January 23, 2025 • 32 mins
#127 - Finding the sweet spot between commitments in life and fitness goals can feel challenging. In this episode, elite athlete and certified exercise physiologist Raquel Faires, shares her journey of balancing intense training with family life, including raising two young children just 13 months apart. As a former D1 cross-country athlete, Category One cyclist, and elite DEKA athlete, Raquel brings unique insights into sustainable training approaches and important mindset insights.
Drawing on her professional expertise and personal experience with burnout and recovery, Raquel offers practical strategies for maintaining fitness while juggling life's demands. We also discuss topics ranging from heart rate training to managing self-doubt, providing actionable tips that runners can apply to their own training journeys.
Topics Covered:
- Training Mindset: How to overcome comparison trap and self-doubt during workouts
- Smart Training Strategies: Understanding Zone 2 training and why athletes train slower to perform better
- Life Balance: Practical tips for fitting training around family commitments and busy schedules
- Recovery and Burnout: Signs of overtraining and strategies for sustainable training progress
Today’s Guest
Raquel Faires
Raquel Faires, a dedicated fitness professional from Indianapolis, IN, holds a B.S. in Exercise Science and is an ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist. A former Division I cross-country and track athlete at Indiana University Indianapolis, Raquel’s passion for endurance sports began early in life, progressing from junior high track meets to competing at the State Championships in high school. Her athletic journey has taken her through triathlons, road bike racing as a Category 1 cyclist, and now as an elite hybrid athlete in DEKA competitions. Over the years, she has competed at three DEKA World Championships, earning podium finishes and setting her sights on future challenges like Ruck events and ATLAS in 2025.
Beyond competing, Raquel shares her expertise as a personal trainer and coach at EDGE Fitness & Strength and also leads the girls' cross-country team at Carmel High School, where she helped guide them to the 2024 State Championship and Nike Nationals. As a mom to three children, Raquel thrives in balancing family, coaching, and her personal fitness goals.
Follow Raquel Faires:
- Instagram - @coachfaires
- Instagram - @deka_indy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, we all go through things that slow
us down and get in the way oflife and our fitness journey,
and it's how you respond tothose situations.
Talk to yourself and deal withnegative thoughts is what's
going to help determine yoursuccess.
And today we have a greatinterview with a certified
fitness expert, coach and eliteathlete to share insights
(00:22):
that'll help you on your journey.
Hope you enjoy.
Welcome to Inspire to Runpodcast.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Here you will find inspiration, whether you are
looking to control of yourhealth and fitness or you are a
seasoned runner looking forcommunity and some extra
motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richard.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Conner.
Hey, my friend, welcome toInspire to Run podcast.
I'm here today with RaquelFerris, and Raquel is a
certified exercise physiologist,certified by the American
College of Sports Medicine, hasa bachelor's degree in exercise
science, is a former D1,cross-country and track athlete,
category one cyclist, personaltrainer, coach and elite DECA
(01:10):
athlete.
Welcome to the show, Raquel.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I'm so excited to have you here and just for our
listeners.
Raquel and I met a couple ofmonths ago at the DECA World
Championships in Ocala, florida,and you know we had a chance to
get to know each other andshe's just has an amazing
fitness career and journey andI'm excited to have her here to
talk about you know, her journey, her career and also talk about
(01:39):
you know some of the thingsthat are really important for us
as runners and just folks whoare involved in fitness in
general.
So, yeah, excited to have youhere and you know I just really
love to hear about you know kindof what started your journey in
this, not only career infitness, but just really your
lifestyle around fitness.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It's interesting because I think about that all
the time and really it was verysimple.
At my elementary school we justlike I don't even know if
schools have this anymore, butthey had a track and field day
and I went to a very smallChristian school, so it wasn't
massive, but they had a trackand field day and there was a
(02:21):
blacktop parking lot that theymade us run laps around.
And there was a blacktopparking lot that they made us
run laps around.
I don't even know how long theywere having us run, but I
always excelled at it and I Ikind of vividly like I do
vividly remember, just like notwanting to stop, and a lot of
people would stop and I justkept going.
And then so, once I was done atthat school, I went to a larger
(02:46):
school system and that's thenwhen I got involved.
Really it started with track andfield and because I did play
other sports like volleyball andbasketball, so I played, I did
track and field, I was middledistance.
I did very well at the 800meter distance, to the point
where I was, believe it or not,actually having teammates ask me
(03:06):
to stop winning.
They said to give someone elsea chance to win, which I found
pretty interesting.
So you know, then we getthrough junior high and I get to
high school and I tried to be afour sport athlete one year.
So I tried to do volleyball,cross country, basketball and
track and that was a lot tobalance.
So in my sophomore year of highschool I fully committed myself
(03:28):
to track and field and crosscountry and I had a really
awesome coach, who I'm stillconnected with today, who kind
of just really sparked mymotivation for endurance sports,
and so I did that all the waythrough high school, I did it in
college and then after collegeI got involved in, or later in
(03:51):
college I got involved into,triathlon and then it just it
all kind of took off from thereTriathlon to bike racing, to
powerlifting believe it or notand now DECA.
So I have a pretty extensivebackground in the endurance
sports world, which I find thata lot of DECA athletes have.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Right, and it's interesting because I've only
known you for a short period oftime and I've seen you race and
compete at the DECA event and ifyou, you know, if you competed
anything like this kind of back,then like I could totally
understand why they say couldyou let someone else win?
Like you're just an incredibleathlete performing really well.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes, that was a.
That's something I clearlystill remember all these years
later.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So you know.
So to kind of throw out.
So that brings you all the wayto today, where you're a
personal trainer, you're a coach, you help others reach their
health and fitness goals and youknow, through the show we'd
love to talk about mindset,movement and motivation and what
are the tips and tricks andthings that could help.
You know the listeners who aregoing through their own journey.
So you know, I'd love to hearfrom you, like, out of all of
(05:06):
your clients and your kind ofyour experience, what's kind of
the one thing that you see as acommon theme, either that you
need to coach them on or helpthem with, or a common question
that you get.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, it's interesting that you asked that,
because I just had a clientthis week have the.
I don't want to call an issue,but this common thing that I've
seen with clients is whenthey're about to, when they've
signed up for an event that isnew to them or something that
they've just been aiming for,the closer and closer it gets to
(05:38):
the event date, they start toget really nervous, they start
to doubt themselves, they have abad workout and they're like I
don't think I can do this.
And the one thing that I alwaystry to make people understand
is you have to only payattention to yourself.
(05:58):
And the reason why I say thatis because we're at a day and
age, we're on social media allthe time, so it's easy for even
myself or anyone else really togo on to Instagram and see the
person who is at the top oftheir chosen sport or their
recreation sport and toautomatically compare themselves
(06:22):
.
And then they automaticallythink that they can't do it
because they can't do it at thatlevel, or they feel that, just
because they had a bad workout,that all of a sudden, this goal
that they had is not achievable.
So I this client actually justtexted me this morning after I
(06:42):
had some extensive textmessaging with her and let her
know that she is capable.
She can modify if she needs to.
We're speaking specificallyabout DECA and she texted me
this morning and said I had agreat workout.
I now feel a lot more confidentabout it, so I think it's just
a mind shift.
I had a yoga instructor I thinkI shared this with you that used
(07:03):
to say don't compare to despair, and I've always remembered
that.
And what she was saying is,when you are on your yoga mat,
don't look at the person to theleft of you, the right of you or
in front of you or behind you.
Focus on what you can do andwhat your body is able to do at
that moment, and then that kindof it keeps you centered that
(07:27):
moment, and then that kind of itkeeps you centered, it keeps
you on track to meet those goals, because then you're not paying
attention to all of this, thestuff in the outside world,
right?
So I think that as adults olderadults especially, who are in
these recreational activitieswe're not we're not making
really making any money from it.
It is important to focus onwhat you can do and what you're,
(07:48):
what you're capable of, notwhat everyone else is, and this
is definitely a conversation Iprobably have, I mean, at least
10 times a week, given thenature of my work.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Absolutely, absolutely, and I could
certainly, you know, understandthat and relate to that, and I
love the coaching and theguidance that you give to your
client and I think it'ssomething that's very common.
And you know, one of thesayings that you know we talked
about on the show some time agothat always kind of stays with
me it's it's your race and yourpace and you know really just
kind of you know exemplifiesthat you know focus on yourself,
(08:26):
focus on where you were andwhere you want to be and let the
chips, you know, lie where theymay right At the end of the day
.
So but if you're worrying aboutother people other races, other
racers, I mean there are otherthings then you're distracted
from, you know, what you need todo to perform, kind of in that
moment.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So absolutely Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So you know, talk to me a little bit about you know
other things that might come up,you know with with runners or
with the clients.
You know, one of the thingsthat I just kind of ran into,
you know, personally last yearwas kind of around burnout,
which I talked about on the show, and before you even get to
that point, I know thatsometimes some people just lose
(09:08):
motivation to do their workoutsor to kind of continue with
their habits.
So I don't know if that's comeup kind of in your experience,
but I'd love to hear yourviewpoint on that.
And how do you help coachsomeone that's maybe just kind
of losing motivation?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So I actually have experienced this, and mine was
in the form of adrenal fatiguesyndrome.
So it went.
It wasn't just burnout in termsof psychological motivation, it
was actual chemical, physical,biological, whatever you want to
call it.
I had back in when I was bikeracing, I my coach was giving me
(09:51):
workouts to do and every timeshe gave me a workout where I
was going like into thethreshold zones, I just my body
just could not handle it, Ifound I was knocked off my butt
from it and I did this formonths.
I kept pushing it and pushingit and, of course, because
physically things weren'tworking out for me, I was losing
(10:14):
that motivation train becauseit was so uncomfortable and I
just wasn't feeling like myself.
So I eventually I didn't get adoctor's diagnosis, but it was
pretty obvious that I wasexperiencing some combination of
.
It was adrenal fatigue syndromeand also, you know, at some
level probably burnout as well.
(10:36):
So what my coach and I did wasyou know, it was really in the
middle of a bike racing season,which is basically May through
September every year, and so mycoach and I just decided you're
not going to do any hardworkouts, you're not going to
ride as much, you're going tofocus on doing the things that
(11:01):
you want to do.
So she would put on the schedulethese, these workouts that were
called athlete's choice, and sojust the name of it gives you
more control.
It puts your mind at ease thatwhat you're choosing is right
for you, and I knew at the timethat was doing yoga, easy bike
(11:22):
rides with friends that weretalking pace, stopping on bike
rides to get coffee or a treatand going to the beach a little
bit more.
At the time I was living out inNew York city and I would go
out to the Hamptons on theweekend, so I would try to end
my bike ride at the beach and goand enjoy myself.
(11:42):
So I think when that happens toclients and I do see that
happen, especially people likeyou and I who have kids and
we're busy and we have jobs youhave to take a step back and
realize that when you're burntout, you're not going to get rid
(12:03):
of your daily responsibilities.
You can't get rid of your kids,you can't get rid of your job,
but you can get rid of some ofthe responsibilities.
When it comes to training and,as you probably know, the day in
and day out mental load oftraining can be a lot.
And so I think directing clientsto say, hey, we're, we're just
(12:24):
going to focus on getting inthree workouts a week.
I want it to be easy.
If there's something you reallywant to do, then please go do
it.
If that means going out to thepark and going for a hike that
has really has nothing to dowith, uh, let's say, it's DECA
training or, uh, a bike race ora running race, then I want you
to do that.
I don't want your mind to befocused on what's going on with
(12:48):
you right now and focusing onwhat you used to be able to do
with running and when you feltgood, on what you used to be
able to do with running and whenyou felt good.
So I guess giving them thingsthat get their mind off of the
actual activity, if that makessense.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, it makes total sense.
And again, kind of thinkingabout my own experience.
Like I, I did just that.
Like I said, you know what I'mgoing to do the bare minimum
which is got to get up and getto work.
I got to take care of thefamily.
Like I got to just do the basicsand everything else can just
wait until I got to the pointwhere you know I was feeling
(13:24):
like, okay, maybe I'm, maybe I'mkind of getting back into the
swing of things.
And you know, for me myexperience was also
self-diagnosed, but you know,that's what it really kind of
felt like.
So so, yes, I totally canrelate to what you're saying and
I think that's really importantfor the listeners, because you
can get to a point where youknow you want to do all these
things and you're juggling a lotand I get it trying to fit in
(13:47):
fitness amongst everything else.
It's it's hard to do.
So you can get to that point so.
So you got to kind of take thatbreak.
And I'm just thinking about so,once you do, once you take the
break, once you clear your mind,you know what are those kind of
running, motivational,motivation tips to get you back,
kind of back on your feet, backactive, and kind of get back
(14:09):
out there.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Well, one thing.
So I coach.
I coach cross country and um atCarmel high school here, which
we were the state champions lastyear for the girls team, and I
actually am assistant coaching,so I'm not the head coach but I
assistant coach with my collegecoach, which has really been a
(14:31):
fun experience, been a funexperience.
And one of the things that Ilike that he does is he, he
doesn't.
He doesn't care if anyone has awatch on, he doesn't.
He doesn't really tell anyonein the summer I'm talking about
summer training.
So this is summer training is,let's be honest, when there's a
lot of kids coming back fromeven just a month off and they
(14:53):
haven't really been doing muchand summer training is supposed
to be fun, right.
So they come to summer trainingand he just says, all right,
we're just going to go out onthe Monon it's a trail we have
here and we're going to go out10 minutes and back 10 minutes.
He doesn't say a pace, he youknow the girls are are talking
the whole time.
(15:13):
They, um, he's on a, he's on abike, cause he, he can't run
with them.
I can't run with them Most ofthem either Cause they're very
fast and he, he rides his bikenext to them and ask them
questions how was your day?
If he knows they have a job,how's your job going?
So I think that what he does.
(15:36):
My approach with my clients is Idon't want you to look at paces
, I don't want you to look atyour heart rate.
If you need to, you know, turnoff the pace on your watch.
I would say, ditch the watch.
But you kind of got to know howmuch time you're out.
Or if, if you just don't wantto go by time and let's say you
just want to go out for aleisurely stroll, then that's
(15:58):
what you should do.
I think a lot of times and I was, I was a dedicated runner for a
very long time and I think alot of times people get so
focused on that pace on thewatch that they go out and let's
say they're not feeling verygood and they're like I ran 10
minutes mile.
That's so slow for me and I'mguilty of this myself, believe
(16:19):
me.
But sometimes you have to runthat way because that's the body
you're given that day.
You can't.
If your body is saying youcan't run eight minute miles
that day and 10 minutes is whatyou've got, then that's what you
have.
So I think, throwing pace out,throwing rate of perceived
(16:42):
exertion out and just going outto enjoy it, I think you have to
relearn enjoyment for thatactivity, because that's really
what you lose in burnout is yourdesire and your enjoyment for
it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, totally agree, and you know I was just thinking
about I just ran with a runclub for the first time this
week.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I saw that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So that was a lot of fun.
And you know, I don't normallyrun with others, I'm not a
social runner, that's.
You know that's probably aweird thing for me to say, like
I'm social but running I like tokind of run alone, especially
for my training.
And I ran out there and it waskind of one of the first times I
ran outdoors in a little while.
So you know, it's cold here inthe Northeast some outdoors.
I'm running for the first timeout there and I just felt like
(17:27):
my heart rates off the chart,like I'm really struggling to
kind of keep up and I'm like whyis this happening to me?
So it's just kind of like yousaid.
So I'm looking at my watch andit's, you know, I'm running sub
10 minute miles but I'm like Ishould be able to do this
without feeling like I'm out ofbreath.
But yeah, I just remembered thatI had like three or four
strength day training days in arow and a couple of you know one
(17:51):
, at least one long run the daybefore and then an unshorter run
the day before that.
So like, going into this, likeI was not well rested, recovered
or anything and I had a bunchof hard days, so I really, you
know, I kind of appreciate yourpoint about that.
Like your, your watch is kindof deceiving right, because your
pace, your pace, is what yourbody is able to deliver that day
(18:13):
and if you have somethingthat's going on, it's not saying
that's that's how well you canperform.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
It's just how well you.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You know you're performing that day.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I.
So my DECA coach is the queenof DECA, tara Jackson, and one
thing that she her response tome when I have a bad workout and
of course you just feel likeyou, you want to crumble and you
know everything you've donedoesn't matter.
Now you suck because you hadthis one terrible workout and,
um, I don't remember the exactwords, but in in so many words,
(18:45):
she tells me don't let one youknow bad workout take away from
all the great ones you had andall the the work that you've put
in.
And I like when she says that,because I'm like you know what
she's right, I just have to.
I mean, it happened to me thisweek.
I had a super crappy workout onWednesday and I'm supposed to
do some DECA events tomorrow andI was thinking to myself if
(19:09):
this is how I'm going to feel onSaturday, I don't even want to
go do it.
But everything, especially andI don't even want to go do it.
But you're everything,especially and I go back to this
but especially people who arebusy with with kids and jobs,
and just every adult really whohas so much on their plate um,
you're not going to feel goodevery day.
It's just not going to happenthat way, and especially with a
(19:30):
sport like running.
Running is the highest impact.
I mean, you're what is it, Iforget 80 to a hundred times
your body weight is slammingdown on your feet Every time you
, you, your, your foot hits theground.
You could, you could, neverexpect yourself to feel great on
every single run and I thinkpeople underestimate the
(19:51):
activity that they're doing.
I mean, running is very highdemanding.
So I think you, just you haveand I've gotten better at that
because I used to be one ofthose people when I would go out
for runs that I would I'd Ihave to run seven 45s all the
time and it meant it meantnothing.
I don't even know why I ever gotcaught up on that number.
And then I'm like, wait aminute, running slower is really
(20:14):
fun.
It's really fun to run slower,and running slow with friends is
even more fun.
So to backtrack a little bit, Ialso so I recently saw a post
last night from the high schoolgirl who run who won the
national Nike championships thispast year in Oregon.
(20:35):
National Nike championshipsthis past year in Oregon, I
believe it was.
77% of her training was zonethree and lower and the majority
of her training from July toDecember was zone two.
So that gives you this is thefastest female high school
runner in the entire country andshe's doing the majority of her
(20:56):
runs at zone two.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So I think that should tell us something.
Absolutely we need to take alittle pressure off ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, yeah, and I know there's, you know, I know
there's different philosophieskind of around that, but you
know, kind of having that zonetwo training is the prevailing
philosophy around how to getfaster in the long run no pun
intended.
I've been doing heart ratetraining with my coach over the
last couple of years and I feellike that's really helped me
(21:28):
especially do more of theendurance runs that I've been
doing, especially do more of theendurance kind of runs that
I've been doing, because if Itry to approach it the way I
used to approach it, you knowevery run at a really fast pace,
not necessarily race pace, butmuch faster than what my zone
two pace would be Like, I don'tknow if I would have ever been
successful.
So you know, so moving up tohalf marathon, you know quarter
(21:49):
marathon, half marathon full andthen my first full marathon
last year.
I think having that kind ofzone heart rate-based training
really kind of helped meaccomplish that.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, it absolutely works.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So I appreciate you sharing your experience and
these stories.
I mean, these are reallyhelpful tips again for runners
who are going through theirjourney and all of these come up
for many of us and I'd love tolearn a little bit more about
kind of your experiences.
So, like tell me what was thebiggest obstacle that you faced
kind of in your fitness journeyand how'd you overcome it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I would have to say.
I mean, I myself have had sixstress fractures, had six stress
fractures and, and so whileI've had the injuries, those
have been really challenging,but having kids was extremely,
probably the biggest.
Obviously they're they're notobstacles, but you get what I'm
(22:48):
saying Kids really changed mylife and I know for a lot of
women.
I'm always posting silly stuffon my story about the challenges
with kids and training, and soI had, I had my kids back to
back there um 13 and a halfmonths apart, and they're five
and six now.
So there was a period of, youknow, two to three years where I
(23:10):
I had to get my kids in the car.
I mean, I could only dotraining at the gym, hence why I
found DECA.
It is accessible from prettymuch inside any gym and that's
why I got really hooked to it.
So I think it was reallychallenging for me to.
(23:31):
I think it was reallychallenging for me to juggle the
training as well as very smallchildren and I do see women
struggle with that a lot, and alot of women do just throw their
hands up and give up on itentirely but I felt like the
training, if you want to say,kept me more centered with the
(23:51):
kids, it enabled me to be abetter parent and it just kept
me organized.
I felt that that's what thetraining did for me.
But there is a huge strugglebecause we need to fuel
ourselves and if you ask any momwith young children, one of the
number one things they do isforget to eat, and I did that
(24:14):
often and I have had still tothis day.
You've probably seen me postabout it.
I've gone down to do a bikeworkout and my blood sugar is so
low.
I have my kids running upstairsliterally grabbing snacks that
we've bought from Costco to comedown and feed me snacks while
I'm on the bike because I'mshaking, because my blood sugar
(24:34):
is so low.
So, and these are just thingsthat I forget because I'm so
busy being a mom, and so, whileI've had lots of injuries, that
that I had to get past, havingkids was the hardest obstacle.
It really was for me.
Injuries for me, I know,especially if they're stress
(24:57):
fractures, they're going to behealed and I get through it and
I modify my exercises and, ofcourse, none of mine involves
surgery.
So, like I know, you've hadMickey on and his was very much
more serious than mine was.
But I can easily get throughthose.
But the kid thing that was verychallenging for me.
(25:18):
There was a lot of momentswhere I've had to just say I
can't work out today.
I'm so exhausted mentally andphysically from being with the
kids that I can't do this.
But most of the time I was ableto get it in.
But that was my biggestobstacle.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, and that's you know I.
So I appreciate you sharingthat and that's you know.
Again, I'm sure a lot of folksare going through or have gone
through it and I'm, you know,I'm wondering, like, what do you
think helped you still do thoseworkouts?
So you know, one of the thingsthat you said was it helped keep
you centered in terms of doingthe workouts and helped you, you
know, be a better parent.
(25:56):
So that's kind of what was topof mind for you in terms of your
why.
So you had a strong why.
But what else, you know, reallykind of helps you make sure
that you get in your workoutswhen you know, when you weren't
exhausted and you can make thetime to do so, and you can make
the time to do so.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Well, you know there's a few things and you and
I kind of spoke about there.
There's two things for me, andI spoke to Kevin Gregory about
this as well.
You know my current why is Iwant my kids to be able to see
me set a goal and follow throughwith it.
So, while they don't know, theydon't know if I'm missing a
training day, but I know and Ifeel like I need to be honest
(26:32):
with myself and with them.
So a big push for me is to knowthat I'm getting up and doing
what I promised myself that Iwould do Rewind or, yeah, rewind
, when I didn't have kids.
A big, a big why for me was um,so I for me was so I grew up in
a household where my dad was analcoholic and I was so fortunate
(26:57):
, when I was in school, to havementors the coaches that were
mentors who took me under theirwing and really kept me focused
on sports, because they knewthat was going to kind of keep
my mind off of what was going onat home.
That was going to kind of keepmy mind off of what was going on
at home.
And so sports, really, itreally pushed me to kind of
(27:18):
ignore what was going on.
You know, understand and dealwith it.
And it just it gave mesomething to aim for.
It gave me, it made me feelimportant, it made me feel
valued.
It just added so much meaningand purpose to my life.
And you know, even though I knewI always had to go home and
(27:40):
deal with my the way my dad wasit, it gave me something outside
of home to forget about whatwas what was going on.
Now my dad is over 20 yearssober, so he's not that person
anymore.
But I you know you asked me inthe beginning, you know how I
got into endurance sports andwhile I was exposed to it at my
(28:03):
school, I think that the issuethat my dad had really kept me
on track with the endurancesports because it just gave me
something to keep my mind off ofit.
So I don't know if connectedall that, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
So that was, that was kind ofthe driving force for getting
into, you know, your athleticjourney or your fitness journey,
kind of fast forward up untilnow, sticking with it, even
though you know you have the newresponsibilities of having kids
and having to balance that withfitness, and that makes a lot
of sense and it's hard.
But again, you know, kind ofgoing back to you know, really
(28:40):
having that why to kind of keepyou centered and moving towards
that goal while balancing yourother responsibilities is really
important and it sounds likethat's what's helped you.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, it has it.
I, you know there's all kindsof.
There's more things than justDeca.
There's more than things thanjust running.
But I always encourage peoplepick something that you can
train for.
It doesn't have to be thethings I'm interested in, but
pick something, put it on yourcalendar.
You know Yancey preaches thisall the time and there's so much
(29:12):
research that supports it.
You have something on thecalendar and a goal to aim for.
You are more likely to stickwith your training and be
consistent over the long haul,and I think we, we all need that
.
And uh, it's not enough just tosay I want to go to the gym and
get fit and work out every day.
That's not specific enough.
You need a targeted goal.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Love it, love it.
I really love to hear what isthe one thing that you would say
to inspire to run community, tokeep them motivated to run or
stick with their fitness journey.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I think, really looking at it as a marathon, not
a sprint, no pun intended thatyou need to look at this as a
long-term commitment, not just ashort-term commitment.
And I think if you can look atit from that perspective, you're
(30:08):
more accepting of the days thatdon't go so well, and then
you're more appreciative of thedays that don't go so well, and
then you're more appreciative ofthe days that that your
training does go really well.
If you know that, if you canlook over the course of 12
months and know that it's, it'sgoing to be okay, then I think
it gets you through all thosemonths of training.
So just looking at it as amarathon, not a sprint, so
(30:34):
results don't come quickly, theyhappen over time.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Hey, my friend, so we had some technical difficulties
as we were winding down theconversation, but I hope you
enjoyed this interview and youwere inspired by Raquel's
journey.
She shared so many insightswith us about how to stay
motivated and training tips andalso adjusting your routine to
balance fitness and family.
So I appreciate you listeningand I will end with Raquel
(30:59):
sharing how you can find her andfollow her journey online.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
So I have two things.
I have um at coach Ferris Nowmy account is private but I
pretty much accept everyone.
It's just because I post aboutmy kids, so it's at coach and
then F A, I R E S.
And then I also have at DECAunderscore Indy I N D Y that I
(31:27):
run to kind of keep people inthe Indianapolis area and you
know up to speed with the eventsDECA events that are going on
around here and other events aswell, running events too.
So at Coach Ferris and at DECAunderscore Indy.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, we all go through things that slow
us down and get in the way oflife and our fitness journey,
and it's how you respond tothose situations.
Talk to yourself and deal withnegative thoughts is what's
going to help determine yoursuccess.
And today we have a greatinterview with a certified
fitness expert, coach and eliteathlete to share insights
(00:22):
that'll help you on your journey.
Hope you enjoy.
Welcome to Inspire to Runpodcast.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Here you will find inspiration, whether you are
looking to control of yourhealth and fitness or you are a
seasoned runner looking forcommunity and some extra
motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richard.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Conner.
Hey, my friend, welcome toInspire to Run podcast.
I'm here today with RaquelFerris, and Raquel is a
certified exercise physiologist,certified by the American
College of Sports Medicine, hasa bachelor's degree in exercise
science, is a former D1,cross-country and track athlete,
category one cyclist, personaltrainer, coach and elite DECA
(01:10):
athlete.
Welcome to the show, Raquel.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I'm so excited to have you here and just for our
listeners.
Raquel and I met a couple ofmonths ago at the DECA World
Championships in Ocala, florida,and you know we had a chance to
get to know each other andshe's just has an amazing
fitness career and journey andI'm excited to have her here to
talk about you know, her journey, her career and also talk about
(01:39):
you know some of the thingsthat are really important for us
as runners and just folks whoare involved in fitness in
general.
So, yeah, excited to have youhere and you know I just really
love to hear about you know kindof what started your journey in
this, not only career infitness, but just really your
lifestyle around fitness.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It's interesting because I think about that all
the time and really it was verysimple.
At my elementary school we justlike I don't even know if
schools have this anymore, butthey had a track and field day
and I went to a very smallChristian school, so it wasn't
massive, but they had a trackand field day and there was a
(02:21):
blacktop parking lot that theymade us run laps around.
And there was a blacktopparking lot that they made us
run laps around.
I don't even know how long theywere having us run, but I
always excelled at it and I Ikind of vividly like I do
vividly remember, just like notwanting to stop, and a lot of
people would stop and I justkept going.
And then so, once I was done atthat school, I went to a larger
(02:46):
school system and that's thenwhen I got involved.
Really it started with track andfield and because I did play
other sports like volleyball andbasketball, so I played, I did
track and field, I was middledistance.
I did very well at the 800meter distance, to the point
where I was, believe it or not,actually having teammates ask me
(03:06):
to stop winning.
They said to give someone elsea chance to win, which I found
pretty interesting.
So you know, then we getthrough junior high and I get to
high school and I tried to be afour sport athlete one year.
So I tried to do volleyball,cross country, basketball and
track and that was a lot tobalance.
So in my sophomore year of highschool I fully committed myself
(03:28):
to track and field and crosscountry and I had a really
awesome coach, who I'm stillconnected with today, who kind
of just really sparked mymotivation for endurance sports,
and so I did that all the waythrough high school, I did it in
college and then after collegeI got involved in, or later in
(03:51):
college I got involved into,triathlon and then it just it
all kind of took off from thereTriathlon to bike racing, to
powerlifting believe it or notand now DECA.
So I have a pretty extensivebackground in the endurance
sports world, which I find thata lot of DECA athletes have.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Right, and it's interesting because I've only
known you for a short period oftime and I've seen you race and
compete at the DECA event and ifyou, you know, if you competed
anything like this kind of back,then like I could totally
understand why they say couldyou let someone else win?
Like you're just an incredibleathlete performing really well.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes, that was a.
That's something I clearlystill remember all these years
later.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So you know.
So to kind of throw out.
So that brings you all the wayto today, where you're a
personal trainer, you're a coach, you help others reach their
health and fitness goals and youknow, through the show we'd
love to talk about mindset,movement and motivation and what
are the tips and tricks andthings that could help.
You know the listeners who aregoing through their own journey.
So you know, I'd love to hearfrom you, like, out of all of
(05:06):
your clients and your kind ofyour experience, what's kind of
the one thing that you see as acommon theme, either that you
need to coach them on or helpthem with, or a common question
that you get.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, it's interesting that you asked that,
because I just had a clientthis week have the.
I don't want to call an issue,but this common thing that I've
seen with clients is whenthey're about to, when they've
signed up for an event that isnew to them or something that
they've just been aiming for,the closer and closer it gets to
(05:38):
the event date, they start toget really nervous, they start
to doubt themselves, they have abad workout and they're like I
don't think I can do this.
And the one thing that I alwaystry to make people understand
is you have to only payattention to yourself.
(05:58):
And the reason why I say thatis because we're at a day and
age, we're on social media allthe time, so it's easy for even
myself or anyone else really togo on to Instagram and see the
person who is at the top oftheir chosen sport or their
recreation sport and toautomatically compare themselves
(06:22):
.
And then they automaticallythink that they can't do it
because they can't do it at thatlevel, or they feel that, just
because they had a bad workout,that all of a sudden, this goal
that they had is not achievable.
So I this client actually justtexted me this morning after I
(06:42):
had some extensive textmessaging with her and let her
know that she is capable.
She can modify if she needs to.
We're speaking specificallyabout DECA and she texted me
this morning and said I had agreat workout.
I now feel a lot more confidentabout it, so I think it's just
a mind shift.
I had a yoga instructor I thinkI shared this with you that used
(07:03):
to say don't compare to despair, and I've always remembered
that.
And what she was saying is,when you are on your yoga mat,
don't look at the person to theleft of you, the right of you or
in front of you or behind you.
Focus on what you can do andwhat your body is able to do at
that moment, and then that kindof it keeps you centered that
(07:27):
moment, and then that kind of itkeeps you centered, it keeps
you on track to meet those goals, because then you're not paying
attention to all of this, thestuff in the outside world,
right?
So I think that as adults olderadults especially, who are in
these recreational activitieswe're not we're not making
really making any money from it.
It is important to focus onwhat you can do and what you're,
(07:48):
what you're capable of, notwhat everyone else is, and this
is definitely a conversation Iprobably have, I mean, at least
10 times a week, given thenature of my work.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Absolutely, absolutely, and I could
certainly, you know, understandthat and relate to that, and I
love the coaching and theguidance that you give to your
client and I think it'ssomething that's very common.
And you know, one of thesayings that you know we talked
about on the show some time agothat always kind of stays with
me it's it's your race and yourpace and you know really just
kind of you know exemplifiesthat you know focus on yourself,
(08:26):
focus on where you were andwhere you want to be and let the
chips, you know, lie where theymay right At the end of the day
.
So but if you're worrying aboutother people other races, other
racers, I mean there are otherthings then you're distracted
from, you know, what you need todo to perform, kind of in that
moment.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So absolutely Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So you know, talk to me a little bit about you know
other things that might come up,you know with with runners or
with the clients.
You know, one of the thingsthat I just kind of ran into,
you know, personally last yearwas kind of around burnout,
which I talked about on the show, and before you even get to
that point, I know thatsometimes some people just lose
(09:08):
motivation to do their workoutsor to kind of continue with
their habits.
So I don't know if that's comeup kind of in your experience,
but I'd love to hear yourviewpoint on that.
And how do you help coachsomeone that's maybe just kind
of losing motivation?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So I actually have experienced this, and mine was
in the form of adrenal fatiguesyndrome.
So it went.
It wasn't just burnout in termsof psychological motivation, it
was actual chemical, physical,biological, whatever you want to
call it.
I had back in when I was bikeracing, I my coach was giving me
(09:51):
workouts to do and every timeshe gave me a workout where I
was going like into thethreshold zones, I just my body
just could not handle it, Ifound I was knocked off my butt
from it and I did this formonths.
I kept pushing it and pushingit and, of course, because
physically things weren'tworking out for me, I was losing
(10:14):
that motivation train becauseit was so uncomfortable and I
just wasn't feeling like myself.
So I eventually I didn't get adoctor's diagnosis, but it was
pretty obvious that I wasexperiencing some combination of
.
It was adrenal fatigue syndromeand also, you know, at some
level probably burnout as well.
(10:36):
So what my coach and I did wasyou know, it was really in the
middle of a bike racing season,which is basically May through
September every year, and so mycoach and I just decided you're
not going to do any hardworkouts, you're not going to
ride as much, you're going tofocus on doing the things that
(11:01):
you want to do.
So she would put on the schedulethese, these workouts that were
called athlete's choice, and sojust the name of it gives you
more control.
It puts your mind at ease thatwhat you're choosing is right
for you, and I knew at the timethat was doing yoga, easy bike
(11:22):
rides with friends that weretalking pace, stopping on bike
rides to get coffee or a treatand going to the beach a little
bit more.
At the time I was living out inNew York city and I would go
out to the Hamptons on theweekend, so I would try to end
my bike ride at the beach and goand enjoy myself.
(11:42):
So I think when that happens toclients and I do see that
happen, especially people likeyou and I who have kids and
we're busy and we have jobs youhave to take a step back and
realize that when you're burntout, you're not going to get rid
(12:03):
of your daily responsibilities.
You can't get rid of your kids,you can't get rid of your job,
but you can get rid of some ofthe responsibilities.
When it comes to training and,as you probably know, the day in
and day out mental load oftraining can be a lot.
And so I think directing clientsto say, hey, we're, we're just
(12:24):
going to focus on getting inthree workouts a week.
I want it to be easy.
If there's something you reallywant to do, then please go do
it.
If that means going out to thepark and going for a hike that
has really has nothing to dowith, uh, let's say, it's DECA
training or, uh, a bike race ora running race, then I want you
to do that.
I don't want your mind to befocused on what's going on with
(12:48):
you right now and focusing onwhat you used to be able to do
with running and when you feltgood, on what you used to be
able to do with running and whenyou felt good.
So I guess giving them thingsthat get their mind off of the
actual activity, if that makessense.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, it makes total sense.
And again, kind of thinkingabout my own experience.
Like I, I did just that.
Like I said, you know what I'mgoing to do the bare minimum
which is got to get up and getto work.
I got to take care of thefamily.
Like I got to just do the basicsand everything else can just
wait until I got to the pointwhere you know I was feeling
(13:24):
like, okay, maybe I'm, maybe I'mkind of getting back into the
swing of things.
And you know, for me myexperience was also
self-diagnosed, but you know,that's what it really kind of
felt like.
So so, yes, I totally canrelate to what you're saying and
I think that's really importantfor the listeners, because you
can get to a point where youknow you want to do all these
things and you're juggling a lotand I get it trying to fit in
(13:47):
fitness amongst everything else.
It's it's hard to do.
So you can get to that point so.
So you got to kind of take thatbreak.
And I'm just thinking about so,once you do, once you take the
break, once you clear your mind,you know what are those kind of
running, motivational,motivation tips to get you back,
kind of back on your feet, backactive, and kind of get back
(14:09):
out there.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Well, one thing.
So I coach.
I coach cross country and um atCarmel high school here, which
we were the state champions lastyear for the girls team, and I
actually am assistant coaching,so I'm not the head coach but I
assistant coach with my collegecoach, which has really been a
(14:31):
fun experience, been a funexperience.
And one of the things that Ilike that he does is he, he
doesn't.
He doesn't care if anyone has awatch on, he doesn't.
He doesn't really tell anyonein the summer I'm talking about
summer training.
So this is summer training is,let's be honest, when there's a
lot of kids coming back fromeven just a month off and they
(14:53):
haven't really been doing muchand summer training is supposed
to be fun, right.
So they come to summer trainingand he just says, all right,
we're just going to go out onthe Monon it's a trail we have
here and we're going to go out10 minutes and back 10 minutes.
He doesn't say a pace, he youknow the girls are are talking
the whole time.
(15:13):
They, um, he's on a, he's on abike, cause he, he can't run
with them.
I can't run with them Most ofthem either Cause they're very
fast and he, he rides his bikenext to them and ask them
questions how was your day?
If he knows they have a job,how's your job going?
So I think that what he does.
(15:36):
My approach with my clients is Idon't want you to look at paces
, I don't want you to look atyour heart rate.
If you need to, you know, turnoff the pace on your watch.
I would say, ditch the watch.
But you kind of got to know howmuch time you're out.
Or if, if you just don't wantto go by time and let's say you
just want to go out for aleisurely stroll, then that's
(15:58):
what you should do.
I think a lot of times and I was, I was a dedicated runner for a
very long time and I think alot of times people get so
focused on that pace on thewatch that they go out and let's
say they're not feeling verygood and they're like I ran 10
minutes mile.
That's so slow for me and I'mguilty of this myself, believe
(16:19):
me.
But sometimes you have to runthat way because that's the body
you're given that day.
You can't.
If your body is saying youcan't run eight minute miles
that day and 10 minutes is whatyou've got, then that's what you
have.
So I think, throwing pace out,throwing rate of perceived
(16:42):
exertion out and just going outto enjoy it, I think you have to
relearn enjoyment for thatactivity, because that's really
what you lose in burnout is yourdesire and your enjoyment for
it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, totally agree, and you know I was just thinking
about I just ran with a runclub for the first time this
week.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I saw that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So that was a lot of fun.
And you know, I don't normallyrun with others, I'm not a
social runner, that's.
You know that's probably aweird thing for me to say, like
I'm social but running I like tokind of run alone, especially
for my training.
And I ran out there and it waskind of one of the first times I
ran outdoors in a little while.
So you know, it's cold here inthe Northeast some outdoors.
I'm running for the first timeout there and I just felt like
(17:27):
my heart rates off the chart,like I'm really struggling to
kind of keep up and I'm like whyis this happening to me?
So it's just kind of like yousaid.
So I'm looking at my watch andit's, you know, I'm running sub
10 minute miles but I'm like Ishould be able to do this
without feeling like I'm out ofbreath.
But yeah, I just remembered thatI had like three or four
strength day training days in arow and a couple of you know one
(17:51):
, at least one long run the daybefore and then an unshorter run
the day before that.
So like, going into this, likeI was not well rested, recovered
or anything and I had a bunchof hard days, so I really, you
know, I kind of appreciate yourpoint about that.
Like your, your watch is kindof deceiving right, because your
pace, your pace, is what yourbody is able to deliver that day
(18:13):
and if you have somethingthat's going on, it's not saying
that's that's how well you canperform.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
It's just how well you.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You know you're performing that day.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I.
So my DECA coach is the queenof DECA, tara Jackson, and one
thing that she her response tome when I have a bad workout and
of course you just feel likeyou, you want to crumble and you
know everything you've donedoesn't matter.
Now you suck because you hadthis one terrible workout and,
um, I don't remember the exactwords, but in in so many words,
(18:45):
she tells me don't let one youknow bad workout take away from
all the great ones you had andall the the work that you've put
in.
And I like when she says that,because I'm like you know what
she's right, I just have to.
I mean, it happened to me thisweek.
I had a super crappy workout onWednesday and I'm supposed to
do some DECA events tomorrow andI was thinking to myself if
(19:09):
this is how I'm going to feel onSaturday, I don't even want to
go do it.
But everything, especially andI don't even want to go do it.
But you're everything,especially and I go back to this
but especially people who arebusy with with kids and jobs,
and just every adult really whohas so much on their plate um,
you're not going to feel goodevery day.
It's just not going to happenthat way, and especially with a
(19:30):
sport like running.
Running is the highest impact.
I mean, you're what is it, Iforget 80 to a hundred times
your body weight is slammingdown on your feet Every time you
, you, your, your foot hits theground.
You could, you could, neverexpect yourself to feel great on
every single run and I thinkpeople underestimate the
(19:51):
activity that they're doing.
I mean, running is very highdemanding.
So I think you, just you haveand I've gotten better at that
because I used to be one ofthose people when I would go out
for runs that I would I'd Ihave to run seven 45s all the
time and it meant it meantnothing.
I don't even know why I ever gotcaught up on that number.
And then I'm like, wait aminute, running slower is really
(20:14):
fun.
It's really fun to run slower,and running slow with friends is
even more fun.
So to backtrack a little bit, Ialso so I recently saw a post
last night from the high schoolgirl who run who won the
national Nike championships thispast year in Oregon.
(20:35):
National Nike championshipsthis past year in Oregon, I
believe it was.
77% of her training was zonethree and lower and the majority
of her training from July toDecember was zone two.
So that gives you this is thefastest female high school
runner in the entire country andshe's doing the majority of her
(20:56):
runs at zone two.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So I think that should tell us something.
Absolutely we need to take alittle pressure off ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, yeah, and I know there's, you know, I know
there's different philosophieskind of around that, but you
know, kind of having that zonetwo training is the prevailing
philosophy around how to getfaster in the long run no pun
intended.
I've been doing heart ratetraining with my coach over the
last couple of years and I feellike that's really helped me
(21:28):
especially do more of theendurance runs that I've been
doing, especially do more of theendurance kind of runs that
I've been doing, because if Itry to approach it the way I
used to approach it, you knowevery run at a really fast pace,
not necessarily race pace, butmuch faster than what my zone
two pace would be Like, I don'tknow if I would have ever been
successful.
So you know, so moving up tohalf marathon, you know quarter
(21:49):
marathon, half marathon full andthen my first full marathon
last year.
I think having that kind ofzone heart rate-based training
really kind of helped meaccomplish that.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, it absolutely works.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So I appreciate you sharing your experience and
these stories.
I mean, these are reallyhelpful tips again for runners
who are going through theirjourney and all of these come up
for many of us and I'd love tolearn a little bit more about
kind of your experiences.
So, like tell me what was thebiggest obstacle that you faced
kind of in your fitness journeyand how'd you overcome it.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I would have to say.
I mean, I myself have had sixstress fractures, had six stress
fractures and, and so whileI've had the injuries, those
have been really challenging,but having kids was extremely,
probably the biggest.
Obviously they're they're notobstacles, but you get what I'm
(22:48):
saying Kids really changed mylife and I know for a lot of
women.
I'm always posting silly stuffon my story about the challenges
with kids and training, and soI had, I had my kids back to
back there um 13 and a halfmonths apart, and they're five
and six now.
So there was a period of, youknow, two to three years where I
(23:10):
I had to get my kids in the car.
I mean, I could only dotraining at the gym, hence why I
found DECA.
It is accessible from prettymuch inside any gym and that's
why I got really hooked to it.
So I think it was reallychallenging for me to.
(23:31):
I think it was reallychallenging for me to juggle the
training as well as very smallchildren and I do see women
struggle with that a lot, and alot of women do just throw their
hands up and give up on itentirely but I felt like the
training, if you want to say,kept me more centered with the
(23:51):
kids, it enabled me to be abetter parent and it just kept
me organized.
I felt that that's what thetraining did for me.
But there is a huge strugglebecause we need to fuel
ourselves and if you ask any momwith young children, one of the
number one things they do isforget to eat, and I did that
(24:14):
often and I have had still tothis day.
You've probably seen me postabout it.
I've gone down to do a bikeworkout and my blood sugar is so
low.
I have my kids running upstairsliterally grabbing snacks that
we've bought from Costco to comedown and feed me snacks while
I'm on the bike because I'mshaking, because my blood sugar
(24:34):
is so low.
So, and these are just thingsthat I forget because I'm so
busy being a mom, and so, whileI've had lots of injuries, that
that I had to get past, havingkids was the hardest obstacle.
It really was for me.
Injuries for me, I know,especially if they're stress
(24:57):
fractures, they're going to behealed and I get through it and
I modify my exercises and, ofcourse, none of mine involves
surgery.
So, like I know, you've hadMickey on and his was very much
more serious than mine was.
But I can easily get throughthose.
But the kid thing that was verychallenging for me.
(25:18):
There was a lot of momentswhere I've had to just say I
can't work out today.
I'm so exhausted mentally andphysically from being with the
kids that I can't do this.
But most of the time I was ableto get it in.
But that was my biggestobstacle.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, and that's you know I.
So I appreciate you sharingthat and that's you know.
Again, I'm sure a lot of folksare going through or have gone
through it and I'm, you know,I'm wondering, like, what do you
think helped you still do thoseworkouts?
So you know, one of the thingsthat you said was it helped keep
you centered in terms of doingthe workouts and helped you, you
know, be a better parent.
(25:56):
So that's kind of what was topof mind for you in terms of your
why.
So you had a strong why.
But what else, you know, reallykind of helps you make sure
that you get in your workoutswhen you know, when you weren't
exhausted and you can make thetime to do so, and you can make
the time to do so.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Well, you know there's a few things and you and
I kind of spoke about there.
There's two things for me, andI spoke to Kevin Gregory about
this as well.
You know my current why is Iwant my kids to be able to see
me set a goal and follow throughwith it.
So, while they don't know, theydon't know if I'm missing a
training day, but I know and Ifeel like I need to be honest
(26:32):
with myself and with them.
So a big push for me is to knowthat I'm getting up and doing
what I promised myself that Iwould do Rewind or, yeah, rewind
, when I didn't have kids.
A big, a big why for me was um,so I for me was so I grew up in
a household where my dad was analcoholic and I was so fortunate
(26:57):
, when I was in school, to havementors the coaches that were
mentors who took me under theirwing and really kept me focused
on sports, because they knewthat was going to kind of keep
my mind off of what was going onat home.
That was going to kind of keepmy mind off of what was going on
at home.
And so sports, really, itreally pushed me to kind of
(27:18):
ignore what was going on.
You know, understand and dealwith it.
And it just it gave mesomething to aim for.
It gave me, it made me feelimportant, it made me feel
valued.
It just added so much meaningand purpose to my life.
And you know, even though I knewI always had to go home and
(27:40):
deal with my the way my dad wasit, it gave me something outside
of home to forget about whatwas what was going on.
Now my dad is over 20 yearssober, so he's not that person
anymore.
But I you know you asked me inthe beginning, you know how I
got into endurance sports andwhile I was exposed to it at my
(28:03):
school, I think that the issuethat my dad had really kept me
on track with the endurancesports because it just gave me
something to keep my mind off ofit.
So I don't know if connectedall that, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
So that was, that was kind ofthe driving force for getting
into, you know, your athleticjourney or your fitness journey,
kind of fast forward up untilnow, sticking with it, even
though you know you have the newresponsibilities of having kids
and having to balance that withfitness, and that makes a lot
of sense and it's hard.
But again, you know, kind ofgoing back to you know, really
(28:40):
having that why to kind of keepyou centered and moving towards
that goal while balancing yourother responsibilities is really
important and it sounds likethat's what's helped you.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, it has it.
I, you know there's all kindsof.
There's more things than justDeca.
There's more than things thanjust running.
But I always encourage peoplepick something that you can
train for.
It doesn't have to be thethings I'm interested in, but
pick something, put it on yourcalendar.
You know Yancey preaches thisall the time and there's so much
(29:12):
research that supports it.
You have something on thecalendar and a goal to aim for.
You are more likely to stickwith your training and be
consistent over the long haul,and I think we, we all need that
.
And uh, it's not enough just tosay I want to go to the gym and
get fit and work out every day.
That's not specific enough.
You need a targeted goal.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Love it, love it.
I really love to hear what isthe one thing that you would say
to inspire to run community, tokeep them motivated to run or
stick with their fitness journey.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I think, really looking at it as a marathon, not
a sprint, no pun intended thatyou need to look at this as a
long-term commitment, not just ashort-term commitment.
And I think if you can look atit from that perspective, you're
(30:08):
more accepting of the days thatdon't go so well, and then
you're more appreciative of thedays that don't go so well, and
then you're more appreciative ofthe days that that your
training does go really well.
If you know that, if you canlook over the course of 12
months and know that it's, it'sgoing to be okay, then I think
it gets you through all thosemonths of training.
So just looking at it as amarathon, not a sprint, so
(30:34):
results don't come quickly, theyhappen over time.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Hey, my friend, so we had some technical difficulties
as we were winding down theconversation, but I hope you
enjoyed this interview and youwere inspired by Raquel's
journey.
She shared so many insightswith us about how to stay
motivated and training tips andalso adjusting your routine to
balance fitness and family.
So I appreciate you listeningand I will end with Raquel
(30:59):
sharing how you can find her andfollow her journey online.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
So I have two things.
I have um at coach Ferris Nowmy account is private but I
pretty much accept everyone.
It's just because I post aboutmy kids, so it's at coach and
then F A, I R E S.
And then I also have at DECAunderscore Indy I N D Y that I
(31:27):
run to kind of keep people inthe Indianapolis area and you
know up to speed with the eventsDECA events that are going on
around here and other events aswell, running events too.
So at Coach Ferris and at DECAunderscore Indy.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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