1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:02,920
What's up everyone? 
You are listening to the CDs 

2
00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,120
Magic Podcast. 
I'm your host Chris Chavez, and 

3
00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,480
every week we go beyond the 
results to bring you 

4
00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,480
conversations with the biggest 
names on the track, the roads, 

5
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,760
and behind the scenes. 
From world class athletes and 

6
00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,280
coaches to innovators shaping 
the sport. 

7
00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,520
If it's happening on the track, 
we're covering it with real 

8
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,560
insights that sharpen minds, 
deep dives into the moments that

9
00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,360
define careers, and the kind of 
access to the pros you won't get

10
00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,360
anywhere else. 
So let's get into it because we 

11
00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:29,920
love. 
Track and field. 

12
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,560
Before we get to today's 
episode, you know we love giving

13
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,240
our listeners a shout out when 
they leave us a review on Apple 

14
00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,400
Podcasts. 
That certainly helps the show's 

15
00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,280
discoverability and we 
appreciate it greatly. 

16
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,400
This week's review comes to us 
from CJ Young and I really got 

17
00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,840
to find out if Clayton's middle 
name starts with AJ and that 

18
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,840
this might be him. 
He writes in saying 10 out of 10

19
00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,720
no notes. 
No one covers the insurance and 

20
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,760
outs of the running world better
than Conor Mance and his Co host

21
00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,440
Chris Chavez. 
Hilarious review and I got to do

22
00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,400
some sleuthing to figure out if 
this was actually Clayton Young.

23
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,440
If you want your review to be 
read and you want to support the

24
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,720
show, leave us a Five Star View 
on Apple Podcast today. 

25
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,760
My guest for today's episode is 
Fiona O'Keefe, the reigning US 

26
00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,160
Olympic Trials champion and now 
the fastest American woman ever 

27
00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:25,840
on the New York City Marathon 
course. 

28
00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,240
She's also someone who is 
showing us what it looks like to

29
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,080
grow, stumble and come back 
stronger. 

30
00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,600
In 2024, Fiona burst onto the 
scene in Orlando with a two 

31
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,880
hour, 22 minute and 10 second 
performance, the fastest debut 

32
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,160
marathon in American history. 
But after the high of that 

33
00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,240
performance came the hardest 
stretch of her career, an injury

34
00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,600
that forced her to drop out of 
the Olympic marathon in Paris 

35
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,720
after just one mile. 
It could have been a moment that

36
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,760
derailed everything. 
Instead, it became a lesson that

37
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,920
shaped her next chapter. 
She took her time, and Fiona 

38
00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,120
returned to the marathon in New 
York to prove that patience pays

39
00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,000
off. 
Running two hours, 22 minutes 

40
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,280
and 49 seconds and finishing 
fourth against one of the 

41
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,960
deepest fields in Ray's history.
She beat the Olympic champion, 

42
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,080
hung tough with some of the 
present legends in the marathon,

43
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,360
and reminded everyone why she's 
built for this distance. 

44
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,280
We talk about what it means to 
find herself after the Olympic 

45
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,640
heartbreak and why she really 
feels at home in the marathon 

46
00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:24,000
distance. 
Fiona O'Keefe announce yourself 

47
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,280
as America's next marathon star 
in Orlando and reminded people 

48
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,960
that she's at a high level again
in New York. 

49
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,720
Without further ado, here is 
Fiona O'Keefe. 

50
00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,080
All right, now we welcome back 
Fiona O'Keefe to the City of 

51
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:48,880
Span podcast. 
And it's been a while. 

52
00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:54,320
And now you're coming off of 
A22249 fourth place fastest 

53
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,080
performance by an American woman
at the New York City Marathon. 

54
00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,600
How good did it feel to get a 
marathon back under you after a 

55
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,440
little bit of a a a layoff? 
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely like

56
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:09,000
kind of a relief to just get 
back out there and get a good 

57
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,360
one in. 
Yeah, it was, it was a fun race.

58
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:18,800
I feel like there's a lot going 
on out there and yeah, I, I feel

59
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,160
like I, I executed solidly, but 
not perfectly. 

60
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,760
Umm, So I'm excited to, to have 
some stuff that I feel like I 

61
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,840
can improve on, umm, going into 
the next one and umm yeah, get 

62
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,640
back to it. 
I guess the way when we were 

63
00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,760
doing our, like, watch along 
and, you know, tuning into the 

64
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,000
broadcast and reacting to things
live in real time, someone in 

65
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,480
the YouTube chat had noted how I
was like, this race sort of felt

66
00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,600
like what could have been at 
the, you know, Paris Olympics 

67
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,720
had you been, like, at full 
health and, like, you really 

68
00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,040
like contending against, you 
know, some of the top talent in 

69
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,200
the world. 
Did it feel like that to you as 

70
00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,240
well, just as it was unfolding? 
I feel like I was thinking about

71
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,760
New York as New York and trying 
to just be present for that. 

72
00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,080
So yeah, that's an interesting 
point. 

73
00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:06,360
Actually. 
I hadn't. 

74
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,520
I hadn't thought about that yet.
I want to get to just sort of 

75
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,080
like, you know, choosing New 
York training for it, but in 

76
00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,240
order to kind of trace the 
comeback since the last time. 

77
00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,279
Like, I guess we, we had you on 
and we even, you know, made a 

78
00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,920
trip out to Park City and did a 
video with you like in the lead 

79
00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,360
up to the Olympics. 
So there was the injury that 

80
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,640
took place that knocked you out,
you know, during the Olympic 

81
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,880
marathon. 
And I remember like your agent 

82
00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,040
kind of put out a little bit of 
a timeline and AQ and a of just 

83
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,880
sort of like what went down. 
And I feel like not a ton of 

84
00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,520
people maybe have not everyone 
has gotten around to probably 

85
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:45,960
reading it. 
And so kind of hearing it from 

86
00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,560
you would be probably really 
cool to just kind of get a 

87
00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,920
sequence of like how that 
timeline unfolded from like 

88
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,160
feeling the injury, knowing 
something was up and then 

89
00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,640
ultimately, I guess like making 
the decision to drop out. 

90
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,320
So like can you take us through 
sort of a little bit of that 

91
00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,080
that process? 
So basically like I'd gotten 

92
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,640
through the build up. 
It wasn't, it wasn't perfect, 

93
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,160
but I felt good about where my 
fitness was and I'd been able to

94
00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,560
get in a lot of good work. 
It was that last long run. 

95
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,520
It was like, you know, you do 
like a a 90 minute long run. 

96
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,320
So it's not, it's not anything 
compared to what you have been 

97
00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:29,400
doing about exactly a week out 
where I first started like 

98
00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,880
feeling something like more 
serious with that. 

99
00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,880
And I was like, oh, no, like, 
you know, this is not great 

100
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,280
timing obviously, but you know, 
I'm probably just really nervous

101
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:47,800
and you know, things come up in 
the taper sometimes like that 

102
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,360
can be normal. 
So at first I was worried, but 

103
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:57,120
not like overly concerned. 
I was like, surely like, if this

104
00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,960
is the first time that I'm 
feeling it like a week out, 

105
00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:06,440
like, and I've done so much 
running on on my body, like 

106
00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:10,240
surely like this will resolve 
like within a few days. 

107
00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:13,640
So the next few days we're just 
trying to like figure out what 

108
00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,360
was going on, get a lot of 
treatment on it. 

109
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:23,040
And then eventually later in the
week, I did get an MRI, but it 

110
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,840
didn't show anything, which was 
like, again, a relief, but also 

111
00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:33,800
very confusing because it's like
this doesn't really like line up

112
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,040
with the amount of discomfort 
that I'm in. 

113
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,960
But maybe it's something weird 
that wouldn't show up on an MRI,

114
00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:40,800
like a pinched nerve or 
something like that. 

115
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,560
And so with that information, it
was kind of like, OK, well, 

116
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:53,960
we're not seeing that there's 
any damage that's done at this 

117
00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,320
point. 
So then we tried to just keep 

118
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,760
going with that, like throwing 
treatment at it, like trying a 

119
00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,080
little bit of running here and 
there. 

120
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,800
And the last couple days leading
into it, yeah, it wasn't really 

121
00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,320
coming around much before the 
race. 

122
00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:21,240
So we sat down and we're like, 
look, like if the way that 

123
00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,520
you're running, like you feel 
like you can't really compete, 

124
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,240
there's not much point in, in 
pushing through until your body 

125
00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,760
stops you. 
So I guess going into the race 

126
00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,960
mentally prepared, I had to 
ultimately be responsible and 

127
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,240
drop out if, if it was 
necessary. 

128
00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,920
And so that was not the decision
or line of decisions that we 

129
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,760
wanted to be making. 
But that's basically how it 

130
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,200
played out. 
Most painful mile you've ever 

131
00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,560
run? 
Yes, definitely most painful 

132
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,640
mentally. 
Like, I guess, like, what are 

133
00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:01,880
you telling yourself? 
I guess on that starting line, 

134
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,400
knowing OK the odds of 
completing this whole entire 

135
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:11,400
thing are pretty slim, but I 
just want to see what I can give

136
00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,840
this. 
It, it definitely felt pretty 

137
00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,360
surreal, like a little bit of a 
out of body experience. 

138
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:23,040
But yeah, I guess I was just 
trying to, to stay calm and just

139
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:28,280
think about like, OK, I've I've 
been in tough situations before 

140
00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,120
and I'll get through this. 
I just need to need to do what's

141
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:40,039
best for for right now and try 
not to worry too much about what

142
00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:42,480
it means. 
Yeah, the hardest thing is just 

143
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,960
like, it's the Olympics, right? 
Like, I guess like that's what 

144
00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,400
just kind of magnifies this 
injury in this the, the like, 

145
00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,040
just so much more. 
So the camera is like obviously 

146
00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,480
like on the broadcast, like 
follow the leaders and like, you

147
00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,560
know, we, we don't see you after
the moment that you drop out, 

148
00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,120
What happens then? 
Like, where did you, since you 

149
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,480
were only a mile out? 
Like, was it fairly easy to get 

150
00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,560
off the course and then find, 
you know, your support team? 

151
00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:12,480
Yeah, yeah, I think I, I just 
pulled off to the side and then 

152
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,840
I actually saw my my sister 
right away, started crying 

153
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,440
immediately. 
Yeah, I think I just basically 

154
00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,880
walked back to the start. 
Right after that, it just sort 

155
00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,120
of felt like there we see it 
from like comments being left on

156
00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,000
post online discourse and all 
that stuff. 

157
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,320
And I feel like what was the 
hardest part of being at the 

158
00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,280
heart of that, right? 
Like the decision to run was 

159
00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,240
being just debated and talked 
all all that stuff. 

160
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,640
And it's like you at the center 
of it and I guess like you're 

161
00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,080
definitely not one of those 
athletes like who's ever looking

162
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:48,280
to get at the center of any sort
of controversy or anything like 

163
00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,760
that. 
But was that in addition to just

164
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:55,240
like the physical pain, just was
that another just harder pill to

165
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,120
swallow in addition to the 
injury itself? 

166
00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,480
Yeah, definitely after the fact.
I think that going into the race

167
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,760
and the day of, I was like 
making a really concerted 

168
00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:08,520
effort. 
And I think the people around me

169
00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,280
were making a big effort to like
not have that outside noise 

170
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:17,400
affect the decision and, and the
race itself. 

171
00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:21,680
But after the fact, it was, 
yeah, pretty unavoidable. 

172
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,600
All the all the chatter around 
it. 

173
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:29,880
And it was definitely kind of 
like rubbing salt in the wind. 

174
00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,320
And, you know, I was mainly 
focused and at at first just on 

175
00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:39,640
like, oh, my own experience. 
And, you know, how bad it felt 

176
00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,440
like as an athlete to to drop 
out of a race. 

177
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,480
And, you know, this is obviously
not the Olympics that I wanted, 

178
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:51,520
but then to see how I guess it, 
it was portrayed. 

179
00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:57,720
And yeah, kind of the way that 
how negative a lot of the 

180
00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,600
discourse was around it, like, I
think really took me back. 

181
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:06,800
I I wasn't anticipating it. 
And I think that there were some

182
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,400
unfortunate narratives that got 
spun. 

183
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:14,840
And I, you know, I feel terrible
for. 

184
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,720
I guess I feel really bad for 
Jess too, that like she got 

185
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,680
dragged through this whole 
process too. 

186
00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,320
I think. 
Yeah, I was just really 

187
00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,160
unfortunate the way that things 
got spun afterwards. 

188
00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,440
After all of this, what is it 
that you need the most to kind 

189
00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,960
of start to help put it behind 
you? 

190
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,040
Like was there just sort of like
a total disconnect from like, 

191
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:41,840
hey, all right, I'm taking a 
break from running 'cause my 

192
00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,720
body's asking for it. 
Then in addition to that, like 

193
00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,960
log off social media and all 
that. 

194
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,000
So, you know, what was that sort
of like period afterwards to 

195
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,280
really just kind of all right, 
let's, let's put, you know, cast

196
00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,280
these ghosts away for a bit and 
start to focus on what's next. 

197
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:02,800
Yeah, yeah, definitely. 
I mean, step one I guess was in 

198
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,080
addition to disconnecting. 
Step 1 was like, I need to 

199
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,400
figure out what's going on with 
my body because something is 

200
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:12,800
obviously like very wrong, but I
don't have an answer yet. 

201
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:17,360
I have a clear MRI like, which 
made no sense. 

202
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:23,720
So I went back to North Carolina
and got an MRI on a different 

203
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,880
machine with a good orthopedist 
out here. 

204
00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,880
And he's like, yeah, you have a 
stress fracture in your femur. 

205
00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,520
Like it's pretty bad. 
It's pretty clear. 

206
00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,120
It's right there. 
So I was thankful to get that 

207
00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,080
care and that answer because 
then I was like, OK, I'm not 

208
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,560
crazy. 
I wasn't just making up some 

209
00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:48,760
pain in my head, like there was 
something very wrong with my 

210
00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,960
body. 
And maybe I should have pushed 

211
00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:57,440
for better answers in Paris. 
But, you know, you get a clear 

212
00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,280
MRI. 
You're like, oh, OK, great. 

213
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,800
That's good news. 
So that was Step 1. 

214
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,920
So then once I knew what was 
going on, it was like, OK, yeah,

215
00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,640
like, no running. 
You're on crutches. 

216
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:12,720
Like, you need to take a break. 
And then, yeah, I felt like I 

217
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:17,560
just had to disconnect from from
the sport for a bit and focus on

218
00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:22,040
other things, focus on being 
around people that I knew cared 

219
00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:27,400
about me, like independent of 
running and just, yeah, try to 

220
00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:29,960
try to put my mind on other 
things. 

221
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:35,400
Because without even trying to, 
I was, you know, replaying the 

222
00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,400
events of those couple of weeks 
over and over again. 

223
00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,000
So I was just trying to put my 
head somewhere else so that I 

224
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,720
could, yeah, just feel better, I
guess. 

225
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,280
When did you start to feel like,
OK, I'm ready to start to try to

226
00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,880
lean back into the sport? 
So I went back to California, 

227
00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:02,080
where my family's from for a 
while, and then I went to 

228
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,760
Montana with some friends, the 
the Aragons. 

229
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,160
Christina and I were at Stanford
together, and I remember I was 

230
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,080
just biking with some of the 
girls while they were out for a 

231
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,600
run. 
And I was like, wow, like, it's 

232
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,720
really beautiful out here. 
And they look like they're, you 

233
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,880
know, really enjoying just 
running and chatting and 

234
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,840
everything. 
And I was like, hell, you know, 

235
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,200
maybe this isn't so bad. 
Maybe I don't have to resent, 

236
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,200
like, running forever. 
Yeah. 

237
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,720
Shortly after that, I headed 
back to North Carolina and 

238
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,480
started getting more, I guess it
was like more appropriate of a 

239
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:43,240
time to be more deliberate about
cross training and rehab, stuff 

240
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,800
like that. 
But yeah, I guess it was just 

241
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,040
like pulling out those little 
reminders of like what the sport

242
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,240
is at its most basic level and 
all the people that it's like 

243
00:14:54,240 --> 00:15:00,400
brought me close to as well. 
That helped me kind of get back 

244
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,440
to thinking about what I do 
still love about it. 

245
00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,480
Once you got back to North 
Carolina and started to get into

246
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,400
the cross training side of 
things before there's even like 

247
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:17,200
a race on the calendar, was it 
kind because at least like it 

248
00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,880
wasn't a marathon build and 
having this big momentous thing 

249
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,400
hanging over you on the 
calendar? 

250
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,040
Because I always feel like 
getting into marathon training 

251
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,080
could be daunting and also very 
aggressive, especially coming 

252
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,960
off of an injury like this. 
So how gradual sort of was that 

253
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,680
ease back into training and like
when did you get back to doing 

254
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,640
your first workout? 
Yeah, yeah. 

255
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,200
I mean, it had to be pretty 
gradual because of the nature of

256
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,680
the injury. 
Like I was fortunate at least 

257
00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:50,280
that it was in the femur itself 
and not the femoral neck because

258
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,440
the higher up it is, you know, 
the higher risk. 

259
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,440
So I feel like the progression 
went pretty smoothly, but we 

260
00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,120
definitely had to be pretty 
patient with the timeline so 

261
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,520
that I wasn't kind of building 
on this shaky foundation. 

262
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,360
I guess. 
I think my first workout on the 

263
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,360
ground was probably sometime in 
December. 

264
00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,640
OK. 
Like what was the hardest part? 

265
00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,000
And when it came to just sort 
of, I know it's like you're 

266
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,040
coming off of just like such a 
momentous year where it's like 

267
00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,800
you qualify for your first 
Olympic team and everything. 

268
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,640
And so like the standard for 
like excellence is so high. 

269
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,600
But it's like, did you have to 
have conversations with like Amy

270
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,840
and Alice? 
You're about to sort of like the

271
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,360
steps to get back there and it's
not just sort of going to be 

272
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:37,600
super quick. 
So like, how would you, what 

273
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,280
were sort of like the benchmarks
in the comeback to, you know, 

274
00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,840
kind of get yourself all right, 
feeling ready to eventually put 

275
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:45,320
something on the calendar to 
race? 

276
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,000
For a while I just had to be OK 
with not having something on the

277
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,880
calendar because I knew that 
once I got a race on the 

278
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,400
calendar, I would get excited 
and start pushing water and 

279
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,800
training, which is generally a 
good thing. 

280
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,200
But when you're coming back from
something, sometimes you need 

281
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,400
to, you know, ensure that you're
being really patient. 

282
00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,200
So I guess it was kind of a 
matter of just trying to keep 

283
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,280
being patient like over and over
again, even when I was like, oh,

284
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,359
I'm I'm so ready to like just 
put this behind me and, and 

285
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,720
think about what's next. 
Did you want a marathon first? 

286
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:27,720
I was interested in in doing it 
sooner, maybe a spring marathon,

287
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:33,400
but I also definitely wanted to 
be smart and I totally 

288
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:38,160
understood the logic of of 
waiting until we could really 

289
00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,960
push the training. 
So yeah, I was, I was happy with

290
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,080
putting 1/2 on the calendar in 
March and and going after that. 

291
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,440
Yeah, so standing on the 
starting line of the New York 

292
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,480
City Half Marathon, like, what 
are the feelings? 

293
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,280
Just just getting there in one 
piece. 

294
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,400
Yeah, yeah, I was. 
I was definitely just really 

295
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:03,240
excited to be back there. 
I didn't have like super, you 

296
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,320
know, that course, people say 
it's like a, a little bit of a 

297
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,040
tougher 1. 
So I didn't necessarily have a 

298
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,320
time that I, I wanted to hit out
there, but training had gone 

299
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,520
well enough that I was like, OK,
I feel like I can have a good 

300
00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,880
race out here and just focus on,
on competing against the women 

301
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,400
around me. 
So, so mainly I was just like 

302
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,400
really excited to be standing on
that starting line at at 7:00 in

303
00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,280
the morning. 
And then getting across the 

304
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,880
finish line, like how did that 
feel? 

305
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,800
Yeah, yeah, it was definitely 
exciting. 

306
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,880
I felt like I was just very 
focused on on the race itself. 

307
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,080
So yeah, it's funny how quickly 
it feels normal again, I guess. 

308
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,560
This episode of the Cities Mac 
podcast is presented by 

309
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,560
Lollipop. 
Fall has finally shown up. 

310
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,240
The air is a little sharper. 
The light turns gold. 

311
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,200
Yeah, it's that time of year 
again. 

312
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,760
Last year I was told that my ad 
read for Lollipop Crisp Apple 

313
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,720
was weirdly sensual. 
I'll take it because honestly, 

314
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,720
this flavor deserves it. 
And guess what? 

315
00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,840
It's back for good this time. 
Crisp Apple is like sparkling 

316
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,520
apple juice meets those gummy 
apple rings from your childhood.

317
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:31,240
Sweet, fizzy, comforting. 
Kind of like nostalgia in a can.

318
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,360
It actually started as a holiday
special, but people went 

319
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,040
absolutely wild for it. 
You begged, lollipop listened, 

320
00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,960
and now it's officially part of 
the family. 

321
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,440
Same appalicious taste, new 
golden can. 

322
00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,120
Like every lollipop, it's made 
with real ingredients that do 

323
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:55,880
some good. 50 calories, 5 grams 
of sugar and that Ollie Smart 

324
00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,800
blend full of prebiotics and 
plant fiber that help your gut 

325
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,480
feel right. 
Co founders Ben Goodwin and 

326
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,200
David Lester built it from 
memories. 

327
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,680
Crisp cider, apple orchards, a 
little apricot twist. 

328
00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:12,320
The perfect balance of cozy and 
bright. 

329
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,440
So here's the old traditions and
new favorites. 

330
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,440
Crisp Apple is back, crisp to 
its core and here to stay. 

331
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,920
You can find Lollipop at Target,
Whole Foods, Walmart, or just 

332
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:31,400
head to drinklollipop.com and 
use code SIDIOUS 25 for 25% off 

333
00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,720
your orders. 
You are not going to find a 

334
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,480
better deal on the Internet for 
Lollipop. 

335
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,840
Go ahead, crack one open, 
breathe in that fall air and 

336
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,880
feel good about it. 
Lollipop, the runner Soda. 

337
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,480
When you've said, I guess like a
couple times that just like 

338
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,160
focusing on the race itself, 
both now in, in this instance 

339
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,080
and then also just sort of 
thinking about New York as New 

340
00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,080
York at the beginning of our 
conversation. 

341
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:01,760
It's like, what are you thinking
about? 

342
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,080
Like as these races are 
unfolding and like people are 

343
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:09,200
making moves, you're always it 
seems like toward the front of 

344
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,280
the the race sometimes dictating
what's happening. 

345
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,080
So what are you thinking like 
when, when, when you're in these

346
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,680
race scenarios? 
I don't know, I feel like your 

347
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,280
thoughts are like a little bit 
more instinctual in a race 

348
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,640
situation. 
So I guess just trying to, to 

349
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,240
gauge my effort and make smart 
decisions out there. 

350
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,000
But also like sometimes it's 
just reminding myself to like 

351
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,640
stay calm, relax in that moment,
you know, think about the next 

352
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,880
bottle station, whatever it is 
in, in a marathon. 

353
00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,880
Definitely I'm I'm breaking it 
up in my head a little bit more 

354
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,400
than in 1/2. 
I feel like 1/2 year like a 

355
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:50,840
little bit more on the whole 
time. 

356
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,560
But the marathon is so long that
to be like super on super 

357
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,720
competitive the whole time, at 
least in my experience so far. 

358
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,320
When you went about structuring 
like your summer racing schedule

359
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,400
and it eventually just, you 
know, deciding to, to do New 

360
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,920
York, like what was it that you 
wanted to get out of like all 

361
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,560
those races along the way? 
And it's really funny 'cause I 

362
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:15,680
was looking at your results and,
and then you know, it, sometimes

363
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,440
people draw so much from like, 
hey, I had a really good 25K 

364
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,760
champs or 20K champs or 10 mile.
And like, this is what it's 

365
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,520
telling me about the marathon 
and, and how training has been 

366
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,040
going. 
And then I just sort of looked 

367
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,160
at the podium of the 8K that you
guys did like maybe the shortest

368
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,000
distance you could probably 
extract any sort of data points 

369
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,680
from. 
And it was all you, Annie 

370
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:44,160
Frisbee and Amanda Vestry, who 
all had great days in New York. 

371
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,280
So I guess like what was the 
purpose of an 8K among like all 

372
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,160
of this? 
And then just sort of what, what

373
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,240
lessons did you take from each 
one of those races leading into 

374
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:52,800
New York? 
Yeah, Yeah. 

375
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:58,520
So the the shorter races that I 
did over the summer, the the 6K 

376
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,000
champs and then Beach to Beacon,
both of those were just kind of 

377
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:07,480
about practicing racing itself 
and like getting into 

378
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:12,240
situations, especially the 6K 
was like pretty early in my in 

379
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,640
my training. 
So I was like, this one's just 

380
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,360
gonna hurt. 
Like I know it's not gonna feel 

381
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:21,120
good. 
A 6K to me feels very short too.

382
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:28,520
So yeah, I just wanted to get in
there and practice being tough 

383
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,160
when it when I knew I wasn't 
going to feel good. 

384
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,640
And then for Beach to Beacon, I 
feel like we're we're just kind 

385
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,880
of like building up the level of
competition a little bit more 

386
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,080
with each of these races and 
building up the distance as 

387
00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:47,320
well, I guess. 
So that one I was like, OK, feel

388
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,920
like I now like the band aids 
ripped off a little bit from the

389
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,440
six Ki feel like I'm getting in 
better shape. 

390
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:59,320
So now I'm just going to go 
really try to race and see what 

391
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,360
I can do out there. 
And I was, I was happy with that

392
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,000
result. 
I felt like I was bracing the 

393
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,520
whole time and not worrying 
about the clock or anything like

394
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,360
that. 
And then that was like good 

395
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:15,280
momentum to then like kind of 
flip the switch and go fully 

396
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,000
into marathon training from 
there. 

397
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,440
Yeah, in your announcement post 
when they I guess confirmed the 

398
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,720
field for New York, you wrote 
been watching this one since, 

399
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,160
since at least 2017. 
Weren't we all and seen so many 

400
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,240
inspiring performances there 
since. 

401
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:35,040
So what was it that Chilane 
moment did for you when you were

402
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,040
watching that at 19 years old? 
Because I guess like, it's now 

403
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,280
you know something that, you 
know, every person in this 

404
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,000
current generation of American 
marathoners views as like the 

405
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:47,120
goal. 
I was. 

406
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:52,000
I guess I would have been in my 
sophomore year of college at 

407
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,520
that point. 
So it felt like so far away. 

408
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:59,280
Something like that. 
I didn't think I would end up 

409
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,120
running the marathon as soon as 
I did, honestly. 

410
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:06,600
But it was like, I feel like it 
was just kind of a hopeful 

411
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:11,080
moment for all of us seeing an 
American woman dominate at New 

412
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,040
York and just kind of like, oh, 
wow. 

413
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:19,400
Like maybe it is possible. 
Like, I feel like she did there 

414
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,640
for for our generation, maybe, 
you know, kind of what what Dina

415
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:29,200
had done earlier in the decade. 
And yeah, it was just like 

416
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,280
massively inspiring. 
And then to see does go when 

417
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,360
Boston the next year, you know, 
is starting to be kind of this 

418
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,480
this line of American women 
doing big things in major 

419
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:45,920
marathons and starting to feel 
less like an accident and more 

420
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,080
like, OK, like maybe we maybe we
are on to something. 

421
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,960
Maybe we can compete at this 
level. 

422
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:52,520
Yeah. 
And especially, I guess like the

423
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,240
way that the New York City 
Marathon had been run aside from

424
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,360
this year, I guess like in the 
the last couple years where, you

425
00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:02,840
know, the pace sort of lags for 
the first like 20 miles and then

426
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,000
people eventually do start to 
make moves and go. 

427
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,560
I guess was that enticing for 
you when you saw just sort of 

428
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:11,120
the field? 
And then they obviously then 

429
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,480
later on announced Sifan Hassan 
was going to be running New York

430
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,160
and that threw just kind of like
a whole another wild card into 

431
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,400
the into the field. 
Yeah, yeah. 

432
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:25,280
I do think that there is maybe 
more opportunity, or at least it

433
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,360
feels like it on a course like 
New York where it's not a 

434
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:33,240
Chicago, where it's paced super 
fast and you know that people 

435
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,520
are like, you know, you, you 
might need to show up like ready

436
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,120
to run 215 if you want to be in 
contention. 

437
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,320
So it just felt like there could
be a range of different race 

438
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:49,040
scenarios and you know, just 
showing up and being competitive

439
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,360
could get you really far 
depending on what kind of day it

440
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,240
is out there. 
And then when it came to just 

441
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:58,000
sort of like preparing for the 
international competition, which

442
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,720
like you like at least on the in
the marathon, you had the 

443
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,880
trials, which was all Americans 
and then now this one. 

444
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,440
So I guess in the for in the 
lead up to to this one in this 

445
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,480
training block, First off, how 
did that relationship come 

446
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,280
about? 
And then what were some of the 

447
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,200
biggest lessons you took away 
from training with her? 

448
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,000
Yeah, yeah, training with Vivian
was super cool. 

449
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:26,080
And it kind of just happened 
through people that we knew 

450
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,360
'cause she's also with Puma and 
had fairly recently, like, come 

451
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,280
over to the US to spend more 
time here, to have her family 

452
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:39,280
out here. 
And I think she talked to Aman 

453
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,520
on our team, like at Falmouth, 
and she was just kind of picking

454
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,240
his brain on like, who could I 
train with in the US? 

455
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:52,200
And he mentioned to her there 
that a few of us were going to 

456
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,040
be up in Park City again and in 
September. 

457
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:02,680
So then at that point, I think 
her agent reached out to 

458
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,440
Alistair and got in touch. 
And yeah, it was a really great 

459
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,200
opportunity to to train with her
that last month or so of the 

460
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,400
build and just kind of like get 
little little bits of wisdom 

461
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,840
here and there and just kind of 
see her approach to things. 

462
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,120
In some of the training that you
did, I guess like you started 

463
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:27,520
touching like sub 220 like 
marathon pace in in in some of 

464
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,040
these workouts, did that feel 
comfortable? 

465
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,120
And I guess, like, when did that
start to feel comfortable for 

466
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,040
you? 
Because I guess like it's sort 

467
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,800
of like you, you had this, you 
know, devastating injury last 

468
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,400
year and now you're just kind of
training at a level that you 

469
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,600
haven't been at since I guess 
probably like it as a marathoner

470
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,400
ever. 
I'm used to some of those 

471
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,960
quicker paces from running 
shorter distances. 

472
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,480
So sometimes if we're hitting 
them like for our midweek 

473
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,360
workout that's on the track, 
sometimes it's hard to know 

474
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,680
exactly what it means still in 
the context of marathon training

475
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,040
'cause sometimes they still have
like that comparison to like, 

476
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,200
oh, but I did this in 10K 
training. 

477
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,240
But yeah, it's definitely like 
different when you're in the 

478
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,960
middle of a marathon block 
hitting that kind of mileage. 

479
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,520
I would say some of our some of 
our last few long run workouts 

480
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:26,480
up in Park City were definitely 
confidence builders. 

481
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,040
When you were in the thick of 
this training block, like, was 

482
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,160
there a part of you that was 
just sort of like, OK, marathon 

483
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,880
training sucks, but then at the 
same time, a feeling of 

484
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,080
gratitude of like, being able to
get back to this level? 

485
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,920
Yeah, yeah, definitely. 
Like towards the end of the 

486
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,480
training block, like a little 
part of me is like I'm kind of 

487
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,640
sad, like I want to keep 
training, this is fun, but at 

488
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,640
the same time like this is 
really hard and I'm I'm really 

489
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,400
tired. 
So it's OK that the tapers 

490
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,320
coming around now. 
What, what are some of the like 

491
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,040
your favorite parts of the 
training? 

492
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,000
Because I guess now that we've 
seen you have these two really 

493
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,120
strong marathon performances, 
like it just seems like you like

494
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,760
one would assume like, oh, 
you're so well suited for this 

495
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,840
event. 
Yeah, I guess I feel like just 

496
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,800
the training really builds on 
itself. 

497
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,760
So you can see that clear 
improvement from the beginning 

498
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,960
of the block to the middle to 
the end, and that's really cool.

499
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,120
And it's just sometimes you have
these workouts that on paper 

500
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,040
look pretty intimidating and to 
be able to get them done and 

501
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,040
feel strong towards the end of 
them is like, that's always an 

502
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,040
exciting feeling. 
It obviously, obviously you 

503
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:45,960
don't always nail it, but yeah, 
I guess just doing things that 

504
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,720
maybe you haven't done before or
that you're not quite sure if 

505
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,200
you can do like that's always 
exciting. 

506
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,160
Is there one that really sticks 
out to you as like, I was so 

507
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,320
intimidated reading that when 
Alistair and Amy sent it along, 

508
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,920
but then afterwards you're like,
OK, I did it. 

509
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,920
One of the long run workouts 
that we did was a 5 by 4 mile 

510
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,000
and it's like wow, like that 
just. 

511
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,200
Sounds like how many miles of 
work? 

512
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,360
Yeah, that sounds like a lot 
like I definitely hit that 

513
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:21,320
volume before in long runs, but 
never that much quality within a

514
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,400
long run. 
So yeah, that one sounded pretty

515
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,360
inhibitating upfront. 
But yeah, and I wouldn't have 

516
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,720
gone through it without Vivian 
there with me. 

517
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,440
But yeah, I definitely felt like
that was a good indicator. 

518
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,800
One, one or two of the midweek 
track sessions where you're 

519
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,160
still like a little bit tired 
from the long run over the 

520
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:48,320
weekend also sounded pretty 
tough going in. 

521
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:55,760
We did one that was like 2K1K 
sets of that and the one KS felt

522
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,920
pretty quick to me. 
But yeah, yeah, it's. 

523
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,480
What did you start off with the 
the five by four mile and what 

524
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,640
did you get down to? 
I would need to look because 

525
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,400
there was a road that was like a
little bit uphill one way and a 

526
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:13,040
little downhill the other. 
So it wasn't like super even, 

527
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:18,640
but we were definitely like well
under 520 by the end. 

528
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,880
So you probably took so much 
confidence from from this build 

529
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,000
up. 
Then you get to New York City as

530
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,120
the race is drawing closer. 
Like, are the nerves starting to

531
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:29,400
build? 
And it's sort of like, you're 

532
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,040
like, all right, I haven't felt 
this in a while before a 

533
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:33,400
marathon. 
Definitely. 

534
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,840
But like I've done so many races
at this point that I expect to 

535
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,760
feel nervous and kind of I kind 
of like that feeling a little 

536
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,560
bit too. 
I think that one thing about New

537
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,760
York is just that the city 
itself is like pretty chaotic 

538
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,680
and intense where you're staying
down there before the race. 

539
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,200
So like adjusting to that after 
just being in like a quiet 

540
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,440
altitude house is definitely 
like a little bit of a shock to 

541
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:04,600
the system. 
And trying to like stay calm in 

542
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,720
that setting is a little bit of 
an adjustment for sure. 

543
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,520
Yeah, I guess, like, one thing I
saw was that, you know, you did 

544
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,240
a plugging event like one or two
days before the race. 

545
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:18,760
And that it was interesting to 
me because especially, you know,

546
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,920
for some of these pros during a 
marathon week like that, it's 

547
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,520
like you get dragged to, hey, 
there's this sponsorship 

548
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,720
obligation, there's this press 
conference, there's this event 

549
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,280
and, you know, the elite 
athletes, all, all you guys want

550
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,760
to do is like, just want to 
chill, stay in my hotel. 

551
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:38,680
But you went out and did some 
plogging, I guess, like what, 

552
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,280
what, what did that mean for for
you to do? 

553
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,400
And like it was that, like, how 
much was that something that you

554
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,640
wanted to do while you're in the
city? 

555
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,520
Yeah, yeah, it was definitely 
something that I was happy to 

556
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,800
do. 
I think it's really cool what 

557
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,880
NYRR is doing with their 
sustainability team. 

558
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,760
So to be able to have an 
appearance that's like also like

559
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:05,200
meaningful to, to what I care 
about and supporting something 

560
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:10,000
that's, you know, has a little 
bit of a, a bigger mission was 

561
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:11,800
something that I was excited 
about. 

562
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,679
I wasn't asked to do too much 
media stuff leading into the 

563
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:20,280
race 'cause there's so many like
big players in it that I 

564
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,600
definitely wasn't a a major 
storyline going in. 

565
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:25,920
It's always good to fly under 
the radar. 

566
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,760
Yeah, yeah. 
So I was happy to be able to, 

567
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:36,239
yeah, do do something for NYRR 
that was aligned with stuff that

568
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:41,520
I do outside of running. 
The Sidious Mac Podcast is 

569
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,800
presented by Gnomeo Performance 
from the inside out. 

570
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,400
You probably saw it, Joe 
Clecker's marathon debut in New 

571
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,880
York City, 210A debut that 
looked composed and strong all 

572
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,360
the way throughout. 
While he's spoken out about the 

573
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,560
importance of fueling a lot on 
this show, Joe has also been 

574
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,960
using Gnomeo in his build up. 
Gnomeo's built exactly for that 

575
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,000
feeling that we're chasing when 
the training clicks, recovery 

576
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,800
feels smoother, and race day 
legs actually show up. 

577
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,680
It's a daily 60 milliliter shot,
mostly broccoli sprout juice, 

578
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:18,320
lemon and a such as sugar. 
But the magic is in the science.

579
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,400
Nearly a decade of research from
Sweden's Karolinska Institute 

580
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:26,040
went into stabilizing compounds 
from cruciferous vegetables, the

581
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,200
stuff that helps your body 
naturally handle the stress of 

582
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:30,800
heart training. 
We're talking lower lactate, 

583
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,600
better recovery, and stronger 
muscle adaptation. 

584
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,240
Athletes like Cole Hawker, 
Andreas Almgren, Clayton Young, 

585
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,560
Nico Young are all using Gnomeo 
to push a little harder, bounce 

586
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,520
back faster, and feel that light
on your feet rhythm that we're 

587
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,360
all chasing. 
Let's hear how Joe Clecker has 

588
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,080
been used using Omeo. 
So first I was a bit of a 

589
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,040
skeptic of the the product, you 
know, I was like, what is this? 

590
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,920
But I got it and started using 
it and then I'll use it like 2 

591
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,680
hours before I'll get up and 
have it because our workouts are

592
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,400
pretty early. 
Every workout I'd implement what

593
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,360
I'm going to do on race day into
the workout. 

594
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,040
So my routine every morning is 
same breakfast, no meo 3 hours 

595
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,480
before I do buy card two to 
three hours before and then I'll

596
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:12,400
have no meal before bed and for 
recovery. 

597
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:16,320
But I wasn't a huge believer and
I just did it because they had 

598
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,120
sent it to me at first. 
And then Sage started using it 

599
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,080
and she used it at USA for the 
first time between her rounds 

600
00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:28,800
and she was like blown away by 
how fresh she felt through the 

601
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:30,240
rounds. 
And obviously, that could just 

602
00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:33,560
be fitness and training, but she
was like, you know, this was a 

603
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,320
new thing she was trying and it 
really helped her. 

604
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,080
And then she did the same in 
Tokyo. 

605
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,080
And like, so now we have that 
helped me really believe in it a

606
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:41,360
lot. 
I'm like, OK, I know she's the 

607
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,480
fittest she's ever been. 
But also she starts using this, 

608
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,320
you know, this new product and 
has the best race of her life. 

609
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,440
You know, maybe I should keep 
using it as well. 

610
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,520
So yeah, I've been using it 
every workout, every long run. 

611
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,200
The recommended practice is you 
take one shot 3 hours before a 

612
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:02,520
big workout or race or daily 
during heavy training blocks and

613
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,640
those especially tough days. 
A second shot before bed can 

614
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:09,920
help your recovery overnight. 
It's nature meets science, a 

615
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,960
small routine with a big pay 
off. 

616
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,400
You can find Gnomeo on the feed 
and Sidious Mag listeners get 

617
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,560
15% off using code Sidious 15 at
check out. 

618
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:28,520
That's Citi US15 at thefeed.com.
Gnomeo, prepare to outperform. 

619
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:35,560
This episode of the City of 
Smack podcast is presented by 

620
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,240
the Wahoo Kicker Run. 
So at this point in human 

621
00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:41,480
history, we all know what a 
treadmill is. 

622
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,920
You either love it or you call 
it the dreadmill. 

623
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,240
But what if I told you the 
treadmill finally got 

624
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:52,160
interesting and fun? 
Yeah, Meet the Wahoo Kicker Run.

625
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:54,680
It looks like your normal 
treadmill, but the first time 

626
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:59,200
you step on it, you realize it's
not the kicker Run literally 

627
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,080
responds to you. 
Run faster, it speeds up. 

628
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:06,160
Ease back, it slows down. 
That's called the run Free mode.

629
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:07,960
And it's exactly what it sounds 
like. 

630
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,040
No buttons to worry about, Just 
running. 

631
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,520
That actually feels like 
running. 

632
00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:16,600
You can hook it up to Zwift and 
it gets even better. 

633
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,520
The kicker? 
Run automatically adjusts for 

634
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:22,080
climbs and descents, so when 
your avatar is hitting a hill in

635
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,600
the virtual world, the deck 
tilts up. 

636
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,400
In real life. 
You're suddenly feeling that 

637
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:32,480
terrain, not just seeing it. 
Add in a quiet motor, a buttery 

638
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,360
smooth belt, and speeds up to 15
mph. 

639
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:38,440
It's basically the closest thing
you can get to an outdoor run 

640
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,360
without leaving your house. 
We all know those temperatures 

641
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,960
are starting to drop, so you 
might want to get on top of 

642
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,800
locking down your Wahoo Kicker 
Run. 

643
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,360
It's premium, it's techie, it's 
kind of nerdy, and it's a lot of

644
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,160
fun. 
The Wahoo Kicker Run makes 

645
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,160
indoor training something you 
actually look forward to. 

646
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:59,840
Cole Hawker, the 5000 meter 
world champion and 1500m Olympic

647
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:05,880
champion, uses it to 
supplementhistrainingyoucanlearnmore@wahoofitness.com

648
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:10,040
Citius Mac Podcast listeners can
also unlock a special offer from

649
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:14,080
now until the end of November. 
You'll get 25% off your order if

650
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:16,040
you use Code Sidious at 
checkout. 

651
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:21,320
That's CITIUS. 
And you'll also get a free Wahoo

652
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,400
Kicker Headwind fan. 
It's a smart fan that's 

653
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,240
intelligently controlling fan 
speeds to keep you cool when the

654
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:30,760
training is heating up. 
It's valued at 319 bucks, but 

655
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,040
it's all yours for free when you
use the Code Sidious at 

656
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,560
checkout. 
The Wahoo Kicker run. 

657
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,280
Check it out at 
wahoofitness.com. 

658
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,880
Use Code Sidious at checkout for
that special offer. 

659
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,280
I feel like there's got to be a 
follow up plugging event like 

660
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,080
post marathon because like I've 
been running over up and over 

661
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:55,840
like the Queensboro Bridge last 
like couple days and it's like 

662
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:59,920
even in the weeks like I guess 
it's almost been two weeks since

663
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:03,800
like there's so many like gel 
packets all along the course. 

664
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,320
But The thing is, it's like. 
The population you attracted to 

665
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,440
participate in the event for the
first the first go around is 

666
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,000
like probably left the city, I 
think at that point. 

667
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:17,040
And so I think there just needs 
to be, I don't know what the 

668
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:20,880
solution there is because, yeah,
it's just so dismaying. 

669
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:26,080
It's like, oh, like there's just
all this evidence of what from 

670
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,640
the race and it's like, I wish 
this wasn't here. 

671
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:30,960
Like there's still some elite 
bottles still on the Queensboro 

672
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,880
Bridge. 
And I see the it's like the when

673
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:36,320
it's the NN running team, what 
I'm like, all right, this was 

674
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,360
probably like Kipchoge or one of
the those runners. 

675
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:43,080
But yeah, I guess like, do you 
have any bold ideas as to like, 

676
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:47,440
hey, what could what could be 
done better at these big races 

677
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:52,360
to kind of alleviate some of 
that, you know, the littering? 

678
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,360
Yeah. 
I mean, I do think it's 

679
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:59,960
something that we should just 
plan for more in, in event 

680
00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:04,720
planning, I guess for these 
races, because anytime you get a

681
00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:10,520
crowd of like 50,000 people 
together and they're producing 

682
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,840
waste like it's gonna be a 
substantial amount. 

683
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:19,960
So I think it is something that 
we should just, yeah, build into

684
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,680
the planning of these races a 
little bit more, if that's 

685
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:23,840
possible. 
Yeah. 

686
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:27,520
I, I don't wanna like, go out 
here and tell people to not, 

687
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:29,840
not. 
Take gels. 

688
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,240
Not take gels because yeah, like
as you said, the elite bottles 

689
00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:35,440
are on the floor. 
Like I toss my bottle on the 

690
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:39,240
ground. 
But yeah, it does seem like we 

691
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:42,640
need some sort of more 
structural solution to it 

692
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,520
because you wouldn't ever plan 
like, I don't know, a music 

693
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:50,040
festival or a concert with 
50,000 people and not have a 

694
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,720
plan for the garbage that 
they're going to make. 

695
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:58,520
So yeah, it would be, it would 
be great if people can just put 

696
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,320
their heads together. 
I think NYRR is already like. 

697
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:05,360
Yeah, I think, I think New York 
Rd. runners and like New York 

698
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:08,680
City and like Department of 
Sanitation do overall a pretty 

699
00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:10,160
great job. 
It's just sort of like it 

700
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,680
probably might just be that I'm 
running over like the tough to 

701
00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:15,160
reach places of just sort of 
like, yeah, the Queensboro 

702
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:16,360
Bridge. 
It's like I don't know if 

703
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,160
they're passing over it like 3 
or 4 times after. 

704
00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:20,960
Yeah, yeah. 
And I mean, maybe that is 

705
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,360
something like getting some run 
clubs to do some plogging events

706
00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:28,360
after the marathon. 
Yeah, yeah, that could be cool. 

707
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,600
So you also got to rock protect 
our winters like on your kit. 

708
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:34,520
Like how did that come about? 
Yeah, yeah. 

709
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:39,400
So I got involved with them a 
little bit after the trials last

710
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,680
year, but more heavily after the
Olympics. 

711
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,640
I went to their, like, annual 
leadership summit. 

712
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:48,600
Yeah. 
Learn more about the 

713
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:52,120
organization. 
They have an athlete alliance, 

714
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:54,960
mainly starting with winter 
sports. 

715
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,280
That's the where the name 
Protector Winters comes from 

716
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:02,520
basically, because, you know, 
skiers and snowboarders really 

717
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,600
need the snow to be there to do 
what they love. 

718
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:10,080
But I guess recently they've 
kind of expanded more into other

719
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:15,320
areas like running, kind of 
recognizing that, you know, as 

720
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,160
runners, we rely on the 
environment a lot too. 

721
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,960
Even if you don't realize it 
directly, Like even if you're 

722
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,120
not on some beautiful mountain 
trail somewhere, if you're 

723
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:28,920
running in the middle of a city,
like still the quality of the 

724
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:32,400
air you're breathing impacts 
you, the temperatures affect 

725
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:34,640
you. 
And we've seen more races 

726
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,640
getting cancelled or postponed 
recently with extreme weather 

727
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:42,400
events happening. 
So yeah, I was really excited 

728
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:46,800
about their mission to kind of 
use the idea of like outdoor 

729
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,480
recreation as a way of bringing 
people together to to care about

730
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:55,000
climate and environmental issues
and, and speak about them in a 

731
00:43:55,000 --> 00:44:02,680
way that, you know, is brings 
people together and kind of 

732
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:07,760
recognizes how how much all of 
this does matter to to us as 

733
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,240
people who who love to be 
outside. 

734
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:15,440
It's in all of our best interest
to protect what we care about, 

735
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,840
too. 
Definitely, and then I mean, you

736
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:23,000
could be a Winter Olympian if 
they add cross country to to the

737
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,280
to the Winter Olympics and then 
like it makes it a bit more 

738
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,240
seamless. 
All right, so back to sort of 

739
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:34,760
the race itself in in New York. 
How did you and Alistair and Amy

740
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:38,800
come up with the race plan and 
what was it for the actual 

741
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:40,760
execution of of the New York 
City Marathon? 

742
00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:47,840
Yeah, basically just wanted to 
to put myself in there and keep 

743
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,120
giving myself a shot for as far 
into the race as I could go. 

744
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:56,680
I'd say we left it somewhat 
open-ended because we didn't 

745
00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,520
know how it would play out, 
whether it would be more on the 

746
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:02,960
tactical side or a bit or a bit 
quicker earlier on. 

747
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:07,880
But basically it was like, if 
these people go, you just go. 

748
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:12,320
I guess Sheila Chep Karui was 
the one who before even I guess,

749
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,640
like the Queensboro Bridge had 
started to like put in a couple 

750
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:17,600
surges toward the front of the 
race. 

751
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:22,080
Like did were those like, could 
you feel just sort of like the 

752
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:24,240
injection of pace and then 
hitting the brakes and like how 

753
00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:27,480
that was how it was almost far 
lucky. 

754
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,600
But then like after a while, 
like there were some big moves 

755
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,920
that were made and it's like, so
I guess like with only having 

756
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,800
like one big marathon under your
belt, like, how did you go about

757
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,920
reading some of those moves 
from, you know, the the front 

758
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,720
end of Sheila, Helen and and 
Sharon? 

759
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,960
Yeah, Yeah. 
It was interesting because some 

760
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:50,160
of it was kind of just like the 
surging in and out of bottle 

761
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:54,120
stations. 
And not all of those were were 

762
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,600
real moves. 
But at first, like, I thought 

763
00:45:56,600 --> 00:46:00,400
everything was a real move. 
So I think at first it was like,

764
00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:03,720
I need to cover everything like 
immediately. 

765
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:08,640
But then it was kind of like 
recognizing like, OK, like maybe

766
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:11,280
that was just that was just to 
go get our bottles. 

767
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:13,760
And that's gonna happen again 
and again. 

768
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:18,280
But yeah, once, once Sheila went
to the front and, you know, I 

769
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,320
can see she's looking at her 
watch, things like that. 

770
00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,440
It's kind of like, OK, like 
she's not messing around. 

771
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:30,080
I know, like if she goes like I 
need to be on that for as long 

772
00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:33,320
as I can. 
And you could kind of tell that 

773
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,360
the three of them seems to be 
working together somewhat. 

774
00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:44,000
And I was, I was thinking that 
they might be trying to, to get 

775
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:45,800
rid of Safari. 
Yeah. 

776
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:52,960
They did for a bit, right, like 
up the Queensboro Bridge and 

777
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:57,920
even a little bit of a gap was 
formed between them and you and 

778
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:01,400
I, I guess like the funny part 
was then you had like that one 

779
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,840
car, I think it was the orange, 
the orange car next to you. 

780
00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:07,800
And it kind of helped drag you 
back into contention with the 

781
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:11,520
top three. 
Like, I guess what, what was 

782
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:15,560
that effort like on 1st Ave. 
where you found a way to 

783
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,080
reconnect with that front pack 
and like, like, were you in a 

784
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:20,960
rhythm there at 1 pace or was it
sort of like, OK, you had to 

785
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:24,040
like accelerate a little bit to 
catch up to them? 

786
00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:27,640
Yeah, I, I kind of felt like 
that downhill coming off the 

787
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,240
bridge was a little bit my last 
chance to, to use the course to 

788
00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:36,680
try to get back on them because 
I'm a pretty good downhill 

789
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,920
runner. 
So I felt like I could the 

790
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:41,880
aggressive downhill. 
Yeah, yeah, it was like, OK, I 

791
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:45,440
can use this. 
But if they're, if they're gone 

792
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:51,680
already, like it's, it's really 
early for, for that to happen. 

793
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:57,320
So yeah, I, I tried to really 
use that downhill to get back 

794
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:01,960
and reattach and give myself a 
shot for a little bit longer. 

795
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:07,400
But yeah, it was definitely it. 
It was not just, it was not just

796
00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:11,520
flowing at that point. 
So that you, you reattached to 

797
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:15,080
them for a bit and then also 
just did it feel like, 'cause 

798
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:16,840
you, you're not looking back at 
any point. 

799
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:21,560
But Saifan Hassan was not Bayou 
until she was all of a sudden 

800
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:25,160
again, it was a very funny race 
to watch because it was sort of 

801
00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:27,840
like up. 
She's not quite dead just yet. 

802
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:31,640
What was that like? 
I guess then when she reappears 

803
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:33,520
and you're like, oh, I guess 
like that didn't work. 

804
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:39,640
Yeah, yeah, I mean, definitely 
not surprising knowing that 

805
00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:41,200
she's back there. 
I was like, yeah, she could 

806
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:44,920
probably show up any moment. 
But yeah, I guess it was kind of

807
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:47,240
nice 'cause it was like, oh, 
maybe we can, maybe we can work 

808
00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:51,000
together to, to go catch them 
kind of thing. 

809
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:54,080
But yeah, you know it. 
Of course, anytime someone 

810
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:57,440
passes you later on into the 
race, there's a little bit of a 

811
00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:02,640
oh shoot feeling too. 
Once they kind of then separate 

812
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:07,760
after 19 or so miles from you, 
like how hard does the race get 

813
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:11,200
at that point 'cause even then 
Stephane drops back a bit more 

814
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:15,600
and you're kind of stuck in on 
your own little island there. 

815
00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:19,880
And it really didn't, not a 
whole lot changed from then on 

816
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:22,800
from, from you being enforced 
till the to the finish line. 

817
00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:26,560
So I guess like how did you stay
engaged in that, in that part of

818
00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:28,840
the race? 
Yeah, that stretch was 

819
00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:33,800
definitely the hardest, from 
like 20 to 24 or so. 

820
00:49:34,160 --> 00:49:37,040
The turn to the park was also a 
little bit later than I was 

821
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:41,680
expecting, so I felt like I was 
waiting for that turn for her 

822
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:43,560
ever. 
Oh, that's 5th Ave., Yeah. 

823
00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:46,600
Yeah, yeah. 
And I feel like people don't 

824
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:49,280
talk enough about how hard that 
stretch is. 

825
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:51,240
So deceiving. 
Yeah, yeah. 

826
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:54,200
So I was definitely hurting that
whole time. 

827
00:49:55,640 --> 00:50:02,320
But yeah, just trying to trying 
to stay engaged and not let them

828
00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:05,160
get too far away. 
But yeah, that was it was 

829
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:08,400
definitely a grind those those 
few miles before the park. 

830
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:13,520
When Kipchoge has said that like
smiling towards the end of the 

831
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:17,280
race, like kind of helps subside
a little bit of the pain, like 

832
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:21,400
what do you do 'cause like 
you're very much like in so much

833
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:23,680
pain in the in those late stages
of the race, Like what are you 

834
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:27,160
doing to kind of like help your 
body relax at that point? 

835
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,880
Like, do you have any sort of 
little little tricks? 

836
00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:35,000
Yeah, I mean, I did actually, 
even though like the hills are 

837
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:38,600
hard, in the end, I kind of 
found it helpful to like just 

838
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:41,480
get into a different rhythm in 
the park. 

839
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,080
So I was just thinking, I'm 
trying to think about like 

840
00:50:44,080 --> 00:50:49,800
running the hills well, instead 
of like how much I'm hurting the

841
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:53,520
last couple miles and, and using
the energy from the crowds and 

842
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:58,080
stuff. 
So yeah, I, I won't say I'm like

843
00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:02,480
a Zen master like Kip Jokey 
seems to be with the the smiling

844
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:07,400
and stuff like that, but just 
trying to find some other things

845
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:11,760
to focus on besides just how 
much it's hurting towards the 

846
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:15,680
end does help. 
So once you make that final turn

847
00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:20,200
into Central Park and you start 
to see all the flags, finish 

848
00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:22,680
line comes insight. 
What? 

849
00:51:22,720 --> 00:51:24,080
What are you thinking at that 
point? 

850
00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:26,880
At that point, I guess I'm 
mainly just thinking like, get 

851
00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:31,920
there, like and. 
Were you here, I guess of like 

852
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:34,880
just how fast you guys had been 
going throughout the race? 

853
00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:39,320
Not entirely. 
I remember I saw our halfway 

854
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:43,520
split, but my watch was kind of,
my GPS was kind of off out 

855
00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:47,440
there, so I wasn't really 
getting like any sort of 

856
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:49,560
accurate mile splits for a 
while. 

857
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:55,680
It wasn't until I think a couple
miles to go maybe, yeah, two or 

858
00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:59,320
three miles to go that I like 
looked at the clock a little bit

859
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:02,680
more as we were passing some of 
those mile markers and I was 

860
00:52:02,680 --> 00:52:04,720
like, oh, like they have a gap 
on me. 

861
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:07,040
But I guess I'm still like 
running pretty fast. 

862
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:13,240
So that that helped some over 
the last couple miles to like 

863
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:17,440
stay engaged with that. 2/22/49 
on New York City. 

864
00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:22,920
And like on this course, like 
it's just so, so impressive. 

865
00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:26,320
Like when you had a moment 
afterwards, like to, you know, 

866
00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:28,360
chat things through with 
Alistair and Amy. 

867
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:32,360
Like how did you guys assess 
like this performance all things

868
00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:35,480
considered? 
All things considered, pretty 

869
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:39,200
happy with it. 
Yeah, I feel like especially 

870
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:44,560
like right after like maybe a 
little bit of like, oh, like we 

871
00:52:44,560 --> 00:52:46,160
could have improved here and 
here. 

872
00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:51,640
But I feel like in the the day 
or two after it was kind of 

873
00:52:51,640 --> 00:52:54,320
like, oh, OK, Like that was that
was really good actually. 

874
00:52:56,120 --> 00:52:59,680
The team has been firing on all 
cylinders with Taylor making the

875
00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:03,720
10K squad, Dorcas meddling at 
the World Championships, Iman 

876
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:05,640
being on a hot streak when it 
comes to the roads. 

877
00:53:05,640 --> 00:53:09,000
Like is that something that like
you feed off of just sort of 

878
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:11,080
like seeing the success of of 
your team mates? 

879
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:14,080
And on top of that too, I guess 
like Patrick had a really good 

880
00:53:14,080 --> 00:53:17,880
day in in New York as well. 
And so like you guys had tons to

881
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:19,680
to celebrate over the last 
couple months. 

882
00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:25,040
Yeah, yeah, definitely. 
It's a lot of positive momentum 

883
00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:28,400
and it kind of just makes it 
easier to have a little bit more

884
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:31,080
confidence stepping up to the 
starting line when you know that

885
00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:36,720
you're all in the same system. 
And yeah, it's also just like it

886
00:53:36,720 --> 00:53:42,200
helps to to be happy for people 
and have other people around you

887
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:44,120
performing well that you're 
excited about. 

888
00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:49,240
Like we're in Copenhagen when 
Dorcas got her medal and we're 

889
00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:54,280
like, it was so fun to see that,
see that performance for her 

890
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:58,240
'cause I know she's been working
so hard for a long time. 

891
00:53:58,240 --> 00:54:02,720
And to see her like, finally get
a moment like that was super 

892
00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:05,160
exciting. 
What goals are do you have for 

893
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:08,000
yourself, I guess like after the
a performance like this, like 

894
00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:10,040
where's your head at? 
Just sort of like inserting to 

895
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:14,200
think of like what you want to 
achieve in 2026? 

896
00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:17,520
Like it's, it's kind of a early 
question to ask when you know, 

897
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:19,720
sort of like you still haven't 
even gotten like your next big 

898
00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:22,040
race like on the calendar. 
But what are some of the things 

899
00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:25,360
that you want to see kind of 
like in your development as a as

900
00:54:25,360 --> 00:54:28,040
a marathoner or just as a 
distance runner in general? 

901
00:54:28,240 --> 00:54:31,040
Yeah, yeah. 
I feel like it definitely makes 

902
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:34,800
me really excited about the 
marathon in particular and 

903
00:54:35,880 --> 00:54:39,440
trying to figure out where I can
close some of those gaps 

904
00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:42,280
competitively, get a little bit 
closer. 

905
00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:45,720
I know I can work on my my 
fueling in the race 'cause I 

906
00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:49,640
was, I was having some issues 
kind of throwing up a little bit

907
00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:54,320
out there. 
So there's some obvious areas 

908
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:57,720
for improvement like that, but 
then also just working on my 

909
00:54:57,720 --> 00:55:03,920
race tactics and how I can 
execute like a little bit more 

910
00:55:03,920 --> 00:55:08,520
intelligently out there and 
adapt on the fly. 

911
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:12,040
And I know there's, you know, 
things that I can work on in 

912
00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:16,000
training too. 
So yeah, I guess I'm just, I'm 

913
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:22,000
really excited to to get back to
work here and yeah, see what I 

914
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:27,480
can do like on those, on those 
big competitive stages and yeah,

915
00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:30,920
hopefully be in contention later
and later into the race. 

916
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:35,720
Yeah, Orlando was, I guess like 
it was really hot, but a fairly 

917
00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:39,440
flat course. 
New York famous for the bridges 

918
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:42,840
and like, you know, the hilly 
nature of 5th Ave. and Central 

919
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:44,400
Park. 
So it's like, do you have a 

920
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:47,760
preference on like the type of 
course that that you prefer 

921
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:50,760
'cause it seems like you're 
pretty well suited for either 

922
00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:53,240
option. 
I like a course that has some 

923
00:55:53,240 --> 00:55:56,040
level of challenge. 
I guess those were challenging 

924
00:55:56,040 --> 00:56:01,640
in very different ways, but like
the heat being more of a factor 

925
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:06,800
in Orlando and then the hills 
being more of the factor in New 

926
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:09,720
York. 
I think I definitely prefer like

927
00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:12,760
something that's a little bit 
more on the challenging 

928
00:56:12,760 --> 00:56:18,000
competitive side than like a 
time trial type of situation, at

929
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:21,040
least for now. 
At some point, like it would be 

930
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:25,240
fun to to really write down a 
time to chase and go after that.

931
00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:29,360
But for now, I like it when it's
when it's tough out there. 

932
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:32,480
So you have you've never written
down like a a time that you want

933
00:56:32,480 --> 00:56:35,520
to go after in the marathon. 
No, not yet. 

934
00:56:35,960 --> 00:56:38,520
OK, All right. 
Well, that'll be exciting to to 

935
00:56:38,520 --> 00:56:40,560
cross that bridge, you know, 
later on in the future. 

936
00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:44,040
Well, Fiona, I appreciate you 
taking the time to recap New 

937
00:56:44,040 --> 00:56:47,320
York and it's so good to see you
back at this level in the 

938
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:51,240
marathon especially, and excited
for what's to come ahead in 

939
00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:52,720
2026. 
Yeah. 

940
00:56:52,720 --> 00:56:56,160
Thank you. 
Thank you all for listening to 

941
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:58,000
this episode. 
This episode was produced by 

942
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,480
Jasmine Fair. 
I love doing this for you guys. 

943
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:03,480
So please do me a favor and 
leave a five star view on Apple 

944
00:57:03,480 --> 00:57:05,640
Podcast or Spotify. 
That helps us grow the show and 

945
00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:08,480
get even more awesome guests. 
Let me know what you're enjoying

946
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:10,440
about the show. 
Make sure you're subscribed or 

947
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:12,160
following on your favorite 
podcast. 

948
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:14,640
Players, please share this 
episode with your friends if you

949
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:17,000
think that they'll get any value
or inspiration out of it. 

950
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,080
Let's build this thing together.
Visit cityofsmack.com for a lot 

951
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:21,360
more. 
We've got a brand new website 

952
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:23,480
with tons more articles, videos 
and podcasts. 

953
00:57:23,720 --> 00:57:25,440
As always, I love track and 
field. 

954
00:57:25,560 --> 00:57:27,560
I'm Chris Chavez, see you next 
time.

