The Hobby Jogger Podcast
Welcome to The Hobby Jogger Podcast, where elite athletes and ham-and-eggers lace up their stories. We explore the common ground that running creates from the world-class runner to the hobbyist hitting the pavement, trail or treadmill. Expect a blend of inspiration, laughter and the shared joy that makes every step count. Join us on this journey, where every run is a story worth sharing.
The Hobby Jogger Podcast
E40 | Rachel Tomajczyk on Racing, Coaching, and Recovery
What happens when you blend elite-level racing with coaching dozens of athletes? Rachel Tomajczyk knows a thing or two about this balancing act. Fresh off her victory at the Ventura Half Marathon, Rachel joins us to discuss her first road race in nearly four years while sharing how she maintains her competitive edge on the trails.
The conversation takes us deep into the world of professional trail running as Rachel reveals her ambitious plans for this years Golden Trail Series, with races spanning from China to Austria.
As a coach with Wild Strides (co-founded with fellow elite runners Grayson Murphy and Courtney Coppinger), Rachel brings valuable perspective to athlete development. She treasures the deep connections formed with long-term athletes, viewing coaching as a collaborative partnership rather than a directive relationship.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Hobby Jogger. I am the host, casey Koza. I am joined by Mr Rob Myers. Again, rob, how are you feeling? Been sick?
Rob Myers:Yeah, I'm doing okay. I'm definitely on the mend Sitting at a hotel in northern Florida right off of 75 to do this podcast, so I'm looking forward to it.
Casey Koza:Nice, nice. So that's good. You're getting some sunshine, very sunshiny, here today in Akron Ohio, which is very rare for March, so I'm going to take it while I got it. Anyway, we have our guest today who is a two-time US champ, six-time All-American professional runner for Merrill and fresh off of the Ventura Half Marathon Rachel Tomiachek. Rachel, how are you I'm good.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Thanks for having me on.
Casey Koza:Yeah, yeah, thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. You're also a coach, so you have no free time. That's true. We appreciate getting some of it here for our show on the interwebs.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, I'm happy to be here for our show on the interwebs.
Casey Koza:Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Is the coaching new Because we had Grayson on two episodes ago and I didn't even bring up the Wild Strides coaching. Yeah, yeah. So is that something new?
Rachel Tomajczyk:That's funny. I was actually in the same house with Grayson while she was filming this episode. Me, her and our friend Courtney were all hanging out together and doing some stuff for Wild Strides. Wild Strides is new, but I've been coaching for, I think, eight years now. So I was with a different online company beforehand.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And then I actually coached collegiately in college and then, once I moved out here to Williams, stopped coaching in college and then just online coached collegiately in college. And then, once I moved out here to Williams, stopped coaching in college and then just online coach from there.
Casey Koza:Nice.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And.
Casey Koza:I'm sure you learned a lot coaching in college. There's high volume of athletes to see. You know, you see what works, what doesn't work. I feel like that's a big, big part of coaching. And do you think that's where you gained the most? Like, obviously you gained the most experience there, but was that kind of what grew your love for coaching was helping those college athletes. And then now you decided you wanted to move up and coach, I guess I'm guessing some professionals and higher end runners.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Actually I feel like a lot of the higher end runners I was coaching were in college. It was a duon program. We made it to nationals one year so it was a. It was a like I was coaching some good girls, um, got some of them close to like 16 minute mark in the 5k and they raced at regionals and things like that. So that was really really amazing.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And then now online I do coach some people that are really fast, but I also coach people that are just beginning or trying to get their Boston qualifier or things like that. So yeah, we'll see kind of where Wild Strides takes us. But yeah, I think for now I kind of enjoy that like college kind of elite level. I think that's really fun to coach or coaching at the level where people are beginning or just like enjoying going after big goals that they have for themselves. I think at this point in my career it might be really hard to coach somebody that's also trying to run professionally just because then I'm coaching my direct competition and that just feels weird to me right now. So yeah, I think college is definitely the highest that I've coached, but yeah, I think coaching in college gave me even more of a love for coaching and, yeah, kind of just went from there and it's been a lot of fun.
Rob Myers:How do you manage your time with so many online athletes? I mean a little bit of research that I've done. It looks like you can have anywhere from 25, 30, sometimes a little bit more than that with so much flexibility. I mean people always bugging you all the time online, always. I don't know how you do it.
Rachel Tomajczyk:It is a lot of flexibility, which is nice. I think there's definitely busy seasons and seasons that aren't as busy. I think with wild strides I've kind of started picking up a few more trail runners, which is really fun. But I was coaching a lot of marathoners before that, so their season was kind of like on the marathon schedule where they'd have a big spring marathon and a big fall or winter marathon and since the trail season is kind of mostly summer and then like kind of into the fall, it kind of fit well with my schedule, where their big races were more in my off season or where I wasn't like really racing as hard.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And then I could focus on coaching and then my season. I was focusing on my season, but I'm actually I'm excited to coach more trail runners.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So I think it's kind of just a lot of time management, which I think I learned a lot of during college, just being a collegiate athlete. I was doing cross country, then straight into indoor track and then straight into outdoor track and you never really have an off season and you always have a full load of classes. So I don't think I did well my freshman or sophomore year of managing my time. But eventually I got better at it. And, yeah, when I got better at managing my time, I got better at running as well. So it makes a huge difference if you're able to kind of organize. Your time got better at running as well.
Rob Myers:So it makes a huge difference if you're able to kind of organize your time, and that makes sense that it would be seasonal. Do you have, like one runner, 365 days they're working with you, or most of them seasonal?
Rachel Tomajczyk:No, I've had runners that I've coached for years like three or four years, something like that. So I do have athletes I've coached for a long time and those are really fun because I've seen them go through ups and downs and training and racing and seeing big life things happen if they have like kids or you know go through different seasons of life. So that's really fun and you get to know them really well too and just get to know what works for them really well and it's fun to celebrate those huge achievements. So I think it's really fun when you get an athlete that you can work with for years.
Rob Myers:I bet.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah.
Casey Koza:I think that's when a coach can get the most out of an athlete as well. There's no, oh, I'm going to sign up with this coach for six months and they're going to get the most out of me. Oh, I'm going to sign up with this coach for six months and they're going to get the most out of me. You have to learn the right buttons to push over. You know a multitude of in this case, races, games, whatever you're coaching and I'm glad to hear that you have developed those relationships over time, because it seems like there is some coaching in the trail running world where it's like people oh, I'm going to sign up for three months and it's not a whole lot you can.
Casey Koza:I mean you can correct some things in three months, but you're not going to get the same kind of gain. I don't think as you would over like a three-year period with a coach like yourself, rachel.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, and I think just trust builds over time too. So athletes are willing to maybe share a little bit more, or they aren't like afraid to message you or set up a phone call if something's like not going well, or they want to talk something through. I think some athletes, when they first sign up, are a little bit scared. They're like, oh, if like something's hurting and I don't do the workout, is she going to be like mad or upset? And I'm like not like that at all. Like I want to know if you had a great workout.
Rachel Tomajczyk:If you had a bad workout, I'm here for you and I want to just like dream with you and help you achieve whatever your goals are. But I see it more as that we're on a team together and I think that kind of vibe and that mindset builds with athletes once. I've been coaching them for a while. So yeah, I think that's been. That's fun, to just like seeing us work together as a team.
Casey Koza:So kind of get back to the Wild Strides coaching. How did you get involved with Wild Strides coaching? I know you're obviously probably friends with Grayson you know our trail runners together and compete on the same. You know circuits, I guess so know each other for that. But how did you, how did this come about, this partnership?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, well, it's actually a cool story. So back in I think it was 2018, 2019, all three of us moved to Flagstaff, so I was living in South Carolina and I was on a pro team called Furman Elite, which is no longer a pro team, but the Furman College team is a really amazing program and yeah, coach Gary and Rita do a really great job with those college kids.
Rachel Tomajczyk:But yeah, I was there and then I decided to move to Flagstaff and be coached by Ryan Hall and Grayson was moving to Flag kind of at the same time to be on NAZ. And then Courtney was moving to Flag. She had just finished college at Kansas and then was going to get her master's at NAU and also train and race and run professionally.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So yeah, we were all kind of in Flagstaff at the same time. We had all steepled in college, so we kind of like crossed paths a little bit. Courtney, I feel like, is really good with just building community, so she had a bunch of runners over to her house and we would have like game nights and like do dinners together and stuff like that. So that's kind of where we all like met up and we would go on runs together. So all of us started off and when we were in Flagstaff we were on the roads and racing like only on the road and track. And then kind of slowly, one by one, we all like discovered the trails. And Grayson discovered them first, was amazing at them, moved away from Flagstaff, then I moved away from Flagstaff, courtney moved away, moved away from Flagstaff, then I moved away from Flagstaff, courtney moved away. Courtney was the next to find the trails. She loved them, and then I found them last and
Rachel Tomajczyk:yeah, but I think the trails kind of like rekindled our friendship or maybe not rekindled it, but like kept us closer because we were on teams together we would meet up. We had the same kind of love for the trails and for adventure and exploring, but also for running and running at a higher level and stuff. So I think that that just kept us as really good friends. And then Grayson had started her company with the journals and the planners and she had been doing that for a few years and she and Courtney I think we're hanging out one weekend and we're kind of like, hey, what if we did a coaching company out of kind of Grayson's planner company that had already started?
Casey Koza:And we all thought that it was a really great idea, courtney and I had been coaching at the same company previously together.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So we kind of were on the same track of coaching, or had been for the past few years, and we were ready to do something different and kind of create something on our own. So, yeah, it's been a really fun journey, but yeah, that's kind of how it all started.
Casey Koza:Good to hear stories like that where friends kind of get together, create something brand new out of nothing. I use Grayson's Wild Strides paper company planner. Now, yeah, I write everything down, everything for work. I have notebooks. They'll ask me random questions at work all the time and I'll be like, oh that pop has this gear. How do you know that? Because we had a meeting about it two years ago and I wrote it down. It's right here.
Casey Koza:Like you guys don't do that, no, we don't that's me so yeah, so I'm a big fan of the the wild strides paper company and good to hear that story. I always like good stories like that where friends come together and do something, especially around coaching. I think my mindset on coaching has changed a lot, especially after a recent conversation with an old coach of mine. Because it's not. You can coach yourself and that's great and running and you can do get very far, but you need someone to point out what you're missing and I think that's very, it's very difficult. It's impossible for me to do, it's very difficult for people to do. Like, if I write a paper for work or whatever, I make a ton of errors that I don't see because you know, oh, that's right, you know I would catch somebody else's, but you don't. You know what I mean. You're not. It's hard to be critical of your own work sometimes, I think so yeah.
Casey Koza:I have taken a flip-flop, rob, on coaching. I'm, I'm, I'm back to being pro coach.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think. Nice yeah, yeah.
Rob Myers:I'm with you on that I'm with you, definitely need it. I don't know why I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's something I need to do for sure. Yeah, doing it myself isn't working.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, I think some of it is kind of what you're talking about, where you need somebody to point out your flaws, but then another part of it could just be like not having to think about what's on your schedule and just knowing that somebody's thinking of your plan for you. I know a lot of athletes that I coach just appreciate that and then kind of appreciate the accountability and having somebody to bounce questions off of too. So yeah, I think there's lots of benefits for sure.
Casey Koza:Yeah, absolutely. Are you coached yourself?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, it's funny. So now that we've said everything about how you need somebody to, point out your flaws.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I coach myself actually. But I agree where I feel like I do need somebody that's there for me to kind of like bounce ideas off and stuff. So I go to my husband a lot. He understands running pretty well and just like working out in general. So yeah, I think he's always somebody that I'll go to if I am like should I like what do you think about this race plan? Or like how should I kind of like structure workouts around this time, or something like that, like he can help me kind of see those things and also similarly point out flaws or if not flaws, things like you might need to touch on some more speed because that's not your strong suit right now, or something like that. So he's really helpful with that, for sure.
Casey Koza:It's a big benefit to have. In any sport, whether it's running, football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, all the sports it's always beneficial to have a coach, someone kind of overseeing. Or at least for you, rachel, you know someone to bounce ideas off of when you, you know, maybe you hit a little slump or something and it's hard to if you think you're doing everything right. It's hard to gauge that from you know, introspectively.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, definitely, definitely, yeah, definitely.
Casey Koza:Definitely Not easy. Now you just came off of the Ventura half marathon, where you won, correct? Yeah. First time running roads in a bit.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, it was. It had been a while, I think like three or four years, since I've been on the road, so it was fun to get back out there again.
Casey Koza:Looking forward are we building off of this for roads, or are we going back to trails? What are we?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, good question. I'm planning on sticking to the trails. I really like the trails and I think I really I wanted to do this half because I felt like I had done another two other halves previously and they just did not go well. And it was when I was coaching in college, which, like I said, coaching in college was really, really fun, but it's also really heavy work weeks and I I was working like nonstop and just didn't have a ton of time to like recover properly and stuff. So I think, yeah, racing was just really hard when I was coaching in college.
Rachel Tomajczyk:But anyway, I think I kind of wanted to do a half because I really thought that I could run faster than what I had run previously, and so I kind of did it partially because I just wanted to prove it to myself that I could do it. But then I think there's also a huge benefit to having speed on the trails and keeping that in there. Especially in the races that I'm doing that are more of the sub ultra distances, I think that it's really important to still keep some speed.
Casey Koza:Yeah, those we talked about with Grayson, but I I truly think that is the most exciting form of trail running is the sub ultra mountain. There's a lot that can happen, like I was talking to a friend about it and it's like kind of like you know, you watch NASCAR for the blowups like like stuff happens in these races there's lead changes, there's blowups, there's I mean, there's crashes.
Casey Koza:I you know, I go down all the time, not racing anyone. That's so exciting to me. You know, not that the ultra stuff isn't cool, like 100 mile race where you watch the first quarter, you go to bed, you wake up and then watch like the last half, like that's good, that's cool, I like it, I enjoy it, you know, but I just I think it's so exciting and I'm gonna look forward to now, your year uh ahead of what you have going on in the short trail. What races do you have planned?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, I'm going to go over to China at the end of April for the first Golden Trail Series race, so that'll be fun.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I'm planning on really focusing this year on the Golden Trail Series. Like the past couple of years I've like made some strides and kind of like moved up in that series and so I want to keep seeing what I can do in it. And they're really fun races and kind of like all over the world so you get to explore and you get really amazing competition too. So that's kind of what I'm focusing on for a lot of this year.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I going to do that Golden Trail Series race, the one at Broken Arrow, the one in Mexico, and then there's one over in Austria and series and all, and then the final is in October. So that's kind of the main thing that I want to focus on. I am going to do Sunapee and see if I can make the classic team for Worlds. But yeah, I don't know, I feel like it's getting so competitive. So I think like Golden Trail Series is definitely my first kind of big goal and then if I make a team, then I'll kind of readjust or see from there what I want to do. But I kind of like Golden Trail Series because I think there's so many good Americans and I think it's kind of nice that it's not only like four people that can represent the US.
Rachel Tomajczyk:It's just like whoever is the best in the world makes the finals at Golden Trail Series, instead of worlds where it's like well, you have a few representatives from each country, but if the US is really good, then they can only bring a few people, even if the rest of the US would be able to compete at the world level, if that makes sense.
Casey Koza:That makes sense and I'm slightly familiar with the Golden Trail series. But how does it work exactly? Because I'm not. It shows up on my YouTube feed and I watch it cause it's cool and I see the highlights and they're awesome, but I'm not I'm not a hundred percent sure how it works.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, so there's eight regular season races.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Those- are all kind of like where you start to accumulate points and this year, I believe, they're taking your score from your top three races. So you get points for, like I think it's, one through, maybe it's like 50 or 60 get points, and if you are in the top 30, after all those eight regular season races, then you make the Golden Trail Series final, series, final, and then there's a prologue for that, which is a really short kind of classic mountain type of format race, where you're going up and down and it's maybe like 30 or 45 minutes, and then two days later you have a rest day in between and then the next day you race at the final, which is like 15 to 17 miles normally and pretty steep and techie and stuff like that.
Speaker 4:So it's a different course every year for the final, or it has been for the past few years.
Rachel Tomajczyk:But yeah after that all of your points from the regular season and the final are added up and they have like a final standing.
Casey Koza:Is there any in America? Do we host any?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yes, Broken Arrow this year is in America and last year Headlands and Mammoth Trail Fest were both in the US. And then this year, another North America race is in Mexico, so not in the US, but there's one in Mexico this year, which is fun.
Casey Koza:Nice, that's awesome, and the finals are Sierras and all.
Rachel Tomajczyk:That's the last regular season race, but the final is in October. I I don't think they've announced yet where the final is going to be at.
Casey Koza:I always enjoy watching the highlights. They do a great job of production.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, they do an amazing job which is kind of why I like to be part of it because I think that they put so much into it. Like you can tell they really, really care about the athletes and making it like a really good race, like really fun and also just like well televised and things like that, so it feels like a professional race, which I think is really cool.
Casey Koza:So you have quite the schedule, Rachel. You got the coaching, you got this mammoth schedule. I mean, what I think is because I generally try and only run two races a year, so that's huge for me, yeah, but what does your recovery look like for these? I mean, that's a lot of miles, a lot of tough races. You clearly have something you're doing really well when it comes to recovery to be able to handle. Is there any secrets that you have? Or just do the basics and get enough sleep?
Rachel Tomajczyk:My secret, honestly, is taking rest days. I didn't do this a lot at first but I've learned kind of over the years like I really it's okay to take rest days, like after big races, like some of the Golden Trail Series races those are two and a half or three hours long for races and they're pretty intense.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So I'll take off like two or three days after a race and just not even run at all, and that's worked well for me. I think last year Headlands and Mammoth Trail Fest were just a week apart, maybe even only six days apart, and I just like took off a few days to make sure that I was really well rested before I raced again. And yes, that's worked really well. So I think this year I'm kind of breaking up my season into three parts and trying to take rest after each of the parts. So Ventura was like the first part of it. I took a rest. Week after that I'll like start training and then race all up until Mexico and after that race I think I'll take another break and then kind of rebuild for the final part of the season.
Rachel Tomajczyk:But I think that's something that I didn't do when I was first into trails and it's kind of hard as a pro I think, because there's races that you can race like all year in high school or college. You have a schedule where it's like cross country season, then you take a break, then you have track season, then you take a break, and I feel like you don't have that, unless you really are intentional about building in that rest and building seasons for yourself. So yeah, that's kind of like my secret for now, but yeah, we'll see how the season goes.
Casey Koza:I know, rob, you're a fan of rest days.
Rob Myers:Yeah, I probably take too many of them.
Casey Koza:You got to have the balance of the rest days. I bought a bike, David, our producer, so we, you know, last fall we went out and rode a couple Sundays for three or four hours, just rode around the valley, Cuyahoga Valley national park, and that seems like a rest day for me active rest day, I guess.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And yeah, and that's the thing. A lot of times, like on rest days, I'll like get out and go for a walk or go for a hike or something like that. Sometimes I'm so tired that I just don't really want to do much at all, so I won't.
Rachel Tomajczyk:but yeah, if I want to get out and hike or bike or something like that, then I will. But yeah, I think I took um like a couple of days off between headlands and mammoth last year and yeah, I'm not afraid to take rest after, after those bigger races.
Casey Koza:So in the races and I know you're you're sponsored by Morton, correct?
Rachel Tomajczyk:races and I know you're you're sponsored by morton, correct?
Casey Koza:um, yeah, by morton for um all of the like nutrition side. Yeah, yeah, and that's I. I really like morton um yeah they're pre. I only call like a pre-race drink like mix yeah, yeah it's not my favorite tasting thing in the world, but you know I mean that's not what it's not to taste good. You're not having a beer at the. You know the finish line, rob, it's you know, yeah, do you think that when you properly fuel and we've heard people talk about this, but that helps you with your recovery? Yeah.
Casey Koza:How do you fuel these races and these efforts? If you don't mind me asking, cause that's something I'm trying to get better at as a runner to where I'm not like, I feel like, if I don't, I feel like hung over and I didn't even drink what is your protocol? I need to start asking this more when I have. I didn't have, I didn't ask Grayson, but I made a note to start asking this more when I get someone like you on.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Rachel Nice, yeah, no, I think that's a fuel. Fueling is so important and I didn't I wasn't as like in tune with it until probably last year, but I do definitely notice like huge recovery benefits and, uh, just more energy the next day when I fuel, probably. So I try to eat like three times an hour. So every 20 minutes I'm taking in something, and usually that's a gel, but I try to get in like 75 to 80 grams of carbs per hour, so that's about 300 calories an hour. And, yeah, just like every 20 minutes I'm taking something. I really like the Morton 320 drink mix because it's hydration along with the nutrition and that helps a lot in the summers when it's hot.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So that I don't even have to think that much about hydrating, because I'm drinking all of my calories anyway. So if it's really hot then I'll bring water along with me too, or electrolytes, but yeah, every hour with a 320 drink mix, if I get that bottle down, that's like perfect for me.
Casey Koza:Nice, yeah, that's. I think that's become pop. Well, I actually started paying attention to this and like over the last year, but I think the drink mix has become a popular thing. I know when I ran my first 50 K, I just had like a bottle of water and like a pepperoni stick. And it went exactly how you thought it would sounds pretty tasty, though yeah, the pepperoni stick was tasty, didn't, didn't have many carbs in it though I found out that's important to running did you get anything at the aid stations?
Casey Koza:yeah, I finally got really, really hungry yeah and I stopped at an aid station and ate, like I want to say, 10 Oreos. Okay, yeah, yeah. You would think that would help, but then that made me even like worse, because then I was just full and I don't really eat like sugary stuff ever yeah. So it was, yeah, it was it was not not good yeah it was not a good day out in the park yeah, that is tough.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I feel like once you're hungry, it's too late that's like what I tell all my athletes like, because some of them are like well, I started feeling hungry around like 90 minutes, so then I started eating and I'm like that's too late to like start and erase, because you're already like way behind yeah, if you, yeah, if you get.
Casey Koza:Yeah, that makes sense. I'm gonna write that's too late to like start and erase, cause you're already like way behind. Yeah, if you. Yeah, if you get up. Yeah, that makes sense. I'm going to write that down.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Don't get hungry, because it's probably already over for you If yeah. Yeah, I get ahead of it early on, which is why I think that's why I like starting so early, because I think later into the race you're exhausted.
Casey Koza:Whether it's in an ultra or like a really fast race that's a couple hours long.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think like there's more of a chance that your stomach isn't going to be feeling great at that point. So I think you might not be able to get as much down at the end of the race. But if you kind of started early and in the race, then that's all like stored up, as opposed to getting to the end of the race feeling like you need fuel but not being able to really take it in.
Casey Koza:Yeah, see, this is all making sense now, rob. When we hear from an authority figure, is the problem Crystal clear.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, I will also say, as far as recovery, I have started taking ketones, sometimes on hard workout days or race days, and I do think that those work. I was like very, very skeptical of them when they first came out and I was like I don't know if these work at all. But yeah, the ketone IQ. I take that sometimes after a race or hard workout, workout and I feel like it's worked for me.
Casey Koza:So I tell they're expensive.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So I always tell athletes, like, try it if you want to in a workout before you do it in a race, and if it helps you then that's awesome. If it doesn't, don't worry about it.
Casey Koza:I got two free boxes of ketone IQ. Yeah. I was the UTMB free trail fantasy champion. I don't know.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Whoa.
Casey Koza:Yeah. That's amazing Two years ago, Not this year I didn't do any good. So they sent me two boxes and I hadn't used it for, so for two years I didn't. They sat on top. I'm looking at it right now. They sat on top of my refrigerator, never touched them. A couple weeks ago I did two workouts. I did one in the morning and I took one and I did feel noticeably like better in the afternoon so yeah I was skeptical.
Casey Koza:I was like you know doesn't make sense but also a placebo effect possibly. I'm not smart enough to figure out you know the science behind it or anything. So, yeah, I still a little bit skeptical, but I have used it, rob, just I. I don't know if I'd recommend buying it yet, but more study for myself is needed over the next few weeks and I'll I'll make a a at least you finally tried it.
Rob Myers:I'm proud of that.
Casey Koza:Yes, I did. I sat there for two years.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Well, and that's the thing, I feel like, every athlete is so different, so if somebody says something works for them, then try it, and if it works for you, that's awesome, and if it doesn't, then that's okay too, too, but at least you've tried it. And yeah, I think everyone's so different, so you just have to kind of like run experiments on yourself and figure out what works, but that's another thing I tell athletes. I coach is to do all the experiments in training and not in racing, so don't try something new on race.
Casey Koza:Oh, come on, coach, we're gonna, you know we're gonna fix this here right at the you know 15K mark. We're going to try this new thing and fix it right there.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, exactly Right during the race.
Casey Koza:Now that kind of leads into which Morton, they have a new product, the bicarb, which Olympic athletes, especially cyclists, have been using it for decades. Yeah, do you use the bicarb?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Um, I've used it some in training. I think I need to experiment and use it a little bit more in training before I really, um, am confident using it in racing. But I'm hoping to, for this year, be able to use it a little bit more in racing.
Casey Koza:Yeah, especially I get it. It definitely has a use, definitely effective. But you do run the risk if it would just like anything else, any other product that you put into your body, into your stomach. There is a chance that it may or may not agree with you. But yeah, the bicarb thing it's. I was kind of surprised to see it. Not surprised that short distance trail runners are using it, though, because I that's kind of what the cyclists like in the velodrome. You ever seen them in the velodrome? Yeah, yeah, yeah pretty cool sport.
Casey Koza:Uh, those guys were on it. I know not on it. Those guys were using it for decades.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So were they using uh like bicarb, or were they using the baking soda?
Casey Koza:Oh, they were going just straight straight baking soda and electrolytes. Yeah, okay, yeah yeah. They were. I had a friend who was a I've mentioned a few times on the show, but an Olympian velodrome cyclist and yeah, he, he had, I ran that by him. He's like, oh yeah, we use that. 25 years ago when I was racing at national, so I was like, yeah, it's not new, I guess, for them.
Rachel Tomajczyk:But yeah, I think the bicarb helps, because I've heard that the I've never tried just straight baking soda, but I've heard that's pretty hard on your stomach and maybe it's easier if you're cycling, because it's not an impact sport really. So maybe their stomach is fine kind of doing whatever, but yeah, I think the bicarb makes it a little bit easier on your stomach. You can like train your gut also to be able to handle things that you can't handle at first. So I think that's another reason why it's so important to fuel while you're training and doing workouts too, because not only will you recover faster, but it's just a chance for your body to like get used to taking in the fuel that you're going to be using in racing too.
Rob Myers:Yeah, Baking soda. That sounds, that sounds tough. I think that would bother my stomach, even if I was sitting on the couch. But I'm working out. Yeah.
Casey Koza:It's super effective. Like I've known about it for a very long time, a friend of mine's daughter I don't want to say experimented on her, but she was having a tough time. She was a high school swimmer.
Casey Koza:She's having a tough time with cramps okay baking soda is also bicarb also very good if you have cramps. So I was like, ah, give her a tablespoon of baking soda per gatorade 45 minutes before she races. They tried it. It worked. Her times started to to drop, mostly because she wasn't cramping and could train properly yeah, yeah, yeah definitely effective if you get side stitches, cramps, you know that sort of thing. It has uses, so it's it's always interesting to hear you know perspective of someone like like you rachel on it, so thank you for that yeah, yeah, of course yeah, rob, we're gonna bicarb you up out of canyons I definitely want to try it.
Rob Myers:Yeah, get old arm and hammer out. Yeah, I get a lot of cramps, especially my calves oh, that's kind of what you feel within. Racing is cramping yeah oh, constantly, especially my calves, until like mile seven and eventually it goes away oh, so yours is at the start of the race and then, oh yeah, it's better, okay, yeah that's just us being old rob it is, it is.
Rob Myers:No, you're 100 right. So when I first started, when I first started running long distances on the trail, it would be, you know, like mile two, mile three gone.
Casey Koza:Now it's like mile seven before it goes away, sometimes even longer than that, oh man yeah, I'm, I'm anti-warming up, but like in a 50k I don't feel good, like till mile three. I'm like, oh, this is just the worst day of my life I'm having right now and I I can barely in the mile four I'm like oh, this is great, like we feel really good today actually Hold on.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're just anti warming up before the race starts.
Casey Koza:I've been anti warming up my entire career, every sport I've ever played Rachel, okay, yeah, much to the chagrin of a lot of my coaches over the years. I just I was like why am I going to get tired? Like this is just kind of goes through the motions, try not to get yelled at in the pregame, like guys are out there in sweatsuits doing sprints. I'm just like yes, I'm just going to stand over here Until you tear something.
Rob Myers:Until you tear something, and then you'll be the king of warm-ups.
Casey Koza:Fortunately I escaped or I probably shouldn't have with my, you know, eating habits and drinking habits and warm up habits. I was very fortunate to escape, yeah, so I am not coaching anyone.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Well, I would say you're just using the first mile or three in a race to warm up.
Casey Koza:Yeah, that's, that's what. That's the way I look at it. Hey, I'll go out nice and easy and warm up here a little bit, and then I like ask people late after I'm well warmed up at mile 14, Rob there you go yeah.
Rob Myers:Good way to look at things. The first seven miles for me. I'm just warming up. Yeah, it's just a little warmup.
Casey Koza:Yeah, Just a little warmup, that's all so Well. So another thing I have them here. Well, they're not here. I have the box here, though. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got a pair of the Merrell Skyfire 2s.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Oh, those are my faves.
Casey Koza:Are they? I can see why I was looking for a rock shoe. I'm originally from southwestern Pennsylvania. I go back there and run quite a bit. I didn't really like the old shoe I had that was for my rock shoe, but this shoe is excellent. This is like, and I got it on sale, which was even better. So you're a fan of the Skyfire 2?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, is it the Matrix? Or is it the first version of the Skyfire 2? Or do you know?
Casey Koza:Yeah, maybe the box says it's orange. I think it's the Matrix.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, Okay, yeah, yeah, they changed the upper on the Matrix and I really liked the new upper on the Skyfire 2 Matrix but yeah, it's a, it's a great shoe. I love it for short races because it's really light and fast and you can get pretty precise with where your foot lands. So yeah, if you're in really techie stuff, it's, it's great for that.
Casey Koza:Phenomenal it's. I wanted just a really light shoe. I wanted a rock plate, because the last shoe didn't have a rock plate and my foot was like mashed potatoes after 15 miles of this stuff.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Sun has a good rock plate, for sure.
Casey Koza:Maybe I thought about this today when I was running. Is Merrell, because I know Super Shoes are in. Are they developing a Super Shoe? Can you say?
Rachel Tomajczyk:That one, the Skyfire 2, I think, is like the closest, closest to a super shoe that Merrell has that one has like a BZM8 plate in it, so it's technically like a plated shoe and they have like kind of thrown around like I've gotten some prototypes that they've made of like carbon fiber stuff and things like that, but every time.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I've gone in a carbon fiber shoe on the trails. I have not liked it at all, like I think it just bounces your foot too much. So for me if I get on a rock and land with my foot kind of sideways, it like twists my ankle for me. So then I'm just like twisting my ankle all over the trail, which is not great. But these shoes I think like have a little bit of bounce to them, but not so much that you like bounce off of rocks, weird and stuff.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So, yeah, I, this is kind of their like closest thing to a super shoe. But for now I don't love racing and carbon fiber on the trails.
Casey Koza:Yeah, I can. I can understand why like this. And it's really and I'm saying this because I purchased it with my own money, not given to me. It is like the perfect, especially for a hobby jogger rock shoe where it's just you're going from rock to rock Laurel Highlands, Rob, you know. But this outsole when I see you next I'll bring it. But the outsole, it looked first I was like, ah, that's a little, I don't know, that's weird. It looked first I was like, ah, that's a little, I don't know that's weird. But then it made really good sense because it's like just the pressure points have the outsole and the vibram grip and there's exposed I guess exposed midsole but you have the rock plate to protect your foot. So they really did. I'm super impressed. We don't talk about shoes very often here. Do we rob every now and then I guess, yeah, we should talk about it more. Yeah, we should talk about it more. It's a good. It's a good subject.
Casey Koza:People like the shoe talk yeah, yeah but I, I mean, and I, I, I wouldn't, I just would have. If I didn't like the shoe, I just wouldn't have brought it up, but it's like the perfectly designed mountain trail shoe. I think that I that I've had on and I've tried quite a few different shoes.
Rachel Tomajczyk:No, I agree with that, yeah. I think, all the athletes that are running for Miro right now have really loved the Skyfire too especially in the short stuff. So yeah, you might need a little bit more cushion if you're doing something longer. But I've raised to 50K and that I was fine.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think, like kind of up to that 50k you might be okay if you're out there for a really long time then uh the long sky 2 is another one that's a really good racing shoe and it's like not quite as light and as the skyfire 2, but there's like a little bit more cushion in it so that you can keep it on for a little bit longer write that down here.
Casey Koza:Yeah, I would run. I would run 50k in this. No problem, I it because it protects your foot. It's yeah it's weird, like as I've the last pair that I had for this purpose. I I hated it in the 50k because my foot was just like destroyed after just pointy rocks and stuff like that, but I would run a 50K in this. But, yeah, maybe a little bit more cushion for 100K, but my feet are going to hurt anyway after 50K and 100K, so it doesn't.
Rachel Tomajczyk:True, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think if you want a shoe with like a higher stack height or something, then this one has a pretty low stack height. So that's why? For like the longer races. Maybe you'd want something a little bit more, but yeah, it's, it's great. I race like pretty much every race and in these shoes.
Casey Koza:Oh, nice, nice I. I kind of figured that was after I wore it today. That was their top, merrill's top, like trail race, trail race shoe because it seemed built the way, you'll have to grab a pair. Rob. I highly recommend it.
Rob Myers:Yeah, I need a new pair. I was talking about that yesterday.
Casey Koza:Especially for that crazy race you're doing down there in Tennessee. Whatever that the Gulf. Yeah.
Rob Myers:What is that called? It's called Lots of Rocks Race, lots of rocks race.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Sounds perfect for the sky, yeah.
Rob Myers:So, rachel, I was going through your race resume and one race really stood out to me the Narnar Mount hood in Oregon.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, that was my first trail race. Yeah, can you tell me about that race and what I found?
Rob Myers:online it looks that was my first trail race. Yeah, can you tell me about that race and what I found online? It looks like it was pretty intense.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, it was. It was a really good first trail race because the downhill was on this like smooth, like single track bike, like mountain biking trail.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So I think it was perfect for me because it wasn't like super super techie, but it was still just like a fun trail race. And it was really for me because it wasn't like super super techie, but it was still just like a fun trail race and it was really beautiful, like you could see mount hood while you're racing and stuff. So yeah, it was. It was a really fun race yeah, it looked really cool.
Rob Myers:You said it just stood out to me.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, I was going through all of your races yeah, that one was a really fun one for sure. Yeah, good intro to the trails.
Casey Koza:Beautiful area out there.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, it's so pretty. Yeah, Grayson and I and Courtney actually we all raced there and yeah, it was really fun.
Rachel Tomajczyk:We went out for a run the day before and kind of got to explore some of the trails which that's the thing that I love about trails that is different than the track and the roads is that you can actually explore and kind of get out and I feel like when you're on the roads and track you're kind of like, ok, I just need to like go to the city and then I'm going to send the hotel for a while and just like wait to race, and I think in trails it's kind of fun because you are in these like really cool kind of remote mountain towns and you get to see some really pretty things and, yeah, explore while you're out on the course and stuff.
Casey Koza:Yeah, I mean, that's our biggest attraction to trail racing. We went out to gorge in that area and, yeah, see some really cool stuff and explore new areas that I, I know I wouldn't I never would have went out there, maybe to Mount Hood or something, but never to that part of the country. And you certainly, you know, get get around the world as your Instagram handle suggests. Now there was an argument in our house over this. I said that you must be a Jimmy Eat World fan and my girlfriend's like no, she probably just runs around the world, like goes different places, and that's what it means. So so which is it?
Casey Koza:rachel is jimmy world inspire the name, or is it just because you do actually run around the world?
Rachel Tomajczyk:no, it's just because I run around the world. But yeah, I'm sorry rachel.
Rob Myers:you just crushed him. You just crushed Casey. He was normal, it's normal.
Casey Koza:I'm 0 for like 600, so it's okay. It's what I'm used to.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, yeah, I came up with that handle, I think, like in college, like right when I was starting to run professionally, and it's just stuck.
Casey Koza:So I was pretty sure I was confident on this one.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Oh dang.
Casey Koza:Rach runs world. Has it nothing to do with Jimmy? Eat world.
Rachel Tomajczyk:It does not. Yeah, I didn't even make that connection until now, but maybe I should have.
Casey Koza:Oh, I'm glad I came up with it. Yeah, rob, another theory blown to bits on the show. It happens a lot.
Rob Myers:We get used to it. What?
Rachel Tomajczyk:other theories have you had? Oh no, oh no.
Rob Myers:Oh no.
Casey Koza:I hear you Soccer players would generally translate to be very good. Trail runners was one that was blown to bits.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Really Okay. I'm intrigued by that actually too.
Casey Koza:It's made a comeback recently. Recently, though, rob Rachel, it's Matt Trappy. Last episode gave me some very good pro runners and obviously Grayson was on the show. She was a former footballer. Yeah, yeah. It started to make a comeback in my mind, Rob.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think anyone like you have to be athletic to be on the trails, at least if you're doing really techie races and stuff. If I know that there's someone that has steepled in the past and they're thinking of going over to the trails and I'm like, oh yeah, they'll be good on the trails, They'll be fine.
Casey Koza:And it's it. Does it's like the trail running take nothing away from the people on the roads? That's not what I'm.
Rachel Tomajczyk:No, not at all. Yeah, it's impressive. Both are impressive, I think yeah.
Casey Koza:Both have their own thing, but the athleticism required to run some of the things that I've seen, especially like the Golden Trail series, when I watch you bomb down hills and stuff, it's just a little bit different than you know. Knocking out the ungodly pace is you know, the half marathon times that that you all run.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So yeah, just different, different things, that's all it's different things and some some things translate to other things too, Like I know a lot of trail runners who are primarily on the trail and then do a half marathon and crush it.
Rachel Tomajczyk:And then I know some people that have been on the track primarily and have done really good halves, and then they come over to trails and they do really well too like Lauren Gregory never steepled or anything like that, but she's an amazing track runner and like had an outstanding season last year in the trails and has made world teams and stuff. So yeah, she's amazing on the on the roads, but then also can stand up with everyone on the trails too.
Casey Koza:So but yeah.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think there are different disciplines and both are impressive just because you're a fast road runner. It doesn't necessarily mean that you, you would be good on the trails, um, sometimes they are.
Casey Koza:Sometimes they're really really good, but good, but yeah yeah, I've seen some that have come over and run races. They just it's not the same, they just you know, whatever, whatever it is, and yeah tough, different sport. You know, build on the same concept of running, but just a little bit different, different sport.
Rachel Tomajczyk:So I think the trails are fun because they can blend a lot of people that are a lot of athletes that are really good at other sports together. Like there's so many good um skiers that come over, or people that are really into mountain biking that come over to trails and just crush it in the trails, and then there's some people from the roads and the track that come over and crush the trail. So it's fun to see, like, what differences everybody has. Like Like some people are really good at the uphill, some people are really good at downhill, some people ski also, some people bike a ton. But it's just fun to see so many different talents like come mesh together into one sport.
Casey Koza:You mentioned uphills and downhills. Do you prefer the uphill or the downhill?
Rachel Tomajczyk:That's a good question. I don't know now, like I think I have been. When I was first running trails I was really scared of the downhills, but I think I kind of just like was pretty good at them. I think like uphills I need to work on a little bit more, but sometimes I'm good at racing them. I don't know. So I think right now they're kind of equal, but I really I love being able to like go really fast on a downhill and just like bomb a downhill. I think that's like super fun. The really, really techie stuff. I still need to work on Some of the Golden Trail series. Races are just like super techie and that's not like quite as fun for me.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I think like if there are a few rocks and stuff, then that's fun.
Casey Koza:But when it gets to be like really, really techie where you're almost not able to run.
Rachel Tomajczyk:I don't think that's as fun. I don't know if I'd ever want to try like sky running, just because I feel like it's so techie that I'm not even running anymore.
Casey Koza:So yeah, I'm a downhill specialist. How about you, Rob?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Right, okay.
Casey Koza:I like gravity assisting me.
Rob Myers:Yeah, gravity's fun as long as my knees don't hurt, which typically they do at that point, or at least towards the end of the race. But yeah, gravity's a good thing.
Casey Koza:To just blow the quads apart and then can't figure out what happened. You walked every hill and bombed every downhill. That's what happened. So yeah that's awesome. But, rachel, we thank you so much for your time here. It was awesome to talk to you. Very nice to meet you. Very disappointed that your name was not inspired by Jimmy Eats world, but all our dreams can't come true at once. Yeah.
Rachel Tomajczyk:Thanks for having me on too. It's been super fun.
Rob Myers:Rachel, where can our listeners find you?
Rachel Tomajczyk:Yeah, rachel's World is my Instagram handle, so I'm on that. I haven't quite joined the TikTok stuff yet, but I don't know, maybe someday.
Casey Koza:Thank you so much again, and I look forward to a lot of my miles in the Skyfire too.