Episode 23: Running with Friends Series Part 1: 3 Best Running Moments
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Welcome to Chasing Life Podcast, where we talk about fitness, running, career, and life tips to inspire you to live your best life. I'm your host, Sarah Kane, and I hope you enjoy today's episode. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Chasing Life. Today's episode is the beginning of a new series called Running With Friends. I hope you enjoy. Welcome to Running With Friends. I'm Leti, and I'm the host of the We Get the Runs podcast. And I'm Sarah, the host of Chasing Life Podcast.

I live in Florida. And I live in New York. But we've decided to collaborate about once a month and build a friendship based on sharing our thoughts on various running topics and share updates on our training as we chase our goals. We hope you take us on a run with you and become our running friend too.

Welcome to our first episode of Running With Friends. To kick this off, we wanted to do a little intro of ourselves. So, Leti, why don't you get us started with telling our listeners a little bit about yourself, about your running, and why you started a podcast? Of course. Hi, Sarah, and hi, listeners. My name is Leti Lundquist. I'm the host of the We Got the Runs podcast.

When I'm not podcasting, I'm an attorney by trade, and I really just love running. I've been running for about 15 years or maybe even more and didn't start marathoning until 2009.

Just absolutely love the sport. I'm a mom of two kids. And after my last child was born in 2018, I decided I wanted to finally try to qualify for Boston and hired a running coach. And from there on, just really got into running even more.

So much that I decided, okay, I talk about running all the time. I'm going to start a running podcast. My running podcast, as I mentioned, is called We Got the Runs. And it's kind of a play on words. I wanted to have a running podcast, but at the same time, have it be a fun platform and not be too serious. So if you listen to my podcast, there's a lot of great information on there. But at the same time, we approach our running and...

everything with a little bit of fun. So yeah, so that's it in a nutshell. And we're available on all platforms, as you guys know. And now let's go to you, Sarah, tell me all about yourself and why you started a running podcast.

Thank you, Leti. So outside of podcasting, I work full-time at a local university in finance and human resource. I have my MBA. So a lot of the work I do is sitting at a computer and looking at spreadsheets. And so my podcast is really a creative outlet for me. It's called Chasing Life, also available on all platforms. And I started it about...

six months ago or in August of 2020, depending on when you are listening to this. And really it's similar to you, Leti, that it's a play on words. I started a blog quite a few years ago and I came up with the name of Sarah Chasing Life because I felt like it was representative of not only my running, but also how I was pursuing my

and growing in my life and chasing the things that brought me happiness. So after a lot of thought over the summer, I decided to give podcasting a try. And so it's been really fun. I've had some interviews as well as sharing running tips, especially virtual running. I shared some race recaps.

And it's still just getting started, but I am really enjoying having that creative outlet. And as for my running, I've been running since 2011. I've run a couple of marathons. I haven't qualified for Boston yet, but that is my next goal. So I'm excited that once I recover from an injury that I'm dealing with to chase Boston.

That's awesome. I'm so glad that we connected to do this. Absolutely. And we met each other on Instagram. And so it's really fun to have this conversation with you.

Yeah, and I agree. And I kind of feel like the same goes for, as you know, with our guests, you know, we get to talk to these people, which I'm sure that's one of the reasons you started a podcast too, that all of a sudden you have a platform and people do want to talk to you and you get to talk to these exciting people that are super motivational and share their stories and bring something to the listeners as well.

Absolutely. And I'm really enjoying having the opportunity to have the platform of sharing other people's stories, because all of us have our own stories, whether in running or in life. And I feel like we each have something that we can contribute and each have something that others can learn from. So that's been really fun to explore that.

I agree. I agree. And yeah, and it goes kind of back to, I started my podcast in May. I think it was two months into the pandemic and suddenly we weren't running in big groups anymore. And I kind of did miss these run chats. So I'm glad that we're doing this here now too, because who doesn't want to go on a run with friends? So if you guys are listening to us while you're running, that's even better. Absolutely. So what do you want to talk about today, Sarah? Yeah.

So I thought it would be fun for us to share some of our top three running moments and maybe our top three learning lessons. We were talking before this episode that

We don't have many negatives because we feel like maybe we've learned from things that didn't go as planned. So do you want to start with your top three running moments? I want to start with maybe the Chicago Marathon because it just happened in 2019. Well, I guess it's a year and a half ago almost, but that was my PR.

And, um, it wasn't my top moment because I knew what I was doing. It was just the whole fact of that. We had traveled to Chicago for it. And as one of the, you know, six world major marathons and just the vibe in the city the day before a package pickup, huge expo. And I got to see some family and my brother who lives close to Chicago, he had driven down with his wife to spend time with us. And, um,

I guess another perk of that whole experience was that I got in a hotel room downtown Chicago and I get to stay in that hotel room by myself because my husband was staying with, you know, his aunt with the kids. And it's just like, you know, being a mom and always having kids. And I have two dogs on top of that.

there's always so much going on. But I did have that one night in this hotel room, which I absolutely cherished, because I went out for dinner by myself. And then I connected with some running friends and just having that little bit of peace for a minute. And then, you know, running the Chicago Marathon, I didn't realize that your GPS watch won't work with the buildings. So

I was just trying to go under an eight minute pace because I hadn't really trained very hard. And I went out and I kept looking at my watch. It was the hardest thing in the world to keep this pace under 815. And I figured, well, maybe I'm just having a bad day because running in this cold weather, it was in the 30s.

Might just be really, really hard. But then I kept seeing the mile markers and nothing seemed to match up. And then at the halfway point, I remember my brother had come out and he was standing on the side and started jogging with me. And he was saying, you're doing so great. You're meeting the half mark at an hour and 34 minutes.

And I had never even done a half marathon and anything like that. So, you know, naturally I started dying off and my time just went slower and slower. I ended up, you know, if you, if you double the half marathon time, it should have been a three 10. I ended up at three 18 because I was just dying. But the whole experience of, um,

the cold weather and feeling hot in the cold weather. And it was just such an ideal day. It was literally one of my top moments. So it's really fun. That sounds really fun. I have yet to experience a world marathon. So that sounds really exciting.

Yeah, yeah, it was my first one as well. And I don't think you can compare them to any of the other ones. So what about you, Sarah? Can you tell me about one of your top moments? So I did arrange them one through three, I will share my third moment was finishing my first marathon. So I signed up for the wine glass marathon, which is close by to me, it's about 60 miles away from me.

It wasn't quite a destination race, but I did end up making arrangements to stay with a friend so that I didn't have to drive as far the morning of the race. But I picked the Wineglass Marathon because the course is pretty flat. It's actually a net downhill course. It's used a lot for Boston qualifying races.

One of my bucket list items was to run a marathon before I turned 30. And so I ran this race a week before my 30th birthday because it's a fall race. It's usually the last weekend in September, the first weekend in October, depending on how the calendar falls. And in New York, that should produce ideal running weather in the 40s or 50s.

So I remember the day of the race, I had to take a bus out to the start line because it's a point to point course. So they bus us out to bath and then we have to run back to Corning for the finish line.

And so I remember sitting on the bus and just thinking and trying to trust in my training. And the best thing about that race wasn't just that I could check off that I finished a marathon. My goal was to finish in under four hours, which I did do. But the surprise came at the finish line.

When one of my high school teachers, she drove over an hour to come and watch me finish my race. And she took pictures of me crossing the finish line. My mom was also there. My mom has been to all of my marathon finishes. And so it was just really...

Nice to have that surprise at the finish line. I had all these pictures of me finishing my first marathon. And so that was one of my top moments. Oh, that sounds amazing. That sounds like a really cool thing, having that support. What's the course like for that? The course starts off pretty flat. There are only two hills, one around mile six and one around mile 14.

But the hills aren't too bad. The one around mile 14 is kind of steep, but it's pretty short. And it's better to have it at that point in the race about midway through when though your legs are starting to get a little tired, you can find the energy to go over that. But then the last few miles are all flat, but there's a lot of turns in the last couple of miles. You're turning through parks,

or you're looping around neighborhoods. But the finish line is really cool because it runs down what they call Market Street. And so it's lined with buildings and shops. And so it has lots of restaurants. And so it's usually packed with spectators. And so you run down that to the finish line. And the core support is great as well. It's very well organized with the buses and

just the water stops along the way. So it definitely pays to select marathons that are well supported. Yeah, no kidding. What's with wine glass? So do you get wine? Oh, and yes. So...

That part of New York is near the Finger Lakes. And so New York has many wineries. And so that's what the wine glass signifies. And also in Corning, New York, they have the Corning Museum of Glass. The metals are made out of glass, which is really cool. They're stamped with the race information, but they're melted down glass. And they're made...

I believe in the Corning Museum of Glass. And so in the museum, they have like these glass blowers and they make all kinds of different ornaments or, you

little tchotchkes or all kinds of things, sculptures made out of glass. So that's between it being in wine country of New York and then glass museum. That's where wine glass comes from. And did you end up with a glass of wine to celebrate your accomplishment? I mean, four hours, sub four hours is really good for a first marathon. Yes. I was really happy with my finish. Interesting is they didn't give away anything.

At least I didn't have any wine. But they do give away bottles of champagne at the race expo, little bottles of champagne. So yeah, yeah. So that's fun. But the race gear, the jacket that they give you has a little wine glass on it. It's really cute. Oh, that's cute. So why don't you tell us about your second best moment?

So my second best, I guess, memory, I want to call it of running because it's not just one moment was when I lived in Los Angeles and I started training for my first marathon, which was back in 2009. I just moved to LA for law school and.

I ran into somebody consistently at Pasadena Rose Bowl who said, oh, what are you training for after a few times? And I told him I'm not training for anything. I'm just trying to get through law school. And he said, oh, you should train for the L.A. Marathon. There's this group called Roadrunners and they train in the morning on Saturdays. And I said, you know,

I don't think I can run a marathon because only the skinny elite people do that. You know, cause I, that's what you see on TV. If you watch a marathon, that's what you see. You don't see the average runner on TV, unfortunately, but I drove out there anyway, just to see people training. And what I saw was, um,

I want to say maybe two to 400 people in different groups of runners and all different speeds. There were run walk groups. There were all sorts of groups. So of course, then I started thinking, oh, maybe this is something I can do.

And I joined them. And so then from then on, every Saturday morning at seven o'clock, I would drive to Santa Monica and Venice, which is by the water. It goes by the boardwalk. And so I just remember that as a really cool and fond memory because you would just go there and you line up in your group. I was in group four and you would pair up two by two and just run your long runs together and just chat with people. And it was just amazing. I absolutely loved it.

That sounds amazing. I can't even imagine showing up to a group run in my area and having hundreds of people there. We're lucky if we get 20. I agree. And that's why I always say LA, California, they just have the perfect running weather. But also when you go there, it just feels like such an active vibe because, you

You know, when you run here, I'm in Florida and where you live, you go outside and you see some people running, but you don't see this influx of runners, bikers, triathletes, just training. And all of a sudden you feel like, okay, I'm

I'm not crazy for getting up at six or seven o'clock in the morning because there's this whole community that does it. So that's a really great memory. I also met some really close friends from that running group and just kept in touch with them forever. So it's really cool.

Yeah. Group runs definitely have their own vibe and it's really great to have that camaraderie too. I give you so much courage for showing up to a group run. I mean, it sounds like you had this serendipitous conversation with a stranger and then you're like, well, okay, I guess I'll go to this thing that I don't know about. So I think that has so much courage to show up somewhere new where you don't know anybody. And then it turns into this really fond memory. Yeah.

Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, it was like, you know, I was, it was a good time in my life. And like I said, you know, at first I was just going to go watch. And then when I watched, I realized this is something that everybody can do. Absolutely. Anybody who runs regardless of speed or what.

what you look like we all have runner bodies so I think that's a great reminder yeah no exactly that whole misconception I guess that's what I was trying to say that runners are and come in all forms and shapes and sizes so it's really cool how inclusive this can be and also for age you can start young you can start old it really doesn't matter it's just so beneficial for life so

So how about you tell me about another one of your good running moments? My second one was my half marathon PR, which I achieved in November of 2019. I had set a goal at the beginning of 2019 to run a sub 145 half. And I had lined up several half marathons that year. I initially tried to hit it in May of 2019 at a local race.

That race held meaning to me because it was the same course that I ran my first half marathon. And because it was local, there was more spectators that I knew. My parents could go to that race. So I had worked to...

Try to achieve a sub 145. But that day, the stars didn't quite align or my training wasn't up to what it needed to be. So I ran a 146. So then I tried again at the wine glass half marathon course, which was in October. So I figured, okay, I have a few more months.

And maybe I can achieve it then. And I didn't, that race did not go how I planned. I ended up, um, I think I went out too fast and so it just didn't go well. So then my last chance was at the Syracuse half marathon, which I planned to run that race with one of my best friends. It was going to be her first half.

But after I didn't do as well in the wine glass, I asked her, I was like, Hey, would you totally hate me if I ran this course without you? And I just met you at the finish line. I had planned to run it with her to try to help her and stay with her during course, but she's like, go do what you got to do. Like, I don't, I don't care what you do. So, so then I kind of changed my training a little bit. I focused on some interval training. I felt like I had,

a good base, but for some reason, I just didn't pace myself right in the wine glass when I ran the course. So I tried again and the half marathon. And so Syracuse has been known to get a lot of snow and the race was in mid November. And so you don't know what to expect with the weather there. Um, but the day ended up being, um,

in the thirties. So it was, and it wasn't snowing, which was key. And my friend who I was mentioning, she ended up getting sick. So she couldn't run the race with me. So I went to the race with a plan. I reminded myself what the paces are, were that I needed to hit. And then there were the hill at mile two, which was not too friendly. But then after that, I found my groove

And I ended up finishing in one 44 33. And what the cool part was not only because I achieved a PR, but the messages that I got after I finished the race, because I'd been talking about this goal for almost a year. And so I got text messages as soon as I crossed the finish line of people who had been tracking me and

And because they knew I was running the race. And so they sent me text messages of like, oh my God, that's awesome. You did it. And so it was just really fun to just realize how much support I had. I didn't even know people were tracking me. Other, like my parents were tracking me or some really close friends, but these are like other runners from my community. And

And like that feeling of not only accomplishing what I wanted to do, but realizing how much support I had behind it. That was one of my favorite moments. Oh, that's cool. That's really cool. It's crazy how you can track each other nowadays. And how fun is that, that you know people are supporting you and you don't even know it when you're focused on your goal. You think, you know, the closest people...

But then that the whole community is standing behind you. That's, that's what's so great about the running community. Absolutely. Yeah. There's a lot of camaraderie and meeting other runners. I think it helps too, because then your friends and family who maybe aren't runners don't get sick of you talking about running. You meet another runner and you could just talk to them for an hour or more because they understand your training. They understand your obsession with it. And so that's why I'm excited about our conversations. Yeah.

No, I agree in that, you know, kind of just along those lines. That's why I started a separate Instagram because I figured I don't want to overwhelm my friends with all this running crap. So I started a separate Instagram just for running related stuff. And the majority of the people you don't know, but for some reason they're so supportive and cheer you on. And again, just like you said, people won't get sick of your posts. Right. Yeah. I also have a separate

Instagram account for my running. Yeah, it's fun to cheer other runners on in the Instagram running community too. Exactly, exactly. And you end up feeling like you know them and then hopefully one day you'll meet them at a race. I did that with a few people that were going to Chicago at the same time. Because like we were saying earlier, it was one of the major marathons and we had started a group and most of them didn't meet. And it was just such a cool thing. You saw all the...

photos that they posted on Instagram of just strangers that became friends due to the running community. So it was really cool.

Yeah, that is really fun. I also have connected with runners. We hope that someday we'll be able to meet in person. I feel like it does become friends. Like it's so weird because when we were growing up, you know, everybody says like, don't talk to strangers. We've made all these internet friends that go from strangers to friends. It's because you're following their lives or sharing their ups and downs and they're sharing their journeys and we can all relate to that. So.

It's interesting how things have changed. Yeah. And I think we're kind of past the creepiness because if you were, I don't even know if you're online dating in 2000 or whatever, when the internet first came out, that was creepy. I'm sure. But nowadays, you know, how else are you going to meet people? Plus,

In the pandemic, it's not like you really go to the bars and hang out there or, you know, wherever. The whole group part or the whole getting together is kind of vanished. So I don't think it's as creepy as it probably was in the early 2000s or even 2010-ish.

Yes, that's true. Because it's become more of the norm to connect with people online and especially like with Instagram. I feel like Facebook, you know, that started as your friends or people you went to school with. And then Instagram, though, is grown to people that have the same interest in you. And so that's a way to kind of explore that and connect with other people. That's very true. That's very true. Yeah, I have both of those two. The only one thing that I don't do is I'm

I have no idea how Twitter works. I'm not on Twitter much either. I also haven't explored TikTok. Yeah, me either. I think I did a couple of songs, but then I don't really know what to do with that stuff. So I don't know.

Maybe one day, maybe one day, I'm sure as we age, there'll be a thousand more of those platforms. That's true. So why don't you tell me about your last best running memory? Another one I thought of is the Malibu Marathon, which doesn't exist anymore. This is also around 2012-ish. So I had one year where

where I decided I'm going to do 12 marathons in a year. I don't know why. It was my last year in law school and I was sitting so much studying that I figured I need to kind of balance this out. In California, there's a lot of marathons that they have, not just the big ones. They also have unofficial ones and then race providers. There's one called Charlie Alewine who hosts a lot of ultra races. So you have your variety to pick from. And there was a Malibu marathon and

you know, close to Malibu. It started in farmlands and then it went towards, you

PCH Pacific Coast Highway. So it just went rolling hills up and down by the beach. So you could see the water break, you could see dolphins. And it was just an amazing experience. At that time, I wasn't trying to run for any kind of time. I didn't care if it was four hours, 430, literally just to finish this and just soak up the sun and soak up the beautiful views and this

amazing race course that they no longer have. So that's a super fond memory. That sounds really nice. I think one of the best things about running is the opportunity to see so much of the world and on courses too.

you get an opportunity to run along these beautiful views or see things that you maybe normally wouldn't have. I remember a race that I had in Rochester, New York, and I felt like it was the best tour of the city because they ran us through all the best and the highlights parts. It was a really hot and humid day, so I didn't run very well, but I did enjoy the experience because of the surroundings. And I think that's really cool when marathon or half marathon courses highlight the city.

I agree. And I think, you know, as much as we try to train and get faster and faster, sometimes it's nice to just be reminded of your run because, you know, it's your excuse to have some solo time or it's just something that you want to do for yourself. It doesn't have to be a fast run. And I think this whole notion that we see happening more and more with traveling around the world and having marathons incorporated into travel, it's just beautiful because it's just like you said, it's

the best tour of a city and you meet people you would have never met or you see things you normally wouldn't see when you just go from hotel to point B. I interviewed this guy named Nick Kershaw and he's the owner of Impact Marathons. And this is something that's on my bucket list and I've been wanting to do and hopefully will get to do either this year or next year. It's just he hosts, I think it's

or seven races all over the world in Guatemala by the volcanoes, Kenya, Malawi. I mean, you name it. Really, really exotic locations. And the idea behind it is that those are not courses that you can strive for a certain finish time. It's more like you go there, you spend a week with...

running community, people who all volunteer to do something in those places. For example, one of them takes place in Nepal and he was telling me about how the runners would get there and they were building pipelines and then, you know, building the running community, talking, making friends with the locals and really having a traveling experience where, you

You know, it's not like you're going to the Hyatt and you're staying in Mexico and Hawaii and you wouldn't know where you would be because it's the same experience somewhere else. You stay in very basic accommodations and work during the week and go for runs, do some yoga. And then on the last day, you get to run this marathon with the people you traveled with and locals. And he was saying that...

the time for the marathon you just add an hour to it because it's all about the sightseeing it's all about finishing that it's all about community so the whole traveling for marathons i think there's he does it in a perfect way and i can't wait to go to one of those that sounds really amazing and a really memorable experience between volunteering your time and then

being able to explore this location. That sounds amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should look into it. I'll send you- I definitely will. So how about you tell me about your third best experience of running moments? I've been running for over 10 years. And so there was a lot of memories that I thought about, but I decided on...

most recent marathon. So I had to run it virtually and it was supposed to be the Marine Corps marathon. I decided to continue training for it even after it got switched to virtually because I, quite honestly, I wanted the swag. I had signed up for the Semper Fi challenge, which means I...

would run the historic half, which was in May, and then run the Marine Corps Marathon. And then you not only get the marathon medal, but then you get the bonus medal. I figured, well, I already...

finished the half. So let me keep training for the marathon. And I continued training for the marathon. And I found that it was worth it because during the pandemic, there was so many things outside of our control, but following a training plan and having the structure of my running and plus just the mental health benefit of running really helped me through the summer and the fall

And I decided to run the race at a local park. So I ran five loops of it and I decided on the course one because it was safe, two because there was bathrooms accessible and three because it provided a great loop to have water stops. And I was really grateful for friends that I recruited to be my Sherpas. They were my water stop. I

I had also one friend bikes the whole thing with me to keep me company and to keep me distracted. And so that was really nice. But the best part of that race was that I trusted my training and I ended up getting a marathon PR by 13 minutes. And so I finished in three 41, which I was just aiming for under three 45. So to finish with minutes to spare and then, um,

The really nice memory was that

My nieces, I have three nieces, they gave me my medals. It worked out perfectly that although I was running in a virtual race, the Marine Corps Marathon, training for a fall race means that you are training in the heat of the summer. And yes, I live in New York, but New York has very humid weather, though probably not nearly as humid as Florida. So there are days when it's very tough to get up and run

double digit runs in human weather in the summer. And there was a few times where I questioned it

But they had mailed our packets and I got my packet with my medals two days before the race. Not every runner was lucky to have their medals before they ran the race. A lot of them got them afterwards. And so I was so excited that I got my packet so that I could actually get my medal when I crossed my chalk line of a finish line in the park. And my nieces gave me my medals, which was really special. So my parents were there, my brother and sister-in-law.

and their kids and plus some friends from the local running community were all there to cheer me on as I finished my race. And so I felt like that was really special. I tried to make the most of a virtual experience. Although I've heard phenomenal things about the Marine Corps Marathon race, the race support and the course,

This was, I feel like the next best thing was to be able to celebrate it with my family because I don't know if they would have gone to DC with me. My nieces certainly wouldn't have been there, but it was this really cool experience that they could put my medal over my neck and celebrate with me.

That sounds amazing. Yeah. It sounds so cool that you have this supportive family also on top of that, but yeah, no, it's, it's just like you said, you know, you make lemonade out of the lemons that we've been giving given with this pandemic. So that's really cool that everybody showed up and it makes you feel like it is a real race. And then on top of that, you did get your medals because, um,

I did the Boston virtual and didn't have the medal until, I don't know, a month and a half afterwards. And it kind of kills the joy because you're finishing. And then a month later, you're obviously already over it, you know?

Absolutely. And it's not nearly the same as when you open the packet and you're like, oh, nice. Okay. A medal. Like there's definitely more emotions when you cross the finish line and then you have someone put the medal over your neck. Like that's part of a race experience. And unless you do a race, it's hard to explain or understand it, but that's really makes it more worthwhile. Yeah.

That's such a good point. Yeah, no, I couldn't agree anymore. Thank you for listening to our top running moments. We hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoy talking about them. We got to talking so much that we've decided to cut this episode into two parts. So our next part two will cover our worst running moments or in some lessons learned. So we hope you tune in.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on social media. Tag me at Sarah Chasing Life or at Chasing Life Podcast. If you haven't already, please be sure to subscribe and rate this podcast. That helps me to reach more listeners.