239 | Randi Zuckerberg | Cocodona 250, Boston Bonk and lessons learned along the journey

On this episode we welcome Randi Zuckerberg to out PodFam!

Join us as we chat with Randi Zuckerberg (13:55), who just crushed the Cocodona 250 with a 10-hour PR! 🏃‍♀️💪 Discover her incredible journey from bonking at the Boston Marathon to conquering ultra marathons, and hear her insights on training, nutrition, and the power of community in endurance sports.

During the Tros, Eric and Six Star catch up after some time away and a mini vacation. Eric tied up the Happy Hour Hustle series and shared his week as Six Star is getting ready for her big birthday bash at the Goffstown Gallop!

Sign up for the Goffstown Gallop HERE and join us for Six Star Erika's 40th Birthday

Randi's Instagram

Thank you to My Race Tatts for being our Guest Segment Sponsor!

Chapters

00:00 Intro and Catching Up
13:55 Guest Introduction: Randi Zuckerberg
18:13 Randi's Running Journey and Experiences
26:17 Boston 2024 Bonk
33:01 Lessons Learned from the Bonk
35:19 The Awakening of an Ultra Runner
42:56 Cocodona
01:19:27 The Power of Fun and Sparkles
01:21:07 Hot Takes on Aid Station Food
01:25:06 Music That Motivates
01:28:48 Future Plans and Road Running Adventures
01:36:30 Outro

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Threads
Email us at OnTheRunsPod@gmail.com

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

Transcript

Randi Z (00:00)
I hear him mile 23 and he's like, Randi, it's me. And I like went over to high five him and then I just hit the ground and like projectile vomited it like all over his feet, like literally just like full like, like the

Eric (00:24)
What's up, everybody? Welcome to episode 239 of the On the Runs podcast. And it's been a minute and things have for sure heated up. School is out, the World Cup is in. Erica is back, and the happy hour hustle is tied up at one baby. We have so much to catch up on. But first, before I get to any of that, I must say hello to my kick-ass rock server co-host, six-star Erica. What's up?

Erika (00:48)
What's going on, Eric? It's been too long. Honestly, I kind of like forgot how to do this for a hot minute. So how's everything going at your house? Like, is it chaos with the s the kids out of school and and God knows what goes on over there?

Eric (00:55)
We did. We both did.

Well, the boys are out.

Well well, the boys are out. They graduated preschool on Friday. Adeline's last day is actually tomorrow or today when you're listening Tuesday. It's a half a day. So it's over. It's done. Cheerleading has already started again for next year. It's a it's a whole new thing. It's better, but we're on a new team and we're gonna be a little busier. But we have a set schedule and we know our practice schedule from now until like April of next year. So that's awesome.

Erika (01:15)
It's done.

That's always nice having it having it down. No questions.

Eric (01:33)
Yeah.

But yeah, it's heated up like summer is in full effect. We went to the lake yesterday. A new lake. We went to ⁓ my god, Lindsay's gonna give me a hard time. Cl Clough is that is the wait, is is that how you pronounce it? So we went to Clough State Park. Yes, and it was really nice. Just me and the kids and then Adeline's friend and her mom. So they they invited Adeline. I was like, Well, wait, can me and the boys go?

Erika (01:42)
Clough. You went to Clough. Clough. C L O U G H Clough. Yes.

Nice.

Eric (02:00)
Like we want to go too. Ashley was working and we went, had a great, great weekend, got in some running, got in some amazing week of working out. And then this morning, all of a sudden, I can't even get out of bed. Old age, I don't know. Just no, I stayed up too late last night, fell asleep on the couch watching the postgame of the Stealing Cup final, which is the superior sport compared to the other finals that was going on.

Erika (02:14)
What happened? Are you overworking yourself?

It's the couch.

Eric (02:29)
It was an incredible finals. I woke up and I would felt great all day, all week, for many weeks. And then I had this little pinch in my back, and this morning I couldn't get out of the bed. It was very hard to even lift my arms up to get a shirt on. As you can see now, it's been hours. I feel fine. My back still has to pinch. Wavy, inflatable tube, man. Shout out, Brittany. ⁓ well.

Erika (02:30)
Ha.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

You're just wacky-wiggly inflating RB. So you're feeling fine now. That's good. That honestly

happened to me the other day. I I slept a little weird. I got a new pillow and it made my neck hurt for like a little bit. And it took an entire week for me to be able to turn to the right. I was I was like, what is this?

Eric (03:04)
That's gonna be me.

I'm gonna feel this pinch in my back the entire week. Like I felt fine to run. I didn't feel fine to work out like lifting weights and doing the the recycled fit. So I I did not do that today. But this is what you have to look forward to in a couple of weeks. When you hit this is 40. Yes.

Erika (03:09)
⁓

Smart. Yep.

Is this forty? This is forty. No.

I'm not happy about that. ⁓ well, yes.

Eric (03:32)
Speaking of which, just

wanna say Govstown Gallup, June twenty seventh, come out for six stars fortieth birthday, five point two miles up the hills of Govstown. It'll be a lot of fun. It'll be a lot of fun.

Erika (03:41)
Let's have a blast.

We'll post details in the show notes, but man, it's always a good time. And we're gonna have a beautiful day. I am manifesting that for myself. We're gonna have a nice cool morning and it's gonna be so much fun. It did, but it stopped for the actual race. Yeah, it rained like beforehand. I remember that. It was like downpouring when everybody was on our way there. All right. Well, this is gonna be better.

Eric (03:57)
Well, last year it was cool, but it rained. But it was perfect.

Yeah. Yeah. It's it wasn't

what I hope for is the weather where you cross the finish line and you keep running another hundred yards down the boat ramp into the lake. Like it's that kinda hot. And

Erika (04:18)
Exactly. I would love an afternoon like that. But

I don't want to run in the heat. that's all I've been doing. Like, how are you dealing with running in the heat? Like, are you acclimated to it at this point? Like, it's early. This is early for that for this. I feel like it is. Yeah, but for high 90s, like, ⁓ that seems too early. Who? ⁓ no. ⁓ no.

Eric (04:30)
I try. I is it? It's June, it's mid June.

Well, you know who's not used to the heat? Terodactyl as she lost race number two in the happy hour of hustle. This

series is all tied up at one. All tied up at one, baby. Round two goes to yours truly. Not only did I beat her to the finish line, I beat her on the timing mat. I took care of the whole thing. I had the hills and the heat, had nothing on me.

Erika (04:48)
It's on.

You d

You look like a frickin' spring chicken out there.

Eric (05:06)
But it did on Terra, who likes to run at five in the morning on the flats. She did great. In fact, I think she went out a little too hot because you're on the rail trail. It's shady. It's flat. If if that were me, I would have slowed down because I stayed with her all the way into the hill. And then I kept going and she basically was like hit the e break or something.

Erika (05:07)
Yeah.

I was watching your content and I'm just like, my God, Eric could not be like happier about this. And you both worked out earlier that day. I don't understand how you still had energy, but I ran my own 5K that day and I was beyond miserable. Like I went out way too fast too. And there was I was like, nope, there's no way I can hold this. But I have to say, I would have beat you. Mm-hmm. I did a 2459.

Eric (05:39)
Yeah. Pretty hard. Pretty hard.

You ran downhill.

Erika (06:01)
Yeah, I didn't really run it.

Eric (06:03)
It's called

the Hollist Fast Five K. I ran uphill. I feel like the old man. We ran uphill both ways. It was

Erika (06:08)
Still. Both ways. We gotta

I'll have to erase you at one point, but we'll see.

Eric (06:17)
Well,

I'm gonna keep speeding up. I I don't even know what our time was. It was slow, but like Terra went out and I just stuck with her for whatever pace. And that's why I was saying she should have slowed down, saved her energy for the hill if she realized I was just saving my energy to beat her to line because it was

Erika (06:34)
How bad was the hill? Like I don't even know which

hill it is if 'cause you were running in Londonary? Was that it?

Eric (06:38)
Yeah, it was

a big hill. I was did not expect it to be that big. Yeah. It wasn't as long as like McIntyre, but it was that steepness at one part. Yeah. So I did not know it was coming. But then you have like a mile to go after the hill, and it's a nice little downhill slope. Like she was not behind me by much. It felt like longer, but the time difference shows like maybe 30 seconds. So, but you know who was really fast?

Erika (06:42)
⁓

Ew. That's all you're getting out of me.

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Do tell.

Eric (07:08)
And because

they seed you by your your your seed that your time that you put put in. So I was number 69, giggity. And Tara was number 64. So they predicted she was faster than me. But Elena Lochbaum was number 101. And she not only beat all of us, she caught up to me with about a half a mile to go and just cruised in like no problem and talked.

Erika (07:14)
Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh.

Eric (07:37)
Conversational pace the whole time. So she started 32 behind me, caught up, and whooped our ass.

Erika (07:45)
I knew I liked Elena. Hell yes. That's amazing. You're just you're just gonna pick off everybody. You're like, you, you're on my shit list. You're on my shit list. We're gonna keep like racing. This is it.

Eric (07:48)
So now I got someone else to go against next week. I'll be gonna be like, Yo, I can't let ya.

I need I

need some guys to like compete with me here because you know women stick together and I'm just I'm getting ready for the women hate to be like, look at you, you know, mouthing off about you beating Tara, you know, and you're gonna mouth off about when you beat Erica. Listen, I can give you two crap, but I need I need

Erika (08:18)
Yes, you can. Well, who who else like

races these? I don't even I haven't been to a happy hour hustle in a long time, so I don't even know who usually goes.

Eric (08:25)
Well you know who

I'm not gonna race? I'm not gonna race Eddie. 'Cause Eddie's fast. my god, he was number three. Yeah. Number three. Mary was number one though. Shout out Mary. So yeah.

Erika (08:28)
he's too fast for you. Yeah. He's fast for all of us. He was number three. ⁓ of course. Well,

she dominates everything. I I swear, everything I see her run, she's just like, I'm at first. As she she's earned it. She has a hundred percent earned it. She's so good. She's so good.

Eric (08:45)
She's humble about it too though. Yeah. We're like, please come

on the pod and talk about your victory. Your another victory. She's like, no, no, no. Nope, nope. She's incredible.

Erika (08:52)
She's had like five

more since we talked to her last.

Eric (08:56)
So I run this

happy hour hustle. It was a lot of fun. John was there. John was doing the ⁓ I don't know if you call it Sync, the announcing. And he's like, You really gotta do this. And you know, Andy's been telling us to do it. And I was like, I will do it. Like, just let me know when and when I can juggle it with kids. So maybe maybe one day I'll be calling your names across and I'll be like, Teradactyl, lost to Eric at the London Dairy Happy Hour Hustle.

Erika (09:03)
Yeah, yeah.

Mm.

be your little

your little tidbit that you add. ⁓ she'll kill you.

Eric (09:25)
So actually, you mentioned we both worked out the morning before, and then we ran that 5K. Right. And then I go back to the gym the next morning. I'm at Recycled Fit and I'm like, ⁓ man, I had a double workout yesterday. The workout here, then the 5K 90 degree heat. And Justin looks at me and goes, ⁓ you ran a 5K?

Erika (09:28)
Yeah, from what I hear from the group chat. Mm-hmm.

Eric (09:48)
Days after he completed a hundred seventy mile run across New Hampshire, pushing his buddy in in like a running wheelchair, one of the Hoyt wheelchairs. And I'm like, Yeah, I guess I got nothing.

Erika (09:55)
Yep. Yep.

You kinda gotta

zip it at that point. Yeah, he he schooled you on that. But what a feat.

Eric (10:04)
And this was like two days. This

is two days, two, three days after, because he finished that on a Tuesday. And then I heard from him Wednesday night, said Jim tomorrow. And I was like, Really? I thought you would have taken a whole week off. So we worked out, ran the 5K, did it again. No, I love it. It was a great workout. But yeah, it was fun. Suck Katie Sparkles. We all went out after. You missed out on that part. Like, I I know you were with your girl Rachel, who you'd rather be with than us, probably, but ⁓

Erika (10:09)
Mm-hmm.

He doesn't stop. He doesn't stop.

Yeah.

Eric (10:29)
Rachel,

we saw Rachel and ⁓ Darren and Michaela, by the way. Funny story. As I'm running by, because you do a U-turn in the rail trail, I run by Darren and Michaela. Michaela has like a called a 30 foot lead. And I go, Michaela, if you beat Darren, he gives you a foot rub tonight. So now I'm at the finish line talking to John, and Darren's coming across the finish line about a minute before, and he goes, I'm getting a foot rub!

Erika (10:34)
Mm-hmm. What?

D Uh-huh.

Eric (10:59)
Apparently he's never beaten Michaela before. It was his first time.

Erika (11:02)
So that was the the push he needed to he the promise of a foot rub. my gosh. That's cute though.

Eric (11:04)
⁓ The foot rub. The foot rub. So that

was me. I know you went on vacation. I don't know if you did any running. You probably kept your streak alive, but what did you what have you done?

Erika (11:13)
I did a little bit of running actually.

yeah, when I was in South Carolina, I wound up doing like two runs, but they were they were short. I wound up switching my long run to before I left. So it was just a couple of like I did like a four miler and a f like three miler. So really easy, but it was it was hot down there too. So I'm glad I only had the the easy stuff. But but yeah, just I feel like my life is really boring. Like what am I doing? I'm job hunting, I'm running. ⁓

I did just reteach myself how to crochet again 'cause I wanna make these like little like I like the amigoroomy like little like I made you that penguin, right? Didn't I make you one? Yeah. So those little cute things.

Eric (11:51)
Yeah. I don't think you made me

one. I think you made one and you showed me.

Erika (11:57)
Did I not give it to you? I thought I made you like a green one or an orange one or something, whatever your favorite color was. Well, either way.

Eric (12:03)
You don't need to make me anything. Cause when people give me stuff,

I don't know where it goes.

Erika (12:09)
Fair enough. Well, either

way, I'm I'm teaching myself to do that again just as like something to keep me busy and but

Eric (12:16)
You know what you can do to keep yourself busy.

Erika (12:19)
What? Content. ⁓ True. Well, this week, I have to say, I am prepping for yet another trip. I know you're giving me shit on that too. I'm going to Minnesota this week for grandma's marathon. And I'm very pumped about that. So this is like a another shot at a PR. I think weather might actually work out, but it's gonna be a girls' trip. Rachel will be there, Tara will be there, her friend Jen will be there.

Eric (12:20)
Notes to the show notes.

Nice.

I wasn't invited.

Erika (12:47)
You were not invited. That well, actually that sold out super fast. You would have had to to commit. You would have had to. So no gamophobia gamophobia for this one.

Eric (12:53)
Yeah. Well, guys, guys, get this.

She goes on vacation. She comes back. I don't bother her the whole time. Sometimes we actually need a break from each other. And I gave you like huge props before we recorded because we struggled to like start recording, having all these problems. And I'm getting mad. I said, no one else has the patience for me like you do. But I give her we we we both kind of took a break from chatting, because we chat all the time. She goes on her vacation. She comes back.

Erika (13:09)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eric (13:23)
Instead of saying, Hey, how are you? How was everything? She gives me a list of all these dates she she cannot record. As I'm scheduling them. And she's like, I can't do that one. I can't do that one. But I can do this one after eight thirty PM.

Erika (13:32)
Mm.

Well,

in my defense it just wasn't in my calendar, so I I messed up one day. Just one day. And then my mom's coming in, so I could do I could do stuff after.

Eric (13:46)
But I love your mom. She's

awesome. And she'll be there for your birthday.

Erika (13:49)
Thank you.

Yeah, yeah. My mom and my dad are gonna be around.

Eric (13:52)
Nice.

Well, we got a lot to catch up on. I mean, Chicago's a clown show. There's drama in the healthy kids running series. Like, there's there's all this stuff. Stooley in the Wild's making his rounds. We gotta talk about a lot, but we also have an amazing guest today brought to you by my race tats. And Erica, we were so fortunate to get like 90 minutes with an absolute legend.

In the entire world, like not just running, but a legend, but we only talked running, who just crushed Cocodona, Erica, who's coming on the podcast today.

Erika (14:31)
Do you guys ever just have somebody you talk to and you just know how much you like should be friends? This person is like that for me. She's like a she's like another Britney, just a a joyful spirit in the world that I am gravitating to. But we have Randi Zuckerberg on the podcast today. And she's just so awesome. She's like, she has goals for ultra running.

You are gonna love everything she has to tell you. She's got the good, the bad, the code browns. She's got it all. And she she does it s it with sparkles in her hair and on a skirt. And you can see why I love her so much. So I hope you guys enjoy this one. Sh it's gonna be amazing.

Eric (15:00)
Got the sparkly hair.

This is fantastic. She understood the assignment. She spared no details. It was incredible. And then stick around in the outro because unfortunately, we have some bad news for six star. But enjoy Randy Zuckerberg on the On the Runs podcast and we'll see you on the other side.

Eric (15:32)
Our next guest on the pod just completed the Cocodona 250 with a 10 RPR. She's also a loopy looper. She may have bonked in the 2024 Boston marathon. She ran the perimeter of Manhattan and is a board member of the New York road runners. Needless to say, we are wicked excited to welcome.

Randi Zuckerberg to the on the runs podcast. What's up, Randi?

Randi Z (15:54)
Yes, I'm so excited to be here with both of you. And that was like a perfect summary of my entire running resume right there. So boom, from from bonk to PR and back again.

Eric (16:04)
Yes

Erika (16:06)
That's what we're all about. The good, the bad,

and the code brown of the sport. So welcome, Randi. I'm so happy you're here. And I love that Eric dropped this. ⁓ You did loopy looper, and I did it for the first time last year. So we were there at the same time, and I wish I would have known you then, because I would have been there cheering you on as well and just giving you the support you needed, because you did 100 miles there, correct?

Randi Z (16:10)
Thank

I did, I entered the 100 miler. ⁓ I don't know what compelled me to do that, but yeah, it was an incredible day out there. And actually one other woman and I both broke the course record that day, which was super cool. So we did a lot of loops around that lake. I never want to see that lake again.

Erika (16:44)
Beautiful.

And that wasn't even your first time doing it, correct? Like you've done a few other years in the frosty looper and...

Eric (16:53)
Is that like?

Randi Z (16:56)
No.

I have looped that lake an ungodly amount of times.

Eric (17:05)
We always talk about, yeah, we always talk

Erika (17:05)
So there is a limit.

Eric (17:07)
about Strava heat maps and just those areas are like white hot. We know, we know a lot of people who go there from the whole New Jersey area and a lot of them are from the Baltimore area, but that's what Cooper river state park, right?

Randi Z (17:19)
Yeah, I never knew it existed until a few years ago. And, ⁓ I probably am okay if I never know what exists. No, it's it's a great race. Endless endurance puts on an incredible race. like I just giant kudos to their team. And there is something cool about a loop race because it makes it accessible to anyone. So like whether you're a first time ultra runner or experienced, like you do get to, you know, come back to your stuff every few miles. And it actually just like.

Eric (17:42)
Right.

Randi Z (17:49)
I think makes it a great kind of community ultra event. So no, no shade on the loop, even though I have a little bit of trauma response to thinking about that part.

Erika (17:54)
you

I have a special

place in my heart for looped races, so I totally understand the love-hate relationship that goes between us.

Randi Z (18:06)
you

Eric (18:07)
You should go back in December. Don't they do the winter looper? Is it called... What do they call it? The frozen loopy? Frosty!

Randi Z (18:13)
Yeah.

Erika (18:13)
frosty.

Randi Z (18:16)
So this year I was supposed to be on the mic announcing it because I a, tore my hip labrum and I was going to be on the mic announcing it and my husband and son were going to be running and then they canceled it because there was a blizzard. So, ⁓ so that was kind of a bummer, but maybe, maybe you'll see me back on the mic for one of those. Cause I think it would be super fun to call in that race.

Eric (18:39)
Is that something you've done before? Because Erika and I just like finally got to dabble in that a couple weeks ago.

Randi Z (18:44)
I've never done it before and it's on my bucket list, so I thought I was gonna get to do it at the Frosty Looper and now it's it's unchecked still on my list.

Erika (18:53)
Mm-hmm.

We got to get that. We got to check that box for you. We might be able to make some connections here, see what we can do.

Eric (18:54)
Well.

Randi Z (18:56)
you

Eric (19:00)
⁓ I told Erika, kind of, so a thing I like to do here is I do all my research, but I don't tell her everything. Cause sometimes it's a fun to get to learn on the spot, right? But we were going to the Boston marathon at the fan fest and I knew they wanted us to be a stage host for a while. And I just said, ⁓ they just want us to do a few things. Not a big deal. Just rip the bandaid off when we get there and be like, by the way, you're going to be on stage and you're going to have to talk to people.

Randi Z (19:00)
Love it.

Love it.

Erika (19:20)
you ⁓

Eric (19:28)
It's going to be fine. You're going to do great. And she did amazing. She did absolutely incredible.

Erika (19:33)
followed

his lead. That's the easy part.

Randi Z (19:35)
I love it, you know what, sometimes it's great to be surprised.

Erika (19:39)
Well, I mean you you must be no stranger to public speaking because you said you're in Vegas right now You're doing a what are you? are you there speaking for?

Randi Z (19:46)
Yes, I'm actually so I do a lot of lecturing about AI and tech. ⁓ There's not a lot of women on the tech lecture circuit. So I try to say yes whenever I can, you know, just to try to make sure that there's women on stage. So I'm currently here at a commercial real estate conference in Vegas. And this morning I gave a whole lecture on how AI can be used for commercial real estate. So it's fun. get to kind of use a lot of different areas of my brain.

Erika (19:53)
Mmm.

Very cool.

Eric (20:14)
Well, you're very good at speaking. You got your own radio show too on XM, but we're not here to talk about talking that much. We're here to talk about running and let's get to know you a little bit first. you ran a lot when you were younger and then you picked it up again in the last like four years.

Randi Z (20:32)
Yeah, so I ran on my high school cross country team. I was terrible. I think I was like the last place person on the cross country team, but I was there for vibes. when I graduated from college, I feel like everyone that I knew already had a job lined up for like 10 months before graduation. Not me. I didn't. I was going through like a terrible breakup. I had no direction in my life. so

Erika (20:52)
Ooh.

Randi Z (20:59)
I signed up on a whim for the Chicago marathon. I had never done a marathon. Chicago wasn't like, there wasn't this like world major stuff back in 2003. feel like I think I signed up the week before and everyone like lined up in a field and they were just like, go. And yeah, those were the days. And like, there was no talk of carbohydrates or anything like that. Like it was like just water. And so

Erika (21:13)
you

Those were the days.

Randi Z (21:27)
everyone hits the wall at mile 20. It's just like, how bad do you hit the wall? And I crossed that finish line. I was like, never again. Like I'm done running for the rest of my life. and then I picked it back up again in my forties. I actually went back and ran the Chicago marathon again, almost exactly like 22 years to the date of that.

Erika (21:51)
Wow.

How are your two experiences, how are they different?

Eric (21:53)
YouTube?

Randi Z (21:56)
⁓ well, first of all, I was an hour faster in my forties than in my twenties. So that was, that's pretty cool because I feel like, you know, I spent my whole life with the narrative that like, when you get to your forties, you get weaker and you get smaller. And, ⁓ and I feel like here I am. And like, I feel better than when I was in my twenties. Yes. Faster as a master. ⁓

Erika (22:17)
Faster as a master. I love that phrase.

Randi Z (22:22)
But I went back with my parents. I brought my parents back with me. They were at that finish line when I was 22. They were there when I was 42. And my parents have been at almost every finish line that I've done. So they continue to be the biggest supporters and they're when it matters.

Erika (22:38)
aww

Excellent. Support a family that's the best thing.

Randi Z (22:47)
you

Eric (22:49)
We have this little, I've never run Chicago, but I love to give Erika a hard time because it's her favorite. always, yeah. I always give her a hard time, but I need to ask you this now. You've run New York, you've run Boston, you've run Chicago. No pressure, but can you rank them?

Erika (22:53)
It's my favorite. Look at it. got a Chicago poster right behind me. 40th anniversary.

Randi Z (22:58)
Yes!

my gosh. Okay. Well, I think they're all different in different ways. Like if you were like rank them in like fun, I'd rank it in a different order than like rank it in like just like beast mode, you know, like New York, New York is like the party marathon. Like if you're, if you want to have fun and you want to experience the city, like you're running New York. If you want to like,

Erika (23:24)
Mmm.

Eric (23:24)
this

Yeah.

Randi Z (23:37)
If you want to go fast, you're running Boston. I feel like you're lining up and you're just trying to prove that you're there. I feel like Chicago is kind of a hybrid of the two. A lot of people go there because it's flat and PR, but it has some hints of New York. I remember when I ran it back in the day when I was 22.

I think the Cubs made it to the World Series that year. Almost every sign that I saw on the course was like, go Cubs. And I remember being like, wait, wrong sport. Like I'm running.

Erika (24:12)
you

Randi Z (24:17)
Anyone cheer for the marathon? Please? Like I guess this is a big deal for the city. But like I'm in the fucking marathon right now. You can one person have a sign that's like about running. like so you know, like Chicago has a unique flavor. So I didn't really answer your question because I just said like.

Erika (24:20)
you

Yep.

Eric (24:38)
You

actually answered it perfectly. Because no matter how you do it, I'm going to spin it and say, see Erika, she said New York was a party, Boston's where you want to go to have a fun time and a fast run. And she like tried to figure out an answer for Chicago. It's just an ongoing thing we have.

Randi Z (24:53)
Yeah, Chicago, yeah, I

Erika (24:55)
you

Randi Z (24:55)
can't really figure out where Chicago fits into it, quite frankly, because it's like a little bit, I feel like half the people are there to PR and half the people are there for vibes.

Erika (25:05)
Mm-hmm. But they deliver for vibes, too. Like, that's... I just love in the first, like, half mile, now they do a, like, a DJ underneath the street, so it just echoes in... I'm, like, half a mile into this thing, and I'm already vibing. Like, it's just... It sets you up so great for the rest of the race.

Eric (25:06)
Yeah, we've

Randi Z (25:09)
Yeah, they do. They do.

It does, absolutely.

Eric (25:24)
We've been lucky this past year to do a few live podcasts from other races here in New Hampshire, in New England, but more recently the Boston Marathon. And I said like, now we want to go to New York and do live shows from the, the NYRR races. And then I go, I really hope Chicago hasn't heard any of the crap I say about it all the time. Cause I want to go there too. So something

Erika (25:43)
Hey, they got me defending

them, so...

Eric (25:45)
At some point I got to

stop giving Erika a hard time about her Chicago, know, her love for Chicago. Cause you, she's run it five times. She's like locked in every race.

Erika (25:54)
And I'm going

back this year. I got the legacy status. That's what I was working towards.

Randi Z (25:58)
That's

awesome. I was supposed to run it last year and again, I was injured for the entire fall, which is a kind of a bummer. I was going to take my son and have a whole thing. So I deferred to this year. So hopefully Knock on Wood will be healthy enough to see you out there.

Erika (26:03)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, I hope so. really do.

Eric (26:17)
So I mentioned Boston a couple of times. I also mentioned you bonked in Boston. I saw some pictures. Yeah. So one thing we like to do on this podcast is, as Erika said earlier, the ups and the downs and the code Browns. Bonking's a code Brown. Spare no details on the 2024 Boston Marathon.

Randi Z (26:23)
like epic, epic bonk.

Erika (26:35)
Mm.

Randi Z (26:35)
Yeah. Okay.

Okay, I got to give like a little bit backstory. I, you know, I, like, I worked at every single person, I was a pretty newish marathoner at that point. And I was like, really lucky that in my first marathon, I qualified for Boston, like, I guess, because I'm old. So like, you know, I you get a little extra.

Erika (27:02)
You still got to run

fast for that. You do.

Randi Z (27:05)
Thank you.

But anyway, that goes to show that I just like didn't really have the experience. I didn't really have the marathon or experience to like go into Boston in an intelligent way. So I, you know, everyone warned me they're like, do not go out hot on those first downhill miles. There's no pacers like you have to pace yourself like every single person gave me the same wise advice. And I

Erika (27:12)
Mm.

Randi Z (27:33)
I key-arred my half marathon, like inside the Boston Marathon. Like I went out like I was on fire. Like I just flew out of the gate. And it was a fluke, very hot year also. It didn't like start off that hot, but because I was in like one of the later start times, like, you know, I don't start till like almost 11 a.m. and then you hit the Newton Hills in peak sun.

Erika (27:35)
you

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (28:01)
And by that point it was like feels like 80 degrees out. And, um, I remember like, it was like the feeling of seeing a train wreck in real time, but like I was the train wreck and I, um, I remember seeing my husband on the side cheering for me around mile 12 or 13. And I was like, my heart rate's a two Oh five. Like I literally said that I was like,

Erika (28:05)
Ooh.

⁓ no.

⁓ no.

Eric (28:29)
It's not high

at all.

Randi Z (28:31)
I was like, bye, and just kept going. Okay. So also just to put in perspective, I'm like, I run like about like an eight minute mile for the marathon. Like that's, that's what I do. You know, I'm happy with it. I think I was running like seven minute miles for like, had no business running at that pace. And, uh, like the wheels just started coming off the bus real quick, like miles 17. I like thought I was going to die.

Erika (28:43)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (29:01)
how I was still running. And then at mile 23, I hear, Hey, Randi, and it's our friend, Josh, our mutual friend. I had actually never met him in person. We were like Instagram friends and he had invited me on Instagram to be part of a relay Ironman team that he was doing. And I don't know like why I said yes to a random person on Instagram to be on like a relay team.

Erika (29:15)
Mm-hmm.

you

Randi Z (29:29)
But I did. And ⁓ like I hear him mile 23 and he's like, Randi, it's me. And I like went over to high five him and then I just hit the ground and like projectile vomited it like all over his feet, like literally just like full like, like the exorcist. And of course to my luck that was like

Erika (29:30)
⁓ huh, huh.

⁓ no!

Randi Z (29:56)
right in front of a course photographer. So every photo that I have from that Boston marathon is me just like full vomit, like coming out of like vomit triangle. like, so they, the medics came over to me to try to pull me off the course. And I started screaming, no, I need to be a douche bag with a Boston jacket. I just started screaming like that. And like.

Erika (30:08)
No!

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (30:25)
And then I got up and I ran at what I thought was a sprint, but was like a 17 minute mile. And I somehow finished the race. And as I took off, was like, Josh, you can fire me from your Ironman team. And just like took off and somehow made it to the finish line. It was my slowest marathon to date that I've ever run. but

Erika (30:27)
you

You

You

Randi Z (30:52)
Now I like look back on that medal and I laugh so hard because like that's actually like the vomit photo that I have from that is like truly like one of my most epic race photos. So yeah, I learned, let's just say like I learned a lot about myself and Narathani that day.

Erika (30:55)
you

Randi.

Eric (31:11)
That's

a great photo. I got it earlier from Josh. If you don't mind, I'm going to put it on the YouTube feed too. It's a fantastic photo and I must have missed the part when you threw up on his feet.

Randi Z (31:17)
Oh, 100%, 100%. It's like a picture, it's like a picture of a surprise photo.

Oh my gosh, and he and the other spectators were so kind to me. They had a hand on my back, people were giving me ice pops, they were so nice. That must have been so disgusting to have a runner just run up and just full vomit all over the floor.

I guess they got like the real marathon experience, those people.

Eric (31:49)
Especially the

first time ever meeting him. like, hi, I'm Randi, I'm Jo-

Erika (31:50)
for real.

Randi Z (31:54)
Literally, literally, that was our first ever meeting was like, let me puke on your feet. And he so I've literally a texted him that night. And I'm like, No, I'm not kidding. Like you can fire me from your Iron Man team. And he was like, he's like, hell no. He's like, that's exactly the kind of person I want the kind of person who's gonna like vomit and then pick themselves off the ground and finish.

Erika (32:00)
But look at you now, like that did not deter him from being your friend.

Eric (32:01)
and

Erika (32:21)
Puke and rally!

Randi Z (32:22)
Yeah.

But it actually taught me a lot of lessons because I kind of learned that like you can bonk and like then unbonk and I feel like I've called on that in a lot of ultras. And like now if I get sick in a race, I don't panic. don't like I feel like I have data points now to be like, okay, well, I survived that I can survive it again. I that marathon actually

Erika (32:34)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (32:50)
Like sometimes you you learn the most from those awful experiences.

Erika (32:53)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yep, that's knowledge that you can apply to other, a total other handful of races and stuff, especially

Eric (32:55)
Well, something I wrote.

Erika (33:01)
awesome shit.

Eric (33:01)
Also,

when you met him, so I met Josh at six in the morning, not six, like five 15 in the morning in New York city before Peloton ride once. And I was shocked how tall he was. Yeah. I was like, wow, you're, I'm looking up. He's so much taller than I thought, but he told me that 2024 bonking in Boston kind of taught you things about how to train and maybe, fuel differently.

Randi Z (33:14)
Yeah, it's huge.

Absolutely. mean, so, so much so. Like, first of all, it really taught me to like respect a course and to, ⁓ and to have a, have a race strategy. mean, that was really only like my, I think third or fourth marathon that I'd done when I did Boston. So I just didn't really know how to run in heat, how to train, how to have like a strategy around a course. My strategy to date had just been like, go out hot and hang on for dear life.

Erika (33:34)
Mmm.

you

Randi Z (33:55)
was like kind

of my race strategy. And I feel I've evolved as a runner since then. ⁓ But I think, know, it also like really taught me that you can problem solve and overcome bad situations inside a race. And that for sure is something that I've called on a lot, especially as I dove into longer and longer ultra marathons.

Erika (34:10)
Mmm.

I'm really excited to hear about these ultra marathons. You have a very impressive ultra sign up page.

Randi Z (34:27)
Thank you. It's maybe crazy, maybe lunatic.

Eric (34:28)
E-E-Erica? Yeah. Erika

Erika (34:31)
No, not at all.

Eric (34:33)
is the, ultrarunner out of the bunch. And... I know this. At some point, you got yourself a necklace that said 250.

Randi Z (34:43)
I did, I'm wearing it. Let's see if I can it for you. Yes, so there's my 250. yeah, I thought I was like, ⁓ I thought maybe I wanted to get a tattoo and no shade against tattoos. They're gorgeous, I love them. But then I decided on diamonds instead to my 250.

Erika (34:44)
⁓ to match the beautiful t-shirt.

More bling.

Eric (35:02)
yeah. Wait, so when did

you get the necklace then?

Randi Z (35:06)
I got it after my first Cocodona finish. So after my first one, she's actually, the jeweler is actually upgrading this necklace now to say 250 times two.

Eric (35:09)
Okay, okay, I thought-

No way. Yes.

Erika (35:17)
That's so cool!

Randi Z (35:19)
Thank you.

Eric (35:20)
So hold on. Let's backtrack. Little Wayne's world here. Go back in time. When did ultra running enter the picture?

Erika (35:23)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (35:30)
First of all, I didn't even know that ultramarathon was a word until like two years ago. It was not even a sport that was on my radar. I thought that running ended at the marathon distance. Like I didn't even know you could run longer. And then I had a friend who asked me if I would run the perimeter of Manhattan with him. And the perimeter of Manhattan is about 32 miles around.

Erika (35:53)
Ooh.

Randi Z (35:58)
And so this was in fall of 2023. And at around mile 25, he was like on death's doorstep. And I like suddenly felt amazing. Like I just suddenly felt great. I sped up. Like I was so happy. And he was like, you're an ultra runner. And I was like, I don't even know what that means. Like, I'm sorry. I don't know. Like, I don't know what he's talking about. And so.

Erika (36:13)
you

you

Randi Z (36:27)
⁓ He and one other friend, my friend Bethany, convinced me to sign up for a 50 mile race. ⁓ They pitched it in a way that made sense, but now that I say it out loud, it doesn't make much sense. They're like, well, you're running the New York City Marathon anyway. It's two weeks after that. So the New York City Marathon is basically your final long run. So great. I feel like...

I guess I am an ultra runner because that logic like made sense to me back then, even though I didn't know that that was a sport. And we were a few weeks out from it. Bethany was going to run it with me and she calls me and she's like, Hey, I just found out I'm pregnant. So I can't run this race anymore. she's like, but I'll, I'll come out and pace you for whatever I can.

Erika (37:09)
Huh?

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (37:16)
And so I ended up showing up alone at this 50 mile race that they had convinced me to sign up for. And I ended up coming in second place female. And it was, that was like just the right amount of validation that I needed early in the journey to like get hooked, you know? Like, cause it was like, it was like a tiny race. There was not a lot of people in it, but.

Erika (37:31)
you

excellence.

Randi Z (37:41)
Like something in my mind was like, you're good enough at this to like keep going. And I feel like it was like just the perfect validation to get early on. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think I very quickly, my next race I think I signed up for was the Loopy Looper. ⁓ And somewhere in there, a friend sent me the live stream link to Cocadona, ⁓ which we were all like glued to in 2024.

Erika (38:07)
you

Randi Z (38:10)
And she was like, you are the only person I know who's like crazy enough to actually sign up for this race. And I remember I had the browser open for days and I would like get so close to clicking register and then I'd check them out. I'd be like, what am I doing? I've done one 50 mile race. Like what's wrong with me? And, ⁓ and then I saw that it was like selling out. And so I just like went for it. I like, I think I had.

Erika (38:24)
you

I'm doing it,

I'm doing it. ⁓ that helps.

Randi Z (38:38)
I had a few drinks, I had a few drinks that I just signed up

for Coca-Dona. And I didn't tell anyone for days because I was like, what have I done? just signed up. I've done one 50 mile race. I have no data points to at all reinforce that I can make it 250 miles. But I don't know, I just have this like irrational

Erika (38:57)
you

Randi Z (39:06)
confidence in myself and yeah, that's how I signed up for Cocadona 2025 on absolutely no data that I should do that.

Erika (39:08)
Sometimes you just gotta jump in. Why not?

Eric (39:18)
Do you remember the reaction

Erika (39:19)
from that.

Eric (39:21)
you got when you told your husband or your parents or anyone like you I wish you recorded it you ever do those where you record something after like this big news like I'm gonna run a 250 mile race and they're like you're crazy

Randi Z (39:33)
Yeah,

I should have done that because my husband just, he just like walked like silently walked out of the room. ⁓ One of those just like silent like side shuffles out of the room. I have no idea what to do. But I will say on the contrary, I called two friends.

Erika (39:41)
⁓ no, not what you were hoping for, uh-uh.

Out of frame.

Randi Z (39:58)
And I was like, okay, they're both going to tell me that I'm totally crazy. ⁓ but I called them and not only did they not say I was crazy, but they were like, they were like, can we be on your crew? And I, that was a really cool moment because here I just, kind of thought I was alone in the world, like rationally believing in myself. And those two friends, my first two phone calls, both said not only how excited they were, but that they wanted to be part of it. I was like, all right.

Erika (40:19)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (40:27)
If these people believe in me enough to like want to give up a week of their life to support me, then like maybe I can believe in myself.

Eric (40:35)
Who are these friends? They sound awesome.

Erika (40:35)
we go. I know, keep them. Keep

them forever.

Randi Z (40:38)
they are probably super regretting the day that they met me. one of my friend, ⁓ Mary Claire, she is the one who sent me the link in the first place. And she has now been my crew chief on like four ultra marathons, and counting. She has been with me for both coca donuts. and then, ⁓ my other call was to my PT.

who I had started seeing for a hamstring issue a few months before and like had started roping him into pacing me at things. And now he has been by my side for like probably over a dozen races.

Erika (41:13)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Guaranteed they are loving all of this that you're doing. They just love being a part of it. Because I would feel that way. I think I'm the crazy one out of my friend group, but I feel like I would want to be a part of that just to support you through whatever you're going through.

Randi Z (41:36)
And also

for Joe as a PT, it's like huge job security for him that I keep doing these things, you know? He's like, yes, please run 250 miles. He's like, I will feed my family. He's like, I don't need any other clients if you're going to do that. So yeah.

Erika (41:41)
I mean, there's that too, right?

Eric (41:47)
Do that every year.

Erika (41:52)
shop security.

That's great.

I mean, if Mary was the one who sent you the Cocodona thing in the first place, she is on board 100 percent. She is she will be there even if you if even if you don't have to ask, like she's just going to jump in.

Randi Z (42:06)
Totally.

Totally, and she has just, I mean, she has been by my side through this whole journey. like even, I know we'll talk about Coco Donut later, but like I got to the summit of Mount Eldon, which you hit it literally like mile 245, like at the very end, you summit this mountain and Flagstaff. And I just remember like, I called her on the phone and like, I was crying and I was like, hey, crew chief.

I made it, you know, and like, I, just like brought me right back to that, ⁓ like her sending me that link and like us just like laughing about what, what I do this. And then, you know, here I was like, summiting Eldon and calling her and it happening. And that was like, that was a cool moment. Yeah.

Erika (42:38)
you

full circle.

Eric (42:57)
Let's not wait. Let's talk about it now. You've run the Cokadona 250 the last two years and this year you had a 10-hour PR. So you, I think you already understood the assignment of Spare No Details. Let's start with year one. How did year one go?

Erika (43:06)
That's huge.

Randi Z (43:14)
Yeah, I mean, first of all, how stupid is that that you can have a 10 hour PR and still be running for four days like that? That's a long race. Okay, that is just stupid. okay, so year one, I feel like was like the year of just like, raw dogging it like if we could call it that because like,

Erika (43:21)
⁓ you

Randi Z (43:39)
I had no idea what I was doing. My friends who were crewing me had no idea what we were doing. Like we all live in New York City. think.

Erika (43:46)
So hold on, Randi. Before you

jumped into the 250, I know you had only done the 50-miler. Had you squeezed in any other races before that to try to get into the longer ultra shape? Or did you just say, fuck it, 250 it is? Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (44:01)
Yeah, I the loopy looper that

summer in August. I did the 24 hour version of it and I made it about 80 miles in the 24 hours. And so that was like my longest run that I had done when I went into Cocodona. 80 miles and 24 hours at the loopy looper. ⁓

Erika (44:10)
Okay, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

It's another data

point for you though.

Randi Z (44:28)
Yes, and then I did a few months before I ran Black Canyon. ⁓ And I did on back-to-back days, I did a 100K and then a 50K on the second to kind of simulate. But I mean, I live in the middle of New York City. I really don't get out on trails at all. I think I put on a hydration vest for the first time, like a few months before the race.

Erika (44:39)
Okay!

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (44:56)
I was, you know, weeks before the race, was learning how to navigate a GPX file on a watch. didn't know how to do that. I used hiking poles for the first time, like two weeks before the race. So that's why I say it was like the year of like raw dogging it because I had a list of skills that I needed to develop that I didn't have. And I was kind of like against the clock to try to develop those skills.

Erika (45:16)
Mmm.

Randi Z (45:22)
And my friends, you they were not familiar with the course either. So we were kind of just figuring it out together. And I think like, I think we did a really good job for a first year team figuring it out together because I ran it in about 113 hours, which is still 12 hours ahead of the cutoff. I got to finish. I did have terrible shin splints.

Erika (45:29)
Yes.

Okay.

You gotta finish, that is huge.

Randi Z (45:49)
starting around mile 170 or 180, I thought I had a broken ankle. It was so painful. I still hobbled my way for 70 more miles to through to the end. So I felt really proud of year one. ⁓ But then with year two,

Erika (45:52)
Oof.

no.

Wow.

Eric (46:10)
Is this this year

crew right here?

Randi Z (46:13)
Yes, that's my crew from year one. That's us buying, I think, like every Gatorade and Powerade that they had in the entire supermarket. I don't know why we did that. Like there are aid stations out on the course. I think I was just panicking. ⁓

Erika (46:26)
you

Eric (46:26)
Yeah. So you had

Joe, Mary, Claire, Bethany, Ben and Marco.

Randi Z (46:33)
Yes, exactly. And every single one of those beautiful humans came back for year two, which was super cool. So it meant that like, I guess they had a decent enough time with me out there that they just to run it back. They did. They did.

Eric (46:39)
man.

Right?

Erika (46:45)
They kept you alive out there. They did a good job.

Eric (46:50)
first time the four or the five of you have worked together as a crew?

Randi Z (46:56)
Yes, that was the first time it was like, yeah, mean, everyone had kind of met a little bit, but it was really the first time that we were all thrust together as a team.

Eric (47:07)
And everyone was really kind of like friends with you. They knew you one way or the other. One was your PT. One was your friend to just say, go for it craziness, maybe running partners. Like they...

Randi Z (47:16)
Yeah, my friend

Ben, my friend Ben who paced me was like a road marathoner that I ran with a lot. And we kind of were all, you know, the unifying bond was they were like, we love Randi and we want her to accomplish her dream. And that was what kind of bonded us together in year one. You know, it got dark at the end when I got injured. I think I cried for the entire

Eric (47:37)
Yeah.

Randi Z (47:45)
final two days of the race, like just cry like I would be like behind my pacer just whimpering like a sad puppy like just in pain. ⁓ but there was no quit in me. Like there was not it never once crossed my mind that I wasn't going to get to that finish line.

Erika (47:47)
⁓

Eric (47:54)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (47:59)
Mmm.

I am so proud of you for that because that kind of

pain and being awake for that long, just that much stress on your body, you get in a dark place. The fact that quitting did not even come to terms, I'm so proud of you. That's huge.

Randi Z (48:13)
Yeah.

Eric (48:18)
This is awesome

Randi Z (48:18)
Thank

you. Thanks.

Eric (48:19)
because we saw the picture at the grocery store and now here's everyone at the finish line.

Randi Z (48:24)
Yeah. And that was a really, like a really special moment. That's Joe, my PT and that's Ben, who came back as my lead pacer this year and Mary Claire. Yeah. yes. mean, so that's Bethany who was pregnant and couldn't do the 50 miler with me, but now, you know, has paced me through two coca donuts. So I feel like ⁓

Erika (48:36)
I love the cactus headband.

Eric (48:37)
Yeah.

Erika (48:49)
There we go.

Randi Z (48:52)
You know, we've also like, we've been on kind of a life journey together, a lot of us, which is really nice.

Eric (48:55)
Yeah.

Now did your parents show up to the finish line? Because you said they've been at many finish lines. Were they here?

Randi Z (49:03)
Yes, my parents

were there and like my mom got the first hug after I crossed through the finish line. And that was, that was really special to see her. Cause I feel like you just get stripped raw to your core when you're doing these long distances. I literally had a moment that first year that all I could think about was I want my mommy. Like that was literally all I can think. Like I was out on the course.

Erika (49:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eric (49:29)
⁓

Randi Z (49:32)
I was doing a solo like 14 mile section and literally the only thought in my mind was I want my mommy. Like I was like a toddler who like wanted the comfort of mom. And like I called her and I was just like, I was like, mom, I just want to hear your voice. Cause you just, yeah, it just like cuts you down to like the core of your soul. And ⁓ so it's, that's been really special.

Eric (49:42)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (49:44)
I feel that.

you

Randi Z (50:01)
for me to have her at both finish lines.

Erika (50:02)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (50:04)
must be so cool. Like just to see, they've seen you do all those marathons from the one at 22 years old in Chicago to today, like the progression of time and the craziness we all have, or I should say the two of you have to do these ultras. ⁓ it's so cool. So that was year one. Lots of lessons learned. Raw

Randi Z (50:17)
Yeah.

year one

like Boston, after having like the bonk at Boston, like I crossed that finish line. I was like, I have unfinished business with this course, right? Like I'm going to return to this course. So I kind of felt that way with Cocadona too. was like, I was like, okay, I'm really proud of this finish. But now that I know what's going on out there, I think I could do a lot better. And so all I could think about was like,

Erika (50:33)
you

Eric (50:46)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (50:50)
mastery of the course. was all I could think about. um, within a week of crossing the finish line, I registered again for 2026, Coca-Dona. I, exactly. I told the team, I told the team and everyone was like, all right, well, if you're doing it, we're doing it. Like we're all running it back together. And I think one of the coolest things for me to see was like, as I was up leveling myself as an athlete, like

Eric (51:01)
Well, you gotta get the early bird deal too. Yeah.

Erika (51:04)
You

Randi Z (51:18)
My crew also was super up leveling themselves because they came in familiar with the course, understanding now how to crew someone through a multi day. like, like it, I felt proud seeing them like up level and take it so much more seriously themselves. And we, mean, we made so many little tweaks this year. So I went into this year and I was like, I think I could come close to a hundred hours.

Erika (51:29)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (51:46)
Like, I think that that's my goal. I think I can do it. ⁓

Eric (51:49)
Well hold on one second.

Did your husband walk away again?

Randi Z (51:54)
Yeah. first of all, okay. First year, okay. The first year he like, Jamil who's the founder of Aerovipa, like came over to congratulate me at the finish line. And my husband like, wouldn't even shake his hand. He just turned around because he was like, he's like, my, like, you're responsible for my wife, like almost dying and me never seeing her for a year. Like he like literally wouldn't even shake his hand. This year.

Erika (52:21)
you

Randi Z (52:23)
He gave him a hug. So I feel like it's a big emotional progression in showing how my husband has come around to this lunacy. ⁓ And ⁓ he's like, okay, I've accepted that this is what we're doing. Yeah.

Erika (52:24)
There we go.

Eric (52:31)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (52:32)
you

Eric (52:38)
Yeah. I like that. Nice turnaround. And while you share

Erika (52:39)
you

Jamil's fault. He

Eric (52:42)
the story, I'm going to cycle through the photos again.

Erika (52:44)
just puts on the show.

Randi Z (52:45)
I would know.

Yeah, you know, the other week I was before I went out to Cocodona the second time I turned to my husband, I was like, I am so sorry about this midlife crisis. I'm in like, I'm so sorry about it. And he's like, you know what, I'll hand it to you. You have full committed like you went full send on this midlife crisis. He's like, most people like don't commit that much to anything. So at least you like went all in on it.

Erika (53:13)
tell

you, it's not a midlife crisis. It's a passion when you're just like, yes, this is what I like to do. I'm going to keep doing it. Sorry if people think I'm weird.

Randi Z (53:20)
Totally. Yeah,

totally. ⁓ So yeah, year two, I feel like I approached it so differently. Year one, I was like a mom with something to prove, right? I was like, I just want to prove that I can get to that finish line. And I feel like year two, I really like came in as an athlete. And that felt kind of cool. I...

felt I was like, I feel like I like deserve to be on the start line. I feel like I know what I'm doing. I feel calm and knowledgeable about the course. And that was, ⁓ it was really neat because year one, I didn't even know if I could get to the finish line, but to show up year two with the data points already in my head, like your, the don't a finisher that kind of, it kind of like took the doubt out of my brain and let me be able to just.

Erika (54:05)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (54:12)
focus on executing.

Erika (54:14)
There we go. Yeah, you went to the start line this time as a veteran. Like you had the skill, you had a whole plan behind you. So after the first one, how long did it take you to get your injury resolved? And what else did you do in between to lead up to Cocodona the second time?

Randi Z (54:34)
Yeah,

you know, it took me probably a few weeks after to really feel like myself again. The weirdest thing I remember, it was the brain fog. ⁓ I had to go get an x-ray to make sure it wasn't actually a stress fracture in my ankle. And I couldn't fill out the paperwork with like basic questions about my name and my birthday. Like I just I had to like call my husband and ask him like what my birthday was.

Erika (55:02)
feel like that's

something we don't talk about enough. Like, yes, you can get some physical injuries, but the amount, like the tiredness that takes a toll on your body, it takes a long time to get over.

Randi Z (55:09)
Yes, totally.

Yeah. And then the other thing I remember that happened to me that year that also happened to me this year is I would wake up multiple times in the middle of the night, like thinking that I had to get up and run. And that was it was almost like a trauma, like a PTSD. I would like for about five or six nights after the race ended, I would sit up just bolt upright multiple times at night.

Erika (55:18)
Mm-hmm.

⁓ no. ⁓

Randi Z (55:38)
thinking like, I don't want to run. And then my husband would be like, hey, you're done with the race. You're in your bed. Like, no one's making you run. Yeah, it's wild how being that sleep deprived and pushing your body actually registers as a trauma response in your body. And that was something that I was not prepared for on year one. I was more prepared. I knew it would happen this year, so I was more prepared for it.

Erika (55:41)
you

You're just, you're safe now.

Randi Z (56:06)
That really surprised me after year one.

Erika (56:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eric (56:11)
I wanted to ask actually about sleeping. Like we just, a friend of ours just did the Arizona monster 300 and sleeping, it's a big deal. Like how much sleep did you get? Did you sleep on the ground? Were you able to sleep in the van? What was the sleeping game plan versus year one? Like what did you learn from year one to year two? Because 10 hour PR, I mean, did you just not sleep as much or what do you do?

Erika (56:12)
you

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (56:33)
Yeah.

I sleep was a big area we cut down on to save time. don't think I overslept on year one, but I slept, I started sleeping too early in the race. So ⁓ year one, took...

Erika (56:49)
⁓

Randi Z (56:54)
⁓ like a pretty long sleep at miles 76, which is, called whiskey row. It's the first time that you can see your crew. have to go the first, ⁓ 76 alone. And so I took a two hour sleep at whiskey row because I had gone for like 27 hours at that point. This year, I decided that I was not going to even attempt to sleep until mile 96. Like I was just going to power through to 96 and.

Erika (57:13)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Randi Z (57:24)
I, what I would do at that point is I was, I would lie down and if I couldn't immediately fall asleep, I was going to get up and power on. And so I didn't actually sleep this time around until the halfway point at mile 125. And then at that point I slept for 90 minutes and then went back out. So, you know, by that point, I had already saved hours on the race of like just cutting down on sleep and I was going faster.

Erika (57:37)
Wow.

Yeah.

Randi Z (57:52)
the near one. So I think by the halfway point of the race, I was already like five or six hours ahead of my time. So that made a huge difference. Now, it did mean that the lack of sleep, I knew it was going to catch up to me sooner because I had been pushing, but ⁓ I just really wanted to try to get as many miles as I could get in by day three, because I know that that's the day that the sleep deprivation really kicks in. So I was like, can I

Erika (57:58)
There we go.

Bye.

Randi Z (58:22)
Can I just really push on days one and two? So that when it kicks in, I'm like past the halfway point of the race. ⁓ so that I think was a big strategic difference that I made from, from year one to two. I did sleep in the dirt this year for the first time. I didn't do that last year. I was too, too like nervous last year. This year. Like I really got tired on day four and I took a five minute dirt nap.

Erika (58:47)
you

Randi Z (58:52)
I got up, I felt great. I then tried again to sleep on the concrete, of like a concrete section. And ⁓ Bethany, who was pacing me, she was like, I cannot actually let you lie down on concrete. And I was like,

Erika (59:07)
you

Randi Z (59:08)
I bet I can, I bet I can do it. do you want to watch me? I bet I can sleep on concrete right now. We're at mile 230 and she's like, no, I'm under strict orders to deliver you to the van. Like shut up, shut up and keep going. Like we are not lying down on concrete. So I, ⁓ I tried, I tried really hard, but yeah, one, one's are not this year.

Erika (59:18)
you

you

Well, I'm sure

once you made it to that next point, you got to at least lay down or sit in a chair or do something a little more comfortable than concrete.

Randi Z (59:42)
Good. So that

was the final Pacer section before I hit the very end of the race. So this year, ⁓ new special fun, the final Mount Eldon mountain climb, which is the final 20 miles of the race was Pacer-less this year. So you get to mile 230 and you summit this like gigantic mountain that has snow on the top and you have to do it totally alone.

Erika (59:46)
Mm-hmm.

boy.

Randi Z (1:00:12)
And so

the wheels were coming off the bus hot by then because now I'm on ⁓ night four going into day five and just completely exhausted, like literally begging to sleep on concrete. ⁓ my team, we kind of had to make a strategic decision because they didn't want me climbing or descending the mountain in dark. So we had to really be a little strategic.

Erika (1:00:22)
Yup.

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:00:41)
They did let me sleep right before that section. I took a two hour sleep, which is my longest sleep by far of the course. think I had about...

Eric (1:00:47)
You'll hit

REM cycle a couple times there.

Erika (1:00:50)
That's

what I was thinking.

Randi Z (1:00:51)
⁓

I woke up, I felt amazing. I slept for 12 hours and because of that, I was able to get right out at sunrise and ⁓ then I was able to kind of get off the mountain by the time peak heat was starting. So that was like a really good strategic move. I think that Bethany dragged me to the van and didn't let me sleep on the concrete and then I was able to take like a pretty good

Erika (1:00:55)
You

Right.

Randi Z (1:01:20)
significant rest before the end. I think, you know, we tried to have as good a strategy as we could, you know, of course I look back on the race and I'm like, I could have saved 10 minutes here and 10 there, but like, I really think I delivered like to be almost to the best of my ability this year.

Erika (1:01:22)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

10-hour PR. That is huge.

Randi Z (1:01:41)
It felt really awesome and I did get to do almost every section in the reverse time of day as the year before because it was lit. I got like almost a totally new experience for the race.

Erika (1:01:50)
Okay, that's a different experience.

Eric (1:01:51)
yeah.

Erika (1:01:57)
So I saw a post from you that said, because you were so much faster this year, that it was kind of a little bit lonelier on the course because it was just not coinciding with where like the front of the pack was way ahead. You were faster than the middle of the pack. So how did that impact your race?

Randi Z (1:02:14)
Yeah, it was pretty wild because last year when I ran it in 113 hours, I was like right smack in the middle pack of the race with like a ton of runners. So even the sections that I was alone, I was never alone. Like I was always surrounded by people. I made friends. I talked to people. Like I have people that I'm still in touch with. And, um, I felt like, you know,

Erika (1:02:21)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:02:36)
in sections where I needed a little motivation, I always saw like 15 people in front of me that I could like try to pick off or, you know, things like that. This year, I was literally alone from like hour three of the course, like literally just totally by myself for like 103 hours because the front pack took off. I was not fast enough to keep up with them.

Erika (1:02:43)
Right, right.

wow. ⁓

Randi Z (1:03:03)
but my fitness had improved. I was ahead of that middle pack that I ran with the year before. was, there would be stretches that I was alone for seven hours. And I would forget that I was in a race because I would think that I was like just taking myself on a long trail run. And I would start to say things like, okay, like Randi, when you get in the race, you should do this differently. And then I'd be like, no, wait.

Erika (1:03:08)
Mm-hmm.

That's so crazy.

Randi Z (1:03:30)
You are in the race. just don't see any other humans. So at one point when I got super delirious at like mile 200, I made up a whole backstory about why I was seeing nobody. So I was like, I was like, there's only two possible conclusions. Conclusion one is that everyone is Ubering to every eight and I'm only one stupid enough to actually be running. I was like, so that's conclusion one. was like, conclusion two.

is that fire roads make people invisible. And I was like, I'm actually surrounded by other runners right now. This road is packed, but the fire road is making everyone invisible. And I spent hours concocting this backstory about the fire roads and the invisibility powers of them.

Erika (1:04:06)
There's some sorcery going on here.

Randi Z (1:04:22)
Like I came into the crew station hot, tell, I was so excited to tell my crew about this and they're just like, ⁓ sure. Why don't we lie down? Like, no, no one's, you're, you're, you're, you're super not invisible. Like, ⁓ so anyway, though, I spent like hours coming up with a, that whole backstory.

Erika (1:04:35)
NAPTIME!

Randi, where'd you go?

Randi Z (1:04:52)
Hahaha!

Eric (1:04:53)
I'm

going to go through photos again like last time and you can just briefly talk about I'm going to try to go and order the race. So I think this is day one. This is maybe one of those times you came into the aid station here.

Randi Z (1:05:00)
This is day one.

Erika (1:05:03)
You're smiling. That's good.

Randi Z (1:05:03)
Yeah, so I was coming into Crown King and I was super happy because that first 37 miles of the race is grueling. It is straight uphill. mean, like just for context, like the entire Boston Marathon has about 700 feet of elevation. And this had that almost like per every mile, like had, like every mile of that climb has like

Erika (1:05:26)
⁓

Randi Z (1:05:30)
400 to 700 feet of elevation and there's no shade cover. So you're just like baking in the sun and just like a grueling, it took me 10 hours to get to Crown thing. So yeah, that's why you're seeing the biggest stupid smile because I was like, I survived the climb and I was like, I see my friends and I think there was like a barbecue chicken sandwich in my future. ⁓ So I was like super happy about that.

Erika (1:05:33)
That's rough.

Mm-hmm.

Ooh!

Eric (1:06:00)
There's the sandwich. What were some of the foods that worked for you? Or that don't work for you?

Randi Z (1:06:00)
⁓

Yeah,

it's interesting. I, like, I, I start, mean, the feeling was really good the first two days, and then just like, everything just went to shit at the end. I, especially by day three, you've climbed to pretty high altitude at Sedona. So I was, I was getting altitude sickness on top of being exhausted.

Erika (1:06:22)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:06:26)
I was able to put down some good food when I got to the aid stations and stopped. But when I was running, it was like liquid calories only. Like I drink a lot of juice and like Coca-Cola, like whatever, like whatever I could get down in liquid was basically it while I was moving on.

Erika (1:06:36)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, some kind of

sugar, anything to just kind of give you a little boost. get that.

Randi Z (1:06:47)
Yeah, was able to

do like those applesauce pouches and things like that. But that was about it. But I think, you know, the other thing that made me happy is after you leave Crown King, you have 40 solo miles until you can hit your crew again. So that meant I had to run through the whole night by myself. And I was happy because I made it to Crown King with enough time that I knew I would make it to the next aid station still in daylight. So that was like,

Erika (1:06:52)
Yeah.

you

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Randi Z (1:07:16)
thing because I was already in nighttime the year before when I did it. So like I that was a big boost. ⁓

Erika (1:07:26)
That's cool that you had

the experiences to kind of gauge it by. you'll be like, I already know that I'm doing so much better this year because of this. Like that, that's a huge mental boost.

Randi Z (1:07:35)
Yeah, so it like really reinforced it. And my 15 year old son actually FaceTimed me during that first night that I was alone. And he was like, Mom, I'm doing my homework. So we don't have to talk. He's like, but I just, don't really love that you're like out in the woods by yourself at night. So I'd love to just like be on the phone with you. ⁓ And that was super sweet. And then finally I was like, Hey, Ash, like I see two other runners.

Erika (1:07:44)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (1:07:56)
Yeah.

Randi Z (1:08:03)
ahead of me, so I'm just gonna like lock in with them. And then he felt like he could let me go and he could go to bed. It was super, super sweet. So I did ultimately find some other runners to like just sync up with that first night, which is nice. I, because I had like seven lights on my body and I was just singing at the top of my lungs like,

Erika (1:08:06)
Mm-hmm.

That's so sweet.

Good.

Randi Z (1:08:29)
Don't mind me! ⁓ I'm not delicious!

Erika (1:08:32)
Did you ever have any crazy

like encounter with anything while you were out there?

Randi Z (1:08:38)
The first year I did, I came on a whole pack of javelina of the wild boar, I think, and those are aggressive animals. They didn't mind me, but that was pretty scary to see. And a bobcat crossed my path actually in the middle of the night on year one. But I didn't, I did not have any scary animal encounters this year, thankfully. I saw, I saw like, I saw a scorpion. That was kind of cool. I felt like a desert.

Erika (1:08:43)
no way!

Mmm.

Yeah.

wow.

Good, good.

Ooh!

Randi Z (1:09:08)
thing to see and I saw a tiny black snake, not a rattler. ⁓

Erika (1:09:12)
you

Eric (1:09:12)
That brings me

back to like sleeping on the dirt. I couldn't do it because of the snakes and scorpions.

Randi Z (1:09:17)
Yeah, I could only take a dirt nap if my pacer was like a hawk, like watching me to make sure like nothing was crawling on me. ⁓

Erika (1:09:24)
watching you.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (1:09:28)
Yeah, that's my anxiety.

would wake up thinking like every little thing I feel like is walking on me. I'd be like, right. I couldn't do it. looked like on one of the photos you wrote on your hand right here. It said move spot tracker. Was that your hand?

Erika (1:09:33)
on you.

Randi Z (1:09:35)
Yes.

that was that was Mary Claire's hand. And it's because ⁓ the old so we switched vests for the climb. I used like this awesome ultra spire vest that I swear like you could survive in the wilderness for months of like what you could fit in that vest. But it has a little they actually I think they made it for Cocodona that vest and it has a little zip pocket that fits the spot tracker. And so

Erika (1:10:00)
you

⁓ so you had

Eric (1:10:12)
⁓

Erika (1:10:13)
to put it in like the nether vest

Randi Z (1:10:14)
Yeah, you to put it in. So

I was worried that when we switched vests, like we were going to forget that the spot tracker was like zipped into that little compartment. So I asked Mary Claire like 18 times if she was going to remember. And then she's like, fine, do you want to watch me like write it on my hand? Like, we'll ask if you feel that. But we did not forget the spot tracker. So it worked. ⁓

Erika (1:10:23)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I do.

Good, good.

Eric (1:10:39)
I saw

a pair of your Mountico shoes. How many pairs did he go through?

Erika (1:10:42)
The H1s.

Randi Z (1:10:44)
Yes, so

I went through about seven pairs of shoes. I had three different sizes because that was another learning that I had from the year before that as the race went, my feet swelled up and I wished that I had bigger size shoes. So I wear a seven and a half. had ⁓ I had the T one, the trail and the H one in seven and a half, eight and eight and a half. And then I also got to test out their

Eric (1:10:54)
swelling?

Erika (1:11:08)
Smart.

Randi Z (1:11:11)
prototype M1, their mountain shoe, which is like a cushiony trail shoe. And I wore that one on the climb on day one, ⁓ which is cool. So I went through, seven pairs of Mount to Coast shoes out there. And I think I wore every single one of them ⁓ at some point in the race. ⁓ Yeah, they were awesome. mean, unfortunately, no shoe can save your feet from being completely mangled over that distance. ⁓

Erika (1:11:13)
Ooooo

That's awesome.

Mm-hmm.

understandable.

Randi Z (1:11:39)
But my feet didn't get mangled until about like mile 200. So I think that that is like a huge win for the shoe to make it to mile 200. At mile 200 though, I think I did have like 10 blood blisters that needed to be popped and treated. And I, by that point, I had lost control of my emotions or my mental state. So I was just crying like.

Erika (1:11:48)
think so. Absolutely.

you

you

Randi Z (1:12:09)
And,

cause my Joe, my PT popped them and then put like alcohol wipes to clean them. it stung so much. was just like sobbing. Yeah. I also.

Eric (1:12:16)
that.

Yeah, that had to hurt. my God. We just talked to

a foot expert a week or two ago and we're like, all right, Erika does these ultras, her feet get destroyed. What should she do? It just seems like every option is just terrible.

Erika (1:12:34)
Like you could tape your toes all you want, but it's still going to get messed up.

Randi Z (1:12:35)
Yeah, no. mean, honestly,

I feel like I missed my opportunity to start a foot only fans because I. So I didn't realize that this is a thing that could happen. I like smashed both my big toenails descending a mountain on loose rocks. So I snapped. So the toenails like cracked and then they got blisters underneath them.

Eric (1:12:44)
we're trying to get Erika to do it. You two could team up here.

Randi Z (1:13:04)
I didn't know that can happen. then, and then those blisters got infected. So that was a thing that happened like over the course of race. And ⁓ so like that was excruciatingly painful. that it started as like a future us problem. Like we were like, that'll be a future us problem. And then it became a very like immediate us problem.

Erika (1:13:04)
Mm, I'm familiar with that.

⁓ no.

you

At that

Eric (1:13:30)
and

Erika (1:13:30)
point, did you have to get the medics to look at it or was that still a thing your crew could handle?

Randi Z (1:13:34)
Luckily, like Joe has a lot of experience with wound care. And so he was able to deal with it. But that was, mean, it was taking us longer and longer at each aid station to like deal with the sorry state that my feet were in. And it took me almost a week after the race to be able to put my feet back into sneakers again.

Erika (1:13:46)
Right, right, right.

my God. That's one thing a lot of people

don't realize is like your feet swell up so much. Like I had the proverbial like cankles after, doing like my first hundred miler and stuff. And it took days for them to even look normal again. So, ⁓ just the toll that a two 50 miler takes on them. It's incredible.

Randi Z (1:14:05)
Yes.

Totally.

Yeah, it's

pretty wild. Yeah, the swelling and ⁓ all the things that no one tells you that happens to your body after that distance.

Erika (1:14:23)
you

Eric (1:14:24)
The finish line, the vibes looked incredible. I was watching the live stream for like two or three days. I'd put it on when I was working. I would be on the couch working and I would have it on the TV. And besides some spotty, you know, wifi from time to time, it just looked like the finish line was so much fun. What were the vibes like? mean, Rachel just crushed it. I know you finished a little behind her, not that much. And then we had friends there.

Erika (1:14:49)
Hehehehe

Randi Z (1:14:49)
Yeah.

Eric (1:14:51)
that we saw like our friend Callie was in the last 90 minutes, I think, and she was running with Andy at one point and she seemed like the vibes at the finish line were epic.

Randi Z (1:15:01)
They were absolutely epic. And it's funny, was, my son called me on the course when Rachel finished and he was like, mom, like Rachel's winning it all. She's winning the whole thing. And that was like, that was so cool. Cause I was like, wow, for a 15 year old boy to feel that excited about a woman winning the whole thing is so cool. But then my next thought I was like, I still have a hundred miles to go. Rachel is finishing and I have a week.

Erika (1:15:20)
Right?

She is a

superhuman. I still, mind blown.

Randi Z (1:15:31)
I was like,

I think I literally have 100 miles left. So it was simultaneously amazing and horrifying at the same time. But yeah, the finish line was so great. And I would say that for me, the glory and the joy started from the top of Eldon, like down the mountain and then through those final miles. So I feel like the final like 10.

Erika (1:15:43)
You

Randi Z (1:15:59)
miles were like kind of all leading to the finish line. The first thing is that like there was the drone from the live stream was like following me all the way down Eldon. So I knew that like my friends and my family at home were watching me descend the mountain. And I feel like that that was pretty cool and gave me like a lot of a lot of superpower. Although I had to pee really bad and I was like, can this drone

Erika (1:16:18)
Yeah

Choppa!

Randi Z (1:16:25)
like go away for two seconds. I don't have to like pee my pants because I can't not like, like, like pull over with like a drone right there. But, ⁓ and then the final four miles kind of takes you through a park and then through downtown Flagstaff. And I remember there were all these families lined up in the park with like little girls and they were just like, can my daughters

high five you, we just want them to see like that a woman can do this distance. And I high five so many little girls in that park. And that like it almost made me emotional because I was like, like, I wish when I was eight or 10 years old that like I had seen a woman at like mild 249 finishing a race and

Erika (1:16:59)
Yes.

Right?

Randi Z (1:17:19)
Like maybe that would have changed my perspective of what I thought was possible for me to, you know, to see that with my own eyes. ⁓ And so that was, that gave me so much pep in my step at the end. ⁓ And then your team can run in the final two miles with you. And they were all in these sparkly tutus and they're like, come on, Randi, like put your tutu on. And we all ran it in together and.

Erika (1:17:28)
Right.

you

you

Randi Z (1:17:48)
I also just remember feeling at that moment, I was like, I don't have shin splints. Like I'm, I feel so good at the end of this race. Like I'm in Flagstaff and I'm running. I am not limping into the finish. Like I'm finishing strong. And that was kind of like my only dream for a year or two was to like finish strong. And that was, it was truly so cool. Like I couldn't have asked for a better finish.

Eric (1:18:13)
We got some finish line photos here. And I kind of think you and Erika are almost a match made in heaven. You got the unicorn socks on, sparkle skirt, the Mountico shoes, ⁓ the desire to do these incredible ultra races. And Erika's going for the buckles now too. She's got how many now? Seven? Seven. Not a big deal.

Erika (1:18:13)
Beautiful.

I love me a sparkle skirt. I'm telling you. I'm telling you.

Randi Z (1:18:39)
That's awesome, Erika.

Erika (1:18:41)
It's either

seven or eight, seven, seven. I think it's seven.

Randi Z (1:18:43)
That's incredible.

Eric (1:18:44)
She's

got the cloudy memory that you mentioned earlier. She can't remember now.

Randi Z (1:18:48)
Yeah, I think I

Erika (1:18:48)
⁓

The brain bug.

Randi Z (1:18:49)
only have four of them. So you're like, you're way ahead of me.

Erika (1:18:53)
Well, two of yours add up to 500 miles, so you got me there.

Eric (1:19:00)
so this is the finish line. love that you kind of get your moment. It, it felt like almost everyone got their moment to be celebrated. Not just like running by the finish line with a bunch of others. Every finisher was like their own moment. It was so cool. You're here hugging, hugging some.

Randi Z (1:19:06)
Yeah!

It was, that's my mom. Yep. That's my mom.

Erika (1:19:17)
⁓

Randi Z (1:19:18)
Yeah. She was right there at the finish line.

Eric (1:19:22)
Look, she even has

the sparkles real quick around the eyes. And I noticed you have it in your hair right now.

Randi Z (1:19:25)
Yeah

Erika (1:19:27)
you

Randi Z (1:19:29)
I do, I've glitter, I got glitter put in my hair for Cocodona, so it's still there. I don't know, I just like, I know that I see.

Eric (1:19:37)
Well you two are a match made in heaven.

Erika (1:19:39)
telling you,

sparkles help, glitter helps, unicorns help, it all helps you get through. And the more fun you have, like, it doesn't hurt.

Randi Z (1:19:46)
It does. It's like, how can

you yourself so seriously when you have like glitter hair and unicorn socks? Like, how can you like really be suffering that badly?

Erika (1:19:53)
Exactly.

Eric (1:19:57)
I not to make

this about me, but when I ran New York City last November, I even put glitter all over my beautiful shaved head. There's this group of girls

Erika (1:20:03)
He did.

Randi Z (1:20:06)
I love that, see?

Erika (1:20:07)
Hey.

Randi Z (1:20:08)
Glitter

is always a great move, but it's...

Erika (1:20:11)
It's not like you

Eric (1:20:11)
I had it.

Erika (1:20:11)
were

gonna chafe or anything on the top of your head, you're fine.

Eric (1:20:14)
Yeah, true.

this has been fun. Randi, you've been incredible. So gracious with your time, but you're not off the hook yet. We have two final questions. ask everyone the same two questions. did zero to prep you for this. So my apologies, but these two questions are brought to you by My Race Tats. So thank you to Don for My Race Tats. My Race Tats, if you don't know what they are, because I saw the glitter.

Randi Z (1:20:23)
All right, love it.

I do.

I have a bunch of them of like the motivational sayings. They're so awesome. I love that company.

Eric (1:20:42)
Yes!

Erika (1:20:43)
Aren't they great?

Eric (1:20:47)
Don is the best. He's down in South Carolina and he's been a huge part of like our success and just helping us and every time we're like, hey, we're going to an event. Can you send us some more? And we can them out. He's amazing. So he sponsors the final two questions and I'm going to go first. So I changed my question up every year. this year. It's a hot take.

Randi Z (1:21:03)
Love it. Thanks, Dawn.

Erika (1:21:07)
you

Randi Z (1:21:08)
Okay.

Eric (1:21:10)
I want to hear a hot take from Randi. This can be fun and silly, or can be serious. It can be like, pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. It could be like, who has carbon plates in a trail running shoe? Do you have any hot take?

Randi Z (1:21:24)
⁓ my gosh. Okay. I feel like I am really on the spot here, but, ⁓ okay. I guess.

I feel like my hot take is that like every food at an aid stations should be soup adjacent. Like I'm gonna say like soup like like it should be like almost soup.

but not quite. Like if you have to chew it, does not belong there. Like I'm going like oatmeal mashed potatoes. Like it has to be soup adjacent or it's like, it like why, why are we wasting our time with it? So that's my hot take.

Eric (1:21:53)
Yeah.

Erika (1:22:01)
I love this. love this. Honestly,

you know how people will put out a bowl of pretzels during a race or something? That's the last thing I want to eat because all it's going to do is dry out my mouth and then I'm going to need more liquid. I love where that went.

Randi Z (1:22:08)
Why?

Yeah, like people

just eat, they put out like the weirdest shit and I'm just like, like, yeah, that's what I kept telling my whole life team. I keep being like soup adjacent. That's all I want. Like it has to be like beige, beige and like almost soup.

Erika (1:22:23)
You stick to the ramen noodles, something salty, yep.

I'm

Eric (1:22:34)
I like that one. I like it. I don't know if I'm into the soupy stuff, but it makes a lot of sense because chewing is hard at 100 plus miles.

Erika (1:22:34)
Perfect.

Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:22:42)
Yeah,

chewing is really hard and it takes a lot of energy and I think that's, don't waste it.

Eric (1:22:48)
Yeah.

I thought after my first full Iron Man, I say first like I've done multiple, I've only done one full Iron Man, but I said I want a pizza. And I remember like not even being able to eat more than one slice because it was so hard for me to eat it, like to chew it. So you're right.

Erika (1:22:51)
Absolutely.

Randi Z (1:23:00)
yeah.

Yeah.

And like from the, from the dry air, mean, wow, that also messed me up. So like, I've never gotten a bloody nose once in my life. Never. had an eight hour long bloody nose at Cocodona and my lips like cracked and bled. And then the inside of my mouth cracked and bled. So like, yeah, how are you going to eat like a pizza when that's not what I mean? Yeah.

Erika (1:23:13)
⁓

Eric (1:23:17)
so lucky.

Erika (1:23:27)
Mm-hmm. That's the last thing you want to do is eat anything when your whole mouth is destroyed.

Eric (1:23:30)
I know. Yeah.

I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted a pizza.

Randi Z (1:23:36)
you

Eric (1:23:36)
I think it's because I tried so hard to like watch what I ate and I could eat pizza every day. I went a while without having any. It's like I want a big thick pan pizza after the race with mushrooms, sausages and pepperoni. Yeah, that pizza went to waste.

Erika (1:23:54)
you

Randi Z (1:23:55)
I know you're going to laugh because now I'm thinking like, was the big meal that I ate after Cocodona? my first meal? Clam chowder soup, soup, beige, beige soup. After four days, I'm eating soup adjacent things. I beige soup was my post-coca-dona meal. yeah, that ⁓ was.

Erika (1:24:00)
Yeah.

Super Jason!

you

If it works, why question it, right?

Eric (1:24:19)
There's an ultra,

you should do this. It's in Colt State Park in Rhode Island, and it's called Anchor Down. And in the middle of the night, this race starts at 7 p.m. by the way, but at like what, two, three in the morning, it's ramen noodle soup.

Randi Z (1:24:24)
Thank you.

I'm there. I did a 100K recently, the Desert Peak Ultra, and ⁓ at mile 50, it was a 100K, and at mile 50, they had cup of noodles. And I started to say, I didn't know that there was a Michelin star restaurant on this course. Like, I was so happy. I don't even know, I don't know what's wrong with me. Like, I just love soup so much when I'm out on the course. Like, we can unpack that at a later date.

Erika (1:25:01)
You

No need, I understand. I think that's fantastic. All right, Randi, before I get into my last question, I have just one more thing about Cocodona because I thought this was really cool and unique and I wondered if you participated. So I know from watching the live stream that they had, I think it was like the Mingus aid station. They had people playing like basketball and seeing if you could like shoot some hoops while you were at.

Randi Z (1:25:21)
Awesome.

Erika (1:25:32)
I don't even know if this was mild, like 100 or something.

Randi Z (1:25:34)
Yes,

110 on the top of the mountain. So I unfortunately did not play. If you have the photos accessible, I was dressed in a flamingo snuggie at that point. Yes, that was his last Cocodona. I was in a bad way. so yeah, my team.

Erika (1:25:38)
Did you play?

Eric (1:25:49)
Wait, this was this last Cocodona?

Are they on Instagram?

Erika (1:25:56)
you

Randi Z (1:25:58)
tried to make me happy by giving me this giant flamingo snuggie. And I just have like the most pathetic look on my face, but I'm like in this like flamingo costume. But what I will say is that my team, they let the crew compete and my team crushed it. They are ⁓ huge basketball fans and like huge Knicks fans. They were spending like the whole week following the Knicks in the playoffs. ⁓

Erika (1:26:16)
Yes!

Randi Z (1:26:25)
And ⁓ Joe and Ben in particular are like huge basketball fans. And I saw they won, I guess they'd got enough shots that they won t-shirts, like the Mingus basketball shirts. And I was like, only you guys would go to an ultra marathon and like emerge with a basketball shirt. Like who does that? It's like the Venn diagram is the two of you. who's, ⁓ that's a different kind of flamingo.

Erika (1:26:36)
Bye!

you

you

Eric (1:26:53)
⁓ yeah.

Randi Z (1:26:55)
Flamingo

yoga, but that was pretty awesome too. I went to the Bahamas and did flamingo yoga, which was a pretty awesome experience. But yeah, I did wear a giant flamingo snuggie at my 110. So that made me happy.

Erika (1:26:56)
Well, that's awesome, though.

you

Eric (1:27:13)
find this. ⁓

Erika (1:27:14)
I had to

ask, I think that's super unique. So I'll let Eric keep searching, but I'll ask my other question. So we have a Spotify playlist and we like to invite our guests to add a song to it. So is there anything that you would like to add to our playlist that maybe got you through the hard parts of Cocodona?

Randi Z (1:27:21)
WAH!

100 % and it's like the most random song. Okay, it's by Jaco and it's called Discipline and it's literally just this guy screaming, there must be discipline for like five straight minutes. like, I don't know. So it started as a joke between me and my friend. You got it, you got the flamingo snuggie. ⁓

Erika (1:27:36)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Eric (1:27:52)
Got it.

Erika (1:27:53)
there it is. ⁓

Where did you get that? Filming ghost. Okay. I love that

Eric (1:27:58)
That's awesome. Erika loves

flamingos.

Randi Z (1:28:03)
Yeah, my team surprised me with that at a dark moment, but they were off playing basketball right before they gave me the Snuggie. But yeah, so this Jocko song, what started as an inside joke with me and my 15 year old son, I played it for him. And he's like, mom, this is embarrassing. Like, why are you playing this song with this guy screaming about discipline? And then the next day he's like, Hey, can you send me a link to that song? And I was like, ⁓ is this our new favorite song? now anytime he and I do.

Erika (1:28:09)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

There we go.

Randi Z (1:28:33)
anything hard, we blast like, there must be discipline. just like, like, anytime we're going up a hill or anything. So that was my like secrets, happy song.

Erika (1:28:37)
you

Perfect addition.

Eric (1:28:48)
So Randi, it's been about two weeks. Have you signed up for the next one?

Randi Z (1:28:53)
So I did not put my name into the lottery for next year for Coca-Dona. The lottery closed today. I did not put my name. I felt a sense of peace. felt like, know, like leave a, I'm not saying never say never. I'm like, I'll probably come back to that race in the future, but I feel like, you know, leave a party when it's good. And like, I had this great PR, the race came together as well as I could have hoped. ⁓

Erika (1:29:10)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:29:22)
But I do have a few other fun adventures. pacing ⁓ my friend Joe Corcion. I'm pacing him at Badwater. ⁓ Yeah, so he's like really racing Badwater. And I'm going to pace him at that, which I'm super excited about. And then I'm going to be racing the Miami 100 in September. And that's a fun piece.

Erika (1:29:29)
Coming up in July, right?

Wow. Yeah, you got a stacked,

like a stacked fall summer, like, yeah, coming up.

Randi Z (1:29:48)
Yeah, I'm

kind of trying to focus on the 100 mile distance and actually I'm focusing on road 100, which is interesting because I feel like, you know, I love the trails. They're incredible, but I feel like I sort of forced myself into trails because I was like, that's what ultra runners do. They run on trails.

Erika (1:30:05)
Mm-hmm.

Randi Z (1:30:13)
But what I realized about myself is that like, I'm actually a road runner. Like I live in New York city. I train on road. I love road. Um, yes, I can't, I know we need to run together more in chat. So I figured this next year I'm going to give it a go at some like real road ultras. Um, and so Miami is going to be my first one. And if I like it, I might try it, try to do some others. So that's, I think that's going to be the theme.

Erika (1:30:19)
Me and you, really are like so alike.

We do, we do.

There we go.

Randi Z (1:30:41)
of 2027 for me is like the road ultra.

Erika (1:30:44)
Well, once you figure out what you're doing, I'm going to pick your brain because I, as much as I like trails, they don't like me. They're out to get me. So I usually get hurt, fall somewhere. I could fall over air. Like I trip over air. So roads are my happy place. Like even my local rail trail is paved and it's beautiful and I love it. So the roads are where I feel more comfortable.

Randi Z (1:31:00)
that.

Yeah, I mean, besides like the fire, trip roads and trails make people invisible. like, why would you want that? We already came to that conclusion.

Erika (1:31:12)
Exactly.

Eric (1:31:17)
There's

last one for me. You live in New York City. Where are some of your favorite places to run New York City? see it my sister lives in Queens and she's running all the time. Like what are some of the great like I'll say hidden hidden yeah yeah but like hidden spots like we do have some friends out there and they talk about like some amazing places to run outside of Central Park.

Erika (1:31:29)
the entire perimeter of Manhattan.

Randi Z (1:31:40)
Yeah. Okay. So obviously Central Park is like the Mecca and we are very lucky to have like the best 10 K loop, I think in the country, like right, right there. ⁓ but I will say that a few of my other favorite runs are running, ⁓ over the George Washington bridge into New Jersey. ⁓ that's, that's a really epic, a beautiful run. And when you get to the other side of the George Washington bridge, you can either choose road or trails, cause there's like a whole trail system right there. So you can pick.

either or and that's how I did a lot of my Cocodona training. Also, a lot of people don't know but starting from the Staten Island ferry, it's called the Empire ⁓ Trail and it starts at along the West Side Highway but actually continues for 400 miles to Canada that that trail. So you can actually like run like a

Erika (1:32:30)
Whoa.

Randi Z (1:32:34)
a bike path or trail system for literally 400 miles from the bottom of Manhattan. I usually will like take the train and start it at some random place and like find myself somewhere beautiful in the Hudson Valley or like, you can really just hit a lot of places very, very ⁓ close to New York City.

Erika (1:32:56)
Cool way to explore. love that. Well, you'll never get bored, that's for sure.

Randi Z (1:32:59)
Yeah,

I know. will say, so Eric, to your Ironman point, my husband and my son are big triathletes. And my husband's done a bunch of half Ironman, and I have a lot of friends. And I am enough of a douche that at mile, what is the full Ironman distance? It's like 140. Yeah.

Eric (1:33:25)
140.26

Erika (1:33:25)
143?

Eric (1:33:29)
140.6

Randi Z (1:33:29)
Like at

mile like 141 of Cocodona, I stopped and took a video for my friends who have done Ironman about how embarrassing it is that they needed wheels to go that way. And then I was like, I like, I just like, don't even know if we could be friends. I'm so embarrassed for you that you like needed wheels on a bike to go this distance. Like I took time out of my Cocodona race to film that video. Like that's.

Erika (1:33:56)
Worth it.

Randi Z (1:33:57)
That's like,

yeah, I feel like super.

Eric (1:33:58)
That's pretty good. That's pretty good. However,

you did Iron Man Maine, but you did Augusta. I did Iron Man Maine Old Orchard Beach. And I don't know if you like lobster, but that was some of the best post-race food I've ever had.

Randi Z (1:34:13)
I mean, if they make it in a soup, ⁓ I'm here.

Erika (1:34:16)
Ha ha ha ha!

Eric (1:34:17)
That's true. I,

was wicked awesome, as we like to say up here in the Northeast. We're not that far from you. ⁓ New York is right now. I don't know how any marathon can top it. ran it last ⁓ November. So that was incredible. And I hope to have more of presence there as we continue to grow. But this was incredible. I need to shout out Josh because I knew I could DM you or something, but all that I did was I said, hey,

I know you're friends with Randi and she just did Cocodona. Like when things die down, you think she'll come on the podcast. 20 minutes later, you started following us and I go, I guess so.

Erika (1:34:55)
you

Randi Z (1:34:56)
Yeah,

totally. Yeah, I feel like if Josh vouches for someone, there and the two of you are just like sunshine on a screen. I don't think I've laughed this much in weeks.

Erika (1:35:04)
you

you

Eric (1:35:14)
Well, I love, I love to hear that and thank you. We have a lot of fun here and I like to say, you know, everyone who comes on, you know, our, our pod fam, as we call it, welcome to the pod fam. This poster here is our first 100 ever guest, um, that helped build the foundation, but you're part of the pod fam now. Like if someone ever walks up to you, Chad, the, um, the Clydesdale runner, he might walk up to you one day and you'll say, Hey, we're pod fam. And I love that our pod fam does that.

Erika (1:35:30)
We're gonna make another one!

Randi Z (1:35:31)
Rob, you loved it.

Yeah.

Erika (1:35:43)
you

Eric (1:35:44)
So welcome.

Randi Z (1:35:44)
I,

Alana and Erika, I hope I see you outed at a road ultra this year together. It's really so cool to chat with both of you.

Erika (1:35:49)
I hope so too.

This was awesome. I'm so glad you spent some time with us and I'm so proud of you for your accomplishments. I know you're doing awesome things and I know these, especially the Road Hundreds, you're gonna crush them. So just have a wonderful rest of your season and yeah, we'll catch up hopefully in person.

Randi Z (1:36:10)
Yes, can't wait. Thanks.

Eric (1:36:12)
guys, that was wicked awesome. I really hope you enjoyed this. Randi Zuckerberg after crushing Cocodona for the second time with that 10 hour PR. What a story about Boston, by the way. She absolutely delivered. You understood the assignment, Randi. Thank you so much for coming on the pod.

Erika (1:36:25)
you

Erika (1:36:33)
Randi, I freaking love you. You are incredible. And we just have to thank you so much for for spending so much time with us, given giving us all of your insight. And I think you're amazing. And also thank you one more time to my race tats for sponsoring our guest questions. So you're amazing. Come back. Come talk to us some more.

Eric (1:36:50)
Yeah, that was awesome.

That was so awesome. So generous. Ninety minutes of her time, really longer, because we talked to her before recording, after recording. She's in Vegas at a hotel, like took time out of her work travel to do all that. That was so much fun. Just you're right. It had a connection like a Britney Charbonneau. It really did. And she was fantastic. So it's just, you know what? Yeah, she's Randi Zuckerberg. Her brother is Mark of Facebook, but she's just like all of us.

Erika (1:36:56)
Mm.

Eric (1:37:19)
She's one of us. Like you could be, What an awesome time. Thank you. I I I want to shout out, even though he got quite a bit of few probably in the beginning, but Josh helped us set that one up. Basically, I just said, hey, Josh, do you think Randi would ever want to come on the podcast? We had a yes within five minutes.

Erika (1:37:21)
She's out there just doing cool shit.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

Eric (1:37:39)
it was awesome. Thank you to everyone.

Thank you to everyone who helps and supports us. And don't forget to follow, like, subscribe, share this podcast. We have the Patreon page, which I've been uploading some things recently a little early as these ⁓ I've gotten a little ahead on some of these 'cause when Erica takes time off I get to get ahead a little bit and it's a lot of fun. Yeah. But I might have some bad news, Erica.

Erika (1:37:56)
Mm-hmm. You're welcome. No, I'm just kidding.

What would that be?

Eric (1:38:05)
You might be a little disappointed in me. Not fully disappointed, but you might be. Listen.

Erika (1:38:11)
Probably not.

Eric (1:38:13)
There's some changes going on in our household. You know, you know, the last couple of years have been tough. Ashley works late nights. It also gives me a lot of time to work on the podcast. But, you know, when the kids with school, the boys are going to school full time next year. They'll be in the same school as Adeline. We're trying to figure out how to juggle. And finally, Ashley quit her nighttime job.

Erika (1:38:16)
Okay.

Mm.

Eric (1:38:39)
She went back to a job that she worked at before the boys were born. It was this awesome part-time job that was from three AM to nine AM. Paid really well, twenty-five hours a week. Everything over twenty-five was overtime.

Erika (1:38:49)
my gosh.

Wow.

Eric (1:38:56)
But it's Saturday mornings too.

Erika (1:39:01)
Does that mean you're out for the gallop?

Eric (1:39:04)
I think I'm out for the race, but I can show up after.

Erika (1:39:10)
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

Eric (1:39:15)
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Erika (1:39:18)
how the tables have turned.

Eric (1:39:20)
Now I could

this this is honestly it's it's amazing for us because she'll be gone early, early, early in the morning. I take the kids to school just like every day, but in s I always take Adeline. Now I'm taking all three. And then she gets to pick them up at three o'clock. It's so perfect for us. It's so perfect. And and then she will have some extended weekends.

Erika (1:39:29)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (1:39:40)
But it's gonna be awesome for our just like everything. Logistics, sleep, sleep schedule for me at least. And ⁓ actually, no, sleep might be messed an episode. Yeah, yeah. Well, she gets to go home and have time by herself at at nine a.m. till three. So she gets six hours of peace, call it. So yeah. But we have like what an episode that was with Randi. So much fun. We have so much to catch up on. I think.

Erika (1:39:46)
Mm-hmm.

Like, does Ashley get to sleep? That's the question.

Okay, that's fair. That's fair.

Eric (1:40:07)
The last week before summer, we're gonna do just like a troos only, talk about World Cup, talk about the clown show that the the Chicago marathons becoming and how you're a hypocrite because you're like you'll never run in a race where they use hoses and now you're like, I'm totally into it because it's Chicago, it's my favorite race.

Erika (1:40:16)
Yeah. ⁓

No, I

feel like I never said I wouldn't do one. That I said I wouldn't do one?

Eric (1:40:26)
I have the proof. But Erica.

Well, that you wouldn't like it.

Erika (1:40:34)
There the there's a difference there, okay.

Eric (1:40:37)
Erica, great episode. Guys, have an incredible week. We gotta go. Erica, six star, take us home.

Erika (1:40:46)
Thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you once again to my race hats. You know we love you.

Eric (1:40:51)
Don't fear the code brown.

Erika (1:40:53)
And don't forget to stretch.

Eric (1:41:48)
And then I'm going to say, Randi Randi, what's up? You're going to hear this.

And then you can be like, ⁓ that, know, thanks Josh for setting me up with these two clowns. You can say whatever you want. Are you ready?

Erika (1:42:01)
It's accurate.