Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
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.
Welcome to another episode of Chasing Life. I'm Sarah and today's guest is one of my camp runabout friends. Yes, another one because when you go to a camp that's a little bit of running and a lot of fun, you meet a lot of great people. Megan Chan is one of the very first people I met. We met during one of the opening events of a scavenger hunt to learn her way around camp. But more importantly, she is also the creator and owner of Race Bib Notes.
Her mission is to preserve your race day memories, good, bad, or ugly. Megan lives in Gilbert, Arizona with her husband, her two kids, and her dog, Wolfie, and I hope you enjoy our conversation. Welcome, Megan. I'm so excited to have you today. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here and to be talking to you and-
talking about race bib notes. So thanks for having me. Oh, of course. So let's just get started. And what are race bib notes? I'll start with what they are. And then I'll talk a little bit about why I created them and where they started. So race bib notes are very simple product for runners. They're a four inch by six inch decal that sticks right to the back of any race bib, whether it's a running event, triathlon, any event where you get a participant bib.
they stick right to the back of it and they allow you to record all of your race stats. So things like,
the name of the race, the date, your finish time, your pace, and then there's tons of other space for writing anything else you'd like to remember about race day. So that can be anything from, you know, I ran with Sarah and she PR'd or, you know, I wore a new pair of shoes, which was a mistake. I shouldn't have done that. Anything else you want to remember from race day, you can note on this
decal that goes right on the back of your bib. And the reason I created race bib notes was really just out of necessity for myself. I was going back through all of my race bibs, trying to figure out what my PR times were, my 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon PRs. And for the life of me, I could not find my 5k and 10k
PR personal best times anywhere. I had no record of them whatsoever. So I thought, well, there's got to be an easy way to document all of this information. And some people use Strava or their Garmin app to document, you know, their best times and kind of keep track of their stats that way. But this for me is
I've always been into scrapbooking and kind of documenting things on paper, whether it's journaling or just keeping notes of things. So I wanted to have something physical that would be
connected to or tied to my race bib so that I could look back on it whenever I was feeling nostalgic or just wanted to figure out what my time to beat was. So that's really where they came from. I started from scratch, created the design and after a lot of trial and error came up with the final product of race bib notes. Sounds awesome that you just kind of innovated this product
really to service yourself, but it's going to be so beneficial to other runners. So what's been your experience like going to expos or, you know, getting the word out for race bibs? Yeah. So I started coincidentally, I started the, uh,
selling the final product at the end of 2019, which, you know, was right before everything kind of went sideways. So I had a, I live in Arizona and our race season is winter time. So from November to about February is when we're hot and heavy with all of our races, because that's when we have the best weather, right? Being in Arizona. So we had a, a
a great winter season, got to a lot of expos, got to meet a lot of great runners. The last expo we did was the Mesa Phoenix Marathon, which was a really big event for us. It brings in runners from all over the country because it's a
great Boston qualifying course. I think it's typically number two or number three in terms of, you know, most number of participants Boston qualifying from the course. So that was a great event for us. We were able to reach a lot of new people and get the word out. So things were going really, really well. And then, yeah,
they weren't because all of the races got canceled. So 2020 was, you know, like for everybody else with everything was a challenging year. And we kind of had to push pause for a while because with no races happening, no race bibs were being earned or handed out. So finally getting back on track now with 2021, thank you.
Thankfully, races are beginning to start up again. Obviously, they look a little bit different than they have in the past, but very optimistic as in-person races are now starting up again. That's great. And in New York, we have very few in-live races right now. If we do have them, it's limited to under 50 people. But I'm definitely looking forward to having a race, a live race again, and having all of the joy being surrounded by 15,000 other people again. Yeah.
Yeah. It seems like a distant, like something that's going to happen very far in the future, but someday we'll get back to those huge races for us here. I think folks in Arizona and out West where the weather is prime for running, I think we were just anxious to do something right. And our races are very much scaled back from what they typically are. And a lot of the races that are happening right now are trail races because those are
you know, traditionally easier to space people out on. So they've been very responsible here, at least, you know, the races that I know of with keeping people socially distanced as much as they can, requiring masks on the course and at the start line and the finish line. So they've been responsible, but it has been really great that,
runners are able to get back out there and compete. Absolutely. Because I know for me, having a race in the future helps to keep me motivated. So having even just a small race helps to just keep you more accountable. I am exactly the same way. 2020 with running and working out and everything else was, it was tough. I had to be at home, which I know for you is not atypical because you're used to working out at home. But for a lot of people, it's just tough to get out of that
habit of I go to the gym, I go to a class, you know, I work out with other people and get into the habit of stepping into their living room and doing a workout or, you know, instead of doing large group runs with their running group, going out on their own. So that was...
quite the adjustment for a lot of people and not having any races on the horizon to kind of strive towards and push yourself and go out and run on days that you don't want to run because you know you have, you know, this race coming up that just that wasn't happening in 2020. So it was very difficult for a lot of us.
Right. And from what I remember, you usually run with a pretty large group that you plug into on a regular basis. Yeah. Has that been transitioning or, you know, what's that running group like? Yeah. There's the main group that I'm a part of, Moms Run This Town or MRTT. There's a few chapters in my area. So typically, anytime I wanted to go out for a run, whether it was during the week or on the weekend, I could find at least two to three to
five plus people that wanted to run with me. So I never had to run alone, which is great as a woman, that's a great network of people to have when you need to worry about personal safety with running as we always do. So it took some adjusting to get used to just stepping out the door and going by myself. And I typically stuck pretty close to home and just ran around my neighborhood, which
got a little bit monotonous, but you know, you lean on audio books and podcasts like yours. And I tried to stay away from the true crime podcast because, you know, running by yourself, listening to true crime, some people can do it. I know some runners that that's all they listen to while they're running. But you know, when you're not used to running by yourself, it's, it's probably not the best way to go, but I got used to
running solo and just running for the joy of running versus, you know, having to hit certain paces or do certain workouts, which I think was kind of a blessing in disguise for, for me and probably a lot of other people is to just get back to enjoying running just for the sake of moving your body.
I agree. I've seen a lot of that with other runners of really just going out the door to run and not trying to prove themselves to anyone else but themselves and just enjoying the weather or just, you know, exploring new roads or trails. And it's just,
Running is really an opportunity and an excuse to explore the world around us. And yes, it's great to strive for goals, but I think 2020, not just in running, but for a lot of things, helps the world to reset and refocus on the things that really matter.
Yeah, absolutely. And you always have virtual races, right? So I think a lot of companies, both those that had historically done virtual races and those that typically did in-person, I think did a great job of trying to keep people motivated and engaged with virtual races. So I did a few of those over the summer, which was, you know, it was nice. It's still, as you know, not the same experience, right? I can't imagine running a full virtual like you did. That's just...
amazing but even just the 5ks you know that just something to strive towards something you get a little medal in the mail that commemorates your run I remember we did you and myself and a few other ladies from camp did the conquer covid run early in quarantine so that was nice it was a way for us to to bond you know across the miles since we were all in the same boat of
just being home and trying to stay sane through quarantine. Absolutely. Yeah. And virtual races are definitely a lot different and it's not the same to receive a medal in the mail, but you know, looking back on the year, we can all at least say, well, you know, we accomplished some things this year and if not, you know, just to keep running was a huge accomplishment. Yeah, absolutely. And the nice thing, you know, kind of going back to
to race bib notes, a lot of the virtual races will either send you a bib or they'll send you something that you can print and wear as a bib, right? So even if you're doing a virtual race, you want to remember the stats from your race, right? Whether it's, hey, we did this COVID-19 5K, 10K with a group of ladies from across the country. I want to remember that race for a long time, right? Forever. So I
print out a bib, use the bib they sent you, slap a race bib note on the back so that you can remember all those things that just looking at a metal hanging on your wall isn't going to tell you. And that's a great point. I'm a big scrapbooker too, but I
scrapbooking can also be very time consuming. Oh yeah. To print the pictures and to journal and to try to recap everything where if you had a race bib note, you have it the day of your race when things are still fresh in your mind, you can write journal about it. And then,
be kind of done with it instead of having it hang over your head of like, oh, I got to get race pictures developed and then I got to glue it together or cut them or put a digital book together or whatever preferred scrapbook method you have. But I can relate to, you know, you want to remember that. You spend a lot of time preparing for a race. And so you want to remember that experience.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I always have the best of intentions with my race photos and putting together, like you said, a digital scrapbook of all of my race pictures and my running pictures with my run group. And just it's one of those things that you quite often never get around to. I mean, whether you're busy working or you're a parent or whatever else life in life comes up.
You just, it's one of those things that's never top priority. So like you said, just having this sticker handy that you can just stick right on the back of your bib on race day when you've got your Garmin or your, you know, stats from the race website that they typically provide you and just fill it all in at the time, put on your bib. And then however you store your bibs, whether it's, you know, on a rack or in a,
I think it's called a bib folio where it's like a, you know, almost like a scrapbook where you just drop your bibs in. You can go back and relive all those memories or if nothing else, go back and figure out what your best times are. Yeah, I just actually expanded my metal display to have a bib folio because I was getting too many metals for the rack that I had. So I had to buy a bigger one. Runner problems, right? Yes, exactly.
So where can someone find Race Bib Notes? That is a great question. So they can buy them online at www.racebibnotes.com. Pretty simple website. We...
ship all over the country for free because it's a small, lightweight product. So we don't charge for shipping. We have, in addition to the regular race bib note, which is for running races of any distance, it could be for a 5K, a one mile run, an ultra marathon. It works for any length of race. On top of that note, we also have a note specifically for triathlons. And that one's a
The fact that it's got specific fields for your swim time, your bike time and your run time. And the reason I created a separate note for triathlons is because me personally, and I know a lot of folks that do triathlons, they're strongest in one particular area, right? So instead of just writing down your total finish time for triathlon, I wanted to allow athletes to write down their individual leg times. Because for me, I know triathlons,
Personally, my swim time is never going to be good because I'm not a strong swimmer, but I really am interested in how my bike and runtime stacks up, you know, in terms of what my pace is. So racebibnotes.com has both the original Race Bib Note and one specifically for triathletes. And both of those then ship for free across the country. Thank you. That's great that you thought of both the triathlete and a runner to cover more athletes.
Yeah, yeah. And we're right now my focus in the next couple of months is to expand to different designs. So right now the designs are pretty basic in terms of like the background image and they could work for for any athlete, but I'd like to create the maybe one for trail runs, because I know some runners that's that's all they like to do.
right, is run trails. So my goal for the next couple of months is to come out with a few additional designs specific to either a type of race or maybe do one for specific for Boston with the hopes that that happens this year. But that's really the goal
for the next couple months is to expand our our product line into some new and different and updated designs that sounds really fun and a great creative out absolutely absolutely and and you know i'm not typically the most creative person but i just i find that there's so much inspiration online and just talking to runner friends about what they like and you know what they're passionate about when it comes to running and racing it just it's extremely inspiring and
So I love designing these notes and sharing them with people and getting feedback that I never would have thought of this. And this is great. And the other reason that I created these stickers in the first place, instead of just writing on the back of my race bibs was because it's not easy to write on the back of a race bib. So if you, you know, have experience with
any kind of endurance event where you have a race bib, you know that it's a, it's like a plasticky type paper, right? So it's not, it's not just paper because they need to stand up to a lot of friction, basically, for lack of a better word when you're running. So trying to write on the back of a race bib is really not easy and typically requires a Sharpie or, you know, another kind of felt tip marker that,
can very easily bleed and look very messy. On top of that, if you look at some of the, even the bigger bibs, like the rock and roll bibs, which if you've ever run a rock and roll bib or a rock and roll race, you know, their bibs are just huge, right? They have the...
the biggest bibs out there. But if you turn it over, the entire back of the bib is either full of advertisements or room for you to write your medical information. So there's really no good space on the back of even those large bibs for you to write information about your race. So that's why I decided, you know, you have this sticker that is 4K.
You can use a pencil, a pen, a marker. You could use a crayon if you really wanted to, to write all of your stats very cleanly and easily, even if you don't have a pen.
great handwriting so that when you look back, you can actually read what you've written down. That's great that you thought of that too. I, even when you have to write your medical information, you have to like have a pen and press really hard. And that's even before it gets all sweaty or wet from running or dumping water over your head and your bed just gets destroyed by the end of a read. Yep. Yeah. I'm worried that, uh, you know, after I write my medical information, if there, if anybody's even going to be able to read it after
after after the race something happens right are they going to be able to read this right this blurry bleeding uh marker that I've written on the back of the bib so so yeah again just out of necessity you know coming up with a much easier to use product and like you mentioned you know the race bib gets pretty beat up during your race so that by the end it's wrinkly and bent and
So you have the sticker that you can fill out. It's nice and smooth. And then once you're done filling it out, you stick it on your wrinkly bib and you're done. Put it in a bib folio. Exactly. Free advertising for bib folio. But yeah, I put the sticker on the back, slip it in the pocket of my bib folio so that as I'm looking back through, I can see on the front of the bib, here's the race and then turn it over and you have all of your
your stats. And we even have room on the, on the race bib note for what place you came in. So your overall place, your age group place, if that's something that's important to you, there's space to write the weather. And then, like I said, tons of other space at the bottom for you to note down anything else that's important to you about that race. Yeah. And I think that's great because oftentimes like I'll look at my stats right after a race and
And I'll maybe take a screenshot of it, but it's nice that we can put it all with the bib and keep it in a safe spot. So thank you for thinking of that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I've, I've found, you know, as I was trying to go back through and find my 5k and 10 K PR times, some race websites are great about displaying all that information. They keep it online for a long time. You can go back three to four to five years to look at your, your former year race stats and then other races, especially the smaller ones,
Either they print you something at the time or they stick it on their website for a couple days and then it disappears. Oh, it's kind of all over the place and trying to go back and navigate through all those websites to find your stats after the fact is not always easy. Right. So are you currently working on any fitness or running goals so that you can put a new race bib on the back of a...
I am. So I very, very recently decided that I'm going to start training for a, it's not a big race. It's a smaller trail race here locally. It's a 13K at the beginning of April. So it's being put on by one of the race organizers that's done already a few trail races here in Arizona. They do just an outstanding job of organizing. They have probably the best finish line food ever.
of any race organizer that I've ever, you know, participated in, in one of their races. So it's called the damn good run and it's here in Arizona. So I'm excited. It's, you know, it's not a huge, scary race. It's a, it's a 13 K it's just long enough that, you know, you got to train for it. So, um, so I'm planning to do that, but really my focus right now is strength training, just
Getting back my strength so that I don't get injured if I decide to do a longer race in the fall. I've been doing a lot of strength training and reconditioning my body. After my marathon, I had some tendonitis flare up, so I haven't been able to run consistently in a couple months. In fact, I looked back in February, I...
ran zero miles, which is the first time in over five years that I haven't walked a single running mile. And it's, so it was weird. Cause I actually looked back through my garment to like, look like when, when was the last time I ran zero miles in a month? And it was prior to when I got my garment. So it's weird to think about, but instead I'm trying to just like stay focused and think of really working on my mechanics so that in the future, you
This won't be an issue again in my running. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I've had several different injuries over the last, gosh, five, six years. So just trying to get ahead of that and be smarter about my training and not, you know, it's really tempting to want to rush into doing a longer race right now because it has been so long since I've done a race. I really would love to just...
Push myself right and say, okay, let's do a 26 K or one of these longer trail runs. But number one, I am not a trail runner by trade. I'm typically a road runner. So I have to keep in the back of my mind that trail running is harder than road running, especially in the desert, because it's just all sand and rock and, you know, mountains. So, um,
Just trying to be a little bit more reasonable about my race goals, knowing that hopefully by the fall, you know, those road races, the bigger road races will start popping up again and we can get together in large groups at the start line and cheer each other on and run with all of our friends again. Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to that. Yeah.
So because you live in Arizona, you have experienced a lot of warm weather. Do you have any tips for other runners on how to deal with hot weather training? Oh, yes, we sure do. You know, it's a blessing and a curse because
I cannot stand the cold and it's probably because I'm from Arizona, right? I'm a native. So my, I think my body is just not built for the cold. So for me right now, I mean, I think it's 57 or 60 degrees outside right now and it's just, I'm freezing. Right. And I know for you, that's like balmy shorts weather. Um,
I would take that right now. It's about 35 degrees and damp in New York. So we're definitely spoiled. But, you know, what really works for most of us out early in the morning and getting it out of the way before the sun comes up, because with it being such a dry heat, the sun makes such a difference.
When you don't, you don't have humidity to battle with. So if you have shade, it's considerably cooler than when the sun is just beating down on you. So it's really just about beating the sun in the morning. That's if there were no other tips that I gave you, that would probably be, be number one for us. It's just.
Run when there's no sun on your back. That's a great tip. I did have to train a little bit in the desert. I last summer, I was in Las Vegas during a heat wave. And I was in the middle of training for my marathon. And so I had no choice. I like set my alarm for 430 in the morning and get out the door by five.
because I knew that I wouldn't be able to run later in the day, even in the evening, because it was still like 95 degrees out. So it's definitely a change. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I know for some people waking up at 430 or five is just it sounds like the worst thing in the world. But here, at least in Phoenix, you know, at 910 o'clock at night, it can still be 100 degrees. And
You don't have the sun, but it definitely retains a lot of that heat from the day when you're running in the evening. So it's possible and we all do it. You know, we all have days where waking up early is just not an option. You've got to either run in the afternoon or in the evening. And it's just a lot of water and
I typically run with long sleeves rather than lathering on sunblock, but it's just protecting yourself from the sun and making sure you're, you're staying hydrated. Good tips. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I was actually thinking of you cause I was listening to one of your other episodes and you mentioned, you know, potentially wanting to train for Boston. And I thought, well, then she should come do the Mesa Phoenix marathon because it's such a good Boston qualifier. So yeah,
If you hadn't thought about that. I will definitely keep that in mind. It's a great, it's a gorgeous course, especially if you're, you know, I guess whether or not you're from here, but if you really want some amazing Arizona views, I think it's called the Mesa Marathon now. They've changed their name two or three different times over the last few years. But the start of the full marathon course is just absolutely breathtaking. You see the sunrise, you're in the mountains coming down this
beautiful like downhill course at the beginning and it's just it's breathtaking and it's a great course I will keep that in mind when I can start running again come visit your Arizona friends yeah it's a good February is a good time to get out of upstate New York and come to Arizona
That's for sure. Yeah. So as a fun question, what's something that you're obsessed with right now or really? This is super random, but woodworking. Just I've always been interested in working, building things and I've done a bunch of stuff around my house, but I bought a new saw a couple months ago and have just been loving
making so many different things and just loving the time I get to spend like in my garage, away from everything, just working out with wood and working with my hands. And so I'm kind of obsessed with, with woodworking right now, as unrelated to running as that, as that is, that's, that's my kind of my current obsession. Hey, but the thing is, like, we're not just runners, we, you're a mother, you have your entrepreneur avenue, like, that's,
Part of the reason why I asked the question is to, for people to realize that we're not just runners, but we have other hobbies too, even though running is our, usually at the top of our list of what we talk about. Yeah. I'm kind of all over the place with my hobbies. Yeah.
Hey, me too. So what's been your favorite thing that you've created from your woodworking? My favorite thing so far, I made a playhouse for my kids in the backyard. It's just huge. It's like seven feet by nine feet and it's got shingled roof and it's like a legit house. Clearly my kids are a little bit spoiled, but it's just, they love it and it's a place that they can play all year and play.
Yeah. So to date, that's probably my favorite thing just because I get to look at it every day and see my kids enjoy it. It was a labor of love for sure. Yeah, that's pretty neat. And I admire you that you have confidence to do woodworking. It's a lot of trial and error. Don't look too closely, but...
Hey, it looks good here from New York. That's all that matters. That's all that matters. So Megan, this has been a great conversation. I really have enjoyed it. To wrap it up, I'd like to ask all of my guests this question. What does chasing life mean to you? Oh gosh, chasing life. To me, I would say...
Just doing more of what you love to do. And, you know, like we were just talking about just doing things that maybe you're not sure you can do like building a playhouse or, you know, getting a new starting a new hobby, buying a new piece of equipment that you don't know how to use and just figuring it out along the way just taking risks and and putting yourself out there. When I started race bib notes.
I would talk to people about it and, you know, it's such a new and different product from what people know that it was nerve wracking for me to put it out there and think, well, what if people hate this or think it's, you know, a stupid idea. And I just went with it and started getting the word out and sharing it with people. And it was a little bit terrifying and still is, but I,
love doing it. And I think it's going to help people. So I want to continue spreading the word. And I think it's just doing more of those things that, you know, a lot of people think, oh, it'd be great if one day I could do this, or if one day, you know, I had the nerve or the, you know, the resources to do this, it's just really taking a leap and
Maybe if you're not ready, but about 80% there going forward anyway. Thank you for sharing that. I found that with your race. Absolutely. Yeah. I think about you all the time when I'm thinking, oh, you know, I want to start something new, but I'm not sure. I'm like, Sarah started a podcast just from scratch. Right. And now you've got this amazing podcast with these great guests. I mean, not including myself. To even starting a podcast, right?
like, who's going to listen to me or what do I have to say? But it's really just taking a leap and seeing where it goes and then end up with really positive feedback around along the way. And I mean, with the different guests that you have, whether it's, you know, runners that are struggling with injury or like, you know, when you had Megan on and she was talking about just the mental health side of it and the mental toughness, I think it's just an amazing resource for runners that
wouldn't be out in the world if you hadn't taken a chance and started this podcast. So I think that's just amazing. Thank you. That's what I remind myself of. Hopefully what I share helps at least one person and that's what matters. Absolutely. And that's, that's my thoughts. Exactly. Right. Some people might not like my product or not think it's, you know, makes sense or that they need it. But if there's somebody out there that, you know, thinks it's great and,
thinks it's a benefit to them, then that's, that's all you can do, right? You can't please everybody. Absolutely. And you know, what we just need to do is focus on what makes us happy. Absolutely. Absolutely. There's always going to be haters, right? Oh yeah. But there's also going to be people who love and support you too. So absolutely. So thankful for that.
I'm glad we got to connect today. If folks want to follow me on Instagram, it's at raceboobnotes. Very simple. You can keep up. If you're local to Arizona, I post all of our expo dates on our Instagram. That'll be probably the first place that I share our new note designs. I also have a Facebook page. You can just search raceboobnotes and find it there. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you so much, Sarah, for having me and letting me talk about my creation and
It was just nice to catch up and get to chat with you again. Oh, absolutely. It was my pleasure. 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.