February 04, 2021
###### Adam Welcome: [00:00:00]
Well, you need to have some, some skin in the game and you need to work towards this goal. So I look at it from a teamwork standpoint and I'm here to work on team David to get him across the finish line.
And if Kevin you're a third grader at my school, I'm here to work on team Kevin, and you need to put some effort into the team. And so does your, your, your parents or your guardians or whoever works on that team. Because at some point I'm not going to be here and you're not going to be here. And it's building capacity in people, which I think is really, really important.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:00:31]
Hello and welcome to the race mob podcast. This is episode number 34.
I'm Kevin entrepreneur technology and fitness nerd, and the founder of race mob. I'm joined by master motivator, founder of two legit fitness co-chair of the Taji 100. RRCA certified coach, USA track and field certified official, the incomparable Bertrand Newson.
All right. Our guest today is a teacher, principal, author, motivational speaker, and long time runner. Pre COVID. He was traveling the country, inspiring teachers all across the nation and he would often draw on his running background to help drive the point home. In this episode, we talk about the race that changed Adam's life forever.
The year, he signed up for 12 marathons and ended up finishing 13 because he wanted to do a double marathon in December. Oh, yeah. And after he completed that double marathon, he completed a hundred miler two weeks later. The incredible lessons he's teaching his kids and how he approaches parenting.
Plus we dive into his vegan lifestyle and how it's impacted his ability to recover. This is a fun and energetic episode, and you won't want to miss it. All the show notes can be found online at https://racemob.com/podcasts.
This episode is brought to you by race, mob, and inclusive community for endurance athletes. If you like our podcast, you'll love our YouTube channel, where we keep you up to date with news from the running world and give you tips that will help you improve door running. Check us out by searching race mob on YouTube and subscribe today.
Without further ado, here's our conversation.
All right, we are so excited to welcome Bay area native, devoted lead educator teacher, principal innovation director , and author of books, such as Kids Deserve it, Empower Our Girls and Run Like a Pirate, a snowboarder and accomplished speaker and entrepreneur, a podcaster and above all else, a marathoner ultra-marathoner runner .
So welcome to the podcast, Adam Welcome.
###### Adam Welcome: [00:02:34]
Hey, thanks for having me guys super pumped. Most of my podcasts that I do are education-based so it's actually super, I'm excited to talk about the running and marathon world and all of that. So. Let's get into it.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:02:48]
Love it. So, Adam, I mean, the first question I have to ask you is around the name, Adam.
Welcome. Is that a pending name? Did you come up with that or does Adam welcome?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:02:57]
All right, so welcome is actually my married name. It's my wife's name. And when my wife and I met and decided to get married, which we actually met at a half-marathon. We met at the inaugural North face challenge marathon that happened over in Merryn
many years ago we got married and she said that she wanted to keep her name and I wanted the same name. So I actually changed my name to welcome and it worked out because welcome is a pretty cool last name. It was actually Welkomen, from her ancestors. And when they came through Ellis Island, which happened with a lot of people, whatever you said, and they heard, they wrote that down because people were coming from all different countries and they just wrote welcome down.
And that was their new last name. So that's a little history on there too, which is pretty cool.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:03:50]
That's pretty fantastic. And how apps, I mean, you can just tell right away how personable you are, your ability to build communities and all of that, which we will get to.
###### Adam Welcome: [00:03:58]
And shout out to my wife because she actually beat me the day that we met at that half marathon by about 15 minutes, she smoked me. So my wife, as a stud, when it comes to running.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:04:11]
Do you want to give times, finishing times?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:04:14]
Honestly, Kevin, I don't remember. I just remember that she beat me by 15 minutes and we've been talking about that since we got married 10 years ago, so...
###### Kevin Chang: [00:04:23]
Well, let's talk about how you got into running. Where did running come from and how'd you get into the sport?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:04:28]
I've always been a lifelong athlete. Playing baseball and just being super outdoors-y as a kid, my uncle actually was a steeplechaser and a 5k, or he actually was in the Olympics. He actually went to the Olympics in 88 and he got food poisoning and he didn't place.
But. Brian Abshire is my uncle. He actually held the American record, I think, in the 10,000 indoor. And he held the 5k road record, I think at Fontana 13, 10 for a 5k smoking fast. So it was always kind of in my family and I'm actually a converted cyclist. So I used to be a cyclist, shaved my legs. Would ride my bike three to 400 miles a week. And actually I was not a runner until that race where I met my wife.
My buddy had signed up for this inaugural North face challenge, which runners know is a pretty famous series now all over that I think all over the world, if not, at least all over the country and his daughter has signed up and she got injured and he said, Hey man, come and run with her bib.
And I had run one marathon before that, and we can get into that. It was a heck of an adventure, but I said, dude, I'm not a runner. I'm not in shape. He's like, just come. And I'm glad I went because that's where I met my wife. And that was since then 10 years ago, I've run 29 marathons, since that day and just, uh, my wife and I run every day.
So cycling was fun. It was just hard to get out on those 80, 90 mile bike rides anymore. And especially with a family is it's just hard to get out. So with travel and kids, we've definitely made running a part of our lives since my kids were born having the joggers, the single and the double. And I think I've pushed the double jogger for I think five, half marathons.
So it's just, you know, you talk about family and I know we're going to get into that. It's, we've just made that a part of our life as a family. And I think that's a really good thing to think about. Your life doesn't stop when you have kids or when things come up, just bring them into the fold. And that's just what we do as a family.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:06:36]
That's incredible. I mean, what a pivotal moment, that race must've been as well. So how did you meet your wife? Was it on the course, the starting line, finish line mutual friends. Was it...
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:06:47]
Aid station? Porta-potty line?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:06:51]
She was way ahead of me. There was no aid station, so we have a mutual friend and at the race.
It was super early in the morning. And if you know, the Bay area, Marin Headlands can be really foggy and cold. In the morning and my buddy and I roll up to rodeo beach and hop out of the car and I heard my name and it was this mutual friend. I used to work at a running shoe store in Danville, shout out to forward motion, sports, awesome running shoe store, super great people.
And we just said, Oh, Hey, how are you doing? That was it. And then we go to the start of the race and I see this woman. In front of a heater. And I said, Oh, I think that's my friend's friend that she was with. So I walk up to her and I said, Hey, don't I know you.
And my wife Stacy was not interested. And I was not trying to pick up on her. I was just, just say, Hey, don't I know you. And she. My wife is very serious when it comes to racing and she was like, did not want to talk.
So I kind of backed off a little bit and then we run the race. She beats me, I get home that night and I messaged my friend. I said, Hey, great to see you. And Allie actually won the female division of the half marathon.
She's wicked fast, Allie Bigelow. she actually runs for Wizel, which is, uh, just a great company. And, I said, Hey, what's up with your friend. If she's single, I want to take her out. And Allie called me an hour later. She said, she wants to go out with you too. That was December 5th.
We had our first date four days later and then we got married 100 days later after that first day, because, you know, When, you know, you know, and, uh, we just, we just celebrated 10 years of marriage in March. So that's the story. And I've just continued running ever since I sold all my $10,000 road bikes and bought running shoes and just have been chasing my wife ever since.
And, uh, No regrets. It's awesome.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:08:37]
What a story, what a story of human connection and the power of, of races and, , I suppose social aspect of racism, which we all miss, I think right now, during the pandemic, talk about some of your racing accomplishments. I know that there was one year where you ran a marathon every single month for an entire year.
What other things have you been doing in the, in the running world?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:08:57]
So, I'm not a super competitive guy. I just like to do hard things and, you know, just to backup quickly, the first marathon I ever ran was a few years before I met my wife. I had a buddy who I actually worked at this running shoe store with.
I was working there. On the weekends because I was an elementary school teacher and he said, Hey, let's do a marathon. There's a marathon CIM, California international marathon, which a lot of people know, it's like one of the biggest Boston qualifiers in the country. He's like, it's in Sacramento and it's in three weeks to do it with me.
And I said, all right. And we signed up two days before the race. He bailed because he said he wasn't ready. The longest run that I'd ever been on in my life was nine miles. That was the longest run I'd ever been on. So I'd go up there and get a hotel, take the bus to Lake Folsom dam. If you know the race, you know what I'm talking about. I'm looking around and I'm like, Holy crud I'm about to run 26.2 miles, but I wasn't nervous.
I knew it would be hard, but I knew I would get through it. And I ran a 3:57 on nine miles was my longest training run. And there was a few years in between till I met my wife and started doing more races, but I just started doing marathons and I did CIM and I did just a bunch of different races.
And then it got to the point where marathons weren't really a challenge anymore. I wasn't trying to break three hours. I'm just a middle of the pack guy. I could run faster, but I don't like being injured. So I just kinda liked to, you know, push myself but not hurt myself.
And I had this idea. I said, you know, I'm going to run one marathon a month for the entire year. And it was like early December of 2016. And I didn't even tell my wife, I just sat down. I Googled marathon schedules and I signed up for 11 marathons in 2017. Because as people know, when you hit the submit button and you register and you put your credit card down, you're committed.
And I was the only race that I didn't sign up for was November because I was trying to get in the lottery for New York. Turned out. I got in the lottery. And halfway through that year, I realized that my December marathon, it was going to be my 19th marathon of my life. And I didn't obviously want to end on that uneven number.
So I decided to run CIM twice. So I actually ran CIM. I left the finish line at 1:00 AM at the Capitol and I ran the course backwards. I had two neighbors that followed me on bikes. We got to the starting line of 5:00 AM. I changed my clothes, I got something to eat. And then I ran the real race back. So I did a backwards and forwards.
So I got my 20 marathons and I actually did 13 for the year, but I wasn't done two weeks later on new year's Eve of 2017.
I did a 24 hour race, which listeners, if you haven't done a 24 hour race. A 24 hour race is the most amazing experience I've ever had. It was at Crissy field in San Francisco, and it's a mile loop around Chrissy field for a day.
And my goal was a hundred miles and the longest I had ever run was 52 miles, two weeks before on the back-to-back. Marathon. And at 8:00 AM, I crossed the line and I'd run a hundred miles and my wife, she was there now, again, let's talk about family and having a team and people to support you.
She said, Adam, I'm proud of you, but this is not a distance race, it's an amount of time race. The race was from nine to nine. I still had another hour to go. I was ready to stop at 8:00 AM because I had reached my goal, which was a hundred miles. So she pushed me to keep going and I ran another hour and I got 103 miles. And I did that. And I talk about that because we, as human beings, we put limits on ourselves.
You know, people will tell me, Oh, I've done fifteen 5Ks. I could never do a half marathon. How do you know you couldn't do a half marathon? Have you even tried? Of course you can. And I just think, I think a lot of people are living too comfortably.
I like to be uncomfortable. I enjoy taking a cold shower sometimes because they're uncomfortable. I like to set my alarm clock for midnight and wake up and run 10 miles in the middle of the night on an empty stomach, because I think it just helps you to get through.
And I would say like the last running accomplishment I did, I was kind of tired of doing races. So I actually planned my own marathons, which I think actually is a really fun thing to do. Kind of like you're outside your front door, race.
Cause races can get expensive and the travel and you know, like the lottery, I mean, I've done Boston and you know, it's kind of a. Big thing to kind of go through that process and kind of a pain in the butt sometimes to be honest, well, I decided to do four marathons in four days, and I wanted to run the bridges in the Bay area that have a pedestrian crosswalk.
So I started with the Carquinez bridge over in Crockett, and I just ran back and forth on the bridge. On Monday until I ran a marathon, I went home, picked my kids up from school. And then on Tuesday I did the Benicia bridge back and forth until I got marathon Wednesday. I did the Bay bridge back and forth until I got a marathon.
And then the Thursday, I did this a couple years ago. I did the golden gate bridge. And the day I did the golden gate bridge, the bike lane on the other side of the golden gate bridge, people know the bridge, they know what I'm talking about. It was closed between the tourists and the bikes. It was like the slowest marathon of the week, but it was cool because I did it on my own terms.
I didn't have to pay any race entry. I had friends meet me on the bridges for part of the races and it really just fostered a really cool level of community with racing and doing hard things.
Racing is fun and yes, Kevin and Bertrand. I, I miss it too, but you can also race in different ways as well too. It's open to anybody, especially if you don't have the $150. To sign up for the race entry. So don't count out racing even when there are no races or you can't before
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:14:50]
Kevin and I, we talk about this and you touched on it very clearly, Adam, the power of the human mind and the human spirit. We can set the ceilings ourselves, but when you change your, your lens, your vision, and you believe in self, and again, just get out of your element out of your comfort zone.
You can surprise yourself and you as an educator, being able to understand. Just get out and put one foot in front of the other and great things can happen. Wonderful. Things can happen. You can meet your life partner. You can meet your spouse. Right? Which you did. So good stuff.
###### Adam Welcome: [00:15:24]
Thing is I think somewhat of a selfish endeavor because we go out there by ourselves and do it. But I think if you look at it from a deeper standpoint, when you do hard things and you push yourself, the people around you see that. And I think in turn, they start to push themselves, which I think is a really cool kind of domino effect connection. It's it's helping other people.
Something else that I've done the last couple of years is I've guided a blind runner.
I've always wanted to do this. And I got hooked up with United in stride, which is a great organization. And some of the runners are, are blind, some are visually impaired and the runner David, who I've guided twice for CIM is completely blind. And what an experience to take somebody that can't see, but that still wants to have the experience and you guide them for 26.2 miles, those two races, and I've done New York and Boston and rock and rolls and all double marathons and all these things.
Those two experiences of guiding someone else that has just lost their vision was the most memorable race experiences. And I think where I learned the most, some people have told me, gosh, David is so lucky to have you. And I said, man, I'm lucky for him because I've learned so much about myself. Giving back to someone else to help them achieve their goal that they can still do. They just need a little help to get across the finish line.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:16:47]
I think it touches on two subjects that I definitely want to get into in this conversation. One, setting big audacious goals we we've heard before BHAGs, right? Big, hairy, audacious goals. And not being afraid of failure. You've put out there, Oh, two weeks after running a double marathon, I'm going to do a 24 hour race.
Can you talk a little bit about, , that mindset and what kids can learn from having that mindset and how kids can learn from failure as well?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:17:15]
That's a really great question. I think it's a really important topic for not just runners and athletes, but human beings to think about and talk about.
What I would say is, get over yourself, get over what you think you can't do. Don't listen to the haters and don't listen to the naysayers that, are either in person or on social media that say you can't do it, this and that.
You know what? I am not that fast at all. I'm a normal dude that lives in the Bay area that has two kids and a mortgage and a wife and a full-time job. And it's not about breaking three hours or qualifying for the Olympic team.
I walk during marathons sometimes and you know what, who cares? And if you care, I don't care that you care because I'm doing this. For me and for the people around me that I can talk to about and have this experience.
And I think there are so many benefits with social media, but there are also many negative takeaways where you see people posting on Instagram and their pictures look all perfect. And they're crossing the line and they got their metal and they got their.
Peloton treadmill and all this stuff. And that's great. That's great. But you know what take what you need from that. Don't take everything from that because I think people get too wrapped up in what kind of shoes do you wear, Adam or? Hey Kevin, what kind of sunglasses are those? Oh, Hey, what kind of crank do you have on your bike Bertrand?
Like it doesn't matter. Just go out there and do whatever you can. And if you don't have the money, then set up your own race and set up your own adventure. You know, years ago, I touched on it briefly, but I wanted to start outside your front door races. And really that's happened with all these virtual races by all these races and all these companies.
And yes, there is amazing community going to a race, but people also realize like, Oh, Hey, I'm going to look outside my front door and in my community. And I'm going to, I'm going to do something a little bit different and I didn't realize that right down the street. There was a couple people that I can start a running club with or whatever it may be. And, Oh my God. That's, that's totally awesome.
And again, I think from an educational standpoint, and from like a coaching mentorship standpoint, when you have people around you and you do these things and you talk about them, I think naturally it's going to flow into them and they're going to gain inspiration. They're going to gain ideas and then they're going to hopefully start to do more. , So they can achieve their full potential as a human being and as an athlete and a, Hey, if you have to walk for five minutes during a race, it's totally okay.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:19:47]
And the second point that I wanted to get to being a guide for a blind runner, I mean, I think so much of your philosophy is around service and service of others. And you even have this book and this philosophy Kids Deserve t.
So, talk to us a little bit about service, how that plays a role into your philosophy and how that plays a role as a community leader, as a principal as well .
###### Adam Welcome: [00:20:09]
I take a different look at it. Kevin, I don't see that I'm here to serve - or serve David. I feel that I'm here to work with him and I look at it from a teamwork standpoint.
So maybe we're just splitting hairs because my feeling on service is, it's not wrong. My thought is, well, you need to have some, some skin in the game and you need to work towards this goal. So I look at it from a teamwork standpoint and I'm here to work on team David to get him across the finish line.
And if Kevin you're a third grader at my school, I'm here to work on team Kevin, and you need to put some effort into the team. And so does your, your, your parents or your guardians or whoever works on that team. Because at some point I'm not going to be here and you're not going to be here. And it's building capacity in people, which I think is really, really important.
And, you know, coaches do that with their athletes. During my 2017 marathon year, I hired a coach, Sally McRae, who many people know she's an ultra runner. Wasn't Southern California has moved to bend Oregon with her family and she coached me and, just having her on my team and me being on her team...
And I've never met her in person, and she was a virtual coach because we don't live in the same area. But I had to give something to team Adam because I wanted to bring her on team Adam. So I could get it across the finish line of all 13 of these marathons in this 24 hour race.
Working with people I think is the key. So they show that they have to meet me halfway or 10% of the way, because it's kind of like parenting.
I want my kids to hang out with me and my wife when they're in their twenties, but I want them to not need us. We want to build capacity in our kids so they can go live an awesome life. And I'm going to be a part of that, but they're not going to, hopefully you'll be living in the basement when they're 25 or maybe they will,I don't know. Things are changing in 2021, but that's just kind of how I look at it.
Cause I think people have to show up and you can't just show up and expect to get everything handed to you. You gotta show up, you gotta wake up, you gotta work up and you gotta, you gotta do a lot of those things to get to where you want to go.
And again, go back to like the Instagram, Facebook, Twitter culture that we have people see, Oh man. They're drinking that vegan smoothie and they got the new shoes and they got the Peloton and they're getting across the finish line. Dang.
Well, you know what? Like you gotta work. Like you gotta work to be able to afford it, those things, and to be able to accomplish those goals and it's going to be hard and you're going to have to walk and you might throw up and you might throw in the towel, but you know what? The next go get that towel, wash it off, find something new to do and just keep moving forward.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:22:44]
That's an incredible distinction, I think. Yeah. I'm glad that you walked it back and talked about being a team that teamwork, because both individuals need to put in the work. , both the athletes and the coach, need to put in that work in order to get that result and to work together and collectively. I love that metaphor and talking about it in those ways. So do you translate that philosophy into raising kids?
Do you have a philosophy in terms of, are you thinking about it as teamwork and the kids have to go get it? Do you think that it's different than other people's philosophies ?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:23:19]
That's a great question. I think it's very similar. I know how my wife and I raised our kids. My thought is always, you know, what do you want from me? I'm here to love you. And I'm here to care for you and provide for you.
But you know, case in point when my kids are eight and 10, when they were three years old, they started making their own beds in the morning because it's their bed and you slept in it and you are going to make it.
And the first month probably wasn't the best, but you know, now five years, seven years later, they make amazing beds. And it starts with small things like that.
We're also a big ski family. You know, we ski about 20, 25 days a year. And when my kids were three years old and they started skiing, they carried their skis. And then when they got poles, they carry their poles. And you're going to be cold and you're going to be uncomfortable.
But you know what? Five and seven years later, they're skiing black diamonds in, Lake Tahoe because we put in the work.
And it's the same, same with school as well too. I'm here to help you with your school, but you need to be responsible. And if you forgot something, then you're going to do tell your teacher why you forgot it.
I mean, I think those are just basic principles guys, like for life. I know, like every generation says, Oh man, kids these days and blah, blah, blah. But I mean, Aristotle and Plato were saying that about kids, hundreds and hundreds and thousands of years ago. It's holding kids accountable and holding people accountable and yeah, just moving forward.
And they're going to mess up and they're going to make mistakes. I expect that, and my wife expects that and we talk about them and you move on and you hopefully change for next time.
So if it's from a coaching standpoint, from a teaching standpoint, from a parenting standpoint, from, from a friendship standpoint, I mean, you know, guys have we're friends and we're friends that work out and meet and you know, Kevin's late every day to our morning run.
I mean, I'm going to start leaving you, Kevin. Like we said, we're meeting at 5:00 AM. I need to hold you accountable because I need to go run. Bertrand and I are going to go run cause we have to get home and get ready to go to work and get our kids fed and feed the dog and everything else. And it's the same with friends and we're not being mean or rude to you.
We're just, this is our team and everybody needs to be able to contribute to the team so that we have a healthy and a productive team.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:25:29]
I love it. And you know, I've been watching a couple of videos of your keynotes and other conversations that you've had and you have this. Very great picture of your daughter bellied up to a laptop at nine months old. And you talk about how she's writing a book and has learned to do some of these things on her own.
And you're putting tools in front of her, but she's figuring them out. She's developing these skills. So I wanted to first talk about . Developing some of these skills, but you also talk about the skills that kids need might be different.
It's a new economy, there's new technology out there. There are different skills that probably our kids. should develop, Producing videos or creating videos. Maybe one of those things that , we should give our kids the tools to do some of these things for creative outlets.
Can you talk a little bit about raising kids in, in that vein?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:26:17]
Yeah, no. I mean, I think, uh, empowering kids to do it on their own, you know, I tell people there's this really cool website. It's a G O O G L E com, and you can go there and say, how do I start a podcast? Or how do I start a blog or how do I create vlogs and upload them to YouTube?
You know, teachers and parents are more important than ever. I just say teachers and parents are important in different ways. I'm not here to teach my kids or your kids, how to do a podcast. What I'm here to do is to have conversations with them about the content. And to work on their public speaking and the other areas of that. They can figure out how to upload the podcast and distribute the podcast because how many websites and resources are out there, there's a ton.
So, you know, it's kind of like the Alexa, Alexa is my mom and dad when I was a kid, because when I was a kid, my brother and I used to play where in the world is Carmen San Diego. And we would yell across the house. Dad, where's Buenos Aires? And he would say Argentina. Well, now my kids ask Alexa and Alexa will tell you that answer.
That's the enciclopedia Britannica model. You know, we had encyclopedias in our homes because that was where information was. So, you know, getting kids ready for the world that they are living in and not the world that we grew up in. You said something that I say all the time, it's a new economy with new jobs and we have to get our kids ready for that.
You know, Elon Musk wants employees that are going to go work at the Tesla factory in Fremont and make the process better because you know, humans are not robots and we need problem solvers and we need collaborators of the information and of the content. And it just looks different and it's kind of like believing in your athletes that you coach, when you believe kids can and you set them free.
They're going to do amazing things. It's opening doors. If all the doors are closed, they have nowhere to go. So I really think teachers and adults should be in the business of opening doors for kids. And then you follow them through and you ask questions and you push them and you build their self-confidence and you make sure they're safe.
They can do so many of the things, creating a podcast, YouTube, whatever it may be. It's setting up their own Etsy shop. I mean, I have friends that their kids have their own Etsy shop because they create bracelets. You couldn't do that when we were kids, you had to make bracelets and go to the corner and sell them to people that were going by, but now you can sell them to people all over the country.
And that just gets them ready for whatever job they will have when they do enter the workforce, which they're in the workforce right now, because you don't need to graduate from high school or college to enter the workforce. It's called a side hustle and everybody should have a side hustle in 2021 and modeling that for our kids is super important.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:29:02]
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###### Bertrand Newson: [00:29:21]
And we clearly see what fuels your soul, your passion. But you as the athlete, maybe we can, you know, look behind the curtain. What fuels you? I mean, are you a vegan athlete? Just kind of take us through, , your diet and what, , you'd like to share with our listeners.
###### Adam Welcome: [00:29:36]
So being a lifelong athlete in remaining healthy is super important to my wife and I. When I met my wife, her mother had stage four breast cancer and she died two weeks after we got married and then a year and a half later, my dad passed away from prostate cancer.
And, you know, with all those things being said, I'm not morbid, but my body is my temple. And I believe in only putting really good things in my body. And I've been a vegetarian for about 12 years, and then when I started my marathon year, I went plant-based. Full vegan.
And I would tell anybody that's listening that was the number one most pivotal thing I did actually for a recovery standpoint. Previously, when I was just vegetarian, I would run a marathon and I would need two, three weeks recovery time. Plant-based? Two days. No soreness. I mean just inflammation in the joints. Absolutely unreal. It is not hard to be plant-based.
There are so many options out there. So many great cookbooks, the happy pear chef Chloe, rich roll. Which rich, if you're listening, I would love to go run with you someday. I'm a huge rich roll fan. He has an amazing podcast. I'm sure you guys know about. Yeah. I'm somewhat of a, of a flexitarian now I'm full vegetarian, but we'll have just some cheese sometimes if it's on something it's hard with kids to be full plant-based. My kids have never had meat ever in their life. We're raising them to be vegetarians.
And I think it, I know it does play a role in performance, but also to Bertrand more, I would say recovery, because again, I'd go back to the point that I'm not that fast and I'm not trying to be fast. I want to be a lifelong athlete and not have injuries and not have inflammation and not have little niggles.
I'm never injured. I've never been injured. And I think taking care of your body and you know, like there's an old saying you are what you eat and it's true. And if you want to feel good, don't eat junk, eat good stuff, you know, take care of your body and then your body's going to take care of you.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:31:42]
Thats great. And thank you for sharing. And, you know, we're in the midst of launching a 14-day Cut the Crap Challenge, starting February 1st with a partner of ours in a recent podcast, guests, Tony Julian ,just giving her a shout out.
Adam, take us through a sample day. You know, what is your morning, afternoon dinner snacks in between? What does that look like for you?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:32:03]
Yeah, so I wake up at, uh, between four and four 15 in the morning and, uh, I have coffee. Just straight black coffee. No, no sugar, no milk and hop on the committee and just kind of check in with the world. And then by quarter to five, five, o'clock I'm ready to go work out. Sometimes my wife and I will go run together, sometimes it's just me, you know, the headlamp and the reflective vest for safety.
And I don't usually eat before I run. Your stomach is a trainable muscle. And I think a lot of people don't understand that. Some people think that they have to eat before they run. They have to wait an hour before they work out or whatever. But you can train your stomach to actually handle a lot of different things, so.
I'll do that. I'll work out. I'll get ready to go to work. And then, uh, sometimes I'll have oatmeal or usually it's a smoothie, just a really great, easy plant-based smoothie. The best recipe is the one that you create with things that you have in your home that are easy to get.
I love Oatley, I love almond milk all plant-based and just whatever you have, spinach, kale. Yeah, blueberries. I mean some, uh, plant-based yogurt, chia seeds, dates, peanut butter, almond butter just don't overthink it. That's like the whole equipment thing. Why don't have this. And I don't have that. Just use what you have and use what you can get.
I don't eat a ton during the day, I'll have a couple of bananas and then just lunch is kind of random. Maybe some plant-based granola and a, an almond butter and banana sandwich. And then dinner, it just depends. I do all the cooking in my house. My wife is amazing. She doesn't cook though. Uh, she handles all the, all the money, the bills, so it's a great, it's a great, it's a great kind of divide and conquer.
Like I said before, kind of dropping some of the cookbooks. I take cookbook ideas and then morphed them into what works for me and my family. One of my favorite cookbooks is the blue zone. The blue zone is a really great cookbook. It's by Dan Buettner. And the blue zones. There's a few of them. I think there's five around the world.
And it's where they have the most centenarians where there's people that are over a hundred years old living. There's one down in Loma, Linda, Southern California. There's one in Costa Rica. There's one in Japan. There's one in Italy and there's one in Greece and his recipes are awesome. I think the best cookbook though, is the happy pear.
And there are these two twins from Ireland. Follow them on Instagram, the Happy Pair and their recipes are so stinking easy. And there are things that you have in your house. And I always double the recipe. So I have leftovers for the next day. That's a really great hack, especially if you have kids and you work and you travel.
You know, I think about my food a lot, but I don't overthink it. I don't stress about, Oh, I don't have that ingredient, I'll just put this in because it is hard with work and family and kids and training and coaching and all the things that we have in our lives. It can be hard to plan meals. And I've also been doing some kind of pseudo intermittent fasting. Which I just won't eat breakfast.
I won't eat until 11:00 AM. I'll have dinner then I won't eat until 11:00 AM and I haven't done a ton of research on it. So please don't quote me on the benefits of intermittent fasting, but I've heard enough people talk about it and done enough reading about it, where that's kind of back to my idea of making yourself uncomfortable.
I actually think it's important to be hungry at times, too. Because I think it, it helps you, especially during a race, maybe you missed an aid station or you don't have enough food and you can still perform on a stomach that maybe is in caloric deficit. You're going to be okay. You don't need to drop out. You don't need to freak out. I think it's all just good training for your body and your mind.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:35:31]
Do you do any supplementation for vegan diets in order be able to participate in endurance sports. And then can you also talk about what is your nutrition strategy on race day during like a marathon or an ultra?
###### Adam Welcome: [00:35:43]
Since I went plant-based I started getting blood tests like twice a year just to make sure I was fine and I was, I was totally okay. And then I'd never taken any supplement and then a recent one that was. Kind of low and some B12. So I take a B12, but I don't know if I even have to, to be honest, I've always felt fine.
But I do think it is important to talk to your physician, to do your research, to make sure if you are going plant-based or vegetarian to make sure you're getting, getting what you need in your body. I mean, I do think that is important, but I'm definitely not the expert in that.
And yeah, race morning. I just two packets of oatmeal with some raisins and some peanut butter and a banana. And then just go run. I see people doing a 5k or a half marathon, they are eating like a sandwich. I'm a firm believer in working up to race day.
So four or five days before I'll start eating more, to get more calories in my body. And, you know, like my race strategy has evolved over time. Your first marathon, you might cramp and you might go in caloric deficit or you might eat too much and have to go to the bathroom at mile 20 and that's going to happen.
It just train and try that. That's really what it is, you know, like read what other people are doing and then do what works for you because some people may like Goo and I don't, I like tailwinds, so I'll carry a bottle and I like to drink tailwind and that works for me. And I can honestly run an entire marathon with one jail and a bottle of tailwind. And I'm good. And I can run a sub four marathon pretty much any day of the week.
So like I said before, your stomach is a trainable muscle, so don't overthink it. Don't carry too much stuff. And also too, I think, especially with ultras at aid stations, follow your eyes when you're at an aid station and your eyes lock in on something, eat it.
It's okay. You know, if it's a cookie or during the 24 hour race, I ate soup and I ate a burrito. I had like. Three burritos and people say, how did you eat a burrito? Like you're burning a lot of calories. I didn't eat it at once. I ate it over a 30 minute period. So again, your stomach is a trainable muscle, so don't be too set in your routines and what you eat.
Oh my gosh. I don't have this flavor clif bar. I can't run today. Like, that's ridiculous. Don't be so locked in on that. Be flexible with what you eat when you train and what you wear, because then you won't have that freedom moment.