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Emily Hawgood on her love for trail running, becoming an endurance athlete, Ironman, athlete coach relationship, finding consistency
182 Plays9 months ago
One of the things I truly believe in is if you’re passionate about something and you truly love doing it, then you’ll 100% be successful at it. It’s how people make a living doing what they love but nobody said it was easy, you need to put in the work and stay consistent. It takes trying, learning, succeeding and failing to truly make it work, making it all the more rewarding when it goes right. Set a goal but more importantly, draw out a plan to get where you want to go because the only person that can get you there is you.
On this episode of Just In Stride I had a really fun chat with pro ultra trail runner, Emily Hawgood.
Emily grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe and played all sorts of different sports as a kid. She later took a liking to long distance triathlon but with some encouragement from her now coach, turned to running on the trails and she never looked back.
Ultra running became her passion and she now does it professionally. Her results over the years have been impressive and so consistent from race to race, no matter the distance. It’s so clear she loves to run and that passion shines through every time she toes the line. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her finish on the podium at Western States later this year.
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Thanks for tuning in to the Just In Stride Podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback we’ll be able to make the show even better and it’ll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram @justinstridepod and YouTube @justinstridepod for all the latest episodes and updates. Glad you came along for the ride with Just In Stride!
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Focus
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Justin's Drive podcast. I'm your host, Justin Puleze. If you love endurance sports, you've definitely come to the right place. On this show, we'll talk to athletes, coaches, and professionals who can help us reach our true potential. Being a student of distance running for over 10 years and interviewing people in the sport for the last five, I've learned a ton, but there's always more to discover. Everyone has a story, and I know you'll resonate with each of our guests as we embark on this new journey together.
00:00:36
Speaker
Join us at home, on the road, or while you run. Together, we'll have some fun. So follow along on Instagram at justinstridepod and your favorite podcast platform and prepare to be inspired. Come along for the ride with Justin Stride.
Sponsorship & Promotions
00:00:53
Speaker
This episode is presented by our friends at Exact Nutrition, a tasty and healthy way for you to fuel your body before, during, and after a solid training session. I can't leave the house without a few fruit bars in my pocket and they never make it back home. Exact is offering you 50% off your order when you use the code justinstride. So head to exactnutrition.com and fuel your goals today.
00:01:17
Speaker
One of the things I truly believe in is if you're passionate about something and you truly love doing it, then you'll 100% be successful at it. It's how people make a living doing what they love, but nobody said it was easy. You need to put in the work and stay consistent. It takes trying, learning, succeeding, and failing to truly make it work, making it all the more rewarding when it goes right. Set a goal, but more importantly, draw out a plan to where you want to go because the only person that can get you there is you.
Meet Emily Hoggard
00:01:46
Speaker
On this episode of Justin Stride, I had a really fun chat with pro ultra trail runner Emily Hoggard. Emily grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe and played all sorts of different sports as a kid. She later took a liking to long distance triathlon, but with some encouragement from her now coach turned to running on the trails and she never looked back.
00:02:05
Speaker
Ultra running became her passion and she now does it professionally. Her results over the years have been impressive and so consistent from race to race, no matter the distance. It's so clear she loves to run and that passion shines through every time she toes the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see her finish on the podium at Western States later this year. Hi Emily, welcome to the Justin Stride podcast.
00:02:30
Speaker
Hi, Justin. So great to see you again. Yeah, amazing. Time flies, right? I got to chat with you at Herakana. I think it was 2018 or 2019. You were kind of new on the longer distance stuff back then, and you ended up winning the race in Quebec, and we were actually doing a recording for Herakana itself for their podcast, but I'm happy to finally get you on mine.
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That was an awesome time. And yeah, you say new to the longer distance stuff, but I was brand new to the trail world. So that was kind of an exciting introduction. Yeah. I think it was like you were three years in, right? At that point.
Journey in Ultra Running
00:03:12
Speaker
Yeah. Any one or two. So yeah. And, and really like the introduction to long stuff.
00:03:19
Speaker
It was just starting for you, but you're having incredible success. And now that's kind of continued looking at, it's like now we have this window of growth. Are you kind of like, had you had planned for this where you're at now? Cause you're clearly taking on longer stuff, much longer stuff and bigger on a bigger stage globally too.
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't think too far ahead in advance. I was just loving it. It's been fun to see where the progression has taken me in the journey. Yeah, pretty grateful to be where I'm at right now. Right. Where are you exactly in the world? I'm currently in Roseville, California. Yeah, it is 7 AM.
00:04:13
Speaker
Bright and early? On Valentine's Day? On Valentine's Day, yep. Yeah, I know, I'm even wearing the right color. And how is it out there? How is life out there for you? Because I know you're from Zimbabwe.
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Um, so from Zimbabwe, it's all good. Definitely. Like we were chatting about pre-pre-interview. It's hard with the time change, just, you know, connecting with family, but we're figuring it out. And I love it out here. The community, um, out in Alwin, Roseville area is amazing. And we were just chatting yesterday. I was chatting to
00:04:48
Speaker
someone, I think my massage lady. And she's like, I love Roseville. Everyone's so nice. But yeah, I feel like that too. So it does feel like home and nice and warm right now. The sun's been out for a few days. So that's been pretty. Yeah.
00:05:04
Speaker
Pretty amazing. You fit right in. You're also very nice. I remember that kind of struck me the first time I met you, how like just candid and kind you were. So that's, uh, sounds like you're fitting in over there. Um, so are you still studying? Cause I know at the time you were, you were studying and that was also part of the reason why you were over in the States and away from home. Um, but of course, like the training too.
Education & Research Insights
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah. So I graduated in 2021. Um, so I've been out of school for a little while now. Uh, yeah, so no, not studying right now, which has actually been fun. I, I thought leaving school would be hard, but then being in school during COVID, I realized I like being in school cause I like being with my friends and then suddenly I couldn't be with my friends. I was like that I can leave. And has that been a challenging transition for you a little bit?
00:05:59
Speaker
Uh, no, no, I, I like it. Yeah. I love what I'm doing right now. Cool. And so like you were studying, you, uh, you graduated in its altitude, uh, exercise. Yeah. Physiology. Can you explain that a little bit? And I mean, clearly there's some, some parallels with kind of what you're doing in terms of your own training and your development.
00:06:23
Speaker
Yeah, fully, yeah, paralleling it and working together really well. So yeah, exercise of the physiology basically is just the study of the human body and how it performs.
00:06:39
Speaker
daily but also during exercise, and how that varies from sport to sport, and then adding in different factors like altitude or weather, that sort of stuff. And yeah, it's worked really well.
00:06:58
Speaker
maybe getting me to learn more about my sport, and my body as well. And I went into grad school, I think that's when we met, I was studying high altitude exercise physiology. So kind of narrowing the field a little bit, our field is still super brand new. So there's a broad spectrum of stuff.
00:07:18
Speaker
that we could study and look into. And I went up to Gunnison, Colorado, so we're at 7,700 feet. And that was just a whole new world in itself, getting used to the altitude up there and seeing how my body responded and pretty much getting to learn stuff in the classroom, then walk out the door and put it into practice.
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah. And then now daily, I have athletes kind of all around the world, you know, different attitudes, different weather areas. And so it's all been really useful information. And yeah, I'm really, really glad I did it. So athletes that you're working with for your research or athletes that you're coaching or both?
00:08:01
Speaker
At least that I'm coaching. Okay, nice. And so what are some things because I don't really know much about altitude training. Is there ways you can explain how it works for people that are interested in it or things that you've learned that you've thought have been interesting about everything you've been studying and how it affects their bodies and the adaptations that take place?
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah. Um, I mean, I probably keep it pretty condensed just to not overwhelm anyone. There's so much good stuff. Um, and it's like I said, it's super brand new too. So there's a whole field that we're still like trying to figure out. And I mean, the best and most exciting part for me is that super individual. And what I found through my research was that.
00:08:51
Speaker
It depends where you were born, where you grew up, how much time you currently spend at an altitude, how much you've traveled. Before I went up to Gunnison, I was living in Europe, so pretty much at sea level for six months a year. I struggled so much when I went up there, but I lived in
00:09:15
Speaker
In Zimbabwe, we were at 4,000 feet my whole life. So it just is super varying and varying from person to person. So yeah, firstly, it's very individual. No one can say this is what you do and you're going to be feeling amazing. But it depends. The most interesting thing I found is that everyone seems to have a sweet spot.
00:09:42
Speaker
Um, it varies again from person to person and you can, maybe that's what you need to adjust is your sweet spot. What are you, what's your body happy at performing at and how can you get it to a high altitude if you need that or a lower altitude if you need that.
From Zimbabwe to the US
00:10:00
Speaker
Um, yeah, kind of going through that and discovering that was.
00:10:06
Speaker
Maybe my highlight. It can wreck you. Yeah. Yes, that is very true. It can totally wreck you. I didn't sleep for two months when I moved up there. I was super anxious all the time because I wasn't sleeping, didn't want to eat anything. I'm an athlete that's starving all the time, so that's not good. It's horrible. It sounds horrible.
00:10:34
Speaker
but it's great when you figure it out. Yeah, so, okay, I have a few questions. So, like, how do you find a sweet spot? Like, do you, you know, because you always hear like thousands of, you know, this many thousand meters and this many thousand, like, do you have to drop it by a thousand? Like, what number, is there a number that makes a difference in that? You know, if you go to 5,000, do you want to drop the four and then three and then two, just kind of to figure it out?
00:11:01
Speaker
I guess, and also like if you don't live in a place where like you were saying you were living in Europe, where there's, you're not at altitude, is there a way to train that can kind of also give you some of the benefits so you're like not at a disadvantage? Yeah. So your first question of like, how do you find your sweet spot? First of all, you got to figure out what it is. Like where is kind of your breaking point where your body's like, nope, this isn't normal.
00:11:28
Speaker
And the best way we find that out is, you know, going climbing. So climb, you know, a couple, 10,000 foot peaks or something. And when your body starts to say like, Hey, I'm struggling, take note. And over time, like you realize like, okay, once I hit 9,200 feet, that's when my body says like, yeah, this isn't normal. And then, um, and then adjusting that.
00:11:56
Speaker
So pretty much your levels, you shouldn't start feeling altitude before like 3,500 feet. And from there, every 2000 feet kind of make a difference. That's what we've kind of found. So when you jump to five, you'll probably feel something. And when you jump to seven, you'll probably feel something. So when you want to adjust and like give your body a break, if you're living at seven, going down to five is probably your,
00:12:24
Speaker
like sweet zone where your body would be like, Oh, I feel good. Um, yeah. So hopefully that answers your question. And then the second one you said how, like, if you're living somewhere that doesn't have, that doesn't have altitude, how do you train so you're not at a disadvantage? Like, how do you, how do you stay in the game for living somewhere for a year when you're, you know, you're an ultra trail runner that has to do this climbing and races and whatnot. So.
00:12:54
Speaker
How do you stay like maintain that level of fitness?
Transition to Professional Running
00:12:58
Speaker
Right. Um, super good question. Uh, yeah, just like you would train for, you know, keeping the heel strength up.
00:13:09
Speaker
at least in Europe, you can get high pretty quick. So just going up there, even if you're not living at altitude helps. So putting yourself in that environment, that really helps. And then actually heat training is a good training factor. If it initiates some of the same
00:13:33
Speaker
responses in the body to altitude. And so we found a lot more cross pods crossing in those two areas, heat training and altitude training. Yeah. Oh, I guess my question, my first question there about like, at what level do you feel good? It makes sense the way you said it. Cause if you start at zero and then climb, you can, you can say like, it's easily measurable. It's not like you just, I mean, I guess you could fly somewhere that's just,
00:14:01
Speaker
at a certain level where you don't have to climb because you just land there via transportation. But okay, I kind of get like the other way around, you know, in Switzerland where I am now, I could go to a mountain and then climb up as far as I can until I start feeling. And this is my next question. What am I feeling?
00:14:22
Speaker
You know, what are some of the symptoms that you would have to say like, can you not, I guess you can't breathe. I'm assuming that's one of them. Um, are there any other responses that you should watch out for? Yeah. So when you're actually looking at kind of where your threshold is at, you're not looking for when you're out of, you know, completely out of breath and dying, but, um, maybe like once your heart rate is getting really high, you know, even if you're stopping and just standing there.
00:14:51
Speaker
like breathing and stuff gets a little more difficult. So your heart works harder to keep up. Um, that, so you get a little bit of breathlessness. Yes. And, and then some people get like really bad headaches. Um, you know, you can even start feeling nauseous. Those are kind of the main factors. And obviously when you're living somewhere or staying somewhere, not sleeping is another big one.
00:15:18
Speaker
And so like that happened to you, right? Like you were living something like somewhere new and then took you a few months to adapt. And like, and so how long does it take? Does it take two months? Is it, can it, does that also vary from place to place, depending where you are? And you know, is it, is it more of like, do you feel better every day or just all of a sudden you're kind of feeling better? How does that look?
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean this sweet spot with training for altitude is 21 days. So you should see the effects at 21 days kind of measurably. But like you said, it's going to take a little bit of time to start noticing, but every day you're going to get something.
00:16:02
Speaker
And at 21 days, that's when it seems to be measurable. And so lots of people do it for like a month, um, just to like get past the 21 days or allow for maybe a slip up day or like a day where, you know, they need to travel down to lower altitude. And that's not bad too, like having the intermittent, um, altitude training, you know, variability. I.
00:16:28
Speaker
I think that's especially important for us as trail runners because we do go up and down. We're not just at one altitude for 12 hours. Usually we're dropping between, so it's kind of nice to mix it up and give the body a chance in all the altitudes.
00:16:46
Speaker
And is there some residual benefit from growing up in a place at altitude?
Altitude Training Advice
00:16:50
Speaker
And do you have this base level where you're just unused to 4,000 meters or where in Zimbabwe you guys grew up in that environment?
00:17:04
Speaker
Yeah, definitely there are responses, definitely as you, you know, as you're out of it, you don't lose it forever, but it, and it takes a little longer to settle back into it. Um, but definitely like your body, your body is so good at learning and keeping this information of like, okay, this is how I function my best when I'm here. And.
00:17:28
Speaker
Yeah. And that's, I mean, our bodies are amazing, but if you needed another factor, it's good at learning. So yeah, from birth, it's learning how best to help you be your best. For sure. And so what are you suggesting to your athletes who are getting into these types of training? Are they already very experienced or maybe what are some misconceptions about this type of training for anybody interested?
00:17:53
Speaker
Yeah, uh, definitely the misconceptions is that you have, that you need to do it like all in, all out, right from now, forever. Um, and not keeping any balance is a good thing because as much as you're, you know, training and hopefully getting your body able to maybe perform at a higher altitude,
00:18:16
Speaker
You also have to realize you're putting a bunch more stress on your body. And if you want to train at the same time, finding that perfect balance where you can put in the same energy into your daily training as you are into your altitude training, that's a sweet spot you have to find. You have to be giving your body enough rest. And that's the biggest mistake we see is a lot of people go in and go all in and do all the work and actually slip up because they
00:18:46
Speaker
aren't giving their body enough time to rest and refuel and reform those good little connections and rebuild to be stronger for tomorrow. Yeah, very good advice for sure.
00:19:05
Speaker
You know, it can be applied to even, you know, non trail runners too. I think that's just, those lessons are all valuable to all sorts of runners at different levels and stress and rest is something that's increasingly important and not going hard every single day. Cause it's just not the way it works, you know, and, um, it's hard to understand sometimes. I let's, I just want to give like the listeners if they, like, I know you, but they might not. So.
00:19:32
Speaker
you know, a little bit background of you and where, you know, we already said you're from Zimbabwe, but kind of were you athletic as a kid? And then how did you kind of develop into the athlete that you are now? Yeah, so my name is Emily Hogert. I am from Zimbabwe. I am a professional trail runner for Adidas Terrics. I currently live in America and came over here to study
00:20:01
Speaker
10 years ago and I love it. So I'm still here. I went to boarding school to the kid from the age of five and we did all the sports. So super active. Yeah, we were outside from two o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock in the evening for dinner.
00:20:24
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I, I love show running. I've tried all the sports, but finally found the one I'm super passionate about. Now, did you find this sport all on your own or was it introduced to you or, you know, how did you know you, you had a gift? I didn't know. I.
00:20:47
Speaker
I managed to come over to the States and I joined the cross country and track team and the swim team while I was over here.
00:20:56
Speaker
And then my swim coach was doing Ironman triathlons. I thought that sounded exciting. So I would do that in the summers with her. And that's the sport I thought I was going to do, but I really, really didn't like the bike. And that's hard because it's 90% of the race. And so actually what ended up being my last
00:21:23
Speaker
Iron Man.
Love for Trail Running
00:21:25
Speaker
Um, I did the weekend before I met my current coach, um, Paul Lind, my trail coach. And I, yeah, I had not liked the bike. One of the ladies in the race had got hit by a car. I was kind of having a like, that's really what I want to do for the rest of my life moment. And so when my coach told me that he had some athletes and that his son, uh, race in the mountains and did trail running.
00:21:54
Speaker
my heart just kind of leaped like, oh, this is what I've been dreaming of. And I mean, I'm a flat farm girl from Zimbabwe. I hadn't really seen a mountain. I'd climbed Kilimanjaro, but at the place of what they call Poli Poli, slowly, slowly. And that was my experience with mountains, but just
00:22:19
Speaker
the idea of being away from all the cars and the people just kind of exploded and let me like be excited about that. And yes, I asked him if I could do that. And it kind of just grew into its own story from there. So cool. Yeah. And I get the triathlon thing. I did it too for a few years and it was kind of this two year window, three year window. And it's like really time consuming.
00:22:45
Speaker
But yeah, there's also a lot of danger to the sport too, and different factors that you can't necessarily always be in control of. And how are you performing at these Ironman level distances? Because maybe this is where the endurance athlete in you was born.
00:23:02
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I mean, every, like I wasn't doing badly. I was missing a Kona spot by one place and I was in the young age group. So we were the little baby age group. There weren't many of us. So we only would get one spot. So I was getting second and so I was doing really well, which was fun. Yeah. So definitely where the endurance side was born. Um, and having the running part at the end, I think was showing me to daily, like,
00:23:29
Speaker
that's where my strength was. I would do really well in the swim because I was a swimmer and then I'd struggle my way through the bike and then I'd hop in the run and have to pass everyone again in the run. That's cool. That's really good. I mean, you'd always hear that combination. Sometimes it's like, uh, like what did I do? I was a runner who got a bike and rode a bit. And then like I did a duathlon and then it was triathlon after, but the swimming was, it's definitely not my strength. So.
00:23:57
Speaker
I kind of muck my way through the water and then stay in position. Every traffic, it's like swimming's the hard part. Yeah, really it is, you know? It's the most gentle too, you could say, right? So, well, it depends where you are, where you're kind of positioned in the water. My first experience, it was like an Olympic and
00:24:21
Speaker
I was so worried to go in because everyone had wetsuits. It was like a local triathlon and they were all wearing wetsuits. I didn't know what was going on and I was just in shorts and I was absolutely freezing. A volunteer gave me her jacket at the start because I was so cold because I was shivering.
00:24:41
Speaker
And cause I didn't know anything, you know? And then I let everyone go in the water and there's, my friend took photos and I'm just like standing on the beach as everyone kind of is like, yeah, going crazy in the water. So anyways, that's kind of a triathlon story, but, um, and so you met your coach and, and how did you meet your coach and how did you, was there a selection process or just like he was there or it would seem like a good fit. And like, what, what do you think makes?
00:25:08
Speaker
a good relationship, a good coaching relationship, coach athlete relationship. So I met my coach through my current strength coach, um, now, and he was my college coach. So I just got out of college and we were at, um, a teammate and friends wedding and he was her high school coach. Um, and so, yeah, I just got introduced to him on the,
00:25:39
Speaker
on the idea that he wanted to talk to me about hunting in Africa. And we talked about hunting in Africa for one question, and then I asked him what he did, and we were stuck on running. What do you know about hunting in Africa? Well, my brother hunts, so probably something. I'm just wondering why you, you know? Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, being from there.
00:26:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, making, you know, I like from day one, I like thank him for taking a chance on me because he didn't know me from a piece of paper. And yeah, he took a big chance on me and we kind of built that up. And, you know, I took a big chance on him. I didn't know him. I didn't know what he did. I didn't know the sport.
00:26:31
Speaker
Yeah. And just communication and being able to really like both my coaches that night said like, just promise me you'll trust, you know, me. And then Pat said like, promise me you'll trust Paul. And it's been a hundred percent, you know, I trust them. Um, but that hasn't said that I can't question anything they, you know, write down like even just last night. I'm.
00:27:00
Speaker
calling, just making sure that what we have on the schedule for today is really what we want to do looking forward. And that's book time and trust and respect, like huge respect for each other, respect for the knowledge, respect for the knowledge of my body and how I've learned myself too. So that's what I've been so grateful for is both my coaches have
00:27:26
Speaker
know that they can trust me to say like hey something's not right or I'm not feeling that oh I really think this is a good idea but then also knowing from both of them they'll be conservative when we need to be conservative but then push the you know push the bounds when we need to do that too yeah so really yeah couldn't be more grateful for both my coaches and really think it's a
00:27:51
Speaker
you know, lifelong learning, but respect and trust are the two core
00:28:00
Speaker
core factors there. And you, yeah, and you're with them today. So I mean, it's a, it's a, it just goes to show how much that actually means, you know, in building this, this relationship as an athlete. And did you see yourself at that time as a potential, like that this could be a profession for you that this could be kind of your, you know, your job?
Professional Approach & Mindset
00:28:26
Speaker
Um,
00:28:26
Speaker
I didn't really think past like that day. I mean, it was the summer and I was at my friend's wedding. She was doing great. Um, so no, I didn't like, I, this was my passion. So I didn't really not care, but I didn't think too far. It's just like, Oh, what do I get? You know, how can I make what I really want to do?
00:28:51
Speaker
happen today and then kind of just kept doing that. And I still do that today. So, um, no, I feel super blessed and lucky and I'm kind of mind blowing to like stop and think, think about that. Like think about where I was at and what that's turned into. Yeah. And so you do this full time now.
00:29:10
Speaker
I do it full-time, yeah. Wow. And so what is that like? What is it? Can you take us through a day in the life of a pro trail runner or how you set up your schedule and your training and how you balance life? Yeah. I mean, just like anything, you got to give it its space and its time, but also realizing that
00:29:38
Speaker
that's not all you do in life. Even yesterday, I had a day off and I've got green fingers right now because I was just going to town on the yard and figuring things out and cutting things out. Yeah, so it's really fun. And then obviously, you know, keeping your social circle in
00:30:02
Speaker
tacked and all of that. There isn't really, I love it because there isn't a day that's like exactly the same as yesterday for me. And I mean, that's my choice. A lot of other people like they know exactly what they need to do from eight to nine, nine to 10. But like this, like I love being able to say like, yeah, I can hop on a cold tomorrow. Let's figure it out. So that's been really
00:30:28
Speaker
really cool and just having a little more flexibility. I think that allows, you know, just flexibility in your training mindset as well as in life.
00:30:39
Speaker
Training wise, planning it out. Luckily I leave that up to my coach so I don't have to even worry about that. I just wake up in the morning, look at my training peaks. They're like, okay, this is what I gotta do. How can I fit it in? I obviously, it's super nice out in Cali. I've never seen myself be like a city living girl and right now I'm getting the opportunity to live in a city.
00:31:01
Speaker
And so I have access to a lot of things like I have a gym and I have a sauna or I have a pool like so that's really fun because then I can get out and use all those things. I can also walk to a coffee shop so that's really nice. I have you know I have athletes too so I coach.
00:31:22
Speaker
And yesterday morning I had an athlete that was having a hard time and it required that at 4am I was up talking him into doing his run. So it's every day kind of a
00:31:33
Speaker
I love it. It is very connected to exercise physiology and trail running. My life is centered around it, but I'm not worried about that. I love it. I love this community. And so why would I choose to work in another community and not just be more connected to the ones I'm with already?
00:31:56
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, so I just, I get filled up every day from all angles of that and then keep myself busy, like doing yard work or, um, I love puzzles and reading. And so I've never, yeah, I've never bored. Yeah. It sounds like a good life, you know, that's, uh, it's really, it seems fulfilling and like, you know, you're surrounded or, you know, your life is surrounded with this passion of yours.
00:32:25
Speaker
that you're incredibly skilled at and talented at, but also that you can share that wisdom and knowledge with others. And that's an incredible gift too, right? Where you can help somebody else achieve their goals and their
00:32:41
Speaker
whatever it is that they're after too, just like you're kind of doing so. And so how often do you speak to your coaches and how connected are you guys in the planning and do you talk weekly? Is it daily? What does it look like in terms of communication and keeping that trust going?
00:33:02
Speaker
Communication every day, like I'm always uploading my workouts. They see exactly what I do. You know, pretty much as soon as I get done, that's my first thing. Cause I want to give them all the like data they need or can have, um, to know, uh, and always, you know, commenting, uh, so that, you know, if we're not in the same place and not in the same country, you know, like you said, we've been in different time zones a lot and.
00:33:31
Speaker
getting them information and keeping it as detailed as possible is good. But also, it's the same thing, like you don't want to overcoach, you don't want to over be an athlete. And so sometimes just saying like, everything's good is what I comment, but they'll see that every single day. We talk as much as kind of we need to, with my strength coach, a lot more checking in, you know, once in a while, because as long as like their team's good and
00:34:01
Speaker
You can notice that with your body too. If you're tired and your body's telling you that, you can realize that a lot more with strength training because things break down.
00:34:16
Speaker
Whereas in, you know, running or endurance work, sometimes you need to break it down a little more or, you know, push other aspects of it, like your strengths at your mental side or, um, you know, that sort of side. Oh, it's a day to do a hard piece of work.
00:34:32
Speaker
when you're not feeling good. So yeah, maybe I speak more to my running coach over the phone or in person. I'm super lucky that he gets to be at La La Love My Workouts, especially this time of year. And so that's amazing for me. So I don't need to give him a ton of feedback online. I could just go to him in person or get it thrown in person. Yeah, so constant communication.
00:35:02
Speaker
Amazing. What would you say attributed to the greatest advancement in your running or the greatest improvement in your running?
00:35:14
Speaker
Just the daily commitment, I think, uh, yeah, just doing the daily work. Like I have a 10 minute routine I do every morning and maybe even that, like it's a little bit of strength, a little bit of mobility, a lot of check-in. Yeah. Cause it's like, you have to, it's, it's this consistency over time and.
00:35:37
Speaker
I looked at your race results since we spoke, basically, and you're just so consistent, even in your efforts and your race results. You know better than anybody how it's going in terms of your daily consistency with training, but what everyone else sees is
00:35:57
Speaker
what's, what results you're getting in what races, right? So, you know, how do you like, it's a, it's a sport of ups and downs and, and, and triumphs and failures. And especially at those like long distances. So that my question is kind of around that, like, how do you like continuously show up, you know? I think that is it, like continuously showing up, realizing that I want to do this until I'm 90.
00:36:27
Speaker
So try not have a all out race that, you know, you, I dunno, and it's not that I'm holding myself back that I don't want an all out race, but how can I make that all out for forever? Um, you know, does that slowly take a few, you know, a bunch of years to get to that level of building to that point where you're,
00:36:51
Speaker
You're ready mentally and physically and emotionally every time. Um, or, you know, I don't, I don't want to be one and done. And a lot of athletes, unfortunately have incredible races in one go or one incredible year. And then they get hurt.
00:37:07
Speaker
And then they're out and that's what that breaks my heart for them. And I, as much as I can stay away from that, I really want to, I want to be in this forever. Um, so yeah, just daily showing up, um, going all in every time, uh, making sure I'm in the best place I can be at every start line.
00:37:28
Speaker
and consistency in the little things, not just the big things. Slowly working through the struggles we all have, whether that's mentally, physically, emotionally, that is an everyday thing too.
00:37:46
Speaker
realizing that and taking that into account. And then honestly, just keeping the passion alive for what I do. Number one rule is always have fun, right? Oh, good. Yeah. And I can see that on your face and you love it. That's like infectious. What would you say have been like your bigger challenges over the last few years when it comes to your career and whatever you need to do in order to keep this passion going?
Challenges of Living Abroad
00:38:16
Speaker
My, I mean, being on the opposite side of the world and being in America is amazing, but it's really hard sometimes being so far away from my family. Um, and when we get, you know, we would go through a hard time or something comes up at home, I really can feel it from afar. Um, and that's not, not nothing against home. It's just how life is. And when you travel the world, you leave little pieces of your heart everywhere. So you really feel that stuff.
00:38:47
Speaker
So that's when my biggest challenge is trying to make the world a little smaller. What was the other question? No, that was it. And now I'm living far from home too. So you've been doing it much longer than I have, but what's some advice you would give to somebody
00:39:11
Speaker
lives in another country or hours time difference between like I'm only six hours between me and my folks I'd say but you know we're nine hours apart right now. Yeah so my best advice is
00:39:27
Speaker
you know, if you're close to your family, like, definitely keep that communication up. While they're small, you don't have, you know, it's super nice now. When my mom was traveling at my age, she had to ride home and it would take three or four weeks to get a little back, but we can get it pretty much instantaneously. But then on the other side of that, also make sure that you're not consistently feeling like you're letting them down if you're not checking in every day or they're not checking in on you.
00:39:54
Speaker
like still being able to support each other as if you're right next to each other but and having those like same type of like boundaries if you want to call them that um but just being aware that you will have lives as well and you have to be present in your time zone and um in what you're doing every day so not feeling kind of held back remember that you're you
00:40:18
Speaker
you all want each other to like live your best life. And so as much as you can support back home, that's amazing, but they also want you to like follow your dreams.
00:40:28
Speaker
Exactly. And what are your dreams? Like, what are your goals? Those big, those big goals? I know you, you want longevity in the sport. You want to win, you know, Western States at 90, but what are the big goals for you? You know, is it, is it a, is it a first place finish at a, I think one of these, you know, Western States and, and, uh, like UTMB style races. What are, like you've, you're, you're up there, you know? Yeah. I mean that.
00:40:58
Speaker
There's a huge goals and incredible driving forces every day. It's cool to imagine yourself on the podium and maybe at the top. And yeah, I think that's what keeps us pushing harder is those goals for the first. But like you said, longevity in the sport and daily just
00:41:19
Speaker
Competing with myself like how can I improve? When I look back on this time next year, can I say like, oh I'm at the same place or if I a little bit higher or what strengths have I come by? In a year what's improved? What have I maybe let slack a little bit? What can I work on? It's like a constant just daily growth. I think you get a lot out of life by just like seeing what you can get, you know, just
00:41:49
Speaker
constantly putting in the work and, um, yeah, being excited about what, what tomorrow holds. And what would you say are your like greatest strengths and weaknesses as a, as a long distance trail runner? Oh, my greatest strength. Well, I can grind through anything. I love, I love the grind. And so like being out there for a long time can be.
00:42:18
Speaker
I don't know. I can just get into this mode of just keeping going. And maybe that, you know, is from life and stuff. Just putting one foot in front of the other is always a good way to keep moving forward. My weakness. I mean,
00:42:32
Speaker
Our food, taking on nutrition is always a hard area for probably every single athlete in the world. I have decided that your stomach is going to turn in the long distance race. You just luck out if it only turns later.
00:42:53
Speaker
So I don't know if that's my weakness, but it's my strength that I can just assume it's coming and figure it out. That's the best part too about what we get to do. No race is the same. Even if I run states for 10 years, not any year is going to be the same. So that's the coolest part is that.
00:43:15
Speaker
Like your competition's different. The weather's different. The, how are you feeling is different. So what can you do to make your day the best day you can have for that day? Um, I think it's a little different for like track. Uh, you at least know the terrain's going to be the same. And what is like, do you have any advice for fueling for, for distances like that? Like I've never done a hundred miler and I think I probably told you that.
00:43:41
Speaker
when we spoke last time that I don't plan on it. And it's not even in my mind, but hey, you never know, maybe when I'm 75. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Totally. But yeah, just when you get into those, you know, I try, I'm running marathons now. So trying to fuel for that, that's maybe much higher intensity. But when it's like over a long period of time, like
00:44:04
Speaker
like you're doing 100 mile races, what's the, do you have a strategy around that? Is there something, I mean, obviously types of food varies because it's very preferential to the individual. But yeah, if there's any strategies or tips around that.
00:44:22
Speaker
I love that question and that whole topic. Maybe I'm a little jealous actually that you're doing your nutrition right now for marathon because I think there's a lot that we could learn from
00:44:36
Speaker
maybe taking in calories at high intensities, even before we go into the endurance world. I've done it the opposite way, you know, doing the endurance world first and then trying to like for shoulder races, I'm trying to get into some fuel and I'm trying to figure that out. And I think it's harder when you're working harder to get in fuel. Um, so you'll find it easier once you've nailed the marathon nutrition, you'll figure it out for it.
00:45:03
Speaker
trail running and endurance running. Obviously in the endurance running, if you're out there for, you know, 24, 28 hours, your body just needs real food. Um, that's my biggest thing that I found is that I can't last on gels and, um, soda. Um, so figuring out, like you said, what foods work, um, and going back to the basics, you know, like
00:45:32
Speaker
try bananas, see if those work. And that's a lot of calories, a lot of good food. It's a lot of wholesomeness in your stomach to be able to take in gels, trying to get consistently into taking something in every 30 to 40 minutes. And it only has to be something tiny, but if you can constantly feed your body, it's going to be able to do better.
00:45:59
Speaker
And then just practice on every run practice. So you're bringing stuff with you on your runs, like your, I don't know what, what does your training look like now mileage wise per week or time on feet? Uh, I average I have for a while for.
00:46:15
Speaker
probably all six years or whatever, like 16 miles a week. I'm not a huge mileage athlete. Um, but yeah, yeah, taking calories and making sure I am getting them in. And then that posts, you know,
00:46:30
Speaker
post recovery, getting calories in as quickly as you can after a run. That also helps. And that can help too. Like when you're initially starting, just giving your body a chance, like get done with your run, eat right away. Even if it's just a snack, at least give your body like, Hey, my body, my heart rate's still up. I'm still sweating. Um, how can I deal with this food? That's true too, right? It doesn't necessarily have to be during the effort. It could be just like immediately after, cause I know let's say after, well,
00:47:00
Speaker
My last marathon was in Zurich, but I ran Berlin two years ago or something. Anyways, the point being when I finished the race, even 30 minutes or 40 minutes after I wanted, my brain was like, I want to eat food, but I can't, I can't eat it right away or I can't eat that much right away. So like I wolf down a burger and then I felt nauseous because your body's still in that state of like,
00:47:30
Speaker
you know, working quickly. And so I felt like that kind of makes sense what you're saying, even after doing a hard workout or whatever, if you're getting used to eating food that the body can actually absorb it without.
00:47:42
Speaker
Um, feeling that way, you know, but I just thought it was super interesting. Yeah, for sure. And thank you for sharing that too. Cause I think a lot of people do fall short cause you know, I've heard coaches and people say like, Oh, don't put too much pressure on your body. Like if you don't want to eat anything now, it's okay. Like this is after a race or something.
00:48:02
Speaker
But that's like, there's some things that just don't have like a grace period. Like eat food right now. I don't care if you feel crappy because your body needs it. If you want to, you know, perform well next week or the week after that, like the quicker you can get food into the better. So find a smoothie or find, I don't know, something good that just
Nutrition & Training Balance
00:48:27
Speaker
fills you up. Cause I think that's where I lacked for the longest time was
00:48:31
Speaker
being like, oh, well, you know, I've done my race. I've done my peak. Like I can just chill, but then your body is so broken down. It just takes so much longer to recover. And then if you could just get some food in.
00:48:46
Speaker
you'd feel so much better, so much quicker. So yeah, don't have any grace for your athletes when they're not hungry after a race. Eat weird. I guess if I can contribute something, it's just like, don't eat it too fast. Maybe just like little bird bites of it and take your time. Don't just wolf it down because then, you know, that's kind of maybe what I was experiencing was like, I just think of beer and burgers after.
00:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And you don't have to eat something like super greasy or spicy or full meal, like just getting something in, like I said, like a glass of milk or something like that. Just try and give your body something to settle and try and refuel it as much as you can, as much as you really don't feel like it.
00:49:35
Speaker
I was going to say, like you said 60 miles a week. Um, that's maybe not as high as a lot of other athletes. Why does that work for you? Cause I find this fascinating cause you're very successful, very consistent. Um, we have this idea that to be good, we need to run Mike.
00:49:57
Speaker
you know, over a hundred a week. Um, or that's what people think anyways. I think, well, I think that, um, I, I've considered moving my mileage up, um, to get over, let's say a hundred K a week or whatever, where now I may be hovering around what you're, what you're doing. Um,
00:50:15
Speaker
So hearing you say that has given me confidence and maybe, I mean, I mean, that's my sweet spot for us. Um, also not my full-time job. So can you comment on that a little bit, why it works for you and is the intensity, I mean, I guess how I think about it is like volume may be lower. It doesn't, do you have a higher intensity to kind of prepare yourself for these, these longer events?
00:50:41
Speaker
Yeah, uh, definitely, you know, for me, it's quality over quantity. And so if I feel like I'm losing quality and that can be in any sense, you know, running long and feeling like I'm failing on getting my nutrition right or things like that. Um, I'd always take the quality over the quantity. And then again, like we talked at the beginning, the balance between stress and recovery. Uh, this is my perfect.
00:51:10
Speaker
recipe right now for what I need. I can adjust it as needed. And especially when you bring in like the work factor or family stress factor or anything like that, like finding your perfect formula is what's key. And it's worked really well for me. I have a coach that has worked with other athletes that maybe didn't have
00:51:40
Speaker
as much, um, strength or, you know, feel like they got injured a lot more. And so maybe he was a little more cautious with, uh, volume to go to start with. And I've found that very effective and just like myself building my body to the point where I could, if I needed to get more mileage, but making sure that my body can keep up with my engine, um, is huge too. So.
00:52:08
Speaker
Yeah, because I think that's what it is. You're building the strong car, the strong frame for the car, because you have the engine for it and you have the mental for it. It just sounds like you're just having so much fun out there at any given moment. That's the whole thing. The body's going to break down before your heart or your mind does.
00:52:32
Speaker
So I guess that's the sweet spot and it's not the first you're not the first ultra endurance athlete I've heard say that too with like they told me a mileage that was like that in my belief Wasn't you know didn't sound at par with any with other runners. So I guess both works and I love that about what you're saying is you're clearly racing at
00:52:54
Speaker
a high level, and that's because you're doing what works for you and you're not kind of listening to the noise and you're trusting your coaches and what they're saying. One thing doesn't work for everybody, so that's kind of cool.
00:53:09
Speaker
Yeah, I actually just spoke to one of my athletes the other day too, and we're trying to find her perfect sweet spot. And I said, you know, you can always do more. There's always something else you can do. Like I could be sitting here or I could be, you know, stretching over there or rolling or doing yoga or going to the gym or running a little more, but sometimes doing more, you know, doing less is actually doing more. And that's that balance you have to find is
00:53:40
Speaker
Just key. I don't know. When you figure it out, everything just works and your body feels good. The body's feeling good. Now you're ready to tackle this season. Did I see correctly, or do you have a half marathon, like three days? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I'm hopping in a local, one of the classics, formidable half marathon, which will be really
Race Plans & Team Support
00:54:03
Speaker
fun. That's like a 5k for you pretty much.
00:54:08
Speaker
So you excited for this one or like that's not really a distance you normally race, right? Right. No. And this is a really big work piece for me. Um, and yeah, going into the season has been fun to add a little, a few work pieces in and, uh, I'm super excited for the season. Yeah. Feeling good. And just excited, like I said, to grow and learn and see what's ahead.
00:54:32
Speaker
How do you see it going for you this year? What are like, I see you also, I'm looking, I don't know how I found this, but Solomon falls 50K like next week and then Western States again in June.
00:54:44
Speaker
Yep. Um, and in between that, I have a 73 K in CNT in Italy. Yeah. Excited about that. Going to the Tuscany region. So be fun to run through all the vineyards and then taste the wine afterwards. Um, yeah. And then I'm doing UTMB too. So, okay. Another big year. Yeah. Very cool. So, I mean,
00:55:10
Speaker
What, so do you like, what do you prefer? Cause you kind of do a mix of like these small races and then the big races. What's now it's Western States is going to be your fourth. Did I see that right? So like you did a seventh place and five and five. So just to kind of speak to your consistency, what's, what, what is that like for you? And you know, that's like the, I don't know in sports, like the Superbowl, I guess for, for trail runners.
00:55:39
Speaker
Yeah, I love the small races. I love getting to know the community better. And every time I go out, I meet someone new. I push myself a little differently. It's a different atmosphere in that I can roll out of bed, do all my activation, everything, feel like race day, show up, and have a blast. And it's just really fun. And everyone's excited to be out there, whereas in the bigger races sometimes,
00:56:09
Speaker
I'm still super excited to be out there, but some people are super stressed about it and shaving. Your heart breaks for them like, oh, just enjoy it. But I love the bigger races too. They're exciting. They bring a whole other atmosphere for the Terrix team. We get to spend a lot of time together.
00:56:29
Speaker
So that's really, really, really cool. Like UTMB Week is amazing because it's a month of just getting to spend time with my team and be in Europe.
00:56:39
Speaker
Um, eat food and, uh, yeah, it's, it's so special. Uh, yeah, I, I love them all. Um, what was the other question you asked me? I don't know how it's like, you know, that's like the, the, the Mecca for, for racing right now for those distances, you know, just like, I think you kind of spoke to it a little bit, how you handle those races and like, you don't let it become too big for you.
00:57:09
Speaker
whereas other people might take it way too seriously. People want to have different levels of competitiveness too, or maybe their relationship to the sport has changed. Yeah, I guess maybe how do you stay so light when so much is at stake or on the line, or do you even see it that way?
00:57:30
Speaker
Yeah, I don't see it that way. And why go back? Why go back so many times in a row? Do you learn something new every time? Because it's so long of a race. Yeah, I learn so much every time from states, from UTMB, from any race. Even this half marathon this weekend, I'll definitely learn something.
00:58:00
Speaker
And every year is different, like different people, which makes it really fun. Uh, different challenges, you know, as a sport, we're growing, we get to, we get into be professionals. Like I just got a visa in the States as a professional athlete. Um, super exciting. Like it's yeah, it's the best. I like, it was a huge process to get there and I have to put together like a big folder, um, of information, like why our sport is professional.
00:58:30
Speaker
Uh, how, you know, how is it professional? Why should they even bother looking at me as an athlete to, you know, be considered a professional athlete? No one knows what trail running is as much as we think they do. Um, and I'm hoping it's like paved a little way for.
00:58:49
Speaker
other people that want to be professional athletes over here. It's pretty amazing at the point in life where our sport is at. Obviously, the speed bumps along the way we're going to encounter, but constantly getting to interact with people and chat and see how we can grow the sport or we can improve something is always attractive and always something I want to be involved in. Right now, I get to,
00:59:19
Speaker
I'm young, I can travel, like I'm lucky that this is my job and my passion. Um, so yeah, why not give it everything we got. What's, what's the best advice you can give somebody looking to get into the sport, you know, progressing, get to a bigger distance like you have. Uh, going up in mileage is easy. Um, but making sure like, you know, your body.
00:59:46
Speaker
and your engine can keep up is your key aspects to work on. So really take the time. And if you need to stay at the shorter distances and just build your strength or build some aspect of your training to get yourself to that point where you do feel comfortable moving up, then do that.
01:00:07
Speaker
And yeah, some days like you want to get out and some days you don't, like you can be anyone. And those are the days, you know, really knowing when you need to take a break, but knowing those days you need to have a kick in the butt and get out the door is also key.
01:00:28
Speaker
Do you find, uh, people are recognizing you a bit more giving your success over the years or people like feeling more comfortable, like coming up to you and approaching you to talk to you about, you know, their race or, or running? Yeah, it's been really fun. It's so fun to get to know people and even running down the bike path here last week. I think last week or earlier this week, uh, a guy ran by me and he's like, hi, Emily. I'm like, Oh, okay. I live in the city of, you know,
01:00:58
Speaker
million people, I don't know. But I didn't think anyone would recognize me out here. So it's, it is kind of fun, I mean, to, yeah, just like get to interact with people and really taking the time to chat with people and get to know them is so fun. So yeah, it's, it's opening up more opportunities for more relationships. For sure. And what's it like to be part of this Terrix team? How long have you been with them?
01:01:23
Speaker
I signed 2021, so the beginning of 2021, and I love it. It's the best team. Robert has built a team from the ground up, literally, for he said 10 years he's been working on this and his passion shows and his dedication to it.
01:01:47
Speaker
loves the whole athlete. He describes it as his orchestra and he's picked the perfect instruments and it really does show. Everyone is amazing and we all push each other really well, but we all keep each other really grounded too. Life in the house after a race or before a race is just as fun as it is on the start line.
01:02:16
Speaker
And we get to cook together and eat together and anytime you can, you know, look at my phone and my phone is already blowing up because someone's crushing it somewhere around the world and everyone's excited cheering them on. Um, or, you know, if you have a friend who's having a hard day, like it's easy.
01:02:36
Speaker
for them to call you just a few weeks ago, called on, you know, one of my teammates like, Hey, I just need an ear. And, uh, she was there. So yeah, it's, it's quite the team and feel very, very lucky to be a part of it. Cool. That's amazing. I mean, that's, it helps to kind of come together with like-minded people. It's kind of the same level as you. And so you feel like, you know, you're not alone too in this journey and
01:03:05
Speaker
You know, you fill a void for a lot of other people, just like they do for you. And, and also you're contributing to, you know, through your coaching and stuff like that, which is amazing. So kind of really brings it all together and a fulfilling running life. So that's, that's awesome. What can people find out more about you?
01:03:24
Speaker
Um, I mean, I'm on social media. So as Emily Holgood, I'm the one running somewhere. Um, and yeah, or, you know, if you want to send me an email or reach out, like I love chatting and hopefully I get to meet a lot of people on the trails. Amazing. Well, Emily, I hope where we see you is on the, in the podium next at these big races this year. And I just, you know,
01:03:51
Speaker
You're so authentic and kind and it hasn't changed over the last five years since we last spoke. And I just love having this conversation with you. And I wish you all the best for the next 50 years of your running career. Thank you so much, Justin. Yeah. And thank you so much for just the way you talk. I know that's weird, but being on a lot of podcasts sometimes.
01:04:16
Speaker
It can be, you know, hard to have a conversation. I just really appreciate you being authentic and asking the questions and providing your insight. Um, but yeah, just putting on a really good podcast. Thanks so much. I really appreciate that. Really from the bottom of my heart. I hope you have a great day. Thank you too. Bye.
01:04:38
Speaker
And thanks for tuning in to the Justin Stryde Podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback, we'll be able to make the show even better and it'll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram at JustinStrydePod for all the latest episodes and updates.
01:05:03
Speaker
Of course, this show wouldn't be possible without a solid team behind me. With logo and design by Vanessa Pugliese, as well as audio, music, and editing by Forest McKay, a huge thank you goes out to both of them. Guest outreach, social media, writing, and advertising are handled by me, your host, Justin Pugliese. Finally, we'd like to thank you, our listeners, for coming along for the ride with Justin Strad.