Episode 45: Holly Read - Fighting a Hidden Enemy

Episodes

Mar 1

Listener note: This episode includes brief mentions of sexual assault and miscarriage.

Holly Read spent two years in Nike's secret Dreamweaver program chasing an Olympic Trials qualifier, while a hidden enemy kept making her sick: mold blowing through her furnace.

Listen on Apple Podcasts · Listen on Spotify

About this episode

Holly Read grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon, burned out on running in college, and came back to it at 29 with encouragement from pro runner Sara Hall. She ran 3:03 in her first marathon at Eugene, 2:55 at CIM despite seven or eight bathroom stops, and 2:45 at Carmel in 2021, then was invited into Nike's Dreamweaver program for women chasing an Olympic Trials qualifier.

Now that the program is ending, Holly can finally talk about it, and we get into the shoes, the camps, the coaching and the people who made her feel like she belonged even when she couldn't race. We also talk about the CMV, flu and pneumonia that kept her off start lines, discovering the cause was mold in her furnace, what remediation looked like, and how she's channeling it all into her coaching business and the Be Gritty podcast.

In this episode, we discuss

Taking 10 years off running after college and the conversation with Sara Hall that brought her back
Her first marathon at Eugene, finishing on the track where she raced in high school
Breaking three hours at CIM with seven or eight bathroom stops and missing the trials standard
Working with dietitian Jackie Dikos and running Carmel 2021 with zero bathroom stops
Getting rejected by amateur programs after the 2:37 trials standard came out
The email inviting her into Nike's Dreamweaver program on her birthday
Five pairs of shoes every quarter and learning to actually train in super shoes
CMV, the flu and pneumonia keeping her from ever making a full OTQ attempt
Joan Benoit Samuelson, a Nike physiologist from Breaking2, and a bag of Scratch Labs fuel at Grandma's
How Nike supported moms with nannies, nursing rooms and the message "you belong"
Comparing her experience with the stories that came out of Nike's Oregon Project
Discovering black mold in her furnace and crawl space after years of unexplained illness
Remediation, reacting to dead mold, and how it affected her husband and sons
Grit Performance Coaching, the Be Gritty podcast and her Facebook group for athletic entrepreneurs
Her mantra, look strong, feel strong, run strong, and chasing the next trials at 42

Chapters

Intro
Burnout and coming back with Sara Hall
Eugene, CIM and missing the trials
A second baby and a move to Indiana
Carmel 2021 and getting her gut right
Rejections and the Nike Dreamweaver invitation
Getting sick at the top of her game
CIM weekend and Nike's support
Mini camp and shoe testing
Pneumonia at Carmel and Grandma's Marathon
You belong: Nike and moms
Discovering the mold
Remediation and recovery
Grit Performance and Be Gritty
Mantra and next finish line

Where to find Holly

Instagram: Lift Run Recover
Podcast: Be Gritty
Grit Performance Coaching
Facebook: Be Gritty group

Mentioned in this episode

Races: U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, California International Marathon (CIM), Eugene Marathon, Carmel Marathon, Grandma's Marathon, Napa Valley Half Marathon, LA Marathon, Indy Mini Marathon, Boston Marathon, Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon, USATF Masters Outdoor Championships
Organizations and charities: Nike Dreamweaver program, NO MORE, Tracksmith, rabbit, Scratch Labs
Other: Sara Hall, Ryan Hall, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Shalane Flanagan, Eliud Kipchoge, Gabi Rooker, Breaking2, Nike Alphafly and Vaporfly, "The Comeback" by Danny Gokey, Steve Prefontaine

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

What was the Nike Dreamweaver program?

Holly Read describes Nike's Dreamweaver program as a roughly two-year, initially secret program supporting about 120 amateur women chasing an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, with shoes, coaching, camps, a dietitian, a psychologist and support for moms.

Why didn't Holly Read get an Olympic Trials qualifying attempt?

Holly Read kept getting sick before key races with CMV, the flu and pneumonia, and she later discovered that mold blowing through her home's furnace had been making her ill for years.

How did Holly Read find the mold in her house?

Holly Read noticed she coughed at night whenever the furnace came on, had the ducts cleaned, and the company found mold in the furnace trunk line and crawl space.

Support this show

Transcript

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

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones with Ally Brettnacher. Incredible stories and tales of triumphs with everyday people achieving their goals and fitness. This podcast brought to you by Athlete Bouquets. Celebrate finish lines and milestones of the people that you love by visiting athletebouquets.com. Hey, it's Allie. Happy March. I am back from Vegas where I ran the Rock'n'roll Half marathon last Sunday and I got my redemption that I was seeking. I'm in the middle of writing a recap, so if you want to see that, make sure you're signed up for either Athlete Bouquets emails or follow me at Athlete Bouquets on Instagram. I should have that posted actually the day that perhaps you listen to this podcast on March 1st.

So we shall see. It was excellent, had a great time, had a great time in the race as well and enjoy time with my aunt. My dad, my dad's cousin and his sons were all there. They run every single year and so I've joined them in 2022 and now this year and then I signed up for next year, so. Vegas was, was. So great. Such an entertaining race. Different. And then it's in the evening and it's on the strip, so you get to see all the crazy lights, see all the people. And yeah, I can't recommend it enough. So if you're interested, definitely think about joining me next year.

One other thing I want to talk about is next week is no more week. There's an organization called No More Org and their mission is to end domestic and sexual violence, which you know now more than ever is so incredibly important. And my guest on episode 17, Eileen Poor. She shares her story of survival. She survived sexual assault and it is the most listened to episode of this podcast. It also happens to be one of the longest episodes, but it's it's certainly worth your time. But in Solidary with Eileen, we are running next Wednesday, March 6th at 5:30 PM We're going to meet on the Monon in Carmel across from the Sun King Brewery in Midtown.

Great news if you're not local or if you can't make it that night, it's 20 bucks. Sign up. You can run a 5K virtually anytime during next week, the 4th through the 11th specifically, so that link will be in the show Notes also on my Instagram at Athlete Bouquets. So thank you for your support. Today's guest is Holly Reed, a new Ish friend of mine. I actually was a guest on her podcast last December and before we dive into the episode, there were a couple things I wanted to point out that I missed either defining or missed coming back to at the end of the episode.

So first of all, couple definitions. CIM when referenced that is the California International Marathon. OTQ stands for Olympic Trials qualifier. So that when you say you're going for an OTQ, you're going for a time that qualifies you to run in the Olympic Trials, which then the top three go to the Olympics. We mentioned Jonbenet Samuelson. She is the first Women's Olympic Marathon champion. So Holly has had a couple of run insurance with her, so know that that's a big deal. And then we didn't go back to Holly's goals when it comes to Boston. So while she has qualified for Boston and every marathon she's run so far, she's never run.

And part of the reason is that she wants to run as an elite runner in Boston. So she has set that as a goal for herself and certainly as an almost masters runner. That is something that that is 100% attainable and I can't wait to to cheer her on on that front. So during this episode we talked about really two major topics. So we talked about this amazing, secretive, exclusive Dreamweaver program that Holly has been a part of for the last couple of years through Nike. And so we we talk a lot about that and her experiences in attempting an Olympic Trials qualifying time. We talk a lot about the insurance and outs of the program itself, how Nike has taken great care of these women who are all looking to qualify for the trials, but just all in different stages, perhaps even of running.

And it was really cool to hear about that. Finally, she wasn't able to talk about it while she was in the program. So now we have all the details and we also talked about while she hasn't achieved that OTQ, she's still after it. And the second topic that we we tackle is all of the health issues that she's been going through the last few years. So she finally figured out that all of this pain and suffering she's gone through, that her family has gone through was all due to black mold in her furnace that she discovered such an ordeal. We talk about that. It's a great wake up call to anybody who, you know, perhaps it has issues they don't know what's caused by, but just to make sure that it's not something that that could be in your home.

We also end with talking about her business and her podcast Be Gritty and the Facebook community that goes along with that. So I I really encourage you to listen to this entire episode. Holly is just really incredible, and she's certainly somebody that you're going to want to be cheering on as well. So without further ado, here's Holly. Hello, I'm here with Holly Reed. Hi. Hi, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Good. We are kind of awkwardly close to you, but it's fine. It's. Fine. It's great. We're going to. We're going to. Be, you know, intimate setting. Get to know each other really well.

Yeah, absolutely. Going for it and we are absolutely. I'm so excited to see you again. It's been how long ago since we first met? Oh my gosh. So we recorded your podcast episode on mine in December. So it's almost. December, Yeah. Oh, wow. The early December. That's longer than I thought, actually. Yeah. OK. Well, good to see you again in real life. And so you are Lift, Run, recover on Instagram. That might be changing, but I haven't decided. It OK. But for now and then the Be Gritty podcast and the name of your business Grit, Performance Grit, Performance Grit. We'll talk about that later because I want to know more but yeah, thanks for doing this.

I am really excited to talk about this secret Nike club that you've been in now literally for years. Yeah, a couple of years. Yeah, and unable to talk about it. And now you can. So now you can tell everybody everything. Yes. And so I'll let you tell us where to start, 'cause I don't even really know. OK, Yeah, let's. I mean, we can dive in right into that. So basically a little background story. So I've, you know, tried to make the Olympic trials like for seven years now, right. And I started. I took like 10 years off, marathon or running, not just marathon training. I wasn't marathon training in my 20s, but I took like 10 years off after college.

I was burned out. I quit in the middle of college, like, just not a great experience for me. And then I had moved to this little mountain town in Northern California and I was at this ministry school and like Ryan and Sarah Hall show up and they're in ministry school with me. And that was super interesting and crazy and like, OK, that's cool, so. What is a ministry school? It's like, I mean, it's like it's this one's hard to explain because it's it's like it's not like actually accredited college necessarily, but it's like it was kind of like almost more like inner healing stuff than anything.

But is it religious? Yeah. OK, that's what I think when I hear ministry. Yes. So. So it's like a religious like just kind of learning more about God and, you know, all the things. OK. So, yeah, yeah. And for and for people who don't know, Sarah and Ryan Hall are pro runners. Yes. You know, some people follow sports. Some don't. Yeah, no big deal. But I mean, Sarah's a pretty what, Did she finish 5th at the trials? Yeah. So she's a big deal. Yeah. Yeah, so. So I was in my, like, from running. I had started a running club at the school and so I had started running for like a few months.

Again, I'd taken several years off by that point. I was 25, I think. So I'd taken like 3-4 years off. And so a year like I then I stopped that because I got sick. And I was just like, I'm tired of being sick, you know, running And so and I had nothing to train for because basically after college, right. You're like, well, unless you're a pro, you're done at least at least 20 years ago. Like that was the I'm 38 next week. Like that was the thing like you turn pro out of college or you're done. There was no social media. There was no, you know, all that was just coming out.

So you didn't know about Olympic Trials and like, well, you did, but you didn't think you could go? Right. It's so interesting. Anyway, sorry I'm making this a very. No this story for sure. We're this is what we're here for, so. About a year later, we were getting ready for our second year graduation. I was sitting in the back of the church with Sarah and she's like, when are you going to start running again? And I was like, I looked at her, OK, Sarah's like, what, 3 1/2 years older than me? Something like that. So she's a pro at this time? She is a pro.

Yeah. She was just switched to the marathon. OK, so this is 2012. This was the year that like Ryan ran in the London Olympics. And anyway, so we're like sitting there it it's 2013 actually at this point and and she's like, when are you going to run again? And I was like, Sarah, I'm past my prime dumbest comment I've ever made in my life. But that was the attitude back then is like, unless, like if you didn't peek in college like that was it, you know, for you, you're done. So I realize now that that was really dumb because I'm 38 and and by the time I was 36, I broke every PR that I had in high school, college.

And so I didn't know what I didn't know. But she, you know, kept encouraging me to run. And finally in like 2015, I texted her and I was like, I think I can run 3 miles at 8:30 pace. You want to go for a run? It took till a couple more months to get our schedules figured out. But we went and ran like 7 miles together and and it was fun and you know, like and then there was this guy who was like I could coach you. Like I took a bunch of years off my 20s, made the Olympic trials in my 30s and I know exactly how to coach you.

And so I was like he ran in the marathon Olympic trials in 84 and he qualified in 88 but got hurt so. And he was like, I think he was a 214 marathoner. And this was before like he's like 76 now. Like this was like a long time ago before super shoes and all the things. So he was very fast and so he just started, decided to start coaching me for free. So between him and Sarah, I finally, like, got back to running at 29 years old. Way past your prime. Way past my prime way fast, 'cause this is like several years, right? And and so then I had a kid in 2016, so I ran for like 4 months again and then stopped.

And then I had a kid and my first son and and then I didn't run until and that was like I had him in October 2016. I didn't start running till August 2017 or July 2017. Somewhere in there, OK, And now I've been running ever since. Yeah. But the goal was my coach was like, you can make the Olympic trials for the marathon. I'm like, I don't know what that is but you Olympic sure like you know. So I was like let's try and I ran. I ran my first marathon in 2018 and ran a three O 3. I had one bathroom stop and I had had a stomach virus the two weeks leading up to it.

But somehow I still we wanted to break 3 hours. But I was like, I don't really know anything about any of this. I think I had like 5 chews the entire run and maybe a sip of Gatorade. I'm not really like I didn't take any fuel really. And so I just followed my friend because she was a seasoned marathoner and I hung on to her till mile 17 and she took off and broke three hours and I ran three O 3. And I was like that was fun. Like, so I was like let's do that again and let's try and make the trials. So I I trained and in December of 2018 I ran CIM OK and I was like.

So wait, did you say the name of the marathon you ran from? Eugene. OK, yeah, Eugene. OK, so Eugene in Oregon. Yeah, and then which was really significant for me, 'cause I grew up in Oregon and they tore the track down the next week and all my state meets and for high school and stuff were there. And in college I ran a lot there and I never had a good race. So to like come back and be able to finish on that track. As your and your first marathon. Back it was like really healing. It was really, it's really cool. So anyway, Fast forward. I run CIM.

It was I I went out with the Pace group and for 2:45 and I made it to mile 9 and the buses were late. Like it was a whole huge story. The buses were late. I didn't get a warm up. I I never trust the buses at CIM. Just a little thing out there like drive yourself to the start or have someone drive you, 'cause even with my Dreamweaver teammates a couple years ago, they were late again, like, so it was a huge thing. So anyway, I never got to go to the bathroom and I already had stomach issues anyway, so I had eight bathroom stops in that 7 or 8 something like that in that marathon and and I saw the trial slipping away but I was like I can still PR you know.

So I broke 3 hours, ran 255 O1 and I missed the Ilvik trials by 10 minutes and one second 'cause I was in the bathroom. Probably that tired time. So that is wild that you broke 3 hours with like 7 or 8 bathroom stops. Yeah, and my coach is the finish line official at CIM and I crossed the finish line and he's like, I was like, you know, I thought I'd be a lot happier when I broke 3 hours, but this is. Devastating. I see to go to the bathroom again. Yeah, I did, yeah. I need to go clean up. And like, yeah, it was awful.

So I missed the trials. And so we're like, let's try again. And I got so burnt out, 'cause I was training so hard and I I ran the Napa half and it was my worst time ever. And I was like, the LA Marathon accepted me into the elite field three weeks after that. And I was like, I hated those 13 miles. There's no way I'm gonna run 26 like. Is Napa hilly? Does that have some elevation? Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. Especially from the Midwest. That's this weekend. Yeah, it should be. Yeah, Yeah. In early March. Yes. So I was just like, I'm done. And my coach was like, yeah, I think you need to, you know, take a break.

And I the whole time I was thinking, 'cause I had my one son, but he was like, now 32 and he was going to be 3 this next year. And I was like, I was like I'd rather have another kid. So I got pregnant that week and we had another kid in November of 2019, my second son. So I watched the trials from my living room and with a three month old, with my housemate who had made the trials but didn't go. But she had made it three times. So it's all relative, you know, It's like, yeah. You know what? Why didn't she go? She was in the middle of dental school and just had like a lot going on.

And she had made it three times, you know, So it was just one of those that just, she didn't feel the, like, pole to go and run or whatever. But I was like, give me your bib, I'll go run. Right. How is that? Was that hard for you 'cause I feel like if it were me, I would have a hard time with that. Well, I understood it because that's how I've been with Boston. So it's just, to me, I was like, I understand, 'cause it's relative. I've qualified for Boston every time I ran a marathon. Right. Yeah, that's a good point. But it wasn't a challenge for me, right?

So I I'm like, will I run Boston someday? I'm sure I will. But. You still have it? No. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. OK. I have goals around that, though, OK, I do have goals. Around that. Let's come back to that. Remind me. Yes. Don't forget, we'll come back that. But this is all leading up to the Dreamweaver question. This is my huge back story. But basically, like, I so I understood her point. And so we all, we watched it from my living room, you know, and it was fine and fun, but I was like, I'm making it next time. And so we end up moving to Indiana in the middle of the pandemic.

Like all this stuff happened, you know, very unpopular opinion. I started running like six days after I had my son just 'cause I needed to get out of the house 6. Days. Well, and The thing is, my teammate like or training partner would run the day after she got out of the hospital, you know, so like. Interesting. I've never met. I've never met somebody who's done that. But of course, I've never really been around. Yeah, people like you who are super runners. But, you know, and there's a lot of literature out there now like, you know, saying maybe that's not the best idea or whatever.

But for me, I I ran really slow and I just needed, I would run like a mile, like just need to get out of the house. And it was like, like very slow pace for me, you know, like, and I just didn't care. I just needed to move, you know? So, But I trained for three months and I was, like ready to come back and, like, do something. And then the pandemic happened, you know, And I was like, well. And so I kind of stopped running for a little bit. And then we moved here and I freakishly rammed my foot into the corner of the couch.

And I couldn't run for 10 weeks. So I was like this really weird, random time. But then I trained for Carmel 2021, OK, the Carmel Marathon. And there was no pressure, you know, I was going to be 15 months postpartum. It was just like, let's get back, you know. And I seem to always restart running in August. And so it was like August 2020. I started running again. My foot had healed and I. So I was doing my little comeback tour and I ran 2:45 at Carmel and I had been working with my dietitian here, who I found. Her name's Jackie Decos. And I had 0 bathroom stops and I was like, I don't even care about the time.

I just care about the fact that 'cause I had so much trauma after that, like 8 bathroom stops. And like, you know, like I can never make the limbic trials if I'm in the bathroom that many times. So that was a huge deal, Like, and it was, it was awesome. What do you think? Helped with like what do you attribute that to? Well, we worked on. I took this. I can never remember the name, but it's a food sensitivity test. But not like the Everly well or those kind. Like it was like this more scientific one. So I cut out a lot of things. I cut out coffee for three months.

I cut out a lot of things. But it wasn't to be forever. It was just to heal my gut. That makes sense. And then we'd slowly reintroduce them back and I felt the best I had ever felt during that season. Like, still to this day, that was my like really strong, like just health wise, feeling really good. And then, so then I was like, OK, maybe I can start applying to these amateur programs 'cause I finally ran like I was 24514, so very close to the 2020 standard, and the 2024 standard hadn't come out yet. When How does that? How did the trial years work?

I should. Know so they opened the window. So in in 2020 for 2020 they had opened it in September of 20/17/2017 I think. So you had from September 2017 until Houston Marathon of 2020 to qualify for the 2020? Trial, which is in January and the. Trials were at the end. It was actually February 29th, four years ago in Atlanta. So then this time they waited long time before they ever said when the window was going to open. They waited a long time to say what the time was going to be. So this time they opened it January 1st of 2022 and you had for 24 for 24?

So the window is. Shorter. Like four months shorter. Three months. September to January, Yeah, And then you. And that's for the marathon. If you qualify with the half, you only have one year, so that opens the following year. OK, yeah, I know it's a little. Bit, yeah. And then you had up until 60 days before, so CIM ended up being the final race you could run. So Houston was out this year. You couldn't run Houston in 2024 and qualify for the trials. It CIM was it. Yeah. Wow. Or that weekend was it, you know. So she had a two year, two year window. So I started applying to programs in 2020 and 2021 and I kept getting rejected.

And what describe what amateur programs? So like run rabbit has one, Tracksmith has one like. So you're, like, sponsored, but you're not like you're not making a living. You're. Yeah. Like you're getting discounts on stuff or help with race entries or, you know, just different. Each program has different things. Like I think Tracksmith has where like if you get in, you get like fuel and stuff, you know, like whatever fuel you need. Like they had a partnership with a certain companies or whatever. And then I think you get some gear and, you know, to race in and things like that. So I kept getting denied.

They're like, I think you're going to need to run a little faster because we don't know what the standard's going to be. So there was this big, like, you know, is it going to be 240? Is it going to what is it going to be? I kept thinking it was going to be 240 for the standard. And I was like, I'm only 5 minutes away from that. But they wanted people to kind of already be at what they thought it might be. So I kept getting rejected and the standard came out, was 237. And that's when, like, everyone's like, no, 245's. Not going to cut it for our program, right?

And I remember it was so funny. I remember saying to my husband, 'cause I grew up an Oregon kid and I was, and one of my dreams was to run for Nike, 'cause that's just. In your blood as an Oregonian, Is that how you say Oregonian? Oregonian, funny word. It's not Oregon, it's Oregon. But yeah, so. And I grew up in Coos Bay where Prefontaine grew up. You know like so for half my life. Then we moved to the Portland area. But you know, so it's just in my blood and. Excuse me, did your parents run? No, I am the only one in my family.

And how many siblings do you have? I I have two whole brothers and two step brothers, OK, But I am the only runner in my extended I had. I had throwers like track throwers, like in my family, but I am the only runner. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah, so. But I remember saying to my husband like I wish I could just run for Nike. I wish Nike had a program, like some sort of program for women trying to make the trials. And I kid you not, the next day I'm not lying. Like I am not. I believe you. I am not lying. The next day, my friend Sarah Abetson messaged me on Instagram, 'cause she had seen me starting to get denied from all these programs and I was getting really bummed out.

And I'm like, it's OK, I get it. I'll prove myself like whatever, you know? I know there has to be standards, and I'm OK with that. And she's like, hey, you're going to get an e-mail from Nike. I'm in this program and they're opening it up to a few more women, and I recommended you. It's not like spam, like don't delete it. You know, like. Obviously, I would think, like, this is not real, right? Yeah, yeah. So I get this e-mail and it's like, you, you know, what would it be like if you could have shoes, fresh shoes on race day and shoes to the same shoes to practice in?

And you know, 'cause carbon shoes are expensive. I don't care what brand it is, They're expensive, you know, and. What was the subject line of the e-mail? So that's the one where I got accepted. Oh, OK, I'll get to that one. OK 'cause I loved that so. Much I know, I know and but this one was really impactful and I was trying to find out. I don't know if I accidentally deleted stuff but like but it was basically you know and I running's expensive sport people think it's free to run. It is not. It is very expensive and if you want to keep up and run fast, like you got to get the good shoes and I would keep one pair.

I had the pair from Carmel Marathon that like I bought and I'm like kept for years cuz I've like, I'm gonna only race in these shoes. I'm not training. In them what? Shoe was, they were the Vapor Fly twos Okay. And I was like, I'm, I'm not going to touch these again until I race a PR race again, you know? So that was kind of how that was. And so, but we're getting to the point where my husband's like Holly. Like, this sport is costing us a lot of money. You know, 'cause I'm seeing PT and all this stuff. And your coach, yeah. Well, my coach is free, which is.

Nice. That's right. So that's good. Yeah. So that was helpful. But yeah, so I was like shoes, I need shoes, you know, so I applied to this program, but I don't hear anything. This is like January and I'm, I'm waiting. And we have APT guy here, Daryl. And he's like, oh, I know that guy. Like he's like, who's in charge of program. I was like Andrew Bumbleo or something. He's like, oh, I know Bumby. And I was like, you're on a first name basis with a nickname. OK cool. Like. And so he said he would put in a good word to this day. I still don't know if he did, but on my birthday, so almost two years ago, I got an e-mail that.

And I was literally sitting at my computer trying to buy a pair of Mizuno running shoes, because that's what I ran in. And they were like $60.00 and I just couldn't justify the price I was, And I needed them, 'cause I was my, I was starting to get hurt and and I went for a run to go see my dietitian. And I was just like so upset that I, like was struggling to afford running shoes, you know? And I came back home to an e-mail that said an invitation to dream from Nike. And I was like, I just bawled my eyes out, like I was just like, Oh my gosh, I get into the program.

And I didn't. I thought, I'm getting free shoes. Like, that's just what I thought, which is good enough for me. Like, I mean, yeah. And my friend told me, you know you get about 5 pairs of shoes every quarter and. Quarter. Yeah, yeah. I mean kind of this like beyond what you can ask or imagine thing. I was just like, what's going on? Like a pair of alpha flies, a pair of vapor flies, and three training shoes. Yeah, that's wild. Every three months. Yeah. Well and what people don't know is when I first met you in your podcast studio in your house, in your office, you like, have almost like it's like halfway up the wall, like almost all the way the whole width of the room, Nike shoe boxes.

And that's that's how I was like what that? So you just keep all your, you know, you're like, no, these are, these are all the free shoes that I got. Like, holy crap. Yeah, well, and most of my hair random because I've been sick. So gosh, so it's super crazy. And I and during that season I was actually crushing it. So this is like the winter of 2022. I every race I ran it, 'cause I started to get some help with my iron. I was getting iron infusions and like I was breaking all my PRS from high school and college. I was 36 years old and I was like, I was running 559.

I ran the polar bear race here, which is like a 5K and A10K and it's separated by like 20 minutes or whatever, you know from when you finish. And I ran that at an average of like around 6 flat or 559 pace, which is what I needed to run the 237 for the marathon. I was like, oh, I got two years. I'm going to crush this like I this is not a problem. And I PRD in the half just by doing like a tempo run for the Sam Costa run we have here. And I wore my old 4% shoes that the heel was falling off, 'cause my coach was like, you better not race.

It only do a tempo, 'cause I was racing a lot and I was like fine, but I still PR Ed by a minute and I was like, OK, like this is awesome. And then I got sick. So like I get into the program and literally 3 weeks later I get sick and I'm like, what is going on? Well, I ended up getting so sick I had like CMV for eight weeks. So describe that. So CMV is basically like mono, but like a different strand or strain or something. And like I I couldn't do anything. I was exhausted all the time. I'd sleep 10 hours at night and take naps during multiple naps during the day.

Like, I couldn't. It was like they think stress caused it or whatever. Were you working during this time? Yeah, I couldn't run. It was. So I went from literally the top of my game to the bottom and I was like, what is going on? And this is all right when I get into this Nike Dreamweaver program and I'm like, all right. And here I am thinking I have to prove myself of course because I'm like. OK, somebody finally accepted me like this is. Nike Yeah, like your. Dream. The biggest company and my dream and I'm like and here I am. I'm at the peak, I get accepted and I just file off the Cliff and I'm like, this is not good, this is not good, you know?

So I'm stressed about that. Because are you thinking they're going to kick you out of the program? Yes. Yeah. I'm like, I don't know. You know, I mean, everyone's heard things about Nike and, you know, whatever. And I I was there in Oregon through a lot of things that stories that have come out and, you know, whatever. But I didn't. So I didn't know what to expect. Yeah, right. And so when I was sick, like I got back to running I think in June. So that was like April and May, I was just completely out and I got back to running and we did this summer of speed thing and I my fitness came back pretty quickly and I went and ran outdoors masters and had some really good races there.

Where does that take place? It's a different place every year, but this was in Kentucky, so it was close. So I was like, I'm going to go do that. So I ran close to my PR for 10K or A5K and then I PR Ed on the track for a 10K. So I was like, OK, we're back. Like that was just a blip. Like everything's fine, That's. Weird, I had MONO or what was the acronym? It's called CMV. CMV So yeah, you're just like, OK, I had that. I'm over it. Yeah, let's go. I was like, we got time. We're fine, right? So I start training and in August, I like, I get really bad allergies here.

I don't know, it's just weird. I used to, I've. I do allergy shots now and they've helped a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was just like, but I knew, like mentally I was there. Like Nike gave us a mental fitness test and like I took that and they're like, you score really high in these areas, but these other areas like this is where Olympians score really high. I'm like, I gotta focus on this. What is I wanna hear more about what a mental fitness test it's? Just kind of like an evaluation. Of so it's like a multiple choice. Kind of scenario. Yeah, is it like interview based?

No, it's more like like a, yeah, like a survey where it's almost like I think this most of the time, some of the time never all, you know, like those kind of like ranking scale things. Or like I could I pay attention to details or I, you know, just like all these different kinds of questions and it spits out like kind of where you're strongest mentally. Like can you focus outward? Can you focus inward when you need to? Can you, you know, like do you have a perception that someone else is always in control of your life or that you're in control of your life, You know, kind of that locus of control thing.

Yeah. So just like stuff like that. And so I scored pretty high on a lot of the things and and low on a couple of things. And so I was like, OK, so mentally I'm pretty good. Even though I went through that like it's fine and I start training and I was like CIM 2022, like this is it like I didn't want to run CIM again because of my horrible, traumatic experience with the bathroom? Situation What city is that in California? Sacramento. OK, I should know that, but I. And I ran the relay the year before I had ran the full and I had four bathroom stops and a half.

And so I was like I have a history of really not great experiences with this race, you know, so, So I was a little nervous to have that be my OTQ attempt, right. But Nike was going to be there and they were like we are going to get you all into the sub elite field and like all this stuff, right. So we all got in, they paid for and Nike paid for all of our entries. I just had to get there. They paid for our hotel. They had food. They had this whole like tent set out outside where like we could talk to different Nike teams.

We could make signs. They gave us like, you know, clothing. We could do some. We did like a bra fitting thing there. Like, I mean just like all this stuff. All this stuff and how many women are in this program? 100 and. 2000 and. 20 So it started with less than that and then I was in wave 2 and then they did a wave 3 this last year. OK. So ended up being with 120 and and so we get there and of course like we have the latest shoes. You know, like they made sure we had fresh shoes for race day. And then Joan Bonoit Samuelson came and hung out with us, had dinner with us, chatted with us, like, gave us a speech the night before the race.

But unfortunately, about 3 weeks for the race, I got the flu so bad that I couldn't run for like 12 days, Holly. I know. So I still went to the race because I had already bought my plane tickets. And I was like, I'm just going to go hang out. And they're like, please still come, still be with us. And this was the beginning of me feeling like, wait, I can still come. Like in college, like you get hurt or sick. You're like out, like come back when you're ready, you know, like when you're healthy. And and so like this this was a totally different experience for me.

So I was like, OK, I can still come, OK, cool. So I'm there and I'm like, you know, there was a lot of people there that time. There was like over 50 people and but a lot of them weren't racing. And I was like, there was like probably 10 of us that were just going and cheering. And I was like, OK, like, this is totally cool. Like, you know, we can be here and we don't, you know, different people were injured or had gotten sick or whatever, right. And so, yeah, I got to hang out the whole weekend. I got to and then my coach, Brett through.

Well, so my coach was there. And then Brett, who is one of our physiologists, like, he met with my coach and we kind of came up with a new game plan for 2023. But he's like, hey, let's go to the track and do some threshold testing. And so I still got to do some fun stuff and and I got to see my coach and my friends from California. So that was that was really fun. So but basically throughout the whole program they would have these little events and do this kind of stuff like come to races and they're out there supporting us and all this stuff.

And yeah, it was just cool and it was fun to cheer. Yeah. And and at this point too, like I mentioned early on, you can't talk about it. So we can't say anything. So what was the reasoning behind that? Did they tell you? Like, here's why we're keeping this under wraps. We wanna. No. You know when they did the breaking 2 project like? Yeah, I mean, I I know about it, but I don't really. So Nike did that Breaking 2 project with Eliud Kipchogi and a couple of others. Yeah, and they didn't talk about it until right before the big event. But they had been doing stuff for two years, so same kind of thing.

So they were just like, you can tell like your friends and stuff, but you can't post about it on social media. But you know, it was like someone I think in fast women. They said like it was the worst, best kept, best worst kept secret or something like that. Like people knew like we had logos on every like they started giving us clothes with logos on it. They started, you know, like they had like signs at the races that were all Dreamweaver logoed out. You know, like. So it wasn't like this totally, massively kept secret. We just couldn't go like public on social media. Yeah, OK.

And and we didn't necessarily know why. It was just, it was what it was. So that was what we did. But so it's kind of cool though, 'cause you're like a part of this kind of like secret thing. And you know, it's kind of. Exclusive Yeah, yeah. But but what was cool about it is it just didn't feel like this exclusive thing in the sense of, like, you didn't belong. You know, like if you weren't running the Times and you weren't, 'cause there was people in there that you hadn't even ran a marathon yet, or maybe their PR was over 3 hours, but they still had big goals to, you know, like, so 'cause in the first wave, no one knew what the new standard was going to be.

So if it was going to be 245 again, you know, your PRS didn't have to be like massively crazy, you know? But there was just a lot of different people in the program and they they weren't all necessarily going for the trials standard after it came out eight minutes faster. Some of them are like, well, we're out. We just can't do that or we don't have the time or like, we're just unsure. You know, some people had babies in the program. Yeah, no one got kicked. Out. That's cool. And so, So 2023 kind of rolls around and they invite us all to a mini camp at Nike World Headquarters.

Oh my God. And they had done one and I didn't get a go because it was during when I had CMV and this, this is the part that breaks my heart every time. I didn't get to go to that. Also, you had to pay for your own flights to get out there, but everyone was going to run. Eugene half and Shalane Flanagan paced us off. But I didn't get to go to that one. I was like, that's the one I the one thing I regret about the whole program is like, I didn't go to that one, you know? And so, but I couldn't. I was too sick.

I didn't want to get anybody sick. But yeah, so Shalane Flanagan paced the half marathon at Eugene for all the Dreamweavers. That's cool. And they got to hang out with her for two days. And like, yeah, it was just really, really cool. But they did the camp again. And this time they're like, we're going to pay for everything, your flights. We don't want any reason for you not to be able to come. And so I was like, cool. So they had one over my birthday. So I was like, that is the one I'm going to go to, you know? So we went, I went out there and we got to do all this fun, different stuff there.

And they paid for a hotel. And I went out a little extra long, 'cause I wanted to go visit my family, 'cause I'm from there. And yeah, yeah. So that was really fun. But they just spoil us, you know, like they treat us like pro athletes and like. And an experience that none of us would have ever gotten, like on our own. Like, no way. Like there's very few sponsored athletes out there. I mean there's some women like like the girl that got 4th at the trials, right, like Jess, like she's unsponsored, you know what I mean? And she's like 4th at the Olympic trials, like, so it's very hard to get a sponsorship.

So to have like a company as big as Nike, like just treat you like they kept thanking us. They're like, thanks so much for being I'm like. OK. You're welcome. You're welcome. But also like, I think you have this backwards. Like, but that was their attitude. They're like, thank you for being here and thank you for sharing your lives with us and letting us be a part of your journey. And like, and I'm and I'm sitting there like and I Remember Me and some of the girls talking about like, why are they thanking us? Like like they just paid for us all to come out here and pay for a hotel.

Like, I mean everything. We didn't have to think about a thing. They gave us like lift passes to get from the hotel like airport to the hotel they had took us out to dinner like they thought of everything. They had breakfast catered and like all this stuff like and it was just, it was fun. Like it was one of those, like is this my life right now? Please pinch me, but I don't want to wake up from this, you know? And how long was the camp? So 2 full days, OK, so like I flew out there on Saturday, everyone kind of flew in on Sunday and then so we had the like and then we left on Wednesday, OK And some people left like Tuesday night, but it was like Monday.

Tuesday. And so did you take off work then? Yeah, well, I work for myself. OK. And you did at that or I guess, yeah, I, yeah, that was just 2023, sorry. Yeah. So I have, yeah, I've worked for myself. So you did. You requested PTO. You were accepted. Yes. I didn't get paid, but I was accepted, yeah. Yeah, I guess, Yeah. PTO paid time off. Got it. Yeah, so you know, yeah. So it was fun and and then, yeah, so we got to like, like see how we performed in different shoes and like which shoes should we race in. And like, you know, just kind of fun stuff like that.

Like and you know, just to help us in our training, like everything they could do to like give us like what we would need to perform. So did you do like I picture a room with a treadmill and you're like hooked up or like oxygen mat, like stuff like that stuff? And we did all of that. What do they That's like how they test your like VO. Two, yeah. Which they didn't do that there. They did have some of that data, but it was a little 'cause we were wearing that and but they were testing more our efficiency and different shoes, so that was cool.

Yeah, that's right. So we tested like our training shoes, our preferred racing shoe, and then like the alpha flies. So did they help you determine then they're like, hey, based on all this testing, our recommendation is that you race in the Vapor Fly versus, you know, whatever. Yeah, which they told me alpha fly. And I was like, I hate that shoe. Like, I was like, I didn't like it. Like, I loved The Vapor Fly. And I started to learn to like the Alpha fly. And they were like, Holly, you need to train in it. Like your body mechanics have to learn the shoe. And I'm like, well, you know, you don't train in these.

You save these. Yeah. Like, these are expensive. They're like, Holly, we're sending you them every three months so that you have them to train in and raise in. And so it took me like a year to end the program to like. Break off that like, poverty mentality of like, save the shoe, you know, and actually. How much do they cost? They're like over 200. Dollars, they're like 200. And $85. Yeah. So I was like, you can't just take those out on random and. You're not supposed for super shoes. Like you're how many miles typically you supposed to put? On so that was a big thing that we learned that that's the the data out there actually shows they last a whole lot longer than what's been said.

Well, I mean, you know, marketing. Oh yeah, you need these every. Every I mean they like your your most efficiency is probably in the 1st 50 like or your most bounce I think is in the 1st 50 miles but they're still efficient for quite a while. So I I mean I started training in the vapor flies all the time in 2023. In the in the winter when I was doing a lot of training, I was doing double speed workouts and on the same day twice a week has done some of the lactate threshold kind of training the Norwegians do you know. So I was testing that out.

I don't know what that means at all. So it's like training around where the lactate levels in your blood, like are like lower and higher and you're just, you're just kind of you can handle more work, 'cause you're not going like to death on every workout you're you're it's controlled, you know? But yeah, so I was using my shoes a lot and they worked for me for a couple 100 miles. So. But yeah, we got to help develop the alpha fly three. Like, I got to test it. I mean, I was like running in it, you know, a year before it was even released, you know, and getting to help, like put my input in there.

And so we got to do a lot of things like. But the biggest part was like our community, our slack channel where we all just like, hey, we have a nutrition question or. And they had a dietitian for us, they had a psychologist for us. They had different webinars and stuff. They had like different companies they'd partner with to get us different things like fuel or whatever, like and they'd send it like they sent us. When I didn't get to go to that one first mini camp, they sent everyone who didn't get to go like this gift box with like a hyper Volt go and like protein powder and like all this stuff, you know, like.

And then they started sending us clothes and I was like, OK, this is awesome, you know, so like we'd get like a winter thing of like pants and a jacket and like a a hoodie or you know, or a zip up or what. Everything logoed or like everything. No, just Nike. The logo stuff started to come at the end of the program, which is funny. So in Chicago when we I went there, I again, I, so I was training after mini camp. I was like they're like you can run 240 at Carmel. Like, you could probably try for the Olympic trials, but let's wait till Grandma's.

And I was like, OK, so three weeks later I went to go run Carmel, but I'd gotten sick again during the taper. But I was like, whatever, it's fine. I'll be fine. And I go out and I start running the marathon and Carmel's the one I love because I had no bathroom stops. I ran a 10 minute PR, ran 2:45. So I'm like, OK, I can drop another 535 minutes, right? And every mile felt worse than the one before from the get go. And I was like, what is going on? We'll come to find out a week later. I had pneumonia, so it just, yeah, it was just this constant thing.

I kept getting sick and I couldn't ever make a sick. Race you had before that race was more like cold, like versus flu. Issues. Yeah, like I was like. Respiratory, OK. Yeah. And then and what time did you run? Well, I dropped out the half. OK, so. Smart. Yeah. Yeah, 'cause especially you. Come you come around. So that is a mental. I've never done the full, yeah. Part of it is because of that 'cause I just. The. Only time I've ever done that was in Philly. It was the only time I've ever, like, set out to run a race and like, did not complete the race.

I set out to run. I was supposed to run the full. I got super sick. I had no business even running the half. But I'm like, well, I'm here and I'll just, who cares what my time is? I'll just do it. But yeah, come to have people kept trying to be like you can you can fight through it. Just don't give it. I'm like, well, I see that I can go this way and like, the finish line's right there, or I can go this way and like, run another 13 miles. I'm gonna just be done. Yeah, they should not ever make that, I think. So hard it gives you that like out.

It does and I needed the out though like. Well, yeah, I can only imagine. I went 9 miles hard and then I was like, I can't do this. Yeah, yeah. I saw my family. I'm like, don't go to mile 20. I'm dropping out, which I've never DNF a marathon, never had never done that. But so I dropped down to like 7 minute pace or whatever and seven 20s and I just stopped. I think I ran like a 126 half or something. And I was just like, I don't know what's wrong with me, like I and and my questioning started to go to the training, 'cause you know, Nike was now coaching me.

And I was like, did the did did this not work? Like did I do too much and it got me overrun? Like, but come to find out it was pneumonia so. Pneumonia. When did you find that out? A week after Carmel, I ended up in the ER with not being able to breathe. Like, yeah, and I probably. Felt like did you feel like crap then? That entire. Week. Oh yeah. I went to three different doctors and they were like, you definitely don't have pneumonia. Well, I went to urgent care and they're like, you definitely have pneumonia. How did they test for that? An X-ray. OK, Jesus.

No one took an X-ray. The 1st doctor didn't even listen to my lungs. So you know. This, I mean, it's just a great, hey, be your own advocate. I mean, doctors are smart people, but. They see a lot of people with a lot of symptoms and you know it. It just is what it is. And so then I tried to train for grandmas and Nike was going to be there and this is like part of the Dreamweaver thing that like just kept blowing my mind. So we're driving up to Grandma's marathon from here, which is like a 12 hour drive. And I realized halfway up there, like after we'd stay the night in a tiny town and we're like 2 hours from the the Duluth.

I was like, I forgot my scratch lab super fuel. I don't have my fuel and I'm like, what am I going to do, you know? And this time I was the first time I was ever going to have my name on my bib. Like, I was so excited I was in the elite field. I didn't get water bottle privileges because my P Rs weren't that good. But I was at least there with a name on my bib. And I text Brett, my coach from Nike. And I was like, I forgot my scratch super fuel. He goes, I'm landing in 30 minutes. I'll go find you some in Minneapolis.

And I was like, but I'm not even making an OTQ attempt at this race. Like, I'm just trying to survive this race because basically the pneumonia took me out. I couldn't. Yeah. The OTQ attempt wasn't happening, but I just wanted to run a marathon like I was like, I haven't ran a marathon in two years. Like, I just want to run. And he was like, he went all over Minneapolis with the team he was with to find me a bag of scratch. And he's like, what flavor? And I was like, I don't. Care. I was like, I mean, I have a preferred one, but like really whatever, you know?

Yeah. So he sends me a picture. 2 hours later I found it and it brings it to me in Duluth and I'm just like, but I'm not even trying to make the trials like I'm not a pro. I'm not like, you know, and he's like you needed it though. And I'm like just stuff like that, like those little things that like they would go out of their way to do and I'm like and I ran my worst marathon time ever. And I'll tell you what, like, so they rented some bikes and they were, they ended up getting kicked off the course. But for a little bit they were like riding their bikes on the course, you know, just following all of us.

And if you ever watch the Breaking 2 documentary or the one where Iliud actually did break. What network is that on? Oh gosh, I got a Netflix. Is it? I've never watched it. And then Amazon, I think is the one that has the one where ILIUD actually did break 2 hours. Yeah, OK. Where it wasn't a Nike thing, but Brett was there on the bike next to him. So he's in. He's like the physiologist in this. That's so cool. And when I'm sick in March, I'm watching this and I'm like, that's Brett, like and I message him and I'm like, I'm sorry for everything I've ever doubted in the training.

And you definitely know what you're talking about. I'm so sorry, like, you know, and I'm just like, what is going on? It was so crazy to me like that I had this level of person who literally works with that level of person helping me and running around getting me scratched. Labs like I was like, what is my life right now, right? Yeah, but that's just who he is and who they were to us, you know? And, and so when I ran Grandma's, I was coming in. It was my slowest marathon time ever, which. Is what? Sorry, it was 307. So half an hour off the mark, you know?

But I'm like racing this girl at the finish just because, you know, we're runners and it doesn't matter. We're always competitive. We're always competitive. And they are cheering for him and Brian. I'll remember we're cheering for me at the top of their lungs as if I'm about to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Like, I'm not even kidding. You like like, Oh my God. Like just all and I'm like guys like like why are you even still out here? Like Gabby finished 40 minutes ago Like, why? You know, like and and they were still there waiting for me to come in and I think there was maybe one other dreamweaver behind me and but in the race he rode his bike next to me and I was like at mile six or seven I was starting to die.

I went out too hard 620 pace and I had no business being there for that long and and he was just like stay calm. You got this and I was in this moment where I was like he was right there next to elude when he broke two hours on his bike and here he is right here next to me. What is happening? You know, like, it was just this really weird, surreal moment, and I'm forever thankful that I did choose to show up and run that race, 'cause I got those moments, you know, And I got to learn something about myself and what I, you know, should be treated like.

Just as a human, you know and like. Yes, yes. How we all should be treated and loved and right and that. You're you're not your worth. Is not defined. By my time all. Your time, yeah. And you can say that to any runner or any runner who is competitive and thinks about that, because a lot of times you get so wrapped up in it. Oh, and I did like, I wouldn't even 'cause I went from three O 3 to 2:55 to 2:45. Those are my 3 marathons. So I'm like, well, now I have to go 230 something. And I wouldn't run a marathon unless I thought I could.

So when I ran a three O 7, it broke all that off. I'm like we started back up here now and we got to come back down, you know, and and it broke all that off for me, you know, so but that's the other thing that I I think I wanted to say about the Dreamweaver program. And so in the mini camps, they had one for specifically for moms with babies. Oh, OK. And they brought in nannies. They let their partners come. They set up breastfeeding rooms. They had all the top baby equipment like for the babies to play. They brought in the, like child psychologist.

They like, you know, who is also our psychologist, but they just like outdid themselves. And I'm thinking like the narrative about Nike. Right. I was like thinking to myself, well, it's about damn time because they get a lot of shit. They do. They do. But what I experienced and what I saw, and it wasn't something that they were trying to prove that they're not what's out there like because did they talk about it for two years? Right, right. Yeah. And that was the interesting thing to me. I'm like, I'm for two years. I'm watching people just. RIP Nike apart. RIP. Yeah, especially in the last two.

Years, right? With Kara's book. Yeah. How can you not be like that? And and I'm and I'm not saying any that is a valid her experience totally. Like I was in Oregon during all of that and Salazar was Galen's coach. Galen and I went to the we're in the same high school conference so I had some run insurance with Salazar not yeah. Let's just say like I feel super bad for you you know and and obviously like things maybe were not done correctly. I haven't read her book, so I don't know all the details, but I remember living it, like watching it. A lot of it go down while it was happening.

And you know, so here I am having this completely opposite experience and and I kept going to myself, like, Nike's not defending themselves. Like I'm literally watching this stuff like and experiencing something completely different. And they have, they have no need to defend themselves, you know? And and I'm such a justice person that I'm like and I don't think anybody needs to defend themselves against what Kara's experience was. So I'm not saying that like what she experienced was 100% true and valid, right. And that should never happen, you know. But I started to just think to myself, well, if we allow people to change, then we should allow companies to change.

And organizations are made-up of people. And if you get the right people in there that are like a Brett and O'Brien and all the people on the staff with us and Carrie and who really care about moms and family. And I mean they brought their kids to the races. And my, they were like, hey, bring Titus with you when you come up to Chicago since you're not racing. And they loved on him like he was their own. They let him make bracelets and do all this stuff and like, it was just awesome. They're like, yeah, he belongs. You belong. He belongs. And like when I, when Joan came again to Chicago and want to talk to us, the microphone got all high pitched and my son's really sensitive to that kind of stuff.

And so one of the Nike staff came up and was like here, I'll take him out so you can still listen and like played with him, you know, and and she's like, hey, anytime you come to Portland, bring Titus and we'll do play dates, 'cause she has an 8 year old son, you know, and they had, they all have sons around my son's age. And so they would just all play together. And it was just like it was normal. Like, this is life. This is life with kids. And they all get it. And every time they would come to a race, Brett would Gov and say, you all belong.

Whether you're here to watch, whether you're pregnant now, whether you're postpartum, whether you're sick or whether you're about to have the best Dang race or the worst race you've ever had in your life, you we're all going to come back to this room afterwards and you all belong. And it was just this, you know, they gave us send us these necklaces as our parting gift this week because the program's ending this week. And on the back it says you belong. And I was like, that sums it up. It didn't matter if you were a mom or not or whatever, Like you belonged and they belonged, the kids, everybody.

And it was just this polar experience, polar opposite experience to the narrative. And they didn't feel the need to like, go out and tell everybody about it. They just treated us with the respect that everyone should be treated with and it was awesome, so. So. Cool. Yeah, it was so cool. Like what I mean? I mean, the clothes and the shoes were cool and I'm forever grateful for all that 'cause I probably have enough shoes to last me for another couple of years because I wasn't running half the time I was in the propane, but just the way that they made me feel that will stick with me for a lifetime.

Yeah, yeah. And now, and we'll talk about more about your health here. I know that took a really long time to answer your question, sorry. No, that I wanted to hear all of that. And so you know how like when somebody, I don't know after you achieve what you've set out to achieve or after you get your six star or after we get whatever it is. Hit that milestone. Like now? Yeah. What are you this programs ending? How? I was on a Gray, yeah, we don't believe it. None of us, we're on the Slack channel. We're like so in case this is actually ending like, can we have another Slack group for all of us like so?

We keep talking. Yeah. So we're trying to figure out some of that stuff. We're like, but everyone says if this is actually like, everyone's in denial, like it's the first stage of grief, right? Like we're all in denial. And right. What is hard for me is that I never achieved the goal that I had in the program. I never even had an OTQ attempt because I couldn't make it to the start line. And the one time I did it was just to finish the race. Excuse me, But yeah, like, gosh, there's still so much I can say about all that. But yeah, they just like, ran up and hugged me after the race and were just like, so proud of me that I finished and I showed up and I did.

It was just crazy. But yeah, so the program's ending. And so it's like, for me, it's like, what's next is I'm still going for it, man. Hell yeah, you are. Like, I know I'm going to be 38, but Kira broke records at 38. Iliad broke two hours at 38. Like, I like. And now with the health stuff, we figured it out. We figured it out and that was another thing. So we figured out I'll just enjoy it here. We figured it out that it was mold blowing through my furnace for who knows how long. So luckily it wasn't in all the walls and stuff. But I finally, and everyone's like, well, how'd you figure that out?

I'm like, well, I finally called to get our ducks clean, 'cause I was, like, noticing that every time the furnace would turn on, I'd cough at night. Yeah, interesting. And so I was like, maybe it's just dust, Like, maybe it's just, you know, whatever. I mean, for a while there, I was thinking I was allergic to Indiana. I'm still not sure. I'm not. But, like, it's fine. But they they cut out part of the trunk line, which is the what comes off the furnace. And it was covered in mold. It was just black and Gray and horrible. Yeah, it was really horrible. Turns out like 50 feet of our trunk line was just black and it was just blowing.

So in these things, 'cause I want part of this to be APSA for people. Yeah, PSA. So PSA, you know, you check your ducks. Check. Yeah, check your ducks. There's. So during the when you buy a home, yeah, typically, and I don't know if you even know this part of it, but like, do they check for that kind of stuff? It seems to me like now with things and you know Teresa Wyrick now through this and she's the reason I started this podcast, by the way. Oh nice. But she, you know, they figured this out. But it's like, man, shouldn't that now be part of?

And 100% should be part. Of the home inspection because people move into homes, have no idea that all of a sudden it's going to cause these health. Three years for years it's it's some people is way longer. Yeah, it's it's really infuriating and heartbreaking that something like that could be prevented. Yeah, well, and this is not something I don't think anyone could have found unless they tested the air in our house. So because it wasn't on the walls, it wasn't like growing anywhere that you could? See visibly. See of course. But shouldn't you like go in a furnace and like, I don't know anything about anything they had to Can you like stick something in there and be like wiggle it around and be like is there mold on?

This, I mean maybe now like that's probably now that I know more about it, probably I think that they had to cut our trunk line. That's not part of a normal inspection. Like, how did they know? How did they think? Well, we're just going to do. Like they had to cut into it to put their machine in it. OK, OK. To clean it. OK. So you know, I guess my thing would be to tell people, get your ducts cleaned before you moved into a house. Yeah, that's one thing. If it if it happens to be in there and in the furnace. We had our ducts cleaned in our house before the one we lived in, in California.

The guy just did it. Because he, like, built the house, like, so he made sure it was like tip top shape. But yeah, so I I don't know, like I I would say get the air tested because if there's more mold in your house than there is outside, they'll test the air outside, then they'll test the air in your house. You know, there's mold somewhere, then it's where is it? And I think that was the hardest part for me is like, my dietitian knew it was mold the whole time. She knew. And I was like, well, everyone just tells me Indiana's filled with mold in the air, So what am I supposed to do about that?

Like, live in a bubble? I don't really know. Like so. She was. Telling you she knew the whole time. So what do you OK? But I didn't know what to like. What do you So she knew and told you or she told me? She's like you have. It's like, but it's outside. It's Indiana Mold. She she wasn't saying that necessarily. Other people were telling me that there's mold all through Indiana, like just in the air. And then I got allergy tested and I'm allergic to like all every kind of mold and corn mold specifically. I'm like, oh great, so we moved to the corn country.

There's none. There's no corn mold here. So it's just all everywhere. So I'm thinking, well, how do I get away from that? You know, like I can't unless I move. Right. Are you think at that point did? You have a discussion. We've had a lot of discussions. Yeah, because like, my kids don't have their mom like, I mean, just sick all the time. Like, it's awful. And you moved here originally. Was it for your husband's job or? I can't remember your husband's family because now you have young kids, you're coming to be closer to family. Yeah, I am not from here. This is not my home.

You say that with so I know I'm sorry so much spite, but I would I've. Been sick the entire time I've been here, so it I I haven't had a fair chance to fall in love with Indiana. That is fair. You know, it's been pain the entire time. So I think, yeah, I guess the PSA would just be like when you move into a house, get an inspection for mold, like just do it. It's expensive. We had to pay $1300 to get the mold tested once they found it. Wow. Because he came in and spent like four or five hours in our house just trying to find anywhere else it could be.

And it was just all in the furnace and the crawl space. The crawl space was another big area. And yeah, so Terry, I should have. I wish I had the name of this off the top of my head, but I can add it in the notes for this episode. But Teresa told me they had this test that they used. It's like 300 bucks. You can buy it just on their website and you basically collect like dust or whatever from every single room in your house. We send it off. We did that two years ago. Did that not find it? It found a ton of mold, but again it was all environmental.

So we're like, what do you it's in the air then like and so. I see. OK. So really, you need somebody to clean that up. You need somebody to get in there, 'cause even if it's like, yeah, there's mold in. Your house? Check your basement. Check the walls. Check all that. We didn't check all that because we didn't see it growing anywhere and it wasn't in our walls. That's the thing. We could have torn out every wall in our house. It wasn't there like it was in the IT was in the furnace, yeah. Man. But when I found that out and I told everybody, 'cause I started gaining all this weight, like and and I don't care about gaining weight.

I'm like, whatever. Like, I don't really pay attention to numbers like that. But I've been trying to gain a certain amount of weight my entire life and have never hit that threshold. For 20 years I have tried and all of a sudden in three months I'm 10 lbs. Over that threshold, I'm like, what? Like what? What's happening? And my body looks swollen, like it was just weird. I just looked weird and I didn't feel right. And I was just like, this isn't like muscle, this isn't fat because either one of those, I don't care if I gain any of that. What I cared about was I looked swollen.

Your mouth's like, it's inflammation, it's like, and that's when I knew it has to be something. And so and I had dealt with that since the pneumonia. And I'm like, is it from the pneumonia? Like, what is it from, you know, And we just couldn't figure it out. And once I told Nike that it was mold. I went to the Olympic trials a couple weeks ago now and we were all sitting down at dinner, me and the Nike staff, 'cause I was just watching the race, but it was the night before the race and everyone came to just hang out with me and have dinner with me.

It was really fun. And they were like, when we found out from Brett that it was the mold, like, we just wanted to cry. And, like, we were mad. We were sad, like. And Joan came up to me at that dinner. She's like, hey, I just want to wish you good luck tomorrow. And I was like, I'm not racing. She's like, I thought you were. I was like, no, I got super sick. And, you know, and like, I'm here to cheer. And she's like, well, we need you there for that too. And that was really cool. But like, but everyone was just like we were so devastated for you because like the data showed that I could have made the trials like two or three times during the last two years.

Of course it's just I never had a race that day or that weekend or you know whatever it was and or I got sick you know right before it and we tried everything to avoid it but but we were fighting a hidden enemy. But just to know that they cared about it as deeply almost probably not as deeply as I did but enough to where they were. Like we wanted to cry and we were mad and like just to feel so supported like that. And I was like, guys, I'm coming back and they're like, yeah, they'll probably drop the standard by a minute. I'm like, first of all, don't tell me that don't 8 minutes was enough.

Like, leave us alone, you know? And they're like, Holly, you can do it. I was like, fine, I'll run 235. They're like, yeah, you will. And so and they're just like you're going to do it. And they're just so supportive still, you know, and they're like, you better keep us posted and you know all the things. And anyway, yeah, it just, I still feel supported by them through all of this. And you know they're I'm starting to run again and you know I've been running for this is my week two. I ran five days in a row. I think I can. See it? I haven't seen you run and I just.

I'm like OK. I was like 1020 pace on Saturday and 849 pace yesterday, so. Hey. I was pretty stoked about that. I was like there's an 8 there, there's an 8. That's better than double digits and we're going and you know and obviously it's all all relative, but for you especially like. To be racing at six minute pace and have my heart rate be at 173 last week at 1020 pace. Oh my Lord, yeah. Yeah. So so how two questions. How did you react when you found out it was the mold? And then and then after that, like, what does it look like from here in terms of like, do you have to, like, clean yourself out?

I know you had to clean your house out. Yeah. We're still in the process. Of that. It's we had to move out of our house for six weeks. We moved back in I all my symptoms came back, which is why I've been coughing a little bit and we found out apparently you can still react to dead mold. So all the mold got taken out when we replaced the furnace we upgraded to a steel trunk line so no more porous material in our vents and we got the ducts cleaned and then we bombed the house and I mean it's just this huge thing and then we started containing every room and washing everything in the rooms and we're like do we need to wash the walls?

No probably not. Well, my symptoms came back and come to find out, one of the types of mold we had in our house that blew through our house can attach itself to walls and stuff. And even though it's dead, if you're highly allergic to mold, you can react to dead mold. Cool. Cool. Yeah, great. Fun Great. So my husband had to plastic off sections of the house and wash the walls with vinegar and vacuum the ceilings. And we have a massive house with massive ceilings. Yeah, I'm picturing your like entryway. And we. Yeah, yeah. I have a picture, actually, of him doing that, Yeah. I might have seen that.

It's pretty funny. We regret the size of our house on so many levels, but but yeah, it was so we got through that last week. I have started to feel better. It's just, I think, gonna take another few weeks. The pulmonologist told me, 'cause he was trying to put me on all these inhalers the day before he found out it was the mold. He was like, you need to get on all these inhalers. It's the worst I've ever heard you. And he was working with me all year, and I went back to see him in January, and he's like, so the inhalers must help. You sound awesome.

I'm like, no insurance denied all the inhalers, like, 'cause he kept trying to give me different ones and never did the insurance allow it, which was insane. That's that's a whole other conversation. But he was like, he was like, your lungs sound fine. He's like, you're gonna be just fine, 'cause I told him we found out it was a mold. He's like, you'll be fine. I was like, do I need to go through a whole mold detox, 'cause I looked up some doctors here and he was like, Holly, this is the most logical thing anyone's ever said to me. He goes, if you're allergic to a cat, do you scrub your cells for cat, or do you get rid of the cat?

Yeah, right. And I was like, you get rid of the cat, He's like, you got rid of the mold, you're gonna be fine. And I was like, thank you for saving me $8000, like, you know, 'cause it's expensive doing all these detox programs. And so I was like, well, OK, so I took his opinion and then I went and saw my dietitian, Jackie, and she's like, yeah, I was going to tell you, please don't do a detox because that could actually send your system into a tailspin. And he's she's like, let's just see how you do for a few months. Let's get it out of the house, out of your.

System and that's always there, yeah. If it ends up being like the last resort, you. Yeah, if I'm not getting. Better, yes, yes, yeah. But in the six weeks that we moved out of our house and my beautiful friend let me live in all house, live in her house for free for six weeks, I got better. Yeah. So I know I don't need some fancy program like it. It took care of itself. And when you found out, did you just, like, cry? I feel like there's so much relief in like, Oh my God, I know like my mom. My mom was sick for years, years and years and years when I was little.

And it was horrible. Like, horrible. And come to find out, she finally figured it out. This one doctor, mercury poisoning. She had a cracked filling that was leaking mercury into her body for years and nobody could figure it out. Finally somebody figured it out. They got her through it and like, she was a new person. So I'm so excited for you to be able to get on the other side of that question. Another question, why don't you move out of your house? Why don't you burn it to the ground? Okay so firefighters and anyone in. Yeah, you might get arrested. Don't listen to this. Yeah.

We wanted to burn our house. Yeah, that is actually the best solution to be honest, is to just burn it down and rebuild. We don't have money for that and can't commit insurance fraud. So you know, like. Oh yeah, can't. Do that. But so I get that question a lot. First, the first question is how did I feel when I found out I cried the entire day? My husband and I had to have a hard conversation, 'cause I tried to get the ducks cleaned years earlier and he just didn't think that's what it was coming from. But we he didn't know, you know? Yeah, that's hard.

But he was so, and this is the one thing my husband does really good at, is he listened and he, I was like, I'm angry, but I'm not trying to be angry at you, 'cause I could have called the company too. I could have called them put your foot down and done it by doing it, which is what ended up happening two years later, is I did that. And that's when we found out he felt so bad. And it's not his fault. He's trying to figure it out, too. Like, you know, but but he let me express that pain. And just like I could have made the, like, it stole everything from me.

It stole my kids. Having a mom for 2 1/2 years, it stole me for the Olympic trials. I mean, it stole so much and caused so much pain. Like, I probably needed to have some trauma counseling from it. But like, you know, like it was a very traumatic couple of years, you know? And for your like, good for you not letting it steal your marriage, 'cause it would have been it's and I'm sure it's still hard because the resentment that just, I mean, you have to. It's real. It's real. It's hard. But because he listened so well that first day and took ownership and apologized, like I haven't felt that resentment towards him at all.

Because that's hard. Because I was like, in all all honesty, I could have called the company. To right, it's nobody's. It's nobody's fault. We didn't know. You know? He's like, how could there be mold in the like, to him, that just made no sense, you know? But but yeah, so it was just this thing of, like, I cried. I called people that day. My friend called me. He's like, move into my house right now. Like what? A good friend. But then I became paralyzed, 'cause I was like, I don't know what to do. Like, do we need to move out of the house? How bad is it?

Do we not like what is, you know? And so we had to go through all this test. It was just, it was insane. It was a very I shut down for probably a month, 'cause it was just so overwhelming. The pain it caused and the disappointment. Everything that I lost, well, my kids lost. I just couldn't function. So was anyone else in your family sick? So my oldest son kept having stomach pain that we couldn't figure out, took him to the doctors, couldn't figure it out. My younger son is having excruciating leg pain at night to where he couldn't sleep beyond growth pain, growing pains, couldn't figure it out.

They were like, you're going to have to go to orthopedic surgeon if it continues. We moved out of the house and neither one of them ever complained again about either either issue. So it affected everybody differently. Josh had more like brain fog. I had everything, brain fog, pain, swelling, like all the. And it got worse this year. This year was the worst of it. So we know like it was growing the most this last year. It's just horrible to just picture and think about. We found 13 vent covers with mold growing that I thought it was dirt and it was mold. Damn, Yeah. I mean poor, poor Teresa.

She has suffered miscarriages and can you, I mean like she's just thinking, I mean everyone or or everyone, a lot of people is what I meant to say, go through infertility issues, right. And so she's just thinking. Could it be that? And and now that they know the mold, I mean, with her body being so sick. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's just so they're, they're actually, they are moving out of their home, but you know. Gosh, if I was her, I probably would too. Yeah. I mean that's that's a whole other level of trauma. Yeah, and loss. And loss and devastation. Like for me, because it wasn't in the walls and it was in the furnace.

We removed the furnace. We get a new one, get a new trunk line. The mold is. We retested our house. The mold didn't. Not. None of it even appeared on the report. So for me, I'm going to have the cleanest, most mold free house in the freaking planet. So why would I move like? That's my opinion on it. And like you know, we're going to get a certificate of remediation because it was so easy to remediate. You just take the furnace out, you know, like and and take the duct out and replace it. And we upgraded with steel, so it won't happen again, you know.

So it's like, you know, us reselling our house won't be a problem in 20 years or whatever because like it wasn't in the the bones of the home, right. But we're still getting a certificate of remediation, just so people know and. That's that's smart. Yeah. My and I forgot to mention this earlier. Obviously I'm into Teresa, but my my parents also went through this. So my parents, but their house in Carmel had to get like, they had a company. They had a company come in and like, literally like, and my parents have a large home. They had to like close down every floor, wipe every cabinet, every like, I mean, right?

And so they had somebody else do it. Yeah, we just can't. Afford doing it yourself right? It's like poor. Husband. Picture that like. He had to do it all himself because I react to the day mold, yeah. So he has to wash everything like I'm washing the clothes and and you know, our mattresses were fine and like I only found mold on a couple of mattress covers which protected the mattress, thank God, but he's having to do all of it. Yeah, that's so hard. Well, in my what I was gonna say is like now they, I mean there's like an air cleaner in every room in my parents house now.

We got a whole house air purifier attached, like built into our furnace. Yeah, but we still run air purifiers throughout the house right now, just for extra. Jeez, yeah. Well, I think this is a really important PSA because especially where we live, like you said, there's a lot in Carmel I'm tempted to have maybe not our we're in a like, relatively new home. We've been there six years, but we had water damage when we moved in some. They forgot to put like a cap on the roof. Which is just. Infuriating. So we're like, our friends came to see the new house. Like my friends walking in.

The nurse was going to be the nursery and he steps in the carpet and it's like, squishy wet. Oh my God. And he's like, hey, did you like? Spill. Something here and I was like, no. And so we found out the roof had been leaking and so they had to come in and like redo the drywall in the bathroom and yadda yadda. And I'm just thinking really water damage in a brand new home when I'm about to have my first kid and this is my kids room. So I haven't we haven't revisited that. But like these discussions make me want to just like if something.

'S growing changed did the padding? No. I mean, I would just pull the carpet up and check the padding, 'cause, like mold doesn't necessarily grow in carpet. We found out, 'cause we're like, do we have to replace all our carpets? And then 'cause they were pretty new when we bought the house and they said no, we got them professionally cleaned and all the furniture professionally cleaned, but they said the mats beneath the carpet, the padding. I wonder. I say no, they didn't check them. I'm wondering, But I regardless, it's like, OK, Like hearing what you've gone through, what Teresa's gone through, what my parents got, went through.

It's just like OK, like this is enough of if I didn't and come to find out years later, right. Anyway, so we could probably continue talking about this mold issue, but like I I also want to make sure we have time to talk about your business, like being an entrepreneur, how that relates to like the grittiness of running, and then also, you know, your podcast and the Facebook community you've built. So I just want to hear more about you as an entrepreneur. Yeah, so it's been very interesting, 'cause I actually couldn't work a lot while I was sick the last 2 1/2 years. I've been trying to build a business for a while.

I mean, I've been an entrepreneur pretty much since I left college, but the last two years have taken a dive just 'cause I don't have the energy to keep up with it, you know? And then in December and November, I was like launching a podcast and like, I've taken three months off that because I just like, I I we weren't in our house. Like, we didn't have Internet for a while. Like, it was just a whole chaotic thing. But now I'm getting back to it and I'm very excited. So I I rebranded about a year ago to Grit Performance Coaching and decided I wanted to go more the mental fitness route when it comes to entrepreneurship.

And I really wanted to marry the idea of sports psychology and business strategy, because everything I've learned in running has applied to entrepreneurship. All the mental stuff. You know, like entrepreneurship isn't linear and neither is running. Like, you know, you have your good days, your bad days. It's putting in the reps and staying consistent that makes you grow a business into a successful business or a podcast into a successful podcast. Like being consistent with it, but if you're not, you know, and you have those times where you're just like throwing stuff out there and seeing what sticks, like it just doesn't work very well. And it's same with running.

If you go run once a week or you know once every two weeks like I was doing that when I was trying to get back. Dad. That's my dad. Every run felt so hard, like, but now that I've done like 5 days in a row, like I'm finally back in the 8 minute pace, you know, and I won't be there every day. Like I'll probably go back to the nines and 10s, you know, for a while and you know eventually I'll get back to the five sixes and sevens, you know? But like there's so many lessons that parallel that, that I was like OK, I need to take this and and apply it to entrepreneurship.

And so I coach. I I love coaching and so I'm a business coach, an entrepreneur coach when it comes to the mental side of things. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah. Well, I feel like when I first met you too, I had had the wrong assumption that just given you were a runner, it was run coaching, you think running and a coach. Oh, she's run coach. I know. It's in fact for entrepreneurs, for businesses, so that you can, yeah, help them. Mentally, which is it is such a roller? Coaster it is. And I think and my Atari audience is what I call athletic entrepreneurs and everyone's like, what is that?

And I'm like, if you know it, like if you are it, you know what that is. But but it is entrepreneurs who are athletes who like are you And I, you know, like I'm my own target market, you know, I'm an athlete and an entrepreneur and and that's really who it's for because they understand the analogies, they understand the concepts of sport and so it's easier for them to make the leap. Over to business and entrepreneurship, when I start to make those connections for them. And then talk about the community that you are building with. Be gritty. Yeah, so I have a Be Gritty Facebook group where I do live streams every Tuesday and talk about different mental fitness techniques, tools and business strategies, productivity, accountability, things like that, how to focus, you know?

And so it's a free group, anybody can join. You just have to answer a few questions to get in and it's just called the Be Gritty group. I think facebook.com back slash be gritty group or the be Gritty group. No, I'm like no another like wait, we can put it show us. But yeah. And so it's for anybody who's an athlete and entrepreneur and just wants to grow in their mental fitness. And yeah, I'm gonna be launching some programs here in the next couple weeks that people can sign up for, but I give a lot of free information in that. Group Awesome. Yeah, I realize now I don't.

I'm not in the. Group, I know. I was gonna tell you, you need to. Join my group. I need to be in the group. It's gonna be in my group, yeah, yeah. I'm doing a contest right now this week where I'm giving away my favorite like mental fitness books if you introduce yourself in the group. So this is a good week to join the group. Perfect. And I'll be like and here's how. Here's Holly's story. She's on my podcast. There you go. Oh, cool. Well, I love that. I personally love building community. I love being in parts of community. I think that's why I love running so much.

And like, back to your the whole Dreamweaver experience. Like what an incredible community to be a part of for the rest of your life. The first not going away in that in that sense, like the program's ending, it was a two year, 2 1/2 year thing. But but like Gabby Rucker, who is like, you know, our biggest success, who's now a Nike pro athlete. You know, even her, she's like, she was in my group in the mini camp and she's like, we've grown pretty close and she's helped me through a lot of the medical stuff. She's like go get tested for this, this and this.

Like she's just always been there for me and you know, she's like, I can't wait to watch your come back. You know, it doesn't matter anybody's level in the group, everyone's so supportive. And you know, from the pros to to those of us who are just like finding our way back to running, like we're all just there for each other. And I think it'll continue forever. And that's the kind of community I hope to build with entrepreneurs as well. It's like, doesn't matter where you are in the journey, if you're way ahead, we can help each other. And if we're way behind, we can help each other, you know, like pull each other up and you know, so yeah.

Yeah. All right. Well, I'm going to ask you the end of the podcast questions now. I have no idea how long we've been. Talking, I know I'm like. Oh, yeah. OK. Yeah. Talking, I don't. Know we got here at 10 like an hour and a half. Oh, nice. This is going to be a long episode. I mean, it's hard though. The dream program was two years and I couldn't talk about it for two years. There's so much to say. No, it's so. And there was so much more you could have said too. I, you know, I always hate wrapping up because it's like, OK, favorite running mantra or song.

Yeah, so I have a couple. So I love Danny Gokey's music. I don't know. I. Just I don't know who that is I need. To so I think he's actually a Christian artist, but but his songs are just very motivational, so it doesn't even really matter like if you're religious or not. Like a lot of them are just really motivational. And the comeback is like, I feel like that's just a theme of my life. So like, I love that song. And then when I'm running like a marathon and I start to get tired, I always tell myself like, look strong. So to remind myself good posture and running and good form, and then look strong, feel strong, run strong.

And so I repeat that to myself because I'm like, if I look strong, I'll feel strong and then I'll run strong. That's a good one. Yeah, that's a really good one. And then dare to be gritty. Oh yeah, and then dare to be gritty. Yeah, that's like my tagline kind of for my business is like just go for stuff sometimes, you know? Like, who cares if you fall flat on your face? Like, I I don't know. My my goal in life is to always push my limits and see where where that line is. And so I'm like, yeah, I'll be 42 when the next Olympic trials come, and I'll be 40 when the window opens.

And I don't care. I'm going for it. Hell yes. I love that. I'm just gonna dare. And I'm excited. I'm so excited to watch you come. Back. Yeah, I'm excited too. Yeah. And OK. And then next finish line, obviously next milestone is going to be getting that Olympic trials qualifier though too like that. Is like the big one. That's the big milestone that's hanging out there, the big goal. But what are you doing this spring? Anything. Or are you just trying to get back? So I'm trying to get back. So what I did was, funnily enough, my time at Grandma's qualified me for the elite field at the Indie Mini.

So I was like, I don't have to pay for it, so I might as well run it. So I just, I put that out there just to get me back. I needed something on the calendar to train for. Yes, yes. So I'm not going to go out there and run any elite time, but it'll probably be my longest run up until that point. But you know, I'm just going to go out there and give it my best and just have some fun, yeah, experience that I just need to fall in love with running again, to be honest. And and then I signed up for the Run 317 series.

I've never done it. Oh cool, I saw that they opened that window. Yeah, so I've never done it. 5K's every month for five months and my goal this year is just to get fast and low mileage 'cause I'm a very high mileage runner, but my body needs a break. So low mileage, 5 KS and let's see if we can finally break 18 minutes in the 5K by the end of the year. So. OK, that's the goal. Yeah, I've been working on my speed now for this will be my second year of speed like so I'm feeling I'm getting faster. The 5K is so hard for me.

It's a hard distance. You know, I I'll probably do at least one of the 317 series, I would imagine. We'll see. So you've never done any of those before? Not one. There's one like in I'm close to the village of West Clay in Carmel and so there's one there and so that one I've done. I've done the Fountain Square one. I think those are the only two I've done. Actually, yeah. I've never done them, 'cause they never fit in with marathon training, right? But now I'm not marathon training. So like, I don't even want to talk about a marathon for like 2 years. So I'm like 5 KS.

Let's get our speed back where 559 pace feels easy and or doable for 26 miles and get back to something faster. So yeah. Yeah, and I'll see you at the Mini. So I am doing Ainsley's Angels, which means that we get to start with the wheels. Oh, I love that. And so you'll fly by us at some point. So that's. That's awesome. It's kind of fun to be like thinking about starting the race. Like I've never done that. And so I'll get to see literally, like a lot of people run by not hopefully not everybody, honestly. But yeah, it'll be it'll be fun. So thank you so much for doing this.

Thanks. For having me on. I'm so glad that we're we know each other now and we're friends now. And that I can cheer for you And I just. I'm so glad that you have this now behind you. Almost. I know it's not all the way, but we'll be cheering for. You and I think, you know, I get one thing I would say to leave everybody with is like even when you're going through the worst of times, for some reason it always works out. There's something amazing happening at the same time. And so I look back on the two years with the mold and the sickness and I'm like, but I also had the Dreamweavers and I had all that support.

And so I can never look back and say these were the worst two years of my life because it was also the best two years of my life. And I think if we can all look for the silver lining and find the good in it, like it's a whole lot less traumatic. Yeah, well said. So, well, thank you everybody for listening and happy running. Yay, yay.

Ally Brettnacher