Episode 151 | Hawi Keflezighi

03/09/21 • 109 min

“I would work around the clock, weekends, because I was passionate, and that's one thing I say to anyone that's passionate about what they do: make sure you do things that are sustainable, because no matter how passionate you are, no matter how much you love your job, if you're doing it 24/7, seven days a week, and you don't give yourself a break just because you love it, it's still work and it will eventually catch up to you. And I did have those moments when I was a one-man operation—I loved it, and that's why I was so quick to hire somebody else on my team, just to make sure we build the infrastructure to sustain ourselves for many years ahead.”Hawi Keflezighi is one of the top agents in all of endurance sports, and one of the nicest guys that I’ve ever known. He is the founder and president of Hawi Management and his agency represents some of the top athletes in track and field, road racing, trail running, and triathlon. His most notable client is his brother Meb, who he has been representing since 2005, and his roster also includes Aliphine Tuliamuk, Alexi Pappas, Katie Zafares, and Joe Gray, amongst others.We covered a pretty wide range of topics in this conversation, from the book he’s been helping his dad out with to the role that storytelling has played throughout his life. We talked about coming to the U.S. from Eritrea via Italy and some of his earliest memories as a young kid, to how he ended up at UCLA, and the path he followed to becoming a sports agent.Finally, we got into the weeds of the business, marketing, and sponsorship side of professional running and discussed how contracts have evolved over the past 15 years, what the job responsibilities are for an athlete today, how he sees things evolving in the future, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance: I was recently able to get my hands on a pair of the new Fresh Foam 1080v11 and I was shocked to love them even more than I did last year’s v10 model. New Balance claims the 1080 offers the ultimate ride, and I’d have to agree. It’s the best fitting shoe I own and the Fresh Foam X cushioning feels super comfortable underneath my feet. It’s lightweight and flexible, but also responsive and durable—basically the perfect trainer to log most of your miles in, which is what I do. I wear it on most of my non-workout days and for long runs too. Check out the Fresh Foam 1080v11 on newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation.— Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST—just a few weeks from now—you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-151-with-hawi-keflezighi/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 150 | Jenna Wrieden

“I think I just learned over time that I have to be able to trust my own instincts and portray whatever I’m saying to an athlete with complete confidence and with complete backing of the head coach because you never want to diverge. And I know sometimes young coaches, they’re so excited to coach, they want to do everything they can that is within themselves to start coaching but you have to remember [that] you have to back your head coach because you’re backing the culture and you’re backing what they’ve created and I think it’s really important to be a really good sidekick ven though you’ve got bigger goals than that. You’ve got to kind of fall in line with that culture and really cultivate it and have confidence in doing that, and over time then you get to come up with your own pillars or your own culture, but it takes years and years and years to do that, I think.” Jenna Wrieden is the assistant coach at HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, where she’s been on staff since January. Prior to moving to Flagstaff to work alongside Ben Rosario and crew, she coached in the collegiate ranks since 2006, most recently as an assistant at Louisville, where over the course of 4-1/2 years she worked with several All-Americans. As an athlete, Jenna ran at Arizona State, where she was teammates with Des Linden and Amy Cragg, and—fun fact—in 2014 she set a world record for the fastest half marathon ever run on a treadmill. I always enjoy talking to fellow coaches and this conversation was no exception. We talked about Jenna’s new role, how it came to be, and what the transition has been like so far from the collegiate to the professional ranks. Jenna also told me about how she got her start in the sport and what spurred her pursue coaching after college, how her own relationship with running has evolved over the years, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance: I was recently able to get my hands on a pair of the new Fresh Foam 1080v11 and I was shocked to love them even more than I did last year’s v10 model. New Balance claims the 1080 offers the ultimate ride, and I’d have to agree. It’s the best fitting shoe I own and the Fresh Foam X cushioning feels super comfortable underneath my feet. It’s lightweight and flexible, but also responsive and durable—basically the perfect trainer to log most of your miles in, which is what I do. I wear it on most of my non-workout days and for long runs too. Check out the Fresh Foam 1080v11 on newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation.— Girls on the Run has been inspiring girls to know and activate their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams. On Thursday, March 25 at 7 PM EST—just a few weeks from now—you are invited to join an exciting 25th Birthday virtual event celebrating the inherent power and courage of girls. Join me and RSVP today at gotr.gives/TMS. The event is free to attend, but donations can be made and special add-on packages are available for purchase such as a copy of Hoda’s newest book and a pair of GOODR sunglasses customized for Girls on the Run.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-150-with-jenna-wrieden/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 152 | Darcy Budworth

“I think I’m somebody where I grew up in a family of many people, a large family—and then also I grew up Morman, and so I grew up around many families that were very large and also my mom did daycare at our home—and so I’ve always just been around a lot of people and I’ve always had to be somebody that has found my voice among many people while also being friends with everybody. And it’s funny, when I was growing up I always had friends all over the place. I never realized until recently that that continues to be true. I feel like I’m a connector where I love just meeting new people and finding out about new people and then connecting different people with likeminded people, so I definitely think that’s probably the core of my being.” Darcy Budworth is the co-founder and race director of Take The Bridge, which is an underground and unsanctioned series of races that was born in New York City in 2015 and has since spread to numerous other cities around the world. I raced my first Take the Bridge this past February in San Francisco and I loved everything about it. As I wrote in my newsletter a few weeks ago, the race was low-key and community focused, the distance was unconventional—we happened to run 4.2 miles over the Golden Gate Bridge—and even the turns we took were up to us as long as we hit the required checkpoint along the way. There were no mile markers, no clocks, and at the end of the night, you were battling it out for place, not trying to run a pre-determined pace. There was level of purity to it that I really appreciated and, quite honestly, didn’t even know I missed. It reminded me a lot of cross-country but with a fast and the furious, every runner for him or herself urban street vibe to it.In this conversation, Darcy and I talked a lot about Take the Bridge and all aspects of unsanctioned racing in general, but we also got into her background, how she got into running, her relationship to the sport, as well as some discussion about stress, anxiety, injuries, and more.This episode is brought to you by:— Atlanta Track Club. Member and lottery registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia is going on right now. The race will be held in-person and virtually this year on July 3rd and 4th. Strict COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place for the in-person version with limited spots available—Atlanta Track Club members get guaranteed entry and race day preference. If you’re not a member you can join today and then sign up to get a guaranteed spot at Peachtree! Non-members will be placed into a lottery and race day preference will be accommodated as spots remain. Registration is going on now until May 1 and you can put your name in today at ajc.com/peachtree.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-152-with-darcy-budworth/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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