4. Run Like You Mean It: Identity Shifts on the Track

Ever wondered how someone goes from barely finishing a -mile fun run to conquering marathons?

In this episode, join me as I share my journey, using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and identity shifting to achieve lasting change. I also recount overcoming challenges like a broken leg, quitting alcohol, losing a parent, and staying fit during pregnancy. With consistent training, mental perseverance, and support from loved ones, I ultimately celebrated acceptance into the 2024 Chicago Marathon.

Tune in for a powerful story of resilience and transformation, and download your free Training Guide to kickstart your own marathon journey.

Transcript

0:00

You're listening to the attract breakthroughs with Alex Baldwin podcast. I'm your host, Alex Baldwin, and I'm here to help you attract everything you've ever wanted in your life. I know it sounds so easy and hopefully that's the way that we're going to make it feel. This podcast is designed to help you level up your life in ways that you never thought was possible. I'm going to give you the strategies, the tools and the resources. To make the positive changes that you desire to bring your life to the next level. I'll share my pain, my struggles, the things that I've overcome to get to where I am today. The Attract Breakthroughs podcast starts right now.

Alex: 0:48

Hi, friends. I just wanted to pop on and record a little something real quick. I wanted to do a podcast focused on running. I have not always been a runner. This is something that we can think about with our identity shifting. If you've ever heard of NLP, it's like you have these different levels to create changes. If you, I think I've talked about this before, but if you shift something on the identity level, then. You have a much better chance of making these lasting changes and the changes that you're wanting to see because your identity is something that is almost at your core. It's hard to change. It's something that you either are or you aren't. It's not, Oh, I don't feel like doing that. I don't feel like drinking today. No, versus I don't drink. So. It's a lot easier to make decisions about the person you want to be if you identify, just say, with alcohol. For example, say, you want to stop drinking alcohol. If you shift your identity to someone that is, I'm not a drinker, I don't drink, then it's a lot easier to, keep your commitment when those challenges come up and you're faced with the situation versus thinking, and someone offers you a drink, you think, I don't drink. Simple, easy. You already know that's your identity. I am not a drinker. But If you're in, not in an identity shifting mindset and someone offers you a drink and you think well I'm trying not to drink right now. I'm really trying to quit. Trying kind of implies that you're, might not do it. So it's just something with language that can really help sometimes thinking of. I am this type of person or I am not this type of person and adapting that to the behaviors and habits that you want to instill in your life. Same thing with running. Like, I never thought of myself as a runner. Even in high school and through most of my life, I never in my wildest dreams would have considered myself a runner. I was terrified of running. I could not really run a mile without stopping and I just didn't feel in shape. I didn't really feel like that was a possibility for me. And I remember years ago I think it was before COVID, maybe like 2019, I committed to one of the charities that I like locally was putting on a one, it was like a 5k and a one mile fun run. And I considered it a big leap for me at the time, I was fairly overweight at the time and probably almost my highest weight ever. I was coming off a broken leg. I was probably close to or over 200 pounds. And I was just not, I was pretty much in, like, the worst shape of my life. Cause I had been sedentary from my broken leg, and just been eating a ton, and not physically active. So This was really going from complete couch potato to trying to shift this identity, and it seems impossible at first, I'm not gonna lie, it seems totally impossible, but it is possible, and you have to have faith. Faith is a huge component of making a change, and having the faith that this is possible, what is desired by me is destined for me. If whenever it came to about 2019 when I signed up for this run, I didn't even sign up for the 5k I signed up for the one mile Fun run and I almost died. I did not do any sort of training. I don't think I just thought Let me just do this and just to prove that I can and it's for a good cause. If I can just get out there and make myself run or walk a mile, I will be proud of myself and it's a start from getting off the couch. So I remember signing up for that and when the day of the race came and I, like I said, I didn't really do much training or put much thought into it besides just some anxiety and knowing that I am going to do this and When the race came around, I, didn't train, so it was a huge struggle. Just that one mile, it felt like a marathon because I didn't do anything to prepare. And I always, I remember growing up in middle school, maybe high school, but mainly I think middle school, I remember trying to run or walk in my neighborhood where I grew up as a child and just having these excruciating, leg pains. I think it was the lactic acid buildup, trying to do something that I wasn't used to doing. And so that lactic acid buildup. would start to get released in my legs and it was just like Itching like crazy and burning to the point where I could not do it. I just couldn't Mentally, I could not push past that point or I didn't really understand What was going on? This is probably pre internet before Everyone knows everything all the time. So I didn't really know why it was happening I just thought you know, I'm not meant to be a runner. I'm not meant to walk far or run because my legs itch and I can't get through it. So that was my identity through my whole life, really. And when it came to that one mile race, I I remember I started off running or trying to jog it and the leg burning started. It was bad and I just thought I was going to die and I had some sort of, extreme tightness in my calves and I just felt like my legs were going to fall off and I didn't want to do it anymore, obviously. And so I pushed, I remember. During that one mile, I was running and my legs were hurting so bad, and I tried to stop and walk, and I noticed that, and as tired and out of shape and exhausted as I was, I noticed that when I tried to stop and walk, the pain and the discomfort got worse. So, when I was running, it was still uncomfortable and not fun at all. But when I was walking, it was way worse. I don't know if it's just because I wasn't moving and I was stagnant and I just focused more on the pain and discomfort. But then when I switched to running, or just jogging, attempting to run, whatever I could do, the pain, the discomfort was still there, but it was more muted and it was, I had to make that decision of I'm just going to push through this and try to jog as much as my cardiovascular system will allow me to because it's going to get over faster that way and I'm in so much pain and discomfort either way. Even stopping to walk was not a relief. I remember finishing that one mile and it was like I finished a marathon. I was so proud of myself. I couldn't even believe that I did it. I was all sweaty, obviously, and just sweating like a pig, as my mom used to say. It was a sight to see. So that was the beginning of my running journey. And if you would have asked me then, if I could see myself where I am now. I would not have believed you. I would have laughed you out of the building. Fast forward to where I am today. I started just running after that. My husband, he, we were separated at the time and he started running and he really inspired me. He started almost every day of the week, and really taking his fitness seriously, and I saw him running, I think, and I was, and I just thought to myself, because we weren't together, and you know how that is sometimes, it's like a power struggle of Trying to look good for the other person, or just pettiness. And I remember just having those thoughts of like, if he can do it, I can do it. I'm not going to let him go running and doing all these great things, and I'm not going to be the loser that can't do this stuff. If he can do it, I can do it. Like, you've got to be kidding me. So, I'm glad that, as I said, Petty as it was, I'm glad that I had those thoughts because it led me to where I am. So the whole reason, inspiration that I am thinking about this all today is because I found out this morning that I got into the Chicago Marathon for next year, for 2024. I know, hold your applause. Yeah, so I am excited. I honestly just applied because my husband told me to. It was just one of those things where I could see myself maybe doing it. It's a world major marathon. The course is mainly flat. It's a lot of work training for a marathon, and I did my first marathon this past year, 2023, January, the very beginning of the year I did the Dopey Challenge at Disney World. And that's not only a marathon, but it is four days in a row of racing, waking up at like 4 or 5 a. m., you're doing On four consecutive days, it gets longer and longer each day, so it starts with a 5k, which is 3. 1 miles. The second day is a 10k, which is 6. 2 miles. The third day is a half marathon, which is 13. 1 miles. And the fourth day is a full marathon, which is 26. 2 miles, for a grand total of 48. 6 miles. For that whole weekend and what is considered the dopey challenge because you have to be dopey to Even consider doing this. So I am super proud of myself that I completed that challenge and not only that but I was Breastfeeding at the time I was about Six to seven months postpartum, I was still breastfeeding, I had on a lot of extra weight from having the baby and that threw in like a lot of complications that I wasn't anticipating. So I had been working on my running and working on building up to the point of being able to run a half marathons somewhat regularly and just longer distances. Like I get a really good endorphin rush and, a lot of satisfaction personally from completing like a 10 mile run. I get a lot of satisfaction and happiness from that experience. And just, and doesn't have to be a race or anything. Just if I run 10 miles around my neighborhood and I can see it on the map and I can see my little stats on Strava, I get really proud of myself and I feel like I accomplished something. I burned like a thousand calories and it makes me feel better from not eating. super healthy and like just eating junk all the time. It makes me feel better for and like I counteracted that a little bit even though that's probably not true. But worked up to running half marathons and like just being in going to Orange Theory at least twice a week and getting my overall strength up, getting my endurance up, Orange Theory is really great for more like speed work and shorter distances because the classes are less than an hour and about half of that or less is spent on the treadmill. Side note, I totally love Orange Theory and I highly recommend it to anyone. It has made a huge difference with my fitness and it's one of those places you work out in that you just show up and they tell you what to do. And so you don't have to think about it. You don't have to go in there and wander around the gym and plan on your workout ahead of time. You really don't have to do anything except show up ready with your shoes on and your heart rate monitor and just whatever you need, but they, and they tell you what to do and they like gamify it, so you're kind of not really competing with other people in class, but you can see everyone's heart rate monitors on the screen, and you're either like, you're in these different zones, and you're competing with yourself trying to just get a certain amount of time and points in each zone, and it just makes it more fun, in my opinion, and it goes by faster. So I totally recommend Orange Theory. It's a chain, so it's national, and they have them in a ton of different places, especially big cities, so I would, really recommend that to anyone. So when I trained for my first marathon, the Dopey Challenge, And like I said, I was pregnant six months before that. I had a baby, my second baby, and I was not going to Orange Theory at the time. I took a break from Orange Theory, so back to kind of the beginning. I was pregnant, and, was running half marathons consistently, and I got my fitness up. I was going to Orange Theory at least twice a week. And then, it was June of 2021, I had a near death experience, and that led me to give up drinking alcohol. So in June 2021, I quit drinking alcohol, cold turkey, and I have not had a drink since. And then about three months later, in September of 2021, my mom died suddenly. And that was, like, she basically died in front of me. It was frickin horrible. So That whole experience, and I had to deal with that sober, I really used working out and Orange Theory and running, as an outlet. Because, obviously, I couldn't drink. I knew that drinking would only make things worse. Because I always made horrible decisions when I drank. And, maybe I had some fun, but I think it was just a social crutch, and trying to, used as like a way to deal with my social anxiety and trying to come out of my shell, but I don't miss it, honestly. Sometimes maybe a little bit, but it didn't lead to any good things for me. It always led to horrible things, like being hungover, and feeling like crap, and making bad, horrible Terrible, stupid decisions that I regretted and just totally blacking out to where I couldn't remember anything. And unsafe situations. So I am still very happy and thankful that I chose to quit drinking alcohol. Some people can handle it and some people like me cannot. So that is the end of this video. Just one example my identity, I am now a person that does not drink. I was basically, around the time after my mom died in September, about three weeks later, within the next three weeks, I got pregnant with my second child. And I was running. 10ks and stuff and early on in my pregnancy like before I was really showing or barely showing and I was getting personal records and all these races outside like I was basically at my peak physical fitness when I was at the beginning of that pregnancy around winter of 2021. and so I was in the habit already at the time of running. About I think 25 miles a week was my standard, and just thinking of, it was a lot easier before I had, a second baby, because now you need people to watch her, or. If the older kid's not in school, just, maybe it's just me making excuses. But somehow when I was pregnant, I ran 25 miles a week on average for almost till, probably up until like seven months pregnant. And cause that's 25 miles a week is if you run say five days a week, five miles on average a day, which is doable. once you're in running shape, it's not, insane. It kind of sounds crazy to me right now because I don't even run that much right now and I'm training for another marathon. So I guess I was doing better then. It's crazy when we just think of ourselves like we don't see what other people see or what an outside perspective would see. So I didn't feel like it was that amazing at the time. But now I do feel like it is amazing, that I kept that consistency. I remember going to my Pregnancy appointments and the doctor was like, I would told her like, I'm running like 25 miles a week still and she was like, you what? I had signed up for a 50k at the time in Antelope Canyon and I was gonna be probably around 7 months pregnant when I got to that point. And I had already signed up, and I asked my doctor earlier on in the pregnancy, I was like, I'm signed up for this 50k, I'm in shape. I was like, is this, I'm worried, you know, about falling down a mountain, or something like that. I don't know, I'm not really a mountainous girl, and I haven't been before So, I was a little worried, I'm used to just like flat roads and safe stuff around Florida and flatty flats and Flatty McFlatterson on the treadmill. I asked her, do you think I can run this 50k or should I cancel it? Because I am, I am Super, gonna be super pregnant by then. And she said, um, I would probably cancel it. So, like a logical person would say. So I did cancel that and I'm glad I did because like I said, I was running 25 miles a week but then I slowed down at some point. It's frustrating cause like when you're pregnant you like have to go to the bathroom all the time and I would just feel like I constantly had to pee and it's like hard to run. When I. I don't personally feel that way. So, I would be like wanting to stop all the time and it just wasn't that fun. So, but I did run like a half marathon when I was pregnant. Like fairly pregnant when I was February. Pretty, five months, six months pregnant maybe. I tried to basically maintain my fitness for a lot of the pregnancy and I was going to the regular gym, I stopped Orange Theory at this time, but I was going to a regular gym with my husband at least once a week, maybe twice a week, and doing just weightlifting mainly, and, like squats and bench press and deadlifts and all that type of stuff. So I was lifting actually pretty heavy, heavier than I do now at Orange Theory and I was like super pregnant and so by the time I got to be about seven months pregnant I really slowed down because of the whole having to pee situation and It just was uncomfortable. I don't know. I just didn't feel, I think in some ways you lose motivation sometimes. You just think I'm big, and I'm doing enough with this pregnancy. Like, I just need to walk. And it's, a lot of this I do really for my mental health more than anything. Cause it just makes me feel better to like have a good workout and have this accomplishment. And it, Like releases the endorphins and those feel good chemicals in your body to have a good workout or a good run So that was really my motivation for running while I was pregnant. I wasn't really trying to Complete any world records or anything. So I Do think I accomplished that but I was I remember it's around seven months. I was getting Just really big and I just didn't feel like It was just hard. It was a struggle like I didn't want to run I think I feel like I try to run and then I would just have to stop and walk Every now and then and eventually it just turned into like well mainly walking and not as much running But By the time I had the baby, I remember, like, at the birth experience, my second was way better than my first, because, I hear that's pretty common. But, yeah the doctor, the guy that did the epidural, he even said whenever he was putting the epi yes, I got an epidural, I'm not trying to kill myself and torture myself here. So, when the doctor put the epidural in, the, whatever he is, he said, he was like, you have a really strong back. And my husband was like, he probably said, it's probably because you've been working out so much and lifting so heavy with me. And so, the epidural went fine, everything, like, the birth of my second baby was just, like, super easy and beautiful. I mean, as easy as it can be for giving birth, but it was, like, just, it was very controlled, and it was very good, because, when it came time to push and stuff, like, I feel like they worry about, the epidural. It kind of cuts off feeling, so it's hard to push sometimes, because you can't really feel anything that's going on down there, and I just, I don't want to get into super detail with the birth experience, but it went very smoothly and I just remember talking to my husband and thinking like, I don't think my birth would have gone so well if I hadn't been working out and lifting and squatting those heavy weights and really strengthening my body that whole time when I was pregnant. I couldn't believe how much of an impact it made, just like, I'm sure with everything, my recovery, I still took the six weeks off, but I feel like everything was healthy and it, thank goodness, and it went really smoothly and really well, I had to take my six weeks off for everything to heal. I did have a little scare a couple days after I got out of the hospital and like, some horrible bleeding, basically. I guess it was some sort of, I think it was pretty common, but I thought I was gonna die. I had to go back to the hospital a few days after the birth for like, preeclampsia, I think, basically high blood pressure. And all they did was like, they see it all the time, so they knew that that was fine. But, I I had to be on high blood pressure medication for a little while, and I did gain probably like 50 pounds with my second baby. Even though I was running so much and working out, I don't have the best diet and I didn't have the best diet then. I'm kind of ashamed to say it because I feel like I should have a better diet and with the amount of running and fitness I do and like just being science oriented and I know that these healthy things are good for you. I do take athletic greens and try to supplement, but I am just, you know, I like carbs, I like sugar, it's, it's horrible. So, I don't eat very well, and so I gained, even though I was so active, I gained, about 50 pounds with my second baby, and on average you're supposed to gain like 25 to 30 pounds. And with my first baby, like 10 years ago, I gained exactly like 25 pounds, I think, 30, 25, 30 pounds. I did it like perfectly, the weight gain thing, and I don't know how, but I did, and then the second baby, I just, I know how that happened that I gained 50 pounds because I obviously ate a ton of crap and I just didn't care. I mean like I cared obviously about my baby and everything, but I didn't care that I gained weight. I just was like, I'm going to enjoy this time of being pregnant and having these cravings and just. Living the life that I want to live. I'm going to eat whatever I feel called to eat. I'm not gonna, just, maybe I used the baby as an excuse to like, gorge myself, which I'm sure is common. But, I just was like, I'm just gonna, you know, let go into my temptations. I'm just gonna allow myself to eat what I want during this time. Because I don't feel like being on a diet plus being pregnant. That just wasn't the feeling that I wanted to have in my life. So but the whole thing, the whole reason I bring that up is cause gaining 50 pounds left me with a lot longer way to go to get back to kind of my normal weight range when I also wanted to train and start running again. So, I had already committed, because I am insane I guess, I had already committed to the Dopey Challenge. I had my baby in June of 2022 and in April, because it's a Disney race, which I highly recommend. It was like the most fun I've ever had in my whole life, which sounds crazy with considering all the running, but it was actually like the funnest thing ever. And if you ever want to do a race or a marathon or first 5k, highly recommend Disney. But so the situation with Disney is you have to sign up way in advance, like almost a year in advance, because the races sell out so fast, and they have them throughout the year. So like, but for Dopey in January 2023, we had to sign up in April of 2022. So I was like, you know, six months pregnant or so then, and we had to make a decision like are we gonna do this and I got my friend, Morgan, she's amazing, I asked her, I was like if me and my husband both sign up for this race, will you, can you watch the kids while we're running and just like, you know, we'll give you basically like an all expenses paid trip to Disney too and everything and it'll be fun, but I need to know that you can commit to this so that we can sign up, because otherwise we don't have anyone to watch the kids, and we can't sign up, or we can't both sign up, because one of us needs to watch the kids. So, side note, ever since losing my mom, that's been, like, one of the hardest things, is just, like, I don't have someone to watch my kids, like, ever. Besides my husband there's not really anyone capable, or I mean, anyone that I trust, so it's super hard to find someone I trust, and I'm just so thankful for my friend Morgan, that she is always there for me in that regard, and I can actually trust her to watch my babies. So, anyways, we went to sign up for Dopey in April 2022, and I had to kind of commit to that and knowing in this time I'm going to deliver a baby, have six weeks to recover, and then try to get back to running, get my fitness back, and I'm going Also trained for my first marathon in january. So I had about seven months to do that from July to January. And it was as you would expect, I guess. My recovery went fine. Six weeks I got the clear to start trying to run again. And I started just like everyone else does. I ran. walked. I just basically ran as much as I could, even for a minute. You can do timed intervals, like run for one minute, walk for a minute, run for a minute, walk for 30 seconds. Whatever you need, you can base it on your heart rate, or even your breathing. You'll be able to tell, depending on how fast you're running at a certain point you get out of breath and you have to stop and walk. Just doing that, working my way up until eventually being able to run a mile without stopping and keep running two miles running three miles, but they have whole training plans There's something called the Galloway method. Jeff Galloway has a method that my friend that ran Dopey with me used And I probably should have used it honestly But it's a it's completely run walk the entire thing and a lot of people do run walk to make it easier on your joints and just to give your Cardiovascular system a little break and so you were just doing intervals pretty much like one minute run or two minutes run, one minute walk. Just whatever the intervals call for and you're covering the same distance and sometimes you can even go depending on how fast you're running. My friend that did the Galloway method was running, her pace was faster than me, my whole training and she was run walking, so I should have partly, like, when you're running the whole time, sometimes you might, you get tired and you end up slowing down to where if you just run walk to begin with, you are taking those breaks so often that you don't slow down as much at the end, maybe is the theory. Maybe I need to consider doing more of this in my current training, but it's hard for some reason. I just mentally, I don't feel like I'm going to be able to go as fast as I want to go with, and I don't go very fast, but that's the whole reason I want to go faster is because I'm already not very fast. So I don't want to stop and walk I feel like if I was running, my time would be faster. But it's I think part of it's probably an ego thing. That's something that I just need to get over of, what time and pace am I running at? Like, who cares? At least I'm doing it. It doesn't really matter what pace you're going or if you're walking the whole thing. So, part of the thing with Disney, though, too, is what makes it extra challenging is the marathon is timed. It's capped at I think, is it 7 or 8 hours? But they do cut it off. I don't know what the time is, but it's a 16 minute mile. So, 16 minute mile times 26. 2. is whatever. So that's a lot of people that train for Dopey and there's like a lot of like adult Disney freaks, no offense, I'm partly a little bit like that. There's a lot of like adult Disney freaks that just love Disney and they just sign up because it's Disney and they want to do a Disney race Maybe they're just challenged themself and do their first marathon at Disney and which like kudos to anyone that signs up and tries this or any sort of fitness challenge like It takes a lot to push past your fears and Do things that challenge you and that you're afraid of so good for you Attract Breakthroughs with Alex Baldwin Podcast. Thank y'all so much for listening to the Attract Breakthroughs with Alex Baldwin Podcast. I hope you found something valuable out of what I've shared with you today. And if you wouldn't mind, go ahead and leave me a review on Apple iTunes and pay it forward because. The universal law of reciprocity says that what you give you shall receive. So if you want more love in your life, then go ahead and show some love for the show today. And I hope that you will carry this on your journey and just keep paying it forward and making the world a more positive place. Peace out y'all.