We're diving deep into the world of running, marathons, and everything in between. From the highs of crossing that finish line to the lows of shin splints, we've spilled the tea on how running can change your life. Even if you aren’t a runner, you will take inspiration to push to that next finish line.
We're not just here to talk about pounding the pavement, though. We're sharing all things fitness and our mindset around our bodies, from dealing with the Instagram comparison game to finding our groove in the gym.
Jess and I get real about the mental side of things, too. Chatting about body image, motherhood, and how running has helped us tackle some of life's curveballs head-on. Including her taking on marathons after her divorce, the first one without training beforehand.
Hold my beer! I got this!
Jess is also giving us some tips for staying hydrated during those long runs and picking the perfect pair of running shoes.
So, grab your headphones and join us and be prepared to be inspired and to have a new look on running for pleasure. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or just thinking about dipping your toes into the running world, we've got something for everyone.
Connect with Sam on Instagram or TikTok
We're diving deep into the world of running, marathons, and everything in between. From the highs of crossing that finish line to the lows of shin splints, we've spilled the tea on how running can change your life. Even if you aren’t a runner, you will take inspiration to push to that next finish line.
We're not just here to talk about pounding the pavement, though. We're sharing all things fitness and our mindset around our bodies, from dealing with the Instagram comparison game to finding our groove in the gym.
Jess and I get real about the mental side of things, too. Chatting about body image, motherhood, and how running has helped us tackle some of life's curveballs head-on. Including her taking on marathons after her divorce, the first one without training beforehand.
Hold my beer! I got this!
Jess is also giving us some tips for staying hydrated during those long runs and picking the perfect pair of running shoes.
So, grab your headphones and join us and be prepared to be inspired and to have a new look on running for pleasure. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or just thinking about dipping your toes into the running world, we've got something for everyone.
Connect with Sam on Instagram or TikTok
We're going to talk about marathons today and everything in between the marathon of life. In fact, you were my trainer for a little bit. Yes.
Biggest thing was like, how do I get people out of their cage and into what's like, feels awkward and uncomfortable. And that's what you would do. Yeah. And that's why we love to go. And I say you were my favorite. Cause I knew it was going to push me, but I also was like, go to hell.
Have you ran a marathon before?
My grandmother who just recently passed away. Paid for my first marathon and I finished, it took me five hours and like 15 minutes for a full marathon, full marathon.
I'd never even ran a 5k before. Oh, what? Nothing. Like you didn't train? Nope.
I'm getting a wax. You're going to like how the story starts out. I already I'm hooked. Yeah.
So I'm getting my vaginal hair ripped out and I'm in pain. And, my wax girl, Danny, she's like, you know, you go to the gym every day, blah, blah, blah. She's like, I just signed up for a half marathon. And I'm like, Maybe it was like the endorphins from the pain. I was like, but do you run?
And she's like, no. And I'm like, I don't run either. And she's like, you should do it with us. And I'm like, I am going to do this.
Running to enjoy yourself and just like shut down and forget is. The most amazing thing.
there are so many great things that I have done in my life that were that Like hold my beer.
Watch this. Yeah. And a lot of it comes down to things are happening for me, not to me, even if they suck. And I cry my eyes out for weeks, right? You know, I'm like, there's something bigger happening here.
if you look in your circle and you're not inspired, you're in a cage that to me was like, okay, I have to stop feeling bad about everything that I've lost. And. Figure out where I'm going to pull from to survive.
That gave me chills.
All right, Jess. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks. Okay. I bet you didn't think when you woke up like a month ago, I was going to say today you were like, I'm going to do a podcast. Definitely never. Have you ever done a podcast? No. You've never been on a podcast. No.
I listened to lots. Do you, what's your favorite podcast? I mean, I'm a big caller daddy. Oh, I love call. In fact, okay. Just have to tell you, I was like, if I could be called her daddy, I would do it. A thousand percent. When you asked me to be on here, I was like, okay. I hope it's so much like that. No, I've actually, I do these things when I get like interested in something, I'll like look at the other successful people, you know, people who are like successful.
And I did a whole bunch of, I'm going to say case studying where I watched a whole bunch of episodes of call her daddy. And I was like, cause she's wildly successful. Spotify paid her like 60 million. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like, why is her podcast so successful? And I would watch it and I would think about it.
And I was like, it's because it's just so real. And it's such a fun conversation. And everyone opens up. Yeah. Like she just makes them comfortable. Or they're high. Yeah. Okay, so just, just came in, she's doing the podcast with me.
And don't worry, we're going to get to introductions here in a second, but she brought me this insane gift. Okay. I'm holding it. Can you say it? Voov. Voov. She brought me a bottle of Voov. Yes. Did you sign it? I feel like you should have signed it. I mean, I totally will. It's just my shtick that I give every successful, like, woman in my life, that I feel like everyone deserves something like this, fancy.
Do not mix it with orange juice if I see it with orange juice. It's okay. It's my favorite champagne. And just anytime someone has like a big, either brand new thing, or they're just chasing their dreams, I always. Give it to them. That's fucking cool. No, and when you brought it in, I was like, wow, I feel so special, but now I feel even more special.
Thank you. It has meaning. I didn't just bring you an office warming gift. No, that is so cool that you do that. Okay. So just give me a quick intro. Have you ever, like, how do you introduce yourself? Really? I just don't even think I'm that cool to be honest. So I'm 37 years old. Okay. I have one daughter, 10 years old.
She was so hard to get here. Hard to get here, hard to like keep here. So I kind of shifted to like mom mode and I had to quickly find ways to like still make me happy. And that's kind of like what catapulted me into fitness, which is where a lot of people know me from. Yeah. And that's like the inspo behind having you here is.
We're going to talk about marathons today and everything in between the marathon of life. In fact, you were my trainer for a little bit. Yes. Yeah. And then I decided I needed to get a big girl job and I should have kept writing workout plans, but I just ran out of time. You're right. You're a big girl job.
So now you work at an orthodontic office. I know. And I still see everyone. But I actually met you, um, at a spin studio. Yes. You were one of my favorite instructors, but I have to tell you, you weren't my favorite, favorite instructor. And you want to know why? Do you want to know why? Yes. My husband agrees with me too.
Cause remember he would go to spin too. Yes. Yeah. My favorite. Your classes were fucking hard. People tell me this all the time, but like we would go because it was challenging. So we loved it. I just can't be like, It was, I would be like, okay, we're going to this because it feels so good. But I'm like, fucking jazz, man.
Yeah. So I, yeah, that is pretty common. Most of the comments that I get about me as an instructor are, Like, your classes were so hard and, but my, the whole reason I got into this was to inspire people to change. , my biggest thing is like, there's a saying that if you look in your circle and you're not inspired, then you're in a cage.
Yeah. And so my biggest thing was like, how do I get people out of their cage and into what's like, feels awkward and uncomfortable. And that's what you would do. Yeah. And that's why we love to go. And I say you were my favorite. Cause I knew it was going to push me, but I also was like, go to hell. Yeah.
That's, I mean, that's pretty much cuss words all the time. Yeah. So I just felt super inspired to have you on and I hadn't seen you for a couple of years because we both.
Kind of, well, I stopped going to that spin studio and then I think you stopped to, well, no, we went to a different spin studio. We did. I moved with you. Yeah. Yeah. You moved with me. And then that spin studio closed and I didn't see you for a while. And then I brought my son in to get braces and you were like the, the girl, the lady, the braces lady.
And I was like, no way. It was really cool. So. I recently found out though that you're training for a marathon. Have you ran a marathon before? Yes. I've done five. I've trained for five. Okay. I did not complete my last two. Okay. I got To mile 18 in one, and it just, my body shut down on me. and then the second one, I couldn't even start.
I was having back issues. I, so like a month, maybe a couple of weeks before I decided to not even attempt it. This was all before I got heavy into fitness and I didn't know how to treat my body. And then now I treat my body much differently and I'm able to, I'm like, I got, I have, I can do this now. Okay.
So yes. Do you know when the universe is just like, here you go. They're like shoving you through the door or the window, which we just opened the window and I'm sitting here and I'm like, it'd be hilarious if a bird flew in one day. I was wondering, there is not a screen, but you might not a screen one day, one day you might have a bird, but that might be good luck.
If it's a hummingbird, you never know. That would be, I've never, I've never seen a hummingbird fly inside before. As long as it doesn't go into the window. I feel like it would be a stupid bird. Okay. So yesterday, I'm getting a wax. You're going to like how the story starts out. I already I'm hooked. Yeah.
So I'm getting my vaginal hair ripped out and I'm in pain. And, um, my wax girl, Danny, she's like, you know, you know, you like, you know, you go to the gym every day, blah, blah, blah. She's like, I just signed up for a half marathon. And I'm like, Maybe it was like the endorphins from the pain. I was like, but do you run?
And she's like, no. And I'm like, I don't run either. And she's like, you should do it with us. And I'm like, I am going to do this. So I tend to get hyper fixated though. So last night I stayed up till midnight watching tech talks on like how to start running. And then today I knew you were coming in. And then I pulled up the notes that my assistant Jen made for our call or for our call for our podcast.
And it was like, marathon, marathon, marathon. And I'm like, huh, it looks like I'm supposed to start running, but I wouldn't say that I've ever been a runner. I, I ride my Peloton. I feel like I can get some good cardio endurance, but like, can anyone run? Cause people are like, running's not for me. I mean, yeah.
So I got into running initially because I got divorced when I was seven. Like 20 years old. I got married and divorced when I was 20. You did? Yes. I didn too. I didn't know that. Yes, because I know you just got divorced, but I didn't know I did. Yes. This was your second husband. I had him on my second husband too.
Yes. . So cheers to two. So I, he always told me like, you never, you'll never be able to do that. You'll never, that's just, you'll, you're just not capable. And I got divorced, I moved to California. I came home, my grandmother who just recently passed away. Paid for my first marathon and I finished, it took me five hours and like 15 minutes for a full marathon, full marathon.
I'd never even ran a 5k before. Oh, what? Nothing. Like you didn't train? Nope. They asked me to, I mean, I trained a little, but like I was 20 and I was like, this is whatever. And in high school they like always asked me to run. I never, I hated it. I played sports all through high school, but I, it was like short.
You know, basketball, like I'm not running for fun. Yeah. And then after that I was hooked. I was like, okay, this is real life and there's just something about your body and you see all different types of people running, like not just people that look like me, I think that's, what's so inspiring about it.
That's what I love about Tik TOK too, is I'm looking at girls, the same size as me talking about the same, you know, how I feel like my body type is issues or whatever, and they're like, I just run and they're slow running. They're like, even the most romanticize it, you know, It is. So there is statistics that say, like, I, I kind of harp on my pace a little bit.
I'm like in the 0. 1 percent of pace runners and people who run my length, like the most common peaks of women who are running, they're in like 13 minute miles. Like it's it 1315. Like that is. The normal, like all of this, the influencers that are like, I'm running seven 35, like that's so unrealistic. And that's, I think what turns people off of it.
That's like a professional runner though. Right. They get paid to do it. Yeah. No, I like running to enjoy yourself and just like shut down and forget is. The most amazing thing. Well, I've always been like running is fucking stupid and I do a lot of things, you know, I'm not like sitting on the couch. No, you're busy.
Yeah. Um, I was at the gym this morning. Okay. But I'm like, okay. So. I guess I'm going to do it. Do you think I can do it a half? I'm doing a half. Okay. So from me training you, I know that you can, because I've seen you like you're hyper fixation, but also you're just like super determined. And I like, I convinced two friends to run a half marathon with me too.
She thought that it was six miles. And when we started training, I was like, nope. It's 13. I think 10 K is a six miles, right? Yeah. Yeah. And they both finished. It was the most amazing thing. And they look nothing like me. One's like short and one is maybe my same height, but has a completely different body type.
She just took it at her own pace. Yeah. And she, like, I'm pretty sure she is still involved in running and, you know. Yeah. I just, I don't know. Something about that. And Dani, who's my waxer, and I love her, but she, like, she's not fit. I just have to throw that out there. That's okay. Yeah. No, just, just. Because I was like, okay, well, if she can do it, I can do it.
Yes. And this morning I was like telling her, I'm like, I got hyperfixated last night. I watched all these Tik TOKs and I'm like, and here's, you know, my, where I'm going to start and she's like, well, I'm just, she's like, just start walking and I'm like, well, I walk a couple of miles a day, like on the treadmill and she's like, oh, well, you're not where I'm at.
She's like, I haven't worked out. So I had to just start walking. Yes. The walk method. And I was like, oh, so I really can do this then. And she's like, yeah, you just got to start. She's like, I'm just starting walking. Did you start, did you sign up for the St. George? I'm going to do this. I am not signed up, but I'm going to be, okay.
It's my favorite. And you're doing the St. George marathon, right? I'm going to do the Utah Valley in Utah Valley. That's where I grew up eight weeks. Let's see what my Garmin says. Cause you know me, I'm addicted to stats. Eight weeks, seven hours and six minutes. Right. Currently. Yeah. And then I'm hoping to roll it into that one.
So you're okay. I'll try to do two this year. I did four halves one year and I PR'd in two of them. And one was that one. The St. George half. Mm hmm. I've always been really excited when the marathons here because so many people come from all over the world and I'm like, that'd be wild to actually like, just be a part of it.
Yeah. Even the half because of where it starts and where you finish still with everyone, you're finishing with some of the most elite marathoners that there are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And just to see it, it's a Boston qualifier and people are, it's amazing. The environment is unparalleled to anything else. Well, I've come down to, well, just, you know, cross the street here from where we're at, I've come down and watched them finish before.
It's so awesome. It is. Yeah. So, so you, do you feel like I was, I got married when I was, 19.
Yeah. Divorced at 20. Had my baby at 20. My Harley. You know, she's in college now. I saw, listen, I am an avid follower of Samantha Parker on Instagram and so I, she's a fan. Right. I am like, okay, I got this. And when I see that, it's so crazy to me. Yeah. It's really cool though. It's fun. Yeah. You feel like now you have a person.
Yeah. Right. Like someone will never leave. I became best friends with my mother when I became old enough to understand. What it really meant. Well, and I do realize the mistakes my mom's made or just her trying to be a person. She was just trying to do the best that she could do. Right. And she could have done better.
I mean, I could have done better. You know, right. We all can. Exactly. And I'm like, well, how do I, I just get to move forward now and it's kind of fun. But anyways, so you're, do you feel like your divorce is what really inspired you to do a marathon? Was it kind of like a hold my beer, bitch. Watch me. Yes. A thousand percent.
It was a thousand percent. It was the most, I mean, yeah, it was glorious. I'm like, do you see me over here? I'm like, that's so awesome. I'm like, , it's, I mean, it's so petty and it's, I wish I wasn't like this, but there are so many great things that I have done in my life that were that Like hold my beer.
Watch this. Yeah. And a lot of it comes down to things are happening for me, not to me, even if they suck. And I cry my eyes out for weeks, right? You know, I'm like, there's something bigger happening here. Oh, a thousand percent. And maybe it's just a lesson as a human, like whatever, but there's always something bigger going on.
Okay. So how do you stay motivated to keep marathoning? Is that, is it a verb? Yeah. Um, um, Um, well, I would just say it took a long time to speak consistent. Like now I can honestly tell you for the last four years of my life, I have worked out consistently five to six days a week. Yeah. It just has become a part of my everyday life.
I just, you have to be willing to roll with the punches. Like, if you don't make it to your 5 30 AM class. Where else can you put it? Can you put a walk in? Can you, so once I accepted that it's not going to look the same every single day or feel the same every single day, that's how I stayed consistent and motivated and just discipline.
Yeah. You know what I've really realized in the last couple of years, I feel like I've matured a lot from different experiences, especially in the workout space. Yeah. We both roll our eyes. I'm all, that's a story for another day, but I realized that I can do it on my own terms, you know? So if you see everyone getting up at 4 30 AM and you think that's the only way it's going to work for you.
And you're like, I don't want to do that because for me, if I get up at four, I feel like shit. I figured out different places to put it. My life doesn't have to look like the 5 AM workout girl. No, it doesn't. It doesn't. And a majority of that comes from pressure to do that. And so then you get a lot of the working out to be seen, not to actually accomplish anything.
And so that's where you, when you shift your focus and make it work for you. That's when it will change into something totally different. Yeah. We're all on our cool little own journeys and all of our bodies are so unique. That's one thing I'm learning too, especially as I, I kind of feel like I have to consume so much social media content, so I have to be very aware of like what it's doing to my brain, you know, and if you see it out there, you think like, oh, I should be fasting.
Oh, I should be doing this or, oh, I should be doing that. And maybe we're talking about a marathon and you're like, fuck, I should be running. It's like, no, you get to do whatever you want. Right. Maybe it's just that you walk a 5k. I mean, what I train. Like tomorrow I have to run 19 miles, right? So I will train questions on my list.
Oh yeah. So I will train on the trails around town and there's always various five Ks coming and I love it. I love being in the mix of those races because you see so many different people. You see husbands and wives doing it together, which I love. You know, you see big, small, tall, old, there's all this old man.
That's like always walking with walking sticks. Like he's always wearing his ultra shirts. Like you can tell for years he's been doing this always on the running trails. So that's what I was like. Awesome. What we live in, it's going to get hot, but we do live in one of the most amazing outdoor trails trails for days.
I ride my bike a lot and I'm like, You can go everywhere here. Get lost. Yeah. The city's done a great job with the trail system. Very good. I know. I was like, where am I? I decided tomorrow I'm like, I'm going to go out and just see like what the running feels like.
I'm like, we're just going to, you know, I'm like, but where will I go? And I was like, you idiot, you can literally go from your house and go like to the other side of town. Yeah. I've done it on my bike. Yes, I know. That's usually as I get into the longer distance, I'll start in Washington, go to Bloomington and go back to Washington.
Yeah, I live in Bloomington now. Did you know that? Oh, hey girl. I don't know. I live on the circle. Oh my gosh. That. Okay. We talked about my dream home. That's downtown. My other place would be around the circle. Well, you, you need to come over. Let me have you over. Sometimes I joke around and I do a farm to table experience.
Okay. With my two chickens and my little, my garden. You have to come though a little bit later. Like you need, give me like two months because the grapes are coming in. Oh, okay. I never knew this about you. Well, I've always been this way, but, when we moved into our new house last year, It was like something I'd manifested.
It was just there, you know, I'm like, we have peaches and apples. And then I got a couple of chickens and I love chickens. Yeah. The chickens are fun. Many cows next. Well, probably, but you know what I really want as a duck and my husband is vetoing it so hard. Why? Cause they're nasty, but they make good eggs.
I wasn't even about the eggs. My nephew, have you met my nephew? Jamison Jamison, he likes ducks and I'm like, we need to get him a duck. My husband's like, what is wrong with you? And then I'm like, we're in the middle of expanding our chicken coop. And I'm like, it's not a big deal. I'll just get a little kiddie pond from Amazon and I'll put some water in it.
It won't be any extra work. And he's like, you're high. I'm like, always. Maybe high on weight, but we're also doing it. I get high on chickens. Okay. Okay. So what really though is your advice for just starting? And let me just go through my actual, okay. You're like, send me a bill later. Just, I wrote down here.
I was like, shoes, training, vest, stretches, goo, goo, all the go. Oh, but like, really, what is your advice to just starting? Well, not, I know you just need to go start, right? I just, I'm like, how does this look? This is my plan. Okay. Yeah. I downloaded the app that was like to train for a half marathon and immediately I could tell it assumed I could already run five minutes.
And so I'm like, no. So I'm downloaded the couch to 5k and I was like, I'll do couch to 5k and then I'll do, yes, but like, I don't know, just. This is me making it up. This is no, I love starting there from there. I always tell people like get on Pinterest and find somebody that did like a couch to that.
That's like my biggest advice. You have to have a starting place of like walk, run, walk, run. Even if you're just like run for 30 seconds, just to see what your body does. Yeah. Is the biggest thing. And then. As you are able to run longer versus the walks, you know, the running for five minutes, walking for two or whatever, that's when you can start to get a little deeper into it.
Like try not to overwhelm. If you overwhelm yourself with like shoes, vest, goo, energy beans, all the things you're going to be like, I, this is not for me. How is this most inexpensive sport now costing me a fortune every weekend? Like I literally just bought my first vest. I've been running with a running belt since I started 17 years ago.
Yeah. Well, I liked, I like water. So I liked the idea of the little backpack. Yeah. The little vest. Yeah. With a little bladder. Yeah. Yes. Because I am kind of mental. Like I, yeah, you are for real though. There's aid stations, like every two miles, but in my mind I'm like, but what if I get stuck in between the two miles and I'm super thirsty?
Yeah. That's how I would feel. I would panic. I'll finish whole races with a full thing of water that I didn't drink. Cause I drink theirs. But mentally, at least I had it. Well, I can't get in the car without my hydro jug. Like, I'm just in case. Society. What if I get thirsty? What if the water isn't from my special water tank?
Oh, I'm a water snob. Oh, me too. I have it delivered. Yeah, me too. He's the nicest guy. Yeah, where do you get yours from? The Mount Olympus guy. Oh, we get ours from the water store. Oh, is that here in town? Yeah. Okay. Someone told me about that. But you can either get just their water, which they say they filter and stuff, or you can pay an extra 2 and you get spring.
Yes. They say it's from the spring in Hildel, but I'm like, I don't know. That's what I got. Okay. I pay extra for the spring too. Do you? Yeah. I'm like, they could just be filling it up with their hose in the back. I don't know, but it's good. Yeah. So yeah. Okay. So just. I mean, what do you recommend though? So, the biggest thing I always tell people is go to the running center. It's a little bit more expensive and you, listen, just go and buy whatever shoes they tell you to buy. What can you expect to pay for like a good pair of shoes?
, the ones I currently am running in are 170. Yeah. They will last me about 400 miles. I'll probably replace them once before my race for, I'm at like in my current training plan. I'm at like 200 miles right now. So I need to start cycling another one in. That just sounded wild when you said four. Don't worry.
My first pair, I probably took free forever to replace, but now I kind of go through them, but the running center will fit you. You'll they'll have you run around. They're all professionals. Like they all get paid to run races and they do tests on all the shoes that they carry. So, you know, it's a quality product.
They'll even tie your shoes different than you never thought before. I like, I have a hill lock on mine that keeps me from. Like, falling forward, basically, or, like, It just, it adjusts the way I run so that it's more comfortable on my arches and things like that. So they will do all of that for you there.
And then once you find a shoe that you like, then you can maybe experiment with like, trying to find it on Amazon at a cheaper price. Or maybe you don't have this year's model because they are literally like cars. Yeah. Like I've noticed I was watching videos on the hook hook hook. Yes. 8. 9 still something.
And I was like, why the hell? And it's like, based on, I pronate. So like I run on the outside of my feet and so they, I have to buy shoes that bring me back neutral. So there's, oh, that's cool. Yeah. All kinds of things. And I ran in hokas for years and I just switched to on clouds, which the running center just like put their stamp of approval on, which is why I switched over rad.
Okay. And then what about stretches? One thing I know , especially when I was going over to orange and I had gotten up to like running a mile, Shins shins. The shin splints. Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. What do you do? So there's a whole sequence that you can run through, from like top to bottom really. Nothing's like I'm sitting down doing the slits, like leaning over.
It's all like dynamic stretches, like running on your toes for a little bit and then running on your heels for a little bit. And then high needs. Do you do that? Yeah. Okay. Every time I get a demonstrate, I'm just kidding. Later in the parking lot. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it looks awkward, like opening up your hips, everything.
And then there are a few things like crossing behind to help your it band so that that can help with your shin splints and things like that. Some people are just prone to shin splints. Yeah. So you got to do everything you can prior to running, or you're just going to shoot yourself in the foot, basically.
Okay. Looking forward to this. My husband's already completely turned me down to join. Really? Yeah. I don't just, they don't want to run outside of what they currently do. He doesn't run at all. I don't. Let me just tell you this. Jake is on his own little journey right now and I've had to take a step back.
He came home from Afghanistan. So fit. That like, I had to go buy him new pants because his thighs were so like thick. I mean, I was like, did you take like drugs? Like he was fucking ripped and now he's like probably gained like 50 pounds completely, but I've noticed, and this is Jake's awesome. Like he's just going through his own little journey.
, he's trying to figure out like what feels good to him. He just retired from the army a few days ago. I can tell he's on like a little mental roller coaster. And so I'm just, I had to step back. You know? Mm-Hmm. . And I'm like, he's on his own little journey, but I was like, oh, maybe he will take up rent. No.
I'm like, okay. And he is like, but we'll make signs and we'll put glitter on him. , okay. Yeah. I'm here for it. Yeah. So whenever, you know, he's just gonna have to do his own thing. Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. My brother is in the Marines and he's been trying to retire four years. Mm-Hmm. . And he's now in Germany. Yeah. He just had a baby like two months ago and he's in Germany now.
You wanna hear something wild? He put in his retirement packet. And then they pulled his name, like, I want to say it was like six weeks ago for deployment, but they had already approved the packet. They just hadn't put the date on it. So they couldn't pull him. So it was like this little, like, Oh, it gives me the cold chills to think about.
I know he's been gone. Jake has been gone more since I've known you than I think, because he's been gone twice since I've known you, I think. Yeah. And you know, maybe. Because he left right after we did that 4th of July ride that one time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this sudden that's the most recent one, right?
Yeah. And I think I got really connected to the people too. Like you were really instrumental. Like I was meeting you to train and work out while he was gone. And so I just want to say thank you for that too. Like, I don't think people knew like how much Oh, look, I have feelings. Did you see that? I was like, everyone take note.
You do have feelings, I'm so proud of you. Let's see if we can get some out of me. It just meant a lot to me and you might not have realized it, you know, but just having you like, even just to text me, like, and we were just doing fitness stuff. Like you probably didn't realize like how much just having some.
So thank you for that. You're welcome. Yeah. My little support team and you probably didn't know it. Thanks. I will. I appreciate that. So just even letting me in because I, I know you, I mean, I feel like I know parts of you and so like I felt honored that I could like be in your circle. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah. So thank you. You're welcome. You're amazing. Okay. Okay. So do you. This is actually how I finished college, when I was. I finished college when I was 30 and I had to do it with two kids working full time. But I would imagine myself walking to the mailbox to get my diploma and I would start crying because I knew they were going to mail it because I finished the rest of it online.
Uh huh. Do you like imagine yourself crossing the finish line or like, I get those moments. Yeah. I get pretty emotional at the end of the race. So, but there, so it's weird. It's so weird. This, it goes back to being, being mental. I, yeah, I'm seriously mental. Yeah. I, there's nothing about like the balloon arch at the end of the marathon that inspires me.
Yeah. Like you see people pick up the pace at the end. Not me. I will walk across it. I don't know what it is about it. Like I get more amped at like the middle of it. I don't know. But,, I do get emotional towards the end when you start to see the people and they're cheering for you. And even more so when you see people, you know, like as a fitness instructor, there's been times where I ran down diagonal during this specific race and they'll stop me and say, Jessica, like, We love you, you know, and those are people you've inspired, not even in this environment.
And then when you see your family, that's like a whole other ballgame. And they say like, you have got to stop at the finish line. Like I always stopped to kiss my daughter. Every single time. Are you still crying? It's tearing me up. I was like, that's beautiful, Jess. Yeah. It's that's, that's like my number one is almost every marathon picture I have or half marathon.
I'm like holding my daughter and you can see her growing up through all of this. Wow. And it's been, it's incredible to do. Do you feel like it inspires her, you know, in a. Cause I don't, well, I grew up in the fat free era, you know, which ruined all of our metabolisms. , and I think of my mom, like I always saw her, like, we can't eat that, or we were eating the, you know, Oh, but we made it with fat free Coolip.
You know what I'm saying? Right. So I feel like I got like, probably more negative. I think we all did in 90s were really bad. They were really bad. And I feel like we're just starting to come out of that. But do you feel like this gives your daughter like a positive body image or do you feel like it's like, I don't know.
Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. I don't. I like she's done girls on the run, which is a cool organization. They are super cool. Yeah. I mean, it's probably one of the most amazing organizations I think that we have for young girls in this community. She did it. She ran her first 5k and it took like 46 minutes and I, I cried so hard when we ran across the finish line and got these tiny little like medals.
I was like, Oh my gosh, my daughter just ran. She has no desire to run again. Yeah. She was like, okay, done it. We're good. But she had to do it for 10 weeks after school, twice a week. And she committed and she did it as a nine year old. I was like, this rocks. Yeah. But now she just kind of like finds her own.
Path. And I know she's a girl and things are getting, I like had to go through her phone the other day and look through text messages. And there was like one friend that's like, I'm at the gym. And then another friend that's like, why are you at the gym? We're 10 years old. And my little Amy, like she's an a only child.
So I feel like she's a little naive. Yeah. Like massively. And so it's kind of like, it's bittersweet because I think maybe sometimes people are mean to her, but I don't think she knows. Yeah. So I don't know. We haven't really crossed that like body image thing yet. And I don't, I don't discuss food with her.
I also don't discuss food like about myself or like I, we just eat what we want to eat. Yeah. Yeah. I'm lucky enough to be able to do it. I'm maybe one day people keep saying like, wait till you're 30. You're not going to be able to do that. Wait till you're 35. You're not going to be able to do that. Well, I'm 37 and I still fucking eat everything I want.
No, I, I've been working with a health coach and then it's not moving and I'm doing all the things and it was initially, and it's been great though. She's great. But so I have an appointment now to get my laps drawn and stuff, because there's definitely something like off. I gained 30 pounds in like a few, like six months.
Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, Whoa. So then I was like, you got to really get on top of yourself. Then I got on top of myself and I'm like, Oh, but I don't think it's a wait until you, it's just. It's 20, 30, 40, 50. It's not that. No. And I would say that, like, I say that I eat whatever I want, but that just has come from, and I think I told you this when we trained together, like that had just came from years of me just listening to my body.
And so now my body doesn't like, but it will crave hamburgers and like what French fries or whatever. It will crave those, but it doesn't crave hamburgers. All the time. Yeah. I feed my body good things. And so I just listened to it and do what it says. That's intuitive eating and it works. It took, it took a long time.
I think like, if you look at pictures of me in my twenties and pictures of me now, like, thank the good Lord. I glowed up. I always look back and I glowed up. I should show you. I should whip out some photos from, Oh my God. I had the John and Kate plus eight haircut when I was like 25, when I gave birth to Kaden and I had it like, you know, the big thick streaks with the dark brown.
Yeah. The like skunk stripes. I had it like, I know my hair is really short right now. I just got it cut yesterday, but I love it. I like it. But I had that stacked Bob, you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Yeah, and when I get my hair cut, I'm like, listen, we are not getting a middle aged mom, John and Kate plus eight, Bob.
And she's like, no, this is like a modern like shag. Yes. And I'm like, just stay away from that. Okay. I had it though. Like the full. I think I did it too. When we were, when I was training you, I chopped all my hair off. Didn't I? Did you? You didn't do the barely growing up to the John and Kate. No, no, no. I did like a shag like you.
Yeah. I love it though. I've never felt so good. I was like, Oh, freedom. It is awesome. I know. And everyone's like, wow, you cut your hair. And I'm like, you should cut, like, if you want to do it, fucking do it. It feels so good. I know it does. Okay. Anyways. Okay. So how do you kind of celebrate milestones or how do you recognize milestones?
Cause I do think we're going to have an up and up and Ups and downs. Uhhuh. Like sometimes I go to the gym, you know, I love when I'm ovulating, I can tell because I'm at the gym and I'm like, listen you 75 pound weights. I'm like, . Yeah. And then today I am like 10 pounds. I'm all, eh, eh. Yeah. Yeah. That just goes back to, I think, like listening to your body.
So, like just no day is gonna be the same, especially as a woman. , like you're going to have the most amazing days and then you're going to have some really that's what I'm saying. Cause you're pumped full of estrogen. And so how to deal with them is just like, you also just have to tell yourself like not everyone's doing this.
That's that's literally that one sentence. Like not everyone's doing this. I am. Yeah. And that gets you through like, okay, I went, I did it. Cool. Yeah. I know a big stumbling block for a lot of people can be, where do I find the time? Where do you find the time to take care of myself? I hate it. I hate, I hate that excuse.
I know I shouldn't say it out loud and I'll get crucified for it, but I hate it. Yeah. Well, I've learned the more that, I mean, just the field I'm in and the, you know, mindset and you've got to be driven. I've learned that it's just either a priority, that's a big word. It's either a priority to me or it's not.
Yeah, for sure. I think. You just have to take a step back and look at what can you sacrifice? Cause you are going to sacrifice for a little bit. And then where, when can you pick it back up? Like have a timeline for it. You know what I'm saying? Like you, you can't say like, I'm going to train for this marathon.
I know this is going to take X amount of hours away from my family each week. Where am I going to put that back in? Like, not like, Where am I going to be able to go to dinner with my girls? Where am I going to, you, like, you have to prioritize like, okay, if I want to do this, something is going to lack and you have to be okay with it, but where can you put it back in like a couple months from now, or, you know, like, do you just have to make that effort really?
I mean, I sleep like six to seven hours a night. And, but I go to bed at freaking eight 30. That's the best. I wake up at three 50 in the morning and I go to bed at eight 30 every night. Three 50. Yeah. Do you know that's not morning? Is it still night? Yeah. Anything before five? I'm like, that's not morning.
It's like in any other town, the bars are closing at like two, people are still figuring out how to get home. And my alarm's going off. Won't come for you.
It's okay. Three. Okay. Three 50. Yeah. Okay. Walk me through your morning. So I get up, I just get to the gym. I lift. What gym are you going to? Performance 24 seven. It's like two blocks away from my house. Yeah. I was just wondering what gym was open that early. You're like, oh, that's open 24 hours. No, I'm, I was a big class girl for many, many years.
Like, I love the idea of like, I feel like that's the So that's what took me being disciplined is like having a class that I paid for every single month that I knew I had to be, that was my accountability. Yeah. Now I didn't miss the class either. Cause then I got charged. We were going to the same class.
Now I have the discipline to go to the gym. I don't need someone yelling at me anymore. Yeah. So I go almost every day. Yeah. And it, I still like popping into classes, but this gym is literally two blocks from my house and I'm saving so much money in gas. Yeah. But I'm like, this is awesome. And then, so I lift first and then on my run days, I run on the treadmill after.
If I have to run a lot of miles, then I'll split my run up, I'll run some miles after I lift and then I'll run after work. So Are you always running on the treadmill? Like, or do you just, you should go out and run on the streets, right? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Streets. But yeah, if you see me going down the boulevard, just said to note, listen, I used to, when I worked for a more lenient boss where like, I wore gym clothes to work pretty much, this was when, after I first had Amy, like you would see me running down like 700 south to bluff street, to the boulevard, like, and back to my office.
That was just, that's where I had time to do it was on my lunch break. I had a brand new baby. I didn't have the choice to do it in the morning before I left for work or when I got home. So I did it on my lunch break. Yeah. Now I get up that early because I'm a single mom and that's, I have a little more responsibilities in the morning before I also get to work.
So that's just the time I have. Okay. So three 50, are you at the gym at what? Four. So somehow or another, you miraculously wake up in a dress in 10 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, usually it's like totally in the dark and sometimes I'm like, I'm sure there's straps of my bra, like totally messed up. Or I think I've gone to the gym once with my Lulu lemons, like on inside out.
We've all done that. Yeah. I mean, and I finally like, I think I like looked down and like the crotch pad part was like, I was like, Oh, okay, perfect. That's fine. You know, no one knew. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, like there's like five other dudes at the gym at the same time as me. So it's fine. Yeah. Maybe I should get up earlier.
I always feel like I'm fighting the gym bros, like to get a bench. Yeah. So I used to go at five and then it was like, it just, I hate fighting for things or like, I don't want someone in my space, like huffing and puffing or even next to me, like, I can't stand when I get here. I'm breathing through my AirPods.
Yeah. Right. How dare you breathe? Yeah. Right. I know. I know. I'm like. Cool, bro. Got it. Let me, I'm going to be over here with my 20 pound pull down and like, can you please be quiet? So, so 4am is where it's at because then I can just use whatever machine I want. I literally like take dumbbells all across the gym just because I can.
That's cool. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay. So what time do you get home? I usually try to be home between 5 and 5 30. So if it's a run day I'm like 5 30 if it's a non run day, then I'm home by 5 you just get up and get it done. Yeah I have to tell you, this is where I can tell I'm lacking. So I used to be very strict with myself in the mornings.
And sometimes I'll lay in bed for like 45 minutes to an hour. What the fuck am I doing? Uh, listen, I don't think that's a bad thing. Cause there are days I go home from the gym and I get back into bed until it's time for Amy to get up. Yeah. Like it just. I, if I don't have to wash my hair and like, I can throw on some makeup before I go to work.
Like how many times have you been to the orthodontist and you see me with a ponytail and I just put a bow in it and looks like I got ready for the day. I've actually never noticed what you look like, like you're wearing scrubs and I think nothing of it. Exactly. See, I just blend in. So when I realized that, when I took less away from like looking like this, then I'm like, okay, I can sneak in a little.
Nap if I have time and I do, and then I get up and have some breakfast and get ready for the day. Are there days though, when you're like my body does not feel good? Like, how do you honor that and not pushing yourself to burnout? Last week was a big one for me. I like have just like my bones ached. It wasn't my muscles.
Oh, that happens. Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. It was like, Am I getting sick? Am I not getting sick? And so from the marathon where I could not run it because of what I did to my body, I've learned, like I listened to it. And so I know where I'm at in my running journey right now that like the miles I can miss some days, everyone can miss some days because if you're doing more damage than good, if you're not.
And so, yeah, I'm pretty good at listening. Like last week, my hips hurt. It just, the bone, my bones hurt and I took from Thursday to my first run was Tuesday. I think that's becoming very self aware though, so you have to be so self aware though that when you're using it as an excuse or if you're like, all right, body, I got you.
Yeah. Yeah. But that will come with, uh, just the consistency again, you know, like you're only going to use the excuses for so long until. It just goes away, you know, like there are like times where it's like, it's a Monday morning and maybe I had too much wine on a Sunday. I love Sunday funding. Oh my gosh.
Me too. But like, girl, I'm like, why can I not figure out drinking on Saturday? But by the time I'm done running on Saturday, like, You don't want to, it's not such a fun day anymore. No, I'm just kidding. It's great. But, um, then I get these Sundays and it's always nice on Sunday and the sun is shining and I'm like, yes, I'm going to drink so much Chardonnay.
And then I wake up on Mondays. I'm like, this is going to suck. But do you get up and do it anyways? I do. Yeah. But there has been some times that I don't. And then I like, you feel like crap the rest of the day. But you're just like, okay, but was it worth it? Yes. I spent time with my family. I had fun. I released, I released whatever I needed to release on that Sunday fun day.
And we're good. Last week, Jake and I, on a Tuesday, I didn't realize when I bought the tickets to Teddy Swims that it was on a Tuesday in Vegas, but I was like, whatever, we're going. So we drove down to Vegas on Tuesday, went to Teddy Swims, was out until 2. 30 in the morning. I ate a burger in bed, like at 2am.
, I had too many drinks. We were laughing so hard. We had so much fun. And the next day I was like, I was like, I need, you just need to have fun. Sometimes you just need to have fun because I could tell my brain wanted to go into that shame and guilt cycle. And I was like, I had so much fun. Yeah. I woke up with a barker.
Yeah, I was like, I didn't finish eating you. Isn't that the best like if it's in the fridge or something? Well, actually, Jake said I told him to, I asked him to get two chicken Caesar salads for the morning and he was like, what? And so he ordered them, but I didn't remember. I wasn't paying attention at that point.
Okay, so we had chicken Caesar salad and I was so pumped. I was like, plus Sam is so great. And she set herself up for success. I love it. As long as you're not like, when you can recognize like, okay, I'm doing this too much, like making these excuses versus like having fun, numbing out. You do. Yeah. So that's why I think certain people can enjoy it differently than people that are unaware of what it's actually doing to them.
Okay. So let's just finish this out here. What, what inspo do you have for all those new runners out there? Like you got to get started and you can't look too much into the people that are making money off of running. Cause once you let go of all of that and just run for you. Then it's going to be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Or if you just walk for you, go to the marathon and you will see so many women power walking down that down mountain. Oh, I'm excited. You will it's it's wild. There's so many people walking at a decent pace that say you run for half of your race. That's half more than somebody else. You know, like you just have to give yourself grace and if it's the last race you do, great.
You can say you did it. Or if it turns into something like it has for me, like 17 years ago, my grandmother paid for my first marathon. It's, it will do great things for you. Yeah. That's incredible. You know, comparison really is the thief of joy. I know that's a famous quote, but it's such a life lesson. Mm hmm.
Yeah. Um, so when you go to the marathon, there's people, this is what you're telling me. Okay. I have not paid enough attention. I think I was too busy judging myself or not, you know, you're telling me there's people who are just like walking, doing their thing. And then you've got like the professional athletes.
Yeah. So they have different gates at every race you do where like, You have a time in your mind that you think you want to do, but you're not going to know that until you start training. Like, where do I want to be in my time? And there will be pacers. So then you kind of start to gather with people who think they're going to finish at the same time as you.
And once you get into your group, you were like, Oh, these people look. look just like me, but like they're here to do the same thing as me. It's not like that person that's wearing like all custom stuff because they got paid to do it. They're leaving like they're done 20 minutes before me. Right. Like their chip time is.
It's like way different than mine, but when you, that's why I'm saying, when you get in your little gate of people, you're like, Oh my gosh. And everyone's so happy and outgoing. Like I'm. I'm lucky to have been put into the environments I, I have been through fitness where it has allowed me to like go into a dark room and become outgoing.
Like I'm not normally like that. Like if I don't, I have a lot of acquaintances in my life, but like not a lot, it's hard for me to get deep with someone. And if you just put me in a room, I, I don't know. We'll like hide in the corner. And so that's fun at those races is getting near people that are like, is this your first time?
Where are you from? Like you're riding the bus up to the start line and people are like, where are you from? You get to ride a bus. Yes. I'm like a five year old. How did you think you'd get up there? I don't know. I just thought you got it. Like there was just a start line for everyone. There is. And it's on the top of the mountain.
Oh, I don't know. That's cool. Yeah. That's really freaking cool. Yeah. So you're just on this bus. It's hard to not like just be totally enamored and like literally looking for your next race. So do you feel like it feels like a real sense of community? Oh, a thousand percent. That's so cool. Yeah. You know, I picked a word of the year as I like to do, and then it tends to fuck me because universe God is like, you wanted this.
So I didn't realize when I picked my word this year, it was devotion, but it was devotion to self. I didn't realize how deep it was going to get. And I feel like this was just like the next layer. I think it's going to be great for you. Did you pick a word? Do you pick words? I don't. Um, I think. Okay. I mean, honestly, if I could think of a word for this year, it was literally just to survive and to get myself back.
Cause I lost a lot last year. Yeah. You had a rough year. A really a lot. And I made some conscious decisions. Like I said, I, that saying, like, if you look in your circle and you're not inspired, you're in a cage that to me was like, okay, I have to stop feeling bad about everything that I've lost. And. Figure out where I'm going to pull from to survive.
That gave me chills. Okay. So if people want to connect with you, I know you heard Instagram is private, but, Oh, well, I listen, I know it's, it's been a rough year. , you can connect with me on Instagram at Tate T A I T. And I think two underscores. Yeah. Cause it's that extra long. I go by Jess. Yeah. Well, I just found you again and followed you, but you did accept me.
So I'm back in the club. I am like, Oh, apparently Sam never followed me. No, I'm just kidding. This is what happened. And I've had a lot of people upset about it as I last year at some point unfollowed almost everyone. It didn't, I wasn't looking at names or anything. I was going through a mental space. Then now I'm refriending people as.
I have healed myself and I didn't need to unfollow everyone. But, um, and they're like, Oh my God, like you unfollowed me. And I'm like, please just, please just let this go. Yeah. It was me, not you. Yeah. Like we all have to do a cleanup every once in a while and like, and then you're like, okay, we can, so many times I've like, got been done with an acquaintance and then come back around with them.
As long as you can just realize that everyone grows, we're all humans. And unfortunately, yeah, God don't remind me. Um, it feels really good to be sitting here with you and thank you for your time today and thanks for coming in. I know you made a special, you had to come after work on a Friday. So I was honored that you would do that.
So thank you. Um, but it feels very full circle because I felt like I didn't belong in the fitness community because I got kind of mingled out of the place where you were instruction, instruction. I don't know words today. It's okay. You were the instructor there. And, um, she actually, the owner of that facility reached out to me like two months ago, probably.
And she was like, I'm sorry about what happened. And I was like, thank you. She's like, here's some free passes. Will you just come in? And I was like, you know, I will. I probably like sat in the parking lot though and thought I was going to throw up, but if it wasn't so early in the morning, I would have been like, I can't do this, but I didn't have enough time to process it.
I went in, I rode, I went one more time. And then I was like, you know, I don't need this. I don't need to be her. And it felt like such closure and it wasn't anything. I thought the ride was great. Everything was great about it. I just was like, what have I been so upset about for so long? You know? Well, yeah, it was beautiful.
I felt like I just let it go and then I kept seeing you again and I was like, it just feels so full circle, you know? Yeah. Cause for a hot minute I was like, well, I don't, I don't belong anywhere. Everyone belongs. That was my number one thing in all, every class that I taught and still will be till the day that I die is that I hope the second you cross into my space.
Whether it's outside in the parking lot or in a class that I'm teaching, I hope that you feel accepted. Like it is my sole purpose to be able to like touch you and feel you and inspire you in some way, even just touch. If touching someone's hand makes them feel better about. Coming into my space. That's all I ever wanted.
Well, you did a great job. So thank you. And thanks for inspiring me today to answering my marathon questions. And I'll just, I'll see you on the gram. I'll see you on the race line. Just kidding. You won't see me. I don't even know what that is. Oh, race line. Yeah, I might. Oh, we have a smile. I'll see you at the, or my son has an appointment in a couple of weeks.
I'm sure, but thank you for being here and you're just such a special person. And thank you for the gift. You're welcome.