Kirra Michel: Life is always challenging no matter where you are, but
Kirra Michel: it is... I have a really nice, beautiful life. I
Kirra Michel: had a nice, beautiful life, but I just couldn't find the joy inside. So
Kirra Michel: I was definitely running, hoping to find something. But it
Kirra Michel: turns out, no matter where you go, there you are.
Kirra Michel: So the depression came with me, it followed me.
Becs Gentry: Welcome to Set the Pace, the official podcast of New
Becs Gentry: York Road Runners, presented by Peloton. I'm your host and
Becs Gentry: Peloton instructor, Becs Gentry. This is a special day for
Becs Gentry: me because today marks my one- year anniversary as co-
Becs Gentry: host of Set the Pace, partnering, of course, with the
Becs Gentry: wonderful CEO of New York Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer, who
Becs Gentry: as luck would have it can't actually be here to
Becs Gentry: celebrate with me today, but I am told by our
Becs Gentry: wonderful team that we apparently have a recorded message for
Becs Gentry: him. So Lou, let's play that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, Becs, I'm sorry I can't be there this week
Rob Simmelkjaer: for your anniversary show. I cannot believe it has been
Rob Simmelkjaer: a year since you joined us on Set the Pace,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and it has been so awesome having you as my co-
Rob Simmelkjaer: host. I think about all the fun we've had together
Rob Simmelkjaer: from your amazing connection to all of our runners and
Rob Simmelkjaer: the great interviews we've done. So much fun talking about
Rob Simmelkjaer: both of our running adventures, especially you and your unbelievably
Rob Simmelkjaer: inspiring journey in the Great World Race, which I think
Rob Simmelkjaer: was one of the coolest things we've really had to
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk about on Set the Pace. And then, of course,
Rob Simmelkjaer: there's the advice you've given me on my running and
Rob Simmelkjaer: how valuable that was. I still remember how helpful your
Rob Simmelkjaer: advice to me in Tokyo was in getting through that
Rob Simmelkjaer: race. So bottom line is people love you, our listeners
Rob Simmelkjaer: love you. All of your students at Peloton love you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: They all want to meet you. They all want to
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk to you. They all love listening to you on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace because you've made such a positive impact
Rob Simmelkjaer: in so many of their lives. And of course, most
Rob Simmelkjaer: importantly, we love hearing all of the stories from home and
Rob Simmelkjaer: about Tallulah and all the excitement with Austin and him
Rob Simmelkjaer: running as well and his London adventure, and Berlin coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: up later too. So the whole family is part of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the podcast, and we absolutely love that. So happy anniversary.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's great to have you. I feel like I'm talking
Rob Simmelkjaer: to my wife right now. Happy anniversary, honey. Just kidding.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Happy anniversary on Set the Pace. It's been great having
Rob Simmelkjaer: you and we will do many, many more shows together.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my goodness, not me crying, not me crying over
Becs Gentry: that. I cannot believe it has been one year of
Becs Gentry: doing this incredible podcast, and it has been, as Rob
Becs Gentry: said, just wonderful with the incredible guests that we've had
Becs Gentry: since I've been co- host with Rob. It's eye- opening,
Becs Gentry: heart-opening in all the most wonderful ways, and I can't
Becs Gentry: wait to continue to bring this brilliant podcast to you
Becs Gentry: all and enjoy Miles with you. Talking of Miles, what
Becs Gentry: a weekend we have just had. I'm sure a lot
Becs Gentry: of you, if not all of you, tuned in on Monday
Becs Gentry: to watch the 129th Boston Marathon take place. There were
Becs Gentry: records broken, there were battles to be had, there were
Becs Gentry: hills to be eaten up, and boy did every single
Becs Gentry: runner do it in style this year. It was a
Becs Gentry: beautiful day up in Boston. The sun was shining, the
Becs Gentry: wind was hardly blowing. And we had one of our
Becs Gentry: previous guests, Sharon Lokedi, take the crown on the women's
Becs Gentry: professional field. And we had John Korir, whose brother Wesley
Becs Gentry: also in the past has won Boston Marathon. So two
Becs Gentry: brothers, isn't that incredible, have both won the Boston Marathon.
Becs Gentry: So congratulations to those two and to the all of the
Becs Gentry: incredible runners who took part in Boston Marathon this year.
Becs Gentry: You are all unicorns. But this weekend, let's talk about what's
Becs Gentry: up ahead. This weekend here in beautiful New York City,
Becs Gentry: we have the Maybelline Women's Half. Maybelline New York is
Becs Gentry: proud to be the official title partner of the newly
Becs Gentry: renamed Maybelline Women's Half, taking place on April 27th in
Becs Gentry: Central Park. In partnership with New York Road Runners, this sold-
Becs Gentry: out race brings together 5, 000 women for 13. 1
Becs Gentry: miles of empowerment, strength, and community, and represents Maybelline's continued
Becs Gentry: commitment to supporting women and mental health through movement connection
Becs Gentry: and their global Brave Together initiative, which provides long- term
Becs Gentry: support for those facing anxiety and depression. This year, Maybelline
Becs Gentry: is once again partnering with NAMI, the National Alliance on
Becs Gentry: Mental Illness, to raise awareness and funds during this powerful
Becs Gentry: event. Now, running? No problem. Come out, cheer loud and
Becs Gentry: stop by the race day festival at the Nuremberg Bandshell
Becs Gentry: for entertainment, activities, and free Maybelline samples and giveaways. That
Becs Gentry: to me sounds like exactly where I would want to
Becs Gentry: be spending my Sunday if I was here in the
Becs Gentry: city. So to all of the incredible women who are going
Becs Gentry: to be towing the line in Central Park this weekend,
Becs Gentry: this is one of my favorite races of the year.
Becs Gentry: I'm actually upset that I'm not going to be here
Becs Gentry: because I will be cheering Austin on in London for
Becs Gentry: the London Marathon. So I want you all to channel
Becs Gentry: love, community and passion for rising up together as one
Becs Gentry: and supporting our friends and those in our community who
Becs Gentry: are suffering with anxiety or depression right now. So come
Becs Gentry: together, run those miles and shine bright, May is Mental
Becs Gentry: Health Awareness Month. So in preparation for that, and also,
Becs Gentry: of course, this weekend's Maybelline Women's Half my lovely friend
Becs Gentry: and Peloton instructor, Kirra Michel, will be here today to
Becs Gentry: chat to us about her running journey and also lead
Becs Gentry: us through a meditation specifically for all of our runners
Becs Gentry: out there. Also, later in the show, New York Roadrunner
Becs Gentry: member Andrew Kyle is going to share how he is
Becs Gentry: celebrating his 40th birthday year. And finally, today, we have
Becs Gentry: a special Med Minute with HSS. HSS's Allison Greer will
Becs Gentry: be here to talk best training practices when you have
Becs Gentry: multiple races on your docket, something I could have done
Becs Gentry: with last year.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Looking for new ways to keep you moving? Step into
Rob Simmelkjaer: the strongest and fastest version of you with the Peloton
Rob Simmelkjaer: app, whether you're chasing a new PR or just getting
Rob Simmelkjaer: started, be the runner you want to be with program
Rob Simmelkjaer: designed by experts who've run the race themselves. Track your
Rob Simmelkjaer: progress in real time, celebrate every win and stay motivated
Rob Simmelkjaer: every mile. Learn how to transform the way you run
Rob Simmelkjaer: with the Peloton Tread or Tread Plus at onepeloton. com/ race-
Rob Simmelkjaer: training. Peloton, the official digital fitness partner of New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners.
Becs Gentry: Today's guest is my dear friend, Kirra Michel. Kirra is,
Becs Gentry: of course, a Peloton yoga and meditation instructor whose grounded
Becs Gentry: presence and powerful classes have inspired thousands. Originally from the
Becs Gentry: coastal town of a Lennox Head in Australia, Kirra's childhood
Becs Gentry: was filled with movement, from surfing, dancing, and gymnastics to
Becs Gentry: everything outdoors. But it wasn't until she moved to New
Becs Gentry: York in her twenties that she discovered the transformative power
Becs Gentry: of yoga and meditation, tools that have helped her navigate
Becs Gentry: burnout, perfectionism, and personal healing. Now, from the Peloton stage
Becs Gentry: to Times Square and beyond, Kirra teaches with a beautiful
Becs Gentry: mix of strength, softness, and soul. And she's here with
Becs Gentry: me on Set the Pace today to talk about the
Becs Gentry: intersection of yoga, mental health, and mindful movement for runners.
Becs Gentry: Kirra, hello.
Kirra Michel: Ciao. Thank you so much for that intro. That was
Kirra Michel: really beautiful. So thank you. And I'm so excited to
Kirra Michel: be here.
Becs Gentry: Yay. I am so honored to have you here. I
Becs Gentry: know Rob, my co- host, is really, really down that
Becs Gentry: he is missing this conversation with you.
Kirra Michel: I know.
Becs Gentry: We spend a lot of time together in the green
Becs Gentry: room at Peloton, and Kirra and I are kindred souls
Becs Gentry: from very different sport backgrounds, but I think our heart
Becs Gentry: and soul lay in very similar places. So I've always
Becs Gentry: felt such a bond of honesty with you. I feel
Becs Gentry: like I can always be my complete open Becs book
Becs Gentry: to Kirra, and she's like, " I get you."
Kirra Michel: Yep, yep, yep. Absolutely.
Becs Gentry: Whether it's Tim Tams or chocolate.
Kirra Michel: Yep, missing home. Even though our homes are different, they're
Kirra Michel: similar, but...
Becs Gentry: Yes, exactly. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about
Becs Gentry: home. Now, a lot of people who maybe don't do
Becs Gentry: your Peloton classes or don't follow you yet on Instagram, may
Becs Gentry: not know that your family is actually American, but you
Becs Gentry: are Australian growing up, as we said in Lennox Head,
Becs Gentry: Australia, and you moved to New York in your twenties.
Becs Gentry: Just give us a little background there.
Kirra Michel: Okay, so I'm actually, yeah, my dad is from New
Kirra Michel: York, my mom's from Delaware, and I was born in
Kirra Michel: Santa Cruz, California. So when I was three months old,
Kirra Michel: my parents moved to Australia with my older brother and
Kirra Michel: myself. And so I grew up, I'm an Aussie, but
Kirra Michel: with very American parents. So I'm a little bit culturally confused.
Becs Gentry: I love that, but it makes so much sense.
Kirra Michel: Yeah, yeah. It's the best of both worlds, I think.
Kirra Michel: And where I grew up was just the most gorgeous
Kirra Michel: beach life, surf town, mellow place to grow up, so...
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Wow. Even if you'd stayed in Santa Cruz, that
Becs Gentry: would be also very beachy, very surf life. But now
Becs Gentry: you have a little more calmness, let's say, from the
Becs Gentry: Australian side of life.
Kirra Michel: Yeah. I think California and Lennox is, they're kind of
Kirra Michel: similar, just with, well back 30 plus years ago, just
Kirra Michel: a lot less people than California had.
Becs Gentry: Very true. Okay. So you moved here in your twenties.
Becs Gentry: And you have openly said that it was obviously exhilarating.
Becs Gentry: Moving to New York is going to be exhilarating, but
Becs Gentry: it was also quite tough for you. So take us
Becs Gentry: back to that time. What were you chasing? What were
Becs Gentry: you trying to leave behind?
Kirra Michel: Yeah, so I was studying full- time and working full- time
Kirra Michel: in Sydney. I was studying architecture, and I was just
Kirra Michel: struggling. My mental health was struggling. I was dealing with
Kirra Michel: depression with a little bit of anxiety, and I just
Kirra Michel: was confused about the direction of my life. I was
Kirra Michel: three and a half years into my studies and just
Kirra Michel: not quite sure if this is what I wanted to
Kirra Michel: do anymore. So on a whim, I finished my assignment
Kirra Michel: off at 2: 00 AM on a Sunday morning, closed
Kirra Michel: my computer and said, " I'm done." I'm going to defer
Kirra Michel: uni for a year. So deferring, as you know, is just taking
Kirra Michel: a year off. So I went to work the next
Kirra Michel: day, told them I'm done. I went to uni on
Kirra Michel: Monday, told them I was done. And I bought an
Kirra Michel: round world ticket. So I went to Indonesia, Singapore, India,
Kirra Michel: Qatar, New York. And I think a lot of people
Kirra Michel: when they hear that, they're like, " Oh, she did her
Kirra Michel: eat, love, pray moment." No, I was just running. I
Kirra Michel: hated yoga, I hated meditation. So for all the runners
Kirra Michel: out there who are like, I can't meditate, yeah, neither could, I
Kirra Michel: was looking for, I think, my purpose. I was looking
Kirra Michel: for something to be passionate about again. Something to give
Kirra Michel: me life. I also wanted to see how privileged I
Kirra Michel: was. I wanted to go to different places and see
Kirra Michel: how easy... Life is always challenging no matter where you
Kirra Michel: are, but it is... I have a really nice, beautiful life. I had a nice, beautiful life,
Kirra Michel: but I just couldn't find the joy inside. So I
Kirra Michel: was definitely running, hoping to find something. But it turns
Kirra Michel: out, no matter where you go, there you are. So
Kirra Michel: the depression came with me, it followed me. And I
Kirra Michel: ended up in New York. It was kind of by
Kirra Michel: accident. I ended up staying here indefinitely. And New York
Kirra Michel: just kind of gave me a second to, it was
Kirra Michel: so exhilarating, it was so full on, there was so
Kirra Michel: much happening that I kind of just threw myself into
Kirra Michel: work. I threw myself into a new life, but eventually
Kirra Michel: it all caught up to me.
Becs Gentry: Mm-hmm.
Kirra Michel: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Wow. So when you say it caught up to you,
Becs Gentry: is that because you feel like you continued to utilize
Becs Gentry: the same patterns of overworking yourself, heading towards that burnout,
Becs Gentry: and you didn't necessarily change the way your day looked?
Becs Gentry: So tell me about what a day back then looked
Becs Gentry: like, and then now what does your day look like.
Kirra Michel: Yeah. So you're completely spot on. So I've always used
Kirra Michel: work and fitness as escape mechanisms or tools just to
Kirra Michel: kind of get by. It helps when you're good at
Kirra Michel: the things as well. You get accolades for being good
Kirra Michel: at these things, even though they're just, not just, but
Kirra Michel: they can be used as tools to... avoidance tools. So
Kirra Michel: back then, okay, so when I moved to New York,
Kirra Michel: I was in the restaurant industry. I was working in
Kirra Michel: nightclubs, which is just so against everything but... I don't drink.
Kirra Michel: I'm not a big partier. So some of these things
Kirra Michel: just weren't in alignment with what I really believed in. I
Kirra Michel: was making money in that world and I was trying
Kirra Michel: to get into, eventually, I was trying to get into
Kirra Michel: the world of fitness and then in time meditation and
Kirra Michel: yoga. So I was working in the evenings, and then
Kirra Michel: I would finish late. I would take the train home.
Kirra Michel: And then sleep for a few hours, and then get
Kirra Michel: up nice and early and start my life in the fitness world.
Kirra Michel: So I was kind of working these two full- time jobs and
Kirra Michel: not really sleeping, which when, by that time, taking care
Kirra Michel: of myself did become a big aspect of my life.
Kirra Michel: And because I was working basically these two full- time
Kirra Michel: jobs, I didn't really have time to take care of
Kirra Michel: myself. I didn't have time to eat healthy. I didn't
Kirra Michel: have time to work out. I didn't have time to
Kirra Michel: have these daily rituals and these practices that I had
Kirra Michel: eventually started to implement to create a little grounding in
Kirra Michel: my life. So yeah, nowadays my life looks very, very,
Kirra Michel: very different, and I'm really grateful for that. But I
Kirra Michel: usually get up and I meditate. Now, meditating did come
Kirra Michel: in time when I moved to New York. Life was
Kirra Michel: so busy and so chaotic, and there was millions of
Kirra Michel: humans around me, and I just felt this energy that
Kirra Michel: I couldn't figure out how to ground. So meditation is
Kirra Michel: something that I started. And I started with this sangha,
Kirra Michel: this community called Dharma Punx. And there, everyone is tattooed,
Kirra Michel: everyone has piercings, everyone has strange colored hair or strange
Kirra Michel: haircuts. So it's just like the quirky weird people. It's
Kirra Michel: like the weirdos. So we went to feel like we
Kirra Michel: belonged, and there was, like I said, community, a sangha
Kirra Michel: there. And I remember being there, and my teacher, he's
Kirra Michel: really interested also in neuropsychology. If it wasn't for him,
Kirra Michel: I don't know if I would be really into meditation
Kirra Michel: because I have what's called monkey mind, where every human
Kirra Michel: does, it's all over the place. We ping pong and
Kirra Michel: then you add social media and technology into it, and
Kirra Michel: we're just everywhere but here. So he kind of explained
Kirra Michel: meditation to me in a way that made sense. I
Kirra Michel: wasn't trying to make my mind stop or still or
Kirra Michel: go blank, but just becoming aware, feeling really grounded physically
Kirra Michel: in my body, using my breath to help down regulate
Kirra Michel: my nervous system. And then becoming more of the observer
Kirra Michel: of the busy monkey mind rather than trying to make
Kirra Michel: it stop. So that became a daily thing for me.
Kirra Michel: And for a long period of time, it had to
Kirra Michel: be, it was like this is my non- negotiable. I
Kirra Michel: have to meditate every single day, and sometimes it's 20
Kirra Michel: minutes, sometimes it's 45 minutes. And even that became too
Kirra Michel: restrictive for me. So now I try to meditate every
Kirra Michel: day, and if I miss it, I miss it. And
Kirra Michel: that's a big release for me that I didn't allow
Kirra Michel: for a long time. I have meditation practices, breath work
Kirra Michel: practices. I try to journal a decent amount. I have
Kirra Michel: to spend some time alone. Just adding these little different
Kirra Michel: practices helps so much.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Oh, my gosh, that's all so interesting. And I
Becs Gentry: think it is a beautiful thing to recognize that everybody
Becs Gentry: has monkey mind. I love that description. I call it
Becs Gentry: squirrel, like when a dog sees a squirrel, like, " Squirrel,
Becs Gentry: squirrel." But you are so right, especially if you live in a
Becs Gentry: metropolis, like New York, you a hundred percent suffer from
Becs Gentry: this constant hamster wheel of stimulation right in front of
Becs Gentry: your face. And it seems like such a wonderful journey
Becs Gentry: that when you found the Dharma Punx, you found your
Becs Gentry: teacher who made you feel that you're accepted into this
Becs Gentry: awesome community and showed you that meditation wasn't the same
Becs Gentry: for everybody. Because I think that is a stigma that
Becs Gentry: has been attached to, not just meditation and yoga, but
Becs Gentry: all sports, like running. It's not all the same. It's not
Becs Gentry: all the same for everybody. We've had this conversation one- to-
Becs Gentry: one in the past. Do you remember the first time
Becs Gentry: you actually meditated though, and you were like, " Oh, this
Becs Gentry: is amazing."
Kirra Michel: Listen, I don't know if there was like, no, there's
Kirra Michel: no moment where I'm like, " Oh, that's it." It's one
Kirra Michel: of those things where, I've never classified myself as a
Kirra Michel: runner. I love fitness. Running has never been my thing.
Kirra Michel: And so now I'm dipping my toe into it, because
Kirra Michel: I realized that I need some cardio in my life
Kirra Michel: and it's good for my heart. And I'm not at
Kirra Michel: the stage yet where I've hit that runner's high or
Kirra Michel: that steady state. I'm still struggling. But I know that
Kirra Michel: I'm putting effort in and I'm doing one foot after the
Kirra Michel: next, after the next, after the next, and I'm trying
Kirra Michel: to focus on my breath while I'm doing this. And
Kirra Michel: it's similar with meditation. No, I don't remember the very
Kirra Michel: first time that I did it because, similar to running,
Kirra Michel: like I'm running even if I haven't gotten to the
Kirra Michel: steady state or to the runner's high yet. So meditators
Kirra Michel: are still meditating while they're sitting in there, just observing.
Kirra Michel: They're watching the mind. So I don't want people to
Kirra Michel: think that meditation, I'm waiting for that moment, and until
Kirra Michel: I get there, I'm not there yet. I want people to
Kirra Michel: realize that just sitting and being still, and I know
Kirra Michel: that, I mean, I don't want to generalize everyone, but
Kirra Michel: I know a lot of runners like, you like to
Kirra Michel: be busy. Running is a constant thing. So that even the
Kirra Michel: thought of sitting and being still can sound really scary
Kirra Michel: to so many people, the way that running sounds scary
Kirra Michel: to me. So it's given yourself the grace to realize
Kirra Michel: that if you're finding a little bit of stillness, even
Kirra Michel: if the mind is still crazy active, that you're actually
Kirra Michel: working towards, you're putting the reps in towards softening, releasing,
Kirra Michel: noticing tightness in the body. Can you release in that?
Kirra Michel: Can I release my jaw? Okay. My mind is really
Kirra Michel: busy. Can I just sit with the busyness of my
Kirra Michel: mind? We're not trying to get somewhere. There's no specific destination.
Kirra Michel: We're working with what we have. And if right now
Kirra Michel: we have monkey mind, cool. Let's work with monkey mind.
Kirra Michel: Let's just watch it, instead of being like, " I'm not
Kirra Michel: there yet." That's what I'm trying to not do with running.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. " Where is this peace and quiet?"
Kirra Michel: Yeah, yeah. Where's my steady state run? It's not here yet.
Becs Gentry: Okay. You've just nailed the best analogy, and you may
Becs Gentry: have just convinced me to try meditating again, because I do not do it.
Kirra Michel: You used to.
Becs Gentry: I use running as my meditative state because that does
Becs Gentry: quiet my mind. It really, and that took ages for
Becs Gentry: me to be able to get there. Anyway, this isn't
Becs Gentry: about me. Okay, so let's rewind to when you first
Becs Gentry: joined Peloton after finding your way in yoga and meditation
Becs Gentry: and becoming a teacher yourself, which involves spending a lot
Becs Gentry: of hours of study and practice in the yoga world.
Becs Gentry: You went from leading classes in quite intimate, calm studios
Becs Gentry: to classes being broadcast to thousands and thousands of people
Becs Gentry: around the world. Do you remember how you felt after your
Becs Gentry: first live Peloton class?
Kirra Michel: Gosh, so I deal with a lot of anxiety and
Kirra Michel: a lot of nerves. I mean, listen, after it was
Kirra Michel: exhilarating. It was, " Oh, my God, I did that." That's
Kirra Michel: wild. And it's so strange as well because you're in
Kirra Michel: a room with no one. No one. Just the cameras,
Kirra Michel: eight cameras. But on the leaderboard, you know that there's
Kirra Michel: hundreds of people, that thousands of people are going to
Kirra Michel: take it at home. But so afterwards, I was exhilarated.
Kirra Michel: Beforehand, I was so, so nervous. And again, using these
Kirra Michel: practices, down regulating, breath work, finding a little bit of
Kirra Michel: peace and quiet and envisioning. So using visualization meditations where
Kirra Michel: I can just see myself doing the thing, doing the
Kirra Michel: damn thing. And then also just trusting that I've done
Kirra Michel: enough. And I think sometimes I also deal with imposter
Kirra Michel: syndrome from time to time, and just trusting that I
Kirra Michel: have done enough, I know enough, and trusting in myself
Kirra Michel: that I could get through. Turns out, I got through
Kirra Michel: it. I survived it.
Becs Gentry: You did very well.
Kirra Michel: Yeah. It was scary. But scary doesn't mean we don't
Kirra Michel: do the thing.
Becs Gentry: Yep, that's so true. Okay, talking of imposter syndrome, I
Becs Gentry: think it's a very obvious word that goes with being
Becs Gentry: a Peloton instructor, a celebrity. People do think of instructors
Becs Gentry: as being celebrities. And I think we both feel very
Becs Gentry: similar sometimes of, " What? What? I enjoy what I do. I enjoy my practice, and
Becs Gentry: I get to share it with other people." But can
Becs Gentry: you talk about, has there ever been a time where
Becs Gentry: that celebrity aspect of Peloton has clashed with the authenticity
Becs Gentry: of what you practice and how you keep it real
Becs Gentry: to Kirra?
Kirra Michel: I think, yeah, I've a really hard time with that
Kirra Michel: word. Similar to you, everything you just said. I'm just
Kirra Michel: doing what I love to do, I'm just sharing it
Kirra Michel: with people, because this is the way my heart... This
Kirra Michel: is the passion that I was looking for, that helps
Kirra Michel: me with my mental health is being of service to
Kirra Michel: other people. So I think the thing that I struggle
Kirra Michel: with the most around this, honestly, is still social media,
Kirra Michel: having to present and show up and share different pieces
Kirra Michel: of my life. I think that's the hardest part. And
Kirra Michel: then I guess the other aspect to that is also
Kirra Michel: it's still around social media. I'm very much a one- on-
Kirra Michel: one person. That's kind of how I teach classes. I
Kirra Michel: don't love being in big groups of people, I like one-on-
Kirra Michel: one. I love to connect with people. And so people
Kirra Michel: share their stories with us as instructors, how much we've
Kirra Michel: helped them, what they've been through, what they've gone through,
Kirra Michel: and just the screen and not being able to actually
Kirra Michel: connect with people is really hard. And this is why
Kirra Michel: we do what we do. We love sharing. We love
Kirra Michel: helping people get through different things, whether it is a
Kirra Michel: physical practice or if it's something more emotional. And that's
Kirra Michel: the gifts of being on this platform, being a Peloton
Kirra Michel: instructor. It's such an honor. But there's so many people
Kirra Michel: who want to share little bits and pieces of their
Kirra Michel: life with us, and we don't have the capacity to
Kirra Michel: give back the amount that I want to give back
Kirra Michel: to each person in person. So I guess the two
Kirra Michel: elements is how much of my life do I actually
Kirra Michel: want to share? Because I'm not the type of person
Kirra Michel: that wants to share everything. I also believe that I'm
Kirra Michel: just doing what I love to do. Yeah, I have
Kirra Michel: such a hard time with that word.
Becs Gentry: Same. We're very much on the same page when it
Becs Gentry: comes to this.
Kirra Michel: Yeah, absolutely.
Becs Gentry: I appreciate your honestly with it. Okay. Let's talk about yoga for runners,
Becs Gentry: because our listeners are majority runners here, and they are
Becs Gentry: always after ways to get stronger and better themselves. So
Becs Gentry: let's talk about the differences between a yoga class that
Becs Gentry: is designed for runners versus a general yoga flow that
Becs Gentry: you might teach. Talk me through a yoga for runners...
Becs Gentry: You know I've taken them. Pretend I haven't. What would
Becs Gentry: people expect from a Yoga for Runners class with you?
Kirra Michel: Yeah, so when I'm programming a yoga for runners class,
Kirra Michel: I'm trying to figure out the mechanics, what's going on
Kirra Michel: in the body when you're running. I want to figure
Kirra Michel: out the areas of the body that are tight that
Kirra Michel: are maybe overworked. I want to figure out the areas
Kirra Michel: that are underworked that need a little bit more strengthening.
Kirra Michel: I like to get into the feet. I like to
Kirra Michel: get into the calves, into the hips, hip flexors, the hamstrings.
Becs Gentry: The hamstrings.
Kirra Michel: Runners, my friends, let's get into your hammies. Want to
Kirra Michel: kind of open up and loosen the quads a little
Kirra Michel: bit. So there's different areas that I want to work on,
Kirra Michel: the posture. And then the part that maybe runners, I
Kirra Michel: don't know, some runners definitely think about it, some runners
Kirra Michel: definitely don't, the breath. Yoga is really based around the
Kirra Michel: breath. And so we learn in yoga that if we
Kirra Michel: can control our breath, we can start to, we have
Kirra Michel: a better control of the rest of our body, we
Kirra Michel: can down regulate, we can soften the things that don't
Kirra Michel: need to be working as hard. So I'm really figuring
Kirra Michel: out what you guys need as runners in order to
Kirra Michel: help your running practice. I'm a big fan of cross-
Kirra Michel: training, so figuring out where your weaknesses are and working
Kirra Michel: on those weaknesses. And unfortunately the weaknesses or areas that
Kirra Michel: we typically don't want anything to do with because they're
Kirra Michel: a little painful and it's really uncomfortable. And my thing
Kirra Michel: is that if it's really painful and uncomfortable, we probably
Kirra Michel: need to spend a little bit more time there.
Becs Gentry: Absolutely.
Kirra Michel: So those are the kind of aspects that I definitely,
Kirra Michel: even the core, I mean, listeners, it's your whole body,
Kirra Michel: right? But really focusing on those areas that you need
Kirra Michel: to work on the most. Yoga classes in general, 9
Kirra Michel: times out of 10, we kind of hit the whole
Kirra Michel: body. So I think that every single yoga class is
Kirra Michel: probably going to be helpful for runners. But a runner's
Kirra Michel: class is specifically designed for you. And I'm also speaking
Kirra Michel: to that and how it might relate to parts, different
Kirra Michel: areas of your running. And then also, again, I don't
Kirra Michel: want to overgeneralize, but a lot of the runners, I
Kirra Michel: think, with Peloton, and I might be wrong, but a
Kirra Michel: lot of the runners, I think, might not be yogis yet.
Kirra Michel: So I also am known for some complex sequencing. So
Kirra Michel: when I'm doing a Yoga for Runners class, the sequencing
Kirra Michel: is very, very doable. I think a lot of people
Kirra Michel: are very afraid of me and my classes.
Becs Gentry: By that, she means that she can really cram in
Becs Gentry: the moves and make you flow through them quickly, so
Becs Gentry: you're sweating more than a HIIT workout.
Kirra Michel: Mm- hmm. Exactly. Exactly. The Yoga for Runners class is
Kirra Michel: not that. We're moving nice and slowly.
Becs Gentry: No, because you understand that we're a little tighter, and
Becs Gentry: we need a little bit more time to transition through
Becs Gentry: the poses and maybe a little longer to get that
Becs Gentry: breath under control.
Kirra Michel: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Now, you are doing it, you get it.
Kirra Michel: Yeah. And again, again, again, listen, I'm so new in
Kirra Michel: my running journey, you're my co- worker, and I'm like, "
Kirra Michel: Great." Obviously, I'm not a running coach, but you are
Kirra Michel: someone who I'm next to. And I'm like, " Wow, when
Kirra Michel: will I be able to run for 10 minutes without
Kirra Michel: wanting to break?" So it's like, I think, inspiration instead
Kirra Michel: of intimidation. Comparison just will destroy us. So knowing that,
Kirra Michel: okay, so Kirra is known for longer, harder, intense classes.
Kirra Michel: I love to invert, I love to do hard things,
Kirra Michel: but that's not necessarily the goal. The goal is just
Kirra Michel: what is it that you need. My goal to run seven marathons, or
Kirra Michel: even one marathon yet, okay? It's not my goal if
Kirra Michel: I'm being honest with you, but my goal is just
Kirra Michel: to take care of myself and what it is that
Kirra Michel: I need. So as a type A fitness person, a
Kirra Michel: lot of us, just because I'm saying it's a little
Kirra Michel: slower, doesn't mean you're not doing the yoga.
Becs Gentry: Yes. That's very important to understand as well. It's just, as
Becs Gentry: you say, it takes you time to figure out how
Becs Gentry: these new movements and how these new practices are going
Becs Gentry: to fit into your world and into your routine. And
Becs Gentry: if you rush it, then you're never going to fully
Becs Gentry: understand the benefits of it, like with meditation.
Kirra Michel: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Okay. So if someone's training for a marathon, and again,
Becs Gentry: this is not one of your personal goals, but you've
Becs Gentry: trained people who have run marathons, how would you recommend
Becs Gentry: somebody would incorporate yoga into their week for a marathon training?
Kirra Michel: I would definitely incorporate it in not just kind of like, "
Kirra Michel: Oh, I'm hurt and I should do this." So it's
Kirra Michel: preventative. It's not just after the fact when your muscles
Kirra Michel: are needing a little bit of support.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, it's not just recovery.
Kirra Michel: Exactly. Exactly. So it really depends. It's hyper individual. I
Kirra Michel: think that everything is very hyper individual. But I would
Kirra Michel: say two to four times a week, anywhere from, I don't know, 15
Kirra Michel: minutes to an hour long class. And yeah, I think
Kirra Michel: that, again, the yoga runners classes are wonderful, and there's
Kirra Michel: a handful of us on the platform who do these
Kirra Michel: classes, and there's different lengths of the classes. I know
Kirra Michel: that you've also had Mariana on as a guest, and
Kirra Michel: she has a program on the app, which is a
Kirra Michel: preparation for your marathon. So I would recommend between two
Kirra Michel: to four times a week. And again, any yoga class
Kirra Michel: would be good depending on your level.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Okay. And would that include meditation as well, or
Becs Gentry: is that an additional practice?
Kirra Michel: I mean, listen, it's again individual. You don't want to
Kirra Michel: put so much on your plate ever that you are more
Kirra Michel: stressed out about prepping for it than actually enjoying any
Kirra Michel: of it. But, and yes, I would definitely add in
Kirra Michel: some meditation, some breath work. And you can do, I
Kirra Michel: mean, if you've got all the time in the world,
Kirra Michel: you can definitely add in meditation classes and breath work
Kirra Michel: classes. But I would recommend doing, I don't know, a 10
Kirra Michel: minute meditation. I recommend every single day of the week.
Kirra Michel: But if you have two or three or four days
Kirra Michel: a week, you want to add those in, definitely do
Kirra Michel: that. You could be doing visualization meditations where you are
Kirra Michel: visualizing yourself competing, finishing, enjoying it, crossing the finish line,
Kirra Michel: feeling as good as you can.
Becs Gentry: Yes to that.
Kirra Michel: Yeah, or just meditations, maybe a body scan meditation where
Kirra Michel: you're going through your body and you're releasing, you're relaxing.
Kirra Michel: And I would also add, find some gratitude for your
Kirra Michel: body along the way. I think so often we focus
Kirra Michel: on the areas that aren't working well, that might be
Kirra Michel: holding us back a little bit and we forget that
Kirra Michel: everything else actually works phenomenally. So as you're kind of
Kirra Michel: working through a practice where you are releasing, relaxing areas of your
Kirra Michel: body, just to kind of get out of that tightness,
Kirra Michel: add in some gratitude.
Becs Gentry: Oh, yes, I love that. I love the visualization for
Becs Gentry: our runners to think about them crossing the finish line,
Becs Gentry: getting that medal and completing the thing that they have
Becs Gentry: been putting in all the time to train for. That
Becs Gentry: is truly something that stands out there for me. Okay.
Becs Gentry: Talking of all of this meditation, would you be open
Becs Gentry: to leading us through a short meditation before we say goodbye?
Kirra Michel: Yeah, I'd absolutely love to.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh. Okay. This is the first time I've meditated.
Kirra Michel: How much time do I have? Oh, gosh, we've got this.
Becs Gentry: A nice short couple of minutes just to give people
Becs Gentry: the time. Whatever you think. Give people a teaser of
Becs Gentry: what they can get if they go ahead and take
Becs Gentry: one of your classes.
Kirra Michel: Okay, great. All right. So I want everyone to find
Kirra Michel: themselves in a tall, comfortable seat. If you're standing, you
Kirra Michel: can definitely stand. If you are busy and you're driving,
Kirra Michel: please don't shut your eyes. Do what is best for
Kirra Michel: you in the area that you're in right now. But
Kirra Michel: if you do have the ability to shut your eyes
Kirra Michel: or softly gaze down, I'm going to recommend you to
Kirra Michel: do just that. And then we're just going to start
Kirra Michel: by checking in, tuning in. So begin to notice your
Kirra Michel: breath. Start to breathe in and out through your nose.
Kirra Michel: And see if you can elongate the exhale for an
Kirra Michel: extra count or too. And when we work for longer
Kirra Michel: exhales, we start to down- regulate and soften through the
Kirra Michel: central nervous system. We start to communicate with the body,
Kirra Michel: letting the body know that we're safe and that it
Kirra Michel: can relax, it can soften. And your next exhale, see
Kirra Michel: if you can allow your shoulders to relax, to release,
Kirra Michel: and just start to notice the cyclical rhythm of your
Kirra Michel: breath. Start to feel into the physical sensations of the body.
Kirra Michel: Notice the feet or sit bones touching the ground or
Kirra Michel: the chair. Feel the spine nice and long, lengthening all
Kirra Michel: the way up through to the crown of your head.
Kirra Michel: So the strength of your legs, of your hips, of
Kirra Michel: your core, and finding that gratitude for your body, for moving
Kirra Michel: the way it does, for breathing, for holding you in
Kirra Michel: a supportive place. And we'll finish with a mantra, which
Kirra Michel: the mantra is a vehicle for the mind, so it's
Kirra Michel: a place to hold your mind steady. And the mantra is, "
Kirra Michel: I am steady and I'm strong." I am steady and
Kirra Michel: I'm strong. And just check back in with how you're
Kirra Michel: feeling. Again, try to soften any areas of tension or
Kirra Michel: tightness. And when you're ready, slowly begin to flood your
Kirra Michel: eyes open, bringing yourself back in.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Wow. Okay, I'm in. That was beautiful. Thank you, Kirra.
Kirra Michel: My pleasure.
Becs Gentry: Well, I hope that has inspired at least one person
Becs Gentry: to feel more grounded on a daily basis. Remind people
Becs Gentry: how and where they can find you.
Kirra Michel: Yeah, I'm on Instagram at Kirra Michel, and then I'm on
Kirra Michel: the Peloton app. They're the two places.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Yes. Go get your yoga on with Kirra-
Kirra Michel: Please.
Becs Gentry: ... your breath, work, your meditation, and all of the goodness. Kirra, thank you
Becs Gentry: so much for joining us today on Set the Pace.
Becs Gentry: Good luck with your running journey, and thank you for
Becs Gentry: keeping me grounded as a colleague at Peloton.
Kirra Michel: Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having
Kirra Michel: me. And yeah, this was fun. I hope that if
Kirra Michel: anyone has any questions, reach out to me on Instagram. We're
Kirra Michel: here for you. We're your coaches. We're here to help
Kirra Michel: guide you into some new unexplored territory. And thank you
Kirra Michel: so much, Becs. I appreciate you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a
Rob Simmelkjaer: vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the
Rob Simmelkjaer: transformative power of running. The support of members and donors
Rob Simmelkjaer: like you helps us achieve our mission to transform the
Rob Simmelkjaer: health and well- being of our communities through inclusive and
Rob Simmelkjaer: accessible running experiences, empowering all to achieve their potential. Learn
Rob Simmelkjaer: more and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Becs Gentry: Today's guest is Andrew Kyle, also known to many as
Becs Gentry: the Bearded Marathoner. After quitting smoking in 2017, Andrew signed
Becs Gentry: up for the New York City Marathon and found something
Becs Gentry: he hadn't expected, a profound sense of joy, purpose, and
Becs Gentry: belonging through running. Since then, he has completed 25 marathons
Becs Gentry: with a goal to run 100 and one day cover
Becs Gentry: all 50 states. This year, as he turns 40, Andrew
Becs Gentry: is going all out on New York City. He's taking
Becs Gentry: on the four New York Road Runners Five- Borough Series
Becs Gentry: and the New York City Marathon, and a 100- mile
Becs Gentry: ultra marathon across New York City. Just back from the
Becs Gentry: 50k Diez Vista race in British Columbia as a training
Becs Gentry: run for his 100- mile NYC ultra run, here's Meb
Becs Gentry: with Andrew Kyle.
Meb: Thanks, Becs. Andrew, welcome to the Set the Pace podcast.
Meb: How are you doing today?
Andrew Kyle: Thanks. I'm Okay. I am recovering from a long run
Andrew Kyle: this weekend.
Meb: What was that long run? Can you tell us what
Meb: you did this weekend?
Andrew Kyle: Yeah, so I ventured up to Vancouver to race in
Andrew Kyle: the Diaz Vista 50k, which was in this great mountainous
Andrew Kyle: area. I think I climbed about 7, 500 feet this weekend.
Meb: Incredible. That's amazing. How you feeling? How's the body feeling?
Meb: And you were obviously 2017, you gave up smoking now
Meb: to be able to be in nature. What was that
Meb: feeling like?
Andrew Kyle: Yeah, it was incredible. I think it's for someone who
Andrew Kyle: primarily runs the streets of New York City, doing a
Andrew Kyle: trail run is both amazingly beautiful and equally horrifying simply because
Andrew Kyle: of the terrain is so not even. I think I'm
Andrew Kyle: really feeling it in one of my ankles and my right foot today.
Andrew Kyle: But I think I am hopeful that it will be
Andrew Kyle: a very fast recovery. It was actually a really, really
Andrew Kyle: good training run for this really big run because I think
Andrew Kyle: just being out eight and a half hours, and that
Andrew Kyle: was not something that I expected, but it was eight
Andrew Kyle: and a half hours of pure nature uneven runway trails and
Andrew Kyle: everything. And just a great, great experience.
Meb: I have never done 50k, but quite close to this 42 kilometers, which is a marathon.
Meb: But can you take us back to the moment when
Meb: you decided to enter the lottery for the 2018 NYC Marathon? What
Meb: was going through your mind? And how did that moment
Meb: set the stage for everything that came after?
Andrew Kyle: Yeah, that's a great question. So my closest friend from
Andrew Kyle: college had gotten into the New York City Marathon the
Andrew Kyle: year before, but she deferred it. And so she was like, "
Andrew Kyle: Oh, you should apply for the marathon. The lottery, it's
Andrew Kyle: time for the lottery." And I said, " Oh, yeah, I'll do
Andrew Kyle: that," because it's impossible to get in through the lottery.
Andrew Kyle: So I was like, "I'm never going to run a marathon.
Andrew Kyle: I was a smoker for a very long time." And then
Andrew Kyle: I woke up that day and my credit card was
Andrew Kyle: charged, and I was like, " Wait, what does this mean?" And so I was like, "
Andrew Kyle: Oh, I guess I'm running the marathon." And so it was just
Andrew Kyle: this kind of moment of like, " Oh." I mean, it's fantastic.
Andrew Kyle: It's amazing. I'm going to get to do this with
Andrew Kyle: my best friend. And then just, it changed kind of
Andrew Kyle: my perspective on like, I had to build out a training plan,
Andrew Kyle: get ready for this amazing feat when I had not
Andrew Kyle: been running at all because I spent my time smoking cigarettes.
Meb: Well, these alternatives, New York City Marathon is my favorite.
Meb: And you do a great job to accomplish that. But
Meb: you have called running the first athletic thing that ever
Meb: really stuck for you. What do you think is about
Meb: running that creates that shift or that meaning?
Andrew Kyle: Yeah. I want to say it's really about just the
Andrew Kyle: experience of seeing everything around you as you're running. I
Andrew Kyle: worked on a lot of self- awareness training through one
Andrew Kyle: of my grad school programs, did meditative practice every day
Andrew Kyle: for month for two summers. And just kind of taking
Andrew Kyle: that understanding of what meditation is like and applying it
Andrew Kyle: and seeing how it aligns with running so much was
Andrew Kyle: really important for me and just really powerful. And so
Andrew Kyle: I think just being able to be constantly kind of
Andrew Kyle: in the mindset of I'm going to finish this thing
Andrew Kyle: I'm setting out to do something really tricky, difficult, intense.
Andrew Kyle: And then I think the other thing that was just
Andrew Kyle: really magical is the surroundings that you put yourself in.
Andrew Kyle: So as you're running, even when you're running through the
Andrew Kyle: streets of New York City, as you change your routes
Andrew Kyle: and you explore new places, I'm trying to run every
Andrew Kyle: street in Queens currently, and it's, I discover something new
Andrew Kyle: every single run, and bizarre, beautiful and just amazing about
Andrew Kyle: the city that we live in.
Meb: It is an amazing city. But you have spent years running mostly
Meb: solo and you just recently joined the Front Runners. Can
Meb: you tell us what it was like stepping into the
Meb: community the first time and how that changed the experience
Meb: of the sport?
Andrew Kyle: So running with the community has been interesting. As you
Andrew Kyle: said, been running solo for most of the time in
Andrew Kyle: my running experience. And I think there's just a lot
Andrew Kyle: of power in going out with a group and joining
Andrew Kyle: a group, and being a part of the community has
Andrew Kyle: been really exciting. I did a few runs also with Woodside-
Andrew Kyle: Sunnyside Runners. So both of them are really, really great
Andrew Kyle: groups. And I think the first time I went with
Andrew Kyle: Front Runners, I think what was really surprising and great
Andrew Kyle: is just the amount of people who come. I think
Andrew Kyle: my first run with them was mid- January. It was
Andrew Kyle: extremely cold. I expected maybe five people there, and there
Andrew Kyle: were almost 50. And then just the routines and after
Andrew Kyle: the run, going out to grab food, grab drinks, the
Andrew Kyle: Saturday morning runs with the bagel breakfasts are just incredible.
Andrew Kyle: So it's been a great experience and I'm looking forward
Andrew Kyle: to hopefully being more in New York City to be
Andrew Kyle: able to join more runs because it's been difficult with
Andrew Kyle: a lot of travel over the past few weeks, but
Andrew Kyle: it's great. I'm loving it.
Meb: Thank you for sharing, Andrew. This is great. And the camaraderie
Meb: of the sport is amazing. But before I let you
Meb: go, this is a big one for you, big year,
Meb: five pro races, a 100- mile ultra marathon, and you
Meb: turning 40. What does this moment in your life feels
Meb: like? And why mark in such an epic goal?
Andrew Kyle: Yeah, it's great. Part of it is really being able to
Andrew Kyle: say, I've been running for this long and wanting to
Andrew Kyle: kind of show up a little bit more in New
Andrew Kyle: York City. I realized a few years ago I would
Andrew Kyle: run a few of the Five- Borough races as one-
Andrew Kyle: offs, and I realized that all the medals match and
Andrew Kyle: that's pretty cool and amazing. And so I think just
Andrew Kyle: this feet of a hundred miles also feels like such
Andrew Kyle: a huge thing, and I'm really, really excited to experience
Andrew Kyle: it and just push my body to do something that I never
Andrew Kyle: in my life would've imagined doing until now.
Meb: Pretty awesome. Well, happy early 40th and have a great year.
Andrew Kyle: Thank you very much.
Becs Gentry: Thank you so much for joining us, Andrew, and for being
Becs Gentry: a member of New York Road Runners. Now, onto the
Becs Gentry: final part of our show, the Med Minute. This week
Becs Gentry: on our Med Minute with HSS, we are joined by Allison
Becs Gentry: Greer, a physical therapist at Hospital for Special Surgery, who
Becs Gentry: leads their running mechanics analysis program. She's a former collegiate
Becs Gentry: runner who now helps athletes recover smarter, run stronger, and
Becs Gentry: stay in motion for life. We talk about the unique
Becs Gentry: needs of female runners, especially during peak race season, and
Becs Gentry: how to train wisely when you've got more than one
Becs Gentry: race on the calendar. Here's Meb.
Meb: Thanks, Becs. Allison, welcome to Set the Pace podcast. How's
Meb: it going?
Allison Greer: Well, thank you for having me.
Meb: Great to have you. It is April and we are
Meb: fully into race mode. Someone's got a half marathon this
Meb: week and then 10k the next week. What should training be
Meb: like in between training?
Allison Greer: Well, the first step in tackling two endurance races on back- to-
Allison Greer: back weekends is creating a really intentional plan. And this
Allison Greer: plan will include which race you want to prioritize. And
Allison Greer: so for example, if that race is the first weekend,
Allison Greer: so that half marathon, then we think about the week
Allison Greer: following that as more of a recovery week, allowing us
Allison Greer: to recover as best as we can for the race
Allison Greer: on the next weekend. Alternatively, if we choose to prioritize the
Allison Greer: second race, we'll use the half marathon in that preceding
Allison Greer: weekend as a build into our training. So for example,
Allison Greer: we would use that as part of our long run
Allison Greer: for the weekend before the race as kind of building
Allison Greer: into that last week of training.
Meb: No, sounds great. But how about if the weather is
Meb: super nice in the spring and they want to do it,
Meb: what advice do you have for them?
Allison Greer: Well, it's a challenge to run races on back- to-
Allison Greer: back weekends for certain. I think really paying close attention
Allison Greer: to your body and listening to how your body's tolerating
Allison Greer: it. So watching for any signs of injury or fatigue
Allison Greer: is certainly important. Setting appropriate expectations that it probably isn't
Allison Greer: realistic to run a PR in those two distance races,
Allison Greer: two weekends in a row. But then training just like
Allison Greer: you would and equipping yourself, hydration, fueling, all of the things
Allison Greer: that you can do to set your body up best
Allison Greer: for the challenge of completing two endurance races on back- to-
Allison Greer: back weekends.
Meb: Awesome. What are some of the early signs that runners might be
Meb: doing too much?
Allison Greer: Certainly this is an important question because inevitably within a
Allison Greer: training block there are some ups and downs, and it's
Allison Greer: important to understand that this is normal. What we think
Allison Greer: of as red flags as clinicians are symptoms that are
Allison Greer: constant or progressive. So for example, when we think about
Allison Greer: performance fatigue, we'll certainly all have workouts within a training
Allison Greer: block that don't go our way, but what we're looking
Allison Greer: for here is really the inability to keep up consistently
Allison Greer: within your training plan. Or when we think about symptoms
Allison Greer: of pain. As clinicians, we look for things like swelling
Allison Greer: or the inability to run normally because of your pain
Allison Greer: as signs that we're doing too much. And then we
Allison Greer: think it's also really important to keep close tabs on
Allison Greer: your emotional health. If you're experiencing feelings of decreased motivation
Allison Greer: or decreased enthusiasm, and again, if these are constant or
Allison Greer: progressive, those are certainly signs that you might be doing
Allison Greer: too much.
Meb: Those are all great advice. Let's shift to with the Maybelline
Meb: Women's Half coming up, I want to talk specifically about women
Meb: and running. What should we be doing differently when it
Meb: comes to recovering for women?
Allison Greer: This is an interesting question. There's some literature to support
Allison Greer: that women require decreased recovery time after endurance races compared
Allison Greer: to males, and this is because women have different body
Allison Greer: systems that can influence our ability to recover. For example,
Allison Greer: women tend to use both fat and carbohydrates for fuel
Allison Greer: during their endurance events, and this can help them recover
Allison Greer: a little bit more quickly. Also, the presence of the
Allison Greer: sex hormone estrogen may decrease muscle damage due to exercise.
Allison Greer: Regardless, it's important to have an intentional recovery plan after
Allison Greer: an endurance race. And we think of this as a
Allison Greer: very active plan. And this can include hydration, which should
Allison Greer: include both water- and electrolyte- based substances, refueling with both
Allison Greer: carbohydrates and proteins, getting an appropriate amount of sleep and
Allison Greer: promoting movement. This might include some light stretching, walking, biking,
Allison Greer: or swimming. And I think the other thing that's important
Allison Greer: to keep in mind is that the recovery for one
Allison Greer: event is a continuous event with the preparation for the next
Allison Greer: event. And really we think of this as a journey
Allison Greer: from the start of the race to the end of
Allison Greer: the next race. In other words, the more effective we
Allison Greer: are with our recovery, the better prepared we are for
Allison Greer: the next race.
Meb: Allison, I like to say pre- hab instead of rehab,
Meb: but are there injuries you see more often in women
Meb: runners? And what do you think that is? You might have already answered
Meb: it, but can you elaborate a little bit more?
Allison Greer: Certainly. We definitely see different injury patterns in women versus
Allison Greer: men, and this is again because we have different body
Allison Greer: systems. One example would be a bone stress injury, and
Allison Greer: that's an overuse injury to a bone. And we certainly
Allison Greer: see these more often in women than men. Some common
Allison Greer: examples include a stress injury to the foot bones, we
Allison Greer: call those the metatarsals, the shin bone, we call the
Allison Greer: tibia, and the hip, whether that's the femoral neck or
Allison Greer: the pelvis. And there are a few differences between males
Allison Greer: and females that make them more prone to these types
Allison Greer: of injuries. One is our bone density. Women tend to
Allison Greer: have lower bone mineral density and a higher rate of
Allison Greer: bone loss. Two, we think about our hormones. Estrogen is
Allison Greer: an important hormone to help build and keep bone density.
Allison Greer: And fluctuations that women experience in estrogen can certainly impact
Allison Greer: our bone health. And then the third, we think about
Allison Greer: nutritional deficiencies. Some really important nutrients to build and help
Allison Greer: sustain bone health are calcium and vitamin D. So as
Allison Greer: female runners, it's really important that we're paying attention to
Allison Greer: our intake of those. Another injury that we see more
Allison Greer: commonly in females are knee injuries, specifically in the front
Allison Greer: of the knee, which we call patellofemoral pain syndrome, also
Allison Greer: known as runner's knee, or pain on the outside of
Allison Greer: the knee, which is an irritation of the iliotibial or IT
Allison Greer: band. And this is often due to anatomic variances between
Allison Greer: women and men. For example, women often have wider hips
Allison Greer: relative to our height, which creates a different line of
Allison Greer: pull at our knees. We also tend to be overall
Allison Greer: weaker in comparison to our male counterparts. And these anatomic
Allison Greer: things can lead to biomechanical changes when we run. So
Allison Greer: for example, in female runners, we tend to see more
Allison Greer: rolling in of their knee as they land and absorb
Allison Greer: load. We also tend to see a stiffer knee or
Allison Greer: less knee bend as we absorb the load of running.
Allison Greer: And these biomechanical faults can result in overstress and overuse injuries.
Meb: Amazing information, Allison. And there's exception to the rules, obviously.
Meb: I was also have issue that I had in 2007 when
Meb: my vitamin D and my calcium was very low and
Meb: typically what they saw on women saw in mine. So
Meb: for those of you guys that are male also, having
Meb: a base is always important, whether the male or female,
Meb: to be able to just kind of know who you
Meb: are and be in tune with your body. So great
Meb: information and keep running and stay healthy. And thank you
Meb: Allison for being on the podcast.
Allison Greer: Thank you so much.
Becs Gentry: And that does it for another episode of Set the
Becs Gentry: Pace. Thank you to today's guests, Kirra, Michel, Andrew Kyle,
Becs Gentry: and HSS's Allison Greer. If you like this episode, please
Becs Gentry: do go ahead and subscribe, rate or leave a comment
Becs Gentry: for the show on whatever platform you are listening on.
Becs Gentry: This not only helps us, but it helps others find
Becs Gentry: out about the show too. Thanks for listening. Get those
Becs Gentry: miles in, and we'll see you next week.