102: Your Healthy Cancer Comeback with Fitz Koehler

Hi friends , hello and welcome to episode 102 of the Rise and Run Podcast . I'm Bob . I'm here this evening with John hey , how you doing . With Greg , hey , hey , hey . With Allie Hi , friends . And with Talisha Hello , hey , friends . Lovely to see you . As always , our featured guest race announcer , cancer survivor and fitness guru , fitz Kohler .

Hang around for that one , friends . You're going to enjoy it , I promise . In the Race Report spotlight we chat with our friend Mark , who did the summer Sizzler 15K in a city just outside Chicago . Friends , if you enjoy the podcast , please share us with your friends , introduce them to Rise and Run .

We'd love to chat with as many people as we can follow you through with your training . You can join the journey with us .

Please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast , on Instagram at Rise and Run Pod , and visit our webpage riseandrunpodcastcom If you've got a question , a comment or a race report , or you'd like to introduce an upcoming episode ? As Monica just did , give us a call on our hotline , 727-266-2344 . Leave us a recorded message .

The Rise and Run podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Magic Bound Travel . Magic Bound Travel Run Disney Race Experts are there to help you with all your Run Disney needs . They all run Disney Veterans . Remember , magic Bound Travel Services are free . You can find them at their website , magicboundtravelcom .

Greg , they've got an announcement coming up , don't they ?

So if you've been on the Wish and you've seen like a little Arundel Frozen show during your dinner , it's the exact same thing but cocoa .

Really , the only detail that we know is that the inaugural sailing is late December of 2024 , literally like right before Christmas , but yeah , so if you want to go on that inaugural sailing , contact our friends over at MBT .

I'm trying to remember , and I haven't looked this up , but I seem to remember back in the days of wide world of sports , with Jim McKay and the fellow falling off the ski , jump coming down and all the young folks here are looking at me like Bob's nuts I don't know what he's talking about John's shaking his head . It was the agony of defeat .

The agony of defeat , that's right . I believe the world wrist wrestling championships were in Petaluma , california . I could be wrong , but there's something about Petaluma that I remember . We'll have to ask Abel . Abel would know if that ever happened there , but until then we're going with that All right . Thank you so much , pat Jens .

We appreciate you all and again , we know we haven't gotten everyone yet . We're working through the list . Thank you so much . Let's take a look at our training calendars . Wine and Dine Weekend now , eight weeks away , it's getting real for both Wine and Dine and Marathon Weekend .

The runs are getting long and we're going to talk about in just a moment Week 10 of Wine and Dine training for the challenge . You've got the two mile walk followed by the nine and a half mile run . We get this question every year . If the Jeff Galloway plan says , walk on the first day or days if you're doing dopey , do you have to walk ?

Well , the answer is you don't have to do anything , but I recommend that you do . Again , remember , in your training here you're trying to build time on your feet and you're also trying to train without wearing yourself out so much that you can't continue with your training the next week .

So if it says walk to and then run , walk 9.5 , that's what I would do One weekend , we have that one that we can't quite explain . If you are training for the marathon , you have four miles on your schedule . If you're training for the dopey or goofy challenge , you've got three . Either way , this is one of those where it was 11 last week .

So this is one of those where you come back to a lower number before you bump up . I'm sure next week the number will probably be 13 . Talking about training plans , our buddy Mark put a post in the Facebook group today . I'm going to pin it to the featured section for probably the next four or five days .

He's got the training calendars , the training files , schedules that he has worked up . They're really nice . He did a great job with those things . He's got some if you take a look at the post , you can contact Mark and he's got some high res files that are available for printing .

I know he's requesting that , if you do that , that you make a donation to his charity bib at Give Kids a World , and I think they're probably worth it . They look really nice . Disneyland training starts next week , gang , as does 10K training for Marathon Weekend . We mentioned it just a moment ago .

The numbers are getting big , the distances are getting long and it is still hot in many parts of the country . So how do you handle the long training runs ?

It also makes me feel like I'm getting a little refreshing break during that . Another thing that you guys know that I do is I do like to change my socks halfway through a run once it gets above 10 miles , because it doesn't matter how slow I go . I kind of build these little breaks into it . So mentally I'm preparing myself for that .

Go to the Jeff Galloway website and you can do this and it'll give you a long training run pace . That's the fastest you should be going . Speed matters not on these long training runs . The big deal is that you finish them . These are the most important training runs of the week , the long ones when you're getting ready for the Disney runs .

So do what you have to do . Walk if you need to , it's okay . I'll tell you a formula that I've used in the past when the numbers get really big and it's still hot around here in October and November , I will walk a mile and then run . Walk a mile , that's a good one .

You know what , I'm going to walk this one and then maybe I'll go back into my intervals , the next one , and see how that goes , and it sort of stops it from being like this huge big number that I have to complete to like , oh , I get these built in .

I get to decide if I want to take these built in slower miles in order to save a little energy for the rest of it . Yeah .

one mile and you can decide that and that's okay .

But you're going to hear from us the training is the key to having a fun weekend at Disney World . You do the training , you're going to have a good time . You don't do the training , you might finish . You're not going to like it . So hang in there and talk with us .

If we can help you out , even if we just , even if you just need a pat on the back , we're here and we know you can do this . So let's get it done . I want to talk about one more topic that I see sometimes and that is walking when you go to a race .

Well , I will tell you I've been there for the best part of the last three years that the race events I've gone to , I've walked them in their entirety . Now I got to the point where I could be a pretty fast walker .

But that's neither here nor there , because I recall the first time I went to an event where I was just walking and I felt like I didn't belong . So when I read , people say that I know exactly how you feel . I got news for you you belong as much as anybody else .

You've earned the right to be there as long as you're maintaining the paces that the race requires you to and sometimes they have to for reasons of opening up roads or just for safety . They have to police up if you can't keep a certain pace . But if you can do that , it doesn't matter . Walking , running , whatever , you've got the right to be there .

So walk and be proud of what you do , because we're proud of you , I promise . Okay , friends , let's visit with our guests for the week . Friends . She's taught around the world for over 20 years . She's got the uncanny ability to wrangle the best out of folks who'd like to become more fit .

She's a TV personality , a speaker , a race announcer , an author , a corporate spokesperson and a cancer survivor . She's got a master's degree in exercise and sports sciences and this makes me a little nervous A PhD in harassment , welcome . Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast , fitz Caller .

I found out you were there , so I said no , I'm going to Disney World , I'm . I told you I'm , I'm scared , I'm scared , but how long you've been doing it , fitz .

Not only was he the big voice of the big races , but he was stuck at the expo introducing the speakers . And so every time I came up , he was it was stuck introducing me .

And then , post presentation , he would always say you're so great and you know we have a lot of people come and talk , but you're our only speaker , you are only real speaker and you're engaging . And blah , blah , blah . And he just kept going on and finally I was like OK , thank you , you said this . I appreciate the compliment .

I don't know what to do with this anymore . He goes you know what ? I know what to do with this . I need a co-announcer in Orange County in May . And are you interested ? And I said well , I've never done it before , but I see what you do . It looks like a lot of fun . It looks like it'd be within my wheelhouse .

So if you show me the ropes , I'd love to give it a go . And so he connected me with the race director , who dug through fitness dot com , you know , checked me out a little bit . Then we had a brief conversation and he said , fitz , I'd love to have you announce my race . And I thought whoopee .

And I showed up in the OC and I think that weekend we had over 25,000 people . It's not a tiny race . And about an hour after yelling , go on marathon morning , gary Kutcher , the race director , came over and he said would you please come back next year ? And I said absolutely .

And there were some other race directors there that invited me to announce their race and you know it's just spun out of control in the most wonderful way .

It's a monster and it's busy and chaotic and so much fun and I love wearing the pirate gear and I love all the runners in pirate gear and Fargo and the DC superhero and Wonder Woman series . I could go on . I love them all because they bring me to you .

Can you share with us one of the most inspiring stories that you have seen of a runner from the eyes of a race announcer ?

But some of my most heart wrenching came in Ann Arbor , michigan , at their goddess 5K that was always held on Mother's Day and that race was partnered with the Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance and quite a few years ago , or years in a row , we have dying women who chose to come on out .

We had a 5K and a one mile and there is two times Erica and her family . Erica came out young , in her 20s , dying of like , obviously dying of ovarian cancer , and she had a pack of about 30 people walking with her . So it's hard to even talk about .

through the finish line , ask how many years they're cancer free . And I heard some great numbers and I heard a lot of still in treatments . But Erica came through that one mile finish line in her wheelchair and it was I just it's hard to describe the 30 people basically in tears , not no joy at the finish line , miserable . But they got up and they did it .

You know they were in there in the greatest grief One could experience , the process of dying , and her mother was with her and just so inspirational because so many people that are healthy , that really have no excuses , are making excuses . They never get up , they never do anything .

And these people on the path to death came out to do a race and I just thought , wow , that's living . And so I was able to give Erica a big hug on her way through and give her a hero's welcome , as she deserved , and stay behind as they crossed the finish line . So I could like try not to sob on the course and be a spectacle .

And then Erica did die a few weeks later and her mother came through the next year and it was really triumphant for her mother and and some of the other family members come through . So , team Erica , they win . They win that category .

It kind of also reminds me , you know and we'll get to this a little bit later about something that you said in your book when you were talking about the three P's , and you were saying that , like I can do hard things and and so these friends who are running the races , doing these hard things , going through the process , but it also must be really , really

incredible to see the people that come with them to say I want you to know that we're here with you while you're doing those hard things . It's awesome and then , in legacy , going and doing them afterwards too . So you get to kind of see some of the same people coming through .

You know , it's really not about running To me , it's about you achieving , and the fact that you show up at the start line blows my mind . I think , wow , all these people came out and holy mackerel . They think fitness is a great idea , and I'm a fitness expert , so helping you live better and longer is always number one on my list .

So when someone hands me 20,000 people and they say these people think exercise is a great idea , I say whoopee . And then , and then when you come through the finish line , it's just even better . I fall in love with each and every one of you .

Every single time , when every one of you come through the finish line , I just I can't wrap my head around it , which is so joyful , you know . It's just such a good time . I sound like a total cheesy nerd and I know that but , I'm addicted to you and addicted to racing Yikes .

You discover you've got cancer , yeah , and you battle , you write a couple of books about it . Your healthy cancer comeback my noisy cancer .

What were some of the things that you were saying to yourself when you were saying I couldn't control that I had cancer , but I could control the way I responded to it ? Yeah , that was big .

And I definitely did not , which may mean that I've got something broken , but I never thought why me ? And the reason being is because I live in Gainesville , florida , and there's a pediatric oncology unit down the road from my house , and so when there's babies in the hospital with cancer , we know they have done nothing to earn it . Then why not me ?

Right , there's millions of cancer diagnosis around the world worldwide . Why not ? Why not me ? So I never had that and that went a long way and I just felt , hey , I'm not a kid with cancer , it's not my kid with cancer , and for that I will be grateful . I will put on my big girl panties and I will figure this out . And I did .

I chose to stay positive . I find zero benefit to complaining and worry , and on occasion I did vent . I was certainly human , but for the most part I just decided to focus on the positive , focus on the positive and deal with the negative , which there were plenty . And then I pursued my passions .

And you guys again going back to it , oh , it was miraculous because I was a very sick person . So some people have , you know , transplants , or they have the full mastectomy , which is a full bear . I did not have a full mastectomy . I had a lump back to me and a lymph node , many lymph nodes removed and that was enough .

But the way that I was really tortured by cancer was 15 months of chemotherapy and I was violently ill for the entire stretch and I lost a lot of weight . I was just so , so sick . But even as a sick , sick person , I got on those planes . I got on 30 planes out of Gainesville , florida , to go announce races or do keynotes .

And you know , sometimes I would arrive in a town and my race directors had helped me get IV fluids . You know , I'd go straight to Buffalo or Los Angeles and there was someone there , a nurse , with a bag waiting for me , which was really helpful to keep me going . But I would often sleep on the bathroom floor at night .

You know , it was like , for some reason , that's the place you sleep when the world is spinning and at 4 am my alarm would go off and I dragged myself off the ground , I put on my clothes and I get on over to bring my bald head to that start line and miracles happen .

Because the second I stepped onto my stage every single thing that was wrong with me disappeared . I wasn't sick , I wasn't tired , I wasn't suffering . It was absolutely miraculous . And the great gift to me was that I was focused on these extraordinary events and these incredible people that I was serving .

So as long as I had an athlete on my course start through finish line I got to be full force Fitzkohler again . So that mental game , it means everything . We have choices to make and you got to make good ones .

I also through a very trying experience with an MRI which I talk in great detail about in my noisy cancer comeback that I learned very quickly before my treatment began that if I wanted to survive , I was constantly going to have to do things . That terrified me . And this mantra in that MRI thing , mri machine , just it came on its own .

It was I can do hard things . Why I was sitting there , terrified as a claustrophobic person . I was saying you know , fitz . You've raised two great kids . You've built an international business . You used to be a full contact kickboxer . You can do hard things , you've got this .

And so that mental game is so important because , no matter how many people are there to support you , you have to endure all the treatment yourself . There was nobody who could take a bag of chemo for me , nobody who could take a zap during radiation .

I had to endure every single ounce of that punishment , and if I were tearing myself down internally it would have been a catastrophe . I'm not sure I would have survived , but instead that little voice in my head was lifting me up . She was saying you've got this , you can do this . I believe in you .

All those nerdy things that positive people say , she fits Kohler in my head . She's a she's a beast . I love her so much because when I was crying , when they were about to poke a needle into my chest , she was saying okay , it's going to go , this will pass and you'll get , you'll get to the end of it .

And eventually I had said I can do her things enough . And I was at the end of it and I endured it all . And you know it really . It's this mantra that I've shared with others .

So when people get a book from fitsnesscom , I include these little stickers there I can do hard things stickers and I love showing up in various places around the country and people have all the stickers on the back of their phone the I can do hard things and it just it means a lot to me that my crappy experience has truly benefited others .

And then , of course , the the physical game is is its own beast , but you have that mental game and and folks , you don't need cancer to start talking yourself up Right . You don't need cancer to flip the switch on a bad attitude you can absorb . You can do that today , cause why not ? Life is short and if you take care of yourself , everything gets better .

Do you think that I can do hard things would be the mantra that you wanted somebody in your shoes to know ? Or is there another thing that you wish somebody would have been able to tell you in that moment when you were found out that you had cancer ? Cancer ?

My favorite tip , I should say my favorite tip someone shared with me is keep a water bottle with you and drink it all the time , and that was super helpful because I suffered from dehydration because of the sickness . But I can tell you there's a lot of things I wish people hadn't said to me .

And you were saying that it really matters to have a level of fitness and to not push yourself because that's the wrong word but inspire yourself to stay healthy and move the needle towards the positive .

And then , coming out of treatments , it's also just as important to start to look at things and go okay , well , you know what my healthy habits matter , so I'm gonna choose foods that help me versus foods that maybe don't serve my goals of becoming a healthy person . Yeah , you know it's interesting .

But it's interesting how someone who has had no regard for their health the second they're diagnosed with cancer . All your laser focus is is God , I wish I was healthy . Right , the boats don't matter , the parties drinking don't matter , all your fancy watch doesn't matter .

All you wish for when you hear you have cancer is your health , and so I don't have to wait for cancer to turn a laser focus on health . In fact , you know , we know that exercise and nutrition will help you prevent cancer . It will prevent diagnosis such as heart disease and diabetes and strokes and GERD and all sorts of horrible things .

Right , nutrition and exercise will also help you find your way out of so many illnesses and ailments . If you go to any doctor on planet Earth and look at those pamphlets on the wall , pretty much every last one of them will tell you the issue you're reading about can be prevented or almost completely dealt with via exercise and nutrition .

So it's proven , and when it comes to cancer . There are endless studies that prove exercise and nutrition will make a cancer patient far more likely to reach remission and far less likely to have a recurrence . So the power is really within your fingertips . So I completely believe in Western medicine .

I am forever grateful for those chemotherapy drugs that I hated and the radiation and the surgeries . All of that saved my life and I truly believe that . But I had some control as well . And how foolish we would be to be facing one of the greatest opponents we will ever face in our life and not arm ourselves with as much protective equipment as we can .

And so you know , strength , cardio , flexibility , balance they all matter to a cancer patient , they all matter to a regular person . So , runners , if you're out there and you only just run , pay attention . Strength , flexibility , balance they're necessary as well , and we could talk about that another time .

But when you're sick , you know , if you just rest , as your aunt is telling you to do , or your mom is saying rest , rest , oh , you gotta rest . Okay , rest is helpful to a point , but then all your time in bed or sitting down , it leads to muscle atrophy , strength loss , lack of stamina , lack of mobility , lack of balance .

And you know what happens when you lack balance and you combine that with these weird cancer drugs is you fall down and when you put together a cancer patient with a broken hip , you've got a real problem on your hands .

So instead of constantly encouraging your cancer patient friend to rest , rest , rest , what you need to do is get yourself your healthy cancer comeback or buy it for them and then do it with them . Say , let's go for a walk together or you know what ? I'm gonna lie down in bed with you and we're gonna do some leg lifts , we're gonna keep our hips strong .

So this is not the time to do away with your healthy habits . This is the time to lean in and say , holy hell , I need to do what I can because this is scary .

Some have been in remission for years , some are early in the process , and they're all fighting it and they're all doing in some way what you've done , because they're here with us . So they're here in the running community and trying their darkest , and I'll tell you , they impressed the living daylights out of me , yes .

In addition , though , we've got folks who are coming back from other amines or injuries , and what I don't think folks appreciate so much is there's the physical recovery I'm better from my illness , I'm better from it and the mental aspect of getting by that , and I think both of them are tough , and I'd like you to comment on the mental aspect how you get by .

You've been hurt and now you're gonna go out and run and you're worried that your ankle's gonna hurt again , or something like that .

So if all you feel is compassion for yourself and you can coddle yourself and you say , oh , I don't have to get up and exercise , you , poor deer , you've had cancer . For me , I had great compassion for not only my physical trauma , and I lost a ton of weight . I had that point where my mom said you gotta eat . You look like you were in the Holocaust .

And I said , okay , mom , I get it . This is , I'm trying , right , I'm trying . It was a really rough state , but I couldn't sit there and pity myself because I looked like I just walked out of Auschwitz , right , I had to make progress because I wanted to get back to normal and I knew that was best for my body and it was best for my mind .

Cancer made me cry almost every day . And what do I do ? I go in my bathroom , I cry alone . I go in my car , cry alone , and then I dry my tears and I put on my big girl panties and I'd get out and face the day . But when it came time for me to get past surgery for example , when I was finally able to exercise .

I got in the pool and then I wiggled . That was it ? It's just a baby steps . I did not expect that I was gonna be the Fitzkohler of 2018 or whatever I used to be . It's foolish to compare yourself to what you used to be , while you have is where you are today , and can you do something to make yourself 1% better , to push the needle forward ?

And so for me , it was getting in the pool and wiggling . I didn't swim , I didn't even water walk . All I did was wiggle . The next day I came back and I stretched and then , eventually , I walked back and forth in the shallow end and along with that , I was always stretching in the shower and doing little strength training moves .

And as I made progress , it was baby step , baby step , baby step , and because of that , I never once had a setback . And that's actually why I wrote the book , because I never had a doubt I would rebuild my body and get back to vibrancy and athleticism and health . But I'm a fitness expert Yay , me , right .

But what about the millions of cancer patients out there that have been dragged behind a horse during their treatment and they have zero clue how to get back to health ? In fact , most survivors of cancer gain weight . They don't lose it . That's something most people don't know .

They're shocked by the fact that they put on weight and they don't know how to get on . Often , most people who put on weight during cancer care do not lose the weight ever again . So there's definitely some savvy , some know-how , some encouragement and this cancer community .

Many doctors will tell a patient you should exercise , you should eat right , but they don't tell them how right . When you talk about an obstacle course chemo radiation surgery that's obstacle . So I've tried to demystify how to exercise , how to pursue nutrition during and after the process , and I'm excited about these books helping so many people .

There was a chapter in the end about how you can help your friends who have cancer , your family who have cancer , and one of the things that you list is gifts that you can give a cancer patient that's going through chemo , radiation or any other part of cancer , and I love that idea .

So I'd like to make sure that your book is added into that list , because I know as soon as I finished reading the book , I was like this is something my mom really wants to read .

She wants to start to get into a little more of nutritional stuff , she really wants to get into exercising , and you kind of list out , depending on what level of fitness that you are , how you can start that If you've never been fit ever in your life , too , if you used to run marathons , if you're used to running marathons , so it's really a nice book for

anybody to receive as a gift . So I just wanted to kind of put that out there to the people listening that that's something else I thought you should have in your gift for people with cancer .

Yes , so my goal for your healthy cancer comeback , precisely , is that every new cancer diagnosis on earth gets this book , and even recent survivors , because I mean health and fitness . Like we said , it matters so much . It matters even more when you've got cancer , so I appreciate that , thank you .

I mean , I talk about it , as you just said , but there's a lot of funny stuff that goes along with cancer . So some of the prompts are what have you nicknamed your port and what have you nicknamed your winner and what celebrities do you look like bald ? And for me the top one apparently was Crazy Britney Spears , which was the first one .

So the journal is , there's the memoir , the guidebook and the journal and hopefully they go hand in hand to help people officially through it all .

I work to make fitness understandable , attainable and fun for the masses and help people live better and longer , and so fitsnesscom is my home base and , of course , people can learn about me , but , more importantly , they can learn about how to attack fitness better themselves , and it's all based on science . There's no gimmicks .

There's no pills , no powders , no supplements or shakes or snake oil at all . It's just real-dale fitness training . I offer a ton of free videos .

Strength training for runners is one of my most popular hints , probably about 100 other videos broken down into small little segments that people can follow along with for strengthening and stretching their body and doing cardio and balance as well . Tons of recipes the exact formula for weight loss .

So if you're running out of weight , you'd rather not be at For free . On the cover of fitsnesscom is the exact formula for weight loss . But my business model for the most part is corporations pay my salary .

So I work as speaker for associations and corporations Disney , oakley , tropicana , american Massage Therapy Association , florida Realtors Association , all sorts of businesses . They pay my bills and so I can give away a ton of information for free to the consumer , because I really never want a dollar to stand between me and helping you live better and longer .

So I do have a course online there . My books are on sale and so forth , but really fitsnesscom is designed to be a free resource to change your life .

And so I ask a simple question If you're a marathon runner but you can't do five push-ups , are you fit ?

And so at many of these races around the country , besides announcing , I also speak , and my most popular workshop is strength training for runners . And when I tell folks you know I go through all the basics of which muscles we're targeting and why . And then here's XYZ examples of easy . Well , maybe they're challenging , but simple , free , mostly free .

Maybe we use bands , which are a couple of bucks each , but exercises you can do with no excuses , right ? You don't need a gym membership . You can just do this stuff in your living room if you need to . And then so at the end of the workshop , I always ask folks . I say , hey , listen , does this make sense to you ? All the heads nod . Do you believe ?

If you do this series of work , workouts ? I've given you which , again , that strength training for workout . It's a strength training for runners video on the cover of fitznesscom . It's exactly what's there . It's 12 minutes long . If you do this workout every other day or a few times a week , do you think you will make progress ?

Yes , you think you will run further , faster , pain-free . All the heads go yes and I say okay , now there's the 50% rule . 50% of you will take this information and you will run with it and you will run further , you will run faster , you will run pain-free .

And then you will start texting me and emailing and saying holy , macro fitz , you were right , I just PR'd this week and I PR'd last week and my hip no longer hurts and my back feels great . So 50% of you will achieve greatness because you take action .

But then there's the other 50% of you that nod your head right now and say , yes , all this makes sense and yes , I know I'll make progress if I do it . But you won't and you will continue to increase tightness and weakness . You will have pain . You will have pain that leads to suffering .

That suffering will take you to a very expensive doctor who will order very expensive scans , and then that doctor will say you know what ? I don't really see any tears or fractures , you're actually not injured . I'm going to send you to a very expensive physical therapist .

And then that physical therapist is going to tell you to do exactly what I've told you today in this workshop . They will precisely give you that 12 minute workout . That's on the cover of fitznesscom .

So , runners , avoid all the drama Just go get this free workout and do it ideally every other day , if not every third day , and then pursue stretching and pursue balance training , and your every run you take , moving forward , will be so much more lovely and easy , comfortable , and you will come through those finish lines with your hands up high and a big smile ,

like I expect , as opposed to looking at your wash like a grouchy gusts and complaining for the next four days why you didn't PR and why your race wasn't as you expected it to . So come on , runners , step it up .

You know you have Brooks Shields , you have Venus Williams , meb , and those are all really really big , high profile names as it relates to fitness . You know both again from the training perspective and the journalistic perspective . The name on this list that I want to know about and I want to story about is what was it like working with the Wiggles ?

They call them the fruit salad Wiggles , but I started working that with them .

I think it was about 2010 , when my kids were little and I was working with a ton of different celebrities and what I found is , you know , Dora the Explorer Explorer always sang about cupcakes and chocolate , mountains and so forth , and all the other cartoons were pumping up the junk food , but the Wiggles man , they kept it clean .

They were talking about fruit salad and moving your body and it was just so wholesome and great . And so I reached out to their PR person and I said , hey , this is who I am , this is what I do . I'd love to do a feature with the Wiggles . And he said , well , can you come to Chicago next month and we'll do some in person interviews and a ?

They're freaking delightful . They're so cool . And I know some guys are like I don't know , those Wiggles are kind of weird . These Wiggles are the kind of guys you want to go have a beer with and watch a rugby match .

They're super normal and just sarcastic and funny and laid back and wildly talented and incredible entrepreneurs and you know , multimillionaires , but they , they're just . I love them so much . I clicked best with Anthony Wiggle , the blue one and the pirate , Captain Feather Sword . His name is Patty and gosh we've they are .

Our relationship has just evolved and we started out doing pull ups in Anthony's dressing room at , I think , Amway Arena in Chicago and then he came to Gainesville , Florida , and I've seen them all over the country .

But yeah , I have a ton of videos with the Wiggles on fitnesscom and my YouTube channel , Fitness , and they're they're just great and watching them evolve with their fitness has been a lot of fun and I'm proud to call them friends . They are neat .

So , yes , everybody should come to my races and I have a race announcing page and calendar on fitsnesscom so people can find me . But next up I've got Detroit . Goddess Women Run the D and I have the Donna TBC 5K at Starrgrass , the golf course . And the very next day I'll be announcing Boulder Thon in Colorado , which is outstanding .

I'm super excited to get there . The Monterey Bay Half Marathon , the Savannah Bridge Run , rocket City there is so many marathon . I mean there's a whole bunch that I'm probably leaving out , but those are some of the highlights moving forward . And you know I on occasion people will say , oh , I wanted to meet you last time but I was nervous .

Please , god , introduce yourself . I'm so desperate to meet every last one of you . I love hugs , I love sweaty hugs . It's my privilege to grab your hand and run you through the finish line If you like that . I mean , I'm just , I'm probably a little two hands on , so if you think I'm creepy , tell me back off .

Noisy lady , but the reason I show up at these races is because of you . So I hope to make some new friends out of this podcast and folks . If you follow me on social media , you know I promise great content in return , but I would much rather have friends than followers . So please tell me I heard you on the Rise and Run podcast and say hello .

I already told you that I'll be there next year , though . Yeah . So that's fantastic . I think we've covered it , but let's put it into one last time Fitsnescom is the website and the books . What about Instagram fits ? I don't think we talked about that . You have an Instagram .

She had some absolutely fabulous ideas , but the stuff that did get approved is awesome and I actually love the Lumiere . You know , cantalabras , you know that she's got going on . She really really did well .

I'm very , very excited to be adding to the Rise and Run family and I'm so stoked I'm actually going to be seeing David this weekend at Bird and Hand , so I can't wait to give him the true congratulations in person . But , from everyone here at the Rise and Run family . We just want to wish you a happy congratulations .

The Council of Costumes is back , looking forward to talking with them . We also chatted with our friend Alec at Kauaian Pizza Apparel , so we'll have that for you next week . Now it's time for the Race Report . Before we get into this weekend's races , I want to recognize our friend , chris , who ran his 36th month in a row with a half marathon .

Now , a lot of these are virtuals or they are runs that Chris does on his own . He doesn't do a whole lot of organized races . Nevertheless , 36 months in a row with a half marathon . You might remember Chris Otterwan Kenobi , who helped us with an intro in episode 99 .

He was also with us with other friends talking about running your first half marathon in episode 49 . So congratulations , chris . That's a big deal . Moving on to this weekend's report , we had a long weekend because of the US Holiday , labor Day .

The racing started in Friday and it started in the Netherlands , and I'd like to thank our friend Danny , this time for running in a city that I didn't have to look up how to pronounce . He ran this one in Amsterdam , the finance run half marathon . Humid Humid in the Netherlands . I think that's unusual for this time of year . Good training run .

We're going to see Danny at Marathon weekend and Wine and Dine , so running in the humidity is good practice for running in Florida . The only problem we had with the race that it was four laps around a rowing course . It was boring as could be , but at least it was near the airport . He got to see a lot of airplanes , so we had that going for him .

But good job , danny . Thanks for the report . We look forward to seeing you in eight weeks . Okay , moving on to Saturday , let's start in Wheaton , illinois , right outside Chicago , for the summer Cisler 15K . I'm gonna find out how apt that name was , because here with us in the race report spotlight our friend Mark Mark . Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast .

So this race you started off on grass and then ran all the way around the track probably a little bit less than half a mile then ran the 5K and you did that two more times . So every time you got to the grass it was kind of a struggle .

But yeah , it was definitely a fun race and , like I said , the weather wasn't too bad , thankfully .

So , 2018 , we both ran the five and the 10 for Marathon Weekend . That was the weekend when it was freezing , oh yes right . Freezing . I don't know how we stuck with it after that , but that kicked it off . And then after that I said you know , I kind of want to try pushing it up . You know a half , let me try a half . So it took me a year .

I joined Orange Theory . I know , I think Lexi's in Orange Theory .

And then this Run , walk Run just eased me into it and you know it's fun and , like I said before , Disney is the place to do it . Disney is the arena , I guess , for families and for people to just have fun . Absolutely , absolutely .

Yeah , ski resort makes sense because there's 1600 feet of elevation gain in this half marathon .

I looked at the site , I tried to pick up on the story , but our buddy , andy , who goes by Lucky , ran this one , finished third in his age group with an impressive time of less than 23 minutes . If you place you get a purple monkey and Lucky . I gotta tell you I saw your dedication on Facebook and I was overwhelmed .

I don't wanna let that go by without mentioning it . Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the whole gang here . We love the fact that you're listening and that this whole rise and run family means that much to you . Let's move to Sunday . In Charlotte , north Carolina , the around the crown 10K . Kristen and Megan were there .

Kristen said that because this is Sunday of Labor Day , they close the inner lanes of the inner belt line and thousands of runners get to run around Interstate 277 . She stuck with her 60-20 run-walk-run intervals and she PR'd . Way to go , kristen , 10k PR . Good job . Moving to Virginia Beach , virginia , the Virginia Beach 10-Miler . Jennifer and Heather were there .

Jennifer knocked this one out in a cool one hour and 15 minutes , 16th overall , female fourth and her age group and for Jennifer a 10-mile PR . Good job , jennifer . Jennifer obviously for a minute . 15 for a 10-mile . She's a very fast runner , excellent job .

Next big run up for Jennifer Berlin Marathon Out in the middle of the Pacific in Waipu , hawaii , the Kauai Marathon . Ashley and Catherine were there . Catherine ran the half . It was the day after her 40th birthday shows . She is now running in a new age group , so this run was an age group PR . It was very early .

It rained for about a mile , then got very hot and sunny for the last few miles . I got to imagine that describes many , many days in the islands in Kauai and on Oahu . Rains for a little while , rain clears up , then it gets hot and sunny . Hula dancers , drummers , lovely people everywhere , stunning views . Kauai is known as the Garden Island .

It's gorgeous and there were chickens running around . They also had Maui onion potato chips at the end Not the same island , maui and Kauai , but Maui onion potato chips .

Amy did it as a catered training run for Belen , fighting a little bit of a knee injury but loves this race runs through the great landmarks of London Another recommended destination race . Rob did it , for it's the first time he's run a half in six months and I guess it's been a while because I used to hear from Rob a lot . So he's been .

I'm not sure if he got hurt or what happened , but he's been not running for a little while . So I'm glad to see that Rob's back out there . I said his back was hurting a little bit but he got it done and otherwise felt good . So congratulations , rob and Amy . In Swansea , new Hampshire , allie , do you know where that is ? No .

No , oh gosh , how about the Swansea Covered Bridges run ?

She got the run through , had an amazing barbecue afterwards to support the local school Nice race , got chance to chat with some other runners , ended up eating lunch with two of the runners that she kept leapfrogging with during the first eight miles of the race . You ever get like that , especially Galloway runners . Yep , see this person ? Nope , there they go .

Yep , there they are . Nope . And sometimes they give you funny looks because they wonder what you're doing , because they're running the whole time . And sometimes they know what you're doing . But yeah , I've been there , done that . So I said we weren't through with Victoria . Stay tuned .

Holy cow , woo , nicely done . Rounding out Sunday in Pocatella , idaho , the Pocatella half marathon . I had to say it twice because I like saying Pocatella , who was there ? Jennifer was there . This was Jennifer's first race report . Hey , good to hear from you . Jennifer Said it was hot , but the aid station volunteers were great and she had a good time .

Now , that was Jennifer's first report . Let's move on now to Labor Day and Harlow Town , montana , the eight spirit USA half marathon . Here we find Jennifer's second race report report . Not too shabby , it was hot . It was hot in Idaho the day before . It was hot in Montana the next day . The course was beautiful .

She has two more races in Montana and then she's going to move on to Saturn , the planet , the planet , yes , oh , let me explain .

Leave it out Pluto here . She's yes .

So there's two reports from Jennifer In New Haven , connecticut the facts and law . New Haven Road Race Half Marathon had a bunch of folks there . Emily was there . Emily says she'd been running in Connecticut for almost 12 years , although she's not a 169er . You know the 169 cities in Connecticut .

But even though Emily's been running there for 12 years , this was the first time coming to New Haven for a race . She ran the 20K , the 20K option , because she's never run the distance before . So if she's never run that distance before , even though it was hot , she PR'd Pretty sneaky running a 20K just to PR , especially since the half marathon's a 21.1K .

So they must have had it marked off and I think they did . I know they did that it marked off differently . I'll get to that in just a moment . Another first , and she has a terrific picture that she put on Facebook for us getting a whole loaf of bread as post-race refreshment and I gotta tell you they look pretty good .

Michelle was there , said it was her last . It might be her last run of the year . We'll see , michelle . People say that and then something comes along . Not a time for a PR , but it was too hot . But her nephew decided to run his first race ever . So we know what that means . Riley was there .

Riley also said everybody who ran this one said it was hot and humid and at force from the slow down it was still in a great time . And Riley pointed out , as Emily alluded to , that not only was this a half marathon , this was the USA Track and Field 20K championships that happened at the same event . You talk about who's who and running .

Riley said she had a chance to see Des Linden , molly Seidel , emily Sisson . Emily was the winner of the women's 20K . So great time there . And finally , I mentioned her on Saturday . I mentioned her on Sunday . Victoria was here again on Monday a third race , second state . She's on her way to doing 50 halves in 50 states .

As with everybody else , the heat was no joke . It was cool to see how many people came out and cheered . She felt like this was her victory lap for the weekend Victoria three halves in three days in two states . Congratulations , great job . In Pittsburgh , pennsylvania , the 2023 Steelers run and walk 5K . Andrew was there .

Andrew had some trouble with his timing , but no doubt about it . Andrew PR'd in this race . He finished . And again a little bit of trouble is his chip tag didn't work In around 30 minutes . That's a great time . This one finishes with a rib fest . When Andrew posted , a bunch of other Iran twos came along . Julia was there . Julia sent a nice photo .

Julia finished this one in about 25 minutes Great run . Jennifer was there Nice photo . Rachel's sister and dad . They commented my sister and dad were there too . That's neat . Finally , jackie's post was I had no idea there were so many yinzers here . All right , who knows what a yinzer is ? Greg , if I said use guys , use guys .

Lori was there , fourth place in her age group with a sub-28 . Another great race for Lori . I saw some photos but I didn't see any photos of the Cinnamon Buns and apparently the reason is Lori ate them before she had a chance to take photos . We can forgive that . All right . Our friend Beth was scheduled for a run in Macon , georgia .

She had to drop out due to illness , but I don't want to forget and give Beth her kudos for at least for signing up . There'll be other races , beth . Good decision , good decision . Do what you need to do . All right , my friends . And if you run , you know you are our friend . We hope you enjoyed episode 102 of the Rise and Run podcast .

We had a lot of fun preparing it for you . We hope you had fun listening . Get out there . Those training runs are tough but they're important . We know you can do them . We have a Saturday Zoom coming up this Saturday , 2 pm Eastern time here in the US of A . We hope to see a better day . A bunch of you here on Zoom on Saturday .

I know a bunch of folks are going to be there and I know you're going to have a good time . I hope the weather holds out for you . Me too , that would be the only thing . All right , friends , that's it till we meet again .