EPISODE

Intro Quotes

Kevin Chang: [00:00:00]

Being able to have an outlet, to be able to chat and talk and be able to connect. That's just been so much fun and something that's been so rewarding.

Bertrand Newson: [00:00:09]

It is never too late to start. It is never too late to make a change. It is never too late, help others in come from places that you were. So keep that in mind. If you were in a space that is a little dark right now, but absolute will be sunny in the future. We got you.

Episode Intro

Kevin Chang: [00:00:29]

Hello, and welcome to the RaceMob podcast, where we're all about running long, having fun and making the human connection.
I'm Kevin entrepreneur technology and fitness nerd, and I'm joined by the head coach of RaceMob and master motivator, the incomparable Bertrand Newson.

Start of the Conversation [00:00:45]

All right, B! Celebrating 50 episodes today. Can you believe it, man? This is crazy, huh? Okay.

Bertrand Newson: [00:00:54]

I cannot believe it. 50 freaking episodes. It has been a fantastic journey with one of my closest friends on earth.
I mean. One just sharing the time with you,    every single week, being able to come together for our brotherhood and fellowship, but to interview so many wonderful individuals that are paying it forward, different initiatives, motivating stories, sharing, fantastic, meaningful information for the audience.
It has been a freaking blast.

Kevin Chang: [00:01:20]

Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, I think we recorded our very first episode basically one year ago, like end of may. 2020. I mean, the world was just such a different place back then. Right. So, I mean, what are the biggest changes, I guess that have happened in the last year in your life?

Bertrand Newson: [00:01:37]

Wow. I mean, 2020 was the year of change for me.

Kevin Chang: [00:01:41]

Right.

Bertrand Newson: [00:01:41]

You know, I had officially stepped away from a 30 year career in the hospitality business as an executive. I went all in as a health and wellness professional as a coach. I wanted to take some defined amount of time off. And a 13 year relationship came to an end.
Those are all prominent, significant changes in my life at a time. And I didn't even mention the pandemic going on as well. So I wouldn't change a thing. I needed to navigate that journey for very specific reasons and to see where we are, where I am, but more importantly, where we are and, you know, country and world from a bigger perspective.
I couldn't be happier, could not be more optimistic. And I couldn't be any sure of this decisions that have happened for me personally. And I'm very excited about the future.
So given lots of change, but change is good. Change is good. It can be a little scary. It can be intimidating, can make you questioned, but sometimes you just trust the process.
And when you're fortunate enough to have strong family and an incredible circle of friends, it will carry you your emotional compass. We'll find the right way. And in my case, that certainly would happen. I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Head coach of a RaceMob, you know, team captain for two legit fitness with so many things that we're working on and we're just continuing to count our blessings.

Kevin Chang: [00:02:57]

Yeah. And changes are certainly happening behind the scenes. So those. Friends and family that know. Yeah, there are definitely some changes happening back here and we're looking forward to all the changes and everything that's about to transpire and about to happen.
So, yeah, I can't believe that it was a year ago. I mean, you know, that very first podcast episode we recorded on zoom, the audio quality is like so, so, iffy. It probably took me like six or seven hours to edit that one episode. And get everything up to speed.
And, and now we have an incredible podcast editor. , just want to send out best wishes out to Gabriel who's in Brazil. , just this last week he did contract COVID, , with his whole family. And I know in Brazil it's it has been especially difficult, especially tough.
So, just want to send our best wishes out to Gabrielle core member of the team. Just a fantastic, upbeat guy, fantastic musician. So, you know, we're going to definitely have to sample some of his audio tracks.

Bertrand Newson: [00:03:52]

Here, here pretty soon. Yeah. We're going to have to make, have them out here. Road trip. Yeah. Gabriel coming to see your brother and prayers to you and your family as you recover. But yeah. Thank you for all your hard work. Without question. We would not be where we are. And our podcasts wouldn't be as well received without the influence you're having on those episodes work your magic behind the scenes.
Yeah. And

Kevin Chang: [00:04:15]

I think that's one of the biggest takeaways from this last year with RaceMob. A year ago was a solo preneur, you know, solo adventure. And over the last year, we've just met so many people, so many people who have contributed both to the podcast, but also, you know, our online video presence, our YouTube channel.
And I know that we've taken a quick hiatus from it for the short term. , again, lots of things going on behind the scenes, but, . We'll definitely be back on YouTube. We're going to optimize it. ,      for the YouTube algorithm, but, what we've been able to meet so many incredible people.
I mean, gosh, Scott now feels like part of the family, you know, you got PV house, you've got Patrick, you've got Barbara contributing, so many incredible, , blog articles. Ed Malley. , you know, and we even have G2, Gabriel 2,    helping out with some of these , video editing items and, you know, we've met so many guests that have also contributed a    great content pieces.
I mean, I'm thinking about, , Sarah out in Colorado, she's coming up on a Q and a with you,    Adam, Durant's contributing so many motivational videos. , and so I think that was the, one of our biggest goals this year is to find ways to elevate these presences.
The person that motivated me the most, and we talked about them on a very, very first episode. Endorphin dude, , how do we get them a platform so that their story can motivate that next generation? And that's always been the key, ? We've been so fortunate.
And I think the two things that I've loved, . One is getting to meet and become friends with so many different people, getting to hear their stories and, , being able to have friendships. I mean, we just met with like five or six podcast guests this week and new opportunities have been coming up all week and all this month because of the friendships that we made because of the connections that we made throughout these episodes.
And then number two, for me, I've been able to meet like some of my heroes, some of my idols, you know, I mean, we talk about endorphin dude, but just this last week, Dean Karnazes, I mean,

Bertrand Newson: [00:06:10]

You know, and that, that is, I mean, It, it feels like we're kids in a candy store so many times, man, I feel like I'm a little kid, but there's this, this is not work. It is absolutely not work. Kevin. It is a labor of love and we're very fortunate, but also we're very conscious and present of the gift and the unique opportunity we have to connect with individuals, for them to share their stories and to help make our running community more connected and more meaningful.
More voices working together, running in the same direction and especially important coming out of 2020, where there are virtually no live events where we see live events coming back.
Right now, there is some exciting news coming up with our ability to help people find their live events, helping people on their running journey from a coaching perspective or giving good, meaningful advice with experts and providing a platform for people to come and share and to listen and contribute Just good stuff.

Kevin Chang: [00:07:02]

Yeah. And I think one of the things that our guests often tell us is they're just that we're a fun show. You know what I mean? I think Dean's been on probably hundreds of podcasts. I mean, Matt, Fitzgerald's probably been on, you know, hundreds of podcasts and yet they were, they really, they come back and they    say how much fun they had, how much they enjoyed our show.
The connection, the ability to laugh, the ability to, you know, be self-deprecating and kind of make fun of ourselves sometimes. But I think that has just grown that connection that we have with these, with these guests. I know, you know, Matt Fitzgerald, we talked to recently and he's launching his own podcast and some of the first people that he wanted to talk to was us.
So you to get a good sense of behind the scenes and, and how we make kind of the seamless processes. And that's just so rewarding that, you know, somebody who's been on so many episodes would want to come to us.

Bertrand Newson: [00:07:50]

I am so glad you said that. Cause I was going to put you on full blast. I'm just going to re rewind here just a bit. And I'm not being biased when I say this, you mentioned in the beginning of this episode, our 50th episode.
Kind of, you know, stumbling out of the box with the audio, this, it took six hours plus two. You know, produce and fine tune and edit that first episode. K.C., because of your vision we have other professionals that are seeing the magic and the professionalism of our podcast, the energy, the vibe consulting you on how they can level up or start their own podcasts.
And these are people    who have been doing professional speaking, been in the health and wellness game for a long time. And for them to see the professionalism, the aptitude, the ability to connect the dots, , to have the finger on the pulse that says a lot about you. And for me in particular, being a running coach who wanted to make a formal business and it be a    sustainable lifestyle.
From a business perspective, that's happened because of you, the    forethought into how we look at marketing, , the behind the scenes tools that need to tap and that's all because of events. So, , more people are going to benefit by your vision, your expertise, your wisdom, the ability to be relatable and have fun and make it seamless.
, so thank you for all that hard work man. More the best is yet to come.

Kevin Chang: [00:09:12]

The best is yet to come for sure. And I mean, I guess the only way to learn is to actually have the opportunity to do it. And it's only because of our audience because of our listeners that this opportunity has happened and that we've been able to grow the audience, grow the listener base.
So, , Yeah, just thankful for our audience for telling other people for...
You know, I mean, Dean Karnazes was on our show because Scott's reached out to him, right. I mean, that is the power of connection and that's the power of network because, one of our audience members, , saw the opportunity and said, Hey, you've got to talk with these people you've got to get on the show.
So much of it has come down to our listeners and I'm just so thankful for all of you and , I think that has been one of the biggest joys of this last year is to actually just dive in, dig into these different outreach tools. How do you actually put together a podcast? How do you market it?
You know, there's still so much that I need to learn, that I should figure out. , obviously social media has still not been one of my best,    tools trying to work on that behind the scenes, trying to find people that are a little bit better at it, or more diligent at it, I would say, but the consistency of this podcast, and I think that's been one of those messages all along right.
Consistency, consistency of hard work. It's the same in running. It's the same in fitness. It's the same in business. It's the same in life. But having that consistent presence, being able to have an outlet, to be able to chat and talk and be able to connect. That's just been so much fun and you know, something that's been so rewarding.
So this consistent podcasting, the consistency of the newsletter over the last year, , And we'll continue to create standard operating procedures and bring other people into the fold.
And if others are interested in growing your presence or, , leveraging our platform, we've had, again, a couple of coaches that we've been talking to over the last couple of months that are looking to Uplevel their business. And I think this ability to reach a network of interested runners or athletes, it's a need that's out there.
So, I mean, I'm so thankful that there's so many brands that are starting to talk with us. , again, races, shoe stores and, , PTs and, and other things. And, and there's so many connections that have been made that, yeah.
Now they're looking to us for some expertise or at least just some knowledge transfer, which has been fantastic. I know, even this last week, you've been in a number of conversations and it's because of your ability to connect with people. It's just been so rewarding to see that this platform is also, , making    other things possible that we didn't even realize were possible a year ago.

Bertrand Newson: [00:11:41]

And I I, I mean, I told you, I said, this week has arguably been the best week of my life and the last 15 plus years. And I mean that there's so many wonderful things that are happening and that many, you are part of limits you're in the loop on. And it just gives me a lot of appreciation and good things happen to good people. And we're doing good work here.
And to continue to connect the dots, bringing people together and back to the core of health and wellness and, , working to stay ahead of father time and sharing ways on how to do that.
And as we've had people who live on the other side of the country, connecting with people in the middle of the country here on the west coast as part of our weekly town hall, Q and A's when we're going to have more experts and more of our communities sharing their own experiences.
Man, I look forward to that every single week, and then we'll start sharing race results in PRS and RaceMob members of the month, then all these other cool things being on location at live events.
Leveling up our YouTube content, as you mentioned as well, where it's more good takeaways for the individuals where they're learning something as they're listening and being able to contribute to what those future topics are, man. So good stuff happening and certainly on the horizon.

Kevin Chang: [00:13:02]

Yeah. And I mean, the, the funnest part, the coolest part is: we have all these podcasts guests on, and then we're actually friends behind the scenes. You know, we actually, it's great to like hang out with the Kevin Vandees and Brees and, and Chris's, and, and all of these people behind the scenes and be able to grab a beer and sit down and drink. And, you know, again, having Dean Karnazes on and say, Hey, why don't we go running some time and have other people that, you know, go jump on a zoom call with, with Joyce Lee.
And it's just been so fun. It's just incredible to know that. Yeah, we're not only here for podcast shows and episodes, but we're actually friends. And when live racing comes back, I mean, to have those friendships, those connections on race days, those meeting points to be able to, to meet some of these incredible people.
That's just icing on the cake. It's, it's so much fun.

Bertrand Newson: [00:13:51]

And the loyalty of our audience, of our members of our RaceMob family has just been fantastic through the roof. So like Patrick PV house, Jason PBL. So you mentioned let's see here arena Beck here, Nanda. So many people who have, you know, listening to the podcast, putting it out there.
And you mentioned, you know, we were in a room with like three or four of our podcast guests. Talking about community initiatives, the running community, what can we do to leverage our experience, our resources not see each other as competitors and looking at the bigger picture, just wonderful stuff, man.
And not as colleagues, but as friends first. And    it's really good to see and more to come, you know, more people being added to the fold. When we look forward to the end of 20, 21, how we're going to look at this year in review and in how we look at all the podcast and maybe mix it up and giving some notoriety to that kind of stuff too. Maybe an award show or something along those lines. Yeah, so .

Kevin Chang: [00:14:51]

Yeah, I mean, one of the initiatives that we have going on right now is to actually create some of these playlists from some of our favorite podcasts episodes over the last 50, so 49 episodes. Some of them are funny, you know, some of our favorite hilarious stories.
I mean, I'm thinking about Becky and in Chicago, I'm thinking about endorphin, dude. I mean, that guy is a riot, right? He's like, oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna run over grandma and, and earn coins over here. , I'm talking about Verity Breen, and just the incredible stories,    so yeah, we're going to create some of these, some of these playlists.
You know, inspirational stories. , some stories from like super humans. Like we just talked about Dean Karnazes, but we, you know, also talked about Veronique and we've got to check in on her journey to run across Africa. I mean, just what an incredible person.

Bertrand Newson: [00:15:40]

Listen to what you just said. Listen to what you just said. Yeah, run across Africa. Dean in August, I believe running across Australia. Veronique ran across in Japan. I mean, we have one of our athletes Christine who lives in New York, who's going to be running 80 miles, September 4th and fifth. To raise awareness for cystic shoulder assessment.
Yeah. Yeah. So just, you know, superhuman efforts, such inspirational efforts, and we're able to, to have a kind of seat at the table and be motivated and humbled and support their journeys as well. So, fantastic.

Kevin Chang: [00:16:15]

Yeah. Well, let's talk about some of the athlete accomplishments. You know, you've been a coach now, you know, in name for years, but formally a coach now since September. And let's talk about some of these athlete accomplishments.
Cause it's again, it's, you know, partly training plans that you put in front of them. A huge, huge portion of it is motivation. Understanding the human psychology, understanding what gets them up, what gets them going.
But you know, some of the fun parts about having this podcast is then we can connect them with these experts in the fields, right. When they're having problems, when they're having injuries. I know that you're going to jump on a call here in about half an hour with arena AKI, PT to talk about injury and, and getting over injury.
You were able to connect Christine with Dean Karnazes, which is. Just insane and incredible, you know, getting, getting advice from the man himself.
I mean, that's just some of the benefits of you know, being part of this RaceMob coaching community is, is the connection and the fun and the joy on top of the training plans and, and the training and the motivation. So talk to us a little bit about, you know, some of the athletes that you want to highlight.

Bertrand Newson: [00:17:19]

I mean, so many, there are a lot of wonderful stories, success stories. Let's see, where do we start here? Parul Parul joined our coaching as an athlete in January this year. And just from a. Metric standpoint, she was running a one mile just under 11 miles and it's 5k probably 36 minutes. And recently as last week shattered her one mile PR time and is in the midst of training for a full marathon.
The goal by year end was to run a mile at nine 30, I think right now she is sub nine 20 in may. So, and that's all the consistency. And having a balance of putting in the work quality rest days navigating a good diet, getting enough sleep and managing family and work as well. So she's found that fantastic combination. So many of our athletes have reached new PRS.
And is it about the training plan itself? I think consistency is really the most important thing. Staying motivated and being able to fine tune the training plan as life happens, work's going to happen. Kids are going to happen people homeschooling, et cetera, et cetera.
So being able to stay in contact with the athlete and just gave a couple more examples. Patrick Patrick joined our coaching team as an athlete back in January or February and has navigated some injury in the process, but he is also. When he was injured, he was working with our resident PT Arena
so he was still putting in the work and managed to PR his one mile most recently, sub seven minutes, I think actually sub six 20. And this is somebody who's lost upwards of six 50, 60 pounds over the last two years has PR every distance from one mile 5k, 10K, half marathon. He's training for a couple of marathons later in the year and could not be prouder of him.
Nicole, who's traveling to Oregon actually today and running a marathon. She's actually on a quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. She PR let's see here in the marathon last year and shaved, I believe seven minutes off of her personal best. So at that distance, that's just unheard of. She's actually qualified for Boston will be running in Boston in October of this year.
So those are just a couple of our athletes that have done fantastic. Where I can go on. We can be a whole episode. I can be. And maybe at some point it will, it will maybe we'll take it over on the YouTube channel side, but I could not be prouder of the athletes.
And what's the secret sauce? Is it the coach? Now it's not about the coach because athletes can find coaches. They can find plans. They can self navigate. It's making the commitment to themselves just by putting in the work week by week. And I use this example. I think Kevin, I think you initially coined this to me.
The best ability is availability. So you can always do a lot and get injured and that's not going to get you to do what, where you want to go. It's finding the right balance. To keep you active and healthy, making constant steady progress to your goals. So, and I'm just kind of along for the journey and sharing what knowledge that I, I do have, and always learning, always staying humble, always listening and always looking out at the bigger picture.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:20:38]
If you like our podcast and sign up for our newsletter, where we give you weekly tips on how to run your best race and have fun in the process. Just go to RaceMob dot com and sign up today.   
Yeah. And what I love too is, you know, sometimes people come for coaching because they want to hit PRS. They want to hit milestones. They want to hit those types of things. But coaching can also just be about motivation, right? Staying active, you know, sometimes throwing away the watch and just putting the shoes on and just getting to the end of the driveway.
And we'll have a guest on soon, but I was just reading this book, atomic habits and it talks about not having to have the entire plan ready to go, because that sometimes it's too daunting. Right. Getting out on that 10 mile run today, maybe too daunting.
But sometimes it's these micro habits. It's these micro things. It's the consistency is the, having it set on your calendar, waking up at a certain amount of time or stacking things together. Like sometimes if you just put on your running shorts, that's good enough to motivate you to then put on, you know, or a running tank. And that's going to motivate you enough to, you know, just get kind of started and along that path.
So some of my favorite stories from your athletes are not necessarily those chasing marathons or half marathons. It's sometimes those that. You know, had a very small goal and then was able to accomplish that and, and you know, that kickstarted a little something else.
And so that's been, that's been a lot of fun and that's why I encourage people, you know, even if you're not training for something per se, or    you're not super time-driven or any of , those things.
Sometimes just having the motivation and, and having connection. And you know, these weekly Q&A's on Thursday for members have been fantastic. They're great because you get to connect with the other members. You get to connect with experts, you get to talk about a certain subject or learn something.
So that's been fantastic and rewarding, and I'm so glad we were able to kick this off over the last month.

Bertrand Newson: [00:22:32]

And that's that those mini case has been the highlight of my week because. I'm able to listen. I'm learning as much as the fellow team members that are in those Q and A's as well. The most valuable content is when people are sharing, Hey, this is what works best for me versus the coach as being the perceived expert, we have, if we have an expert, a physical therapist or a nutritionist, that's part of that conversation where sometimes like a fly on the wall, learning more from a conversation from athlete to athlete, you know, team member to team member.
And then being able to kind of fine tune and take glean the, the, the learning opportunities and share with others on a, on a broader scale. So again, that's going to be a staple for us moving forward to at least twice a month. And then we're also for those team members that are looking at some point in 2021, we were looking to level up your health and wellness game.
Just to come and be a part of the community, you know, involve yourself, lean into our resources and you don't have to buy a training plan. You don't have to retain a coach. You don't have to, to so many ways for you to still get direction and support and motivation and accountability just by being present, feel like you belong.
And don't look to always feel like. You know, am I fast enough? You know, or am I being compared to somebody else? No, your race, your training plan, where you are at, and it doesn't have to be as Kevin reference, it doesn't have to be about a race. It doesn't have to be about a specific distance or a specific pace.
It's just about where you're at. And we feel that we can help you because you're doing the same. You're helping us. You are contributing to the community. And the community is growing and we just want you to come in and share, you know?

Kevin Chang: [00:24:02]

Yeah. And we're working on several things behind the scenes.    I know it's been a little bit delayed, over the last couple of months, but we're still hoping and planning to launch a number of different things for Q3 when live races come back.
And yeah, I know people that, that listened to    our goals update, ,early this year know that I am looking to get back into corporate and that takes a lot of time. It just does. From preparing your resume to going through interviews, especially when you're more at a senior level.
You know, it's, it's been a lot of interviews, a lot of companies and a lot of finding the right fit, because that is probably more important that company fits you then, you know, you fit into the company. So I've even had to, , declined an offer, , or to, , here. And that's fine,    I think it's more important to find the right fit and.
And so yeah, that those are, you know, I think, again, back in January, we said, one of the things that we want to do is let people into our lives a little bit, not just do the interview after interview, after interview, try to make it at least once a month that we're talking on a subject or giving you guys some updates of what's going on behind the scenes.
So episode 50 is really one of these that we're able to reflect on the whole year. Give you guys a little bit of updates and we're going to have some, some major updates again here    in a couple of.

Bertrand Newson: [00:25:13]

Wait, can say.

Kevin Chang: [00:25:20] So Coach one question I want to ask you is, , we've asked a lot of these experts, a lot of things over the year. What's a couple of things. What's one or two things that you've learned from our experts that, that maybe has stuck with you?

Bertrand Newson: [00:25:33]

Good question, K.C. Let's see here, the power of the human spirit, the power of the mind.
In many cases, coaches look at things from a time and distance and effort perspective, measuring analytics and the physical component. Where the mind really supersedes all of that. Being optimistic, being positive, being mentally resilient can help you.
Especially coming from those ultra endurance athletes that really find themselves in the pain cave where it's really easy to say, you know, I, I might, I'm already defeated or I don't have enough energy or it's too daunting. But where the mind was able even through injury or through pain and discomfort or through challenging weather or where they're finding between the ears.
So that with the self doubt where the mind can help you get through that bad patch that time. That period has been very enlightening. I've always felt it been pretty optimistic. That was a kind of a sweet spot for me, but no 2020 was changed for many reasons for all of us and with the pandemic, either being in the forefront or in the backdrop, the mind is a incredibly powerful thing.
So that to me is something that really stuck. What else has been some key takeaways from our. Interviews with past guests. I'm just kind of looking at our list here that is so freaking diverse.

Kevin Chang: [00:26:56]

Yeah, it's an incredible list.

Bertrand Newson: [00:27:00]

Yeah. It just reminded me clearly that what a gift it is to be part of the health and wellness community that we people are so giving of their time and if you just ask and people are willing to help, that are willing to pay it forward.
And one too many times were reluctant to, we feel that we may be being a burden or feel that there has to be some exchange of compensation and it may be hard where people lost the, the, the focus of just doing something for the sake of doing something nice and paying it for giving someone else the opportunity.
Trusting us cause we we're, we're rookies at this. I mean, granted RaceMob had been around since 2012 and two legit fitness since 2011, you know, decade, arguably for both that, you know, we had some brand identity, but in this space for people to say, yeah, I'll go ahead and join your podcast and huge.
And we haven't lost sight of that. I haven't, you have, and we want to afford other that opportunity as well. So those are a couple of things that have really stuck and resonated with me and it made me more conscious and aware and always present.

Kevin Chang: [00:28:03]

Yeah. And I mean, I would say at the beginning of the show, master motivator, Bertrand, and you are, you truly, truly are.
And you've been able to, to pick up some of these techniques of, of empathy, right. Of being able to put yourself in other people's shoes, being able to understand where they're coming from, what motivates them. Where they're going. I I've, I've seen her over the last year. And so, yeah, it's been incredibly cool to see.
And especially as you've gotten, you know, more athletes under your belt and everything, you're just every day, it's like more and more incredible. And I get to see the change.

Bertrand Newson: [00:28:37]

It's not work. It's not work. I'm like, come on now. I mean, talking to athletes about running and health and wellness and challenges and obstacles, I'm working professionals who have a lot on their plate, family being number one priority, but also putting an emphasis on themselves.
You have to take care of self. If you're not healthy and well enough, then it impacts everybody else in your life. So I appreciate people who. Everybody, but people who are really taking, making a concerted effort to be healthy, because it it's contagious. It impacts their family directly, their circle of friends directly as well.
So for people to understand that, and it doesn't take much just to start do something, do something every week, you know, a couple of times during the week. And if you have accountability partners that are within your family or friends.
There's always a coworker, even if it's virtually. There's a way to still have fun and to make it interesting and to realize the endorphins waking up in you, all that other big, good, the good energy to help you be healthy.
You don't have to pay a ton of money for this. You don't admit it zero. It is just effort and consistency.

Kevin Chang: [00:29:48]

Love it. I think for me, some of the things that I've learned the most and, and I didn't realize this before, even our first conversation, but the polarized training, right?
The 80/ 20 rule. And I think being of CrossFit backgrounds that you kind of think about this, like, Building motor building the engine and you actually do things that are in the 15 to 20 minute range where your, your heart rate is revved up and going.
And so oftentimes I was thinking, oh, 5k at that pace is the best way to go, but there's more and more evidence that this polarized training, more training at lower intensity,right. So spending more time. Enjoying that run like, you know.
I think that's, again like the, one of the number one pieces of advice that we give to runners is like, enjoy your run, go slower, go way, slow, right. Go way slow. And it'll benefit you in the long run.
But it's one of those things that I've, I've enjoyed more and more this year, you know, slowing down again, because that was part of the love that, you know, got me into the sport of like, Hey, now I got some time now I get to listen to podcasts or music or some time alone to meditate or,    moving meditation.
Especially during the Tazi month of just like the consistency of going out and walking and not putting a lot of pressure on running. I think that has been tremendous.
And then yeah, sometimes you got to kick it into gear. Like you got to kick it a little bit harder than you want to kick it. And there's a reason for that. And it will help you in the long run and you'll have more in the tank when you, when you do some of the slower runs. So I really love that concept of polarized training.
I really, as I started digging into the science of structured training, you know, really loved talking to Jason Fitzgerald about strength, training and Devin Lopez about strength training. I loved talking to Francis about mobility and you know, how do you actually look at range of motion? And as we talked to Jay Ridgeway about running form and Kevin Vandy about running form, Then, how do you assess range of motion?
How do you, you know, especially as we're sitting all day, how do you assess hip flexor, immobility and increase that range of motion and improve your running form and running efficiency in the long run? I think these were things that I had never thought about. And I think, you know, again, as we put together these playlists of like, Hey, if you want to learn something or, you know, make some minor changes or.
Some of these little things that may improve your form in the long run. Go take a look at that playlist because you're just going to find all these like little fun nuggets that we've learned throughout this year that you can apply to your own training. So loving all of those pieces, and I have to give a special shout out to Tony Julian, the nutrition piece.
We're going to again, run another nutrition challenge here in June. That is the plan, but I got so much benefit out of her, just an easy way of approaching nutrition and, you know, it was, we call it the cut, the crap challenge, but also it, she just had, you know, a, a do not eat list and okay to eat lists and just a way of, of putting things together.
And so just some fantastic recipes and those 14 days the motivation. The community coming together, we saw so many just amazing success stories from those 14 days. I mean, that has got to be a highlight of this year. That's fantastic.

Bertrand Newson: [00:33:01]

I agree. And I know we're, we'll be talking in the future about some of our favorite episodes.
We've alluded to some of them already, but if I was going to leave our community with anything today, and I'm like, really good takeaways is. It is never too late. Yeah, it is never too late. You can be in your darkest moments. You can feel that, you know what? I am too old. I don't have it in me. We have seen firsthand witnessed and have heard. I must point to the conversation we had with Leo Rosales, someone who battled addiction for many years.
And by way of finding running later in life, went from, you know, being disenfranchised from his family in a very unhealthy state, mentally and physically to qualifying and finishing multiple Boston marathons into his sixties.
It is never too late to start. It is never too late to make a change. It is never too late, help others in come from places that you were. So keep that in mind. If you were in a space that is a little dark right now, but absolute will be sunny in the future. We got you.

Kevin Chang: [00:34:09]

Yeah. And, you know, we can point to a number of different stories and again, we'll have a playlist on this, you know I'm thinking Jake McCluskey we got to go visit him in the house that he was living in that he literally didn't believe we've a block, a city block for over a year, 13 months.
And I thought he was just too overweight and just heard the words of Marshawn Lynch and it just motivated him. And it, he just took those steps. Right? I mean, you don't have to go run miles and miles.
You just take it up a couple of steps, be brave enough to take a couple of steps,

Bertrand Newson: [00:34:39]

You mentioned Scott, you know, Scott, who he met in part of our our January challenge. Who's now a member of our admin team who helped us build out our recommended products list.
Check that out on RaceMob dot com. For him to be looking at life and the cross hairs, and I'm unsure of his tomorrow and being, you know, let's see going under the knife with open-heart surgery and to get a second chance and to take advantage of that second chance.

Kevin Chang: [00:35:06]

Yeah. I mean, there's going to be so many more stories, so many more connections.
It's just been a complete joy to be working with you. Week after week being able to record these episodes and, and just you know, again, talk to people, hear these inspirational stories, learn something along the way, and you know, we're always looking to improve. We're always looking to get better. So please let us know how you're enjoying these episodes.
Do us a favor if you could. And that would be leave a review. I mean, I think, you know, the one thing that we would love to do is have these episodes reach more people. So if you're enjoying these episodes, Leave us a review on, on Apple podcasts on Spotify, which we're trying to grow as well.
And so let other people know that you're enjoying these shows we really, really appreciate it. And we're looking forward to, to another, another year of this. I mean, it's just been fantastic, man. Appreciate this

Bertrand Newson: [00:35:56]

This past year has been wonderful, all things considered. And we can see the future being brighter, certainly from a running community standpoint, we appreciate all of the support.
And as K.C. mentioned, reviews, liking sharing. That's a great way if you you're enjoying the content, if you want more of that, where it's a labor of love for us. We want to do the best for you. So again, your voice matters here. Share what you'd like to hear and we'll we'll work happen.

Kevin Chang: [00:36:23] Fantastic. But the, I just want to say thank you all so much and we will catch you guys all again next week.

End of the Conversation [00:36:29]

Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the RaceMob podcast. Check out all of the show notes or find a running buddy online at RaceMob 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.

End of the Episode [00:36:46]