Pacing Passions How Runners Balance Commitments and Conquer Challenges

Embark on a transformative journey with Coach Christine and the remarkable Coach Stephanie Diaz of The Runner's Roundtable podcast.

First, Coach Christine delves into the seven essential traits that elevate athletes to new heights. This conversation is more than just a lesson in athletics; it's a deep dive into personal success stories and the mastery of time management that resonates with anyone chasing a dream. From the power of curiosity to the art of balancing life's commitments with running goals, we uncover the personalized nature of triumph in sports and beyond.

Feel the beat of your heart sync with every step as we traverse the emotional terrains of marathons, where personal records are etched not just in time but in moments of strength and healing. Stephanie shares an intimate chapter of her running life, where the marathon course became a sanctuary for grief, mirroring the emotional voyages of countless others in the running community. It's about finding solace in the rhythm of your run, embracing growth, and healing through the journey.

As we close this episode, we celebrate the connections forged through running, inviting you to join the conversation and the community that supports it. 

Whether you're lacing up for your first mile or your hundredth marathon, this episode is a testament to the shared experiences and the profound impact of running on our lives. 

So tune in, find your stride, and let's move forward together, one inspirational step at a time.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Do you have what it takes to turn your running goals from distant dreams into today's achievements? Have you ever wondered what separates the dreamers from the doers? Well, friends, tune on into this episode because we're going to discover these seven common traits that successful athletes have in making their goals a reality. Welcome to Time for brunch, the podcast where we dive into these questions, discovering the secrets behind every stride and success. Hello friend, welcome. I'm Coach Christine. I'm your host and your guide to this journey of endurance and improvement and, of course, through the transformative power of running, as a level two RRCA run coach and ACE health coach, specializing in fostering positive habits, I've seen firsthand the determination, resilience and sheer will that propels runners and athletes across the finish line and beyond. In today's episode we're also going to have a guest for us. Today we're going to welcome back Stephanie Diaz, a remarkable run coach, yogi, inspiring mother runner, and she's joining us for that second visit because I absolutely love her passion, her commitment to the running community. They're evident through her incredible work on the runners round table podcast, season four conversation, and she continues to be on the mission to spotlight topics coaches and runners that resonate with anyone who has ever laced up for a run. But let's first get kicked off on our conversation on the seven traits that individuals that are successful in their goals have, and I can tell you this comes firsthand from the people that I get the privilege to work with, and again, I will always say it because it's so incredible. Thank you so much for those that entrust me as your coach, for being alongside and working together towards making those dreams a reality. So I know you're waiting and you want to know, like, okay, let's get to it.

Speaker 1: 2:03

What are these things that people have in common when they're successful? Well, the very first one so one out of the gate is that they define success on their own terms. Success is incredibly personal and what might be one person's peak performance might be another starting point, and they don't allow others to define what their success is. And that makes for such an incredible mindset shift when we sit down and we have our goal setting sessions, because it becomes very personalized, it becomes very intrinsic, it becomes very focused on what they're hoping to achieve with our time together, and I will always encourage. But part of this defining success on your own terms is that it has to be a goal that motivates you. So that's a commonality that these individuals that define success in their own terms. Again, that goal setting is something that motivates them, and while it should be something that motivates you and excites you, it should be achievable, but it should still be challenging to keep you moving and propelling you forward.

Speaker 1: 3:13

And one of the things that I love to see individuals that have that goal setting successful definition is that they look at it as how they can focus their success and their goals on the things that they can measure and actually control. So by that I mean, instead of having a purely outcome based goal, just basing it on PRs or further distance, they base it on the controllable aspects of consistency of their workouts, or maybe it's nutritional changes in terms of adding more produce or adding more protein. They focus on what they are actually able to do versus what may happen on just that one off chance race day. So they make it as part of their journey and they get excited about it from there. Okay, the next one. They all compete, they're all like these are all absolutely pivotally important, but this next one just sues my heart, makes me happy inside, and it's they are all time management masters.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Now, if you're hearing that and you're thinking, oh, I don't want to hear anything more about time management, I can't possibly fit more things into my life. It is so difficult. Well, these individuals that have, time and time again, proven to me, are proven to themselves, that they are able to have the success that they're looking for master their time. They all are incredibly busy and they wear many hats throughout the day. They know that throughout the day, there's going to be demands on their time and they make their workouts or they structure their day in a way where it becomes a meeting or something of importance, and by that I mean that generally, when they receive their weekly training, they will sit down and they'll actually schedule when they're going to do that workout. It is not an afterthought, it is not a I'll squeeze it in. It is absolutely something that they plan for. Now I will say this, and I will caveat that that does not mean that they're rigid or inflexible. Quite on the contrary, they know that things are going to come up and they may have to shift around, just that they prioritize their fitness in a way that allows them the greatest possible outcome of being successful with their consistency. So I can honestly say that this is one of the ones that really becomes a game changer and allowing you to be consistent towards the behaviors that you can control, to be successful in your own right.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Now, my friend, this next one. So we are now up to the number three commonality that successful athletes that I have worked with have is that they are inquisitive. Now, not everybody has the same level of questioning or that they're inquisitive, but they are asking questions, they're seeking information, they're asking about what books they could be reading, or where they could learn more, or why they're doing certain kind of workouts, or why they should tackle their nutrition in this specific way, or how they should handle the recovery, and by that it allows them to become empowered, informed and also let them resonate with that specific behavior of their training plan or what they're trying to kind of turn on and create as a sustainable, positive habit a little bit easier, because they understand why it's important, and so they're willing to show up more, so for themselves. Now, that may not be the case for every single individual, but that is a commonality that I have seen with everyone that I work with that has had great successes, which leads to the next one, which is number four, is that they take responsibility for communication. So they either keep journals on their training or they take copious notes and leave it in our coaching platform, or they assess throughout the days or weeks of what's working, what's not working, and they communicate that to me. They let me know if they need different changes, if they need adjustments, if something's come up, so that we continue to have an open dialogue.

Speaker 1: 7:45

And this is what's really fascinating about these individuals is that they reach out before there's a problem. And let me explain that in terms of the role of communication. Because they're planning. They see maybe something, a potential roadblock coming their way. Maybe they see that they're going into a busy season at work and that they are not going to be able to do five runs per week. Or maybe they see and kind of plan for the fact that they've been feeling a couple of little niggles and they know that they need to be proactive of adding in or being more focused on mobility and recovering or resting before they push forward. And they communicate that to me so that I know what's going on, how to best support them and how we can work collaboratively in ensuring that they are successful. So that is probably one of my favorites and I always get really happy when I see notes from the athletes in our coaching platform or they reach out with their questions, because they're just specifically really insightful on what they need or at least willing to have the conversation so that they can get the most that they need out of our time together. So we're up to number five.

Speaker 1: 9:00

We are working right through this list and this one is also a favorite. They're all my favorites, but this is one that I absolutely love is that they are resilient in the face of setbacks. Now, I said successful right out of the gate. Well, success is oftentimes defined by not having the outcome that we were hoping for, but not letting it derail us from the long term goals that we have in mind. So, resiliency in the face of setbacks and I've seen this in those successful athletes anywhere from maybe having an injury and having to offset into more of a rehab or a recovering phase, being resilient, being focused on doing more of the mindset and the work that comes along with rehabbing before they get back into their training program or resiliency in the face of setbacks of their needs or their demands have changed, so they have to collaborate with me and work on things a little bit differently and also being very honest with themselves, allowing themselves to feel frustrated with a workout or even a training season, or maybe even disappointed by not having that outcome that they were hoping for, but allowing themselves to feel those emotions, those thoughts, and then coming back to a conversation where we can look at what we do now with that information that we know, to move forward. So maintaining that positive mindset and focusing on those controllable aspects of their training to helping them navigate those ups and downs that we invariably have if we're going to stay in this sport long term.

Speaker 1: 10:46

We're rocking right through here, and the next one on the list is avoiding shortcuts and quick fixes. I have had many a conversation because I consult with individuals before we actually do choose to work together one on one, and there are athletes that I have not worked with because they're looking for a quick fix, meaning they're looking for shaving off 15 minutes from their half marathon time within three months, or they're looking for the quickest way that they could lose 20 pounds, or they are looking for heart rate training. That happened yesterday, so they're not necessarily focused on a long term objective, but they really just want those real quick, immediate results. Some of them are very vanity focused or metric focused in a way that doesn't really allow them to get into the dedication and the hard work and the patience that needs to be cultivated during this journey. And with that I think that again, that's kind of the double sided coin of that.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Resiliency is that when you have a grittier mindset, when you have that stick of two of Ness, you know that it's going to be a longer term dedication. That's required, especially when we're looking at endurance sports and making any kind of real forward progress as we continue to get into our endurance sports of choice. With that we've dovetailed perfectly into the final number seven trait that all of the successful athletes I work with have in common and that's that they embrace the long term journey. I'm going to say that again and then I'm going to pause. They embrace the long term journey.

Speaker 1: 12:51

Every goal setting session that I have had with an athlete that kicks off with they want to be able to do this for when they are in their later ages in life. They want to be able to run until the end, or they want to be able to stay vital and move and be there for their grandchildren, or to live the most active, resilient, happy life that they're capable of. Those individuals invariably have the most success in our working together because that allows them to see those ebbs and flows of the seasons of change. It allows them to continue focusing on. Okay, maybe I didn't nail the PR that I was hoping for, but the last six months I have continued to make regular deposits into my fitness bank. I have continued to learn that I am capable. I have continued to make great strides in the aspects of my resiliency. They always have that long term journey in mind that allows them to also have a growth mindset of both the ups and downs of their journey.

Speaker 1: 14:05

Now I'm curious what you would add to this list of traits that you've seen or that you actually have yourself, that you have felt make you more successful or have made your friends around you more successful, that you think I left off this list and I need to maybe make a revision on it. Those are just some of the ones that come to mind. It was again inspired by the conversation with Stephanie, where we talk so much about our different seasons of training, because it is about embracing that long term journey. So, without further ado, let me welcome Stephanie on in and let's get right into this incredible conversation. Welcome, stephanie Diaz.

Speaker 2: 14:47

Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be back and sitting on this side of things where I'm the guest and not the host.

Speaker 1: 14:56

Well, let's talk a little bit about that too because, friends, if you don't remember, stephanie is a remarkable run coach. Truly, she is a force to be reckoned with in the running community. Her insight into the world of running is not just about the physical aspect, but embraces the mental, emotional and communal elements of this beloved sport. That's why we're stoked to have you, stephanie. So last time that we had you here, we got to chat a little bit about you heading off to tackle London. How did things go?

Speaker 2: 15:23

London was phenomenal and I feel like the further I get away from London, there's a part of me that wants to go back and do it again, which I feel like is not the case with a lot of marathons Usually.

Speaker 2: 15:37

The only marathon I've ever repeated is Chicago, but lately I've kind of had that itch to go back to London and re-experience it. So it was, time-wise, not the race that I had trained for, not the race that I thought I would have, but sentimentally it was an incredible experience. I went into that race, yes, with the time goal, but also the goal of reclaiming my joy. And I actually got the word reclaiming from you and I can't remember if it was conversation on the podcast or off. When you're like, it sounds like you're reclaiming something. So I always think of you when I use the word reclamation, because I'm like you gave me that word. So that race was very much so a reclamation of joy of running marathons. And I finished that race just in awe of myself. I couldn't believe I did it again and I couldn't believe that I finished wanting to do another one, which then led me to doing Marine Corps Marathon in October of last year as well.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Oh, my goodness. Okay, well, first let's talk about the fact that you didn't just reclaim your joy, you also created joy for so many others, not just the fixed folks that listened to you on your journey, but you were fundraising, which can be in and of itself very stressful, but you did it in such a way where the excitement was palpable of what you were doing and what a big mission you were on during London. So congratulations on crossing that finish line and making such a big difference. And then you come back home, you come states that you're like I'm ready for more. So it was DC where you were thinking of a time goal, because that's a tough one if Marine Corps is what you're thinking.

Speaker 2: 17:17

So DC was kind of similar. I had trained for. I trained through the summer and I'm in Miami, florida, and actually over the summer I was on the West coast of Florida, in Marco Island, which is like a desert, so, believe it or not, it was actually hotter than Miami. So I trained through that. I felt pretty confident with how my training had gone. I was really really proud of myself for being able to stay consistent when so much in my life was kind of chaotic.

Speaker 2: 17:47

In the training cycle of Marine Corps we moved six times and we actually moved back into our home the Tuesday before Marine Corps, so moved into our house Friday, flew out to DC and I went in thinking, okay, here I had again a time where I thought that is a challenging but manageable. I kept telling myself this is challenging but manageable. And the part that I left out was our dog died in September. So that race became almost a story in grief for me. Okay, up until mile 10, and then all of a sudden, at mile 10, I couldn't stop thinking about my dead dog and I spent, I'd say, three miles holding back tears like the sobs. You know those tears where you just peel like you can't breathe because it wants to come out. So I spent three miles doing that kind of recouped things, regathered myself and decided this is not a race for time, this is going to be a race that I'm going to celebrate.

Speaker 2: 19:01

Just crossing the finish line I didn't realize how much grief I was carrying and how much anger I had been carrying because of the life outside of the run that something happened. I mean, you're in a marathon and I think it's just because it's your body is in motion, right, you're just doing repetitive motion over and over again. And my brain realized oh, I can think now, like I have freedom to roam, and what it latched onto was all this grief that I hadn't processed. So that race was one that was just a lesson in grief and reminder that even in our saddest moments we can keep moving forward. So Marine Corps was that was an emotional, gut-wrenching one, and I was very, very proud. Probably that race is probably the proudest marathon. It is also my slowest marathon ever, but wow, is that one of the proudest moments that I have when it comes to running?

Speaker 1: 20:06

That's extraordinary. I will say first and foremost, I'm so sorry for your loss because our fur babies do take a special place in our heart, and I had a very similar situation. I had lost my mother when I went up to Boston and I cried from mile 13 to mile 23. I mean literally 10 full miles. I can't say that I'm particularly proud of that race because I was so angry yes, I was so angry with the entire experience at that point. I love how running can become such a place that allows us to express our joy and, as you reclaimed your joy through it, but also allows us to process these really heavy emotions.

Speaker 2: 20:39

Yeah, and I mean to me, when I finished the race I wasn't even mad, I just laughed because I'm like, really, this is where it's all going to come out, like all these months of journaling didn't really help, but that's what needed to come out that day. And again, I think there's so much in life that keeps us moving forward that we don't really stop to think. And I truly believe that during that race, my body was on autopilot and that just gave my mind the space to try to process things. And I feel like it's different because it was Boston, part of your six-star journey.

Speaker 1: 21:18

I don't think that it's any different. It was exactly the same thing, where it was just not to geek out of neuroscience too much and I'm not going to pretend that I know 100%. But there's a little bit about EMDR which is that it helps that bilateral movement where it unlocks little pockets of stored memories or stored emotions, and so the utilization of EMDR helps people to kind of reprogram their brain. Well, there's a little bit of work that's being done now to kind of research that, to see if there is something to be said about the fact that we're doing this bilateral movement, because it does allow you to really unlock a lot of those stored emotions from your body. So it is a very great release. No, so I'm with you, my friend. I feel that I just don't necessarily go back to feeling a pride yet because I think that maybe for me it was still processing it and so although it was very cathartic, it also wasn't a full processing. I actually didn't give myself permission to process that grief for many years down the road.

Speaker 2: 22:09

So yeah, and I think it's so different because I mean, we're talking about my dog, no, my gosh.

Speaker 1: 22:16

No, grief is grief, so let's, yeah, let's. I know, Girlfriend, let's definitely throw that out there. I mean, I grieved my toe that I like before Tokyo, so it's like we're allowed to. Yes, we'll talk about that later, but you're already touching on something that's really important here, because we've already talked about the fact that we've been running for some time and in that process we've been able to have running as a companion for our joy, but also those seasons where maybe we're grieving or we're processing other emotions.

Speaker 1: 22:43

So let's lean into the fact that running isn't this linear process and it's not always going to be improvement after improvement, because I do feel that that is something that, as runners, we're so metric focused. That's the first thing that we want to do is like give me some numbers to talk about. What am I shooting for my friend? So what do you say to that? Because I know you have to have clients that are like I'm ready to have PR after PR and it's like, hmm, but maybe you're going through a divorce, or maybe you're going through a new job situation or a myriad of things that could be part of your new season.

Speaker 2: 23:16

I think that's one of the hard things right now because it's not really talked about. So I tell my people hey, stress is stress, doesn't matter if it's physical stress from moving your body, or mental stress because you're stressed at work or you're stressed at home, it doesn't really matter, your body is still going to feel that exhaustion. And the example I usually give people you know, we have a lot of people who work all day, right, they work all day, they sit at a desk and I'm like so you sit at a desk, right, you're not physically moving your body, You're not doing anything rigorous, and yet when you get home you're exhausted. And it's not because you exercised, it's because emotionally, stuff was going on, you were stressed out, your brain was working. So stress is stress.

Speaker 2: 24:08

Now, talking to people about metrics, that one is even harder and I find that it's very personal and the way I get across to people is when I'm talking to them one-on-one, when we're kind of breaking down. Okay, so tell me about your week and what was going on this week and how were you sleeping? Like I have to ask a lot of leading questions until they get their work. Oh, I didn't realize how either, sleep deprived. I was going into this run, or how much I didn't eat or how much I didn't drink. So there's a case by case and a lot of discussion.

Speaker 2: 24:47

But oftentimes I really come back to people and I ask them is this if you meet this goal, great, but if you don't meet this goal, is it gonna stop you from running? Are you gonna say I'm done with the sport? No more. 99% of the time I hear no, I'm gonna keep on running. So it's like, okay, then let's try to see what were the wins here. What can we celebrate? Because at the end of the day, there has to be something more than those metrics to keep you showing up for something that I'm sure you can agree with me. Running is really, really hard. It is hard and it takes a lot of sacrifice and life adjustment. So there has to be more to it than quote unquote improving your time or improving finish times or PR times. So I find that it takes a lot of just talking about it for people to realize, oh yeah, life is hectic, no wonder that race didn't go as planned. And then talking about it so that people can realize that there's more to who they are as runners than finish times or paces.

Speaker 1: 25:55

I think what this is beautiful as well is the fact that it allows us to start to extricate that comparison, because I'm thinking like, specifically, my local run group, where there are seasons where I may be the front of the middle of the pack or at least able to keep up dying, but still able to keep up with some of the faster runners. There's other seasons where I'm just happy that I can walk with them if they're willing to do a recovery walk with me, because it just depends at what's going on in my life at that point and that's allowed me to unlock that comparison that we tend to get into as much as runners. But this conversation's happening because right now we're both discussed how we have really big things that we would love to do, but it may not be the season of life for us. So for friends that aren't aware, there's an incredible marathon that was just published out into the world and I think the very minute that it came out it's because I had said no more summer marathon training, no marathon training for me for the rest this year, because I just don't have the time to.

Speaker 1: 26:52

At this season of life I can't prioritize that aspect of my life. So it comes out and I'm like, oh, but I, oh, no, I wanna do it. So I reached out to Stephanie, and Stephanie and he's like I don't know, I have to think on this, because I too am in a season where this isn't the most realistic approach for me right now. So let's talk a little bit about that, because I think that there is there's folks that are listening and they may be considering what I call big audacious goals, but there's also sometimes where your big audacious goal is self-care, and self-care may mean not getting up at three o'clock in the morning to go for a run.

Speaker 2: 27:25

Yeah. So I'll give the most recent personal example I can give you. Okay, like I said, I finished Marine Corps and after Marine Corps I took that time to recover. I really just wanted to just savor having done two marathons in one year, which for me it was something that I hadn't done in a while. In that way and in that way, meaning that I finished it and I fell more in love with the sport In previous years I would run a marathon and swear I would never do another one again.

Speaker 2: 27:58

I would complain that it was awful. I would tell my husband take my credit card. But then I realized I know my credit card. Like I would tell him take my credit card. And then I'm like there's no point, I know my credit card number by memory. Like I don't, like it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2: 28:12

But last year, having run those two marathons, I finished and I was so in love with the sport I'm like this is amazing. I proved to myself that I can do hard things and enjoy doing them. So of course I finished with that emotional runner's high and I wanna continue it. And I'm like okay, I wanna do a spring marathon, I wanna do something big and, for those of you who know me, I'm turning 40 this year and I was like I wanna do something really big for my 40th birthday. I was thinking about doing a 50K, like I had all these ideas either a spring marathon or a 50K. And then my daughter she tries out for a volleyball club and she makes the state team and this state team has tournaments every other weekend and it's not just local to Miami. We're going to Orlando a few times. We're going to Fort Lauderdale, which, for you all who don't know, we're talking about either I'm driving 30 minutes or I'm driving four hours, depending on the weekend and I was still determined.

Speaker 2: 29:29

I'm like, nope, I'm gonna make this happen. I created a spreadsheet with all the weekends that I could do races and I'm like I can still fit a race in here, I can still do it here. Looked up different races what are 50Ks that I can do on this weekend? What are marathons I can do on this weekend? And I realized one, I'm forcing something. And for me personally, I don't like feeling like I'm forcing things to happen because I know it's just gonna be a drag. So I realized one, I'm forcing it. And then, two, I had to step back and think what time do I actually have to train If I am going on these tournaments? It's not gonna be a smooth progression, right, I'm not gonna have my build weeks and down weeks. They would have to be really funky training, which I'm sure I could do. But I personally like a little bit of consistency in my running. I like knowing that my long run is on Saturdays. That gives me some peace.

Speaker 2: 30:27

And I really struggled with that, really struggled with reconciling that what my personal goal was didn't match up with what my life was giving me, like the situation of life, and I did a lot of journaling about it. I did a lot of thinking. I talked to my run coach about it too I mean just anyone that I could kind of talk to about this. Which I think is so incredibly important is making sure you have community that you can talk to about things, and I decided this isn't the season for that. And what helped me be okay with that is again that reminder that I wanna run for the next 40 years of my life. I wanna run for as long as possible and it's okay if this season doesn't have any of those big audacious goals, because I know that there's gonna be a season, just like I've had seasons before, where I can do it. But it took a lot of soul searching and it also took a lot of being okay with not doing the big thing.

Speaker 1: 31:42

Yeah, I want to bring attention specifically to the fact that the men that are listening, we love you guys. Thank yous for being such a great support and for tuning in. But it also does look very different for us as females because traditionally in a lot of roles still there is more of a caregiving role primarily put on females across the board. So if you start to look at stats and specifically the world marathon majors, while here in the US we have a pretty good, I would say that we've seen now that there's more women that are actually finishing marathons than men.

Speaker 1: 32:14

That's not the case for these really big type goals because primarily women are caregiving or you have to structure seasons of running around pregnancies, childbirth, raising a child and while you're trying to multiply where lots of hats, it may not be where you can just board a plane to go to Tokyo or London or Berlin, or the case may be.

Speaker 1: 32:35

So what I love to see is that we're starting to see in the corporate world and I'm hoping that we continue to see it in the running world where the corporate world is starting to see women are coming into their own, maybe later on in life. That's where we're starting to see more of the C-suite turn into 40s and 50s and 60s, where women are really kind of like owning that C-suite life because they are able. They're in a different season and I love to see that. That, maybe, is what I see happening more with women, where women are like this isn't the season. Right now. My babies are very important or my caregiving is very important to me, but I can prioritize these down the road. So how do you think that we could, one, amplify that conversation and, two, continue to reiterate to women, men, whomever, that if this isn't your season, let's continue to move forward in a way that brings us joy, keeps us healthy, so that when our season is there, we can really go completely at it with everything that we've got?

Speaker 2: 33:27

So it always starts with conversation, right. It always starts with even just you and I having this conversation. I think of it, of how you and I are gonna talk, but then it's gonna ripple out into who we talk to. Later I'm gonna go tell people I spoke to Christine and this is what we talked about, right? And then it's gonna kind of ripple from there.

Speaker 2: 33:45

It's kind of like this greater societal topic, right Of we cannot do it all, and I don't remember where I heard it, but it's become almost like a lifeline for me over the past two years or so, where it's not about balance, it's about harmony. And when we think about harmony, it's how do things need to shift so that everything flows? So I always think about it for me and my children. My life is never gonna be balanced when it comes to my children, because if something happens to the kids, everything else needs to stop. Like it's just that I can have all these beautiful plans which I did right.

Speaker 2: 34:24

Like once I decided I wanted to go after the six stars. I had this plan. I'm like, all right, 2024, it's gonna be Boston. 2025, it's gonna be Tokyo. And then I'm like, oh, that actually doesn't make sense because I have volleyball and Tokyo is expensive. When, what do I need to do when I have to pick and choose? Do I wanna go after this goal or do I wanna invest in my daughter playing volleyball something that brings her joy as well? Right, and for me it's kind of that's such a personal choice that I feel like everyone has to make for themselves.

Speaker 2: 35:05

But even if we talk about it of like, hey, this isn't the season because I am prioritizing my daughter's athletic goals and it's okay because I know I have another season, but I think part of it as well is not writing yourself out of the story.

Speaker 2: 35:22

So like, maybe I don't have this big spring goal like I wanted to, but I'm still gonna show up to run club, I'm still gonna show up to my community runs, I'm still going to advocate for this sport. I'm still gonna encourage people to have conversations about running. Maybe I'm not the person who's doing the race, but I can be one heck of a spectator and cheerleader for the person who is. So I think it's taking the seasons of no big goal to connect to those other elements that make you a runner. So maybe this season I'm not gonna chase after that big goal, but guess what? I'm gonna chase after my strength goals. So it may not be a direct running goal, but I'm gonna get really, really strong so that when I do go after that big goal, I'm ready or maybe this is the season where I'm going to delight extra in rest, so then when things get busy, like I'm rested for that. So I think it's encouraging these conversations to happen and then just expanding what we know about ourselves when it comes to being runners.

Speaker 1: 36:35

First of all, you gave me goosebumps with like three things that you said, because I feel like emoji hallelujah hands when you said we can't do it all on our own. And I think that's why I love the running communities, because we are building our community and leaning in in a way that maybe, as fiercely independent women, we have a hard time saying, hey, I need help. And it's such a beautiful opportunity to give yourself that grace and to give others the opportunity to help you. So I love that. So I wanna call attention to that. I also love how you're really discussing giving ourselves a lot of grace and compassion and loving fiercely the season that we're at, versus feeling like we're using it as a back burner, like what I'm hearing you say is I'm flipping the script. I'm not back-burnering myself. What I'm doing is that I'm gonna fiercely love the other elements of my life For me.

Speaker 1: 37:20

I wanna mention one thing too, because I think this is something that we hear a lot in social media and I know I'm guilty of saying it too If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen, and, while that is true to a certain degree, you can prioritize it. You want to go after these big goals you also want your daughter to be able to have and ensure that they probably feel very, very aligned to you in terms of your want and your desire, but sometimes it's just not the foundational element. So when people are thinking of, is this my season, is this not my season, should I go after this goal, I would caution against the want being the only foundation that you base off of it, because I think that we can wholeheartedly want something and it's still just not be the right time. Can we talk a little bit more about your time goals, because I'm hearing too now. I am now really really talking to clients in a way, and athletes in a way, where I want them to know that time goals are beautiful and I'm very metric focused myself but the world's changing so much that we can't really apply those same kind of time goals to our races that we may have had in the past, for a myriad of reasons.

Speaker 1: 38:30

You just ran Miami. I'm sure there were a bazillion people who wanted to run it at a specific time. How, how do you do that With that level of humidity, with that level of heat? The Olympic trials we're probably gonna see a much slower race field than these athletes are capable of. So what would you suggest to people that are having a hard time reckoning those goals around hard, fast metrics?

Speaker 2: 38:53

I will start by saying and I'm laughing because I feel like I want people to know that we have all been there, we do it all the time ourselves.

Speaker 2: 39:02

That's why I'm like no, no, no. I want you to know that we've been there. So I always like to start the conversation with why are you doing this? What is your why for this? And I'm gonna totally use myself as an example here Anytime I train for a race, it requires not only my dedication, but sacrifice from the people who support me in going after that goal.

Speaker 2: 39:29

So my why, honestly, it has to be greater than that time. Just because of that, I have my time goals, and now I'm in this space of shifting, so my time goals are more of what's challenging for comfortable. That's kind of work for me personally, I'm like don't care about PRs at the moment because I know how much work that would cost me and I just don't wanna do that kind of work. I'm already working really hard. I don't wanna work harder, that's just it. And also because I know that in order to get a PR, so much has to come together. I mean not only the factors that are within your control, but everything else.

Speaker 2: 40:16

And you brought up Miami, and I think that's an excellent example, because it was the Miami half marathon, full marathon this past weekend, and I went into it thinking my comfortable but challenging goal is this pace. And then I get the email Saturday night. It is moderate level because we are experiencing higher than normal heat and humidity, so that's totally not gonna be the goal. And it's okay, because, again, I think what I wanna say, and maybe what I'm trying to encourage people to look at, is that this one race does not define you.

Speaker 2: 40:53

I posted it on my Instagram account where it's one day doesn't define you, it refines you, and it's that mentality of can we see what else there is to learn from this experience? Can we PR and I love this Again, I can't remember who I got this from but can we PR in other ways? Can we PR in nailing our nutrition? Can we PR in being consistent in our intervals from start to finish? Can we PR in smiling all across? So I think it is challenging because you do see people post their times all the time and it's a PR and, depending on how diverse your feet is, it's gonna seem like someone's PRing all the time everywhere.

Speaker 2: 41:40

And it's like, no, that's not the case. But also you don't know what went into their training, what they ate before, what they did in. You don't even know what shoes they're wearing, what underwear they're wearing. I mean at all like, honestly, all comes into play, everything, everything comes into play. So I think there's gotta be a connection to a deeper why to keep you showing up and I think you're gonna walk away from this and you're gonna be like I need to go make a friend. Because I really really do think it helps. When you have community and when you are surrounded by people who are chasing all different kinds of goals right, when you are surrounded by people who are in awe of you, when you are surrounded by people that you are in awe of, it really helps to bring perspective to the fact that what you're doing is already incredible and no time is going to change that. And that was a big for me when I was in Marine Corps. I finished the race, thinking time doesn't matter if I don't even make it to the start line.

Speaker 1: 42:53

Yeah, it's so interesting to me that we have put so much pressure on the race day when we have Hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles that come before that race day and we're almost willing to just 100% Throw all that out because one day didn't go exactly as your personal quote says, didn't go according to plan or all of these other forces. Now people are gonna think that I paid you money to talk about community because that's like that's my mission. I want folks that are listening to tap into community more than anything. If there's any takeaway, if you guys decide that you're gonna hang up your running shoes today and go do something else I don't know you're gonna go ice skate or twirl a baton, for whatever it is, it makes you happy.

Speaker 1: 43:36

I still really feel that value of community is where we are Needing to drive home in every aspect of our lives. So, if you don't mind, I know we just talked about season and I would love people to PR smiling, but I do want to tell you guys I think Stephanie is definitely like Olympic trials, like she's going to Paris. I'm just smiling this. You have a gorgeous, just natural smile. But if you guys can't PR anything, maybe it is making those social connections. I want to know how do you feel that you would suggest people to get more into social connections, where there may be a variety of Reasons that it's hard for them to do so?

Speaker 2: 44:10

the community aspect of it is so hard because I I 100% recognize how intimidating it can be to show up to new communities and, as runners, how intimidating it can be to show up somewhere that says all paces welcome and having not be all paces Welcome. So I'm gonna say something here that might be I don't know if it's gonna be controversial, but in my opinion, those of us who are in the running community, we're the ones that have to reach out to people who are outside of the running community and invite them to be a part of it with us.

Speaker 1: 44:49

I love that. No, that's not controversial. That's brilliant. I'm like.

Speaker 2: 44:53

I don't know if it's gonna be controversial, but I truly, truly feel that those of us who feel like we're in the community and we have our group and we feel like we're established, I really do think it's on us to seek out the people who are kind of on the fringes, or maybe they come up to you and they they even. For me, it's always the I don't know how you do it, the people who tell me I don't know how you do it. I'm like you, you're the one you need to come with me, because you're the one that's on the fringes. You're that person that wants to do it but doesn't think they can't, and I'm here to tell you just come join us. So I think it's two parts.

Speaker 2: 45:30

It's that part of those of us who are in the running community. We should be the ones that are extending that hand to those outside. And for those of us who are outside, I think there's an A and a B part to it. A is go explore all the communities, go put yourself out there, go check it out, and if you don't like it, it's totally fine. I feel like we are in an era of lots of run clubs now, like everywhere I'm like at least in Miami there's something every single day of the week that open yourself up to doing that, or, if that doesn't work out for you, create it for yourself.

Speaker 1: 46:09

People are really gonna think that I paid you for this. I swear, because I cannot tell you how whole heartedly this. I remember moving to Orlando when I felt like I didn't know anyone, I didn't quite fit in, and I remember like saying I have to go to Starbucks for anybody to say Good morning to me, because if I'm not paying them for coffee then nobody's like everybody's kind of just. It's a different shift from where I was, from Beachside, and I had like started to pick people to help me with my long runs and I was like is there no run club around here that like puts out water? Because back in my hometown we have that and they're like no.

Speaker 1: 46:40

I was like let's make that happen, let's figure out how to get that together. Not even structured. It was just as easy as just wanting to have water stops for ourselves in it. But that just built up from there and these are some of, again, my closest friendships that have stood the test of time Because we formed those connections overrunning. So I really do love that. I love that you've given me. My goal for the year is to put metrics around reaching out to other folks and having them join. That's such an incredible goal.

Speaker 2: 47:07

Okay, how about that for PRing, okay, pring, I got five friends, or five quote-unquote non runners to show up to four group runs.

Speaker 1: 47:21

Yeah, that's the best metric ever, yeah, so, while we're out there in the responsibility of the folks that are runners already and love it and know it inside and out, I also want to like challenge them to maybe be a bit more mindful of Language that they use when they minimize their accomplishments around non runners, and also the language that they use to discuss, maybe, things that may be inconvenient, because there are a lot of new people that came to running and then it does have a high attrition rate but also has a really a huge entry rate every single year.

Speaker 1: 47:50

So, being more mindful of how we approach our conversations around running and maybe being a little bit more patient, if we have to, a bit more, just a little bit, so that we don't scare people off from the whole running world. With that said, stephanie, this conversation is so great. So, from our brunch table to your round table, let's talk more about your podcast, because each season you've devoted has been really different in how you've approached it. So let's go through season one all the way to your current season. So season one was oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 48:18

So season one was different, running topics. It has such an interesting origin because I didn't even know I wanted to do a podcast. I just wanted to host conversations.

Speaker 2: 48:29

So that's season one, was me realizing. Oh, I can take these audio recordings and publish them as podcasts. So season one was more of an exploration of running and the very first episode was who's a runner Like? What does it mean to be a runner? What does this word runner mean? And I had a panel of people and we just talked about what does it mean to be a runner? And Spoiler alert, which is probably you can agree with me you don't have to run all the time to be a runner. You can be injured and you can be a runner. You can be taking an extended break from running and you can be a runner. We determined that a runner is just someone who wants to run and loves the sport and wants to improve. So that was season one.

Speaker 2: 49:18

Season one was just different conversations around running and then I realized, oh, I can turn this into a podcast, let's add a little structure to it. Season two, which is when you came into the picture, was conversations with coaches, and I had 26 different conversations with run coaches, all about their philosophies, what they thought about running, and for me I get so much out of the podcast, more than I think the people who listen, I get a ton out of it. So season two was 26 conversations with runner, with coaches. Season three is the how to season and again I'm talking to I guess I should say, every guest that's on the episodes or on the show. They're all women, females, because those are the voices that I want to amplify.

Speaker 2: 50:08

So season two was the how to season, and again it was female run coaches, female strength coaches, female, you know, nutritionists and dietitians and we broke down all the how tos are fronting how to fuel, how to buy shoes. Oh gosh, what else did we talk about? Fundraise, right, that season was 20 episodes. Now I am recording season four and that one is conversations with runners and it is all about highlighting different women who are changing the sport for better. And my goal is 40 conversations with different women and it's been absolutely amazing. I mean from women who started their own jewelry, like runner focused jewelry business, to women who create gifts for runners, to women who I had recently, nikki Love, like she's someone who ran across Australia and these are just women who are inspiring us to show up differently but to also take up a lot of fricking space In running.

Speaker 2: 51:20

So that's season four. I feel like every season just gets better and better and I pinch myself all the time after every single conversation. I pinch myself because I cannot believe that I get to exist in running at the same time as these women. It feels so special.

Speaker 1: 51:38

So, friends, what we're going to challenge you with, of course, is to find a metric, which, of course, is to bring more people into the fold and then share the runners round table with students. Would Stephanie go check out those seasons, from season one all the way to the current season and more, and please do share, stephanie, I'd love to have you back. Please feel like you have an open invite here, because this was just such a great conversation and folks can also find you at your website, or do you prefer to send them to Instagram?

Speaker 2: 52:04

I prefer to send them to Instagram.

Speaker 1: 52:06

Okay, and where would they find you? At Instagram.

Speaker 2: 52:08

It's so easy the cookie runner.

Speaker 1: 52:11

I mean, how can you go wrong with cookies and running? I agree, all right friends. Thank you so much, stephanie, of course, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2: 52:18

Bye everyone.

Speaker 1: 52:21

And with that incredible conversation, we officially mark the finish line for today's episode. We've journeyed through the landscapes and successes and the different seasons of running and being an athlete. A heartfelt thank you to Stephanie Diaz for joining us today and sharing her invaluable insights and experiences. Stephanie, your stories truly are a beacon of inspiration for us all, and as we cool down from this episode's run, I can't help but wonder what traits do you think are essential for an athlete's success that I maybe didn't cover today? And I want you to reach out and let me know, or pop into the community page and be like hey, coach Christine, you missed this incredible trait that I know folks have, or is there a particular quality or habit that you have found pivotal in your journey? Reach out, share your thoughts, because your experiences, your thoughts and your conversation helps to continue enriching our community, lighting the way for others to follow.

Speaker 1: 53:20

For those of you that are feeling that spark and you're ready to chase down your next big goal, or perhaps redefine what success means to you, I'm excited to announce that I'll have some coaching slots opening up in April. So, whether you're looking to level up your performance, fine tune your training habits or simply find a new direction in your current season of life. I'm here to help fill out the application, to consult with me, and let's explore how we can turn your aspirations into achievements. Because remember my friend, every mile, every challenge, every triumph begins with a single step. So what are you waiting for? Let's take that step together. Thank you for tuning in to Time for Brunch. Until next time, keep moving, keep shaking and never stop being sparkly as you run toward your dreams.

Speaker 3: 54:13

Thank you for joining Time for Brunch. If today's conversation sparked your interest, be sure to join our supportive online community.

Speaker 2: 54:21

Don't forget to sign up for our weekly newsletters to keep the inspiration flowing.

Speaker 3: 54:25

It's packed with insights, stories and tips to fuel your journey of growth. Follow us, subscribe and stay connected. Until next time, keep smiling and let your journey shine.