Alan Bersten: Something that I say on the show all the time to
Alan Bersten: the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do anything.
Alan Bersten: If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is a
Alan Bersten: huge testament to that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hello everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, a special episode
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the official podcast of New York Road Runners, presented by Peloton. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: your host and the CEO of New York Road Runners,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Rob Simmelkjaer, and we are here live at Maimonides ballpark.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right. It's the official RBC Brooklyn Half After- Party, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: what a party it is. This field and this stadium
Rob Simmelkjaer: are absolutely packed with people with this beautiful RBC Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: Half medal hanging around their necks. Congratulations to everybody who
Rob Simmelkjaer: finished today. It was a warm day, it was a bit of a humid
Rob Simmelkjaer: day, but it was a great day, and you guys all
Rob Simmelkjaer: deserve those medals, so congratulations to each and every one
Rob Simmelkjaer: of you. All right, before we bring up our amazing
Rob Simmelkjaer: guest today, I want to give a shout- out to our
Rob Simmelkjaer: friends at RBC, which has been both the exclusive title
Rob Simmelkjaer: partner and exclusive financial service partner and investment banking partner
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the RBC Brooklyn Half for four consecutive years. As
Rob Simmelkjaer: a purpose- driven global financial institution, RBC, just like New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners, is strongly committed to giving back to
Rob Simmelkjaer: communities. I'm sure you saw the great run inspired with
Rob Simmelkjaer: RBC giant inspiration wall at the RBC Brooklyn Half Pre- Party,
Rob Simmelkjaer: presented by New Balance. And of course, the photo booth
Rob Simmelkjaer: where so many of you turned yourselves into custom trading
Rob Simmelkjaer: cars. Quick reminder, by the way. Every time you share
Rob Simmelkjaer: one of those trading cars on social, hashtag # RBCBrooklynHalf, RBC's
Rob Simmelkjaer: going to donate one dollar to the National Alliance on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mental Illness, NAMI. So it's Mental Health Awareness Month, we
Rob Simmelkjaer: want to thank RBC. Make sure you check out the RBC-
Rob Simmelkjaer: branded finish line photo booth, which is out there in the field somewhere.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Get that photo here at the after party, and thank
Rob Simmelkjaer: you again to our friends at RBC. All right, our
Rob Simmelkjaer: guests today are incredible. I had a chance to meet,
Rob Simmelkjaer: right before the race, the one and only Dancing with
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Stars dancer Alan Bersten, who is here with me
Rob Simmelkjaer: on stage. Alan just ran his first ever half- marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: in his life, and we're going to talk to him
Rob Simmelkjaer: about that incredible achievement. And then with us right after
Rob Simmelkjaer: Alan is going to be Kim Conley, our two- time
Rob Simmelkjaer: Olympian, and came into this as a defending 2024 RBC Brooklyn Half champion. We'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk about her race today and what happened out there
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the winner's field, it was a great day. And then
Rob Simmelkjaer: lastly, we'll have some exclusive advice from our partners at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS, on how to transition
Rob Simmelkjaer: from running today's race to beginning their training for the 2025
Rob Simmelkjaer: TCS New York City Marathon. Make some noise out there
Rob Simmelkjaer: if you're planning to run the marathon this year. Who's
Rob Simmelkjaer: running? Who's running the TCS New York City Marathon, all right,
Rob Simmelkjaer: well we'll talk about that as well, so don't go away.
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Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, well we're thrilled to have Alan Bersten here
Rob Simmelkjaer: with me. He's best known for his standout performances on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dancing with the Stars, where he's been a pro since 2017,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and he won the mirrorball trophy with Bachelorette star Hannah
Rob Simmelkjaer: Brown. He started dancing at the age of seven in
Rob Simmelkjaer: his family's Minnesota studio, and he's trained in styles ranging
Rob Simmelkjaer: from ballroom dancing to Bollywood dancing. He's done it all.
Rob Simmelkjaer: He's a former So You Think You Can Dance finalist
Rob Simmelkjaer: and a Dancing with the Stars Juniors champion, and he
Rob Simmelkjaer: has spent years performing live and pushing to all of
Rob Simmelkjaer: his physical limits, especially today. Alan, congratulations, and welcome to
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace.
Alan Bersten: Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, this is so
Alan Bersten: fun. It was really... Well, great job to everyone that
Alan Bersten: did this. Let's go with finishers.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, all right. We got to ask the obvious question. You have
Rob Simmelkjaer: pushed your body to the limits as a dancer. You
Rob Simmelkjaer: obviously are a great athlete to dance the way you
Rob Simmelkjaer: dance on that show. How did running a half- marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: for the first time ever compare to preparing for and
Rob Simmelkjaer: dancing on the show as you do?
Alan Bersten: Absolutely zero comparison, it turns out that it is a lot
Alan Bersten: of fun. I've always wanted to push my body, and
Alan Bersten: a lot of people don't consider dancers as athletes, but
Alan Bersten: I think this is a great opportunity to prove to
Alan Bersten: myself that I'm more than just a dancer. Running a half-
Alan Bersten: marathon is not easy. Kudos to everyone. I'm so proud
Alan Bersten: of myself for finishing, I'm so proud of everyone for
Alan Bersten: being here.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Amazing, congratulations. What inspired you to take this on? Why,
Rob Simmelkjaer: after all the success you've had as a dancer and
Rob Simmelkjaer: an amazing career you've created for yourself as a dancer?
Rob Simmelkjaer: What made you think, " This isn't enough. I got to
Rob Simmelkjaer: take on a half- marathon"?
Alan Bersten: Honestly, I was on tour and my (inaudible) who
Alan Bersten: ran this with me, his name's Danny, he's like, " I'm
Alan Bersten: running a half- marathon in May." I was like, " My
Alan Bersten: schedule's free, let me do it too." Big mistake. No,
Alan Bersten: honestly it was so much fun. So he's the one
Alan Bersten: that, honestly, he did it, so I was like, " I'm going to join him."
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, well I saw you at the start and then
Rob Simmelkjaer: I saw you at the finish line. Your official finishing
Rob Simmelkjaer: time in your first ever half, 1: 38:43. That is
Rob Simmelkjaer: an outstanding (inaudible) half- marathon time. Congratulations on that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tell me, take me through your race today. How did
Rob Simmelkjaer: it feel? Did you feel strong throughout? It was a
Rob Simmelkjaer: warm day, were you struggling at any points? Take us through it.
Alan Bersten: Honestly, I think the biggest thing everyone told me was, "
Alan Bersten: Stay hydrated," so I was drinking a lot of water.
Alan Bersten: The hills in the beginning are hard. I was not
Alan Bersten: used to that. And then they were like, " Oh, mile seven. That's going to
Alan Bersten: be easy." It didn't get easy. None of this was
Alan Bersten: actually easy until the end. But honestly, I think it
Alan Bersten: was just pushing. You know? Everyone around you's doing it,
Alan Bersten: everyone's cheering you on. It's a lot of fun. Ask
Alan Bersten: me in a few days if I'll do another one. I
Alan Bersten: can tell you maybe. If you ask me right now, no.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I never ask right afterwards. I never ask at the finish
Rob Simmelkjaer: line. That's not the time to ask.
Alan Bersten: Yeah, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I've been there, I know. But there is a question
Rob Simmelkjaer: that of course will start to dog you, just so
Rob Simmelkjaer: you know. Now that you've run a half- marathon, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: know the question is going to come. Would you ever
Rob Simmelkjaer: even think about running a full marathon?
Alan Bersten: I genuinely don't know how I could do two of
Alan Bersten: that. That was really hard. If I slow down my pace, maybe.
Alan Bersten: But yeah, no, what an accomplishment it is to finish
Alan Bersten: a full marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What accomplishment to finish a half marathon. It's a huge
Rob Simmelkjaer: accomplishment to have.
Alan Bersten: (inaudible) proud. Yeah, so I'm going to take it more half at a time.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I like it. That's a very sensible answer. You know,
Rob Simmelkjaer: listen, I am not a dancer, so I have no
Rob Simmelkjaer: idea what goes in to doing what you do on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dancing with the Stars, but just watching some of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: routines, that looks like a massive physical challenge. Can you
Rob Simmelkjaer: compare the endurance, the strength? What do you think is
Rob Simmelkjaer: the biggest similarity and difference between the physical challenge of
Rob Simmelkjaer: dancing at a high level and running 13.1 miles?
Alan Bersten: I think there's a few. There's a dance that's similar,
Alan Bersten: like a quickstep or a jive. They're very fast. You
Alan Bersten: only have to do it for a minute and a
Alan Bersten: half, so it's a lot easier. I think this was
Alan Bersten: more just mental over physical. You put in the training
Alan Bersten: and you realize that as long as you just keep
Alan Bersten: going and don't stop, you're fine. That was my mentality
Alan Bersten: the whole time. Just keep going, don't slow down. Because
Alan Bersten: if I slow down I'm just going to stop, and
Alan Bersten: I do not want to stop.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Have you had a lot of your Dancing with the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Stars co- stars or your former partners or other people
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there on social reacting to your run?
Alan Bersten: Yeah, everyone's been so supportive. My girlfriend actually, she's from the show,
Alan Bersten: and now she's here supporting, so that was nice. Lindsay
Alan Bersten: Arnold did a half- marathon, she's one of the pros,
Alan Bersten: I think like three weeks ago, and I didn't know
Alan Bersten: she was running one, so that really inspired me and
Alan Bersten: she gave me a lot of tips. She was like, "
Alan Bersten: Just hydrate a lot." So the support's been incredible, but
Alan Bersten: it's honestly just running and seeing all the people on
Alan Bersten: the sides being supportive and cheering on all the other
Alan Bersten: runners. It's just so fun.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I took a photo with you at the start, post
Rob Simmelkjaer: it on my social. It wasn't like five minutes before
Rob Simmelkjaer: my teenage daughter was like, " Oh my god, all my
Rob Simmelkjaer: friends are texting me. You know Alan Bersten? How do
Rob Simmelkjaer: you know him?" So clearly there's a following, there's people
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there who are excited. What's your message to all
Rob Simmelkjaer: those folks out there who follow you as a dancer,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and about what you've just accomplished? What do you think
Rob Simmelkjaer: is the lesson that you can teach all of them
Rob Simmelkjaer: from this?
Alan Bersten: Something that I say on the show all the time
Alan Bersten: to the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do
Alan Bersten: anything. If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is
Alan Bersten: a huge testament to that. The longest I've ever ran
Alan Bersten: before today was 10 miles. The longest I ever ran before
Alan Bersten: that was like five miles. You know? So it was
Alan Bersten: more of just, commit to it, put in the training,
Alan Bersten: you put in the work, you get the results, and
Alan Bersten: my message is just to believe in yourself and do it,
Alan Bersten: you know? The worst that happens is that you have to
Alan Bersten: try a little bit harder and that you have to try
Alan Bersten: again, but as long as you keep going, the finish
Alan Bersten: line is there.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, let's talk about Dancing with the Stars for
Rob Simmelkjaer: a little while. First of all, who out there is
Rob Simmelkjaer: a fan of the show, Dancing with the Stars? Are there any fans
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there? (inaudible) that show has been so successful
Rob Simmelkjaer: for so many years. I worked at ABC Disney when
Rob Simmelkjaer: that show first went on the air, and it went
Rob Simmelkjaer: on as like a midsummer replacement.
Alan Bersten: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It had no expectation of being successful, and here it is.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How many seasons now has that show (inaudible)
Alan Bersten: We're about to start season 34.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh my god, that's unbelievable.
Alan Bersten: Yeah. (inaudible) Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's a couple seasons a year. I'm like, " I'm not
Rob Simmelkjaer: that old." But I know they do a couple seasons a year.
Alan Bersten: (inaudible) This is the 20th year anniversary.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's incredible. Why do you think it's been so successful
Rob Simmelkjaer: as a franchise?
Alan Bersten: You know, I think there's something so endearing about seeing
Alan Bersten: these incredible celebrities or athletes try something new, and that's
Alan Bersten: also what inspired me to do this. I've never ran
Alan Bersten: before, but I wanted to just go out there, go
Alan Bersten: out of my comfort zone. I think what makes the
Alan Bersten: show special is you see people trying, you see people
Alan Bersten: caring. And like you said, your teenage daughter is a
Alan Bersten: fan. Usually it's, " Oh, my mom's a fan," so it's
Alan Bersten: nice that the teenage daughters are fans now. But it's
Alan Bersten: a show for the whole family. It's fun for everyone.
Alan Bersten: Families sit down and we go on tour, and there's
Alan Bersten: four generations that are watching together, and it's just so cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's incredible. It really is great family entertainment, and there's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot in common, actually, between what you guys do
Rob Simmelkjaer: on that show and what we do here at New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners, because we do have a lot of folks, like
Rob Simmelkjaer: you, who are stepping out of their comfort zone to run
Rob Simmelkjaer: a race like this. I think the difference is, on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dancing with the Stars, you're doing it on primetime television
Rob Simmelkjaer: in front of tens of millions of viewers. And it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: live, right? So a lot can go wrong. When you
Rob Simmelkjaer: are working with a dancer, a celebrity who's coming on
Rob Simmelkjaer: to dance with you, how do you work with them
Rob Simmelkjaer: to get them comfortable and take them out of their
Rob Simmelkjaer: shell to turn them into someone who can have a
Rob Simmelkjaer: successful performance?
Alan Bersten: You know, I think comfortability is the big proponent there.
Alan Bersten: Making sure you're comfortable, making sure you believe in yourself.
Alan Bersten: My job on top of teaching somebody to dance is
Alan Bersten: also to make sure they feel confident and comfortable in
Alan Bersten: themselves, and I think the only way to do that
Alan Bersten: is with practice, with repetition. It's a lot scarier to
Alan Bersten: go and do anything the first time, but the more
Alan Bersten: you do it, the easier and the more comfortable you get.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So you have a minor in psychology, basically. I mean, dance
Rob Simmelkjaer: is your major, but you got to be able to
Rob Simmelkjaer: really have a little psych work on-
Alan Bersten: A lot of people say that first we're dance instructors,
Alan Bersten: but then we're therapists. So there's a lot that goes
Alan Bersten: on in that room.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. I love it. What has been the most memorable dance performance of
Rob Simmelkjaer: your career on Dancing with the Stars? Which one would
Rob Simmelkjaer: you say has been your favorite?
Alan Bersten: That's a good question. My last partner was Ilona Maher,
Alan Bersten: and she's so... Give it up for Ilona Maher. We
Alan Bersten: did some really cool dances. I feel like our freestyle
Alan Bersten: was really cool, it was just a lot of fun. And you
Alan Bersten: know, we were bending the norms from the traditional couple
Alan Bersten: on Dancing with the Stars. She lifted me, I lifted her.
Alan Bersten: There was so much going on, and she really inspired
Alan Bersten: me to go out and do things that you're not
Alan Bersten: comfortable in. You know? She's a big proponent of, just
Alan Bersten: because she's a rugby player doesn't mean she's only a
Alan Bersten: rugby player. And I think that's what was my mentality
Alan Bersten: for this dance... " For this dance." For this race, is
Alan Bersten: I'm not just a dancer. I'm so athletic. I take
Alan Bersten: pride in physical exercise, and this is a great way to
Alan Bersten: not only prove it to myself, but prove it to
Alan Bersten: other people.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love that. We love Ilona Maher. She's an incredible
Rob Simmelkjaer: role model, and has been in some of our races
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well, so that's fantastic. Who would you say was
Rob Simmelkjaer: just the most talented dancer who you were paired with? Who
Rob Simmelkjaer: just had the goods and was just a talented dancer
Rob Simmelkjaer: who you were paired with on the show?
Alan Bersten: You know, one season I was with Amanda Coutts. She
Alan Bersten: used to be a Rockette, actually, so she's got her
Alan Bersten: New York roots. She was great. She knew how to
Alan Bersten: dance. She was so committed to it and she had
Alan Bersten: a great story behind everything, so it was really fun
Alan Bersten: dancing with her.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And my last dancing question, because I don't have very
Rob Simmelkjaer: many dancing questions, I couldn't talk about dancing for more
Rob Simmelkjaer: than another minute or two. If you had to dance
Rob Simmelkjaer: one style of dance, okay, for the win, for the
Rob Simmelkjaer: championship, what is your go- to? What do you think
Rob Simmelkjaer: is your best style of dancing yourself?
Alan Bersten: I like the Argentine tango. There's cool lifts, there's cool
Alan Bersten: tricks. He knows what I'm talking... Oh yeah. Argentine tango.
Rob Simmelkjaer: There is something about the Argentine tango that everybody knows.
Rob Simmelkjaer: There's something just dramatic about it, right?
Alan Bersten: Exactly. The drama, the passion. I think anyone that can
Alan Bersten: run a half- marathon has passion, and passion is what drives
Alan Bersten: me. I love it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How you feeling?
Alan Bersten: Honestly, I can't get up.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's okay.
Alan Bersten: Everyone told me, " Don't sit down," and okay, you guys are sitting
Alan Bersten: down. I said, " Okay."
Rob Simmelkjaer: That is one of the secrets to running a half
Rob Simmelkjaer: or a marathon, is stay on your feet.
Alan Bersten: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, I want to thank you for sitting down, literally,
Rob Simmelkjaer: with us for a few minutes. Good luck getting up.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Congratulations on the race.
Alan Bersten: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Alan Bersten! (inaudible) He's getting up slowly, making his way
Rob Simmelkjaer: out. An incredible, incredible day for Alan and a great accomplishment,
Rob Simmelkjaer: running the RBC Brooklyn Half. All right, well. We had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a very competitive race today, and I'm actually going to
Rob Simmelkjaer: ask my producer Catherine, I'm going to ask you to
Rob Simmelkjaer: pick up the card here that has the winners on
Rob Simmelkjaer: it, because I want to go through them. I threw it
Rob Simmelkjaer: down to the ground. We have our 2024 defending champion Kim
Rob Simmelkjaer: Conley on stage with us. And Kim, first of all,
Rob Simmelkjaer: congratulations on a great day today. Now, I know today
Rob Simmelkjaer: did not go exactly as you planned, but you had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great day, you finished second, and we'll talk about
Rob Simmelkjaer: the women's race. The winner, by the way, on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: women's field was Felicia Pasadyn with a time of one
Rob Simmelkjaer: hour, 15 minutes, and 39 seconds. Congratulations to Felicia. Kim
Rob Simmelkjaer: finished second at 1:16: 27, then it was Grace Heymsfield at
Rob Simmelkjaer: third. But Kim, take me through your race. First of
Rob Simmelkjaer: all, welcome to Set the Pace. Thanks for coming on.
Kim Conley: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Take me through your race today. You came in as
Rob Simmelkjaer: the defending champion. There's a little pressure that comes with
Rob Simmelkjaer: that. Did you walk up to the start line today with
Rob Simmelkjaer: an intent to defend that, or how did you feel
Rob Simmelkjaer: as you started the race today?
Kim Conley: Well, I felt great as I started the race. Absolutely
Kim Conley: wanted to defend the title, but mostly was just excited
Kim Conley: to be back at this race, because it's such a
Kim Conley: fun environment, and the volunteers and the fans that come
Kim Conley: out and line the course, and the way the course
Kim Conley: doubles back on itself through Prospect Park, and so you
Kim Conley: have everybody else coming behind you that are cheering for
Kim Conley: you, that energy, is just so infectious. So I got
Kim Conley: a little bit carried away and ran significantly faster than
Kim Conley: I should have over the first 5K.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I was in one of the lead vehicles and I
Rob Simmelkjaer: had a laptop there following the race, and I'm following,
Rob Simmelkjaer: following, following, and you are out in front, and you
Rob Simmelkjaer: were out in front pretty comfortably. And I actually got
Rob Simmelkjaer: out of the lead vehicle, made for the finish line
Rob Simmelkjaer: just behind you, and I thought you'd won the race,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I saw you right before this and it turns
Rob Simmelkjaer: out you'd finished second. So can you talk about what
Rob Simmelkjaer: happened in those last few miles? And obviously Felicia, tracking
Rob Simmelkjaer: that, I think Felicia's a runner who's a new name
Rob Simmelkjaer: to a lot of us here at New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners. Did you see her coming? Were you expecting someone
Rob Simmelkjaer: behind you? Take us through that last few miles.
Kim Conley: Yeah, I know, she really did come out of nowhere
Kim Conley: on me. It was really hot out there, coming down
Kim Conley: the parkway. It was sun exposed at that point in
Kim Conley: the day, and I was just starting to suffer. But
Kim Conley: when she came, she came with a full head of
Kim Conley: steam and she was rolling and blew right by me.
Kim Conley: That was somewhere between miles 10 and 11, so it hurt. It
Kim Conley: was tough. But the exciting news is I'm running the
Kim Conley: mini and she is running the mini also, so we're
Kim Conley: going to have a little showdown there.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right, that's right. You'll be showing up at the
Rob Simmelkjaer: MasterCard Mini 10K in June, which we're excited about. So, rematch, rematch!
Rob Simmelkjaer: We love a good rematch, and we will have that
Rob Simmelkjaer: between you and Felicia at the MasterCard Mini 10K. Kim,
Rob Simmelkjaer: you are someone who really started out on the track.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You were really excellent on the track, you had so
Rob Simmelkjaer: much success, even qualified in Olympic success on the track,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and then you recently moved up to running the marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You qualified for the 2024 Olympic trials, which is no
Rob Simmelkjaer: small feat. Talk about that transition from the track to
Rob Simmelkjaer: the marathon, why you decided to do it, and how
Rob Simmelkjaer: it's been going.
Kim Conley: It felt like a natural progression to me. I reached
Kim Conley: a point in my career where I felt like I'd
Kim Conley: accomplished everything that I could accomplish, wanted to accomplish on
Kim Conley: the track. And you know, I think everybody is lured
Kim Conley: by the marathon. I think everybody that ran this race
Kim Conley: can relate to that pull of wanting to conquer 26.2
Kim Conley: miles. So for me that was just something that I
Kim Conley: felt like I had to do next.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's just such a natural progression, and I'm sure some
Rob Simmelkjaer: of it probably comes a bit with age, right? You
Rob Simmelkjaer: get into your mid to late thirties, finding that track
Rob Simmelkjaer: speed gets a little tougher, right? But you can tap
Rob Simmelkjaer: into the endurance that lasts, for so many runners, well
Rob Simmelkjaer: into their forties. So are you feeling that transition in
Rob Simmelkjaer: your body, and you feel like you've got a future
Rob Simmelkjaer: at 26. 2, you've got a present?
Kim Conley: Yeah, I think both the half- marathon and the marathon,
Kim Conley: those are the distances that I'll be focused on for
Kim Conley: a little bit longer. Yeah. And there's a puzzle to
Kim Conley: the marathon, which is really appealing.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It is. Just, it's something that you got to figure out
Rob Simmelkjaer: over time. How does the half factor into your marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: preparation? How do you approach half, so what do you
Rob Simmelkjaer: get out of running a race like this?
Kim Conley: It depends a little bit on the situation. Sometimes you're
Kim Conley: in a marathon buildup and use it as a tune
Kim Conley: up for your marathon. Sometimes you're not going to run
Kim Conley: a marathon in that season and it still gives you
Kim Conley: a race to put on the schedule and have a
Kim Conley: peak effort that you're building your training around.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We got so many people out here, so many women
Rob Simmelkjaer: who really look up to someone like you, the people
Rob Simmelkjaer: who get to start right at the starting line, right?
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's a dream for so many people out there. What's
Rob Simmelkjaer: your advice to somebody who, maybe he's out there with
Rob Simmelkjaer: a dream of getting to the point of being able
Rob Simmelkjaer: to run as a seeded athlete at an event like
Rob Simmelkjaer: this, or just wants to find a new level and
Rob Simmelkjaer: set a PR? What's the best advice you can give them?
Kim Conley: Running really takes consistency, and it's just the more you
Kim Conley: put into the sport, the more you're going to get
Kim Conley: out in the long term. Right now, especially with the New York
Kim Conley: Marathon on the horizon for a lot of people, especially
Kim Conley: in this area, I'm on the phone almost daily with
Kim Conley: people that are asking me, " When should I start training?"
Kim Conley: And my answer is always, " Today." Because the sooner you
Kim Conley: start, the more it's going to build on itself, and
Kim Conley: the better you're going to feel, the more confident you're
Kim Conley: going to feel, when race day comes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, so there's the advice. You're going to run
Rob Simmelkjaer: the marathon in November, start training today. Well, I think
Rob Simmelkjaer: you all did just start training today. So congratulations. You've all
Rob Simmelkjaer: just taken Kim's advice and started training today. Well done.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You coach as well, right?
Kim Conley: That's right, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Talk about that. How many athletes are you coaching?
Kim Conley: We have about a hundred and fifty athletes in our
Kim Conley: business right now, Next Best Run. A lot of them
Kim Conley: are actually based in this area, and we do a
Kim Conley: special program for the New York Marathon called Next Level
Kim Conley: New York, and we have a lot of fun. We come out
Kim Conley: here as often as we can, because we love the
Kim Conley: running community. It's so thriving.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Are you your own coach, or do you have another coach?
Kim Conley: So I'm coached by my husband Drew Wartenburg, who also
Kim Conley: coaches in the business.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How does that coaching practice help you as a runner?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Do you feel like you're learning something by teaching others?
Kim Conley: It's definitely given me a way greater sense of purpose
Kim Conley: with my training. I'm definitely the type of athlete that
Kim Conley: can be a little bit of a knucklehead and just
Kim Conley: think that in every situation, faster is better. But there's
Kim Conley: a lot of nuance to training in terms of accomplishing
Kim Conley: what you're supposed to accomplish with a physiological system in
Kim Conley: the body. And so because I'm explaining that so often
Kim Conley: to people now, I find in my own training, I'm
Kim Conley: a little bit better about adhering to my own advice.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, well Kim, congratulations on a great day today,
Rob Simmelkjaer: finishing on the podium for the second straight year, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: we look forward to seeing you at the MasterCard Mini
Rob Simmelkjaer: 10K. Congratulations.
Kim Conley: Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Kim Conley, everybody. Our second place women's finisher today in the RBC
Rob Simmelkjaer: Brooklyn Half. Thank you very much. All right, we're going
Rob Simmelkjaer: to wrap up today with a special minute from our
Rob Simmelkjaer: friends at the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS. Our friend
Rob Simmelkjaer: from HSS Jason Mayerhofer is here. Jason is a doctor
Rob Simmelkjaer: of physical therapy from HSS with a lot of letters
Rob Simmelkjaer: after his name, including PT, DPT, MTC, STC, CSCS, SFMA. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: don't know what most of these things are. PT, I
Rob Simmelkjaer: know what that one is. But he's got 18 years
Rob Simmelkjaer: of experience working with athletes who've had injuries of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: kind a lot of you out there have probably experienced.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hips, knees, ankles, all the things that runners get. Jason,
Rob Simmelkjaer: nice to have you here on Set the Pace. Welcome.
Jason Mayerhofer: Thank you so much. It's great being here. Beautiful day,
Jason Mayerhofer: even a little sprinkle to cool things off, but appreciate it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right Jason, we're looking at a sea of humanity
Rob Simmelkjaer: right now, thousands of runners who have just completed the RBC
Rob Simmelkjaer: Brooklyn Half. What is the first thing that all of
Rob Simmelkjaer: these people out here should do when they get home?
Jason Mayerhofer: Everyone listen up. Don't run. Rest. Please take at least seven to 10
Jason Mayerhofer: days off, let your body recover a little bit, both
Jason Mayerhofer: mentally and physically, and then you can start to ramp
Jason Mayerhofer: back up again. But please, they need to rest, need
Jason Mayerhofer: to recover, focus on nutrition, hydration. Think everyone should be
Jason Mayerhofer: in a good place at that point.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How long do you think you should typically take off
Rob Simmelkjaer: after running a half- marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer: It's speculative. Some places will say each mile that you
Jason Mayerhofer: run, you take a day off. Doing 13 miles, take
Jason Mayerhofer: a couple of weeks off. I think that's a little excessive,
Jason Mayerhofer: but I think what it boils down to, you really
Jason Mayerhofer: just got to listen to your body. If your body
Jason Mayerhofer: says you're ready to run again, you can start to
Jason Mayerhofer: ramp up. Wearables are a big thing nowadays, so lots
Jason Mayerhofer: of recovery sores that may come about, really focus on
Jason Mayerhofer: that and see if your body's prepped for running again.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What about icing? What about icing? Some people like an
Rob Simmelkjaer: ice bath or a cold plunge. Do you think that's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a must- do within a few hours after running a
Rob Simmelkjaer: long distance like that?
Jason Mayerhofer: Actually I tend to steer away from that, because it
Jason Mayerhofer: actually stiffen you up a little bit. You know? As
Jason Mayerhofer: Kim had to try to get up, it's a little
Jason Mayerhofer: bit rough when you have to be static. With ice,
Jason Mayerhofer: you're actually going to really constrict your blood vessels. You're
Jason Mayerhofer: really looking to pump all of the toxins and metabolites
Jason Mayerhofer: that form out of the system. So icing for right now,
Jason Mayerhofer: I would steer away from it. Key, just move, move,
Jason Mayerhofer: move. Don't sit, don't get too static.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Should people out there... And we're now, maybe it could
Rob Simmelkjaer: be an hour after most people have finished, some more
Rob Simmelkjaer: if they were faster, maybe even two hours. Should folks
Rob Simmelkjaer: be stretching immediately after finishing, later in the evening? What's
Rob Simmelkjaer: your stretching advice?
Jason Mayerhofer: Yeah, absolutely. I think stretching after activity is good. I
Jason Mayerhofer: wouldn't stretch before. You're looking to do dynamic warmups before,
Jason Mayerhofer: but definitely stretching after, foam rolling after. You could even
Jason Mayerhofer: do some functional movements, squatting, lunges, things like that, just to
Jason Mayerhofer: get blood flow, get some fluid exchange to your joints.
Jason Mayerhofer: I think that's healthy.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And what about, there's a lot of cross- training options,
Rob Simmelkjaer: you know, swimming, weight lifting. Are all those things good
Rob Simmelkjaer: to start right after running like this? Especially if you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: planning on entering another training cycle, maybe for a fall marathon.
Jason Mayerhofer: Absolutely, yeah. I cross- training's critical. I find a lot of runners that
Jason Mayerhofer: come into our clinic tend to be running four or
Jason Mayerhofer: five, six days a week. I actually steer against that.
Jason Mayerhofer: I actually want people to run two to three days
Jason Mayerhofer: a week and do some cross- training in the interim,
Jason Mayerhofer: as well as strength training, to really have a nice
Jason Mayerhofer: balance in their training system, not develop overuse injuries and
Jason Mayerhofer: things like that. So yeah, I highly encourage swimming, any
Jason Mayerhofer: sort of cross- training.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I've actually talked to a few runners today who did
Rob Simmelkjaer: not have the day they had hoped to have because
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the humidity, right? It was warm, it was humid.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What's your message to those runners in terms of how
Rob Simmelkjaer: to be maybe better prepared for these kinds of conditions
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the future? Again, we're here in the Northeast, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: can get a humid day any time between March and
Rob Simmelkjaer: November, you could get a day like this. What do
Rob Simmelkjaer: you think are some lessons the runners can learn if
Rob Simmelkjaer: they may be crashed a little bit today because of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the humidity?
Jason Mayerhofer: Yeah, I think it's really unpredictable with the weather, especially
Jason Mayerhofer: for this run. But I think you can learn from
Jason Mayerhofer: it. You can go back and process your times, how
Jason Mayerhofer: you ran, how you felt with those. I think afterwards
Jason Mayerhofer: you can also, especially if you're going to be training for the
Jason Mayerhofer: full marathon, hire a coach. That could be beneficial. They
Jason Mayerhofer: could help break down things. You can revisit your hydration
Jason Mayerhofer: and nutrition during the run, really see if that was
Jason Mayerhofer: a deficit for you. But I think that the mental fortitude
Jason Mayerhofer: that you get to develop as well. Some people like
Jason Mayerhofer: to sign up for another interim run, just to boost
Jason Mayerhofer: their confidence a little bit. So the mental and the
Jason Mayerhofer: physical is just as important to capitalize on.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, we're just under six months out from the TCS
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York City Marathon. For folks out there who just
Rob Simmelkjaer: ran today, who are planning on training for November, when
Rob Simmelkjaer: should they start? We talked about taking a break. Of
Rob Simmelkjaer: course it depends on the fitness level, experience, but when
Rob Simmelkjaer: do you think is the window when people should start
Rob Simmelkjaer: really focusing on a block for the marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer: Yeah, I think now is actually the perfect time. I
Jason Mayerhofer: would obviously, like we just discussed, focus on your recovery for
Jason Mayerhofer: now. Give it a couple weeks, and then you can
Jason Mayerhofer: start to kick it into high gear in June. But
Jason Mayerhofer: really, really, really monitor your system, monitor your body. If
Jason Mayerhofer: something doesn't feel right, don't wait for too long to
Jason Mayerhofer: get it looked at. I give it a couple weeks,
Jason Mayerhofer: and if you're having persistent pain, seek out a medical specialist.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, Jason, thank you very much, appreciate it. Great
Rob Simmelkjaer: advice. Jason Mayerhofer from Hospital for Special Surgery.
Jason Mayerhofer: Thank you Rob.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thanks, good luck to everybody out there on your recoveries.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And I just want to say once again, congratulations to
Rob Simmelkjaer: everybody out there for completing the RBC Brooklyn Half. Hey,
Rob Simmelkjaer: if you don't already listen to our podcast, Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace, now's a great time to start. You can just go
Rob Simmelkjaer: right in your phone, look it up. We're on Apple
Rob Simmelkjaer: Podcasts, we're on Spotify. You can follow, subscribe, leave a
Rob Simmelkjaer: rating right now, and then you'll be able to listen to
Rob Simmelkjaer: this special episode a little bit later on today. We'd
Rob Simmelkjaer: love to have you. We publish an episode every single
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thursday, and it's a great companion to your long runs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: your short runs, your bedtime, your drive, whatever it might
Rob Simmelkjaer: be. So please join us. Thanks for joining us. Thanks
Rob Simmelkjaer: to all of our guests today, Alan Bersten, Kim Conley,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and Jason Mayerhofer from HSS. Have a great trip back
Rob Simmelkjaer: to wherever you're from. Thanks for running, congrats, and we'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: see you next week on Set the Pace. Enjoy the miles.
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