Runnah x On The Runs | Running Cape Cod and Beyond | Bonus Episode

Bonus Episode this week, Six Star and Eric were guest on the Runnah Podcast, hosted by Julianna Coughlin. 

In this episode of the Runnah Podcast, hosts Julianna welcomes Eric, and Six Star Erika to discuss their backgrounds in running, the importance of community, and the unique culture of ultra running. They share personal stories, the significance of storytelling in building connections, and the impact of their podcast on the running community. The conversation highlights the relatability of running experiences, including the humorous and challenging moments that all runners face. In this conversation, Julianna, Eric, and Erika discuss their experiences with recognition in the podcasting community, the importance of building connections through running, and their preferences in running shoes. They share personal anecdotes about live shows, social anxiety, and the joy of connecting with others. The discussion also touches on the fun of podcasting, social media, and their mascot, Stoolie, who travels the world with their stickers.

Chapters

00:00 Intro
02:17 Running Backgrounds: From Imposter Syndrome to Expertise
05:09 The Love for Races and Community
08:14 The Storytelling Aspect of Podcasting
11:13 Creating a Welcoming Running Community
14:12 The Humor in Running: Code Brown Stories
17:58 Creating a Community of Voices
20:16 Local Connections and Impact
22:52 The Ultra Running Experience
26:06 The Value of Medals and Recognition
29:38 Moments of Recognition and Acceptance
35:18 Building Connections and Friendships
38:49 The Power of Running Shoes
40:58 Shoe Preferences and Experiences
45:53 The Importance of Shoe Rotation
50:03 Shoe Care and Maintenance
53:04 Connecting Through Running and Community

Takeaways

No one asks for credentials in social media.
Many runners are unaware of their shoe brands.
Imposter syndrome is common among runners.
The marathon distance is a favorite for many.
Ultra running creates a unique community vibe.
Every distance runner has a memorable poop story.
Storytelling is key to connecting with the audience.
Recognition can be surprising and rewarding.
Building community is essential in running.
The podcast aims to share relatable running experiences. Recognition can come from unexpected places.
Community acceptance is a rewarding experience.
Building friendships through shared interests is invaluable.
Live shows create unique opportunities for connection.
Social anxiety can be managed through community engagement.
Running shoes can be both functional and fun.
It's important to have a good support system while traveling.
Social media can enhance connections and friendships.
Podcasting is a collaborative and enjoyable endeavor.
Having a mascot like Stoolie adds a fun element to the podcast.

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Threads
Email us at OnTheRunsPod@gmail.com

Don't Fear The Code Brown and Don't Forget To Stretch!

Transcript

Eric (00:06)
What's up everybody? How you feeling? How you doing? One week away from Christmas. Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Have you even started? Or are you just lucky like me and thank God for online shopping, right? Thank God. That's how I'm doing mine. I'm enjoying the mountain as you've seen. I've been skiing a little bit. But hey, we got a fun bonus episode for today. Juliana of the Runnah

We had the pleasure of being on her podcast a couple of weeks ago. It dropped the other day. We're dropping it now on our feed for you guys all to hear if you haven't heard it yet. It was so much fun. We absolutely had a blast. This is someone we've been following for a while on Instagram, social media, checking out her pod. She's had some of very own pod fam on her podcast. Shout out Mary and Ruth Ann. So,

Like I said, we're only one week away from Christmas, so we're gonna be back. Next week is the Christmas special that's dropping on Tuesday. That was a ton of fun. And then right after the new year, we're gonna be back on January 6th. I know, you kinda gotta wait six days, but that's how the Tuesday falls this time. So we're gonna be back soon. I hope you're having a great time. can tell you, Erika's having a great time, as I'm sure she's out there putting all the content on social media for us to all see what she's doing.

She is, right? You guys are seeing this. I'm seeing, am I seeing things? I don't know, we'll see. Hey, have a great holiday, have a great Christmas. We'll see you for the Christmas special and enjoy this bonus track on the Runnah Podcast.

Julianna (01:30)
Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Run Up, running on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and beyond. I'm Julianna, and welcome back to your favorite local running community. We are here today with you guys all virtually because we have two local people who are just a little bit less local than I'd care them to be, because it would be nice if they came down here to foul with this, which I was already convincing them to do so.

multiple times already. But we have Erika and Eric of the B, sorry, I was gonna say the Beyond the Runs, that doesn't make any sense, On the Runs podcast. I think as we mentioned the Believe in the Run people earlier, and we were talking about DTF shoes, which will probably get mentioned again in this podcast at least once. But welcome Erika and Eric to, to RUNA.

Erika (02:05)
you

Julianna, thank you so much for having us. This has been such a blast of a day. I mean, you did mention that we got to talk a little bit before this, but thank you for having us on your podcast. It's absolutely an honor.

Julianna (02:17)
Yeah.

Eric (02:22)
Yeah, I'm wicked excited and I can't wait to talk about some DTF shoes.

Julianna (02:22)
Yeah.

Yeah, wicked excited about those DTF shoes, which was a driveway to forest, if you're wondering.

Erika (02:26)
you

Eric (02:31)
would have loved to have driven

down to the Cape, by the way, but it's, even though we're local, that's like a four hour drive for us sometimes. We're in New Hampshire, so ⁓ maybe when it's warmer in the summer or maybe around the Cape Cod Marathon, which I can't wait to do one day, but no, I am wicked excited to be here and sorry we couldn't make it down to Falmouth.

Erika (02:39)
Depending on traffic.

Julianna (02:40)
Yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

no worries, because I know that you guys will come down here eventually and you'll have a nice time. It'll be great. It'll be wonderful. But let's get started by hearing just some background as to who you even are. Because we know obviously you host a podcast. Like here you are hosting a podcast. Wow. So what is your history of running? What makes you qualified to host a podcast? And Erika, we'll shoot it over to you first.

Erika (03:18)
Sure. Well, I still don't know. I have a bit of imposter syndrome sometimes when it comes to running and what qualifies me, but I have been running since 2009. So I mean, got 16 solid years, 16, 17 years under my belt almost. And yeah, I mean, I didn't grow up as a runner. I was more of a soccer player and I picked up running and at the end of college, like outside of college, just as a way to stay fit.

Julianna (03:26)
Yeah, same.

That's pretty good.

Erika (03:47)
There, the one thing that hooked me was I know that you love your local running community and I started running because there was a road race that fell on my birthday that particular year. So I trained for it and that was my hometown road race and I go back for it every year. And it's kind of like the, the special thing that linked me to the running community to start with. So.

Julianna (04:00)
⁓ yeah, duh.

Mm-hmm.

Erika (04:11)
yeah, I've been, I've been doing the road races. kind of do like the longer distance things these days. I've been doing a lot of marathons, been doing a lot of traveling. ⁓ I know you're on your way to getting your six star soon. I got mine a few years ago and, ⁓ I got, I got another, I got another one on deck. I have a plan to go to Sydney, ⁓ coming up in August and

Julianna (04:18)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, you have them.

Eric (04:27)
Six, seven.

This

might be an exclusive actually, because we haven't announced yet on our podcast. Exclusive breaking news on the run-up podcast.

Julianna (04:37)
⁓ okay. Okay.

Erika (04:38)
Be dropping it. Yeah, we'll see. But either way, either way.

But I do I do love the marathon distance. I have been getting into ultras. I think they're so much fun. The vibe just is totally. I have I have I've done. Oh, total number of ultras, I don't know, but I have done 700 milers before seven 100 milers, not 700 miles, but.

Julianna (04:51)
⁓ have you run any ultras yet? Which ones have you run?

Eric (05:04)
Yeah.

Julianna (05:04)
Wow,

Erika (05:06)
There's that, that

Julianna (05:06)
that's impressive.

Erika (05:07)
is something insane, but right. But, ⁓ yeah, just the, the, that community, that side of the running community is just absolutely incredible. And I'm just happy that I can be a part of it and meet new people as cool as yourself and, just make new friends. It's totally fun.

Eric (05:08)
Headline's gonna

Julianna (05:09)
Crazy.

Yeah.

I love it. What

was your, what's your favorite like race that you've, besides like your hometown race, we'll put that in its own little category, cause that has like all that nostalgia built up around it. Do you have like a favorite race of all time that you've run? Mm-hmm.

Erika (05:32)
Mm-hmm.

Ooh, of all time. ⁓

So Eric will give me crap on this. I do love Chicago. That one is probably my favorite marathon, but man, favorite race ever. I don't know. I'm gonna stick with Chicago. That brings the vibes. That's just the big crowds and the energy, and it's fast and flat, because that's my jam.

Julianna (05:46)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

You can think about it. Okay.

Erika (06:05)
⁓ we were talking a little bit before about how trails are not my friend. I would love to, to, to be one with the trails, but they, they don't like me as much as I like them. So I like to stick more to the roads, but, but yeah.

Julianna (06:11)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Have all

the ultras you've been doing, they, none of those are trails? ⁓ okay. Those are, I was like, the probability that you're running an ultra but none of the, you run 700 miles and none of them have been trails is pretty low.

Erika (06:24)
no, they are trails, I do them, but they just don't agree with me.

Yeah, I'm getting better at them. The DTF shoes we were talking about, the driveway to forest shoes, they have actually been helping me a lot because I tend to trip over the big lugs and I'll just find every little root and rock. And so the hybrid shoes with the slight tread on the bottom have been much nicer to me than the normal shoes. So I'm working on it. I'm getting better.

Julianna (06:40)
It's a process. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

noted.

It's a process, you know. It's a process. And Eric, what about you? How did you get into running? What qualifies you to host a running podcast?

Erika (07:06)
Mm, sure is,

Eric (07:13)
Well,

I'm a little bit opposite of Erika where she feels like the imposter running podcaster. I've always wanted to do a podcast. And I even thought like years ago I would be right. I thought years ago I'd be great on talk radio. However, I can't talk that well and I mispronounce words all the time, but I've been running since middle school. I can remember the first time in a gym class running was like on the plane, not the mile, but we did like this trail run. was in sixth grade.

Erika (07:20)
Hmm. I'm along for the ride.

Julianna (07:22)
Yeah.

You do kind of have the voice for that.

Yeah.

Eric (07:42)
and the teacher happened to be the cross country coach and she got me to sign up for cross country. So I ran cross country in high school and middle school. I was not fast, but I just enjoyed it and I did it to train and get in shape for hockey. And that's what running has been for me the entire time is just something to get in shape. When I feel like I'm out of shape, I start running again. I ran, like I said, in high school, I made varsity like one year and my goal was not to finish last. And I didn't because I remember seeing a kid fall.

Julianna (07:42)
You're saying.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (08:10)
And I passed and I'm like, yes, I'm not going to finish last. ultimately I ended up finishing like 30th to last and I was super impressed. was at a, yes, well, hundreds of runners. did, I had one race in Vermont called Thedford. It was like the Thedford International. It's this Academy up in Vermont. And it was so big, they had multiple waves. So I was like in the fourth of the fifth wave. ⁓

Julianna (08:14)
Big goals.

That's pretty good.

huh.

⁓

Eric (08:36)
And so I was with all the slow runners, but I finished second and it came down to the wire and I almost won. But really, if you count like all the thousands of runners, I finished like 1100 or whatever. But I've always done this to stay in shape. Right, right, yeah.

Julianna (08:42)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

We're in front of you. Yeah. It still counts, you know, it's I mean.

Like, it's fine. It's okay. Like, it's more than fine. I mean, the trail marathon ultra that I just DNF'd, there were only 14 ladies running with 50 milers. So it's like, yeah, me and half of us DNF'd. So it's like, look at me. Like, I'm in the majority of people who didn't finish the race. Like, it's just, it's a numbers game sometimes. And you don't have to tell anyone else that.

Erika (09:08)
boy.

Eric (09:15)
Right.

Well, the opposite is I got into triathlons long after I had a long like played hockey my whole life. And then I worked in NASCAR, changed tires in NASCAR, which was a lot of fun. But then I moved back to New Hampshire and I got into triathlons because my wife did one. was like, I can do this. I finished second in my second ever triathlon in my age group. And they called me up. on the podium and I'm looking at the winner. like, I remember I was running and you passed me. I was that close to winning.

Erika (09:17)
Mm.

Julianna (09:36)
Wow.

mean, gosh, shit.

Eric (09:44)
and they never called someone up for third. So I finished second out of two.

Julianna (09:47)
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Yup. But no one has to know that.

Eric (09:51)
But I got, right,

Erika (09:51)
Still ca-

Eric (09:53)
but I got like a $25 gift certificate to Millennium Running or something. I was like, I'll take that. So, wins a win.

Julianna (09:57)
Yeah, there you go. Yeah.

Yeah, that's what I say too, you know, one of my favorite things to see, so I follow this YouTuber whose username is ran to Japan. And he is a British guy living in Japan and he's been winning a bunch of races. My favorite thing to see is what they give him as prizes for winning these races. Like he got like 10 pounds of rice for winning second place in a marathon. I was in like a like a shipment of flowers. I was like, that's nice. That's a fun.

Eric (10:16)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (10:17)
⁓

Julianna (10:27)
And he's just like, yeah, they just keep sending me things. Like you just get like this influx of like random prizes. I was just like, that's kind of fun. That's what I want to buy. Like, when I, when I won the Wotopo 50k this, this spring, I got stumped. I was like, that's nice. And people like, what did you get, Julian? I was like a stump. We were like, and a stump.

Eric (10:46)
Imagine coming back from that race in Japan with like 10 pounds of rice and customs looking at you and saying like, rice? Yeah, and they'd be like, really? Incredible, And then, yeah, we're just podcasters who have a fun time and we don't know what we're doing half the time. We're just.

Julianna (10:52)
Yeah.

Erika (10:54)
But I won it.

Julianna (10:55)
I won the marathon, you guys. Like, I ran like a 210 and I got like five pounds of rice. I love it. okay, so.

Yeah.

Erika (11:09)
Share

in our love of running with whoever wants to listen.

Eric (11:13)
Yeah,

Julianna (11:13)
Yeah, what?

Eric (11:13)
yeah, somehow this happened and we can't believe it.

Julianna (11:16)
I mean, it's pretty wild, honestly. And I think that's kind of where I want to head with this too is where does the community come into this? Because in my head, you guys are kind of MCs of the community in New Hampshire, in New England. You know so many people. I mean, I also know that I know people like Juliana, you know a lot of people. Then I look at you guys and I'm like, no, they know a lot of people. And it's just, you're people who are...

Curating a community in a positive and inclusive way and it sounds like it didn't start off like that It sounds like it started off like Eric kind of wanted to start a podcast Erika was like fine Let's do the podcast Eric like whatever this stupid idea like I'll do it, you know Uh-huh. Uh-huh. You need your emotional support human

Eric (12:01)
I told her I couldn't do this by myself, I need you.

Erika (12:05)
Honestly, Giuliani, you nailed it. That's basically

what happened. Eric cooked up this crazy idea for the podcast. ⁓ It was during COVID time, so we really didn't have any races to run, but we still wanted to be fit and an excuse to see people. We would get together, do our long runs, and I feel like I should let Eric tell the rest of the story because it's usually his issues that came up with a name for it.

Julianna (12:12)
huh.

Yeah.

Eric (12:30)
Brain, ⁓ yeah, yeah. Well, that's

Julianna (12:32)
Issues? ⁓

Eric (12:34)
how we came up with the name,

Julianna (12:35)
yes.

Eric (12:35)
but the real thing is I just was taking in all these podcasts, whether it was hockey or NASCAR or whatever, but I loved the storytelling aspect. A storytelling podcast, and I wanted to have one of those, and I wanted to have people to come on and tell us their stories, their best stories, and their worst stories, the code Browns as we call it. And I just saw like,

Erika (12:36)
on the run.

Julianna (12:38)
Mm.

Mm-hmm. That wasn't enough poop content?

huh.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Erika (12:55)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (12:58)
I looked up other podcasts to see if they had the similar names and stuff or what they talked about. I really don't listen to running podcasts, so I tried to figure out what else was out there. And I didn't feel like somebody did, well no, people do do exactly what we do, but I kind of feel like I took its identity into the form of the other two podcasts I really listened to, are, one was the Dale Jr. and I loved hearing all the stories that people would come and tell him about his dad, because Dale.

Julianna (13:03)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Eric (13:24)
Junior lost his dad at 25 years old and he didn't know a ton of these stories. And then the hockey podcast listened to, they just have guys come in and talk about stories, storytelling. And I think that's kind of the community has kind of appreciated that and taken in and enjoyed these relatable running stories. And that's kind of the direction I think we've taken is just storytelling. We tell our own personal stories, but we really just want to focus on the guests and pump their tires and hear their story.

Julianna (13:34)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (13:41)
Mm.

Julianna (13:42)
Yeah.

Erika (13:46)
Yeah.

Julianna (13:49)
Yeah.

Yeah, where does the poop come in?

Eric (13:56)
⁓ it comes in a, yeah.

Erika (13:56)
That's the relatableness. Everybody, well,

most everybody has their own kind of story about what went wrong on a run. ⁓ And that's probably the worst thing that can happen to you on a run besides being injured or something.

Julianna (14:03)
Uh-huh.

Any distance runner, if

you've run over a half marathon, you have at least one good poop story. I stand by it that there, I ran by it the other day, actually yesterday on my run. There's one spot where I took my first poop ever on a run where I'm going to enact a memorial at some point.

Erika (14:12)
Yep, it is so relatable.

See? See, everybody has that story. And yes, it's super embarrassing at the time, but every one of us has one.

Eric (14:31)
No, I

Julianna (14:32)
Yeah.

Eric (14:32)
don't

even think it's embarrassing. I just think we all have a code brown. Like I had two code browns. Yeah, but I mean, to go, I just read the New York City Marathon. It was the greatest run ever. And I took two poop breaks.

Julianna (14:33)
That's why I like trail running too.

Erika (14:36)
kind of normalizing it then, right? Yeah, it's making it more normal.

Julianna (14:38)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Erika (14:46)
I did hear people ran out of toilet paper after a certain point. So you are, you're right to bring wipes. Like we, like to incorporate, we like to incorporate those pro tips, like, cause everybody's got an experience and you can learn from those and, and just, kind of just make sure that that doesn't happen to you.

Julianna (14:46)
Yeah.

Eric (14:51)
I didn't know that. Bare butt wipes.

Julianna (14:51)
this is. Yes, I was going to say pro tip.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

yeah, it sounds like you guys. huh, yes, Julie.

Eric (15:08)
And to elaborate a little more on the poop emoji, we call them stoolie,

and one day they'll be a Mrs. Stoolie. but one thing so everyone understands is it's not just poop stories. We call it code brown, it could be anything like tripping. We had Suzy Chan on, she tripped over the tail of an alligator. That's a code brown. So we want to hear your ⁓ crap moments. Like what's a moment that would make you shit your pants?

Julianna (15:16)
you

Mm.

no.

Eric (15:32)
an alligator would make me shit my pants. Like those are great stories. Bex Gentry talked about hallucinating. We have some of the greatest hallucination

Julianna (15:32)
Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓

Erika (15:33)
you

Eric (15:40)
stories out there that runners have told us. And when you ask them to tell you like, what's your favorite marathon and why, that's a cool story. But then when we get some of those other stories that they don't really share that often, it's the best part about storytelling.

Julianna (15:47)
Mm-hmm.

bad stories. Yeah.

Yeah, always, people, so one of my best friends, Ben, who is also like my main running person, people were like, yeah, like you and Ben run together. I was just like, yeah, I always look forward to sharing many trauma bonds with Benjamin. Benjamin and I will form many more trauma bonds, from now, because we both like, we're both like very solidly like, I want to run ultra marathons and like he's run a bunch of 50s and like is attempting the 100 mile distance on the Jigger Johnson course, which you guys might have like might know, yeah.

Eric (16:01)
Yeah.

Erika (16:20)
Mm-hmm.

That one is insane.

Julianna (16:25)
Yeah, it's like arguably, inarguably the hardest ultra marathon on the East Coast. Like, so he's not just like casually running a hundred. He's like mountaineering through the white mountains, a hundred. Yeah. He's finished the 50 twice. He got halfway through the hundred this year and just dropped out because his nutrition wasn't. Yeah. Chill, casual. ⁓ But I'm like, I look forward to spinning, to forming many more trauma bonds with my friend Ben. ⁓

Erika (16:29)
Mm-hmm. Good for him.

So much respect. That course is no joke.

Eric (16:41)
Not a big deal.

Erika (16:51)
And again, so there's the relatability.

You have these common things that happen with, especially your best running friend. You guys can talk about anything. There is no topic that is taboo. So we like to bring that to our podcast and just let people know that these things are normal. They happen. The good, the bad, the ugly, that's what we're all about.

Julianna (17:00)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I think that's really important.

Eric (17:15)
And we talk about

normal stuff too. Like if something's going on in the news, not political, like, I don't know, Cardi B was in court one day with blonde hair, then the next day with black hair and we're like, did you see this? Right, right. We talk about stuff that has nothing to with running. Yeah, off the rails, exactly. And then we'll talk about our own running a little bit on the intro and the outros. It's just...

Julianna (17:21)
Yeah.

Very relevant to running, yes, I agree.

Erika (17:32)
We go off the rails.

Julianna (17:34)
Same.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (17:39)
You know, you do this. It's so much fun talking to people and then we enjoy catching up every week talking to each other.

Julianna (17:41)
Yeah.

I think also what you're doing, which I find is a really important part of RUNA and also just like being like a more face forward part of the running community. I just said that in a really weird way. Forward facing, face forward, same thing, whatever. facing part of the running community is just creating that sense of like being welcoming and accepting and just the, and listening and like really giving people space.

Eric (17:58)
DTF.

Julianna (18:13)
to tell their stories and to like actually listen to them, which you guys I know do very well and I try my best to do as well too is just like giving people the space to feel heard, which I feel like is something that's very much so in short supply, generally speaking in the world today. And is something that I feel is extremely crucial in creating a community and creating a positive community.

Erika (18:30)
Mm-hmm.

Julianna (18:42)
in general.

Erika (18:43)
Yeah, that's definitely one

thing we love to do is, so as fun as it is to talk to some big name people, we love getting the local people, the people who know our area, who can relate to the trails. Like, ⁓ you know that rock that tripped you too? Like, exactly. So it's kind of fun. And it really has brought so many people into our lives. Like, we have some really good friends who just like reached out.

Julianna (18:52)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Well, that's probably your more popular episode, too.

Mm-hmm.

Erika (19:11)
They're like, hey, we listened to your podcast. I have a story. And we're like, we would love to hear your story. And so it is so cool who you can meet through these things.

Julianna (19:14)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eric (19:22)
You know, and not only that, but we have some people who are like, hey, I know somebody else you should have on and just locally that comes to mind right now, Mike from the Boston Bulldogs. Like, right, not only that, but the story and the impact he's made on so many others in the whole Boston running community is just incredible. And it was so great. And the thing about Mike was he didn't want it to be about him. We wanted to hear from Mike and hear a story.

Julianna (19:28)
Yeah.

Erika (19:32)
Mm, Coach Mike.

Julianna (19:32)
yeah, he's a

cool dude.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Eric (19:49)
He wouldn't do it without bringing on three of his runners from the Boston Bulldogs that he wanted to highlight and pump their tires. So this whole, I like to use the term pumping of the tires, even though none of us are on tires, we're just on shoes that are DTF. ⁓ Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you to Believe in the Run for telling us about what DTF shoes are. It's amazing. ⁓ Drink every time you hear us say DTF, by the way. So.

Julianna (19:54)
That's great.

Mm-hmm.

Erika (20:02)
Tread. Pump the tread, man.

Julianna (20:02)
Yeah. Yeah. DTF shoes. Thank you so much.

Yeah, yes. I know.

Erika (20:11)
He's never going to stop talking about it now.

Julianna (20:16)
Yeah, yeah.

Eric (20:16)
We had Mike

from the Bulldogs and it was just incredible. And then we call him Beard, but his real name is Dan. And Dan's the one who made the connection. like now we get to see a whole lot what the Bulldogs do. Millennium Running, our local community up here in New Hampshire is incredible. And we're involved with them now a lot.

Julianna (20:30)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. They host a lot of the race

organizing committee up there. Old group.

Eric (20:35)
Right, but they have their whole running club and it's just the community is so cool and amazing. The people are amazing and you have the same thing down at the Cape or as they call the graveyard of the Atlantic with the run-up community in Falmouth.

Julianna (20:38)
Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Uh-huh.

Come to die here if you'd like to, you know. That's our tagline. Do you want to die on a ship today? Come to Falmouth.

Eric (20:50)
Only for the ships. The ships.

Erika (20:54)
But it's beautiful.

Eric (20:57)
Yeah. Yeah. But no, it's fun. And the people are amazing. one thing we sure having big names are cool. And we try to get some big names and we've gotten some big names. Like God, nobody will ever beat Catherine Switzer for episode 100, but locally we'll never leave the local New England minus Connecticut running community.

Julianna (21:00)
really brings it in, you know.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ yeah.

Erika (21:19)
You can't alienate a steak, come on.

Julianna (21:21)
yeah.

I- I- it's just fine. It's okay. They understand. They have enough money down there. They'll be fine. That's right. Oh yeah, you're like right- I was just looking at Ghost Train. I might go right- I'm going Ghost Train.

Erika (21:28)
But we love you Massachusetts. I'm just right over the border in Nashua, so I'm not far from you guys. I'm your neighbor. come

Eric (21:37)
You

Erika (21:37)
up

Eric (21:37)
should go to Ghost Train.

Erika (21:37)
to Ghost Train.

Julianna (21:39)
I might run Ghost

Train. I'm probably going to do the 30 hour one so that way I can at least hit 50 miles. Because I also know myself well enough where if I'm out there, I'll be like, I'm just going to walk. And then five minutes later, assume me going back, hi guys. And I'm running again. I just know myself well enough where I'm just like, yeah, if I stop to walk, I will start jogging slash running again. And then we'll probably get up to at least 70 or 80 miles if I'm out there.

Eric (21:43)
Yes!

Erika (21:53)
you

Eric (21:55)
Isn't that so cool?

Erika (22:03)
you

Eric (22:03)
Yeah,

but isn't that so cool about the ultra community? I've never run an ultra. I'm envious of the community though, because of the crowds, the people, it's small crowds, but like, you talk to everybody, it's so cool. A marathon or 5K, there's thousands of people. These ultras, there's maybe 100, 150, and you become best friends with all of them. And if you're crewing like me that I've done in the past, you fit in with the crews.

Julianna (22:13)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's nice.

You never see them.

And they're all weirdos and it's great.

Erika (22:27)
I fit right in.

Julianna (22:29)
Yeah.

Eric (22:31)
and you'd talk to them. It's such a cool community. I'm envious that I'm not an ultra runner yet one day, but it's years away.

Julianna (22:32)
Yeah.

the

The crew

Erika (22:37)
He said,

yeah.

Julianna (22:38)
people are like more the normies of like the ultra running. Like if you want to meet, Erika knows, you meet the freaks when you go out in the trails and those are my favorite people. I love it.

Erika (22:47)
Mine too.

The vibes are so good out in the ultra world.

Julianna (22:52)
People are like, what are you doing? I'm like, I don't know. And then you talk to some guy who's like been hallucinating for like an hour about like a fox that's chasing him and the fox is rainbow colored. And you're like, that's a nice time for us. Tell me more. Celeste, okay.

Erika (22:57)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (23:01)
Erika, you need to tell them about Celeste.

Erika (23:04)
Oh my God.

One of my favorite ultra runners. She's just absolutely amazing. She is from Connecticut. So I told you not all things from Connecticut are Exactly. But she was like the resident ultra runner and I was doing one of the local ultras up in New Hampshire. It's called Hamster Wheel. So four mile loops over and over and over again for up to 30 hours. They have got a lot of different races, but we saw her because she had a

Julianna (23:13)
Not all bad things happen in Connecticut.

Eric (23:14)
They're just not part of New

England.

Julianna (23:19)
Mm-hmm.

yes, I've heard of Ansible.

Erika (23:32)
two different color hair, a green and a purple, believe, at the time. So we're like, well, we got to talk to you. You look fun. And she was telling us some of her stories. And one of them was how she was out there in the middle of the night, and she sees a fox on the side, and she gets so excited, goes over to pet it. It's a rock. So she eventually, like, we kept calling her foxy lady. We're like, you are just so awesome. And she eventually got a tattoo of it. She's just so wonderful.

Julianna (23:35)
We love it. Okay, check. Yeah, that's the character.

Eric (23:36)
Mm-hmm.

Julianna (23:56)
Uh-huh, uh-huh.

that's fun.

Erika (24:02)
You never know what you're going to get with, with ultras. And so this past year, I actually, just hung out at hamster wheel. did not run it last year. I did, but not this year. And I was cheering people on. was wearing a pickle costume, just all I could do to just raise some spirits, get people to keep moving. Like that's what the, that's what the ultra community is all about that and snacks. So.

Julianna (24:07)
Yeah.

⁓ huh.

Yeah.

Hell yeah.

huh.

Yeah. That and yes,

many snacks, many snacks to be had like eating and power hiking and running in the woods slash. Uh-huh. It's not, it's not walking. It's not hiking. It's power hiking. Thank you so much for asking. I as I said, the thing is too, like, if you are running an ultra like you're like your walking pace, like even when I was like DNFing my 50 miler, I was still walking like a 16 minute mile, like up and down hills. Like it wasn't like a

Erika (24:31)
For sure. Power hiking. Yup. 100%. It's all good.

Eric (24:42)
You

Erika (24:53)
And that's good. That's

Julianna (24:54)
It wasn't like

Erika (24:54)
good.

Julianna (24:55)
a shoddy walk. was like, I was putting in some solid effort, you know?

Eric (24:58)
Yeah.

Erika (24:59)
Exactly.

Eric (25:00)
You know, it surprises me that some people like, and I've done this myself, because I've never run an ultra, but I've crewed in, what do you call it when you run pace? I pace people. I paced you, Erika. It surprises me that they don't sign up because they end up doing like, I paced you, Erika. I did half marathon that night. Like, why don't I just sign up next time and get the medal? I'm already out there with you. And then I get to pace you for the beginning instead of the second half.

Erika (25:00)
The only time you're...

Julianna (25:09)
And you pace people, yes.

Erika (25:17)
Yep. Yep.

Julianna (25:18)
Yeah.

I feel like ultra marathoners are also people who they're like, I don't want the trinket. Like you get to like the further, the more the distance is, the more they don't want the shirt. They don't want the metal. They don't want like, they're like, they're like, if I run like.

Eric (25:38)
They want the buckle.

Julianna (25:40)
Yeah, but they only want if they run like a really big distance. they're like, I have to hit like 200 miles before I get a belt buckle. Everything below that doesn't count. And it's just like, it was just funny to me, like again, like being part of the Cape Cod Marathon weekend and like seeing like so many different like categories of people between the 5k, the relay, the half and the full and the chowder and like seeing looks the chowder arguably is an ultra marathon, you know. ⁓

Erika (26:05)
yeah, absolutely.

Julianna (26:06)
So like you see those people and those are like the people who like also have signed up for like Ghost Train and like all those other ones and like you know anything. ⁓ But just to see the different like personality types that fall into each category and like the different desires for the medals and like the shiny objects. I feel like the the farther the distance goes the less the people want the shiny objects. Like the shorter the distance people like 5k is nothing wrong with 5k. Absolutely nothing wrong with 5k. Congratulations to anyone who runs a 5k.

But they are, in Harry Potter terms, they are a Niffler. They love gold shiny things. And they're like, I just want the gold shiny thing. And I will run a 5K for a gold shiny thing. But don't tell me that I have to run a 10K for a gold shiny thing. Just the 5K for the gold shiny thing, please. Whereas the Ultra Marathon runners are like, I'm out here for the scars. It's like.

Erika (26:42)
Yes.

you

love that reference.

⁓ I have my fair share

of that, but I also would like a shiny thing. Thank you very much.

Julianna (27:02)
Yeah, I knew that I was an ultra marathon runner when I DNF'd the 50-miler and like I had so much pride in myself and I emailed the race director because they didn't put my race results on the website. I was like, please put my DNF on the website. is what I was like, was... Ben, my best friend Ben, Ben was like, he's like, did you get your race results, your DNF on the website? I was like, yeah, I'm proud of that DNF. He's like, good. I was like, yeah, that's right. They can't tell me I can't DNF and I had saw on the website.

Eric (27:13)
⁓

Erika (27:15)
I would like this hard copy.

You worked hard for that

DNF, yes.

Julianna (27:32)
I worked very

hard for that DNF. And like, there was no, my family was like, did you get a medal? Did you get anything? Like, did you miss out on anything? I was like, no, this was a trail animals race. There was no medals to be had. I just, feel an immense amount of pride in that DNF. So do not leave it off the website. Yeah.

Erika (27:48)
you did a Tark race? Say less. I get

it. those races are gnarly.

Julianna (27:54)
It's bare

bones. It's very bare bones. ⁓ And like I said, there were only 14 ladies who signed up for the 50 miler. We started at 5 a.m. It was dark.

Erika (28:01)
you. You still went out

there. You tried. You did what you could and you trained. So that's like that's most of the battle. That was just your victory lap. Yeah.

Julianna (28:05)
Yeah. Yeah.

Eric (28:09)
You towed the line?

Julianna (28:11)
I mean,

honestly, endurance wise, I was fine. I finished and I was just like, my head was throbbing because I slammed it twice on the ground. And that was really, and my rib cage hurt to breathe. And that was kind of why I was like, you know what, maybe, yeah, maybe we make the responsible choice and we back away and we save that for another day. You know,

Erika (28:17)
Yeah, that's, ⁓ that's hard to get over.

There you go.

Eric (28:29)
You were responsible. You were thinking straight, where I would have been the opposite way. I'd be like, there's no way, depending on if I travel or whatever, that I am going to DNF this race. Like I did Ironman Mount Treblant, and I was like, got 17 hours. I have to finish this. I finished with plenty of time. But I was like, there's some people who've done Ironman's. Lionel Sanders has won. And I never really loved Lionel Sanders, but what I did like about him was,

Julianna (28:31)
Yes.

God.

Uh-huh.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (28:57)
He'll always finish if he was having a bad day. I'm not trying to say like, you should have finished, but I'm saying like, I'm the one who would be stupid and finish and you're the one who was smart. And it's like, I hit my head twice. I cracked some ribs. You were thinking straight. You had a good head on your shoulders on the opposite, but. ⁓

Julianna (29:03)
It depends. no, I'm...

I was the mature adult in this situation. Yes. I was very

proud of myself because like five years ago, Juliana would have just been like, no, we're pushing all the way through. And now like this, this Juliana was like, no, no, it's not worth it. Juliana just like, you want to do bigger things than this. This is not your goal race. It also works out that like a smart, a smart, smart pack. Smart. Yeah. Well,

Eric (29:30)
You're smarter. You're smada. You both are smada than me.

Julianna (29:38)
deviating from that a little bit, but yeah, so building community is like something that you guys is really important to both of you and for you what has been Like I would say what's the biggest moment for you where you've realized like has proven to you like my gosh, like we really have Created this like positive community of runners and non-runners that we just really weren't even thinking about maybe when we started this podcast

Erika (29:45)
Mm-hmm.

Julianna (30:06)
Have there been any big moments where you've been just had to mentally remove yourself from your body and been like, shit?

Erika (30:13)
Well, there was a point, I was running base date one year and somebody actually came up to me and was like, are you Erika from On the Runs? And I was like, oh my God, I just got recognized. What happened? Like I didn't realize what kind of reach we had. And that was a totally new thing for me. And I was kind of floored. I'm like, oh my God, somebody likes us enough and somebody recognized me. Like that was just kind of a cool experience because

Julianna (30:25)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Someone knows me.

Erika (30:42)
I mean, we don't do this for recognition. We just do this to have fun, to get to talk to new people. And I was just kind of like, ⁓ my God, this is a whole new level of fun. it was weird. It was so weird.

Julianna (30:46)
Yeah. ⁓

A celebrity? Look at me!

What about you, Eric? Uh-huh.

Eric (30:57)
I'll give you my answer in a second, but my first time

I was recognized, it funny, it was this girl, Laura, and she runs by me in a race and I was taking photos. And then she stops and turns around and she goes, are you that podcast guy? And I was like, my God, I'm recognized, but that wasn't the case. She then later goes to me, no, I don't listen, but my cousin listens and she won't shut up talking about you.

Julianna (31:04)
Okay.

Are you that podcast guy? I am that podcast guy.

Erika (31:24)
That counts too.

Julianna (31:25)
That's the best way to get recognized like via

Eric (31:27)
You're right.

Julianna (31:28)
someone else like yeah I don't know who you are but my friend knows who you are and they won't shut the fuck up about what's going on

Eric (31:33)
Yeah,

shout out Lena. We love Lena. But to answer your question, the moment for me, I really think has happened this past year because it was a big year for us ⁓ locally because I feel like we've really been accepted within the community. four live shows and like there's been a lot of not challenges, but a lot of ⁓ opportunities that we've had to jump at.

Julianna (31:37)
Shout out, Lena.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, you guys have done, you said four live shows, correct? That's great.

Eric (32:02)
when the opportunity presents itself, whether we feel like we're ready or not. But the community has started accepting us and welping us and being like, have you heard of these guys? Or what do you think? Do you want to do a show? One of our long-term diehard listeners, Mr. 305, as we like to call him, he gave us an opportunity with Marathon Sports. We did the live show. And then I'll say it's the best $40 I ever spent on a babysitter. I spent $40 to get a babysitter.

Erika (32:03)
Mm.

Julianna (32:04)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

People.

Erika (32:28)
you

Eric (32:29)
so I could go to the Millennium Running Jacket Party last past year, because I earned my jacket and I didn't want to have to get it in the mail. I wanted to go to the Jacket Party to see the people in the community, but also to introduce ourselves to the owner of Millennium Running, John Mortimer. And I still say that's the best $40 I ever spent, because we've done three live shows for Millennium Running races. And God, we were so nervous. We're like, is this what we want to do? And then we had so much fun and everybody is just so accepting.

Julianna (32:30)
huh.

⁓ okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, I love doing live shows.

Eric (33:00)
of welcoming us into their community. That's been my favorite part, the acceptance.

Julianna (33:02)
Yeah.

Yeah, and I think it's, I think you guys are in the same camp as me too, where you're not doing it for the recognition. Like it's nice to be able to do that. I mean, for me, like the recognition for me, and this has always been why I've had like any kind of public facing thing besides like my need to do some kind of theatrical like presenting. It's like my theater itch has to be scratched. ⁓ Is so that when I go places, I have friends.

Erika (33:21)
You

Mm-hmm.

Julianna (33:28)
Like,

Eric (33:28)
Yeah.

Julianna (33:28)
so that way I like, roll up almost anywhere. Like I roll into London, I roll into Chicago, I roll into New York and I'm like, hey, do you want to hang out? I have a friend. And that's like really my end goal is just like, I can make the most like wonderful, like I know I have good, wonderful people who I am friends with who that like, if I travel places, I like, if I show up to a race, like if I go up to any of the millennium running races, like chances are like, given the fact that I'm now like intermingling with the White Mountain endurance people now too.

Erika (33:37)
beautiful.

you

Julianna (33:58)
I'll probably have at least one person who's like, hey, Juliana. I'm like, my gosh, I have a friend. And it's just like, for me, it's just an easier social transition to know someone already. Cause like I come from, it might not seem like that, but I have a large background in social anxiety, you know? ⁓ So like being able to facilitate a situation where I know someone is like the most beneficial thing for me. And then I'm also able to be like, hey, have you met my friend?

Erika (34:07)
Mmm.

Ugh.

Julianna (34:27)
X, Y, and Z. I love, I love, I love like connecting people with other people's. Yes.

Erika (34:31)
The global connections, that's the best part too.

Eric (34:31)
Yeah.

Erika (34:34)
⁓ I feel like ⁓ one of my friends, she has nothing to do with the podcast, but she was just always the social butterfly. And I swear to God, we could be in Texas, somehow she'd know somebody. like, how is this even possible? It's the social media thing. So I know you're very good with that. My social media game needs a lot of work. Gonna get there maybe someday. But.

Julianna (34:40)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

I try.

Erika (34:58)
It's just, yeah, building those connections and making them stronger. then, yeah, it relieves some stress if you're ever traveling. you just, like you said, having a good person to know in your area is just perfect.

Julianna (35:12)
It doesn't hurt either to have like a friend who's like, I'll pick you up at the airport and you're like, ⁓ save those $50 on an Uber. Thank you so much.

Erika (35:15)
Ha!

There you go. ⁓

Eric (35:19)
Erika

has one of those now in Charlotte. Yeah, you besties with her now.

Julianna (35:22)
⁓ okay. There you go.

Erika (35:22)
Yeah.

She's amazing.

Julianna (35:27)
⁓ so there you go.

Yeah, you make one good connection and it's just like, not only have you gained a friend, but sometimes you gain some other things too, you know? This perks, this perks. And I'll pay it back too. If you guys come down to Falmouth, I give you the tour to Falmouth. We have a nice time. So it's great. It's a nice time for everyone. But yeah, just, yeah. Yeah.

Erika (35:36)
Some perks!

Eric (35:38)
you

Erika (35:49)
See, I'm always happy to do that too. It's very reciprocal.

Eric (35:53)
You know, it's

fun is, is you mentioned like some people, someone might come and pick you up at the airport or something. We've gone a step above that where I've always jokingly said that Erika has a spare bedroom waiting and ready for you. And she was like, that's never going to happen. And now it's happened multiple times. P people, people will travel to New Hampshire for a race.

Julianna (35:58)
Yeah.

⁓ someone has a private plane.

huh.

Erika (36:12)
Three times, at least three times.

Julianna (36:12)
Uh-huh.

Eric (36:19)
and stay in her spare, the room she's in right now, we call it her spare bedroom studio.

Julianna (36:20)
and stay with her. It's the bedroom.

Erika (36:22)
Spare beds right there.

Eric (36:24)
Who's the third? Because I know Patrick Lieber did it. Wyatt Moss, know Wyatt Moss, he ran all the 50 states, he's the 50 state guy, he stayed in the spare bedroom. And who was the third?

Erika (36:27)
Patrick? Yup.

Julianna (36:32)
⁓

Erika (36:33)
In a year. Yep. then

Jeremy, our new chat ultra friend, he came all the way from Washington. He ran Ghost Train last year and I said, yeah, come on over. it's an expensive trip and he was.

Eric (36:38)
Ultra Chad.

Julianna (36:40)
yeah. ⁓ shit.

You also know someone

else now who's interested in running Ghost Train who is like now sizing this up. Could I stay with Erika?

Erika (36:52)
I sure do. I

Eric (36:53)
Yep.

Yes.

Erika (36:55)
feel like we'd get along really well too. So we have a lot in common. So the offer stands.

Julianna (36:57)
I think we'd be fine.

Eric (36:59)
Yeah, I expect a live

podcast on the trail. Or okay, doesn't have to be live, just record one.

Julianna (37:03)
That would be a lot of fun actually.

Well, so, but one of the things that I've been working on recently because of like my nerve regulation issues is I've been singing like the entire time I've been running and I have pretty good like vocal like, like I'm very like, breast supported anyway. I'm gonna be a monster by the time we get back around to the Cape Cod Marathon next year because like my breast support is gonna be like so good.

Like I told Ben, I was like, Ben, I'm gonna audition for whatever like musical they have coming through the community theater now, because you know, like my breast support is gonna be so good, I can hold a note for like five

Erika (37:33)
you

Eric (37:39)
You don't want to hear me singing, but...

Julianna (37:43)
I have a brother who's like, I'm the only, I'm the black sheep of my family in a lot of ways, but definitely on the singing. I'm the only one who has any kind of pipes. One of my favorite games to play with my brother growing up was what song is Joey singing? Because he would sing like song, he'd be like, po-po-po-poker face, po-po-poker face. And you'd be like, what are you doing?

Erika (38:04)
I could do it better.

Julianna (38:06)
He

Eric (38:07)
Wow.

Julianna (38:07)
just like,

he's like two notes that he knows how to sing and like that's it and every song happens between those two notes. It's just like...

Erika (38:13)
that's great. But hey, he's got

Eric (38:15)
Erika, that

was impressive by the way.

Erika (38:15)
the confidence to still do it. I was just, I'm not, I'm not a, well, I'm an in the car, belted out kind of person, but that's where I leave it.

Julianna (38:24)
Yes, yes, so ⁓ Defying Gravity is a good song for you then. You sing that.

Erika (38:29)
I cannot hit those notes.

Eric (38:29)
I know that song

because I just watched that movie last week on Thanksgiving actually. Yeah. Yeah, quite the runner too.

Julianna (38:33)
you

There you go.

Erika (38:35)
I'm going to leave it to Cynthia Arrevo. Yes, I will. She can have

it.

Julianna (38:41)
Yeah, she's very good runner okay, well, I think that probably brings us to like a good like ending point for this conversation here. Let's delve on into, we could talk for years, but like, you know, we'll save that for when I'm running 30 hours at Ghost Train, you know? Yeah, it'll be a real nice time. You come checking back in with me, but Julia, you still running? I am still running.

Eric (38:49)
You

Erika (38:54)
Too easy.

That's the perfect opportunity.

Julianna (39:07)
What are you doing now? I'm power hiking? Uh-huh, great, cool. What are you thinking about? My body feels like a taco on the inside. ⁓

Erika (39:07)
you

all relevant feelings for an Ultra.

Julianna (39:16)
All relevant feelings. I mean, I go on those runs sometimes where like I haven't eaten cornbread for a while or like whatever that food is and like all of sudden internally I just feel like a cornbread and like you just like kind of...

Erika (39:27)
So relatable.

Julianna (39:30)
If I ever sound an insane in this exact moment well we'll transition out of feeling like cornbread internally to What shoe do you choose to use which is the segment where I'm gonna ask you guys both to present me with a shoe or multiple shoes that are live rent free in your brain and it can be for any reason that you choose either it's your first shoe that you ever ran in your favorite shoe ever or it's a shoe that's currently on your feet or it's a shoe that you absolutely despise and did you dirty you know

Erika (39:56)
Ooh.

Julianna (39:56)
So

yeah, we haven't had anyone roast a shoe yet, but like I could totally, I'll roast shoes if I have to, you know, as the person who's wearing multiples. But let's, let's start with you as tradition is it. Erika, we'll start with you. You can tell us what shoe or shoes do you choose to use?

Erika (40:02)
Mmm.

Okay, so my go-to shoe, I'm gonna pick a race day shoe because we were talking about some carbon plates and some cushiness. Yes, yes. ⁓ My favorite one at the moment is the New Balance Super Comp Elite. And I have...

Julianna (40:17)
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, boingy boingy fun times.

Eric (40:28)
Wait, I thought

she was supposed to guess.

Erika (40:31)
No, I thought, ⁓ no, I tell her and then she goes and Googles it later.

Julianna (40:31)
No, no, you made that version up. I said that if you want to describe

Eric (40:34)
⁓

Julianna (40:37)
it, you can guess the traditional way of doing it as tradition states in the Bible of Juliana ⁓ is that you tell me what shoe it is. But Eric, if you want, I'll try and guess your shoe. I'm happy to try and guess the shoe. think that's a fun time. So you think about how you can describe the shoe to me and I'll guess it. But Erika is giving us her shoe. So do you know what version it is?

Eric (40:42)
Mm-hmm.

No, no, okay, okay, okay, yeah.

Erika (40:50)
You

Yes, yes.

Yes. ⁓ I am really being into the V4, I believe it is, but I think, so I also have the V3, but the V3 has like the, the sock upper, like the one that's really tight on your foot. I'm not a huge fan of that. Exactly. So the, the newer, yes, the, the V4, I think the V5 that just came out is pretty similar to the V4, but I've been wearing the V4.

Julianna (41:05)
⁓ okay.

Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, it's not as boxy. Yeah, you like the boxy boy.

It's... yeah, yeah, different film.

Erika (41:27)
And they have been chef's kiss, beautiful, speedy marathons, just comfortable, stable, wide toe box. I actually do. ⁓ although I am a woman, I buy men's shoes because yeah.

Julianna (41:30)
Mm.

I buy men's shoes. I'm

like, not like at least 75 % of my shoes are men's shoes because like a ladies, a ladies wide is a men's regular and you can get way more color selections if you go over to the men's. Mm hmm. Yep.

Erika (41:45)
Yeah.

Exactly. ⁓ I love it. Those are

my reasons. And yep, they have been treating me well.

Julianna (41:57)
Yeah, I love it. That's a great shoe. Great shoe, like super shoe if you want a little more stable, wider ride. I love it. Okay.

Erika (42:02)
Mm-hmm. Yep. I don't think

I have anything that I can roast. I haven't found... I don't know. I don't think there's any bad shoes, but if I'm going just like a comfortable walking shoe, I love oofos, actually. Like, yeah, real cushy. I actually, I love their clogs, which are, I hate to say it, they're ugly. They're wicked.

Julianna (42:07)
Mmm.

Eric (42:16)
yeah.

Julianna (42:16)
yeah, they have some like nice like recovery slash walk slash like walking shoes. I actually like their clogs too. no, they're they're

ugly. All the oofos are ugly as all sin, but they're really comfortable.

Erika (42:28)
They're so comfortable

and they've been treating me well for years. I actually have one pair that I think has been going on like five years now. They have like hundreds of miles and they still have a ton of tread, a ton of support. I'm, they got the oof man. do.

Julianna (42:37)
Wow.

Eric (42:41)
They still have a lot of oof. Okay.

Julianna (42:43)
Yeah, have you

seen, so have you ever read the tags for oofos Because they used to, they sold them at the store I worked at. ⁓ They spell everything with the double O, so it's like the ooh mega and the ooh, like the ooh la la. One day I was chasing around our merchandiser, Adam, and I was like, ⁓ everything that had an ooh or an O in it, was just, I was like, how are you doing, to do?

Erika (42:55)
Mm-hmm.

Julianna (43:08)
I was just chasing him around like because he was putting in an oofos order I was like because they just put everything with a double o in like all of their marketing material. It was very funny because he's like someone who knows that I'm a goofball and he was like Julia you have to stop doing that I was like oh noooo

Erika (43:15)
I am on, that is so on brand and I am on board for that, yes.

No, I won't. ⁓

Julianna (43:30)
I WOULD DO IT! Okay, Eric, are you gonna have me guess your shoe? Okay.

Eric (43:36)
do both. Okay, so

Erika (43:37)
Mmm.

Eric (43:38)
I'm not that picky. I'm going for whatever is the right price point. And typically I go to the outlets and there's like a buy two for this price deal. And that's typically what I do. But recently things have changed where there's other options online. So I don't have much time to go shopping or looking. And so I've transitioned to online ⁓ shoe shopping. And I have my go-to brands, which are like New Balance and Saucony. But this year,

Julianna (43:41)
Okay.

Okay.

huh.

Okay.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (44:05)
Right before I New York, I'm debating, what shoe am I going to run New York City in? I actually just tried Brooks this year and I like a pair I currently have. I couldn't tell you, is it Ghost? The Brooks Ghost? That's one of my pairs. But we've talked earlier about getting to do a live show, so we got to do this one live show in Manchester at Marathon Sports. In our meetings, we discussed what are we going to wear, and Marathon Sports wanted us to wear

Julianna (44:10)
Did you go Brooks?

Okay.

The ghost, yeah, the 18 just came out.

Mmm.

Yes.

Eric (44:34)
Sauconese because a Sauconese rep was coming. There was going to be a run. You get to try the Sauconese shoes. And they actually brought us brand new Sauconese shoes that we thought were just to wear for the recording. And they're Sauconese Triumph 23s or maybe 24s. And I looked at the shoe, 23, I looked at the shoe and I go one month out in New York. This is the shoe I'm going to run New York in because now I don't have to go buy another one. And I...

Julianna (44:36)
Mmm.

Yeah, as you do.

you

Erika (44:51)
could tell you I've got them right there. 23.

Julianna (44:51)
Probably was 24. Was this very recently?

23. Okay.

Eric (45:03)
Saved it for the race. I did like two runs in it. It was perfect So that is what I currently have but I'll tell you during Ironman training when I was going to the outlets buying all those shoes This is where you can guess I was buying shoes from a large local company, but they're very big but they're local New balance, there you go and ⁓ The shoe was Dale Jr. Dale Jr

Julianna (45:05)
Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Local. New Balance. Okay.

Eric (45:31)
Donut.

Julianna (45:33)
Dale Jr. Donut. Is that supposed to be a hint?

Eric (45:36)
Dale Jr. Dale Jr. Or just Dale Jr. Donut.

Julianna (45:41)
I don't know what that means. I don't know any.

Eric (45:42)
So they're the

880s. Dale Jr. was number eight. So 880.

Julianna (45:46)
⁓

I mean, that was going to be my guess because that's their everyday trainer. And I was like, maybe he's telling me it's like the basic bitch of the like the New Balance lineup, like which is the 880.

Eric (45:53)
Yeah. Yeah.

But I'm not. So I'll, I'll run and race in what I train in. I'm not like, I don't do the carbon plated. Like if someone gives me a carbon plate, I'll wear it. I'll try it. I'll probably love it. Well, I should probably buy more. I just got my first pair of this summer and, I'll race in a trainer. I don't need like a race day shoe. And that was the big debate over the summer. was like, why am going to buy a race day shoe when I'm running New York for fun? I'm not running for time.

Julianna (46:05)
I'm surprised you're not in Brooks, honestly.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (46:22)
I ran with my sister, it was the most incredible day ever. It was my slowest marathon today and it was my favorite marathon. And it wasn't slow by means of being out of shape or not prepared. It was the most prepared I ever, right, I partied. Like this was the most prepared I've ever been to run a marathon and I took in the party, the journey. And I don't need that fancy shoe. I'm not trying to BQ. I just want something that's gonna last long for good price point.

Julianna (46:22)
Yeah.

Yeah, you're just having a party.

Erika (46:34)
He made the most of it.

Julianna (46:41)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (46:49)
And I think that good price point is like that $150 range. I don't like to go over that because I feel like. If I'm spending 200, I'm getting not that much better for shoe. I could be totally wrong. I'm not a shoe nerd. don't like, I'm not into shoe porn like you and Erika and John, a mutual friend of ours. So that's my shoe take.

Julianna (46:50)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Do have a narrow foot or a wider foot or an average foot?

Eric (47:13)
I don't know. I have a normal foot. I do, I do, I do want to go. No, I do want to do that. I want, I want to go and get like a real professional like foot. Yes. Well, yes. And I want to go. Yeah. But I also want to like document it.

Erika (47:15)
He's never had the, his foot map.

Julianna (47:25)
You know people at Marathon Sports. You can probably get that very easily. It is free. It is a free

service that they do offer.

Eric (47:33)
I know, but I want

to document the whole thing and I want to like really understand more. I don't just want to go and have a guy tell me, you have a mid volume, high arch, whatever this is a shoe should be in. I want to do it with Erika. I want to go. I want to have an experience. Well, it's not that, but I want like the informative. want to, yeah, I want to be able to take the time to understand it all and spend a good amount of time there.

Julianna (47:36)
Okay.

Uh-huh.

Erika (47:47)
He wants content.

Julianna (47:49)
feel like I would like to be part of this, just like the narrator. Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Eric (48:00)
I'm into that. I want to explore that avenue, but at the same time, not spending $200 plus on running shoes. I'm just not. I have three kids and sports are expensive.

Julianna (48:00)
I feel like I need to carry this experience.

Mmm. I'm just wondering, like, from

what you're telling me, what you want out of a shoe of Puma seems like the brand that might be for you, to be 100 % honest. It's a great running shoe. They had the Vola.

Eric (48:14)
See, I never thought of Puma as a running shoe.

Erika (48:18)
I used to wear Pumas

Eric (48:18)
Really?

Erika (48:19)
all the time, but not for running.

Eric (48:20)
I thought of it as like a soccer shoe.

Julianna (48:22)
The last three years they revamped their line. They started like they're on the when they they're on the velocity 5 the DV8 4 is coming out soon the the the fast star 3 just came out last year the DV8 elite 3, 4, 4 is out right now forever run 2 they're all like in their baby years but all their shoes are bangers so and they're very durable like I'm off this is unheard of

Erika (48:23)
Those are what I like.

Eric (48:26)
Alright.

Erika (48:43)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Eric (48:43)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Julianna (48:49)
I'm almost up to 300 miles on one of their shoes right now. Like I, I usually disintegrate shoes before they get to 150. So like.

Erika (48:52)
That's awesome.

⁓ it's a unicorn if they can last. that's amazing.

Eric (49:01)
I'll

tell you what, I put way too many miles in my shoes. That is a problem. I get every mile out of them. And then they become walking shoes.

Julianna (49:01)
Yeah.

Erika (49:04)
I tend to do that too.

Julianna (49:05)
Yeah. Yeah. I can feel like when it's

a problem. Yeah. Well, this is why we have separate walking. This is why we thrift our shoes and we buy separate walking shoes and running shoes. The one, the one.

Eric (49:16)
No, no, no, when my running shoe

is done running, it's just an everyday walking shoe. Keep it in the office at work.

Julianna (49:20)
Yeah.

Erika (49:22)
you

Julianna (49:22)
You're just not allowed to wear your running shoes as walking shoes while they're still running shoes. That's the only like commandment you're not allowed to break. And Eric, I can see in your face that you've done that. That is the one rule. I, when I worked at the running shoes store, I would chastise people. I'm like, no!

Eric (49:31)
all the time. I don't follow that rule. The same shoes I run in, I probably wear almost, yeah.

I just put on a pair of shoes in the morning, go to work, I run in them. Is that why my back hurts?

Julianna (49:42)
Especially the people came in and they were like, I have back pain. I'm like, yeah, no shit.

People would come in, they'd be like, I have my back pain, my feet hurt. I'm like, okay, let's see what you're wearing. They're like, these are New Balances I bought seven years ago and like the tread is completely gone. Their foot is like almost on the ground. And they're like, yeah, they're working fine. I was like, I don't know about that.

Erika (50:02)
Are you sure about that? You sure about that?

Eric (50:04)
I'm that guy.

Julianna (50:04)
I think we've got to rethink our footwear choices ever so

slightly. Like, yeah, I wear them golfing, I wear them playing tennis, I wear them running, I wear them walking, I wore them to the grocery store. I'm like, uh-huh. And you're wondering why you have back pain.

Eric (50:16)
See, I've played hockey my whole life and I've refereed for years and years and years until just last year. And I'm that picky about ice skates. Like, and ski boots. But just not shoes. I will get to a point where, like when I get a brand new pair of running shoes, I'll wear them less around every day, but probably once there's a hundred miles on them, I wear them all the time. Yeah.

Julianna (50:18)
I can fix that for you.

Erika (50:20)
Bye.

Julianna (50:26)
Mm-hmm. ⁓ see what, yes.

Mm It's fair game.

Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

Erika (50:42)
Do you have a shoe rotation,

Eric? Like you're supposed to let your shoes decompress if you're like doing runs.

Eric (50:45)
Yeah.

Julianna (50:49)
At least 24

hours. ⁓

Eric (50:50)
During my Ironman

training, I was really good about that. But right now, it's just Saucony Brooks, Saucony Brooks every other day. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I'm not getting a new pair after one pair is 100 miles in. I get two new pairs on the same day, and I run them until they each have way too many miles. And then I get two new pairs, and I feel like I'm going to trip over myself.

Julianna (50:54)
Okay.

Erika (50:57)
Well, that's a rotation. Yeah.

Julianna (50:58)
That's still a rotation. That

still counts.

Erika (51:05)
Nah, nah, nah.

Julianna (51:05)
No.

I'm also uniquely destructive, if we've determined this. Like, I can blow through shoes like it's nobody's business. So... yeah. I run with the weight of a 500 pound man, okay? So...

Eric (51:22)
Yeah.

I'm halfway there sometimes. No, I'm not halfway there. Not yet.

Julianna (51:31)
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We've determined through me working at the running shoe store and also running with other people that no one we know runs through, like, blows through shoes as fast as I do. And it's just like something, I do have like a little like grinding movement that I do with my foot and I only land on the forefoot of the shoe. So like, if you need a heel of a shoe, I'll lend you all the heels of my shoes. We can cut it off, we can have it.

Erika (51:52)
Teamwork.

Eric (51:54)
Take

it. Yes.

Julianna (51:55)
So you can cut off the heel on the other shoe.

can super glue it on so that way you have, uh-huh, uh-huh. Exactly, exactly. Okay, well, thank you both for sharing your shoes with me ⁓ and Eric for completely confusing me as to what you were trying to get at with that guessing game. So, know, yeah.

Erika (51:59)
like a Frankenstein shoe at that point. Let's just take all the good parts that are left.

you

Eric (52:13)
Dale Jr. Dale Jr. Donut.

Erika (52:16)
If you said

Dale, Dale Earnhardt, that's three for Dale. That's all I know. So, no, I know. That's why I didn't get it. Cause I'm like, I don't know Dale Jr's number. I know Dale's, but not Dale Jr.

Eric (52:20)
Junior.

Julianna (52:20)
Yeah.

Eric (52:25)
You're, yeah.

Julianna (52:25)
You could have said like

figure figure donut like figure eight. Like I'll probably without work on it and close it with that. Or like. Yeah, double donut. Yeah, that would have been better. You tried though.

Eric (52:29)
Mm. Yeah. Double donut, double donut, donut.

Erika (52:31)
Yeah.

Then I'm like, hmm, donuts.

I'll be like Homer. Hmm. I can't do the Homer show.

Julianna (52:40)
Mmm. Don't.

I can't. I was doing a spongebob the other day. like, I can't do it now. I'm gonna break people's ears if I do it. It's not gonna be good. Plus I'm wearing glasses so I can't get a good like grip on my nose properly. So we'll save that for people's imaginations. Juliana doing a spongebob impersonation. But thank you guys both for coming on. I think this is great.

Eric (53:04)
Oh yeah,

it was a lot of fun.

Erika (53:05)
Thank you.

We had a blast.

Julianna (53:07)
Yeah.

And let people know where they can find you, both individually and as a podcast.

Erika (53:12)
⁓

well, you can find me at, I'm on Instagram. ⁓ I post rarely, but I'm at six star underscore Erika and that's S I X S T A R and then underscore E R I K A spelling it the good way. I don't know. You said people would have figured it out, but.

Eric (53:29)
Did you really have to spell that out?

Julianna (53:32)
You can. I'll put the,

I'll put all your links in the description.

Eric (53:35)
so I, I pretty much run and manage the entire on the runs account. Erika has access to it. She is able to log in when she wants some post stories. If she doesn't want to oversaturate her page. ⁓ and we have Stoolie in the wild. So you can follow Stoolie in the wild at Stoolie in the wild. Erika. Yes. Yes. But, ⁓ I run the account at on the runs. we are mainly Instagram. We're in Tik TOK. We're on Facebook and.

Erika (53:44)
I gotta talk about the stoolie account after this.

Julianna (53:48)
yeah, drop the stoo- Yes. I need some stoolie stickers. Yeah.

Erika (53:53)
I'll send them to you. I'll send them to you.

Eric (54:04)
threads, like find us on Instagram. The other thing I want to shout out is we've always debated like, what are we going to call this? Like, and we decided on Monday night media, like what's our company name? It's Monday night media for a few reasons. One, Erika and I believe we met on a Monday night in college in a, because we were in a club called Monday night fun club.

Julianna (54:08)
Yeah.

Okay.

Eric (54:27)
And then we always record on Monday nights. So we came up with the Monday night media name so you can follow mondaynight.media on Instagram. And we produce the Ali G show. We are going to start producing another podcast next year. We also have a podcast we produce called the re crap and we've taken on others or offered advice or help with anyone else who wanted to start a podcast. And that's kind of what we're doing with Monday night media, just because I love.

Julianna (54:27)
Hmm.

Okay.

Okay.

⁓

you

Awesome.

Eric (54:56)
podcasting so much. I don't want to have more than my own, but I want to help others do their own. And I feel like we do a really good job with what we do. put on, I say we're a small podcast that puts on a big game and maybe I assess over a little bit too much or put too many hours into it, but don't tell anyone else. But yeah, follow us on Monday night media. Follow us at on the runs. I do have my own personal Instagram account. It's called Knute.Eric think.

Julianna (55:02)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I won't, I won't, I will not tell anyone.

Eric (55:26)
I think, Erika, is that my personal handle? Okay.

Erika (55:29)
Yeah, it is. I know it

Julianna (55:31)
I like

that you don't have any idea what your personal handle is. Yeah.

Erika (55:32)
more.

Eric (55:34)
I don't post, yeah, and if I do, it's

Erika (55:34)
He rarely uses it.

Eric (55:36)
mostly kids stuff and skiing. I love skiing. Like if you asked me if you could do one thing, running or skiing, I'm picking skiing. But I love running.

Julianna (55:40)
Mmm.

skiing.

Erika (55:45)
We can't be

friends anymore. He's off the podcast. Just kidding. There we go.

Eric (55:49)
And were friends, hey, hey, we were friends for like 15 years

Julianna (55:49)
This is why I'm moving into her extra bedroom and you're not.

Eric (55:53)
before we started running

together, so you'll never lose me. But yeah, that's us. That's where you find us.

Erika (55:56)
I know, I know.

Julianna (55:58)
And Erika, you want

to tell us about Stoolie real quick?

Erika (56:02)
I do. So we mentioned him a little bit. We totally leaned into the ⁓ poop talk and we created a little mascot and his name is Stoolie and we had some stickers made. So if you guys want any stickers, just reach out. We're happy to send them to you. And I created an Instagram account because we like to see where Stoolie will travel. So if you pop a sticker somewhere, ⁓ just take a picture, send it to me. I'll post it on the account. So it's at Stoolie in the wild.

Julianna (56:17)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (56:30)
And yeah, we just like to see where he goes. He's been to Nepal before. He's been all over the world. He's even been to Antarctica. Or no, no, where did he go? Australia.

Julianna (56:35)
Wow. Impressive. Wow.

Eric (56:39)
Yes. No,

he went to Antarctica, but we got we didn't get a picture of that one yet. We don't have like he went there. He was in the bag.

Erika (56:43)
I didn't see a picture of that yet. See? See? He

Julianna (56:43)
Okay.

Erika (56:48)
was in the back.

Julianna (56:50)
he just never made a visual appearance. Yeah. Stoolie needs a jacket. I'm starting to think how that would work. Yeah, well, I was just thinking, I have some place at the beaches that I could put him.

Eric (56:51)
It was cold. It was cold.

Erika (56:52)
Exactly. Yeah, we like to see he's been to like Vegas before he gambles. Fenway,

Eric (56:58)
Fenway Park, Sweden. He's been to Sweden.

There's a, yeah.

Erika (57:04)
Yeah, so I'll send you a whole bunch. And a lot

of times people will just like take a picture of them holding him because I don't want anybody to vandalize anything. Just don't go. Don't go messing with stuff that's.

Julianna (57:06)
Yeah.

There are plenty of

places around here that are like known sticker spots, so yeah.

Eric (57:16)
Exactly. If we want him

Erika (57:16)
Perfect, that's where we want him.

Eric (57:18)
in a sticker spot, don't vandalize anything. We are gonna make some soon that have a little QR code too. So someone's like, ooh, poop emoji sticker with the QR code, bringing you right to the Instagram. Yeah.

Julianna (57:21)
Yeah.

that's a smart idea. Yeah. Nice.

Love it. Well, thank you guys for both letting me be on your show and also coming on run. I think this is wonderful.

Eric (57:38)
Coming soon.

Julianna (57:39)
Coming soon, yes. ⁓ And friends, if you'd like to find me or the Run a Podcast, you can find us at runapod on Instagram and also shoot me an email, which is at runapod at gmail.com. And I like to say, I always say like we, like there's more than one person behind this. It's just me, it's just Juliana, but ⁓ we appreciate when you email us and you just tag us on Instagram. But friends, that's gonna round out our.

episode of RUNA here today and we will see you on the next episode of RUNA and we'll see you later. Bye! That's it. That's the end. Woo!

Erika (58:14)
Thank you. Giuliana,

that was so much