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Guest: Michelle Pillepich @michellepillepichnutrition

Show Notes:

Michelle Pillepich⁠ and I were connected by ⁠Paige Foote⁠ (⁠EP 129⁠) and was so much fun to talk to. This episode is a fun, easy listen to end the year.

During this episode, sponsored by ⁠Noogs⁠ and Foot Levelers, we talk about:

• How we got connected through Paige Foote of Noogs 

• Trying all of the sports as a kid and really loving field hockey (she’s from New Jersey)

• Getting into running to stay in shape for field hockey 

• Going to school in Virginia and what got her interested in dietetics 

• Being diagnosed with SIBO, small intestine bacterial overgrowth

• Her first half marathon that she didn’t know was a trail race

• Coaching with Girls on the Run

• Signing up to run the New York City Marathon in 2021 and 2023

• Her spectating strategy

• How she ended up in dietetics and having her own practice, ⁠Michelle Pillepich Nutrition⁠

• The content side of what she does 

• Her advice specifically for runners

   

  Sponsor Details:

  - ⁠Noogs⁠ - Use code ALLYB15 for 15% off

  - ⁠Foot Levelers⁠ - Visit their website to find a provider near you

   

  This is a ⁠SandyBoy Productions ⁠podcast.

Episode Transcript:

FLAMS - Michelle Pillepich

[00:00:00] This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.

 

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ali Brett Knocker, and if you run, you're a runner and every runner has a story. Join me each week as I share these stories and we celebrate finish lines and milestones together. First of all, if you're new here, this is not how I always sound.

I have succumbeded to the cold, cough, whatever that my kids have given me this holiday season. So bear with me as I get through this intro. This episode is brought to you by Nogs, N-O-O-G-S, nugs. It is fueling made fun. , This product is absolutely amazing. It tastes just like sour candy. Like sour patch kids. Literally, I did not believe it until I tried them. They have electric, watermelon, lemon zinger, and sour apple, [00:01:00] and then they just announced.

Three new flavors. There's blue raspberry blast, and then there are two caffeinated flavors. One is strawberry lemonade and the other is poolside pop. I cannot wait to try the new flavors. I already absolutely love what they already had, so So these chews are easy to take on the run.

I love using them on the treadmill to count my strides. They're quick digesting with a lot of carbs. They have essential electrolytes as well. They're vegan, gluten-free, and made with natural colors and flavors. So you'll hear on this week's episode, me talk about page foot, who actually introduced me. To this week's guest.

So thank you so much to Paige for supporting this podcast as well and for creating such an incredible product. If you would like to try Noogs, you can go to their website, anoug on.com. You can use Code Ally B 15 for 15% off your order. That's Ally A-L-L-Y-B 15 for 15% off. You can also find them on Amazon.

Thank you Noogs for supporting this podcast.

Okay. And then before I get into this week's guest, again, I [00:02:00] just wanna say thank you so much for everybody who's listened this year. I could not do this without you. And thank you to all the sponsors who have supported this podcast. If you would take a second share. Rate review. I would really appreciate it.

Got some exciting things coming next year. I will tell you a little bit more about them in the outro of this episode, so stay tuned there.

Oh, and if we aren't already friends on Instagram, you can find me at Ally, A-L-L-Y-T, Brett, B-R-E-T-T. That's Alle t Brett runs, I did a countdown to Christmas, so an advent calendar that featured the top episodes of Finish Lines and Milestones.

So if you're new here and you wanna hear some of the most favorite episodes, you can go follow me there and see that list. Okay.

But thank you. I'm so grateful, and I hope you have the happiest holiday season and happy new year. And then this week's episode is with Michelle ppi again. I was introduced to Michelle from Page Foot, the founder of Noogs, [00:03:00] and we hit it off right away.

If you watch the video version of this episode, we are literally dressed the exact same and look like long lost Sisters. So we got along immediately. She was so fun to talk to. I loved getting to hear about how she got into running, how she got into dietetics. She actually has her own practice, Michelle Pill, pitch nutrition, and so we talked about her marathon experiences. She's run the New York City marathon twice. I think you're just gonna really enjoy this conversation with my new friend Michelle ppi.

Ally: Hello Michelle Pillow pitch. Welcome.

Michelle Pillepich: Thank you so much For having me. I'm excited to chat.

Ally: For anyone who's watching the video, we should probably just acknowledge the fact that we look exactly the same at this moment.

Michelle Pillepich: We are long lost sisters.

Ally: So, so crazy when you just like log in and you're like, oh, hey, yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: Yep.

Ally: I like your style.

Michelle Pillepich: Same colors, same hair, same headphones, almost.

Ally: It's perfect. So we had Paige from Noogs Connect us and I said We should wait to [00:04:00] say great things about Paige until we recorded, because I really love her so much.

Michelle Pillepich: Paige

Ally: do you know Paige?

Michelle Pillepich: You know, as we were talking, I was like, how do I know Paige?

I think she and I might have just connected on Instagram 'cause in like the dietician world and now she's doing

Ally: Right? It.

Michelle Pillepich: and beyond that. and then she and I were running the New York City marathon the same year and I think 2021.

And so we met in person there and I mean, she's just like the happiest bubbliest friendliest person ever.

Ally: She really is. And their branding of the company that she has matches her personality perfectly.

Michelle Pillepich: It's incredible. Couldn't be better.

Ally: Yeah. So I have yet to meet her in person, but hopefully someday.

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: who's never tried Noogs need to go get yourself some on Amazon or on their website. They are delicious.

Michelle Pillepich: So delicious.

Yeah. Love it.

Ally: Yeah. So you're a dietician. You have your own business doing that. We have so much to talk about. You do so much content. It's incredible. tell me about it. It is a grind. So, yeah. No, I [00:05:00] love to see it. Such important messages that you're sharing,

Michelle Pillepich: Thank

Ally: for sure. But let's kind of take it back and just get to know you, as a human.

Um, you're calling from New Jersey. What part of New Jersey are you in now?

Michelle Pillepich: Yes, I'm in North Jersey. I'm about like an hour outside of New York City, but I'm actually moving next month to Wee Hawk in New Jersey right across the river from Manhattan. So, very excited.

Ally: Oh my gosh. That's super exciting. Congratulations. That's a big move too, I'm sure.

Michelle Pillepich: Well, you know, it feels small because I've kind of moved all over. I, I went to college in Virginia and grad school in North Carolina.

My first job as a dietician was in California, so

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: is like peasy.

Ally: I take it back. I completely take it back. You don't even have to get on a plane. You're like, no, this is gonna be smooth sailing.

Michelle Pillepich: easy. Yeah. And I used to be in Manhattan, so it feels like going back home.

Ally: Oh my gosh. Well, perfect. That's so exciting. So you're originally from where then?

Michelle Pillepich: I'm originally from a town called Ramsey in Bergen County, New

Ally: Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: [00:06:00] Yeah,

Ally: Okay. Also in New Jersey. Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah,

Ally: And did you grow up as an athlete playing sports?

Michelle Pillepich: I did. Yeah,

I played, I mean, I kind of tried out every sport I feel like, like a lot of kids do. played soccer when I was little. I think softball was maybe only one season. I was not a softball fan. It stressed me out.

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: I was like, okay. But when I was little and they kind of forced everyone to rotate through all the positions when I was playing goalie, someone scored on me and I cried.

Like that was also kind of a disaster. Um,

Ally: being sick, so I didn't have to play goalie.

Michelle Pillepich: mean that's

Ally: Swear I hated it so much. Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: I tried

Ally: they probably saw right through it, but

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. They're like, it doesn't matter. I tried basketball. Didn't love that. So. I took tennis lessons in middle school and I, I really liked tennis still. I enjoy playing tennis, but I was just never that good at it.

And I would play in these tournaments at the school where I took lessons and I would just always [00:07:00] lose every single game I kept playing. so that was kind of sad. And then when I got to high school, that's when I really like found my athletic calling and I played field hockey, which, you know, it was funny.

My parents were like, we just played for, paid for four years of tennis lessons and now you're gonna not play tennis. Like, what are you doing? it was for the

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: because I was a lot better at field hockey than I was at tennis. So I scrapped that. I played field hockey and my town at the time didn't have. A field hockey program before high school. So like that was a totally new sport to me. and I just loved it and had some natural ability. So that was my main sports. And then that's kind of how I got into running also because the off season, you know, field hockey was in the fall I just really cared about that sport.

So I wanted to stay in shape for field hockey year. So I joined the track team in the winter and spring, and that's what I did all through high school.

Ally: Oh my gosh, that's so funny. Well, what's [00:08:00] crazy, Michelle, is that my most recent guest, Kaitlyn Johnson, she lives in Indianapolis where I am now, but she is from Philadelphia. She played field hockey growing up. When I talked to her, I had never really, I'd heard the terms field hockey, but I'd never really knew what it was.

So now I feel like I know a little bit more, but she now coaches for a university here, ball State University, which is crazy. But yeah. So field hockey is really big on the East Coast it sounds like.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

I think it's more like a mid, Mid-Atlantic. 'cause definitely South Jersey, it's bigger than North Jersey. but it's, I think it's so fun and it's so sad that there's not really an opportunity to play recreationally as an adult. I'm like, know, you can't just like

Ally: Oh.

Michelle Pillepich: game like you would with basketball and a lot of people who do play into adulthood, like played in college at a D one school, which I did not.

So it a lot. But now as of this spring, I'm actually getting into golf and I feel like that is the closest thing to field hockey that I've [00:09:00] found. Just something like

Ally: Interesting.

Michelle Pillepich: you are like focused more on skill and strategy than just pure endurance, like with running. So that's

Ally: Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. And you can only hit with one side of the club.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, exactly.

Ally: The golf club field. See how much I know about field hockey? Um, yeah. I saw your most recent Instagram post was you on a golf course. And I was like, Ooh, I dabble. I play, I, used to play more often than I do, but it's, it's really fun, I think because, you know, as you age too, it's something that doesn't take a whole lot of

Michelle Pillepich: right.

Ally: effort.

It's more you gotta practice to get any better, which can be difficult,

Michelle Pillepich: Oh

Ally: but still fun.

Michelle Pillepich: And I'm so

Ally: It's so humbling.

Michelle Pillepich: I need to be able

Ally: Yes.

Michelle Pillepich: every guy out there when I go out with all the men, which like, it'll be a while till I get there.

Ally: I was like, and how's that going? I am, so I

Michelle Pillepich: not,

Ally: I, I broke 101 time my whole golf career, so, which is amazing. That's like finally you're like, [00:10:00] okay, like that's everybody who plays all the time. Like that's very normal. But for me that I've only done that one time.

Michelle Pillepich: That's a big

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: even keep score yet. That's where I'm at. So.

Ally: Oh yeah. See I have a handicap, which is like in the thirties, which if anybody listening knows about gt, that's very high.

So it's not good, but I, you know, it's still fun and you just get to be outside and Yeah. So that's cool.

Michelle Pillepich: I

Ally: Um,

Michelle Pillepich: a mindfulness practice. It's really amazing.

Ally: really is, and for people like us who are competitive, it's great in patience.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. It teaches you a lot.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Uh, and then what made you choose to go to school in Virginia?

Michelle Pillepich: That is a great question. What was it? So I was, I was in high school, I visited and toured, I think 18 different colleges. I was just going all over. I know

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: it was a lot. I had, this book that's like best schools in the northeast, literally on my nightstand. I would like read it before bed [00:11:00] and just like flag the schools that I liked and then went to a bunch of them, and apply.

I probably applied to 10 or 11 and it really wasn't until I was going back to the schools that I got accepted to that I decided. So I went to William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. and it wasn't until I got accepted there and I went to the, I think it was the accepted student's day or we just went back for a second visit and a really amazing tour guide and I was like, I think this is it.

I think. You know, it was one of the best schools I applied to. I really liked the size. my high school was fairly small. My graduating class was like two 50, so I didn't wanna go to a

Ally: Same.

Michelle Pillepich: school, but I wanted to go

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: bigger than my high school. it fit the right size. It felt like it had such a nice community academically, it was challenging, I'm like, maybe I should have gone somewhere easier. But it just kind of fit

Ally: You know?

Michelle Pillepich: and yeah, I really enjoyed it there.

Ally: Do you have any siblings?

Michelle Pillepich: I do, yeah, I have an older [00:12:00] sister and a younger brother and when I was looking at colleges, I like didn't even wanna look anywhere that my sister had applied.

I was like, I wanna be different.

Ally: Yes, that's how my sisters are. I'm the oldest of three girls, so I'm the oldest. You're the middle? Yep. Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: Yep. Classic middle child, I guess

Ally: Yeah. You're like, I'm gonna pave my own way. And, and then your brother didn't go to the same school as either of you? Either.

Michelle Pillepich: No. Yeah, so my sister went to Drew, which is a small school in New Jersey, and then my brother went

Ally: Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's so funny.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: parents

Ally: And.

Michelle Pillepich: My dad was like, okay, the rule is hour drive, like that's the farthest you can go, a four hour drive from home, definitely not a flight.

And I was like, okay, well what about like seven hours? That's the school I really like. And of course I went and then I did end up flying home sometimes, so I broke all the rules.

Ally: That's funny. Yeah, I feel like, uh, I, I did, unfortunately for my parents, I went to Miami of Ohio, which is like five miles across the Indiana, Ohio border. So I like [00:13:00] barely went outta state just enough for them to like, you know, they paid for my college, thank you, mom and dad. and so just outta state that outta state tuition.

But yeah, only a two hour drive, which was, which was so nice. Like, it felt far enough away to where my, you know, nobody was like popping over

Michelle Pillepich: Right.

Ally: you know, just out of the blue. But also I could come home whenever I wanted.

Michelle Pillepich: that's really

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. So, did you know, like going into school, I, I know I've watched some of your content.

I'm forgetting what drew you to dietetics, how you ended up in that field? Because did you start like knowing you were interested in that in school? What started that?

Michelle Pillepich: So in undergrad I actually double majored in government and Hispanic studies, which

Ally: That's right. Yes.

Michelle Pillepich: And it was really just because those were my favorite classes in high school. My senior year I took AP government. I had a really great teacher. I enjoyed that class and I always really loved my Spanish classes and that was something I was good at.

Like I always did the best in Spanish of all my classes. So I was like, okay, this will will be my major. But I didn't wanna make Spanish my major because [00:14:00] I thought like just Spanish. I thought, well if I major in Spanish, my only career path is to be a Spanish teacher and I don't wanna do that. So I need another major.

Which like, that's not true. I dunno why I was thinking that.

Ally: Yeah, yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: was just how my brain was working at the time. So I chose government in Spanish and all throughout college I thought I wanna start a nonprofit or I wanna be a lawyer, or I wanna work in the White House or do something like that. Which like LOL would never want to do that now.

Ally: yeah. That sounds terrifying.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, so when I graduated, well actually my senior spring, I took a nutrition class because William and Mary didn't have a nutrition major or a dietetics program. So I didn't really know about it at all. But had kind of an interest in nutrition and I took this class my senior spring. I needed an elective.

I heard it was an easy A, so I took the class and a dietician came and spoke to our class about that career path. So I remember after that class, I was talking to [00:15:00] my roommates and I was like, oh my gosh, this sounds so cool. And at this point, you know, spring of senior year, I had a different career plan every other day and my roommate was like, okay, like just stop.

Don't pursue it. Like you have so many ideas, just put it on the back burner. And I was like, okay, yeah, I should ride. And, and I, it was always just in the back of my mind I thought, oh, that sounds fun and interesting, but like I didn't study that. I'm gonna do something else. So I graduated, I was interning for a senator's campaign in Virginia, in DC, Virginia area. And I was miserable. I absolutely hated it. I was dreading going into work every single day. I wasn't being paid. So I literally quit after a month and went home. I was like, I am done with this. it. And then I was home, like just thinking, okay, well what do I wanna do if I don't wanna do what I studied?

What the heck do I wanna do? And I just found myself reading articles about nutrition just drawn to that field and topic. And I had also done a summer [00:16:00] program at William and Mary that was about media, and I thought that was really interesting. I almost went to college for graphic design. That was something I also loved in high school. So I thought, oh, I'll do food media and that'll be my thing. I got an internship at Rachel Ray Magazine and worked there for a bit, which was super fun. But I just didn't love being in an office. I wanted to be actually interacting with the people I was helping. And so while I was there, I talked to a lot of people who were working as dieticians just about what their job was like, and ultimately decided, okay, yeah, that's what I wanna do and I wanna go back to school.

So I had to take all the science classes I had avoided since high school. So I went to the local community college and took chemistry, biology, anatomy, biochemistry, all of that

Ally: Oh my gosh.

Michelle Pillepich: And I also worked part-time as an SAT tutor just to make some money while I was doing it. And that was a pretty fun job. and then I applied to grad [00:17:00] school. I went to UNC Chapel Hill and got my nutrition degree,

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: was

Ally: Yeah. And now you have all of these, I mean, yeah. I was like, okay, MPH, RD, CPT. I was like, what is all, I don't even know. I mean, I know the rd that's, that one's easy, but the other ones I hadn't seen.

So is that all part of that education or is some of that continuing education that you still do?

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. So MPA my with nutrition, when you get a master's in nutrition, you could either do a Master's of public health or a master's of science. So my nutrition degree is a master's of public health. I went to the public health school at UNC, and then rd, registered Dietician, RDN.

Some people use as registered dietician. Nutritionist, same thing. CPT. Actually, a couple of years ago, I did my certified personal trainer certification through

Ally: Right. Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: that I just did on my own, and then also added RYT on there. So I am a registered yoga teacher. I did my yoga teacher training. Of 24, so I,

Ally: Oh, cool.

Michelle Pillepich: [00:18:00] credential getter.

It's, it's getting out hand.

Ally: God. Yeah. Well, I feel like I relate so much to you in that, like, when I was in school, I literally like picked my major based on a class I was doing well in. Like, I was like, this is fine. I, I don't know, they made me pick a major. They're like, you have to pick something. And I was like, but I don't know what I wanna do.

I was interested in so many different things. And so yeah, that was really tough.

Michelle Pillepich: I

Ally: Um, even still kind of is to an extent. Yeah, it's like. I always envy people who like knew they wanted to be a doctor or like a teacher, like from day, like when they were a kid, they're like, I always knew I wanted to do this.

I'm like, how does that feel? Because I really have, never known exactly what, what I've wanted to do when I grow up. I still feel that same way. but I also have so many different interests and hobbies too. So it's like, it's interesting. Yeah. Like I could totally relate to a lot of, what, what you've said so far.

Michelle Pillepich: say, I think it's more fun to not know what you wanna do because then you get to keep exploring things. And even

Ally: It's true.

Michelle Pillepich: there are always new ideas I'm [00:19:00] having and ways I wanna pivot the business and things I can add. and so I didn't like always know what I wanted to do, but I feel like, at least throughout grad school, I always knew that I wanted to work for myself.

And that has been a, a huge key. And just like take it to some sort, sort of freedom and creativity.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. I think now that I've been on this side and I do work for myself, I don't think I could ever go back.

Michelle Pillepich: No,

Ally: I just don't think I'm built that way. So

Michelle Pillepich: no,

Ally: least now, yeah, I'm lucky enough to know that about myself too. Um, I was gonna ask you about, just growing up, did you ever have any issues with disordered eating with food?

Like, were there personal aspects of it that drew you to the profession?

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, so not a ton. I, feel like I'm a little bit of an oddball in that sense. Like most people do go into the eating disordered niche due to past experience with an eating disorder or disordered eating. And I feel very lucky [00:20:00] that, you know, my household, my family was all very normal with food. Of course there were some things, you know, my mom didn't want to buy super sugary cereal.

And I remember I always wanted fruity pebbles and we would rarely get fruity pebbles

Ally: Yeah. Yep,

Michelle Pillepich: had whole wheat bread and I would love

Ally: yep.

Michelle Pillepich: white bread at my friend's house.

Ally: I know. Yes. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: the thing. she was health conscious, but never in a way that was restrictive. You know, I've always had a sweet tooth, always had dessert.

So I never really with that. I definitely have struggled with body image in high school. I feel like what high schooler doesn't struggle with their body

Ally: Right.

Michelle Pillepich: know, I

Ally: Yes.

Michelle Pillepich: remember like after track practices when I'd be changing to shower, I would like check my stomach in the mirror first and see if it's flat and always be like chasing that the abs the flat stomach.

And

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: I would, tell myself that I was gonna do certain things like, oh, I'm gonna cut sugar for X amount of time so that I [00:21:00] can get a flat stomach, but I just would never follow through. And so

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: that's just something in my wiring that like, luckily I was not prone to actually following through on those behaviors, but, you know, I still was affected by diet culture in those ways.

And I, I,

Ally: Yeah, yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: it as like pure luck that I didn't the extent of like engaging in those behaviors. And then. throughout college and after I had some GI issues. And that also really drew me to the nutrition field

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: always struggling with like bloating and discomfort and pain and frequent stomach aches.

And eventually I was diagnosed with sibo, which is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. So in order to try and address all the discomfort I was going through, did, you know, I saw a dietician, I did some food sensitivity tests that now I would never recommend. But, there were times where I was cutting things out for those reasons and it felt really limiting and [00:22:00] really frustrating.

And so that's something that actually just recently I'm starting to incorporate in my practice and treat these kind of GI conditions. 'cause at first I was like, is too close to home. I hated going through it. I don't want to do anything related to it. But now I feel like, okay, I wanna help people with this.

'cause it was so frustrating and it's. It's hard to navigate, in the world of fad diets and all of that.

Ally: absolutely. Yeah. Well, Good for you. Not for not succumbing to the pressures of all the diet culture. Like I, in college was not a healthy environment. I feel like for young women. Where I went, it was like number one college in the nation for eating disorders. Like it was not good and I was never diagnosed.

But I know now looking back, it was definitely disordered eating, like not good. I would like restrict myself so that I could drink more

Michelle Pillepich: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ally: and it was just not healthy. And so I've talked about it recently on this podcast too, where like, especially when we start getting into talking about the running and the endurance side of things, like carbs are [00:23:00] king, like you need carbs for fuel.

But my whole life it was like, no, carbs are bad. You can't eat carbs. So it's been like rewiring my brain.

Michelle Pillepich: Absolutely. And like I still had the a hundred calorie packs and the snack wells and like remember so my Never forget.

Ally: those chocolate ones that were just tasted like chemicals, God.

Michelle Pillepich: I, my freshman year I was on the crew team and

Ally: Oh, interesting.

Michelle Pillepich: so we would be waking up super early and I would have a granola bar or something before I went. I was also conscious of that, like, okay, this was X number of calories. Let me look at the calories that I burned on the elliptical later today.

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: got to an extreme never, again, it just like wasn't the follow through on actually fully restricting. Like I remember using MyFitnessPal and just going past my limit in quotes every day.

And like I was like, all

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Like I guess I feel kind of

Ally: Yeah. Well,

Michelle Pillepich: change it.

Ally: yeah. [00:24:00] Yeah. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: pure luck, I think.

Ally: Yeah, so, okay. So then when did running come in? You mentioned track when you were in high school, I guess to like stay in shape for field hockey, but at what point did you like sign up for your first race or what did that look like for you?

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. So it's kind of funny because on the track team in high school was sort of avoiding running like my events were the a hundred meter high hurdles and long jump and triple jump. So it

Ally: Okay,

Michelle Pillepich: running possible and

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: and I would take shortcuts on the routes for practice and all of that, just like try to skip running as much as possible. it wasn't until college I definitely enjoyed it to some degree. You know, during the summers I would run two miles to just like practice for that timed mile for field hockey, the like scariest day of preseason.

Ally: Yeah, that sounds terrifying.

Michelle Pillepich: yes, I think there was some enjoyment that like made me consider [00:25:00] continuing it in college because. So I was on the crew team my freshman year, which was like so random.

Ally: Yeah. Tell us about that. Yeah. 'cause all of a sudden you're like, and on my freshman year, I was on the career team. I was like, wait, did you already mention that? Am I crazy? Yeah. So of college,

Michelle Pillepich: Yes. So,

Ally: crazy.

Michelle Pillepich: it was a club team, so it was not like

Ally: But still, I mean, yeah, the school.

Michelle Pillepich: one of my friends in high school rode crew with like a club, 'cause our school didn't have a team, so she did it with the club. So I knew about the sport and always thought it was cool. And then at the activities fair freshman year, I was like, oh, crew team, I should sign up. Just signed up. mostly because I knew about it from her. It was one of my best friends who was rowing throughout high school. So I tried it and it was so fun. Like the novice team was all girls who'd never done it before.

All freshmen, like

Ally: That's fun.

Michelle Pillepich: such great friends. That was amazing. And then sophomore year. Everyone kind of got bumped up to like quote unquote varsity Again, it was a club team. So then it got a little more intense [00:26:00] and we all quit because we were like, oh, this isn't like just for fun anymore.

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: So at that point I quit.

So after crew I just have always enjoyed being active and I was like, okay, I wanna do something. So that's when I started running on my own just for fun. And I would run, know this one route on street, William and Mary is right across from Colonial Williamsburg. So that like

Ally: that's what I would picture. Yeah. That's cool.

Michelle Pillepich: call it Dog Street. And so I would like go from my dorm down the street and back and it was, I don't even remember how long that loop was, like maybe two, two miles max. And I would just do that loop and then. I don't remember what year it was, maybe my junior year. Eventually I just decided I wanna try and run a half marathon.

A couple of my friends at school, maybe it was even senior year, um, trained for a half at school and then ran a marathon. And I was like, I will never do that, but I'll do a half. And so I decided to run a half marathon with one of my friends, and [00:27:00] she was from Charlottesville, Virginia. So she knew of a local race there and was like, oh, we can sign up for this. And it was actually sponsored by her, brother-in-law's company. He made these,

Ally: Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: like a barefoot sandal company. And so they were sponsoring the race and it was pretty small and the registration fee was only $40. So we were like, that's the one that we're gonna

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: do. That is our race. the, the timing also worked out.

It was like right after the end of the year. So just on our way home, we could go to Charlottesville and. funny part was it was a trail race. And guess

Ally: Oh

Michelle Pillepich: trail runs I had done before this

Ally: zero.

Michelle Pillepich: Zero. Literally zero.

Ally: Perfect.

Michelle Pillepich: It was so hard. I was

Ally: Yeah. So was, oh my gosh. Was there elevation too? Like was it a little hilly? Oh gosh.

Michelle Pillepich: up a mountain. It was like

Ally: Oh, no.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, it was insane. Like Charlottesville is very mountainous, [00:28:00] it was intense. very challenging. I remember after nine miles we were both just dying so much. Maybe it was just me that was dying. I don't know if she was, we were like, okay, let's tell each other our life stories.

Like start with your childhood. And we just like, we're going back and forth and get each other through it, like downing Gatorade. 'cause I also. no clue about fueling. I didn't know you were

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: like idea whatsoever.

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: it was just the Gatorade stops getting us to the next mile out, the however many, was

Ally: Oh my gosh.

Michelle Pillepich: and full. And my friend's mom was like, about to send out a search party because people finished the marathon before we finished the half.

Ally: I mean, that's, that'll happen.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, It was, it was the time, but I finished and I was so, so proud of myself.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. That sounds really intense. I'm assuming too, you didn't tell me you didn't run in the barefoot sandals, so

Michelle Pillepich: Oh my gosh. No.

Ally: can you [00:29:00] imagine?

Michelle Pillepich: would've

Ally: I mean, I'm sure there were there people there that wore those.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: I mean, I would imagine with them being, that's crazy. People are crazy

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: probably. Um, wow.

Michelle Pillepich: it was uphill and I was like, oh, this is gonna be bad.

Ally: Yeah. that would be a struggle. Especially like it's your first race ever. You probably didn't even think like, oh, I should probably like look at the elevation profile or like,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: don't know.

Michelle Pillepich: don't do this

Ally: Yeah, I guess I don't really, well, I do if I'm like trying to race ish, but yeah, I mean, I still don't, if I look at it, I don't know what it means.

I just see the hills and I'm like, okay, that looks hilly. I don't know

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, My

Ally: what the feet, yeah. I don't know.

Michelle Pillepich: it no matter what, so I don't need to know if there's a hill, I'll just, I'll

Ally: Just,

Michelle Pillepich: I

Ally: just surprise me. Yeah. Okay. So that was your first half marathon. That's wild.

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: And so, and was that at the end of the year for school? Would've been in the summer too. Was it hot?

Michelle Pillepich: Was in May, so it wasn't[00:30:00]

Ally: Oh, the, okay. Sorry. I was thinking. Yeah. Okay. So not too bad yet. That's good. Okay. And then, so after that. Were you like, yes, like, sign me up for my next one.

Michelle Pillepich: No,

Ally: you're like, what did I just do? I'm never doing that again.

Michelle Pillepich: it was like, okay, checked it off the list. Like, I'm so glad I did that. I don't know that I really thought about it much more because then, so I just continued running for fun recreationally, whatever. And then in grad school, same thing. I would go for runs just like as my exercise. but there was a race every year called the Tarheel 10 Miler at UNC. And a bunch of people would run it, and some of my friends would run it from the nutrition department. And the thought of 10 miles, I was like, oh no, that's too hard. Like, that's too far, that's too hard. Also, there was a very big hill, and so I was like, no. Everyone talks about how scary the hill is. Like I don't wanna do it. So I would go and watch and cheer for all my friends who were running, but. I just never did. I think [00:31:00] that the first year I was like, okay, maybe next year I wanna train and do it, but I just never did. so I kind of like psyched myself out.

Just ran for fun. And then same thing, I guess after grad school, it was just always like, for me and I, I have never been a fast runner, I was like, oh, this is just a me thing. I would only run by myself. Like run clubs were not really a thing I was aware of. I don't know if there was big a thing at all. but

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: grad school, I coached a lot for Girls on the Run. Have you heard of that program?

Ally: Oh yeah. I have, yes.

Michelle Pillepich: So for several seasons I coached for Girl, or maybe that was even before grad school actually. So I coached Girls on the Run. Um.

Ally: Wait and tell people. Tell people what that is, just for people who don't know.

Michelle Pillepich: my gosh. It's an amazing organization. So it's an afterschool program for girls, either grades three through five, or they also have a middle school program six through eight, and you meet twice a week as a team.

And they do a lot of lessons about [00:32:00] self-esteem, friendships, stress management, body image, all sorts of things combined with a running exercise. And throughout the season they're training for a 5K and so they run a 5K at the end of the season. So would run with them and train for these five Ks and it was, that was like so fun.

So just life-giving. I wish I could just like be paid to be a girls on the running coach as I loved it so much.

Ally: I wanna, my kid is in second grade and her school does not have one at the moment. They used to,

Michelle Pillepich: Oh,

Ally: I guess they didn't have enough of a volunteer. I don't know. But I was like, oh, I really want, I don't, I wanna start it, but I also want somebody else to start it so that she has it, but that it's not like something I, I

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah,

Ally: all the time anyway.

That sounds bad, but.

Michelle Pillepich: and during grad school I coached for that and would run with them and

Ally: That's amazing.

Michelle Pillepich: kind of like all my running was just for me and for fun until, I mean, it still is for me and for fun, but I didn't run any other races until my next race. Well, might have been [00:33:00] the New York City Marathon.

Ally: I thought you were gonna say that. And I was like, okay then.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: So

Michelle Pillepich: Go big

Ally: just a little like zero to 60, man, you're like, okay, well might as well just do this. Okay. So what made you sign up for New York?

Michelle Pillepich: it was spring of 2021. I had moved home during COVID. so I was in Jersey close to the city and I wanted to move to the city. I was kind of waiting for things to like open up. So spring 2020 when I moved into the city and I joined a running club, I was like, I want something to do where I can make friends, be active, be social, I like running and it's outside.

It's like safe because COVID was still a thing. So I joined a run club and had a blast. And then I joined a bunch of run clubs and that was like my social circle. That was like my

Ally: What was the first one that you joined?

Michelle Pillepich: The first

Ally: What was it called?

Michelle Pillepich: running club. Straight to the point.

I lived on the Upper East Side, so it was right there. That worked. the run club, I think it was [00:34:00] like, it might have been August, July, August, it was like kind of late, to start training that the run clubs announced that they had bibs to the marathon. And they were like, if you

Ally: Oh.

Michelle Pillepich: let us know. And at that point, a marathon was a bucket list item for me. I was like, I wanna do this one day just to say that I did it to see if I can, I knew how hard it was to get into the marathon. So when I was offered a bib, I was like, I think I have to take it. Like if I wanna do this eventually, and I have this opportunity and I am running lot right now, like why not?

So I took it and I did it.

Ally: Like July. Well, I mean, I think that's right around the time. Yeah. Where you start the training, so then you just,

Michelle Pillepich: counting the weeks on my calendar and I was like, okay, I think we're at 16. Like, is that too little? Like ideally I would've done longer, but it it was fine.

Ally: I mean, I think, yeah, that's pretty close. I mean, 16, 18 weeks if you were already running some, at least you had a little bit. So how did you Yeah, like yeah. It wasn't like you had like three weeks or something. Absolutely insane.

Michelle Pillepich: that.

Ally: Yeah. That's not smart. [00:35:00] so within the running club, did, was there like a coach that you were like, Hey, will you coach me?

Did you like just Google? How did you train?

Michelle Pillepich: No coach just

Ally: I mean, I just Googled for my first marathon. I didn't know Hal Higdon.

Michelle Pillepich: I think I

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: I was like,

Ally: yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: didn't wanna pay more than I had to and I wasn't.

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: finish. I wasn't going for a time goal. I'm not like athlete. I also am, I don't know, kind of weird with like, I've never had a long-term consistent running coach because I just don't like people watching me.

I'm like, I don't want anyone knowing what I'm doing. It just, I don't know, kind of makes

Ally: That's funny.

Michelle Pillepich: about it. I don't understand.

Ally: I,

Michelle Pillepich: to like unpack this in therapy, but I'm like, I just wanna do

Ally: yeah, I don't know.

Michelle Pillepich: So,

Ally: that's, I mean,

Michelle Pillepich: most of my training was just, I was running with run clubs all the time with my friends.

It was like such a social thing. Like the training for that marathon was so fun. [00:36:00] I had the

Ally: I bet in, in the city, like how cool is that?

Michelle Pillepich: of my friends were running. We would do our long runs together on the weekends. There was always a run club hosting a long run. Like it was just

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: I had a blast training for that.

The race itself was kind of a disaster, but the training was very fun and I did it and I was like, check, we did it Great.

Ally: Yeah. Okay. So when you were training with the different run clubs, did they have like course preview runs too that you got to do? Like would you run

Michelle Pillepich: had

Ally: where the course was in Central Park or,

Michelle Pillepich: yes. So they had some, like towards the end when the race was coming up, there's, I don't even know which group specifically, but a bunch of groups always do the, what's called the last 10. So like your last long run

Ally: Hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: the weekend before they do. 10 mile run that is the last 10 miles of the course,

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: is the best day, possibly better than the marathon to run in New York City, like running that preview. were people cheering along the sides like it's not even the race yet,

Ally: Wow. Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: you just feel like such a strong sense of [00:37:00] community. Everyone's training for the same thing. That was the best. So they did the last 10. and then because you know, my run club met in Central Park, we would the finish line and like visualize all that. So I

Ally: Visualize the finish slide.

Michelle Pillepich: But, but I'm such a weirdo, like I never study courses before a race and I was like, I don't know where I'm going or anything. So I didn't do that much.

Ally: Well, I mean, still more than I did. So I ran New York in 2018

Michelle Pillepich: Okay.

Ally: I did not know. I knew the bridges were there, but I did not know that Central Park was hilly. So I had not studied that part. Somebody told me that like literally the day before I ran the race and I was like, oh, it is. And I was really glad that somebody said that because.

I, I would've had no idea. Not that it really, I could have done anything to, I didn't, you know, couldn't change anything really. my strategy was just to do it and,

Michelle Pillepich: Same,

Ally: survive.

Michelle Pillepich: same.

Ally: and yeah. That's so nice to be able to go do that last time though. That's so cool. And with the [00:38:00] community. Ugh,

Michelle Pillepich: That's the best.

Ally: that's really special.

Michelle Pillepich: They had a raffle at the beginning, and I got some

Ally: Oh,

Michelle Pillepich: That was great.

Ally: winning.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. And now for New York Roadrunners, there's like, to get into the race, you can like do 10 of their races or something insane. Like to get into New York. Do you do any of the other ones? I,

Michelle Pillepich: then for the next time I ran, so throughout 2022, did the nine plus one. So you run nine roadrunners races and then volunteer for one, and that gets you

Ally: right.

Michelle Pillepich: entry. So I ran again in 20 23, 20 21 during the race. it was really frustrating and I was honestly like way too mean to myself about it because I had great training when I did my 20 mile run in training, it went amazing. And then the race was just horrible and so bad, I

Ally: It sucks.

Michelle Pillepich: crying during the race and I was like, I'm never doing this again.

Ally: No,

Michelle Pillepich: And then I did again. So there we

Ally: I mean, wow. Yeah, it's hard.

Michelle Pillepich: It's

Ally: Yeah. I, I feel like you can never [00:39:00] really understand what race day is gonna be like. And then also it might, yeah, it can be like completely different. You can feel everything can be perfect and then just like race day comes and

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: feel different for whatever reason.

And how was, how was fueling for you at that point? Because by then I would assume you knew more about what to eat during a race versus when you had your first half.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. So ironically, fueling has always been a little bit of a challenge for me and. There have been times where it went really well and times when it really didn't. And it's like I know the mechanics of it and I have coached so many people on their fueling to a great success. But I am someone who has always had a very anxious stomach and nervous

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: like with the GI issues I've had, the sibo, the all of this stuff. I think that was a major reason that my first New York was so hard for me was because I did well, I also drank way too much water beforehand, just like nervously, you know, I was like, gotta be hydrated and just like

Ally: we were standing, like [00:40:00] sitting on Staten Island like for hours, and you're like, what do I do? I guess I'll just drink water. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Bad move. but know, something that I don't think people talk about is, yes, New York has the best energy ever, best crowds.

Like so exciting, so amazing, also so overwhelming. And kind of

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: inducing. And so it was a lot. And after that, like so my stomach was like to, I felt nauseous for like so much of the race. 'cause I just, everything was, oh, it was just like one of

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: days when I did my 20 miler fueling was amazing.

Like had my bagel beforehand, had my gels as I was supposed to, and I was like, oh, I'm set. So think translating to the race day environment is something that is really hard to replicate when it's going to be a really, kind of intense scenario.

Ally: The biggest marathon in the world, like,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: I mean,

Michelle Pillepich: was like, if I do another one, I think it would be interesting to do a smaller marathon, a more local

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: and [00:41:00] see how that feels.

Yeah. It is kind of ironic that like as a dietician, I don't love the marathon because it involves so much fueling strategy. love,

Ally: it's,

Michelle Pillepich: love helping other people figure it out, it's just not that fun to me. It's

Ally: yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: part. That

Ally: I had,

I remember, well my New York, I remember it was really tough just 'cause the logistics, like obviously, I mean, you leave your hotel like three 30 in the morning and then by the time I got to Staten Island, I'd packed like a peanut butter and banana honey sandwich or something.

Michelle Pillepich: Mm-hmm.

Ally: I remember just like trying to choke that down, like I'd eaten more earlier, but I wasn't sure like how to time it and just kind of was guessing.

And I remember feeling really sick for the first half, like first 13 miles. I was like not feeling well and then it went away, thank God. But I just was like this, how am I ever gonna do this? I don't know how I'm gonna do this.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, and that was the other thing that got me, like I am a morning runner. I haven't run in the afternoons since high school when track practice was after school. But I like running in the mornings, [00:42:00] so I'm so not used to running when I have like a few meals in my system. You know, of course I'll

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: I run in the morning, but like have some quick carbs and I'm on my way and like, that's all good.

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: I didn't practice, I mean do as I say, not as I do. I didn't practice the late start, which I tell all my clients to practice.

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: but I also wasn't really into sports nutrition yet. Like we don't really learn sports nutrition in school as dieticians. Like you have to seek out that extra training and practice.

And so as I trained for my first marathon, like that was kind of what made me more interested in it and I was doing a lot of learning as I was going. So didn't practice the late start. That also really got me, 'cause then it was just totally different from anything I'd ever done.

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: And I

Ally: Yeah. I didn't practice either. Clearly

Michelle Pillepich: I did all the wrong things,

Ally: new. Oh no.

Michelle Pillepich: but it

Ally: Yeah, I mean, which,

Michelle Pillepich: It was like just a

Ally: okay.

Michelle Pillepich: of the same exact

Ally: Yes. Which is okay.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: [00:43:00] Yeah. I feel like I do that 'cause I get a race day pair of shoes 'cause it's so fun.

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: Wow. So, okay, so you did it

Michelle Pillepich: I

Ally: and do you remember like that finish line feeling in New York? Was it a blur?

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do you remember like that finish line feeling in New York? Was it a blur?

Michelle Pillepich: Definitely. I mean, the first one, so I've done New York twice, you know, I did the first one I said never again. And then two years later I did it again and I ran. charity, for nami, the National Alliance on Mental

Ally: Hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: which felt so amazing. Just a cause I really care about, both personally and professionally working in the eating disorder world.

That felt super important and it was a much better race. I felt a lot better. that one definitely felt great to finish my first one. I was [00:45:00] struggling through the end, like all of Central Park was miserable, so I was just glad

Ally: Hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: but like already really mad about how it went.

Ally: Yeah, yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: one was a little bit of redemption.

Ally: So what was your finish time for your first one?

Michelle Pillepich: Okay. You know, it's hilarious. I don't even know the exact time.

Ally: Oh, that's great. I don't know my exact time either. For my first marathon, it was like five hours. It was just under, I remember somewhere.

Michelle Pillepich: like six and then my second

Ally: Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: five. Something like, don't even know that's

Ally: Don't even know, but like an hour different, which is crazy.

Michelle Pillepich: because even the

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: again, really exposing myself here, like I hope my clients aren't listening. But I had been practicing with, the salt stick chew as electrolytes, then

Ally: Oh, I can't eat those.

Michelle Pillepich: I was like, let me switch over to the pills.

That'll be easier race day. Had never done it before and I was [00:46:00] so bloated, I felt like I was gonna explode. It was the most uncomfortable thing in the world. So

Ally: No.

Michelle Pillepich: the race days just have never gone well for me. So again, it was like, you know, I know I could've, I have spent a lot of time being like hung up on how slow my marathons were and how mad I am at myself about that.

And like, I'm, you know, I'm not trying to go for any crazy fast time. I'm not trying to beat you or anything, I just knew I was capable of more. now I'm like, yeah, it was like six and five hours. Like whatever. That is what it is. I did a marathon,

Ally: Yeah, you did two marathons. It's, I mean, it, it's so hard in this world. Well, especially in the world of social media especially, and if you work with a lot of runners and you have a lot of that in your algorithm, it's like I saw somewhere where someone's like, I'm starting to feel like I need to unfollow runners, because I'm starting to think running a marathon's not a big deal.

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: I related to that so much

Michelle Pillepich: No.

Ally: because I'm like, yeah, everybody's running a marathon. Everybody's running marathons all the time. But [00:47:00] that's just not the case at all. It's still a huge freaking deal.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. And you know, after running too, I like the half marathon a lot more. It's just like more fun for me. stressful when you're training. Like I was just getting so in my head, the second training cycle, if a long run didn't go well, it would just

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: much anxiety about how is the race gonna be like. It was definitely less fun the second time to train. The first time probably great 'cause I didn't know what was gonna make. The second time

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: was not as fun, a half still feels fun. So was telling, actually Kara Dudley a, a run coach in New York City, she and I did a presentation together she's an amazing runner and so fast.

And I was like, you know what? I may never run another marathon again. And I think I would be okay with that. Like just

Ally: yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: for me and maybe I'll never say never, but

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: there are so many things to do that are so valuable and worthy and [00:48:00] fun and like, it doesn't have to be a marathon all the time.

Even financially, like marathons are not accessible.

Ally: Oh my gosh. Yeah. Well, especially for somebody like who's coming from outside of New York City,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: like having to pay for, to get there, to stay there, to eat there,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: all adds up so much. I, I do think there's something to be said about the smaller marathons, like Plug for Indianapolis. I mean, Indianapolis is so centrally located.

the cost of living is amazing. So it's like not that expensive to stay here, it's a lot smaller, like 17,000, it was like our biggest year ever. But that's, like, think about that compared to like 60,000, it's like a third, like less than a third of the size. It's, uh, and there's some that are even smaller, like just with like thousand, like a couple thousand people.

And I've done, um, not a marathon at that size, but I've done half marathons or, you know, smaller races that are like that. And it's, it's a lot less stressful, that's for sure.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah,

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. But also, like, there's nothing like the New York City Marathon.[00:49:00]

Michelle Pillepich: there's nothing like it. Yeah.

Ally: mean, watching all the content from this year, I was like, man, I said I would never do it again.

Michelle Pillepich: Mm. But maybe you should, I mean, I went to

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: this year and

Ally: Oh, fun.

Michelle Pillepich: fun and I. Thrive as a spectator. Like

Ally: Me too.

Michelle Pillepich: you want me cheering for you?

Ally: Yeah. Tell me more. What's your strategy?

Michelle Pillepich: Oh my gosh. Well, so this year I had several clients running, which was super fun to

Ally: That's so fun.

Michelle Pillepich: and then some friends.

So I

Ally: I,

Michelle Pillepich: okay, I'm gonna, because I'm following multiple people, I'm just gonna try and stay in one spot and see everybody versus jump around. but I mean, I didn't really go all out, all out this year. I feel like I was just busy leading up to it. But usually I'm like megaphone posters, music, like everything.

I have my

Ally: Awesome.

Michelle Pillepich: is my best friend. I didn't bring it this year. I don't know why. I just like had a mental block. But I did make [00:50:00] all of these little friendship bracelets and I had like 25 of 'em, and my friend and I were just like heading 'em out to runners as they passed. And it was so.

Ally: Aw.

Michelle Pillepich: Fun. Just like watching people light up at that.

So like, you know, I'm cheering for strangers, like people who don't cheer for anyone except for who they know. Like, get

Ally: Yeah. Get outta here.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, you gotta

Ally: I don't need you to stand there and just watch me, like,

Michelle Pillepich: no,

Ally: come on.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: cheer for

Ally: Oh, that's fun.

Michelle Pillepich: It was a blast, but I was very glad that I was towards the end of the race.

I was at like mile 24 because you

Ally: Ooh.

Michelle Pillepich: I was like, oh, I miss this. I wanna do it again. And then towards the end I was like, I don't. Everyone's like, that's the point where everyone's struggling and you can

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: that there's struggling. So I

Ally: See it.

Michelle Pillepich: I remember how that

Ally: Mm.

Michelle Pillepich: I don't need that.

Ally: Yeah, those are some that, those are some hard miles. That 24. Ooh. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. What did your friendship bracelets say?

Michelle Pillepich: so some of them were inspiring, some of them were just funny, you [00:51:00] know, some of them were like, don't stop, just do it. Keep going. You're a marathoner. And then one of them said like, don't poop. And mom said

Ally: Yes, I love that.

Michelle Pillepich: I don't even remember what else they, they were a real mixed

Ally: That's so great. That's so great. I had actually, for the first time ever, ever in racing, I got a friendship bracelet at Indy monumental. My friend Mary and her family had made them, and I just happened to spot them at like mile 11 of the half, and her husband like held it out and I like put my arm through it.

While I was running. It was like the most ama, I wish somebody could have like videoed that because I couldn't believe that, that it happened when I was that tired and like, yeah. But it said Zoom and I really liked that. I thought that was cool.

Michelle Pillepich: That's Cute. Yeah. I didn't realize it

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: And then someone told me right before I had a call with all my clients who were running and they were like, yeah, people are making friendship bracelets. And I was like, oh my gosh, should I do that? And I had them out to runners joking, and they were all like,

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: that would make me

Ally: absolutely.

Michelle Pillepich: was like, [00:52:00] oh, okay. I'm done. Done. I'm doing it. Like,

Ally: Yeah. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: the coach in me comes out when I coach girls on the run. Like I would make everyone the matching hair ribbons for the race and like get the matching team socks and all that

Ally: Yes, yes. I would thrive in that too. Like I'm obviously, I'm a huge fan of the face glitter now is like, you have to have face glitter, otherwise, what are you doing? yeah, I'm really into that for sure. That's great. yeah, I always like to say that when I spectated the New York City Marathon, I came back in 2019 'cause a couple of my girlfriends who were supposed to run in 2018 deferred.

So I went back to spectate. 'cause I was like, I, I had so much fun running, I would love to cheer for them. Um, and they cheered me on. So anyway, but Tyler Cameron and Matt James, of course they run like every year now. But it was like, I think one of the first years they did, and I remember I had a sign that said pretzels because during my first race, that's all I wanted was pretzels.

And my friends didn't understand what my text message meant.

Michelle Pillepich: Oh,

Ally: text them pretzels. That's the only word I could get out I had, and they [00:53:00] didn't know. I was like, what the else? Sorry. Do you think I meant I just needed pretzels?

Michelle Pillepich: need pretzels.

Ally: all I wanted. So anyway, so next year when I spectated, I brought a bag of pretzels and Matt James ate them.

Um, and that was my like, highlight of spectating. It was so fun. Um, Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: about the guy from Wicked this year? I

Ally: Oh my gosh.

Michelle Pillepich: Totally miss him, but yeah. Fiero in Wicked on Broadway. Not the movie.

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: performed two shows.

Ally: Yeah. He just went on, Allie, on the run, Allie Feller interviewed him and I'm like, oh, I can't wait to listen to that. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, I was tracking him. missed him, but I saw, I saw some

Ally: Yeah. That's so,

Michelle Pillepich: had a great time.

Ally: yeah. Yeah. So fun. And not to mention like Dez and, um, her running with, oh my gosh, what's Anthony?

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: ran with? Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Ramos. I like don't really know who he is. Um,

Ally: yeah. I don't really know hers either, but I, but I loved watching them, like that whole experience is really cool. Like,

Michelle Pillepich: cool.

Ally: It's fun. Yeah. New [00:54:00] York does it so big and Yeah.

well, so cool that you got to spectate and that you'll live, you're moving back so close to the city, so,

Michelle Pillepich: there every year. it's just

Ally: ugh.

Michelle Pillepich: Like, I always know people who are running ever since living in the city, and so

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: it really shows you like what a community it is.

Ally: Yeah. Are you a Peloton or are you into Peloton?

Michelle Pillepich: not, I never have been like nothing

Ally: Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: I just, I

Ally: Yeah, just haven't,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: well I was always so jealous of people who live in New York. 'cause I've, 2019 I think is when I got my bike and I have the tread. And

Michelle Pillepich: Mm-hmm.

Ally: I would literally go on work trips into the, in Manhattan and I would plan where I would stay based on like where the studio was. And yeah, now it's like a whole like much bigger thing.

Like at when I ran the New York City marathon, there were no, there was no Peloton presence to speak of. And now it's like everybody's doing it and they're all cheering and I'm, you know, kind of sad about that. But,

Michelle Pillepich: Gotta do it

Ally: I also wanna make sure that we talk. Yeah, we'll see. Um, I wanna talk about a little bit more about your business.

So like [00:55:00] how that ended up starting. So you mentioned like after school, having a couple of different jobs and then finally like zeroing in on what you wanted to do. But how did you end up doing your own thing and like starting

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: own thing?

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. So after I graduated from my nutrition, well actually. my nutrition program. So to be a dietician, you have to complete the dietetic internship as part of the requirements. You have to do coursework, the DPD, the diet, the didactic program, and dietetics. That's all the coursework you have to do your dietetic internship, which is 1200 hours of supervised practice.

And then you have to pass the RD exam. So what makes a dietician a dietician and a nutritionist does not have those things little PSA for people. Um,

Ally: did not know that.

Michelle Pillepich: yeah, so

Ally: It's good to know.

Michelle Pillepich: the graduate program I did HA was combined with the internship. A lot of times you have to apply to your internship separately and it's extremely competitive.

So I wanted to go to a, what's called a combined program that includes both the coursework and internship was lucky enough [00:56:00] to get into one. so the way that UNC ran their internship was they had three different rotations. One was public health 'cause it was an MPH program. Everyone's required to do clinicals.

So in a hospital and then we had an elective rotation and I chose to do my elective rotation at an eating disorder treatment center because I was interested in that niche. So it wasn't really a part of our academic program. We had like one guest lecture on eating disorders. So I knew like, okay, I wanna go into this so I need to, number one, like figure out do I really wanna go into it?

'cause I didn't know that much and get experience. So got an internship at a residential treatment center that was up in the Boston area. So I did my last rotation there and then I graduated December, 2018, so fall, the fall semester of 2018, I did my internship and when my internship ended, I still was working on my master's paper.

I wanted to stay, that was the first time that I didn't hate an internship and like wanted to stay longer. [00:57:00] So I was like, amazing. I have found it like this is what I wanna do. so I wanted to say they wanted to keep me, so they actually, but you know, I wasn't a dietician yet and they had a dietician. so they kind of reshuffled staff positions and I worked as the chef at the residential center uh, yeah, it was so fun.

So while,

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: while I was studying for my RD exam, I worked as their chef and I would just like go and blast Taylor Swift in the kitchen and cook for 12 plus people every single day. And that was really fun.

Ally: my gosh.

Michelle Pillepich: my exam February of 2019 I got a job with the same company at one of their other locations.

So I moved out to la, worked at a residential center out there that was the same company,

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: for about a year. Yeah, I had always wanted to live in California or like try it out. So I was like, great. I really loved that internship. I wanted that job that was like. The dream job, like being an RD at a residential center. so I did that and then, [00:58:00] and it was

Ally: So wait, the residential center, sorry. so is it safe to assume people like they live there? Is it almost like a rehab type of facility where you like check yourself in and you live there for like, I dunno, how long would people be there?

Michelle Pillepich: Um, it depends, I would say anywhere from like. Probably about four weeks minimum to a few months. So yeah,

Ally: Okay. I.

Michelle Pillepich: five levels of care for eating disorder treatment. Inpatient would be the highest, like hospitalization if somebody needs a tube

Ally: Mm.

Michelle Pillepich: then residential is not a hospital, but 24 7 care.

So there are nurses who work there. There's staff on site 24 7 and you live there. then PHP is a partial hospitalization program, which is kind of a misleading name because it's not a hospitalization, but that's like a day program. So you'll go for day treatment, but you live at home. is also a day program.

So PHP is usually like five days a week. IOP would be days. And then outpatient is what I do [00:59:00] now, so like weekly sessions.

Ally: Got it.

Michelle Pillepich: so yeah, I knew that if I wanted to go into this field, I wanted to get experience at kind of the highest level to see.

Ally: Right.

Michelle Pillepich: What that looks like and just know, and then kind of go down from there.

So that's exactly what I did. end, right around COVID time, I, I moved back to New Jersey. I wanted to come back to the East coast and I was working at a PHP in IOP program in New York City. So I did that for a bit and then worked at a couple of other private practices for other dieticians before I went out on my own.

And then, yeah, it was February 1st, 2021. it's almost been five years, uh, doing my own thing. That was when

Ally: Wow.

Michelle Pillepich: cut the cord, I started it on my own and, you know, everyone was working remote and working from home, so that made it easier. I was like, okay, I don't have to worry about a ton of overhead costs. I am just gonna

Ally: Right?

Michelle Pillepich: and like see if it works.

And

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: it did.

Ally: [01:00:00] Wow. So then, okay, so tell people like. What is it today? And you have more people like working for you now too, so it's not just you, which is so amazing.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. So have a team. I have two other dieticians who work with me. One of them is on maternity leave. She just had an adorable little baby girl, so that's very exciting. but yeah, we offer outpatient nutrition So we see clients usually once a week, some anywhere from once a week to once a month. most of our clients have some level of disordered eating. It's all along the spectrum. You definitely do not need to have an eating disorder diagnosis to get support from us or from anyone. but most people want to work on their relationship with food in some way. And we work on food body image. And then I do talk about exercise as well with my clients. That's part of why I wanted to do my personal training certification, because. I think the fitness piece is something that is really missing in eating disorder treatment. And [01:01:00] you know, in a treatment center, somebody is not gonna be able to exercise.

I'm like, that makes sense. But then

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: I just felt like there wasn't really ever a place where it was getting reintegrated in the pipeline of treatment. So that was something I wanted to be able to add to my practice. And you know, I, when I first started my practice and started posting about it on social media, I never really shared that I was a runner because I thought, running is triggering.

I can't say anything. But after a while I was like, why? I'm not doing anything wrong. Like, I'm not under fueling, I'm not running in a disordered way. Why can't I share this? Like, I actually wanna show people that you can do this with a healthy mindset in your recovery. Like you don't have to give up exercise just because you hadn't eating disorder or maybe have overdone it in the past, like. really wanted to send that message. So I started to share about that and kind of naturally have attracted more runners as clients. And disordered eating and running often go hand in hand. So,

Ally: [01:02:00] Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: um, that happens to be a lot of clients that I see. But yeah, we work with all diagnoses all, whether it's restricting, binging, any other type of disorder behaviors, teenagers and adults, so ages like 12 and up.

I love working with teenagers. I think they're very fun.

Ally: Oh

Michelle Pillepich: and the practice is all virtual, so we do sessions over Zoom or over like a HIPAA compliant zoom adjacent service.

Ally: Yeah, yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: and I'm just always adding more things. This is the fun, like entrepreneurial part of it. I can whatever I want essentially.

Ally: yeah. It's so amazing.

Michelle Pillepich: so I've started running an intuitive eating group, and then I really. Really, I'm excited to get some fitness stuff going probably in the new year. So more to come in that realm.

Ally: That's exciting. yeah. I can totally see. It's so interesting you share about like, not necessarily wanting to share the running side, but I get it. You know, I, again, I experienced in college my disordered eating. Right adjacent to [01:03:00] that was me, like punishing myself on the treadmill. That's how I started running actually was in college to keep the weight off.

Um, but it, you know, it went to the extreme. It did not need to, and running was really just a form of punishing myself versus, you know, a form of truly like exercise. Like, it was not a healthy relationship at first. And so that does have to be tricky I bet. In your profession. Because also, like, I feel like I am, I don't know if addicted is too strong of a word, but I'm obsessed with running.

Like, I really like running and I feel like people, and I've, I've talked to a lot of like addicts on this podcast too, where it's like you replace one addiction

Michelle Pillepich: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ally: So I'm sure you see that in a way too, where it's like just this form of control and like

Michelle Pillepich: yeah. I see it a lot where, you know, someone will be, let's say, restricting their food and then, okay, we work in the food, but only on the days that I'm exercising and I feel like I still can't have it on the days when I have a rest day. And so that becomes really [01:04:00] sticky. Or, I mean, I always tell my clients like the eating disorder to gym girly pipeline is so strong and it might. away from being an obsession with weight loss, but now it's like I have to look cut and I have to look muscular and I have to look toned and all of that stuff. And so it's still very aesthetics focused. So it's a fine line and like I get why a lot of people don't address exercise and recovery because

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: nuanced and tricky and sticky and something that you really have to, pick apart for sometimes a long time to make sure you're

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: it for. I just always think of the Bachelor when I say in it for the right reasons.

Ally: I know, I, I, you were gonna say it and I was like, I thought the same thing.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. That's like just where my brain

Ally: It's like for the right reasons. I mean, but it makes sense. But it's really funny 'cause I thought the same thing. yeah. Well I think it's really cool that you've incorporated that in your practice because it has to be talked about because if it's not like it's being thought about probably by your clients anyway, so you might as well help 'em.

Michelle Pillepich: And I mean,

Ally: [01:05:00] Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: after, watching the New York Marathon, I was like, I wanna become a run coach. And,

Ally: I was just gonna ask you that same thing.

Michelle Pillepich: I, so I've been back and forth, like I would love to, I thrived as a girl on the run, girls on the run, coach. But

Ally: Yeah. Clearly.

Michelle Pillepich: like, well, nobody wants a slow run coach.

Like I can't do it, which is my own

Ally: No, that's not true. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: And like, I'm not trying to attract someone who's trying to like break world records. but yeah, I think there needs to be a space for it because it's been so fun. Like, I've had several clients who. I had to take a break from exercise because they overdid it in the past and running specifically, and then have gone on to run their first 5K, run their first half marathon, run their first half marathon that they actually fueled for and like hit their prs and all of these amazing things. And that's something that, I mean, they did it. I'm not taking a, a dip, but like being able to be a small part of that journey is just so amazing to witness.

Ally: Yeah.

That's really cool.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: okay. I wanna also talk about the [01:06:00] content creation side

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: your brand. I mean, like you, when did you start posting a lot of content on Instagram? And are you just on Instagram or are you on TikTok as well, or,

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: okay.

Michelle Pillepich: so I started on Instagram really in the early days, like Instagram came out when I was college, and I think I, I don't know if it just came out. I graduated in 2014. I don't know. Exactly what year it came out, but it was pretty new

Ally: Yeah, I was like, Facebook was my freshman year of college in 2004,

Michelle Pillepich: Okay.

Ally: then, yeah, it was my first job out of second job outta school. Maybe were Instagram, so that, that sounds right to me.

Michelle Pillepich: so I first downloaded it then, and I wanna say it was around like 2015 that I was really posting of the nutrition content and my first account was called Powered by Peanut Butter, which is so funny. Like

Ally: That's cute. That's cute.

Michelle Pillepich: account now. Yeah. I thought it was so clever. I

Ally: funny.

Michelle Pillepich: powered just rd. I took out the E [01:07:00] because I was like, I'm gonna be an rd.

Like this is so clever. that,

Ally: Oh, I do love it. Do love it.

Michelle Pillepich: that was my account, which I think is now my personal account. And then I started a separate whatever, And I would just share, you know, like the super filtered strawberries from the farmer's market and like whatever my smoothie, it's just food pictures at first and was always very off and on with it.

Looking back, I'm like, I wish I had really gone hard in the beginning because

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: knows where we could be now, but

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: always very off and on. It never really took off. yeah, in some ways I'm like, oh my gosh, I've been posting for 10 years and I am still so small. But it's been off and on

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: long and I just always have kind of continued sharing.

I really love the creative outlet and you know, like I was saying earlier, you know, I almost went to school for graphic design. Like I just was so into that kind of stuff. And for, again, my girls on the run teams, like I would make an end of season [01:08:00] video at the end of it every season. And I love editing and syncing everything with the music and like, that has just always

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: fun for me. And this is actually hilarious. When I was in elementary school, I used to go over to my best friend's house and her family had a video camera and my family did not. So that was so cool. We would literally like make cooking videos in her kitchen. I'm like,

Ally: That's so funny.

Michelle Pillepich: from

Ally: Meant to be.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: We need to dig those up and put 'em on the

Michelle Pillepich: know, I wish I, I wish I had them or could find, I don't know,

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: somewhere. But yeah, so I feel like it's just always, that media aspect has always been something I really enjoyed and so I've just been sharing and it's definitely something that I kind of have a love-hate relationship with now because love, like I don't make money on social media. I would love to, I

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: but because I love that creative piece and because [01:09:00] this is like maybe weird and I do not mean to be. I don't know, self-centered or anything, but like, I don't mind being on camera and I think a lot of people hate it. I'm like, okay,

Ally: yeah,

I was gonna ask you how you got over, like just putting your face out there. Like for me, I have, I still kind of have a hard time with that. I gotta get over it. 'cause clearly that's what the internet wants, but it's like, yeah. So you never had a problem with that.

Michelle Pillepich: I know I, people always talk about like, oh, you have to get past it. And I, I don't think I ever

Ally: That's great.

Michelle Pillepich: it. Like,

Ally: Yeah. That's amazing.

Michelle Pillepich: I have never had reservations about like, in my personal life seeing it. I don't know why. I just didn't, I guess it's 'cause I care so much about what I'm sharing and I do feel like, like this is a message that I want everyone to hear.

So

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: really felt embarrassed about that. Yeah, but it just kind of, it's interesting that it sort of comes naturally because as a kid, I was so shy, so timid, so quiet. So I'm like, why is this [01:10:00] easy for, it kind of doesn't make sense, but I, I don't

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: of did it.

Ally: Well it's another like superpower for your profession, I think, because it has to help people find you. I mean,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: I'm sure a lot of people are like in that space, don't have the skills that you do. They would've to pay somebody to like do all that. And that's like, yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Right,

Ally: So that's really cool

Michelle Pillepich: I mean, it's not always the best for my mental health and how much time I spend on it, but to make it something.

Ally: right there with you. It's painful at times. You're like, cool, I spent three hours on this video and 10 people saw it. Awesome.

Michelle Pillepich: Yep. And just

Ally: But then you just gotta roll right onto the next one.

Michelle Pillepich: Yes. I actually heard someone say, someone on TikTok was like, you should never be embarrassed if your video flops, because not a lot of people saw it like, okay, nobody saw it. That

Ally: True. Yeah. Nobody knows that it flopped. That's a good call. Yeah. 'cause usually I'm like, oh my gosh, people are gonna see that this didn't have any likes on it. And it's like, no, they didn't see it,

Michelle Pillepich: Exactly.

Ally: or they just didn't like it. Whatever.

Michelle Pillepich: [01:11:00] No, we won't go there.

Ally: E. Either way, either way. Well, I had a friend tell me, like with the podcast side of things, you know, he was like, listen.

If you had three people on the street and you were talking to them and they were sitting there listening to you and they took something away from that, like, wouldn't, isn't that impactful enough? You know? And you're like, huh. Yeah. I guess when you start to think about, what, a hundred people in a room, what a couple hundred people, you know, beyond look like, you're like, okay, yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: totally.

Ally: it, you just get so caught up again, to your point in the comparison game where you're just like, oh my gosh, I am like, I mean nothing because I have this many followers, and it's just like,

Michelle Pillepich: right.

Ally: that has nothing to do with the quality of the message that you're sharing. Um, yeah. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: yeah,

Ally: How do you, do you have like a, I don't know, almost like, do you have a cadence of sharing some of the most important things kind of over and over in different formats?

Because I feel like there's a lot that people just need to hear and it's so hard to break through the noise.

Michelle Pillepich: Um, I should, that's a good idea. I

Ally: I feel [01:12:00] like you could make the same video 20 times and people, you know.

Michelle Pillepich: I

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: like watching this masterclass the other day about Instagram growth and she was basically saying that, you know, when something does well, like share it again, because that's what resonates. I have tried at times to make sort of like a content calendar, and I do have every intention of going back to that.

Ally: I know

Michelle Pillepich: get

Ally: so hard.

Michelle Pillepich: but

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: get all my ideas from my work with clients and it is a lot of similar themes. So I feel like I'm never really at a shortage of ideas because these things are always coming up and like I will jot down notes about what's coming up, about weight, about calories, about comparison, about fitness, about all of these things. And then I have those ideas just like always ready to go. so it really just all comes from my work.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. So I guess with that, I, I would love for you to share a little bit of your advice when it comes to perhaps some of your runner clients, like what themes you see with runners in terms of like the mistakes [01:13:00] they're making, obviously not fueling at all if you're listening to this and you don't fuel on the run.

Let's, let's start there, but if you have maybe some, some words of wisdom for people listening who might need help in this area, what do you, what do you see the most with runners?

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, I think the biggest kind of fears that come up are number one, this idea of like, lighter is faster. I have to get into racing shape and my racing weight, and I'm only gonna do well if I lose weight. And I really want everyone to think about that as more of an internal experience than external.

Like, sure, something lighter can go faster, like if you're throwing it, but that's, that's not the case with racing in your body. And like, what is your experience gonna feel like when you are dieting, restricting, not letting yourself have the foods that you want because you could be eating enough calorically or in terms of volume of food, but if you're not allowing yourself certain foods that you like and [01:14:00] want, that's still restriction. And so, you know, just thinking about like. I may not be at what I think for whatever reason is this ideal weight, but I'm going to be fueled, which means I'm going to have better endurance. I'm gonna be more present. I'm not gonna be distracted in my workouts because I'm hungry and like waiting to be done and have my next meal. and just have the power to go faster, go further, do better. Like it's not all about these external numbers, it's about what are you gonna feel like inside when you're actually running? it's always, I have never had a client start fueling more run worse. It just doesn't happen.

Ally: that's a great point.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. Like of course there are kinks to work out as you're learning what works best for you,

Ally: Right,

Michelle Pillepich: when you nail it, like carbs work, they carbs are

Ally: man.

Michelle Pillepich: yeah. So it's, it's that. And even like. This idea of fasted workouts and I need to do fasted workouts so that I can burn fat is just so not true and silly.

And [01:15:00] we have to think about what's versus what is optimal. And just because it's possible to run fasted and to like, sure, burn some fat, is not gonna lead to your best performance. You know, it is a less efficient pathway of getting energy. So you're not gonna, like your only goal is burning, burning fat, sure, it'll work.

But then also, how are you gonna feel throughout the rest of the day? Are you gonna end up binging later because you're hungry? And in terms of performance, it's not at all ideal and like

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: getting by on just what you can because you can is not the best route to take

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Pillepich: feel like I said that with a Canadian

Ally: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I, I finally met with a dietician not that long ago, a woman who's local here, and yeah, like I mentioned earlier, my like relationship with carbs, you know, just my whole upbringing. It felt like a therapy session, frankly, like [01:16:00] meeting with her and. And she literally was like, this is how much you need to be like based on your weight, whatever, like this is how much you need to be taking in.

And I thought I was fueling what? Like, well, I thought I was doing a good job. And she's like, you need to like double what you're doing. And during training I started putting that into practice and I felt unbelievable. Like it's crazy the difference your body feel feels when it's fueled

Michelle Pillepich: Right.

Ally: Like I thought I was doing fine.

Michelle Pillepich: And like fueled optimally day to day, you know, a lot of people think, okay, I'll have my pasta the night before in my long run. And that's fueling,

Ally: Right?

Michelle Pillepich: it's not,

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: having enough every single day consistently, you're still at a deficit. You're still restricting restricted and like, not gonna be nourished.

And I, I gave one of my clients this really cheesy analogy, but I love an analogy to make the point. And so I told her, I was like, this is so lame, but I also kinda love

Ally: I love it. I already love it.

Michelle Pillepich: [01:17:00] like having your carb load, whether it's the pasta dinner or whatever your carb load is, filling the gas tank of a car. And if you think about having an electric car, the car load fills the gas tank, but your everyday meals charge the battery and like give you that baseline lasting energy, which is like,

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: dad joke, but

Ally: It's great.

Michelle Pillepich: sense.

Right.

Ally: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. No, I swear. Somebody just, I was like, who the hell just said that on my podcast? Somebody was like, you can't put water in a car and expect it to perform at its best. Was kind of like Similar

Michelle Pillepich: All the

Ally: thing. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: All the car, I mean, but it made does make sense.

Michelle Pillepich: yeah, I think the last thing that I just really want people to know that y you know, yes, we're talking about you feel better when you fuel, but there also are plenty of times where people are under fueling and still hitting prs and running really well.

And like just because you're performing well [01:18:00] doesn't mean that your body is healthy. There is a breaking point and we never know where it is. So you're kind of just like gambling at that time.

Ally: Yeah. Yeah. And not to mention like setting yourself up for potential injury, like,

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah,

Ally: oh yeah, yeah. What do you say to people like me who, my marathon of the year is behind me and now I'm like in this place where I felt like I was fueling really well for like my longer runs and now I'm like, okay, I need to not be fueling like I'm still marathon training because it feels like then all of a sudden I'm still like eating too then too much.

Or is that just something I'm telling myself and that's like your body still needs, I don't.

Michelle Pillepich: I mean, I would have a lot of more detailed questions about your, your personal

Ally: fair.

Michelle Pillepich: to know.

Ally: What are you even, yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: but, it is a good point. Like, but I think that. During marathon training or race training, like yes, you're upping the carbs pretty [01:19:00] much all day, every day. And then you are out of that season, you're not eliminating carbs.

We're just shifting portions on your plate. So now is your chance to emphasize more protein, emphasize more fiber, and like not be so afraid of that because that's something we wanna avoid before long runs and all of that. But

Ally: Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: just being able to kind of crowd out a little bit of what you might not need as much of by adding in the fruits and vegetables, the fiber, the protein, all of those things, will just naturally help you not feel like you need as many carbs.

And then it's listening to your hunger cues also, because most runners, even in an off season, are still running regularly. So you still need more carbs than the average person. So

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: you can shift things a little bit, but we wanna make sure that you're still listening to your hunger. Like our cravings often tell us things. If you are ever running really hard and you like crave super salty foods, that makes sense. We

Ally: me. Yeah,[01:20:00]

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah, so, so it's a balance of, yes, prioritizing all of these nutrient-dense things. Getting more color in your diet, not being afraid to still have cars.

Ally: yeah,

The pizza.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah.

Ally: I love the picture of you with pizza.

Michelle Pillepich: Thank you

Ally: Where is that? Is that on your website?

Michelle Pillepich: of my favorites.

Yeah.

Ally: It's perfect. I love it. It's like, yeah, eat the pizza.

Michelle Pillepich: Yep.

Ally: Yeah. Uh, okay. Well, I am gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions now.

Michelle Pillepich: Great.

Ally: So there's two of 'em. First one's a two part, it's what is your favorite running mantra and or song?

Michelle Pillepich: Ooh, okay. Can I cheat and tell you about my favorite playlist?

Ally: Yeah,

Michelle Pillepich: So I am a huge Taylor Swift fan and. go-to running playlist is called Running Swiftly, and it's just all of Taylor's like upbeat songs. So

Ally: That's funny.

Michelle Pillepich: no folklore or no evermore, but any of her songs that are good running [01:21:00] songs.

It's just like a full running swiftly playlist. So that, that's my go-to and recently Alite song.

Ally: Yeah, same. That was the one that made it on my marathon playlist.

Michelle Pillepich: So Good

Ally: I love it so much. did you get to go to the ERAS tour?

Michelle Pillepich: sore

Ally: Sorry,

Michelle Pillepich: did not

Ally: my bad.

Michelle Pillepich: did. You

Ally: Well, yeah, I did, but it was because my friend. My friend's husband like got lucky and got one of the codes to get the tickets and it was an absolute nightmare. Like she, even with the code didn't think she was gonna get them.

Like she was just clicking and trying to buy and it was,

Michelle Pillepich: I was

Ally: no,

Michelle Pillepich: family like who has a Capital One card, like doing the pre-sale everything. Literally changed my schedule of clients for the day. Didn't get tickets. It was very sad.

Ally: it, it was crazy. But yeah, we got nosebleeds and Lucas Oil in Indianapolis, um, and one of my best friends and I, we, we took our 8-year-old girls and they

Michelle Pillepich: Oh,

Ally: are ruined for concerts forever.

Michelle Pillepich: right.

Ally: Yeah, I was like, this is not really a co like how do I explain [01:22:00] this to you? This is like a core memory. This isn't really a concert.

Like this is not how this works. So, yeah. So anyway, but okay. I'll have to look at that playlist. 'cause I do, I'm a swifty, I'm not like the biggest swifty on the face of the earth, but I do love Taylor Swift and I would

Michelle Pillepich: you the

Ally: listen to a playlist. Yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: great.

Ally: Excellent. and then the next one is, what is your next finish line or milestone?

Michelle Pillepich: Ooh. Um, definitely the Turkey trot. That's

Ally: I was gonna say, yeah. Do you do

Michelle Pillepich: Yes.

Ally: What's your Turkey trot like?

Michelle Pillepich: trot. it's 5K. There are a couple nearby hometown, so. We're doing one that I haven't done before. Actually I think it's a little bit of a flatter course. and mostly just a different t-shirt. Like I have so many t-shirts from the one Turkey trot that I'm like, I want a different shirt. motivating the shift.

Ally: Enough to be, yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: to a neighboring town, it's a 5K. and my brother is a triathlon. He's an amazing runner. He does triathlons. He's like [01:23:00] super fit, super, just good at everything. So he was like, okay, I'll pace you with pr. And I was like, okay, well I prd my 5K when I was running a lot more frequently than I am right now.

So I don't know if I could do this. So I'm like training to try.

Ally: That's so exciting.

Michelle Pillepich: and now I have kind of fallen off. we'll see. We'll see. But I just think it's a great way to start Thanksgiving. Like me and my brother run, parents don't run, so they'll come. And just, you know, be there cheer. I just think it's so

Ally: That's so nice.

Michelle Pillepich: like not at all tied to earning our food or burning calories or anything like that.

I just

Ally: Right?

Michelle Pillepich: getting outside. It's like such a community feel. People dressed up is just so fun. Someone's always

Ally: yeah.

Michelle Pillepich: costume, so I

Ally: Always. I know, I, I, so what's bad is that we used to, not bad, but we used to live in an area of town called Broder Bull. My local listeners will know, like that's our big Turkey trial, like thousands of runners. It's gotten so big, and so we used to do that my [01:24:00] husband and I every year. And then. I think we must have stopped when I got pregnant with our first kid.

And I don't think I've done a Turkey trott since, which has been eight years.

Michelle Pillepich: you do

Ally: know. And I'm such a, so it's funny you ask, well, I haven't really broken the news to my husband yet, but I'm like, there's two, there's one I live in Carmel, which is a suburb of Indianapolis. There's also a, a city called Zionsville, and they each have one and they're both like a much more manageable size, like, and logistics wise.

And the one in Zionsville has a two miler, which both of my kids, I have an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old girl could handle run, walking two miles. So I'm thinking like that would be really fun to kind of get back into that. 'cause we're usually home on Thanksgiving, so. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm interested. So we'll see.

Michelle Pillepich: very excited for the Turkey trial. I do have a goal to pr my half marathon. I don't have a timeline on it, but I think next year I wanna

Ally: Okay.

Michelle Pillepich: train for speed for my half.

Ally: Okay. And what would that be for you?

Michelle Pillepich: Well, my PR right now is [01:25:00] 2 0 7 and I wanna break two hours.

Ally: Okay. Yep. You, you got this? Yep.

Michelle Pillepich: I know I can, it's just a matter of like committing. Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. Prioritizing the like actually yeah. Actually doing it.

Michelle Pillepich: Yeah. Just gotta do it. So

Ally: Yeah. Just gotta do it. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, that's amazing. I'm so glad that Paige introduced us. It was so nice to meet you, Michelle.

Michelle Pillepich: was so fun. So great to meet

Ally: Yeah. So much fun. Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess that's it. We did it. So thank you. And thank you to everybody who's listened and maybe watched, and happy running.

Michelle Pillepich: Happy running. Thank you.

Ally: Okay, that's a wrap on episodes for 2025. Now on to 2026. Thank you again to everybody who has been here. Thank you for Noogs and foot levelers for supporting this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones. And again, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go share, rate and review as promised. Next year, I'm so excited to launch a new series of the Finish Lines and [01:26:00] Milestones podcast with my very own running coach, Rachel Senders.

She is Rachel Michelle running. We are going to get together once a month for a laid back kind of casual catch up just to talk about my own personal running, her philosophies as a coach. We'll talk about others in the community that are part of Team Rachel, Michelle running to continue to Share our love of running with the community. I think it'll be fun. So that along with Friday episodes and then more to come. So excited for next year. Thank you again. Have a great holiday. Bye.