SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome to Practically Fit, Real Fitness Over 40. I'm Jen Chamberlain.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

And I'm Alex Johnson.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

And today we're very excited to have a special guest with us to share a little bit about her fitness journey. This is our first in a series of podcasts we're calling Real Fitness Journeys, where we'll feature guests with inspiring stories about how fitness influenced their lives. So, Alex, why don't you introduce our guest, Jen?

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah, absolutely. And this might be a little confusing today on the podcast since we've got two Jens. So bear with us on that. Our guest today is Jen Binchek. She's a registered yoga teacher, a former Ultra Runner, and she has a pretty amazing fitness and health journey that she's going to share with us today. Jen, thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Thank you for having me, guys.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Yeah, and and so I came to know of you because my wife, Abby, used to be in a running club with you. And she I was telling her about this idea we had to start doing these real stories on the podcast, and she told me about your story, and I thought, wow, that's an amazing story. So we're really excited and thankful to have you on the show today.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Well, let's let's get into it. Jen, when did you first get into fitness?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

So I grew up always playing soccer, and then hurt my knee, gained a bunch of weight towards the last like the later half of my high school years. And then when I got to college, to like the the parking pass for campus was this obscene amount. And I only lived away, like a mile away from campus, and so I was like, I am I'm sorry, I'm not gonna spend my money to park on campus, I'll just walk. And I started losing weight, and my favorite time to walk was when it was really hot, like San Antonio, dead of summer, it's a hundred degrees, no like shade anywhere, and I'm just like dripping with sweat. And then towards the like second half of college, I started running just a little bit. It wasn't anything crazy, it was just a couple miles several times a week. And I just fell in love, like that whole like being sweaty and no, like knowing that you did something earn that sweat, like it was a badge of honor.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Running those Texas summers, you definitely get a lot of sweat.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah, uh, I think that's something we all have in common. Uh so you went to college in Texas then?

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yes, in San Antonio.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Okay, fantastic. Yeah, I also uh walked to class in college and it was great exercise and very warm. I went to school in Arlington, Texas. So yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Yeah. So so you started running in college, more as a way to get around campus, but then you got into ultra running. So how did that happen?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

So it was 2013. My son's father and I were splitting up, and I was just going crazy. This whole trying to figure it out, this new life of being a single mom on my own. And I was like, uh, so it started as a stress relief. I joined, started running with a friend of mine, and then her and I joined MRTT, Moms Run This Town, which is how I met Abby, and just started running. And I did my first marathon, and that was insane in 2014. I actually went in with a stress fracture on my left foot, and then dislocated my proximal tibular fibular joint during the marathon, and then at mile 16 and continued on. Because in my head, I was like, okay, the marathon was in DC. I'm a single mom. I'm a teacher at the time. And so I was like, I've already invested all this money, like I have to go. I'm doing this. And then marathons were they're hard, but it wasn't enough. Like I never felt like it was long enough to actually feel comfortable. Like a half was too short. A marathon was just almost right. And so then I heard about ultras, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna do an ultra. Started running um training for one. I did my first one in 2016 that May. And then I caught the crazy train. It's the only way to describe it.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

So was so was the marathon your first race?

SPEAKER_01 4:32

My first race was a half marathon.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Okay, okay. That's it. Because I was saying, wow, you really jumped in the deep end there. I've never gone beyond a half. I'm good. That's that's amazing. So you you got into ultras after doing the marathon, and where did that lead you?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

It led me to wanting to see how far I could push my body. And I've done now everything from a 5k to a hundred miler. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Wow. So I think this would be a good time for us to kind of stop and for you to share with the listeners what because some people may not know, what is an ultra race and how is that different from, say, a marathon or a half marathon?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

So an ultra is anything over a marathon. So a half marathon is 13.1, a marathon is 26.2, and typically a an ultra will start with a 50k, which is about 31 miles. And most of them take place on trails because the ground is more forgiving. However, there are road and like concrete ultras, which I've never done one of those. So for those people who do it, mad props to you, my body can't handle that.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Yeah, there's one in Fort Worth, Texas, as a matter of fact, a uh a road ultra. And I always thought, wow, that would be absolutely brutal. But you know what? I'm curious about, tell me what what running an ultra is like. What is the physical, emotional, mental experience of that event?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

So the physical, it requires a lot of training, um, especially the further in the distances that you're getting. I remember training for my hundred, and it was like a second time, like a second job. Like your long runs, you're doing back to back like 30 milers just to make sure that you can keep that going. And I I know a lot of people do you run every four hours, you do four miles every four hours for 48 hours as a training mechanism, just to yeah, just to like build up to it physically. Um, I think the biggest thing is the mental aspects. And I learned my first attempt at a hundred miler, I had no respect for the distance. I just thought I could do it, like, oh, you know, I did 76.2 miles a couple months ago. This will be easy peasy, it's just another 24 miles. No.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

You have to like know what you're getting into, you have to respect that. And mentally, if you can't find that positive, then you're setting yourself up for failure because your mind's going to start telling you you can't do this, you're not physically able, this is too hard, you should just quit. And you know, sometimes it's easy to give in to that.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah, that's actually something we talked about on our last podcast was this idea of positivity versus negative thinking when you're exercising, and how if you go down that negative thought pattern, like even if you're just out on a short run and you think, oh, I'm tired, I can't run anymore. Guess what? You you can't run anymore. That's so you felt that during ultra races, then that the power of positive versus negative.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yes. Um, every time I had three DNFs, each one of those started with the the little seed of doubt, and I couldn't flip that switch off.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Wow, that's that's amazing. So I'm curious about in in terms of the ultra races as well, how do you approach nutrition during those races? That was something that stood out to me. That must be challenging as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

So you gotta find what works. I know for like shorter distances, a lot of people do goo or like the little gel packets or the chews, something just lights. But when you're doing an ultra, the nutrition has to switch. You have to start consuming more calories than you normally would. And so I always joke around and I tell people like, it's just like you're running from one buffet to the next. Like, oh, here's some food, get like Oreos, oh, PBJ. Okay, sweet. I'll have some of that. Go to the next one. Oh, I want some pretzels or some nuts. All right. Um, I know like there's quesadillas at night, there's soups, uh bacon.

unknown 9:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Something about that early morning, everybody loves bacon.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

And your stomach was able to handle all this. I I that was what would concern me.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Um, so bacon, no, I'm a vegetarian. Um, but I used to do like tortillas, and I would have avocado mashed up in it with a little bit of salt and just kind of mash it and put it in a Ziploc baggie. And as I would run, I would just kind of nibble on that or some nuts. Um during my 100 miler, the second half was a lot of Oreos, and so I just to this day I can't stand Oreos. And then I switched to Skittles. Not surprised.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Tell us about some of your favorite ultra races that you did or moments during those races that really stand out to you.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Um, I think the most memorable, besides finishing the 100 miles, was the 100k. It was pumpkin holler in Oklahoma, and it had been projecting rain all week. The race starts, it's nice, but then it's three loops, second loop. My crew tells me the storm's coming in, and I'm like, all right. So my pacer's like, we can do this, and it's in the middle of Oklahoma, very rural, partly around a state park, partly like just country roads, and this dog starts chasing us. It's like a little country dog, middle of the night, just like growling and barking. And I had pepper spray, and I still feel bad, but I mean the dog was chasing us, so I pepper sprayed the dog.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

That's happened to me on my bike as well. So I probably need to carry pepper spray when I go out on these country rides. So that's a good tip. Uh, are there any other big races you did or moments that stand out to you? Because that's an awesome tip.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

During my Hundred Mile, one of my wonderful pacers got to listen to me butcher despacito.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

It was, I couldn't even remember all the words. And she was like, it was like her having to herd a cat. And at one point in time, like my boyfriend came to meet me, and I was like, Oh my god, babe, I love you so much. And I'm like hugging him, and she's like, Jen, let's go. We've got to move. And I was like, Oh, okay. Bye, babe.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

So it sounds like you in on these races as well. It sounds like you have like support there. Tell us about the pacer and and the kind of support you get during the race because that sounds interesting.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

It is. Um, the whole ultra-running community is an amazing community. They're so supportive, they're there. The volunteers, the racers, everybody is there to help you succeed. You can run into a runner, and like I I helped one guy, and he's always like, Yes, you know, I wouldn't have finished if I hadn't linked up with you halfway through the race and like we ran together. But my crew, it was always my friend Lori. Um she traveled to all the races with me. She knew my new nutrition plan. She knew, okay, when I see you here, I'm gonna give you water. When I see you here, I'm gonna give you noon. Um, just to incorporate that electrolyte, or we're gonna do half and half. Uh, she knew what I wanted to eat, she knew my splits, she knew how to get me out. Um, she even, you know, foam rolled my butt cheek with it. Like wow. She sounds like an awesome fitness person.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

She's foam rolling your butt cheek.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Um, and then like pacers, they they are like little godsend angels because they come in when you need them, and they know their whole mission, no matter what your pace is, is to get you at a pace till they hand you off to the next pacer and you finish. And I have had three wonderful pacers. The first one stepped in during my first 50k. She was a friend from MRTT, and she was just down there, and she was like, Hey, do you have a pacer? And I was like, No. And she knew I had to be done at a fit like a certain time because the race was just south of Houston at Brazos Bend State Park. And the next morning I was doing the Dallas Marathon, so she knew I had to be done. Yeah, too many mimosas would not suggest. And she was like, Okay, you have to get going. So she stepped in and she got me. I think we finished like 45 minutes ahead of schedule, which was great. And then uh my friend Jenny, she was the one that was experienced the dog chase, and uh let me yell at her when I couldn't eat Oreos anymore, and she started force feeding me Skittles. Um and Dawn was listening to me poorly sing. But like they each know exactly like, okay, this is when you need some love, this is when you need tough love, and this is when it's just like suck it up, butterclub, let's get it done.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Wow. Wow. So you were really into ultra running. Um, what what ended up happening that caused you to have to stop ultra running?

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Uh so in 2020, um, right after Labor Day, uh I was getting ready to go for a long run because I was holding out for like when races came back and they could be in person, and was getting ready to go out for a run, was sitting on the patio drinking coffee with my boyfriend, and all of a sudden, everything just slowed down. It was like I was watching everything in slow motion, I couldn't process everything, and then I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. Um, boyfriend rushed me to the hospital. At first, they thought I was having a stroke, went a stroke, ended up um through lots of testing with two neurological disorders where my brain did not send signals to my muscles and nerves the proper way. So I had to undergo a lot of I went through physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and then um CBT therapy for many, many months. And this was during the pandemic as well, it sounds like um from 2020 to 2021 through that summer.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Yeah, so that would make it even more challenging. And and so essentially it seems you were having to learn how to walk again to speed. Yes. That's so how long did that take then over time, like walk us through that?

SPEAKER_01 16:34

So I got a a cane in October of 2020, and I was using that for up until March of 2021, and then in March of 2021, I was classified as a severe fall risk, and I had to get a walker, and I named it Charlie. Technically, my son named it Charlie. Um, and I had Charlie for the longest time, and then I was able to go back to the cane, and by June of 2021, I was walking unassisted, but still struggling. And every once in a while I would have like relapses, things like that, and then finally, December, November, December of last year, started trying some running again. It's very slow.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Understandably.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

And so what, Jen, what was your mindset like through all of this? I mean, it sounds like you were pretty determined, but I mean, I can't imagine what that must have felt like.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

At first, it was really, really rough. And I was stuck in that negative cycle of doctors couldn't tell me what was wrong, and they knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what was wrong. And so once there was a diagnosis and once there was a plan, I was like, okay, I can do this. And then as therapy was going on, I was like, oh my gosh, this is so hard. Like, you're wanting me to walk. I haven't walked without assistance in like eight months, and now you're telling me to do this. Like, I don't know if I can do this. Um my self-confidence really went down. Yeah. Like I've lost a hundred pounds twice, but I never felt as low about myself as I did then. Those basic simple things, I realized, oh my gosh, I've been taking these for granted. Like using a knife or scissors or having to button something. Um, I would get so mad, like I would just rip shirts off and be like, forget it. I'm not gonna deal with this. Like, whatever, I'll find something else to wear. Or I would rip paper instead of like trying to use scissors in front of people. Um and I think the turning point was during therapy, there was a woman who had had a stroke, and she was in there, and her daughter was coming with her to therapy, and her daughter was always telling her, Mommy, you can do this, you can do this. And like I formed this genuine bond with them, and then her daughter was like, Come on, Jen, you can do it, you can walk sideways, go, Jen, go! And I was like, Oh my gosh, this little girl is like everything I need right now. Like, yes. And then when she graduated from therapy, because she graduated before I did, um, her daughter told me, like, you can do this, you're gonna graduate. And that was like the little the little train in my head of like, okay, this little girl has more belief in me than I do in myself. And she has seen her mom recover from a stroke, and here I am. I just need to get my brain right and get it to send signals correctly, and then we can do this. And that's when that negative flipped back to a positive.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Wow, that is an amazing story. And again, the positivity seemed to play like such a role in your recovery. It's um fascinating. I'm curious how your fitness goals changed as a result of that process to kind of take you to where you are now.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

So one of the things that all of my therapists really heavily believed in was the power of yoga and meditation. It forces that mind-body-breath connection. So I would do yoga challenges and I would post like the fun pictures on Instagram, but I had never taken a yoga class. So I had a Peloton membership, and so I was like, all right, I'll give it a try. And I was like, oh my god, this is so hard. What have I done? Wow.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

And this is after running Ultra Marathon too. Like, this is so hard.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

This is so hard. What am I doing? And so then I started really focusing on trying to do that mind-body-breath connection. And I remember getting so frustrated. I'm like, how do people do this? Like, how is this peaceful? How is this zen? This hurts. And slowly, once I found the right kind of yoga practice, and I started more with restorative or you know, beginner vinyasa, where it's slower and you're really learning the foundations of the poses, and then I was like, okay, I'm getting into this. And then slowly started doing it. And in March of 2021, when I had the walker, a yoga school. Reached out to me on Instagram from seeing all my posts and were like, Hey, have you ever tried or have you ever thought about being a yoga instructor?

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

And I was like, what? No, like I'm physically disabled right now. Like I don't know about that. And they were like, no, come on. So I did. And they were awesome. Like I learned so much. And through that, I learned more about what we really need fitness-wise to stay fit and be healthy. And it's just been that life-changing moment. And so fitness now is more balanced.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Jen, you you talk on your blog about finding self-acceptance through fitness. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Yeah. Um, so growing up, I always wanted to be one of those girls that you see as a model or a professional athlete body. Like they were the idea of beauty to me. And I completely beat up, belittled, degraded my body. I treated my body like trash. And it wasn't until when I started running ultras, and I wanted to see what my body could do. And I kept pushing it and pushing it. And I would get injured, and I learned the benefits of cross training as a runner. Very important. And I just wanted to see what could happen. And no matter what, like my body never gave up on me. Like, yeah, I would get hurt, but ultimately I knew it wasn't my body's fault. That was my fault. I wasn't taking care of my body. And I started having this love and appreciation for all that my body was doing for me. Like I had treated it so badly and used hurtful words towards it. And it was still there. It was still supporting me. And you know, even when I was beating it up, it was like, hey, I'm here. You can abuse me, that's fine, but I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm still gonna be here to support you. And it was just after all that, like I realized my body was stronger than I ever could imagine. And I needed to love it because it's the only one I have.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Wow, that's incredible. So would you say it made you see your body through a different lens?

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Yeah. Yeah. And how do you feel about health and fitness now that you've been through this incredible journey from ultra-running to learning how to walk to getting into yoga and being an instructor?

SPEAKER_01 25:17

I would say now it's it's even more important. Going through everything that I've gone through, I've had, you know, a couple near-death experiences and makes you kind of wonder like, okay, cats get nine lives. How many do we as humans get? And it's it's really an important thing. Like, I really always try to find some sort of movement throughout the day. Just not trying to punish my body, not trying to work off anything that I ate, but just trying to give it some movement, give it some something, so it I don't know, like it works out some of those kinks and gets to flowing and moving. And with health, like we uh very luckily, I have a house who everybody in this house, there's five of us, um they all are trying to be healthier. They're we're all trying to eat healthier, we're all trying to be more physically active and wanting to live longer and not just live longer, but live like healthy without problems.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Right, exactly. That's so much what this podcast is about, you know, is trying to think about health and fitness through the lens of longevity and um just enjoying life versus this sort of toxic idea our culture has about fitness, you know.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Yeah, and you know, going from ultra running to yoga, I've learned how much more free time I have. I suddenly, like those first couple weeks, I was like, what am I supposed to do with my time?

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Like you don't have to run every four hours, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Yeah, like all of a sudden there's an extra four hours in the day. Like, what do I do with that? So now it's like, oh, there really can be this balance, and it's not having to push it to the extreme because just like anything else, you do get burned out. If you work 60, 70 hours a week for four or five years, you're going to burn out, you're not going to enjoy it anymore. And so health and fitness needs to be just that, it needs to be something that you enjoy and you want to continue to do. And when something gets a little boring, then you spice it up a little bit. Instead of eating the same meals every day, add something new to it.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Those are amazing reflections, Jen. I I guess for our final question, we'd ask you, based on all that self-reflection you've done, what fitness advice would you give 25-year-old Jen now?

SPEAKER_01 28:08

I would have to tell 25-year-old Jen, you were stronger than you know, and you were capable of more than you can even imagine. And your passions now are so strong and you should pursue them, but they're not going to be life passions, so don't cling to them. Don't form your whole identity around one thing because that doesn't make you who you are. So well said.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Well said, amazing advice, Jen. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Wow, Jen, what an amazing interview. Uh oh my gosh. Absolutely. Yeah. I I'm curious to know what some of your takeaways were from the interview.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Yeah, it was just such an incredible and inspiring story in so many different ways. But I also was struck by how many different themes it touched on that we've talked about on this podcast, you know, in terms of um her fitness friends, you know, her pacing buddies. That was really interesting. And I it was just amazing the way they looked out for her and like, you know, knew down to the minutiae of like her racing pace and what she needed to eat at certain points in time. And I was thought, wow, those are some really, really determined fitness buddies, you know.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

And then her friends as she um undertook her recovery and what that meant to her, even the girl that she talked about, in a way, was a fitness friend who helped her with her recovery. So yeah, absolutely. Powerful illustration of that concept.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

What about you, Alex?

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Yeah, I think um just the overall focus on the importance of positivity when it comes to fitness. I mean, this was something we were talking about just a few weeks ago on the podcast. And, you know, I mean, I think I think it's funny, like the example we used on a on the podcast a few weeks ago was like you're going out for a short run and you get into the run and you start to think, I'm tired, I I don't feel well today. So even if you're going for like a three-mile run, um, you know, negative thoughts basically stop you from you know achieving your goal that day, right? Uh well, imagine what that must be like when you're running a hundred miles. I cannot imagine. Yeah, just the the amount of positive thinking you would have to harness to get through one of those races really stood out to me. But also then again, going back to her recovery and you know, how she was able to finally flip to that positive and the difference that it made in the recovery. So just again, the power of positive thinking and how important that is when it comes to fitness.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Yeah, absolutely. And also kind of related to that, I really loved when she talked about how fitness helped her overcome some of her negative body image. Because, you know, we've talked about so many times in our culture, there's so much negativity and so much, you know, shame around not being quote unquote perfect, not having the perfect body type, etc. And I love how she was able to reshape her whole thinking about her body in terms of her body being capable and strong and able to take her through these challenges of even like a hundred-mile race. And I thought that was really instructive and helpful.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Yeah, absolutely. So, an amazing first interview for our real fitness journeys. Thanks again to Jen Pincheck for joining us today. Uh, we'll be back next week with a new episode of the podcast. Jen, what are we going to talk about next week?

SPEAKER_00 31:37

We're going to talk about stress management. Um, so how how does stress impact your health and what can fitness do to help you cope with stress in more healthy and positive ways?

SPEAKER_02 31:49

All right, looking forward to it. So, as always, hope you're enjoying the podcast. You can head on over to practically.fit and subscribe to our newsletter for great weekly content in your inbox. If you know somebody who has an amazing fitness journey, let us know. You you heard this first interview today in this series. We're going to do more. We're going to be looking for more stories. So if you know somebody who's had an amazing journey in terms of how fitness has influenced their lives, please let us know. You can uh shoot us an email at alex at practically. But until next week, remember fitness is for everybody.