Over the Next Hill Fitness

S3 Ep 21Passport, Party Pace, And Toe Socks: Kathy Muska's Unexpected Adventures

• Carla Coffey

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What if one friend’s “we could train” turned into a new life, a new community, and a marathon that needs a passport? Kathy joins us to share how a reluctant walker became a purpose-led runner who lost over 100 pounds, found her pace in the back-of-the-pack party, and discovered a mission bigger than finish times: raising funds so people with cancer can pay their bills through Gardner’s House.

We trace Kathy’s health reboot after thyroid and parathyroid surgery, the Facebook challenges that built real strength one squat and push-up at a time, and the moment a local half marathon connected her miles to a cause. She breaks down the practical wins that changed everything—proper shoe fittings, toe-sock fixes for stubborn blisters, consistent rehab with dry needling and e-stim, and the fueling tweaks that turned a bonk-prone runner into someone who finishes strong and smiles through mile 20.

Then we dive into the Detroit International Marathon route: sunrise over the Ambassador Bridge, a tour of Windsor, and the loud, humid “underwater mile” back through the tunnel. Kathy’s training is laced with community—sponsor-a-mile fundraising, names on her shirt for loved ones, and the Run 169 Society’s quirky joy with elusive towns, pop-up races, and multi-generational inspiration. Her core message is simple and sticky: aim for 1% better every day, and let small, consistent actions compound into something you’re proud of.

If you need a nudge to start, a reminder to keep going, or a reason bigger than yourself to lace up, this conversation is for you. Listen, share it with someone who needs the push, and tell us: what’s your next bold mile? Subscribe, leave a review, and pass this episode to a friend who could use a hand at their back.

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SPEAKER_01:

Hello and welcome back to Over the Next Tale Fitness Podcast. I'm Carla Coffey, your coach and host for today's program. I do want to let you know that I have a couple of virtual spots left for coaching. I probably could fit one local person for Madison in, but that would be a push. But I do have some uh virtual spots if you're interested. You can reach out to me, Carla, at coffeecrew coaching.com. You could go to the website of the coffeecrew coaching.com and sign up there as well. Um but yeah, check it out if you're interested. If you need somebody for a running coach or just a general fitness coach, I'd be happy to see if we're compatible and can work together. I know I'm not for everybody, but you know, I have a good set of people that can tolerate me, so that's always fun. If you are listening to this podcast on your favorite platform, I do want to let you know that I do have a YouTube channel of the same name over the next Till Fitness Podcast. And if you're watching me on YouTube, you can go to the podcast and actually listen on your favorite platform there. So a couple ways that you can listen to the program. Today we're gonna be talking to Kathy Musca. Um had a real fun time with Kathy, Kathy. Um, very uh inspirational. I think you guys are gonna really, really like her um her story. And so let's listen in. Hi, Kathy. Welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me. My pleasure. So let's start right off the bat and tell me how you got into running. Tell the audience too, obviously.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, yeah. Uh I blame my friend Gosha. Um, yeah. So I had been walking and doing a lot of walking and walking with her. And one day she said, Oh, I can't walk today. So I said, Okay, well I'll get on the treadmill. And I um we walked about five miles on the treadmill, and then she goes, Oh, I can walk now. So I hopped off the treadmill and met her. And where we walked in Main Street in our town, we did it, it was about an eight-mile loop. And I thought she was gonna be nice since I had already done five miles and she was not. And so by the time, you know, she's Polish and she's a great, a great motivator. And she said, you know, when we finished, she said, Oh, you've just done the distance of half marathon. I'm like, Yeah, I don't run. She goes, but we could train. I'm like, but I don't run. And she's like, but we could train. I'm like, but I don't like running. There is nothing you could make me do to make me want to run. And she's like, but we could train. So I said, fine, I will do a uh we'll do a 5K. And so I downloaded an app and did like my first 5K. And I was definitely a very reluctant runner. And but when we did the 5K, we did it in less time than I thought by like five minutes. Nice. So that kind of hooked me. And then I I ran into, I'm from Connecticut and ran into some people there that I knew that were part of this group called the Run 169 Society, where you run a timed race in every town in Connecticut. Oh, wow. There's 169 towns. And I don't know what made me decide to join, but I did. And um, and then we did a couple months later, I did my first 10K. And then at that point, I said, um fine, I'll sign up for a half marathon. But this was also actually after losing 100 pounds. So yeah. Thanks, thanks. So it was uh so I had been running, I had been doing challenges through Facebook for the American Cancer Society, and that was kind of how I lost the weight. Um, and I was raising a lot of money for them. And so when it came time to run the half marathon in Hartford, um uh my one of my girlfriends who had breast cancer said, you know, I see you've been doing a lot for the American Cancer Society, and I'd like to run the half marathon with you, but can we find a local charity? Like, yeah, I'm open to anything. So I literally went on Facebook and put local charity cancer and found um this small charity out of Hartford called Gardner's House. And uh and they um they helped people with cancer pay their bills. And you know, and when I met Maggie Gardner, she was just such an inspiration to me. She's a two-time breast cancer survivor. And the first time she said, I had a house, I had a job, I had insurance, and I had a significant other. And the second time I had none of those and ended up um living on people's couches, living out of my car. And she went to the American Cancer Society and said, I need help. And they said, Well, we only fund research. And um, so then she went to the Susan G. Comen and they basically told her the same thing. And she said, if I make it through this, then I'm gonna help people with cancer live. And so she's been doing that for about 14, 15 years now. And I so I felt very honored um and blessed to meet her, and and she was like, I can't believe that you're just willing to do this and raise money. So I have done um three half marathons and raise money for for them. And at the ball last year, she does a ball every year in October. She had me stand up and in front of 300 people said, Well, Kathy's gonna run a marathon for us. And I'm just standing there going, No, no, Kathy has no plans of ever running a marathon. And she kept saying, Yes, Kathy's gonna run a marathon. And I'm like, What is she doing to me? And a couple days later, I had a patient who was Jamaican, and she said, Kathy, speak it into being. And I was like, What does that mean? And she's like, say it and it will happen. And I'm like, and I guess I'm running a marathon. So I've been training for my marathon for uh since December, and it's in three weeks from today. So I'm you know, I have all of the feels the anxiety, the excitement, and the you know, absolutely terrified.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I feel like we should have waited three weeks to uh record this.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you know, I can always come back.

SPEAKER_01:

So speaking of um time, yeah, tell us when it was that you started with the walking and the working out and losing the weight and how long that progression was before you did your first 5k and all that. When uh when did all this take place?

SPEAKER_00:

So I had um surgery uh August of 2020, where they removed the rest of my thyroid and I had a parathyroid that was misbehaving. And um, so I had that removed, and for the first time in many, many years, by October, I was like, I actually feel good. And it took a, you know, I mean, years, years. I had had the other half of my thyroid removed before I had kids, um, so over 20 years ago, and um because uh it was a benign tumor, and I kept saying to them at the time, just remove the whole thing, and they said, No, no, no, the other side's fine. And then I went through several endocrinologists who just told me I was fat and depressed, and I kept saying, I just I feel like that's not the case, but and then I finally found a very good endocrinologist who listened to me, and he actually was the one who found out that I had the hyperparathyroidism, and um, he's been fabulous. But that October he was like, you know, maybe we should think about bariatric surgery. And I said, you know, I know me, it's just not for me. And so um he did say, you know, you're diabetic. And so he did put me on Ozempic. Um, and like I said, it kind of just happened at the same time. I saw this Facebook challenge for um the American Cancer Society, and it said 50 squats a day. And I was like, oh, I can do that, and I signed up, and then I was like, oh God, what was I thinking? I can't do 50 squats, what am I gonna do? And I I'm a home care physical therapist, so I ended up um saying, Okay, how do I how would I teach my patients? So I had two weeks until the challenge started, and I um held on to the kitchen sink and I did 10. And so over those two weeks, I built up um and did them with my patients actually. And so by the time the challenge started, I could do 50 in a day, um, but definitely not in a row. And by the end of the first month, I was able to do 50 in a row, and so that kind of hooked me. And then the second month, they did the same thing. So I was like, well, I know I can do this. And so I did that again. And by the end of that month, I was able to use weights and not hold on anymore. Yeah, I mean, just it was the consistency, yeah, yeah, and of doing a little something every day. And then the next month, American Cancer Society really messed me up and they said 25 push-ups. And I went, I can't do a push-up. And then I said, Okay, how would I teach my patients? And so I uh did them on the wall and did wall push-ups until those got easy, and then went to the counter. And when those got easy, I then went to um the stairs, and by the end of the month, I could do one on the floor, and I was thrilled that I could do one standard push-up. And you know, but it was just the progress. And then by that point, I was three months in and I was starting to notice that my body was changing. And and then I think the next month was um was walk 30 miles in a in a month, and I was like, a mile a day. I'm like a mile a day, okay, I can do that. And so, but I was also kind of still doing the squats, and um, so it took me, so then I I just did whatever the challenge was, you know, and one month it was 60 miles, and you know, and then there I think there was like a Parkinson's one that kicked in, and you know, I do kind of and then I had some people join me, you know. Um, so that made it, we had a little Facebook messenger group, which was fun. And uh we kind of held each other accountable, which was good, and then so it took me about a year to lose 80 pounds. And um, and but by then I was really, I was like really noticing it wasn't just about the weight, like I really never intended to lose the weight. And you know, my endocrinologist was like, but you've changed your life. You know, I completely changed everything about my life, and um, you know, everybody was noticing it around me, my kids, and you know, it and it changed the way that I practice as a therapist too, because instead of giving people 10 exercises and saying, do three of these 10 sets or three re 10 reps, three sets three times a day to I want you to do these four exercises and do them 10 reps once a day, and that's it. And they all looked at me like you know, really, that's it. And they'd all end up doing a little bit more than what I told them to do. But you know, I'm like, it doesn't take a lot, it just takes doing something consistently, yeah. And so yeah, so then I ended up um uh it was about a year probably a year and a half into my journey when my my girlfriend convinced me that we needed to start running. And um, yeah, so I've been running for about three and a half years now.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And is she doing the marathon with you?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, nobody is, no, no, it will be other runners, just nobody you know. Yes, uh it I'm doing actually um Detroit, the Detroit International Marathon.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah, that was rated number one this year in the country for because it's so cool. You actually have to carry your passport on you um because you run into Canada. Um, but my nephew actually is responsible for that because he said, Oh, I want to run this half marathon with my aunts because one of my sisters, my sister lives out uh near Detroit. And so I originally had committed to doing the half marathon. I didn't sign up yet, but when we were talking about it, I'm like, Yeah, I'll do that with you. And then, you know, Maggie talked about the marathon, so I was like, Well, I'll do the marathon, you guys do the half marathon. And um, so January 1st came when you could sign up, and I signed up for the marathon, and nobody else did. So, not even my nephew, not even for the half. Oh no, no, no, yeah. So luckily, I'll have a support team out there. You know, my sister and and um her family will be there, and my parents are actually coming out.

SPEAKER_01:

So and what is your nephew's name?

SPEAKER_00:

Sam.

SPEAKER_01:

Sam Shane Muska. Yeah, right? Muscle. We'll call him out.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, absolutely. Well, I will say he did a uh 50 mile trail race. That he once he did that, he's like, I think I'm gonna take a hiatus from running.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, okay, maybe Volatima.

SPEAKER_00:

I know that.

SPEAKER_01:

I know, but I still give him a hard time about it. Well, yeah, you have to, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I think my niece might be running that one in Detroit. It's pretty cool. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, it's pretty nice. Yeah, like you run across, I mean, it's fairly flat, which is nice. I mean, you run across the ambassador bridge into Canada, and apparently that's like at sunrise. Oh, and so it's very pretty. And then you run about six or seven miles in um in Canada. And I guess they changed the course because they redid the town green and they want to show off the town green. So, yeah, so you go around Windsor Town Green, and then you come um into the tunnel, the underwater mile is what they call it. To yeah, so they said that part is kind of um it's hot and humid and loud and terrifying. Yeah, yeah. But I guess they give you like a special time for that one mile, you know, to see how fast you are underwater.

SPEAKER_01:

So okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um but it sounds interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

That would probably be my fastest because I'm a just a little bit claustrophobic. So in a car, I'd probably be okay because it's what a minute, but yeah, I I'm not a minute runner mile. So I don't know, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I I'm saying the same thing that I, you know, I'm not really claustrophobic, but just the the thoughts, you know, then I'm thinking that's probably gonna be one of my faster miles, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, because there's another place where there's an underwater tunnel, I can't remember where, but um, and in that one, I know occasionally you can see water dripping, and so yeah, that would just freak me out.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I've seen videos where there is some water dripping. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But they're they're very proud of it. They actually just posted a video, you know, the the race people just posted a video about it. And they're very proud of the whole relationship that Windsor and Detroit have and this tunnel, and so we'll see.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well that's great. I'm excited for you. Hey. I look forward to hearing hearing how that goes. So you are you still doing the uh monthly challenges through the Cancer Society?

SPEAKER_00:

I have not. Um, I haven't done those in probably a couple of years since I started doing since I started fundraising for for Gardner's House.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I just felt that local have trying to find a local charity that helps people locally, that that would um that that's more near and dear to my heart. Um on the back of my shirt is actually a lot of names, and unfortunately way too many names. And um, it's all the people that I run in honor or in memory of. And um October of 2020, I had four girlfriends diagnosed with breast cancer. And yeah, and so uh one of them was a coworker, and um, two of them unfortunately have passed away. One is the one that suggested a local charity, and she kicks my butt in all of the races that we've run together. And um, the fourth is still going through treatment. So that kind of, you know, my mom is a breast cancer survivor. My fiance's sister passed away from breast cancer, and I unfortunately never met her. But um, yeah, the list is is grows unfortunately way too much every year that I have the woman make shirts for me. And um, she's actually said we can't add any more this year. So I don't know what I'm gonna do because I, you know, I always have people that want their name on the back. So and honestly, the front and the side. I know, I know. I'm like, well, I have so this year I ran um the Portland half Portland Maine half marathon, and then I had the the Detroit symbol put on. Um but yeah, so I may have to take those off and start putting names, you know, I don't know, on the sleeves or something, but you know unfortunately, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, yeah, that's that's not cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. But honestly, I ran one one race and I was just really, really struggling, and I kind of said, like, God, I just need some help. And I it was a weird feeling, but I felt like hands on my back. And I was like, Oh, they are all with me, yeah, you know, helping me along.

SPEAKER_01:

So take yourself out of it and remember while you're running.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So yeah, so people have always like, why do you do this? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. I never intended to run, but this year has definitely been in it, you know, different.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what all do you do to help raise money for them?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I do different uh different different things. I have a GoFundMe right now for this one. Um, but like when I was running my the half marathon, I did a sponsor of mile. Um I I'm actually doing that for the marathon right now, too. And you know, just sharing the GoFundMe on social media with my friends and coworkers, you know, my fiance, having him share it, um, you know, people that are on the shirt asking them to share. Um, and then having shirts made up and selling them. Um, so you know, any profit from the shirt goes right to Gardner's house. And then I did um I did a Super Bowl pool too. And but that was, you know, it was like a not a 50-50, but something similar. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So how many years have you been raising money for them? Three?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, three. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, because I ran my first half marathon October uh three years ago.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. We will definitely put links um in the uh description notes. Um, and hopefully some of these fine listeners will go on there and donate to your cause.

SPEAKER_00:

That would be wonderful. You know, I mean, I I didn't find running until I was 51, and I'll be 55 in January. And I I I have such a different life because of it. And the people that I've met, I had no idea. Like at the 10K that I ran, I met a lot of the back of the packers, and I love those people. I don't know about the people in the front, you know, they're usually in their cars and gone by the time I get there. But um, you know, but the people that are in the back, you know, it's the party pace, they call it that for a good reason. And I'm definitely not fast, you know, and I don't care. Um, it's it's more I I I want to enjoy myself. I did the Philly Love Run in uh March, and the atmosphere at that race was just so incredible. And I literally I had gotten injured and I had no expectations at all for that race. And I was like, I'm just gonna go have fun. And I actually got, you know, like one of my lower times. I couldn't believe it. So like I just I was taking pictures the whole time and just enjoying the scenery because at that race, you finish at the bottom of the Rocky Stairs. Oh, yeah, it's so much fun, you know. So, of course, the assignment is you've gotta run off the Rocky Stairs, right? You know, my son was so mortified. Like, but I'm like, Ma, I'm not honey, there were a lot of other people who did it. Yeah, he's like, Yeah, but nobody my age. So I started showing him all the videos of all of the people of all ages that were doing it. He's like, Okay, fine. But that's really cool. It was very cool. It was very cool. So, you know, I mean, I think there's 25,000 people doing the marathon in Detroit. So, you know, it should be, and there's actually a few people from Connecticut that are gonna be out there um that we've connected through that run 169 group.

SPEAKER_01:

And so um I it really is that I would love that.

SPEAKER_00:

It's very cool. It's it's really all ages and abilities. I mean, there and there's a couple dogs, and and they basically um when you get to 100 towns and you get to 169, there's celebrations for both. Um, the hundred, you know, and then there at the 169, you get actually crowned as royalty. So um it's very cool. So people wear tutus, and there there was one lady that she loves to wear costumes. So at hers, everybody that ran it, it was just a mile race, but everybody that ran it ran wearing dinosaur costumes. Oh, it was hilarious.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a YouTube video. Yes, oh god, it's hysterical.

SPEAKER_00:

It was hilarious with little T-Rex and they make such a funny noise when you run.

SPEAKER_01:

I've seen them in a race like Ram Ram, and it was it's the greatest. I I'm gonna have to look that up and watch that again.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was it was very funny, and unfortunately I got sick, so I couldn't do that race. But um, but yeah, so it's always a big the 169 is a huge celebration, and um there's uh about um there's like over 5,000 members in the in the run 169 group.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Um yeah, and but there's I think it's less than 300 people who have actually completed all 169 towns.

SPEAKER_01:

So now how do they get all of the towns to agree to a timed race? Because some of them got to be just like a four-way stop or something, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so it it's very interesting. So there's people that are just love to be race directors. So sometimes they'll do a pop-up one in a park or um, you know, around a field. We had one, um, there was one race, well, actually three towns in one day, and they were all next to each other. So we did like a mile and a half at this town, 2.1 at the, you know, and then you got in the car and drove to the next town, and then you got into the car and drove to the next town and um and did, you know, 1.6 there. So, you know, all told, I think we did like six miles, but it was between three towns, you know, and you just bang it out in one day. And then there were a whole bunch of people that got in their cars and drove two hours to another part of the state and did another town. That was crazy. But wow, yeah. And there's a few people, there's a couple of people who have done two rounds um of the 169 or three rounds, and then there's kids, and then there's some people who walk every race instead. And I mean, there's kids, and then there's um the over 60 crowd have they call themselves the sizzlers, and so they they are great, and then um we have people that are in their 80s that are doing it, so I love it. We had one race on July 4th where 1,200 people did the race, and there were 24 people in the 70 to 79 category, and yeah, and eight and in the 80 to 89, there was um there were 13 people.

SPEAKER_01:

Holy moly, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

I love seeing that. Absolutely, that's the best when you get older people to move.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's key. Well, and it's inspirational, you know, and it's saying, you know, because people will say to me, Oh, don't your knees hurt you? I'm like, my knees actually feel better when I'm running consistently than when I'm not.

SPEAKER_01:

You know. So yeah. So of the distances, not the marathon included yet, but of the distances you have run, what's your favorite?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, probably probably either the 5k or the 10K.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

My second 10K was the first time I actually felt like a runner. And that was over a year in. And I had done a half marathon by then. But um, yeah, it was I had it was a a race that was a a 10K and a half marathon, and they had pacers for the half marathon, and I actually stayed with some of the pacers because it was like you did six miles together, and then we broke off and finished, and they did the rest. And I was like, it was I I was so glad that I kind of stayed with the pacers, and like I I really and I had caught a lot of time off, so I was really pretty um happy with that, and it was a beautiful course and in Mystic, Connecticut, and it was just so it was. I mean, we have a pretty state, I will say, pretty hilly that you don't expect sometimes, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that what made you feel um like a real runner is because your pace dropped, or was there something else that what made you feel that? Because you that's what you said.

SPEAKER_00:

It made you nice. It it really was. It was it was just I felt like everything kind of came together. Um, and I it and I just felt good. I I felt good, like, oh, okay, like that wasn't bad. I I I did that, you know. Um, but then like yesterday I did my 20 miler, my last before I tapered now, and I expected to feel pretty crummy, and um I felt like I had my nutrition down, my fueling down, and um, and I I actually was up until like 10 o'clock last night and didn't even nap.

SPEAKER_01:

So wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I was pretty impressed. So I'm like, you know, at the end of that, I'm like, I think I got this. That's it with me.

SPEAKER_01:

And how are the legs feeling today after that 20 miler?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I did three miles today, so all right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so I feel pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, I'm a little sore, but and I have a great physical therapist that really helps me quite a bit with the dry needling and that scraper thing.

SPEAKER_01:

And yeah, yeah, I see mine uh every Tuesday, so I'm aware of those guys. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you know, and he's so funny because he doesn't know how to deal with me because I'm a PT and I'm like, I don't I deal with old people, like these are not, this is not my. Wheelhouse, so just treat me like everybody else that doesn't know anything. I just know the about muscles, but I don't know this technique. Like I didn't learn dry needling, and you know, I did STEM, but adding STEM to dry needling is a foreign concept to me.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, that's about the only tools I don't have of my own because I have the cups and I have the grass and tool and I have like everything, but it's really hard to hurt yourself, and they really they work me over pretty good. Yeah. I never make cup marks on my legs, and they always make cup marks on my legs.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, he hasn't done cupping yet, but but he's done a lot of the stim with the dry needling, and that really has helped a lot. Yeah. Because I I got I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

Go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

I I got injured back in um like February. I was walking to a into a patient's house and I didn't realize that their driveway kind of dipped and I jammed my leg and got some hip pain. And I I didn't realize where it happened until I went back to her house and I was like, oh, this is where I did that. And at the time, um I had convinced myself that I had a stress fracture in in my hip. Um I have was diagnosed with a rare genetic syndrome that actually predisposes me to fracture. So I had really like built it up that I had fractured it. And so um I I had an MRI. I saw the PT and then I had an MRI, and luckily it was not, but I had a lot of you know, um tendonopathy, which was fun. And so he really helped to calm that down. And but with the marathon training and building that up, it's kind of come back a little bit. So luckily he's been he's been working on that for the past few weeks.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Prior to that injury, were you injury prone?

SPEAKER_00:

No. No, no, I mean years ago, I um not not since running. No, I hadn't I I when I was training for the first half marathon, I was getting like some I was getting some discomfort in my legs. And a friend of mine said, you really need to go and have a fitting done for shoes. And I was always a new balance person, you know, for decades I wore new balance and I would go and get the assessment done where you stand on the little machine. And um, then I ended up going to Fleet Feet, and they had the walking pad and and the standing thing. And um so I I did those and they brought out three pairs of shoes. And once I put the they did the new balance last, and once they put those on, I was like, oh my god, these are awful. They feel terrible. So I've been in Brooks ever since, but the the Brooks glycerin have been my my go-to for my long runs.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, one of my athletes, she's uh new athlete to me. Um, she was having some knee pain. I said, So when's the last time you bought uh running shoes? And she said, three years ago. Oh gosh. I didn't think to ask her, and she's only been with me for a couple of weeks now, but I didn't think to ask her that during our initial interview, not thinking that it had been three years since she bought shoes, you know. And so these are the shoes she walks the dog in, and she runs around town to, you know, chasing the kids, you know, getting the kids from this activity to that. And I'm like, okay, so you're gonna go to Fleet Viet and you're gonna get some shoes, get fitted for some shoes, and they are only for running. Yeah. Keep those other ones for you know, running around town and walking the dog, but these are your running shoes because it's amazing the injuries you can get just by having not the right shoe or two worn of shoes. Yeah. So shame on me for not asking her that sooner, but uh it was only a couple weeks, so we're good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, I mean, that's the nice thing. I I I've been using the Runa app for about probably about eight, nine, nine months now, and they actually track how many miles on your shoes. So that's really good, you know. So I can actually I've got my short run shoes and I've got my long run shoes, and um, so I had another pair that every time I wore, I think aggravated my hip, but it took me a while to figure that out, so they're out of the rotation. But um, but yeah, so I I'm coming close with my my marathon shoes. So I'm I'm hoping that I'll be okay.

SPEAKER_01:

You should probably get them today and wear them for the next couple weeks and wear them for the marathon, in my opinion, which means absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I I I'm at like 280 miles on them. So I never know exactly how many miles.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I don't track mine. I go, I look at the bottoms of them first of all, because I have a horrid gait and I chew up the bottom of the shoe. Um, but I also like if I start to have like some back pain or something or a knee that's not usual pain, I go, I must need new shoes, right? So then I flip them over and I go, Oh god, yeah, I need new shoes. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

The problem is I the thing that I'm scared about with getting new ones is the ones that I like, they don't make anymore. Yeah, they're the glycerin 21s, and I have a pair of glycerin 22s, but they're definitely not the same, and I don't like them as much. Yeah, and they don't carry them on at the store or or online either. I'll have to look online and see.

SPEAKER_01:

You probably will find a pair online.

SPEAKER_00:

True, true. That's true. I didn't even know.

SPEAKER_01:

I hate it when they change the model. Stop, just leave things alone. Yeah, so stupid.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, just make a different color, figure out a new, brand new, shocking color or something. Stop messing with the shoes. God makes me crazy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, it does. It is crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you wear special socks as well? Like a special brand.

SPEAKER_00:

I I bought Puma socks at Costco. And I just like them, they're very comfortable.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I've been so many brands, and finally, um, I wear Ingenie's now, the toe socks. Oh, really? Oh, yeah, and I love them, and I wear them all, I don't wear regular socks um unless I don't have anything warm enough, and then I have some real thick regular socks, right? Um but so Ingenie had quit for a little while making compression socks, like knee-high compression socks. And mine got, you know, holes, and so I had to throw them away. And so I tried to buy some online and they were just terrible. You could tell they it was like they tried to take a glove and just stretch it so it was long enough for your leg. Yeah, I don't know what, but it just hurt your feet. And they just started making um the socks again. I stumbled upon it on their website, and so but they only had one color. So I bought three pairs of all the same color because I'm like, I need these socks, these are what I need, you know. But yeah, and I will do that with shoes sometimes because they change them. And I hate the change because always is bad. They never do do you remember the year when they had all those the back of the shoe, that cup, and they put like a form-fitting cup in the back. It was the worst idea. Whoever thought of that need to be just taken out and whipped. But yeah, it was and they quit doing that, you know. So stop. The shoes are fine. We wouldn't buy them if they weren't mine. Exactly. I can get off my soapbox now. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's fine. I you know, it's funny because I see those socks and I'm always like intrigued by them. Because I get a blister on the end of one toe. Just on the end, it's the strangest place. And then when I try and get a pedicure, they always want to file it off. And I'm like, no, don't do that. Just leave it alone. I need that.

unknown:

I need that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. That's that's what I say too. And I if I get a petty, leave some of those on. I need some of those. Yeah, I used to get them on the tips of all my toes, but it was because I was running with my toes, like I'm holding on in the shoe. Why was I why am I trying to hold on to my shoe? I don't know. So I had to like r remind myself to relax my feet, and so then I quit getting that. But um, I really like it because it keeps my toes separated so they don't rub no matter what. So yeah, I really like the engineies. I may have to try this, but yeah, they're not for everybody. Yeah, it's kind of like a a thong, you know, not for everybody. No, so that's kind of how engineers are, they're kind of between your toes, like a thong.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, I don't mind like the thongs, the sandals, so I wonder how to try them. Uh I did see a couple people running barefoot. I doing a half marathon barefoot, and I was like, and have you seen their feet now? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So one of my earlier podcasts, I interviewed Sonny, uh, I think his last name is Molina. He holds, well, at the time, he held a record for barefoot um marathons. And he was in the Guinness Book of World Records, and he's got several, like he walked the longest distance on Legos, and just I'm just hurts my feet thinking about walking on Legos. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, had I don't know what episode it is, but you go listen to his story. He's yeah, I met him at a race because he was running the marathon. I was running it barefoot, and I'm like, I gotta talk to this guy afterwards.

SPEAKER_00:

And so yeah, it was I saw a guy who did it on ice, barefoot on ice, and he now holds like all these Guinness Burk book records for barefoot. Uh and I'm like I they showed his feet after running on ice for a marathon, and like how do you move after that?

SPEAKER_01:

Were they bloody?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, oh, I would bet. Yeah, yeah. Bloody blister, they were nasty looking. I was just like, how do you how can you even move after doing that?

SPEAKER_01:

Like yeah, you know, and I don't like to be cold, so I know I would not like that at all. That would be Yeah, no, yeah. Yeah, no, no, I get cold so easily. And I can imagine though, as cold as I he he was his feet probably burned, actually, right? Because they've been so cold to be ice of that. And how do you know the hypothermia from that? Or like not hypothermia, but what's the um frostbit? How do you you know your toes get the least amount of blood, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

So I have no idea. I I I I mean, I guess you condition yourself, but I you know yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Have you ever have your therapists ever had you stand in a bucket of ice water, like for your little so I've done that. Um my coach had me do that. Um, because mo even as a coach, I get a coach because you know, I I abuse myself sometimes if I don't have a coach. But yeah, um, so and I was injured and he said, Okay, let's stand in a so I got a big trash can and I filled it with water and a little bit of ice. And he said, But wear a sock on your toes so that you know they don't get too cold. And it's it was a minute in, minute out, minute, you know, and that minute in at the beginning, oh I so I can't even imagine running on ice. That was so cold to me. That was like torture, you know. So yeah, I don't know how people do those ice baths.

SPEAKER_00:

I could never do that. Yeah. No, I could never do it.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I can't get our shower hot enough, I swear, some days.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So crazy. So you've got Detroit coming up. What's after that?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Um, I have a girlfriend who lives down in Myrtle Beach, and she said, Hey, do you want to come down and do a half in Myrtle Beach with me? Um, I think in March. So possibly that.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And then I might really start trying to tick away at the the towns in Connecticut because I'm only at 33. 33. No, it's all at your own pace. So, I mean, there's some people that will do it a lot, you know, they'll do 70 races in a year. And I mean, we figured it out that, you know, average cost of a race, that it's about five grand just race entries.

SPEAKER_01:

So do they make you pay for those ones that are only like a mile and then you go to the and who gets the money?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, there most of them are charities.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

There's different charities that that will sponsor it. So, you know, so at least the money's going to a good cause. But for sure. Um, yeah. I mean, sometimes it's uh a school, sometimes it's you know, uh a foundation, you know. Um there was one I did for um it was a different cancer foundation.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I could get behind that then, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think actually I think all of them are are actually charity.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I can't think of one that wasn't so you don't feel so bad.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right, yeah. Yeah, here's fifty dollars for this one mile race I'm gonna run. So really I'm just getting my money, which is if it's uh you know, as long as the people aren't pocketing it, that would be my biggest concern, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. There was one race I did this summer, and um it was uh it was in memory of a a kid who died skateboarding, and um he was like 15, and his um family do this race and raise money, and they send kids to running camp and um so they sponsor that. So that was kind of cool too, because they had like the kids that were receiving the the scholarships.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, and then they have uh these pins, safety pins that had these beads that were colors that he liked, and they said, you know, attach it to your shoe, and if you do something exciting and fun, you know, take a picture and and tag us in it.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's really nice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so hopefully I'm gonna be able to remember to do that and on the bridge or something or something weird, you know, in Detroit. But you know, because I'm all about trying to to help other charities and yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well it sounds to me like you've done races in because you live in Connecticut, right? And so you've done races in several other states. Are you thinking about doing like a half marathon in every state and joining that club too?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I I think I need to tackle Connecticut first before before I do that. I you know, and I I I always say this is my first marathon. I it might be my only. I don't, you know, it it's so time consuming training because I am slow. So um, you know, um it's just really time consuming to train for a marathon.

SPEAKER_01:

It is.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah, you miss out on a lot, you know, and and um a lot of times I spend my times listening to podcasts when I'm running, but so I feel like I'm getting educated about things, but yeah, but it's just time away from other things that you gotta do. And yeah, um, you know, I mean the the run 169 is uh it it's there's some people that will bang out four towns in a in a weekend. Um, you know, and then we have this great guy who keeps the website up and they have people that keep track of all the races, and then they have it whether it's an elusive town. Um, so if they only have one race a year, um then that's considered elusive. If they have a semi-elusive, then they have two races in a year. Um, and then there's some towns that have like a summer series, and so you can, you know, you have like eight opportunities in the summer to go. Um so, but they're very good about keeping track of that stuff. So um, and then if there's the town where someone is like, I'm at 168 towns and I just need this one town, then some lovely race director will say, Okay, I'll do a pop-up race for you. And um, so that's how a lot of people have gotten those. But um, but you know, you try and have something that is lasting in the town, you know, and and that it's for a good cause.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's really great. I really like that idea. I wish somebody that listens to this podcast that lives in Wisconsin would do something like that and and invite me. I'd definitely go run them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, it's kind of cool. Yeah. I mean, Connecticut's small enough that, you know, but maybe in a place like Wisconsin, instead of I don't know how many counties you have, but I can't imagine. You know, but maybe doing it by counties instead of towns. But yeah, yeah, yeah. It's and and uh other states have actually reached out to our society to to our our guy that manages the the website to ask him how he's done it. And he loves sharing, he's the data guy and loves sharing the data.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, yeah. I have to talk to him, and then I can pass that information along to somebody and talk them into doing that. That'd be great.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, he it's very cool. We actually had one woman that just finished her 169, and she actually won 167 or 168 of those races. And she even set, yeah, and she even set course records in I forget how many, like 10 of them or something.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh come on, man.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. Whenever I see she and her brother show up to races together, and whenever I see them, I'm like, oh gosh. Yeah. But they would they're and and they're super nice too. But they went down to Disney and did a 10K down there, and they both won um the 10K.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. The one race, I guess the one town she didn't win. Um, I guess an Olympian showed up and just decided to run the race. And that's the only reason she yeah, that's the only reason she didn't win.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. 5k and a 10k, there is there's no chance in this world I would ever win a because they're fast. I mean, they're you know, usually that's those are faster races. And yeah, yeah, no. No, yeah. That's why I like distance races because I'm not expected to be fast.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's funny. I one of my patients was like, you know, when we were talking about it, and he said, He's like, So you're gonna win, right? He goes, that would be really cool for me to be able to say to people, my physical therapist won this marathon. I go, Yeah, that's never gonna happen. They don't understand I'm like, that's that's not gonna happen. I go, I will win my race, but I am not winning the race.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Like those people are really fast. Yeah, like they don't be, yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, and people are always you know, how how long is is a half marathon or a marathon? How how many miles you're doing? What? That's just crazy. And there's times when I get on the highway and you know, my GPS will say, Oh, in 26 miles, and I'm like, Oh my god, I have to go from here to there, and that's holy smokes, what am I what did I get into?

SPEAKER_01:

What was I thinking? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And nobody was there to reel you in. God, you gotta have that person that says that's a bad decision. Don't make that decision.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, I know. Well, when I finished my second half marathon, I was when I finished the first one, I um I I couldn't, I didn't really know anything about fueling. So when I finished, I could not eat. I couldn't eat before I ran. I couldn't eat until like seven o'clock that night. And I knew it was not good, but I could drink beer, but I couldn't, I couldn't drink water, I couldn't eat. And I just felt like I was, you know, every time I thought about eating, it just ugh. So then, you know, the second one came along and I was like, okay, I got this. I think I understand this now. But for some reason, just before crossing the finish line, I started hyperventilating and and I just I finished the race and I couldn't breathe. And I I was just and I looked at my fiance and I said, if I ever say I'm gonna do another one of these, just say no. And he didn't. But but then when I did uh yeah, and and when I did my third one um in June, it actually went great. And I cut like 17 minutes off. And I was yeah, and I felt great because I had been fueling properly, and um, I was like, I think I finally got this fueling thing down, and I mean it was in Maine, and so I had to drive four hours home that day. So I took a shower and drove home, and I felt great until I got to the masked heights, and which was about two, three hours in, and all of a sudden I just started like falling, and I didn't know why. I'm like, why am I crying? And I'm calling all my friends who run distances, and I'm like, what is going on? Why am I like, why? Why is this happening? And they're like, oh girl, you're gonna need someone to hold a box of tissues when you finish your marathon. Like, so hopefully some of my family will have a box of tissues for me at the end of the marathon because apparently I'm gonna be a balling mess.

SPEAKER_01:

Aww. Well, hopefully they will be there. Yeah. Do you have any words of encouragement or anything that kind of like got you over the fence for the running that you'd like the audience to know and help them? Anybody who's on the couch or is maybe thinking, I could never do a half, I could never do a 10K of marathon. Do you have anything uh like last words that you'd like to like really pound home for these people?

SPEAKER_00:

Really, it's about consistency. Um, I I think that's really what and and you don't have to do a lot, it's just starting with something small and doing it consistently. And I I follow um Chris Nickek on Instagram. Um, he's the first person with Down syndrome to do an Iron Man. And he's so impressive. And he and his dad have this whole um, it's the 1% better. And so every day you try and do 1% better than the day before. And at the end of the month, you've done 30% better without even trying. And that's how he went from couch to iron man in three years. And I realized that that's kind of how I did my weight loss. You know, um, it it was not perfect, it was not linear, it was up and down. It was like I was training for a marathon or my half marathon, my first one, and I was gaining weight and I was getting frustrated with it, but I just kept, you know, thinking, uh, you know, I I I'm doing this, I'm being consistent, and it'll eventually show up. And and it's really about that consistency and and having someone to help you hold accountable.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's very true.

unknown:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Is there any questions I haven't asked you? Any story we missed? I don't think so. Okay, yeah, we covered a lot. I loved it. We did, yeah. I I hope you had a good time too. I did. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, absolutely. And um, I will touch base with you and find out how the race went. Okay. Excellent. All right. Absolutely. Thanks for being here. Bye-bye. Thank you so much. Bye. Well, thanks for listening, everybody. I hope you enjoyed Kathy's story. I hope that you'll go to the show notes and donate to her GoFundMe to help the Cancer Society that she is raising money for. If you'd like to be on the podcast, please hit me up, Carla at coffeecrew coaching.com. And again, if you need a running coach, uh please feel free to look me up for that as well. And uh have a great day. Thanks.

Contributor

Carla Coffey

Host