samuela: and then it starts every week after a certain period
Selena Samuela: as well. And depending on what happens with your pregnancy,
Selena Samuela: it could happen earlier that you're... So, in some ways
Selena Samuela: it's nice because you know that you're getting a check- in
Selena Samuela: with your babies and it's good to hear the good
Selena Samuela: news when there's good news. And then in another way,
Selena Samuela: it's just exhausting because you're constantly running the potential in
Selena Samuela: your head. What could go wrong? Is it going to
Selena Samuela: be this week? Are they going to have twin- to-
Selena Samuela: twin syndrome this week? Is it going to be next
Selena Samuela: week? And so, each week is a breath of fresh
Selena Samuela: air when you get the good news, but it's also
Selena Samuela: anxiety leading up to the appointment, which I just did not have that experience with a singleton and with
Selena Samuela: my first pregnancy with no complications.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. So, tell us about the complications, when you learned about them and what that
Rob Simmelkjaer: would mean for you and the pregnancy.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. So, I had placenta previa, which is pretty common,
Selena Samuela: but just for me as a runner, that's sucked. It
Selena Samuela: sucked because placenta previa makes it so that you're asked
Selena Samuela: to essentially take any kind of high impact stuff out
Selena Samuela: of your day- to- day. There's just a higher risk
Selena Samuela: of bleeding. And then because of that, anything can happen.
Selena Samuela: Pregnancy loss, I could get sick, babies could get... So,
Selena Samuela: you can't run anymore when you have placenta previa. And
Selena Samuela: especially with twins, there's so many other things going on.
Selena Samuela: I also had gestational diabetes, which was crazy. I couldn't
Selena Samuela: believe it. I eat healthy. I exercise. I just never
Selena Samuela: thought of myself as being a candidate for something like
Selena Samuela: that, but it's totally random and very common amongst twin
Selena Samuela: pregnancies. But the placenta previa was the big one that
Selena Samuela: hit me because I had to stop running and that
Selena Samuela: was tough because running for me, it's not just my job,
Selena Samuela: but it's just such a big part of my wellness
Selena Samuela: routine, my mental health.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Had you run through your first pregnancy, Selena? And what was
Rob Simmelkjaer: it like when the doctor told you for this second
Rob Simmelkjaer: time around that you were not going to be able to
Rob Simmelkjaer: run?
Selena Samuela: Yeah, I ran through most of my first pregnancy. I
Selena Samuela: did stop also my first pregnancy and that was due to
Selena Samuela: some round ligament stuff. And just overall, I just didn't
Selena Samuela: know, it was the first time I was pregnant. I was a
Selena Samuela: little bit worried, but that was less like, " Hey, you
Selena Samuela: need to stop running because this is dangerous." And more
Selena Samuela: of a like, " Oh, I'm just making this choice."
Becs Gentry: Yeah. As somebody who runs, you're on Peloton, you've been
Becs Gentry: on Peloton for eight years almost to the day and
Becs Gentry: it is your life to be running on the platform,
Becs Gentry: walking on the platform. You're one of our lead strength
Becs Gentry: coaches on the platform as well. So how did that
Becs Gentry: feel for you to be like, I have just found
Becs Gentry: my groove back with running after your first with your
Becs Gentry: son and you're just rolling. You're having all of these
Becs Gentry: new things thrown at you from one embryo being placed
Becs Gentry: inside of you by the doctor to having twins to
Becs Gentry: being like, okay, well, now you can't do one of
Becs Gentry: the things that you really love to do. Where was
Becs Gentry: your head going? How did you process all of this
Becs Gentry: stuff?
Selena Samuela: I was looking for solutions because I think having been
Selena Samuela: through a pregnancy before, I knew that... And also, just
Selena Samuela: at this point too, I'm in my late 30s, I've
Selena Samuela: been through a little bit of life stuff. I don't
Selena Samuela: see the point in wallowing in what I can't do
Selena Samuela: and rather focusing on what I can do. So, I
Selena Samuela: knew that I couldn't run anymore. It definitely was a
Selena Samuela: bummer and it's scary to hear that, but I still
Selena Samuela: had other options. I could lean into the walking piece.
Selena Samuela: I could lean into the strength piece for a little
Selena Samuela: bit and the walking piece was really the thing that
Selena Samuela: was the most helpful for me. And I talk about
Selena Samuela: this a lot on the Peloton platform, but I'm just
Selena Samuela: such a huge advocate for walk plus runs in general.
Selena Samuela: So, in my mind, I would do walk plus runs
Selena Samuela: with easy walk to power walk. And so, I would
Selena Samuela: tell myself that the power walk was a run and
Selena Samuela: sometimes it really felt that way also cardiovascularly because I
Selena Samuela: was carrying two babies and a lot was going on with
Selena Samuela: my hormones and I got heavy.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I have experienced the run, as you call it, run
Rob Simmelkjaer: plus walk thing a bit more myself recently just coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: back from injury and I really had never done it
Rob Simmelkjaer: in such an intentional way before, but I think it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: incredible. I think it's incredible for so many different types
Rob Simmelkjaer: of people, whether they're new runners, runners coming back from
Rob Simmelkjaer: injury, runners who are in a situation like yours in
Rob Simmelkjaer: that time when you couldn't really run much. It's so
Rob Simmelkjaer: much better than not being able to do anything.
Selena Samuela: It's so much better than doing nothing, absolutely. And it
Selena Samuela: really is such a great tool. Postpartum, I really leaned
Selena Samuela: on the walk plus runs. It was a slow incline
Selena Samuela: from the walk, power walk to walk jogs, walk runs
Selena Samuela: and they work. They work.
Becs Gentry: You finished work a little early because you really were just at a point of...
Becs Gentry: I mean, talk us through that.
Selena Samuela: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: When did you feel to yourself like, this is quite
Becs Gentry: frankly, uncomfortable to move?
Selena Samuela: Yeah. So, I wasn't abnormally large as far as twin pregnancies
Selena Samuela: are concerned, but for a singleton, it was insane. I
Selena Samuela: was measuring full term at 26 weeks, maybe even before
Selena Samuela: that, honestly. And meaning my type of full term, the
Selena Samuela: way I was with Torin. So, I looked ready to
Selena Samuela: pop and I still had almost... I still had so
Selena Samuela: many weeks ahead of me, although my girls came early,
Selena Samuela: so not as many at that point. So yeah, it
Selena Samuela: became physically impossible to just teach the classes and also
Selena Samuela: honestly commute. I struggled. I would make sure my day
Selena Samuela: was planned out so that I wouldn't have to go
Selena Samuela: up and down the stairs in my house.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Selena Samuela: That's like how I would... And I would have my husband help me
Selena Samuela: carry things downstairs and be like, " I don't want to have to
Selena Samuela: go back up those stairs until we go to bed."
Becs Gentry: Wow. You don't even think about that. You don't even
Becs Gentry: contemplate the fact that, yeah, you've made the journey downstairs,
Becs Gentry: that's it, not moving.
Selena Samuela: Right. Well, because I was having a lot of Braxton-
Selena Samuela: Hicks contractions very early on and they were sometimes getting
Selena Samuela: scary because they would be spaced apart almost rhythmically. And
Selena Samuela: so, I was like, " Oh gosh, I just really didn't
Selena Samuela: want to go into labor early." I mean, nobody does.
Selena Samuela: The longer you can keep those babies in, the better.
Selena Samuela: And so yeah, I just did my best. And so
Selena Samuela: that was another reason why. I mean, actually at my
Selena Samuela: baby shower, I ended up with Braxton with contractions that
Selena Samuela: started scaring me, seeming like they were labor contractions.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Selena Samuela: And that was in October and I stopped working in
Selena Samuela: October.
Becs Gentry: Talk us through those last technical couple of months of
Becs Gentry: pregnancy.
Selena Samuela: Well, I made it to 35 weeks, which is great
Selena Samuela: because that's for monody twins average 34 to 36 weeks is the
Selena Samuela: average time that usually people go into labor with my
Selena Samuela: type of twins. So, I was very happy that we
Selena Samuela: knew at that point that 35 weeks is a good
Selena Samuela: gestational age, very likely that there'll be a NICU, but also
Selena Samuela: very likely that they won't have too many complications. And
Selena Samuela: aside from just lungs being not quite ready, they were
Selena Samuela: fine. So, we're lucky. They did spend three weeks in
Selena Samuela: the NICU just waiting for their little lungs to be
Selena Samuela: ready to do it on their own. But yeah, 35
Selena Samuela: weeks I went into the city, I went because I
Selena Samuela: was on a billboard in Madison Square Garden. And so,
Selena Samuela: I was like, I want to get to see this
Selena Samuela: billboard before I go into labor and it's so hard to move.
Selena Samuela: And I had to go into the city for my
Selena Samuela: doctor's appointments. I purposefully chose to have my doctors and
Selena Samuela: give birth at Mount Sinai Hospital because they have an
Selena Samuela: epic NICU and I knew that the likelihood of my
Selena Samuela: girls coming early and needing NICU was pretty high. So
Selena Samuela: that's what I was doing that day. And I was like, "
Selena Samuela: All right, after this doctor's appointment, I'll go and check
Selena Samuela: out this billboard, get some photos and I'll show my
Selena Samuela: girls one day." And then I started having those contractions
Selena Samuela: again and they just started getting shorter and shorter. And
Selena Samuela: I had already taken the car almost all the way
Selena Samuela: back to where I live, which is about 45 minutes,
Selena Samuela: but it was the middle of the day, so it
Selena Samuela: was traffic. So, it took me an hour to get
Selena Samuela: to maybe two exits before my exit and we had
Selena Samuela: to turn around. I was on the phone with my doctors and they're like, "
Selena Samuela: Selena, those really sound like labor contractions." And I knew
Selena Samuela: that they were too because they were way... I knew
Selena Samuela: that they were, but I was just really hoping that
Selena Samuela: it wasn't yet the time. And they were like, " You should probably
Selena Samuela: turn around because if you go home, there's a chance
Selena Samuela: you won't make it to our hospital and you'd have
Selena Samuela: to go to a different hospital." And I didn't want
Selena Samuela: that. So, I turned around, was stuck in traffic. I
Selena Samuela: was in labor in a car for two plus hours,
Selena Samuela: but we made it and then I had my babies,
Selena Samuela: I don't know, it was the afternoon, so I had
Selena Samuela: them within 12 hours of that.
Becs Gentry: So, talk us through it. What happened? How was that
Becs Gentry: whole situation of birthing?
Selena Samuela: I was really lucky. I didn't end up needing a C-
Selena Samuela: section. We just went for it. I had amazing OBs
Selena Samuela: who were so supportive and they were like, " Hey, look,
Selena Samuela: you matched the criteria for a vaginal birth and if
Selena Samuela: you want to go for it, we'd be happy to
Selena Samuela: facilitate it." And I was like, " Yeah, let's go for
Selena Samuela: it." So, we did and it was super quick. The
Selena Samuela: girls came out so fast. It was like three pushes.
Selena Samuela: Stella came out. Eight minutes later, Frankie came out breech,
Selena Samuela: which was something else. And something that they don't tell
Selena Samuela: you, by the way, with twins, is that you can't
Selena Samuela: push as hard as you do with the first one
Selena Samuela: or the second one, and also, you're going to shoot
Selena Samuela: that baby right across the OR.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh my God.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. So, you have to be really delicate with those pushes
Selena Samuela: and really easy.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh.
Selena Samuela: So, it was like a very delicate, gentle... And then the
Selena Samuela: OB really does most of the work with a breech
Selena Samuela: baby because they have to maneuver and pull them out.
Selena Samuela: But yeah, eight minutes later, Frankie came and they were
Selena Samuela: great. They actually at first, they were like, " Nope, they don't
Selena Samuela: need to go to NICU," because they were screaming and
Selena Samuela: doing all the things that baby should do. And they
Selena Samuela: were five pounds each, which is a pretty decent size for
Selena Samuela: a baby. But they put them on me and then
Selena Samuela: shortly after I was noticing that they were doing that
Selena Samuela: kind of breathing. And I was like, " I don't think
Selena Samuela: they're doing well, guys." And they're like, " Oh, nope. Yep,
Selena Samuela: we got to get them up to the NICU." So, then they
Selena Samuela: brought them up to the NICU and got them some support and
Selena Samuela: CPAP for a little bit. And then they really weren't
Selena Samuela: on CPAP for very long after that it was just
Selena Samuela: getting them to a point where they could comfortably eat
Selena Samuela: without having what they call events in the NICU where
Selena Samuela: either the heart rate drops or their oxygen level drops.
Selena Samuela: And so, they are very careful at that NICU. They make
Selena Samuela: sure that everything is absolutely perfect before you leave. So,
Selena Samuela: by the time about three weeks passed and they were
Selena Samuela: definitely very ready to come home and I felt comfortable
Selena Samuela: at that point for them to come home, but it
Selena Samuela: is hard leaving the hospital without your babies. It's probably
Selena Samuela: one of the hardest things I've ever done.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, I can imagine having had two and been fortunate
Rob Simmelkjaer: enough to leave with both of ours, I could see
Rob Simmelkjaer: how that would be difficult to do. And so, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: got through it, you've got two identical twin girls, which
Rob Simmelkjaer: is incredible, Stella and Frankie. What's it been like being
Rob Simmelkjaer: the mom of identical twins? And I hear people like to
Rob Simmelkjaer: ask you all kinds of things and questions about your
Rob Simmelkjaer: identical twins, including maybe some things they shouldn't ask.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. There are some really ridiculous questions out there. They
Selena Samuela: say there's no dumb questions.
Rob Simmelkjaer: There are dumb questions. Yes, 100%.
Selena Samuela: There are some dumb questions. Like, " Are they natural?" What do
Selena Samuela: you mean are they... " No, sorry, they're AI. They're actually
Selena Samuela: not natural. They're AI. They're hologram."
Becs Gentry: What?
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's because people are confused about...
Becs Gentry: What are they getting at by asking-
Rob Simmelkjaer: The process of doing IVF.
Selena Samuela: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And they think that all... Because a lot of people
Rob Simmelkjaer: have fraternal twins when they have more than one embryo implanted.
Selena Samuela: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And so, they're confused. They don't understand that.
Becs Gentry: Oh, so they think he planned it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You can't engineer identical twins.
Selena Samuela: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And that's why it's a question that makes no sense if you
Rob Simmelkjaer: know what the process is like.
Selena Samuela: It makes no sense, but it's also that word natural.
Selena Samuela: I think even for those folks who did have a
Selena Samuela: planned twin pregnancy, which by the way, nowadays is very
Selena Samuela: rare. So, it used to be the norm because they
Selena Samuela: didn't have technology to test embryos the way that we
Selena Samuela: do today. So, if you go through IVF, you can
Selena Samuela: choose to test your embryos and choose the healthiest embryos.
Selena Samuela: And back in the day, they didn't have that. So,
Selena Samuela: it was like guessing and a lot of embryos aren't
Selena Samuela: viable. And so, they would put multiple embryos in there
Selena Samuela: hoping that one would be viable.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Exactly.
Selena Samuela: And usually, the ones that aren't viable would just dissolve
Selena Samuela: or I don't know what happens in there, but disappear,
Selena Samuela: not survive, whatever. So that's why they would do it.
Selena Samuela: But sometimes, they would put three embryos in and they
Selena Samuela: just so happened to be three healthy embryos that all made
Selena Samuela: it. And so that's why you saw so many twins
Selena Samuela: in the past.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And triplets sometimes even. Yeah.
Selena Samuela: And triplets, exactly. But now the technology has gotten good.
Selena Samuela: They're like, we don't want to... The risk of twin
Selena Samuela: pregnancy is just not worth that because the pregnancies are
Selena Samuela: high risk. They're very hard on mothers. And then also
Selena Samuela: it's riskier for the babies as well. So, most doctors
Selena Samuela: will not do multiple embryo implantations anymore. I think it's
Selena Samuela: very hard to find people who at least in New
Selena Samuela: York and Connecticut and where I've been, that's just not
Selena Samuela: the protocol at all anymore. So, there's that part of
Selena Samuela: it and I think you're right, but still the word
Selena Samuela: natural sounds ridiculous.
Becs Gentry: It does.
Selena Samuela: Because what do you mean? Is my child not a human?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, yeah.
Selena Samuela: What do you mean natural?
Becs Gentry: What do you mean natural? Yeah, that's weird.
Selena Samuela: I'm in such a sweet spot actually with my twins
Selena Samuela: and the public. I haven't had any bad encounters. I
Selena Samuela: mean, I think one thing that's triggering for a lot
Selena Samuela: of twin moms is when they hear, " Oh, your hands
Selena Samuela: are full." It's like, " Thanks." Obviously, I know that.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Selena Samuela: Not so triggering for me because I'm like, " Yeah, please,
Selena Samuela: I need all the sympathy."
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I need this.
Selena Samuela: You're right. It's maladating.
Becs Gentry: We've had some good conversations about, and you've been very
Becs Gentry: open and this is a shout- out to all the
Becs Gentry: twin moms out there, is follow Selena on Instagram because
Becs Gentry: she is really open about her journey so far. And
Becs Gentry: I think one of the most wonderful conversations we've had
Becs Gentry: was when you were telling me about how you learnt to feed
Becs Gentry: them and your process for this was amazing. So, can
Becs Gentry: you talk us through that whole thing you were talking
Becs Gentry: about?
Selena Samuela: About tandem feeding?
Becs Gentry: The tandem feeding and where you're having the bottles and-
Selena Samuela: Oh, yeah.
Becs Gentry: You were just like a magician.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. You really do learn how to juggle when you have
Selena Samuela: twins. Okay. I don't know how much of this thing I'm allowed to
Selena Samuela: say in the podcast, but I literally found myself, especially in the early days,
Selena Samuela: just locked in a room with my twins top, off
Selena Samuela: boobs out, just sitting there topless all day with one
Selena Samuela: here, one here, burping one, one on the boob. It's
Selena Samuela: so much. Or we have this thing called a, there's
Selena Samuela: the twinsie pillow and then there's the My Twin Brest Friend and
Selena Samuela: it's this big breastfeeding pillow, but it's massive. And I
Selena Samuela: would just have that and I'd be just topless with
Selena Samuela: this huge Twin Brest Friend pillow just trying to figure
Selena Samuela: it out with my kids because it's like one would
Selena Samuela: be, you'd get one feeding and happy and sleeping and
Selena Samuela: then you're like, " Oh my God, I don't want to
Selena Samuela: wake this baby up." But then the other baby starts
Selena Samuela: popping off. So, you're like, " Okay." I definitely don't have
Selena Samuela: time to put my shirt back on, let alone... So
Selena Samuela: yeah, it was definitely chaos, but you get better at
Selena Samuela: it. I eventually just stopped trying to tandem breastfeed. I
Selena Samuela: ended up doing more tandem bottle feeding because it was
Selena Samuela: just so chaotic for me and I would just pump
Selena Samuela: and then tandem feed. And so, you put them...
Becs Gentry: Lay them on the floor and go.
Selena Samuela: Yeah, you put them in the... Now that's when you
Selena Samuela: use the Twin Z pillow. That's this little pillow that's
Selena Samuela: shaped like a heart and you put one baby on
Selena Samuela: each side and then you double bottle- feed and that
Selena Samuela: worked magically for a long time until they got a
Selena Samuela: little bit older and they started getting fussy and we
Selena Samuela: still have them on the same schedule, but sometimes we
Selena Samuela: feed one and the other. So, I'll have one in
Selena Samuela: a bouncer and I bounce the bouncer because they love
Selena Samuela: being bounced. I'll bounce the bouncer feed and then feed
Selena Samuela: the other. So, the foot is what's bouncing the bouncer.
Selena Samuela: So, I'm like a drummer. I got rhythm. There's a
Selena Samuela: lot of syncopation, a lot of cool stuff going on.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow. Wow.
Selena Samuela: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I just learned a lot about breastfeeding I did not
Rob Simmelkjaer: know. That was fascinating.
Becs Gentry: I'm sure a lot of people did.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It sounds really challenging. Sounds like a sport. Honestly, that
Rob Simmelkjaer: sounds like you could have a competition. That's so difficult,
Rob Simmelkjaer: balancing all that and there's rhythm involved. Anyway, so talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: about how, Selena, did you even think about getting back
Rob Simmelkjaer: to running, going through all of that?
Selena Samuela: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What was that process like? Obviously, your job demands some
Rob Simmelkjaer: of this. So, what was the process like of getting
Rob Simmelkjaer: from there to actually being able to move and run again?
Selena Samuela: Yeah. Okay. This is one of my favorite things to
Selena Samuela: talk about because I think there aren't enough folks really
Selena Samuela: having this conversation out loud. And so, you'll see a
Selena Samuela: lot of, I don't know, influencers or people in the
Selena Samuela: industry, they'll have their babies, and then all of a
Selena Samuela: sudden, they're working out or running again and you don't
Selena Samuela: see that middle part, the journey and how to get
Selena Samuela: there. And look, no shade because everybody should... If you
Selena Samuela: don't want to talk about that, you shouldn't have to
Selena Samuela: talk about it. But I'm okay with talking about it.
Selena Samuela: So, I've been sharing a lot and the very first
Selena Samuela: thing that I did was breathe. I don't mean just
Selena Samuela: to stay alive breathing, but diaphragmatic breathing, getting connected with
Selena Samuela: my breath, understanding where I was putting pressure when I
Selena Samuela: was breathing. So how the diaphragm and the core and
Selena Samuela: the pelvic floor, how they all work together and just
Selena Samuela: getting back to a place retraining my breath so that
Selena Samuela: I was breathing appropriately. And that was before doing any
Selena Samuela: kind of movement at all. So, I think one of
Selena Samuela: the things that without going into a whole class on
Selena Samuela: breath, but one of the things that I think happens is
Selena Samuela: your organs move when you're pregnant and naturally and your
Selena Samuela: ribs flare. So naturally things change so dramatically so that
Selena Samuela: your breath also changes dramatically. So, I started with just
Selena Samuela: connecting with my core and my pelvic floor again before
Selena Samuela: doing anything at all. And then it just turned into
Selena Samuela: working, doing pelvic floor exercises, core work. And then from
Selena Samuela: there walking and then walking turned into light jogging. But
Selena Samuela: it's not a linear, at least it hasn't been for
Selena Samuela: me, a very linear process. I did all this work
Selena Samuela: and I worked with a pelvic floor PT and was
Selena Samuela: so good about my homework and really focused on that
Selena Samuela: core work. And then I started walking and jogging and
Selena Samuela: then my lower back would get, I would throw my
Selena Samuela: lower back out a little bit. So then, I'd have to go
Selena Samuela: back and stop running and jogging and go back to
Selena Samuela: square one and build back up again. And I'm still
Selena Samuela: in that building phase. And I think one of the
Selena Samuela: harder parts, for me personally, the hard part isn't showing
Selena Samuela: up and doing the exercises. The hardest part is the
Selena Samuela: mental part of having to be okay with the fact
Selena Samuela: that I am not where I was before and I
Selena Samuela: never will be. And when I say I never will
Selena Samuela: be, I don't mean I never will hit paces that
Selena Samuela: I hit before. I mean, I never will have the
Selena Samuela: same body I had before children. And so, I have
Selena Samuela: to approach running and getting back into running very differently
Selena Samuela: than I approached my first time choosing to run a
Selena Samuela: marathon before I'd ever had kids and ever did the
Selena Samuela: damage that I did to my body. So, I talk about this
Selena Samuela: a lot right now and I talk about having grace
Selena Samuela: and I think it's important to have grace. It's very
Selena Samuela: important to have grace in that way to understand that
Selena Samuela: I am where I am because I did this amazing
Selena Samuela: thing, this miraculous thing and I can honor that and
Selena Samuela: honor what I did and that I brought life into this
Selena Samuela: world, but I can still want more for myself. Having
Selena Samuela: grace doesn't mean being complacent. It just means that you
Selena Samuela: have respect for what you did, but I still want
Selena Samuela: more. And so yeah, I think the hardest part is
Selena Samuela: staying there and not letting the, I want more turn
Selena Samuela: into you suck because you're not running the same paces
Selena Samuela: yet or because that other runner, she came back faster
Selena Samuela: or whatever it is because we all really have experienced
Selena Samuela: different journeys. Every pregnancy is very different. Everybody started at
Selena Samuela: a different point too. If somebody got pregnant at their
Selena Samuela: peak athleticism versus, I don't know, someone like myself where
Selena Samuela: I had a number of losses and I was trying
Selena Samuela: for a long time to get pregnant. And so, within
Selena Samuela: that time span, I also had pulled back on my
Selena Samuela: focus being running paces like I was running before. So
Selena Samuela: yeah, I think that's the toughest part, finding that balance,
Selena Samuela: having that grace and also ambition at the same time
Selena Samuela: and learning how to rock that in between.
Becs Gentry: You show up with all of those things very beautifully
Becs Gentry: for sure in the squares that we see curated on
Becs Gentry: social media and on Peloton. But I want to know
Becs Gentry: the honest side of it because having gone through it
Becs Gentry: with one baby and I definitely got in my head
Becs Gentry: about this not just being a day- to- day, 9:
Becs Gentry: 00 to 5:00 office job that I was going back to. It
Becs Gentry: was going back to being on camera, multiple different angles
Becs Gentry: of being on camera. I think the tread is a
Becs Gentry: safety net in many ways because you're encompassed by this
Becs Gentry: giant machine, but in the strength studio, you're exposed and
Becs Gentry: you're also then exposed to social media, to criticism, to
Becs Gentry: good or bad as well. There might be some good
Becs Gentry: criticism and bad. And how have you navigated that whilst
Becs Gentry: understanding to have this grace and this patience as well?
Selena Samuela: Yeah, you're absolutely right, Becs. It's so intimidating. I think that
Selena Samuela: was the toughest part of me coming back to work.
Selena Samuela: It wasn't, can I teach the classes? I was ready
Selena Samuela: to teach the classes, physically able to teach the classes.
Selena Samuela: What is the number on the tread screen as far
Selena Samuela: as my sprint today versus four years ago or whatever.
Selena Samuela: Sure, but that's not as important. So, the thing that
Selena Samuela: was the scariest was coming back and having to show
Selena Samuela: up in a body that looked very different and that
Selena Samuela: maybe you're right, I wasn't 100% ready to expose. And
Selena Samuela: I think I had to... Yes, the truth of it
Selena Samuela: is that is hard. It's hard to be half naked
Selena Samuela: in our sports bras and our shorts in front of
Selena Samuela: everybody and to do that when you've changed in a
Selena Samuela: way that sure you couldn't help and you did on
Selena Samuela: purpose. And again, look, we're so happy with our babies,
Selena Samuela: but it's still a reality. I just keep leaning on
Selena Samuela: the fact that there are other people who are going
Selena Samuela: through what I'm going through and that it is not
Selena Samuela: a niche narrative. It is very much there's so many
Selena Samuela: people. 50% of the population are women. I don't know
Selena Samuela: what percentage of that population ends up giving birth, but
Selena Samuela: I'm sure it's not a super small percentage of the
Selena Samuela: population. So, it's a lot of people out there and
Selena Samuela: postpartum is forever. Postpartum isn't just the first year after
Selena Samuela: you had a baby, it's the rest of your life.
Selena Samuela: Your body changes for the rest of your life. Pelvic
Selena Samuela: floor, your pelvic floor is different and the way that
Selena Samuela: you have to approach fitness is different for the rest
Selena Samuela: of your life. And I know that might sound scary
Selena Samuela: to somebody, but I think it actually makes us stronger
Selena Samuela: individuals overall and it can make us so focused in
Selena Samuela: a totally diferent way. Motherhood makes you focused in a
Selena Samuela: completely different way, in my opinion. And so yeah, that's
Selena Samuela: what I lean on. I lean on that. I lean
Selena Samuela: on the fact that there are so many other people
Selena Samuela: that are experiencing something very similar or have experienced something
Selena Samuela: similar and that it can be something that we can
Selena Samuela: be doing together so we're on this journey together.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I love that. And I guess that's why you decided
Becs Gentry: to be very open with your followers in the Peloton
Becs Gentry: audience about your mom pouch.
Selena Samuela: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: So, talk us through that. Talk us through the mom
Becs Gentry: pouch and what it means to you and why you're
Becs Gentry: sharing it.
Selena Samuela: Bro, the mom pouch is pouching so much right now. It's
Selena Samuela: really pouching after twins. It's next level after twins.
Becs Gentry: If everyone could have seen us in the green room the other
Becs Gentry: day, they'd laugh.
Selena Samuela: Oh my God, yes. No, I think that the mom
Selena Samuela: pouch is a beautiful thing. Sure, especially after twins, like
Selena Samuela: I said, it's different. It's made it so that I
Selena Samuela: can't wear the running shorts that I used to wear
Selena Samuela: at the moment because there is so much extra skin
Selena Samuela: that I actually do have to wear compression, something compression
Selena Samuela: to help me out in my runs at least. Not
Selena Samuela: so much with strength training, obviously, but with running. So,
Selena Samuela: there's that. But I do love the mom pouch and
Selena Samuela: I love the process because it is a reminder of
Selena Samuela: what the bad assery of motherhood and that's where our
Selena Samuela: babies came from. So yes, we want more. Yes, we
Selena Samuela: want better. Yes, we're going to work towards a world
Selena Samuela: where the mom pouch isn't so extreme so that it
Selena Samuela: hurts us when we run. But in the interim, I
Selena Samuela: know this sounds cliche, but we can't hate our bodies
Selena Samuela: into change. That is not how you progress. I mean, it's
Selena Samuela: the same thing with running, right? You can't hate your
Selena Samuela: way to a better pace
Becs Gentry: Well said.
Selena Samuela: You can't. So, leaning on... When I look at the
Selena Samuela: mom pouch, I'm like, " Oh yeah, you're such a badass.
Selena Samuela: You did that. You carried twins and look at what
Selena Samuela: you're doing now. And that's where those beautiful babies came
Selena Samuela: from and how could I hate the thing that made
Selena Samuela: my beautiful babies?" And so yeah, we love the mom
Selena Samuela: pouch. We rock the mom pouch.
Becs Gentry: Yes, yes. Exactly.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. There must be a huge mental health lesson here
Rob Simmelkjaer: too, Selena, both in regards, I mean, of course, some
Rob Simmelkjaer: women just are dealing with straight- up postpartum depression and
Rob Simmelkjaer: that's a thing that we've had conversations about on this
Rob Simmelkjaer: podcast, women who found running in movement helpful to them in
Rob Simmelkjaer: getting through that kind of thing. But then there's also
Rob Simmelkjaer: just what you're talking about, which isn't postpartum depression per
Rob Simmelkjaer: se, but it's just issues about self- image and expectation
Rob Simmelkjaer: management of what your body was, what it is, what
Rob Simmelkjaer: it can do versus what it used to be able
Rob Simmelkjaer: to do. All of that is also, it's mental health
Rob Simmelkjaer: at the end of the day because our self- image
Rob Simmelkjaer: is a huge part of our mental health.
Selena Samuela: Yeah, absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What have you learned through this journey about that and the
Rob Simmelkjaer: role of the movement and the running for you in
Rob Simmelkjaer: helping you, I guess, in a way reshape your image
Rob Simmelkjaer: of yourself as a mom of twins in this case?
Selena Samuela: Yeah. I think one of the first things I think
Selena Samuela: about when you ask that question is, I don't know,
Selena Samuela: you go on your Strava and you see your old
Selena Samuela: running paces. I actually posted about this. I did that
Selena Samuela: recently where it's like I couldn't help myself. I scrolled
Selena Samuela: through it and I looked back at, I don't know,
Selena Samuela: I think I had ran four miles that day. So,
Selena Samuela: I looked at when I ran four miles in the
Selena Samuela: past and it was like a 6: 30 mile and
Selena Samuela: then I had just finished a 9: 30 mile and I
Selena Samuela: was just like, I think in that moment we have
Selena Samuela: a choice. In that moment you can be like, " Oh,
Selena Samuela: I suck." Or you can look at that pace and
Selena Samuela: be like, " Wow, what a badass. You did that." And
Selena Samuela: cheer yourself on because you're like, " Wow." And it's amazing
Selena Samuela: that I went through everything that I went through and
Selena Samuela: I'm still here. And then remembering, okay, how did I
Selena Samuela: get to that 6: 30 pace? Did I just magically
Selena Samuela: start running that pace? And I know for some people,
Selena Samuela: and by the way, for some people, that 6: 30
Selena Samuela: pace is not fast. That is my version of fast
Selena Samuela: and I didn't magically get there. I was a boxer
Selena Samuela: before I was a Peloton instructor and so running was
Selena Samuela: always part of my story. And then I always loved
Selena Samuela: running, but I wasn't a fast runner by any means.
Selena Samuela: It took me three years of running and working on
Selena Samuela: my running and working on my paces to go from
Selena Samuela: running around a 9: 30 mile for four miles to
Selena Samuela: running those 6: 30 miles. I took a long time to get
Selena Samuela: there and I had no babies back then. I had
Selena Samuela: no babies back then. So, it's just putting it into
Selena Samuela: perspective right there. And so rather than having to do
Selena Samuela: crazy mental acrobatics, I mean, well, we always have to
Selena Samuela: do mental acrobatics sometimes to just fake it till we
Selena Samuela: make it kind of stuff and I'm all about that.
Selena Samuela: But yeah, just putting it into perspective that way and
Selena Samuela: understanding that since I know I've done it before, if
Selena Samuela: I really wanted to, I could do that again. The
Selena Samuela: question is, my goals might have shifted today to maybe
Selena Samuela: that specific pace, it's not necessary, not today, but maybe
Selena Samuela: it will be in the future. I've got a triathlon
Selena Samuela: coming up in September and I'm shooting for a Half
Selena Samuela: Iron Man towards the end of the year. So, I
Selena Samuela: don't know. I think you have a choice. You could
Selena Samuela: decide to knock yourself or you could decide to be
Selena Samuela: proud of yourself and be inspired by it. So, when
Selena Samuela: people are like, oh, I think again, there's this fine line.
Selena Samuela: Someone said to me like, " Forget about that girl. She
Selena Samuela: doesn't exist anymore." I'm like, " I don't ever want to
Selena Samuela: forget about that girl. I'm proud of that girl." That girl, she
Selena Samuela: worked really hard, but this girl right here is also
Selena Samuela: working really hard and also deserves the flowers. But I
Selena Samuela: don't think it benefits us to play small. We should
Selena Samuela: still be like, " She was a badass."
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I agree. And that comes really nicely around to
Becs Gentry: you talking about, you've been saying this a lot at work and personally,
Becs Gentry: the acceptance is not the same as complacency. So, you're
Becs Gentry: encouraging people to instead of potentially giving up on where
Becs Gentry: they are right now because it is not quite where
Becs Gentry: they were or where they would like to be immediately
Becs Gentry: accepting it and not just being like... So how has
Becs Gentry: that helped you?
Selena Samuela: Yeah. I mean, I think it's like a little bit of my mantra right now where it's like
Selena Samuela: having grace is important, it's necessary, but grace has an
Selena Samuela: equal complacency and you're absolutely right, Becs. You shouldn't quit
Selena Samuela: something just because you're not where you were before. It's
Selena Samuela: a horrible... And we keep talking about like you can't
Selena Samuela: hate yourself into progress. If you are trying to run
Selena Samuela: a faster pace and you're telling yourself you suck, you
Selena Samuela: can't do it, you're so much less likely to do
Selena Samuela: it. So, it's the same kind of idea. It's like,
Selena Samuela: you got to tell yourself that whatever it is that you're shooting for, and
Selena Samuela: I think it's important to have goals and aspirations, you
Selena Samuela: got to tell yourself that you can.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: 100%.
Becs Gentry: How do you do that on a hard day when you've had the
Becs Gentry: twins waking up in the middle of the night, Torin
Becs Gentry: is three and a half years old, like he's going through his
Becs Gentry: own growth leaps right now as well. So how do
Becs Gentry: you put those fatigue, tiredness, frustration aside and not just
Becs Gentry: give up and not just be like, " I'm going to
Becs Gentry: take a nap on the couch because I need one."
Selena Samuela: Yeah. I think it's like the blind trust in the
Selena Samuela: process.
Becs Gentry: The decades in the industry.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. It's the blind trust in the process. Yeah. And
Selena Samuela: it's like training plans aren't training plans for nothing and
Selena Samuela: we know and timelines might be different and that's the
Selena Samuela: thing that I've had to really work on is that
Selena Samuela: I might have a plateau or I might have to
Selena Samuela: live somewhere a little bit longer than I did in
Selena Samuela: the past. I might hit fatigue faster and that's just
Selena Samuela: a data point, but just like blindly trusting the process.
Selena Samuela: I think I talked about this, another thing I talked
Selena Samuela: about on my social media today, talked about this stuff
Selena Samuela: a lot, but I was talking about how I had
Selena Samuela: felt, like my legs were lead and that I wasn't
Selena Samuela: improving on both the endurance and power side of my
Selena Samuela: running. I was hovering around this like 10K being the
Selena Samuela: most that I... I couldn't really run past it without
Selena Samuela: feeling really bad and I couldn't really move past a
Selena Samuela: certain pace and it was like a little daunting, but I
Selena Samuela: just, again, trusted the process, kept showing up even if
Selena Samuela: they weren't the paces and the comfort that I was
Selena Samuela: hoping to achieve. And then literally, just a few days
Selena Samuela: ago or yeah, I don't know, like four days ago
Selena Samuela: or so, I hit a PR that was literally almost
Selena Samuela: 10 minutes on my 10K. I went from running a 9:
Selena Samuela: 40 something mile on my 10K to an 8: 30.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Selena Samuela: It just, boom. And so, it-
Rob Simmelkjaer: The light switches sometimes. The body wakes up, something clicks.
Becs Gentry: That plateau is the adaptation's happening and then bam, there
Becs Gentry: you go.
Selena Samuela: And then, bam. Exactly. And again, it's not like the 8:30 is the fastest I've ever run in my life or
Selena Samuela: anything by any means.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's your postpartum PR. That should become a thing by
Rob Simmelkjaer: the way.
Selena Samuela: It's my postpartum PR.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.
Selena Samuela: And it was a huge massive PR too for a 10K.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We should start using that language more when you think
Rob Simmelkjaer: about it. What would that be? PPPR.
Selena Samuela: PPPR.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's a great idea to start-
Selena Samuela: Triple PR.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Triple PR because I mean, it's real, right? It really
Rob Simmelkjaer: is real and it gives women who've had kids something
Rob Simmelkjaer: new to shoot for and not to your point, Selena,
Rob Simmelkjaer: being a captive to your pre- partum self. I think it's a really interesting thought. I'm going to have a meeting about that at Road Runners. We're going to see if we can start
Rob Simmelkjaer: working on that. I love that idea.
Selena Samuela: Yes. And also, one more thing I wanted to share
Selena Samuela: that is helpful. It's a little tip for anybody who
Selena Samuela: is struggling with that, doing the mental acrobatics and not
Selena Samuela: really getting bummed out about the pre- partum numbers. I
Selena Samuela: like to think of that girl that really fast, Selena.
Selena Samuela: I like to think of that girl as I'm not
Selena Samuela: chasing her shadow, her shadow, she is my bestie. She
Selena Samuela: is cheering me on. So, it's like that girl is
Selena Samuela: so proud of the girl that I am today. And
Selena Samuela: I think about that a lot. I'm like, would Selena
Selena Samuela: back in 2020 or whatever, would she be knocking Selena
Selena Samuela: today because she has an 8: 30 PR versus a 6:
Selena Samuela: 30? No, absolutely not. So yeah, she'd be celebrating. So, I
Selena Samuela: like to think of that as my bestie shadow.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And you know what? Postpartum Selena has something that prepartum Selena always wanted, I presume.
Selena Samuela: Yeah, 100%.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's three children, right?
Selena Samuela: 100%.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That is the beauty of it. It really is. Hey, what
Rob Simmelkjaer: would you say, because I know we know there's moms
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there listening to this. They may be on long
Rob Simmelkjaer: runs training for something, or maybe they're just trying to
Rob Simmelkjaer: get back into the swing of things, right? They're dealing
Rob Simmelkjaer: with that postpartum run, maybe that first postpartum run. What
Rob Simmelkjaer: would you say to them, even mid- pregnancy, wherever they
Rob Simmelkjaer: are in their journey about how this can go for
Rob Simmelkjaer: them?
Selena Samuela: Yeah. I think I would lean on my current mantra
Selena Samuela: where it's like, " Hey, this might not look exactly like
Selena Samuela: what you want or what your ideal is. This might
Selena Samuela: be that in between phase, but A, you're not alone
Selena Samuela: so many other people experience it including your favorite athlete,
Selena Samuela: including your favorite athlete. It's just obviously looks different because
Selena Samuela: they're a professional athlete, but everybody experiences this." And I
Selena Samuela: would just lean into that mantra where it's like celebrate
Selena Samuela: what you did, it's amazing and give yourself that grace,
Selena Samuela: but also lock in because... And lock in at the
Selena Samuela: pace that you need it to be. Focus on what
Selena Samuela: you can do in the moment. Focus on what that
Selena Samuela: next... Focus on that. And that's what I mean by
Selena Samuela: lock in. Not like lock in and you better get that PR
Selena Samuela: from four years ago.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Focus on the now. Focus on right here.
Selena Samuela: Focus on right here, what you have in front of you, because there is so
Selena Samuela: much that you can work on right now. And I
Selena Samuela: think that's exciting. It's exciting to be like, oh, cool.
Selena Samuela: It's like almost like a new puzzle or something.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Perfect.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's great.
Becs Gentry: Perfectly said.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you so much, Selena. This is an amazing conversation
Rob Simmelkjaer: for so many reasons.
Becs Gentry: Rob's just struck.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: He's "I have learned so much right now."
Rob Simmelkjaer: For sure, for sure. No doubt about it. I mean,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but even as a guy, I've got so many women
Rob Simmelkjaer: in my life who've gone through this kind of thing
Rob Simmelkjaer: and we've got so many of our members who are
Rob Simmelkjaer: going through this. It's a huge storyline in the world
Rob Simmelkjaer: of running. And your story is a great way to hear
Rob Simmelkjaer: it, hear it personalized for someone who's pretty well known
Rob Simmelkjaer: as an athlete and someone who's active and you've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of people who look up to you in that
Rob Simmelkjaer: world. So, Selena, it's been really great having this conversation.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you for sharing. You've shared a lot and you
Rob Simmelkjaer: share a lot on your social... This is what you do.
Selena Samuela: I'm an open book.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Which is amazing. Really, it's great.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. It truly helps everybody out there to see the
Becs Gentry: real side of it because there's far too much curated
Becs Gentry: goodness out there and we all need the goodness, but
Becs Gentry: you definitely have, I know, helped. I see so many
Becs Gentry: more twin mom hashtags on our Peloton leaderboard and it's
Becs Gentry: wonderful to see the openness and the joy as well.
Selena Samuela: Yeah. It's been really great to be back on Peloton.
Selena Samuela: It's been great to be back running again.
Becs Gentry: Yes.
Selena Samuela: The joy of running, it's unlike anything else.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you so much.
Becs Gentry: We're here cheering you on in your triathlons and Half Ironmans this year.
Becs Gentry: Good luck.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you, Selena.
Selena Samuela: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Best to you. Best to your family. Appreciate it. New York Road Runners is a
Rob Simmelkjaer: nonprofit organization with a vision to build healthier lives and
Rob Simmelkjaer: stronger communities through the transformative power of running. The support
Rob Simmelkjaer: of members and donors like you helps us achieve our
Rob Simmelkjaer: mission to transform the health and wellbeing of our communities
Rob Simmelkjaer: through inclusive and accessible running experiences, empowering all to achieve
Rob Simmelkjaer: their potential. Learn more and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Rob Simmelkjaer: June is like a sneaky, sneaky, busy month at New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Runners. People think it's November and then the halfs that are
Rob Simmelkjaer: busy times and of course they are, but we've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: the MasterCard Mini 10K, the Citizens Queens 10K. We've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Achilles Hope and Possibility, Four Miler, the Pride Four
Rob Simmelkjaer: Miler. So much happens in June.
Becs Gentry: So much fun.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We're gearing up for a really busy and fun month
Rob Simmelkjaer: of running. A lot of that will be in Central Park
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well as in Queens in the month of June.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, that does it for another episode of Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace. What a great conversation, Becs, with your colleague, Selena
Rob Simmelkjaer: Samuela. Hopefully one that a lot of people will hear
Rob Simmelkjaer: and that folks can relate to. I know you can.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, absolutely. And she is doing such a good job.
Becs Gentry: Make sure you go and follow her on her Instagram.
Becs Gentry: If you do want to know more about her journey
Becs Gentry: or if, as Rob said, you are an aspiring mom
Becs Gentry: or currently pregnant, especially if you are pregnant with twins.
Becs Gentry: She is going to help you out a lot.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right. Well, that's it for today. If you like the
Rob Simmelkjaer: episode, make sure you leave us a rating or a
Rob Simmelkjaer: comment. We'll see you next week. Enjoy the miles.