Bree Lambert: [00:00:00]

You know, he basically said, listen, you're going to have to just chill out for a while, grab a good book. You know, maybe every once in a while you can get in a pool or, you know, you can certainly keep riding your bicycle, but you're not going to be able to do anything. That's. Really impactful. And as a fitness trainer, even at that time and knowing what the body is able or capable of doing, I was determined to prove him wrong.

Welcome to the race mob podcast this is episode number 27.

Kevin Chang: [00:00:32]

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 R R C a certified coach USA track and field certified official the incomparable ###### Bertrand Newson:.
We are so excited to welcome coach Brett Lambert onto the podcast. Breeze and extremely accomplished athlete in her own. Right. She was a decorated triathlete and following a scary accident. She became one of the top ultra marathoners in the country. She's won numerous USA track and field awards and the Tahoe rim 100, three times.
In this episode, we get into breeze accomplishments and her career. We get her advice on how to tackle ultra marathons and talk about the latest running product that Bree's been hard at work developing. You can find all the show notes and links online, including a discount to the running pods at race mob.com/podcast.
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 for the running world and give you tips that will help you improve your running. Check us out by searching race mob on YouTube and subscribe today.
without further ado here's our conversation
we're so excited to welcome legendary Bay area coach Brie Lambert to the race mob podcast. Welcome to the podcast Bree.

Bree Lambert: [00:02:04]

Thank you. Nice to be here.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:02:06]

Happy to have

Kevin Chang: [00:02:07]

well, we wanted to first get into some of your history, some of your backgrounds, because a lot of people in the Bay area have been coached by, you know, you from different events. And I think you're, you're legendary, not only as a coach, but as a, as a competitor, as an athlete along these trails.
So tell us a little bit about how you got into the sport of running.

Bree Lambert: [00:02:27]

a nutshell, I have been competing for the last 16 years in ultra. And prior to that, I was actually a triathlete. I'm a competitive. Of Exterra off-road triathlete and competed at the national and also at the world level world championship level. and it was a accident. It was a mountain bike accident that took me down essentially.
And, this was in 2004. You know, I live in Northern California. I was riding some trails, nothing unusual and was with a friend on my mountain bike. And it was after a rain, went down the backside of a very steep mountain and basically lost control of my bike and ended up getting airlifted to the hospital trauma center.
Uh, broke my pelvis, broken collarbone, just shoot up the left side of my body and was told by the orthopedist. Uh, shortly after, you know, I was released from the hospital and went into a rehabilitation, was told that I wasn't going to be able to compete in any sort of endurance sports. You know, he basically said, listen, you're going to have to just chill out for a while, grab a good book.
You know, maybe every once in a while you can get in a pool or, you know, you can certainly keep riding your bicycle, but you're not going to be able to do anything. That's. Really impactful. And as a fitness trainer, even at that time and knowing what the body is able or capable of doing, I was determined to prove him wrong.
And so started to rehabilitate myself, took about a year to do that. And coming out of that time, I was working as a seasonal employee for Chris Genone at running revolution in Campbell and had shared with him that. I needed something, you know, that I had here. I'd come through this time in my life where I was a competitive triathlete, you know, cause prior to mountain triathlon, I was road triathlete.
I said, you know, Chris, I don't have that same fearlessness anymore. However, I still have that thirst for competition and endurance and. You know, what do you think? And he said, Bree, I think you should try ultras. And this was in 2005. And so he said, I think you should sign up for the PCTR Woodside 50 K I think you'll crush it.
And I did. I signed up, you know, I hadn't had never run a node trip before. And hadn't run even a marathon in a few years. And I thought, you know what? That sounds like a good thing. Why not? I love trails. I love being outside. How about I just sign up and I did Wendell Domin at the time was the race director.
And, uh, so signed up, ended up taking first female and setting a course record. And at that time when I finished the race. I said to myself, I'm hooked. Like it was that one event that I said, now I know I can do this. My body felt great. And it was just what I needed at that time. And so from then on, I just said, I'm committing myself to this sport trill racing, but also ultra and I've never looked back.
Yeah.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:05:42]

what, where does set the tone set the tone.

Bree Lambert: [00:05:45]

Yeah.

Kevin Chang: [00:05:45]

I mean, a lot of people would say, you know, a year back from injury, your body is trying to rest. Your body's trying to recover in some ways, how did you get yourself into shape to be able to run an ultra marathon? I mean, a lot of us struggle just thinking about the distance of an ultra marathon. So how did you do that,

Bree Lambert: [00:06:03]

so the thing with me is I come from a very strong line of females. And I think that helps in part, you know, when you're come from a Spanish, Portuguese family that, and we're drivers, you know, we are workhorses. You know, and, uh, the women in my family are just, we tackle whatever we do in life and we Sachal, it hard, you know, we go at it and I think having that DNA was helpful for me, but paired with my knowledge of.
What the human body can do and how it really, if you give it the right things, if you rest it properly, if you cross train properly, if you nourish it properly, it will respond. And I think I just applied all of those things and it really is. What's honestly, I think that's, what's just, what's contributed to my long-term success in this sport.

Kevin Chang: [00:06:56]

Was there anything that you had to do specifically with like a pelvic injury? What was the rehab like for getting back? And what were the steps getting back into running with those types of injuries?

Bree Lambert: [00:07:08]

Right. That's a great question. And I I've actually asked, I've been asked that a number of times. So I started with going to the gym and I, you know, those, um, It's like a recumbent bike, but you actually just sit so nothing happening with the lower body. It's just all upper body. Right. And all you're doing is moving your arms.
And I remember thinking this is ridiculous, but I know that I have to keep moving. Even if my upper body is moving and my lower body is still not able to do much. Cause I couldn't do anything. At least I'm moving. Right. I'm circulating blood, blood flow and oxygen. And so initially it was just that simple, just going into the gym, sitting on this.
You know, machine where I was just moving my arms, you know? And then from there, as I started to feel my lower body heal, I got in the pool and I would take a buoy, put it between my legs. I'd float again, still using upper body primarily, but very little kicking. And basically I just started to provide or give my body just a little bit of resistance.
Um, over time, you know, and it took a year. I mean, I really gave myself a full year or almost, but I think taking just very slow steps to apply just a little bit of resistance, you know, then I got on a bike and then it was S it was spinning, you know, just taking a spin class. And paired with everything that I had said just a few minutes ago, I could feel myself getting stronger, you know, becoming just, I mean, I could apply pressure, you know, on my joints, you know, my pelvis was sore initially.
You know, I remember the first time I ran, I don't know, a mile or two, it didn't feel right. And I said, okay, I can't push it. You know, if I have any kind of pain, I would shut it down. And I think that that was. Really important. Cause I feel like if I'd come back too quickly and I pushed too hard, I would not have seen the recovery that I experienced.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:09:06]

Thank you brief or for sharing some of the. The actual workouts and the process during your recovery, but you're also referenced nourishment and nutrition. What was your diet like during that year of coming back, that you do anything different, you know, uh, protein, carb intake, things along those lines.

Bree Lambert: [00:09:24]

Oh, absolutely. I remember I was overdosing on calcium because you know, you know, strong bones. My diet is predominantly vegetarian and I take in very little dairy. So it wasn't like I was drinking glasses of milk. It was really about supplementing with the right type of calcium and magnesium. And then also I would say I have a pretty clean diet.
I mean, I take in a lot of vegetables, fruits, very little meats per se. I mean, I eat fish chicken, lean poultry, but I didn't change. I think the quality was the same. And I wouldn't necessarily say that I upped anything, but I just made sure that I was getting the right balance of foods and the nutrients I believed would really help my body recover.
I'm a big advocate for rest sleep. You know, I have maybe a cocktail every once in a while for a beer. But for the most part, I really keep things moderate in that space. And I believe that it's incredible what the body can do again, when you give it the right things.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:10:35]

You talked about your very first ultra marathon, uh, share some of your ultra marathon highlights because we know that a very decorated athlete and accomplished athlete.

Bree Lambert: [00:10:45]

You mean just in general over the years or? Okay. Um, gosh, well, that's, that's a great question. So I think last year when I, or yeah, it was last year, gosh, I'm already seeing, this is what happens in COVID. You can lose track of time. Where are we? This? 20, 20. Oh yeah. It is. Um, Last year, last September, I went out to Utah and competed in the Wasatch 100 and I'd been wanting to do Wasatch because it's, you know, one of the, really one of the most difficult, a hundred mile races in the nation.
And, uh, one of the oldest as well next to Western States, uh, and Leadville. And so, you know, my personal goal is to knock out all of the classics. And so Wasatch to me is a classic hundred, one day. I'll get to Hardrock as well. But I was excited to toe the line and to finish in the top 10 for females and to finish at the top of my age division and to finish, you know, I think I was second masters.
And so that was huge for me. And to, to be on this course, that is. Really, I believe set the stage for the sport in many ways, similar to Western States and to compete at a race with that level of difficulty and the elevation, but also the beauty, um, was a highlight for me and, and is a highlight for me.
You know, it was hard for sure. And there were moments where I was like, wow, I really did myself like big this time. You know, like this is, I thought Leadville was hard, like Leadville and it is right because of the elevation. But in terms of the, the degree of, just climbing and just the technical, some of the technical aspects of the trails, it's incredible.
So I, I love that race.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:12:33]

What type of elevation gain are we talking about brewery for that event?

Bree Lambert: [00:12:37]

Uh, so you, you climb close to 27,000 feet of gain for the a hundred mile distance. And the first four miles are just straight up. I mean, you're it's. Yeah. And I live at sea level, you know, so it's, it's crazy. I mean, I, yeah. And that's.

Kevin Chang: [00:12:58]

Tell us a little bit about what training is like leading up to an event like that. I mean, coming in second in the masters division and all of that, what are you doing?

Bree Lambert: [00:13:06]

Yeah. Well, you know, it's funny because people ask me that a lot, especially because I, when I race at elevation, you know, the question I get a lot is, okay, well, you know, are you wearing a mask? Are you in a tent? Are you, you know, how are you preparing for the, um, for the degree of elevation that you have to race in?
And so. It's just such a silly way to answer this question, but I just don't feel altitude. I mean, I think my body, and I don't know if it's some sort of like crazy DNA that I was born with. I think in some, to some degree it is that. But let's do doesn't bother me. And I find that if I just push myself hard here, you know, living at sea level and I, I go climb the heck out of all the trails, anything that has elevation around my home, I get on, you know, I, I really, there are some pretty high points here.
Some pretty. Intense climbs and I don't shy away from mountain climbing. I mean, I really do love it and I think it is hard. And I think that if you can push yourself hard enough when you're running a climb, so to speak, your body will respond. And so I think that just doing that consistently prepared me for Wasatch.
It wasn't, it wasn't like I went up to Tahoe and trained there for weeks on end. I mean, I did. Race, uh, the Tahoe rim 100 about five, six weeks before, maybe, maybe a little more than that. Yeah. And that's another story.

Kevin Chang: [00:14:39]

Wow.

Bree Lambert: [00:14:40]

I know what is wrong with me, but, but I signed up for the Tahoe room 100 and that was roughly roughly six or seven weeks before.
And I was first woman to mile 50 and then it was Roxanne Woodhouse and I, you know, neck and neck, and then I got to mile 80. And I had massive blisters on the bottom of my feet, and I knew that I was done, you know, I hadn't taken care of my feet to the degree that I should have and I knew it. And so I took my shoes off.
I could see that both the bottom, uh, bottoms of my feet were. We're just a giant, like blood blister and it just hurts to, to step. And I thought I'm done I'm I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go anymore. And I knew that I had Wasatch and so I thought, okay, 80 miles. That's okay. I'm happy with that. You know, I can recover and go run, watch action a few weeks.
What the heck?
Oh my gosh. So.

Kevin Chang: [00:15:45]

I was going to ask you, like, do you plan for a couple of races per year and the really train up for them? Or what, what does kind of your, your yearly schedule normally look like and your training schedule to be competing at such a high level?

Bree Lambert: [00:15:59]

I do, I do train up. So, so generally I'll start with a hundred kids.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:16:05]

I like snack a little snack snack. Yeah.

Bree Lambert: [00:16:09]

Why not? Right. You know, so, so this next year, I've, I'm already signed up for black Canyon and that's a hundred K and so that'll, um, that's February and then I have Milwaukee a hundred K and, uh, and then Tahoe rim 100, but in the middle there, I'll also run the broken arrow. 52 K. So generally my season consists of at least seven ultras.
About 10 years ago. It was maybe eight ultras, sometimes 10 in a, in a year, but now it's seven. I've heard I've reduced the number. And, um, but I really think it's important to. Take the time to develop yourself as an ultra runner, very gradually, especially if you want to jump up in distance, you know, whenever I have a client or potential client approach me and say, I want to run a hundred mile race, my first question is, well, have you even run, you know, a hundred K and if they say no, then my next question is, have you run a 50 mile?
If they say no to that, then I'm like, okay, well, listen, we need to start with a 50 K. And if you run a 50 K great. Let's go 50 K 50 mile. See how your body responds before you just make that big jump to the a hundred mile distance. Cause it sounds great. I mean, it sounds awesome. I'm going to spend a day out in the woods and enjoy nature, but it's, it's a whole different animal.
You got to take the time. And I really believe that I think that's important.

Kevin Chang: [00:17:35]

Yeah. If an athlete comes to you and they're really interested in getting into ultras and. What kinds of things are you assessing them with? And then how are you preparing them for those types of races?
###### Bree Lambert: [00:17:47]
so, well, I always ask them what their history is. You know, I always want to get a baseline of what's their background and have they had any injuries. And I ask all those questions first, you know, are they. You know, limited with any, you know, medically, you know, are they on medications? And so I always do just, you know, health history, and then assessing them from their experience or level of experience.
And then I might do an assessment where I actually look at their stride, evaluate their functional capabilities, you know, their movement patterns. And I'm a real advocate for biomechanics. I love, I studied that at university and I really think it's important to look at the biomechanics of someone who is spending so much time pounding the pavement, so to speak or pounding the trails, and that will determine long-term success.
And so I take the time to do that, to study. The subject, so to speak the client and then go from there and create a program based on their, their baseline fitness. Um, and I think that's really important. I don't know that all coaches take the time to do that, but I think it's really important to do that.

Kevin Chang: [00:18:58]

Are you enjoying the show, help us out by sharing the podcast. You can win some cool prizes like headbands, wristbands, training programs, shadows. And more, especially if you're part of an existing running group online community, or have friends that you think will enjoy the show, get your personal referral [email protected], Tom slash referral.
Realistically, how long does it take to get from, you know, somebody running, maybe marathons today or to being able to run a 50 K and, uh, you know, eventually a hundred K and whatnot. What amount of time are we talking? Years are we talking months? Is it? Yeah, just cause I've never run an ultra. I would have no clue if I said, okay, I want to do this.
And you know, am I talking like three years from now? Or

Bertrand Newson:: [00:19:44]

I smell a potential client right now. I'm going to call it right now.

Kevin Chang: [00:19:48]

last marathon was like three years

Bertrand Newson:: [00:19:50]

I see I'm calling right now.

Bree Lambert: [00:19:52]

Right. I'll give you my number after this. Um, That's awesome. I think it really depends on the history. You know, it goes back to that. Okay. Well, you know, how many marathons have you run? You know, did you struggle with that distance? And I think it's important to take those baby steps, really, because to go from a 50 K to a 50 mile is pretty significant.
I mean, you're talking in 19 more miles, so that's a lot. And. When you move up to 50 miles or a hundred K and above everything changes, it's not just about fitness. It's about mental toughness. It's about how are you going to fuel finding the right foods that your body can take in to keep you moving?
That's another thing that I really focus on is. The nutrition component and also the mental development, because you could want it, you can think you want it. You can, you know, say, but Brie, I put in the time I ran the hours, my legs feel great, but the minute you step, you know, into that realm and you go, you will find out very quickly.
It is an entirely different ball game. It's entirely different.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:21:04]

You're dealing with it in some people with sleep deprivation as well. I mean, you're up, um, the, you know, cumulative game and you say, you know, nutrition, the importance of that as well. So we look forward to seeing Kevin's journey as it becomes an ultra

Bree Lambert: [00:21:16]

Yes, Kevin, I see great things in your future.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:21:21]

I do.

Bree Lambert: [00:21:21]

I do too.

Kevin Chang: [00:21:22]

I have two questions one around you were talking about biomechanics and running form, and I'm curious. The difference for running form when you're running mountains or you're running uphill, downhill, are there things that you're looking at?
Cause we often times do the biomechanics for people running road races. Um, what should people be thinking about? What are you looking at when, when people are running Hills?

Bree Lambert: [00:21:44]

Yeah. So I'm looking at, you know, knee drive, I'm looking at, you know, where is the foot placement? Are they up on their toes? Are they using, you know, their calves more on the descend? Are they breaking? Are they heavy heel? You know, how relaxed are they. Are, are they able to understand, you know, how to run downhill properly without flailing your arms and feeling like you're out of control?
Are you able to pick your line? You know, because of my years as a mountain, uh, you know, mountain bike racer, I really learned how to read trails. When you're descending on a mountain bike, it's crazy how quickly you are assessing your line. And you're like, okay, you know, you don't really have a whole lot of time when you're racing downhill in a mountain bike.
I mean, you really have to, your, your brain is like going, you know, you're or it's like, I just think this is the control center and the things that are happening here are rapid. And that I think contributed a lot or has contributed a lot to my ability to. I charged downhill. I don't, it doesn't matter. You can throw me on any given downhill.
And I just go and I feel like I have that confidence because you know, my body just knows what to do. And so you really do have to understand how to run Hill downhill properly, and also had a client.

Kevin Chang: [00:23:05]

That's incredible. Yeah. And I think, you know, so often we hear from runners that when they're running downhill, they have impact on their knees or their knees or, and what you just mentioned right there about overstriding or taking a look and just making sure that people aren't heel striking or landing on their heels probably would reduce the impact on their knees quite a bit.

Bree Lambert: [00:23:25]

Definitely.

Kevin Chang: [00:23:26]

That's incredibly interesting. The other thing I wanted to get to was in the people that you've coached up to, you know, the 50 milers or even the a hundred milers, what do you think maybe contributes the most to people, maybe a nothing, or, or not finishing? Is there something in their training regimen that you would encourage as, as somebody who coaches people, and a lot of times people running the $50 or a hundred milers.
Maybe it might not have coaches might just sign up for the race. It might do it for the first time and coach. So what might be some things that you would either recommend or see frequently of, of the DNF offers that you would offer advice for?

Bree Lambert: [00:24:03]

I'd say the biggest thing, or I guess a common denominator is nutrition. You know, they're, they're just, they're not eating enough. They're not drinking enough. You know, they're waiting too long to take in calories. And they think that there all of a sudden, if they slam a gel or they have a bar that suddenly they're going to get this resurgence of energy, um, if they knock back a red bull or something, um, or a shot of espresso and it doesn't happen, you know, again, because you're talking about an event that is for an extended period of time where you are calorically emptying and.
If you don't have a system and you don't know how you're fueling, and you're just grabbing stuff, you have your friends bring you a meatball sandwich or something, and you think you're going to be able to digest that and that that's going to miraculously help you recover and get you to the finish line.
It's not going to happen. You know? So I always say you should practice. You should take the time to practice eating, fueling, you know, on those long runs. When you're out with your friends, you know, just figure out a way to create a makeshift, uh, aid station. And you need to determine what it is that your body can handle.
So that's the first thing. The second thing is mental toughness again. Yeah. It doesn't matter how fit you are. And I have believe me. I have, I have friends who are legendary ultra runners. And we we've had this conversation, you know, where you could be the fittest person, you could show up with your ripped abs and your strong arms, and you're, you know, you go out there with no shirt on or whatever, and you think you're going to crush it and you crush yourself.
Like you literally are grabbing your hamstring. You're doubled over, you know, like midway. And you're mentally just blowing up. You know, it's just a combination of things start happening and you start thinking the worst. And then the next thing you know, you're just not finishing. So I think it's taking the time to really develop that mental muscle, you know, to know that you're going to have low points.
It's a given, I have not talked to a single accomplished ultra runner who has not had a race where they have had a low point that they've had to pull themselves out of. And so I think that's really important. You're not always going to have your best race, it's just not going to happen. And you have to be able to just roll with it.
The determined. Is it important for you to stay in it and get to the finish line? Or are you okay? And to just say, I'm done, like, you know, that happened to me at Western States in 2017. It was one of the toughest years. That was the year when, you know, squad was covered with snow. And I got to my 26 Duncan Canyon and I, I felt like I'd already run a hundred miles.
And then I got to, you know, I got to devil's thumb, had a conversation with Dave Mackey and Dave is like, Bri, you know what? This is like, I mean, I was crumbling, you know, he's like, you know, you know, this is what we do. Like you've got to stay in it. And I'm like, yeah, but I don't know that I necessarily want to.
Like, if I decide to drop it for us till I'm going to be okay with that. And he said, I understand that, but right now you can't drop here. So you need to like, get that Popsicle down and you need to grow. Like, you need to get out of here unless you want to get a ride, but it's not gonna, it's not gonna happen anytime soon.
It's just, I think, you know, you have to prepare yourself. And so that year when I got to forest Hill and I had already made a decision before I even got there, that I was going to drop, I was really okay with it. I mean, I remember having a conversation with myself, you know, as I left devil's thumb and hope that I w.
Wasn't going to die between devil's thumb and Michigan bluff, you know, but I had had a conversation with myself and said, today's not my day. And I'm okay with that. I showed up, I got through some tough stuff and I'm going to give myself credit and grace to say, it's okay. I can drop it for us till and move along.
So.

Kevin Chang: [00:28:04]

Incredible. Well, I definitely wanted to make sure that we had time to talk about this new business venture. That you've been a part of that you're, you're a part of, so. Talk to us about egg weights. Talk, dad, talk to us about egg weights.

Bree Lambert: [00:28:17]

Oh, gosh, I don't even know where to start. That's like, Oh my goodness. Um, okay. Well, first of all, I want to say coach B, that looks amazing. I love that shirt.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:28:26]

you. Yeah, it feels good. I feel

Bree Lambert: [00:28:27]

You look amazing. You look amazing.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:28:30]

I'm going to PR.
###### Bree Lambert: [00:28:32]
Thank you to both of you for checking out egg whites and for trying them out and giving us a shout out that that means a lot, you know, egg weights is, is really, for me personally, it's, it's a big deal because I, I met Christian Malcolm.
Who's the founder inventor, you know, over four years ago. And he connected with me through, uh, my brother and his wife. And he sent me a prototype and I immediately knew that this was something, you know, as, as many years I've been in the fitness industry and I've watched, you know, the evolution, so to speak of, of training and functional training.
I, I put those prototypes in my hands and I thought, this is something, this can be something. And so. To now get to this point where we have the running pods. Yay. The running pods is so awesome. I mean, you know, we started with egg weights and so, um, and you know, the egg weight is an egg shaped wait, go figure.
Uh, but it's a product that did well in the boxing and MMA UFC. That's really the platform that we found established. The brand. And I told Christian that I wanted to see something specific for running. And so he took the time to create the running pods and, uh, you know, I mean, it's, it's still relatively new product.
I'm, I'm in the process of creating, you know, the marketing campaign for next year. We started doing some stuff on our social media channels. We've connected with folks like yourselves who are in the business of running and you're making an impact. I'm so excited for you guys as well. and I think that it's going to be amazing to see this product, these little pods grow, and my hope is that.
People in the running world will fall in love with them. And Zach bidder is one of our athletes. He's actually running the 24 hour desert solstice invitational, uh, this weekend on Saturday. So I'm gonna give him a shout out and good luck, Zach. Yes. He's going to see if he can run. We'll come close to running Yonas, corrosive, uh, world records.
So, you know, I'm hoping he's going to make it to about 180 to 190 miles. If he does that, I will be ecstatic. But, yeah, he's, he's pretty, I'll say bad-ass because he is. I love that guy, you know, he's one of our athletes and I'm thrilled cause he, he put the pods in his hands and he said, I think these are awesome.
Very excited, to see these come to fruition.

Kevin Chang: [00:31:10]

And I mean, I think the incredible thing is, you know, we got these in our hands within the first 30 seconds of running. It just made me totally rethink what is my upper body doing here and why do I have the right form? Am I. You know, are my arms moving along with you know, with my stride and, and everything.
And, and then I went on like a whole Google, you know, like, Oh, what am I supposed to be doing? We talked to Jay Ridgeway. I was like, Oh, what are my arms supposed to be doing? Cause I have no idea. I haven't really thought about my arms at all. And especially when I did go out on a longer run, I think. Longer run for me half marathon, but towards the ends, your form starts to break down and having these in my hands.
You know, it just made me consistently and constantly think about running form running form. What is my upper body doing? So talk to us a little bit about the benefits that you've seen with the running pause. What are things that people can look forward to when they grab on to a pair of these and start running?

Bree Lambert: [00:32:06]

Well, the first thing is that when I put these in the hands of my clients or just, you know, just like, well, you guys too, right. You just is to see what is the response. And most of the time it's the same. It's like, well, first of all, you have to determine which. Where, which pod to put in which hand, but there's a little right left on the grip there.
And, uh, so you know, you just, you stick your ring finger through the middle. Who are your middle finger? I should say, through, through the loop there, not your ring finger. And then what happens is you naturally then. You know, are able to place your thumb there at the top. And it just feels good. Right? I mean, it's, they've rest very comfortably in your hands.
And so then when you go out on a run, I I've talked to some runners and they're like, Oh gosh, you know, they're nervous initially thinking that they're going to be so heavy, but these are just a pound each. And so you've got two pounds total. And if you're carrying your water bottle all the time, or, you know, I mean, it's great practice, right?
If you're somebody like an ultra runner where you want to get a upper body workout, so to speak, and you want to start training that neuromuscular pattern. Um, then this is one way to do it, you know, without actually having to carry bottles, you know, but you want to have that feel. And so the benefit, just to your point, Kevin, is that it's a feedback tool.
Initially, that's what I tell people is it doesn't just enhance what you're doing in terms of, you know, it's going to increase your heart rate, increased cardiac output over time. It's going to help elevate VO too. But it also is a feedback tool because logically what is happening when you put weight in your hand, and then you move that sends a message to you, brain that you have no choice, but to pay attention to what is happening with your upper body and your lower body.
And it helps with arm drive. You know, that's something that Zach mentioned his, he said, gosh, you know, now my arms, aren't inclined to go side to side. You know, now they know what they're doing. They're going to track more properly. And if I'm running, for example, on a track, or let's say on a bike path, I'm doing a relatively flat.
Training run. And you've got these in your hand, it helps enhance that forward lean. Right? So now if you're somebody who runs more vertically, which as we know is an efficient, right? Because you're getting that vertical bounce, which you don't want, right. You want to be able to take advantage of that forward, lean and allow that momentum to happen.
Well, now you've got these in your hands and it just happens. I mean, it just. Helps you understand? Okay. Now I can really feel that moment. Awesome. And I can really work on my forward lane and my arms are in the right place. And so all of that conditioning that neural muscular conditioning pattern setting is happening.
And so some people can say, well, I can go grab my two pound dumbbell and do the same thing. It's not going to happen. Totally different. It's totally different because this is ergonomically fitted too. It's almost like an extension of your body, right? So that's the benefit.

Kevin Chang: [00:35:14]

Yeah. Having that loop there helps tremendously. I think as I was, and I've given a pretty detailed a review over on our YouTube channel. So I'll, I'll definitely include a link here, but I run with my dog a lot and you know, sometimes she chases after other dogs and I'd never had to worry about dropping these or.
Losing control of them. Um, when I grab a hold of the leash, and they just feel so natural in your, the Palm of your hand, which is fantastic. I was well, a little bit worried going on longer runs that they would start chafing or something because you know, we as runners, we always have to put anti shave everywhere.
Didn't have to worry about that at all. I mean, still at mile 14, 15, they still feel really natural. So I mean, kudos to you guys. You guys must have spent a long time in the lab, like figuring out. Ergonomically, how, how are we going to get something that really fits in, in the majority of people's hands? Um, naturally, and, not having to have people, like you said, some people might think, Oh, you can just grab dumbbells.
But the problem with dumbbells is you're gripping too tightly. Then these kind of let you naturally cup something in your hands without having to grip tightly.

Bree Lambert: [00:36:20]

Yeah, exactly. Thank you.

Kevin Chang: [00:36:23]

for the design. It's incredible.

Bree Lambert: [00:36:25]

you. No, and we're refining things, you know, next a year, you know, we'll see some small changes happening, but I think in general, I'm super pleased with the product and I'm excited to say that I've been connecting with some pretty known athletes and they've endorsed this product and it's going to be pretty awesome for me to be able to share who those.
Individuals are going into next year and, uh, and see these, hopefully become household name.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:36:55]

You can bring some of that news right now, we can get this breaking news. And who wouldn't want to get more bang for their buck while working out a greater calorie burn.

Bree Lambert: [00:37:04]

You're right. Absolutely. and here's, the other thing is, the functional component in terms of the training, right? So I'm a huge fan of functional training. I love it. I that's what I do with my clients. I think it's important. And, you know, you can incorporate these into, you know, your plank, routines, your, you know, your plyo work.
Um, if you've got a core circuit that you, you love, you know, jumping jacks or whatever, I mean, you can add this little bit of resistance. And it makes a difference, you know, and we also have other products, you know, we have these cardio minis, you know, which are on the egg whites running page, which I love.
I love these little guys. They look like little torpedoes, but they're fun too. Exactly. The thing about it is it's a product that you can also use to elevate your functional fitness training. So we'll play purpose.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:37:54]

Big fan of the product,

Bree Lambert: [00:37:56]

Thank you. I appreciate that. You guys.

Kevin Chang: [00:37:58]

Absolutely fantastic. Well, we know that you have somewhere to be, so we don't want to keep you too long. So we just wanted to say, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast. Where can people find you? Where can people follow? You,

Bree Lambert: [00:38:10]

so you can find me on Instagram at at catch the breeze. That's catch just as it sounds the, and then breeze B R E Z. And, uh, you can also find me on Facebook. I have a personal page and an athlete page. You can shoot me an email, anytime Bria LivWell finished strong.com and then I also have a website live well finished, strong.com.
So, uh, yeah, so lots of ways to find me.

Kevin Chang: [00:38:38]

Fantastic. Yeah. And we'll have all the links down. Yeah. One of the best websites I've seen for coaches. And definitely if you guys are looking to run an ultra, I mean, you can't find anybody better to help you coach coach you up to that experience. And she doesn't just do ultra running. She helps. as a personal trainer, if you just want to get fit and you want to connect, we'll have all the links down below.
So thank you again so much, Bri really, really appreciate the
time.

Bree Lambert: [00:39:02]

Thank you. Thanks guys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Bertrand Newson:: [00:39:05]

Our pleasure.

Kevin Chang: [00:39:06]

our pleasure. Awesome.
Well, I hope you enjoy this episode of the race mob podcast. Check out all of the show notes or find a running buddy [email protected]. 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.