RunChats with @RonRunsNYC

Meet Amelia Rivera-Wong, DPT by day, badass endurance athlete, wife to Andy, and new mom to her beautiful son Cameron all the rest of the time.

Amelia's competitive drive was forged as a kid doing crunch competitions with her twin before bedtime and spending long hours at their town community pool. Her mom ran 3 NYC marathons—one for each of her daughters—and that left an indelible mark. All those pool hours prepared her to swim D1 in college and led her to triathlon—where she signed up for an Ironman at Lake Placid on a dare—completing her very first marathon to finish in a monsoon. Her hardcore, badass credentials were fully established.

But when she qualified for her 1st Boston—and subsequently got pregnant and calculated the timing—she knew she was in uncharted waters. It felt like she was going down a rabbit hole. Seemingly everyone with no medical creds had an opinion on what was 'safe' or could potentially harm her baby. Even some of the medical advice didn't make sense and she ultimately decided to follow the same rule she tells her patients as a DPT and as a runner: "listen to your body."

She found a sherpa on Facebook who shared her marathon running pregnancy journey and exchanged tips on finding a good pelvic floor PT, taping, belly braces, and even some advice on the Boston course. She kept her circle super small and found a local training partner to lean on and travel to the start line with.

Amelia ran Boston at 31 weeks pregnant, had an incredible experience, and got it DONE with baby Cameron in tow. (I think he deserves a medal, too!)

I am so grateful for Amelia coming on, being so open, and sharing the emotional roller coaster of her experiences so candidly.

We took a deep dive into the challenges of breastfeeding, how she cross-trained and tried to mitigate injuries, and postpartum running. Amelia is now sharing her experiences on Facebook with other moms to help pay it forward.

For every mom-to-be or mom with children already who might be facing this decision, there are so many lessons to unpack in this episode. Please share with anyone that you think this could help!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Amelia:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameriver8

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai

© 2023 Ron Romano

Meet Neely Gracey, 4-time Olympic Trials Qualifier (12, 16, 20, 24), top American at the 2016 Boston Marathon, and the 11th American female EVER to break 70 minutes in the half marathon. Neely is fresh off her 9th place finish at CIM—this year's USATF Championship Race—where she rocked a sizzling 2:30:29 PR (5:43 per mile)!

Neely opened up about not being able to run during her first pregnancy, losing her "identity" as a runner—going from one of the top distance runners in the country to "no one" for years, despite being sponsored and feeling a pressure to return to a high level.

It was a rough phase from 2017-2020, but feels she is a better person on the other side—ultimately feeling that her body needed that break—and has completely reframed her relationship with running and her approach to training and racing.

We discuss:

-Reframing her identity and relationship with running

-Evolving her approach and mindset to training and racing

-The husband & wife coaching dynamic & partnership (complete with a funny story from the Indy Monumental 1/2M)

-How coaching helps inspire her to keep chasing big goals as a runner, coach, and mother

-Mantras: "You're right where you're meant to be" and "trust the process"

-Her new book: Breakthrough Women's Running: Dream Big and Train Smart where she shares her experience from both an athlete and coach perspective to provide a road map for women runners who are chasing big goals

Such big INPSO and so many great takeaways! I look forward to following Neely’s amazing journey as a runner, coach at Get Running Coaching, and author.

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Neely:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neelysgracey

Website: https://getrunningcoaching.com/

Neely's book, Breakthrough Women's Running: https://getrunningcoaching.com/breakthrough

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc/

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc/

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai/

© 2023 Ron Romano

Imagine you have a favorite race—one you continually dream about winning one day—and on every hard training run and day that you're dragging, you visualize being out there and making it happen.

Sarah Biehl kept grinding and manifested her dream—not only breaking the tape at the 60th JFK50, but also shattering Ultra legend Ellie Greenwood's course record by over 6 minutes, running a BLAZING fast 6:05:42!

We discuss: going from the huntress to the hunted; learning from past JFK experiences; staying upright on the AT; working with some men in sections and enjoying the company; the mental battles on the towpath; trusting her race plan from her coach, Michael Owen, but also going with her gut; where the fire comes from; mantras—fall down get back up, play your own game; how more prep work on the AT with training partner Rachel Lemcke helped; why pushing her limits in Ultra gets the juices flowing more than chasing a faster marathon (2:39:01 current PR); and running in her 2nd Olympic Marathon Trials.

Sarah has HUGE gratitude for the JFK50 community, the volunteers, and for the running community overall. She is so easy to root for and I'm excited to see her chase down some big Ultra goals in 2023!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Sarah:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biehlharas

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai

© 2022 Ron Romano

After spending 15 years as a journalist—from print reporter, to newscaster, and finally ascending to a desk anchor at NY1 Noticias—Carleth Keys' identity was firmly entwined with her career. After her family relocated to Madrid from NYC and the job market wasn't lining up, she put her focus on raising her two young boys.

During that transition, Carleth lost her identity and it was through running that she restored it, found her mojo, and become the best version of herself.

When her video production businesses struggled like so many during the pandemic, Carleth pivoted and started using her tech to begin filming her runs and discovered the world of content creation. I call her the 'Queen of Reels,' and if you check out her IG page, you'll see exactly why!

Carleth is super talented and loves to collaborate with brands and others on IG to produce amazing content and share her inspiring running journey.

We discuss: her journalism career, losing her identity, regaining it through running, finding content creation, her 1st marathon (NYC), her mentor Wolfie, running for Team for Kids, qualifying for Boston, alternative injury treatments, a no-expectation PR in Chicago, what's next (Berlin & Boston), advocating for moms' self-care, and so much more.

She qualified for Boston in only her 2nd marathon and recently ran a totally unexpected PR (3:27:01) at Chicago! What's most impressive, is how hard she had to work to overcome injuries (two torn meniscus in her knees) via alternative treatments including acupuncture with Morningside Acupuncture, a new nutrition plan with On Pace Wellness, a strength plan with Ben Saah, and foam rolling/stretching.

I really enjoyed getting to know Carleth better and I know you will, too!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Carleth:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlethkeys

All Carleth's Other Links: https://direct.me/carleth

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai/

© 2022 Ron Romano

Kate's remarkable journey is powerful and inspiring.

Kate was bullied as a child and battled crippling anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts. While in college, in an unhealthy relationship, she was searching for an outlet and had been running 3 miles a few days per week. She decided to run 11 miles—to try to literally run away from her troubles—and was flooded with emotions when she finished.

From that moment everything changed.

12 miles the next day. 27 miles a couple of days later.

She searched for an Ultra in the spring and her unhealthy boyfriend at the time said it was too soon—she'd get injured or never finish.

This was the first of many times Kate would use a challenge as fuel to her fire and she moved the timeline up—signing up for the McNaughton 50M race. She showed up in cotton clothes and sneakers from TJ Maxx, met her future husband, Mike, on the course (he gave her lifesavers on her 3rd loop), and went on to finish 2nd that day—in her very 1st race!

Kate's as old-school as they come. Paper logs over Strava. Lives for the grind. The tougher the course and weather, the better—as was the case at the 2018 JFK 50M, where the AT was covered in snow and footing was a serious challenge. She came from over 20 minutes down and rallied to take the win!

Kate takes greater pride in grinding out a crazy tough workout on the treadmill with no fan than she does from breaking the tape. Even the amazing JFK50 Silver Cup she received for winning the 2018 race can be found in a closet.

Kate homeschools their three beautiful children and makes many sacrifices to ensure family always comes first.

When one of their best friends, Oz Pearlman, broke the FKT record for running 116M in Central Park (and fundraised over 100K for children in Ukraine!), she encouraged me to have Oz on RunChats to help spread the word because she knows how much impact community events like this can have.

Mike was out there running all day and night and Kate—only 4 weeks removed from delivering Goldie—ran 19M with Oz at 7:30 pace, because she would do anything for a friend.

This is a transformative journey of overcoming demons, fear, and anxiety—from feeling weak and powerless, to becoming strong, powerful, and a force of nature.

I'm deeply grateful to Kate for opening up and sharing her journey on RunChats to help others and I'm so proud and beyond excited to read her upcoming novel!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Kate:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katepallardy/

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc/

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc/

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai/

© 2022 Ron Romano

Meet Dani Moreno, 3rd place woman at UTMB OCC, the FIRST American to make the podium! Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (OCC-Orsières-Champex-Chamonix) is a 55km race with 3500M+ of climbing and is one of seven races featured in the event that takes place annually at Chamonix in France.

Dani found herself in 20th place in the first half as she began the climb up Champex & moved into 15th place when she crested the top. Despite being so far back at this point, Dani never lost faith, kept grinding, and battled her way all the way to the podium!

"It's one thing to have the race plan, but to actually be on the starting line and trust the plan. The plan was to build confidence throughout the race because I race more ferociously and fierce when I’m building confidence."

Dani's inspiring story is one of patience, self-belief, trusting the process, and having huge gratitude for family, friends, and sponsors who love and support her journey.

It began 5 years ago when she met and formed a powerful partnership with her coach, Terry Howell, who believed in her from their 1st meeting.

I'm so excited to continue following Dani's ascent in the world of Ultra running!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Dani:

Instagram: @dan_yell_a

All other links: https://linktr.ee/danimoreno

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: @_margittai

© 2022 Ron Romano

Meet Claudia Becque Johnston, radiation oncology nurse by day, and one of a handful of women to qualify and complete three (2008/2012/2016) Olympic Trials Marathons! Claudia also qualified and repped the USA in the 2016 50K World Championships.

It takes a serious commitment to your craft to compete at this level, many times having to run at 4:30AM before seeing patients. Whenever a workout didn't go as well as planned, the positive attitude and determination of her cancer patients would immediately help provide much needed perspective.

We took a deep dive into her favorite races and she shared some wonderful and inspiring stories. A journey of learning self-belief from her key coaches, Tom McGlynn, Brad Hudson, and a fellow OTQ runner and friend, Dana Coons Thiele, who encouraged her that she too could make that dream come true.

The journey from imposter syndrome to 'I belong.'

The epic chase to nail a sub-2:40!

Her husband, key teammates, athletes that inspire her, and therapists that have supported her on this amazing ride.

Claudia suffered a triple femur break in June 2021 and is working hard to get back.

I'm so inspired by her amazing journey and looking forward to watching her #stayinthefight and grind her way back!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Claudia:

Instagram: @clauds712

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: @_margittai

© 2022 Ron Romano

I'm honored to introduce four-time Australian Olympian, Lisa Weightman, to the RunChats pod!

Professional runner for Asics Running, associate partner at IBM where she oversees a team of 236 consultants, and mom to 7-year-old Pete, Lisa could write a book on how she juggles it all, but is quick to credit her incredibly supportive family, running community & colleagues at IBM.

Her running journey is truly inspiring and nothing short of remarkable. Time and time again, Lisa was told she wasn't good enough or couldn't do something and has used that to fuel her enormous competitive fire! Lisa has a personal best of 2:25:15 in the marathon, 1:08:43 in the half marathon, 31:20 in the 10k, and was a bronze medalist in the 2008 World CrossCountry Championships. Lisa recently placed 2nd at the Gold Coast Marathon in early July, running 2:25:55 at age 43! Can you say #fasterasamaster??

Lisa grew up in an athletic family and enjoyed netball as a kid until one too many crashes with the concrete caused her to shift her focus to running. In her teens, Lisa would run sessions with her dad's Aussie footy team, the Fitzroy Lions, so he could keep an eye on her. No doubt trying to keep up or outrun Dad's athletes helped forge her competitive fire. It was also a full-circle moment, as she used to sneak into the locker room with her sister to try and listen to the halftime speeches from her dad who coached the Fitzroy Lions in Australian rules football.

Topics: managing her training, her IBM team, and family during the pandemic; youth sports, netball, finding running; trying to stay healthy, finding orthotics, persisting through stress fractures; meaningful race moments—Gold Coast, 8th place at NYC, 5th at London Marathon, 2022 Sydney 10K 31:20 (the fastest time ever run in Australia), World Cross Country team medal in Edinburgh; athletes who inspired—Lisa Ondiecki, Benita Willis; mindset, her darkest hole; impactful coaches—Jeff Hawkins (junior coach), Pam Turney (coach in her 20s), Dr. Richard Telford (her mentor since 2000 and coach from 2009, who coached Lisa’'s dad in Australian Rules Football; community service—being an ambassador for Running Mums Australia and for a sustainability company called ZeroCo.

I'm stoked to meet Lisa and Lachlan at the Berlin Marathon and am rooting hard for her to chase down a new PR! It was truly a privilege to host this convo and share Lisa's incredibly INSPIRING journey!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Lisa:

Instagram: @lisaweightman

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

© 2022 Ron Romano

Emily Durgin has always been driven, set big goals, and dreamed of earning a scholarship to run in college while in middle school. Her love affair with distance running was forged in the 4th grade when she won a 1500M race and she can still remember that amazing feeling today. How it inspires her to run from the front today as a professional runner for Adidas Running.

Emily has a bunch of 2nd place finishes and is fearlessly chasing her 1st big victory. She ran a 67:54 at Houston this winter—the 6th fastest Half Marathon for American women—and is excited to be building for her NYC Marathon debut in November.

Topics: coaches who've had an impact—Andrea Grove, Amy Begley, JJ Clark, Terrence Mahon—her collegiate running experience, working with Mark Coogan and the New Balance Boston team, transitioning to a professional runner, key race highlights, meaningful moments that shaped her, where her drive comes from, community service—running to inspire aspiring pro's—speaking to high school/college runners to help them navigate the landscape.

We also discuss the unique approach Emily and Terrence are taking with her build for the NYC Marathon.

I'm so excited to follow Emily's inspiring journey and am rooting for her to rock it in November!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Emily:

Instagram: @em_durgin

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: @_margittai

© 2022 Ron Romano

Eoin Everard is a long-time listener of RunChats, who hails from Kilkenny, Ireland, and reached out to collaborate on this episode. I'm so stoked to share his inspiring running journey and lessons learned as a sub-4 minute miler, sub-14 5K, sub-30 10K, and 5X Irish National Champion. Eoin (pronounced Owen) is currently the 3K European Indoor Masters Champion and in his professional life is a chartered physio, who holds a PhD in Biomechanics.

Part One: We discuss his amazing running journey. His sporty, competitive, turbo-fast family. With an older brother who ran for the National cross-country team, Eoin shared a funny story how he regularly razzed him about it. His sister ran the 800m in the Rio Olympics—can you say FAST FAMILY?! How he took a year off to fully dedicate himself to being his best, chasing an Olympic dream, worked on his mindset, and in his words, "ran like a donkey." He then had an epiphany that nobody gives a sh*t what times he was running. If he was happy, his family and closest friends were happy. He went on to become a 5X Irish National Champ after letting go of that self-imposed pressure.

Part Two: Eoin has spent his life focused on how runners move and how to try and help them to move better, get stronger, and faster through his Pilates practice. We discuss muscle activation, running mechanics, injury prevention, carbon shoes, and varying training intensities. We took a deeper dive on how trying to improve one's running stride can be a cautionary tale and lead to injuries and on keys to avoiding injury long-term.

I hope you will be inspired by Eoin's running journey, lessons learned and shared, and enjoy his proper Irish accent as much as my mom (née McCabe)!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Eoin:

Eoin's Book 'Get To the Line in the Best Shape Possible': https://everardpilates.com/book

Get a free trial of Sports Pilates: https://everardpilates.com/sportfreetrial

Instagram: @everardpilatesphysio

YouTube Clips From Our Episode: 

Why trying to improve your running stride can cause injury: https://youtu.be/ZK5FW_z2Zlc

Keys to avoiding injury long-term: https://youtu.be/KDErC4YTLeE

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: [email protected]

Social: @_margittai

© 2022 Ron Romano