the morning shakeout podcast

“People know me as Abdi the distance runner, the funny guy, just outgoing, and that's all good, but they don't know the reason I came to the U.S.—how did I end up here, what was my choice, that struggle behind me getting here, at the end of the day, your parents, your family, what they've been through to get here. And that's the difficult part of the book, because that just brings back some memories because of the civil war in Somalia. It’s not like one day I woke up and said, ‘Hey, I'm going to go to America.’ It wasn't that easy. It was one day you woke up and you don't know what the future holds for you, you don't know where you're going to get your next meal, what happened, because it was a civil war. At the end of the day I'm thankful for everything that I've been through, and it's made me the person who I am today, but it wasn't the easiest though.” Abdi Abdirahman is one of my favorite people in the sport and I am super excited to share this episode with you. The 44-year-old is a five-time Olympian and he’ll represent the United States in the marathon at this summer’s Games in Japan. Abdi also has a new book coming out soon. It’s called Abdi's World: The Black Cactus on Life, Running, and Fun and it’s due out in July. In this conversation, we talked about making his fifth Olympic team and how he’s feeling three months out from the Olympic Marathon. He told me about growing up in Somalia, coming to the United States when he was 7 years old, and how that experience shaped his perspective and outlook on life. We talked about his longevity in the sport, his relationship with running and what it means to him beyond just competition and his career, and why he’s gone to Ethiopia to train in recent years. Abdi also discussed his upcoming book, giving back to his community and establishing a charitable foundation built around hope, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — BOA. BOA wants you to get dialed in, locked in, and connected to the trail in the new BOA-powered La Sportiva Cyklon. Available in men’s and women’s, every aspect of the shoe is engineered to deliver revolutionary fit and performance on the trail, and was designed and tested in BOA’s state of the art Performance Fit Lab to improve running efficiency and reduce landing impact. BOA is exclusively offering four morning shakeout listeners the opportunity to win a free pair of the Cyklon. To enter, head over to boafit.com/Mario. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-162-with-abdi-abdirahman/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“What we're doing, it's for the culture. It's not ultimately about trying to get money. We want to push the track and field culture forward. We want it to be more entertaining, we want it to be more fun. We're doing this for the athletes. And with both of us being athletes before, we understand those struggles and, I don't know, I'm really big on believing that track and field is a stage, it's an amazing sport, but the culture needs to be continually developed and advanced so we can showcase that—and that's the mission, it's something that's not about getting subscriptions or anything. We're really genuine and just want to push the culture forward and make track more of a mainstream sport.” Aaron and Joshua Potts are the guys behind The Running Report, a media outlet produced “for culture and by the culture.” They also co-host the 2 Black Runners podcast, where each week they recap the most recent running news, host insightful interviews with athletes from across all disciplines of track and field, and offer up their perspective on the running world as two black runners in the sport. They first came across my radar a few months ago when they interviewed one of my earliest running heroes, Michael Johnson, and I’ve been following their work ever since. In this conversation, we got into their recent broadcast work at The KC Qualifier put on by Trials of Miles Racing and Citius Mag. They told me how The Running Report and 2 Black Runners came to be, what they saw missing from the way the sport was being broadcast and covered, and what changes they’d still like to see as it relates to how track and field is packaged and presented. We also talked about the importance of culture and what they mean when they use that word, how they see The Running Report and 2 Black Runners evolving in the future, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — BOA. BOA wants you to get dialed in, locked in, and connected to the trail in the new BOA-powered La Sportiva Cyklon. Available in men’s and women’s, every aspect of the shoe is engineered to deliver revolutionary fit and performance on the trail, and was designed and tested in BOA’s state of the art Performance Fit Lab to improve running efficiency and reduce landing impact. BOA is exclusively offering four morning shakeout listeners the opportunity to win a free pair of the Cyklon. To enter, head over to boafit.com/Mario. — Picky Bars. Picky’s products are made with real ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize—and there’s a peace of mind that comes with not second-guessing what I’m putting into my body. If you want to try some Picky products for yourself while supporting the podcast, go to pickybars.com/MARIO and enter the code MARIO at checkout to save 20% off your purchase of 25 bucks or more. You can also join the Picky Club at that link, which is a subscription service, and save 20% off your first box with the code MARIO. Super easy, amazing offer, take advantage of while you can at pickybars.com/MARIO. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-161-with-aaron-and-joshua-potts/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“All of this adversity that we've been dealing with, you know, adversity is nothing new to me. I'm officially claiming that I'm the dean of Adversity University. As an immigrant, as a brown-skinned man, as someone—who, Spanish is my first language—having to always assimilate, having to always adapt, having always to comfort others with the comfort of who you are, those are just daily adversity situations and circumstances that I've existed with, so adversity is nothing new. And I've dealt with so many other adversities, from emotional to life, just like everybody else. We all have our stuff and it's how you face and deal with those things that build up your character, you know? It's no different than, ‘Sure, maybe I've placed well in a certain race,’ and honestly I hate to say this but I can care less how well I do or not, but that moment we described earlier where it took me 3-1/2 hours to walk 7 miles while I watched Stephanie win Western States—that to me was very character-building and a really, really important part of who and what I am today and how I can utilize that as a skillset and a toolset to face life.” Stephanie Howe and Jorge Maravilla are quite the power couple and it was a treat to sit down with the two of them recently at their home here in Marin County, where we all live. A little on their respective running backgrounds: Stephanie is the 2014 Western States Endurance Run champion, she’s finished in the top 10 at UTMB, and won numerous other races at various distances over the course of her career. Jorge is two-time national champion on the trails at the 100 mile and 100K distances, he won the Masters national cross country title in 2018, and he’s also got a 2:21 marathon personal best to his credit. In this conversation, we talked a little about running, but mostly about how their relationship came to be, navigating new beginnings, their different backgrounds growing up, and becoming parents together recently—and all of this was intertwined around themes of respect, trust, community, exploration, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith: Tracksmith is a Boston-based running apparel brand, born from a desire to celebrate both the history and the evolving culture of the sport. They recently released their Spring Collection full of stylish gear perfected for the pursuit of personal excellence. Designed for running hard and logging miles as the season shifts, this collection is designed with endurance in mind. Right now, Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75 bucks or more. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com. — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-160-with-stephanie-howe-and-jorge-maravilla/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“Over the last years, the main thing to me when I get into a race, I think what kind of changed my trajectory at least in the road stuff, was that I don’t want to look at times anymore—that was the big thing in the roads: I don’t want to look at times, I just want to compete. People would ask, ‘What are you shooting for?’ I’m like, ‘I just want to compete.’ And that’s kind of been my answer for everyone in most races that I’ve done over the last many years. There’s been a couple times I’ve gone out to a race that the competition, you could tell, wasn’t going to be too stout and you go out for time or a course record on that by yourself, but when there’s big competition, it’s just strictly about competing to me.” Anthony Costales recently won the Canyons 100K in Northern California in 9 hours, 11 minutes, and 40 seconds, defeating a stout field, which earned him a Golden Ticket to this year’s Western States Endurance Run. He’s only a few years into the trail and ultra game and is really starting to make a splash in the sport. A graduate of Chico State, Anthony has a 2:13 marathon personal best on the roads, he won the U.S. Trail Marathon Championship in 2018, and also represented the U.S. that year at the World Long Distance Mountain Championships in Poland, where he finished 10th overall. Anthony’s a native of Fairfield, California, he now lives and teaches middle school P.E. in Salt Lake City, Utah, and he’s a relatively new dad. In this conversation, we talked about Anthony’s most recent win, of course, but also his progression in the sport, how he’s shifted his training in recent years, and the physiological and psychological differences of racing on the trails versus competing on the roads. Anthony told me why he calls himself a silent competitor, we discussed why shorter distance trail races don’t get nearly the respect and attention of ultra-distance events, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith: Tracksmith is a Boston-based running apparel brand, born from a desire to celebrate both the history and the evolving culture of the sport. They recently released their Spring Collection full of stylish gear perfected for the pursuit of personal excellence. Designed for running hard and logging miles as the season shifts, this collection is designed with endurance in mind. Right now, Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75 bucks or more. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com. — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-159-with-anthony-costales/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I don’t shy away from the hard stuff anymore. I know I enjoy hard things from a training perspective, [and] like super-challenging races, but that also goes emotionally—I can’t expect to be a better person unless I can work through those things as well, so I’m happy to talk about hard subjects.” Hillary Allen is a professional athlete, coach, teacher, and author of the new book, Out and Back: A Runner’s Story of Survival Against All Odds. She’s a returning guest to the show—be sure to check out her first appearance back on Episode 49 if you haven’t already—and she’s just one of my favorite people to talk to in general. In this conversation, we talked about her book, which was recently released. She told me about how it came to be, what she’s learned from revisiting it recently while she’s been recovering from foot surgery, and how writing became a cathartic exercise for her in recent years. We also talked about her stubborn and independent streaks, why asking for help is challenging for her, the importance of cultivating and leaning into your community, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Picky Bars. Picky’s products are made with real ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize—and there's a peace of mind that comes with not second-guessing what I'm putting into my body. The bars are a go-to for me before a run, and even when I’m just out running errands, particularly the “Ah, Fudge Nuts” flavor, and I can't get enough of the PB&J All Day granola in my yogurt. If you want to try some Picky products for yourself while supporting the podcast, go to pickybars.com/MARIO and enter the code MARIO at checkout to save 20% off your purchase of 25 bucks or more. You can also join the Picky Club at that link, which is a subscription service, and save 20% off your first box with the code MARIO. Super easy, amazing offer, take advantage of while you can at pickybars.com/MARIO. — Atlanta Track Club. Member and lottery registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia is going on right now. The race will be held in-person and virtually this year on July 3rd and 4th. Strict COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place for the in-person version with limited spots available—Atlanta Track Club members get guaranteed entry and race day preference. If you’re not a member you can join today and then sign up to get a guaranteed spot at Peachtree! Non-members will be placed into a lottery and race day preference will be accommodated as spots remain. Registration is going on now until May 1 and you can put your name in today at ajc.com/peachtree. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-158-with-hillary-allen/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“When I talk to the athletes that I coach, the number one thing that I'm trying to pay attention to throughout the course of our relationship is seeing and understanding how this pursuit of running fits into their life and everything else that they've got going on from family to work to hobbies—and yes, you can have other hobbies besides running—and also, how those things are affecting their pursuit of running because if you have a very demanding job, or you have a very active family, or you have a lot of other hobbies, that is not only going to cut into your training time—and I don't say that in a bad way—but it's another variable that you have to account for that can affect how you're feeling on a given day, how well your workout goes, or if you're mentally fresh to race or not. So I think it's important to understand that mix from both sides.” This week on the podcast I’m answering listener questions in the first Ask Mario Anything episode of 2021. On the other side of the mic for this one is sponsorship director, Chris Douglas, who you’ll get to learn a little more about at the beginning of the show. We got some good ones about this summer’s Olympics, returning to running postpartum, balancing running and training with the rest of your life, how the podcast and newsletter get made, and more. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and apologies for all the ones I wasn’t able to answer in this episode. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith: Tracksmith is a Boston-based running apparel brand, born from a desire to celebrate both the history and the evolving culture of the sport. They recently released their Spring Collection full of stylish gear perfected for the pursuit of personal excellence. Designed for running hard and logging miles as the season shifts, this collection is designed with endurance in mind. Right now, Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75 bucks or more. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com. — Atlanta Track Club. Member and lottery registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia is going on right now. The race will be held in-person and virtually this year on July 3rd and 4th. Strict COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place for the in-person version with limited spots available—Atlanta Track Club members get guaranteed entry and race day preference. If you’re not a member you can join today and then sign up to get a guaranteed spot at Peachtree! Non-members will be placed into a lottery and race day preference will be accommodated as spots remain. Registration is going on now until May 1 and you can put your name in today at ajc.com/peachtree. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-157-ask-mario-anything/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“Most of my life was spent chasing times, mainly because I ran really fast in high school—a 4:01 as you mentioned—and when you un 4:01, you know, it’s always in your head that, ‘Oh man, there’s a second and change that I can get out of my body to get in that elusive, venerated sub-4 club,’ so you think and you obsess over times and I certainly did to an unhealthy degree in my college and a little bit in my post-college life as well. So I think coming to terms with, and realizing and recognizing that that doesn’t really matter anymore, was something that was incredibly freeing for myself.” Steve Magness wears many hats in the worlds of running and performance. He’s been the head cross-country coach and assistant track coach at the University of Houston since 2012 and he’s also worked with numerous professional athletes at the Olympic and world championship level. He’s the coauthor of Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox, both of which he wrote with former podcast guest Brad Stulberg, and he’s also the author of The Science of Running. Steve also co-hosts two podcasts, On Coaching, which dives deep into the art and science of training and coaching for runners, and The Growth Equation, a weekly no-bullshit discussion on well-being and performance. As an athlete in the early 2000s, Steve was one of the top scholastic runners in the country, running 4:01 in the mile—which, at the time, was the 6th fastest high school mile in U.S. history. This was an awesome conversation and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did taking part in it. Steve told me about how he spends and splits his time amongst his various interests and pursuits, what his relationship with running looks like these days, and how he’s channeled his competitive instincts throughout his life. We discussed how the past year has challenged him as a coach, the lack of checks and balances in the sport of track and field, and why he believes the sport has a long way to go before it can be considered truly “professional.” We also talked about what spurred his interest in coaching, how his time at The Oregon Project affected his outlook and trajectory as a coach, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith: Tracksmith is a Boston-based running apparel brand, born from a desire to celebrate both the history and the evolving culture of the sport. They recently released their Spring Collection full of stylish gear perfected for the pursuit of personal excellence. Designed for running hard and logging miles as the season shifts, this collection is designed with endurance in mind. Right now, Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75 bucks or more. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com. — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-156-with-steve-magness/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“Every single day for the last 15 years of my life I had a goal and I was able to tangibly work towards it day in and day out and all of my decisions were guided by the idea that I wanted to achieve this goal. There’s not many other things that are happening in the world or in my life where that exists. I have goals in relationships, I know I’ll have goals in my new work life, and longterm bucket list things I want to cross off but not necessarily things that every single day I’m seeing that input and output to the amount of effort that I’m giving towards it. I think that’s just really unique to track and field and running—I don’t think that even basketball players have that same experience.” Kyle Merber, like last week’s guest, Andrew Bumbalough, is a recently retired professional athlete. He spent his professional career training and racing with the New Jersey New York Track Club and Coach Frank Gagliano, where he put up personal bests of 3:34 in the 1500 and 3:52 in the mile. In this conversation, we really didn’t spend any time talking about Kyle’s races, or highs and lows in the sport, or how he got his start in running; instead, we dug into what it’s been like moving on from running in a professional capacity and he opened up and gave his honest reflections of what he experienced as an athlete. We talked about the coverage of the sport, whether or not we need to bring new fans into, how he plans to stay involved now that he’s no longer competing at an elite level, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith: Tracksmith is a Boston-based running apparel brand, born from a desire to celebrate both the history and the evolving culture of the sport. They recently released their Spring Collection full of stylish gear perfected for the pursuit of personal excellence. Designed for running hard and logging miles as the season shifts, this collection is designed with endurance in mind. Right now, Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75 bucks or more. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com. — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for FREE shipping on your first order. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-155-with-kyle-merber/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“You just run so much when you’re training for the marathon that if you don’t truly love it, you won’t really enjoy it. I think for most of my career prior to that I was so focused on performance and valuing the competition and what it gave me from that standpoint but I think as I transitioned to the marathon I really became interested in this idea of running for running’s sake. And as I started to do that I started to notice other people. You go to a marathon, whether it be Boston or Chicago or wherever, you’re immersed in a sea of runners—you’re starting on the line with forty or fifty thousand other people and everyone has a different story of why they’re there and how they got there.” Andrew Bumbalough is a recently retired professional athlete who spent the entirety of his career training and racing with the Bowerman Track Club, where he put up personal bests ranging from 3:37 for 1500m to 2:10 for the marathon. Amongst his numerous accomplishments, he finished 5th at the 2018 Boston Marathon, represented the U.S. in the 5000m at the 2011 world championships on the track, and won a national 5K title on the roads in 2013. We had a wide-ranging conversation that I really enjoyed and I think you will too. We talked about Bumbi’s last race—the Olympic Trials Marathon, where he dropped out at 16 miles—and when he knew it was time to retire from the sport. He told me about his 10-year relationship with coach Jerry Schumacher and what makes him such a successful coach, what his relationship with running has looked like since he retired, and how his body has responded to the reduced training load. We discussed getting into coaching and how he approaches working with a wide range of athletes, the work he’s done in footwear product innovation and how technology advances have changed what’s possible in both training and racing, what he makes of some of the eye-popping times we’ve seen on the track and roads over the past year, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for FREE shipping on your first order. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-154-with-andrew-bumbalough/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I’m hoping that my position with Bowerman and what I’m doing is just the beginning of a whole bunch of other women getting into coaching—and especially at this level. I think there’s some great coaches at the collegiate level and high school level and they’ve been doing an amazing job, but I think to take it to this level as well, at the professional level, I feel like there’s very minimal women out there and I’d love to just hopefully be a resource and a mentor to some future women that want to get into coaching. That being said, I don’t have personal coaching goals, I just hope that it’s something even bigger than that—it’s actually a catalyst for a whole bunch of women to be in positions of power and mentoring and leadership and guiding.” Shalane Flanagan hardly needs an introduction, so I’ll keep this short: she is one of the greatest American distance runners of all-time—a 4-time Olympian, an Olympic silver medalist in the 10,000m, world cross country bronze medalist, and the 2017 New York City Marathon champion. Over the course of her professional running career, Shalane won 16 national titles and held or still holds several American records. These days, she’s a mom to her son Jack, a coach with the Bowerman Track Club, and The New York Times best-selling author of Run Fast. Eat Slow. This was Shalane’s second time joining me on the podcast—be sure to check her first appearance back in Episode 7 if you haven’t already—and we had a great time catching up about coaching, parenting, book writing, and what her own running looks like these days. We also talked about her relationship to anxiety, how she channels her competitiveness now that she’s no longer a professional athlete, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-153-with-shalane-flanagan/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I think I’m somebody where I grew up in a family of many people, a large family—and then also I grew up Morman, and so I grew up around many families that were very large and also my mom did daycare at our home—and so I’ve always just been around a lot of people and I’ve always had to be somebody that has found my voice among many people while also being friends with everybody. And it’s funny, when I was growing up I always had friends all over the place. I never realized until recently that that continues to be true. I feel like I’m a connector where I love just meeting new people and finding out about new people and then connecting different people with likeminded people, so I definitely think that’s probably the core of my being.” Darcy Budworth is the co-founder and race director of Take The Bridge, which is an underground and unsanctioned series of races that was born in New York City in 2015 and has since spread to numerous other cities around the world. I raced my first Take the Bridge this past February in San Francisco and I loved everything about it. As I wrote in my newsletter a few weeks ago, the race was low-key and community focused, the distance was unconventional—we happened to run 4.2 miles over the Golden Gate Bridge—and even the turns we took were up to us as long as we hit the required checkpoint along the way. There were no mile markers, no clocks, and at the end of the night, you were battling it out for place, not trying to run a pre-determined pace. There was level of purity to it that I really appreciated and, quite honestly, didn’t even know I missed. It reminded me a lot of cross-country but with a fast and the furious, every runner for him or herself urban street vibe to it. In this conversation, Darcy and I talked a lot about Take the Bridge and all aspects of unsanctioned racing in general, but we also got into her background, how she got into running, her relationship to the sport, as well as some discussion about stress, anxiety, injuries, and more. This episode is brought to you by: — Atlanta Track Club. Member and lottery registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia is going on right now. The race will be held in-person and virtually this year on July 3rd and 4th. Strict COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place for the in-person version with limited spots available—Atlanta Track Club members get guaranteed entry and race day preference. If you’re not a member you can join today and then sign up to get a guaranteed spot at Peachtree! Non-members will be placed into a lottery and race day preference will be accommodated as spots remain. Registration is going on now until May 1 and you can put your name in today at ajc.com/peachtree. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-152-with-darcy-budworth/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I would work around the clock, weekends, because I was passionate, and that's one thing I say to anyone that's passionate about what they do: make sure you do things that are sustainable, because no matter how passionate you are, no matter how much you love your job, if you're doing it 24/7, seven days a week, and you don't give yourself a break just because you love it, it's still work and it will eventually catch up to you. And I did have those moments when I was a one-man operation—I loved it, and that's why I was so quick to hire somebody else on my team, just to make sure we build the infrastructure to sustain ourselves for many years ahead.” Hawi Keflezighi is one of the top agents in all of endurance sports, and one of the nicest guys that I’ve ever known. He is the founder and president of Hawi Management and his agency represents some of the top athletes in track and field, road racing, trail running, and triathlon. His most notable client is his brother Meb, who he has been representing since 2005, and his roster also includes Aliphine Tuliamuk, Alexi Pappas, Katie Zafares, and Joe Gray, amongst others. We covered a pretty wide range of topics in this conversation, from the book he’s been helping his dad out with to the role that storytelling has played throughout his life. We talked about coming to the U.S. from Eritrea via Italy and some of his earliest memories as a young kid, to how he ended up at UCLA, and the path he followed to becoming a sports agent. Finally, we got into the weeds of the business, marketing, and sponsorship side of professional running and discussed how contracts have evolved over the past 15 years, what the job responsibilities are for an athlete today, how he sees things evolving in the future, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — New Balance: I was recently able to get my hands on a pair of the new Fresh Foam 1080v11 and I was shocked to love them even more than I did last year’s v10 model. New Balance claims the 1080 offers the ultimate ride, and I’d have to agree. It’s the best fitting shoe I own and the Fresh Foam X cushioning feels super comfortable underneath my feet. It’s lightweight and flexible, but also responsive and durable—basically the perfect trainer to log most of your miles in, which is what I do. I wear it on most of my non-workout days and for long runs too. Check out the Fresh Foam 1080v11 on newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation. — Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST—just a few weeks from now—you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-151-with-hawi-keflezighi/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I think I just learned over time that I have to be able to trust my own instincts and portray whatever I’m saying to an athlete with complete confidence and with complete backing of the head coach because you never want to diverge. And I know sometimes young coaches, they’re so excited to coach, they want to do everything they can that is within themselves to start coaching but you have to remember [that] you have to back your head coach because you’re backing the culture and you’re backing what they’ve created and I think it’s really important to be a really good sidekick ven though you’ve got bigger goals than that. You’ve got to kind of fall in line with that culture and really cultivate it and have confidence in doing that, and over time then you get to come up with your own pillars or your own culture, but it takes years and years and years to do that, I think.” Jenna Wrieden is the assistant coach at HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, where she’s been on staff since January. Prior to moving to Flagstaff to work alongside Ben Rosario and crew, she coached in the collegiate ranks since 2006, most recently as an assistant at Louisville, where over the course of 4-1/2 years she worked with several All-Americans. As an athlete, Jenna ran at Arizona State, where she was teammates with Des Linden and Amy Cragg, and—fun fact—in 2014 she set a world record for the fastest half marathon ever run on a treadmill. I always enjoy talking to fellow coaches and this conversation was no exception. We talked about Jenna’s new role, how it came to be, and what the transition has been like so far from the collegiate to the professional ranks. Jenna also told me about how she got her start in the sport and what spurred her pursue coaching after college, how her own relationship with running has evolved over the years, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — New Balance: I was recently able to get my hands on a pair of the new Fresh Foam 1080v11 and I was shocked to love them even more than I did last year’s v10 model. New Balance claims the 1080 offers the ultimate ride, and I’d have to agree. It’s the best fitting shoe I own and the Fresh Foam X cushioning feels super comfortable underneath my feet. It’s lightweight and flexible, but also responsive and durable—basically the perfect trainer to log most of your miles in, which is what I do. I wear it on most of my non-workout days and for long runs too. Check out the Fresh Foam 1080v11 on newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation. — Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST—just a few weeks from now—you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-150-with-jenna-wrieden/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“I don’t know where the desire to win comes from other than the desire to just feel like I’ve done my best and to know that when it’s all said and done that I can’t really have any regrets…The ability to go hard and to hurt yourself, yeah, I think some athletes have it better than others—and I would put myself, maybe I could at times, go fairly deep—and I don’t know really where that comes from. I think it’s one of those things where it was more of a desire just to know I’ve done my best, and if my best wasn’t good enough, which in many times it wasn’t, that’s OK, because then I could walk away and be like, ‘Well, that’s as good as I am.’ And I think knowing that can give any athlete a little sense of peace or a sense of calm.” Keith Kelly and I go back 20 years to when we were both competing on the New England collegiate racing scene. He was an NCAA Division I national Cross Country champion at Providence College and I…well, I participated in some of the same events that he did from much further back in the field. We struck up a friendship a few years later when we both started working in the running industry and our paths have been criss-crossing ever since. In addition to his individual NCAA title, Keith was a 5x All American at Providence, he finished 24th in the senior men’s race at the 2001 World Cross Country championships, and he won the Irish national cross country title in 2009. When his competitive running career got cut short due to injury, he got into cycling and rose through the ranks to race as a Cat 1 within a year of putting himself in the saddle. Now 43 years old, Keith works as a Global Run Marketing manager at New Balance. In this episode, Keith talked to me about athletic career, his extensive injury history, and when he knew running was something his body could no longer tolerate. We discussed his interest in cycling, how he channeled his fitness and competitiveness into his new sport, and what he misses most about running. We also talked about how the pandemic has affected the running industry, how super shoes are changing the sport, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — Goodr: Goodr sunglasses are don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for FREE shipping on your first order. — Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST—just a few weeks from now—you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-149-with-keith-kelly/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

“There were definitely a number of times where I found myself just trying to analyze every single aspect of what I was doing different from the year before, or what I wasn't doing different from the year before, and why there were any of these discrepancies in how I was running and I think that was the only stretch of time where I let myself get to that point because I realized that it definitely was an unfortunate sort of spiral to find yourself in because the more you think about, ‘Oh man, what am I doing wrong?’ or ‘What do I need to be doing better? Maybe that's why I'm not running so fast.’ There's no shortage and no way to stop yourself from finding more and more things that you can fix—or convince yourself need fixing—even when maybe all it's coming down to is you're spending way too much time in your own head and not just letting the training do what it's supposed to do and go along for the ride because sometimes it's really all you need to do.” Colin Bennie is the sub-2:10 American marathoner that no one seems to be talking much about, which is one of the reasons I’m super excited to share this episode with all of you. He also happens to be a fellow Central Massachusetts native and we had some fun geeking out about the unique area where we both grew up. Colin, who is 25 years old, finished third at The Marathon Project in Arizona last December, running 2:09:38 in just his second marathon. He made his marathon debut at last year’s Olympic Trials, finishing an impressive ninth in 2:12:14. Colin is a member of the Reebok Boston Track Club, which is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, and he’s coached by Chris Fox, who guided him throughout his All-American collegiate career at Syracuse University. In this conversation, Colin told me about his childhood, looking up to his two older brothers, and playing a bunch of different sports before settling on hockey and running in high school. We talked about his collegiate years at Syracuse, his relationship with Coach Fox, and how he and his teammates help make one another better athletes and people. We also discussed the importance of being a team player, what the transition to professional running was like for him, moving up to the marathon, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by: — New Balance: I was recently able to get my hands on a pair of the new Fresh Foam 1080v11 and I was shocked to love them even more than I did last year’s v10 model. New Balance claims the 1080 offers the ultimate ride, and I’d have to agree. It’s the best fitting shoe I own and the Fresh Foam X cushioning feels super comfortable underneath my feet. It’s lightweight and flexible, but also responsive and durable—basically the perfect trainer to log most of your miles in, which is what I do. I wear it on most of my non-workout days and for long runs too. Check out the Fresh Foam 1080v11 on newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation. Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-148-with-colin-bennie/ Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/ Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout