E78: Community in Motion: Running, Learning, and Personal Growth

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I originally was a, was a swimmer. Actually, I swam through high school and
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into university and then had an interest in triathlon.
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So when I was first getting in, building up some running, I started running a bit with Bertil.
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My connection there was Erin because she'd been running with Bertil quite a
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bit. I didn't last very long.
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This is Learning Innovation, the teaching and learning podcast,
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also known as LittlePod.
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We are created by Lethbridge Polytechnic's Centre for Teaching,
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Learning and Innovation and located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada,
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on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
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In the spirit of equity, diversity, inclusion and Nitsitapishkimstan,
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or real thinking, we play host to a spectrum of guests from the teaching and learning community.
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As we highlight and explore innovation in education, we hope to kindle warm
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conversations, expand perspectives, and foster lasting partnerships today, tomorrow, and beyond.
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The future of learning starts now.
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Okie and welcome. I'm your host, Chris Hodgson-Bright, and I'm a faculty member
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for both the Digital Communications and Media Diploma, as well as the Multimedia
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Production Diploma at Lethbridge Polytechnic.
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I'm excited to be host for the first time in this amazing podcast,
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thanks to the invitation from Donna McLaughlin, Work Integrated Learning Coordinator
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for Business, Arts, and Sciences, who continues to share the hosting and producing duties.
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Our guests today will discuss their shared experience for how running relates
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to the educational journey.
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While I was reading more about runner soul and doing some research on our guests,
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I read a 2024 Medium article by Gerald Lopez called Long Distance Running,
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a metaphor for persistence in education and career.
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In it, the author talks about five things that I think will continue to be incredibly relevant today.
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They're setting goals and milestones. Number two, discipline and routine.
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Three, mental toughness.
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Four, community and support. And finally, something I think we should all be
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doing a little bit more, celebrating the small wins.
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So in honor of the incredible Kodiak athletes, coaches, and running enthusiasts
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we have on Lethbridge Polytechnic campus, we wanted to bring in two members
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of the Runner Soul team, Sean Pinder and Brandon Ruggier.
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Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks. Yeah.
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So for 32 years, Runner Soul has outfitted hundreds of athletes.
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The latest innovation in shoe designs and led clubs and clinics that bring a
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multitude of runners together who enjoyed running on pavement,
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hitting the trails in almost every month of the year.
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Many of the Runner Soul team also helped with organizing local races through the year.
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Runner Soul is also a proud member of the Independent Running Retailers of Canada
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and continues to work hard to
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build and unite the running community in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta.
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So, Sean and Brandon, thanks for joining us today. It's great to have you here
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to speak about your love of the outdoors and what it means to build a community.
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Sean, starting off, what do you love most about running a full-time business
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dedicated to the sport of running and also with your wife, Erin?
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Well, I think in talking with Erin, we really enjoy seeing people's journey
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as they come into the store for the first time, whether it be somebody who's
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somebody that's been running for many years or maybe it's their first time.
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Time, it's still fun to watch their progression over the years because obviously
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whether they're working towards their first 5k or their first marathon,
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or maybe they're doing, you know,
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their 50th ultra marathon, it's, it's always neat to kind of hear about their
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journey and be able to help them a little bit of along the way. It's awesome.
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How about you, Brandon? Yeah, it's like I could just say ditto to Sean on that front.
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I think it's really encouraging and inspiring when you watch people starting
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into the same passion that we have.
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And we watch them go from our learned run clinics to the half marathon, full marathon.
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And then, you know, my passion being ultra running when they execute that first
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big race. It's like so exciting just to watch that passion in them grow.
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Awesome. That's great. Well, I really appreciate both of your help because definitely
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it's helped me over the years. from going from sprint triathlons to my third
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marathon, if all goes well, in the next month or so.
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So, Sean, it's been nearly two decades with Runner's Soul. That's really impressive.
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Any memorable stories come to mind? Well, I guess the big thing that's changed
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for us, when we took it on, we were quite young.
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Both Aaron and I, I think I was low 30s. Aaron was late 20s.
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And the previous owner and founder of Runner's Soul, Ron Bain,
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often we got asked whether we were his children.
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But now that's completely flipped and often we
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get asked if you know the staff that are working at the store whether
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there are children nice so that's kind of a weird thing over over that amount
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of time yeah right on and then i also understand you're a board member of prairie
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runners race association yes that's right yeah yeah so prairie runners race
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association is the the organization that we do all of our events through.
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Nice. And I guess since when Aaron and I both first got involved with the store,
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right away I jumped into some of the event organization,
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race director for several different events, and then was initially involved
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with Prairie Runners Race Association in a board capacity, and then very quickly
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took on the president role from Ron, who was the previous president.
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Yeah, so I've been in that position ever since. And does that help you?
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Having that kind of distance from the store because I'm sure you couldn't tackle
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that all. Yeah, to some degree.
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And like the night, one nice thing with it being the organization is there's
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other board members and people that are heavily involved with particular entity that will help out.
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One person that I would want to mention, Fred Baskerville, he's been our treasurer
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since probably day one that the organization even came into existence.
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And, and he's very hands-on with, all the races, paying the bills and so forth,
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which is obviously an important part of any organization. It's working well. Yeah.
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Yeah. So I'll just list off the races because for those who are not familiar
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with the volume of races that go through the store, it's just phenomenal.
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And please let me know if I've missed any, but I have the Claws Cause,
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the Cooley Cactus Crawl coming up in about a month's time, the Fifth Avenue Mile,
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the Lethbridge 10 Mile road race ladies fest 8k
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little souls kid marathon the lost soul
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ultra marathon the moonlight run very popular
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every year the music from the soul marathon and the splash pedal
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and gasp triathlon so those are the ones you've run
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i know some of them still don't exist but are there any i missed in there off
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the top of my head no but yeah obviously we have the core events that have been
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running for many many years probably uh the moonlight run being the longest
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running next year will be the 40th annual for that particular event.
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Other ones that have been running for quite some time, Little Souls Kids Marathon
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will be the next one on our calendar for this year. Okay.
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Which actually grew out of the music from the Soul Marathon,
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which it was something that we did kind of as part of that day's events.
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Okay. While the parents were out running their marathon, then the kids would
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do their own little 2K to finish off their marathon.
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So when that event finished in, I believe it was 2008, we carried on with Little Souls.
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That's great. Yeah. I think Cooley Cactus Crawl is probably the second oldest one.
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And what, we just hit the 30th year, I think, for last year.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Excellent races.
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Good. So Sean, I'll start with you. I understand both you and Aaron have a strong
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connection to Lethbridge Polytechnic.
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While you did not attend our post-secondary institution, Runner Soul has been
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a long-term sponsor of Cody Athletics.
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Plus, you also have several staff members, including Brandon,
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who have attended Lethbridge Polytechnic. And I understand you have three employees
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who are working there at the moment. So that's, that's great.
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Yes. Yeah. And then you also were able to train under Bertil Johansson.
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Hopefully I pronounced that correct. A longtime coach with the Kodaks cross country and track club.
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It was a short stint for you, Sean, but mentioned Aaron trained with Bertil's
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group for quite a bit. Yeah, that's right.
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So like, I guess a little bit of my history. I originally was a, was a swimmer.
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Actually, I swam through high school and into university.
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And then had an interest in triathlon. So when I was first getting in,
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building up some running, I started running a bit with Bertil.
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My connection there was Erin, because she'd been running with Bertil quite a bit.
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I didn't last very long because, like I said, I was just getting into running. Sure.
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And I would say I went from running, you know, three times a week,
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half hour to an hour, those three times to running, you know,
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five or six times a week with Bertil's group for an hour and a half.
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Yeah, it's quite significant. So very quickly, I'd say within six or seven weeks,
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I had a nasty, like, shin splints, basically. Sure. And I needed to take some time off.
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It's like it was a little too fast i like it
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obviously one of my recommendations when people
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are getting into running now is to build in quickly die completely
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ignored that when i was getting into it but uh learned learned
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very fast that i i had to be that as well yeah fair enough uh yeah so johansen
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was a kodiak's cross-country coach from 87 to 2018 during that time he's the
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alberta college athletic association coach of the year in 2003 and then alberta
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amateur sports coach in 2005,
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then in 2008, Johansen was named to the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame.
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Then passing the torch also, Simon Schertz took over coaching the Kodiaks indoor
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and outdoor track teams and there's a long list of accomplishments as well.
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Can you tell us a little bit more about why supporting Kodiaks and Lethbridge
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Polytechnic is important to you?
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Well, the program itself, the cross country and track programs have been running
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for a long time and have been a big supporter of runners in Lethbridge and Selden, Alberta.
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There's a lot of local talent that goes to that particular, to those particular teams.
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And not only was Bertil good with pulling in local talent, but also he pulled
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in lots of international students.
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Many of those who have stayed in Lethbridge and contributed to the local running
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scene for many years. So it's important to us to be able to give back to a program
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like that, that supports the local running scene as much as it has.
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And Simon shares the current Kodiak coach, obviously has continued to be a big
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supporter of the local running scene. Nice, nice, great.
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And then, so the running stint with Bertil didn't go so long,
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but then it was the year 2000 and you started competing in Ironmans.
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I imagine you probably built up to that level, but can you tell us a little
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bit about what that level of competition is like and maybe where those races
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have taken you? Yeah, for sure.
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I had a habit when I was younger of really getting into stuff quite quickly.
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And so I had kind of developed an interest in Ironman in high school.
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I remember sitting in the library at LCI and stumbling on this,
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I think it might have been the triathletes training Bible.
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Anyways, it had several chapters talking with Dave Scott and Mark Allen,
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who were kind of the two Ironman heroes at the time, right?
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For multiple years, late 80s, early 90s, those two would duke it out at Ironman
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World Championships in Hawaii.
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So anyways, I always knew that when I kind of finished up swimming...
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Not that I'm done swimming, I still swim, but when I kind of finished that competitive
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career, I wanted to do Ironman.
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So pretty much the first summer after finishing swimming, I dove into,
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I signed up for a half Ironman and that race mixed success, I guess. Sure.
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Because I didn't run very much, like I was saying, and kind of just jumped into the try.
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And then after the following year, actually, while I was at that half Ironman,
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we had some friends sign Aaron and I up for Ironman Canada the following year.
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So that kind of set the goal. They are, yeah.
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That's impressive. I won't mention some of the weird stuff they put on our entry forms.
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All right. Description, occupation description and so forth. No problem.
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Anyways, it was very nice of them to make the trip out there.
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And at the time, to get into Ironman Canada, you had to actually,
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I think, even wait overnight to be able to get in, because it would fill up otherwise.
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So we certainly owed them a lot.
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You know, a beer or something just to thank them for waiting through the night
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to actually get us into the event. Sure.
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Yeah. But I've done eight Ironman events. Seven of them were Ironman Canada. Okay.
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The eighth was Ironman Chattanooga, which wasn't originally the intention,
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but I had originally signed up for Ironman Lake Tahoe and it ended up getting
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canceled due to a forest fire.
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So did Ironman Chattanooga the following week
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luckily got a spot in that great so yeah it's it's
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very interesting a lot of training over the years for that
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and took me to some interesting places and and
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still continues to because I still have an interest in triathlon and yeah and
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the events that are involved with triathlon obviously yeah any memorable like
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races or times like you're either on the bike or in the water and just like
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just if you can recap for the listeners about the distances that you have to do at the Ironman level?
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Yeah, so the distances with a full Ironman, 3.8 kilometer swim,
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180 kilometer bike, and then a full marathon at the finish, 42.2 kilometers.
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So the conditions in Ironman Canada at the time I was doing it was in Penticton
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every year, kind of the end of August, and smoking hot pretty much every year.
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So the big challenge was always to try and get through the swim and the bike
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as comfortably as possible and still feel like you have enough energy for the run.
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Yeah. And to do it, again, just so that you're feeling like you're still not
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depleted and can still run that 42.2 kilometers, which honestly,
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I definitely took walk breaks in that marathon.
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I think virtually everybody does. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
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On an Ironman course, they really pamper you on the run where they have an aid station every mile.
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So my strategy became where I'd kind of run between each aid station and then
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walk the aid station as a little, I guess a little celebration of completing
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that mile, but also just to give myself a little respite before getting back to running again.
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Impressive. Okay. Well, if there's any more stories that come up,
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feel free to just jump in and share those.
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Yeah. We'll switch gears now to talking about Brandon. You've completed the
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125 kilometer Canadian death race multiple times, the Lost Soul Ultra 50k,
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the Black Spur Ultra 54k,
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Sinister 7 100 miler, and now
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you've just completed the Sinister triple for the second year in a row.
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Is that up to date? Have I missed anything? Yeah, that would have been a couple
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of years back. So there's been a 200 miler in there.
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There's been a few other death races.
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And I ran another 100 miler last summer. So there's a few more to add in there.
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Yeah, congrats. Those are epic races. What possessed you? Probably that's the
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right word to use. I'm not sure if there's another.
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To get into ultra running, like Sean, they're massive distances.
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So ultra running, what's like your favorite stories from those types of runs
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over rocks, dirt, and under the bright sun?
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Oh gosh like i don't even know if i could pick
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one specific story yeah you know it like i
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i got into ultra running based off of watching a family member
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we were there to like crew my uncle he was raising money for
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the children's hospital and it was at death race and i was like middle school
00:16:22.837 --> 00:16:26.057
so at that time i was like wow this is like this
00:16:26.057 --> 00:16:29.417
looks really cool like i i'm down for this um and i
00:16:29.417 --> 00:16:32.197
have to also say that i hated running at that time like i grew
00:16:32.197 --> 00:16:34.937
up as the kid in gym class who would offer to put
00:16:34.937 --> 00:16:37.677
the volleyball net so i didn't have to run my laps so like that was
00:16:37.677 --> 00:16:40.657
not my jam so i think when my when i expressed some interest my
00:16:40.657 --> 00:16:43.497
parents probably rolled their eyes but that being said it
00:16:43.497 --> 00:16:46.377
just kind of that's where it all stemmed from i've the amount
00:16:46.377 --> 00:16:49.477
of people i've met along that journey and what i've learned about myself and
00:16:49.477 --> 00:16:52.757
like what the body is physically capable of when you feel like you can't go
00:16:52.757 --> 00:16:57.937
any further you probably can uh so yeah like like said it's it's quite a journey
00:16:57.937 --> 00:17:01.617
and i'm still very much a student in the sport so i think every race i do i
00:17:01.617 --> 00:17:06.117
find out how much i don't know um so there's always something that i'm adapting
00:17:06.117 --> 00:17:08.417
and finding my way. Okay, right on.
00:17:08.857 --> 00:17:11.997
And then when you're not running, you also have a strong connection to Lethbridge
00:17:11.997 --> 00:17:15.597
Polytechnic. You've worked as an employee here for four years? Yeah, yeah.
00:17:16.117 --> 00:17:20.097
While I was going to school, so to give a little bit of background, I've done...
00:17:20.566 --> 00:17:25.266
Five and a half years at the call at the polytech. And therefore it's probably
00:17:25.266 --> 00:17:28.206
a little bit more than your, your traditional student where there's a lot of
00:17:28.206 --> 00:17:31.326
like diploma programs and whatnot. And therefore you see students here for two years.
00:17:31.526 --> 00:17:35.946
And I, I came for my first diploma, finished that continued on to my bachelor's here.
00:17:36.186 --> 00:17:39.286
And during that time period, I was an employee with the res life department.
00:17:39.606 --> 00:17:43.806
And then I took a little bit of break off from school, worked in my field,
00:17:43.926 --> 00:17:47.526
did some traveling, and then I came back and did another diploma program.
00:17:47.786 --> 00:17:48.966
And then I worked in my field.
00:17:49.246 --> 00:17:52.966
And here we are. Nice. Yeah. So I saw you did a renewable resource management
00:17:52.966 --> 00:17:55.306
diploma. You did a bachelor ecosystem management.
00:17:55.486 --> 00:17:57.986
And in 2020, you came back for natural resource compliance.
00:17:58.266 --> 00:18:02.306
Yes, that's correct. Yeah. Okay. And you talk about how it like bridges people in the environment.
00:18:02.706 --> 00:18:07.206
Tell us why you chose this area to study. And I'm guessing the fresh air has a lot to do with it.
00:18:07.266 --> 00:18:12.466
Yeah, I think, I think like anyone at age 15, 16, 17, when you're trying to
00:18:12.466 --> 00:18:16.426
figure out what you want to do, my dad was in the environmental field and I
00:18:16.426 --> 00:18:19.226
had his own company. So I worked with him for like a number of summers.
00:18:19.446 --> 00:18:22.706
And so in certain ways, I was like, yeah, I like the outdoors and,
00:18:22.846 --> 00:18:23.606
you know, this seems good.
00:18:23.766 --> 00:18:27.826
So I just kind of, that was the way that I chose what I was going to do for the rest of my life.
00:18:29.026 --> 00:18:33.686
And I enjoyed it. I loved my time here at the Polytech. So much hands-on experience.
00:18:34.046 --> 00:18:37.826
I think the farther I went into my education, the more I realized that it was
00:18:37.826 --> 00:18:39.966
an interest, but it wasn't totally my passion. Sure.
00:18:40.566 --> 00:18:44.846
And there's something to be said about following your passion and just going
00:18:44.846 --> 00:18:47.726
to work every day or doing whatever you're doing every day and enjoying it.
00:18:47.726 --> 00:18:50.686
Like to me that's like you won the lottery so that
00:18:50.686 --> 00:18:53.406
being said I when I came back to school I am very much
00:18:53.406 --> 00:18:56.426
a people person so my first four years my degree took
00:18:56.426 --> 00:18:59.426
me into like a lot of field work that I was spending either by myself
00:18:59.426 --> 00:19:02.926
I was collecting data but I I love talking to
00:19:02.926 --> 00:19:06.326
people I like you know and so there is always this gap I think in the environmental
00:19:06.326 --> 00:19:11.166
field of like communicating results and and what do we do with this and therefore
00:19:11.166 --> 00:19:15.326
that's kind of where I went back to school and I I enjoyed like a number of
00:19:15.326 --> 00:19:18.526
contracts after I finished school working in that end of things so i was doing
00:19:18.526 --> 00:19:21.386
a lot of like education programs and whatnot so,
00:19:22.087 --> 00:19:25.747
And like I said, other things kind of happened in between there and after that,
00:19:25.887 --> 00:19:29.027
but that's kind of where I guess that's my polytech journey.
00:19:29.207 --> 00:19:32.767
Yeah, that's great. And then congratulations last year, you became a dad.
00:19:32.947 --> 00:19:34.167
Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Another journey.
00:19:34.427 --> 00:19:37.067
Yeah, he just turned a year. We just started walking the other night.
00:19:37.227 --> 00:19:39.027
So that was an exciting time in our house. Right on.
00:19:39.887 --> 00:19:43.167
Okay. So now I'm going to ask both of you this question. Feel free to answer
00:19:43.167 --> 00:19:44.127
in whatever order you like.
00:19:44.127 --> 00:19:48.327
But so tying into those kind of five themes I mentioned earlier in the show,
00:19:48.587 --> 00:19:51.307
based on what you've seen in yourself and other athletes, do you think there's
00:19:51.307 --> 00:19:55.067
a strong connection between setting goals and milestones for running versus
00:19:55.067 --> 00:19:57.387
how that ties into the classroom experience?
00:19:58.067 --> 00:20:01.387
Yeah i absolutely do i think
00:20:01.387 --> 00:20:04.667
almost when you look at goal setting for
00:20:04.667 --> 00:20:08.627
running it's almost a simplified version that
00:20:08.627 --> 00:20:11.607
you can apply to other aspects of your life because it's
00:20:11.607 --> 00:20:14.287
very easy with with running where you choose a
00:20:14.287 --> 00:20:17.687
5k or a 10k or a marathon whatever goal
00:20:17.687 --> 00:20:21.247
you might have in mind that you think might be attainable but
00:20:21.247 --> 00:20:24.787
perhaps a little far off in the future for you you
00:20:24.787 --> 00:20:27.567
can make that set that as your goal and then
00:20:27.567 --> 00:20:30.747
from there you can set kind of all the little increments that
00:20:30.747 --> 00:20:33.627
you have to hit along the way so it
00:20:33.627 --> 00:20:36.687
just is kind of almost a good way of practicing goal
00:20:36.687 --> 00:20:40.067
setting before you have actually apply it in a classroom setting
00:20:40.067 --> 00:20:43.167
or or even like wider in life with financial
00:20:43.167 --> 00:20:47.487
goals or getting your first house and totally all of those types of things yeah
00:20:47.487 --> 00:20:51.567
right on yeah i would i would agree with with sean on that front i think you
00:20:51.567 --> 00:20:55.027
quite frequently hear like running is a metaphor for life and so like all those
00:20:55.027 --> 00:20:59.067
things that you apply in training you know also like dabble back to to just
00:20:59.067 --> 00:21:02.307
general life so whether that is like just hard work consistency.
00:21:03.047 --> 00:21:07.567
Persevering you know any of those aspects of things i think really tie everything
00:21:07.567 --> 00:21:11.627
together is like disciplines to to which way you want to apply them right on
00:21:11.627 --> 00:21:16.767
good so i understand you've yeah we've talked about these these races and then
00:21:16.767 --> 00:21:19.767
like do you remember at what point maybe.
00:21:20.944 --> 00:21:26.264
These races, so Ironmans or ultras, whether it was a hundred miler or 200 miler.
00:21:26.904 --> 00:21:30.324
Do you remember that moment maybe that you decide as a milestone you wanted
00:21:30.324 --> 00:21:33.644
to tackle like in your lives? I don't know. Yeah.
00:21:33.904 --> 00:21:38.784
Well, I, like, as I had mentioned earlier, I knew that Ironman was something
00:21:38.784 --> 00:21:43.984
I wanted to tackle from, from high school. It just almost immediately captured me.
00:21:44.124 --> 00:21:50.204
And at the time they it did appear on tv the odd time okay right and i so i
00:21:50.204 --> 00:21:53.984
watched a couple of them and i was like wow this this event is just crazy and
00:21:53.984 --> 00:21:57.404
i i really enjoyed the way it pulled several different,
00:21:57.964 --> 00:22:00.784
events the the swimming the cycling the running and
00:22:00.784 --> 00:22:03.804
you kind of had to be a little bit of a master of each to be able
00:22:03.804 --> 00:22:07.124
to get through that really kind of appealed to me because
00:22:07.124 --> 00:22:10.084
at the time swimming was such a big focus for me
00:22:10.084 --> 00:22:13.264
i wanted to bring in the other two so that's yeah
00:22:13.264 --> 00:22:16.044
yeah it was very captivating trains a little more
00:22:16.044 --> 00:22:19.624
exciting yeah you can mix things up and and
00:22:19.624 --> 00:22:23.944
obviously when we're talking about the goal setting and and making a plan when
00:22:23.944 --> 00:22:28.064
you have the three different sports lots of just planning on how you're going
00:22:28.064 --> 00:22:33.204
to integrate each and yeah and making sure your hard days on one one with one
00:22:33.204 --> 00:22:35.244
event doesn't necessarily counteract
00:22:35.244 --> 00:22:38.764
what you're doing with another and smart so far so forth yeah yeah.
00:22:39.525 --> 00:22:44.085
And I think I noted earlier as well, like, you know, where that kind of spurred on for me.
00:22:44.265 --> 00:22:49.105
And so that was, you know, that middle school Brandon, just like totally naive to the general sport.
00:22:49.265 --> 00:22:52.065
But I, you know, I spent a good chunk of my time growing up.
00:22:52.145 --> 00:22:55.845
It was outside, it was in the back country. So to, to see and be at these races
00:22:55.845 --> 00:22:59.385
that, you know, you could push yourself to these degrees and watch like that,
00:22:59.485 --> 00:23:02.345
that mental toughness and that embracing the suck as we would call it.
00:23:02.345 --> 00:23:06.465
You know it was it was captivating and like you said at the time i knew nothing
00:23:06.465 --> 00:23:10.045
about it and what that would take to like get to a finish line or like the hard
00:23:10.045 --> 00:23:11.965
work involved to getting there but.
00:23:12.505 --> 00:23:17.365
Here we are yeah because you're pretty young how old are you yeah i'm 28 yeah
00:23:17.365 --> 00:23:22.045
okay so you've done a lot of these yeah i started running ultras i think just
00:23:22.045 --> 00:23:25.905
before i was 18 or around that mark so it's been around i guess that 10 year
00:23:25.905 --> 00:23:30.165
mark nice other goals or milestones that stand out in your career athletic journey
00:23:30.165 --> 00:23:31.485
that either of you want to mention?
00:23:31.945 --> 00:23:36.645
Well, like I've done a lot of different events just because of the three sports.
00:23:36.785 --> 00:23:42.705
Like I've done some of the Gran Fondos. I've done lots of open water swims, I've done lots of
00:23:43.027 --> 00:23:47.867
I've done, obviously, some trail runs, not necessarily the ultras that Brandon
00:23:47.867 --> 00:23:50.007
has, but some different trail races.
00:23:50.227 --> 00:23:54.267
A neat event that I did a couple years back was the Escape from Alcatraz,
00:23:54.347 --> 00:23:59.087
which was a triathlon that I'd wanted to do ever since I first got into triathlon.
00:23:59.087 --> 00:24:04.967
It was kind of just a very iconic event and had kept that in mind through the years.
00:24:05.087 --> 00:24:09.367
And just an opportunity for me to go down hadn't really come about.
00:24:09.367 --> 00:24:15.087
So I went I think it was two years ago or so and and got that in which was a
00:24:15.087 --> 00:24:19.887
lot of fun yeah you made it yeah I made it the sharks didn't get me either.
00:24:21.287 --> 00:24:25.547
My dad was very worried about that my mom said he was very happy to see I'd
00:24:25.547 --> 00:24:30.587
made it out of the water excellent yeah although I like the I think the event's
00:24:30.587 --> 00:24:34.807
been going for 40 years and nobody's been taken down by a shark yet so that's
00:24:34.807 --> 00:24:36.107
good that's a good track record yeah.
00:24:39.027 --> 00:24:42.367
Amazing so when it comes to the art of discipline and routine do you see things
00:24:42.367 --> 00:24:46.147
in your life either of you that you've adopted or modified because of a strict
00:24:46.147 --> 00:24:49.247
training schedule that one's a funny one it's kind of the chicken or the egg
00:24:49.247 --> 00:24:53.747
which one came first i'm a very like type a routine orientated person so just
00:24:53.747 --> 00:24:58.467
based off of who i am like that's how i would execute training and whatnot but then And again,
00:24:58.687 --> 00:25:03.687
like how I do that training end of things is it also dictating how I just do day-to-day life.
00:25:03.847 --> 00:25:06.827
So like I said, I don't know which one ever came first or both of them just
00:25:06.827 --> 00:25:09.347
really complement each other and who I am.
00:25:09.607 --> 00:25:11.627
Like I said, yeah. That's great.
00:25:12.527 --> 00:25:18.547
And I guess like I started swimming competitively pretty seriously when I was 14.
00:25:19.378 --> 00:25:24.038
And very quickly went to doing probably 10 to 12 workouts a week,
00:25:24.078 --> 00:25:27.778
which ended up eating up a lot of your time, your spare time.
00:25:27.978 --> 00:25:32.698
So I guess the one thing that I, I would have taken from that,
00:25:32.818 --> 00:25:36.598
or at least that I feel that I have taken from it is that going into every day
00:25:36.598 --> 00:25:41.378
on top of your training, you always have an idea of two or three things that
00:25:41.378 --> 00:25:42.838
absolutely need to get done.
00:25:42.838 --> 00:25:48.498
And so you prioritize that with your, with the time that you have remaining
00:25:48.498 --> 00:25:50.938
to make sure that you get those done so that you can look after,
00:25:51.598 --> 00:25:55.638
you can enjoy your training or, or the other things that you're going to have
00:25:55.638 --> 00:25:58.258
to get, get accomplished. Yeah.
00:25:59.698 --> 00:26:03.038
Putting the tough stuff first and then. That's right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:03.238 --> 00:26:09.018
And I guess like even nowadays, there are those, if I set myself two or three
00:26:09.018 --> 00:26:12.258
things that kind of have to get done for the day, perhaps they don't happen
00:26:12.258 --> 00:26:15.238
at the end, by the end of the day, but I still have to, you know,
00:26:15.878 --> 00:26:19.578
my day is going to be extended until they actually do get accomplished. Sure.
00:26:19.818 --> 00:26:23.278
So it can't ever be too many, but there usually is always a,
00:26:23.418 --> 00:26:27.758
you know, one to three things that have to get done on any given day. Yeah. Nice.
00:26:28.358 --> 00:26:31.738
So this probably applies and maybe we've answered this one already,
00:26:31.838 --> 00:26:36.658
but Do you prefer routines or do you like the variety when it comes to getting
00:26:36.658 --> 00:26:39.538
outdoors for training or for both of you?
00:26:40.538 --> 00:26:47.278
Yeah, I kind of like a bit of a mixture because like at the busy times of year...
00:26:47.817 --> 00:26:51.577
Like actually the spring with the store is when it's busiest because we have
00:26:51.577 --> 00:26:52.797
a lot of clinics going on.
00:26:52.957 --> 00:26:57.277
There's a lot of events that I'm involved with, but I'm still trying to do some, some training.
00:26:57.557 --> 00:27:02.097
So in that case, I, I will reserve certain times during the day where I can
00:27:02.097 --> 00:27:03.837
get out and do my, my own training.
00:27:03.837 --> 00:27:11.277
So it's going to be a lot more specific, but I found over the years that there are like the fall.
00:27:11.277 --> 00:27:14.977
Typically I have a little bit more time with
00:27:14.977 --> 00:27:17.877
the store so I can just you know maybe I
00:27:17.877 --> 00:27:20.657
want to go out and and do a hour and a half run
00:27:20.657 --> 00:27:23.737
in the coolies and it doesn't matter if I maybe it
00:27:23.737 --> 00:27:27.357
takes longer it's going to be two hours so it's nice to just kind of be able
00:27:27.357 --> 00:27:32.217
to go out the door sometimes and not have specific paces that you have have
00:27:32.217 --> 00:27:37.017
to hit or a specific time that you need to be out for so I like the variety
00:27:37.017 --> 00:27:40.677
and it's it's somewhat refreshing and and preps you for the times where you
00:27:40.677 --> 00:27:43.537
have to be a little bit more on top of things. Sure.
00:27:44.017 --> 00:27:48.037
Great. Yeah. I would agree and disagree with, or not agree and disagree,
00:27:48.077 --> 00:27:51.057
but I am a little bit of both when it comes to routine.
00:27:51.157 --> 00:27:54.477
I love my routine, as obviously I said. I'm a creature of habit though.
00:27:54.657 --> 00:27:58.237
So, you know, when it comes to like my runs, I know if you look at my Strava,
00:27:58.457 --> 00:28:01.177
it looks like I just copy and paste because I'm running the same route.
00:28:01.377 --> 00:28:04.137
You know, it seems like every day and I know how much time that's going to take
00:28:04.137 --> 00:28:07.897
me, but I think it's also important for me to be like a little bit more adaptable to that.
00:28:08.037 --> 00:28:11.197
Just, you know, and that's no different than in life for what I'm like racing,
00:28:11.457 --> 00:28:13.117
things aren't going to necessarily go as planned.
00:28:13.317 --> 00:28:16.637
So that's something I know I need to just like be okay with. Yeah.
00:28:16.977 --> 00:28:19.917
Well, that's good. You can kind of push yourself out of that comfort zone.
00:28:20.737 --> 00:28:26.077
All right. So I'm going to talk about three big ideas here, kind of all connected,
00:28:26.237 --> 00:28:30.957
but mental toughness, the importance of community, and then finally support.
00:28:31.277 --> 00:28:36.877
So starting with mental toughness, your store and through the PRA hosts the
00:28:36.877 --> 00:28:38.417
Lasso Altar in September every year.
00:28:39.733 --> 00:28:45.433
Have both of you completed this race and why is Southern Alberta suddenly becoming
00:28:45.433 --> 00:28:46.933
such a hotbud of ultra races?
00:28:47.093 --> 00:28:51.793
We have things like the Sinister 7 in the Krosnest Pass, Old Man Backyard Ultra
00:28:51.793 --> 00:28:56.853
here in Lethbridge, and the Mini Ultra, the Tabor Tough, just a half an hour away, among others.
00:28:57.173 --> 00:29:01.433
Why do you think this is picking up in excitement and participation so much?
00:29:02.544 --> 00:29:07.504
Well, Lost Soul in particular, well, in ultra marathons more generally,
00:29:07.844 --> 00:29:12.304
it's really an adventure, right? It's a big challenge.
00:29:12.764 --> 00:29:16.144
And I think lots of people don't know that they're going to actually be able
00:29:16.144 --> 00:29:18.244
to complete it, but believe they can.
00:29:18.604 --> 00:29:20.844
It's a big goal that you can set for yourself.
00:29:21.324 --> 00:29:27.384
And it's fun to kind of put yourself out there and challenge yourself like that.
00:29:27.384 --> 00:29:30.224
And and if you are able to get it done
00:29:30.224 --> 00:29:33.084
and complete it well it's a super
00:29:33.084 --> 00:29:35.904
reward yeah right yeah and i say that as somebody
00:29:35.904 --> 00:29:41.184
who hasn't completed yeah it just looks impressive yeah i've signed up for the
00:29:41.184 --> 00:29:45.944
50 i did sign up for the 50k in 2008 but that year the event got rained out
00:29:45.944 --> 00:29:51.284
oh shucks you know and going back to that over the years triathlons generally
00:29:51.284 --> 00:29:55.824
being more my focus and law and iron Ironman was always,
00:29:56.024 --> 00:29:58.304
Ironman Canada was a week before Lost Soul.
00:29:58.604 --> 00:30:05.384
So anyways, that particular year, lots of people will be upset I say this,
00:30:05.504 --> 00:30:09.324
but I wasn't necessarily super disappointed it got cancelled.
00:30:09.704 --> 00:30:14.124
At the time, I also helped flag some of the legs.
00:30:14.504 --> 00:30:18.384
And as I mentioned, Ironman was a week before.
00:30:18.584 --> 00:30:23.284
I was feeling pretty good. I went out and flagged a couple legs nice comfortable
00:30:23.284 --> 00:30:28.484
pace well the next day my legs were killing me yeah so I wasn't necessarily
00:30:28.484 --> 00:30:30.864
looking forward to doing the race the next day but.
00:30:31.664 --> 00:30:34.904
I'm sure it wasn't just because of me that it ended up getting rained out but
00:30:34.904 --> 00:30:39.444
yeah you're just doing a rain dance the night before yeah yeah so anyways on
00:30:39.444 --> 00:30:43.144
future years I was try I tried to be a little bit smarter and not put myself
00:30:43.144 --> 00:30:46.384
in that position where I was gonna have to do two big events,
00:30:46.484 --> 00:30:49.224
back to back like that.
00:30:49.344 --> 00:30:52.584
Cause I would say like Ironman's probably.
00:30:53.902 --> 00:30:59.582
The top guys are finishing, let's say, eight and a half hours for Ironman Canada at that time.
00:31:00.042 --> 00:31:03.682
And I was roughly 10 to 11 hours.
00:31:03.802 --> 00:31:09.762
So it's a big event. I would say kind of on par with the 50K time-wise. Yeah.
00:31:10.222 --> 00:31:14.022
So it takes a lot out of your body doing events that long. Yeah. No kidding.
00:31:14.422 --> 00:31:18.422
Mm-hmm. No, totally. Yeah. How about for you with some of those long distances,
00:31:18.662 --> 00:31:22.422
thinking about mental toughness, Is there any things surrounding that kind of
00:31:22.422 --> 00:31:26.562
concept that you've thought about when you're just like you're crashing halfway
00:31:26.562 --> 00:31:28.582
through that race and you're just like, where do you go?
00:31:28.762 --> 00:31:31.182
Where do you dig deep to complete that race?
00:31:31.782 --> 00:31:36.062
Yeah, I think understanding that when you hit that low, there's going to be
00:31:36.062 --> 00:31:37.742
like another high after that.
00:31:38.262 --> 00:31:41.162
That's a lot of trust. Yeah. You know, when I ran that 200 mile race,
00:31:41.282 --> 00:31:45.582
I've said it to a couple of people, but the lows were so long in that event
00:31:45.582 --> 00:31:48.842
that there was definitely times where I, you know, like I thought I was going to pull the plug.
00:31:48.982 --> 00:31:53.122
Sure. where like that low was maybe a day long out of the 72 hours that I was out there.
00:31:53.362 --> 00:31:57.042
And like Sean said too, you know, like these races are a little more adventure style.
00:31:57.302 --> 00:32:00.762
And I think that 200 really captivated that. But then also for myself,
00:32:00.762 --> 00:32:05.742
that really gave me a little bit more of an idea of why I do this.
00:32:06.122 --> 00:32:08.182
And, you know, like there's a lot of time out there to think.
00:32:08.842 --> 00:32:12.162
But yeah, I, you know, I've completed a lot of our local events and,
00:32:12.722 --> 00:32:16.102
and yeah, I don't know, like La Sola is a great one locally as well.
00:32:16.102 --> 00:32:20.842
And, you know, I did that in 2017, it was extremely smoky and hot and I haven't
00:32:20.842 --> 00:32:24.482
done it since, but it's, it's an adventure out there. That's for sure.
00:32:25.662 --> 00:32:30.162
Something else I would add for mental toughness too is like when you get in
00:32:30.162 --> 00:32:34.522
these races, if you've done a good job, you have your goal, you've kind of have
00:32:34.522 --> 00:32:36.502
a plan for how you're going to attack the race.
00:32:36.622 --> 00:32:39.582
But as Brandon had mentioned, there's like...
00:32:39.805 --> 00:32:43.565
I don't think I've ever done a race where there haven't been issues that haven't
00:32:43.565 --> 00:32:45.445
went exactly to plan, right? Yeah.
00:32:46.025 --> 00:32:51.965
And so just being able to kind of make adjustments while you're on the fly. Yeah.
00:32:52.785 --> 00:32:57.185
And just being able to adjust your mental state.
00:32:57.545 --> 00:33:01.585
Maybe you have to step back, reduce your pace, have a little bit more to eat
00:33:01.585 --> 00:33:04.905
over the next couple miles and then pick things back up.
00:33:05.005 --> 00:33:10.505
It's all important. And part of the mental toughness piece, because ultimately
00:33:10.505 --> 00:33:13.765
you just have to keep moving forward to try and get it done.
00:33:14.605 --> 00:33:18.245
Sometimes, like I think a lot of people think, oh, mental toughness,
00:33:18.265 --> 00:33:21.345
you pick a pace and you just stick to it no matter what. Well,
00:33:21.465 --> 00:33:23.205
I don't think anybody really does that.
00:33:23.365 --> 00:33:27.105
You have to adjust because if you just start getting into that,
00:33:27.105 --> 00:33:31.005
that hard place where you're having trouble keeping that pace,
00:33:31.105 --> 00:33:36.625
if you just continue going and trying to be a little bit pigheaded, I suppose,
00:33:36.945 --> 00:33:39.425
you can just grind yourself to a stop really.
00:33:40.805 --> 00:33:46.925
Second one that was tied in here with this concept, not the mental toughness,
00:33:47.085 --> 00:33:49.785
but it's kind of like on the other side of the spectrum, I think.
00:33:49.785 --> 00:33:53.665
But I've been incredibly impressed with the community support that Runner's
00:33:53.665 --> 00:33:56.465
Soul has, both through participating in various clinics.
00:33:56.465 --> 00:33:59.945
I've done the marathon club for the last three, four years, races,
00:34:00.245 --> 00:34:03.905
and just like creating this amazing community where like-minded folks who love
00:34:03.905 --> 00:34:04.905
the outdoors come together.
00:34:05.185 --> 00:34:08.785
So for me, from the outside looking in, it looks incredibly impressive.
00:34:09.185 --> 00:34:13.245
There's sold out Moonlight Runs every year. I think, how many people is that?
00:34:13.345 --> 00:34:15.745
2,000? 2,500. 2,500. Yeah.
00:34:16.165 --> 00:34:19.765
There's more than 200 people participating in both the half and full marathon
00:34:19.765 --> 00:34:22.125
clinics every year just for training.
00:34:22.345 --> 00:34:26.385
And then just natural friendliness and welcoming nature of runners who walk
00:34:26.385 --> 00:34:28.825
into your store. What does that look like from the inside?
00:34:29.948 --> 00:34:36.028
Well, for me, it's, it's really very rewarding to be in the mix and I'm super
00:34:36.028 --> 00:34:38.948
happy that we have the running community that we do.
00:34:39.288 --> 00:34:43.288
You know, over the years that Ron had the business, he helped to,
00:34:43.588 --> 00:34:49.748
there obviously were people, even from when the store first started back in 1994,
00:34:50.328 --> 00:34:54.788
the running community was pretty strong and there was some, some big name people
00:34:54.788 --> 00:34:56.128
like Bertil, for instance.
00:34:56.808 --> 00:35:00.988
And that helped create some of these events and kind of get things moving.
00:35:01.188 --> 00:35:05.868
And then Ron, again, stepped in and he was a little bit more of a catalyst to
00:35:05.868 --> 00:35:08.548
keep the ball rolling, I suppose.
00:35:08.828 --> 00:35:12.028
So it's really rewarding to be a part of that.
00:35:12.468 --> 00:35:16.348
And just like at the beginning, though, there's lots of people in the community
00:35:16.348 --> 00:35:19.508
that helped make it what it is outside of runner's soul. Yeah.
00:35:19.768 --> 00:35:24.848
So it's also rewarding to work hand in hand with those people to continue building it.
00:35:24.848 --> 00:35:29.768
And I guess what, what we try and do at Runner's Soul is, is support the,
00:35:29.868 --> 00:35:35.448
the local running community and, and walkers to provide whatever they need to
00:35:35.448 --> 00:35:37.028
try and continue to keep the,
00:35:37.188 --> 00:35:41.948
the community growing and, and thriving for many years to come. Yeah. Right on.
00:35:42.748 --> 00:35:45.808
How about you? Yeah. And I, and I might be biased, but I do think that we have
00:35:45.808 --> 00:35:48.288
the best running community here in like Lethbridge and area.
00:35:48.428 --> 00:35:52.148
Have you seen like, what other communities can you think of that have notable communities?
00:35:52.348 --> 00:35:55.108
And why do you say Lethbridge is better? Well, like I said, I might be biased.
00:35:55.228 --> 00:35:56.268
I am from the Edmonton area.
00:35:56.488 --> 00:35:59.748
So, you know, there was that, that being said, maybe it's different now because
00:35:59.748 --> 00:36:03.048
I am involved in like the run specialty industry a little bit more.
00:36:03.168 --> 00:36:05.588
And when we were talking about these clubs and clinics and these events,
00:36:05.748 --> 00:36:07.068
like I see it from a different perspective.
00:36:07.128 --> 00:36:10.648
And even now I'm older than I was when I, you know, when I was 17,
00:36:10.968 --> 00:36:15.768
that being said, like from the inside out, like for people who don't see that,
00:36:15.868 --> 00:36:18.948
like I, the reason I do what I do is because of the community.
00:36:19.128 --> 00:36:22.348
And it's because of all these friends and these, these other fellow runners
00:36:22.348 --> 00:36:26.688
that I have met. And like I said earlier as well, I find it extremely inspiring
00:36:26.688 --> 00:36:30.568
and honored that I get to be just a piece of that puzzle in terms of like sharing
00:36:30.568 --> 00:36:33.468
that passion or like helping them get to that goal.
00:36:34.530 --> 00:36:39.810
That's great. All right. So finally, you're wrapping up with these five concepts,
00:36:40.210 --> 00:36:41.950
something we should all be doing a little bit more.
00:36:42.090 --> 00:36:45.710
And I think it'll be interesting to hear your answers for this one,
00:36:45.810 --> 00:36:47.350
but celebrating the small wins.
00:36:47.610 --> 00:36:51.650
Have you found yourself doing this more or less as time goes on?
00:36:51.810 --> 00:36:54.790
Do you think it's really important for other people to do that for themselves?
00:36:55.790 --> 00:36:58.850
I think i've always done a decent job of celebrating
00:36:58.850 --> 00:37:02.250
different accomplishments the ones
00:37:02.250 --> 00:37:05.010
that come to mind for me like i i have
00:37:05.010 --> 00:37:08.150
done a lot of race like being involved with organizing a
00:37:08.150 --> 00:37:14.830
lot of races over the past i guess 18 years plus and at one time i think i was
00:37:14.830 --> 00:37:20.350
involved with with either race director or or fairly like quite involved with
00:37:20.350 --> 00:37:25.390
up to 10 races 10 events a year and in in In the spring in particular,
00:37:25.650 --> 00:37:28.970
it was every week to three weeks that I'd have another race.
00:37:29.170 --> 00:37:36.230
So I was mentioning to Brandon the other day that like I used to be heavily involved.
00:37:36.390 --> 00:37:38.610
Well, I still am involved with Cooley Cactus Crawl.
00:37:38.990 --> 00:37:42.850
We'd finish wrapping up for Cooley Cactus Crawl and Ladies Fest would be the
00:37:42.850 --> 00:37:44.970
next weekend, which I was race director for.
00:37:45.290 --> 00:37:49.210
And I remember I'd, I always called them celebratory slurpees.
00:37:49.690 --> 00:37:54.190
And I'd go out after the race and I'd, I'd drop the trailer off at our storage
00:37:54.190 --> 00:37:58.490
area and then I'd pick up a Slurpee on the way home and then I'd enjoy my Slurpee for the hour.
00:37:58.670 --> 00:38:03.070
And I'd say, okay, I'm not going to think about the races until tomorrow evening,
00:38:03.410 --> 00:38:07.010
give myself a little bit of breathing room, kind of reset and then,
00:38:07.010 --> 00:38:09.150
and then right back into it for the next week.
00:38:09.390 --> 00:38:13.590
So I think it's always important to just give your, like, at least acknowledge that.
00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:18.000
The amount of effort that went into the event and and people
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:21.240
are always really good here in lothbridge about expressing how
00:38:21.240 --> 00:38:24.620
much they appreciate the events too so it's
00:38:24.620 --> 00:38:27.620
always very rewarding to see when event
00:38:27.620 --> 00:38:30.960
goes off smoothly and people have enjoyed themselves and they're
00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:34.580
you know jazzed about coming back the next year already so
00:38:34.580 --> 00:38:38.900
it's just always important to remind yourself of that afterwards yeah
00:38:38.900 --> 00:38:41.740
right on yeah honestly i'm really bad at
00:38:41.740 --> 00:38:44.540
this you know celebrating those small little wins i think
00:38:44.540 --> 00:38:47.480
i am like i'm such that type a like i said routine
00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:50.280
person that i'm just like from one thing to the next and
00:38:50.280 --> 00:38:53.200
then there is if there's a little gap in my schedule or time i've i've
00:38:53.200 --> 00:38:57.460
filled it with a project at home or i've or something and so i need to be better
00:38:57.460 --> 00:39:01.440
at that and i think it's important for everyone to do that and just like i think
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.780
just for longevity in all fronts just to like take some self-care and maybe
00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:10.540
i need to entertain a slurpee or two yeah that's right so you'd be doing grout
00:39:10.540 --> 00:39:12.640
already after yeah it's exactly yeah i'm,
00:39:13.940 --> 00:39:15.100
Don't want to keep you too long here.
00:39:16.740 --> 00:39:19.400
All right. Well, thank you so much to the both of you, Sean and Brandon,
00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:23.360
for sharing how much you love the sport of running and how it's influenced so
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:26.620
many areas of your life and how it still continues to impact you.
00:39:26.920 --> 00:39:30.500
So to close out the show, love to hear about anything surprising.
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:34.640
We may not know about the two of you that listeners may be surprised to hear.
00:39:35.431 --> 00:39:39.371
Well, for me, I think there are quite a few people in the community that know
00:39:39.371 --> 00:39:43.971
that I do this, but I play the bagpipes and have at times really been heavily
00:39:43.971 --> 00:39:46.111
involved in the bagpiping world.
00:39:46.711 --> 00:39:51.471
I played with a band in Calgary even and commuted up and a band in Edmonton.
00:39:51.611 --> 00:39:54.671
And yeah, so that's another thing that I really enjoy doing.
00:39:55.691 --> 00:39:57.231
Yeah, I don't have something that fun.
00:39:58.991 --> 00:40:02.511
I was really banging my head against the table trying to figure out something
00:40:02.511 --> 00:40:03.711
that someone doesn't know about me.
00:40:03.711 --> 00:40:06.451
Um other than the fact that i run and i like to do projects at home
00:40:06.451 --> 00:40:09.251
but i'm colorblind so if you happen to phone the store and i'm
00:40:09.251 --> 00:40:12.971
like umming and eyeing and butting over colors that you're asking like you know
00:40:12.971 --> 00:40:18.831
that's why so ask for somebody other than the brand for color opinion okay i'll
00:40:18.831 --> 00:40:22.391
keep that in mind all right so if you could leave us with one takeaway about
00:40:22.391 --> 00:40:25.651
what you could encourage anyone who may be interested in trying to go for a
00:40:25.651 --> 00:40:27.611
run for the first time what would it be.
00:40:28.589 --> 00:40:33.589
I would say just get out the door and get moving. If you get out on day one
00:40:33.589 --> 00:40:39.289
and even just go around the block, it doesn't matter how fast or how far ultimately you'd go.
00:40:39.649 --> 00:40:41.489
It's just important to get started.
00:40:42.249 --> 00:40:45.489
And likely the next time you go out, you're going to be able to go a little
00:40:45.489 --> 00:40:47.029
bit faster or a little bit further.
00:40:47.629 --> 00:40:52.209
And every time you go out, it's really a reward. You don't really know exactly
00:40:52.209 --> 00:40:54.249
what the reward is going to be when you go out.
00:40:55.049 --> 00:40:59.129
Because like the activity itself can be rewarding, but perhaps you'll see something
00:40:59.129 --> 00:41:03.109
that you wouldn't have seen otherwise, or, you know, it might be a nice evening
00:41:03.109 --> 00:41:04.909
and you wouldn't have made that venture out.
00:41:05.049 --> 00:41:07.529
Yeah. Except that you're going out to get the activity in.
00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.389
So, yeah, get out the door and get moving. Perfect.
00:41:10.929 --> 00:41:15.009
That's great. I would ditto, Sean, on that in terms of just getting out there,
00:41:15.129 --> 00:41:18.749
but I think adding to that is just understanding how, like, welcoming and,
00:41:18.749 --> 00:41:23.609
like, inclusive the community is in terms of just, like, starting where you're at.
00:41:23.729 --> 00:41:27.429
We all have probably been there at some point in time, And so if we're going
00:41:27.429 --> 00:41:31.429
to talk running specifically, like this might change the trajectory of your
00:41:31.429 --> 00:41:33.889
life on who you meet and those relationships you make along the way.
00:41:34.749 --> 00:41:38.289
This episode featured Chris Hodgson-Bright as host and Sean Pinder and Brandon
00:41:38.289 --> 00:41:41.809
Ruggier as guests. Donna McLaughlin is our producer.
00:41:42.469 --> 00:41:46.309
Ryan Robinson was our sound technician and editor. Our podcast is supported
00:41:46.309 --> 00:41:50.509
by Lethbridge Polytechnic and recorded on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
00:41:50.709 --> 00:41:54.769
For more episodes, head to learninginnovation.ca slash podcast.
00:41:54.769 --> 00:41:57.029
Thanks for listening and take care.