Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Runner's Podium Podcast. What an honor to have the man, Nigel McGregor, in the house today. The legend, fixture in the and NYC running scene.
Speaker: and Nigel's been doing this for many, many years. i don't even know how many marathons you've done. I'm guessing 30, 40, 50. thirty forty fifty I don't even know. Many, many. higher Nigel's such an inspiring guy. 59. 59.
Speaker: Yeah, so all you out there, there's a lot to learn from Nigel. Thank you so much for joining today, man. Thank you for having me, man. Totally. How's your training going? I see your race calendar is pretty stacked. Yeah, i just read i just updated my race calendar about an hour ago.
Speaker: Okay. So I had the races coming for this year and I had the race coming for the following year. I mean, I don't have the dates for next year yet because I have to look into the calendar to actually verify and make sure it's accurate because there's one time I had have put a race in my calendar and and it was the wrong day.
Speaker: I actually threw my flight plan. Oh no. It was Tokyo last year. Oh wow. I had Tokyo listed as March 2nd. So I had my flight going out at March 3rd and then threw off the whole entire thing.
Speaker: So I'm going to the airport with with the guys, with with with the wolves and going to the airport. I'm like, okay, what why didn't I get no check-in or anything like that? You know you get the check-in notification prior to your flight coming out? all right, didn't the check-in.
Speaker: So I'm going with the guy thinking it was a regular day. I get there and say, oh, sorry, sir. you We don't see you on this flight today. Well, how come? <unk> mar So that's that's a lesson learned right there for me to make sure when hit the race.
Speaker: It's a note to myself. It's meant to folks that actually follow me to actually see. That's very important. Double check. You'll realize how important it is until you actually refer back to it, like about four or five months down the line when your nose is like into the training.
Speaker: Ain't that the truth. Lesson right there. All right, man. So in the runner's podium, we just run through these categories, top three, in each one. Let's jump right in. What about your top three most memorable running moments?
Speaker: first one is the top one was boston 2023 i don't know if you ran boston me that year did you run boston that year yeah yeah it was rainy as hell yeah so that one was pouring rain from mile 20 mile 20 on from heartbreak down it was pouring rain basically i don't know what was going on what was happening i just kept fighting and fighting and fighting i just that boston is the race you gotta like actually like set your effort from the from the very beginning and stick to that effort and and right at those hills so that's an effort-based race so that's that's the emotional part about it not to mention the training going leading up to it you got to train in the winter your freaking hands is frozen you can't feel your hands can't feel your elbows in some days yep your nose gets numb your toes gets numb it was the time i went to fort lauderdale in the winter time and my toes is hurting like are my toes hurting oh that's that's from the frostbite
Speaker: And it hurt for a couple of days. Yeah. So Boston was the top was the top member one for me because after I got done with that race, didn't even know I even sub three in that race. I mean, I rest i saw three, three, three times, but didn't even know sub three in that race until I got my bag half an hour later from the from the school bus. They throw the bag at you.
Speaker: and And mind we're staying at the school bus. We're shivering yeah wait for the bag to come. So I get the I get the phone. My phone got about 80 messages on there. saying, oh my God, you did it. You ran sub three and everything.
Speaker: Oh, wow. That's awesome. So it was basically like a it was basically like an honor to run a sub three in a historical race like Boston. That was the top the top one. Hell yeah. Number two is when I first BQ'd in 2019.
Speaker: it was It was hot and I had ran a 302 and I was like gunning for that I was gunning for um that BQ for two years. Where was that? NYC? No, that was in Rockland Lake. That was at the Street Chimoy Marathon. I like that marathon, by the way. Yeah, yeah. i see you do that one. Yeah. So basically, that one is basic is fun. Laid back.
Speaker: Loops around the lake. They got food there. They got they got massage tables there. Pretty, pretty friendly atmosphere. It's put on by an indigenous group. Yeah. so That's awesome. That was my that's my second one. actually...
Speaker: When actually got the BQ, I was like, all right, I got about, it was I ran a 302 at that time. I needed a 305 at that time. So had about two minutes and 30 seconds. I was like, man, this just happened. And when I got the actual acceptance letter to Boston, cried. I was like, man, this is great.
Speaker: This is great, man. And the third one, I would say, it was it would be New Yorker 2017 when I first broke four hours. Nice. Yeah, that was the third one. I was just trying to figure this thing out. like how like how do you How do you break four hours everything? When I first broke out, for four hours like, all right, the windows open, the floodgates is open, let's see what else I've got. When was your first marathon, Nigel? 2009 in Miami. Okay.
Speaker: So 2008, I was watching the New York City of Marathon on TV. I was like, man, this is pretty cool to through the city. Yeah. Run through city on it on TV. So... so What I did, see, back in those days, registration used to sell it that quick. We used able to register up to the day up. So I was looking in the newspaper to see if they had any marathons there in Miami.
Speaker: Come to find out, coin coincidentally, they had a marathon there in January. So I was like, right, I'm going to drive down from Fort Lauderdale. I lived the Fort Lauderdale at the time. I see drove down at to Fort Lauderdale. I drove down from Fort Lauderdale Miami Beach to the convention center and registered the day before. Amazing. did And did it. Rocked it.
Speaker: Didn't know I was doing it. The week before on Thursday, had ran 15 miles on on that Thursday the week the week before just to try to wing it. Yeah. And then when I got done with the race, when I got done with the race, no stretching, no leg workout. I didn't have a resume. Classic. I basically wanted to do the marathon to sit and sit sit school.
Speaker: Yep. That's awesome. So that was the first one. What about your ah top three running shoes these days? Now that is an ongoing circle. i would say the audi zero adios pro series i always say that because the ahie the audi zero series has been so durable and so reliable so you can basically run in any weather any any weather with those shoes so so the adios pro twos i use for like turnover and and tempo tempo and the pro threes is the most durable to me and the pro fours i use for the track so i use the ideas pro floors for the track but what racing i used to race in alpha flies alpha flat twos until
Speaker: my feet faded out of it. Now racing, um, Puma fast stars and the races. Yeah. I rocked the adios two and threes for many a race myself. Great shoes. All right. What about your top three running moments that didn't go as planned? Nigel bet you've had a few of those. Well, the top number one one was when I had caught a fever in 2010 in Miami.
Speaker: And I was about to give up. I was about throw throw it all in. And, um, I ended running a 520 out there. That was my worst worst marathon out there. Couldn't even make it back home.
Speaker: ended up end up driving when I drove for like a half an hour. I fell asleep in the car for about an hour. Pulled off to the side of the road. That was 2010. And then 2025 was back in Miami again, coincidentally, because i was leading up to it, getting ready for the heat, racing the heat.
Speaker: Yeah. In December, I was running 100 mile weeks. Wow. Going up to it. And then the day before the day before the race, I caught a quarter of massive fever. Yeah, that was a that was like the top. That was like the second one. And the third one was in Tokyo last year where i got really hot and my my toes blew up and then I had to walk the last the last um four or five miles.
Speaker: Brutal. And there was a switchback. So tokyo Tokyo has a course where it has four switchbacks. The four switchback was the most brutal one. like Everybody were around me was like, i I looked around me, everybody was like throwing up. Really?
Speaker: Carnage. Yeah. That's rough, bro. Yep. What about your top three pieces of essential gear? Your cowboy hat.
Speaker: oh So I'm going to say the cowboy hat for last. So the singlet, I would say a Tracksmith Van Cortland singlet on a race day where it has a mesh at the back, like when I go when i travel international and where and with with a team singlet.
Speaker: And other one is with JP Mitchell singing, where he makes my custom singers from the New York and Boston races the Jamaican singlet on their races. Yeah, I love those, Yeah, it takes about two months.
Speaker: We do a mock-up for like the first two, three months and basically brainstorming. And then when it comes to fruition, like, all right, let's go with it. Nice. And when it comes out, I'm like, oh, man, this is beautiful.
Speaker: That's killer. And then the half tights, it's kind of tricky because You don't want them too compressed because you want it you want it to impede your stride. You want it to be just right so you can open up as likely to conserve those energies.
Speaker: Yep. And then last but not least, the cowboy hat. Let's talk about the cowboy hat here, man. it look There it is. This cowboy hat right here, ah had got this in 2016 in London.
Speaker: And it was sitting in my closet. And it was one time, it was like 2024, like all my scully was dirty. And it was Joan Klineman. So that's the first race of the year. That's the first race of the year in New York Roadrunners.
Speaker: You know have when it's cold. You know when it's super cold. Yeah. had to have been like 15 degrees that day. So I like, you know what? had nothing else to put. I had nothing else put. me just put this thing on. and That's how the cowboy hat came. the signature. Came on the road.
Speaker: All right, Nigel, what about your top three running pet peeves? About maybe training, running in the city, social media, anything out there?
Speaker: I would say the pet peeves is that. That's a good one. That's a very, very long list. Pet peeves. I say the pet peeves is the e-bikes that get into the runner's lane. Yeah.
Speaker: The e-bikes that get into the runner's lane. And I'm not, like I said, I got i got love for friends who who ride e-bikes, but sometimes the e-bikes begin to the runner's lane and you it brings up your makes up your your stride. And then like also, like when you into the trails, and you know it's restricted what people can do on the trails, and they break the rules, so they they bring the pets on the trails. It's part of the trails in Rockefeller where there's no pets allowed, no bikes allowed. they break They break those rules. Other than that, yeah and then improvise. I usually use what I've got as far as space, space and improvise. Pretty much easy going.
Speaker: And also too, when somebody's smoking. We're on the road, and somebody's on a bike, they're smoking. Right in front of you. Trying to breathe. Yeah, man, you run in Central Park a lot, so you got the the bikes.
Speaker: There's a lot to contend with. lot going on when you're running in Central Park on a busy day. Yeah. What about your top three favorite races? I would say number one is New York, of course, the hometown race.
Speaker: crowd is unmatched, the energy unmatched, and everybody who I met either be co-workers, friends, or families alone the entire course. So I get to see everybody I had known or I had worked with. Totally.
Speaker: And also everybody knows at the UC Marathon, so anybody who had you had met the past 20 years no know you're going to be in it. They're going to be watching. They're going to be out there in the course. Yep.
Speaker: Yeah. So... so now so So New York is number one, and I would say Boston and London, Boston and and Miami are tied for two. So I would put i will put Miami ahead of Boston because it's is's going back home.
Speaker: Yeah. Going back home to Fort Lauderdale, go see my mom and everything. And then Boston Street because of the prestige, energy, the preparation. preparation the course the challenges of the course so those my those are my top three yeah the vibes amazing um what about your top three favorite places just to run of course i would say central park and prostate park yep those those are my two top one would be prostate park yeah and also that's that's where i did my first race overall and that's where i grew up but grew up too as a kid oh yeah
Speaker: So my first run, my first mile was in Brooklyn. Nice. It was at the Boys and Girls Track. they had a So the Boys and Girls High School has a track on Maple Street, which is connected to Avenue in Troy. That was my first mile. I did that when did it when I turned 20, my 20th birthday.
Speaker: So I did it over there. Is that Crown Heights? What is that neighborhood? It's on a boundary of Crown Heights in East Flatbush. Okay, got you. And Central Park is two... uptown history uptown where it could be yeah it could be yonkers it could be the bronx it could be across jordan washington bridge like the whole uptown proximity there And four, Rockefeller Park.
Speaker: see Number one, is' not too far. For me, it's like a half an hour. I could get there in half an hour, park up, go hit the hills and hit the trails, and it's pretty much pretty simple. So those are my favorite places to go by that. Nice. A little city escape up in Rockefeller Park. Yeah.
Speaker: No doubt. What about your top three recovery essentials? Okay, one, it's got to be the protein. Like chicken ah chicken chicken and rice and Also, stretching, hydrating. After like the marathon, I go right to the gym.
Speaker: and Everybody thinks it's crazy. When I go to the gym, I get to calm myself down, clear my thoughts, because you're still in an all-time high. you still got people screaming in your head, the noise going on in your head. So when I go to the gym, just I just sit still to still, meditate, take about a half an hour, an hour. Nice. Do um do a light work do a light workout. It actually helps with the light.
Speaker: the lactic acid inside your body to move your body around. So that's what helps too. I see you're big on strength training. Were you doing the strength training before you started running marathons? Has that been something but that's been part of your life for a long time, like working out in the gym?
Speaker: Yeah, so strength training I've been doing since was 12 years old, in the park, doing push-ups, doing push-ups, lunges. Calisthenics. Calisthenics. So back then, I wasn't like,
Speaker: i didn't know to actually train my legs and and the fundamentals to do so but when i got to like 2011 when i started training with mma fighters so i do more explosive training drills squat jumps and sprawls it's the the mindset shift yeah more towards like protecting your joints building your muscles around the joints making sure that's optimal mobility mobility which is which is a lot of footwork footwork and handwork movement arm movement, everything.
Speaker: like Because when you're in a race, all muscles are accounted for. When you're moving in your arms back and forth, that's accounted for. Like the traps, that's accounted for, especially when you're doing speed. Yeah. Yeah, because it keeps your neck keeps your neck and your head level. True.
Speaker: True. Your shoulders. Yeah. So that's the mindset. We rocked through those categories. That was amazing. Can you leave us with the one last thought for runners? All right. So here's the thing. Keep it simple. Keep it fundamental. Keep all your keep all your successes and your goals.
Speaker: bos Very basic. The first two, three months, it basically should be like time on feet. You're going to be running for about half an hour. Okay, you ran for half an hour, not stop.
Speaker: You do that for about a week. Let's give you examples of how to keep things basic. Bring it up to 45 minutes. You bring it up one hour. you do it like steady, steady fundamental. milk has been is is to It's to get your body used to being in motion for a good direction of time.
Speaker: Once your body gets used to it, you can start incorporating like progressions which is like speed which is like power depending on which avenue you want to go into. You want to go to sprinting, but then be it avenue. You want to go into like long distance duration, but then be it focus. So there's two.
Speaker: Take a deep break breath, take a step back. You want to get yourself overwhelmed with like the end goal picture. The first thing is to get the realistic realistic goals. set that's yeah That's the fundamental. That's the that's the mind's fundamental because 95 to 99% of what we do is in a mind.
Speaker: have to remember that. some things you can Some things you can't do, some things you can't do. You to adjust with it. You got you gotta to ask yourself those questions. So when you go on your long runs, the long runs, when you build your long runs, you build your long runs for like an hour and a half, you get up to two hours.
Speaker: No matter how fast you're going, It's beyond a long one. That's going to give you time to know to know yourself. Love it, man. You heard it here from the one and only Nigel McGregor. It's amazing. Everyone who's listening, please follow Nigel on IG, Strava. I'm not sure if you're on any other socials. That's where we link. Yeah.
Speaker: Hey Dave, one question for you man. what Where did we first meet? Was it in Queens 10K 2023 or was it before am? Where did we meet? So I'm not sure if it was the first time, but I remember hanging with you after the brutal hot NYC 2022.
Speaker: Like, like in the shoot. and And I think we had both had like recent, like 250 somethings. And then we were just like, what the, what just happened? We both had just gotten crushed that day. And I remember like walking with you out the shoot, out of the park and like, just like shaking our heads like that sucked.
Speaker: That was horrible, man. So three weeks beforehand, I was on the high feeling like Superman. I had ran my first sub three in Steamtown. Yeah, remember that year? I ran Steamtown 256 that year. Yeah. So I got to repeat it. Got to run it back.
Speaker: Same outfit. See what we got. That's another lesson, too, because I had ran Chicago in 2019. I ran a 307. That was my first Chicago. And I made a mistake there. I had shoes I had worn for 200 miles.
Speaker: Yeah, it's gonna be all theyre go do you' gonna be all good. So I came back and I ran 305 the three weeks three weeks after as a guy. So if I could do that again, definitely do do this again here in New York. Totally different.
Speaker: Totally different. That's another thing. That's nothing I had to learn. with it Your body's like totally different from year to year. Yeah. Yeah. So So that caught me way off guard, way off guard. Yeah, me too, man. Eventually I made it made up in Chicago again in 2023. I came back in New York and was like, all I'm ready to go New York. Yeah. yeah And I was okay with it. I didn't get another sub-3 there, but I was okay with it because I had a good good time. Yeah, that was a tough New York, and I remember hanging with you that day. I'm not sure that was the first time we met, but I certainly remember hanging with you that day, just being like, ah that was brutal.
Speaker: Well, Nige, thanks so much for joining. This has been amazing. man. I'll see you out there. Sounds good. Thank you so much for doing this, bro. Thank you thank so much for having me.
