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Speaker 1: I have never ever in my life regretted betting on myself.

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Speaker 1: Hard stop period, full send. Hey everyone, Emily Abadi. Here

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Speaker 1: you are listening to episode two hundred and ninety three

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Speaker 1: of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where I talk to

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Speaker 1: inspirational people about everything from their highest highs and toughest

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Speaker 1: moments to essential tips on how to live a healthier, happier,

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Speaker 1: more motivated life. We all go through our fair share

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Speaker 1: of hurdles. My goal through these discussions is to empower

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Speaker 1: you to better navigate yours and move with intention so

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Speaker 1: that you can stride towards your own big potential and

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Speaker 1: of course have some fun along the way.

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Speaker 2: Wow, the episode is here.

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Speaker 1: Candidly, I have been procrastinating recording this episode because I

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Speaker 1: guess part of me feels like once I record it,

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Speaker 1: it's really done. Last week, on March third, twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 1: I ran the Tokyo Marathon, and by completing this race,

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Speaker 1: I checked off my coveted sixth star, finishing the Abbot

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Speaker 1: World Marathon majors. For those that don't know, this includes

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Speaker 1: New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London, and Tokyo.

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Speaker 2: I've done them all.

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Speaker 1: I never aspired to do them all, but here we are,

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Speaker 1: age thirty five, a Marathon Majors finisher. Now, if you've

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Speaker 1: been listening to the show for some time, you know

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Speaker 1: that after every major marathon, I do a solo episode

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Speaker 1: recapping my experience, and this episode is going to be

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Speaker 1: a bit of a joint recap. I'm going to of

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Speaker 1: course talk about my experience in Tokyo and all of

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Speaker 1: the feelings that went hand in hand with this insane day,

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Speaker 1: but also talk a bit about what I've learned finishing

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Speaker 1: all six of the World Marathon Majors. Or some background

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Speaker 1: for you. I started running back in two thousand and eight.

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Speaker 1: I ran my first major, the New York City Marathon,

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Speaker 1: back in twenty fourteen, just one year after my first marathon,

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Speaker 1: which was in Hartford. Needless to say, I have grown

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Speaker 1: so much since crossing the first finish line of my

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Speaker 1: first marathon, and this week has been really absorbing this

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Speaker 1: entire journey. It's not easy to process the emotions that

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Speaker 1: go hand in hand with not just a nine year journey. Candidly,

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Speaker 1: this is something that I've been working towards since I

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Speaker 1: decided that I.

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Speaker 2: Was worthy of my own investment.

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Speaker 1: Since I ran down the three flights of stairs from

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Speaker 1: my freshman dorm room back in two thousand and seven

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Speaker 1: and knew that I wanted to make sustainable changes within

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Speaker 1: my life to live a healthier, happier life, exactly what

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Speaker 1: I aim to help others do every single week that

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Speaker 1: I put out a podcast episode. I won't recap that

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Speaker 1: entire process on today's episode. If you want to hear

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Speaker 1: more about my overall health and wellness journey, which resulted

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Speaker 1: in a dramatic weight loss back in college, you can

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Speaker 1: tune into episode one of the show. I'll link that

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Speaker 1: in the show notes. Alas I digress. In this episode,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to break down Tokyo. I'm going to talk

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Speaker 1: about the lessons I learned both in training for this

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Speaker 1: race and in training for the last thirteen marathons that

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Speaker 1: I have run, and cap it off with answering the

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Speaker 1: question that you know I'm getting right now, let's next?

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Speaker 1: Don't you love that? Can't we just soak this in

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Speaker 1: for a second? Trust me, I'm the kind of person

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Speaker 1: that's definitely already thinking about what's next, So I'm not

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Speaker 1: faulting you at all for asking. Plus, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: make sure I answer some of the listener questions that

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Speaker 1: have come my way. If you have any other questions

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Speaker 1: for me about marathoning or anything else, you can always

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Speaker 1: feel free to leave me a voice message. The link

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Speaker 1: to do that is in the show notes. Make sure

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Speaker 1: you're following along with Hurdle over on social It's at

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Speaker 1: hurdle Podcast, I myself am over at Emily a Body

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Speaker 1: and more on this and so much other goodness in

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Speaker 1: the weekly newsletter. It lands every single Friday directly in

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Speaker 1: your inbox with a lot of the motivation inspiration you

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Speaker 1: love from the show, plus so many extra goodies. The

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Speaker 1: link to subscribe to that, which is absolutely free, is

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Speaker 1: also in the show notes.

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Speaker 2: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.

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Speaker 1: It feels like just yesterday that I click submit on

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Speaker 1: the registration form for my first marathon. Like I said

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Speaker 1: in the intro, I ran my first marathon in Hartford, Connecticut,

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Speaker 1: back in twenty thirteen, and it's really bizarre to look

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Speaker 1: back on that single decision and how that really impacted

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Speaker 1: and changed the course of my entire life. For me,

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Speaker 1: running has taught me so much, which I'll go into

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Speaker 1: in just a bit. But I can say with confidence now,

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Speaker 1: ten years after I ran my first marathon, that training

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Speaker 1: for and completing these races has, without a doubt made

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Speaker 1: me a better person wholeheartedly. Like I said in the intro,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to divide this up in a way that

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Speaker 1: really gives you a full understanding of both Tokyo and

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Speaker 1: then my feelings of really the last ten years of marathoning.

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Speaker 2: And so let's start with Tokyo.

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Speaker 1: As always with these marathon recaps, I really talk freely,

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Speaker 1: so be patient with me as I get into the

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Speaker 1: bulk of this. So where to begin with the Tokyo Marathon.

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Speaker 1: This race has been on my radar for some time.

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Speaker 1: It's the farthest race to get to out of all

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Speaker 1: the world marathon majors, so it didn't surprise me that

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Speaker 1: it was the last one that I would check off

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Speaker 1: first and foremost. I'll answer a popular question, how did

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Speaker 1: you get into the Tokyo Marathon. I got a bib

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Speaker 1: for the Tokyo Marathon from the marathon's key sponsor, A

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Speaker 1: six And the way that this works is there are

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Speaker 1: a plethora of sponsors for any major marathon. Usually there

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Speaker 1: is one token athletic sponsor for Tokyo, it's A six

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Speaker 1: for Boston, it's Adidas for New York, it's New Balance,

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Speaker 1: so on and so forth. Each company gets a handful

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Speaker 1: of bibs that they can hand out at their discretion,

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Speaker 1: and there are only so many. So it meant the

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Speaker 1: world to me that the amazing, wonderful people that I

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Speaker 1: work with regularly at A six knew how much of

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Speaker 1: a bucket list item this was for me and gave

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Speaker 1: me one of their allocated bibs. With this said, although

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Speaker 1: I do contract work with A six regularly, I am

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Speaker 1: in no way a regularly paid A six ambassador or

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Speaker 1: on their payroll. In addition, when I was in Tokyo,

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Speaker 1: I learned about a program that Abbott has now that

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Speaker 1: they have a lottery, you can enter if you have

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Speaker 1: a certain amount of stars to gain access to one

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Speaker 1: of the marathons that you have yet to complete. Tokyo

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Speaker 1: and Boston are the two marathon majors that you us

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Speaker 1: have five stars already to enter the lottery, and then London, Berlin, Chicago,

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Speaker 1: and New York. You can enter the lottery to get

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Speaker 1: a spot if you have upward of three stars. So

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Speaker 1: if you've checked off three of the six races from

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Speaker 1: the list. More information on that I'll link in the

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Speaker 1: show notes. But I thought that this was a really

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Speaker 1: interesting lottery that I had no idea was in existence

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Speaker 1: until I was in Tokyo. I started training for the

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Speaker 1: Tokyo Marathon with a knee injury. So last year, as

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Speaker 1: I geared up for the Berlin Marathon, I was working

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Speaker 1: with a bit of planter fasciitis. I was able to

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Speaker 1: get to the starting line of that race really healthy

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Speaker 1: and in a really good spot. And then after completing Berlin,

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Speaker 1: I ran an ultra marathon, and as a result of

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Speaker 1: doing that ultra marathon, which was a non sanctioned run

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Speaker 1: around the perimeter of Manhattan, I developed some knee tendon itis,

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Speaker 1: and titis joined me on this training journey toward Tokyo,

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Speaker 1: and I would say that until the last month or

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Speaker 1: so of training was something that definitely impacted me on

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Speaker 1: the regular. Sitting here today as I record this, my

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Speaker 1: knee tendonitis is not bothering me whatsoever.

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Speaker 2: I ran four miles this morning. I'm feeling really solid.

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Speaker 1: So for that I am really grateful and candidly this

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Speaker 1: is the thing that was my goal the entire time,

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Speaker 1: so let's talk about that. Let's talk about goals for me.

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Speaker 1: Over the last handful of years, I have dealt with

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Speaker 1: injuries while completing all three of the international marathon majors London, Berlin,

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Speaker 1: and then training for Tokyo. My rule of thumb wall

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Speaker 1: training is that if there is something that is bothering

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Speaker 1: me and it gets worse while I run, then the

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Speaker 1: run needs to stop. There is one thing to have

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Speaker 1: a pain threshold, a pain tolerance, and there's another thing

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Speaker 1: to be exercising in such a way that you are

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Speaker 1: doing more damage to the body that you.

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Speaker 2: Use that supports you in every single way.

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Speaker 1: And so my goal coming into this training cycle with

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Speaker 1: a nagging knee situation was that I just wanted to finish.

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Speaker 1: And from the get go, candibly I thought that this

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Speaker 1: would be an entire run walk marathon, that maybe I

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Speaker 1: would be running for five minutes, walking for two minutes,

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Speaker 1: running for five minutes, walking for two minutes. And as

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Speaker 1: time went on and I went to regular physical therapy,

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Speaker 1: and toward the beginning of this training cycle, which for

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Speaker 1: me lasted about fourteen weeks, was logging a good chunk

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Speaker 1: of cardio on my peloton and with cycling the knee

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Speaker 1: started to get better and I wasn't experiencing regular pain

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Speaker 1: when I was running slowly. Over time, as the weeks

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Speaker 1: went on, I began to gain confidence that maybe this

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be a run walk marathon. Not to say that

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Speaker 1: there's anything wrong with that, but I just really managed

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Speaker 1: my expectations and trusted my body and was honest with myself.

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Speaker 1: Earlier today, I answered an email from one of the

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Speaker 1: ladies that's running on the hurdler team for LA Marathon.

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Speaker 1: She's been dealing with her own set of injuries, and

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Speaker 1: I was really honest with her. She's experiencing some discomfort

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Speaker 1: right now, and I said, one of the biggest lessons

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Speaker 1: I have learned in all of these years of marathoning

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Speaker 1: is that we only have one body, and no short

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Speaker 1: term goal is worth doing something to yourself that could

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Speaker 1: result in lasting damage. And so I was, like I said,

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Speaker 1: very realistic about what was within my control, what was

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Speaker 1: within my bandwidth to do during this fourteen week training cycle.

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Speaker 1: Also with that said, I have never traveled far Aka

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Speaker 1: to one of the international marathon majors for a and

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Speaker 1: had an expectation to really do something wild. And I

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Speaker 1: say wild in the sense that I've never traveled to

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Speaker 1: an international race expecting some sort of personal best. Not

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Speaker 1: that it couldn't have been a nice thing, but I

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Speaker 1: know myself and I am the kind of person that

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Speaker 1: runs because it gives me joy. I run because it

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Speaker 1: makes me feel powerful and confident, and to put that

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Speaker 1: kind of expectation on myself when there are so many

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Speaker 1: things that go hand in hand with traveling for an

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Speaker 1: international marathon, like loss of sleep and wanting to explore

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Speaker 1: and do other things while you're in this faraway place.

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Speaker 1: For me, I've always had a different definition understanding of success,

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Speaker 1: keeping these things into account again, managing my expectations and

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Speaker 1: knowing what it is that I personally want, rather than

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Speaker 1: comparing myself to other individuals. So the goal one finish

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Speaker 1: and to have fun. Overall, the training block went pretty well.

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Speaker 1: Like I said, I was able to get to Tokyo

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Speaker 1: with little to no pain compared to where I started.

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Speaker 1: I also really felt toward the end of my training

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Speaker 1: block that I was getting into a flow state with

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Speaker 1: my running that even as someone who has been doing

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Speaker 1: this for such a long time, it is rare that

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Speaker 1: I go out in log miles and before I know

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Speaker 1: it the miles are done, every run feels like an effort,

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Speaker 1: every run doesn't just click by. But over the last month,

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Speaker 1: I've had a few of these runs, and so I

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Speaker 1: felt really content with this journey, most notably my final

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Speaker 1: long run, a twenty miler that I did on a

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Speaker 1: rainy day. I finished it feeling like I was moving slow,

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Speaker 1: and ultimately was moving faster than I felt, which made

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Speaker 1: me feel confident overall. Logistically speaking, the most amount of

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Speaker 1: miles I ran in one week was forty one. When

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Speaker 1: I started did my training, I was closer to thirteen,

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Speaker 1: so that gives you a holistic picture of the journey.

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Speaker 1: Never did I in that increase, ever, exceed adding more

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Speaker 1: than roughly ten percent of overall mileage week over week.

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Speaker 1: So that would mean that if I was running twenty

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Speaker 1: miles one week, the following week, I wouldn't be running

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Speaker 1: more than twenty.

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Speaker 2: Two miles total.

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Speaker 1: And the goal by implementing that strategy is to not

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Speaker 1: overdo it, not putting too much stress on your body,

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Speaker 1: allowing it to adapt to the training load. And that

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Speaker 1: approach is something that I can say with complete confidence

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Speaker 1: is one that has worked for me to navigate the

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Speaker 1: injuries that I have experienced over the last few years,

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Speaker 1: and I did this training everywhere. That feels like the

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Speaker 1: biggest understatement. I have had a crazy Q one with

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Speaker 1: a lot of work commitments that required me to be

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Speaker 1: traveling and on and everywhere, from San Francisco to Orlando.

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Speaker 1: It's been a lot, and I have still made it

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Speaker 1: a priority to show up and get the work done.

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Speaker 1: I made it happen to do it all. And you'll

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Speaker 1: hear me reflect on this when I talk about how

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Speaker 1: I feel about the marathon, and just a little bit

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Speaker 1: an example of me doing it all. Before I went

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Speaker 1: to Orlando, I ran. I think that was like a

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Speaker 1: sixteen seventeen eighteen mile run. Then I got home, showered,

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Speaker 1: and got to the airport. I was in my apartment

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Speaker 1: for a total of twenty minutes between finishing the run

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Speaker 1: and leaving to go to the airport.

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Speaker 2: And I made it.

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Speaker 1: Happen because this is what I decided that I want

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Speaker 1: for myself, not just to prep for the marathon, but

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Speaker 1: also be able to perform at a high level for

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Speaker 1: the obligations that go hand in hand with my job.

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Speaker 1: Don't ever tell me that I don't like a challenge. Okay,

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Speaker 1: getting to Tokyo. I went to Singapore before I went

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Speaker 1: to Tokyo. I made the decision to do this knowing

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Speaker 1: that I was already going to be on that side

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Speaker 1: of the world. I've always wanted to go to Singapore,

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Speaker 1: and so it felt like a no brainer, knowing that

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Speaker 1: the two destinations were shy of a six hour flight

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Speaker 1: from one another. Also, going back to the ultimate goal

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Speaker 1: for the Tokyo Marathon was simply to finish and have

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Speaker 1: a good time, so I didn't think twice about adding

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Speaker 1: on this additional travel beforehand. I also have a stance

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Speaker 1: on traveling for a marathon like this, especially when there's

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Speaker 1: a big time zone change. You either get there let's say,

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Speaker 1: a week before, or the mindset is get there within

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Speaker 1: forty eight hours so that your body isn't drastically suffering.

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Speaker 2: Yet.

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Speaker 1: For me, by the time the marathon came around, I

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Speaker 1: had already been essentially in this time zone, give or

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Speaker 1: take one hour, for the better part of seven days,

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Speaker 1: so I felt really adjusted by marathon weekend. The flight

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Speaker 1: to Tokyo from Singapore was relatively easy.

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Speaker 2: I napped for three.

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Speaker 1: Hours and then thankfully I was sleeping throughout the entire

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Speaker 1: night In the two to three days leading up to

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Speaker 1: the marathon, so I logged some really great shut eye.

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Speaker 1: A note on that, oftentimes people say the most important

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Speaker 1: night of sleep is the night two nights before the

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Speaker 1: marathon or two nights before your race, knowing that the

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Speaker 1: night before you're gonna have all these nerves and by

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Speaker 1: that time the hey is in the barn anyway, so

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Speaker 1: I was really happy when I believe I got something

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Speaker 1: like eight hours of sleep at least on the Friday

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Speaker 1: night before the Sunday marathon. Let's give some context about Tokyo.

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Speaker 1: Tokyo itself massive city. I can only describe traveling throughout

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Speaker 1: Japan as otherworldly. It was absolutely stunning. Everyone there is

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Speaker 1: so incredibly kind. Despite me not speaking their language, there

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Speaker 1: was so much Google Translate going on. I felt entirely

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Speaker 1: safe everywhere I went in that city, and I was

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Speaker 1: with some other individuals who also were running with a

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Speaker 1: six So it was really nice, despite traveling there on

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Speaker 1: my own, to have a group of people that were

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Speaker 1: all there excited and amped for the marathon. I also

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Speaker 1: knew a handful of other people. I felt like such

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Speaker 1: a large crop of the New York running community descended

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Speaker 1: upon Tokyo for this major moment. So many people excited

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Speaker 1: to finally check this race off their bucket list as well.

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Speaker 1: I believe there were almost twenty people from my run

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Speaker 1: club in Tokyo, so shout out to OMRC old Man

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Speaker 1: Run Club. It was really fun to see so many

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Speaker 1: familiar faces out on the course. Race prep, I was

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Speaker 1: eating a lot of rice and fresh fish throughout the

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Speaker 1: week leading up. I don't have a super sensitive stomach,

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Speaker 1: so I wasn't that concerned about traveling and not being

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Speaker 1: in my normal element for the days leading up to

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Speaker 1: the marathon.

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Speaker 2: I knew that I wanted to have my go.

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Speaker 1: To before the race, which is pizza or pasta the

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Speaker 1: night before and then the morning of the marathon a

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Speaker 1: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I was able to

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Speaker 1: do just that. We a bunch of us grabbed pizza

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Speaker 1: the night before at this really excellent spot in Tokyo,

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Speaker 1: and then the morning of the race, I was up

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Speaker 1: at something like four thirty. I was just so excited,

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Speaker 1: even though I didn't really need to be awake until

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Speaker 1: six thirty. I went down to the breakfast at my hotel,

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Speaker 1: grabbed these massive pieces of white bread and jelly from

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Speaker 1: the breakfast BFFET and then went upstairs where I brought

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Speaker 1: my own travel sized peanut butters.

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Speaker 2: And made my PB and jay and ate that.

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Speaker 1: Up there, I sat around and journaled and did some

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Speaker 1: work because I had plenty of time to try to

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Speaker 1: calm my nerves before getting all of my clothes on

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Speaker 1: and heading outside.

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Speaker 2: And luckily I stayed at a hotel.

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Speaker 1: It was called the Kyo Plaza k Eio Plaza Hotel,

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Speaker 1: and it was truly on top of my corral. I

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Speaker 1: was in my corral from the moment I left my

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Speaker 1: hotel with in four minutes, not even so I didn't

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Speaker 1: have to be in my corral until I believe eight

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Speaker 1: forty five am was the cutoff. I literally walked outside

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Speaker 1: at eight thirty seven am, and I was running by

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Speaker 1: nine to ten am Tokyo time. That's a really interesting

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Speaker 1: snippet because it's so different at so many other majors.

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Speaker 1: I mean, in New York you have to be at

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Speaker 1: a bus at something like five am and then you

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Speaker 1: don't run until after nine am, so dramatically different, and

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Speaker 1: all the same rules still come into play. However, so

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Speaker 1: that means that in New York you're bringing the food

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Speaker 1: that you want to eat before the marathon with you

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Speaker 1: to the starting area, and not eating until ninety minutes before.

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Speaker 1: I was able to do all of the eating that

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Speaker 1: I wanted to do before I even left my hotel room,

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Speaker 1: which definitely, definitely was a nice way to start the day.

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Speaker 1: What I wore for the marathon, I wore, and I'll

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Speaker 1: be as specific as possible. Working from a feed up,

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Speaker 1: I decided to wear the A six super Blast.

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Speaker 2: Candidly, this was a slightly last minute change for me.

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Speaker 1: I was planning to wear the A six Nimbus, but

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Speaker 1: had so many people around me who had worn the

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Speaker 1: super Blast for a marathon. It's lighter than the Nimbus,

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Speaker 1: and I decided yolo candidly, my feet hurt no matter

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Speaker 1: what happens by the end of the marathon. I kind

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Speaker 1: of was just like, I've run sixteen to eighteen miles

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Speaker 1: in the Superblast before. That's kind of the distance barometer

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Speaker 1: that I have for a shoe. I know I could

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Speaker 1: feel comfortable running twenty six point two in I grabbed

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Speaker 1: a new pair at the expo that I loved. I

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Speaker 1: ran in them the two days before the race and

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Speaker 1: went for it. Is this advice that I would give

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Speaker 1: to totally new marathoners. Absolutely not. But I felt really

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Speaker 1: at peace and confident in my decision. The socks I

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Speaker 1: went with Bandit socks thanks to Tim and Nick, the

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Speaker 1: co founder's of Bandit, who gifted me with them in

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Speaker 1: the days leading up to the race. And then shorts.

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Speaker 1: I wore a pair of Lululemon Invigorate six in shorts.

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Speaker 1: They were maybe two or three years old. They were

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Speaker 1: some of my favorites that I don't make them anymore.

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Speaker 1: An alternative that I recommend to people who like a

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Speaker 1: six inch short that Lululemon cells now is the Wonder

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Speaker 1: Train short with pockets, also six inch in seam. A

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Speaker 1: tank I wore a discontinued tank top from Lululemon that

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Speaker 1: has the words another Hurdle Conquered on the back. I

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Speaker 1: then wore District Vision sunglasses and for the hat, I

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Speaker 1: wore one that was given to me by my run club.

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Speaker 2: I wore my hair in braids.

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Speaker 1: I also used a new anti chaf cream called Salty Breeches,

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Speaker 1: and I layered that with my go.

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Speaker 2: To try slide.

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Speaker 1: I was so determined not to chafe in this race

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Speaker 1: because I had such gnarrowly chafing in Berlin, and I

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Speaker 1: am happy to report that I didn't even chafe a

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Speaker 1: little bit, which felt absolutely miraculous considering how hot it

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Speaker 1: was during the run. Now we'll get to the run.

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Speaker 1: So I get outside to the corral. It's literally eight

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Speaker 1: forty five. We're slowly moving in the corral, getting to

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Speaker 1: where we need to be. It is a blink of

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Speaker 1: an eye before the confetti goes off and the race begins.

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Speaker 1: And within the first five minutes of the race, people

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Speaker 1: are already yelling my name that are in the corrals

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Speaker 1: around me. This is how many Americans, it feels like,

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Speaker 1: are running this marathon, and my name it's not on me,

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Speaker 1: Like individuals are seeing another hurdle conquered on my back

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Speaker 1: and I'm hearing.

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Speaker 2: Like let's go. Emily like yeah.

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Speaker 1: And it was just the boost I needed, because, as

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Speaker 1: with everyone, my nerves are like they're there, and we're

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Speaker 1: starting this run and I'm like, oh my god, we're

397
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Speaker 1: about to go for twenty six miles, and so it

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Speaker 1: was very welcome. So if you're listening to this and

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Speaker 1: you yelled for me, I thank you sincerely. There was

400
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Speaker 1: a lot of talk before the marathon that this was.

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Speaker 1: Slash is a very quiet course, and I would co

402
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Speaker 1: sign that compared to being in Chicago, New York, Boston,

403
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Speaker 1: the crowds are very tame, and every so often I

404
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Speaker 1: would come up on a group of like Americans, like

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Speaker 1: people that are there supporting people from the US, and

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Speaker 1: they were so much louder than all of the other

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Speaker 1: individuals that.

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Speaker 2: Were there cheering.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't say that there was necessarily any lull in

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Speaker 1: the crowds at any point specifically, but they were just

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Speaker 1: quieter crowds. So it was really a different type of marathon,

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to be much more within And I feel

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Speaker 1: as though my head was so all over the place

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Speaker 1: that as much as I was looking around and soaking

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Speaker 1: in my surroundings, I couldn't even really be fully present

416
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Speaker 1: because I was so overwhelmed by the activity at hand,

417
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Speaker 1: by the fact that I was finishing such a major journey.

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Speaker 1: But the marathon itself was entirely flat. I would say

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Speaker 1: it's the flattest major by far. The thing that many

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Speaker 1: told about is a hassle, which is the hairpin turns

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Speaker 1: that you get. I think there are four or five

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Speaker 1: total out and back stretches on this marathon, which meant

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Speaker 1: that you would be making a turn and you'd be

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Speaker 1: running one way and people that were ahead of you

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Speaker 1: would be running on the other side of the street

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Speaker 1: coming back, and you didn't know how long each of

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Speaker 1: these stretches went for. I remember specifically that the last

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Speaker 1: stretch you made a turn, and I think at that point,

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Speaker 1: when you make the turn, you have something like seven

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Speaker 1: miles left. But as you make your way across the street,

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Speaker 1: you see a sign that says one kilometer to go.

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Speaker 1: So it's so frustrating because those people right there are

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Speaker 1: about to finish and you still have a considerable amount

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Speaker 1: of distance to cover. But I digress. The out and

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Speaker 1: backs were horrible. I think it just it sucks because

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Speaker 1: they go on for so long, and you just keep

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00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 1: thinking to yourself, like I want to be on the

438
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: other side of the street. At least that's what I

439
00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 1: was thinking, and so it made the kilometers click by

440
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 1: rather slowly. I was running really swiftly for the first

441
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,240
Speaker 1: sixteen miles. I was running way faster than I anticipated,

442
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,000
Speaker 1: but I felt really good, and so I was just

443
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: rolling with it candidly. It wasn't until I decided that

444
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: I was going to pee. At mile seventeen that things

445
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,479
Speaker 1: really started to not go as I'd hoped. You know,

446
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 1: I'm clicking along and I'm starting to think these things

447
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 1: like am I going to randomly sub for this marathon

448
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,680
Speaker 1: which wasn't the goal at all? And I'm getting a

449
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 1: little excited. And then I decided that I need to

450
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,199
Speaker 1: use the bathroom. I've never ever done that over the

451
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,879
Speaker 1: course of the other twelve marathons I had run. But

452
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,919
Speaker 1: someone I knew from my run club ran up to

453
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,959
Speaker 1: me and we were talking on the course as we

454
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 1: were chugging along, and she said, I just used the bathroom,

455
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,320
Speaker 1: and I'm like, damn it, Like I'm just gonna do it.

456
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 2: Why not?

457
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,920
Speaker 1: And so the bathrooms, unlike other marathons, are a little

458
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 1: bit off the course. In this marathon, it wasn't far.

459
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 1: It was probably like, I don't know, maybe one hundred meters.

460
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,160
Speaker 1: I made a turn in one hundred meters and used

461
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,159
Speaker 1: the bathroom and got back on the course, and it

462
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 1: probably only took me like a minute or two. But

463
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,400
Speaker 1: by the time I got back, I just couldn't click

464
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,240
Speaker 1: it back together again. And this is where from a

465
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 1: pacing strategy like everything kind of went away. I was

466
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: consistently running some point, and I know this is a

467
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: wide ratio, but between like eight twenty and nine minute

468
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: pace for a long time, and then after the bathroom

469
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: it was something like nine thirty nine forty, and then

470
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,679
Speaker 1: it was ten ten twenty five, and the last seven

471
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,640
Speaker 1: miles or so were all between I want to say,

472
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 1: like ten minutes and eleven twenty five, and it was frustrating.

473
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: I think a lot about responsible vulnerability and how I

474
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: can be as authentic and honest as possible, and right now,

475
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:58,159
Speaker 1: responsible vulnerability means for me to say that it was

476
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: frustrating for me to hit the wall, and there were

477
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 1: moments in that seven mile stretch where I was upset.

478
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 1: I was frustrated because I was comparing in that moment

479
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,680
Speaker 1: myself to a past version of myself. And it wasn't

480
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 1: until I could zoom out after the marathon was done,

481
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 1: not even just like on the day that the marathon

482
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: was but even up until this point and running yesterday,

483
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 1: like I had to zoom out to get to a

484
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: place to be really proud of what I did, because

485
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 1: in the moment, as I was trudging through those last

486
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: seven miles and literally constantly just telling myself forward is

487
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: a pace. Forward is a pace. Forward is a pace,

488
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 1: over and over and over. I was having a rough go.

489
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: I was having a rough go because I started to

490
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: get down on myself a little bit. I started to

491
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 1: be like, you went out too fast, you did X,

492
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: you did why? And I realized in this moment, as

493
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 1: I was reminding myself that forward is a pace, that

494
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: getting down on myself wasn't the energy that I wanted

495
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 1: to attract back to me. What I wanted to do

496
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: was be proud of this accomplishment. What I wanted to

497
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: do was be proud of myself was to recognize that

498
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: I was doing such a hard thing. And not only

499
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,280
Speaker 1: was I doing such a hard thing on that day,

500
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 1: I had done this hard thing twelve times before this moment,

501
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,200
Speaker 1: and knowing that such a small percentage of the population

502
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,360
Speaker 1: even braves the opportunity to toe the starting line for

503
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:31,480
Speaker 1: one marathon. Nevertheless, thirteen I know now that although all

504
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: the feelings I was having during that tough seven mile

505
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 1: stretch are entirely valid, that I can say with firm

506
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 1: confidence that I am so much better for it, and

507
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 1: that I did an amazing, amazing thing taking a break

508
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,920
Speaker 1: from today's recap to talk to you about my sponsor

509
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 1: at Bandit Running. I mentioned in the recap that I

510
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,280
Speaker 1: wore some Bandit running socks for this marathon, and ever

511
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: since Bandit came on the scene, they have been an

512
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 1: integral part of my race day strategy.

513
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 2: If you're a longtime hurdler, you already know Bandit's a

514
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: part of my regular outfit rotation.

515
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,480
Speaker 1: And if you're not familiar with Bandit, well, they're a

516
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: Brooklyn based apparel brand and they make some of the

517
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: highest quality, most stylish performance and lifestyle running gear you

518
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 1: can find anywhere. They just released their brand new spring

519
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 1: collection last week and it is insane. There's a ton

520
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 1: of new pieces, beautiful spring color ways, and the highlight

521
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: for me are two of their new fabrics. First, their

522
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 1: ribbed compression. It comes in brass crops and five inch

523
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 1: and seven inch bottoms, and I won't lie now that

524
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 1: the weather is finally warming up in New York, I

525
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,800
Speaker 1: ran in the five inch shorts earlier today and they

526
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: felt like a dream. The second material I talked about

527
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 1: their new cool slick shorts. They're fully perforated, super light

528
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,200
Speaker 1: and airy and breatheable and no matter how much you sweat,

529
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 1: but they stay dry. I don't know how it works,

530
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 1: but it does, and trust me, you need to try it.

531
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,719
Speaker 1: Head on over to bandit running dot com. That's b

532
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 1: A n D t R U n n I n

533
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:18,520
Speaker 1: G dot com and use code hurdler fifteen for fifteen

534
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 1: percent off your first order now again, that code is

535
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,280
Speaker 1: hurdler h u R d l e R one five

536
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,520
Speaker 1: hurdler fifteen for fifteen percent off your first order now,

537
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 1: whether it be in store or online at bandit running

538
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 1: dot com. Pooh okay, I needed that. So yes, the

539
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 1: last seven miles were hard. The kilometers felt like they

540
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: were taking away at a snail's pace, and candidly, during

541
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: that time, I was having a very hard time breathing.

542
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 2: I wanted to breathe in really deep, like and I

543
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:04,160
Speaker 2: was physically.

544
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: Incapable of doing that, and that I was really getting

545
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: in my head about that. I was really frustrated about that.

546
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: My legs felt like lead, but nevertheless, I persisted because

547
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 1: I knew that.

548
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 2: I was capable.

549
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 1: When I finally finished, I was so overwhelmed with emotion

550
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: because of all of the reasons I just shared this

551
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: wasn't just one marathon. This was such a long journey

552
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: that truly started back in two two thousand and eight,

553
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 1: and so to be fourteen years in the making.

554
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 2: I was an.

555
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: Am just so proud of myself, and so I went

556
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 1: toward where all the signs told me to go, and

557
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 1: I got my medal, and then I went where other

558
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,920
Speaker 1: signs told me to go and got my six star medal,

559
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: and I just was so grateful and overwhelmed by how

560
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: happy all of the volunteers were for everyone that was

561
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 1: finisheds like, everyone was absolutely so stellar and kind, applauding

562
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: for everyone. They wanted to film you and take your

563
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 1: photos relentlessly, and I'm so happy that I have these

564
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 1: marathon memories. It feels as though this was the happiest

565
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,240
Speaker 1: group of individuals I have ever seen in the finish area.

566
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 1: After the marathon, I had fries and beers with some friends,

567
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,600
Speaker 1: and then ultimately ended up meeting with friends from New

568
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 1: York and went out and had such a nice time

569
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: celebrating my accomplishment with people that are close to my heart,

570
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: and I feel so lucky again that we were all

571
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 1: in the same place accomplishing this amazing thing together. I

572
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,480
Speaker 1: went to Kyoto after Tokyo the next day and had

573
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 1: two nights there alone to really soak in this accomplishment.

574
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: I do wish that I spent more time in Kyoto.

575
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: It was absolutely breathtaking and I cannot wait to get back.

576
00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:58,959
Speaker 1: Also shout out to the property that I stayed at

577
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: in Kyoto, which was called Sowaka Soowoka, absolutely stunning and

578
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: authentic Japanese riocon. I cannot recommend it enough. How my

579
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 1: body felt in those days. The day after the marathon,

580
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,920
Speaker 1: I felt pretty normal. I was going downstairs completely normal.

581
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,760
Speaker 1: I think this is a testament to how well I trained. Also,

582
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,480
Speaker 1: I finished the marathon. I don't think I said this

583
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 1: in four hours and sixteen minutes. That's something around a

584
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,720
Speaker 1: nine to forty five pace, I think. And so because

585
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 1: I wasn't overly pushing myself in terms of what my

586
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 1: body is really capable of, I think that that was

587
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 1: the thing that worked in my favor for my recovery.

588
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 1: I got a massage two days after the marathon, and

589
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: I also used my Norma Tech Go sleeves which I

590
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 1: brought with me. You can get a discount on Normatech

591
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:53,959
Speaker 1: using the code Hurdle one five I'm going to link

592
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: the boots that I used in the show notes. But yeah,

593
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:01,760
Speaker 1: so I believe that the massage and actively recovering walking

594
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 1: around a good amount that helped my legs. By the

595
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,800
Speaker 1: time that Wednesday came around in Kyoto, before I left

596
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,880
Speaker 1: to travel back to Tokyo and fly back home, I

597
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,279
Speaker 1: did go on a shakeout run and that felt totally fine.

598
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,480
Speaker 1: I was able to manage five just super easy miles

599
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,919
Speaker 1: site seeing around Kyoto, and yeah, it felt great. Since then,

600
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 1: I have gone on two more runs. I did a

601
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 1: five k on Saturday and four miles on Sunday and

602
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,000
Speaker 1: can report that both of those felt great. And this

603
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: is really what has helped me put Tokyo in perspective.

604
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 1: I wanted to do it all period. I mean, I

605
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 1: wanted to work at a high capacity. I wanted to

606
00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:47,839
Speaker 1: function at a high capacity. I wanted to also train

607
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: for this marathon, and I did all of that candidly.

608
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 1: I really wanted to work at a higher capacity than

609
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 1: I wanted to run.

610
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,279
Speaker 2: I wanted to run for me.

611
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 1: I wanted to run for clarity, wanted to run for

612
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: enjoyment and to be able to perform in a way

613
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,480
Speaker 1: that got me to my goal, which was to finish

614
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 1: the marathon. I wasn't trying to run a certain time

615
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 1: in this marathon. I wasn't trying to do I don't

616
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: want to say I wasn't trying to do anything extraordinary,

617
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,879
Speaker 1: because simply finishing a marathon, in my eyes, is extraordinary.

618
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,920
Speaker 1: But I wasn't trying to go and outrun a previous

619
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,880
Speaker 1: performance that I've had, or be a previous version of myself.

620
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 1: With that said, I think it's hard to get out

621
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,040
Speaker 1: there and not compare yourself to a past version of yourself.

622
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 2: I am a different person.

623
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: Now than when I ran a three twenty eighth eight

624
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 1: in Chicago or a virtual New York marathon in three

625
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,600
Speaker 1: twenty three fifty six, completely different, with completely different things

626
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 1: going on in my life. But when I was out

627
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:47,680
Speaker 1: there and I maybe thought to myself, like, oh, are

628
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: you going to run a sub for today? I got

629
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 1: a little bit down when that started to slip away

630
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:56,320
Speaker 1: from me, understandably so and so in the week since

631
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,920
Speaker 1: the marathon, now exactly I can say with confidence that

632
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:02,799
Speaker 1: I did exactly what I was meant to do, and

633
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:07,040
Speaker 1: I accomplished my goal, and for that I am so happy.

634
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: I'm so proud, and I have so much appreciation now

635
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,200
Speaker 1: for the effort that it took to do all of

636
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:18,799
Speaker 1: these things simultaneously, to get up at four am and

637
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: go out and run the eighteen miles before going to

638
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,680
Speaker 1: San Francisco to give a keynote, to make it to

639
00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:28,520
Speaker 1: the Olympic Marathon trials without sacrificing the training that I

640
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:31,360
Speaker 1: had to do in order to make this work trip happen.

641
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: There are so many things that I have done, so

642
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 1: much opportunity costs that went hand in hand with this marathon,

643
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:39,399
Speaker 1: and I did exactly what I set out to do,

644
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:43,319
Speaker 1: and for that I am stoked. I wanted to come

645
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: home and be able to move my body how I

646
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 1: wanted to move my body, and I can say with

647
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 1: extreme confidence that is exactly what I've done.

648
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:54,320
Speaker 2: Now I am thinking about what's next.

649
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: And what excites me, which I'll talk about soon, not

650
00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,720
Speaker 1: just yet, and it does make me feel really content

651
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:02,439
Speaker 1: and crowd that I am in the position to do

652
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,360
Speaker 1: just that, that I don't have any injuries or nagging

653
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: considerations that I need to prioritize in order.

654
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,279
Speaker 2: To make these decisions.

655
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:17,160
Speaker 1: And so now the lessons the things that I'm thinking

656
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: about when I reflect on the six World Marathon Majors,

657
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 1: there are two key takeaways. The first one is that

658
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 1: you are entirely capable. Before I ran a marathon, I

659
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: wasn't entirely sure that I could run a marathon, but

660
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,520
Speaker 1: something inside of me decided.

661
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,200
Speaker 2: That it was worth trying.

662
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: And how often is it that we are the only

663
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,040
Speaker 1: thing standing in our own way, That our inhibitions, that

664
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 1: our reservations, are the things that prevent us from chasing

665
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:50,640
Speaker 1: our own potential.

666
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:52,400
Speaker 2: And so one.

667
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:56,719
Speaker 1: Day I allowed myself to say maybe I can, and

668
00:38:56,840 --> 00:39:01,280
Speaker 1: that maybe I can empowered the first training journey, which

669
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,799
Speaker 1: then fueled the fire for twelve more to this date.

670
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 1: It was that relentless self belief that at first admittedly

671
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:13,799
Speaker 1: waivered just a little bit. The doubt was there, but

672
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,399
Speaker 1: I didn't let that doubt hold me back, And by

673
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 1: making the conscious choice to believe in myself, I opened

674
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 1: up a world of my own potential. And it only

675
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,160
Speaker 1: takes that one time. Really, That's what I've really learned

676
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 1: in this is that there is just one instance where

677
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,839
Speaker 1: you have the opportunity to see what happens when you

678
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: choose relentless self belief. And then by doing that that

679
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,600
Speaker 1: one time that unlocks this treasure trove of what is

680
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:51,239
Speaker 1: possible for you. For me, yes, I chose relentless self

681
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,400
Speaker 1: belief when I signed up for my first marathon. But

682
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 1: it really started for me spring semester of my freshman

683
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: year of college when I I told myself that I

684
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,719
Speaker 1: was worthy of my own investment. By taking on the

685
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 1: challenge of investing in my own personal health and wellbeing

686
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:11,840
Speaker 1: and ultimately going on this journey that dramatically transformed my mental,

687
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 1: my physical, my emotional health. I learned how valuable it

688
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:21,799
Speaker 1: was to choose me, and I will never regret choosing me.

689
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 1: I try to not regard a lot of things in

690
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 1: my life, but I would be remiss if I didn't

691
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,520
Speaker 1: say that at thirty five, there are certainly decisions that

692
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,239
Speaker 1: I've made that I'm not the most amped on. I

693
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:37,120
Speaker 1: have never ever in my life regretted betting on myself

694
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:42,080
Speaker 1: hard stop, period, full send. That doesn't mean that it

695
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 1: always comes naturally. That doesn't mean that every single day

696
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 1: when I wake up in my head, I'm like, you.

697
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,200
Speaker 2: Have totally got this. It's kind of the same thing

698
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:52,640
Speaker 2: with body positivity. Right.

699
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,720
Speaker 1: I'm at this place in my life where I am

700
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:57,120
Speaker 1: so grateful for my body.

701
00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 2: That is the biggest understatement.

702
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,040
Speaker 1: My body has empowered me to do things that I

703
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,280
Speaker 1: never even dreamed that I could be capable of doing.

704
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that I don't wake up from

705
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,200
Speaker 1: time to time and look in the mirror and wish

706
00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:11,879
Speaker 1: something might look a little bit different than it does

707
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,359
Speaker 1: right now. And that's okay. That is life, that is

708
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 1: being human. Yet despite these moments of self doubt, or

709
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:23,160
Speaker 1: despite feeling a little bit from time to time, I

710
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 1: have the overall understanding and appreciation for everything that it

711
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 1: is that I have. And now with these thirteen marathons

712
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,960
Speaker 1: behind me, these six World marathons behind me, I have

713
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 1: a complete understanding of what I am capable of when

714
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 1: I set my mind to something. My other major takeaway

715
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:48,560
Speaker 1: from six World Marathon majors is that comparison is the

716
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:54,600
Speaker 1: thief of joy, not just of others, but also of self.

717
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 1: I am in such a different place now than when

718
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,120
Speaker 1: I started. I believe I've said that already in this episode.

719
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:08,360
Speaker 1: And I'm sitting next to six posters that I got

720
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:13,960
Speaker 1: stamped at a Tracksmith pop up after six different marathons,

721
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,759
Speaker 1: and each of them have a different time. The fastest

722
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:22,320
Speaker 1: time three twenty three fifty six, the slowest time for

723
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:27,080
Speaker 1: sixteen the marathon I just ran. Yet when I look

724
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:32,359
Speaker 1: at that wall, I don't necessarily see the times. What

725
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:37,239
Speaker 1: I see is the evolution of myself and how much

726
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,719
Speaker 1: has happened for me over the course of time that

727
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,680
Speaker 1: it took me to complete this major accomplishment. What I've

728
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 1: learned is that comparing myself to the version of myself

729
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: from a different era, from a different time that was

730
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,280
Speaker 1: navigating different circumstances, it doesn't do me any good. Why

731
00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:00,000
Speaker 1: am I going to pass judgment on where I am

732
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 1: i am when I could focus on where I'm going?

733
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:07,240
Speaker 1: Why rob myself of the joy of a certain accomplishment

734
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,800
Speaker 1: just because it doesn't look like an accomplishment previous. I

735
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 1: am so much more than a set of numbers, and

736
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 1: whatever number comes from an opportunity like this is not

737
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:22,279
Speaker 1: necessarily reflective of who it is that I am, but

738
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 1: rather just what happened on one specific day. And that

739
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 1: is why the journey is the destination, not the finish line.

740
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:35,560
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. The finish lines are special, right.

741
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: You work hard to get to that finish line. But

742
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,640
Speaker 1: if you are not soaking in the beauty of the journey.

743
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 1: If you are not enjoying yourself on the way to

744
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:48,760
Speaker 1: whatever it is that your mountain top is, then truly

745
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:50,360
Speaker 1: you are missing the point.

746
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,960
Speaker 2: Anything can happen. I'll say that again.

747
00:43:54,360 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 1: Anything can happen, and so whether it's a marathon, or promotion,

748
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,640
Speaker 1: or a first date or a big holiday with family,

749
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:10,040
Speaker 1: whatever the big occasion may be, understand that anything can

750
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:13,360
Speaker 1: happen in that one day, on that one hour, in

751
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:16,239
Speaker 1: that one moment, and it might not be as you

752
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:21,239
Speaker 1: had hoped, but you have the choice to allow yourself

753
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:26,839
Speaker 1: to be human. We are all doing our best, and

754
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:31,240
Speaker 1: in respect to the marathon, it's a hard thing. Even

755
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:34,360
Speaker 1: the best of the best folks, the people that compete

756
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:38,560
Speaker 1: at the highest level of this sport, have bad days.

757
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: And anyone who makes you feel or question whether or

758
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,720
Speaker 1: not they two have them as well, they are doing

759
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:50,760
Speaker 1: you a disservice. Bad moments, bad minutes, bad weeks, bad months.

760
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:56,239
Speaker 1: They are totally normal, and they happen, and sometimes they

761
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:59,280
Speaker 1: happen in a moment or a month, or a week

762
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:01,799
Speaker 1: or a time or a marathon where you wish as

763
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:05,600
Speaker 1: though they would not. But it is as some would say,

764
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,399
Speaker 1: so it goes, and it's up to each and every

765
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,160
Speaker 1: one of us to choose how we move forward from

766
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:16,960
Speaker 1: a difficult moment, a difficult minute, a difficult week, a

767
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:22,360
Speaker 1: difficult marathon. My six star journey, my journey as a whole,

768
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:26,080
Speaker 1: has taught me that there is so much beauty in

769
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:30,040
Speaker 1: the hurdles. That I have the opportunity each and every

770
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:33,960
Speaker 1: day to decide what happens next, to decide and choose

771
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:36,960
Speaker 1: how it is that I react to my thoughts, knowing

772
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,959
Speaker 1: that I am not my thoughts, knowing that I do

773
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: have a choice. There are going to be easy days

774
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:47,319
Speaker 1: and hard days. There are going to be days that

775
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:50,040
Speaker 1: feel as though you can conquer the world and others

776
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:51,960
Speaker 1: where you feel as though you can't even get out

777
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:55,120
Speaker 1: of bed. But what's important is the net of this.

778
00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,799
Speaker 1: What's important is how you show up after your bad

779
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:03,880
Speaker 1: days and if you choose to learn from them. Each

780
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:07,240
Speaker 1: day is an opportunity, But we learn from the hard ones.

781
00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:08,200
Speaker 2: We learn from the.

782
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:11,839
Speaker 1: Days where we are pushing up against something. I've said

783
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:15,560
Speaker 1: it before. How does a muscle strengthen it needs something

784
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:19,160
Speaker 1: to push up against. How does our will strengthen you

785
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,359
Speaker 1: need to give it something to push up against and

786
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 1: running these six world marathon majors, completing thirteen marathons up

787
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:30,920
Speaker 1: until this point, I am so much better for it.

788
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:35,360
Speaker 1: Regardless of the outcome of any of them, it's irrelevant.

789
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:39,960
Speaker 1: What's relevant is that I did it. I did something

790
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:42,920
Speaker 1: I never ever thought that I could do, something that

791
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:46,399
Speaker 1: originally I didn't set out to do. And I did

792
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,640
Speaker 1: it by staying true to myself, by trusting the process,

793
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,000
Speaker 1: and by continually showing up on the good days, on

794
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:58,400
Speaker 1: the tough days, on the hard days when I wanted

795
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 1: to when I didn't, and so on. So back to

796
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:06,120
Speaker 1: the note of comparison is the thief of joy. I

797
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:10,040
Speaker 1: have learned the importance of focusing on my own journey

798
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:13,400
Speaker 1: and keeping the blinders on. We have the opportunity to

799
00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:18,120
Speaker 1: grow and learn together, yes, but don't let someone else's

800
00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 1: accomplishments make you feel as though what you are doing,

801
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,680
Speaker 1: the effort you are putting in that it's not good enough,

802
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,879
Speaker 1: because that's just not true. Whatever is happening for you

803
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:32,000
Speaker 1: in this minute, in this moment, during this week, during

804
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: this month, allow it to happen for you. I may

805
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:40,400
Speaker 1: never run a marathon like I ran in twenty nineteen

806
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:44,280
Speaker 1: or twenty twenty, and at this point, when I'm honest

807
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,400
Speaker 1: with myself about what it is that I'm doing, why

808
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:49,839
Speaker 1: it is that I'm lacing up and getting out there,

809
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:54,239
Speaker 1: I am completely content with that. Sitting around and comparing

810
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,439
Speaker 1: myself at thirty five to a version of myself at

811
00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:03,680
Speaker 1: thirty or thirty two, it is understandable. But upon zooming out,

812
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:07,040
Speaker 1: I understand that I don't have the same goals anymore,

813
00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:12,640
Speaker 1: and that's entirely fine. I will not let comparison rob

814
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,120
Speaker 1: me of my joy period.

815
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:17,240
Speaker 2: Now. There are other.

816
00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:20,680
Speaker 1: Takeaways that I'm not necessarily going to get into right now,

817
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,240
Speaker 1: but like I said, if you do have more listener

818
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,520
Speaker 1: questions or want to know anything else, I am an

819
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 1: open book, so feel free to leave me a voice message,

820
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 1: and if there's an issue with that, you can email

821
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,520
Speaker 1: us always with a voice note over to hello at

822
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:37,160
Speaker 1: Hurdle dot Us. Of course, before I let you go,

823
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:43,760
Speaker 1: I have to answer the inevitable question of what's next man?

824
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:45,240
Speaker 2: Right now?

825
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:47,279
Speaker 1: In terms of running, I mean, I'm signed up for

826
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:49,879
Speaker 1: a five k the weekend of Boston Marathon. I'm also

827
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:52,279
Speaker 1: signed up for the Mini ten k in New York

828
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,319
Speaker 1: in June I'm not trying to do anything crazy at

829
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,520
Speaker 1: either one of those except have a good time. And

830
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:00,960
Speaker 1: I would be remiss if I say that I may

831
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:03,879
Speaker 1: or may not have looked at triathlons the other day.

832
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,680
Speaker 1: But this really goes back into a conversation of where

833
00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:09,520
Speaker 1: my priorities are right now.

834
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:12,359
Speaker 2: I mentioned the whole triathlon thing to.

835
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:14,759
Speaker 1: My physical therapist the other day, and he looked at

836
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:17,080
Speaker 1: me in this way, and he said something that really

837
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:21,000
Speaker 1: resonated with me, which was, you did something that so

838
00:49:21,080 --> 00:49:24,760
Speaker 1: many people would be incapable of doing, which was trained

839
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 1: for a marathon while prioritizing and excelling within your career

840
00:49:29,560 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 1: in a way that required you to be out of

841
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:37,440
Speaker 1: a regular routine quite often doing the same while training

842
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,800
Speaker 1: for a triathlon, requiring a bike, needing to get into

843
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:46,080
Speaker 1: a pool, and swimming and running. I don't know necessarily

844
00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:48,640
Speaker 1: if that would bring you the same amount of joy,

845
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:51,279
Speaker 1: because it is extremely difficult.

846
00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:52,720
Speaker 2: And he has a point.

847
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:54,719
Speaker 1: I'm not going to sit here and tell you that

848
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,000
Speaker 1: I don't think that I could figure it out, but

849
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:00,279
Speaker 1: I think when I take a step back and I

850
00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:04,080
Speaker 1: think about my priorities right now, I'm not entirely sure

851
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:07,840
Speaker 1: that I would feel okay showing up and just doing

852
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,759
Speaker 1: okay in a half iron Man. I want to show

853
00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:12,399
Speaker 1: up if I'm going to do a half iron Man

854
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:16,560
Speaker 1: and crush it. So maybe I'm tabling this idea for

855
00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:19,560
Speaker 1: just a little bit, but trust me, I have some

856
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:23,480
Speaker 1: big goals on the horizon, and candidly they have nothing

857
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:27,040
Speaker 1: to do with my athletic performance. I am so excited

858
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:30,399
Speaker 1: for what's ahead this year with hurdle and what I'm

859
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,680
Speaker 1: building and so much more to come on that. But

860
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:37,000
Speaker 1: I'm okay with embracing whatever it is that I'm doing

861
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:39,440
Speaker 1: with my body. With my athletics is a way for

862
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:42,520
Speaker 1: me to have fun, a way for me to enjoy,

863
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:44,879
Speaker 1: a way for me to try something new.

864
00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:46,440
Speaker 2: I signed up for a gym today.

865
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:49,520
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get back to lifting barbells, to

866
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:52,719
Speaker 1: doing some Olympic lifting, and I'm just looking forward to

867
00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:57,120
Speaker 1: finding the fun and focusing on me. I said it

868
00:50:57,120 --> 00:50:59,440
Speaker 1: earlier in the episode, and I'll say it again right now.

869
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:06,040
Speaker 1: I have never ever regretted investing in myself. I know

870
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:10,000
Speaker 1: now more than ever that relentless self belief is truly

871
00:51:10,120 --> 00:51:14,080
Speaker 1: a superpower, and that when I trust that I've got this,

872
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:20,120
Speaker 1: literally anything can be possible, especially when you've got a

873
00:51:20,160 --> 00:51:23,759
Speaker 1: stellar team in your corner, and that is something I do.

874
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,319
Speaker 1: I'll finish off this episode today by thanking every single.

875
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:28,880
Speaker 2: One of you who have believed in me, who.

876
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:31,960
Speaker 1: Have messaged me, both people that I know irl, my

877
00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:34,480
Speaker 1: family and my friends. I would be lost without you,

878
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:38,200
Speaker 1: the support of the different companies that have enabled me

879
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:41,520
Speaker 1: to chase my dreams over the last decade of marathoning,

880
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:50,279
Speaker 1: and of course the hurdlers, all of you. I Yeah,

881
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:53,200
Speaker 1: it is insane to me that there are individuals I

882
00:51:53,239 --> 00:51:55,200
Speaker 1: have never met in my life who are in my

883
00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:55,920
Speaker 1: corner and.

884
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:58,440
Speaker 2: Rooting for me all across the world.

885
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:02,800
Speaker 1: I hosted a hurdler meet up in Tokyo before the marathon,

886
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:05,640
Speaker 1: and a group of women assembled that I had never

887
00:52:05,719 --> 00:52:08,040
Speaker 1: met in my life, and they all came together because

888
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:10,359
Speaker 1: one day I made the decision that I was going

889
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:13,239
Speaker 1: to start sharing some of myself with the world in

890
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:16,160
Speaker 1: a way that I didn't entirely know what the hell

891
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:19,560
Speaker 1: was going on. But they showed up, and I keep

892
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:22,080
Speaker 1: showing up, and I keep showing up because you keep

893
00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:28,359
Speaker 1: showing up. So thank you for inspiring me to keep

894
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:32,239
Speaker 1: showing up to do good and to keep striving for more.

895
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:36,879
Speaker 2: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.