Rob Simmelkjaer: This episode contains graphic content that may be disturbing to
Rob Simmelkjaer: some listeners. Today's guest describes a boating accident that resulted
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the amputation of his left arm. If you want
Rob Simmelkjaer: to skip this segment, review the transcript for timestamps. New
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Speaker 2: Thank you, New York. Today, we're reminded of the power
Speaker 2: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
Speaker 2: your mark.
Speaker 3: The first woman to finish for the second straight year here in
Speaker 3: the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling
Speaker 3: Miki Gorman. And why not? 2: 29:30, the time for (inaudible) .
Speaker 4: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
Speaker 4: to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the
Speaker 4: USA he so proudly wears across his chest. A great
Speaker 4: day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace presented by Peloton. I'm your host and the CEO
Rob Simmelkjaer: of New York Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer. And with me,
Rob Simmelkjaer: my amazing co- host from Peloton, Becs Gentry. Becs, how
Rob Simmelkjaer: you doing? Are you getting ready for Paris? You and
Rob Simmelkjaer: I are both about to make the jump across the
Rob Simmelkjaer: pond for the Olympics. You're doing it in your official
Rob Simmelkjaer: capacity as an NBC commentator. You're ready?
Becs Gentry: I am not ready. I think I won't be ready
Becs Gentry: until I see the opening ceremony. I feel like that's
Becs Gentry: how it is every four years, give or take, Tokyo. I
Becs Gentry: think it's just very much something I look forward to
Becs Gentry: an incredible amount and then it doesn't feel real until ...
Becs Gentry: It's like when you go on vacation. It doesn't feel
Becs Gentry: like it's actually happening till you are off the plane
Becs Gentry: and you have your luggage in your hands that you
Becs Gentry: can be like, " Oh, I'm here. This is real." So,
Becs Gentry: for me, opening ceremony, I want to see those boats
Becs Gentry: coming down the River Seine. I want to see the
Becs Gentry: fireworks. I want to see whoever, whatever is going to
Becs Gentry: be in store for us. And then, yeah, you and I are going to be there in
Becs Gentry: August living it up in the world of the Parisian Olympics.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's going to be amazing. I'm so excited. As this podcast drops on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thursday, the opening ceremony will be the very next day and
Rob Simmelkjaer: things will kick off. And I think there's just so
Rob Simmelkjaer: much anticipation for these Olympics, Becs. I think for running
Rob Simmelkjaer: fans, there's so much to be excited about. The American
Rob Simmelkjaer: team going over has so much talent, both from the
Rob Simmelkjaer: track to the roads, and so I think there's a lot
Rob Simmelkjaer: of excitement in the US. I also think there's just
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of excitement around Paris. Americans love Paris. There's
Rob Simmelkjaer: always kind of a special feeling about things in Paris
Rob Simmelkjaer: and the Eiffel Tower. And I love what they're doing with
Rob Simmelkjaer: the opening ceremony on the Seine. So, I just sense
Rob Simmelkjaer: there's a lot of excitement about these Olympics and I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: really excited. I'll also be there the second week, which
Rob Simmelkjaer: is when the track and field all happens, as well
Rob Simmelkjaer: as the marathons of course, the last two days. So,
Rob Simmelkjaer: I think it's going to be an incredible couple of weeks.
Becs Gentry: We are in for a treat. And yeah, as you say,
Becs Gentry: Team USA track and field, we have the biggest and
Becs Gentry: strongest squad heading over there this year. And I would
Becs Gentry: just like to congratulate the women on the team being
Becs Gentry: the fastest, most records broken thus far. So, I am
Becs Gentry: very excited to see what Team USA and I have
Becs Gentry: to stay patriotic. I am still rooting for Team GB
Becs Gentry: as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Of course, you are. We would fully expect that. And Becs, you know what something else is that people
Rob Simmelkjaer: can use to get even more sight for the Paris
Rob Simmelkjaer: Olympics is you can go back and listen to some
Rob Simmelkjaer: past episodes of Set the Pace, because we've had so
Rob Simmelkjaer: many Olympians and Paraolympians appear on the show in the
Rob Simmelkjaer: last year. People like Susanna Scaroni, the amazing wheelchair athlete
Rob Simmelkjaer: who will be appearing in the Paralympics, Connor Mantz and
Rob Simmelkjaer: Clayton Young, who will be representing the US on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: men's marathon team, Emily Sisson and Dakotah Lindwurm, who are running
Rob Simmelkjaer: the marathon on the women's side for Team USA. We've
Rob Simmelkjaer: also got Nikki Hiltz, who's going to be a real
Rob Simmelkjaer: medal contender in the women's 1500, Tatyana McFadden, another amazing
Rob Simmelkjaer: Paralympian, along with Catherine Debrunner, Marcel Hug, also a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: wheelchair athlete, and of course Helen Obiri. So, really great set
Rob Simmelkjaer: of Olympians we've had a chance to talk to. Folks
Rob Simmelkjaer: can go back and check out those past episodes as
Rob Simmelkjaer: they start to get themselves pumped up for Paris.
Becs Gentry: Peloton offers a wide variety of running and walking content
Becs Gentry: to spice up your workouts, featuring world- class trainers who
Becs Gentry: inspire and challenge you. Whether you're hitting the pavement with
Becs Gentry: guided workouts on the Peloton app or pushing it on
Becs Gentry: the tread, Peloton is your perfect running companion dedicated to
Becs Gentry: enhancing your running routine and helping you achieve your fitness
Becs Gentry: goals. All access membership separate. Learn more about Peloton Tread
Becs Gentry: at onepeloton. com/ running. Find the Peloton app in the
Becs Gentry: Apple, Android and Google app stores today.
Rob Simmelkjaer: By the way, Becs, a quick shoutout to something that's not
Rob Simmelkjaer: a Road Runner's thing at all, but this show on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Netflix called Sprint. I don't know if you've watched it.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh.
Rob Simmelkjaer: But it's a docuseries and I've watched three episodes. My daughter and I are
Rob Simmelkjaer: watching them.
Becs Gentry: Only three?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Only three. I'm taking my time. I'm sure I'll binge
Rob Simmelkjaer: the rest of them at some point next time it
Rob Simmelkjaer: rains. It's really good. And I think it's a great way to get
Rob Simmelkjaer: really psyched up for the Olympics. Noah Lyles and all
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Jamaican sprinting story.
Becs Gentry: Shericka, yeah. Oh, my goodness.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Absolutely. I think it's really good.
Becs Gentry: It's fantastic. And it gets you actually to understand the other
Becs Gentry: competitions that these athletes go through. They are not just
Becs Gentry: training because it feels like. When we get around to
Becs Gentry: the Olympics, it feels like these athletes are only ever
Becs Gentry: training for this huge event, but there are so many
Becs Gentry: other events that they put their bodies through and are
Becs Gentry: constantly working to better themselves and gets stronger and stronger.
Becs Gentry: And this documentary goes into the behind the scenes. It
Becs Gentry: goes into some moments that you just don't see because
Becs Gentry: on TV, you see them coming onto the track or
Becs Gentry: heading out to their event, and that's their moment on
Becs Gentry: stage. But you see the behind the scenes, the moments
Becs Gentry: with their coaches, which to me is incredibly emotional. I
Becs Gentry: won't give it away, but the last episode, I was
Becs Gentry: crying my eyes out of just the love and the
Becs Gentry: relief that happens when the events are over, but then
Becs Gentry: the speculation to what's next and what's next is Paris.
Becs Gentry: And it's just, oh, I highly recommend everyone to watch
Becs Gentry: it, just to kind of get your head around what
Becs Gentry: these humans have gone through since if they were in
Becs Gentry: Tokyo or since their last event of competition. So, oh,
Becs Gentry: my gosh, just knowing the athletes, most of them are
Becs Gentry: there already. You can just see on Instagram, people are
Becs Gentry: showing up in Paris. They're getting their Ralph Lauren fits on,
Becs Gentry: ready to rock. It's so cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's awesome. So, you can check that out. And obviously,
Rob Simmelkjaer: we'll all be tuning in for the Olympics that gets
Rob Simmelkjaer: started this coming weekend as we drop this podcast this
Rob Simmelkjaer: week. And Becs, I want to remind, of course, all of
Rob Simmelkjaer: our listeners out there, especially those of you who maybe
Rob Simmelkjaer: have a new running challenge in front of you, maybe
Rob Simmelkjaer: you're training for a fall marathon for the first time
Rob Simmelkjaer: or whatever the challenge might be. If you've got questions
Rob Simmelkjaer: and people have a lot of questions when it comes
Rob Simmelkjaer: to training for marathons, especially the first timers, send us
Rob Simmelkjaer: a question. You can leave a comment on Apple Podcasts
Rob Simmelkjaer: with your question in it, and we will answer it
Rob Simmelkjaer: right here on the show. Becs, we did get a
Rob Simmelkjaer: question from a listener this week. Linda's living it up
Rob Simmelkjaer: was the user, and she said, " Becs has been my
Rob Simmelkjaer: coach through Peloton and inspired me to find the athlete
Rob Simmelkjaer: in me later in life back." Becs, so many of your
Rob Simmelkjaer: students sending out the love to you. She did her
Rob Simmelkjaer: first half marathon in January of 2024, an hour and 36 minutes, by
Rob Simmelkjaer: the way, really good. And she used the Peloton runs
Rob Simmelkjaer: to prepare her for that, which is amazing. So, her
Rob Simmelkjaer: question is she'd love a podcast dedicated to tips for
Rob Simmelkjaer: people training for their first marathon. And yeah, Linda, of
Rob Simmelkjaer: course you want that, and we are totally doing that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I don't know if we know exactly what date is,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but yes, we will have both with Meb and his
Rob Simmelkjaer: tips all the way throughout the shows from now to
Rob Simmelkjaer: the marathon, but we also will have an episode coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: up that it will be focused on training for your
Rob Simmelkjaer: first marathon. So, that is coming and Becs, there's just
Rob Simmelkjaer: nothing like your first marathon. And we know that there
Rob Simmelkjaer: are people who need that advice and those questions. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: sure you get a lot of those questions on Peloton as well.
Becs Gentry: Absolutely. Linda, thank you for sending that in. And big shout-
Becs Gentry: outs to you in Florida. I love that you wrote,
Becs Gentry: you consider yourself Bec's most southernmost beast. I adore that.
Becs Gentry: And I will say Key West is one of the
Becs Gentry: most beautiful places I've visited, so you're very lucky to
Becs Gentry: be down there. Tips and tricks for your first marathon,
Becs Gentry: for sure. I can't imagine how many people there are
Becs Gentry: out there contemplating it. So, I would love to think
Becs Gentry: that Set the Pace could be a place that they
Becs Gentry: come to and we help you push the button into signing up
Becs Gentry: for your first marathon, which as an aside, should be
Becs Gentry: the TCS New York City Marathon, because it's the best
Becs Gentry: one in the world. But it's not something to be
Becs Gentry: scared of because if you follow a good training program
Becs Gentry: and listen to tips and tricks from people who've done
Becs Gentry: numerous races, you've got a whole community behind you. So,
Becs Gentry: thanks for that, Linda. We'll get on to that, Rob.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. Absolutely. Becs, we have such a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: conversation teed up for today's guest, a good friend of
Rob Simmelkjaer: yours who you'll introduce in a minute, and an incredible
Rob Simmelkjaer: story as well, the adaptive training specialist and Peloton interactive
Rob Simmelkjaer: instructor, Logan Aldridge. I'm meeting Logan for the first time
Rob Simmelkjaer: today, and his journey is just incredible. Logan will talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: with us about the tragic accident that he had at
Rob Simmelkjaer: 13 years old, losing his arm in what you can
Rob Simmelkjaer: only call a bizarre accident on a boat as he
Rob Simmelkjaer: was wakeboarding with his father and turning that moment into
Rob Simmelkjaer: an incredibly impactful life as an adaptive fitness instructor, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: leader in this space, an inspiring story. And our marathon,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, I always say it at the starting line of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: TCS New York City Marathon, there are 50, 000 stories and
Rob Simmelkjaer: so many of them will just blow your mind and
Rob Simmelkjaer: really, they're just life changing when you listen to them.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And Logan is one of those stories that will be
Rob Simmelkjaer: joining us this year at the TCS New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon. And you're so lucky to have him as a
Rob Simmelkjaer: colleague, but he's just an incredible person.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I adore him. He has helped change my world
Becs Gentry: for sure when it comes to adaptive training, understanding. He's
Becs Gentry: an educator and he is a very, very fun human to
Becs Gentry: be around as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And then before we get to that, Becs, we've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great Member Moment this week. Our friend, Meb Keflezighi will
Rob Simmelkjaer: be here and he'll be joined by Dr. Tamanna Singh.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dr. Singh is a runner and a sports cardiologist with
Rob Simmelkjaer: a message about running that might surprise you. And then
Rob Simmelkjaer: following that, Meb will continue his countdown to the TCS New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York City Marathon with 16 straight weeks of training tips.
Rob Simmelkjaer: This week, Meb is going to talk about what you need
Rob Simmelkjaer: to be planning in terms of gear and nutrition as
Rob Simmelkjaer: we sit here 15 weeks out from the TCS New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York City Marathon. Nutrition, always a hot topic. Becs, I actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: need to listen to this, this Meb Minute myself because I think
Rob Simmelkjaer: my nutrition game could definitely be raised a little bit
Rob Simmelkjaer: as I sit here talking to you the day after
Rob Simmelkjaer: I go into a movie with my daughter last night,
Rob Simmelkjaer: eating popcorn and drinking a cherry slushie. I'm pretty sure
Rob Simmelkjaer: that's not on Meb's nutrition tips, but maybe-
Becs Gentry: You never know.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... maybe that can help me get a little more better about what I put
Rob Simmelkjaer: in my body as I think about running some races
Rob Simmelkjaer: this fall. So, that'll be coming up in just a
Rob Simmelkjaer: moment as well.
Becs Gentry: Today, we are absolutely thrilled to welcome one of my friends
Becs Gentry: and one of my Peloton colleagues, Logan Aldridge. Logan is
Becs Gentry: Peloton's adaptive training specialist and one of our most fabulous
Becs Gentry: instructors. His story of resilience began when he lost his
Becs Gentry: left arm at 13. And that was the start of
Becs Gentry: what most of us and Logan himself would say is
Becs Gentry: an incredible journey. From founding a nonprofit as a teenager
Becs Gentry: to deadlifting 500 pounds, Logan has been redefining what is
Becs Gentry: possible in adaptive fitness. Logan, hi.
Logan Aldridge: Wow, Becs. Hi. Thank you so much for what a
Logan Aldridge: phenomenal intro, makes me sound a lot cooler than I
Logan Aldridge: really am. I love it. I'll take it. I'll take it.
Becs Gentry: Dude, you're one of the coolest people I know.
Logan Aldridge: You're too sweet.
Becs Gentry: Probably the coolest person I know. I'm so good.
Logan Aldridge: The feeling's mutual.
Becs Gentry: We are so happy to have you on here. I am
Becs Gentry: very biased and honored to have you as a teammate,
Becs Gentry: but I'm biased to say that I can learn from
Becs Gentry: you every minute of every day. You are probably one
Becs Gentry: of the most humble and easy to talk to people
Becs Gentry: I've ever met, be it like an awkward question about, "
Becs Gentry: Logan, how is your golf swing better than my uncle
Becs Gentry: who's been playing golf for 50 years?"
Logan Aldridge: Thanks. You're so sweet. I appreciate you so much. Listen, truly, the
Logan Aldridge: feeling's mutual. Likewise. I think that is the pinch me moment I
Logan Aldridge: have every day. I come into the Peloton and see
Logan Aldridge: our other instructors, my colleagues, and chat with you all
Logan Aldridge: and every word that comes out of your mouth and
Logan Aldridge: every other colleague of mine, I feel the same way.
Logan Aldridge: I'm like, " Wow, what experts, what incredible knowledge and insight."
Logan Aldridge: So, thank you. That's so sweet to say. And listen, if anybody
Logan Aldridge: who knows me, and I hope people who are becoming
Logan Aldridge: to know me through this podcast learned that I try to
Logan Aldridge: be my authentic self any and everywhere I am. What
Logan Aldridge: you see on the screen with me in a Peloton
Logan Aldridge: class, in a conversation, in a dinner, in a side chat, it's the
Logan Aldridge: same. And I'm always the same Logan. So, I always
Logan Aldridge: want to be approachable, relatable.
Becs Gentry: I can attest to that.
Logan Aldridge: A friend to everyone.
Becs Gentry: I can attest to that even when he is wearing his Croc
Becs Gentry: boots with the little spur things.
Logan Aldridge: Yeah, that's me. That's this North Carolina boy figuring out New
Logan Aldridge: York City fashion, figuring out how to do this fashion thing.
Becs Gentry: Unreal. Logan, before we dive in, I think it's really
Becs Gentry: important you've touched on it to let the listeners know
Becs Gentry: who may not already know you through Peloton and your
Becs Gentry: personal social platforms. Can you just tell us about your
Becs Gentry: journey from, let's start at 12- year- old Logan and
Becs Gentry: move through to 13- year- old Logan?
Logan Aldridge: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate you starting this with
Logan Aldridge: that question because let's face it, from my experience and
Logan Aldridge: my life and looking back and reflecting on who I
Logan Aldridge: was as a kid and who every kid is, which
Logan Aldridge: is curious and also naive and also optimistic and just
Logan Aldridge: open to experience the world, I think more importantly, as
Logan Aldridge: we grow up and go through learning how to be
Logan Aldridge: socially appropriate and ask questions and be curious but respectful
Logan Aldridge: sometimes, when it comes to this discussion of amputation, disability,
Logan Aldridge: impairments and condition, we steer clear of asking the obvious
Logan Aldridge: question, the elephant in the room, " Hey, what happened? Hey,
Logan Aldridge: do you feel comfortable talking about this?" Absolutely, I feel
Logan Aldridge: comfortable and I welcome and love the question. It never
Logan Aldridge: gets old because I know the impact it can have
Logan Aldridge: and what it had on me, hearing the story from
Logan Aldridge: others who had the experience of trauma or an injury,
Logan Aldridge: the loss of a limb or the change in their
Logan Aldridge: ability or their physical ability, the way in which those
Logan Aldridge: stories get told can be refreshing and a relief and
Logan Aldridge: sometimes make a bigger impact on someone who feels alone
Logan Aldridge: and like nobody else has been through something similar. So, long-
Logan Aldridge: winded way, and I said this before we started this
Logan Aldridge: podcast, y'all, I could answer each one of these questions
Logan Aldridge: for an hour, so I'm going to try to make
Logan Aldridge: this brief. But, 12- year- old Logan was a very
Logan Aldridge: competitive wakeboarder, loved playing all sports, lacrosse, football, and really
Logan Aldridge: the main sport I was trying to pursue professionally was
Logan Aldridge: wakeboarding. I grew up in North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina,
Logan Aldridge: and our family had a lake house at Lake Gaston,
Logan Aldridge: right on the Virginia- North Carolina border. And I would
Logan Aldridge: spend all of my summers wakeboarding, practicing different runs with a
Logan Aldridge: friend of mine, who lived a few docks down to
Logan Aldridge: try to win competitions and climb this ladder of competitive
Logan Aldridge: wakeboarding. So, this day was just a typical Saturday. I
Logan Aldridge: was 13 years old with my friend and my family,
Logan Aldridge: my mom and dad on the boat finishing up an
Logan Aldridge: evening set. And I was wrapping the rope around my
Logan Aldridge: arm after we'd finished riding. And for those who aren't
Logan Aldridge: familiar with wakeboarding and wakeboard ski boats, they're boats with
Logan Aldridge: motors, but the motors are inboard up underneath the boat.
Logan Aldridge: And these wakeboard boats have a tower that you attach
Logan Aldridge: the rope to. So, the anchor point for the skier,
Logan Aldridge: the wakeboarder outback, is at a high point above the middle of
Logan Aldridge: the boat just for context. And so, as we finished
Logan Aldridge: riding, I stood on the back of the boat and
Logan Aldridge: looped the rope over the thumb under the elbow like
Logan Aldridge: we all may do with an extension cord or a
Logan Aldridge: garden hose or something to create those perfect circle loops.
Logan Aldridge: Had a couple loops around my left arm holding it
Logan Aldridge: up at 90 degrees with my thumb out, over the
Logan Aldridge: thumb under the elbow. And now wakeboard ropes are very
Logan Aldridge: skinny, honestly, kind of look and act like a cable.
Logan Aldridge: This one, very skinny coated in plastic, no elasticity. You
Logan Aldridge: want just the same tension on a wakeboard rope, always.
Logan Aldridge: So, looks and acts like a cable. With a couple
Logan Aldridge: loops wrapped around my arm, I looked back and noticed
Logan Aldridge: that the rope, unfortunately, when we dropped my friend off
Logan Aldridge: at his dock and pushed off of his dock just
Logan Aldridge: to put along in our boat with a boat just
Logan Aldridge: in gear, just putting along to go maybe 50 meters
Logan Aldridge: to my dock, that's when I was winding up the
Logan Aldridge: rope and I looked back and noticed it had kind of
Logan Aldridge: drifted underneath the back platform of the boat, which is
Logan Aldridge: just this place where you put on the wakeboard, not
Logan Aldridge: even where the motor is. The motor's way up underneath.
Logan Aldridge: But in that moment, just kind of being careless, sometimes
Logan Aldridge: it gets caught on a little something back there. So,
Logan Aldridge: I just turned to my dad and said, " Ah, dad,
Logan Aldridge: the rope's underneath the back of the boat, hold on
Logan Aldridge: a second." As soon as I said that, he followed
Logan Aldridge: the safety procedure to then turn to the cockpit area,
Logan Aldridge: which is right next to where I am and go
Logan Aldridge: to turn off the boat. As soon as he did
Logan Aldridge: that, between the moments of me saying, " Oh, dad looks
Logan Aldridge: like it's underneath the back of the boat," and him going, "
Logan Aldridge: Oh, okay," and turning it off, the propeller did catch
Logan Aldridge: the rope, much more of it was underneath the boat.
Logan Aldridge: And in that moment, as you can imagine, then that
Logan Aldridge: rope just coiled around that propeller very quickly. So, it
Logan Aldridge: created a very aggressive pull on the end of that
Logan Aldridge: rope that looked like was going into the water, and
Logan Aldridge: that caused that tension to create the rope, to slip
Logan Aldridge: off the thumb and cinch down, if you can imagine
Logan Aldridge: kind of a circle above the elbow right there around
Logan Aldridge: the bicep and tricep and cause a really aggressive, really tight,
Logan Aldridge: immediate kind of pinch moment. And that pinch moment was
Logan Aldridge: far more significant than I realized at the timer than
Logan Aldridge: anyone. And that cut through the muscle and the flesh
Logan Aldridge: and stuff down to the bone. So, in that moment
Logan Aldridge: kind of brief little jolt still standing on the back of
Logan Aldridge: the boat and it looks like the rope is just
Logan Aldridge: going through the inside of my arm, just coming out
Logan Aldridge: the outside, kind of wild looking, not even feeling discomfort
Logan Aldridge: or pain, just going, " Whoa, what was that?" And dad
Logan Aldridge: steps over, unwinds the rope, recognizes this has been a
Logan Aldridge: serious injury, laceration 360 down to the bone, rips his
Logan Aldridge: shirt off, wraps it around the arm, pulls it tight
Logan Aldridge: for a tourniquet. Had he not done that, definitely wouldn't
Logan Aldridge: be here today.
Becs Gentry: Good dad.
Logan Aldridge: So, that moment saved my life. Then we got to
Logan Aldridge: the dock. I thought this was a dream. I said, "
Logan Aldridge: There's no way this is happening. Dad, just take me
Logan Aldridge: to my bedroom. Show me sleeping. I'll wake up from
Logan Aldridge: this very vivid nightmare I'm having right now." And he said, "
Logan Aldridge: Logie, I'm sorry." And he did. He showed me. And then that's
Logan Aldridge: when it kind of hit and took a breath. He's
Logan Aldridge: holding me in his arms. We go sit out on
Logan Aldridge: the front porch. We wait for an ambulance. And I
Logan Aldridge: started to accept the reality of this situation. Thirteen, left
Logan Aldridge: arm, left- handed, can't feel the arm. It feels like
Logan Aldridge: it's laying out by my side, but it's in my
Logan Aldridge: lap. It feels like something just like sandbags in my
Logan Aldridge: lap. And I'm like, " Wow, that's my arm. What? This
Logan Aldridge: is bizarre." Starting to process, takes about an hour for
Logan Aldridge: the ambulance to get there, mom and dad with me
Logan Aldridge: the whole time. Yeah, middle of nowhere where we were.
Logan Aldridge: And it was a summer weekend with some volunteer staff,
Logan Aldridge: EMS. And they get in the ambulance, we start riding
Logan Aldridge: to the local community hospital. And that's the moment, I
Logan Aldridge: think the most important moment of my story. And again,
Logan Aldridge: I'm sorry, I continued. I could tell the story for
Logan Aldridge: an hour and I'll close here in a moment, but
Logan Aldridge: most important here moment that was really impactful and still
Logan Aldridge: to this day when I tell the story gives me
Logan Aldridge: goosebumps was in that ambulance ride when I recognized I
Logan Aldridge: can't feel my arm, I'm thinking, we're kind of joking,
Logan Aldridge: my mom and I like, " Lo, this could be a
Logan Aldridge: badass scar around my arm. It could be cool looking."
Logan Aldridge: And then I'm contemplating, I'm like, " But I can't feel
Logan Aldridge: it and it's over here, but it feels like it's
Logan Aldridge: over there. What if?" And I said to my mom, " What
Logan Aldridge: if I lose my arm? What if they have to
Logan Aldridge: amputate this?" And being left- handed, it'd be my left
Logan Aldridge: arm. I'm thinking through that at 13, my mom, without
Logan Aldridge: skipping a beat and who knows what a mother and
Logan Aldridge: in that moment is going through and thinking, but sitting
Logan Aldridge: there not crying, not looking panicked or scared, she just
Logan Aldridge: is holding that hand and looks at me and says, "
Logan Aldridge: Logan, it's just an arm." In that statement, that phrase,
Logan Aldridge: I think was many things for many of us in
Logan Aldridge: that moment. It was a way for her to console
Logan Aldridge: herself and her emotions, for me to recognize. Wow. As
Logan Aldridge: soon as the words were said, I thought to myself, "
Logan Aldridge: Well, I am blinking. My eyes are open. I am
Logan Aldridge: alive right now. This is good. This is good. Okay.
Logan Aldridge: It is an arm. All right. It is my dominant
Logan Aldridge: one, but okay, I look at this one. I've got this
Logan Aldridge: right arm that I've never really given much credit to.
Logan Aldridge: So, wow, what an opportunity for me to learn how
Logan Aldridge: to use this." Immediately, that's what my brain thought, immediately.
Logan Aldridge: Not knowing what the future might hold or how this
Logan Aldridge: outcome might be. And so, that moment triggered everything. It triggered
Logan Aldridge: my mindset, my mental health, my perspective, my resilience or
Logan Aldridge: decision to not let this define me in a way
Logan Aldridge: that would be limiting. Things would be challenging. Expectations will be
Logan Aldridge: placed. There will be struggle. But at the end of
Logan Aldridge: the day, that statement allows me to recognize the massive
Logan Aldridge: abundance, which is life that you get to live. So, that
Logan Aldridge: moment changed everything. My mom said that. As we can
Logan Aldridge: probably assume now, we got to the hospital. They couldn't
Logan Aldridge: save the arm. They rushed me to NC Children's Hospital,
Logan Aldridge: had to perform emergency surgery, tried to save the arm,
Logan Aldridge: did limb salvage, everything they could do for limb salvage,
Logan Aldridge: couldn't get blood flow back to the limb. You have
Logan Aldridge: about the six, seven window hour of opportunity to reintroduce
Logan Aldridge: blood flow to muscles. And we were right on the
Logan Aldridge: verge of that. So, we tried to do it, taking an
Logan Aldridge: artery out of a leg, putting it in, monitoring, praying
Logan Aldridge: about it, family rubbing the arm, putting on the sound,
Logan Aldridge: what is it? That you use for pregnant ladies? The ultrasound.
Becs Gentry: Oh, the ultrasound gel.
Logan Aldridge: The ultrasound gel all over the arm, just listening. " Can
Logan Aldridge: we hear a pulse? Hear a pulse?" Couple days, didn't hear it. And
Logan Aldridge: then the decision and the doctors were crying. The doctors
Logan Aldridge: became family. They were family to my family. And when
Logan Aldridge: they told my parents, went into surgery to check and
Logan Aldridge: looked at the muscle, said, " This is all dead." And
Logan Aldridge: they wheeled me out, brought me just back out from
Logan Aldridge: being under with my brother and parents around and doctors
Logan Aldridge: crying saying, " Logan, we got to amputate it. I'm so sorry."
Logan Aldridge: And those words, my first thought, I don't know why,
Logan Aldridge: to be honest, I love lacrosse, but I don't love
Logan Aldridge: it this much. My first thought was, " How am I
Logan Aldridge: going to play lacrosse again?" It was my first thought
Logan Aldridge: was not, " Can I play lacrosse?" I remember this vividly.
Logan Aldridge: It was, " How will I play lacrosse now?" That was
Logan Aldridge: my first thought.
Becs Gentry: Going to do.
Logan Aldridge: And then my parents hugged me. We had some cries. And then I
Logan Aldridge: went back in and went under and came out right- handed.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Logan Aldridge: So, yeah. Sorry, that's a long- winded answer, but I
Logan Aldridge: like to give the context and the detail and hope
Logan Aldridge: it wasn't too graphic or too much.
Rob Simmelkjaer: No.
Logan Aldridge: But I think it paints the picture and tells a
Logan Aldridge: story. And I think it really explains who I am and why I am who I am now.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. Logan, thank you so much for sharing that.
Logan Aldridge: Of course.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And taking us through that. It's visceral to hear the
Rob Simmelkjaer: story. No question about it. It really takes me and
Rob Simmelkjaer: anybody listening to this there to that moment and how
Rob Simmelkjaer: just a moment can change your life out of nowhere.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It can happen to any of us any day of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: week. We can just have something unforeseen that just changes
Rob Simmelkjaer: our lives. And one of the best phrases I've heard
Rob Simmelkjaer: about things like this when it comes to people and
Rob Simmelkjaer: dealing with adversity is we just can't really always control
Rob Simmelkjaer: the things that happen to us, but we can control
Rob Simmelkjaer: how we react to the things that happen to us.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And just listening to you right there make up your
Rob Simmelkjaer: mind in that ride to the hospital, that looking at
Rob Simmelkjaer: your right arm and seeing it as an opportunity to
Rob Simmelkjaer: develop a skill that you didn't have. I'm sure that
Rob Simmelkjaer: didn't make it easy. I'm sure all those moments, hoping
Rob Simmelkjaer: the left arm would come back and being with your
Rob Simmelkjaer: family, I mean, I can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but the fact that you would even think that way,
Rob Simmelkjaer: even for a moment in the middle of all that
Rob Simmelkjaer: going on says a lot. And so, I want to flash now
Rob Simmelkjaer: to Logan Aldridge, the incredible advocate and instructor with Peloton
Rob Simmelkjaer: and someone who is taking what happened to you and
Rob Simmelkjaer: helping others. What is it you take from that? From
Rob Simmelkjaer: what happened, and more importantly, the way you reacted to
Rob Simmelkjaer: what happened and how do you work with others who
Rob Simmelkjaer: are going through similar things, whether they had a disability
Rob Simmelkjaer: at birth or had something happen to them in life
Rob Simmelkjaer: to help them learn how to be the best version
Rob Simmelkjaer: of themselves with the disability?
Logan Aldridge: Yes. Thank you for laying up that question and opportunity
Logan Aldridge: for me to answer. Because to be frank, I was
Logan Aldridge: such a little rebel, an outlaw kid before this accident,
Logan Aldridge: this injury. I was a punk. I was a punk.
Logan Aldridge: I was a little surfer grom, getting into trouble. I've
Logan Aldridge: told this story before and I don't want to digress too much, but
Logan Aldridge: I'd be beer bonging Dr. Peppers with my friend at
Logan Aldridge: 12 years old. When I was in the hospital, I
Logan Aldridge: had a caffeine addiction apparently. The doctors were alarmed. My
Logan Aldridge: parents were incredibly embarrassed because my parents, " I eat very
Logan Aldridge: healthy and clean. We don't keep sodas in the house."
Logan Aldridge: But I spent the summer surfing and wakeboarding and beer
Logan Aldridge: bonging Dr. Peppers and had a caffeine addiction in the
Logan Aldridge: hospital at 13. But anyways, I digress. I digress. I
Logan Aldridge: spent about two and a half weeks in the hospital
Logan Aldridge: in pediatric ICU monitoring, first of all, the first time
Logan Aldridge: trying to save the limb, and then after, just taking
Logan Aldridge: time to observe, making sure there was no gangrene infection,
Logan Aldridge: because we managed to save the limb for a while.
Logan Aldridge: In that time in pediatric ICU, I saw and became
Logan Aldridge: close with a lot of other kids going through a
Logan Aldridge: lot of other traumatic injuries and illnesses. I recognize every
Logan Aldridge: day, every night when I would sleep. Again, this mentality
Logan Aldridge: of it's just an arm would reiterate, and maybe not
Logan Aldridge: in that statement, but it would reiterate in my mind
Logan Aldridge: when maybe I would try to get up to go
Logan Aldridge: to the bathroom and I would wonder what it would
Logan Aldridge: be like if I had lost an arm and a
Logan Aldridge: leg and I would just put myself in that situation.
Logan Aldridge: I would hop on one foot and trust me, this
Logan Aldridge: would make the pediatric nurse and my mom go, " What
Logan Aldridge: are you doing, Logan? What are you doing?" And I say, "
Logan Aldridge: I'm showing myself in my mind that, could have been
Logan Aldridge: worse." And everyone is dealing with something in some way.
Logan Aldridge: Yes, I could say, " Woe is me, god, the arm.
Logan Aldridge: I wish I had it." But what if it was an arm and a leg?
Logan Aldridge: What if it was both of my legs? What if
Logan Aldridge: it was both of my arms? There's always a what
Logan Aldridge: if and a different way to view the moment you're
Logan Aldridge: in and how it could have been worse. And yeah,
Logan Aldridge: it could have been better. We always tend to think
Logan Aldridge: how it could have been better and woe is us.
Logan Aldridge: But when you practice how it could have been worse,
Logan Aldridge: and that's not to maintain or develop a pessimistic outlook,
Logan Aldridge: but it's actually meant to reiterate the abundance and the
Logan Aldridge: gratitude for what is, what it is. So, through that
Logan Aldridge: experience, that became the way I started to think about
Logan Aldridge: everything that I experienced as someone learning this new life
Logan Aldridge: with one arm, taking a shower, getting dressed, playing sports,
Logan Aldridge: getting back to lacrosse and football, and just working out
Logan Aldridge: in the gym with my friends. And through this exposure,
Logan Aldridge: first of all, I started to learn that someone that
Logan Aldridge: looks different isn't thick or ill. Or I think as
Logan Aldridge: a young kid, 10, 12- year- old, if I saw someone
Logan Aldridge: with a paralysis and a wheelchair, someone missing a limb,
Logan Aldridge: someone with a brachial plexus injury, a paralysis of an
Logan Aldridge: upper extremity limb or cerebral palsy or any sort of
Logan Aldridge: condition, I just felt really sorry and there was some
Logan Aldridge: sickness, some illness that they were battling or dealing with,
Logan Aldridge: very embarrassing and elementary way to view. And immediately, once
Logan Aldridge: I saw my figure in the mirror the first night
Logan Aldridge: after my arm was amputated, still in pediatric ICU, I remember
Logan Aldridge: standing and looking in the mirror and having a lot
Logan Aldridge: of tears. And it wasn't necessarily tears of sadness for
Logan Aldridge: myself, but it was this shocking reality. And I'm kind
Logan Aldridge: of embarrassed to say this, but it was this in
Logan Aldridge: the first moment, it was like, " Oh, my god, I'm
Logan Aldridge: a freak now. I look like a freak now, somebody
Logan Aldridge: who's just so different and people are going to judge and
Logan Aldridge: think differently." And I remember for five minutes, I had
Logan Aldridge: that perspective. And then I remember saying, you're never going
Logan Aldridge: to think like this again. You're never going to allow
Logan Aldridge: yourself to see yourself and definitely others. I think in
Logan Aldridge: that five minutes I learned that lesson. I learned, wow,
Logan Aldridge: wow, the judgment that others place on others because of
Logan Aldridge: their physical appearance or the assumption of ability, wow. And
Logan Aldridge: then thereafter, I promised to myself that I would never
Logan Aldridge: feel sorry for myself, and I would never judge people
Logan Aldridge: based on how they looked. And that I would figure
Logan Aldridge: out a way through my actions and experiences, not to
Logan Aldridge: think I have it all figured out, but to learn
Logan Aldridge: to be a student, to better understand other people going
Logan Aldridge: through different struggles in their life, physical or mental, tangible
Logan Aldridge: or intangible, being able to see them invisible or visible.
Logan Aldridge: I became so much more empathetic to how people may
Logan Aldridge: be experiencing life. And so, every time I tried to
Logan Aldridge: go back to the gym and work out again, I thought, "
Logan Aldridge: Okay, how would I do this if I was missing
Logan Aldridge: a leg? How would someone with a spinal cord injury
Logan Aldridge: do this? How would they approach this?" And really that
Logan Aldridge: started to unfold when I became obsessed with fitness and
Logan Aldridge: workouts and programming and started to think through that lens.
Logan Aldridge: And that really changed my whole outlook. And then it caused
Logan Aldridge: me to look back, and again, I'll shut up here
Logan Aldridge: because I can keep talking, but it caused me to
Logan Aldridge: look back and say, and this isn't me trying to
Logan Aldridge: be cliche and all, "Hey, it's all good," but this was not a
Logan Aldridge: bad thing. Losing the day I had my accident and
Logan Aldridge: looking back in retrospect is the best day of my life. It was the
Logan Aldridge: most important thing that I needed to experience. And that's
Logan Aldridge: crazy to say, but I don't say that to say
Logan Aldridge: I turned a horrible thing into a great, I truly
Logan Aldridge: think it was the ... I'm so glad that happened to
Logan Aldridge: me in every part of the experience. I'm so thankful.
Logan Aldridge: So, there's no regrets. And you know that silly question
Logan Aldridge: that people will add, "If you go back and change something, would you just
Logan Aldridge: not wrap the rope around for it to be?" Of course,
Logan Aldridge: you think about things like that. Of course, you wonder, "
Logan Aldridge: Man, what would it be like to have the two
Logan Aldridge: arms?" But no, no. I love what my life has
Logan Aldridge: become. I love the people I've gotten to meet, the
Logan Aldridge: impact I've been able to have, the experiences that I've
Logan Aldridge: been able to have has just been the most cherished
Logan Aldridge: and important experience of my life and wouldn't change a thing.
Becs Gentry: Logan, you are so positive, and I think the world
Becs Gentry: is a better place from your understanding of yourself and
Becs Gentry: we were all little punks when we were 13. Honestly, I don't
Becs Gentry: believe anyone who says they were an angel when they
Becs Gentry: were 13. Behind closed doors away from your parents and caregivers,
Becs Gentry: you're a little punk in your own brain. So, I
Becs Gentry: think there is no judgment over what you thought about
Becs Gentry: when you saw yourself in the mirror that day because
Becs Gentry: you were 13. It's fine. But what strikes me is the
Becs Gentry: growth and the very fast understanding and being a parent,
Becs Gentry: I just can't help but think how beautiful your parents
Becs Gentry: must be to have instilled that way of understanding into
Becs Gentry: this little punk of a 13- year- old, who after five
Becs Gentry: minutes did have the love in his life from his
Becs Gentry: family to reframe his thoughts and move forward. And I'm not going
Becs Gentry: to give your age away, but over the past couple
Becs Gentry: of decades, you have gone from strength to strength. And
Becs Gentry: I say that with all the cliches meant because as
Becs Gentry: I said when I introduce you, can deadlift more than
Becs Gentry: most people dream of being able to deadlift. And I
Becs Gentry: think you said the word " obsession", obsession with fitness. And
Becs Gentry: it has taken you to some of the highest reaching
Becs Gentry: athletic levels. But across the board, from running to weightlifting.
Becs Gentry: You have your weight boarding when you are younger. You
Becs Gentry: are a multi- sport athlete, through and through. As I
Becs Gentry: said, your golf swing is unreal. But what have you
Becs Gentry: seen over the past couple of decades of diving deeper
Becs Gentry: and deeper into sport as the most common misconception that
Becs Gentry: people have when they look at you, when they look
Becs Gentry: at other people with disabilities? What comes to your mind
Becs Gentry: as they're like, that happens a lot?
Logan Aldridge: Yeah, great. Again, wow, you are so sweet. I love
Logan Aldridge: you so much. Thank you so much. But great question.
Logan Aldridge: To be frank, it's no different between what I've observed
Logan Aldridge: and seen between the misconception of someone with a disability and
Logan Aldridge: the misconception of someone who just doesn't think that they are
Logan Aldridge: capable or able as they are in terms of accomplishing
Logan Aldridge: a workout. But it all comes down to the misconception
Logan Aldridge: of limitations, perceived limitations. We are told, especially from someone
Logan Aldridge: who has a disability, some sort of medical condition diagnosed
Logan Aldridge: that creates some sort of physical limitation. You get told
Logan Aldridge: through your experience with medical professionals and understanding maybe that
Logan Aldridge: condition or through just your experience in the world, you
Logan Aldridge: feel that there are limitations in your environments, things you
Logan Aldridge: can and can't do. What I became obsessed with and
Logan Aldridge: observed was pushing, pushing that sense of limitation, that psychological
Logan Aldridge: sense of where is my potential? Where does it end?
Logan Aldridge: Where can I go? Where can I excel? And through
Logan Aldridge: working with and observing other adaptive athletes and every other
Logan Aldridge: type of discipline from paralympic track and field to cycling
Logan Aldridge: to weightlifting and all the different sports and activities, it's
Logan Aldridge: always been being more of a creative solution finder rather
Logan Aldridge: than a problem identifier. We all have different ways we're
Logan Aldridge: going to try to accomplish something. And I think that there's endless opportunity
Logan Aldridge: to be creative in how you want to accomplish or
Logan Aldridge: approach a task. And through the creative approach, we create
Logan Aldridge: adaptation within our bodies. We discover a new way to
Logan Aldridge: lift that weight with one arm or to pedal that
Logan Aldridge: bike with one leg. And so, there becomes this desire
Logan Aldridge: to push. And I think for me, it was just
Logan Aldridge: this massive curiosity to what happens if I keep lifting
Logan Aldridge: heavier, safely, safely, always, always doing things with safety in
Logan Aldridge: mind. I don't want to injure anyone, especially an adaptive
Logan Aldridge: athlete, but curiosity and pushing the body to the extreme,
Logan Aldridge: to the limits. And to be honest, the mindset I
Logan Aldridge: have every time I do that is Forrest Gump, just
Logan Aldridge: like running and just knowing what happens when you stop.
Logan Aldridge: We all know at whatever rep, whatever weight, whatever distance,
Logan Aldridge: whatever time or speed or pace, you know what happens.
Logan Aldridge: We all know for certain, when you get to that
Logan Aldridge: moment and the brain says, " I can't do this anymore." Okay, if
Logan Aldridge: you stop, we all know what happens. Then you recover,
Logan Aldridge: everything is fine. You don't die. And you get back to
Logan Aldridge: a place. And in an hour or two hours or
Logan Aldridge: a day or a week or a month, you think
Logan Aldridge: if you can reflect enough back in that moment, oftentimes
Logan Aldridge: what I've found and the athletes I've worked with, adaptive
Logan Aldridge: athletes especially, we go back there and we really unpack
Logan Aldridge: that moment when you stopped, you didn't have to. You
Logan Aldridge: didn't have to. Just chose to. So, what happens if we
Logan Aldridge: just keep going, just a little bit more, just one more rep, one more step,
Logan Aldridge: one more. And then because of that next one, you
Logan Aldridge: break through and then the breakthrough, all of a sudden you
Logan Aldridge: thought you were at 99.9% and then you gave that 0.
Logan Aldridge: 1, and then you're like, " Oh, my GOD, that was
Logan Aldridge: 80. Now, I've got 81, 82. I can just keep going." So, that
Logan Aldridge: happens, and that happens over time. And trust me, I'm
Logan Aldridge: not here to say that's always the case. Yeah, there
Logan Aldridge: are times you push and you go, " Today's not the
Logan Aldridge: day," and that's it. And you pull off. But that's what
Logan Aldridge: I mean by the misconception is just not that you have to be a
Logan Aldridge: David Goggins in everything you do, but you just got
Logan Aldridge: to be open to pursuing a little bit more than
Logan Aldridge: what your brain, than what you even subconsciously know or
Logan Aldridge: believe you're capable of. And regardless of ability, regardless of
Logan Aldridge: disability, that's the way I think to advance, to pursue,
Logan Aldridge: to improve in everything we do in life.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, Logan, 100%. And that's something that people can relate
Rob Simmelkjaer: to, whether they have a disability or not. We talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: on this podcast ever since we started it, we talked
Rob Simmelkjaer: so much about the power of that just keep going
Rob Simmelkjaer: mentality and how you have to have that mentality to
Rob Simmelkjaer: do something like run a marathon, even if you're completely able-
Rob Simmelkjaer: bodied with no issues or disabilities. I mean, that's a
Rob Simmelkjaer: mindset of keep going to get you to the finish
Rob Simmelkjaer: line of a marathon. And speaking of marathons, Logan, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: are adding that to your repertoire these days. We know
Rob Simmelkjaer: about your weightlifting and your incredible strength with your right
Rob Simmelkjaer: arm now, but talk about the decision to get into
Rob Simmelkjaer: running and running marathons. You ran your first marathon in
Rob Simmelkjaer: Chicago last year. And we're so thrilled to have you
Rob Simmelkjaer: planning on joining us at the TCS New York City Marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: this year. That'll be your second marathon ever. I want
Rob Simmelkjaer: to hear about how the training is going and just what was it, Logan,
Rob Simmelkjaer: that got you to thinking, " Yeah, marathon, that's something I
Rob Simmelkjaer: need to do"?
Logan Aldridge: Becs, it was Becs. I mean, are you kidding me? Look who I work
Logan Aldridge: with. Are you kidding me? Everyone I'm surrounded by inspires me
Logan Aldridge: to the utmost to run a marathon, to be a marathoner specifically,
Logan Aldridge: but also just to be more fit on a side
Logan Aldridge: that I'm not. Listen, I love variants. As Becs was
Logan Aldridge: mentioning, I have ADHD when it comes to activity. I
Logan Aldridge: have to do this and then go try this and
Logan Aldridge: then try this. And then I'm always bouncing around from
Logan Aldridge: gymnastics to weightlifting to running. But if I'm being honest,
Logan Aldridge: I say that and I've always felt like I could stand
Logan Aldridge: tall with my chest out, being proud of how varied
Logan Aldridge: I am, how hybrid I am with my training and my
Logan Aldridge: fitness. But endurance running is not, I am the fast
Logan Aldridge: twitch guy. Quick stop, quick stop. Everything from lifting heavy
Logan Aldridge: to sprinting and track and field stuff. I have experienced
Logan Aldridge: 100 meter, 200 long jump. So, marathon running was a great
Logan Aldridge: opportunity for me to practice what I preach, which is
Logan Aldridge: that idea of variance, that idea of being uncommonly good
Logan Aldridge: at the common things, running, but the way you get,
Logan Aldridge: you do all the spectrums. You got to go run
Logan Aldridge: real short, real fast. You got to run real long,
Logan Aldridge: real steady. And I love being a beginner. I love
Logan Aldridge: being challenged by something that I thought I was going
Logan Aldridge: to be good at or that I thought would be
Logan Aldridge: easy. And I'll tell you what, my first long run
Logan Aldridge: I did training for Chicago last year where it was like, " Hey,
Logan Aldridge: Logan, just go out for 14 miles, but real slow
Logan Aldridge: conversational pace," I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it.
Logan Aldridge: And that's not me trying to sound cool. It was
Logan Aldridge: so hard to run slow, couldn't do it. And then
Logan Aldridge: that kept me up at night. I was like, " Logan, you don't know
Logan Aldridge: how to do this very well. This is all you're
Logan Aldridge: going to do now. This is all you're going to do." And I became obsessed
Logan Aldridge: with it. Chicago, so the training was really fun. It
Logan Aldridge: was really cool. It was way more cathartic than I
Logan Aldridge: thought or than any experience I've had in training for
Logan Aldridge: an event or for fitness. The runs were, I mean
Logan Aldridge: so many people I've talked about this, but the things
Logan Aldridge: you think about and the introspection you do and the
Logan Aldridge: places your mind goes internally and externally was wild. It
Logan Aldridge: was really, really interesting. It was really meditative. And I
Logan Aldridge: don't think I've ever done something like that where I'm in my
Logan Aldridge: own thoughts that long for those long runs. So, I
Logan Aldridge: fell in love with it. Chicago, man. So fun. What
Logan Aldridge: a great first run, too. A good flat one.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Can't promise you that in New York. Sorry, Logan.
Logan Aldridge: No.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, sorry.
Logan Aldridge: No. I know what's up for New York. I had
Logan Aldridge: FOMO though. Cheering for it last year. I said, " I
Logan Aldridge: have to do this." And yeah, I cannot wait for it, but-
Becs Gentry: You literally said that. I saw you on the Monday and you were like, "
Becs Gentry: I'm running New York next year." I was like, "Okay, okay, here we go. Let's go."
Logan Aldridge: As soon as it ended, I said, " Yeah, I have to do this one. I have
Logan Aldridge: to do this one." Chicago was amazing and it was
Logan Aldridge: the adrenaline, the fuel, the power you get from being
Logan Aldridge: around all those folks, it was incredible. I was flying
Logan Aldridge: y'all. I was killing it. And then I got to mile
Logan Aldridge: 20 and I thought, " Oh, yeah, did not do the
Logan Aldridge: electrolytes right in the first 10 miles." My legs locked
Logan Aldridge: up. So, I had a dramatic final six miles like many people have.
Becs Gentry: You had full body crumps, right?
Logan Aldridge: Yeah. You know those fainting goats? You know when the
Logan Aldridge: fainting goats, you scare them and they lock up?
Becs Gentry: My favorite.
Logan Aldridge: And then they fall over, that was me at mile
Logan Aldridge: 20. Exactly 20.0 my legs, both legs went locked up and yeah, that
Logan Aldridge: was crazy. So, this is redemption marathon. This is New
Logan Aldridge: York City, different marathon, but the hometown, we're going to
Logan Aldridge: crush it. All of the fam, all of Pelot, I'm going to do
Logan Aldridge: everything I can to just beat my own race. I'm not
Logan Aldridge: racing against anybody else but myself and my own mentality
Logan Aldridge: is just do better than the last one. Don't cramp
Logan Aldridge: up that bad.
Becs Gentry: It is the best. It is the best.
Logan Aldridge: I love it. I love it. I love it. And I see exactly now what
Logan Aldridge: they're talking about. The first one I was training for
Logan Aldridge: it and I was going to go out. I was like, "
Logan Aldridge: You know what? I'm going to do one, say I did it." Good. Done, done, done. Did
Logan Aldridge: it. As soon as I finished, I was like, "No, no,
Logan Aldridge: no. I'm not going out like that. I got to
Logan Aldridge: do it again. I got to do it again." So, yeah,
Logan Aldridge: I've been talking to Becs about it. It's in my head. Starting
Logan Aldridge: now, starting that training, well underway, feeling great, feeling great,
Logan Aldridge: just really, it's all about, and I very much overlooked
Logan Aldridge: this. It's all about knowing how to fuel and hydrate
Logan Aldridge: for me, that's what it is.
Becs Gentry: And rest.
Logan Aldridge: Training the gut, training the body. And yes, taking the
Logan Aldridge: days to let the body fully recover. I struggle with that.
Becs Gentry: Yes, because you do like to do everything, but this
Becs Gentry: marathon training is definitely one of those times where you
Becs Gentry: have to sit back and be like, " I will do
Becs Gentry: it, but maybe in 12 to 16 weeks."
Logan Aldridge: It's incredible. It's incredible. It's, again, such an important, for me in
Logan Aldridge: my background, it's one of those one aspects that I
Logan Aldridge: really did not pursue. I did not do the endurance
Logan Aldridge: stuff. I think the most I'd ran was 13 miles ever
Logan Aldridge: before training for that.
Becs Gentry: Which is amazing in itself. Logan, I want to ask you as
Becs Gentry: somebody, as a leader in the fitness industry and seeing
Becs Gentry: the changes that you have personally experienced, but also huge
Becs Gentry: changes within the fitness world since you had your accident
Becs Gentry: to where you are today as a Peloton instructor, what
Becs Gentry: would you still like to see change to make the
Becs Gentry: fitness industry more inclusive?
Logan Aldridge: Yeah, great question. First of all, let's give some flowers
Logan Aldridge: to how much it has changed. And regardless of anything
Logan Aldridge: of the incredible opportunity I've had to do, what I've
Logan Aldridge: been able to do here at Peloton, regardless of that,
Logan Aldridge: the industry as a whole, I think the efforts, the
Logan Aldridge: acknowledgement, the opportunity is far greater than it was. And
Logan Aldridge: culturally, I think socially, culturally, I think we see in
Logan Aldridge: a very different way, people who are different, people who
Logan Aldridge: look different, have different varying ability in some way. So,
Logan Aldridge: I want to give praise and appreciate how far we've
Logan Aldridge: come. It's amazing. And then I want to be very grateful and express my
Logan Aldridge: incredible gratitude and honor and how I joke a lot
Logan Aldridge: and I try to be lighthearted and funny, but how
Logan Aldridge: serious I take this work that I do in regards
Logan Aldridge: to increasing the inclusion and accessibility for everyone to fitness
Logan Aldridge: offerings and meeting them where they are with fitness and
Logan Aldridge: the opportunity to have a Peloton to do that and the
Logan Aldridge: work we've been doing. I take that work very seriously.
Logan Aldridge: And because I know the impact it can have and what
Logan Aldridge: it can do. And I think we are on the precipice
Logan Aldridge: of doing exactly what the vision, the idea, the mission
Logan Aldridge: has always been, which is to democratize fitness, make it
Logan Aldridge: accessible and approachable and relatable to anyone regardless of background,
Logan Aldridge: ability, location, every type of demographic you would put on
Logan Aldridge: someone, this is the one place where everyone should be united
Logan Aldridge: and welcomed and offered the opportunity to be seen, represented,
Logan Aldridge: and supported. That's the whole reason why I've been on
Logan Aldridge: the mission I've been on before Peloton and educating trainers
Logan Aldridge: to be certified to work with people with disabilities and
Logan Aldridge: then to create the offerings. Because when you look at
Logan Aldridge: it from a 10,000- foot view, why doesn't everyone do
Logan Aldridge: it? We all want everyone to do it. We know
Logan Aldridge: how great it is for everyone. Well, it's access. And
Logan Aldridge: then we think about the ways in which someone with a
Logan Aldridge: disability has access to not only fitness but the world.
Logan Aldridge: Disability was a term and an idea, a concept that
Logan Aldridge: did not use to exist until we started creating environments
Logan Aldridge: that required certain physical abilities to participate or interact or
Logan Aldridge: be involved in. So, there's a great, great, and I
Logan Aldridge: won't go into this, but there's a history of disability
Logan Aldridge: as an incredible book about the background and history of
Logan Aldridge: disability. And it's incredible. Before, a long time ago, there
Logan Aldridge: used to not be this idea of disability. And Native
Logan Aldridge: American tribes, they didn't have it. It was literally like
Logan Aldridge: a superpower. It was like your task then was then
Logan Aldridge: focused on this one specific thing because you'd be way
Logan Aldridge: more better and skilled at this than others. But the
Logan Aldridge: environment is what creates the disability. And I think in fitness, of
Logan Aldridge: course, it's an environment of we want to express your
Logan Aldridge: body constantly, how to express your body and train your
Logan Aldridge: ability to get stronger and better. So, what I recognized
Logan Aldridge: was from a 10, 000- foot view, if gyms don't have
Logan Aldridge: the knowledge, the trainers don't have the knowledge, the equipment
Logan Aldridge: isn't set up, the facility isn't set up for a
Logan Aldridge: seated athlete to be able to roll in and have
Logan Aldridge: access to the right weights, the right equipment, the right
Logan Aldridge: program, and knowledge from the trainers and the coaches in
Logan Aldridge: the gym, that's not abnormal. That's just someone coming to
Logan Aldridge: work out. That isn't the state of the industry or
Logan Aldridge: of the access of the facilities. And so, the opportunity
Logan Aldridge: was to educate trainers. And then once trainers are educated,
Logan Aldridge: they feel empowered and capable to welcome anyone in their
Logan Aldridge: doors. Once that happens, that individual feels confident and not
Logan Aldridge: like a burden, not like a psychological burden on where
Logan Aldridge: they may be going. And then we talk about the
Logan Aldridge: individuals that just want fitness to meet them where they
Logan Aldridge: are. It's incredible. We have these phones that are like
Logan Aldridge: computers and everything can be done on them, and we have these apps.
Logan Aldridge: So, with Peloton and Connected Fitness, no matter what we're
Logan Aldridge: doing, fitness can meet you where you are. And I
Logan Aldridge: think the work that we have been doing at Peloton
Logan Aldridge: and can continue to do is market and show how
Logan Aldridge: wherever you are, no matter what your ability or background,
Logan Aldridge: you can start to move. And that's the message is
Logan Aldridge: just move. Just move. And here at Peloton, we've created
Logan Aldridge: the no intimidation easy way to get started, to learn
Logan Aldridge: about yourself and your ability regardless if you're a standing adaptive
Logan Aldridge: athlete, a seated adaptive athlete, which are just two general
Logan Aldridge: big bucket categories we identify. And then within those, I'm
Logan Aldridge: going to take you through exposing and educating you on
Logan Aldridge: ways to move your body, how to move your body,
Logan Aldridge: how to be confident in moving your body, the safe
Logan Aldridge: and effective way to things to hold yourself accountable to
Logan Aldridge: regardless of your condition or impairment. We still want to
Logan Aldridge: hold ourselves to a certain standard in movement. And then
Logan Aldridge: through that, we get empowered and we get curious about
Logan Aldridge: how to modify or adapt or change movement to meet
Logan Aldridge: us where we are. Because the whole point of inclusive
Logan Aldridge: fitness is not to create a category on Peloton that
Logan Aldridge: has adaptive and all adaptive come there and they take
Logan Aldridge: the workouts there and that's where that category is. That's
Logan Aldridge: exclusive. That's creating a one place where everyone comes to
Logan Aldridge: do one thing for a certain type of person. Instead, it's
Logan Aldridge: educating through that experience, which is phenomenal what we do
Logan Aldridge: at Peloton. Peloton through fun entertainment, we're educating, too. We're
Logan Aldridge: making education fun is really what this version of fitness is.
Logan Aldridge: And so, the adaptive categories are then meant to empower
Logan Aldridge: the individual, build confidence, like a rolling snowball type of
Logan Aldridge: thing. All of a sudden, you got some momentum. All of a
Logan Aldridge: sudden, okay, I'm a seated athlete. When Adrian says burpees
Logan Aldridge: in a class, I know what my burpee is. I
Logan Aldridge: know how to modify the burpee. So, now that athlete
Logan Aldridge: can start to take any strength class. Now, that athlete
Logan Aldridge: can go and take any piece of content from any
Logan Aldridge: instructor, and that's universal design, and that's the approach where
Logan Aldridge: I want fitness to get to with Peloton, with the fitness
Logan Aldridge: industry as a whole, is how do we make it
Logan Aldridge: so that everyone is universally benefiting from increased knowledge and
Logan Aldridge: awareness and access to this type of fitness. Indirectly too, it's
Logan Aldridge: a great solution for those who maybe have a knee injury,
Logan Aldridge: an ankle injury, some temporary impairment. So many times I
Logan Aldridge: see individuals who would just put their membership or put
Logan Aldridge: their fitness approach on pause for a month or two
Logan Aldridge: because they had a little injury, and now they can
Logan Aldridge: continue to move their body. This is meant to welcome
Logan Aldridge: any and everyone. It's not specific to, yes, you have
Logan Aldridge: to have a permanent impairment or condition to do adaptive
Logan Aldridge: training. No, no, no. It's meant for everyone to learn
Logan Aldridge: about an experience and it makes everyone better. Makes everyone better.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Logan, I cannot think of a better conversation for us
Rob Simmelkjaer: to have. July, for those who don't know, is Disability
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pride Month. And you're just showing it. You're showing exactly
Rob Simmelkjaer: what it's all about. Your book, by the way, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: have out is called Beyond Expectations, and that's what it
Rob Simmelkjaer: is. You didn't let yourself become limited by the expectations
Rob Simmelkjaer: of others, even the expectations of your pre- accident self, right?
Logan Aldridge: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You decided to discard those, discard the prejudices that you
Rob Simmelkjaer: had about people with disabilities because now you were one
Rob Simmelkjaer: and you've shown it. You've shown what this is all
Rob Simmelkjaer: about. One of my favorite things, Logan, about the TCS
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York City Marathon and most of our races, but
Rob Simmelkjaer: especially the marathon, is just how many different types of
Rob Simmelkjaer: people and abilities we see show up at the starting
Rob Simmelkjaer: line of that race. And you are going to be
Rob Simmelkjaer: among those people. I'm sure you felt this in Chicago,
Rob Simmelkjaer: too, surrounded by so many people who have different types
Rob Simmelkjaer: of bodies and different abilities. And for you to be
Rob Simmelkjaer: up there doing what you've done, leading in this space
Rob Simmelkjaer: and doing it at an incredible level of success, deadlifting 500
Rob Simmelkjaer: pounds, by the way, which I still cannot quite comprehend.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I mean, I cannot do that myself with four limbs.
Logan Aldridge: I can't either.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How? How?
Logan Aldridge: I can't either. Dude, I'm not a big person. I
Logan Aldridge: can't either. I weigh 165 pounds, I don't know how
Logan Aldridge: I deadlifted 500, 502 pounds. It's adrenaline is what it was, I guess.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer: They say you can lift a car, I guess if there's enough
Rob Simmelkjaer: adrenaline, something got you fired up.
Logan Aldridge: That's what happened.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Unbelievable.
Logan Aldridge: That's what happened.
Rob Simmelkjaer: But Logan, amazing having you here on Set the Pace,
Rob Simmelkjaer: amazing to have your story as part of our marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: this year. And I know we're going to be hearing
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot more from you. Your Instagram by the way,
Rob Simmelkjaer: for those who don't follow it is awesome. People need
Rob Simmelkjaer: to follow you, Logan Aldridge on Instagram and just check
Rob Simmelkjaer: it out. We can't wait to see how your prep
Rob Simmelkjaer: goes. Are you feeling good at this point? You think you're going to
Rob Simmelkjaer: be ready to go in November?
Logan Aldridge: Yes, I'm feeling great. Yes, I'm fired up. And hold me accountable.
Logan Aldridge: Keep me to it. I'm going to get my time. I'm going to do well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm going to be following you on Instagram. I'm going
Rob Simmelkjaer: to be watching and seeing how you're doing.
Logan Aldridge: Yes, please.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Keep it going. We can't wait to see you in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York and thank you so much. This is an amazing conversation
Rob Simmelkjaer: and just an incredibly inspiring one.
Logan Aldridge: Thank you both. And I just want to say on
Logan Aldridge: those few things, just mention. This does mean the world
Logan Aldridge: to me. I'm incredibly passionate about adaptive training, creating access
Logan Aldridge: for everyone to fitness. I do not think I know it
Logan Aldridge: all. I do not think I am here and able
Logan Aldridge: to represent everyone and all of the disability community. And I
Logan Aldridge: absolutely acknowledge you cannot be everything to everyone. And I
Logan Aldridge: want people to know it all comes from a place
Logan Aldridge: of love and positive intention and trying to create solutions
Logan Aldridge: and understanding when I can, thinking of and trying my
Logan Aldridge: best to represent every type of disability community. You're exactly
Logan Aldridge: right. My experience with it at 13 was remarkable. I'm
Logan Aldridge: so lucky, so, so lucky to have the family and
Logan Aldridge: the support that I had. It shaped every bit of
Logan Aldridge: my outlook and perspective. And that self- help book that
Logan Aldridge: my mom and I co- authored way back in the
Logan Aldridge: day, Beyond Expectations, was exactly that. My experience with expectations,
Logan Aldridge: what we came, what I came to define it as
Logan Aldridge: was prejudgments. We place on ourselves in one another that
Logan Aldridge: typically limit potential. And being left- handed at 13 and
Logan Aldridge: having that arm amputated, a lot of teachers and adults
Logan Aldridge: thought that I wouldn't write again. And that was my
Logan Aldridge: first experience while in the hospital where I thought, " Wow,
Logan Aldridge: they're just going to think I just won't write. I'm
Logan Aldridge: pretty sure I just try for a while and I'll
Logan Aldridge: figure it out." And I did. So, that was my
Logan Aldridge: experience there and that's the message I want to tell.
Logan Aldridge: When I say beyond expectations, it's not about overachieving or
Logan Aldridge: trying to be perfect, but it's just recognizing that they're
Logan Aldridge: just preconceived limitations that we typically place on ourselves and
Logan Aldridge: often placed on others. And let's encourage exceeding. Let's encourage
Logan Aldridge: pushing past and rather than placing judgment and expectations, let's
Logan Aldridge: just assume massive potential that we all can pursue. And
Logan Aldridge: I know that when it comes to adaptive stuff, people
Logan Aldridge: don't care how much you know until they know how
Logan Aldridge: much you care. And I just want to continue to
Logan Aldridge: say, this is my world, this is what I live for and
Logan Aldridge: I breathe it and love it. And if there's ever
Logan Aldridge: anything I can improve on, always reach out to me,
Logan Aldridge: send me a DM on my Instagram. I want to get better and
Logan Aldridge: better. I'm always a student trying to learn, too. So,
Logan Aldridge: thank you all so much for having me on here
Logan Aldridge: and let me ramble and talk way too much.
Becs Gentry: You are fabulous. You are loved and yeah, so grateful to share this time
Becs Gentry: with you and our Peloton time. Logan, we wish you so much luck
Becs Gentry: in the TCS New York City Marathon this year and yeah,
Becs Gentry: let's go run some miles, baby.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Let's go. Let's go. Can't wait. Thank you all. Can't wait
Rob Simmelkjaer: to see you all out there. It's going to be
Rob Simmelkjaer: awesome. For today's Member Moment, we are thrilled to welcome
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dr. Tamanna Singh, a board certified adult clinical and sports
Rob Simmelkjaer: cardiologist and an RRCA certified run coach. Dr. Singh serves
Rob Simmelkjaer: as the co- director of the Sports Cardiology Center at
Rob Simmelkjaer: Cleveland Clinic and she's an assistant professor of medicine at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Center College of Medicine. But beyond
Rob Simmelkjaer: her impressive professional achievements, she's an avid marathon runner, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: weightlifter, a plant- based cooking enthusiast, and a passionate advocate
Rob Simmelkjaer: for the benefits of slow running. Here's Meb with Dr. Singh.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. Welcome, Dr. Singh, to the podcast. Starting with
Meb Keflezighi: your personal journey, what motivated you to begin running and how
Meb Keflezighi: has your relationship with running evolved over the years?
Tamanna Singh: So, I think my role in the medical work has
Tamanna Singh: actually helped me get into the role of running. So,
Tamanna Singh: in my sports cardiology training, one of my mentors told
Tamanna Singh: me to bring a pair of sneakers with me and
Tamanna Singh: I really wasn't running much at the time. I think
Tamanna Singh: maybe a couple of miles several times a week. And
Tamanna Singh: she said, " Well, when you start training, you're going to
Tamanna Singh: probably be running more." And I think just inherently with the
Tamanna Singh: athlete patients I was meeting and treating as well as
Tamanna Singh: being around a lot of sport in Boston, I just
Tamanna Singh: started to pick it up a little bit and within
Tamanna Singh: that year, did my first 10 miles and a half
Tamanna Singh: marathon and then did my first marathon about a year
Tamanna Singh: after I started to finally do some more long distance running.
Meb Keflezighi: You're an advocate for slow running. Can you explain how
Meb Keflezighi: slow running helps your body, especially how it makes your
Meb Keflezighi: muscles and blood flow work better?
Tamanna Singh: Yeah, so slow running is really part of the process
Tamanna Singh: when you're trying to build aerobic efficiency and endurance. So,
Tamanna Singh: from a cardiovascular perspective, we're thinking about getting the heart
Tamanna Singh: stronger and more efficient every time it beats. So, that
Tamanna Singh: translates over to our muscular performance in terms of running at
Tamanna Singh: a level, at a pace where you're actually able to
Tamanna Singh: improve the mitochondrial density, improve your capillary network. And in
Tamanna Singh: layman's terms, that's basically becoming better at utilizing the energy
Tamanna Singh: you're producing, getting more oxygen to your muscles, getting more
Tamanna Singh: oxygen and blood flow to your heart muscle. And over
Tamanna Singh: time running those easy paces is going to help you
Tamanna Singh: become faster in the long run.
Meb Keflezighi: When I see people getting from point A to point
Meb Keflezighi: B, there are runners, but what are some of the
Meb Keflezighi: common misconception about slow running that you have encountered?
Tamanna Singh: I think sometimes some people will say, " Hey, I'm running
Tamanna Singh: too slow. How am I ever going to know how
Tamanna Singh: to run fast or learn how to run fast?" That's
Tamanna Singh: a very common myth that I see in my practice.
Tamanna Singh: Or I'll have individuals say, " Hey, I'm running these fast
Tamanna Singh: paces and I can sustain them, but I'm not seeing
Tamanna Singh: any improvement in my pace. I'm not seeing any improvement
Tamanna Singh: in my endurance and my stamina." And I think that's
Tamanna Singh: where we have to backtrack and say, " We have to
Tamanna Singh: develop a process a way to create that metabolic change,
Tamanna Singh: that change that allows for you to utilize oxygen more
Tamanna Singh: efficiently, allows for your muscles to utilize oxygen more efficiently."
Tamanna Singh: Because when you can build those ground tools, build that
Tamanna Singh: foundation of that aerobic warehouse, that's what's going to translate
Tamanna Singh: into you being able to sustain a pace. So, I
Tamanna Singh: think just teaching individuals that just because you're running slow
Tamanna Singh: on your easy miles doesn't mean that you can't be
Tamanna Singh: fast. I think that's really important. And people will find
Tamanna Singh: that they have more energy to do their workouts if
Tamanna Singh: they run most of their mileage at a slower effort,
Tamanna Singh: a very sustainable effort. And then I'll tell the people
Tamanna Singh: who are kind of running in that gray zone, so
Tamanna Singh: where you're not really getting much bang for your buck,
Tamanna Singh: you're just not running slow enough to get that bang
Tamanna Singh: for your buck and you're also not necessarily running quite
Tamanna Singh: fast to build those paces that you're trying to sustain.
Tamanna Singh: I'll tell those individuals, " Slow it down, you'll find that
Tamanna Singh: you're recovering better. You'll find that you might actually be
Tamanna Singh: able to run faster for longer, again, once you have
Tamanna Singh: those building blocks established in your foundation of running."
Meb Keflezighi: That's the same from personal experience. For me was the
Meb Keflezighi: hard days are hard, but the easy days are also
Meb Keflezighi: as important. And how can runners determine their ideal slow
Meb Keflezighi: running pace? What indicators should they look for to ensure
Meb Keflezighi: they are maintaining the right effort level?
Tamanna Singh: So, I'm a huge advocate for effort. I know a
Tamanna Singh: lot of people will use heart rate to do things
Tamanna Singh: like zone training. So, basically the most common form of
Tamanna Singh: zone training is looking at zones one through five and
Tamanna Singh: then figuring out what your peak heart rate is based
Tamanna Singh: upon maybe a 5K or all out max test and then
Tamanna Singh: building backwards from there. What I've learned as someone who's
Tamanna Singh: been around a lot of the gadgets, used a lot
Tamanna Singh: of gadgets myself and sometimes maybe been a little more,
Tamanna Singh: I don't want to say obsessed, but maybe looking at
Tamanna Singh: the numbers more often when I first started running. What
Tamanna Singh: I've learned over time is that the numbers are not
Tamanna Singh: always necessarily accurate and on a day- to- day basis,
Tamanna Singh: they're not going to be as helpful because your heart
Tamanna Singh: rate changes with whatever you use to hydrate the day
Tamanna Singh: before, how stressed you are, how well recovered you are,
Tamanna Singh: whether you're sick. And so, utilizing heart rate on a day- to-
Tamanna Singh: day basis may just not be as reflective of what
Tamanna Singh: you need to advance your training. So, I find an effort-
Tamanna Singh: based strategy being the best to figure out what your
Tamanna Singh: slow pace can be. And the way I often describe it
Tamanna Singh: to my athlete patients is think about a pace where
Tamanna Singh: you can help hold a conversation. You really don't have
Tamanna Singh: to take many breaths in between. You can actually just
Tamanna Singh: chat with someone side by side. You might even be
Tamanna Singh: able to sing along with a song that you're listening
Tamanna Singh: to. That would be a nice, easy, sustainable, you can
Tamanna Singh: run that effort forever. And then if you go up
Tamanna Singh: a notch, if you're thinking about pace work, so maybe
Tamanna Singh: perhaps tempo or I would say probably tempo training, that
Tamanna Singh: would be more along the lines of you can maybe
Tamanna Singh: get a sentence or two out, but you're definitely breathing
Tamanna Singh: a little more. And that effort is not necessarily sustainable,
Tamanna Singh: but you could probably do that for about 30 minutes
Tamanna Singh: to an hour. And then building off of that, if
Tamanna Singh: you're at an effort where you're huffing and puffing a
Tamanna Singh: bit more, maybe getting out a couple of words, that's
Tamanna Singh: going to translate more into something like interval training, fast-
Tamanna Singh: paced training, so 5K, 10K, maybe even faster. So, effort I
Tamanna Singh: think is more reliable and it also kind of takes
Tamanna Singh: a little bit of the type A thought process of
Tamanna Singh: running out of the equation. And it also I think
Tamanna Singh: helps you be more positive about your running. Sometimes if
Tamanna Singh: we see that our heart rate didn't get as high
Tamanna Singh: or maybe we didn't hit a particular pace numerically, that
Tamanna Singh: can sometimes get people bogged down. But if you just
Tamanna Singh: think about, " Hey, did I hit the effort that was
Tamanna Singh: the intention of this workout?" That's a quick easy yes
Tamanna Singh: or no, or maybe, that might be a bit more
Tamanna Singh: positive in your reflection of that run.
Meb Keflezighi: I completely agree. I think sometimes even when I'm running,
Meb Keflezighi: I will have my watch on my heart rate and see what
Meb Keflezighi: my effort's like and then predict the pace or vice
Meb Keflezighi: versa. I will have on the pace and say, " I think
Meb Keflezighi: my heart rate should be on this zone," be able
Meb Keflezighi: to just set effort. I feel like my heart rate
Meb Keflezighi: should be at 135 or whatever my recovery runs. But
Meb Keflezighi: you advocate for 80% of the train should be slow
Meb Keflezighi: running. Is that how accurate or what's your thought on that?
Tamanna Singh: Yeah, I mean I think the 80- 20 breakdown is quite
Tamanna Singh: simple to follow. At the end of the day, I
Tamanna Singh: don't necessarily say one particular percentage is better than the
Tamanna Singh: other. I think if you're breaking down your training to
Tamanna Singh: a week- long training week, if you think about maybe
Tamanna Singh: having the majority of your runs in that easy sustainable
Tamanna Singh: effort and then perhaps one to two days where you're
Tamanna Singh: doing speed training or a workout that's meant for whatever
Tamanna Singh: you are training for, I think that's a healthy way
Tamanna Singh: to get started and to try to figure out what
Tamanna Singh: your effort translates to in terms of pace work, whether
Tamanna Singh: that effort allows for sufficient recovery in the day following,
Tamanna Singh: and then just build upon that. And if you do
Tamanna Singh: want to correlate numbers, then the way I kind of
Tamanna Singh: think about it is just go backwards. Think about how
Tamanna Singh: you're feeling, maybe take a couple of glances at your
Tamanna Singh: watch. A chest drop is going to be the most
Tamanna Singh: reliable way to measure your heart rate. So, if you
Tamanna Singh: really want to look at numbers, I would say go
Tamanna Singh: to chest drop. But use the effort as your foundation.
Tamanna Singh: You can see how it translates to heart rate. But
Tamanna Singh: again, remember that the data is just data. You got
Tamanna Singh: to trust your gut, trust how you feel, and I
Tamanna Singh: think that allows for you to not hold back too
Tamanna Singh: much. And it also prevents you from pushing too far.
Meb Keflezighi: Well said, the progress is right in front of you, the
Meb Keflezighi: next mile, the next week, the next month to be
Meb Keflezighi: able to elevate your fitness at the highest level. Well, what inspired
Meb Keflezighi: you to start running marathons and what has been your
Meb Keflezighi: most memorable marathon experience?
Tamanna Singh: Yeah, so I think I've run now eight to date. And like I said,
Tamanna Singh: I started in 2019. It really was just kind of
Tamanna Singh: being around a lot of positive energy. I mean, I
Tamanna Singh: did most of my training in Boston and Boston is
Tamanna Singh: notorious a city for running and for incredible runners. I've
Tamanna Singh: seen the marathon many, many times. But I think hearing
Tamanna Singh: about how much people learn about themselves was what kept
Tamanna Singh: me motivated to see how much more I could do.
Tamanna Singh: And eventually three miles became five miles became seven and
Tamanna Singh: 10 and more. And every time I kind of broke
Tamanna Singh: that barrier, I saw that translate into confidence, not just
Tamanna Singh: as a runner, but confidence as a professional, as someone
Tamanna Singh: part of relationships in my personal life. And I think
Tamanna Singh: that's the best part about running. You're seeing growth not
Tamanna Singh: just in an athletic perspective, but you're seeing growth personally.
Tamanna Singh: And so then, I had run a half marathon. One
Tamanna Singh: of my colleagues came by my office and said, " Hey,
Tamanna Singh: have you ever run marathons?" And I said, " No, no,
Tamanna Singh: no, I don't think I can run a marathon." And she basically was like, "
Tamanna Singh: Well, it's just another half." So, later that day, I
Tamanna Singh: ended up signing up with TEAM PAWS to run the
Tamanna Singh: Chicago Marathon. So, it was just very quick trigger type
Tamanna Singh: of decision for me. And then I ran that in
Tamanna Singh: 2019. It was tough. It was number one. I definitely
Tamanna Singh: did not get my nutrition and hydration right, but that
Tamanna Singh: was enough motivation for me to kind of seek redemption
Tamanna Singh: for the second. And then after that, it was just,
Tamanna Singh: again, every marathon is so different in terms of how
Tamanna Singh: you feel during and after. And I just saw myself
Tamanna Singh: grow and really take myself out of a box and
Tamanna Singh: like I said, just push a lot of barriers in
Tamanna Singh: my personal and professional life because of the confidence I
Tamanna Singh: was building as a runner. So then in terms of
Tamanna Singh: my favorite, I mean I ran New York last November
Tamanna Singh: and London this April. So, those are probably by far
Tamanna Singh: my two favorites just because of the intensity of the
Tamanna Singh: crowd. There truly was a spectator at every part of
Tamanna Singh: the race. And I think London was probably really memorable
Tamanna Singh: just because both of my parents were there. And so,
Tamanna Singh: to see my dad there with me, it was wonderful
Tamanna Singh: to have them by my side holding my hands after
Tamanna Singh: the race when my feet were hurting. So, it was
Tamanna Singh: just a great family experience. And then I've got the
Tamanna Singh: Marathon Porto coming up in August, so that's the race
Tamanna Singh: that's alongside the Olympics. So, that'll be a really cool
Tamanna Singh: experience my first night race. And I think just again,
Tamanna Singh: being around the energy of the Olympics and being able
Tamanna Singh: to run along a course that the Olympians are going
Tamanna Singh: to follow us after is pretty cool. It's really exciting.
Tamanna Singh: So, I'm looking forward to that.
Meb Keflezighi: That should be very exciting and congratulations on all your running
Meb Keflezighi: achievements, but also for giving guidance to those, the scientific
Meb Keflezighi: part of what the body's going through, so you have
Meb Keflezighi: the both combination to be able to just deliver. So,
Meb Keflezighi: congratulations and wish you the best.
Tamanna Singh: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you, Dr. Singh for joining us today and for
Rob Simmelkjaer: being a member of New York Road Runners. All right,
Rob Simmelkjaer: before we get to today's Meb Minute, we are actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the second week of our 2024 TCS New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon complimentary entry giveaway sweepstakes here on Set the Pace.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right. This is a chance to get a complimentary guaranteed
Rob Simmelkjaer: spot in this year's TCS New York City Marathon, pretty
Rob Simmelkjaer: much an impossible thing to get except right here on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace. So, here's the question for this week.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You might remember a couple of weeks ago, Becs announced
Rob Simmelkjaer: that she's going to be taking part in the Great
Rob Simmelkjaer: World Race this November. This is seven marathons on seven
Rob Simmelkjaer: continents in seven days. It's crazy. In the episode where
Rob Simmelkjaer: we talked about this where David Kilgore, her friend who's
Rob Simmelkjaer: doing this with her was a host, we talked about
Rob Simmelkjaer: the locations where they're going to be doing these marathons.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And a hint here is they actually only go to
Rob Simmelkjaer: six locations for these seven marathons. So, the question is,
Rob Simmelkjaer: what is the one location where they actually run two
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathons? Where do they go where there's one spot and
Rob Simmelkjaer: they run two marathons on two different continents in that
Rob Simmelkjaer: place? The answer to this question is in the July
Rob Simmelkjaer: 11th episode. So, if you missed our conversation with David
Rob Simmelkjaer: Kilgore, you can go back and listen. We won't be
Rob Simmelkjaer: drawing the winners until midnight on July 31st. To enter
Rob Simmelkjaer: the contest, go ahead and send your answer along with
Rob Simmelkjaer: a screenshot showing us that you've subscribed to Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace and left a rating to nyrrpodcast@ nrr. org. That's nyrrpodcast@ nyrr.
Rob Simmelkjaer: org. Send us the answer that one location where they're
Rob Simmelkjaer: running two marathons in this incredible seven marathons on seven
Rob Simmelkjaer: continents in seven days contest. All rules surrounding the sweepstakes
Rob Simmelkjaer: are available at nyrr.org/ setthepace. Now, let's check out today's
Rob Simmelkjaer: Meb Minutes.
Meb Keflezighi: Yeah, Meb Minutes this week is week 15, getting ready for the TCS
Meb Keflezighi: New York City Marathon. What you're thinking afterward, two weeks
Meb Keflezighi: is important. Do I have the right attire? Do I have the
Meb Keflezighi: right gear? I should try nutrition. What is going to
Meb Keflezighi: be served at the TCS New York City Marathon course?
Meb Keflezighi: Time to order some products and be able to just have
Meb Keflezighi: it at your disposal because you are committed to run
Meb Keflezighi: the biggest marathon in the world and 15 weeks out, you
Meb Keflezighi: are thinking, " Hey, I am ready for this." Even though
Meb Keflezighi: sometimes, how was that last week, week 16. I say I
Meb Keflezighi: made those great decision. My wife now is like, I
Meb Keflezighi: have the right things in my hand and be able
Meb Keflezighi: to just say to work hard, because it's all about
Meb Keflezighi: the journey. The sooner that you are committed and putting
Meb Keflezighi: the miles, the better. You're going to be fitter, stronger.
Meb Keflezighi: And then also getting to the starting line as best
Meb Keflezighi: as you can. It's all processing, thinking about it, checklist. Week
Meb Keflezighi: 15, the right gear, the right nutrition, I'm committed. And then you
Meb Keflezighi: start to see the progress. I really think what you
Meb Keflezighi: did the last two weeks will make a difference. Not
Meb Keflezighi: upping the miles, but you can see your cardiovascular making
Meb Keflezighi: progress. What was hard last week, two weeks is now
Meb Keflezighi: becoming easier. And that's the video of running. You can
Meb Keflezighi: slow down a little bit. You can pick up the
Meb Keflezighi: pace, but you're ready. Two weeks into it, end of
Meb Keflezighi: July almost, July 25th, you're like, "Okay, I'm ready for this." And November's
Meb Keflezighi: going to come very soon. So, just keep making progress.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, that does it for another episode of Set
Rob Simmelkjaer: The Pace. We want to thank our guests today, the
Rob Simmelkjaer: incredible Logan Aldridge and Dr. Tamanna Singh, our member of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the week. If you like today's episode, please go ahead,
Rob Simmelkjaer: subscribe, rate, leave a comment so folks can find us.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hope you enjoy the show. We'll see you next week.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Enjoy the miles.