Running Podcast Interview - Darren Holland

Darren Hollins, an accomplished runner, shares his running journey in an interview. He started running in junior high but took a break until college. He follows a training program with 6-7 days of running, including speed workouts, long runs, and easy runs. He focuses on eating healthy and avoiding processed foods. His most proud race was the Boston Marathon despite tearing his hamstring. His favorite marathon courses are Boston and London for their unique experiences. He has run in several countries including the US, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK. Running has impacted his life and relationships, but he has found ways to balance it with his career and family. Hello listeners, on today's episode we'll be interviewing quite the accomplished runner, Darren Hollins. Darren is my dad and is both experienced as well as fast when it comes to running. For several decades now, he's managed to balance consistent training and disciplined eating habits with work, family, and life. He's run dozens of marathons, traveled to multiple different countries, and he's had countless experiences as a result of his running journey. And today, he'll share it all with us. All right, so I've got a first question for you. When did your running journey first begin? Well, how far back do we go? My first time I did organized running was in junior high when I turned out for a cross country season in eighth grade. Started out the season finishing, I think my first event or first meet of the season, I finished either dead last or maybe third from the last. I was very, very far to the back. By the end of the season, I'd progressed, was in the middle, but that was the end of my cross country career. And didn't start running again until I got to Oregon State when I was a freshman, and it was after spring break. I wasn't playing basketball anymore, my high school sport, and realized I wasn't exercising very much and needed a sport, and was interested in running, and put on a pair of old running shoes that I had some laying around and took off for the covered bridge, and that kind of got me started. Yeah, so for your training, what does a typical week look like for you in terms of training? How much do you run? What do you eat? Do you do anything for recovery, those things? Yeah, so it depends on whether I'm in a marathon training cycle or not. And so I tend to do a 22 week, where the six weeks is just kind of getting more in a program, and then starts to get more focused in those 16 weeks when it's like a true marathon training program. But yeah, typical week, just probably six to seven days of running. One day might be off, a couple of speed workouts, a long run, and probably three easy runs, three or four easy runs. And then diet-wise, just gotten more and more aware of how diet affects my body and my training. And so it's no secrets, it's just eat healthy food with lots of fruits and vegetables, protein, and avoid processed food. If I do that, I'm probably going to perform better and keep down to my goal race weight. Yeah, awesome. So out of the many races and marathons you've ran, which one would you say you're most proud of? And why would that be? That's a good question. Yeah, most proud of? I don't know. In some regards, my last one, when I ran Boston this spring, I actually tore a hamstring. First time I've ever had a major injury, or really any injury that put a major damper on my time. I thought I was going to have to drop out, but I was able to stay in the race, and thought I was going to walk to the finish, but eventually I was able to jog through it. And by the end, I actually had a pretty enjoyable race, and I was pretty proud of myself staying there mentally and not giving up. And then flipping the switch from despair to actually really enjoying the day, and interacting with the fans and the runners, and really having one of my most fun marathon days. Yeah, that's... I didn't know you tore your hamstring. That's crazy that you finished the race with a torn hamstring. All right, so kind of continuing on with memories of marathons, what has been your favorite course you've ran on? I mean, I think in the marathons, it really is a toss-up between Boston and London, and just in terms of, they offer really different things. London is obviously a major city, and the fans are out of this world, and you see some of the coolest things running across the Tower Bridge at the halfway mark. Towards the end, you're on the Embankment, you run by Big Ben, and then finish in front of Buckingham Palace, all the while having this incredible crowd support, whereas Boston, you kind of start out in the rural area, but you're running with all these other elite runners that qualified to be there, and it really is like a runners... A peer runners convention of people that are really committed to the sport, and you all just run into the city together, and the momentum builds and grows, the crowd energy builds and grows. Yeah, there's nothing like those final two turns in Boston. Marathons, make everyone, all the marathoners know, right on Hereford, left on Boylston is a magical, magical experience, it's hard to beat. Yeah. So, obviously, running has taken you to several different countries. If you can remember, list off the countries you've been to for running, and which one of them has been your favorite just to visit and run at. Yeah, so obviously quite a few in the US, then Vancouver, BC, which, gosh, I didn't think of that one initially, but that's another, maybe one of the, up there with the most beautiful courses that finish, the last six miles are around Stanley Park on the seawall, so that is a great race, especially on a sunny day, which, unfortunately, I got the two times I ran it, it was sunny up there, so yeah, US and Canada, I've run Tokyo over in Japan, run the Berlin Marathon, the Zurich Marathon in Switzerland, London in the UK, and yeah, I think that, I don't think I'm forgetting any, so I think it's six countries that I've hit so far. Yeah, that's awesome. So, running, when you're doing it at your level, where you're traveling for it, training day in, day out, it requires a lot of time and energy, and how has it impacted your life and relationships? How have you juggled it with your career, family, things like that? Yeah, I should ask you how you've experienced it, because maybe you can answer that after I go, but yeah, I mean, one of the, it definitely has impacted, and you and Sam, you know, my wife, your mom, have been really supportive of me, obviously, she's had, some of the trips she's come with, and had to, you know, take care of things when I'm not training, but partly, I mean, what I do enjoy about running is how you can get it in in a pretty short period of time. An hour run is pretty significant, and I, just to get to a gym and do a workout in the back, probably is going to take you an hour, regardless, so it is pretty simple, but on the bigger days, as marathon training stacks up, it can be longer runs on the weekends, as soon as that means getting up really early, or fitting it in the schedule, and so I think that part of it is just, I have to decide, it's going to happen no matter what, and then figure out what is flexible in the day, and what's not, and if there's a bunch of things that are inflexible, then it means I have to get up really early, or do it late, but yeah, I've definitely been blessed by having a pretty flexible job, and an understanding and supportive wife and family. Yeah, all right, really enjoyed talking to you today, thanks for coming on and letting me interview you. You've been a great host with some great questions.