Pilates Benefits for Runners and Why You Should Start with Cat Corchado! Ep62

Cat Corchado 0:00

So people always tend to think of Pilates is something that you know, dancers do. Well I do it too. And I’m not a dancer. You know, I’m an instructor. Professional athletes do it. LeBron James for one does Pilates and they, they, they understand the concept of how it makes you aware of your body no matter where you are. Whether whether he’s playing basketball, whether he’s lifting weights, it’s always there for him.

Intro/Outro 0:26

Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Here you’ll find inspiration. Whether you’re looking to take control of your health and fitness or you’re a seasoned runner, looking for community in some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here’s your host Richard Conner.

Richard Conner 0:50

Hi, everyone, welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. I’m here with Cat Corchado, who is a retired Air Force veteran and fitness professional with over 37 years with specialties and personal training, pilates, active, isolated, stretching, and most recently, her certification at the Cancer Exercise Training Institute. She is the founder of Small Space Pilates, and as the host of the podcast Sisters in Service, welcome to the show Cat.

Cat Corchado 1:20

Thank you, Richard. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Richard Conner 1:23

Well, the honor is all mine. I’m super excited, we’re able to pull this together and finally get you on the show. And you have a lot to talk about here between your your training certifications, or podcasts or business just a lot that I think you can share with our listeners in terms of inspiration and, and some tips as they go along with their health and fitness journey. So So Thanks for coming on the show. And let’s kind of get started and learn a little bit more about you.

Cat Corchado 1:50

Oh, how much time do we have? No, I’m just joking.

Richard Conner 1:54

We got nothing but time!

Cat Corchado 1:58

Well, I think what’s important is the military has always had a strong presence in my life. When I was born, my father was already in the Air Force. And then he did 22 years. And then I went in the Air Force because I had no idea what I was doing. And I thought well, let me take a few years and figure it out. And I ended up staying 20 years. So that’s been a huge part of my life. The other huge part of my life was I’ve been it’s always been fitness. As an athlete in school, you know, you graduate and you don’t really don’t go to college, and you miss it, you miss that competition, you miss that feeling of movement. And so everyone knows that when you’re in the military, you don’t really make a whole lot of money, especially as an airman. And so I thought this might be a really good part time job. And so that’s how my career actually started in fitness is because I needed some extra money.

Richard Conner 2:58

Excellent. Well, thank you for sharing that. And I want to dig into a little bit more on the fitness side, kind of what got you started in fitness and what kept you going? So you know, tell us a little bit about that. I know that you said that you started to make a little extra money, but you don’t necessarily start in fitness there. So what was your mindset, like towards fitness? And why was that important for you?

Cat Corchado 3:20

Well, my whole family was always very much movement oriented with the exception of my mother. So my brother played sports, my I remember, as a child, like five years old, watching my father play basketball, on base at the base gym. And so it was me and my two brothers, we were in all kinds of sports. And so I go into the military. And of course, you have to be somewhat fit to actually go in. And I’ve always been a part of the gym. I’ve always been a part of some gym where you know, you pay dues, or you pay whatever. And someone said, Hey, if you teach someplace you won’t have to pay. And so I was always okay, you guys that are listening, you know, that annoying person who would always be in the front to the right or left to the instructor doing it just like the instructor that was me. Okay, I didn’t do it just like the instructor. And what I didn’t realize is that she was active duty military also. And she talked to me after class. She said, Look, I’m getting ready to they didn’t call it deploy them PCs, which is permanent change of station. She said, Will you take my class over for me? And that’s pretty much how it got started. I was like, Sure, no, this this was before microphones and when you had to use your own voice. And I didn’t understand how hard it was to speak and exercise at the same time. So for those of you listening, if you’ve ever tried to run and sing or do anything and sing or even, you know, just talk, it’s really, really difficult. And so I really caught the bug there. And this was Back in the day, y’all I’m going way back high impact and low impact aerobics, boom, that was it. And then step aerobics and I was like, Whoa, step aerobics, this is cool. And it just kept moving forward and moving forward. And I thought, well, let me do personal training, and then it just kind of, it just kind of was like an avalanche, it just rolled downhill from there, I wanted to do all the things, which you can’t do, but I want to do all of them. And that’s how it started.

Richard Conner 5:27

You say a roll downhill, but I think it’s just been all up for you up, up and away, just kind of with the work you’ve been doing and your business. So it sounds like he had a really great foundation and really great mindset, you know, getting started. And it’s funny what you said about trying to speak and move at the same time, especially if you’re running. Because I’ll tell you what, for some of my long runs, I would take a call here and there just to kind of pass the time if I wasn’t listening to music, or podcast, and it’s super hard to do, right here are super hard. But you know, but I’ve learned now that I’m training based on heart rate versus time, I’m learning Okay, certain zones, I should be able to carry on a conversation. And if I can’t, I’m probably moving too fast. So in some cases, it’s been a good gauge of like how much work I’m doing on my run. So that’s funny that you mentioned that. So I, you know, I know, I think you’re not maybe running as much before, but running was part of your past. So let’s talk a little bit about that. So running podcasts. And of course, we have to sneak that in somewhere. So let’s hear a little bit about your running journey.

Cat Corchado 6:33

So my running started, when I was around eight years old. And during this summer, you know, school’s out, there’s nothing to do during this summer. And back in the day, they would have these free camps. And it would be a gymnastic camp, it would be a track and field camp, tumbling, you know, all of that stuff. And I found out that I was pretty good at jumping and pretty good at running. And I thought, Okay, let me just try this and see if I like it. I remember watching the 1960 Olympics and Bob Beamon in his long jump. And I remember holding my breath. And I couldn’t keep my breath. Well, I didn’t know how to do it back then. But I had to take a breath before he landed. And when he landed, I said, I want to do that. And so that’s how it kind of started. And then I went, I found out that, you know, I was I was doing track and field. So I was doing long jump, and all those others. And my coach said, You really need to focus on just the track part on the running part. He said, I think you’re really good at this. And so I wanted to go the Olympics, I wanted to be an Olympian. And so that’s where the running part stops. So flash forward, you know, that was high school, life kind of turns your head around. And I’m doing Pilates. I’m teaching Pilates and personal training. And I had a client who said, I want you to really teach me how to run I really want to run I was like, Okay, let’s do this. And we did a whole lot of walk. And the first let’s just say there was a lot of walking and fast walking. And then as we got better, we were very diligent, because I think when you have a partner, or when you have someone who you’re accountable with, it makes you show up. And then it started becoming more running than walking. And then we were just running, you know, we were increasing our mileage. We were doing all this other stuff with it. And she said, Let’s do a 5k. I was like, okay, and then it was a 10k. And then she said, Let’s do a half marathon and I thought, oh crap, here we go. Now when I say I was running your I mean, I was a sprinter. I was not a long distance runner. And which huge difference, by the way. But I trained for it. I really did. I was very diligent i i followed a program, you know, for nutrition and everything. And I did really well. And what I mean by really well is I crossed the finish line running. And so people used to ask me, thank you people say, Well, what time are you shooting for? And I said, the time that I finish is the tough shooting for so and I did it. And I was so proud of myself. But I know well, I can’t say I know, right now, the thought of doing a full marathon just it’s like it’s not even on the radar. But you know, things could change. So we’ll see.

Richard Conner 9:30

All right, well, congrats again. I mean, that’s amazing. Just kind of your journey, your running journey. And then you know, I love some of the things that you said about having that partner, that accountability partner, you’re pushing each other to do more and, and do more and just show up, which is the most important part, right, being consistent and showing up. So I love what you said there and I’m not going to push you to do a full marathon in this conversation. Maybe in the next conversation, we’ll talk a little bit more about it, but I’m not in this one. And honestly the conversation

Cat Corchado 9:59

betcha I’m open to the conversation.

Richard Conner 10:03

And you know, I’m in the same boat, I’m in the same boat. You know, for a long time, I was thinking I wasn’t going to do anything more than a 5k. And then I find myself doing a 10k and a half marathon. And I don’t know, I have dreams of maybe doing a marathon one day. So I’m working towards that dream to see if it can become a reality. But totally, totally understand when it’s something that’s, you know, maybe upper level and seems a little bit beyond your reach. It may seem a little bit daunting, so

Cat Corchado 10:29

yes, very much. So.

Richard Conner 10:32

I could appreciate that.

Cat Corchado 10:33

You have my full support Richard doing that marathon my full support?

Richard Conner 10:38

Well, it won’t be 2023. I’ve already made my goal. But let’s talk in a few months about 24. So you know, one of the things that I like to learn from from our guests is really to kind of unpack and understand your history. And to share with our listeners some of your experiences, one of the questions I’d like to ask is, what would you say was kind of your biggest obstacle? Maybe in your fitness journey? And how did you overcome it?

Cat Corchado 11:05

In running or just in general? Yeah, it

Richard Conner 11:08

could be in writing, or it could be in general,

Cat Corchado 11:11

I think just believing in myself that I could do it. Because a lot of people didn’t think they didn’t say that I couldn’t do it. But you could, you know, when people you say, Hey, I’m going to do this, and they kind of go, Oh, that’s nice. You know, that kind of that lukewarm, kind of, you know, but I had to believe in me, it was something I wanted. It was something that was in my heart. And I said, I want to do this, and I’m going to do it. And so you just and I’m not saying it’s it’s not easy, it’s not easy. And it’s going to be hard parts of it will be hard, just like whether you’re running whatever it is you’re doing. There’ll be parts where you go, I don’t like this part at all. But it’s all part of the journey. And then when you get through, you go, Oh, well, you don’t remember the hard part, you just remember that you got to where you are now. So I think just believing in yourself. If you want to do it, do it, learn as much as you can, and then just start doing it and believe that you can.

Richard Conner 12:12

I love that. And you know, I’m thinking about for anybody who’s who’s listening who’s thinking that, you know, maybe they’re not, they don’t think they’re a runner, or maybe they can’t do it or just like you and I are talking about that marathon just seems so far out of reach and love what you said about believing yourself, because a lot of it does come down to self confidence. Because once you work towards it, and once you do it, you’re like, oh, I can do it. Right. I did it, you know, and but it’s getting to that point. I love what you said about believing yourself. So to get you on that road to reaching your goals.

Cat Corchado 12:43

Oh, absolutely. And even when I was running, there were runs where I just thought, I’m not gonna make it today. You know, you start those runs out, you think, oh, you know, almost instantly, this isn’t gonna be a good one, I’m gonna have to fight tooth and nail. But then you get through it. And you think, Wow, I did that. I didn’t want to do it, I did it. And it fuels that fire. You’re like, Okay, what’s next, you know, and then you do that. And then it’s what’s next. And pretty soon you’re doing a half marathon and then a full marathon. And it goes from there.

Richard Conner 13:18

And, you know, one of the things that I have done in the past, but I need to get back into and I’ve had conversations and with other guests around affirmations, and I wonder if you do this as well, you know, just thinking about the power of affirmations. So I used to do spoken affirmations in the morning and written in the in the evening. And I really, really feel like it helped me write it really feel like it gave me You know, I don’t know if it was a self confidence or the focus, but it really helps me trying to achieve my goal. So, you know, what are your thoughts around things like affirmations.

Cat Corchado 13:51

I think words or affirmations are powerful. I would always tell myself that I am a runner. When I’m getting ready for my runs, it was be like you’re a runner, you’re a runner, you’ve got this you’re a runner, you know, or a different word where you know, I’m tired that day and I’m like you’ve got this, you’re gonna be okay, just take your time, let your body unwind in the run and then let it go and there have been a lot of runs where it started out crappy. And then all of a sudden it was smooth sailing I’m like what was I so worried about? And then you know other you know how it is different day different body, you know, in different circumstances, but you get through that and then you look back and you realize what you’ve accomplished and that just gives you this sense of confidence that you didn’t have before. And so when people say you know there was I remember back in the day and I can’t remember how long ago but they’re talking about how some people have runners bodies and some people don’t have runners bodies, and I don’t have the typical runners body. You know, I I lifted weights, you know, I have an athletic build. But don’t let people tell you you’re not a runner. Or they give you that look like, oh, you’re a runner? Yeah, I am. Why you got? You got questions. Let’s talk about

Richard Conner 15:17

faces gonna say you look like you’re on the ready No, but you’re so right. It’s so right. And, you know, anyone can run anyone can be a runner, it’s really just depends on what your health and fitness goals are and what your preference is for your movement. So obviously, we’re talking about running here. But you know, you could do it, whether you know you believe it today or not, you can certainly do it and take those steps. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, which, you know, is an interesting point about who you surround yourself with, right? Instead of having people who may not be supportive of what you’re doing, which happens. And it even happens with folks who are close to us, which is unfortunate, right? But surrounding yourself with like minded people, whether it’s running groups, or accountability group, or whatever the case may be for folks that really support you and uplift you versus tearing you down.

Cat Corchado 16:13

So I think that’s huge. I really do you know, whether, like you said, whether you’re running, whether you’re in business, I was always told to surround yourself with people with where you want to be. So if they’re running, they’re already running, but they’re running, you know, 25 miles or whatever. And you’re just starting, that’s where you want to be surround your yourself with people like that, because you’re going to get there. And they’re going to encourage you to get there. And that’s what you need. Sometimes it’s someone to say, look, it was a bad day running for you, but you were here. And we’re proud of you for doing that. So don’t be hard on yourself, do what you can do and realize that if you continue by taking a step forward every day in your running, or whatever your endeavor is that you’re going to get to that point where you go, Wow, I’m here, where as before here was far away, you know, like, when you’re getting ready to take a trip, you know, you’re going from East Coast to West Coast, you know, like holy crap. And all you can think about is getting there, but you miss all the stuff along the way. All the you know, pretty sights and all the things. So pay attention. Because somebody might be watching you that says I want to be a runner like you. So what are you going to say if you say, Oh, I’m not a runner, they think you’re a runner. So you should think you’re a runner, two

Richard Conner 17:33

Truer words have never been spoken. So thanks. Thanks for sharing that cat. So let’s switch gears a little bit. And let’s talk a little bit about your businesses, you have a number of businesses and ventures going on, which is really, really exciting. And, you know, I’d love to talk a little bit about Pilates. But you know, let’s start wherever you’d want to start, you know, in terms of the businesses and the work you’re doing and health and fitness.

Cat Corchado 17:55

Sure. So, you know, everyone always has an idea if you’ve ever had an idea, but you didn’t act on it. And then all of a sudden you hear your idea of on TV, and you’re like, that was my idea. So the difference between the people who are entrepreneurs and the people who aren’t is because the people who are entrepreneurs had an idea and follow through on it. And so when I started my career, oh, so long ago, I always had this idea of wanting to bring Pilates to the masses. And so Pilates has always seemed like this very unique kind of shishi kind of thing, you know, like, you know, and I want it to be something that people can do, and believe that they can do it, and have a price point that people say, You know what, I can do this. And it doesn’t feel like it’s so out of reach. And so people always tend to think of Pilates is something that you know, dancers do. Well, I do it too. And I’m not a dancer. You know, I’m an instructor. Professional athletes do it. LeBron James for one does Pilates. And they, they they understand the concept of how it makes you aware of your body no matter where you are, whether whether he’s playing basketball, whether he’s lifting weights, it’s always there for him. So, pilates, I started it as wanting to stand out, I was a personal trainer. So I wanted to be different. And so a lot of instructor a lot of flight instructors were due or not placed instructor for trainers. Were going to yoga, and I thought, well, what’s this Pilates thing? And so I went, I did my I did a session. I hated it. I hated it. And I thought this is stupid. So I did it again. Hated again. I said this is I don’t like this. So I had a friend of mine who was I was also I was her trainer. And she said I told her what happens because you didn’t go to morning and did you and I go mortgage because you gotta go to mooring it. So now I’m mad because I have to pay for a session. So I go to pay for a session and Maureen was exactly what I needed. And only because she worked me hard, I sweated hard. But she answered on all my questions. I mean, those people like, Well, why this? Well, how come this? Well, what about this? And that, you know, I asked him a million in one question. And she answered every one of my questions. I’m like, Okay, I’m in. So back, then, you had to go to New York to get certified. And I said, I have a mortgage, I can’t afford to go to New York. And lo and behold, they brought the program to Boston. And so I was able to get in as an apprentice. Somewhere in there, we moved to North Carolina, which is where I’m at now in Charlotte, I finished my certification, and that was 15 years ago. Yeah. So and I’ve seen it transform people, from athletes to, you know, people who have very significant injuries, I had a client who had scoliosis surgery, where they put the rods in your back on each side, and the only part that she could really move was her low back. And this was when I, I want to say she was 15, when she had the surgery. And her doctor said, Well, you know, around your 40s, you’re going to have it done, you know, you’re gonna have to do it again. I can’t say she’s in her mid to late 40s. And she’s still taking Pilates, and she’s never felt better.

Richard Conner 21:39

Wow, wow, that’s super amazing. And, you know, I have a lot of questions about Pilates. So I’ll try to prioritize the questions. But so first of all, thank you for sharing that. I think it’s really, really interesting for us to learn about different types of movement, which is why it’s great to have guests like yourself on the show. So one of the questions I have about Pilates, this may be a really controversial question. But one that’s been just swirling around in my mind, is it Pilates? Or is it yoga? Like, why? Why would I do Pilates versus yoga, and you said it yourself, right? You, you just kind of observe what was going on. And there’s a lot of people kind of gravitating towards yoga, and you went in a different direction towards Pilates. So tell me a little bit about that.

Cat Corchado 22:22

Okay, so the difference between yoga and pilates is this yoga is mind body in the fact that the movement doesn’t require the mind. So you can let your mind go and just move through, especially when you know the poses, right? Once you know them, you can just float through them. Pilates requires your mind to move the body. So you have to use your mind in order to understand what Pilates is doing. So you have to pay attention. I will say this, that Pilates and yoga are great together, I’ve done both. And Pilates helps your yoga and yoga helps your Pilates now if you’re on the fence, and let’s say you’re just wanting to start working out, haven’t worked out for a while it’s been years. And you think, Oh, should I do Pilates or yoga, I’m gonna say Pilates. And here’s why. You need your core muscles to work yoga. And so a lot of people say I’m gonna go do yoga, and I’m like, Okay, fine. And six months later, they come back and they said, I hurt my back. And I was like, I’m so sorry. But I knew that was going to happen. So Pilates, they’re the same, but they’re different. Did that answer your question a little bit more?

Richard Conner 23:32

Yeah, that is that is very helpful. And, you know, kind of taking it one step further for the running community. So for someone like myself, so I’m running training towards half marathon distance, I’m running six, seven hours a week, 30 to 40 miles a week. And I’m looking for, you know, alternate term forms of movement kind of in between, or maybe is recovery. So what would you say that that, you know, in relation to Pilates? Is that an option that someone like me or another runner should consider?

Cat Corchado 24:01

Oh, absolutely. So think of running as running is great, by the way. And, but in Charlotte, I’ve seen people run and oh my god, I just want to stop the car and open the door and say get in, I will drive you where you need to go. Because their form is horrible. But even doing long distances, you start to get this compression, you know, in small spot, you know, like in your spine and your low back and things start to draw in. So what Pilates does is it it elongates it gives you space in your body so you feel good in your body. I know a lot of runners, you know, they’ll come in and they say, Well, I work out and I go you’re a runner, aren’t you and and they’ll say yeah, how do you know and I said I can tell by your posture. And so it it makes you very aware of your form when you’re writing because form is huge when you’re running correct. And it reinforced says that. So when you’re running, you know, you get your long run offs and you feel a twinge in your knee and you go, what was that, that means you weren’t pulling in your stomach. So you want to be as light as air when you’re running. You know, you always want it you want to look like those gazelles or better yet, you know those runners in the Olympics, they look like they lift when they run. Every time they take a step. They’re lifting up. People in Charlotte, not all of them, but most of them do the opposite. So all their weight goes down into their joints. And so Pilates helps with that, and so many other things. I’m just going to say if y’all don’t believe me, let me know I will find your Pilates studio. And you can find it and see for yourself.

Richard Conner 25:40

Now, that’s super helpful. And, you know, tell us a little bit about the work that you’re doing as a Pilates instructor and your business. So how are you helping others kind of learn more about Pilates and get started?

Cat Corchado 25:53

Well, the one thing that I really love doing in Pilates is teaching people Pilates for their body. So in this certification that I have, which is called Romanos Pilates, we teach to the body in front of us, so we just don’t throw exercises at people. But what I love to do is tell people, okay, we’re going to do the exercise this way. And here’s why your body’s doing this, because of this, and explain it to them. So they, they understand what Pilates is doing for their body. And so I love teaching movement, correct movement, because we don’t, you know, think about since COVID, we just been sitting sitting with, you know, zooms, you know, podcasts and everything, then you go to get up and you’re like, Oh, my bag, oh, um, stuff. And we and we say, well, I must be getting old. No, there’s been constant compression. So now your spine is all compressed, your hips are like, Oh, I don’t like this either. And your knees are stiff. And so what I love to do is teach people how to be longer, I can’t say them, Pilates makes you taller. I can’t say that Pilates makes you feel as though you’re taller. Because you stand differently, you move differently. It makes you aware of where your body is in space. And so I decided to take my Pilates instruction a little further and working with cancer patients. And those that have been through surgery and after surgery. And it was eye opening. And the reason for that is because I saw my father go through chemo and radiation. And it was horrific. It was horrible. And I thought, okay, you know, chemo and radiation, eat your muscle mass, basically. And I thought, This is crazy. I have to try to do something. And you know, sometimes when you put something out there in the universe, it answers back. So I’ve been looking at the certification through the cancer exercise training institute, but I couldn’t afford it. You know, I was like, Oh, okay. And I kept looking at it. And one day I was looking, and they said, Hey, we’re giving out scholarships. And I thought, Okay, let me see what’s happened with this. And so I put the scholarship in, and I got a scholarship, so I didn’t have to pay anything to do this. Oh, my God, this is great. And so, you know, having people know how to move after surgery. And just all the things that when I went through the certification, I was like, I didn’t know that. Oh, my God, I didn’t know that, you know, there’s just so many things that helps me as someone who teaches other people movement, and how people can move better, before and after surgery with cancer. And so cancer is just one of those horrible things that you just think, you know, if you get through the surgery, you get through the chemo and radiation, that you’re never going to be able to move the way you want to you can, it’s going to be a slower process, but it needs to be slower so that you understand what’s happening to your body. Because last time I checked, doctors don’t tell you this is going to happen and this is going to happen. You know, they get you to the surgeon, they’re like okay, your release by and then you don’t you don’t understand what’s going on. So you need someone who is c to c eti certified to work with you if you’ve been through cancer, or or surgery.

Richard Conner 29:20

And for someone who has been through, let’s say, surgery and chemo, would you recommend that they start that kind of activity after surgery or maybe even after radiation, like when their treatments completely.

Cat Corchado 29:34

So we work very closely with doctors, so I’m going to do what the doctor says. So if they’re working with the doctor and the PT, I’m going to work with both of them. You know, they say don’t do this, you can do this. The doc says do this, but you can’t do this. I’m going to take what they can do and be able to get them to move. It’s very important that they understand that they are able to move that’s huge for them and And, you know, having surgery after cancer, depending on where the surgery is it pulls you out of alignment. And so now you’ve got, you know, you have your good side that you didn’t have the surgery on. And that’s being overworked. So now you have an injury on your good side. So now, it’s a hot mess all over again. So we want to keep the healthy side healthy, but get the other side better to where it’s working, and it’s pulling its weight. So we work very closely with the doctor and the physical therapist. All right,

Richard Conner 30:31

well, great. You know, I love the work that you’re doing. I mean, just all around with your ventures, with helping cancer patients with, you know, helping folks, whether they’re running or not with Pilates, I love all of what you’re doing. And you know what kind of as we wind down here, one of the questions that I like to ask is, what would be the one thing you would say to our listeners to help inspire them to run?

Cat Corchado 30:56

First of all, if it’s been on your mind, I want you to picture yourself, like a video running, I want you to see yourself doing it. And when you can see yourself doing it, you have to have a roadmap, just like when you’re driving. Once you’ve done that, I would also learn as much as you can, from other people about running, everyone’s gonna say, Oh, I don’t do this, but do this. Other people say don’t do this, but do this. Get with some people who know what they’re talking about. And talk to just you don’t have to run, just talk to him about running. And the more you hear, the more you get excited about it, the more you say, I really want to do this. Now, if you picture yourself running, you talk to these people, and you’re like, yeah, now the maybe running is not for you. But try it anyway. You know, it’s free, it’s like walking, just put some shoes on start walking, you know, but if you’re serious about it, if it’s been on your mind, don’t just go out there and start doing it, get some information about it, there are a lot of places that will fit you with running shoes. And by the way, I always thought I had the right shoes, I did not have the right shoes. So just something as simple as that, you know, finding the right shoes, font, you know, knowing what your stride is, or you striking with your heel, or you mid foot or you know stuff like small little things like that, that you wouldn’t even think about that become very important to you as a runner. But that’s stuff that you’re going to learn as you get better. And it’s like anything else, I always tell people, you didn’t just get in a car and start driving, you had to learn the rules, you had to learn what was good to do and what wasn’t good to do. And some of us had to learn the hard way, you know, you have a little fender bender, you’re like I’m not doing that again. So just picture yourself doing it. If you’ve been thinking about it for a long time, it’s that picture should be easy. And then start learning as much as you can about it. Then start getting into you know, I think Facebook has running clubs and stuff and start, you know, join the club and just kind of start looking at what they’re talking about, and say, Wow, what is that and start looking up stuff and go, Okay, I’m ready to run, pick a day. So I’m gonna start running here, you know, maybe you start with a running club, they know that you’re a newbie, and you know, they’re going to treat you as such, and so they’re not going to give you too much to do and then just taking baby steps until all of a sudden, you’ve got your first 5k. So picture it, want it, picture it and then do it.

Richard Conner 33:29

Thank you for the words of wisdom cat, and just thank you for everything that you shared during this conversation. I really enjoyed it. And I’d love to know how can the Inspire to run community help and support you and the work that you’re doing?

Cat Corchado 33:42

Absolutely. If you want to know anything about Pilates, you can reach me at cat@smallspacepilates.com. I’m all over social media. And just ask the question, you know, because that’s how we learn is by asking questions, if you don’t if I don’t know the answer, and I swear to you, I don’t know everything about Pilates. But if I don’t know everything, I’ll tell you. I don’t know, I’m not really sure about this, but I will find out the answer for you.

Richard Conner 34:07

Well, thank you again. Again, really, really enjoyed this conversation. And I’ll put this information in the shownotes to make it easy for our listeners to find you and ask their questions and find out more about Pilates. So thanks again for coming on the show and have a great day.

Cat Corchado 34:22

Thank you Richard. It was such a pleasure.

Richard Conner 34:24

Well, I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Cat. I know I did. And something important that she talked about was joining a running group if you’ve been thinking about running and getting started, it’s a great way to get your questions answered and see what it’s all about. So I invite you to join the Inspire to Run virtual running group. It’s a Facebook group and you can find this at Inspire to Run. Also, if you’re looking for some key steps to help you get started. Come to our Instagram page. @inspiretorunpodcast and DM us the word Kickstart. Again. Come to @inspiretorunpodcast on Instagram. DM us the word Kickstart to get your free guide five steps to kickstart your fitness. Again. I really appreciate you listening to this episode. Hope you enjoyed the conversation. And with that have a great day.

Intro/Outro 35:19

That’s it for this episode of Inspire to Run Podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community. And also please rate and review. Thanks for listening

Transcribed by https://otter.ai