June 8, 2023 • 14 mins
Ever find yourself missing old friends and training partners after a big move? I recently moved to Texas and have been feeling the same way - but an inspiring conversation with one of my former New York training partners reignited my motivation for the upcoming Berlin Marathon. In this candid "dear diary" episode, I share his words of wisdom and how they reminded me of the importance of focusing on the process, the quiet morning miles, and the burning legs and lungs on the track, rather than just the finish lines and PRs.
As I continue to prepare for the Berlin Marathon, I also explore my current media diet, including an array of memoirs I've been listening to on Audible. From Lauren Fleshman's Good for a Girl to Desiree Linden's Choosing to Run, these audiobooks have provided me with companionship during my solo runs and walks. Join me in this episode as I discuss the impact these stories have had on my training, as well as my thoughts on potentially registering for a back-up race and the importance of surrounding yourself with supportive people during the marathon journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
This is the Lucy Beatrix podcast.
Today we're talking about life.
It's kind of like one of mydear diary entries where I'm
just talking about things thatare top of mind, including some
inspiration from a friend ofmine for going into my training
for the Berlin Marathon.
I'm going to be talking aboutmy media diet or what kind of
(00:36):
content I'm consuming right nowby way of shows or things on
YouTube, and, yeah, i'm justgoing to kind of like talk to
you guys about what's been goingon in my world as I get ready
to build up for the marathonthis fall.
So I moved to Texas six monthsago and I still feel like I'm
(00:57):
getting settled.
I'm not totally, totallysettled in yet, but slowly but
surely I feel like I'm gettingmore and more grounded here.
But there is something that hasbeen still missing, and that is
I really miss my friends backhome in New York and I miss the
people that I used to train withAnd even though there are such
(01:19):
talented, amazing, fastindividuals that live here in
Austin, it's actually kind ofcrazy.
People are so fast here andthey don't even realize how fast
they are.
Like sub two 40 marathoners.
Sub two 30 marathoners, sub two20 marathoners.
So I'm in good company out here, but I had my little crew of
guys that I used to train withwhen I was getting ready for the
(01:42):
Chicago marathon last fall AndI spent the whole summer running
with these people And I missthem And I think that's a normal
part of moving or starting oversomewhere new.
And that said, i was talking toone of those training partners
a couple of days ago and hisname's Brendan and he.
(02:04):
We were just talking aboutrunning and training and stuff
And he said something to me.
I hope he doesn't mind mesharing this, but he said
something to me that really likefueled the fire to get me
excited about going after Berlinthis fall.
And I think it's because Ithink the precursor to all of
this is that I was feeling likethis whole buildup is quite an
(02:27):
undertaking, given how hard Iworked towards the Chicago
marathon last summer, wrappingmy head around.
That is so much where I'm likeman.
Marathons are no joke and shouldnot be taken lightly, like.
They require so much, so muchdedication, so much mental
(02:48):
willpower, and sometimes it justhelps to have a sounding board
or people to like share thatwith, so that you don't feel
like you're just getting socaught up in numbers and
outcomes and rather just tryingto enjoy the process.
So this is what my friend saidto me You're a competitor and
(03:09):
want nothing but perfection.
It's hard to look at the buildfor a race and not be filled
without.
Don't forget, you do it as muchfor the quiet morning miles and
the burning legs and lungs onthe track as you do it for the
finish lines and PRs.
You do it because you want totest yourself every day and
prove worthy, but that proofcomes with.
The process builds day afterday until the result is
(03:32):
something that you can live withno matter what, because you put
your whole being into it.
No-transcript, that really gotto me, that really like fueled
me, because I got out there thenext day and ran 14 miles And
then today I just finished aboutnine and a half And I was
reminded of how the marathon isliterally 1%, less than 1% of
(03:57):
all the mileage that you putinto training, all those days,
all those hours that nobody sees, except for maybe your training
partners or your significantothers that see you coming and
going for runs.
That is just, it's just so much,and so you really have to be
tethered to your why to be ableto take on such a huge thing,
(04:19):
especially when you have anambitious time goal, like I do.
So it's like just laying downthe bricks, like I feel.
Like right now I'm about Ithink it's 15 weeks out until
the Berlin marathon And I'mstill trying to get my base back
underneath me and get my legsbeneath me, i guess, or feel
that foundation from which tospring off of, because it just
(04:40):
takes so much to just like getthings moving quick again.
And I had taken a really bigbreak last week.
I took the most days off andrunning that I have in so long.
As long as I can remember, um,i took four days off from
running.
So I think that was really goodbecause it kind of gave me a
reset pause to like recalibrateand think about what my why is,
(05:03):
what kind of work it's going totake, and yeah, but I think that
the most important thing hereis just having people that
surround you that are into yourgoals and all about it and
excited about your goals withyou, because then that reminds
you that you're not doing ittotally alone.
I think if we do it totallyalone, it becomes soul crushing
(05:23):
and you feel like everything'slife or death and it can't be
like that, because then it justgets not fun really quickly.
So that's my little two centsabout training and where I am
right now with all that stuffgetting ready for Berlin.
And I'm kind of on the fenceabout this idea of registering
for CIM, which is a couple ofmonths after Berlin, which is
(05:46):
something that peopletraditionally do If you're going
for a time goal and you want tohave like a backup race just in
case.
But like it's weird for me,because I almost don't want to
give myself that option to likequit before I even start of
thinking like okay, well, ifthis isn't my race and I can do
another race a couple monthslater.
It's weird.
It's like a psychologicalhiccup I was talking to my
therapist about it of whether ornot I think I should sign up.
(06:06):
So that's still like a TBDthing that I've been thinking
about.
And yeah, other than that, it'sjust day by day grinding and
like taking care of my bodyoutside of the training and like
making sure that I'm reallygetting the protein.
And I'm actually quite excitedby how much like I'm fired up by
really working on my nutritionand making sure that that's just
(06:27):
spot on and my recovery and mysleep.
And I dialed way back down onmy caffeine so that my tolerance
is back to a normal place, sothat I don't rely on caffeine to
get out there to train.
I can train without it, i canuse it for a competitive edge on
hard days and races and stuff,so I feel like that's been
(06:47):
really positive.
But anyway, so training that'swhere I am with that.
I have been consuming a lot ofmedia, so this is kind of like a
little recap of like my mediadiet, of what kind of stuff I've
been listening to, watching and, yeah, basically what I've been
taking in, because I thinkthat's just as important as the
(07:09):
training is.
Like, what am I filling my headwith?
And I went on a spree withaudiobooks where I basically got
audible like a month ago, amonth and a half ago, and I've
listened to like 10 memoirs.
At this point I've listened toso many I probably won't be able
to recount them all, but Ilistened to Good for a Girl by
Lauren Fleshman.
I listened to Choosing to Runby Desiree Linden, i listened to
(07:31):
Bravy by Alexi Pappas, the LetYour Mind Run by Dina Caster,
the Longest Race by Kara Goucherand Inside Out by Demi Moore,
wasted by Maria Harmbarker.
What else did I listen to?
I feel like I had so many, yeah, and I'm glad my mom died by
(07:57):
genetic herding.
So I basically just was likeback to back to back to back,
memoir, memoir, memoir.
And I listened to it while Iwas running, logging time on
feet and walking, and it wasgreat.
I felt like I always hadsomebody with me while I was
listening to these.
It kind of made me feel lesslonely on a lot of these like
solo runs that I was doing.
But I think that audiobooks arekind of a great way to like
(08:19):
break up the podcast routine.
If you're into podcasts like Iam, because sometimes podcasts
are nice to listen to, likeconversations and stuff I think
I get a lot out of that.
But I also like the structure ofgood stories from Beginning,
middle, end for like eight plushours.
And it's been so helpfulbecause I'm writing my own
memoir And so I'm kind of usingthese books to kind of like help
(08:41):
me create my own narrative andfind like how to
compartmentalize my beginning,middle and end for my own book.
So that's been really excitingbecause I've that's been like
besides training, i've beenreally focusing on writing a
book And it's my goal by the endof the year to reach my time
goal with the marathon andpublish a book.
And yeah, so that's been kindof like how my days are being
(09:04):
filled, is like with thisprocess, both with writing and
with running, and then for fun,when it's not like trying to
like focus, like that listeningto the memoirs felt like it was
almost like doing research formy book.
But when I'm not doing likemore cerebral work, like that,
whether it's running or writingand listening to books on tape.
(09:26):
I have been also just enjoyingdifferent shows that I never
really got a chance to watch.
Like there's a show on HBO Ijust got into called Succession,
that everyone was talking aboutAnd I really like it.
It reminds me of, like crazypeople I knew in New York.
And I watched this really greatshow called Beef with David Cho
(09:47):
, who I love and think he's sofascinating and just he's
basically plays himself, eventhough he's acting in it.
And then right now I'm obsessedwith a show called The Bear,
which is about a chef in Chicago, which makes me think a lot
about my dad, because my dad wasthis food critic and love these
, like these gritty restaurantstories And this.
(10:09):
This really gives you that likeintensity of what it's like in
the kitchen, of an intenserestaurant experience.
And speaking of my dad, mysister found some letters that
my dad and if you didn't knowthis, my dad passed away almost
five and a half years ago and hewas a writer, he was a
(10:29):
journalist, and he had writtenthese letters to my grandparents
, and so my sister found theseand sent me them a couple of
days ago And it was just sofunny reading these letters and
seeing how my dad was talking.
He's basically he sounded likeHunter S Thompson, backpacking
around you, uh, packing aroundEurope, and just recounting what
(10:49):
his journeys are like.
And this was seven years beforeI was born that he sent these
letters to my grandparents And Ijust got such a kick out of
reading them because I wasthinking, man, my dad was a
writer And I I love that.
I know that I have a little ofthat, a little of that in me
that I like, feel like this needto write, i have to write.
(11:12):
It's just something that's inme, and so that was a pretty
cool little inspiration to bereading these letters that my
dad wrote.
So, besides this update ontraining and this update on,
like my media diet, i've alsobeen on YouTube a lot And I've
been just like researching and Ilove watching runner vlogs on
(11:33):
YouTube And one of the runnervlogs I watch is Philly Bowden,
who just ran a sub two 30 at two29 marathon in Copenhagen And I
watched her entire buildup forthis race And it was remarkable
to see how she really did it.
She did exactly what she setout to do and, you know, broke
(11:54):
two 30 in her in her marathonAnd I was watching her training
from afar, basically like takingnotes of like what her paces
were looking like and what kindof runs she was doing and her
fueling and everything, and itreally sparked a lot of
motivation in myself to try toemulate that and think how I can
incorporate some of the thingsthat she was doing into my
routine And, yeah, findinspiration from what I was
(12:17):
taking in.
So, even though that was justkind of like a nice leisurely
pastime thing to be watching hervlogs, i also felt like I was
getting a lot out of it for howI can apply it to my own life
And generally I like to consumemedia that I can then apply to
my life And so that was superinspiring.
But yeah, so I think as far aswhat's going on in my world, i
(12:45):
I've just been trying to getmyself revved up so that I can
get back on the track, like backon track by getting on the
track Because I haven't reallybeen touching the track as much
as I would have, would haveliked, because it's just been
like hard without like my sametraining partners, my same
little routine that I had onTuesday nights in Brooklyn.
But I think that will come AndI've been looking into different
(13:08):
places I could possibly go thissummer for like elevation
training and seeing because itgets very hot in Austin which
people have trained through everfriend named Mitch Amons, who
ran a 216 marathon last winterand he trained through the heat
here.
So it's possible to train here.
But I also have been likelooking into possibilities of
going somewhere else and tryingto get my friends to come with
(13:30):
me.
But that's kind of where I amright now.
So it's like you know, a lot ofdifferent moving parts And a
couple North stars, like myBerlin marathon, my book and
along the way, just enjoying theprocess and not getting too
attached to any outcomes, andthat's basically where I am
right now.
So I hope you enjoyed thislittle episode updating you guys
(13:54):
on what my life's been likerecently, and if you ever have
any questions or you want toreach out, you can find me on
Instagram.
I'm at lucybiatrixL-U-C-I-E-B-E-A-T-R-I-X, and
until next time, just be fast,just win.
This is the Lucy Beatrix podcast.
Today we're talking about life.
It's kind of like one of mydear diary entries where I'm
just talking about things thatare top of mind, including some
inspiration from a friend ofmine for going into my training
for the Berlin Marathon.
I'm going to be talking aboutmy media diet or what kind of
(00:36):
content I'm consuming right nowby way of shows or things on
YouTube, and, yeah, i'm justgoing to kind of like talk to
you guys about what's been goingon in my world as I get ready
to build up for the marathonthis fall.
So I moved to Texas six monthsago and I still feel like I'm
(00:57):
getting settled.
I'm not totally, totallysettled in yet, but slowly but
surely I feel like I'm gettingmore and more grounded here.
But there is something that hasbeen still missing, and that is
I really miss my friends backhome in New York and I miss the
people that I used to train withAnd even though there are such
(01:19):
talented, amazing, fastindividuals that live here in
Austin, it's actually kind ofcrazy.
People are so fast here andthey don't even realize how fast
they are.
Like sub two 40 marathoners.
Sub two 30 marathoners, sub two20 marathoners.
So I'm in good company out here, but I had my little crew of
guys that I used to train withwhen I was getting ready for the
(01:42):
Chicago marathon last fall AndI spent the whole summer running
with these people And I missthem And I think that's a normal
part of moving or starting oversomewhere new.
And that said, i was talking toone of those training partners
a couple of days ago and hisname's Brendan and he.
(02:04):
We were just talking aboutrunning and training and stuff
And he said something to me.
I hope he doesn't mind mesharing this, but he said
something to me that really likefueled the fire to get me
excited about going after Berlinthis fall.
And I think it's because Ithink the precursor to all of
this is that I was feeling likethis whole buildup is quite an
(02:27):
undertaking, given how hard Iworked towards the Chicago
marathon last summer, wrappingmy head around.
That is so much where I'm likeman.
Marathons are no joke and shouldnot be taken lightly, like.
They require so much, so muchdedication, so much mental
(02:48):
willpower, and sometimes it justhelps to have a sounding board
or people to like share thatwith, so that you don't feel
like you're just getting socaught up in numbers and
outcomes and rather just tryingto enjoy the process.
So this is what my friend saidto me You're a competitor and
(03:09):
want nothing but perfection.
It's hard to look at the buildfor a race and not be filled
without.
Don't forget, you do it as muchfor the quiet morning miles and
the burning legs and lungs onthe track as you do it for the
finish lines and PRs.
You do it because you want totest yourself every day and
prove worthy, but that proofcomes with.
The process builds day afterday until the result is
(03:32):
something that you can live withno matter what, because you put
your whole being into it.
No-transcript, that really gotto me, that really like fueled
me, because I got out there thenext day and ran 14 miles And
then today I just finished aboutnine and a half And I was
reminded of how the marathon isliterally 1%, less than 1% of
(03:57):
all the mileage that you putinto training, all those days,
all those hours that nobody sees, except for maybe your training
partners or your significantothers that see you coming and
going for runs.
That is just, it's just so much,and so you really have to be
tethered to your why to be ableto take on such a huge thing,
(04:19):
especially when you have anambitious time goal, like I do.
So it's like just laying downthe bricks, like I feel.
Like right now I'm about Ithink it's 15 weeks out until
the Berlin marathon And I'mstill trying to get my base back
underneath me and get my legsbeneath me, i guess, or feel
that foundation from which tospring off of, because it just
(04:40):
takes so much to just like getthings moving quick again.
And I had taken a really bigbreak last week.
I took the most days off andrunning that I have in so long.
As long as I can remember, um,i took four days off from
running.
So I think that was really goodbecause it kind of gave me a
reset pause to like recalibrateand think about what my why is,
(05:03):
what kind of work it's going totake, and yeah, but I think that
the most important thing hereis just having people that
surround you that are into yourgoals and all about it and
excited about your goals withyou, because then that reminds
you that you're not doing ittotally alone.
I think if we do it totallyalone, it becomes soul crushing
(05:23):
and you feel like everything'slife or death and it can't be
like that, because then it justgets not fun really quickly.
So that's my little two centsabout training and where I am
right now with all that stuffgetting ready for Berlin.
And I'm kind of on the fenceabout this idea of registering
for CIM, which is a couple ofmonths after Berlin, which is
(05:46):
something that peopletraditionally do If you're going
for a time goal and you want tohave like a backup race just in
case.
But like it's weird for me,because I almost don't want to
give myself that option to likequit before I even start of
thinking like okay, well, ifthis isn't my race and I can do
another race a couple monthslater.
It's weird.
It's like a psychologicalhiccup I was talking to my
therapist about it of whether ornot I think I should sign up.
(06:06):
So that's still like a TBDthing that I've been thinking
about.
And yeah, other than that, it'sjust day by day grinding and
like taking care of my bodyoutside of the training and like
making sure that I'm reallygetting the protein.
And I'm actually quite excitedby how much like I'm fired up by
really working on my nutritionand making sure that that's just
(06:27):
spot on and my recovery and mysleep.
And I dialed way back down onmy caffeine so that my tolerance
is back to a normal place, sothat I don't rely on caffeine to
get out there to train.
I can train without it, i canuse it for a competitive edge on
hard days and races and stuff,so I feel like that's been
(06:47):
really positive.
But anyway, so training that'swhere I am with that.
I have been consuming a lot ofmedia, so this is kind of like a
little recap of like my mediadiet, of what kind of stuff I've
been listening to, watching and, yeah, basically what I've been
taking in, because I thinkthat's just as important as the
(07:09):
training is.
Like, what am I filling my headwith?
And I went on a spree withaudiobooks where I basically got
audible like a month ago, amonth and a half ago, and I've
listened to like 10 memoirs.
At this point I've listened toso many I probably won't be able
to recount them all, but Ilistened to Good for a Girl by
Lauren Fleshman.
I listened to Choosing to Runby Desiree Linden, i listened to
(07:31):
Bravy by Alexi Pappas, the LetYour Mind Run by Dina Caster,
the Longest Race by Kara Goucherand Inside Out by Demi Moore,
wasted by Maria Harmbarker.
What else did I listen to?
I feel like I had so many, yeah, and I'm glad my mom died by
(07:57):
genetic herding.
So I basically just was likeback to back to back to back,
memoir, memoir, memoir.
And I listened to it while Iwas running, logging time on
feet and walking, and it wasgreat.
I felt like I always hadsomebody with me while I was
listening to these.
It kind of made me feel lesslonely on a lot of these like
solo runs that I was doing.
But I think that audiobooks arekind of a great way to like
(08:19):
break up the podcast routine.
If you're into podcasts like Iam, because sometimes podcasts
are nice to listen to, likeconversations and stuff I think
I get a lot out of that.
But I also like the structure ofgood stories from Beginning,
middle, end for like eight plushours.
And it's been so helpfulbecause I'm writing my own
memoir And so I'm kind of usingthese books to kind of like help
(08:41):
me create my own narrative andfind like how to
compartmentalize my beginning,middle and end for my own book.
So that's been really excitingbecause I've that's been like
besides training, i've beenreally focusing on writing a
book And it's my goal by the endof the year to reach my time
goal with the marathon andpublish a book.
And yeah, so that's been kindof like how my days are being
(09:04):
filled, is like with thisprocess, both with writing and
with running, and then for fun,when it's not like trying to
like focus, like that listeningto the memoirs felt like it was
almost like doing research formy book.
But when I'm not doing likemore cerebral work, like that,
whether it's running or writingand listening to books on tape.
(09:26):
I have been also just enjoyingdifferent shows that I never
really got a chance to watch.
Like there's a show on HBO Ijust got into called Succession,
that everyone was talking aboutAnd I really like it.
It reminds me of, like crazypeople I knew in New York.
And I watched this really greatshow called Beef with David Cho
(09:47):
, who I love and think he's sofascinating and just he's
basically plays himself, eventhough he's acting in it.
And then right now I'm obsessedwith a show called The Bear,
which is about a chef in Chicago, which makes me think a lot
about my dad, because my dad wasthis food critic and love these
, like these gritty restaurantstories And this.
(10:09):
This really gives you that likeintensity of what it's like in
the kitchen, of an intenserestaurant experience.
And speaking of my dad, mysister found some letters that
my dad and if you didn't knowthis, my dad passed away almost
five and a half years ago and hewas a writer, he was a
(10:29):
journalist, and he had writtenthese letters to my grandparents
, and so my sister found theseand sent me them a couple of
days ago And it was just sofunny reading these letters and
seeing how my dad was talking.
He's basically he sounded likeHunter S Thompson, backpacking
around you, uh, packing aroundEurope, and just recounting what
(10:49):
his journeys are like.
And this was seven years beforeI was born that he sent these
letters to my grandparents And Ijust got such a kick out of
reading them because I wasthinking, man, my dad was a
writer And I I love that.
I know that I have a little ofthat, a little of that in me
that I like, feel like this needto write, i have to write.
(11:12):
It's just something that's inme, and so that was a pretty
cool little inspiration to bereading these letters that my
dad wrote.
So, besides this update ontraining and this update on,
like my media diet, i've alsobeen on YouTube a lot And I've
been just like researching and Ilove watching runner vlogs on
(11:33):
YouTube And one of the runnervlogs I watch is Philly Bowden,
who just ran a sub two 30 at two29 marathon in Copenhagen And I
watched her entire buildup forthis race And it was remarkable
to see how she really did it.
She did exactly what she setout to do and, you know, broke
(11:54):
two 30 in her in her marathonAnd I was watching her training
from afar, basically like takingnotes of like what her paces
were looking like and what kindof runs she was doing and her
fueling and everything, and itreally sparked a lot of
motivation in myself to try toemulate that and think how I can
incorporate some of the thingsthat she was doing into my
routine And, yeah, findinspiration from what I was
(12:17):
taking in.
So, even though that was justkind of like a nice leisurely
pastime thing to be watching hervlogs, i also felt like I was
getting a lot out of it for howI can apply it to my own life
And generally I like to consumemedia that I can then apply to
my life And so that was superinspiring.
But yeah, so I think as far aswhat's going on in my world, i
(12:45):
I've just been trying to getmyself revved up so that I can
get back on the track, like backon track by getting on the
track Because I haven't reallybeen touching the track as much
as I would have, would haveliked, because it's just been
like hard without like my sametraining partners, my same
little routine that I had onTuesday nights in Brooklyn.
But I think that will come AndI've been looking into different
(13:08):
places I could possibly go thissummer for like elevation
training and seeing because itgets very hot in Austin which
people have trained through everfriend named Mitch Amons, who
ran a 216 marathon last winterand he trained through the heat
here.
So it's possible to train here.
But I also have been likelooking into possibilities of
going somewhere else and tryingto get my friends to come with
(13:30):
me.
But that's kind of where I amright now.
So it's like you know, a lot ofdifferent moving parts And a
couple North stars, like myBerlin marathon, my book and
along the way, just enjoying theprocess and not getting too
attached to any outcomes, andthat's basically where I am
right now.
So I hope you enjoyed thislittle episode updating you guys
(13:54):
on what my life's been likerecently, and if you ever have
any questions or you want toreach out, you can find me on
Instagram.
I'm at lucybiatrixL-U-C-I-E-B-E-A-T-R-I-X, and
until next time, just be fast,just win.
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