Transforming Life and Mindset through Running: Lori's Journey with Lori Duesing

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This is the real life runners podcast, episode number 346. Transforming life and mindset through running Lori's journey.

Angie: 0:30

All right, guys, welcome to the podcast today. I am joined by a special guest, Miss Lori Duesing, who is part of our Real Life Runners Academy, and she has been part of our program now for several years. And I wanted to bring her onto the podcast to share her story because I think that A lot of people listening to this podcast will be able to relate to Lori in one way or another. And she's got a very inspiring story that we can get a lot of really good nuggets from. So Lori, welcome to the show today. I'm so glad you're here. Hi, Angie.

Lori: 1:02

Thank you. I'm glad to be joining you. So

Angie: 1:05

tell us a little bit about how you got into running. Tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into running, you know, why you started, what, what were some of your early goals when you started this whole running journey?

Lori: 1:18

Okay. This is kind of an interesting story. I grew up kind of as a chubby non athletic kid. I was picked last at first. Teams, you know, in sports. I never played baseball, basketball. I never played a sport. I couldn't climb a rope. I was very, very clumsy, non athletic. About year 2000, I I worked for a hospital and I volunteered at a race. I just did registration and I watched all those people running and with amazement. Thinking I wish I could run like that, but what was one of my first beliefs or thoughts about running and then later I'd say three years later, my youngest son wanted to join a gym because one of the girls he liked work there. So my husband and I said, well, if you're going to join, if we're going to pay for you to join, we're joining too. So in the interview with the trainer, the guy said, what are your weight loss goal? Or what are your goals for joining the gym? And I'm like, well, I want to lose weight. And he's like, how are you going to do it? I'm like, Oh, maybe water aerobics or something like this. At this time I was in my mid forties. And he's like, you're not going to lose weight doing that. And he suggested a trainer team program called team weight loss. And in that program, we walked on a treadmill at various inclines, and we pulled on bands, we lifted weights, and it was all heart rate based. We had different zones that we were attempting to get at. In one of the portions of it, we went to a 2 percent incline, but we had to keep our heart rate up, so I had to start running. To keep my heart rate up. And one day I ran for the whole two minutes at a 2 percent incline. And I just yelled out to my trainer, Jason, look what you did. I ran for two minutes and he said, no, Lori, look what you did. And I was just, it was just a very joyous moment for me because I had never been able to run for any distance. I always had to stop and walk. So then after that I joined another program called Cardio O2 Run where I learned more about running. It was a team class again for like an hour. We warmed up, then we had different intervals. And the trainer there was just so engaging. He talked to us through the whole time. I, we ran intervals and, you know, in our heart rates, and at one point he inspired us. He said, I want you to sign up for a 5k and I'm like, I can't do a 5k. And he's like, you're doing a 5k on the treadmill during this hour. I'm like, okay, he goes, I'll, it's a turkey trap. I'll dress up like a turkey and run with you. And he ran us. You know, there were several of us there. He ran encouraged. It just was so much fun. And so that's when I started really going through really liking running. And I ran on the treadmill a lot at this gym and started running a few more races. And I just fell in love with it. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I can't hear you. Can you hear me?

Angie: 4:56

Alright, so it sounds like you, you know, originally kind of got into this whole fitness world with the goal of losing weight, but that you quickly fell in love with running. Is that correct? Yeah.

Lori: 5:08

I fell in love with

Angie: 5:09

running. And what is it about running? Like, what, why did you fall in love with running so much? What is it that you love so much about it? I

Lori: 5:18

think it is because I grew up with all these thoughts in my head. I'm not athletic. I'm not clumsy. I can't do anything. I, you know, I had a lot of shame about that because my dad was an all star athlete growing up and my brother played sports and. I was just clumsy and couldn't catch a ball. I had never found anything that I was good at athletically. And at that point I wasn't even thinking of myself as an athlete, but it was something that I could do. Yeah. You know, it was a skill that I was slowly refining.

Angie: 6:00

So you felt like you finally found something that you were good at or competent at? Okay. Cool. So how has your running journey kind of evolved over the years? Like you kind of went from finding it in this exercise class to kind of running some 5Ks. Where has that taken you? Because that was about 20 years ago. So

Lori: 6:24

yeah, that was yeah, about 20 years ago at that point I was really just a walk runner. I ran. I went through some periods of not running at all and I got back into it because I went through a period of pretty bad depression. And I was in therapy and the therapist said, what is one thing that makes you happy? And I had found a sticker that I had filled out a long time ago that said running makes me happy. And she said, are you running? And I'm like, no, she's like, why not? Because I don't feel like it. Well, what will make you feel like, well, maybe I could start running again. And so I got back into running and I joined another group. We were no longer at that gym. I joined another group that I still run with out of a shoe store near my house. And so I found some, at first I didn't talk to anybody. I'm like, I was a walk to run program. I was starting all over to run. But I went there and I was with people, which was healthy for me mentally. But then slowly I started making friends and I slowly started to be able to run more miles with this walk to run program. I still was not able to run a 5k without stopping to walk. But I was having fun. Yeah, I was doing goal races. There were people there cheering me on and I found my joy in that. Previously I had run a couple half marathons, but you know, really needed to go back and start over again. That was my start when I joined this running group. And when, what year was that? I'm going to say about 10 years ago. Okay.

Angie: 8:14

So about, all right, about halfway into your running journey then. Yeah. So then what is, what is the last 10 years look like then with you after you, you joined this group? How has your running journey kind of evolved since then?

Lori: 8:28

Well, I when I started, you know, I built up I remember I had continued to do a few half marathons. And when they had a marathon training program, and they were going through it, and I had messaged the manager of the store, the director. And I said, I wish I could run a marathon, and she's like, well, come out and see what it's all about. And, she trained with me and another girl trained with me and I still was finding at that point I was running but I found running hard. I found it a chore and I could do it and I found, you know, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't fun. It was just something that I had to had to be done and I think I was still In the mindset that I had to run to manage my depression. Oh, okay. And it's self, not that I was running away from thoughts. Although sometimes when I do run now, I reset my thoughts. But I was using it as that management. I was no longer using it to lose weight because I didn't lose weight by running. I had to change my nutrition, but you know, I ran that first marathon. I was working out with a personal trainer, but it was still all just a chore to me. Then we hit COVID and we couldn't run together on Saturdays for quite a while. And when we came back, it was just like, I couldn't, I couldn't run. I just was running with some of my friends. I had to keep stopping walking, found out that it was very anemic. And needed some iron transfusion and then I got my running back. I was just feeling so bad about myself, but I still had this negative feeling inside my head that I was slow. I was the last one in on all the runs. I beat myself up because I had to stop. And you know, if someone was running with me, I had, I, they stopped with me and I felt like I was slowing them down. And all these negative thoughts really didn't enjoy it, but I continued to run just because I thought it was good for me.

Angie: 10:47

So what, what kind of led to that shift? Was it just this idea that Now I have to run because it's going to be better for my mental health because in the beginning You really enjoyed the running, right? Like when you first got into it You said you really found joy and happiness in it And then you kind of stopped running for a while because of the depression and then when you got back into it Was there just kind of this? Heaviness around the running of like I have to do this to help manage the depression and the mental health Do you think that that's kind of what happened there?

Lori: 11:19

I think that was a part of it. I think I was still somewhat depressed but all those negative thoughts about running with other people came in. Okay. And I just really, really beat myself up about that.

Angie: 11:34

So it was more of that comparison that, that really crept in and led to the negative feelings around it.

Lori: 11:41

Yeah. And I was so negative on those runs. I was surprised that anyone wanted to run with me. When I finally looked at it, I'm like, why are they here with me? Yeah. You know, not thinking that it was because of me that, you know, enjoyed being with me, but that, you know, I don't know whether they felt sorry. I don't know. Remember those feelings exactly.

Angie: 12:01

Yeah. It was probably pity, right? Versus that they actually enjoyed your company. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't it funny that the stories that we tell ourselves,

Lori: 12:09

right? Yeah, and I did run with one girl who would run with me, but she always ran like 20 feet in front of me I hate that where she would even you know It was like and i'd speed up so I could run next to her And then she'd speed up to run in front of me. It would just I had so many negative. Yeah thoughts in my head so, so how

Angie: 12:30

did you overcome those thoughts? Like, cause I, you know, that's, that's been a part of your, your journey with us. You know, since you became one of our clients inside the academy is, you know, when you first, I remember when you first joined and you did have, you know, a lot of those negative thoughts. And it's been so fun and so wonderful for me to, to see how you've evolved over the last couple of years. So. What does that look like, kind of on your end? Like, how did you kind of get out of those negative patterns of thinking?

Lori: 13:05

It was really working with you. I joined Real Life Runners I think in three years ago. And it was a five day challenge. And I, you know, I did the, the assignments. Even the strength work and I'm like, Oh, I can't do this strength work. It was just so hard for me. But I made a comment in a Facebook page and I said, I'm a slow runner. I'll never, you know, some, all I remember is saying I'm a slow runner and you're like, says who? And when I thought about it, I'm like, I guess nobody tells me Lori, you're a slow runner. You know, I think, you know, I saw, I took that from other people that. We're like this girl that was running in front of me and the people that I made stop and walk and But it was really me that was defining myself as a slow runner and you helped when I joined the Academy and we did, you know coaching calls together and I Redefined myself as I am a runner and that took some work you know slowly changing my identity from I'm a depressed individual who runs to help manage, you know, as a tool to help manage that and help manage my weight to I am a runner and then into an I'm an athlete, which totally, um, reversed my identity and you know, as that childhood, clumsy, overweight, nobody likes me type belief that I had. So it was a, it was more complex than that, but you know, I really worked I worked the program, I worked, you know, in the academy with the thought work and the workshops that you had I really overcame that and did some, with your coaching, you learned Kevin's coaching, I did some different types of running, really the first thing was to slow down my running. Because I was trying to keep up with these people that ran, you know, maybe a faster pace than me, but then I would try to keep up with them and I would have to stop and walk. I was trying to keep up with these people and I accepted the idea that, okay, it's okay to run by yourself. And so I think the first step was to, you know, identify those paces, the L2 pace and, you know, run at that pace where I felt like I could run forever. That's how I identify L2. Like, okay, I can keep this pace. I can talk. And one or two of the people that continued to run with me, they would just slow down their run too. And, you know, I enjoyed it. You know, most of the runs I do by myself, but. Those Saturday runs were my friend, you know, that was my social circle. And so that's what started it, you know, was looking at that mindset. And then the slowing down until I could run without stopping. Yeah. And I think pretty early on, after I joined the Academy, I had a half marathon planned and my goal there was to slow my running, did not care about the pace, but slow my running and try to run the whole thing without walking, except at the water steps. I, you know, I had to walk a little bit more than I had planned, but I had done better in my mind. That was my definition of success, better than felt better about that race than I had ever felt. That's awesome. I, you know, the, this girl that always ran ahead of me, I ran that race with, and she just went on ahead and she was so excited about her time. I repeated her time, you know, that she finished, she and she corrected me because she wanted to be so fast, but I was just happy that I completed it. And I was able to run a steady, you know, very steady, yeah, 13 miles.

Angie: 17:24

So when, what would you say to someone that might be struggling with that themselves, right? Because this is one of those concepts that I think a lot of people do struggle with mentally versus physically. Like we, I kind of laugh about it because I know that I was the same way where I had identified myself as a slow runner at, you know, one point in my running journey at the beginning. And. So, when You come in saying like that that was your the way that you identified yourself as well Like I am a slow runner and here we are telling you to run even slower How do you wrap your head around that and like what was it that was able to allow you to say? Okay, like I'm gonna I'm gonna trust it I'm gonna do it because that's that's I think a really big hurdle for a lot of people is to just Try slowing down and to actually say and and get over that ego or whatever, you know The the belief and the thought behind but i'm already a slow runner. I don't want to be slower I want to be faster. So how is this going to make me better? What would you say to someone that's kind of in that boat right now? I would

Lori: 18:33

say just give it a try I found out and I found out that I ran At about the same pace, running slower than I did with, you know, running fast and then stopping to walk and running fast and stopping. to me and I don't know so much that it was in the beginning, but really to me pace is not relevant. It's just the running itself, you know the people that I ran with on Saturday slowed down. I would say, give it a try, give it a try. And And what

Angie: 19:11

did you experience that is worth them giving it a try? Like, why would they even want to do it? To see,

Lori: 19:19

to see what changes might come about. What changes might come about, what can you find joy in, in doing that. It, it took me a long time, it, it took me some time to trust in it. And to believe it, but I'm a person that says, okay, here's your plan. Follow your plan. And at that point, I was so unhappy about my running. I continued to run, but I was so unhappy about it and so frustrated that I'm saying, I'm going to give this a try. I'm just going to give this a try. And so give it a try, see how it, how it improves.

Angie: 20:09

So you went from like this place where you were unhappy and frustrated about your running, you slowed down on the majority of your runs and what did that make possible? What did that, how did that shift things for you?

Lori: 20:25

It shifted in that it was not, it wasn't, I don't want to say it wasn't so hard for me, but it I think it was, I, I accomplished the plan. And that was what made me happy, not the running.

Angie: 20:50

Had you followed training plans? Had you followed training plans before?

Lori: 20:55

I had followed online training plans. You know, first I followed the plans that the gym gave me. Then when I was doing races, I followed those plans. But those were just numbers. Yeah. You know, there was no, no sense of Meaning behind it was right. It was just three

Angie: 21:17

miles, four miles, whatever it was.

Lori: 21:19

Right. Right. But this was developing skills, you know, in running and getting a sense of how I felt. at each pace of running. It still took me a while, you know, I persevered, it took me a while to understand the different pace levels, what they meant, how it felt in my body. And I think I enjoyed the process of that as much as the running itself. I

Angie: 21:44

love that, and that is amazing right there, right, because if we aren't enjoying the process of this self discovery, which is really what running is, right, running is a vehicle for self discovery and personal development, in my opinion, and it's when we can You Enjoy the process of that and not just focus on that one goal or that one time that we have out there or that one distance that we have and, and say, okay, how can I grow as a person and as a runner and how can I learn more about myself in this process? That's where the magic happens. And that's, that's what I'm hearing from you is like, you know, you were willing to, you were, you had gotten to a point where you were just so unhappy with the whole thing that you were like, Okay, you know what? I'm just gonna do it all different. I'm gonna, I'm gonna trust these people and that I met on the internet, right? Like such a crazy, such a crazy world we live in sometimes, right? But I'm gonna trust these random people, you know, and and it, it, it changed everything.

Lori: 22:43

It did change. It just changed the trajectory of my running, my life, my mindset, my beliefs. It changed so much in me, I think one of the turning points for running was you had put out there and I don't know if it was a challenge or a question, does running make you happy? And I was like, hell no, or do you, or is running fun? It's running fun. That's okay. I'm like, no, it's work. It's awesome. It's hard work. It's a chore. You know, at that point it was still that way. But yeah. You know, just that question changed my mindset. Okay, I'm going to find the fun. Where is the fun? Where is the fun in running? You know, and so I think in itself, running is, is a, is a not a process, but it's a thing, but everything around the running, the mindset, the fun, what are you getting out of it is what is really important. And that's what I learned through working with you guys.

Angie: 23:55

Yeah, and you mentioned how running has shifted and changed you as a person and also other things of your life. What are some other areas of your life that you feel, you know, running has impacted and how, how have those things showed up in other areas of your life?

Lori: 24:13

It, I realized one thing, I realized that running wasn't going to help you lose weight. So I focused on nutrition and I did some one to one nutrition coaching with you, so I really have learned to change the way I eat. I, I am not in that in itself was a big mindset shift was okay and time management. You had some early workshops on time management and clear the clutter and nutrition. That changed in my life, you know, I now, you know, 75 to 80 percent of the time eat to fuel, you know, and fuel my body and feel good in my body. I went through some discomfort in my GI tract and, you know, looking at that and working with you, I've changed my nutrition. I've changed my nutrition, realizing some of the foods gave me migraines. And really worked on that. So I've changed my nutrition drastically. And the mindset or the time management helped, um, and going through that whole process has changed me as a person to become a coach myself. And all that I received from you guys, mostly, you know, the training, the running part, you know, I get from Kevin and some of the mindset, but I think working with you in the mindset shifts have helped me and changed me as a person so much that now I want to help others. I love that so much. Yeah, I quit. I had a very stressful full time management job in health care. And health care right now is changed into a business. So that I was able to, about a year ago, I left the management position, worked full time. I now work part time, doing a much less stressful job. Part of the reason was I don't have time to do the things I want to do, which is run. I, you know, I used to have to run when I came home at five o'clock at night, dinner was late. So now I'm not under as much stress. I have time to run and now and for the last two years, I've I've gone through coursework to help me become a coach myself.

Angie: 26:49

I love that. And I think that that's so important for us to, for people to hear because you were living a life that was not the life that you really wanted. Like you were at a place physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, like under a lot of stress and not able to run and doing all these things. And I think that so many times we forget that all of that is a choice. And so you made a conscious choice of like. What, what is, what is going on here? Right? Like, this is not the life that I want to be living, so you made a career change, and so many people are so scared of doing that, because it's, it's what they know, it's the financial stability, it's the other things around that, and They're willing to sacrifice other areas like their fitness or their health in general because of this job that they have or this career path that they have been on for so long, and I just love that you had the strength and the like the ability to say, yeah, it's not worth it, right? Like it's not worth living this way. It's, I want other things for my life and I'm going to design my life so that I can prioritize those things that are actually important to me.

Lori: 28:08

Yes, exactly. Exactly. What do you

Angie: 28:11

think gave you the strength to do that? Because I think that that is like a huge, I mean, I love seeing it and it just, it's, again, it's proof that running is. This gateway to personal development, right, like running to me is this vehicle that shows us our weaknesses that that challenges us in a way that we are forced to come face to face with a lot of the darkness in in our This In ourselves, right? Like a lot of the negative thoughts, the beliefs that we didn't even know were there necessarily. And, you know, you were able to just kind of like tackle that head on and, and do this and, and completely transform everything about your life, which is amazing.

Lori: 28:56

Yeah. When I look at where I was just three years ago to where I am today I, you know, my running, running is, It's more than just running. It's transformed my life. Like you said you know, I made choices. I think through coaching and the work, you know, I had to work at it. It doesn't just come with joining the Academy and being there and listening. I really had to work. I participated as much as I could in the coaching sessions. It wasn't just like, okay, what is my plan? But especially before my marathon, the Chicago Marathon I was scared, you know, some of the long runs. Just before the race were hard because it was hot and it was humid and, you know, I was just out there with, you know, a couple of people and putting in 18 miles and it was hard and I was going to quit. I didn't want to continue. I'm like, I can't do this marathon, but it was through coaching with you and and and thinking about what is it that's making me. So fearful of doing this. Yeah. And you know, you helped me come up with some thoughts to change it and, you know, and Kevin and you helped me come up with. A strategy. Mm-Hmm. to attack the race. Yeah. And it just, you know, and I completed the race. I prd, I, you know, I prd my 20 miler. And what a, what an accomplishment. And, and

Angie: 30:35

we need to rewind because you, you just kind of skipped out on the part that, you know, when you did it the year before. And you were training for Chicago. Tell everybody what happened. Was that in 2022? I think that cycle, right? Of when you were training for Chicago. You said you were never going to run a marathon again, right? But then you decided to train for Chicago of 2022. Your training is going well. You're doing all this mindset work. You're kind of going through all this process. And then you get to your 20 mile long run before the race. And what happened?

Lori: 31:07

Yeah, it was a 20 mile in our area, we have a 20 mile race three weeks before the marathon. And I was in that 20 mile race, you know, pushing as, you know, as a race. And I got to a point and I don't know if I kicked a stick or stubbed my toe or fell into a hole. I fell and broke my collarbone. And so I had done all the training and I couldn't run the race. But what a bummer, how do you come back from that? Yeah, I was really disappointed and discouraged about it that I couldn't run the race. And you know, when I was in pain, it was a collarbone is fractures is a painful injury. Can't sleep, can't put my clothes on. But when I realized that I had gone all, all summer, I had gone through the process of training and going through the process. Of training, following your training plan, doing all the mindset work is 95 percent of the marathon, you know I did all the, like I said, I did all the training. And I just couldn't do the final race. Yeah. And, but I had, you know, really essentially gone through marathon training. Yep.

Angie: 32:31

And so then you said, I'm done with marathons. And then you came back and you applied again for 2023. I applied again. Yep.

Lori: 32:38

Got accepted. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily, I was able to, I had bought insurance for that 22 to race and I got my money back and I forgot to defer, but I did get accepted again the next year and I thought it was just unfinished. Yeah. It was unfinished business. You know, I'm like, I did it. I really don't want to go through all that training again, but I need to finish what I started.

Angie: 33:04

So how was that then? How was, how was that? How did that marathon end up for you?

Lori: 33:09

It was perfect. Perfect. It was just a perfect scenario. You know, the 20 miler I ran in the rain and still PR that 20 miler. And then three weeks later, it was. All the stars aligned, the weather was cool. I was with friends. We traveled down that morning together waited in the corral with one of my friends but we ran separately and I just kept going. I used the strategy that we had talked about of walking. You know, in previous previous marathons, I would get to about mile 2022 and I didn't think I could get to the end. I had to walk more than run and just, it was just hard. It was, you know, I was elated that I finished, but those last miles were really, really hard for me and not successful. I didn't feel good about them, but we had a strategy to just walk the water steps and, you know, the first couple of water steps in Chicago are a couple miles apart. And I'm like, Oh, I know I can run two miles without stopping. And then I knew I could make it to the next water stop, and then I could walk through that, get my fuel, and I PR'd Chicago, which was amazing. I have, I set goals, and my goal in any race is always just to finish with a smile on my face, and my arms up in the air, and, you know even though the year before when I fell and didn't finish that race, It was still okay, but I had a time goal of what I wanted and and it was a pretty good, you know, pretty hefty time goal for me and I finished and under that time goal. So yeah, it, it just was so perfect. I got my time goal. I was smiling. The last six miles weren't torture because of the plan that we came up with. Yeah. And you know, that all comes through coaching. You can't. You can't, I couldn't have done that without coaching. And, you

Angie: 35:18

know, you, you, you've mentioned coaching a couple of times here and I want to just kind of hit on this a little bit because I think that when people think of coaching, they think, oh, I'm going to hire a coach that's going to give me a training plan. But you and I know that coaching is way more than that. So what has your experience of coaching been and how, how has coaching helped you? In, you know, to, to make all of these shifts and transformations in, in your journey, how, how has coaching impacted that? And like, what is it about, like, how would you even define, you know, coaching? Because I, I don't think that people have a good understanding of what a coach even does.

Lori: 35:58

Right, right. I achieved things through coaching that, you know, as I mentioned before, I have a long history of depression and was in therapy for many years. And with coaching and, and, you know, I, that was helpful, but with coaching, I was able to come up with the answers within myself. Instead of somebody saying, okay, how does that make you feel or, you know, I, you know, I was looking for years for, because I dieted for years and I would follow a diet, you know, kind of like following a training plan. And then I'd falter and I'd slide back and gain all my weight back. It was a yo yo for me all my life. So this was kind of like it was with with coaching is that when I would get frustrated or have a question. You as a coach were there to help me think it through. You didn't give me an answer. You helped me think it through so that I came up what was what I knew within me that I didn't know that I knew. And that's what led me into coaching is that I want to help other people find the answers within themselves. And So it's not just following a training plan. It's thinking about what is running mean to me. Can I look. within myself and say, okay, I'm going to, and it was trust and belief in the process. You know okay, I'm going to run slow. Trust and belief was really hard for me that if I'm going to run two miles per hour underneath my marathon pace, that I was still going to be able to run that. So it grew me so much as a person um, rather than just accomplishing. And finish line.

Angie: 37:59

Yeah, and I think that's such an important thing to mention because not all coaches are created equal And not all coaching is created equal and there are different styles and types of coaching and things out there And it's really important to find a coach that works for you and I say this all the time like I am not the coach for everybody for sure not right like Because you know very well firsthand like i'm gonna make you do the work i'm gonna make you Come up with the answers. I'm going to make you think about things because it's not my job to just give you the answers. It's my job to guide you because we, you know, as a coach and Having worked with hundreds and hundreds of runners, like, I know the direction we need to go, but like you said, it's so much more powerful when you are able to figure that out yourself and when I can just help guide you toward the answers. And this is not you know, me patting myself on the back. I've learned from a lot of amazing coaches and that have helped me to develop my coaching skills. And it's the methodology of it more than anything, right? It's finding a coach with a methodology That works for you. And I love how you equated training plans to diets because it's so true. There are so many runners that like people know if they've ever been on a diet, especially a very restrictive diet, you know, you lose the weight, but then you gain it back. Right. And they're up and down, up and down. There's a lot of runners that do that with training plans as well. You know, they, they follow a training plan. They get some results, but then that training plan is too restrictive or it's too there's too much going on. It's not sustainable for their everyday life. And so they fall off that training plan or they, they, you know, are inconsistent with it. And then they get back on, they sign up for a race, they jump on again, right? And it is that yo yo diet. And I'm, I'm so glad you made that analogy because I had never, like, it's, it's true. The two are very similar. And when you start to see. Your own patterns of self sabotage and how, you know, you're thinking about things how that is affecting Everything in your life. That's where you actually get the power back So I love that, you know, that's what brought you into coaching is that you really want to help People find that power within themselves, right? It's not about you as the coach. It's not about me as the coach. It's about us helping people find that power within themselves to live the life that they want to live and Clearly you are a testament that if you are willing to do the work and if you're willing to get uncomfortable that The results can be absolutely amazing. So thank you so much for sharing your story with us Are is there anything that we haven't covered yet that you would like to leave our listeners with?

Lori: 40:35

The only thing that I just thought of is that by following, you know, I, aside from that one kind of freak accident where I fell and broke my collarbone, uh, in the last three years of working with you and following the slower, Um, plan and not, I, I haven't had any injuries, I've had some niggles and we talked through it about how to like, okay, I pulled my calf, let's try to do some more calf raises. I think you're training as a physical therapist and it's helped, but you know, previously I had pulled my hamstring running and had to miss a race and you know, I think

Angie: 41:20

that when you first get on. Yeah, my bad knees because they're not actually bad knees, right? Like that's one thing I'm trying to help people understand is like you don't have bad knees. You just need to get, you just have weak knees, right? Like you have weak and non mobile knees that you need to

Lori: 41:34

work on, right? First, I couldn't do a squat or a lunge. And now, you know, I do still have a little bit of pain. I think there's something a miss with my right knee. Doesn't affect my running, but. You know, but I work around it. I modify and you've helped me modify some things too, but I've grown and I don't nearly have as much pain in my knees when I'm strength training as I used to. So I think that that's another really valuable point. I see a lot of my friends who just power through their runs and then to try to get faster. And yeah, I'd like to get a little bit faster, but that's not my goal. My goal is to, you know, Age and keep mobile and enjoy my activity as long as I can. Yeah. And. So the speed is not the most important thing in powering through and going slow. And, and, you know, I do speed workouts and I'm, you know, building endurance back up and it's just fun. I enjoy it. It's not a chore anymore.

Angie: 42:38

Yay. I love that. All right. So Lori, how can our listeners connect with you if they would like to kind of follow along with your story or learn more about your new coaching programs that you are, I know currently in development not quite, not quite ready yet, but if they want to connect with you, if they you know, appreciate your story, how can they, how can they get in touch with you?

Lori: 43:01

I'm mostly active on Facebook and so you can send me a friend request and and you know, mentioned that you heard me on this podcast and I have a website and Facebook community that will be starting in about a month. Awesome. We're in, we're in development and I will be launching my coaching. And

Angie: 43:25

who will you be? Who will you be helping in your coaching program? What kind of people

Lori: 43:30

I am working mostly with women in my age group, forties, fifties and beyond who have struggled with losing weight and have been on every diet just because that's my story being on every diet and finding out that following it, the diets are all the same, but it's incorporating healthy eating movement. However, you see it, it doesn't have to be running. It could be yoga five days a week, but helping them find that path to aging gracefully so that you know, they feel better in their own skin. They feel comfortable with who they are. Self care is so important. So that's my target audiences, women who, you know, maybe going through menopause you know, empty nest and really want to develop themselves because last, you know, 10 years have been the best years of my life.

Angie: 44:26

I love that so much. So if that is you go connect with Lori, we'll put all of her information in the show notes and all the links where you can connect with her there. Thank you so much again for being here. We appreciate you.

Lori: 44:38

Thank you, Angie. Appreciate you too. Bye.

44:40

Bye.