WEBVTT
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We are live on WFPC LP 105.3 FM Radio, The Talon.
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I'm Ryan Fitzpatrick, and welcome back to Unscripted with Ryan.
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We're in the season finale of season one.
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Um, just once again transitioning to the Chatter in the Swamp with the Keen Swamp Bats after this week.
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Um we have another pre-recorded episode for you guys next week, but this week is very important.
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We have a unique guest that we have on here.
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He's a coach of the men's and women's track and field team and cross country.
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He's been here since 2025, obviously, just right in June, I think.
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So he's here.
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He also had an adventurous trip up to Mount Mananok.
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Coach Liam Murphy.
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Coach, how are we doing?
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Pretty good.
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Thanks for having me on.
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No problem, man.
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No problem.
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So, I mean, first of all, the puppy's in the room.
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I mean, uh, you said he he's coming around.
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He's I mean, first of all, I love dogs, so fur I'm I'm a big fan that you brought him.
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But you have to watch him now?
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If it with like intently after some surgery?
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Uh a little bit.
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He's he's pretty good.
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He's self-sufficient, he's uh just a very curious dog, so just wants to know what's going on, everyone's business and stuff like that.
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Well, thanks for joining me today, man.
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I mean I mean it's like three o'clock in the afternoon.
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I don't know what your schedule's like going into today.
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I mean, what what's it what's it look like on a on a summer, I guess we can call it summer now.
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Yeah, summer for cross country and track coach.
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Uh I'd assume most coaches honestly have a pretty similar summer schedule for college, um, but it might vary a little bit depending on sport.
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But uh pretty typical summer for us is just uh recruiting, sending a bunch of emails, texts, uh Instagram DMs, just trying to scope out the next generation of uh student athletes for your team and uh giving tours to those athletes and trying to just get as many contacts and people up to campus as possible and then really just laying out your schedule for the upcoming year.
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And yeah, it's a little more laid back than the school year itself, but still always some boxes to check and stuff like that.
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Yeah, I mean it's a big time for you guys, I'm sure, because I mean obviously it's laid back, but you're still looking for the younger group to come in.
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Are you looking for more so the like 2027 or 20 like this upcoming fall?
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So right now we're always still in always still looking for a couple last minute 2026 commits uh for fall, but pretty much looking ahead to 2027, like we're really you hit 2027 pretty hard in May uh and June, and then you try and get as many of those kids up in the summer just because the cross country and track like they're always in season, so it's harder for them to tour like during the school year and stuff like that.
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So, you know, not to rag on any of the other sports, but you know, basketball, baseball, you know, whatever the case is, like you know, those kids have an off-season here and there.
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The only real off-season for the track and cross-country kids is you know the summer.
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So when they get to go home, yeah.
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Do you guys do summer academy at all?
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Because I know like uh there's sports that do stay over and work out with the strength and conditioning coach, but obviously you guys are year-round, so yeah, we we don't really have a whole lot of kids stay on campus during the summer.
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There's a couple kids from the track team that stay and they they work on campus over the summer.
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Uh, you know, they'll swing by the coach's office from time to time just to say, hey, have a lunch or whatever, but um no, a lot more individualized training.
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Like we just send out training plans week by week and month by month, and you know, they hold themselves accountable, and you know, the sophomores, juniors, seniors returning just kind of set the standard for uh the the incoming class and stuff like that.
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Yeah, it wasn't a big stay over the summer guy when I was playing football here because I don't know, I just you want it's it's a time to go home and see the family.
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Obviously, it's division two level, it's very committed, so um, but I don't know.
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For me, it's that's an important time as a especially a student athlete.
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First of all, mental health is a big part of it, but to go home and see your family, right?
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I mean, what do you think of that?
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Yeah, for sure.
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I'm a big family guy, always kind of have been.
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Um, but I think it's important like for kids to go home, spend time with family, like even just go back home and like uh just kind of remember what home life is and stuff like that, and uh, you know, go see your hometown friends, see your parents, see your grandparents if they're in the same town, like stuff like that.
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Um, you know, college is a special four years, but you know, you're here every day, every weekend for you know eight or nine months of the year, sometimes a little more, if you bleed into like the championship season and qualify to certain you know lengths and stuff like that.
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So you should you should enjoy those seven or eight weeks your home and stuff like that and kind of lean into that.
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Yeah.
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I mean you're from New York, you said, right?
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You you're from uh Hudson Valley, um right up with the first exit into New York you were talking about.
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Yep, very very bottom of the state.
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Um still rural.
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I usually just tell people, uh, though I'm from Carmel, New York, uh I usually just say somewhere near Danbury, Connecticut, because most people have driven through there at some point or another.
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Um but yeah, it's it's a good little place.
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Still very rural.
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Honestly, it reminds me of Ringe a little bit.
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A lot of farms.
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Uh just very small hometown.
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I feel like it's like 10 to 15 years behind the rest the rest of the country.
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Are you serious?
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Yeah, just like a little more old-timey and stuff like that, you know.
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You got your grocery store, the movie theater, the bowling alley, uh, the mall that is slowly dwindling with each year.
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But uh, you know, just you got the small hometown stuff, but it always just feels like home.
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I mean that always comes with its perks though, right?
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Because then you know you know everyone in your town.
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It's like being in a small campus like this.
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I mean, there's always perks to it being small.
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Um, but you know, it's it's nice to get out there.
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I'm surprised it's like that too, with it being so close to New York City.
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I mean, not so close, but like even outside of Westchester, I feel like um it'd be a little more ahead, but Yeah, you you kind of get the best of both worlds, I think.
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Like it's the town itself is very rural, uh, and I feel like the houses and apartments are like very spread out and stuff, but then you are that short, you know, drive or train ride from you know the city and Westchester and White Plains and all that.
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See, this is why as a Long Islander, I classify everything north of the city as upstate.
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It's all upstate, it's all rural, it's all farmland.
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I mean, I guess Albany doesn't count, but whatever, Syracuse, Buffalo, but it's still it's all up there.
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You guys, it's like Canada.
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I don't know.
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Yeah, even though even though it is the very bottom of the state, it I feel like it does have a much more upstate uh identity to it.
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Yes, I agree.
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But like, what's it like growing up there?
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Tell me about like, especially with you going into running.
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A lot of kids don't like growing up running, so w what was it like?
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Were you surrounded by running over there?
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Um I would say our high school honestly has a very good culture of distance running and honestly is becoming more and more of a track school as the years go by.
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Um what high school is this?
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This is Carmel High School.
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Carmel High School.
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Um, but there honestly is a good just community of uh track and cross-country in our area, like like you said, Westchester County, Putnam County, um, Dutchess County.
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Like there there is a strong sense of uh running in that area.
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So it was cool to grow up there.
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I feel like a lot of people uh grew up playing soccer, grew up playing baseball, grew up playing basketball, and then kind of transition at some point in high school.
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Um, whether they do it for a couple years in middle school or early in high school and then find a you know deeper love or passion for the sport, but that's kind of what it was like growing up, uh, you know, playing some other sports and then getting into, you know, tracking cross-country later in high school.
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Yeah.
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And then the recruitment process, uh, being in a smaller place, was it more um challenging than you?
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I mean, obviously it's it's it's a big cross-country school, you were s you were saying, but um being from a smaller area, do you think it was harder to get recruited or there was there was perks to it?
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Um, honestly, I feel like recruiting has changed a lot in the last ten years, 10, 12 years, like quite a bit.
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Um like there wasn't all these databases and um like platforms, social media, like that type of stuff.
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Like social media existed, but it was very up and coming.
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Uh like I think Instagram, I think, was invented in 2015.
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I could be wrong.
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Yeah, 100%.
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I I could be wrong.
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100%.
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But um like it was just much more difficult to get recruited.
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Like, I feel like coaches had to be looking on like the actual running sites like milesplit, athletic.net, you know, now you have like NCSA and you know, all these other recruiting sites where I can basically just type in, you know, times and GPAs and majors of interest.
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Are you interested in D2, D1, D3, NAI, like all this stuff, and you can just find you know every kid within X amount of miles, and you know, that's all up to the coach's discretion on these websites, but you can it's it's much harder to find these like quote unquote like diamond in the rough kids, like these these really special, like unique kids, because there's just so much more exposure now than there's ever was like when I was in high school or you when you were in high school.
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Yeah.
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I mean we're only six years apart, so I guess yeah, so that makes sense.
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I mean, I get it though.
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I mean, but you got to go to a pretty good college, Springfield College.
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Talk to me about that experience.
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How was how's the academic like uh life over there?
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How was the college life?
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Yeah, so Springfield College was um it was on my radar from an early age, but my dad went there, and so in my like recruiting and picking a college process and stuff like that, um, you know, being uh, you know, not ignorant, that's not the right word, but uh just being a stubborn high schooler, like my dad was always like, Oh, you gotta check out Springfield, gotta check out Springfield, and I'm like, I'm not going to your school.
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Um, I'm going my own path.
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So I toured like probably probably seven or eight schools.
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Um talked to three or four of the coaches at those schools, and then a couple of other ones.
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I was like, maybe I'll just do club running or something there.
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Those were some of like the bigger D ones that I was like, I can't really run here.
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Um but then the last school I toured of the whole thing was like my dad finally convinced me like at the very end of my uh or not very end, but like midway through my senior year.
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He's like, just give it give it a try.
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So we went up to Springfield, we toured, and you know, midway through the tour, I was like, ah man, I'm like this, this is probably where I'm gonna end up.
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So I I safe to say I loved it.
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It was a great uh great find, even though it was presented to me like early on, but uh yeah, I think it worked out for the best.
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Like I I had a great, great group of guys there to surround myself with, like, very much very much was a student of the sport, honestly, not to like talk myself up or hype myself up.
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I didn't have like the craziest running resume like leading into college.
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Like I was very average to be honest.
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Um But like that group of guys like that I surrounded myself with and that was there, like really set the tone and like took me in.
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Like, I was probably the slowest freshman in my class by about like 45 seconds in the 5k, maybe a maybe even closer to a minute.
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Can't quite remember.
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Um about growth, yeah.
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But just like leaning into those experiences and stuff like that, and I think by the end of my time, like in my grade or in my like group of incoming class, I was like second best in the in the class.
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So like just surrounding yourself with you know people better than you, I think is that that's how you get better, honestly.
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Like, I've always kind of been an advocate for that.
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Like, if you want to get better, you gotta train with people that are better than you.
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That's that's a good way to put it.
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I always wanted to challenge myself.
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And you said you kind of res like not resented, but not didn't want to go where your parents went.
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But like for me growing up, my mom went to Clemson.
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I'm like, I have to go to Clemson, I have to go to Clemson.
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Obviously, um it's a little different.
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I it was a little trouble.
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I was like, I have to do this, and then I I didn't get it.
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I don't even think I got into Clemson, to be honest.
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Um, but you know what?
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All worked out for the best at Franco Pierce University, man.
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But uh that but now talk about competing as an athlete, because you were there, um you you you grew what you said, but the difference you made from freshman to senior year, did you think you were gonna stick around the game for a long time?
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In terms of like training myself or coaching.
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Training yourself.
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Um, yeah.
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I mean, I like I said, I loved my it was actually like closer to five years because COVID kind of was the in between of my college.
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So I ended up while I did run like a fifth year quote unquote, it was it was really only four years of running, but I was there for five years.
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But um, yeah, it was a great four or five years.
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Um I really enjoyed every minute of it, like just the intensity and like the depth of college running compared to high school was so uh honestly foreign to me.
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I didn't really expect it to be as different as it was, but it was like different in the best way, like um just like my first my first ever uh 8K in college, which is like a decent jump for most high schoolers.
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You go from running the 5K in high school to running the 8k in college, and then at D2 and D1 you actually run the the 10K, but we were D3, so I only ended up running the 8K, but I remember my first ever 8K in college, like my coach had told the freshman, just like you know, it's a big jump, like just go out very conservatively, um all this stuff, like just just you know, we're taking this first one as like a trial run, don't put a ton of pressure on it.
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Uh and 8k again, five miles, five it's just short of five miles, so like 4.97, 4.98.
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So you can basically call it five miles here and there.
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Um and I just remember going out with the I went out with the top guy on my team who at the time his mile PR was like four fourteen, I think, four thirteen, and I was just like, I don't think I'm meant to be here right now.
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And I think we were in like fifth or sixth in the race, and uh safe to say in that race, I think I probably dropped, I could look it up, but I I probably dropped to like 200 and like 20th place by the end of it because I went out so unbelievably hard, but it was a great it was a great learning experience, honestly.
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Um and like wow that time was absolutely abysmal.
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Um at the time, at the time at the time, my coach was just like I I love the effort, like I love that you just like kind of threw yourself in the fire, it went horribly after that first mile, but uh like that's a that was one way to rip off the band-aid going into college running.
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Um and it got it got progressively better from there.
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Like I ran that same course my fifth year, my final cross-country season, and I think my time that year was about six minutes better than that first year.
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So it was it was cool to see that growth over a four or five year period, um, and then everything that happened in between.
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But yeah, the group of guys really made the place.
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Like it was it was just a very special group of guys, like you know, we've all you know, bet I'm not married, but like handful of them are married at this point, and like we always kinda you know rekindle at those weddings and stuff like that, and you know, I think it just speaks to the sense of camaraderie and like the uh group dynamic that we did have.
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Dang, is that gonna happen in five years?
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And we're gonna see guys getting married that I know that's so weird, man.
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That's that's a weird, like I'm I'm older now type of feeling, I'm not gonna lie.
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Yeah.
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You'll get to that age, and I feel like it's 26 to 29, where every single time you open Instagram, it's it's someone getting married, someone having a kid, or someone getting engaged, or someone getting a new job.
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And those are like the four things you see.
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Dude, two of my teammates from last year, teammates I was teammates with last year just got engaged in the past two weeks.
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Yeah.
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Two of them.
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It's crazy.
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Shout out Adrian Parker and Austin Howe.
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That's like I can't believe it's getting that old.
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But uh, you talked about that growth, but you talked about going into the fire and your coach recognizing it.
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Now you can also translate that as you're going into the coaching now.
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Um talk about that transition when you're coming become from being an athlete your whole life to being at now a leadership role on top and also mentoring as a coach.
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I think just going back to that same exact race, like, um, just things I've learned through the years, and like one of the biggest things I feel like that race in that period of time taught me was like I was a very, very nervous athlete.
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I was always like one who worked out a lot better than like I raced, and I think part of that was just some nerves, but also um, like I tell the guys here and girls here a lot, like um, you know, like there really is no need to be nervous in the sense that like n like be a little nervous, like nerves just mean you care, but um, like if you're prepared, like you know, we lift, we do all this training, we do the long runs, we do the summer build, like if you do all this preparation, there's almost like I don't want to say no need to be nervous, like be a little bit nervous, like we said, it just means you care, but like don't have this like omer overwhelming like race anxiety and nerves and stuff like that, because if you've done all this preparation, like you should be confident in your ability and stuff to like execute, and um, you know, I think you should be nervous when you're not prepared, when you when you know you you know slacked off all or most of the summer, you've missed lifts, you you know, maybe are you know just hitting only the pizza station at the dining hall every single day.
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Pizza station at the dining hall is rough.
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.680
Um but like in terms of that, like if you're if you're prepared, you should be able to kind of mitigate those nerves.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:03.920
Um and you should be nervous if you've uh kind of ignored those warning signs for you know an extended period of time, not just a short period of time.
00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:08.559
No, what made what made you feel co feel like coaching was right at the time?
00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:12.400
Uh so I went to school to be a physical education and health teacher.
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.599
Um, and I still might do that at some point in my life.
00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:28.400
Uh I think it w if I do, it'll be a much later down the line type of thing when I want to like have a family and maybe a little more uh not rigid schedule, but just like a little more like set schedule.
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:35.680
College coaching is a lot of like on the fly, and you know, you typically have a much bigger team than most high schools, not all, but most.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:19:06.480
Um so like physical education and health definitely set the tone um of like I want to help people, I want to be involved in like wellness, but the later and later I got down the line in terms of uh my like my own running journey in college and then doing some internships, like coaching and teaching at like high school as well as at Springfield, was just like yeah, that kind of solidified like yeah, I want to give this like college coaching uh thing a try for at least a handful of years and just see how it goes, type of thing.
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:07.119
Nice.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.720
And are with your background, are you used to working with both men's and women's track and feel?
00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.799
Is that how usually how it goes, or um is this like a newer type of feel?
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:24.400
It just depends on uh really the size of the school, the division, like how many people are on staff at like a given institution.
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.400
Um, but for me it's been a pretty that's been a pretty regular thing.
00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.359
My coach at Springfield coached the men and women's distance.
00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:36.559
Uh my previous job I coached men's and women's distance, and same thing here, men's and women's distance.
00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:46.240
And you feel like it's like a smooth transition, like not not much of a difference from going from one athlete who can be struggling to a female athlete from to a men's athlete?
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.400
Uh ever every school, every position, every athlete is very different.
00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:57.599
Um I I would like to think my training is very uh if not one of one, like one of two or three.
00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:16.880
Like for for a given week, we have about uh this past year we had ten distance guys, uh, and then like eleven midway through the year with a transfer, and then women we had five this past year, but then our whole overarching track team we have about close to ninety.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.799
So uh, you know, with a couple other coaches as well.
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:39.359
But um, you know, most of the guys and girls on the distance side, you know, have an individualized plan, or if it's not individualized, it might be like, okay, Evan Noah, you guys are very middle distance based, and you you have similar, you know, personal records, and I think you guys adapt to the same training well.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.880
So if it's not individualized, it's very uh very as close to individualized as you can get.
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:51.200
And as the team grows more and more, you might have to see, you know, twos and threes start getting lumped together.
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.480
Um but ultimately I think it's it's very individualized training for the most part.
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:12.160
Um and like I said, we c it's it's almost like uh not matchmaking, but it's like you're you're pairing similar disciplines and similar uh you know personal records one you know hand in hand with one another to kind of train people at the best uh like rate.
00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:13.920
Yeah, because I never thought of it like that.
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:23.039
Like well, I mean, you know, all sports are really split besides track and field and cross country, so it's really cool to see those two work together, and I never got really insight on that, so that's pretty cool.
00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:28.319
And um so you come over here from you know, you've had a few years since you graduated college.
00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:30.559
What attracted you to Franklin Pierce University?
00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:40.400
So what attracted me to Franklin Pierce was that uh so I was previously coaching in the same conference before this, uh much smaller institution.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:47.680
I only had about like twenty to twenty five kids on my team last year, and then this year, like I said, we have close to ninety.
00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.599
Um so that was a big that was a big attraction.
00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:59.759
I wanted a much larger team, and like while I was growing that other team, I wanted to take kind of like this big leap and like be kind of close to.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.440
A hundred and then you know be able to elevate that team to like just over a hundred within you know two or three years.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.480
Um and then also like on top of that, like I have a lot of family up here in New Hampshire.
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.519
Like I said, like family is something that's very important to me.
00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:24.000
So um, you know, while I have some immediate family still in New York, there is a lot more of my family in New Hampshire, so that was definitely attractive.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:35.119
Um and then while I am the head cross-country and track coach here, you know, cross-country is my main um, you know, that's like my bread and butter, that's what I did in college.
00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:45.039
Um, and you know, while I still can coach other events and stuff like that, like that's you know, like I said, what I went to college for, um, you know, and I coach all three seasons of the year.
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:56.559
So uh leaning into that a bit, I think Franklin Pierce is like a very, very uh good place, not only for a track team, but you know, even better for a cross-country team.
00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:08.720
Like you're surrounded by lakes, tons of dirt roads, mountains, left and right, and it's it's just very uh it is a rural campus, it's a small town, it's a small New England college.
00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:17.839
Um and I think it attracts like uh you know those type of people with a very uh simple outlook on life.
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:36.720
Like if you want to just train very hard and go to school and you know, maybe work a part-time job, like if those are like the three or four like very paramount things in your life, you know, out of high school, and like you want to run, you know, fast times and you know get a degree in whatever you're passionate in, like I think this is a good place to do it.
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:45.119
There's not a whole lot of distractions, like you really just get to focus on you know your studies, your uh your coaches, the other athletes you're working with around you.
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:50.400
But it's uh I think it's a great place to train and grow over, you know, your four or five years.
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:55.359
Yeah, and most most college students on this campus are athletes too, so they know what the grind is like.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.480
Obviously, it defers sport to sport, but they know what you go through.
00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.160
Yeah, that was another thing.
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:01.839
Um, and I'm glad you mentioned that.
00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:10.799
Like, I think you know, being on a cam I don't know what the exact number is, but it's gotta be close to like 70 to 80 percent of our campus is uh student athletes.
00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:24.240
Um so I think you're right, like even if you're not on the cross-country or the track team, you know, you're on one of the other sports teams, and it seems like our you know, every team in my opinion is trending in an upwards direction.
00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:28.079
Like football this year won the most games they've ever won in a season.
00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:35.039
And men and women's soccer made the national championship run, uh women's field hockey made a national championship run.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.079
Uh the basketballs did well in the conference.
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:40.480
Um I'm sure I'm leaving some people out.
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.640
No hate to the other sports, but softball best season in history.
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:56.319
Like just and like you said, like I think there's that mutual understanding and respect that uh, you know, even if someone's not on the same team as you, they understand that grind of what you're going through.
00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:04.319
Um that everyone's trying to compete at a high level uh and has to have those sacrifices and uh mutual understanding for one another at times.
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.200
So I think it's a great campus for stuff like that as well.
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:18.240
Yeah, and coming in here as a coach, I mean, on the football side of things, I mean, it's a newer program, so that was different for Coach Gas to come in and take over a program that's new, but he had his challenges to face.
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:20.160
I mean, obviously, it's a rebuild.
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:24.319
Anytime a new coach is coming in, i there's it's always a challenge to take a program over.
00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:27.519
So, what do you think yours was um coming into this program?
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:31.599
Obviously, not far from a new program, but there there had to be some challenge, I would think, right?
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.559
It actually still is like somewhat of a new program, to be honest.
00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.920
Like for a cross-country and track program, it it still is fairly new.
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:41.119
It's only about like 14 or 15 years old.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.480
Um yeah, 14 or 15 years old.
00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:50.240
And I actually am the only I am the second ever head coach, uh, Coach Zem who started it.
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:53.759
And you know, I took over for him once he, you know, left.
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:56.480
He he's been the only other head coach.
00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:04.400
So any program that has a head coach um, you know, take on a new role, like you're gonna you're gonna have growing pains.
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:08.400
Um you know, some people do really well with change, others don't.
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:11.039
Um so it's it's just a work in progress.
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:18.880
Like, you know, I'm sure him and I have a lot of similar, you know, values and stuff like that, but everyone's gonna have their own twist and spin on things.
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:30.960
So uh I think we both have a great you know vision for the program, but there is gonna just be little bits and pieces of uh you know culture change and um you know whatever else.
00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:36.400
Like there's there's just gonna be some growing pains and some uh culture changes as the years go on.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:53.680
But I think the biggest thing I tried not to do this year is that you know, while you do want it to become like you know, your coaching and your staff's program over time, you don't want to make these like radical big changes in your first year.
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:59.759
You kind of want to keep you know the current student athletes like in in motion, if that makes sense.
00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:09.759
Like the program was seeing tons of success before I got here, so you don't want to come in and make these big monumental changes and then it throws off everyone's game.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:15.839
So you have to take an outside look and go, okay, here's what they were doing in the past, it was working.
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:18.640
Now, how do we keep that but elevate it?
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:32.880
So it's like and that's hard to do when you have a program when you come into a program that's already having a ton of success, it's like um you want to give these small doses, um it's kind of like lifting.
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:38.160
Like you can't just go, you know, I'll just use trap bar for example, because that's my favorite lift.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:51.039
So if if your PR is let's just say a hundred pounds on trap bar, you're not gonna like one day, you know, in a week or two walk into the gym and be like, alright, I'm gonna throw three hundred on the bar.
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.519
Like you would look at me and be like, Are you out of your mind?
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:55.839
Like your PR is a hundred from last week.
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.680
Uh, like how are you gonna go to three hundred?
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:02.480
Like, that's the same thing with like me trying to work the program, you know, in my direction.
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:09.039
I wanna, you know, you know, maybe September, October, you know, maybe I throw 120 on the bar.
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:11.759
Then, you know, December maybe 150.
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:16.559
And then by the time we're at May, maybe I'm up to, I don't know, 175, 180.
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:25.359
But you can't just jump, you can't just jump like these tiers all at once to try and like make the program, you know, elevate and stuff like that.
00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.680
Otherwise, you're probably gonna break something in the process.
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.440
So that's a good way to put it, yeah.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:33.440
It's not just affecting you, it's affecting everybody and the entire team.
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:34.160
So I get it.
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:35.519
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.759
So, um, you're a younger guy though.
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.279
You come into here, um, what are the challenges that you face like that?
00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:58.000
Because obviously you're in your twenties and you were an athlete too long ago, so I'm sure there's times t that you also can relate heavily to the players and the athletes that you have, but also um getting that that leadership and respect of uh your athletes being young.
00:28:58.319 --> 00:28:58.720
Sure.
00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:01.920
I think that honestly is the hardest part.
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:14.720
Um the the youngness is always going to be questioned for the first handful of years until you kind of you know prove and solidify yourself that like you know you're kind of meant to be here type of thing.
00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:15.119
Right.
00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:30.000
Um, you know, because some some people, whether you know they're at, you know, this institution or a different staff, they'll be like, you know, uh he's young, he's only 27, he he might not know, you know, XYZ or this night might not be finite type of thing.
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:34.000
But um, you know, I've been very involved in the running world for a long time.
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.160
Like uh I'm trying to think of like what year I started running.
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:49.839
But I mean I graduated high school in 2017, like gone to running camps, I've gone to seminars, I'm I'm certified by USTF to CCCA, like uh I ran in college myself.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:59.359
I have some great mentors that have coached um, you know, D3, D2, D1, even some like low-tier professional uh running and stuff like that.
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:12.480
So I think the biggest thing is like you gotta lean on people when you're young, like even if you think you know what you're doing, um, it's always not a bad idea to get a second opinion from you know the staff here.
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:17.920
You know, they still carry a great deal of you know perspective and uh you know years under the belt.
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.000
Coach Kyle, for example, like he's he's been here since the beginning of the program.
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.000
Uh he went here himself.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:29.599
He's a very decorated athlete himself here, and then you know, you also got Coach Everidge, who's Big C.
00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.880
Yeah, Big C, who's our throws coach, also went here.
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:42.720
Uh arguably, you know, again, similar to Coach Kyle, like one of the more decorated like throwers in school history, if not, if not the most decorated men's thrower.
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:48.799
So, um you know that's that's a very uh big asset to the program.
00:30:48.880 --> 00:31:04.559
Like, you know, they they have you know the old culture behind them, and like they can instill kind of those old things that worked really well, and then we can also trial and error, like, okay, what do we want the future to look like that it that it didn't have before?
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:15.119
Um or it's just even little things like um you know, like what kind of spices can we add to this you know, dish that's gonna make it even better than it already is.
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:17.599
So uh you just gotta lean on them.
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:54.400
Um so we I leaned on them a lot this first year, and they were uh extremely helpful, and um, you know, also just my mentors like outside the program because it's uh you got you know what's one of my bigger mentors is uh Leo Mayo, he's the coach of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and then I would say another big one is Amanda Coolis, she's a uh a jumps coach and a pole vault coach at um Dartmouth College, and then you know, the old staff I had at Springfield, you know, those are all great uh examples of like mentors in my life and like a good good spread of divisions as well.
00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:05.440
So it's like you kind of got you know a bunch of different eyes and ears and outside perspectives that you know you don't you also the great thing about mentors too is you don't you don't have to take everything they say.
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:12.480
You can you can take the parts you like and then you know add in the parts that you think will uh you know make it better.
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:13.119
True.
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:25.279
So or like you can sometimes get advice from people, whether it's a mentor or a friend or whatever, and like you can just be like, that's awful advice in your head, and you can just be like, I'm gonna do the exact opposite of that.
00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:29.839
And like sometimes sometimes it bites you in the butt and sometimes it works out perfectly.
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:47.200
So it there's a lot of trial and error involved, honestly, and I think I think the biggest part is just like recognizing when you're right, and also the harder part, recognizing when you're wrong, and just being like that did not work, and just being very uh transparent with that and being like we're gonna segue and not do that again, type of thing.
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:56.640
Now, going away from the uh college competing, I know, and then one of the big reasons I had you on here actually was the Manadnock climb that you had.
00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:04.720
Talk to me a little bit about that and why because it Mount Manadnock here in New Hampshire, it's one of the most hiked mountains in America, if not the most hiked mountains.
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:11.200
Um, but yours was um interesting, so tell me why it's uh a lot more different than than the average hike.
00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:23.839
Yeah, so it's uh Mount Mananoch has a trail called the White Dot Trail, and it's one of the more technical trails, so there's a lot of rocks, a lot of routes.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:31.680
Uh it's like basically once you're nearing the top, it is you're you're almost rock climbing at a point when you're close to the top.
00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:32.480
Yeah, that's true.
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:42.319
Um and it's not that I got bored of running, but I feel like uh coaching has been a lot more forefront of my life.
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.960
I care a lot more about uh the athlete's progression than my own progression.
00:33:47.119 --> 00:34:08.079
So I still run for fun, I still run for like health and all that, and I'll usually throw like one or two races on the calendar every year that I'm like, yeah, I really want to train like kind of hard for this and um you know put some effort into this and like have a good buildup and stuff like that, but I've never really done a competitive like trail race or trail run.
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:19.519
Um but this particular uh Mount Man Mount Mananock White Dot Trail, um it's not a race, but it's what's called the FKT Fastest Known Time.
00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:35.599
Um and I have the stats on my phone just because I know I can't remember all this stuff, but it's roughly like 1.8 to 1.9 miles, and there's 1700 feet of gain.
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:47.599
So usually for like our distance crew, I would consider if you do a 10-mile run, for example, I would say a thousand feet of gain is a hilly run.
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:50.639
Um, you know, about a hundred feet per mile.
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:56.239
So if you do a seven mile run, you know, seven hundred feet of gain would be that'd be a hilly run.
00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:04.559
So seven hundred seventeen hundred feet in less than two miles is considered extremely, extremely hilly to say the least.
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:10.480
Like you said, it's a it's a mountain um and very technical at that, like rocks, roots, all that stuff.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:11.679
Oh yeah, rivers.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.079
Maybe yeah, yeah.
00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:21.119
But uh the fastest known time up it is 24 minutes and 14 seconds, which doesn't sound that fast.
00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:24.320
It's about 1327 per mile.
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:29.199
Um But I did some calculations and some stuff like that.
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:50.159
It's it's roughly equivalent to running like 420 pace on a track, but like up a mountain, but in terms of that's just in terms of effort, like yeah, like we said, it was about 13 minutes a mile, but um the effort is much greater than that due to the you know the strain and difficulty of the trail and stuff like that.
00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:50.719
Yeah.
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:55.119
Because I mean, you put into perspective, you said 24 minutes.
00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:56.320
That doesn't sound like a lot.
00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:00.400
What to hear about how I got up was a senior trip my senior year last year.
00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:06.239
We went up as a class, we stayed up all night having fun, and to go for a sunrise hike.
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:08.000
So we would go up and see the sunrise.
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:09.039
So we left at 2 a.m.
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:12.960
after a long night to go up there, brought a gallon of water to pour on ourselves.
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:18.559
It took uh all of us, and I think I I like went up there relatively quickly, it took like a couple hours.
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:26.800
It took an hour to two and it took an hour to two hours of what I could say for most of us to get up there, and that's not just like stopping either.
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:27.760
You're not stopping.
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:32.639
Like we're obviously we're walking most of it, we're not running, but it took a while to get up there.
00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:35.599
So 24 minutes is quick.
00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:36.559
It really is.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:38.400
And what was your time again?
00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:40.159
My time of it?
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:42.639
So I've done trial runs so far.
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:46.960
I haven't given like a full hundred, hundred and fifty percent effort yet.
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.039
Um I've done trial runs.
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.679
I realistically think I could run about twenty-eight, twenty-nine minutes right now.
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:54.719
Pretty dang good.
00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:57.199
So, and that and that's just speculation.
00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:18.480
I would I would like to give it on honest effort, but I've done a couple uh quote unquote like jogs up it, like um, you know, where it takes about like 40 minutes, 45 minutes, which you know is still about 20 minutes off the the record, but you're basically looking for okay, here's a spot where I think it levels out for a second.
00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:24.800
You're almost trying to gain familiarity of the trail and be like, where can I make up the most time?
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:29.599
Because like I said, once you the closer you it you get to the top, the steeper it gets.
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:41.119
So, you know, at the bottom, you kind of want to get out hot, even if it's gonna, you know, hurt a little more in the middle to the end, but you gotta try and make up ground in that first you know mile.
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:46.239
That way, that next 0.8, 0.9, that's very, very technical and very, very steep.
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:56.320
You know, the first mile, I think, is only about like eight or nine percent grade, and then the last little less than a mile is about like almost 20% grade.
00:37:56.480 --> 00:38:07.760
So, you know, typically when you're driving, like if people are going up like a very, very, very steep hill, you're like, um, you know, most of those hills on the road are like only like five or six percent grade.
00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.400
So like you're trying to run up like almost triple per uh that grade.
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:24.159
Um so you're just looking for spots that basically you think you can make up some time and stuff like that, or you know, you find a spot that levels out for your bit and you're like, I gotta push here.
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:32.639
Um, but you almost want to do those slower, uh kind of more controlled efforts, you know, a couple times before you go for the actual record.
00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:37.119
That way, um you kind of know your game plan going into it.
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:42.639
It's not like a track race uh or a marathon or something like that where you kind of know what to expect.
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:46.320
Like a track race, especially, you know, you know nothing's changing.
00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:51.119
What's gonna change is the other people around you and their paces and their tactics and their moves.
00:38:51.440 --> 00:39:01.039
This is a lot more you against you type of thing, where um you're pushing yourself, there's not anyone else in the race unless you're doing it with a buddy or two.
00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:02.800
Um like a ghost race.
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:04.079
Yeah, kind of ghost race.
00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:08.159
Like you're trying to, you know, beat yourself and the other people who have set the times in the past.
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:15.679
So, yeah, a big goal for mine by the end of the summer is try and crack in that top ten list and see how close I can get to the record.
00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:18.639
I I don't think the record's happening anytime soon.
00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:27.039
Um, as long as I'm living here, I want to try and uh give it a couple honest efforts each summer and fall and just see how close we can get.
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:28.400
Like a new challenge.
00:39:28.559 --> 00:39:40.800
Um, like I said, I'm not bored of running or you know, out of it, but uh I I just want to try something new and get a new experience, and I I think that's what's great about running uh opposed to other sports and stuff like that.
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:50.960
You know, post-collegiate there is, you know, you can join a soccer club or a flag football or whatever the case is, but uh you don't you don't really ever have to leave running, is the great thing.
00:39:51.039 --> 00:40:01.199
You might not have the college team, you might you might not train with the same group of guys or gals every single day, but there's always gonna be road races, marathons, trail runs.
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:07.760
Uh you can do the one on uh the FKTs, you can challenge yourself, like you said, the ghost runs.
00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:18.239
Um it's all it's all different types of um you know ways to stay engaged in the sport after college and stuff like that, which I think is great.
00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:19.039
Yeah, man.
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:21.920
Well, I think you're gonna I think if you keep going at it.
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:24.400
Holy crap, oh Otis is out.
00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:25.920
Oh he's knocked out.
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:27.760
He's knocked out in the corner over there.
00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:35.039
Um well I think you if you keep cracking at it, you get in that top five, maybe we'll give it a go.
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:35.760
Give it a go.
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:39.119
And uh listen, we'll be we'll be looking forward to seeing it, obviously.
00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:43.440
And I can still be here when I see it, so hopefully uh be happy to hear from you when you do.
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:46.639
Obviously, it's gonna take time, but um, we'll have you back on it when you do.
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:50.079
Before we go, though, a little rapid fire with Ryan Fitz shortened version.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.400
Uh, where's your favorite running spot?
00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:54.559
My favorite running spot?
00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:56.159
Ooh, this is hard.
00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:04.079
Um I would say off the rip is Lake Willoughby, which is in Vermont.
00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:15.519
It's in very northern Vermont in a small town called uh just north of Lyndonville, Vermont, but the population of the town, I mean, it's gotta be it's gotta be very real low.
00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:20.960
Um I don't even want to try and take a guess because I feel like I'm gonna do them a complete disservice.
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:24.320
Um But it is a very, very niche spot.
00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:29.920
Uh it's it's a spot I've gone to probably every summer for the last probably decade.
00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:33.360
Um and do at least one, if not couple runs there.
00:41:33.519 --> 00:41:36.480
Uh it's just a beautiful, beautiful landscape.
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:43.360
You got a nice view of the lake, and like once you're done, especially if you go up in the summer, you can um you know hop in the lake.
00:41:43.440 --> 00:41:46.320
It's I think it's the deepest lake in Vermont.
00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:52.000
And uh it was actually like carved out by a glacier like a million years ago.
00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:52.239
I don't know.
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:53.519
Alright, yeah, look that up.
00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:54.480
But yeah, it's pretty cool.
00:41:54.639 --> 00:41:55.039
Take a look.
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:56.719
Lake Lake Willoughby in Vermont.
00:41:56.880 --> 00:41:58.880
And now best running music.
00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:02.320
Uh I don't I don't really listen to a whole lot of music when I run.
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:03.039
Nature.
00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:10.639
Um, rarely listen to music um unless I'm on the treadmill, which again, not very frequent.
00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:13.760
Uh this past winter was the most I've ever ran on a treadmill.
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:15.679
We had a brutal winter up here in Ringe, but um.
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:31.760
I would say if I am listening to something on the treadmill, probably probably some sort of like pop punk music like either Blink 182 or uh Green Day or something something along that genre um of music.
00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:33.039
Yeah, that's awesome, man.
00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:36.800
Alright, last question for you is running peaceful.
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:38.000
What does that mean?
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:40.000
Is is running to you peaceful?
00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:42.159
Um it depends.
00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:49.039
It if you're if you're just running for fun and you're taking it easy, by by all means it's it's uh peaceful.
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:52.239
I I've always found running as like an outlet in my life.
00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:58.639
Like running uh comes very naturally to me when other things in my life are not going well.
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:01.119
It's it's very much an outlet.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:10.159
Um and then once you've done it long enough, you hopefully have gained enough fitness where it it is it is very uh peaceful most of the time.
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:10.480
Yeah.
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:22.480
Um but I think the funny thing is I think I think a lot of people think uh college runners or like even people better than college runners is like um like running is like easy for us.
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:25.119
I think it just gets like harder, honestly.
00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:28.159
Because you're just you're just expected to run faster and further.
00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:32.079
So um I that's the great thing now about running it.
00:43:32.239 --> 00:43:35.119
Like like we said a couple times on this, it's it's you against you.
00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:36.480
It's the one of one thing.
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:40.000
So you're really you're really just trying to beat yourself, so.
00:43:40.239 --> 00:43:40.639
Yeah.
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:45.360
Well, those are the wise words from Coach Liam Murphy, ladies and gentlemen.
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:47.440
And Liam, thank you so much for taking the time with me today.
00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:48.639
Yeah, thanks for having me, man.
00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:51.440
I really appreciate it, man, and uh we're looking forward for you beating that time.
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:54.960
And like I said, when you beat it, we're gonna have you right back on here to talk about that journey, man.
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:55.440
Sounds good.
00:43:55.519 --> 00:43:56.079
We'll talk about it.
00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:59.760
Yeah, so thank you everyone, including you guys listening for joining.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:01.840
Joining us today here on the town.
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:05.440
That's WFP C L P 105.3 FM radio.
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:07.519
This has been unscripted with Ryan.
00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:12.800
Again, we live air, we we air live every Wednesday at four o'clock.
00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:14.239
We did a little earlier today.
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:24.079
But um we are coming to the ends of season one, but we're gonna restart it again next week, next in the next few months about, but we'll have chatter in the swamp coming at you as well.
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:25.360
So thank you all for joining me.
00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:27.440
This is Ryan Fitzpatrick signing off.
00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:28.239
Peace.
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:19.679
We are live on WFPC LP 105.3 FM Radio, The Talon.
00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.679
I'm Ryan Fitzpatrick, and welcome back to Unscripted with Ryan.
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.640
We're in the season finale of season one.
00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.760
Um, just once again transitioning to the Chatter in the Swamp with the Keen Swamp Bats after this week.
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:36.159
Um we have another pre-recorded episode for you guys next week, but this week is very important.
00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:38.479
We have a unique guest that we have on here.
00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:43.359
He's a coach of the men's and women's track and field team and cross country.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.280
He's been here since 2025, obviously, just right in June, I think.
00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:48.640
So he's here.
00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.520
He also had an adventurous trip up to Mount Mananok.
00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:53.439
Coach Liam Murphy.
00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:54.399
Coach, how are we doing?
00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:55.119
Pretty good.
00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:56.079
Thanks for having me on.
00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:57.039
No problem, man.
00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:57.520
No problem.
00:00:57.679 --> 00:00:59.759
So, I mean, first of all, the puppy's in the room.
00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.000
I mean, uh, you said he he's coming around.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.519
He's I mean, first of all, I love dogs, so fur I'm I'm a big fan that you brought him.
00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:06.799
But you have to watch him now?
00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.439
If it with like intently after some surgery?
00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.560
Uh a little bit.
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:11.599
He's he's pretty good.
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.400
He's self-sufficient, he's uh just a very curious dog, so just wants to know what's going on, everyone's business and stuff like that.
00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:20.239
Well, thanks for joining me today, man.
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.560
I mean I mean it's like three o'clock in the afternoon.
00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.359
I don't know what your schedule's like going into today.
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.359
I mean, what what's it what's it look like on a on a summer, I guess we can call it summer now.
00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.560
Yeah, summer for cross country and track coach.
00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:41.120
Uh I'd assume most coaches honestly have a pretty similar summer schedule for college, um, but it might vary a little bit depending on sport.
00:01:41.359 --> 00:02:02.480
But uh pretty typical summer for us is just uh recruiting, sending a bunch of emails, texts, uh Instagram DMs, just trying to scope out the next generation of uh student athletes for your team and uh giving tours to those athletes and trying to just get as many contacts and people up to campus as possible and then really just laying out your schedule for the upcoming year.
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:08.960
And yeah, it's a little more laid back than the school year itself, but still always some boxes to check and stuff like that.
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:14.879
Yeah, I mean it's a big time for you guys, I'm sure, because I mean obviously it's laid back, but you're still looking for the younger group to come in.
00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:19.680
Are you looking for more so the like 2027 or 20 like this upcoming fall?
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:46.719
So right now we're always still in always still looking for a couple last minute 2026 commits uh for fall, but pretty much looking ahead to 2027, like we're really you hit 2027 pretty hard in May uh and June, and then you try and get as many of those kids up in the summer just because the cross country and track like they're always in season, so it's harder for them to tour like during the school year and stuff like that.
00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:55.120
So, you know, not to rag on any of the other sports, but you know, basketball, baseball, you know, whatever the case is, like you know, those kids have an off-season here and there.
00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:59.520
The only real off-season for the track and cross-country kids is you know the summer.
00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.120
So when they get to go home, yeah.
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:02.800
Do you guys do summer academy at all?
00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:14.400
Because I know like uh there's sports that do stay over and work out with the strength and conditioning coach, but obviously you guys are year-round, so yeah, we we don't really have a whole lot of kids stay on campus during the summer.
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.560
There's a couple kids from the track team that stay and they they work on campus over the summer.
00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:26.560
Uh, you know, they'll swing by the coach's office from time to time just to say, hey, have a lunch or whatever, but um no, a lot more individualized training.
00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:38.800
Like we just send out training plans week by week and month by month, and you know, they hold themselves accountable, and you know, the sophomores, juniors, seniors returning just kind of set the standard for uh the the incoming class and stuff like that.
00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:46.479
Yeah, it wasn't a big stay over the summer guy when I was playing football here because I don't know, I just you want it's it's a time to go home and see the family.
00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.159
Obviously, it's division two level, it's very committed, so um, but I don't know.
00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.199
For me, it's that's an important time as a especially a student athlete.
00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:56.000
First of all, mental health is a big part of it, but to go home and see your family, right?
00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:57.039
I mean, what do you think of that?
00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.000
Yeah, for sure.
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.479
I'm a big family guy, always kind of have been.
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:17.360
Um, but I think it's important like for kids to go home, spend time with family, like even just go back home and like uh just kind of remember what home life is and stuff like that, and uh, you know, go see your hometown friends, see your parents, see your grandparents if they're in the same town, like stuff like that.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:32.720
Um, you know, college is a special four years, but you know, you're here every day, every weekend for you know eight or nine months of the year, sometimes a little more, if you bleed into like the championship season and qualify to certain you know lengths and stuff like that.
00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:38.160
So you should you should enjoy those seven or eight weeks your home and stuff like that and kind of lean into that.
00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:38.560
Yeah.
00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:40.560
I mean you're from New York, you said, right?
00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:45.439
You you're from uh Hudson Valley, um right up with the first exit into New York you were talking about.
00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:47.839
Yep, very very bottom of the state.
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.439
Um still rural.
00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:59.519
I usually just tell people, uh, though I'm from Carmel, New York, uh I usually just say somewhere near Danbury, Connecticut, because most people have driven through there at some point or another.
00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.720
Um but yeah, it's it's a good little place.
00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:03.759
Still very rural.
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:05.839
Honestly, it reminds me of Ringe a little bit.
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:06.720
A lot of farms.
00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.759
Uh just very small hometown.
00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.639
I feel like it's like 10 to 15 years behind the rest the rest of the country.
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:15.600
Are you serious?
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:18.720
Yeah, just like a little more old-timey and stuff like that, you know.
00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:26.800
You got your grocery store, the movie theater, the bowling alley, uh, the mall that is slowly dwindling with each year.
00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:31.040
But uh, you know, just you got the small hometown stuff, but it always just feels like home.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.279
I mean that always comes with its perks though, right?
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.040
Because then you know you know everyone in your town.
00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:36.800
It's like being in a small campus like this.
00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:39.040
I mean, there's always perks to it being small.
00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.759
Um, but you know, it's it's nice to get out there.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.639
I'm surprised it's like that too, with it being so close to New York City.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:52.800
I mean, not so close, but like even outside of Westchester, I feel like um it'd be a little more ahead, but Yeah, you you kind of get the best of both worlds, I think.
00:05:52.959 --> 00:06:06.800
Like it's the town itself is very rural, uh, and I feel like the houses and apartments are like very spread out and stuff, but then you are that short, you know, drive or train ride from you know the city and Westchester and White Plains and all that.
00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:11.600
See, this is why as a Long Islander, I classify everything north of the city as upstate.
00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:15.519
It's all upstate, it's all rural, it's all farmland.
00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:20.720
I mean, I guess Albany doesn't count, but whatever, Syracuse, Buffalo, but it's still it's all up there.
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.319
You guys, it's like Canada.
00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:22.879
I don't know.
00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:31.519
Yeah, even though even though it is the very bottom of the state, it I feel like it does have a much more upstate uh identity to it.
00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:32.720
Yes, I agree.
00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.240
But like, what's it like growing up there?
00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.879
Tell me about like, especially with you going into running.
00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.600
A lot of kids don't like growing up running, so w what was it like?
00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:41.920
Were you surrounded by running over there?
00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:52.800
Um I would say our high school honestly has a very good culture of distance running and honestly is becoming more and more of a track school as the years go by.
00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.279
Um what high school is this?
00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:56.399
This is Carmel High School.
00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:57.199
Carmel High School.
00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:07.519
Um, but there honestly is a good just community of uh track and cross-country in our area, like like you said, Westchester County, Putnam County, um, Dutchess County.
00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.519
Like there there is a strong sense of uh running in that area.
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.519
So it was cool to grow up there.
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:21.680
I feel like a lot of people uh grew up playing soccer, grew up playing baseball, grew up playing basketball, and then kind of transition at some point in high school.
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:36.959
Um, whether they do it for a couple years in middle school or early in high school and then find a you know deeper love or passion for the sport, but that's kind of what it was like growing up, uh, you know, playing some other sports and then getting into, you know, tracking cross-country later in high school.
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:37.439
Yeah.
00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:42.560
And then the recruitment process, uh, being in a smaller place, was it more um challenging than you?
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:51.519
I mean, obviously it's it's it's a big cross-country school, you were s you were saying, but um being from a smaller area, do you think it was harder to get recruited or there was there was perks to it?
00:07:51.839 --> 00:08:00.560
Um, honestly, I feel like recruiting has changed a lot in the last ten years, 10, 12 years, like quite a bit.
00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:08.399
Um like there wasn't all these databases and um like platforms, social media, like that type of stuff.
00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.000
Like social media existed, but it was very up and coming.
00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:16.000
Uh like I think Instagram, I think, was invented in 2015.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:16.560
I could be wrong.
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:17.279
Yeah, 100%.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.319
I I could be wrong.
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:18.879
100%.
00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:23.600
But um like it was just much more difficult to get recruited.
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:39.919
Like, I feel like coaches had to be looking on like the actual running sites like milesplit, athletic.net, you know, now you have like NCSA and you know, all these other recruiting sites where I can basically just type in, you know, times and GPAs and majors of interest.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:09:07.120
Are you interested in D2, D1, D3, NAI, like all this stuff, and you can just find you know every kid within X amount of miles, and you know, that's all up to the coach's discretion on these websites, but you can it's it's much harder to find these like quote unquote like diamond in the rough kids, like these these really special, like unique kids, because there's just so much more exposure now than there's ever was like when I was in high school or you when you were in high school.
00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:07.600
Yeah.
00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:12.000
I mean we're only six years apart, so I guess yeah, so that makes sense.
00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:13.600
I mean, I get it though.
00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.960
I mean, but you got to go to a pretty good college, Springfield College.
00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:18.000
Talk to me about that experience.
00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:20.240
How was how's the academic like uh life over there?
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.440
How was the college life?
00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:47.039
Yeah, so Springfield College was um it was on my radar from an early age, but my dad went there, and so in my like recruiting and picking a college process and stuff like that, um, you know, being uh, you know, not ignorant, that's not the right word, but uh just being a stubborn high schooler, like my dad was always like, Oh, you gotta check out Springfield, gotta check out Springfield, and I'm like, I'm not going to your school.
00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:49.120
Um, I'm going my own path.
00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:53.519
So I toured like probably probably seven or eight schools.
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:58.559
Um talked to three or four of the coaches at those schools, and then a couple of other ones.
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.799
I was like, maybe I'll just do club running or something there.
00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:04.399
Those were some of like the bigger D ones that I was like, I can't really run here.
00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:15.519
Um but then the last school I toured of the whole thing was like my dad finally convinced me like at the very end of my uh or not very end, but like midway through my senior year.
00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:16.960
He's like, just give it give it a try.
00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:23.840
So we went up to Springfield, we toured, and you know, midway through the tour, I was like, ah man, I'm like this, this is probably where I'm gonna end up.
00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:27.679
So I I safe to say I loved it.
00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:35.679
It was a great uh great find, even though it was presented to me like early on, but uh yeah, I think it worked out for the best.
00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:45.919
Like I I had a great, great group of guys there to surround myself with, like, very much very much was a student of the sport, honestly, not to like talk myself up or hype myself up.
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.240
I didn't have like the craziest running resume like leading into college.
00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.480
Like I was very average to be honest.
00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:00.960
Um But like that group of guys like that I surrounded myself with and that was there, like really set the tone and like took me in.
00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:09.919
Like, I was probably the slowest freshman in my class by about like 45 seconds in the 5k, maybe a maybe even closer to a minute.
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:11.120
Can't quite remember.
00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.120
Um about growth, yeah.
00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:24.720
But just like leaning into those experiences and stuff like that, and I think by the end of my time, like in my grade or in my like group of incoming class, I was like second best in the in the class.
00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.720
So like just surrounding yourself with you know people better than you, I think is that that's how you get better, honestly.
00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.799
Like, I've always kind of been an advocate for that.
00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.919
Like, if you want to get better, you gotta train with people that are better than you.
00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.519
That's that's a good way to put it.
00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:38.720
I always wanted to challenge myself.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:43.759
And you said you kind of res like not resented, but not didn't want to go where your parents went.
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.080
But like for me growing up, my mom went to Clemson.
00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.080
I'm like, I have to go to Clemson, I have to go to Clemson.
00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.399
Obviously, um it's a little different.
00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:51.759
I it was a little trouble.
00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.240
I was like, I have to do this, and then I I didn't get it.
00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.639
I don't even think I got into Clemson, to be honest.
00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:57.519
Um, but you know what?
00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:59.919
All worked out for the best at Franco Pierce University, man.
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:12.799
But uh that but now talk about competing as an athlete, because you were there, um you you you grew what you said, but the difference you made from freshman to senior year, did you think you were gonna stick around the game for a long time?
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.159
In terms of like training myself or coaching.
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:17.840
Training yourself.
00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.279
Um, yeah.
00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:27.679
I mean, I like I said, I loved my it was actually like closer to five years because COVID kind of was the in between of my college.
00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:35.360
So I ended up while I did run like a fifth year quote unquote, it was it was really only four years of running, but I was there for five years.
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.000
But um, yeah, it was a great four or five years.
00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:50.000
Um I really enjoyed every minute of it, like just the intensity and like the depth of college running compared to high school was so uh honestly foreign to me.
00:12:50.159 --> 00:13:03.279
I didn't really expect it to be as different as it was, but it was like different in the best way, like um just like my first my first ever uh 8K in college, which is like a decent jump for most high schoolers.
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:30.720
You go from running the 5K in high school to running the 8k in college, and then at D2 and D1 you actually run the the 10K, but we were D3, so I only ended up running the 8K, but I remember my first ever 8K in college, like my coach had told the freshman, just like you know, it's a big jump, like just go out very conservatively, um all this stuff, like just just you know, we're taking this first one as like a trial run, don't put a ton of pressure on it.
00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:38.320
Uh and 8k again, five miles, five it's just short of five miles, so like 4.97, 4.98.
00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.440
So you can basically call it five miles here and there.
00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:56.080
Um and I just remember going out with the I went out with the top guy on my team who at the time his mile PR was like four fourteen, I think, four thirteen, and I was just like, I don't think I'm meant to be here right now.
00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:18.399
And I think we were in like fifth or sixth in the race, and uh safe to say in that race, I think I probably dropped, I could look it up, but I I probably dropped to like 200 and like 20th place by the end of it because I went out so unbelievably hard, but it was a great it was a great learning experience, honestly.
00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.440
Um and like wow that time was absolutely abysmal.
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:38.879
Um at the time, at the time at the time, my coach was just like I I love the effort, like I love that you just like kind of threw yourself in the fire, it went horribly after that first mile, but uh like that's a that was one way to rip off the band-aid going into college running.
00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.519
Um and it got it got progressively better from there.
00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:51.519
Like I ran that same course my fifth year, my final cross-country season, and I think my time that year was about six minutes better than that first year.
00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:59.519
So it was it was cool to see that growth over a four or five year period, um, and then everything that happened in between.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.240
But yeah, the group of guys really made the place.
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:21.919
Like it was it was just a very special group of guys, like you know, we've all you know, bet I'm not married, but like handful of them are married at this point, and like we always kinda you know rekindle at those weddings and stuff like that, and you know, I think it just speaks to the sense of camaraderie and like the uh group dynamic that we did have.
00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:24.080
Dang, is that gonna happen in five years?
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.519
And we're gonna see guys getting married that I know that's so weird, man.
00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:32.240
That's that's a weird, like I'm I'm older now type of feeling, I'm not gonna lie.
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:32.720
Yeah.
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:45.519
You'll get to that age, and I feel like it's 26 to 29, where every single time you open Instagram, it's it's someone getting married, someone having a kid, or someone getting engaged, or someone getting a new job.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:47.279
And those are like the four things you see.
00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:52.879
Dude, two of my teammates from last year, teammates I was teammates with last year just got engaged in the past two weeks.
00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:53.120
Yeah.
00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:53.600
Two of them.
00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:54.320
It's crazy.
00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.480
Shout out Adrian Parker and Austin Howe.
00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.360
That's like I can't believe it's getting that old.
00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.000
But uh, you talked about that growth, but you talked about going into the fire and your coach recognizing it.
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.600
Now you can also translate that as you're going into the coaching now.
00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:18.080
Um talk about that transition when you're coming become from being an athlete your whole life to being at now a leadership role on top and also mentoring as a coach.
00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:30.799
I think just going back to that same exact race, like, um, just things I've learned through the years, and like one of the biggest things I feel like that race in that period of time taught me was like I was a very, very nervous athlete.
00:16:30.960 --> 00:17:43.920
I was always like one who worked out a lot better than like I raced, and I think part of that was just some nerves, but also um, like I tell the guys here and girls here a lot, like um, you know, like there really is no need to be nervous in the sense that like n like be a little nervous, like nerves just mean you care, but um, like if you're prepared, like you know, we lift, we do all this training, we do the long runs, we do the summer build, like if you do all this preparation, there's almost like I don't want to say no need to be nervous, like be a little bit nervous, like we said, it just means you care, but like don't have this like omer overwhelming like race anxiety and nerves and stuff like that, because if you've done all this preparation, like you should be confident in your ability and stuff to like execute, and um, you know, I think you should be nervous when you're not prepared, when you when you know you you know slacked off all or most of the summer, you've missed lifts, you you know, maybe are you know just hitting only the pizza station at the dining hall every single day.
00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.160
Pizza station at the dining hall is rough.
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.680
Um but like in terms of that, like if you're if you're prepared, you should be able to kind of mitigate those nerves.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:03.920
Um and you should be nervous if you've uh kind of ignored those warning signs for you know an extended period of time, not just a short period of time.
00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:08.559
No, what made what made you feel co feel like coaching was right at the time?
00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:12.400
Uh so I went to school to be a physical education and health teacher.
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.599
Um, and I still might do that at some point in my life.
00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:28.400
Uh I think it w if I do, it'll be a much later down the line type of thing when I want to like have a family and maybe a little more uh not rigid schedule, but just like a little more like set schedule.
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:35.680
College coaching is a lot of like on the fly, and you know, you typically have a much bigger team than most high schools, not all, but most.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:19:06.480
Um so like physical education and health definitely set the tone um of like I want to help people, I want to be involved in like wellness, but the later and later I got down the line in terms of uh my like my own running journey in college and then doing some internships, like coaching and teaching at like high school as well as at Springfield, was just like yeah, that kind of solidified like yeah, I want to give this like college coaching uh thing a try for at least a handful of years and just see how it goes, type of thing.
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:07.119
Nice.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.720
And are with your background, are you used to working with both men's and women's track and feel?
00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.799
Is that how usually how it goes, or um is this like a newer type of feel?
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:24.400
It just depends on uh really the size of the school, the division, like how many people are on staff at like a given institution.
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.400
Um, but for me it's been a pretty that's been a pretty regular thing.
00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.359
My coach at Springfield coached the men and women's distance.
00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:36.559
Uh my previous job I coached men's and women's distance, and same thing here, men's and women's distance.
00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:46.240
And you feel like it's like a smooth transition, like not not much of a difference from going from one athlete who can be struggling to a female athlete from to a men's athlete?
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.400
Uh ever every school, every position, every athlete is very different.
00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:57.599
Um I I would like to think my training is very uh if not one of one, like one of two or three.
00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:16.880
Like for for a given week, we have about uh this past year we had ten distance guys, uh, and then like eleven midway through the year with a transfer, and then women we had five this past year, but then our whole overarching track team we have about close to ninety.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.799
So uh, you know, with a couple other coaches as well.
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:39.359
But um, you know, most of the guys and girls on the distance side, you know, have an individualized plan, or if it's not individualized, it might be like, okay, Evan Noah, you guys are very middle distance based, and you you have similar, you know, personal records, and I think you guys adapt to the same training well.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.880
So if it's not individualized, it's very uh very as close to individualized as you can get.
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:51.200
And as the team grows more and more, you might have to see, you know, twos and threes start getting lumped together.
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.480
Um but ultimately I think it's it's very individualized training for the most part.
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:12.160
Um and like I said, we c it's it's almost like uh not matchmaking, but it's like you're you're pairing similar disciplines and similar uh you know personal records one you know hand in hand with one another to kind of train people at the best uh like rate.
00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:13.920
Yeah, because I never thought of it like that.
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:23.039
Like well, I mean, you know, all sports are really split besides track and field and cross country, so it's really cool to see those two work together, and I never got really insight on that, so that's pretty cool.
00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:28.319
And um so you come over here from you know, you've had a few years since you graduated college.
00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:30.559
What attracted you to Franklin Pierce University?
00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:40.400
So what attracted me to Franklin Pierce was that uh so I was previously coaching in the same conference before this, uh much smaller institution.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:47.680
I only had about like twenty to twenty five kids on my team last year, and then this year, like I said, we have close to ninety.
00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.599
Um so that was a big that was a big attraction.
00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:59.759
I wanted a much larger team, and like while I was growing that other team, I wanted to take kind of like this big leap and like be kind of close to.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.440
A hundred and then you know be able to elevate that team to like just over a hundred within you know two or three years.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.480
Um and then also like on top of that, like I have a lot of family up here in New Hampshire.
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.519
Like I said, like family is something that's very important to me.
00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:24.000
So um, you know, while I have some immediate family still in New York, there is a lot more of my family in New Hampshire, so that was definitely attractive.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:35.119
Um and then while I am the head cross-country and track coach here, you know, cross-country is my main um, you know, that's like my bread and butter, that's what I did in college.
00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:45.039
Um, and you know, while I still can coach other events and stuff like that, like that's you know, like I said, what I went to college for, um, you know, and I coach all three seasons of the year.
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:56.559
So uh leaning into that a bit, I think Franklin Pierce is like a very, very uh good place, not only for a track team, but you know, even better for a cross-country team.
00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:08.720
Like you're surrounded by lakes, tons of dirt roads, mountains, left and right, and it's it's just very uh it is a rural campus, it's a small town, it's a small New England college.
00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:17.839
Um and I think it attracts like uh you know those type of people with a very uh simple outlook on life.
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:36.720
Like if you want to just train very hard and go to school and you know, maybe work a part-time job, like if those are like the three or four like very paramount things in your life, you know, out of high school, and like you want to run, you know, fast times and you know get a degree in whatever you're passionate in, like I think this is a good place to do it.
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:45.119
There's not a whole lot of distractions, like you really just get to focus on you know your studies, your uh your coaches, the other athletes you're working with around you.
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:50.400
But it's uh I think it's a great place to train and grow over, you know, your four or five years.
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:55.359
Yeah, and most most college students on this campus are athletes too, so they know what the grind is like.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.480
Obviously, it defers sport to sport, but they know what you go through.
00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.160
Yeah, that was another thing.
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:01.839
Um, and I'm glad you mentioned that.
00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:10.799
Like, I think you know, being on a cam I don't know what the exact number is, but it's gotta be close to like 70 to 80 percent of our campus is uh student athletes.
00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:24.240
Um so I think you're right, like even if you're not on the cross-country or the track team, you know, you're on one of the other sports teams, and it seems like our you know, every team in my opinion is trending in an upwards direction.
00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:28.079
Like football this year won the most games they've ever won in a season.
00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:35.039
And men and women's soccer made the national championship run, uh women's field hockey made a national championship run.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.079
Uh the basketballs did well in the conference.
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:40.480
Um I'm sure I'm leaving some people out.
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.640
No hate to the other sports, but softball best season in history.
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:56.319
Like just and like you said, like I think there's that mutual understanding and respect that uh, you know, even if someone's not on the same team as you, they understand that grind of what you're going through.
00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:04.319
Um that everyone's trying to compete at a high level uh and has to have those sacrifices and uh mutual understanding for one another at times.
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.200
So I think it's a great campus for stuff like that as well.
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:18.240
Yeah, and coming in here as a coach, I mean, on the football side of things, I mean, it's a newer program, so that was different for Coach Gas to come in and take over a program that's new, but he had his challenges to face.
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:20.160
I mean, obviously, it's a rebuild.
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:24.319
Anytime a new coach is coming in, i there's it's always a challenge to take a program over.
00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:27.519
So, what do you think yours was um coming into this program?
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:31.599
Obviously, not far from a new program, but there there had to be some challenge, I would think, right?
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.559
It actually still is like somewhat of a new program, to be honest.
00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.920
Like for a cross-country and track program, it it still is fairly new.
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:41.119
It's only about like 14 or 15 years old.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.480
Um yeah, 14 or 15 years old.
00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:50.240
And I actually am the only I am the second ever head coach, uh, Coach Zem who started it.
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:53.759
And you know, I took over for him once he, you know, left.
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:56.480
He he's been the only other head coach.
00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:04.400
So any program that has a head coach um, you know, take on a new role, like you're gonna you're gonna have growing pains.
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:08.400
Um you know, some people do really well with change, others don't.
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:11.039
Um so it's it's just a work in progress.
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:18.880
Like, you know, I'm sure him and I have a lot of similar, you know, values and stuff like that, but everyone's gonna have their own twist and spin on things.
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:30.960
So uh I think we both have a great you know vision for the program, but there is gonna just be little bits and pieces of uh you know culture change and um you know whatever else.
00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:36.400
Like there's there's just gonna be some growing pains and some uh culture changes as the years go on.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:53.680
But I think the biggest thing I tried not to do this year is that you know, while you do want it to become like you know, your coaching and your staff's program over time, you don't want to make these like radical big changes in your first year.
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:59.759
You kind of want to keep you know the current student athletes like in in motion, if that makes sense.
00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:09.759
Like the program was seeing tons of success before I got here, so you don't want to come in and make these big monumental changes and then it throws off everyone's game.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:15.839
So you have to take an outside look and go, okay, here's what they were doing in the past, it was working.
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:18.640
Now, how do we keep that but elevate it?
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:32.880
So it's like and that's hard to do when you have a program when you come into a program that's already having a ton of success, it's like um you want to give these small doses, um it's kind of like lifting.
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:38.160
Like you can't just go, you know, I'll just use trap bar for example, because that's my favorite lift.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:51.039
So if if your PR is let's just say a hundred pounds on trap bar, you're not gonna like one day, you know, in a week or two walk into the gym and be like, alright, I'm gonna throw three hundred on the bar.
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.519
Like you would look at me and be like, Are you out of your mind?
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:55.839
Like your PR is a hundred from last week.
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.680
Uh, like how are you gonna go to three hundred?
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:02.480
Like, that's the same thing with like me trying to work the program, you know, in my direction.
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:09.039
I wanna, you know, you know, maybe September, October, you know, maybe I throw 120 on the bar.
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:11.759
Then, you know, December maybe 150.
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:16.559
And then by the time we're at May, maybe I'm up to, I don't know, 175, 180.
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:25.359
But you can't just jump, you can't just jump like these tiers all at once to try and like make the program, you know, elevate and stuff like that.
00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.680
Otherwise, you're probably gonna break something in the process.
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.440
So that's a good way to put it, yeah.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:33.440
It's not just affecting you, it's affecting everybody and the entire team.
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:34.160
So I get it.
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:35.519
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.759
So, um, you're a younger guy though.
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.279
You come into here, um, what are the challenges that you face like that?
00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:58.000
Because obviously you're in your twenties and you were an athlete too long ago, so I'm sure there's times t that you also can relate heavily to the players and the athletes that you have, but also um getting that that leadership and respect of uh your athletes being young.
00:28:58.319 --> 00:28:58.720
Sure.
00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:01.920
I think that honestly is the hardest part.
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:14.720
Um the the youngness is always going to be questioned for the first handful of years until you kind of you know prove and solidify yourself that like you know you're kind of meant to be here type of thing.
00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:15.119
Right.
00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:30.000
Um, you know, because some some people, whether you know they're at, you know, this institution or a different staff, they'll be like, you know, uh he's young, he's only 27, he he might not know, you know, XYZ or this night might not be finite type of thing.
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:34.000
But um, you know, I've been very involved in the running world for a long time.
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.160
Like uh I'm trying to think of like what year I started running.
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:49.839
But I mean I graduated high school in 2017, like gone to running camps, I've gone to seminars, I'm I'm certified by USTF to CCCA, like uh I ran in college myself.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:59.359
I have some great mentors that have coached um, you know, D3, D2, D1, even some like low-tier professional uh running and stuff like that.
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:12.480
So I think the biggest thing is like you gotta lean on people when you're young, like even if you think you know what you're doing, um, it's always not a bad idea to get a second opinion from you know the staff here.
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:17.920
You know, they still carry a great deal of you know perspective and uh you know years under the belt.
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.000
Coach Kyle, for example, like he's he's been here since the beginning of the program.
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.000
Uh he went here himself.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:29.599
He's a very decorated athlete himself here, and then you know, you also got Coach Everidge, who's Big C.
00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.880
Yeah, Big C, who's our throws coach, also went here.
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:42.720
Uh arguably, you know, again, similar to Coach Kyle, like one of the more decorated like throwers in school history, if not, if not the most decorated men's thrower.
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:48.799
So, um you know that's that's a very uh big asset to the program.
00:30:48.880 --> 00:31:04.559
Like, you know, they they have you know the old culture behind them, and like they can instill kind of those old things that worked really well, and then we can also trial and error, like, okay, what do we want the future to look like that it that it didn't have before?
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:15.119
Um or it's just even little things like um you know, like what kind of spices can we add to this you know, dish that's gonna make it even better than it already is.
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:17.599
So uh you just gotta lean on them.
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:54.400
Um so we I leaned on them a lot this first year, and they were uh extremely helpful, and um, you know, also just my mentors like outside the program because it's uh you got you know what's one of my bigger mentors is uh Leo Mayo, he's the coach of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and then I would say another big one is Amanda Coolis, she's a uh a jumps coach and a pole vault coach at um Dartmouth College, and then you know, the old staff I had at Springfield, you know, those are all great uh examples of like mentors in my life and like a good good spread of divisions as well.
00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:05.440
So it's like you kind of got you know a bunch of different eyes and ears and outside perspectives that you know you don't you also the great thing about mentors too is you don't you don't have to take everything they say.
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:12.480
You can you can take the parts you like and then you know add in the parts that you think will uh you know make it better.
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:13.119
True.
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:25.279
So or like you can sometimes get advice from people, whether it's a mentor or a friend or whatever, and like you can just be like, that's awful advice in your head, and you can just be like, I'm gonna do the exact opposite of that.
00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:29.839
And like sometimes sometimes it bites you in the butt and sometimes it works out perfectly.
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:47.200
So it there's a lot of trial and error involved, honestly, and I think I think the biggest part is just like recognizing when you're right, and also the harder part, recognizing when you're wrong, and just being like that did not work, and just being very uh transparent with that and being like we're gonna segue and not do that again, type of thing.
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:56.640
Now, going away from the uh college competing, I know, and then one of the big reasons I had you on here actually was the Manadnock climb that you had.
00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:04.720
Talk to me a little bit about that and why because it Mount Manadnock here in New Hampshire, it's one of the most hiked mountains in America, if not the most hiked mountains.
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:11.200
Um, but yours was um interesting, so tell me why it's uh a lot more different than than the average hike.
00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:23.839
Yeah, so it's uh Mount Mananoch has a trail called the White Dot Trail, and it's one of the more technical trails, so there's a lot of rocks, a lot of routes.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:31.680
Uh it's like basically once you're nearing the top, it is you're you're almost rock climbing at a point when you're close to the top.
00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:32.480
Yeah, that's true.
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:42.319
Um and it's not that I got bored of running, but I feel like uh coaching has been a lot more forefront of my life.
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:46.960
I care a lot more about uh the athlete's progression than my own progression.
00:33:47.119 --> 00:34:08.079
So I still run for fun, I still run for like health and all that, and I'll usually throw like one or two races on the calendar every year that I'm like, yeah, I really want to train like kind of hard for this and um you know put some effort into this and like have a good buildup and stuff like that, but I've never really done a competitive like trail race or trail run.
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:19.519
Um but this particular uh Mount Man Mount Mananock White Dot Trail, um it's not a race, but it's what's called the FKT Fastest Known Time.
00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:35.599
Um and I have the stats on my phone just because I know I can't remember all this stuff, but it's roughly like 1.8 to 1.9 miles, and there's 1700 feet of gain.
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:47.599
So usually for like our distance crew, I would consider if you do a 10-mile run, for example, I would say a thousand feet of gain is a hilly run.
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:50.639
Um, you know, about a hundred feet per mile.
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:56.239
So if you do a seven mile run, you know, seven hundred feet of gain would be that'd be a hilly run.
00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:04.559
So seven hundred seventeen hundred feet in less than two miles is considered extremely, extremely hilly to say the least.
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:10.480
Like you said, it's a it's a mountain um and very technical at that, like rocks, roots, all that stuff.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:11.679
Oh yeah, rivers.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.079
Maybe yeah, yeah.
00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:21.119
But uh the fastest known time up it is 24 minutes and 14 seconds, which doesn't sound that fast.
00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:24.320
It's about 1327 per mile.
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:29.199
Um But I did some calculations and some stuff like that.
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:50.159
It's it's roughly equivalent to running like 420 pace on a track, but like up a mountain, but in terms of that's just in terms of effort, like yeah, like we said, it was about 13 minutes a mile, but um the effort is much greater than that due to the you know the strain and difficulty of the trail and stuff like that.
00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:50.719
Yeah.
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:55.119
Because I mean, you put into perspective, you said 24 minutes.
00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:56.320
That doesn't sound like a lot.
00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:00.400
What to hear about how I got up was a senior trip my senior year last year.
00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:06.239
We went up as a class, we stayed up all night having fun, and to go for a sunrise hike.
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:08.000
So we would go up and see the sunrise.
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:09.039
So we left at 2 a.m.
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:12.960
after a long night to go up there, brought a gallon of water to pour on ourselves.
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:18.559
It took uh all of us, and I think I I like went up there relatively quickly, it took like a couple hours.
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:26.800
It took an hour to two and it took an hour to two hours of what I could say for most of us to get up there, and that's not just like stopping either.
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:27.760
You're not stopping.
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:32.639
Like we're obviously we're walking most of it, we're not running, but it took a while to get up there.
00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:35.599
So 24 minutes is quick.
00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:36.559
It really is.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:38.400
And what was your time again?
00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:40.159
My time of it?
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:42.639
So I've done trial runs so far.
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:46.960
I haven't given like a full hundred, hundred and fifty percent effort yet.
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.039
Um I've done trial runs.
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.679
I realistically think I could run about twenty-eight, twenty-nine minutes right now.
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:54.719
Pretty dang good.
00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:57.199
So, and that and that's just speculation.
00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:18.480
I would I would like to give it on honest effort, but I've done a couple uh quote unquote like jogs up it, like um, you know, where it takes about like 40 minutes, 45 minutes, which you know is still about 20 minutes off the the record, but you're basically looking for okay, here's a spot where I think it levels out for a second.
00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:24.800
You're almost trying to gain familiarity of the trail and be like, where can I make up the most time?
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:29.599
Because like I said, once you the closer you it you get to the top, the steeper it gets.
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:41.119
So, you know, at the bottom, you kind of want to get out hot, even if it's gonna, you know, hurt a little more in the middle to the end, but you gotta try and make up ground in that first you know mile.
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:46.239
That way, that next 0.8, 0.9, that's very, very technical and very, very steep.
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:56.320
You know, the first mile, I think, is only about like eight or nine percent grade, and then the last little less than a mile is about like almost 20% grade.
00:37:56.480 --> 00:38:07.760
So, you know, typically when you're driving, like if people are going up like a very, very, very steep hill, you're like, um, you know, most of those hills on the road are like only like five or six percent grade.
00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.400
So like you're trying to run up like almost triple per uh that grade.
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:24.159
Um so you're just looking for spots that basically you think you can make up some time and stuff like that, or you know, you find a spot that levels out for your bit and you're like, I gotta push here.
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:32.639
Um, but you almost want to do those slower, uh kind of more controlled efforts, you know, a couple times before you go for the actual record.
00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:37.119
That way, um you kind of know your game plan going into it.
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:42.639
It's not like a track race uh or a marathon or something like that where you kind of know what to expect.
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:46.320
Like a track race, especially, you know, you know nothing's changing.
00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:51.119
What's gonna change is the other people around you and their paces and their tactics and their moves.
00:38:51.440 --> 00:39:01.039
This is a lot more you against you type of thing, where um you're pushing yourself, there's not anyone else in the race unless you're doing it with a buddy or two.
00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:02.800
Um like a ghost race.
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:04.079
Yeah, kind of ghost race.
00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:08.159
Like you're trying to, you know, beat yourself and the other people who have set the times in the past.
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:15.679
So, yeah, a big goal for mine by the end of the summer is try and crack in that top ten list and see how close I can get to the record.
00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:18.639
I I don't think the record's happening anytime soon.
00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:27.039
Um, as long as I'm living here, I want to try and uh give it a couple honest efforts each summer and fall and just see how close we can get.
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:28.400
Like a new challenge.
00:39:28.559 --> 00:39:40.800
Um, like I said, I'm not bored of running or you know, out of it, but uh I I just want to try something new and get a new experience, and I I think that's what's great about running uh opposed to other sports and stuff like that.
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:50.960
You know, post-collegiate there is, you know, you can join a soccer club or a flag football or whatever the case is, but uh you don't you don't really ever have to leave running, is the great thing.
00:39:51.039 --> 00:40:01.199
You might not have the college team, you might you might not train with the same group of guys or gals every single day, but there's always gonna be road races, marathons, trail runs.
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:07.760
Uh you can do the one on uh the FKTs, you can challenge yourself, like you said, the ghost runs.
00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:18.239
Um it's all it's all different types of um you know ways to stay engaged in the sport after college and stuff like that, which I think is great.
00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:19.039
Yeah, man.
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:21.920
Well, I think you're gonna I think if you keep going at it.
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:24.400
Holy crap, oh Otis is out.
00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:25.920
Oh he's knocked out.
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:27.760
He's knocked out in the corner over there.
00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:35.039
Um well I think you if you keep cracking at it, you get in that top five, maybe we'll give it a go.
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:35.760
Give it a go.
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:39.119
And uh listen, we'll be we'll be looking forward to seeing it, obviously.
00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:43.440
And I can still be here when I see it, so hopefully uh be happy to hear from you when you do.
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:46.639
Obviously, it's gonna take time, but um, we'll have you back on it when you do.
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:50.079
Before we go, though, a little rapid fire with Ryan Fitz shortened version.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.400
Uh, where's your favorite running spot?
00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:54.559
My favorite running spot?
00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:56.159
Ooh, this is hard.
00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:04.079
Um I would say off the rip is Lake Willoughby, which is in Vermont.
00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:15.519
It's in very northern Vermont in a small town called uh just north of Lyndonville, Vermont, but the population of the town, I mean, it's gotta be it's gotta be very real low.
00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:20.960
Um I don't even want to try and take a guess because I feel like I'm gonna do them a complete disservice.
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:24.320
Um But it is a very, very niche spot.
00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:29.920
Uh it's it's a spot I've gone to probably every summer for the last probably decade.
00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:33.360
Um and do at least one, if not couple runs there.
00:41:33.519 --> 00:41:36.480
Uh it's just a beautiful, beautiful landscape.
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:43.360
You got a nice view of the lake, and like once you're done, especially if you go up in the summer, you can um you know hop in the lake.
00:41:43.440 --> 00:41:46.320
It's I think it's the deepest lake in Vermont.
00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:52.000
And uh it was actually like carved out by a glacier like a million years ago.
00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:52.239
I don't know.
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:53.519
Alright, yeah, look that up.
00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:54.480
But yeah, it's pretty cool.
00:41:54.639 --> 00:41:55.039
Take a look.
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:56.719
Lake Lake Willoughby in Vermont.
00:41:56.880 --> 00:41:58.880
And now best running music.
00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:02.320
Uh I don't I don't really listen to a whole lot of music when I run.
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:03.039
Nature.
00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:10.639
Um, rarely listen to music um unless I'm on the treadmill, which again, not very frequent.
00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:13.760
Uh this past winter was the most I've ever ran on a treadmill.
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:15.679
We had a brutal winter up here in Ringe, but um.
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:31.760
I would say if I am listening to something on the treadmill, probably probably some sort of like pop punk music like either Blink 182 or uh Green Day or something something along that genre um of music.
00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:33.039
Yeah, that's awesome, man.
00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:36.800
Alright, last question for you is running peaceful.
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:38.000
What does that mean?
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:40.000
Is is running to you peaceful?
00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:42.159
Um it depends.
00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:49.039
It if you're if you're just running for fun and you're taking it easy, by by all means it's it's uh peaceful.
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:52.239
I I've always found running as like an outlet in my life.
00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:58.639
Like running uh comes very naturally to me when other things in my life are not going well.
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:01.119
It's it's very much an outlet.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:10.159
Um and then once you've done it long enough, you hopefully have gained enough fitness where it it is it is very uh peaceful most of the time.
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:10.480
Yeah.
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:22.480
Um but I think the funny thing is I think I think a lot of people think uh college runners or like even people better than college runners is like um like running is like easy for us.
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:25.119
I think it just gets like harder, honestly.
00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:28.159
Because you're just you're just expected to run faster and further.
00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:32.079
So um I that's the great thing now about running it.
00:43:32.239 --> 00:43:35.119
Like like we said a couple times on this, it's it's you against you.
00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:36.480
It's the one of one thing.
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:40.000
So you're really you're really just trying to beat yourself, so.
00:43:40.239 --> 00:43:40.639
Yeah.
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:45.360
Well, those are the wise words from Coach Liam Murphy, ladies and gentlemen.
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:47.440
And Liam, thank you so much for taking the time with me today.
00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:48.639
Yeah, thanks for having me, man.
00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:51.440
I really appreciate it, man, and uh we're looking forward for you beating that time.
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:54.960
And like I said, when you beat it, we're gonna have you right back on here to talk about that journey, man.
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:55.440
Sounds good.
00:43:55.519 --> 00:43:56.079
We'll talk about it.
00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:59.760
Yeah, so thank you everyone, including you guys listening for joining.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:01.840
Joining us today here on the town.
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:05.440
That's WFP C L P 105.3 FM radio.
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:07.519
This has been unscripted with Ryan.
00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:12.800
Again, we live air, we we air live every Wednesday at four o'clock.
00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:14.239
We did a little earlier today.
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:24.079
But um we are coming to the ends of season one, but we're gonna restart it again next week, next in the next few months about, but we'll have chatter in the swamp coming at you as well.
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:25.360
So thank you all for joining me.
00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:27.440
This is Ryan Fitzpatrick signing off.
00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:28.239
Peace.
