This week, Rob and Becs are joined by Matt James. Known for his unforgettable season on The Bachelor, Matt has traded roses for running shoes as he gears up for his fourth (in a row) TCS New York City Marathon. He played Division 1 NCAA football at Wake Forest University and now has turned into an endurance sports athlete. His move to marathons has proved successful, shaving two hours off his marathon time in two years! Matt shares his running journey on this week’s episode as he tries to chase down that ever-elusive sub three-hour marathon finish and talks about how running a marathon compares to being on The Bachelor. And for the second week in a row, our Member Moment features one of this year’s 26 Team Inspire runners, Sovena Ngeth, who is running her first marathon on November 3 and fundraising for Apex for Youth.
LINKS:
Sovena's Fundraising Page for Apex Youth
FOLLOW NYRR: Instagram | Facebook | X | TikTok
SUPPORT: Support the Set the Pace podcast! If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
DISCLAIMER
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Becs Gentry (00:00):
Take your running to the next level with the Peloton
Tread+, featuring a rubberized shock- absorbing slap belt, it's designed
to optimize your runs and walks to the fullest potential.
With classes designed and led by expert level coaches, you'll
get the guidance you need to reach your running goals.
Whether you're just a beginner or consider yourself a pro
runner, Peloton is here to support and challenge you every
(00:23):
step of the way. All access membership separate. Learn more
about Peloton Tread at onepeloton. com/ running. Peloton, the official
digital fitness partner for New York Road Runners.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Thank you, New York. Today we're reminded of the power
of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on your mark.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
The first woman to finish for the second straight year here
in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling Miki
Gorman, and why not? 2
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the
USA he so proudly wears across his chest. A great
day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:19):
Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Set the
Pace presented by Peloton. It's the official podcast of New
York Road Runners. Great to have you with us. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer, the CEO of New York Road Runners joined
as always by the one and only Becs Gentry of
Peloton fame and also of sore foot suffering. The last
(01:39):
time we checked in, Becs, I know you stubbed that
toe on the bed...
Becs Gentry (01:44):
Ah, (inaudible) .
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:45):
... as you're trying to get ready for this seven
marathons on seven continents in seven days extravaganza in November.
Have you been able to get a little recovery? How
are you doing? Are you back on the road?
Becs Gentry (01:56):
Yeah, yeah. Listen, I don't like the end of my bed.
You should see how wide I take those corners now,
and I haven't put the blinds up or down in
a week, but I... Yeah, you know what? It's taken
its sweet time to heal. I'm very impatient. I'm very
Aries. I want it to be overnight. I'm like, cool, I did
(02:17):
it, and tomorrow it's going to be fine, that, it
doesn't happen. So I'm back on the road. I have
been running. I've said to my coach, " Let's go on
Sunday." And so the past two days I've got my
miles in, and it's okay. I'm not saying it's healed,
it's not great, but it's okay. And I'm going to
(02:37):
get so much more uncomfortable, Rob. These seven marathons, I'm
going to be so uncomfortable that this is a little
taste, I think, of what's to come. I can get
it done. I'm pain- free enough that eight hours is
ample for 26.2. So yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (02:54):
I can't think of anything more uncomfortable than what you're
going to do, seven marathons on seven continents in seven
days. So yeah, a little toe pain as you're going
through these training miles. You're right, that probably is some
good mental preparation for you, and so good. I'm glad
you're back out running and feeling good out there. And Becs,
a lot of people were running and feeling really good
(03:16):
at the Chicago Marathon this past weekend.
Becs Gentry (03:19):
What a weekend.
Rob Simmelkjaer (03:20):
Congratulations to everybody who ran. We had so many New
York Road Runners members out there running. Of course, a
lot of people use Chicago, those who are into this
multiple marathons in a fall season, folks will use Chicago
as a training run for New York in some cases,
or maybe they run hard in Chicago and then run
New York as more of a fun pace. But it
(03:40):
was a great day out there. I wasn't there, but
I saw so much on social, and of course, Becs,
the big story out of Chicago, a new world record
on the women's side. Ruth Chepngetich, 2
previous world record by more than two minutes. This was
(04:03):
incredible. What an accomplishment there.
Becs Gentry (04:06):
What an accomplishment to see her smooth sail. And I
mean, this is an outsider. I have no idea, and I don't
think anyone other than Ruth will ever know what was
going on inside her, but she looked like she happily
ran over that finish line, and all of the press interviews,
(04:27):
all the other moments that I saw her be present
for the rest of the world for the rest of
Sunday, she was vibrant, and I didn't see her hobbling.
It was just mind- blowing to take those two minutes
off the time and just to see the power that
is within humans. Last year, the record was broken last
(04:52):
year at Berlin for the women's marathon of 2
53. So it's just, yeah, my brain cannot get around
it yet. I'm still in awe of this fabulous human.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:03):
Just to see the clips at which these records are
being broken these days, and who knows, is it the
shoes? But it's just incredible. I mean, just looking at
these results in Chicago, the previous course record was just
set there last year by Sifan Hassan at three hour,
sorry, 2
(05:26):
minutes, sets a new world record, and of course this
is a year after the men's world record was set
in Chicago a year ago by Kelvin Kiptum. So Chicago
turning into the place where records fall, and it was
just really something to see.
Becs Gentry (05:41):
Spectacular.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:42):
So congratulations to everybody in Chicago, to Ruth obviously such
a special thing for them to be a part of.
I was also want to give congrats to Carey Pinkowski,
the race director out there in Chicago who, for the
second straight year, had a chance to embrace a world
record holder. Of course, we're all thinking of Kelvin Kiptum
at this time as well who set it, and of
(06:02):
course we lost him since that happened. But an incredible
day in Chicago. On the men's side, Becs, it was
John Korir of Kenya finishing at 2
win, and on the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug of course getting
it done, 1
Becs Gentry (06:20):
What a champ.
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:20):
And it was Catherine Debrunner on the women's side, a course record of 1:36:12.
Becs Gentry (06:24):
Another record. Just phenomenal, everybody, absolutely phenomenal. But we can't forget
what happened here as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:34):
That's right. As we now are getting so perfectly focused
on the TCS New York City Marathon coming up in
just over two weeks from the day that this podcast
debuts, we had our last big race of the Five
Borough Series this past weekend, the Staten Island half, always
a great day, and it was a picture perfect weather
(06:55):
day on Staten Island. Over 9, 000 runners toed the line.
Becs Gentry (07:01):
Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:02):
And it was great. If you haven't run this race,
it's such a special race. I ran it last year.
The views, the vibe, it's so much fun, especially that
second half of the race, the views you get in
Manhattan are really spectacular. Such a fun race, and some
great results from all the runners there. The winners, it
was Roberta Groner, the legendary.
Becs Gentry (07:21):
Legend, legend.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:22):
And ageless, Roberta Groner with a win at 1
14 for Central Park Track Club. The non- binary winner
was Elijah Taylor at 1:16
was Sisay Fekadu Berhanu with 1:06
Becs Gentry (07:39):
Oh, my gosh.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:39):
Just a great day, and a lot of folks there getting
ready, that's maybe their last long run or their tacking
on some miles after Staten Island, so you saw a
lot of people running the marathon using Staten Island to
start to get ready.
Becs Gentry (07:54):
So I'm going to have to sign up for it next
year. It's one every year that I want to do,
but there's always something else like this year, but next
year, Rob, I'm going to do it because it looks
so much fun. All of the pictures I saw people were
having such a beautiful day, and as you said, the
sun was shining, the weather was picture perfect for running.
(08:14):
So congrats, everyone, and then here we are, here we go. It's literally
a matter of days now until the TCS New York City Marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer (08:23):
It's right there, Becs. Our staff is so focused on it.
Obviously the runners are so focused on it. We are
in crunch time. And speaking of that, we've got a
great conversation coming up with one of your fellow runners
if you are running on November 3rd, Matt James. Now,
you might know Matt because he was of course The
(08:43):
Bachelor. He was the first African- American ever to be
The Bachelor on that long- running hit reality show on
ABC. Also, he was a former NCAA football player, and
now he's preparing to run his fourth TCS New York
City Marathon, shooting to go sub- three hours for the
first time. So we got a really fun conversation with
(09:04):
Matt coming up about his time both as a bachelor
and now as a marathoner as well. So that's coming up in
just a minute. And then for our second week in
a row, our member moment will feature one of this
year's Team Inspire runners. Of course, Team Inspire is a
group of 26 runners with inspirational stories that we feature
here leading into the marathon. Sovena Ngeth is a Cambodian-
(09:27):
American runner from Union City, New Jersey, and she will
be running her first ever marathon on November 3rd. She's
got an interesting story. She was raised in a family
that really didn't think sports were safe. They did not
really encourage her running at all, but Sovena discovered it
during the pandemic, and now here she is running her
(09:47):
first marathon to support Apex for Youth, which is an
organization that empowers underserved Asian and immigrant youth. So Meb
will be here to speak with Sovena, and then of
course, since we're almost there, Meb will be right back with
this week's Meb Minute where we're going to get his
tips for week 14 of training for the TCS New
(10:09):
York City Marathon.
Becs Gentry (10:10):
It takes a lot to grow your business, a lot
of audience attracting, a lot of lead scoring, and all
the channel managing you can manage, plus a lot of
long days, late nights and weekends, a lot of wishing
there was an easier way, but with HubSpot's new collection
of AI tools, Breeze, it's easier than ever for marketers
(10:31):
to attract audiences, increase leads, and score customers fast, which
means pretty soon your company will have a lot to
celebrate. Visit hubspot. com/ marketers to learn more.
Rob Simmelkjaer (10:44):
Today we have a guest who is not just a
reality TV star, but also a legitimate athlete and a
very fast runner who's on a long- term quest for
marathon glory. Matt James, known for his unforgettable season as
The Bachelor has traded roses for running shoes as he
gears up for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Matt's not just
(11:06):
a very fast runner, he's a football player. He played
division one football at Wake Forest, and now has turned
into an endurance sports athlete, and he is here to
share his journey as he tries to chase down that
ever elusive sub- three hour marathon finish. Matt James, you
do not lack talent, speed, athletic, you're a reality star.
(11:30):
I mean, what do you not do? Welcome to Set the
Pace. Great to have you here.
Matt James (11:35):
It's good to be here. What's up? What's up, Rob?
What's up, Becs?
Becs Gentry (11:38):
It is so fun to have you here. Seriously, that was the best introduction
I've had in a while there, Rob. That was (inaudible) .
Matt James (11:45):
Yeah, that was nice. I need to bring Rob around
more often. This is great. Any room I enter into,
I need Rob there with me.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:52):
I mean, come on. He's got the looks, he's got
the talent, he's got the fame, he's got it all,
and he's bringing it to the starting line of our
marathon this year, which we are so excited about. I
guess I have to start by asking you, Matt, okay, you were a
wide receiver, obviously a very talented athlete. You don't see
too many folks going from the football field to the
(12:15):
marathon. What was it that even got you thinking about
running marathons?
Matt James (12:21):
Well, yeah, that's a great question. I think that it started out with
I've always ran track. When I was little, I ran
for the Durham Eagles, I ran for the Junior Striders,
and as football and basketball started to pick up, I
started to take those a little bit more serious, and
(12:41):
I was trying to put on weight so I couldn't
run the 400 and the 800 I had been doing my whole life.
Then when I got to high school, I actually trained
with our cross country team in the summer, and my
coach put it into that once my role started to
(13:02):
pick up on the football team. So I've always had
a love for running and an appreciation for track and
field field. I was fortunate enough to get out to
the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Paralympics. I just have
such an admiration for those type of athletes, and I
love to compete, I love to watch people compete, so
(13:23):
when that football journey was over, I needed a new
avenue to push myself and compete.
Becs Gentry (13:30):
Wow. But the crossover is real, right? I think once
you love the sport, especially football, and I'm not going
to pretend to know too much about American football, British football.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:40):
What we here in America call football. Yes.
Becs Gentry (13:42):
Football, yes. I can talk about what you guys call
soccer, but it's a foot sport, so you are running
a lot. Those pitches are... Are they called pitches? Yeah, huge.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:56):
Fields.
Becs Gentry (13:56):
Fields, there you go.
Matt James (13:57):
Yeah, yeah. We'll take it.
Becs Gentry (13:58):
See, know nothing. They're huge, they're really, really big. So
you've got that sort of endurance for, again, I don't
know how long those games are because I swear every
time I watch one it goes on longer than the
last one I watched.
Matt James (14:10):
Right?
Becs Gentry (14:11):
But it's a lot, so I can imagine, and I
want to ask you when you decided to run a
marathon, and just so everyone knows, this is your fourth
TCS New York City Marathon?
Matt James (14:25):
I'm going to have to defer to Rob. I don't remember. They all
kind of flow together after a while. I know that...
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:34):
It is his fourth. I'm looking it up right now.
Becs Gentry (14:37):
There we go.
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:37):
His first was in '21. Not only is it his fourth, but it's
actually his fourth in a row.
Becs Gentry (14:42):
Fourth consecutive?
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:42):
So '21, '22, '23. This will be four in a row
for Mr. James.
Becs Gentry (14:48):
Wow. So what made you think, okay, I'm going to
go from football to marathon? Where was the 5K, 10K half- marathon?
Matt James (14:59):
Right. I ran a marathon before I ran a 10K or
a half- marathon. One of my buddies was going to
run, and I think that the idea of running 26
miles to anyone is very daunting, especially my buddy. And
when he signed up, he's like, " You should do this
(15:21):
with me." And I was crazy enough to say yes.
And I think a lot of first time marathon runners under-
trained, didn't really know what I was getting myself into,
and it was one of the hardest, dumbest things I
ever did. And I told myself I'd never do it
again. And here we are.
Becs Gentry (15:43):
Four times later.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:43):
Becs, when you listen to Matt tell this story and then
you look at his times, they really do align with
what he's saying, okay, because the first time Matt James
ran the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021, his
time was 5
Becs Gentry (16:02):
Stop.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:03):
Respectable for a first time marathoner...
Becs Gentry (16:05):
Very good.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:05):
... who hadn't trained...
Becs Gentry (16:06):
Absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:06):
... with his athletic ability, very respectable, right?
Becs Gentry (16:09):
Fits the bill, fits the bill. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:10):
A year later, Becs, he shaves off an hour and
15 minutes from that time. He went from an 11:32
pace to an 8
46, and then a year after that, 3
03 per mile. So I mean, I've looked at some marathon results
in my life, I have never seen somebody shave two
(16:31):
hours off of a marathon time in two years.
Becs Gentry (16:36):
Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:36):
It just shows you the athletic ability that is there and
that really needed to be untapped through learning how to
train for a marathon, Matt. So I mean, the results are
kind of shocking when you really look at them.
Matt James (16:50):
Rob, Becs, peer pressure is a very strong motivator, and
when you go out and... I was embarrassed because I set
a bar for myself athletically at a certain rate. Not
that my time was embarrassing. It's just a lot of
(17:11):
running to not be satisfied with the outcome. And I
told myself after that first one, I'm like, " Man, I
cannot do this to my body again and not be
proud of the product that I put forward." So you
learn a little bit more with every year, and here
we are trying to go under three hours this year.
Becs Gentry (17:33):
Whoa. I mean, going back to Rob's digging here as
a CEO, he's allowed to do that, that two hour
difference is huge. And as you said, I love what
said that there's a lot of running to not be proud
of it, and I know a lot of our listeners out
(17:54):
there will run that time and are very proud of
it, but I think from an individual standpoint, you've kind
of just taken away the time element there by saying
it's a lot of running to not be proud of. So
it doesn't matter what your time actually is, it's whether
you're proud of the time that it took you to
run 26.2 miles, and it's crazy, two hours, so now,
(18:20):
the 3
Matt James (18:21):
Yes, and I think you made a great point, and I think that,
not to put myself in this class, but when you
think about elite marathon runners, and we just had the
Chicago Marathon last weekend, you had men and women running
two hours and nine minute marathons and going to social
(18:42):
media and talking about how disappointed they were, and as
someone outside looking in, you're like, how could you possibly
be disappointed with that? And that goes back to what
my example of running a five- hour marathon, for a
lot of people, it just matters what your benchmark is
and what your goal is and what your expectations are.
And when you set goals and expectations for yourself, that's
(19:07):
the type of standard that you hold yourself to. And
it's scary every year, every year before the marathon, I
get nervous because the benchmark continues to move forward in
terms of wanting to run a faster time because you're
(19:28):
more knowledgeable about the course, you have a better idea of
the fueling process, just everything that goes into running a marathon
and preparing. So by default, you're going to want to
run faster and expect to run faster. So yeah, that's
not to take anything away from anybody, it's just me
personally on that quest for under three hours.
Rob Simmelkjaer (19:52):
It's all completely relative. That's just the way it is.
In New York, we keep our finish line open later
than any other major marathon because we love celebrating people
coming in at 9, 10 hours, and for them it's a
huge accomplishment because that's what their goal was, to finish,
and so it's all relative. That's one of the things that's so
(20:13):
great about this sport is that we can all have
our own goals, our own wins, our own challenges. Sometimes
even when you don't meet the goal, that's part of
what's great about it because now you've got something to
fuel you and fire you for the next time, and
you have used that fuel and that fire for some
very dramatic improvements in your times, and we can't wait
(20:35):
to see where it goes from here. Okay Matt, I've
been trying in getting ready for this interview, trying to
find a good metaphor between being The Bachelor and running
marathons, right? I'm trying to figure out what is the
crossover between being The Bachelor and having dozens of women
competing essentially to be your choice and then running a
(21:00):
marathon, and I can't come up with one, I've got nothing. Can
you come up with something that you feel the two
things have in common?
Matt James (21:07):
You know what, Rob, I think that there actually couldn't
be a better comparison between being The Bachelor and running the
marathon from multiple aspects, and we'll walk through three of
them. The first one being that I don't think anyone
ever knows what to expect, that's being The Bachelor, that's
(21:29):
running a marathon. You have an idea from what previous people
have run a marathon, previous people who have been The
Bachelor or The Bachelorette or a lead told you what
to expect, but ultimately you just have to go out
there and do it and be your own... run your
own race, be that person, and it's never what anyone
told you how it was going to go. And there's
(21:49):
hurdles that come along the way that you've just got
to deal with. It's never going to be a perfect
race. I'd say very rarely, it's never going to be
the perfect scenario with maybe falling for somebody that you
never thought you'd see yourself with or telling multiple... not
(22:11):
in my situation, but you have bachelors telling multiple people
they love them. Just things that could be problematic, always
tend to pop up. Same with the marathon. So that's the first thing.
The second thing is that-
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:25):
Expect the unexpected, Matt, is really what you're saying.
Matt James (22:26):
Expect the unexpected.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:28):
Okay, that makes sense.
Matt James (22:30):
Yeah, I would say the second thing, I guess, I'd
say two things. The first one and then the second
thing is that it's a marathon. It literally is a
marathon. You start out that process, and you have, again,
you have people who jumped the gun and may express
strong feelings for multiple people very quickly, that can end
(22:53):
up being problematic. Same thing with the marathon. If you start
out too quickly, it's going to end up biting you
in the butt at the end when you don't have
the legs to finish the race. So you've just got
to take your time. I had to take my time
in that process and make sure that I was doing
all the right vetting because you don't have access to
your phone or the computer or friends or family, so
(23:14):
you're just kind of in this bubble trying to figure
out if how you feel is real and just assess
what's going on because it's foreign. Again, same with the
marathon. Once you're in that situation, there's no going back,
and you've got to make real time adjustments, and yeah,
(23:36):
I would say they're both pretty similar. It's actually a
great comparison.
Becs Gentry (23:40):
Wow. I love that, how you've just linked that together because all those
things you just said are so true, the don't jump in too
soon, great, greatest analogy ever, especially for TCS New York
City Marathon. Don't go down that Verrazano Bridge off ramp
too fast (inaudible) .
Matt James (23:58):
Oh, yeah.
Becs Gentry (24:00):
Oh, my gosh, that's perfect. Okay, before we talk more,
more about marathons, I'm going to hold us here on
The Bachelor side of things. Now, when I first met
you, Matt, I think was earlier this year when we
first met properly at the Olympic trials.
Matt James (24:16):
Yeah, in Orlando.
Becs Gentry (24:17):
In Orlando, that was it. And yeah, I was like, " Oh,
yeah, I think I know him." I wasn't necessarily here
when your... No, I was here when you were on
The Bachelor, but it wasn't a show that I watched,
but I was like, " Yeah, I think I know him. Isn't
he a Lululemon runner?" And all my friends just fell
about laughing. They were like, " That's met James from The Bachelor."
I was like, " English, don't really know." So yeah, I was like, " Yeah,
(24:41):
he's a Lulu runner. (inaudible) , he ran the marathon
last year," and I was lucky enough to be at the
finish line when you and Shalane came over last year.
It was fantastic to see. But we'll get to that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (24:50):
Shalane Flanagan who paced (inaudible) .
Becs Gentry (24:52):
Just cash, just cash. We're going to dive into that
guys, don't worry, don't worry. I'm not going to miss a chance to
talk about Shalane, but I want to talk about your
life since The Bachelor is food. And I would say
I have asked you so many times via Instagram. Now I'm like, yeah,
now Matt's my buddy, Matt's my friend. I am constantly, "
(25:16):
Where is that place? What is that place called?" I'm like, " I'm in
Tokyo." I'm like, " Hey, Matt, what was that sushi place
that you and Rachel went to?" Just like he's now my food guru.
And your YouTube is huge, your social is huge, and
it is not like gratuitous pictures of you without clothes
on. It is you and Rachel around the world eating
(25:40):
some of the most amazing food, and just so cute
and honest, and what's next for you on that level?
Matt James (25:49):
Yeah, that's funny. I don't think a lot of people
know this, but before I was on The Bachelor, or
I guess I was The Bachelor, I've always had a
love for food, and I actually started a nonprofit in
New York City called ABC Food Tours to bring underprivileged
(26:13):
students in the city to restaurants across New York City
that I love. And I didn't grow up in a strong
financial situation, so eating out to me was a treat.
And the older I got, the more I got to
experience that, and it changed my outlook on travel and
on being able to relate to people, and I wanted
(26:34):
to provide that experience for kids. And so that's where
ABC Food Tours was founded. We work students all over
the city. We've gone to different countries, different states, and
we bridge that gap between students in underserved communities and
fine dining. And they're meeting these restaurateurs that have similar
(26:55):
backgrounds to theirs, whether they're immigrants, whether they came from
low socioeconomic situations, didn't graduate. Just it's an amazing way
to educate students on culture and cuisine. So that was
before The Bachelor. And so I've always loved food. I've always
(27:17):
had an appreciation for food, admiration for food, restaurateurs. And
I'd say that when you get to do something like
be The Bachelor, it does change your life, but in
ways that you let it, in terms of it amplifies
the person that you are or the person that you
want to be, whether that's you want to go do
more reality TV shows and go on Survivor, who knows,
(27:40):
do whatever you want to do, or it gives you
the opportunity, i. e., if you're in food to open
more doors to travel and share your food journey with
other people, or the opportunity to participate in marathons and
(28:00):
run with former New York City Marathon winners like Shalane
Flanagan. It's opened up so many doors and places that
you let it do that. And for me, it's shown
itself the most in my life from a food and
fitness standpoint, so.
Becs Gentry (28:18):
So well, there's going to be more, there's going to
be more, people, watch out.
Matt James (28:20):
There's going to be more, especially after the marathon, that's when I really go
in, that's when I really get to... There's certain things
that I've cut out of the diet right now because
it just, certain foods... I don't know. When I get
into that training regimen, certain foods sit on my stomach
differently, and I just cut a lot of things out of my diet.
(28:44):
My body doesn't respond well to it. So come day
after marathon, that is when the feasting begins.
Becs Gentry (28:54):
Oh, my gosh. Can't wait.
Rob Simmelkjaer (28:54):
For some of us, it goes all through marathon training
and beyond. There's a lot of opportunities for eating during
a marathon training block, so I'm sure you're bringing in
the calories you need. But it is interesting when you
talked about as a football player, you did need to
put on weight, right? I mean, you're out there with
some big guys, you got to be able to take
(29:16):
a hit, make a block, things like that. Bulk and
weight really does matter on a football field, even for
a receiver, right? And now in a marathon situation, that
extra weight isn't necessarily something that you're looking to have.
How have you noticed your body responding differently, Matt? And
how do you feel differently between your time as an
(29:39):
athlete on the football field and your time as an
athlete on the road running 26.2?
Matt James (29:45):
That's a great question, Rob. You know how you can
go, I don't know, six months at times without seeing
extended friends and family the older you get. When you're
younger, I feel like you see all your friends every
holiday. You're making a lot of time for those type
(30:07):
of connections. And the older you get, life comes at
you, and you go four months, six months at a
time without seeing some of those close people in your
life. I use that as an example because when I
have those interactions with people after those long extended periods,
people are looking at me like something's wrong with me
(30:29):
because of the changes that my body's made. They're like, "
Matt, are you okay? Are you sick? What's going on with
your body?" Because when I played football, when I played
collegiate football, my weight fluctuated from... I was 205. No,
I was 195 pounds as a freshman, and then at
my peak as a senior, I was 265 pounds.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:50):
Wow.
Matt James (30:51):
That's like a 70 pound, I think, yeah, that's around 70
pounds of fluctuation in there. That mold is there, it
hasn't gone anywhere. So my body's capable of carrying that
weight if I fuel it in that way and train
in that way. So I'm susceptible to gain 20, 30 pounds
(31:15):
in a month, and I'm susceptible to lose it, but
with the running, I consistently keep that weight off, and
I'm back down to the weight I was as a
freshman from my freshman year of college to senior year
of high school. So I kind of fluctuate around that 195,
205 range. And when people see me who haven't seen
(31:37):
me in years, they look at me like something's wrong
with me because they're used to... The training's changed. I'm not
lifting weights anymore. For five and a half years I
was power cleaning, I was heavy squatting, I was deadlifting.
We had college training table where you're eating four meals
(31:58):
a day. My lifestyle has changed. I've replaced the heavy
lifting with running, and my body's made adjustments accordingly, and
it's all in an effort to be the most efficient
runner that Matt is trying to be, not the strongest,
most durable football player. And I've embraced that. There are
(32:21):
different aches and pains, but it's nice to have something,
a goal to work towards and to train for as
you come out of being a collegiate athlete. It's nice.
Becs Gentry (32:35):
Wow, I love that. The fluctuation is huge, like your
marathon times.
Matt James (32:42):
For sure.
Becs Gentry (32:42):
So talk us through your marathon training now. We've got,
what is it, two weeks, just over two weeks when this
episode drops until the race. What has your training been
like for this, your fourth TCS New York City Marathon?
Matt James (32:58):
The training block has been phenomenal. I've got the best
coach in Julia Lucas who is or was a Lululemon
ambassador and is the coach of a Lululemon running training
program for the New York City Marathon along with other
marathons. It's called the No Name Program. And her and
(33:21):
another Lululemon ambassador, Coffey, do a fantastic job training mostly
first time runners of all pace groups to be ready
for a marathon. And that's from people who might be some
of those last finishers when the finish line's open super
late to some of those people who are trying to
break sub- three. And she, in her own right, is
(33:44):
a fantastic runner, has competed against some of the best
runners in the world. So having a coach has been
the game changer for me. Just having someone who you
can text, reach out to and be like, " Is it
normal to hurt?" They're like, " Yeah, marathons are hard. You're
going to hurt." " Hey, is it normal that my hamstrings
are sore? What should I do? Why do I hate
(34:05):
running three weeks out from the marathon?" " Hey, I don't
think I've done enough to prepare." All the things we
think about as runners and people getting ready for a
marathon, having that coach to bounce those scary thoughts off
of and have them talk you back down off the
ledge is been, for my mental health, so beyond liberating
(34:28):
and just amazing, as well as the physical aspect of
someone who can put together and structure a training program
to put you in a position to be competitive, to
hit your goal more so than something that you generate
off of a Google website that you found about how
to run fast. It's like that human element of coaching,
(34:51):
making real- time adjustments to your training based off your
health, how you feel. It's just been a game changer.
And when, not if, when I go sub- three, she
will be, Julia, one of the biggest people to credit
in the doing of that. So I'm very fortunate to
have coaching like that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (35:13):
It makes sense, Matt, to me that coaching would be
a big game changer for you because you were a
football player, you're used to being coached, you had head
coaches and offensive coordinators and wide receiver coaches and coaches
your whole life, so coaching, you're coachable, right? I mean,
you get what it means to have a coach and
(35:34):
know how to respond to what a coach says, so
it makes a lot of sense. One thing I'm really
curious about, I play team sports, I play baseball, not
at the level you played football, but I play baseball,
and it's such a different thing as a team sport
athlete in a sport like football where you're always around
other people, your practices are a lot of short bursts,
(35:56):
right? You're running short bursts, you're catching, you're doing sprints,
you're in the weight room, whereas with marathons, okay, you
are with a coach, but I mean, there's a lot
of time where you're just there and you're just in
your head and you are just going and going. It
is not short bursts at all. It is these long,
long runs. Has it been a challenge to make that
(36:19):
adjustment from the kind of practice and work you had
to do then to what you have to do now?
Matt James (36:25):
Rob, it's the biggest adjustment because you have to remind
yourself why you do it. I have to remind myself
why I do it. I'm a very logical person, and
if there's ever a point when I'm doing something and
I don't feel like I have a logical reason or
explanation for doing it, then I'm not going to do
it anymore. So when I'm running, I'm like, " Why am
(36:45):
I doing this? Why am I forcing myself? No one's
paying me to be out here." People have jobs, obligations
for life, and that we consciously make this effort to
torture ourselves for 26 miles and for months leading up to
this. But I love the community aspect of it. I love
(37:07):
being able to be social and build community around things
outside of going to a bar, drinking, those type of
activities. I love the idea of building friend groups, networks
around those type of activities, and some of my best
(37:29):
friendships... And you spend a lot of time with these
people when you're training. And it's what I look forward
to most when I have someone like a Shalane that's going
to selflessly decide to pace me. One of the coolest
things that's ever happened to me since I've become a
runner or self- proclaimed runner is the London Marathon this
(37:50):
year. I had a goal of going under three hours,
and I had no pacer. This was my first time
running a marathon without a pacer, and I didn't know
anybody running the race. I didn't know anybody out there.
And it's the day of the race. I just am
(38:12):
going to try to pace myself. I'm just going to
hold myself to whatever time I need to hold myself
to. And I'm on a bus headed to the starting
line of the marathon, and I meet the most amazing
people ever. Tommy, Mikey Kratzer, he's a Berlin- based marathon
(38:38):
runner, and we just get to talking about running, and
he's like, " What's your goal for the day?" And I'm
like, "Oh, I want to try to go under three hours.
I've never done it." And I've never met this guy
in my life, and he's like, " Matt, I'm, I'm going
to pace you." He's like, " I'm going to get you
to that goal." And I almost brought me to tears
on the bus, these random strangers from all over the
(39:00):
world, Tommy's from Detroit, Mikey's from Berlin, and they're just
like, yeah, we got you. And they made it about pacing me.
And that's what the running community is. It's such a
selfless place to be. And there's been so many instances
I've seen that with other people on the course. It's
like if someone's hurting, if someone needs that extra motivation,
(39:23):
race day stories of complete strangers motivating and pushing people
to the finish. And that's to answer your question, those
type of interactions keep my mind off of going from
these short wind sprints to being able to endure a
long, treacherous route is having an amazing community, amazing people
(39:50):
who decide to uplift you and make a race day
experience the best. And that's why I look forward to New York every year.
Rob Simmelkjaer (39:59):
Yeah, Matt, I know exactly what you're talking about. I
had a similar experience in Berlin I've talked about on
the podcast. I ran Berlin, was struggling the last few
miles, and a New York Road Runners member who just
recognized me came along with me and Roberto, we were
running together, and helped me get through the finish line
as well. So it's amazing how people want to help
each other out there. Okay, I have to ask, since
(40:22):
you're talking about who you run with, Rachel, is she
a runner? Is she getting into running at all? Do we have
a potential running partner in Rachel? And I have to
ask for all The Bachelor fans out there. How's it going?
Matt James (40:35):
Oh, that's funny. Rachel... So I'll say this, Rachel, every
year after the marathon, she's like a lot of other
spectators is so inspired, and they're like, " I'm going to
sign up for the marathon. This was so beautiful to
watch. I want to be a part of this. I
want to participate." And if you haven't watched a marathon and
(40:58):
you're listening, I highly recommend you just go for five
minutes, and you're going to end up staying for an
hour. You're going to see people who are old, people
who are young, people who are tall, small. You're going
to see everybody. Everybody's a runner, and everyone has representation
out there on race day. So Rachel, my girlfriend, one
(41:19):
of those people-
Rob Simmelkjaer (41:19):
From The Bachelor, by the way, for those who don't know, yes.
Matt James (41:20):
Yes, from The Bachelor, we met on The Bachelor. She's like, " I'm
going to run a marathon. I want to do this," after
seeing me, and every single year after the marathon, I'm
laying in the medical tent just sprawled out, hurting, just like, "
Baby, you don't want to do this, don't put yourself
through this. This is so dumb. I'm not going to
(41:41):
do this again." And then every year I sign up
to run again because you know what? I can't stay
away from it. It's addicting. It's so much fun. It's
something that I want to be able to do as
long as my body will will itself to move, I
want to be able to run the New York City
Marathon every year. And with Rachel, I think that we
(42:02):
got to start with something that's a little bit more
palatable. So hopefully we'll get her in the Fifth Avenue
Mile next year, and then we'll go from the Fifth Ave
Mile to a fun 5K something in Central Park. I
think the 10K in the Central Park is all women.
There's a... Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer (42:21):
The Mastercard Mini 10K. Absolutely.
Becs Gentry (42:22):
The Mastercard Mini 10K.
Matt James (42:22):
Yes, the Mastercard Mini 10K.
Rob Simmelkjaer (42:22):
It's a great first race, great first kind of endurance race.
Becs Gentry (42:28):
The half the year after as well. (inaudible) .
Matt James (42:29):
So there we go. We're going to usher Rachel into
her running era through a series of New York Road
Runner events.
Becs Gentry (42:36):
Yes. I also feel like the...
Matt James (42:38):
We've got the mile.
Becs Gentry (42:38):
... the festive ones as well around the holiday season
are so cute as well. You can come in your ugly
festive jumper and a big bubble hat and get some
hot chocolate at the end. That's kind of like... I
don't know, I feel like that's a really nice excuse
to get moving when it's cold and gross here in
New York.
Matt James (42:59):
Yes. And she has a bunch of friends that have participated
in those events. So I think that the more we've
seen this influx of new runners into the running space post-
pandemic. I think the more inclusive it's become and she
(43:20):
sees more representation from people who are not typical runners
and people who fit an idea of what a runner
should be and look like, gives her more confidence in
terms of wanting to participate and be a part of
that space, which is fun to see.
Becs Gentry (43:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer (43:38):
Well, Matt, we're certainly rooting for you to accomplish your goal
on November 3rd. By the way, that London time, just
40 seconds over three hours. I think it was three hours
and 40 seconds or 41 seconds, so you're right there.
Becs Gentry (43:53):
(inaudible) .
Rob Simmelkjaer (43:53):
But of course that was London and this is New
York, and you know New York is not the easiest
course to set that PR on. How confident are you
feeling, Mr. James, in your attempt at under three hours coming up
in a couple of weeks?
Matt James (44:09):
Rob, the confidence waivers day by day. You know you
have a good run and you're like, " Ah, man, these
are sub- three legs right here." And then you'll go
out and you'll have a 10- mile run that's supposed
to be at race pace and you can barely run
race pace, and you're like, " Man, I should drop out
and just never run again. I'm not equipped for this."
(44:31):
It's such a mental battle. But I think that for
me, what prepares me to run that sub- three time
in New York this year is the tough training blocks
that I put myself through, and being able to look
back on that body of work that I put together
and be confident in that work. And that's what my
(44:51):
coach reminds me of. She's like, " Listen, look back on
your training, go back to your Strava, go back to your Coros data and look
at all the miles you've put on your legs. Look
at how well you've performed in these workouts. It's there
for you to take. You just got to show up
on race day and do it." And every training run,
every training session builds that confidence, and that's why I
(45:13):
take my training so serious now because that's all I
have to rely on when it gets to the race
and I'm dying and I'm hurting and I'm running that
mile up... I don't know what avenue that is...
Becs Gentry (45:28):
1st Ave?
Matt James (45:28):
... when you were about to head into Central Park (inaudible) .
Becs Gentry (45:30):
Off the Queensboro.
Rob Simmelkjaer (45:33):
Coming down Fifth Avenue.
Becs Gentry (45:36):
Yeah, up First Ave, down Fifth Ave.
Matt James (45:37):
Yeah, coming down Fifth Avenue.
Becs Gentry (45:37):
Yeah.
Matt James (45:41):
These training blocks prepare me, the laps that I've done
in Central Park, the hills, it pays off on marathon
day, so I'd rather punish myself now than have to
pay for it on race day.
Becs Gentry (45:53):
Yeah, absolutely. And that's a fantastic way to look at
it, and you know that the crowds in this incredible
city get you through. It's just, I mean, when we
ran, what was it, Summer Streets earlier this year, and
we shared a few very hot, very tough miles together
(46:14):
that day. I think both of us were around the 16
plus mileage and getting it done. But even then, days
like that give you a taster of the vibrancy at
the TCS New York City Marathon, and it lifts you even
when you've had a tough run, it gets you through. So
I know there's going to be 26.2 miles of people screaming
(46:35):
your name and supporting you all the way, including Rachel
and your family and friends for sure.
Matt James (46:42):
Yeah, Becs, I mean, that's the training block stories that I'm
referring to when I say I'm going to look back
on these moments and they're going to push me through
the marathon. That specific run that Becs is referring to,
I had 16 miles, six of those miles were a warm-
up, seven of those miles were to be at a
(47:05):
10K pace, so that's even faster than our marathon pace,
and then my last three miles were kind of supposed
to be recovery. They were open to interpretation if I
had the legs to just continue at that pace, and
I was dead. I wanted to walk. I had nothing
left in the tank after those first 14 miles. I
had three left. I saw Becs coming down, what is
(47:30):
that, Lexington Avenue?
Becs Gentry (47:31):
I think so, yeah.
Matt James (47:32):
And it's wide open. Summer Streets in New York, they
have it blocked off for miles, so you can just
run down the middle of the street with no cars,
no traffic.
Becs Gentry (47:40):
Cycle.
Matt James (47:40):
And those miles that I split out with Becs, those
last three miles were some of the faster miles I
ran that day because it was the peer pressure of
being around another runner. It was the sense of community
and just having someone there, a familiar face around you,
(48:05):
and it reminded me that, again, like I've said so
many times during the podcast, running is so mental. I
mentally took myself out of the run. I'm like, I
can't go any faster than I'm going. I was practically
walking, trotting, and I saw Becs, and we started going seven-
minute pace, and that's fast for me. We were moving,
(48:25):
and we're having conversation, we're talking while we're keeping this
pace, and I'm like, man, if I can just pull
this out of nowhere, that means that it's in me.
It's in there somewhere, and I need to garner that
Becs energy during my race whenever I'm feeling bad or
down and feeling sorry for myself knowing that you're capable
of doing this. You just have to remind yourself of it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (48:48):
Well, Matt, you're clearly capable. We can't wait to see
what kind of day you have, whether you break three
hours or not, it doesn't matter. You have turned yourself
into a great runner. You're obviously such a great ambassador
for the sport, and so we wish you a great day
no matter what your time. And not to put any
pressure on you, but anybody out there who wants to
(49:10):
follow this gentleman, it's Matthew James, male, 32 years old,
running for Lululemon, trackable from New York, New York on
the app. So check him out.
Becs Gentry (49:21):
Oh, my gosh.
Matt James (49:22):
Gee, thanks, Rob.
Becs Gentry (49:24):
Completely just outed your whole race there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:25):
He's The Bachelor, he's got almost a million followers on
Instagram. He's used to the attention. And Matt, you're going
to have a great day.
Becs Gentry (49:35):
You are.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:35):
We wish you luck. Thank you for hanging out with
us for a little while here, and I can't wait
to see you at the finish line on November 3rd.
Becs Gentry (49:41):
Yay.
Matt James (49:41):
And I'm looking forward to it. And good luck to all of
the other New York City Marathon runners out there. I'm
excited to share the New York City streets with y'all
in a few weeks.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:51):
All right, Matt James from bachelor to marathoner. This week's
member moment features another member of 2024's Team Inspire, Sovena Ngeth,
(50:13):
a Cambodian- American runner preparing to take on her first
marathon at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Sovena's family
journey from surviving genocide in Cambodia to building a new
life in America deeply influenced her life. And this November
3rd, she's running to honor her family's bravery and sacrifice.
(50:34):
Sovena is also a mentor with Apex for Youth, an
organization that supports underserved Asian and immigrant youth. Here's Meb
to introduce us to Sovena.
Meb Keflezighi (50:44):
Thanks, Rob. Sovena, welcome to the show.
Sovena Ngeth (50:49):
Thank you so much, Meb.
Meb Keflezighi (50:49):
Good to be with you. Growing up with the family, sports were considered unsafe.
How did starting to run during the pandemic help you
deal with mental health challenge and change your life?
Sovena Ngeth (51:01):
Yeah, so just to touch on the first part a bit more,
my family never really encouraged my sisters and I to
play or participate in sports because they were really afraid
that we would get hurt. I think this all comes
from what happened with them during the Cambodian genocide, but
we all found our own paths to sports with my
sisters playing lacrosse. And eventually we started to go to
(51:24):
the gym together, and it was a good little way to bond,
but when the pandemic hit, all the gyms were shut
down. And during that time, I was in my senior
year of college, and I remember literally waking up and
everything was shut down. We had no more in- person
classes, no social events to go to, no graduation, and
(51:45):
not even the gym at the bare minimum. And that's
when I got introduced to running. At that time, my
boyfriend was training for a half- marathon that unfortunately got
canceled because of the pandemic. And I just remember thinking
to myself for the first time, are humans really capable of running
13 miles? Keep in mind, I was super new to
(52:06):
running, so I couldn't even wrap my head around what
a half- marathon was. And then a couple of years
later, I watched my boyfriend and two of our friends
complete their first half- marathon. And there's something about seeing
your peers accomplish something that kind of makes it more
achievable for you to do. So I feel like running
(52:28):
was like learning a new language for me. It was
something super brand new, but it was something that helped
me beat the overwhelming sense of depression and anxiety that
the pandemic had caused. Again, I was a senior in
college who didn't get to walk for graduation. And as
a first generation student, that really hurt because I really
wanted to celebrate that with my family. But yeah, I
(52:51):
think that something I definitely learned about myself with running
was that I'm so capable of anything that I put
my mind to. And signing up for the New York City
Marathon was the first step in this long training block
and just being able to accomplish my crazy goals. I
just did a 19- mile run on Saturday, and just
even doing that, I was shocked at myself and my
(53:12):
body, especially also with just the New York City running community.
It's so inclusive, and just seeing people run at Central
Park at the New York Road Runner races, there's such
a sense of belonging and a sense of community in that.
Meb Keflezighi (53:27):
So how was that though from not being able to
run, I don't know if I could do this, to run in
19 miles? How's your mental status now, do you think?
You still got seven miles to go, but how do you feel now?
Sovena Ngeth (53:38):
Oh, my God, I genuinely was shocked that I was
able to do the 19 miles. I feel like I am genuinely
capable of anything. This might be a little crazy, but
now I'm looking into ultra marathons because I'm like, I
can do that.
Meb Keflezighi (53:57):
That's awesome. Your family survived the Cambodian genocide before come
to the United States. What does running your first marathon
for Apex for Youth means to you, and how does
it connect to your family's history?
Sovena Ngeth (54:12):
Yeah, so my mom and my grandma, they immigrated to
America in 1994. They wanted to seek freedom and a new
beginning after unsuccessfully trying to rebuild their life in Cambodia.
They endured a full duration of the genocide from 1975
until 1979. And they lost so many loved ones. They lost
(54:34):
all their possessions, they lost everything, even documents. They don't
even know their real birthdays. And I think that's why
they raised my sisters and I with such fear of
hurting us or us getting hurt. And they're genuinely terrified
I'm running long distances. It's kind of hard.
Meb Keflezighi (54:55):
I mean, I was just going to ask you that.
How do your parents take it, your mom to be
able to say, " Hey, I'm gone for 19 miles," for
not being used to unsafe sports and things like that?
How are they taking it all in now?
Sovena Ngeth (55:07):
Oh, my gosh, I wish you could see their faces
when I tell them like, "Hey, mom, I just did a long
run." And she's like, " Oh, how long did you do it?" "
Like 19 miles?" She's like, " Why would you do that?"
So yeah, I feel like just going through something as traumatic as that
really does affect the way that they raised us and
how they view the marathon. But I want to run
(55:34):
this marathon to show my family that I can do
this and that it is okay to push our bodies.
I want to show them that also the human body is
truly resilient and we can overcome physical and mental barriers.
I feel like my mom and my grandma kind of
live with a survival mentality, and I just want them
(55:54):
to be free of that. And just to go back
on Apex for Youth, they are an organization based in
New York City that empowers low income, underserved Asian and
immigrant youth to unlock their full potentials, and they connect
them with a one- on- one mentor who knows what
(56:15):
it's like to grow up in their shoes. And as
someone who comes from a low income Asian immigrant family,
the mission just spoke to me. And just being a
part of the mentoring program, I was just so proud
to be a part of an organization that is doing
so much for our Asian community, and running the marathon
(56:35):
and fundraising for them is just the perfect opportunity to combine
both of my passions.
Meb Keflezighi (56:41):
That's awesome. You've been a trailblazer and a mentor for
that group, Apex, but training with Run for Chinatown has
connected you with the running community. How has this experience impacted
you and how do you hope to be a role
model for your sisters and others by running the marathon,
especially the TCS New York City Marathon?
Sovena Ngeth (57:02):
Yeah. Training with Run for Chinatown has been such an
amazing opportunity. A lot of the Apex mentors also run
with Run for Chinatown, and just being able to be
in an inclusive space for both Asian and Pacific Islanders,
it's just you get such a sense of belonging and
a sense of community that makes such a big city
(57:24):
like New York feel so small. I've also found other
Cambodian runners through the group, and it's just really nice
to be able to connect with people whose families went
through the same thing. And then we're all just picking up
and sharing our sport, our love for running. Running the
New York City Marathon means a lot to me because
(57:44):
it's not just the physical aspect of it. It takes a
lot of sacrifice, it takes a lot of dedication. I'm
sure you know this, but running long, long hours and
just having to say no to social commitments and stuff
sometimes. Yeah, I just want to show not only my
sisters, but all the youth that I mentor that no
(58:09):
goal is too big and we just need to approach
it with a sense of commitment, determination, and resilience. And
my hope for them is that I'm not trying to
push all my youth or them to run a marathon, but
I hope that they will be inspired to tackle their
own challenges and create big crazy goals like this as well.
Meb Keflezighi (58:29):
Well, you just doing that. As a immigrant who came
here, and I thought running was weird because I don't
know what they were chasing. So now you are a
trailblazer to be able to help others accomplish their own
individual goal. And I know you did not get the
opportunity to walk in your graduation through the pandemic, but
now you're going to go to the five pros of the TCS New York
(58:49):
City Marathon with 50, 000 plus others. And I'm pretty sure
your community or family is going to be so proud
of you. Congratulations and job well done, and look forward to seeing you soon.
Sovena Ngeth (58:58):
Oh, my gosh, thank you so much. That means so
much. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (59:01):
Sovena, thank you so much for joining us and for
being a member of New York Road Runners. Now it's
time for today's Meb Minutes.
Meb Keflezighi (59:07):
Week 14, visualize winning, why the ever winning means to
you. Visualizing was a powerful tool for me. I would
imagine the race, my strategy, and crossing the finish line.
It helped me boost my confidence and focus. Spend time
to visualize your success, to reinforce the positive mindset. This
is huge. For me, I visualize getting to that finish
(59:32):
line. I visualize myself winning the race. For example, in
September of 2009, I woke up and had a dream
that I won the New York City Marathon. And I went upstairs
to tell my wife, and she says, because there was a
race that was going on that weekend. And she's like, "Do you know what happened in
the race?" I'm like, "No. What happened?" She's like, " They ran 59 minutes and something
(59:52):
for the half- marathon." I said, " Well, I guess I
should say goodbye to that dream." But then I realized
after 30 seconds or so saying, " You know what, I
am peaking at the right time." So visualization is important.
You have to do what you can to be the
best version of yourself. And winning doesn't always mean getting
first place, but getting the best out of yourself. So you
(01:00:12):
have done that now by visualizing the travel, by visualizing
the starting line, by visualizing in the middle of the
race, and visualize yourself getting to that finish line and earn
that well deserved medal.
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:00:25):
That does it for another episode of Set the Pace.
We want to thank our guest today, Matt James, and
Team Inspire's Sovena Ngeth. If you like this episode, please make sure you
subscribe. Leave us a rating or a comment so others
can find the show as well. Great talking to you
guys today. Good luck with the rest of your training
for everybody getting ready for November 3rd. Enjoy those miles,
(01:00:47):
and we'll see you next week. New York Road Runners
is a nonprofit organization with a vision to build healthier
lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running.
(01:01:10):
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 and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Take your running to the next level with the Peloton
Tread+, featuring a rubberized shock- absorbing slap belt, it's designed
to optimize your runs and walks to the fullest potential.
With classes designed and led by expert level coaches, you'll
get the guidance you need to reach your running goals.
Whether you're just a beginner or consider yourself a pro
runner, Peloton is here to support and challenge you every
(00:23):
step of the way. All access membership separate. Learn more
about Peloton Tread at onepeloton. com/ running. Peloton, the official
digital fitness partner for New York Road Runners.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Thank you, New York. Today we're reminded of the power
of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on your mark.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
The first woman to finish for the second straight year here
in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling Miki
Gorman, and why not? 2
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the
USA he so proudly wears across his chest. A great
day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:19):
Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Set the
Pace presented by Peloton. It's the official podcast of New
York Road Runners. Great to have you with us. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer, the CEO of New York Road Runners joined
as always by the one and only Becs Gentry of
Peloton fame and also of sore foot suffering. The last
(01:39):
time we checked in, Becs, I know you stubbed that
toe on the bed...
Becs Gentry (01:44):
Ah, (inaudible) .
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:45):
... as you're trying to get ready for this seven
marathons on seven continents in seven days extravaganza in November.
Have you been able to get a little recovery? How
are you doing? Are you back on the road?
Becs Gentry (01:56):
Yeah, yeah. Listen, I don't like the end of my bed.
You should see how wide I take those corners now,
and I haven't put the blinds up or down in
a week, but I... Yeah, you know what? It's taken
its sweet time to heal. I'm very impatient. I'm very
Aries. I want it to be overnight. I'm like, cool, I did
(02:17):
it, and tomorrow it's going to be fine, that, it
doesn't happen. So I'm back on the road. I have
been running. I've said to my coach, " Let's go on
Sunday." And so the past two days I've got my
miles in, and it's okay. I'm not saying it's healed,
it's not great, but it's okay. And I'm going to
(02:37):
get so much more uncomfortable, Rob. These seven marathons, I'm
going to be so uncomfortable that this is a little
taste, I think, of what's to come. I can get
it done. I'm pain- free enough that eight hours is
ample for 26.2. So yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (02:54):
I can't think of anything more uncomfortable than what you're
going to do, seven marathons on seven continents in seven
days. So yeah, a little toe pain as you're going
through these training miles. You're right, that probably is some
good mental preparation for you, and so good. I'm glad
you're back out running and feeling good out there. And Becs,
a lot of people were running and feeling really good
(03:16):
at the Chicago Marathon this past weekend.
Becs Gentry (03:19):
What a weekend.
Rob Simmelkjaer (03:20):
Congratulations to everybody who ran. We had so many New
York Road Runners members out there running. Of course, a
lot of people use Chicago, those who are into this
multiple marathons in a fall season, folks will use Chicago
as a training run for New York in some cases,
or maybe they run hard in Chicago and then run
New York as more of a fun pace. But it
(03:40):
was a great day out there. I wasn't there, but
I saw so much on social, and of course, Becs,
the big story out of Chicago, a new world record
on the women's side. Ruth Chepngetich, 2
previous world record by more than two minutes. This was
(04:03):
incredible. What an accomplishment there.
Becs Gentry (04:06):
What an accomplishment to see her smooth sail. And I
mean, this is an outsider. I have no idea, and I don't
think anyone other than Ruth will ever know what was
going on inside her, but she looked like she happily
ran over that finish line, and all of the press interviews,
(04:27):
all the other moments that I saw her be present
for the rest of the world for the rest of
Sunday, she was vibrant, and I didn't see her hobbling.
It was just mind- blowing to take those two minutes
off the time and just to see the power that
is within humans. Last year, the record was broken last
(04:52):
year at Berlin for the women's marathon of 2
53. So it's just, yeah, my brain cannot get around
it yet. I'm still in awe of this fabulous human.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:03):
Just to see the clips at which these records are
being broken these days, and who knows, is it the
shoes? But it's just incredible. I mean, just looking at
these results in Chicago, the previous course record was just
set there last year by Sifan Hassan at three hour,
sorry, 2
(05:26):
minutes, sets a new world record, and of course this
is a year after the men's world record was set
in Chicago a year ago by Kelvin Kiptum. So Chicago
turning into the place where records fall, and it was
just really something to see.
Becs Gentry (05:41):
Spectacular.
Rob Simmelkjaer (05:42):
So congratulations to everybody in Chicago, to Ruth obviously such
a special thing for them to be a part of.
I was also want to give congrats to Carey Pinkowski,
the race director out there in Chicago who, for the
second straight year, had a chance to embrace a world
record holder. Of course, we're all thinking of Kelvin Kiptum
at this time as well who set it, and of
(06:02):
course we lost him since that happened. But an incredible
day in Chicago. On the men's side, Becs, it was
John Korir of Kenya finishing at 2
win, and on the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug of course getting
it done, 1
Becs Gentry (06:20):
What a champ.
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:20):
And it was Catherine Debrunner on the women's side, a course record of 1:36:12.
Becs Gentry (06:24):
Another record. Just phenomenal, everybody, absolutely phenomenal. But we can't forget
what happened here as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer (06:34):
That's right. As we now are getting so perfectly focused
on the TCS New York City Marathon coming up in
just over two weeks from the day that this podcast
debuts, we had our last big race of the Five
Borough Series this past weekend, the Staten Island half, always
a great day, and it was a picture perfect weather
(06:55):
day on Staten Island. Over 9, 000 runners toed the line.
Becs Gentry (07:01):
Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:02):
And it was great. If you haven't run this race,
it's such a special race. I ran it last year.
The views, the vibe, it's so much fun, especially that
second half of the race, the views you get in
Manhattan are really spectacular. Such a fun race, and some
great results from all the runners there. The winners, it
was Roberta Groner, the legendary.
Becs Gentry (07:21):
Legend, legend.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:22):
And ageless, Roberta Groner with a win at 1
14 for Central Park Track Club. The non- binary winner
was Elijah Taylor at 1:16
was Sisay Fekadu Berhanu with 1:06
Becs Gentry (07:39):
Oh, my gosh.
Rob Simmelkjaer (07:39):
Just a great day, and a lot of folks there getting
ready, that's maybe their last long run or their tacking
on some miles after Staten Island, so you saw a
lot of people running the marathon using Staten Island to
start to get ready.
Becs Gentry (07:54):
So I'm going to have to sign up for it next
year. It's one every year that I want to do,
but there's always something else like this year, but next
year, Rob, I'm going to do it because it looks
so much fun. All of the pictures I saw people were
having such a beautiful day, and as you said, the
sun was shining, the weather was picture perfect for running.
(08:14):
So congrats, everyone, and then here we are, here we go. It's literally
a matter of days now until the TCS New York City Marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer (08:23):
It's right there, Becs. Our staff is so focused on it.
Obviously the runners are so focused on it. We are
in crunch time. And speaking of that, we've got a
great conversation coming up with one of your fellow runners
if you are running on November 3rd, Matt James. Now,
you might know Matt because he was of course The
(08:43):
Bachelor. He was the first African- American ever to be
The Bachelor on that long- running hit reality show on
ABC. Also, he was a former NCAA football player, and
now he's preparing to run his fourth TCS New York
City Marathon, shooting to go sub- three hours for the
first time. So we got a really fun conversation with
(09:04):
Matt coming up about his time both as a bachelor
and now as a marathoner as well. So that's coming up in
just a minute. And then for our second week in
a row, our member moment will feature one of this
year's Team Inspire runners. Of course, Team Inspire is a
group of 26 runners with inspirational stories that we feature
here leading into the marathon. Sovena Ngeth is a Cambodian-
(09:27):
American runner from Union City, New Jersey, and she will
be running her first ever marathon on November 3rd. She's
got an interesting story. She was raised in a family
that really didn't think sports were safe. They did not
really encourage her running at all, but Sovena discovered it
during the pandemic, and now here she is running her
(09:47):
first marathon to support Apex for Youth, which is an
organization that empowers underserved Asian and immigrant youth. So Meb
will be here to speak with Sovena, and then of
course, since we're almost there, Meb will be right back with
this week's Meb Minute where we're going to get his
tips for week 14 of training for the TCS New
(10:09):
York City Marathon.
Becs Gentry (10:10):
It takes a lot to grow your business, a lot
of audience attracting, a lot of lead scoring, and all
the channel managing you can manage, plus a lot of
long days, late nights and weekends, a lot of wishing
there was an easier way, but with HubSpot's new collection
of AI tools, Breeze, it's easier than ever for marketers
(10:31):
to attract audiences, increase leads, and score customers fast, which
means pretty soon your company will have a lot to
celebrate. Visit hubspot. com/ marketers to learn more.
Rob Simmelkjaer (10:44):
Today we have a guest who is not just a
reality TV star, but also a legitimate athlete and a
very fast runner who's on a long- term quest for
marathon glory. Matt James, known for his unforgettable season as
The Bachelor has traded roses for running shoes as he
gears up for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Matt's not just
(11:06):
a very fast runner, he's a football player. He played
division one football at Wake Forest, and now has turned
into an endurance sports athlete, and he is here to
share his journey as he tries to chase down that
ever elusive sub- three hour marathon finish. Matt James, you
do not lack talent, speed, athletic, you're a reality star.
(11:30):
I mean, what do you not do? Welcome to Set the
Pace. Great to have you here.
Matt James (11:35):
It's good to be here. What's up? What's up, Rob?
What's up, Becs?
Becs Gentry (11:38):
It is so fun to have you here. Seriously, that was the best introduction
I've had in a while there, Rob. That was (inaudible) .
Matt James (11:45):
Yeah, that was nice. I need to bring Rob around
more often. This is great. Any room I enter into,
I need Rob there with me.
Rob Simmelkjaer (11:52):
I mean, come on. He's got the looks, he's got
the talent, he's got the fame, he's got it all,
and he's bringing it to the starting line of our
marathon this year, which we are so excited about. I
guess I have to start by asking you, Matt, okay, you were a
wide receiver, obviously a very talented athlete. You don't see
too many folks going from the football field to the
(12:15):
marathon. What was it that even got you thinking about
running marathons?
Matt James (12:21):
Well, yeah, that's a great question. I think that it started out with
I've always ran track. When I was little, I ran
for the Durham Eagles, I ran for the Junior Striders,
and as football and basketball started to pick up, I
started to take those a little bit more serious, and
(12:41):
I was trying to put on weight so I couldn't
run the 400 and the 800 I had been doing my whole life.
Then when I got to high school, I actually trained
with our cross country team in the summer, and my
coach put it into that once my role started to
(13:02):
pick up on the football team. So I've always had
a love for running and an appreciation for track and
field field. I was fortunate enough to get out to
the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Paralympics. I just have
such an admiration for those type of athletes, and I
love to compete, I love to watch people compete, so
(13:23):
when that football journey was over, I needed a new
avenue to push myself and compete.
Becs Gentry (13:30):
Wow. But the crossover is real, right? I think once
you love the sport, especially football, and I'm not going
to pretend to know too much about American football, British football.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:40):
What we here in America call football. Yes.
Becs Gentry (13:42):
Football, yes. I can talk about what you guys call
soccer, but it's a foot sport, so you are running
a lot. Those pitches are... Are they called pitches? Yeah, huge.
Rob Simmelkjaer (13:56):
Fields.
Becs Gentry (13:56):
Fields, there you go.
Matt James (13:57):
Yeah, yeah. We'll take it.
Becs Gentry (13:58):
See, know nothing. They're huge, they're really, really big. So
you've got that sort of endurance for, again, I don't
know how long those games are because I swear every
time I watch one it goes on longer than the
last one I watched.
Matt James (14:10):
Right?
Becs Gentry (14:11):
But it's a lot, so I can imagine, and I
want to ask you when you decided to run a
marathon, and just so everyone knows, this is your fourth
TCS New York City Marathon?
Matt James (14:25):
I'm going to have to defer to Rob. I don't remember. They all
kind of flow together after a while. I know that...
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:34):
It is his fourth. I'm looking it up right now.
Becs Gentry (14:37):
There we go.
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:37):
His first was in '21. Not only is it his fourth, but it's
actually his fourth in a row.
Becs Gentry (14:42):
Fourth consecutive?
Rob Simmelkjaer (14:42):
So '21, '22, '23. This will be four in a row
for Mr. James.
Becs Gentry (14:48):
Wow. So what made you think, okay, I'm going to
go from football to marathon? Where was the 5K, 10K half- marathon?
Matt James (14:59):
Right. I ran a marathon before I ran a 10K or
a half- marathon. One of my buddies was going to
run, and I think that the idea of running 26
miles to anyone is very daunting, especially my buddy. And
when he signed up, he's like, " You should do this
(15:21):
with me." And I was crazy enough to say yes.
And I think a lot of first time marathon runners under-
trained, didn't really know what I was getting myself into,
and it was one of the hardest, dumbest things I
ever did. And I told myself I'd never do it
again. And here we are.
Becs Gentry (15:43):
Four times later.
Rob Simmelkjaer (15:43):
Becs, when you listen to Matt tell this story and then
you look at his times, they really do align with
what he's saying, okay, because the first time Matt James
ran the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021, his
time was 5
Becs Gentry (16:02):
Stop.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:03):
Respectable for a first time marathoner...
Becs Gentry (16:05):
Very good.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:05):
... who hadn't trained...
Becs Gentry (16:06):
Absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:06):
... with his athletic ability, very respectable, right?
Becs Gentry (16:09):
Fits the bill, fits the bill. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:10):
A year later, Becs, he shaves off an hour and
15 minutes from that time. He went from an 11:32
pace to an 8
46, and then a year after that, 3
03 per mile. So I mean, I've looked at some marathon results
in my life, I have never seen somebody shave two
(16:31):
hours off of a marathon time in two years.
Becs Gentry (16:36):
Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer (16:36):
It just shows you the athletic ability that is there and
that really needed to be untapped through learning how to
train for a marathon, Matt. So I mean, the results are
kind of shocking when you really look at them.
Matt James (16:50):
Rob, Becs, peer pressure is a very strong motivator, and
when you go out and... I was embarrassed because I set
a bar for myself athletically at a certain rate. Not
that my time was embarrassing. It's just a lot of
(17:11):
running to not be satisfied with the outcome. And I
told myself after that first one, I'm like, " Man, I
cannot do this to my body again and not be
proud of the product that I put forward." So you
learn a little bit more with every year, and here
we are trying to go under three hours this year.
Becs Gentry (17:33):
Whoa. I mean, going back to Rob's digging here as
a CEO, he's allowed to do that, that two hour
difference is huge. And as you said, I love what
said that there's a lot of running to not be proud
of it, and I know a lot of our listeners out
(17:54):
there will run that time and are very proud of
it, but I think from an individual standpoint, you've kind
of just taken away the time element there by saying
it's a lot of running to not be proud of. So
it doesn't matter what your time actually is, it's whether
you're proud of the time that it took you to
run 26.2 miles, and it's crazy, two hours, so now,
(18:20):
the 3
Matt James (18:21):
Yes, and I think you made a great point, and I think that,
not to put myself in this class, but when you
think about elite marathon runners, and we just had the
Chicago Marathon last weekend, you had men and women running
two hours and nine minute marathons and going to social
(18:42):
media and talking about how disappointed they were, and as
someone outside looking in, you're like, how could you possibly
be disappointed with that? And that goes back to what
my example of running a five- hour marathon, for a
lot of people, it just matters what your benchmark is
and what your goal is and what your expectations are.
And when you set goals and expectations for yourself, that's
(19:07):
the type of standard that you hold yourself to. And
it's scary every year, every year before the marathon, I
get nervous because the benchmark continues to move forward in
terms of wanting to run a faster time because you're
(19:28):
more knowledgeable about the course, you have a better idea of
the fueling process, just everything that goes into running a marathon
and preparing. So by default, you're going to want to
run faster and expect to run faster. So yeah, that's
not to take anything away from anybody, it's just me
personally on that quest for under three hours.
Rob Simmelkjaer (19:52):
It's all completely relative. That's just the way it is.
In New York, we keep our finish line open later
than any other major marathon because we love celebrating people
coming in at 9, 10 hours, and for them it's a
huge accomplishment because that's what their goal was, to finish,
and so it's all relative. That's one of the things that's so
(20:13):
great about this sport is that we can all have
our own goals, our own wins, our own challenges. Sometimes
even when you don't meet the goal, that's part of
what's great about it because now you've got something to
fuel you and fire you for the next time, and
you have used that fuel and that fire for some
very dramatic improvements in your times, and we can't wait
(20:35):
to see where it goes from here. Okay Matt, I've
been trying in getting ready for this interview, trying to
find a good metaphor between being The Bachelor and running
marathons, right? I'm trying to figure out what is the
crossover between being The Bachelor and having dozens of women
competing essentially to be your choice and then running a
(21:00):
marathon, and I can't come up with one, I've got nothing. Can
you come up with something that you feel the two
things have in common?
Matt James (21:07):
You know what, Rob, I think that there actually couldn't
be a better comparison between being The Bachelor and running the
marathon from multiple aspects, and we'll walk through three of
them. The first one being that I don't think anyone
ever knows what to expect, that's being The Bachelor, that's
(21:29):
running a marathon. You have an idea from what previous people
have run a marathon, previous people who have been The
Bachelor or The Bachelorette or a lead told you what
to expect, but ultimately you just have to go out
there and do it and be your own... run your
own race, be that person, and it's never what anyone
told you how it was going to go. And there's
(21:49):
hurdles that come along the way that you've just got
to deal with. It's never going to be a perfect
race. I'd say very rarely, it's never going to be
the perfect scenario with maybe falling for somebody that you
never thought you'd see yourself with or telling multiple... not
(22:11):
in my situation, but you have bachelors telling multiple people
they love them. Just things that could be problematic, always
tend to pop up. Same with the marathon. So that's the first thing.
The second thing is that-
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:25):
Expect the unexpected, Matt, is really what you're saying.
Matt James (22:26):
Expect the unexpected.
Rob Simmelkjaer (22:28):
Okay, that makes sense.
Matt James (22:30):
Yeah, I would say the second thing, I guess, I'd
say two things. The first one and then the second
thing is that it's a marathon. It literally is a
marathon. You start out that process, and you have, again,
you have people who jumped the gun and may express
strong feelings for multiple people very quickly, that can end
(22:53):
up being problematic. Same thing with the marathon. If you start
out too quickly, it's going to end up biting you
in the butt at the end when you don't have
the legs to finish the race. So you've just got
to take your time. I had to take my time
in that process and make sure that I was doing
all the right vetting because you don't have access to
your phone or the computer or friends or family, so
(23:14):
you're just kind of in this bubble trying to figure
out if how you feel is real and just assess
what's going on because it's foreign. Again, same with the
marathon. Once you're in that situation, there's no going back,
and you've got to make real time adjustments, and yeah,
(23:36):
I would say they're both pretty similar. It's actually a
great comparison.
Becs Gentry (23:40):
Wow. I love that, how you've just linked that together because all those
things you just said are so true, the don't jump in too
soon, great, greatest analogy ever, especially for TCS New York
City Marathon. Don't go down that Verrazano Bridge off ramp
too fast (inaudible) .
Matt James (23:58):
Oh, yeah.
Becs Gentry (24:00):
Oh, my gosh, that's perfect. Okay, before we talk more,
more about marathons, I'm going to hold us here on
The Bachelor side of things. Now, when I first met
you, Matt, I think was earlier this year when we
first met properly at the Olympic trials.
Matt James (24:16):
Yeah, in Orlando.
Becs Gentry (24:17):
In Orlando, that was it. And yeah, I was like, " Oh,
yeah, I think I know him." I wasn't necessarily here
when your... No, I was here when you were on
The Bachelor, but it wasn't a show that I watched,
but I was like, " Yeah, I think I know him. Isn't
he a Lululemon runner?" And all my friends just fell
about laughing. They were like, " That's met James from The Bachelor."
I was like, " English, don't really know." So yeah, I was like, " Yeah,
(24:41):
he's a Lulu runner. (inaudible) , he ran the marathon
last year," and I was lucky enough to be at the
finish line when you and Shalane came over last year.
It was fantastic to see. But we'll get to that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (24:50):
Shalane Flanagan who paced (inaudible) .
Becs Gentry (24:52):
Just cash, just cash. We're going to dive into that
guys, don't worry, don't worry. I'm not going to miss a chance to
talk about Shalane, but I want to talk about your
life since The Bachelor is food. And I would say
I have asked you so many times via Instagram. Now I'm like, yeah,
now Matt's my buddy, Matt's my friend. I am constantly, "
(25:16):
Where is that place? What is that place called?" I'm like, " I'm in
Tokyo." I'm like, " Hey, Matt, what was that sushi place
that you and Rachel went to?" Just like he's now my food guru.
And your YouTube is huge, your social is huge, and
it is not like gratuitous pictures of you without clothes
on. It is you and Rachel around the world eating
(25:40):
some of the most amazing food, and just so cute
and honest, and what's next for you on that level?
Matt James (25:49):
Yeah, that's funny. I don't think a lot of people
know this, but before I was on The Bachelor, or
I guess I was The Bachelor, I've always had a
love for food, and I actually started a nonprofit in
New York City called ABC Food Tours to bring underprivileged
(26:13):
students in the city to restaurants across New York City
that I love. And I didn't grow up in a strong
financial situation, so eating out to me was a treat.
And the older I got, the more I got to
experience that, and it changed my outlook on travel and
on being able to relate to people, and I wanted
(26:34):
to provide that experience for kids. And so that's where
ABC Food Tours was founded. We work students all over
the city. We've gone to different countries, different states, and
we bridge that gap between students in underserved communities and
fine dining. And they're meeting these restaurateurs that have similar
(26:55):
backgrounds to theirs, whether they're immigrants, whether they came from
low socioeconomic situations, didn't graduate. Just it's an amazing way
to educate students on culture and cuisine. So that was
before The Bachelor. And so I've always loved food. I've always
(27:17):
had an appreciation for food, admiration for food, restaurateurs. And
I'd say that when you get to do something like
be The Bachelor, it does change your life, but in
ways that you let it, in terms of it amplifies
the person that you are or the person that you
want to be, whether that's you want to go do
more reality TV shows and go on Survivor, who knows,
(27:40):
do whatever you want to do, or it gives you
the opportunity, i. e., if you're in food to open
more doors to travel and share your food journey with
other people, or the opportunity to participate in marathons and
(28:00):
run with former New York City Marathon winners like Shalane
Flanagan. It's opened up so many doors and places that
you let it do that. And for me, it's shown
itself the most in my life from a food and
fitness standpoint, so.
Becs Gentry (28:18):
So well, there's going to be more, there's going to
be more, people, watch out.
Matt James (28:20):
There's going to be more, especially after the marathon, that's when I really go
in, that's when I really get to... There's certain things
that I've cut out of the diet right now because
it just, certain foods... I don't know. When I get
into that training regimen, certain foods sit on my stomach
differently, and I just cut a lot of things out of my diet.
(28:44):
My body doesn't respond well to it. So come day
after marathon, that is when the feasting begins.
Becs Gentry (28:54):
Oh, my gosh. Can't wait.
Rob Simmelkjaer (28:54):
For some of us, it goes all through marathon training
and beyond. There's a lot of opportunities for eating during
a marathon training block, so I'm sure you're bringing in
the calories you need. But it is interesting when you
talked about as a football player, you did need to
put on weight, right? I mean, you're out there with
some big guys, you got to be able to take
(29:16):
a hit, make a block, things like that. Bulk and
weight really does matter on a football field, even for
a receiver, right? And now in a marathon situation, that
extra weight isn't necessarily something that you're looking to have.
How have you noticed your body responding differently, Matt? And
how do you feel differently between your time as an
(29:39):
athlete on the football field and your time as an
athlete on the road running 26.2?
Matt James (29:45):
That's a great question, Rob. You know how you can
go, I don't know, six months at times without seeing
extended friends and family the older you get. When you're
younger, I feel like you see all your friends every
holiday. You're making a lot of time for those type
(30:07):
of connections. And the older you get, life comes at
you, and you go four months, six months at a
time without seeing some of those close people in your
life. I use that as an example because when I
have those interactions with people after those long extended periods,
people are looking at me like something's wrong with me
(30:29):
because of the changes that my body's made. They're like, "
Matt, are you okay? Are you sick? What's going on with
your body?" Because when I played football, when I played
collegiate football, my weight fluctuated from... I was 205. No,
I was 195 pounds as a freshman, and then at
my peak as a senior, I was 265 pounds.
Rob Simmelkjaer (30:50):
Wow.
Matt James (30:51):
That's like a 70 pound, I think, yeah, that's around 70
pounds of fluctuation in there. That mold is there, it
hasn't gone anywhere. So my body's capable of carrying that
weight if I fuel it in that way and train
in that way. So I'm susceptible to gain 20, 30 pounds
(31:15):
in a month, and I'm susceptible to lose it, but
with the running, I consistently keep that weight off, and
I'm back down to the weight I was as a
freshman from my freshman year of college to senior year
of high school. So I kind of fluctuate around that 195,
205 range. And when people see me who haven't seen
(31:37):
me in years, they look at me like something's wrong
with me because they're used to... The training's changed. I'm not
lifting weights anymore. For five and a half years I
was power cleaning, I was heavy squatting, I was deadlifting.
We had college training table where you're eating four meals
(31:58):
a day. My lifestyle has changed. I've replaced the heavy
lifting with running, and my body's made adjustments accordingly, and
it's all in an effort to be the most efficient
runner that Matt is trying to be, not the strongest,
most durable football player. And I've embraced that. There are
(32:21):
different aches and pains, but it's nice to have something,
a goal to work towards and to train for as
you come out of being a collegiate athlete. It's nice.
Becs Gentry (32:35):
Wow, I love that. The fluctuation is huge, like your
marathon times.
Matt James (32:42):
For sure.
Becs Gentry (32:42):
So talk us through your marathon training now. We've got,
what is it, two weeks, just over two weeks when this
episode drops until the race. What has your training been
like for this, your fourth TCS New York City Marathon?
Matt James (32:58):
The training block has been phenomenal. I've got the best
coach in Julia Lucas who is or was a Lululemon
ambassador and is the coach of a Lululemon running training
program for the New York City Marathon along with other
marathons. It's called the No Name Program. And her and
(33:21):
another Lululemon ambassador, Coffey, do a fantastic job training mostly
first time runners of all pace groups to be ready
for a marathon. And that's from people who might be some
of those last finishers when the finish line's open super
late to some of those people who are trying to
break sub- three. And she, in her own right, is
(33:44):
a fantastic runner, has competed against some of the best
runners in the world. So having a coach has been
the game changer for me. Just having someone who you
can text, reach out to and be like, " Is it
normal to hurt?" They're like, " Yeah, marathons are hard. You're
going to hurt." " Hey, is it normal that my hamstrings
are sore? What should I do? Why do I hate
(34:05):
running three weeks out from the marathon?" " Hey, I don't
think I've done enough to prepare." All the things we
think about as runners and people getting ready for a
marathon, having that coach to bounce those scary thoughts off
of and have them talk you back down off the
ledge is been, for my mental health, so beyond liberating
(34:28):
and just amazing, as well as the physical aspect of
someone who can put together and structure a training program
to put you in a position to be competitive, to
hit your goal more so than something that you generate
off of a Google website that you found about how
to run fast. It's like that human element of coaching,
(34:51):
making real- time adjustments to your training based off your
health, how you feel. It's just been a game changer.
And when, not if, when I go sub- three, she
will be, Julia, one of the biggest people to credit
in the doing of that. So I'm very fortunate to
have coaching like that.
Rob Simmelkjaer (35:13):
It makes sense, Matt, to me that coaching would be
a big game changer for you because you were a
football player, you're used to being coached, you had head
coaches and offensive coordinators and wide receiver coaches and coaches
your whole life, so coaching, you're coachable, right? I mean,
you get what it means to have a coach and
(35:34):
know how to respond to what a coach says, so
it makes a lot of sense. One thing I'm really
curious about, I play team sports, I play baseball, not
at the level you played football, but I play baseball,
and it's such a different thing as a team sport
athlete in a sport like football where you're always around
other people, your practices are a lot of short bursts,
(35:56):
right? You're running short bursts, you're catching, you're doing sprints,
you're in the weight room, whereas with marathons, okay, you
are with a coach, but I mean, there's a lot
of time where you're just there and you're just in
your head and you are just going and going. It
is not short bursts at all. It is these long,
long runs. Has it been a challenge to make that
(36:19):
adjustment from the kind of practice and work you had
to do then to what you have to do now?
Matt James (36:25):
Rob, it's the biggest adjustment because you have to remind
yourself why you do it. I have to remind myself
why I do it. I'm a very logical person, and
if there's ever a point when I'm doing something and
I don't feel like I have a logical reason or
explanation for doing it, then I'm not going to do
it anymore. So when I'm running, I'm like, " Why am
(36:45):
I doing this? Why am I forcing myself? No one's
paying me to be out here." People have jobs, obligations
for life, and that we consciously make this effort to
torture ourselves for 26 miles and for months leading up to
this. But I love the community aspect of it. I love
(37:07):
being able to be social and build community around things
outside of going to a bar, drinking, those type of
activities. I love the idea of building friend groups, networks
around those type of activities, and some of my best
(37:29):
friendships... And you spend a lot of time with these
people when you're training. And it's what I look forward
to most when I have someone like a Shalane that's going
to selflessly decide to pace me. One of the coolest
things that's ever happened to me since I've become a
runner or self- proclaimed runner is the London Marathon this
(37:50):
year. I had a goal of going under three hours,
and I had no pacer. This was my first time
running a marathon without a pacer, and I didn't know
anybody running the race. I didn't know anybody out there.
And it's the day of the race. I just am
(38:12):
going to try to pace myself. I'm just going to
hold myself to whatever time I need to hold myself
to. And I'm on a bus headed to the starting
line of the marathon, and I meet the most amazing
people ever. Tommy, Mikey Kratzer, he's a Berlin- based marathon
(38:38):
runner, and we just get to talking about running, and
he's like, " What's your goal for the day?" And I'm
like, "Oh, I want to try to go under three hours.
I've never done it." And I've never met this guy
in my life, and he's like, " Matt, I'm, I'm going
to pace you." He's like, " I'm going to get you
to that goal." And I almost brought me to tears
on the bus, these random strangers from all over the
(39:00):
world, Tommy's from Detroit, Mikey's from Berlin, and they're just
like, yeah, we got you. And they made it about pacing me.
And that's what the running community is. It's such a
selfless place to be. And there's been so many instances
I've seen that with other people on the course. It's
like if someone's hurting, if someone needs that extra motivation,
(39:23):
race day stories of complete strangers motivating and pushing people
to the finish. And that's to answer your question, those
type of interactions keep my mind off of going from
these short wind sprints to being able to endure a
long, treacherous route is having an amazing community, amazing people
(39:50):
who decide to uplift you and make a race day
experience the best. And that's why I look forward to New York every year.
Rob Simmelkjaer (39:59):
Yeah, Matt, I know exactly what you're talking about. I
had a similar experience in Berlin I've talked about on
the podcast. I ran Berlin, was struggling the last few
miles, and a New York Road Runners member who just
recognized me came along with me and Roberto, we were
running together, and helped me get through the finish line
as well. So it's amazing how people want to help
each other out there. Okay, I have to ask, since
(40:22):
you're talking about who you run with, Rachel, is she
a runner? Is she getting into running at all? Do we have
a potential running partner in Rachel? And I have to
ask for all The Bachelor fans out there. How's it going?
Matt James (40:35):
Oh, that's funny. Rachel... So I'll say this, Rachel, every
year after the marathon, she's like a lot of other
spectators is so inspired, and they're like, " I'm going to
sign up for the marathon. This was so beautiful to
watch. I want to be a part of this. I
want to participate." And if you haven't watched a marathon and
(40:58):
you're listening, I highly recommend you just go for five
minutes, and you're going to end up staying for an
hour. You're going to see people who are old, people
who are young, people who are tall, small. You're going
to see everybody. Everybody's a runner, and everyone has representation
out there on race day. So Rachel, my girlfriend, one
(41:19):
of those people-
Rob Simmelkjaer (41:19):
From The Bachelor, by the way, for those who don't know, yes.
Matt James (41:20):
Yes, from The Bachelor, we met on The Bachelor. She's like, " I'm
going to run a marathon. I want to do this," after
seeing me, and every single year after the marathon, I'm
laying in the medical tent just sprawled out, hurting, just like, "
Baby, you don't want to do this, don't put yourself
through this. This is so dumb. I'm not going to
(41:41):
do this again." And then every year I sign up
to run again because you know what? I can't stay
away from it. It's addicting. It's so much fun. It's
something that I want to be able to do as
long as my body will will itself to move, I
want to be able to run the New York City
Marathon every year. And with Rachel, I think that we
(42:02):
got to start with something that's a little bit more
palatable. So hopefully we'll get her in the Fifth Avenue
Mile next year, and then we'll go from the Fifth Ave
Mile to a fun 5K something in Central Park. I
think the 10K in the Central Park is all women.
There's a... Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer (42:21):
The Mastercard Mini 10K. Absolutely.
Becs Gentry (42:22):
The Mastercard Mini 10K.
Matt James (42:22):
Yes, the Mastercard Mini 10K.
Rob Simmelkjaer (42:22):
It's a great first race, great first kind of endurance race.
Becs Gentry (42:28):
The half the year after as well. (inaudible) .
Matt James (42:29):
So there we go. We're going to usher Rachel into
her running era through a series of New York Road
Runner events.
Becs Gentry (42:36):
Yes. I also feel like the...
Matt James (42:38):
We've got the mile.
Becs Gentry (42:38):
... the festive ones as well around the holiday season
are so cute as well. You can come in your ugly
festive jumper and a big bubble hat and get some
hot chocolate at the end. That's kind of like... I
don't know, I feel like that's a really nice excuse
to get moving when it's cold and gross here in
New York.
Matt James (42:59):
Yes. And she has a bunch of friends that have participated
in those events. So I think that the more we've
seen this influx of new runners into the running space post-
pandemic. I think the more inclusive it's become and she
(43:20):
sees more representation from people who are not typical runners
and people who fit an idea of what a runner
should be and look like, gives her more confidence in
terms of wanting to participate and be a part of
that space, which is fun to see.
Becs Gentry (43:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Rob Simmelkjaer (43:38):
Well, Matt, we're certainly rooting for you to accomplish your goal
on November 3rd. By the way, that London time, just
40 seconds over three hours. I think it was three hours
and 40 seconds or 41 seconds, so you're right there.
Becs Gentry (43:53):
(inaudible) .
Rob Simmelkjaer (43:53):
But of course that was London and this is New
York, and you know New York is not the easiest
course to set that PR on. How confident are you
feeling, Mr. James, in your attempt at under three hours coming up
in a couple of weeks?
Matt James (44:09):
Rob, the confidence waivers day by day. You know you
have a good run and you're like, " Ah, man, these
are sub- three legs right here." And then you'll go
out and you'll have a 10- mile run that's supposed
to be at race pace and you can barely run
race pace, and you're like, " Man, I should drop out
and just never run again. I'm not equipped for this."
(44:31):
It's such a mental battle. But I think that for
me, what prepares me to run that sub- three time
in New York this year is the tough training blocks
that I put myself through, and being able to look
back on that body of work that I put together
and be confident in that work. And that's what my
(44:51):
coach reminds me of. She's like, " Listen, look back on
your training, go back to your Strava, go back to your Coros data and look
at all the miles you've put on your legs. Look
at how well you've performed in these workouts. It's there
for you to take. You just got to show up
on race day and do it." And every training run,
every training session builds that confidence, and that's why I
(45:13):
take my training so serious now because that's all I
have to rely on when it gets to the race
and I'm dying and I'm hurting and I'm running that
mile up... I don't know what avenue that is...
Becs Gentry (45:28):
1st Ave?
Matt James (45:28):
... when you were about to head into Central Park (inaudible) .
Becs Gentry (45:30):
Off the Queensboro.
Rob Simmelkjaer (45:33):
Coming down Fifth Avenue.
Becs Gentry (45:36):
Yeah, up First Ave, down Fifth Ave.
Matt James (45:37):
Yeah, coming down Fifth Avenue.
Becs Gentry (45:37):
Yeah.
Matt James (45:41):
These training blocks prepare me, the laps that I've done
in Central Park, the hills, it pays off on marathon
day, so I'd rather punish myself now than have to
pay for it on race day.
Becs Gentry (45:53):
Yeah, absolutely. And that's a fantastic way to look at
it, and you know that the crowds in this incredible
city get you through. It's just, I mean, when we
ran, what was it, Summer Streets earlier this year, and
we shared a few very hot, very tough miles together
(46:14):
that day. I think both of us were around the 16
plus mileage and getting it done. But even then, days
like that give you a taster of the vibrancy at
the TCS New York City Marathon, and it lifts you even
when you've had a tough run, it gets you through. So
I know there's going to be 26.2 miles of people screaming
(46:35):
your name and supporting you all the way, including Rachel
and your family and friends for sure.
Matt James (46:42):
Yeah, Becs, I mean, that's the training block stories that I'm
referring to when I say I'm going to look back
on these moments and they're going to push me through
the marathon. That specific run that Becs is referring to,
I had 16 miles, six of those miles were a warm-
up, seven of those miles were to be at a
(47:05):
10K pace, so that's even faster than our marathon pace,
and then my last three miles were kind of supposed
to be recovery. They were open to interpretation if I
had the legs to just continue at that pace, and
I was dead. I wanted to walk. I had nothing
left in the tank after those first 14 miles. I
had three left. I saw Becs coming down, what is
(47:30):
that, Lexington Avenue?
Becs Gentry (47:31):
I think so, yeah.
Matt James (47:32):
And it's wide open. Summer Streets in New York, they
have it blocked off for miles, so you can just
run down the middle of the street with no cars,
no traffic.
Becs Gentry (47:40):
Cycle.
Matt James (47:40):
And those miles that I split out with Becs, those
last three miles were some of the faster miles I
ran that day because it was the peer pressure of
being around another runner. It was the sense of community
and just having someone there, a familiar face around you,
(48:05):
and it reminded me that, again, like I've said so
many times during the podcast, running is so mental. I
mentally took myself out of the run. I'm like, I
can't go any faster than I'm going. I was practically
walking, trotting, and I saw Becs, and we started going seven-
minute pace, and that's fast for me. We were moving,
(48:25):
and we're having conversation, we're talking while we're keeping this
pace, and I'm like, man, if I can just pull
this out of nowhere, that means that it's in me.
It's in there somewhere, and I need to garner that
Becs energy during my race whenever I'm feeling bad or
down and feeling sorry for myself knowing that you're capable
of doing this. You just have to remind yourself of it.
Rob Simmelkjaer (48:48):
Well, Matt, you're clearly capable. We can't wait to see
what kind of day you have, whether you break three
hours or not, it doesn't matter. You have turned yourself
into a great runner. You're obviously such a great ambassador
for the sport, and so we wish you a great day
no matter what your time. And not to put any
pressure on you, but anybody out there who wants to
(49:10):
follow this gentleman, it's Matthew James, male, 32 years old,
running for Lululemon, trackable from New York, New York on
the app. So check him out.
Becs Gentry (49:21):
Oh, my gosh.
Matt James (49:22):
Gee, thanks, Rob.
Becs Gentry (49:24):
Completely just outed your whole race there.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:25):
He's The Bachelor, he's got almost a million followers on
Instagram. He's used to the attention. And Matt, you're going
to have a great day.
Becs Gentry (49:35):
You are.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:35):
We wish you luck. Thank you for hanging out with
us for a little while here, and I can't wait
to see you at the finish line on November 3rd.
Becs Gentry (49:41):
Yay.
Matt James (49:41):
And I'm looking forward to it. And good luck to all of
the other New York City Marathon runners out there. I'm
excited to share the New York City streets with y'all
in a few weeks.
Rob Simmelkjaer (49:51):
All right, Matt James from bachelor to marathoner. This week's
member moment features another member of 2024's Team Inspire, Sovena Ngeth,
(50:13):
a Cambodian- American runner preparing to take on her first
marathon at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Sovena's family
journey from surviving genocide in Cambodia to building a new
life in America deeply influenced her life. And this November
3rd, she's running to honor her family's bravery and sacrifice.
(50:34):
Sovena is also a mentor with Apex for Youth, an
organization that supports underserved Asian and immigrant youth. Here's Meb
to introduce us to Sovena.
Meb Keflezighi (50:44):
Thanks, Rob. Sovena, welcome to the show.
Sovena Ngeth (50:49):
Thank you so much, Meb.
Meb Keflezighi (50:49):
Good to be with you. Growing up with the family, sports were considered unsafe.
How did starting to run during the pandemic help you
deal with mental health challenge and change your life?
Sovena Ngeth (51:01):
Yeah, so just to touch on the first part a bit more,
my family never really encouraged my sisters and I to
play or participate in sports because they were really afraid
that we would get hurt. I think this all comes
from what happened with them during the Cambodian genocide, but
we all found our own paths to sports with my
sisters playing lacrosse. And eventually we started to go to
(51:24):
the gym together, and it was a good little way to bond,
but when the pandemic hit, all the gyms were shut
down. And during that time, I was in my senior
year of college, and I remember literally waking up and
everything was shut down. We had no more in- person
classes, no social events to go to, no graduation, and
(51:45):
not even the gym at the bare minimum. And that's
when I got introduced to running. At that time, my
boyfriend was training for a half- marathon that unfortunately got
canceled because of the pandemic. And I just remember thinking
to myself for the first time, are humans really capable of running
13 miles? Keep in mind, I was super new to
(52:06):
running, so I couldn't even wrap my head around what
a half- marathon was. And then a couple of years
later, I watched my boyfriend and two of our friends
complete their first half- marathon. And there's something about seeing
your peers accomplish something that kind of makes it more
achievable for you to do. So I feel like running
(52:28):
was like learning a new language for me. It was
something super brand new, but it was something that helped
me beat the overwhelming sense of depression and anxiety that
the pandemic had caused. Again, I was a senior in
college who didn't get to walk for graduation. And as
a first generation student, that really hurt because I really
wanted to celebrate that with my family. But yeah, I
(52:51):
think that something I definitely learned about myself with running
was that I'm so capable of anything that I put
my mind to. And signing up for the New York City
Marathon was the first step in this long training block
and just being able to accomplish my crazy goals. I
just did a 19- mile run on Saturday, and just
even doing that, I was shocked at myself and my
(53:12):
body, especially also with just the New York City running community.
It's so inclusive, and just seeing people run at Central
Park at the New York Road Runner races, there's such
a sense of belonging and a sense of community in that.
Meb Keflezighi (53:27):
So how was that though from not being able to
run, I don't know if I could do this, to run in
19 miles? How's your mental status now, do you think?
You still got seven miles to go, but how do you feel now?
Sovena Ngeth (53:38):
Oh, my God, I genuinely was shocked that I was
able to do the 19 miles. I feel like I am genuinely
capable of anything. This might be a little crazy, but
now I'm looking into ultra marathons because I'm like, I
can do that.
Meb Keflezighi (53:57):
That's awesome. Your family survived the Cambodian genocide before come
to the United States. What does running your first marathon
for Apex for Youth means to you, and how does
it connect to your family's history?
Sovena Ngeth (54:12):
Yeah, so my mom and my grandma, they immigrated to
America in 1994. They wanted to seek freedom and a new
beginning after unsuccessfully trying to rebuild their life in Cambodia.
They endured a full duration of the genocide from 1975
until 1979. And they lost so many loved ones. They lost
(54:34):
all their possessions, they lost everything, even documents. They don't
even know their real birthdays. And I think that's why
they raised my sisters and I with such fear of
hurting us or us getting hurt. And they're genuinely terrified
I'm running long distances. It's kind of hard.
Meb Keflezighi (54:55):
I mean, I was just going to ask you that.
How do your parents take it, your mom to be
able to say, " Hey, I'm gone for 19 miles," for
not being used to unsafe sports and things like that?
How are they taking it all in now?
Sovena Ngeth (55:07):
Oh, my gosh, I wish you could see their faces
when I tell them like, "Hey, mom, I just did a long
run." And she's like, " Oh, how long did you do it?" "
Like 19 miles?" She's like, " Why would you do that?"
So yeah, I feel like just going through something as traumatic as that
really does affect the way that they raised us and
how they view the marathon. But I want to run
(55:34):
this marathon to show my family that I can do
this and that it is okay to push our bodies.
I want to show them that also the human body is
truly resilient and we can overcome physical and mental barriers.
I feel like my mom and my grandma kind of
live with a survival mentality, and I just want them
(55:54):
to be free of that. And just to go back
on Apex for Youth, they are an organization based in
New York City that empowers low income, underserved Asian and
immigrant youth to unlock their full potentials, and they connect
them with a one- on- one mentor who knows what
(56:15):
it's like to grow up in their shoes. And as
someone who comes from a low income Asian immigrant family,
the mission just spoke to me. And just being a
part of the mentoring program, I was just so proud
to be a part of an organization that is doing
so much for our Asian community, and running the marathon
(56:35):
and fundraising for them is just the perfect opportunity to combine
both of my passions.
Meb Keflezighi (56:41):
That's awesome. You've been a trailblazer and a mentor for
that group, Apex, but training with Run for Chinatown has
connected you with the running community. How has this experience impacted
you and how do you hope to be a role
model for your sisters and others by running the marathon,
especially the TCS New York City Marathon?
Sovena Ngeth (57:02):
Yeah. Training with Run for Chinatown has been such an
amazing opportunity. A lot of the Apex mentors also run
with Run for Chinatown, and just being able to be
in an inclusive space for both Asian and Pacific Islanders,
it's just you get such a sense of belonging and
a sense of community that makes such a big city
(57:24):
like New York feel so small. I've also found other
Cambodian runners through the group, and it's just really nice
to be able to connect with people whose families went
through the same thing. And then we're all just picking up
and sharing our sport, our love for running. Running the
New York City Marathon means a lot to me because
(57:44):
it's not just the physical aspect of it. It takes a
lot of sacrifice, it takes a lot of dedication. I'm
sure you know this, but running long, long hours and
just having to say no to social commitments and stuff
sometimes. Yeah, I just want to show not only my
sisters, but all the youth that I mentor that no
(58:09):
goal is too big and we just need to approach
it with a sense of commitment, determination, and resilience. And
my hope for them is that I'm not trying to
push all my youth or them to run a marathon, but
I hope that they will be inspired to tackle their
own challenges and create big crazy goals like this as well.
Meb Keflezighi (58:29):
Well, you just doing that. As a immigrant who came
here, and I thought running was weird because I don't
know what they were chasing. So now you are a
trailblazer to be able to help others accomplish their own
individual goal. And I know you did not get the
opportunity to walk in your graduation through the pandemic, but
now you're going to go to the five pros of the TCS New York
(58:49):
City Marathon with 50, 000 plus others. And I'm pretty sure
your community or family is going to be so proud
of you. Congratulations and job well done, and look forward to seeing you soon.
Sovena Ngeth (58:58):
Oh, my gosh, thank you so much. That means so
much. Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer (59:01):
Sovena, thank you so much for joining us and for
being a member of New York Road Runners. Now it's
time for today's Meb Minutes.
Meb Keflezighi (59:07):
Week 14, visualize winning, why the ever winning means to
you. Visualizing was a powerful tool for me. I would
imagine the race, my strategy, and crossing the finish line.
It helped me boost my confidence and focus. Spend time
to visualize your success, to reinforce the positive mindset. This
is huge. For me, I visualize getting to that finish
(59:32):
line. I visualize myself winning the race. For example, in
September of 2009, I woke up and had a dream
that I won the New York City Marathon. And I went upstairs
to tell my wife, and she says, because there was a
race that was going on that weekend. And she's like, "Do you know what happened in
the race?" I'm like, "No. What happened?" She's like, " They ran 59 minutes and something
(59:52):
for the half- marathon." I said, " Well, I guess I
should say goodbye to that dream." But then I realized
after 30 seconds or so saying, " You know what, I
am peaking at the right time." So visualization is important.
You have to do what you can to be the
best version of yourself. And winning doesn't always mean getting
first place, but getting the best out of yourself. So you
(01:00:12):
have done that now by visualizing the travel, by visualizing
the starting line, by visualizing in the middle of the
race, and visualize yourself getting to that finish line and earn
that well deserved medal.
Rob Simmelkjaer (01:00:25):
That does it for another episode of Set the Pace.
We want to thank our guest today, Matt James, and
Team Inspire's Sovena Ngeth. If you like this episode, please make sure you
subscribe. Leave us a rating or a comment so others
can find the show as well. Great talking to you
guys today. Good luck with the rest of your training
for everybody getting ready for November 3rd. Enjoy those miles,
(01:00:47):
and we'll see you next week. New York Road Runners
is a nonprofit organization with a vision to build healthier
lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running.
(01:01:10):
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 and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.