Team USA’s Megan Eckert: Reluctant Runner to Big’s Backyard - Logging Loops and Inspiring The Next Generation

WEBVTT

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Well, hello and welcome If this is your first time with us.

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Thank you so much for stopping by.

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You're listening to Choose to Endure, the show dedicated to the non-elite runners, where we share stories, interviews, gear and training tips, usually specific to the tail-end heroes of the Ultra Universe.

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My name is Richard Gleave.

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I have been running ultra since 2017.

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I have taken on and finished numerous distances, all the way up through 220 miles, and I'm unashamedly a member of the Back of the Pack, just like most of you guys.

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Now, most of the time on the podcast, we enjoy some trail-related conversations with fellow Back of the Pack runners, but every now and again we have the opportunity to take what you might call a buttery side trail, and so here in the studio with me today, I am very honored to welcome the fabulous Miss Megan Eckert, who is definitely not a back of the pack runner Now.

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Megan started her running journey less than a decade ago and fell into the sport after a little encouragement and some convincing from others.

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Now she enjoys training and competing on roads and trails alike, determined to see just how far she can go, which, at the moment, folks has taken her 65 yards, 270.85 miles and all the way onto the USA team at Big's Backyard World Championship this coming October.

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Bigs Backyard World Championship this coming October.

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Not only that, but she is also a high school cross country and track coach, hoping and helping to inspire the next generation of amazing runners.

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Wow, that's incredible and this is going to be an excellent chat.

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So stick with us.

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We'll be right back Quicker than a dog spotting a squirrel.

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Discover raw, inspiring stories from runners who've been right where you are.

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This is the Choose to Endure Ultra Running Podcast with your host he's English, not Australian Richard Gleave.

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So, megan, incredible to have you on the show.

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Thank you so much for sparing a little of your time to talk with us today and allowing us, maybe, to pick your brain a little.

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How are you doing?

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I'm doing well.

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Thank you so much, Richard, for having me on.

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I'm so excited to speak with you today.

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Wonderful.

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Well, thank you.

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Now it definitely seems like you've come a long way since you started your running career, but, as we mentioned in the intro, it maybe took a little bit of pushing to get you started, and that's something I think is quite common with what is the listener base on this podcast.

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So, you know, was there a moment or maybe an experience or event that transitioned you from somebody needing a bit of encouragement from others to run to somebody who was actively choosing to pursue ultra running?

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Was there a turning point, a race or an event that really sort of kicked all this into gear for you?

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There wasn't a specific turning point.

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There was a community that really drew me in.

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When I first started running, my husband was convinced he wanted to run trails and he wanted me to do it with him.

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I was not so convinced.

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I was a late in life runner, Started just before I turned 30.

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Wasn't so sure of trail running itself, but this group kept having me come out and run out in the Hill Country nature area There'd be hey, we're going to go run five, 10 miles on this Saturday.

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Why don't you come join us?

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I would come and run with them and through the progression of running with them and listening to their stories because a lot of them had been on trails for at least a decade or more in their experiences I fell more and more in love with the trail running community and trail running in general.

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So when did you first realize as part of that, hey, I might actually have some talent here.

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I'm not sure when.

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That's a hard question to answer, because I still don't believe that I'm at where I'm at right now and my body is able to perform the way it is.

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Yeah Well, maybe we'll take a look back then at some of your first ultra races that you signed up for.

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How did those races go for you as a starter race?

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Were there any challenges that you can think back, and how did you get by those?

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So I was lucky.

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My first ultra was very challenging.

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It was a night race at Paternalis Falls and it was in the middle of Hurricane Harvey.

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Oh my gosh.

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So they still held the race.

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It was my first ultra distance.

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I had run a trail marathon and had some experience on trail, but it was my first ultra distance and they still held the race because the storm was supposed to cut further east.

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So I believe, if I remember correctly, it started at 8 pm and it had just started raining when we started and if you've ever been at the park, there's a big granite dome up top and it started drizzling a little bit.

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So our first lap it was a three loop 60K and it started drizzling a little bit.

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So our first lap it was a three-loop 60K, and our first lap, it wasn't bad.

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It was a little slick on top.

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You had to watch your footing but you weren't going to fall.

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And then that second loop, the puddles started forming and it's poor Like.

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At this point it's pouring.

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And I was so inexperienced.

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I was out in the woods, my headlamp was dimming, I thought I was losing my eyesight, all I needed to do was replace my batteries, which somebody pointed out to me that that was probably what I needed to do, and I'm so grateful for that individual, because I would have just kept running thinking that I was losing my eyesight, you know.

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And then the third loop.

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It was just that that granite dome had turned into a giant puddle.

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It was.

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There was no way around it.

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You were splashing through the water, your socks were wet, your shoes were wet, you were soaked, everything was muddy.

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I remember, though, just everybody was going through the same experience Everybody was getting muddy, everybody was soaked, everybody was cold.

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Same experience everybody was getting muddy, everybody was soaked, everybody was cold.

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And yet it seems like everybody I ran into was still smiling and laughing and cutting up and having this great time.

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And now I guess, if we're on a turning point, that was probably that.

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That's where I saw the trail running community at its fullest, I would say for the first time, where it was.

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We're in this miserable condition all together and we're all somehow having a great time out here.

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Yeah, that shared trauma really does help with bonding and the community aspect of it, which I think is great.

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Now, were you running that by yourself?

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Yeah, I was running it by myself.

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There were some others from the group that were running other distances and maybe even the same distance.

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I can't remember now, but there were other people I knew out there from our group that I was running.

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I was running solo and now, well, I say here in Houston it's not quite in Houston, but the Habanero 100.

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Yeah, because I think now you won that race outright.

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And, folks, if you're not familiar with that race, that's a very challenging race from a heat perspective.

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It's called the Habanero for a reason it's usually very hot, it's in August, if I remember correctly, and it starts at midday and it's really really hot here in Texas in August, as you might imagine.

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So, first of all, congrats on I mean, you won that race outright.

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Yes, that's correct.

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Yeah.

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So I'm super curious, having looked at that and others like it, where conditions are extreme or now that you're getting long to extreme from a distance perspective, how do you go about managing your pace and your energy?

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So, like training for Habanero, for example, I really I was afraid of the heat and I knew that was going to be something that I would have to face in Habanero because of the start time and everything else.

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So I really focused on what I was afraid of in training.

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So I would go out at one o'clock in the afternoon and do my long run hour.

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I would drive around with my windows up in the heat, going in my car in the middle of summer and just facing whatever it is I'm afraid of, in the same way where I'm going now with these distance and these timed events, facing those distances and getting some experience under my belt.

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I do lots of runs during the day.

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Yeah.

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And even when I wake up in the morning, some of you all may know I run commute to my job and I run commute home.

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And there's mornings that I get up and I don't want to do that.

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But I know what I'm doing.

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I'm doing that distance and I in the legs start to get tired or the mind starts to give, not want to go.

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I can rely on those mornings that I got up and I still ran to work.

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You know I still did those things.

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So I think it's facing what we're afraid of head on, whatever race it may be, and putting that in our training as much as we possibly can.

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Now I don't know what it looks like to go 300 or 400.

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That's an unknown and you can't train for something like that.

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But you can train your mind to kind of get ready for those distances.

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Now, did you pick Habanero because you were afraid?

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Why did you pick Habanero when you originally afraid?

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Why did you pick Habanero when you originally were thinking through?

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If you can remember back, was it because, hey, you know what?

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That's something that's giving me the heebie-jeebies.

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I know that's a good thing to go do then.

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Or did you have some other reason for picking Habanero?

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It definitely was my first 100 miler.

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I knew I wanted it to be tough.

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I knew I wanted it to be a race that I had to fight for and at the time there had been one other female runner, I believe, and I could be wrong.

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There might have been two, but there was just a handful of female runners who had completed that race and very few people in general at that time had completed that race.

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It was just a tough race, so I knew I wanted to try something that would challenge me.

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So, yeah, it was definitely the appeal of what could go wrong that drew me into that race.

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Well, apparently not much did.

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I mean you won the race outright, so either not much went wrong or you managed the strategy really well, going in and then during the race outright.

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So either not much went wrong or you managed the strategy really well, going in and then during the race.

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I mean, I get that you train for that in the heat, which is awesome in advance, but how did you handle that during the race?

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Are there any tricks for running in heat that you picked up either before, during or thought back after that particular race?

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Because, folks, it's brutal out there.

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I think for that race.

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If I remember right and that was quite a few years ago, but if I remember right I told myself if I was walking at any point in time that I would either be drinking water or taking in electrolytes or eating.

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If I was walking I was taking in fuel of some sort.

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I remember I covered up white clothing.

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I think I had arm sleeves.

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If I had not all been all white, I think I had a tank top but I kept a hat on the whole race.

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And women ice in the sports bra is a game changer.

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Definitely something where we get to do.

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That's great, quick cool down.

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No, honestly, going into that race, I had no idea of how to manage myself out there.

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I tried, did the best I could and it turned out.

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It turned out well.

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I've learned sent other little tips and tricks for taking an electrolyte, such as putting it, putting salt on your oranges or watermelon, and personally I like beer salt.

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That's my thing.

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The lime flavored beer salt goes on.

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I'll carry it in my pack but that's one of my favorite.

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But just balancing electrolytes and water, my husband had an instance where he was taking in too much water at one of his races and I had never seen anything like this.

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This was really, really early on and he started to swell like his hands, his face, he.

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So he ended up.

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Uh, the race director pulled him from the race, thank goodness, and was like you need to get salt in you, and then he took 20 salt capsules before he oh, my gosh was able to get rid of some of all the blood so it is something to be really mindful of, not to scare people, but it is something.

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Since Hobbs, I've become much more aware of how much electrolytes I'm taking in and making sure I'm getting enough.

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Yeah, that race seemed like it went really well for you, and from a guy perspective I don't know.

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That ice in the shorts has the same kind of effect as the sports bra.

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I'm not sure.

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Maybe I'll try it though.

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Arm sleeves though you can do the arm sleeves.

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Yes, definitely the arm sleeves, and maybe one of those neck bandanas with ice shoved in there for sure, but I don't know.

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That ice in the shorts probably does the same thing.

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Probably not, probably not, no, but that race seems like it went well.

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You've done a lot of races I think 60-odd races at this point in your career across the decade.

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There Are there any races there where things didn't go quite so well during the event?

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How did you work through that?

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I've been really lucky because I don't really look back and see, as any of my races, even the ones that didn't go quite according to plan.

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I don't consider the whole race to go poorly, because there's always little things to learn here and there.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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And I have never had a race where, like continuously, from start to finish, I haven't felt great.

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I've had moments in time, though, and I think we all can attest to those moments in time where it's like why am I out here and doing this again?

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Yeah, and you know those those moments For me.

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I like to reflect, and it's always been this way, even when I first started running.

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I reflect on the fact that I'm able to be out here and, even if I'm not moving quickly, even if I'm a little mad that it's another downhill or whatever it may be, I'm able to get out here and I'm able to experience this beautiful world we live in.

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Honestly, I'm slut, and that's pretty cool.

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So I go back into the mental game, I guess, when I get in those tough moments.

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Yeah, it seems like you've really upped your mental game over time, and maybe that factors into where I wanted to go with you, because you had a lot of success in the standard fixed distance races.

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But then over the last few years it really looks like you've started leaning more and more into the timed races and the backyard style races.

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So I was curious what has drawn you into that particular format of ultra running?

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Initially I had signed up for Snowdrop, which is a wonderful race in Houston that they do over New Year's, and I had done that solo.

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And that was two years ago was my first Snowdrop experience solo and I met a lovely gentleman there who said I think you would be really good at time design, so he planted that little bug.

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Okay.

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And so since then it wasn't anything that I planned on actively pursuing, but I really enjoyed the whole experience of having a timed event and having no finish line and not really knowing how many miles I was going to be able to go or how many miles I want it to go.

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I kind of actually am drawn, I'm finding, to that open-ended format.

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Yeah, it's a really interesting one when you remove the fixed distance and it's just kind of it could go on.

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On the backyard side it goes on forever, theoretically, until the last person is standing and completes the yard.

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So I just think that's a completely different mental game.

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Going back to our conversation a minute ago, that whole mental space it looks like your trajectory is really strong on that and that's really kind of what I wanted to get into.

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In those races where the clock dictates the end rather than the distance, or in the backyard where there isn't an end, like, how do you prepare mentally and physically for those races?

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Is that a different strategy that you use from, say, the fixed distance racing that you've been doing?

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um, and a lot of ways it's very similar because you are still out there for time.

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So so there is there.

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There is well a backyard.

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There's not okay backyard excluding the backyard.

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If we're talking about just a fixed time race or a fixed distance race there, I find that I can prepare for them.

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Very similar because for there is an end point.

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There is an end point for a hundred miler and maybe different for a different time for individuals, and then there's the same thing for a timed race right there it's going to end at 34 and you know when it's going to end.

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But for a backyard it is very, very different, because it seems simple, it seems I I think it's 14 minutes and 31 seconds a mile or something along those lines.

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It seems something that would be very, very easy to do.

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But as the distance accumulates and you're looking around and you're like, oh, that person looks strong, and that person looks strong and I don't know if I feel as strong as they do and how long is this going to go, you do really have to dig into a different mental state where it doesn't matter how long this goes.

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I'm still going to be out here because I can still do the distance.

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It has to become what I have found for me personally is it has to become my own race.

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Nobody else is out there, it's just me running four miles every hour at the top of every hour.

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And how fast do you feel like that takes over?

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Do you start with that mindset or do you start like chatty with other folks and you know you get?

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I'm assuming you get to know a lot of the people, since you're doing the same route over and over and over.

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How fast do you get into that?

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It's really just me and you mentioned like, oh, that person looks strong, or maybe I'm not feeling as strong as they look Like.

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How quickly does that come on for you?

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You know I find I like to the last one.

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I didn't do as great as going back into just my race and it's just four miles.

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You know, the one prior to that in Arizona I did a very good job of getting myself to that point where it was just I was doing my own four mile loop every hour and I found that the one in Arizona came rather quickly where it was probably the second somewhere midway.

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Probably the second somewhere midway second day about 38 hours in 40 hours in where I started just doing my own own race running my own race.

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Now you ended up doing the.

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Now I'm going to butcher the name of this.

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You might be able to tell me is it the saguaro showdown?

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saguaro showdown yes saguaro showdown.

00:19:39.684 --> 00:19:50.192
yeah, what motivated you to sign up for that initially and then, knowing that potentially a win in that race would you get you an automatic qualifier onto the US backyard team?

00:19:50.192 --> 00:19:53.266
How was your headspace and mentality going into that?

00:19:53.266 --> 00:19:58.626
I mean, I'm assuming you were aware of that and that's why you signed up, but did that make a difference going in?

00:19:58.626 --> 00:20:00.672
Was that, you know, anxious stress?

00:20:00.672 --> 00:20:02.144
Did it add to that?

00:20:03.127 --> 00:20:03.932
A little bit bit.

00:20:03.932 --> 00:20:05.900
I was very excited going into saguro.

00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:07.825
It wasn't in my plans.

00:20:07.825 --> 00:20:10.753
Even on january 1st it was suggested by a friend.

00:20:10.753 --> 00:20:26.404
Again, peer pressure yes, gets us into some of these things, and so it was a week before the race that I actually signed up oh my gosh yeah wasn't even sure backwards it was my first backyard Very, very new experience for me.

00:20:26.404 --> 00:20:28.126
Wasn't sure if I had any.

00:20:28.126 --> 00:20:34.050
Everything I needed showed up without a crew it was solo as well.

00:20:34.330 --> 00:20:45.000
I did for a while and then, at 42 hours, one of the other runners and crew members came over and they became my crew and I couldn't have done it without those gentlemen who jumped in.

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:52.795
But going into Soguro I knew what was available if I was able to pull it off.

00:20:52.795 --> 00:20:58.391
But my main goal was to get to my previous distance, which was 217.

00:20:58.391 --> 00:21:05.210
I wanted to get past that, so my goal was 220 and that I would carry on from there.

00:21:06.250 --> 00:21:07.594
My goodness, yeah.

00:21:07.594 --> 00:21:09.522
So so tell us how that race played out.

00:21:09.522 --> 00:21:14.664
I mean you you kind of hinted that hey, I went into this with not much history of doing these races.

00:21:14.664 --> 00:21:16.950
Well, that was your first and no crew.

00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:19.521
So, like goodness me, how did the race go?

00:21:20.003 --> 00:21:22.250
The race went incredibly well.

00:21:22.250 --> 00:21:23.835
I really enjoyed the course.

00:21:23.835 --> 00:21:34.652
For starters, the first 24 hours was a lot of fun because there were so many people who continued to stay out there through the 24 hours and we were all running together.

00:21:34.652 --> 00:21:54.923
And first night people are playing music and singing down the trail and first night was just a blast, you know, up until about 24 hours in and we started seeing more and more people drop and those of us that were left I think there were seven of us for quite a while just seven of us.

00:21:54.923 --> 00:22:15.648
We became a close-knit little pod for a bit, especially in the day loop on that second day, a lot of us running together, sharing stories, and things start to get a little hazy going into the later hours of that second day yeah as in what, even having conversations with people starts to get a little difficult, at least for me.

00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:18.402
I really have to think when I'm that tired.

00:22:18.402 --> 00:22:25.273
So the the second day was it was hotter than the first.

00:22:25.273 --> 00:22:29.290
It was felt rockier than it did on day one.

00:22:29.290 --> 00:22:33.371
You know, everything gets a little bit more extreme on day two.

00:22:33.371 --> 00:22:42.115
So into the night, when the crew jumped in, the other runners crew jumped in and started helping out over in my tent.

00:22:42.115 --> 00:22:52.093
I was incredibly grateful for them and just because the mind starts going, you start forgetting that you needed to put gloves on or whatever it may be.

00:22:52.093 --> 00:22:54.765
You're out on the loop while you can't go back and get them.

00:22:54.765 --> 00:23:08.625
So having someone who was a little bit of a clearer mindset to be hey, take this or eat this or drink this, um, helped a lot in that, in that second, and even we went into the third night.

00:23:08.625 --> 00:23:16.450
So, and honestly, the third day is so much of a blur that you would probably get more from them than you would from me.

00:23:17.031 --> 00:23:19.760
The the later hours of the race apparently had started storming.

00:23:19.760 --> 00:23:20.201
I knew it was raining.

00:23:20.201 --> 00:23:20.903
I didn't know it was storming.

00:23:20.903 --> 00:23:21.784
I knew it was raining.

00:23:21.784 --> 00:23:22.945
I didn't know it was storming.

00:23:22.945 --> 00:23:27.494
My final yard was done and the trail was covered in water.

00:23:27.494 --> 00:23:38.188
I mean, it had become a stream pretty much at that point, and my crew was, I guess I found out later they were afraid I was going to, whether or not I was going to make it back, and to me it was still a drizzle.

00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:47.205
You know, I had no clue what the conditions were like it was oblivious to the pouring rain At that point I had no clue.

00:23:47.205 --> 00:24:01.596
So they would probably be better to discuss what the third day was like than me, Because I was, like I said, I got in that cave and I just did those four miles on my own personal miles and just enjoyed every loop, you know.

00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:06.001
How did that conversation play out?

00:24:06.001 --> 00:24:11.653
Did you we, did you ask them to crew you once their person had dropped, or did they offer to do that like, how did that?

00:24:11.653 --> 00:24:12.780
How did that come to be?

00:24:13.201 --> 00:24:14.323
they just jumped over.

00:24:14.323 --> 00:24:29.644
Um, I think, okay, I think he was, I think the runner was third one standing, yeah, and I come back from a loo and he has said hey, my buddy dropped, I'm, I'm crewing you.

00:24:30.244 --> 00:24:31.630
Wow, yeah, sweet.

00:24:31.630 --> 00:24:32.653
How about that?

00:24:32.653 --> 00:24:37.005
Back to that trail community and people just giving, which I think is brilliant?

00:24:37.005 --> 00:24:38.670
Yeah, I don't know, I don't.

00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:43.846
That wouldn't happen in a marathon, I wouldn't imagine, or any other race out there, but that's why we love doing the trail stuff.

00:24:43.846 --> 00:24:50.063
Yes, now, megan, do you have a strategy for doing this, or have you developed a strategy for doing these backyards?

00:24:50.063 --> 00:24:55.741
Do you try to get back quick so you can take a nap or eat or do whatever you need to Like?

00:24:55.741 --> 00:25:04.732
Do you have a strategy in your head moving forwards of OK, this is how I want to run these, based off the ones you've done so far and something that you could share with the rest of us?

00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:07.087
I'm a slower backyard person.

00:25:07.087 --> 00:25:17.851
I think the one I did last weekend was 50 minutes was my average per loop and that to me was too fast.

00:25:17.851 --> 00:25:21.128
At Saguaro it was 52 per loop.

00:25:21.128 --> 00:25:25.013
My day loops were anywhere from 53 to 56.

00:25:25.013 --> 00:25:30.487
And my night loops were a little bit faster, I think 48 to 51 per loop.

00:25:30.487 --> 00:25:35.521
Because when you start moving faster you have to take in more calories.

00:25:35.521 --> 00:25:41.383
It's harder to come back in and get to sleep, get that five minutes of sleep or whatever you're able to get.

00:25:41.383 --> 00:25:44.981
So I've found that for me I like to go slower.

00:25:44.981 --> 00:25:51.064
I'm able to take in more calories when I get in and then if it's a nighttime, I fall asleep faster.

00:25:51.064 --> 00:25:53.431
So I'm getting more sleep when I'm in there.

00:25:54.819 --> 00:25:55.060
Interesting.

00:25:55.060 --> 00:25:58.349
Okay, and are you thinking ahead to the end of this loop?

00:25:58.349 --> 00:26:05.000
With the five minutes I've got, I need to do these two things or this one thing, assuming you can still think at some point.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.804
I'm assuming that goes out the window totally, but at least initially are you planning out what you're doing?

00:26:09.804 --> 00:26:19.905
At the end of each loop I mean, I haven't done one, but imagine just being a planner I would at least try to say okay, after this loop, I know I need to eat something, or I know I need, I'm going to sit down, or I don't know.

00:26:19.945 --> 00:26:22.189
Whatever it is, I definitely try to.

00:26:22.189 --> 00:26:24.471
I definitely try to plan out what I'm going to do.

00:26:24.471 --> 00:26:25.291
Each loop.

00:26:25.291 --> 00:26:31.541
It doesn't always go according to plan and actually later on it becomes.

00:26:31.541 --> 00:26:40.810
I'll be halfway through the loop and craving a popsicle, so I know I'm going to come in and tell my crew hey, next time I want a popsicle, you know, or whatever it may be.

00:26:41.421 --> 00:26:43.868
So later on it goes out the window.

00:26:43.868 --> 00:26:47.789
It doesn't matter what that, what I've kind of thought of.

00:26:47.789 --> 00:26:51.961
But early on I try to be proactive and things really analyzing.

00:26:51.961 --> 00:26:53.746
Ok, how are your feet doing?

00:26:53.746 --> 00:26:56.972
Are you getting overheated Any of those you know?

00:26:56.972 --> 00:26:58.383
Are you dehydrated?

00:26:58.383 --> 00:26:59.686
Are you taking enough fuel?

00:26:59.987 --> 00:27:08.599
Because any of those things early on can enough fuel, because any of those things early on can mess up those later hours.

00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:14.748
Yeah, and at your 50 minute it's only a 10 minute window to do what you need to do, and I'm just thinking about the rest of us out here.

00:27:14.748 --> 00:27:18.525
That's not a lot, or it doesn't seem like a lot, but maybe you can make it work.

00:27:18.965 --> 00:27:38.234
It doesn't seem like a lot, but I actually found that I had time where I was twiddling my thumbs at 15 minutes going I want to go, I'm ready to, I'm ready to go again and I probably had about three, three to four minutes of time where I was like what am I going to do with this?

00:27:38.234 --> 00:27:40.935
And I found that I don't like that time.

00:27:40.935 --> 00:27:44.730
I'd prefer to be moving in that time and moving slower.

00:27:45.840 --> 00:27:48.839
So, but well, congratulations on winning that race anyway.

00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:50.884
And now of course, with that comes the.

00:27:50.884 --> 00:27:55.633
I think it's a silver ticket officially, that gets you into the USA team.

00:27:55.633 --> 00:28:00.702
So I mean, goodness me, congratulations number one, but then number two.

00:28:00.702 --> 00:28:04.632
What is it like to know that you're going to be out there representing your country?

00:28:04.632 --> 00:28:06.026
Has that sunk in?

00:28:06.026 --> 00:28:06.981
How are you feeling?

00:28:08.044 --> 00:28:09.567
That hasn't sunk in yet.

00:28:09.567 --> 00:28:18.065
I'm not sure if that'll sink in until I'm like at big yeah it's still such a surreal thing.

00:28:18.065 --> 00:28:19.205
Yeah, it's.

00:28:19.205 --> 00:28:20.606
Uh, these it.

00:28:20.606 --> 00:28:22.929
No, it has not sunk in.

00:28:22.929 --> 00:28:31.896
I'm really excited, though, to go and have the opportunity to wear the US color.

00:28:31.896 --> 00:28:33.903
It's just my gosh.

00:28:33.903 --> 00:28:35.868
But no, it has not.

00:28:35.868 --> 00:28:36.590
It's not real.

00:28:36.590 --> 00:28:38.625
See even me saying that it doesn't.

00:28:39.247 --> 00:28:50.442
It doesn't seem, yeah, Like yeah, I think it's brilliant and again, congratulations on that, because any chance you get to represent your country, I think, is a terrific achievement.

00:28:50.442 --> 00:28:55.144
But yeah, I don't know if knowing that you're going to do that this far in advance is a blessing or not.

00:28:55.144 --> 00:29:05.248
You get plenty of time now to go train and fine tune and build back to your Zagoro race.

00:29:05.248 --> 00:29:13.672
That was something you signed up for the week before, so maybe it took all of that anxiety and stress away and you didn't have three, four, five months to worry about it.

00:29:13.672 --> 00:29:16.173
You find that I show up on the start line.

00:29:16.292 --> 00:29:30.843
I enjoy being out there.

00:29:30.843 --> 00:29:35.012
I enjoy running, I love it, and I can only do what I can do on that day.

00:29:35.012 --> 00:29:51.452
So for me that probably I don't expect that to build at all, because it's just such an incredible experience that I'm grateful for and I to have the opportunity to be out there, it's just more than I could ever imagine.

00:29:51.713 --> 00:29:56.730
So Well, I think it's fantastic and very well done on that, thank you.

00:29:56.730 --> 00:30:08.294
But I'm also excited to talk to you because not only are you a brilliant runner in your own right, but also you, as we mentioned in the intro, you are a high school track and cross country coach as well.

00:30:08.294 --> 00:30:10.586
Did these guys know that you made a USA team?

00:30:10.586 --> 00:30:11.209
Did you tell them?

00:30:11.209 --> 00:30:13.207
And what was their reaction?

00:30:15.201 --> 00:30:17.809
You know I don't think I actually told them.

00:30:17.809 --> 00:30:19.886
I tell them about my races.

00:30:19.886 --> 00:30:26.142
I tend to be pretty quiet about my huge achievements, but I'll tell them.

00:30:26.142 --> 00:30:33.790
You know, I went out, I raced in Arizona, I won the race and they'll ask me how many miles and I'll tell them how many miles.

00:30:33.790 --> 00:30:35.583
But I've left it at that for now.

00:30:35.583 --> 00:30:39.972
To be honest with you, I haven't told them about the US team.

00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:41.622
Wow Well.

00:30:41.622 --> 00:30:46.424
So maybe that's going to be fun for them to find out at some point as and when you're off doing this.

00:30:46.424 --> 00:30:49.346
But so back to the younger generation there.

00:30:49.346 --> 00:30:52.673
What inspired you to start coaching the younger athletes?

00:30:52.673 --> 00:31:02.271
Were you always a teacher and got into the track and cross country side of things, or was that something you picked up through running and just sort of said, yeah, I want to start giving back?

00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:05.848
So I've been a teacher, a school teacher, for 16 years.

00:31:05.848 --> 00:31:08.060
Now, start giving back.

00:31:08.060 --> 00:31:09.463
So I've been a teacher, a school teacher, for 16 years now.

00:31:09.463 --> 00:31:17.688
I've been in the middle school classroom and I've been a runner for only eight I think at this point eight or nine and I love running so much.

00:31:17.688 --> 00:31:26.588
It is such a simple activity that's really freeing mentally and physically and I've really developed a love for it.

00:31:26.689 --> 00:31:32.628
And I noticed that our high school we're in Santa Fe, new Mexico, we're at 7,000 feet.

00:31:32.628 --> 00:31:37.127
Yet people who are born here, they have those extra red blood cells.

00:31:37.127 --> 00:31:40.961
But there was not a lot of people coming out to the cross country team.

00:31:40.961 --> 00:31:44.087
There's not a lot of people coming out to the track team.

00:31:44.087 --> 00:31:49.826
And there was an opening for a cross-country coach and that's how I kind of fell into.

00:31:49.826 --> 00:31:58.511
It is the idea of trying to get some of the younger generation involved with running in some way, shape or form.

00:31:58.511 --> 00:32:02.250
And I even encourage my runners at the high school.

00:32:02.250 --> 00:32:23.048
I do a summer run for cross-country and I say, even if you're not going to run cross country with me or doing another sport, whether it be basketball or volleyball or whatever, just come out and do some of our runs in the morning, just to experience it, because you never know what little seed you're going to plant or who's going to find what they need.

00:32:23.048 --> 00:32:25.026
Then it could be running.

00:32:26.201 --> 00:32:27.826
Absolutely, and I'm curious too.

00:32:27.826 --> 00:32:35.403
Obviously you're a teacher and runner and now coach and mentor to those younger folks on the high school team there.

00:32:35.403 --> 00:32:43.590
So has it been easy to translate the lessons that you've learned over your eight to 10 years of running into teachings for your high school folks?

00:32:45.343 --> 00:32:46.692
I feel like it's very different.

00:32:46.692 --> 00:32:49.063
It is a very different perspective.

00:32:49.063 --> 00:32:52.511
I started later in life, when I was in junior high and high school.

00:32:52.511 --> 00:32:55.534
I didn't want to run, so I can relate to the kids that don't want to come out.

00:32:55.534 --> 00:33:05.414
But the kids that want to give it all I have to draw on my adult self, which isn't always the same as the teenagers.

00:33:05.414 --> 00:33:08.048
Right, that's not the way they want to approach everything.

00:33:08.048 --> 00:33:14.771
So I've found that I've had a lot of learning about running through them too.

00:33:14.771 --> 00:33:26.884
They give me as much, I would say, as I give them, as crazy as that sounds, just with their perspective on training, their perspective on practices they need.

00:33:27.405 --> 00:33:31.131
I'm fascinated by this how you've had to adapt yourself.

00:33:31.131 --> 00:33:41.688
When you consider the younger runners, do they need or want things that you hadn't anticipated going in, because that's a totally different generation.

00:33:41.688 --> 00:33:51.672
So if I went to start teaching people at that age, now they're a totally different bunch of people to me at that age and so they probably need a very different approach than what I would have received.

00:33:51.672 --> 00:34:03.792
Is there some uniqueness to how you've had to adapt and develop your training for those guys, different to how you were approached, or not, back in those days, or what you do for yourself now?

00:34:03.792 --> 00:34:09.568
Do you find yourself tailoring what you do a lot to to these individuals and and so sort of?

00:34:09.568 --> 00:34:10.510
In what respects?

00:34:11.311 --> 00:34:38.202
I do, um, because, because they are younger, I find a lot of the younger athletes will go 100, 100 of the time they they don't have that internal gauge where, or very few of them have that internal gauge that tells them, hey, your body needs you to back off now, you need to take that rest day or you need to slow down.

00:34:38.202 --> 00:34:41.106
They are always willing to give it all.

00:34:41.106 --> 00:34:58.007
And so with the younger athletes a lot of them we work a lot on the developmental mobility and plyometrics and strength training and explosiveness and all those things that as an adult runner I did not do.

00:34:58.007 --> 00:35:07.260
I don't think I started strength training until about three years ago when I broke my foot and I had no other option because I couldn't run.

00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:14.313
So for these young athletes yes, it's it what I find is I find more that of what I give them.

00:35:14.313 --> 00:35:22.302
I find I should be doing myself, because I never had that experience as a young athlete yeah, I.

00:35:22.961 --> 00:35:38.257
I just think it's fascinating how youth of today is different and the different approach even in my work which has nothing to do with running, but it's just the way the younger generation coming through has you know we need to work with them is totally different to what I had.

00:35:38.257 --> 00:35:41.769
So I just think that's really cool and interesting.

00:35:41.769 --> 00:35:44.168
So now do you go out and run with your group?

00:35:44.168 --> 00:35:48.268
Like, do you take them on and be like, hey, if you can beat me, then you're doing good?

00:35:48.268 --> 00:35:50.079
Like what, do you go run with them or do you?

00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:51.523
Do you tend to keep that separate?

00:35:52.025 --> 00:35:54.391
No, I definitely go run with the cross-country group.

00:35:54.391 --> 00:35:55.340
It's never.

00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:56.942
It's never a race.

00:35:56.942 --> 00:35:59.063
I'm never challenging them.

00:35:59.063 --> 00:36:01.365
Honestly, I think most of them would probably beat me.

00:36:01.365 --> 00:36:12.436
Like I said, they go a hundred 100% of the time and not fast and steady, but I love running with them and they actually apparently love running with me.

00:36:12.436 --> 00:36:20.833
I don't run with track as much because we're a lot of times on the oval and a lot of our work is on the track.

00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:24.851
Occasionally I'll take the distance runners out and we'll do something around the campus.

00:36:24.851 --> 00:36:37.429
I don't get as much of an opportunity to run with them, but with cross-country and even starting next week, I'll start them preseason next week and we'll just do an hour and we'll go run together.

00:36:37.429 --> 00:36:40.128
It's not all running, a lot of it will.

00:36:40.128 --> 00:36:49.264
There's a little park close by that has all this outdoor equipment for strength training, so we'll do that too in that time and stretching and so on.

00:36:49.264 --> 00:36:54.617
But they, the cross-country group, the more.

00:36:54.617 --> 00:36:56.744
Um, because it's really close to trail running.

00:36:56.744 --> 00:37:04.454
The community is very close to trail running and it's very special here, I feel like in new mexico and probably everywhere.

00:37:04.454 --> 00:37:13.525
I haven't coached any place else, but it's very special here in new mexico and it's nice to see these young athletes encouraging others to come out and watching the sport grow.

00:37:14.487 --> 00:37:27.643
I think it's interesting, you know, just being in a lot of races and, to some degree, looking at the podcast listener stats too there's a lot of, shall we say, mid thirties through 60 kind of age range.

00:37:27.643 --> 00:37:41.175
If you go look at any given race, you see a lot of those folks joining trail running and ultra running, but not so much below in the 20s and certainly the high teens up through the 20s.

00:37:41.175 --> 00:37:57.239
I've come across a handful now and so I'm starting to say, ok, well, maybe there is, maybe there are a few more kind of of the really young generation taking a look at trail running, which I think is beautiful because I mean it's there's a whole vast world of it out there and a big community Fantastic.

00:37:57.239 --> 00:38:01.427
But yeah, so now you're a teacher.

00:38:01.867 --> 00:38:04.893
Mentor coach, you're doing your own training.

00:38:04.893 --> 00:38:06.335
That's a lot of stuff.

00:38:06.335 --> 00:38:09.262
Mentor coach, you're doing your own training.

00:38:09.262 --> 00:38:09.782
That's a lot of stuff.

00:38:09.782 --> 00:38:18.047
I'm curious how you manage to balance your time between all of that and make sure that you have adequate prep for the big races that you've got coming up.

00:38:18.047 --> 00:38:19.552
How do you juggle all that?

00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:21.242
So I'm still learning.

00:38:21.242 --> 00:38:22.927
Sometimes they're better than others.

00:38:22.927 --> 00:38:31.771
I have some weeks where I'll come home Saturday after a track meet and I will sleep 12 hours because I just stretch myself thin for that week.

00:38:31.771 --> 00:38:34.226
But what I have found for myself?

00:38:34.226 --> 00:38:38.367
I live about 30 miles from my job, so I'll run in in the mornings.

00:38:38.367 --> 00:38:41.025
I work a full day.

00:38:41.025 --> 00:38:46.768
I'm out of middle school, so I have an hour hour and a half before coaching.

00:38:46.768 --> 00:38:59.248
So when my school lets out I'll go and I'll do another five, six, seven miles and, depending on the day, run, go coach and then after that do what I need.

00:38:59.248 --> 00:39:01.112
Whatever my run is home.

00:39:01.112 --> 00:39:04.221
Sometimes it's a detour, sometimes it's.

00:39:04.221 --> 00:39:07.170
I want to be home quick and I go straight home.

00:39:07.170 --> 00:39:16.965
I run based on how I'm feeling, based on some days I want to take the shortest route to work possible, and that's exactly what I do.

00:39:16.965 --> 00:39:23.190
Other days I want a little extra, so I'll run a little further or take a different route.

00:39:23.670 --> 00:39:23.911
Yeah.

00:39:25.242 --> 00:39:41.632
But the balance can be challenging when I'm trying to rack up miles for the week or fit in speed work, and it can be tough at times, but I enjoy doing it all, which is how I think I'm able to fit it all in.

00:39:41.632 --> 00:39:49.409
If I didn't love coaching, if I didn't love teaching, if I didn't love running, one of them would be falling by the wayside already, but I enjoyed them all equally.

00:39:49.869 --> 00:40:08.505
So therefore, I put in equal amounts of time into each into this USA in the backyard stuff and you've done really well in races.

00:40:08.505 --> 00:40:10.652
So I definitely think there's more than a few folks that kind of look up to you.

00:40:10.652 --> 00:40:14.605
But do you have anyone that inspires you in the world of ultra running?

00:40:14.605 --> 00:40:21.900
Are there any mentors or figures out there that have shaped your approach to the sport or that you've come across and you think that is an awesome person?

00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:25.148
That's the individual that I'm going to look to.

00:40:25.148 --> 00:40:26.331
Who inspires you?

00:40:29.619 --> 00:40:31.403
person that's the individual that I'm going to look to who inspires you.

00:40:31.403 --> 00:40:41.148
There are countless women, honestly, in this sport, that are doing amazing things, regardless of what level they are, if they're elite, if they're sub elite, if they're just starting out.

00:40:41.148 --> 00:40:54.233
I really look up to the women who are breaking the barriers and challenging the norms, and I can't name a specific person because there's so many out there doing great things.

00:40:54.233 --> 00:40:55.675
Okay.

00:40:55.916 --> 00:40:57.547
Yeah, I can totally get on board with that.

00:40:57.547 --> 00:41:03.965
I think anyone getting out there hitting the start line of pretty much any race has already won in my book.

00:41:03.965 --> 00:41:05.987
The rest of it is just a celebration.

00:41:06.501 --> 00:41:06.742
So yeah.

00:41:06.822 --> 00:41:09.706
I totally, totally can get on board with that.

00:41:09.706 --> 00:41:27.260
But for someone who has achieved a lot with, hopefully, more yet to come, can you offer any words of advice, or maybe encouragement for those of us listening who are more towards the tail end of races, perhaps, or who maybe are just starting out, as we said, on their own journey?

00:41:27.260 --> 00:41:30.550
What advice might you have for those folks?

00:41:31.780 --> 00:41:34.750
You know, just don't stop going.

00:41:34.750 --> 00:41:47.403
We don't know what's around the corner, we don't know what comes next, we don't know what the trail is going to look like, what our experience is going to be like through our running journey.

00:41:47.403 --> 00:41:47.945
We don't.

00:41:47.945 --> 00:41:54.262
It varies from person to person, but what I've found is that running is just.

00:41:54.262 --> 00:41:56.686
It's just such a beautiful process.

00:41:56.686 --> 00:42:03.086
It's full of turns and curves and all sorts of maybe drop offs.

00:42:03.086 --> 00:42:10.849
I don't know, but I never would imagine that I'm here doing 200 milers.

00:42:10.980 --> 00:42:15.827
I mean, I think even our mutual friend had asked me hey, have you ever thought of a 200?

00:42:15.827 --> 00:42:19.748
And at the time I was like, no, no way, never gonna do it.

00:42:19.748 --> 00:42:21.324
You know so.

00:42:21.324 --> 00:42:29.871
And we just don't know what's in store for us and where running or anything really will take us.

00:42:29.871 --> 00:42:37.974
So it's just continuing to lace up the shoes and going out day after day or whatever that looks like for you.

00:42:38.454 --> 00:42:38.735
Yeah.

00:42:39.059 --> 00:42:40.387
And enjoying the process.

00:42:40.387 --> 00:42:45.210
You know that's one of the things I like racing I do.

00:42:45.210 --> 00:42:56.815
But I love the process of getting to the race so much more that by the time I get there I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to get back to the process.

00:42:59.702 --> 00:43:01.666
I like too much the racing perhaps.

00:43:01.666 --> 00:43:03.650
Yeah, it is good.

00:43:03.650 --> 00:43:06.679
I definitely prefer racing than than the training side of things.

00:43:06.679 --> 00:43:07.601
I'll be honest about that.

00:43:07.601 --> 00:43:10.829
But it's always been that way in all sports that I've ever played.

00:43:10.829 --> 00:43:16.791
But I will say running is really interesting, for me at least, and maybe others out there too, like you can.

00:43:16.871 --> 00:43:19.847
You can have as part of your training or even a race.

00:43:19.847 --> 00:43:34.869
You can have things go horribly wrong and you can have a like, a day when you just it like doesn't click at all and you feel awful, and then you go out again the next day or the next race and you have one of the best races you've ever had and it doesn't seem like to connect.

00:43:34.869 --> 00:43:42.456
But just because you've had a rough day or didn't feel awesome that day doesn't mean that's how it's going to be forever.

00:43:42.456 --> 00:43:53.268
And I've had races kind of like your Segura one where I've just jumped in a race at last minute and had a brilliant time, Um and.

00:43:53.268 --> 00:43:55.333
And I've had races where I've trained solidly for 12 weeks and it's gone horrendously.

00:43:55.353 --> 00:44:01.443
But those things happen and it's a journey right, and we learn from from every one of those experiences and you just build this bank.

00:44:01.443 --> 00:44:08.467
So I, I, I think for you know, for folks starting out, for me it would be don't get too high, don't get too low.

00:44:08.467 --> 00:44:21.614
Try to sort of take everything with a grain of salt and stick to the middle somewhere and just understand that those things happen, but build your bank of experience to have perspective on any given day.

00:44:21.614 --> 00:44:26.177
That's either fantastic or terrible in your opinion.

00:44:26.177 --> 00:44:28.518
That's either fantastic or terrible in your opinion.

00:44:28.518 --> 00:44:29.958
They all even out over the long term.

00:44:29.958 --> 00:44:33.143
But yeah, if somebody had told me that when I first started doing this, I would have appreciated it for sure.

00:44:33.661 --> 00:44:35.226
Yeah, definitely not linear.

00:44:35.226 --> 00:44:39.121
I mean, I don't, I expected it to be linear too, like you.

00:44:39.121 --> 00:44:41.963
Just, you know, continuously grow, you, continuously grow.

00:44:41.983 --> 00:44:42.987
Yeah, you just keep getting better.

00:44:44.041 --> 00:44:53.210
That's not the way it works for anyone, I think, at any level, progress is not linear, and it just makes us stronger runners, though, in the long run, if we stick it out.

00:44:54.132 --> 00:45:01.465
Absolutely, and I was reminded the other day that even Courtney DeWalter DNF'd her first 100 miler, I believe and she didn't do too bad in the end.

00:45:01.465 --> 00:45:07.860
I suppose so you know it's all about perspective, I suppose.

00:45:07.860 --> 00:45:08.985
So you know it's all about perspective.

00:45:08.985 --> 00:45:09.365
It's all relative.

00:45:09.365 --> 00:45:10.690
Keep doing what you're doing and just enjoy the journey.

00:45:10.690 --> 00:45:11.775
Really, that's what I would say.

00:45:11.775 --> 00:45:22.425
Now, megan, each episode we do encourage guests, if I can say it correctly, to choose a song to add to the free Spotify Choose to Enjoy playlist.

00:45:22.425 --> 00:45:29.407
Usually it's something family friendly, just something to lift you up, motivate you or keep you moving while you're out on the trail.

00:45:29.407 --> 00:45:35.206
Now, megan, which song did you choose and why did you pick this one?

00:45:36.047 --> 00:45:38.452
So I chose Bon Jovi, Living on a Prayer.

00:45:39.239 --> 00:45:39.760
Rock on.

00:45:40.021 --> 00:45:40.682
And it was.

00:45:40.682 --> 00:45:43.188
Honestly, it was hard to pick a song.

00:45:43.188 --> 00:45:46.128
I grew up around music, always listening to music.

00:45:46.128 --> 00:45:46.442
There was always records going in my house so it was hard to pick a song.

00:45:46.442 --> 00:45:46.903
I grew up around music, always listening to music.

00:45:46.903 --> 00:45:50.985
There was always records going in my house, so it was hard to pick just one.

00:45:50.985 --> 00:46:00.135
Bon Jovi is probably my favorite for when times get tough, putting on some good rock music and just grinding, you know.

00:46:00.802 --> 00:46:02.440
You can't beat a bit of Living on a Prayer.

00:46:02.440 --> 00:46:10.134
It's an absolute classic for yelling along to at the top of your lungs when you're driving along or running down a trail and scaring bears or whatever you're doing.

00:46:10.134 --> 00:46:12.585
Absolute classic song, yes, for sure.

00:46:12.585 --> 00:46:16.213
So we'll definitely get that one added to the list.

00:46:16.213 --> 00:46:18.585
Thank you for picking such an epic rock song.

00:46:19.907 --> 00:46:29.903
So, as we approach the end of this particular episode, megan, thanks again for joining the show and sharing a piece of your massive experience and wisdom with us.

00:46:29.903 --> 00:46:48.563
I think it's really cool that not only is Megan an awesome runner in her own right, but that she's putting time and effort into giving back and helping the next generation of runners and students at her school find those life lessons and guidance from her own experience Really cool.

00:46:48.563 --> 00:47:13.088
If you ask me If you want to catch up with Megan and go say hi, she'll be running some pretty epic races between now and October, including, if I get this right, six Days in the Dome, the Angeles Crest 100, run Rabbit Run in the Dome, the Angeles Crest 100, run Rabbit Run and the Desert Solstice 24-hour race later in this year.

00:47:13.088 --> 00:47:15.634
So good luck in those races for sure.

00:47:15.634 --> 00:47:17.018
Thank you, listeners.

00:47:17.018 --> 00:47:21.108
I hope you found the conversation informative, maybe even a little bit inspiring.

00:47:21.108 --> 00:47:31.134
There's lots of practical advice in there, as well as no short measure of encouragement and confidence for those of us towards the back of the pack.

00:47:31.721 --> 00:47:42.949
Now, while you're out on the Internet checking out where Megan's going to be, don't forget to subscribe to the show to get notified each time a new episode comes out and, of course, follow, like and share.

00:47:42.949 --> 00:47:45.369
That would be very much appreciated.

00:47:45.369 --> 00:47:48.643
Like and share that would be very much appreciated.

00:47:48.643 --> 00:47:59.322
Doing any of those things really helps with the algorithms, which in turn, helps get the word out and increase the chances of other runners finding the information that guests like Megan have to share when they give up their time to come chat with us.

00:47:59.322 --> 00:48:15.172
You can find this show on Instagram, facebook and over at choosetoeendurecom, so be sure to head over to any of those and check us out, say hello, drop us a message or suggest a topic if you have a moment.

00:48:15.172 --> 00:48:19.251
I really love getting those interactions and talking with you guys.

00:48:19.251 --> 00:48:27.052
Until then, make sure you channel your inner Megan, run long, run strong and keep choosing to endure.