May 17, 2025 • 31 mins
In this special live episode recorded LIVE from the RBC Brooklyn Half After-Party at Maimonides Park, we celebrated an incredible race day with a very special guest — Alan Bersten. Best known for his dazzling performances on Dancing with the Stars, Alan has been wowing audiences since 2017, even taking home the Mirrorball Trophy with Bachelorette star Hannah Brown. A lifelong dancer and So You Think You Can Dance finalist; Alan has mastered styles from ballroom to Bollywood. Today, he took on a new kind of stage — crossing the finish line of his very first half marathon at the RBC Brooklyn Half. Tune in to hear about his journey from the dance floor to the 13.1-mile course. For today's Member Moment, two-time Olympian and 2024 RBC Brooklyn Half champion, Kim Conley joins the show to talk about her attempt to defend her title at this year’s race and her transition from track athlete to a marathoner. And finally HSS's Jason Mayerhofer is here with his best advice on how to transition your training from the RBC Brooklyn Half, to the TCS New York City Marathon.
Alan Bersten on STP!: (02:28)
Kim Conley Joins the Show! (16:43)
HSS's Jason Mayerhoffer: (24:13)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alan Bersten (00:00):
Something that I say on the show all the time to
the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do anything.
If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is a
huge testament to that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (00:16):
Hello everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, a special episode
of the official podcast of New York Road Runners, presented by Peloton. I'm
your host and the CEO of New York Road Runners,
Rob Simmelkjaer, and we are here live at Maimonides ballpark.
That's right. It's the official RBC Brooklyn Half After- Party, and
(00:42):
what a party it is. This field and this stadium
are absolutely packed with people with this beautiful RBC Brooklyn
Half medal hanging around their necks. Congratulations to everybody who
finished today. It was a warm day, it was a bit of a humid
(01:02):
day, but it was a great day, and you guys all
deserve those medals, so congratulations to each and every one
of you. All right, before we bring up our amazing
guest today, I want to give a shout- out to our
friends at RBC, which has been both the exclusive title
partner and exclusive financial service partner and investment banking partner
(01:25):
of the RBC Brooklyn Half for four consecutive years. As
a purpose- driven global financial institution, RBC, just like New
York Road Runners, is strongly committed to giving back to
communities. I'm sure you saw the great run inspired with
RBC giant inspiration wall at the RBC Brooklyn Half Pre- Party,
(01:48):
presented by New Balance. And of course, the photo booth
where so many of you turned yourselves into custom trading
cars. Quick reminder, by the way. Every time you share
one of those trading cars on social, hashtag # RBCBrooklynHalf, RBC's
going to donate one dollar to the National Alliance on
(02:09):
Mental Illness, NAMI. So it's Mental Health Awareness Month, we
want to thank RBC. Make sure you check out the RBC-
branded finish line photo booth, which is out there in the field somewhere.
Get that photo here at the after party, and thank
you again to our friends at RBC. All right, our
guests today are incredible. I had a chance to meet,
(02:32):
right before the race, the one and only Dancing with
the Stars dancer Alan Bersten, who is here with me
on stage. Alan just ran his first ever half- marathon
in his life, and we're going to talk to him
about that incredible achievement. And then with us right after
(02:54):
Alan is going to be Kim Conley, our two- time
Olympian, and came into this as a defending 2024 RBC Brooklyn Half champion. We'll
talk about her race today and what happened out there
in the winner's field, it was a great day. And then
lastly, we'll have some exclusive advice from our partners at
(03:14):
the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS, on how to transition
from running today's race to beginning their training for the 2025
TCS New York City Marathon. Make some noise out there
if you're planning to run the marathon this year. Who's
running? Who's running the TCS New York City Marathon, all right,
(03:37):
well we'll talk about that as well, so don't go away.
Voiceover (03:41):
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(04:03):
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partner of New York Road Runners.
Rob Simmelkjaer (04:19):
All right, well we're thrilled to have Alan Bersten here
with me. He's best known for his standout performances on
Dancing with the Stars, where he's been a pro since 2017,
and he won the mirrorball trophy with Bachelorette star Hannah
Brown. He started dancing at the age of seven in
(04:39):
his family's Minnesota studio, and he's trained in styles ranging
from ballroom dancing to Bollywood dancing. He's done it all.
He's a former So You Think You Can Dance finalist
and a Dancing with the Stars Juniors champion, and he
has spent years performing live and pushing to all of
his physical limits, especially today. Alan, congratulations, and welcome to
(05:03):
Set the Pace.
Alan Bersten (05:03):
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, this is so
fun. It was really... Well, great job to everyone that
did this. Let's go with finishers.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:12):
Well, all right. We got to ask the obvious question. You have
pushed your body to the limits as a dancer. You
obviously are a great athlete to dance the way you
dance on that show. How did running a half- marathon
for the first time ever compare to preparing for and
dancing on the show as you do?
Alan Bersten (05:31):
Absolutely zero comparison, it turns out that it is a lot
of fun. I've always wanted to push my body, and
a lot of people don't consider dancers as athletes, but
I think this is a great opportunity to prove to
myself that I'm more than just a dancer. Running a half-
marathon is not easy. Kudos to everyone. I'm so proud
(05:52):
of myself for finishing, I'm so proud of everyone for
being here.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:55):
Amazing, congratulations. What inspired you to take this on? Why,
after all the success you've had as a dancer and
an amazing career you've created for yourself as a dancer?
What made you think, " This isn't enough. I got to
take on a half- marathon"?
Alan Bersten (06:11):
Honestly, I was on tour and my (inaudible) who
ran this with me, his name's Danny, he's like, " I'm
running a half- marathon in May." I was like, " My
schedule's free, let me do it too." Big mistake. No,
honestly it was so much fun. So he's the one
that, honestly, he did it, so I was like, " I'm going to join him."
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:29):
All right, well I saw you at the start and then
I saw you at the finish line. Your official finishing
time in your first ever half, 1
an outstanding (inaudible) half- marathon time. Congratulations on that.
Tell me, take me through your race today. How did
it feel? Did you feel strong throughout? It was a
(06:50):
warm day, were you struggling at any points? Take us through it.
Alan Bersten (06:54):
Honestly, I think the biggest thing everyone told me was, "
Stay hydrated," so I was drinking a lot of water.
The hills in the beginning are hard. I was not
used to that. And then they were like, " Oh, mile seven. That's going to
be easy." It didn't get easy. None of this was
actually easy until the end. But honestly, I think it
was just pushing. You know? Everyone around you's doing it,
(07:15):
everyone's cheering you on. It's a lot of fun. Ask
me in a few days if I'll do another one. I
can tell you maybe. If you ask me right now, no.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:24):
I never ask right afterwards. I never ask at the finish
line. That's not the time to ask.
Alan Bersten (07:29):
Yeah, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:30):
I've been there, I know. But there is a question
that of course will start to dog you, just so
you know. Now that you've run a half- marathon, you
know the question is going to come. Would you ever
even think about running a full marathon?
Alan Bersten (07:45):
I genuinely don't know how I could do two of
that. That was really hard. If I slow down my pace, maybe.
But yeah, no, what an accomplishment it is to finish
a full marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:55):
What accomplishment to finish a half marathon. It's a huge
accomplishment to have.
Alan Bersten (07:59):
(inaudible) proud. Yeah, so I'm going to take it more half at a time.
Rob Simmelkjaer (08:02):
I like it. That's a very sensible answer. You know,
listen, I am not a dancer, so I have no
idea what goes in to doing what you do on
Dancing with the Stars, but just watching some of the
routines, that looks like a massive physical challenge. Can you
compare the endurance, the strength? What do you think is
(08:22):
the biggest similarity and difference between the physical challenge of
dancing at a high level and running 13.1 miles?
Alan Bersten (08:31):
I think there's a few. There's a dance that's similar,
like a quickstep or a jive. They're very fast. You
only have to do it for a minute and a
half, so it's a lot easier. I think this was
more just mental over physical. You put in the training
and you realize that as long as you just keep
going and don't stop, you're fine. That was my mentality
(08:53):
the whole time. Just keep going, don't slow down. Because
if I slow down I'm just going to stop, and
I do not want to stop.
Rob Simmelkjaer (09:00):
Have you had a lot of your Dancing with the
Stars co- stars or your former partners or other people
out there on social reacting to your run?
Alan Bersten (09:09):
Yeah, everyone's been so supportive. My girlfriend actually, she's from the show,
and now she's here supporting, so that was nice. Lindsay
Arnold did a half- marathon, she's one of the pros,
I think like three weeks ago, and I didn't know
she was running one, so that really inspired me and
she gave me a lot of tips. She was like, "
Just hydrate a lot." So the support's been incredible, but
(09:34):
it's honestly just running and seeing all the people on
the sides being supportive and cheering on all the other
runners. It's just so fun.
Rob Simmelkjaer (09:43):
I took a photo with you at the start, post
it on my social. It wasn't like five minutes before
my teenage daughter was like, " Oh my god, all my
friends are texting me. You know Alan Bersten? How do
you know him?" So clearly there's a following, there's people
out there who are excited. What's your message to all
those folks out there who follow you as a dancer,
(10:04):
and about what you've just accomplished? What do you think
is the lesson that you can teach all of them
from this?
Alan Bersten (10:10):
Something that I say on the show all the time
to the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do
anything. If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is
a huge testament to that. The longest I've ever ran
before today was 10 miles. The longest I ever ran before
that was like five miles. You know? So it was
more of just, commit to it, put in the training,
(10:33):
you put in the work, you get the results, and
my message is just to believe in yourself and do it,
you know? The worst that happens is that you have to
try a little bit harder and that you have to try
again, but as long as you keep going, the finish
line is there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (10:50):
All right, let's talk about Dancing with the Stars for
a little while. First of all, who out there is
a fan of the show, Dancing with the Stars? Are there any fans
out there? (inaudible) that show has been so successful
for so many years. I worked at ABC Disney when
that show first went on the air, and it went
on as like a midsummer replacement.
Alan Bersten (11:11):
Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:12):
It had no expectation of being successful, and here it is.
How many seasons now has that show (inaudible)
Alan Bersten (11:18):
We're about to start season 34.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:19):
Oh my god, that's unbelievable.
Alan Bersten (11:21):
Yeah. (inaudible) Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:21):
It's a couple seasons a year. I'm like, " I'm not
that old." But I know they do a couple seasons a year.
Alan Bersten (11:26):
(inaudible) This is the 20th year anniversary.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:27):
That's incredible. Why do you think it's been so successful
as a franchise?
Alan Bersten (11:33):
You know, I think there's something so endearing about seeing
these incredible celebrities or athletes try something new, and that's
also what inspired me to do this. I've never ran
before, but I wanted to just go out there, go
out of my comfort zone. I think what makes the
show special is you see people trying, you see people
caring. And like you said, your teenage daughter is a
(11:56):
fan. Usually it's, " Oh, my mom's a fan," so it's
nice that the teenage daughters are fans now. But it's
a show for the whole family. It's fun for everyone.
Families sit down and we go on tour, and there's
four generations that are watching together, and it's just so cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer (12:12):
It's incredible. It really is great family entertainment, and there's
a lot in common, actually, between what you guys do
on that show and what we do here at New York Road
Runners, because we do have a lot of folks, like
you, who are stepping out of their comfort zone to run
a race like this. I think the difference is, on
Dancing with the Stars, you're doing it on primetime television
(12:33):
in front of tens of millions of viewers. And it's
live, right? So a lot can go wrong. When you
are working with a dancer, a celebrity who's coming on
to dance with you, how do you work with them
to get them comfortable and take them out of their
shell to turn them into someone who can have a
successful performance?
Alan Bersten (12:54):
You know, I think comfortability is the big proponent there.
Making sure you're comfortable, making sure you believe in yourself.
My job on top of teaching somebody to dance is
also to make sure they feel confident and comfortable in
themselves, and I think the only way to do that
is with practice, with repetition. It's a lot scarier to
(13:14):
go and do anything the first time, but the more
you do it, the easier and the more comfortable you get.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:21):
So you have a minor in psychology, basically. I mean, dance
is your major, but you got to be able to
really have a little psych work on-
Alan Bersten (13:30):
A lot of people say that first we're dance instructors,
but then we're therapists. So there's a lot that goes
on in that room.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:39):
Yeah. I love it. What has been the most memorable dance performance of
your career on Dancing with the Stars? Which one would
you say has been your favorite?
Alan Bersten (13:48):
That's a good question. My last partner was Ilona Maher,
and she's so... Give it up for Ilona Maher. We
did some really cool dances. I feel like our freestyle
was really cool, it was just a lot of fun. And you
know, we were bending the norms from the traditional couple
(14:08):
on Dancing with the Stars. She lifted me, I lifted her.
There was so much going on, and she really inspired
me to go out and do things that you're not
comfortable in. You know? She's a big proponent of, just
because she's a rugby player doesn't mean she's only a
rugby player. And I think that's what was my mentality
for this dance... " For this dance." For this race, is
(14:29):
I'm not just a dancer. I'm so athletic. I take
pride in physical exercise, and this is a great way to
not only prove it to myself, but prove it to
other people.
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:40):
I love that. We love Ilona Maher. She's an incredible
role model, and has been in some of our races
as well, so that's fantastic. Who would you say was
just the most talented dancer who you were paired with? Who
just had the goods and was just a talented dancer
who you were paired with on the show?
Alan Bersten (15:00):
You know, one season I was with Amanda Coutts. She
used to be a Rockette, actually, so she's got her
New York roots. She was great. She knew how to
dance. She was so committed to it and she had
a great story behind everything, so it was really fun
dancing with her.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:19):
And my last dancing question, because I don't have very
many dancing questions, I couldn't talk about dancing for more
than another minute or two. If you had to dance
one style of dance, okay, for the win, for the
championship, what is your go- to? What do you think
is your best style of dancing yourself?
Alan Bersten (15:37):
I like the Argentine tango. There's cool lifts, there's cool
tricks. He knows what I'm talking... Oh yeah. Argentine tango.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:46):
There is something about the Argentine tango that everybody knows.
There's something just dramatic about it, right?
Alan Bersten (15:52):
Exactly. The drama, the passion. I think anyone that can
run a half- marathon has passion, and passion is what drives
me. I love it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:01):
How you feeling?
Alan Bersten (16:02):
Honestly, I can't get up.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:03):
That's okay.
Alan Bersten (16:05):
Everyone told me, " Don't sit down," and okay, you guys are sitting
down. I said, " Okay."
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:09):
That is one of the secrets to running a half
or a marathon, is stay on your feet.
Alan Bersten (16:13):
Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:14):
Well, I want to thank you for sitting down, literally,
with us for a few minutes. Good luck getting up.
Congratulations on the race.
Alan Bersten (16:26):
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:26):
Alan Bersten! (inaudible) He's getting up slowly, making his way
out. An incredible, incredible day for Alan and a great accomplishment,
running the RBC Brooklyn Half. All right, well. We had
a very competitive race today, and I'm actually going to
ask my producer Catherine, I'm going to ask you to
(16:49):
pick up the card here that has the winners on
it, because I want to go through them. I threw it
down to the ground. We have our 2024 defending champion Kim
Conley on stage with us. And Kim, first of all,
congratulations on a great day today. Now, I know today
did not go exactly as you planned, but you had
(17:10):
a great day, you finished second, and we'll talk about
the women's race. The winner, by the way, on the
women's field was Felicia Pasadyn with a time of one
hour, 15 minutes, and 39 seconds. Congratulations to Felicia. Kim
finished second at 1:16
(17:34):
third. But Kim, take me through your race. First of
all, welcome to Set the Pace. Thanks for coming on.
Kim Conley (17:39):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Rob Simmelkjaer (17:40):
Take me through your race today. You came in as
the defending champion. There's a little pressure that comes with
that. Did you walk up to the start line today with
an intent to defend that, or how did you feel
as you started the race today?
Kim Conley (17:55):
Well, I felt great as I started the race. Absolutely
wanted to defend the title, but mostly was just excited
to be back at this race, because it's such a
fun environment, and the volunteers and the fans that come
out and line the course, and the way the course
doubles back on itself through Prospect Park, and so you
have everybody else coming behind you that are cheering for
you, that energy, is just so infectious. So I got
(18:18):
a little bit carried away and ran significantly faster than
I should have over the first 5K.
Rob Simmelkjaer (18:23):
I was in one of the lead vehicles and I
had a laptop there following the race, and I'm following,
following, following, and you are out in front, and you
were out in front pretty comfortably. And I actually got
out of the lead vehicle, made for the finish line
just behind you, and I thought you'd won the race,
and I saw you right before this and it turns
(18:45):
out you'd finished second. So can you talk about what
happened in those last few miles? And obviously Felicia, tracking
that, I think Felicia's a runner who's a new name
to a lot of us here at New York Road
Runners. Did you see her coming? Were you expecting someone
behind you? Take us through that last few miles.
Kim Conley (19:02):
Yeah, I know, she really did come out of nowhere
on me. It was really hot out there, coming down
the parkway. It was sun exposed at that point in
the day, and I was just starting to suffer. But
when she came, she came with a full head of
steam and she was rolling and blew right by me.
That was somewhere between miles 10 and 11, so it hurt. It
(19:24):
was tough. But the exciting news is I'm running the
mini and she is running the mini also, so we're
going to have a little showdown there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (19:32):
That's right, that's right. You'll be showing up at the
MasterCard Mini 10K in June, which we're excited about. So, rematch, rematch!
We love a good rematch, and we will have that
between you and Felicia at the MasterCard Mini 10K. Kim,
you are someone who really started out on the track.
(19:52):
You were really excellent on the track, you had so
much success, even qualified in Olympic success on the track,
and then you recently moved up to running the marathon.
You qualified for the 2024 Olympic trials, which is no
small feat. Talk about that transition from the track to
(20:13):
the marathon, why you decided to do it, and how
it's been going.
Kim Conley (20:19):
It felt like a natural progression to me. I reached
a point in my career where I felt like I'd
accomplished everything that I could accomplish, wanted to accomplish on
the track. And you know, I think everybody is lured
by the marathon. I think everybody that ran this race
can relate to that pull of wanting to conquer 26.2
miles. So for me that was just something that I
(20:40):
felt like I had to do next.
Rob Simmelkjaer (20:41):
It's just such a natural progression, and I'm sure some
of it probably comes a bit with age, right? You
get into your mid to late thirties, finding that track
speed gets a little tougher, right? But you can tap
into the endurance that lasts, for so many runners, well
into their forties. So are you feeling that transition in
(21:03):
your body, and you feel like you've got a future
at 26. 2, you've got a present?
Kim Conley (21:09):
Yeah, I think both the half- marathon and the marathon,
those are the distances that I'll be focused on for
a little bit longer. Yeah. And there's a puzzle to
the marathon, which is really appealing.
Rob Simmelkjaer (21:21):
It is. Just, it's something that you got to figure out
over time. How does the half factor into your marathon
preparation? How do you approach half, so what do you
get out of running a race like this?
Kim Conley (21:33):
It depends a little bit on the situation. Sometimes you're
in a marathon buildup and use it as a tune
up for your marathon. Sometimes you're not going to run
a marathon in that season and it still gives you
a race to put on the schedule and have a
peak effort that you're building your training around.
Rob Simmelkjaer (21:49):
We got so many people out here, so many women
who really look up to someone like you, the people
who get to start right at the starting line, right?
It's a dream for so many people out there. What's
your advice to somebody who, maybe he's out there with
a dream of getting to the point of being able
to run as a seeded athlete at an event like
(22:10):
this, or just wants to find a new level and
set a PR? What's the best advice you can give them?
Kim Conley (22:16):
Running really takes consistency, and it's just the more you
put into the sport, the more you're going to get
out in the long term. Right now, especially with the New York
Marathon on the horizon for a lot of people, especially
in this area, I'm on the phone almost daily with
people that are asking me, " When should I start training?"
And my answer is always, " Today." Because the sooner you
start, the more it's going to build on itself, and
(22:37):
the better you're going to feel, the more confident you're
going to feel, when race day comes.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:40):
All right, so there's the advice. You're going to run
the marathon in November, start training today. Well, I think
you all did just start training today. So congratulations. You've all
just taken Kim's advice and started training today. Well done.
You coach as well, right?
Kim Conley (22:54):
That's right, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:55):
Talk about that. How many athletes are you coaching?
Kim Conley (22:57):
We have about a hundred and fifty athletes in our
business right now, Next Best Run. A lot of them
are actually based in this area, and we do a
special program for the New York Marathon called Next Level
New York, and we have a lot of fun. We come out
here as often as we can, because we love the
running community. It's so thriving.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:14):
Are you your own coach, or do you have another coach?
Kim Conley (23:17):
So I'm coached by my husband Drew Wartenburg, who also
coaches in the business.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:21):
How does that coaching practice help you as a runner?
Do you feel like you're learning something by teaching others?
Kim Conley (23:27):
It's definitely given me a way greater sense of purpose
with my training. I'm definitely the type of athlete that
can be a little bit of a knucklehead and just
think that in every situation, faster is better. But there's
a lot of nuance to training in terms of accomplishing
what you're supposed to accomplish with a physiological system in
the body. And so because I'm explaining that so often
to people now, I find in my own training, I'm
(23:49):
a little bit better about adhering to my own advice.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:52):
All right, well Kim, congratulations on a great day today,
finishing on the podium for the second straight year, and
we look forward to seeing you at the MasterCard Mini
10K. Congratulations.
Kim Conley (24:03):
Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer (24:04):
Kim Conley, everybody. Our second place women's finisher today in the RBC
Brooklyn Half. Thank you very much. All right, we're going
to wrap up today with a special minute from our
friends at the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS. Our friend
from HSS Jason Mayerhofer is here. Jason is a doctor
(24:26):
of physical therapy from HSS with a lot of letters
after his name, including PT, DPT, MTC, STC, CSCS, SFMA. I
don't know what most of these things are. PT, I
know what that one is. But he's got 18 years
of experience working with athletes who've had injuries of the
(24:48):
kind a lot of you out there have probably experienced.
Hips, knees, ankles, all the things that runners get. Jason,
nice to have you here on Set the Pace. Welcome.
Jason Mayerhofer (24:57):
Thank you so much. It's great being here. Beautiful day,
even a little sprinkle to cool things off, but appreciate it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (25:03):
All right Jason, we're looking at a sea of humanity
right now, thousands of runners who have just completed the RBC
Brooklyn Half. What is the first thing that all of
these people out here should do when they get home?
Jason Mayerhofer (25:18):
Everyone listen up. Don't run. Rest. Please take at least seven to 10
days off, let your body recover a little bit, both
mentally and physically, and then you can start to ramp
back up again. But please, they need to rest, need
to recover, focus on nutrition, hydration. Think everyone should be
(25:39):
in a good place at that point.
Rob Simmelkjaer (25:41):
How long do you think you should typically take off
after running a half- marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer (25:46):
It's speculative. Some places will say each mile that you
run, you take a day off. Doing 13 miles, take
a couple of weeks off. I think that's a little excessive,
but I think what it boils down to, you really
just got to listen to your body. If your body
says you're ready to run again, you can start to
ramp up. Wearables are a big thing nowadays, so lots
of recovery sores that may come about, really focus on
(26:09):
that and see if your body's prepped for running again.
Rob Simmelkjaer (26:12):
What about icing? What about icing? Some people like an
ice bath or a cold plunge. Do you think that's
a must- do within a few hours after running a
long distance like that?
Jason Mayerhofer (26:24):
Actually I tend to steer away from that, because it
actually stiffen you up a little bit. You know? As
Kim had to try to get up, it's a little
bit rough when you have to be static. With ice,
you're actually going to really constrict your blood vessels. You're
really looking to pump all of the toxins and metabolites
that form out of the system. So icing for right now,
(26:47):
I would steer away from it. Key, just move, move,
move. Don't sit, don't get too static.
Rob Simmelkjaer (26:53):
Should people out there... And we're now, maybe it could
be an hour after most people have finished, some more
if they were faster, maybe even two hours. Should folks
be stretching immediately after finishing, later in the evening? What's
your stretching advice?
Jason Mayerhofer (27:09):
Yeah, absolutely. I think stretching after activity is good. I
wouldn't stretch before. You're looking to do dynamic warmups before,
but definitely stretching after, foam rolling after. You could even
do some functional movements, squatting, lunges, things like that, just to
get blood flow, get some fluid exchange to your joints.
I think that's healthy.
Rob Simmelkjaer (27:27):
And what about, there's a lot of cross- training options,
you know, swimming, weight lifting. Are all those things good
to start right after running like this? Especially if you're
planning on entering another training cycle, maybe for a fall marathon.
Jason Mayerhofer (27:40):
Absolutely, yeah. I cross- training's critical. I find a lot of runners that
come into our clinic tend to be running four or
five, six days a week. I actually steer against that.
I actually want people to run two to three days
a week and do some cross- training in the interim,
as well as strength training, to really have a nice
balance in their training system, not develop overuse injuries and
(28:02):
things like that. So yeah, I highly encourage swimming, any
sort of cross- training.
Rob Simmelkjaer (28:05):
I've actually talked to a few runners today who did
not have the day they had hoped to have because
of the humidity, right? It was warm, it was humid.
What's your message to those runners in terms of how
to be maybe better prepared for these kinds of conditions
in the future? Again, we're here in the Northeast, you
(28:26):
can get a humid day any time between March and
November, you could get a day like this. What do
you think are some lessons the runners can learn if
they may be crashed a little bit today because of
the humidity?
Jason Mayerhofer (28:38):
Yeah, I think it's really unpredictable with the weather, especially
for this run. But I think you can learn from
it. You can go back and process your times, how
you ran, how you felt with those. I think afterwards
you can also, especially if you're going to be training for the
full marathon, hire a coach. That could be beneficial. They
could help break down things. You can revisit your hydration
(29:01):
and nutrition during the run, really see if that was
a deficit for you. But I think that the mental fortitude
that you get to develop as well. Some people like
to sign up for another interim run, just to boost
their confidence a little bit. So the mental and the
physical is just as important to capitalize on.
Rob Simmelkjaer (29:18):
All right, we're just under six months out from the TCS
New York City Marathon. For folks out there who just
ran today, who are planning on training for November, when
should they start? We talked about taking a break. Of
course it depends on the fitness level, experience, but when
do you think is the window when people should start
really focusing on a block for the marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer (29:40):
Yeah, I think now is actually the perfect time. I
would obviously, like we just discussed, focus on your recovery for
now. Give it a couple weeks, and then you can
start to kick it into high gear in June. But
really, really, really monitor your system, monitor your body. If
something doesn't feel right, don't wait for too long to
get it looked at. I give it a couple weeks,
(30:01):
and if you're having persistent pain, seek out a medical specialist.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:05):
All right, Jason, thank you very much, appreciate it. Great
advice. Jason Mayerhofer from Hospital for Special Surgery.
Jason Mayerhofer (30:12):
Thank you Rob.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:13):
Thanks, good luck to everybody out there on your recoveries.
And I just want to say once again, congratulations to
everybody out there for completing the RBC Brooklyn Half. Hey,
if you don't already listen to our podcast, Set the
Pace, now's a great time to start. You can just go
right in your phone, look it up. We're on Apple
(30:35):
Podcasts, we're on Spotify. You can follow, subscribe, leave a
rating right now, and then you'll be able to listen to
this special episode a little bit later on today. We'd
love to have you. We publish an episode every single
Thursday, and it's a great companion to your long runs,
your short runs, your bedtime, your drive, whatever it might
(30:56):
be. So please join us. Thanks for joining us. Thanks
to all of our guests today, Alan Bersten, Kim Conley,
and Jason Mayerhofer from HSS. Have a great trip back
to wherever you're from. Thanks for running, congrats, and we'll
see you next week on Set the Pace. Enjoy the miles.
(31:28):
New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a
vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the
transformative power of running. The support of members and donors
like you helps us achieve our mission to transform the
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(31:50):
and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Something that I say on the show all the time to
the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do anything.
If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is a
huge testament to that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (00:16):
Hello everybody, and welcome to Set the Pace, a special episode
of the official podcast of New York Road Runners, presented by Peloton. I'm
your host and the CEO of New York Road Runners,
Rob Simmelkjaer, and we are here live at Maimonides ballpark.
That's right. It's the official RBC Brooklyn Half After- Party, and
(00:42):
what a party it is. This field and this stadium
are absolutely packed with people with this beautiful RBC Brooklyn
Half medal hanging around their necks. Congratulations to everybody who
finished today. It was a warm day, it was a bit of a humid
(01:02):
day, but it was a great day, and you guys all
deserve those medals, so congratulations to each and every one
of you. All right, before we bring up our amazing
guest today, I want to give a shout- out to our
friends at RBC, which has been both the exclusive title
partner and exclusive financial service partner and investment banking partner
(01:25):
of the RBC Brooklyn Half for four consecutive years. As
a purpose- driven global financial institution, RBC, just like New
York Road Runners, is strongly committed to giving back to
communities. I'm sure you saw the great run inspired with
RBC giant inspiration wall at the RBC Brooklyn Half Pre- Party,
(01:48):
presented by New Balance. And of course, the photo booth
where so many of you turned yourselves into custom trading
cars. Quick reminder, by the way. Every time you share
one of those trading cars on social, hashtag # RBCBrooklynHalf, RBC's
going to donate one dollar to the National Alliance on
(02:09):
Mental Illness, NAMI. So it's Mental Health Awareness Month, we
want to thank RBC. Make sure you check out the RBC-
branded finish line photo booth, which is out there in the field somewhere.
Get that photo here at the after party, and thank
you again to our friends at RBC. All right, our
guests today are incredible. I had a chance to meet,
(02:32):
right before the race, the one and only Dancing with
the Stars dancer Alan Bersten, who is here with me
on stage. Alan just ran his first ever half- marathon
in his life, and we're going to talk to him
about that incredible achievement. And then with us right after
(02:54):
Alan is going to be Kim Conley, our two- time
Olympian, and came into this as a defending 2024 RBC Brooklyn Half champion. We'll
talk about her race today and what happened out there
in the winner's field, it was a great day. And then
lastly, we'll have some exclusive advice from our partners at
(03:14):
the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS, on how to transition
from running today's race to beginning their training for the 2025
TCS New York City Marathon. Make some noise out there
if you're planning to run the marathon this year. Who's
running? Who's running the TCS New York City Marathon, all right,
(03:37):
well we'll talk about that as well, so don't go away.
Voiceover (03:41):
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(04:03):
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Rob Simmelkjaer (04:19):
All right, well we're thrilled to have Alan Bersten here
with me. He's best known for his standout performances on
Dancing with the Stars, where he's been a pro since 2017,
and he won the mirrorball trophy with Bachelorette star Hannah
Brown. He started dancing at the age of seven in
(04:39):
his family's Minnesota studio, and he's trained in styles ranging
from ballroom dancing to Bollywood dancing. He's done it all.
He's a former So You Think You Can Dance finalist
and a Dancing with the Stars Juniors champion, and he
has spent years performing live and pushing to all of
his physical limits, especially today. Alan, congratulations, and welcome to
(05:03):
Set the Pace.
Alan Bersten (05:03):
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, this is so
fun. It was really... Well, great job to everyone that
did this. Let's go with finishers.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:12):
Well, all right. We got to ask the obvious question. You have
pushed your body to the limits as a dancer. You
obviously are a great athlete to dance the way you
dance on that show. How did running a half- marathon
for the first time ever compare to preparing for and
dancing on the show as you do?
Alan Bersten (05:31):
Absolutely zero comparison, it turns out that it is a lot
of fun. I've always wanted to push my body, and
a lot of people don't consider dancers as athletes, but
I think this is a great opportunity to prove to
myself that I'm more than just a dancer. Running a half-
marathon is not easy. Kudos to everyone. I'm so proud
(05:52):
of myself for finishing, I'm so proud of everyone for
being here.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:55):
Amazing, congratulations. What inspired you to take this on? Why,
after all the success you've had as a dancer and
an amazing career you've created for yourself as a dancer?
What made you think, " This isn't enough. I got to
take on a half- marathon"?
Alan Bersten (06:11):
Honestly, I was on tour and my (inaudible) who
ran this with me, his name's Danny, he's like, " I'm
running a half- marathon in May." I was like, " My
schedule's free, let me do it too." Big mistake. No,
honestly it was so much fun. So he's the one
that, honestly, he did it, so I was like, " I'm going to join him."
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:29):
All right, well I saw you at the start and then
I saw you at the finish line. Your official finishing
time in your first ever half, 1
an outstanding (inaudible) half- marathon time. Congratulations on that.
Tell me, take me through your race today. How did
it feel? Did you feel strong throughout? It was a
(06:50):
warm day, were you struggling at any points? Take us through it.
Alan Bersten (06:54):
Honestly, I think the biggest thing everyone told me was, "
Stay hydrated," so I was drinking a lot of water.
The hills in the beginning are hard. I was not
used to that. And then they were like, " Oh, mile seven. That's going to
be easy." It didn't get easy. None of this was
actually easy until the end. But honestly, I think it
was just pushing. You know? Everyone around you's doing it,
(07:15):
everyone's cheering you on. It's a lot of fun. Ask
me in a few days if I'll do another one. I
can tell you maybe. If you ask me right now, no.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:24):
I never ask right afterwards. I never ask at the finish
line. That's not the time to ask.
Alan Bersten (07:29):
Yeah, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:30):
I've been there, I know. But there is a question
that of course will start to dog you, just so
you know. Now that you've run a half- marathon, you
know the question is going to come. Would you ever
even think about running a full marathon?
Alan Bersten (07:45):
I genuinely don't know how I could do two of
that. That was really hard. If I slow down my pace, maybe.
But yeah, no, what an accomplishment it is to finish
a full marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:55):
What accomplishment to finish a half marathon. It's a huge
accomplishment to have.
Alan Bersten (07:59):
(inaudible) proud. Yeah, so I'm going to take it more half at a time.
Rob Simmelkjaer (08:02):
I like it. That's a very sensible answer. You know,
listen, I am not a dancer, so I have no
idea what goes in to doing what you do on
Dancing with the Stars, but just watching some of the
routines, that looks like a massive physical challenge. Can you
compare the endurance, the strength? What do you think is
(08:22):
the biggest similarity and difference between the physical challenge of
dancing at a high level and running 13.1 miles?
Alan Bersten (08:31):
I think there's a few. There's a dance that's similar,
like a quickstep or a jive. They're very fast. You
only have to do it for a minute and a
half, so it's a lot easier. I think this was
more just mental over physical. You put in the training
and you realize that as long as you just keep
going and don't stop, you're fine. That was my mentality
(08:53):
the whole time. Just keep going, don't slow down. Because
if I slow down I'm just going to stop, and
I do not want to stop.
Rob Simmelkjaer (09:00):
Have you had a lot of your Dancing with the
Stars co- stars or your former partners or other people
out there on social reacting to your run?
Alan Bersten (09:09):
Yeah, everyone's been so supportive. My girlfriend actually, she's from the show,
and now she's here supporting, so that was nice. Lindsay
Arnold did a half- marathon, she's one of the pros,
I think like three weeks ago, and I didn't know
she was running one, so that really inspired me and
she gave me a lot of tips. She was like, "
Just hydrate a lot." So the support's been incredible, but
(09:34):
it's honestly just running and seeing all the people on
the sides being supportive and cheering on all the other
runners. It's just so fun.
Rob Simmelkjaer (09:43):
I took a photo with you at the start, post
it on my social. It wasn't like five minutes before
my teenage daughter was like, " Oh my god, all my
friends are texting me. You know Alan Bersten? How do
you know him?" So clearly there's a following, there's people
out there who are excited. What's your message to all
those folks out there who follow you as a dancer,
(10:04):
and about what you've just accomplished? What do you think
is the lesson that you can teach all of them
from this?
Alan Bersten (10:10):
Something that I say on the show all the time
to the celebrities I dance with is, " You can do
anything. If you apply yourself, you can succeed." And this is
a huge testament to that. The longest I've ever ran
before today was 10 miles. The longest I ever ran before
that was like five miles. You know? So it was
more of just, commit to it, put in the training,
(10:33):
you put in the work, you get the results, and
my message is just to believe in yourself and do it,
you know? The worst that happens is that you have to
try a little bit harder and that you have to try
again, but as long as you keep going, the finish
line is there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (10:50):
All right, let's talk about Dancing with the Stars for
a little while. First of all, who out there is
a fan of the show, Dancing with the Stars? Are there any fans
out there? (inaudible) that show has been so successful
for so many years. I worked at ABC Disney when
that show first went on the air, and it went
on as like a midsummer replacement.
Alan Bersten (11:11):
Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:12):
It had no expectation of being successful, and here it is.
How many seasons now has that show (inaudible)
Alan Bersten (11:18):
We're about to start season 34.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:19):
Oh my god, that's unbelievable.
Alan Bersten (11:21):
Yeah. (inaudible) Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:21):
It's a couple seasons a year. I'm like, " I'm not
that old." But I know they do a couple seasons a year.
Alan Bersten (11:26):
(inaudible) This is the 20th year anniversary.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:27):
That's incredible. Why do you think it's been so successful
as a franchise?
Alan Bersten (11:33):
You know, I think there's something so endearing about seeing
these incredible celebrities or athletes try something new, and that's
also what inspired me to do this. I've never ran
before, but I wanted to just go out there, go
out of my comfort zone. I think what makes the
show special is you see people trying, you see people
caring. And like you said, your teenage daughter is a
(11:56):
fan. Usually it's, " Oh, my mom's a fan," so it's
nice that the teenage daughters are fans now. But it's
a show for the whole family. It's fun for everyone.
Families sit down and we go on tour, and there's
four generations that are watching together, and it's just so cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer (12:12):
It's incredible. It really is great family entertainment, and there's
a lot in common, actually, between what you guys do
on that show and what we do here at New York Road
Runners, because we do have a lot of folks, like
you, who are stepping out of their comfort zone to run
a race like this. I think the difference is, on
Dancing with the Stars, you're doing it on primetime television
(12:33):
in front of tens of millions of viewers. And it's
live, right? So a lot can go wrong. When you
are working with a dancer, a celebrity who's coming on
to dance with you, how do you work with them
to get them comfortable and take them out of their
shell to turn them into someone who can have a
successful performance?
Alan Bersten (12:54):
You know, I think comfortability is the big proponent there.
Making sure you're comfortable, making sure you believe in yourself.
My job on top of teaching somebody to dance is
also to make sure they feel confident and comfortable in
themselves, and I think the only way to do that
is with practice, with repetition. It's a lot scarier to
(13:14):
go and do anything the first time, but the more
you do it, the easier and the more comfortable you get.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:21):
So you have a minor in psychology, basically. I mean, dance
is your major, but you got to be able to
really have a little psych work on-
Alan Bersten (13:30):
A lot of people say that first we're dance instructors,
but then we're therapists. So there's a lot that goes
on in that room.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:39):
Yeah. I love it. What has been the most memorable dance performance of
your career on Dancing with the Stars? Which one would
you say has been your favorite?
Alan Bersten (13:48):
That's a good question. My last partner was Ilona Maher,
and she's so... Give it up for Ilona Maher. We
did some really cool dances. I feel like our freestyle
was really cool, it was just a lot of fun. And you
know, we were bending the norms from the traditional couple
(14:08):
on Dancing with the Stars. She lifted me, I lifted her.
There was so much going on, and she really inspired
me to go out and do things that you're not
comfortable in. You know? She's a big proponent of, just
because she's a rugby player doesn't mean she's only a
rugby player. And I think that's what was my mentality
for this dance... " For this dance." For this race, is
(14:29):
I'm not just a dancer. I'm so athletic. I take
pride in physical exercise, and this is a great way to
not only prove it to myself, but prove it to
other people.
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:40):
I love that. We love Ilona Maher. She's an incredible
role model, and has been in some of our races
as well, so that's fantastic. Who would you say was
just the most talented dancer who you were paired with? Who
just had the goods and was just a talented dancer
who you were paired with on the show?
Alan Bersten (15:00):
You know, one season I was with Amanda Coutts. She
used to be a Rockette, actually, so she's got her
New York roots. She was great. She knew how to
dance. She was so committed to it and she had
a great story behind everything, so it was really fun
dancing with her.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:19):
And my last dancing question, because I don't have very
many dancing questions, I couldn't talk about dancing for more
than another minute or two. If you had to dance
one style of dance, okay, for the win, for the
championship, what is your go- to? What do you think
is your best style of dancing yourself?
Alan Bersten (15:37):
I like the Argentine tango. There's cool lifts, there's cool
tricks. He knows what I'm talking... Oh yeah. Argentine tango.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:46):
There is something about the Argentine tango that everybody knows.
There's something just dramatic about it, right?
Alan Bersten (15:52):
Exactly. The drama, the passion. I think anyone that can
run a half- marathon has passion, and passion is what drives
me. I love it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:01):
How you feeling?
Alan Bersten (16:02):
Honestly, I can't get up.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:03):
That's okay.
Alan Bersten (16:05):
Everyone told me, " Don't sit down," and okay, you guys are sitting
down. I said, " Okay."
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:09):
That is one of the secrets to running a half
or a marathon, is stay on your feet.
Alan Bersten (16:13):
Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:14):
Well, I want to thank you for sitting down, literally,
with us for a few minutes. Good luck getting up.
Congratulations on the race.
Alan Bersten (16:26):
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:26):
Alan Bersten! (inaudible) He's getting up slowly, making his way
out. An incredible, incredible day for Alan and a great accomplishment,
running the RBC Brooklyn Half. All right, well. We had
a very competitive race today, and I'm actually going to
ask my producer Catherine, I'm going to ask you to
(16:49):
pick up the card here that has the winners on
it, because I want to go through them. I threw it
down to the ground. We have our 2024 defending champion Kim
Conley on stage with us. And Kim, first of all,
congratulations on a great day today. Now, I know today
did not go exactly as you planned, but you had
(17:10):
a great day, you finished second, and we'll talk about
the women's race. The winner, by the way, on the
women's field was Felicia Pasadyn with a time of one
hour, 15 minutes, and 39 seconds. Congratulations to Felicia. Kim
finished second at 1:16
(17:34):
third. But Kim, take me through your race. First of
all, welcome to Set the Pace. Thanks for coming on.
Kim Conley (17:39):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Rob Simmelkjaer (17:40):
Take me through your race today. You came in as
the defending champion. There's a little pressure that comes with
that. Did you walk up to the start line today with
an intent to defend that, or how did you feel
as you started the race today?
Kim Conley (17:55):
Well, I felt great as I started the race. Absolutely
wanted to defend the title, but mostly was just excited
to be back at this race, because it's such a
fun environment, and the volunteers and the fans that come
out and line the course, and the way the course
doubles back on itself through Prospect Park, and so you
have everybody else coming behind you that are cheering for
you, that energy, is just so infectious. So I got
(18:18):
a little bit carried away and ran significantly faster than
I should have over the first 5K.
Rob Simmelkjaer (18:23):
I was in one of the lead vehicles and I
had a laptop there following the race, and I'm following,
following, following, and you are out in front, and you
were out in front pretty comfortably. And I actually got
out of the lead vehicle, made for the finish line
just behind you, and I thought you'd won the race,
and I saw you right before this and it turns
(18:45):
out you'd finished second. So can you talk about what
happened in those last few miles? And obviously Felicia, tracking
that, I think Felicia's a runner who's a new name
to a lot of us here at New York Road
Runners. Did you see her coming? Were you expecting someone
behind you? Take us through that last few miles.
Kim Conley (19:02):
Yeah, I know, she really did come out of nowhere
on me. It was really hot out there, coming down
the parkway. It was sun exposed at that point in
the day, and I was just starting to suffer. But
when she came, she came with a full head of
steam and she was rolling and blew right by me.
That was somewhere between miles 10 and 11, so it hurt. It
(19:24):
was tough. But the exciting news is I'm running the
mini and she is running the mini also, so we're
going to have a little showdown there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (19:32):
That's right, that's right. You'll be showing up at the
MasterCard Mini 10K in June, which we're excited about. So, rematch, rematch!
We love a good rematch, and we will have that
between you and Felicia at the MasterCard Mini 10K. Kim,
you are someone who really started out on the track.
(19:52):
You were really excellent on the track, you had so
much success, even qualified in Olympic success on the track,
and then you recently moved up to running the marathon.
You qualified for the 2024 Olympic trials, which is no
small feat. Talk about that transition from the track to
(20:13):
the marathon, why you decided to do it, and how
it's been going.
Kim Conley (20:19):
It felt like a natural progression to me. I reached
a point in my career where I felt like I'd
accomplished everything that I could accomplish, wanted to accomplish on
the track. And you know, I think everybody is lured
by the marathon. I think everybody that ran this race
can relate to that pull of wanting to conquer 26.2
miles. So for me that was just something that I
(20:40):
felt like I had to do next.
Rob Simmelkjaer (20:41):
It's just such a natural progression, and I'm sure some
of it probably comes a bit with age, right? You
get into your mid to late thirties, finding that track
speed gets a little tougher, right? But you can tap
into the endurance that lasts, for so many runners, well
into their forties. So are you feeling that transition in
(21:03):
your body, and you feel like you've got a future
at 26. 2, you've got a present?
Kim Conley (21:09):
Yeah, I think both the half- marathon and the marathon,
those are the distances that I'll be focused on for
a little bit longer. Yeah. And there's a puzzle to
the marathon, which is really appealing.
Rob Simmelkjaer (21:21):
It is. Just, it's something that you got to figure out
over time. How does the half factor into your marathon
preparation? How do you approach half, so what do you
get out of running a race like this?
Kim Conley (21:33):
It depends a little bit on the situation. Sometimes you're
in a marathon buildup and use it as a tune
up for your marathon. Sometimes you're not going to run
a marathon in that season and it still gives you
a race to put on the schedule and have a
peak effort that you're building your training around.
Rob Simmelkjaer (21:49):
We got so many people out here, so many women
who really look up to someone like you, the people
who get to start right at the starting line, right?
It's a dream for so many people out there. What's
your advice to somebody who, maybe he's out there with
a dream of getting to the point of being able
to run as a seeded athlete at an event like
(22:10):
this, or just wants to find a new level and
set a PR? What's the best advice you can give them?
Kim Conley (22:16):
Running really takes consistency, and it's just the more you
put into the sport, the more you're going to get
out in the long term. Right now, especially with the New York
Marathon on the horizon for a lot of people, especially
in this area, I'm on the phone almost daily with
people that are asking me, " When should I start training?"
And my answer is always, " Today." Because the sooner you
start, the more it's going to build on itself, and
(22:37):
the better you're going to feel, the more confident you're
going to feel, when race day comes.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:40):
All right, so there's the advice. You're going to run
the marathon in November, start training today. Well, I think
you all did just start training today. So congratulations. You've all
just taken Kim's advice and started training today. Well done.
You coach as well, right?
Kim Conley (22:54):
That's right, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:55):
Talk about that. How many athletes are you coaching?
Kim Conley (22:57):
We have about a hundred and fifty athletes in our
business right now, Next Best Run. A lot of them
are actually based in this area, and we do a
special program for the New York Marathon called Next Level
New York, and we have a lot of fun. We come out
here as often as we can, because we love the
running community. It's so thriving.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:14):
Are you your own coach, or do you have another coach?
Kim Conley (23:17):
So I'm coached by my husband Drew Wartenburg, who also
coaches in the business.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:21):
How does that coaching practice help you as a runner?
Do you feel like you're learning something by teaching others?
Kim Conley (23:27):
It's definitely given me a way greater sense of purpose
with my training. I'm definitely the type of athlete that
can be a little bit of a knucklehead and just
think that in every situation, faster is better. But there's
a lot of nuance to training in terms of accomplishing
what you're supposed to accomplish with a physiological system in
the body. And so because I'm explaining that so often
to people now, I find in my own training, I'm
(23:49):
a little bit better about adhering to my own advice.
Rob Simmelkjaer (23:52):
All right, well Kim, congratulations on a great day today,
finishing on the podium for the second straight year, and
we look forward to seeing you at the MasterCard Mini
10K. Congratulations.
Kim Conley (24:03):
Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer (24:04):
Kim Conley, everybody. Our second place women's finisher today in the RBC
Brooklyn Half. Thank you very much. All right, we're going
to wrap up today with a special minute from our
friends at the Hospital for Special Surgery, HSS. Our friend
from HSS Jason Mayerhofer is here. Jason is a doctor
(24:26):
of physical therapy from HSS with a lot of letters
after his name, including PT, DPT, MTC, STC, CSCS, SFMA. I
don't know what most of these things are. PT, I
know what that one is. But he's got 18 years
of experience working with athletes who've had injuries of the
(24:48):
kind a lot of you out there have probably experienced.
Hips, knees, ankles, all the things that runners get. Jason,
nice to have you here on Set the Pace. Welcome.
Jason Mayerhofer (24:57):
Thank you so much. It's great being here. Beautiful day,
even a little sprinkle to cool things off, but appreciate it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (25:03):
All right Jason, we're looking at a sea of humanity
right now, thousands of runners who have just completed the RBC
Brooklyn Half. What is the first thing that all of
these people out here should do when they get home?
Jason Mayerhofer (25:18):
Everyone listen up. Don't run. Rest. Please take at least seven to 10
days off, let your body recover a little bit, both
mentally and physically, and then you can start to ramp
back up again. But please, they need to rest, need
to recover, focus on nutrition, hydration. Think everyone should be
(25:39):
in a good place at that point.
Rob Simmelkjaer (25:41):
How long do you think you should typically take off
after running a half- marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer (25:46):
It's speculative. Some places will say each mile that you
run, you take a day off. Doing 13 miles, take
a couple of weeks off. I think that's a little excessive,
but I think what it boils down to, you really
just got to listen to your body. If your body
says you're ready to run again, you can start to
ramp up. Wearables are a big thing nowadays, so lots
of recovery sores that may come about, really focus on
(26:09):
that and see if your body's prepped for running again.
Rob Simmelkjaer (26:12):
What about icing? What about icing? Some people like an
ice bath or a cold plunge. Do you think that's
a must- do within a few hours after running a
long distance like that?
Jason Mayerhofer (26:24):
Actually I tend to steer away from that, because it
actually stiffen you up a little bit. You know? As
Kim had to try to get up, it's a little
bit rough when you have to be static. With ice,
you're actually going to really constrict your blood vessels. You're
really looking to pump all of the toxins and metabolites
that form out of the system. So icing for right now,
(26:47):
I would steer away from it. Key, just move, move,
move. Don't sit, don't get too static.
Rob Simmelkjaer (26:53):
Should people out there... And we're now, maybe it could
be an hour after most people have finished, some more
if they were faster, maybe even two hours. Should folks
be stretching immediately after finishing, later in the evening? What's
your stretching advice?
Jason Mayerhofer (27:09):
Yeah, absolutely. I think stretching after activity is good. I
wouldn't stretch before. You're looking to do dynamic warmups before,
but definitely stretching after, foam rolling after. You could even
do some functional movements, squatting, lunges, things like that, just to
get blood flow, get some fluid exchange to your joints.
I think that's healthy.
Rob Simmelkjaer (27:27):
And what about, there's a lot of cross- training options,
you know, swimming, weight lifting. Are all those things good
to start right after running like this? Especially if you're
planning on entering another training cycle, maybe for a fall marathon.
Jason Mayerhofer (27:40):
Absolutely, yeah. I cross- training's critical. I find a lot of runners that
come into our clinic tend to be running four or
five, six days a week. I actually steer against that.
I actually want people to run two to three days
a week and do some cross- training in the interim,
as well as strength training, to really have a nice
balance in their training system, not develop overuse injuries and
(28:02):
things like that. So yeah, I highly encourage swimming, any
sort of cross- training.
Rob Simmelkjaer (28:05):
I've actually talked to a few runners today who did
not have the day they had hoped to have because
of the humidity, right? It was warm, it was humid.
What's your message to those runners in terms of how
to be maybe better prepared for these kinds of conditions
in the future? Again, we're here in the Northeast, you
(28:26):
can get a humid day any time between March and
November, you could get a day like this. What do
you think are some lessons the runners can learn if
they may be crashed a little bit today because of
the humidity?
Jason Mayerhofer (28:38):
Yeah, I think it's really unpredictable with the weather, especially
for this run. But I think you can learn from
it. You can go back and process your times, how
you ran, how you felt with those. I think afterwards
you can also, especially if you're going to be training for the
full marathon, hire a coach. That could be beneficial. They
could help break down things. You can revisit your hydration
(29:01):
and nutrition during the run, really see if that was
a deficit for you. But I think that the mental fortitude
that you get to develop as well. Some people like
to sign up for another interim run, just to boost
their confidence a little bit. So the mental and the
physical is just as important to capitalize on.
Rob Simmelkjaer (29:18):
All right, we're just under six months out from the TCS
New York City Marathon. For folks out there who just
ran today, who are planning on training for November, when
should they start? We talked about taking a break. Of
course it depends on the fitness level, experience, but when
do you think is the window when people should start
really focusing on a block for the marathon?
Jason Mayerhofer (29:40):
Yeah, I think now is actually the perfect time. I
would obviously, like we just discussed, focus on your recovery for
now. Give it a couple weeks, and then you can
start to kick it into high gear in June. But
really, really, really monitor your system, monitor your body. If
something doesn't feel right, don't wait for too long to
get it looked at. I give it a couple weeks,
(30:01):
and if you're having persistent pain, seek out a medical specialist.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:05):
All right, Jason, thank you very much, appreciate it. Great
advice. Jason Mayerhofer from Hospital for Special Surgery.
Jason Mayerhofer (30:12):
Thank you Rob.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:13):
Thanks, good luck to everybody out there on your recoveries.
And I just want to say once again, congratulations to
everybody out there for completing the RBC Brooklyn Half. Hey,
if you don't already listen to our podcast, Set the
Pace, now's a great time to start. You can just go
right in your phone, look it up. We're on Apple
(30:35):
Podcasts, we're on Spotify. You can follow, subscribe, leave a
rating right now, and then you'll be able to listen to
this special episode a little bit later on today. We'd
love to have you. We publish an episode every single
Thursday, and it's a great companion to your long runs,
your short runs, your bedtime, your drive, whatever it might
(30:56):
be. So please join us. Thanks for joining us. Thanks
to all of our guests today, Alan Bersten, Kim Conley,
and Jason Mayerhofer from HSS. Have a great trip back
to wherever you're from. Thanks for running, congrats, and we'll
see you next week on Set the Pace. Enjoy the miles.
(31:28):
New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a
vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the
transformative power of running. The support of members and donors
like you helps us achieve our mission to transform the
health and wellbeing of our communities through inclusive and accessible
running experiences, empowering all to achieve their potential. Learn more
(31:50):
and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
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