SPEAKER_00: 0:00

So you're thinking about running, but not sure how to take the first step. My name is Brian Patterson, and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's RomPod. I'm always amazed at the journey of all of my guests. And today is no exception. So today I'm joined by Terissa Hallowan. Hallanen. I'm sure she'll correct me if I've got that wrong, from therelentlesscouple.com. Terissa is all about helping people build strength, resilience, and balance in both fitness and life. And in this episode, we'll dig into her coaching approach, how it can really help uh benefit runners, whether that's through mental toughness, smarter, smarter training, or creating habits that really actually stick. And so let's um lace up and let's get into it. And a like welcome uh Brian's Romper. Well, warm welcome, Brian's Romper, welcome to Teresa. How are you doing? Just wanted to start the podcast, um, like I do with a lot of my guests, to find out as to what your experience was like in high school in terms of exercise and running. Were you a bookworm, or was it something that you was was quite natural to you in terms of you enjoyed exercise more than you did the the studies?

SPEAKER_02: 1:53

Right. So going through early years, I was a very athletic person, and I still am to this day. I actually was um a competitive dancer. I was in ballerina going through school.

SPEAKER_01: 2:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 2:06

I would play volleyball, track and field, things like that. So I always had a passion for movement. Um I had asthma really bad when I was younger. So my running was a lot more limited. I could do hundred meter or four hundred meter dashes.

SPEAKER_01: 2:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 2:21

And uh that was about the extent of my running in my teenage years. It wasn't until I got a little bit older that I actually tried doing longer-term running to help it out.

SPEAKER_00: 2:33

So did the dancing, did you go to sort of quite a senior level? Um, you know, did you go into your teens uh with your with your dancing?

SPEAKER_02: 2:44

Yeah, I started when I was five and I went until I was 20. So I dan Yeah, I got up to the point of dancing 35 hours a week, um, competing with solos, groups, going through the ballet exams, all of that. I was very much, if I wasn't in full-time uh academics, I was in ballet class.

SPEAKER_00: 3:04

All right. Okay. Did you consider maybe joining a group or r rehearsing or you know, and thinking of let's say maybe I'll I'll I'll go to the I'll go to England and do go to join the Royal Ballet or try out for the Royal Ballet or go to Russia or something like that?

SPEAKER_02: 3:21

No, I like I was very aware that I was gifted, but I was not incredibly talented enough to be competitive on a professional stage.

SPEAKER_01: 3:30

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 3:30

I had other other areas of interest that I was loving. But, you know, I definitely was going to do it through university, but the competitiveness and the cattiness of being in the ballet group was definitely not something that I wanted to be a part of. I just wanted to love the movement, so then I bridged into other um sports that I liked.

SPEAKER_00: 3:54

And did you find being in ballet? Yeah, did you find dance helped in you doing other sports? Because obviously, I mean, you can tell that um I mean, we will get into running in a minute, but I mean, you can tell that people who who do dance um at quite a high level, I mean, they are like extremely uh they're they're very much like treated as athletes.

SPEAKER_02: 4:17

Yeah, it I would definitely say being a dancer is an athlete because you have to be highly skilled, you're always practicing your craft, you have to be healthy and mentally and physically. So I definitely argued throughout the years that dancing is as much of being an athlete as being a runner, a baseball player requires the same amount of persistence.

SPEAKER_00: 4:39

Yeah. And did did you go fr from high school to to college and and you know, did you sort of keep up um your exercise regime then?

SPEAKER_02: 4:50

Yeah. When I moved to college, I wasn't dancing full-time anymore. I actually got into yoga and then I was walking every day to and from college. I didn't um I didn't have to drive. A large amount of walking that I got into and still just desire to move my body. I'd play ultimate frisbee with friends, which is a pretty common North American thing over here, and still just always out and being active.

SPEAKER_00: 5:18

So moving moving on to how you got to where you are today, what was, I mean, I know this is quite a a big question. How did you get to where you are today? Because I know you had a very, I mean, I was listening to another podcast that you had a very serious car accident, and it wasn't until, let's say, a few years later that your real diagnosis, um, you had a brain injury, um, wasn't, you know, uh given to you by a doctor until, let's say, as I said, a few days a few years later.

SPEAKER_02: 5:53

Yeah. Well, in that when I when I graduated from high school, I went into massage therapy. I did a couple of years of psychology first and then I went into massage therapy.

SPEAKER_01: 6:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 6:05

But my love, love of movement drove me into that. Right. So it was during that time of being a massage therapist that it took me around the world. And actually, I lived in Edinburgh for a period of time. I did. And that was when I challenged myself to do my very first ever marathon.

SPEAKER_01: 6:25

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_02: 6:26

I was I was an asthmatic back then.

SPEAKER_01: 6:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 6:30

And I had only done the 100 or the 400 meters, and I decided, okay, I I'm gonna run a marathon. And I signed up. One of the guys that I worked with in Edinburgh was a triathlete. He had done multiple marathons. He's like, okay, just make sure you follow the training program that they they offer.

unknown: 6:51

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 6:51

And so I would challenge myself and like, all right, okay, today I have to run a mile, which I had to convert in my mind to how many kilometers that was because of miles.

SPEAKER_00: 7:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 7:02

Exactly. So then I'm like, okay, I can do a mile. So I at least found a nice place in Edinburgh to do that run. But it was that love of movement and that challenging myself to get out and run, um, to do this big, massive ask of myself that um I realized that there is more that we can do when you actually take that time and invest in the movement and all of that. Right. So my history of massage took me around the world. I lived in Scotland first, then Australia, came back to Canada, went back to New Zealand. Okay. And it kept me very in tune with the body, moving your body and becoming more athletic as long as my journey progressed, I added in more activity in athletics. So I started the bodybuilding on top of all of this. I kept up running for a couple years when I was living in Australia. I ran 5k every day. You would have to do it early in the morning though, because it would get too hot.

SPEAKER_00: 8:06

Of course, yeah. Yeah. But it depends on which part of Australia you're living. Well, you're living in Australia.

SPEAKER_02: 8:12

I was living in Brisbane. I was rose.

SPEAKER_00: 8:16

Yeah. So yeah, it does get quite hot there.

SPEAKER_02: 8:20

It does. But it I was definitely carrying that movement all the way through. Movement has changed over my course of my lifetime. But that desire to be a part of helping people improve their movement and also knowing the benefit of having movement in the life has been what's brought me to this point today.

SPEAKER_00: 8:38

Aaron Powell So was it was it you decided, okay, well, I wanted to to travel and then take this skill set with me so I can help other people? Or were you working for a company that actually said you go to various other, you know, parts of the world?

SPEAKER_02: 8:57

No, I was I contracted to company. I so I decided I had gone on some continuing education to Greece. And when I went over to Greece, I had this idea in my head that I I'm gonna move.

SPEAKER_01: 9:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 9:11

So when I got back, I applied for my UK visa as a working holiday visa. I quit my job and then without a job or a place to live or knowing anybody, I moved overseas. Right. I just had a desire to go and travel and it was all on my own accord.

SPEAKER_00: 9:29

Right. So with that first marathon, did did I mean that didn't obviously, you know, sort of scare you off from maybe doing more running um because you said you did some running in us you know in Australia. But also did it kind of give you a little bit more of an incentive to do other skills, like maybe personal training or nutrition and that kind of thing, sort of the skill sets that you offer uh that you're offering now.

SPEAKER_02: 9:59

Absolutely. It was through that six training guide that I realized the impact of my nutrition and having a schedule to follow and all like how it actually entertained blocks, then you're not necessarily going to get the results that you're looking for. And it was really just look a cup that needs to be filled every day. So I need to do my training, but I also need to make sure I have good recovery. I need to have good nutrition and that I'm getting good sleep on top of all of that, and just like building my schedule around what I needed to do to be successful in the first attempt at running.

SPEAKER_00: 10:40

Right. Okay. Um so and also I think one of the things you do talk about is that, you know, kind of the mindset for runners. So it's just as much a sort of like a psychological thing in terms of attempting, you know, whatever kind of running event. I mean, I know a lot of people are doing, you know, ultras these days. So um do you see that as part of kind of another skill set you're part of you can offer as part of your armory?

SPEAKER_02: 11:09

Absolutely. And the mindset is the biggest thing that you're going to tackle, especially when you get into those longer runs.

SPEAKER_01: 11:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 11:16

Because you're going to be listening to yourself talk. And is it going to be driving you or is it going to be the thing that's slowing you down and holding you back? Because it's getting harder as you go further in a run. Like I haven't done an ultra marathon. I've done a marathon. And for me, that was that was a long enough run that I was getting to points like, can I actually keep doing this? And like, you know, how many more steps? And really just making it more micro, but just talking myself through each step.

SPEAKER_01: 11:45

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 11:46

The mindset is a huge key, not only in running, but in the rest of life. But it is the thing that will push you forward in your run, or it's going to be the thing that allows you to sabotage and hold back.

SPEAKER_00: 11:59

And do you see there's a ratio between the mindset and obviously the physical preparedness to let's say accomplish something like a a marathon or even a 10K? I mean, you know, it's not ever not everyone's cup of tea is a marathon or even doing ultras. Is is there kind of that kind of ratio?

SPEAKER_02: 12:20

Yeah. Yeah. I would say that the mindset is a heavier part. Like you can physically be ready for a race of any kind, whether it's a short one, long one, really long one. But if you are not mentally able to work through what comes up against you, then it won't matter the physical preparation that you did. Like in the 2012 marathon that I did, it was a qualifier for the London Olympics that year. And there were people that were higher athletes and running than me that were dropping like flies. Oh, right. Because the c the conditions were too hot. It was a really hot day in Scotland, which is unusual.

SPEAKER_00: 13:01

It's unusual, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 13:02

There's a lot of people, there wasn't quite enough water stations, things like that. So it's like that physical preparedness did not help the mental aspect because some people were pushing maybe a little bit more than they should have because it was too hot.

unknown: 13:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 13:16

And there was no breeze and all of those things. So I really lean into the mindset portion, is the big thing that's going to get you through anything. Being physically prepared is very important. But the day of your mind is going to be the thing that helps you or hinders you.

SPEAKER_00: 13:35

When um when people or clients come to you, um, because I know you offer an online online advice or online coaching. So what's the kind of the process of um people coming to coming to you um and saying that, you know, I th either I want to marry a runner or I want to get fitter, you know, what's what's the process when they come to you?

SPEAKER_02: 14:03

So a lot of times they come. Most people in my experience have been wanting to do a weight shift easier in their lives. Yeah. Right. So when they come, I ask questions just to make sure that I'm a good fit for them. Because we have standards in the program that we hold people to. There's no judgment if things get missed. It's just we do have standards that we hold you to so that you can work past whatever is holding you in the position that you're in right now that you don't want to be. So if that feels agreeable to people, then we have five daily habits that we put them through, and then we customize a program with nutrition and movement goals for them to get to the goal that they're coming.

SPEAKER_00: 14:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 14:48

Right. So it's a full process.

SPEAKER_00: 14:52

Yeah. So is it like a it's a contract? So to a certain extent. Um because I know when I was a certain degree. But yeah, when I was back in my when I was doing personal training fitness uh as a fitness coach, um, one of the things we would ask them is what are the obstacles that would get in the way? And it's like you're creating a sort of contract where you're they're saying, well, I can do this this week and that that kind of thing. So you'll you're getting them to buy in. It's kind of more like a consultation, as it were. Is that is that the right way of putting it?

SPEAKER_02: 15:30

Absolutely. We definitely do that as a consultation first. And then through the program, we do a group call where we can touch base and check in with them apart from the one-on-one check-ins.

SPEAKER_01: 15:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 15:41

So that we can really support them, but also show them that they're not alone. And that's the thing that is really big for people is realizing that this thing that I'm struggling with, I'm not the only person. We tend to feel very isolated in our troubles in life.

SPEAKER_00: 15:58

Yeah. And do you think the in terms of people who are doing it online or coaches who are doing it online, do you think it's much better now than it was maybe 10 years ago because there's software there, you can see in real time what they've done.

SPEAKER_02: 16:14

Is that something that I think I think there's definitely a benefit to the coaching nowadays because you do have things like Zoom and lots of voice notes and things like that where you can really connect with people and we have enough data that we control transformations of what we've accomplished with people. So for you as a client coming in, you get that comfort of knowing, oh, these guys actually can help me make a change versus just people saying that they got a change. It's nice to be able to see that.

SPEAKER_00: 16:46

I know when I was listening to uh a previous podcast that you're on, and you said that you were 60 pounds overweight, which over here equates to about five stone. Um so now that's quite a lot. And um and uh I think even on your Instagram you've shown sort of like various uh pictures of when you were sort of a little bit overweight. So um for those who are looking at running to to lose weight, to get fitter, is there what's the kind of the ratio between, let's say, doing something because I've always heard that weight training is quite key, um, as well as doing some form of cardiovascular work. The weight training needs to be a much more majority part of that training if you're looking to do some um weight loss.

SPEAKER_02: 17:41

In a way, because when you look at it cardiovascular exercise in terms of just the just cardio for weight loss, yeah, but you have to make sure you've got enough good, healthy food coming in, especially protein, because otherwise, if you're just doing cardio to lose the weight, you're risking losing muscle tissue because your body needs enough protein. So if you and eating enough protein, then you're building the muscle. And then actually the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate is going to be because muscle burns more fat.

SPEAKER_01: 18:17

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 18:18

It's nice having the combination between the two so that it can help improve your running too. Because if we've got good strong leg muscles, your speed in which you can run improves as well because you have that power coming from it. That is something we see with really high endurance athletes. If they don't add in a little bit of weight training, you'll see them looking at muscle wasting because their body isn't building the muscle the same. So sprinting, um, you have road bike people, you see it a lot in Ironman's actually, where people are you'll know somebody's an Iron Man athlete when you see them, or ultra runners sometimes because they are very slight in their frame. And a lot of times that's because your body is actually using their muscle tissue for fuel because sometimes there's not quite enough fuel happening. Okay. Your body will always steal what it needs in order to survive.

SPEAKER_00: 19:14

Okay. Okay. And so what do you do? What would you say are the core exercises they need to be doing in the gym to help to help with their strength?

SPEAKER_02: 19:25

So I always tell people go sports specific. So if you're running, you want to make sure you've got a good, strong core.

unknown: 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:32

You can do some leg stuff and just general shoulder things. So your rotator cuff is nice and strong because it helps you run. Have that shoulder to shoulder, hand to glute combination because the health of your shoulder and your hips is cross-correlated. So left shoulder, right hip.

SPEAKER_01: 19:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:51

The health is integrated and same with the opposite. So a lot of having good strength in your legs, calves having nice, good strong movement, because that will help you with your push off in your movement. Whereas if you're just upper body strong, it's not going to help with the running stride, how your body is doing, because every time your feet are hitting the ground, that momentum is coming up through the body.

SPEAKER_01: 20:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 20:16

If we don't have that good alignment and we don't have good strength, then it's going to create injuries in your knees and your hips and your back because your feet are hitting and the shock is not being absorbed properly. So you really want to do overall cross training, right? So a little bit of everything in the body and really stabilizing the core, the glutes is really important. So you have that really good power and strength for your stripes.

SPEAKER_00: 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 20:42

And you don't have to have so much upper body.

SPEAKER_00: 20:44

Is there one part of the body that people neglect?

SPEAKER_02: 20:48

Yeah, they're glutes.

SPEAKER_00: 20:49

They're glutes. Because I was thinking they're calves. I I because I tend to I neglect my calves, but I you know, because but at the same time, it's something that you really need. Uh having strong calves is quite good for the running. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:06

Well, and same with your your glutes though, because an our body is incredible in you can move without having proper strides being taken. So you'll see it with people who have a lot of hip sway.

SPEAKER_01: 21:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:21

That is a weakness in your glutes showing up in how you walk. Your hips shouldn't actually go side to side when you're walking, they should be nice and strong, and you don't notice a shift sideways. So there's a lot of glutes that are underactivated in the way that you're walking is causing your running to not be as strong as it could be. But glutes would be first and then calves are totally second.

SPEAKER_01: 21:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:47

Unless you're a dancer or you do sports that you have to be using your calves, then they aren't used as much.

SPEAKER_00: 21:55

Yeah, I agree with you with the glutes because I know people can, well, and like myself, I mean, I've suffered from uh glutus uh medius injury. So um I and sort of hip injury. So um I yeah, I totally agree that it's something that if you do neglect, um then it's something that you are going to be susceptible in terms of injury.

unknown: 22:19

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 22:20

Are there any uh particular although you're s you're you're identifying that the lower body, um we should identify and also the core, you know, the shoulders, you know, we need to be looking at those in terms of the the strength. Do you see that we need to be doing kind of different types of strength training exercises compared to traditional types of, let's say, uh strength training, let's say I mean, rather than doing a normal squat, you know, either we do split squats or we do uh Bulgarian splits, that kind of thing. Do you think those are the kind types of exercises that that runners should be uh focusing on more?

SPEAKER_02: 23:07

Well, I really think runners should actually add in a little bit of calisthenics. Right. Because you want to you want to build power in that. So you don't want to just have a strong muscle, you want to have the agility with that muscle. So the variations of squats works on different parts of your glutes, but if you added in a little bit of calisthenics or plyometric stuff where you're doing like split squat jumps, like different things like that, then you're going to add in a adaptability. So when you're running, it's not always on the most even track, especially if you're marathon, ultra or short, you know, half marathon, those things. Sometimes the tracks are not um they're on the street side, they're down a path, things like that. So adding that adaptability into your running style will allow you to maintain your performance and increase it. But that's one of the biggest things is sometimes with strength, we get so focused on strength that we lose the mobility that we have in the joints and also the the power, because if you know, if we're trying to squat too heavy, we're not going to go into that lower pocket. And so then we lose a range of motion that we can build strength in because we're trying to lift too heavy. So if you did add in mobility and plyometrics, then you would actually elevate your running because now you're looking at it from multiple angles and building skills in each of those angles, which will only help you overall as an athlete.

SPEAKER_00: 24:38

So the benefits of the plyometrics are to give you that, I suppose it helps with your running technique. You can rather than being more heel strike, you're kind of maybe a little bit more midfoot, and therefore having that better technique will help not you won't get as as injured as much.

SPEAKER_02: 25:01

Absolutely. Because it especially your ankle has to be more stabilized in different places. So the muscles that surround the lower shin and ankles, because it's tendons that go into your ankle.

SPEAKER_01: 25:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 25:15

Those things are learning how to be adaptive. Instead of I have to run on this track with adaptability and with the plyometrics, you're allowing it to feel strong and comfortable in multiple having one identify to be running.

SPEAKER_00: 25:30

This was an illuminating episode where we talked about Teresa's early path in competitive dance to becoming a massage therapist and traveling the world. As she said, she dipped her toe into the world of running in a big way by applying to do the Ediber Marathon. Now, one would have thought this would be a safe bet, weather wise. Well, maybe not. It was unusually hot. From there, she gave us some great advice about strength training over cardio and how glutes are the key drivers of power. Don't forget we have part two of this wonderful conversation next week. So for now, goodbye.