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#520 Running Ho-Ho-Ho Down: Holiday Cheer, RunDOT Insights & Descending Intervals
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In this festive episode of the Grit2Greatness Endurance Podcast, we unwrap holiday cheer with our Tri-Ho-Ho-Ho fun segment, dive into Ask A Coach to decode your RunDOT improvements, and share the G2G Workout of the Week featuring descending intervals for mental and physical strength. Plus, we’ve got announcements on TriDot Pool School and Grit2Greatness Velocity Cycling subscriptions. Sponsored by Vespa Power Endurance and TriDot Training, helping you train smarter and race stronger.
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TriDot Pool School CS 2/28-3/1 - TPS @ Colorado Springs CO- February 28-March1-Pool School
Average improvement for the last two pool schools in Colorado Springs was 15% and this was after 2 days of swimming at altitude with a lot of out-of-state visitors!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:26
Rich
Welcome to episode 520 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance podcast, where your host coaches, Rich Soares, April Spilde and Lauren Brown, and you have found the podcast for endurance athletes who want to train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness.
00:00:31
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:00:43
April
Whether you are a swimmer, cyclist, or runner, whether you like smooth roads or rocky trails, wherever you are in the pack, each week we share practical coaching insights, proven strategies, and a little fun to keep you motivated.
00:01:00
Lauren Brown
And whether you're chasing your first finish line or aiming for a new PR, you're part of a community that pushes, inspires, and celebrates every step of the journey. Let's dive in and get gritty together.
00:01:13
Rich
That's right. We train hard, we race smart, and today we are going to unwrap a little holiday cheer. Here we go.
Announcements and News
00:01:20
April
Yes. In today's show, coach Rich is going to bring us our announcements and news. We have our very special ask a coach section about what we do when we bump that dot.
00:01:33
April
And I'm sure you might be wondering what the heck does that mean? So we're going to talk about that as well.
00:01:37
Lauren Brown
Thank
00:01:38
April
We have our GDG workout of the week and our fun segment is holiday inspired. I'm putting you through a triple threat gauntlet of holiday cheer called try ho ho ho.
00:01:52
Lauren Brown
you.
00:01:53
April
So I can't, can't wait to bring that back to you, Rich.
00:01:56
Rich
i love That. Ho, ho, ho. All right. So, hey, if you missed our webinar this past week, remember, third week, third Tuesday of the month, every month, we do a Grit to Greatness live webinar. This week, we did it on building habits. It was...
00:02:14
Rich
Greatness is a Habit and How to Build Yours. it was a great workshop on building habits for success next year. If you missed that, you can go to our YouTube channel or you can go to our website to the webinars page and you can play it back and see all of the great discussion and information that we shared.
00:02:32
Rich
Lots going on here in the grit to greatness world. We have a tried out pool school coming up in Colorado Springs, February 20th through March 1st. If swimming is on your list of Things to improve.
00:02:47
Rich
Fear. You know, you just want to get more confident. You want to get faster. This is the time and place to do it. There's a link here in the show notes. Average improvement. The last two pool schools in Colorado Springs.
00:02:58
Rich
And this is at altitude, folks. 15%. And just to, you know,
00:03:03
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:03:04
Rich
Great time to also not only improve your swim skills, but also make a few friends.
Community Engagement and Promotions
00:03:10
Rich
We have a Grit to Greatness Strava Club. Join us. It's live now. There's a link here in the show notes. We've got everybody sharing their workouts there and giving out some kudos. So join us on our Grit to Greatness Strava Club and...
00:03:24
Rich
We have a a really fun thing coming, a really exciting program, Velocity Cycling subscriptions on the Grit to Greatness branded platform.
00:03:34
Rich
We are fine-tuning our launch. We are going to be fine-tuning it this weekend and next week. Tune in because we are going to announce... our first ambassador ride. It's going to be on in January for our ambassadors to take this for a a test spin, if you will, and then watch for this to open up for a broader audience for for just more of a general audience starting in February.
00:04:03
Rich
You guys excited about Velocity?
00:04:05
Lauren Brown
I can't wait. I can't wait for people to experience it. I can't wait to be on the mic coaching athletes through the workouts and seeing how it changes their, their riding experience.
00:04:20
April
Oh yeah, we are bringing it with the motivation. We're bringing it with the the cues and all the things. I think it's going to be one of the greatest things we do in 2026. With your coaches.
00:04:31
Rich
Yeah, think spin class, but only like next level spin class where we're really working on bike skills, you know, really working on like.
00:04:31
Lauren Brown
Yes.
00:04:39
April
with your coaches
00:04:41
Rich
Yeah, with your coaches, live with your coaches. So it's going to be fantastic. you're going to learn a lot and you are going to get faster. and you are you know if if if like I know a lot of people are are a little intimidated about shifting and like how to do you like how to shift in certain conditions and stuff like that. Man, if you're one of those people, you belong in our Velocity studio.
Understanding 'Bumping a Dot'
00:05:06
Rich
All right, so let's get into this ask a coach question. So guys, I'm not kidding you. This is, you're gonna blow your mind. Max bumped,
00:05:17
Rich
Max is one of the yeah athletes I i coach. he is He's he's a really a great runner. He just did the New York City Marathon and the Philadelphia Marathon and just bumped five dots on his run.
00:05:29
April
No.
00:05:32
Rich
Kid you not.
00:05:33
Lauren Brown
And he's really fast.
00:05:33
Rich
So he's really fast already, right?
00:05:34
April
Holy mackerel.
00:05:36
Rich
So what is this going to mean for the rest of the world? Especially those people that are competing for a Boston slot. Watch out, here comes Max. max so Max inspired this you know this curiosity of mine and right alongside with this came the USAT level two performance running coaching.
00:05:56
Rich
And this kind of this question was actually you know one of the things that we had to try to figure out as a part of the class and one of the things we dove into. so The question is, i bumped my dot, which means, oh, so for a little bit of context here, what does that mean, bumping a dot?
00:06:14
Rich
In run dot, this means the dot score is basically your percentile rank among your your athletes that are your peers your gender and plus or minus six months of your birthday so it is a comparison of your fitness your run performance in terms of you know your your 5k or 10k assessment and how you stack up against your peers it is
00:06:23
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:06:44
Rich
data The data is normalized so that you're, it's like, you know, truly comparing apples to apples. So you're not comparing somebody who did their assessment at 6,000 feet against someone who did their assessment at zero elevation.
00:07:15
Rich
In this case, let's say if you had a a run dot of 86, just making up a number here, that would mean that you're in the 86th percentile, the top percentile of your peer group.
00:07:27
Rich
you know eighty six percentile of your of your peer group So when you improve in your
Running Performance Factors
00:07:34
Rich
assessment, you kind of want to know well what was making that result happen. You just saw your your your dot score, data optimized training score increase, but what does that really mean? So we're gonna kick this off with a few few things to kind of explain this or some things to consider.
00:07:51
Rich
because this is what your coaches are considering. Start with a big picture. Run. dot Is a composite score. It reflects your overall running performance potential based on your training data, physiiolog physio phyio physiological, easy for me to say markers and recent workouts, key drivers of run. dot Or key factors or drivers of your run performance and run fitness are a your aerobic fitness or your endurance base, B, your anaerobic capacity, speed and power, your running economy, how efficiently you move, and your mental resilience under fatigue. Those factors really are your you know limiters, if you will, in terms of your run performance.
00:08:54
April
You can also look at your increase in weekly mileage, uh, looking also to see how many different types of training, different training stresses that you've had, whether it was through a tempo run interval run, uh, long runs or the easy runs.
00:09:13
April
These patterns really hint at your aerobic versus anaerobic gains. Next you can analyze your pace versus your heart rate.
00:09:24
April
If you're running faster at the same heart rate or lower, that is a strong sign of aerobic adaptation and it improved running economy.
00:09:31
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:09:35
April
And then you can also review your interval performance. Are your short intervals improving? That really does a point that points to that anaerobic capacity, your fast switch muscle fibers, longer sustained efforts improving. That is your aerobic strength or your cardiovascular engine.
00:09:56
Lauren Brown
Next, we will look at running economy indicators. So this is looking at things like your cadence, ground contact time, your stride length that you might get from your Garmin or similar device, more efficient mechanics,
00:10:39
Lauren Brown
You also want to look at mental resilience cues. And I love this one because this real quick, real quick story, it just makes me think of when I look at some runners who are older than me and I'm like, dang, they are like, they can go so long and be so uncomfortable. And then I'm thinking, well, they have, they likely have a lot more years on me of developing that mental resilience. They've been there before. They've been fatigued. They know they were able to get through it. So it is something that can develop over time.
00:11:18
Lauren Brown
And when, again, when I like, I love seeing athletes that are in their sixties, seventies, eighties, still running strong. So going back to mental resilience clues, did you nail tough workouts despite fatigue?
00:11:33
Lauren Brown
Did you have consistent execution under stress? That often signals mental gains that translate to better race performance. Because again, when you're on a race day and you're mentally starting to feel fatigued, you'll be able to think back to the workouts that you pushed through.
00:11:51
Lauren Brown
Next one, field tests to confirm. So aerobic, looking at 30 to 60 minutes steady state run at zone two. Again, if you compare your pace to your heart rate trends, so if you're able to run faster and keep your heart rate at the same pace, or if your heart rate doesn't go up of running at the same pace,
00:12:15
Lauren Brown
Anaerobic, so if you're looking at, for example, six by 400 meters or eight by 200 meters, track your speed and your recovery.
00:12:25
Lauren Brown
Looking at economy, repeatable sub-threshold runs, watch for your heart rate drift. And then resilience, back-to-back hard sessions, evaluate your ability to be consistent with those hard workouts.
00:12:45
Rich
Yeah, and if you are using the Run.platform and the sister app, the Tri.platform, look for the insights in the app, your training optimization score and workout difficulty ratings.
00:12:47
Lauren Brown
using the Rapp.platform and the sister app, the Trayv.platform, look for the insight.
00:12:57
Rich
If you see those going up, you know that you are making improvements and you will see those improvements in your predicted race pace or threshold pace often confirmed, often will confirm those physiological gains.
00:13:11
Rich
correlate with race simulation so go run a race a race x simulation and in a controlled time trial let's say you're you know training for a for a marathon maybe test your half marathon if your predicted times are dropping your adaptations are translating into performance the whole idea behind all of this is that what you want to do is identify what's working so that you can lean into that because that is the area where your body is responding to the training the most.
Training Improvements through Data
00:13:43
Rich
So we're using this cue, know, that your bodies are giving us. there's cu There's clues in here about where to focus and focusing on the things that are giving you payback. So if aerobic markers are trending up, keep building endurance. If the speed is popping up, maintain that anaerobic work, but balance the balance it, of course, with recovery.
00:14:04
Rich
If you're seeing economy gains, double down on drills and strength oh because that's where you're getting the gains is in that economy. It is usually a multitude of factors. What we're trying to do is figure out which ones are making the biggest difference.
00:14:19
Rich
Closing tip here, improvement is rare is rarely from, like I just said, from one factor. It's that synergy of smart training, recovery, and mindset. Track the trends, test regularly, and let data be your guide.
00:14:32
Lauren Brown
And we are leaning into running today. Before we, before we lean into running today, I'm jumping, I'm jumping too ahead. Our get gritty sponsor Vespa power.
00:14:44
Lauren Brown
Vespa power endurance helps you tap into steady clean energy. So you stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer. Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less glycogen as your fuel source.
00:15:01
Lauren Brown
Vespa comes in CV25, junior, and concentrate, providing less sugar, higher performance, and faster recovery. You can click the link in the show notes. Use discount code 303ENDURANCE20 for 20% off.
00:15:20
Lauren Brown
All right. And now we will continue to lean into running with our grit-to-greatness workout of the week. descending intervals.
00:15:31
Lauren Brown
So this time of year, if you're looking for a workout that you can do outside, again, a lot of us are getting our runs outside. We might not be getting as many bikes or swims done outside.
00:15:43
Lauren Brown
So i want to highlight one of my personal favorites, the descending intervals. I love this session because it's challenging it's challenging physically, but it's also a powerful mental workout. It teaches you how to stay controlled, how to trust your effort and how to settle into the discomfort.
00:16:06
Lauren Brown
Mentally, I also love it a little bit on the flip side. I, because i know the intervals are going to get shorter and that makes it feel a little bit easier for me to hang on with each effort.
00:16:21
Lauren Brown
So what are descending intervals and why do we do them? Descending intervals mean that the effort stays the same. So with the descent, the diss descending intervals, you will typically be running at that zone for effort, that threshold, but the duration of the work gets shorter as the session goes on.
Descending Intervals Workout
00:16:41
Lauren Brown
So instead of trying to build intensity where Shrinking the time. And that's an important distinction so that you're again, you're in that comfortably uncomfortable pace. It's hard, but it's sustainable. and
00:16:58
Lauren Brown
these sessions, they, they teach effort awareness as well. So early on, you're, you know, you're disciplined. If you go out too hot in that first interval, you're going to feel it later, even though the intervals are getting shorter when you pace it correctly.
00:17:15
Lauren Brown
The workouts start to feel, it starts to feel more manageable as it goes on, even though your efforts never changing again, the the duration is decreasing. Mentally, this is huge. You're learning how to stay calm at a hard effort and to trust that you can hold it for the entire workout.
00:17:34
Rich
Love this workout too. You know, and one of the things I really love about this workout is it teaches us that just because an interval is shorter that it shouldn't get faster, right?
00:17:44
Rich
Being able to, it's really easy to fall in the trap of, well, it's shorter so I can just go harder. You know, this is a great one to, you know, really teach you some training discipline really.
00:17:48
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:17:54
Rich
Here's the workout itself. First, warmup matters always on anything, any run, but in particular, anything where you've got some intensity. Recommend doing 10 minutes. Easy. Yes. Include the drills. Don't skip them. They are not fluff. they are They prime your nervous system. They wake up the muscles. They are going to be the thing.
00:18:13
Rich
That makes sure that your joints and connective tissue are ready to do the work as well as making sure that you are do it'll help do things like help make sure that you've got good form when you get started that you're engaging your glutes instead of your quads.
00:18:30
Rich
All sorts of things to help you feel better and perform better without injury. After you get the warm up done, main set looks like this. All of the intervals are done at a threshold effort, as Coach Lauren just said. With one minute of easy recovery between each of the intervals, you're going to do the first one at six minutes.
00:18:49
Rich
Then you'll have that quick 60-second recovery. and Then you'll do two at three minutes apiece.
00:18:55
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:18:56
Rich
then four at 90 seconds. And then all of again are all done at the the same same pace. You're not speeding up as they get shorter. What i love about this is by the time you get to that 90 second rep, the effort actually feels a lot more controlled, maybe not easier, but definitely more familiar. And that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to, and you know, and see if you could try to guess your pace, you know, before you look at your watch, you know, see if how close you are to, Hey, am I feeling the pace?
00:19:26
Lauren Brown
I real quick sets say, I'm so guilty of what you said, Rich, earlier when these first started showing up, I was like, I'm going faster on these 90 seconds. I know I can hit zone five.
00:19:37
Lauren Brown
And I'm like, I'm such a child. Thanks.
00:19:44
April
Yeah. You're having fun with it. I love it.
00:19:47
Rich
Yes.
00:19:47
April
Well, this is really good for that.
00:19:48
Rich
Ask fun.
00:19:49
April
Yeah. Fast fun. This is good for that mental maturity. When we hit the, the mean streets for these, uh, decreasing intervals, uh, seriously though, this workout, this is so important because it does translate to both, not only training, but racing.
00:19:58
Lauren Brown
so
00:20:04
April
And that is where this session really shines. Descending intervals are great for threshold development, but they're also fantastic for teaching control late in a race. They mimic that feeling of having to hold your pace when fatigue is already present. And honestly, that is where true grit is built.
00:20:23
April
And here is the important distinction. The workout is not a fart lick, which is also a wonderful workout, but this is two distinct things. Even though the intervals get shorter, the effort isn't random.
00:20:36
April
It's also not a VO2 max session. You're not redlining or chasing speed. You're staying disciplined. So compared to something like cruise intervals, which are longer steady repeats, this session challenges your ability to stay composed as fatigue accumulates.
00:20:54
April
If threshold work sometimes feels intimidating or overwhelming, this is a really approachable way to train it because mentally you're always counting down. That is such a true point. So to wrap up this workout, if you're looking for a run session that builds fitness, confidence, and effort awareness all at once,
00:21:16
April
Descending threshold intervals are a great option.
00:21:16
Lauren Brown
Hello?
00:21:18
April
They teach you that hard doesn't have to mean chaotic and that staying calm and controlled at a tough effort is a skill that you can train. That is this week's workout of the week. We want you to give it a try and let us know what you think. Give, give this a go on the track or,
00:21:36
April
On the treadmill, it really is a great approachable way to build in that interval work while also building that mental grit. So great job, coach Lauren.
00:21:46
Lauren Brown
I'm
00:21:47
Rich
Love it. yeah.
00:21:48
April
Okay. Let us pull up our stockings because we're going on a sleigh ride.
00:21:49
Lauren Brown
ready.
00:21:52
April
You both ready.
00:21:54
Lauren Brown
i'm ready
00:21:55
Rich
heck yeah
00:21:57
April
It is officially the season of ugly sweaters, twinkle lights, and pretending our off season snacks don't count. Good Lord. Is that true? got to say today, I went to this amazing restaurant. We had our work party holiday celebration at a fabulous restaurant that I've never been to before. It's called Perry's restaurant in Denver. Yeah.
00:22:21
April
And I ate a pork, pork chop, the size of my head, and I'm still feeling the afterburn, but no, those calories do not count.
00:22:33
April
Just kidding. They always do, but Hey, we're having fun here. So We're going to bring a little holiday cheer to the pod with a segment we are calling Try Ho Ho Ho, where Christmas spirit meets swim, bike, run, logic, or the lack thereof. And it is a three-stage gauntlet for both of you.
00:22:53
April
So... I'm going to throw out some festive questions and scenarios and you just tell me what you would do. There honestly are no wrong answers here. I, I'm, I just want to hear your opinions.
00:23:03
April
Okay.
00:23:03
Lauren Brown
All right.
00:23:04
April
There's no trading plans. They were not harmed in the making of this segment. And we're ready to start our ho ho ho. So ho one is Christmas tri trivia.
00:23:15
April
So rich and Lauren, let me ask you true or false. This is your opinion. Okay. The week before or between, sorry, the week between we're talking about those holidays, hallowed sacred grounds between Christmas and new year's is the most common time endurance, uh, most common time endurance athletes convince themselves they're still training. Is this true or false?
00:23:40
Lauren Brown
False. I'm going to say they just say they're not trained.
00:23:44
Rich
I'm going to say false too. I think we finally just finally admit to ourselves. Okay. I am, uh, I'm clearly off the wagon.
00:23:51
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:23:52
April
Well, I'm staying on the wagon. I am in denial 100%. I am still training during this week.
00:23:59
Lauren Brown
yeah I mean, I'll still be trained, but I think that we like, yeah.
00:23:59
April
So a little divergence. Yes.
00:24:03
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:24:05
April
The common, the common athlete might, might, uh, yeah, have to admit that they are no longer training here.
00:24:10
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:24:14
April
Okay. Which, yeah, I'm still trying.
00:24:15
Rich
I'm trying.
00:24:17
April
Which holiday tradition secretly doubles as your endurance training? A, standing in long lines for the last minute shopping. B, carrying gifts and luggage through the airport.
00:24:32
April
C hosting family and being on all day or D helping Santa wrap presents for that, for the tree at 2.00 AM. Which one is your endurance event?
00:24:44
Lauren Brown
I'm terrible. I'm like, none of
00:24:49
April
Feel free to throw in your own as well.
00:24:54
Lauren Brown
Entertaining the children while everyone else is doing the the hosting.
00:25:01
April
Yes, the socializing and hosting. You're on trial duty.
00:25:06
Lauren Brown
My child duty.
00:25:07
April
yeah
00:25:07
Lauren Brown
They think im I'm one of them.
00:25:10
April
but
00:25:10
Rich
kind of a derivative. It's kind of like a C. It's, you know, hosting family and being on all day is definitely my endurance event.
00:25:20
April
Yeah, I can see it, Rich. I know you have a wonderful family and you all get together and I'm sure it's just a big joyous riot.
00:25:28
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:25:29
Rich
Thank you for helping me recover from, you know, probably offending somebody in my family. That's awesome.
00:25:37
April
I know your agendas.
00:25:38
Rich
Busted.
00:25:38
April
So I can say that you have you are a party planner. You can go from a to Z with your agendas. So I believe it.
00:25:48
Rich
Nice. Well done. Well played.
00:25:49
April
Yeah. yeah but i think that, uh, I think I might be a, I am definitely last minute shopper.
00:26:01
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:26:02
April
yeah, yeah. It's not great, but that is an endurance event that I'm willing to willing to take on. All right. Last question here in our first event. What's the most common Christmas lie told by endurance athletes? a I'll just have one cookie.
00:26:23
April
B, this is just an easy run. C, I'll start fresh in January or D, all of the above. Your opinion.
00:26:34
Lauren Brown
D.
00:26:36
Rich
All the above, huh?
00:26:37
Lauren Brown
the
00:26:37
Rich
All right.
00:26:38
April
Tis the season to lie to ourselves.
00:26:39
Rich
Yeah.
00:26:40
April
Yes. All right. We are moving on to hoe number two, naughty or nice. It is time to decide. I'm going to give you three situations. Do you tell me whether or not they are naughty or nice? The first one, wearing your race kit under a Christmas sweater at family dinner to keep you from stuffing your face.
00:27:03
Lauren Brown
You first, Rich.
00:27:06
Rich
I kind of like that, you know, and a little feeling of like, you know, the stuffed sausage kind of, you know, feedback, huh?
00:27:11
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:27:11
April
Yeah. We got a waistband here, man. Yeah.
00:27:14
Rich
Yeah.
00:27:14
April
Stuff sausage effect.
00:27:14
Rich
Yeah. I kind of like that. It's like a laparoscopic band, but like for the whole body.
00:27:20
April
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:21
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:27:22
April
Yeah.
00:27:22
Lauren Brown
I mean, that's like that's instant feedback.
00:27:25
April
Oh my gosh. Is it ever.
00:27:26
Lauren Brown
what's happening. going to say it's naughty. I don't want to be feeling like I'm called out by my eating habits on Christmas Eve.
00:27:35
Rich
Fair, fair.
00:27:36
April
That is fair. That is fair. Okay. Calling shoveling snow your strength training session. Not your nice.
00:27:46
Lauren Brown
Nice.
00:27:47
Rich
done this, finally given up on that and gotten a snowblower. But, you know, for a long time, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm rationalizing. I don't need a snowblower. This is my strength session.
00:28:00
Lauren Brown
I mean, I bet you were more sore after shoveling snow than you've been after some of your strength sessions.
00:28:05
Rich
your heart will Your heart rate will skyrocket doing that work.
00:28:08
Lauren Brown
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:10
April
It is.
00:28:11
Lauren Brown
So.
00:28:11
Rich
I mean, i like you'd be sweating buckets.
00:28:11
April
It's hard effort. It's absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:14
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:28:15
April
It falls in that category. 100%. All right.
00:28:18
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:28:19
April
Here's your third naughty or nice gifting yourself new gear and labeling it from Santa.
00:28:25
Lauren Brown
Yes. I think that's nice.
00:28:27
April
Naughty or nice. but
00:28:30
Rich
admittedly naughty but i do it i do it i am bad santa let me explain
00:28:37
April
Yes. these new Nike, uh, zooms aren't going to you know, pay for themselves here. So,
00:28:46
Rich
oh yes
00:28:49
April
uh, all right. We have passed stage two. We are moving on to hoe three. Would you rather, would you rather do a long run in freezing temps or a trainer ride with zero entertainment?
00:29:05
Lauren Brown
Run freezing
00:29:10
Rich
yeah, I think freezing temps.
00:29:12
April
I know we are that. Yep. I'm the same. i would much rather do that. actually enjoy being out in the cold running.
00:29:20
Lauren Brown
If you're dressed appropriately. yeah Like if I had zero entertainment, i was just sitting on my bike, staring at a wall.
00:29:25
April
Oh, that'd be rough. That's torture.
00:29:26
Lauren Brown
no. Yeah.
00:29:31
Rich
I think I would just be like, like locked into my head unit, right? Just, you know, like... It's the only way I could do it.
00:29:36
April
Yeah.
00:29:37
Rich
Like if I could focus like, yeah okay, I got focus on a number or something. Maybe that's just me.
00:29:41
April
Yes.
00:29:43
April
Yeah. Uh, that, that would be a test of grit. All right. I have done this, uh, with running in freezing temps. I've actually run, Alaska at about 20 below and had all the appropriate gear. Well, the one thing I did not plan for was my water bottle freezing.
00:30:04
April
So that was a, that was a rude awakening when I went for water and I'm, you know, I'm halfway out there and, and realized, oh my gosh, my, the, not just the nozzle, but the first inch of the bottle was frozen.
00:30:16
April
So there was no no, no hydration. So little, little clue there. Y'all don't, uh, don't make that mistake.
00:30:25
Lauren Brown
Yeah, good tip.
00:30:27
April
Yes. Okay. Would you rather. Skip dessert or skip your workout on Christmas day.
00:30:37
Rich
Honestly,
00:30:40
April
Yeah, this is honesty.
00:30:40
Rich
you gotta be honest here.
00:30:41
April
Yeah. Amnesty hour.
00:30:42
Rich
I'm gonna I would probably skip my workout.
00:30:46
Lauren Brown
Yeah, i think i I think I'd move my workout because there's no way there's no way I'm not eating dessert.
00:30:46
April
Yeah.
00:30:50
Rich
Yeah.
00:30:54
April
Exactly. Exactly.
00:30:55
Lauren Brown
There's just no way.
00:30:57
Rich
Well, and and I think my my I've had a swim workout on Christmas Day. So you know, the pools could be closed anyway.
00:31:03
April
Yeah, you got to move it anyway.
00:31:04
Rich
There you go.
00:31:05
April
Yeah.
00:31:06
Lauren Brown
I had no choice.
00:31:07
Lauren Brown
i
00:31:09
April
What is your favorite Christmas dessert?
00:31:13
Lauren Brown
My sister makes like a tray of Christmas cookies. so like i mean, I love her lace cookies.
00:31:22
April
Oh, what are those?
00:31:24
Lauren Brown
Lace cookies, they're like those really thin, thin, thin ones. that have like like a little bit of chocolate and know if it's like, it's not caramel. I don't even know what what is on them. They're really good.
00:31:38
Lauren Brown
But she makes it like,
00:31:38
April
Oh, you got to take a picture and send it to me, Lauren, because I would love to see what that looks like.
00:31:43
Lauren Brown
yeah. So, i mean, I'd say my monkey bread, but my sister really goes like all, she does amazing with her cookies, so.
00:31:54
Rich
I'm really enjoying these confections that these custom chocolates that I got from the vendor.
00:32:01
April
Oh, yeah.
00:32:02
Rich
But the I think my I think the thing that I really love I love ginger I love ginger snaps so like ginger snap cookies on a you know holiday tray of you know little treats right up my alley.
00:32:08
Lauren Brown
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:32:10
April
Mm. Good choice. I love crumb caca. and We even have a, yeah, yeah.
00:32:21
Rich
What?
00:32:22
April
Crumb caca. It's a, it's a cookie, that you press in a griddle. And it is beautiful designs. It's a Norwegian dish.
00:32:33
April
And then you roll it like a cone and you can either eat it like that, or you can put a little cream in there.
00:32:41
April
Oh, it's so good. But it's a it's a cardamom, cinnamon, sugar cookie that is just like the perfect thinness.
00:32:46
Lauren Brown
Hmm.
00:32:50
April
It's not too thick and it's not too sweet. You could eat them with coffee. Like they're like, you know what, if we get together, y'all I'm going to make it for you. Cause we have our own crew, cock, uh, griddle and it's, it's so good. is so much fun to make.
00:33:07
Lauren Brown
I love cookies, so you can make as many cookies as you want. It's like, that's like my, I usually like after a race, I used to always put cookies either by my transition area or like go get a box of cookies and have in my car.
00:33:10
April
yeah
00:33:19
Lauren Brown
And that was always my, like, I need to have cookies after my race.
00:33:22
April
Hmm. That's a good choice.
00:33:24
Lauren Brown
Sweet tooth. So holding you to it when I come out to Colorado.
00:33:29
April
Oh yes.
00:33:30
Rich
Definitely. Yes, we both will.
00:33:33
April
All right. Last one here. Would you rather have Mariah Carey play on every run, like on repeat or jingle bells attached to your shoes?
00:33:49
Lauren Brown
Oh my God. Mariah Carey.
00:33:51
April
but Really?
00:33:54
Lauren Brown
don't know. Jingle bells attached to my shoes though, like but like the whole time.
00:33:58
April
yeah I would so do Jingle Bells. I so would. I would i would love it. Hear me from a mile away. I'm just sheer spirit.
00:34:09
Lauren Brown
my God.
00:34:09
Rich
This is good. This is a tough one. i think the the, you know, a holiday run or is this like every day?
00:34:18
April
No, no, no. This is this is a, this is a Christmas run.
00:34:20
Rich
Christmas.
00:34:21
April
Yeah. This is a one-time deal.
00:34:22
Lauren Brown
How long is the Christmas ride?
00:34:22
Rich
Christmas run. you know
00:34:24
April
Yeah.
00:34:24
Rich
Jingle bells attached my shoes. Yes.
00:34:26
Lauren Brown
so
00:34:29
April
Oh, love it. Okay. I got one more random question for you three, the three of us here. what is your favorite Christmas movie? add And the cheesier, the better.
Favorite Christmas Movies
00:34:40
Lauren Brown
My God. I mean, I just always, every year we watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. That's like, yeah you have to watch it. So that's like, I feel yeah does like, my family watches it every single year on Thanksgiving, like for as long as I can remember.
00:34:52
April
All the lines are coming back to me now. Yeah.
00:35:01
Lauren Brown
so I'm like, does every family not do that? Is that not like, that not an American tradition?
00:35:05
April
but
00:35:09
Rich
love that show that is classy at the lines are fantastic the whole you know.
00:35:10
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:35:15
Rich
but but you know Catherine starting the microwave and you know Eddie passing out and wetting his pants and you know.
00:35:21
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:35:24
Rich
Mindself.
00:35:26
April
Elf, yep. Yeah.
00:35:27
Rich
And the scene that I love the most, the one that always just like makes me like just want to just roll over on the floor laughing is when Buddy runs across the room, bounces off the couch and does a bear hug onto the tree and it collapses.
00:35:45
April
Oh, so good.
00:35:46
Lauren Brown
That would be great. I could watch that a million times.
00:35:50
Rich
How about you, April?
00:35:50
April
I could do. I was kind of going back and forth, but the one that brings me the most joy, cause I just have this wonderful memory. My mom and I went and saw it in theaters is Jim Carrey's, uh, how the, crit
00:36:02
Lauren Brown
No.
00:36:03
April
Sorry, Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey. And just, I think I almost peed my pants the first time I saw it.
00:36:13
April
It was so, so, so good. And and I hear they might be coming back to make another one and I'm here for it.
00:36:22
Lauren Brown
Very nice.
00:36:24
April
Wouldn't that be great?
00:36:24
Rich
Awesome.
00:36:24
April
I mean, it did sound like it was production, a production nightmare with the amount of makeup they had to do, but.
00:36:31
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:36:31
April
It just has such a special place. Okay. That you've made it through my holiday gauntlet. How do you feel?
00:36:41
Rich
That was a blast.
00:36:41
Lauren Brown
I want a cookie.
00:36:43
April
Yeah, I know. I want to, i want to pull out some crew crew cock out here too. All right. That wraps up our try ho-ho- ho ho So whether you're deep in that holiday mode or still sneaking in workouts between parties, remember this season is all about joy connection and showing up however you can.
00:37:03
April
You can train when it feels good, rest when you need it, eat that cookie, wear that ugly sweater. And if your Garmin thinks you're training, just tell it.
00:37:14
April
Santa said it's fine. So let it go.
00:37:19
Rich
Love it. What a great way to roll into the holiday season, guys. It has been an amazing year. I know it's not over yet. We've got another episode before the end of the year, but I wish both of you a wonderful holiday week with your loved ones.
00:37:36
Rich
And can't want can't wait to record the podcast with you next week because we are going to do our coaches holiday gift exchange with each other, right? Yes.
00:37:45
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:37:45
April
Yes.
00:37:46
Rich
It's going to fun. oh my gosh. I cannot wait for you guys to open what I sent you.
00:37:52
April
it's going be wonderful.
00:37:53
Rich
It's huge. I'm telling you. All right. Folks, thanks for spending time with us today at the Grit the Greatness podcast. we We're going to edit that a little bit.
00:38:03
Rich
Folks, thanks for spending time with us on the Grit to Greatness Endurance podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please follow us on Instagram and at Grit to Greatness Endurance. Leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps us reach more athletes just like you. Stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness. We will see you next week.