(upbeat music) - Hello, everyone. My name is Ashley, our post-time back, and I am thrilled to announce my new podcast on the Hopecast Network, Locks of Locks, where I will be chatting with comedians, restaurant tours, and everyone in the entertainment industry about comedy, duh, pop culture, and of course, a little bit of food. You can follow lots of laughs on Instagram, @locksoflapspodcast, and lots of laughs will be available on Spotify, iTunes, anywhere you listen to podcasts. So, like, follow, subscribe, and I cannot wait to nosh with you. (upbeat music) This is the Hopecast Network. Stories and shows you actually wanna listen to. (upbeat music) Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Everyday Runner. I am so excited to hang out this week with Jared Slar. Who is amazing, amazing. I'll tell you, I've been in his classes before, and we're gonna get into his running story and what he does and who he is, 'cause if you don't know who he is, you need to find him on social media. We're gonna drop all of his links right below in the show notes, but he is amazing and such a great human, and a really good storyteller, and I hope I get an opportunity to tell him what I'm referring to, which stands out to me about him and what he does as he instructs and teaches classes, and whatnot. So, anyways, Jared, now that I've been like this and I'm gonna shoot at you, well, so, how are you? - Thank you so, first off, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be on the show and kinda just chat and talk to you a little bit more about my story and my running story, and yeah, so I'm super stoked and thank you for having me. - Fantastic, so let's start off with talk to us about how you got started running. Like, what's your story? 'Cause I've seen some pictures on social media of before and after and your progression, but I honestly don't know like the full story is how it started, so could you share with us a bit? - Yeah, I guess it's kind of a long story, which I'll kind of give you like the abbreviated version, but-- - I love long stories. I love long stories, no short story, like I'm short story long, not long story, so. - For sure, so I guess the best way to kind of like, open this up is, you know, growing up, I was always overweight, out of shape. I was never really, I was never into running. I was attracted to team sports, so I played baseball and hockey growing up, but it's actually funny, like, looking back, I was thinking about this this morning, like, I played two sports where, you know, in hockey, there's a lot of cardio involved, right? But I was the goalie. So I like, was the least amount of cardio that you could possibly do, and then baseball, I was a first baseman and a catcher. So like, probably the most like, stagnant positions that you could play in those sports, that was me, right? So, you know, I was attracted to the, kind of like the competitive nature of these sports, but the running aspect was like, the last thing on my mind, I hated any sort of running, right? Yeah, growing up, I was kind of like on the bigger side, and I guess kind of like fast forward to my adult years, it got to kind of like a tipping point in like 2018, 2019. I was in a flag football league, and again, kind of like lineman, tight end position, not a lot of running. And the one time where I did go out to run, I went to run out for a pass, pulled my hamstring, and it was so bad that I ended up having a new other doctor, and the doctor ended up recommending cycling to be able to basically rehab my hamstring. And begrudgingly got into cycling, fell in love with cycling, and ended up losing 100 pounds over like a six month period. It was absolutely insane. And so over that period, and I'm kind of like jumping forward pretty quickly, but you know, after I lost 100 pounds, I fell in love with cycling, kind of like wanting to help other people transform their lives, because I had seen the impact that cycling had on my life. And so I started teaching cycling, and during one of my classes, one of my students came up to me after class Monday, she was like, hey, I know you like cycling, you should do a triathlon with me. I'm signed up for this triathlon. And I, at that time, I didn't even like road cycling. I just was all about like in the studio doing my thing. And so kind of begrudgingly, I was like, okay, like, you know what, you challenged me, you put this carrot out in front of me, like let's do this triathlon, right? And so at that point, I basically started to swim and run, which I didn't have any background in running realistically. I'd probably ran a mile for like gym class one time, but beyond that, like never did a 5K or anything like that. And did the triathlon, and that was kind of like my first carrot or like Swari into running. And so basically after that fell in love with triathlon and kind of that planted the seed for just liking, you know, running without having to swim and bike beforehand. So yeah, it was a, that's kind of like the emergence of my love and hate for running. And how I kind of like the first kind of steps into how I eventually got into this point where I'm at right now. - So let's go back to high school or middle school when you played sports. 'Cause I have four kids that are like, we are 70s a week at a field for one of them, if not two fields a day. I have a catcher. I have a catcher who also in field hockey, regurgently, we were like, you should probably be the goalie 'cause she's like, that's such great reflexes. And she'll probably kill me if she hears me say that. She's not the fastest, but she's really competitive and good. And so she played defense. So I'm curious now with baseball, like were you, so she's a solid hitter. Like she's the one who can drive, now my computer's. - No, you guys can't see, but I'm lifting my fingers 'cause I can't help but talk with my hands. And now my math book is like making balloons with me and that's totally throwing me out. So were you a big hitter? Like, so my second is like the hitter of the family. Like not saying that it's aren't, but like she just had a lot of power and strength. So what about you? - That was basically, like you're explaining me basically. Like I was that like power hitter base, first baseman catcher where like, again, like, I played outfield sometimes just because like I was fast. Like my quick twitch was good. So like I'd be able to sprint super, super fast, but like any sort of like endurance or like long, long duration, like that was not me, right? So I would just like, I just loved hitting the ball. That was my favorite part of baseball is just like batting. Like I like playing the field, it was okay, but like batting is my favorite. - Yeah. - If I could just bat a million times over and over again, that would be like my ideal situation. Not even looking to base it. I like to hit home runs 'cause I could then like jog around the bases instead of having to sprint to first base. - Yep, that's exactly my catcher. Like now it's funny. So for fall sports, we told her and her older sibling who's also in high school, you know, you need to do something. So they do travel ball throughout the year, but they both sign up for cross country. So even my catcher is doing cross country. And how do you feel about that? 'Cause like this is outside like what you normally do. And basically her thought was is that, hey, as long as I'm not on a bench trying to play a sport that I don't know and I can be involved. So that's what she's doing now. She's doing cross country, but she's like the catcher, she plays outfield if need be first or third. So, but yeah, I can, as you're describing yourself, I'm seeing like my family. And I'm like, oh, okay. So how long did you play baseball and hockey for? Was it through high school? Did you? - Pretty much, yeah. I mean, like I played travel baseball and hockey from like probably like late elementary school all the way up to my senior year of high school. And even like once I graduated, I think actually once I graduated high school, I think even my freshman year of college, like I went home for the summer, I think I still played like some travel ball over the summer after my freshman year of college. So like, I love baseball so much. It's like probably like my first true love when it comes to sports. Obviously the hockey as well. And as I've like grown into more of an adult, like I'm a huge, I'm from Detroit originally, I live in LA now, but always been a die hard, like lions, tigers, red wings, piss and span. - Amazing. - Yeah. Love it. - I love it. I love it. So when you, so after high school, right? 'Cause you're basically your expertise now, if we jumped forward now is health and wellness. That's like your home base. Did you go to school for that? Was that something that you obviously, it sounds to me like probably not. So what was Jared doing before being an amazing, you know, instructor? - It's crazy because like, you know, kind of like what we talked about before, like, you know, fitness, like I liked the competitive aspect of sports. But fitness was not my thing. Like I was the guy where every January 1st, it's like, okay, let's try this new diet. And then in two weeks. And like, let's burn ourselves out in the gym. Like let's go every single day and then burn ourselves out in like three weeks. Like that was the story. I'm sure a lot of your listeners right now can probably understand where that, understand that kind of like routine and what happens at the beginning of the year of the year. But like that, like fitness was not my thing, right? As a overall, right? So I went to school for sales and finance. I went to Western Michigan, got the double major. And then basically after college, moved out to Los Angeles, my sisters both live out here. So basically I was just like, I need to get out of the cold because I am the biggest wuss when it comes to the cold, honestly. And now that I live out here, especially like, I am just like the version of me now looking back, now I'll wear a jacket and like 50 degree weather. And it's just like, wow, you are the Troy. The Detroit version of you would think you were the biggest wuss of all time. But so basically I moved out to LA and started a career in sales. And so started off my first job out of college. I was working for a copier company. So I was selling copiers door to door, which looking back is the craziest thing of all time. Like looking back that I even like ended up in that position for all of you in the copier industry, I apologize. But after that, so that was a brief stint. It was only probably like nine months. And eventually I was just like, I need to get out of this transition still in a sales role. I moved to the payroll and software company, payroll and HR software company. So our industry, I should say, I was working for ADP and then I worked for another payroll and HR company. So basically I was in, you know, the white collar industry in sales. And so while this was happening, the farther into this career path that I got, the worse my health got. And it was just, you know, it was one of, I wasn't passionate about what I was doing. The stress of sales, like for everybody who's in a sales space, like when you're on a month to month quota, that stress builds on you, right? And like, you know, it was one of those things where like every single day it was a stress, like getting out of bed, it was like, oh my gosh, like I have to meet my quota. And it was like this thing hanging above my head every single day. And so like that dramatically, you know, that and, you know, also not being passionate about what I was doing. Like it was like taking a toll on my health to the point where it got to, you know, that eventual football injury, which actually was a blessing in disguise, which kind of like propelled me into the fitness space. So yeah, like going from a white collar, like corporate America job to like fitness has been, you know, it comes with its own set of challenges, but it's the best thing I could have ever done. Like my wife and I talk about it all the time. Like I'm like, I deal with other stresses, obviously, because like being your own boss and having to run your own business and doing these things, like there's obviously a level of sales to it as well. But, you know, I feel like I'm making an actual impact every single day and helping my clients get to the place that they want to get to. And seeing that every day, that's my motivator now. So yeah, it's been a, I know that was kind of like a wild thing. - No, no, no, I love it. 'Cause like it's been a wild ride. And it just, I just feel so grateful every single day that I'm able to do what I'm able to do, so. - Well, you think about it too. Like your business is helping people take control of their health, right? And doing it in a sustainable way and a longstanding way. And in turn, that holds you accountable to want to push yourself, I'm sure. Because you're motivated by the people that you get to work with, so. - Absolutely. - So here's a question. So after your triathlon, which by the way, kudos to you, I don't know how I feel about swimming in open water. I've in Massachusetts in the summer. All we see is great whites and sharks, and I don't know. I don't know. I grew up on the ocean. I think it should be out of my head. But as a parent, the moment I burst children, my radar of like safety has, and it's ridiculous. But anyways, after your triathlon, like what did you do? Like did you just like, I'm just gonna go with this at this point, and you just up-leveled and up-leveled and up-leveled, did you kind of walk us through that to where you are now as somebody who's done like ultra running, which is what. - Yeah, so that triathlon that I did, the one that I was talking about earlier, that was just a sprint triathlon. So it was like, I think it was like 500 meters in a pool, which goes to say something, 'cause it was a pool triathlon. So like not many triathlons, you do it in a pool. So it was like 500 meters in a pool, and then maybe like 15-ish miles on the bike, and then a 5K, so like super, super fast. But that kind of like lit my fire to do it a little bit, to go a little bit farther, right? So then after the sprint I signed up for an Olympic triathlon, which is right here in Malibu. And then after that, again, kind of like building this momentum, building this momentum, this was in 2019. After that race, I was like, okay, I think I can do a half-iron man. Ironman 70.3, which for those of you who maybe aren't familiar with triathlon who are listening to the podcasts, 1.2 miles swim, 56 miles on the bike, and then a half marathon after. And so I was signed up for this race. I'm like, sweet, like let's put like a solid six months of training in, let's actually take this thing seriously. Well, right after I signed up for that race, COVID shut everything down. And so they had to push the race out of the year. And so kind of like what I was talking about earlier, where like typically an injury would be a setback, but in that case, the injury kind of like propelled me into this like new career and new lifestyle. COVID, obviously COVID had like so many negative impacts and like shutting things down and all these things like that. But for me, when it comes to this specific like area of my life, the race being pushed out of the year, I was like, well, if I have an extra year to train for this race, I might as well go all the way in. And so obviously had that race, the Half Iron Man set for it was like September of 2021. I was like, okay, if I have an extra year, I'm going to sign up for a full Iron Man and do it like two months after that. And so I was like, literally, I'm just going to go full steam ahead, I have a full year to train for this thing. And that ended up being a blessing in disguise because like it forced me to go even harder than I would have probably normally done. Finishing that full Iron Man, like there's a couple of races that I've done, but like that was like one of the coolest things, crossing that finish line. Like anybody who's ever trained for any distance race who's like put in a big training block, once you cross that finish line, there's no, there's no feeling like it. Like the rush of emotions, man, like so many, and the adversity that you have to cross and the things that you have to do on a day-to-day, not only on the day of the race, but on a day-to-day basis to be able to set yourself up for success. Like it was just an experience that I'll never forget. And I just remember like so many things went wrong that day and still being able to cross the finish line. I just like broke down in tears and like hugged my, she was my girlfriend at the time, but my now wife, I like my friends were all out there. It was just crazy and a feeling that I'll never forget. So like- - So would you say that was like your best race experience ever or like your most memorable one of everything you've done so far? - There, that was definitely one. I also did a 50 mile ultra on Catalina Island this past January, which was like, that was another big, big day. So like, you know, those would probably be my top, top handful for sure. The Iron Man specifically, I mean, there was like 10 and a half hours of like constant motion, which was pretty crazy, but, and obviously the full year of training to get to that point. So yeah, it was incredible. And just like the emotions of having my friends all there. And then, you know, one of the things that people don't really think about is like, you know, for me, for myself, and I think that anybody who trains for something like that, the person you start off at the beginning, the person you start off as at the beginning of training is not the person that you finish the training as. Like you, any time you go through that sort of thing, you go through a big training block, like you evolve as a person. And I just like, I thought of myself, you know, the person who was a hundred pounds overweight, you know, a couple of years prior to that, having never even run a single mile basically, and now have all of a sudden create, create this version of myself that can do 140.6 mile race. Just thinking about that whole journey was just like totally overwhelming. So, and that's something that I like to kind of project to all of my clients, like no matter where you start off in, like you can create the version of yourself that can do incredible things. So yeah, but that was definitely like a highlight that I'll never forget for sure. - I love that. So let me ask you this. What is a mistake that maybe you've made on your own journey or maybe your clients have made if it's not your, I feel like we've all made mistakes, right? Like we've all done like that, I don't know. I'm not gonna give you any, I'm just gonna wait and see what you say. What is something that you've kind of just made a mistake and you learn from that our listeners can hear and hopefully learn from you? - So I think, listen, like the easy, the quote unquote easy answer to this is like, you know, when you're first starting off at something starting off too fast or like running too fast or, you know, doing something that, you know, maybe isn't smart in your training or like, you know, things like that. But here's my favorite answer and this is like, I've listened to a couple of your other podcasts and I was kind of thinking to myself like, you know, 'cause I think we all make mistakes, right? And that's part of the secret to the secret sauce, I guess, in all of us, right? You have to like make mistakes along the way. But what I think of when I think of like, my biggest mistake is pretending that I wasn't a runner or pretending that I wasn't a cyclist, right? Like, I don't know, I think of this. I'm assuming you've covered with you. - Like you've lost your syndrome, right? Like second guessing yourself. - The other side of that, right? So like, have you seen, have you seen like Happy Gilmore? Obviously-- - Yeah, of course. - So like, in the movie Happy Gilmore, like he's a hockey player, but he like, he's like, he hits the ball really far in golf and so he ends up like in these golf tournaments, right? And so like, he goes to his first golf tournament and he's like checking in, he's like, hi, I'm Happy Gilmore, I'm a hockey player, but I'm playing golf today or whatever. The first time getting from indoor bike onto a road bike, I go out with like a bunch of people, we're all road cycling and we're going out for like a 60 mile bike ride, right? And everybody, except for everybody's wearing like the full spandex, the aerodynamic helmet, the sunglasses, and I'm wearing just gym shorts on this bike, right? And I'm like, I will never, in a million years, think of myself as a cyclist and I will never wear spandex or whatever. Well, let me tell you what, after 60 miles on one of those narrow seats and like no bike shorts to like my master. Sorry, I don't know if I can tell you. I thought it's so bad, right? And so like, I was like, oh, I'm not a, like I'm a baseball player, I'm not really a cyclist. And so same thing, like I went to do the triathlon and like I went to a running club. And at that point, I had like kind of like in my mind converted myself like, okay, I'm a cyclist, right? And so I go to this running club to like kind of like amp myself up and like get myself in a running shape. And I start introducing myself like, oh yeah, I'm a cyclist, I'm not a runner. Listen, if you do these things, you are that thing, right? And so like, I don't know if it came from like, I don't think it was necessarily embarrassment, but it was like just kind of like telling myself to like, I hate to interrupt what you're doing now, but something very important I need to let you know about. When you purchase serious coffee beans, we want you to try to enjoy each brew for two reasons. Number one, because you're a part of something bigger, making a positive impact around the world. And number two, because we did not compromise on the quality of coffee, you're drinking some of the best coffee in the world. 100% of profits are donated to nonprofits that are fighting and justice-facing humans around the world. Well, that's powerful. Generous is best known for especially coffee, but the heartbeat of generous is their hope to use for profit business for good. In 2024, generous is hoping to provide coffee to churches around the US to spread a message within congregations that churches care about people even down to the coffee they are serving and the people they enjoy. I apologize for that extremely long run-on sentence. If you have interest in hearing more about your generous coffee, please reach out to their founder, Ben Higgins, at binhiggins@journessmovement.com. Thank you, and back to our scheduled podcast. - Okay, I know I just interrupted a great conversation, but my name is Brad, and you may be listening to me or any of the other talent we have on this network at HopeCast. We wanna thank you for listening, but also we want you to like and subscribe to the show you're listening to. So, when you're done listening, go on the iTunes or the Spotify and leave a great review if you like it and follow the show on Instagram and any other platforms that it's on. I think we're on TikTok, so follow us on TikTok. But make sure you leave us a review. We love good reviews here at the HopeCast Network. Now, I guess I'll let you get back to your show. - I am not this thing. Listen, if you go to a running club, if you can run at all, if you can do, you are that thing, you are an athlete, right? So give yourself credit and believe in yourself. And it takes like certain steps along the way to maybe perfect that thing, but kind of like what you talked about earlier, right? Like you need to make mistakes and you kind of just have to like, you know, fake it till you make it sort of thing, right? And so the more often you do it, all of a sudden one day, you'll wake up and be like, you know what? I am a runner, I am a cyclist. I like give myself a little bit of credit that I can do this thing that, and reach this challenge that I put out in front of myself. So that's what I would, that's like my number one thing, right? Like if you think you can do something, if your goal is to do something, you are capable of doing that thing. And it's okay to put a label on yourself and say that you are a runner, you are a cyclist, you are an athlete, so yeah. - I love that. I love that. Everybody should re-listen to that again and again and again, because it's so true. I can't tell you how many people I talked to and they're like, oh yeah, I'm a wanna be runner. And I'm like, no, if you are getting out there and doing anything, it doesn't matter if you're walking, you're jogging, you're sashaying down the road, or on the treadmill, you're a runner. There's there's question. - And you know what? Here's the funny little secret, right? So I'm not sure if you've interviewed any ultra runners or whatever. Last year, I got into ultra running. I kind of talked about it a little bit before I did the Catalina 50-mile run. A lot of the time you see ultra runners, you think this person ran 50 miles, 100 miles. Guess what happens a lot of the time during those ultra runs? You run walk, right? And run walking is totally fine, right? Like just because you're a quote unquote ultra runner doesn't mean that you're running the entire time, especially if the terrain is crazy. So like if you're doing a marathon or even a 5K, right? Like run walk is a great strategy to get across the finish line. It's about getting to that point. It's not necessarily about how fast you get there 'cause at the end of the day, you're competing with yourself. And if one day you walk a little bit less than the day you did prior, that's a win, right? So yeah, you don't always have to be running the entire time. - That's the, I guess probably the little secret that most people like. - And then so many people. I've had so many people on Instagram be like, Aaron, you just need to start trail running 'cause like we have snapped, we walk. Like chill and they snap. They're like going to switch from road running to trail running and do long. - It is so, it is so funny. Like that's one of the things I love about like trying these different sort of like events, right? So like I got into Iron Man and triathlon and then I kind of just got into regular like road running and then I got into trail running. And I kind of like go in these phases which keeps things interesting for me and exciting. But that's the number one thing that I learned from trail running is like, it's so funny. Like right now I'm training for the Chicago Marathon and I've done the Chicago Marathon before. It's so funny when you go to a road running race like you check in the day before and you have to get your bib and there's like a whole like, there's a pageantry with like the, you know, like the whole like village where like you can get all these things and everybody's like super intense. It's all it's usually like the day before where you have to get your bib and your timing chip and all that. Trail running, you show up that morning. There's like a little tent. Everybody is having a good time. Like nobody gives a crap about timing for the most part because they know it's all going to be like a long day. And like, you know, especially with trail running at least the ones that I've done. Like there's a lot of elevation gain. People are like, you know, talking during like the walk up the mountain or like up any sort of hills. Like it is so much more laid back whereas like road running, it's like everybody's serious. Like zone, at least that's, that's my experience. So like it's cool. There's a time and a place for everything. But like that's my draw to trail running is that like it is so laid back. You're just eating the entire time and like. - That's just what everybody says. That's what everybody says. So I'm like, you know what? Maybe when my kids are a little bit more older or they're driving and I can do, then I have that bit more freedom. Me, then I'll take the jump and start doing that. 'Cause it just sounds so chill. - Yeah. - Like let's all bring snacks. - Yeah. - Good time. - There's, listen, yeah. Listen, there's definitely a chill point of it but there's also, you know, you hit that wall obviously. But it's so funny like I have this picture of myself from the Catalina race that they have like photographers all throughout the island taking pictures. And there's this one picture of me and I have my like my hydration pack on me with like my water and all that. And like my hydration pack has like a front pouch that's like kind of mesh so you can see through it. And like there's all of my snacks in there. It's like this picture it's like, you can see like a honey stinger waffles and like my like go-to for like ultra running or any sort of like, like when I'm doing long distance is Sour Patch Kids. So like you can see the Sour Patch Kids in there and like I had like a Snickers. It's like, you know, like I'm literally packed up with like all these different snacks. I'm like, wow, like I'm a walking billboard for like, you know, all these different brands. - We need, we need to get you an endorsement from Sour Patch Kids. - Listen, I am, we need to make that happen. I am totally open. Sour Patch Kids or call me, find my Instagram. - We need to, you need to start posted about your Sour Patch Kids. Like every real time you're doing a long run, your story. I don't know of anybody who's out there banging the Sour Patch Kids and like getting an endorsement. You know, very well. - Sour Patch and you know what my go-to also is those uncrustable for smokers. I post about smoking. Literally those are my go-to, they're the best because like if you ever are going out on a hot day, like you freeze them. So you just throw them in your pack and they like kind of keep you cool and they thaw throughout the day and you're just, they're great. - So you're giving Sour Patch Kids. Let's make it happen. - Let's make it happen. Sour Patch Kids, let's have that happen. We need that to happen. I had another person on a couple weeks ago who shared that he has mustard packets. So he'll go to like McDonald's. Like if he's like at McDonald's or something or like for whatever reason passing through there, he'll get or like Chick-fil-A, he'll get mustard packets to travel packets. And that's what he uses to prevent cramping as he just squirts mustard. - You know, I thought I've heard every little hack that is the new one, that's crazy. - Yeah, it's mustard. - Okay. So there you go. - You know what, see I'd say like maybe I'll try that one. I don't think I'm trying that one, but more power, you know what? Whatever floats your boat, you know? - Yeah, that was one I'm like, I don't think I can do that. - Yeah. - A lot of things I'd be open to do. I don't know if mustard is the one I can stand on. - Yeah. - So let me ask you this, this is my favorite question I love to ask people and share whatever you're comfortable with and having all of our listeners listen to and chances are everybody Instagram that follows the accounts, can you share with us your most embarrassing, you can do cycling story, try a fun story or running story, something that's either happened to you or you've seen while you're out on the road. - Yeah, you know, I don't know if I've necessarily had too many like embarrassing for myself. Like I'm always like tripping and things like that. So maybe that's the one thing. Usually I catch myself, which is good, but I was thinking about this before we jumped on and when I was doing the Iron Man down in Cozumel, you know, it's a long day. It's a hot day when I was, it was like so humid, probably like 90 degrees, like really long day. And like 99% of the time, every Iron Man race I've done, like Iron Man is so good at putting on these events. Like, you know, they think of everything, right? For whatever reason that race, I don't know if it was just too hot or what, but like they basically like the way that they had like aid stations throughout the run portion, is they had these like, instead of having like cups with water or like little mini water bottles, they had these little like pouches of water. So you like kind of like tear it open, like drink it out of this little like plastic pouch and then kind of ditch them. Well, towards the end of the end of the run, for maybe it's just because it was super hot, they ran out of water. So they only had Gatorade, which led to people having some like GI issues. And so luckily I was fine, but like at like basically it was like a loop course. It was like three loops for the marathon portion. And, you know, in triathlon, for those of you who don't know, you can't wear headphones at all during the day. So like everybody, you're running without headphones. You can hear everything. You can see everything blah, blah. And this one lady at one of the aid stations, there weren't enough porta potties, I guess. And I just, I'm running past the aid station. And this one lady is like, not just like banging, like seeing if anybody's in there, she is like smashing on the door saying like, come on, come on, I need to go, I need to go. And like, I just remember running past this. And I was like, I kind of like in a day where everybody is suffering, I look over, I'm like, that lady is having a tough time. Which like, if I was in her shoes, I was, I would probably be embarrassed, but she was probably in such like self-pressurvation mode that like, you know, making a fuss. And like, but like, I was just like, oh my God, this lady is having a tough day. Everybody's having a tough day, but this lady is especially. So, yeah. - So can you imagine if, so let's pretend for a second, if you're in the porta pottie, during the race, somebody's banging on that door, what would you do? Like, trying to interpret us. - That person is all, sorry. - I'd be afraid to go out. - Yeah. I mean, listen, like anytime you're doing a race, like, I feel like anybody, like people don't necessarily pay attention to bib numbers faces. Like, nobody's gonna remember who is who. Like, that person's probably like in the porta pottie. Like, oh my God, I need to like, get the hell out of here and get out, whatever. But that's another tip that I always mentioned to any of my athletes. Any race that you do, obviously some race organizers are better than others, but like, any race that you do, there's gonna be a huge rush for the porta potties before the race. Ring toilet paper. Because like, those porta potties get so gross before the race, like, there's nothing worse than having to run a marathon and, you know, you happen to do your business. And they're, you're reaching under and having no toilet, like it's not kind of wood that's never happened to me, but also always bring some just in case. So if you take anything from this podcast, bring toilet paper for before the race. - Bring toilet paper. - Throw it away right before the race. You won't have to use it. Yeah. - If you go for a year, man. - This one's right. It says, or any sort of long distance. It's like, that's not something that you want to get yourself into, so. - Yeah. You don't want to have to worry about going in and there being no toilet paper. - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - Hey, yeah, yeah. All right, so let me ask you, what are you training for right now? What are you doing? I know you've got Chicago in a few weeks. It feels like a few weeks. I know it's further than a few weeks, but it's right around the corner, really. What's coming up as far as Chicago? What's after Chicago? What are you doing? How can we support you? Tell us. Tell us all about it. - Yeah, so right now I'm, like you mentioned, I'm training for the Chicago Marathon. It's my favorite roadrunning race. I did it. It was my first marathon I ever did. So it's gonna be cool to go back there and run again. Hopefully I'm gonna qualify for Boston. If not qualify, definitely I'm hoping to PR, which knock on wood, that will happen. I've been going through a really big training block basically for the last four or five months to prep for this race. The way I work, I like to have some supporting races sometimes, but when it comes to my A races, I go full in to one A race. So that's my focus right now. After I finish that, I'll hopefully be able to focus on next year and see what my next big race is, maybe get into triathlon. Kind of like I said, I like to bounce around from year to year. It keeps me fresh. But I'm raising money for Project Purple, which is a charity for those with pancreatic cancer and my grandfather passed away when I was in high school back in 2008 from pancreatic cancer. And it's been a cause that's, it really stuck with me because he, speaking of athletes, my grandfather was probably the most athletic person in my family. He was the person even into his 80s was on the treadmill, which is so funny 'cause I would never be on the treadmill. When he was alive, I would never have been caught dead on a treadmill and he was the person who would do a miler to every single day, even into his 80s, which is crazy to think about what he would think about what I'm doing now, 'cause he never got to see this version of myself. But anyway, so he got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was basically gone after it was like two and a half, three months, which is, you know, it's a really deadly form of cancer, probably the most deadly forms of cancer that is out there. And so it's been a cause that has stuck with me basically since then, which has been over what, 16 years now. So I'm raising money for Project Purple and hopefully gonna be able to cross that finish line with my head held high, knowing I, knowing IPR which is awesome and raise a bunch of money for Project Purple. And yeah, just right now, beyond myself, which, you know, kind of like we already talked about before, training a bunch of different athletes to get them across their finish lines as well. So I coach athletes anywhere from their first 5K up to Ironman distance triathlon. So pretty much any sort of endurance event. I actually also, I got outside of my comfort zone recently and trained one of my clients to, even though I don't have any experience with like mountaineering, I've done a lot of like long distance trail running and things like that, trained one of my clients to summit Mount Whitney and she just did that three weeks ago. So, you know, helping my clients get from the place that they're at to the place that they want to get to, that's like my main thing outside of obviously doing my A-race and things like that. So that's what I'm focusing on. If any of your listeners are interested, my website is just jerebschlar.com. Could be any more simple, it's J-A-R-E-D-S-K-L-A-R. And then my Instagram is schlardicus, which it's kind of like, I'm, you know, I like my puns. So I took Spartacus and kind of, you know, shifted into my last name, which is schlardicus. And that's on Instagram. So those are probably the best ways to find me if anybody is interested in following along or anything like that. - Perfect. And first off, I'm so sorry if you lost with your grandfather. I lost my mom from small cell carcinoma lung cancer and it was within six months of diagnosis. And it's so quick and the thing that's wild is my mom was not an athlete. She was not a runner at all, but she used to, my mom was a die-hard sports fan for Boston. But the only time she'd turn off the red socks was to watch the Boston marathon. And so she always would say those runners, they're amazing, those runners are amazing. So my mom never saw me run, but I had signed up for my first half marathon in memory of her and to raise money for Dana Farber where she was treated. So I can appreciate what you're doing. - And so I know we're kind of wrapping up here, but I just wanna say like, I think that that's one of the coolest things about any sort of endurance sport, but running especially is that like, it's so tied in with community and, you know, raising money for charity and getting people to the place that they wanna get to and helping other people. Like I think that that's so cool. You know, kind of like we were talking about other sports where it's all competitive with endurance sports, it's all about helping other people get to the place that they wanna get to, which I think is just like, I think that's what drew me to endurance sports, but specifically to the running community as well. So I'm obviously so sorry to hear about your mom, but I just think that it's so cool that that's what kind of propelled you to get running as well. - Well, I feel like Jared, a lot of people, that's how some of them get started running, is they need a space to escape. And they just need a stress reliever, or they hear an ad in the radio, not that we listen to the radio much anymore, but that for me, I listen to the radio and I heard an ad for the half, and I just thought, how cool would that be to raise money for a family member? So maybe one of the listeners will hear this and they'll be sitting there and saying, you know what, I really wanna help make an impact for this cause, you're 100% right, you can document your training journey, what you're doing, and really make an impact, which is fantastic, and it makes it special, so much more than just like you said, just the run or the ride, it's making a difference and stuff. - Even from a mental health standpoint too, right? Like one of the things I always say with the bike and obviously translates to running as well, your running shoes and your bike are there for you every single day. So if you are going through a bad day and you need to de-stress and let out a little bit of anger or like work through some things, guess what, those running shoes are gonna be there for you. If you are having a great day and you need to celebrate your wins, guess what, your running shoes are there for you. So it's kind of, for me, it was one of those constants where like no matter what happens and kind of like built into my habits, right? Like whether it's a good day or a bad day, you know that you're gonna be running or cycling or doing whatever and working through or celebrating the things that happen in your day and that's what I think it's really cool on it, so. - Yeah, and you know, I have to say that and I know we're finishing up that the thing that I appreciate you about you is that you tell stories and you're relatable. So really quickly last year when I had gotten hurt, I had a tibial stress fracture a month before the Providence marathon that I was training for and I was devastated. And in results, I ended up on my bike while I took off my boot. So I had my boot that I was wearing all the time but I got the okay to ride my bike and do no impact. So just sit there and pedal. And I remember I was in a class of yours and you were telling a story about a friend and running and you were talking about a friend who, I think it was, they just signed up on a whim to do a race and they were a football player and they just thought that they could wing it. And I remember you using the analogy of running and about how to push yourself through the hard seasons of life and just you really were in that moment exactly what I needed to hear. Exactly when I was going through one of the toughest seasons of my life mentally besides obviously losing a family member and stuff. So that's why I had to reach out to and have you on the show 'cause I'm like, this guy is for real, he's genuine, he cares, he's passionate about supporting his athletes and I just, I appreciate everything you do. So I appreciate that. Yeah, I think that there's so many things that can be learned from like stories and things that go on in your day to day life and I think that a lot of the time we don't necessarily pay attention to them. And so like creating that story and like leaning on it instead of just, oftentimes we kind of just like climb a mountain, overcome some adversity and then we leave it in the past. I think that if we can like remember those moments then it'll help us the next time we run into a difficult situation. And if we really learn from them and carry them instead of just being like, oh, I did XYZ, let's leave it in the past, let's move on to the next thing. It's like, no, like that is, that's what you build upon to be able to become the best and strongest and most courageous and smartest version of yourself. So yeah, I appreciate that. Awesome, thank you, Jared. Thank you so much for hanging out today. Everybody, make sure you go find Jared on Instagram. You leave the show of review, you follow him if you're looking to connect with somebody and get some coaching support, check him out, DM him, email him, and I guarantee you, well, we're great at it. So thank you so much everybody for joining us today. Thank you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
