Episode 168: Abby Prentice - You Don't Have to Run Alone

Episodes

Jul 31

Abby Prentice trained for her first marathon completely alone. So she started Indy Social Run Club, and now she's running Chicago and New York three weeks apart.

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About this episode

Abby Prentice is the founder of Indy Social Run Club, a Monday night group run out of Athletic Annex in Nora, and a friend I had been trying to get on this show for a long time. She grew up in tiny Covington, Indiana, was a sprinter and high jumper, and high jumped at Indiana State, where she met her husband Deshaun. She found distance running during COVID, ran her first half at the 2021 Monumental, and ran her first marathon in Chicago in 2023 after training for 20 weeks by herself.

We talk about the trail fall that left her covered in blood a week before we recorded, how a friend's infertility foundation landed her a New York City Marathon bib, and how social runs at a running store turned into a run club that turned two this June. Abby also tells me about running a tiki bar aid station at the Full Mo for more than eight hours, her brand partnerships, and the fuel and shoes she's loving right now.

In this episode, we discuss

Running the Monumental 5K and Community Mile with her mom, brother, and niece
Falling on a trail at Avon Town Hall Park a week before we recorded
Running Chicago for Team Chicago Run and New York three weeks later
Getting a New York City Marathon bib through a friend's infertility foundation
Growing up in Covington, Indiana and doing running drills in her front yard
Sprinting in high school and high jumping at Indiana State
A stress fracture in her spine and meeting Deshaun on the high jump squad
Finding running during COVID and running 100 miles in a month
Her first half at Monumental in 2021 and a 5:08 first marathon in Chicago
Learning about running from creators on social media
How social runs at a running store became Indy Social Run Club
Being a Monumental, Indiana Women's Running Festival, and Lululemon ambassador
Running a tiki bar aid station at the Full Mo for more than eight hours
Why every runner should volunteer at a race
Her favorite fuel and shoes, her mantra, and the Big Booty Mixes

Chapters

00:00 · Intro
02:00 · How we met and running with family
05:00 · A trail fall a week before recording
08:00 · Chicago and New York back to back
12:00 · Growing up in Covington, Indiana
13:00 · Sprinting and high jumping at Indiana State
15:00 · Meeting Deshaun on the high jump squad
19:00 · Finding running during COVID
20:00 · First half and first marathon
25:00 · Starting Indy Social Run Club
29:00 · Brand partnerships and ambassador roles
38:00 · Dreams for the run club
43:00 · A tiki bar aid station at the Full Mo
49:00 · Why everyone should volunteer
55:00 · Favorite fuel and shoes
1:01:00 · Mantra, music, and next finish lines

Brought to you by

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Where to find Abby

Instagram: @abby__prentice

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Chicago Marathon, New York City Marathon, Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Monumental Community Mile, Indy Mini Marathon, Full Mo, Indiana Women's Running Festival, Carmel Marathon, Prairie on Fire, London Marathon
Organizations and charities: Indy Social Run Club, Athletic Annex, Fleet Feet, Team Chicago Run, Carlos Rodón Foundation, Girls on the Run Chicago, Best Buddies, Indiana State University, Lululemon, 3RUN7, Indy Runners, Never Second
Other: Little Five movie, Final Surge, Tailwind, Huma gels, UCAN, New Balance SC Elite, ASICS Superblast, Nike Vomero Plus, Big Booty Mixes

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

Who founded Indy Social Run Club?

Abby Prentice founded Indy Social Run Club, which grew out of social runs at a local running store and now meets Mondays at 6 p.m. at Athletic Annex in Nora Plaza for an easy three miles.

Is Abby Prentice running Chicago and New York?

Yes. Abby Prentice is running the Chicago Marathon for Team Chicago Run and the New York City Marathon three weeks later with a bib from a friend's infertility foundation, treating Chicago as her goal race and New York as a celebration.

What is Abby Prentice's running mantra?

Abby Prentice's mantra is you can do hard things, which she also put on a sign at her Full Mo aid station.

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Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically, so it may contain errors.

This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.

Abby Prentice: was like, " What is happening? Are you okay?" And I was like

"No." He

He like turns the corner and I'm literally like covered in blood, and he was like, "What happened?" Gosh.

Ally Brettnacher: Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ally Brettnacher, and if you run, you are a runner, and every runner has a story. Join me each week as I share these stories and we celebrate finish lines and milestones together. This episode is brought to you by Hug and Goodr.

more on them soon. A bit of a personal update. Last Saturday, I spent 12 hours with my nine-year-old, almost nine-year-old daughter, on a movie set in Bloomington, Indiana, where my friend Gordon Strain is shooting the movie Little Five, which is about the first women's bike race at Little Five at IU, which is a famous bike race that's been around since the '80s, and it was so much fun to dress up like we were from the '80s.

I crimped my hair. I'll be sharing more about that on Instagram. I'm allytbrett_runs if you are interested, or just send me a note

They are looking for more extras this weekend as well on August 2nd. so if you are local to Indiana and want more information about that, I'll link in the show notes where you can sign up, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. Today's guest I'm so excited to introduce you to. She is the founder of Indy Social Run Club, and she's been somebody I've been trying to get on this podcast for a while.

It is Abby Prentice, and she is running two marathons back to back this fall. She's doing Chicago and New York. She has an incredible story about how her friend's infertility foundation landed her a bib out of nowhere. So cool. We get into the trail fall that left her covered in blood a week before we recorded, how she met her husband, Deshaun, on the high jump squad in college, We talk more about the building of the run club and the eight hours she spent running an aid station that was disguised as a tiki bar, which I loved. We had so much fun spending more than five minutes together. Usually, when I see Abby, it's in passing, so it was wonderful to sit down with her and finally get her on this show, and I hope you enjoy meeting my friend Abby Prentice.

Welcome Abby Prentice to the podcast.

Abby Prentice: Hi. So excited to be here.

Ally Brettnacher: It's about time. I feel like I've wanted you on this podcast forever.

Abby Prentice: Honestly, yeah. And the first time you asked me, I said, "Absolutely not." Yeah. Then you said, "I'll get you one day."

Ally Brettnacher: like I'll just wait around a little bit. I can be patient, for sure.

Abby Prentice: Yes. Yeah. And you have been.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And we met for the first time, when was that? Years ago.

Abby Prentice: Yeah, it was the, whenever Monumental had their first 5K. Mm-hmm. I met you during the, Community Mile.

It was a long time ago. It was a long time ago.

Ally Brettnacher: ago. And I remember seeing you run that with your mom

Abby Prentice: usually. Mm-hmm.

Ally Brettnacher: Do you do the 5K now?

Abby Prentice: Yes. So the past, I think, two years, my brother and I have ran the 5K and then, like, turned around and ran the Community Mile with my mom.

Good for you. Um, and then this year, my niece, Eleanor, got to join us, which was really fun.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, did she love it? Yes. How old is she?

Abby Prentice: She is gonna be nine next month, So my brother recently got into running as well, so, like, since both of us are runners, she's really into it.

Mm-hmm. So she's kind of been, like, dabbling in, like, local races and things like that. So she loves it. She's really excited. That's so amazing.

Ally Brettnacher: 'Cause she's like a month younger than Sydney, 'cause Sydney turns nine- Yeah ... this month.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So. Yeah. So it's just fun to, like, see them, get excited over- Absolutely

something that we love.

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Well, I mean, you clearly had a big role in that. Did you convince your brother to run? Yes. Yeah. Excellent.

you

you clearly had a big role in that. Yeah. Did you convince your brother to run?

Abby Prentice: Yes. he's come to a lot of my races, but I think Chicago Marathon and then the next year, Monumental Marathon, he was like, "This is really cool. Like, I think I might want to do this."

So, like, the more and more races that he came to, he, was kinda, like, getting that itch of like, like, "This is really cool. I think I wanna try." And so Indy Mini was, this year, was his first half, and he was, like, completely hooked. Yes ... obsessed. Immediately signed up for the Mini the next year. Cool.

And now he's signed up for Monumental in the fall. So- Full? No, the

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. I was like, "Well, then

Abby Prentice: He-- I know ... then what happens? I do think, I was gonna say, I do think that he probably will eventually run a full, but- Let him get a few halfs under his belt

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Is Eleanor their only daughter?

Abby Prentice: No. So Oliver is two years younger than her- Okay ... three years younger than her, and, he's ran a couple little, like, kiddie races. They do, like, I don't know, like 800 meters or something. Mm-hmm. And he seemed to like that, but he is a, a pretty opinionated little boy. And so when we asked him if he was, like, interested in running the mile with us, he was like, "No."

We were like, "All right."

Ally Brettnacher: "Fair enough.

Sounds great." Yep.

Abby Prentice: and you do have little legs, so I think that would be hard. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, the season of life that your brother's in does make it harder to train for a marathon. People do it all the time, but it is, it is tough. What is your brother's name? Ryan. Ryan.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: Ryan, you will do a marathon.

I can't wait to have you on the podcast. Yes.

Abby Prentice: Yes. I'm sure he will. but yeah, like you said, and they're, like both of their kids are like in all types of different sports and activities- Mm-hmm ... and all the things, and so I mean, you know. Yeah. Like, it makes it hard. I saw the other day that you were like running around your driveway.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, I ran circles in front of a garage at the lake because I had to watch the kids, and I really wanted to get my run in before it was 8 million degrees. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: So

Ally Brettnacher: I just ran in circles and was like, "Well, that's all I can do."

Abby Prentice: Running is running,

Ally Brettnacher: It, you know, you just... Some days you just gotta move. Yeah.

And that's all you can do. Yeah. As you know, with your recent injury.

Abby Prentice: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: Let's tell that story again. I've now heard it, but for everybody else listening who might not know the story.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So, I've actually, I've never fallen on the run before. and there's, you know, a first for everything.

And so it was pretty early in the morning, and I was running at Avon Town Hall Park. It's a gorgeous park if you've never been there. Highly recommend. , but there was this like little downhill portion, and I remember I was like looking over at the wildflowers, and I guess was running a little too close to the edge of the trail.

Why? I don't know, because no one was with me. It's, I didn't need to share the trail. But, I rolled my ankle off the edge of it and just smacked the pavement, and just covered in blood my elbow, my knee.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, yeah. Your, I see it on your elbow now too. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: Uh, so- Ugh.

Ally Brettnacher: still bruised.

Abby Prentice: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: when did this happen?

Abby Prentice: Thursday.

Ally Brettnacher: Last Thursday. So as we record this, like early July it happened. Yeah. And now it's like, well, it's just a week later. It's still very bruised.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. It's- Yeah. So I, I hit the pavement really hard. I was actually just shocked. Like, it scared me more than anything. Yeah. And then when I saw like all the blood like running down my shin and running down my arm, I was like, "Oh, no."

And at the moment, I didn't even feel my ankle. I thought my ankle was fine. And honestly, for the rest of the... I had to walk a mile back to my car.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, no

Abby Prentice: was not great. But for the rest of the day, my ankle felt fine. Obviously my skin, my wounds hurt. But, I push mowed my grass that night. Jeez, Abby.

And after push mowing my whole yard, I took my shoes off and was like, "Ooh, my ankle really hurts." And like within an hour, I like could not put weight on my ankle. Oh, shoot. It was the weirdest thing. So it still feels a little bit weird, but it's much better now. Like, I've been running since, but-

Ally Brettnacher: God.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. I took off my long run, and thankfully it was a down week, so I was supposed to do eight miles the next day, and I just was like Eight miles is not worth like my whole marathon training block. Absolutely not. So I just took the weekend off and we hosted 4th of July. I tried to stay off of it for the most part.

I kept icing it, and now it feels good. We're back in action.

Ally Brettnacher: Gosh. I'm so glad you were... I mean, a mile when you're that injured is really far. But imagine you're, like, on a down and back super long run and- Yeah ... you'd have to call Deshaun and be like- Yeah ... "Hey, will you come pick me up? Don't worry, I'm fine, but I'm just covered in blood."

Abby Prentice: That's the other thing, it's 7:00 AM, so Deshaun's sleeping, and I'm like, I get home and I'm like trying to make it up the stairs like,

Ally Brettnacher: bending,

Abby Prentice: of course it was my knee, so like every time you bend- Oh, you couldn't breathe ... like it was horrible. It was. And swe- sweat was getting into it. It was hurting so bad.

Anyway- Oh ... he wakes up and he was like, "What is happening? Are you okay?" And I was like

"No." He

He like turns the corner and I'm literally like covered in blood, and he was like, "What happened?" Gosh.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Abby Prentice: So it was a little bit of a jump scare for him. Ally Brettnacher: And that first shower after that too had to be like the worst. I you know how the chafe- Mm-hmm ... chafing always

Abby Prentice: Mm-hmm. chafing always hurts, but- Yeah, but open wounds- Open wounds are a little- Not great.

Ally Brettnacher: too.

Yeah. Gosh. Well, I'm really happy that you're able to run. Yes. Because you're training for not just one fall marathon, but two.

Abby Prentice: Two, two fall

Ally Brettnacher: No big

Abby Prentice: big deal. Yeah.

Yeah. so I had applied to both lotteries, didn't get into either, to no surprise. Right. I do in fact know someone who got into the New York City lottery and the Ch- separate people, the Chicago lottery. Yeah. So apparently it can happen. Right.

Ally Brettnacher: It's like, is it a real thing? Does anybody

Abby Prentice: like, I need proof. Yeah. so I went the charity route. I'm running with, Team Chicago Run for the Chicago Marathon. They're an incredible organization that does, exercise and like running programs for preschool through high school. Cool. So there's a lot of like kids programs but, I think like with locally More Than Miles, we've seen that there isn't very much programming for like older youth.

And so I, I like that this organization really does like preschool through high school, everyone's involved. and so I'm raising money for them if you want to donate. Yeah. Links? Yeah. We'll- Links? Yeah. We'll... Link is in my bio. Um, I think I'm like halfway to my fundraising goal, but- Oh, that's amazing ... um, so I'd committed to Chicago and, then I had a friend reach out who has, a foundation for infertility, in New York, and she was just asking like, "Hey, like I'm thinking about trying to get bibs for the foundation.

Would New York City Marathon be something you would

Ally Brettnacher: be interested in?" Oh,

Abby Prentice: in?" Oh, wow. To which I fell out of my chair.

Ally Brettnacher: Like, hmm. I was like,

Abby Prentice: I was like, "I don't think you understand that this is literally like a whole dream of mine." Yeah. "And it's like so hard to get into." And she was like, "Well, like just let me see, like if we can do it."

And she was able to, get me a bib. And so- Wow ... you don't say no to New York City Marathon. Yeah. So

Ally Brettnacher: it's hard to say no to

Abby Prentice: sounds like we're running two marathons.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So how much money are you raising for Team Chicago Run, and how much for the, the foundation? So

Abby Prentice: Team Chicago Run, $2,500, and I do not have to fundraise for New York City. So, just one fundraiser- Stop it ... for Chicago. You got the bib. Yeah. I don't know if in- And you really

Ally Brettnacher: can't say no to that

Abby Prentice: know. So I don't know if in the future they will become like a charity partner- Yeah ... or you know, what their plans are with that. Yeah. She's just kind of feeling it out and seeing what that's all about.

But I'm very grateful for the opportunity. and the way I'm looking at it now is, I mean, you know marathon training, the actual training- Yeah ... is the real marathon, and I only have to train once, and I get to celebrate it twice.

So Chicago is my A race.

Yeah. Like I'm really like gonna try and PR, trying to, you know, be fast for me, at Chicago, and then New York is gonna be like a total party,

Ally Brettnacher: is ... a total celebration. I, it is the most magical thing of all

Abby Prentice: I know. I feel like I wouldn't even want to try and like run fast in New York City.

Like that is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I'm so excited to take a 26.2 mile tour through it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's, ugh, there's nothing like it. I don't know if I'll ever do it again 'cause I just had such a good experience- Yeah ... the first time. And it's, the logistics of it are a marathon in and of itself, which- Mm

Abby Prentice: I'm a little

Ally Brettnacher: is fair because it's the largest marathon in the world, so. Or it will be. They keep trading back and forth these world majors.

I hope so. Yeah. What is the name of your friend's foundation?

Abby Prentice: so it is the Carlos Rodon Foundation. Okay. And, um, the Willow Grant is the infertility, grant that where they help families, cause that's a very expensive thing to go through.

Yeah. so yeah, the Carlos Rodon Grant. I went to school with Ashley and, I'm very grateful to them for this marathon bib. Yeah. It was one of those things like I feel like non-runners don't understand the gravity of the

Ally Brettnacher: situation. Right. She's like, "Would you be interested in this?" It's like,

Abby Prentice: like, "Eh."

Yeah. She was so casual about it, and I was like- Are you kidding me? ... screaming, crying, throwing up. Yeah. Like what do you mean?

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. is infertility something that is a personal thing for you? Yeah. Yeah. Um,

Abby Prentice: oh no, for them, not

Ally Brettnacher: them. Not for me. Okay. Um,

Abby Prentice: for them, they have, have dealt with that, I mean, for years and years.

They do have three beautiful children. but yeah, that is something that they dealt with, so they care deeply about, helping others through that situation. But- Yeah. Oh, nice ... yeah. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, what a good friend to support and raise awareness for them.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited. That's

Ally Brettnacher: cool. So okay, now we have to back up and we have to- ... help people understand how in the heck you got into all of this.

Abby Prentice: How

Ally Brettnacher: running happen for you? And, and a little bit about your upbringing and kind of where you're from.

Are you from this area?

Abby Prentice: I am from a very, very, very small town called Covington, Indiana. Okay. Um, it's on like the Indiana-Illinois border.

Okay. so like very small s- small town school. Like, I graduated with like 65 people, I think. Yeah, that's, that's small ... and so I grew up like loving running. I played soccer, but I loved to run. My mom has like a really long front yard, and like driveway and I very distinctly remember doing running drills.

like that's how I spent like my summer nights- Wow ... was like doing like A skips and like B skips and- That's amazing ... grapevining all the way to the road and back, that's not normal, but that's okay. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: hated running as a soccer player, so I'm impressed.

Abby Prentice: I absolutely loved running.

and it's funny, my, niece is going into the third grade, and so in the fourth and fifth grade, they do like the fastest mile, and you know, there's the fastest girl and the fastest boy. Mm-hmm. And I've already put it in her head, I'm like, "Listen, you have to keep the tradition. Like, I was the fastest girl in the fourth grade and the fifth grade."

Amazing. "So like you better start training."

Ally Brettnacher: the torch. Yeah. Let's go, Eleanor. Get it together.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So, so yeah, I've always loved running. and- Did

Ally Brettnacher: run when you were growing up?

Abby Prentice: Um, no. She was on the track team in high school. I got the privilege of breaking quite a few of her school records.

Oh, that's hilarious. so yeah, she was on the track team, but wasn't really like a runner after school.

Ally Brettnacher: What were your track events?

Abby Prentice: High jump, and I was a sp-

Ally Brettnacher: We need to talk about high jump. Yeah. Okay. I forgot about it.

Abby Prentice: jump. Yeah. But I was a sprinter. Yeah. So, the 200 was my favorite. I was okay with the 100, and then, was usually on the four by one- Yeah

and the four by four if my coach wanted to punish me. Yeah, the middle lanes are

Ally Brettnacher: Whoa.

Abby Prentice: Ooh. Yeah, so I was definitely a sprinter. and then in college, I was a high jumper. our high jump coach wasn't a fan of us doing other events, so we all had to like totally specialize and we could only do high jump.

which was a little bit of a bummer 'cause I do think that I would've enjoyed like the 800 or something. Sure. but after conditioning in the fall, they did open up the cross country, the home cross country meets to the rest of the team, and so I did get to run like Division I cross country.

I got to participate in Division I cross country. I was not, competitive at all, but it was a re- a really cool experience and- Yeah ... I mean, I got to run on Laverne Gibson, like the iconic course in, Terre Haute, so that was really neat. And even then, I don't know that I, like, knew that I enjoyed distance running.

Mm-hmm. I just thought it was, like, something fun to do- Yeah ... on a Saturday with my friends.

Ally Brettnacher: Where'd you go to school? Indiana State. Indiana State.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. so yeah, Indiana State has like... I mean, they, they have a really good track and cross country team. we've won so many of the, Missouri Valley Conference titles, both indoor and outdoor.

I really enjoyed track. I think now looking back on it, I would've really enjoyed cross country. Yeah, right. I just didn't find my love for distance running early enough. Yeah. So my junior year, I actually got a stress fracture in my spine.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh.

Abby Prentice: It's like an overuse injury for high jumpers.

But, I mean, I had to wear like a hard plastic back brace- Oh ... for like three months. That's

Ally Brettnacher: fun in

Abby Prentice: Yeah, really cool, especially in the summer. Jeez. Yeah. So, the stress fracture in my spine really altered my high jumping abilities. Like, I just... And it was never the same after that.

Like, I just- Yeah ... couldn't get into the right position over the bar. but high jump was a lot of fun. It's how I met my husband, Dashon

Ally Brettnacher: is how you met him? Yeah. That's even better. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: was, was a high jumper on the team. He's two years older than me. but yeah, he was one of our best high jumpers at the time.

Ally Brettnacher: so cool.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. We literally met during conditioning. It was like the second day of practice. We would like run to the park and run hills and then run back, and the high jumpers are known as like the lazy event group for the most part. I

Ally Brettnacher: 'cause you don't have to run very far when you high jump. It's like four steps.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah. So we also... I mean, conditioning was my favorite part of, of- That's funny ... track. Like, I lived for the fall conditioning. That was the best part. but the rest of the high jumpers didn't love it. They literally like called me try hard- ... which is annoying, but like I just, I just enjoyed it, okay?

Yeah. but we were running back from the park, it was like the second day of practice, and, we were running towards the back, and Dashon, I always like joke that this was his pickup line. He was literally like, "So you're a high jumper too, right?"

Ally Brettnacher: Good one.

Abby Prentice: And I'm like- Yeah ... "You're really cute."

Ally Brettnacher: You're like, "Yeah, I am. What's your name?" Yeah. "Hello, I'm Abby."

Track 1: That's so sweet.

Ally Brettnacher: That's

Abby Prentice: But yeah, that was, that was, And then we became instant best friends. I mean, the high jump squad is what we called it, did everything together. we were inseparable. a really like just fun event group, a fun group of people. and then eventually people were like, " I think you guys like each other."

Yeah, I think you do. And of course we were like, "Mm-mm. Absolutely not. No.

Ally Brettnacher: That's so funny- ... how that works.

Abby Prentice: And then eventually it was like, "Wait, yeah." We do like each other.

Ally Brettnacher: that." So for people who don't know what the high jump is, could you just describe it?

Yeah. Did I tell you I did it in high school?

Abby Prentice: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I was so bad. It was so embarrassing.

Abby Prentice: embarrassing. Yeah, so it's a common misconception. People mess up, high jump at versus pole vault. Right. So there's the mat and the bar, and you run in like a J, and you go backwards over the bar, so head first. Mm-hmm. Whereas the pole vault uses the pole and go feet first.

Ally Brettnacher: And so the bar is it's pretty low to the ground. It almost looks like a bar like kids could play on, I would think. Yeah. Or maybe it's a little higher than that. For me, it looked like a bar kids could play on.

Track 1: on.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So, I mean, I jumped like 5'4", so like my height, but Deshaun was jumping... He jumped, almost seven foot.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't even know what the... I have no idea what the world record is for that or any-

Abby Prentice: That's a good question. I don't, I don't know what the world record is

Ally Brettnacher: either. I mean, seven feet sounds pretty good.

Abby Prentice: It's pretty high. and he is, like, so he's pretty tall. Yeah. He's six feet, but I mean, he's jumping- Well,

Ally Brettnacher: you have to get your whole, all your legs over

Abby Prentice: than... That's what I never understood, 'cause I'm like, I was jumping at this, and that's pretty intimidating. Yeah. And he was jumping a full foot above his head. Crazy. So I never, I never understood it, but he was pretty good at it.

Track 1: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: That's amazing. I love that's how you met. I didn't realize that.

Abby Prentice: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So did, while you were in college or even in high school, did you do any, outside of, you know, being a part of the cross country team, did you do any races that you like paid to sign up for to run?

Abby Prentice: No. In high school I ran one 5K for Best Buddies. Okay. I was the vice president of Best Buddies in high school, and

Ally Brettnacher: What is-- Is that like, Big Brothers Big Sisters kind of thing

Abby Prentice: kind of thing? Sort of. It's for, individuals with developmental disabilities. Okay. and it was like a mentor program. So you, you got paired up with one of the special needs people, and you were just their buddy, and you got to, like, do things together.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was a really, really cool experience. But me and my, like, leadership team, we drove to Indy, and I was the only one that ran the 5K. And, I honestly don't remember anything about it. I think it was on the canal maybe.

Ally Brettnacher: There's a lot, yeah, there's a lot of them

Abby Prentice: that would've been, like, my very first 5K, and I think that was in 2012.

Okay. And then I didn't run another 5K until, the cross country team in college. And then in grad school I didn't really do much of anything. I think I was, like, tired. When you're forced to work out every day- Yeah ... for so long, being, like, a collegiate athlete, once you don't have to anymore, you're like, "Well, this is kind of nice."

Ally Brettnacher: Well, wow, I can take a break. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: And so for the two years of grad school, like, I did, HIIT workouts and yoga, like, at the rec and things like that, but I didn't, I didn't have, like, a consistent routine. And so after grad school we moved to Indianapolis, and- Which I

Ally Brettnacher: note, what did you go to school for-

Abby Prentice: in grad school?

I... Grad school was student affairs in higher education. Okay. so basically anyone that works at a university that isn't a professor probably has that degree. Okay. and so we moved to Indianapolis after grad school, and, then COVID happened.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Gosh.

Abby Prentice: excited to live in downtown Indy and we were about to have, the best time of our lives, and then the whole world shut down.

Yeah. True. I think like most people these days, I turned to running because I'm like, number one, I have to get out of this house. Yeah. We were living with our best friend, so we had a two bed, two bath, but we were living with another couple. Oh, that's fun. Which was fun. Yeah. Being locked down with your best friends, and we did, like, COVID Olympics.

We, like, did, like, all these- Yeah ... just, like, fun games and stuff. We had to be. It was fun and games. But you also, like, have to get out of the house. Mm-hmm. And so I, was running a lot, and I challenged myself to try and run 100 miles in the month of June. I was, like, making stuff up at this point. Yeah. I'm like, "What, what is there to do?"

And so that was r- just, like, something to work on- Yeah ... before I knew that, races and things are things that you can work towards. Yeah. so I did that. That was really fun. and then one of my friends was signed up to run the Indy Monumental Half. Okay. And I was like, "That's insane. I would never."

Ally Brettnacher: Who does that?

Abby Prentice: that? That's crazy. and then, she kinda convinced me, like, "No, it'll be fun. We can run it together." And so 2021, Monumental Half was my first half marathon, and I've been in love ever since. And the rest is history. And then it snowballed. It did. It, it, yeah, it escalated pretty quickly, cause then I ran five half marathons before I ran a full marathon.

That was another thing I said I would absolutely never, ever... I swore on everything that I would never run a full marathon. Right. And I feel like other people have, like, a similar story like that, because then I ran it and I said, "Yeah, I'm never doing that again."

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, yep.

Abby Prentice: Chicago was tough. My first marathon was tough.

Like, I trained completely by myself, 20 weeks of training, every single training run by myself.

Ally Brettnacher: what year was, would that have been?

Abby Prentice: been? 2023. '23, okay. my entire training plan, 20 weeks by myself, which I thought was fine 'cause I knew, I didn't know anything different. and I knew nothing about running either, so I'm like following all these like girly pops on social media- Mm-hmm

like teaching me about like nutrition and gels and working out like how to do strength training with running and all the things to wear and do while you're running. Yeah. And so I learned a lot from girls on social media, which is kind of why I started posting because I'm like, I learned from girls making videos, like I want to help people- Yes

learn to love running. Yeah. and so my first marathon was in five hours and eight minutes.

Ally Brettnacher: Mine wasn't that much faster.

Abby Prentice: I was just under five. And that was a long time to be

Ally Brettnacher: It's a long time to be- It is a really long time. I have so much respect for back-of-the-pack

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah. And I remember Chicago, there's like, I don't know, a mile between the finish line and where you can meet your family.

Yeah. I literally had to stop on the way and I sat on the curb and was like crying because my feet hurt so bad.

Ally Brettnacher: Wait till New York. I know.

Abby Prentice: No, but my second- No, no. Yeah. And my second marathon was like light years better. I couldn't-- It was like night and day. Good, good, good. I was wearing better shoes, different shoes, and just like, I think trained better.

but yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: What was your second marathon? Did you do Chicago again?

Abby Prentice: Indy Monumental. Okay, Monumental was second. Yeah. And

Ally Brettnacher: was that the next, very next year, '24?

Abby Prentice: '24? It was. Okay. And honestly, I used the same training plan. It was just easier. I don't know. Wow. I mean, I think just consistency and like knowing more about like recovery and fueling and things like that, just everything, everything about the training and about the race day was just easier and better.

Wow. I ran with one of my good friends, Kylie, for the first like 18 miles, and we were just yapping. She moved away to, North Carolina, and so we hadn't seen each other in forever, and we were just yapping for 18 miles. Curse. And then I was like, "This is getting hard. I know that you can run faster.

Please do not stay with me." Mm-hmm. And so I like had to bully her into leaving me- Yeah. ... which like was arguably like not at a great time. It was like right past the,

Track 1: art

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Abby Prentice: So then, so then for like the sad part of the marathon, I was by

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, it's brutal. But,

Abby Prentice: um, the first 18 miles was really, really fun with Kylie.

And yeah, second marathon was so much easier. So I'm hoping that like that happens again and Chicago will be like really, really easy.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I mean, think of all the running you've done even just between, then and, and now. It's, it'll be way better for sure. Yeah. you know so much now. There's, it's- Yeah. Thank God there's so much information out there to your point.

Abby Prentice: Literally, and it's because of creators. Like, And now, like people are like, you know, the top 10 things you need to know about the Chicago Marathon. People just have- Right ... like, they're just like sharing their experiences and like what they learned.

And while it may not be like- full truth or like what's going to happen for everyone, just like knowing more- Yeah ... is always, yeah. So almost everything I know about running, racing, all of that is like really just due to like people on Instagram.

Ally Brettnacher: What training plan did you use? Did you use Hal Higdon?

Abby Prentice: for my first marathon, I did, Girls on the Run, the charity- Yeah, sure ... Girls on the Run Chicago, and they gave us a coach that wrote a training

Ally Brettnacher: for us- Oh,

Abby Prentice: which was really cool, and then we had like monthly calls, just like talking about like how training is going.

So I was really grateful for that. And then because that's a training plan they were giving to us, like I just reused that for- Yeah ... my second marathon. And then, Team Chicago Run has kind of done the same thing. they gave us a coach, and they actually use the Final Surge app. Okay. Which is really cool, because I can like scroll through and see like what my plan is, and it's like in the app.

It hooks up to your Garmin, so like your race or your run is like inputted in there. Um- Mm-hmm ... and they can see like what the paces were and things like that. So, I really like the, the Final Surge app.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's nice to have that feedback loop with- Mm-hmm ... with your coach. And also it just makes it seamless when you go to start your run, you just, you know, you have the workout on there, the mileage- Mm-hmm ... and just go do that.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. And then if you need to rearrange things, you can literally like drag and drop- Mm-hmm ... to whatever day. So that's really nice, too, because I am, I'm a planner. Mm-hmm. And so at the beginning of the week, I like look what, what I have going on, and I'll like rearrange things or plan for like a morning run or an evening run.

So- That's smart ... yeah, it's really nice.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And then, okay, let's talk about, Indy Social Run Club. Yes. I almost said Indy Run Social

Abby Prentice: Club. Sorry,

Ally Brettnacher: That's why I looked at your shirt.

Um, Indy Social Run Club. Yeah. Because now you're the founder of a run club- Yeah ... which is so cool. Yeah. Um, I just had Kelvin Kwong, who is one of the founders of 3RUN7. Yes. And the whole culture of run clubs is just so freaking cool. It really is. So I would love to hear kind of the story behind you starting this.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah, so like as I mentioned before, I trained for Chicago completely by myself. Yeah. All 20 weeks, all training runs by myself, and that was when like on social media I was starting to see run clubs in different states.

Mm-hmm. And just like, or just like seeing groups of people running together, and I'm like, "Wow that looks really fun. And, at the time, w- I knew of, like, Indie Runners, but honestly, like, no other groups. And Indie Runners is a really big group, and I just didn't know of any other, like, options. and so at the time I was a Fleet Feet ambassador.

Mm. and so me and Larry and Drez and Kylie, we were like, "What if, like, we started, like, a social run?" We called them social runs out of the store. And so we started doing that, like, pretty consistently, out of the Fleet Feet store.

Ally Brettnacher: I didn't realize it started at Fleet Feet- Yeah ... 'cause now it's with Annex, Athletic

Abby Prentice: the Annex, Athletic Annex. Yeah. They fully owned Run Social. Yes. Yeah. So we started doing that, and it was honestly, it was only through, like, my social media. Like, I would just, like, post like, "Hey, come join us for a social run."

Track 1: social

Ally Brettnacher: social run."

Abby Prentice: and so we did that for a while, and it caught on pretty quickly, and, like, we had, you know, consistently, like, 10 or 12 people showing up.

and we decide- we started just calling it Run Club. We could say like, "Oh, are you going to Run Club tonight?" Yeah. And then we're like, "We should probably, like, name this."

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Maybe we'll just give it a real name.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. And so, it eventually morphed into, Indy Social Run Club. I gave it its own Instagram.

we're now two years old. We just had our, our second birthday party. Aw, happy birthday. Thanks. yeah, in June. so it's been two years. We now, exclusively work with Athletic Annex. I also work at Athletic Annex, so it's it's kinda

Ally Brettnacher: one do you work at?

Abby Prentice: do you work at? Uh, the Nora store. Okay. Yeah. and they're fabulous.

they're so supportive. I love that it's a local company. Mm-hmm. and so yeah, it, it just really was born out of, like, me wanting run friends. I wanted to run with a group, wanting running friends, wanting to show people that, running is not scary, and it can be- Yeah, it can be fun

Ally Brettnacher: can be fun

Abby Prentice: and chill and fun.

and even still, like, I'll invite people to Run Club, and they're like, "Oh, like, I'm not fast enough," or whatever. I'm like, " We usually run, like, a 10-minute pace," but, It's, like, a range of paces. Like, we start together, but it, like, naturally spreads out. Mm-hmm. And I always tell people that I am willing to run anybody's pace, as long as it's not faster than what I-

Ally Brettnacher: as it's not faster. Right. As long as I can

Abby Prentice: as it's not faster than I want to run. Yeah. but, like, I'm always willing to run anybody's pace, and it's really just, like, about, like, sharing miles together- Mm-hmm ... and socializing. so we, we consistently have probably, like, close to 20 people now. we meet on Mondays at the Athletic Annex in Nora Plaza.

Ally Brettnacher: What time is it at?

Abby Prentice: at? 6:00 PM.

Ally Brettnacher: PM. And what does your normal run look like,

Abby Prentice: We do three miles. Three, okay. So we do, yeah, a mile and a half out. We always go north so that there's a bathroom available, and we don't have to cross-

Ally Brettnacher: would be, yeah, over there.

Abby Prentice: you said three it would be, yeah, over there. Yeah, and so that we don't have to cross, 86 or so, yeah 86, because, like, that crossing is not great. but we are typically a year-round run club, which, like, I feel like most run clubs kinda shut down for the winter. We run through the winter, as long as it's not, like, too dangerously cold.

Ally Brettnacher: like double digits negative degrees.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah, so, it's a lot of fun.

I mean, obviously there's, like, usually a little bit less people in the winter, but, it's still fun to get together.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I love it so much. It's fun. Congrats on two years. Thanks. That's such a big milestone. And- Yeah ... you know, getting people consistently to show up is awesome.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. It's funny, it's been literally two years and there are still times where I'm like, "Are people gonna come?"

Ally Brettnacher: Right. I mean, believe

Abby Prentice: I still have that thought. I'm like- I

Ally Brettnacher: that.

Abby Prentice: "Are people gonna come?" and you know, we've done, we've done different things. We've worked with Sweat House, we've worked with Lululemon. Mm-hmm. So we, we will go different places, but, like, our home base is the Athletic Annex in Nora Plaza.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So talk, let's talk about a little bit about that too, how you've become an ambassador for brands, for races, and you've grown your social community tremendously too.

when did that kind of start for you?

Abby Prentice: That's a good question. so- A couple things. So I started my, running, Instagram posts during Chicago...

Well, I guess maybe a little before Chicago Marathon, the, in 2023. just because, like I said, like, I learned so much from creators on Instagram, and I wanted to, like, share that knowledge- Mm ... and help other people learn to love running, and like, do it well.

Ally Brettnacher: Like- Right. Here's what I did wrong.

Please

Abby Prentice: right. Please eat food. Yeah. Please, you know, fuel your runs. I wanted to share that knowledge, and kind of like pass that down to others. And plus, it's just so fun. I mean, you, create now, too.

Ally Brettnacher: It's so fun. I love it.

Abby Prentice: such a fun creative outlet. I absolutely love it. It has never felt like work to me, thankfully.

I have worked with lots and lots of brands and, you know, there have been times where I'm like, "Eh," like, "I don't really wanna do that post." And so, like, I never want it to, like, feel like work. I always want it to be fun. Right. and so I'm a little bit more, particular when saying yes to, like- Yeah

brand deals and things now. just because, like, I, number one, I only want to share things that, like, I truly do like. Mm-hmm. Or I'll be honest about, like, I'm trying this for the first time. Right. Like, I'm not fully endorsing. Like, try this with me. Yeah. and so i- it's been fun to, like, kinda see, the opportunities arise.

and then I'm an Indy Monumental ambassador. I think this is, like, the fourth year or something. Yeah, you and I bonded over- Yeah ... that on the run this summer. Yeah. So I think this is the, fourth year I've done that. I mean, that organization is just amazing. I love working with them.

and then, actually, the Indiana Women's Running Festival, which is like 5K, 10K, and half, it's in October this year. I'm an ambassador for that race as well. I can put my discount codes

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, we'll put it all, we'll, in the show notes. In the-- Just

Abby Prentice: in the show notes. In

Ally Brettnacher: it

Abby Prentice: In the show notes.

Um- I think I can say that. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Those will be in the show notes. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: but that's a really, really cool race. That was my first, like, all women's race. It is a good one. And that's just, like, such a fun time. it is, I think, the week before Chicago Marathon this year. Oh, yeah. So I'm gonna do the 5K. There you go.

But that half marathon is actually my current half PR- Oh, wow ... um, from last year. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: amazing. With the time of year, it was really hot

Abby Prentice: was, yeah. Yeah. I think August last year? Yeah. Yeah. it was a really good race. It was an accidental PR. My friends-

Ally Brettnacher: Oh my gosh, I don't know how that

Abby Prentice: me into it. They just were running too fast for me, and I said, "I thought we were doing party pace." And they were like, "This is a party pace." And I just kept saying, "Guys, we're running too fast." And they were like- what's your PR?" And they were like, they literally just like baited me into running way too fast.

Perfect.

Ally Brettnacher: Perfect. Well, when it works out-

Abby Prentice: It worked out, yeah ... that's great It was great. Yeah. Yeah. We were like, I think we were like two miles out when they finally told me, and they were like, "Well, if we stay at this pace and like run strong at the end, like we think we can get you a PR." And I was like, " What happened- Yeah

to party pacing this?" Ally Brettnacher: how we agreed on this party pace? Yeah.

Abby Prentice: We were like- Yeah ... in matching outfits, like it was supposed to be like a whole vibe. Yeah. But I was just dying the whole time, and then got a PR, so it was fun. Amazing. But Amazing Yeah. So that's a really fun race. and then,

Ally Brettnacher: I'm also a Lululemon Keystone Ambassador.

so exciting. Yeah.

Marker

---

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Now back to Abby

I'm also a Lululemon Keystone Ambassador.

so exciting. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: that happened, I don't really know how I started. They have these, like, in-store sweat series where, a lot of times it's yoga, and they will, like, on a Saturday morning, they will, like, move all of their racks from the floor of their store and host a yoga class.

Oh,

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, I didn't even know they did that.

Abby Prentice: yoga class. Yeah, so that's their, like, in-store sweat series. so I attended a yoga class there, I think because Katie Bragaw, which I think you know Katie. She does the Sweat Indy Instagram. Okay. And she has a, the Post Class Brag podcast. Okay. she's-

Ally Brettnacher: if I've met her.

Abby Prentice: Oh, Ally Brettnacher: I need to make sure that I follow her.

Abby Prentice: Yeah, you should meet her. she's fabulous, and she, um, just, her Sweat Indy page is really just about sharing everything, exercise that's going on

Ally Brettnacher: in Indy. In Indy. That's so

Abby Prentice: And so she just, like, reposts people's things, but it's like I wouldn't know about a lot of events if it weren't for her page.

Yeah. And so she's a really good follow. and so she had posted about, a free yoga class at Lululemon. I'm like, "Well, that sounds really cool." Yeah. So I had gone to that, and then I had gone to a couple other of their events and just, like, got to know their team. and then ended up being asked to host one of their in-store sweat series, for running.

Yes. Um, so we're, we don't run in the store, but we met at the store, and then we ran. In Keystone, there is, like, a pond that's kinda close- Yeah, mm-hmm ... to the Fashion Mall. Mm-hmm. And so we ran around that pond and back. And so, I hosted one or two of those and then they ended up asking me to be a store ambassador, which basically entails just, like, connecting Lululemon with the local community. So, whether it's hosting runs or hosting, The other ambassadors are, like, train ambassador or the studio ambassador. Mm-hmm. So it's like yoga, Pilates. and so we would basically just, like, host free events for the community to connect the brand with the community and just create a space where people can meet others and exercise, sweat, move their bodies.

and it's been a really cool experience so far. It's a, it's a two-year contract, so, I'm really excited to see, like, what else we, we can do.

Ally Brettnacher: Within that. Yeah, that's

Abby Prentice: yeah, that's really cool. Yeah. I

Ally Brettnacher: I always-- I've seen them... Well, specifically I think of DC always has a Lululemon cheer station. Mm-hmm. So... And I can't remember if I've seen...

Did they do it last year at Monumental? Um

Abby Prentice: at Monumental?

Um, I don't know about Monumental. I know they had one at the Carmel

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, good.

Abby Prentice: Oh, good. Yeah. and I can't remember if they had one at the Indy Mini.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, they've, they've just done such a good job. I mean, I've just noticed more that they've done a good job coming out and cheering for the local community.

Abby Prentice: They definitely want to, like, be more involved, so that's kind of, like, one of my initiatives is to get them more, like, ingrained in- Mm-hmm ... like, the running community in Indianapolis, cause they definitely want to. but yeah, they're, they're really excited to, to do some, like, shakeout runs and things like that.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I'm pretty, pretty excited. Yeah. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, so stay tuned for that.

Track 1: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh my gosh. Okay, so now as you, think ahead about what you envision Indy Social Run Club being- Mm-hmm ... your community on social and just locally here, what do you dream about for that?

Abby Prentice: Yeah. I think for Indy Social Run Club, because it was just a thing that kind of like happened Right, yeah

like it wasn't like, "I'm gonna start a run club." It was more so just like, "I want to run with people, and I wanna give people a space to run together, and learn about running, and like, learn to love running." I've never really had like, a big, lofty goal or like, ambition for the club. Like, I really just wanted to create a safe space for people to learn to love running.

so obviously I like, want to continue it, and I'd love to see it grow. I would never say no to people, but I don't know that I would want it to be an enormous club. Like, 3Run7 is amazing, and they do incredible marketing. The size of their club

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Yeah. It's nuts ... it's huge.

Abby Prentice: It's bananas.

And so that's like a pretty, big undertaking ' my friends do help me, but like, a lot of it is just me. Yeah. Like it's j- Yeah ... it's just me out here leading this club. And so, I, like I said, I would love to see it grow. but I don't have any goals for it to be like 100 people or anything.

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I guess that i- is a good point too, especially if you are meeting at, in Nora Athletic Annex. I know they just take over the parking lot sometimes there.

Right. But it's also like that's a heck of a lot more work added to your plate and you have a full-time like normal job as well, so.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. I, I do too much. but yeah. So I love where Indy Social Run Club is. but I'm also always like, open to anything really. I'd love to see more people come, more consistent. but yeah, we're just kinda taking it a day at a time. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, it always looks fun, and I always love the watch picks. Yeah. There's always a watch pick. Yes. Everybody puts their

Abby Prentice: hands

Ally Brettnacher: Stuff like that, though, I think the traditions there, I mean, they, it keeps people in it. Like, and it makes people wanna be a part of it. Yeah. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah. And it's really cool to see, I always, when there's new faces, which by the way, I applaud people that will show up to a run club knowing no one- Yes

and show up by themselves.

Ally Brettnacher: I

Abby Prentice: don't know that I could do that.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I

Abby Prentice: I mean, I think I've done things like that before. Like, I went to a shakeout run in Chicago. one of my favorite runfluencers, Nicole Winters, hosted a shakeout run, and I did show up by myself. so I guess I can do that, but like, I just really do applaud the people that show up to my run club that they were just like, "I just found you guys on Instagram."

Yeah. And just show up. Right. It's incredible, and it's so awesome, and we've, we've found a lot of really cool people. And so, That's just kind of neat too. Like, I know that I, I post things on the Run Club Instagram, like put it out into the, into the internet world, but it's so funny to see, like, that it does...

It finds people. Yeah. It finds people that don't follow us already. Yeah. And they're like, "Oh, this is a really cool thing." Yeah. "I wanna go to it." Yeah. So that's really neat.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, I re- I relate to that a lot. I know. Well, I relate to that a lot because yeah, you're like, "Oh, you listen, you know that I have a pod- You listen to my podcast?" It's like, you know, you kind of put it out in the universe and just, you're like, "Well, I don't know who sees it or what,

Abby Prentice: what happens."

Ally Brettnacher: happens."

Abby Prentice: So-

Ally Brettnacher: that is really cool when you can then see it come to fruition. I do wish I could host more in-person events. Like, I've thought about, we have a Friday morning run-

Abby Prentice: that started- Yes, I'm always

Ally Brettnacher: me and my coach. That's so fun. Well, it's like people who have normal jobs can't come, which- I know

is, you know, a struggle. But I'm also like, "I don't wanna get up early," so that's why. It's just at 9:00 AM on a Friday.

Abby Prentice: Fair. Um- I'm always so

Ally Brettnacher: yeah. It's really fun. So, we have, like, a group chat called the Friday 9:00 AM Runners, which is hilarious 'cause I'm like, "Well, that would be a really crappy name for a

Abby Prentice: for a

Ally Brettnacher: Um, but I do dream about having more events where I bring together people I've had on my podcast or people who listen to the

Abby Prentice: podcast. Mm-hmm. You should.

Ally Brettnacher: You should ... I should, but it's always outside of normal work hours, and I have young kids. So, that's, it's just a weird season of life for me to do a ton of that stuff.

especially since my, my husband carries all the weight in corporate America and really provides for our family, so it's hard to be like, " Hey, I'm gonna just go do all this fun stuff."

Abby Prentice: But he gets his workout in in the morning. He goes to F45- He does

Ally Brettnacher: go to F45 ... he leaves. Yeah. So- Yeah

Abby Prentice: I can s- I could see an evening run event. Yeah. I,

Ally Brettnacher: I could, I would love it. It will, they will happen at some point. Um, I always say that. But at least now having the opportunity to do live events around our big races here locally- Yeah ... that you've helped with and come to, it fills me up so much, but it is so much work. It is. People don't realize how much work

Abby Prentice: It's co- It is. It's a lot of work. People don't realize how much

Ally Brettnacher: They really don't. All the little tiny things that go into it, how much planning. Mm-hmm. I mean, we're planning right now in July for our November event. Isn't it crazy? Yeah. It's crazy, but it's great, so I love that kind of stuff. Yeah. And then, you know, on social, I think everybody listening here should go follow you for reasons you've described, right?

I mean, and a lot of the stuff you do is lighthearted and inspirational and just, really authentic. there's people online that you're like, "Oh my God." but it's just, it's nice to have people like that in our community that you can draw inspiration from and , who brings people together so.

Abby Prentice: I appreciate

Ally Brettnacher: I appreciate that. Absolutely.

Abby Prentice: you were talking about live in-person events being a lot of work.

You wanna know what I think is a ton of work that I didn't realize? Yeah. Aid stations.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, let's, okay, let's discuss... let's talk about the Fulmo aid station that you did. Tiki. The tiki bar.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So I, I'm gonna be honest with you, and this is gonna sound really bad.

I have never worked an aid

Ally Brettnacher: No, that doesn't sound bad because

Abby Prentice: even like stopped by and like volunteered my time Yeah. And I'd been saying it for a while that like I need to give back. Like so many amazing volunteers at these races, and I run a lot of races. So many amazing volunteers are like spending their time- Mm-hmm

supporting us runners. Like I need to give back.

Ally Brettnacher: I mean, it took me-- I've been running for 20 years. It took me 15 years- Yeah ... to volunteer for a race. Yeah. It's so bad.

Abby Prentice: So Christy D.- She's not alone ... one of our, one of our mutual friends- Yes ... reached out and wanted to know if Indy Social Run Club would want to be an aid station- Yeah

on the Full Mo. And I had heard of the Full Mo. I had never been involved with it. I knew, you know, that it was an ultramarathon on our beloved Monon Trail. But I was like, "Sure. Like that sounds fun." I did not realize how much work it was going to be. And Christy, bless her heart, was like, " You're gonna be like either the last or the second to last aid station.

It's right before they get to downtown. Like we want it to be a total party. Like we think that you guys are the right people to do that." You are. Absolutely. She really sold it.

Ally Brettnacher: You were. I did

Abby Prentice: not realize that that also meant we were going to be out there for like eight hours.

Ally Brettnacher: spectating is a sport. Spectating is a sport, period.

Abby Prentice: Mm-hmm. Period. 'Cause I don't- It's work ... I, I don't remember the guy's name that won it, but he came by so early. Yeah. So fast. He was running so fast, and so we had barely gotten, set up. It was like 8:30 AM probably. It was insane.

Ally Brettnacher: was like 8:30 AM probably. That's insane. That's like, I was probably like at

Abby Prentice: mile three.

Ally Brettnacher: three. I don't know.

Abby Prentice: don't know. And so we had barely gotten set up, and someone was like, "He's coming, he's coming." I'm like, "Wait, what?" Yeah. And so he comes sprinting by. One of the, I don't remember her name, but someone that was working with the Fulmo, held out a water to him, which he just- Just ... grabbed and splashed all over him.

And I was like, in that moment, I panicked, because I was like, " Wait, I thought this was an ultra-marathon." I expected people to be like casual, like stopping- Yes ... like hanging out, filling up their water. Like I thought, I just thought it was gonna be a lot more laid back. Yeah. And when he came sprinting by, I was like, "Oh no, I'm nervous."

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: To be fair, to be fair, I came, stopped, hung out- Yes ... posed for photos.

Abby Prentice: was gonna say, that's where the iconic video of you dumping water on your head happened. Oh my God, yes. but yeah, all of that to say, it was an incredible day. All of you that ran that are a little bit crazy, and also really cool.

Ally Brettnacher: You're gonna... I know you're gonna do it, so it's-

Abby Prentice: I don't think

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. You... That's what I said. So it'll just take time, but you will.

Abby Prentice: Maybe. I

Ally Brettnacher: spectated twice, and then I was like, "Okay.

Well, now I wanna do it."

Abby Prentice: Listen, I don't

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's such a community event for people here. Yeah. Because you literally go through every neighborhood. You see all of the different run clubs who participate.

Abby Prentice: It was really cool.

Ally Brettnacher: it's really fun, and you don't have to run fast. Like the people who win and go fast, I think they're an anomaly in the sport.

Yeah. Because I went out there being like literally I'm not gonna look at my watch.

Abby Prentice: Mm-hmm.

Ally Brettnacher: My coach was so confused 'cause she's like, "Why do you keep asking me to remind you when to take your fuel?" I'm like, "Because I'm not looking at my watch at all. Like I don't wanna look at it. I don't wanna know how many mi- I just- None of

Abby Prentice: none of my business.

Ally Brettnacher: just tell me when I need to take a gel-

Abby Prentice: Yeah. And we'll go from there.

Ally Brettnacher: And don't tell me our pace. I'm just gonna, we're just gonna enjoy

Abby Prentice: Yeah. And you guys looked like you were having so

Ally Brettnacher: fun. It was good. Well, we did finally the second half when I saw you. It was good, thankfully.

Abby Prentice: It was really cool, but it was a lot of work on our end. my sweet husband was the only one that was there start to finish. Like, we had, we definitely had volunteers from the run club come by for an hour or two.

Ally Brettnacher: definitely had volunteers from the run club come by for an hour or two. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: But getting there and setting up everything, and apparently I was a little bit extra with my aid station.

Ally Brettnacher: Which is the way to do it, Abby.

Like okay, tell people all the things you had. you had decorations, too. Oh yeah, there were themes. You had a bullhorn. Yeah. And so-

Abby Prentice: and I was like, "What theme would I pick?

I don't know." Yeah. And so Dashonna and I went into Dollar Tree the night before. Nice. And I saw all of this, super gaudy, like, luau tiki bar stuff, and I was like- Sold ... that. That,

Ally Brettnacher: is- So smart

Abby Prentice: smart. so then I, made my signs to kind of match the tiki bar theme. I said, like, something like just a lu- just a little, little over a luau to go or something like that, and it was like Indy Social Tiki Bar.

And so it was obnoxiously decorated to hopefully bring some smiles

Ally Brettnacher: It did

Abby Prentice: tired faces. It really did. and then the race obviously provided, all the snacks, and we had Never Second, Electrolytes. Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: yeah, their carb drink.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. Yeah. So I thought people would be eating more snacks, but I think maybe that late in the race people were just like over it.

Ally Brettnacher: can't remember if I ate anything. Maybe a pretzel. I just, I love a little

Abby Prentice: Yeah. The pretzels and the chips were a big hit. but yeah, we were out there for a little over eight hours. but it was a lot of fun. We had music. I had, a little megaphone. Yes. I was yelling at people.

Yes. as long as I brought a smile to these tired runners' faces- You did. You did a solid ... I was

Ally Brettnacher: Hands down.

Abby Prentice: and it was funny because I would start off with like joking and I would, you know, like, "Hello, ultra-marathon runner," like I was being obnoxious. And then I immediately went into like, "Okay, what do you need?

What can I get you?"

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Right.

Abby Prentice: because I mean, we were mile 20-

Ally Brettnacher: Seven, 28

eight.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. It was almost 28. And then

Ally Brettnacher: there was one more tiny little aid station before- Mm-hmm

Abby Prentice: the end ... got to the finish. Yeah. So by my, my mile 28 people were hurting. Yeah. Like people

Ally Brettnacher: My feet hurt so bad. which luckily at that point, the only thing that was like, my feet are killing me.

Yeah.

Abby Prentice: Yeah. So people were hurting. So, you know, my main goal was to just like, make people smile, make people feel better, encourage them- Yeah ... and send them on their way. Yeah. but it was a lot of fun and, we'll definitely be back.

But, yeah, that was my first time even being at an aid station, let alone- Yeah ... like running the whole thing. So it was a lot of fun. Yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: I encourage people listening to volunteer for races- Mm-hmm ... to see what it's like. I, especially when I think about the World Majors in

Abby Prentice: Oh my

Ally Brettnacher: So I did a water station at our, at the Monumental Kids Movement at, at our kids race- Yeah ... at the finish line.

And it was the first time I like was taught how to set up the cups and they, they did it so there were like stories of cups. So there was

Abby Prentice: like- Yes

Ally Brettnacher: cardboard or I don't even know, poster board, something in between where you would like- Yeah ... there were like different floors of cups. Yeah. And then you just had to keep filling them up, moving them, and it was such hard work.

And you're like, "Oh my gosh- Right ... this is hard."

Abby Prentice: 'cause we just run by them. Right. We grab our cup and we- Grab our

Ally Brettnacher: grab our cup and go. Grab our cup and go. Move on with our day

Abby Prentice: on with our life, but you don't think about, like- People

Ally Brettnacher: are spending hours of their day there just, like, mindlessly filling up cups. Mm-hmm. And it, it was, it was a good learning experience for me to really appreciate the volunteers, and then also then signing up to do it myself.

I can't imagine doing it at a huge race. it's... I mean, I, I had a guy on this podcast earlier on, Humon Chu. He lives in Chicago. Mm-hmm. He ma- he is the captain of the second aid station of the Chicago Marathon. Ooh. And so I don't know if he's still, if that's still the same aid station he does, but yeah. I think about him.

He's like, "Yeah, you should come up and be part of the aid station." I'm like, " I think I'd rather just run the marathon." I feel like I'd

Abby Prentice: like I would be nervous 'cause- Yeah ... I mean, at world majors I feel like a lot of people, like, take that race really seriously.

Ally Brettnacher: I feel like a lot of people, like, take that race really seriously. Oh, absolutely. It is v- You know, you don't wanna drop a cup in the middle of the course or- Mm-hmm

who knows? but it's really cool and I did an aid station for Carmel the day after the Full

Abby Prentice: You did? I don't know how you did

Ally Brettnacher: You did. Took a while to get back. I don't... You know what? I actually didn't feel so bad because I think when you... You know this. When you run a race at a more, you know, party pace, let's call it- Mm-hmm ... or, like, a relaxed pace, or for me, I was stopping and walking and, you know, whatever, my body didn't feel as bad as I expected it to.

Yeah. I thought I was gonna be dead, like sitting in a chair not able to move the next day. Yeah. But that was not the case. So it was fun. So we went out, we got a bunch of snacks. Like, I brought my kids to do it. That's so cool. And I love it. I love doing an aid station. Yeah. But it is a lot of work.

Abby Prentice: It is. But it made me think, I'm like, wait, do I wanna, like... I mean, I love running our local races, but now I'm like, or...

Ally Brettnacher: Right. You don't have to run.

Abby Prentice: What if?

Ally Brettnacher: You can just p- you can participate. Yeah. I think being a spectator, obviously it has a bigger impact than you running your own race. Mm-hmm. Or I like the idea of pacing and stuff like that is fun because it's, again, a way to give back.

Yeah. And so people should give back, and they shouldn't wait as long as I did-

Abby Prentice: Right, same.

Ally Brettnacher: to give back 'cause yeah, the races need it. They always need volunteers. Mm-hmm. Um, and now our friend Timmy Howard- Yeah ... local photographer legend, he now works as part of the Monumental team, and his job is coordinating all the volunteers- Mm-hmm

which is literally a full-time job, so- It is

Abby Prentice: is. Yeah. Yeah. Loved Timmy. Yeah. I was almost like, I've, I'm very happy for him. It's a perfect job for him. But the Monumental Mile was the first race where, he didn't get to be a photographer. Yeah, right. He was, like, doing his job. Yeah. And I was like, "Oh, man."

Yeah, be like,

Ally Brettnacher: You're like, "I don't see you." Like, I love-- I'm so lucky. I love Terry Fletcher. Yeah. He is an excellent photographer. He was at the finish line. and then Jake, oh, I forget his last name off the top of my head, but

Abby Prentice: Yeah, but Jake's awesome.

Ally Brettnacher: But we're not, I'm not, like, super friends with him. Like, I know him- No.

Just, "Hey." Yeah. Um, and then tell, always telling him he has amazing photos, 'cause he does. But yeah, it's, Timmy is just, It's a sport for him. It's a sport for all of them, really. But he's- Yeah ... like, riding on his bike with four cameras. They are amazing.

Abby Prentice: the Full Mo.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't know what he was thinking. He survived. Insane.

Abby Prentice: He

Ally Brettnacher: did... What did he do first? The full mo first. But he did, he started, 'cause they had a night race that was double mo. Yeah. So, he started at midnight taking photos of these crazy people that did- Crazy people ... double the mileage. Mm-hmm. And then did the whole race, and then left-

Abby Prentice: And did

Ally Brettnacher: and then did the expo for Carmel.

Abby Prentice: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: the night at my house, got up. Well, I didn't even see him the next day. Got up, left, and then did Carmel- Yeah ... photography. So- I don't know how

Abby Prentice: know how. I literally, when he got to the aid station for the Full Mo, I was immediately like, "What do you..."

He was like, I was like, he was running the race. Yeah. I was like, "What do you need? Electrolytes?"

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. "Snacks?" Food.

Abby Prentice: He- "Do you need..." And he's like, "I'm fine." God. "It's all good. I'm having a great time." And I'm like-

Ally Brettnacher: nother level, man

Abby Prentice: understand." Yeah, yeah

Ally Brettnacher: nother level, so.

Abby Prentice: But he loves it

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So thank you for doing that. Of course. For all the work you put into that aid station, because it was a highlight for sure.

And knowing that I was gonna see you there- ... you know, it's just something you think about for a long time, lot of miles. I was thinking, "Okay, I get to see Abby soon. I get to see Abby." And then I got to see Lauren Court- Yeah ... who was also there, a friend of mine. And then, Kaylee was there. Mm-hmm. I forget her last name, and I always wanna call her Callie because in my head before I met her it was Callie and then- Yeah

she told me it was different. I was like, "gah."

Abby Prentice: shoot." And then it's just, like, stuck in your

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I'm like, "Well, I'm probably gonna call you Callie,"

Abby Prentice: so- ... sorry. But

Ally Brettnacher: was there with her daughter and so it's just seeing familiar faces

Abby Prentice: great.

Ally Brettnacher: great. Mm-hmm. Is so nice during a race. But yeah, you gotta be careful the races you choose to spectate- Yeah

Abby Prentice: Yeah. 'Cause then you

Ally Brettnacher: wanna do it. Like Prairie On Fire, which I'm not doing, but I will spectate again

Abby Prentice: Not doing yet?

Ally Brettnacher: Yet is the keyword. 'Cause I, I will do that race. TJ knows. He's, you

Abby Prentice: know-

Ally Brettnacher: worn me down.

Abby Prentice: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Who ever thought I'd be an ultramarathoner? Not me, Abby. So I think, I mean, you've got plenty of time to do that if you want to at some point, but- We'll see

it's fun. Super fun. Come on, you gotta do it. You'll do it. Yeah. I know you

Abby Prentice: You will. Maybe.

Ally Brettnacher: I can't wait to like play this clip for when- Yeah ... like after you do the race. I had to l- I looked back when I s- wh- when I decided to do the full mo 'cause I swore I had said that I would not. Mm-hmm. I said, I did say I had no interest in doing an ultramarathon.

I was like, "You know, those people are just crazy. I have no interest in that."

Abby Prentice: So you didn't say you wouldn't. Right. You just said you weren't interested.

Ally Brettnacher: I became interested. Whoops. Oh my gosh.

Abby Prentice: me with the marathon.

Ally Brettnacher: with the marathon. Yeah. It just, it sneaks up on you and it j- and it just happens,

Abby Prentice: It does. So. There's levels to the crazy.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. There are d- yeah. And we're getting up to the top. not all the way 'cause there's people who run hundreds of miles and- This is true ... that, I really don't think I'll ever do that. Mm-mm. Yeah. So, before we do the end of the podcast stuff, I did wanna ask you a little bit about some of your favorite running things because- Mm-hmm

you have so many partners you've worked with and you've tried so many things and so I'm curious what you use or like to use for

Abby Prentice: fueling. Mm-hmm.

Ally Brettnacher: and then obviously you wear a lot of Lululemon these days. Mm-hmm. Um, but

Abby Prentice: what kind

Ally Brettnacher: shoes do you run in? I just wanna hear some of the nerdier side of the gear.

Yeah.

Abby Prentice: So for fuel, I really like Tailwind. Yeah, I like them. Um, for like pre-run. Mm-hmm. Their carb electrolyte mix. I'm not really big on flavors. I really struggle with liking the flavors of things, and so theirs is a pretty, like, I guess like muted flavor. it's not a very strong flavor. I get the lemon.

Okay. That's what I use. And so I drink that before the run to get some like carbs and electrolytes in. on the run, I really like Never Second gels. S- and Run Club is actually partnered with them now. Oh, cool. Um, Matt is our local rep, and he is awesome. And I love Never Second because they, really emphasize the education of like, why are you taking this?

Yeah. When are you taking it? How, and like what it's doing for you. Mm-hmm. Whereas like I feel like other nutrition companies like aren't really great at educating. They're just like, "You know, buy our gels. They're great." Yeah. and so Never Second is, really good about education in all of their products and like why you're taking them- Mm-hmm

and, and what it's doing for your body. I also really like Huma gels. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I have seen you post about those. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: Those are really good too. I've recently tried- The chi- it's chia seed ones. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Which I thought, I, I thought I would think that's weird, but it's actually like a good texture.

Ally Brettnacher: love chia seeds. I'm not gonna lie.

Abby Prentice: They're really good.

Ally Brettnacher: it would make me poop my pants though, to be honest. It

Abby Prentice: It hasn't yet. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: that's good.

Abby Prentice: That's good. I've also tried Cadence, recently, their gels and then Carbs, the brand Carbs.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, I don't know even know that was a brand ... gels. Um-

Abby Prentice: know that was a brand. Carbs gels.

Ally Brettnacher: I can't keep track

Abby Prentice: I know. There's a lot, and that's why I've kind of just like I've been recently like trying things out. I had been using UCAN, and it like wasn't really agreeing with me anymore, and I don't really agree with them anymore.

Right.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't really agree with them anymore.

Right. Um- If you don't know that story, just Google UCAN and Emma Bates. Yeah. Who now works with Never Second. Who now works with Never Second.

Abby Prentice: who now

Ally Brettnacher: And so does Emma Grace Hurley,

Abby Prentice: And Emily Sisson. Yeah. And yeah, they're getting lots of people,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, 'cause it's

Abby Prentice: it's good, so. It is. It's good. so those are like the gels that I've been using.

trying to think of what else.

Ally Brettnacher: What is your shoe of choice?

Abby Prentice: Oh, that's a really hard question.

Ally Brettnacher: What are your shoes of choice?

Abby Prentice: choice? So I love working at Athletic Annex.

Ally Brettnacher: God, I know. I miss working at a run specialty store, let me tell you.

Abby Prentice: So that means I do, I am exposed to a lot of different shoes, I feel like a lot of runners like stick with a brand or like they are really like glued to a brand or a specific shoe, a lot of runners are. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so Athletic Annex has really broadened my horizons on like what shoes. Um, we get seeded shoes- Yeah ... um, through, the different brands, and so shoes that I wouldn't necessarily like go and buy- Right

I've tried and I'm like, "Wait, these are actually really good." Yeah. Like, "I really like these." I had never worn Saucony before. Yeah. and- Same,

Ally Brettnacher: I st- I worked at Fleet Feet for a year, and I had never worn Saucony, and now I race in Saucony. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Abby Prentice: I race in New Balance SC Elites. Okay. I have the previous version and the current version of those and love them.

I would say ASICS Superblasts are probably like- Mm ... my go-to right now, the newest version. there's actually a new colorway, and I really

Ally Brettnacher: I

Abby Prentice: I have the white colorway, which is great. I feel like all my running shoes are white right now. Yeah. but there's like this lime green and like teal.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, yeah.

Abby Prentice: I'm like, "I, I think I need it."

Ally Brettnacher: God, I have so many.

I have too many. My husband's like, "Do you n- how do you need more shoes?" I'm like, "Because they wear out." It's like a shoe rotation. "And I need shoes for my this and that, and

Track 1: need shoes

Abby Prentice: And I need shoes for my this and that and- Exactly ... my trail shoes,

Ally Brettnacher: and I got my out..." You know, it's just-

Abby Prentice: So I have a pretty, pretty good rotation going right now.

I just got the ASICS Novablast. Mm. Um, the 6 that just came out. I ran in them this morning. They're great. I like my Nike, What are they?

Ally Brettnacher: I don't know. I can't wear Nike. They- Vomero Plus.

Abby Prentice: Okay. Nike Vomero+. I don't like the V- Vomero 18s for running. I wear them, like, as casual and, like, walking shoes, but the Pluses are really nice.

I really like those. yeah, I really do have, like I have two different shoe racks, and We bought the first one, and I was like, "Okay, these shelves are mine and these are Deshaun's." Mm-hmm. And then the, and then they were all my shoes. And so I bought a second rack- Absolutely ... thinking like, "Okay, now this one's mine and this one's yours," and I've now filled that one too.

So- And you're like,

Ally Brettnacher: don't get any

Abby Prentice: I'm like, "Deshaun..." I mean, he has, like, three pairs of shoes. Yeah. So he's fine. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I, I need ... I owe Athletic Annex a donation. They were running a promo where you could get, like, a $10 coupon if you donated shoes, and I missed that deadline, but I know they'll be back. They do that every once in a while. Yeah. And I know there's probably pla- other places I can take my shoes.

I just, I also have dreams of putting a shoe wall in my basement gym. Mm. but that also feels kinda wasteful, because if there's shoes sitting there that somebody else could use. You talk about working with, like, the, the youth, you

Abby Prentice: know? Mm-hmm.

Ally Brettnacher: my old running shoes are, like, amazing to somebody else, right?

I don't wanna just put 'em on my wall and then-

Abby Prentice: fair. Yeah, Athletic Annex actually always has a donation bin. Okay. Um, at least in the Nora store, we always have one. Yeah. That was, like, a special promo I

Ally Brettnacher: you don't always get coupons, so

Abby Prentice: don't always get coupons.

You don't always get coupons. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Yeah. Which is fine.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I mean, you know. Yeah.

Abby Prentice: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I just need to do it. But

Abby Prentice: I probably should take inventory of my shoes, 'cause I do have shoes that, like, I don't run in anymore because- Yeah, same ... like they are retired, but I refuse to get rid of them.

Right. Like, I always tell myself, like, "Oh," I'll wear these for, like, mowing the yard," or

Ally Brettnacher: for, like, mowing the yard," or- Right

Abby Prentice: or, if I know I'm going to, like, Eagle Creek and it's going to be- Sure ... like super muddy- Awful ... I'm not gonna wear my good shoes.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't have to wash 'em.

Abby Prentice: like, how many of those, shoes do you need?

Yeah. Because I now have probably like- I'm the same

Ally Brettnacher: I am in the same boat

Abby Prentice: I need to do it ... retired shoes that I need to do

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Yeah. I, I will probably do something with my retired racing shoes just because those aren't as, like- Yeah ... usable, and I bedazzle them now, so they- Yes. You know, I, I mean, people might like that, but it's like these are special. These I'm very emotionally attached to.

Yeah. Special ... yeah. So look at us hoarders.

Abby Prentice: hoarders. Truly.

Ally Brettnacher: Truly hoarders. Okay. Now I'm gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions. Okay. So there's two questions I ask everybody, and the first one is kind of a two-parter. It's what is your favorite running mantra and/or song?

Abby Prentice: Okay. Running mantra, mantra is easy. you can do hard things.

Ally Brettnacher: always a good one

Abby Prentice: I put that up on a sign for the Full Mo. And actually, that was the one sign that I kept because I, like, attached it to one of those, like,

Ally Brettnacher: one of those, like, um, almost like yard sale signs,

Abby Prentice: almost like yard sale signs.

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Yep.

Abby Prentice: So I kept that one because I'm like, " We could use that somewhere else again." Yeah. But you can do hard things. I actually, I do truly tell myself that a lot. I

Ally Brettnacher: brought you some tattoos. Re- well, next time I see you, I'll bring you some.

Abby Prentice: Okay. and then song.

Oh, that's a good one I listen to the Big Booty Mixes. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I've heard.

Abby Prentice: They're incredible. Uh, if you haven't heard of them before, it's a, it's actually, they're technically, podcasts on Spotify because the song is so long. Yeah ... so it's like an hour-long mix of just songs that like- Yeah ... flow into each other, and they usually input like little like funny things from the internet like, "Can I pet that dog?"

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's great

Abby Prentice: great. Like they put in like little like tidbits from the internet, so it's like good music, parts- Entertainment ... yeah, entertainment. Yeah, yeah. But they're usually like an hour long, and they have like 25 different volumes now. Amazing. And so I typically listen to those. Yeah. Um-

Ally Brettnacher: Nate Spangle is the first person who introduced me to

Abby Prentice: person who introduced me to those.

Ally Brettnacher: And I was like, "What? It sounds ridiculous. Big Booty Mix." There was another, there's another... I don't know why I can't remember off the top of my head, but there was another one, its predecessor, if you will- Mm-hmm ... but I forget the name of it, that I used to listen to, like, in college.

Okay. I'll think of it later. Nobody

Abby Prentice: cares. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And then next finish line or milestone we've, we've talked about.

Abby Prentice: We have, yeah, the big ones are Chicago Marathon, New York City Marathon. Yeah. Amazing. And then I'm going to sit down, 'cause those are three weeks apart. that's a lie. I'm not gonna sit down.

I'm running the Inum- Indy Monumental, 5K six days after New York City Marathon. Okay. Just the 5K

Ally Brettnacher: This is a little cool down

Abby Prentice: Just a little cool-down. And truly, like if it ends up being a walk, it ends up being a walk. Yeah. Because, I'm just running it, I'm running it for the medal, 'cause I did the 5K in June. Oh. I'm gonna do the Fort Ben 5K- Yes

and then the Monumental 5K. Yeah. So you get a special medal for doing the 5K series. Series of 5Ks,

Ally Brettnacher: Yep, so sucker for a medal. I

Abby Prentice: am.

Ally Brettnacher: me too. So that's, that's amazing. But

Abby Prentice: that's amazing. But yeah- Yeah ... the fall, the fall is fully stacked with races,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's

Abby Prentice: gosh, it's so exciting.

Ally Brettnacher: cannot wait. And then I feel like now you have to plan your whole, like years in advance, which I hate.

You're a planner, so maybe that's

Abby Prentice: not true.

Ally Brettnacher: you. I don't like the idea of committing to something that's like in the fall of '27.

Abby Prentice: I know.

Ally Brettnacher: but you have to now. Like London ballots just were announced today if you got into the London Marathon- Yeah ... via lottery. Those we're announcing as we speak. Mm-hmm. Did you go, did you enter that lottery?

Abby Prentice: did not. Okay, good job.

Ally Brettnacher: job. I- I

Abby Prentice: am, I am like a crazy planner. At least, I mean, I'm, I plan that far ahead with like vacations. That's

Ally Brettnacher: fair. I

Abby Prentice: would do that. We travel a lot, and so I already know like our Europe trip for 2027, but-

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, where are you going?

Abby Prentice: the plan is, Albania and Greece.

Ally Brettnacher: Cool. I'm going to Greece on Saturday.

Abby Prentice: No way Yeah, that's

Ally Brettnacher: two days as we record this.

I will report back.

Abby Prentice: Yay. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I can't wait. Albania,

Ally Brettnacher: I don't even know where that is on a map.

Abby Prentice: me neither. Cool. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I, whenever I consider traveling, I'm like, look, and like my geography is awful for as much

Abby Prentice: I travel."

Oh, terrible. Terrible. Yeah. My brother-in-law, I guess he would call it, like, a digital nomad. Hmm. He, travels. He used to live in Nashville. He sold all of his stuff, and he just Airbnbs. Like, he spent,

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so wait, who is this?

Abby Prentice: my brother-in-law. Dishon's

Ally Brettnacher: I was gonna say, 'cause you have one sibling. I do.

Abby Prentice: I do.

Ally Brettnacher: brother. Okay, yeah.

Abby Prentice: Yeah, so Dishon's brother Dez, he travels around, and, like, he's been in Mexico for a month. He just Airbnbs, and, like- That's cool ... he was in Europe for, like, six months, and so he has been to Albania and raved about it. So,

Ally Brettnacher: I've never heard of anybody going to Albania.

Abby Prentice: You know, I went to high school with a girl from Albania, but that's the only reason I know the name of that country. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: That's cool, though. I can't wait to hear how it is.

Abby Prentice: Yeah, I'm excited. Well, I'm excited for your Greece

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Where are you going in Greece when you

Abby Prentice: when you go? Great question. I have no idea.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, we're only going to Santorini because- Okay ... the purpose of this vacation is to, relax. Okay. Like, we'll, we'll adventure too because- Yeah

we can't just, like, sit still. But, uh, I didn't wanna have to have travel days 'cause we're only going for a week. Okay. And so we don't have the luxury of, like, two-week vacation where we can hop between islands. It's like, let's just go- Okay ... somewhere. Anywhere, just

Abby Prentice: And are the girls going with you? No. No. So it's, yeah. Oh, that's so exciting. It'll be really fun. Wow. Yeah. I love that. But anyway, all that to say is I plan travel that far in advance. I don't love planning races that far in

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Are you gonna, are you working your way towards all the majors at this point? Is that something that's on your mind?

Abby Prentice: not really. I mean, I would run London, but I don't know that I'm interested in any of the other ones.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I, I'm interested, but now that it's become so hard, I'm like, "Well, there's other places in the world I'd like to visit." Yeah. And then they have marathons. They do.

Abby Prentice: So. Easier to get into. Easier to get

Ally Brettnacher: easier to get into, smaller, less logistics. So I love the World Major, I- the idea of doing- Yeah ... all the World Majors.

I would love to go to Sydney at some point with my daughter, Sydney. Yeah. So, and run that race. but now that it's a World Major, it's probably gonna be harder to do. It's gonna be terrible. So yeah.

Abby Prentice: yeah, I don't know. After training for two marathons back to back in '23 and '24, I, like, was like, "I'm not running a full marathon in 2025." And all of my friends did, and that was really hard to, number one, do long runs with them and then be like, " Bye."

Yeah. Like, I'm not doing that many. And so, I kind of, like, had a little bit of FOMO there, but was very happy to not be marathon training. Mm-hmm. I had a really busy 2025, and so I guess I'm making up for it by running

Ally Brettnacher: There you go

Abby Prentice: in 2026. Yeah, actually run. So I don't know if I wanna run another marathon in 2027.

Me neither. We'll

Ally Brettnacher: I used to be in every other year. When I started marathons, outside of the years maybe I became a mom, I did a marathon like every other year

Abby Prentice: I think I like that

Ally Brettnacher: Which seemed better.

I don't know. Actually, when I started, I did Chicago like three years in a row, I think. I don't know. I, whatever. But now, e- every other year feels really nice because having your summer be dedicated to marathon training-

Abby Prentice: a lot

Ally Brettnacher: It is a lot.

Abby Prentice: It's so time-consuming. Yeah. And like you're-

Ally Brettnacher: who do that every year.

Abby Prentice: people do that every year. Yeah. Yeah. I think I, I think I like that idea of every other year. Yeah. That sounds good.

Ally Brettnacher: then you can lean into the aid station spectator Abbey, who is amazing at that job too. So. Well, thanks so much for doing this. Oh my gosh, it was so fun to just sit and chat with you. Yeah,

Abby Prentice: it really was.

Ally Brettnacher: like every time I see you, I see you for five minutes.

Abby Prentice: I know.

Ally Brettnacher: this was great. This was

Abby Prentice: was really

Ally Brettnacher: really fun. Really enjoyed it.

Thanks for listening everybody Yeah. And happy running.

Abby Prentice: Yes, happy running. Yay.

Ally Brettnacher: That's it.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, you might enjoy my weekly emails. You can sign up for them in the show notes or at athletebouquets.com. I can't believe that it's nearly August. Today is actually my daughter Sydney's ninth birthday, the day that this comes out, July 31st, which also happens to be Harry Potter's birthday, which is why we're having a Harryoke, that's Harry Potter and karaoke, party.

First time I've hosted a sleepover here, so wish me luck. And then also now come August, I will be recording the August edition of Catching Up With Coach, where I talk to my coach, Rachel Sinders, about my own training, her running, The idea is to give you an idea of what it's like working with a coach.

We also shout out other members of the Team RMR, Rachel Michelle Running community, so stay tuned for that coming soon. And I will be heading to South Haven, Michigan tomorrow, so August 1st through the 8th, I'll be in Michigan with my family And I can't wait for another vacation. And then school starts for us on August 15th or 12th, whatever that Wednesday is. So hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer, and I will talk to you again next week. Bye.

Ally Brettnacher

Episode 168: Abby Prentice - You Don't Have to Run Alone

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