Episode 53: Interview with Autumn Ball; Coach & Owner of Southwest Endurance Training
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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.

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Or participate in Beer Olympics, sit by a campfire and make some s'mores. Whatever it is that you love about summer camp, Camp Runabout has it. For more information, go to camprunabout.com. And for a discount on your registration, use code INF101. Welcome to another episode of Chasing Life. Today's guest is Autumn Ball. Welcome, Autumn.

Thank you so much for being here. So I've been trying to find a new way to have my guests introduce themselves. So I'm going to try this method with you and we'll see how it goes. So why don't you introduce yourself with three truths and a lie. Okay, three truths and a lie. I am 43. I am a mother of two boys, one of which is special needs.

I am a running coach in Tucson, Arizona, and I have been running my entire life. All right. Thank you. So since you have been running for years, why don't you tell us, like, how did you get started with your running journey? It's a long story. So I started running after the birth of my first son. I had weight loss surgery in 2009. I was 300 pounds the day of surgery.

And I had always had aspirations to be a runner. My grandfather was a runner. My husband was a runner. And shortly after the surgery, about five months in, I was down about 80 pounds and I was ready for something more. And I started running and I got pregnant with my son in January.

And the doctors were a little concerned that I was still too new to running. And they wanted me just to dial it back a little bit. After he was born, I just went full force into it. And I have been running ever since. So I guess that was the lie that you told the court that you've been running your whole life. Yeah.

was the lie. I was a little late starter when it comes to running. Yeah. So what have you done since? Like what's your favorite running memory, your favorite race you've done? Like tell us the things that you love about running. There's a lot. I love the running community. I

When I first started, I was scared and I was intimidated and I would only run at the gym on a treadmill. And then I found coaching and I hired a coach and I was running with a group and that changed everything about running for me. It just opened this whole new world of what running really could be. And that was just really where I really, truly fell in love with the sport and the community. And

I've done several races. Obviously, I've been running now for almost 12 years, but I think one of my all-time favorite races is it's here in Tucson. It's called the A Mountain Half, and we have a mountain. It's on the far west side of town, and it's got a great big A on it for U of A for the University of Arizona.

And it's the race would start downtown and it's relatively flat until you get to the mountain and then it's one mile up, one mile down and it's flat again and that I've done that race many times and it's, it is probably my top favorite race right now. That sounds like a really cool course.

Well, here in Tucson, it's not flat. We actually have, it's pretty hilly. We're in the valley. And so we have what we call the foothills. You know, we've got the mountains kind of surrounding us. And that's where a lot of the really great running spots are. They're flat areas.

But I would say 80% of our runs are done in some rolling hills for sure. Yeah, we're in the south where it's a lot of desert. But what's really great about some of our running climate is because it's hot in the summertime, you actually can run in the heat and get that same similar like elevation effect.

Because the air sticker it's a little harder to breathe, and you have to change and it kind of adjust your, your conditioning a little bit so we have a lot of runners that will come and train here for the same reason, it's pretty cool. Yeah, that does sound really cool now, where I live in New York, we get very humid weather, and it trains us in a different way.

The air is thick in that way. So you're a coach now. How did you transition from being coached to becoming a coach yourself? What's that journey been like? It's been so much fun. It wasn't something that was on my radar. It kind of fell in my lap. The owners and coaches that I worked with were opening a new business and they were retiring from coaching.

coaching runners. And they approached me and my husband and asked if we had any desire to take over their business. And we just leapt at the opportunity. And that it'll be four years in at the end of June. And we've

We took their legacy on and we've just tried to build on it and make it, you know, add our own little spins. But for the most part, we took what they built and have just kind of run with it and tried to expand on it. And it's been absolutely amazing. I love working with runners who come to us and say, I'm never going to be able to. And then 12 weeks later, they're able to. And to have a hand in that and to be able to give them the tools so that they can, you

be inspired and motivated and actually reach that goal that, you know, 12 weeks earlier, they thought I'm never going to be able to do this. And we're like, yes, you can. And then we show them how to do it. And it's just, it's very rewarding. It's a lot of fun. That's great. So what's something that you once said you would never be able to do and you did?

I said I would never be able to run a half marathon, and I've run for my happy distance is 5k 10k. But I try to run one half every year, and I never thought that I would be able to do it I have a low back injury, and I

Running anything past eight miles can be hard on my body. And I have to be very aware of that, which is why I train for only one a year. But it's worked. Utilizing run-walk intervals has been absolutely life-changing for my running. And so, yeah, I never thought I would make that distance. And sure enough, here I am. So speaking of run-walk intervals, can you kind of share...

you know, the methodology behind it, what the benefits of it might be for those who may be dealing with an injury or maybe are, you know, maybe they have joint issues or they're working up their endurance, anything like that. What's been your experience with that? Absolutely. So

When I came to being coached for running, that's where I learned run-walk intervals. It was a beginning 5K program, absolute beginner level. And they started out week one of just one minute of running.

And three minutes of walking and we did that for the entire workout. And for the first time in my entire running journey, somebody told me it's okay to walk, and it's okay to slow down. And, you know, for, I hated running because it was like you weren't running hard enough if you weren't gasping for air or.

You know, your stomach wasn't upset at the end of a workout. It was so eye opening. And as I progressed through the training, you know, reading more books and then going through my own coaching certification, it's scientifically proven to be gentler on the body because it's

you aren't having that impact over the entire workout, whether it's a timed-based workout or a miles-based workout. But it also allows your legs to stay fresher longer, even if your walk interval is very short.

It's also easier for your body to digest any nutrition that you're taking in. It's easier to hydrate yourself. If you just take a few walking breaks, you can actually swallow your food, chew your food, get some water, taking those electrolytes if you need it. And if you follow a structure, your body actually becomes very efficient and it just gets easier and easier for your body to maintain that structure.

Yeah, thank you for sharing that as many guesses as I have had on my show we haven't really dived into the run walk method so it's great to hear from someone who has utilized it and benefited from it. I personally have recently went through it because I was coming back from an injury so

whether, as I mentioned before, whether you're an injured runner or new to running, it's a great way to just build up that endurance again. And also test out like how much can your body handle the impact of it? And, you know, just kind of slowly build into, I had a friend who started running last year and she was like, I am so out of breath all the time when I first start. And it's because she was going too fast. So I guess, yeah.

you know, a tip for anyone who's listening, if you're trying to start running or you're struggling with running, slow down. You don't need to be gasping for air. Yeah. Slow down where you can have a conversation and just build up your endurance from there.

Yep. Conversation effort is a big, big component that we focus on in our groups. And, you know, 80% of your runs need to be done at a conversation effort. You have to keep your easy runs easy and your hard runs hard. And as counter and intuitive as it sounds, if you want to go faster on race day, you have to train slower. It's crucial for your body to properly recover and to actually rebuild those muscles. And it works. You just have to, you have to be diligent and follow it.

And trust the process. That's what I remind myself often. Exactly. Yes. And sometimes that can be really hard because you're like, oh, this is a new plan that I haven't tried before. I don't know how this is going to turn out. You know, this has been my life for 12, 16 weeks and I have, you know, a couple hours or half an hour, whatever the race distance is, just that amount of time to prove it. And I hope it goes well. Absolutely. How many clients are you currently working with in your business?

Oh, so we do group based coaching and we actually do it in training cycles. So our we do, we have a winter session, a spring session, and a fall session. And so right now we just ended our winter session on Saturday with our graduation race. So that particular group so I coached

a 5k group, we call it running start 5k training group, and then our 10k and our half marathon groups are blended because so many of the workouts are similar. And so with those two groups combined, we had about 45 runners total.

And then we are getting ready to start our spring session for our Running Start 5K program that actually starts tonight. And the spring session is notoriously a little bit lighter because it starts immediately after the winter session. There's no break. But we've got about 20 runners signed up for that 5K group right now. And that's split between two sides of town. So we have an east side group and we have a west side group.

And then we have an annual program for the month of April. It's called STAT, which is Strength Track and Trail, where we take one month to take a break from the long distance endurance training. And we focus on our one mile timed race. And so we start that this Wednesday. We'll start with a timed one mile. And then we have some...

really intense speed work and some core conditioning. And then we'll jump on some trails to help build those muscles that we don't use a lot when we're on the road. And it can actually really support your overall road running as well. And so those are our two groups that we have starting this month. That stat group sounds really interesting. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. How often

How often have you been running that or how many years have you been running that stat program? So stats are relatively new. This will be our third year doing it. And we beta tested it a couple of years ago and then we launched it to the world. We only do it one time a year. We do it in April. April is when our seasons really change here in the desert and it starts to get really hot.

And one of the great components of this program is running in the heat and really building that lung capacity and really pushing yourself hard on that hard track workout and then enjoying the trail and developing new muscles. And we have had incredible success rates with people's every single participant who finished the program, who did the program the way that it's designed and made all the workouts have improved their mile time every single time.

That's awesome to hear. So it's a lot of fun with all of the people that you coach. How do you fit in your running? Do you run with the people you're training? Do you do it on top of it? Like, how's that working with your schedule? This is a great question. I actually run 100% with my groups. So we...

The way that we do our group, so it's, you know, everybody runs at their own pace, which is that conversation effort that we stress so much. But all of the runners come back together during our walk break. So, you know, we're coaching that walk-run interval. And that gives our coaches an opportunity to touch each and every runner, make sure they're feeling good, make sure they don't have any questions. And then every week, we adjust those intervals over the course of the 12 weeks.

And so I run with my groups Monday through Thursday and Saturday morning. So that's my typical run schedule. That's great. I've always kind of wondered, yeah, like with coaches, other running coaches, are they one running with their groups too? Are they, you know, like how, how they're fitting it all together? Cause it can be a lot to me, especially if you're training someone for longer distances, it's time consuming, not only for them, but for you too. So,

It can be challenging and I think we offer a very unique way of training because we really drive that that walk run interval structure. So it really makes our group running very unique I think coaches who focus more on one on one type of coaching or they do virtual coaching where they deliver a plan and they may do check ins on a weekly basis, things like that. It's a little bit different because they have.

they have, they can do their runs on their own. They don't, they're not necessarily running with their, their clients or they do. And it's a one-on-one type of, of coaching element. So yeah, we have a pretty unique coaching group here. That's for sure. And to the benefit of your community, certainly. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. I guess, is there anything about running that we haven't talked about or covered that you would like to share? Yeah.

I think that hydration and nutrition can play a crucial role in running. And I think it's oftentimes overlooked. I see so many runners out and about running that don't carry water or even for these shorter runs. And I know I'm a little biased because I do live in the desert where the climate's a lot drier. And I do think that it's just so crucial, but I always wonder to myself,

You know, how would that change that particular person's run if they had just a little bit of water, just in case, you know, if you're a little parched or I tend to think about things like that. But with new runners specifically, especially as you start to increase your mileage, I think that nutrition is something that's not always taught or it's not really tolerated.

talked about much, like when do you take your nutrition in and taking it in before you hit the wall and why is that so important? And there are so many different types of nutrition and fueling

Which one is going to work and how do you know if it worked for you and how do, when is it okay to change brands and, you know, all of those topics and I think that that's something that's all a lot of times overlooked. When it comes to just everyday running and somebody who's just kind of diving in and they don't have a coach or a group, you know, where do they go to get those resources I think that that's something that's not always talked about.

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because that is something. So I've been running probably about 12 years now. And I remember like I would go for runs. I started off with a 5k distance and then I worked my way up to half marathons. And I was trying to recall whether I even had any problems.

fuel other than what they provided on the course of water and Gatorade. I don't think I had any, I maybe, maybe had fruit snacks, but that was my fuel choice. And I maybe only had it at like, like halfway through. I can't even recall that whether or not I had any nutrition on course during my first half marathon. And I mean, I've since, I've

improved that. But yeah, it just makes me think that like, I don't think I knew that like through the beginning, but yeah, it was through talking with other runners, reading other articles like runners world magazine is a great resource and just

just connecting with other people and learning like, oh, you know, sure, you could run 10 miles without any water or nutrition, but you probably will feel a lot better if you have those things. So why not make your body feel a lot better and not feel completely drained? Yeah. Yeah. I remember not even learning about electrolyte supplements and how crucial that is to your running performance and your recovery performance until...

like halfway through my first half marathon training cycle, you know, and that's stuff that you really need to be practicing from your very first long run. And I didn't, I was, I would come home from, you know, a six, seven mile run and I would just be exhausted for the rest of the day. And I would feel like a truck hit me and I didn't know why. And then

finally, somebody explained to me that that crust on your skin, you know, after your long run, that's salt and you have to replenish that. I had no idea. And, you know, it's just that was kind of back when

I didn't necessarily have the tools right at my fingertips. I didn't have Runners World magazine or, you know, I wasn't necessarily Googling a bunch of stuff and I didn't have the coach yet. And so, yeah, it's, it's pretty interesting. I, I think that it's something that having more information at your fingertips is just so crucial.

I agree with that and just yeah connecting with other people better other if you're new to running find a coach find other runners they're going to help you transition and improve better than if you try to just do it on your own absolutely yeah so I want to transition a little bit from running and I want to ask you a couple questions that I ask all of my guests with the first one being what is the best piece of advice you've ever given or received

Probably, it's going to be the same for both and it's still it. It is about it's okay to slow down. And I think that it's not just about running it that relates to every part of my life, it is okay to slow down, and it's okay to walk and it's okay to breathe and it's it's

Slowing down just changes your perspective. I think on taking a run, for example, slowing down allows you to actually look around and take in the scenery of where you're running and it puts you back in control of your lungs and your breath. And if you're looking at it from a life perspective, it's the same. It gives you slowing down, gives you that opportunity to just look around and appreciate what is around you. And it just changes your perspective a little bit.

And I have received that information. And then I have been able to turn around and give that same advice to other people who are just zip, zip, zip and running around and, you know, being a little, it's just fast and it's okay to slow down. I appreciate you sharing that. I think that's a great reminder. And I hope, you know, I hope.

this this pandemic that we're still maybe kind of out of but if nothing else it's taught us in the last two years that we maybe carry too many events on our plate and that when all those things were removed how nice it was to stay home or be spend more quality time with those we loved and yeah just like slow down the pace instead of going go go go go

Absolutely. Absolutely. So thank you for sharing that. I think it's a great reminder. So another fun question is what is your current obsession? Since the pandemic have really, truly discovered Netflix. Netflix was always there, but I never really dove in to shows. And now I, I

I fully admit I am a binge Netflix watcher. So like every week when the new episodes come out or new series come out I'm like right there. Okay, what's the new movie. Oh, I got to watch this and I have my running list of shows and movies and things every week that come out on Netflix that I just have to watch so currently.

I am watching Ozark and I never, I have had so many people tell me, oh, you need to watch the show. And I hadn't, and now I'm hooked and I'm in the middle of season two and I am definitely not as productive this week as I was last week. So Ozark, I tried to watch that. I didn't get past like the third or fourth episode, which is hard to get into. Am I missing a

without giving any spoilers away. But I mean, I know a lot of other people who love that show. It was one of those shows when I first started watching it, I was doing the typical mom thing where I'd be doing other things while watching it. It is not that type of show. You have to watch. So I had started, I was in the first season by episode, I think five or six.

And my mom had come for a visit. She's like, oh, let's watch it. And I had no idea what was going on. So we started it over and I sat down and I actually watched it and I didn't try to multitask and much, much easier to get into when you're not paying attention to a thousand other things around you.

Maybe that was part of my problem because I tend to put on Netflix when I'm like washing the dishes, meal prepping, whatever. Yes, folding laundry. Yeah, all of those things. Yes. Yeah. Do you have a current book that you're reading right now?

I just picked up a brand new book and I have not started it yet. And it is called Forever Boy by Kate Swenson. And Kate Swenson is a mom of an autistic boy that I have been following since my son was diagnosed. We're going on five years now and her son is 11. And she wrote this book about her life and his life and they

their journey from the time he was born until now. And I cannot wait to start reading that book. That sounds really interesting. And especially because you, it sounds like you could relate to some of the experiences or you have that kind of expectation that you'll be able to relate and learn and maybe just share those experiences. Yeah.

Exactly. I've been following her for so long that I feel like her and I would just be the best of friends if we ever met in person. And so it's nice to have that book to...

see what you don't get to see on Instagram or Facebook. You know, there's, there's, we only share so much on social media and there's the whole other story. And I'm really looking forward to reading it. I got the notification that it was delivered after I had already left the house. So it's at the house and I'm going to start it tonight. I'm very excited. So I want to comment on, uh,

like following people and then like buying their books afterwards. I had a similar experience. I don't know. This is like maybe eight years ago, I started following this travel blogger and I would like read all of her posts on, on,

whenever she went to a new place and followed her blog and I loved it. And then she wrote a book. And even though I felt like I knew her through her blog, then when I read her book, I was like, oh my gosh, I feel like I know her on a totally different level now. So it sounds like you probably have that same experience. And it wasn't because it wasn't just her blog post published in a book. It was like a totally new story that she hadn't written about in her blog, but kind of still related because...

the book was about her travels, but just a different component of it. It had to do with, it was called The Yellow Envelope. And if you're ever looking for a good book, that's a really good book. And basically it's about how when she,

her and her husband went to travel the world, a friend gifted them an envelope with $1,000 in it and said that you have to spend this money on something else other than you can't spend it on yourselves, but find like a charity or something that you believe, like basically the intention was to spread this

gift around and, you know, however they saw fit, but just as long as it wasn't on themselves. So it kind of like touches on their travels and the things they've learned along the way and also how they gifted this money. So I really enjoyed that book. Yeah. If you need a book to add to your reading list, I would recommend that one. All right. Yeah. So my last question is, what does chasing life mean to you? I think that it has a lot of different meanings.

based on where you're at in your current life situation and circumstances. And this pandemic has really changed, I think, how I look at the world in general. And for me right now, chasing life is chasing health. I'm still, I mean, I think this health journey never really ends, but I'm at this new point in my health journey. And I'm

being on it with my children as they are getting older and now being a source of inspiration, motivation to my community has really shifted my perspective and changes how I look at my own health and how I portray what I do to other people and having

having life is something that I think I took for granted prior to the pandemic. I think when you have people in your life that are no longer here, you are forced to look at your own life and really evaluate if you are happy with it. And if you are not, you have this huge opportunity to make changes. And whether that's through running or how

be parents or how you are a spouse or if you're a community leader or being involved in the community and giving back. And all of those things are even more important now than they were two years ago. And so that is what Chasing Life is for me right now in this moment, making sure that my

my son who's on the spectrum is making getting all of the tools and resources that he needs making sure that my 11 year old is not being left kind of in the shadows which a lot of times siblings of kids you know who are on in any special needs not just on the spectrum they sometimes they they're over here um you know and and making sure that my husband and the rest of our family isn't

just there you know they we want to include them in this journey and we want them to be a part of it we want our community to be a part of that as well so that's kind of a really long answer but that's that's where we're at today in our life now I appreciate your answer I appreciate the perspective of the definition being as of today because I think that touches on a good point that

you know, our life evolves. So our meaning on how we're chasing life, however, that is also defined to each individual can evolve as well. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think it's, it's ever changing. It's never stagnant. And, um, you know, tomorrow everything can change again. You know, our whole world completely shut down overnight two years ago, almost three years ago now. And, you know, all of that can happen again. And it's, it's definitely, um,

changed my perspective in regards to what are we going to do if it does happen again? How are we going to, you know, not just be shut indoors and, and, oh, wow. Oh, what was me? Or, you know, it's, it, it was definitely eyeopening, I think on, on what we took for granted. And I definitely want to keep evolving and, and yeah, just take it day by day and be grateful for what we have and just try to make a difference every day. Yeah. And you're definitely doing that as a coach.

and a parent. And so how, if people want to connect with you more, how can they find you?

So on my website, which is www.swet.runs, that's SWET, Southwest Endurance Training is the name of our company. We shorten that down to SWET. On our website, all of my personal information is there. So my email, my phone number, you can find me on Instagram. My personal Instagram is Autumn Dawn Ball and also on Facebook at Autumn Ball. And then we also have our business page, Southwest Endurance Training for both, um,

Instagram and on Facebook. And I can be reached on any of those sites. My, like I said, my email, my phone number on the website as well. Great. Thank you so much for your time and for the stories you shared and the advice. And I hope you have a great rest of the week. I really will. Thank you. And you too. And really, truly thank you so much for having me on. It has been wonderful. Thank you so much. 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.