Episode 41: Angelica McMurtray - You Never Regret a Run

Episodes

Feb 2

Angelica McMurtray started running at 38 to shed baby weight. At 52 she has run about 36 half marathons, back-to-back Berlin and Chicago, and once toured as a singer in a pop a cappella group.

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About this episode

Angelica McMurtray, known on Instagram as Angelica Run, is a Carmel mom of three boys who never considered herself athletic. A moms' group in California talked her into the 2009 Silicon Valley Half Marathon, and since then she has broken two hours in the half, run the Monumental Marathon, the Air Force Marathon, Marine Corps, Carmel, and Berlin and Chicago two weeks apart in 2023.

We finally sat down in person to talk about the cheese reel we made with her coach Tracie, pushing Justin with Ainsley's Angels at the Indy Mini, her rain-soaked Marine Corps Marathon, why she loves CrossFit because she's bad at it, and the Sam Costa Half Marathon. She also tells me about singing in Pinay, a Filipina pop and R&B a cappella group from Berkeley that toured and got a song on the radio, and the legend of the Monon Trail's pirate cat.

In this episode, we discuss

Meeting in real life at El Rodeo and making the Berlin cheese reel
Running the Houston Half and her early goal of a half marathon in every state
Starting to run at 38 after three boys and feeling lucky to be 52
Why running makes her a better, calmer person
Getting all three sons to run the Indy Mini with her
Pushing Justin with Ainsley's Angels at the Indy Mini and her course PR
Her first half marathon in Silicon Valley in 2009 and chasing a sub-2 half
Working with her coach Tracie and writing a five-page running manifesto
Running the U.S. Air Force Marathon finishing in an aircraft hangar
Sam Costa Half Marathon, Indiana's oldest half, and her role on the Indy Runners board
Singing in Pinay, the Filipina a cappella group that toured and sang national anthems
Life as a stay-at-home mom and her mantra that nobody cares
Why she loves CrossFit precisely because she's bad at it
The Monon Trail's pirate cat
A tearful, rainy Marine Corps Marathon, a Carmel Marathon PR, and running the mile you're in

Chapters

00:00 · Intro
05:00 · Meeting in person and the cheese reel
12:00 · Houston Half and half marathons by state
15:00 · Marathon count and starting at 38
21:00 · Parenting teenagers and running with her boys
27:00 · Ainsley's Angels at the Indy Mini
32:00 · First half marathon in Silicon Valley
37:00 · Coaching and why she started her running Instagram
43:00 · The Air Force Marathon and planning 2024
47:30 · Sam Costa Half Marathon and Indy Runners
55:30 · Singing in Pinay
1:02:00 · Stay-at-home mom life and nobody cares
1:08:00 · CrossFit, yoga, and strength
1:17:00 · The Monon Trail pirate cat
1:21:00 · Marine Corps Marathon in the rain
1:33:30 · Mantra and what's next

Where to find Angelica

Instagram: Angelica Run

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Houston Half Marathon, Silicon Valley Half Marathon, OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, CNO Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, U.S. Air Force Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, Carmel Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, New York City Marathon, Sam Costa Half Marathon, Indy Women's Running Festival, Ragnar Trail / Ragnar Michigan, Las Vegas Half Marathon
Organizations and charities: Ainsley's Angels, Indy Runners, Stroller Strides, American Fitness Company CrossFit, Broad Ripple Fit Club, Run 317, UC Berkeley
Other: Pinay (a cappella group), Monon Trail pirate cat, Hansons Marathon Method, Rich Roll Podcast, VDOT, Peloton

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

When did Angelica McMurtray start running?

Angelica McMurtray started running at age 38 after having three boys, and ran her first race, the Silicon Valley Half Marathon, in October 2009.

What is Pinay, the singing group Angelica McMurtray was in?

Angelica McMurtray sang in Pinay, a four-woman Filipina pop and R&B a cappella group formed at UC Berkeley that recorded music, had a song on the radio, and performed around the country and in the Philippines.

What is the Sam Costa Half Marathon?

According to Angelica McMurtray, who serves on the Indy Runners board, the Sam Costa Half Marathon is Indiana's oldest half marathon, a no-frills runner's race held in March at Northview Church in Carmel.

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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 in fitness. This podcast brought to you by Athlete Bouquets. Celebrate finish lines and milestones of the people that you love by visiting athlete bouquets.com.

Hello and welcome to episode 41. This is Ally Brettnacher and I'm recording this at 8:00 PM. On Wednesday, January 31st, the night before I leave for Cancun, Mexico. So my suitcase is currently laying open in my closet with all my stuff just everywhere. So after this I am going to go frantically pack everything I can fit in a carry-on bag for our extended weekend in Cancun.

We are going with seven other couples. They're all our, our great friends. We did this same group two years ago, same location. This year we're at a different resort, so I'm just ready for some sun in Indiana at least. It's been, I think I saw the cloudiest January on record, or like in 25 years, something crazy.

So. Seasonal depression, man, it is. It's a real thing and I'm, I'm glad I get some vitamin D and some adult time. Love my girls, but I'm just ready to get away for a few days. So I am scheduling this to go out while I'm gone. And I'm also one of those people who works out on vacation. I dunno if you can relate or if you're one that's like when I go on vacation, I go on vacation, I don't do anything.

Uh, but I have a half marathon coming up at the end of February in Vegas. And so I gotta keep on my fitness today. I actually ran, I did a long run on the moan on trail in Indy and I did, it was 11 and a half miles. It was a workout that my coach Rachel Senders programmed for me where it was an eight mile warmup, which is just so funny.

And then 10 times I did a 45 second. Acceleration or stride at like, what was it, 7 45 pace with a two minute jog afterwards. So, and then a half a mile cool down. So all in all 11 and a half miles, a little over an hour and a half. And I spent the time, I listened to the Rich Roll Podcast, which I got a recommendation from a previous podcast guest, Michael Hart Nagel, and it was just talking about how not to care what people think, which is funny.

In today's episode, Angelica McMurtry and I actually talk about that. During this, this conversation, but we also talk about how we met. So she's local. We met, I don't know how long ago in person, but we've been virtual friends for quite some time. We talk about this hilarious reel that we made with her coach, uh, and another runner.

And then my coach, I guess, randomly kind of came together because Rachel and I inserted ourselves in the creation process. We talk about the Houston half marathon. Angelica just ran that. We talk about how I refuse to believe that she's 52 years old. That blows my mind. Still does. I don't. I don't know. I might need to see a driver's license, birth certificate, something.

We discuss how she started running at age 38 after her having her three boys. We talk about running for Ainsley's Angels, which I am doing this year for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. She did it last year. We talk about her running bucket list, the timeline of her running journey, why we love talking about running so much.

We talk about several of the races that she's done, the Air Force Marathon in Ohio. We talk about Chicago and Berlin. She did last year, the Sam Costa Half Marathon, which is local to indie. It's on March 23rd this year. It's one I've never done, and it's local, and I had no idea that it was in Carmel. So I feel like I've been missing out on that.

We talk about how Angelica sings. She used to be part of a pop hip hop acapella group that had a song on the radio called Panay Panai, and I am linking that, their Instagram page. And she does a little, little teaser of singing for me during this, but I put her on the spot. She, it was still incredible. We talk about how she loves CrossFit because she sucks at it.

I felt like that was really important to point out like, what a powerful lesson there, doing something because you suck at it and you want to get better and learn. We talk about the Monan Pirate cat. Does anyone know what that is? Because I had no clue. And then we also talk about her experience running the Marine Corps marathon in a deluge of rain.

It's a race that I've done as well, so we talked about that. I really enjoyed finally having the chance to get to know Angelica better, and I know that you will too. Enjoy. Hello. Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, Angelica. Hi. How do you say your last name? McMurry. Okay. This is McMurry McMurray.

McMurtry. McMurtry. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of like it's spelled. It is, yeah. But it's such a long name. My whole name is so long that people are like, Angelica. I've been called everything. It's fine. Mick Monkey. Mick Monkey, yeah. Oh, great. Yeah. Well, Brettnacher 11 characters. My poor kid's trying to learn how to spell it right now, so yeah, that's, it's gonna take a, take a hot minute.

Is it phonetic or no? Brettnacher, so, no. Oh, that's right. It's like it's natural. A CH. Yeah. There you go. See? You know, and you are a run Angelica. Run. Yes. On Instagram. Correct. And we first met in person at El Rodeo. Do you remember that? That's right. I totally did. Who was I? Was I eating, uh, dinner with like one or two family members?

Can't remember. You were with your sister, I'm pretty sure. Oh, that's, oh my gosh. She was in from out of town. Yes. Where does she live? California. She lives all of my family's in California. Okay. Ironically, her husband is from Indiana. That's funny. I know, I know. So she met at work or she and her husband went met at work.

He's from Indiana. From Bloomington. Went to iu. That's so funny. So it's ironic that, you know, when we moved here to Indy, he's like, you guys are moving to my hood. But yeah. Wow. Yeah. So she was visiting. When was it? Oh, I have no idea when that was. I can't remember. Was it in the time? I have no clue. The concept of time.

I feel like you were in running clothes. Maybe. I'm always in running clothes. Fair enough. I know. I guess it's 30 degrees out and you're wearing shorts. Oh yeah. That's always the case. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, that's right. And And you were like, you're running Angelica run. It was really weird because you know, you see somebody outta context in real life and you're like, uh, I know you.

Where do I know you from? Yeah. Yeah. It's cool though. I've bumped into people that I've met. Or that I know on Instagram, and I'm like, oh my gosh. It's like you, yeah. I, I have a really bad memory though, and so it's hard, especially like being at local races. Mm-hmm. Someone's like, oh, hey. And I'm like, oh shit, I know you, what's your name?

I, you know, and then sometimes I just am like, I'm sorry, what's your name? I forget. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like that too. People, people, everyone's in the same boat there. I feel like there, unless you have a very, you know, natural talent for just remembering everything, which I do not so well, and anytime I'm with Tracy, my running coach, they're like.

It's Indiana Run Girl. Oh right. Can run a race, which is really cool. I'm like, I'm I'm running with someone famous. Yeah. Yeah. The first time I actually met her in person was at the end uh, what, what race was that? I think it was the mini marathon. Oh yeah. And I saw her and I hugged her and then some guy was like, oh, you're Indiana Run or Girl.

And I was like, oh, that's so funny. They all know her. Yeah. Everyone knows her. Awesome. So it's so great. And you and I met a second time when you guys were making a reel with Tracy and that was so we always do the reels funny. It was hilarious. But it's a great, I mean, again, it's like a nice, I love our running community and how, you know, we're always out and about and you just see each other and you know, it's like we know each other.

Yeah. And um, it was hilarious. Well, I'm so glad that you let Rachel, my running coach and I join in on that. Fun. How did Tracy, did she tell you, okay, we're gonna do something? She didn't tell you what you're gonna do. So it's funny 'cause sometimes she'll. Her reels are awesome because the, the best ones are the ones she doesn't really plan, you know?

Yeah. And she's kind of like, let's just do this. Yeah, yeah. Um, and then we'll just kind of figure it on the go. But we were supposed to meet, um, with Margo, um, she, she doesn't work with Margot, but Margot reached out. She's like, Hey, let's talk logistics about Berlin. Oh, yeah, yeah. Um, and meet for coffee with Tracy.

I'm like, yeah, okay. Let's do that. And, and usually when I meet for, for coffee with Tracy or anything in person, she's like, okay, what, what are we gonna do? What our, we, what kind of video are we gonna make? Like, oh crap. Yeah. You were like, okay. But then like a couple of days before, she was like, okay, look at this funny one about the cheese.

I'm like, what cheese? Like, that was just like. Yeah. I'm like, how are we gonna do, like how, okay, whatever. I'm open, I'll just do whatever. Just tell me what to do. She's like, the cheese. The cheese. And she brought cheese. Okay. Tell people what the cheese reel was about. Okay, so people were getting nervous about Berlin and like, there's so many, like the weeks before, everybody who's training for Berlin is like, oh, it's in kilometers, not miles.

And yeah, how do we figure this out? And like the logistics of like running a major marathon. In, you know, a brand new country. Um, just nervousness, right? Mm-hmm. Um, and there was another reel somewhere that was super popular about, um, how babies would cry

and, um, moms would like just throw a piece of cheese on their head and then they like have this calm, rela reaction and they're super relaxed, so funny. And so she's like, let's do this and like, tie it in with the Berlin. I'm like, how are we gonna do this? But she's like, oh yeah, let's just do it. And so then she brought the cheese and like figure out, figure it out a way.

And then when we saw you guys just SIPP sipping on some coffee zinc cafe, like. Okay, let's do this. I, I'm pretty sure I, I like weasel my way in there. I was like, I love it. Oh, this is my jam. I would love to do this, please. But it was perfect because it was like, and I think it worked out even better that it was like the five of us.

Yeah, it was, it was so funny. I mean, you coulda, it's hard, so hard to do without laughing. I know. Because it's just hilarious trying to get American craft singles to stick on someone's forehead. Oh my. That that cheese stank. It was disgusting. Yeah, it's really gross. But hey, any new moms out there who are looking for a way to calm their kid down?

Try just try putting a piece of cheese on their forehead. It works. Apparently it works. Works. I wonder if it works. Then dogs, they probably just eat my, oh, my dog would catch that. Yeah. Right away. Somehow he'd be like, what are you doing? I might eat that. We should put post that, that reel again. I haven't seen it in a while.

We'll, I'll have to do that long episode. Yeah. I think Tracy did the behind the scenes, which is, I think even funnier than the original one. Right. Because. Trying to throw like the outtakes of trying How many times? You were the one that got the cheese on, like really good, but you had to like fling it a certain way.

Oh, I'm pretty, I got Margot in the eye one time and I felt kind of bad about that. Yeah. Because I didn't, that was the first time I met her and I'm whipping cheese at her face. She's, I'm like, I'm so sorry. But she was a great sport. Yeah. So good. So much fun. So, um, thank you for being my Guinea pig with video today.

Yeah, I think it's good. Try and, I don't know, I don't know. I gotta do something with video people say, so here I am. Yeah, you, yeah, you should definitely put on YouTube and like splice it and figure out, I dunno, I think people like watching YouTube. Yeah. Maybe. I guess it's just easier. Yeah. But probably most of your listeners listen while they're running.

Yeah. I don't know. I would think so. I dunno. But. Yeah, that's good. I don't know. So we'll find out. Yeah. Maybe three people will watch it and then fine. It's all good. Whatever. It's all good. Uh, all good. So you are fresh off Houston, the half you ran? Yes, yes. I have not ever done that race. Um, Todd Oliver, who's recently on Yes.

I didn't, was down there. I'm bummed I didn't see him. And Tasha. Yeah. Um, there were only two people that I actually knew that were, um, gonna gonna be at the race well, from here. Yeah. And so, um, yeah, it was, it's a big race. Um, but it was, I highly recommend it. Um, it's one of those things I've always wanted to do it.

Mm-hmm. But I just, you kind of like take a step back with your running goals. Like, originally when I first started running, I was like, I'm gonna run a half marathon in every state. Mm-hmm. So I, so I first started in California, which is where I'm from, and then we moved to Indy. In 2010 ran the any mini and of course.

Yeah. Well that's what everyone does. Everybody does that. It was my first, it was my second half marathon. Loved it. Um, and then I was like, oh, I just ran two states. Then the next like two or three years, I popped a couple more states here and there because you know, it's so every state Yeah. Nearby, it's, it's not like California where you drive eight hours, right.

You're in the same fricking state. State. Yeah. So, but I took a break on this. I think I, I met 12, so I'm a little catching up to do. Yeah, yeah. But I've always wanted to do Houston and the timing felt right to do it. Um, so it was so fun. It was just like a nice. It was a perfect way to get out of Indie. Yeah.

In the, in this time, I'm actually, the reason we're part of the reason we're recording early in the week is 'cause I leave from Mexico on Thursday, so when, okay. I wanna go, yeah. When this comes out, I'll be on a beach. So, wait, where in Mexico? We're gonna Cancun. Oh, mm-hmm. Yeah. So with a group of, there'll be 16 of us.

Oh, that's right. I thought I saw that in your stories. Oh, it's gonna be nice. Is it like, uh, like a girls' weekend or is it No couples. Just a couple. Oh. Mm-hmm. Fine. We did it two years ago. Same group. So we're going back and is it like a resort or, yeah, all inclusive resort. So that's the best. Yeah, I think that's the best way to go when you're, you know, international and you don't have to worry or think, right.

Like, we're just gonna go there. Not, not leave. And they actually ironically have a 5K on Friday mornings, which is so funny. 'cause who knows what the hell that means. But I know my friend, my friend Ashley, who's going, is one of my best running friends, and so she, okay, you guys gonna run? She got, she found the resort and so we're, we're maybe, I don't know.

It's after our first night there though, so I like, it's a, it's totally fine. It'll be fine. 'cause I can sleep all day. I don't have my kids. I know. It'll be fun. It'll be fun. So, yeah. So is Berlin the first international race that you've done? It was, it was, it was great. It was awesome because, well, let's backtrack.

So I am not a marathon. Like I've run marathons, but very limited. So Berlin was my six. Very limited six. Get outta here. Well, I mean, I guess in the grand scheme, I know, but it's all relative. A lot of people would be like. That's a lot. I know. But then it's funny, and again, you shouldn't compare yourself to others because like, freaking, what was it, how many marathons did Trina run?

Oh, Trina's run like a hundred. I don't know. Yeah. Like yeah. Just wild, crazy. Yeah. You know, I get it. I totally get it. Mm-hmm. Um, and I've, you know, for me, my, I love the half marathon distance. Same. It's a faha. Yeah. So I've run about, I think Houston was my 36th. Okay. I kind of lost track, but, um, Berlin was my sixth and, you know, I got back into marathons in 2018 and I was running them like once a year.

Okay. So my first marathon was, uh, the monumental in 2013. Okay. It was the be it was perfect first marathon experience. Enough for me to be like one and done. Wow. I was one and done for five years, and then it wasn't until like 2018 that I. Got that bridge again. Really because I'm a runner and Yep. You know, it's, there's something so difficult and gratifying about the marathon experience that, I mean, it just, yes.

You know? Yes. How many have you run? Um, I've done seven full marathons. Oh. So I'm just like right ahead of you. Are you done? Barely, no. Um, because now, well, sorry, my husband, but I know, like, excuse me, I really wanna run one this fall, but I, I don't know, we just gotta figure out which one. Um, I don't know. I, so here's the deal, like working with a running coach, as you know Right.

Having one, I've been able to work on my speed. Mm-hmm. And so last year was a year of speed for me, like just working on doing speed work. And so I prd in the half as a result, and Rachel sent me a screenshot of what my, like vdot, the app we use, um, the equivalent of what my marathon pace would be, right.

And what that time would look like. And I was like, whoa. Okay. It was left huge game. It was like three, it was either like three 30 or three 20 something. And I was like, holy crap. That's so, 'cause my PR is just under four hours. Oh my gosh. And I always kind of, I kind of thought, oh, I've ran a sub four, I'm good.

Yeah. But that was, I mean, that was a long time ago. It was before I was married, I believe. And then, you know, so now like, post kids getting my speed back, I'm kind of like, ooh, what, what can I do? And even this morning I saw, uh, a post from, um, track Club, babe. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. I think her and Tracy know each other, but, um, she was saying like, Hey, these are the milestones, like for people who started running later in life.

And you're one of, you're one of those people too, right? Because you didn't start running until, how old were you when you started? I was old. 38. Let come on old. I, I wouldn't, I know. I can't believe that. So how old are you now? Oh my God. Shut. I'm not gonna believe you. Whatever you tell me. I'm gonna need to see your driver's license.

Uh, 52. Yeah, I'm 52. I'm 52. I'm freaking old. No. Yeah. No you're not. Mm. So this is a funny story. I was, I know. I'm shocked. I know. I'm fifty two fifty. I was born in 1971. Generation X. Get outta here. You would never ever know I was having a conversation with my youngest Cole, who is a freshman. Carmel High School, and he was talking about one of his teachers and how, um, he's a fun dude and all that, but he, you know, he has young kids.

I'm like, oh, so he's probably what, in his mid to late thirties or something? Yeah, like a millennial. I'm like, oh, he's so young. He's like, like he's old. Like, okay. Say, oh, thanks Cole. Cool. Great. That makes me feel awesome. Like, yeah, 38 is young. Wow. 52 and you're still running marathons. Yeah. No, I feel I love it.

It's one of those things where I feel I feel good about my age. Like, for a while I was like. Holy FA holy. Yeah. You can say whatever you want. Oh, holy fuck. It's old. But yeah, it's one of those things where I, I feel lucky that I'm old. Yes. I feel lucky that, um, I made it and I'm still here. Yeah. And I'm hanging out with, you know, the 30 year olds at CrossFit.

Yeah. Trying, you know. Yeah. But it's way better than, you know, being the youngest one in a nursing home and, you know, I just, yeah. It's hard. It is hard getting old. Um, and just like what you're, what happens to your body. Um, so I'm fighting it as much as I can. Yeah. Well, you're doing a good job of it so far.

Well, I mean, I think for me, running has helped so much, not just the physical part, but mental. Mm-hmm. So I think that is why I keep running is just how it makes me feel and like. It doesn't matter. Well, originally, like getting into running was to lose the baby fat. Right. Like to like, I felt frumpy and low energy.

Yeah. And it was so, as you know mm-hmm. Being a mom and like being overwhelmed, it's so freaking hard, you know, just to feel confident about yourself and like, you know. Yeah. And then like the changes that your body goes through, like, I gained so much weight, I had huge babies and so yeah. I stretch marks and like blobby skin.

Yeah. Everything. Um. But the weight came off. But I can continue running just because of the way it made me feel and like, uh, not not having that, um, or just being able to control like the, that moment and being in the moment. And it's 100% mental Yes. For me. And that's what I can see. I come to find, the reason why I run is yeah, the physical gains are awesome and I love the fact that I have strong legs.

Mm-hmm. And I've got, you know, low resting heart rate and on all those metrics and all, you know, all the good stuff and I could maintain and all that. But like the, like I'm just a way better person when I run. Same yell. I'm a much nicer human being. I yell less when I run. Yes. So same. And how old are your boys?

Uh, how old are they? 15. Okay. 17 and almost 19. Whoa. Fun. I know. Teenagers. Teenagers. Yeah. I, I know I'm in a blink and mine's gonna I know. Be a, a teenager. Yes. So wait, how old are your girls? So I have two girls. One is uh, six and the other is two and a half. Almost three. Almost three. So sweet. Yeah. That's the best.

So it's fun, but we're like still in the thick of it. It is. You will get to, it's called the sweet spot of parenting and it's so sweet and special. So, you know, you're kind of in, you know, the grind, right? Yeah. Like when there's diapers and, you know, feeding down. They were both in my bed last night. Yeah.

Yeah. And just like the, the normal day to day. Yeah. And just all that. Mm-hmm. You know, potty training, all of that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. And just toddler, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And then you get to this sweet spot where they're like, these awesome. Little human beings. Oh yeah. And they've got their own personalities and interests and the questions that they ask.

And they're self-sufficient, but they still like you. I, I pray for that with my girls when they become teenagers. 'cause I was not, I know, I was not very kind I don't think to my mom. I think, sorry mom, when you're teenagers. I know. Yeah. Well, and then you get to a point where like, whatever you do or say to them, it doesn't matter.

Oh yeah. That's gonna tough. And that's, well, and it's, it's the truth though, ally, like Yeah. After a certain age, you've kind of done your work and after, well it's true. Like by, I don't know, like age 12, 13, you have, you have less of an influence on 'em. Yeah. That's so fair. And they are now like figuring out.

What their peers like and their peers kind of influence them and their behavior. So you wanna make sure that they hang out with good friends Yeah. And good people. Um, because it's like, whatever I say, you Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know, but it's good. So like that sweet spot. Hold on. So I can't wait. Like I'm, it's so good and I love this time too, right?

It's like you always wanna try to enjoy the time that you're in. Right. And not keep it like, hoping for, you know, oh, I can't wait for this and mm-hmm. So I, you know, try to, I wish time would just slow down so I could enjoy, enjoy it. I, but I know, I know. It's so, it's so hard though because I feel like every stage has its challenges and its strengths.

Yes. Um, like we are at the stage where we're slowly. Being empty nesters, so, right. Yeah. So your oldest is in college? Yeah. Okay. He's a freshman and then our middle is a junior. Right. Yeah. Um, and there, there have been times over the past couple of years where they're also busy with their different things that in any given moment, like there'll be one or two family members in the house.

Mm-hmm. And so we would regularly have family dinners like all the time and Yeah. You know, savor that time, but over the past couple years it's more rare. So just take advantage of that. Mm-hmm. That, I guess it's just, yeah. And teenagers is, it's fun and it's crazy. Oh my God. Do any of them run? They do. Well, they, they all, okay.

So I will, I'm happy to say that for whatever reason I was able to coerce, no, I shouldn't say coerce, co convince them to all run the Indie Mini. They did. Yes, they did. Okay. Oh, that is so great. So Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. So they ran, um, and then two did cross country. Okay. And they, one did soccer. So they kind of run fish.

Yeah, yeah. And my husband, uh, played so played soccer, so, okay. They all, it's not like they can't run. Yeah. Um, so like, when was it 2018 when Jack was in, I think he was in the seventh grade. Um, and I was like, I, every, every, every time I'm training for a race, I just jokingly say, Hey, does anybody wanna run with me?

Does wanna race with me? Crickets. Like, nobody, like mom just run. But one day I, I mean, I kept saying it and one day Jack was like, I'll do it. And I ignored it. I was like, no, you won't. And so I didn't say, and I kept anybody wanna race the train, the Indie Mini with me? He's like, I'll do it. And so I said, are you sure?

Are you serious? I said, yeah. So he, we, I put him on a little training and we did it. It was so awesome. Oh, that's so fun. And then the next year, um, Brody was in cross country, um, in middle school. And then Cole was in the fourth grade and they said, I wanna do it. So we did it in 2019. But that was the, I don't know if you ran it that year.

It rained. It rained. I did, I think, 'cause I have a streak going well ish. There was one year I missed for the mini. Yeah. So I must have run in 2019. I don't remember. It was horrible. I'll have to, yeah, I'll rainy look at my pictures. It rainy. But they did it and they loved it. I got my husband to run it because at that time, um, Brody was, he was training, but he was complaining the whole time and Cole wanted to run it faster.

Oh right. And so that's, let's. Let's split up. Yeah. So I told Rocky, I'm like, you're signing up. You are gonna run with Brody. I'll run with Cole. Yeah, it rained. It was he, you're like, see guys, isn't this great? This is so much fun. I was like, they're gonna kill me. Oh yeah. I mean better than like having them do the monumental and have it be like fleeting or cold, you know?

But still, it's always unpredictable. Yeah. But I'm just, I'm glad that, you know, he still proceeded to do cross country in middle school, the both of them. And Brody's actually doing cross country in high school, so that's great. So it's good. Yeah. That's good. For the runners. I wanted to ask you about, for the mini last year, you and Tracy did Ainsley's Angels.

Oh, I loved it. And I'm signed up. Yeah. And so I wanna know about that experience, like what made you do it? Is it the first time you did it? What was the experience like? You're gonna love it. Ainsley's Angels is such a great organization. I've seen them, you know, being a local runner and you see. The, you know, the different charities and stuff and I rem, I.

Remembered it was during Jack's Indie Mini, where I saw Ainsley's Angels and like there are ti when we did the miler series. Oh, okay. For three, the sixth, the 10th. Yep. Yep. And I think one of the miles, one of the A Ainsley's Angels people was like, Hey, you wanna push? And it just felt so awesome. That just, that's cool.

Just like temporarily. And then I was like, one day that's on my running bucket list. I like, I have a running bucket list that has random things that, oh, I like, that has nothing to do with like Pace. Pace or anything. Yeah. I can see. I would, I should, I want to pace, I wanna pace a half marathon. One day I, and then I, I wanna get a family member to run a race check.

Yep. And then one that was also on my list was to run for an Ainsley's Angels. So I reached out to them, actually I think it was like right around COVID. So the first, and I did only like five Ks, like local five Ks with them, which is such a great organization. 'cause you meet the families. Ugh. And they're just so sweet and fun.

Yeah. And then, you know, then we got the email for like the, the big, the 13.1. And I was like, Tracy, you're doing, 'cause it was so, and Justin, we've pushed Justin, um, before, or No, that, that was the first time we pushed Justin and then we did another 5K with Justin. Okay. Who's Justin? Um, Justin is the guy in the stroll In the, in the Oh, he was your the one?

Yeah. Ainsley. Your angel? Uh, our angel, yeah. He was our angel. Yeah. Okay. Justin was awesome because he loved eighties music, so we were blessing eighties music. That's fun. It's good to get to know the person. Mm-hmm. Um, and the families, um, he loves firetrucks and so like right before we saw a firetruck and the firefighter like, reached out to him, took pictures and it was like the best thing That's really cool ever.

But. Also just the support that you got from fellow runners, like, yes, I try to do that. Go team Justin. Yeah. Yeah. I try to do that when I'm running. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. You're gonna love it. I'm excited. That's fun. Yeah. My partner is actually, she's the one, the Mexico, the one who found the resort, Ashley.

She has four children and she has been stroller running a lot. Oh, that's, and so I'm like, that's gonna help me. It was. So, yeah. 'cause I haven't pushed a stroller in a, in a quite a while, so, um, yeah, it was really hard. So I wasn't used to pushing. And then for 13.1 miles. Okay. And so this is how much of a superstar Tracy is?

She, she came back from Boston. She was run, I think she ran Boston like a couple of weeks prior to the Indie Mini, of course. And like I was, I got a pr a course PR for the Indie Mini with her, with Justin. Wow. For the Ainsley's Angels. It was like a 2 0 6, like, and I don't run fast in the Indie 500 because it in the Indie Mini so proud.

It's, yeah. Yeah. So I don't, I think my fastest was like, I don't know, like a 2 0 8 or two Oh, whatever. And then I ran with my boys and that was like two, right? You're just like closer to three hours, you know what I mean? Like having fun. Um, and it was, yeah, it was really fun but hard, like the turns and going up into the track.

Oh yeah. Yes. That's, yeah. Yeah. Pretty steep little hill there. Yeah. But she was like just, and going down like not to let go. Yeah. You know when you go down to the truck Uhhuh and you're like, oh God, I can imagine you're like holding on for life, so you don't Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be careful, like get pulled down or whatever's really cool.

I'm so looking forward to it. It's super fun. The cool thing is also the fact that you start the race that will be fun. So you see, that'll be weird. I know. So you see the elites and then, then we start. So capture it. Like if I were you, take turns and like capture that because it's so fun to see. Yeah. Just the, the, you know, the energy of the start line and mm-hmm.

Yeah. It's so much fun. I'm so looking towards You're gonna Yeah. Buy and then buy Pink. Pink. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You better believe I'm gonna like, make shirts and, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's cool. It's fun. Yeah. So, um, so you're, what was your first race ever that you ran? So, my first race was in 2009. Okay. It was a half marathon.

I was never a runner growing up, I was never athletic. And so it was back in California. I was part of a mom's playgroup, um, called Los Madres, Willow Glen. It was like a, just a nice support group, which was great for brand new moms. Mm-hmm. Which I was, there were a couple of runners in the group. I was trying to lose the baby weight and so sick of doing.

Freaking Zumba at the gym. Yeah, yeah. Like, God, this weight is not coming off. And then I think one of the ladies was like, you should go run. I'm like, hell no. Like I am not a runner, but I did because I was like, I'm so sick of trying the same thing and nothing's working. And I ran like a mile, a couple of miles, so hard, so slow.

I'm like, this sucks. Yeah, I hate it. But I kept doing it and then they found out that I was running, you know, a couple miles here and there. Like, Angelica, you're running three miles. Oh gosh. You can train for like, you know, four the next week, six up to six. If you can run six miles, your kid runs nine. If you run nine miles, this is runner's logic, right?

Uhhuh, uhhuh runner Math. You can run a half marathon. I'm like, mm-hmm. Get out. You know? And I was like, no way. But they somehow, like all runners do, managed to spread that crazy fanatical goal, twisted, obsessed, addicted, passion and pursuit of running a race. Yeah. So I did, it was the Silicon Valley, half marathon, October, 2009.

Okay. I was nervous. I've never run and I think I trained to like 10 miles. No clue. Like, I didn't have a watch, I had nothing. Like I, I wasn't serious about running, I was just trying to lose weight. Yeah. Like, yeah. But I did it. I finished it and um, you know, at the time my boys were one, three, and four. Wow.

You know, I was like right in the middle of like just hardcore crazy stuff. And that was also right around a crazy time in our lives when we were right. That was right before we moved to Indy. Yeah. So anyways, yeah, I got a taste of it and I was like, wow, this is fun. And then when we moved to Indy people, you know, like seeing on tv, the ads for the world.

The World's world Largest, yeah, largest half marathon. Yeah. And just pushing it and how big of a race it was. And so I was like, okay, I'll do it. And then I got hooked. So, and then what year was it? The monumental marathon that you were in? It was 23rd. Oh, that's right. You already told me that. Yeah, 2013.

Okay. So that's so like 11 years ago. Okay. And it was, it's funny 'cause like I never had that on my radar to do a full marathon. You know? I was like super content doing half marathons and I think my. So my first half was a 2 23. Okay. Which I was like, you know, just have fun. Finish strong. And again, I'm slow.

I'm not a, I'm not like super speedy. Don't tell me you do. I'm slow. You can't. You just, I know, I know, I know. I, yeah, no. So anyways, and it's funny 'cause like I get it. 'cause like my easy pace is somebody's fast pace. Right? And no matter what, conversely, Uhhuh my super fast, eight 10 pay, eight 30 pace is like somebody's sexy pace that they're like falling asleep.

It's all good. Totally all good. However, so the first half marathon's, 2 23, I was like, oh, this is great, blah, blah, blah. Um, when I came here, I also joined this again mom's fitness group called Stroller Strides. Oh, I've heard stroller strides. I was like, I need to, you know. Yeah. Build my tribe, make or, you know, meet friends and all that.

Mm-hmm. So I joined Stroller Strides and we would work out with the kids in the strollers and do stuff like, you know, strength stuff. Yeah. And then I would run on, um, the treadmill at like one of the gyms, um, train for the Indie Mini. And I got, I think it was like a 2 0 9. I was like, whoa, whoa. I was like, wow.

You know, okay, this, like, I'm getting faster. And then that got me thinking about, okay, can I shave more time off? And so then I was in pursuit of a sub two mm-hmm. Half marathon, which I ended up getting in 2012. So it took, it took, oh, I forgot which one. Like maybe it was my 11th or 10th. Oh yeah. Which half, half, half marathon that I did.

That was my one goal to get a sub two. And I was so close so many times. Then I got that in 2012. Okay. And then after that point I was like, okay, I got that goal. What's next? Yeah. And that's when I think I was like, oh, okay, maybe a full, so then I, that's when I did the full. And what point did you hire Tracy?

When did you start working with her? So I found her on Instagram. Wow. And I started, I know, yeah. Which was such a blessing, right? Because I kind of took a break from running, you know, like not hardcore running, but after, after my marathon in 2013, I was just more casual about it. And I ran like, like maybe a half marathon once a year, like from 2014 to 2016.

And I was doing other stuff working out. 'cause I love working out, but I just didn't focus on running and then I was getting slower again. I was like, this sucks. I missed that whole thing of being a runner. Got more serious in 2017. And then I trained for more marathons, but I didn't start working with Tracy until 2021.

Oh, okay. It was during COVID or right before CO. Mm-hmm. Because I was serious about running that. I did my. Instagram account. Oh, yeah. Because I was so tired of talking on and on and on about running to my non runner friends. Exactly. Yeah. Just like look at me like, okay, my friends have a drinking game that when I say the word marathon, they drink.

My husband started it and I didn't know they were doing it. And then once I caught on, I was so sad because I was like, Ugh, you don't care about my running. You're just trying to make fun of me. I know, and it's, I was mean, but I, but I get it. It's like, yeah, I could, yeah, go on. We talk about it all the time.

Well, and it's funny because, I mean, that's why I think these podcasts are great because you get it. Yeah. Just talks about, you just sit about running. It's great. About why you want this PR or why this race meant so much to you. Whereas the non-runners, they can understand and respect your. Drive, but they just don't get it.

Yeah. And I feel like runners have that mentality mm-hmm. Where you just know that that is, I guess I was thinking about this in the shower the other day, you know, what, what connects runners? Like, what is the one common denominator? Because I feel like a lot of runners have, you know, they're, they're, um, slightly addictive personality, slightly like super, super addictive personality, you know, kind of a cd kind of quirky.

Mm-hmm. Kind of maybe socially awkward, maybe just, you know, yeah. Whatever. Um, but one thing, but, and it's really cool. So many runners are so different right? From their backgrounds, like in age and lifestyle and whatnot. Right. All so. Vastly different. Yeah. But one thing I do realize is like, we're all driven.

There's something that is just within us that we can't not run. Mm-hmm. And I think if you're, you don't have that mentality, you just don't get it. Yeah. So we could keep talking on and on about like, I understand, like you wanna get a pr, you wanna see what you could do for your marathon. Mm-hmm. I get it.

You know? Yeah. You wanna keep running, you wanna keep your running streak, you wanna, you know, get into Boston. Yes. I get it. Like everyone has their own different thing that drives them. And I think that's the cool thing about renters. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so that, so that's why I started the running Instagram account so that I could.

Have an outlet for that. I know, I like unabashedly. Like, lemme tell you about my tempo Run. Yeah. And everyone's like, cool. How did that feel? Or like, everyone's like, go, Angelica. Go. Yeah. And you know, it feels so good. Support, supportive to have that support. It's supportive. And you know, people, you'll see like people on Instagram, like if they're pedaling their products or whatever.

Yep. It's, I I understand that. And it's a platform. Mm-hmm. You use it however you wanna use it, right? Yes. For me it's specifically because running has changed my life. I feel like a different person because I'm a runner and the reason why I got into running. It was because I'm a mom, which is just so ironic.

Like never in my life would I, if you were to talk to 21-year-old Angelica. Yeah, same with me. Yeah. Right. Like you're gonna be into running marathons and traveling cross country. I'm like, get the fuck outta here. No way. That's ridiculous. You know, because that's, that was never on my radar to be athletic and a runner.

Yeah. It's so weird. Same, but here I am. Right. Having a podcast on a podcast talking about running. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's funny, if somebody would've told me that I would left my career in software sales, making great money and decided mm-hmm. To, you know, fill my life with just all things running, I would've laughed.

You know, it's like, oh, you know, I, I knew I'd still be running perhaps, but. The idea that I would have a business that's running related. I would be on a board that's running related. I'd start a podcast about running. It's literally my life. And, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I think, you know what COVID kind of showed a lot of people was that what really mattered, right?

I mean, it just was like this weird time and you know, it helped me find this, this outlet and you know, the idea that you can create a life doing things that you really love. And of course I couldn't do that without the support of my husband and my family. Absolutely. You know? Right. It's so good. And I think, you know, once you stay true to what matters most to you and you just focus on that, you know, it does work out.

And it is, it is great to see, you know, people just. Again, during COVID, like you could either have it make you or break you. Yeah. And, um, to be able to like, okay, let's, let's regroup. Mm-hmm. Let's reflect, let's figure out what is most important and what, you know, what do I need to focus on? Yes. Um, so it's good.

Yeah, it is neat. I wanted to ask you about a, a couple other races that you've done. One was. So the 2018 marathon that you did, that was the first marathon that you did after your first marathon? Yes. In 2013 and it was the US Air Force Marathon. Where is that one? Oh, it's in, um, Dayton, Ohio. Oh, it's in Ohio.

Ohio, okay. You went to school in Ohio, right? I did. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like on my quest. I had done the half prior to that. Okay. It was like 2011. What made you find the Air Force one? Like do you have fam like family in the air that was in the Air Force or, well, my husband is, comes from a military family.

Okay. His dad was a fighter pilot for the Navy. Oh, that, yeah. Whoas a badass. Yeah, it's kind of scary. Yeah. You're like, oh, hello, sir. Um, so he's like full on into the Navy and military stuff in general. Um, so I had just, I don't know. Well, and I, I ran the half, I think in 2011. Okay. I think I was just, you know, doing a Google search when I was trying to knock out all the different states.

Right. Okay. Or it's like best half in Ohio, best half in cont like, so I think it was like 2011 when I did the, the half. And it was super cool because the finish line was at the hangar. Oh. And you see all the planes. It's really cool. So does that still go on today? It does. Okay. Yeah. You should run it. Yeah.

I was trying to think. I have Ohio as a state. Oh yeah. You're on your, how many? I'm like not officially doing all the states, but I have a map, so it's kind of like. You know, when I'm thinking about it. Yeah. Like, I'll get Michigan this year because the Ragnar, which I wanted to Oh, recruit you. Yes. If you are free.

Okay. So, as a matter of fact, I wanna, and it, so when I, okay. Because when I was working with Tracy, which I love, um, like I will write down like type out, it's like a five page manifesto about my running. I love that. And like my goals and aspirations, like what I want and mm-hmm. You know, all of this. And then, so this year I did it 'cause I'm, I felt stuck after Berlin in Chicago.

Such a big thing. Big, it was such a big thing to do. Big back to back major marathons. Which, which I need to hear Oh. Know a lot more about too. Oh, I know. I feel like we're like going over through so many topics 'cause there's, it's fine. Like it's totally fine. But anyways, for 2024, I was like, okay. I signed up for Houston 'cause I wanna just get back into half.

I wanna always be half marathon ready shape, but then I want something big. I want something different. I need a new goal. I knew, I knew that Berlin and Chicago was awesome and I had no idea having that feeling of not knowing if you could pull it off. Yeah. Because you've never done it before. Yes. Yeah.

Because I've done half marathons, which is great. I could work on continuing getting pr, which is great. Mm-hmm. Um, marathon distance is very hard and arduous and a different beast and there's so many things you can improve on. And yes, I'm kind of burnt out. I'm kind of, I wanna take a break from a full Well, I could see that after.

Yeah. Doing two back, back, right. Back to back and just mentally thinking all about 26.2. Yeah. Um. But I love that. I think it's just a twisted, um, way of just pushing yourself. Mm-hmm. And wondering is it possible? Right. And so I, I think for the longest time after Chicago, I was just, I was just open. I'm like, what if I do a trail marathon?

Or what if I do an an ultra? Yeah. Or what if I do a Ragnar? Just something that's totally different. Different. So yeah. And so then when I wrote Tracy, I was like, I think I wanna do a Ragnar. Allie, Allie mentioned a Ragnar in September. So like, and she was like, oh. I said, I think, and I also wanna sign up for a 50 k.

I just dunno where And what about this and what about that and what about the fall? And in preparation for 2025, if I wanna get, I, you know, so I was like just writing. And then she's like. Let's work on one thing first. Let's go to Houston first. Yeah, yeah. Well, and it's funny 'cause Houston was like a first, A first race.

Yeah. And then I am gonna be doing Sam Costa a local race, but which we need to talk about. 'cause I've never done that one. Then now it's like one of only Indiana ones that I haven't done. You should do it. It's when? Is it March? Oh, I should, I should know this. March 24. Oh, I would Google it. But my phone's over there.

Well, well yeah, look it up because, well, we need to shout out the race too for anyone local who's listening. Sure. It is Indiana's oldest half marathon. Oh, so that just an FYI? It is the 20. Oh wait, I should find this. You should probably take a break. I feel like I should know too, but I don't know. But it's March.

Okay. So it's before Carmel Saturday, March 23rd, 23rd. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't have any plans that I know of off the top of my head on that day. It's, it's an interesting time because it's right. It, it's hard though 'cause you compete. You compete. I mean, there's, there's a lot. There's so much, and it's hard.

Which, which is great to have so many options as a local It's, but it's also hard Yeah. As a race to compete, especially when a lot of the runners you're targeting are up in Indy. Mm-hmm. And where is this race? This is in Carmel, Sam Costa. No, it's not. Yes it is. I'm so surprised you don't know about Sam Costa.

We're not doing a good job about marketing, which, well, it's hard. I know, but I, I thought for some reason it was in southern Indiana. That's so weird. Just in my brain somewhere. I thought it wasn't in Indie. It's in Carmel. It's, it's in the Northview Church. It's so local. It's so easy. It's so fun. Okay. It's a runner's.

It's a lot easier. It's a runner's race. It's a runner's race put out by runner's. For the love of running. Yeah. Okay. Well that sounds right up my alley, so I know. But the interesting thing is that it's the weather is unforgiving. Oh, right. March. So it is, it's like, who knows? Crazy. And I think that's what brings the, the crazy hardcore renters Yeah.

Will just do it in the sleet. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Like it's for serious renters, like for renters who are trying to, you know, or who are prepping for Boston. Right. And so they need a half marathon race distance to get into practice in hard conditions. Yeah. Um, it's for the Ironman triathletes who just, oh, this is my training run.

Right. And you'll see that. Well, it's a ton. I, I actually, once I started Yeah. Doing well, no, when was it? No, I never did races as training runs. Until New York in 2018. That's when, when I was training, I didn't really have anybody I was training with. My friend Ashley was doing it as well, but she was training at a much faster pace than I was, and so it was hard for us to sync up for runs.

And so I used a few local races as training runs where I would tack on. Miles before or after even. That's the best way to do it. But that was so nice because then you have company I know. Yeah. And you don't have to worry about a route. Yeah. And you could just have support. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well that's interesting.

So you are, so you work behind the scenes with them. What do you do for them? I am on the board of Indie Runners. Okay. So And what, and Sam Costa is the race that indie runners host. Organized, yeah. Oh, okay. Hosts basically. I feel like I know nothing about this is bad. I know. Well, it's one of those things where, okay, so I love the indie runners running community.

Yes. But it's a 100% voluntary organization. Mm-hmm. So, you know, people give what they can of their time. Yeah. But you know, we all have other obligations, family life, work, so you just kind of do what you can. But it is a, a great organization, um, with. You know, runners, people who are passionate about running and specifically the running community.

Um, and the history behind Sam Costa is there was this guy named Sam Costa back in the day would run all the time. He would come from Chicago. I hope I'm telling the story correctly. Well, I don't know, maybe we'll just, yeah, okay. But, um, like they made a race, um, in honor of him. Um, he died and, um, he was a detective in from Chicago, which is why the logo is this cool.

Kind of like Sherlock Bones, like detective. Huh. Okay. Um, and it's been put on for. Decades even. Wow. Um, for the love of running and people would come from all over. This was back in the day to run this half marathon race. And, um, like the serious runners mm-hmm. They would drive hours just to run this race.

And it's a bare bones race. Like, we just wanna make it entirely like a good race experience, have parking easy. There's a place where you can warm up like the So does it start at Northview then? Mm-hmm. You like park there? Yes. And so it's super easy. It's not like a big race where you're like walking, where am I gonna park?

Like Yeah. Yeah. They make it really easy for the runners and like, say you signed up for the quarter marathon and you wanna do the half, you could. It's, it's just easy. Easy. It's really easy. But one of the cool things that I love about the race is, this is really interesting. So they have t-shirts if you win your age group.

Your name gets put on. Oh, i t-shirt. I think I've seen that somewhere. So Tracy, that's where I've seen it. She got Masters or, or you know, first in her age grade. Yeah. So she's gonna be on the shirt. She was on the shirt shirt forever. Yeah. Yeah. So like the 2021 shirt or the 2022. Oh, that's, so thats kind of a cool, fun nod to the fast runners.

They put the winners up and then the next year you get your shirt. That's cool. So it kind of encourages you. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna get the shirt. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get on the shirt. Yeah. Well, so my MO typically is, especially in the fall, is just to do. All the races know, and in the spring, so I'll do all the halves that are around like Carmel and the Mini.

Mm-hmm. And, um, Geist used to be, and so now, yeah, in the fall I do Geist, the Indie Women's Running Festival. So fun, monumental, like there's just, there are, there's a lot Zionsville, there's a lot here now, which is great. It's, yeah, it's hard. It's hard to like pick and choose, but at the same time, if you can find, if you find the marathoners right, that are training that just, that need the miles and want the company, it's sounds like a great opportunity.

Yeah. I feel like the races, there are a lot and it's a challenge for the race, the race organizations to continue putting it out and getting, you know, the right amount of people. Mm-hmm. And they have, you know, there's everything from five Ks to 10 Ks and all these fun themed ones. Mm-hmm. Right. And you'll get the serious runner to the, you know, couch to 5K type of person.

Yep. So you just have to, I don't know, be selective and as a runner, figure out what works for you. A lot of options and yeah, it's nice. It's, it's good option for people who like to do it all or who wanna just check, check one. Are there pacing teams for Sam Costa? No. No. Uhuh, no. That's another thing. Well, my husband, 'cause I'm like, you know, signing up for all these races and they're not cheap, is like, well why don't you, why don't you pace pace so that you don't have to pay the race entry fee and do that?

And I, I hadn't really ever thought about that. And I'm like, oh. So that is something that is probably you could consider on my bucket list too, just the difference. Like I unofficially paced the Indiana Women's Running Festival, so fun with Christy and it was her first time pacing and I really enjoyed that experience.

It just was, there's, there wasn't pressure on me. 'cause it was pressure on her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, I, I I think that that would be fun. Yeah, I agree. I wanna do that too. Especially I think there were a couple of races that I ran with Pacers, um, and it is, it is. A tremendous responsibility. Yeah, right.

But like listening to Todd on the podcast Yeah. When he would talk about how, you know, he was, he would be the pacer and then just randomly, like a dude would show up and say, Hey, thank you for, you know, I, I got a pr. And he's like, I never even know you're there to you. Yeah. But it is, it's so cool. I wanna do that for the half marathon.

Well, I think, well, Rachel told me, I know Carmel's looking for two 20 Pacer. I know. Well, okay, so actually I was going because she reached out to me. I was, oh, she did. I don't wanna do what I do. However, I'm not gonna be, I'm gonna be out of town. I'm actually singing, I'm at a singing gig that. Intense. We still sing.

I know. So I guess that's how we could tie in. Um, yeah, let's make a song about running. I love to run. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. So, okay, let's, let's just, let's take a, I'm gonna in California, take a tangent here and let's talk about singing because it's a wild tangent. I didn't know that about you until I did some digging and then I saw that and thought.

Oh my gosh. You said tour country world, both kind of, yeah. Yeah. I mean, well, yeah. So I, I'm, I minored in music. I, I was a couple of classes shy of a double major. I majored in psychology also. Okay. In college. But I was in, you know, I was like a choir geek in high school. I did the musicals and played piano, um, all of that.

And, um, so then I got into music, um, in college. So I was able to sing in a choir. Um. Like in Germany and in England and all that for for choir stuff. Wow. But then I also joined a group in college, and it was like a pop r and b acapella four girl singing group called Penai. What does that mean? Penai? So we got together for an end of the year banquet for the Filipino American Alliance, which is one of the clubs at Berkeley.

I went to Berkeley. And so coincidentally we're all Filipino and Penai is the colloquial term for Filipino lady. Oh. Like, it's like a term for, you know, Penai or Peni or peni. And back when we started getting and we're like, oh, let's just sing, let's just sing a couple of songs for the end of the year.

Banquet for this club. Okay. And that was it. So we sang back in the day, 'cause I'm Older. N Vogue, have you heard of N Vogue? The Girl Group? I'm gonna, I'm gonna need you to sing it for me now. Come on. Just sing a little. We're we're like in the recording studio. Um, oh, I know that's right. Um. And I wonder who love you, that song, you know? Oh my lord, my like, eyes are teary. It got goosebumps. I just didn't properly warm up. Okay. So anyways, we s we sang En Vogue songs. So cool. Wow. And the album, the album back in the day was Funky Divas. And we're like, oh, we're not funky Divas. We're Peni Divas. Ah. So we started s singing as Peni divas, and then we just, and that one gig led to another.

That led to another. We got a surprisingly good response within the community. And people just like, oh, Penn Divas, um, to the point where we. Got recognized by a major or like a local radio or record label. And then just started recording. And then we started doing gigs around the country. And so fun got to hear a song on the radio.

And we went to the Philippines. We went to Hawaii, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Washington. Like all over. All while we were like kind of working. Yeah. And so they're Whoa. They're like my sisters. Like we spent our twenties like together. Yeah. So touring it was fun. And then even to this day, so I think it's because people get nostalgic about, you know, like back in the day Yeah.

Back when we, you know, the good, the good days. Yeah. And like nineties. Pop r and b girl groups. Yeah. From the Bay Area. And so there was this kind of resurgence. So we had, and then this is cool, after I moved to indie, you know, we were still like occasionally asked to sing for these random things. Like I would periodically go back and they would fly me out for like a random gig.

I know. Like, so we actually so crazy sang another, like we had a reunion gig in 22. Wow. In April. So then again, then we think maybe like a year ago, created. A Penai Instagram account that just, you know, because people are like, oh, what happened to Penai and blah, blah, blah, and like all the younger people are getting into the nostalgia, whatever.

Yeah. Which, you know, I guess that that happens. Mm-hmm. Very flattering and again, like super, super fun to see back in the day, this is what I did. Yeah. It's so not a part of my life. Like, I am not, you know what I mean? Like Right. Today, I'm, I'm just a mom that runs. Yeah. Like, back in the day I used to sing, but like, and nobody knew.

Yeah. It's not, yeah. Yeah. But yeah. So yeah, I'll be singing in California during the. Carmel half. Wow. So I won't be, I was gonna sign up for the half. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't, I don't think I've ever registered yet, but I'll probably sign up now. Have you ever sang the national anthem at a race? Because you should.

I, you know what I was, is that on your race bucket list? I was actually thinking I totally would. I know like the run 3 1 7, I'll reach out. You should. Or anybody who's listening that's part of a race organization locally. Like, well, it's funny because, you know, we used to do national anthems, like we've sung for the San Francisco Giants and like the Oakland A's and we did a nice, that's we did.

Wow. I if we did the Niners. Ooh. Yeah. So, yeah, it was fun. Like doing the national anthem for like the sports stuff. Yeah. But, okay. Well yeah, you gotta do one at a race. Well, did you run the, the donut 5K? I did not. Mm-hmm. Because then one of like a guy from indie runners, he played the trumpet. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah. For the national anthem, which is pretty cool. It's nice seeing like. Runners. Well, it's nice to, to be able to tie in a runner to that part of the race. I mean, yeah. I think at Geist last year, I don't know somebody who was running the races saying the national anthem, which I thought was kind of, you know, like you just get up there, sing and then go run.

Well, and that's the coolest thing about runners right? Is that people have so many other skills, random skills, independent of, of running. Yeah. You know, like they have regular lives, like Right. Jobs. A runner who's a surgeon, a runner who's like Yeah. Yeah. A rockstar. Yeah. What do you do for work now? Don't I don't work.

Work. Yeah. I, I know. Yeah. Your boys are all grown and It is. I'm all, I, I'm trying to, to find out what I wanna be when I grow up. I'm still kind of Yeah. We'll, amen to that. Well, and it's one of those things where, you know, I stop. I, like you, I was, you know, I was in technology consulting Okay. And I was in a corporate.

In the corporate world, whatever I did, like, I did marketing market research and all that in San Francisco during the.com boom. And all of that fun. Worked hard, all, it was fun. It was great. Yeah. It was fulfilling. It wasn't my passion, but I was successful at it. Um, and then when we got married, um, and had kids, you know, my husband was like, do you wanna go back to work?

Do you want to see? And it was a really tough decision. Yeah. Because I feel like, especially for moms, you know this like you are judged Yeah. For everything. Whatever decision you make Yeah. Whether you breastfeed or bottle feed, you feed Yeah. Whether you, whatever decision you make Yeah. Whether you go back to work, don't Right.

Work part-time. Yeah. You are criticized and judged. Yeah. Yeah. Um, how you, what you feed your kids. Mm-hmm. When did sleep tr like everything. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it's just a, like you learn to. Just not care. Right. And you know, it took some time mm-hmm. To be comfortable saying, yeah, I was originally gonna go back to work.

Then decided after four months, no life. Got busy. Had another kid. Another kid. Yeah. And then we moved to Indy. And then with my husband's job, which was super crazy, he traveled a lot. So I was like a single parent. Yeah. Handling the three kids. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I like getting, there's back into work was not on my radar.

Yeah. And then now here I'm, yeah. Well, thank goodness you didn't have to Yeah. That, I mean, that, I know that's the blessing, right. It's like, it's the blessing. You, you know, I'm very well aware there are people who are single moms that have to work more than one job to make ends meet. Right. And so it's nice to be able to have the time to dedicate and focus on your family.

Yeah. And, you know, it's hard, it's not fulfilling. I, it can't do, it's the hardest job. I, I am, I am not built. Well, and it's for that and it's, it's undervalued. I think it's a hundred percent. Um, and you know, it's one of those things where like you do, you like, if you need to go back to work, that's awesome.

Yeah, that's great. That's perfect. Yeah. For you if you need to do part-time and it makes you feel better and you're a better human being because you can have that balance. Yes. If you need to enlist the help of a village and you get your nanny, you get your house cleaners, you get Yep. Uh, somebody to help with a meal prep.

That's awesome. Yeah. You figure it out and you do you and that's great. Yeah. And just, it's your life. Yeah. So it's all good. This just like all good. It goes back to my mantra of no one cares. I just nobody care. You just start to think about it and, and I'm like, do I care about that? Like, do I care if Angelica's doing this?

Like, and I don't mean this in a mean way, but it's like, you know, people are busy thinking about themselves. And so you have to realize not everybody's looking at you. I know. And so, yeah, you need to take it upon yourself to do what you love because, 'cause nobody cares. So nobody cares. Do what you love.

Yeah. And it's easy because it's easy to feel judged. Mm-hmm. Right? Yes. Oh yeah. Well, and it's like the labels, right? Mm-hmm. I am just a stay at home mom. Well, yeah. When people ask me what I do not I print, I hate it. Yeah. Or like, what do you do? Ugh. Oh. Because it doesn't define, it doesn't who I am. Well, now it kind of does well, and sometimes I'll just jokingly say I'm a chauffeur 'cause I fucking am a chauffer because I'm. Yeah, it's all good. Yeah. What do you do? Yeah, I do enough. Yeah. I do a lot of things. I do a lot of things. It's fine. I don't get paid. It's okay. Yeah. I actually, I am, I'm a runner. I just happen to not get paid. Yeah, yeah. Right. It's like how do I figure that out? Whole me? Yeah. I focus on health and longevity.

I just don't get paid. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my. But I feel, I feel lucky. Mm-hmm. I feel lucky that I am able, I have been able the past 19 years. To focus on what I want to focus on. So I have always been a lifelong learner with anything. Um, if I wanna learn about something, like for example, you know, when we got married and we were trying to have kids, I learned all about fertility and like what to do to get pregnant because, you know, I was early thirties and all that stuff.

Same case with like, how to parent, okay, I'm gonna dive deep, I'm gonna listen, I'm gonna read all the books, I'm gonna talk to all the people. But with every facet of my life, I'm gonna go deep. I'm gonna gather the information and knowledge and synthesize and learn from people. I'm a good observer. I, I'm a good li I hope, I don't know if my husband will say that I'm a, I try to be a good, I try to listener to listen.

Yeah. Yeah. Always struggle, but just. You know, learn from the experts. Learn from the people. Mm. That's why I love listening to podcasts. Yeah. 'cause I can learn from people's stories about X, Y, and Z. Whether it be parenting, whether it be about motherhood, whether it be about life. Mm-hmm. About stuff. Yes. And so I feel lucky that I have the time, effort, attention, and energy to devote to the stuff that I find important.

Yes. Which for me is family and health. Yeah. Yeah. I feel good. Yeah. Ugh, so great. Okay. I want, ah, there's so many other things I wanna talk about. Um, 'cause we talked about, I know, yeah. We like glossed over Berlin and Chicago a little bit. I also wanna talk, let's talk about CrossFit because that's, I love it because you love CrossFit.

I have CrossFit. You should do it. I have before, so I don't remember the years what this would've been, but it was when I lived in broader po. Oh, the Broad Ripple fit. Yep. Broad Ripple Fit Club. I have good friends that go there. Oh, we just absolutely loved it there. It's a community. And then when we moved up to Carmel.

We, when my husband like tried a couple gyms, like I went to a couple, like it was more like he really liked it. I really did like it too. Yeah. But it wasn't as much of my jam as it was his, and so it was something we did together, which I really enjoyed that part of it. That's important. Yeah, it's hard. Um, my husband does Orange Theory Fitness, which is said I did Orange Theory Fitness, which is good.

It's a perfect way of like getting in and like doing something different. Yeah. I love CrossFit because I suck at it. It's so hard. It's so hard and difficult. Plus I'm not strong. Like it's so challenging to. Push yourself and to learn different movements. Yeah. But I feel like I like it because my brain is active and I'm like trying to perfect my deadlift.

Yeah. Or do something different. And I just love the way it makes me feel. And a lot of CrossFit is also kind of the community. It could be very Yeah. Cultish, like running. Right? Yeah. Which, you know, it's, it's a thing, but you take what you want from it. I know there are some people who are super hardcore Yes.

But those types will be anywhere. Like, they'll like Yeah. Like the runners who are like Yeah. Literally fixated about Yeah. Qualifying for Boston. Yeah. Which I will never do, but, and I, I'm totally fine with like mm-hmm. That's fine. That's not my jam. But, you know, the people who are like into the CrossFit games and like Yeah.

Mastering everything. You'll get that. But what I love about my gym, Casey, uh, it's, uh, American Fitness Company. Okay. CrossFit. It's, it's on, um, 1 0 6. It's by, it's in Zionsville. Okay. And it is great because the owners, Casey and Serena are just so good at meeting where everybody is. Yeah. And so you will get like the old guys who are in their sixties.

Mm-hmm. You'll get like former D one athletes, you'll get some young people, old people, moms who are trying to get stronger. Mm-hmm. And they will meet you wherever you are and they will modify it and you could scale it. Yeah. I, what I love about them is that they know I'm a runner and they're so supportive and so I'll look at the workout, I'm like, I don't wanna do the run.

He's like, okay, you could do bike or row. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, okay, good. That's nice. You know? So like, it's modifiable, which is great. I don't know if other CrossFit gyms would do that. I'm sure that they would. But because I have a good relationship with Casey and he understands like my mission to just to be healthy in general.

Mm-hmm. And to incorporate strength training as a way to help me get better as a runner. Yeah. It's so cool. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. And it's just so hard. Yeah. It, it is. And I, and it humbling too as a runner. Mm-hmm. Because I was talking about this last week. I did a strength workout for the first time in a while because I, you know, I, I took some time off and I was sore for days.

I know. It's hard. And I couldn't believe it because it didn't feel that hard actually, while I was doing it. And I was like, oh, this will be fine. And then I was so sore. Mm-hmm. But one of the things I wanted to say about CrossFit was that I feel like there's a misconception that that about the cultish nature, because I was intimidated by it at first.

It could be. But I think it's really important to note you shouldn't be intimidated. There are, I remember, yeah. At Broader Pool Fit Club. These older people that would come. Yes. And there were just all shapes and sizes of people. Yes. And people were so nice. Yes. And kind and friendly and that was something that was unexpected.

I kind of expected everyone to be like doing their own thing and like these big muscle guys that are super serious and Right. Yeah. While those guys are there, they're also really nice and you know, and super supportive and supportive, which I, I really did enjoy that piece of it. I think for me now. With being, having a coach and kind of being more part of a team.

I really enjoy that, but I am very self-motivated, so I don't need to go to a gym in order to That's good to do something, which my husband does. He does F 45 now. Oh yeah. I, I tried that. So he, he likes to, like, he needs to get outta the house, be around people, and for me, I can just, I, I'll get it done. I don't need.

That's so awesome. Which is nice, but I love those types of people because you don't. You have the, you have the motivation to get it done. Whereas for me, I think that's why I need Tracy to, yeah. I just want somebody to tell me what to do. Well, and that's why it's so great to have a coach and she knows Yeah.

And she knows, like if I'm overdoing it, she modifies and adapts. Mm-hmm. Same case with CrossFit, like I just want somebody to give me a workout and I'll do the Be I love following the mm-hmm. You know, instructions. And, but yeah, it, it takes a different level to just do it on your own. Of course. You know, you've had to do it on your own.

If you're, you know, during COVID mm-hmm. You're motivated to, you know, do home workouts and whatnot, which I think is great. But to have the ability to have a gym that is supportive of your goals. Yeah. It's true. Like, like even running groups, it could be intimidating. Mm-hmm. If you're just an introverted runner and you don't wanna run in a group, it's so big and you don't wanna, or if you think you're too slow, if you think you're too slow, and I think that is.

It's hard because I get it, because I am like an average run. Like I, I'm not gonna be at the front, you know? Yeah. Um, and it does get intimidating. Mm-hmm. I think for those new runners, especially like, um, if you're starting and you're doing like a walk run and then you feel like you're too slow. Yeah. And, you know, and it's tough.

I don't know. I feel like there are pockets of gyms and pockets of running clubs and communities that, that they are supportive. Mm-hmm. You just have to kind of take that step and just, you gotta put yourself out there. That's the hardest part. You put yourself out there and, and, and just get rid of those assumptions that it's gonna be like that because it is, I was nervous.

I think for the longest time I wanted to try CrossFit. I feel like over the past, I don't know, decade or so, I. I'm like a fitness slut in terms of like, you try Yeah. I'm non-committal. Like I've tried it all. Yeah. I've tried bar to bootcamp mm-hmm. To mm-hmm. Pilates to everything. Yeah. Like everything non-committal.

Although I will say I'm, I'm married to running, like, running is my, yeah. My love. Um, and then CrossFit, I think has been my longest, 'cause I think I'm going on like four years now. Yeah. Wow. Um, whereas like, and yoga, I love yoga. Yoga is really good too. So I do yoga at the hot room. Oh, great. So it's a, and again, like, I don't do it a lot, maybe once a week, but it's like a good compliment.

That's, that's a lot kind of, and I, I mean, I know. Yeah. Well, and you know, like with runner, it's like you focus on running. You, I just don't wanna have, you don't want time to stretch and do all the dumb stuff. Mm-hmm. You kind of have to do the dumb stuff. Yeah. When you get older, you have to do the dumb foam rolling.

Yep. And the dynamic stretching and all this stupid, like a waste of time. Right. All the stuff runners hate doing. Yeah. But it's important. Mm-hmm. But yoga, I found it helps, you know, just little, like, I feel a little bit more flexible. Yeah. Like instead of like a tin man. Yeah. Lord knows I could use more, know more yoga in my life.

But Yeah. I, it's so hard to fit. It's so hard to fit it all in. That's true. It's like something's gotta give. I mean, so you gotta, yeah. Whatever size season you're in and what you can do is. You know, but I, I'm a big Peloton girl, so I've got access. Oh, that's awesome. Access to all of their content. And so that's the strength stuff I do.

Oh, that's so good. They have yoga. I've, yeah. I did some of that when I was pregnant. Yeah. Um, I could do more of it. They've got like bite-sized ones too. It's just a matter of like Yeah. Making yourself do it. I, when I first started working with Rachel, one of the great things was that she customized Pelotons, so she would, she would commend.

That's so cool. She'd be like, okay. Like, um, tomorrow I'm doing, um, a 45 minute low impact ride. Right. Which is like an e, you know? Yeah. And so the fact that she'll just tell me, here, do a hit and hills class, or do a tread workout, or, I like, I really like that 'cause it's helped me and do strength, which is like, I need somebody to make me do that.

Yeah. 'cause I don't, I just, I know. I don't know. I'd rather run. I know, but I know that I need to. I think if you, and it's funny, like I try and do that too. I think you have to make it a habit, but even the smallest things like. Glue bridges. Mm-hmm. Just do Or, or walking lunges. Yeah. But it's so good for runners, right?

Mm-hmm. Even if you can spend like five or 10 minutes. A day. I know it's not. I know, I know, I know. But it's like, it's like ab I had every intention of doing that before Mexico. I'm gonna do ab like five minutes a day till, till I go No. I was like, I don't, I don't care that much. Yeah. One day, you know, it's like me.

I know me. I know I haven't done, I don't do points. Yeah. It's like whatever. Um, okay. I also wanted to ask you about, you mentioned a, a, a pirate cat somewhere. Where did I mention that? Oh, a pirate cat or, it was in the feature you were featured on the Indie runner's blog blog. And so that link is in your profile if anyone wants to check that out.

That is correct. That's where I saw it, yes. Was the pirate cat and I had no clue what that meant. And that's a Monan Yes. Trail reference, which is a trail here. Okay. So this is back in 20, so I got back into running, hardcore, running 20 17, 20 18, 20 19 when I, you know, did the US Air Force Marathon and also running, um, you know, the half marathon, the Indie Mini with my, with my boys.

Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. So I was on the Monan a lot and. Every, oh, and then I would go to the 96th Street, um, station. Yep. Yep. 'cause the parking lot, the bathrooms, which I love living in Carmel, Indiana. Yeah. This bubble is, we could keep talking about the bubble. Yeah. Yeah. And I know people make fun of people living.

Yeah, that's fine. Carmel. That's fine. Make fun of us. Yeah. Like our, I love, I love roundabouts. I know it's the best. Mm-hmm. So anyways, the Monan Trail,

it's great. Yeah. Carmel, Indiana. Um, the Monan is so great. Mm-hmm. Um, the bathrooms and all that, and the trail. I would always go to the 96th Street stop. Every single run, I would see this random cat. Um, and I'm like, I'm not a cat person neither. I don't really love cats. Sorry for people. Cats. Like cats.

Sorry, I'm a dog person. Anyways, um, I'd see this random cat, just this feral cat, like does not give a flying fuck about anybody. Just like walking around. People are, that's cats feeding him. That's what, yeah. Oh, he's just like owning it. Like this is his territory, his turf. Okay. Yeah. And he would be like, on the monan, he would be in the parking lot.

He would be in cars. I. And of course, you know, this is, I didn't have my Instagram account back in the day and I don't really post stuff on Facebook or whatever about running. Yeah. Like rarely. But, um, I think I took a, I was like, I need to take a picture of this cat. I keep seeing this cat, like not even afraid.

And then had this tag that said Pirate cat or tag me, I'm the pirate cat. So then of course I did it had a neck. Yes. Like a, a necklace, A collar. It was a collar that said at Pirate Cat. The Pirate cat. I think it's on Facebook. I wonder if that's still popular. Is it still exist? Okay, so this is a really tragic story about the, the pirate cat.

Oh, RIP Yes. This is not what I expected. Okay. Okay. So like, I would always take pictures of the pirate cat and people would feed the pirate cat, and he had this large following on Facebook and one day, and then I stopped running. But I, I would follow him on Facebook and then the pirate cat was missing for.

So for like, I, I'm like, I haven't seen the pirate cat in forever. And then like someone stole him and, oh. Someone took him and then they found him. It was like a tragic story. He was sick or something, and then he passed. Oh, I know. And the owners live kind of close. Oh. So he did have owners. He did have owners.

And there was, there's a story behind, I need to recall it, but this, the owners were like, he's a very unique cat. He goes wherever he wants, he always comes back home and he's just no. Like, whoa. He was like a special cat. So much so that people knew about the pirate cat. Yeah. Um, why did they call him the pirate?

I don't really know. I like pictured him being dressed as a pirate. Yeah. Um, but I catch like a, there's actually, if you run the Monan and you park on the 96th, there's like an office park. Okay. And there's a parking lot just west of it. Yeah. There's a statue of the pirate cat. Wow. Yeah. Okay. And like a long, this is something I had no idea.

And then after they found out that he died, there's like. People like putting flowers. Oh, Jesus. And pirate stuff. Okay. Yeah. Well that's interesting. There's the pirate cat. Yeah. Pirate. Cat. See, I remember those days 'cause I would always see the pirate cat, but I haven't, I mean that was like, I think he, I think that was around COVID or maybe before.

Okay. Yeah. Interesting. That's so wild. Um, alright, well I'm gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions. Okay. I don't want it to end really. I know. Oh, actually, you know what, before? Mm-hmm. I wanna ask you about one more thing. Yes. And there's no rush here. We can, we can talk about, but I wanna talk to you about the Marine Corps marathon because that's one of the marathons that I've run.

You need to do it. I have no, I have done it. Oh, you have done it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Uh, I can't remember what year, but I did ran with my dad and it was so great. Um, my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and my, uh, nephews, nephew and nieces live out there. And so it was so much fun. Um, loved it. But the year you did it, it rained, sounded, sounds pretty gnarly.

It's a deluge of rain. What made you choose Marine Corps? So again, like Rocky is, comes from a military family. Yeah. And I had this notion, I'm like, oh, what if I look for races that have a military theme? 'cause it, it was so cool to do the US Air Force Marathon in 2018 and I had gotten back into marathons and, you know, the Marine Corps was the people's marathon.

Yeah. So you just go by lottery. You don't have to be fast. It's for every, it's not elites, right? Mm-hmm. And it was. I was in 2019 when, you know, I, I signed up, I got the early thing and I got in. So I was super excited to do it. This was, um, during a time, like in the fall where it gets super busy with work for my husband and the kids.

Right. Yeah. And originally they were gonna try to come, his family is from DC Oh, okay. To school. So my, uh, two sisters-in-law and bro brother-in-law were there to see me finish. Um, but it was, I trained for it. I didn't have a coach I was doing back then. The, I've heard of the Hanson's Marathon method, where it's like, it's mostly for slow runners, where, um, you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket and do like one long run.

Mm. Um, you kind of max out on the health, the, the running benefits if your runs are over three hours and you're recovering. Yeah. So like they focus more on volume of miles running consistently. Throughout the week, like five to six days a week. Okay. Okay. Easy volume. And like your longest run is actually 16 miles.

Wow. However, the day before you're running a Tempo 10. So it's like you're running on tired legs and it's that cumulative fatigue. Yeah. Yeah. Is kind of the premise of that type. Yeah. And it worked out for me, for, um, the US Air Force. 'cause like I got a 10 minute, or I got like a seven minute PR Wow. From my first to the second.

And then for this one, that point, that was my slowest. It was like a, oh gosh. Because my PR is like a four 20 at Carmel 2021. That at that point was my slow, it was like a four 40 too. And it was, I was trained for it. It was perfect. Yeah. And it's one of those things where you realize with marathons. Like you could have the perfect stellar training experience.

Oh yeah. Not get injured, not get sick. It's perfect. Yeah. And then. It doesn't work out on race day. Yeah, yeah. And the shit hits the fan and you're like, you're screwed. Um, or you could have like half-ass training, life happens and you kind of put together a half-ass and then the stars align and it's a magical race and you crush it.

Yeah. I think that's what I love about the marathon race is that you really don't know. Yeah. And you have to be open and you have to True. It's so hard because, because I understand like people get so fixated on, you know, goal time. Yeah. Finish time, a pr mm-hmm. Splits and they're so, like, I was like that with getting that sub to Yeah, I get it.

Yeah. Because you're driven to like, I need Yeah. I just wanna do it. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The Marine Corps was difficult because I saw, and so that week before I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't eating well. I was nervous about traveling by myself. Yeah. My family wasn't gonna be there. Um, so even though I had solid training and I was hitting everything, it just wasn't in the cards.

Yeah. And mentally I just didn't have it. Plus the rain. I am a wimp. I, yeah. Like, I'll run on the treadmill. I'm like, I don't wanna run in the cold rain. Yeah. And I was just trying, I just couldn't. Get over that. I just couldn't, I was like, don't, are you kidding me? Like it's raining. Like it, yeah. It was a difficult obstacle that I just couldn't resolve.

Yeah. And that affected me to the point where I ran like, I need to look at my splits again. But I just slowly, and, okay, this is really ambitious of me. I was like, I'm gonna go with like, I dunno, an obscenely fast paced group. I think it was like four 10. Yeah. So dumb. Like, well, you know, we all do it at some point ridiculous.

And I just, I, I think I stayed with him for like the first two miles and I'm like, I just kept seeing like the pace go slip, slip, slip, and just that mental anguish of feeling like. I feel like I'm running an eight 30 pace. I'm looking at my watch. It says 12. It says 11. Yeah. And you're just like, just that mental anguish and just every mile, like, I don't know if you've ever had a race like that where it's just heart crushing to the point where you're, I was in tears, like sobbing those middle miles and it was almost like a blur.

Yeah. Like, what the fuck am I doing? Why? Yeah, why? Like, everybody says it. Like why am I'm an idiot. Yeah. I paid to do this. Yeah. I paid to do this. Like, I felt like that in Berlin. I'm like, this sucks. This is the worst thing ever. Yeah. And then you're finish and you're like, okay, I did Chicago. But it, but it's one of those things where like, and in Berlin, like I, I also felt like that for certain miles where I was down.

Yeah. And then you figure out how to get back up. It's a roller. It is a rollercoaster. Right. It's a roller coaster. And it's, I think that's why you, you go back and you're like, I gotta do it again. Yeah. I got, although I do feel like Chicago was magical and so I was like, if I retire my marathon career with Chicago, I'm solid.

Yeah. Like, it was like just. Effortless to be able to say 26.2 miles. Of course, I put in effort. Of course I was focused. Yeah. But when I was looking, I'm like, I'm on mile 21. Oh, that's a good feeling. Yeah. You know, versus I remembered Berlin two weeks prior, like I was looking, it's like, oh, I only went 0.2 miles.

I felt like I ran two. Yeah. Like, and just like, hurry up, hurry up, you know, like that. So, um, I don't know where I'm going with this, but Marine Corps was definitely, I, I think a pinnacle moment in running a race where I honestly just like, I can't, I can't do this. I can't. Hmm. Um. I felt like that also in the Carmel half Marathon, I think it was 22, where I was like, I was almost tempted to call my husband.

I'm like, pick me up. Didn't like come get me. Yeah. I'm crying like I just can't do it. Yeah. Um, but it's those races that you remember, right? It's those races that I feel like you have to experience, like how gritty and hardcore, like you don't realize, like you would never wanna be in that position, but you are.

Yeah. And you have to like, you have to get out of it. Yeah. And then when you do, you're like, holy shit, I just did that. Yeah. And I think that is the fuel that drives you see? 'cause after I did Marine Corps, that was October 29 or 2019. Yeah. COVID happened then. No races. Then I ran the Carmel in 21 and. I got a four 20, so I shaved like 20 minutes.

Yeah. You know, in between the two. So it's that, that sensation of like applying, you know, your experience and then being in the moment for the next race. Yes. And then being like, I'm crushing it. I'm doing it. And like, just being mentally there. I felt like for Carmel, I was mentally there. Mm-hmm. And I was getting faster in those last miles.

Yeah. 'cause it was a local race. I loved it. It was the best. Yeah. It was the best. And it's almost like, I kind of like knowing that my, my marathon PR is Carmel, right. In hometown. Like in your, yeah. In your backyard. It's so cool. Yeah. So, yeah. I, my, I've had a bad race. It was bad the time wasn't, I, I got my goal time for that race.

It was New York and it was my first full marathon, post my second baby. And so it was kind of like, okay, I wanna prove that I can still do this. And I wanted to get a four 30. And I just, I barely made it, but it's so hard. That course is so hard. Oh, so hard. I was very pleased with the outcome. Yeah. But I, I remember thinking it was like mile eight.

Mm-hmm. I was like, I don't, I don't, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. I have no idea. I felt horrible. Ugh. I don't know why. It was like, I think it was, the fueling was tricky because you start so much later than you're used to because of all the logistics. I just felt sick and I just didn't feel like I had energy and I, I just couldn't believe that's how I felt at that point in the race.

Yeah. But then, yeah, just, I just kept pushing through and then it was gone and it was kind of like, okay, well yeah. So, you know, and that goes back to my other favorite mantra, which is Run the mile you're in. Yes. Because all the miles end up being different too, so it's like, and if you can just take it bite-size, like feeling like you can run a mile 26 times feels a lot more doable than I have 20 miles left.

Kind of like, you know, it's all about, you know, mindset. I love that. And I feel like I applied that in Berlin because there were those dark miles where I'm like, oh, this sucks. And it reminded me of how Marine Corps, I was not able to mentally. Push. Yeah. And I just kept seeing like the positive splits just, and that anguish for Berlin.

Looking at my splits, I had a couple, but I was able to rally back for mile 22 and remember something that Tracy told me in the race plan. Yeah. And then channel that in. And I think that is so important for runners is to like playing golf. Yeah. Do you play golf? I was thinking about golf because that's how you keep coming back, is you have, you might have the shittiest game, but like you had a few great.

But you had a few great strokes or holes and it like keeps you coming back. Yes. I feel like it's similar. Yeah. Well, and it's one of those things where it's like if you have a horrible hole and like just stop, it's done. Right? You're onto the next, yeah. Onto the next, onto the next run, onto the next mile, onto the next split.

So it doesn't matter. Right. So just focus. Yeah. A family friend of ours, this is sad. He has all Alzheimer's Uhhuh, uh, he's fairly young. However, he still golfs and he plays the best golf he's played in his life because he won't remember what happened on the last one. That is perfect. It's, I mean, it's like if only we could just do that.

Mm-hmm. Um, obviously nobody would I know what's that? But it's like, oh, you know, that makes sense because you don't think about it. Right. Well, and being present in the moment mm-hmm. Being present. Mm-hmm. And, and I think that is the case with endurance athletes is really focusing. On the current mile you're in.

Yeah. As hard as it is, like, can you make it to, to the next one, 10 more? Yeah. You know, and when it does get hard, I will look at something, you know, just in front and just laser focus. Mm-hmm. And just focus on the next mm-hmm. 10 steps. Right? Yes. 'cause that's how hard it feels. Yes. So, but it is, it is that exercise in practice.

Mm-hmm. It is a practice. It is. You know, because you just have to keep, stay, stay, stay. Don't think about how shitty that last mile was. It's over. It's done. Yeah. So hard though. Yeah. And if I sneeze right now, Angelica, I'm gonna pee my pants so I know what that's like. I'm like, or jump rope. Uh, that would not be great.

Uh, so I'm gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions again. Oh, yeah. So favorite running mantra or song, or both? I love music as you know, so I have like a thousand running playlists, so I probably won't go whatever. I, I know so many songs that I love, but my mantra has always been, it's not really a mantra that I say, but for me, running is a process and a journey.

So, and I wrote this in the blog, but I firmly believe in that. Like, it's not about the goal, the finish line, the my, the pr It's, it's about the whole process for me because, you know, yeah, it's great to celebrate those little accomplishments because it, it, it defines you as a runner. I'm like, yeah. I ran three world major marathons.

I loved it. I loved the experience. I got a pr you know, after this many of years, uh, for a sub two, I, you know, I ran this marathon at blah, blah, blah. I ran negative splits. Those statistics matter. Of course they do because it makes you feel great. But I come to find comfort in the whole process, the daily monotony, the grind.

Mm-hmm. The boring, consistent work that you do day in, day out is what matters. And you can find fulfillment in a boring, easy formula run. And every run you can find something in it that you can learn from, whether it be like a hard tempo run or a race mm-hmm. Or a run with a friend. Mm-hmm. Running by the running with no.

Agenda, running, flushing through important thoughts that has been stressing you. Running, listening to a podcast, you could take something from a run and you will nev, you'll never regret a run, you'll never, that's never a waste of time. Right. And so it's the whole journey behind, behind it. I love the milestones because you can, the milestones and the goals is what I need so that I can continue on with my journey.

It's good to have a vision. It's good to have something to look forward to. Mm-hmm. That's why I feel kind of unsettled because I don't have anything yet for 2024. Great. That was gonna, that's the next question. Like what's the next sign? A milestone, I dunno. Ragnar September. I know. Maybe, well, hopefully you do something before September.

I still don't know. And I think that's why, like, I need, I feel like I need something to look forward to. Yeah. And I still don't know. Mm-hmm. So I'm, I'm open, I, I feel good with this openness because I know in previous years. I just wanna fill my schedule with like, I'm gonna do this, da, I'm gonna do all the run 3 1 7 series.

I'm gonna do mini, mini, I'm gonna, yeah. What's my next, uh, major marathon? What's it, you know? And I've had different goals. So, and then I've also shifted my goals, right? Like, originally I was like, oh yeah, maybe I'll try and get all six. I'm like, right. And then you're like, no, no, I didn't get into Tokyo, I didn't get into London.

I'm like, they don't want me. I'm not gonna apply again. I don't care. Yeah. I'm not gonna screw you. I don't care about Foster. Right? Like, I don't, I really don't. Yeah, there's so many other races. So there are. I'm open. If anybody has any recommendations, I would love to go, although I do need to Okay. The budget with the husband, right?

I know. Yes, that's right. So expensive. So yeah. I might be more local this year, man. You should come to Vegas. I'm gonna Vegas. I saw that. Yeah. I'm excited. I wanna do that. This is gonna be a fun month for me. Cancun, Mexico, Vegas. I know. I am feeling lucky this month, so that's so good. Yeah, and it's good 'cause it's like early in the year.

Yes. Yeah. You know, whereas like when you're looking forward or you're training for a fall race mm-hmm. It's like you, it's so far away. It feels It is. And it's like you put all your eggs in one basket type of deal. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like mm-hmm. Versus having like a journey where you're like, okay, yeah.

Indie mini, or like, you know. Yes. Yeah. A small race here, you know? And then the big ones, I felt like my 2023 was good just in terms of what I was able to do. I felt like personally, life-wise, I was going through a lot, and so it made sense for me to just focus on. Berlin in Chicago and then just kind of do like little things here and there.

Yeah, and just take, just take a little, you know, not break, but just not be as hardcore as it was about no races and stuff and race. I love races. It's fun because you get to meet so many different people and the whole experience, but you know, you have to balance life. Yes. So, I don't know. I don't know Allie, what my next, well I'm excited to see what's next for you.

Maybe Ragnar's something. Yeah, that'd be fun. Wait, he, is it in Michigan? Yeah. Okay. Traverse City. Okay. Beautiful up there. I'm so excited. So yeah, I'll get you more info and so if you join we'll have, so we have three spots left, so. Okay. I'm trying to, we're trying to get those spots filled so that we can have like a little Facebook group, get to know each other.

'cause you know, it's kind of a random group of people. Yeah. Which is fun. Yeah. So yeah. But thank you so much for doing this. You're welcome. Oh, this is so much fun. My fun. We finally got to like sit and talk. This is the best. I love this. This is great. This is a nice setup. So thank you. And thanks for everybody who listened and, and happy running.

Can you sing it? Be like happy running. Oh, see you did that. All harmonize and everything. Happy running. You like I.

Ally Brettnacher