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com boom boom boom boom boom boom Pow. Come from

1:03

problem. Welcome to the Marathon Training Academy

1:05

podcast Where inspire and a power you'd

1:07

run a marathon and change your life.

1:10

I'm Trevor. And I'm Angie. In

1:12

this episode, we give you a healthy dose

1:14

of motivation as you think about your marathon

1:16

training in the New Year here, how fellow

1:18

runners are dealing with setbacks, setting goals, and

1:20

taking on new challenges. And don't forget as

1:22

a member of the cat of Me, you

1:25

get access to all of our back podcast

1:27

episodes, training plans, and more. Find out how

1:29

to join when you visit Marathon Training Academy.

1:31

Dot Com. Hey,

1:34

we sending out a survey to all of

1:36

you listening who want to take the survey,

1:38

give us some feedback on what you like

1:40

to hear about in this coming year on

1:42

the podcast know what topics you'd like us

1:44

to cover. We always love hearing from our

1:46

listeners, subscribe to our email newsletter you can

1:48

hear was going on here in T A

1:50

and also take part in the survey. Once

1:52

that link out and you'll find a link

1:54

right there in the show. Notes or list

1:56

with this episode should be all. Find that

1:58

Boom right on your. The own and find

2:01

it for a newsletter and get in on

2:03

a survey so we can get your feedback

2:05

on topics you like to hear us discuss

2:07

on the podcast. This. Year. Or

2:10

right? So first episode of the New Year we

2:12

talked about goals and just a minute and you

2:14

never going to share was on our calendar so

2:16

far in the coming year. but before we do

2:18

that of gifts and shout out to folks in

2:21

our community doing some cool stuff, I'm looking back

2:23

on their year of Running As You We Geforce.

2:25

This comes from Melanie. she says on

2:27

January first Twenty Twenty Three I made

2:30

a goal to run five hundred miles

2:32

by the end of the year and

2:34

I met My goal was five days

2:36

despair I'm proud of earned my five

2:38

hundred Mile challenge Metal I also ran

2:40

to half marathons this year. Onto the

2:42

next challenge and Jared said think you,

2:44

Trevor Nz and the entire M T

2:46

A and Social Distancing Run club you

2:48

all have inspired me to complete my

2:50

first half marathon this past December and

2:52

I have many more running adventurous plan

2:54

for Twenty Twenty. Four And Twenty twenty

2:56

Three. I learned that I can do

2:59

hard things. Ah nice! Those

3:01

two notes the come from our facebook

3:03

group where we have our people who

3:05

are doing our virtual races something that

3:07

we started back and twenty twenty and

3:09

it's cool to see people who got

3:11

into that group and were really running

3:13

much and never done a and organize

3:15

race and in a Cb sucks. Go

3:17

on to complete half marathons and marathons

3:19

and really take the plunge. Is fun

3:21

to watch. That's the race. This comes

3:23

from a coaching client in Heather's she says

3:25

in late fall of Twenty Twenty Two, I

3:28

let M P a coach adding know by

3:30

plan for twelve marathons in twelve months. In

3:32

Twenty Twenty Three, I ask what her thoughts

3:34

were on how to safely trained for such

3:37

a thing. We discuss the potential for both

3:39

physical and mental stress and the risks involved.

3:41

She then give an overview of what the

3:43

train segments would look like and how the

3:46

races would build on each other To the

3:48

marathons in Idaho and Wyoming we're back to

3:50

back in the four weeks. Leading up to

3:52

that two day event, we scheduled more

3:54

back to that long runs. This was

3:56

also an experiment. What my body could

3:59

handle for mileage. Fortunately, with proper

4:01

building and cross training in the

4:03

previous months, we were successful. In

4:05

September I to physically demanding marathons

4:07

were temp soared into the nineties

4:09

and the humidity was thick as

4:11

well. Yeah, it's always tough both. My endurance

4:13

and experience played a part in meticulous

4:16

hydration, few lean and running a more

4:18

conservative pace to ensure and made it

4:20

safely to the finish line. She goes

4:22

on to say I trusted Coach Abby

4:24

believed in the plan and therefore I

4:26

was successful. I only have seven a

4:28

fifty states remaining in my city state

4:30

goal. I have a big challenge in

4:32

the first half of Twenty Twenty Four

4:34

with for Marathons plan. Right now I'm

4:36

enjoying a much needed break before I

4:38

start the build again and that comes

4:40

from Heather. Will thank you for that

4:42

recap of your your graph Heather on conquering

4:45

twelve marathons So what? You learned a lot

4:47

about yourself and I'm glad the coaches working

4:49

out for you. So yeah, here's to an

4:51

excellent New Year. Or

5:04

right, twenty twenty four. Here we are

5:06

New Year new opportunity do cool stuff.

5:09

Ah, Last year had the chance to

5:11

run a marathon in Belgium which was

5:13

really nice. I visited three new countries

5:15

and ever been to before Belgium, the

5:17

Netherlands and Luxembourg. I also have a

5:19

chance to run three half marathons plus

5:22

been guy who loves to travel and

5:24

be in nature. Really enjoyed been out

5:26

in the Us here in Nevada mountains

5:28

to some hiking out there last year

5:30

and California an hour. We also took

5:32

a family vacation down the coast to

5:34

Rica and I tried surfing again and

5:37

reestablished my place Firmly is the world's.

5:39

Worst Surfer. I highly doubt that.

5:42

There's a lot harder. than it looks so this

5:44

year we are gonna be at the tokyo

5:46

marathon will be our first time in japan

5:48

which means a lot of winter time training

5:50

like this whole month i gotta find the

5:52

motivation to like of run on the treadmill

5:54

which only have a shred of one of

5:57

his consensus and we also argued be at

5:59

the the Revel White Mountains in New Hampshire.

6:01

And we'd love to see you guys come

6:03

out if you wanna put another awesome event

6:05

on your calendar. Of course, the Revel Races,

6:07

we really enjoy, and they've been a sponsor

6:09

of the podcast for a couple years now.

6:11

So yeah, this year, Revel White Mountains. Real

6:13

quick, Angie, what can we tell people about

6:15

Revel White Mountains? And we also have a

6:17

discount code, of course, for all you. That's

6:20

right, this is a one-time event. They

6:22

have never done an East Coast race,

6:24

and of course, the Revel Race series

6:26

is famous for their beautiful downhill courses,

6:29

their awesome organization and swag.

6:32

So this one will be in Conway, New Hampshire on

6:34

May 5th, 2024. It

6:37

features a smooth downhill slope on a

6:40

beautiful highway in the United States. This

6:42

race will be a great place to

6:44

set a PR, hit that BQ time,

6:46

or even do your first half marathon

6:49

or full marathon. You

6:51

can register at runrevel.com and use the

6:53

code MTA to get $10 off

6:55

your Revel White Mountain marathon and half

6:58

marathon registration. Like Trevor

7:00

said, it would be great to see anyone there. Let

7:02

us know if you're gonna be there,

7:05

and we'll give you info about the

7:07

meetup. We'd love to see you. runrevel.com,

7:09

use the code MTA for 10 bucks

7:11

off. runrevel.com, code MTA. And

7:14

then, of course, this summer, Angie and I

7:16

are gonna be hiking around Mount Blanc in

7:19

France. A bucket list thing that we thought

7:21

we would have to wait till we were retired

7:23

to do, but an opportunity came along to do

7:25

it this year. We've got a group of folks

7:27

that are going over there, and we're going with

7:30

Run the Alps, so I don't have to organize

7:32

it. I don't have to. I

7:34

just get to show up and get around the mountain.

7:36

That's all I gotta do. So it's gonna be a

7:38

lot of fun. And hey, by the way, there's three

7:40

spots left if you wanna go on this epic hike

7:43

with us around Mount Blanc. For more info, shoot

7:45

me an email, trevor at marathontrainacademy.com.

7:48

So Yeah, we got the Tokyo Marathon on

7:50

the calendar. We got the Revel White Mountains

7:52

on the calendar, the Tour de Mount Blanc

7:54

in July, and I Also signed up for

7:56

a marathon in Slovakia, so I guess I'll

7:58

be going to Europe twice this year. For

8:00

everything works out, I'm going to the Co

8:02

Seats a marathon the oldest marathon in Europe

8:04

and will be the one hundredth running of

8:07

the race this year to seats that I'll

8:09

be there October sixth and then of course

8:11

lobbied at various half marathons hopefully sprinkled in

8:14

along the way if I think it's motivating

8:16

to see what other people are up to.

8:18

So. He posted in our various online groups

8:21

or hey, would you guys planning to do

8:23

this year what you're running goals. So here

8:25

are some examples things that people posted in

8:27

our group for members and coaches and clients.

8:29

Just give everyone an idea of what your

8:31

fellow runners are going to be doing this

8:33

year. Coach Abby says setting and

8:35

over fifty p R at the Mesa

8:38

Marathon in February, he Seventy Five K

8:40

Race in May and an Iron Man

8:42

in September. File a real train challenge

8:45

to accomplish all of that that find

8:47

to have a different mix. This year

8:49

Coach Antonio says help my runners achieve

8:51

their goals, personally run Tokyo and London

8:54

marathons and continue my class to run

8:56

at least a half and each of

8:58

the fifty states he's got nineteen so

9:01

far. Rudy from Belgium says keep running,

9:03

stay injury free. Set some new

9:05

p Ours run my first one hundred

9:07

miler and he wants to run twelve

9:09

for marathons or longer And twenty twenty

9:11

four not necessarily one every month and

9:13

says, oh yes, I almost forgot, I

9:15

want to get a bit faster. Service

9:18

He is no slacker as for sure

9:20

that sir. Eight. Luis from

9:22

Portugal says continue to enjoy running,

9:24

keep my fitness level. Darlene maintain

9:27

my healthy body, increase my yoga

9:29

time to benefit my stress levels.

9:31

Complete all the races! I signed

9:33

up for start long distance slimming

9:35

training to prepare for future triathlons

9:37

and enjoy the Atlantic Ocean life.

9:39

I love it! Has bus bill.

9:42

Says keep narrowing in on the elusive

9:44

sub three hour marathon pace my daughter

9:46

to a big enough speak you

9:48

for her to beat the cut off

9:51

by running to marathons with her client

9:53

a personally significant mountains and explore

9:55

this beautiful world further by foot. He's

9:58

doing a to. Yeah, he's currently clay. Mountain.

10:01

Yeah, in Ecuador belief. Kinda

10:04

three says. I'm excited to chip away

10:06

at my city state, go with several

10:08

more marathons. Running my first official ultra

10:10

in May. This is my biggest excitement

10:13

right now and they went to strengthen

10:15

my body with increased weight training. Gasoline

10:17

says my goals are to finish the

10:19

Boston Marathon strong, work on building speed

10:22

and strength, and complete twenty twenty four

10:24

miles of running this year. I'd.

10:26

He says my goal is to strength train twice

10:28

a week and to do at least one run

10:30

per month on trails. My spring marathon is at

10:33

the end of April, but I want to do

10:35

one in the fall as well. Yes,

10:37

our strength training come up a lot. Yeah, that's

10:39

a great goal. Katie says Once

10:41

cleared to run post pregnancy, I hope to

10:43

Yale to run a ten k or half

10:45

by the end of Twenty Twenty Four I'm

10:47

do beginning of March. That's. A very

10:49

exciting journey to the ice. Marty. Says

10:52

I'm committing to twenty twenty four miles

10:54

of running this year fifteen hundred pellets

10:56

on miles and adding yoga as a

10:58

regular part of a routine. And by

11:01

committing to sixty minutes per week, I

11:03

hope to complete three one hundred mile

11:05

races along with several other marathons and

11:07

longer distances adding for new states. I

11:10

also plan to double the reach my

11:12

podcast and then he says dream big

11:14

my friends Angeles as I'm going for

11:16

my sub to our half marathon goal.

11:19

She says third time is the charms

11:21

deputy. Says after Dopey. My goal is

11:23

to continue to build on my current

11:25

fitness by stay injury free and consistent

11:28

in my running, strength, training and yoga.

11:30

I want to averaged thirty miles per

11:32

week consistently through the year. I want

11:34

to start working on my speed again

11:37

and run to more states on my

11:39

city state journey Ohio and Pennsylvania. I'm

11:41

also working towards a sub for Thirty

11:43

Four Marathon. I love how specific

11:46

these goals are. That's a cool thing about

11:48

the marathon train as you can to sign

11:50

up for race than it forces you into

11:52

this self improvement program says not like people

11:54

are saying, I just want to become more

11:56

fit. As. Vague. everyone wants to

11:58

Rights will put them. The down and get

12:00

some skin and game. You know, senate for a race and

12:02

you'll be forced to have to get more fit. Right

12:05

when you're in a group that he can help

12:07

you with accountability, you feel it. There's people supporting

12:09

you who are going to be asking about your

12:11

goal and they can kind of help encourage you.

12:13

Along the way you're actually pretty good about them asking

12:15

at least twice a week what people have planned for

12:17

their for their fitness and for the running you do

12:19

every Wednesday in every Friday. so and it's always fun

12:22

to see what people are up to in that's that's

12:24

kind of our way in this group to have people

12:26

check in. At. Her is Mindy

12:28

says my goal is to be

12:30

key with a massive buffer at

12:33

Mount Charleston Marathon and cross New

12:35

York City off my world Marathon

12:37

Majors list Angelica says run my

12:39

first full marathon. Of it.

12:42

Debbie says continue to run strong an

12:44

injury free and out a couple more

12:46

states to my fifty state marathon classed

12:49

and Elisa says michael their strengths train

12:51

and minimum of two days a week.

12:53

Continue to improve my speed as my

12:56

big goal isn't Boston qualifying time p

12:58

the London Marathon and continue to work

13:00

towards my sixty state gold. She currently

13:03

has three. So. Three of

13:05

the fifty done. She's got goal for

13:07

days and he did that. Our quest

13:10

to took what nine years. On

13:12

my did my first marathon and two

13:14

thousand and eight and finished and twenty

13:16

twenty so twelve years. Twelve

13:19

years worth of gold right there and then

13:22

we got some we want to share a

13:24

quick from the social distancing run group the

13:26

group that we formed for people do in

13:28

our virtual races and ah this is from

13:30

Stephen. He says his goals The Finished Twenty

13:33

five hundred mile challenge. Candy says

13:35

to become a marathoner a continue to

13:37

run a workout. Tony we have a

13:39

point. Guess that last year he he

13:42

wants to run sub two fifty a

13:44

Boston in Berlin and the to minimize

13:46

injuries while doing it. Marry. says

13:48

get back into running consistently know and i'm

13:50

nine months post partum and my son is

13:53

starting to sleep for longer stretches in the

13:55

night it's always nice when that happened snap

13:57

her sir christopher says gone from my third

13:59

marathon with atari He said, thanks for all

14:01

the help I gained via MTA. I

14:04

would not be as confident without using this knowledge

14:06

to shape my personal plan. So yeah, I think

14:08

he used one of our training plans for his

14:10

goal. So that's cool. Rochelle says

14:12

her goal is to finish last year's

14:14

list. She's

14:17

also doing the 2,500 mile challenge. Actually

14:21

got to meet Rochelle in the Netherlands

14:23

last year. She says a self-supported multi-day

14:25

run and to keep doing a monthly

14:27

challenge. And finally, Liz

14:29

writes, I'll be doing my first 26.2 miler

14:31

since 2018 at the Santa Rosa Marathon.

14:35

And she says her plan to do a

14:37

half in April and then picking out a

14:39

full plan from our training plan vault to

14:42

do her full marathon in August. So it

14:44

sounds like she's doing a half marathon as

14:46

a supported long run for her full.

14:49

Yeah. That's smart.

14:51

And she says her goal is to listen to all of

14:53

the MTA training modules. She's already completed

14:55

the one on mindset and also to hone

14:57

in on her nutrition, lose 10 pounds

14:59

before race day, and then finally earn her

15:01

2,500 mile medal along the

15:04

way. Awesome. Well, we appreciate

15:06

all of you in our community sharing your goals and

15:09

inspiring us. Speaking of

15:11

inspiring goals, this past year, Coach Athena

15:13

on our team had an epic year.

15:16

She ran the Broken Arrow Sky Race

15:18

46K in Lake Tahoe, running on snow

15:20

most of the way. She

15:22

ran the Pikes Peak Marathon, extreme

15:24

elevation change out there in Colorado.

15:27

She did some half marathons sprinkled in and then finished

15:29

off the year with a trip to Hawaii. He

15:32

doesn't like that and did the Honolulu Marathon and

15:34

had such a cool year. We thought, hey, let's

15:36

get her on the podcast. It's been a while since we

15:38

spoke to Athena on the podcast. So let's bring her on

15:40

for a short segment to talk about her year and how

15:42

she was able to fit all that in. In

15:45

addition to all the cool things that Athena did

15:47

this year, I was really curious about how she

15:49

handled her training and the races being

15:52

a perimenopausal athlete since

15:54

I am currently in perimenopause and it's kind

15:56

of been kicking my butt. And

18:00

I think that's where I find the joy

18:02

is early, just finding that challenge and training

18:04

and kind of seeing how my body's gonna

18:06

respond. Both of you know, I'm going through

18:08

perimenopause, so just learning the

18:11

new science and trying to apply that to

18:13

myself and see how it works. And then

18:15

of course, giving that to the athletes that

18:18

we coach. So it's

18:20

been an adventure doing

18:22

both, right? Because I love the science

18:24

and I love the training and these

18:26

races just somehow pop up on my

18:28

radar and I'm like, huh.

18:32

I love that you set such big goals

18:34

for yourself and that you really love and

18:36

dive into the training process. But that

18:39

was one thing I wanted to ask you

18:41

because I know that you're squarely in perimenopause

18:43

like I am and any women that are

18:45

hearing us speak right now. And you know,

18:47

when you have big goals and you have

18:49

this energy, this fire that you wanna apply

18:51

to your training, but then

18:53

you're dealing with things like mood

18:55

changes, sleep disturbances, weight changes, the

18:57

whole nine yards, it can be

18:59

really, really challenging because you can

19:01

start to second guess yourself. So

19:04

I would really love to hear you talk about that

19:06

for a couple of minutes because I know many people

19:08

are in that same boat thinking about 2024 and like,

19:11

they would love to do certain things but they're thinking

19:13

like some areas of my life have felt really kind

19:15

of like crap lately. Oh

19:18

yeah, that was total Honolulu marathon. And

19:20

I knew that was gonna be probably

19:23

my biggest challenge was the

19:25

basal motor symptom. Right

19:27

at mile eight, I started having

19:30

my hot flash and I've had

19:32

this happen before in other races

19:34

where my heart rate just

19:37

spiked on me and I

19:39

had no way of making those changes

19:41

within the run or race, right? I

19:44

can't say, you know, change the temperature,

19:46

the thermostat, right? Right, you're in the middle of

19:48

that, what do you do? Yeah,

19:50

so I knew my goal was like

19:52

to get to the halfway point and

19:55

then start run and walking. So

19:57

I did that. And it's one of those things where you...

20:00

have to really let go and take a

20:02

step back. And I knew that leading up,

20:04

I knew that broken arrow

20:06

was crazy snow in Lake Tahoe.

20:08

We had 22 miles of snow

20:10

that we had to run through,

20:12

which of course I don't have

20:14

snow in San Antonio. And

20:17

it was past deep. And so

20:19

that was a very fun challenge.

20:21

So I knew my, my basal

20:24

motor symptoms would be okay, but

20:26

I had my second cycle start

20:29

at the halfway point during that race. And

20:31

I'm at the top of the mountain and

20:34

I'm like messaging my husband, like I

20:36

started. So then with that, I had

20:38

the nausea and the dizziness. So again,

20:41

it's just like knowing what's gonna help

20:43

me get through those.

20:46

So I knew that pickle juice, watermelon, whatever they

20:48

had on the course, those would be some things

20:50

that my body was craving that I could actually

20:52

take. And then of course

20:54

letting myself kind of just sit down and

20:57

be okay with just taking a moment to

20:59

allow my heart rate to come down, the

21:01

dizziness and the nausea to pass. So

21:04

that was that experience and the cold environment.

21:07

But with Honolulu, you know, it's hot.

21:09

It was pure sun. It

21:12

was, I think, popped out at 88 degrees and

21:14

like 90% humidity. And

21:18

so it was really interesting and I knew

21:20

it was gonna take some time for me

21:22

to recover. And I really wanted

21:24

to call Uber multiple times because you know,

21:26

you have the self-doubt as a coach. And

21:28

then as an athlete, you know, I'm like,

21:30

oh my God, my athletes are gonna see

21:32

that, you know, I'm running and walking because I

21:34

had some athletes that were tracking me. And

21:38

you just kind of have to like be

21:40

okay with that. Like this is taking on

21:42

this new challenge, learning how to navigate it,

21:44

leaning into it. And so

21:46

at every water stop, they had ice.

21:49

So I was making sure I was

21:51

tallying off, trying to keep my core

21:53

temperature down, taking care of the nausea,

21:55

walking a little bit more if

21:57

needed and then getting back into the run.

22:00

aspect. And then also just taking it

22:02

back and be like, I'm in Hawaii.

22:04

I need to enjoy where I am, the

22:08

fact that I am here. So

22:10

taking in the sights, taking in all

22:12

the spectators and the other athletes on

22:15

the course, because everybody

22:17

was struggling and just being able

22:19

to be appreciative of where my

22:21

body took me in

22:23

2023 and soaking in all the

22:26

things that our bodies can do.

22:28

And I think that's one thing

22:30

for any athlete experiencing symptoms

22:33

of perimenopause or postmenopause is just

22:35

like accepting that man, our bodies

22:37

are being able to do this.

22:39

We did the training, we took

22:41

care of our recovery, nutrition, hydration,

22:44

and just allowing yourself to be

22:46

proud of those moments is

22:48

what it was all about. That's so

22:51

important. It's like controlling the things you

22:53

can control and then all the things

22:55

that you can't like reframing it and

22:58

really just keeping that attitude of pride

23:00

in yourself and gratitude about what you

23:02

get to experience even though it is

23:05

maybe not ideal. You had

23:07

some extremes last year, you had cold

23:09

weather at the Broken Arrow Sky Race,

23:11

hot weather at the Honolulu Marathon from

23:13

training flat in San Antonio to the

23:15

Rocky Mountains. It's so awesome to spend

23:17

time in the mountains. Oh, yeah, most

23:19

definitely. Like I said, the terrain is so

23:22

different than the environment and I live in.

23:24

And it's like fun challenging yourself. That's why

23:26

I wanted to do Leadville last year was

23:28

kind of like, oh, 10,000 feet, let's see

23:30

what that's like. You go to 14,000. And

23:34

so those little things that you can

23:36

kind of look forward to that pushes

23:38

yourself outside that comfort zone. And you

23:41

learn a lot about yourself when you're

23:43

training and racing in those environments. And

23:45

how fun is that to make a road

23:47

trip out of it? Oh, yeah, like what

23:49

you guys do. And looking at 2024, what

23:51

do you got on your heart

23:53

to do this year? So 2024, I

23:55

am looking for a race in June. Narrowed

24:00

one down but definitely an ultra But

24:03

for my birthday we were supposed to do

24:05

rim to rim to rim For

24:07

those that don't know you're running from the south

24:09

rim of the Grand Canyon to the north rim

24:11

of the Grand Canyon and then Back how

24:14

many how many miles is that like 40 something, right?

24:16

Yeah 4853

24:18

it depends. I want to really

24:20

try to get in ribbon falls Which

24:23

is down on the bottom I didn't get to

24:25

do that a couple years ago when I did

24:27

rim to rim to rim But I did it

24:29

in two days this time. I want to

24:31

go for one day So we

24:33

were supposed to do it April 1st, but they

24:35

received a lot of snow And

24:38

they had closed in North Rim and I was not

24:40

gonna put because I was gonna have a few other

24:42

athletes with me I was not gonna put

24:44

anybody at risk. So we canceled just a

24:46

couple weeks before we were supposed to head out

24:49

so I'm gonna go ahead and try again in October

24:52

and See how it

24:54

goes. So that's my challenge. Nice. So

24:56

that's exciting So some kind of ultra

24:58

in June and then rim to rim

25:01

to rim in October for your birthday

25:03

And who knows what else you'll

25:05

find to fill in the cracks Coming

25:09

up in 2024. I'm gonna run the cherry

25:11

blossom tin Myler Oh, I'll

25:13

be up in DC and April

25:15

So if anybody's in the marathon

25:17

training Academy family is up there. Hopefully

25:20

I get to see or meet you guys

25:22

Yes, that would be amazing We

25:25

look forward to following your progress and seeing

25:27

photos and especially interested in that Grand Canyon

25:29

rim to rim That's gonna be sorry

25:32

rim to rim to rim That's

25:34

gonna be epic. I thought about doing just

25:37

one direction, but it's so difficult to get

25:39

back to where you started Get

25:42

passenger pickup or rent a car or have someone pick

25:44

you up and you you drive for hours You know

25:46

because the Grand Canyon is kind of like in the

25:48

way and there's no bridge So

25:53

when I did it in 2019 we

25:55

stayed on the South Rim I was

25:57

fortunate enough to be able to get

30:00

in his jacket. It was sewn into

30:02

his jacket secretly. And this was his

30:04

life's work. This is what he'd been

30:06

putting together about the question of meaning.

30:08

But the jacket was confiscated. He lost

30:10

the manuscript. And so his

30:12

new meaning came from the future hope

30:15

of getting out and reconstructing this book.

30:17

Or even starting it as a covert

30:19

project in the camp. So

30:22

this gave him a meaning greater than himself. It

30:25

was more than just survival. He had to reconstruct

30:27

this book because he knew it would help people.

30:29

So according to Franco, meaning is subjective

30:31

and it's ever-changing. I quote from the

30:33

book, life is never made unbearable by

30:35

circumstances but only by a lack of

30:37

meaning and purpose. So

30:39

if you're listening to this right now and you're

30:42

out running, for example, there's something that you're finding

30:44

meaningful about doing it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be out

30:46

there, especially if you're doing it in

30:48

the nasty weather. So for me, when I think about

30:51

meaning, I don't want to be a guy that runs

30:53

marathons just for the sake of running marathons. I

30:56

want to be the kind of person

30:58

who is able to run marathons because

31:00

that means I'm able to do other

31:02

things. And these other things are what

31:04

I consider payoff factors, and these payoff

31:06

factors make running meaningful to me. So

31:09

here's my list. Everyone's list is going to look different. Payoff

31:12

factor for me is I want to be physically healthy and

31:14

I want to have mobility. I want to be

31:16

able to hike and be in nature,

31:18

to climb mountains. So my marathon legs

31:20

help me with that. My marathon endurance helps me with

31:23

that. I'll run from the cops

31:25

if I ever have to. So my marathon – Angie

31:29

gave me your eye roll. I want to

31:31

be able to do hard things. Since

31:33

running a marathon is so hard, there's that

31:35

discipline that you have to build to be

31:37

able to finish the race. And that discipline,

31:40

that ability to do hard things is something I want to be

31:42

true about my total life. Another

31:44

one for me is I have a great deal

31:46

of wanderlust. I mean, I love to travel, and

31:48

marathons have been a vehicle for me to go

31:50

out and do that. And then finally, I want

31:52

to have a good story to tell, and runners

31:54

have good stories they just do, and

31:57

they might be kind of boring to non-runners. But

32:00

I like the stories that come from

32:03

willing oneself through 26.2 miles. So

32:06

circling back for a second to the will

32:09

to power, it can be a good motivation

32:11

sometimes. But for me, I'm not achieving any

32:13

kind of power or status with my running.

32:15

It's not like I'm winning races or even

32:17

winning my age group. I

32:20

guess I get more power over my own health and over my own

32:22

body, which is good. Then there's the

32:24

will to pleasure. Of course, many runs are glorious, and

32:26

that's why we love to run. But

32:29

for me, personally, most of the time there

32:31

is not much pleasure in working out. And

32:33

that's probably why I don't naturally do it

32:36

and procrastinate it. And definitely when you're out there

32:38

during the marathon when the miles get tough, it

32:40

could be hard to find the will to pleasure.

32:42

So that leaves us with the will to meaning. And

32:46

the cool thing about that is you get to choose

32:48

your own reasons for why you're training for a marathon.

32:52

Even if you're not currently enjoying it or you're

32:54

going through a slump, you still get to create

32:56

your own meaning and choose your own reasons why

32:58

you're going to stick it out. Here's

33:00

a beautiful illustration of this. This is

33:02

something that was posted just today in

33:04

our group for members. And this is

33:06

from Gregory, who just completed the Disney

33:09

Dopey Challenge. So I thought we would

33:11

read this. He says, another

33:13

Disney Dopey Challenge completed, Dopey Challenge

33:15

number four for me. And

33:17

for those bling lovers out there, Trevor, nobody

33:19

does it better than Disney. Going

33:22

into this challenge, I never had as

33:24

much self-doubt. In fact, I was coming

33:26

off my worst performance and just a

33:28

general all-around suffer fest at the Marine

33:30

Corps Marathon in October. That

33:32

performance left me with some serious phobia, which

33:34

trickled into my Dopey training block. It wasn't

33:37

great, and I found myself for the first

33:39

time ever not wanting to run. I was

33:42

struggling with my why. The

33:44

fear lingered in Dopey week, and I

33:46

got through the 5k, 10k, and half,

33:48

and was seriously considering bailing on the

33:51

marathon race today. I was

33:53

fearing failure and, God forbid, a DNF. I

33:56

Decided to show up and do my best. My Why for this

33:58

race was that I was not a DNF. To not

34:00

have to explain to my three kids who

34:02

came with me that I quit. Although my

34:05

time with not nearly my best, it was

34:07

considerably better than Marine Corps. And most of

34:09

all I think I got a little of

34:11

my mojo back. Nice! It's amazing how this

34:13

running journey we're all on contest you and

34:16

teach you. The lesson for me was to

34:18

never give in to self doubt and quit

34:20

before trying. Yeah. Man,

34:22

good stuff. Thank you for sure That

34:25

gregory. You. Must have known that we were

34:27

gonna talk about this. Because this

34:29

is perfect post and how he says

34:31

that he found his why in the

34:33

moment. Just. Wanting to not have

34:35

to split news three kids way quit And

34:37

that works. You know, whatever works for assistance,

34:39

you get to choose your own meaning why

34:42

you're out there. And and by the way

34:44

he says Ps. Trevor the blink for this

34:46

race only cost about two hundred dollars per

34:48

metal before you have to buy tickets, food,

34:50

gift shops, etc. As

34:53

yes to the races or expensive, I told him

34:55

that you're better off not doing the math on

34:57

the cost of Disney Race or a Disney Trust.

35:01

Course. He's got six beautiful medals from

35:03

the disease will be challenge. We haven't

35:05

done that challenge yet. maybe someday I

35:07

will neither. And your I are huge

35:09

Disney fans actually as an understatement for

35:12

and he. Doesn't

35:14

give to Mickey Mouse is about. As

35:17

a. Way that Angie. I

35:19

wouldn't. I never went. There is a child I suppose. that's.

35:21

Part of that never experience the magic first hand.

35:23

We took our kids and I try to get

35:25

her to go in the park and experience the

35:27

magic but she had a wonderful time is when

35:30

our kids were younger she had a wonderful time

35:32

having a kid free day. Tissue

35:35

in your book. probably like here you like Disney.

35:37

Take all the kids to the hearts. Someone.

35:40

comes to running goals in twenty twenty

35:43

four a goal is a desire to

35:45

actualized in improved version of yourself so

35:47

you have a future you that you

35:49

are aiming for there's this tension between

35:51

the person you are now and the

35:53

person that you wanna be an attention

35:56

is actually good doctor frankel says so

35:58

here's a quote from the and

36:00

I'll kick it over to Angie, expert quotation

36:02

reader. It says, mental health is

36:04

based on a certain degree of tension, the

36:07

tension between what one has already achieved

36:09

and what one still ought to accomplish,

36:12

or the gap between what one is and

36:14

what one should become. Such

36:16

attention is inherent in the human

36:19

being and therefore is indispensable to

36:21

mental wellbeing. That's why

36:23

it's important to keep going back to your meaning

36:25

when things get tough in your training, because to

36:27

run a marathon, you're gonna have to put yourself

36:30

through some discomfort, a lot of discomfort. Getting up

36:32

early to fit your runs in when your life

36:34

is already busy. Getting out

36:36

when you rather stay inside. The mental and physical

36:38

grind of the long run, dealing with the boredom,

36:40

is it gonna be worth it? We think it

36:43

is. And if you find meaning in the grind,

36:45

then you'll be able to endure it. Dr.

36:48

Frankel says, in some ways, suffering ceases to

36:50

be suffering at the moment it finds a

36:52

meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.

36:55

So why are we willing to sacrifice?

36:57

Because we find a meaning in it.

36:59

You're gonna have to sacrifice time, energy,

37:01

sleep, and money to train

37:03

for a marathon, but it's a sacrifice worth

37:06

making if you keep the vision of the

37:08

self that you wanna become front and center.

37:10

So I listened to Dr. Frankel's book while

37:13

I was running 15 miles. It's

37:15

cold outside, so I decided I would do the whole thing

37:17

on the treadmill. And it's a long ways to go on

37:19

a treadmill. But anyway, so I got on the treadmill and

37:22

I did 10, and then I'm like, God, this

37:24

is so boring. So then I went out and I did five outside.

37:26

And I had to think about, you know, why

37:28

am I doing this? Why am I forcing myself

37:30

to stay on this treadmill for 10 miles? I

37:32

felt like my whole day was just shot from

37:34

this long run. I mean, it didn't take all

37:36

day, but that's what it felt like. Well, you

37:38

waited till the afternoon to do it, so. That's

37:40

true. You wouldn't have waited all day. You would

37:43

have just done it. That's

37:45

the difference between you and me, I think.

37:47

Yeah, running for hours in a treadmill is

37:49

definitely a grind. Maybe it always will be,

37:51

but there's meaning in it. If you return

37:53

to your big payoff factors, I'd

37:55

remind myself, I want to be the kind of

37:58

person who does hard things. quit

38:00

whining and get it done. We know

38:02

the struggle is real and we're here to help. In

38:05

the Academy, the first course is all

38:08

about mindset for conquering the marathon. The

38:10

first lesson discusses how to find your

38:12

big payout factors and there's

38:15

tons of comments now on this post from

38:17

members who've gone through this. Going back years

38:19

now, here's a recent comment from Diane. We

38:21

think this is illustrative of the importance of

38:24

finding your payout factor when it comes to

38:26

training for a marathon. She says,

38:28

as a woman who is older, graduating

38:30

before title 9 and never into any

38:32

sports, I started to investigate working out

38:34

in 2003.

38:36

First to lose weight, of course. Running my first

38:38

5k race in 2005. Running my

38:41

first half marathon in 2009.

38:44

Mainly figuring things out on my own.

38:46

Now with MTA and learning so many

38:48

things, but just the pure love of

38:50

running. Just the pure love of running.

38:52

Just feeling your body in motion and

38:55

being healthy enough to run. It's just

38:57

a beautiful thing. And here's one more

38:59

comment from Alexandros on his payout factors.

39:02

He says, first off, the passion of running.

39:05

Another reason is to save money at a job I

39:07

don't like and go back to school to become a

39:09

running coach. To be in better control

39:11

of my anxiety without any medication. To be

39:14

part of a lovely community. To learn

39:16

the biomechanics of running and to lose

39:18

weight. Yeah, so everyone's payout factors

39:20

are gonna be different and this will be what

39:22

you go back to to remind yourself of why

39:24

you're doing it. It's a will to meaning. If

39:26

you'd like to go through that course as well

39:29

as the other courses in the Academy, of course,

39:31

you can do that as a member. We'd love

39:33

to have you join us this year and get

39:35

trained up for your next race or series

39:37

of races. Get our help and support

39:40

in becoming a stronger version of yourself.

39:42

Just go to marathontrainacademy.com. You can

39:44

also go to our website to find out

39:46

how to work with a running coach. Whether

39:48

you're trying to train for your first half

39:51

marathon, marathon, ultra. Maybe your goal

39:53

is to run faster, possibly run

39:55

further. Safely train for back-to-back

39:57

marathons. Increase your mileage while...

40:00

Minimizing injuries may be at the point

40:02

where you just need to get your

40:04

fitness bath. Maybe you're trying to build

40:06

back from injury and you really want

40:08

to do it safely and have some

40:10

to guide you. Just go to Marathon

40:13

Training academy.com for it's last coaching. Memories

40:15

to the end of this episode that so much

40:17

for been a listener. Here's to a great Twenty

40:19

Twenty Four to all of you out there. let's

40:21

make it happen. Until next I remember You have

40:24

what it takes to run a marathon and change

40:26

your life.