So you're thinking about running, but not sure how to take the first step. My name is Brian Patterson and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's Rompod. Well, hey there, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Brian's Rumpod. I'm your host, brian Patterson. Today, I've got a fantastic guest lined up for you. We're chatting with Rachel Senders, the powerhouse behind rachelmichellrunningcom. Now, I do have something in common with Rachel, as we both have children who were born 10 weeks premature but more of that later and also I'm a twin Rachel's not just.
Speaker 1:Yes, I am. Rachel's just not any running coach. She's a marathoner. She's conquered races like Chicago, boston and Berlin Plus. She's gearing up for London, and all the while raising funds for the March of Dimes in honour of her twins, owen, and Berlin Plus she's gearing up for London, and all the while raising funds for the March of Dimes in honour of her twins, owen and Olivia. In our conversation, rachel will share her transition from casual runner to dedicated coach, her passion for helping others finding joy in running, and how she balances training with family life. Whatever you're a seasoned runner or just starting out, rachel's insights are just sure to inspire and motivate. So lace up your running shoes, get comfortable and let's dive in and chat with Rachel. So I see you've been out running already today.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's actually really nice here. I'm in Indiana by the way. So Midwest of the United States and we have all the seasons here and kind of last week got like a good taste of spring, which was awesome, and then my long run on Saturday it was hot and so windy like terribly windy. So finally today it was like a gorgeous, beautiful day so it felt so good to get outside on any.
Speaker 1:any day feels good, but especially good when the weather is perfect yeah, I mean I know I I really enjoy this time of year, especially it's kind of getting to the spring yeah, and you feel like it's you don't feel the elements are battling against you when you're going out yeah, yeah, we've had a pretty rough winter so it's nice to see the other side of it okay, before we go into, uh, how is your training going for london?
Speaker 1:I just wanted to go back with a lot of my guests as to what was your experience of exercise slash running when you were growing up in high school.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was not an athlete at all. I just I never liked sports that involved balls and coordination and I just I wasn't good at that sort of thing. I played through like elementary school and stuff. I did like various sports then, but it was more just for like a social thing. Um went to high school and was not like skilled enough at any sport to play really like. I went to a decent size, fairly competitive high school and um, just, I did tennis for like two years but I wasn't very good. It was like one of the teams that you could just walk on and play um, so I just I never really found my thing.
Speaker 2:I don't know why I didn't try running at that time. It just did not appeal to me at all. Like the thought of going out and joining the cross country team and running for X number of minutes just did not appeal to me. So it's interesting to think now like what my running would be like if I had given it a shot. Then it makes me wonder, because I'm like maybe I wouldn't like running as much now if I had started so soon. Some people, I feel like, get burned out on it if they start at a young age. That's not true for everyone, but for me it was like I had to find it on my own, so it wasn't really until so after high school here, then we go to college for four years. Really, in college I kind of started just like very casually going for a run, mainly because I was having fun and you know like drinking and partying and.
Speaker 2:I felt like I needed to start doing something to take care of myself. Yeah, and I was a college student.
Speaker 2:Running is cheap, you know you just put on some shoes and you go run. So it was an easily accessible thing for me to do and I just started to enjoy it. It was just kind of like my escape, my time to myself in college, and I was not paying attention to my paces or anything. It was more just like let's go get some exercise. And it just started to become a like addiction. Basically Like it was just like this is what I'm going to add into my life on a regular basis now.
Speaker 1:Now, being a Brit and sort of kind of get the impression that in the US that in some universities sports is very much encouraged, sports is very much encouraged. Was that the case in your? I mean, I don't know what you majored in, but I mean, was that the kind of case in your university or not?
Speaker 2:I went to a really small college so it is sports are a big deal here. To play at the college level any sport, you really have to be the best of the best. Where I went to school like I was a smaller school so you didn't have to be quite as good, you know. But it still is hard to play anything at a college level or run or anything. So yes, it was a big deal in that I like deal in that I like enjoyed watching sports and like cheering for the team um, but not so much that I felt the desire to be involved in.
Speaker 1:It was sport big thing in your family or, um, not huge.
Speaker 2:I mean, I have one brother right and he did soccer and lacrosse, which are both big here, but it wasn't like anything my parents really like pushed on me and forced me to do. I think I pushed back a lot Like I don't want to participate in this, I don't want it. Like I didn't want to do volleyball as big here. That wasn't like a thing that I enjoyed, so they never really forced me to, and it took college when I started running on my own, like took me finding it on my own time to really decide like this is actually fun.
Speaker 2:Um, and it's one of those things is like I don't know if my parents would have forced me to run sooner, I probably would have not liked it. Like I was the type that was like I don't want to do what you're making me do.
Speaker 1:I want to find things on my own yeah um so was there a particular event, that sort of thought? Well, maybe I could not, you know, not seriously, but you know I can sort of take it to the next level yeah, so I.
Speaker 2:So I live in Indianapolis, indiana, and I don't know how much you know about Indy 500 race cars are really big here.
Speaker 1:I'm a Formula One fan, okay.
Speaker 2:So Indy cars started here.
Speaker 2:So, we have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in May every year is our really big half marathon. It used to be the largest in the United States, so the Indy mini marathon, so part of that you do run around the track, which is two and a half miles, so it's a really cool attraction for people. A lot of people come from all over to do this. So it starts in downtown Indianapolis and you have to go west and then you go around the speedway and back to downtown. It's kind of like our biggest one. So I was like you know what? Like the mini is really cool. It's a good local race.
Speaker 2:it's 13.1 miles, like I want to try this okay and I'm kind of in the person to like if, if I decide I want to do something, like, I am pretty self-motivated to make that happen. So it was after I was done with college and I lived in Indianapolis and I was working and everything I just decided, like I want to do the mini. I'm going to start training for it. So I just like found online a basic like mileage training plan and checked off my days as I went along um, no workouts or anything, just running for miles, and I was not, not fat, um. So I did my first half marathon and it took me almost three hours. So I don't even know what that pace equals something in the 12 minute, 13 minute.
Speaker 2:I don't know I'm talking in miles. I'm probably confusing you, I don't know. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think a three hour half marathon is not.
Speaker 2:it's not bad. It was my first one and I that kind of just like lit my fire to like I want to do this again and do it better the next time. So I did, I kept trying and every it was kind of just like in every year I'll do the mini and um did that for several years and slowly got faster at it and then kind of decided like well, that that's always in the spring, Maybe I should do a half marathon in the fall also, so we have some other another good local race, um in Indianapolis in the fall. So I started to start doing that for a half and just bounce back and forth between those two races basically, and had kids along the way.
Speaker 1:So there is time off and all that.
Speaker 2:It was really after I had kids that I I pushed them a lot in the jogging stroller right and it helped me get so much faster. So really push them for all my training runs. I would be out running and I would have two. I had twins first and I'd have two babies in my stroller pushing them, and then I would go do a local race. I'm like this is easier, like I can run faster now so it was a form of form of yeah, it was, and also.
Speaker 1:They obviously week by week, or they're getting heavier as well yeah, they're getting heavier too, exactly so I'm getting stronger yeah, yeah, exactly yeah but you didn't do uh at the time. Well, maybe you didn't have the time to do any sort of supplemental training or classic, you know, like weight training or anything like that. It was all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I belonged to like a local YMCA like gym. I would just do the elliptical way too much like do other cardio things? Um, maybe once in a while go to like a strength training class there, but it was never anything that was like regular right, it was just kind of like oh, I have time, I'll go do this. Um, it was mostly just running and cardio right, so obviously you felt well, ever since that particular did you do so?
Speaker 1:it was like you. You set yourself a goal that you're going to do this particular half marathon in, you know, at the other speedway and then. But you didn't do any sort of like.
Speaker 2:You know, five take, 5k, 10ks or any yeah, I think I started like we have a few different local races around the holidays, like some of them are big holidays are the fourth of july or thanksgiving, so there's always like a 5k or shorter distance run then, so I would do those two. Um, but I found myself more and more signing up for just a variety of local races because I just enjoyed it a lot.
Speaker 1:All right, okay, so you talked about your twins briefly there. So, and I know you raise before we get on to you forming the community, so I know you raise money for the charity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did New York City in the fall last year so I did March of Dimes for a fundraiser for New York City. So my twins were born at 30 weeks, so they were about 10 weeks premature and they were little, itty bitty like three pounds each. Um, they spent 10 weeks in the NICU so they didn't come home really until their due date and, um, I don't know. You know you've had a child in the yeah, alice yeah.
Speaker 1:Alice was. We call it SCABU. Special care baby unit. But yeah she was there six weeks yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's hard. I mean it was a lot of like up and down, like, oh, they're gaining weight, they're maintaining their body temperature, oh no, now we had a bad day, so it was just a lot of up and downs. Then times two, um all right so it was a hard time for us, um, but I'm so, so thankful. Like we have wonderful hospital near here, wonderful doctors and nurses who took care of them, and it just they became like extended family to us right, we spent so much time there, so just both fine they're good now yeah they're good so new york city was over their 13th birthday, so it just seemed fitting that, um, I would do march of dimes in their honor.
Speaker 2:And then they also came along to new york city when I did the marathon, so they got a birthday trip out of it too all right, okay, are they coming?
Speaker 1:have they come to london with you or no?
Speaker 2:they're not sadly, they want to, but, um, my husband, just my husband, oh okay okay, so, um, so you've decided that.
Speaker 1:Well, you're getting stronger through using the stroller, uh, and everything. So, what you know in your minds, did you think that I could? You know either, take this, uh, help others, as it were?
Speaker 2:yeah, um, I started to learn more on my own about training and the different training philosophies and how to get faster, um, how to really train properly versus just going out and doing every run at a harder, I mean I ran too many runs at a harder effort.
Speaker 2:Basically, I learned more about like the easy days easy and then specific workouts that you do for whatever goal race you have. I kind of learned that on my own and started to have really good success. So I got, I remember I finished a half marathon and I was like a huge PR for me and I thought this was easy. I could do this another time, I could do a full marathon and I could qualify for Boston and I just it just like kind of hit me like why? Why am I not trying? Like I just was always partially just because of like young kids at home. So I also have a younger daughter as well. So I have three kids total, daughter as well, so I have three kids total.
Speaker 2:And I was at the point in my life where my kids were probably like five and two or something, so they were old, not older, but like I could get away. My husband was willing to like share responsibilities with me and I could get away and train more. And again, I'm just very self-motivated and I was like if I could run this half marathon at this pace, you know there's calculators online that will tell you like okay, if you want to do a full, that's what it would equal. And I was like that's a BQ time for me, like I could do this, and then at the time I was doing a lot on my own but I thought I could have a coach who could help me.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So I sought out a coach just a local coach here, yeah and I trained with her and I just learned a lot from the experience and I was just thinking to myself like this was really fun. I've learned so much on my own. I want to be the person that's helping others now, like this. This is my passion. Um, I've seen myself grow so much as a runner and I just feel like, so having a running coach doesn't need to be something that's only for an elite runner or someone that's like the top I use. You know, you used to think like, oh, I'm not worthy of a running coach. I just I'm a mid-pack runner and that's not true. Like anyone can have a running coach. Um, so I was at that time in my life. Was a good point in my career? Um, yeah, that I was going to take a step back from my full-time job just to be more present at home with my kids.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, I like to be busy and I like to always do stuff and I was like yeah, like I was at home with my kids but I still needed something to fulfill my passion and to make me happy as a person. And run coaching just fit the bill completely. Like I can be a running coach during the day when my kids are in preschool or in school. I can have my outlet, I can work with others, but then I can, it can work around my schedule and I'm not going to like have time away from my kids because of it. It's not going to like hinder like my family in any way yeah it just fell into place and it just um started.
Speaker 2:My coaching started about six years ago and okay I only had a handful of runners. I mean, I'm just like posting this on facebook, basically like I'm gonna be a running coach. Like a couple of people reached out and I loved it, so did you do anything like professional qualifications.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did the Roadrunners Club of America, so that's RRCA that we have here. So I did this was all pre all pre COVID. So I did go away for the weekend. Now it's you're okay. Now it's mostly just an online process, but at that time it was an in-person training, so it was a weekend away and I loved it. Like I got to know these people that I was like learning with. We bounced ideas off each other. It was so fun and I was just like it just lit my fire, like this is what I'm going to go do, I'm going to start this business and, like I said, I'm just motivated to do things when I feel like it's the right thing.
Speaker 1:You found that, okay, you were learning on your own sort of thing. Was there anything that you found when you, when you were with you know others, um, that that's under something, that kind of yeah, I think a lot of coaching you can get the.
Speaker 2:the training that I went to was great, like it's. All this is the different philosophies and this is how things work. This is what lactate threshold is, but it's coaching to me. My coaching has evolved tremendously. You just you learn more about how to be a better coach, and that's not something that you can get taught in a classroom setting or from a book that you can get taught in a classroom setting or from a book. It's more about getting to know other people's personalities and how they operate and learning how someone might react to something versus someone else. And you just I think I've become I know I've become a better coach over the last six years because I've had so many experiences to learn from and just it takes time yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, uh, obviously you're a better coach now than you were then. Is there anything you would have told yourself now? Well, if you told yourself, then from coming, from the experience that you've.
Speaker 2:I think, to learn to just focus more on like learning how athletes like feel versus like okay, I see your workout, I see your numbers. That looks good, let's continue going. Now I'm more like do you, how do those paces feel Like? I want my athletes to feel like they don't have to look at their watch to know kind of what they're running Like, and I want to know, like you learn, how it feels or like, say, you're training for a marathon. I want someone to understand, like their effort level. So you go out and you run a marathon and you know you don't put a hundred percent effort into those first several miles. That's not the goal. I want to teach people how to properly race and when to really push for the effort, and I think a lot of that comes from me just communicating with them. So after a workout I can see the data, but I'm also leaving comments and I want feedback.
Speaker 2:How did this really feel? Did this feel like this was way too hard of an effort and you're now? You're down in a hole that you're going to take days to recover from. Then I need to make sure I adjust my workouts for you properly. Did this feel totally fine? Your heart rate was in the range. It should be great. So I just think back then I didn't know to get so into how people feel and like communicate as much as I do now.
Speaker 1:Right, I know, running as well, over the last 10 years and 15 years it's totally evolved. What sort of changes have you seen? I mean I know. I mean we talk about the technology, I mean the.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, of mean we talk about the technology. I mean the you know, of course we talk about shoes, the shoes and everything like that. You know what changes have you seen?
Speaker 2:I mean, the biggest positive I think I've seen is that many runners now are doing so much better with fueling and nutrition and hydration. I think there's just been more of a push just on social media or just anywhere you go more access to different nutrition products. So, like when I first started running, I don't know what you guys have, but we just had this like goo brand gels that were like thick, hard on your stomach, just sat in your stomach.
Speaker 2:And now there's just so many options and I think communicating with my runners, too, about nutrition has been amazing and people were way under fueling for so long. Or you get up and you run early in the morning, fasted five days a week. You need some nutrition in there. You're going to feel better on your run. You're going to recover better.
Speaker 2:so it's not just learning nutrition during the run, but like what you need afterwards to really, like, feel your body properly. Um, that's, I think that's been a huge change in how people feel on the run and afterwards.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do do? Do people come to you and say, well, I know, personally myself, I'm kind of better in the morning, although you know, um, I'm 60 now, but uh, but I mean, I know, maybe 20 years ago I, you know, I would think nothing of going out the door at five, but, um, uh, the door at half five but, um, I find I really, really. You know, if I have to go to the gym or go running after work, I have to really really have to motivate myself, but I do feel a lot better for it. I mean, do you have you? Have you found that from talking to your clients?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, a lot of people have just scheduling restrictions that are just like this is when I have to go. So then it's like okay, you have to run it early in the morning. Let's figure out a plan that we make sure you eat something small before you go or you do some sort of dynamic workout to warm up so you're not just going out there on legs that just rolled out of bed and you feel a little better.
Speaker 2:So it's just a matter or knowing someone's schedule and being like they tell me, like this day I can get into work later. I'm like, okay, well then we'll do your workout that day, like it's a matter of working around someone's schedule or they just they have more free time on the weekend, so obviously that's when we're going to do your long run and.
Speaker 2:I um trying to make it work, so I I'm never going to tell an athlete like you can only run after work. That's not going to work for me. If you run in the morning, it's. I think that what I do really has to fit into their lives, like I don't want someone to come to me looking for a coach and I'm like this is what you have to do. This is when you have to do it and it becomes this huge burden in their life.
Speaker 2:I want coaching to be a joyful experience. I want it to be fun. I want it to fit into your lifestyle so that you don't feel like it's a have to do. It's something you want to do yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's good.
Speaker 1:So, um, I know you had one of your uh runners. Um, there's, I think is it liz b?
Speaker 2:I think you said you sort of with I was managed to do a 20 minute personal record yeah, it's probably that she was one of my initial ones um that I trained and she did do chicago marathon yeah but yes, I've had that. I think you probably got that on my website yeah, yeah, I think I did yeah I'm not super great at technology, so I have not updated that in a while.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna lie like that is not I'm just a one-woman show here, so yes, I've had amazing successes with prs and athletes that have qualified for boston, which is a huge goal for a lot of people. Um, one of my athletes that I've coached for years like she's in the ultra world now, so she did a hundred mile race, so that's really I know, I know. Um, stuff like that is so exciting to me, though, because it forces me to like grow as an, as a coach, and learn more about the other distances. Um, yeah, but I think just beyond like saying I've helped so-and-so PR or cut off all this time, I think other like as a coach, I'm really proud of just people that run smarter. Or like maybe you don't PR in your race, but you finished feeling good. You didn't finish like thinking you were dying and you're in bad shape, you know. I just I want people to learn how to run properly and how to feel good and feel good about themselves yeah.
Speaker 1:So what's your do? Do you remotely coach, or is it predominantly?
Speaker 2:a lot of your clients are one-to-one um yeah, everyone's one-to-one, so everything I do is totally customized for my athletes. It's all online. Okay, I use a training platform that's online yeah I program your workouts there and then, with your smartwatch, all the data syncs back okay, which one's?
Speaker 1:which one's that? V.02 okay, yeah, I've heard of other ones coach athlete.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's several different ones out there that are all pretty similar.
Speaker 1:You can put in a diary of their runs, you know, according to that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:And then there's a spot after each activity. They can leave me a comment and I can leave comments, so I encourage a lot of communication then through the app, so it's all in one place. A lot of times, if something bigger comes up, like I'm like, send me an email, we'll set up a time to talk on the phone and work through this.
Speaker 2:So I want to be accessible as much as possible because of just me living in the indianapolis indiana area and word of mouth like a good amount of my athletes live here locally. Yeah, so I am able to. I don't necessarily run with them as a coach, like. I'm friends with a bunch of them, so we do meet up for runs and stuff, yeah, but I'm at least at all the local races, so I want to be out there cheering and being a supportive person, and so I do get a lot of like my local runners get a lot of visibility, okay, um, I do have people then throughout the rest of the country as well which I don't get to see in person as much, but I still am just on top of things when it comes to communicating with them and being available for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.