WEBVTT - How Becs Gentry Walked Away from Road Racing - and Fell Back in Love with Running 0:00:00.510 --> 0:00:03.210 I don't want the pressure of being fast and I don't 0:00:03.210 --> 0:00:05.850 want the pressure of running long. We'll come back to 0:00:05.850 --> 0:00:09.389 the irony of that. But I want to enjoy it. 0:00:09.390 --> 0:00:10.920 I just really want to enjoy it again. 0:00:14.430 --> 0:00:17.579 Hey, everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, the official 0:00:17.579 --> 0:00:21.600 podcast of New York Road Runners presented by Peloton. I'm 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.600 your host, Rob Simmelkjaer, the CEO of New York Roadrunners, 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:28.260 and I am thrilled to be rejoined and reunited with 0:00:28.260 --> 0:00:33.570 my co- host from Peloton, Becs Gentry. Hey, Becs, how 0:00:33.570 --> 0:00:33.659 are you? 0:00:33.659 --> 0:00:35.760 Hi. I'm good. Thank you. How are you? 0:00:35.820 --> 0:00:38.310 I'm good. Why does it feel like it's been so 0:00:38.310 --> 0:00:39.659 long? Is it just me? 0:00:39.659 --> 0:00:40.171 It's been so long. 0:00:40.171 --> 0:00:41.520 I feel like it's been months since I spoke to you. 0:00:41.729 --> 0:00:46.229 It has. It's been months. We've taken a bit more 0:00:46.229 --> 0:00:50.430 time to have the shows produced in a wonderful way 0:00:50.430 --> 0:00:53.400 and give our guests and our episodes breathing time and 0:00:53.610 --> 0:00:56.940 it's just been such a fabulous change. Then I've been 0:00:56.940 --> 0:01:00.960 away, you've been away. There's been different races and different 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:02.459 pieces of life. There we go. 0:01:02.459 --> 0:01:04.591 Yeah. And that's all- 0:01:04.590 --> 0:01:05.520 We're here. We're back. 0:01:05.580 --> 0:01:06.479 Well, it's great to- 0:01:08.940 --> 0:01:08.941 Yes. 0:01:08.941 --> 0:01:10.650 ... see you if virtually, and I'm looking forward to this episode because we're going to 0:01:10.650 --> 0:01:14.130 catch up on all things Becs and where you are 0:01:14.130 --> 0:01:16.200 now in your running journey a year and a half 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.100 after your unbelievable Great World Race. But I have to tell 0:01:20.100 --> 0:01:22.440 you, before we get into that, I had so much 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.621 fun on Saturday with your colleague, Camila Ramón- 0:01:25.621 --> 0:01:25.622 Yeah. Camila. 0:01:25.621 --> 0:01:30.059 ... who co- hosted the podcast with us at the 0:01:30.060 --> 0:01:33.690 conclusion, the after party of the RBC Brooklyn Half. She was awesome. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.470 She ran. She ran. She did the Becs. She ran to 0:01:37.470 --> 0:01:44.699 work and she crushed it, as did Mariana. Yeah, she's 0:01:44.700 --> 0:01:46.319 amazing. She's fantastic. 0:01:47.340 --> 0:01:49.350 Yeah. You better watch your back. She could definitely give 0:01:49.350 --> 0:01:52.410 you a run for your money as co- host of this podcast. 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.900 Well, if I have to hand it over to another Peloton instructor, so be it. 0:01:58.650 --> 0:02:01.950 Good to know we've got another Peloton. Great option. Many, 0:02:01.950 --> 0:02:04.500 I'm sure. So many of you guys are so good 0:02:04.500 --> 0:02:07.651 on camera and everything you do. It was a lot of fun. 0:02:07.651 --> 0:02:07.741 Good. 0:02:07.950 --> 0:02:10.980 We'll talk a little bit more about the RBC Brooklyn 0:02:10.980 --> 0:02:13.859 Half. But if you really want the full on recap 0:02:14.070 --> 0:02:16.980 of that incredible record setting event that we had on 0:02:16.980 --> 0:02:20.880 Saturday, you can check out that episode that we recorded 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.010 live from the after party. We'll talk a little bit more 0:02:23.010 --> 0:02:26.730 about that later. But, Becs, let's spend some time talking 0:02:26.730 --> 0:02:29.940 about you and everything that's going on. And the last 0:02:29.940 --> 0:02:33.120 time we had a one- on- one conversation, it was 0:02:33.270 --> 0:02:36.090 right after the Great World Race and you were still 0:02:36.090 --> 0:02:38.970 in disbelief. I think everybody was in disbelief that you 0:02:38.970 --> 0:02:42.300 had just done that. And then since then, you've had 0:02:42.300 --> 0:02:45.000 some ups and downs with some injuries and things like 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.000 that, but it seems like you're doing well now. Where 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.730 is the world of Becs Gentry right now when it comes to running? 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:55.590 Taking a turn. Taking a big turn. Well, let's go 0:02:55.590 --> 0:02:58.800 back. Let's go back 18 months or whatever. I can't 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.710 believe it's quite been that little time. It feels like 0:03:01.710 --> 0:03:05.280 it was so much longer ago. Completion of the Great 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.230 World Race took so long to settle in. I think 0:03:07.230 --> 0:03:09.180 when we did the podcast episode about it, I was 0:03:09.180 --> 0:03:13.169 definitely still on the post event high. I think a 0:03:13.169 --> 0:03:16.020 lot of the conversation we had was... As you say, 0:03:16.020 --> 0:03:19.380 it was like disbelief. It was. To this day, I 0:03:19.380 --> 0:03:20.850 still can't get my head around the fact that I 0:03:20.850 --> 0:03:24.360 ran a marathon in Antarctica. That's just weird. When I say that, I'm like, " 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.260 That wasn't me. I haven't been to Antarctica. That's a 0:03:28.260 --> 0:03:31.139 different human." But I think we all have that imposter 0:03:31.139 --> 0:03:35.850 syndrome style memory association for many things in our lives. 0:03:37.470 --> 0:03:41.310 And then I carried on running and I feel like 0:03:41.310 --> 0:03:43.170 I can talk about this openly with you guys because 0:03:43.830 --> 0:03:47.640 in my role at Peloton, I'm a running coach and 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.330 I have been a running coach and instructor and personal 0:03:51.330 --> 0:03:56.550 fitness coach to people for a very long time. I 0:03:56.550 --> 0:04:00.300 knew it wasn't correct that I was carrying on running. 0:04:00.540 --> 0:04:02.940 I knew deep down, I was like, " This isn't right." 0:04:04.020 --> 0:04:07.590 After something of that magnitude, I need to give my 0:04:07.590 --> 0:04:12.300 body the respect it deserves. I took time off literally 0:04:12.300 --> 0:04:14.490 the couple of days after the race. And my coach warned 0:04:14.490 --> 0:04:19.200 me that because of the long build and the nature 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.630 of the race, that if my body wanted to run, 0:04:22.110 --> 0:04:26.099 it would be expected that I wouldn't necessarily... Your body 0:04:26.100 --> 0:04:28.529 can't just stop and switch off for the most part. 0:04:29.130 --> 0:04:31.529 And I wasn't injured after the race, so there wasn't 0:04:31.890 --> 0:04:38.279 essentially a reason to curtail running totally. And he was 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.070 right. I took a couple of days off of running 0:04:41.070 --> 0:04:43.589 and I went from Miami while we finished the race 0:04:43.589 --> 0:04:46.350 down to Florida to see my aunt and I ended 0:04:46.350 --> 0:04:49.440 up running a few 5Ks, just a few during that 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.930 week of just shaking the legs out. Nothing speed based, 0:04:51.930 --> 0:04:56.159 just moving. But I didn't stop. I didn't give myself 0:04:56.160 --> 0:05:00.089 a week of going to rehab and getting my body 0:05:00.089 --> 0:05:04.500 worked on with a physical therapist, doing acupuncture, swimming perhaps 0:05:04.500 --> 0:05:09.210 instead of running, or biking, or anything other than running. 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.700 And that carried on. And then I put in the 0:05:11.700 --> 0:05:14.190 calendar Grandma's Marathon. I was like, " I'm going to go 0:05:14.190 --> 0:05:15.600 for it. I'm going to go and do another road 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.779 race. It's going to be middle of the year." And 0:05:18.779 --> 0:05:20.910 the climb, the build started to come again and I 0:05:20.910 --> 0:05:26.700 did a few races. I did the Nike women's half. 0:05:26.970 --> 0:05:29.010 Keira D'amato and I ran side by side for the 0:05:29.010 --> 0:05:32.820 whole race. It was absolutely incredible. Keira doesn't run slow, 0:05:32.820 --> 0:05:35.610 even though that was her slow run day. It was 0:05:35.610 --> 0:05:40.469 incredibly fast half marathon. And all of a sudden, I hit 0:05:40.470 --> 0:05:43.050 a wall and I just woke up one day and went, " 0:05:43.830 --> 0:05:46.770 I don't want to run. I don't want to run. 0:05:46.770 --> 0:05:48.960 I didn't want to go to work." I did not 0:05:49.050 --> 0:05:51.839 want to run because I didn't enjoy it. It was 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:57.690 becoming a pain in the ass and I resented it. 0:05:58.230 --> 0:06:00.839 I tried going for a run without my watch, without 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.169 my phone, without any technology just to run. And I 0:06:04.170 --> 0:06:07.770 did not want to do it. And that hurt my 0:06:07.770 --> 0:06:12.089 soul so much because running is a huge part of 0:06:12.089 --> 0:06:16.589 who I am. It doesn't identify me but it kind 0:06:16.589 --> 0:06:19.349 of does in a strange way. But the most important 0:06:19.350 --> 0:06:22.859 thing is it's given me so much joy and to 0:06:22.860 --> 0:06:27.870 all of a sudden not have that joy was heartbreaking. And 0:06:27.870 --> 0:06:33.089 so around that time I started the initiation of the 0:06:34.410 --> 0:06:38.430 67Strong4Kids with Jennifer Garner and we did the fundraising for 0:06:38.430 --> 0:06:40.529 Save the Children and it was moving a mile a 0:06:40.529 --> 0:06:42.720 day. It didn't have to be a run. It could 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:43.830 be a walk, it could be a bike ride. It 0:06:43.830 --> 0:06:45.360 was just moving your body for a mile a day. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.450 And I kid you not, Rob, that was the absolute 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.469 max I wanted to do most days of those 67 0:06:52.470 --> 0:06:59.010 days. And some days for 12 of my waking hours, 0:06:59.430 --> 0:07:01.170 I shunned it. I was like, " It's fine. No one's 0:07:01.170 --> 0:07:03.750 going to know I'm not going to do it." " Oh, 0:07:03.750 --> 0:07:05.820 I'll do it. I'm going to know I didn't do 0:07:05.820 --> 0:07:08.130 it because it's for a cause. This isn't just you 0:07:08.130 --> 0:07:09.900 and running. This is for a cause." And I'd be 0:07:09.900 --> 0:07:12.360 out at 9: 00 just running up and down my street 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.730 to get the mile done. That's how much I did 0:07:14.730 --> 0:07:19.530 not want to run. It took a lot of self- 0:07:19.530 --> 0:07:22.200 talk. It took a lot of time for me to 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.309 rebuild this love. And I think pulling out of Grandma's 0:07:26.430 --> 0:07:30.090 and having this very honest conversation of, yes, I had 0:07:30.090 --> 0:07:34.710 an event that weekend that ended up challenging it, but 0:07:34.710 --> 0:07:38.760 I think me in love with running would have absolutely 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.850 put the marathon first and figured out life around it. 0:07:42.660 --> 0:07:47.010 And me in that spot took the chance to not run 0:07:47.010 --> 0:07:49.800 the marathon, to not have to carry on training for 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.130 it a few weeks in advance. And I was very 0:07:53.130 --> 0:07:55.679 honest and open and said," I've fallen out of love 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.960 with running. I'm not upset that I'm not doing this 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.570 race. I don't care. I'm thrilled, to be quite honest. 0:08:00.570 --> 0:08:05.610 I'm absolutely thrilled. I'm not going to Grandma's." No disrespect 0:08:05.610 --> 0:08:07.770 to the wonderful race that is Grandma's Marathon. I will 0:08:07.770 --> 0:08:13.800 run it one day. After that, after the combination of 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:19.680 67Strong and for the rest of 2025, I essentially stepped 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:24.660 back from making myself run outside of work. I have 0:08:24.660 --> 0:08:27.210 to run for my job and I needed to get 0:08:27.210 --> 0:08:30.930 back that running joy at Peloton because for some of 0:08:30.930 --> 0:08:35.219 my classes even I was on autopilot. I wasn't inspired. 0:08:35.220 --> 0:08:37.740 I wasn't creative, which is not a good thing when 0:08:37.740 --> 0:08:41.910 it's your job. It took a while. It took a 0:08:41.910 --> 0:08:45.660 while to actually want to go outside, to lace up 0:08:45.660 --> 0:08:50.610 my trainers, and go for anything more than a three- 0:08:50.610 --> 0:08:53.580 mile run. That was about my max. A four- mile 0:08:53.580 --> 0:08:58.589 run felt nah, not interested in that. No. Three miles 0:08:58.770 --> 0:09:00.450 because it's about a mile and a half to take my 0:09:00.450 --> 0:09:03.059 daughter to school and back to my house. So in 0:09:03.059 --> 0:09:04.950 summer, I like to run her down there and back 0:09:04.950 --> 0:09:10.620 and that was my cap out. And to get through that, 0:09:10.620 --> 0:09:12.540 this sounds so dramatic, a lot of people have a lot 0:09:12.540 --> 0:09:14.790 of things going on in their life, but for me it was very, 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:19.229 very awkward because I'm supposed to be this person who 0:09:19.500 --> 0:09:22.949 embodies running, but I'm seeing everyone and their mother is 0:09:22.950 --> 0:09:26.459 running more miles than me. And it's not because I'm injured, it's because 0:09:26.460 --> 0:09:27.870 I just don't want to. 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:30.420 I know how you feel, by the way, with not 0:09:30.420 --> 0:09:33.300 running with people looking at your Strava because you work in the 0:09:33.540 --> 0:09:36.750 running industry and wondering, " Why isn't this person running more?" For me, 0:09:36.750 --> 0:09:39.959 it's injury, although I've been easing my way back the 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:40.201 same thing. 0:09:40.201 --> 0:09:40.202 You're coming back. 0:09:40.202 --> 0:09:42.960 Three miles here and there. 0:09:43.140 --> 0:09:43.260 Which is just fine. 0:09:43.500 --> 0:09:45.750 Yeah, I get it. It's when you've got the eyes 0:09:45.750 --> 0:09:49.260 on you and people expect a certain thing of you. 0:09:49.260 --> 0:09:52.620 For you, they expect lots of miles and very fast 0:09:52.620 --> 0:09:53.130 miles, so I get it. 0:09:54.900 --> 0:10:00.630 Yeah. And then I guess it was serendipitous that I 0:10:00.630 --> 0:10:05.459 had been in talks with HOKA for a minute. I 0:10:05.460 --> 0:10:11.130 had gone through trialing their shoes because I hadn't run 0:10:11.130 --> 0:10:13.200 much in them and we were talking about a sponsorship, 0:10:13.860 --> 0:10:19.530 an athlete ambassador role, and I needed to know what 0:10:19.530 --> 0:10:23.550 these shoes were about. I needed to understand what these 0:10:23.550 --> 0:10:30.270 shoes would do for me essentially. And that compelled me 0:10:30.330 --> 0:10:34.020 to get out and run because I was trying their shoes. 0:10:34.020 --> 0:10:36.330 I was trying other shoes as well just to see 0:10:36.330 --> 0:10:39.720 what all the difference was in the world of running 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:44.520 shoes. And then the conversation continued. I did fall in 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.700 love with a pair of their road shoes. Austin and 0:10:47.700 --> 0:10:51.960 I actually sat down and he was like, " What is 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.840 it about running for you? What do you want from 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.660 it? Because right now what I think you're trying to 0:10:57.660 --> 0:11:02.219 get isn't working." I was like, "It's not. I don't want the 0:11:02.220 --> 0:11:05.700 pressure of being fast and I don't want the pressure 0:11:05.700 --> 0:11:08.370 of running long." We'll come back to the irony of 0:11:08.370 --> 0:11:13.439 that. But I want to enjoy it. I just really 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.480 want to enjoy it again. And it was taking so 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.950 long to enjoy it. And then I sat down with 0:11:19.950 --> 0:11:25.110 my team and HOKA and said, " I'm thrilled to partner with you 0:11:25.110 --> 0:11:28.170 guys, but I want to turn. I want to take a 0:11:28.170 --> 0:11:31.079 turn and that I want to step away from road. 0:11:31.530 --> 0:11:35.100 I want to go and do what makes me happy 0:11:35.100 --> 0:11:38.189 in my heart." And that is being an adventurer and 0:11:38.190 --> 0:11:43.800 getting to run on these trails and not have thousands 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.260 of people around me. I have so much anxiety and 0:11:46.260 --> 0:11:49.950 claustrophobia of big races. I get very nervous in the 0:11:49.950 --> 0:11:53.340 start corrals, just... I hate being in crowds. I don't 0:11:53.340 --> 0:11:55.230 go to concerts. I don't go to things like that. 0:11:55.230 --> 0:11:57.959 I get very, very bad anxiety from it. And the- 0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:58.589 You did not know that about you. Yeah. 0:11:58.770 --> 0:12:00.870 Yeah. That's why I don't tend to do a lot 0:12:00.870 --> 0:12:02.729 of the races unless I can literally be at the 0:12:02.730 --> 0:12:07.679 front because I get so worked up because I can't 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.179 get out. There's too many people and I can't get 0:12:09.179 --> 0:12:14.910 out. And so that side of running is where I 0:12:14.910 --> 0:12:19.170 began. I ran 50Ks before I ran 5Ks when I 0:12:19.170 --> 0:12:24.450 started running and immediately, my heart was starting to blossom 0:12:24.510 --> 0:12:28.410 again with this, " Ooh, ooh. Okay. Ooh, this is going 0:12:28.410 --> 0:12:29.910 to be fun. Ooh, what are we going to do? 0:12:29.910 --> 0:12:31.530 What are we going to do? How far are we 0:12:31.530 --> 0:12:35.460 going to run? What's on the cards?" I guess that's 0:12:35.940 --> 0:12:40.590 the abridged version of how I am at this point 0:12:40.710 --> 0:12:44.579 in my running career, which is saying goodbye to road 0:12:44.580 --> 0:12:49.679 racing as my dominant choice of race and embracing way 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.050 more of those trail races. 0:12:53.309 --> 0:12:57.870 Amazing. I love this change for you. I think this 0:12:57.870 --> 0:13:01.830 is fascinating. There's so much that you've said that I'm 0:13:01.830 --> 0:13:06.420 sure different people listening can relate to different parts of 0:13:06.420 --> 0:13:11.520 it. Running is hard. That's one of the things that 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.520 attracts all of us to it is that it's hard. 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.720 If it were easy, well, we wouldn't be here talking 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.950 about it every week because who talks about something that's 0:13:22.950 --> 0:13:26.309 easy all the time? You just do it. I think 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.030 what's hard about it is what makes it great, but 0:13:31.110 --> 0:13:34.230 when you do it as much as you've done it and you 0:13:34.230 --> 0:13:36.360 did it as part of your job as well, it's 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:40.080 so easy to see how you could have gone on 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.630 this kind of a journey. What is it... You talked 0:13:42.630 --> 0:13:45.089 about the lack of crowds. What else is it for 0:13:45.090 --> 0:13:48.480 you that makes trail running different? It sounds like maybe 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.790 when you're out there in nature, running on the trails, 0:13:51.179 --> 0:13:55.650 does it feel almost like it's not running? Like you're 0:13:55.650 --> 0:13:58.440 having an adventure where you happen to be moving quickly 0:13:58.559 --> 0:13:59.340 through the trails? 0:13:59.940 --> 0:14:06.480 Exactly. Exactly. And there's no pressure. There's no pressure. The 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.420 variables of road racing are few and far between. Even 0:14:09.420 --> 0:14:13.530 though as humans we love to create however many it's... 0:14:14.070 --> 0:14:16.710 Where is it going to be a slightly undulating hilly 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:21.300 road race or the weather? Really, they're the only things 0:14:21.300 --> 0:14:22.830 that are going to come at you other than like 0:14:22.830 --> 0:14:24.479 you drop your fuel, you don't take the right fuel, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.310 you have a stomach bug. Okay. Things like that, but 0:14:26.310 --> 0:14:31.230 that can happen on any given day. For trail, you've 0:14:31.230 --> 0:14:36.840 got this... You know going into it that it is 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.350 going to be so challenging in different areas. Most trail 0:14:40.350 --> 0:14:42.540 races do have a road section because a lot of 0:14:42.540 --> 0:14:46.830 them start and finish in very cute towns. So you're 0:14:46.890 --> 0:14:49.560 likely to be starting on tarmac for a lot of 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:56.160 the bigger trail and ultra races. And I just love 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.590 the fact that when you get off, you make a 0:14:58.590 --> 0:15:02.130 turn, off that tarmac, and then you're just suddenly going up, 0:15:02.310 --> 0:15:07.140 up, up, or off, off, off into the desert, into 0:15:07.140 --> 0:15:11.940 the mountains. And it's like your brain just disappears into, " 0:15:12.180 --> 0:15:17.580 Huh, I'm just moving." For me, I'm not a professional 0:15:17.700 --> 0:15:21.690 trail runner. There is a lot of professional trail runners 0:15:21.690 --> 0:15:25.920 who do go for speed and they are a lung 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.770 on legs, these people, they're unreal of how they conquer 0:15:28.770 --> 0:15:33.930 these mountains and deserts. And for me, it really does 0:15:34.110 --> 0:15:39.210 alleviate that extra pressure that I've come to understand that 0:15:39.210 --> 0:15:43.470 is on my shoulders when I do road racing. That's self- 0:15:43.470 --> 0:15:45.600 created because of where I got to in my career 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.720 and I'm very, very grateful for that. But I'm also very 0:15:49.830 --> 0:15:52.020 understanding of my own body and my own mind. I'm 0:15:52.020 --> 0:15:55.740 very precious of my own body and my own mind 0:15:55.740 --> 0:15:58.320 because of my job, because of all the extra pressures 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:02.400 I'm constantly under. I'm like, " Why choose to keep pushing 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.550 myself in an area that's causing me extra anxiety when 0:16:05.550 --> 0:16:07.950 I can keep running, but I can take the notch 0:16:07.950 --> 0:16:11.550 down of the anxiety and the enjoyment up and I 0:16:11.550 --> 0:16:12.420 can keep running?" 0:16:13.290 --> 0:16:19.380 Yeah. So this newfound love of trail running landed you 0:16:19.380 --> 0:16:23.010 at the starting line of the Napa Valley Trail Marathon. 0:16:23.460 --> 0:16:23.730 Yes. 0:16:23.730 --> 0:16:28.620 You're back to the marathon distance but now on the trails. 0:16:28.620 --> 0:16:32.250 What did it feel like for you... I actually have 0:16:32.250 --> 0:16:35.160 two questions for you. First of all, how do you 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:40.950 train for a trail marathon? Are you finding trails to do 0:16:40.950 --> 0:16:43.770 long runs or are you around trails enough to do 0:16:43.770 --> 0:16:46.320 long runs? Or are you just training on the roads 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.290 and on the treadmill? That's my first question. So answer that first. 0:16:49.290 --> 0:16:49.380 Yes. 0:16:50.010 --> 0:16:50.160 Yep. 0:16:50.430 --> 0:16:55.710 For me, personally, again, we've just all in the trail 0:16:55.710 --> 0:16:58.050 world and a lot of people outside of it have 0:16:58.050 --> 0:17:02.910 just recently been witnessed to a huge race called Cocodona 250, 0:17:02.940 --> 0:17:08.460 which is out Flagstaff, Arizona and records were broken this 0:17:08.460 --> 0:17:11.550 year. It was absolutely unreal to see Rachel Entrekin, and if you 0:17:11.550 --> 0:17:15.390 don't know her, look her up, she has boomed unto 0:17:15.390 --> 0:17:18.780 the trail in ultra running world, who won it outright in 0:17:18.780 --> 0:17:19.619 56 hours. 0:17:19.619 --> 0:17:20.070 That's right. 0:17:21.030 --> 0:17:21.090 Yeah. 0:17:21.090 --> 0:17:21.090 To be clear. 0:17:21.090 --> 0:17:21.540 Do the math. 0:17:21.540 --> 0:17:24.210 She was the first human across the finish line, male 0:17:24.210 --> 0:17:25.530 or female. Absolutely. 0:17:25.530 --> 0:17:28.050 Yes. The next person happened to be male and he 0:17:28.050 --> 0:17:29.460 was 90 minutes after her. 0:17:29.609 --> 0:17:29.850 Wow. 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:30.840 Put it that way. 0:17:30.900 --> 0:17:31.080 That's insane. 0:17:31.140 --> 0:17:35.400 She stopped for 15 minutes, I think it was, in 56 hours and nine minutes 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.480 to cover that distance. And the elevation was 39,000 feet 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:45.240 overall, I think. It is bonkers. Someone like that to 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.180 be at the top of her game... She lives in 0:17:48.180 --> 0:17:52.800 Arizona. She is out there training on the trails all 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.169 the time. She can run those in her sleep. She 0:17:55.170 --> 0:17:57.930 could run them with her eyes closed. That is her 0:17:57.930 --> 0:18:03.420 job. That is her full- time job. She is a young 0:18:03.510 --> 0:18:08.040 athlete, a young professional athlete who does that. I live 0:18:08.100 --> 0:18:11.609 in New York. Well, predominantly live in the city. 0:18:12.390 --> 0:18:14.520 We've got the Bridle Path in Central Park. 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:15.388 We've got the Bridle Path. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:19.680 I'm not sure how much that's really helping you train for a trail marathon. 0:18:20.790 --> 0:18:23.490 Weirdly, I did a lot of loops of Central Park 0:18:23.490 --> 0:18:27.750 because of the hills. It is really, really good for that. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.129 But honestly, it is a lot of treadmill. It's a 0:18:32.130 --> 0:18:35.880 lot of hiking with a weighted vest. Yes, come at 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.220 me if you don't believe it. I don't run in 0:18:38.220 --> 0:18:40.649 a weighted vest. I don't like that feeling personally. I 0:18:40.650 --> 0:18:43.920 do feel like that stresses my shoulders out a bit 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.800 too much to have that moving here all the time. 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:51.270 Yeah, the jumping. But I love a hike. I'll pop 0:18:51.270 --> 0:18:54.810 on my weighted vest and I will put Virgin River 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.869 on Netflix and I will plow through episodes and I'm 0:18:57.869 --> 0:19:02.190 just hiking on that tread. It's a very similar process 0:19:02.190 --> 0:19:04.830 to training for 777. I didn't run a marathon every 0:19:04.830 --> 0:19:06.899 day for seven days to train for running a marathon 0:19:06.900 --> 0:19:09.330 every day for seven days. What I did do was 0:19:09.330 --> 0:19:12.270 train on very, very tired legs all the time to 0:19:12.270 --> 0:19:15.510 get my body used to that feeling. And that is 0:19:15.510 --> 0:19:18.510 similarly what I'm doing now is I will go and 0:19:18.510 --> 0:19:21.270 do my whatever workout I need to do, whether it's 0:19:21.270 --> 0:19:24.060 a strength workout, whether it's just a speed workout or a 0:19:24.060 --> 0:19:27.030 running workout and I will finish it off with either 0:19:27.030 --> 0:19:31.830 floors on a stair machine or 30, 60, 90- minute hike 0:19:31.830 --> 0:19:35.190 on the tread. So my legs are tired going into 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.460 a hike and they just are like, " Okay, this is where 0:19:38.460 --> 0:19:41.010 we just have to become our strongest version of ourselves." 0:19:41.490 --> 0:19:45.570 So no to the trail running training. But funny you 0:19:45.570 --> 0:19:51.359 asked that the reason why I chose Napa was multifaceted 0:19:51.420 --> 0:19:54.899 really, but the basis of it was because I wanted 0:19:54.900 --> 0:19:58.020 to practice running on the trails ahead of Canyons 50K. 0:19:58.890 --> 0:20:02.940 So it was date reason, I had time off from 0:20:02.940 --> 0:20:06.300 work already carved out. So I was looking for a 0:20:06.330 --> 0:20:09.900 race on that exact day somewhere in the U. S. 0:20:10.859 --> 0:20:13.170 I saw Napa Valley and I was like, " Well, that 0:20:13.170 --> 0:20:16.230 sounds nice. I like wine. I like running." 0:20:17.460 --> 0:20:18.541 Seems like an easy talk to me. 0:20:18.541 --> 0:20:18.600 This is a really nice weekend. 0:20:19.619 --> 0:20:20.129 Yeah. 0:20:20.130 --> 0:20:22.710 Yeah. And it was the weekend before my 40th birthday 0:20:22.740 --> 0:20:27.720 and so I thought to myself, " Treat yourself. Go and 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:29.939 get a nice hotel, go and spend a weekend and 0:20:29.940 --> 0:20:35.159 have some spa services and some you time and really 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:41.130 make yourself love what you're properly starting to do again." 0:20:41.250 --> 0:20:45.030 And so yeah, I signed up for a small race 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:50.220 Endura sports, very small organization and they do all these 0:20:51.450 --> 0:20:54.690 ultra and trail races around, I think, the U. S. 0:20:54.900 --> 0:20:57.750 maybe and internationally. I don't know. But anyway, it was 0:20:57.750 --> 0:21:02.159 tiny. There was 300 people across the 10K half and 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:03.629 full marathon distances- 0:21:03.630 --> 0:21:03.721 It's awesome. 0:21:03.721 --> 0:21:04.889 ... running this. 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.830 You crossed the line in that one in three hours, 0:21:07.859 --> 0:21:12.210 22 minutes, 58 seconds, the overall winner of the race, 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:17.040 male or female, I believe. No surprise there. Now, okay, 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:20.520 so you did that. You have run 2: 32 on 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.210 the roads in marathon trials. What was harder for you 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:26.850 doing three and a half on the trails or two 0:21:26.850 --> 0:21:27.869 and a half on the roads? 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:31.020 I still think two and a half on the roads 0:21:31.230 --> 0:21:37.139 was mentally more... There was way more digging deep. And 0:21:37.140 --> 0:21:40.710 the monotony. The monotony of doing it on the road 0:21:40.710 --> 0:21:45.149 is relentless. It's just... Nothing changes. You just got to 0:21:45.150 --> 0:21:46.649 keep that pace and you've got to hold on for 0:21:46.650 --> 0:21:49.890 a dear life until you get to the finish line. Whereas 0:21:49.890 --> 0:21:54.300 on the trails, it's undulating times. One minute, you are 0:21:54.330 --> 0:21:57.659 hiking up to the top of a point, you're taking 0:21:57.660 --> 0:21:59.939 a breath and jogging it out on a plateau, and 0:21:59.940 --> 0:22:03.990 then you're absolutely bombing it down. The downhills, those paces 0:22:03.990 --> 0:22:06.000 are going back up and then you do that on 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:08.190 repeat over and over again as your legs get more 0:22:08.190 --> 0:22:12.690 and more tired. But I think mentally the monotony is 0:22:12.690 --> 0:22:17.580 more difficult than with trails where yes, it's tough mentally, 0:22:17.580 --> 0:22:21.000 but for me taking it down to a walk or 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:22.919 a hike, I'm like, " Okay, this is my reset. I'm 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:25.830 still moving and that's all that matters. I'm still moving 0:22:25.830 --> 0:22:29.070 forward. Just let me reset my brain and try again." 0:22:30.630 --> 0:22:32.161 Yeah. It went pretty well, it seems to me. Okay. 0:22:32.161 --> 0:22:32.281 It did. 0:22:32.970 --> 0:22:38.669 Take us to the Canyons. This is a 50K ultra 0:22:38.790 --> 0:22:41.310 in the trails. Remind me where this is. 0:22:42.180 --> 0:22:43.109 Auburn, California. 0:22:43.170 --> 0:22:44.010 Okay, got it. 0:22:44.100 --> 0:22:45.540 So Northern California. 0:22:45.540 --> 0:22:47.760 And this was your goal race. You had picked this 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:50.790 out as a goal from before Napa Valley, right? 0:22:52.050 --> 0:22:56.040 Yeah. I needed to complete this race in order to 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:00.119 qualify for my race at the end of summer. There 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:02.820 was no time constraints other than finishing it. I had 0:23:02.820 --> 0:23:06.960 10 hours to finish it, but there was no qualification 0:23:06.990 --> 0:23:08.431 time other than that. 0:23:08.431 --> 0:23:09.270 Just finish. 0:23:10.260 --> 0:23:14.310 Yeah, just finish. Napa was the warmup for it, was the get the legs 0:23:14.310 --> 0:23:19.830 back ready, figure it out. And then I had four 0:23:19.830 --> 0:23:24.418 weeks in between Napa and Canyons to get myself prepared. 0:23:25.379 --> 0:23:28.320 I've never traveled so much in my life in those 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:33.210 four weeks. I think I took 18 flights in four 0:23:33.210 --> 0:23:35.040 weeks or five weeks, I think it was in the 0:23:35.040 --> 0:23:39.450 end of just all over the world, not just within 0:23:39.450 --> 0:23:42.659 the U. S. I was Europe, East Coast, West Coast, 0:23:42.660 --> 0:23:47.609 up, down, side, side, everywhere. So my body was exhausted from 0:23:47.609 --> 0:23:51.300 that. I managed to squeeze in some epic running in 0:23:51.300 --> 0:23:53.520 the Canary Islands where my parents lived because I had 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:57.930 to go out there to look after them. It was 0:23:58.290 --> 0:24:01.889 volcanic running. So it was just me. Tallulah and Austin 0:24:01.890 --> 0:24:04.980 stayed here in the U. S. so I was single 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:08.850 and free. So I definitely did go out for three 0:24:08.940 --> 0:24:13.500 hour runs and put the pack on and then had 0:24:13.500 --> 0:24:17.940 fun, which was great and unexpected mini training camp for 0:24:17.940 --> 0:24:21.960 myself while I was out there. And then Canyons came 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:26.580 around and honestly... I don't know. I think after Napa, I was 0:24:26.580 --> 0:24:29.459 prepared and excited of like, " Okay, I'm going to go 0:24:29.460 --> 0:24:32.820 into a big race. There's going to be some big 0:24:32.820 --> 0:24:35.430 athletes there." There were some big athletes lining up. I knew 0:24:35.850 --> 0:24:36.840 Molly was going to be there. 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:36.929 Molly Seidel- 0:24:37.500 --> 0:24:37.830 Molly Seidel- 0:24:37.830 --> 0:24:41.070 ... who has transitioned from the road to the trails 0:24:41.130 --> 0:24:41.909 as well. Yeah. 0:24:42.150 --> 0:24:47.580 Exactly. She's taking her to 2: 26 or 2: 23, something really 0:24:47.580 --> 0:24:51.270 fast, off the roads and onto the trails very recently 0:24:51.270 --> 0:24:55.619 too. And she is dominating in the 50K and soon to 0:24:55.619 --> 0:24:59.159 be the hundred as well. But I felt ready. I 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:05.429 felt excited to do it. I felt interested to see 0:25:05.430 --> 0:25:08.970 as well whether the world that I left of trail 0:25:08.970 --> 0:25:14.369 running 10, 15 years ago, it was the same now. And 0:25:14.369 --> 0:25:15.899 that trail running world was in the U. K. and 0:25:15.900 --> 0:25:18.960 Europe and I'd never really gotten into the trail running 0:25:18.960 --> 0:25:21.210 world in the U. S. So I was so interested 0:25:21.210 --> 0:25:23.700 to see what it was like if it was going 0:25:23.700 --> 0:25:27.690 to still feel like a kind of granola hug in 0:25:27.690 --> 0:25:30.960 a weird way. A crunchy granola hug. 0:25:31.170 --> 0:25:31.501 And did it? 0:25:31.501 --> 0:25:31.502 And it did. 0:25:31.502 --> 0:25:31.503 It did. 0:25:31.503 --> 0:25:36.480 It did. It did. There was the '90s rock playing 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:39.780 at the... What's it called? The village, which is just 0:25:39.780 --> 0:25:44.280 a teeny, tiny parking space basically, which was turned into 0:25:44.280 --> 0:25:47.580 where you go and pick up your bib. And it's 0:25:47.700 --> 0:25:53.940 just... There's no show. There's no bravado. Even there was 0:25:53.940 --> 0:25:55.859 the likes of Hans Troyer there, who was one of the 0:25:55.859 --> 0:26:00.030 most incredible up and coming young male trail runners. And 0:26:00.030 --> 0:26:05.970 then... There's nothing. They're just running. They're literally just all 0:26:06.000 --> 0:26:10.770 running all the time. And I loved it. I loved 0:26:10.770 --> 0:26:14.760 it. It was Austin's first experience of ultra world and 0:26:14.760 --> 0:26:19.050 trail running and he was just like, " Wow, this is 0:26:19.050 --> 0:26:23.820 so different to world marathon majors or even New York 0:26:23.820 --> 0:26:27.690 Road Runners." It's so very different to the races that 0:26:27.690 --> 0:26:33.420 we see regularly in big cities. His eyes were just... 0:26:34.290 --> 0:26:37.350 All the time. And because these race weekends and trails, 0:26:37.380 --> 0:26:41.490 there are multiple races and they all are happening simultaneously 0:26:41.490 --> 0:26:44.820 depending on the distance that you choose. So once the 0:26:44.820 --> 0:26:47.970 first race starts around the start finished village, it's just 0:26:47.970 --> 0:26:52.080 a buzz all the time of like, "Okay, the 25K people come 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:53.730 in and then the 50K people come in, then the 0:26:53.730 --> 0:26:56.130 50 mile, then the 100K, then the 100 mile." And 0:26:56.130 --> 0:27:03.270 it's just a weekend of celebration and smelly, filthy, agonizing 0:27:03.270 --> 0:27:05.790 bodies walking through the area. 0:27:05.790 --> 0:27:08.400 Yeah. Yeah. Wow. 0:27:09.060 --> 0:27:11.490 I was really excited to get there for sure. 0:27:11.730 --> 0:27:15.330 So you finished as the 13th female in this race, a time of 4: 0:27:15.810 --> 0:27:21.750 46 over 32 miles. I guess it was your first 0:27:21.750 --> 0:27:24.000 real ultra, right? And so when you got to finish- 0:27:24.210 --> 0:27:26.310 For now. I've done many, many in the past. 0:27:26.340 --> 0:27:29.491 Yes, yes. In this new world of Becs. 0:27:29.491 --> 0:27:29.551 In this new world. 0:27:29.609 --> 0:27:32.879 How did it feel different for you to reach the 0:27:32.880 --> 0:27:37.740 finish line of that race versus all these marathons you've 0:27:37.740 --> 0:27:41.730 run, whether we're talking about Olympic trials or majors or 0:27:41.730 --> 0:27:45.240 even the 777, what was the feeling like getting to 0:27:45.240 --> 0:27:45.930 that finish line? 0:27:49.200 --> 0:27:52.470 It was a journey. It was a real journey. It 0:27:52.470 --> 0:27:55.920 was... Again, I go back to the lack of pressure 0:27:56.100 --> 0:28:00.209 that I feel before. Probably because I'd been doing it 0:28:00.210 --> 0:28:03.659 for a long time, but I was very methodical about 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:09.210 my days before running road marathons and very specific about 0:28:09.210 --> 0:28:10.859 what was going to happen and need to go to 0:28:10.859 --> 0:28:14.369 bed at this time and very, very regimented in it. 0:28:14.910 --> 0:28:18.090 And I think that also stole the fun for me. 0:28:18.540 --> 0:28:20.369 That's not what floats my boat. And I know a 0:28:20.369 --> 0:28:23.400 lot of people love routine and regimen, but I just 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:26.520 do not. I thrive in spontaneity and just having a 0:28:26.520 --> 0:28:31.200 bit of a soft edge to life. And it was 0:28:31.590 --> 0:28:35.639 just random. The night before the race, Austin wants to 0:28:35.640 --> 0:28:38.850 go see this restaurant, we're sitting at a bar in 0:28:38.850 --> 0:28:41.460 a restaurant and now I'm not having a drink, but 0:28:41.460 --> 0:28:44.820 still I'm not sitting down and eating pasta or pizza. I'm 0:28:44.820 --> 0:28:47.430 like, "Oh, we're just going to try a bunch of these foods. 0:28:47.430 --> 0:28:52.140 This looks fun." And we went to bed. It was 0:28:52.140 --> 0:28:56.820 an early start the next morning, obviously, but it was very chill 0:28:57.330 --> 0:28:59.670 and it literally wasn't until we got to the start 0:28:59.670 --> 0:29:03.840 line and... Another thing I love and because it's a 0:29:03.840 --> 0:29:05.970 small race, the race started at 7: 00 A. M. I 0:29:05.970 --> 0:29:09.510 got to the start line at 6: 40 and that's fantastic. 0:29:09.510 --> 0:29:09.660 That is amazing. 0:29:11.280 --> 0:29:13.350 Yeah, I had the stuff I needed on my back 0:29:14.400 --> 0:29:17.310 in my pack and I was finishing it where we 0:29:17.310 --> 0:29:19.950 were starting. I knew Austin was going to be there 0:29:19.950 --> 0:29:21.840 and if I needed a hoodie, if not, my hotel 0:29:21.840 --> 0:29:27.090 was an eight- minute walk, great. It's much more comforting 0:29:27.150 --> 0:29:29.430 to me. I'm not somebody who likes to hang around 0:29:29.430 --> 0:29:32.880 after a big race and get cold and I just 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:34.920 want to get home or get away. And that's also 0:29:34.920 --> 0:29:38.490 sometimes very stressful. It's a long journey. So that was 0:29:38.490 --> 0:29:40.770 fun. But it wasn't until I got down into Central 0:29:40.770 --> 0:29:44.280 Auburn that I got nervous because I saw Molly Seidel, 0:29:44.280 --> 0:29:49.410 I saw all of the pro women at the front waiting 0:29:49.410 --> 0:29:53.940 to go. And because of my partnership with HOKA, it's a HOKA sponsored 0:29:53.940 --> 0:29:56.640 race, they were like, " Becs, you're in with the pro 0:29:56.640 --> 0:30:00.210 women to start." And I'm like, " Oh, no." An immediately... 0:30:00.210 --> 0:30:04.800 I was like, " No. This is... No. I'm not a 0:30:04.800 --> 0:30:07.830 pro in this. This is my second race. I don't 0:30:07.830 --> 0:30:11.010 know what I'm doing." But I just went there. I 0:30:11.010 --> 0:30:13.080 just put on my Peloton face and was like, " Okay, 0:30:13.560 --> 0:30:18.990 sure. Yay." And it was lovely because Molly and I 0:30:18.990 --> 0:30:23.370 knew each other and she immediately just big hug and I 0:30:23.370 --> 0:30:24.750 looked her, I was like, " Dude, what are we doing 0:30:24.750 --> 0:30:26.700 here?" She's like, " I don't know. We're both from the 0:30:26.700 --> 0:30:30.150 road." And looking around, there was a lot of young, 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:35.310 young, and I'm talking like 23, 24- year- old women who 0:30:35.310 --> 0:30:40.080 have come from college running and are just doing 50Ks 0:30:40.080 --> 0:30:44.280 because they're so strong and so flexible in their running 0:30:44.280 --> 0:30:49.440 journeys right now. Rob, the men went, we crept forward, 0:30:49.500 --> 0:30:52.470 and I'm just like, " Oh, God, what is this going 0:30:52.470 --> 0:30:56.550 to be like? We're 32 miles ahead of us. How is 0:30:56.550 --> 0:30:58.620 this going to go?" And I just said to myself, " 0:30:58.620 --> 0:31:01.740 Just run your own race. Run your own race." And so 0:31:01.740 --> 0:31:04.650 we're lining up. I'm on the front line. Literally, it's 0:31:04.650 --> 0:31:07.320 like, I can't remember the girl who was here, me, 0:31:07.560 --> 0:31:11.550 Molly Seidel, and then the other two girls who podiumed 0:31:11.550 --> 0:31:15.270 with their head. I'm looking at the photos that were taken like, " 0:31:15.270 --> 0:31:19.680 What was I doing there?" They went out the gate 0:31:19.890 --> 0:31:24.600 in 6: 50 pace. Not what I've been training at, 0:31:24.600 --> 0:31:29.130 not what I expected. I stubbornly, the Aries in me 0:31:29.130 --> 0:31:33.510 held on for a mile or so with them. But 0:31:33.750 --> 0:31:36.630 we were at the bottom of Auburn and it was 0:31:36.630 --> 0:31:41.070 like this, climbing, to get to the trails and I 0:31:41.070 --> 0:31:43.650 just hung. I hung for as long as I could 0:31:43.710 --> 0:31:48.690 until we hit the first downhill, and I will admit 0:31:48.960 --> 0:31:50.190 I'm not good at the downhill. 0:31:50.910 --> 0:31:54.661 Downhills on trails are scary. I have done a couple things. 0:31:54.661 --> 0:31:55.201 Trying. 0:31:55.290 --> 0:31:58.590 I've done a Spartan race and running some trails and 0:31:58.590 --> 0:32:02.820 it's scary because you're not just landing on pavement. Every 0:32:02.820 --> 0:32:06.841 step could be a disaster. Every... You could hit a root. 0:32:06.841 --> 0:32:06.842 Absolutely. 0:32:06.842 --> 0:32:10.020 You could hit a pothole, whatever it might be. You land in the 0:32:10.020 --> 0:32:12.390 wrong place and you've got a problem. 0:32:12.930 --> 0:32:16.620 You've got a big problem and then you're stranded in 0:32:16.620 --> 0:32:21.360 pain. That was my first humbling moment and that's when 0:32:21.360 --> 0:32:23.400 I said to my... I just had to have a 0:32:23.520 --> 0:32:29.610 big internal conversation of, "Becs, you promised you were going to 0:32:29.610 --> 0:32:33.840 do this to run your race, not compete." And I 0:32:33.840 --> 0:32:36.300 just had to be like, " You've got to not look 0:32:36.300 --> 0:32:38.400 at the watch, A, for the distance and B for 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:41.550 the pace." Because I was seeing eight, nine minute, I was just seeing 0:32:41.550 --> 0:32:44.850 it creep up from the 6: 50s that I knew 0:32:44.940 --> 0:32:48.360 and loved from road racing to paces I'm not used 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:50.310 to running it. And I was getting- 0:32:52.170 --> 0:32:52.710 With my kinds of paces. Yeah. Things that start with eights. 0:32:54.480 --> 0:32:56.580 Yeah. But it's different on where you're at and it was 0:32:56.580 --> 0:32:59.460 just in my brain not what I'm used to seeing 0:32:59.460 --> 0:33:01.440 in race. Even though I've been training that, I've been 0:33:01.440 --> 0:33:05.130 hiking on the tread at three miles an hour. That 0:33:05.130 --> 0:33:08.760 is very, very much bigger numbers than I'm used to 0:33:08.760 --> 0:33:11.790 seeing pace wise. But in a race scenario, having gone 0:33:11.790 --> 0:33:14.670 out the gate like that, I just got that stubborn 0:33:14.670 --> 0:33:16.920 like, "Oh, God, I just want to keep up with them." 0:33:16.920 --> 0:33:19.170 And off they went. They're just one by one. I 0:33:19.170 --> 0:33:24.150 was like, " Okay." But after that, I started to just 0:33:24.150 --> 0:33:29.220 have fun. I sucked it up. I took the wind 0:33:29.220 --> 0:33:31.710 out of my sails that first two miles. It really did. 0:33:31.710 --> 0:33:34.710 I was angry with myself that I didn't just get 0:33:34.710 --> 0:33:36.690 around the corner from the start and the cameras and 0:33:36.690 --> 0:33:40.620 be like, " Okay, see you," but you live and learn, because we 0:33:40.620 --> 0:33:44.970 then had seven miles of just straight uphill climbing, which 0:33:44.970 --> 0:33:48.420 was very tough. But the minute I start cracking jokes, 0:33:48.420 --> 0:33:50.970 I realize I'm in a good place and I did. 0:33:50.970 --> 0:33:52.980 I was coming up on a guy and I could 0:33:52.980 --> 0:33:55.620 hear... I was breathing so heavily because I was just 0:33:55.620 --> 0:33:57.900 trying to get... I was like, " Huuu, haaaa." And I just 0:33:57.900 --> 0:34:00.690 shouted to him. I was like, " It's not Darth Vader. It's just 0:34:00.690 --> 0:34:07.530 me. My name's Becs." And he's like, "What?" And he just starts laughing so hard. He 0:34:07.530 --> 0:34:10.020 was like, " Thank you. That gave me the distraction I 0:34:10.020 --> 0:34:10.680 needed from this." 0:34:10.680 --> 0:34:10.920 That's awesome. 0:34:10.920 --> 0:34:12.660 I'm like, " You got this." 0:34:13.530 --> 0:34:16.529 That's really fun. Gosh, there's so much I want to ask. 0:34:18.270 --> 0:34:20.550 My question, so you felt good at the end of 0:34:20.550 --> 0:34:21.540 the day with your finished- 0:34:21.540 --> 0:34:22.081 I feel good. 0:34:22.081 --> 0:34:22.260 ... did you feel good about it? 0:34:23.370 --> 0:34:27.900 I did. Look, I know I'm not good on downhills 0:34:27.900 --> 0:34:30.690 because I haven't trained them. As you say, I live 0:34:30.690 --> 0:34:32.880 in New York. I haven't been training on the trails. 0:34:33.300 --> 0:34:35.969 Two weeks before the race, I went to run the 0:34:36.750 --> 0:34:39.900 part of the Appalachian Trail. I rolled my ankle many 0:34:39.900 --> 0:34:42.120 times on there as anyone would. It's one of the most 0:34:42.120 --> 0:34:46.110 technical trails on the East Coast. And it wasn't a 0:34:46.110 --> 0:34:49.200 bad roll. It's just little tweaks that you get on 0:34:49.200 --> 0:34:52.710 the trail. And I just wasn't fully confident in my 0:34:53.040 --> 0:34:57.450 stability, but also I wasn't fully confident in my ability 0:34:57.510 --> 0:35:00.660 full stop. So there were many times I had to step 0:35:00.660 --> 0:35:02.700 to the side because I could hear people coming down. 0:35:02.700 --> 0:35:05.100 And I just watched them in awe, Rob. I'd be like, " 0:35:05.790 --> 0:35:10.530 How? How are they not just falling?" 0:35:10.530 --> 0:35:11.009 They're like cats. 0:35:11.280 --> 0:35:11.341 They were flying. 0:35:11.341 --> 0:35:13.200 Yeah. They're like cats. 0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:13.589 Floating. 0:35:14.280 --> 0:35:17.609 They're scampering down these hills and every step somehow works 0:35:17.610 --> 0:35:18.600 for them. Yeah, I've seen it. 0:35:18.600 --> 0:35:20.730 Works for them. And then I take two steps and I'm like, " 0:35:20.730 --> 0:35:27.000 Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." Bambi on ice trying to get down it. So 0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:32.100 that was frustrating. But conversely, I'm really, really good on uphills. 0:35:32.640 --> 0:35:36.299 I'm really strong. I'm really stubborn and I will take 0:35:37.230 --> 0:35:41.010 my place back on the uphills. Unfortunately, the downhills were 0:35:41.010 --> 0:35:43.770 just getting very, very technical because they'd had a lot 0:35:43.770 --> 0:35:47.340 of rain, so it wasn't just... There was the valley 0:35:47.430 --> 0:35:50.550 where the rain had come shooting down, so rocks and 0:35:50.550 --> 0:35:54.630 this steep valley so it got technical. But it was 0:35:54.630 --> 0:35:57.029 a lot of time by myself. I spent a lot 0:35:57.030 --> 0:36:00.750 of those 32 miles all by myself. I got to 0:36:00.750 --> 0:36:03.600 see Austin twice. Once I knew and I was really, 0:36:03.600 --> 0:36:08.580 really excited about seeing him. It took me back to 0:36:08.640 --> 0:36:11.610 our first ever, when I ran New York City Marathon, 0:36:11.610 --> 0:36:13.920 and I knew I'd fallen in love with him when 0:36:13.920 --> 0:36:16.110 I was waiting to see him on my mile somewhere 0:36:16.110 --> 0:36:19.680 between eight and nine that day. I kept thinking of 0:36:19.680 --> 0:36:23.279 that and how excited I was in 2019 to run 0:36:23.400 --> 0:36:28.080 towards him. And when I was struggling, 15 miles was 0:36:28.080 --> 0:36:30.120 about where I was going to see him. And same. 0:36:30.120 --> 0:36:32.160 He was later than he'd said he'd be and I was like, " 0:36:32.160 --> 0:36:34.500 God, he does this every time." But it was just 0:36:34.500 --> 0:36:39.480 so like, "Okay, there's my person, you can keep going," and high- 0:36:39.480 --> 0:36:42.570 fives and hugs and had a Diet Coke and off 0:36:42.570 --> 0:36:44.640 we went and then he surprised me a bit later 0:36:44.640 --> 0:36:46.410 on, which made me cry because I wasn't in a 0:36:46.410 --> 0:36:51.239 good spot at that point, but still it worked and 0:36:51.630 --> 0:36:57.960 I definitely... Yeah. I think I should have really done 0:36:57.960 --> 0:37:02.940 the kilometers two miles translation earlier because I got to 0:37:02.940 --> 0:37:04.800 30 miles and like, " Where's the finish line? Why are 0:37:05.489 --> 0:37:07.830 we not done?" And we had another two miles. So 0:37:07.830 --> 0:37:09.630 that was my only big downfall. 0:37:09.989 --> 0:37:15.000 Becs, tell me about the finish. This is the longest 0:37:15.300 --> 0:37:19.440 single race you'd ever run in your life at 50 0:37:19.440 --> 0:37:23.040 kilometers. So this was something new for you. What did 0:37:23.040 --> 0:37:25.230 it feel like to reach that finish line? 0:37:25.469 --> 0:37:29.700 Yeah. The longest I've run in 10 or so years and 0:37:29.700 --> 0:37:34.020 a big decade change was daunting to go into it knowing, " 0:37:34.350 --> 0:37:38.040 Oh, it's been a long time since I've run this 0:37:38.040 --> 0:37:44.580 distance." Yeah, as I said, the race unfolded pretty undramatically. 0:37:44.580 --> 0:37:51.029 There was definitely moments of frustration. There was moments of 0:37:51.239 --> 0:37:55.259 learning, of being like, " Okay, remember to tell coach how 0:37:55.260 --> 0:37:58.320 I felt here. Remember to tell him this really sucked 0:37:58.320 --> 0:38:00.390 and I wished I could do this better. How can 0:38:00.390 --> 0:38:03.120 he help me?" So that's what I was taking from 0:38:03.120 --> 0:38:07.290 Canyons all along the way. But again, having so much 0:38:07.290 --> 0:38:12.090 fun of being out there, Northern California, Auburn was so 0:38:12.120 --> 0:38:17.460 beautiful, Rob. It was my first time there and that 0:38:17.610 --> 0:38:21.510 nature is just... We climbed so high. We're on the 0:38:21.510 --> 0:38:25.890 top of these mountains. We're looking down into these stunning 0:38:25.890 --> 0:38:28.500 valleys. Part of the course is part of the Western 0:38:28.500 --> 0:38:32.340 States course, which was incredibly inspiring to run on that, 0:38:32.340 --> 0:38:38.310 to just know the gravity of madness that people are 0:38:38.310 --> 0:38:41.430 going through when they're running Western States and they're at that point on 0:38:41.430 --> 0:38:43.590 the course. It's quite late on, so their bodies are 0:38:43.590 --> 0:38:48.360 broken down, their mind is even more broken down. And 0:38:48.360 --> 0:38:51.690 then it was kind of a loop course and you 0:38:51.690 --> 0:38:54.840 pick up... You come back to where you started. There was only 0:38:54.840 --> 0:38:59.070 very, very small sections that you repeated. And as I 0:38:59.850 --> 0:39:03.180 said, it was technical, it was challenging, so much up 0:39:03.180 --> 0:39:06.839 and down, just constantly climbing and descending over and over 0:39:06.840 --> 0:39:11.790 again. And then as I mentioned, I hadn't done the 0:39:11.790 --> 0:39:16.680 translation of kilometers to miles correctly. We got through the last 0:39:16.680 --> 0:39:21.900 aid station, I think, at 24 miles, maybe 25 miles and 0:39:21.900 --> 0:39:24.390 I said to a guy, I was like, " Ooh, last 0:39:24.390 --> 0:39:26.700 one nearly there." And he looked at me, he was like, " 0:39:26.940 --> 0:39:30.989 Yeah, sure." Went off and I was like, "All right, what is 0:39:30.989 --> 0:39:33.989 he talking about?" I'm thinking that we finished at 30 0:39:33.989 --> 0:39:39.480 miles, not 32. So I'm celebrating like, " Woo- hoo, six 0:39:39.480 --> 0:39:40.680 more miles to go." 0:39:40.680 --> 0:39:41.339 That's rough. 0:39:41.339 --> 0:39:45.000 That was really rough because in those last two miles was one of the 0:39:45.000 --> 0:39:47.549 steepest climbs, not the longest, but one of the steepest 0:39:47.550 --> 0:39:55.380 climbs to finish us off and that sucked. But I 0:39:55.380 --> 0:40:00.570 found another runner and we were both quite spent by 0:40:00.570 --> 0:40:03.480 that point and we got to a point where he 0:40:03.480 --> 0:40:06.120 was human four by fouring as well, using his hands 0:40:06.120 --> 0:40:09.239 and his legs to get up the hill. I went 0:40:09.239 --> 0:40:11.640 to jog and then I pulled back and jog and 0:40:11.640 --> 0:40:13.799 that's how I like to do it. And then he 0:40:13.800 --> 0:40:15.510 looked at me, he was like, " All right, okay. You 0:40:15.510 --> 0:40:17.640 go, I go." I was like, " All right, we've got 0:40:17.640 --> 0:40:21.299 this together." And we just helped each other motivate. And 0:40:21.300 --> 0:40:23.310 then we got on the road where on the way, 0:40:23.850 --> 0:40:26.190 the girls, the women and we'd been doing 6: 50 0:40:26.190 --> 0:40:27.930 pace and I'm just laughing. So I was like, " How? 0:40:29.219 --> 0:40:32.219 I'm doing 10- minute mile pace right now." But it was 0:40:32.219 --> 0:40:35.610 uphill still and it was back on the tarmac, but 0:40:35.610 --> 0:40:38.190 I knew I was at the end. And again, knowing 0:40:38.190 --> 0:40:41.790 Austin was going to be there. And just knowing I'd 0:40:41.790 --> 0:40:45.870 done it and coming into that finish line was absolutely 0:40:45.870 --> 0:40:51.960 unreal. I was really expecting my legs to be unreal 0:40:51.960 --> 0:40:54.750 levels of pain and I don't say this to give 0:40:54.750 --> 0:40:58.739 myself props, but I was fine. I say this, if 0:40:58.739 --> 0:41:01.859 anything, I underestimated what I could have done. I think 0:41:01.860 --> 0:41:06.029 I held back quite a lot for the in the 0:41:06.120 --> 0:41:10.260 moment pain that I was experiencing. The immediate muscle soreness, 0:41:10.260 --> 0:41:12.000 I was scared and I was like, " No, no, I 0:41:12.000 --> 0:41:14.010 can't get that sore because I've got to keep running." 0:41:14.250 --> 0:41:16.620 So that taught me of like, "No, no, no, you're good 0:41:16.620 --> 0:41:19.589 at flushing out. You have a good lactate threshold. You 0:41:19.590 --> 0:41:23.460 can go harder in the moment," because I did not 0:41:23.580 --> 0:41:27.660 experience much soreness after the race, which was very good 0:41:27.810 --> 0:41:32.790 knowing what I have ahead. And then as I said, 0:41:33.390 --> 0:41:38.070 it's a festival weekend. You have multi- race distances coming 0:41:38.070 --> 0:41:41.400 in. So we stuck around to see other people finish 0:41:41.400 --> 0:41:45.540 the different distances, whether it was the 100 kilometers, 62 0:41:45.540 --> 0:41:48.420 miles, or the 100- mile race of which my very good 0:41:48.420 --> 0:41:53.340 friend Jeremiah, he completed that, the Canyons 100 mile race. 0:41:53.370 --> 0:41:57.569 And so it was very inspiring to see all the 0:41:57.570 --> 0:42:02.760 different stories, all the different abilities, and all the different 0:42:02.969 --> 0:42:05.070 smiles and pride coming through. 0:42:06.330 --> 0:42:11.520 Yeah. Running is all about communities. We talk all the 0:42:11.520 --> 0:42:14.730 time about the different communities that we have in New 0:42:14.730 --> 0:42:19.830 York, whether it's the clubs or group training or... All 0:42:19.830 --> 0:42:23.520 kinds of communities that exist around running. Do you feel 0:42:23.520 --> 0:42:27.899 like you're finding your community in this space, this trail 0:42:27.900 --> 0:42:28.469 running space? 0:42:28.469 --> 0:42:28.890 Yeah. 0:42:28.950 --> 0:42:34.799 You're new to it in this chapter, but does it feel like you found your people? 0:42:34.860 --> 0:42:39.239 Yeah, I feel like I'm happy it wasn't very different from what I 0:42:39.239 --> 0:42:42.300 left behind because I did have a very romantic memory 0:42:42.510 --> 0:42:46.020 of the trail world. So I'm happy that romance is 0:42:46.110 --> 0:42:52.530 still there and blossoming. And it's lovely. It's really, really 0:42:52.530 --> 0:42:56.310 just welcoming. Not to say road racing is not road racing, the 0:42:56.310 --> 0:43:00.960 communities are equally as welcoming and wonderful. But it's nice 0:43:00.960 --> 0:43:03.000 to do something different. It's nice to do something on 0:43:03.000 --> 0:43:08.550 the smaller scale. It probably sounds really strange to people 0:43:08.550 --> 0:43:10.890 listening of like, " This Peloton instructor who's on one of 0:43:10.890 --> 0:43:14.640 the biggest fitness platforms in the world doesn't like doing 0:43:14.640 --> 0:43:17.910 these big events," but that's who I am. I'm a 0:43:17.910 --> 0:43:22.290 small town girl. I actually really like being away from 0:43:22.530 --> 0:43:25.140 the big city. I like being away from the hustle 0:43:25.140 --> 0:43:28.800 and bustle. And so this is where I'm at right 0:43:28.800 --> 0:43:31.140 now. I'm meeting myself where I'm at right now and 0:43:31.140 --> 0:43:32.760 it's a very, very nice spot. 0:43:33.660 --> 0:43:36.719 Not that you didn't like the running you were doing on 0:43:36.719 --> 0:43:37.589 the roads or the- 0:43:37.650 --> 0:43:37.651 No. 0:43:37.651 --> 0:43:40.950 ... Olympic experiences you had. We just all have different 0:43:41.250 --> 0:43:43.440 seasons and chapters of our lives, right? 0:43:43.440 --> 0:43:43.500 Yeah. 0:43:44.280 --> 0:43:46.951 It's not a matter of an absolute I like, I don't like. 0:43:46.950 --> 0:43:47.219 No. 0:43:47.760 --> 0:43:49.140 It's I like, I don't like now. 0:43:49.410 --> 0:43:52.560 Exactly. And it's not even I don't like. It's just not when 0:43:52.680 --> 0:43:56.550 I'm focusing all of my energy on anymore. Don't get me 0:43:56.550 --> 0:44:00.870 wrong, I'm fully down if I could have run the 0:44:00.870 --> 0:44:03.030 RBC Brooklyn Half at the weekend, I would've done. I 0:44:03.030 --> 0:44:06.180 would've been there because I love that race and there 0:44:06.180 --> 0:44:08.460 are going to be multiple New York Road Runners events 0:44:08.460 --> 0:44:10.200 that I'm like, " I want to run it," because I 0:44:10.200 --> 0:44:13.140 love it and I love that world, but I'm not training my 0:44:13.200 --> 0:44:16.620 butt off to be at the forefront of those right 0:44:16.620 --> 0:44:19.860 now. That's not where my energy's going. But other trail 0:44:19.860 --> 0:44:23.940 races, yes, that's where I'm going to be on that incline, baby. 0:44:26.219 --> 0:44:28.770 Have you been able to work this into the Peloton 0:44:28.770 --> 0:44:29.401 classes at all? 0:44:29.401 --> 0:44:29.610 Yes. 0:44:29.610 --> 0:44:33.029 How have you managed to do that? It would seem 0:44:33.029 --> 0:44:35.910 hard to do, but maybe with some of the settings on 0:44:35.910 --> 0:44:39.719 the treadmill, what have you done to integrate this trail running- 0:44:39.719 --> 0:44:39.871 Yeah, good question. 0:44:39.870 --> 0:44:40.410 ... into your classes? 0:44:43.050 --> 0:44:46.170 We might get some hate mail from this. No, it's... 0:44:48.239 --> 0:44:48.840 The crew- 0:44:48.900 --> 0:44:50.191 Really crazy hills on the incline? 0:44:50.190 --> 0:44:50.192 Really crazy hills, essentially. 0:44:50.191 --> 0:44:50.280 Like 20 degrees? 0:44:52.410 --> 0:44:56.670 No. Our Peloton Tread+ goes up to 15% and our 0:44:56.730 --> 0:44:59.610 other tread goes up to 12.5%. So there are maximum 0:44:59.610 --> 0:45:04.739 inclines on our hardware. And that if you're on a 0:45:04.739 --> 0:45:06.930 different piece of hardware, I can't tell you what it 0:45:06.930 --> 0:45:10.710 goes up to. But yes, I have my Becs' Beast 0:45:10.710 --> 0:45:12.840 crew and they are down for it. And I always, 0:45:12.840 --> 0:45:15.090 always let everybody know at the start of my training 0:45:15.090 --> 0:45:18.359 cycle ahead of it, I'm like, " You know when I'm 0:45:18.390 --> 0:45:21.390 training, you're training because it's just how it's going to be. 0:45:21.390 --> 0:45:25.469 I'm going to get more jazzed by programming because I'm 0:45:25.469 --> 0:45:28.260 so excited by what I'm training that I want to share 0:45:28.260 --> 0:45:29.759 things with you guys and it's going to creep into 0:45:29.760 --> 0:45:32.880 my classes and it's going to be really fun." So at 0:45:32.880 --> 0:45:35.580 the head of this year, I said, " I'm training for 0:45:35.580 --> 0:45:39.000 trail races. They're mountainous. They are going to require me 0:45:39.000 --> 0:45:41.130 to be running on incline a lot. Not all of my 0:45:41.130 --> 0:45:42.840 classes, but when we do it, we're going to do 0:45:42.840 --> 0:45:47.340 it right." Yeah. Hill training is a form of speed 0:45:47.340 --> 0:45:49.650 work. So if you're looking to get faster, even on 0:45:49.650 --> 0:45:53.670 the flat road, you are going to benefit from doing 0:45:53.730 --> 0:45:56.969 hill training, full stop. It makes you a more efficient 0:45:56.969 --> 0:45:59.700 runner. It actually can improve your form. It can improve 0:45:59.700 --> 0:46:03.570 your stride. All things that a flat roadrunner needs and 0:46:03.570 --> 0:46:06.450 should want to get better at. A lot of people 0:46:06.450 --> 0:46:08.460 hate it because it's uncomfortable and we're humans and we 0:46:08.460 --> 0:46:15.060 don't like to put ourselves in uncomfortable positions. It's just 0:46:15.060 --> 0:46:17.820 where you want to take your journey. But my Peloton 0:46:17.820 --> 0:46:20.069 classes have been hilly, that's for sure. 0:46:21.420 --> 0:46:25.320 What's the feedback from people been? Are people liking this? Are 0:46:25.320 --> 0:46:28.350 you getting people on the tread with you at Peloton 0:46:28.350 --> 0:46:30.420 who are like, " You know what? I think I want to try this trail 0:46:30.420 --> 0:46:33.660 thing and put some of this hill work to use?" 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:36.540 Yeah. We actually have a really big trail audience out 0:46:36.540 --> 0:46:41.850 there for Peloton because of our vast reach, especially in 0:46:41.850 --> 0:46:45.480 the United States. Our membership is sprawled all over the 0:46:45.480 --> 0:46:47.279 country, so there are an awful lot of people who 0:46:47.280 --> 0:46:50.130 are training with us through the app, who are out 0:46:50.130 --> 0:46:54.839 in the likes of Arizona, Utah, those very, very traditional 0:46:55.110 --> 0:46:59.430 hilly trail running worlds and they're running outside, they're taking classes 0:46:59.430 --> 0:47:01.560 and it's just a natural thing for them to be 0:47:01.560 --> 0:47:04.620 on there. And then there's our city dwellers who have 0:47:04.620 --> 0:47:07.830 their treads in gyms or apartments who are all of a 0:47:07.830 --> 0:47:12.390 sudden finding themselves super strong. They're combining it with hikes, 0:47:12.390 --> 0:47:15.239 they're combining it with their speed work on the flat road 0:47:15.239 --> 0:47:18.419 and seeing benefits and thinking, " Oh, she's not wrong. This 0:47:18.420 --> 0:47:21.960 isn't just a ploy to get people to take more 0:47:21.960 --> 0:47:25.230 hills classes. It is actually working. And I'm seeing quantifiable 0:47:25.230 --> 0:47:31.050 results from utilizing the incline on the treadmill." I just 0:47:31.050 --> 0:47:36.390 think it's tough. It is really tough. It's about understanding 0:47:36.719 --> 0:47:40.560 that... It's the true understanding, should I say, of forward 0:47:40.560 --> 0:47:44.160 is a pace. You just have to keep moving forward. 0:47:44.400 --> 0:47:47.910 You don't look at your pace. I taught a 45- 0:47:47.910 --> 0:47:51.390 minute hills run this morning and you cannot look at 0:47:51.390 --> 0:47:54.630 your pace if it is going to bother you. You 0:47:54.630 --> 0:47:57.630 just have to look at the clock. If you need 0:47:57.630 --> 0:47:59.670 to look at a clock, look at the ticking of 0:47:59.670 --> 0:48:01.890 the clock, of the duration of the class passing by 0:48:02.460 --> 0:48:04.080 and the incline. They're the only numbers you need to 0:48:04.080 --> 0:48:06.029 see. As long as you are just keeping tracking up 0:48:06.030 --> 0:48:08.520 that hill, I don't care whether you're walking, jogging, or 0:48:08.520 --> 0:48:12.630 running. We're getting up it. And that is my ethos. 0:48:14.000 --> 0:48:19.080 (inaudible) . I can't help it. We always ask this question 0:48:19.080 --> 0:48:21.330 when we're talking about running in these events. What's next, 0:48:21.360 --> 0:48:22.260 Becs? What do you think- 0:48:22.260 --> 0:48:22.261 What is next? 0:48:22.261 --> 0:48:22.382 ... is next for you? 0:48:23.850 --> 0:48:25.049 She's going to keep going higher. 0:48:25.049 --> 0:48:29.910 Is there something you're... You don't have to, right? But maybe you do. You're 0:48:29.910 --> 0:48:33.090 Becs Gentry. So I have a feeling there's something you probably 0:48:33.090 --> 0:48:35.370 have on your mind. What do you think is next for 0:48:35.370 --> 0:48:36.151 you in this world? 0:48:36.151 --> 0:48:39.450 I have a very big race at the end of August, which I'm still 0:48:39.450 --> 0:48:41.430 keeping close to my chest because that's just how I 0:48:41.430 --> 0:48:44.880 roll. I like to keep the pressure in a very tight- 0:48:44.880 --> 0:48:48.330 knit nucleus of people so it's not too heavy on 0:48:48.330 --> 0:48:51.960 my shoulders. Running is Russian roulette. You know that, Rob, 0:48:51.960 --> 0:48:53.969 so well. You can go out for what seems like 0:48:53.969 --> 0:48:57.180 an easy, very simple run and you can damage yourself 0:48:57.210 --> 0:49:01.170 and injury can come out of seemingly nowhere and you're 0:49:01.170 --> 0:49:03.120 sidelined. So I think that's why I keep a lot 0:49:03.120 --> 0:49:07.680 of this racing specifics to myself because if that does 0:49:07.680 --> 0:49:10.770 happen, there's only a few people that I'm going to 0:49:10.770 --> 0:49:16.020 feel like I've let down other than myself. I've said 0:49:16.020 --> 0:49:18.180 very openly, it's a race in Europe at the end 0:49:18.180 --> 0:49:20.910 of August, people can probably decipher it if they want 0:49:20.910 --> 0:49:24.239 to, but it's going to be a lot of training. 0:49:24.270 --> 0:49:26.819 Luckily, as I said, I have the Appalachian Trail on 0:49:26.820 --> 0:49:31.410 my doorstep. It's very technical, but I can practice the 0:49:31.650 --> 0:49:35.969 climbing uphill, and I have a fantastic piece of hardware and 0:49:35.969 --> 0:49:38.069 my bounce on tread that I'm spending an awful lot 0:49:38.070 --> 0:49:40.980 of time with my head grazing my basement ceiling right 0:49:40.980 --> 0:49:42.120 now because it's going so high. 0:49:45.000 --> 0:49:48.000 Lastly, Becs, what's your advice to someone listening to this 0:49:48.000 --> 0:49:51.900 who maybe they're a regular roadrunner, maybe they're running roadrunners 0:49:51.900 --> 0:49:55.830 races all the time who's curious about this space? What's 0:49:55.830 --> 0:49:57.570 a good way to try this out? 0:49:57.570 --> 0:50:01.530 Oh my gosh. Really and truly, find a location that 0:50:01.530 --> 0:50:03.360 you want to run in. That would be my first bet 0:50:03.360 --> 0:50:07.140 because you're going to enjoy it more. If you're thinking like, " 0:50:07.170 --> 0:50:09.900 Okay, I'd really like to go to the Pocono and 0:50:09.900 --> 0:50:13.020 run a trail race up in the Pocono Mountains," or " 0:50:13.020 --> 0:50:15.150 I want to go to Northern California and run a 0:50:15.150 --> 0:50:19.319 race in Northern California." And then from there, go and 0:50:19.320 --> 0:50:21.300 have a look at what races there are coming up on 0:50:21.480 --> 0:50:27.510 the dates that suit you. Most trail races have those multi- 0:50:28.230 --> 0:50:31.800 duration, multi- distance options. A lot of them start at 0:50:31.800 --> 0:50:34.529 25K, which is such a weird distance when you come 0:50:34.530 --> 0:50:36.239 from road racing because you're like, " Well, there's not a half- 0:50:36.239 --> 0:50:40.920 marathon. It's not a full marathon. It's just really weird." 25K, but that's 0:50:40.920 --> 0:50:45.540 how it is. It's 25K, it's 50K, 100K, and 100 miles. They're generally the distances 0:50:45.900 --> 0:50:49.950 that they'll offer. I think the 25K is generally a 0:50:49.950 --> 0:50:54.780 really lovely starting point to the trail world, because you 0:50:54.780 --> 0:50:59.010 get just enough time out there to get the lactic acid 0:50:59.310 --> 0:51:03.120 building in those legs and those lungs and then you 0:51:03.120 --> 0:51:05.460 are done. You're like, " Okay, well, that was great. I 0:51:05.460 --> 0:51:08.670 don't need to take a full meal with me in 0:51:08.670 --> 0:51:11.819 my pack." You probably won't need to take poles. You 0:51:11.820 --> 0:51:14.700 probably won't be required to carry a liter of water, 0:51:14.700 --> 0:51:18.360 for example, which adds weight to you. It's a little 0:51:18.420 --> 0:51:21.960 bit more of a soft launch into that world if 0:51:21.960 --> 0:51:24.569 you've never done it before. But yeah, check it out. 0:51:24.570 --> 0:51:26.880 And then a lot of these places, if you drink 0:51:26.880 --> 0:51:29.790 or don't drink, they have fantastic scenery. There's a lot 0:51:29.790 --> 0:51:34.890 of vineyards or brewhouses in these trail running areas. So 0:51:35.130 --> 0:51:36.960 there's a lot to see and a lot of them 0:51:36.960 --> 0:51:40.049 are these old... In the U. S., I think there's 0:51:40.050 --> 0:51:42.300 a lot of mining towns and things like that because 0:51:42.300 --> 0:51:44.940 of where they are proximity in nature to what nature 0:51:44.940 --> 0:51:47.430 used to provide for us in our day- to- day 0:51:47.430 --> 0:51:50.340 life. So there's a lot to see and experience. So 0:51:50.580 --> 0:51:54.870 make it something for you that's not just about the running. 0:51:55.230 --> 0:51:57.510 I love it. I love it. Becs, congrats. I'm so 0:51:57.510 --> 0:52:01.259 psyched to hear you're doing this and loving this, and 0:52:01.260 --> 0:52:05.340 you've found a new way to love running in a 0:52:05.610 --> 0:52:10.170 totally different way. But you know what? Again, you say 0:52:10.170 --> 0:52:12.600 it all the time. Forward is a pace and you found 0:52:12.600 --> 0:52:13.500 a new way forward. 0:52:14.010 --> 0:52:15.510 Yes. Thank you. 0:52:15.510 --> 0:52:17.880 This was so much fun. I got to know you 0:52:17.880 --> 0:52:20.040 a little better with this once. I learned things about 0:52:20.040 --> 0:52:22.560 you I did not know. I'm sure listeners did as 0:52:22.560 --> 0:52:27.090 well. And so excited for you. So excited for everybody 0:52:27.090 --> 0:52:30.060 who finished the RBC Brooklyn Half this past weekend. Maybe 0:52:30.060 --> 0:52:32.100 some of them will hear this and go find a 0:52:32.100 --> 0:52:34.170 half in the woods somewhere. I think that sounds like a 0:52:34.170 --> 0:52:38.340 lot of fun, but I think I might do it 0:52:38.340 --> 0:52:40.980 myself. I want to go check that out, but it's 0:52:40.980 --> 0:52:41.640 been awesome. 0:52:41.820 --> 0:52:42.090 Absolutely. 0:52:42.090 --> 0:52:44.969 Thank you for sharing all of this and that's it 0:52:44.969 --> 0:52:47.400 for this episode of Set the Pace. Again, congrats to 0:52:47.400 --> 0:52:50.370 everybody who ran Brooklyn. We'll see everybody out there in 0:52:50.370 --> 0:52:53.070 a race coming up soon. We're going into our busy 0:52:53.070 --> 0:52:54.239 season now, Becs. 0:52:54.270 --> 0:52:54.600 Oh, yeah. 0:52:54.600 --> 0:52:58.500 June's busy. We think we're marathon and with the halves, but 0:52:58.500 --> 0:53:00.420 we got a lot going on in Brooklyn. We've got 0:53:00.420 --> 0:53:04.200 Achilles, we've got Front Runners, and the Pride Run. We've got 0:53:04.440 --> 0:53:09.060 the Mastercard mini 10K. We've got the Queens, Citizens Queens 0:53:09.060 --> 0:53:11.310 10K. So we just got a very busy month- 0:53:11.400 --> 0:53:11.671 Oh my gosh. 0:53:11.671 --> 0:53:13.049 ... of running coming at us and- 0:53:13.049 --> 0:53:13.560 The best. 0:53:13.950 --> 0:53:14.280 Yeah, that's a lot. 0:53:14.279 --> 0:53:14.281 The best. 0:53:14.280 --> 0:53:16.050 It's a lot. 0:53:16.320 --> 0:53:19.110 Peloton has got something for whatever running mood you're in. 0:53:19.560 --> 0:53:22.170 Try instructor led runs and walks that are built to 0:53:22.170 --> 0:53:25.140 fit into your routine with classes that help you stay 0:53:25.140 --> 0:53:29.100 consistent, build speed, and be in the moment. Track your 0:53:29.100 --> 0:53:33.150 metrics, see your progress, and train smarter. We've got it 0:53:33.150 --> 0:53:35.670 all to help you reach your goals and stay on 0:53:35.670 --> 0:53:39.780 track. Peloton, the official digital fitness partner of New York 0:53:39.780 --> 0:53:40.350 Road Runners. 0:53:40.860 --> 0:53:44.190 Thanks for joining us. See you next time. Enjoy the miles.