Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 166: Peter Merante - Gritty, Not Pretty

Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 166: Peter Merante - Gritty, Not Pretty

Here's how you can enjoy this episode:

Guest: Peter Merante @petermerante

Show Notes:

Peter Merante and I first officially met in person at the 2025 Carmel Marathon Expo. Since then, I've run into him on the Monon Trail, at local races, and at Athletic Annex, where he's worked for three-plus years.

During this episode, sponsored by Goodr and HUUG, we talk about:

  • Growing up in Cold Spring, New York — a Hudson Valley town of 3,500 people right across the Hudson River from West Point
  • Being born in Japan and how his Japanese mother made every effort to acclimate to American life — and why he took Japanese in college as a way of honoring her
  • How he discovered running about 20 years ago, dropped 40-plus pounds doing it, and eventually worked his way through Couch to 5K on an original iPod
  • His one and only marathon — Monumental 2013, just under five hours
  • Back on My Feet — a national nonprofit that uses movement to help people experiencing homelessness become independent and self-sufficient — and his years volunteering with the Indianapolis chapter at Wheeler Mission and Progress House
  • The equalizing power of running side by side — and the heartbreak of losing members along the way
  • Running the Selma to Montgomery route (~40 miles from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the state capital in Alabama)
  • Hood to Coast and a Colorado Ragnar — both fundraisers for Back on My Feet — including a 2 AM leg that had him briefly convinced a train was a UFO, and a van-decorating situation that required polishing compound and a coin-op car wash
  • 31 half marathons, five relays, one full, and one eight-hour endurance race
  • Three-plus years at Athletic Annex in Fishers and a deep dive into running shoe foam technology (ATPU, PEBA, dual-density, etc.)
  • His dream of a "Parks and Rec"-style run specialty TV show
  • June being Men's Mental Health Month — and his experience with individual therapy, couples therapy, and ADHD testing (including a surprise: he's Mensa eligible)
  • Being an internal processor and what identifying that has meant for his relationships
  • His mantra: Gritty, Not Pretty — and the song he wants removed from all race playlists
  • His next finish line: the CNO Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon, an entry he won in a social media contest

Previous Guests Mentioned

Sponsor Details

  • Goodr - Use ALLYB for $10 off
  • HUUG - Use ALLYB for 15% off

Other Links

This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.

Episode Transcript

Peter Merante: the work that we're doing by showing up. It's just like you're a pebble and, you drop the pebble and it's got some ripples and you're not sure what's gonna happen when the ripples- Mm ... get further out.

But- for a moment in time, you've made a difference."

Ally: Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ally Brettnacher, 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.

This week's episode is brought to you by Goodr. If you're a runner and you don't know this brand, you've been living under a rock. I probably own 20 pairs of Goodr sunglasses, and they are my go-to. I wear them in the car. I wear them on a run. I wear them for my everyday sunglasses.

They have a style, color that fits absolutely everyone. They don't move, so there's no slipping and bouncing mid-run, so you don't have to worry about adjusting them. They are lightweight, comfortable. They just work. And they're also polarized, so they have UV 400 [00:01:00] protection, so you're actually covered with the sun protection part of it, not just style.

And Goodr started because running glasses were expensive and over-engineered and not so cute. So they set out to make something affordable, stylish, and all performance, and that is still exactly what they are. If you have never bought a pair of sunglasses from their website, you can go to goodr.com, G-O-O-D-R.com/ALLYB, A-L-L-Y-B, for $10 off your first order.

That's goodr.com/ALLYB, and thank you so much to Goodr for supporting this podcast

Ally Brettnacher: And now for this week's episode. Shoe foam acronyms, a UFO scare on a Colorado Ragnar leg, and a therapy breakthrough about being an internal processor. Peter Mirante's episode is so fun. He is a Cold Springs, New York native who has been in the Indianapolis area for nearly two decades. He works part-time at our local running store, Athletic Annex, in the Fishers [00:02:00] location. He spent years volunteering for Back On My Feet, an organization we talk a little bit about. He studied German and Japanese in college, bartended his way into meeting his wife, and he once ran the route from Selma to Montgomery with a small crew for a fundraiser. He is one of those people that makes this running community better, and I know you are going to enjoy this time with Peter

Good morning, Peter. Welcome.

Peter Merante: Thanks for having me.

Ally Brettnacher: Absolutely. This is a long time coming.

Peter Merante: Yeah, a little bit. A little bit.

Ally Brettnacher: I think the first time we met in person, correct me if my memory's wrong, was at the one of the Carmel Expos, maybe?

Peter Merante: Yes. It was Carmel the year it got canceled, I

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. So not this year, but last year.

Peter Merante: Correct. Mm-hmm. I think we had kind of met online via IG, and then I saw you and made a point to introduce myself. Yeah. So, yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: And so now I've seen you, I've-- we've run into each other on the

Peter Merante: Monon. Yep. We've done that.

Ally Brettnacher: And then I've seen you out and about at the races and expos and-

Peter Merante: Annex

Ally Brettnacher: Annex. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Yeah. So you,

Ally Brettnacher: work at Annex part-time? [00:03:00] Yes. At the Fishers location? Primarily.

Peter Merante: Like tonight I'm working in Nora, but yes- Okay ... primarily.

Ally Brettnacher: primarily. So anyway. Try, try to work closer to home.

Peter Merante: Uh, yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: How long have you been working

for

Peter Merante: them? Um, I think three-plus years. I think I started Martin Luther King Day of, three-plus years ago.

Yeah. For some reason I remember that.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, we'll get into the shoe nerdiness of it all- Yeah

for anybody listening who also loves shoes. I worked for Fleet Feet for a

Peter Merante: year.

Yeah, yeah. I know

that. And

Ally Brettnacher: I learned a lot. Yeah. But I don't know, I still don't know how people know all the little things about all the shoes.

Peter Merante: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: It was hard to pick up on,

Peter Merante: all

the little things. I mean, we can get into it later, but I definitely got into it before, like even it was a thing on YouTube.

Ally Brettnacher: That's pretty good. do people tell you, you sound like Ray Romano when you talk '

Peter Merante: cause

Ally Brettnacher: your New Yorkness? Because you do.

Peter Merante: Yes. I've heard that, especially in the store. I guess that's fine. I don't hear it, but-

Ally Brettnacher: That's so funny. Yeah. Where did you grow up in New York?

Peter Merante: in the Hudson Valley, in a town called Cold Spring. It's about an hour north of New York City, right on the Hudson River. it's, it's a pretty beautiful place to grow up. It's called the Hudson Highlands, for a reason.

It's mountainous, but [00:04:00] right in the river valley. right across the Hudson, is West Point Military Academy. Okay. So when they have football games, you can hear the crowd cheer. When they fire off cannons, you can sh- you can hear the cannons go off. Wow. and you can literally look across... I mean, it's obviously much wider than the White River, but, you can look across and even, like, see the stands and everything.

It's pretty cool.

Ally Brettnacher: How long did you live there?

Peter Merante: so I've been here 19 years. That's where we moved from. Well, actually, a slightly different town, we moved from, but I've been here 19 years and I'm 56. Okay. I was born overseas in Japan, but came over when I was, like, nine months old into that town, so, uh, whatever 56 minus 19

is. Yeah. 35. Too

Ally Brettnacher: much math to do live. Yeah. That's for sure. Yeah. I cannot. Yeah. So do your parents-- still live out that, in that area?

Peter Merante: No. so my mom passed away in 2015. Okay. Uh, right around the time of the Mini. I remember that as well. It was actually Star Wars Day, May the 4th. Wow. and then my father passed away two years ago, after a somewhat long [00:05:00] illness.

there's a little backstory to that, too. He had gotten sick on a trip that he'd gone on with his partner, to Scotland, and it became very serious. And not only for the emotional support, I, I somewhat joke about it 'cause I can now. I went over to translate for them 'cause they couldn't understand the Scottish.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh.

Peter Merante: Which then, you know, they speak English. Yeah. But the accent. So- That's, that's so crazy ... I spent a lot of time in the hospital. But here's the thing is also, like, all the doctors and nurses were great in the hospital, but they're all masked up. So in addition to a strong accent- Oh my gosh ... they're masked, so my father and his partner, they had a lot of difficulty.

So I, you know, getting acclimated with my in-laws and things like that, I have no issues with.

Ally Brettnacher: The accent. Yeah. I have a hard time with Irish or Scottish.

Peter Merante: It's- Well, Yeah. I mean, my father-in-law is no longer living, but if you had... were to meet him, you'd be like, " Mm, didn't get that."

My mother-in-law, she's still with us. You can understand most,

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Does she still live overseas

Peter Merante: or is she here? No, she's here. She lives in Indianapolis. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, she lives here in [00:06:00] Indy.

Peter Merante: Okay. Yeah, so quick story to... My in-laws, my father-in-law worked for, a company back kind of where we grew up.

My wife also grew up in a town slightly south of where I grew up.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's funny.

Peter Merante: They moved out to Indianapolis the same year the Colts left Baltimore. Okay. so yeah, even though they're Scottish, they had lived in the States for a number of years and then moved out here.

and they live, you know, just off of Binford in Indianapolis. Okay. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Wow. How did you and your wife meet?

Peter Merante: I was bartending.

Ally Brettnacher: Ha ha, classic. Yeah.

Peter Merante: So After I graduated college, like I, I studied foreign languages in college, German and Japanese, and, Wow

I was considering going into business, but I never really got the business side of the education. So after I graduated, I was just kind of finding my way, so to speak, and, ended up, bartending at a local place. And saw this attractive young lady come in and, found a way to meet her, and the rest is history, so to

speak.

My, my hometown has about 3,500, 4,000

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Peter Merante: Okay.

My graduating class was 63.

Ally Brettnacher: That's so crazy. Yeah. I [00:07:00] feel like you think somebody from New York, you're like, "Okay, everything's like- Yeah

big and, you know, you have a lot of people in your school." Yeah.

Peter Merante: So the topography's different where I grew up, but just to give you some feel, it's a little bit like if you mashed up the square in Noblesville and Zionsville together.

That's kinda how the town feels.

Ally Brettnacher: . Nice. Yeah. Well, what a nice way to grow up, I would think, because you get that small town community, but also you're next to, like, the largest city in the country.

Peter Merante: Yeah, I mean, it has its pros and cons. I mean, everybody knows you.

Ally Brettnacher: That is true, especially as you say, when you're trying to find your way. You're like- Yeah ... everybody

Peter Merante: And then when I was much younger, my grandfather was one of, like, two or three police officers in

Ally Brettnacher: the town. Okay. Yeah.

Peter Merante: So, I mean, it, it, it was strange. Like, my uncle was a mailman, my other uncle was a teacher, and my aunt was a hairstylist all in town.

Ally Brettnacher: my gosh, you're like living in a movie.

Peter Merante: Kinda.

Ally Brettnacher: That's it, right? I feel like Hallmark movies, like That's what it reminds me of. Okay. And so when you were growing up-

did you play sports?

Were you athletic? Yes.

Peter Merante: I would say first and foremost, baseball was my sport. I also played basketball, And for a [00:08:00] long time, like I'm about six foot.

I reached six foot, I think, at an early age. So I had height, but I was slow, not quick, not a great jump shot. So I was okay in basketball, but baseball was my sport. I was a pitcher. loved it. I played a couple years in college, but only at a D3 school in New York. And I didn't really get much out of it.

Yeah. And, I discovered non-parented ability to just drink in college.

Ally Brettnacher: college Yeah.

Peter Merante: same. So I said, "Nah, I think I'm gonna party."

Right. So I ditched baseball after a couple years, and that was it. but then also, like in high school, it's interesting because I went to such a small school. We didn't have, a boys or men's volleyball team, but I loved volleyball.

Mm. So I petitioned to the girls' coach to let me practice with them. So they took, a six-foot guy who could, not crazy jump, but jump a little higher than the women. So

Ally Brettnacher: That'd be helpful for practice for sure. Yes. Yeah.

Peter Merante: That's

cool. Yeah. And I got to, be a member, kind of the girls' volleyball team- Yeah

just on the practice squad,

Ally Brettnacher: Where did you go to undergrad?

Peter Merante: Did you say? Uh, state school. It's, called Binghamton. Okay. So back in my day, people love when they [00:09:00] hear that, especially my kids. It was called SUNY, State University of New

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Peter Merante: But then at some point they wanted to get away from that, and they went to Binghamton University. They even changed their mascot from the Colonials to the Bearcats.

Ally Brettnacher: Funny. Okay.

Peter Merante: yeah, that was, that was a great time. Glad I didn't grow up with cell phones and social media during those years

Ally Brettnacher: Same. Oh, the-- I would never have a job, probably, so Uh, as a matter of fact, I was

Peter Merante: as I'll say

about

Ally Brettnacher: experience. Right. And we are now pleading the fifth. Yeah. I relate a lot to that. It's a miracle, really, that I did as well as I did in college. Yeah. So- Yeah ... as my parents will

Peter Merante: Where did you go to school?

Ally Brettnacher: I went to Miami of Ohio. Miami of Ohio. Yep, yep. Yeah. So Midwest- Right ... but in this little bubble of a school.

Peter Merante: You know why I know Miami of Ohio? Why? Is, um, one of their best basketball players, Wally Szczerbiak, is from Long Island, New York. Okay. Yeah, he's now a commentator on one of the basketball

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. There we go. Yeah, see, I know n- I know nothing. Yeah. Yeah. Congratulations on the Knicks win, by the way.

Peter Merante: Thank you.

Ally Brettnacher: People are already like, "Ugh."

Peter Merante: [00:10:00] Let me just say, and I'm gonna go through the fourth wall.

Ally Brettnacher: wall.

Peter Merante: moving here, I root for the Colts, I root for the Pacers. I didn't root for the Pacers when they beat the Knicks last year, but I, I root, I root for IU football.

My older son went there. and so I don't wanna hear excuses about the Knicks this year.

Ally Brettnacher: how can anybody hate you for liking the Knicks because that's where

Peter Merante: you're, It's 53, Yeah ...

you know, that's where you're from. Like,

Ally Brettnacher: yeah, there's no- Yeah. But I do remember as a kid, my dad had season tickets to the Pacers, and I just, I remember the rivalry.

Peter Merante: Like,

Ally Brettnacher: I just- Yeah ... remember growing up- Yeah ... like being trained to not like them, of

Peter Merante: Oh, I remember the, you know, the Reggie and Spike Lee thing. Yes, yes, exactly. Uh, him scoring whatever, seven points in two seconds.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Peter Merante: Crazy, So. crazy times. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. But, but fun, fun. The '90s, man.

what did you do to celebrate?

Re- Uh, where, how did you watch the games?

Peter Merante: Um, it's funny. a lot of times the wife and I will start downstairs on TV, and then we're kinda like maybe dozing off, getting tired, and then we move upstairs. Yeah. So then I finish most games watching it on, on an iPad.

Ally Brettnacher: In bed, which has gotta be hard to like- Yeah

sit still.

Peter Merante: [00:11:00] Yeah. so no, I mean, no crazy celebrations. I mean, I probably watch way more Instagram reels and stuff, like the same ones over and over and over. Yeah. so that's the extent of my celebration. Yeah. So, yeah. Cool.

Ally Brettnacher: and so at what point in your life did you find running--

Peter Merante: I would say probably the time that I moved out here. I s- I kinda started before we moved out here, so that's about 20 years ago. but then, you know, raising two young boys, not having the greatest diet, I probably ballooned to be around 240, which was probably like- Okay

40, 45 pounds heavier than I am now. and then I can't remember, I just started running and, and this is also going back 20-ish years. I was like, "Wow, this is actually..." Just short runs. I was like, "This is kind of melting my gut." Yeah. So I just kinda stuck with it. And then I had a friend who, had run marathons, had run, ultras, and he said, you know, "Why don't you just try the, the Couch to 5K?

And it's a kind of an easy way to dip your toe in the water." So I [00:12:00] remember I had the original iPod. Yeah. How- however long that came out. Yeah. And that was like a podcast, and it was good. It was like, you know, week one, day one, walk five minutes, blah, blah, blah, and-

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, so you could l- you literally listened to it. Yes. Like the Couch to 5K program.

Peter Merante: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: That's so interesting.

Peter Merante: And then he, he encouraged me to sign up for a race, and I think the very first race I ever signed up for was, uh, Susan Komen Race for the Cure Downtown- Yeah ... 5K. Cause he said then, you know, "It'll just give you something to shoot for."

Sure. and then he even gave me, like, one of his used Garmins, which was, like, this huge- Like

Ally Brettnacher: a calculator on your

Peter Merante: Yes. Yeah.

That big one. Yeah. I don't even know what the model is. Um-

Ally Brettnacher: I can picture

Peter Merante: it. yeah. Yeah.

and then it just kinda snowballed from there. I don't even know if I went to, like, 10Ks or anything.

I probably did some more 5Ks, but eventually I got the half marathon bug. Mini, Geist, Monumental, all of those, and then, um, it just kinda took off, a little later, which is when I discovered Back On My Feet. [00:13:00] And, that kinda just brought a couple of worlds together that was, like, perfect timing- Yeah

in terms of, like, developing a love for running, but also feeling like you're part of something bigger than yourself.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So-

That's really... I, it's such an incredible organization. Yeah. Let's get into that. Yeah. Tell

people

who don't know or haven't heard of Back on My Feet- Yeah ... what it is.

Peter Merante: it is. I think they've been in existence for maybe 15, 16, 17 years now.

Started out in Philadelphia. they're a national non-for-profit, that uses, now they say movement, back in the day it was running, to help those experiencing homelessness become independent and self-sufficient. Yeah. Started out in Philadelphia with this woman, who was the founder, Anne Mahlum, uh, who would just run past the homeless shelter every day.

And not catcalls, but the guys would comment on her running, and then she just prompted them, you know, "Why don't you start running with me?" And then she kinda took it from there. And, chapters popped up, I would say more so on the East Coast at first, but then kinda migrated west and reached Indianapolis.

Mm-hmm. and back when I was an active volunteer, I'm not anymore, [00:14:00] but we had a couple of teams, one at Wheeler Mission, running with those, residents, and then there was Warmen, which is kind of out by the old psychiatric hospital, slightly west on the west side- Okay ... and Progress House. and that's where I've met, to this day, some of my best lifelong friends here, like Jim Patton.

Love Jim Patton. Um, yeah, Maury Plambeck, who's been on the show. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm just naming people on the show. Mm-hmm. Trina, I met through there.

Ally Brettnacher: a bunch of- Well, and then we've got Yes. Timmy Howard, Wes Doty, who were on the other side. Yes. Which is so interesting too. Yes.

Peter Merante: Yeah. Yes. I remember, maybe not their first day, but, you know, their early days 'cause, I think Wes was pretty fast from the get-go.

Timmy, don't hold this against me, Timmy was not. Yeah. But Timmy had it in his mind that he would go out gangbusters early. but yeah, to see, kind of their love develop and their transition, from where they were, and all the points along the way to where they are today. It's been amazing. and that's, you know, I think one of the reasons that anyone, whether it's Back on My Feet or, you know, another [00:15:00] organization that's part of the community, you can see that for yourself.

But it's also like, and y- I'm sure you've experienced this in some fashion, one of the, one of the beautiful things about Back on My Feet is whether you're a volunteer who's maybe working for a Fortune 500- Mm-hmm ... or you're someone who was three months ago homeless and now is, fortunate enough to have a cot in Wheeler Mission, when you get out in the, the parking lot in the circle, you don't really know who's who.

Ally Brettnacher: So cool.

Peter Merante: And then, you know, when you're running or walking with someone side by side, there's something about that side-by-side nature. It's kind of like the same thing, like I would encourage you to, have those conversations with your daughters when you're in the car. There's something about that side to side- Right

you're less threatening. Yeah. Or the conversation's less threatening.

Ally Brettnacher: 'cause you're not like staring somebody in

Peter Merante: face. And, you know, I mean- Yeah ... it's funny thing is runners, we, talk about bodily functions.

Oh, yeah, we do.

Ally Brettnacher: Uh- Um- Anything goes. It's like therapy and- Yeah ... all

Peter Merante: things. Exactly.

Yeah. Right. you know, I've shared things about going on in my life. and I think, you know, someone going through the program, whether it was [00:16:00] Timmy, Wes, or, any of the... mostly men, but some women, it's good for them to see, like they know you're a volunteer. Yeah. It's good for them to see like, you know, not everything's just, you know, what it's-

Ally Brettnacher: Right.

Like I have a ton of crap going on in my life too. It might not be that I'm sleeping on the street, but there's other stuff that's not easy. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Right.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It seems like running would be a great equalizer is the word that comes to mind there. Yeah. Like when you're out there with somebody-

Peter Merante: Absolutely ... yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: you're just running.

Peter Merante: Yep. I mean, Wes is just like, in terms of pure running, he's just a phenomenal runner, to see his progress. But even like where Timmy is today, doing everything that he's doing- Right ... you know, he's just killing it with the photography- Mm-hmm

and just being a huge contributor to the running community. it's nice to see milestones. Mm.

Ally Brettnacher: Hey, hey.

Peter Merante: Yeah. You know, and, and you can just kinda see that progress over time. And, the thing that often doesn't get mentioned though is unfortunately we've seen, some of the not so positive things of it where sometimes members will regress.

Mm. Uh, a lot of times there, you know, there's [00:17:00] substances involved, alcohol or drugs. Yeah. Sometimes they regress. I mean, any of the volunteers that you have met and/or, would meet in the future, they can probably speak to you about members that have unfortunately passed away. Mm. Which is crushing. but I have a, a really good running friend, Dave Josey, who would be a good candidate for this show.

he always uses the example of, you know, sometimes we lose people. they may not have passed away, but you know, they're just gone. Like, that's one of the hardest things.

Ally Brettnacher: You just don't ever see

Peter Merante: again. It's like you're, you've been ghosted. Not really, but like you've kind of been ghosted. Yeah.

And he would often say like, you know, "Sometimes you just gotta think about the work that we're doing by showing up. It's just like you're a pebble in a pond and, you know, you drop the pebble and it's got some ripples and you're not necessarily sure what's gonna happen when the ripples- Mm ... get further out.

But- Yeah ... for a moment in time, you've made a difference." So that's kinda how-

Ally Brettnacher: you

Peter Merante: keep your sanity. Mm-hmm. Not that volunteering's stressful. It's, it's un- unbelievably fulfilling. Yeah. Unbelievably fulfilling. So, it's been one of the best experiences of my life [00:18:00] and, if something comes up again, I would jump at the chance to do it, so.

Yeah. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: And you mentioned to me you actually heard about Back On My Feet through Lindsay

Peter Merante: Hyde. Yes.

so this is going back around 15 years ago, and obviously, I mean, social media existed, but nothing like it does today. And, I had moved to Indianapolis, not really knowing a lot of people. initially I had joined...

Indy Runners. Okay. So I would go down to Broad Ripple and we'd meet at The Deck- Mm-hmm ... which no longer exists. and I think Lindsay came and spoke about Back on My Feet to the group.

Ally Brettnacher: ' Cause

she worked for them for a

Peter Merante: while.

Oh, did she? I believe so. Okay. I don't remember that. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. And it still didn't click in my head.

Ally Brettnacher: And

Peter Merante: at some point, I remember watching a show called "CNN Heroes" and Ann Mahlum, the founder, was nominated to be one of the heroes, like just someone- Wow

who made an impact in her community. Yeah. Yeah. And it was hearing about the program from Lindsay and then seeing Ann Mahlum on that show that was like, "Oh, wait, we've got that here?" So I was like, "Let me find out [00:19:00] more." Yeah. So then somehow I got in touch with Lindsay, and she just pointed me to an orientation, um, I think it was at Wheeler Mission, and kinda the rest is history, so- Yeah

you know, it's just, um, it's funny how the running web works.

Ally Brettnacher: It is. Well, and for people who don't know who Lindsay is, she is the founder of this podcast network- Yes ... that I'm now a part of. But she was-- Hers was the first podcast I probably almost ever listened to outside of "Serial," which is I think what most people got into podcasts from, " go listen to that if you never have.

but yeah. So Lindsay had a podcast, still does, called "I'll Have Another" with Lindsay Hein, and she, really has been such a inspiration in my life, too. sadly, I never volunteered with Back on My Feet. Yeah. What's, uh, what's crazy, though, is when I, I worked downtown, I was working pseudo for the city of Indianapolis, let's say- Yeah

'cause it's what-- The organization I work for is now part of the chamber. But I remember I got invited to, at the JW, Anne came and spoke.

Peter Merante: Oh, really?

Ally Brettnacher: And there was a big... I think it was when they maybe opened the chapter here or something like that. [00:20:00] Yeah. Yeah ... and I remember that day to work, like at the luncheon, they encouraged everyone to wear running shoes.

Yes. And so I was like, "Oh, I get to wear running shoes to work?" It was a place where I had to dress up, so I was- Sure ... super excited. Yeah. But I still remember that,

and- Yeah ... I always talked about going, but as a young female, it was- Understood ... it was a little daunting- Yeah ... to, be in that environment.

obviously, You can't just come right off the street- Correct ... and go run. You have to be at a certain, phase of your journey. right? Or-

Peter Merante: You mean the,

Ally Brettnacher: Like the

Peter Merante: actual-

the members that go through? Yeah, the members. Yes. So, like maybe things have changed, but I think generally you could be a resident at Wheeler Mission and have been there for a period of time, but you almost have to get nominated- Okay

or considered to go through the program. and I think someone's making some type of initial assessment to say, "Yes, I think it would be a fit for your program." Yeah. Like Wheeler or Progress House or whatever, they, they have an understanding of what the program is. and there are times when, you know what, people will start, they don't finish.

I mean, probably happens more often than not. But yeah, you, you have [00:21:00] to kinda get vetted. Mm-hmm. but then also to your point, like we have plenty of female volunteers, and from an organizational standpoint, we would do things like, we'd never let a female volunteer run

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, just alone

Peter Merante: Yes

yeah, another- With another member. Just- Yeah ... just so there's no, you know, questions or anything like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So,

Ally Brettnacher: And it still ex- it still exists and

happens. Yeah. So people who are listening- Yeah ... can go

Peter Merante: Yeah. I mean, so it's 5:45, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then there's also Saturday runs. I was working downtown at the time, either at the Regions Bank building, which is literally right across Wheeler Mission. Yeah. I had subsequently had moved to the One America Building, but it was still downtown. Right. both places had gym memberships, so it's easy-peasy.

Go to the run, go to- Shower.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Okay.

Peter Merante: Right. Yeah. And then I'd go to work. Nice. And then my job at the time was in IT, and it I didn't have, like, set office hours, so I could basically start work at Okay. I, it's not like I had to hang around till 8:00 or 9:00. Right. Yeah. And then I would leave at 4:00, avoid a lot of the traffic.

Right. So it was like-

Ally Brettnacher: ideal. really cool that you were so [00:22:00] involved in that community for so long. Yeah. yeah, some of the best podcast guests have come out of that- Yeah

for sure. So everybody we've mentioned, people should go listen

Peter Merante: to those episodes. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yep.

Ally Brettnacher: and they, the members do, can do races too, right? Oh, absolutely. Have you ever run a local race with a member?

Peter Merante: Oh, Yeah. You know, probably some of my fondest memories are running with a guy, unfortunately he passed away, Demetrios.

the last recollection I have is, my friend Becky and I ran with Demetrios. We ran the Mini, and it's that long stretch, I don't know the name of the road, but before you get to White River, this is kinda like the last third of the race. Yeah. And- Yeah ... he said he had to use the port-a-let. And so Becky and I went off to the side and we're waiting.

We were like, "Wait, did he pass us?" We're thinking he got out, maybe he didn't see us and kept running. So we're, like, looking around, looking around. Oh, no. And then no, he was just, he had to take a certain amount of

Ally Brettnacher: time.

He was just tur- you know, speaking of

Peter Merante: bathroom. Becky and I ended up, um, just kinda slow rolling the last part of the race, hoping he would catch up.

Yeah. or maybe we would catch up to him. But long story [00:23:00] short, we found him at the finish line. Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: That's, that's always tricky in races when situations like that come up.

I know Jason Noll... Do, have you met Jason?

I think so.

Um, he was on this podcast. he's incredible, but he was running with Ainsley's Angels- Oh ... and with Jennifer Conner. Yeah. and they got separated somehow, and so he found me thinking he had passed

Peter Merante: her.

So is this a situation where you're, like a team is running with the- Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Yes. I

Ally Brettnacher: separated." And so... Yeah. Right.

well, he had to go to the bathroom and then He, he didn't notice, but he had actually passed them. So, like, those situations- Wow ... I feel like do happen because it's such a big race. Yeah. You know, there's like 30,000 runners this year.

Yeah. So it's hard to know,

Peter Merante: I also think at the time, like if you ever see like, kinda like the standard attire for Back on My Feet, it's this Not quite royal blue, but it's kind of close to

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, yeah.

Peter Merante: And like, you wouldn't believe how many organizations have that color shirt.

Ally Brettnacher: Right. So you're thinking, "Oh, that's gonna stand

Peter Merante: out."

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Then you're like, "Actually..."

Peter Merante: Nope. So- Right.

Ally Brettnacher: I know Achilles, International has, like, neon

Peter Merante: yellow. Oh,

Ally Brettnacher: But even that, like, I feel like people are trying to find [00:24:00] colors that stand out and then all of a sudden it doesn't stand out 'cause so many people

Peter Merante: have it. You almost need a flag,

Ally Brettnacher: a Pacer.

Peter Merante: Right. Almost like a pacer would be like- Yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Right. Something. Tie a balloon to yourself.

Peter Merante: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I've seen people do that for spectating, where they hold a balloon. Oh, yeah. So they'll tell their runner, like, "Look for the SpongeBob balloon," and- Okay ... so obviously that helps them spot their person in a crowd,

which I

think is really smart.

One tip for run spectating. Yes. Yeah. Nice. Pro tip. Pro tip.

Yeah.

So for you, what races have you done? You've mentioned a, few of the local races. Yeah. Um,

Peter Merante: to prep for this, I went to AthLinks and looked up my races.

Yeah. I think I've done 31 halves, one full.

31 halves.

That's- Yeah

And then I've done five relays. So- Okay ... back in the day, actually, coming off the back of my feet discussion, Back on My Feet used to have one of the best races in town, I thought. It was their relay.

Ally Brettnacher: I did that one year. Yeah. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Right on the White River.

Yes. It's just- By the casino ... and then all the tents are in that center part. Yes. It was... It's just a great environment. Yeah. And most years, the weather was phenomenal. and it's just a great event. I've done that. I'd [00:25:00] done one eight-hour dream. I've done, Selma to Montgomery, where you run the, I think it's 40-ish miles from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the state capital in Alabama.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. I was like, where is all this? Yeah,

Peter Merante: okay. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Wait. What?

Peter Merante: So- What? ... like the, the freedom walkers back when- Yeah ... you know, civil

Ally Brettnacher: Selma, yeah.

Peter Merante: Yeah. So, yep, that this is the, the course that they walked from Selma, Alabama, all the way to the capital steps In Montgomery, Alabama.

Yeah. And then I ran that with Maury- Wow ... and my friend Becky and Dave, who I've mentioned

Ally Brettnacher: That is so cool. Yeah. And then- What year did you do that?

Peter Merante: Post-COVID. I'm gonna say it's like four years ago. That's really interesting.

Ally Brettnacher: gonna say it's like four years ago. That's really interesting. I didn't talk to Maury about that when we, when I had

Peter Merante: Oh.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't think.

And then I've done- That's really crazy.

Peter Merante: That's really crazy. That's nuts ... a Ragnar with Maury. Okay. and a, this was another Back on My Feet fundraiser, so there was 12 of us. that was in Colorado, and then we did Hood to Coast.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, you've done Hood to Coast. Wow. Yeah.

Peter Merante: that was another fundraiser for Back on My Feet.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Tell people who aren't familiar with Ragnar or Hood to Coast, [00:26:00] or really the relay format,

Peter Merante: kind

of what that experience is like. Yeah, it's just a certain distance. I think your typical Ragnar Hood to Coast is, I think it's around 200

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I think that's right. 200, 250

Peter Merante: Yeah, where you can split it up, I think between the minimum is two, maybe four, up to 12.

Mm-hmm. and then because two of those were for fundraising for Back on My Feet, we went with 12 just so, you know, we were trying to raise as much- Right ... money as we could. Money's awesome. Yeah. And then, you just get certain legs. So both cases it was 12, so you get four legs. and then there's captains who look at, distances and difficulty and things like that, and you get assigned a leg spaced out and- Yep

I mean, they're just, highly recommend anything like that. It's just a great, great experience.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I've done one Ragnar. I did one in Michigan, and it was so fun. In fact, this coming Sunday, Mm-hmm ... I am having, we're, we're calling it Sandy Van Reunion.

Oh, nice. Our van that we rented for some reason had the name Sandy on it, so we called it Sandy Van.

Peter Merante: Sandy Van. Just- What do you mean it had the name Sandy on it? Like

Ally Brettnacher: literally in [00:27:00] vinyl, somebody had put Sandy, like the van had a name. Oh, okay. We rented it and it had a name, Sandy. We were like kind of, we were like, "That's cool."

So we were the Sandy Van. Okay. And so we're having a reunion and all six of us are getting together- Nice ... from our van and having lunch, which is just so cool. But it, I think the point is- Mm ... you get these friendships that, you know- Oh,

Peter Merante: Oh,

Ally Brettnacher: You,

when you go through the middle of the night running, you

Peter Merante: know-

Yeah.

You're either gonna come get closer or

Ally Brettnacher: Or be like, "Never

Peter Merante: speak again." Because you're, you're gross, you're sweaty. Yeah. You haven't showered. You're occupying the same space. Yeah. Uh, you're sleeping on van seats, which are not comfortable. No. Sometimes you're getting changed, especially when it's mixed genders, you're getting changed.

Yeah. Right.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Peter Merante: So it's kinda like, yeah, you're either gonna get closer or you're not.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's, it's a fun adventure. I do think everybody should experience something

Peter Merante: like that. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And Hood to Coast is kind of a Ragnar on steroids because it's so... I mean, I guess you did a Ragnar in Colorado- Mm-hmm ...

Peter Merante: so- Yeah ...

Ally Brettnacher: I picture those being a lot more physically challenging.

Peter Merante: I think both were, to be honest. I [00:28:00] mean, even like my, the first leg of the Mount to Coast Hood to Coast Yeah, Coast to- Mount to Coast is the

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Um,

Peter Merante: Um, my friend Chrissy ran it, and it's all downhill, like steep downhill, 'cause it starts at Mount Hood.

Okay. That's I recall her saying her quads just got exploded. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then

it was funny, as we were finishing the race, Jim Patton had the very last leg, so he's running from our exchange point to the beach, to the ocean. And my leg before that was seven miles, and I can prove it.

The next to last leg was literally like a, a line chart. It's constantly

uphill. Straight up.

I was like right into the sun. It was like a... Um, so this is kind of in the mountains still, so there's like, what you would call, like a fire access road. Okay. So like if a firetruck had... Yeah. Yeah. It was-

Ally Brettnacher: So was it gravel then?

Peter Merante: Poorly paved- Okay ... asphalt. Yeah. That's what I mean. Like it was not- I see what you mean ... well-kept. Yeah. And I can even send this to you also. I still have a picture of the text that I sent to Jim Patton, 'cause it's filled with expletives.

Ally Brettnacher: Patton 'cause it's filled with expletives. Oh

Peter Merante: my

gosh. It's like, "This [00:29:00] bleeping leg is all

uphill."

Ally Brettnacher: all uphill. Who gave me this leg? I'm gonna murder

them. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Yeah. So, But,

it, you know, it was fun.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I, in Michigan, we w- it was up in Traverse City. It was Traverse City to Muskegon. Okay. And it was hilly up there in Traverse City, which we were warned about, but I got...

I think I took the hilliest legs, because I wasn't afraid of it necessarily. But it was, they were hard, and it wasn't even in the mountains, right? So I'm like, man, hills are-

You're not getting ...humbling."

Yeah. Was it like,

Peter Merante: it, did it start like

Ally Brettnacher: on a

Peter Merante: Friday into Saturday? Or Saturday into Sunday? I think it

Ally Brettnacher: into Sunday? I think it was a Saturday into Sunday.

Okay. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Yeah. You don't get much sleep

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. We, I remember we did do a tent for like, I don't know, a handful of hours

at

one point-

while the other van was up. Yeah. And that was an adventure for me, who is, I'm not super outdoorsy,

Peter Merante: so. Yeah. I have a funny story from, uh, I think it was a Colorado Ragnar, uh, and Jim Patton can attest to this.

We decorated our van, [00:30:00] but we didn't get the markers that were easy to remove. Whoops. So, um, I used my ingenuity and- Oh, no ... Jim and I, I think we made a trek to Walmart, and I got this stuff called polishing compound- Okay ... for a car. Oh my gosh. Where like you remove bugs and stuff. Yeah. So Jim and I went to like one of those, you know, quarter car wash

Ally Brettnacher: things.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

That is

Peter Merante: That's

funny. We had all, you know, all our kills. You put your kills, right- Uh-huh ... and then any other words of encouragement. Yeah. Jim and I were scrubbing that and...

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

The kills... You know, I don't know why they didn't-- They still had kills in ours, but for some reason they'd encourage us not to do it. I can't remember why. But it's a very big tradition. Like, when you pass somebody on your leg- Yeah ... that's a kill. So you come back and you report that to your team, and you put it on the window.

So we, yeah, we decorated our van with some drawings. I remember drawing flames on the side of ours and- Yeah. Yeah. But I c- I don't remember if we-- We surely got a car wash before we returned it. I don't remember.

Peter Merante: I think the markers we got were really intended for the windows, not [00:31:00] the-

Ally Brettnacher: So were ours. I wonder,

Peter Merante: hopefully.

Ally Brettnacher: hopefully it came off.

Yeah. We didn't get an additional charge that I'm aware of. Yeah. So,

Peter Merante: yeah.

yeah, that's it. That's funny. There's, those were some great

Ally Brettnacher: times.

Yeah. I, I hope to do another one at some point. My kids are pretty young still, and so finding a weekend away is, is harder. Sure. but it's funny. We were-- I was joking with the women.

I was like, "We could be on a girls trip in, like, Florida sipping drinks on a beach somewhere," but instead we're sleeping in a tent in the middle of who knows where Michigan.

Peter Merante: I,

Ally Brettnacher: um-

And it's the best. I

Peter Merante: did you happen to run any like late night ra- uh,

Ally Brettnacher: So I got really lucky. For whatever reason, I did not run a single night leg.

Ooh.

Peter Merante: Oh.

Ally Brettnacher: Mine, I was, like, early in the morning while the sun was coming up. So I had to wear a vest at one

point- Sure ...

and a headlamp. Yeah. But it was barely. So I mean, but I remember cheering for the women in the middle of the night- Yeah ... and just being like-

Peter Merante: Back in Colorado, I had a leg, I think it was like around 2:00 in the morning, and you're running along the river.

I don't know if it was the Colorado. And first of all, when [00:32:00] you're out in the woods in that part of the country, you look up and you can see all the stars. Oh. Yeah. And then I'm running, and then, I'm a grown man, but I was like a little slightly creeped out. I was like, "It's quiet."

Ally Brettnacher: Well, "

Peter Merante: It's quiet." And then next thing I know, I don't hear anything. There's like a light, like over here- Oh ... where I'm going this way. I briefly thought I was gonna get abducted by a UFO, but it was a train-

Oh.

Oh ... on the other side of the river.

Ally Brettnacher: on the other side of the river. But

Peter Merante: it didn't really make any noise till it was like next to

Ally Brettnacher: enough.

That's crazy.

Peter Merante: Yeah.

So

Ally Brettnacher: like, "Am I getting

abducted?"

Peter Merante: are the things that go through your mind at 2:00 AM. Right. Yeah. When you're running.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Well, Aileen poor. You, have you met Aileen? Yeah. Yeah. So she, she did a night leg, I remember. And just being like With what she's been through- Yeah

people should listen to her episode. I was just so incredibly in awe of her- Sure ... for fighting those demons in the middle of nowhere. And- Yeah ... I remember just making sure that we planned to see her a few times to make sure she knew, like- Yeah ... "We have your back."

Like- but yeah, 'cause you're just like, "Is there gonna be some random,

Peter Merante: like,

Ally Brettnacher: I don't know, van- Yeah

[00:33:00] that out, is out

here?" Or- Right ... you know, you just hear all the crazy things that happen- Yeah ... which are very unlikely, but that kind of freak

Peter Merante: out. Absolutely.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. For sure. So let's talk about your first and only marathon so far. Yeah. It- Which, which one

Peter Merante: it? I would... I hate to say it, it probably is going to be my only. I'll never say never, but anyway, it was monumental. 2013?

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Yeah.

Peter Merante: It was disappointing in a lot of ways, but whatever. I'm glad I did it. Um, I finished just under five hours. you know, it was one of those situations-- So 2013, that's 13 years ago?

Yeah. It's amazing how much information we now have at our disposal. But long story short, I had gone on at least two 20-plus mile training runs. I'm like, "Oh, okay, I've got this." and I was thinking I was gonna finish around four hours, which I would've been really happy with. I think where I ran into issues was the nutrition.

Yeah. I didn't-- I can't say I bonked, but I was like, I got to a point where it's like I just don't have the energy to move. And I had walked [00:34:00] m- so much. but now it's like, you know, with Featherstone Nutrition and all those

Ally Brettnacher: absolutely.

Peter Merante: For

carbs ... it's like if you don't nail down your nutrition today, that's on

Ally Brettnacher: you.

Right.

You just didn't do enough research and practice. Yeah. And yeah, there is, to your point, so much good information.

Peter Merante: Yeah. Yeah ... but, you know, I, I love the Monumental. I've

Ally Brettnacher: was the weather like that year? It wasn't the rain, the

Peter Merante: year, was it? No, I,

Ally Brettnacher: it? Uh, I don't,

Peter Merante: I don't-

Ally Brettnacher: 'Cause

that would've been brutal.

You know what?

Peter Merante: There's that stretch where you get through, you go through, well previously the

Ally Brettnacher: IMA- Yes ...

Peter Merante: Yes ... now Newfields.

Newfields. And you go across into that golf course

Ally Brettnacher: go across into that golf course country club. Mm-hmm.

Peter Merante: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I remember of all things, like it was warm. Monumental can be warm some years. Yeah. I don't remember it being uncomfortable at all- Well, that's good

or uncomfortably cold.

Ally Brettnacher: 'Cause that, you know, that always adds another extra layer of misery if it is.

'Cause I remember there was one year w- I ran the half marathon, and towards the end it was like ice rain, like sleeting.

Peter Merante: And

I was

like- And that was for the half?

Ally Brettnacher: half? And

that was for the half. So I'm thinking, "Oh, all these marathoners are out there and they're gonna be in this- Wow ... ice rain." Yeah.

Peter Merante: But,

you know. [00:35:00] Yeah, unless you're an elite marathoner, you probably kind of finish in maybe a slightly longer than you can run a half. Yeah. But yeah, like- Yeah ... if you're an average marathoner, you might

Ally Brettnacher: You're out there... You could be out there for five, six hour. I

Peter Merante: mean, yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Absolutely.

My first marathon was just under five as

well. Yeah.

And I remember feeling very similar. I probably didn't... I mean, I probably had a couple goo... I

Peter Merante: don't know.

Yeah, What

Ally Brettnacher: have no idea. Chicago. Oh, wow. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I know. Talk about

Peter Merante: a good

first year. How did you get into that?

Ally Brettnacher: My dad.

Peter Merante: He got you into it?

Ally Brettnacher: yeah, pretty much.

That's great.

He kept trying to get me to do the mini and then eventually I

Peter Merante: and then- and

Ally Brettnacher: then- so now I blame him when my mom complains about how much we love running.

I'm like, "Well, it's Dad's fault." And it was really her fault 'cause she was the one who ran the mini first in our

Peter Merante: family,

Oh, that's right. I

Ally Brettnacher: I remember-

that story. Yep. Yep. Yeah. So- And

Peter Merante: she no longer runs. Your dad still does. Correct.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Yeah. Although he would joke, he's like, "I don't know if you can call it running," but Yeah.

That's

Peter Merante: That's how I'm feeling these days. Yeah. But yeah. Right, right.

So,

Ally Brettnacher: so one and potentially done. I felt like I just was so competitive, I needed redemption. I was like, "I need to do that again so that it

Peter Merante: Yeah ... suck." So I'm not making a pitch, but being from New York, I [00:36:00] probably think the only one I would shoot for is New

York. Oh, well, yeah. Even though I heard that's brutal,

The

bridges. You know what?

Ally Brettnacher: know what? Out of anything, I don't know. Yeah. It, it, the worst part about New York for me was the logistics of the beginning. That was the worst part because it took me five hours to get from my hotel-

Yeah

to crossing the start line to start the marathon, which fortunately was, longer than it took me to run it.

Yeah. but yeah. So that part of it was the hardest part for me because the bridges, I, you know, I knew they were there. I trained for that and- Yeah ... Central Park was hilly, which I didn't know until- Yeah ... like a little bit before.

But,

yeah, you should do that.

Peter Merante: Yeah. Yeah. And I think I've got enough, friends still at home where I could kind of scout out where they're living and- Right, and be like-

be like, "Can

Ally Brettnacher: like, "Who can I sleep... Whose couch can I sleep

on?" Exactly. Who

is closest to... Yeah, who can make the logistics the best? Exactly. Whether on the front end or the back half. 'Cause even after the race,

Peter Merante: Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: you're walking for what feels like miles- Yep ... to get out of there, and yeah, I think that's one of the things you don't necessarily know about or see until you participate.

Yeah. 'Cause [00:37:00] obviously on social media you see all the highlights of the race itself, but then truly understanding...

Peter Merante: Yeah. And plus if you're- It's amazing they

do that ...if you're a slower marathoner- Yeah ... you're talking about Four, four, like a 12-ish hour day

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. It's a

Peter Merante: It's a lot. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: So what prompted you to do your, do the marathon at that

Peter Merante: time?

well, you know, all the joints were feeling good at that point, and it was just like kind of the natural progression. I don't really recall it being anything more than that. Okay. So I mean, I had done enough halves, Yeah, there wasn't really much of a, a backstory to it.

Yeah. Okay So-

Ally Brettnacher: And during that time, now I'm trying to like picture the timeline of Back on My Feet. Like what years,

Peter Merante: what

Ally Brettnacher: would you have started at volunteering at Back on My Feet?

Peter Merante: I'm gonna say, all right, 2026. It's been a couple years. Probably right around that time.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Peter Merante: Maybe, maybe right after

Ally Brettnacher: that.

'Cause I could see that being pretty inspiring and just being part of the running community a little more, being like, "

Peter Merante: Okay."

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know, actually I, I think that might have contributed to my not wanting to [00:38:00] do another marathon. Not just a f- just under five-hour finish time, but in terms of running community, when I did that marathon, I was kind of on my own.

Ally Brettnacher: Ah, yeah.

Peter Merante: So it would be different if you had

like

Ally Brettnacher: If you were with the Fisher's

Peter Merante: Club,

Ally Brettnacher: yeah. And

you're like doing all your long runs

Peter Merante: with other people. Right. And then- It's

Ally Brettnacher: people- Right.

And then- ... is very different ...

Peter Merante: you know, I think shortly after that I got involved with Back On My Feet and, if you were doing a half or a lot of times Back On My Feet could even get you like a complimentary bib if you were running with a member.

Okay. So- That makes sense. Yeah. And then, when you're running, you know this through Ainsley's Angels, when you're running for something or someone other than yourself, it just makes it a lot easier. There's

no burden really. It's-- Right.

Ally Brettnacher: It's, it is such a gift to be able to do it too- Yeah ... for somebody else. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So at what point in your running journey did you get into shoes? have you always liked shoes?

Hey, I wanted to take a quick second to tell you about another show you might be interested in. My name is Carolyn Coffin and I host Inspired Souls, a Canadian-based podcast for runners who are genuinely curious about getting the most out of [00:39:00] themselves. Each week I sit down with runners, coaches, Olympians, and experts to talk about training smarter, building a stronger mindset, and pursuing your own personal potential at any stage of life.

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Marker

Ally Brettnacher: So at what point in your running journey did you get into shoes? have you always liked shoes?

Peter Merante: You know, I, I don't remember like a moment, but like I said, maybe before we started taping, I kind of have been into shoes before, like it was a thing on YouTube.

So back in the day there was this guy named Peter Larson who had, a blog, which is also a website.

Ally Brettnacher: know what that is? Yeah. It's like

Peter Merante: Yeah. Yeah. Um, called Run Blogger. Okay. But here's the other thing. That's when you also-- Like Run Blogger was one of the first websites where you could also get like discount code for Running Warehouse.

Oh, nice. You know, I'm doing all these, every time. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I think back then, it won't work today, Run Blog 10. I was like, "Oh, 10%."

Yeah,

like- So, but I would follow Peter and he would talk about all these [00:41:00] shoes and I think it was also kind of around the time when, I don't know exactly when Born to Run came out and it was like- Oh

maybe the swing from, you know, your traditional shoe and then there was this barefoot movement or minimalist movement. Right. And then it was swinging back and I don't know. I, I think it's a little bit of my nature. Like the majority of my work history has been in IT and- I'm just into, guy things and materials and stuff like that.

Yeah. but, I would say RunBlogger, the, the blog was probably what kicked it off. And then abs- uh, actually after that it was The Ginger Runner, who is on YouTube. He doesn't do too many shoe reviews anymore. Okay. Um, he's kind of expanded out into some other things, music of all things. Yeah. But he's great.

and then, Believe in the Run and Doctors Are Running evolved- Right ... and all of

Ally Brettnacher: and all of that.

And Confuzzi now I feel like is one of the people I think of. Yeah. Yeah,

Peter Merante: Yeah, I like Kafuzi. So, I mean, and it just kind of, it's like a snowball. It's a snowball. And then now working at Annex and getting exposed to all of

Ally Brettnacher: all of that.

Right. Yeah,

what are [00:42:00] your favorite shoes for you?

Peter Merante: I would say right now, um, I'm definitely leaning more towards, cushier versus less cushy. Vomero Plus, uh, is great 'cause I can't feel the road.

Ally Brettnacher: What is that one?

Peter Merante: Nike. Okay, thanks. Vomero Plus. Yeah. Yep. So that's kind of like, a new iteration of the Vomero line.

So there's the Vomero, Vomero Plus, which is 100% ZoomX, which is their race day foam. Could be slightly differently formulated, but it's just bouncy, gives you a little, uh, pep back in your step. another one is the ASICS Megablast. That's just a

unbelievable shoe.

someone was asking me the other day, they came into the store and asked me the difference between the Megablast and the Superblast, and I just said, "You know, I kind of look at the Superblast as a shoe where it's like, you know what?

That'll-- Both shoes are gonna last a long time." Superblast is like, you know what? You could use it for, like, your easier day, your long run. But I think if you want something that you can use for that, but also conceivably, 'cause it doesn't have a plate you want to use on race day, I think the Megablast is [00:43:00] killer shoe.

The option for that. yeah, to get slightly wonky, like the Megablast has, ATPU. I can't tell you what that stands for. Okay. But that's the-

Ally Brettnacher: could make it up

Peter Merante: be like, "Sure." That, that's the acronym- Yeah ... or the abbreviation for the foam. Well, there's, back in the day there was TPU, which is like thick, heavy.

This

Ally Brettnacher: is like- Okay ... 20-ish, 15 to

Peter Merante: 20 years ago. Heavy, thick, like your classic running shoe. Yeah. And then EVA, which is kind of what you'll find in today's Clifton, even though they're gonna be changing that.

Ally Brettnacher: is a

Peter Merante: Hoka. Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: For people who don't...

Peter Merante: I mean,

well, I just- I can say the brands if you want.

Yeah.

Oh. I don't,

Ally Brettnacher: I don't care. I just feel like people will be like, "Okay, I don't

Peter Merante: know."

Yeah. But now, like, you know, the race shoes that, that have evolved over the last decade, a lot of them are PEBA or PEBAXs, which is, uh, a responsive foam. But even that is getting, leapfrogged because, it doesn't have the durability of some of the best foams today.

Mm-hmm. So PEBA's like in your Alphafly, Vaporfly

Which are kind of like your, top-of-the-line race shoes, among others. Yeah. But now things like ATPU, I think [00:44:00] TPEE. I mean, what they're doing with foams is just... They're light. Right. insanely light. but even with, like, not having, like, a huge stack of foam, they cushion.

Like the, my shoe two years ago or maybe last year, the Adidas Evo SL, that thing's... I don't understand how that shoe works. But not super stacked, but it cushions, gives you something, you know, when you're coming out of your, your stance phase and your gait cycle. it's amazing what they're doing with foams, with and without plates.

Yeah. What are a couple of your

Ally Brettnacher: I like, So first, I will also just give the disclaimer that people should go get fitted- Yeah ... at Athletic Annex. Because one of the s- questions I see a lot on the internet is like, "What shoe should I wear?" Yeah.

And it's

like, well- Give me one second .........well,

you should wear the shoe that works for you is the one you should wear, not the ones that you see your friend wearing. Sure. You know, 'cause I can't wear Nike. They don't fit my feet

Peter Merante: well. Yeah. So I don't- A lot of them have a narrow toe

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And so I'm, Saucony for race day.

Yeah. I like the, um, is it Elite Pro or Pro [00:45:00] Elites? Or am I wrong altogether? Whatever their race day

Peter Merante: shoe is. Well, it's, most of their race day shoes are Endorphin- Oh, s-

Pro or Endorphin Elite.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. So those are two different shoes. Yep. So I

Peter Merante: have- Elite is the-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I th- I have the Elites- Those are pretty soft

for race day. They are, and they are just, like, lightweight.

Peter Merante: Yeah. Um- Not for the weak-ankled.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, no. And it's just, for me, those are race day because if I ran around in those all the time, I'd probably hurt myself, to your point. and then I, I've always really liked ASICS. Yeah. That was the shoe I started in, the Gel Nimbus is my shoe.

Mm-hmm.

And so

they recently changed that model quite a bit, but I still like

it. Yeah.

it's cushier and bouncier, I think- Yeah ... than it used to be and- Yeah ... and more lightweight. And then I was recently introduced to Mount To Kos, which you mentioned earlier- Yeah ... by TJ Daily.

Yeah. Um, and I ran my, 50K in those. And I really like those shoes. They're a nice everyday trainer kind of a

Peter Merante: shoe. Which

model? R1, H1? R1.

Ally Brettnacher: R2? R1. R1. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know the differences between all the ones, but yeah. Yeah. So I, I remember too getting fitted, and it was interesting getting fitted with the new technology [00:46:00] now.

I still fit well in the shoes that I always wore, which was great. Mm. You're like, "Okay, well, that's good. I've been wearing the right shoe." Yeah. 'Cause it used to be they'd watch you walk or run on a treadmill, and they still do some of that, but- Yeah ... the scanning now helps a lot with your arch and measurements of your

Peter Merante: actual

foot.

I

will say, like- the way that I pr- approach shoe fittings at Annex, I, I don't necessarily go with conventional ways. Mm-hmm. partly because there are very few true stability shoes anymore. Yeah. You know, back five-ish years ago, they all had something called a medial post, which oftentimes was a hard piece of plastic underneath your arch, so you wouldn't compress that side.

Mm. So, if you did pronate, it would kind of mitigate that pronation. But, and I tell this to customers all the time, there's kind of been a movement, in my estimation, where brands want shoes to be lighter, because the weight of the shoe when you put it on, I think, is one of the first things that communicates to your brain comfort.

Mm. And then when a shoe, assuming [00:47:00] it fits, is not too big or not too small, if it feels light on your foot I think that says to your brain, "Ooh, I like this." So I think brands are just trying to make shoes lighter and lighter. Yeah. and there's other ways to help mitigate pronation with geometries, dual density foam, which I'm a huge fan of.

Mm. you really have to be bad to screw up a dual density shoe, I think. Because you're kind of getting... It's like the Goldilocks concept. You're getting that, you know, softness in that usually top layer of

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Peter Merante: But, you know, if you don't want something that's too sloppy- Mm-hmm ... you got, like, usually a thinner, firmer layer underneath.

And, it's usually more often than not just two flat layers of foam. Yeah. They'll add a little bit of a, firmer foam so there's a little bit more under your arch to give you some support. so.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And have you tried on, the Rads? Do you

Peter Merante: I'm talking about? I have not yet. Yeah. I've heard a lot of good things

Ally Brettnacher: them.

They're cool. They're wild looking. Yeah. I feel like I, I, I've

Peter Merante: now- The UFO? Is

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. That's the ones that I have. Mar- uh, Mark Glover- Okay ... gave me those, and, uh, to try, and they are [00:48:00] bouncy as all get out. Yeah. But also,

Peter Merante: like,

Ally Brettnacher: really- Sure ... yeah, you feel supported. It's just this crazy, crazy shoe. Yeah. I r- I like it.

I, I use it on the treadmill, which I'm afraid actually kind of the treadmill's gonna burn off the foam, but. cause that's happened to a pair of my shoes before. Yeah. But we'll see.

Peter Merante: But

Yeah, Yeah, that's not plated, right? No. Okay. Mm-mm. Yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's

Ally Brettnacher: So I... It's interesting. There's all these other brands too that are- Yep ... up and coming or that I've never heard of and- Yeah ... then there are people making shoes who have no business maybe making shoes. I don't

Peter Merante: know.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that, that is one thing I... And I work at Annex, so I don't wanna tap too many brands that we don't carry.

But I do like to explore lesser-known brands, partly to support them. Right. cause I think competition's a good thing. Like, people will cringe at this, but there are some Skecher running shoes that I love. I

Ally Brettnacher: just went to the Skecher store for the first time this weekend.

Peter Merante: Cr-

Ally Brettnacher: I do, I would've... I would've said, before going to the store,

like- Yeah

"No way there's a good Skecher

running shoe." But I went in that store, and [00:49:00] it was crazy. They have apparel

Peter Merante: Yeah ...Too?

Oh, really? Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Which again,

go to

Peter Merante: Annex.

Support your local store ... so Skechers, I would tell you, is they're one of the first companies to do the supercritical process to the foams, which is injecting more often than not nitrogen- Okay

into the foam. Yeah. uh, and I, I get some of them look like dad shoes, and yeah, I'm a dad. Um- ... but, you can put that aside, here's the other thing. It's, they're priced attractively as well. Right. Yeah. and then another brand that I recently got is Kiprun, which is French. Okay. I've never heard of that.

Yeah. They've been around for 20 years. Wow. you know, Running Warehouse started offering it. Mm. So I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna get it." Yeah. Give it a shot. And I got the Kip Ride Max, which is kind of like analogous to the Nimbus. Okay. Great shoe.

Yeah.

Yeah. Great shoe.

Trying to think of what

Ally Brettnacher: How do you keep up on this now? Are you on Instagram looking at it? Do you have YouTube channels that you

follow

Peter Merante: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. YouTube. yeah, like I'm, I'm-- I've been following Believe in the Run for ages. Doctors are Running. oddly, I have finagled my way, not as a guest on their podcast, but into [00:50:00] their podcast. Oh, there you go.

Um, so Doctors are Running, I give this one, one of the doctors grief. Because I'm half Japanese, he would kill the pronunciation of Kayano.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh.

So it was- What do we say? What do we

Peter Merante: say?

What did he say? Keanu or

Ally Brettnacher: or something.

Okay. Yeah. Like it's not Keanu Reeves, man.

Yeah.

Peter Merante: So he gave me a shout-out one time, and then Believe in the Run, I just wrote up this thing one day, kind of, comparing them to, this is maybe slightly before your time, but I know you would know them, like Jerry, George, and Elaine from "Seinfeld."

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, yeah.

Peter Merante: And they got a kick out of that- Yeah ... and they read it on their podcast, so.

That's funny.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Yeah, that's good.

I follow some of it, and I feel like after working in run specialty, I should know more than I do, but- Yeah

I feel like people just really need to know what they're getting and get something for,

Peter Merante: Absolutely ... their money. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you said it earlier, like that's one of the most common questions I get is people will come in, "What's the best shoe?"

I'm like-

Ally Brettnacher: That is such a loaded question.

Peter Merante: yeah.

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: What's the best shoe for you? Yeah. Or people come in and they just want what their friend [00:51:00] has, or, you know, or they just want a certain color and, you know, or they just want the, the what the QCs, which are the O- Ons ... Ons, the people, or like

Peter Merante: the,

Ally Brettnacher: the Bondis.

Peter Merante: Yeah. And then the other funny thing working in running retail, and here's the thing. Well, you've got a little media exposure, so I'm gonna plant the seed. I think, you know how like there's "Parks and Rec"- Yeah ... and "The Office." I think there would be a phenomenal manuscript for doing a run retail show.

Ally Brettnacher: That would be funny. I would

Peter Merante: enjoy

that. 'Cause some of the stories are pretty good. Like one of the biggest things I get a kick out of is, and it's more... I hate to-- I'm not trashing your gender, but how women do not want a bigger shoe. Yeah. It's like it's not your age. It's like, "Uh, I think you need an eight and a half." "I'm an eight."

I'm Like, okay.

Ally Brettnacher: are skinny, okay?

Peter Merante: Oh, and do not mention the word wide.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh. shoe. Yeah, that's so funny. That's, that is interesting. I could s- I could see that 100%. Yeah. Okay, you know what else is like the customer that will return the shoe after they've worn them for like a month.

You've got those people. You've got the people that just-

come in and [00:52:00] they tell you exactly the shoe that they want, and that's all they want, and you d- that's it. I mean, we get people coming in for like, doctors would recommend them come in for the HOKA shoe a lot.

Yeah. But, okay, what else is the cliché? What else could be a s- skit? I mean, there's just so

Peter Merante: many

good ones. Oh, gosh. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Like the elitist runner who's like knows more about the shoes than you do. That- Yeah ... that's a, you know, they'll tell y- I had a lot of people mansplain to me about the shoes, and I'm like, "Cool."

They probably, they did know more

Peter Merante: me,

but-

I do also love when people come in, and I think I have to give the consumers a lot of credit. I think a lot of people come into Annex because they know we're like locally, independent.

Yes. Yeah.

But sometimes I crack up when people come in, and then I'm fitting them for shoes, and they're clearly on their

Ally Brettnacher: their phone.

Oh, right, on Amazon being like, "Okay."

Peter Merante: Just like- " Hey"

service with a smile.

Ally Brettnacher: " Just so you know, yeah,

Peter Merante: And we don't, we don't work on commission, so I don't... But it's just like, maybe you could do that after. Right.

Ally Brettnacher: Maybe not right in my face- Yeah ... 'cause I know, yeah, you've probably been on the internet before- Yeah

and you'll probably go back on the internet, but maybe [00:53:00] you could just not do it right here. Yeah. That is funny. yeah, I, I think most stores, Annex included, I'm sure would honor a price for a specific shoe.

Peter Merante: Yeah. '

Ally Brettnacher: Cause I think Fleet Feet, which was Jackrabbit before that, they did that, where if you could show the price of somewhere else- Right.

But now with AI, that's getting

probably tricky- Well- ...

'cause you could totally make

Peter Merante: something

up. Yeah. That is the... I've heard of, of, of examples of that, and you know, I take the approach where it's like I won't just take a static screenshot. Yeah. I need like the

Ally Brettnacher: go on the website

exactly.

Yeah. And it's gotta be the real website, not some weird website that you just made somehow. Yeah. Yeah, 'cause people get creative on the scamming. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Crazy. So that would be a good show. I would love watching that. Yeah, I mean, 'cause you watch shows about, to your point, like "The Office" is just about a

Peter Merante: is just about our business.

Oh, because then you can weave in things like running clubs

Ally Brettnacher: running clubs and-

Peter Merante: the soap opera-ness of

Ally Brettnacher: and influencers.

Yeah, it would be- Yeah. Okay. I hope somebody listening

Peter Merante: can- And parents with their kids- Yeah ... which I'm not really gonna get into. Yeah. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: which I'm not really gonna get into. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yes. Oh,

Peter Merante: [00:54:00] great

idea. So if anybody wants to, uh, put that together.

Hey, if

Ally Brettnacher: wants to run with that. Nice job. Thank you. My God. Oh, I- You can picture why ... I also, my husband is the dad, you know- Yeah ... the dad joke king, so I can't help myself- Yeah ... with the puns.

Yeah. Okay. So shoes. Yeah. Talk to Peter if you wanna nerd out about shoes. what else haven't we covered? We talked, well, you mentioned your heritage. Yeah. Can we go into that a little bit? Somehow I got that wrong. I think I got the Scottish from your wife and, like, morphed

Peter Merante: that into

your heritage. Yeah, 'cause I've been, I've been posting a lot of Scottish stuff because of the Tartan Army in Bo- in Boston for the World Cup.

But anyway, so yeah, my dad met my mom when he was stationed in, Japan. He was in the Navy. so I'm half Japanese, half Italian. Well, not literally half Italian. my last name's Italian, but my father's side, he's Italian and some other things as well. and then my wife is Scottish. Both of her parents were born in Scotland.

Okay. so yeah, I mean, it's funny because my older son, like your older daughter, has a flock of red hair.

Ally Brettnacher: You have a [00:55:00] redhead?

Oh, yeah.

I don't know if I knew that or if I did, I forgot completely.

Yeah. That is wild. Yeah.

Peter Merante: And even my younger son, like, especially in the summer, it will... Not like my older son, you can see elements of, like, red.

Yeah. so it comes through and then it's like just reminding you you're 25% Japanese. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: That's right. There's still some of that. Yeah. And what languages do you speak?

Peter Merante: English not very well. No, but, um, I took German and Japanese in college. I m- partly took Japanese in college out of respect for my mother ' cause- Yeah

she's very unique in that she really tried to make every effort to acclimate to the US. And, you know, I know there's some families or parents where it's like growing up, like, when you're at home you would speak this language, so on and so forth. But at home, like, my mom wanted my brother and I to acclimate, so, she never forced us to speak Japanese or learn it.

Right. So I just got to an age and I figured at college I did pretty well with languages.

Ally Brettnacher: I would

Peter Merante: learn it kind of honoring her a

little bit. Yeah. Yeah. but no, I don't, speak anything- Okay ... even remotely fluently. Okay. So. [00:56:00] Yeah,

Ally Brettnacher: I wish I

Peter Merante: did.

And I, yeah, did not use my degree for work after college, so. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Yeah, me either.

Peter Merante: so you know-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ...

there's that.

So have you visited Japan?

Peter Merante: So, I went back... I was born there. I went back when I was about four, but I have not been back yet. Okay. Yeah. And a lot of that has to do with my mom, to be honest, in that, So my-- First of all, my mom was nine years older than my father, so she'd be around 92 now if she was alive.

So she was also of a generation where I think there was, quote-unquote, "some shame in marrying an American."

Ally Brettnacher: Oh.

Peter Merante: there's a lot

Ally Brettnacher: complications. Yeah.

Peter Merante: So I think, she never really pushed to go back. Yeah.

Yeah.

And two of her sisters actually ended up coming to the States as well. Two of my aunts married two of my father's naval buddies.

Yeah. That's kind of fun. Yeah. So I mean, she had her sisters here, but, that's probably the biggest driver of why we never went back is, you know, past that one time. But I, I would like to go back. Yeah. probably almost like another example of like honoring my mother [00:57:00] and

Ally Brettnacher: and just-

Peter Merante: Mm-hmm ... seeing places where she grew up and things like that.

So- Yeah ... that'll happen sometime. I, I'm not sure

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

What about Scotland?

Peter Merante: Oh, I've been to Scotland four times.

Ally Brettnacher: 'Cause you-- Oh, you mentioned... Okay, 'cause you did go there when your dad was there, you said-

Yeah ......when he was sick. Yeah.

Peter Merante: Okay. Yeah,

but

Ally Brettnacher: you taken your kids

Peter Merante: there? Yeah. I think I've been there four times. Three times or four times. Yeah. Okay. Uh, except for that time for my father, my k- my kids have been there as well. So the nice thing is, like my mother-in-law has two sisters, and she had a brother who has since passed away, still living over there. So there's like a whole- That's so fun

family. So when we go there more often than not, we've got a place to stay. And actually, we've got, some of my wife's cousins coming over later in July. That's fun. Yeah. Yeah. That's very cool. Uh, they're, they're just great people. They're some of like the best people on the planet. Yeah. So. I've never been.

I gotta

Ally Brettnacher: They're some of, like, the best people on the planet. Yeah. So. I've never been. I gotta go. That's on the list

for sure- Yeah ... to,

to make it to someday. Yeah. So I also wanna weave in

the

fact that it's June, which is Men's Mental Health

Month. Yeah.

And we mentioned, I joked earlier about like therapy, running, and people do that a lot where they say, "Oh, [00:58:00] running is my therapy."

And it's like people who go to therapy know

Peter Merante: Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: that is not the case, and that I would recommend everybody go to therapy no matter if life is good or not. There's always- Absolutely ... stuff to unpack and things to use with other people who are going through stuff in your life. Yeah.

Peter Merante: So. Yeah. I would say especially, and I don't wanna speak for all men, but I think, you know, gross generalization, I think as a gender, men don't do a very good job. And I'm, I'm not...

I've gone through therapy and I'm not an expert, but I think it's a fact that over the course of a day, an average man says far fewer words than a woman.

Oh, I

Ally Brettnacher: totally... Man, I, I mean, yeah, I think about the conversations and interactions I have with my husband on a daily basis.

Peter Merante: But, for a whole host of reasons, I mentioned to you I've gone through therapy for myself and then also with my wife as part of couples therapy, for a number of reasons, Being able to communicate and talk about issues, it's just like running in the fact that if you don't exercise the muscle-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Peter Merante: it becomes atrophied. And I think I also shared with [00:59:00] you, I had some ADD, ADHD testing, but then also through my therapist, we kind of identified that I'm an internal processor. and basically what that means is, there's been a number of times where something will happen, not like necessarily tragic or whatever, but like I don't respond in the moment.

Yeah.

And I'm not even like actively thinking about it, but something happens, and then it's like back here in my head, and then it takes me like a day to actually realize that I'm formulating thoughts about it. Yeah. So... But also it's like, to not get too convoluted, sometimes that presents a challenge for relationships.

Ally Brettnacher: A thousand

percent. Your wife's like, "Why don't you care about this?" And you're like, " like, "I have to process it first before I can figure out how

to..." Right.

Peter Merante: so going to therapy helped me actually identify that. Mm-hmm ... and, you know, a lot of credit to my wife 'cause she's the one that prompted me for both sets of therapy.

Yeah. She also prompted me to get tested for ADD,

Ally Brettnacher: ADD,

Peter Merante: so I have to credit her for that. I did get a little win out of the ADHD testing in that it's also [01:00:00] an intelligence test. Oh. And I'm Mensa eligible.

Ally Brettnacher: What does that mean?

Peter Merante: Mensa? Yeah. Oh, it's like an intelligence, like, society.

Okay.

I

Ally Brettnacher: So I don't think I'm- Shows how smart I am ... I don't think I'm smart. Shows how smart I am. I'm like, "What is

Peter Merante: that? Yeah, I don't know what it stands

for.

Oh, that's

cool.

But yeah. So it's funny because yeah, the doctor who did it was like, "Yep, you, you've been diagnosed with ADHD," and also-

Ally Brettnacher: you, you've been diagnosed with ADHD," and also- You're like super

Peter Merante: for it. I don't think I necessarily

am.

Ally Brettnacher: You're like, "Can I get, like, a laminated card for that or, like, some sort of club, like a shirt?"

Peter Merante: Yeah, or, you know- ... some neon lights or something. Yeah. But and you know, I have tried some, some medications, n-none of which really worked

Ally Brettnacher: for me.

Yeah. that's

Peter Merante: hard. but you know, I don't think I'm necessarily exactly where I wanna be, but I think going through testing and therapy and identifying, that I have ADHD, it's just like being aware of it. and you know, while I still have work to do, it's, it's the kind of thing where it's

Ally Brettnacher: like

Peter Merante: Sometimes I can tell my wife, " Hold that thought."

Mm-hmm. "I just need some time." Because there would be times [01:01:00] like she would say something and I just wouldn't say anything. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I am also an internal processor. Yeah. And so the opposite happens where my husband will say something and then He wants me to respond, and I'm just like, "I don't wanna just say words just to say them." Like, I need to- Yes ... process what you said- Yeah ... and think about what I would like to say in response to that, and sometimes that doesn't happen very quickly.

Right. And I don't just wanna throw words back and then say something that I regret or- Yeah ... that doesn't really reflect what I feel because I didn't think it all the way through. Right. But it is interesting because it helps you realize that, and when you know that's how your partner is- Yeah ... it can help you be like, "Oh, okay.

Well, I can give you a minute because I understand that's how you,

Peter Merante: what

you

need." Yeah. Minute might be a day, but

Ally Brettnacher: Right. I mean, i- ideally it would be a day. There are times where I'm like, "I should've just not, I should've waited longer because I needed to." But sometimes, it's hard to do that. you said your wife kind of got you to go, but how did that happen? I feel like as women it is hard. You know, I've been in therapy for a really long time, but getting my husband to [01:02:00] understand what it is and the value of it has been really tough because most men are like, I mean, he was raised, he didn't, they don't talk about feelings, right?

And not in a mean way- Right ... but it's just not how he was raised.

Peter Merante: Yeah. I think it's probably a couple of factors. One, And I'm not saying this would happen for everybody, but I think you get to a certain stage or age of your life where, I generally think I don't have a big ego, so I think sometimes if you did, that might get in the way of you being willing to do it.

Yeah. But also, you know, I briefly mentioned, like, my wife has a health issue. and for a good number of years, she's had to carry a lot, and, and she would admit this as, as well. Like, I'm good at, the taking care of her part.

Ally Brettnacher: He's using air quotes.

Peter Merante: Yeah. But, like, the physical, like- Right ... you know,

Ally Brettnacher: getting your meds- What do you need to drink?

Yeah.

You need more

Peter Merante: Yeah. But

there's this whole other aspect, mental and emotional, that I'm not great at, and it's just making the realization, like, you know, for running, you gotta do some speed work, you gotta do some distance. Yeah. Well, I'm good at the tactical everyday stuff. I'm not great at this, so I have [01:03:00] to work on it.

So I don't know if it was, like, necessarily one thing, but it was just making that realization, like, "I, I have to work on this." Yeah. and it's just like anything else. Like, if you're not a runner, your first run is gonna suck. You're gonna have doubts. Yeah. Yeah. And it's

Ally Brettnacher: like-

You're gonna hate

Peter Merante: it.

you go to your first

Ally Brettnacher: your first session, and then

Peter Merante: and then, unless you meet a monster therapist, which I don't think you would- Yeah

it's gonna be a positive experience. Mm-hmm. And then it's just like, "Okay, I've done it." Like your first podcast, you did it- Right. Yeah ... and

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Hopefully getting a little better.

Peter Merante: Yeah. Gets a little

Ally Brettnacher: easier, so. Yeah.

Peter Merante: yeah, it wasn't any one thing, but, I would just say encourage anyone.

you know, it's not a lifetime commitment. if you have any thought that you could benefit from it, explore it. Well,

Ally Brettnacher: and similar to the running shoe type of thing, it's like you gotta find what works best for you. Yes. mean, you have to find a therapist that you-

Peter Merante: Yeah, my wife has changed hers

you know,

Ally Brettnacher: can find comfort in.

Right.

And you can't just do the same things and expect it to,

Peter Merante: to change.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Same with running.

Peter Merante: Yeah, I mean, if, you have the characteristics and traits that allow [01:04:00] you to process in the moment, bless your heart. Yeah.

That's great. Good for

you. That's great. Yeah. and if there's two of you, actually it might, that might not work

Ally Brettnacher: either.

That would be hard. Yeah.

Peter Merante: yeah. I mean, you just need to exercise the muscle. Yeah. Sometimes it's the mouth, but more, more often than not, it's the brain.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, 100%. Well, I think that message is so good. And, and to be in this month too, and your willingness to share about that I think is important. So hopefully somebody listening will be like, "You know what? I have been hardheaded about that," or, you know, I think you can't really knock it until you try it. And thank goodness now people talk

Peter Merante: it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

' Cause I hope then for the, for our kids, it'll be that much easier for them to, get those skills and have deeper, better relationships as a result.

right.

And the relationship with yourself, which is obviously the most important

one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. let's get into the end of the podcast stuff.

Okay. And then I also wanna talk about, a little bit we can weave in kind of where you're currently at with running, which we

chatted about- Yeah ...before we- hit record. But as you know, because you are so [01:05:00] kind to listen to this podcast- Yeah ... the first question is: what is your favorite running song and/or mantra?

Peter Merante: I'll go to mantra first. I don't necessarily know that I have one, but I would say I wear this

Ally Brettnacher: Pretty Gritty Not

Peter Merante: pretty ...Not Pretty. So

this was actually our team name for the eight-hour endurance race.

Ally Brettnacher: Cool. That's a great--

Peter Merante: That's

great.

But also I like it as a mantra. Yeah. And my friend Becky's a Butler alum. There's a ton of Butler alums- Yeah ... as you know. I do say it, like there's been times when I'm struggling- Yeah ... and it's just like, "You know what?

Gritty, not pretty." Yeah. "It's not gonna look great, but-" It's not gonna be great,

Ally Brettnacher: gonna be great,

but ... you

Peter Merante: grind through it. I would say for a long time, and, and this is one... And I actually got it from Lindsey's Run the Mile You're

Ally Brettnacher: In.

Yeah. Love that

Peter Merante: one,

Um, and Actually, I've shared that with my wife, with all the things that she has to deal with.

Yep. and sometimes she has kind of incorporated that. It's like, you know, you can only f- deal with what's in front- Right ... of you. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. There's a Peloton instructor that says, "You can't do what's next now."

Peter Merante: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: And I love that too. So- It's the same kind of

Peter Merante: principle. Yeah. [01:06:00] Love

that.

and then song, I can't say that I have a song.

but I will use this opportunity to exude a little bit of the get off my lawn aspect of my personality

in that.

I really wish races would stop playing "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine.

Ally Brettnacher: Really?

Peter Merante: I love Florence and the Machine- Why? ...

Ally Brettnacher: but,

Peter Merante: hey, I

just hear it every race, and

Ally Brettnacher: my gosh. I'm

Peter Merante: love that song

it grits, it grind, grinds my gears as- That's so funny, honestly ... Peter Griffin likes to say. Yeah, I love that. I like Florence and the Ma- but it's just like, you know- You're like, "Yes," it's- ... every race. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I'm

Ally Brettnacher: you feel the same way about, like, the other cliché running songs, like- Some ... "Unstoppable" by Sia? I love.

Like, I

Peter Merante: I just love-

No. her voice-

Ally Brettnacher: Ugh. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. "Dog Days" you don't like. Yeah, that's really funny. Okay. Now it makes me

Peter Merante: want to Sorry.

Ally Brettnacher: request it every race. I'm just kidding. No. That's just funny. I've never had somebody answer with the, "Actually, you know what?

I don't have a song, but if I could have, request one song to never hear when I'm running, it would be [01:07:00] this one." Yeah. that's great. And then next finish line or milestone.

Peter Merante: So, I'm, the only thing I'm currently signed up for is Monumental Half. Okay. I have a knack of winning contests, and I won this entry from one of their social

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, nice. Congratulations. Thank you. It's very

Peter Merante: exciting.

Yeah. I've got a lot of luck with Monumental, I have to say. I've won... A couple years ago I won, like, a marathon gas card.

Ally Brettnacher: Cool. Yeah. Okay. Oh, that's

Peter Merante: cute. Well, I

have one other story. I have kind of an insane ability to remember faces.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh.

Yeah.

Peter Merante: That's cool. So don't commit any crimes, 'cause I'll

Ally Brettnacher: You'll know g- you'll be like, "That was Ally.

Peter Merante: I

know

it was." Um, so there's this story where I ran the Monumental one year, and I think it was by the Butler Lab School, one of the Butler Lab Schools. So l- later half of the race, and I'm running, and I look down at the ground and I see a driver's license.

It's from Colorado. Okay. So I, I stop, and actually I turn around, and there's people running at me, but I pick it up, and I pick up the license and I... You go a little further. In this point, you're gonna see a cop at almost every intersection. Yeah. So I hand it to the cop, and I'm [01:08:00] running couple more miles And I just glance at the license, and I'm running, and I see this woman, and I say, "Are you from Colorado?"

She's like, "Yeah, how did you know that?" I said, "I think I just found your license," and I gave it to the cop- Wow ... back a couple of intersections.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, shoot. So then what does she do?

Peter Merante: I don't know. Maybe she went back after. I don't know what she

Ally Brettnacher: did. At

that point in the marathon, I think I would say, "I can get a new one." Yeah.

Peter Merante: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I'll fly home. I'll do whatever the extra

Peter Merante: checks

at the airport- But I guess, like, it's the kind of thing where, like, so she's not stressing about it. No,

Ally Brettnacher: I know what you... Yes. Yeah. Absolutely, 'cause at least she's like, "Okay, I know where it is." Yeah. I found a driver's license at a race once actually. Yeah. It was at Butler, on Butler's campus. What is it with people just dropping their licenses

Peter Merante: around Butler? Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: But yeah, it ended up belonging to like a f- a friend of mine's mom.

Oh, wow. 'Cause I saw the last name and I was like, "I know somebody with that last name." So I texted him and he's like, "Yeah, that's my mom or sister," somebody. And I was like, "Will you let them know that I found it? I'm gonna put it in their mailbox." Wow.

Peter Merante: Wow.

Ally Brettnacher: That's crazy that you could recognize her while running.

Yeah. That's pretty good and nice of you to, to give [01:09:00] that back to the cop.

But yeah, I'm just thinking what would I do in that moment if I knew my driver's license was like two intersections behind me? Would I turn around to go get it? But yeah, that

Peter Merante: late

in the

game- Well, I wasn't killing the race, so I don't think she was killing

Ally Brettnacher: the

race. Okay.

Peter Merante: could have probably gone back.

not a big deal. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Oh, good. And then are you doing Eight Hour Dream?

Peter Merante: No, I'm only signed up for Monumental.

Okay. I mean, partly it's because of the injury. Um, I don't wanna sign up for too much. Yeah, that's probably good. Um, if I can get this straightened out, I'll probably do some more. Yeah. I was considering Geist, but I have to kinda... Like I said, I j- I just wanna see what the doc

Ally Brettnacher: See where, where it goes. At least Monumental is

in November. Yeah. So that's good. Yeah. I mean, for anybody, I don't know if we'd mentioned what Eight Hour is, but it's you run as far as you can in

Peter Merante: hours. Eight hours, yep. It's crazy.

Ally Brettnacher: Do you

always do that as part of a team too?

Peter Merante: I've done it once, and yes, I did it with three other people, Jim Patton being one of them.

and I don't know if they changed the format now, but there's a shorter loop- Okay ... and a longer

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

I think

that's still the case.

Peter Merante: Yeah.

And it sh- It's-- Is it completed loops or is it total miles? I think it's distance. I think it's total mi- I think it's distance. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But you have to complete the loop [01:10:00] for the miles to count.

To

Ally Brettnacher: count.

That makes sense. That's

it. Gotcha. So you can't just like quit on

Peter Merante: half the- Right.

Ally Brettnacher: Right ... and then have that count. Yeah, cool.

Peter Merante: Okay.

I'm over here. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I'm over in this way. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, this has been so much fun, Peter. Thank you. I'm so glad to finally get to know

you better. It did fly by. I can't believe it when that happens, but thank you so much for listening too and being- Yeah ... so

Peter Merante: supportive.

I don't listen to every... I try,

Ally Brettnacher: but- Well,

When you do- Yeah ... you always make a point to either comment or like say something to me, and I can't tell you how much- Sure ... I appreciate that because- Yeah ...

it takes work. Yeah.

Yeah. Sure. Yeah. So, and thank you to everybody else who's listened, and- Yeah ... happy running. Happy running.

Peter Merante: Happy running.

Ally Brettnacher: Yay. All right.

Peter Merante: All right.

Ally Brettnacher: We're done.

Peter Merante: Thank you.

Ally Brettnacher: If you enjoyed this episode, head to the show notes, sign up to receive weekly emails. I send emails on Friday with my personal running journey updates, this week's podcast episode, products I love.

Try to make them something you will want to receive and read every week. If you already do that, of course, share the show. That's how other people find it

And thank you again to Goodr and [01:11:00] Hug for supporting this episode.

And I will see you next Friday as we celebrate the nation's birthday and I get ready to run my annual 4th of July race. So stay tuned for those updates. Bye.

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