April 22, 2024 • 31 mins
Another weekend down in the busy Spring running season of 2024. The Garmin Land of Oz Half Marathon is in the books. Another beautiful morning for running! We'll talk a little about the race, then let's dive into some of our mental issues as we continue on in this Spring running season. By now we've had good races and bad races. We can't let the downs outnumber the ups! Let's talk about being our best motivators. Our best cheerleaders!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:12):
Hello everyone, Greetings and scaliuenticians.Welcome back to another episode of the Back
of the Pack podcast. I'm yourhost, Kyle Walker. Thank you so
much for tuning in. So firstthing we have to do before anything else
with everything going on, we kindof haven't talked about this yet, but
the lottery window for next year's thetwenty twenty five London Marathon is open right
(00:33):
now, this very moment, andby the time you hear this, it's
not going to be open for muchlonger. So as we sit here and
put this out on Monday, Apriltwenty second, I think we only have
until April twenty seventh to get yourname submitted to the lottery. So yes,
I know it was just yesterday thatthey ran the London Marathon, but
(00:55):
the lottery for next year's London Marathonis already open. Do not miss it.
Do not miss your opportunity. Ifwe'reunning in London, is something you've
wanted to do? Are we allgoing to get rejected from this race?
Of course we are. Oh,we have to try. We have to
at least try. You got toget your name in there. Come on,
we will accept our defeat with dignityand grace as we do every year
(01:17):
that London doesn't take us. Butyou can't do that if you don't submit
your name. So the marathon lotteryis open right now, go ahead and
get yourself signed up. Roll thedice. Who knows, who knows?
Maybe you make it, Maybe youmake it. So we have until April
twenty seven to get our names inand then it sounds like there's not a
real clear answer, but it soundslike we're not gonna know for about two
(01:38):
months who made it and who didn't, So don't expect your yearly rejection until
sometime in June. It sounds likethat's a that's kind of my guess,
that's what I'm going with. Soanyway, I wanted to throw that out
first and foremost before we jumped intoanything else. Secondly, last week's episode,
the two Slow for Boston Marathon asmashing success for the podcast. It
(02:02):
sounds like everybody wanted to hear aboutthat race, that race itself. All
those folks down there have been nothingbut wonderful and supportive. They have shared
the podcast episode out there. Thisepisode has the most YouTube video views ever
for any Back of the Pack podcast, so thank you to everyone. Who
watched on YouTube. Again, wewere super late to the YouTube game,
(02:23):
so we're still trying to build thatup. If you haven't subscribed, please
do subscribe to our YouTube channel underthe back of the pack podcast don't forget
the the very important gets you tothe new one and not the old channel
that we don't use anymore, butbiggest, biggest episode for views on YouTube,
and then views on Facebook and thenright up there at the top of
(02:47):
actual podcast download. So huge.Thank you to the two slow for Boston
people. Again, you guys havebeen wonderful and I'll let the cat out
of the bag a little bit.There's already been discussions about heading down there
next year. I know there aresome interested parties, not just local runners
and people in my running circle,but there are some other interested parties that
(03:08):
have reached out to me because theyheard about it on the podcast. We're
talking possible collaborations going on next yeardown in South Carolina with other running people's
and running podcasts, So stay tunedfor more information as that develops. But
again, we got a whole year. Conversations are early and ongoing, but
(03:29):
we might really try and get somethinggoing down there in South Carolina. Next
year and if we get that chance, I'm excited for what that could turn
into. That could be a lotof fun. Sorry, I don't do
a very good evil laugh. Apparentlythat was terrible. Okay. So here
in Kansas City this weekend again nottraveling was in South Carolina last weekend.
Back up here for a race.This weekend we had the Garmin Land of
(03:52):
Oz Half Marathon. And so thiscompleted the Heartland thirty nine point three series
that consisted of the half marathon atthe end of March, Rock the Parkway
at the beginning of April, andnow the Garmin Land of Oz Half Marathon
here at the mid to end ofApril. The series is done. So
let's grab the medal for Garman.Take a look. If you are watching
(04:15):
on any of the videos there yougo. Try not to get the glare
there. But as you can see, nice Wizard of Oz themed race.
This year it was Galllinda the goodWitch. And if anyone has seen Wicked,
they're laughing hysterically right now because Isaid gay Linda. But yeah,
so there is this one, andagain this completed the Heartland series. Let's
grab this big o'honkin metal. Sothis folks. As you can see if
(04:35):
you're watching the screen, I amwearing my Heartland thirty nine point three series
jacket. We got jackets this year, nice running jackets. And then here's
the Metalcose. You can see nicebig metal there and it incorporates all the
races. So we have the fountainfrom Rock to Parkway. We have the
good Witch running from garmin Land ofOz and she's actually holding a torch for
(04:55):
Liberty, so I know that's kindof hard seed. It has all three
of the races on the so yeah, check it out there you go,
And then of course we put theGarment Land of Oz metal out for Metal
Monday. Hopefully you all saw thaton our social media platforms and you are
playing along as I'm recording this rightnow because the post is out there,
so now you got to play along. Next up for the race, we
(05:17):
are going to Topeka, Kansas forthe Top City Half Marathon. We've talked
talked about top City before. Thatis our next race. Good folks down
there, really good course. It'sa pr able course. So if you
have, if you've been training,and if you're you know, on your
game right now, Top City isdefinitely a course that you can pr Now
(05:38):
do I expect a PR new Sowe had a full marathon last weekend,
half marathon this weekend. My legsare telling me that I'm an idiot right
now at this very moment. Sonext weekend, I don't expect my legs
are going to be back to onehundred percent. So I'm going for the
fun in the experience, and becauseI like this race, and I like
the people who run this race,and I think, I you know,
(06:00):
it's a lot of fun. Iwant to be there to support and I
will do my best, but I'mnot expecting any miracles as in a PR
in this course. If you areon your game, this is a highly
prble race, and I hope everyonewill just do really well and we will
see you down there in Topeka,Kansas on the twenty seventh, and then
on Sunday the twenty eighth, tworaces going on. So there's the Trolley
(06:20):
Run. The Trolley Run are becominggood friends of the program. They are
very interactive with us on social media, which is great. I appreciate them,
and of course they are a greatcharity for CCBI, and I want
everyone who's in town who is nototherwise occupied to go to the Trolley Run.
Okay it it is a wonderful race, four mile race, all downhill
(06:43):
as it is, it is myfour mile PR. Charlie Run is I'm
quite sure Charlie Run is my fourmile PR. So if you like four
mile races, this one you willcrush. I won't be there this year
because there's a race that came totown in the fall now it's here in
the spring. It is the Getyour Rear in Gear five K. It's
up by Kansas City's airport in aplace called Zona Rosa. It's just a
(07:08):
five k, but it has apersonal attachment to me. One of the
teams is Team Shaney. Shaney wasa dear, dear friend of mine who
we lost to colon cancer and shewas a supporter of this race while she
was still with us, and nowwe run in memory of Shaney at this
race every year since she has passed. So I will be at the Get
(07:29):
your Rear in Gear five K.This is for me personally. This is
an important race for me. Nothingagainst Charlie Run. Charlie Run is an
amazing run, and I hope youall are there. If you're not there,
if you're in Zona, Rosa.Get your rear and gear. I
hope to see you there. Thatis where I will be. But again,
two amazing races. It stinks thatthey're on the same day, but
it's the personal attachment for me thatgot me to get your rear in gear
(07:50):
instead of Charlie Run. But CharlieRun is a great race. So if
you're looking for a race you haven'tsigned up yet, sign up for Charlie
Run and make sure that you arethere. Okay, okay, So moving
backwards to what we just did thisweekend. This weekend was the Garment Land
of Oz half Marathon. So thisrace, I know a lot of people
really like it when we kind ofdo a turn by turn breakdown of a
(08:13):
race. And trust me, Ilike doing that too. I like really
kind of giving you the information aboutthe race. So what a'm we gonna
do is I'm gonna cover a lotof it some of it. But if
you did that race, you'll understandthat a turn by turn breakdown is not
possible because all that race is istwists and turns and here and there and
yonder and up and down. It'swild. But anyway, so this race
(08:37):
has a six forty five start.Now I don't know or I'm not really
close or tight with the race directorsfor this. I couldn't even tell you
who the race directors are for thegarment Land of Oz Marathon, and I
certainly mean no ill will towards them. The one complaint that I have,
the one runners issue that I haveparking getting in that morning was a debacle.
(09:00):
Parking is terrible. They close everythingdown and they're filtering everyone along this
long winding road and then into aparking garage that is meant for all the
employees of Garmen, and I'm surethat's great, but when you get all
these cars and all these people tryingto get in at the same time,
it was a debacle. It wasvery slow moving, and I could see
(09:20):
how it would be a little stressful. Now they do offer a shuttle service.
You could park way down where thepacket pickup was, park your car,
get on a shuttle. Shuttle bringsyou up. But people were telling
horror stories how the race started atsix forty five and they're getting off the
bus at six thirty seven. NowI don't know what their arrival time was,
but that does not give you alot of time to stretch, hit
the port of John's, get inthe starting kraals, and be ready to
(09:41):
go. Like I bet a lotof people race morning, we're just feeling
a little rushed, just a littlerush. We're gonna go with that.
So the parking, this situation wasnot awesome, but there's worse things in
life. I got parked, gotout. The good news is this race
actually starts right along the side oftheir parking garage, so everyone was just
(10:03):
kind of in the parking garage waitingto head to the start line. It
was a chilly, chilly morning.I'm not gonna say it was downright cold,
but I am gonna say it wasdownright chilli. So a lot of
people waiting in the parking garage.Unfortunately, very windy morning, very windy,
so cold and windy kind of thename of the game for that entire
race. Honestly, I never warmedup. I never warmed up during that
(10:26):
race. I mean, sure,you sweat a little bit because you do
an activity, but really I hadless than a five k left where my
fingers finally weren't cold, where Ididn't feel like ooo, my thinners are
falling off here. So again,you can't control the weather. If I
had it to do differently, Iwould have worn another layer, at least
up top. I would have worn, you know, a dry tech long
sleeve shirt. Instead, I justhad short sleeves on. But what are
(10:48):
you gonna do? Saw a lotof people. We all took our pictures,
and then the race began. Anotherrunner issue I have. Sorry,
this is number two A. Ihate waves starts, hate them, hate
them, pay them, hate them, hate them, don't like them at
all. If our start time issix forty five, why am I not
getting across the start line till likesix fifty four, six fifty six.
Somewhere in that area they started theelites, And I get that. I
(11:11):
get I get that. A lotof races give the elites head start.
In my little mind, why arewe giving the fastest people head start?
What are they afraid I'm going tocatch up with them? That's not gonna
happen. Start the race. Thefast people are going to go anyway now
for this race, I understand ita little bit. Those roads did fill
(11:31):
up rather quickly with people. Iuh was all the way in the back,
and I just I happened to beright around the three hour pacers.
That's where I started. It's actuallynot where I intended to start, but
that's just kind of where I finagledin. I wasn't able to get ahead
of them until like the first milebecause it was so congested once we started.
So as much as I hate wavesstarts, I won't rag on it
(11:52):
too much because those roads were narrow. We just had one lane and we
had a lot of runners. SoI guess I get it, but I
don't like a six forty five startime and I'm not starting till almost ten
minutes after that. That never makesme happy. If you're going to do
a wave ten seconds, fifteen seconds, thirty seconds top, you send the
next group out and you get itmoving. That's just me. That's use
(12:13):
me. So again, I can'tdo a turn by turn break down to
this race. There were tons oftwist and turns. I will say that
I am thrilled that this race wentvery quickly for me, and the reason
being, of course, last weekwas a full marathon that I did horribly
at. I was well over sixhours okay because I could be. Because
I could be. There was nosweeper, there was no one that was
(12:35):
gonna knock me off the course.The motivation, the self motivation to keep
going just wasn't there to try andbreak any records. And if you want
to know more about that, goback and listen to last week's episode.
We talked kind of about the differencebetween a Boston Marathon and a two slow
for Boston Marathon. Won't rehash that, but I had reason to go this
(12:56):
week. I had reason to gobecause I didn't know when my legs were
gonna give out, because I'm certainlynot recovered from a full marathon. There's
just no way that's the case.And I just it was nice though,
because after a very long full marathona half marathon, you don't feel like
you're out there very long. ButI did catch up with a two forty
pacer, a runner in our areathat we are all familiar with. She
(13:18):
was pacing two forty. I'm notgonna throw her name out out there,
and some people get worried about thatstuff, so I don't know. But
to the two forty pacer who Iran with for half the race, thank
you very much. We checked init for a while. She kind of
kept me going. I knew afterthe halfway point the fatigue was just going
to set in, and it didso a little bit after halfway. I'm
told her, you know, hey, best of luck, go get them
(13:39):
tiger, and she went along hermarriyaway, which was totally fine. The
second half of the race for mewent slower, but again, two forty
is the pace I started at.I finished at two forty two. I'll
take it. I'll take it onthese tired legs. So two forty two
half marathon. That course is afaster course. Then I ran it in
(14:01):
in my humble opinion. Now,the cold weather made it difficult, the
wind made it difficult, and reallythere was only a couple bad hills,
not much, certainly could be alot worse. It wasn't Liberty, but
I actually ran Liberty faster by aminute than I ran Garmin. Garmin is
an easier course though, so ifyou are looking for a Kansas half marathon
to do, this is a bigone. Everyone likes the Wizard of Laws
(14:24):
theme. The course is relatively easy. And now this is the first time
I've run this particular course. Theytweaked it a little bit since the last
time I ran it. You know, no big deal, but I liked
it. I liked it. Ithought it was a good course. It
was a nice morning, just cold. It was a nice morning, just
breezy, a lot of twist andturns on the course. Ran out of
gas, you know, a littlelow more than halfway through, finished it
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up at two forty two, gotmy medals, got my Heartland Series stuff.
It was a good morning. Itwas a good morning. Can't say
much else about it. So ifyou're looking for a race in Kansas,
they do off of the full,never done the full, probably never will
do that is full. But ifyou are looking for a full, this
would be a good one. I'msure they support well half marathon. I
can guarantee you it's fine. It'sit's more than acceptable because I've done it
(15:09):
several times, did it again thisyear of course. And then they do
have a ten k as well.And to my ten k listeners, ha
ha, you guys are so proudof yourselves with your ten k bibs and
just watching all of us half marathonersgo off into the cold Wenday morning as
yous as I. You got tosit there like I'm just I'm doing a
ten k haha. I'll be doneand fine long before you hit the finish
(15:31):
line and you know what two ofyou I'm talking about, because you guys
are giving me grief after the race, pointing my fingers at you. So
anyway, but that was a funmorning. That was a fun morning.
So what are we gonna talk aboutthis week? Well, I've kind of
gone back and forth on it,but thankfully social media has helped me out.
We're in a stretch right now wherewe are all doing a lot of
(15:54):
racing. Okay, We've had theBoston Marathon, we had the London Marathon
just yesterday, We've had the Heartlandthirty nine point three series. It is
spring running season, big time,and a lot of us, a lot
of us crazies. You're out everyweekend, man, you're out running races
every weekend. We're seeing each otherevery weekend, or travel around. We're
(16:14):
seeing you know, traveling to races, driving to South Carolina, going up
to Lincoln, Nebraska in two weeks. You know, some people are going
north, some people are going south, east, West, We're all over
the place. The thing we reallyhave to remember right now is we're doing
this for fun. Right I amseeing on the social media scene a lot
of people are getting down on themselvesfor their performances, and a lot of
(16:40):
people are getting down on others.Okay, we really need to keep in
mind that this running community is forall of us to enjoy, and when
you get to a point where you'renot enjoying it, you need to rethink
things. Now, we've had episodesbefore talking about burnout. This isn't burnout.
This is maybe putting unreasonable expectations onyourself. This is maybe dealing with
(17:03):
some disappointment in your own performance,or this could be about feeling disappointed in
what other people think of your running. And that is the very dangerous part
of this, because I've seen alot of this. We all want the
people to feel how we feel aboutrunning. We all want people to look
(17:26):
at us in awe of what wehave done. And most of the time
they do. But it's not alwaysthe case. It's not always the case.
You're not always going to accomplish thisawesome running feat maybe your first half
marathon, your first full marathon,your Boston qualifying time, the Boston Marathon
in general, getting accepted into araise, getting an age division award,
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these things that the rest of thisour running world would celebrate for you,
not everyone in your personal life isgoing to do that. And so what
we really they need to figure outand kind of really refocus on, is
your worth as a runner is notdetermined by anyone else. There is no
one else out there that can determineyour worth as a runner. The only
(18:12):
person who can do that is yourself. Your only competition, unless you are
an elite level runner, is thatperson that stares at you every morning in
the mirror. Could that is whoalready competing against And a lot of times
it's not just the physical competition,it's the mental and emotional competition as well.
Because, as we've talked about before, if you were to show up
at a start line mentally defeated abouta race, your race is going to
(18:36):
suck. Okay, Well, didsomeone else make you mentally defeated for that
race? No? Was it acondition that happened that made you mentally defeated
for that race? No, youalready put that in your mind and in
your heart that this race already hadyour number. And so when you showed
up, you were already done.And I can almost guarantee you that your
race wasn't good. So one ofthe things is we really like I said,
(19:00):
said, we cannot worry about whatother people put as value on our
accomplishments as runners. Our accomplishments areours. We share them, and we
love it when people love them aswell. But they're really for us.
And you cannot let other people puttheir weight and their baggage and their either
their lack of enthusiasm or their lackof interest. You can't take that to
(19:21):
heart because that's not actually on you. Just like your competition is you in
the mirror. Their issues with whatyou did running is their issues. It
really doesn't pertain to you. Andso what I found here was just this
little article. And again this ismy opinion. You guys could tell me
I'm wrong. You might see thiscompletely different, and if you do,
let me know. That's totally cool. I entertain all all sides and thoughts.
(19:42):
But I found an article here becausethe way I wanted to phrase this,
and it's not a new phrase,a lot of people use it.
We need to be our own chaerleaders. We cannot put all of our eggs
in the basket of others approval.You cannot, you know, you can't
(20:02):
be mentally defeated because other people didn'tcome to the finish line, or other
people didn't send you kudos, orother people just didn't care as much as
you did, or if we've allseen this, we've all seen this,
and I've been seeing this a lotlately. Okay, so little sidebar.
If you go to my personal socialmedia account, ninety eight percent of what
I post is about this podcast.It's about trying to get people interested in
the podcast, sharing episodes, sharingpictures. It's either running or this podcast.
(20:26):
That's it. I don't share awhole lot else anymore because, you
know, social media is fine,and I'm trying to use it for you
know, the podcast game, butpersonal wise, I don't much care anymore.
So I have actually gotten unfriended bya lot of people, and I'm
talking people as far back as highschool. I've enough unfriended me because all
(20:47):
I talk about is the podcast andrunning. People who I've met in all
different walks of life. People areunfriending me because of this. Now,
if I took all that to heart, I wouldn't do this. I'd be
like, oh my goodness, they'rein front of me because they're tired of
hearing about running, or they're tiredabout me seeing about the podcast. Oh
what am I gonna do? Okay? Well, man, that that's them.
That's their response to my situation intohow I do things. And that's
cool. That's you know, theirjourney. Y'all go do your thing.
(21:10):
But for me over here, thisis what I enjoy talking about. This
is what I enjoy doing. Thisis certainly what I want to build up
to be a bigger and better thingevery time. So I'm gonna post and
I'm gonna talk about it, andI'm just gonna be my own biggest cheerleader
for both my running accomplishments and mypodcasting accomplishments, because those are important to
(21:30):
me. And if I put theirvalues on it, then I'm not gonna
do this anymore. But I loveit. So I'm gonna be my cheerleader.
I am gonna be out there andI'm gonna be doing my things,
and I you know, I welcomethem. You go do yours, you
do you, I'll do me,We do us go team go. So
here's a little article A found onjust ways that you can be your own
cheerleader. It's very quick, it'svery simple, but you know, I
(21:53):
think sometimes we need to hear thesethings and realize that it is okay to
think about yourself. It is ato be your own biggest cheerleader. Into
want what's best for you, especiallyin the context of this running world,
because if you're not trying to bebetter every day, if you're not trying
to be just that half second fasteron every run, then I personally don't
(22:14):
understand what you're doing. Now.Sure, I've had good races, I've
had bad races, I've had wonderfulraces, and I've had dog duty races.
But I've always tried. And aslong as you're trying, then I
think you're doing great. Some peoplemight just be resigned to, hey,
I'm gonna be slower every race,and I can't understand that logic, But
again, you do you, sofor me, here's how to be your
(22:34):
biggest cheerleader. Okay, Number one, we just covered this. Don't have
expectations for others. Now, thiswas written by a business magazine, so
it may not completely translate to running, but it's pretty close. So don't
have expectations for No one cares moreabout what your goals are than you.
(22:56):
You know what your vision is andhow you plan to make that vision reality.
No one else understands that, soyou can't expect them to care just
as much as you. Of course, it's nice to receive support of any
kind while on your journey, butdon't weigh yourself down with negative emotions if
you don't receive it. Toda dingding ding. Is that not what we
(23:17):
just talked about? It is numbertwo. Celebrate any milestone. It's free
and a confidence booster. To celebrateyourself. It doesn't matter the size of
your milestone you've reached or what theaccomplishment is. Celebrate everything. The more
you can celebrate yourself, the lessyou will care about those who didn't celebrate
you. Perfect. Okay, sothink about this. What can we celebrate
(23:41):
the running world? Well, theshort answer is everything. We can celebrate
absolutely everything. You can celebrate yourfirst PR. You can celebrate your first
five k. You can celebrate yourfirst five kPr, Celebrate your first ten,
Celebrate your first half, Celebrate yourfirst full, celebrate your first negative
(24:02):
split. Celebrate anything you can inthe running world. Celebrate every time you
cross a finish line and they handyou one of these, that is a
celebration. That is a celebration ofsomething you did. You you accomplish this.
No one ran the race for you. You. They hand this to
you because you earned it. Celebrateit every time. Don't cross the finish
(24:22):
line and be like, Ooh,my time wasn't what I wanted it,
or Ooh I wanted to be quicker, or ooh I should have done better.
Celebrate it anytime they hand you oneof these metals. Quote the Kyle
never More next one number three.Cure yourself on. Write your goals down
and once you've reached them, beproud of yourself. Give yourself a mental
(24:45):
high five, and maybe treat yourselfto something nice. Speak positively to yourself.
It says. I'm a firm believerin manifestation being a real thing,
so I often speak what I wantin my life as though it is Know
and understand that you are deserving asmuch as anyone else. Huge and honestly,
missus. Back of the Pack podcasthas really gotten into this manifesting thing,
(25:11):
and the more we do it,the more I actually see some signs
that this is true. So yes, manifest it. Whatever you're striving for,
Ben, this is no shots taken, and I hope this comes off
as the encouragement. I hope andnot as a negative statement, because it
is absolutely not, because I've beenhere. If your goal is a five
(25:33):
k in under fifty five minutes,if your goal is a five k and
under fifty minutes, if your goalis a five k in forty five minutes,
if that is your goal, youwrite that down, you speak that
into existence, and when you getit, you celebrate the living earmufs shit
out of it. Celebrate it becauseman, I've been there. I've been
(25:56):
there where that I just couldn't getthe times to where I wanted and I
wanted that sub whatever, And whenyou get it, man, that is
a huge accomplishment. And don't feellike, well, okay, you know
I wanted to get under that thatfifty minute five k. Well I'm still
last in my age division and I'mstill last gender across and there's no one
else here. You know what,it doesn't matter, It really doesn't.
(26:18):
You celebrate when you accomplish your goal, whatever that goal is, and you
don't let anyone else shit on yourgoal because it's your goal and you accomplished
it, so you did something.I don't care what that looks like.
I'll be there to celebrate and Iwill cheer right along with you. The
next one, number four, viewyourself as your ally, your own best
(26:44):
friend. Being your own best friendmeans supporting and motivating yourself just like you
would a friend. Showing up foryourself when others cannot or will not.
You will gain more self awareness,confidence, and compassion for yourself in doing
so, and the greatest thing Ican call you know, compare this to
we've all, whether we spoke itor not, and a lot of us
(27:07):
haven't. We've all had that finishline where we wish like hell someone had
shown up there, where someone hadbeen at that finish line cheering for you,
not just you know, nice strangerwhose family member hadn't finished yet,
or you know friend who knows you, or person who's yelling because your name
is on the bib. Those peopleare all wonderful, don't get me wrong,
and I love each and every oneof you, anyone who cheers you
(27:30):
on. But we've all crossed thatfinish line and it just wished, like
hell someone had taken their time toshow up and support of us. It
would have been great what I felt, wonderful, right, But we don't
almost get that. So when youcross that finish line and there's not that
other person there. You've got tobe that person. You've got to be
like, hey, good job me, congrants to me. I've done something.
(27:55):
You know, I've done a half. I got the half done that
I was worried about or I wasn'tproperly trained, but I am crossing this
finish line anyway. Sometimes you've gotto be there for you when others aren't,
and they're not always going to beas much as we want them to.
And so we got to do itourselves sometimes. And then the last
one that they list here just numberfive. I told you this was a
(28:18):
real quick list. Practice positive affirmations. Practicing writing positive affirmations is another way
to cheer yourself. On affirmations motivateyou, challenge you, and push you
to reach your full potential. Socelebrate your accomplishments even if no one else
does. Don't expect anyone to besupportive, and also don't be angry if
(28:41):
they don't. Showing yourself the samesupport you would a friend will boost your
confidence and happiness. Then, inconclusion, being your own cheerleader isn't about
being arrogant or thinking you're better thananyone else. But it's about making sure
you don't feel the need or desireto count on others to validate you and
your accomplishments. It's also about keepingtake about keeping taking steps to keep your
(29:04):
mental health in check. There wego as I couldn't finish that sentence because
in my usual way, the hiccupscome along when I talk too much.
So anyway, I hope some ofthat registered. I hope some of that
made you feel a little better.Because we're in that season where we will
have our bad races and so we'llget on ourselves. We won't have the
support that we want from others,and so we get on ourselves. Even
(29:27):
if no one else is at thatfinish line, that does not take away
from your accomplishment in any way,shape or form. So if no one
else is going to be there foryou, whether just by coincidence or by
choice, you be there for yourself, and trust me, you've still done
something amazing. Don't let anyone elsetake that away. So that's where we're
(29:48):
gonna leave it for today. Deal. Deal. So when we all cross
the finish line at top City,even though there's gonna be a big group
of us down there, when youcross that finish line, you take that
moment, and it can be halfa second, it can be thirty seconds.
Cross the finish line, look atyour metal and say, damn,
I did that. I did that. The people cheering for you are wonderful,
(30:14):
but they did not pick you upand set you down over and over
again for thirteen point one miles.So when you cross at Top City or
wherever you run this weekend, takea half a second to thirty seconds to
however long you need. You lookat them metal. You did that.
Nobody did it for you, Sothat's going to do it. For this
week's episode at the Back of thePack podcast, I am your host,
(30:36):
Kyle Walker. It is my pleasureas always, please go out there and
get yourself entered into the lottery forthe London Marathon, as it's open right
now and only for a few moredays, and then we'll be back next
week to wrap up Top City andget ready for whatever our next ridiculously fun
race experience is going to be.So everyone, have a safe week of
training, enjoy the beautiful weather asit looks like at least here in Kansas
City, a lovely week is aheadof us. We will see you next week,
Hello everyone, Greetings and scaliuenticians.Welcome back to another episode of the Back
of the Pack podcast. I'm yourhost, Kyle Walker. Thank you so
much for tuning in. So firstthing we have to do before anything else
with everything going on, we kindof haven't talked about this yet, but
the lottery window for next year's thetwenty twenty five London Marathon is open right
(00:33):
now, this very moment, andby the time you hear this, it's
not going to be open for muchlonger. So as we sit here and
put this out on Monday, Apriltwenty second, I think we only have
until April twenty seventh to get yourname submitted to the lottery. So yes,
I know it was just yesterday thatthey ran the London Marathon, but
(00:55):
the lottery for next year's London Marathonis already open. Do not miss it.
Do not miss your opportunity. Ifwe'reunning in London, is something you've
wanted to do? Are we allgoing to get rejected from this race?
Of course we are. Oh,we have to try. We have to
at least try. You got toget your name in there. Come on,
we will accept our defeat with dignityand grace as we do every year
(01:17):
that London doesn't take us. Butyou can't do that if you don't submit
your name. So the marathon lotteryis open right now, go ahead and
get yourself signed up. Roll thedice. Who knows, who knows?
Maybe you make it, Maybe youmake it. So we have until April
twenty seven to get our names inand then it sounds like there's not a
real clear answer, but it soundslike we're not gonna know for about two
(01:38):
months who made it and who didn't, So don't expect your yearly rejection until
sometime in June. It sounds likethat's a that's kind of my guess,
that's what I'm going with. Soanyway, I wanted to throw that out
first and foremost before we jumped intoanything else. Secondly, last week's episode,
the two Slow for Boston Marathon asmashing success for the podcast. It
(02:02):
sounds like everybody wanted to hear aboutthat race, that race itself. All
those folks down there have been nothingbut wonderful and supportive. They have shared
the podcast episode out there. Thisepisode has the most YouTube video views ever
for any Back of the Pack podcast, so thank you to everyone. Who
watched on YouTube. Again, wewere super late to the YouTube game,
(02:23):
so we're still trying to build thatup. If you haven't subscribed, please
do subscribe to our YouTube channel underthe back of the pack podcast don't forget
the the very important gets you tothe new one and not the old channel
that we don't use anymore, butbiggest, biggest episode for views on YouTube,
and then views on Facebook and thenright up there at the top of
(02:47):
actual podcast download. So huge.Thank you to the two slow for Boston
people. Again, you guys havebeen wonderful and I'll let the cat out
of the bag a little bit.There's already been discussions about heading down there
next year. I know there aresome interested parties, not just local runners
and people in my running circle,but there are some other interested parties that
(03:08):
have reached out to me because theyheard about it on the podcast. We're
talking possible collaborations going on next yeardown in South Carolina with other running people's
and running podcasts, So stay tunedfor more information as that develops. But
again, we got a whole year. Conversations are early and ongoing, but
(03:29):
we might really try and get somethinggoing down there in South Carolina. Next
year and if we get that chance, I'm excited for what that could turn
into. That could be a lotof fun. Sorry, I don't do
a very good evil laugh. Apparentlythat was terrible. Okay. So here
in Kansas City this weekend again nottraveling was in South Carolina last weekend.
Back up here for a race.This weekend we had the Garmin Land of
(03:52):
Oz Half Marathon. And so thiscompleted the Heartland thirty nine point three series
that consisted of the half marathon atthe end of March, Rock the Parkway
at the beginning of April, andnow the Garmin Land of Oz Half Marathon
here at the mid to end ofApril. The series is done. So
let's grab the medal for Garman.Take a look. If you are watching
(04:15):
on any of the videos there yougo. Try not to get the glare
there. But as you can see, nice Wizard of Oz themed race.
This year it was Galllinda the goodWitch. And if anyone has seen Wicked,
they're laughing hysterically right now because Isaid gay Linda. But yeah,
so there is this one, andagain this completed the Heartland series. Let's
grab this big o'honkin metal. Sothis folks. As you can see if
(04:35):
you're watching the screen, I amwearing my Heartland thirty nine point three series
jacket. We got jackets this year, nice running jackets. And then here's
the Metalcose. You can see nicebig metal there and it incorporates all the
races. So we have the fountainfrom Rock to Parkway. We have the
good Witch running from garmin Land ofOz and she's actually holding a torch for
(04:55):
Liberty, so I know that's kindof hard seed. It has all three
of the races on the so yeah, check it out there you go,
And then of course we put theGarment Land of Oz metal out for Metal
Monday. Hopefully you all saw thaton our social media platforms and you are
playing along as I'm recording this rightnow because the post is out there,
so now you got to play along. Next up for the race, we
(05:17):
are going to Topeka, Kansas forthe Top City Half Marathon. We've talked
talked about top City before. Thatis our next race. Good folks down
there, really good course. It'sa pr able course. So if you
have, if you've been training,and if you're you know, on your
game right now, Top City isdefinitely a course that you can pr Now
(05:38):
do I expect a PR new Sowe had a full marathon last weekend,
half marathon this weekend. My legsare telling me that I'm an idiot right
now at this very moment. Sonext weekend, I don't expect my legs
are going to be back to onehundred percent. So I'm going for the
fun in the experience, and becauseI like this race, and I like
the people who run this race,and I think, I you know,
(06:00):
it's a lot of fun. Iwant to be there to support and I
will do my best, but I'mnot expecting any miracles as in a PR
in this course. If you areon your game, this is a highly
prble race, and I hope everyonewill just do really well and we will
see you down there in Topeka,Kansas on the twenty seventh, and then
on Sunday the twenty eighth, tworaces going on. So there's the Trolley
(06:20):
Run. The Trolley Run are becominggood friends of the program. They are
very interactive with us on social media, which is great. I appreciate them,
and of course they are a greatcharity for CCBI, and I want
everyone who's in town who is nototherwise occupied to go to the Trolley Run.
Okay it it is a wonderful race, four mile race, all downhill
(06:43):
as it is, it is myfour mile PR. Charlie Run is I'm
quite sure Charlie Run is my fourmile PR. So if you like four
mile races, this one you willcrush. I won't be there this year
because there's a race that came totown in the fall now it's here in
the spring. It is the Getyour Rear in Gear five K. It's
up by Kansas City's airport in aplace called Zona Rosa. It's just a
(07:08):
five k, but it has apersonal attachment to me. One of the
teams is Team Shaney. Shaney wasa dear, dear friend of mine who
we lost to colon cancer and shewas a supporter of this race while she
was still with us, and nowwe run in memory of Shaney at this
race every year since she has passed. So I will be at the Get
(07:29):
your Rear in Gear five K.This is for me personally. This is
an important race for me. Nothingagainst Charlie Run. Charlie Run is an
amazing run, and I hope youall are there. If you're not there,
if you're in Zona, Rosa.Get your rear and gear. I
hope to see you there. Thatis where I will be. But again,
two amazing races. It stinks thatthey're on the same day, but
it's the personal attachment for me thatgot me to get your rear in gear
(07:50):
instead of Charlie Run. But CharlieRun is a great race. So if
you're looking for a race you haven'tsigned up yet, sign up for Charlie
Run and make sure that you arethere. Okay, okay, So moving
backwards to what we just did thisweekend. This weekend was the Garment Land
of Oz half Marathon. So thisrace, I know a lot of people
really like it when we kind ofdo a turn by turn breakdown of a
(08:13):
race. And trust me, Ilike doing that too. I like really
kind of giving you the information aboutthe race. So what a'm we gonna
do is I'm gonna cover a lotof it some of it. But if
you did that race, you'll understandthat a turn by turn breakdown is not
possible because all that race is istwists and turns and here and there and
yonder and up and down. It'swild. But anyway, so this race
(08:37):
has a six forty five start.Now I don't know or I'm not really
close or tight with the race directorsfor this. I couldn't even tell you
who the race directors are for thegarment Land of Oz Marathon, and I
certainly mean no ill will towards them. The one complaint that I have,
the one runners issue that I haveparking getting in that morning was a debacle.
(09:00):
Parking is terrible. They close everythingdown and they're filtering everyone along this
long winding road and then into aparking garage that is meant for all the
employees of Garmen, and I'm surethat's great, but when you get all
these cars and all these people tryingto get in at the same time,
it was a debacle. It wasvery slow moving, and I could see
(09:20):
how it would be a little stressful. Now they do offer a shuttle service.
You could park way down where thepacket pickup was, park your car,
get on a shuttle. Shuttle bringsyou up. But people were telling
horror stories how the race started atsix forty five and they're getting off the
bus at six thirty seven. NowI don't know what their arrival time was,
but that does not give you alot of time to stretch, hit
the port of John's, get inthe starting kraals, and be ready to
(09:41):
go. Like I bet a lotof people race morning, we're just feeling
a little rushed, just a littlerush. We're gonna go with that.
So the parking, this situation wasnot awesome, but there's worse things in
life. I got parked, gotout. The good news is this race
actually starts right along the side oftheir parking garage, so everyone was just
(10:03):
kind of in the parking garage waitingto head to the start line. It
was a chilly, chilly morning.I'm not gonna say it was downright cold,
but I am gonna say it wasdownright chilli. So a lot of
people waiting in the parking garage.Unfortunately, very windy morning, very windy,
so cold and windy kind of thename of the game for that entire
race. Honestly, I never warmedup. I never warmed up during that
(10:26):
race. I mean, sure,you sweat a little bit because you do
an activity, but really I hadless than a five k left where my
fingers finally weren't cold, where Ididn't feel like ooo, my thinners are
falling off here. So again,you can't control the weather. If I
had it to do differently, Iwould have worn another layer, at least
up top. I would have worn, you know, a dry tech long
sleeve shirt. Instead, I justhad short sleeves on. But what are
(10:48):
you gonna do? Saw a lotof people. We all took our pictures,
and then the race began. Anotherrunner issue I have. Sorry,
this is number two A. Ihate waves starts, hate them, hate
them, pay them, hate them, hate them, don't like them at
all. If our start time issix forty five, why am I not
getting across the start line till likesix fifty four, six fifty six.
Somewhere in that area they started theelites, And I get that. I
(11:11):
get I get that. A lotof races give the elites head start.
In my little mind, why arewe giving the fastest people head start?
What are they afraid I'm going tocatch up with them? That's not gonna
happen. Start the race. Thefast people are going to go anyway now
for this race, I understand ita little bit. Those roads did fill
(11:31):
up rather quickly with people. Iuh was all the way in the back,
and I just I happened to beright around the three hour pacers.
That's where I started. It's actuallynot where I intended to start, but
that's just kind of where I finagledin. I wasn't able to get ahead
of them until like the first milebecause it was so congested once we started.
So as much as I hate wavesstarts, I won't rag on it
(11:52):
too much because those roads were narrow. We just had one lane and we
had a lot of runners. SoI guess I get it, but I
don't like a six forty five startime and I'm not starting till almost ten
minutes after that. That never makesme happy. If you're going to do
a wave ten seconds, fifteen seconds, thirty seconds top, you send the
next group out and you get itmoving. That's just me. That's use
(12:13):
me. So again, I can'tdo a turn by turn break down to
this race. There were tons oftwist and turns. I will say that
I am thrilled that this race wentvery quickly for me, and the reason
being, of course, last weekwas a full marathon that I did horribly
at. I was well over sixhours okay because I could be. Because
I could be. There was nosweeper, there was no one that was
(12:35):
gonna knock me off the course.The motivation, the self motivation to keep
going just wasn't there to try andbreak any records. And if you want
to know more about that, goback and listen to last week's episode.
We talked kind of about the differencebetween a Boston Marathon and a two slow
for Boston Marathon. Won't rehash that, but I had reason to go this
(12:56):
week. I had reason to gobecause I didn't know when my legs were
gonna give out, because I'm certainlynot recovered from a full marathon. There's
just no way that's the case.And I just it was nice though,
because after a very long full marathona half marathon, you don't feel like
you're out there very long. ButI did catch up with a two forty
pacer, a runner in our areathat we are all familiar with. She
(13:18):
was pacing two forty. I'm notgonna throw her name out out there,
and some people get worried about thatstuff, so I don't know. But
to the two forty pacer who Iran with for half the race, thank
you very much. We checked init for a while. She kind of
kept me going. I knew afterthe halfway point the fatigue was just going
to set in, and it didso a little bit after halfway. I'm
told her, you know, hey, best of luck, go get them
(13:39):
tiger, and she went along hermarriyaway, which was totally fine. The
second half of the race for mewent slower, but again, two forty
is the pace I started at.I finished at two forty two. I'll
take it. I'll take it onthese tired legs. So two forty two
half marathon. That course is afaster course. Then I ran it in
(14:01):
in my humble opinion. Now,the cold weather made it difficult, the
wind made it difficult, and reallythere was only a couple bad hills,
not much, certainly could be alot worse. It wasn't Liberty, but
I actually ran Liberty faster by aminute than I ran Garmin. Garmin is
an easier course though, so ifyou are looking for a Kansas half marathon
to do, this is a bigone. Everyone likes the Wizard of Laws
(14:24):
theme. The course is relatively easy. And now this is the first time
I've run this particular course. Theytweaked it a little bit since the last
time I ran it. You know, no big deal, but I liked
it. I liked it. Ithought it was a good course. It
was a nice morning, just cold. It was a nice morning, just
breezy, a lot of twist andturns on the course. Ran out of
gas, you know, a littlelow more than halfway through, finished it
(14:46):
up at two forty two, gotmy medals, got my Heartland Series stuff.
It was a good morning. Itwas a good morning. Can't say
much else about it. So ifyou're looking for a race in Kansas,
they do off of the full,never done the full, probably never will
do that is full. But ifyou are looking for a full, this
would be a good one. I'msure they support well half marathon. I
can guarantee you it's fine. It'sit's more than acceptable because I've done it
(15:09):
several times, did it again thisyear of course. And then they do
have a ten k as well.And to my ten k listeners, ha
ha, you guys are so proudof yourselves with your ten k bibs and
just watching all of us half marathonersgo off into the cold Wenday morning as
yous as I. You got tosit there like I'm just I'm doing a
ten k haha. I'll be doneand fine long before you hit the finish
(15:31):
line and you know what two ofyou I'm talking about, because you guys
are giving me grief after the race, pointing my fingers at you. So
anyway, but that was a funmorning. That was a fun morning.
So what are we gonna talk aboutthis week? Well, I've kind of
gone back and forth on it,but thankfully social media has helped me out.
We're in a stretch right now wherewe are all doing a lot of
(15:54):
racing. Okay, We've had theBoston Marathon, we had the London Marathon
just yesterday, We've had the Heartlandthirty nine point three series. It is
spring running season, big time,and a lot of us, a lot
of us crazies. You're out everyweekend, man, you're out running races
every weekend. We're seeing each otherevery weekend, or travel around. We're
(16:14):
seeing you know, traveling to races, driving to South Carolina, going up
to Lincoln, Nebraska in two weeks. You know, some people are going
north, some people are going south, east, West, We're all over
the place. The thing we reallyhave to remember right now is we're doing
this for fun. Right I amseeing on the social media scene a lot
of people are getting down on themselvesfor their performances, and a lot of
(16:40):
people are getting down on others.Okay, we really need to keep in
mind that this running community is forall of us to enjoy, and when
you get to a point where you'renot enjoying it, you need to rethink
things. Now, we've had episodesbefore talking about burnout. This isn't burnout.
This is maybe putting unreasonable expectations onyourself. This is maybe dealing with
(17:03):
some disappointment in your own performance,or this could be about feeling disappointed in
what other people think of your running. And that is the very dangerous part
of this, because I've seen alot of this. We all want the
people to feel how we feel aboutrunning. We all want people to look
(17:26):
at us in awe of what wehave done. And most of the time
they do. But it's not alwaysthe case. It's not always the case.
You're not always going to accomplish thisawesome running feat maybe your first half
marathon, your first full marathon,your Boston qualifying time, the Boston Marathon
in general, getting accepted into araise, getting an age division award,
(17:51):
these things that the rest of thisour running world would celebrate for you,
not everyone in your personal life isgoing to do that. And so what
we really they need to figure outand kind of really refocus on, is
your worth as a runner is notdetermined by anyone else. There is no
one else out there that can determineyour worth as a runner. The only
(18:12):
person who can do that is yourself. Your only competition, unless you are
an elite level runner, is thatperson that stares at you every morning in
the mirror. Could that is whoalready competing against And a lot of times
it's not just the physical competition,it's the mental and emotional competition as well.
Because, as we've talked about before, if you were to show up
at a start line mentally defeated abouta race, your race is going to
(18:36):
suck. Okay, Well, didsomeone else make you mentally defeated for that
race? No? Was it acondition that happened that made you mentally defeated
for that race? No, youalready put that in your mind and in
your heart that this race already hadyour number. And so when you showed
up, you were already done.And I can almost guarantee you that your
race wasn't good. So one ofthe things is we really like I said,
(19:00):
said, we cannot worry about whatother people put as value on our
accomplishments as runners. Our accomplishments areours. We share them, and we
love it when people love them aswell. But they're really for us.
And you cannot let other people puttheir weight and their baggage and their either
their lack of enthusiasm or their lackof interest. You can't take that to
(19:21):
heart because that's not actually on you. Just like your competition is you in
the mirror. Their issues with whatyou did running is their issues. It
really doesn't pertain to you. Andso what I found here was just this
little article. And again this ismy opinion. You guys could tell me
I'm wrong. You might see thiscompletely different, and if you do,
let me know. That's totally cool. I entertain all all sides and thoughts.
(19:42):
But I found an article here becausethe way I wanted to phrase this,
and it's not a new phrase,a lot of people use it.
We need to be our own chaerleaders. We cannot put all of our eggs
in the basket of others approval.You cannot, you know, you can't
(20:02):
be mentally defeated because other people didn'tcome to the finish line, or other
people didn't send you kudos, orother people just didn't care as much as
you did, or if we've allseen this, we've all seen this,
and I've been seeing this a lotlately. Okay, so little sidebar.
If you go to my personal socialmedia account, ninety eight percent of what
I post is about this podcast.It's about trying to get people interested in
the podcast, sharing episodes, sharingpictures. It's either running or this podcast.
(20:26):
That's it. I don't share awhole lot else anymore because, you
know, social media is fine,and I'm trying to use it for you
know, the podcast game, butpersonal wise, I don't much care anymore.
So I have actually gotten unfriended bya lot of people, and I'm
talking people as far back as highschool. I've enough unfriended me because all
(20:47):
I talk about is the podcast andrunning. People who I've met in all
different walks of life. People areunfriending me because of this. Now,
if I took all that to heart, I wouldn't do this. I'd be
like, oh my goodness, they'rein front of me because they're tired of
hearing about running, or they're tiredabout me seeing about the podcast. Oh
what am I gonna do? Okay? Well, man, that that's them.
That's their response to my situation intohow I do things. And that's
cool. That's you know, theirjourney. Y'all go do your thing.
(21:10):
But for me over here, thisis what I enjoy talking about. This
is what I enjoy doing. Thisis certainly what I want to build up
to be a bigger and better thingevery time. So I'm gonna post and
I'm gonna talk about it, andI'm just gonna be my own biggest cheerleader
for both my running accomplishments and mypodcasting accomplishments, because those are important to
(21:30):
me. And if I put theirvalues on it, then I'm not gonna
do this anymore. But I loveit. So I'm gonna be my cheerleader.
I am gonna be out there andI'm gonna be doing my things,
and I you know, I welcomethem. You go do yours, you
do you, I'll do me,We do us go team go. So
here's a little article A found onjust ways that you can be your own
cheerleader. It's very quick, it'svery simple, but you know, I
(21:53):
think sometimes we need to hear thesethings and realize that it is okay to
think about yourself. It is ato be your own biggest cheerleader. Into
want what's best for you, especiallyin the context of this running world,
because if you're not trying to bebetter every day, if you're not trying
to be just that half second fasteron every run, then I personally don't
(22:14):
understand what you're doing. Now.Sure, I've had good races, I've
had bad races, I've had wonderfulraces, and I've had dog duty races.
But I've always tried. And aslong as you're trying, then I
think you're doing great. Some peoplemight just be resigned to, hey,
I'm gonna be slower every race,and I can't understand that logic, But
again, you do you, sofor me, here's how to be your
(22:34):
biggest cheerleader. Okay, Number one, we just covered this. Don't have
expectations for others. Now, thiswas written by a business magazine, so
it may not completely translate to running, but it's pretty close. So don't
have expectations for No one cares moreabout what your goals are than you.
(22:56):
You know what your vision is andhow you plan to make that vision reality.
No one else understands that, soyou can't expect them to care just
as much as you. Of course, it's nice to receive support of any
kind while on your journey, butdon't weigh yourself down with negative emotions if
you don't receive it. Toda dingding ding. Is that not what we
(23:17):
just talked about? It is numbertwo. Celebrate any milestone. It's free
and a confidence booster. To celebrateyourself. It doesn't matter the size of
your milestone you've reached or what theaccomplishment is. Celebrate everything. The more
you can celebrate yourself, the lessyou will care about those who didn't celebrate
you. Perfect. Okay, sothink about this. What can we celebrate
(23:41):
the running world? Well, theshort answer is everything. We can celebrate
absolutely everything. You can celebrate yourfirst PR. You can celebrate your first
five k. You can celebrate yourfirst five kPr, Celebrate your first ten,
Celebrate your first half, Celebrate yourfirst full, celebrate your first negative
(24:02):
split. Celebrate anything you can inthe running world. Celebrate every time you
cross a finish line and they handyou one of these, that is a
celebration. That is a celebration ofsomething you did. You you accomplish this.
No one ran the race for you. You. They hand this to
you because you earned it. Celebrateit every time. Don't cross the finish
(24:22):
line and be like, Ooh,my time wasn't what I wanted it,
or Ooh I wanted to be quicker, or ooh I should have done better.
Celebrate it anytime they hand you oneof these metals. Quote the Kyle
never More next one number three.Cure yourself on. Write your goals down
and once you've reached them, beproud of yourself. Give yourself a mental
(24:45):
high five, and maybe treat yourselfto something nice. Speak positively to yourself.
It says. I'm a firm believerin manifestation being a real thing,
so I often speak what I wantin my life as though it is Know
and understand that you are deserving asmuch as anyone else. Huge and honestly,
missus. Back of the Pack podcasthas really gotten into this manifesting thing,
(25:11):
and the more we do it,the more I actually see some signs
that this is true. So yes, manifest it. Whatever you're striving for,
Ben, this is no shots taken, and I hope this comes off
as the encouragement. I hope andnot as a negative statement, because it
is absolutely not, because I've beenhere. If your goal is a five
(25:33):
k in under fifty five minutes,if your goal is a five k and
under fifty minutes, if your goalis a five k in forty five minutes,
if that is your goal, youwrite that down, you speak that
into existence, and when you getit, you celebrate the living earmufs shit
out of it. Celebrate it becauseman, I've been there. I've been
(25:56):
there where that I just couldn't getthe times to where I wanted and I
wanted that sub whatever, And whenyou get it, man, that is
a huge accomplishment. And don't feellike, well, okay, you know
I wanted to get under that thatfifty minute five k. Well I'm still
last in my age division and I'mstill last gender across and there's no one
else here. You know what,it doesn't matter, It really doesn't.
(26:18):
You celebrate when you accomplish your goal, whatever that goal is, and you
don't let anyone else shit on yourgoal because it's your goal and you accomplished
it, so you did something.I don't care what that looks like.
I'll be there to celebrate and Iwill cheer right along with you. The
next one, number four, viewyourself as your ally, your own best
(26:44):
friend. Being your own best friendmeans supporting and motivating yourself just like you
would a friend. Showing up foryourself when others cannot or will not.
You will gain more self awareness,confidence, and compassion for yourself in doing
so, and the greatest thing Ican call you know, compare this to
we've all, whether we spoke itor not, and a lot of us
(27:07):
haven't. We've all had that finishline where we wish like hell someone had
shown up there, where someone hadbeen at that finish line cheering for you,
not just you know, nice strangerwhose family member hadn't finished yet,
or you know friend who knows you, or person who's yelling because your name
is on the bib. Those peopleare all wonderful, don't get me wrong,
and I love each and every oneof you, anyone who cheers you
(27:30):
on. But we've all crossed thatfinish line and it just wished, like
hell someone had taken their time toshow up and support of us. It
would have been great what I felt, wonderful, right, But we don't
almost get that. So when youcross that finish line and there's not that
other person there. You've got tobe that person. You've got to be
like, hey, good job me, congrants to me. I've done something.
(27:55):
You know, I've done a half. I got the half done that
I was worried about or I wasn'tproperly trained, but I am crossing this
finish line anyway. Sometimes you've gotto be there for you when others aren't,
and they're not always going to beas much as we want them to.
And so we got to do itourselves sometimes. And then the last
one that they list here just numberfive. I told you this was a
(28:18):
real quick list. Practice positive affirmations. Practicing writing positive affirmations is another way
to cheer yourself. On affirmations motivateyou, challenge you, and push you
to reach your full potential. Socelebrate your accomplishments even if no one else
does. Don't expect anyone to besupportive, and also don't be angry if
(28:41):
they don't. Showing yourself the samesupport you would a friend will boost your
confidence and happiness. Then, inconclusion, being your own cheerleader isn't about
being arrogant or thinking you're better thananyone else. But it's about making sure
you don't feel the need or desireto count on others to validate you and
your accomplishments. It's also about keepingtake about keeping taking steps to keep your
(29:04):
mental health in check. There wego as I couldn't finish that sentence because
in my usual way, the hiccupscome along when I talk too much.
So anyway, I hope some ofthat registered. I hope some of that
made you feel a little better.Because we're in that season where we will
have our bad races and so we'llget on ourselves. We won't have the
support that we want from others,and so we get on ourselves. Even
(29:27):
if no one else is at thatfinish line, that does not take away
from your accomplishment in any way,shape or form. So if no one
else is going to be there foryou, whether just by coincidence or by
choice, you be there for yourself, and trust me, you've still done
something amazing. Don't let anyone elsetake that away. So that's where we're
(29:48):
gonna leave it for today. Deal. Deal. So when we all cross
the finish line at top City,even though there's gonna be a big group
of us down there, when youcross that finish line, you take that
moment, and it can be halfa second, it can be thirty seconds.
Cross the finish line, look atyour metal and say, damn,
I did that. I did that. The people cheering for you are wonderful,
(30:14):
but they did not pick you upand set you down over and over
again for thirteen point one miles.So when you cross at Top City or
wherever you run this weekend, takea half a second to thirty seconds to
however long you need. You lookat them metal. You did that.
Nobody did it for you, Sothat's going to do it. For this
week's episode at the Back of thePack podcast, I am your host,
(30:36):
Kyle Walker. It is my pleasureas always, please go out there and
get yourself entered into the lottery forthe London Marathon, as it's open right
now and only for a few moredays, and then we'll be back next
week to wrap up Top City andget ready for whatever our next ridiculously fun
race experience is going to be.So everyone, have a safe week of
training, enjoy the beautiful weather asit looks like at least here in Kansas
City, a lovely week is aheadof us. We will see you next week,
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