Welcome to the Allie on the Run show.
I'm your host, Allie Feller, and this is where I talk with people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond.
From professional athletes and celebrity runners to the everyday amateur and back of the pack runner.
We are here to celebrate everyone and anyone who enjoys a life on the run.
So, whether you are running towards something big or away from something that's been holding you back, I am here to hold your hand and help you pick up the pace.
Today is the third episode in the No Stupid Questions series.
To recap the series thus far, because it's been a minute since we did one of these Eric Jenkins and Aisha Prottlier, former professional runners and co-hosts of the Off the Rails podcast.
They kicked off the series answering all of your questions about professional running.
Then Ginger Gottschall, New Balance's director of sports research, came on to talk about shoes and gear.
She explained drops and stack heights and talked about how to find the right shoe for you.
And of course, we did talk about those removable pads in sports bras.
Love them or hate them.
Today, we're tackling personal running.
When I asked people to submit their running questions, the responses were massively varied, but a lot were about how to get faster, how to get stronger, when to strength train and seriously, what is a fart lick?
And I know just who to go to for all the answers to these questions.
Two time Olympian in the 5,000 meters marathoner and co-founder of next best run coaching.
It's Kim Conley.
Kim has coached athletes to personal bests in the mile up to the marathon.
She's helped runners complete their first races ever and she's helped athletes qualify for the Boston Marathon and beyond.
So welcome to No Stupid Questions, Coaching Edition with Kim Conley.
Kim Conley, welcome back to the alley on the run show.
It is always a pleasure to have you here.
I'm such a fan.
Thank you for being here.
How are you doing today?
I'm great.
I'm excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
You are our resident expert today for the No Stupid Questions series.
So today's episode is all when I ask people, submit your running questions.
I gave no pretense, no further explanation, just wanted to see what people would ask.
And some people were like, Is it comfortable racing in buns?
And do pro athletes get bikini waxes all the time?
And other ones were like, how do I get faster?
So for the latter category, we're going to skip the first one.
We're good there.
But these are all personal running questions.
And so I thought it made the most sense to bring in an expert coach to answer these.
Let's start with your credentials.
Tell us what makes you an expert to field all of these questions.
Okay.
Well, I am two-time Olympian in 5,000 meters.
I've Raced competitively, everything from the mile to the marathon.
I got my degree in exercise biology and started coaching at UC Davis right out of college and now have a remote online coaching business with my husband.
We coach runners of all abilities for anything they want.
But a lot, a lot of people that are taking on the marathon.
What is your, whether it's your philosophy or your mission statement.
What kind of coach are you and what's most important to you?
The most important thing to me is building a relationship with the client.
And you know running has done so much for me in my life and just been such a rewarding process that I've gone through that.
I really love taking adults that are new to running and helping them discover all the ways that running can enhance their lives and being a partner in that journey with them.
Are you a cheerleader coach?
Are you a tough love coach?
What's your emotional vibe?
It kind of depends on the client.
Like everybody's different and they need different things.
I... don't love being a tough love coach.
So you know I've had a few people that are really in it for like accountability and almost want almost feels like like they want more like a boot camp instructor.
And that doesn't really come naturally to me.
I would prefer to be the like supportive cheerleader type of coach.
I love it.
All right.
Before we get into the questions, Kim, I do have to ask, what are you training for right now?
I'm training for high rocks with Connor nickel mixed doubles in New York, June 4th.
Um, it's not been my favorite training block ever.
It's really hard.
The weights are so heavy.
Talking like a true runner.
But I'm hoping that my running ability carries the day.
I mean, your running ability, but also that you're like completely jacked right now.
I'm watching the updates, Kim, and you're killing it.
Why are you doing this?
It's your fault, Allie.
I know.
I know.
I was like, pretty sure that was the answer.
And then I was like, oh, shit, as soon as I asked.
So you recorded a podcast with Jess Mobold and you guys were talking about High Rocks and you said you maybe you should try it with Connor.
And she was like, no, Kim is Connor's dream partner.
And he had been talking to me about it for months and I kept like just like putting him off because I was like no, high rocks is stupid, I'm not interested.
And then people on Instagram listen to that podcast and like started saying no you should do this.
So I put out a poll on my story should I really do this.
And honestly, it was very torn.
Like there are a lot of high rocks haters that follow me.
It turns out.
Oh, it was pretty mixed.
But then I went on and I, cause I had to see like, Oh, like who did I, who do I know that voted?
And I saw that my husband had voted no.
And then he went on our dogs account and voted no.
And then he went on the next best run account and voted no.
And I was like, OK, I'm doing this.
But you didn't talk about it.
You just like went in and saw that.
Yes.
How does he feel about this?
I'm bored.
I mean, I like he's supportive now.
He realizes like I took it very seriously.
I was so nervous about it that I hired a personal trainer last November. began working towards it.
And I think he appreciates the effort I've put into this.
I'm stronger than I've ever been.
And so he respects that process.
Yeah, he better because you could kick his ass.
You're ripped right now.
So he should be careful while he's on his little burner accounts for the dogs.
Yeah.
All right.
So, since you mentioned that you hired a trainer when you were doing that, what were you looking for when you were reaching out to someone?
Yeah, I was looking for someone that, like a like, either knew about high rocks, had some experience, or was like, willing to learn and
And I actually got connected with someone.
He's awesome, Alex Daniels.
He sprinted in college.
He's super young, he's like just out of college, but he was so enthusiastic about getting me ready and yeah, he's just.
He's been a joy to work with because he's just so into the whole process.
So it's been a lot of fun I definitely appreciate enthusiasm.
Me too.
It's also really interesting to me that you were, I don't know that willing to is the right phrase I'm looking for, but that you hired a young guy who's new to this.
Like you are, like you said, a two-time Olympian.
You are someone whose body has been the core of what you do for decades now.
Is there an element of having to relinquish or hand some trust over to like, I don't know.
I think I'd be like, listen, I'm an Olympian.
My body is the gold standard and now you're in charge of it.
So don't screw it up.
Is that a thing?
I mean, I really, really like being coached.
So it's pretty easy for me to, to like hand that over.
And just like put my trust in someone else.
And yeah, I don't know, like feel like I'm working on a project with somebody else.
What is not to make this negative?
What is not the worst type of person to coach, but what is the hardest type of, or the biggest challenge in, coaching someone?
Well, I mean, someone that doesn't actually run is pretty tough.
They're like, give me a plan and then they don't do it.
Yeah.
No, but honestly, like if there's like a lack of communication or if it's just like if it's hard to connect with somebody like I'm like the way we coach is. we load training that's going to sync to their watch.
And then the data from their watch is going to sync back to the app.
And so you can see all the numbers, but for me, that's really only half the story.
Like I, you know, it's like great if you hate your paces and you know I can look at the heart rate graphs or whatever.
But like if I don't hear from the person about where it fit in the context of life and how it actually felt, because you know, say like
I want them to hit a certain pace, but I want it to feel like cruise control when they're doing it.
But actually they were hands on knees.
Then it's like that we didn't hit the workout the way we wanted to.
So communication for me is like pretty fundamental to being able to coach well.
What gets you really excited when an athlete reaches out?
What makes you really excited to coach them?
Anybody with a goal.
Um i yeah, i i love chasing goals myself um, and so i i like working with anybody that kind of has a vision of where they want to go and and is excited about um undertaking that journey, like kind of, like i said in the beginning, like i don't want to be like the boot camp instructor, like i really like it when somebody comes to me and they're hiring a coach because they're already motivated.
What is race day for your athletes like for you?
It's exciting.
Like yeah, I mean, I am definitely the person that's refreshing the weather app all week for every person.
So nice.
That's such a good love language.
Yeah, you're right.
It is.
Um, no, I mean, it's Yeah, it's like I, I love writing the race plans.
That's one of my favorite things.
When I write race plans, I always like go back into their training.
And I'm finding the workouts where they like that are pretty specific to the race.
So say it's a half marathon.
You know when they did like two K reps or two mile reps at half marathon.
And especially like if they nailed that workout, I'm I'm in their race plan.
You know, I'm kind of telling them how you know, based on the course and weather, how the race should unfold and how I want it to feel.
But then I'm also reminding them of like, this is the work you did.
This is what, like this is what you have to go back and look at to believe that you're ready to go.
Do this.
And like, that to me is really fun.
How do you handle it when you're an athlete is racing and you know that, like they're in great shape, they're so ready?
And then it's race day.
It doesn't always go the way that we want it to go or the way that we trained for it to go.
How do you approach the post race, whether it's a text or a phone call, when you know that, like they're probably not going to be, when all you have is the data?
You have their splits in front of you.
So you haven't talked to them yet.
How do you broach that when you know, like, they're probably not going to be happy?
Yeah.
I mean, part of it is knowing the person.
So like trying, you know, like trying to say the right thing for the right person.
Cause like, especially like with a lot of people with the marathon, even if you didn't hit the time goal, like you still have to start with congratulations because the marathon is so hard.
So crossing every finish line is like a big deal anyway.
I think that's how I feel about the marathon for me.
And then it's, I really I like to help people see like where the race fits in the big picture and that, you know, no matter what, it's always a stepping stone to something else that's coming.
And so you know, even when it's a, it's a rough day or you don't get the day you want over the weather or whatever.
You know things go wrong to remind them about, like the work that they did in the block, and that we still get to carry that forward to the next one.
And so just try to think about like something positive that's coming out of the whole experience that we get to build off for the next.
Oh, I love that.
All right.
Let's get into the actual questions for this series.
I told you I was going to derail this with all of my questions.
But let's start with finding a coach, working with a coach.
And the questions that came in include what's the best way to find a coach?
I think a lot of people don't know where to start and it's overwhelming.
What should you look for in a coach?
And of course, who is a coach for?
Yeah.
So, I mean, I think the best way to find a coach is word of mouth.
So, if you have friends that have a coach, if you have running partners, if you're part of a group, hearing from someone you know and trust, like what their experience has been like
Um, I think that's definitely the best way to go, just like for your own peace of mind going into the process.
And then who a coach is for real.
I would say anybody like with a goal um just, Or anybody really that just wants to get better at what they're doing.
So you know, even if I go back to like my personal training experience, you know I had the high rocks goal but if I didn't, there still would have been a lot of value into going in there and doing that and just becoming a stronger overall person.
So you know, if you're looking at where you are and just saying like I want to become a better runner, then a coach is going to help you do that.
So you don't have to have a race on the calendar or even care about racing.
You can still benefit from a coach's year.
You definitely can.
Um, I think it's more fun if you have a race goal.
But someone, one of the questions, and I actually forget if I included it in here, I might've, might've eliminated it.
Cause I had to weed these down, but uh, someone did ask they were like.
You know why, when we talk about getting better as a runner, does that always mean faster?
And i know what i think is the answer, but i want to know yours.
I think um, It doesn't necessarily have to be that.
I think we think that way because like, the nature of a race is that you're going from a start line to a finish line and there's a timer.
Um and so it's.
You know that that's what the race is is seeing how quickly you can cover the distance.
But it, it doesn't have to be that way.
So like take the marathon, for example, like you could make your goal, like better could mean just like finishing feeling happy, finishing feeling like you're smiling and it's not like a complete suffer fest.
Um, so it doesn't necessarily have to mean faster.
Okay, i'm just gonna pat myself on the back because i had the same response in my head.
I mean, you worded it much better, but i was thinking the same thing.
Yeah, Love that for us.
All right.
Well, the first category here.
So I've broken these questions into a couple of categories, including getting faster and stronger terminology.
A lot of people who are just like, What is zone two?
And I think those are great questions.
And then if we're able to get to them.
We have questions about running through different stages of life and a couple mental game questions.
So let's start with getting faster and stronger.
Why does a run one day feel incredible and the next day it's pure torture?
Don't you hate that?
It just depends.
I mean, there's, there's so many factors that impact the way you feel on a run.
So if you did a hard workout and then you feel terrible the next day, like that's appropriate.
Like you need.
You need to have an easy day and um, and you're just you're going to bring in fatigue from that long runner workout.
It could be that you didn't sleep well.
It could be that you under fueled the day before.
It could be that you didn't even eat breakfast that morning.
I you know I get that a lot.
Going back to the communication piece, where you know you can look at it like something can be like I'm feeling terrible and it's like Without being able to have an entire dialogue with someone.
Sometimes what you unpack is like oh, you skipped breakfast.
Or like oh, you've changed what you're eating for breakfast and you're eating way fewer carbs in the morning than you were before.
Like there are so many factors that influence the way we feel that just being able to dialogue helps a lot in terms of figuring out, like what's actually going on.
We're going to talk a lot, I think, about different running strategies, training strategies workouts, mixing it up.
If you are one of those runners who doesn't have a race on the calendar and you are running for health fitness happiness, whatever it is, is there any detriment to going out and running, other than it being probably boring than running a couple times a week the same distance at the same pace?
No, I mean if you want to get faster, if you want to improve running performance.
There are different things you have to do in order to do that.
Um, but if, if that's what fits in life, in the, you know, in that moment of life for you, just like, of course, getting outside and moving your body.
Like that's.
That's one of the most important things you can do for yourself your overall wellbeing.
All right.
Let's talk about working in strength training.
We got a lot of questions around this.
And, of course, some of them are about you know the best practices when it comes to strength training for runners, but a lot of it is really time management.
And so one of the big questions is how do you do a long run or workout and strength train on the same day?
If you aren't a pro, I am way too tired.
How are we fitting this in?
And what do you recommend in terms of which days in a training plan to include some sort of strength?
Yeah, so it really depends on the individual.
Like people ask me you know which, you know where in the week is the best day to do strength training?
And I tell them they kind of need to experiment.
Like, oh, there's a lot of people that will say, keep your hard days hard and your easy days easy.
And so they're like advocates for doing your hard workouts and your strength training on the same day.
I never liked that.
I always did my strength workouts the afternoon before a hard workout, like as a professional runner.
And I think that was kind of the nature of my strength training was there was more of a priming effect to it than are really like creating fatigue effect to it.
Since I've been doing this High Rocks training, Alex has put me on a Keep Your Hard Days Hard program, and I really don't like it, to be honest.
I'm really tired from my morning workout and then I go into the weight room and I don't feel like I can lift the way I would like to, if I'd had an easier morning.
Um, so I think I'll probably go back.
Um, but it's so.
It just depends like and you know, maybe if you're training for middle distance, there's more value in like trying to lift that heavy when you're fatigued.
But I think it just depends on the person.
And I think for most people that aren't elite runners um The most important thing they can do is separate it from the long run.
I don't think that trying to lift within 24 hours of a long run makes sense.
But other than that it's really going to come down to where does it actually fit around the rest of life?
How important...
And especially for, let's say, for people training for half marathons or marathons.
How important is strength training?
Can you get by in a training block just running?
Yeah, you can.
It's definitely ancillary.
With the busy people, there's a hierarchy of what's important to accomplish.
In order to get to the start line ready to like tackle the distance.
And I would cut out strength if time were a big factor and if it meant that they were going to sacrifice some running in order to do the strength, and I would tell them let's not bother with the strength.
There are some like little PT exercises you can do, even just as like a 10 minute warm up before a run.
That's going to help.
With injury prevention and some like running economy stuff.
And that's kind of the most important thing for distance running.
So, yeah, in the big picture, I don't think strength is nearly as important as running.
If you were to recommend one or two, I'll give you up to two.
One or two small things that have a big impact.
On the strength training front.
Let's start there and then we'll go bigger picture.
What one or two exercises, whether it's a warm up, something after a run, little things.
I think you see where I'm trying to go with this question.
What are your recommendations?
I like single leg deadlifts.
You can get like you can take like.
A kettlebell.
So you know, you know you can have something at home.
It doesn't have to be like super heavy.
When you're doing it as a single leg exercise, you're getting more bang for your buck without one weight.
And then any single leg exercise is kind of the most specific to running, because running is just a series of single leg hops, basically for a really really, really long time.
So single leg exercise is the most important.
So I would say personally, single leg deadlift and then maybe like single leg squat.
Okay.
Okay.
Those both sound super fun.
When I do deadlifts, which is once a year, if I'm in a class that's doing them, I feel nothing.
Am I doing them wrong?
Do I need a heavier weight?
Is my stance wrong?
Like, I know that you can't really answer that without seeing what I'm doing.
But are deadlifts something that you that should feel hard when you're doing them?
Um, I mean, you should feel your glutes working.
Okay.
Pull through your hamstring.
Okay.
I'll try again next year.
What about, what are the things as you're saying, like, listen, people are busy.
If we have to cut something out, we're going to cut out strength.
What are the things that we should absolutely be prioritizing in our training?
Well, so it depends on what you're training for.
Um, but let's just say we'll just assume a marathon, because so many people are training for marathons.
Like, um, the long run is definitely the most important thing for the marathon.
Yeah.
And then, um, I mean, yeah.
And easy runs.
Well, I think we'll talk more about easy runs as we go.
Um, but yeah.
And then just to raise the ceiling on your fitness you you need like one harder quality session in there a week.
What about the life stuff, thinking sleep, nutrition?
And I know in a perfect world, we're doing all of those things.
We're getting at least eight hours.
We're making healthy meals.
We're eating blah, blah, blah, blah.
But for you, what do you see as top priority?
Oh, it's so hard to pick between sleep and nutrition.
Are you happy I've gone completely off script though?
Isn't it nice that I said the questions ahead of time and ask zero of them?
This series is actually Allie's questions about running.
Um, I I really hate to have to choose here, but I guess – Well, I don't want to put you in a position you're not happy to be in, Kim.
I love you.
Yeah, I think I have to go with sleep, but, I mean, it's crazy.
You know, if your nutrition is bad, then it's still going to be really tough.
Okay.
I'll go back on script.
Okay.
What is a reasonable amount of time to build from your first half to a marathon?
So from 13.1 up to 26.2 miles.
I'd be happy doing that in 16 weeks.
More you know I always think more is better.
Um, you know, within reason, like and obviously you know I say that and it's like someone came to me a year out from a marathon.
We would periodize it in a way that they have like a little reset in there and, you know, ideally train for another race.
Like like, like.
I've had people that came last fall planning to run the New York marathon this fall.
And so, like you know, we built a plan where they did a spring half marathon and they'd never run a marathon before.
So it's like, making them into a better runner through training for the half marathon.
And then we take a little down week and then now we're going to transition into the marathon buildup.
So like I like that better, because the more time you put into it then the better runner you're going to be.
But in a pinch, I think coming off a half marathon.
Yeah.
I think like 16 weeks is good.
If you are starting completely from scratch for the marathon, like I six months is better.
Do you really need to set your treadmill to 1% to mimic outdoor running?
No, I hate that rule.
We need to compile a list of these.
That go along with all the things that we were taught as millennials.
Like I saw a thread yesterday that was like, what's the most millennial thing you do?
And I was like well, I put LOL at the end of every sentence that I write ever, including business emails.
But also like, remember how we were told to rinse our hair with cold water to lock in the shine?
Yeah.
After we wash it.
I've never questioned that and I still do it.
And my hair is not shiny, so it's not working.
Anyway, treadmill at one percent.
So that's just like one of those classic myths.
I mean yeah, it's.
I think the idea is that if your treadmill is zero percent and you're indoors, so there are no elements like that feels easier than outdoor running.
And I get that.
But to put it at 1, like we're not going for runs on an incline for the entire time when we're outdoors.
And so like structurally the demands on your body, like that's completely different than what you would normally do outdoors.
So I think you're making it unnecessarily hard on yourself.
If you do that.
Oh my God.
I love that.
If I have to be on the treadmill, I would rather put it at 0 and just be like oh, this feels great.
I feel like anytime you've posted a video of yourself on a treadmill, it looks like you're summoning a mountain.
Where's she going?
She's going to run through the ceiling.
You're amazing.
For a non-elite woman, when do we start slowing down with age?
Is faster as a master for real?
That is hard to answer because it really just depends on the situation and the person.
So I guess the most obvious example would be somebody that doesn't even take up running until they're already a master like, of course, they're going to get faster as a master.
But, you know, for somebody like me, I joined my first track team when I was 11.
And when I was graduating college, I like made a decision, like a life choice, that I wanted to absolutely maximize my potential.
In my late twenties and early thirties and like directed.
My entire life, channeled everything into like doing that and becoming the best runner I could be when I would be like in my physiological prime.
Um, so I have no problem with the fact that at 40, I am slowing down.
I was slowing down at 38.
Um, and that's like, that's fine because I did exactly what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.
Um, so it just depends.
Like there are women, that there are elite women that are running really, really well into their forties probably still not quite as fast as in their late thirties.
Um, and that also like, that doesn't matter.
They're still like, they're doing what they love and they're still running really, really well.
You're also brand new to being a master.
Happy belated birthday.
How was your 40th?
It was amazing.
It was a blast.
I had a party and I loved it.
And there were just so many people that I love there.
Um and yeah, I'm going to run the U S masters cross country championships in December, which I'm really excited about.
I'm on two 40 plus tennis teams and they love me because I can run all over the court so well.
And so 40 is great.
I'm thriving at 40.
I mean, you are.
How can you set time goals without ever having raced that distance before?
I love this question.
Yeah, so...
You can use other race distances to kind of project what your like current ability is.
And maybe, depending on how much time you have to train for the next race, extrapolate from there like what would be a reasonable goal with improved fitness.
And then somebody that's never raced at all before I would probably.
I have some little like effort-based workouts I like to give people to kind of get an idea of current fitness and ability level.
And then we can have a conversation about like okay, what makes sense and what seems like a reasonable goal, if they want a goal.
Sometimes completion is the goal and that's totally fine.
When you first start coaching someone, is there like a standard Kim Conley benchmark workout that you have them do so that you can see where they're at.
Yeah.
What is it?
It's a progression run.
And it depends like on the ability level of the person, like the length of it.
But basically they warm up and then I kind of give them some effort based guidance on what.
Let's just say, you know, the person can handle three miles of this.
It'll be like, imagine you're starting out in the marathon for a mile.
Imagine you're starting out in the half marathon for the next mile.
Imagine you're finishing a half marathon for the third mile.
And so they're like progressing their effort.
Through that.
And then I kind of look at those splits.
I look at like how they progressed.
I look at like their heart rate graph.
I don't like to train off heart rate, the actual absolute numbers, because our the data is so inaccurate.
But I do like to look at the trends in the graph to see like Oh, did it?
Like step?
Did your heart rate steadily rise?
Was there like a huge spike at the end?
That, that kind of thing.
And so then, based off all of that, I kind of estimate where their lactate threshold might be right now.
And then, and then I do some follow up workouts with the paces I've kind of guessed off of that workout.
And then so, like over the course of several weeks, we kind of like feel out like okay, this is feeling right for where you are right now.
Do you have to have a GPS watch in order to be a coachable athlete?
Yeah, I think the answer is yes.
I'm trying to think if I've actually ever had someone.
No, okay, no, I take that back because...
People that run with their phone and, like, use Strava, that works, too.
Like, as long as I can get an idea of paces, then that's fine.
So there's no like all right, I want you to run what feels like half marathon pace today.
Do your best.
And then it's just like I think it went like.
In order to be able to effectively coach, or at least the way that you coach, you're definitely recommending some sort of tracking device.
I haven't actually ever had anyone that didn't want that.
So I don't, I don't know what I would do in that situation.
Um, it would be a learning curve.
How do you feel about training with a watch, but then racing without one?
Oh, I mean, personally, I love that.
I'm much better without a watch.
Um, So, yeah, if somebody wanted to do that, I'd be so proud.
I don't have anyone I coach that would be willing to do that.
Oh, my gosh.
Wait, I used to do it all the time.
Well, we're old school.
We're old, period.
Actually, I'm like running with my desktop computer in a wagon behind me.
OK, let's talk about recovery runs, easy runs.
Give us your definition of an easy run.
My definition of an easy run is can you talk the whole time?
Yeah.
Like you want to be able to just have like a nice chatty run.
I mean, you know if you're in central park and you're going to Harlem Hill and you pause the conversation like that's why.
Yeah.
Also, if you're listening, you can cut across at 122nd on the transfers.
You don't even have to do Harlem Hill.
You can keep talking.
No, I'm a coach.
You're a genius coach.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So yeah, I mean I like some people need, really need pace guidance and they need it in their watch beeping at them to slow down.
And I do that for people that want that.
But my personal preference is just to say, make it easy enough that you can talk.
I don't know if I can ever talk for an entire run.
I think I have to walk.
So, all right, I'm going to work on it.
I always run alone.
I don't ever run with people, so it makes it harder.
Okay.
Which helps endurance the most?
Slow speed for longer, a walk run, or faster for a shorter amount of time?
So just...
Overall, if you want to improve your endurance, if you want to be able to run longer, what's going to help you do that the most?
I don't – the slower for longer, I'm going to say.
I don't really love that only being given those three options.
Oh, okay.
You can have more options.
That's just what fit in the question box.
Yeah.
Okay.
No, but I mean, to answer the question, I would say slower for longer is going to be the best for endurance.
But really, the best thing is to have a variety throughout the week.
All right, let's get into some terminology questions because I love these.
I think we're in such an era where we throw terms around conversationally and people who are newer to the sport are like don't know what that is.
And I don't ever want people to feel stupid because, like for example earlier, you said the word ancillary and I don't know what that means.
But I smiled and I'm going to look it up when we're done.
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So terminology, question number one, what is ancillary?
No, I'm just kidding.
No, I'll look it up.
It'll be fine.
No, I totally know.
Like, I know what it is.
I just want to remember.
Why is zone two training beneficial?
And let's even back it up.
Let's talk about the zones.
We hear a lot about zone two.
Can you break it down for us in the easiest to understand?
Don't don't use any of those. words you were using before.
Tone down the diction, Conley.
Seriously, cool it.
Even diction, like, enough.
Okay.
Zone two is going to be, like, your easy runs.
Zone three is...
More like marathon pace, I'd say.
Like you're kind of going into like tempo threshold area.
Zone four is more like right at lactate threshold.
And then zone five is going to be that faster running.
That's like putting you up into like VO2 max territory.
Maybe even rep territory, but some people talk about zone six for that.
Okay.
Why is it beneficial?
Why is zone two training beneficial?
Why do people talk about it so much?
Yeah.
So how science-y do you want to get?
Oh, pop off, Kim.
No big words.
No, go ahead.
Honestly, for the next 60 seconds, go all in.
Okay.
So...
In order to get your muscles to contract, you're basically, I don't want to go into all this.
We don't have to.
No, sorry for thinking this would be nerd out that hard on you.
So basically basically, there's a huge demand for oxygen in order to take glucose and convert it into energy.
Your mitochondria, you do that at your mitochondria powerhouse of the cell.
Yes.
And it requires oxygen.
And so when you're training, what you're doing is you're like you're telling your body we have this huge demand for all this oxygen.
And so then when you recover well with sleep and nutrition, that's why they're both important.
You are making adaptations within your body to be more efficient at delivering oxygen to your mitochondria.
And so that the easy running that you're doing, that's a really effective way to improve all the things you need to improve, which is like how well your heart pumps, because that's what's sending oxygen down to your muscle cells, and like increasing capillary density.
So like at the end of your arteries where they innervate the muscles.
Um, so as all of it's about like more blood flow, so there's more oxygen going down there.
Um and so when you do easy running, you're signaling your body to make those adaptations to do that, but not in a way that's so stressful that you can't do it again the next day.
So it's like you're getting all that bang for the buck of like training your body and telling it to make these adaptations in a way that you can keep doing repeatedly.
My favorite part of that well, number one, I learned a lot.
Thank you for that explanation.
Number two you had the biggest smile on your face the whole time.
Look, that was very cute to watch.
Okay, for the life of me, I still do not understand what a fart lick is.
Give us the explainer.
Okay, Fartlek is Swedish for speed play.
And it's very unstructured from there.
And so some people use it in different ways.
But it's basically running hard for a certain amount of time and then backing off for a certain amount of time.
And it can kind of be whatever you want within that.
I really like it to be like a sneaky type of threshold workout, so like when I tell people how to run a fart lick.
I'll say like, say we're going to do two minutes on, one minute off.
I'll say like, channel 10k effort, but don't look your watch.
We don't care about paces here, but we're just like raising the effort.
So like, you know, imagine yourself in a 10k race like how you know how do you want to feel like.
If you're at the beginning of the fart.
Look say, imagine how you want to feel at the beginning of the 10K.
If you're at the end of the fart look, imagine how you want to feel at the end of the 10K.
And then for that minute off, I'm telling them, think of yourself as taking your foot off the accelerator, but you don't hit the brakes.
So you're kind of like coasting in between.
And so because you're not fully recovering and letting your heart rate come down in those offs, then it's like your heart rate kind of climbs throughout the workout.
So you're getting that kind of sneaky threshold effect, but you really only have to concentrate for like two minutes at a time, which makes it fun.
But again, that's just the way I do it.
Like you can do it all kinds of different ways.
Like we had so much fun in high school with fart licks because It would be like every person got a turn to lead and they wouldn't even say how long they were going.
It was just like someone go hard and everybody has to follow.
And then when they're done, they're done and you back off for a while.
And then when it's the next person's turn to go, they go.
And it's like it made it really fun.
That does sound fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I like that a lot.
Also, because I just like love an opportunity for bonding and togetherness.
And I feel like that's right up there.
What are strides?
Are they the same as striders and run throughs?
I've never heard the term run through before.
That's me saying I've never heard that before, though I have heard strides and striders.
So can you give us the explainer there?
I have never heard of a run through either.
Um, what does this person know that we don't, we both talk about running a lot.
Um, I, I assume that strides and striders are the same thing.
I've only ever used the term stride.
Um, they're usually 80 to a hundred meters.
Um, you do them at the end of a run or at the end of a warmup, before your workout or before your race.
And they are kind of somewhere between mile and 5k effort, I would say.
But again, like the time doesn't matter.
You're just, you're, you're running fast.
You're making your form nice and efficient.
And you're just kind of like, priming your body for either like i like to do them like the day before a hard workout or again like after the warm-up going into a workout um you're just kind of like priming your body for something hard that's coming um and kind of like helping get your body into like the correct muscle tension to go then go run fast How often or how many times a week do you recommend adding strides to the end of a run?
And I know it depends.
I know it depends what you're training for.
It depends on all the things.
But again, if I'm like, I think of someone like me who I'm running to run, I'm running to you know, Be healthy.
I don't have a race goal in mind, but also I like the idea of being able to jump into a race from time to time.
So what would you recommend for me?
For you?
Okay.
Well, first of all, are you like strides, or are you going to hate me for writing strides into the training?
There's probably nothing you could do that would ever make me hate you.
So bring it on.
Great.
Then you're going to get strides, because some people don't get strides because they're going to complain about it so much.
I would probably give you strides once a week, maybe twice a week.
Okay.
I thought you were going to say six times a week.
And I was like, great, whatever you want.
Why do some people do them on grass after a run?
Barefoot on grass?
Yeah.
What's up with that?
It's like a little workout for your calf.
It's like foot strength, calf strength.
Yeah.
I don't want to do that.
Oh, it's pretty fun.
OK, let me tell you a story, Kim.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in my front yard and I was like, oh, it's nice out.
The snow is finally gone because it's May.
I want to pull some weeds because I'm 41.
So that felt like fun.
And so there I am with my gardening gloves because I have those.
And I reached down and I went to grab a pile of leaves to put in my wheelbarrow and I grabbed a snake with my hands.
Exactly.
So I'm not going barefoot on anything.
You're right.
Okay.
That's fair.
And you know what?
I used to be like obsessed with doing barefoot stuff in the grass.
Like I would do four mile runs completely barefoot in the grass.
Until I got stung by a bee and then Drew said, okay, we're done with this now.
Wow, Drew is a hater.
It was the week of USA's.
Did it affect you?
No, I won.
It was my first national title.
Oh, fuck yeah.
It was good luck.
If anything, it was good luck.
Oh my God, you're like the coolest person.
I love that pronating.
What does it mean and how do i know if i do it?
Oh, i mean, and does it matter?
Yeah, yeah.
So that's the thing like pronation.
Pronation and supination, that's like a natural movement of the foot that this, this would probably be better for like a pt to come in and talk about, because i don't think i'll do it justice.
So pronation is like the inward roll that you see like on people when their ankle like kind of collapses in a little bit.
I'm guessing what this person meant is like over pronation, which is something that people talk about.
And again, like it's a little, I don't know.
My personal feeling is it's become a little bit like oversold and yeah, we we're like have a tendency to restrict movement in our feet too much.
But again, it's like highly individual.
I don't, you know, I don't want someone that has a serious need for some movement control to like now ignore that about themselves just because I said it on a podcast.
They're like, not only am I broken, I got stung by a bee.
This is all bullshit.
I've got a snake.
I overcame it onto a snake.
Great news though.
Love the race.
Literally win some and lose some.
I don't know what to tell you.
What is meant by a float pace?
Well, I think this would depend on the coach and what they mean by it.
But I would use that kind of like I described for the down in a fart lick like the.
You're taking your foot off the accelerator but not hitting the gas.
Like you're not fully slowing down, but you're kind of just like cruising.
I didn't know that.
Well, I figured I thought I assumed float was recovery.
I thought those terms were synonymous.
Okay.
Well, I have no reason to think that they might, they might mean that for other people.
No stupid questions.
Okay.
And then I like this one because again, I think we throw these around.
So colloquially, holy shit, I was going to try to do it.
God damn it.
Let's just get into the question.
It may be silly and obvious, but what is three by 400.
And when I say by, it's the little X in between.
So three looks like three times 400.
Their other example was one by 600, but just any number by another number.
Can you explain how we're writing workouts?
So there were, okay.
Yeah, there were no units put onto that.
So there weren't, but you can add them.
I'm assuming we're talking meters.
And three by 400 mean three by 400 meters.
So if you're on the track, that would be three times one lap.
I'm guessing.
If you are given a workout says three by 400, then there's going to be a certain recovery designation in between also.
Um, one by 600 will be one by 600 meters.
And again, like maybe I think on the track, cause my background's in the track.
Um, but it, you know, you can absolutely run 400 or 600 meters on the road.
And usually when these workouts are written in that way of just like six by 800, 12 by 400.
They're not written including the recovery, the recovery, the recovery is usually the coach or whoever's writing the workout will write that separately.
Does that make sense?
What I'm saying?
I just want people to understand what they're looking at.
And it's not just.
You're not running – if it's 12 by 400, you're not running 12 times around really fast.
There is rest in between.
That's just not included in the way the workout itself is written.
Yeah, exactly.
Great.
Yeah.
Okay.
We did have a couple fueling questions, and I know you are not a dietician, but I do think that you can answer these questions for us.
Number one, are gummy candies actually as good as gels for the on the run fuel?
What's your take?
Um, okay.
Well, I do think a dietician would answer that better, because I I think there is something to it that I can't quite remember about, like the types of carb molecules in them.
Like they're, I think Gelsker kind of like scientifically formulated.
Megan Featherson's head is exploding right now.
Yeah, exactly.
That's why I wish, I wish you were here, so that she could be like oh, she's drafting a group text with an explainer.
You want glucose and fructose, and you don't get that in gummies.
I don't know.
Don't quote me on that because I'm probably butchering it.
But what I will say from the coaching perspective is if you like it and you're practicing with it and it works, roll with it.
So if you hate gels but you love gummies –
And we're going to use gummies in your long runs.
And it seems to be working in your long runs.
Like I'm totally down to roll with gummies.
Same.
How do you take a gel and run at the same time?
Um, practice and start, you probably have to start off slowing down.
Um, and then over time you'll get more and more adept at it.
Sorry.
I don't know if adept.
I can handle adept Kim.
Jesus.
I graduated magna cum laude from Quinnipiac.
Okay um anyway, as you get better and better at it uh, you'll be able to hold your peace.
Now i have the giggles, so now i don't sound smart at all.
Okay, what has life been like for you?
And i know it is different, because obviously, on the track this isn't a thing at all, but as you've raced longer and on the roads, What has your experience been with bottle stations, and do you like them?
And what's it like when then, you run, for example, the New York mini 10 K and you're in the masses and you don't have bottles?
So yeah, surprisingly.
So last year I ran the Chicago marathon my first time doing a marathon like with the masses.
And so I was responsible for carrying whatever I wanted to carry or take what was, on course, not have the elite bottle set up.
And I actually liked it better for me.
Um, and I think maybe there's just like a little bit of a control freak in me that like it made me nervous that my bottles were out there somewhere.
Um could get knocked off a table.
You know, relying on a volunteer to set it up in a way where I could actually grab it, or maybe I would just miss it.
And so I carried two bottles with me in Chicago.
And so I just really liked like the safety of having them on me.
At the 2020 trials in Atlanta remember it was such a windy day and where my friends and I were cheering was right by.
I think it was like mile eight or something.
We were right near one of the fluid stations and a huge gust of wind came and the entire table got knocked over.
Bottles went everywhere, everywhere and like the volunteers and the staff there were amazing, like they obviously ran, reset it up, like they knew what they were doing.
But I just remember watching and being like oh, that's kind of a nightmare.
So anyway, I'm glad things are working out.
Why does eating whole foods work for ultra runners, while marathoners favor gels?
Oh, that really comes down to effort level.
So in order...
In order to process anything while you're running.
It's a matter of diverting blood from your muscles to your stomach in order to take it across the membrane and actually get the nutrients into your bloodstream, to use the glucose.
It's really what we're looking for.
And so going back to my little nerd out on delivering oxygen to the muscles.
The greater the demand for oxygen.
Then like, the harder, the harder it's going to start to be.
You're going to breathe harder because you're trying to get more oxygen in your effort.
Level rises.
And so when you're running the marathon, you're just closer to being at like a harder work rate.
Where it you the demand for taking blood down to your muscles to deliver that oxygen?
And so it makes it harder to divert blood to the stomach.
Whereas when you're in the ultra, you're just running at a much like lower effort level.
And so you can afford to divert more blood to the stomach.
How much do you advise your athletes on fueling and nutrition?
I kind of give them like general information.
I mean like yeah, going back to Megan Featherston, like she has so many amazing resources that she makes available to people.
So like I kind of like direct them there so that they, you know, I want them to know about a carb load, for example.
Um, I want them to know about how to fuel on the long run.
I want them to know about hydration.
So I like I give them all this information and then direct them over to her website where they can like actually play with stuff in her calculators.
And then if it seems like they have needs that are like greater than what's kind of like I can cover in a general way, then I'm like do a consult with her, try to work with her, or whatever.
All right, let's talk about running through life and running through the different stages of life that so many of us experience.
A big one.
And I mean this could easily be its own, not just episode, but its own series is.
A lot of people did write in with questions about running postpartum, running during breastfeeding.
Do I need to have my pelvic floor checked after having a child?
And I'm wondering, breastfeeding and running, and I'm kind of clumping those all together right now.
What is your general approach to Coaching athletes during those big life changes?
What do you recommend?
Have you found any resources that are particularly helpful for athletes?
What does Coach Kim have to say about running through pregnancy postpartum breastfeeding, all of it?
I've done quite a bit of it now.
Um, and it's just, everyone's journey is so unique, like you know, everybody's different.
Every pregnancy is different um, and so, like i've worked with women who get pregnant and they don't want to stop coaching and i'm like okay well, you know, we just have to like really check in a lot and see how you're feeling and eventually we are going to pause coaching And we'll just have to kind of feel out as we go, like when that makes sense, because it, you know, some people run right up until they're like ready to give birth and some people have to stop a lot sooner than that.
And then obviously like having their doctor play a role in that, in terms of that conversation and what they feel like is safe and they're comfortable with is important.
And then postpartum, yeah, they absolutely have to be cleared by their doctor.
And I always recommend that they see a pelvic floor PT before we start running.
Do you have any advice for finding a pelvic floor PT?
I mean most people end up going through like their doctor and what's going to be covered by insurance.
But like I have worked with a pelvic floor PT, Sarah Tanza, and she's absolutely amazing.
And she does.
Pelvic potential.
Yeah, of course.
She's the best.
Who has a better smile than Sarah Tanza?
She's like the loveliest human in the world.
Yes, exactly.
So she does remote like pelvic floor PT stuff.
So when someone's willing then I like try to push them her way, because you know they can work with her from anywhere.
Love that.
And what about so many women now?
And it is very cool that this is just much more of a mainstream conversation now.
What training should us perimenopausal women do to protect our joints for running?
Do you have any thoughts, any expertise you can lend there?
I know that's a pretty specific question.
I mean, I think like that does like come back to some strength training and just like like making everything around the joints stronger.
I mean, that's that's in general.
Doing more of that type of work as we age is going to be really important anyway for joint health and like preserving muscle mass.
How do you feel about things like weight vests, vibration plates, all the like?
Fun sort of gimmicky fads?
Like I'm all in on all of them.
I travel with a vibration plate now.
Wait, you and a weight vest?
Okay, so my weight vest, I lent it to a friend last year because I got one and I was loving it.
Like I was going for walks with it on.
I was just convinced I was like doing something good for myself.
I started walking with a weight vest in March of last year.
And by May, I was diagnosed with cancer in my bones.
And I was like, well, that was like, that didn't work.
So I lent it to a friend because I was also like I was just in pain at the time.
So I was like not using it.
And now I don't want to ask for it back because she's like using it a lot.
But I also don't want to order a new one.
So don't currently have a weight vest at my disposal.
But I get on my vibration plate for 10 minutes every morning.
It's my favorite part of the day.
Well, then I'm doing anything other than giving myself an excuse to scroll for 10 minutes.
You're making yourself happy.
I know that.
So happy.
I put on Vanderpump rules and I play my little game on my phone and it's awesome.
No, I don't.
I don't know if any of that stuff is doing anything, to be honest.
But it's OK if you like it.
Like I'm for it.
It helps you go to the bathroom.
OK.
That's like for people who might need that.
Yeah.
I'm fine.
Okay, great.
Let's finish this out with some mental game questions.
I love when people ask about the mental side of running.
And one person asked, when does it get fun?
I just feel so slow and so bad at it.
Yeah.
I mean... hopefully you can start to do some things that are fun.
So like if running easy feels like slow and hard, maybe trying strides is going to be something that's like oh, that's fun.
Or maybe hill sprints is something different that's fun.
So And then all like those kinds of sprints is something that's fun, Kim.
Don't be ridiculous.
Some of us think they're really fun, Allie.
Yeah, you can be on your vibration plate.
I was like, she's gonna throw that right back in my face right now.
I felt it coming.
That was so ancillary of you.
God.
So throw in some fun things.
Yeah.
Just like, yeah, I think, yeah.
Figuring out um what elements of training are fun to you and then hopefully doing different things um is going to make running overall start to feel better.
How do you mentally get over being intimidated by marathon long runs?
Been there.
Hopefully you start small enough that it feels manageable.
Like the way I write marathon training is we've laid a lot of groundwork before we even get there.
So that you are like very comfortable spending two hours on your feet already.
You've done something like a progressive long run where it's like you're not no specific paces you're trying to hit, but you have like lifted the effort throughout the course of the run.
So you've kind of gone there where you're like pushing yourself at the end of a long run without there being like the pressure of trying to hit your marathon pace, say.
Um, and then when we actually start the marathon specific phase, then we're going to start with a distance that you've already covered in training and we're just going to sprinkle in a little bit of marathon pace.
And so it's like very manageable.
And then a couple of weeks later, we're just going to like build off that and just do a little bit more.
Um and so if you knew where, like I write training week by week so no one can like nobody's scrolling like five or six weeks into the future and being like, Oh my God, I have 20 miles with two by five miles at marathon.
I'll never get there.
Like they're just looking at what's ahead of them for the next week.
And hopefully it's something that feels like they're ready for that.
And and then, as the weeks go by, um more and more is creeping in and they're able to handle more and more.
Is that a real workout you prescribe?
Two by five mile at marathon pace in the long run?
Yeah.
I would lose sleep over that the night before.
I'd be so nervous.
I take it back.
You wouldn't know.
You've already done 14 miles with two by two.
You've done 16 miles with a two by three.
You don't know what's coming.
Fair.
Why do some people hate the taper?
I've never understood this.
It just throws people off like you.
You've become used to having like a higher train load.
And so you start to almost feel like a little bit itchy, like you're.
Like you know, I still want to do more, but I'm doing less.
Sometimes we even see that people's heart rate is just like higher in the taper.
It's just like your your body is just like thrown a little bit out of whack, but it's good.
You need it.
It's you've done so much.
You've put your body through a lot of stress and then your body is adapting to that stress.
So kind of like we talked about.
You know, over the course of a week you're going to stimulate your body with some hard workouts and then you're going to take your easy days and you're going to sleep well and you're going to eat well and you're making all these adaptations.
Like that's happening within the micro cycle of a week, but then it's also happening within the macro cycle of an entire build, and so during that taper is like that, it's like the big phase where you like allow yourself to make all those adaptations.
But I think the body just feels it and it feels a little bit weird.
Will you tell if an athlete comes to you for the first time and it's like hey, I'm interested in coaching?
And if they have a goal that you think is I hate to use the word unrealistic, but like If someone comes to you in June and is like hey, I'm a new runner.
I just did maybe like a couch to 5K, just started running 5Ks, love a 5K.
And they say, I want to run a marathon this fall.
Mm hmm, will you ever say and obviously some people can do that and it's fine, but how often will you push back?
Or is your job as a coach to encourage whatever these goals are that the individuals have?
How do you balance that?
Yeah.
I mean, I think if it's like a very unrealistic time goal, then I I just I kind of go into like educational mode um, so that i can kind of lay out, like this is where you are and this is the amount of time we have and this is what.
Like this is where we can like realistically expect to make improvements, kind of in a time frame way um, and so then i can say like so i think you know, if everything goes really well and you're really consistent about the training and you recover well and you don't have setbacks, then I think you know best case scenario.
What we should be like looking for is this
You're so good.
I'll hire you to do anything.
All right, my last...
Question for this section, and I mean, it kind of applies to all the sections.
Where are the 2028 Olympic marathon trials going to be?
I can't.
God damn it.
I was like, maybe she's in a flow state.
And she's just going to say it.
I hear, I can hear Connor's voice in my head saying you signed an NDA.
Yeah.
And he also knows that I'm going to try to ask you again offline and you're not going to tell me.
And I know, I know.
Kim, any message that you have right now?
We're kind of in this spot where I feel like summer is all about like 5Ks, 10Ks local races before we amp up for the next big round of fall marathons, which have kind of taken over.
But just a general message to runners right now who...
Many sent in questions for this are looking to improve or doing their best, whether it's like a pep talk or, if you want to tap into the tough love side.
What's the Kim Conley message to all the runners out there?
Find things to do this summer that sound fun to you.
Like summer, summer can be tough.
You know, just like conditions for training aren't easy.
Conditions for racing aren't easy.
But there's still like really fun things you can do.
There are really fun races that exist shorter than a marathon.
And that in and of itself can be like a different twist for a lot of people.
That's great.
So, you know, I like when people are asking me like, oh, what should I do next?
I'm like well, we have to figure out, like what, like what's going to make you tick because, you know, I just I really want people to enjoy the entire process and
And a big part of that is having the race reward be something that they're excited about.
Oh, I like that so much.
I mean, to quote the great Kyle Cook from Summer House on Bravo, summer should be fun.
Yes.
That's like his tagline.
Do you think High Rocks is going to be a one and done thing for you, or do you think you're going to be hooked?
I don't suspect it will be a one and done thing for me, unless in a crazy world.
I have no idea what to expect in terms of the competition.
Um, but if we won, like then I would think differently, because I love winning.
Yes, I love this.
Is there like a high rocks world championships?
There is, there's gotta be, Yeah.
It's, uh, I think it's in Sweden this year and it's actually before the New York one.
It's coming up very soon.
You could do fart licks there.
Yes.
I love that.
I also love that.
You're like yeah, I'm one and done, but I do have the championships marked on my calendar flights on standby.
Um, I'm really excited for you.
I can't wait to watch.
And then you'll be running the mini the next day.
Two days later, thankfully.
Two days later, yes.
The High Rocks is Thursday night.
Okay.
And what are your race goals for the mini?
Oh, the mini?
I hope I make it to the start line.
I hope I'm not too sore from High Rocks.
And then I just plan...
To soak in the atmosphere and enjoy it like.
Last year was my first time doing it and I did race it really hard.
Um, and it was a great race.
Uh, but it's also just like such a cool event because it's 10000 women out there enjoying central park.
Um, and so I'm this year, I just want to be a part of that.
I think.
Not to be like a man hater i don't hate men but i do think if the entire world could be boiled down to just like women enjoying central park, we have world peace, we have everything like what could go wrong in that scenario.
Well, i can't wait to see you.
I'm such a fan.
I appreciate you doing this seriously.
I feel like we we covered a lot.
I appreciate you answering people's questions and i, as always, i hope that for people who sent in questions and are listening to this, that you understand that running is something that is very accessible, but It's also OK to have questions about how things work or whether it's fundamental stuff or terminology.
People aren't born knowing all the answers to this.
So it's always OK to ask.
Yeah, exactly.
That's.
I love this because, like the way I love to coach, is to be able to have conversations with people so that they Understand why they're doing what they're doing, because I think it makes you feel a little bit more purposeful when you go out there and just appreciate the process overall.
All right.
Last question.
Are you currently taking clients?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're always taking clients.
We have there's four coaches in our business.
And so we make sure we always have availability.
We don't turn anybody away.
Oh, when I said last question, I lied.
How many athletes are you currently coaching?
I, I try to count myself at 50.
Wow.
That's a lot.
It's a lot.
Yeah.
You love it.
I love it.
I love it.
Exactly.
And it's like that.
This is the primary thing I do in life now.
So yeah, I'm happy.
I'm happy to have that number.
All right.
Remind people where they can find you.
We are next best run.
Love it.
All right, Kim, you're the best.
Keep keep crushing your training.
Oh, can I ask one more?
Yes.
All right.
With High Rocks, which events do you think other than the running?
Because obviously you're going to crush that.
Which events are looking to be your strengths and which ones are you dreading?
Um, it seems like rowing is pretty good for me.
Although Connor just gave me the breakdown of, like how he wants us to share the load and he's gonna have me go straight 400 meters of rowing, which I was originally thinking we were going to split it up a little bit more and go shorter bouts.
So now I kind of have to rethink that.
But I don't know.
I'm an endurance beast.
So 400 meter rowing should be good.
Burpee broad jumps have been going surprisingly well.
I kind of impressed myself.
Wow.
I mean, because you're amazing.
I think that looks like the second hardest thing.
The wall balls, I'm terrified of.
My body doesn't go down that far.
I'm afraid Connor's going to have to do all 100 because they're going to be like no repping me all the time the judges
Just have him do all 100.
I'm sure he's open to feedback.
Yeah.
Totally.
You know what?
I'll mention it to him.
Thanks.
I think that'll go well.
So let me let me chime in.
Make it a group text.
You're going to be great.
I can't wait.
What are you wearing?
Do you have matching outfits?
We do have matching outfits.
Hell yeah.
Bonner made us singlets.
They have the Next Best Run logo on them and they have the Fort logo on them.
Do they have anything like else on them?
Or just professional, just very professional.
Yeah, they're white.
Okay, great.
I'm so happy you're going to be there.
I'm so happy I'm going to be there.
I can't wait.
This is going to be great.
I'm going to scream so loud.
It's going to be so fun.
You're going to be great.
I've never been to a High Rocks event, so I bought a ticket.
I know.
You have to buy a ticket to be a spectator.
And they're sold out.
Well, they were like sold out and then they weren't.
I mean, we're all new at this, but it's going to be great.
I know.
I'm just a little nervous.
We have to find a ticket for Megan.
Oh, we will.
Easy.
Okay.
Yeah, there's nothing we can't do.
So we'll figure out, except I'm like for any running event, I'm like, oh, no problem.
Like we can get whatever we need.
High Rock's a different world.
Like there's, there's no alley on the run in that world.
So we're going to be like scalping them outside the venue.
Ticket.
Anyone have a ticket?
We'll get it done.
We'll get it done.
You're going to be great.
Thank you for doing this.
Love you.
I appreciate you.
I think you're the best and I'll see you soon.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for being here for this episode of the alley on the run show with my guest, Kim Conley.
I'm sure it's obvious, but I am a Kim Conley super fan.
I think I would do anything for her.
I love her.
She's so smart.
She's so cool.
She's so fast.
She's so strong.
I think she's great role model.
I could go on and on.
And I did.
I kept asking more questions.
So Kim, thank you so much for coming on this episode and for answering all of these questions.
And then some, I appreciate you.
You're brilliant.
You're going to crush High Rocks and you're going to crush the mini.
You're going to crush it all because you're Kim freaking Connelly.
Thank you all for being here.
Biggest thank you to Lagoon for supporting this episode.
Remember, when you go to lagoonsleepcom slash Allie and you use code Allie at checkout, you're going to get 15 off your next Lagoon purchase.
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You can find me on Instagram at AllieOnTheRun1.
My newsletter is AllieOnTheRun.substack.com.
Would love to see you over there.
And as always, you've got this.
You're doing great.
And thank you for joining me on the run.
