Episode 27: Running with Friends Series Part 2/2: 3 worst 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. 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 back friends. Today is part two of our running with friends. Part one covered our best running moments and we talked so much that we decided to split the episode into two parts. So today we'll cover our worst running moments or our lessons learned. We hope you enjoy.

All right. Do we want to talk about the lessons we've learned from running? We don't want to call them negative experiences, but, you know, the times where things didn't quite go as we planned. Yes. And just to mention, you and I talked about this earlier, but we both had kind of a hard time coming up with those, the good moments. Yes.

come very much easier. And, you know, that just goes with hand in hand with the training in general in the morning, nobody wants to get up early. Nobody wants to wake up at the break of dawn or even earlier than that, just because our schedules don't allow it for, for it to happen any other time. But then once you're done running, there's really never a day where you say to yourself, Oh my gosh, I really wish I wouldn't have done this run.

That's absolutely true. Nobody ever regrets a run. It may not go as well as you want, but it's really nice when you get it done. Yeah. Yeah. So do you want to start with that?

Oh, sure. So the ones that I came up with were all related to injuries, which I think is a common topic for runners. I mentioned earlier that there was a couple of races where I didn't get the times that I wanted, which I guess could be considered a lesson learned, but I didn't really want to focus on those as much because I,

I felt like it was just an opportunity for me to learn on how to adjust my training or maybe at that point, just realizing that some goals maybe were quite a little too ambitious for what I thought my body could do at a time. So it was just a stepping stone until I could achieve those goals. But some injuries that I've had over the last 10 years, I thought I'd just kind of talk about those and maybe other runners can relate to them.

So the first one that I had was in 2016 and it was a tight hip flexor. So your hip flexor runs from your mid abdominal down through your quad and right along like your hip bone. Uh, so it can impact your stride a lot. And, uh,

It became so tight for me that I was limping around. When I developed this issue was when I was training for my first marathon. I had signed up to run a marathon at a local course. It was a $40 registration fee, which...

most marathon, their registration fees are like a hundred dollars or more. And so I was thinking like, okay, like this is cheap. It's local. Let me train for a marathon. And when the hip flexor came around, it was about two months before the race and

And I ended up having to go to physical therapy for it. My hip flexor was so tight that the only way I really got loosened up through massage, the therapist would work to loosen the muscle. I also did some stretching.

And some strengthening exercises. But the reason why that injury was a blessing was because that race course, because it was so low budget and it was local, it was a newer race that they were trying to develop, that there weren't very many runners. And as a result, there wasn't a lot of course support.

And so that means that there was less water stations and there wasn't very many medical staff. And I ended up trying to turn that into a positive experience. And because I couldn't run, I chose to volunteer at the race. As I was standing at the finish line and handing out medals, thinking like, okay, well, I didn't run, but maybe I can help to like bring that cheer to somebody else or be a part of the experience.

And I remember witnessing a runner that collapsed like 10 yards from the finish line, legit like fell on the ground. And it took way longer than it should have for medical staff to go and help them. Like they were calling around, like nobody, the medical staff wasn't standing at the finish line. They were like in a tent, like a hundred yards away. And it just like broke my heart of like, what is going on here? And so when I witnessed that,

And I heard from other runners who ran the course about how they were in no man's land for most of the time, which for non-runners or anybody that just means like no one's around them. So it's very lonely. And when you're running a marathon, like it's nice to be able to see other people. So you can have a distraction or just someone to help pace you. So I decided at that moment that I would register for a marathon.

more well-known race, a bigger race, knowing that that would mean more core support. And that's when I decided on the wine glass marathon because it was close, but also a well-known race. It's been going on for many years. And so they, they know how to take care of their runners. So look back around on the hip flexor.

I think it was definitely a really good lesson for me because after I went to physical therapy, I learned the proper stretches. I took more time after my long runs to stretch out my muscles, especially those which were my trouble zone. So I do hip flexor specific stretches. And that's a really important area that runners should focus on stretching. You know, injuries are frustrating. And so I was frustrated.

frustrated at first because I couldn't run the marathon, but it turned out to be a really, really good blessing. That's really great. What's one of your lessons learned? Well, this one is actually just a bad experience. There's really no lesson learned from it. It was an accident that happened to a

My boyfriend now has been at the time. So this was the LA marathon in 2014. It was one of the untrained marathons that I did. And I really hadn't done any running within six months prior. So I was dating my now husband at the time and he came out with his bike to show his support. And of course, as you know, when you don't train, things don't go that well.

I was struggling. I know I can finish it, but you know, I was on the struggle train and he would take time to ride next to me with his bike here and there. And he said, Hey, do you need anything? And I think it was at mile 18 where I was like, well, I'm really craving some gummy bears and some Gatorade. And he said, okay, I'll go get that for you. So he took off on his bike and I could see him. So this is, um,

A street where the middle, there's a median in the middle and it's a two lane street and then another two lanes going the other way. So I was kind of watching him on the other side on the sidewalk because there was traffic going to a store and then trying to find me. So I was watching him heading towards a corner and all of a sudden out of a parking lot where he was riding his bike, a car pulled up and I saw him walking.

flying onto the hood of the car. He was for some reason still hanging onto his bike and then he landed on the ground. So of course I left the marathon course and I rushed over there and I was totally in shock and I said, oh, Ryan, are you okay?

What's going on? I think I might have been crying probably because it was just very emotional because I felt like, oh my gosh, I asked him to get something for me. And here he is getting hit by a car. The driver of the car was apologetic and basically crying as well because he said, oh my gosh.

I'm so sorry. Ryan just said, oh, it's okay. It's okay. He was scratched up a little bit, but he was okay. He was okay for some reason. He had hung onto his bike, so his bike was okay too. But just that moment of seeing him get hit by that car was probably my worst running moment. So I stood by him for about 25 minutes and I was crying. Yeah.

he was more kind of like why are you crying so much but it was just the shock and the emotion during the marathon and he did you know get scratched up and have bruises on his back so it wasn't anything that was exaggerated but that was probably one of my worst running moments just being there when this happened oh my gosh that sounds so scary and then it's like you're torn of like well what like

I'm in the middle of a marathon. And of course you rush over and help them. And oh my God, I'm glad that he's okay though. But that would have been really scary to witness. Oh yeah. I was ready to go home and he said, no, you will finish your race. You said you're going to run 26 miles. And I said, okay, but are you okay? And I started running and I kept crying through it. I was just, you know, cause you're so depleted. And like I said, I hadn't trained for it. So it was just that weird experience. I guess another question is, did you get your gummy bears?

I did not. I never got my gummy bears. I never even thought about that. I'm such a sweets junkie that it's like, wait, okay, that's nice that he's okay, but wait. What about the food? I want to ask him about that later. So what about you? Tell me about another learning experience, I guess. Yeah, so...

My other learning experience is it's another injury, which not a dead horse, but this one is a different injury. It's what I'm experiencing going through right now is tendonitis in my ankle. I'm not even going to try to pronounce the technical term for it. It's called PTT, but it's basically a tendonitis in the interior of my ankle near the ankle bone.

And it started, it flared up right after my Marine Corps marathon virtual experience. And the good thing, my dad reminded me of this. He's like, well, he was asking when the pain started. I said, well, the day after my marathon, he's like, well, at least it wasn't the day before. And I was like, that's true. So it's been...

more of an annoyance. I tried to take some time off and then I was anxious because I didn't want to lose all the fitness that I gained by training for this marathon. I wanted to ride that wave for as long as I could. And so it was really hard for me to take time off in November when it first started. And then I was like, well, it seems to be getting better. Like the only way to know if it's getting better is to like try running again. So I tried to run again in December and it didn't

doesn't hurt while I run. And so I'm thinking like, okay, well, it doesn't, I'm not making it worse. Um, but the problem was every morning when I would try to get up and walk, I would practically collapse because my ankle would be in pain or, um,

just so tight and discomfort that I just kept making it like worse. And finally, one of my best friends is a physical therapist. She's actually a guest on my podcast. And so I saw her recently and she gave me some physical therapy exercises to do. And we spent like an hour together. She was evaluating how my feet were.

lay, how my ankle turns, looking at my hips and my alignment and checking on my glute strength and just the, my whole mechanics of the way that I run.

And she apologized and she said, I feel like I'm giving you a lot of exercises to do. And I said, honestly, no, like I feel excited for this. I'm in a much better mindset now. I haven't ran in about three weeks and the exercises that she gave me, I feel confident in doing them or committed to doing them because I know that by fixing these mechanics, I will

hopefully prevent future tendonitis. And that will help me to reach my goal of qualifying for Boston. And so I'm trying to like take the positive spin on that of one, there's no races in the spring right now that I'm training for. So I can take the time off from running, focus on improving my form and my feet strength and my ankle strength and all of the mechanics that are needed to improve my running so that I can achieve that long-term goal. And so I think that's important is

And I struggled with my mindset in November of taking time off, but after trying to run and really just getting annoyed with the discomfort of the ankle, I finally was like, all right, I need to take a step back. I need to stop running. I need to really focus on trying to improve this so that

I don't make it worse and really jeopardize any opportunity I might have in the future of qualifying for Boston. So, so I've been working on my physical therapy exercises and every day I remind her like, okay, this is a step to getting to Boston. And so that's really helped me to become a better runner and just learn from the tendonitis, which I've never had before, but that's what happens when you're on 26 miles. It's a lot of pounding on your joints, right?

So true. So true. And it's great, again, that you spun this into a positive experience. You learned the PPT. And then you also learn from these injuries and how to maybe prevent them in the future. And you know, you're completely right. There's really nothing to train for right now. So if you want to get injured, guys, do it right now. That's right. Right, right. So what's another one of your...

moments learning or just memorable? So yes, our learning lesson is that no matter how cautious you are, sometimes you just can't do it right anyway, because things can happen. So what happened in 2012 to me was I was attacked while I was running. I was going for a morning run and it was on an Easter Sunday at nine o'clock in the morning. So there's really, you know, the timing of the run wasn't anything different.

Neither was the neighborhood I was running in. I was actually running on a main street and it was just not as crowded because like I said, it was Easter. It was a Sunday. It was nine o'clock in the morning. So I was running down the road and I had my headphones in both of them at the same time. And somebody ran up to me behind me.

Had I just worn one headphone, I probably would have heard him sooner. But at the same time, I thought it was just another runner. So what do we do when somebody runs up to us? We kind of go to the side. So he sounded like he was pounding his feet stronger. And I figured, oh, this guy is running faster. Make some room. So I passed a couple of cars. So I went over to the right side and

And instead of passing me, I think I even nodded at him. He ran towards me and he grabbed me and he pulled me into the bushes and he tried to do his thing with me. And I don't know how much time elapsed until my brain caught up to what was going on. I remember looking at him and thinking, do I know him? Do I know him? And then finally it clicked. And I thought, well, even if I know him, it's not going to happen.

it's not right for him to grab me and pull me to the ground with him. And that's when I got really angry and really loud. And I started fighting back and I got back up and I was looking at him and I saw he was just wearing, you know, cotton running joggers and he wasn't armed or anything like that. So I got super angry. I started yelling at him. I normally don't curse, but I did at the time. And

And he suddenly changed his demeanor and started running off. And I dropped the F-bomb and I said, I'm going to call the police. And then I was thinking, well, I already have my phone on me. My headphones are in. Let me call the police. So I'm at this point running after him and I'm calling the police. I'm on the phone with the operator and we probably ran. It was less than a mile. I followed him for about 10.

Maybe three, four minutes in the operator kept telling me, stop chasing him, stop chasing him. But I felt like this guy is not armed enough.

And this is how it's going to go down. So I stopped following him when he turned into an alley by an apartment building, because then I saw, you know, it's a little bit darker in there. I don't want to go in there. I don't know what's in there. But the police showed up pretty much immediately. And he had entered into an apartment complex. And by law, they can't pull people out of the apartments. They can only tell the people that are standing outside of their apartments to line up.

So the police took me into a police car. They did a lineup of 10 guys and he wasn't there. So, you know, it was all on a big adrenaline rush at the time. And when I got home, I just completely broke down because I just felt like,

My life was worthless. I mean, I know it's not, but you feel like all of a sudden you're just kind of like garbage. Like somebody just completely tried to step on you and crossed all the boundaries and all that stuff. So that was, um, that was a big shocker, but learning lesson was that, um,

Nothing can ever be perfect. You can completely lock yourself inside of your house and never leave the place. And yes, you will not get into a car accident. Anything that you do has a little bit of risk involved. And I feel like the fact that it was a Easter Sunday, nine o'clock in the morning, I couldn't have done anything any better.

So nothing really has changed in my life except for that realization that, you know what, we still have to live life. We can't hide behind anything because there's nothing I could have done differently. You know, it wasn't nighttime or anything like that. Oh my gosh. Wow. Is all I have to say. Thank you for sharing that really important message to our listeners and

It's really unfortunate, I think, that too many women runners have a fear or either have been attacked like you have or maybe live in fear. There have been instances in the past few years where runners have been killed or injured. I'm glad that nothing serious happened to you.

And that you were able to find the strength within yourself to fight back and have the calm to call the police. And just, wow.

I mean, it was a really crazy moment. And all I could think of afterwards was I had passed this lady with her stroller. And this was before I was even close to being a mom. And I just thought, thank God this happened to me and not to her, because I cannot imagine if this would happen to you and you have your little ones involved or just the fact that you have somebody in a stroller next to you. So I was really shocked.

I mean, I guess I was really happy that that happened to me and not her. And I am also happy that this didn't happen to a young girl that would have been more impressionable. You know, this happened to me in my late 20s. So I felt like I already have my view of the world. But if this would have happened to some teenage kid, that can completely shape your life in a different way.

Absolutely. And I feel like many women struggle with that self-confidence and that self-esteem in an instance like that would really, I think if it would have happened to me, it would have really shook me and really made me question a lot of things about myself. And I don't know if I would have, I hope to say that I would have had the strength to try to fight them off, but I guess you never know and hope to never have to experience that. But I'm glad that you were able to

to protect yourself.

Yeah. And the other thing is, you know, that, that I do now, I have a headphone and I only wear one at a time because I feel like maybe it's good to hear somebody coming up. But, you know, like I said, with this guy, I wouldn't have done anything different. I would have gone to the side anyway. So with that not, but you know, now if I do run in the mornings when sometimes it's dark, I make sure I only wear one headphone. And then I always kind of look around for, for things or items, not every second of my run, but if I'm running, you know,

down a neighborhood street that has gates or whatever, I kind of look around that if something were to happen, what would I do? If a dog were to attack me, what would I do? Is there a car that I could jump on? You know, always kind of stay ahead of it. So that way, if something happens, if there's a dog that runs out to go bite you, then you hop onto the car hood because the dog can't climb, you know, things like that just cross my mind more. So I'm hoping that the fact that my awareness is,

bigger than it was before. I'm not just in a bubble listening to music will hopefully prevent anything that could happen in the future. Yes, I think that's a good lesson. I don't know. See, I'm learning all these tips too. I feel like I've

I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood where I feel safe, but you're right. Like a dog could run after me. I haven't had one do so, but now I'll definitely be more conscious of my escape plan. If you will. I always run with my phone and I think it's helpful for runners to do so, especially if there's an incident like that. And yeah,

you know, whatever someone's preference may be to run with or without listening to headphones or whatnot. I think it's still a good safety tip to run with a phone. I mean, we have them and 20 years ago, runners would go out and they didn't have phones. And if something happened to them, you know, they'd,

Maybe have to knock on a random house door. And there's definitely benefits to being able to have phones where we can send our locations or call somebody if we need help. Yeah, they have all these features now that you can be trackable to whoever. I think my phone and my husband's phone, we can track each other. Not that we ever do unless...

Unless we're trying to find each other. But, you know, even with that, one time he went biking, I went running in the same area and he dropped his phone. And so luckily we had that tracker on. So he was able to recover his phone, you know, in the mountainous areas where otherwise he wouldn't have found it just because we have that tracker on.

Right. I think there's another really good feature, too, with some of the newer GPS watches. They have a safety feature that if you come to a sudden stop, you can set it up that alerts get sent to a preferred contact. And so it'll send your location and say there's an emergency. So I think that that's a really nice feature that some of the newer watches have.

That's really cool. Huh? All these things now I'm learning too. Yes. I'm done with my rant about runner safety. We're telling that story that I turned into a learning lesson. So can you tell me about one more of your learning lessons? So I think outside of injuries, because I could maybe go on another one of those rants, but one of the lessons I learned was about fueling.

And how much of a difference it really makes in a race. And I'm such a five-year-old. I have fueled for the longest time for my half marathon and marathons with fruit snacks instead of running specific or endurance athlete specific fuel.

And I remember one of my races, I remembered why I didn't do so well in a wine glass half marathon race is because I forgot to take my fuel when I should have. I was just thinking like, oh, I've run two hours before on just water. But when you're running in a race,

You're using a lot more energy. You're going faster than you would in just a regular long run. Your body needs that fuel to keep up with the pace that you're trying to maintain. So I was so caught up in a race that I forgot to take some of my fruit snacks along the way, like halfway through, like I normally should have. And as a result, my legs gave out on me with a couple of miles to go.

My pace went from like an eight minute pace to a nine 30 pace. And I could not get my legs to move. And that was because they were completely depleted. So that's, you know, something that I think

runners learn along the way is the importance of fueling and you don't recognize the importance of it until you go through it yourself, but it definitely makes an impact when you're racing. It's important when you do it on your long runs too, to practice what you're going to be taking on race days so that you can, so that your body can,

digest or you can determine what your body can handle, whether it's the amount of fuel, when you take it, all of those things are really important things to practice during your long run. And it's even more important to remember that you don't let your race adrenaline impact your memory to take the fuel.

That is important. I can't even imagine hitting the wall. I think most of the time when we hit the wall, it's probably because of feeling. I agree with that. So I think we've covered the ups and downs of running.

I think so too. Definitely covered the ups and downs. Thank you guys so much for tuning in for the second episode because we've been having a lot of fun doing these recordings. Neither one of us is a big fan of doing our monologue podcasts. So this was a really cool experience and we hope to do a few more. And please send us any topic ideas or any questions that you would love for us to chat about. Thanks for running with us. We'll chat again soon.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on social media. Tag me at SarahChasingLife 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.