The Hobby Jogger Podcast
E16 | Jen Boerwinkle's Path from Weight Loss to Trail Racing
This week on the Hobby Jogger, we welcome Jen Boerwinkle, a run ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon and a dedicated coach for Rise and Reign. Jen shares her awe-inspiring journey of losing 125 pounds since January 2019 and how her passion for running has transformed her life. We discuss both the excitement and nerves of her upcoming first trail race and intro to ultra running.
As the episode winds down, we delve into Jen's transition from runner to coach specializing in bariatric athletes. She opens up about the trials and triumphs of coaching others who have undergone significant weight loss, sharing practical advice on everything from overcoming gym intimidation to building stronger legs to prevent injuries. The importance of balancing structured training with the joy of running is underscored, offering listeners tips on how to keep the sport fun and social.
This week on the Hobby Jogger, we welcome Jen Boerwinkle, a run ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon and a dedicated coach for Rise and Reign. Jen shares her awe-inspiring journey of losing 125 pounds since January 2019 and how her passion for running has transformed her life. We discuss both the excitement and nerves of her upcoming first trail race and intro to ultra running.
As the episode winds down, we delve into Jen's transition from runner to coach specializing in bariatric athletes. She opens up about the trials and triumphs of coaching others who have undergone significant weight loss, sharing practical advice on everything from overcoming gym intimidation to building stronger legs to prevent injuries. The importance of balancing structured training with the joy of running is underscored, offering listeners tips on how to keep the sport fun and social.
Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of the Hobby Jogger. Today I have my co-host with the most back, mr Rob Myers. Rob, how are you Doing well? Casey, glad to be back, been doing some traveling. Saw you out at Laurel Highlands.
Rob Myers:Yeah, been out in the camper visiting every small town we can find Doing lots of running, lots of hanging out at the local pub. Good times.
Casey Koza:Gotta support your local pub for sure. That's why we travel. Well, rob, today we have a very special guest, a local guest, jen Borwinkel. She is a run ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon. She's also a run coach for Rise and Rain, and she has lost a staggering amount of weight, which is what I want to get into first. With her, jen, welcome to the Hobby Jogger.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and talk to you guys today.
Casey Koza:Appreciate it and appreciate your time. Like I said, the first thing I want to ask you about that really jumped out to me was losing 125 pounds.
Jen Boerwinkle:Wow wow, yeah, yeah, I'm basically like half the person that I was in 2019 and just continued on that kind of journey and it really led me to running. It was interesting because initially it was like I want to lose weight and get skinny, like that was the goal I just want to be skinny after being overweight and obese for so long and then it kind of morph, morphed into I started running as part of the weight loss journey, as part of the exercise, and that really just took off. Of course, now I don't see running so much as an exercise for myself although it is. It's just a much different journey for me now. But yeah, initially it started out as a weight loss journey and losing 125 pounds. I had weight loss surgery, I've had a few different rounds of plastic surgery and it's just been all kind of part of the journey since January of 2019.
Casey Koza:That's amazing and that's something that I know. I get asked a lot by people when you know we meet them somewhere and, hey, what do you do for fun? Oh, I run a lot and oh, I'd like to do that. To lose weight is often the first thing you know. Someone asks us, rather than just getting fit. And I just I'd like to know because I did lose a little bit of weight as well, about 50 pounds what was the catalyst for you to begin that journey? Like, what was the was that? Did you have a moment where you said, jen, I like to yourself, jen, like I, I can't wake up like this anymore. Like I, you know having a tough time sleeping and just kind of miserable, no energy. Like, did you have a moment where you just said no more?
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, there were a couple moments. Actually, I am a mom, I have two kids. They are almost seven and now 11. And there was a moment in time after I had my youngest where I was just like I was exhausted all the time. My feet were swollen, I was tired. You know, I had a preschooler at the time too, and so it was like keeping up with these kids and I was just like they deserve way better than this. So it really started there.
Jen Boerwinkle:But just wanting to really feel better about that and wanting better for them too, and knowing that I want them to be successful in their lives, I have to be the example of that too. They need to see a mom that is strong and capable and healthy to set that example. And I couldn't do that at the weight that I was, and I mean, I'm just going to be really honest, I was extremely lazy, I just was. Yeah, I went back to grad school in the same time. It was just a lot of stuff that was going on at once that I was like I've got to make some changes in my life, and then I just dove into it but, it was.
Jen Boerwinkle:it was just really feeling physically like if I don't make some changes now, I'm really going to see a lot of struggles in the future. I lost my dad when I was a child, as an 11-year-old, to heart issues, and the excess weight certainly wasn't going to help me genetically. So, yeah, it kind of was a culmination of then knowing I was done having children. That was the time to focus on myself and getting myself where I wanted to be.
Rob Myers:That's awesome. I can 100% relate. I got up to about 265 pounds in my 20s and I'm in IT, so I'm sitting down the whole time behind a keyboard and you really have to make the decision on your own right. If you get pressure from other people, even people you love telling you you need to lose weight, you have to reach a point where you're at that crossroad where it's time to lose weight, and it doesn't matter if it takes a year, two years, three years, when you know it's the right time. You know it's the right time and I remember that you know. You just wake up one day you find something that you can do repetitive typically to lose the weight, and there you go. You're off on your journey and there's a lot of starts and stops along the way. I mean, was that similar to your experience?
Jen Boerwinkle:other people intervening and then you just maybe pushing back a little bit and then one day realizing it was done yeah, you know, I almost feel like I have a wonderful family, a wonderful husband, sisters, my mom no one ever said anything to me, you know. No, I feel like it was kind of like enabling, though it was like I wish someone would have been. Like, hey, things are kind of spiraling out of control for you, like I almost wish someone would have. Not that I think it would have mattered. Similar to what you said, it was really going to have to be on my own time, but it was interesting because I got smaller and smaller and smaller.
Jen Boerwinkle:When you lose that amount of weight so fast, it was like people were very quick to say, hey, you're getting too skinny. You're too skinny now. I'm like where were you when I was too big? Why is this okay doctor telling me, hey, like you're, you're morbidly obese or you know you're going to need all these interventions to have your children because your body's not regulated the way that it needs to be. And it still didn't make a difference. I still just went on the way that I was until I was ready.
Casey Koza:That's awesome and I'm happy to hear you say that. I I know this might be a little, I guess, controversial, but like the body positivity, I guess movement, I understand people have a couple extra pounds, like that's not. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about when it's a serious health risk to an individual where, like you said, you enable them to to to keep going down that path, and I just I disagree with that. I don't think you need to point out like, hey, you know you put on five pounds, you know what the hell are you doing. But if it's going to be a health issue for a person, I think you're doing them a disservice by not pointing that out to them, and so I'm very glad to hear you say that.
Jen Boerwinkle:That's a hot topic and it's a touchy topic for a lot of people, and I do feel like body positivity is really important, but health is overall health and wellness has to be the priority. Quite frankly, I was not a very healthy person at the weight that I was, and so you know you take that kind of for what it's worth. I know everyone has an opinion on it, but I completely agree.
Casey Koza:You kind of touched on the another question I had for you. You decided to have and I imagine this is over a course of years that you've lost this weight, because it took me like three years to lose 50 pounds. So yeah. I imagine yours was a bit longer. You said you did have the surgery. What was the Ozempic a route at the time? I'm unfamiliar with the timeline of it.
Jen Boerwinkle:No, no, I had weight loss surgery in January of 2019. And so the first year I mean in the first year I lost over 100, not over 100, but very close to 100 pounds in one year. It was very fast, it was very overwhelming. And then over the next like six months after that, so around the first 18 months, I started seeing things level out that and I was running. In that time, too, I started running. I was running 5k, so I was training for a half marathon, really just kind of diving into a COVID hit, and so races were canceled. My first official half marathon was actually supposed to be the Columbus marathon in 2020. So it's really been over a course of time.
Jen Boerwinkle:And then I fluctuate. Sometimes, too, when I'm training for a hard race, I'm going up, and then my race is over and I'm going back down. And I think that's a common misconception too, which I would have never known is I always gain when I'm in a hard training cycle and then I lose when the race is over. So, yeah, I'll fluctuate. I like to give myself a range, don't obsess over the scale and thankfully I'm at a point in my life where I have a really healthy relationship with the scale. I could weigh myself every day and be okay with that as long as I'm. You know, I try to stay within the same 10 pound range and just be happy there. So I can eat the cake at night if I want to eat it, and I can move on with my day and just and just live the way that I want to be able to.
Casey Koza:That's awesome. I'm so happy to hear that and I'm happy that you know running helps bring you to that point and yeah. I it's. It's got to be a, and I know it was for me a daunting task, so I signed up for this marathon, like now. I got to run 26.2 miles. Rob's been there, right, rob, oh yeah, many times. So what made you take that leap? Because you said you ran some 5Ks. You've now transformed your body, were you, just like you know what. Let's just send it and see what happens.
Jen Boerwinkle:And when I finished that, so I ran the half marathon that year, I ran the flying pig half marathon virtually in October that year. There was just something about being able to accomplish the goal and, I think, just being very goal oriented and knowing there's very little that anyone can do to make sure that you're going to finish a race other than yourself.
Jen Boerwinkle:No one can do it for me, no one can put the work into train for it for me, and when I finish it, it's just me. I'm the one that did it. I did it for myself, I finished it, I crossed the line. There's not one person, there's plenty of people, and you guys know there's plenty of people along the way that help you, but no one can cross it for you.
Jen Boerwinkle:And so there's something very gratifying to that in hitting the goal to me that just keeps making me want to do it and then do more, because it's kind of like you start checking these boxes, you know like, oh, I did a 5k, now I want to do a 10k and I'll do the half. Well, now I'll do the full. And now I've done seven fulls and now I'm like, well, what's next? Okay, I did two fulls back to back, let's do the 50k. So that kind of like that's really how I ended up just moving forward. It was like, what else can I do now at this point to really help facilitate me moving forward, even if I continue to run road marathons, the benefit I've already seen of running trails for a road marathon is honestly remarkable, and I wouldn't have known it had I done it myself. So yeah, that's kind of been the evolution of it. As far as getting to the point of saying I want to run the marathon. It was really just I've done this part. Let's see if I can go further and do more.
Casey Koza:Rob's very excited to hear that you went from the road running community and you're joining us over over on the trail side.
Rob Myers:We are both, yeah, 100. Most of what we do is trail. You know, at the end of the day, road is fun. It's great to go fast. You got to mix it in there, kind of sprinkle it in. But when you're on the trail it's not just setting a pace and counting down the miles right, you're really getting to see a new place.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, kind of drinking the scenery it feels like an adventure, like every time you go out and you start on the trail. It just feels like you're on a new adventure. You know, I run my roads all the time and it's just a run. It's continuously training or running, but you step on a trail and you really are like on an adventure somewhere, kind of just jumping through these trails, jumping over things.
Rob Myers:On the trail. I feel like I'm in a video game. The more technical it is, the more fun it is.
Casey Koza:I just hope you're ready, because you're going from the Cleveland Orchestra Now. You're going to be at a fish concert, jen. It's a whole different vibe, it's a whole different group of people, it's just yeah.
Jen Boerwinkle:It's going to be my first trail race. I mean, I have not been to one, so it really is going to be brand new for me. I'm excited, though I'm ready for it.
Casey Koza:And you picked a great race to do. I've run the Buckeye 50K, Rob. You've run the trails there.
Rob Myers:Oh yeah, yeah, I've run the trails. Yeah, I haven't run the race yet.
Casey Koza:Great trails and the people that put it on Western Reserve Racing put on a great, great event. So I mean they are top notch in everything they do. They put on a great series of races and we Rob and I go well, I guess he didn't go the last couple of years, but down in Salt Fork, rob.
Jen Boerwinkle:Is that the Bigfoot one? I looked at the Bigfoot one. Yeah, when I was looking for a 50K I looked at that one too, but timing-wise this one lined up well for me.
Casey Koza:Nice, I should be out there. Our friend Will, previous co-host on a couple episodes, is running the Buckeye 50K, I believe for the fifth straight year. Fourth or fifth, I don't know.
Rob Myers:He's going to yell at me when he hears this.
Casey Koza:You know it's the fourth time. Yeah, I'm excited for you. I'll see you out there. I'll be rooting for you. I don't think you need the trekking poles. You should be If you did Mohican. It's similar.
Jen Boerwinkle:I'm going to count on that and hope it's not muddy or anything and I will see.
Rob Myers:It's very muddy. Prepare for the mud.
Jen Boerwinkle:I can deal with mud. I've eaten so many bugs on these trails and like pulling spider webs like constantly off my face. So the the day I was down there doing the 14 mile run was their 100 mile race at Mohican. I had no idea it was going on. So I'm on the trail and I'm like I got out there early before they would have gotten to the point that I was, and so by the time I was on my way back they were all coming through and I'm like I already cleared all the spider webs out for you guys. You are, you're great now. So that was really fun to kind of be in the process of training and then seeing I think it was at the point I saw them the marathon that was running. So that was really fun to see them all out there and kind of get me hyped up for my own race.
Casey Koza:Nice, yeah, you'll do fine. I mean, you were looking at your run here.
Jen Boerwinkle:That's a tough section.
Casey Koza:You ran up Mohican too.
Jen Boerwinkle:This last one. Oh, it's all over the place. I was up to the fire tower, back to the dam. The one time I took I went from the covered bridge up to the lodge. Now, if you have not been up on top of that hill up there and then back down on the horse trail, that's tough back there.
Casey Koza:Yeah, it's not. It's not not easy running back there. A friend of the show, jeremy Pope, runs down there often from Worcester Ohio. So yeah, he's, he's down there quite a bit and he likes it. And if he's training down there, I know it's, you know it's tough. So yeah, good on you for getting out there and sending it through the trails. And one question I had for you I see that on your profile First Form. What is First Form?
Jen Boerwinkle:So First Form. I am an ambassador for the First Form company as well, and so they've got a host of different products. For the most part, right now I'm using different products. Because of my weight loss surgery. I have really struggled nutritionally over the years with running and how do I fuel my body when my stomach is the size of my fist to get through these miles, this elevation, this training cycle and making sure that I have the nutrition I need to really sustain myself to do it, especially while I'm running. So I started really looking into different products that would really supplement or basically kind of take place of in some ways fueling for me, and so I started really trying to supplement, especially after I'm done running, because I have a really hard time refueling right after getting the protein, getting the carbs, and I started using the products that would help kind of facilitate that very quickly get my muscles back to where they need to be as quickly as possible. So the next time I'm out running I'm already sort of recovered.
Casey Koza:Yeah, I guess I didn't really think of that when you said you had the surgery, that you don't have the same stomach as before.
Jen Boerwinkle:It's the size of my fist. Yeah, I can eat about six ounces or drink six ounces at a time. It's imperative that while I'm running or training, everything that goes into my body is what I need to function.
Casey Koza:Yeah, that's wow. I didn't even think about that. Yeah, that's a. That's quite a math problem to work out.
Jen Boerwinkle:You got there, jen, it is. It's a lot of it was a lot of trial and error that could have been very painful at times. And there were times, I mean, I would finish runs and I would just be completely depleted trying to figure out the best way to kind of combat that and make up for that. And so a lot of times while I'm training for some of these hard races and it gets to like peak week and I get to these times where I have these really long runs, I'm eating almost every hour at least something or every other hour just to make up for it in the day, whereas someone might eat three times and three snacks or something, I'm eating all day long.
Rob Myers:So how did you figure out that math problem? Was it after the surgery? You're typically full after one sandwich, you cut it in half, type of thing.
Jen Boerwinkle:Well, after surgery yeah, after surgery I could eat about two ounces at a time. So it took a long time to get to a point. You start out on like a liquid diet for a week, then you go to a pureed diet for a week, and then you go to a soft food diet for a week and then you're on solid foods for a week and then see how that goes before you kind of transition. So it's almost a whole month right after where you're kind of re-acclimating your body but your body's healing and you've got sutures and just different things from healing, swelling and all of that, and so over time I mean you do learn.
Jen Boerwinkle:But it is some trial and error as far as things you can eat and you can't eat. I still cannot eat rice. So where you'll see some of the trail runners where they're just out eating bags of rice, I can't eat rice at all and I can't eat any ice cream. There's just certain things that I still, to this day, cannot eat. My stomach will not tolerate. If I eat too much I get sick. So, even with water and electrolytes, well, gels just trying all the different gels and making sure that what I'm using while I'm training is going to work for me while I'm running a race?
Casey Koza:Your pre-race meal, because I eat. I'm trying to think now. I drink half a liter of bagel and think of oatmeal as generally my pre-race meal. That's way more than six ounces, I think. I mean just the half liter is.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, I'll get up earlier. I mean, I start actually kind of carb loading and fueling about four days before race, in addition to like what I would normally be doing.
Jen Boerwinkle:So I would start that about four days before, about three days before I'm eating, you know as like huge breakfast, huge for me, yeah and then I continue to kind of focus on that. I'll start tapering that down a little bit as far as like any vegetables, things like that that I'm not going to eat, just focus on the starch, the carbs, protein too. For me, with weight loss surgery, it becomes imperative that I focus on that also. So I eat a lot of mashed potatoes, throw some steak in there, ground beef, ground chicken. I'm trying to think what else I do.
Jen Boerwinkle:I can eat a half a bagel at one time. I do eat a lot of peanut butter and jellies, so I make that usually and eat that before I. So Mohican's almost an hour from my house still, even though I live in Ashland County. So I will start. I'll drink electrolytes here in the morning. I will eat peanut butter and jelly on the way to the trail. I'll pack my kids gummies in my vest. Just granola bars, I can do so. Yeah, I've got various snacks that'll just. Teddy Grahams and graham crackers have been perfect for me. I could handle those well. They package and travel well. Yeah, those are. I mean, those are the main things. Kind of stick to what works for me at this point.
Casey Koza:You'll love the trail running then, because it's just you run from one snack station to the next.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, that's what I'm hearing. I won't have to be carrying all my snacks, they'll just be there.
Casey Koza:Yeah, they do put them out for you. Yeah, it's something I never really thought of, so I appreciate you bringing that to my attention, or just I guess I don't want to say a struggle, but just more of a planning that you have to do compared to for, like me, post-run it's you know two beers and a you know a hamburger.
Jen Boerwinkle:Well, I do do that. I do do that. Later I'll get there, but it'll take me a little bit, but I will get there I noticed you're also an ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon.
Jen Boerwinkle:I love the Cleveland Marathon. I've been an ambassador for an ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon. I love the Cleveland Marathon. I've been an ambassador for two years for the Cleveland Marathon. I ran it back to back Last year and this year I did the 5K and the full. So the 5K was on a Saturday and then the full on a Sunday. Last year I ran it to race it. This year I ran it. I was going to try to race it. I'm going to be honest, I was going to try, but I was coming off of my marathon in Toledo when I did race that one and it was about three or four weeks apart. So realistically I wasn't going to be able to do that. So I ran the Cleveland full, really as part of training for the 50 K. So I had a marathon in April and a marathon in May, kind of leading me into then transitioning to trails to train for the 50K. So I had a marathon in April and a marathon in May, kind of leading me into then transitioning to trails to train for the 50K. So yeah, I love the Cleveland Marathon though.
Jen Boerwinkle:It's a great team, it's a great organization, great race, the whole weekend's a blast. I'm up there all weekend Got a great group on our ambassador team and they just they show up, they love the city, they love running the city, they love being part of it and it's just. It's a really cool running community up there and I don't have that here. I know there are some run groups that are in Worcester and Mansfield but I don't always have a lot of time to get there to do those things and I started, I started trying to get a run group here when I'm done training so much I really would like to. But you know, I was just feel like I'm part of the family up there, so it is. It's a really special opportunity to do that.
Casey Koza:If you're ever in Akron, we usually run on Tuesday nights. I didn't go tonight. A little bit warm out there. I ran early this morning. I'm not a 94 degree type guy, so it's hot, it's very hot. It was hot this year at the Cleveland marathon. It was. I was. I was hurt. I ran the half this year at Cleveland. Like you said, great, great marathon Uh, it's well-produced and well-organized was awesome. Just got a little bit warm and, you know, had a tough go of the half up there.
Jen Boerwinkle:It was really rough. Coming in. I ended up catching a friend that was trying to get under five hours and was able to really kind of spend some time running with her, and it was rough out there coming back on the full and just seeing a lot of people struggling. There were a lot of struggles coming back that day, especially at that timeframe. It's a long time to be out there and it was only getting hotter. It was rough out there for a lot of people.
Casey Koza:So when I came across that bridge, I was very happy to be done.
Jen Boerwinkle:I was very sad that I was passing that turnaround at the half and to keep going. So I was like oh man, passing that turnaround at the half and to keep going. I was like oh man.
Casey Koza:Yeah, it was man it was hot? It was not. It was not not optimal conditions. I got, I got stung pretty good the first few miles and I just I threw in the towel and was like, yeah, it's not happening today, let's just.
Jen Boerwinkle:That's exactly what I did and it turned into let's just do this and kind of have some fun and celebrate afterwards. And I love the Cleveland Marathon, so for me it really is just fun to hang out afterwards and be there with friends and celebrate that. But it was tough, I agree.
Rob Myers:Yeah, I still haven't had a chance to run it. I need to sign up. I keep hearing these guys talk about it, so many friends that have already run it, but I have yet to sign up for it.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, next year, next year. There's always next year in Cleveland, isn't that what they say?
Casey Koza:Yep, and you are a seven-time marathon finisher, correct?
Jen Boerwinkle:no-transcript that's, that's impressive.
Casey Koza:That's six more marathons than I've run. So that's, that's good, I've, I've finished one and yeah, there's. There's a lot that can go wrong in 26.2 miles, like in the road world, a little bit different than the trail world, right, rob? We don't. We just keep running different races so we never have to beat our previous time on that court.
Rob Myers:Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's the beauty of trail running is really. You forget about PRs, it's just finishing, at least for us. We're not at the front of the pack, we're middle in the back.
Jen Boerwinkle:It's just about finishing and just enjoying the run watching my watch, knowing the time and trying to just not care about the time. What I ended up doing was really segmenting out my watch as far as, like, timers, walk run intervals. I'm just going to do it that way, yeah, so it was a weird transition for me to go from that, but it's been really fun to not focus on a pace and just train and enjoy it.
Casey Koza:You do you still utilize? I know you're doing some coaching and we'll get that here with Rise and Rain.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, I still yeah. My coach is Jillian, who is the founder of Rise and Rain, and she's been my coach all along.
Casey Koza:That's one thing I've gone back and forth on of my training is I just go outside and run every day for an hour?
Jen Boerwinkle:That's pretty much it.
Casey Koza:And then there's some long runs here and there. One thing that worries me is that then I'll start taking it too serious. And I don't want to take it too serious, I think, because then, like you said, you lose, like I'm worried and maybe you can put my mind at ease with this, jen that I'm worried that I would then lose the joy of just going outside every day for an hour, where now it's like God Jillian wants me to run. You know four by three intervals today, and you know my dog kept me up all night and I just don't feel like doing it. You know what I mean, jen. I don't want to get into that. So what do you think?
Jen Boerwinkle:I think for me it's the accountability piece, but I also think too, there's so much flexibility with training and and I think we get wrapped up in the thought of like if I miss this run, my whole training cycle is tanked, like it's ruined. And it really isn't like that you build the base up and you have the base and it's a solid foundation that you can continue to work with and and build upon. Really, you know whether that's speed work in there or hill repeats in there, or you know you throw in trail racing in there and once you've got the base built and you're able to kind of move forward with that. But there are days where I definitely move things around, especially with the heat right now, and you're like there's no way I'm running in the middle of the day because I'm a lunchtime runner, so for me it's like that's pretty hot. But I think there is a point where you're saying I don't want to lose the joy of if I have to go do this, like I'm going out to do it because I want to. I run for an hour a day and that's what I'd like to do.
Jen Boerwinkle:And if someone's telling me I, you know, I'm not going to do what I like to do today. I'm going to do what they're telling me to do today. It is a little bit different, but there is something about setting out to do whatever it is that day. So if it's, you know, maybe you're doing like threshold paces and doing intervals one day and finishing it. It feels very similar to me of like finishing a race, like that was a really hard workout and I did it, and then you know you can get that often because you're training often or a long run. It's very similar to like I know I'm going to go to 20 miles on in Mohican today and then you finish it and you kind of feel that triumph of finishing it, similar to a race. So I like that because you can get that more often than what you do racing.
Rob Myers:I get that to add to what Casey said, though my fear is, if I take it too serious, then I forget about the other elements. I'm only focusing on, like, my time, and it's not hanging out with my buddies before the race or after the race. You know it's not hanging out with my buddies before the race or after the race. You know it's not the. You know the dinner before the race and then the dinner and beers after the race. It's just me and focusing on my time and I worry I'm going to care about it too much and it's going to feel too much like work, but at the same time I want to get better, so I want to listen to coaches. So, yeah, that's more of a me problem than anyone else.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, I still do all those same things too and go to dinner before and catch up with friends at races, after races. It's, you know, really fun when you're able to catch them during a race somewhere on on the field out there. So so I still do all the same things. I still have a lot of fun and even this summer, my, my, um, I've got a pretty athletic, almost seven-year-old, and you know he'll ride his bike with me while I go run five miles. I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere when I'm running five miles. It's an easy pace for me, I'm not in any hurry and I can have him come with me and just kind of talk and it's been a blast. So while I'm still out doing a workout and still running the five miles, I'm still having fun with it.
Casey Koza:That's awesome. That's so important to do. Yeah, that's just like it's kind of my time. You know I I don't have to go do it, but I want to and I just always want to keep that and that's just like I said before. That's where I'm kind of on the fence with the coach. It's like I'd like some guidance. The accountability is great, obviously. That's no, I think that's number one for coaching.
Jen Boerwinkle:It was for me. It was for me, especially initially.
Casey Koza:Yeah, and we've heard that from a number of other guests that are, you know, coach, that where it's hey, it's the accountability. You know, I wake up and I have this thing I need to do and if there wasn't someone standing there Jillian Jen isn't there to tell me that I need to do this, that I just blow it off and I'll get to it tomorrow. And I think that is a big, big thing, because consistency is ultimately, I think, the most important part of training or coaching or anything and how to get results. So, yeah, it definitely makes sense. And one thing I'd like to ask you about Rizorine how did you get involved with them and Jillian?
Jen Boerwinkle:as I'm looking now through the Instagram, so Jillian's actually a Cleveland Marathon ambassador as well.
Casey Koza:Okay.
Jen Boerwinkle:We're on the Cleveland Marathon ambassador team and it was around the same time. I was going to run Indy and when I finished Indy I started looking for a coach.
Jen Boerwinkle:I knew I would run another marathon, I knew I wanted to make improvements and I started looking for a coach. I knew I would run another marathon. I knew I wanted to make improvements and I started looking for a coach and it just made sense. We started talking kind of back and forth about coaching in general and we met just on video and talking about what my goals were, where I kind of wanted to be, where I saw myself as an athlete in the future. And you know I pretty much knew right away just to her like it was going to be a really good fit for me. Uh, we became pretty good friends and she's still my coach now.
Jen Boerwinkle:But over the course of time and what she was able to do for me and help me really see where that potential was in myself, where I knew I could eventually get there, I would have never honestly thought I'd I'd even run a four19. I would have never even thought that or even had that goal in my mind, I don't think, until I started working with her and realizing like, oh, my body couldn't do this. And then I was like with the bariatric world. There's a lot of people that do follow me who are in the bariatric world. They're having weight loss surgery. They're looking at having weight loss surgery. They're asking me about running. They're talking about that.
Jen Boerwinkle:I just started really recognizing that there's a big gap in the fact that there are bariatric people who want to be athletes after surgery and for long-term success, which was always the goal. You can lose the weight in that first 18 months, but you want the long-term success that comes with it. There needs to be a coach and there are, but I want to be a coach that gets that part of their life and can help them also reach their goals. So it kind of went from there. I was like I want to do this, like I want to be a coach too. I did the VDOT certification to be a long-distance run coach. I also became a certified personal trainer through NASM, and so I got my certifications over the winter, started working with Rise and Rain as a coach myself.
Casey Koza:Well, congratulations on getting that. Always good to further your education and knowledge, which actually this episode has been very eye-opening for me, with the whole the bariatric, I guess would it be a community? Of bariatric runners, would that be fair?
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, yeah, there is. There's a big group of us.
Rob Myers:So when you were losing the weight, was running your first love, or was it something else in the gym that you were doing, or start cycling, or just weightlifting? Or is it all the above, a little bit of everything?
Jen Boerwinkle:Before I had weight loss surgery. I started working out about six months before then. So I, um, I lost some weight before I had weight loss surgery, uh, just in the program. You have to do several things in the program and different tests and things that I had to do. Uh, so in that time I started working out. I have a membership at the YMCA. I've been a member there for, I want to say, over 10 years. I'm on the board of our YMCA now.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, and I, I was working out in the gym. I'd go every day. Um, usually it was like the elliptical. Um, I really liked doing that and but, to be fair, I was pretty intimidated by the gym. Especially as an obese person it was scary to be there. But I did. I would go every day, get on the elliptical and I would do a lot of the circuit machines, the pulley machines. I was way too intimidated by the open free weight gym. I was not stepping foot in there. Now I will, but it took me a while. So I started that and then I continued that. I really continued doing the same kind of thing the elliptical, the Stairmaster, cross trainer, that kind of stuff. It wasn't until it was just in the spring.
Jen Boerwinkle:One time I was pushing my youngest in a stroller and was like I bet I can run now, like I'm smaller, I bet I can. I started pushing him in a stroller and then I started running, actually doing intervals, telephone pole to telephone pole, like I didn't know any different. So I would run from one telephone pole to the next and then walk to the next one, and then run to the next one and walk to the next one, and then I would do like two lengths of telephone poles and just led up to then I had a Fitbit at the time and I would do like a mile and then I would do two miles and then I would. I got to the point where I was running three miles. So that's kind of what led me to it. And then it was this constant strive for just the next thing, like time, distance, whatever it is, whatever I wanted to focus on at the time.
Casey Koza:So let me get a little advice from you. Uh, cause I need it. On the, on the strength department, like three things I can do. We'll say either daily maybe not daily, I do run quite a bit but once or twice a week three exercises to help, I guess we'll say, stave off injuries or just generally get stronger legs. So like which?
Rob Myers:Casey really needs to. Gets injured a lot. I think he said that once, but I'll double down and say it again yeah.
Jen Boerwinkle:I highly suggest yoga, and I know people are going to laugh at me about this, but I do at least 20 minutes of yoga every single morning, every morning, and it doesn't have to be a lot of poses and it doesn't have to be a long time to be efficient. So there are certain poses and I can send them to you, but there are certain ones that I do every day that simply just stretch my body because we're constantly in this state of like muscle recovery from the constant, like training. But, honestly, when you're a runner, you're spending the majority of your time on one foot. And so Bulgarian split squats while people do not like them, it's, it's the best. Even something like lateral leg raises, where you're just using that one leg and doing that is also. I mean, those are ones that I do multiple times a week.
Jen Boerwinkle:But the big thing really is going to be that I do also really love kettlebell swings and and just that squat into the kettlebell swing. So, and those are things you can actually just do right at home, where you don't even have to go to a gym, and you could do them several times a week, like three sets of 12, and make a huge difference. You don't the nice thing about strength training, I think, people, there's just this common misconception that you have to just be at a gym for an hour and you're throwing these heavy weights around constantly and you know you're doing all these things, when really you can do three sets of 12 of five exercises and have great effectiveness from just doing those consistently and building those muscles and having those muscles be strong Because we really are, and building those muscles and having those muscles be strong Because we really are. We're you know we're constantly using those calf muscles and you know the backs of our legs and they take a beating, especially on these trails.
Casey Koza:See, Rob, this is why I do the show, so I get this kind of advice. I see you taking notes.
Rob Myers:Yeah, my opinion the kettlebell. If I had to pick, if I'm on an island and I have to pick one piece of workout equipment.
Jen Boerwinkle:It's the best you can do, so much.
Rob Myers:It's awesome. Have you tried hot yoga or like the goat yoga?
Jen Boerwinkle:I saw this Grey's Anatomy episode once about goat yoga and someone getting a parasite in their eye and that's all I can ever think about. Every single time I think about goat yoga it looks like a blast. I actually have goats, so I live in a rural area. I've got goats and chickens and bunnies, but I've never done yoga with the goats and hot yoga there's really. I think there's one studio in Worcester but there's not one close to me but I'd give it a shot.
Casey Koza:Well, goat yoga is now out for me because Jen saw Grey's Anatomy where a guy got a parasite.
Rob Myers:I know I know, I'm out, I'm out.
Casey Koza:That's it for me on the goat yoga. But, jen, again I appreciate you taking time out of your busy life with the two kids running, training people to come on with us. And real quick, where can we find you at on?
Jen Boerwinkle:Instagram yeah, my main account is Jen Burns, to fit number two and then fit, and that's my main account. I do have on there linked my coaching account as well. It's in the bio of my regular one. So, anyone can find me at either of those. Those are other than Facebook. Those are the only social media accounts I have. I don't have a TikTok or anything like that, so that's where it is.
Casey Koza:Once again, I appreciate it so much. I look forward to seeing you out at the Buckeye 50K. I believe, Ohio's oldest ultra.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yes, it is. I was reading. Yep, it is Perfect.
Casey Koza:Yes, it is Ohio's oldest ultra. Like I said, I was very confident when I said that. So thanks again, jen, and we look forward to seeing you out there. Thanks, John.
Jen Boerwinkle:Yeah, thank you guys, I can't wait.