A Look Back on Inspiring Stories and Valuable Insights! Episode 010

Richard Conner 0:00

This is another special episode. This is Episode 10. It’s a great accomplishment to make it to the 10th episode. And I want to take a moment to thank the guests, our listeners, and just our amazing community for coming along this journey with us. We have had seven amazing guests on the Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast, all with inspiring stories and insights to share. I want to take this time to reflect on what they shared with us. And you can kind of think of it as the greatest hits, where we’ll discuss key insights from each of the guests during this episode. Hope you enjoy it.

Intro/Outro 0:48

Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast, whether you are new to running or seasoned, get tips and the inspiration that you need to achieve your health and fitness goals. Now, here’s your host Richard Conner.

Richard Conner 1:05

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast. For today’s episode, we’re going to talk about seven amazing guests who we had on the podcast, and their inspiring stories and key insights. The first episode is number two Kickstart Your Running with Kevin Gregory. Kevin is my coach, mentor and personal friend. And he talked about benefits of having a trainer, the balance of cardio and strength, how to stay motivated to run and running tips for beginners. And he had a great story around time on your feet, which is something that I’ve actually used in other episodes. So let’s see what Kevin had to say about time when your feet.

Kevin Gregory 1:56

Whether you’re running, walking or jogging, if you haven’t done anything, go for a walk, feel good about it, and just that time on your feet of walking is gonna work on your it’s going to strengthen your muscles is going to strengthen your joints gonna make you more durable. And then as you’re ready to start moving faster. So say transitioning from walking to jogging, bring a watch, or even if you don’t go for a walk, and then increase to a jog until the next stop sign and then walk again for like a few minutes and then jog to the next stop sign and then walk for a couple minutes. And you can replace that jog with a run if you’re ready to go a little faster. But those intervals are going to allow you to push hard, but then you get a really good break. So that’s where I’d start with a walk. And when you’re ready to move faster jog to something that’s not too far away, and then take a really good break while you’re walking, and so on.

Richard Conner 2:49

Kevin gave some great advice for new runners as well as for seasoned runners. For new runners, if you’ve never run before, and running it, maybe it seems a little scary, right? Then it’s all about time on your feet as he said. So just start off by walking. And then once you get accustomed to walking for a period of time, then you could start to mix in a little bit of running, right kind of do that interval training until you can work up to the run. So really great advice on how you can really ease into running without overdoing it or without hurting yourself very early on. And for seasoned runners. It’s similar concepts right time and your feet and building up to those longer distances depending on what you’re aspiring to do. So, so just really great advice for those that are either just starting off. And also for seasoned runners. Kevin also talked about the advantages or benefits of a running club. So we can start off by just simply running just to kind of get that time on your feet. But there’s also additional tips and things that you could do to not only strengthen your legs, but also a little bit of technique. And those are things that you can learn through a running club, like what Kevin offers. And you can also get that motivation of being with like minded people who are going down this journey with you and have that motivation to run. So check out Episode Two, Kickstart Your running with Kevin Gregory. The next episode is number three with Sonia Gonzales. Sonia is the founder of Run Then Wine, which is a race that started off as a live race, but was changed to or pivoted to a virtual race this year during the pandemic. And Sonia shares, how a virtual race works and some of the benefits of a virtual race. So let’s listen to one of the clips of some of the benefits of virtual race. Plus we’ll hear some of Sonia’s perspective on the running community.

And do you see that the virtual race is a way to motivate them to to have a goal to work towards? Or how do you think that that provides that motivation?

Sonia Gonzales 5:11

Yeah, I think so. Especially for people who aren’t comfortable or are embarrassed. I mean, for me, I’m, I’m not a very fast runner. And so whenever I first ran my first few races, I, I just, you know, you kind of feel embarrassed because you because you know, you’re not a fast runner, and you just feel like everybodys out gonna be judging you when I mean, in reality, the running community is not like that at all. And, and people that might be new to running may not know that yet. That I mean, if you’re, if you’re out there, you’re going to have people rooting for you, regardless of how slow or even if you have to walk, I think that that the premise is just go out there and do something. And I mean, running is just a good a good outlet just to kind of do something for yourself and on your own, and you don’t have to compete. And I think that the virtual, the virtual environment allows that you can kind of it’s, you can kind of do it on your own, you can, you could just you don’t have to worry about, you know, whether somebody is going to be if you’re worried about, you know, how slow you might be running or that you just aren’t completing it in the time that you that you’re wanting, I think that that kind of takes that part out of it, you just kind of do it on your own and, and now and hopefully that, that you feel some some bit of satisfaction at the end of it.

Richard Conner 6:38

Great insights from Sonia, on her perspective for the benefits of a virtual race plus the overall running community. So let’s talk about virtual race first, you know, and inspire virtual runs. So there’s two parts to the virtual aspects, right. So the first one is, we have a virtual community, where we can motivate and inspire each other to run. But the other elements are virtual races, and we promote virtual races as a way to get into running or have a goal to work towards as you’re starting off running. And you know, kind of as Sonia said, it’s really a way if you don’t feel comfortable in the live race, maybe you’re not happy with your time, or whatever the case is, then a virtual race is a nice low pressure way to still kind of do that first five K, without all the pressure of a live race. The second element to what she was talking about is the just to running community in general. We’ve seen it here on inspire virtual runs, but all the runners that you come across and whether it’s live races or through online communities, they’re just really good people looking to motivate inspire others, either by giving them encouragement, tips are even by sharing their own stories, right? Because it’s, it’s not really that easy for any of us, you know, may look easy when we’re taking the photos with a race medal and say we did it, but the training and the journey to get to that point was probably pretty hard. Right? So we’re here to share those stories of what happens behind the scenes to inspire, motivate and encourage others to to do it and come along that journey with us. So just having that running community is just a wonderful aspect of running.

Next is episode 4 Finish Lines, not Finish Times with David Hampson. David is a runner, writer, brand ambassador for Brooks, Canada, and guest blog contributor for Inspire Virtual Runs. David has an interesting philosophy on running, and draws his experience as a runner and as a writer and shares that experience with all of us. So let’s listen into what David has to say.

David Hampson 9:05

Then I would say the most important thing is to drop all expectations of yourself. How you were in high school, was how you are in high how you were in high school, it’s not you now so go out with an open mind if you have to walk, walk, you know, it doesn’t matter how far you go, how slow you go, you know, you are running. You are a runner. And if you see it around online, it’s like there’s there’s no membership for this, there’s you know, you don’t have to be of a certain quality of a certain standard. You want to do this to better yourself. You know, think of those reasons why you’re starting running. It’s most likely not to get a sub 20 minute 5K it’s not to get a sub two hour half marathon it’s you’re usually starting to run because you want to do something healthy. You want to do something good for yourself, and in times where you think you’re not progressing, always resort back to why, why are you doing this? For me, it was, I just moved back to Canada, I stayed with a little bit of weight, and I wasn’t as active as much. I was working a lot. So I was sitting at a desk. For me, it was a, you know, this will be a healthy thing to do. And I think my motivation to actually start it, or what made me do it was being in a new relationship with my partner. And it was something that I thought great, we can do this together and kind of keep each other accountable. You know, always remember why you’re doing it. And it’s usually not for the reasons that you’re beating yourself up about. Keep an open mind, doesn’t matter how far how slow you go, just run. And if your body tells, you know, listen, because if you don’t listen, your body will force you to stop running.

Richard Conner 11:02

Great advice from David. And I’ll just touch on a couple of points that he made. The first one is about setting expectations. So he talked about maybe not hitting that time when you were back in high school in terms of running. And there are a few of us who claim actually haven’t run since high school. And it might be unrealistic to think that we’re going to get a sub 20 or sub 19 5K time just by getting back out there. But what really, and that may not be the important thing, what really is important is the fact that you’re getting back out there after after all those years, and you’re getting active again, and getting back into fitness. And that’s truly what what’s important, but just having the right expectations about how you’re getting back into running, getting back into fitness. The second point he made is something we talked about all the time, and that is remembering your why. And understanding and knowing why is it that you’re getting into running or fitness. And just keeping that top of mind. Again, for those days that it’s just kind of hard to to put your running shoes on and get out there the days that the weather isn’t cooperating, or you have pressure from home or from work, just kind of remembering your wine sticking to that routine is really going to help you through. So again, that was Episode Four Finish Lines, not Finish Times with David Hampson. Next is episode five: Simple Ways to Improve your Runs with Yoga with Danielle Nardi. This was actually a fun episode for me fun conversation with Danielle, because I myself had misconceptions about yoga, it didn’t really know and understand how it could benefit you even as a runner. So Danielle Nardi is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and a certified yoga teacher on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She began running almost 10 years ago, and has run 10 marathons and over 20 half marathons. And she took the time to talk to us about the benefits of yoga, and how we could evaluate which type of yoga may be right for us. So let’s listen in to Danielle.

Okay, so so you have first hand experience about how yoga really helps runners and especially for the marathon training, marathon runners, and I assume that runners would still have this benefit, even if they’re not aspiring for like a half marathon or full marathon. I mean, maybe if they’re just even going for or 5K and you would you think that they’d see similar benefits for for those distance races? Danielle Nardi 13:44

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think it depends on what your goals are out of that race. Yoga has several things that you can work on. So like I talked about in the webinar you attended, you can get amazing strength benefits out of yoga, a lot of people don’t realize that or think about that, when they think about yoga, it works on a lot of balance. And it works on flexibility. That’s the one that people tend to be most familiar with. So when you’re doing a lot of running, your muscles are getting tight. So the flexibility is great to kind of balance that out. Strengthening is also great because if your legs are stronger, you’re going to be more efficient at running and balance. I mean, who couldn’t use a little bit more balance essentially running is a series of single leg hops. I mean, you’re on one leg at all times. So better balanced, better ankle and hip stability is always going to benefit your running. So I do think that runners, you know, working on any distance could benefit from incorporating yoga into their training. Richard Conner 14:39

Not only did Danielle share with us the benefits of yoga and how to evaluate which yoga is right for us. She also shared her running story about how she started with the marathons and half marathons and how that gave her the motivation and inspiration to even change careers. Again, this was a really fun episode. It was a great conversation with Danielle, I really encourage you to take a listen to episode five: Simple Ways to Improve your Runs with Yoga with Danielle Nardi. The next episode is number six: Motivation to Run for Fitness and Fun with Brian Doerr, this was another fun episode as I was able to take the time to reconnect with an old friend who really had not been running and his it’s really started running in his adult life. And he worked up his way to 110 races and a 712 day running streak. Brian has a great story to share about how he built up to that running streak, how he balanced running and family. And he shared a story about how he overcame an injury. Let’s listen in.

So Brian, what was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome? Right? So since 2011, you’ve been running all of these races. You had some great stories to share some great success stories and personal records. But like what was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome? Brian Doerr 16:20

I’d say I’ve had issues with my IT band and my my right leg a couple of times now. And both times that’s been difficult. I remember the first time was I had completed a 20K. And within a day or so afterwards, I just felt, you know, a lot of pain in my leg. And I had to shut it down, go through physical therapy. And then it was the same thing. I The reason why I ended the streak that I had with the running streak was I again, I was running one day, felt the IT band pain and had to stop again, and go through physical therapy take time off, you’re getting through that was tough, because mentally I wanted to be back out and running. It took me out of my routines. But it was again, it was about getting better. And then slowly getting back into it. It was just difficult from the standpoint of here, I was running to three times a week, four times a week, to suddenly nothing. And then with the streak running, it was here I was running every single day. And then, you know, had to make the decision to stop I remember, I went to my physical therapist and I said, Hey, can I still keep my streak through this. And he’s like, you know, you’re not going to make it any worse. But you’re not going to get any better sooner if you keep trying to do it. And, you know, I remember, I was trying to sleep one night and this The pain was so bad, I couldn’t get comfortable laying in bed. And I’m like, you know what, let’s just stop taking the time off. So I’d say you know, just the most difficult part was just stopping, really changing my routine and then having to slowly work back into it. Richard Conner 17:54

Brian shared an important lesson for us that I think extends even beyond running, if you’re injured, or if you if the something’s happened, get checked out, take the time to recover, hit the pause button, slow down your activities, and really just focus on recovery and getting better. All too often we’ll try to just work through things, right? If it’s if it’s aches and pains or something that’s more serious, it will go away or we just try to work through it. And then potentially the problem just just gets, you know, becomes bigger. And you know, in Brian’s case, his issue necessarily wouldn’t have gotten worse. But he wouldn’t have gotten better either. If he didn’t, again, hit the pause button and recover. So very grateful to Brian for sharing his overall running journey which is inspirational, but also about this obstacle that he had to overcome by just stopping running and focusing on his recovery, which is hard to do after you build up a habit to have a 712 day running streak. So just hats hats off to Brian, for doing that for getting through his recovery and getting back back to it. All right. We’re in the homestretch. Episode eight: Practical Lessons and Inspiration for First Time Runners with Pam Frost. Pam Frost is a mom, Disney bride and marathoner who loves some smarter people on how to begin the running journey. She ran 12 marathons and over 30 half marathons. I had a great conversation with Pam, as she talked about how she first started running and the lessons that she learned along the way and how she inspired her family to run. So let’s take a listen into one of those lessons that she shared.

Pam Frost 19:58

But fitting it in has been Something that I’ve had to make be a priority. And if I don’t fit my run in, or I don’t have time for cross training, I actually get very crabby. It’s actually something that I’m learning. It’s, it’s a release for me. So I look forward to these runs, they are on my schedule. It’s kind of part of my DNA that if I don’t get this therapy session in my running session, it will throw me off for the day, if I skip a day, I usually try to get to it the very next day. But if I’ve skipped two or three days, I definitely feel off. And I know that something isn’t right. So it’s become a lifestyle for me, it’s become something that fits into my vacation schedule when necessary. It’s it’s important to me so I do find the time to make it a priority and fit it in.

Richard Conner 20:56

That’s, that’s awesome. And, you know, it feels like as you’re telling me the story, it feels like, it’s not something that you have to do, it feels like it’s something that you want to do. Definitely. And I love how you describe that. It’s your therapy session that Yeah, that’s a great attitude to have towards that.

Again, great conversation, Pam. And I loved how she talked about how she fits in running and fitness and how it’s basically become part of her life and her lifestyle. Whether she’s at home or vacation, she makes time for running in for fitness. And if she doesn’t stick to her schedule, then it’s obvious right she’s she starts to feel it mentally and physically. So great lesson learned about just making the time for fitness and and creating that habit. So very grateful for Pam, she gives a lot of other tips in terms of training, resting, gear, the run walk run method. So I would encourage you to listen to episode eight: Practical Lessons and Inspiration for First Time Runners with Pam Frost. All right, final episode, Episode Number nine: Motivation and Running on the not so Perfect Day with Mike Hall. Mike Hall is a quality control analyst at McDermott, alpha, and began his running journey over six years ago, Mike was actually introduced to me by his friend Brian Durr, who we had earlier on the show and episode six motivation to run for fitness and fun, great conversation with Mike, he gave some great tips, again, from lessons learned along the way. And let’s listen into one of the lessons that he learned that we don’t really think about or talked about too much when running.

Mike Hall 22:48

The biggest obstacle, like early days, and even sometimes to to an extent today is to getting yourself out there in some like the not so perfect weather, like you know, in the middle of June or July, when you get that like you know, 90 degree day with you know, 1,000% humidity, and you really just like, don’t want to go out there and run it’s important. Even if you don’t do a long run, or you don’t hit whatever your distance goal is that day, it helps you get acclimated it helps you build up to those type of conditions. Because like, of course, you can’t predict and get perfect weather every single race day, you’re going to get one of those really hot days, or you’re going to get one of those days where it’s a rainy or drizzling most of the run. That’s one of the obstacles. And I would say the other obstacle is to convince yourself at least once a week or maybe every other week to, you know, throw in a hill in your workout, you know, find find a street around you or some trail you can run to actually has a little hill it doesn’t have to be crazy, like get yourself to run up and down that hill a few times to get you used to those situations as well. Because again, not every course you’re going to run is flat.

Richard Conner 24:06

Yeah, that’s great. That’s great advice. And so starting with the with the weather, you’re absolutely right, so we live in the northeast in the US. And we have beautiful seasons beautiful area. But that comes with some days you get good weather and some days you don’t. So your advice is you don’t know what you’re going to get on race day, basically. So you kind of have to train for it. Right? So running in the summer, you have to run on those hot days to train for race day. And same thing for the winter. If you’re running in the winter. You have to kind of prep for that that colder weather. I mean, I’m sure it’s going to impact your your breathing, that how much fluids you’re going to have to have. So so that’s really sage advice there in terms of training during during that season.

Mike Hall 24:46

Yeah, it could be it could be a mental challenge, as well. Just that really hot day when you step outside like oh, I signed up for a race on this day. You know you if you been doing it a couple times. You know you You’re not gonna think it’s that big a deal.

Richard Conner 25:04

Mike talked about the importance of running on those not so nice days, whether it’s super hot, or whether it’s really cold, it’s important to run in those conditions, because you don’t know what you’re going to get on race day. And running in those conditions, really helps prepare you for when the time comes to run in the race, whether it’s a live race or virtual race. But always consider those can what you need to do for those conditions. Meaning, if it’s a little warm out, maybe dress a little bit lighter, if it’s cooler, then dress appropriately. But definitely get out there in those conditions so your body can can get to get accustomed to it. The other thing that we didn’t necessarily talk about during the interview, but I think is also a benefit of running during those conditions, is to maintain your routine and your habit. Sure, if you have the option of running indoors, then do it right just to through the winter, or maybe those those hot summer days just to keep it up. But if you don’t have that option, especially what we’re going through now through the pandemic, then running outside may be a good option, again, just to kind of keep up your fitness. And keep with the routine without having to take two or three months off during the, you know, the dog days of summer or during those really cold winter months. So obviously be safe, dress appropriately, make sure you hydrate, but consider running in those conditions to keep your body custom to it.

Wow, seven amazing guests. So many insights. So many lessons learned so many great stories, inspirational stories, I’m really grateful for all the guests so far that have come on the show, shared their insights with us shared their stories, and really provided that inspiration and motivation, I hope for all of us to either start running, or continue running. Some of the key takeaways that I got from from these seven episodes are number one, just about remembering your why, again, we talked about it a lot. But that was a reoccurring theme through a number of the interviews, we just kind of remember why we got into running, or why fitness is important to us and what we’re trying to achieve. So just remembering your why. Number two is not all tips, all lessons all advice is going to work for everybody ever, you have to kind of figure out what works for you. But hopefully, by sharing these stories by sharing these tips, by sharing this advice, you’re going to find something that helps you in your own journey, and is something that makes your run and your journey a little bit more enjoyable, and a little bit easier. So hopefully that that helps you. And the third thing that I’ll say I took away from these conversations is anyone can do this. Anyone can run. Everyone has a story has a journey to share that can inspire others, you really just have to make that mental commitment to do it. And just get out there and run. Anybody can do it. And as you’ve heard from from a number of these interviews, not everybody were runners their entire lives is something that they started later on in life. They had that why they learned how to run, they got the inspiration from others, whether it was close friends, or running community or running club, and they just got there and did it. So anybody can do and that was that was my third takeaway and very inspirational. I hope you’ve been enjoyed this episode. I hope you’ve been enjoying all of these episodes. If there’s one that you miss that you liked, that you heard during this one, please go back and listen to it. And you’ll hear the full story from from that particular guest. So we have a number of amazing guests yet to come. Personal Trainers, nutritionists, experts in mental health, and I’m just so excited for what we have coming next. So thanks again, and have a great day.

Intro/Outro 29:23

That’s it for this episode of Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review. Also, be sure to click the subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks for listening.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai