PODCAST TITLE: Did He FAKE Running a Marathon?! 😳 | Relationship Advice Thursday with Monica Tanner

Things got JUICY on Relationship Advice Thursday 😳😂

Certified relationship coach Monica Tanner joined The Morning Brew to help us tackle some real-life relationship drama — including a guy accused of faking a marathon, whether the price of a wedding ring equals love, and a surprise caller with some marriage advice of his own.

Monica Tanner is the host of the Secrets of Happily Ever After podcast and author of the bestselling book Bad Marriage Advice.

Plus, don’t forget:
⚾️ We’re giving away Diamondbacks tickets for Mother’s Day weekend!
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Be nice to yourself, be nice to others… and don’t be a jerk.

Transcript

Marathon Medal Mystery Cold Open

SPEAKER_01 0:00

My boyfriend told me he had run a full marathon, and I believed him. I watched him train for months, helped him fundraise, supported him the whole way. Everything seemed normal until two-thirds into the race when he just stopped for 45 minutes. Then suddenly he sends me a picture with the medal saying he finished. If he can lie about something this big, what else is he lying about? Woo-hoo! That is part of today's Relationship Advice Thursday with certified relationship coach Monica Tanner. Welcome aboard, best friends. It is me, Chris Bennett, and today we tackled some juicy relationship drama, including a guy accused of faking a marathon.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Oh, the nerve.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Whether the price of a wedding ring equals love, and we even got a surprise caller with some marriage advice of his own. Let's get the show started. From the Horn Auto Center Studios, Chris Bennett and the morning brew. It is now time for relationship advice, and I am so excited to have a best friend Monica Tanner back on the show, a real-life relationship advice expert. She's a certified relationship coach, author of the best-selling book, Bad Marriage Advice, and host of her podcast, Secrets of Happily Ever After. Thank you for coming back, Monica.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Oh my gosh, I love being here with you, Chris. Let's tackle some questions.

Does Ring Price Equal Love

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Here we go. All right, first one. All right. I just proposed to my girlfriend, and she said, yes, it was perfect. She loved the ring. She told me that multiple times. We've been together for seven years, and she's always said she wanted a lab grown diamond. So that's exactly what I got her. Then the very next day on her anniversary, she tells me, Now that she knows my brother spent$20,000 on his wife's rings, she's for some reason equating that with love. And I'm just sitting there like, what? I feel like I did exactly what she asked for, and now it somehow feels like it's not enough. I got upset, she immediately regretted saying it and has been apologizing nonstop. But now I can't shake it. What am I supposed to think here? Does the price of a ring actually equal how much you love someone, or am I overreacting? What's your advice?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

So it's a great story. It's a great opportunity to repair. So it sounds like he did everything she asked, and that was awesome. And then she said the thing, you know, that was definitely, we live in a culture that's driven by comparison. So everybody makes mistakes, nobody's perfect. She may have said something that she absolutely regrets, which it sounds like she's apologizing a lot for. So you've got it on both sides. I mean, really, I think for the person who sent in the question, he's gotta really be able to talk about why that was so upsetting to him, like communicate and just get really, really curious. Like, what is it about what she said that's really hurting? And how can we get some repair around that? And this is good practice for the future because we're human, we say dumb stuff all the time, right? So I'm not saying that that's permission for her to, you know, just completely disregard him and say whatever she wants at whatever time. But if she's willing to take responsibility for what she said and apologize, they could both use some repair conversations.

A $33 Ring And 25 Years

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Some great relationship advice from certified relationship coach Monica Tanner. We're gonna be back with her for a bonus relationship advice. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this?

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Hey, this is Mark from Solo.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Heck yeah, Mark, what's up?

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Hey man, so uh my wife and I uh we got her wedding ring at a truck stop in Winslow on the way to Lofton to get married. I think I paid$33 for it. And uh she wear she wears it to this day, and we're covered up on 25 years, but heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Yeah, you don't need you don't need a$20,000 ring to tell someone you love them, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:56

No way, no way. No, and uh she's a she's as proud of that truck stop ring as as she would be a$20,000 wing. And uh I got lucky. I love her for it.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Uh that's amazing. How so you said how many years have you guys been together now? Uh we're coming up on 25 years in February. What's the best part about being married to her? Uh her patience. My wife, too. Thank goodness she's got a lot of patience. Right, right. Sweet. So, Mark, uh, you don't think size matters? It's all right to be itty bitty.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Uh, well, I don't know about that. I just know that the price doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Oh, okay. Awesome. Sweet Mark, you're the best. Thanks so much for calling in.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Okay, brother.

Did He Really Run A Marathon

SPEAKER_01 5:40

See ya. We are back with our best friend Monica Tanner, a certified relationship coach. She's just not winging it like Janine and I normally do. She's the author of her best-selling book, Bad Marriage Advice, and host of The Secrets of Happily Ever After podcast. All right, here is relationship advice number two. My boyfriend told me he had run a full marathon, and I believed him. I watched him train for months, helped him fundraise, supported him the whole way. On race day, I couldn't be there, so I tried to track him online, but his name wasn't registered. Hmm. So I tracked his phone instead. Everything seemed normal until two-thirds into the race when he just stopped for 45 minutes. Then suddenly he sends me a picture with the medal saying, he finished! My parents were at the finish line, they never saw. Turns out he didn't run the full marathon. He was part of a relay team and only ran a portion of it, but he's still claiming he ran all 26.2 miles. Now I'm sitting here wondering if he can lie about something this big, what else is he lying about? Is this a big deal? What advice do you have for it?

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Hmm. I definitely think the the question, the person who sent the question needs more information. I mean, what is his definition of running a marathon? Is it running part of a marathon? Is it completing the full 26.2 miles? Now listen, I have run five marathons all my life. And it's no joke. Like, honestly, you can train, you can prepare, and there's nothing that's going to, you know, prevent different things from happening, like cramping or, you know, just needing to walk or whatever. So there's there could be thousands of reasons why this miscommunication happened. So the the person who asked the question, their job is to be a detective. Again, default to curiosity. Ask lots of questions. Was it his intention to run all 26.2 miles? And now he's, you know, maybe feeling a little bit bashful that he wasn't able to complete it. Was his definition of running the marathon always running part of it as part of a relay team? And, you know, that's just his definition. He went out on the course and, you know, did the marathon. Like, I think you need more information. And but this is a really good, you know, example of how our brain defaults to making assumptions. And so it like there's always more information to be gathered. So just get curious. Like, you know, do you really care about this guy? You know, is this a new relationship? You it it's all very dependent on, you know, ask some questions, find out what his version or definition is of running a full marathon. Maybe he thinks he's being 100% truthful. We don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Well, it sounds like he told her he was planning to run the whole thing. She had no idea that it was gonna be a relay. So to me, this might be, and again, I'm not certified, but this sounds like it could be cause for a breakup.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

What do you say? I absolutely could, but more information to make that decision is better, right? Because we all know what they say about assuming. So let's, you know, get real clear on what his original intention was and what he really meant by running the marathon.

Monica’s Wrap Up And Listener Giveaways

SPEAKER_01 9:36

And that's why we bring her in for some real relationship advice to keep us on the straight and narrow. And if you want to hear more great relationship advice from Monica Tanner, listen to her podcast, Secrets of Happily Ever After, and make sure you download or buy her best-selling book, Bad Marriage Advice. Monica, thanks so much for helping us out today. And uh, you're good. You're good.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Thanks for having me, Chris. So fun.

unknown 10:01

Woohoo!

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Monica Tanner always gets us thinking. Big shout out to her. Thank you so much for being today's relationship advice expert on this relationship advice Thursday. Uh, best friends, don't forget we're giving away Diamondback tickets for Mother's Day weekend this Sunday. Just follow Chris Bennett Comedy on social media. Hit the link in my bio and then enter there. Tomorrow I'm going to draw a name and we'll call you live on air. You better answer the phone. And uh you could win some diamondback tickets. Also make sure to sign up for our morning brew anniversary bash cornhole tournament, May 16th at the House Restaurant in Sholo, brought to you by Horn Auto Center and Comfort Fit Dentures. You could win Kenny Chesney Sphere tickets and$1,000 as a team and 50% of entry fees benefit. Three snacks. It's only$25 per person to enter. So go ahead and do that. Help a great cause and let's have a great time. Get signed up at Chris Bennett Comedy.com for the morning brew. I've been Chris Bennett, reminding you be nice to yourself, be nice to others, and don't be jerk. Bye.