450: Why Information Isn’t Enough (And What Actually Creates Change)

You likely know what to do.

Strength train.
Eat more protein.

Fuel with carbs.
Run easy.
Sleep more.

So why is it still so hard to actually do those things consistently?

In this episode, we dive into the real reason knowledge alone doesn’t create change — and why lasting progress happens when habits become part of who you are, not just something you try to check off a list.

We break down the three stages every runner moves through:

Information — learning what works and feeling motivated to start
Implementation — where it gets messy, uncomfortable, and mentally heavy
Integration — when habits become automatic, identity-driven, and non-negotiable

We talk about:

• Why implementation often feels harder than expected
• How your “stress bucket” affects consistency and burnout
• The mountain switchback metaphor and why progress isn’t linear
• How friction shifts from doing the thing to not doing the thing
• Why repetition, flexibility, and nervous system regulation matter more than perfection
• The power of support and accountability when motivation fades

Together, we’re continuing to integrate strength training and higher protein intake — yes, including cottage cheese and tracking — because longevity matters more than short bursts of effort.

Because real change isn’t about doing everything perfectly.

It’s about becoming the kind of runner who takes care of their body, protects their energy, and shows up even when life is full.

Resources & Next Steps

✔ Free education & support on our podcast and social platforms
✔ The 30 Day Reset strength & mobility program
→ realliferunners.com/reset
✔ Join the Real Life Runners Team for coaching, accountability, and true integration
✔ Questions? Email angie@realliferunners.com

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a running friend, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or comment on Spotify — we love hearing what lands for you.

You don’t need more information.

You need integration.

And we’re here to help you get there.

03:16 Post Race Rhythm Update

05:19 Inspiration and Information

08:02 Dopamine Trap of Learning

16:07 From Knowledge to Action

19:01 Why New Habits Feel Har

Join the 30 Day Running Reset and get a plan that will help you build a strong and injury-proof body by combining running and strength training in a way that actually works for runners like you.

Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret

Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team

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Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the Real Life Runners podcast, episode number 450. So you already know what to do. We live in the information age. There's no shortage of information. You know, you should strength train, you should eat more protein. You should slow down on your easy runs. You know, you should go to bed earlier. So why aren't you doing all of that consistently? And maybe you are, I don't know, but maybe you're not. And if you're not, why aren't you? That's the difference between information implementation and integration. Something we're calling the three is that we're gonna be talking about on this episode, and we're gonna show you the difference between these three things and how to move into the third, into that integration spot.'Cause that's where real change occurs. So stay tuned. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome back to you, Kev. I did last week without you. there's been a little bit without me. Yeah.'cause I've done I think two solo episodes this month. It's been a crazy month. Yeah. You had a birthday episode. Had the last one. I'm listening to your last one. It's excellent. It's, I You liken it? I do, I do like it. What was the last one? Oh, the foundation. The foundation one. The running foundation. Yeah. That was a good one. So today I really like the topic that we're gonna be talking about here as well, the difference between information implementation and integration and, and in case you guys are ever wondering how we come up with the topics for our episode tonight, Kevin and I were sitting on the couch and I was basically falling asleep and we were trying to come up with ideas of what we were going to record this week. Well, we were in the kitchen trying to come up with ideas, and you said, I wanna go sit on the couch. And then because I was tired, like it was one of those nights, you guys ever have those nights where all of a sudden, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine. Then all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, I'm so tired. Like it just hits you out of nowhere. Yes. That's what I had going on tonight. Yeah. So you moved to the couch and I'm like, well, she's not gonna last very long on the couch. I totally thought I was going to fall asleep. We were brainstorming back and forth. I had some ideas that were shot down and then you came up with, I did not shoot anything down. You had some good ideas. Yes. And then you came up with this idea of taking in information versus actually doing something and implementing it. Then you fell asleep for about three seconds. Closed my eyes like you were out. I was resting my eyes. I don't think I was actually out. No, she was out. Because we were having a conversation. I was trying to explain how we could expand on the thing and you responded and you trailed off at the end of the sentence, fell asleep for about three seconds, and then you said, we should do information implementation. And then a third step of integration and we can call it the three is, and she said it so clearly and so eloquently. I'm like, I You were just asleep. What just happened? An information download. That's what happened. I got the, the inspiration from Bob. Maybe we should make inspiration one of the eyes as well. I feel like that's step one, really inspiration information. Yeah. Oftentimes they can go together. Yes. So we're gonna make that a part of this too. All right. So before we dive into the episode, do you wanna give everybody an, an update on how you've been feeling?'cause it's been about a month now since your race. And I have run fewer miles in the last month than I did on that day. Excellent. Sort of. I'm really trying to get back into a good rhythm and I'm finally there. It just took a little while to get to it. Mm-hmm. I, I said this on the last episode, is trying to get into that rhythm with coaching track and field Yeah. Is a tough rhythm to get into. Yeah. Especially because so far this season you haven't had help on the track and field coaching side of things. Yeah. My, until recently. Yeah. My throws has, has the other coach started yet? Yes. Okay. That's good. And then my throws coach is also our strength. Our strength coach for like weightlifting team. Yeah. And they made it to states and so I didn't have him for a while. Mm-hmm. Like I sort of had him, but not exactly. Yeah. So when you're trying to do it all yourself and recover and do all the things, plus your parents were in town visiting, which was nice, but there's been a lot of things kind of getting in the way of your running, but you're back on track now. I mean, you know how it goes. Like, I, I don't really compromise on, on sleep Yeah. As much as I used to. Thank goodness. Yeah. No, for, for long-term health reasons. Yeah. Like if I'm in bed after a certain time, I'm not getting up at five to go for my run. It's just not gonna happen. And that led, that has led to several days where I don't be, I'm not able to get in a run. Yeah. I think it's tough when we have teenagers now because our teenagers like to stay up later and then also need to stay up later in some, on some, a lot of days because they've got homework and various afterschool activities that take up their time. And so. Things tend to get pushed later into the evening and then the Olympics happened. Yes, that's true. And I, I just, I wanna watch all of the Olympics. Yes. So that it's, how long does that coverage stay up, do you know? Because it stays up for a little while, doesn't it? That we can go back and watch replays? I think we get about a week. Okay. Just curious.'cause there's some stuff that I miss and I don't know if I'll be able to go back and catch it or not, but In theory. In theory. In theory. Alright. So let's dive into the first part, which you feeling inspired, which is information. And we're gonna tack on a little bit of inspiration here because I think this is where a lot of us start. When we want to start making a change of some sort. We start to gather infor in information. and maybe we also start. Gaining inspiration from people. Maybe that's what kind of leads to the change in the first place. So maybe inspiration would be the first step before we even get to information. Yeah, sure. A hundred percent. Those, those two can probably kind of be swappable. Well, if you haven't been doing anything and then you have two weeks of Olympic coverage, that's a whole heck of a lot of inspiration to face. That's true. And suddenly you're like, you know what? I might want to think about how I would go about whatever the process is. What are the new starting to learn how to bobsled? Yes. Like I'm going to, I'm gonna be a loser in four years. It's gonna be amazing. Luge. No. See, this is one of the things I decided.'cause like, especially with the 41-year-old that won the bobsled. Yes. Like that was awesome. Good for her. So excited. I was like, oh man, I think I could, I could do that. And then I was, was thinking about what bobsled entails, and that entails going really, really fast down an icy track. And I don't like rollercoasters, so I don't think that that would be a good fit for me. Yeah. I want to know if there's like a, because I know in a rollercoaster you're actually strapped in and safe and bobsled. There is no guarantee of safety whatsoever. No. Like, you could literally die. There's there's not, yeah. There's not a safety, so I don't think that's a good choice for me. Yeah. No. Luge on the other hand seems awesome. Like, is there a way that I could do that, that I don't have to like, go train excessively and figure out how to shoot myself like 70 miles an hour down the thing. Like, like is there like a, a starter route where you just get on the luge and somebody just kind of pushes you from behind? Mm-hmm. Because sign me up for that. That sounds like fun. You're being serious. Yeah, a hundred percent. That sounds like a blast. You would like to try a luge? Yeah. I mean, it's like you just hold these handles and you, you'll be fine. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like if you, I mean you do like roller coasters, so I love roller coasters and I'm not gonna steer so well that I'm going to hit any sort of ridiculous speeds. I'm gonna be going like 30 miles an hour down the thing. Yeah, but I think that, don't you? Normal. Like even if you were to someone, were just to kind of like give you a little push. You're gonna be picking up to some high speeds there, don't you think? No.'cause you, I've watched the people in the Olympics. Yeah. And they make the slightest minor air in steering. Mm-hmm. And their speed drops from like 80 to 65. Mm-hmm. I would only be making airs in steering. Mm-hmm. And,'cause you know how I drive and so cautiously, thank you. And so there would be a lot of cautious steering involved. Mm-hmm. So I'm gonna max out at like 25, 30 miles an hour going down the thing. Yeah. I just don't think that that's how it works, Mr. Physics. A hundred percent. That's how that works. I really just wanna wear the outfit. So once we feel inspired, I'm just gonna let that one go right past me. then we often move into information gathering phase, and sometimes information does come before inspiration. Sometimes we start to learn new information and that can inspire us to take action. But the information phase is what you're doing right now. It's listening to podcasts, it's reading books, it's saving Instagram posts or watching YouTube videos, attending workshops. It's all of these things that we do that feel productive. All of them feels like we're making progress, which is really good. So we get that dopamine hit time after time after time, but it doesn't actually create change. Just having more information doesn't actually create change. It just increases your awareness. It doesn't affect your behavior until you move into the action step. Yeah. But it feels so good. It does it especially. The saving the Instagram post. Oh my goodness. Like, oh, I'll come back and do that exercise. How many times have I ever gone back to an Instagram post that I've saved? I do it all the time.'cause I save you actually. Yes. Because I don't just send them to people.'cause I like to sit next to somebody and see their reaction to them. Mm. It's why I send you almost nothing. I collect things, that's why. Yes. And then I share them with you or I share them with our daughter and I don't send them I, because I'm like here, I've got a few ones that I've collected for you. But I feel in this, in this world of taking in the information, one of the things that I like to save is various like exercises. Running workouts. Mm-hmm. And the stuff that's actually useful, useful information. Not the stupid jokes that I save, but the useful stuff. I don't know how many of those I've ever gone back and looked at. Yeah. I have a lot of different categories in my saved post on Instagram recipes, good to know things to share, travel. And I don't think I've, I mean, I can probably count on two hands how many times I've gone back to actually look at that, but it feels good at the time because I'm learning new information. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna save this for later and I'm gonna start doing this. I'm gonna make. This recipe for sure. Which gives the illusion of progress. Yeah. Because it seems like I now, I now have knowledge of something that I didn't have before. Mm-hmm. So clearly I'm moving in the right direction. Yeah. But you're not moving anywhere. Yeah.'cause nothing's actually changing. You now just have new knowledge in your head. Mm-hmm. That may or may not even stick. Right. But it feels so good. It feels so productive. And I think that this is where so many people get stuck. I know that I have caught myself getting stuck in this phase before because it does feel really good. I love knowing things. I love knowledge. I'm very, I'm a very inquisitive person by nature. I love to question things. I love to learn. And so I think it's very easy to get stuck in this phase where all we're doing is consuming information and learning things and. Because it takes more to put them into action and actually start to implement those things. Oh, a hundred percent. Like how many people have listened to this? We're at episode 450. 450 is wild. That's a lot of information. Yeah. But not necessarily a lot of results. Mm-hmm. If all you do is sit and take this in, if you've been taking all of these episodes in one, thank you, but if you're taking all these episodes in well sitting or driving and not doing anything with it, you're probably not making a whole lot of progress. Mm-hmm. And that's why I think that it's interesting when people join the team that have been listening to the podcast for years, because I mean, I get messages. From people thanking me for, for the information that they've learned on the podcast that they've then put into action. They've then implemented that and seen changes. And then I also think there's a lot of people that listen to the podcast for years and they finally decide, okay, you know what I do, I've learned a lot of things, but I'm not seeing the changes. Maybe I should join the team and actually put these changes into action. And that's really when they start to see it because they realize at some point, and they recognize that knowing this information isn't enough, unless you have a way that's actually going to work for you to implement this. And that's gonna take us into step three into integration, which we're gonna get to in a little bit here. But I think that, you know, information is a very sexy place for a lot of us to be. And I think that's why we tend to spend so much time in this, especially since we have phones in our hand at at all time. We have these little information devices that like to tell us things that are. Interesting. True and not true all the time. Yes. All day long. Yeah. But like you just pointed out, you get people that thank you for the information. You, you don't get messages that, thank you for how wise that episode sounded. You get thank yous when someone hears how wise an episode sounded and then did something. Mm-hmm. And then you get a thank you because they actually, well, I, I actually get both. Do you? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. I, I feel like the second one is a more, more useful email to get for the person sending it. Absolutely. Like that's the one. Well, and those are the emails that I like to receive. I like, I like to receive all the emails. So if you guys wanna send an email or make a comment. I've, I've been, Spotify, you can now leave comments on individual episodes. I don't know if you guys knew that. So if you guys listen to us on Spotify, that'd be really cool. If you could leave a, a comment on whatever episode you like. Leave one on this one if you liked this episode and let us know what you liked about it. But I love reading all comments in all emails, but it makes me really happy when people take the information and actually put it into action. So I shouldn't just comment you so handsome. Why you so handsome? That was one of the comments I got on one of my YouTube videos last week, which was my subtle way of transitioning and suggesting that if you didn't realize that Angie's putting out a ton of stuff on YouTube. Check out Angie on YouTube. It's, it's fantastic. Yeah. And, and they al always comment, why are you so handsome? Why are you so handsome? Always so good. Your dad's response. So that was like, okay. He was confused. Very confused. but yes, I actually have started a brand new YouTube channel at Dr. Angie Brown and I have been putting out a ton of content, and videos over there. Also on TikTok now at Dr. Angie Brown, if you're on the tick talkie, I'm, I'm getting some new followers on TikTok. I've gotta make sure they know I have a podcast. Excellent. Uhhuh. I I bring that up because you've known those platforms existed for a while. Yeah, true. You had information about those platforms. That is true. But the last thing before we move into, I, you see here, I see what you did. I see what you did there. You had all the knowledge that you could do things on YouTube. Not only the knowledge, but the desire. Like, oh, I really need to start this. I really need to start posting more on YouTube. Like, I knew I wanted to do that, but it's uncomfortable to do that. It felt safer not to do that. It's always safer to sit and read the book, to listen to the podcast, to take in more and more information. Just keep scrolling through your phone and taking in more knowledge.'cause knowledge feels great and feels like progress, but it's, it's not, it's just safety wrapped up in the illusion of, of progress actually. Then taking that knowledge and doing something and implementing, starting starting the YouTube channel up and, and taking in the. The comments from who knows who. That's, that's where it feels less safe. But then you actually get more results. That is true. And thank you for calling me out and because it's true a hundred percent. And I was just trying to connect. I like, I wasn't trying to call you out. Well, hey, call me out. You know that I like that. I like when people call me out on things or connect things. I'm all about all of that because it's true. And I can sit here behind a microphone and I can preach things of what people should be doing, but I want that is, you know, important for everyone to know is that we both fall into these traps as well. Oh, I'm gonna pick on my cell phone part too. Oh. I always fall into the information trap because information feels good. Like I mentioned, like I love learning, so it's very easy for me to get stuck in that world and just collect more and more information. But it, nothing's going to happen with that information until we move on to step two, which is implementation. So implementation is action. It's taking that information that you've received and actually doing something about it. It's trying that strength workout. It's going back to that video that you saved on YouTube and actually trying the exercise that I'm demonstrating in that video. It's doing the mobility drills that you know you need to do. It's actually running. Easy. Instead of pushing harder on all of your runs, it's tracking protein for a week. Because you hear, I mean literally protein is everywhere. Now you have to be eating more protein. So okay, I can eat more protein, more protein, but are you actually tracking it? Are you actually eating more protein? Are you actually eating cottage cheese every single day? Like honestly, like just, but that, that's new. And I love cottage cheese, so I'm not knocking that. I was gonna make my own cottage cheese joke. I was gonna say, just because you're taking in two spoonfuls of cottage cheese extra a day does not necessarily mean you're tracking protein. Mm-hmm. Like, but it is a good start. It is a start. It's an implementation. It is. It's a step in the right direction. You're doing something, you're not just thinking about taking in more protein. Mm-hmm. You went, you got cottage cheese and you decided which version you actually like the best and you've got that small curd low fat. There you go, Daisy. Sure. Because not all brands are the same. Like why is that also like why does different cottage cheese. Literally tastes different. I don't know. You could ask what? It's all just curdled milk, which sounds really disgusting. Oh, when you say it that way. I know, I, I looked up one time how to make your own cottage cheese. Mm-hmm.'cause I'm like, we eat a lot of cottage cheese, can we, and we make our own yogurt. Yes. Mm-hmm. No. The process of making cottage cheese, we're not, we're not playing that game. It's, we're not doing that. No, we're not doing that. We're buying very large containers from Costco every time we go. But I know what to get. When I go to Costco, I go to the grocery store and I just panic in front of it. And then, well, they have the same brand at the grocery store. I know it's a smaller container, and there's another container next to it that looks almost the same. And every time I have that same husband at the grocery store panic that I'm going to bring the wrong, I'm gonna text Angie. Oh God, I'm gonna bring the wrong one home. No, it's not that I, I'm gonna text you. It's, oh, no, I have to make this choice'cause I should not text her because I know the answer to this. Mm-hmm. And then there's, it's the light blue one, not the dark blue one. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I, I'm nervous every time I go to the grocery store. So implementation when it doesn't cause you major anxiety in the dairy aisle at the grocery store feels very exciting oftentimes. Right. It's that new plan energy. It's like, okay, yes, I'm, I'm doing this thing. But unfortunately this is where a lot of people get stuck because I was gonna say, this is like New Year's. Yeah. Right. It's implementation. It's, it's the excitement of the new, it's doing the thing. Yes. Doing it. And for that first week, it's awesome because it's new and, and that is awesome. Once you overcome scary and you start the new thing, then it's exciting because it's new. Mm-hmm. But then you get the issues. Sorry, I kind cut you off there. No, it's fine. You can keep going. Okay. So why. Why is it that most people stop and it's because, well, it's, it's uncomfortable because it's new, right? Like the, and our brain does not like new. We like it at first, it seems exciting. Mm-hmm. But then it quickly moves from exciting to uncomfortable, right? It's, it's more effort than we were doing because it's new. So that's automatically more, more effort. We're trying to figure out how do we even fit this into our schedule? It doesn't match with what we were doing. So there's this friction between who we are and what's actually happening now. And ultimately this leads to our nervous system freaking out on us. We gotta love our nervous system at the, at the worst case, nervous system, freaking out at the threat retreat. Retreat. We need, we must survive. We can't, we can't be doing this anymore. What am I deadlifting for? Go sit down. What is happening right now? Just lace'em up and run more miles. Yeah, and I think that it's interesting, like, as I'm listening to you talk, one of the things that hit me was, why is it uncomfortable? You know, why does implementation require this discomfort? Because like we just said. It at first. It feels exciting. So why is that uncomfortable? And I think a lot of times it's because we can use motivation or willpower or adrenaline to kind of get ourself over that hump of starting sometimes. Not sometimes that getting over that hump is like the hardest thing. But sometimes we can kind of get over that hump and then we realize, oh, like now I'm on the hill, like I've gotta keep going. It's not like if I stop moving, I'm just gonna go backwards and roll back down the hill. Yeah, it's, it's, you're. Now you've become a shark and sharks have to continuously swim. Mm. Like they are always swimming. Even when they're sleeping, they have to swim, otherwise they sink. So now you're a shark and you're like, oh, this is, I have to just keep doing it. And this is my personal issue with the weight room and strength training in general. I can get myself fired up and be like, alright, I'm gonna squat some stuff and I'm gonna deadlift and stuff. And then I try and do it. And I'm like, I am squatting very little weight and I don't want anybody to see how much weight I'm deadlifting. And that's the beauty of a home gym. I know. But then, then like the next week happens and I'd like it to magically be so much more weight. And it's not. And the thing is that it's, it's your body's growth process. I don't get, I don't expect it to magically go so fast in endurance training, but I'd like it to go so super fast in strength training. Ooh, that's interesting. Why?'cause I don't like strength training, so can I just get to the result? Mm. Like you, your analogy. Can we skip to the good part? Remember that trend a couple years ago? Yes. But your analogy was perfect. Now you're on the hill. Yeah. I don't, I love being on the hill of endurance training of you just gotta go out there and put in the miles and sometimes they're easy and there's some faster and it's all the hill. I love what that mountain looks like to climb. I don't mind that. I don't feel like I'm getting to the mountaintop. I love the climb. Mm-hmm. I feel like strength training is a different mountain and I just want to see the view from the top because I don't appreciate that mountain climb as much. Why not?'cause I never have. And so I have to literally learn how to enjoy that mountain and there are ways to do it. And I'm working on those ways. Yeah. And I keep coming up with new ways'cause I have not fallen off yet and I'm, I'm, I'm going with it because you're getting jacked this year. That was my thing. And I said that on a few podcasts ago. Yeah. And I, I am still maintaining that consistency. The other day I cut my run drastically short so that I could lift in our garage. Who does that? I do. I know. Well, I shouldn't say I do because I, I run in strength train on different days. I know, but I don't do that. I have not done that in years. Yeah. And that's what I did. I cut my run.'cause I had a window to work out in and I'm like, I, I need to get a lift in. Mm-hmm. So I cut my run way short so that I could lift. Way to go. I know it was weird. And why didn't you tell me about this so I could like, celebrate with you? I did. You were not, you were doing something else. Was I asleep on the couch again? Possibly so. So yeah. So like this is kind of where a lot of people get stuck and where a lot of people fall off the wagon because those old patterns show up. Because, because implementation requires discomfort and effort and scheduling and getting over those humps of I don't really like doing this, this isn't really my thing. All the things that Kevin was just saying as as really good example that then we have these old patterns that show. Like, I don't have time, or I fell off or I missed a day. So, I guess I'm just gonna have to do start over. I, I'm starting from scratch. I've had, clients come to our coaching calls and say that to me and I just immediately, I'm like, Nope. Stop. Stop right there. Like, nobody's starting from scratch. Like, we are always starting from where we are. And if you are not at day zero, if you've ever worked out in the past, you're never starting from scratch. But we have to be really call ourselves out on that because I think that our brain really loves to trip us up there and let, and tell us that we are far behind so that we will stop trying to move up that hill. So I'd like to add to your climbing the mountain, metaphor here. Yeah. It's not just climbing straight up a mountain. Mm-hmm. You're doing switchbacks. Mm-hmm. Because people like to think, I missed a day. Yeah. Everything's gone. It's like, like if you were pushing a boulder up a mountain and you stop and it rolls all the way back down the bottom, you're like, I'm all the way at the bottom again. But if it switchbacks and you stop, you just roll back to where it switches again. Oh. So maybe you did in fact lose a little bit. Yeah. But you're not at the bottom of the mountain. Mm-hmm. You just need to climb that particular switch again sideways. Yeah. Like you're just zigzagging your way up. You didn't fall all the way to the bottom. You missed a zig. You just, you have to re zig. Then you can zag, re zg, and then zag. Yes. That's what I've got. I like it. Thank you. I like it. Just put it on a shirt. Re zg and then zag uhhuh. Yeah. It just rolls right off the tongue. Perfect. Maybe we take off the, the re part. Mm-hmm. Zig and then zag. Yeah. No, that's kind of loses the whole message right there. I don't know. I'm gonna get a tattoo. Your tattoo's gonna be of art logo not before Rezi and zagging. No, I think Rezi and Zag. It's a, maybe it should be a lightning bolt drawn by me. No, no comment. No one's gonna understand that joke. So, I'll just explain it really quickly. So, our cross country team last year, I think is when we started this, not, not last season, but the season before I started drawing lightning bolts.'cause they had like lightning bolt shorts and I bring a sharpie marker to our cross country meets. And I like to write little letters on the girls' hands. I, I've talked about that I believe on the podcast before, like they choose their power word. And so I write like a, a letter for them to, to see during the race. And I put a smiley face on them and. I can't remember if I initiated the first time or someone asked for one, but someone wanted a lightning bolt on their shoulder, and I realized that I was not good at drawing lightning bolts. It did not look like a lightning bolt. But she didn't realize she was not good at drawing lightning bolts before the, the sharpie marker was applied to skin. Yeah. She realized it after there was an awkward zigzag on, on the, but that's, but that's what a lightning bolt is. I don't like you can't really mess up a lightning bolt, but somehow I did. Somehow it did not look like a lightning bolt. It's literally like three lines. Yeah. To make a lightning bolt. No, a hundred percent. But it looked really weird. Yeah. Anyway. Mm-hmm. I, I forget what we were even talking about, but my tattoo of zigzagging. Oh yeah. Your tattoo obviously. Obviously. See, and we're back. So the lightning bolt is like a meta is a representation of the zigzag. Mm-hmm. It's a switchback on your arm. It's a switchback. It's perfect. So where do we get. Caught up when it comes to implementation and where, you know, what is this third piece of integration that we're talking about? Because a lot of people would think that, okay, I'm here. I'm in implementation. I'm doing the thing now. I should feel the change. Now I should start to see the changes. But when that doesn't happen, it can get really confusing. And that's really where part three comes in, which is integration, which is the real goal of all of this. Because if you are just implementing things over and over without. Integrating them into your identity and who you are. That can require a lot of willpower. And willpower runs out. And that's where so many people fall off the wagon. But if we flip and take that next step from implementation into integration, that's when something becomes more automatic, it becomes sustainable. It becomes something that is non-negotiable and something that is a part of just who you are, part of your identity. And we had a really great discussion about this on our coaching call. I can't remember if it was last week or the week before. It's it's, it was recently, sometime this month. And we were really talking about what are the non-negotiables that we have for ourselves? Like what? In our life or what in our training and our health has become non-negotiable that we don't even have to think about it. We, I just, I don't negotiate with myself anymore. On Tuesday mornings at 5:00 AM actually at 5 0 5, my watch rings or buzzes at me, and I get outta bed to go do speed work with my friends, and every now and then my brain is like, no, I don't wanna, I'm not doing this today. We're not doing this. And I just say, this is what I do on Tuesdays, because this is just a part of who I have become. This is a non-negotiable, it's automatic. I don't. Worry about whether or not I'm going to do that thing or not, unless I don't have a a, a running buddy.'cause I don't run in the dark by myself. So there are certain things that just become a part of who we are and that's really when it becomes that thing that you don't have to even think about anymore. But that last part I think is the difference between implementation integration. Yeah. Implementation means you have to get up with these people at 5 0 5 and do your speed. Mm-hmm. You said, unless I don't have a buddy or Unless it's pouring outside. Yeah. Because you're able to make the adjustments. Mm-hmm. Because this, this run is a non-negotiable. You're able to tweak it so that if it doesn't happen at 5 0 5 in the morning, it can still happen. You're able to rework it instead of. The implementation level where it's like, well that didn't work exactly how I thought it was going to be. I'm done with it. That's true. And then you, you're back to, I guess I should gather more information. Mm-hmm. On integration. You're like, no, this is what I do. How is it going to fit? Yeah.'cause it didn't fit the way I wanted, but I've done this so often. It's part of who I am. I need to reorganize things so I can figure out how it still fits. Right. And that actually happened a few weeks ago as well, that my running buddies at 5:00 AM weren't able to make it. And so I just ran at. At seven 30 or eight, like after the girls went to school. And luckily I have a flexible schedule, so I was able to do that. There was another day where I had to move my run from Friday. Like Friday wasn't gonna work out, so I had to move it to Sunday instead. But I have gotten my training to a place where I know how many strength workouts I do per week. I know how many runs I do per week. I know what I'm doing in all of those runs. And again, this is the benefit of having that flexible training plan as well of, you know, I do. This number of days easy running. I do a speed day, I do a longer run day. Now it's just about kind of getting, making sure you have all the pieces and then figuring out where they fit in your week. And most of the time my pieces all fit in the same time. On the same day. But every now and then you do have to kind of figure out when that doesn't work out. Right. So when you bring a new thing, yeah. If you've got your schedule all figured out and suddenly you're like new thing, it throws your schedule. Mm-hmm. And until you figure out how to put it into your schedule, you're going to default back to your old plan and your old plan does not include the new thing. Mm-hmm. No matter how much information you have, that the new thing is super important. And even when you start trying to implement that, you're like, actually I kinda like the new thing. You will go back to default of not doing the new thing of doing it the way that you did. This kind of reminds me of almost every like teacher training that I've had for the last 20 years. You go through, you get your teaching certificate, you know how to do things, and then people come in and they're like, here's a new teaching strategy. Here's a new tool that you can use in your class. And then they're like, we'd like you to implement it sometime in the next three weeks. And so then you figure out how you can take the new strategy and implement it and be like, look, I did the thing. But the next year when it comes around to teach that topic, are you gonna use the new strategy or are you gonna do the one that you've done for the last 10 years? Mm-hmm. Like you're gonna default to the way that you've always done it until the new thing becomes so comfortable that it's the way you always did it. Mm-hmm. It just needs to become such a part of who you are that it no longer feels like a new thing. Yeah. And that's really what integration is. You don't try to strength train, you don't try to figure out when you're gonna strength train or try to get it in. You become someone who strengths train, who strengths trains. Why am I, can I not say that word? Strength trains. You become someone who strength trains. There we go. I just had to figure out the appropriate playlist. That is what became part of, oh, someone who strength trains needs to is your playlist needs the, the right playlist. And what is on your playlist? I'm refining it. Okay. It's a, it's still a work in progress. Love it. Yeah. It's still a work in progress right now. There's a lot of like really intense Christian rock, but I can't Intense Christian rock. Oh yeah, yeah. No, it's heavy. So I'm, I'm not sure. Heavy Christian rock. Yeah. Yeah. It's like Christian. Is that a thing? Yeah. It's like Christian metal is, that's a thing. Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, it was, it was great. I, I did not think those things would go together. I had headphones so you were not able to participate. There we go. So you don't, you know, it's not that you're just out there trying to run easy. You are someone who trains intentionally. It's someone who trains with a plan. You don't just try to get more protein in. You are someone who fuels your body. So that becomes your identity. You are a healthy person. That fuels your body and trains intentionally. And in order to be, to be a healthy person that fuels your body and trains intentionally, here's, here are the things that I have to do. Here are the things that I have to implement that will help me to be that person. And that's really when your nervous system feels safe, because it's not that you're asking your nervous system to step out and do all of these uncomfortable things. You're rewiring your identity so that your nervous system is now safe doing that thing because that is who you are and that's how you know. That you're in that level of integration. Yeah. The new thing, it doesn't feel new. The new thing feels just completely like part of you. Yeah. You're like, oh, I, I adopted that new thing to be a core part of who I was already doing. Mm-hmm. Like, I eat healthy and now I've, I've adopted that Healthy includes the appropriate amount of protein. Yeah. So it's not that I have to suddenly eat all this protein and track my protein, it's that I just have to continue eating healthy. Mm-hmm. With, with this new information coming in. Right. So, like at, at first when I tried to, or when I started in, in, increasing the amount of protein that I was eating, it was very intentional and it was uncomfortable. I'm like, really? I have to eat all of this and I have to really, at the beginning, I weighed and measured everything because I didn't know how much a cup was, how much a half a cup was, what that looked like, what that felt like in my stomach. And now it's funny, I was talking to your mom actually when she was here and we were talking about eating more protein and she was like, well, what would I eat? And I was like, well, a half a cup of cottage cheese has 13 grams, so you can up up that to a cup of, if you like, cottage cheese, and that's 26 grams. And then I like to put it on toast, and that's another six grams of protein and four grams of fiber. Like I just have these things that I eat very normally that I can just tell you how much protein is in all of them because it's just become a part of like what I do every day. And that has become a part of who I am. Yeah. You also are really good at memorizing numbers. That's true. Like how much protein is in three eggs, 18 grams. Yeah. Like you just, you have it. Mm-hmm. Because you can do the, you can do the math quickly. Yeah. And you have the numbers memorized. Right. And then I have eight my egg whites and then three tablespoons of egg whites is five grams of protein. So I can add three, you know, of those easily. Actually put that on my cereal, which I know some of you already know and think is gross, but it doesn't actually change the tastes and it's a great way to add 15 grams of protein to cereal. I don't know how many of our, of our listeners know and think that's gross. Our kids know and think that's gross. Well, everyone that was at a retreat, I told them about my, ah, yes, egg white hack our, our retreaters last year. I just like to mix protein powder into my milk, shake it up, and then pour that over the top of cereal. Then it tastes like protein. Powder. No, it tastes like I took normal cereal and then covered it with chocolate flavor and it signed me up. No, the egg whites have no taste whatsoever. And then it just tastes like I'm eating cereal and milk. It's delicious. Did you used to have a bowl of Cocoa Krispies every day in college?'cause that's what I'm going back to. No, because that is also artificial chocolate flavor. Perfect. Perfect. So going back to integration, you know when you take on an identity, so say you are a mom or you are a Christian, or you are a healthy person, there's lots of different identities that we take on. You're a sister. You're a wife, you know, you're a husband. Like various identities that you've taken on. At first, when you say that, like, I mean, I remember when we first got married, I'm like, I'm your wife. Like, that sounded so weird. I think we kept saying that during our honeymoon and just laughing about it, I think. Yes. Because you used to say waf. Yes, I did. Because he, he would say with the funny time to go get breakfast waf. Okay. Husband. Yeah. I don't know why those are the voices. I think that was our Jamaican accent. Our, our like Southern slash Jamaican accent. Well, yeah. Yeah. It made most sense. But I don't know. You had pneumonia, so somehow that made everything I said extra funny. So wild. So wild. But I mean, that's kind of where we are now. I, I think that I. Even though I've had teenagers for years now, it still blows my mind that I'm a mother of teenagers because it just doesn't seem real that we're in that phase of life already. And I think that, you know, going back to when we got married, it, it felt weird at first. Like it felt right. I knew that was what I wanted and who I wanted to be, but it was weird at first to call you my husband. Yes. Or something that we had to kind of integrate into. Who I am. Right. At first we were still in implementation stage and, and joking about it. Implementation, there's a, there is an automatic friction involved. Yeah.'cause it's, it is different than how it has been. And until it gets into integration, once it reaches integration, then not doing it creates the friction. And that's the, that's the difference. Yeah. Is where's, where's the friction? Is the friction doing the thing? Mm-hmm. Or isn't the friction not doing the thing? Oh my gosh, that's so good. It's so, I am just, I just thought of my wedding ring, right. Like my wedding ring has literally become a part of me. And in that I, I never take it off. I mean, I do, I take it off when I'm you? Dealing with raw meat or like something like that. And sometimes I don't put it right back on right away and it feels so weird not to have it on. It's become so much a part of just my being. I have to take my ring off to lift the heavy things, to lift the heavy things. Uhhuh, I actually don't even do that because I wear my weight lifting gloves, so it doesn't bother me at all. Oh no. I take the ring off and then I work on the big strong calluses. You should wear gloves. That'd be very manly of you. But my sister, or actually my mom's pink gloves are in the basket. If you ever wanna borrow those jackpot, I, I'm gonna have to get my own gloves with a lightning bolt on them. I'll draw it for you with zigzag gloves. Oh, it's so funny. But I love what you just said there about the friction of not doing the thing too, because that's how I feel now when it comes to my training sessions. If. Something comes up and I can't get a training session in that day. It does feel very uncomfortable for me to miss it. And I, my first thought is, okay, well where can I fit this in? Because I, I want to do this and I, I need to do this to, and it's not that it's a bad thing to miss a training session here and there, so don't hear us say that, right? Because sometime life happens and it doesn't, it's not a big deal, right? Like it's not a big deal if you miss a training session here and there. But I do think that that is a, is a telltale sign of, you know, when something has become more integrated, but it's not. When you miss that thing, it's causing major anxiety because you're gonna get it wrong or you're worried.'cause I think there's a, there's kind of a, a difference there too. Do you, do you see where I'm going here? Yeah, I see where you're going. It because you know that, because it can create a lot of anxiety as well. Yeah. But it's still part of who you are. Yeah. It's just that you haven't connected. If you don't do the thing for like a day, you are like, ah, that's just that, that was a day all. That's not who I am. When you haven't done the thing for a few days. For me, running is how we started the episode. Yeah. You said, how's the training going? And there have been times where I've strung together like three days in a row without going for a run, which is very weird for me. And as, as this is the case with a lot of runners, if you don't go run on a regular basis, you can kind of get a little agitated. Like my, my students know this. They ask the questions. Some of them come in on Monday and they ask, Hey Miss Friend, did you run over the weekend? Because they're kiss hops. But some of them wisely know, Hey, miss Friend, did you run over the weekend? Because it will help set my mood on that Monday. Mm. Because if I for some reason made it through an entire weekend and didn't really run, yeah, I'm probably not gonna be in the happiest place on Monday morning. So then they're gonna know how to kind of measure. Yes, you a hundred percent. They know how to measure. So funny. So I think that that really is the big difference, right? Between the three eyes that we're working with here. Information is more of your head, implementation is action, and then integration becomes your identity. So information is more intellectual. Implementation is behavioral and integration is neurological and identity based. So that's kind of the difference between all three of those. Yeah, I like that. Head action identity. Mm-hmm. Like just'cause you're doing the thing. And that's why so many people get stuck on that last one because it seems good when you've reached implementation. Yeah. You're doing stuff, you've made it past, taking in the information, you're actually actively doing things. Mm-hmm. But. That doesn't mean you're gonna do it with the same consistency as actually integrating it. Well, yeah, and that's really why most people stay stuck is'cause they never make it to that integration level. They just keep collecting information or they mistake implementation bursts for integration. They think, well, I'm doing the thing and I've been consistent, so this must mean, and, and nobody's probably saying this, this must mean I'm integrated. Like maybe, maybe after this episode. But I think that like, I would challenge you to kind of look at the different things that you are doing on a regular basis in your life. And is, are you at the level of implementation are, well, you know, maybe you're so in level one, maybe you're in information, maybe you're doing some things and you're actually implementing. Are you actually integrated? Have those things become a part of who you are? Have they become more automatic and sustainable and non-negotiable to that point where you don't really have to think about'em anymore? That's, that's just what you do. Because if you have, fantastic, right? And if you haven't, now you know where you need to look because you don't wanna get stuck in information and implementation. And another big reason that this happens, that people kind of get stuck in level one or level two is because of the stress bucket. I've talked about this concept of we all have one stress bucket, and all stress is stress, and all stress goes into the same stress bucket. So if your stress bucket gets overloaded, that often leans to burnout. And when you're burnt out, that's going to prevent you from moving into that integration phase. Because a lot of times when. One of the big things that leads to burnout in, in runners or in any, you know, in humans, is that we are forcing these actions through implementation. In that implementation phase, we're forcing through willpower or through various things that we think are just going to get us to do the things, but that doesn't lead to us actually integrating and regulating our nervous system enough to sustain that change. Yeah. The stress bucket, the regulated nervous system, they go very hand in hand. Mm-hmm. If you're adding. New things to say, like a running routine. You've got your running routine and you're gonna, in my world, you're going to have your running routine and throw a strength on top of it if you don't change the running routine slightly. Now you're adding the physical stress of the lifting routine on top of it. Yes. That's an increase in stress, but as we pointed out, simply because it's a new thing is an increase in mental load. Mm-hmm. And then if the workouts aren't going well, if you're not seeing the change as fast as you're hoping to, now you have this emotional stress on top of it. Mm-hmm. So you're like, oh, I'm, all I'm doing is. Adding a lift twice a week and it doesn't even take that much time. No, no, no. Now you're thinking about that lift. Where are you going to put that lift in during the day? Did the lift go well? Like how does it work out? Is it gonna adjust your running thing? There's so many things that are all pouring into that stress bucket. Yeah. Beyond just the physical stress of lifting the heavy weights and becoming jacked. Mm-hmm. I'm so glad you pointed that out, because that's so true. And I think that it's one of the things that we often forget about is that e extra mental load, emotional load, expectation load, all those things also add to our stress bucket. And that's why I think it's such a good time for you to switch up your training right now the way that you're doing it, because your running already is pulled back a lot so that,'cause I. I'm so glad you also pointed out that a lot of runners try to just kind of add strength training on top of their running, which is not a good way to do it. That's a, you know, when you just increase your training load, you're increasing the stress in the body, you're going to increase your risk of injury as well. So it is important to adjust your training to kind of pull back on running a little bit as you start to incorporate strength training into the mix so that you're maintaining that overall load and making sure that you're not increasing that training load too rapidly and putting yourself at a higher risk of injury. So right now, since your running is already so pulled back from where you were, this is a really great time for you to start to integrate the strength training in and so that you can kind of. Bring both back in and then start to increase both in a way that feels sustainable for you. Right. But I also, by pulling back the physical load of running mm-hmm. While I'm gradually bringing in the physical load of strength training, I'm able to handle the emotional load of adding in strength training. Yes. And honestly, the emotional load of not having as much of a physical load from running. Yeah, definitely. Like the emotional load of not going for mid-teen miles this weekend. Like yeah, my long run was. Eight and change this weekend instead of being like 15 ish. Like, and that's, that's a big thing. Mm-hmm. But I know physically I need that so that I can actually keep lifting at the level that I, I wanna keep lifting and I'm gradually bringing them all up. It's just, it's a gradual process. Mm-hmm. And I'm telling myself that all, all of the good health changes are such a gradual process. And I enjoy the gradual process with running. So I totally can enjoy the gradual process with strength training. Like that's the Yeah. That's what I'm telling myself. Yeah. Is not that I have to enjoy the strength training, but I truly enjoy the slow, gradual process. Mm. I love that. So I've taken out the, you've taken a piece of it. I've taken out the of running of strength training and just saying, I actually really enjoy focusing on the slow, gradual process. Mm-hmm. That's what I'm telling myself because I do. And I just, I Because that is true for you. That is true for me. Yeah. I just need to take away the. With running and add it to, with strength training and just say, no, I just enjoy the process. Mm-hmm. I love that so much. And I think that that's really where, what I wanna talk about more now is if you are noticing in this episode that you are stuck in the information phase or the implementation phase, how are you gonna move into integration? So I would suggest to choose one thing, like Kevin was just talking about strength training, Angie on YouTube. Angie was talking about YouTube, right? Choose one thing, lower the bar, like lower the intensity of the thing that you need to do. So, oh, that's a good one. But I mean, that's so hard to do and I, I can't tell, I can't say that I. Did that because I jumped in and decided to post a video every single day. That is true. So that was actually really helpful for me because I set a standard for myself. So maybe that's it. Maybe we don't lower it, but we just decide what our standard is going to be. You set a standard that you felt was actually sustainable. Yeah. I knew how much weight I wanted to lift on day one. Mm-hmm. But I wanted to then be able to come back on my next lifting session of the week. And so what I wanted to lift on day one and what I did actually lift on day one, were drastically different numbers. Okay. So you lowered it. I did. I lowered the intensity. Yeah. I don't think that you set up an intensity level. That was crazy. Yeah. I think you just set a difficult level that you still felt was sustainable. I did. And I also got some accountability as well. So one of the ways that I, or one of the reasons that I decided to finally start the YouTube channel and start posting is because I joined a 30 day posting challenge by, from one of my mentors and coaches, pat Flynn. He had this 38 challenge. I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do this. So I made that one decision of I'm going to do this. So that was the one thing, and then I decided, okay, now, now I'm gonna do it. And that's really where the step number three comes in, which is building repetition. Mm-hmm. You know, and some of the videos that I. Created and posted. Were not that great. I'm just going to say it like they were fine. But it was just about posting the video. It was less about making sure that the video was super high quality and had super, like tons of information. It was well-researched and all of these other things, because that's where I've gotten stuck in the past. I'm like, oh, well I don't wanna post a video if it's not right, if I'm gonna get something wrong. Like, I have to make sure that I'm fact checking all of these different things. But part of it is also comes down to like trusting myself. Like I've been doing this for 19 years, like almost 20 years as a professional. So if you, when we add in schooling on top of that, it's been over 20 years. Like I know my stuff, like I don't have to go back. I just want, always wanna make sure I'm putting out really good information. So I decided that before I really focus on improving the quality of the videos, we're just focusing on hitting publish. We're just building the, the reps and the, the repetition so that I can just start to build that muscle, which is pretty much how my strength training is currently going. Yeah. Because right now it is my strength training program. Mm-hmm. And I know all of Angie's strength training programs and they are all available to me. I can go through and I can hit them all. You've made programs for me before. Yeah. And to do exactly what I want. You would, you could design a program very specially just for me of, I wanna do all these things and I don't wanna do these two exercises'cause I don't like that particular thing. Whatever. You could fine tune this to me. That's not where I'm at right now. We've not had the conversation yet about you have not creating the program. I didn't even know that you've been. Doing your strength training? Oh yeah. No, I've actually been consistent. I've, I've really only seen you do it, I think once or twice. Yeah. No, I've actually had some consistency here, but I'm not necessarily, it's not the perfect program. Angie's going to fix my program when we have a conversation when you're ready for it. But at sometimes, at first, you don't need the perfect program. Mm-hmm. You just need to get the rest in. You just need to do something. Right? Yes. You start with the implementing. Mm-hmm. But you have to implement, but you can't leap from info to integration. You have to have some implementation time. Mm-hmm. And that implementation does not have to be perfect. Right. But as you start doing it again and again, it starts sliding into integration and it's, I think it's easier to slide in integration if it doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah. If it's like, no, no, no, we're just gonna get the thing in. Mm-hmm. Because that's how a lot of I agree. And I think that that's a really important thing to point out, because oftentimes when we go into integration and identity, we think that we have to be perfect. But if we're being real, no human is perfect. Like if you're any identity that you currently hold, you're never perfect in any of it. Like, I'm a mother, I'm definitely not a perfect mother. I'm, I can, we could argue that I'm the perfect mother for my kids because that's why God made me their mom. But I mess up all the time. I, I definitely make mistakes and I make mistakes. As your wife, I say the wrong things. I make mistakes as a dog owner. So like, I think that identity is, you know, kind of a. A thing that we need to build and be okay with not, you know, no perfection there. There's always flaws in it. Yeah. Like runner is such a core identity of who I am. That doesn't mean that my running routine is perfect. That doesn't mean that every run feels great. Like there's issues that show up. Like I just had what I, I found to be a rather disappointing last race. Like things are not gonna go perfect. That didn't change my identity. Mm-hmm. So I think giving up the idea of perfection allows you to slide integration so much nicer. I love that. And when you give up that need for perfection. That's also going to help you integrate it and help you regulate your nervous system around it so that your body doesn't reject the change. Because if you're telling yourself that you have to be perfect and that's the expectation, then your nervous system is saying, okay, well if we're not perfect, then this thing isn't okay. This thing isn't safe. Yeah. Your nervous system's on edge for perfection. Yeah. It's such a fine tuned alarm system. No bueno. I, yeah, we, we had to give up that a long time ago. It's still something that likes to creep up with me because I definitely used to be a big, a big perfectionist and I've had to release that time and time and time again over the years. but that's when we release that in making whatever change it is you wanna make, maybe it's strength training like Kevin. So instead of thinking to yourself, well, I have to strength train three times per week, or I'm trying to strength train three times per week and shifting into identity language of becoming, you know, I am becoming someone who builds strength. I am becoming someone who strength trains. Regularly and intentionally. Yeah. I mean, we've got people on the team who have the strength training plan of exactly what they wanna follow, and they're like, oh, I, I missed one of my strength training days. Mm-hmm. I didn't have time to do the routine. Yeah. Okay. But did you have time to do like a lift? Just one. Yeah, just go do some lift to maintain the rhythm of mm-hmm. Lifting. Would that have even had any physical benefits to you? I have no idea. It depends on what you did. I actually had that thought today too.'cause I was, I went out to do my strength work and it was like later in the day and I was just tired and I did my squats and like, my first set of squats did not feel good. I was like, oh, this is not what I want to do today at all. Yeah. And then I was like, well, and then I did, I finished my squats off and then I did chest press. I adjusted my squats. At first, I decided I was gonna adjust the range first. The first set that I put my full weight on, I only did three reps.'cause I could just feel it like things were not feeling right in my body. Then the second set I put, a bo our plyo box in. So I decreased the depth of my squat and just went down and kind of tapped my tush on the box and then came back up. And then the last set, I went ahead and I did the full squats. And I, I say all of that, to let you know that it's okay to adjust things and I forget why else I brought that story in here. How, how, how is I gonna tie that in here? I'm not entirely sure. I, I think that it's just, it's part of the, once you've integrated it becomes a lot more adaptable. Mm-hmm. Yeah. At at an implementation. At an implementation level. Oh, I know what it was. Okay, what do you got? It was because I was gonna just stop after doing my squats or just stop after doing my chest press and be like, okay, that's it for today. Well, because it's still getting in a lift, right? It's not getting in a full lift. It's still getting something. Yeah. And, but sometimes that's what you need. I'm not a huge fan of, of running streaks. I had one years back, but there are people that, the way that they've, they've taken it in the way they've integrated it to themselves of what they set the bare minimum. I think depending on how you set the minimum, allows, whether that streak just helps you sort of be who you are. Or takes it to a place where it's like that, that might be too much. You might actually do dangerous things. It's that ability to say, it doesn't have to be perfect if, if you are maintaining a running streak and it doesn't have to be perfect, whatever your lowest level is, I think really helps. Yeah. And I think that's where sometimes people go into like walking, right? Yeah. Like, I, I'm gonna do a mile a day. But it, that can be a, it's allowed to be a walk. A walk or a run walk or something like that. And I think that that's really shifting into, I need to do, I have to run every day into like, I'm an athlete and I train intentionally. Mm-hmm. And I, I am going to get in an intentional mile every single day, but it doesn't have to always look the same. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. So hopefully by the end of this episode you understand, you know, information. Is most likely not the problem, especially if you listen to our podcast, we give you guys tons of information and implementation may or may not be helpful. I think that is, it is a good step, but ultimately we want to move into integration. And integration really happens through repetition, through identity, really taking that on as part of who you are through nervous system regulation and for and through support. You know, like those are the things that you need, the pieces that you need to really make whatever change you want. Actually integrate into a sustainable thing that you will just kind of do without thinking about it. The support aspect is, is super helpful and we haven't really even touched on that. Yeah. And we've made it to the end, but support is super key. I've actually really worked on this, you pointed out, you, you saw me lift once. Mm-hmm. And I feel really good about this as it comes time to, I think, really lock in my full integration. I am, I'm going to need to lean more on, on the support from you. Yeah, absolutely. Right now, it's, it's a messy work in progress. Mm-hmm. And that's what I need it to be right now. Yeah. Because that's helping me get to integration. Mm-hmm. When I then need to integrate it and refine it, that's gonna need some extra support. Yeah, absolutely. So depending on where you are in this journey of information implementation and integration, we've got resources to support you. So if you. Are finding yourself in the information phase. Obviously we've got this podcast, we've got tons of free content here on the podcast. You can follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, like whatever platform you like. There's tons of information that I have for you guys for free. all over all these platforms. If you're, if you're like, okay, I need to move into implementation phase, I think that the first best place to start would be strength and mobility. there's lots of good, depending on who you are and what you're currently doing. If you're a runner that's just running, you need to start incorporating strength and mobility. And if you have, you know, if you're not quite sure what to do or what that looks like or how that fits with your running, I created a 30 day reset program. and that is. Available for you right now. If you go over to real life runners.com/reset, you can get signed up for that. It's 30 days of intentional strength and mobility work. Most of the days it's like six exercises per day. So it's something that you can fit into like five to 10 minutes. You can fit it before your runs, after your runs. You can fit it during the rest of the day, and it's just a way for you to start building those repetitions, building that strength and mobility muscle. And by the end of the 30 days, you are going to feel a difference, like guaranteed hands down. If you do this program, you are going to feel a difference at the end of the 30 days. And then if you're someone that's like, okay, I'm doing these things, but I'm not really sure how to make all of it integrate, like, I don't know how to take this on. I'm starting to feel frustrated. I'm starting to feel burnt out. I, I don't know what my next step is. That's really what the team is for. The team, the real life runners team is really where we help you and we coach you. And help you integrate all of the pieces, including your real life and all the other things going on in your real life to make this work for you. Because there's so many runners that just kind of look at running or training, but that's not what we do inside the team. Inside the team, we really work on integration of all of it into you as a healthy human being. Mind, body and soul. Mind, body and spirit. Like I like to look at all of it, and that's one of the things that I think is so special about what we do here. All right, so we got the, we got the podcast, we got all of your socials, the 30 day reset, the team, and of course eat a lot of cottage cheese, I think is also a, a good takeaway. Perfect. And if you are unsure where you know, where you kind of fit in. Send me an email. Okay. You can send me an email, angie@realliferunners.com and I can guide you to kind of figure out, you know, where you might wanna start. You could also send me an email and I will forward it to angie@realliferunners.com. Perfect. Alright. If you guys found this episode helpful, leave us a comment on Spotify. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, share it with a friend, just take a screenshot and share it on social media, because we would love for you to help us spread the word and help more runners in this world. And as always, thank you for spending this time with us. This has been The Real Life Runners podcast, episode number 450. Now get out there and run your life.