Welcome to the Upstate Race Series Podcast. I’m Matthew Hammersmith, and this is your trailhead for running in the Upstate of South Carolina. Here we talk races, training, community, and the stories that happen between the start and the finish lines. Whether you’re chasing a PR, chasing a sunrise, or just chasing your friends down the trail, you’re in the right place. Let’s get into it.

Important Club Links

• Club Membership Page

• Club Store Page

• Race Discounts on ALL Events

• Club Member Benefits

• Strava Club - Kudos Korner

• Run Club Schedule

• Facebook Group

• Facebook Page

Race Series Pages 

• Upstate Trail Series

• Upstate Road Series

• Upstate Brew Series

• Upstate Youth Series

• Upstate Giving Series

• Upstate Ultra Series

As a coach with the Without Limits Endurance Team, I talk with athletes all across the Southeast about training and racing. We start with the basics: your history, your current fitness, and the goals you’re aiming at. Then we talk commitment, obstacles, and that internal spark that keeps you showing up when motivation is running late.

A long-term plan takes real thought, but once we land on the right plan for the person, it comes down to execution. And execution requires trust. As a coach, I have to trust that you’re doing the work, not just the highlight-reel workouts. As an athlete, you’ve got to trust that your coach is building something that fits your ability, your schedule, and your life.

My coach, yes, even coaches need coaches, reminds me of something simple but powerful: personal awareness. Focus on today’s task. Not the whole season, not the whole mountain, just the next step. Because every little thing you do adds up. And those little things are what carry you toward the big goal, whether that goal is your first mile, your first 5K, or your first marathon.

Breaking training into smaller segments keeps it from swallowing you. You don’t have to “get fit right now” or “run fast right now” or “fix everything right now.” You build a structure of daily wins. And when you look back, you won’t see one magical leap. You’ll see a trail of small victories that happened in small moments.

So today I want to talk about the little things, the simple habits you can do before, during, and after your run that make the main workout work better.

First: warm up.

I know warming up can feel like the part you want to skip. But I’d argue the “before” and “after” can be just as important as the workout itself. A warm up is you sending a message to your body: wake up, we’re about to work. You’re preparing your muscles, your joints, your breathing, and your nervous system for the demand that’s coming. And for most runners, dynamic movement beats standing still and yanking on a stretch. A good warm up doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to be consistent....