Sheila Scott (Miles of Motherhood) - "I'm a negotiator"

Sheila Scott — author of "Miles of Motherhood" — joins Allison to talk about a running life that started with a grade-school one-mile fun run outside Rochester, New York, and never really stopped: cross-country coaches who preached "look at the foliage" and taught visualization before it was cool, stepping away from the sport and finding her way back, and raising two runners of her own (both now at Alabama — Roll Tide).

She relives the mud that ate her shoe at a high-school race, the 2019 Marine Corps Marathon downpour, BQ hunting in Richmond, and why the race memories that stick are the people, not the times.

Plus: the packing grid, race-morning jitters that never go away, cushy shoes, a Mountain Dew confession, negotiating with herself through hot Florida miles, and why she is saying yes to everything — including 29029 Everesting and, one day, Athens.


Sheila Scott - https://www.facebook.com/sheila.scott.9041083
Author of "Miles of Motherhood"
https://us.amazon.com/Miles-Motherhood-Sheila-Scott/dp/B0G6JFMPPB


Races Mentioned
Boston Marathon
Richmond Marathon
Marine Corps Marathon
New York City Marathon
Chicago Marathon
London Marathon
Tuscaloosa Half Marathon
Mother's Day 5K at Chestnut Park
Huntsville Marathon
Athens Marathon
29029 Everesting

Shout Outs
Catherine
Wagner's

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

Uh hi Runner Story family, this is Allison Gillodard with Runner Story, where every story needs to be heard. And making sure that your incredible stories get heard this month are our friends from I Got Your Six who are hosting the Miles for Heroes 5K. Guys, this is more than a 5K. It's more than the miles that are beyond the finish line. It is all about honoring the men and women who have served our country, supporting our first responders, raising awareness around mental health and suicide prevention, and reminding our heroes that they are never aligned. I Got Your Six is a promise of support, connection, and looking out for the person beside you. Because sometimes the strongest thing we can do isn't to run faster or lift heavier or push through another mile. Sometimes it's simply showing up. Showing up for a friend, showing up for a veteran, showing up for a first responder, showing up for somebody who is struggling silently. Showing up to a 5K to show the support when we're knowing that every dollar is poured back into our community. And that showing up can even save a life. Throughout this month, we are so excited that we get to partner with Mouse for Heroes 5K. This is gonna be such an incredible event. It's been really fun to watch it change over the years, and this is the second year for this event. And I'm beyond excited because this is also the launch race for Ainsley's Angels. Shout out to our friend Mark, the race director for Miles for Heroes, who is like, I want Ainslex here. He is such a believer in community, he's such a believer in helping community out, especially those with disabilities. So we are beyond excited. Also, if you are a veteran, we would love to have you at this race. You are a disabled veteran and you're like, you know what? I want to be there, but I maybe cannot physically do three miles. We have periods for you. So please give us the honor of supporting you and having your back like you've always had ours. We are very excited because we know the importance of our military, we know the importance of our first responders, and we know the importance of making sure that those who show up to scenes of events that having the right training is crucial and again can save a life. We also know that every model has a story, and we cannot wait to see the finished line stories that happen at Models for Heroes. You can sign up online, it's on Run Sign Up. You can also find out more information at Runner Story as well. We are very, very excited. Speaking of excited, I am so excited to have Sheila Scott. She is the author of Models of Motherhood. What a great book. It was so much fun to read. I loved her outlook on how motherhood and running go hand in hand. It was very, very inspiring. One of the key concepts I took from her through this was just look at the foliage. Like just take the moment. You know, yes, you're in a training block. Maybe you're going through an injury. Maybe this training block is hard. Maybe you're in the midst of summer here in South Alabama and it's hot and you want to quit. But just taking the time to refocus and to look at that around you and to remember that you get to do this control. Also, I love the fact that we have a connection. Our kids go to Baba. So roll tide. It was so much fun. Also, we were at the same race last year and we had no idea. So it was such a fun connection. I love Sheila. I love her story, I love her heart. She negotiates her run, the mall. You guys are gonna hear all about that. And run while you can because it won't be here forever. And enjoy it as it shall be. So Sheila comes with so much information, such a sweet heart, such a sweet spirit, and you guys are just gonna love her too. We talk about the book a lot. We talk about community and we talk about raising a family. So you guys lace up those running shoes, get ready, get set, and go run with my friend Sheila and her run story. Thanks, Sheila, for being on the podcast. I'm so excited. I finished your book, Miles of Motherhood, and I was like, oh, I cannot wait to talk about this book. Because you do such a great job of understanding and saying time and time again that motherhood is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Indeed. And but you put that in a lot of really cool lessons. And just like in running in the early phases, you talk about your children in that way, and then going into the different stages and ages. And I love how you incorporate whether it's an injury or a race or whatever's going on, you incorporate that into motherhood. And I was like, what a cool way to write your story. So I love that. Oh, well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

And thank you for having me on this podcast. I have just been enjoying it so much. The one that I listened to today almost had me in tears. It was so good. So thank you for that compliment. That's how you think of these funny things because you have so much time to run and lots of free time to think when you're running. And the ideas just kind of kept popping into my head, and I would go home and write down little notes and think, gosh, running is just like motherhood. And look at all these funny little parallels. And some of it's very funny, and some of it's nostalgic, and some of it's sad. But it's very similar in many ways. Both of our beloved sports.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Absolutely. I love that. One of the things I want to talk about, because obviously we're about to get to your story, but one of the very first things that really got to me, and that that moment I had to just put the book down, and I just kind of had to assess myself was kind of this mantra that your cross-country coach talked about, which was look at the foliage. Just stop and you're gonna make me cry. I know I was like, what? And then obviously you talk about that later on in the book. About I think it was your boy. You're like, look, he's stopping and he's looking, he's enjoying the foliage. And I was like, Wow, that was so cool. But oh, you're right, could you talk about this in the book? Sometimes we're just so like, I've gotta get there, I've gotta get there, I've gotta get this run done. And we don't stop and we don't take that in. And I I love that because you also were in a different state at the time that actually had pretty foliance. Yes. And now you're in Florida.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

It's a little different. It's always green foliage.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

So I love that. So I just want to say thank you for putting that in there because it was such a great I had to just take a moment. It was kind of like that conviction moment.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

It's so sweet. Having noticed that people pick up such different things when they read the book that back that that little full circle moment stood out to you, it just absolutely touches my heart. So thank you for telling me that. I'm so happy to know that.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

So you do talk about in the book, but let's talk about on the podcast. How did we get here, Sheila? How does your run story begin?

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Well, it's long. I've been running for 43 years. So yes, I'm in one of the grandmasters age groups. So by 11 years old, I had tried all the sports that had like a basketball or a volleyball, and I was afraid of the ball. It was evident I was afraid of the ball. I had desperately tried out for cheerleading multiple times to no avail. It's fine. But one day a PE teacher, it had to be fifth or sixth grade, said, There's a one-mile fun run at the park, and it's all the local elementary schools. It was a little town outside of Rochester, New York. And I was like, all right, sure, I'll go run a mile around the park. Sounds good. And next thing you know, I came in ninth out of 60 kids. I was like, I can run. I found what I can do. I'm not afraid of the ball. I don't have to have perfect dance moves, I can do this running thing. And that was it. It just became my love, and it was track and cross-country, and 43 years later, I'm still running.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

I love that. And in the book, you do talk about there's been times where you've put it down. Um and that was so you could focus on having a family. But when you had your children, you were like, you know what, let's go for a run. You know, let's go for a walk. And so I love that you talk about how running has just been like ebb and flow throughout your life. Oh, it does.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

I mean, when you're doing it for four decades, it definitely has its ebbs and flows. But it's always there for you. If we're healthy and we're where you want to get back out there, it's always there for us. It's never going to abandon us.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Absolutely. So, what are some lessons that you've learned from running?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Oh, there are so many. From the early years, I think one of the other things our cross-country coaches really I think they were a little ahead of their time in this one. They talked a lot about visualization and belief in yourself. Because it was just go, go, go. But when you really think about visualize it, visualize that race, visualize the starting line, see yourself, hear your breathing, feel what that's gonna feel like, and see these victories. And it sounds kind of corny in some ways, but it absolutely works, and I've used it to this day. Especially when I'm chasing a big goal, a big time goal. You really have to visualize yourself meeting that goal. So that one has been a really big one. I think, especially with marathon training, it's so much like any other life goal. It's one step at a time. Running is so much a one step at a time thing. It doesn't happen overnight. You are not gonna wake up to our run 26 miles, no matter how much you want to. It takes four months to build. So it does teach you a lot about patience and about following the steps and just doing the next step and trusting that it will build. Recently, I'm dealing with some injury stuff, so it is all oh just getting back to that patience of trusting the medical teams and being patient and not trying to be smarter than them and doing too much that I'm not allowed to do. And it's really hard. And I think that the current lesson is very much, oh no. At this age, I'm realizing, and I think I'm just really realizing there's a shelf life to all of our running. We are not gonna be able to do this forever. And I don't know how that's gonna be end for me. And I hope I have 30 more years left of running in me, but I don't know. And this was the first time I thought, oh, this is a terrible thing. Who else am I without running? What else will I do? So knowing there's a shelf life, just enjoying it for when we can do it, and just being patient until we can get back on the road. Oh, that's so good. There's so many things I just answered in there. Sorry. Absolutely, yeah, yeah. A lot of answers.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

I want to talk about one of the things you share about in the book, and that is when we all go to a race, we're all at that same race. But just like how we all wear different shoes, you know, so like some of us may be wearing ASICs or Malta Cook or New Balance, we all have our own race and we're all there for different reasons, and we all came. So when you said that we're it's the same race, but we're just wearing different shoes, I was like, oh, that's so much of our story. We're all there. We just have a different story as to how we got there or why we're there, yeah, and a different motivation to finish. I loved that analogy.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Well, and it's so much like your podcast. I mean, the stories that I have listened to on the show and the way people are presenting themselves at races and what's going on in their hearts and their minds, it's tremendous. And I think we all take it for granted. But then the longer you're in this sport and the more you get to know other runners, you realize, wow, look at what this person is coming from, what what this person has overcome, what that person is still facing. It's amazing. There's some amazing humans in the running community.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Oh, absolutely. One of the other things that you talk about is which I thought was absolutely precious. And I guess I hadn't realized that, but you talk about how pre-race dinner is more than a meal. It's a time to gather thoughts, whether it's a time to think about the race, what all you have left to do, the next morning. But I also loved how you said, and I get to give gratitude to family.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Oh you're gonna make me cry. You have to stop. It's true. It really is the sweet little ceremonious, it's the kickoff to a huge event. We watch the Super Bowls and we watch the World Cup was just on, and it's such a huge deal. But our little races and our little worlds and our little towns, they are a huge deal. So when our family is there to cap it off with a plate of pasta, it just makes everything more special.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Yeah, I love that. And I will say, I think that that just m gives another element to race day or the race experience, let me say. Because you have had that time together as friends or as friends and family. And there's this one of my favorite races that happens in November, and we have friends from Louisiana and Tuscaloosa.com, and we get to have dinner together and just be together and just goof off and just and you're just kind of like, yeah, tomorrow's a big day. But in this moment, and I guess I hadn't realize that. But again, that was another lesson that I learned when I was reading your book, and I was like, Oh, I'm not gonna take that for granted. Like, I just was like, I'm gonna treasure that more. Like, I it was like that's so sweet.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Oh, thank you. That is, it is it's a sweet time. We have all of our little rituals, don't we?

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Yeah, whether or not we realized it was a ritual or not. I'm gonna do it. Yes, we really do. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

We really do.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

So I gotta know because you've done a lot of finish lines.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

I and you talk about several of them in the book, but do you have a favorite race?

SPEAKER_01 13:19

I have been dreading this particular question because how do you how many? I thought this is such an unfair question. And I have, I'm telling you, for the past couple of weeks leading up to this recording, I had just what am I gonna say? Are you asking okay, race or distance?

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Race, yeah, because later on we have distance, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Okay. I mean, the easy answer is Boston. It is I know it's the cliche answer, but it is. I've been very, very, very fortunate and blessed and so grateful to have run it twice. And it is absolutely the dream come true. It is the thing that I remember hearing about in high school thinking there's no way I'm ever gonna be able to do a f marathon, let alone the Boston marathon, right? And then somehow it happens. And it absolutely is exactly what you see on social media. It is running nerd heaven. From the time you get off of that airplane, the airport is decorated. Everything is decorated. The stores, the restaurants, everyone is wearing their Boston gear the whole weekend. And now I think it's even a full week of just of a celebration of this race. It is just the history, the bonding. There's nothing like it. But more like quote unquote normal races. I one of my favorites, and I think it's become a favorite, I think it's selling out this year, is the Richmond Marathon. Okay. And the reason I love that race, I've run it three times. In fact, that's where all of my Boston qualifying times took place. It's a medium-ish sized race, but it feels like a really big city race, like in New York or Chicago. It has that kind of same feel, but you have plenty of elbow room. And the crowd support's wonderful. The weather's usually perfect. It's a slightly challenging course, but nothing too hard. The swag is fabulous. The downhill finish, the stadium downhill finish is so much fun. I love that race. I just love it, love it, love it. It's one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Okay. I gotta say, Sheila, I actually thought you were gonna talk about your mother's day run at I know. Was it Chestnut Park? Yeah. Yes, what a good memory you have.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, I wish so. I didn't save that one for this because they haven't had it in many years. I think it's been yeah, I think it COVID ruined it, and then it just has not bounced back. So I thought, I don't think I'm gonna bring that one up. But I miss it so much.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

I love how you talked about because that was a race that you could easily drive to. Your kids were still asleep, so you'd get up, you'd go run, and then by the time you got back, your family was like, Here, mom, we've made bigs. You know, we're like, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yep, the banner, the flowers, the stuff. But then I would have donuts for them too. Oh, I used to love slipping out to the Mother's Day 5K. I wish they would bring it back.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

I love it. Well, thank you for sharing that. I love that. Okay, so on the flip side of that, do you have a race that is not your favorite or one that you're like, oh, I wish I could go back and redo?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Are we allowed to say the name of the race? Because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

It's your story, Sheila.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

You do what you want to do. So my least favorite one. It was two loops, and it was in the heat, and it was supposed to be chilly, but it just ended up being a thousand degrees, and it just felt like you've got to get me out of here. It's in a little town outside of Orlando. They do everything right, they do it so nicely. It just I had to get out of there. The one I would like to redo if I ever got the chance is the Marine Corps Marathon because the year that I did it, have you done it?

SPEAKER_02 16:44

No, it's on my bucket list. Okay. I have a friend actually running it this year, so I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Oh, I can't wait for them. So the reason I would like a retry is the year I ran it, and I'm trying to think of when this was. Was it 2019? Might have been 2019. Whoever's listening that ran it this year, they will know what year it was. It was the year of the downpour. It was, I am not joking, Florida hurricane rain. From the time we got off the bus until mile 22. I mean legit pouring. We were running through shin high water at points. It was absurd. So the other negative of that is not only the amount of rain, it was because no one wanted to go to their corrals. We were all hiding as long as we could until the very last second, which means there were no waves. It was 35,000 people starting at once. Oh, so we're all just jammed in tight. It was stop go, stop, go, stop, go for nine miles. And then by mile 24, the sun is coming out and it's 80 degrees. Oh, you just thinking, please, just give me home. It was such and you want to be looking around. It's Washington, D.C. I couldn't really enjoy the foliage.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

You're like, there's no foliage. I cannot stop and look at that.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Scenic sights, none of the buildings. So I would love another chance at that race, only because I would like a better weather day.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

We're gonna make sure that gets we get requested for that one. Wow. Okay. So let's shift about to race day, which I know right now we're in pause season, and that's okay. So we like we said we have those seasons where we have to just take a pause. But what does routine look like for you pre-race?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Well, it's certainly if I'm packing or whether I'm home or whatever, packing to go somewhere, it's making sure you've got all the stuff. The body glide and the gels and all the stuff. The outfits. The outfit is very important. So all of that is laid out the night before. And usually the night before is things like pizza and cookies or pasta and cookies. There's generally gonna be some cookies involved before the entire the night before race. It's rock and mule, right? And then the morning of, and usually if I'm traveling for a race, especially like a big marathon, I like to bring my, I'm not joking, handwritten. I still handwrite all my training plans. Oh yeah, I do. I get a ruler and a pen and I make a big grid. And so I bring that with me, and I kind of look at it and I look at my times and different things and just remind myself, look, you worked really hard for four months. You've got this. Because you you forget how hard you work for four months. So I like to look at that and then just kind of chill. And then the morning of it's either oatmeal or bagels or whatever, and then just find my way to wherever the start line is. Okay. And just I get the jitters. I still, after this many years of races and running, I still get the jitters and the excitement of race day morning. It's magic.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

I love that. Okay. You cross the finish line, you see your family. What do you do post-race?

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Generally drive them crazy with the recap. Mile by mile, play by play. And this happened that, and then I saw this person do this. So they get the full recap. You are at the top of your energy, like you're bouncing off the walls. And then I love if that the hotel has an a tub. I am an Epsom salt bath girl. I will soak in that tub and then drink a ton of water, start snacking, and be ready to do whatever. Maybe take a little nap and then let's go shop and eat and tour and let's go have some fun.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

That's so good. I one of the things that you talk about in your book is that as especially as moms, we don't really realize that our kids are really watching everything you do. So seeing, and I know for me personally, like when my kids were little and I would see them at the finish line, it just hits different than anything else. Like and you do talk about that in the book a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Yeah. Yes, it is. There's there's nothing like it. Certainly when they were little, they kind of started to get it. And as they got older and continued to see me do these absurd races and distances, like, well, that's pretty cool. And I had learned when my daughter started college, she would tell people, oh, guess what my mom does? Do do do. I'm like, oh well, thank you. Yeah. So they both, by complete happenstance, are at the same university. They actually are both Bama children, roll tide. Roll it just, it's such a long story how that worked out, but it is a complete miracle. I love that they have two more years of a shared experience together. It's just been wonderful. So in March, I ran the Tuscaloosa half marathon, naturally, because they're both there. And I will tell you, Allison, oh my, they both got up out of bed on a Saturday morning and they were there at that finish line and they took me to breakfast, and you're gonna make me cry again. It was just amazing. Who would have ever thought I'd think it's just amazing?

SPEAKER_02 21:46

I love that we do the Tesco 5K. So just now in March? Yeah. Yeah. The weather was beautiful, and it's uphill both ways.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Uphill both ways.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

It was a little windy this year, which was totally fine. It was totally listened to. I got a I got a new sweatshirt out of it. It's totally fine. I was like, I was not expecting it to be as cold as it was. Yeah, it was cold. I feel like it was a another cold snap that we weren't expecting. And so what I had packed was not, I was like, girls gonna get, we gonna freeze. So I love that. And because we've been in Tuscaloosa, we've just made such great friends up there and everything. I love them. We go up there and you know, we're meeting with them, just having a great time. And actually, one of our friends was pacing the half marathon. No, what? Yeah, so we ran and then we came back. But the fact that my daughter, that's the one race that she's like, mom, are you signing us up for this? We're running this together, right? And I'm like, But she took off and loved me this year. She just took off and I was like, That's what they do. Well, okay. Like, I didn't, you weren't even gonna tell me anything. Like, I'm just gonna take off. But I tell you, running in Tuscaloosa, uh, and then running by river walk, it's just you're killing me.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yep, it's gorgeous. I love it up there so much, it's so beautiful. Yeah. When we toured the campus, because my daughter's the older one. So when we toured the campus, we had stayed at one of the hotels right there on the river. And I got up. Of course, I get up and I went running before the tour. I said, Oh, if you pick this school, I have plenty of places to run. Yeah, it's gorgeous. I love it. And I think I'm already signed up for the Telescope Half Marathon for 2027.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Oh, sweet. Yay! I will come cheer you up. I listen, I am not running that half marathon. I'm just I will run the 5K all day long.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

I am not running that half marathon. They're not kicking around with the hills.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

The hills.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

No, I was about to say, it's kind of like you, it's no exaggeration. It's like rolling hills. You go up a hill and you go down a hill. And that's just for the 5K. And I know the half goes outskirts and all it really felt like the first eight miles were uphill.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

I could be wrong. But it felt like are you kidding me? Oh my goodness. But I loved it. And the weather was great and the swag was great. It they did such a beautiful job with that race.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Yeah. The after party's pretty fun there, too. Down.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah, yeah. All of it. I love the bands and food. It was just amazing.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

I cannot believe we were there at the same time. I know. Dang it. She loves. Dang it. I love that. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, so I already know the answer to this, but you do not listen to music.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

I know. Okay. People can't stand it when I tell them this. They can't stand it. So I mean, I confess, here's what I will do with music. I do not own my own AirPods, earbuds. Okay. I don't even own them. So if I'm desperate, like at the end of a 20-miler, I will treat myself and put music on my phone, but it's like on my waistband. Yeah. For like the last three or four miles, like just to try to get through it. Sure. The other thing that I will do now is I discovered the joy of podcasts over the past couple of years. So I'll listen to like yours, like from my waist, or like about writing podcasts. Or there's a couple that I really like, some other ones. So once in a while, but at the end of the day, I love to not hear anything. I just want to tune out. There's so much noise in our world, in our lives, and so much content, and it's constant. So I like not hearing any of it for a while. And I think I mentioned in the book, I love to use that time to pray because sometimes even you get too busy to think of every single prayer, but I could go down my whole list and just kind of get it all out with God. So it's just it's to me, it's just it's such a nice, quiet time. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

Okay. I was just gonna put that out because I knew not to ask the uh I made a note to myself, does not listen to music.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

I know, is that funny? It drives people crazy. How do you do it for 20 miles? I'm like, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

Yeah, okay. So what is your absolute favorite running item? You will not go run without this item.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Every single one of your people, every guest so far has said, uh, my hair pods. Mine, this is so silly. It's my hat. I am a cap. I like a running cap. Even if it's still dark in the morning, my hat is going on. I don't know why. It is just my comfort item.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

Listen, I completely agree. I have a whole hat wall that my husband wishes I had less hats. It's something I I don't know what it is, but it's one of the things that I've got to do. Without it, there's been a couple times where I've forgotten a hat, I didn't mean to, and then I'm just like, and I'm it's awful.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

It's weird. You feel naked. I feel completely naked if I don't have my hat on.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

It'd be like forgetting to wear my watch. What was I thinking?

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Even that, even if I had to live without my watch, like I know my roots well enough that I know the kind of the distance that I could live without the watch. But the hat, oof.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

Yeah, that's fair. Well, and especially us living in the south, we sweat so much that the hat will catch, you know, like it the hat catches it, what it can, you know. Yeah, yes, it makes a big difference. Absolutely. Okay, so let's talk running shoes. What do you like to run in?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

So I'm a cushy girl and I love the cushies. I want the new balance 1080s, the glycerin brooks, the Socade Triumph. I am a cushy girl all the way. Socity makes I've dabbled with those carpet plates and I feel terrible, but I've returned them. Like I've brought them home and returned them. They're just not for me. And I don't return running shoes as a rule. But no, they're I just it's not for me. But they make this one that's more of a nylon plate, it's a little bit more flexible. It's in the endorphin speed. And I do love that as a race shoe. It's okay. It's very peppy and bouncy and it fits like a glove. I love those. But they do change the model every year, so you never know which you're gonna get. And you love a peppy. Yeah, right? So I do love cushion though. And then the other one that I really liked that I've worn for my past two marathons is the Hokamak X2. Mm-mm. Love that guy. He's sturdy, but he's light, and you feel like you're you could still feel the ground. I love it. And still enough cushion.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Now, when you first got into running and you talked about some book, you weren't fitted for shoes.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Like you just went and got some. It was some, I don't even know what the shoe store was. We didn't have a lot of money growing up. Just and that's putting it mildly. So you go in and you think, okay, everyone at the time was wearing Nikes. This is like 1985, right? So Nike was cool. So I was desperately trying to get something cool. And the coolest ones were way too big for me. But I got them anyway because they were the coolest ones and they were at the best price. So, yes, there is a story in the book of how that turned out.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Yes, there is.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

It's funny, it is funny. So running along, doo-do-do-doo, and there's of course a ton of mud in the northeast. We always had cold, rainy weather for cross country, and it was awesome. We loved it. We were always the more mud, the better. There would be hills we'd have to slide down on our rear ends because it would be too slippery to try to run down. So we loved it, it was just part of the world. So we're finishing this race, and this shoe that's too big, it's in the mud now. It is in there. I couldn't even find it. So I'm like, well, I guess I'll just keep going. And I saw one of my teammates to the side, like, Catherine, you have to get my shoe. It's stuck back there somewhere. So they found it, and it was fully brown for the rest of its life. And the moral of that story is, guys. I know. Don't cheap out. I'm still pretty frugal, but not that frugal anymore.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

I love that. It was such a great story. Okay. Switching to fuel for your longer distance. How do you fuel? How do you what do you like to fuel with?

SPEAKER_01 29:28

I'm getting better at this. I think that I was probably undereating at some point. Not even taking the gels often enough or the fuel often enough. So I finally have gotten a little bit better at that. And you really do feel better if you're eating more. Surprised. So in the mornings, I'll probably just have some toast with honey or peanut butter or something like that. Or if I'm super late, just grab some rice cakes or something out of the pantry that's got some carb in it. And an electrolyte drink. I'm too big on electrolytes now because it's a long story. But very much making sure that I'm getting electrolytes in my drinks. And my preferred gel is the Martins. Okay. I love them. They're expensive, but I love them because there's not much of a flavor. I can't do the flavors anymore. I just can't. They would end up repeating on me. So I don't ever have to burp. You get on with your life. It's wonderful. And they come in caffeinated and non-caffeinated. Okay. And I do like the jelly beans once in a while, like those sport beans, even though they're flavored. Those I can get down just to kind of mix it up a little bit, but for the most part. And then I have this one. Well, there's multiple. I think everyone does this. If you're out for a long run, you strategically try to pass gas stations or convenience stores or what have you, so you could buy more liquids, waters, gay raids, whatever. One of my guilty pleasures, especially in summer training, is a Mountain Dew. I will stop and I will refill my water, but then I will also get a small big gulp, even though they're ginormous. But I will get some Mountain Dew and swig that down because it's cold, it's caffeinated, it's got sugar, and then boom, I can kind of fly through the rest of the run. That's one of my secrets. My Mountain Dew.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Your Mountain Dew gives you wings. I hear that.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

Oh no, I think that one is a red bill. Yeah, no, but but Mountain Dew does too. That's right. In fact, the first time I ran Richmond Marathon, that was my first official attempt at a BQ. And I chose Richmond for the BQ attempt because I have family and friends between Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia. So I had friends at mile 22 waiting for me was a Mountain Dew. Wow. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So I credit that first BQ to my friends that stood there with my Mountain Dew for me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Howard on Mountain Dew. Got it. Okay. Sheila, you share a lot of memories in the book, which is fantastic. But do you have a memory that when you think about running, it makes you smile or it makes you giggle because you're like, I can't believe we did that or that happened. Do you have one of those memories?

SPEAKER_01 32:02

See, there's just so many. But what really quickly comes to my mind is running camp. Did you ever go to running camp as a kid? I did not because I didn't even know cross-country was a thing. But okay. So running camp was such a good time because we ran multiple times of day. All your teammates are there in a cabin and you eat all night and you'd go and do skits and you go kayaking. It to me, running camp was one of my favorite things about running growing up, for sure. From the early days. As an adult, I think probably it's like all of those times that I've seen the family at a race because they haven't been able to come to every race. As they got older, they couldn't just go to everything. Sure. But anytime that I saw them at I remember where I saw them in the New York City Marathon. I remember just all of it. And then they missed me in Chicago because I was actually going too fast. I passed them past their spot faster than they expected. So it's all of that. Eating the pizza the night before with them at the Chicago Marathon, the deep dish pizza, all of it. That's the funny thing. It's not so much about this, oh, I ran this great fast time. Oh, I got this award, blah, blah, blah. What really when you run this many years, that what the memories that stick out are the ones of the relationships, the friends, the families, the moments that make it what it is. Because without them, it's nothing.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Oh, I love that. That is so yes. Without them, it's nothing.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Yeah. Oh, so good. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Let's say you get done running and you're like, okay, now I want to eat. Do you have a favorite post-race meal?

SPEAKER_01 33:34

No, I'll eat anything.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

I mean, I really will eat anything.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

I'm giggling because I will come back from a long run and it'll take me a minute to get my appetite going. And usually I'll come back, I'll walk my dog, kind of cool down with him. And then I just raid the fridge. I invented the bowl. You know how there's so many bowl restaurants now. I invented the bowl 20 years ago, and it was like, oh, look, there's some sweet potatoes. Oh, look, here's some salad. Oh, it's a piece of chicken. Boom. There's my post-raise meal. And it's different every time. Okay. It's whatever's hanging out in the fridge. I will take care of it. I love that. I am not fuzzy.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

She was like, not everybody can thank me for the bowl. Yep. Absolutely. It was my idea. Yeah, absolutely. So you do talk about in the book, you do have a couple injuries that you went through and just different things. So do you have a favorite recovery tool that you like to use?

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Oh gosh. No.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

So it's like the kitchen. I'm not really a gadget girl. I'm happy with a knife and a cutting board. It's the same thing with running. I do own a foam roller and I will use it occasionally. But mostly I am an Epsom salt bath girl all the way. Okay. Even on the hottest days. Like I'll jump in the pool, especially now.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

But I will still end up after a 15, 16, the long runs, I will still want that Epsom salt bath. Okay. Okay. And then I'll just kind of stretch and do my own thing. Occasionally a tennis ball to kind of roll around on your side glute, but I don't have any of the fancy stuff.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Okay. All right. And you do mention it a little bit in the book about how we do knee strength training. So do you have a favorite cross-training activity?

SPEAKER_01 35:11

So it really has become weights now. Okay. Especially at this age, because I know that we start losing muscle mass at this age. And I know it makes our running so much stronger. I can run more efficiently when I've been consistent. And when I say consistent, I'm in pretty good shape if I can do weights twice a week. And that really makes such a huge difference. And I think sometimes people shy away from that because you think, oh, another hour in the gym four or five times a week. No, not at all. It really is twice a week if you can get 45 minutes in, you're good to go. So that's kind of my current, I don't know if it's favorite, but I've accepted that it's necessary. Ooh, okay. So I definitely do it. And I've become to like it more. And I do love yoga and I'll take a lot of walks. And I did a little bike ride this morning because I'm kind of on this little injury thing. So but when I bike, it's like la-di da pace. I'm not trying to like get a workout from it. It's doo-do-do. That's how I bike. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

I love it. It was a great answer. Sheila, you give some really cool, just and again, you give different insights from running and motherhood. And again, as you said, they parallel each other perfectly. And one of the things that you talk about is skin knees are just a side effect of a good time. Uh-huh. So taking that snippet, what advice would you give to somebody who wants to start running? Whether they're coming back from an injury or they're brand new. They're like, oh, running terrifies me. I don't even know where to start. What is a piece of advice you'd give them?

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Oh, I love a newbie. I can talk to them all day. Or some coming from an injury. Well, I guess it's almost two different things though. When you're coming back from an injury, you really have to listen to your doctors. You can't mess around and make up your own recovery plan. They really have to be involved in what you're allowed to do because otherwise you just set yourself further back. I had a stress fracture many years ago, and I thought, you've got to be kidding me. That's when I made I was doing weights at that point out of desperation, probably five times a week. And I'll tell you what, I had a flat stomach. Because I couldn't believe it. Wait a minute, this actually works. So yes, cross-train, be careful, do what you're allowed to do, but don't push it and don't set yourself back. So when they said, hey, you don't get to run for X amount of weeks, I promise I'd listen to them and I did exactly what I was told. So that's number one. For starting back running after a break or trying to get into it now, at whatever age, number one, start slowly. Just turn off social media. Don't look at anyone and what they're doing because comparison is the thief of joy and it is a fearmonger. Don't be afraid. My general answer when people ask me this is run a little, walk a little, run a little, walk a little, and just keep doing that until you run a little more and walk a little less. I mean, it's so simple. It does not have to be complicated. Just run as much as you can. Maybe it's 30 seconds and then you walk five minutes, and then it's 30 seconds of running. And then eventually it becomes two minutes of running and 30 seconds of walking. And you will see the fruits of your labors will add up quickly. And you will see the benefits coming and you'll see that progress. It does happen quickly, but you have to just be careful.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

Yeah, for sure. Oh, it's great. I love that. Okay, so what are goals looking like? Because you've done a lot of finish lines, like you've crossed a lot of them. So besides going back and trying to let's say re-experience Marine Corps, okay? Like we need a new, completely different experience. Yes. Besides that, what are goals looking like these days?

SPEAKER_01 38:50

So that's a great question. And it's starting to, it's kind of starting to change a little bit. I'm done chasing BQs. I have made my peace with the Boston Marathon course. I don't need to do it again. I mean, I say that now. I know how runners are, we change our minds. I'm good on the BQ thing. I would really love to run Athens one day.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

I kind of I feel like I would love to go run the birthplace of the marathon. So I kind of have been talking to my husband about that for maybe next September 2027. Or it's either September or November, I forget. So we've been kind of toying with that idea. And then I keep seeing these things popping up. Have you seen these 29029 events? These Everestings. So basically, these happen out in the West Coast. It looks primarily like Colorado, Montana, things like that. And I think there's a couple in Canada as well, but they're all in the mountains. And you essentially climb up this mountain, and then they gondola you back down, and you keep climbing up until you hit the same amount of elevation that it would have taken to get to the top of Mount Everest. I think it's called Everesting.

SPEAKER_02 39:52

Okay, there's one of those in Georgia.

unknown 39:54

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

That's Dolmet.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Oh. But you don't gondola down. You go up and you come down. But you can also do that as a relay.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

See, stuff like that is starting to appeal to me. Oh, and one of their events is three marathons over three days, but it's trail. So you have 12 hours to complete it. You can walk it, hike it, run it a little if you want. You're just having a good time in the mountains for three days. Well so stuff like that is starting to be very appealing to me.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

Okay. Okay. So hitting different finish lines.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Yes. Just totally change it up. More for sightseeing. Um experiencing different cities. Getting now that our kids are both in college, I can leave the house now. You know, like have a little more freedom. So I keep saying, let's travel more, let's do some more stuff. So things like that, things that are a little out of the ordinary.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

Okay. I love it. Gila, do you have a mantra? Because so we do talk about how hot it is, you being in Florida, me being in Alabama, it's stupid hot. It's ridiculous. Yes. Or when you're even when you're going through an injury, do you have a mantra that you say to get through it?

SPEAKER_01 41:03

So I think I'm again, I'm one of these people. I don't listen to music. I don't really have a mantra. I'm not a mantra person. Okay. No, that's fine. That's why I do though. I'm a negotiator, is how I would put this. Okay. So when things are just hideous and miserable for whatever reason, I have to really just talk to myself like a person would like talk myself off the wall and remind myself of the things like think of the hard miles in a marathon or a half marathon and it's just awful. You have to say, enough crying. You're not going to be out here forever. The race is not going to last the rest of your life. Just you're fine. Calm down. Get through it. Slow down. You get to have a jello in another 10 minutes. Whatever it is. So I do a lot of negotiating.

unknown 41:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

Or I'll say, okay, these hot runs. When your clock says, look at my watch, when it watch says 9.08, you can stop and take a 30-second walk break or you know, whatever it is. Okay. So I'll give myself little treats along the way. But it mantras don't work for me because they're too repetitive. I stopped believing it after a while.

unknown 42:06

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Okay. So it's a lot of negotiation. Silly.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Well, that's fantastic. Mine would be like you're out here by yourself. You gotta get home. Well, that time.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

How are you gonna get home? No, that is true, especially if you're doing an out and back. And you don't want to call anyone. I don't want to call anyone to pick me up. I will get there somehow. But the heat training, I don't mind training in the heat. I really don't. You could slow up a little bit. What's hard for me is racing in it. That's the different animal. I can train in summers, but racing is a whole other unpleasant thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

See, and this is where you and I are definitely different. Give me the cold all day long. This December marathon that I will be in Huntsville, I am pumped for. I am so excited because I'm like, finally, it's gonna be cold. Yeah, I'm gonna get a cold race. Whereas other people are like, no, like I want it to be, you know, like I don't like to run, which I totally get. And I understand it's validity of I don't want to run in snow. I totally get that. Oh, I don't want to run in snows.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

But cold, I can race in cold. I can race very well in cold. In fact, what's so funny about that, it's all relative. Because so I just ran London Marathon in April, and these poor people, and even in Florida, we had a very long winter and we had a very long spring. So it took us a little bit to kind of get used to the heat this year, too. But so London is funny because they're cold a lot of the year. So here it is, the end of April, and these poor people are saying, Oh, it's so hot. And it's like 65 degrees. I'm like, honey, you do not know hot. That's right. This is not it. This is not even close. So I was like, This is great. 65, I'll take that. But yes, it's all relative.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

Yeah, sure. That's fair. Mm-hmm. Do you have a favorite distance that you like to run, whether it's a training room or it's racing?

SPEAKER_01 44:07

I think if I do love the marathon, but in terms of racing, I do love a half. Because you feel like you love it, but you're not ready. You can push the gas a little bit harder in a half than I can in a couple of things. I do love a half. But I love a 5K too. Because then you're really pushing the gas. It's hard to say that I don't like any of that. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:32

You know, when you're not running, what do you like to do? What fuels your soul?

SPEAKER_01 44:37

Oh, there's so many things. I mean, number one is family. If I can have people over and entertain and come for Sunday dinner, I'm all over that. Same with my friends. Let's get together. Let's do stuff. Come over. In fact, speaking of the Huntsville Marathon, the reason that I didn't sign up for it is one of the things that I'm in is a community chorus. And it's so much fun. It's such a joyful, fun thing to be a part of, and I've been at it. I think it's about five years now. It's just a call. And so our Christmas concert is that weekend. And I don't want to miss that. I love being able to sing at a little Christmas. I just love it. So I'm all about the holidays. Okay. I'm busy with Bible study. I love baking. I'm trying to learn golf, but it's just such a time consuming thing, and I just haven't really done much with it this past year.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

Are you doing that because your husband's a big golfer?

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Definitely part of it, because I thought, well, if after we're empty and esters, if I ever want to see him again, I should probably pick this back. And it is fun. Once I'm out there, I'm having a great time. It's just hard to schedule, at least for me. I'm not quite there where I'm just a golf woman yet. Okay.

unknown 45:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

Sheila, this has been absolutely amazing. I would tell people to read your book because again, one of the things that you talk about is how crowd support is priceless. Because you talk about it being in race day, but then also you have those people that are your crowd support in life. And I love that analogy. I love how you said that and you just again it just hit home and I was like, I'm so thankful for my people, my crowd that I have that I get to just hang out with, send random goofy memes to, whatever it is. Um I just I love them and adore them and just incredibly thankful for them. So I would encourage anybody to read your book, especially if you're a mom, because again, no matter where you are in that season, because you I knew I was looking back and I was like, oh, I remember that time, you know, and then you're going forward and you're like, Yep, I completely agree with this. But also if you're a dad and you can understand that maybe there are so many lessons that are in this book. And again, it goes back to that parenting is not a sprint, it is a marathon, you're in it for the long haul, and I love that and appreciate that. So I wanted to say thank you for writing this book. Oh thank you. Yeah, with that being said, any final words of wisdom?

SPEAKER_01 46:53

I think that my main wisdom is that we're not gonna be able to get to do this forever. So just enjoy it. Say yes to everything. So go when someone says, let's go for a run, let's go for this race. Go. Don't ever not go because it's too cold or too rainy. Just still keep going. Tomorrow morning, I'm gonna meet up with my run club. I'm allowed to run a little bit right now. But I just love being with them. And there's again, there's gonna come a day that we're not gonna be able to do this. So I just try to soak up as much of it as I can now and just enjoy it to its fullest potential, and hopefully for many decades to come. But just really appreciating every single time we get to get out that door and get these files in.

SPEAKER_02 47:35

That's so good. Sheila, this is amazing. People go read Miles of Motherhood. It's so good. You're gonna just adore, like you're you're just gonna giggle at some of the stories that you share. Um, but also there's some heartache that you talk about in the book. So I appreciate that. And thank you for sharing your story on here and again for being you. I love that. And for all of our kids, roll todd.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Indeed, and thank you so much for having me. And hopefully, I'll see you at Tuscaloosa sometime. Absolutely, yeah. We go shopping at Wagner's.

SPEAKER_00 48:06

Absolutely, yes, that would be amazing. I know.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

Uh, thank you, Sheila, again so much for taking the time to share your story. Thank you for the book of Miles of Motherhood, the reminder of how important parenting is, but also how running goes hand in hand with that. It was just such a great analogy. And again, I just really appreciate it. I appreciate again how you talk about fitting, running into life, not fitting life into running. I think that's a beautiful reminder. No matter what season any of us are in. So thank you again for writing the book. Thank you for sharing it. Thank you for sharing your story. She looked absolutely adorable. And again, roll tie. I love that. I cannot wait to meet in Tusk Lutz. It's gonna be so much fun. Again, thank you to our friends from I Got Your Six who are hosting Malice for Heroes 5K. Guys, please join us. We would love to have you no matter where you are. It's gonna be in Daphne, Alabama, September 26th. It's gonna be such a great event. We are so excited to be a partner for this. We believe in Mark. We believe in the mission of Got Your Six. We believe in Malice for Heroes. Those guys have gotten to hang out with them a couple of times at Mancy's Run Club and just talk with them. They have hearts of gold and they want to see our veterans have opportunities that maybe they feel forgotten or left out. And so again, if you're a veteran, thank you for your service. Thank you for what you've done. We can run free, so we can run races and thank you for the sacrifices that you've made. And if physically you made a sacrifice and you want to show up to this race, but physically can't, Ainsley's Angels would love the opportunity, would love the honor to put you across the finish line or help you get there however you want. We are there for you. So this is a beautiful partnership. We are very excited about this. So sign up. If you're like, I live too far away, make a donation. Make sure that you get out there and you tell a veteran, you tell your first responders, you tell those that are dealing with mental health, thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for being there, even when it's the darkest of times. And again, everyone matters and every story matters. And so thank you for showing up for one another. This is what this community is all about. So give back to your veterans, make sure you tell them thank you, and make sure that when you have the opportunity that you show up for them. Absolutely amazing. So thank you. Thank you to Greg Gilliar for Gilliar Tech Services. Guys, if you've not listened to this podcast on the app, you are truly missing out. I love the app. It's so cool. There you can find events like I Got Your Six because they're our partner for this month. So easy access to be able to click on them. You can click on any of your podcast stories that maybe you're like, oh, we want to go listen to this one again. You can find it there. 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