Viral Running Trends We Love, Hate & Tried: The Running Alphabet Challenge

Running trends are everywhere right now, from Garmin badge chasing and runDisney friendship bracelets to Strava titles, race-day tattoos, emotional support water bottles, matching outfits, sparkle, DJ run clubs, and yes… people apparently churning butter on the run.

In this fun and wildly relatable episode of Extraordinary Strides, Coach Christine is joined by Shelly Rose to unpack the viral running trends they love, the ones they would happily retire, and the race-day etiquette runners should not ignore. Then they take on the Running Alphabet Challenge, trying to cheer on imaginary runners from A to Z without Googling, cheating, or losing their dignity somewhere around X.

Whether you run, walk, race, cheer, sparkle, badge chase, or simply wonder what on earth runners are doing on social media, this episode is a lighthearted reminder that fitness does not have to be serious to be meaningful, and community really does make the miles better.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a running friend. Leave us a review and subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us at the Stride Collective. 

Transcript

Welcome And Trend Teaser

Coach Christine 0:01

Welcome back, friends, to Extraordinary Strides, where we talk about running, walking, fitness, and all the wonderfully weird things that happen when humans decide that covering mouths should somehow be a hobby. I'm Christine, and today I'm joined once again by the ever fabulous Shelly Rose. Hey Shelly. Hey. Now we were talking a little bit before we hit record, so I cannot wait to get into this conversation. But if you've spent any time on social media lately, and let's be honest, who hasn't? Then you've probably noticed that runners have a tendency to latch on to some pretty interesting trends. Um, I know Garmin badges are a thing. There's run clubs that kind of become the new dating apps. There's just a lot of trends going on. So let's get right back to it because one of the trends that is pretty popular right now, we're gonna kind of take our hand on it. But before we get to discussing that specifically, I have to ask Shelly, like, how are you with all of these trends? And like, how do you keep track of them personally?

Shelly Rose 1:00

Um, if I see it randomly on social media, I'll kind of like dig into it, especially if it's a super weird one. Uh, but otherwise, I don't always like I'm I'm usually out running by myself, so I don't really talk to a lot of people or do a lot of it myself. Um, but so I don't really keep track of these. So uh I'm interested to talk about some of them because I'm like, what? Why are people doing that?

Coach Christine 1:25

I think you know more about these running trends that you give yourself credit for, because there was one that I even forgot all about, but you reminded me because it's one thing that I want to actually

How The Alphabet Challenge Works

Shelly Rose 1:35

try to do. But okay, we're gonna be talking about specifically here the running alphabet challenge, which is really interesting, Shelley, because one of the things that I did when I was training for Berlin. And let's be honest, when you're out there for long grinds, there's only so much, just you're just your brain is just kind of fried and toast, but you're also trying to keep yourself as entertained as possible. So I kind of would, when I wasn't listening to the Hamilton soundtracks, that's pretty much all I had on on like repeat constantly. I would try to do like give myself challenges of coming up with specific names of animals, but in Spanish to try to practice my Spanish through the alphabet. So now when this alphabet challenge has kind of come into play, I've been super excited about it. And that's the trend that we're gonna be trying here together. Um, but basically the alphabet challenge, the way that I understand it is that if you're out for a run or a walk, you try to offer encouragement to the people that are passing by, but you do it with every letter of the alphabet. I think it sounds easy in practice, but I think we're gonna get challenged by it. Oh yeah, there is no doubt in my mind because just going through the alphabet is a mess for me because I have to start at the beginning. Every time, like, wait, what comes next? A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Coach Christine 2:48

Well, don't worry. I think you're attracted that, but I will tell you, there's not gonna be any googling. We're not cheating. I didn't even spend any length of time trying to go through it in my head. I thought maybe even like, you know, we're gonna take turns with it. I don't even know if there's a specific preference in turn. Like if maybe one of us starts with A, that means we get like better letters along the way. But we'll figure that out as we get to it.

Friendship Bracelets And Race Trinkets

Speaker 3:11

Before we get into that, tell me some of the trends that you have seen and kind of what you think about them.

Speaker 1 3:17

Um, so some of the trends that I have seen is, let's see. Um, the the bracelets, especially Run Disney, all these like little tokens and like it's not even just bracelets now, it's like random tokens that people carry around and like trade off. Um sometimes before the race, but a lot of times during the race, which I found is a little much for me. Um, but this and oh thank you. Just stuff to carry. Like, what are you doing? Oh that's one of them that I've really noticed. Um, especially doing you know, a lot of Run Disney races.

Speaker 3:53

Um wait, have you been gifted something either before in the corrals or during the race that you loved and still cherished and kind of keep?

Speaker 1 4:02

Or no, I think I give off don't give me stuff vibes.

Speaker 4:07

Do you say it with your face, or do you have to do it?

Speaker 1 4:10

I think I say a lot of things with my face. Um at the parks, one of the days after one of the races, I was wearing my race shirt and someone gifted me this little like safety pin, like almost flag-like thing for that was like jasmine vibes, because the 10k was um uh jasmine. And I was like, thank you. And I was like, what is this? And I had to like look at it. I I have it because I don't throw stuff away, but I'm not gonna wear it. Like, it's not happening.

Speaker 4:39

I still wear the like a few of the friendship bracelets that I've got in at like expo or I love it. I feel like, please, y'all, I have the complete opposite expression. And if you don't see that in my expression, um, feel free to come up to me and give me these things, these tokens. I think they're so adorable. I do have to say though, when we're running, let's not be giving tons of stuff. Like if I can't easily slip it on like you would, like with a bracelet, I don't, I don't wanna, I I have already stuffed my pockets to the gills. I don't need to try to figure out another place to put them at. But I like that.

Speaker 1 5:12

I'm waiting for someone to clothesline another runner, trying to give them put a bracelet on their arm. Like it's coming.

Speaker 5:19

It's already scary enough out there, especially with Run Disney where you're like cutting people off to get to your favorite characters. Don't do that, phone friends, don't do that. But still, that does happen. So let's just let's be a little mindful of that. Okay, well, I actually would say that I like that trend. I hope we stick around with it. Um, though it does have some caveats.

Garmin Badges And Tiny Motivation

Speaker 5:38

I'm curious how you feel about Garmin badge chasing, because that's a big one, especially. I know we have a few people in our circle and in their community who are really big into it. What do you think?

Speaker 1 5:48

I absolutely love the Garmin badges.

Speaker 5:51

You do, I had no idea.

Speaker 1 5:53

I love it. It's like, I don't know, it's it's like winning a medal when you didn't actually like, you know, you get a medal for doing the thing and you're like, oh look, I got a thing. Um, I'm I just now figured out how to figure how to know which ones might be available outside of just like the little challenge things. Um, so yeah, I am I it as soon as someone in the group is like, oh, there's a 5k badge this weekend, I'm like, ooh, I've gotta do it.

Speaker 6:19

Okay, seriously, what do you do with them? Like, do you just look at them on your connect? I mean, what uh like tell me more about what this badge actually does for you. Do you post it on social media?

Speaker 1 6:30

If I'm fast enough, I can't figure out how to get back to them sometimes because I'm just technologically challenged. So if I'm fast enough or remember, I'll take a screenshot because it'll show up on your phone like when you achieve it, right? Yeah. Um, I'm gonna have to have somebody teach me how to go back and find where all these badges are. But yes, I will if I get one under your profile, I will I will post that little badgie on social media with my picture, my suede selfie.

Speaker 6:53

It is under your profile under Garmin Connect. So if you have the app on your phone, you can kind of look that up. I don't care about the badges. Like, I mean, I honestly don't. Like, they just don't. I think they're cute. I'm looking at them right now for the record, but I don't really like there's nothing here that I feel like I can't live without. Um, and I don't often come to this. If it wasn't for this recording, I wouldn't even be coming up to them. I don't think I've ever personally like tried to do one of these available badges and like go after it. I'm thinking about Kimba now. Kimba, if you're listening, you are like the queen of garment badges. So I'm curious like how many she may have. And like maybe after this, you'll have to do a count to see which ones you have. I do have one that I like. I will say this, I lot, I'm lying. There's one that I really particularly love because I earned it here in the beautiful state of Florida, and it is the Frosty Badge. And I love to point out that I got the Frosty badge running here in Florida, which means you record an activity when it's 38 degrees Celsius. No, sorry, that's the opposite. Uh, but when it's below freezing. So thank you very much, celebration race from 2022. I earned my frosty badge there, but that's about it. Okay. What do you think about folks that talk about they're only going to watch a specific show when they're on the treadmill? Because I know that's a big one to keep people motivated for like long runs or getting in their workouts.

Speaker 1 8:21

Um, they have a lot more willpower than I do. Because if I'm really into it, I'm gonna be like, well, just one more episode. Um, I mean, good, I mean, good for them finding something that's gonna get them motivated to get and get on that treadmill. Uh, because that treadmill is not fun a lot of the times. Especially the folks that live up north that don't have to work very hard to get that frosty badge. Um, so yeah, I mean, good for them.

Speaker 8:47

I mean, I get it too. I also I don't even know how people can like sit and watch just one episode. If they all are released at the same time, I'm gonna read them all. Um, I think folks that can like use discipline, I think you're amazing and being able to do that, but that's just that's not high on

Treadmill Shows And Race Tattoos

Speaker 9:05

my list of being able to do those kind of things. But um, I think it's a cool one. I think I could see where it would come along. Okay, marathon or race tattoos, and I'm going to caveat this because this is a two-parter. There's the trend of getting them like permanently inked onto your body. We're gonna talk about that. There's also the temporary tattoos and mantra type tattoos to wear like race day. Tell me how you feel about both of those.

Speaker 1 9:30

Um, the temporary ones, I have some because I feel like even if I don't look at it during the race, I know it's there and I know what it says. And I'm like, yes, that's for me today. Those words were written for me. So I'm all about those, and I encourage people to wear them. I even push, I'm a pusher. I'm a temporary tattoo pusher, and I bring them everywhere with me. I'm like, I have an extra. Would you like one? Pick one, which would make okay.

Speaker 9:56

So wait, this goes back to the giving stuff away that you just talked about. So it's okay if it's a tattoo, but it's not okay if it's anything else.

Speaker 1 10:04

Well, these are my friends that I know. These aren't like strangers. I'm not giving out these cost money. Um, because I get the good ones from my race tats. And now you have to be careful where you put them and how long you plan on being there because they for real stick. Like for real. So don't put it on Sunday night and expect to go to work Monday morning if you put it on your face because you're gonna have a super red mark or the words tattooed on your face for a couple days.

Speaker 10:30

Yeah, yeah, you do have to be mindful of them. There is another actual temporary tattoo. Um, Julie in the league is kind of the one who turned me on to it where it's actually something about the special ink, it kind of embeds itself into a few layers. So it stays on for like three weeks. So you have to be really mindful of that one being not quite so temporary. Um, but okay, so you you like that one. How do you feel about the I mean, you you want to share anything about maybe like a permanent tattoo for yourself? Yes.

Speaker 1 11:01

I am all for a permanent tattoo. I mean, especially if it's to me, it's it could be totally a reward. I got my first tattoo after my first um half marathon. I got a roadrunner that I absolutely love. And now that I'm planning a marathon in February, I'm already trying to think about what do I want and where is it gonna go? So I am all for it.

Speaker 11:23

Okay, okay. So that is a trend that you're like gonna give it an absolute pass. You're keeping that for hopefully uh well, you better keep it forever. If not, it's gonna hurt when you take that off. So that's a trend that you're you're down with. Two thumbs up from I mean, I'm okay. Like I cool, I think tattoos are temporary otherwise are fun. If it's got glitter in it, I'm definitely gonna say I know that we've seen a lot of folks getting some of these tattoos that look like glitter, and I'm definitely down with those. Okay, I am desperately trying to think of because we both read her book, but she's infamous for creative Strava titles

Strava Titles And GPS Art

Speaker 11:58

on her run. So I'm going to credit her with starting that trend. What's the name of the author of the semi-pro? Who is it? I can't think of her name. She's really funny. Was it Kara?

Speaker 1 12:09

Kara Goucher? No, it was um Kira D'Amato.

Speaker 12:13

Yes, Kira DeMato. Yes. Okay, we'll talk about her book, I'm sure, at some point. But she's the one who I'm gonna credit. I don't know if we can actually give it to her, but let's go ahead and credit it to a woman anyway. Um, she started off like the really funny Strava titles, and I think people still follow her specifically because of how funny her Strava titles are. How do you feel about those?

Speaker 1 12:35

Honestly, I don't really use Strava. So, like, you know, I'm not creative enough to care. Um and I wouldn't be able to compete with cool titles like that. So I don't know. I just if it's your thing and you just want to that last that first like 10 minutes after you finish a run where you're just kind of laying around supposed to be stretching, where you're posting your crap on like social media or whatever, and you want to come up with a cool title, go ahead. You do you.

Speaker 13:05

I love me some funds, but yeah, I'm I'm just not a Strava person myself. Now, what about the strive? Well, how do you like seeing them in your content when you see social media where it's like the people who do like the really cool like Strava maps or they create these like really cool reels? Like I think last summer, what was really popular was people going into their local convenience store, going into like the refrigerator cooler and coming out and then closing the door and it'd be like their Strava stats. How do you think about any of that stuff?

Speaker 1 13:34

I did not see that. That sounds like too much. Too much.

Speaker 13:38

It sounds like I'm spending too much time on social media to know that.

Speaker 1 13:41

Get out of the grocery store. Um, the I think it's cool when people decide to like play with the map and like draw fun things. I mean, that that was pretty cool when I was seeing that. But otherwise, like leave local businesses alone. Like, they don't want to be part of your stuff. Like, come on. You don't think 7-Eleven wants us in there for an extended period of time as we're filming content? Opening and closing a fridge door and losing electricity on energy on that. I'm sure they love it when we do things like that. It's her favorite.

Speaker 14:09

Okay, so when you put it that way, Shelly, I think that maybe the running community wouldn't be quite so beloved by all of our local stores. So, okay, maybe that one we leave behind. But GPS art, we can keep that forever. Because I think that is brilliant. And I'm gonna give folks so much credit for being able to do that. I can't do it. I'd be happy if I could just even draw like a perfect circle, which is impossible. So that's something I'm not capable of doing, but I have gone on runs with somebody else who's planned it. Um, okay. Any title, any kind of trends that come to mind for you? Because I have a few more that I could throw your

Churning Butter And Water Bottles

Speaker 14:45

way.

Speaker 1 14:45

I think we need to talk about the churning butter situation. Okay, that has recently popped up. How could you not want to try that? I don't even want to know how bad that would smell. Um just trying like just the I just the smell.

Speaker 15:04

I so wish I didn't live in Florida so that I could try that. I don't think that there's any purpose of doing it here because it'll hurdle or do something gross. But if it's cooler, I think both the ice cream and the churning butter would be fun to try. You don't think so? At all, ever? You wouldn't want to like be done and just like scoop out some ice cream from my vegetable? No, I do not want to do that. Zero percent chance of me doing that. Like I think for me it feels so efficient, like you're doing something really valuable. Like I get it.

Speaker 1 15:40

You normally turn your butter? Is this something I don't know about you? Like you prefer a churned butter.

Speaker 15:45

But I would happily like finish my long run and get like this like incredible, like crusty baguette and dip it into my churned butter. I absolutely think that would be so much fun to do. Um, so cutting. I mean, you don't need sea salt when you think of it from that perspective. There's already gonna be okay. It sounds gross. I still want to try it. So I'm gonna make the contention that like I hope that at some point I make that happen. Um, probably need to try it like when it's cooler, though. Not not right now. Not right now. Okay, this is something that I need to seriously talk about. What about the fact that I feel like everybody walks around like an emotional support water bottle? Like, I feel like that started in gym culture a while ago, but it's gone everywhere now. How do you feel about that?

Speaker 1 16:31

Um, I have an emotional support water bottle. I re I finally decorated it with all my stickers, and of course, okay, that's when I dropped it. Um so now there's like a rough spot on the handle. Um, but yes, I have to constantly like where it's my water bottle. Where is my water bottle? Um yes. And it's a giant one. It's not Stanley because I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a one on that. Uh, but it is fun colors. Um but there's some people who've gone insane with it. Like at the gym, people are carrying around like a literal gallon jug on like a rope. I'm like, why is there a rope? Do you need a rope? What is happening with this water bottle?

Speaker 17:15

See, that's the gym culture that I remember. Like, bodybuilders did that, and I always remember thinking, like, what is up, bro? Like, seriously, like you can't come into the gym for an hour workout without your gallon. Like, you're not gonna drink your gallon during this one hour. And if you're here for longer than an hour, then you're just doing it wrong. There's no reason for you to be here for like more than that.

Speaker 1 17:34

So And there's stations to refill it. Like, you can bring a smaller one. There are refill stations. Like, it's okay.

Speaker 17:44

I I'm I am always going to think that yes, it's quite interesting. I also think that's a cultural thing. I think that Europeans or other cultures look at Americans with our water bottles and think that we're a little, um, a little maybe over the top with them.

Speaker 1 17:57

But I guess I don't think that's the only thing Europeans think we're over the top of that, to be honest.

Speaker 18:03

Well, I mean, that's the one that I think is probably the most user-friendly for us to talk about in today. But I am curious if somebody else has their like emotional water bottle. Do you feel like you drink more water because you have it with you though? Or do you think you do? Yeah, okay. Oh, yes.

Speaker 1 18:20

Um, I know I then the days that I don't bring it with me and I have to use something else, I barely pick it up.

Speaker 18:26

Oh. Okay, so there's there's something to it. So, you know, the gym bros with their gallon of water, they need it. They do. They're thirsty. Okay.

Speaker 1 18:37

I never see them drink out of it though. It's the weirdest thing. They just like carry it around. I never see them drink.

Speaker 18:43

Do you think that they do it specifically to like just save their spot on like to like kind of like manspread in the gym area so they can put their gallon on like a bench and that becomes their bench, even though they're not using it. As they're also cutting up the gym rug. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. If you, my friend listening are a gym bro, you're welcome to call in and let us know all about it. Use that function there. You can leave us a voicemail. It could be, you know, maybe not the nicest one. We'll still be okay with it. We'll figure it

DJ Run Clubs And Matching Fits

Speaker 19:11

out. Okay, I think one of the coolest things that I've seen hitting social media right now is these like run clubs that are actually like a club, like a party club, like Diplo Run Club, where he goes out there and does a DJ set after like the 5K. But now there's people, especially in Miami, that are actually like on this wheelie thing with like turntables and they're running behind the DJ. I think that sounds so much fun. Would I do it? Yes. How about you? I like the pause before it was an obvious yes. Yeah. Yeah, I absolutely would do it. I wouldn't do it frequently because I do there are hordes of people, and I can only imagine how annoyed again the local community is, but I would still do it once.

Speaker 1 19:56

Yes. You would too? I think so. I mean, if there was a lot of people, I'd be at the back and probably couldn't hear anything anyway. Um, but I would try.

Speaker 20:06

Okay, okay. So we're both in for this. Um, and I'll just share her emotional water bottle that I don't think she's sharing at all. But I will have the butter for afterwards for all of us to to dip our, I don't know, our baguette into. Okay, matching race day outfits.

Speaker 1 20:23

Oh, all in. Like if you're not doing matching race day outfits, what are you doing with your life? Or you can match the everyone matches the theme, whatever.

Speaker 20:32

That's what I was gonna ask. Does it have to be all the same outfit, or do you prefer it to be like you're all kind of in the same theme?

Speaker 1 20:38

I prefer theme because I think it's more creative and fun that way. Um, but like every single person in the same outfit, it gives gives a different vibe, I think, than like theming, kind of, I don't know.

unknown 20:54

Okay.

Speaker 20:55

Probably offending like 20 people by saying I like both, like, but I think that I prefer more of like the group theme versus everybody wearing the exact same outfit exactly for the same reason. I think it has more fun, like from an outsider running past them. It just is fun to kind of guess who's who, what like how they all play into each other. Um, so I I think that's pretty cool for sure. And again, we see a lot of that like at Run Disney, but we're even seeing it in other races as well. Okay, so what a few of other trends that kind of come to mind is like everything is glitter everything, which I love. But that was something that maybe even five years ago you would never, maybe outside of Run Disney would never see anywhere. So, how do you feel about like the glitteriness, the sparkliness, all of that jazz when it comes into running?

Speaker 1 21:40

Um, the more the better. Uh okay, so since I haven't been running nearly as long, I didn't know that sparkle wasn't always like just the always vibe, right? Like it's just constant, it's spark. If you're not sparkling, what are you doing? Like the men are sparkling, the everybody's sparkling. I'm actually uh waiting for my unicorn snot. So that I can sparkle even on my just when I'm out there on my own runs. Because little sunblock, little sparkle.

Speaker 22:07

I've decided to do that as well, too, for my like regular runs because I think it needs a little bit whimsy. And we've talked in the past in the podcast about like dopamine dressing, which is just about anything that makes you happy for when you're going out for your run. Let's be honest, we need some joy in our runs. Um, okay. I'm trying to think. I know there's always something with fueling that's always trendy, um, or not trendy, but I'm not even gonna get into that specifically. But I am curious as we're talking about all those trends that we're seeing, how we feel about them. Do you have a few, maybe like maybe your top three that you would say? Like, I wish that I never saw this again, either at race day, at expos, um, on social media, in the running community. Anything kind of come to play for you?

Trends We Want Gone

Speaker 1 22:53

Oh.

Speaker 22:55

I mean, other than the churning butter thing, uh I mean, I feel like I could see that that was going to likely retire naturally on its own. People are not gonna keep that one up. That one's not gonna make it into, you know, it's not gonna be something that we hear about 10 years from now. And there's not gonna be any products that come from that where people churn their own butter. Runner. Yeah. We'll go and shark tank about it, but we'll have to figure out our pitch. Shelly's face is not invited to our pitch because it says, don't invest in this.

Speaker 1 23:33

I actually saw like it popped up in my feed, like some brand has actually created like a vest that is specifically for this now. Like, are you serious? People can buy products to actually do this. And I was like, no, this needs to be a shorter trend than physical products.

Speaker 23:51

I'm here for it. Like, all I think about that is like you make that money, honey. Like, you hustle however you need to jump on that trend while you can, because it's not gonna stick around forever. Okay. So Shelly's retiring, the churning butter and ice cream. What else are you thinking you definitely never want to see ever again?

Speaker 1 24:09

Airport runner people or airplane running people, like these people that post, like, oh, I ran a marathon in the on the airplane or whatever. Those I can't with you. You're everybody hates you, like you're making everybody hate us. Please stop being ridiculous.

Speaker 24:26

So, wait, how do you feel about like the Taco Bell marathons or the Taco Bell Ultras or all these like McDonnell races? You have heard of them, right? I have no idea what you're talking about. So there people are planning there's these races, like marathons are above, um, where they'll like plan it around like all the taco bells and then get their aid, that's their aid station, and they have to eat like a specific taco or burrito for you know 25 miles, 32 miles, 50 miles.

Speaker 1 24:54

I hope they plan bathroom breaks along the way if you are making especially these very high fat content fast food restaurants. With also fiber. Um, so yeah. Um, I mean, hey, if it gets you going and it's that's your thing and you have a stomach of steel, like, do it. That sounds great. Just don't stay in the restaurant sitting anywhere, sit outside because we don't want to smell you.

Speaker 25:22

Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna say something really controversial. I think I'm gonna get a lot of hate about this, but it is what it is. I'm a stand, stand on business, as the young kids would say. I'm gonna stand on business right here and now. I really love how influencers have helped to bring a lot of awareness to our community. Um, so I just don't want to see you stopping in the middle of my race and doing a full choreographed TikTok dance and recording it while I'm dying, just trying to get to the next location. Don't do that. Like that just that just it's a little heartbreaking. It crushes me inside. Um, and I know I can't be alone in this, but how do you?

Speaker 1 26:02

If somebody just dead ass stops in front of me and is doing a whole thing and I can't hardly breathe because it's hard to do these things, I will be very irritated and I might, I might, I might be annoying in the back of their video, so they have to try again. I might, I might just so we're all gonna aggressively mess up their video.

Speaker 26:25

I mean, the reality is is like I want you to have joy, I want you to have fun, I want you to bring awareness to the running community and that it can be joyful, but let's also be slightly respectful of all the other runners and maybe even if you pull off to the side, just still being aware. Not everybody wants to be in your content, and we just want to run our race. Like, just let us run our race that we too paid money for. We actually probably they probably didn't even pay money for it, half of them. So, um, yeah, influencers, let's let's maybe let's find other ways to create viral content, maybe before the race in the corral or afterwards, but not actually on the course. So that's kind of the trend that I'd like to see go away. I don't know if that's actually gonna happen. But it does remind me of like the New York City Roadrunners and New York Roadrunners, where they had to create like new rules and parameters about content creators because of the guy who hired like somebody to follow him for the New York City Marathon to help him create content. Like the guy was on a bike, like a press bike, but he wasn't an official press bike person. You guys, I wish that you could. We were gonna have to start recording these as videos because Shelly's expression the audacity. Like, I just I can't even not in a good way. They were banned for the record, like good, definitely. Yeah, he's not he's not coming back to do any, and he's apologized, but it was kind of like a I apologize for being caught and aware of it kind of a thing, but yeah. Okay, so I've got two that and they both kind of are around uh running influence. And just to keep it up, the third thing is if you're gonna break the rules for running, which you should not, like seriously, there's a reason why you have to run under your own bib. And I mean, it's super serious. But if you're gonna do it and you're stupid enough to post it on social media, as we've also seen happen, then honestly, I hope that all of the races come together and ban you indefinitely. Because that was also a thing. Like, that's just don't ban at a race. Like, let's let's let that that should not even happen in today's day and age. I get that races are expensive, but that's just not the way of making it happen. Okay, so clearly had some thoughts on this. You feel very harshly. I mean, I'm very strongly about turning butter. I feel strongly about these specific aspects. I think, though, too, that we've done, Shelly, is that we've kind of delayed the inevitable, which is we are here to see if we can really make this running alphabet challenge happen.

Alphabet Challenge Starts A To H

Speaker 28:47

So we're gonna alternate letters, they have to be encouraging phrases only. And we can't repeat. So, like, we can't like kind of try to play off of each other on it. And then, you know, I think we should we should let the audience let us know, or the listeners let us know if we get like bonus creativity points. We'll let them decide. So, would you like to take off as we're on with the long run? And we see a runner approaching us with the letter A. Um, let's say amazing work, girl. Okay, I love it. Yes, I would do that too. I would say it's amazing or awesome. Now are we both gonna do the same letter to C?

Speaker 1 29:24

No. One because that's really hard, and two because it's really hard. So I think you should take B. Okay, I'll take B.

Speaker 29:34

Ah, gosh, I mean, I think that would be like, I mean, how serious would I be? Like, I wanna like I think I would say something like beautiful work, our beautiful job, beautiful day, but likely I would want to be super silly as well and be like bodacious running there, my friend. Because I mean, how often can you say bodacious? So I'm sticking with bodacious running. I don't even know what that means, but that's mine. Okay, you take C.

Speaker 1 30:03

Oh, why didn't I take B? Um, let's see. C, let's go with can't catch you. You're too fast.

Speaker 30:11

Oh, Shelly, that's good. That's so awesome. Okay, I want Shelly to always have the letter C moving forward. I mean D has got to be don't stop. Like, right? Yeah, don't stop. Keep going. You look good. Okay.

Speaker 1 30:25

You should actually sing it at them because don't stop.

Speaker 30:30

Exactly. It's a requirement.

Speaker 1 30:33

There's too many don't stop songs. You have to do it. Okay, we're gonna we're gonna go with don't stop for D. You go with E. Excellent job, babe. Or extraordinary. Extraordinary, really? Why didn't I think of that? Jeez, I think I have all the wrong letters. But excellence, fantastic.

Speaker 30:52

I love it. Okay, which makes me say, fantastic job out here, friend. Absolutely. I can go with alliteration. I'll just keep it going. Fantastic, fabulous. Yes, all those things.

Speaker 1 31:11

Okay, gee, gee. Um, trying to be more creative than the word great.

Speaker 31:16

Oh, I was gonna say just uh I was gonna say something like I want to be like, no.

Speaker 1 31:23

Um go friend, you got this. Shelly, like they're your friends.

Speaker 31:30

Like, yeah, I feel like you're like, like you're a hype girl when you're doing this. Like you're just doing it.

Speaker 1 31:35

Everybody's my friend when I'm running. I'm really not social at all when I'm not running. It's it's it's been pointed out to me that I'm super introverted until I'm out there running or at like a race, and I'm like, everybody's my friend. I'm talking to everybody. So yeah. This brings up a different way running.

Speaker 31:51

So hype girl Shelly happens only at races and running, and just for so you're aware. So don't think you're gonna get hype girl Shelly if you like go out to lunch with her. Nope. You gotta go for a run. Okay, so hype girl Shelly. Um, you left off with was that G? Yes, that was G. Okay, H. H. Ah. I mean, I want to be like, hot boy, looking good out here, but would I really say that? I don't think so. I would be like, no, I'm too shy to say that. But here in like privacy of this little conversation, absolutely hot boy. Let's keep it going.

Speaker 1 32:32

I've actually said to somebody who was rollerblading past me in neon, hey Barbie. Because she was rollerblading in neon. So I feel like, hey Barbie. What did she say? She didn't, I don't think she heard me because she didn't even look at me, or she just thought I was insane and was like, don't engage.

Speaker 32:51

Let's talk about the opt for friends. Let's talk about the very real aspect of the fact that you may say these encouraging words to people, you're likely not gonna get a lot of comment back because they're either they're not processing it, they're gonna process it like maybe three blocks down the road, or they're gonna just ignore you. Like people tend to ignore me whenever I say things to them at races, but okay. Hey, Barbie.

Speaker 1 33:16

Aye, I let's see. Um incomparable. Oh, I need a word to go with it. Incomparable form and amazing speed. I don't know. Incomparable. I need a game Hamilton.

Speaker 33:40

I feel like inemitable. Is that like a line from it? Yes. I don't think we're doing incomparable though. I don't know. I don't think that's coming. Do you really think that we could do this one where like glycogen deprived? I don't know.

Speaker 1 33:53

I have a checklist going down to make sure I don't get off the wrong letter. Okay. So no, I don't think I can come up with these words with that. Oh my gosh, am I in Jay?

Speaker 34:03

Do I have Jay?

Speaker 1 34:04

You do.

Speaker 34:05

Ah, I can't think of anything except for jogging Jack Sparrow. So, friends, we have at Ryan Disney. He hasn't made an appearance recently, but back in the day, there was somebody who would dress up as Jack Sparrow, and he was considered jogging Jack Sparrow. And that's all that comes to mind with Jay. Um, oh my gosh, I'm gonna lose it at Jay. No, I can't. I can't. We gotta play Scrabble. Um can't even think of a word. Jealous of your faces, my friend. You're good. Yeah, yeah. Jealous of your face. I love it. Yeah, I got it. Okay, that's it. That's all I got. I don't I'm sweating.

Speaker 1 34:50

I am sweating. We should put on our like our watches. This is like a cardio workout. Totally. It's gonna count. I'm gonna count it. Um K. Killing it. Oh killing it. I want K.

Speaker 35:03

I want K. We're gonna like turn on order around. Okay, K. I mean, L is gonna be looking good. Looking good out here.

The Middle Letters Get Spicy

Speaker 35:11

Absolutely. Making it work. Ah, I like that. I think I would honestly have to kick your ass, Falto, if you said that to me out in public. Yeah, I like what do you mean making it work? Like, like I look like this is a I barely am put keeping it together. Is that what you're saying? Like, I see. I mean teasing Shelly. I think it's a good one. Okay, my friends. You'll have to tell us with making it work were for you. Okay, I'm also trying to delay the inevitable. Mad skills. How about that? Is that better? Mad skills.

Speaker 1 35:55

I mean better than making it work, right? Would anybody under the age of 30 like get that reference though? You don't there's a lot of people out there running that are that are that are over 30. It's fine.

Speaker 36:07

Most people are, seriously. So like we're gonna hit a sweet spot because if they're too much over it, like if there's like so you gotta be like Gen X millennial to get, I think, the mad skills, but I'm down with it. You say that to me, I'm gonna definitely feel like an extra little pep in my step. Um and can't be nice, so it's gotta be. I mean, all that's coming through my head is like nice and neat. And I that just be because I want I want to go make my bed. I don't know. Why is that why is that like nice and neat? And like let's not say that to people. That too would seem a little serial killer-ish, actually. Like, ooh, nice and neat.

Speaker 1 36:51

Yeah, that would definitely come all that way for sure.

Speaker 36:53

That would be really creepy. Um then uh like this is the worst because now I'm also thinking of like really bad hip hop from the 90s, like or Janet Jackson, like nasty girl. Like, nobody you can't say that to people. Um, yeah, no, you'd get some looks for that. You thought I think you get a whooping for that is what you get. You better run fast. Um I think I'm just gonna have to go with neat shoes, like totally jerky with a thumbs up.

Speaker 1 37:31

Like neat shoes. That's all I got. That's all I got. I think that's great because I always I very specific, I try to match my shoes to my outfit. So if somebody noticed, I'd be like, yes, thank you. Okay, okay.

Speaker 37:43

So we now know the way to Shelly's heart is don't turn butter while you're running and compliment her shoes. So we've got this.

Speaker 1 37:52

Oh, I have oh, why do I have the vowels? What are you doing to me? I feel like I've got all of them.

Speaker 37:58

I think it's just it's just progressively getting harder. And and I don't even know where this falls into play. Like, who's gonna get Q and X and I'm really panicking about that? Like, I'm sweating.

Speaker 1 38:08

I think it's me. Um, oh, oh. Um Shelly's better at this.

Speaker 38:21

She wins. Let's just call it right here. That's fantastic. If she says that to me, I'm gonna be like, Yes, I am out of this world. I love it. Okay. L L N O P. Okay. Let's do it in my head. Okay. I am all I can think of is OPP. Um I have is music lyrics from the 90s going through my head. Um other people's paces. Uh, let's see. Um, oh, there we go. Perfectly on pace, rock star. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna say. Okay, cool.

Speaker 1 39:02

Nice.

Speaker 39:02

Okay.

Speaker 1 39:03

Q, you have to go with queen. Uh if you don't call someone queen, you're doing it wrong if you get to Q.

Speaker 39:10

Okay, cool. So are we, oh, is this gonna be like gender neutral across the board?

Speaker 1 39:16

Absolutely.

Speaker 39:17

I think I think as long as you say queen sleigh, then you're good. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 39:21

I think it totally works. Yeah. For anybody. I don't know. I think most of the men I know would, if you said it in the right like tone, they'd be like, Yes, I'm a queen. Okay. I mean, I'm taking it. Maybe that says something about a lot of the men that I know.

Speaker 39:35

But I think everybody's gonna love a little bit of royalty. Yes. Okay. Okay, so you've got Q. R. I mean, radical. Um, you radical rascal, you. No, I don't think if anybody is actually running. I have no idea how they would actually take that. But yeah, I'm going with radical rascal, and I'm gonna scan out business on that one for real. I'm sure there's something better.

Speaker 1 40:04

Rascal. I'm not sure anybody under the age of like, I don't know, 70 uses the word rascal, but we're gonna go with it. I used it with radical.

Speaker 40:15

Okay, so we've got we've got radical, we got rascal, you've made your way to S, which will have lots to choose from. Stunning.

Speaker 1 40:25

Stunning um speed work, stunning speed work.

Speaker 40:31

I feel like Shelly like watched RuPaul's drag race before we had this. And she's like, she's just she's bringing the energy. There's a lot of hype that's going on, and I'm feeling it like, yes, I am stunning. Thank you. I brushed my hair.

Speaker 1 40:46

I've never seen an episode of RuPaul's drag race. Shelly, why? I don't know, it's just not my jam.

Speaker 40:53

Oh, you have to just at least once for I mean, Rue is a hardworking person. I'm sure that he he has made it international. Like, there's there's definitely like all-stars, infinity, and beyond. Like, churning butter is not gonna happen long term, but RuPaul will still continue putting out content. That's gonna happen. Okay, so we're done to us. I'm stunning. I'm feeling it, I'm feeling good. And of course, terrific out here. That's what I'm definitely gonna say. Yeah, I'm practicing saying this, like okay.

Speaker 1 41:35

I feel like you have to have a little oomph behind it. Yeah, of course, all of these have to have oomph. Um, all right. Again, I got a vowel, and it's you. That one's hard. But I think I think you can this one's I think you can come up with it.

X Y Z And Crowning A Winner

Speaker 1 41:50

Um, I think I would go with unbelievable and I would sing it at this. Oh god. Unbelievable.

Speaker 41:58

Oh I love the points of reference of your songs versus my songs. Okay, so unbelievable. I like that. I was thinking unique, but I don't know how you would actually say that to somebody as a compliment out of the side.

Speaker 1 42:12

Yeah, not everyone takes unique as a compliment. Like, what do you mean? I'm not I'm I'm just like everybody else right now. I'm just out here running and doing my thing.

Speaker 42:20

Okay, good point. Okay, but unbelievable. Definitely like it's unbelievable you got your butt out here. Like I am done with that. Okay, unbelievable. I like it though. I do. Unbelievable. Um gosh, should we have done this Disney edition? We got all the little like because now I'm thinking. Okay, let's we've already made it hard enough. You V. Is that what's next? Yeah, are we really all the way to V Victorious? A little bit of I think that's notorious B-I-G, right? Victorious.

Speaker 1 42:54

Oh no, that's not that's that's not the kind of music I was listening to when that was popular.

Speaker 43:00

Again, definitely we have very different points of reference. I'm pretty positive victorious is a a big papa song. I'm gonna Google that. I won't Google any other words, but that one is so yeah, victorious out here for sure. It is Big Papa.

Speaker 1 43:17

Okay, W. W, W. We're gonna go with wonderful work.

Speaker 43:32

Mm-hmm. I like she's even adding in the alliteration. Like, got it.

Speaker 1 43:38

The only other W word that comes to mind is whimsical, and that's not a compliment always either. I think it would totally be a compliment. Like you're so whimsy all day, whimsy. Like, people would enjoy that. But on where I go run, they'd probably look at me like I was insane if they heard me at all.

Speaker 43:53

Can we have a bit of a squirrel moment on Dinky Dog? Have you gone out when you when we go out to Dinky Dog? Can you go out on your little your paddle board and you go To the next lake. Did you see the rubber ducky on the top of the person's house? No, but now I'm gonna have to look. Okay. I was thinking, like, I want to live in the whimsical house. So I think whimsical is a fantastic. I'm bringing it back. Okay. The only W that comes to mind for me is Winker. Um what are you bringing? Evidently for the for this, yes. I don't think we're gonna do that one though. That one's don't yell at it, people. It's not a good point. I think I've made a determination that I chose to do this game with you because it's a safe space. I don't think I'm ready for the big road. Like the big stage. No, I'm gonna have to really practice before I get out there into the world. Okay, so W. I don't know what's next. X, Y, and Z. Is that it? X. Yeah. You have X. C X. Look, I got all the vowels. You have X. I should have tried to learn what word to come up with. Uh now again, all I can think of is like exhibit the rapper. Um like we can't do X, we can't even do expedital. What is it? Supercaliforis expedital notions. I whatever that word is, I can't even come up with that. X X X. I mean X-ray is all that comes to mind. There has to be a better X. Oh, what about X Factor? I mean, what do I say to them? What do I yell? What do I say? What if they're like, you got the X Factor, baby? And then you know they're gonna they're gonna probably think that I said sex, and that would be very awkward.

Speaker 1 45:37

Well, anything that starts with an X is gonna sound like that. Unless you say like xylophone, and what is that gonna do for you?

Speaker 45:43

Let's think how can we say xylophone to make that work? I don't know. You got more keys than a xylophone, baby. Um, no, that's not these are all gonna feel really weird. Okay, so um uh extra. We're just gonna go with extra, even though E is the first letter of it. I try to make that school change for the world. I think Shelly's really being super polite. I'm gonna take a ding for this one, but I'm gonna come back and practice for this next round that we do because I feel like I I didn't I didn't do my homework appropriately.

Speaker 1 46:21

So you owe us homework on the light text.

Speaker 46:23

Yeah, let's let's let's move on after my disappointment.

Speaker 1 46:28

Why? Um why are we doing this? That's why did I agree to do this? Yeah, this is silly. Again, the only other letter that's sort of a vowel. You it's still better than X. You got this, you got it. It's true. Why? I mean, any I mean, you can go in front of anything, like you're amazing. You are the fastest person out here. I I say you take it, you go with it.

Speaker 46:51

You got all those hard vowels. This one is perfect for you.

Speaker 1 46:54

Yes, yes, queen. I feel like that's a combination of two. I've already come up with, but I think it back. I got Z.

Speaker 47:02

Yes, I got C and V. Now all I think of again. Wait, is Xyliphone with an X or with a Z? It's with an X. Were you gonna try to use it for a Z? No, I didn't. I just had to clarify that. Uh-huh. I mean Z. What do we have to play Scrabble do with Z? Zoom? Shelly. Okay, ah, come on. Okay, Shelly won. I'll hail Queen Shelly who slayed the zesty alphabet game. It's official. We are. Um, I'm not playing this game ever again. Shelly, I think, has found her calling in life.

Speaker 1 47:55

So we now know start running the yelling these things at runners this weekend. So you really come into contact with me this weekend. I might start yelling weird words at you. Just I will not.

Speaker 48:06

What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna practice it in my head and feel really awkward because I can't make it happen. Like that's what I'm gonna do. But she's definitely fantastic at this. What would you say out of all the ones that you came up with that you would want to say actually in public?

Speaker 1 48:21

Um, honestly, if I was with other people that were also doing this, I'd probably say any of them. Okay. They're all alone by myself. In real life, I would probably whisper them to myself um and not say it loud enough for anybody to hear me.

Speaker 48:37

Okay, I appreciate the honesty because I think that that is uh like that's really the biggest battle is can you tackle this on your own because and not feel weird about it.

Speaker 1 48:46

Me personally, no. Um, but I will be saying them either under my breath or in my head. So, and that's to me, that's the same thing because most of these people are wearing headphones and they can't hear me anyway.

Speaker 48:57

So that's true. That's true. I think what I'm hearing is that we're kind of gonna have to plan a run together because I want to hear you say these out loud to people. You want to hear me call somebody zesty? Yeah, I absolutely want to hear you call somebody zesty and sleigh and queen and um everything else that you said in this. I what did you come up with for X? X Factor.

Speaker 1 49:19

That's all I came up with.

Speaker 49:21

Okay. So, friends, you'll have to tell us did you try this while we were going through? Did you agree with some of our phrases? Did you think you had better phrases than we do? Um, and then do you have some viral trends that we should know more about or that we should, again, leave behind and never ever ever see again? Because if nothing else, we learned that the alphabet is significantly longer and harder when you try to do it without carbs because I think that's exactly how it's gonna feel like we're out there. Like we're just gonna be glycogen deprived, trying to like live our best lives to get to the end.

Listener Prompts And Farewell

Speaker 49:55

And this is gonna be very, very difficult. So, yeah, I have to admit, this was more challenging than I thought. I really do wish I would have cheated and done homework, but I didn't because it makes it uh much more realistic. So with that said, Shelly and I are gonna go practice. She's gonna wear her reigning queen crown for the rest of the night and gloat. I know that for a fact. But if you joined today's episode, please share it with a running friend. Leave us a review and subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us at the Stride Collective. Shelly, thank you for joining me again. So much fun every time. Okay, our friends, until next time. Remember, fitness doesn't have to be serious to be meaningful, and community makes the miles better. Sometimes the best thing can do is bring a little run with some encouragement. So keep moving forward, keep cheering each other on, and we'll see you on the next stride.