Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 90

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This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast that celebrates the everyday runner.

I'm your host, Ali Brettnacher.

Whether you're a season marathoner, half marathoner, ultra marathoner, prefer shorter distances or just getting started, if you run, you are a runner.

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And every runner has a story.

Join me each week as I share these stories and we cross finish lines and celebrate milestones together.

This podcast is brought to you by Athlete Bouquets.

Celebrate the finish lines and milestones of the people you love by visiting athletebouquets.com.

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Use code PODCAST for 10% off your order.

Hello and welcome to episode 9 D Happy New Year.

I'm still saying that perhaps you didn't catch last week's episode for the first episode of the year.

So now I've wished you a happy new year.

I am in the midst of attempting to set goals for the year, really just looking out and planning what races I'm going to run, what races I want to be a part of for my business, athlete bouquets.

1:08

Also, planning and scheduling for this podcast and some exciting things that I will hopefully be doing in collaboration with Lindsay Hein and the Sandy Boy Productions Podcast Network.

I, I bought this, it's called the Big Ass Calendar and now that I've said it out loud, you'll get an ad for it, I'm sure.

1:25

But it's from Jesse Itzler or Eitzler or however the heck you say his last name.

He is an ultra runner, an entrepreneur, married to Sarah Blakely from Spanx.

Anyway, I was a sucker for it even though I probably could have made it myself.

But it's this big laminated calendar that you can see on my Instagram.

1:42

I'll share what it looks like, but it's it's just huge and you can see the entire year at once.

And so it's getting me really excited about just planning my year, trying to kind of level set and then get going, get after it.

So I really want to do a full marathon in the fall eyeing the Marine Corps Marathon, it is their 50th celebration noodling on that.

2:04

But I hope that your year is off to a good start.

So far, this week's episode I recorded actually before the holidays with my friend Callie and she inspired me to finish my Ragnar Road race Michigan recap, which in case you didn't know, I did my first Ragnar, which is a relay race we'll talk more about here in this episode, but did it in September.

2:27

So now we're, you know, in January and I finally finished my recap.

So it is on the blog and at athletebouquets.com.

You can find it there.

I'll link it in the show notes.

But we did talk a lot about that race here and I felt like it was the inspiration I needed to finish that up and get it out there because I did write a lot about this race.

2:48

So go check that out if you're at all interested in doing one of those in the future or if you just want to hear some of our stories from from an awesome weekend.

Callie and I have known each other for quite a while and I just love her.

So I know that you'll enjoy this episode.

Callie also is, you know, your traditional everyday runner.

3:04

She doesn't take it that seriously.

And I think that a lot of us who are probably listening to this podcast need that reminder every now and again.

I know that I do.

So please enjoy this fun conversation with my friend Callie Cali Bonell, everybody.

3:21

She's here.

It's her first in person podcast, first running podcast.

I would assume yes.

She's the way she's looking at me right now, yes.

Yes.

So I want to start off talking about Ragnar just because I did write a full recap, OK?

3:39

And I had all the pictures in it in my notes app on my iPhone.

And then when I went to copy and paste it into like that, my website, whatever, all the pictures didn't copy.

So now in order to finish, I have to go back and put all the pictures in.

And so I just so you're my Ragnar recap.

3:55

I think for the time being great.

So Callie and I have known each other for how long I.

Don't know, maybe a decade.

Maybe a decade.

Yeah, a long time.

And I roped her into joining my Ragnar team and we did accurate.

4:11

I was like, hey, I think, wait, I can't remember.

Did you say did I reach out to you?

Yeah, you did.

Well, no, I saw you in person and you were like, hey, I'm doing this thing.

You should.

Totally.

And then I was like, I guess that's maybe a good place to start about whether I'm a runner, which is debatable.

4:31

Shut up.

But I am a yes person.

So I whether it's the Ragnar or it's whatever else you might dream up, I'm a pretty good person to ask to do just about anything 'cause I like new experiences and I like saying yes to stuff.

4:47

So kind of roped me in.

Yeah, well, you said so.

You said yes, I did.

And you're in my van.

Yes, your van one.

Yes, Sandy.

Yeah, it was nice that they came with the name.

Yeah, so we rented these big ass, what are they 15 passenger vans and ours when we get there they had we were thinking about, we were trying to name our van before then and we get there and it says Sandy on the on the side.

5:11

Yeah.

So it was perfect.

So you and you did it.

I did.

And it was such a cool experience.

Like I'm so glad that I said yes to it.

I don't know that I would organize A-Team myself, but I enjoyed participating and yeah, and I kind of trained, like partially.

5:29

Yeah, you ran some and then you did it and you crushed it.

You did way better than you thought you were going to admit it.

The first two legs were better.

The third one was rough.

The third one there were there were some tears.

There was a little bit of an internal monologue we had to address.

5:46

I was really worried about you.

Well, OK, so I guess we should also say what the Ragnar is for people who are like, what in the world are you talking about?

Yeah, I'll take a stab.

I'm sure this isn't what's on their website, but it's a roughly 200 mile relay that you can complete with up to 12 individuals.

6:07

So if you're more psychotic than we are, you might do it with six people, but we did it with 12, thankfully.

And in our version that meant that each runner ran three times.

So I had a an 8A.

Well, I had a three, an 8 and A7 or something along those lines.

6:25

And it's a relay.

So when it's your turn, you go run your miles and your van like leapfrogs to the next exchange point.

And then when you get there, you take this wrist monitor, like slap bracelet deal off and you exchange it to the next person and they take off and then you get in the van and you just keep repeating that until you're done.

6:51

I think we had some lessons learned, things that we might might do differently if we did it a second time.

But in general, I think it went really well.

I think we had a blast.

Definitely got to know 4 new people since I already knew Ali going in.

7:08

And I think that to me is probably the most like fulfilling part of it is like the community aspect of it.

And like, you know, I've made four new lifelong friends and probably to be honest, like 10, right?

But but you don't really see the people in the other van as much.

7:26

So definitely felt like I got pretty close with my van mates though.

Yeah, it's really pretty impossible not to at that, you know, Yeah, when you're like trying to sleep, when you're trying to find stuff.

7:43

Heavy emphasis on trying to sleep.

Yeah.

There's a lesson learned.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, there's a lot of good stories in our Ragnar, too.

Yeah.

Tell the story about when the we thought the van was out of battery, Like when we thought we left the van on all night.

Oh.

Yeah, I am still perplexed at how this actually came to pass.

8:02

Me too.

But we, you got to the exchange point where we're going to like swap with the next van.

And we had, I don't know, a handful of hours to sleep and some people were sleeping in the van and some people were putting up a tent and sleeping in the tent.

8:25

I was team van.

And so the folks that are doing the tent, they get the tent out and they go to the tent area or whatever.

And myself and one of our other runners, Eileen, are like making, you know, beds out of the benches of the van or, or whatever.

8:44

And we're like getting snuggled in, if you will, as much as you can in a van and like, you know, lights off, time to try and get some sleep.

And the door to the van opens and we, like, are laying down and have our eyes closed.

9:01

Well, I did, at least I assume she did.

And so I just think that it's like Ali or Sue or someone else from our van.

Logically, who else would be opening the van?

But then this man's voice, oh, God, comes out and he's like, excuse me?

And I'm like, oh.

9:18

I'm going to die now I'm getting murdered.

Right.

And I was like, yes.

And he's like, your headlights are on, which is comical because it's pitch black outside.

So how none of us noticed, I don't know that the headlights had been left on.

Like, and when I look up, I pop up from the back seat and I lookout the front window.

9:37

And yeah, like, our headlights are very obviously illuminating the van in front of us, presumably this man's van.

It's like, please turn these off.

And I'm like all laid down.

I'm in my pajamas and I'm like trying to scramble around and figure out like where my flashlight is.

9:54

And like I at this point I've driven the van but not used the headlights.

So I really don't know where they are.

And this guy can tell that I'm like struggling and like half asleep.

And he's like, would you like me to shut him off?

I'm like, that'd be great.

So he goes.

10:10

The.

Other side I see them turn off because now the you know, the stuff in front of us is now dark.

Oh my God and so I lay back down and go to sleep like the obvious.

So the next morning comes and I think that I can't even remember who had been driving, but we tell the group we're like, oh, you're never going to believe this like, but it sure is so glad this guy came because otherwise we'd have a dead battery.

10:37

And then we're packing the tent back up and we're, you know, I don't know, brushing our teeth, getting ready for the day, whatever.

And someone hops in to go turn the van on.

And the van does not turn on.

And we're like, oh, I think we jinxed ourselves.

10:53

And then a couple of different people are, you know, poking around trying to figure out what's going on.

And I this is the part that I'm still baffled about.

Somehow Eileen's like you guys.

The van's not in park, that's why it won't turn on.

So not only had we left the lights on, apparently whoever parked the van only got so far as to get it into neutral.

11:16

So Jesus.

Thankfully, this is a very flat area of Michigan.

Imagine waking up and the van is like rolling.

With the headlights.

Oh, God.

So Eileen puts her foot on the brake, slams the van into park, and it turns right on and we're like, all right, great.

11:32

Problem solved.

Thank God, I remember I was about to text what do they call it race control or what do they call it that's.

Not yeah.

Race command.

I was about to text them and be like, well, our van's dead.

Like, what do we do?

I assume that that's happened before to somebody else, but yeah, I I can't remember if it was me driving or not.

11:51

You know, I think it's better.

I really.

Don't know.

I don't remember.

I do remember that that was, I was waking up to run.

I was the first runner of our van.

So like when it was time to wake up and take off, like I was getting ready to go.

And I was so glad that we got it figured out before I left because I would have been like really nervous about which anyway, I ended up getting.

12:10

That was my third leg and I ended up getting and Jennifer wasn't there.

That was the first time that somebody in our team got to the exchange and there was nobody there.

Yeah, to.

Be fair, she was there, she just wasn't at the like she she.

Forgot to grab her bib and so she had run back to grab it.

12:27

And in that time, like the tiniest window of time, yes, I finished and I was like, hello.

Where is my team?

That was one of the things that I did think was comical is the number of teams that missed the exchange.

Like that one team missed their runner exchange like 3 or 4 different times.

12:44

Like that same team, like the runner would get there and they'd be like, oh, this again?

Yeah.

Like where is everybody?

Yeah, it was quite the experience.

Yeah.

Are you going to do Zion with us in 2026?

Maybe.

I thought you were a yes person, Callie.

13:00

Oh.

I'm going to need a few more details.

Like what details do you need?

I don't know the date.

It's in May, early May.

Yeah, probably.

Yeah, there you go.

Probably, probably.

It'll be so fun.

It will that's I'm just putting that out there and it's a team of 8 instead of 12 and the it's a trail.

13:19

So we did a road 1.

The trail ones, from what I understand, are looped so that way you like set up camp and you're there, which I think will be even more fun because then you don't have to worry about driving directions.

Which actually their app was great.

I think we only had a couple times where it's like you're tired, you miss like a street, but you just turn around and go where you're supposed to go.

13:40

I think that only happened once maybe, I don't know.

Anyway, I'm so glad you said yes, it was really fun.

It was really fun.

It was.

And I think, I think that's one of the things about running right is like just proving to yourself that you can do things that maybe you didn't know you could do right, or getting through like in that third leg when I had a small mental breakdown.

14:04

Just like persevering.

Yeah, it was so hot.

And we like towards, I don't know if we did this for the earlier legs.

We started doing it at some point in the race where we would like park halfway and like cheer on our runner.

And I remember crossing the street to cheer you on and like, 'cause we were, I knew that you were worried about it to begin with.

14:24

And then?

I mean, maybe some context.

So in training for this, I developed distal tendinosis, which is basically where your heel gets tendonitis like your Achilles tendon and your heel gets like a tendonitis.

14:42

And so I had been going to Timbo Sports Rehab, which is a.

Physical.

Therapy type of thing.

Yeah, yeah.

And you know, their, their advice was like, well, really rest is what you need to do.

And I was like, right, that's not part of the program right now.

15:00

So, but by that third leg, my ankle was not feeling great.

Like it was pretty painful, but that's OK.

Like that's the thing with tendonitis.

Like once you warm it up, it actually doesn't hurt that bad until you cool it back down again.

15:15

So if you can get through the 1st, you know, however many uncomfortable minutes, eventually it just kind of goes like numb.

But I've got that going on.

And then it is roughly it's 7:45 in the morning, 8:45 in the morning.

15:31

It's 15 minutes before when we're supposed to be able to stop wearing.

Oh, right.

Like reflective gear.

Because if you ran overnight, you had to have like a, a vest that was reflective and a headlight and you know, all of these safety precautionary things, which makes great sense.

15:48

So it is morning and when I'm starting, I'm not supposed to need these things.

But because there had been a ton of fog, they had extended when you needed like your, all your stuff, your, your vest, your headlight, all of this.

16:04

Well, I don't find this out until like 2 seconds before I need to start running because they've changed the rule.

I have packed all of this stuff away thinking that I'm not going to need it.

So I'm now like running back to the van.

Imagine a van with six women in it full of way too much shit that we did.

16:22

It it's piles of shit.

Yeah, it's so like, we lost and found so many objects in that van.

And so I'm like digging through, pulling shit out.

Like, where is this vest?

Where's my stupid headlight?

So now I'm like, I'm just out of my rhythm, right?

16:39

Like I like this is not a curveball I was expecting.

And now I'm like not focused, I'm not in the right headspace, like whatever.

But I find it and I get back to the little exchange point in time.

And as we're doing that and I'm like trying to get my headphones and my music going and there is no reception.

16:59

And when I say no reception, I mean like where at the top of your phone there's that little like SOS thing, like there's no bars, there's nothing.

I am a Ding Dong and have downloaded no music.

So I now have no music.

I'm in kind of a cranky space about this vest.

17:15

It's all sweaty and my headlamp and my foot hurts.

And the 1st.

It's not a huge incline but the first like mile mile and a half of this leg for me has like 400 feet of incline.

And if you've ever had tendonitis in your or in your heel, incline is about the thing it hates the most.

17:35

And so between having to wear this vest again and it's all wet and sweaty and my music isn't working and my ankle hurts and I'm climbing uphill.

You've had no sleep.

I've had zero sleep.

I am not properly fed.

And this is like towards the end of the race where the way that Wagner works is they start like the slower people first with the idea that they're having to shut down the roads, right?

18:02

So the faster people are going to catch up to the slower people.

So like, the further you get along, the more faster people are coming behind you.

And they call that, well, I think you're not supposed to call it a kill, but.

Oh yeah, right.

Like.

You think you're supposed to call it like making new friends or something, you know?

That's what they call it now, to be politically correct.

18:19

But but realistically people call it a kill.

Like, how many people did you pass on your leg?

I'm just getting killed over and over and over running up this hill.

And at some point I just like, stop.

I walk.

I like, cry.

This is like the van stops.

18:36

Ally runs across the street.

She's trying to give me music but then somehow with the Bluetooth.

With your headphones, I didn't have my case for my Earpods and you have to have the case to like reconnect to brute, it was just.

So she's trying to give me music.

She knows that I'm like need a distraction but that's also not working.

18:53

And finally, I'm like, I just got to keep going.

I'll see you, I'll see you at the spot.

Like I'm out of here.

And I took a little while to walk and I just had like a, a real conversation with myself.

And I'm sure for the people who follow you or listen to this podcast, they've seen you're like, run the mile, you're in tattoo, right?

19:13

Back story.

I'm an idiot.

Don't know how to put on a temporary tattoo.

So I don't have one because I applied it to the plastic.

So I don't have one of these tattoos, which is fine, but I'm having like this thought about run the mile you're in, which isn't actually really what got me to get my booty moving again.

19:31

It was more that my thing had just said like I had completed mile 2 and I was more like leave those miles behind, like just cause those first two sucked, these next 4 don't have to.

And so that was sort of like the come to Jesus I had with myself was like, listen, it's not like a different race.

19:50

Like if you run a half marathon and at mile 2 you decide you don't want to finish it, you can just stop.

That is not the way a Ragnar works.

Like other people are waiting for you to get to the exchange, right?

So like, there is no option but to keep going.

Well, at that point, I might as well run them like.

20:08

So that was kind of the, you know, I kind of got it all out.

I had a cry and then I was like, all right, you got 4 miles left in this commitment.

Just put one foot in front of the other and get moving.

And.

And it worked and I came in and I finished strong and you did it.

20:24

I mean, ultimately, even with the, you know, whatever that was, I think I still like averaged like 11 minute, just right around 11 minute miles.

And I definitely walked slowly for a while.

Yeah, it is very hard to run and cry at the same time if you have never tried that.

20:44

Yeah, Have you tried that before?

You're like sobbing, trying to breathe.

Yeah, it was not great.

It was not pretty in any way shape or form, but finished it out.

Also my music eventually kicked on which was a big help so I could focus on something else other than my own head trash.

20:59

Yeah, head trash.

And it was starting to get pretty warm by your leg, it was so hot by your.

Leg and humid and foggy.

Yeah, and just and you did it.

Yeah, you did it.

We all did it.

Yeah, it was.

It was a really cool experience.

Yeah, I would do.

21:16

I'll do it again.

I like the idea of doing a trail one, doing something a little different, seeing what that's like.

But yeah, yeah.

Like for a girls weekend, we could have done something like, I don't know, gone to Napa or like somewhere else, like done like a beach.

But no, no, I wanted to sleep in a van in a tent.

21:33

And eat.

I don't think I've ever eaten that many uncrustables.

Me either actually, it was great.

I, I really enjoyed those and we also, I, I 'cause I bought this, a lot of the snacks I like greatly overestimated the amount of food we would consume.

And like, we had so much food, but I didn't want anyone to be hungry either.

21:52

Like not have the amount of right amount of snacks, Yeah.

We had plenty.

We did we.

Sure did.

So yeah, I think it's funny that you say it's debatable as to whether or not you're you're a runner.

There's a lot, there's plenty of people who probably listen to this or who have been on this and like, I don't know why you want me to be on here 'cause I'm not really a runner.

22:10

It's like, well.

Yeah.

I mean, I was thinking about that like when I was preparing for this.

I mean, I guess anybody who runs is a runner, right?

Like if you go to yoga, they say if you're breathing, you're doing yoga.

But I think I'm more just like, funny.

I'm more just like an active person, right?

22:27

Like I like to keep it moving.

So I'm not the runner that you're going to see out.

Like if I'm not training for something, I am not running for more than an hour.

Ever.

And you don't have a Garmin watch, right?

No.

So, yeah.

So that I think that helps people who are like, I mean, I, I would, I don't know what I do.

22:45

I'm the kind of person that if my Garmin's not charged, I will reschedule my run.

Yeah, no, IA.

Lot of times I don't even wear a watch.

Yeah, I just go do it.

Which, Speaking of, one of the funniest things is in our van.

23:03

You know, I think you and and Eileen probably are the most serious runners, I would say, or like the most dedicated or whatever.

And so I'd never met Eileen before this.

But the thing that cracked me up most is we're in the parking lot getting ready to leave.

We're, like, waiting on Sandy Van to show up.

23:20

And Eileen's like, yeah, I don't know, I packed enough sports bras I'd love.

Her, she is just.

Like she's like, I just threw like three things in a bag and like I'm ready to roll.

And I was just like, who is this?

Creature like yeah I.

23:36

Was like, I bet I counted my like outfits and like planned, you know, like down to like these are the socks that I will wear with, you know, and she's like, I'm not sure if I brought enough stuff.

Yeah, you're like, OK, she, yeah.

I mean, she was one of the only ones who'd ever done 1 before.

23:52

And she's like, I don't, you know, I don't really remember the details.

We didn't worry a lot about that.

And then I would also put Jennifer Nye into the more serious runner and she, you know, very detailed oriented planner.

And so it's so funny to just see the different personalities come together and just how people are so incredibly different in terms of.

24:11

How they and I said I didn't have a Garmin watch the like two or three heads just stared at me and I was like, I went around my neighborhood like I.

Know where I'm going.

I know when.

Or maybe you don't know when it's a mile or not and you just don't care.

You're just trying to move around.

No, usually I just like have a break of like, oh, I have an hour free.

24:30

All right, well, let's go move my body like and that's it.

And it's like, whatever it's done.

It's life.

What a life.

So funny to me because I'm like, you know, so when I started this podcast, I would start to talk to people who didn't run with headphones and didn't run with music.

And I thought that was like, I was like, no way.

24:45

I can never ever do that.

I just ran my first marathon without headphones.

Maybe maybe I could like run without a watch sometimes just to be like, who cares?

But I don't think I can because then it's not on Strava.

And like, how am I supposed to get my Strava kudos if I don't sync it with my watch?

25:05

Kelly's looking at me like I'm insane because I am and I love it.

So whatever, You know, maybe, maybe one day.

But yeah, if we run together at the lake, we go to Lake Wawasee up in Syracuse, IN which is northern Indiana, and we've run maybe only one time, maybe twice.

25:22

Maybe twice.

I think one time we walked cuz I think Doug went.

Yeah, Doug the dog.

Yeah.

But yeah, I mean, I'm always, I always had my watch ready to go.

OK, we're gonna go this far.

And you're just like, cool.

Yeah, I'm here.

Whatever.

Whatever works for you.

Again, I'm a yes person.

I'm just like, sure, that sounds great.

25:38

That's what you wanna do.

I'll be right beside you.

It's the best.

So, OK, so let's let's rewind now, OK, and let people get to know you a little bit in terms of like, where are you from?

Did you move your body growing up?

Were you like a sports gal?

25:54

What?

What did?

You, you know.

Who are you, Callie?

Who am I?

Existential questions.

So I am from a little farm town in northern Indiana, Northwest Indiana.

It's called Winamac.

It's not close to anything, so if you know it, you probably know someone from there.

26:16

And growing up, Winamac's like A1A school, so very tiny.

I played a lot of sports, like as a youth I played baseball at Little League because it's so small.

There was number like child softball close to me like, so I played baseball with the boys.

26:32

That's cool.

I was a gymnast until I was I think 11 or 12.

And so I also was quite the little Tumblr.

I was always just a monkey climbing things, flipping off of things, doing things that would probably give most parents heart palpitations.

26:50

On the other hand, my dad is a farmer and my mom was a nurse.

So like, they were just kind of like, brush it off, you'll be fine.

So and then when I got to be around like middle school age, my parents basically said I needed to choose to continue with like gymnastics and dance and some of that stuff.

27:09

And like, I was playing like summer softball or whatever, or if I wanted to participate in like high school sports, but I couldn't do both because it was just like, we lived really far from the school.

My gym for gymnastics was in like a whole different town.

27:24

Like the dance studio was elsewhere.

So it was like, you kind of have to pick, you know, this is before Uber, but my mom was like, you know, an unpaid Uber driver for.

And so I decided to do high school sports.

I wasn't, you know, a good enough gymnast that I was going to be competing or competing, yeah, at the next level.

27:42

And so, oh, I golfed my whole life.

So my family is all golfs.

Again, debatable if we want to classify that as being athletic.

But.

And then in high school, I ran track and played basketball, so I've always run.

I was pretty fast, but I had never run more than three miles until I trained for my first half.

28:04

OK.

So do you remember what were your track events?

Yeah, I ran the 400, which is like the devil of a race.

Yeah, that's tough.

It's just an all out Sprint for as long as you can go.

And notoriously, I would cross the finish line, go directly into the football field and vomit every time.

28:20

There you go.

Yeah, notoriously.

Did people call you something because of that?

No, it was just like known that like.

Cali's gonna go as.

Soon as I cross the finish line, like my next step was like into the field so that I could immediately puke.

It didn't matter what I did beforehand like because you're just like running, I guess that hard.

28:37

It's pretty common in that race.

And then I ran like the 800, the 200, the 4 by 4.

But the 400 was like the race I was best at and I do want to say best.

Please remember I went to A1A school.

Like if you wanted to participate in a sport, you.

28:53

Could that's, you know, when I went to Westfield High School, which now people from this area would know that Westfield's gotten quite big.

When I went there, it was like 250 kids a class and I could play any sport I wanted.

That's how I ended up.

I try.

I just wanted to try everything.

So I had like 90 kids in my class.

29:09

Yeah, that's that's pretty small, pretty small.

But yeah, I I tried, I did track.

I wish I would have done track more than I did.

I only did it my freshman year, but and I never tried cross country, so, you know, whatever.

Who knows if I could have been good or not, but yeah, that's yeah, 90 kids in your class.

29:25

Yeah, roughly, I mean.

I don't, yeah.

I mean, it's small, yeah, really small.

So then you went from really small to like really big.

Yeah, I went to IU.

When I was at IU, like I took some classes at the hyper.

Like I would run.

One of my roommates ran like occasionally.

29:42

So I was and I did yoga.

So I was like, you know, kind of not athletic.

Oh, I played some intramural sports.

Yeah, OK.

I could see.

That for sure, yeah.

So I was like active.

Yeah, Yeah.

Did you, did you ever participate in Little 5 Athlete?

Because that would be.

29:57

I don't know if I should tell this no I I was friends with some girls who their sorority kappas were heavily involved in little 5.

So like I did some training rides with them, but I personally did not participate.

But my group of friends had an event every year called Little Little 5 where there were stationary bikes.

30:22

Think like pelotons.

Oh God, only pre Peloton.

They were like Johnny G spinners.

And the way that little little 500 worked was that you had a team of four and somebody always had to be on the bike.

I mean minus like the exchanges and the first team to drink 4 gallons of beer.

30:44

But you had only the person on the bike could drink, so someone had to always be on the bike, and the person on the bike had to be the one doing the drinking.

Gallons.

Gallons, four people, four people.

So that's one do.

The math people.

Jesus Christ.

Speaking of events that created a lot of vomiting, right?

31:00

I mean to be fair, I only participated in this once because.

I have a feeling that's how you learned your lesson.

And when the first team finished, everybody else got to quit.

But it was special.

That is so special.

Tell people what Little 5 is too, by the way, because I realized there's some people that aren't.

31:18

India.

Yeah, so little. 500 is a bicycle race.

Like around bicycle, bicycle like a bike.

I was going to say bike and then I know bike.

Bicycle.

Yeah, bicycle.

Not motorized.

It's a bicycle race essentially in a velodrome.

31:34

If you've ever seen Breaking Away, the movie is based on it.

It happens every year.

And there are, the teams are majorityly made-up of the fraternities and sororities, but then there are the GDI teams, which are the independent teams like the cutters, which is the one that the movie is based on.

31:50

And so there's a lot of rivalry between the fraternities, but also the independence, and there's a lot of trash talking and, you know, a lot of prestige around winning it.

And this happens, I think it's in April every year.

That sounds right in Bloomington because it's before the 500 in, yeah, Indianapolis.

32:09

And it's after spring break, so I'm going to say it's in April.

Yeah, I think that tracks.

Yeah.

I, I went every year of college.

I went down for a little five.

Yeah.

I never watched the race.

So I spectated it a couple of times.

I've also not and there's a lot of like little little 5.

32:25

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

Did you ever win that?

I only did it one time and we did not at all win.

No, okay.

It was like, I mean, as you might imagine, it was like, dudes that one.

Because they would just sure.

Just like bong the entire gallon like and bike.

It was insane.

Like I don't recommend this.

32:41

I am not condoning this.

If you're a current student, I you do not replicate this event, Yeah.

No, yeah, do not do that.

Do water.

Instead, Can you imagine?

Well now though, have you seen they the college students carry around their own gallons when they tailgate.

32:59

Of what?

Water.

No.

Oh.

I'm assuming it's some sort of alcohol, but I guess so.

When I went down for homecoming, I mean, maybe I don't know what them are When I went down for homecoming this year because IU football's actually good for the first time ever.

Anyhow, all these students were carrying around gallon jugs and after a little investigation, I learned that when they tailgate, they make their own gallon of concoction of whatever they're going to drink all day and take it with them and put their name on it so that they can hold it and have a lid the entire time.

33:31

Because I guess like so that people can't like roofie people in the tailgate lots like it's a safety measure.

I mean, I don't know how safe drinking that doesn't seem all.

Safe but OK.

The idea being that you can keep it on you the whole time.

And like, yeah, there's no, I guess this is the logic I was given by a student.

33:48

I mean, yeah.

Or maybe that's just what they tell their parents, right?

Oh, mom, this is my water.

It's water so I can hydrate while I drink.

Yeah.

Do do girls like, wear it like a purse?

Because I feel like you could probably like wear it almost like a holster, like a.

You know, like the hydro jugs that have the band on them.

34:05

Yeah, yeah, I saw a girl who had like one of those through the handle.

Of it, yeah, because that seems also like that's a huge thing to take care of anyway anyway.

Random.

So random.

Oh my gosh, yeah.

So IU was a blast, I'm sure, because I had fun every time I visited IU.

And and then after college, did you come right back to Indy?

34:25

Pretty much there was like a small stint, but I had never lived in Indy, right.

Oh, that's.

True.

I guess not back too, yeah.

So yeah, I had a friend who was looking for a sub lesser on her apartment, and so I moved into that and she moved in with her significant other or whatever it was at the time.

34:42

So yeah, pretty much.

And I've been here for the most part since I've done a couple of small stints related to jobs that have taken me to other places for like smaller periods of time.

I did grad school in Philly for a little while, but mostly I've been in Indy and honestly, actually pretty much the whole time in the same house.

35:00

I've been in my house for 19 years.

That's so cool.

I need to come visit your house because I've seen plenty of your DIY projects that you've done.

Yeah, and I need to like see them in person.

OK, come on over anytime.

I also I'm right by the monon so we can go for a run.

There you go, yay and OK and so at what point did you train for your first half?

35:22

Sure.

So my friend Jenny, who, you know, also at the lake, was getting married in 2009.

OK.

And I don't really remember how the plan got hatched, but it's like, you know, like it's very common for brides to 100% shape or whatever.

So somewhere in there we decided to run the the indie mini in May.

35:41

And her wedding was in, I think, August or something.

And that was my first half.

And she lived right down the street from me at the time.

So we trained together.

And it's also still my fastest half.

I was probably the most dedicated training I've done though, as well.

Like, that does help.

Yeah.

35:57

So yeah.

And that was I think 2009 and I've done I think $0.08.

OK, because you've done monumental?

Yep.

And what was the other one?

I've done caramel.

Caramel.

I've done Geist.

OK, that one's a little.

Hilly.

It is a little hilly.

36:12

Yep, I've done.

Bloomington, OH, is that one hilly too?

The start, OK, was like, I think that was the second one I did trying to remember be like 2010 or 11, yeah.

I'm assuming you don't have a spreadsheet like I do.

No, you, you hear how serious I?

Take this right.

36:28

I've done the caramel a couple of times.

I attempted to do the Rock'n'roll in Las Vegas with you.

Was going to say Yep, we'll we'll have to tell that story in a little bit.

Yeah, And currently a friend of mine is trying to talk me into doing the Gasparilla, excuse me, in Florida, Gasparilla is in the Tampa Bay, like in the Bay.

36:48

And it's like this whole pirate thing.

I mean, it's like very elaborate, like they shut the city down, like the streets.

And it's like there's a huge parade, like the biggest parade I've ever seen in my life.

But apparently that weekend there is also a I think there's a full, but there's definitely 1/2.

37:04

OK.

And my friend Alexis, who you met who came here to Indiana to run her first full just a couple of weeks ago, is she lives in Tampa and she's running it.

And so she's trying to get me to go down.

Yeah, go do that.

It's in February, so I'm going to do it.

I might want to think about.

37:20

Thinking about that, yeah.

OK, well, so that's going to go.

It's going to be harder for me to convince you to come to Vegas then at the end of February, but.

Or I would be trained for both.

Perfect.

Do it.

OK, we'll see.

OK.

I'll look at the dates.

I'll see.

What goes on?

Yeah, see what happens.

Well, I, we were supposed to go to Tampa for fall.

37:36

Yeah, I would say yeah, fall break.

And obviously the hurricane happened, so we didn't go.

But I was like looking up all the places to run in Tampa and it I mean, it looks like a great place to run in general.

And then except for the fact that it's Florida and it's probably just really hot.

But yeah, if you're going to run in Florida, it's got you should do it really early or you're going to need that glow in the dark vest and do it at night.

37:57

Yeah, but like midday.

My family mostly lives in Florida or they're snowbirds, so they're living there part of the time.

And so I'm there a lot in the winter because I don't particularly like the cold.

And I consistently will have a break in my day and be like, oh, I'm going to go for a run.

38:13

And I get like to get out of my dad's neighborhood is like roughly 1/2 mile, not quite.

And some days I'll get like to the end of the road and I'm like, Nope.

Yeah, no thanks.

I'm.

Gonna have to save this for later or like I'll go swim or do something else because it'll just be so hot and humid.

38:30

It's like not even I'm I'm kind of a fair weather runner.

I'm a fair weather in general.

Everything right?

Like golfer runner.

If it's the weather's too hot, too cold, I'm like.

Yeah, I'm good.

Yeah.

So at what point in your life were you engaged?

38:46

Did you almost get married?

When was that in this all this let's.

See, it would have been about 10 years ago now, not 810 years ago now.

So, OK, 2016. 2016 OK, so you'd you've done your halves since then.

Yeah, I've done.

39:02

I did them before and I did them.

Before or after?

During, Yeah.

During Yeah.

So how did how did you meet this person?

How long did you date this person?

We met through mutual friends and we dated for many years, four or five of them.

Well, I know this is like such a shitty ass topic, but I also feel like it's you're the only person that I know personally that this has happened to.

39:24

And I feel like that's such a really, I mean, yeah, there's a few harder things that you've certainly gone through, but.

Yeah, it's interesting.

Yeah.

So I mean, the long and short of it, it's not my favorite topic as you might imagine, but yeah, is we called off a wedding and we called off a wedding like less than 30 days before the actual wedding.

39:40

So also something I don't recommend, but definitely the better time than getting married and divorced and all of that, right, like perspective.

But if you call something off that close, they don't really give you your money back because you're obviously they can't resell the venue or all of that stuff.

So it was a pretty not great time in my life.

39:58

But what's interesting is I would call that a like a loss, right?

You're grieving something.

Grief's such a funny thing because in that scenario, I ran all the time.

I but I was mad, like I was upset and I was running a lot.

40:13

I also was not eating properly.

I just was not in a great headspace, but I was running a lot, and running is ultimately probably what.

Kept me somewhat sane.

But then if you Fast forward to 2022 so whatever that is, 7 years later my mom passed away unexpectedly.

40:30

And I like.

That's why I say grief is a weird thing because I couldn't, I couldn't move.

Like like I wish running would've got me through that dark period in my life but I was so sedentary.

I ate all my feelings.

40:45

I had more Mac and cheese than is reasonable, but but it's just really fascinating that like certain, you know, difficulties that you face in your life, your body reacts in one way.

And I think when the wedding got called off, I was I was angry.

41:02

I was holding that and it like running was.

Cathartic, right?

Instead, like revenge.

Yeah, I'm like that.

Yeah, like I'm gonna.

But I don't need you.

I'm gonna fucking tear it up.

I'm gonna.

I'm gonna get through this.

Like, But like, when my mom passed away, it was just like, it just stopped me in my tracks.

41:20

Yeah.

So the Ragnar is the thing that got me to start running again.

Like really running.

I mean, I was still going to Orangetheory, but like, if you go to Orangetheory, you run for approximately 14 to 20 minutes.

Like.

Yeah, OK.

Like you get like a mile or two.

Yeah, yeah.

So the Ragnar was because the rock N roll half was in February of 2022 and my mom passed away in June.

41:42

So I had trained and I was still running April, May because I was going to run something else since I wasn't like, and I was healing whatever.

Long story.

And then, yeah, when my mom passed away, I didn't really run or train for anything.

41:59

And so it wasn't until this that I'd done any running other than like Orangetheory type running.

Yeah.

How did you, how did you find out?

Did you, were you with her at all?

No.

Leading up to it, No.

No, she had a heart attack and my dad found her in the morning and he called me at like 6:00 AM.

42:22

Yeah.

Not to make this political, but kind of a little bit.

My mom was a nurse, as I mentioned, and pretty big advocate for women's rights.

And she unexpectedly died of a heart attack the night they overturned Roe versus Wade.

Whoa, right.

Yeah.

42:40

Jeez, Yeah.

I don't even know what to say to that.

Me neither.

Yeah.

But I mean, obviously I also am not saying that there is a causation or correlation.

Right, but you're like but the.

Timing is unique.

Yeah, right.

Well, obviously, I mean, there's, yeah, stress on the heart.

42:56

I mean, yeah.

Jeez.

Yeah, I know.

She was 63, Too young.

Way too young.

It's so awful.

I'm and yeah, getting through.

It's just different.

Obviously living life without your mom and yeah, how is your dad?

43:12

My dad's good.

He, I think candidly he handled it better than I did.

But what I'm learning, unfortunately, is that the older you get, probably, maybe not.

I know there's exceptions, but for most people the older you get the more death you.

43:31

Have experienced yeah, that's.

Fair.

You know, like the number of people who I know who have lost a parent since in the two years since my mom passed is like 5, like 5 people that I'm like, actually close to in some way.

And I think until you've experienced it, maybe you just don't see it, realize it.

43:51

You know, he doesn't register on your radar as much, right?

But anyways, my dad's doing pretty good.

But I guess I was saying that at 70, he's grieved more people and lost more people, right?

And so I think he was really, you know, a rock for me.

And he's down in Florida, so I'm headed down there to see him for Christmas.

44:10

I need to buy a plane ticket.

So do I list of stuff to do?

So I'll be down there after Christmas.

We're going to DC and then we're going to go down to Naples.

Naples.

Yeah.

Bonita Springs.

I forget where where your dad is.

Cape Coral, Punta Gorda area.

OK, so like an hour.

Ish.

Yeah, it depends on the traffic.

44:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you, I mean, you've just been through some really hard, really hard stuff in your life.

And then not to mention where you're like a long story.

I mean, you've had how many procedures on your knee?

Three, I've had three knee surgeries and I've broken 4 ribs.

The broken ribs are how I ended up not running the wrong.

44:44

Let's talk about Vegas.

Because I was so excited and we were going to meet up.

We did meet up, but we did, we did have dinner the night before, but I was thinking of, yeah, like the morning of the race.

I'm like, man, I don't know where Kelly is, what's going.

On SO the night before the race, I have a friend that lives in Las Vegas and the night before the race we went to dinner and on the way back from dinner also just a little more context, people that live in Vegas do not go to the strip.

45:16

Like if you're going to meet a Vegas native and go to dinner, the place you are going is not on the strip, right?

It's in like Henderson, you know, some other Summerlin place in Vegas.

So anyhow my friend picked me up and we went to dinner and had a nice dinner and we didn't we weren't drinking or anything.

45:34

I think I had like one glass of wine or maybe we I don't know, not we weren't drunk by any of these and we were leaving dinner and he was driving his car and this the high schooler I know she was a high schooler.

She was literally wearing her letterman's jacket like ran a red light turned into oncoming traffic and T boned us like full airbag deployments, et cetera.

45:56

And in when we got hit, my seat belt locked up like it's supposed to, but in the impact the center console between, you know, the passenger and driver's seat, it threw me into that and it broke my floating ribs in the front and the back, like the seat belt, the combination of like the seat belt locking up in my body hitting that console.

46:18

This is embarrassing, but whatever.

I also peed my pants in this.

Exactly, I told you this.

I peed my pants during the Vegas half.

I know this.

I think it was in solidarity.

It was, and I didn't even really know it at that time.

But so, yeah, so we get slammed into by this girl.

She's obviously just beside herself, right?

46:34

I think she's like 16 freaking out.

And I mean, I can walk, but it's extremely painful.

So the ambulance comes and they're basically, first of all, I'm covered in pee.

So they give me like a sheet, whatever you're like, fuck yeah.

And then and they're basically like they check me out and they're like, do you want to go to the emergency room?

46:54

And I'm like, they're like, we think you probably have broken ribs, but like they're not going to do anything for you in the emergency room either.

Like you can't, can't fix broken ribs.

And I.

Did not know that.

Yeah.

And I was like, and I thought maybe because like I was starting to bruise from the seat belt, you know, and it's like, maybe it's just like a deep tissue bruise.

47:11

Like maybe it's whatever.

And I'm like, I don't want to take this ambulance ride.

Like I don't want to pay the money.

I don't want to deal with the insurance and like whatever.

So I'm like, no.

So my friends, siblings come and get us and it is clear I will not be running the next day like it is.

47:26

And it's getting progressively more painful.

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47:43

And so the next day I am, I have to go to the bathroom.

I'm like going to go to the bathroom and like going to the bathroom.

It hurts so bad that I'm like crying and I'm like, OK, maybe I should go get this looked at.

So we go to like the Med check or whatever it's called in Nevada, and they do an X-ray and they're like, yeah, you have broken ribs.

48:05

And I was like, great.

And they're like, here's some very my mild pain pills.

Yeah, off you go.

And so then I had rented a hotel room right there on the strip.

And so I took a pain pill and got a beer and watched the race.

And then that was that.

Meanwhile.

48:22

Meanwhile.

Meanwhile, I have no idea this has happened.

And yeah, I remember you're like, well, I didn't want you to worry or feel like you had to take like come do anything.

And I mean, it's, it is kind of weird because we're we're friends, but we're not like super close.

And so it's like, but I remember being like, holy crap, Cali.

48:42

Yeah, it was.

Oh yeah, I would have been really worried and I would have probably wanted to come wherever, like, ER, if you, yeah, by the time, but you didn't even go at that time.

Not until the next day.

And then I was like, all right, I probably like because when I like when it hurt to use the restroom, I was like, oh, what if I have like internal bleeding or like some other thing that I don't know.

49:06

Yeah, you, I think that is.

Yeah.

And so, but no, they were just like, yeah, you've got like a bunch of broken ribs.

And I'm like, all right.

And they said, I don't know, I think they said 6 to 12 weeks or something like that to, for them to get better.

And in my head, I heard, of course, six weeks, which then I was like, I'm superhuman.

49:24

So that's like 4 weeks.

No, I'm going to tell you all twelve of those weeks were painful.

Like it took forever for it to feel normal again.

Like not like excruciatingly painful, but like definitely a daily reminder.

Like you broke your ribs.

It was wild to me, so awful.

49:41

I can't believe the.

I guess I've never really seen anybody.

Yeah, I, I what do they do?

Like put a cast around yourself?

That just doesn't work.

So I guess I never really thought about that.

Like unless you break like your sternum, OK, then they put like a harness thing on you.

But like if you just break some ribs, they're just like, good luck.

50:00

So do they so the ribs just like.

They just heal themselves.

Heal themselves?

Yeah, that's wild.

I also learned in this experience that your bottom 2 ribs are floating ribs.

Right.

You said floating ribs, and I was kind of like nodding, like, yeah.

It's so they don't connect to the sternum, they just connect to the next rib.

Essentially, if you're a nurse and you.

50:16

I want to pick like, I'll look at my skeleton, the skeleton that we have in our basement from Halloween.

I'll just check that out.

But I think it's because they don't connect to the start.

Of the play, they're called floating.

Yeah, yeah.

And then, yeah, to your point, I've had three knee surgeries, all on the same knee, knee, knee.

I had an ACL surgery that didn't go well.

50:33

So then I had to have like a corrective ACL surgery and then that created so much scar tissue.

And then in physical therapy, like my something happened to my meniscus.

So the third surgery was really like cleaning all that up and also like fixing my meniscus while they were in there.

So I had three knee surgeries in three years.

50:51

At what point do you have a knee replacement?

I don't know.

I hope to not find out, right?

Not either.

But it's like, honestly, my bionic knee is like in better condition than my other knee to be like fair or the same.

Like, yeah, I don't really.

It makes noises.

It's like kind of sounds like Rice Krispies.

51:07

So wait, you have a bionic knee?

No, not really.

That's just what I like to.

Call.

You like to call.

I was like wait, I'm confused.

It's got a pig part in it.

OK.

All right.

So I have a pigs knee.

Okay, you have a pygmy.

Yeah, fun pygmy.

It's almost like pygmy.

Just like it.

Just like it okay yeah all right cuz you didn't have a replacement, which is the only way you would be truly bionic okay anyway I'm with you now I like it yeah yeah so okay next year Vegas think about it we'll look at the dates think about that so you've also you travel a lot for work at least from my view.

51:40

Maybe you don't as much, but you get to go cool places for your work sometimes.

Yeah, no, I have gone some cool places for work.

I also just travel a lot independently.

Yeah, I am lucky to have a job that AI work remote and BI have a pretty robust vacation package.

51:58

Plus because I'm remote and my role is global, I can kind of be flexible around time zones and things like not all the time, but it does afford me a lot of flexibility.

I have traveled to, I've been at my job 7 plus years and in that time I've been to some pretty cool places.

52:16

Last year we had our global sales meeting, sales kickoff in London, which was very cool.

I did some running and I was in London.

There you go.

And then my second year that I was there, I think that's what it was.

I had the opportunity to go to Russia, which was extremely cool.

52:34

You went to Russia?

Yeah, for work.

At the time, we did business in Russia.

Since the conflict, we no longer did business in Russia.

But at that point in time, I think I would have been 20/19/18 or 19.

That's incredible.

Yeah, it was very.

Cool.

There's not many people who've, I mean, who've ever been to Russia and now certainly you look and you're like well, or may never, ever go.

52:55

Yeah, I have a Russian visa, so it gets some interesting questions when I go in and not like they're usually just like asking like, why did you go to Russia?

Like I mean.

Why in the world you go there?

Yeah, yeah.

And then we have offices all over the world.

53:11

So I've also been to Marseille, France, which is where we manufacture our flow products, flow reagents.

And then we're headquartered here in Indianapolis.

And then we, the United States have offices in Loveland, Co and in San Jose.

53:28

Yeah.

And we currently previously had offices in Miami, but we're getting ready to relocate those or do something, I don't know.

Yeah.

So definitely do some travel around with work, but a lot of the places I've been I've just been.

Because somebody asked you and you're like, sure, that's exactly right.

53:44

Love to go there.

That is exactly.

Right.

What is the coolest place that you've run in the world?

I love Paris.

Paris is easily my favorite city that I've been to.

So I would probably say, you know, running near the Eiffel Tower is a pretty cool experience.

54:01

I also really enjoy running along water, so I like anywhere that you kind of have something scenic and beautiful to look at, and water is just not something that, like where I live, is something that's part of my normal runs, right?

54:17

Unless you think of a canal in broader pool, but.

I don't think that counts.

Pat Mack, if he jumped in at one time, it's disgusting.

It is gross.

Yeah.

Beautifully scenic.

Yeah, not the water that I'm.

I mean more like blue water, ocean water, you know, large bodies of water.

54:34

Yep, Yep.

I know the actual scenic stuff.

Yeah, Yeah.

It reminds me back to the Ragnar that like when Sue ran by that lake, it was just like, so beautiful.

Did you get any?

Did you run by any lakes during your lakes?

No.

Yeah, OK.

I did one time.

I think that's it.

Honestly, my night run, I don't really know what I was running by because it was pitch black and very foggy.

54:56

Yeah, so.

Oh.

That's right.

I could have been running next to anything and had no idea.

So maybe, yeah.

So yeah, it was probably like there and had no idea.

Yeah.

And since you don't use a Garmin watch, you can't see.

Nope.

See the route and be like, oh, that's the lake I ran by.

No, no, I can't.

Can't see why a Garmin watch would be useful for like something like that when you don't know where you're running.

55:17

For me, I pretty much just walk out of my house and run to the Monon.

And I run the same like 10 mile stretch of the Monon, like 5 miles in either direction.

So it's like, yeah, I kind of roughly know how far it is and like or how long it takes me.

And that's pretty much where I run.

55:32

Or like at the lake I run, but same deal.

I just walk out and start running.

So I turn around at some point.

Yeah, there you go.

I can't wait till it's like truly we have a path all the way around the lake.

I know because they kind of say, Oh yeah, we can, you can run.

I'm like, yeah, we're.

Getting there, especially over where I'm at, like the path is, it's scary over there.

55:52

Yeah.

Like I'll run and park at the golf course and run like behind the like properties or whatever.

Yeah, and I will walk over by my house, but I like just put in like 1.

I need to get some of those.

Yeah, I have.

The aftershocks are nice.

I just.

Again, because I don't take it seriously.

56:09

I also don't have serious headphones, I just put in my air pods.

Well, if you can keep those in your ears, like for me, I don't know, I guess my ear holes are a weird size.

And like even though they give you options of like, you know, choose your own whatever, mine never would stay in.

Yeah, mine stay in but like from a.

56:24

Safety perspective.

Totally understand.

I like will only wear one when I'm up at the lake because just for the the audience, the road that they're talking about is like barely wide enough for two cars to go down.

And so there's not any shoulder to be running on.

56:42

Yeah.

So if you're out there, you're, you know, you know, it's a little.

Risky here, Yeah, yeah.

Be ideal for sure.

Yeah.

So are you currently?

I know this is your probably like second favorite topic in the whole world.

Are you currently single?

I am.

OK, what are the most annoying things people ask or say to you about being single?

57:03

I think it really depends.

I don't find too much of it to be all that annoying unless you're on like the dating apps, but I just don't do them anymore because I can't handle them and people.

I think this is true regardless of dating apps that, like the Internet has emboldened people to feel as though they can say things that in no way would you ever walk up to somebody and say, like if I met you in a restaurant or a bar or at, you know, a meet queue at the farmers market or whatever it is.

57:35

Like there's no scenario like in real life, if I'm will say farmers market because it makes a cuter ROM com.

Like if I'm at the farmers market and some gentleman is like, oh, that girl doesn't have a ring on.

I'm going to go see if she's single or whatever the thought process would be.

57:52

There's like no scenario where that person walks up and is like, So what are you looking for on here?

What do you, you know, like that's like the opening question of like, So what are you looking for?

And I guess there could be a lot of answers to that.

But like I, when I was on the dating apps, literally put in my profile looking for actual dates.

58:12

And I'd be like so then when someone would ask it, I'd be like looking for someone who reads the profile.

Looking for somebody who has an attention to detail, right?

The smallest.

Kind yeah, like read 1 sentence like yeah, but there's just I don't know.

And then obviously things are there are good guys out there.

58:28

That's not what I'm saying.

And I'm sure that if you're a man on the dating apps that there are all sorts of other things that women do as well, right?

But so.

But in general, I also don't love small talk like.

Oh yeah, my sister Casey, Yeah, she's like the epitome of hating small talk.

58:48

I don't love it either because I'm not super great at it.

Yeah.

And so I think it's just, you know, it's hard to like form a connection with someone via text, which is kind of like a weird and confusing medium because you can't for conversation totally.

So I just find it all kind of exhausting.

59:06

So yeah, single, but that's OK.

Single looking for actual dates.

Yeah exactly.

Real life dates.

Not like texting forever.

Like I just I just so interesting.

It just doesn't seem that complicated to me, like to plan a date like it's like we're 40 years old.

59:24

Like you, you plan on how to feed yourself every day, don't you?

Like it's just that with another person.

Like, it's not that complicated people.

And then we talk in real life.

Yeah.

And it's wild.

You know, it's crazy.

Well, I mean, at least you, I mean, do you have family that's like all like the every time you see them?

59:41

That's what I picture like I've no, no, my family is real chill.

I think much like myself.

I think my I'm an only child so my family's pretty small in terms of it's just me and my dad since my mom passed.

I think my dad would love if I found someone that to spend time with or and I would as well but.

1:00:01

I think the older you get, the more you're like kind of know what you're looking for.

And like, maybe there's exceptions to those things, but like, there are certain things that I really want with the rest of my life.

Like, if nothing else, like my mom dying really early.

I'm not, you know, gonna pass away at 63, I don't think.

1:00:20

But I'm 41.

So that means I've theoretically got 22 years left, right?

Or that I'm 66% through my life.

So like, what am I going to do with the remaining 33%?

And not settling.

Well, and it's like there's stuff I want to do.

Like I love to travel.

1:00:36

So like I went on a date with a guy.

This isn't just what happened and he doesn't have a passport and he's like, well, I've never had the opportunity to travel.

And like maybe there's a condition that that's true, but I'm also like, you're 43.

All you have to do is like get a passport and like buy a plane ticket like.

1:00:52

Yeah, like, what do you mean you're not hurt like there?

Yeah.

Like, are you on?

Like, are you in witness protection?

Like, what do you mean?

Why can't you just go, you know?

And like, so for me, like, I'm like, that's not a fit because I have all these places I want to go and see and explore.

And like, if in your 43 years on this planet you have never felt compelled to do that, then that's just not who you are as a person.

1:01:14

Which is fine, just not for me.

Right, Yeah, well, if you were back on the apps, OK, looking for actual dates and someone with a passport, Yeah, Yeah, because that's true.

Like, and you're like, Dang, yeah, you're nice, but like, yeah, that's not gonna.

Right.

Like what are my values?

What do I want to accomplish with the remaining time that I have and seeing the world is like really high on my list.

1:01:34

So like in that scenario, that's just not the right person for me, you know?

Yeah, well, when when I do an international marathon, I will be asking you to join Cali.

OK.

I don't think I'm going to qualify for not the.

Important ones.

1:01:50

So to qualify, you just have to get in.

Here's the deal with the like big major ones.

Like sure, it'd be so cool to experience those.

But, and I've talked to a couple people on this podcast about this topic where it's like, but I'd almost rather be like, I really want to go.

I really want to go back to Luxembourg where I stayed abroad.

1:02:06

They have a marathon there.

It's at night.

That sounds really cool.

Like I, I want to pick places that I want to go or revisit and use that as an like, use a then have a race to go explore that area.

I think running somewhere is a great way to like see somewhere.

1:02:24

Oh yeah.

And it's, I mean, obviously not everywhere, but certainly Europe.

Like just traveling by foot is just normal, right?

Like even if you're not running, like you're walking everywhere.

Yeah.

And that always, like, cracks me up about America and Americans and, like, how, like, tied we are to our cars and our parking lots.

1:02:43

And like, like, if you have to walk like three blocks from the parking lot to wherever, you're like people, you know, it's like, yeah, what are you talking about?

Like.

I try to think about that sometimes when I'm like trying to look for a spot.

I'm like just park, just park and walk.

1:02:59

Yeah, like it's true.

Like we're so programmed to find the close, like limit the amount almost like of walking that you do.

It's so wild to Yeah, it's.

Like a yeah.

And then you go to Europe and it's like somehow you just flip a switch and become a different person.

And you're like, oh, I walk everywhere now.

You like, look and you're like, oh, this this restaurant's a mile away.

1:03:16

Perfect.

Yeah.

Just we'll make a walk, you know, we'll plan and we'll walk there and here you're like, OK, great.

I'll call an Uber or I'll get them.

All the time.

And my friends consistently think that I'm crazy.

Now, is it like potentially unsafe to walk at night?

Yeah, sure.

Like also, I don't want to live my life in fear.

1:03:33

Like I'm going to walk.

I like to walk.

And but if we were in Europe, it wouldn't be weird, you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, it's.

It's just interesting to me, but.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah.

Well, God, that makes me nervous for you.

Yeah, my mom and your brace.

1:03:48

Yeah, delete it from my brain.

I'm going to need you to reshare your location so that I can see you at all times, because we were trying to do that at the Ragnar to figure out where people were.

I was so sleep deprived.

I just kept saying like hitting the wrong thing.

You know, you can share for like a hot 2nd or like share for like an hour, share for like a day.

1:04:06

And I just kept hitting the like one that just tells you where I am right this minute.

Yes.

And we were in the van together and I'm like.

Here I am guys.

I'm right here.

I'm right next to you.

I'm in the van.

God.

Second row.

Second row next to Jen.

Yeah, but.

1:04:22

Yeah, eventually I figured it out and shared it.

I don't know whatever it.

Was and then we had no service, so it wouldn't work.

So it was really hard.

Jennifer had an air tag.

I don't think we ever could get that really to work either.

Yeah, I don't know.

Anyway, we were all fine.

So I'm gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions now.

1:04:37

OK You ready for those?

I am.

OK.

First one your favorite running mantra and or song.

My favorite running song is probably 7 Nation Army.

What's that?

The White Stripes I.

1:04:54

Don't sing.

There we go.

Yeah.

OK, I'm with you.

Sorry, I don't know that.

It just got a really strong baseline to it like the beat is.

Yeah.

That's good is good.

And I think my running mantra is more like just keep moving like.

1:05:12

What do we put on your?

Sweatshirt Drishti like focus.

Oh, that's just like a yoga thing type of word about like finding your point, your focal point or whatever.

But I think like just keep moving, right.

Like I used to be more competitive, I guess, and think, oh, I'm going to PR Oh, I need to do it.

1:05:29

And now I'm just like, I don't know if you listen to like the armchair expert Dax Shepard, but like when I got on there, yeah.

She talks about walking, which is just when she like alternates walking and jogging.

And I'm like, yeah, if you want to walk in the middle of your run, you can like you are not competing with anybody but yourself.

1:05:46

Like let it go, sis.

Like you want to walk, cool.

You want to Sprint, Great.

You know, So like, I think like for me, it's like just keep moving, put one foot in front of the next.

And I think that that's sort of the mentality I've had when I've had difficulties in my life too, right?

1:06:02

Is like, and you and I talked about this in the van when we were driving home in the pouring rain about like, nothing always gets worse.

Like, eventually things get better for the most part, right?

I mean, obviously there's some exceptions to that.

But like in general, just keep like keep moving, keep putting 1 foot in front of the other.

1:06:21

Nothing always gets worse, whether it's that, you know, uphill second mile where you're having a mental breakdown and crying and trying to run or if it's getting through grief or it's doing my expense report at work.

Like just just keep, just keep moving.

1:06:36

Yeah, yeah, it's so, it's so good.

Well, I can't wait to add The White Stripes to the playlist.

I have a playlist for this podcast that I, it might be a little outdated right now, but then when I listen to it, when I run occasionally, then I'll be like, I remember who's to what song and that's really fun.

1:06:51

Yeah.

You have to share it with.

Yeah, I will.

And then next finish line or milestone.

You know, I don't have one that I'm training for right now, but I might get, I might say yes.

Might do a couple.

Might say yes to the Gasparella with Alexis.

Might say yes to Vegas.

1:07:07

Get my retribution.

Yeah, I got my retribution because I went back and didn't pee my pants.

Yeah, race.

That's a good one.

So I don't know, but I think that's kind of normal for me in terms of like being December again, I'm a fair weather person.

So like whatever activity I'm doing is happening indoors right now, right?

1:07:26

And so I'm like doing the Orangetheory 12 days of fitness right now, you know, stuff like that.

I don't know if that's exactly a milestone.

It's just going to the gym 12 times.

But, yeah, there you go.

Whoo.

Well, I mean, that's the thing.

Yeah.

Celebrate completing that because, yeah, like, for a lot, a lot of people can't do that.

1:07:44

Yeah.

So it's like, cool.

Good job.

Yeah.

Finish that up.

So wait, when did it start?

What day are you on?

Did it start December one?

Yeah.

And it's 12 days.

Yeah.

OK, got it.

At least it's not 25.

No, too many.

A lot.

Yeah.

You got to get rested, do you?

1:07:59

Do them all in a row or you just do 12 classes in December.

Oh.

Well, to be fair, I'm not probably even going to get to all 12.

OK, well, that's fine.

Because I only pay for these things per month.

Oh, so but like, you know.

Yeah, well, it feels like they should let you do that.

You can.

Pay out of pocket for like additional or if you have unlimited but I reduced down to 8 * a month.

1:08:20

I was unlimited but I reduced down to 8 when I was training for the Ragnar because I was.

Trying to run?

Yeah, trying to run more.

Yeah, yeah.

So.

Well, thanks for doing this.

I'm so glad I got to see you.

Yes, it's fun to hang out and hopefully we can get a Sandy Van reunion on the books.

1:08:35

Do you think we can request Sandy specifically?

Yeah, yeah, we're going to need Sandy.

What was the other one?

Don't remember, it wasn't our Van Wilbur.

Wilbur it was.

Wilbur, that's a pretty good name for a van.

Yeah.

1:08:50

Anyway, OK, I digress.

Thank you, Callie.

Thanks.

Thank you to everybody who's listened.

And happy running.

If you enjoyed this Sandy Boy Productions podcast, please share, rate and review.

1:09:08

See you next week.