May 25, 2025 • 46 mins
Can a hot dog-eating contest change your life?
It sounds funny—but for Andrew Smith, a busy dad of four, it became the unexpected wake-up call that led to a powerful transformation. What began as a silly challenge turned into a commitment to take back control of his health, mindset, and life.
In this inspiring episode of the Starter Girlz Podcast, Andrew shares how he went from feeling stuck and exhausted to running marathons, chasing personal records, and discovering purpose through small, consistent steps.
If you've ever felt behind, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin, Andrew’s story will show you that it’s never too late to change.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How a moment of discomfort became the catalyst for change
- What helped Andrew cut nearly an hour off his marathon time
- How he balances fitness, mindset, and parenting
- Why mindset matters more than motivation
- Tips for building consistency when you're tired, busy, or just starting out
Whether you're a beginner runner, a busy parent, or someone seeking a fresh start, this conversation will leave you inspired to take your first step.
Connect with Andrew Smith:
Instagram: @AndrewMossSmith
Email: andrewmosssmith@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andrew Smith (00:00):
And I also had my third child and he was born and,
yes, the dad bod, the fatherfigure, was forming in ways that
it never had been before and Iwas seeing numbers on the scale
I had never seen before and itwas just like, okay, let's,
let's reverse this.
So what I did was I juststarted running three times a
(00:21):
week.
Jennifer Loehding (00:23):
Welcome to the Starter Girlz podcast, your
ultimate source of inspirationand empowerment.
We're here to help womensucceed in every area of their
lives career, money,relationships, and health and
well-being while celebrating theremarkable journeys of
individuals from all walks oflife who've achieved amazing
things.
Whether you're looking tosupercharge your career, build
(00:45):
financial independence, nurturemeaningful relationships or
enhance your overall well-being,the Starter Girlz podcast is
here to guide you.
Join us as we explore thejourneys of those who dare to
dream big and achieve greatness.
I'm your host, JenniferLoehding, and welcome to this
episode and welcome to thisepisode.
(01:12):
Welcome to another episode ofthe Starter Girlz podcast.
I am your host, JenniferLoading, and wherever you are
tuning in today, we are so gladto have you, so I'm going to
open this up today.
I'm so excited about my guesttoday.
I think one of the things Ilove about Starter Girls is that
we get to talk to so manyincredible people doing amazing
things out there, and I feellike this guest is just another
amazing example of tenacity andgrit and, I want to say,
(01:34):
transformation.
So let me open up with thiswhat if the moment that changes
your life doesn't start with agrand plan, but with a plate of
hot dogs and a number on thescale you never expected to see.
Oftentimes, transformationdoesn't begin in clarity but in
discomfort.
And when purpose meetspersistence, this is what you
(01:56):
get, and so my guest today is anexample of this.
I'm so excited to chat with him.
I think this could be so muchfun, and it's gonna be so
different than what we normallydo.
It's been a while since we'vetalked to an athlete, and so I
think this is going to be kindof fun to shake things up a
little bit.
But before I bring him on, I doneed to do a quick shout out to
our sponsor.
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your content shine, All right.
And with that I want to make onemore mention to head on over to
startergirlz.
com.
And why do you want to go overthere?
Three reasons One if you'vemissed an episode, it's a great
(03:01):
place to catch up on one.
You can also sign up for ourcommunity newsletter and then
that way you'll be in the knowwhen everything goes out and
you'll never miss an episode.
And then, lastly, if you are anaspiring entrepreneur or
creator, or maybe you're alreadyan entrepreneur that's doing
amazing, but you just want toknow what that number one
subconscious block is that maybe hindering your success, Well,
(03:24):
we've got a two-minute quizover there that you can take.
It's kind of fun and it'll tellyou what your number one block
is.
And so head on over tostartergirlscom and do whatever
you need to do there.
All right, and with that we aregoing to welcome our guest on
today.
So my guest today, Andrew Smith, is living proof that
meaningful change can start inthe most unexpected places.
(03:44):
What began with a single runsparked by a desire to reclaim
his health and energy has growninto a powerful journey of
endurance, mindset andcommitment Now a father of four
running marathons, Andrew hasbuilt his momentum around a plan
people, passion, pain andpersistence.
His story is a reminder thatthe path to purpose often starts
(04:07):
with one brave decision, Allright.
So, Andrew, welcome to the show.
We are so glad to have you heretoday.
Andrew Smith (04:14):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
I'm very grateful.
Jennifer Loehding (04:17):
It's going to be fun.
So I'm a runner, not like you,obviously.
I used to run a lot more andit's so funny because I'm now
trying, I'm starting to feelbetter again and so I'm kind of
running a little bit again.
But man, I tell you what thisage thing and running, oh my
gosh, it just hurts, it justhurts, and so I have to like
really push myself to get outthere.
So I always admire my runnerfriends and you and I've been on
(04:46):
the side, probably, that yourwife has been on with young
children watching him do thesethings, and so I'm really
excited to chat with you becauseI think you're you're where we
used to be and you're kind ofbudding and doing all these cool
things and you got this youngfamily that's kind of behind you
, and so I think this can be somuch fun yeah, great, no, great,
no.
Andrew Smith (05:03):
thank you for having me.
I'm looking forward to theconversation.
Jennifer Loehding (05:07):
Yeah.
So let's talk about the story,because this story cracks me up
and you told me about this and Ithought this is so funny
because you hear things likethis, right, like where somebody
had something, and they wake upand they're like, oh my gosh,
this just sucks.
And I shared with you that myhusband had the whole dad bod
thing going, like he startedrunning.
I think he was like 29 and ormaybe it's a little, maybe a
little bit earlier than that,but we had our youngest or she's
(05:28):
our oldest now, but she was ababy at the time and he's like I
don't want this dad bod, and sothat's kind of what triggered
him to start running.
So let's talk about your story.
What brought you to this momentright now?
Andrew Smith (05:40):
Yeah.
So when you cut to the chase ofhow did you start picking up
running and marathoning, it allgoes back to a hot dog eating
contest.
This was July 4th, 2023.
And I signed up for ourneighborhood pools hot dog
eating contest and it was assimple as that.
(06:02):
And it was as simple as that.
I signed up for eating a fewhot dogs.
There were four of us in thecompetition.
(06:23):
I had done some research onJoey Chestnut.
That day he had eaten like 77hot dogs three and a half
minutes and that won me a monthof free ice cream.
And so one bad choice led to areally bigger bad choice and I
had a lot of ice cream that nextmonth.
And I also had my third child.
And I also had my third childand he was born.
(07:10):
And, yes, the dad bod, thefather figure, was forming in
ways that it never had beenbefore.
And I was job transition, thepandemic.
I was in travel, and then I waslike all right, I got to cut
expenses, I'm finding a new job,I got into real estate, but
running was free, or so Ithought, and so started getting
into running a little bit duringCOVID, but hadn't run much.
And then this period of OctoberNovember 2023, I was running
(07:38):
three times a week.
Then it so happened thatsomeone on Facebook his name is
Rick Smith, he was a formerpastor at Watermark in Dallas, a
church and he left to go starta nonprofit called Hope Story
(08:00):
professionals with resources togive an expecting family a
diagnosis of Down syndrome.
If that's their case, insteadof it being a sad story I'm
sorry, which was their situationthey want it to be a
congratulation, congratulations.
Here's hope, here's resources,here's support.
And so what he has done wascreated this nonprofit called
(08:23):
Hope Story, and they raise a lotof their money through races,
through New York City Marathonand through the Disney Marathons
.
So you raise money for HopeStory and they give you access
to these races.
Well, I didn't know any of that,but I learned it because on
Facebook he said anybody want torun the Dallas half with me
(08:44):
this weekend?
And so, on three days notice, Isigned up for my first race,
had never run any races and itwas the Dallas half marathon,
december 2023.
I learned about all thattraveling on the dark train
downtown.
So I learned about that, Ilearned about his organization,
how he does that, and then wejust go and run half a half
(09:07):
marathon and it went poorly, tosay the least.
I didn't know what I was doing,had no formal training.
I had brought some biscuits,two grand layers biscuits.
I was like, oh, maybe I'll needthat before the race.
I was like, oh, maybe I'll needthat before the race.
Well, I didn't eat them and Ididn't get rid of them, they
were just in my pocket.
(09:27):
So the entire time, if you lookback at race photos, I have two
bulging biscuits in my pocket.
While I'm running this halfmarathon, I was given a.
First of all.
We ran out way too fast, andthen we took a donut from a
bystander and had that.
And then he gave me my firstgoo, which I didn't know what a
(09:51):
goo was, but energy gel thing, Ithink it was birthday cake
flavored and all of that was,was not settling well.
Yeah, so here I am halfwaythrough the half marathon and I
start to slow down a lot.
And over the next three, fourmiles, rick, he, he shoots off,
(10:12):
he does a PR, he finishes inlike an hour 51.
Um, I was going quickly until Iwasn't and I started to see
stars.
I started feeling faint.
I was a mess, with Gatoradespilled all over me and I just I
didn't know what was going on.
I did not feel good until aboutmile 10.
I really felt like I was aboutto faint.
(10:34):
I was feeling extremely not good, so I slowed down so much that
eventually I heard the two hourpace guy come up from behind me.
I was way ahead of him and thatwas kind of my goal, but I
didn't really know where I was.
But that guy was the guy Iwanted to beat.
And so for the last three milesall I did was just try and put
(10:56):
one foot in front of the otherand hold on and I felt like
every step I could just fallover.
But I didn't.
I beat him by 15 seconds or soand got to the finish line and
Rick was there to congratulateme and I put my arm around him
feeling a mess and we grabbedthe chocolate, milk and the
(11:17):
tacos and the finisher medal andthe T-shirt and we're walking
to go recover.
And I was like oh, oh, no, Iforgot my medal where are?
And so I turn around he's like,dude, it's on your neck.
And so, again, I was justtotally out of it and, uh, that
was my first running, running arace marathon experience yeah.
Jennifer Loehding (11:41):
So so much to this, andrew.
So much to this.
It's funny.
I'm laughing and you know youprobably saw me smile on some of
this because I can relate tosome of those things.
I'm sure other runners can aswell, but I don't know if I
shared with you.
So I had signed up for this DRCrace in four weeks and had never
really, I think, I'd ran a few5Ks.
(12:02):
And just to kind of prefacethis, years ago I was teaching
aerobics and I would go out andI would just run a 5k and
wouldn't have trained, like Iwould just go run one and of
course my legs would be sore thenext day and I'd be like why
did I do that?
Like it was so stupid.
So here I go and I sign up forthis, this DRC race, and I'm
like I'm going to run this thingand I think my husband probably
ran the marathon at that timeand so, anyways, I remember this
(12:25):
is kind of how I had moved intodoing keto, because when you
were talking about like thebiscuits and the donut and the
goo and all that stuff, like Iwould take that stuff and then,
like in the middle of the race,I would get like migraines, like
I would get headaches, I wouldbonk, like you know, like where
they say you bonk, you hit thewall.
I would just get terrible.
(12:49):
And so that's what, when youtalk about, like transformation,
doing several of those andhaving several of those races,
and it ended up being I got intotrail racing and doing other
things where it required, youknow, a little bit more
strenuous work and I eventuallyjust got so tired of like the
sugar crashing and that it endedup forcing me to have to change
the way I was eating, whichended up working out for me.
So I get it when I listen to youtalk about this stuff, some of
these things that we go throughas runners, you know, like the
hitting the wall and the sugarand you know.
(13:11):
And then the wanting to beatsomebody, the pacers that are
behind you because you don'twant to let them pass you right,
and trying to get in your agegroup, and you've got some
incredible things and I want totalk about that.
But I want to ask you aquestion about those hot dogs,
because we talked about this,about you pouring the water on
(13:33):
the hot dogs, like this part ofthe story you left out.
You need to tell this realquick because I think this is so
funny.
Andrew Smith (13:36):
You mentioned studying your opponents, but
tell us about that part.
Yeah.
So I watched the Nathan's hotdog eating competition again,
like I said, and Joey Chestnutdominant in his sport.
Well, whenever I looked up theESPN, they showed the rules for
the competition and what it saidwas you cannot dip your hot dog
buns in the water for more thanthree seconds.
(13:58):
So I thought, oh, that's astrategic advantage.
You know my little small hotdog thing.
They're not going to have rules.
So the thing was, our little hotdog competition didn't have big
cups like theirs did, so we hadliteral water models, tiny
little spouts.
So the thing was, our littlehot dog competition didn't have
big cups like theirs did, so wehad literal water bottles, tiny
little spouts.
So I couldn't dip anything inmy water bottle.
So, yeah, the first move I hadI made sure both water bottles I
(14:20):
had were unscrewed and firstmove ready, set, go was just
dump out all the water on thehot dogs, make them as soggy and
wet as possible so that, yeah,I could try and stuff them in my
mouth a little better.
But man, there's still quite aa ball of dough type of
disgusting in your mouth whenyou're trying to down two hot
(14:41):
dogs at once, yeah, but itworked out for me.
I got those first two down inless than a minute and my
competition as soon as they sawme dump it, they were like whoa
that.
I think I'm gonna catch up onmy dog and just watch this guy
do what he's doing that's kindof how it went now, I didn't
really have any competitionafter I made that move that's so
(15:02):
great, it's clever, that youwere thinking that way.
Jennifer Loehding (15:04):
You know, I can only imagine you get those
hot dogs, do you?
So now let me ask you this willyou eat a hot dog now, like are
you cool eating hot dogs now?
Are you kind of like?
Andrew Smith (15:12):
I like.
Okay, I even ate like a poundof brisket after that.
You know, I wasn't even fullapparently so yeah I don't know
what I did that day, but I wasready, so you were ready, you
just had the mindset you'reeating hot dogs down.
Jennifer Loehding (15:26):
That's great.
I don't know if that I could doit.
That's that's.
I'd be like I don't have to thebread after we're like getting
that bread, like try to get itdown your throat.
So I'm totally impressed withthat.
So, moving forward into yourrunning, because you've said
some PRs now and you've gotBoston in sight that you're
wanting to do so tell us alittle.
December 2023, about threeweeks later, it was like how
(15:52):
would you run double that who?
Andrew Smith (15:55):
how do you do that ?
And I had to scratch that itchand figure it out.
So December, that month, Istarted figuring out a podcast
to listen to, figuring out okay,what does a plan look like?
I looked up amarathonhandbookcom free
training plan and I looked upwhen races were, and so marathon
(16:16):
by May became the idea.
And then I did some moreresearch on weather patterns in
Texas and I realized May is veryhot for a marathon.
Jennifer Loehding (16:26):
So how about?
Andrew Smith (16:27):
April.
So I actually found IrvingMarathon April 1st and that gave
me about 14 weeks to prepare.
So I looked up the just generaltraining plan.
It was like, all right, runsome speed, work a little bit,
do a long run every weekend.
I kind of thought, do somecross training figure out?
You know I like to playbasketball, softball, other
(16:50):
sports.
I didn't want to stop doingthose run three times a week.
I was like I'm not going tooverdo it, but I've got to get
that long run in to figure outhow to get there.
So on my first long run inJanuary I ran eight miles and at
the end of that I met my family.
My family met me at a park.
(17:11):
The kids went and played andthere was a guy in a New York
City Marathon jacket and he wasjust talking about some people
running and I was certainlyinterested in that moving in
that direction and I just buttedmyself into the conversation
and he ends up inviting me intohis running club.
So the Canyon Creek RunningClub in Richardson was just a
(17:35):
free group of people, just kindof running, and he's like, hey,
track Tuesdays, let's go, comemeet us.
530 or 515 every Tuesday.
We do speed work.
I was like, ok, great.
So I incorporated that into myroutine, into my plan and to
this day, even this morning, I'mrunning with those guys.
So that was a key part ofgetting the right people around
(17:58):
me.
And little did I know that Iwas getting like elite level
camaraderie with these guys,because they all run 230, 240
marathons.
So they're running six minutemiles or 615, 620s and it's like
whoa, that's next level.
So I get to enjoy the warmuplap with them before they lap me
(18:19):
on the track.
But it was the perfect peopleto start the training process
with as I got going, becausegetting the right people around
you is key to making somethinglike this happen.
Jennifer Loehding (18:32):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's good, and I agree with
you on the people.
You know it's interesting too.
There's a lot of parallels whenwe talk about, you know, like
athleticism, be it running orwhatever sport it is that we
take.
You know a lot even in business, right, because a lot of the
listeners that listen to thisshow I'm assuming we've got
other types of listeners as well, but I would assume we've got a
good chunk of business ownersand people that are in places
(18:55):
where they're trying to grow andleadership and that kind of
thing.
So I think there's a lot ofparallels when we talk about
this, because you do yourtraining early in the morning,
like we just talked about, youknow, before the kids are moving
, and I get it because that'swe've had to do that here too,
when we were running a lot.
Our kids were young and we hadto kind of navigate.
I remember I don't even knowhow I did this now I laugh about
it now because I'm like, oh mygosh, I don't even have the the
(19:15):
willpower to want to do this,but I would get up and you know,
in the morning at like four andput my water pack on and go out
and run in the dark down theblue trail in Carrollton, you
know, out and do maybe like 11,you know 10, 11 miles in the
morning, be back beforeeverybody was like ready to get
out the door, you know, and thenI'd start my day.
And now I'm just like I get.
I still get up that early everyday, but the thought of wanting
(19:38):
to do all that, I'm just likeno.
Andrew Smith (19:41):
Yes, yeah, you've got to have some motivator in
your life.
That's like going to dosomething you've ever done or
got a big goal, and I thinkthat's what it was for me.
I in general, like achievement,I like going for something big.
I actually set goals in almostevery area of my life and so
(20:03):
this is just one of them.
And, yes, planning around thekids is important because, as I
was getting into it, I had a fewpeople.
They were like hey, you don'twant to be a deadbeat dad
marathon runner because you canspend so many hours.
And that is what I discoveredas I ramped up my mileage,
especially as I got over 13miles.
(20:26):
That's like all right, that's atwo to three hour run with like
a 30 to 40 minute prep plus atwo hour recovery when you're
just starting out.
It was super challenging andthat would end up being four to
five hours of my day and I tryto keep it all in the morning,
but sometimes it wasn't, sosometimes it was afternoon and
(20:48):
I'm just gone Right.
Yeah, I really did try to figureout how to put it in the
morning.
But the first training cyclewas extremely challenging and
sacrificial for my wife to justcontinue to hold down the fort
as she as she had to.
But as I got ramped up inmileage and just PR'd for new
(21:09):
longest distance I've ever runeach week it was a crazy process
because I'm just mind blownthat I just ran 15 miles.
Oh, I just tried to run 17miles.
Oh no, I get a call.
Baby threw up.
I got to go back home, allright, so that one got cut short
.
All right, I'm going to go for18 miles.
(21:29):
Oh, I did a bad planning on howlong the route is Ended up
being 19 miles, right, all right, here's 21 miles.
What are we doing here?
I just did that.
Then my peak training run wassupposed to be a 22 miler.
It ended up being again a 23miler.
So that was like run fromWatermark all the way down a
white around White Rock Lakeback up to Watermark.
(21:52):
That was 23 miles.
In the middle of that trainingcycle, rick Smith, back to the
half marathon.
He invited me to go run NewYork City in November.
So although I had Irving'sApril 1st on the calendar, my
wife and I, we decided we'regoing to make that our 10 year
(22:12):
anniversary trip in November, soNovember 2023.
Yeah, 23 or 24.
Anyway, we decided, let's makea trip of it.
I guess I'm just running abunch this year.
Let's make a trip of it.
I guess I'm just running abunch this year.
(22:34):
So basically ran Irving April1st.
It went well.
I did it in 4.03.
It's like a 9.17 average mile.
So that was pretty good.
And then I took a couple monthsoff and then had a whole nother
shock training summer marathoncycle for New York.
New York went really well.
I did it in 348.
(22:57):
And so that's like an 848average mile.
But it's super hilly, it's verychallenging with the bridges
and such, and that was fun and Iwas like I'm in better shape
than I've ever been in my wholelife.
I've run a couple of marathons.
That's so cool.
Never expected that.
And I was like, hey, becca,that's my wife's name.
(23:17):
And what could I do on a flatcourse, can I sign up for
another one?
And so she's like, yes, happybirthday, here you go.
So I signed up for Houston inJanuary 2024.
And that looked like.
So I had a mini trainingsession and that guy I ran into
(23:40):
on my first long run, the eightmile.
He ended up coaching me and sothat actually helped a lot.
And what happened was, uh, Ialways set an A goal, a B goal
and a C goal.
C goal was always like this ismore than attainable, b goal is
kind of the target, a goal is astretch.
So the stretch goal for thatone was 330.
(24:01):
And I beat that.
So I beat the stretch goal andI did a 329, which was a 759
average mile, eight minute milebasically for a marathon.
So a huge improvement overeight months and that was kind
of it.
It was a huge, thrilling,emotional finish and from there
(24:22):
we were pregnant with our fourthkid.
So I was like, all right,that's it for now.
That was the season.
So in this time last year, allspring, summer, 2024, I kind of
ran, but not much, and then ourfourth child was born in August
(24:43):
2024 and then he startedsleeping pretty well generally
you got back up we're neversleeping great, but we were just
like I think I want to keepdoing this.
so in October 2024 signed up forHouston again.
Uh, so didn't do any marathonsfor a full year, but I had a
(25:05):
full training cycle and the keydifference in that training
cycle was I found a guy in myneighborhood who was my speed,
so he had a coach who was myspeed and I was able to
integrate into his plan and justhave someone to literally wake
up with and we could go runwherever.
So, having Michael Groves jointhe story was is a key part of
(25:29):
this, I think he and a friendnamed Ray.
He's he's an ultra marathoner.
Ray has done so many 50 milersand 100 milers, it's like what,
but he's not as much a roadracer anyway.
So back to Houston, set my agoal, again really aggressively,
at three, 15 this time, and Ibeat that again.
(25:52):
So Houston 2025, I did a three,14.
Um, so that's a seven 25average mile.
And then I signed up for onemore.
Back in our.
My wife and I were home.
We're high school sweethearts.
Uh, went to Lafayette high andthen we, we dated long distance
through college.
I went to Baylor, she went toMississippi college.
(26:14):
Uh, we got married.
When we moved here that was 12years ago, but back in Lafayette
, so that family could come andsupport I did the Zydeco
Marathon.
So this was just this pastMarch, a couple months ago, and
so I had a little bit oftraining.
I didn't incredibly improve,but I still PR'd.
I did 312.
(26:34):
So that's like a 721 averagemile and you know this whole
journey has just been like allright if I improve another 15
minutes, like I did, from 329 to314 or I'm getting to the point
that's like Boston is apossibility.
Right, getting to that threehour threshold is now like
(26:56):
possible, but it's also dauntingbecause it's not just the
threshold of three hours thatyou qualify.
There's so many people thatqualify now for Boston.
Yeah, this past Boston thatjust happened a few weeks ago.
It was like a 258 that you hadto run Well next year it's
projected to be more like a 256,250, who knows how long.
(27:20):
So like, all right, my actualgoal needs to be 255 if I want
to actually run.
Boston in 2027 is really whatI'm shooting for aiming for.
Jennifer Loehding (27:32):
So you're gonna do it.
Andrew Smith (27:33):
You're gonna do it I mean, if not, yeah, if not
this january at houston, thenmaybe next year.
But I'm taking the long termview right.
I'm not that fast yet.
I'm still in my training andevery month what I enjoy whether
I was in training or out oftraining meaning like last
(27:54):
spring and summer when I wasn'ttraining I always tested my 5k
time.
I ran it as hard as I could andthat was always a good data
point to see how fast am I orhow much am I slowing down.
So, not training season.
I was slowing down 10 seconds,five seconds, 30 seconds and
then, as I got back in shapethis fall and summer and winter,
(28:17):
it got faster and faster andfaster and faster.
So it's been really fun totrain to see that result and
have that data point along theway to see how the plan is
working and how I'm gettingfaster.
Yeah, no, it's good.
Jennifer Loehding (28:33):
Yeah, no, I think it's great and there's so
many.
That's why I said there's somany parallels here, whether
you're, you know, runningtraining for marathons or you're
trying to stretch for the nextbig goal in business.
And so I love theseconversations and I think the
big thing I keep hearing, youknow, that you're talking about
here really is like thisadaptability, right, like this
just learning to adapt andreadjust and continue to persist
(28:54):
through.
So because not only that, yourwife is having to adapt with
these kiddos, right, likebecause I've been on that side
not as many kids as you've had,but we were talking about this,
I mean, when we moved fromHouston to Dallas.
You know, I had the three andmy youngest was four months old,
and I remember it wasn't.
We came here in July and I wantto say it was in October that we
(29:16):
went to Arkansas for and my Idon't know if my husband ran a
50 miler or a-miler there,because by then he was starting
to do these crazy races and Iremember taking those kids and
we had a flat tire there, I mean, and he was running and we
couldn't get his help because itwas like what do you do?
He's in the middle of theforest in Arkansas and I'm, you
(29:39):
know, navigating these.
So it is.
It's a big sacrifice on theother side of that, you know.
So I think adaptability is hugehere.
I think I think and workingtogether.
But you said also a lot ofreally good things about having
the right support systems, and Ithink that is universal in
everything we do as well.
Right, it's like having theright people in your space to
not only encourage you butmentorship, you know, and you
(30:02):
are like the sum of the five youhang around, right.
So if you want to get to be afaster runner, find faster
runners to mesh in with.
Right.
My husband used to do a lot ofthat too.
He would go on Saturdaymornings and go down to the
White Rock and run with runnersthere, and he did some of the
Tuesday night speed work thingstoo.
I remember like Ollie so funnybecause we're in a different
phase now where we still bothexercise every day but it's like
(30:25):
he still goes out and runs andhe rides his bike, and every now
and then we'll be like, hey, doyou want to go down and do like
the?
What is this?
I'm drawing the in July atBuckner they do the.
I'm like I can't even think ofit.
Andrew Smith (30:37):
We've ran it several years but it's not like
all those races Like we ran itseveral years, but it's not like
all those races are hotter thanhell or something I don't know.
Jennifer Loehding (30:42):
They're worth that one.
I think we did one of those.
There was that.
It's a big one that's down atBuckner Park and they do it
every July and I'm drawing ablank, but I brought it up.
I'm like, hey, do you want togo down there?
We can run a 5K and see if wecan get through this.
You know it to a differentplace, but I think it's good and
(31:05):
I think if you're enjoying itand wife's on board there's, you
know there's a lot to be donewith this and you guys can
travel and Boston is, it's fun,it's cool.
I will tell you this If you go,maybe find babysitter for the
kids, because it'd be a loteasier if the wife wants to go
and tell her to plan the tram,because I'm not kidding you,
like I rode all the way out tosee him at the halfway and I did
not make it back to the finishline.
He finished before I got backbecause it's so crazy busy and
(31:29):
just to like get to.
Like you know where thefinisher when you come in at the
finish, every block is like analphabet letter name of people.
So like you know wherever youare.
Smith, you're way down there.
Oh, we were in the middle butyou had to get like through all
these masses of people.
But it's fun.
It's a fun race and there's alot going on there, and go for
(31:50):
it.
I say, do it.
I mean you need to do it atleast once.
I think my husband ran it in, Iwant to say 2002.
So it's been a while.
It was.
It's been a while since we didthat.
He did it and got it done andthen he moved on to trail
running and really enjoyed a lotof that stuff and you know it's
a different, different world.
But, um, it's fun too, it's,it's different.
You might end up there Sunday,who knows, you never know, right
(32:10):
.
Andrew Smith (32:11):
Yeah, absolutely that's the goal for now.
You know I I do have long-termlater why I couldn't get into
triathlete stuff, ironmans andthat sort of stuff.
I don't own a bike right now, Ican't swim that great, but I
think that's going to be anatural extension of this.
One day after I'm kind of donewith the road racing.
(32:34):
You know achievements and soOlympic marathons sound like a
general distance that'scomparable, and then you get
into your half iron man's, whichis a big step up, and then full
iron man's, a whole nother ballgame.
But it's not great as crazyit's.
I mean, it's just as crazy asthese ultras that are 100 miles,
crazy right all that right,yeah, or pour it though, yeah,
(32:59):
yeah, you know, but right nowI'm just enjoying the season of
trying to get faster.
I'm getting more efficient withmy training so I don't have to
waste as much time away from thefamily Again, I'm just trying
to do it 5 to 7 am every weekdayand on the weekends it's like 5
to 8.
My wife goes to yoga everySaturday at 8.30.
(33:20):
And that's sacred almost.
Jennifer Loehding (33:23):
Like we try to really honor that for each
other.
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (33:26):
And then, as much as I can, I'm getting my kids
involved too.
So we'll go to the track onSaturdays.
I've been testing their 100meter dash or their 40 meter
dash or their scooter 100 meterdash.
I did a three miler with melast weekend.
I've gone as far as seven oreight miles with them scootering
(33:47):
.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So the five and eight year oldare doing great.
They're trying to get thethree-year-old almost
three-year-old up to speed.
He did a little half mile last,like if this weekend that was
kind of cool.
It's like all right, he'sgetting faster.
And then you know the eightmonth old right now a little bit
, but yeah, but I did do I diddo a run with all four of them
(34:11):
for the first time last weekendoh fun.
Jennifer Loehding (34:14):
So the two smaller ones in a stroller, the
other two scootering, so thatwas kind of cool yeah, but oh my
gosh, yeah, I laugh at allbecause I just remember doing
like the, the double, thescooter, the, the stroller,
running, running with thestroller and yeah all of them
say it's so funny.
But you know, I think all of ourkids, all three of ours, at
different time frame I had twothat went into cross country and
track one ended up getting ascholarship to run um, but all
(34:37):
of them.
I remember Kara, my oldestshe's 28 now but I remember
taking her we were in Houstonstill and her doing like a 5k.
I had pictures of her.
I mean she was little, she wasa toddler and had her little
number badge on, and so we triedto kind of do the same thing,
get them all in.
And Kara did a little bit ofcross country in middle school
and then Paige and Sean kind ofwent on and did it in high
school at different times, andso it no, I mean it's free, like
(34:59):
you said, and it gets everybodymoving and if you're enjoying
it, you know it's great.
I would love to ask you kind ofI want to.
This is kind of a mindsetquestion.
I know we don't have much time,but I know somebody listening
to this has heard all of theseand we've talked about like the
discipline, adaptability, all ofthese things.
But and you've even talked alot about mindset we haven't
(35:24):
directly talked about but I'dlove to know for somebody
listening to this, let's saywhether it's business or sport,
whatever it is those momentswhen you're like, oh my gosh, I
just want to put it down right,like we've all been there like,
throw that towel in the room,what is like?
What is going through your mind?
What are you doing there?
Like, what do you?
How are you working yourselfthrough that?
Andrew Smith (35:41):
Yeah, I put one foot in front of the other.
I certainly face challenges,little injuries, discouragement,
thought I could do somethingbetter than I did, didn't
deliver on it.
What do you do when you'restuck in the middle of the night
with a kid that's woken up andyou're like I'm about to go run
(36:01):
X, many miles.
I have such assignments due.
What else can you do but putone foot in front of the other?
Good, do all that you can andleave it.
Leave the rest up to up to God.
Like.
So you know, this wholeextension, all of this to me is
(36:22):
a is an extension of the biggervision.
And so, like the mission mightbe Boston, but the bigger vision
is just live all that.
Love God, that's what it is forme.
Love God with all my heart,soul, mind and strength.
This is a lot of the strengthpart, but there's a ton of
mindset in that.
And what more can I do than putone foot in front of the other
(36:44):
and just push through to thenext thing?
All pain will come to an end.
There is a greater reward atthe end, and in the suck of it
it's going to end.
Just know that.
Hey, you will get through this.
There's a ton of peoplesupporting you, there's a cloud
of witnesses, there's a bunch ofpeople supporting, and so,
(37:07):
whether that's business, whetherthat's running, absolutely you
can continue on and make aninspiring story, right.
So that's that's my mindset,that's my bigger, why I do all
this, yeah, and that's just, youknow, fulfilling my purpose, my
, my potential.
I hope.
Jennifer Loehding (37:27):
Yeah, and it really is about stepping one
foot, you know, just putting onefoot out there.
It's the hardest thing, right?
Is the getting started.
Once you start getting it, youknow, going in, and I always
talk about this, even inbusiness.
You know like I came from, Iwas in.
I think I shared with you, Iwas in Mary Kay, I was in
(37:49):
leadership for a very long time.
I was with that company 22years and I always, you know,
when I'm talking about sales,let's move away from sports for
just a minute athleticism andlet's go just into business
sales, because we all have tosell something right?
When I was in that business, Iwas selling cosmetics Okay, so
we're doing makeup and therewould be this period I always
used to talk about this.
I call it the crash and burn,you know phase.
It's where you're like got themomentum and the stride and
everything's going well, andthen you sort of stop doing
things you like because you'reriding the high right, and then,
guess what happens?
Everything stops.
Kind of like you were talkingabout the running right.
(38:10):
You set scale back a little bitand then what happens?
You have to get the momentumgoing again and it takes a
little period of time to get themomentum going.
And so when you said the onestep forward, I also attribute
that, you know, to just tryingto keep consistency, keep moving
(38:33):
right, like, keep going, evenif you're not going at the
highest pace that you want or atthe highest of your peak right,
just continually keep moving,because the starting over is
harder, right, and it's nodifferent in what you're talking
about, running, as it is inbusiness as well.
Every time we get that high andthen we're like, okay, I'm
coasting now because I didreally good, now let me
celebrate, I'm going to stop,and then guess what you got to
start over again.
So I think it's great.
(38:54):
I love that you said that onestep forward, because I know
you're talking about it in justin the middle of you know
something going on that couldpotentially stop you, but it's
so good and really interesting.
Consistent too right, becausewe're not always going to be at
our peak and we're not alwaysgoing to be reaching a goal, but
if we're staying consistent, wecan keep moving towards the
(39:15):
bigger, overarching thing thatwe're trying to do.
Andrew Smith (39:18):
Putting one foot and step in front of the other
doesn't mean always running.
I'm talking about like get outof bed.
Jennifer Loehding (39:25):
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (39:26):
Rush your teeth.
What is the next little thingyou need to do for your business
?
Jennifer Loehding (39:31):
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (39:31):
Who do you need to call Right?
What list do you need to createto get organized Right?
What person should you be intouch with?
Just, it's just simple things.
And especially when you'rereally in a mental crisis, if
you're depressed, if someone'sjust died, if, like you're
really challenging things, thatis just real.
(39:54):
Sometimes you just need togrieve, sometimes you need to
rest.
Whatever that next step is,it's just like you don't have to
worry about tomorrow, that hasenough worries about itself.
Is just like you don't have toworry about tomorrow, that has
enough worries about itself.
Like, just worry about today,what is in front of you.
Take it one step at a time.
Right, that's how it'smanageable.
When you just think what is thenext thing?
(40:15):
What is the next?
Who do you?
What's the next thing I need todo?
Jennifer Loehding (40:18):
Yeah, I don't know about you, andrew.
Like I give myself sort of liketime limits on things, like
when we're talking about likedealing with things, like if I'm
really in a moment where I'mfeeling stuck, like I'm a very
action-oriented person.
So when I say that and maybeyou can relate to this, I'm sure
others can I don't have thecapacity to sit and dwell in
stuff for a very long time.
(40:39):
Like my natural tendency islet's go to work, let's get into
action.
So, whether it's if I wake uptomorrow and I'm like man, I'm
not big on exercising myself outof a bad diet.
I'm very conscientious aboutwhat I eat, but I just got back
from a cruise and I did prettygood while I was there, but I
did think I snuck into desserts.
Like one night I had a browniebecause it was like, oh my gosh,
(41:00):
I need one bad.
And the next day I got up I'mlike you know what?
We ain't doing that todaybecause no, no, no, no, no.
You know so I'm not one to staystuck in things.
I go into action.
So in a moment like that I'mgoing to be like regrouping
immediately.
But if there's something that'sreally hard, you know like I
need to sit in that emotion andI think what you said allow
(41:20):
yourself to go through that LikeI will tell myself, like, give
yourself a time limit to sort ofgrieve, pout, get mad, whatever
that is.
If I need to pout because I'mpissed off about something, like
it's like you got 24 hours,jennifer.
You get that out and dowhatever you need to do.
Get mad, get angry, do whatever.
But tomorrow when you get up,what's your next thing?
You're doing?
(41:40):
What are you doing?
What's that next step?
So I love that you said you know, allow yourself to go through,
to have that right, but then doyour next step, because I think
that's important.
I think a lot of times we getfrozen like right, like we have
a big goal and then it doesn'tgo the way we want, and so we
get upset and we beat ourselvesup and then we just go, oh, and
then we get stuck right Becausewe didn't do the metric, we
(42:04):
didn't reach it right, insteadof just saying what's the next
step I can do to do it again,because you're still further
than you were when you started,even if you didn't reach a goal.
You're still further than youwere the day one when you
started the whole thing you know, so you're still winning is the
way I see it right.
Andrew Smith (42:19):
Yeah, it's easy to compare yourself against your
former self or where you used tobe.
That's how I think we shouldcompare ourselves.
But even it's not all aboutachieving.
Like, in 10 years, do I expectto be running as fast as I am?
No, that's not a faircomparison, even against myself.
But I can set a new goal in adifferent way.
I can set a different type ofmetric, and that's what it is.
(42:43):
We get to choose, especially,especially in sports, things
that don't really matter.
But in business, set your goalsand do what you can and, uh,
you know.
Don't worry about all the restand don't care about what
everybody else says right, yeah,enjoy it that's.
Jennifer Loehding (43:00):
I think that's the biggest lesson I've
learned now that I'm in my 50s.
I think it's just to enjoy,enjoy the process.
If that's like something Icould tell myself when I was
younger, or maybe somebody youknow, like you guys, enjoy the
process.
Oh my gosh.
Enjoy your kids, because theygrow up so freaking quickly and
then they're just, they don'tneed you anymore, you know.
But even the running, enjoy allof it because it goes so very
(43:20):
quickly.
You know and and you do you dodifferent things, like you're
talking, maybe you are stilldoing the same, I don't know but
you go into different placesand you can change your goals
and your metrics and, like Itell people now, like I work out
every day and if I go out and Ido a little bit of.
You know, I've been runninglike two, two and a half miles
and I've been pretty cool withthat because I for a while I was
sick, I couldn't, and so nowI'm happy because I'm getting
(43:42):
back out there and doing it.
I'm not going to lie, like Isaid in the very beginning, it
hurts, but when I'm done I'mlike, yes, done for the day.
You know, I've got my workout,I feel good and we just changed
the goals.
You know the metrics change andwhat we had planned to do, but
I think you're doing great stuff, andrew, we used to pull up the
(44:04):
racing things in the papers andstuff.
I still have pictures that comeup on my phone or my.
You know, I told you my middlewas a runner and she ran her
first marathon.
I ran it with her in Tulsa whenshe was 16.
She did on her 16th birthday,actually ran her first marathon.
So I every now and then get thephotos you know my memories and
Facebook that come up, thatI'll see, like where my
husband's done something or I'vedone something, or Paige, or
(44:26):
you know, sean, or whatever.
It's fun to see those thingslike like, look what we did,
this is kind of cool.
We were sort of badasses at oneday, you know one time, so it's
fun.
So I'm excited to see what youdo and where this all goes and
you know, enjoying it and hopeyou have fun doing it.
Andrew Smith (44:41):
Yeah, appreciate it, thank you.
Jennifer Loehding (44:43):
So if maybe a listener on here wants to get
in touch with you, maybe theywant to, you know, follow you,
or maybe they want to chat withyou, maybe they're aspiring to
go into this area and they like,hey, tell me what you've been
doing and what's your morningroutine, give me all the nitty
gritty, because we didn't get toget into everything.
Where do we want to send them?
How do they get in touch withyou?
Andrew Smith (45:01):
Sure, so my full name is Andrew Moss Smith, and
so that's kind of my handle foreverything Andrew Moss Smith at
Instagram.
Slash for LinkedIn, facebook,you know, andrew Moss Smith at
gmailcom.
So those are all the easy waysto get in touch with me.
Jennifer Loehding (45:19):
Perfect, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of
your stuff, you know, kind offloating through there somewhere
.
You'll keep us up on everything, so this has been fun, andrew.
Thank you for sharing yourstory and hopefully inspiring
our audience.
I'm sure that you know they'regoing to find something amazing
in this and, who knows, maybewe'll get some new runners out
of all this.
Andrew Smith (45:36):
Sounds good.
Yeah, thank you so much forhaving me.
Jennifer Loehding (45:38):
Absolutely and, of course, to our audience.
We appreciate you and hope,like I said, that you found this
episode both informative andinspiring, and if you want to
get in touch with Andrew, we'regoing to put all that out there
for you on the show notes.
You'll be able to get in touchwith him and you know what to do
.
If you like the episode, shareit, comment, Do all the things,
subscribe, so we can keepsharing all of this fabulous
(45:58):
content.
And, as I always say, in orderto live the extraordinary, you
must start, and every startbegins with a decision.
You guys, take care, be safe,be kind to one another and we
(46:25):
will see you next time.
And I also had my third child and he was born and,
yes, the dad bod, the fatherfigure, was forming in ways that
it never had been before and Iwas seeing numbers on the scale
I had never seen before and itwas just like, okay, let's,
let's reverse this.
So what I did was I juststarted running three times a
(00:21):
week.
Jennifer Loehding (00:23):
Welcome to the Starter Girlz podcast, your
ultimate source of inspirationand empowerment.
We're here to help womensucceed in every area of their
lives career, money,relationships, and health and
well-being while celebrating theremarkable journeys of
individuals from all walks oflife who've achieved amazing
things.
Whether you're looking tosupercharge your career, build
(00:45):
financial independence, nurturemeaningful relationships or
enhance your overall well-being,the Starter Girlz podcast is
here to guide you.
Join us as we explore thejourneys of those who dare to
dream big and achieve greatness.
I'm your host, JenniferLoehding, and welcome to this
episode and welcome to thisepisode.
(01:12):
Welcome to another episode ofthe Starter Girlz podcast.
I am your host, JenniferLoading, and wherever you are
tuning in today, we are so gladto have you, so I'm going to
open this up today.
I'm so excited about my guesttoday.
I think one of the things Ilove about Starter Girls is that
we get to talk to so manyincredible people doing amazing
things out there, and I feellike this guest is just another
amazing example of tenacity andgrit and, I want to say,
(01:34):
transformation.
So let me open up with thiswhat if the moment that changes
your life doesn't start with agrand plan, but with a plate of
hot dogs and a number on thescale you never expected to see.
Oftentimes, transformationdoesn't begin in clarity but in
discomfort.
And when purpose meetspersistence, this is what you
(01:56):
get, and so my guest today is anexample of this.
I'm so excited to chat with him.
I think this could be so muchfun, and it's gonna be so
different than what we normallydo.
It's been a while since we'vetalked to an athlete, and so I
think this is going to be kindof fun to shake things up a
little bit.
But before I bring him on, I doneed to do a quick shout out to
our sponsor.
This episode is brought to youby Walt Mills Productions.
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(02:19):
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Walt Mills leverages years ofskills to give you the spotlight
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Head on over towaltmillsproductionsnet and let
your content shine, All right.
And with that I want to make onemore mention to head on over to
startergirlz.
com.
And why do you want to go overthere?
Three reasons One if you'vemissed an episode, it's a great
(03:01):
place to catch up on one.
You can also sign up for ourcommunity newsletter and then
that way you'll be in the knowwhen everything goes out and
you'll never miss an episode.
And then, lastly, if you are anaspiring entrepreneur or
creator, or maybe you're alreadyan entrepreneur that's doing
amazing, but you just want toknow what that number one
subconscious block is that maybe hindering your success, Well,
(03:24):
we've got a two-minute quizover there that you can take.
It's kind of fun and it'll tellyou what your number one block
is.
And so head on over tostartergirlscom and do whatever
you need to do there.
All right, and with that we aregoing to welcome our guest on
today.
So my guest today, Andrew Smith, is living proof that
meaningful change can start inthe most unexpected places.
(03:44):
What began with a single runsparked by a desire to reclaim
his health and energy has growninto a powerful journey of
endurance, mindset andcommitment Now a father of four
running marathons, Andrew hasbuilt his momentum around a plan
people, passion, pain andpersistence.
His story is a reminder thatthe path to purpose often starts
(04:07):
with one brave decision, Allright.
So, Andrew, welcome to the show.
We are so glad to have you heretoday.
Andrew Smith (04:14):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
I'm very grateful.
Jennifer Loehding (04:17):
It's going to be fun.
So I'm a runner, not like you,obviously.
I used to run a lot more andit's so funny because I'm now
trying, I'm starting to feelbetter again and so I'm kind of
running a little bit again.
But man, I tell you what thisage thing and running, oh my
gosh, it just hurts, it justhurts, and so I have to like
really push myself to get outthere.
So I always admire my runnerfriends and you and I've been on
(04:46):
the side, probably, that yourwife has been on with young
children watching him do thesethings, and so I'm really
excited to chat with you becauseI think you're you're where we
used to be and you're kind ofbudding and doing all these cool
things and you got this youngfamily that's kind of behind you
, and so I think this can be somuch fun yeah, great, no, great,
no.
Andrew Smith (05:03):
thank you for having me.
I'm looking forward to theconversation.
Jennifer Loehding (05:07):
Yeah.
So let's talk about the story,because this story cracks me up
and you told me about this and Ithought this is so funny
because you hear things likethis, right, like where somebody
had something, and they wake upand they're like, oh my gosh,
this just sucks.
And I shared with you that myhusband had the whole dad bod
thing going, like he startedrunning.
I think he was like 29 and ormaybe it's a little, maybe a
little bit earlier than that,but we had our youngest or she's
(05:28):
our oldest now, but she was ababy at the time and he's like I
don't want this dad bod, and sothat's kind of what triggered
him to start running.
So let's talk about your story.
What brought you to this momentright now?
Andrew Smith (05:40):
Yeah.
So when you cut to the chase ofhow did you start picking up
running and marathoning, it allgoes back to a hot dog eating
contest.
This was July 4th, 2023.
And I signed up for ourneighborhood pools hot dog
eating contest and it was assimple as that.
(06:02):
And it was as simple as that.
I signed up for eating a fewhot dogs.
There were four of us in thecompetition.
(06:23):
I had done some research onJoey Chestnut.
That day he had eaten like 77hot dogs three and a half
minutes and that won me a monthof free ice cream.
And so one bad choice led to areally bigger bad choice and I
had a lot of ice cream that nextmonth.
And I also had my third child.
And I also had my third childand he was born.
(07:10):
And, yes, the dad bod, thefather figure, was forming in
ways that it never had beenbefore.
And I was job transition, thepandemic.
I was in travel, and then I waslike all right, I got to cut
expenses, I'm finding a new job,I got into real estate, but
running was free, or so Ithought, and so started getting
into running a little bit duringCOVID, but hadn't run much.
And then this period of OctoberNovember 2023, I was running
(07:38):
three times a week.
Then it so happened thatsomeone on Facebook his name is
Rick Smith, he was a formerpastor at Watermark in Dallas, a
church and he left to go starta nonprofit called Hope Story
(08:00):
professionals with resources togive an expecting family a
diagnosis of Down syndrome.
If that's their case, insteadof it being a sad story I'm
sorry, which was their situationthey want it to be a
congratulation, congratulations.
Here's hope, here's resources,here's support.
And so what he has done wascreated this nonprofit called
(08:23):
Hope Story, and they raise a lotof their money through races,
through New York City Marathonand through the Disney Marathons
.
So you raise money for HopeStory and they give you access
to these races.
Well, I didn't know any of that,but I learned it because on
Facebook he said anybody want torun the Dallas half with me
(08:44):
this weekend?
And so, on three days notice, Isigned up for my first race,
had never run any races and itwas the Dallas half marathon,
december 2023.
I learned about all thattraveling on the dark train
downtown.
So I learned about that, Ilearned about his organization,
how he does that, and then wejust go and run half a half
(09:07):
marathon and it went poorly, tosay the least.
I didn't know what I was doing,had no formal training.
I had brought some biscuits,two grand layers biscuits.
I was like, oh, maybe I'll needthat before the race.
I was like, oh, maybe I'll needthat before the race.
Well, I didn't eat them and Ididn't get rid of them, they
were just in my pocket.
(09:27):
So the entire time, if you lookback at race photos, I have two
bulging biscuits in my pocket.
While I'm running this halfmarathon, I was given a.
First of all.
We ran out way too fast, andthen we took a donut from a
bystander and had that.
And then he gave me my firstgoo, which I didn't know what a
(09:51):
goo was, but energy gel thing, Ithink it was birthday cake
flavored and all of that was,was not settling well.
Yeah, so here I am halfwaythrough the half marathon and I
start to slow down a lot.
And over the next three, fourmiles, rick, he, he shoots off,
(10:12):
he does a PR, he finishes inlike an hour 51.
Um, I was going quickly until Iwasn't and I started to see
stars.
I started feeling faint.
I was a mess, with Gatoradespilled all over me and I just I
didn't know what was going on.
I did not feel good until aboutmile 10.
I really felt like I was aboutto faint.
(10:34):
I was feeling extremely not good, so I slowed down so much that
eventually I heard the two hourpace guy come up from behind me.
I was way ahead of him and thatwas kind of my goal, but I
didn't really know where I was.
But that guy was the guy Iwanted to beat.
And so for the last three milesall I did was just try and put
(10:56):
one foot in front of the otherand hold on and I felt like
every step I could just fallover.
But I didn't.
I beat him by 15 seconds or soand got to the finish line and
Rick was there to congratulateme and I put my arm around him
feeling a mess and we grabbedthe chocolate, milk and the
(11:17):
tacos and the finisher medal andthe T-shirt and we're walking
to go recover.
And I was like oh, oh, no, Iforgot my medal where are?
And so I turn around he's like,dude, it's on your neck.
And so, again, I was justtotally out of it and, uh, that
was my first running, running arace marathon experience yeah.
Jennifer Loehding (11:41):
So so much to this, andrew.
So much to this.
It's funny.
I'm laughing and you know youprobably saw me smile on some of
this because I can relate tosome of those things.
I'm sure other runners can aswell, but I don't know if I
shared with you.
So I had signed up for this DRCrace in four weeks and had never
really, I think, I'd ran a few5Ks.
(12:02):
And just to kind of prefacethis, years ago I was teaching
aerobics and I would go out andI would just run a 5k and
wouldn't have trained, like Iwould just go run one and of
course my legs would be sore thenext day and I'd be like why
did I do that?
Like it was so stupid.
So here I go and I sign up forthis, this DRC race, and I'm
like I'm going to run this thingand I think my husband probably
ran the marathon at that timeand so, anyways, I remember this
(12:25):
is kind of how I had moved intodoing keto, because when you
were talking about like thebiscuits and the donut and the
goo and all that stuff, like Iwould take that stuff and then,
like in the middle of the race,I would get like migraines, like
I would get headaches, I wouldbonk, like you know, like where
they say you bonk, you hit thewall.
I would just get terrible.
(12:49):
And so that's what, when youtalk about, like transformation,
doing several of those andhaving several of those races,
and it ended up being I got intotrail racing and doing other
things where it required, youknow, a little bit more
strenuous work and I eventuallyjust got so tired of like the
sugar crashing and that it endedup forcing me to have to change
the way I was eating, whichended up working out for me.
So I get it when I listen to youtalk about this stuff, some of
these things that we go throughas runners, you know, like the
hitting the wall and the sugarand you know.
(13:11):
And then the wanting to beatsomebody, the pacers that are
behind you because you don'twant to let them pass you right,
and trying to get in your agegroup, and you've got some
incredible things and I want totalk about that.
But I want to ask you aquestion about those hot dogs,
because we talked about this,about you pouring the water on
(13:33):
the hot dogs, like this part ofthe story you left out.
You need to tell this realquick because I think this is so
funny.
Andrew Smith (13:36):
You mentioned studying your opponents, but
tell us about that part.
Yeah.
So I watched the Nathan's hotdog eating competition again,
like I said, and Joey Chestnutdominant in his sport.
Well, whenever I looked up theESPN, they showed the rules for
the competition and what it saidwas you cannot dip your hot dog
buns in the water for more thanthree seconds.
(13:58):
So I thought, oh, that's astrategic advantage.
You know my little small hotdog thing.
They're not going to have rules.
So the thing was, our little hotdog competition didn't have big
cups like theirs did, so we hadliteral water models, tiny
little spouts.
So the thing was, our littlehot dog competition didn't have
big cups like theirs did, so wehad literal water bottles, tiny
little spouts.
So I couldn't dip anything inmy water bottle.
So, yeah, the first move I hadI made sure both water bottles I
(14:20):
had were unscrewed and firstmove ready, set, go was just
dump out all the water on thehot dogs, make them as soggy and
wet as possible so that, yeah,I could try and stuff them in my
mouth a little better.
But man, there's still quite aa ball of dough type of
disgusting in your mouth whenyou're trying to down two hot
(14:41):
dogs at once, yeah, but itworked out for me.
I got those first two down inless than a minute and my
competition as soon as they sawme dump it, they were like whoa
that.
I think I'm gonna catch up onmy dog and just watch this guy
do what he's doing that's kindof how it went now, I didn't
really have any competitionafter I made that move that's so
(15:02):
great, it's clever, that youwere thinking that way.
Jennifer Loehding (15:04):
You know, I can only imagine you get those
hot dogs, do you?
So now let me ask you this willyou eat a hot dog now, like are
you cool eating hot dogs now?
Are you kind of like?
Andrew Smith (15:12):
I like.
Okay, I even ate like a poundof brisket after that.
You know, I wasn't even fullapparently so yeah I don't know
what I did that day, but I wasready, so you were ready, you
just had the mindset you'reeating hot dogs down.
Jennifer Loehding (15:26):
That's great.
I don't know if that I could doit.
That's that's.
I'd be like I don't have to thebread after we're like getting
that bread, like try to get itdown your throat.
So I'm totally impressed withthat.
So, moving forward into yourrunning, because you've said
some PRs now and you've gotBoston in sight that you're
wanting to do so tell us alittle.
December 2023, about threeweeks later, it was like how
(15:52):
would you run double that who?
Andrew Smith (15:55):
how do you do that ?
And I had to scratch that itchand figure it out.
So December, that month, Istarted figuring out a podcast
to listen to, figuring out okay,what does a plan look like?
I looked up amarathonhandbookcom free
training plan and I looked upwhen races were, and so marathon
(16:16):
by May became the idea.
And then I did some moreresearch on weather patterns in
Texas and I realized May is veryhot for a marathon.
Jennifer Loehding (16:26):
So how about?
Andrew Smith (16:27):
April.
So I actually found IrvingMarathon April 1st and that gave
me about 14 weeks to prepare.
So I looked up the just generaltraining plan.
It was like, all right, runsome speed, work a little bit,
do a long run every weekend.
I kind of thought, do somecross training figure out?
You know I like to playbasketball, softball, other
(16:50):
sports.
I didn't want to stop doingthose run three times a week.
I was like I'm not going tooverdo it, but I've got to get
that long run in to figure outhow to get there.
So on my first long run inJanuary I ran eight miles and at
the end of that I met my family.
My family met me at a park.
(17:11):
The kids went and played andthere was a guy in a New York
City Marathon jacket and he wasjust talking about some people
running and I was certainlyinterested in that moving in
that direction and I just buttedmyself into the conversation
and he ends up inviting me intohis running club.
So the Canyon Creek RunningClub in Richardson was just a
(17:35):
free group of people, just kindof running, and he's like, hey,
track Tuesdays, let's go, comemeet us.
530 or 515 every Tuesday.
We do speed work.
I was like, ok, great.
So I incorporated that into myroutine, into my plan and to
this day, even this morning, I'mrunning with those guys.
So that was a key part ofgetting the right people around
(17:58):
me.
And little did I know that Iwas getting like elite level
camaraderie with these guys,because they all run 230, 240
marathons.
So they're running six minutemiles or 615, 620s and it's like
whoa, that's next level.
So I get to enjoy the warmuplap with them before they lap me
(18:19):
on the track.
But it was the perfect peopleto start the training process
with as I got going, becausegetting the right people around
you is key to making somethinglike this happen.
Jennifer Loehding (18:32):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's good, and I agree with
you on the people.
You know it's interesting too.
There's a lot of parallels whenwe talk about, you know, like
athleticism, be it running orwhatever sport it is that we
take.
You know a lot even in business, right, because a lot of the
listeners that listen to thisshow I'm assuming we've got
other types of listeners as well, but I would assume we've got a
good chunk of business ownersand people that are in places
(18:55):
where they're trying to grow andleadership and that kind of
thing.
So I think there's a lot ofparallels when we talk about
this, because you do yourtraining early in the morning,
like we just talked about, youknow, before the kids are moving
, and I get it because that'swe've had to do that here too,
when we were running a lot.
Our kids were young and we hadto kind of navigate.
I remember I don't even knowhow I did this now I laugh about
it now because I'm like, oh mygosh, I don't even have the the
(19:15):
willpower to want to do this,but I would get up and you know,
in the morning at like four andput my water pack on and go out
and run in the dark down theblue trail in Carrollton, you
know, out and do maybe like 11,you know 10, 11 miles in the
morning, be back beforeeverybody was like ready to get
out the door, you know, and thenI'd start my day.
And now I'm just like I get.
I still get up that early everyday, but the thought of wanting
(19:38):
to do all that, I'm just likeno.
Andrew Smith (19:41):
Yes, yeah, you've got to have some motivator in
your life.
That's like going to dosomething you've ever done or
got a big goal, and I thinkthat's what it was for me.
I in general, like achievement,I like going for something big.
I actually set goals in almostevery area of my life and so
(20:03):
this is just one of them.
And, yes, planning around thekids is important because, as I
was getting into it, I had a fewpeople.
They were like hey, you don'twant to be a deadbeat dad
marathon runner because you canspend so many hours.
And that is what I discoveredas I ramped up my mileage,
especially as I got over 13miles.
(20:26):
That's like all right, that's atwo to three hour run with like
a 30 to 40 minute prep plus atwo hour recovery when you're
just starting out.
It was super challenging andthat would end up being four to
five hours of my day and I tryto keep it all in the morning,
but sometimes it wasn't, sosometimes it was afternoon and
(20:48):
I'm just gone Right.
Yeah, I really did try to figureout how to put it in the
morning.
But the first training cyclewas extremely challenging and
sacrificial for my wife to justcontinue to hold down the fort
as she as she had to.
But as I got ramped up inmileage and just PR'd for new
(21:09):
longest distance I've ever runeach week it was a crazy process
because I'm just mind blownthat I just ran 15 miles.
Oh, I just tried to run 17miles.
Oh no, I get a call.
Baby threw up.
I got to go back home, allright, so that one got cut short
.
All right, I'm going to go for18 miles.
(21:29):
Oh, I did a bad planning on howlong the route is Ended up
being 19 miles, right, all right, here's 21 miles.
What are we doing here?
I just did that.
Then my peak training run wassupposed to be a 22 miler.
It ended up being again a 23miler.
So that was like run fromWatermark all the way down a
white around White Rock Lakeback up to Watermark.
(21:52):
That was 23 miles.
In the middle of that trainingcycle, rick Smith, back to the
half marathon.
He invited me to go run NewYork City in November.
So although I had Irving'sApril 1st on the calendar, my
wife and I, we decided we'regoing to make that our 10 year
(22:12):
anniversary trip in November, soNovember 2023.
Yeah, 23 or 24.
Anyway, we decided, let's makea trip of it.
I guess I'm just running abunch this year.
Let's make a trip of it.
I guess I'm just running abunch this year.
(22:34):
So basically ran Irving April1st.
It went well.
I did it in 4.03.
It's like a 9.17 average mile.
So that was pretty good.
And then I took a couple monthsoff and then had a whole nother
shock training summer marathoncycle for New York.
New York went really well.
I did it in 348.
(22:57):
And so that's like an 848average mile.
But it's super hilly, it's verychallenging with the bridges
and such, and that was fun and Iwas like I'm in better shape
than I've ever been in my wholelife.
I've run a couple of marathons.
That's so cool.
Never expected that.
And I was like, hey, becca,that's my wife's name.
(23:17):
And what could I do on a flatcourse, can I sign up for
another one?
And so she's like, yes, happybirthday, here you go.
So I signed up for Houston inJanuary 2024.
And that looked like.
So I had a mini trainingsession and that guy I ran into
(23:40):
on my first long run, the eightmile.
He ended up coaching me and sothat actually helped a lot.
And what happened was, uh, Ialways set an A goal, a B goal
and a C goal.
C goal was always like this ismore than attainable, b goal is
kind of the target, a goal is astretch.
So the stretch goal for thatone was 330.
(24:01):
And I beat that.
So I beat the stretch goal andI did a 329, which was a 759
average mile, eight minute milebasically for a marathon.
So a huge improvement overeight months and that was kind
of it.
It was a huge, thrilling,emotional finish and from there
(24:22):
we were pregnant with our fourthkid.
So I was like, all right,that's it for now.
That was the season.
So in this time last year, allspring, summer, 2024, I kind of
ran, but not much, and then ourfourth child was born in August
(24:43):
2024 and then he startedsleeping pretty well generally
you got back up we're neversleeping great, but we were just
like I think I want to keepdoing this.
so in October 2024 signed up forHouston again.
Uh, so didn't do any marathonsfor a full year, but I had a
(25:05):
full training cycle and the keydifference in that training
cycle was I found a guy in myneighborhood who was my speed,
so he had a coach who was myspeed and I was able to
integrate into his plan and justhave someone to literally wake
up with and we could go runwherever.
So, having Michael Groves jointhe story was is a key part of
(25:29):
this, I think he and a friendnamed Ray.
He's he's an ultra marathoner.
Ray has done so many 50 milersand 100 milers, it's like what,
but he's not as much a roadracer anyway.
So back to Houston, set my agoal, again really aggressively,
at three, 15 this time, and Ibeat that again.
(25:52):
So Houston 2025, I did a three,14.
Um, so that's a seven 25average mile.
And then I signed up for onemore.
Back in our.
My wife and I were home.
We're high school sweethearts.
Uh, went to Lafayette high andthen we, we dated long distance
through college.
I went to Baylor, she went toMississippi college.
(26:14):
Uh, we got married.
When we moved here that was 12years ago, but back in Lafayette
, so that family could come andsupport I did the Zydeco
Marathon.
So this was just this pastMarch, a couple months ago, and
so I had a little bit oftraining.
I didn't incredibly improve,but I still PR'd.
I did 312.
(26:34):
So that's like a 721 averagemile and you know this whole
journey has just been like allright if I improve another 15
minutes, like I did, from 329 to314 or I'm getting to the point
that's like Boston is apossibility.
Right, getting to that threehour threshold is now like
(26:56):
possible, but it's also dauntingbecause it's not just the
threshold of three hours thatyou qualify.
There's so many people thatqualify now for Boston.
Yeah, this past Boston thatjust happened a few weeks ago.
It was like a 258 that you hadto run Well next year it's
projected to be more like a 256,250, who knows how long.
(27:20):
So like, all right, my actualgoal needs to be 255 if I want
to actually run.
Boston in 2027 is really whatI'm shooting for aiming for.
Jennifer Loehding (27:32):
So you're gonna do it.
Andrew Smith (27:33):
You're gonna do it I mean, if not, yeah, if not
this january at houston, thenmaybe next year.
But I'm taking the long termview right.
I'm not that fast yet.
I'm still in my training andevery month what I enjoy whether
I was in training or out oftraining meaning like last
(27:54):
spring and summer when I wasn'ttraining I always tested my 5k
time.
I ran it as hard as I could andthat was always a good data
point to see how fast am I orhow much am I slowing down.
So, not training season.
I was slowing down 10 seconds,five seconds, 30 seconds and
then, as I got back in shapethis fall and summer and winter,
(28:17):
it got faster and faster andfaster and faster.
So it's been really fun totrain to see that result and
have that data point along theway to see how the plan is
working and how I'm gettingfaster.
Yeah, no, it's good.
Jennifer Loehding (28:33):
Yeah, no, I think it's great and there's so
many.
That's why I said there's somany parallels here, whether
you're, you know, runningtraining for marathons or you're
trying to stretch for the nextbig goal in business.
And so I love theseconversations and I think the
big thing I keep hearing, youknow, that you're talking about
here really is like thisadaptability, right, like this
just learning to adapt andreadjust and continue to persist
(28:54):
through.
So because not only that, yourwife is having to adapt with
these kiddos, right, likebecause I've been on that side
not as many kids as you've had,but we were talking about this,
I mean, when we moved fromHouston to Dallas.
You know, I had the three andmy youngest was four months old,
and I remember it wasn't.
We came here in July and I wantto say it was in October that we
(29:16):
went to Arkansas for and my Idon't know if my husband ran a
50 miler or a-miler there,because by then he was starting
to do these crazy races and Iremember taking those kids and
we had a flat tire there, I mean, and he was running and we
couldn't get his help because itwas like what do you do?
He's in the middle of theforest in Arkansas and I'm, you
(29:39):
know, navigating these.
So it is.
It's a big sacrifice on theother side of that, you know.
So I think adaptability is hugehere.
I think I think and workingtogether.
But you said also a lot ofreally good things about having
the right support systems, and Ithink that is universal in
everything we do as well.
Right, it's like having theright people in your space to
not only encourage you butmentorship, you know, and you
(30:02):
are like the sum of the five youhang around, right.
So if you want to get to be afaster runner, find faster
runners to mesh in with.
Right.
My husband used to do a lot ofthat too.
He would go on Saturdaymornings and go down to the
White Rock and run with runnersthere, and he did some of the
Tuesday night speed work thingstoo.
I remember like Ollie so funnybecause we're in a different
phase now where we still bothexercise every day but it's like
(30:25):
he still goes out and runs andhe rides his bike, and every now
and then we'll be like, hey, doyou want to go down and do like
the?
What is this?
I'm drawing the in July atBuckner they do the.
I'm like I can't even think ofit.
Andrew Smith (30:37):
We've ran it several years but it's not like
all those races Like we ran itseveral years, but it's not like
all those races are hotter thanhell or something I don't know.
Jennifer Loehding (30:42):
They're worth that one.
I think we did one of those.
There was that.
It's a big one that's down atBuckner Park and they do it
every July and I'm drawing ablank, but I brought it up.
I'm like, hey, do you want togo down there?
We can run a 5K and see if wecan get through this.
You know it to a differentplace, but I think it's good and
(31:05):
I think if you're enjoying itand wife's on board there's, you
know there's a lot to be donewith this and you guys can
travel and Boston is, it's fun,it's cool.
I will tell you this If you go,maybe find babysitter for the
kids, because it'd be a loteasier if the wife wants to go
and tell her to plan the tram,because I'm not kidding you,
like I rode all the way out tosee him at the halfway and I did
not make it back to the finishline.
He finished before I got backbecause it's so crazy busy and
(31:29):
just to like get to.
Like you know where thefinisher when you come in at the
finish, every block is like analphabet letter name of people.
So like you know wherever youare.
Smith, you're way down there.
Oh, we were in the middle butyou had to get like through all
these masses of people.
But it's fun.
It's a fun race and there's alot going on there, and go for
(31:50):
it.
I say, do it.
I mean you need to do it atleast once.
I think my husband ran it in, Iwant to say 2002.
So it's been a while.
It was.
It's been a while since we didthat.
He did it and got it done andthen he moved on to trail
running and really enjoyed a lotof that stuff and you know it's
a different, different world.
But, um, it's fun too, it's,it's different.
You might end up there Sunday,who knows, you never know, right
(32:10):
.
Andrew Smith (32:11):
Yeah, absolutely that's the goal for now.
You know I I do have long-termlater why I couldn't get into
triathlete stuff, ironmans andthat sort of stuff.
I don't own a bike right now, Ican't swim that great, but I
think that's going to be anatural extension of this.
One day after I'm kind of donewith the road racing.
(32:34):
You know achievements and soOlympic marathons sound like a
general distance that'scomparable, and then you get
into your half iron man's, whichis a big step up, and then full
iron man's, a whole nother ballgame.
But it's not great as crazyit's.
I mean, it's just as crazy asthese ultras that are 100 miles,
crazy right all that right,yeah, or pour it though, yeah,
(32:59):
yeah, you know, but right nowI'm just enjoying the season of
trying to get faster.
I'm getting more efficient withmy training so I don't have to
waste as much time away from thefamily Again, I'm just trying
to do it 5 to 7 am every weekdayand on the weekends it's like 5
to 8.
My wife goes to yoga everySaturday at 8.30.
(33:20):
And that's sacred almost.
Jennifer Loehding (33:23):
Like we try to really honor that for each
other.
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (33:26):
And then, as much as I can, I'm getting my kids
involved too.
So we'll go to the track onSaturdays.
I've been testing their 100meter dash or their 40 meter
dash or their scooter 100 meterdash.
I did a three miler with melast weekend.
I've gone as far as seven oreight miles with them scootering
(33:47):
.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So the five and eight year oldare doing great.
They're trying to get thethree-year-old almost
three-year-old up to speed.
He did a little half mile last,like if this weekend that was
kind of cool.
It's like all right, he'sgetting faster.
And then you know the eightmonth old right now a little bit
, but yeah, but I did do I diddo a run with all four of them
(34:11):
for the first time last weekendoh fun.
Jennifer Loehding (34:14):
So the two smaller ones in a stroller, the
other two scootering, so thatwas kind of cool yeah, but oh my
gosh, yeah, I laugh at allbecause I just remember doing
like the, the double, thescooter, the, the stroller,
running, running with thestroller and yeah all of them
say it's so funny.
But you know, I think all of ourkids, all three of ours, at
different time frame I had twothat went into cross country and
track one ended up getting ascholarship to run um, but all
(34:37):
of them.
I remember Kara, my oldestshe's 28 now but I remember
taking her we were in Houstonstill and her doing like a 5k.
I had pictures of her.
I mean she was little, she wasa toddler and had her little
number badge on, and so we triedto kind of do the same thing,
get them all in.
And Kara did a little bit ofcross country in middle school
and then Paige and Sean kind ofwent on and did it in high
school at different times, andso it no, I mean it's free, like
(34:59):
you said, and it gets everybodymoving and if you're enjoying
it, you know it's great.
I would love to ask you kind ofI want to.
This is kind of a mindsetquestion.
I know we don't have much time,but I know somebody listening
to this has heard all of theseand we've talked about like the
discipline, adaptability, all ofthese things.
But and you've even talked alot about mindset we haven't
(35:24):
directly talked about but I'dlove to know for somebody
listening to this, let's saywhether it's business or sport,
whatever it is those momentswhen you're like, oh my gosh, I
just want to put it down right,like we've all been there like,
throw that towel in the room,what is like?
What is going through your mind?
What are you doing there?
Like, what do you?
How are you working yourselfthrough that?
Andrew Smith (35:41):
Yeah, I put one foot in front of the other.
I certainly face challenges,little injuries, discouragement,
thought I could do somethingbetter than I did, didn't
deliver on it.
What do you do when you'restuck in the middle of the night
with a kid that's woken up andyou're like I'm about to go run
(36:01):
X, many miles.
I have such assignments due.
What else can you do but putone foot in front of the other?
Good, do all that you can andleave it.
Leave the rest up to up to God.
Like.
So you know, this wholeextension, all of this to me is
(36:22):
a is an extension of the biggervision.
And so, like the mission mightbe Boston, but the bigger vision
is just live all that.
Love God, that's what it is forme.
Love God with all my heart,soul, mind and strength.
This is a lot of the strengthpart, but there's a ton of
mindset in that.
And what more can I do than putone foot in front of the other
(36:44):
and just push through to thenext thing?
All pain will come to an end.
There is a greater reward atthe end, and in the suck of it
it's going to end.
Just know that.
Hey, you will get through this.
There's a ton of peoplesupporting you, there's a cloud
of witnesses, there's a bunch ofpeople supporting, and so,
(37:07):
whether that's business, whetherthat's running, absolutely you
can continue on and make aninspiring story, right.
So that's that's my mindset,that's my bigger, why I do all
this, yeah, and that's just, youknow, fulfilling my purpose, my
, my potential.
I hope.
Jennifer Loehding (37:27):
Yeah, and it really is about stepping one
foot, you know, just putting onefoot out there.
It's the hardest thing, right?
Is the getting started.
Once you start getting it, youknow, going in, and I always
talk about this, even inbusiness.
You know like I came from, Iwas in.
I think I shared with you, Iwas in Mary Kay, I was in
(37:49):
leadership for a very long time.
I was with that company 22years and I always, you know,
when I'm talking about sales,let's move away from sports for
just a minute athleticism andlet's go just into business
sales, because we all have tosell something right?
When I was in that business, Iwas selling cosmetics Okay, so
we're doing makeup and therewould be this period I always
used to talk about this.
I call it the crash and burn,you know phase.
It's where you're like got themomentum and the stride and
everything's going well, andthen you sort of stop doing
things you like because you'reriding the high right, and then,
guess what happens?
Everything stops.
Kind of like you were talkingabout the running right.
(38:10):
You set scale back a little bitand then what happens?
You have to get the momentumgoing again and it takes a
little period of time to get themomentum going.
And so when you said the onestep forward, I also attribute
that, you know, to just tryingto keep consistency, keep moving
(38:33):
right, like, keep going, evenif you're not going at the
highest pace that you want or atthe highest of your peak right,
just continually keep moving,because the starting over is
harder, right, and it's nodifferent in what you're talking
about, running, as it is inbusiness as well.
Every time we get that high andthen we're like, okay, I'm
coasting now because I didreally good, now let me
celebrate, I'm going to stop,and then guess what you got to
start over again.
So I think it's great.
(38:54):
I love that you said that onestep forward, because I know
you're talking about it in justin the middle of you know
something going on that couldpotentially stop you, but it's
so good and really interesting.
Consistent too right, becausewe're not always going to be at
our peak and we're not alwaysgoing to be reaching a goal, but
if we're staying consistent, wecan keep moving towards the
(39:15):
bigger, overarching thing thatwe're trying to do.
Andrew Smith (39:18):
Putting one foot and step in front of the other
doesn't mean always running.
I'm talking about like get outof bed.
Jennifer Loehding (39:25):
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (39:26):
Rush your teeth.
What is the next little thingyou need to do for your business
?
Jennifer Loehding (39:31):
Yeah.
Andrew Smith (39:31):
Who do you need to call Right?
What list do you need to createto get organized Right?
What person should you be intouch with?
Just, it's just simple things.
And especially when you'rereally in a mental crisis, if
you're depressed, if someone'sjust died, if, like you're
really challenging things, thatis just real.
(39:54):
Sometimes you just need togrieve, sometimes you need to
rest.
Whatever that next step is,it's just like you don't have to
worry about tomorrow, that hasenough worries about itself.
Is just like you don't have toworry about tomorrow, that has
enough worries about itself.
Like, just worry about today,what is in front of you.
Take it one step at a time.
Right, that's how it'smanageable.
When you just think what is thenext thing?
(40:15):
What is the next?
Who do you?
What's the next thing I need todo?
Jennifer Loehding (40:18):
Yeah, I don't know about you, andrew.
Like I give myself sort of liketime limits on things, like
when we're talking about likedealing with things, like if I'm
really in a moment where I'mfeeling stuck, like I'm a very
action-oriented person.
So when I say that and maybeyou can relate to this, I'm sure
others can I don't have thecapacity to sit and dwell in
stuff for a very long time.
(40:39):
Like my natural tendency islet's go to work, let's get into
action.
So, whether it's if I wake uptomorrow and I'm like man, I'm
not big on exercising myself outof a bad diet.
I'm very conscientious aboutwhat I eat, but I just got back
from a cruise and I did prettygood while I was there, but I
did think I snuck into desserts.
Like one night I had a browniebecause it was like, oh my gosh,
(41:00):
I need one bad.
And the next day I got up I'mlike you know what?
We ain't doing that todaybecause no, no, no, no, no.
You know so I'm not one to staystuck in things.
I go into action.
So in a moment like that I'mgoing to be like regrouping
immediately.
But if there's something that'sreally hard, you know like I
need to sit in that emotion andI think what you said allow
(41:20):
yourself to go through that LikeI will tell myself, like, give
yourself a time limit to sort ofgrieve, pout, get mad, whatever
that is.
If I need to pout because I'mpissed off about something, like
it's like you got 24 hours,jennifer.
You get that out and dowhatever you need to do.
Get mad, get angry, do whatever.
But tomorrow when you get up,what's your next thing?
You're doing?
(41:40):
What are you doing?
What's that next step?
So I love that you said you know, allow yourself to go through,
to have that right, but then doyour next step, because I think
that's important.
I think a lot of times we getfrozen like right, like we have
a big goal and then it doesn'tgo the way we want, and so we
get upset and we beat ourselvesup and then we just go, oh, and
then we get stuck right Becausewe didn't do the metric, we
(42:04):
didn't reach it right, insteadof just saying what's the next
step I can do to do it again,because you're still further
than you were when you started,even if you didn't reach a goal.
You're still further than youwere the day one when you
started the whole thing you know, so you're still winning is the
way I see it right.
Andrew Smith (42:19):
Yeah, it's easy to compare yourself against your
former self or where you used tobe.
That's how I think we shouldcompare ourselves.
But even it's not all aboutachieving.
Like, in 10 years, do I expectto be running as fast as I am?
No, that's not a faircomparison, even against myself.
But I can set a new goal in adifferent way.
I can set a different type ofmetric, and that's what it is.
(42:43):
We get to choose, especially,especially in sports, things
that don't really matter.
But in business, set your goalsand do what you can and, uh,
you know.
Don't worry about all the restand don't care about what
everybody else says right, yeah,enjoy it that's.
Jennifer Loehding (43:00):
I think that's the biggest lesson I've
learned now that I'm in my 50s.
I think it's just to enjoy,enjoy the process.
If that's like something Icould tell myself when I was
younger, or maybe somebody youknow, like you guys, enjoy the
process.
Oh my gosh.
Enjoy your kids, because theygrow up so freaking quickly and
then they're just, they don'tneed you anymore, you know.
But even the running, enjoy allof it because it goes so very
(43:20):
quickly.
You know and and you do you dodifferent things, like you're
talking, maybe you are stilldoing the same, I don't know but
you go into different placesand you can change your goals
and your metrics and, like Itell people now, like I work out
every day and if I go out and Ido a little bit of.
You know, I've been runninglike two, two and a half miles
and I've been pretty cool withthat because I for a while I was
sick, I couldn't, and so nowI'm happy because I'm getting
(43:42):
back out there and doing it.
I'm not going to lie, like Isaid in the very beginning, it
hurts, but when I'm done I'mlike, yes, done for the day.
You know, I've got my workout,I feel good and we just changed
the goals.
You know the metrics change andwhat we had planned to do, but
I think you're doing great stuff, andrew, we used to pull up the
(44:04):
racing things in the papers andstuff.
I still have pictures that comeup on my phone or my.
You know, I told you my middlewas a runner and she ran her
first marathon.
I ran it with her in Tulsa whenshe was 16.
She did on her 16th birthday,actually ran her first marathon.
So I every now and then get thephotos you know my memories and
Facebook that come up, thatI'll see, like where my
husband's done something or I'vedone something, or Paige, or
(44:26):
you know, sean, or whatever.
It's fun to see those thingslike like, look what we did,
this is kind of cool.
We were sort of badasses at oneday, you know one time, so it's
fun.
So I'm excited to see what youdo and where this all goes and
you know, enjoying it and hopeyou have fun doing it.
Andrew Smith (44:41):
Yeah, appreciate it, thank you.
Jennifer Loehding (44:43):
So if maybe a listener on here wants to get
in touch with you, maybe theywant to, you know, follow you,
or maybe they want to chat withyou, maybe they're aspiring to
go into this area and they like,hey, tell me what you've been
doing and what's your morningroutine, give me all the nitty
gritty, because we didn't get toget into everything.
Where do we want to send them?
How do they get in touch withyou?
Andrew Smith (45:01):
Sure, so my full name is Andrew Moss Smith, and
so that's kind of my handle foreverything Andrew Moss Smith at
Instagram.
Slash for LinkedIn, facebook,you know, andrew Moss Smith at
gmailcom.
So those are all the easy waysto get in touch with me.
Jennifer Loehding (45:19):
Perfect, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of
your stuff, you know, kind offloating through there somewhere
.
You'll keep us up on everything, so this has been fun, andrew.
Thank you for sharing yourstory and hopefully inspiring
our audience.
I'm sure that you know they'regoing to find something amazing
in this and, who knows, maybewe'll get some new runners out
of all this.
Andrew Smith (45:36):
Sounds good.
Yeah, thank you so much forhaving me.
Jennifer Loehding (45:38):
Absolutely and, of course, to our audience.
We appreciate you and hope,like I said, that you found this
episode both informative andinspiring, and if you want to
get in touch with Andrew, we'regoing to put all that out there
for you on the show notes.
You'll be able to get in touchwith him and you know what to do
.
If you like the episode, shareit, comment, Do all the things,
subscribe, so we can keepsharing all of this fabulous
(45:58):
content.
And, as I always say, in orderto live the extraordinary, you
must start, and every startbegins with a decision.
You guys, take care, be safe,be kind to one another and we
(46:25):
will see you next time.
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