RaceMob

Boston Qualified! 3 Avalos siblings share training tips and stories from the event

Boston Qualified! 3 Avalos siblings share training tips and stories from the event

Introduction

We’re excited to welcome the Avalos siblings to the podcast. Ray, Anthony, and Bre are some of the fastest and most accomplished runners you will find. Ray and Anthony have marathon times in the 2:40s and Bre has a marathon PR of 3:01

For these siblings, long distance running was something that they found after becoming adults, but it was their athletic background, hard work, and determination that allowed them to really excel at the sport.

The three siblings not only qualified for Boston, but they were able to run Boston together - and they share stories from the event as well as all the training leading up to qualifying and competing against each other. If you’re looking to decrease your marathon times, and possibly qualify for Boston - stick around to the end of the conversation. All three siblings give great tips for runners from beginners to advanced. We had so much fun, so I really hope that you enjoy the conversation.

During this discussion, we talk about:

Podcast Transcription

The following transcript is provided for your convenience. It was created through a program, and may not be entirely accurate to our conversation.
Ray Avalos: [00:00:00]

Or they're like, Oh, I'm like, well, this is my brother and my sister or brother was coming from Norway. You know, we haven't seen him for a while, so we're just there. It's awesome. We feel like weather's perfect. So you could really enjoy Boston.

Anthony Avalos: [00:00:12]

I mean, it was awesome being there. It was like really special because it was like
we put in
the work to get qualified and then everybody put in the work in training, leading up to that.
So just being, there was more of a celebration.

Brea Avalos: [00:00:25]

Boston is still my favorite marathon and I've run it once after all three of us ran it as well. But that first time, like with all of us being there and the entire family being there too, it was awesome.

Kevin Chang: [00:00:42]

Hello and welcome to the race mob podcast. This is episode number 12. 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 Tazi 100, RRC a certified coach USA track and field certified official, the incomparable Bertrand nuisance.
We are excited to welcome the Avalose siblings to the podcast. Ray, Anthony and Bree are some of the fastest and most accomplished runners. You will find Ray and Anthony have marathon times in the two forties and Bree has a marathon PR of three Oh one. For these siblings, long distance running was something that they found after becoming adults, but it was there backgrounds, hard work and determination that allowed them to really Excel at the sport.
The three siblings, not only qualified for Boston, but they were able to run Boston together and they share stories from the event, as well as all of the training, leading up to qualifying and competing against each other. If you're looking to increase your marathon times and possibly qualify for Boston, stick around to the end of the conversation, all three siblings give great tips for running from beginners to advanced.
We had so much fun recording this conversation. This episode is brought to you by race mov and inclusive community for fitness enthusiasts, whether you're brand new to fitness or a veteran athletes, we all need support, motivation and accountability for launching a brand new community sites where you'll be able to interact with our guests, coach B and myself.
And we're going to be launching a brand new training program that's led by coach B. So go to dot com. Sign up for your free account today, and you'll be notified when these projects go live. All of the show notes can be found online at dot com slash podcast. And without further ado, here's our conversation

Bertrand Newson: [00:02:40]

here.
We are at the race mob podcast, featuring the Avalose siblings, Ray Bri and Anthony. We're very fortunate to share this wonderful story as B3, dynamic siblings, all. Qualified for the Boston marathon and participated that story is unique.

Brea Avalos: [00:03:00]

Their

Bertrand Newson: [00:03:01]

individual journeys are unique. And with that, we'll go ahead and open up the floor.
Thank you all. Welcome. And we have Ray coming in from San Jose, California, Bri coming in from Washington DC. And Anthony all the way from Norway. Look at that. That's how we're rolling here on the race mob podcast.

Kevin Chang: [00:03:19]

International. That's right.

Ray Avalos: [00:03:22]

Thanks. We're happy to be here. This is, this is awesome. Can't wait for it.

Anthony Avalos: [00:03:25]

Tell us about your childhood

Kevin Chang: [00:03:27]

Ray, why don't you kick it off since you're the oldest of the group. Tell us about growing up, where you guys grew up and what home was like.

Anthony Avalos: [00:03:33]

Perfect. Well,

Ray Avalos: [00:03:33]

yeah, we're, uh, we're from San Jose, California, pretty much born and raised. My parents had been pretty young at 19 years old.
I was a first born child. Few years later, my brother came almost four years later and then Bree 10 years after me. So it's been fun. It has been a fun dynamic. We just grew together and you know, a lot of learning curves along the way. A lot of fights, a lot of cheers, a lot of, a lot of good times. So yeah, lots of

Anthony Avalos: [00:03:59]

feel back behind

Kevin Chang: [00:04:00]

were sports, always part of your childhood.
Did you guys grow up as an athletic family?

Anthony Avalos: [00:04:06]

We kind of grew

Ray Avalos: [00:04:06]

up a soccer family. Our dad was a coach, so. You know, we grew up kind of in that soccer background and it's always stayed with us, but we've always been pretty active when it comes to, you know, going on hikes with families at Elm rock park and, you know, different things like that.
It's always just been in our blood from a running aspect. We kind of just picked it up as it came along and just realize, you know, we had the lungs and quite honestly the passion for it. So pretty cool stuff.

Bertrand Newson: [00:04:32]

Any other runners in the family, aunts, uncles,

Anthony Avalos: [00:04:36]

parents, Yeah.

Ray Avalos: [00:04:37]

So actually my dad used to run, he did it some in case, and then some of my extended family, I had my uncles and aunts that are runners as well.
So like, you know, my uncle Mike and my aunt Charlene, uh, they're pretty active themselves. Um, and even my, my aunt Shirlene and my aunt Michelle, they were good basketball players from independence high school. So they're really good basketball. And I've never seen my grandma run, but I hear that she was like the fastest girl in her neighborhoods.

Anthony Avalos: [00:05:06]

And you gotta give a shout out to big mama, Cindy she's getting after it. So she's got some good stuff in the tank there. So we

Bertrand Newson: [00:05:16]

gotta get for sure. Who's big mama. Who's

Kevin Chang: [00:05:18]

big mama. Tell us,

Anthony Avalos: [00:05:21]

yeah, Cindy, she's the hustler. So she's the basis of all our grit and everything that. We have overcoming and it's directly related to sport and long distance running.
There's these peaks and valleys. And I think that our mom really gave us that grit to keep it going when it comes to those valleys.

Kevin Chang: [00:05:40]

Why would you say that? What's the, what's the story there

Anthony Avalos: [00:05:43]

just hard work obstacles came growing up and what. You call an obstacle. It could be something that's very simple and it's easy as a child to whine and want to take the easy way out, no sob story or anything.
It was, how do you overcome this and what, what do you do to move to the next phase or how, or it's always alert. Like sometimes when we're going through some stuff, she would be smiling and laughing. This is such a great learning experience for you. Yeah. So, so I think that's all over the place with, with our mother.
Yeah.

Brea Avalos: [00:06:15]

I just remember a lot of times. Every single time you're going through like a big Valley we're in that moment, you think it's a big Valley? She'll like what Anthony said. She'll like, smile. And she'll be like, wait really quick. And I'll be like mid tiers. And she'll just be like, take a second, really take in this moment.
You're living right now. And so it was like really experiencing, even if something's like, Super hard. It's just, it's all a part of life and really taking it and overcoming it.

Kevin Chang: [00:06:42]

Do you have a moment or an example? Is there anything like in your brain that that was a tough moment.

Anthony Avalos: [00:06:48]

Every breakup,

Kevin Chang: [00:06:53]

you guys are good looking bunch. I don't think he had many of those growing up.

Bertrand Newson: [00:06:57]

How many breakups go there? I'm going to ask how many breakups
and you guys truly, I mean, Cynthia is an absolute superhero active member to legit fitness with just her energy positivity. Hey, remember vividly when she completed her very first half marathon, her very first marathon, her very first 50 K. And this is all within the last couple of years and inspired in many cases by the three of you.
So talk about a super family and you know, your father very active as well. Clearly the love of soccer. There's so many wonderful stories that have come through that very accomplished and we'll get into those stories in greater detail. But just a very gifted and special family. So hats off to your parents, mom and dad,

Kevin Chang: [00:07:51]

Anthony, what was it like growing up with Ray as an older brother?
What was it like growing up with three younger sister? What was childhood like and what were, I guess when you're

Anthony Avalos: [00:08:02]

thinking about, I mean, I was in love with soccer from when I could kick a ball. I remember I can remember a little bit from pictures, but. I played for a team called the sharks. I think I was about just turned four.
I was number three maroon Jersey. So I fell in love with soccer from an early age. And that was kind of what I did and where I put my energy towards. And then. Looked up to my older brother who was also playing soccer. So I was always trying to follow them, whether it'd be on the side soccer field or him and his friends, riding a skateboards around, I was always trying to follow up and keep up and be kind of that younger guy.
I was always, of course younger. I played soccer growing up on the older team as well. So I always have a chip on my shoulder and I think that came a lot from Ray and. Looking up to Ray and pushing myself to beat that level. And then when I grew up playing soccer, I played with older kids and all we have these chips.
So that's kind of been what translated into my playing soccer and then also into running as well. It's a chip, but it's a good chip. So I just it's, it's what keeps me kind of moving. It's this inner battle. And then my sister, when she came along,

Ray Avalos: [00:09:11]

she was really good at

Anthony Avalos: [00:09:13]

like soccer. When she, when she wanted to do it, she was really good at running extremely athletic, but she was very heavily into dance.
So I didn't really feel that competition from her because there is kind of an inner dynamic competition between the three of us now. But then when she got into running right from dance, she was kicking ass and then you would see her like, Oh wow. This girl can get it. And then she started running. And then the thing with Bree is that even if me and my brother were men and the traditional perspective is that we're supposed to run faster.
She is not setting herself at the level of a female. She is setting herself with the level of her brothers. Great. And she scares me a little bit. Sometimes she tells me that she's going to beat me and these kind of,

Ray Avalos: [00:09:56]

and she probably will at one time.

Anthony Avalos: [00:10:03]

So all in all, it was just a healthy competition between us. We grew up in a sports family and I think. It was like a, a mix of competition and looking up to each other and being each other's fans. I think we're all each other's biggest fans. So this is a big part of what keeps us going. We're sharing day on the daily, whether it's the same song to pump you up before a match or a song to run, to raise always recommending running playlist that we need to trail adventures or whatever it may be.
So. We're we're always keeping each other motivated and, and competing with each other on the back of our heads as well.

Kevin Chang: [00:10:38]

What do you think your parents did to raise an athletic group of kids? Do you think that they did anything special or anything that you can point to

Anthony Avalos: [00:10:46]

or think?

Ray Avalos: [00:10:47]

I think just leading by example, pretty much it just kind of what we saw, what we grew up in.
As I mentioned, like if we were going to ELAM rock park or even camping, just that outdoor environment and just the hard work of it, the same time, looking back on it at times, we used to really, yeah. You know, resent mom and dad a little bit during those tough times, but looking back on it now, I wouldn't have changed anything about it, just because it kind of made us more hungry for the things that we want in life and even just work and being competitive within our own minds.
Like my brother was saying,

Brea Avalos: [00:11:16]

so. I'll take it even like a layer deeper. Both our parents grew up in like, not that good of a neighborhood. My dad actually, or our dad came here when he was young from Mexico. And so they had this like grit in them to get out of the situation they grew up in. And I think you had two people who both had this drive to have a better life for themselves.
And then when they started finding success in their careers and we started, you know, becoming a more financially well off family, they still held those values of grit and you have to work for everything that you get. And I even remember, like, I think since I'm the youngest too, I, I was like at the end of all this progression of like the family.
And I even still, I had to work for every single dime my mom ever gave me and like, always like, right, like right towards the end of high school, I had to get a job and like stuff like that. So it was always something where it's like, you have to work for what you, what you're given type of mentality, fantastic

Kevin Chang: [00:12:16]

role models

Anthony Avalos: [00:12:17]

for sure.
Bree,

Kevin Chang: [00:12:18]

tell us a little bit about the dance that you were doing your background. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brea Avalos: [00:12:24]

So I'm the youngest by a long shot. Me and Anthony are six years apart. And then me and Ray are 10 years. Almost like exactly 10 years. We were both born in the same month, just 10 years difference right away.
They try to put me in soccer from an early age. And I was like picking daisies on the soccer field. I don't know why. And I just like, wasn't passionate about soccer. And I was like, almost like against the grain because everybody was playing soccer in my family. I wanted to do something different. And so I was like, I want to dance.
But then of course it's like, I don't know if it was me pushing for it or my mom, but like, there is still that competitive aspect. Like I couldn't just dance. I had to be on the competition team and like, and dance competitively. So I dance additively, like my whole life from there. I was kind of like living a different world from Anthony and Ray.
A lot of my childhood growing up. There was no super connection. I just remember, I always wanted to hang out with them and I like, they built a half pipe in the garage one time and I like kept trying to like pretend to skateboard just to like hang out with them. And it never really worked out. So I was always trying to like, be cool with them, but I wasn't cool enough because I was the annoying little sister and then for my running journey kind of happened.
This happy accident. I was in high school and my friend was like, Hey, I'm going out for the track team for P credits. And I was like, okay, like, I'll just go whatever. Like I was kind of in this like yes. Mode in the moment. So I was like, yeah, I'll just go. And I ended up absolutely loving track. I remember I ran because I had no stamina.
So my first distance was the 400 and I just remember like, That's kind of how running happened then it was cool because running was something at that point. Ray already was running already ran track a little bit in college and like people were starting to get rid of, to running in the family. So then from there, okay.
I had this instant connection with Ray and Ray would like teach, like, do trainings with me when I was younger to like, get me even better, like past where I was, what they're teaching me at, like in high school. And so then it started becoming fun. Then I had something that I really, really connected with my brother as well.
That was really cool to Bri. What was your,

Bertrand Newson: [00:14:26]

your preferred distance or distances in high school?

Brea Avalos: [00:14:29]

Yeah, so I did the 400 and then I got like decent at the 400. And then I don't, I think the 800 was just somebody put me in the 801 time. And then I also loved the fact that people would say it was the hardest race.
Cause the 800 apparent, like in the track world, it's like, Oh, the eight hundreds, like the longest sprint ever. And so for me, like that was something where it's like, Oh my God, I'm going to get so good at this distance. So like, I just fell in love with that distance. And that was, yeah, it was just so fun.
Like first lap stay with the pack, second lap you're to sprinting it out. That is just the best. And then from there, it transitioned into college for a bit as well. And then after college is when I got into running because my brothers were into it or I'm sorry, marathon.

Kevin Chang: [00:15:12]

Ray, what kind of training were you running her through or what kind of drills were you.

Ray Avalos: [00:15:17]

It was probably,
I

Anthony Avalos: [00:15:22]

think we got Hills.

Ray Avalos: [00:15:23]

My dad always used to make us throw up on Hill. So

Anthony Avalos: [00:15:27]

secret too.

Ray Avalos: [00:15:31]

always stay in our blood, but no, but I mean just little stuff that I learned, whether it be from where I had another good coach in high school, his name was ed coach Flores. And then even my college coach at salary stages.
So little like interval type workouts, just kind of introducing her to crazy.

Anthony Avalos: [00:15:46]

That doesn't sound crazy. But we grew up with my dad taking us. We thought we were going to the beach, but we ended up somewhere called Paro dunes outside of Watsonville. We were getting after it on the, the Sandhills. You ain't know that's, that's a real stuff.

Ray Avalos: [00:16:02]

I actually still run those Hills every now and

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:04]

then they're

Kevin Chang: [00:16:06]

growing up. Like some weekends he'd, he'd take you over and there'd be competition between the three of you guys

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:13]

or, yeah, you can say that. My dad was also my, my soccer coach from when I was probably around six or seven. He started taking over as my soccer coach and then he was my soccer coach until I was 15.
He had a project

Kevin Chang: [00:16:30]

and he was successful.

Bertrand Newson: [00:16:33]

Let's see, live Oak high school.

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:35]

Yeah. Live Oak high

Kevin Chang: [00:16:36]

school. All of fame fame,

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:39]

actually, that just happened a few years back. Yeah. Hall of fame.

Bertrand Newson: [00:16:42]

Congratulations.

Brea Avalos: [00:16:43]

The local newspaper

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:46]

Morgan Hill times. Yeah.

Bertrand Newson: [00:16:49]

And from there you went to.

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:51]

Yeah, I went to Berkeley.

Ray Avalos: [00:16:52]

I

Anthony Avalos: [00:16:52]

played there for four years.
So, and then in Norway, why, why I'm here? Of course

Ray Avalos: [00:16:58]

we talked three times pack 10 champ, three

Anthony Avalos: [00:17:00]

times you have three time pack, three time pack, 10 chance. So we were, we were top 10 in the nation. All my years, never. One of the things that irks me the most is I'm sorry if anybody's playing on the Cal bear soccer team, but I never once lost the local rivals Stanford or, um, Santa Clara.
And then the other rival was the Huskies, Washington Huskies never once lost to them. And now we're dropping into them all the time. So step it up, boys.

Ray Avalos: [00:17:29]

Yeah.

Anthony Avalos: [00:17:31]

Yeah. Yeah. When I was at live Oak, I started playing from when I was a freshmen and then. One three times. I was in my junior, senior year, first steamroll, all CCS, MVP of the league, also my, my junior senior year.
And then that gave me I was playing soccer. The way it's set up high school is one part of the soccer kind of Academy. But most of my time was spent with my father who grew up with a team called South 78 Pumas. We were one of the top teams in California and also, uh, got some national creds we're traveling to Texas.
Selfless Angeles around the, all around the U S playing soccer. And then I was always the youngest kid on the team. And then when I was 16, I moved to a team called Santa Clara sporting. And that's when it was my age group. And that's, that was my last two years of high school. And I think that's what really.
Gave

Ray Avalos: [00:18:21]

me that
kind

Anthony Avalos: [00:18:22]

of platform to be seen by somebody like Cal, who was one of the top teams in the nation. That was the kind of next step in my career. And then, and then went on from there, fought it out my freshman year, didn't get so many minutes and then, and then really jumped in my sophomore year and then had a real good career.
Real strong team, played with a lot of professional players that are still playing MLS or in Europe. And then I had my go follow the dream a little bit that was thinking I wasn't going to play beyond college. And then I had a little light of inspiration. Once in Norway, I got a trial, got on a second division team there.
My first year we went, we won the league and we went up to the first division. So that was, uh, another championship on the belt. And then I played for four years and then it was a good time. And then I started putting more time in my career. And then, and then that's when my running came in. So my running career is quite short.
It's most of my career has been soccer and following Ray and Bree and running and knowing that if I really wanted to get after it, you guys better see me, but then
And so my running career is quite short, but I, after I was playing soccer, I really fell in love with running. And it gave me that kind of outlet and that competitive place where I can use my energy. And instead of this team competition, I was now competing with myself and then that gave me a whole different inspiration and.
I love running the feeling of finishing the race was the best feeling that I've, I don't think I've ever experienced that feeling of finishing a race. And then I got really hungry to really dive in. And then that was the whole spark of my, my running career.

Kevin Chang: [00:19:58]

Well, let's get into it. Let's, let's talk about running, who was the first to start the kind of a longer distance running and was that you re we were the first one and kind of inspiring people.
And I know that you were kind of out of. Sports for a little bit. And so give us the whole story about that.

Anthony Avalos: [00:20:15]

So,

Ray Avalos: [00:20:15]

you know, similar, I won't go into as the long winded, but I was a decent soccer player. Not I'll I'll measure. We won CCS my senior year. Uh, but, um, my, my junior year. I had some buddies on the track team and they said, Hey, come out, come out for track.
And I was like, Oh, just to stay in shape for soccer. And then I went out and kind of like Brie story. I really enjoyed it. So I'm stuck with that. Um, and you know, was able to make CCS, um, my first go around and cross country and track. Um, and then. You know, was able to have an opportunity to run with San Jose state.
So I did that. And then after college, you know, you're young and 20, and you don't know 20 somethings, you don't know what you're doing, trying to figure out life. And I just kind of got away from running for, it was almost seven years. And, um, I was introduced to Bertrand through my inlaws and just mutual neighborhood friends.
And he invited me to the Oakland marathon relay. Oakland running festival is actually my favorite event. Aside from Boston. It's one of the best running events I've ever been to. I just put a stamp on that. This was 2012 and right after that race, I was just really into running again. I was like this feeling.
This is a good feeling that I want to feel so. Just continued with it, started running more races, be more involved, especially with two legit, funny inspiration there. And coach B up, of course with always is inspirational leadership kind of leading the way there. So yeah, just kind of followed that journey and then got the bug.
And you then my first marathon. And when was it? 2015? I think I ran my first

Anthony Avalos: [00:21:46]

marathon.

Kevin Chang: [00:21:47]

Tell us about that first race. What was the distance at the relay and what kind of shape were you in and how'd you get into shape?

Ray Avalos: [00:21:54]

I never really sat on my butt that during that seven year span, I mean, I would, I would do three miles here.
Maybe pick up soccer game here, maybe a gym workout here and there. So I'd picked it up. I mean, I could definitely finish it. I'd probably ran. Seven seven, some odd minute pace or maybe a five, five mile leg did it. And it felt, and it felt good. So I knew I had it. I had that mindset. Whereas if I could train a little bit more, I could really do this.
And then that's where it just kind of, you know, the snowball effect. And I just got the bug

Brea Avalos: [00:22:24]

from there.

Bertrand Newson: [00:22:24]

From a friend perspective, from a coaching perspective and getting a chance to watch someone to raise just character above and beyond talent, but that talent to be rekindled. I was there at your very first half marathon in San Francisco.
Remember that?
You said, you know what coach? I think I want to run. For my first half marathon in San Francisco, San Francisco Hills, I want to run sub one

Ray Avalos: [00:22:50]

31

Bertrand Newson: [00:22:54]

29 and change.

Anthony Avalos: [00:22:55]

Yeah. And we,

Bertrand Newson: [00:22:57]

we had a good time the night before
Shout out to our partner, uh, Becky Hernandez, who was there as well. So we won't go into that story other than it was a good time. And Ray crushed his first half marathon. So continue on.

Anthony Avalos: [00:23:18]

From

Ray Avalos: [00:23:18]

there did that, got that bug found out. I could really get going again. And two, it just gave me a lot of them opportunities to progress.
And, and as I progressed, I got to a point where I was like getting faster. Um, and then I hooked up with a local running club called Wolfpack and, and that's where I really. Started to take some even more chunks off right now. My PR is one 16 and a half. I'm a two 48, your honor. I think I still have a window to get under that.
I'm kind of, I have a beautiful family. Uh, so I have a wife and two kids. I have a five year old. She just started kindergarten. That's that's another story. That's distance learning. And then I have a 10 month old. So I'm still getting out when I can right now to run. I mean, You know, but my window is small.
So my long runs right now are six miles. I can't really get out for those, you know, 10, even 20 miles that I have been. So

Anthony Avalos: [00:24:08]

they'll still be there. I

Ray Avalos: [00:24:09]

think in the next few months here, I'll be able to shift gears back and get hungry again. You said

Kevin Chang: [00:24:16]

you knocked off big chunks of time when you joined Wolfpack, what were some of the things that you think contributed to you?
Knocking time off?

Ray Avalos: [00:24:25]

One thing, uh, their workouts are, are really good, so that they're based towards different events. So of course you're definitely basing it towards your marathons or hats. The Pacific association, which is, it's like a lead within the EU USA track association. So they're gearing towards those races and they have really tough workouts.
And if you follow the schedule, which during my training cycles, I would follow them and you know, you're running with, you know, there's different group. So, you know, let's call it three or four groups and out there and you find your group and you're really pushing each other. So I think detailed workouts that are, that really have an end goal, but then at the same time, you're running with other people that are pushing

Anthony Avalos: [00:25:01]

as well.

Kevin Chang: [00:25:02]

So. What would a like week of training look like when you're really pushing it? I

Ray Avalos: [00:25:07]

believe in that the tempo runs a one tempo run a week, which that's just like an uncomfortable

Anthony Avalos: [00:25:13]

think of it as almost

Ray Avalos: [00:25:14]

slightly less than a race pace. And then, um, an interval workout and then a long run. And then two decent runs within that.
So five solid workouts and you could definitely throw in a six day there. But, you know, definitely three key workouts is kind of the bread and butter that I

Anthony Avalos: [00:25:32]

don't that cause Ray's always been pretty methodical about is training and then also on Strava and he has his methods. And then I, when I'm getting into running, I got extremely serious about that.
Bree got stressed because

Brea Avalos: [00:25:47]

I had to delete my. Strava account,

Anthony Avalos: [00:25:51]

but that's Oh, you're talking about rubbing what we're doing and it was this like method battle on. And then, and then when Boston came around, then where we're going to race for them, then we were hiding our cards. It was like a poker match. So I was like waiting for him to post his run before I post my run.
But anyway, is my thinking in terms of running, is this. I read a lot and heard a lot of podcasts about the 80, 20 running style about running slow so that when you have your, whether it be interval training or tempo runs, you do

Ray Avalos: [00:26:25]

have the extra

Anthony Avalos: [00:26:26]

gear to go into that red level and expand your capacity. I started doing that, not during Boston, but after Boston, hell Hill got gotten me in the, in the, in the hammies heartbreak kill.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I started doing it and it's this weird, like. Slowed down pace because you always like the natural thing. When you go out on the road run, you're normally running at this mid tempo and you're getting out there and you're kind of falling into this mid tempo. It's like a natural thing.
But if you just slowed down a level where it feels awkwardly slow, and then just fill that out and be able to do that for miles on end and you feel like you can run forever. And then that becomes your resting heart rate. And then that is your kind of, you're 80% of your runs. That is your. You're resting while you're running.
Say you had a hard tempo the day before the next day, just chill out for a few days and just take it easy, but extend your distance. And then when it comes time for that next a tempo run or in overrun, you're going to have that extra gear to push yourself to the next level. So you're actually gaining more by saving your body on those longer runs.
That mid zone from what I read and many people who are running know about this, but you're not getting any extra benefits in the mid zone than you are than when you're running slow. Cause it's, they're still accomplishing the same thing, but you're just putting more strain on your body.

Kevin Chang: [00:27:50]

I think Bertrand just talked about the 80 20 rule to me, not too long ago.
We just had Matt Fitzgerald on the podcast, not too long ago as well. It's really cool to see people that are advanced runners or who we would consider really fantastic runners, really experimenting with the 80 20 rule and having good success from it. So you said that you started doing it after Boston had the other.
Have Ray Bree, have you guys experimented with 80 20 rules? Tried it out at all.

Ray Avalos: [00:28:18]

Not through a cycle, but I have found myself running slower.
Oh, but actually I've talked to my brother and that's definitely something I definitely want to give it

Brea Avalos: [00:28:35]

a go. Yeah, that's what I think I'm the least methodical out of the three of us. I actually didn't enjoy running in college as much as I wanted to. I think when I found running is at this point where I needed it to be like a way to feel almost like powerful.
I needed that in my life. I needed a way to feel like I was here control of my life. And so for me running, it's always been like my outlet. Like it's something that I just really very much, like it's not about even the finish line. It's about like, Just being in every single mile. So when it comes to training these two, talking about training for Boston, the first race we did together, it was so stressful because they would be like, no, no, no, no, every single conversation, I would just want to see how my brother and his, his wife were doing.
And he would try and tell me about what I'm doing wrong, about my running. So let's say,

Ray Avalos: [00:29:24]

Rob, come on down.

Brea Avalos: [00:29:28]

Oh, he's like, Hey, you should do this. You should do. And it was cool because like, we were like competing and also like trying to make each other better, which was awesome. Like, it was so cool. But for me, it was just like, the biggest training that I would do is just like really high mileage and a lot of trail running.
Like a lot of, like, I would go to, I'm trying to think, like quick silver is a perfect in San Jose where I would do, like, I would challenge myself to find the biggest Hills. Around me. And those would be like my training courses. And those would be like my long runs is making sure that I'm putting in like 18 mile run.
Um, and just spending the whole day do like in Hills doing it.

Anthony Avalos: [00:30:04]

One thing I admire about Bree, her consistency with running. And I do think that comes from like an underlying love where I can't speak for Ray, but for myself, I always have to be training for something where Bree is kind of has this natural love for running that she just does it.
And she's ready to go. If you put a race up next month, she's going to smash where I need a little bit more time to plan it out. So I think. That's one thing I do admire about Bria is the sustainability in her running. No matter if it's a race coming up or not, or is this a situation where now breeze out there getting after it?

Brea Avalos: [00:30:39]

The best shape I've ever gotten though, is when, like, as far as like marathon shape is when I was staying at Anthony's house in Norway for a couple months. And we were in that. What is the

Anthony Avalos: [00:30:51]

training
we ended up? So my wife works with the ex, like a Olympian triathlete. We ended up at like the national Olympic running group, which is one of the main clubs. And we are training. We are not in like serious running shape. We're a serious, but they're really serious people. And they were like running these workouts were crazy and we got it.
And this group, they loved us because we were from the U S it was winter time. Cold, but we're out there every day. Just getting after these crazy workouts, tempo runs, you would have like mile repeats on mile repeats and everybody's really good. So we're going in there thinking, Oh, it's just a running club.
We're going to be pushing it. And then we try to push ourselves, but we're not in that elite pack where maybe just watching them from behind, but we're on their mailing list. And I still to this day use their workouts. Cause I get every week the coach sends workout. So then I take the workouts and then I just.
I don't add the whole thing in, but I add pieces in, into my schedule and it's basically the children's and then two interval trainings per week, and one tempo run per week and then one long run. And then the other runs are just mid distance slower.

Brea Avalos: [00:32:06]

And Ray,

Bertrand Newson: [00:32:06]

I think I had interrupted you when you were going to reference your very first marathon, that experience, because it's ironic that first marathon was a podcast that we just launched in the last 24 hours.

Ray Avalos: [00:32:17]

Yeah. And actually just

Anthony Avalos: [00:32:19]

let me see what year that was. It

Ray Avalos: [00:32:20]

wasn't 2015. It may have been sooner, but I forget when you're 14,

Bertrand Newson: [00:32:24]

14, 14. Yep.

Ray Avalos: [00:32:26]

I thought I got the date wrong there, but yeah, first marathon, I'm the type of person where I just kind of dive into it. I'm like a trial and error guy. I think that's the same for my brother and sister.
We just, you know, We'll just go all in and we'll learn about it later and, you know, okay. To make mistakes and it's okay to, but you just got to go try. So I was like, you know what, I'm going to try my first marathon. I think I was training my peak mileage was like, I had a couple of 30 mile weeks, but most of them were like 20 something milers.
And it was, I was training for a big Sur marathon. So I got to the big Sur marathon. I went out like a speeding bullet man at the time I was in that greatest shape yet. So. I went out at six, 15 was moving for me at that time. And I went out for the first six miles and I did that and I took her down maybe six 45.
I was still on

Anthony Avalos: [00:33:12]

a

Ray Avalos: [00:33:12]

good pace. And then you hit that big Hill and yeah, I struggled to finish. I started cramping at pretty early, so I hit, I hit that 16 miles and I started started cramping and I just almost crawled the finish, but I finished, I finished my first marathon and three 12. And my goal was I wanted to try to qualify for Boston.
My first goal.
but I, I will say that that is

Anthony Avalos: [00:33:41]

a beautiful

Ray Avalos: [00:33:42]

course. And there was a lot of breathtaking moments

Anthony Avalos: [00:33:45]

there where,

Ray Avalos: [00:33:46]

you know, once you hit a wall, sometimes you're just accepting of how beautiful everything is, how beautiful the struggle is, how beautiful the surroundings are, how beautiful the things that you see around you are.
So I think it's important to just really. You know, hit the wall. And just whether, you know, it's trying to qualify for Boston or trying to compete, wait your first five, K it doesn't matter. Just kind of dive in and find your wall for that time being, and keep trying to push that wall if that's your goal.
And I think that's just kinda my mindset and, you know, to stay optimistic and persevere and just kind of dive in.

Kevin Chang: [00:34:20]

Well, I mean a three 12 marathon after cramping, a mile 16. I mean, some of us would kill for a three 12, so kudos to you crawling into the finish line. That is, that is not crawling into the finish line.
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Anthony Avalos: [00:34:52]

mob.com/referral.
So

Kevin Chang: [00:34:55]

talk to us about Boston qualifying for Boston, because all three of you have. And so, and we've gotten kind of nuggets of it, you know, tell us what was that journey? Who was the first to qualify for Boston? How did you bring the others along? What, what did that look like?

Anthony Avalos: [00:35:10]

So after

Ray Avalos: [00:35:11]

a big Sur, I knew I wanted to get sucked out the best place to go qualify for Boston is a renounced CIM.
So what's a CIM 2015. Yeah. And I ran a two 56, I think. So. Yeah.

Anthony Avalos: [00:35:28]

I ran a two 56,

Ray Avalos: [00:35:29]

um, made it, it was awesome. So. I wish I would have had a,

Anthony Avalos: [00:35:34]

a

Ray Avalos: [00:35:34]

story for CIM that was really memorable. I mean, it's memorable being around to legit and how big the event is the awesome event. I have any cramping stories. I mean, I ran a really smart race, is able to get across the finish line.
And then I got to Boston. So Boston, uh, that was an incredible experience. Uh, they call it like the graduation of marathoning. I think, uh, all of our buddy all over Boston described that to me was that it's the graduation marathoning, which it is everywhere from, you know, getting into athlete village to everything leading up and picking up your bib to just being in the race itself.
I mean, thousands of people, what is it about 30,000 and people, but then the streets are just lined with people for the entire race. And every town has its own story. So it's, you really feel like you're going through different chapters of the race, which is just really incredible, but I will tell probably one of my most memorable stories was from my first Boston.

Anthony Avalos: [00:36:30]

So I was crossing

Ray Avalos: [00:36:31]

the final mile. I was on a good pace. I was probably on a. I would say that two 45 and it's high to forties range. I crossed the last mile. Marker. There's an famous overpass. It says Boston strong on it came under that overpass and there was a slight incline. So I kind of pushed it up that incline and right as I came out, both legs locked.
Yup. And I could not move. I could not move. And I was mentally, I was having like a decent race, a few pitches here and there, but immensely I was having a good race and I locked up. And I went to the ground and I could not get up. And I was trying to, you know, stretch out and nothing was working, nothing was working.
And a guy came by me, which later I found his name is Walter Cano from Peru. He grabbed me by the hand and he said, and he looked at me in the eye and he said, keep going. That's all I said. And for some reason that energy just jolted me right up. And, and in my mind, my mind has said, start stomping your feet.
So I stopped my feet as hard as I could. And both of my legs just instantly loosened up and I was able to finish the last and finish the race pretty strong as well. I have a video coming down Boylston, and I was able to finish it at a decent pace. So never give up as a story of, of that. I have a picture of that, just the grimace on my face right before I'm about to come.
It's pretty funny,

Anthony Avalos: [00:37:45]

but yeah, it's cool.

Kevin Chang: [00:37:46]

Any theories on our thinking can overcome cramping. Any thoughts on how that is, or

Anthony Avalos: [00:37:52]

the mind

Ray Avalos: [00:37:53]

is super powerful. So if you think you're going to cramp, you're going to cramp because every time that I've cramped up, I thought about it

Anthony Avalos: [00:38:00]

a few minutes before a few seconds

Ray Avalos: [00:38:02]

before.
I've cramped. So, I mean, if you think you're going to lose, you're gonna lose. I mean, it's okay to be down, but definitely the mind's a powerful thing and just try to do things to overcome. And I don't know why I decided to stop my feet, but you know, there's ways to get out of a situation.

Kevin Chang: [00:38:17]

How soon after the Boston bombings was that

Ray Avalos: [00:38:20]

two, two years.
I believe that Boston bars were

Anthony Avalos: [00:38:22]

2013 We had our uncle. Mike is also a

Ray Avalos: [00:38:27]

crazy

Anthony Avalos: [00:38:28]

athlete distance man. Uh, fishermen

Bertrand Newson: [00:38:33]

biker

Anthony Avalos: [00:38:35]

biker. He ran Boston the year of the bombing. So he has a memory in this story from that, but we were there too. Yeah, it was it two years after.

Bre Avalos: [00:38:44]

Yeah, but you qualified after Ray, right? Or like Ray ran it one year

Ray Avalos: [00:38:49]

16 and then you guys had at 17.

Bre Avalos: [00:38:52]

Yeah. And then in an ant, I was still in college and I think you were training to qualify.

Anthony Avalos: [00:38:57]

Yeah. Yeah. Then I call so, so then that was around the time when I was just kind of tearing off my soccer area, getting into new things and then I ran a half marathon. Just out of courage, really? That nothing was tough and it wasn't a hit, it wasn't a San Francisco course.
I'll say that. And then I really liked running. I wasn't intending to qualify for Boston, but based on some of my trainings on Strava, Ray, Ray, Ray said. Hey, you might be able to, you're running pretty decent. You might be able to qualify for Boston. And then I was like, okay, I'll give it a go. I wasn't really thinking that it's possible.
But then I started to get into it. And then that was my kind of guiding light. So then everything in my training was okay, Boston. That's my time. I know I want to run a three Oh five as the cutoff. I don't want to make any chances because it could be lower. I'm going to run a two 59. Here's my splits. That was my goal is to run a two 59.
I was, I trained for running a two 59 in Stockholm, Sweden, relatively, somewhat flat course, but you got a couple of bridges that you have to crossover the added little, add a little bit of challenge. So I ran there in Stockholm, Sweden in 2016. And then I, I ran a two 59, 23, which was right on the dot from my, what I was going for.
So that was my first marathon was in stucco.

Kevin Chang: [00:40:23]

The marathon you qualified for Boston, is that right?

Anthony Avalos: [00:40:25]

Yeah.

Kevin Chang: [00:40:26]

So you were training for both the distance and also the time. Being

Anthony Avalos: [00:40:30]

in Europe. I like, I always have a trouble with, with Ray and breathe because I'm working now in kilometers. Cause everybody here works in Columbus per hour or kilometers per minute.
So then I knew that based on my kilometer per minute time that I would end up at, I think it was four 59, 22, and then I landed. I landed at two 59, 23, I, then I had a five minute 30 plus seconds that barrier to get into Boston's office. We were pretty sure after that race and Ray was the first one I talked to you that I think you got into Boston and then it was like, Oh, wow.
That was a big part.

Kevin Chang: [00:41:06]

Do you think you already had the speed? And you're just like looking to add on the distance and the endurance.

Anthony Avalos: [00:41:12]

I think

Ray Avalos: [00:41:12]

I

Anthony Avalos: [00:41:13]

have the, not necessarily the speed, but I think I have the capacity. Even my soccer career, I was a runner playing soccer. One of my biggest skillsets. It was, of course you can say technique or pass or whatever, but I had a large running capacity when I was playing soccer.
So I was playing center, midfield, running all over, up and back and these kinds of things. So I think that translated to. Even though that first marathon, my training wasn't as deep as it went to the next marathon. I think that natural capacity was there. Of course I did train, I did train enough to get it two 59.
I think a lot of that was just a natural capacity base that we have in our family. That was a cool moment to get into Boston. And then it was like, okay, Ray's going to Boston. I'm going to Boston. Bri, are you good?

Kevin Chang: [00:42:05]

That's some pressure

Bertrand Newson: [00:42:10]

resource marathon of all cities, San

Brea Avalos: [00:42:13]

Francisco. I think Anthony qualified when I was still in college, I want to say, or like maybe I just graduated or something, but I knew he was training. So there was this pressure. And I remember my last semester of college, they both were like, Anthony was soon to be qualifying.
Like he was on the track and I was like, okay, well now it's like, I'm not going to be the only sibling left out. Like this Apolis game gang has got to stick together. So, so I did this one half marathon because I went to Boise state. And I just signed up, me and my friends signed up for this half marathon.
I was like, okay, if I could really do this, like run a really good time in this half marathon, I'm going to for sure. Sign up for like a Boston qualifying marathon. And then, so I ran the half marathon I did really well. And then, and then, so I was like, all right, this is it. Like, that was really fun. This is I'm going to do it.

Bertrand Newson: [00:43:04]

What was your time break?

Brea Avalos: [00:43:06]

I don't remember my time in that half marathon. Only

Bertrand Newson: [00:43:08]

thing.

Brea Avalos: [00:43:10]

Apparently it was the, I forgot what I wish I could look it up right now to tell you what the, this half marathon is called, but it's famous. So someone look it up at some point, but it's like one of the hardest half marathons in like one of them in like the United States, because it's a strip Hill.
There's this pill in Boise called the Gulch and it's just like straight up. And so it was like, it's like one of the hardest half marathons, like dub one of the hardest ones in the world. So it definitely are in the nation. So it definitely wasn't for time, but definitely plays pretty well. And then I signed up for San Francisco.
I don't know why thought San Francisco would be the best place to qualify. I think it was the only. Merit Boston qualifying marathon, close enough to the cutoff to actually like actually sign up. So I was like, okay, it's going to be San Francisco. And then I was training quite a bit. Like basically post-college that whole summer.
I was like training. I did qualify at San Francisco marathon. And then the last couple miles, my first marathon, I have this like vivid memory, like cause San Francisco marathon is really cool. Cause it starts at like 5:00 AM Bertrand. I think he ran it that year. You stayed at your hotel as well, too. So do you just like wake up at like 3:30 AM and like you're just crack a Dawn and it starts at 5:00 AM is like the first wave.
And then you just go and then it's beautiful because San Francisco you've never seen it so quiet. You've never seen San Francisco as quiet as it was that like, if you don't run San Francisco marathon, so. I was losing steam around like mile 18. And then I, all of a sudden saw two of my friends pop up, like as sidelines.
And I was like, okay, this has given me energy. Let's go. And then mile 20, it's like, it feels like you're at war because there are grown men crying, like almost done.
Your ears are starting to ring, like what is going on? Well, like, I don't know, going to the bathroom on themselves. It's like, and then I just remember I'm like, and that was like the first mile 20, even to this day, even when my times are getting faster and faster mile 20 to 26, I don't care who you are.
That is like all mental. That is it. And so I was like running and then I think it was like close to the end, like mile 24 or something. I just see Ray, all of a sudden I hear great. Let's go great. And I don't even know if he was allowed to do this, but he just hopped into the race, ran me like close to the finish.
And then I finished and I qualified.

Kevin Chang: [00:45:40]

That's awesome.

Bertrand Newson: [00:45:42]

Love that family support. They're getting out of this course. Bring her in to the finish line.

Anthony Avalos: [00:45:47]

Bottom line is Ray force this to

Brea Avalos: [00:45:55]

He's always been our biggest cheerleader. Like he's always somebody who's like, he's like our coach. He'll like be like encouraging us, pushing us all the time. And it's always in this like, just smiley way. Like, Hey, I think you could do it.

Anthony Avalos: [00:46:09]

We can get it.

Bertrand Newson: [00:46:12]

So qualified, you know, that you're in for the most part and race day itself, or actually leading up to traveling out family, the anticipation I'm going to the expo together.
That expo photo was fantastic.

Ray Avalos: [00:46:25]

It was awesome. I'll let you guys tell your little things too, but I'll just start this one off we're there. We're like, Oh, I'm like, Whoa, this is my brother, sister. My brother is coming from Norway. You know, we haven't seen him for a while, so we're just there. It's awesome. We feel like weather's perfect.
So you can really enjoy Boston. The whole family came. My parents, my wife, I had one kid at the time. So Cobia, my daughter and my mother in law was there. My sister in law. I think my aunt was there as my aunt Michelle. Yeah. It was a family affair. So it was a good time. There was this good vibes. Everything was awesome.
T shirts. We were going to get to budget, but, you know, we had a ticket one step further with the team, Avalon custom gear.

Bertrand Newson: [00:47:15]

how we

Anthony Avalos: [00:47:15]

do it. Yeah. I mean, it was awesome being there. It was like, it really special because it was like we put in the work to get qualified and then everybody in the work in training, leading up to that. So just being there was more of a celebration. So it was like the race and everything we did. Of course, we're going to go.
The give it all in the race, but it was more of a celebration and the runs and Ray said this before, but Boston is one straight line to the finish and the whole way is packed with people. And it's just like this awesome thing where we're starting in different places in different ways, but we just all know we're running the same places.
And then we're just like trying our best and do, and the thing together until you get to mile 20, then it's every man for him. So. I thought it was really special. The family that was there, my wife was there. You can't recreate that experience. That was something we, we could, we could try to do again. We have something called coming up in Chicago that we tried to do this year, but we're gonna defer to do it next year.
We both, we all qualified for Chicago. So we're going to try to give that a go. But yeah, the Boston experience was unlike any other.

Bre Avalos: [00:48:25]

Yeah, Boston. Oh, Boston is still my favorite marathon and I've run it once after all three of us ran it as well. But that first time, like with all of us being there and the entire family being there too, it was awesome.
And especially like, I just remember it the night before the murder, the competition between us and there were like family members picking sides on who is like, it was mostly Anthony and Ray. Cause they're in the same, you know, like age group, uh, Like men bracket. And so they were just like, who's gonna win.
Who's gonna win. And I was just like, and I'm like, I'm going to my cell phone here. Um, but it was, it was a really, really cool experience. And I think afterwards too, um, we all took pictures. Where's the, like the commons area. And I think the biggest memory I have is taking those photos afterwards together.
And just like really like knowing that like we all accomplished it together and it was sick. Cause that course is not easy. And Boston just in general, no matter what course I've ever run, Boston is just like something special because like every, the course is just lined with a crowd of 10 people. And like, it just keeps on going and going and you just see so many different, like you see the university and like you see just every, every type of people that live in, in Boston come out and it's just like amazing.
You could never not feel energy on that course, because there are just so many people bull and the crowd giving you so much energy. And so it just like pushes you forward.

Anthony Avalos: [00:49:59]

And it's a humbling course as well. It's not a typical course

Ray Avalos: [00:50:02]

there.

Anthony Avalos: [00:50:04]

Yeah. There they are.

Kevin Chang: [00:50:05]

What's the picture online. Definitely. Yeah.
Yeah.

Anthony Avalos: [00:50:08]

Right. We look good there.

Ray Avalos: [00:50:13]

I won by the way.

Brea Avalos: [00:50:23]

really quickly not so humble brag. One timewise. But who was the fastest person as far as like group? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Ray Avalos: [00:50:36]

I think 500 Brie

Anthony Avalos: [00:50:38]

was taught.

Kevin Chang: [00:50:39]

Wow.

Ray Avalos: [00:50:40]

Wow.

Anthony Avalos: [00:50:41]

Um, not to mention,

Ray Avalos: [00:50:42]

I will do another brag for my sister. So in 2018, uh, me and Bree ran it again and it was a torrential downpour. 30 40 mile an hour winds, top elites were running, you know, 15, 20 minutes off.
Their times, top of leaps are dropping out of the race. Everybody was running 15, 20 minutes, slower, three PR with the 300.

Bertrand Newson: [00:51:05]

Wow. Wow.

Ray Avalos: [00:51:08]

I ran a two 49 and I mean, on a good day, I felt like I would have been a sub two 40 that day. And that's just

Bertrand Newson: [00:51:14]

me mentally,

Anthony Avalos: [00:51:15]

who knows what happens,

Ray Avalos: [00:51:16]

but breathe. But the PR three Oh one in frickin,

Anthony Avalos: [00:51:20]

I can't even

Bertrand Newson: [00:51:21]

explain this horrific conditions by

Brea Avalos: [00:51:23]

far

Ray Avalos: [00:51:24]

the worst running weather I've ever ran.

Brea Avalos: [00:51:27]

My mouth kept chattering. When I crossed the finish line. It's like, your body goes into this weird, like survivor mode when you're racing. And the second I crossed the finish line, my body went into this like weird, like my jaw couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop shattering. And my lips were purple and I had to like, Find warmth right away or else I wouldn't like, I don't know what would happen

Anthony Avalos: [00:51:48]

is that, that was the year I remember watching on TV.
That's when Dez Lyndon won that that was the 5k beforehand. We did it as like kind of a shakeout, but we. Not to take away from my mom's tenacity, but she ran the five K before and GPR in the fi that 5k and we pushed her and we all are just get we're in her ear the whole time. And she was just total focus mode,

Ray Avalos: [00:52:12]

a little bit math, but she was getting

Anthony Avalos: [00:52:14]

after it on

Ray Avalos: [00:52:14]

the five K

Anthony Avalos: [00:52:16]

yard, the five K was it the two days before the race?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Ray Avalos: [00:52:22]

That Saturday it's that Saturday before

Bertrand Newson: [00:52:24]

conversations between the siblings tackling some more marathon majors. I mean, Anthony and Brie, you guys have run internationally together to do Berlin and potentially a completing the world marathon majors on the bucket list for you.

Anthony Avalos: [00:52:39]

Breeze leading, I have to, Brie has three.
Yeah,

Ray Avalos: [00:52:42]

I definitely want to do

Anthony Avalos: [00:52:43]

the whole, all six. So that's been my big thing after Boston. I ran in Spain, which was not a major in San Sebastian, Spain. I actually recommend that race. It's incense, Sebastian donut. It's on the coast of Spain, a beautiful course, fast course. It's a food city of the world.
Great place to visit as well. It's in November timeframe, but usually the weather's quite nice. So I ran that after Boston and then me and Bree ran in Berlin in 2018. Yeah. And we ran in Berlin actually. That was a lot of fun rep into legit. Of course, after Stockholm, I always rep to a D and I'll keep doing it every, every week.
Thank you.

Bertrand Newson: [00:53:23]

Thank you. Thank you. That race. I believe the men's world, the world marathon record was set as well.

Brea Avalos: [00:53:29]

So I crossed the finish line. I was bummed. I wanted a PR again, I was really like, close that. Didn't do it. But yeah, I crossed the finish line and all the volunteers on a cardboard paper. So you would cross the finish line and every single volunteer had his time.
What was it? I think it was like

Ray Avalos: [00:53:49]

one

Anthony Avalos: [00:53:51]

49 or

Kevin Chang: [00:53:51]

something like that.

Brea Avalos: [00:53:53]

You're on a court where people, so they got like Sharpie and just like. Put it on a cardboard thing. Every single volunteer had the time. And so like everybody knew right away when they saw two Oh one, they knew that the world record was set.
And so it was this really cool feeling to like, like, see when you cross the finish line, you're like, wow. I just ran the same course. Right?

Kevin Chang: [00:54:13]

Yeah.

Bertrand Newson: [00:54:15]

It was in case last year when some of us right in Chicago, the women's world record was set as well and is going head to head on October 4th, London. So it's going to be the marathon of all marathons, right against

Anthony Avalos: [00:54:27]

Galen.
London's on my, on my list. Yeah. One thing to see that just the power of in Berlin city, the days before the race, a great course, by the way, super fast there's there's things. I want to do it again. And I learned from, I w we did pretty good that course. So breed it. Awesome. I did my second best time. I got to throw it out since right throughout his, and he says he won Boston, but the vet, my PR was in Spain of two 44, and then I ran a two 45 in, uh, in Berlin.
But I think I could have ran faster in Berlin. I was going for a two 40 under sub two 40. And I think I went out to art. Whereas if I went for like two 42 ish, I think I maybe would have landed, but that's a topic for another day, but

Bertrand Newson: [00:55:14]

the seeds are being planted right now. I

Ray Avalos: [00:55:16]

can see the data.

Bertrand Newson: [00:55:26]

20, 21.

Ray Avalos: [00:55:30]

Go down.

Bertrand Newson: [00:55:32]

Hey, watch out for brief monies on brief.

Ray Avalos: [00:55:34]

Yeah.

Brea Avalos: [00:55:38]

What I have in my favor is my age. I haven't even peaked yet. So watch out.

Kevin Chang: [00:55:46]

Okay.

Bertrand Newson: [00:55:46]

We talked about, and I've had conversations with Ray cook and it was this a couple of years ago. Could we see three.

Brea Avalos: [00:55:52]

In Tokyo

Bertrand Newson: [00:55:54]

in the Tokyo Olympics, there was serious conversation about,

Ray Avalos: [00:55:58]

I'm not joking. If you're a happy guy, breeze, the type of person that runs without a running watch, she just that's it for the love.
She's, wasn't it shocker for a little bit, but she says, you know what? I don't even run with that. A watch because I just love it so much. But from a talent level and as a brother looking in she's super talented. Where, if she got some focus, training, focus, everything, what it takes to be approached, she could easily, in my opinion, chicken, I think she could have a shot.
That's it? That's his brother docked in, but

Brea Avalos: [00:56:28]

you have to do it

Ray Avalos: [00:56:30]

now.

Bertrand Newson: [00:56:34]

Only a handful of

Anthony Avalos: [00:56:35]

people. I was a soccer

Brea Avalos: [00:56:39]

as a dancer. What are you doing?

Bertrand Newson: [00:56:42]

Hey, a mom PR 5k in Boston as well, you know, merits on half marathon, ultra marathon.

Anthony Avalos: [00:56:50]

Yeah, but now she's all over the trails. I respect everybody who does trail. I know a lot of people are running trail races and doing fantastic at it.
I would like to hear also somebody's perspective on it. Cause I ran run one trail race and it wasn't even a crazy 50 K or it was 31 K. And that thing, I already ran a few marathons and I thought I was just going to get after it, not even with pace, but I thought it was going to survive that I did not survive.
I ended up walking 30% of the course. It was an offload, the Hills of Oslow. So it's quite steep nature. The beautiful chorus, but this trail running is a whole different, it's a whole different animal.

Bertrand Newson: [00:57:33]

Big bro. Back there, just sitting back, sipping on a beer like, Oh yeah, I got this right. I've done quick silver, a hundred K looking to do a hundred miler at some point, looking to do Western States, the Superbowl of all ultra marathons.
And if that's something you guys all wanted done, I'm sure that that's possible as well. Absolutely.

Brea Avalos: [00:57:53]

So the thought in her head yet,

Kevin Chang: [00:58:06]

leave it to coach beads, to plant the seeds in there. The say, Oh, there's

Bertrand Newson: [00:58:11]

instigator.

Anthony Avalos: [00:58:12]

I think we can.

Kevin Chang: [00:58:18]

We don't want to take up a ton of time, but I did want to ask what has been your favorite race, and maybe we can go quickly around the room. Which race would you recommend to others? And what has been your personal favorite race?

Ray Avalos: [00:58:31]

Definitely Boston by far, but for anybody getting into it, anybody, especially California or the Bay area region, I would say Oakland running festival.
I just love the energy and Oakland. I love Lake mirror and everybody just

Anthony Avalos: [00:58:44]

the support of the town is just

Ray Avalos: [00:58:46]

you feel the town vibe. And I, and I just love the culture there. And. You know, they put on a really good event. Firefighters are there certain beer after, and you know, people are just giving out tickets.
So you may leave a little drum, make sure to have it either Uber or the DJs out there. They have really good music artsy, just super fan of, yeah. Of Oakland for sure.

Anthony Avalos: [00:59:06]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we have to say Boston is going to be always the special place for us, but not only because of what Boston is, but, but the experience we had.
And then I would say the Spain one that I mentioned, and in San Sebastian, Spain, if anybody ever gets the chance to travel, it's not like a big, major race where you have all these sponsors and everything all perfectly set up. But just that being in a Spanish town on the coast, Just the beauty of that and being one with the race and running by the sea.
Beautiful, beautiful things. The people are screaming at you. There's a word. They say like animal animal, Spanish, which is like, yeah. And then that, that was really got me going at the end. So it's just this unique kind of experience. So that one was a special experience for me, just because everything that surrounds the race and what the city is.

Kevin Chang: [00:59:55]

What time of year is

Anthony Avalos: [00:59:56]

that one it's in November or so if you ever could sneak out on a long weekend or five, six day trip out to Spain, I would say you fly into Bilbao, Spain, and then it's about an hour bus ride to the coast. And then, or if you rent a car and then you're there and then you're on the coast, then it's very good with food and drink if you're around the race and the days after.
So yeah, definitely that one.

Bertrand Newson: [01:00:20]

Anthony real quick question. Before we go to Bri, what's the state of running timed events in Europe right now? Uh, much like the States, everything postponed, or are there some areas that you might be aware of that are actually running, um, with less cases of COVID compared to what's going on here in the States?

Anthony Avalos: [01:00:37]

Yeah. I mean, they started to loosen up a little bit with putting it on some races, but then due to some of, a lot of the tracks. Well, during the summer that everything's been picking up again with COVID, so it's pretty strict. I mean, it's hard to find a rate. There are races going on, but they're pretty similar to what's happening in the U S where it's a.
People are being creative about doing virtual running events and these kinds of things. So nothing major. I know there's a few, but nothing. It's not the same. So we're still seeing that lack of races, which is tough to stay motivated, but we got to stay out there and keep, keep moving. So.

Bertrand Newson: [01:01:13]

Alright. Thank you, Bree.

Brea Avalos: [01:01:15]

Favorite races, Boston, for sure. Boston is just one, even if I'm not racing in it. So I've raced in it too. But even when I'm not racing, I go, I've gone twice to just watch it. Like I go and just like experienced Boston and that was a whole new experience. Yeah. Is going to just be a spectator. And like cheer on, you know, fellow cause I'm also a member of the Wolf pack with Ray.
And so there's a lot of those members who race it every single year. And so just going and supporting them just Boston is just something really special. Like you watched, especially the documentary before about, you know, the Boston bombing and then you go and actually experience it. And people who are actually like a part of the bombing who still run it every year.
And like you experienced that and it's just like something special. Other than that personally, my favorite race that I ever ran, like other than Boston was actually the San Francisco rock and roll half marathon. And that was something pills galore. That course it's like, they purposely map out where the Hills are in San Francisco and that's how they're going to do it.
But, um, the course is just like beautiful. Again. I think it's just like San Francisco regulations that starts like really early. I think when I ran it too, I like almost cause I was living in San Francisco, um, at the time and I almost missed the start because I like slept in, but thank God. I was like, hopefully close to where the start was.
So I just like ran to the store because no Uber's were there. Um, so I ran to the start and like got there and then it was just like, that was so fun. Ray, I think you ran it. And my dad ran at that time too as well, but that was a special one.

Kevin Chang: [01:02:50]

Let me, I guess, ask you this question too, which is aside from amazing jeans and, you know, being soccer players growing up, I guess, for the rest of folks who are interested in qualifying Boston, or, you know, kind of starting to get into running, seeing times that are kind of getting close to it and whatnot, what would be your tips?
What would be your suggestions? How do you think people can increase their speed? What tips do you guys have as Boston qualifiers?

Anthony Avalos: [01:03:19]

I would

Ray Avalos: [01:03:19]

say a cross training is huge. So

Anthony Avalos: [01:03:22]

just being mindful of your core, of course,

Ray Avalos: [01:03:25]

I always like to think of it as somebody told me, hips and shoulders, hips and shoulders, which that just means keep those parallel everything in between whether you're running, whether you're balancing, whether you're moving sideways forward, diagonal.
Keep mindful of your hips and shoulders and at the same time, make sure that you're strengthening those muscles as well. So, you know, I do a lot of side leg raises a lot of clamshells with resistance bands. So know, I'd say those simple little things. There's no rocket science to it. It's just more, the little things that helps.
And I have to say, but definitely if you focus on the hips and shoulders, that core will, you know, will always be there. If you're mindful of your hips.

Anthony Avalos: [01:04:04]

I would say, find out the time that whatever your age group is or to make it and find that time and work backwards and then train for that time. Of course, you're not going to be there on day one, but train for that time and inch your way towards that time, because I think that's how we achieve our goals.
A lot of these things are mental. When we set these blockers, like I never would've thought I would be running a marathon until Ray started printing, printing these images in my head. And then. And then it becomes possible. And then you set new goals. So I would say, just say, find the time you want to do the qualifying time, subtract a few minutes, subtract five minutes, work towards that time and then find some good techniques that the 80 21 has really gave me big jumps in my, my time.
So look into that.

Brea Avalos: [01:04:47]

Advice. I, one of my like small joys as almost like a mini Ray, but what I do is like, I always try and like peer pressure, my friends to get into running and people who maybe have never really gotten into running before. But what I always say, especially like say you're going for like a newer runner in somebody who wants like to do marathons half marathons, like a higher distance is like, It's almost like an 80 20 rule, but it's my rule of thumb.
It's like, it doesn't matter your pace at first, it matters how far you go. So like, if you start at three miles, don't even look at the time. And then from there you're going to be able to do four miles and five miles, then six miles. And then all of a sudden, if you're consistently doing six miles, your time is just going to start slowly, getting faster and faster and faster.
So that's what, like, I think if you're a newer runner, I would say nobody's racing with you. It's all about just like getting the distance in. And then for people who are, I guess, maybe a bit more advanced. I think, I would say like, kind of like what Anthony said, reverse engineer it, but then also just like, for me, it's all about the distance.
And then also about the one thing that I learned in college is like general strength and not necessarily, not as much weightlifting, but just like general strength training every single day. So it's not like you have to have this like. Big like weightlifting cross training day, but it's, if you could do a 20 minute like general strength workout, where you're just working all the small little muscles in your body and rolling out every other day, then your body's going to thank you when you're running your marathon.

Bertrand Newson: [01:06:14]

Great advice.

Kevin Chang: [01:06:15]

Great advice. Where can people find you online if they want to reach out to you?

Anthony Avalos: [01:06:19]

Yeah, Instagram for me. It's Instagram is my Anthony Avalose would nothing else on Instagram is usually where you'll find my soccer and running pictures have turned into a lot of pictures of my daughter. So that's where you can find me.

Brea Avalos: [01:06:34]

Mine is a Bravo flows, which is B R and then Avalose. It was also fun back. Rob Lowe's was my rapper name in

Ray Avalos: [01:06:41]

college.

Brea Avalos: [01:06:47]

it's on in Syria.

Kevin Chang: [01:06:48]

Oh man. We're going to have to dig up some videos or something. Some audio

Anthony Avalos: [01:06:56]

you don't wanna, you don't wanna hear it.

Ray Avalos: [01:07:07]

Yeah, and then I'm gonna just pretty simple Ray running, uh, Instagram. So just blade running.

Kevin Chang: [01:07:13]

Awesome. We'll have them up online with the show notes and everything, and I'm sure we'll, we'll tag you guys as well. When stuff comes up. Anything else that you guys wanted to mention or anything that we didn't cover?

Brea Avalos: [01:07:23]

I would just say one last thing. Any tip is like for me running is all about the joy of it. So if you fall in love the process of just like being out there with nature with friends, you're going to push yourself so much farther than you thought you could

Ray Avalos: [01:07:38]

go. I'll layer on that. I'd say just having an optimistic mindset, that will take you a long way, especially in the fitness world and just life in general, but definitely in fitness and running, be optimistic.
And you know, there's always room to

Anthony Avalos: [01:07:51]

achieve a little bit. Yeah. This all things parallel. So when you're pushing yourself running, keeping yourself fit your mental strong, you're also, it's going to translate to other areas of your life. And as black Bomba rest in peace, Kobe, Brian said. Uh, how you do anything is how you do everything, uh, be the same animal, or are you the same animal and the same beast.
So I think running gives you that opportunity to really learn about yourself and translate a lot of what you do into other areas of your life. So that's what I would say. And I also appreciate you guys for having us today. It's been a great conversation and yeah,

Kevin Chang: [01:08:28]

it's been fantastic. It has been fantastic.
Yeah, our pleasure. So. Thank you guys so much for joining us on the podcast really, really appreciate the time the conversation, and this has been awesome. So thank you guys. Appreciate it. Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the race mob podcast. Check out all of the show notes or find a running buddy online at dot com.
Please subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review until next time. Keep on moving.