Episode 51: Interview with Cristina Caldwell- Endurance Coach & Sports Nutritionist
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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 another episode of chasing life today's guest is christina caldwell welcome christina hi thank you so why don't you get us started by sharing a little bit about yourself

Sure. So I'm Christina and I have been a running coach and athlete. I mean, ever since I was little, but been coaching for over 10 years.

then I swam in college. So that's how I, I kind of started my journey in endurance sports as a swimmer. And then post-college, I knew I couldn't swim twice a week, every day of the week. And I really thought it would be fun to try other sports. So I started running, cycling, doing, you know, all sorts of kind of crazy things. And I just wound up

10 years later, just loving, loving trail running, loving long distance running, triathlons, skiing, snowshoeing, really anything endurance I'm passionate about. And I have two little boys. I'm married. I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old. So I juggle my coaching and my own races with my kids and my husband. And I just, I love what I do. I love

sports nutrition, which is, sorry, I should have said I did my master's degree in exercise physiology and sports nutrition, because I'm so passionate about sports nutrition. So I combine, you know, health, wellness, training, and sports nutrition, kind of all in one. Yeah. So how did you decide on your master's in sports nutrition? Yeah.

Yeah, so I have always loved nutrition. And when I was in my undergrad, I was obviously swimming, swimming a lot. And so I did my undergrad in ex-phys and sports nutrition as well. And I've always just been really passionate about nutrition. And when I was in college, I developed an eating disorder. And as I graduated from college, I, and for the next eight years, unfortunately, I really did struggle with that eating disorder and

And I had to relearn a healthy relationship between training, between food for health and say a certain body composition or my desire to believe that in order to be a, you know, a top level athlete, I had to look a certain way. I had to hold this like high expectation of myself. And so it was through that kind of that eight year old, eight year struggle of trying to kind

kind of come to terms with being an athlete and that, you know, the eating challenges that I realized that I was just so passionate about stopping the myths about nutrition, stopping athletes, or just in general, anyone from going down the same path that I went down.

And I just made it my mission to, to speak the truth about nutrition, to kind of cut through all the myths that are out there, the fad diets, the deprivation. And I said, you know, I really want to make sure that I have as much education as I can

So I did my master's degree in exercise physiology and sports nutrition in Texas. And yeah, I love that. And it just gave me kind of that catalyst to, to really focus on specifically performance or sports nutrition with athletes, making sure they're healthy and fully fueled. And yeah.

there's a couple questions that I want to ask you. But the first one is for those who maybe don't recognize or maybe aren't familiar, can you define what an eating disorder is or maybe the differences between eating disordered and disordered eating?

Definitely. And there, and there are differences and there's actually, there's different types of eating disorders. So I was both anorexic and bulimic. So anorexia is where you're depriving yourself of food, of calories. So you, you generally tend to lose weight just because you're, you're restricting your calorie intake so much.

Bulimia is where you are throwing up your food. So you might either eat a normal amount of food or you're eating an excessive amount of food and then you end up purging that food out of your body. And so that's really what I struggled with for most of the years of my eating disorder.

And it's not, not fun. It's not something I wish on anyone, but those are the two main ones that when people think of an eating disorder, it really comes to that. You're trying to either restrict calories or you're trying to eliminate calories from your body in order to, to say, achieve a certain weight. Of course we can get really like go deep and say, it's not about the weight. It's about all the things that are underneath, but in general, it really is. You're trying to kind of control your emotions and achieve a certain weight.

And so when you look at disordered eating, you have things

like you might be restricting or too low in calories, you're undernourishing for how much you're training or, you know, just in general, you might think, oh, I need to lose a couple of pounds and I'm going to start restricting my calories. Or maybe there are certain food groups like, oh my gosh, I can't have those carbohydrates because they're not good for me. And then you end up restricting certain things and it can get on that borderline of maybe not a full blown eating disorder, but you have that disordered eating thoughts, patterns, things that are just not healthy.

And in reality, many, many people in the world, especially Americans, especially females, do have some sort of disordered eating thoughts and patterns. They may not be constitute what the American Psychological Association might say as a disordered eating or as an eating disorder, but they have that disordered eating thoughts and patterns.

And so there is a, an eating disorder, um, kind of in between it's called an eating disorder, non otherwise specified. And that's when you might have things going on where you're not exactly, you can't necessarily qualify it as an anorexia or bulimia, but it's, you have things going on that are more so than just, than the anorexia or anorexia or bulimia.

Okay, thank you. Yeah, that information was helpful. Do you feel like with this society or like through your studies that disordered eating or eating disorders have become more prevalent in recent years, say as a result of social media, or you're just kind of having those comparisons? I mean, over the years, there's always been magazines with thin models, which can impact

the view, especially women might have on themselves, but through your experiences, have you, you know, noticed any changes just due to the way that society is now? Yes, I have. And I, I can't say for certain what the actual numbers or statistics are. So I don't want to say like, oh yes. And you know, the numbers have gone up like this, but in, in my own opinion and my own, what I've seen with athletes and specifically, I'll always mention athletes because I really only work with athletes. I've, um,

I don't really see the general population as much. I don't really work with, with them. So with my, what I kind of see is that especially athletes that are younger with social media, and this is not to say Instagram is a terrible thing, but Instagram specifically is all about, about pictures. It's all about posting pictures of yourself in, you know, workout clothes or the influencers are always posting, you know,

just pictures of themselves in ways that they're encouraging, like, Hey, this is how I look. You should look like this too. Whereas in the past, certainly you had, you know, friends, family magazines, but you didn't have it in your face as much as you're seeing it now. And especially with things like filters and the ability to edit your, your photos, it's just such a really unhealthy environment. I found that so many people, athletes younger and younger have been

developing more disordered eating thoughts and patterns at what I found at a younger age than maybe they would have if, you know, years ago when it was just a magazine, you know, once a month. So it is definitely something that I find that in today's society, I feel like it's a lot easier to develop those unhealthy thoughts and patterns and behaviors. Yeah, that definitely makes sense. Now, what is the age range of your clients that you typically work with?

Most of my athletes are going to be anywhere from like, like 25 to say like 65. And I really, I really work with athletes on the performance side of things. I really focus on, on trying to eat healthy, to fuel your training, to,

you know, make sure that if you're training for a marathon or an ultra marathon, especially if they've had like GI issues or things in the past where they're trying to figure out a problem, like I got dehydrated and I had a DNF this race and what happened. And so I really try to focus from my own athletes on the performance side of nutrition and less on body composition, less on, you know, anything that might touch on,

encouraging someone to have unhealthy patterns and behaviors. I still do have athletes that reach out and say, Hey, I'd like to lose weight in a healthy way. And I can say, yes, certainly like this is, these are the ways to do it. This is kind of, you know, your best options where you're not going to be restricting. You're not going to be eating too few calories or cutting out whole macronutrient groups.

But on a whole, I do try to steer people towards how can I best make sure that your training sessions are going really well, that you're recovering really well, that you're not getting injured, that you're not getting sick. Because all of these things really do play into nutrition. It's really all about, you know, health and wellness, sleep, immunity, recovery, injury prevention. Can you share with us one of your athletes like success stories, like kind of where they started and then how they were maybe able to grow during their time working with you?

Yeah, sure. I have, I have a lot, especially with the long distance athletes, because I

really for, you know, a 5k athlete, a 10k athlete, someone who's just doing shorter events, they're awesome, but a feeling is important for that. But as long as you're eating during the day, it doesn't, it's not going to be a make it or break it. But one of the, you know, one time if athletes are thinking, I'm gonna do a marathon or an ultra marathon, or some Ironman athletes or ultra athletes that do kind of crazy events. You know, I've had athletes come to me that especially the ones at DNF. So, you know,

So, or do not finish if, if, if that acronym isn't something you guys know but so DNF is didn't do not finish and so you might spend, I can think of one, one guy actually in particular where he trained and trained for months and months spent all this money to get to this race, and

I was not coaching him and I wasn't working on his nutrition. I just happened to know him through a friend. And I was tracking his race that day. And it was just heartbreaking to watch because you could see him start to fall apart like online.

And afterwards he came to me and he said, I just had no energy. I had absolutely no energy. My legs were led. I couldn't move. And he's like, I don't know what happened. And then I said, okay, let's, let's take a look. Let's, you know, tell me what you ate the day before. Tell me what you ate for the race. Like, what were you doing as that race progressed and come to find out he was so under fueled during that race. It was something crazy. Like, um,

he should have been taking in maybe like 300 calories an hour because big guy. And he was taking in like a hundred calories an hour. So, you know, five hours and six hours into this race he was doing. And it's like, you're just watching him kind of fall apart. And it's, it's like, he was, his body was saying, Hey, I need more glycogen. I mean, your muscles are not, your muscles don't have anything to fuel with. And when that liver becomes a

pleaded with glycogen, then there's no way to come back from it. And so what we did is we worked on his nutrition and the next time he raced, he raced phenomenally. He's like, I couldn't believe how much energy I had. Um, you know, no leg pain. Cause it was like one of the biggest things I've got leg pain. And I'm like, I think it's that your legs are just, there's no, you have no glycogen, nothing in your muscles. You're just so tired. Your body is saying no more. Um, so I love that. I love when I can take athletes that are, you know, I want to get to them before they get to that point.

But if they do get to that point and then I can help them to see that, that turnaround and to feel that I feel amazing. Frustrating parts is when you train for a marathon for months and then you're in mile 22 and you can't move your legs. And oh my gosh, it can be so frustrating and that proverbial wall. And it's

Just like, you don't have to hit the wall. Like if you're pacing and you're like race execution and then the nutrition and dialed in, like you don't have to hit that wall. But it's so hard. It's because I think like nutrition is one of those things where unless you, unless you've experienced something going wrong, you don't really necessarily think you need to work on it or you think it's dialed in. And then you're like, oh yeah, I'm great. And then you get to race day and you're like, oh,

huh, something happened. And it's just, oh, it's heartbreaking, especially like I had an athlete come to me. She had gone to, it was a Chicago marathon and it was this past Chicago. And she was just so ready for that race.

and from a training standpoint, and I was like, oh, you're going to have so much fun. This is great. And, um, and it just did not, it did not go well. And I'm like, okay, now let's look at your nutrition. Like, so then we worked together and then she raced the Houston marathon and she crushed it. She Boston qualified. And it's like,

So she didn't make huge like changes in her training. It was just her nutrition that she had in like Chicago was just different from what Houston, like she was able to implement changes and just get the nutrition dial in for that race. Speaking of races and others running journey, can you share what your running journey has been like and what one of your favorite races has been?

Definitely. So after college, when I was like, I cannot swim every day for two hours a day. I have that innate drive I'm, you know, a type A personality where I'm like, I want to push my body I want to do something that's challenging that, you know, it takes a lot of effort to train for. So when I graduated college I moved back.

I went to college, my undergrad was in Ohio so I moved back to New York, and I was like, I think I want to start start running and I started. I just started training and I had no idea what I was doing. This is like before, even though I had an undergraduate in x-rays physiology like they don't teach you how to.

train. They don't teach you how to, they just teach you like the physiology. And so I made a lot of mistakes initially, especially around strength training. I really, I found that I was getting injured and I found that my, um, as strong as I was being a swimmer, the muscles that it takes to run are much different. So I had great, great shoulder strength, great lat strength, but I need to really work my glute strength. My, you know, I had a strong core, but

wasn't engaging my core with my glutes. And so I think that journey took me through, I became a lot better at strength training. I really dove into, you know, how to prevent injuries. And so I spent like the next however many years it's been really focusing on, on including strength with my running cross training, doing a lot of just not running all the time, heavy miles, being able to break it up into, you

you know, different different seasons, different, you know, what we're going to like it's in the winter. So you do snowshoe races up here in New York, you know, cross country skiing, things like that. And so just over the years, I found that I really gravitate towards trail running. And I think it's because

I love being in the woods. I love feeling almost like the solitude of just nature and being able to be alone with your mind. Like, I don't know, that sounds kind of kind of strange, but I really like to be able to be almost like at peace when I'm in the woods. And whether that's in the winter and you're snowshoe running or if you're trail running.

And so, um, I really do gravitate towards races that include some sort of off-road component, whether it is a snowshoe race. Um, I think my favorite snowshoe race is it was a 12 hour snowshoe race and it was a four mile loop and you just looped around this little cabin. And, um, I just, it was just such a fun, a fun race because snowshoe is such a, you're running, but you're running very slow on snowshoes and it's,

It's just, you know, like trail running, I feel like is there's such a great community and trail running and it's just such a fun race. Yeah.

And I'd say that any race that does involve trails. So I would say there was a race I did in Cape Cod, actually, that was, it was a run swim. And so you actually ran trails, it was nine miles of trail running and a mile and a half of open water swimming. So you trail ran and then you put your shoes in a little dry bag that you tied around your waist and you swam across the, they were kettle ponds.

I think that's what they're called. So you swim across the kettle pond, you put your trail shoes back on, you ran to the next pond, put your trail shoes back on, or ran and swam. And it was like swim, run, swim, run, swim, run, I think. And so I'd say that one was probably my most favorite of my trail running because you got to mix it up with swimming. And as I've gotten older, it's become less about how fast and more about the actual speed

can you do it? Like, can you, can you do this kind of crazy race? So yeah, that's that race sounds really interesting. I've never heard of that one. What time of year is it there? It's it's spring. So June. So with COVID, I think it went away for,

the last two years, but I think it's come back. And yeah, you just, yeah, as long as you're comfortable open water swimming, but it's not open water in the ocean. They're actual, like the kettle ponds, I think is what they're called. And so they're just, I believe what the glaciers had maybe carved out. And so they're, it's just fresh waters and I'm a little bit afraid of sharks. So I tend not to swim in the ocean. So for me, it's like the perfect combination of

safe water. It was flat, you know, like I love, you know, swimming, obviously being a swimmer and originally, and, uh, it was a great, it was a great challenge to do. So I was a swimmer in high school too. What was your experience when you did your first open water swim? Because mine was not pleasant. It was, I was going to say, it was actually crazy. It was, I, I

I was actually in New York and it was up on Lake Ontario. And so one of the great lakes, and I thought to myself, oh, it's a lake. It's not going to be choppy at all. And so it was not only choppy, like very wavy, very choppy, but you couldn't see the, you know, seeing the bottom of the pool, you follow the black line. And so I was like, oh yeah, this will be

great. And like, there's buoys. And then I was like, you can't see the buoys when it's choppy. And so like, I was totally swimming off and I forget it was, it was maybe supposed to be like a half a mile swim. And that this is so long ago, I wasn't wearing a garment to tell me how far I swam, but I know I swam way off course because every time I tried to cite, I'd be like, where's that buoy? And you're like swimming to the right or swimming to the left. And

Yeah, so definitely open water swimming is definitely very different than pool swimming. Yes, I always like to hear those experiences. Oh, it is crazy. It is.

Which is so much fun though. But again, I do lake swimming, so it's not generally, not generally too bad, but the Great Lakes are, can be crazy. Yeah. I went to school on one of the Great Lakes and so I've experienced their, their wrath, if you will. Yes, it is. It's surprising until you, until you're like out there, you're like, oh, those waves don't look too bad. And you're swimming in it and you're like, wow, these are some big waves. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

So since you enjoy trail running so much, I never really gotten to trail running partly because I am afraid of getting lost. Have you ever gotten lost in the woods? Oh, yes, I have. And I've actually had mountain because a lot of times mountain bikers are on the same trails you are. I've had a lot of times mountain bikers will stop and just check in like, are you doing okay? Are you lost? And for the most part, I'm not. And I tend to do loops. And so I'll often leave

leave a bottle like on a tree or against something. And if I, you know, if I'm looping that, you know, that same loop and I'm like, okay, here we are. Like, so I've generally, but there was one time I was visiting my brother in Delaware and

And he was like, oh yeah, go check out this, you know, these trails in this park. It's like, oh, awesome. So I went to the park and I, I kind of, I mapped it out. So I'm like, okay, here we go. And I know, I kind of know where I'm going. And I got to the point though, where it was getting dark and I couldn't figure out where I was. So I ended up

calling him on the phone. And I was like, I don't know where I am. And I'm like, I'm, and I just started running through a field until I got to a road. And then I found the road, the sign. And I'm like, okay, can you come and pick me up? Because I'm here on this road. It's getting dark. I don't know where I am in Delaware. Like, this is not,

You know, like I'm not comfortable on the situation and, you know, thankfully, I've never run so far out in the so far out in the wilderness that I've gotten super lost. I'm trying to think we lived in Oregon and I used to run a lot of trails in Oregon, and some of those trails are very out in the in the wilderness, but I've never run so far out that I did get lost.

other than that Delaware experience. But at least you found a road. So yes, I found a road and I found like, here's the name of the road and

so it's all good yeah that's good well yeah i'm glad you were safe but yeah i even when i go hiking i always go with someone else and they're usually like the trail guide if you will because i am always like look at my head is down because i don't want to trip over roots so i often miss the trail marker so it's good i just go with someone else because i'm like if i went by myself i probably would like miss the you know the fork in there in the rope and

Yes. And yeah, and then end up way further away than I wanted to. And then if like you have like, if you're, you know, even if you're like, oh, I'll just bring my phone and I'll call for help. And then if your phone's not working because of the, you know, internet isn't working, then it can be a little bit scary. But out and backs are great ways to start. Or if you know there's like a closed route

Jessica Kallista : close loop trail like Oh, there's like a park, and it's a mile loop or something. So in any case you'll never be that far from civilization, and and it's fun because trails are I mean they're they're good because they

well, one that's soft surface. So it's, it's going to be really good from your joint perspective, but I feel like it requires a lot more balance and stability. So it really works the small muscles in the ankles, you know, knees, hips, like glutes, everything requires more stability to maintain that position. So it actually makes you better. I find off-road, um,

I'm sorry, off the trail onto the road, because you've built up that your body's ability to kind of be able to have that that coordination that proprioception from trail to road, but I won't pressure you into to get out and

Into the, yeah, the peaceful, peaceful environment. It does sound peaceful to kind of just be out in nature. I mean, I enjoy hiking. And so it would just be like, pick up the speed a little bit. Right.

And I have an athlete who he's a, he's trail runner, but he's actually a search and rescue personnel. I'm not actually sure what the technical name is, but he does search and rescue. And so a lot of his runs are, if he's doing like a, like if I had 20 years, a 12 mile, he wants to do a 12 mile workout or I have him do a 12 mile workout. I might write it as something like, you're going to, you know, run the flats and the downhills, hike the hills, like hike the steep hills, because as a search and rescue person,

um, personnel he's out, he could be out there for hours, you know, performing search and rescue. And so he's gotta be able to be on his feet and, uh, you know, on trails and has to pick up the pace or go to a slower pace. And so he definitely does a lot of, uh,

um, trail running, but a lot of it can be hiking. So you can start by just saying, Hey, I'm going to hike the Hills and I'm going to run the downhills and run the flats. And then here's a Hill hike it. And it's just like, that's a nice way to kind of get into trail running without being like, I have to run the whole thing without stopping. Like, cause that's not even realistic. Like, you know, well, maybe there are a few people in the world who run all the Hills, but majority of us will power Walker hike the Hills.

Yeah, those are some great tips. So thank you for sharing that makes it a little less intimidating. Sure. You mentioned that you're a running coach. How long have you been doing that for? Has it been the 10 years that you've been that right in line with being a sports nutritionist? Or did you pursue that certification afterwards? And what inspired you to do that?

So I have been coaching as long as I've been doing sports nutrition. In fact, I actually think I, if I think back all these years ago, I'm fairly certain I was coaching before sports nutrition. I was always with athletes. I'd always provide some help with nutrition, but I always felt like, you know what? I really should probably, I'm a really big believer in education. And so I thought I really need to further my education with things. But I started off coaching in

And getting as many kind of in-depth, like whether it was strength and conditioning or yoga and, you know, things like that, you know, with a run certification. And so I really just feel like I...

I wanted to be as well-rounded as I could as a coach. And so I started off with a run coaching and then transitioned adding in the nutrition as I realized more and more athletes needed more help than just saying, Hey, we'll make sure you eat before you run, you know, or eat after you run. And so I've been, I've been coaching for, I believe it's almost as long. It was pretty, pretty quickly after I started coaching that I realized, um,

the nutrition piece had to be added. So it was about 10 years. What inspired you to become a coach? I was inspired to the coaching because being an athlete in high school and then swimming, you know, division one, I really loved the mindset behind an athlete. I love to be able to

help athletes to find that goal inside of them. Cause often athletes don't know what they want from a goal. Like I want to start running, but I'm not sure really why I want to start running. And I really like to pull out their why I like to find like the, the deep, the deep kind of root of why are you doing this? Because when the going gets tough, especially if you're training for marathons or ultras, when you're hitting those long runs, Oh,

it's hard and so if you don't know why you're doing it it's easy it's easy to back up and be like i don't feel like running today i'm just not going to but if you can really like hone in on athletes

you know, like they're, why are they doing it? And to, to watch, you know, athletes progress from someone who's maybe was never a runner, or maybe they were a track athlete, but they were, you know, running short distance tracks and like, I want to do a marathon. And it's so much fun from a coaching standpoint to watch the athlete progress physically, emotionally, just watch that progression and just be next to them kind of guiding them. And I found that, you know, just as an, as a, you know, athlete younger, I really loved, um,

watching, watching other athletes. And that's kind of where my, my love was of just watching people reach those goals. Cause to me, I feel like as a coach and then as an athlete, watching other athletes achieve their goals is so inspiring that I just wanted to be a part of it. And I feel like life is too short to, to not do things you love. And so that's why I do it. Yeah. I love that answer. Uh, so as a coach, you probably, um,

runners, athletes who are unmotivated or, you know, struggling to come up with a goal or something. So what is some advice that you would share with your athletes to get them motivated or, you know, try to get over a bad run or bad performance or anything like that?

So I find that really for athletes, if they don't start with that why, like if they don't have a strong enough why, then they're

they're generally one of the ones that will not want to continue or they're the ones that as a coach you might have to really prod or encourage and and I love encouraging but if after a while an athlete's just their heart's not in it then I find that maybe coaching isn't isn't the right fit because they're not ready and so I will have heart-to-hearts with athletes and say are you is your heart really in it you know do you really want to do this because if they really do want to do it

It's not we can usually find out what's causing them to not want to do the training or is it that they don't have enough time with their kids or their spouse and are they too stressed at work and so then you have to adjust their training to fit their life and then they if they're able to do their training then they feel better about themselves, but they're hitting those training sessions and then they can kind of

find that balance in life. I feel like life, life is so important to have that balance of the things you love to do and your work that you have to do and your family. And if you can find that balance, then you're going to be more, more motivated. And then everyone will have bad, bad workouts. Everyone will have bad races. It's really just

finding the deep inside of why you're doing it and remembering that it's okay to have a bad day. It's okay to have a bad race because everyone does. And what that performance was, whether it was a race or a training,

like it does not define you as a person and whatever that goal is is still that goal and that it's more about the steps that you take on that journey to get that goal and who that person is that you become versus that one workout that one race because

It could be anything like, was it that it was 90 degrees and you're used to 60? Was it that you hit a thunderstorm or that like that year at Boston? I forget the year, but it was like 40 degrees raining the entire time. Like, oh my gosh, like athletes were not ready to have to run in.

a downpour in 40 degree rain. Like, and so you train and train and train and you may not, maybe didn't hit that goal that you wanted, but look back and look at the journey of getting there. And remember that you are not defined by that one race or that one workout and look at everything that you did leading up to it.

And I really do find that if we can look at the big picture versus just looking at, hey, I had one bad workout or hey I had one bad race, and you just have to get back on the horse and try again because, I mean, hopefully you won't have the same kind of experience with terrible weather or, you know, I've had athletes where it's like.

they had to fly to a race and then like their flight was delayed and they were super stressed. And then they get to like the expo and it's closing down and like then their stress level is super high and it's like versus the next race they get there and it's they're calm. And so it's just a whole different set of circumstances. And I guess like one thing I like to tell athletes is control what you can control and then ignore the things you can't. And so whether something happened in that training session or that race, you have to be able to just let it go.

and move on. Yeah. I really like what you said. And I've, uh, I try to remember that too. And I hope many athletes do about like focusing on the process, uh, and seeing just how much you've progressed during the training cycle. I mean, I've had bad races where they didn't go how I wanted them to go, but you know, once, if you can kind of take a step back and reflect, I think that that helps to just refocus your goals as an athlete as well.

And I think it's important to remember that everyone will have a bad race. I don't think everyone's had a perfect entire season, their whole, like their whole life like there's always going to be things that happen there's always going to be a day that, you know, whether you're female and your menstrual cycle starts and you're like wow I just don't feel good like.

it's, you know, things are going to happen. And so you just, you have to be able to say like, it's no, one's going to be on every single day, every single race. And you just have to be able to give yourself the grace to say like, it just wasn't my day. And it doesn't define me. That's like my, especially with eating with athletes. Like I really try to make sure athletes know, like your race does not define you. Your weight does not define you. Like it's, it's,

These are just small steps in, in your journey in this kind of endurance world that we're in.

Something I read in the last few months of like your friends and your family will still love you despite your finished time. Like the person. Oh my gosh, of course. Especially if you have like children, like they, they will watch you race and they will think that you are the most amazing, you know, amazing athlete ever. And you can, I'll say just being a mom, like I do not a good singer, but my son yesterday has just said, I should be a professional singer because I'm

he just loves the way I sing. And I can tell you that that child is just his port, you know, his ears are not, you know, he doesn't have that, that, but like, they will watch you run. They will watch you, you know, going to the gym and lifting weights, doing your yoga, you know, they, and they will think that you are amazing. And same thing with your parents or

you know, friends and family, like they don't care if you Boston qualified, they don't care if it was a PR, like they're just impressed that you're out there doing it. And even if they ask you, like, I have a lot of people are like, oh, did you win? And you're like, yeah, it was like 20,000 runners. Like, yeah, no, it's like, it's like, I was just proud to be out there. Yeah. Yeah.

It is definitely hard for non-runners to understand one, why we race. Like, why do you pay to wake up at 4 a.m. to run 26 miles? Like, are you nuts? And two, like just the race atmosphere too. I had a friend recently, she just did her first official 5k and she's like, I get it now. I get why you do this. And I, and she like apologized for not understanding it before. And I was like, no, like anyone who's like,

I never took offense to it because I just knew like, unless you go through it yourself, you're not going to understand why runners do this. Why, like, why do we pay to run on roads? We can run for free any other day. Like, or why do you pay to beat yourself up and especially getting up early or like, yeah, I can't go out tonight. I've got to get up early for my long run. You know, it's a, it's a lifestyle. And it's a, I feel like it's once you, once you're into that lifestyle, it's, it's, you

you know, unless you're looking, unless you're in it, like looking in, you're like, that's person's crazy. But once you're in it, you're, you're in it and you can see why we all do it. Right. Yeah, definitely. I mean, of all the hobbies, I mean, I feel like running is a pretty good choice, but I mean, I'm kind of biased on that. A hundred percent. Yes. It's, I agree. And it's something that I think it's just so freeing. And I think like, that's a word I've been touching on with a lot with my athletes is just

the ability to have something that's special to you and just to get out and just go on the road or the trail and just be free and able to run. And it's just such an amazing, amazing feeling that I think it's so important to remember that it's, we do this for ourselves because we love it, but it's just amazing.

It's so awesome to just be able to do that and go for a run. Yeah, I agree. And like, for me, what really kind of flipped a switch for me and my running journey was when I decided to run my first half marathon and I followed a training plan for the first time ever. And then I did the race and then like looking back on it, I realized how much I kind of thrived on the discipline and having a goal to work toward. And I felt like at that point in my life, I really hadn't like, I had gone through school, but I

something that I chose just to do for me, not because of quote unquote, I was supposed to do it. Um, but it was like, I chose to pick a running goal and then I followed a plan and I worked toward it. And so it was just like, I finally like put it all together of like this goal setting and then follow the steps and the discipline to follow the steps. And I, it just like sparked something in me that I didn't realize was, was dormant. And, and then I've

just been building on that ever since. Yeah, no, definitely. I, I agree. It's,

I think some of us, some of us thrive on I'm, you know, that type a, I thrive on a schedule, but I also, I like to, I like to hit the milestones. I like to hit the goals. And when you're like, when you can look back and see all the accomplishment from, Hey, I just ran 10 miles. Hey, I just ran 12 miles. Oh my gosh. I just ran a half marathon. Like it's awesome to see yourself hit those goals. And it just gives you much more confidence. I feel like, and it's just

it's such a great feeling to look back and see what you have done and overcame, especially for yourself, because most of us, I'd say 99% of us aren't running for anyone but ourselves. And so, you know, we, at least I hope so. And then, you know, that, that just gives us that it's like a self-care to me, you know, some people might get facials or pedicures, you know, which wouldn't, that wouldn't last long for a lot of us, but it's to me being able to train and, and

just feel feel good about ourselves and it's just that to me a self-care so I really love that yeah and I agree with you about the building the confidence of just setting the goal and achieving it you become confident in that self-fulfilling like prophecy of like I chose this and I achieved it and like there wasn't any I mean sure the weather could be a factor but you could control going out for a run and like those are things that really

I recognized were helpful in my life to have something in my life I could control. I could control going for a run that day. And then it turned into, oh, actually I've recognized that this is really helping my mental health. It's helping me process stress. It's helping me to just, and like I often will listen to podcasts when I run on, especially my Sunday long run and I'm

there was times like where I listened to podcasts and come back and just feel like, oh my gosh, like, I just feel like I'm in such a better place. Cause I just ran for an hour and a half and I just had all these like positive vibes coming in during that run. And so the endorphins of the run and just thoughts to help, you know, improve my outlook on life. It just all was like this positive combination. Yep. I agree. That's I

I listen to podcasts when I'm running, when I'm driving, if I don't have my toddlers with me, but I always find I'm much more inspired or motivated. Like if I listen to other people talking about their, their training or their racing, I'm like, oh yeah, let's do it. Let's go. And then, yeah, if you're, if you're training, sometimes it's, it's even hard to like dial it back. If you're, for me, like, if I'm like really getting excited, cause I'm a really passionate person and I'm like, wait, it's supposed to be an easy ride.

run and I look down and I'm like, oh, I'm going too fast or I'm going too hard. I need to scale it back here. That can be like, that can definitely happen to me if I'm getting like super excited about it. So are you currently training for anything? I'm not really training for anything. I would love to say I was, but I'm just coming out of, I feel like this phase in my life with my boys where I'm

I was able to train and race when I was pregnant with both and then I was able to come back. But with the pandemic,

It's really just been, I've really just been focusing more on kind of being their mom, doing my training. I push them in the double jogger with the one that just turned five. He's getting, they're getting a little bit heavy, but we might be slow, but we're still, we're still out there. And I really just feel like I've, I've just spent the last maybe two years of the pandemic just focused on, on the boys and being able to train with them. And I look forward to kind of like this season, next season, like just starting to set some goals and,

because it's been a couple of years now that I've really been focused on myself. And I just feel like I've spent these last couple of years, just more focused on still training, but them. And I feel like it's,

that's been really important to me. Yeah, that's great. I mean, we kind of talked about this a little bit before we hit record about the different stages in life. Yes. Yeah. Yes. I'm definitely in that stage where they, they do tend to come before, before my needs. I have to get up early enough. So I'm, or if it's in the afternoon and I can push them in the double jogger, but here, as I look outside my window, it's like in New York, it's 40,

and like raining. So there's no way I'm taking them outside in this rain. So that means I'm going to be in the basement, you know, working out. So I know eventually, you know, when they're a little bit older, I'll have much more time to train and they're probably not even going to want to hang out with me as much.

But they're in that stage of life where it's mommy can we play a game or mommy can we do this and I really want to try to hold on to that as long as possible so I'm, I've been, I've been able to train and race for almost my entire life I can take a couple years to focus on them.

Yeah, that's so sweet. It is hard. It's hard though sometimes because you've got that drive to go and compete and you're like, oh, well, shoot, like if my husband's traveling, like there's no way I can leave the house and get a workout in. So then you're kind of relegated to say the treadmill, which isn't always as fun. And then they get up early, mommy, I'm hungry. It's like, okay, there goes your workout. And so you just have to roll the punches. Yeah, I think that's great advice for those who are,

mother's parents that are listening. So thank you for sharing. Don't stress your time is going to come. That's what I tell my athletes. That's,

balance is so important. Be healthy, be healthy for them, for you. So they can see you being healthy to bring your stress level down, but it's a stage in life and, and know that it, this too will pass. And eventually you'll be in a place where it'll be more about you again and, and less about them, which I guess maybe that sounds terrible to say, but they'll be older and able to, to take care of themselves more. Yeah, no, I think that, yeah, that's,

It's very honest. And I don't think, I mean, I'm speaking as someone who's not a parent, but I don't think it's a bad thing to hear you say that, you know, your kids will be more independent as they get older and that will allow you more flexibility with how you spend your time. Exactly. So I just have two more questions for you. One is a super fun one, which is what are you currently obsessed with or loving right now?

oh gosh, well, I was going to say there's so many answers that this could be, but I'm going to give you my like, it's the nerdiest answer ever, but I just got a brand new like strength equipment in the basement.

I actually love straight training so much because it makes me feel so powerful, especially as a female. I don't really know why, but I just I love to go down and deadlift and to it's like to do things that I just feel make me feel so much stronger and I know make me more injury resilient, more positive.

you know, just a better, better athlete. But I just love to go to the basement and like, get out my, you know, big, you know, big, like big kettlebells or my barbell or dumbbell and just really hit a really strong strength workout. And then Pilates, it's kind of like my new obsession for my core. And so I guess I could have found something non non sports related, but my new kind of like, I just love to get get really into the strength and the kind of the core work. And that's

if anything kind of has lit me up in like the last couple of months, especially, you know, having to be home with my, with my boys, especially during the pandemic, it's getting to really just rock out to lifting some heavy weights and, and, and working my core with the Pilates. Nice. When you lift heavy, do you listen to any particular type of music?

I actually do. It's like not at all my personality. Like I'm really like bubbly and like happy, um, really positive. And then I really like to listen to more like, um, like deeper, almost like darker music. Um, like just kind of like slow, slower, like, like kind of deeper, um,

Or this is the really, really, this is going to be like a what? So like, or music like that's just instrumental, like the Last of the Mohicans theme. And I'm forgetting the name of it, but it's a, it's like a Gaelic or an Irish name of the song. So same thing with a Braveheart, like that main kind of theme. So it can either be just instrumental, but a really powerful like orchestra type or more like disturbed, like really like, like.

like really kind of that big those big sounds and so I'll just you know if the boys are sleeping I'll have the basement door shut and I'm just kind of rocking out down there um but uh but yeah no nothing happy nothing like light it's all kind of like no like Taylor Swift going out when you're nothing like upbeat and like happy it's more like

Yeah. I don't know why, but that's why sometimes like even drop pick Murphy's like something really like that's much more upbeat, but something much more, just not my personality generally. So it's like you have an alter ego down there. I do. I do. Especially like, I think with the heavyweights, like, I feel like I'm in this different persona. Like I'm just like this almost like super woman, like, you know, just down there, like, you know, lifting these heavyweights and just, I don't know, you feel so strong and powerful, like after lifting and

It's not something as a coach, I don't ever write strength workouts with heavyweights because I feel like you have to have the form, right. But I always encourage my athletes like, Hey, if you want to get into this, like we'll find a gym that has someone that can really work on your form because I don't want them getting injured, trying to do like a big lift and, um,

So if you, if you are looking into something, it's not going to bulk you up. It's not going to, you know, genetically you're, you're designed how your body's going to look. And so you could lift. I, and if, um, you know, if anyone ever sees me like, like, oh, you've got really big shoulders. So it's genetically born with big shoulders. Swimming didn't help it. I've got really big muscles because genetically that's how my body is. Um, I'll never be that thin.

you know, ballet dancer type body. And so just because you, if you want to ever try lifting heavy, it won't bulk you up. It will just add muscle to how your body shape was genetically designed to be. Thank you. I think that's a very important message to say because, um, many female feel like in particular may be afraid of lifting heavy because they don't want to add, you know, the bulk. Yeah. The bulk. Right. But, um, yeah, I really appreciate that.

- The fact that you shared is just encouraging. You say your body is the way it is. It's just gonna build on what's there and kind of- - It is, and I can tell you that from an exercise physiology standpoint, and I can tell you that having years of eating disorder counseling where you really have to learn all about your body, all about why do certain things happen? And it's just, you are designed to look a certain way. And no matter how many times you might see an influencer on say Instagram or a video,

If your body isn't genetically designed to look that way, it won't. And so the more we can just come to love our body for what it is and not what we want it to be,

the happier we'll be because if we're always chasing this unattainable dream, like we're not all going to ever, you know, make a Boston qualifying time or be able to, um, go to the Olympics. You know, something is like, you know, like it's just not attainable for so many people. And if we can find what we love to do and just love doing it and, you know, be happy with what we've, you know, with what we've been given and

and still strive to have goals and be faster but just i really try to always emphasize that um you know we're all individual we all look a certain way we all have been given talents and vo2 maxes that we can't necessarily change out of a very small percentage and so just strive for what you can do with what you've been given always working to be better

I feel like that's a perfect segue and maybe part of your answer of what does chasing life mean to you. So, yes, so I feel like life is too short to to spend your time trying to be someone else or trying to achieve goals that maybe aren't aren't within yourself. And so I just always try to strive to tell athletes.

to focus less about the time and more about the achievement of the goal. And so for me in my life, it's, I want my boys to, to know that life is so much more than just, you know, the everyday and you're like going to work or going to school. I want them to shoot for dreams that are like beyond just like a normal life. So like, what if I say chasing life? Like I want them to travel and see the world. I want them to, to just,

have like just kind of these wild dreams and know that they don't have to have, like, they don't have to be like in a certain like box or like, you don't have to do what you, you know, like what you think you should do. And like, if, Hey, running a marathon scares you, like go for it. Like that is like, it's good to do things that, that scare you. Um, maybe not anything dangerous, not like a thrill seeker, so thrill seeker like that, but it's,

But just life is too short to, you know, to feel like you have to live someone else's dreams or to like, kind of like, oh, I don't want to do that. I'm not sure if I'll fail. Like, just go for it. Like travel and race. Like, that's my big thing is I love to travel and race. Um, when's the, you know, travel restrictions might lift go. Like if you want to travel, like shoot for those goals, get those, have those dreams that you're striving for because.

It makes life so much more enjoyable when you can do that. Yeah, thank you. I always love hearing the answers from everyone because they all have a different perspective. I'm sure. Yeah. So I appreciate you sharing your experiences and your tips and your journey. Where can people find you if they have any questions or if they want to connect with you more?

Yeah, that'd be great. So you can find me at my main website is fueled coaching and nutrition. That's just kind of about me and about all my different, you know, nutrition, like services. And then I have a, an academy for those that want to dive into more of the education side of like, so say you wanted to learn like, hey, what should I eat before my marathon? Or hey, how do I fuel this? I have nutrition programs, and that's called the fueled endurance academy. And

And I Academy thinking almost like you want to learn. And so just go to fueled endurance Academy. If you're looking for a nutrition programs, anything that would help you with dialing in your nutrition for race day, um, anything that would, that would be kind of more of, it's like more of a DIY programs or the fueled coaching and nutrition is more, if you want to connect one-on-one with me.

Great. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share 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.